Week 21, 22 & 23

Thanks to my readers for the comments in Week 20. I have seriously slacked off on the blog, but I'm getting back on track. I have a tremendous amount of respect for just how hard maintaining a blog is week after week. Since this blog is weeks overdue, here goes (5/24-6/13):

The Flaming Lips - Hit to Death In The Future Head
The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
Aerosmith - Honkin' On Bobo
Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy
Toby Keith - How Do You Like Me Now?
The Fray - How To Save A Life
Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch
Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun - Hurry Up And Wait (no link available)
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Oakley Hall - I'll Follow You
Muddy Waters - I'm Ready
Al Green - I'm Still In Love With You
Albert Collins - Ice Pickin'
Allman Brothers Band - Idlewild South
Grateful Dead - In The Dark
Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door

My appreciation for The Flaming Lips, particularly Wayne Coyne, grew after watching the documentary The Fearless Freaks. If you haven't seen it, watch it!! Hit To Death In The Future Head was the predecessor to Transmissions From The Satellite Heart which contained the band's only commercial hit - She Don't Use Jelly. The 29+ minute bonus track, at the end of Hit To Death..., is a static-hop from speaker to speaker that would make a fine torture technique for driving someone insane. I challenge anyone to listen to it in its entirety. I personally couldn't do it. After about 9-10 minutes I felt like I was getting Hit To Death In The Future Head. All in all the album is quite good and I still need to add some more of their catalog to my collection.

The Jayhawks was unfortunately a band I never got to see live. However, I did see Mark Olson & Gary Louris on there recent tour in support of Ready For The Flood. More on that much later, but it is now one of my favorite albums. Hollywood Town Hall is alt-country delicacy. Waiting On The Sun is a fantastic tune and my personal pick from this album. Of additional note, Nicky Hopkins (long time session pianist that did work with everyone including the Stones) contributed work to the album. To continue the theme - if you like alt-country then it's in your interest to listen to I'll Follow You. As stated in an earlier week, Oakley Hall released this on local Durham label Merge. All The Way Down, Marine Life, Angela, and No Dreams are choice tunes. The album doesn't really have a down track.

Houses Of The Holy is not my favorite Led Zeppelin album, nor is it my least favorite. My least favorite is without question In Through The Out Door. All the synthesizer is just too cheesy. There are some great songs and music, but the gratuitous electronic layers really detract from the album. On the other hand, HOTH contains Zeppelin right around their peak. Songs like The Ocean, Song Remains The Same, Over The Hills And Far Away, The Crunge, etc. are just timeless.

James Brown may have been the Godfather of Soul, but Al Green was the one that paved the way for smooth soul/R&B. I'm Still In Love With You is just the cream of soul/R&B music. Love And Happiness is easily one of my favorite songs of the genre. Contrast the soul of Al with the mega-arena selling sounds of Hysteria. Two albums that couldn't possibly be more diametrically opposed. In retrospect the songs are sorta overdone in many aspects, but the nostalgia of the largest hair-metal band from the 80's still has a draw that's hard to resist.

The week(s) ended with the roots and the extension of the blues. Muddy Waters, Allmans, Albert Collins, and even Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin and Gregg/Duane never held back using material from Muddy. Both covered or "borrowed" lyrics extensively from the king of the delta-Chicago blues. Doing a little research I also learned Albert Collins produced several Canned Heat (who played at Woodstock) albums. Rock is the blues at it's core and having these albums rounding out the week gave proof of the connections that exist and carry forward to this day.