Let me first start off by saying I am totally biased here. I am a big fan of Big Wreck. They're pretty well the only band that kept me interested and hopeful about rock and roll thru the late '90s and the early '00s (my hope for the future was misplaced it turns out, but I didn't know that at the time). I liked both their big records, even tho everyone liked their first and no one really seemed to like their second.
Furthermore, I went to see them several times, including once in 1990somethin' and once last year on what I guess could be called their re-union tour. Both times, it was clear to me that there is one immutable fact I am sure of. Ian Thornley is a monster. Both as a vocalist, a lyricist, and a guitarist. If he was working in any other time in rock history, I shudder to think what he could do with an electric guitar. But he's working now, which means if he plays guitar too much, the record company won't want to have anything to do with him.
He has gotten in bed with Chad Kroeger too, and that's a pretty big problem for me. I have trouble trusting him to be an artist. I have trouble believing in his words and his notes the way I would like to. The way I do in the words and notes of Hendrix, Springsteen, Stevie Ray, Phil Lynott. I think Ian Thornley COULD be one of those guys, and Big Wreck COULD be one of those bands.
But with their latest release they have counted themselves out of that group. I'm not sure why they've done this, but I'm sure how.
Paulo Neta.
I know this sounds weird, but I notice these things. I notice when My Darkest Days, a band I ran into a few times in my other life as a Toronto rock musician, get a new guitarist. I notice when I walk into a showcase for another shitty band I don't like and see the same guest guitarist on stage. And I notice when I pay fairly good money to see Big Wreck reunited only to be presented with the same guy in THEIR lineup. And I notice when I open the cover of the cd I just bought and see that same fuckin' guest spot guy in the freakin' band!
I do not like this guy. And I think he has made it impossible for me to like Big Wreck's latest release. Never mind that the songs are at best only slightly promising. Never mind that the record is written, recorded and mixed so that only very little of Mr. Thornley's genius is allowed to peek out. Even if this was a truly goose-bump inducing record (which it is not), I would still have a big problem with Paulo Neta even bringing these guys coffee, much less playing in the band.
I'm sure he's a swell fella, okay? Before all 13 of you who read this review get on Facebook and say things like "I've met Paulo, he's a great guy and a great guitarist", I will tell you this: I don't know him as a person, and he could be mother goddam Teresa and I'd still feel the same way about him. I applaud him for having whatever skill it is that allows you to make a living as a musician these days. I applaud him because he is actually quite a good backing vocalist. But there is no way in hell he should be on a Big Wreck album.
Big Wreck is a band that can truly play and write all on their own. I think their previous releases speak for themselves in this respect. There is no reason for them to bring in a mercenary. There is no reason for them to bring in the guy that shit bands bring in to make them sound halfway decent on stage.
Correction. There is no ARTISTIC reason to do this.
There are dozens of OTHER reasons that all have to do with placating record companies, financiers, well connected people in the music biz. But those people are the necessary evil that I tolerate and buy the music IN SPITE OF. When I see a plug in Big Wreck, when I see the same guy in this band who was brought in as a crutch to make sure My Darkest Days could live up to their recording when they play important Toronto shows, I smell a rat.
Something's up here. It's like walking into your favorite steak house and seeing the local McDonalds manager in the kitchen. Even if the food still tastes great, you wonder what the hell is a burger flipper doing cooking my $30 steak.
This is how I feel about the fact that Paulo Neta is in this band. And it frankly ruins the musical experience for me. Because Big Wreck was a band that came into a very poor '90s rock scene and said "We'll have none of this weak-ass post-grunge garbage. We play guitars loud and banjos loud and we sing and if you don't like it, you can straight fuck off". And I really liked that about them. I like the same thing about Ian Thornley. He has SOUL, he has HEART, he has INSPIRATION! And yet the powers that be won't let him show it and worse, they'll saddle him with a replacement studio guitarist as a side man.
If you ask me, I think there's a reason this record is called Albatross. Paulo Neta is The Albatross around the neck of Big Wreck.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
New Van Halen Record - A Different Kind of Truthiness
I bought the newest release from Van Halen today. I paid actual money (cash no less) for a disk of music that was made after 1994. That in and of itself is notable. But I suppose I kinda have to buy this album, because if you wanna give your favorite band a real chance to bowl you over, you have to get the disk and hold it in your hands. I even forked over the extra 5 bones to get the deluxe edition with the DVD.
Don't buy the deluxe edition with the DVD.
It just isn't worth the money. It's just the four of 'em playing acoustic versions of some new and some old tunes. And it's not very good. Ed doesn't really have the hands to play an acoustic fluidly anymore. He looks like an old man cowering behind a large guitar he can barely control. And Dave doesn't really have the voice to be exposed live like this either.
HOWEVER
The album is another story altogether. It is not good like the old albums are good, but with the possible exception of ACDC, they do a better job than any band of their era has done with a new album since you stopped writing 1999 on your cheques.
This album features many of the things that a classic VH album should have. There's lots of "Hot for Teacher" fast shuffles, there's plenty of killer guitar playing, lots of "arm out the window driving to the beach in the summertime" backing vocals and there are LOTS of songs from the famous 51 song demo.
A little background on just what the hell I'm talking about:
When Van Halen were signed to a record deal in 1977, they recorded what they thought were their best 51 original songs at the time, and then chose the songs that would appear on the first album (Van Halen released in 1978). They continued to take material from this demo recording for each subsequent album until somewhere around 1986 or so. I have heard lots of songs from this demo, and lots of THOSE songs are on this new album, with lyrics changed. Tattoo, She's The Woman, Bullethead, Big River and Beats Workin' are re-worked from the 1978 tape (originally Down in Flames, She's The Woman, Bullethead, Big Trouble and Put Out The Lights respectively).
So in a lot of ways this album was made to satisfy the demand for a "classic" VH record. And it SEEMS like it should be able to do that. But it doesn't really. And it's not for lack of speed, intensity or bombast.
It's the songs. They're just not good enough to compete with anything in the previous Dave era VH catalog. In fact they're not even good enough to compete with "Can't Get This Stuff No More" from the greatest hits record of 1997. The thing is, they're not far off at all. Just a LITTLE more tweaking, a LITTLE more editing, a LITTLE more thought put into the lyrics, and this COULD be an album on par with 1980's Women And Children First. The reason it's not, in my opinion, is that these guys can't argue with each other anymore.
The confrontation between Eddie and Dave is the stuff of legend. Two very different personalities, both extremely talented, opinionated people, battling it out for the role of leader of Van Halen. Well, so many years later they're grown-ups who don't NEED to work as musicians anymore, and so if they get to fuedin', one is gonna kick the other out of his studio (Eddie) or call his band mates out in the press (Dave). We have seen this play out no less than 3 times since Dave last recorded an album with the band back in the oh so golden year that was 1984.
It basically means that they have to leave the songs as they are after everyone has put in their first draft contribution. No picking the other guy's ideas apart and making them better. And that shows. It shows in the lyrics (the first and second verse of Tattoo and the pre-chorus of You and Your Blues). It shows in the song arrangement (there are lots of solo sections and other little parts that really drag the songs down). The songs are not the tight atomic bombs that were a staple of the early VH material.
But for all it's shortcomings, it does have some magic moments. The afformentioned You and Your Blues is one of the nicest songs on there despite it's lyrical stumbling. Blood and Fire brings the band closest to duplicating the fun of their classic Dance The Night Away. Outta Space is the one rare tightly written song. And Big River is my favorite riff from the 1977 demo tape. So there are some high points.
Buy the record, because it's good as compared to everybody else's records (which as you all know are mostly aweful ... ahem ... Nickelback), but it's no vintage VH.
And now I'm gonna go listen to it for the 4th time today.
Don't buy the deluxe edition with the DVD.
It just isn't worth the money. It's just the four of 'em playing acoustic versions of some new and some old tunes. And it's not very good. Ed doesn't really have the hands to play an acoustic fluidly anymore. He looks like an old man cowering behind a large guitar he can barely control. And Dave doesn't really have the voice to be exposed live like this either.
HOWEVER
The album is another story altogether. It is not good like the old albums are good, but with the possible exception of ACDC, they do a better job than any band of their era has done with a new album since you stopped writing 1999 on your cheques.
This album features many of the things that a classic VH album should have. There's lots of "Hot for Teacher" fast shuffles, there's plenty of killer guitar playing, lots of "arm out the window driving to the beach in the summertime" backing vocals and there are LOTS of songs from the famous 51 song demo.
A little background on just what the hell I'm talking about:
When Van Halen were signed to a record deal in 1977, they recorded what they thought were their best 51 original songs at the time, and then chose the songs that would appear on the first album (Van Halen released in 1978). They continued to take material from this demo recording for each subsequent album until somewhere around 1986 or so. I have heard lots of songs from this demo, and lots of THOSE songs are on this new album, with lyrics changed. Tattoo, She's The Woman, Bullethead, Big River and Beats Workin' are re-worked from the 1978 tape (originally Down in Flames, She's The Woman, Bullethead, Big Trouble and Put Out The Lights respectively).
So in a lot of ways this album was made to satisfy the demand for a "classic" VH record. And it SEEMS like it should be able to do that. But it doesn't really. And it's not for lack of speed, intensity or bombast.
It's the songs. They're just not good enough to compete with anything in the previous Dave era VH catalog. In fact they're not even good enough to compete with "Can't Get This Stuff No More" from the greatest hits record of 1997. The thing is, they're not far off at all. Just a LITTLE more tweaking, a LITTLE more editing, a LITTLE more thought put into the lyrics, and this COULD be an album on par with 1980's Women And Children First. The reason it's not, in my opinion, is that these guys can't argue with each other anymore.
The confrontation between Eddie and Dave is the stuff of legend. Two very different personalities, both extremely talented, opinionated people, battling it out for the role of leader of Van Halen. Well, so many years later they're grown-ups who don't NEED to work as musicians anymore, and so if they get to fuedin', one is gonna kick the other out of his studio (Eddie) or call his band mates out in the press (Dave). We have seen this play out no less than 3 times since Dave last recorded an album with the band back in the oh so golden year that was 1984.
It basically means that they have to leave the songs as they are after everyone has put in their first draft contribution. No picking the other guy's ideas apart and making them better. And that shows. It shows in the lyrics (the first and second verse of Tattoo and the pre-chorus of You and Your Blues). It shows in the song arrangement (there are lots of solo sections and other little parts that really drag the songs down). The songs are not the tight atomic bombs that were a staple of the early VH material.
But for all it's shortcomings, it does have some magic moments. The afformentioned You and Your Blues is one of the nicest songs on there despite it's lyrical stumbling. Blood and Fire brings the band closest to duplicating the fun of their classic Dance The Night Away. Outta Space is the one rare tightly written song. And Big River is my favorite riff from the 1977 demo tape. So there are some high points.
Buy the record, because it's good as compared to everybody else's records (which as you all know are mostly aweful ... ahem ... Nickelback), but it's no vintage VH.
And now I'm gonna go listen to it for the 4th time today.
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