Archive 2009

NICKELBACK: A GUILTY PLEASURE (March)

I know I’ll lose some of my music cred for saying this but I don’t think Nickelback is a completely terrible band.  One of my guilty musical pleasures from the 1980’s was the hair metal bands.  These bands lived every rock star cliché and usually were lacking in the lyrics writing department.  However, amongst the cheesy pop songs of the time, these bands knew how to perform a straight up, enjoyable rocker.  Def Leppard was one of my favorites of this genre because they performed great power ballads and even though their lyrics were sometimes just down right silly (“pour some sugar on me” and “armageddon it, really getting it” come to mind) the music was rockin’ and the songs were fun to sing along to.  I like to think of Nickelback as the Def Leppard of this time.

I first saw Nickelback perform in Lexington on of all days, September 12, 2001.  They opened for Three Doors Down and it was right before “How You Remind Me” became a hit.  I found them to be a solid rock band despite what a jerk Chad Kroeger was on stage (he threw water bottles into the crowd but ordered that if the bottles were thrown back at him, he would “break your f**’in legs”).  “How You Remind Me” became a hit and I saw Nickelback perform again as the headliner at the University of Kentucky in 2002.  Though played a lot, I always like “How You Remind Me” and the songs from Silver Side Up.  I also really enjoyed the under-rated album, The State, which was released before Nickelback became popular.  “Leader of Men” and “Breathe” from The State are some of Nickelback’s best songs to date.

Seven years after my last Nickelback show, Nickelback is huge and they were playing again in Lexington.  I decided to attend the show and I found that a lot has changed for the better and worst for Nickelback.  There are some things that Nickelback does well.  They can perform a solid, rockin power ballad just like their hair metal forefathers.  “Gotta Be Somebody” is a song I identify with.  At the end of a relationship in 2003, “Someday” was a song I identified with.  Being able to write music that the audience can relate to is what makes a band good. 

Nickelback does have moments where they show substance in their lyrics.  “Never Again” was a compelling commentary against domestic violence.  “Far Away”, a song about separation, has been applied on a larger scale to the separation of the US troops from their homes and family (OK, I saw this use of the song on a You Tube video saluting the troops and thought it was cool and applicable).  When Nickelback performs “If Everyone Cared” live, they show a slide show of how the acts of one person changed the world (Bono, Nelson Mandela, etc).  When the band plays “Photograph” live, they show pictures that match the lyrics and are like looking at a personal photo album with the band.

Where Nickelback rightfully earns their bad reputation with the music critics is that many of their songs are about nothing more than getting drunk, stoned, and laid.  There is a fine line between sexy and skanky, and Nickelback crosses it with the vulgar and offensive songs like “Figured You Out” and “Something in Your Mouth”.  On stage, Chad Kroeger is a walking stereotype of the rock stage clichés he brags about in “Rock Star”.  There are only so many “I got drunk and I get all the chicks” stories the audience can listen to from Kroeger.  On a side note, the pyrotechs and five-minute drum solo were pretty over the top in the “rock show cliché” category.

I have never seen a band write a setlist to pander to the mainstream audience like Nickelback.  Most bands will play a set that is representative of their entire career.  Nickelback seems to have forgotten that they were a band before “How You Remind Me”.  When I saw them, they played nothing older than Silver Side Up.  The rest of the set is all of their radio hits and not much else.  In an interesting setlist choice, the lead singer from opening band, Seether, came out and performed a cover of Filter’s “Hey Man, Nice Shot” with Nickelback.  As a Filter fan, I thought this was cool until I looked around the audience and saw most of Nickelback’s fans with blank looks on their faces like “cool song, is this a new Nickelback song?” (GRRR!).  There were about 17,000 people at the show I attended, the largest crowd I have seen at a concert in Lexington in a long time.  I guess the mainstream masses got what they paid for.  On the surface, I got what I paid for too.  However, the music snob in me is always looking for more substance.  In short, Nickelback is my guilty pleasure because I can find their music enjoyable but I also know why the critics dislike them.

THE ONE HIT WONDERS OF THE 80’S (April)

This month's column is dedicated to the band, Long Duk Dong, and in memory of their vocalist/keyboardist, Shan Justice, who passed away, March 27.  It seems fitting since Long Duk Dong celebrated 80's music and played many of the songs discussed here.  I never met Shan but I will miss his talent and contribution to Long Duk Dong.

I finally finished watching all five hours of VH1’s countdown of the one hit wonders of the 80’s.  I love 80’s music and some of the best music from the 80’s were the one hit wonders (see also my column, "Viva 80's" in the 1999 Archive about my love of 80's music).  I love trying to find some of these bands’ albums when I go record shopping (of course on vinyl, many of these were not originally released on CD).  Some of my favorite one hit wonders that VH1 rightfully included on their countdown were:
-Modern English- I Melt With You (one of the best ballads from the 80’s)
-Men Without Hats- Safety Dance
-The Buggles- Video Killed the Radio Star (it defined the dawn of MTV)
-Wall of Voodoo- Mexican Radio (only in the 80’s would a hit song have the line “wish I was in Tijuana , eating barbequed iguana”)
-Animotion- Obsession (the original line up, of course, not that later creation fronted by Mrs. Richard Marx, Cynthia Rhodes)
-Big Country- In A Big Country (only in the 80’s would a song be a hit with guitars that sounded like bagpipes and a big “SHA SHA” in the middle)
-The Vapors- Turning Japanese (I really don’t see how this song is about, you know…)
-Soft Cell- Tainted Love
-Tommy Tutone- 867-5309 Jenny
-Vixen- Edge of a Broken Heart (girl hair band!)
-Frankie Goes to Hollywood- Relax (the song’s use in Zoolander, was hilarious)
-Til Tuesday- Voices Carry
-Michael Sembelo- Maniac (Flashdance was one of the great 80’s soundtracks)
-Nik Kershaw- Wouldn’t It Be Good (This was a very nice surprise inclusion on the countdown.  I thought I was one of the only ones who dug this song.  Interesting fact not mentioned on the VH1 show: this song was later covered by Danny Hutton Hitters in Pretty in Pink)

There were some inclusions on the countdown that I didn’t agree with VH1.  A one hit wonder implies that the band only had ONE hit.  In other words, I shouldn’t be able to name other songs the band did.  Devo, Twisted Sister, and Flock of Seagulls were not one hit wonder bands.  Yes, “Whip It” was Devo’s biggest hit but what about “Freedom of Choice”, “Girl You Want”, their cover of the Rolling Stones’  “Satisfaction”,  and “Working in a Coalmine”?  Yes, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was Twisted Sister’s biggest hit but what about “I Wanna Rock” and “You Can’t Stop Rock and Roll”?  Yes, “I Ran” was Flock of Seagulls biggest hit but what about “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” and “Space Age Love Song”?  I also have issues including John Parr.  I absolutely love “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” just because I think the movie and soundtrack were two of the best from the 80’s.  However, John Parr also sang “Naughty, Naughty”.  VH1 even showed clips from “Naughty, Naughty” on their countdown.  John Parr would better be described maybe as a “two hit wonder”.

VH1 also used the word “hit” rather loosely in some cases.  I thought I knew my 80’s music trivia pretty well, but I can’t remember Rodney Dangerfield rapping.  Thankfully, I don’t think most people remember this either.  This bizarre, even for the 80’s, incident could hardly be described as a “hit”.  Also, Eddie Murphy, Don Johnson, and Bruce Willis’ attempts at a music career weren’t really embraced during the 80’s and they are certainly not memorable now.

Some songs I would have included on the 80’s One Hit Wonders list, that VH1 did not, would be:

-The Plimsouls- A Million Miles Away (from another essential 80’s soundtrack, Valley Girl)
-M- Pop Muzik (funny synch pop in the vein of “Video Killed the Radio Star”)
-The Hooters- And We Danced (I guess they had a minor hit with “Day by Day” but most don’t remember that song)
-Tracy Ullman- They Don’t Know (perfect sugary, sweet love song.  Oh yeah, and that guy from the Beatles, Paul McCartney, was Tracy’s boyfriend in the video for the song.)
-Frida- I Know There is Something Going On (Abba solo effort, this song should be paired with Rockwell’s “Somebody Is Watching Me” for some good paranoia.)
-The Members- Working Girl (scruffy rock band + beautiful career women in the video for the song)
-Spandau Ballet- True (After hearing this song in Sixteen Candles, it was the perfect 80’s “slow dance” song)
-Scritti Politti- Perfect Way (Come on, a band named Scritti Politti should definitely be included on an 80’s countdown)
-Sly Fox- Let’s Go All The Way (inter-racial duo singing a “make out song of epic proportions”)
-Michael Penn- No Myth (Sean’s brother, a critically acclaimed songwriter but I don’t recall this guy having any other hit songs)
-Real Life- Send Me an Angel (another great synch pop song).
-Murray Head- One Night in Bangkok (a musicial about chess sounds really lame but only in the 80’s could you have a hit song with the line “the queens we have will not excite you”.)

Some of my other random observations from the VH1 countdown:
-Am I the only one who finds it really ironic that the guy (Jermaine Stewart) who sang “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off, an ode to abstinence and cherry wine, died of AIDS?
-Allanah Myles (singer of “Black Velvet”) has stranger hair now than she did in the 80’s.
-Twisted Sister made a big comeback playing Christmas music?  What the hell…
-The Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men" has become a gay men's anthem.  I had no idea that Paul Shaffer from The David Letterman show was a cowriter of this song.  Hmmm...
-The lead singer of Flock of Seagulls is also pissed about being described as a one hit wonder.  He is really tired of playing “I Ran".

REVIEW: U2- NO LINE ON THE HORIZON (June)

It’s been five years since U2’s last release, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.  No Line on the Horizon was eagerly awaited and lives up to the expectations.

The lush musical landscape created on the opening title track sets a big tone for the rest of the album.  U2, as in the past with such tracks as “Beautiful Day” from All That You Can’t Leave Behind and “Zoo Station” from Achtung Baby, sucks the listener in from the opening track.  The musical force of U2: guitarist, The Edge, bassist, Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen, have over the years created a musical sound so unique to U2 that I can identify a U2 song before Bono even sings.  Examples of this unique sound are evident on tracks like the experimental “Fez-Being Born” and the stream of conscious lyrically, “Breathe”.  Like with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (think “Vertigo” aka “Bono Can’t Count In Spanish” 1,2,3, 14!), U2 picked the album’s weakest track, the funky “Get On Your Boots” as the first single.  Maybe, it’s because a record executive thinks these are more “radio friendly” songs but lyrically and musically, there are many more insightful moments on the album.

One thing I have always admired about U2’s lyrics is their ability to balance secular music with spiritual themes.  U2 is not a “Christian rock band”.  Their music is very appealing to secular listeners.  However, a more careful listen to the lyrics reveals many biblical references and themes.  These moments are the more compelling ones on the album.  One of the album’s strongest tracks is “Magnificent”.  This song on the surface appears to be a standard love song with the chorus “only love can leave such a mark”.  However, the song is not about just romantic love but a love in God and humanity.  The song closes with the line “only love unites our hearts, justify til we die, you and I will magnify, The Magnificent”.  Notice how the focus shifts from love in general to love of “THE Magnificent”.  Bono even ties this idea back to the Bible when he sings “from the womb my first cry, it was a joyful noise”, which appears to be a reference to Luke 1:44 where Elizabeth tells Mary that her unborn child, John the Baptist “leaped for joy” in the womb in the presence of Jesus.   “Stand Up Comedy” appears to be a call for social activism on the surface (“stand up for your love”) and is musically kind of funky like “Get On Your Boots”.  However, Bono makes the humorous but insightful observation, “stop helping God across the road like a little old lady”.  On the quietly, beautiful “White As Snow”, Bono laments “who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not, only the lamb as white as snow” and “if only a heart could be as white as snow”.  This song has the most overt biblical references ranging from how the Bible refers to Jesus as “the lamb of God”, white being symbolic of purity, and the Beatitude of “blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).  The album closes on another quiet note with the haunting “The Cedars of Lebanon”.  In this song Bono takes on the voice of a journalist reporting from the war zone in the Middle East.  I felt that the title of “The Cedars of Lebanon” was symbolic so I researched this.  The cedar trees in Lebanon were referenced in the Bible as the wood used to build the temple, which is later destroyed (2 Chronicles 2:8).  The cedar trees are described as tall, magnificent trees in Psalms 104:16 “the trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted”.  However, Old Testament prophesy states that “the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines” (2 Kings 19:23).  Psalms 29:5 states that the cedars will be broken into pieces.  In present times, there are very few cedars left in Lebanon due to deforestation.  On this song, Bono appears to use the metaphor of the cedars of Lebanon as a statement of the destruction in the Middle East from war.

No Line on the Horizon is a prime example of what U2 does best.  The musical arrangements are solid and unique and the lyrics are thought provoking.  I have read some critics say that this is U2’s best work since Achtung Baby.  I wouldn’t go that far because All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb are very good albums.  However, No Line on the Horizon doesn’t disappoint.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF ONLINE COMMUNITIES (June)

I have found this a difficult column to write.  As I have been writing this, I have read more opinions online that have given me more things to think about as I have attempted to compose my thoughts on this issue. The internet has changed the way artists interact with fans.  It makes information available faster.  It has created communities for fans.  It has also created a world where fans have unrealistic expectations of their favorite artists.  I first addressed the excesses of fans online and what the role of a fan should be in 2004, in my column “What is a Fan?” (see February 2004 Archive).  While my examples are specific to bands I follow (“What is a Fan?” was about Greg Dulli’s fans, this column is about Nine Inch Nails fans), the overall problems can probably be applied to any band with an online fan community.

One of the biggest problems I see with fans in online communities is a sense of entitlement.  No artist “owes” fans a tour, an album, or a glimpse into the artist’s personal life.  The artist’s sole purpose in life is not to entertain the fans.  However, as a fan, there are some things I do expect from the artists I follow.  I expect artists to release music to the very best of their ability that has integrity.  By integrity, I mean that it came from the heart and doesn’t pander to what is “hip” at the moment or what a record executive feels will sell.  During a tour, I expect the artist to show up for the gig (unusual circumstances such as illness being an exception) and play a show professionally.  I expect the artist to follow through with any offer or promotions made to the fan.  Lastly, I expect artists to treat fans with respect.  If it was not for the fans, you would not be able to perform your music.

The Good-Enhanced Interaction Between the Artist and the Fan

When I became a Nine Inch Nails fan, I admired Trent Reznor for the innovative ways he pushed the envelope with his music and overall how Nine Inch Nails worked.  Going to see Nine Inch Nails live wasn’t just a rock concert, it was an experience.  Year Zerojust wasn’t a CD, Reznor created an online world for Year Zero.  Reznor mocked the idea of celebrity and didn’t play by Hollywood’s rules.  He sometimes appeared to be a recluse but it was better this way because fans focused on the music more than Reznor’s personal life.  Reznor was innovative in the way he got the music to the fans.  Instead of clinging to outdated business models, he invented new ones.  He has been generous in looking for new ways to engage fans.  When Reznor left Interscope Records in 2007 and became a free agent, the doors were opened for a more innovative and interactive experience between Reznor and his fans.  In a recent post on NIN.com, Reznor states that:
“What you've seen happen with the marketing and presentation of NIN over the last years is a direct result of living next to you, listening to you, consuming with you and interacting with you. Directly. There's no handlers or PR people here, it's me and my guys - that's it. There's no real plan, even - it's just trying to do the right thing that respects you the fan, the music, and me the artist. That's the goal - a mutual and shared respect”.

There have been many things on NIN.com that have truly enhanced my experience as a fan.  I love the photoblog during the tour where I get to see a glimpse of places from all over the world.  If there was no photoblog, I would not have been able to encounter the band the night before the show in my hometown.  This was one of the coolest fan experiences of my life.  I truly appreciate the fan pre-sale tickets, where premium seats for concerts are offered to the fans first, not scalpers.  I appreciate that Reznor has allowed open recording policies at NIN shows.  I have collected live recordings for years and I love the trend that live recordings are now encouraged by some artists instead of live recordings being treated as an under the table, questionable practice.  Trent’s “gift” of high definition footage from the last tour created a truly creative, interactive project among the fans.  I watched one of the DVD edits of this footage and was amazed that something this professional came from fans.  I have never had much time to post in online forums but I do enjoying fans sharing their experiences, news, music, pictures, etc.

The Bad- Narcissism and False Relationships

The internet trend that I do find troubling right now that has in many ways marred my NIN online experience is Twitter, the online community where you can state your mind in 140 characters or less.  I am not completely against Twitter.  There are people I follow on Twitter that I do enjoy their posts (I will call them posts because I detest the term “tweets”).  Two of my favorite people on Twitter are Rob Sheridan, the NIN art director, and Scott Ford, the bass player from the Twilight Singers.  Rob and Scott both post interesting things about their jobs such as news and comments from the tour or studio and random pop culture and political observations.  I use to enjoy Trent Reznor’s posts.  However, in May, Trent announced his engagement on the eve of the “Wave Goodbye” tour, which is supposedly the last Nine Inch Nails tour, though Reznor is not retiring.  This, on the surface, should have no impact on the fans.  However, since then, Reznor and his fiancée have started posting every little gushy detail about how “in love” they are.  With one quick Google and a look on Twitter, fans knew that Trent’s fiancée had been in Playboy, was in a band that no one was familiar with until the engagement (West Indian Girl, anyone?), and that Trent and his fiancée had know each other about two weeks before their engagement.  This became a voyeuristic world for fans.  Fans use to hear about NIN music and the tour on Twitter, now we were reading everything about Reznor’s love life.  The artist, who use to guard his personal life from the fans, was openly putting it on display. Reznor justified this in a post on NIN.com stating that “I approached that (Twitter) as a place to be less formal and more off-the-cuff, honest and ‘human’. I was not expecting to broadcast details of my love life there, but it happened because I'm in love and it's all I think about and that's that”. My problem with this is yes, I know Trent is human.  However, he is not my friend, we’ve never even met, and I am a fan of his music above all else.  I don’t really want to read this gushy and too personal crap from a friend, I certainly don’t want to read this from a stranger.  I find the overuse of Twitter and the status update on Facebook to be narcissistic. 

While Trent states he is trying to be more “human”, this type of posting and the internet, in general, have created a culture of false relationships.  People feel, subconsciously, like they “know” someone who they have never met because they know all these details about them from blogs, Twitter, and Facebook.  These are not the basis for real relationships. 

The Bad- Censorship

I find it frustrating how closely the NIN forums are moderated.  To me, an online forum should be a place where ideas can be freely expressed.  There are rules on these forums that I don’t really understand the point of, the big one being that Trent’s personal life is not allowed to be discussed.  This has caused frustration because Trent is allowed to “tweet” about his personal life on Twitter but fans are not allowed to comment.  I have read fans state that Trent’s fiancée should not be judged because we don’t know her personally.  We don’t know Trent personally either but by human nature, everyone makes a judgment about celebrities based on what they say and their actions.  Anyone who is not complementary about the engagement, is “delusional” because we believed Trent was going to marry us!  There are probably some fans who do believe this.  However, most fans are not upset that Trent is getting married, it is the fact that Trent has felt a need to put his personal life on display instead of allowing fans to focus on his music.  I don’t think most fans, me included, wish unhappiness on Trent Reznor, or anyone else for that matter.  However, in my opinion, I don’t believe that anyone can know someone well enough after two weeks to know that that person is “the one”.  This is not “being angry” at another person’s happiness. Call me a cynic or unromantic.   When someone is a celebrity or married to a celebrity, a degree of privacy is given up.  When you openly post personal information on the internet, don’t get upset if you don’t get the reaction you had hoped for.  I don’t like rules that force people to think one way.  I don’t like being labeled as a “bad fan” or “hater” for not thinking everything an artist does is awesome.  Constructive criticism and skepticism should be allowed to be expressed just the same as praise.

The Bad- Broken Promises

The Twitter issue aside, Trent’s recent online behavior has become more hostile towards fans. At the beginning of the tour, Trent had contests on Twitter for fans to win tickets and backstage passes to the show of the winner’s choosing.  Trent later offered VIP packages to fans who donated $300-$1,200 for Eric de la Cruz, a young man needing a heart transplant, who is without health insurance.  I think it is wonderful that Trent is organizing this charity effort and I certainly am not questioning his motives.  However, he later posted that the Twitter winners would receive their tickets and a “memorabilia pass” that “will not get you anywhere”.  The policy changed because there were too many people to accommodate who donated to “the cause”.  Naturally the fans who picked a show after the policy change were angry and expressed themselves.  I understand why they are upset.  It is awesome that Trent has been able to raise so much money for Eric de la Cruz.  However, there are so many worthy causes that people can’t donate large amounts of money to every worthy cause.  Also, times are tough economically and not everyone has the money to donate this generously and that is OK.  The fact that Trent seems to miss is that he made an offer on Twitter that he didn’t live up to.  Offering tickets and backstage passes then changing the prize to basically tickets only is a bait and switch.  Not all of the winners were given the same privileges under the contest.  Much of the discussion I have read has been misusing the word “entitlement”.  No fan is “entitled” to free tickets or backstage passes.  However, if an artist makes the offer, he is obligated to follow through with the offer.  For the record, I was not a Twitter winner or VIP donator and I paid for my tickets to the NIN show I attended so I don’t have a vested interest.  I am in no way arguing that any fan is entitled to a backstage experience or free tickets.  When most people hear the term “backstage pass”, there is an assumption that the fan will meet the band.  If this was not the intention, state this up front.  Most of this hostile discussion seems fueled by misunderstandings regarding the “backstage pass” portion of the contest.  The Twitter winners are not expressing “entitlement”, it’s the fact that Trent did not live up to his end of the agreement. 

The Ugly: Verbal Assaults from Afar

The final straw for me has been the fact that Trent has felt a need to “call out” fans by name on the NIN forums and Twitter who have criticized him.  Trent has called these fans “bitter, jealous assholes”,  “f**kwads”, “miserable f**ks”, “anonymous cowards”, “mentally unstable”, and “hate-driven scum of the f**king earth that need something to define their utterly meaningless lives by attacking someone from the shadows”.  OUCH!  (Sorry, I usually don’t write using this kind of language but I’m quoting to make a point).  I know that there are unstable fans that will harass artists. No artist deserves this but unfortunately this comes with being a celebrity.  I am surprised that fans can e-mail Trent directly and that he has the time to read and respond to this.  I certainly don’t have time to read everything in the NIN forums.  By responding to harassing messages, it gives the bad fans an audience.  In turn, fans, who are not mental, are constantly subjected to negativity.  Most of this junk should be ignored and the law should be involved in truly threatening circumstances.  No, fans don’t understand what it’s like to be a celebrity.  However, for a pay cut, Trent can take a job like mine where no one is hanging on my every word or sending me tons of messages a day.  Trent claims to be so happy and in love so I don’t understand the need for this downright meanness.  I know it’s a cliché but do two wrongs make a right?  Is using the worst language in order to publicly attack a fan any better than a fan criticizing an artist online?  I wonder if fans would say harassing things to Trent’s face but I also wonder if he would say these things to the guy sitting on the front row at a NIN show.  In short, I will always love Nine Inch Nails’ music; however, I am done with the online “community”.  I expect artists and fans to treat each other with mutual respect and focus on the love of the music.  It’s time for me to “wave goodbye” in multiple ways.

REMEMBERING THE AFGHAN WHIGS (July)

Being influential as a musician is more than just selling a bunch of albums.  Some musicians sell a lot of albums but are brief flashes in the pan, not having longevity or being an influence.  Others may not sell a lot of albums but their music stands the test of time.  The Afghan Whigs fall into the latter category.

I became an Afghan Whigs fan in late 1993 when I saw the video for “Debonair” on 120 Minutes.  I picked up the album the song was from, Gentlemen, and I have not been the same since then.  Over the last fifteen years (boy, that make me feel old to have been a fan of anything for that long), I have written several blogs and spent many hours listening to the Whigs and Whigs related music (Whigs is the short version of the band’s name that fan use.  It is not to be confused with the band from Georgia who ripped off the name).  Why Gentlemen had such a huge influence on me was because not only is the music brilliant but of the brutal honesty of frontman, Greg Dulli’s lyrics.  Nothing was held back in the bold and sometimes ugly commentaries on love, lust, and breaking up. 

The Afghan Whigs originated in Cincinnati, OH.  Cincinnati is about an hour-hour and half north where I am from, Lexington, KY.  The early 90’s was a high point for alternative music, driven by the grunge scene of Seattle.  The Whigs were the first non-Seattle band to be signed to the famous, grunge record label, Sub Pop.  About the time I became a fan, the music press started looking at Cincinnati as the next big music scene.   MTV and Spin did stories touting Cincinnati as the next Seattle.  Cincinnati was the anti-grunge.  Instead of flannel, the bands wore suits in promo pictures and videos.  The music was more suave than grunge.  Being from Lexington, I thought that I had just been let in on the best music secret before the rest of the world.  Sadly, Cincinnati did not become the next Seattle.  However, the Whigs did get a very loyal following from all over the world. 

The Afghan Whigs called it quits in February 2001.  While this caused almost hysteria in some fans, I viewed this like Semisonic sang in “Closing Time”, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”.  Most bands don’t completely dissolve; they just evolve into other bands.  While the Whigs are no more, we got the Twilight Singers, the Gutter Twins, Staggering Statistics, and Moon Maan from the Whigs.

Over the last few years, people are looking back at the influence of 90’s alternative music.  The Whigs are finally being recognized for their contribution.  In 2007, Rhino Records released the retrospective, Unbreakable, which featured a reunited Whigs on two new songs.  I periodically hear “Gentleman” and “Debonair” on “90’s alternative” radio.  In late 2008, a 33 1/3 book by Bob Gendron was released on Gentlemen.  33 1/3 is a series of books on influential albums.  I thought I knew everything aboutGentlemen but this short, little book gave me so many new insights about the inspirations for this wonderful album.  I was very honored that Gentlemen was recognized in this series.

The highest compliment to any band is when other bands cover your work.  Recently, the fan website, Summerskiss released a tribute album to the Whigs.  This album includes many of the heavy hitters connected to the Whigs.  The album cover is by Sam Holden, who took a lot of the Twilight Singers/Gutter Twins promo pictures.  Wussy, which features former Cincinnati band, the Ass Ponys’ frontman, Chuck Cleaver, covered “Retarded”.  This was a good inclusion since the Ass Ponys covered “You My Flower” and the Whigs covered the Ass Ponys’ “Mr. Superlove” back in the day.  Joseph Arthur, who collaborated with the Twilight Singers, contributed “Step Into the Light”.  His cover is good but I like the cover that featured Greg Dulli better on Nearly’s album, Reminder.  Former Whigs back up singer Susan Marshall covered “Going to Town”.  For those who remember Marshall’s sultry rendition of “My Curse” on the 1965 tour, “Going to Town” gets a similar treatment here.  My Jerusalem, featuring Twilight Singers’ band members, Jeff Klein and Dave Rosser, make “66” a piano based song.  Mighty Fine, featuring former Whigs back up singer, Steve Myers, cover “Something Hot” making it a funky Whigs/Prince inspired song.  Last, but certainly not least, Greg Dulli’s Gutter Twins partner, Mark Lanegan, puts his spin on “Tonight”.  I really like Chess Club’s cover of “When We Two Parted”, as well.  I initially cringed when I heard the sample from “Going to Town” at the beginning of this song but the string arrangement really added to what is probably one of the saddest break up songs ever.

On June 20, 2009 on the eve of the Summer’s Kiss tribute release, the Southgate House in Newport, KY (the Kentucky side of Cincinnati) hosted a benefit tribute night to the Whigs.  Eighteen bands from the Cincinnati area played songs from over the course of the Whigs’ career.  Some of the bands were better than others but overall, I remembered how good the bands from Cincinnati are.  Highlights were Goose’s cover of “Gentleman”, Lovely Crash performing “66” and “Faded”, and the Fairmount Girls performing “Crazy” (complete with a very Greg Dulli inspired interlude of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”).  The Whigs members, John Curley and Michael Horrigan, and former back up singer, Doug Falsetti were in attendance.  I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to the Whigs’ music or a better place to have had it.  After all, even with a loyal international following, The Afghan Whigs were our band, Cincinnati’s gentlemen.

REVIEW: GREEN DAY- 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN (August)

Green Day had their first hit with the 1994 album, Dookie.  Dookie became a slacker’s anthem with songs like “Longview” where frontman, Billie Joe Armstrong raged “I got no motivation”.  Ten years later, it was almost surprising that Green Day had grown up when they released the brilliant, American Idiot.  American Idiot was an ambitious effort.  Released on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, it was a rock opera that followed character, St. Jimmy, through the disillusionment of the Bush, post 9/11 era America.  Many artists have tried unsuccessfully to create concept albums.  Green Day nailed it on American Idiot by creating an album that successfully carried out its message, lyrically and musically, from start to finish.  American Idiot was a hard act to follow but five years later, Green Day has done it with 21st Century Breakdown.  21st Century Breakdown picks up where American Idiot left off, this time following slacker couple, Christian and Gloria, through 21st century America.  The album is another ambitious rock opera broken into to three acts: “Heroes and Cons”, “Charlatans and Saints”, and “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades”.  The opening track, “Song of the Century” is a distorted poem that sets up the message for the rest of the album, “they’re playing the song of the century of panic and promise and prosperity”.

Act I, “Heroes and Cons”, begins with the album’s title track.  A straight out rocker musically, the song introduces our heroes of the story as being “born into Nixon”, “raised by the bastards of 1969”, of a generation of “a worker of pride, my debt to the status quo”.  Gloria is introduced on “Viva La Gloria!” and is described as “the saint on all the sinners, the one that’s fallen through the cracks, so don’t put away your burning light”.  Musically, the song starts out as a quiet ballad but builds up to a rocker.  “Before the Lobotomy” starts out a weeper about disillusionment but like “Viva La Gloria!” shifts to a rocker midway lamenting “we’re lost like refugees, the brutality of reality is the freedom that keeps me from dreaming”.  “Christian’s Inferno” introduces the listener to Gloria’s cynical other half, Christian (“I got under the grip between the modern hell”).  Act I closes with probably one of the most lovely ballad Green Day has written “Last Night on Earth”.  A lush piano track is paired with the beautiful sentiments “if I lose everything in the fire, I’m sending all my love to you”.

Act II, “Charlatans and Saints”, begins with a bold attack on the corruption in the church, “East Jesus Nowhere”.   The guitar riff sounds as though Green Day is leading the listener into battle.  “Peacemaker” is a highlight of the album because of its departure musically, featuring a guitar riff with a Latin vibe. “Last of the American Girls” is standard Green Day song musically but lyrically is a great commentary on the girl who is outside of the mainstream culture (Gloria, in terms of the story).  Act II closes with another ballad, “Restless Heart Syndrome”, an inner reflection, probably from Christian, “I’m a victim of my symptom, I am my own worst enemy”.

The final act is “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades”.  The first track of the act, “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades” is a pure, punk rock rage, “demolition, self destruction, what to annihilate”.  No real solutions here but it’s good teenage angst. “21 Guns” is probably the album’s most political track, an anti-war anthem.  “American Eulogy” is a track broken into two acts.  The first part, “Mass Hysteria” is best summed up by its statement, “America is falling”.  The second part, “Modern World” is the answer and call against the negativity of “Mass Hysteria”.  The album closes with “See the Light”, a call to action to the societal problems addressed through Christian and Gloria’s journey.  There are little glimmers of hope among the cynicism here, “I just want to see the light, I don’t want to lose my sight…I need to know what’s worth the fight” and “but never too late, where the ever after is in the hands of fate”.

21st Century Breakdown is not intended for a casual listen.  It is a complex album that takes several close listens to pick up on the themes.  Like American Idiot, it successfully executes its story and themes through out the album.  It is more ambitious than American Idiot because of how it experiments with many different musical styles.  One criticism I have heard of Green Day’s work on American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown is that it is “un-American” (a term that is thrown around a lot but I am not completely sure what it means).  This is too simplistic a statement that is missing the point.  21st Century Breakdown is a commentary on the excesses of American society such as war, corporate and religious corruption, materialism, and economic distress told from the point of view of the young adult generation.  It does offer moments of hope and a call not to be part of “the modern world”.  It is call for a better America, not anti-America.

REVIEW: BETTER THAN EZRA- PAPER EMPIRE (September)

Better Than Ezra came along in the 90’s during the heyday for alternative music.  There was nothing extraordinarily unusual about their sound, however, they were enjoyable because they performed smart pop songs and could put on an entertaining, fun show.  When Better Than Ezra released their last album, Before the Robots, in 2005, it seemed like the band was losing steam.  You know it is not a good sign when an album’s first single (“A Lifetime”) had already been released on the much better previous album, Closer, in 2004.  Nor is it a good sign when the follow up single is the downright silly, “Juicy”.  Four years later, a regrouped Better Than Ezra returns to form with Paper Empire. 

The album opening two tracks, “Absolutely Still” and “Turn Up the Bright Lights”, stylistically could easily fit with the Better Than Ezra hits like “Good” and “King of New Orleans”.  Better Than Ezra always has a few songs where they just have fun and don’t take themselves too seriously.  The catchy sing along “All In” and “Hell No!” fit this role.  The band breaks from the standard pop format on “Nightclubbing”, a rump shaker with a wicked sax solo in the middle.  The highlights, though, are the ballads, which are sweet without being cheesy or overly sentimental.  While some of Better Than Ezra’s best ballads in the past have been break up songs, frontman, Kevin Griffin, seems more content singing about finding the one.  On “Fit”, Griffin observes “I finally found a piece that fit in my life”.  The album closes with my favorite, “I Just Knew” where Griffin hits on every stage of a relationship from the crush (“do you think that I'm alright?”) to the dating commitment (“how about making it for real?”) to the life long commitment, (“how about doing it for life?”).  However, don’t think that Griffin has gone completely soft and happy.  On “Hey Love”, Griffin laments “Hey love, how you been? I wish you'd stay a little longer” and “if every new beginning is just another's end, tell me love, why should I begin again”.  The only really weak track on the album is “Just One Day”.  There are too many of these songs pondering “what would you do if you died today?” or in the case of “Just One Day”, what would you do with a second chance, that this theme is becoming clichéd.  Or maybe I have heard Nickelback’s annoying “If Today Was Your Last Day” so many times that I am just turned off by these philosophical songs.

Paper Empire is a return to what Better Than Ezra does best; performing smart catchy pop songs, mixed with emotional ballads.  There is nothing new here in terms of sound but afterBefore the Robots, it is a good reminder of the enjoyable aspects of the band.  Better Than Ezra has not peaked but shows onPaper Empire that there are still good songs in them.