Spotify surprised me quite a bit
last time by releasing a relevant single about love from African-American music
Titans Stevie Wonder and Gary Clark Jr., a protest song called “Commander in
Chief” from Demi Lovato and a new rocker from Seattle-area grunge icons Pearl
Jam. There was also one last gem in the
Bennington vault, a Linkin Park song called “Pictureboard,” while I heard
Machine Gun Kelly and Halsey collab on a great alternative rock track called
“Forget Me Too.” Tom Petty’s re-release
of Wildflowers also had some beautiful demos on it and some good heartland
rock, as well, the live version of the title track was especially well-done.
Speaking of Heartland Rock, The
Boss is back this week. Bruce
Springsteen releases a new album called “Letter To You” tonight at 9:00 PDT,
with a song called “Ghosts” that is one of his best songs in quite some time. (By the way, if you’re seeking to combine
Halloween with Springsteen, his sister Pamela Springsteen played slasher Angela
Baker in Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3, and she comes across as a prototype Harley
Quinn)
Joe Bonamassa releases a completely
original studio album this week with “Royal Tea.” The album’s title track has been released as
a single and sounds good, and reportedly the album is an homage to Bonamassa’s
British blues-rock influences, such as Jeff Beck, Cream and Led Zeppelin. Bonamassa covered two Led Zeppelin tracks on
a live album once, “Boogie With Stu” and “How Many More Times,” the latter
running 15 minutes.
German-British heavy metal band UFO
releases a Deluxe Edition of their late 70s live Album “Strangers in The Night”
with full performances around the Midwest and surrounding areas, featuring
shows in Youngstown and Columbus, OH and Louisville, KY. The band is severely underrated if they
rarely ventured out of such places, with electrifying hits like “Doctor,
Doctor,” “Lights Out” and “Rock Bottom.”
Most of the credit for such songs can be attributed to lead guitarist
and master of the flying V Michael Schenker, who I’ve even seen perform live
once. He is a tireless player who
manages to create amazing solos with his instruments, as well as memorable
riffs, and I recommend at least some tracks from the normal version of this
album, namely the three I mentioned above, “Shoot Shoot” and “Too Hot To
Handle.”
We’ve also got a release from Pearl
Jam. They will be re-releasing their
Unplugged Session on MTV from 1992. I look forward to acoustic versions of
grunge classics like “Even Flow.” I also
wonder if they’re going to do a 12 Days of Christmas thing this year, since
last year, for 12 consecutive days in December, Pearl Jam released unreleased
parts of their back catalogue, some seasonal, others not. Of note was a cover of “Someday at
Christmas,” an instrumental version of “Jingle Bells” and a live performance
from 12/8/1993 that included live covers of “I’ve Got A Feeling” by The Beatles
and “Rockin’ in The Free World” by Neil Young.
It was thinking about Pearl Jam’s
release and the “Save our Stages” Fundraiser with Miley Cyrus and the Foo
Fighters this last Saturday that got me fired up to write that musical and
political post. I check Amazon.com’s
digital pre-orders often and frequently use that as a way to gauge
public/political opinions in the country, and what I feel like I’m seeing is
America hasn’t changed over the last 4 years, or if it has, it’s gotten
worse. The trend I’m seeing is more
albums that reject Black Lives Matter, Taking a Knee and the LGBTQ+ community
end up higher on the list, as well as high-selling blatant nihilism, and more
albums of a marriage of Church and State being front and center in religious
releases, while albums outside these boundaries tend to start to show up lower
and lower Also, we’re in real trouble if
our behavior on the Internet is how we act if we don’t feel we’ll be judged and
remove all masks of decency and compassion because we want to be truly
ourselves and less inhibited; because what I’m seeing is that Darren Streblow
joke was completely true, “if you hate someone, you wanna kill them and the
only thing holdin’ ya back is a good opportunity.” There are so many death threats to directors
and musicians for making movies or films the person simply “didn’t like,” some
have suggested wiping Japan off the face of the Earth if certain characters
don’t make the final four DLC slots for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and there is
a general “burn the witches” attitude unseen in the United States since the
Puritans ran Salem, MA with undercurrents of racism, sexism and homophobia. Even in the real world, in my apartment
complex, I’m noticing people are quick to wrath and slow to compassion, quick
to insult and slow to compliment and it almost seems like we’re one
misunderstanding away from violent conflict.
Trump is the villain, but curing the disease he has spread in this
country requires everyone’s efforts, and sadly, I am 100% certain not everyone
will pitch in.
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