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So if you’ve been listening to me in the wee hours of the morning, chances are you’ve heard the new song “Dragon Fly” by a band straight out of Jeff City, Missouri. If you haven’t heard this song, check out the video below…It’s one of my favorite songs out there right now. Enjoy!
–F ‘Em Up
Alright, man…ALICE IN CHAINS last night was AWESOME. Hands down one of the coolest shows I’ve seen in a long time. Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant…Just a night of killer rock and roll. I loved every second of it, and if you were there, I’m sure you did too. I got some video footage of the night and threw my 2 cents in with this video edition of my blog! If you were there, leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the show!
–F ‘Em Up
So I was perusing the world wide web of the internets and stumbled across this badass video. Check it out: Shadows Fall covering the Prince of Darkness’ “Bark At The Moon.” The coolest part of the video, besides the crushing cover, is the fact that the guys stayed very close to the original (albeit cheesy) feel of the video. Enjoy.
And you know what? Since it’s Friday, how about a LIVE version of this song? Sound good? That’s what I thought…
–F ‘Em Up
On February 13th, 1970 (yes, Friday the 13th) Black Sabbath released their self-titled album, Black Sabbath. When it comes to rock and roll, the impact of this band and this album is truly significant. Granted, it’s not the most well-known Black Sabbath disc and it might not be the definitive work of the band, but it is truly one kick-ass piece of rock history.
From the opening riff of the title track, you know what this album is bringing to the table. The tritone guitar riff still sounds menacing, but I can’t even imagine the power it inflicted 40 years ago. If you haven’t heard of the tritone or The Devil’s Interval, check it out here, and then listen to track 1 on this album…You’ll have a whole new appreciation for what Iommi was doing.
I learned a lot about this band and their first album simply by reading Ozzy Osbourne’s autobiography. As I already knew, Black Sabbath was not a Satan-worshiping band. I knew that, but I didn’t really know why they played the dark music if they didn’t really believe in anything as dark as what they were singing about. Basically, they started out as a blues band…as that didn’t really take off like they had hoped, Tony Iommi suggested they start writing scary music…If people like to get the hell scared out of them at horror movies, why not transfer that to rock and roll? I also didn’t know that they literally had no say on the design for their first album. They got the record deal, and then they saw the album…They didn’t pick the creepy picture of that dark figure standing in a desolate area for the album cover…They didn’t pick the upside-down cross for the inside art. They simply made the music, and let their manager do what he thought was best.
40 years later, and Black Sabbath still kicks ass. Granted, there has been a lot going on with the band, from Iommi suing Live Nation to Ozzy suing Iommi, to Iommi, Geezer and Ward working with Dio in Heaven and Hell. But it doesn’t matter…Black Sabbath rocked 40 years ago, and they still do.
I was fortunate enough to see the original Black Sabbath – as I’m sure many of you were – at an Ozzfest back in 2004. Yes, the guys are a little older than they once were, but it was still a hell of a show…and from what I understand from reading books/articles and hearing stories, they’ve always put on killer shows. My dad saw the band at Memorial Hall in Kansas City back in the 70’s and said it was insane. He had front row seats and the one thing he will never forget is Ozzy picking up one of the monitors and throwing it across the stage.
So…40 years and we’re still talking about Black Sabbath. 40 years and we’re still listening to Black Sabbath. You got any cool stories? Wanna talk about Black Sabbath? I’m just like you: a fan…I’m not a historian, I’m not a genius on the band…I’m just a fan. Leave a comment and throw your 2 cents in, man!
–F ‘Em Up
Alright…I’ve had Hellbilly Deluxe 2 in my hands for almost a week now and I think I’ve listened to it enough to form an opinion on it. Let me say that I’m a huge Zombie fan, so I might be just a bit impartial. I loved Educated Horses. I loved the Educated Horses tour. I loved the Hellbilly Deluxe 2 Tour, and guess what? I love Hellbilly Deluxe 2.
I love Zombie’s new album for different reasons than I loved Educated Horses. The thing about Educated Horses was it was stripped down. It ROCKED, and it used very little sampling…It was just the band rocking out and recording it.
Hellbilly Deluxe 2 goes back to what Rob Zombie is known for…Sampling audio tracks and absolutely crushing, crunchy, dirty, fuzzy rock. You can tell that Zombie has found a band that finally works perfectly together. Zombie, John 5, Piggy D and Tommy all mesh well together. You can hear it in this album. In fact, at times, it almost seems like a John 5 album.
John 5 has got some killer riffs on this album, and every once in awhile it felt like it was his song, instead of Rob Zombie’s song. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, I’ve just never heard that from a Zombie song before.
I love the CD. Besides the obvious kick ass music that’s on the album, the CD booklet is one of the coolest I’ve seen. Check it out. Crank it up. You won’t be disappointed.
Want a taste of it? You’ve heard What?. You’ve heard Sick Bubblegum. You’ve heard Werewolf Women of the SS. They all rock. Another rockin’ tune? Jesus Frankenstein. Mars Needs Women. And my personal favorite, Werewolf Baby.
Enjoy.
–F ‘Em Up
From Spinner.com:
Though there have been many posthumous releases from Jimi Hendrix’s archives since his tragic death, the recently-announced ‘Valleys of Neptune’ isn’t meant to be a “lost” album. Rather, it’s a look at the creative period in Hendrix’s life between the 1968 release of ‘Electric Ladyland’ and his legendary appearance at Woodstock the following summer.
“In the aftermath of ‘Electric Ladyland,’ he made a series of recordings with the original Experience,” co-producer, author and Experience Hendrix catalog director John McDermott tells Spinner. “When they effectively stopped working as a three-man recording unit, he brought in [bassist] Billy Cox — this album captures that transition. We don’t want to over-dramatize it. This is that missing period of time.”
The dozen tracks on ‘Valleys of Neptune’ reflect a time where Hendrix, finding his way with a new band while fighting contractual problems, was blossoming creatively. Featuring reworked hits like ‘Fire’ and ‘Red House’ as well as fully-realized songs that have never officially been released, the album shows that Hendrix was embarking in a new direction, one that would later be heard on ‘Band of Gypsys.’
The album will be released on March 9th. Just for you, here’s a little preview of it…the title track, “Valleys of Neptune.” Enjoy, and get ready for the Experience Hendrix Tribute Tour on March 16th at The Uptown…I can’t wait for it!
–F ‘Em Up
I went to the Aaron Lewis show at The Midland Sunday night and had a great time…We heard some classic Staind stuff and heard some new music, too. Check out my video edition of the blog below!
Alright…It’s not like I’m reaching into the classic rock vault, or talking about a throwback album from way back when. I want to talk about Three Days Grace’s second studio album, “One-X.” It was released in 2006, so it’s not old, but it’s not new. But it’s an album definitely worth discussing.
I’ve never been a huge Three Days Grace fan. I’ve always liked what they do, always enjoyed the singles, but never went beyond that. The song we’re playing now, “Break,” in my opinion is one of the best songs on the air. But I didn’t ever really get into the albums of Three Day Grace…Until about a few days ago.
If you’ve ventured onto this blog before, you know that I’m remodeling my house. I moved from Downtown KC (Sorry Nivens!) and bought a house in suburbia that needed some work, which then turned into a lot of work. I was doing some drywall work the other night, had my iPod in my pocket and decided to listen to Three Days Grace’s “Riot.” Nivens recommended this song, and I get requests for it every once in awhile. I figured I’d give it a shot.
I loved it. I listened to it about 5 times in a row, each time it got a little louder in my headphones. Maybe not the perfect drywall music (what the hell really is?), but it still got me fired up. So I thought to myself, if “Riot” is this good, what else is on One-X?
Let me tell you, if you haven’t given it a shot, pick up “One-X,” and listen to it from beginning to end, front to back, left to right, whatever. You’re gonna dig it. Of course you’ve got the songs like “Animal I Have Become” and “Pain,” but you also got “Riot” (obviously), “Never Too Late,” “Get Out Alive,” and “On My Own.” Basically, the entire album is pretty rad.
Sooo…Maybe I just suck and should’ve listened to this album the day it came out, but I figured better late than never. If it’s good music, it doesn’t matter if it came out 50 years ago, yesterday, or in this case, nearly 4 years ago…It’s still good music!
Enjoy this little ditty, set to one of the most bad-ass films of all time, “300.” If this doesn’t make you want to punch someone in the face, I don’t know what will.
–F ‘Em Up
Well, to continue this little thing I’m doing, I figured I could find some more things of 2009 to talk about, right? I’ve done music, I’ve done movies. Now, I’m doing concerts.
I would say hands down, the greatest show of the year was easily Rockfest. 15 bands. 2 stages. 1 day. 50,000+ screaming Rock fans. Can it get better than that? From Korn to Crooked X, Shinedown to Duff McKagan’s LOADED, Rev Theory to Drowning Pool, Rockfest kicked MAJOR ass.
After that, man, it’s hard for me to say that one show was better than another. As hard as I try, I can’t remember being disappointed with a concert this year. There were definitely some unique shows, like Steel Panther playing the Harley Giveaway in the Spring as well as Johnny Dare’s Birthday Bash…That was freakin’ awesome. And then there were just some hands down, all out bad ass concerts. The first one that comes to mind is the Low Dough Show with Shinedown at The Midland. First off, you crazy Rockaholics sold it out in like 40 minutes, which is AWESOME. Second off, it was probably one of the best, most intimate shows I’ve ever seen from Brent and the guys. If you were there, I think you’ll agree with me.
Who could forget Jackyl playing a free show at the Power & Light District? Thousands of you guys crammed into the P&L just to see Jesse tear it down. And of course, I can’t fail to mention Jesse coming back to KC for not just one Low Dough Show, but two Low Dough Shows! He’s a good friend of Kansas City, and whenever he comes you can rest assured it’s gonna be a throwdown, Dixie style!
To be honest, there’s too many concerts to remember and name here…From Nickelback and Seether to Def Leppard and Poison, 2009 was ripe with badass shows right here in Kansas City. And we already have a list of rockin’ concerts for 2010! Alice in Chains, AC/DC, Vince Neil, Aaron Lewis, and of course, The New Year’s Eve Big Ball. It begins in 2009 and it’s gonna end in 2010. It’s gonna be a hell of a show with Rev Theory, Cavo and Red Line Chemistry. What a way to kick off the new year!!
Leave a comment, let me know what some of your favorite concerts were from 2009 and what you’re looking forward to most in the new year! I’ll see ya tomorrow night!
–F ‘Em Up
Alright, the first part of my “Year In Review” focused mainly on the music we heard over the course of 2009. CLICK HERE to check it out and tell me what some of your favorite albums were.
I think for the second part, I want to just throw out some of my favorite movies of 2009. I’m not gonna give you a Top 5, because I didn’t see every movie that came out, and to be honest, I have a feeling some of the ones I missed might make it on a Top 5 list…Make sure to leave a comment here and let me know what your favorite movies were.
We saw a lot of movies come out…from special effects masterpieces (Transformers 2, Avatar) to hilarious comedies (The Hangover, The Goods), there were a lot of good flicks at the theater. Here are some of my favorite, in no particular order:
One of the movies that I really, really wanted to catch in the theater but wasn’t able to was “The Road” with Viggo Mortensen. From what I heard, it’s a pretty killer flick. I also want to catch “It Might Get Loud,” which I believe just came out on DVD. This has Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Paige all getting together and jamming. Uhhh, hell yes!!!
So, that’s it for this one. Nothing too insightful. I love movies, and I thought 2009 was a pretty good year. From “The Hangover” to “Halloween II,” I was rarely disappointed at the theater…at least as far as I can remember!
Let me know what your favorite movies were, and let’s get ready for 2010 (Iron Man 2, Jackass 3D)!!
–F ‘Em Up
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