Gil Scott-Heron - "I'm New Here"

It's near the end of African-American History month (AKA Black History Month), and I've realized that I haven't posted anything acknowledging it.  I decided Gil Scott-Heron's 2010 LP "I'm New Here", his final LP before his death in 2011, was a good candidate.  I reviewed his cover of "Me and the Devil Blues" in 2011 and said I'd review the LP "later", so I guess it's time to get around to it.

As I stated in 2011, prior to this LP I didn't know that much about GSH other than his "hits" ("The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" & "Whitey On The Moon").  "I'm New Here" was his first LP since 1994 ("Spirits"), and his prior LP to that was 1982 ("Moving Target").  This means that while he was dormant, a lot happened in music, and his 1970s experimental jazz sound would have sounded dated in 2010.  Instead, his LP was produced by Richard Russell (of XL Recordings), who gave him a menacing and minimalist electronic soundtrack, arguably a "Witch house" sound (though that label is often disputed).  The shrill saxophones have been replaced with thin, dark drone, which to my ears is a perfect complement to GSH's weathered and weary voice.  On songs like "Me and the Devil", the combination is simply amazing.

How you feel about this LP will largely depend on how you feel about "songs" that are mostly spoken word with limited actual singing.  On the other hand, if you like Lou Reed and songs like "Dirty Boulevard", well... you should revisit Gil Scott-Heron.

Standout songs: "Me and the Devil", "On Coming from a Broken Home" (Parts 1 and 2), "I'm New Here", "Your Soul and Mine", "New York Is Killing Me", "Where Did the Night Go"

Skip 'em songs: none

Final score: 9/10

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Live KEXP 2019-08-18 (concert)

Terry recently turned me on to Australia's King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.  In their 10 years they've amassed an extensive discography, far more than with which I'm currently familiar. What I have gathered is that their sound has explored various genres and sub-genres.  But based on Terry's recommendation, the first link I listened to was a KEXP concert from last summer while they were promoting their most recent LP, "Infest the Rat's Nest", which is apparently their foray into thrash metal, while retaining their space rock / psychedelic origins.

The best way I can explain their sound is to imagine if "In Search of Space"-era Hawkwind were cryogenically frozen, and after reanimation they asked "what did we miss in the last 48 years?", whereupon they quickly consumed the back catalogs of Iron Maiden and other NWOBHM luminaries, as well as the discographies of Metallica and friends, and then recorded "Infest the Rat's Nest".

It's certainly fun to listen to, and I'm about 99.99% sure it's not a well-executed parody.

Bruce Springsteen - "Born In The USA" (the song remains the same)

Super Bowl LIV is in the books and it was a good game, especially since I won $100 off my friend Drew.  Neither of us particularly cared who won, but the group of people we were with decided that a wager would make the game more entertaining.  I chose Kansas City simply because VT alum Kendall Fuller plays there, and there's no way I could bet against a Hokie.

The halftime show, featuring a double bill of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, was well received by most -- or at least those who aren't afraid of sexy, middle-aged Latin women making a number of political points: kids in cages, a reversible Puerto Rican / USA flag, and a snippet of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".  Yes, that "Born in the USA".  I was going to riff on the segment of "Kashmir" they cleverly snuck in, but I can't pass up the opportunity to address the point that "Born in the USA", while patriotic, is not a jingoistic anthem.  Instead, it is a protest song, a bittersweet acknowledgement that for some the American Dream remains inaccessible.

First, borrowing the Wikipedia page, they managed to squeeze a lot into 14 minutes:

Shakira

1. "She Wolf" (contains elements of "Dare (La La La)")
2. "Empire" / "Ojos Así" (contains elements of "Inevitable" and "Kashmir")
3. "Whenever, Wherever"
4. "I Like It" (with Bad Bunny; contains elements of “En Barranquilla Me Quedo”)
5. "Chantaje" (with Bad Bunny; contains elements of "Callaíta")
6. "Hips Don't Lie"

Jennifer Lopez

7. "Jenny from the Block"
8. "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)"
9. "Get Right"
10. "Waiting for Tonight"
11. "Que Calor" / "Mi Gente" (with J Balvin; contains elements of "Booty", "El Anillo", "Love Don't Cost a Thing" and "Lento")^[52][53][54]
12. "On the Floor"

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez

13. "Let's Get Loud" / "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" (with Emme Muñiz; contains elements of "Born in the U.S.A.")

While the show was entertaining, outside of the hits I'm not really qualified to review most of their songs.  But the inclusion (at 12:14), however brief, of "Born in the USA" was genius.  The best way to understand the song is to remove the chorus and focus on the remaining stanzas:

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up 

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man 

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son, if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand?" 

I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms, now 

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Puerto Rico is part of the United States, to the surprise and/or dismay of some, and referencing Bruce in Shakira's and JLo's celebration was a great way to tap into the powerful history of this song, as well as provide a hat tip to a great 2009 halftime show.

Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA" studio version (from the 1984 LP of the same name), 1982 demo version from the "Nebraska" sessions. 

Black Sabbath - "The Eternal Idol" (LP Review)

Yesterday I was texting with Scott about "Family Favorites", a bonus EP of covers from Entombed and the subject eventually turned to different versions of Black Sabbath, where we both agreed that "Vol. 4" is probably our favorite LP, and both Ozzy Sabbath and Dio Sabbath are great, but we treat them like separate bands and don't compare between them.  I even stated that I'm a big fan of Gillan Sabbath (Scott may have agreed on that, it's not clear), but certainly "Born Again" should be enjoyed separately and not compared with the Ozzy or Dio.  Although we did not discuss it last night, I've stated before that I even kind of liked "Seventh Star", mostly because I appreciate Glenn Hughes's bluesy vocals. 

This discussion made me recall that my interest in Black Sabbath came to an abrupt end with 1987's "The Eternal Idol".  I still have the vinyl packed away somewhere, one of the last vinyl LPs I ever bought new.  If I remember correctly, I bought it in my freshman year of college and I'm pretty sure I haven't listened to it since.  Clearly I didn't like it, but I couldn't quite remember why.

I've since read that Tony Martin-led era of Black Sabbath (of which "The Eternal Idol" was the first LP) has developed a cult following.  Had I missed something?  My interest in metal was waning in college, so perhaps I did not give it a fair listen?

With that in mind, today I re-listened to the LP (via YouTube -- I did not dig up my vinyl) for the first time in ~30 years, and the verdict is... it's awful.  Tony Martin is not a good singer, he's not even interestingly bad: he's just bland, generic, and would be right at home at your local bar in a Queensryche cover band.  There are spots where Tony Iommi's playing still shines through, but the vocals (and the simplistic lyrics) sometimes make it difficult to even locate, much less enjoy, Iommi.

The next LP in the Tony Martin era, "Headless Cross", receives a lot of praise but I'm in no hurry to listen to it.  In 2010, the demo version of this LP with Ray Gillen singing was released, and after a few spot checks Ray might be a bit better than Tony Martin, but not enough to matter.  Neither Gillen nor Martin bring an interesting vocal interpretation like Ozzy, Dio, Gillan, or even Hughes.  The most interesting part of the LP is the cover, with a live model reenactment of Rodin's sculpture "The Eternal Idol" (for which the models were both hospitalized because the bronze paint was toxic; further expanding the suffering caused by this LP).

Standout songs: "Scarlet Pimpernel" (it's an instrumental)

Songs that appear: "The Eternal Idol" (this would be vastly better as an instrumental)

Skip 'em songs: the rest (full LP playlist).

Final score: 3/10.  Maybe I'll revisit it again in another 30 years.

Rainbow - "Since You Been Gone" (the song remains the same)

While researching my "Frida" post last month, I learned that "Since You've Been Gone" was also written by Russ Ballard.  Like most people, I first heard this song from Rainbow, from their 1979 LP "Down to Earth".  I recall the video from MTV but I'm not sure if the local radio ever played it.

MTV used to play a handful of Rainbow videos in the early days, but I became a big Rainbow fan after I learned about Ronnie James Dio and started working my way backwards through his discography.  "Down to Earth" was the first Rainbow LP post-RJD, and although I haven't listened to it in forever, I recall it was similar to many of the post-RJD LPs: ok, but not great.  But as I watched this video for the first time in a long time, I was reminded that this lineup of Rainbow was great: obviously guitarist Ritchie Blackmore is the center piece of the band, but it also has Cozy Powell (Jeff Beck Group, later Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, and many others) on drums, Roger Glover (Deep Purple) on bass, and journeyman keyboardist Don Airey (later Ozzy, Deep Purple, and others).  Even vocalist Graham Bonnet, in his single LP with Rainbow, is pretty good even though he's no Ronnie James Dio.

So with a lineup that strong, other than a handful of good singles, why aren't the post-RJD LPs more memorable?  RJD consistently brought a fantasy, D&D feel (e.g., "Kill the King", "Man on the Silver Mountain"), and earlier Deep Purple often had an epic, sci-fi mysticism (e.g., "Child in Time", "The Mule").  Starting with "Down to Earth" and continuing through the 80s, Rainbow scored some radio-friendly hits, but the LPs themselves don't have a unifying theme and are not special.

Putting that aside, "Since You've Been Gone" has strong hooks and a crunchy guitar riff -- it's hard to believe this was not a bigger hit, as well as a karaoke favorite.  Don't take my word for it, take the word of guitar gods Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Chris Impellitteri, and Brain May.

Russ Ballard - "Since You've Been Gone"
Rainbow - "Since You've Been Gone"

Alcatrazz (ft. Graham Bonnet & Yngwie Malmsteen) - "Since You've Been Gone" (from "Live Sentence")

Impellitteri - "Since You've Been Gone"

The Brian May Band - "Since You've Been Gone" (from "Live at the Brixton Academy")

Rush - "Subdivisions" (forgotten song)

Neil Peart, legendary drummer of Rush, died last week.  I can't begin to convey the status that he enjoyed with other musicians, but a quick scan of the condolences from his peers will make it clear how how highly esteemed he was.  Rolling Stone listed him as #4 in the best drummer of all time.

I was a pretty big Rush fan growing up, eventually collecting a sizable portion of their discography.  As established in the book "Ready Player One", when I was in college most of the computer science students I knew were Rush fans, their precision and virtuosity  being a natural metaphor for programming.

I wasn't sure which song to pick to mark his passing.  With few exceptions, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson wrote the music and Neil wrote the lyrics, and thus all my favorite Rush songs reflect Neil, making a choice difficult.  My favorite Rush song is probably "Limelight", but a close second is "Subdivisions" from their 1982 LP "Signals".  Whereas "Limelight" reflects Neil's estrangement to the life of an adult rock star ("One must put up barriers / To keep oneself intact), "Subdivisions" is that same alienated introvert in middle and high school ("Nowhere is the dreamer / Or the misfit so alone").

The deciding factor in choosing this song is it's the only one that features a background vocal for Neil.  His is the voice saying "subdivisions" in the chorus, even though it's Alex lip synching it in the video.

We've known for a while that Rush was semi-retiring, but knowing that they've officially come to an end is disappointing.  Rush, especially "Permanent Waves" / "Moving Pictures" / "Signals" era-Rush, was the soundtrack for the suburban Gen Xers and it's sad to see that come to a close.

Rush - "Subdivisions"

Frida - "I Know There's Something Going On" (forgotten song)

I could have told you that "I Know There's Something Going On" was a song from the 1980s -- I have a vague memory of the song from back in the day, even though I don't recall the video or remember hearing it on the radio --  but it's been only 72 hours since I learned these facts:

• Frida is actually Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA, who is also now a German dowager Princess and Countess and living in Switzerland.

• The song itself was written by journeyman song writer Russ Ballard, who also gave us songs like "Back In The New York Groove", "Winning", and "Since You Been Gone".

• Phil Collins was the producer, backup singer, and drummer for the entire LP, "Something's Going On".

Who knew?  Sure, "Who cares?" too, but I since I recently learned this hat trick of trivia I wanted to share it with you.  Of course, the drums have Phil Collins's signature gated reverb sound, but that was not uncommon in the 80s.  Also, I had no idea that ABBA members had solo careers. 

Frida -- "I Know There's Something Going On"