Brian Wilson - Kewsick Theater - 11/22/08

I took my cousin Tommy with me to see Brian Wilson, this past Saturday.

These days, the sixty-six year old is a honest-to-goodness music legend touring behind a new album of songs called "That Lucky Old Sun".

A few years ago, Wilson finally released "Smile". That album was the revisiting of an old project that many people thought they would never actually hear. When he finally released it, "Smile" marked a musical moment that somehow "closed the circle" for many fans of The Beach Boys. Even the musicians that knew Brian Wilson said that he looked like someone who had lifted a tremendous weight off his shoulders.

So, was there anything left to do?

Clearly, "That Lucky Old Sun" marks a new chapter in Wilson's career. Its clear that these songs are devoted to telling the listener just how much Wilson loves California and how fondly he remembers his childhood. This is a man finally at peace with his past.

When Wilson took the stage, he was backed by his amazing ten-piece band "The Wondermints". If you close your eyes - you would swear someone put on a Beach Boys CD. This group of musicians deftly execute the complexities of these songs with smiles on their faces. It's clear that they love this music and admire the man who wrote these songs.

The band opened with "California Girls" and rolled through an hour of Beach Boys classics with absolute precision. The audience was ecstatic. Wilson was in good voice and his band never missed a beat.

After a twenty-minute intermission, the band performed "That Lucky Old Sun" from start to finish. Normally, I would find something like this boring. But, I have to say - the album actually holds up better live than it does when you are just sitting and listening to it. In fact, the songs were so beautifully performed, it made me want to revisit the album and listen to it more closely.

Towards the middle of the set, a screen behind the drummer showed pictures of Wilson as a teenager. The crowd cheered and screamed out, "We love you, Brian!". Wilson responded, "I love you, too!" Then, the screen showed snapshots of Brian with Dennis and Carl Wilson. Again, this was a bittersweet moment - and the crowd cheered loudly to show their love. It made the hair on my neck stand up. It was clearly a show of love for this man that acknowledged how far this man has come - and how much he's lost on the journey.

After a brief pause, Wilson and his band rounded out the night with a few more classic songs by The Beach Boys, as well as a cover of "Johnny B. Goode". For me, the highlight of the night was Wilson's performance of "God Only Knows". He introduced the song by saying that Paul McCartney told him that it was one of his favorite songs.

Clearly, Paul spoke for just about everyone in attendance. It was a moving moment in an evening that was filled with special moments. It isn't often you get to see a music legend perform live.

When you get the chance, take it.

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

For almost fourteen years, Axl Rose has been in and out of the public eye. In that time, "Chinese Democracy" has been the most famous album never released. It was the Lochness Monster of rock albums. Many claim to have heard it. Others claimed to know when it would really appear - only to look foolish when the supposed date would pass with no album. You could say that Axl Rose has been carefully orchestrating this hype from has self-induced isolation.

For years, the album had release dates that were scrapped in the eleventh hour. There were leaked singles. There were websites with artwork.

Then, there was silence.

"Chinese Democracy" was becoming the punchline to an odd joke whose point-of-reference was lost on anyone under the age of 30.

When Rose finally did decide to release "Chinese Democracy", he compounded the issue by releasing it in CD and LP formats exclusively to Best Buy. However, it did show up on iTunes, yesterday. This will help an album that many people are approaching with understandable caution. I can see people listening to thirty second samples carefully before investing their money in the entire album.

So,this officially makes 2008 an awfully interesting year in pop-culture. A Philadelphia team (the Phillies) won a world championship, an African-American man became president and now..."Chinese Democracy" finally sees the light of day.

All of them....truly miraculous, in their own way.

What's next?

I might have to play the lottery.

So, will "Chinese Democracy" give Guns N' Roses fans a reason to celebrate?
Or, has too much time gone by for this to matter?

Let's get to it.

First of all, "Chinese Democracy" is one of the most expensive albums ever made and its body count includes every founding member of Guns N'Roses. And, this new version of Guns N' Roses is essentially Axl Rose with an army of hired musicians. The most interesting thing about this collection of songs is how tightly wound it is in subject matter and sequence. The temptation for any other artist would be to spill every idea, no matter how inane, across multiple CDs. The beauty of "Chinese Democracy" is that it is only fourteen songs.

However, that is where the restraint ends. Within those fourteen songs, Rose and company unleash a torrent of music. Each song unfolds with the ferocity of a symphony that is equal parts emotional catharsis and cluster-bomb guitars. Even though Rose "throws it all in there", the album doesn't suffer for it. There are never moments when the excess makes the album feel bloated. But, one thing is clear: If this was the vision Axl Rose had for Guns N' Roses, it was clear that the original format of guitars, bass and drums was never going to cut it. At some point, Rose saw his music as something bigger - and the sprawling arrangements on "Chinese Democracy" reflect this vision. For stretches of the album, the songs sound more like the bigger moments of "Civil War" and "November Rain" than the quiet moments of "Patience". There is nothing here that sounds like the folksy leanings of "Used To Love Her", either.

There is nothing stripped-down here.

"Chinese Democracy" is full of great moments. "Shackler's Revenge", " Better", "Street Of Dreams" and the concert-staple "Madagascar" all pack the signature guitar-driven wallop that G 'N' R fans have come to expect. Rose's voice is certainly up to the task, as well. His jet-engine wail scales great heights and dives into his chest and throat when Rose reduces the thrust of his message to a snarling growl. Songs like "If The World" deftly blend sonic landscapes that include techno-beat drums with plucked Spanish guitar (courtesy of Buckethead) that dissolves into a hailstorm of gutbucket funk.

"There Was A Time" was clearly written by a man with a mountain of regrets. The arrangement twists and turns with swirling wah-wah guitars and choirs that build steadily as Rose growls through a picture book filled with bad memories. It's a sonic "pile-on" that includes strings, choirs and even a mellotron for maximum emotional effect. All the while, Rose's voice works its way from a growl to a wail as he carries on about the notion of "thinking you have it all" and painfully wishing he could back in time. Presumably, Rose is giving his "I wish I had known then...." speech. This gives way to resolve as Rose screams "I don't want to know it now."

It is a powerful moment that is bolstered by the chaotic force of the song's arrangement.

What comes through in almost all of the songs is the notion that Rose survived to make this album. He alludes to the idea of sheer will, often in these songs. It seems that Rose's biggest enemy in the fourteen years since "Use Your Illusion I & II" were the people behind him telling him that he had to do something sooner than he was ready to do it. "Chinese Democracy" could have been released seven times over. The fact that Rose would not be swayed is a testament to his unflinching belief that he would only release the album that he wanted the public to hear. It was more than just risky to wait this many years and hope anyone would actually care enough to listen. Truly, this could have been the greatest record never heard. Rose risked it all to make the album he wanted to make.

Even I was doubtful.

But, Rose did more than prove my doubt wrong - he convinced me....he made me believe that he was right to take his time with "Chinese Democracy". Axl Rose stakes his claim and stands proudly in the face of every person who tried to make him bow to the will of a business that doesn't really care about art or the artist making it.

"Chinese Democracy" is the result of a lifetime of exhausting work. But, what comes across more clearly than anything else is that Rose never did this "for the fans". In many ways, Rose did this for himself. Instead of sounding weighed-down by self-doubt, "Chinese Democracy" is the sound of one man searching for his truth in the face of commerce.

Does he find it?
You tell me.

But, the bottom-line is that Axl Rose and whoever Guns N' Roses is, at this point...have released a great album. It is far better than it has any right to be, after fourteen years. More than a few people thought this thing was going to culminate in disaster. However, "Chinese Democracy" really does exceed expectations...even if it isn't really Guns N' Roses in any traditional sense.

But, the most interesting chapter of this story has yet to be written.

Will Rose be able to tour successfully behind this album?
Does anyone have a right to think a follow-up will appear sooner than this one did?

One thing at a time, folks.
One thing at a time.

Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream

"Working On A Dream" is the first single from Bruce Springsteen's forthcoming album. This morning, it is a free download on iTunes.

So, grab it up and give it a listen.

The entire CD, titled "Working On A Dream", will be released on January 27, 2009.

An Album You Should Own - 11/21/08

Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

Do you remember when Michael Jackson was normal?
The plastic surgery wasn't so scary.
He wasn't constantly in court charged with crimes that made your flesh crawl.

I tell kids today that when I was their age (oh, crap...) Michael Jackson was on top of the world. He was fairly normal in appearance and far from the punchline to the numerous jokes that have been told about him on late-night talk shows.

He was an absolute superstar.

There was no one in the world as recognizable as him. Jackson's face graced the cover of countless magazines. He was constantly on television and radio. He legitimized MTV, rather than the other way around. Jackson's career crested around the same time MTV was looking for a superstar like him to take their fledgling network and catapult it against the collective frontal-lobe of the public.

It was a marriage made in heaven.
The video was "Billie Jean" and the album was "Thriller".

Before that, however, Michael Jackson was slightly less "omni-present".
He was still a big star from his work with his brothers. But, he wasn't the world-dominating star he became around 1982.

"Off The Wall" was released in 1979. Although it wasn't his first solo recording, it was the album that solidified his reputation as an astonishing talent. It took disco music and turned it inside out. With this album, the beat was undeniable - but, it wasn't the focus. The beats were just the foundation for an album loaded with pop hooks, dense funk, strings, lush ballads and Jackson's own rebirth as a blindingly-talented, highly-skilled vocalist.

The album's vision was shaped, masterfully, by Jackson and the legendary Quincy Jones. Each song is blessed with strong melodies and large helpings of funk guitars and rhythmic hooks that produce a dazzling effect on the listener. It was, no doubt, the soundtrack to countless parties - simultaneously blowing up dance-floors in clubs across the nation.

"Thriller" might be the album that made Jackson a star. But, "Off The Wall" was actually a more complete musical achievement. The attention to detail is evident in the final result. Simply put, it is pure joy. You can listen to this album from start to finish and it never disappoints. It's perfect background music for a summer cookout or a party. It can fade into the wallpaper if that is what you need. Or, it can come roaring out of the speakers if you need to get people on the floor.

Whenever I hear "Off The Wall", it truly takes me back.

It is an album you should own.

Further listening: "Thriller", "Bad", "Dangerous"

An Album You Should Own - 11/7/08

"Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" is the first and only album recorded by the Sex Pistols. Released in October of 1977, the album is generally considered to be one of the most influential and important in the history of rock music not only for its content but for its impact on a generation of bands that followed. It is the only official album released by the Sex Pistols while vocalist Johnny Rotten was a member of the group (the band broke up less than three months after the album's release). Plagued upon its release by a hailstorm of controversy, particularly for the incendiary lyrics to the songs God Save the Queen and Anarchy in the U.K., "Never Mind the Bollocks...." was perceived as a deliberate attack on the monarchy and English society. Regardless, the album reached #1 on the UK charts.

Rotten's snarled, off-key "singing" is perhaps "Never Mind the Bollocks...." most startling characteristic. Strikingly original at the time, Rotten's vocal style has since been copied by hundreds of singers and has influenced hundreds more. Similarly, the Pistols' choice of song topics, from corporate control to intellectual vacuity to political hypocrisy, continues to resonate more than 30 years later. In an interview during 2002, Rolling Stone journalist Charles M. Young stated: "Never Mind the Bollocks changed everything. There had never been anything like it before and really there's never been anything quite like it since. The closest was probably Nirvana, a band very heavily influenced by the Sex Pistols."

The album, which moves with all the strength and velocity of a pissed-off stallion, kicks off with the raging "Holidays in the Sun" followed by the downright morbid "Bodies," a song seemingly about a botched abortion featuring the uplifting lyrics: "Fuck this and fuck that/fuck it all and fuck the fucking brat/She don't wanna baby that looks like that/I don't wanna baby that looks like that." "No Feelings," with its nihilistic chorus "I got no feelings/no feelings for anybody else/Except for myself/my beautiful self" features crunching, swaggering guitars from the underrated Steve Jones. The appropriately titled "Liar" accuses an unnamed nemesis of being - what else? - a liar. The thunderous "Problems" follows, featuring the manic drumming of Paul Cook, blistering guitar work from Jones, and Rotten literally spitting the lyrics "In a death trip I ain't automatic/You won't find me just staying static/Don't you give me any orders/for people like me there is no order." The song, a sonic jackhammer to the temple, ends with Rotten repeating the word "problem" over and over like a petulant child.

The infamous "God Save the Queen" is next, featuring the lyrics "God save the Queen/she ain't no human being/There is no future/in England's dreaming" and ends bleakly with the band singing together "No future/no future for you/no future for me." In the song "Seventeen," with its chorus "I'm a lazy sod!" one can clearly hear echoes of Rancid and Green Day. "Anarchy in the UK," arguably the Pistols' most famous song, includes the opening lyrics "I am an anti-Christ/I am an anarchist/don't know what I want/but I know how to get it." Rotten is at his belligerent best here, and Jones' deceptively simple guitar work perfectly complements the lead singer's obvious irritation at his home country. "Submission" is one of the Pistols' catchiest songs, one that would not sound out of place on today's modern rock charts. "Pretty Vacant" opens with a simple guitar lick followed by Cook's pounding drums. The band then comes in full-force as Rotten's whining, snorting lyrics join the fray. As a scathing indictment of vacuous celebrity culture, the song still resonates today.

"New York" resounds with the Pistols' trademark disdain for celebrity culture: "Think it's swell playing in Japan/When everybody knows Japan is a dishpan/you're just a pile of shit/I wanna kiss/You do just about anything/oh kiss this." The album's final song, "EMI," opens with a blast of guitar, drums and bass. Rotten's nasty attitude is on full display here: "Blind acceptance is a sign/Of stupid fools who stand in line."

In closing, "Never Mind the Bollocks...." is to this listener one of the rawest and most honest musical statements ever recorded. Unlike the here-today-gone-today acts of 2008, "Never Mind the Bollocks...." is an album we'll be listening to for decades to come.

Give it a listen.

For your viewing pleasure: Julien Temple's documentary, "The Filth and the Fury"

Barack Obama Becomes The 44th President Of The United States

Mandate - \ˈman-ˌdāt\ - 1: an authoritative command ; especially : a formal order

What does the word mandate have to do with this?
We'll save that for last.

For now....

Last night, like so many people, I gathered with friends to watch the election results as they were reported.

There was a sense of hope and some nervousness as the night progressed. Around the time I arrived at my friend Grace's house, Pennsylvania had been called for Obama.

Then, a landslide ensued.

By 11 p.m., the election was over and John McCain was conceding victory to Barack Obama.

As I went home, I called my friend Mike and we talked about the relief we felt. Obama's victory sounds the funeral-bell for the Bush administration and the end of Republican rule after eight long years of frustration and failure.

Today is truly historic.

Mostly, I woke up this morning to a new sense of hope and optimism. I can never again say that my country isn't capable of the kind of grand gesture that makes real the promise that all men are created equal.

Electing Obama doesn't mean that the country is instantly better. This does not erase the deficit. It doesn't end terrorism or bring our troops back home. Racism isn't gone, either. But, this election does make clear that we are clearly moving in a more positive direction as a country. Yesterday showed, as I said previously, that open-minded people mean business. We are not going to sit back and keep doing the same thing when it isn't working.

Obama is the right man at the right time in this country's history. He is truly a man for his times and the challenge he has accepted is a monumental one. He has his work cut out for him. But, he will have help as the Democrats grabbed many seats in the Senate.

I said this morning that the most important thing he needs to do as president is unite this country. I might have been wrong about that. Perhaps, that isn't his most important job as a president. Maybe, this is his most important calling as a man. It could be that the task of uniting this country is too big for a simple elected official.

It's going to take a man of substance and character. It's going to take a person who can lead by example and be a real human being that men, women and children strive to emulate. This could be the most important thing he does, while in office. To me, that is worth more than any piece of legislation he can sign.

We need a person that can show us the way. We need a man (or woman) who can lead us and carry himself with dignity and grace. We need a leader that can speak coherently in front of foreign dignitaries and other nations.

We don't need a fool who declares himself with stupid titles (oh, I don't know...like "The Decider").

More than ever, we need a man who can reach across party lines and dissolve the partisan politics that the Bush administration endorsed as the country was driven to it's knees.

I don't usually share too much personal information.
But, I thought this one was appropriate.

As I was driving to school, my phone rang.
It was my father.
He told me that he was going to buy a newspaper so that I could give it to my son.
My son is about to turn 1, this Saturday.

Why?

Well...this is history and my son is living through it. I want him to have something that marks this day when he is old enough to understand.

This was the day that people around this country issued a real mandate.

This isn't the mandate declared by Still-President George W. Bush, four years ago, when he squeaked out a narrow victory over John Kerry. A victory, by the way, that was tainted by fraud and voter disenfranchisement in several states.

George W. Bush will not only be remembered for his failed presidency, he will be remembered for destroying the Republican party. You see, George...this is what a mandate looks like. It's when states that haven't voted Democrat for forty years not only vote Democrat, they wash you and your party off the political map. They destroy your party and leave it in shambles.

Last night, the American people issued a mandate against Bush and his cronies that simply said, "Enough".

The only thing that makes this victory bittersweet for me is that I wanted Bush to be the one who lost. Seeing Obama win was fantastic. But, I really wanted to see Bush lose both elections. That is the only wound that will never heal. McCain lost this election because he ran a shitty campaign that came up against one of the most amazing campaigns anyone has ever seen. He also lost because he was affiliated with the Bush administration. But, the final nail in his coffin was Sarah Palin. Choosing her was an amazing disaster that dismantled McCain's bid for the White House in a way that was insanely comical.

When the election was called for Obama, I turned to my friends and said, "I can't help but feel that I had a hand in this, somehow."

For better or worse, that is true.

I campaigned hard for Obama because I believed in him. I have high expectations and am I going to hold Obama to a high standard. He earned my vote. Now, he has to prove he is worthy. The GOP is already sharpening their attacks. One thing I know to be true, the GOP is reeling today and they don't like it one bit. They know they lost and they aren't used to it.

For the first time in years, the Democrats are in a position they haven't known for some time...they are playing defense. Trust me, the attacks against the Democrats are coming. For me, that is what made so many Republicans insufferable for the last eight years. Even when they were winning, they never stopped whining. They never stopped blaming Democrats. They never took their foot off Clinton's neck - even though he hadn't been president for the last eight years. He still took all the blame for everything that went wrong during Bush's presidency.

9/11?
Republicans said it was Clinton's fault.
The economy?
Again, Republicans blamed Clinton.

That level of psychosis is an amazing thing to behold.

But, all that is over.

I am only going to take one second to get this out of my system:

Republican rule is over.
Today marks a new day.

Hopefully, it will be the start of a day when all people in this country look at each other and remember that we are all in this together. If you can't wrap your head around that, find somewhere else to live. I am finished with the rhetoric that has carved up pieces of this country and pitted us against each other by calling some places "THE REAL AMERICA", while condemning other places as being "UN-AMERICAN".

Last night's election was a mandate. It was a forceful rejection of the politics that have divided this country for too long

So....open your eyes, Republicans.

This is the REAL AMERICA.

Good luck, Barack.
We are all counting on you.