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ROCK AROUND THE WORLD®
232 Nationally & Internationally Aired Rock Radio Shows & Rock Newspaper Archive from the 1970's Martin Scorsese's George Harrison Documentary Coming to HBO on October 5th & 6th
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Interviews With:
Paul McCartney - Queen - George Harrison |
Green Day
Insomniac Reprise, NR
The sophomore effort defies the jinx. This is a very good album, drawing on the energy of the 70's that propelled the Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Ramones.
Internet Listening Pleasure: Brat, Bab's Uvula Who?, Panic Song, Brain Stew, Jaded, Westbound Sign.
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Rick Rubin is back to producing like he did on The Cult's Electric.
I like the way Mike Fraser mixed this album...he's been getting a lot of work lately. AC/DC is like New Castle Brown, consistent flavor bottle to bottle. Nice brew on this album.
Burnin' Alive sounds like Leslie West and Mountain.
Internet Listening Pleasure: Burnin' Alive, Caught With Your Pants Down.
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I've always felt that Jimi Hendrix was a one man orchestra that played in front of a formidable batterie that constituted his rhythm section. Hendrix was an Artist who wrote dreamy, often dramatic lyrics and elevated his words with singular guitar tones from a parallel universe somewhere. Hendrix had Mojo Hand and then some.
This project, headed by Producer/Engineer-legend Eddie Kramer, has captured the intention of placing Hendrix's music into an orchestral setting. For the better part, Kramer and a cast of extremely gifted musicians have pulled it off.
Like dropping an atom bomb on a small atoll in the ocean somewhere, not just any orchestra can handle Radioactive material dropped upon it. The London Metropolitan Orchestra and the Bootzilla Orchestra have done sterling work keeping the music Rocking while adding to the essence of Jimi's Vibe symphonically.
My impression of the orchestral arrangements by Michael Kamen, Joe Mardin, Nick Ingman, and Bernie Worrell are that they are dramatically reminiscent of soundtracks to Steve MacQueen and Clint Eastwood movies. Meaning, there is a strong nod to Lalo Schifrin, Elmer Bernstein, and Jerry Goldsmith in the orchestration. Listen to the strings in Spanish Castle Magic, for instance. Drifting, on the other hand has a sort of London Festival Orchestra/Moody Blues, Days of Future Past vibration, which is contemporary with Hendrix's mind set at the time since Are You Experienced and Days of Future Past both broke to the streets in 1967.
I've got to tell you that Hendrix was so DEEP that he probably could mentally transport himself to the bottom of the sea and visualize watching the sunrise from there. This album, if you're "like a child who's mind hasn't been handled too many times by man" (JMH) will thoroughly put you in touch with a part of Jimi's Depth. I listened to this album for three weeks before I could even begin to write about it.
The personnel assembled for this album are among the best in the business, although I would have found some way of including Robin Trower and Yngwie Malmsteen here and there.
Vocal appearances by Taj Mahal, Paul Rodgers, Buddy Miles, Brian May, Corey Glover, Doug Pinnick, and Sass Jordan were shrewdly chosen. The Howitzers gathered to handle rhythm section are some of the hardest hitters in the Biz. Tony Williams, Cozy Powell, Dennis Chambers, Tony Beard, Dave Abbruzzese, and Vinny Colaiuta keep time to the legacy of Miles & Mitchell. Bottom duty was shared by Stanley Clarke, Sting, Noel Redding, Bootsy Collins, Bob Daisley and Neil Murray.
Electric Guitar on this album has got to be one of the greatest assemblies on a single album in terms of sheer Fire Power. Carlos Santana forsakes his trusty Paul Reed Smith for a Fender Strat...Only Jimi could make him do that. Steve Vai leaves his Ibanez signature behind in favor of a Fender Strat...Hiram Bullock plays a beat up Fender Strat. Steve Lukather, one of the most under rated Monsters of the Electric Guitar, plays an Ernie Ball Music Man, which is a souped up Strat, really. Brian May plays his Fireplace guitar and really lets it rip on One Rainy Wish.
Sentimentally, my favorite tune on this album is Rainy Day, Dream Away, because of Robben Ford's faithful Cry Baby work and Mike Finnegan's essential B-3, which he also played on the original cut.
Internet Listening Pleasure: Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland); Rainy Day, Dream Away; Spanish Castle Magic, Drifting, Bold As Love, Purple Haze, One Rainy Wish.
Rating: Third Stone From the Sun
Lots of Ear Candy for your head. This album is gonna run for a while, since it contains lots of cuts for airplay. Lots of material for the avid listener to discover on this one.
Internet Listening Pleasure: Jelly Belly, Zero, Bullet With Butterfly
Wings, An Ode To NoOne, Cupid De Locke, Muzzle, Thirty-Three, Thru The Eyes of Ruby, X.Y.U., We Only Come Out at Night, Beautiful, By Starlight.
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Internet Listening Pleasure: Trip Along, Raindrop
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Internet Listening Pleasure: Cumbersome, Headstrong, Margaret, Favorite Dog
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Oasis Epic. NR
What's The Story, Morning Glory?
Tears For Fears Epic. NR
Raoul And The Kings of Spain
The Songs of West Side Story
RCA Victor. NR