Tag Archives: ZZ Top

One After Another or: a Big Day for Releases

24 Saturday Mar 2018

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Salutations™!!

Joni_Chalk

@Geffen

 

Today in record release history has been the largest that I’ve had since I started doing the “X years ago today this album was released” posts. If it’s not something I have for releases, I move on to birthdays and today, I didn’t even get to that, much less the deathdays. So, let’s run down what I did have today first.

  • Elvis Presley —— Elvis Presley ► Rock n Roll >> 1956
    Genesis —— …And Then There Were Three… ► Prog Rock >> 1978
    Van Halen —— Van Halen II ► Hard Rock >> 1979
    Journey —— Departure ► Prog/Art Rock >> 1980
    ZZ Top —— Eliminator ► Blues-Rock >> 1983
    Ratt —— Out Of The Cellar ► Heavy Metal >> 1984
    Howard Jones —— Dream Into Action ► New Wave Synth-Pop >> 1985
    Depeche Mode —— Songs Of Faith And Devotion ► Synth-Pop >> 1993

That’s eight! However, I did find after posting that the Howard Jones album didn’t actually come out yesterday but March 11. The site that I use, mainly, had it wrong or at least had it right and I can’t find any evidence to corroborate it. It happens, but that’s not important. This was a big day for releases. But, beyond what I had there were more.

● Bobby Darin —— That’s All ► Pop-Rock >> 1959
● Dionne Warwick —— Dionne Warwick In Valley Of The Dolls ► Pop-Soul >> 1968
● King Crimson —— Lark’s Tongues In Aspic ► Prog Rock >> 1973
● Roxy Music —— For Your Pleasure ► Prog Rock >> 1973
● Judas Priest —— Sad Wings Of Destiny ► Heavy Metal >> 1976
● Bob Marley & The Wailers —— Kaya ► Roots Reggae >> 1978
● Rick Springfield —— Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet ► Power Pop >> 1982
● Fates Warning —— No Exit ► Heavy Metal/Progressive >> 1988
● Joni Mitchell —— Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm ► Folk-Rock >> 1988
● ZZ Top —— Recycler ► Blues-Rock >> 1990
● The Fall —— Code: Selfish ► Post-Punk >> 1992
● Dwight Yoakam —— This Time ► Alt Country-Rock >> 1993
● The Mothers Of Invention —— Ahead Of Their Time ► Art Rock >> 1993
● Everclear —— Sparkle And Fade ► Grunge-Punk >> 1995
● Iron Maiden —— Virtual XI ► Heavy Metal >> 1998
● A+ —— Hempstead High ► Pop-Rap >> 1999
● Elton John & Various Artists —— Elton John And Tim Rice’s Aida ► Pop-Rock >> 1999
● Gov’t Mule —— Live…With A Little Help From Our Friends, Vol. 2 ► Southern Rock/Jam Rock >> 1999
● Mark Knopfler —— Metroland [Sndtrk] ► Roots Rock >> 1999
● Peter Pan Speedrock —— Killermachine ► Punk Rock >> 2000
● Jerry Garcia Band —— Shining Star ► Roots Rock >> 2001
● Eddie Money —— Let’s Rock ‘N Roll The Place ► Album Rock >> 2003
● Eric Clapton —— Me And Mr. Johnson ► Blues-Rock >> 2004
● Guns N’ Roses —— Greatest Hits ► Hard Rock >> 2004
● Lou Reed —— Animal Serenade ► Album Rock >> 2004
● Ringo Starr —— Tour 2003 ► Pop-Rock >> 2004
● Triumph —— A Night Of Triumph ► Arena Rock >> 2004
● Kansas —— Miracles Out Of Nowhere ► Prog/Arena Rock >> 2015

Now, a lot of days there are a lot but I just don’t have many of them. But, today, I had eight and the rest of the list was pretty impressive, too. Anywhat I just thought it was interesting. Do you have any of these, Dear Reader? Tell me about them!

Note: I wrote this yesterday but had, just finished when I had to pick up 3B from school, I forgot to send it. So, I wrote it but forgot to post it, so sorry about that.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Stay with me, my love I hope you’ll always be. Right here by my side if ever I need you. Oh, my love. In your arms, I feel so safe and so secure. Every day is such a perfect day to spend alone with you.” – “Follow You Follow Me” (Banks/Collins/Rutherford)

 

Exhaustion or: It’s Been a Day

27 Friday Oct 2017

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Salutations™!!

I dropped 3B off at school this morning around 9am. I came straight home (we live 2 minutes from the school), put on some Thompson Twins, Ghostbusters Soundtrack (1984), Jim Croce, Pink Floyd, Eddie Money, Chicago, ZZ Top and Tom Jones records and proceded to clean up a big chunk of the house. I threw stuff away, I moved stuff out, put some stuff in a box to carry to the studio, dusted, swept, washed three loads of laundry, everything. IMG_20171027_105653_799

I only left the house three times: taking 3B to school, picking 3B up from school and a function that The BCPF needed to do. Even then, I am now sitting at over 7650 steps for the day. A step is a step is a step. It zapped me, too. I didn’t slow down until after 3pm when I took a shower. Six hours of cleaning. The only time I did slow down was when I was making the posts for the records I was playing.

All I know is, it’s a cool feeling coming how to a clean house. I’m exhausted, could barely keep my eyes open during tonight’s function, and I’m going to be sore. I’ve even fallen asleep twice writing this post. So, I’m leaving it at that. Oh, I did slow down long enough to do my B&W pic for the day, I’ll leave it here.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment.” – Marie Kondo

Silent Sunday or: The Haul 5/27/17

28 Sunday May 2017

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Salutations™!!

Underdog Records closed on Saturday (through this Tuesday) for a bit of “respite.” Never fear though, I still went there Friday (twice) and got a nice haul for the weekend. This is what it looked like:Sgt._Pepper's_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band

Man… we are certainly gonna need a new cabinet soon. We’ve started on the last cube of the 8 cube cab. It’s coming. Underdog will be open again on Wednesday. You can find them at 825 Burke Street in WSNC. Listen to The Less Desirables to hear what the weekly Underdog/TLD special is. And, use Discogs for your cataloging of LPs and CDs and hit me up, we can share collections.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It’s all the same, only the names will change. Everyday, it seems we’re wastin’ away. Another place where the faces are so cold. I drive all night just to get back home. I’m a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I’m wanted dead or alive. Wanted dead or alive.” – “Wanted Dead or Alive” (Sambora/Bon Jovi)

Wouldn’t You Like to be a Sucker, Too? or: Love is for Suckers (Eugeology Entry 12)

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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Salutations™!!

So, I know I totally let Eugene down on the entry from last week. Just not my thing, but wasn’t not my thing. I am still confused on that one. Jon is still a few weeks behind. In one that Eugene surely thought I was going to take a leak on (he even preemptively called that I wouldn’t like it on our little private message group), I had already listened to it three times at that point and now have listened to it an additional two times. Well, let’s get to it.

Love_Is_For_Suckers_album_cover

©Atlantic Records

#12 – Love is for Suckers by Twisted Sister.

I talked about the importance of Stay Hungry was to my emergence into hard rock (then known as heavy metal, even if we don’t like the term) that wasn’t KISS. I have to say that Come Out and Play, the follow-up to Stay Hungry, let me down enough I didn’t care enough to listen to much of anything after that. Well, mistake #1.

You know I do love me some poppy rock, especially when it’s of the heavy variety. This is more a heavy pop record than even Stay Hungry. But, what this has in its favor over it’s older brother is that there’s not many songs on this one that I’d skip over. There’s not many on the prior either, but those songs were worn out (especially by me). So this makes this album a breath of fresh air. There are some serious power ballads on here in addition to some serious rockin’.

Dee Snider’s vocals are amazing on this album. I don’t know how he managed to sound even halfway decent after the earlier TS stuff, there’s a lot of screeching (the good kind) going on here and then, too. His melodies are more poppy here and again, that’s not a bad thing, at all. Lyrically, and heck mostly musically, he’s spot on the whole time. He was the sole songwriter for all but two tunes. He brings back some of the “Burn in Hell” style along with his high rock-god power on this album.

It’s typical Twisted Sister and it was much better than I thought it was going to be. I saw it come across as the assignment for the week and, while I didn’t roll my eyes, I did raise an eyebrow. I wasn’t dreading it, just was skeptical of how good it was going to be. I’m glad I was surprised; pleasantly so.

I am skeptical about how much Jay Jay French, Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda and Mark “The Animal” Mendoza actually played on this album. It started out as a solo side project for Snider with Reb Beach and Kip Winger, prior to them forming Winger (which I think was underrated, truth be known) and Kix’s Steve Whiteman doing some vocals with him. Now, I know why Eugene likes it so much. I kid. Anywhat! Atlantic wasn’t having any Dee Snider solo action so he “redid” some of it with actual TS members.

I was surprised that A.J. Pero (RIP) wasn’t on this album. I hadn’t realized that he was long longer with the band at this time. I had moved away from most of the heavy music mags at the time and there was no internet for me to keep up with all that. He had left to play with a band called Cities. I wonder if he had just told Snider “no” and Snider kicked him from the band. Who knows. His replacement Joe Franco may be playing on it. I don’t think that drum machines were that sophisticated at the time and there was reports of Franco programming drum machines. So with that, I also “dunno.”

Songs. The first five songs: “Wake Up (The Sleeping Giant),” “Hot Love,” the title track, “I’m So Hot for You” and “Tonight” are fantastic. The latter, oddly enough, reminds me of Cheap Trick but jacked up. The melodies and harmonies throughout those first five were great, too. “Me and the Boys” I didn’t really care one way or another at first, but upon more listens, I liked it more and more. “One Bad Habit” is all boogie rock and we talked last week about me not liking that. It wasn’t awful here, just not my thing. I did like the use of the horns on that song, though. “You Are All That I Need” is a great power ballad and it was indicative of the times. 1987 was prime for power ballads; there were more than plenty. The final song on the album, “Yeah Right” is a cheerleading song. I’m pretty sure that’s a drum machine and not not real drums. It’s almost Afterburner-like from ZZTop at times. I’d say that’s my least favorite song on the album. That is until you get to the bonus tracks (if we’re counting those)…

But, if I’m picking my favorites it would be the first five songs, especially “Hot Love,” and “You Are All That I Need.” Least favorites, the aforementioned “Yeah Right” as well as “Feel Appeal” and “Statutory Date” from the four bonus tracks. Of those, I did like “If That’s What You Want,” which oddly sounds a little like “Rough Boys” from Pete Townshend. So, I did my extra homework with the bonus tracks, this week.

All I can say about this album is that if you haven’t heard it, you need to. The only real suckers are those who don’t like it. It’s a great album and I’ll say I like it better than Stay Hungry. That is until I hear that album again. Loved it, Eug. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts and if Jon ever catches up, his, too.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Oh know, that girl, she’s lookin’ so fine. I know she knows ,what she’s doin’ to my mind. Ooh, does she know that I’m wanting her so. Well, there’s one thing I know, I can never let her go. Talkin’ ’bout hot love, you’re making me crazy.” – “Hot Love” (Snider)

The Waits is Over or: The Beatles Can’t Be This Low (RS pt 11)

02 Friday Jan 2015

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Salutations™!!

Well the first 100 down, let’s start the next 100.

#400 – Anthology by The Temptations. Right off the bat, greatest hits album. Great start, RS, great start. Skip.

#399 – Rain Dogs by Tom Waits. So after the success that I had with Mule Variations, I was looking forward to hearing more Tom Waits; thinking I had found a gem.  That was short lived however as this album didn’t compare to the previous one. This was more about reminding me of what I thought I was going to hear with Tom Waits the first time.  Sad, I say.  Not saying it was bad, just not what I was hoping for.  “Downtown Train” and “Rain Dogs” were the highlight for me. Meh,

220px-ZZ_Top_-_Eliminator

“Eliminator” by ZZTop

#398 – Eliminator by ZZ Top. Some of my childhood, this.  I’ll admit, too, that while I did have this cassette, I only listened to the hits off of it.  I was always bad about that; to some extent still am.  In the listening of this, there are the obvious “hits” like “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Legs” and “Sharp Dressed Man,” sure. But, I found my favorite song, and probably the gem, on this album (outside of “SDM”) is “I Need You Tonight.”  That song is money.  Now, the apparent disappointment in this album is the fact, or supposed fact, that Dusty Hill and Frank Beard aren’t playing much on this album. I don’t think it’s Dusty playing those popping bass lines in “Thug,” I really don’t.  Still, I really like it. Dig!

#397 – Blue Lines by Massive Attack. From the get-go with “Safe From Harm,” a smile on my face. I love this stuff.  I believe I actually own this album.  I may be wrong but I’m not in front of my collection to know. This is Chill and a mix of soul/R&B and some hip-hop. Case in point, “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got.”  Some Marvin-esque vocals and smooth R&B from Tony Bryan; that’s velvet right there.  Another fantastic track is “Daydreaming.” This I absolutely LOVE! DIG!!

Roxy_Music_-_For_Your_Pleasure

“For Your Pleasure” by Roxy Music

#396 – For Your Pleasure by Roxy Music. What the heck is this!?  Give me the Avalon Roxy Music any day.  I’m not a fan of jam prog stuff.  I love Pink Floyd but there’s only so much of the long jammy songs that I can handle.  Way too much for me.  With what I know of Brian Eno, he must be behind the suckage of this album.  I know I’ll get flack for it, but I do not like this at all.  There’s nothing memorable about it.  I’ve already forgotten who I was listening to. Didn’t dig,

#395 – Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem. Hard-hitting electronica/alt-dance music.  Made for club dancers, obviously, it’s a bit repetitive as that style usually is.  That’s ok though.  It’s not just “boots-and-pants-and-boots-and-pants” dance, either.  It’s hippy and trippy.  Good stuff, there.  The lead track, “Get Innocuous!” is a good way to hit the ground running.  I really liked “Time to Get Away.” It was minimalist but with awesome clavinet riffage. Hoo hoo hoo!  More delicious dirty as “North American Scum” cranks, next. Punkish, really.  “All My Friends” takes it from just dance to power pop and does a fabulous job of it.  Reminds me of rocking pop on the radio these days, but not lost in drivel.  It’s good stuff. “Watch the Tapes” is good pop punk with the electronica elements added in.  Mucho beats and looping happening here.  I think my favorite song is “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.” I love the piano and snarky shots at the mayor and other iconic stereotypes. I like what I’ve heard from LCD Soundsystem up to this point.  This is no different.  I dug it!

Randy_Newman_-_Good_Old_Boys

“Good Old Boys” by Randy Newman

#394 – Good Old Boys by Randy Newman. Wow.  “Rednecks” is a very unexpected slap to the face.  I know he’s singing about the subject tongue-in-cheek from the rednecks’ perspective, but I don’t like the “N” word and it was surprising.  That being said, I liked the song.  “Marie” is like a drunk letter to a love.  I love Newman’s piano playing.  It’s always so rich and powerful.  The album is full of typical Newman humor and disregard for manners.  That’s what makes his stuff so great! “Kingfish” is a good raunchy piano tune with over the top strings.  This is just a great album. DUG!

#393 – Kala by M.I.A. The first thing I noticed is that it’s hard to listen to this, not because of the music but because it’s got licensing issues.  Rhapsody couldn’t play, although they did list it.  It comes up and says not available.  YouTube also didn’t allow it to play because of licensing.  So Google let me play it, song-by-song through Vimeo and DailyMotion, etc. It’s rumored that she couldn’t get a long-term visa from the US to record because of her family’s ties to the Sri Lanka guerrillas.  The world fusion/hip hop styles are great.  Switch did a great job in production.  A lot of percussion-driven beats and it’s bass heavy. Lots of old school drum machines involved and at times it sounds discoish, and I love disco.  “Jimmy,” “Bird Flu,” “Paper Planes,” “Mango Pickle Down the River” are some of my faves.  Dug.

220px-LetItBe

“Let It Be” by The Beatles

#392 – Let It Be by The Beatles. My first reaction is: WHY is this album so low (or high?) on this list? How is any Beatles album this high on the list?  If it were Let It Be… Naked, then I’d understand that.  Anywhat!  With the exception of “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae,” I don’t have a song on here that is either not in the “like” column or a throw away, although I am a little tired of hearing the title track.  This album is great.  The last album released by The Beatles, it wasn’t the last recorded.  That would be Abbey Road.  “Two of Us” and “Dig a Pony” start the album out and I remember the first time I heard it, I was blown away. So full, so harmonic, so well written.  I did covers of “Dig a Pony” and “I’ve Got a Feeling” in a Beatles tribute show.  The Beatles are like my second favorite band of all time, behind KISS. Good stuff.  Dug!

#391 – The Pretender by Jackson Browne. I like that I’m listening to an album from someone I have continuously overlooked and at the same time respected.  Browne is a great songwriter and his songs are good to just take in and hear stories.  “The Fuse” has a sense of urgency and leads off the album. I must say I love true fade outs.  I don’t know how to feel about “Linda Paloma,” though. Kind of slamming Spanish music with a waltz.  It’s okay, just weird to me.  “Here Come Those Tears Again” is right back on the JB train. It’s the popish stuff that I expect from him. Even 3B liked “The Only Child,” as he is one of those.  “The Pretender” is a great pop song and a fitting end for a decent album.  I’d listen again. Dug.

Other than the silly anthology/greatest hits album thrown in, it was a decent segment of 10.  Some really good, some not so good.  I look forward to the next installment.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I got to have a shot
Of what you got it’s oh, so sweet
You got to make it hot
Like a boomerang I need a repeat.” – ZZ Top, “Gimme All Your Lovin'” from Eliminator (1983)