Frank's Wild Years Review

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Frank's Wild Years ReviewI first heard this back in college. At the time, it blew away antything else I was hearing & I think it single handedly changed my tastes in music. 15 years later I never tire of it. Which is probably why I'm writing this review.
Critics would have you believe this is the third installment of a trilogy that started with SWORDFISHTROMBONES. If anything, it stands as a precursor to the work he later did with Robert Wilson. This album is the music from a performance piece Waits wrote with his wife & collaborator, Kathleen Brennan. It played to sold out performances at the Steppenwolf Theatre in the mid 80's & if I had known who the hell Tom Waits was then, I'd certainly be in the 1st row.
"Hang On St. Christopher" comes off as a reckless itinerary for a fugitive of justice. The sparse use of horns coupled with Mark Ribot's signature guitar aid & abet for a long day's journey into night.
"Temptation" has to be one of my favorite Waits'tunes featuring a demented falsetto & chorus as seductive as the subject matter. If Stephen Foster wrote a song based off William Kennedy's IRONWEED, it might have sounded like "Innocent When You Dream". An undeiable classic, right up there with the likes of "Time " & "Tom Traubert's Blues".
Without a doubt, there's a pervading sense of gloom overiding this album but every song is a gem if you take the time to dust it off. From the drunken "RAWHIDE" trappings of "Yesterday Is Here" to the delerious Film Noir of "Telephone Call From Instanbul" , this album is a virtual mugshot of Waits at his height of his powers. If anyone could write a musical of Eugene O'Neill's ICEMAN COMETH, it's Tom Waits. And I have to say, FRANK'S WILD YEARS is the sonic equivalent. Its certainly one of the most ambitious records of his career. A roadtrip movie for the damned.Frank's Wild Years OverviewJapanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this 1987 album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008.--This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Rain Dogs Review

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Rain Dogs ReviewI have long loved Tom Waits, and have a host of his albums, but this gem of a record remains by far his best effort. It isn't just that many of his best songs are on this album, but that virtually all of the songs are at least highly listenable. The quality of RAIN DOGS can be seen in the fact that a large number of artists have recorded this album's songs.
Musically, the amazing arrangements sound like Kurt Weill meets Captain Beefheart meets a carnival barker meets a bottle of bourbon. As the album begins and moves from "Singapore" to "Clap Hands," you know that you are not dealing with a three-chords-and-a-cloud-of-dust performer. What is stunning after the album's first few songs, however, is how lyrical Waits becomes as the album goes on. For all the raucousness of some of the numbers, it is easily balanced by the beauty of songs like "Downtown Train," the gorgeous "Time," or the mournfully drunken "Blind Love." Waits employs a crack back up band, with significant guess appearances with performers like Keith Richards. The star back up musician is, however, Marc Ribot, who as he so often does provides stunningly original guitar lines that embellish every song upon which he appears.
Lyrically, Waits has never been better, turning out one superb line after another. Several of the songs read as more than decent poetry, and many individual lines pop out, such as (from "Time") "The things you can't remember tell the thing you can't forget" or, in the best line about being down, down and out I have heard, "When you're east of East St. Louis" (with apologies to East St. Louis). Or what about this great line from "Blind Love": "They say if you get far enough away/You'll be on your way back home." Even some of the less well-known songs on the album, like "Tango Till They're Sore," are lyrically stunning.
I'm a big fan of Tom Waits, but while in his other albums I always find him at least interesting, I still find there are a lot of individual songs that aren't up to the level of his best work. RAIN DOGS is Tom's best album partly because it contains many of his best songs, but partly because it contains absolutely none of his worse. This is all the more remarkable given the fact that RAIN DOGS was one of the first albums to take advantage of the greater capacity of CDs to expand the number of cuts. Despite the larger number of songs, there are no weak cuts and no filler.Rain Dogs OverviewNo Description AvailableNo Track Information AvailableMedia Type: CDArtist: WAITS,TOMTitle: RAIN DOGSStreet Release Date: 06/01/1990

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Eric Johnson - Live From Austin Tx (2005) Review

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Eric Johnson - Live From Austin Tx (2005) ReviewIf you have even the slightest interest in the playing of an electric guitar you absolutely MUST check out this DVD.
Eric Johnson fans have been circulating old VHS copies of this for decades. EJ has appeared on "Austin City Limits" as often as any performer - perhaps helped by being from that town, although I don't recall seeing other Texans appearing nearly as often. Austin City Limits is one of the most treasured live-music shows in American History. Madonna and Britney Spears and other over-hyped lip-syncing media sell-outs can hog up the mainstream airways as much as they like - all Austin City Limits performers have artistic heft that can't be faked.
This 1988 performance is dated by Eric's "Flock of Seagulls" hairdo and Sergeant Pepper/Michael Jackson/John Phillip Sousa jacket. But the music is timeless. Eric joins his perfectly supporting 2-man bass and drums combo to blow our minds. The now-platinum Ah Via Musicom had just been released and it is fair to say he was "peaking". A known perfectionist in the studio, he would record tracks over and over and over again until they were "just right" and I saw in an interview that he simply didn't think he could play better than on that recording. That being said, he doesn't have the opportunity to "redo" on this live performance, but as he unleashes the most overwhelming guitar technique ever known it doesn't really matter, does it? The man is a force of nature in this performance. Best of all - the DVD features crystal clarity in both the picture and audio. Every one of his flood of notes rings like a bell.
"Musicom" cuts like "Steve's Boogie" and "Desert Rose" surround his performance of perhaps the most incredible instrumental in rock history "Cliffs of Dover". He also covers some Hendrix and "Are You Experienced?" makes us remember the left-handed master while marveling at Hendrix' able successor.
The album-oriented rock airwaves have been flooded for decades with speed demons who race up and down their stratocasters without a thought for tone or note selection. Here is where Eric Johnson completely shines: although as fast as Vai or Malmsteen, Mr. Johnson is as thoughtful and careful in his note selection as Clapton or Louis Armstrong. His tone is so bell-like clear... it is simply unrivaled.
Guitar fans - this is heaven.Eric Johnson - Live From Austin Tx (2005) OverviewLegendary guitar hero Eric Johnson's 1988 performance on the Austin City Limits TV show was an amazing performance. The performance is now available on DVD. It captures the magical guitar work and energy that only Eric Johnson live can deliver. Also available on CD.

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Secret Recipe (2005) Review

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Secret Recipe (2005) ReviewSimply put, I bought this, brought it home, and spent the wee hours of the night smiling on the couch as the one and only Buckethead filled my living room with his unique brand of guitar-shred-funk-fusion-dementia. This dvd is a trip, from the wacked out menus to the oodles of content that cover his whole career so far...videos (Praxis!), discography (you think you have it all, but I assure you, you don't), and a bonus dvd with 2 live shows (it doesn't hurt that I can see myself in the Boston one, laughing like a goon as he hands out toys). There's just tons of bucketgoodies hiding in here. This dude is just the whole package-Eddie Van Halen and Eddie Hazel all in one, mixed with Leatherface and The Shape. So rad. This dvd definitely had a lot of time and creativity put into it, so to anyone who doesn't enjoy this for the perfect representation of the Bucketman that it is, you simply be missin' the point. Might I suggest you stick to your Dream Theater/Satriani/G3 dvd's, you 5.1 Surround sound obsessed prog-metal nerds...you don't like chickens, get out the coop!Secret Recipe (2005) OverviewItem Name: Secret Recipe; Studio:Shriek Show

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Weasels Ripped My Flesh Review

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Weasels Ripped My Flesh Review_Weasels Ripped My Flesh_ is a Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention disc that combines both live and studio material recorded between 1967-1969. This material I believe is not found on their studio albums that came before this one. The combination of loose jazz improvisation, relentless experimentation and musical adventurousness will irritate and baffle many listeners who are accustomed to easy pop/rock or the like. However, amongst all the chaos, there are a few tracks that can be considered accessible. These tracks would be:
"Directly From My Heart To You"--A bluesy cover of a Little Richard track.
"Get A Little"--A melodic and tasteful instrumental featuring Frank Zappa soloing on a wah-wah (or what I call a 'wow-wow') pedal.
"My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama"--Zappa's only lead vocal on the disc. A steady rhythm with nice musicianship. Frank does some impressive guitar work on here. Love the backward section on here as well.
The rest of the disc is experimental, challenging, adventurous meat. "Didja Get Any Onya?," starts out in a big band-like jazz explosion. It goes through several motifs - featuring vocal experimentation, classical-like dissonance (in the middle section) and some loose and seemingly unstructured sax playing (which many may accuse of sounding like 'noise.') Lowell George does a vocal 'improv' which mimics what sounds like the trumpet a few times on this track. This has me laughing like a maniac. "Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Sexually Aroused Gas Mask" features an odd-timed rhythm, similar to the one found on "Didja." However, the rest of the track is given to vocal experimentation. If you don't have a sense of humor, this track will annoy the hell out of you. There's lots of hysterical laughter, yelling and roaring. Personally, this has me laughing hysterically. "Toad Of The Short Forest" starts out with some tasteful jazz instrumentation. Frank's guitar playing in particular gets the spotlight. Unexpectedly, the second half roars with blasts of free jazz improvisation. This becomes very challenging, as there are tempos/rhythms layered upon one another. Frank himself takes a moment during the track to tell the audience what time signatures various instrumentalists are using. He says Drummer A is playing in 7/8, Drummer B, Tambourine player & Bassist are all playing in 3/4 and the Organ player is playing in 5/8 - all at the same time. Definitely something for the cerebral who loves a challenge to tickle the brain. "Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue" is a meandering instrumental that I'm not too fond of. This is my least favorite on here. However, most of it has an ominous tone to it. "Dwarf Nebula Processional & Dwarf Nebula" seems like two different song titles. This would make a bit of sense because the track sounds as if it's divided into two different tracks. The first half is a quirky, pseudo-country/rock experiment that I wish would have gone on longer. The second seems like a backward recording of guitar solos and god knows what else. I really like this. "Oh No" sounds like a typical '60's r&b/rock tune. The vocals are unconventional, albeit melodic. This track is fairly accessible. "The Orange County Lumber Truck" is very strong on melody - something that many may be surprised to find here. A tasteful, Hendrix-like hard rock track with great guitar playing from Frank. "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" is nothing but jarring, chaotic, ominous, cacophonous distortion and feedback. The disturbing thing that I find is that these last 2 minutes can be addictive in a psychotic way - in that I personally wish that it would have gone on for another few minutes. If you slip into the designated mood, you may feel the same way. Anyway, it's moments like these that leave you wondering if there's really a discernible difference between music and 'noise.' Music and any other kind of appreciation is subjective and are nothing but personal opinions, right? If it wasn't, then EVERYONE would think, feel, observe similarly on EVERYTHING - no chance.
This album is not for purist, close-minded or faint-hearted listeners. However, if you're a fan of jazz-fusion and/or challenging, experimental, cerebral and adventurous music, take a risk and pick up this album. You may just find a new favorite artist, and/or appreciate music in a whole new way.Weasels Ripped My Flesh OverviewIMPORTED FROM JAPAN BY RYKODISCThis collector's dream set completes our 20-disc series of limited edition Frank Zappa Japanese imports. Packaged in deluxe mini-album jacket sleeves, these 10 classic albums are packaged to re-create the original vinyl packaging in miniaturized form!--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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