The Audio Project

Pearl Jam - Australasian tour - November 2009

2009-12-12T13:25:00.001+11:00

(picture credit – Karen Loria / http://www.flickr.com/photos/pearljamofficial )

Pearl Jam

Australasian tour - November 2009

I’ve mentioned to many of you in the past just what this band means to me. And im not alone when i say that their music just connects with me. The songs just reach out and grab me - both lyrics and music. And this band is one that ive never tired of listening to (and ive been a fan since 1992). I have at times lost confidence in some of their records upon release (ie No Code or Riot Act) but eventually find my way back to these records and discover their purpose in the greater picture. I recall that first time I heard Alive and that amazing opening riff and resulting guitar tone from Stone. Then the groove of Even Flow. I was hooked and to this day listen to Ten constantly. Vs arrived and took a new path for me - with laid back tunes like Daughter, Elderly Woman and Indifference being some of my favorites right up there with the more rockin numbers. Every album that has followed has been eagerly anticipated and repeatedly played upon release.

My first live exposure to the band was watching Mtv back in 92 or 93. The Even Flow video with its live recording was intense. In these pre internet days we had to rely on free to air TV broadcasting the odd live video or if we were lucky and stayed up all night we might get a few live tracks back to back. I recall seeing a few Unplugged gigs this way on Mtv - including a few of the Pearl Jam unplugged performance. One performance stands out for me and many other fans of the band - the 1993 Mtv Video Music Awards. I vividly recall the end of the awards show with Christian Slater announcing the band and then they kicked in to a killer version of Animal. Then the mighty Neil Young comes out for the most amazing live version of Rockin in The Free World I have ever heard. And the band looked all cool too. Lots of shorts and long hair and baseball caps. And Ed looked pissed off or maybe even drunk. Then Mike trashed his amps at the end. It was the coolest thing id seen on Mtv since the Guns n Roses Live At The Ritz performance from 1988.

The band toured here for the first time in 1995. I didn’t go to the shows and have regretted it ever since. The shows were announced before the release of Vitalogy and sure Ten and Vs were great but to buy tickets to a show for an album I hadn’t heard yet was a bit risky on my high school budget back then. We all know how great Vitalogy is and im sure you all agree with me that missing that tour was a big musical mistake for me. I read the reports of the shows in the weeks following and I wasn’t happy. The band were on fire. Jack Irons was drumming too - even Dave Grohl flew over here to hang out at a few shows in his post Nirvana / pre Foo days. And Flea jammed with them as well. Lucky for me that national radio station Triple J recorded one of the shows and broadcast it not long after. This recording (and subsequent upgrades thanks to the wonders of live show trading) has become one of my favourite live recordings of the 1500+ that I have from many artists.

1995/6/7 was great as a music fan as the emergence if this internet thing really opened the world to new live recordings (albeit in low quality mp3s). We could read international show reviews mere hours after they occurred. We could see photos of the shows. We could find out about upcoming releases. We could search for these international versions of the albums, 7" singles, etc. It was awesome to be a merd (Music Nerd) at that time. That period also co-incided with my post high school jobs and a flush of income that I have nothing to show for now but a stack of records, tapes, cds, singles, video tapes, magazines, posters, t shirts, gig tickets and the subsequent diminished hearing.

1998 was the first time i got to see Pearl Jam live. I somehow managed to grab seats to one of the shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in March. Shudder To Think were the support act and they were that bad that I walked out. To say they sucked is an understatement. But then Pearl Jam came on and floored all 12,000 of us in attendance. It was great. Stone even did Mankind. Very cool. Lucky for me that the band later that year released Live On Two Legs so we could relive many great moments from the Yield tour.

Late 1999 was an amazing time in my life. I had a new job. I got together with the woman who would become my wife. And during this time there were a few albums that became the soundtrack that ill always think of when my mind goes back to those times - Foo Fighters There Is Nothing Left To Lose, Beastie Boys - Sounds Of Science (the anthology) and Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication. But its one song that will always stand out - Pearl Jam's Black off the Ten record. A few life long friends were camping to bring in the new Millennium. Many tunes were played over those few days. I recall laying in our tent when my girl heard Black for the first time from a stereo the next campsite over. She was amazed at how great it was and had to hear it again immediately - I just so happened to have my Live On Two legs cd in the car and that version of Black became a constant player for many years to come.

Binaural arrived and everything about that album was amazing. The artwork to the way the track list flows perfectly on a road trip. Its all good. Light Years became a favourite track that would later on take on a whole new meaning for me - and became the girls second favourite track. Other stand out tracks on the disc for me are Nothing As It Seems and Sleight Of Hand. The 2000 international tour was great as it produced the start of the official bootleg series. I bought a few, downloaded a few and traded a few. A very cool move on the bands part. I saw the band again on the Riot Act tour - February 14 2003. The album didn’t really grab me at the time but the live show did and left me wanting more. Lucky for me that the band continued the official bootleg program so i could relive that show over and over.

Late 2003 saw the arrival of a major piece of technology into the house - broadband internet. And with broadband internet came torrents and with torrents came a multitude of live shows from many of my favourite bands - both CD and DVD. Yayness maximum. I struggled to keep up with the amount of shows I owned back then and still struggle to this day. Ill struggle with that issue forever - but its a good problem to have. Once fantasized about live versions of songs or rare shows now became reality. Shows that I only had in 96k mono mp3 now became 16bit flacs. Every day was a new show from a favourite band. The backseat of my car was flooded with dozens of live shows on CD. One live show I managed to get during the following years was a high quality FM recording of the Pearl Jam show here in Melbourne (March 17 1995) on the Vitalogy tour. It had announcers voice over’s throughout the show but it was great to finally have the full thing. Dave Grohl jumped on the drums during Rockin In The Free World. Amazing versions of Immortality and State Of Love And Trust as well. But one track stood out - a solo Ed speech about that day being his and then partner Beth's anniversary. He then mentioned that there’s a line from the New Zealand band Split Enz song and hed like to sing it - "I got you. And that’s all I want". I recall that being one of the most raw, heartfelt and romantic lyrics id ever heard. It said so much in so few words. I made a note to myself to remember it for later on.

2004 and 2005 were good to get the rearviewmirror and Lost Dogs sets. Whilst in New York in late 05 I managed to score them both on vinyl so now im only missing Live On Two Legs and Benaroya Hall on vinyl. I know a guy who has Two Legs on vinyl (sealed) that will (WILL!!!!) one day relinquish ownership to me. In mid 2006 I was preparing for the wedding and wrote my vows. Being a “merd” I wanted to put some musical references in as that’s what I normally do in everyday life and the wedding was no exception. Some of you were there and you heard them. The last line of my wedding vows was "I got you. And that’s all I want" The fellow “merds” who where present that afternoon were all impressed. So too was the mrs.

The Pearl Jam / avocado album was released mid 2006 as well as tickets to the November Australian tour. I wanted to see a few shows but was trying to be good with the cash post honeymoon so just decided on one show in Sydney. A few weeks before the show Yvee got the cancer diagnosis and to say that that time in my life was fcuking warped is an understatement. I wasn’t going to go to the show but she made me go. I was with Ben in great seats and wasn’t really in a gig going mood until the band hit the stage. The set list was great and the songs off the new record really came alive (pun intended) in the live environment. I’ve mentioned before to some of you that the performance of Black that night fcuked me up majorly. I stood there crying harder than when she had told me the diagnosis. That line in the middle really hit hard "I know some day you'll have a beautiful life. I hope you'll be a star. In somebody else’s sky. But why cant I be mine?". Ben put his hand on my shoulder as if to say "im here for you man". It was a moment ill never forget and one that I always recall when listening to that version from the official bootleg.

As many of you know my girl didn’t make it. While preparing for the funeral in December 2007 I had to prepare something to hand out at the service. Not wanting anything sad I was leaning towards some lyrics to a song and decided on Light Years. It was her second favourite PJ song and has very fitting lyrics in my opinion. So an A5 sized card was given out that had a beautiful photo on it with the lyrics "And where ever you've gone. And wherever we might go. It don’t seem fair. You seemed to like it here. Your light's reflected now. Reflected from afar. We were but stones. Your light made us stars"

In the weeks after the funeral I struggled to listen to music that had real meaning to me. One album that comforted me during this time was the Benaroya Hall acoustic set. Those were some dark days for me but that album helped me pass them.

So I caught an Eddie Vedder solo show in Boston in August 2008 and it was good but it lacked something - Stone, Matt, Jeff and Mike. Later in 2008 came a rumored box set for Ten and then came the announcement for what I call the greatest box set i own. I wrote a review on my blog HERE.

2009 came the release of Backspacer. But before that came the announcement of an Australasian tour. I finally joined Ten club to get tickets but the tour ended up being in stadiums with GA on the floor anyway damn it. Oh well its ok for me and my 430 XXX number, but I feel for those Aussies with their sub 200 000 numbers. I wanted to do the whole tour but had to factor in time off work as well as cash. So decided on Melbourne and Sydney only. The Backspacer album was released and I really like it - its not their best work but there is some real gems on it that I later found out really shine in the live setting.

Ben did the first two shows of the tour - Perth and Adelaide - and traveled between in the Jam Van. Ben has been a part of the Touring Van on a few US tours and also the 2006 Australian tour. I read some show reports from these opening two shows and was very impressed with the set lists.

The tour got to Melbourne on November 20. Ben had been lining up with his fellow tour followers the night before the show to get a good position on the rail when the doors opened. I had to work on the day of the show so was lucky that the people around Ben were cool enough to let me in when I turned up the afternoon of the show. Jason and his mate were great guys to hang with and spend 3 or 4 hours in line with. When doors opened we made it to the barrier in front of Stone. Liam Finn and EJ Barnes were good openers. Ben Harper rocked - his drummer is phenomenal. The Pearl Jam show was great though I didn’t get a good view of the lights nor the best sound from that position. But I was lucky enough to score one of Mike and Eddie's guitar picks. They did Black and yeah I was messed up again. I was happy but also sad that she would have been seeing a show on this tour for the first time. Ben passed out during Black too. Stupid fool didn’t eat or drink anything while sleeping out and lining up all day. I found it sort of funny that be blacked out during Black. Ben sort of laughed at that too. Set highlights were the opener of Elderly Woman, Brother, Present Tense, the best version of Jeremy ive ever heard, Ed doing The Needle and The Damage Done, Black and Spin The Black Circle. All in all a very enjoyable show.

The day after the show Ben and I drove to Sydney in his JamVan to see the show on the 22nd.

We got inline about 11 on the day of the Sydney show to conserve some energy - it was forecasted for 41 degrees that day. The plan was to get to the front "T" barrier to see the show so we could just chill out and enjoy the show. Ben's girl was in town and we were going to see the show with Gen who couldn’t see more than one show this tour (after her 10 shows on the 2006 tour). But tonight was also going to be my mate Sean's first Pearl Jam gig - after being a fan since 1992 as well. Sean's like a brother to me and has been there for me in many many ways over the last few years so it was good to experience the show with him. We chilled out and enjoyed the Liam Finn and Ben Harper sets before the main act. Liam joined the band for the Hunters & Collectors song Throw Your Arms Around Me and then Ed also joined Ben again for the Queen/Bowie track Under Pressure. Nice. The show was great from the barrier we were on and even though Ed was sick with a cold the band put on a great show that was just as good as the Melbourne show in my opinion. Eddie spoke a few times about his love for Sydney to rapturous applause. He then mentioned the next song was a request and that it was "for a young light named Sebastian". They then went into Light Years. I recall Sean giving me a hug after the song. I wasn’t sad during the song and recall looking up at the stars and getting a feeling that she's ok. Before the next track Last Exit I lent over to Ben and said "fcuk it - im coming to New Zealand too" He was happy as he had been bugging me about seeing more shows this tour. I didn’t have flights, accommodation or tickets to the shows but for one of the first times in my life I just did something spontaneous. After that version of Light Years I needed to see more of this band. The show ended shortly after as Ed was sick, but set highlights were Hail Hail, Given To Fly, Untitled/MFC, Garden, Mankind!!!, State Of Love And Trust, Light Years and Crazy Mary.

After the show I bumped into Jason from the line-up in Melbourne. We were raving about the show and both mentioned how good Light Years was. He then told me that the song was dedicated to his son Sebastian who had passed on a few weeks earlier. I told him about the meaning of the song to me and what I had used the lyrics for. He was floored and so too I. We met up again outside the arena and I met his wife. We had a brief chat about the power of music to help in times of need and its a conversation im sure we will continue shortly. Sean loved the show and we all had a quick meal to talk endlessly about the show.

So the next few days were franticly getting flights, accommodation, transfers, time off work, etc. But it got sorted and I arrived on the night before the Auckland show. New Zealand is only a 3.5hr flight so no big deal. The shows over there were stadiums as well, so the early line up thing continued. Ben and I got there about 1030am and were in the first 30 in line. It was good to spend the whole day meeting more of Ben's friends from previous tours. I also met a few local Kiwi people who were great to hang out with. The show was the first time Pearl Jam had played in New Zealand in 11 years so anticipation was high amongst the locals. But this anticipation also brought out the "tools" so the once normal non crowded / no moshing / easy going / respect your fellow fan vibe of the entire Australian tour became the mosh pit to rival one at a Slayer gig. Damn it. Eddie stopped the show a few times and singled out a few of the local fucktards to get them to chill out. A few of the bands security personnel tried to stop them with little success. The first 5 or 6 songs were a blur as I was attempting to not fall over. But then it kinda chilled out - emphasis on the word kinda. One guy was trying to start some circle pits - think Venice Beach circa 1985. This is fine if I was at a Slayer gig but again - this was a Pearl Jam gig. This inbred had his shirt off and a nipple ring. I did have thoughts about pulling the nipple ring off but remembered the story I heard about the local Maori tribes and their hatred of non local Maori people. Anyway - asswipes aside the show was great. The set list was tight with highlights being Faithful, Unthought Known, Love Reign O'er Me and The Fixer. Mike gave a friend of mine a handful of guitar picks to share amongst her friends - and she did. That was uber nice of them both. I regifted mine to one of my new Kiwi friends and then was gifted another one. PJ fans are tops!

Saturday I went to Reel Groovy Records in Auckland. I spent a stack of cash there when I was in New Zealand for the 1998 Metallica shows. Its a great independent record store that was in some financial trouble a few years ago but made it through ok. I picked up Backspacer on vinyl as well as the new Weezer record (its awesome), Joe Walsh's But Seriously Folks and the super rare Springsteen Dream Baby Dream 10". That afternoon i flew to Christchurch for the final show of my tour, the Australasian tour and the bands 2009 tour. My flight was full of Pearl Jam fans and one guy from America came up to me and gave me props for my shirt (black long sleeve from the 1998 Yield tour) as he had never seen it anywhere. He had been to a few hundred shows so I felt special.

Christchurch is cool - reminded me a bit of Boston. Ben and I got to the line about 7am and were 13th and 14th in line. It was cool again to hang out and meet more peeps and crazies. But it was cold. 16 degrees was the maximum temp that day as we were in line outside. Mad scrambles for jumpers and jackets was the main focus throughout the day. When the gates opened we walked (very quickly) and made it through to Stone's side again. Just before I got the to barrier I noticed one of Eddie's guitar picks on the grass so quickly ran back and got it. Sean will love it im sure. Liam Finn's set was good again though I was getting a little bored of the tunes. It was good to have Neil Finn make a brief appearance with Liam again. Ben Harper came out and was great as always - his drummer is amazing. Ed joined Ben again for Under Pressure.

Pearl Jam opened the show with Given To Fly and then went straight into Got Some. Very cool. The crowd was much better than Auckland as well. I guess the cold didn’t necessitate the excess drinking and subsequent dickheadness of the Auckland crowd? Tremor Christ was choice - earlier in the day id mentioned my want for more Vitalogy stuff as id missed the Brisbane show and Not For You. I Got Shit was great to hear live. Garden into Do The Evolution into Go was awesome to close the main set.

Neil Finn came back out with his son Liam for the final encore to perform the Crowded House track Better Be Home Soon with the band. Right after that Liam and Neil stayed onstage with the band to perform Split Enz’s I Got You. And fcuk me if it all didn’t come back full circle to me. It was hard to go to these shows due to the impact the music the band make has had on me and the events in my life their music is forever connected to. And to not have my girl there to see the band was also an issue for me. But then to get fcuked up during Black in Melbourne to seeing Light Years in Sydney and now seeing Ed sing those opening lines to I Got You with the guy who wrote it and the wedding reference for me it just helps close the loop. Two days after the Christchurch show was the second anniversary of her passing. In a way I went to New Zealand to get away for a bit to give me a boost to help get through that date. It worked.

Ed gave Gus his wine bottle after the show. Gus offered me some and it was good to find out that it aint red cordial he's downing each show. Im not a wine drinker but it was a nice drop. Post show was photos and stories and email address swapping with peeps ill stay in touch with until we all meet again at the next tour. Or next years 20th anniversary shows in the States. Or maybe the Europe shows in the summer.

I chilled out the day after the show. I was beat. This rock n roll stuff is hard work even just seeing a few shows in a few days. I have no idea how I managed 14 shows in 18 nights in 5 states when in America last year. I got to the airport and met up with Ben and some other mates. We shared favourite show moments from the tour - and of course I missed some of the best ones in the three shows I missed. Then we heard the story of Neil and the magical Maori juice and the walking through reception naked at 6am. There’s much more to that story and im looking forward to hearing more about it at the next tour.

adam

PS - one final thing. Yellow Ledbetter is one of my fav. PJ tracks. Sure its becoming their Bobby Jean, but I love it. While getting the YouTube links together for this review I came across the below video for the song. Too fucking funny!

Triple J Hottest 100 of ALL TIME

2009-07-12T20:42:00.000+10:00

So.

The list is out. I didnt listen to the countdown this afternoon. I went for a bike ride around the F1 course. Then ate a potato. And some Ferraro Rocher

My thoughts on the list;

1/ The core Triple J age demographic is 14 to 25. I have no problem with this. It does however skew the results. I have no problem with this. If one of the national commercial radio stations did a similar vote and countdown (ie Triple M) then those results would also be skewed towards that station's demographic. Case in point? LINK.

b/ MJ's passing did result in the addition of his songs. If this list was finalised 3 weeks ago, I guarantee that there wouldnt be a MJ song on the list. Hey, dont get me wrong - i love most of his music as much as the next music fan - but it did result in people getting all nostalgic back to when they liked his tunes and then voting. The two songs that made it in of his are great songs, though I would have pulled Thriller and put in either Beat It or Smooth Criminal.

iii/ Too much Jeff Buckley. Yes his Grace album is good. But its not that good. Like my comments above re: MJ, take away the sad fact that he is gone, would people still vote?

shi/ Number 1......... like the comments above re MJ and Buckley, I do think Kurt's passing helped a bit in boosting their result. BUT... Teen Spirit is a genre defining song. It launched a new musical style onto millions of listeners. It opened up other similar bands to new listeners. It still sounds relevant today. It wasnt a hit then a miss. It was followed up by a great album and stack of singles and then kicked the band into gear to make In Utero. And then there was the Unplugged album. This song is deserving of a place in the top 5 of all time, though im not sure if number 1 is the right spot.

And finally, not one of the songs on my list made it through. 9 of the artists made it through. 3 of my artists are top 10 in the list. The one artist that didnt make it through didnt surprise me. One day the Triple J listeners will get the magic of Bruce's work. The King gets it. And as long as he likes Bruce and is the musical director of Triple J, im all ok.

Hottest 100 Of All Time 2009

1. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name
3. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
4. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
5. Radiohead - Paranoid Android
6. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
7. Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
9. Foo Fighters - Everlong
10. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
11. John Lennon - Imagine
12. Oasis - Wonderwall
13. Radiohead - Creep
14. The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
15. Radiohead - Karma Police
16. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
17. Hilltop Hoods - The Nosebleed Section
18. Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
19. Metallica - One
20. White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
21. Powderfinger - These Days
22. Massive Attack - Teardrop
23. Hunters & Collectors - Throw Your Arms Around Me
24. The Beatles - A Day in the Life
25. Pearl Jam - Alive
26. Michael Jackson - Thriller
27. Powderfinger - My Happiness
28. Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
29. Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
30. Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
31. Metallica - Enter Sandman
32. New Order - Blue Monday
33. Silverchair - Tomorrow
34. The Living End - Prisoner Of Society
35. Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
36. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Into My Arms
37. Tool - Stinkfist
38. The Killers - Mr Brightside
39. Pearl Jam - Better Man
40. Nirvana - Come As You Are
41. Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
42. Bloc Party - Banquet
43. The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
44. The Beatles - Hey Jude
45. Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows
46. Faith No More - Epic
47. John Butler Trio - Betterman
48. Beastie Boys - Sabotage
49. Guns 'N Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
50. Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over
51. Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
52. You Am I - Berlin Chair
53. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
54. The Cure - Close To Me
55. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
56. Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should Have Come Over
57. Tool - Forty Six & 2
58. Daft Punk - Around The World
59. Augie March - One Crowded Hour
60. Johnny Cash - Hurt
61. Blur - Song 2
62. Nine Inch Nails - Closer
63. AC/DC - Thunderstruck
64. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
65. Underworld - Born Slippy
66. Elton John - Tiny Dancer
67. Ben Folds Five - Brick
68. Blink 182 - Dammit
69. Jeff Buckley - Grace
70. The Prodigy - Breathe
71. The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
72. The Shins - New Slang
73. The Clash - London Calling
74. Nirvana - Lithium
75. Green Day - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
76. The Stone Roses - Fools Gold
77. Gotye - Hearts A Mess
78. Smashing Pumpkins - Today
79. David Bowie - Life on Mars
80. The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
81. Pulp - Common People
82. System Of A Down - Chop Suey!
83. Placebo - Every You Every Me
84. Bob Marley & The Wailers - No Woman, No Cry
85. The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You
86. The Beatles - Come Together
87. Coldplay - Yellow
88. The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
89. Rage Against the Machine - Bulls On Parade
90. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
91. AC/DC - Back In Black
92. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
93. Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
94. Modest Mouse - Float On
95. Stevie Wonder - Superstition
96. Daft Punk - One More Time
97. Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
98. Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
99. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
100. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

This Was Hard....

2009-06-27T17:38:00.000+10:00

I haven't posted for a long time. I want to. I just cant be assed. Lots to talk about. Yesterday's loss of MJ wont be discussed though. Theres already too much out there and a lot of its crap. There's lots of music stuff going on for me too.

Oh, and Steven Adler kissed me on the cheek.

But im here to talk about the Triple J Hottest 100 of all time list I have just finished preparing. The rules are here.

I started with my Last.FM profile of top artists as the last few years have mainly been digital music from my iPod. I listen to the iPod at work, in the car, on flights, at the gym, on my bike, etc. Its just too easy to dial up a track or album and play that than it is getting the record out or finding the CD.

From the artist lists I looked at it and then had a panic attack. Fuck me. There was 300+ artists. I could choose 10 (my own rules state that you can only have one song from any artist). Who would I leave off? Who would I ignore? What song from an artist would I choose? THIS LIST IS ALL TIME BEST SONGS!!!!

No pressure.

So here is the results im submitting. Ill wake up at 3am tomorrow and regret it im sure. But ill just have to live with it.

Im sure there will be comments from my 7 readers both positive and negative. Deal with it.

Adam

1	Pink Floyd	Time
2	Jimi Hendrix	Little Wing
3	Metallica	Damage Inc
4	Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band	New York City Serenade
5	Guns N Roses	Its So Easy
6	Rage Against The Machine	Calm Like A Bomb
7	Pearl Jam	Immortality
8	Led Zeppelin	No Quarter
9	Public Enemy	Shut Em Down
10	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Soul To Squeeze

This makes me uber happy

2009-05-12T21:40:00.001+10:00

Ben and Alicia will probably see them in Europe this summer. I wont.

But theyre back and thats all that matters.

Why I havent been posting much stuff lately...

2009-05-07T20:39:00.000+10:00

Pearl Jam - Ten (super deluxe edition)

2009-04-02T21:16:00.000+11:00

Last November when I read about Pearl Jam's debut album - Ten - being remastered and released, I knew I HAD to have it. It is a brilliant album, but has always sounded a bit hollow to me. 2004's greatest hits album - rearviewmirror - has a few Ten tracks remastered and showed promise of what would come one day if/when the band released the rest of the remastered tracks.

Then I saw the above picture of the package for the super deluxe edition and I was floored. How cool is that? Look at all that stuff. Its a merd's (Music Nerd's) wet dream. Im a big vinyl fan. I love unreleased tracks. I applaud bands that reach into their vaults to give the crazy fans items such as tour journals, riders, passes, etc. So yeah, wet dream stuff.

I ordered it in Dec when it went on sale - $140 for the box and $50 for the shipping. $190 US dollars that is. The Australian dollar was on its rapid decline, so with exchange rates and currency fees, it cost me $291. Then came the slow three month wait. I got an email from UPS on Tuesday 17th March saying it was leaving Seattle. By Thursday 19th it was here. That's fast. And considering the release date wasnt until March 24th, im pretty lucky to get it so early.

It was shipped to a safer address than my place, and picked it up a few days later - still 5 days before it was due to be released.

Here's the short review:

wow.

Here's the usual Adam crap on for half an hour review:

Arriving at my safe house I was greeted with a large cardboard box with a Seattle shipping address. Woohoo!! Opened up to reveal sweet sweet Pearl Jam box set goodness. Id waited about 4 months to get my hands on this thing, so decided to wait a couple of hours to "savour the moment" till I got back to my place. And besides - there's no turntable at the safe house. Boo.

When I got back I decided to listen to the bands live recording of the November 7 2006 show at the Acer Arena in Sydney. Great show with a few great mates at a very fucked up time in my life. There's one song I couldn't bring myself to listen to, but besides that its a rockin show.

So here's the box;

So I then cut the plastic and opened it up. The first thing I grabbed was the double LP of the bands 1992 Drop In The Park show in Seattle. Ive read about this show. Ive seen the photos. Ive seen the footage on YouTube, but to now finally have the show in full mixed soundboard audio on vinyl?? Man that's impressive!

Front cover

Rear cover

Front / Rear - awesome photo

Inside the gatefold - some great b&w / sepia photos.

Thats Dave and Krist talking to Eddie

And heres the label on the vinyl

Heres where it all started - Ten. This is the front cover of the remastered album.

Rear cover

And a side by side comparison to the original vinyl of Ten

The vinyl label for the remaster

Front cover of Ten Redux - the Brendan O'Brien remixes and bonus tracks

Rear cover of Ten Redux

Vinyl label for Ten Redux

At this point I just had to put the boxset into the Pearl Jam vinyl section of the music room. I have all but two of their official LP's - im missing Live On Two Legs and Benaroya Hall. There's a story linked to me not getting these records. Maybe one day ill tell it. Maybe one day Ben will sell me his vinyl copy of Benaroya Hall.

So on to the goodies box

Goodies box spine - hmmmmmm silver embossed....

The poster, passes, postcards, etc are in a cool tracing paper type envelope. Nice touch.....

....that opens up to reveal a photo sheet from the Ten era......

.....and a stack of reproduced collectable's from the early days - including a Mookie Blaylock basketball card. Nice!

And heres the book containing old setlists, photos, tour notes, etc

Underneath the book is some foam that holds the CD/DVD pack and a replica of Eddie's demo tape. Again - nice!

Cover of Ed's demo tape

This tape is the stuff of legend. I always thought id see it in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame one day. Even though its a replica its totally awesome to have my own copy. Fuck this band rocks.

And the CD/DVD slip case

The covers for the CD's are the same as the vinyl. The Unplugged DVD has a great photo from the taping of the show

The rear of the DVD case has some classic live shots of the band. Interesting to see the exclusion of one particular member though.....

To top it all off theres a nice series of 12" x 12" prints to make up the liner notes about the box.

Some of the other pages have handwritten notes as well.

This is my favourite photo from the liner notes. A great Eddie photo.

So that's the boxset. Now onto the audio and video;

Mtv Unplugged

Like most Pearl Jam fans, i have a few versions of the bands Mtv Unplugged performance in various formats. I have crappy mp3s from a 5th gen vhs. I have a dvd thats made from a 5th gen vhs. A dvd from a 3rd gen vhs that doesn't have the full show. And then theres the various mpegs, divx, youtube downloads, etc ive found on this here interweb thing over the years. All have one thing in common - a great performance. And now its great to relive the great performance with the full show in fantastic audio quality.

Ive read comments from the band over the years mentioning when fans come up to them and ask "when are you guys going to release the unplugged show?" and the band are amazed that people actually like it. Maybe they thought it was an off show or some other stuff was going on at the time? Me?? I love it. But then again I love most unplugged performances - even when im not a big fan of the band. I feel they show the true talent of an artist - the songs are raw and stripped back to their elements. I also like to see and hear little improvisations that a full amplified show hides the detail of.

The performances here are very similar to the studio or live versions of the songs. Id prefer to see and hear more basic drums and a quieter sound, but that's my only complaint. Oh, and the guitars are low in the mix on a lot of the tracks. Again, a smaller and less amplified drum kit would have helped the mix.

Audio quality - Brilliant. Clear. Im not a big fan of 5.1 live mixes, so I just listened to the stereo mix and its great. Again, all ive had is crappy low quality versions for the last 15 years, so this is perfection.

Video quality - Clear. Sharp. I have a HD tv and the DVD is connected via RGB HD enabled cables. Looks good to me. And again, the only other versions of this performance I own are copies of copies of copies with time codes.

Summary - the first thing I watched or listened to from the boxset. Off to a great start. This disc will be on high rotation at my place in the foreseeable future. Standout tracks were State Of, Black and Jeremy.

Ten - Remastered

Its great.

But heres a story. Back in 1995 i heard about Pearl Jam, members of Soundgarden, Mudhoney, what was left of Nirvana, etc running a pirate radio station. More info here. So anyhoo, early 1998 I managed to find a low quality (maybe 96kbps mp3) recording on a Pearl Jam fan website. Maybe a 60mb download - about 5 hrs to download. And it was awesome. Not the sound quality, but the performance. I played it all the time. Fast forward to 2005. Broadband is everywhere, i find a torrent of the pirate radio broadcast - i think either off the master tapes from the recording or a 2nd generation. Great sound quaity. I downloaded and the quality was great. But it just didnt hit me the way it did when I first heard it back in the day.

So theres my review of Ten remastered. Its even better sound quality. Its one of the best albums of the 90's. It now sounds better.

Ten - Remixed

Brendan O'brien knows a thing or 20 about mixing, engineering and producing records. I like his mix. It sounds warmer. But like my comment above, I think i prefer the original. Ive been listening to that version for almost 18 years. I guess if Brendan had produced it originally then id be used to that version. Yes - at 32 im a bit stuck in my ways when it comes to music.

The bonus tunes from the Ten era are great to hear. State Of Love And Trust has always been one of my favourite Pearl Jam songs. But im not into this mix of it. I much prefer the versions we have. Brother is great. The other tracks are ok. Im sure ill get hatemail, but the other songs dont jump out at me as being anything mind numbingly brilliant. It could be that im already overwhelmed by now with the greatness in this boxset - Unplugged performance, hearing Ten again (ive been in Ten blackout mode since December - havent listened to it except to play Even Flow on Guitar Hero 3), etc

Drop in The Park

WOW!!! I was really impressed with the DVD of Unplugged. And like Unplugged, I had low quality versions of this over the years. But here it is in high quality soundboard audio - on Vinyl!!! Yay for vinyl. The sound quality is clear, crisp and ROCKIN! Kicking off with Even Flow (what a way to start), into Once, bang into State Of... and then Why Go - one of my favourite PJ songs. Theres 4 live songs in a row from an era of the band id kill to teleport back to.

Deep is good. Jeremy is one of the best live versions ive ever heard. Then Black. This song was hard for me to listen to. I normally skip it when i have the iPod on with one of the many live shows from PJ on it. Its just too hard to hear the intro, the opening, the chorus, etc. Then theres the section towards the end;

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star
In somebody else's sky, but why, why, why
Can't it be, can't it be mine

It just fucks me up - the emotion in Eddie's voice when he sings it live and the message in the words make me think of what could have been and isnt anymore. Ben was there with me in Sydney on November 7 2006 when i heard the song live and the fear of that time of our lives coming out of me when they played Black. Ben patted me on the back at the end of the song. No words were spoken. He knew. Thanks bro.

Back to the review....

Alive kicks in with that guitar intro. Its a brilliant version of the song. Garden and Porch finish off the (too short) set. Drop In The Park is all killer no filler. Its worth the purchase price alone. And then as an added bonus, a small piece of paper fell out of the vinyl cover with a code to download a 320kbps mp3 version of the show. Nice....

The only part of the box I didnt listen to was Eddie's Mamasan demo tape. I didnt want to open the shrink wrap around the tape, and im sure i have the mp3s floating around - ive heard them before.

So, there's the review. If you dont have it, you want it, you can afford it - and still get your hands on it - then I thoroughly recommend it.

Uncle Trent - he GETS it

2009-03-19T00:18:00.001+11:00

Photo credit

Trent rocks. Bruce tried to take a stand against corporate scalping, but his bitch of a manager put a spin on it and the message it lost its weight.

Oh and ive done my bit. For now.

Jon Bon, Lars, Bruce, Dave, et al who all claim to want to control ticket scalping can easily do something about the problem. Trent has the answer. Heres trents post over at nin.com. Its honest. Its clear. This dude knows how to make good use of the internet. And he rocks.

NiN LINK

As we approach on-sale dates for the upcoming tour, I've noticed lots of you are curious / concerned / outraged at the plethora of tickets that somehow appear on all these reseller sites at inflated prices - even before the pre-sale dates. I'll do my best to explain the situation as I see it, as well as clarify my organization's stance in the matter.

NIN decides to tour this summer. We arrive at the conclusion outdoor amphitheaters are the right venue for this outing, for a variety of reasons we've throughly considered*. In the past, NIN would sell the shows in each market to local promoters, who then "buy" the show from us to sell to you. Live Nation happens to own all the amphitheaters and bought most of the local promoters - so if you want to play those venues, you're being promoted by Live Nation. Live Nation has had an exclusive deal with TicketMaster that has just expired, so Live Nation launched their own ticketing service. Most of the dates on this tour are through Live Nation, some are through TicketMaster - this is determined by the promoter (Live Nation), not us.

Now we get into the issue of secondary markets for tickets, which is the hot issue here. The ticketing marketplace for rock concerts shows a real lack of sophistication, meaning this: the true market value of some tickets for some concerts is much higher than what the act wants to be perceived as charging. For example, there are some people who would be willing to pay $1,000 and up to be in the best seats for various shows, but MOST acts in the rock / pop world don't want to come off as greedy pricks asking that much, even though the market says its value is that high. The acts know this, the venue knows this, the promoters know this, the ticketing company knows this and the scalpers really know this. So...

The venue, the promoter, the ticketing agency and often the artist camp (artist, management and agent) take tickets from the pool of available seats and feed them directly to the re-seller (which from this point on will be referred to by their true name: SCALPER). I am not saying every one of the above entities all do this, nor am I saying they do it for all shows but this is a very common practice that happens more often than not. There is money to be made and they feel they should participate in it. There are a number of scams they employ to pull this off which is beyond the scope of this note.

StubHub.com is an example of a re-seller / scalper. So is TicketsNow.com.

Here's the rub: TicketMaster has essentially been a monopoly for many years - certainly up until Live Nation's exclusive deal ran out. They could have (and can right now) stop the secondary market dead in its tracks by doing the following: limit the amount of sales per customer, print names on the tickets and require ID / ticket matches at the venue. We know this works because we do it for our pre-sales. Why don't THEY do it? It's obvious - they make a lot of money fueling the secondary market. TicketMaster even bought a re-seller site and often bounces you over to that site to buy tickets (TicketsNow.com)!

NIN gets 10% of the available seats for our own pre-sale. We won a tough (and I mean TOUGH) battle to get the best seats. We require you to sign up at our site (for free) to get tickets. We limit the amount you can buy, we print your name on the tickets and we have our own person let you in a separate entrance where we check your ID to match the ticket. We charge you a surcharge that has been less than TicketMaster's or Live Nation's in all cases so far to pay for the costs of doing this - it's not a profit center for us. We have essentially stopped scalping by doing these things - because we want true fans to be able to get great seats and not get ripped off by these parasites.

I assure you nobody in the NIN camp supplies or supports the practice of supplying tickets to these re-sellers because it's not something we morally feel is the right thing to do. We are leaving money on the table here but it's not always about money.
Being completely honest, it IS something I've had to consider. If people are willing to pay a lot of money to sit up front AND ARE GOING TO ANYWAY thanks to the rigged system, why let that money go into the hands of the scalpers? I'm the one busting my ass up there every night. The conclusion really came down to it not feeling like the right thing to do - simple as that.

My guess as to what will eventually happen if / when Live Nation and TicketMaster merges is that they'll move to an auction or market-based pricing scheme - which will simply mean it will cost a lot more to get a good seat for a hot show. They will simply BECOME the scalper, eliminating them from the mix.

Nothing's going to change until the ticketing entity gets serious about stopping the problem - which of course they don't see as a problem. The ultimate way to hurt scalpers is to not support them. Leave them holding the merchandise. If this subject interests you, check out the following links. Don't buy from scalpers, and be suspect of artists singing the praises of the Live Nation / TicketMaster merger. What's in it for them?

Alice In Chains - last night

2009-02-28T21:31:00.001+11:00

I finally saw the mighty Alice In Chains last night at the Soundwave festival here in Melbourne. I might write about the festival one day. I might not.

I took some photos with my new Canon Ixus 980is. Was the first time i used it. Not bad results. But if id had some more experience with it these might have turned out a bit better.

Some notes;

1/ Alice were amazing. I wasnt going to go at first cause in my arrogant opinion it wasnt Alice without Layne. But then someone convinced me to go. But William is a great vocalist and puts quality into Laynes work. Im looking forward to hearing the new album later this year.

2/ Great setlist. I got everything i wanted to hear - including Angry Chair!!!!

3/ These photos are mostly black & white, cause, well, it rocks

4/ These photos are mostly of Jerry Cantrell, cause, well, he rocks

5/ Homeboy Andy S wasnt in attendance with me, but i was rockin hard for both of us

6/ A roadie was behind Jerry's amps in the first few songs flashing a large sign at Mike Inez. The sign read "friends dont let friends get friends haircut" This was the message written on Mike's acoustic bass during the Mtv Unplugged performance back in 1996. Its rumoured it was in reference to the recent epic event in metal - Metallica cutting their hair. I say "epic" as the haircuts were a big deal in the music press back in 96. I was more concerned about Metallica wearing makeup.

Big thanks to Alicia for the evil jedi mind trick texts back in October and convincing me to go to the festival.

Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

2009-02-28T13:30:00.001+11:00

look closely

someones fat head is blocking the view of tay in the first half of the vid

wonder who it is?

i really should transfer that recording and get it out, One of my finer recording moments.

how i miss you

2009-02-11T21:30:00.001+11:00

How i miss you
How i miss you
How i miss you
I should never call
How i hope that you still miss me

Did I lose you?
Did I lose you?
Did I lose you?
Somewhere down the line
Hide & seeks alright if i find

Do you miss me
Like i miss you
If you miss me,
Never go away
Hopefully, you'll come stay someday

If you're leaving,
come back soon
Thats not easy to say
I'll wait here,
dream of you
all alone as i ache

Now THIS is a boxset!

2008-12-11T09:08:00.000+11:00

I knew i had to have it even before I saw the price.

This thing is the shit. Its gold. Its WHAT THE FANS WANT FROM A BAND. Not stupid rereleases of an album that isnt remastered and only has 2 or 3 extra b-sides that we already had - attention Dave Grohl im talking to you.

This thing has stuff that has never been available ANYWHERE. Well, sort of. I have a crappy version of the Unplugged DVD (but man, now I get to see Oceans!!!) and i think i have some mp3s of the old pre PJ demo's. But now to have them in perfect quality REPLICATED ONTO A TAPE??? Man I think i just blew my load...

Its all new. Its all good. And im getting it. This my friends, is Box Set porn.

Heres what you get for USD$140 (and $50 shipping international). FYI - i think its a bargain and I like that ive ordered it from the band directly, so the majority of the cash goes to them.

But the package sure to send hardcore fans into a tizzy is the "Super Deluxe Edition," which features two CDs, a DVD and four vinyl records. It is housed in a linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box with a replica of an item second to none in Pearl Jam lore.

In 1990, when bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard and Mike McCready were getting the nascent Pearl Jam going in Seattle, they recorded three instrumentals to send to the then-unknown Eddie Vedder, who'd been recommended by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons. Vedder, then living in San Diego, overdubbed vocals onto the tape, in the process creating the songs "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps" (he was invited to join the band within weeks). Poor quality bootlegs of the demo, dubbed "Momma-Son," have circulated for years, but the "Super Deluxe Edition" will include a crystal-clear dub of the tape on a replica cassette.

In addition, fans will receive Pearl Jam's previously unreleased Sept. 20, 1992, concert at Seattle's Magnuson Park (dubbed Drop in the Park) on two vinyl LPs and a replica of Vedder's composition notebook packed with notes, photos and memorabilia from the "Ten" era

And then the very last line made me giddy:

The "Ten" reissue is the first piece of a two-year campaign culminating with the band's 20th anniversary in 2011. Additional
details have yet to be announced.

Full Press Release

Pearl Jam Raids Vaults For 'Ten' Reissue
December 10, 2008 09:59 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Pearl Jam has unearthed a host of unreleased tracks and special surprises from its vaults for a deluxe reissue of its fabled 1991
debut album, "Ten." Four different editions will be available March 29 from Epic; pre-orders begin today (Dec. 10) at PearlJam.com.

Each version includes a digitally remastered version of the original album as well as a completely new remix of the set by longtime
producer Brendan O'Brien, who did not work on "Ten" but produced Pearl Jam's subsequent four albums. Bassist Jeff Ament and designer Andy Fischer teamed to revamp the artwork.

The O'Brien disc also includes six previously unreleased songs from the era: early versions of "Breath" and "State of Love and
Trust," "Brother" (with vocals, not the instrumental version from the 2003 rarities collection "Lost Dogs"), "Just a Girl," "Evil Little
Goat" and "2,000 Mile Blues," a Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired jam with improvised vocals from frontman Eddie Vedder.

Band members have been asking O'Brien to take a crack at a complete remix for years, and he gave the idea a trial run when he remixed the "Ten" tracks "Once," "Black" and "Alive" for Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album "Rearviewmirror."

"The original 'Ten' sound is what millions of people bought, dug and loved, so I was initially hesitant to mess around with that," says O'Brien of the album, which has sold 9.58 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and vaulted Pearl Jam to global superstardom. "After years of persistent nudging from the band, I was able to wrap my head around the idea of offering it as a companion piece to the original -- giving a fresh take on it, a more direct sound."

The "Legacy" edition of "Ten" adds a DVD of Pearl Jam's previously unreleased 1992 performance on "MTV Unplugged," including a never-aired version of "Oceans." The audio has been remixed in 5.1 surround sound. Fans can also opt for a double-vinyl version featuring the original "Ten" on one LP and O'Brien's remix on the other.

But the package sure to send hardcore fans into a tizzy is the "Super Deluxe Edition," which features two CDs, a DVD and four vinyl records. It is housed in a linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box with a replica of an item second to none in Pearl Jam lore.

In 1990, when bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard and Mike McCready were getting the nascent Pearl Jam going in Seattle, they recorded three instrumentals to send to the then-unknown Eddie Vedder, who'd been recommended by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons.

Vedder, then living in San Diego, overdubbed vocals onto the tape, in the process creating the songs "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps" (he was invited to join the band within weeks). Poor quality bootlegs of the demo, dubbed "Momma-Son," have circulated for years, but the "Super Deluxe Edition" will include a crystal-clear dub of the tape on a replica cassette.

In addition, fans will receive Pearl Jam's previously unreleased Sept. 20, 1992, concert at Seattle's Magnuson Park (dubbed Drop in
the Park) on two vinyl LPs and a replica of Vedder's composition notebook packed with notes, photos and memorabilia from the "Ten" era.

The "Ten" reissue is the first piece of a two-year campaign culminating with the band's 20th anniversary in 2011. Additional
details have yet to be announced.

Meanwhile, Pearl Jam is recording its ninth studio album (its first with O'Brien producing since 1998's "Yield"), which is expected for
release next year.

Oasis

2008-12-04T22:30:00.000+11:00

Oasis have always been “on the bench” for me. As in one day when nothing else interests me then ill pull them off the bench and delve into the back catalogue, bootlegs, etc. I have every Oasis album, and really like the singles. I have the first singles boxset (autographed by Noel – score!!). I have a few bootlegs. A few live dvds. Ive been a very casual fan.

Over the years Ive pulled U2, Stones, Sheryl Crow, Tenacious D, Mellencamp, etc off the bench. All have resulted in successful innings.

On Monday I decided to pull Oasis off the bench.

Sunday night was a bad night for me and for some reason I was reading through the booklet that came with Stop The Clocks. The lyrics to Wonderwall hit me hard like ive never felt from the band before:

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
I don't know how

These words sum up so much that I've wanted to say to certain people over the last 12 months – the worst year of my life. A year when I constantly have to remind myself that there is a reason to continue and a reason to move forward and a reason to believe. But there's a few people who are there in the background helping me find the reason to move forward. I just don’t know how to say to them just what their support has done to me and how its helped me. The words “thank you” just don’t seem to cut it in my book.

So one of these people is a huge Oasis fan. Huge. For many years he has tried to get me to pull the band “off the bench”. Ive resisted cause there’s always something else to listen to. At the moment theres nothing else to listen to. Nothing interests me. I heard there was a new Springsteen album coming soon. I heard there is full songs from the album floating around. It doesn’t interest me at the moment. It might one day, but right now im not going to force myself to listen to an artist who I am obsessed with and force myself to listen to his new music. That's lame. Ill listen when i feel the need. When the fire is there inside me. I look forward to that day.

I still have not heard Magic.

Im absolutely loving Oasis' track Slide Away over the last few days - iTunes tells me ive heard it 24 times.

Let me be the one that shines with you
And we can slide away.

So I sent a note today to this Oasis obsessed friend of mine. Lets call him Mr Sheep;

Man, big into Slide Away. Its just awesome. Time to take em off the bench. Im now officially reaching out to you to take me on an Oasis journey. I have every album, I have a few dvds and i got about 12 bootlegs (Paul gave them to me a few years ago) So i got stuff you might even like. So – obi wan – hook me up. Like that Springsteen thing ive spent the last 5 months agonizing over – turn me into a fan.

Mr Sheep responded as below;

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mr Sheep
Sent: Thursday, 4 December 2008 8:38 PM
To: 'Adam Baker'
Subject: RE:

Ok first, gimme gimme gimme bring on all the Oasis bonus dvd’s, bootlegs, dna samples and all the other stuff that would make Sam cream his pants, I’m keen. Can you bring for Chrissy?

2^nd – I was to come home and start listening to Oasis and get in the Oasis vibe and talk Oasis, I listened to Slide Away, like you said, awesome. Then all of a sudden I had this overwhelming need to hear GNR Better and turn it right right up. FFFAAARK that track just kills it!

3^rd Back to Oasis. I decided since you have every album I am going to write you a mix for you to create in your playlist of whatever media player you use of the tracks that own me from Oasis at the moment, ala the long awaited Springsteen mix.

I have decided to make it CD length in case you are so inclined to burn it. Wow which is hard than I thought. Had to kick out a lot of classics, but this isn’t a radio or crowd pleaser mix, this is for hard core music nerds like you and me so I was brutal.

01 Fuckin In The Bushes (Standing on The Shoulder Of Giants) – Killer of an intro, an instrumental, brutal and with a touch of where I think Noel and Chemical Brothers come together
02 The Turning (Dig Out Your Soul) - The bold “new” Oasis sound, hard to pull this album a part as it works so well as an album. Bits of this remind me of The Whitlam’s and Happy Mondays while other bits are pure Oasis
03 Magic Pie (Be Here Now) – You might see a lot of Noel vocal tracks in this mix but I never not like a track he sings on. Not my favourite album, but an epic track.
04 Live Forever (Definitely Maybe) – As mentioned earlier, interesting in reference to Kirt and Noels contemplation of fame and music
05 Talk Tonight (The Masterplan) – Great acoustic track. Goosebumps and sing along. Love how Oasis always chuck coughs in on the recordings. Maybe coz they’re full of cigarettes and alcohol.
06 Supersonic (Definitely Maybe) – One of the original definitive and best Oasis moments. Listen to this and see despite all the Beatles comparisons, this is the Oasis sound they crafted and others (eg Jet) did more to rip off Oasis than Oasis did the Beatles
07 Acquiesce (The Masterplan) – Love the verses being done by Liam then the chorus by Noel. It’s one of ‘The King’s’ choices for his Best B Sides of All Time compilation.
08 Cast No Shadow (What’s The Story Morning Glory) - I first really got into Oasis with this album. Mirko got it first. We’d just turned 18 and used to go to the Charles Hotel or the Patch and get drunk on our Aus Study money and I’d sleep over his place and he would play this CD when we would go to sleep and this is the track that sent me off to happy land. It’d dreamy, but it’s deep.
09 Part of The Queue (Don’t Believe the Truth) – This album really grabbed me and brought Oasis back off the bench in a big way. Like I kind of said in my ‘Gratitude’ CD – the song is about being lost in the city and coming to grips that we live in this world with a bunch of strangers. Love the piano at the end.
10 Go Let It Out (Standing on The Shoulder of Giants) – Groovy, big beat, the Oasis ‘funk’ in a way. Is that a mellotron in there by any chance?
11 She is Love (Heathen Chemistry) – Just a great love song. Is that the mellotron again?
12 Waiting For The Rapture (Dig Out Your Soul) – Just love where they’re going with the whole production of this album. Noel does this gritty 2/4 timing style tracks so well. White Stripes done the Oasis (better) way, but don’t let FQ know I said that.
13 Let there be Love (Don’t Believe The Truth) – Ok it is pretty Beatlesy this one. But done so well. Love when Liam and Noel sing on the same track. Ahem Mellotron.
14 The Hindu Times (Heathen Chemistry)- Turn it up load in the car and sing. Sing loud. Memories of being crushed by a thousand Sam types to this song. They all moshed for 2 mins then adjusted their hair. Just kidding.
15 Rock N Roll (Familiar To Millions) – Speaking of the Mosh. Oasis crowds are pretty full on, a touch of soccer hooliganism. I did this track Karaoke in Albury between gigs with the FAC boys. Simon did a Robbie Williams track or something and Shaun did the Beatles maybe? Anyway the pommy bloke behind the bar yells our “What the fok is this, kill English music night?”
16 Stop Crying Your Heart Out (Heathen Chemistry)- Lives somewhere between Let There Be Love and Cast No Shadow. Great song, love Noels radio sound repeat vocals.
17 Wonderwall (What’s The Story Morning Glory)- Probably where it all really started for me and Oasis. I mean I knew Definitely Maybe through Brendan’s brother Geoff when he went through his whole Brit Pop phase (Blur, Oasis, Suede, Pulp etc) but this one was a huge song for me just out of school. Love the little bit of Supersonic at the end.

Hope you like dude. Now I know a small portion of the hell you felt with my late night Bruce Springsteen comment.

Of course you will have your own favourites but these are the main songs that keep Oasis in my starting side.

Sheep.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The mix disc - made to the above specifications - will be made on the weekend.

The journey has begun. Ill report back on how my travels are going.

Thanks for the inspiration Mr Sheep.

Oasis - Wonderwall

2008-12-01T21:33:00.000+11:00

And all the roads we have to walk along are winding
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding
There are many things that I would
Like to say to you
I don't know how

Im so bored with this interweb thing

2008-11-06T21:25:00.000+11:00

Seriously.

Theres nothing interesting on the internet anymore. I read the same blogs and photo sites everyday. And occasionally the few music news sites i can be bothered to peruse. But i hit a wall last night. There is now nothing interesting for me to see on the internet.

I still like music and tits and funny videos and tits and people making fun of the soon to be ex US president and tits and youtube and tits and stuff. But its sort of the same shit rehashed.

So for the 5 of you who come here - if you still come here cause I haven't put anything up in ages - then here's some new stuff. Its me showing off more of my autographed stuff.

Just like the internet - its more of the same boring shit....

Claudia Schiffer

Met her in Sydney back in 1996. She was here promoting her fitness video. Dieter and I went along to the launch. I think Dieter thought he had a chance cause they are both from German heritage. It didnt work

Him - "you got any German in you? want some?"

Ozzy Osbourne

Met the dude back in 97 when he was here promoting Sabbath's greatest hits set. He was loaded. I was starstruck. I mumbled something at him. He mumbled something back.

It was intense. If it wasnt for the work of him and Geezer and Tony and Bill then lets just say that the entire teenage years of your writer would have been a waste of really fucking crap music. If Sabbath didnt exist then Metallica wouldn't exist.

I did my will back in January. This Ozzy photo is the only item specifically left to someone.

Jerry Seinfeld

He wasnt that funny when i saw his show back in 1998 at the Capitol Theatre. I was waiting out back by his limo a few nights later and he came out the stage door and said hi to a few peeps waiting. Some lame ass morons had stuff to get signed like bibles and US dollar notes and newspapers. Not me. I had a glossy 8 x 10 of the cast. Jerry seigned it (get it????) and the photo is in storage. But here is a photo of Jerry seigning (fuck i crack me up) my photo. There's a story about the autograph but ill tell it later.

Helmet

SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!

Thinking mans metal. These guys rock. Seriously one of the best bands ever. EVER. On album and at a show they just own. They toured Australia in October 1994 and played at a club near my house in Wollongong with Beastie Boys. I was 17 so I couldn't go to the show as it was a licensed gig. But i waited outside and saw MCA and Mike D from Beastie's walk in. And then Helmet walked in but I wasnt quick enough to say hi and get a photo or my CD signed. I was talking to one of the tour people and she offered to take my CD in to the bands dressing room to get signed. She came out with the above and told me the band like meeting fans but had press to do otherwise theyd have come out to say hi.

Little did I know that Sean was there outside the club as well. He managed to sneak in to see Beastie Boys. I didnt meet him until March 1995 - 6 months later. He had just started going out with Fee. We started talking about our favourite bands and both realised that we remembered other dudes outside the club trying to listen through the cracks in the fire doors! Ha.

Offspring

Met em at the same club as Helmet above - January 1995. Again it was an over 18s show and i was still 17. Dexter told me the band had been told it was an all ages show by the promoter and that he was pissed off when he found out it wasnt. We talked a bit - real quickly. Then he signed my CD and took it to the rest of the band who were already in the band and they signed it too.

So im still bored with the interweb thing. And im sure the 5 of you still are with my blog.

Tits,

ps - i have tonight decided that all my autographed cds & dvds & posters & vinyl & boxsets & promo photos, setlists, guitar pics, drum sticks, rare vinyl, rare cds, the Slash Les Paul, etc is going to be left to the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame museum in Cleveland. Except the Ozzy photo. Get me a cabinet there - Cat has already made the sign. Put the Bono/Edge thing in the centre of the cabinet. Keep it all together. Its the only way ill ever get in there.....

AC/DC - Black Ice

2008-09-30T21:24:00.001+10:00

I read a lot of stuff on this here interweb thing about music. Some is good. Some is bad.

When its good I like to let certain people know about the article. And this below article is good. No. Its amazing. Its stellar. Its boofin Jennifer Lopez circa 1998 good. And man that would be some good boofin.

Bob Lefsetz writes well. I look forward to his daily (sometimes multiple daily) emails. He plays it as it lays. There's no fluff. Its straight from the gut. This article is from a few weeks ago. I just haven't had the time to read, digest and forward it - now that im part of the workforce again.

Ive always loved ACDC. The first girl I ever had a crush on - Annie Long - was in to ACDC. We were 7 and it was back in 1984. Her and her older brother used to come by my house on the way to school everyday. And she liked ACDC. So I did too. Even though I had no idea who they were. Yes - i admit it - I was first a follower. But then I heard ACDC. THAT sound. You know THAT sound. Angus and Malcolm. I cant remember what song it was first. Probably Highway or Jailbreak. And it sounded amazing. And ive been listening ever since.

Annie's older brother was a bully. But he never picked on me - even though my mum used to kiss me goodbye everyday in front of him and his bodacious little sister Annie. That would have been enough ammunition for any bully to beat on a kid. But Chris knew i liked ACDC. So he left me alone. ACDC saved me from a pounding.

I used to prefer the Brian stuff. I know i know - sacrilegious. But as time went by I started to like the Bon stuff more. And over the last 5 or so years I listen to some of their stuff weekly. Live, studio, B-sides - its always on, somewhere on a mix cd, iPod, minidisc, etc. Its always there.

But I still like the Brian stuff. I like his voice, and I prefer the production on the later albums to the more raw sound on the Bon stuff.

I saw them live back in 2001. My left ear is still ringing. I didn’t see the 1996 tour. I often get asked why I didn’t go. I don’t have an answer. I had the money. I just didn’t go. Later that year I met Angus when I sold him and his wife Ellen some cordless phones when I worked at Grace Bros in Miranda. She was nice. He was loaded. When he was looking around the department I worked in, I asked her if it was ok for an autograph, as I was a big fan. She asked me if it was ok to not ask - as he is only Angus 'Family Man' Young for one month a year. I said no worries. Ive told a few other crazy fans that story and they all tell me that I rock for not bugging him. Yes people - I, like Angus, ROCK.

June 10 2006. My wedding day. A month before the wedding Yvee said we should do the music for the wedding. "Dont worry, ill do it" I said. Bridezilla never appeared in our house during the wedding preparations. But I could tell that she wasn’t sure about my musical choices. "BAKER - im not having Springbeen (as she calls Springsteen) or Slaybells (as she calls Slayer) at my wedding". So I asked Sean for some help. And help he did. The weekend before the wedding Yvee and I decided on the events music - bridal dance, speaker introductions, etc. Sean helped me put it all together. Yvee wanted something cool for the Bride/Groom entrance. And cool she got. I told her not to worry - Sean was looking after it.

We walked in to Its A Long Way To The Top

Before the music started I apologized - just in case she decided that then and there was the first time ever she would tear me a new one. She had a look of fake disgust on her face. And then I told her that it was originally going to be...

Highway To Hell

She then held my hand and we walked in. There's a photo of the two of us walking in to the reception and its just one of the best photos of us ever. She's happy. Im happy. Me thinks that Yvee might have been ok with HtH, but me also thinks my mother in law might not have been too happy.

But I digress.

ACDC make me happy. They make me laugh. They make me want to rock out. In a world that's really really fcuked up, we all need some ACDC. We all need to be happy. We all need to laugh. We all need to rock out.

And music needs more ACDC. Especially if the write up by Bob below is accurate (and I don’t doubt him for a second, based on his write ups of recent albums).

Im really really really looking forward to this new ACDC album. Ive joined the fanclub. Im getting the deluxe edition of the CD. Im gonna get me the vinyl. If Rock N Roll Train is any indication of the quality of the rest of the tracks, its gonna be one hell of an album.

-----Original Message-----

From: Bob Lefsetz [mailto:bob@lefsetz.com]

Sent: Thursday, 21 August 2008 7:59 AM

To: me

Subject: Black Ice

I'm sitting here at Shutters listening to the new AC/DC album on Steve Barnett's MacBook Air.

To tell you the truth, I usually avoid this. What are you going to say as the label head watches you listen to his baby. But after discussing the Wal-Mart deal at lunch, hearing all about the plans for release, I was eager, the same way you are after school, when you ride your bike to the record store to buy the album the day it comes out.

You rush home, rip off the shrinkwrap, drop the platter on the turntable, lay the needle down and you hear...

ANGUS' GUITAR!

Now this isn't far from the master, THIS IS THE MASTER! And suddenly, my whole body starts to throb, THIS IS THE SOUND!

Oh, Phill Rudd's bass drum. You know that "Back In Black" sound, kicking you in the gut, so powerful, yet so pure!

Every AC/DC album sounds the same. Only the songs are different. "Black Ice" continues the tradition. I could sit here and digest the 55.5 minutes over and over again. But not having all day, I've played the single, "Rock N' Roll Train", a few times, and am now sampling...

I'm gripped by "Smash N' Grab".

This ain't Crocs music. This ain't made for Sephora. This is the sound that drove your parents away, that they didn't only tell you to turn down, BUT THROW OUT!

It's a rough tough tumble world we live in. Where sold-out whores tell us what to like and try to make us believe we're losers. What are we supposed to do?

Listen to AC/DC. Turn it up and nothing else seems to matter. The sound obscures the rest of the world, it's just you, equal to everyone you hate, who's got you down, your dad, your principal, the President...

Wow, you should hear the intro to "Spolin' For A Fight"! This is "Shoot To Thrill"!

Dressed to kill!

The groove to "Decibel"... Like you've just stripped naked and are sauntering to the bed to stick your rod into a woman who's BEYOND FANTASY! Wow, this is too much, PURE SEX!

There's a slide on "Stormy May Day" straight off a sixties English blues record, followed by another guitar in the other ear with a stinging report. There's a FULL MINUTE INTRO!

I don't remember any other AC/DC track sounding like "Rock N' Roll Dream", it's positively SENSITIVE! Kind of like something off "Straight Shooter", the second Bad Company album... Wow, this is my favorite so far, at least until the freight train/explosive chorus. I love the intimacy, like you've stayed up all night drinking after you've been dumped.

This ain't no "Ballbreaker", no "Stiff Upper Lip"... It's like the band believes, it's the best thing they've done in EONS!

How good is it?

WHO GIVES A FUCK! I'm sitting here, with the headphones cranked, listening to NEW AC/DC!

Doesn't matter how many stars the album gets in "Rolling Stone", what the "New York Times" says, never mind Pitchfork or Stereogum. If you're a fan of a band, in this case one of the most legendary in the business, only eclipsed by the Beatles in sales, you're EAGER! It's like Moses, it's like JESUS has come back to Earth... You want to hear what he's got to say!

Maybe AC/DC is the band at the second coming. That's what it sounds like, THUNDER! Drowning out all that's irrelevant. All that matters is the music.

I'm in hog heaven.

Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

Piano (wo)man

2008-09-21T21:01:00.000+10:00

Ive told you all about my therapist.

She is growing up fast. Too fast. I keep wanting to press pause. But that’ll delay me being able to talk to her about The Clash. And Zeppelin. And The Bangles. And, well, you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, her father takes pictures. So too does her mum. My landlords.

The three of them went on a roadtrip to Perth. I provided the tunes.

So I went to my therapists fathers website tonight. And there was a photo of Em that just made me uber fcuking happy;

Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

The musical journey has started.

Neil Young - 2009 Australian tour

2008-09-19T22:19:00.000+10:00

Tickets to Neil Young's January 2009 Australian tour went on sale at 9am this morning.

I saw Neil for the first time back in November 2003 - it was the Greendale tour. Gary and I scored third row centre seats for the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Nice. It was a great show - Greendale is a good concept album. But I was there to rock. And after the full run through of Greendale, Neil and the core band came back on stage and rocked out on 4 or 5 tracks from the Live Rust era as well as the finale - Rockin In The Freeworld

Ive been listening to Neil since the mid 90's. Id heard lots of his stuff when i was younger, but it didnt really hit me like other music at that time did. In 1993, Neil joined Pearl Jam onstage at the Mtv video music awards to perform Rockin In The Free World and that very performance by a band I was already obsessed with made me love them even more - but it also opened my ears to the work of Neil Young.

This video rates as one of my all time favourite TV music performances. Ever.

Im more of a Harvest, Live Rust, Weld, Unplugged, MirrorBall, Greatest Hits & Massey Hall kind of fan. Garys a huge fan and is always trying to get me to listen to more stuff - the CSNY stuff or the Buffalo Springfield stuff. I keep telling him "later". And he keeps giving me stuff every few months. And I like it. But ill get to more stuff later on. I like the albums I mentioned above - and that kinda does me for now. Especially the Greatest Hits disc. Its just so damn good. Its mellow, its folky, its rockin. Its great.

So in early September Neil was announced as the headliner for the 2009 Big Day Out. And as headliner, he would also play a separate solo show in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne when the BDO was in town. I hadnt kept up with setlists or recordings from his current tour. But I did some research and saw this setlist from a show in Denmark in late August;

Love and Only Love
Hey Hey My My
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Powderfinger
Spirit Road
Cortez The Killer
Cinnamon Girl
Oh Lonesome Me
Mother Earth
The Needle and the Damage Done
Unknown Legend
Heart Of Gold
Old Man
Get Back To The Country
Just Singing A Song Won’t Change The World
Sea Change
When Worlds Collide
Cowgirl In The Sand
Rocking In The Free World
A Day In The Life

So I decided to get me a ticket.

But - problem. Im in Melbourne. Gary's in Sydney. No-one to go to the show with. But I decided to go on my own anyway. The Melbourne show is at the famed Sidney Myer Music Bowl and even though ive only seen one show (Metallica in 2004) I love that place - its one of my favourite live music venues.

Yesterday was a Ticketmaster online presale. I was in a meeting and everyone else was busy so they couldnt log in and try for me. That left me two options for the general on sale at 9am today. 1/ i do the Ticketmaster shuffle on the web. 2/ i line up early.

I chose 2.

So I got up at 530am this morning and drove in to the city. Theres a Ticketmaster outlet around the corner from my office so I decided that was my best option. I got there at 630am and I was 6th in line. I loaded up Neil's greatest hits album on the iPod, opened one of the 7 unread Rolling Stones I have laying around and settled in for a few hours.

At 707am as Helpless was playing, my parents called. My aunty (on mums side) had died overnight. Fuck. I hit repeat and listened to Helpless again. It sounded fitting.

They let us inside the ticket office at around 830am. By this stage there were about 30 people in line. At about 10mins to 9 the ticket manager came out and told us the following;

- over half of the tickets were sold in the presale yesterday

- only a few people would get tickets in the seated section in front of the stage. We should be lucky enough to get general admission tickets though.

Fuck.

The ticket guy pulled every ticket he could, then split them up amongst the first few people in line. He got a total of 26 tickets. As I only wanted a single I was sorted. A few people behind me were also sorted. The rest had to opt for general admission.

I hate that stress when getting tickets. It shits me. I was talking to the woman in line behind me and I said to her that it would be great if promoters sold a small number of tickets (even the shit seats) on the day of the show at one outlet. No internet. No phones. If you want a ticket and you missed out at the original on sale then line up and get one of the small number of "last chance" tickets. She said it was a good idea.

So im in. Im tired. But im in

Bob Lefsetz....

2008-09-17T21:30:00.000+10:00

....made my day.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Lefsetz [mailto:bob@lefsetz.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 17 September 2008 11:38 AM
To: adambaker@iinet.net.au
Subject: Indian Gown

<<SNIP>>

Ever drive on a late winter afternoon in the snow? As you crawl through town your whole life flashes through your brain. The quiet sets your mind free. But, what if a sound crept into that quietude, tapped you on the shoulder and started inspiring new thoughts. Both happy and bittersweet.

Doesn't matter that your loved one left you if the music is right. The music agrees you played your hand correctly, that you did your best, even if it didn't work out, and you'll get a chance to play again. The music helps you rebuild your life, in your mind. You're reminded of prior victories. You know good times will come again.

This is why we listen to music. Because the written word cannot convey this warmth, no movie. They can render the images, but they cannot encase you in their cloak, make you warm and whisk you away.

We live in a go-go world. We're networked, we're subjected to tweets. But, despite technology, the human condition has not changed, ever. We still feel alone. No matter how many texts or how much e-mail we get. How are we going to feel connected, a part of humanity. Get through the lull? By listening to music.

Richard Wright

2008-09-16T22:29:00.000+10:00

Photo credit - http://flickr.com/photos/livepicts/

I got back from an early lunch at work today. Checked my phone - Sean texted me. Richard Wright had gone to the great gig in the sky.

Pink Floyd are a top ten band of mine. Dark Side just owns me. Its a special album. It wasnt just Richards playing that made the album so cool - it was the whole band, David, Richard, Nick and Roger.

Richards passing saddened me. I didnt know the guy. But i know a lot of his work and his work makes me happy. I then found out what took him and that just made it sadder.

I have two great memories of listening to Richards work on Dark Side. The first one is listening to the album in February 2005 while driving along Marine Parade in Cottesloe, Western Australia. I was there for a work trip and I had the shits with my general manager. So I went and bought me a copy of the 30th anniversary edition of the album. Fuck em - I was on the other side of the country. So I turned the phone off, put the CD in the deck of the hire care and away I went. It was one of the best driving experiences of my life.

The second good memory was the afternoon of June 25 2005. Our engagement party was that night and that afternoon Yvee and I were chilin at home just doing the usual weekend stuff. I put the album on and I think it was the first time she had heard it all the way through. And she liked it. It was rare that she would really really like something I played. But this was different. If I recall correctly, I played the album all the way through twice.

On the drive home tonight I went the long way. Just enough time to listen to the bootleg of Pink Floyd playing Dark Side Of The Moon the whole way through in London back in 1973/4 (the disc is outside in the car and its too cold to go get it to get the correct date). They were doing the whole album played live run through 30 years before it was cool to do it.

So tonight I went to the supermarket to get me some food. Emily, Cat and Glynn have gone away for three weeks. So I needed to stock up - ice cream, chocolate, cheese, biscuits, ice magic, etc. The necessities. And as I was perusing the aisles I came across the toy section. And BAM - there it was . The perfect musical gift for Emily. A Fisher Price kids piano / xylophone. The Toddlin Tunes Puppy. Its really cool.

On the way home I thought to myself that there might be a connection between the new toy piano for Emily and Richard's passing. But there isnt really a connection. Its totally random.

But..... Richard's recorded work with Pink Floyd makes me happy. And Emily makes me happy. And I know ill get many hours of happy in the future listening to more and more Pink Floyd. And ill get many many many hours of happy listening to Emily bang away on this toy piano.

And im looking forward to both.

REM - The Great Beyond

2008-09-02T23:11:00.000+10:00

I make no secret of the fact that I see things very differently now to the way I did 12 months ago.

Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes its not a good thing. Little things have taken on a whole new meaning. Big things have lost all importance to me. Its taken me 9 months to come to that conclusion. 9 fucking months.

What I see (and hear) differently is music. Particularly lyrics. Songs that I have known for many years have now taken on a whole new meaning. Not all songs. But my mind is open to new songs. Ive been listening to a lot of Tom Petty, John Mayer, Oasis and even the Dixie Chicks over the last few days. THE DIXIE CHICKS!!!!!!!! What the fuck is going on????

Lyrics have always meant something to me. My wedding vows were 90% song lyrics. I quoted Madonna, Anthrax, Split Enz, Springsteen and No Doubt. Yes - I quoted Anthrax lyrics in my wedding vows. Anytime ever that anyone questions my metalness, ill tell them that very fact. Maybe one day ill put the vows here. Maybe one day I wont.

So on the recent epic roadtrip Paul and I took in the US, we listened to lots and lots and lots of tunes. 2500miles of tunes. We made 25 mix CD's, his 20gb Zune, my 160gb iPod and then there also was the CD's we purchased over there - I alone purchased 120 discs. So we had lots of tunes to choose from.

On the Columbus to Chicago (via the Indy 500 track) leg of the trip we listened to some REM. Ive always liked REM. Great tunes. I think Monster is their best album. Paul had his version of their greatest hits on his Zune, so we listened to that. His version got rid of the "filler" and he replaced it with the "killer". I only had the generic version of the greatest hits on my iPod. Well - sort of generic. Mines the Japanese version with the bonus rarities & b-sides disc. But anyway, on came The Great Beyond and it just floored me.

I first heard it back in 1999 when Sydney radio station Triple M played it as a world premiere on the Andrew Denton breakfast show. I recall thinking the music was great, but the lyrics confused me. I learnt later it was part of the soundtrack for the Milos Forman / Danny DeVito movie, Man On The Moon - based on the life of comic Andy Kaufman. Even though its a song from the soundtrack to a movie about an eccentric comedian, it still confused me.

And all this talk of time
Talk is fine
And I dont want to stay around
Why cant we pantomime, just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Being here with wings on our feet

See what I mean?

But then on that drive to Chicago, I heard the song again and I just got it. I want to tell you why I just get it. But I cant. Its like the words are in me to say something, but they dont make sense when I say them. But even that makes sense to me on the inside.

This chorus in particular just makes sense;

Im pushing an elephant up the stairs
Im tossing up punchlines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

and then the second chorus makes almost as much sense;

Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great beyond

I want to say why I get it. But I just cant.

REM
The Great Beyond
Man On The Moon Soundtrack

Ive watched the stars fall silent from your eyes
All the sights that I have seen
I cant believe that I believed I wished
That you could see
Theres a new planet in the solar system
Theres nothing up my sleeve

Im pushing an elephant up the stairs
Im tossing up punchlines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

And all this talk of time
Talk is fine
And I dont want to stay around
Why cant we pantomime, just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Being here with wings on our feet

Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great beyond

I want the hummingbirds, the dancing bears
Sweetest dreams of you
Look into the stars
Look into the moon

Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great, answers from the great
Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great, answers from the great, answers

Dear Santa...

2008-08-22T20:27:00.001+10:00

Youve fucked me over a few times throughout my 31 years. But ill forgive you if you bring me a pair of size 11 US Vans Ki$$ shoes. No, I dont want the Gene or Paul or Peter ones. Its all about the Ace. Id look Ace in my Ace shoes.

Thanks

Adam

LINK

KISS Teams Up With VANS - Aug. 21, 2008

Vans, the original skate shoe company, and legendary rock band KISS have announced the Vans x KISS Sk8-Hi shoe and t-shirt package! The first offering in the Vans x KISS series commemorates the 30th anniversary of KISS' groundbreaking solo albums: Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Released on September 18, 1978, the solo albums represented the first time ever that all the members of a band released solo works on the same day. Coincidentally, the Vans Sk8-Hi, one of the Vans' earliest skate shows, debuted the very same year. Available in late fall, the Vans Sk8-Hi and t-shirt will be sold separately at better footwear stores and boutiques worldwide as well as on Vans.com. Look for additional collaborations created by Vans and KISS in 2009.

Im still here...

2008-08-19T00:03:00.000+10:00

Im just busy. The trip was great - had a blast. But landed back in Sydney exhausted. Slept for 3 days. Then had to finish moving every possession I own in to storage. Then every person I know wanted to "catch up" before I left. Managed to see a few good friends before leaving for Melbourne on Saturday afternoon. Spent the night in Tahmoor, then got here Sunday night.

All good. Busy unpacking and settling in. The trip (8.5hrs) down here was a rockin one. I made some mix CDs for the trip. Ill put the tracklist up shortly.

I start the new job on Wednesday. Dont know what to expect. Time will tell.

Theres lots of stuff I need to put here - reviews of all 14 shows, the travel journal, the new guitar. Itll all be here to bore you eventually.

The above photo is from the official Nine Inch Nails Flickr site. Its from a gig a few days ago. An amazing photograph from Rob Sheridan who has done a lot of work with the band over the years. I like this photo for a number of reasons. 1/ its a candid action shot - its not staged, the band probably dont even know he is there taking the photos. 2/ the look of joy on the faces of the fans down the front. Been there, done that. Love it. 3/ Trent and Robin are rockin out. This band put in 110% live, and this photo sort of shows that. Last time I saw them I sat in the stadium seating (Big Day Out 2000) and I was exhausted just watching them.

John Mellencamp - CBS Early Show photos

2008-07-21T14:15:00.000+10:00

Photos from downtown Chicago this morning at the CBS Early Show.

Thanks to Paul Tanner, and TonyB at Club Cherry Bomb for the VIP tickets

Its my therapists birthday...

2008-07-16T18:24:00.000+10:00

Dear Em,

Happy Birthday!

Sorry im not there for your big day. I heard about the plans for the Sunday celebration and the nice quiet family get together today. So im sure I wont be missed...

Im sure both you and your parents will get plenty of mileage over the coming years about me not being there for the big day. You see, the pull of The Rock was just too strong for me to resist. Well actually tonight I saw Billy Joel. So its adult orientated rock / light rock / mum rock / old peoples rock. But I like it.

Today I did something cool to celebrate your birthday. I went and purchased some cupcakes at a cool bakery on 72nd street here in New York City. Then we (Paul, Rene and I) went over to Strawberry Fields in Central Park. We sat there on a beautiful summers afternoon and ate our cupcakes while I bored people to tears with stories of how cool you are.

One day ill tell you all about the rest of my day. Some sad stuff turned into some good stuff and that made me happy. I also got you a present from a happy place that is just beyond cool. It links in the sad thing with the happy thing and its just cool.

Oh, and I accepted a job offer while standing in the middle of Shea Stadium while waiting for Billy Joel to take the stage. It was a good show. Not HFS, but good. John Mayer was there, and John Mellencamp, and Don Henley and also Tony Bennett. They all did great guest appearances.

See you in a few weeks kid

xxx

Enzo

"I didn't mean to miss your birthday, baby
I wish I'd seen you blow those candles out"

Dear Jon, its me - Adam

2008-07-15T00:53:00.000+10:00

Wow

Like totally wow.

Like wow.

Wow.

Good show. Had a blast. Was going great but no HFS (holy fucking shit) moments, until....

Dry County.

Wow.

And just like I asked you in my open letter to you below, you guys nailed it just like the 94 Red Bank show.

Wow.

I had so many spine tingles that I need to find me a massage here in New York City tomorrow before you and the boys (and Lorenza....) rock my world. Not the happy ending kind, but one that fixes the kinks in my back from the spine tingles.

Wow, just got me some more typing that. Wow.

I found a video on YouTube of Dry County live in London back in 95. Its good. Itll let my 6 readers (cat, glynn, gary, brian, tony and new reader rene) see a cool vid. But tonight I noticed lots of cameras and legal waivers in the foyer stating that the show was going to be filmed. Wow - you live in a very litigious country. Back where im from we settle things with a clip behind earhole and no choc sprinkles on your ice cream after dinner. Kangaroo Court style.

So bro, thanks for this and for Any Other Day. Uber looking forward to the show tomorrow night. Tonights filmed. Turn the cameras off and rock it like its circa 1986-1990. I know you want to. Its the last night of the tour. Let your hair down before you cut it for another movie (loved Moonlight by the way, great stuff)

Later

PS - Tell Lorenza im staying on West 24th, if she needed some company....

PPS - just watched a video of Richie's Dry County solo from tonight. You MUST release this version on the DVD or whatever it is you are putting out. MUST.

Dear Jon Bon Jovi

2008-07-14T18:15:00.000+10:00

Dear Jon Bon Jovi

Hi. Im in New York City. Nice place. Im fucking tired, but the trip has been good so far. One major problem this morning, but im hopefully going to deal with it.

So its about 6pm New York time. From my recollection of watching many backstage movies, documentaries and interviews with you, now is about the time you are writing up the setlist for tonights show at Madison Square Garden.

So I thought id give you a hand with the setlist.

You see, Ive been a fan for almost 22 years - longer than I have of any other artist. Tonight and tomorrow nights shows are going to be special. The last 2 shows of the Lost Highway world tour. I was backstage at the Garden today doing the guided tour of the different areas of the awesome venue. We saw the change rooms of the Rangers and the Knicks, the corporate boxes (maybe its these snotty wankers that buy your Slippery When Wet wine??? and we saw the WAMU THeatre. I bumped into your brother backstage too. And I saw Lorenza. She's a hottie. I was going to pass either JBJ jnr or Lorenza my suggestions, but I know that the force is strong between us, so me typing this out will get to you im sure.

Im hopeless at putting songs in order of where they should fit in the set, so ill just type them up as I wrote them in my journal during my long ass 26 hour flight to get here. Thats right - 26 fucking hours.

- Lost Highway. Its a given. It rocks. I like it.
- Whole Lot Of Leaving. Great played live. Do a Nike.
- The Distance. Paul wants it. I could care less, but make the boy happy. he did the 26 fucking hours as well.
- Any Other Day. Please please please play this. Its the best song on Lost Highway. You didnt play it when I saw you guys back in January. Id appreciate it on either night.
- Make A Memory. Sad, soppy songs are good sometimes. I like the vocal delivery on this one toward the end of the song.
- Born TO Be My Baby. I brought along my air keyboard to help David out again. I know ill need it for Runaway, but im there if im needed.
- Living In Sin. Hey, we can all dream cant we???
- Homebound Train. For my homeboy Tony K. And me too. And us Sambora freaks would blow our loads if this one gets a playing.
- Ill Be There For You. You singing it. Its special to me lately. Ill write why it is in a few days.
- These Days. You singing it. Richie slaughtered it back in January. This one also goes out to Tony K. See you in a few days bro.
- Lie To Me. I need to hear Richie's solo on this gem from your perfect 1995 album These Days. NEED TO HEAR IT.
- Something To Believe In. Cmon man, you never play it anymore. Its awesome live. Shits all over the studio version. Do it like you did back in Japan in 1996. Get one of your backstage bitches to play you the version off the One Wild Night live album. Thanks.
- Someday Ill Be Saturday Night. Again with the lyrics. And its just a cracker of a sing. one of your best.
- Raise Your Hands. Man, this one just perfectly summarizes why I love your band.
- Wild In The Streets. See the comment above.
- Id Die For You. While you are on a Slippery roll, pull this one out of the back catalogue and give it a whirl.
- Just Older. Best song on Crush. Dont disrespect it by not playing it. Please, pretty pleases? Cherry on top?
- Dry County. Remember the live version you put out from the 94 Red Bank show? The way Tico does that drum roll into Richie's solo is really cool. And of course the solo is tops. Id appreciate it. Thanks.
- In These Arms. Havent cried in a while. Feels good to get it out every now and then.
- Have A Nice Day. When the world gets in my face, I say....
- Who Says You Cant Go Home. US Customs, thats who. Id like to stay here for a while. But i dont think immigration control would take too lightly to it. Was thinking of getting Bruce to write a song about me crossing the border or something, but i think theres more worthy folks who need his support. But hey, I am unemployed, so you never know....
- One Wild Night. na na na na na na na na na.
- Something For The Pain. Paul suggested it. I agree. Another cracker.
- Runaway. Im there with the air keyboard as mentioned above. Let It Rock (that too would be awesome, and Social Disease)
- Misunderstood. I know i know, Bounce wasnt as well received as The Rising. But I like it. And I like the playfulness of the song. Great album, not your best though. I like this song as its less serious than the other stuff on the album - not to diminish from the topics you and the band went in to on it, but i nice easy rockin song is a welcome addition to the themes of that album.
- Everyday. After the above easier track off Bounce, I give you permission to rock it on the more serious stuff. Remember bro - you owe me for not coming to Australia for the Bounce tour. Radio promo tour my fat ass.
- Stranger In This Town. Let Richie take some more of the spotlight. Im sick of seeing Denise get her name in the papers and on TMZ everytime she mentions his name. Wish those dopey tabloid fucks would pay attention to how talented the man is instead of his personal life.
- Destination Anywhere. Put Blaze Of Glory on a shelf and leave it toll the 2025 reunion tour. Seriously. Its been done. Move on. Dont forget the second solo album. The title track is great, let the more casual fans who probably dont even know you put out a second solo album experience a really great song.

So there you have it. Im sure Wanted, Prayer, Medicine, Faith, etc will get played. The middle aged women of New Jersey would riot if they werent. But over the next two nights id appreciate it (and im sure many more of your more serious/nerdy fans would appreciate it too)

Thanks for the great show back in January - really lifted me up (hey - add Hook Me Up to the above set too)

Im leaving for the show now - see you in a bit

Cheers

ps - im going to write up some songs for that other Jersey native to play at the three Giants Stadium shows. Feel free to pass them along when ive posted them here.

Got the Eddie Vedder tix!!

2008-07-12T03:40:00.001+10:00

"no time to be foolish, or save up on life, you gotta spend it all........"

Lucked in to 2 mezzanine seats for night 1 in BOSSton.

Nice

So its 8 shows in 8 nights by 5 bands in 4 states.

The total trip looks a little something like this;

July 12 Leave Sydney

July 13 Arrive New York

July 14 New York (Bon Jovi – Madison Square Garden)

July 15 New York (Bon Jovi – Madison Square Garden)

July 16 New York (Billy Joel – Shea Stadium)

July 17 New York to Washington

July 18 Washington

July 19 Washington

July 20 Chicago

July 21 Chicago

July 22 Chicago (John Mellencamp – Charter One Pavillion)

July 23 Chicago to Cleveland

July 24 Cleveland (Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame)

July 25/26 Cleveland to Connecticut

July 26 Uncasville, Connecticut (Sheryl Crow – Mohegun Sun Casino)

July 27 Connecticut to New Jersey (Bruce Springsteen – Giants Stadium)

July 28 New Jersey (Bruce Springsteen – Giants Stadium)

July 29 New Jersey (Foo Fighters – IZOD Arena)

July 30 New York (Live, Collective Soul & Blues Traveller – Hammerstein Ballroom)

July 31 New Jersey (Bruce Springsteen – Giants Stadium)

August 1 – New York to Boston (Eddie Vedder Boston Opera House)

August 2 – Boston ((Bruce Springsteen – Gillette Stadium)

August 3 – Boston to LA

August 4 – LA

August 5 – LA to Sydney

Tenacious D - Wonderboy

2008-07-04T14:53:00.000+10:00

Im supposed to be in Melbourne already. Im not. Im needing to see a few people there really quickly. One of them is like totally walking already and im missing out on all the action.

Im just fucking wiped out. So tired. So much still to do. Hard to function on 3 hrs sleep a night.

July 4 2007 at 230pm was one of the happiest moments of my life. Its up there with the June 10 and 17 2006 happy moments. The July 4 2007 moment of happiness lasted for a few months, then went downhill. Fast.

So just before 230pm today I was replying to an email and I noticed it was 227pm. On July 4th. Shit. Shit.Shit. Shit. Shit. I have no safety blanket. I have none of the special people around me, like I managed to do on June 10 and June 17 this year. Shit. Shit. Shit.

But another safety blanket appeared. Music. It was already playing - always is. Always will be.

Just before 230pm this afternoon, Skid Row came on the WinAmp playlist - Monkey Business. Nice - good song. Monkey was one of the nicknames Yvee had for me. Fucking Gary used to call me Monkey and I fucking hated it. But then Yvee started calling me Monkey a few years later and I fucking loved it. She has approx 30 names for me, and for my 30th birthday she listed them all in the card she gave me. Fuck my girl rocks.

And then right after Bas rocked it like it was 1991, on came The D. KG and JB. Fucking A. WONDERBOY!!!

High above the mucky-muck, castle made of clouds,
There sits Wonderboy, sitting oh so proudly.
Not much to say when you're high above the mucky-muck.
Yeah, yeah.
Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power?
Wonderboy, won't you take me far away from the mucky-muck now?
[spoken]
Now it's time for me to tell you about Young Nastyman,
archrival and nemesis of Wonderboy, with powers comparable to Wonderboy.
What powers you ask? I dunno, how 'bout the power of flight?
That do anything for ya? That's levitation holmes.
How 'bout the power to kill a yak, from 200 yards away...
with mind bullets! That's telekinesis, Kyle.
How 'bout the power... to move you?
[sung]
History of Wonderboy and Young Nastyman,
Riggah-goo-goo, riggah-goo-goog.
A secret to be told, a gold chest to be bold,
And blasting forth with three-part harmony, go!
Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power?
Wonderboy, won't you take me far away from that mucky-muck man?
[spoken]
When Wonderboy and Young Nastyman joined forces;
they formed a band the likes of which have never been seen,
and they called themselves Tenacious D. That's right,
[sung]
Me! And KG!
[KG (spoken):] That's me.
[sung]
We're now Tenacious D!
Come fly with me, fly!
Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power?
Wonderboy, won't you take me far away from the mucky-muck now,
Oh!
[spoken]
Take my hand!
Young Nastyman, we're gonna fly!
Bring out your broadsword.
There's the hydra.
Slice his throat!
And grab his scrote.
You take the high road,
I'll take the low.
There, the crevasse,
Fill it with your mighty juice.

As I finish this post, Yvee's favourite The Clash song came on - Train In Vain (FYI - its the live version From the Chaos In New York 1981 bootleg).

Im still tired. Im still running late. Im still fucked up. But this past 20 or so minutes could have sucked. Big time. But thanks to a few mp3s and some video on YouTube and some great music/lyrics from the D im a little better.

Signed Stuff - Green Day

2008-06-29T00:19:00.000+10:00

So back in 1996 I met Green Day.

Green Day's Dookie is one of my favourite albums of the 90's. I first heard it at a party in 1994. Like most kids my age it became a sort of full time / permanent listen. In the car, on the Walkman, at parties, etc. It was everywhere. Its just a great album. When i Come Around is the stand out track for me.

Here's a great live version of When I Come Around from Woodstock 1994;

Ive thought about writing some stuff about these guys for a while now, just haven't gotten around to putting fingers to keyboard. They are a band that has continued to evolve out of the 90's grunk (what i call grunge punk) into relevant artists today. 2004's American Idiot is a masterpiece that kids will still be discovering and listening to in 2025. Im positive of that.

So Green Day came here to play in support of the Insomniac album. They announced an instore at HMV in Pitt St in the city. So along I went with a mate and we lined up with the masses of other kids. We got through about an hour after it started. When we finally got through to the band I noticed that they had used the texta/markers and written all over the TV screens behind them. Very punk. Or try hard punk. Im not sure.

I got my copy of Dookie signed. It was kind of rushed - the band were cool and having a good time with the fans, but the record company people were pushing people through really quickly. I had enough time to say hi, get my CD signed and take a few pictures.

When the photos came back from the developer, I noticed the funny photo below;

Its not my Dookie cover that Mike is chewing in to - id say it was owned by the person in front of me. But I went and checked out my Dookie CD booklet that the band signed - and there is small teeth marks in the top corner! The record company people pushed us through so quickly that I didnt even notice!

While looking for the above When I Come Around video from Woodstock 94, I came across this below video of the infamous mud fight Green Day had with the crowd at Woodstock. Pretty funny to see.

The Bangles - Australian tour!!!!!

2008-06-28T00:37:00.002+10:00

oh my god oh my god oh my god

This band is my guilty pleasure - well musically anyway.

Its 80's pop at its best and I love it. Pointless lyrics, bouncy bass lines, 4/4 drumming, 60's surf scene sounding guitars and the bodacious Susannah Hoffs. Just the thought of her makes me all giddy like a 9 year old school boy all over again. I wrote about her a few months ago. Well I didnt write about her - more a picture to drool over.

The news of their Australian tour this October totally made me day when the Ticketek email came in this afternoon. They were here a few years ago - it was their first Australian tour. I didnt go - it was a few weeks after my return from New York and I had spent way too much money over there. The reviews were good and I regret not going. But im not going to miss out this time round.

Tour Dates;

Oct 8 2008 Melbourne THE PALMS AT CROWN CASINO

Oct 9 2008 Melbourne THE PALMS AT CROWN CASINO

Oct 11 2008 Canberra Royal Theatre

Oct 12 2008 Sydney Enmore Theater

Im uber hoping for a full hits show. I know i know - im always crapping on about how bands should play new stuff as well as old stuff. But im going to contradict myself and say to hell with it for this show. I want all killer no filler. There's no new album to push. the last album came out in 2003. So its all about In Your Room, Manic Monday, Hazy Shade Of Winter, Be With You, If She Knew What She Wants, Hero Takes A Fall, Walk Like An Egyptian etc. I guess Eternal Flame will get a run. I can do without that, but as long as i get In Your Room and Manic Monday ill be happy.

In Your Room is my fav. track form their catalogue. Its just the simple structure of the song and the way Susannah sings the lyrics.

Heres a good live version of in Your Room from last year:

And here's hazy Shade Of Winter:

Gene Simmons - shut the fuck up

2008-06-27T01:06:00.001+10:00

Dear Gene

Shut the fuck up already.

You rock my world. Seriously. The God Of Thunder knows how to rock The Baker. Youve been doing it for a long time and you do it well. Ive seen you in your day job - Ki$$ - play live 5 times now. I once even wore makeup at one of your gigs. And each time I see you and Paul and whoever else you have contractually obligated to join you on stage, you totally bring the rock to the masses. We have fun - you make lots of money. Everyone is happy.

I dont care that you've "bedded" 4800 women. Actually I do care, but that's a story for another time.

But today i just received an email from someone who's writing I admire very much - Bob Lefsetz. Im sure you have heard of him. He used to work at Sanctuary Records where you also have a professional relationship. He - like you - rocks. But he is not full of shit. And I think you are sometimes. Bob tells it like it is. He speaks clearly. There is no hidden agenda or ulterior motive. He isnt trying to "lay" us when he says something. He speaks and thousands listen. You - at times - speak and thousands laugh.

Bob sends his email list around this here interweb thing every day. Its the hilight of my email day (well that and the odd email that your Melbourne doppelganger sends - but his has photos of someone uber cool). Today's email had a good list of the top people Bob has on his enemies list. Ive heard of some of the people on Bob's list, and some id heard about but didnt know what stupid things they have done. And there you are at number 4 on Bob' list;

4. Gene Simmons

For spreading the heinous concept that musicians are just in it for the money. For blaming the chaos of today's music world on the fans. You keep telling us how smart you are Gene, but every time you open your mouth you just demonstrate how uninformed and dumb you truly are.

Yep, that about sums up why I think you should shut the fuck up. Stop doing exactly what Bob said in his email and then I wont have to tell you to shut the fuck up.

You only hake headlines in recent years when you do or say something stupid. You should make headlines cause you have a hit record. Or you intend to release some new music. Or you are playing some great gig somewhere. Or maybe a charity event where some good money has been raised. But nooooo, all I ever hear is Gene's sex tape, or Gene doesnt like the fans cause they download, or some other crap.

I really like your A&E tv show. I think its funny, entertaining and is one of the best "reality" shows out there. Your wife is a total cougar. Your kids are pretty cool. The show looks real. I like it.

Ive even started to read your book. But there's a familiar theme running through the first few chapters that sounds all too familiar - GENE, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

The music that your day job produces is awesome. There isn't a song I dont like. Its all good to me. Id like it if Ace was back in the band, but I understand the reasons why he isn't there. Youve been around for a long time. People respect your history. Your voice is valid. Your music crosses generations. You are relevant. Just shut the fuck up about anything that isn't Ki$$ (or linked to Ki$$) related. Simple.

You used to be about the music. Go back.

Horns,

Adam

PS - here's a video to remind you of what used to be;

The Angels - live on The Footy Show

2008-06-26T00:06:00.000+10:00

The Angels had their world premiere for their reunion on last weeks NRL Footy Show.

I dont want to call it a trainwreck, but.....

Take A Long Line is such a great song, but this is how its supposed to be played.

Im seeing them next week. For the first time ever. Fingers crossed they look through YouTube and get some reminders about how good they were back in the day.

Biohazard - live in New York

2008-06-25T00:08:00.000+10:00

Some footage of Biohazard's homecoming reunion shows in New York last weekend has appeared on YouTube;

Its cool to see Shades Of Grey, What Makes Us Tick and Chamber Spins Three. And look at Bobby spinnin around just like it was 1995 all over again!! Im bummed I didn't go see them when they were here with Korn a few months ago. I know I promised to go. But I didn't. Korn suck now. And i wasn't paying $100 to see 20 minutes of Biohazard. But after seeing this footage im annoyed that I didn't.

I have seen the band twice - in 1995 when they supported Slayer and again in 1996 when they supported Pantera. Dieter got me into them back in late 94 / early 95. I owe that boy big time for these guys and Suicidal Tendencies. Thanks bro.

Like many of my favourite bands, I've been lucky enough to meet Biohazard a few times.

Evan Seinfeld signed this for me back in 2004. That was an interesting meet n greet I tells you.....

Evan is married to porn actress Tera Patrick. He is also her manager and stars in some of the movies with her. So she came out to Australia for the annual Sexpo trade show. I was working there. Stop laughing. Its a long story. I was there cause my then employer had a contract to provide notebook computers to the mobile telecommunications company Three for their "adult content" services. And as the product manager for the notebook it was my duty to provide assistance at the trade show. For all 4 days. Open to close.

So anyway I was driving along the M4 motorway one day a few weeks before the show and there's this huge billboard announcing Tera Patrick coming to Sexpo. So on the first day of the show I went to the booth she was appearing at to sign stuff and asked the manager of the booth if Evan Seinfeld was with her. He asked me why and I told him I was a big Biohazard fan. Then he was cool and told me yes he was there and that id just missed him, but he'd be back in an hour or so. I hot footed it to the car to get some of my Biohazard CD's (i came prepared) and an hour later im in a line up to meet Tera. There were all these creepy dudes in trenchcoats and guys with huge piles of photos, posters, DVDs and videos for her to sign. Me??? I had a heap of CD's from her husbands band to sign. I kinda stood out.

So I was next in line and there in front of me is Evan Seinfeld. He's in "playa" mode with handfulls of cash - it was $20 to get your stuff signed and $20 for a photo with Tera. She looked fuckin hot, but I went up to Evan and said im a big fan and is it ok to get some Biohazard stuff signed. Tera looked at me as if to say "um, don't you know who I am??" But they were cool. Evan stopped the line and the three of us were talking Biohazard for about 5 minutes. About the shows here in Sydney, the albums, the videos, all sorts of cool shit. Tera was actually impressed that one of her husbands fans came along to meet him and not her. I remember mentioning that I had seen "some of her work" and she laughed. Ha ha ha.

I asked for a photo and here's the funny part - Evan thought I only wanted Tera and me in the pic. But I wanted both. All these porn freaks in the line are like totally pissed at me by now. They want to go home and get their jerk on already after touching Tera Patrick and there's me air guitaring with Evan to the riff from Punishment. Good times! We get the photo and Tera said to do it again cause it needed to be a good photo - i remember her saying that.

I know look like a mong - there in my corporate issued Benq uniform standing next to a porn star and one of the 90's metal pioneers. But you know what?? every time some fucker laughs at the photo - I show them this below photo:

I made it small in case any of you are at work and don't want a photo of a porn star flash up on your screen. But if you click on the photo is gets bigger. It gets viagraized

These photos were another $20 to buy and have it signed. But Tera gave it to me for free cause she said I was cool. That's right bitches - Tera said I was cool.

So by this stage Evan has signed some of my stuff and my impression of Tera is the opposite of what I though a porn star would be. She was funny and knew all her husbands music and was just as cool as Evan. Actually she was cooler. And she has great norks.

This is the Five Blocks To The Subway tour EP from 1995 signed by the whole band. I met them at Waves Nightclub in Wollongong when they were supporting Slayer. Great bunch of guys, signed lots of stuff for us all. But none of us had a camera. Idiots we are.

And heres State Of The World Address signed by Billy & Danny. Unfortunately the mighty Rob Echeverria also signed it. He was in the band at the time when I had the CD signed (1996) but didn't play on the album.

Maybe you're older, wiser in your own right, it's your mistake
I'm gonna do my own thing regardless, my choice to make
I am real, in touch with my feelings, and I know my place
You have shown, on the other hand, both sides of your face

Artist; Biohazard
Song; Shades Of Grey
Album; Urban Discipline

Dime & me

2008-06-24T01:19:00.000+10:00

Im there under his arm. Me and Dimebag Darrell from Pantera.

He is anointing me with one of his guitar picks. I scored over 100 of them that day. I occasionally give one out when I find a fan deemed worthy.

Dieter and I were at the AIMS (Australian Institute of Music) trade show in Sydney back in 1995. Dime was there promoting the Washburn range - specifically his new line of Dimeslime guitars. Dime was drunk. Or loaded. Who cares. He was the coolest guy ever. Id been in to Pantera for about a year or so at that time. I got into them way later than my mates at school and only really when I heard Far Beyond Driven.

I took a great shot of Dieter and one of his musical heroes that day;

Its hard to tell who's having a better time getting their photo taken.

Dime signed CD's, tits, guitars, asses, beer cans, tits and the below way cool 8x10 promo photos;

Since the mid 90's ive listened to Pantera repeatedly. Just great tunes. The last few albums they did were OK, but nothing compares to Far Beyond or a mix of both Vulgar Display Of Power or Cowboys From Hell. Their live album - 101 Proof - is total killer. Check it out.

Pantera did a great show in Russia back in 1991 with ACDC and Metallica. Played in front of over a million people. 1 million people - that's a fuckload of Russians. Heres a cool video of Pantera playing Domination from that gig;

Watch that fucker wail from the 3 minute mark. Holy shit that's good!

Id like to also add that lyrically Pantera were one of the best metal bands ever. Some metal bands its all stupid druids and boring shit. But these guys just had it all. The production, the melody, the solos, the lyrics. Pure metal.

A long time ago I never knew myself.
Then the memory of shame birthed its gift.

No more. The small one, the weak one, the frightened one.
Running from beatings, deflating.
I'm becoming more than a man.
More than you ever were.
Driven and burning
To rise beyond Jesus.

I'm born again with snakes eyes
Becoming
Godsize

I found my life was slipping through my hands.
Perhaps through death my life won't be so bad.

I can see you, can fuck you, inside of you.
Staring through your eyes.
Belittle your friends to serve me, to suck me,
To realize my saving grasp.
I of suicide.
I the unlord.

I'm born again with snakes eyes
Becoming
Godsize

Artist: Pantera
Title: Becoming
Album: Far Beyond Driven

Michael Buble.....

2008-06-22T16:18:00.000+10:00

My name is Adam and last night I went to a Michael Buble concert.

Now don't call the men with the white jackets. I'm not suicidal. I was at a wedding yesterday. That wasn't easy to attend. Two really good friends. But this was the first invitation that came to me - and me only. For 8 years it was "to Yvee and Adam" and now its just "Adam" and that blows. But anyway that wasn't the only hard part. It was an outdoor garden wedding. In June. With a gazebo. And the guests were standing around it. It looked great. And it brought back lots of memories of our wedding - especially as Chris was one of my groomsmen. Memories are good most of the time. Sometimes they hurt. But i'm big time happy for Chris and Kylie. She is awesome and they are great together. At least it wasn't raining.

So I get a call asking what im doing last night. As the wedding was a morning thing followed by a lunch I was out of there around 4ish - so i said I was doing nothing to the caller. Great! she said - "I have a spare Michael Buble ticket for tonight. You should come". Now normally I would have fought the fight that true men of metal would fight - "fuck that shit". But - and I know the mighty Cliff Burton and Dimebag Darrell are turning in their graves right now - I caved. But maybe I get some cred back as I was gifted the ticket?

Let me pre-empt the below by stating that the music of The Buble isn't entirely unknown to me. My girl likes his stuff. We have a few CD's and DVD's around the house. Its not bad. I like Sinatra. I like Harry Connick Jr. And I admire someone like the Buble who can sell a gazillion records and be a good entertainer. I would have taken Yvee to see this show too - so that was a bit hard on me.

He has a smooth voice too. I saw him on Rove the other week - he seems like a funny bastard too.

So we all met up. Get some eats in Chinatown. So far so good. Me - "where are the seats??" Her - "on the floor, 5th row" Him (who I get the feeling was being dragged along) - pretty good eh?

So we walk in to the cavernous echo that is the Sydney Entertainment Centre. There was a potential issue that my fucked up brain resolved pretty quickly and then we met up with a girl from the ticket gifters work. Drinks were purchased. I considered a man drink like a shot of Jager to retain some more metal cred. But I went for a Diet Coke.

As we were about to walk in I ask her how she got such good tickets?

"some guy on eBay"

Great. Im seeing Michael Buble with tickets some fucker on eBay sold at a crazy profit. Yay - NOT.

The seats were good. The company was good. The support act were good - Naturally 7. American beatbox 7 piece. Check them out on YouTube. They were really good. One of the best warm up acts ive ever seen.

The Buble show was great - like really really great. This guy is a great entertainer. Funny bastard. He had a tight band and the song selection had the right mix of smooth jazz together with faster big band numbers. I know about 5 songs from Yvee's CD's and stuff on TV. Not a bad show. I also noticed that out of the 12,000 people there at last nights sold out show - probably 8,000 were horny housewives out for a good night. Nice.

My final words on last night are the exact same review I gave to my three fellow The Buble concert goers - "that didn't suck"

On the drive home I needed something rockin to enjoy the drive. I put an untitled minidisc into the deck in the car. Turned out to be a Pearl Jam compilation id made. Fuckin A!!!!! And I heard I Got Id (AKA I Got Shit) for the first time in ages and it floored me. Such a great song. Sure The Buble was cool - but he could learn a thing from Pearl jam and Neil Young I tells you.

But I walked the line when you held me in that night.
Oh, I walked the line when you held my hand that night.
Oh, I walked the line when you held me close that night.
I paid the price. Never held you in real life.
My lips are shaking...

Just use your head, and in the end you'll find your inspiration

2008-06-19T16:41:00.004+10:00

Axl - listen to your own words. Release the fucker already.

While we still care.

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better.. better...
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better.. better...

The hardest part, this troubled heart has never yet been through now,
To heal the scars that got their start inside someone like you now,
But had I known or I'd been shown back when I longed you'd take me,
To break the charge that brought me home...
that, all but would erase me

I never would not thought I could
No matter what you'd pay me
replay the part
You stole my heart
I should have known you're crazy

If all I knew was that with you
I'd want someone to save me
It'd be enough,
But just my luck
I fell in love and baby...

All that I wanted was...

Now I know you better
You know I know better
Now I know you better!

So bittersweet, this tragedy wont ask for absolution,
This melody inside of me, still searches for solution,
A twist of fate, the change of heart kills my infatuation,
A broken heart provides the spark for my determination.

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better, better...
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better, better...

All that I wanted, was...

I know ,you know,you know better,You know, I know ,you know better,
Now you know me better

I never wanted you to be so full of anger
I never wanted you to be somebody else
I never wanted you to be someone afraid to know themselves
I only wanted you to see things for yourself

All that I wanted, was...

Now I know you better
Yeah we all know better

All that I wanted was...

I know better
I know better
I know better
I know better

If I were you, I'd manage to abhor the invitation
Of promised love that can't keep up with your adoration
Just use your head, and in the end you'll find your inspiration
To choose your steps and won't regret this kind of aggravation

No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better.. better...
No one ever told me when I was alone
They just thought I'd know better.. better...

Def Leppard - got the tickets!

2008-06-18T15:06:00.004+10:00

Woohoo!

Easiest ticket purchase ever. They went on sale at 3pm. Had them by 301pm. 2 x general admissions for Sean and I. Itll be great to see them with a great mate in my hometown.

White lights, strange city, mad music all around

With their grass skirts down to their knees

2008-06-17T00:35:00.000+10:00

2 years ago today I had one of the (if not the) best days of my life.

I lived out a long held dream. And I surprised my girl for the only time ever.

5 star resort with 6 star people consuming 2 star drinks.

Thanks to my girl, Drama Queen and Johnny Drama

ab

On an island in the sun
We’ll be playing and having fun
And it makes me feel so fine
I can’t control my brain

We’ll run away together
We’ll spend some time forever
We’ll never feel bad anymore

My therapists parents

2008-06-16T11:55:00.001+10:00

They both look different now.

She has different hair.

He has aged a few years.

They both put photos up on their sites every day that make me smile. So I thought id put something up to make them smile - or get angry at me about

Def Leppard - Australian tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-12T16:40:00.000+10:00

Man, this totally made my day.

I have always wanted to see these guys live. They last toured here in 1992, and even though the Hysteria album was a big player for me I just didnt go. The Adrenalize album didn't really do it for me, but I was back listening to them by 1995's Vault greatest hits set. Since then ive liked their new stuff, but I always compare it the magic that is Hysteria.

Def Leppard are playing shows in the US when Paul and i are there in July/Aug, but the dates and locations dont really match that well. I considered a flight to the show in Nashville, then flying over to Boston for the final Springsteen show the next night but it was just going to be too much of a hassle.

Now I don't have to worry!

Oct 31 Members Equity Stadium, Perth
Nov 3 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Nov 5 Acer Arena, Sydney
Nov 7 Newcastle Entertainment Centre
Nov 8 Brisbane Entertainment
Nov 10 Win Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
Nov 11 Ais Arena, Canberra

Rolling Stones - Shine A Light

2008-06-12T02:17:00.000+10:00

Best

Concert

Movie

Ever

Gary, Bill, Paul and I went to see Shine A Light at Imax last night.

Great night out with the boys - yesterday had the potential to be an issue for me, but I made it through ok.

I made some notes about what I was going to write for the 5 of you. I was going to write about the huge screen (Sydney Imax is the biggest screen on the planet). I was going to write about the bitchin' sound (Sydney Imax has the best sound system of any Imax on the planet). I was going to write about the size of Christina Aguilera's norks on the big screen (Sydney Imax made Christina Aguilera's norks look like the biggest norks on the planet). I was going to write about the fact i was going to puke after the first song - from motion sickness.

I was also going to write about how ive seen dozens of Stones live concerts on video, dvd, internet, movie cinema, etc over the years and nothing - NOTHING - has ever captured them performing at their best the way this Scorsese directed film did. He even caught Charlie smiling. I didn't know Charlie could smile.

But then I saw that Tony K put up a brilliant review tonight on his blog. So go read his review. It says everything I felt about the movie and more. But no mention of X-tina's norks.

Guitar Hero / Slipknot

2008-06-09T23:28:00.001+10:00

Ive never liked Slipknot. Their version of metal just doesn't sit right with me. Every time I hear some of their music (at a gig or at a metal store) I always compare it to what I call "good metal". I do however like the work of their drummer - Joey Jordison. He's a little bloke with a heavy right foot.

I saw pictures of Slipknot before I heard their music. I think it was from over at Blabbermouth when Slipknot were originally signed to (i think) RoadRunner. Anyway, the pictures were of the band in full costume with face masks. And it put me off. Only Ki$$ should dress like that. I hated Gwar, Lordi, etc for wearing that crap. I think it looks stupid. But on Ki$$ it looks cool. Dont ask me why.

On Dec 2nd last year I spent my hard earned on a PlayStation 2 and a copy of Guitar Hero 3. That weekend was the worst weekend ever, but buying a PS2 and GH3 seemed like fun so thats what I did. Over the next week I didn't get the chance to play it, but when I went to Melbourne the week after I spent a few hours learning how to rock it with the plastic buttons. Some tracks are easy. Some are hard. For those of you who don't know anything about the game, you get extra songs the further you progress. As I had plenty of time I managed to unlock all the songs on the easy level quite easily. There was Slayer, Maiden, Metallica, SRV, etc. Yay. But then there was this song by Slipknot - Before I Forget. I skipped it every time. I didnt want to play it - they sucked.

But then just before Christmas I gave the song a go. Id kicked both Slash and Tom Morello's ass, but couldn't progress very far on Slayer's Seasons In The Abyss in easy level or many of the songs on the intermediate level. And fuck me if Before I Forget isn't one of the best metal songs ive heard in a damn long time. Pounding drums, rough vocals, guitar tracks that are in synch with the bass and drums. Its just awesome.

I like the song that much that I considered putting it on my Audio Project CD. But I didn't. But at least I considered it.

What im trying to get at is that before Guitar Hero I wouldn't have given Slipknot a listen. But the game is so good that I gave them a go. And now ill have a re-listen. Maybe ill buy a CD. Maybe if they tour again ill go see them. Its great that Aerosmith and Metallica have their own version of Guitar Hero coming out. Ill buy both. But its the lesser known acts that will benefit from this game - smaller signed bands and unknown independents. I unfortunately only have the Ps2 version so i cant download the extra songs the Ps3 and XBox 360 versions can - but ive tried the game online at a friends house and downloaded all the extra tracks. Theres a stack of small and big bands on it.

This game isnt the answer to the music industry's woes. But its a great way of getting people - young and old alike - to listen to old rock/metal classics and new up and coming rock/metal bands. Maybe it'll inspire someone to go listen to something new - or an old band they previously thought "sucked".

I did.

New Metallica album - work in progress review story

2008-06-07T16:10:00.002+10:00

Interesting readings over at music blog Idolator.

It seems that Metallica had an album listening party for a few tracks of their new album last week in London. No big deal. So the guy from UK music blog The Quietus goes along and listens to 6 tracks. No big deal. So the guy writes a review of what he heard at the listening party. No big deal.

So the review is good - "Right from the off, it’s a relief to hear that the utterly awful production of St. Anger is no more. Ulrich has replaced the old dustbin lid from that album with an actual snare drum, and the sound is fresh, clean and resonant (even though the songs are still only rough mixes at this stage)."

No big deal - but to me and millions of other Metallica fans it IS a big deal. The sound quality of St Anger is shit. Its beyond shit. Its diarrhea when you are out in the bush camping and you have no toilet paper. Its shit shit. Its that bad that I haven't listened to it all the way through. Its been out for 5 years and even though I have tried to relisten a few times I just give up and listen to something better. The songs are good, its just the sound quality is, well - shit. What saved the band in my opinion (which is why you are reading this) is that they recorded a live DVD of the band playing the entire album from start to finish. It was filmed at their studio/HQ in California, and released as a bonus disc with the first pressings of St Anger. And its this live version that I listen to. I ripped the audio off the disc and made a CD of the tunes - like thousands of other fans have had to do. And its this live version that showcases some of the great tunes off the album, especially the version of Unamed Feeling

My favourite song off the album. Both musically and lyrically.

Name this for me, heat the cold air
Take the chill off of my life
And if I could I'd turn my eyes
To look inside to see what's coming

and

Found safety in this loneliness
But I can not stand it anymore

and then the bit on the bridge before the last chorus
Get the fuck out of here I just wanna get the fuck away from me
I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate I hate it all, why why why me?
I cannot sleep with a head like this I wanna cry, I wanna scream
I rage, I glaze, I hurt, I hate
I wanna hate it all away

That - my friends - is classic Metallica. And without the live version of this album I would nt have "discovered" this song.

Again, its live where the songs come alive. And this video shows a lot of what makes them one of the best live bands out there today. And I also like to see a reinvigorated James Hetfield rocking out. This was a personal album for him - watch their Some Kind Of Monster docu if you haven't already.

So yeah back to the new Metallica album. Jeez i get off track sometimes......

So the guy from The Quietus gets a notice from Metallica's record company via a third party that the review has to be taken down. And that is a big deal. I'm no journalist, but if you a) invite a journalist to a listening party and b) play them a few songs from one of this years most highly anticipated albums, then chances are the journalist is going to write about and publish it. And what makes me scratch my fat head is that the guys review was a positive one. Sure, it wasn't a full review - the listening party only played 6 of the potential 10 tracks from the album. But its something - better than nothing. It shows hope to us Metallica fans that the new album could be good. It might sound good. It might showcase the mighty Rob Trujillo on a Metallica album (Bob Rock played bass on St Anger as Rob hadn't joined the band yet). It might have a Kirk Hammett guitar solo on it (you really notice the lack of solo's on St Anger - solo's are a part of the Metallica formula). It might have a listenable snare sound. And it might have a more return to form lyrical content.

If all of the above happens - im in. I'm back to where I was in my Metallica fandomness pre 2003.

Heres Idolator's story on the original The Quietus story.

And the original Comcast story

And here is the link to the original The Quietus review that was pulled - it can be found using Google cache.

I know its all a bunch of journalists with their undies in a knot, but its bad press. Bad press is not good press. This band has bad so much bad press since 2000's Napster incident - especially on the internet. They don't need any more negativity pointed their way. If the band or the morons working for them had any fucking idea they would have let a review like the one on The Quietus stay up and let the people that matter - the listening public - get a good feel for what we might soon to hear. Without good early reviews the new album will be written off based on their last recording effort.

Kirk Hammett signature Randall guitar amp

2008-06-06T23:33:00.008+10:00

Im going to get me one of these when im in the states;

Even though i already have one of these;

and one of these;

and can't play this through either of them;

But i just must have that Hammet amp. It looks cool. Im sure it sounds cool. I need it.

LINK

Randall Amplifiers has announced the KH-15 Kirk Hammett Signature Practice Amplifier, a full-featured practice amp created through a year-long collaboration between Hammett and Randall engineers. With a fierce, solid tone and details that include control labels written in Kirk's own handwriting, the Randall Kirk Hammett Signature Practice Amplifier is the perfect choice for musicians jamming on-the-go and recording in the studio.

The Randall Kirk Hammett Signature Practice Amp features two channels — clean and a custom Kirk Hammett Signature Overdrive with boost for extra gain. Additional facilities include a 3-band equalizer, spring reverb, headphone out for silent jamming and a CD/tape input for playing along with a favorite tune or rehearsing.

"To have the chance to work with Kirk Hammett on a line of custom Randall amplifiers has been a highlight for all of us involved," said David Karon, Artist Relations Manager at Randall Amplifiers. "By working closely with Kirk for over a full year, we have produced a top-notch series of amps — from our limited edition maple full-stack to the Kirk Hammett Signature Practice Amplifier — for musicians of all levels and budgets."

The Kirk Hammett Signature Practice Amplifier is part of a full line of Kirk Hammett Signature Series products, which include MTS preamp modules, custom cabinets and tube heads — all to enable musicians everywhere to attain his flawless sound. Kirk worked intimately with Randall to ensure that all aspects of the products, from the look and feel of the amps to the unmistakable tone, were up to his standards.

The KH-15 Kirk Hammett Signature Practice Amplifier retails for $129.90 and is available at exclusive Randall dealers.

Ive found my appetite

2008-06-03T21:50:00.002+10:00

Back on the 1st of March I mentioned to the five of you that I had lost my appetite.

Gary came over today to help me sort the audio room. Christ I have a lot of cd's, dvd's, records, books, tapes, minidiscs, etc. Anyway, he found my appetite. It was hibernating for the winter inside a Baby Animals CD case.

Thanks bro. For heading out west to do that other thing, for the help packing the audio stuff, for the laughs and for the memories.

Dave Grohl on drums w/ Paul McCartney

2008-06-03T11:35:00.005+10:00

The song (I Saw Her Standing There) doesn't exactly showcase how great a drummer Dave is. But thats not why I put this video up on the blog. Its the very end of the song when Dave joins Paul's band for the bow/farewell. Look at the grin on his face. The man is having the time of his life up there playing with one of his musical heroes.

I'm sure he sees that look of delight on the faces in the crowd he plays to every night. We the Foo Crazies (or Foozies as ive come to call us lately) get that grin from the minute the band walk on stage till they leave. Sure the seltists need some work, but its the great energy and great tunes they play that gives us that same look of delight that is on Dave's face at the end of the video.

I saw a girl after a Foo show here in Sydney back in 2002. She had this familiar look on her face. I said to her "first Foo show??" and she said "yes, how do you know?" I told her its easy to tell. She was also holding on of Tay's drumsticks and looked like she had been taken a pounding from the security fence at the front of the stage. It was almost a given. But I can still remember that look of elation on her face. Like she had seen something great that she would tell her friends about over and over and over.

Well - thats what i do.

Trivium - Master Of Puppets

2008-05-29T20:40:00.000+10:00

Chuck D was on The Panel back in 2002. On the topic of samples he made a comment that I have quoted him on many many times;

"you can either upgrade a classic, or you can downgrade a classic"

And this below version of Metallica's Master Of Puppets is 100% upgrade. It takes the original and gives maximum respect to it, while allowing Trivium - and in particular lead guitarist/ singer Matt Leafy - to showcase their awesome metalness. I know I just invented a word, but it should be a word.

Metalness
adjective
(met-al-ness)
The practice of totally fucking representing the previous gods of metal - Black Sabbath, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Motorhead, Anthrax, Slayer, etc)

Brittish metal mag Kerrang put out a Master Of Puppets 20th anniversary CD back in 2006 featuring Trivium, Machine Head and a few other new (not nu) metal bands. Its a great tribute and was a bargain (free) that I would have been more than happy to pay full price for.

Heres a killer live version of it

End of passion play, crumbling away
Im your source of self-destruction
Veins that pump with fear, sucking darkest clear
Leading on your deaths construction

[chorus:]
Taste me you will see
More is all you need
Youre dedicated to
How Im killing you

Come crawling faster
Obey your master
Your life burns faster
Obey your master
Master

Master of puppets Im pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you cant see a thing
Just call my name, `cause Ill hear you scream
Master
Master
Just call my name, `cause Ill hear you scream
Master
Master
[end chorus]

Needlework the way, never you betray
Life of death becoming clearer
Pain monopoly, ritual misery
Chop your breakfast on a mirror

[chorus]

Master, master, wheres the dreams that Ive been after?
Master, master, you promised only lies
Laughter, laughter, all I hear and see is laughter
Laughter, laughter, laughing at my cries

Hell is worth all that, natural habitat
Just a rhyme without a reason
Neverending maze, drift on numbered days
Now your life is out of season

[chorus]
[fade out with evil laughter].

Foo Fighters - Acer Arena May 2nd/3rd 2008

2008-05-25T22:08:00.000+10:00

Photo credit - Daniel Boudist

Tickets to these shows went on sale in late November. Yay for me that I’m a member of the Acer Arena club so I could get Gen, Fee, Sean, Paul and I a ticket before the fcukers over at eBay got hold of the general admission tickets. That week didn’t end too well though. And it sucked that I wasn’t buying Yvee a ticket to the show. She loved the two shows she saw (Acer Arena December 2006 and Sydney Opera House October 2006) and had seen/heard many Foo shows throughout our time together due to her husband’s Foo OCD in collecting and listening to as many live Foo shows as possible. But she actually liked them herself. I didn’t force them on to her. She really liked the slower stuff (Aint It The Life being her favourite). She wasn’t that in to the angrier stuff (as she called it). She even had a nickname for them – Foodles. Good times.

Side story: Foo’s third album “There Is Nothing Left To Lose” is the soundtrack in my head when I think about when we got together back in late 1999. The album came out in October of that year, things heated up in November and things became permanent in December. All the while I was listening to this album constantly. In the car we would listen to it when we were going places. At home we would listen to it. Id listen to it when she wasn’t at my house. We listened to it on our way to CampFest New Years Eve 1999/2000. Fiona – I’m still angry about that trip by the way. Yvee got to “understand” her then boyfriends Foo “problem” in January 2000 when Foo played at the old HMV record store on Pitt St. The band were playing at 2pm. I got there at 8am. “Why don’t you just get there at 1?” she asked. How little did she know back then....

I’m not as in to Foo’s current album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. It just doesn’t hit me like their other stuff. It came out at a pretty fcuked up time in my life so that might have something to do with it. But the band have been on a downhill slide in terms of album quality since 2002’s One By One. In Your Honor was ok at best (there’s one good album when you cut the bloat out of the rock and acoustic discs). ESP&G has its moments though – Statues, Home, Let It Die and The Pretender are the stand out tracks on the disc. I had high hopes when I heard that Gil Norton was back producing. He produced their best album The Color And The Shape.

The Sydney leg of the tour started for me on the Thursday night when Foo guitarist Chris Shiflett's side band Jackson United played at the Annandale Hotel. I wasn't going to go, but Ben and Alicia put the guilty trip on to me so I bailed on seeing Helmet in Wollongong and went to see Jackson United instead. It was a great show, id only heard a few of their songs and was really impressed with their (way too short) 50min set.

Alicia has more Jackson united photos over at her PhotoBucket site

Before the band came on I saw Taylor Hawkins and Pat Smear at the bar. As ive met them both a few times I didn't bother them. I did however sit back and watch the other crazies hover around waiting for the right moment to pounce on them. I'm not big on bugging band members when they are out in public. I prefer to say hi, get a photo or an autograph when they are working. At the hotel on the way to the show, backstage, an instore, at the artist entrance to the venue, etc. I saw the stupid things some Springsteen fans did to meet him on the Australian tour in 2003. One time he was having lunch in the restaurant at the hotel and they just went up and interrupted him. From what I heard he was a bit annoyed. I met him out the front of his hotel on his way to the show. He was nice and totally not annoyed to say hi, have a quick chat and sign some stuff. Thats how it should be done - not annoy the artist when they are out and about trying to enjoy the city they are playing in.

But Pat did walk past me and I mentioned to him that this hotel was where the band recorded the Big Me video back in December 1995. He was surprised and I pointed to the room where it was filmed. He went up to Taylor and told him and I could see Tay mouthing "no way!" So that was the extent of my Foo band meet and greet for this tour.

The shows.....

Every one of the previous 19 Foo shows I’ve seen have left me walking away with a special memory of the show. Maybe a certain song or a funny Dave Grohl joke. Sometimes I’ve met the band. Sometimes I’ve taken some cool photos. Sometimes I’ve made song requests. Sometimes I’ve had songs dedicated to me. Every show has had something special about it. It’s part of the Foo show experience for me.

And the two nights at the Acer Arena were no different.

Foo Brother Ben came. Alicia and her Melbourne crew were there. Gen came. Paul, Fee and Sean too. I was in good company. There was a few missing faces. Pam, Kim, Krystel and Ben2. And original Foo Friend Kristina. And of course my girl.

We got there about 5ish and there were about 200 kids in front. I can say kids cause at 31 I’m an old fuck compared to the current batch of Foo crazies. I met one of Alicia’s friends who was born in 1986 or 1987. Jesus H Christ – I have never felt that old in my entire life. So we were sent like sheep into a holding pen while the security egotisticalmaniacs scoped the room for fresh underage meat to hit on. I noticed a few fellow Foo crazies in the holding room (shout out to Matt and his Tiny Dancer). You kind of get used to seeing familiar faces when you have seen these guys 19 times in the same city going back to 1995.

The Foo stage on this tour has a large “B stage” situated at the rear of the floor behind the mixing desk. There is a runway/ego ramp connecting the B stage to the main stage. Id heard that the B stage was a good place to see the show so we headed there. Sure, I could have headed for the front of the stage to show the kiddies how to scream for your favourite Foo song. But I wasn’t in the mood for it and wanted to kick back and enjoy the show with good friends. So we took our positions front row centre of the B stage. Nice.

Support acts were Kaki King and The Mess Hall on both nights. Kaki is an America guitar “virtuoso” who is part of the Foo touring band – playing with Dave on The Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners. The Mess Hall are an Aussie band who sometimes rock. Sometimes suck.

Foo came on about 840pm opening with Let It Die. Nice. Better than opening with The Last Song as they did on the majority of nights on the In Your Honor tour. The full 8 piece band was onstage. Joining Nate, Tay, Dave & Chris was Pat Smear (fucking A!!!) on guitar, Drew Hester playing percussion, Rami Jaffee on keyboards/piano/organ and Jessy Greene playing violin and backup vocals. She’s not bad – but no Petra Hayden. The Pretender was next. Its growing on me. Times Like These was great – one of my favourite Foo songs. Breakout was nice. Learn to Fly sucked. Always has and always will. Cheer Up Boys from the new album was good – much better played live than the album. This Is A Call is always welcome at any Foo show I go to – its the song that got me in to them back in the day. Stacked Actors was nice – a little bloated if you ask me. Its not as good as the below live version from the band’s appearance at Rock In Rio in Brazil 2001. That version has the infamous double drum solo in the middle of the song. So damn totally cool. Oh how I miss those shows when the band were loose. The good old days...

Then it was B Stage time. And our front row centre position had us right in front of Dave. Purely by chance. I swear I had no idea that that’s where we were. I thought it was a revolving stage. I swear. They did Skin And Bones, Marigold (one of the best Nirvana b-sides ever in my opinion), My Hero, Cold Day In The Sun, and But Honestly as a full 8 piece band.

Heres some of Gen's photos from the show - i really like the first one;

Then Dave stayed onstage and did his usual intro into The Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners. Its cool that I was there the first time he came up with that schtick. Kaki King came out and joined Dave. The song is much better with the two of the playing it. She rocks. HUGE fingernails by the way.

Kaki left and then Dave started the intro to Everlong....

Those who know me will tell you that Everlong is my favourite Foo song. Sure Exhausted makes me giddy. So too does February Stars, Aurora, Wind Up, Alone + Easy Target, Wattershed and End Over End. And then there’s the cover songs – Iron & Stone, Have A Cigar and Sister Europe. But the last four times I’ve seen Foo, Everlong has almost kind of sucked. I like it to rock from start to finish – not go slow, then trippy, then start to rock with half the band, then slow, then totally noisily rock with the rest of the band to a screaming end. I just don’t like that. I like it either just like the CD – or straight out acoustic (Dave only). That was until I saw it this night.

And fuck me if it wasn’t one of the best versions I’ve ever seen or heard of this song. I don’t know if it was the sound of 18000 people singing along or the fact that I was finally happy to hear the song rock for a change. I think it also had something to do with the people I was with. Some of the people who were with me this night have been unbelievably helpful over the last 6 months or so. Some don’t even know how helpful they have been. Sure – I don’t see these people all the time, but the odd SMS or MSN message when I’m feeling up or down really goes a long way. Some of these people I met through Foo. Others through other artists. Others due to pathetic HSC marks. But this night we were all there together rockin out to one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.

So after Everlong we got Monkey Wrench and All My Life. That’s a good two-fer to end the main set on. So the band come back out after the hilarious Encore video. (I cant find a YouTube video of the first night). After the video they do the slow version of Big Me. Oh how I miss the old days when it was faster and shorter. Long Road To Ruin had me ready to snore. Its just like Learn To Fly. Boring. Boring. Boring. Generator got me going. I’m always in the mood to hear me some talk box!

And then BAM!! – Wattershed!!! YAY!!! It was quick. It was rockin. It was awesome. It was just like the 1999 version.

Ben, Gen and I hugged after it. It was totally a hug worthy moment.

Hopefully a performance of a classic Foo song like this one will prompt the more casual fans to go out and download/buy the older pre 1999 stuff and rock out to some less mainstream stuff that they hear on the radio.

For All The Cows was also cool. I hadn’t heard it for a while (i get bored with it sometimes). Best Of You is a great song to end the show on.

After the show Ben graciously coughed up a full set of Dave’s guitar pic’s. I scored an Echoes, a Silence, a Patience and a Grace one together with two DG606 ones. Thanks Ben – you rocked before you gave me these. Now you rock even more. Heres a pic of my pic's

So that was night one.

The second show saw Ben and I get in the same spot as night one. The set list was similar to night one (no Generator though). But we were lucky enough to get Hey, Johnny Park! And Alone + Easy Target. HJP is great and all, but it was A+ET that floored me. It came from nowhere. Ben and I yelled out for Wind Up and Exhausted, but Dave ignored us. He did hear me yell out for a bass solo though – I copied a guy from the night before. Nate looked at Ben and I and said no way. And then Dave said something about “shut up dude, you DONT want to hear no bass solo” That was nice.

Heres some of my photos from the second show.

After the show Ben and I were passing out his stash of DG guitar pic’s. It was hard to give them away. Minutes earlier people were beating on each other to score one. Now people looked at me funny when i tried to give them one. Stupid one in tenners.

We said goodbye to the Melbournians. They gave us a Charlie’s Angels send-off. It’s some in-joke that I’m not in on. But it was funny.

We hung out at the artist entrance after everyone left. I wasn’t interested in getting anything signed. I’m sorted in that area. We saw a little kid waiting to hopefully meet the band – probably 8 or 9 years old. Ben gave him one of Dave’s guitar pic’s. The kid was stoked. So was his mum. It was his first ever Foo show and first ever concert.

So yeah, two great shows. I wasn’t that excited to see the show in New Jersey when Paul and I are there this coming July. But I am now. Fingers crossed they pull out one or two rarities each night from now on.

Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt

2008-05-23T19:08:00.003+10:00

I knew the drummer from Fall Out Boy looked familiar. I just couldn't place him. Until now....

Red Hot Chili Peppers Disband For A Year????

2008-05-22T22:52:00.001+10:00

I hope this isn't something that becomes permanent.

This is one of the most important bands in the ABME. Adam Baker Musical Experience. Everything they have ever released has made me happy. Everything. Sure, some albums are better than others, and some eras of the bands 25+ year history are better than others. But its all good to my ears.

Theres funk. Theres rock. Theres soul. Theres one of the 90's most amazing guitarists. And the lyrics. Fuck they rock. My favourite track of theirs is Soul To Squeeze from the Blood Sugar Sex Magik Era

The song has this power over me that I cant describe. Its the melody. Its the vibe. Its Mabo.

It's bitter baby,
And it's very sweet.
I'm on a rollercoaster,
but I'm on my feet.
Take me to the river,
Let me on your shore.
I'll be coming back baby,
I'll be coming back for more.

Doo doo doo doo dingle zing a dong bone
Ba-di ba-da ba-zumba crunga cong gone bad

I could not forget
But I will not endeavor
Simple pleasures aren't as special
But I wont regret it never.

That last verse just amazes me.

Ive seen the band 6 times now, and each show had been amazing. The first 5 times they didn't play Soul To Squeeze. My favourite RHCP song. Actually, at the third show they did. You see, it was the Big Day Out in January 2000. Great lineup - Foo, Blink 182, Nine Inch Nails, RHCP, Chemical Brothers, etc. Red Hots were headlining. In my previous Big Day Out attendances id noticed that bands didn't do encores. They played then left and 5 minutes later the next band started on the opposite stage. So im watching the Chili Peppers show and the band are on fire. Its great to finally see John Frusciante play with them. So they finish their set and I rush out of the stadium to beat the crowd to the Big Day Out's dance/hip hop room - The Boiler Room, where Chemical Brothers were about to start their set. The Boiler Room only holds about 5,000 and I wanted to get in before the 45,000 people in the main stadium all tried to also get in.

I made it to the Boiler Room. And it was jam packed. I decided to leave after I discovered that the only place I could fit was right behind the mixing desk. No good as I wanted to see the band play. Id seen their set at 1999's Woodstock on TV and really wanted to experience them live.

So I left.

The next day at work my friend Kristina emailed me and we spent most of the day talking about the Big Day Out - the bands, the sound, the people, the setlists. One of her emails was about the Chili Peppers show - she managed to sneak backstage with a fake pass and sat on the side of the stage watching Foo and RHCP. Lucky duck. So she mentions how Soul To Squeeze was the highlight of the set. I was like "what the fuck????? they didn't play that" So I called her at work hoping that she had inhaled some substances illegal from her side of stage vantage point.

My hopes were wrong.

For the first time in Big Day Out history, Red Hot Chili Peppers came back on stage and played an encore. They played Soul To Squeeze.

I was devastated. It was like that scene in Ferris Beuller's Day Off when Cameron discovers the mileage in his dad's Ferrari wont roll back after him, Ferris and Sloan (my god she is cute) spend the day in Chicago (Tony K represent!).

She went on to tell me how it was unplanned and it rocked. I went in to shock. So i emailed a few other friends who confirmed that it did happen. I was floored. Non musical friends found it funny. Yvee felt bad for me when I told her that night. How fucking stupid was I????

I saw the band the next night at the Entertainment Centre but they didnt play it. They played one show here in Sydney at the Football Stadium for the By The Way tour. Yvee sent me a text hoping id get to see Soul To Squeeze as I hadn't shut up about it still - 3 years later. But nothing.

So you see people, this is the very reason why I do not ever leave a gig before the band has left the stage, the lights are on and I see roadies pulling apart the equipment on stage.

But then came the band's 2007 Australian tour. There was a bit of a ticket fiasco that ill go in to one of these days. But I ended up with a ticket to the third Sydney show. Last night of the Australian tour. I saw the first show and wasn't that impressed - Anthony was a bit flat (had the flu apparantley). The band were much better at the third show, and halfway through the set we freaks were totally blown away when they played Catholic School Girls Rule. It was the first time they had played it since 1989 and the first time ever outside of the USA. The 50 people in the crowd who actually knew the song were treated to two minutes of old school Red Hots funk rock. One of the highlights of my concert going resume.

And then the band came back on for the encore jam. No big surprise here. But the jam morphed into..........

Soul To Squeeze.

A little tear welled in my eye. I had wanted so much to finally hear this song live and it was finally happening. It was one of the best versions of the song id ever heard. Lucky for me i was recording the show and get to relive the magic over and over and over and over.

So today I was sent the below report from the bands official site and Rolling Stone.

Over the years ive been disappointed when these types of interviews/statements sometimes morph into an eventual band member leaving or the band breaking up. It happened with Metallica. It happened with Hole. It happened with Anthrax. It happened with Fear Factory. It happened with Guns N Roses. It happened with Helmet. It happened with Suicidal Tendencies. It happened with Korn. It happened with Ki$$. It happened with Sepultura. It happened with Rage Against The Machine. Actually, that last one has come good again, so if that happens - bring it on.

Red Hot Chili Peppers released one of their finest albums with 2006's Stadium Arcadium. It proved to the public - both us "crazies" and the casual fans that the band is still relevant and capable of making amazing music together. They still had the rock, the roll, the funk, the soul and the groove.

We need more.

Heres a video to one of my favourite tracks off Stadium Arcadium, Dessecration Smile

LINK

Rolling Stone: What's the status of the Red Hot Chili Peppers?

Anthony Kiedis: We're disbanded for the moment. We actually took a very long time to make the Stadium Arcadium record, because we wrote a lot of songs and then got way too married to them and decided we need it to be a double album. Which was a great experience, but it took forever. It was really a grueling, long haul and it followed two other very long hauls, Californication and By the Way. So we kind of started in 1999 with the writing and the recording of Californication and we didn't really stop until the tour ended last year. We were all emotionally and mentally zapped at the end of that run. Cooler heads prevailed and the discussion at the end of our last tour was, "Let's not do anything Red Hot Chili Peppers-related for a minimum of one year, and just live and breathe and eat and learn new things." I was about to have a brand new son. Flea is very inspired to re-up his musical direction and ability and skill and he wants to learn new stuff. John [Frusciante] has been firing away on his own, making different solo projects. And Chad [Smith] joined a jazz band and went to Japan. I'm just home, hanging out with this really cool little kid, learning how to surf. But I'm starting to get just a little bit of a tingle that it would be nice to start thinking about songs and pieces of music. But just pieces.

Metallica video

2008-05-22T00:37:00.003+10:00

Theres lots of crap on YouTube.

But occasionally you stumble across something really cool. And this video is one of the most awesome videos ive seen on YouTube

Music: Digital vs Physical release's

2008-05-20T22:16:00.001+10:00

I read an interesting topic over at the Foo Fighters message board last night. It was about the new Foo Fighters single "Cheer Up Boys" and how it appears to be one of those iTunes only releases. That is you cant buy it in a store. you have to have an iTunes account and download it.

No CD

No Vinyl

No nothing

And for me, it will be: No Purchase.

I read some of the comments and chimed in with my own response;

Re: digital only release

Digital release - I wont support them. I will not pay for 1's and 0's until there is no alternative.

Physical release - I will always support them.

I will buy the physical release and then create my own digital release for my iPod. The physical release will then be placed into a hermetically sealed vault similar to the scene in the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Or my audio room. Then one day in 1000 years they will be discovered by aliens and these aliens will see a product with Foo Fighters written on it. "Damn it, they knew about us back then" the aliens will say to each other.

Its all about the kids you see. The kids these days just aren't all right. The kids they like the digital stuff. The kids are who the cocksuckers in the music "industry" target. The kids don't want the vinyl or the CD single releases.

But I do.

I dont mind if they release a digital version of the CD/vinyl. Just as long as their is that CD/vinyl version. Digital versions are quicker and cheaper. Cool. Physical versions are slower and more expensive. Cool. I know what format ill support as a consumer. And they better listen to me the consumer or ill be unhappy.

We all need to support our local independent record stores. The recent Record Store Day (www.recordstoreday.com) project was a good initiative. We should all go out and buy at least one record/tape/cd/t-shirt/book/poster/dvd/etc from an independent record store at least every other month. Without these guys I wouldn't have developed an almost obsessive compulsive disorder towards these fearless fighters of foo.

____________________________________________________________

As I said above - I support iTunes for those who want to buy the music digitally. But i dont buy from there. I prefer to buy the physical release and make a digital version myself.

I want;

* a physical product
* to be able to walk in to a store and purchase it or buy it from a mail order company
* a booklet or artwork that I can touch
* some type of cool design on the vinyl or CD label

I also like getting stuff autographed when im um er *stalking* a particular artist. I cant get a bunch of one's and zero's autographed now can I? No. I want a big 12" Vinyl album that I can get signed.

Not that I don't like digital audio. I love the convenience of a CD or mini disc in the car. I like walking around with 160gb of music in my pocket. Vinyl can be a pain when you are in a hurry to listen to one particular song. But when you are in the mood, the art of putting the needle on the record, cranking the amp up and kicking back to listen to the crackle, hiss, pops and warmth coming from the speakers is one of life's greatest pleasure's. But I want a choice.

I give my customers a choice when im at work. I'm proud to say that I have developed one of the largest range's of printers and ink/toner in the Australian retail space. My range goes from $49 to $28,000 and everything in between. And most of it is in stock. I give my customers a choice. I give them options. I give them alternatives. At times im not the cheapest. But there isnt another reseller/retailer out there in this country that can offer what I do. And as a result we sell lots of printers and ink/toner

And again its that word - Vinyl. I love Vinyl. Vinyl is the cure for the woes of the music industry. Release stuff on vinyl I say. We go back to kick ass huge collections - shelves of vinyl in our music rooms. And then put some type of serial number on the vinyl that allows you to download a free digital copy of the album so you also have a portable version for your iPod, Zune, etc. The Offspring have just done this for the release of their new album Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace The people out here on this Interweb thing find the music and download it anyway - no matter what "protection" is put on the physical release.

Why dont the Africans, Chinese or Brazilians like me?

2008-05-19T18:47:00.000+10:00

I like seeing stats on visitors to this site. One repeat visitor disturbs me. But i wont say why in case they read this. But I know you are there...

I thought I was getting the same 5 people visiting - Shannon, Gene, Gary, Tony and Brian. But me thinks thats not the case now.

Im HUGE in Europe. But I need to work on the Africans and South Americans. And maybe China blocks me? My USA visitors must be all referals from Tony's readers. And you'd think with over a billion people in India at least one of them would come on over for a read, but no.

So fuck it. Im going to hit the streets. Press the flesh in person. Ill get me some more readers by visiting these places** myself. It might take me a while, but im so going to do it. Besides, what else am I going to do now that shortly ill be unemployed and of no fixed address?

** but im not going to India. Or Russia. Or China. Or most of Africa. Or the Ukraine.

Bon Jovi - Any Other Day

2008-05-19T18:23:00.000+10:00

Unfortunately they didn't play this fucking amazing song when I saw them last January. it would have made a brilliant show almost stellar. Not that im complaining - look at this set list;

Sydney, Australia #1 - Acer Arena - 1/21/08

GLAD ALL OVER - Dave Clark Five cover tune
LOST HIGHWAY
BAD NAME
RAISE YOUR HANDS
RUNAWAY
RADIO SAVED MY LIFE
BLOOD ON BLOOD
IN THESE ARMS
BLAZE OF GLORY - w/ Knockin On Heavens Door
WHOLE LOT OF LEAVIN'
BORN TO BE MY BABY
WE GOT IT GOIN' ON
IT'S MY LIFE
BAD MEDICINE W/ SHOUT
THESE DAYS - RICHIE VOX
(YOU WANT TO) MAKE A MEMORY
I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU
BED OF ROSES
HAVE A NICE DAY
FAITH
SLEEP w/ Jumpin' Jack Flash & Dancin' In The Streets
WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T GO HOME
PRAYER

ENCORE:
DIE FOR YOU
HALLELUJAH
WANTED
I LOVE THIS TOWN

MY REVIEW

Its just a great song. Its classic Jovi but its 12 months old. It stands up against any of their best songs (either the hits or the fan favourites). And the above live version showcases the band rockin out in Japan earlier this year with the extended live band all getting a few moments in the spotlight. Damn Lorenza's cute...

But Jon Bon has two more chances to redeem himself by playing this song for me - July 14 and 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. I need to work on my dream setlist soon.

Garbage - Version 2.0

2008-05-12T23:17:00.014+10:00

The second Garbage album – Version 2.0 - was released 10 years ago today.

This is one of my “desert island” discs and id say it would also be on many music fans top album lists. It went quadruple platinum and was nominated for 4 Grammy awards in the first two years of its release.

I have Jason Newsted to thank for my love of this band. When he and James Hetfield were here in Sydney to promote the Metallica album “Load” album back in May 1996 they programmed the music video show RAGE. For those that don’t know the show, its a Fri/Sat night TV music video show that goes for about 8 hours. Friday night is new release videos from that week and some artist specials, and Saturday night has a guest programmer playing their favourite videos for about 4 hours, followed by the entire music video history of the band. Anyway, Jason played Garbage’s Vow clip as part of his set that night. Even though id heard Garbage’s self titled debut album a few times at friends houses and the first few singles on the radio – I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it. I was way more into the new Faith No More, Bon Jovi, Biohazard and Red Hot Chili Pepper albums at the time. But that night I really paid attention to the video and noticed these amazing drum sample sounds, looping guitars, and a bass line that just blew me away. And then there was the vocal track. Man that girl can sing. And she is mighty easy on the eye as well. I taped that nights RAGE and replayed it over and over in the next few days. I got me the album shortly after that and the band have been a constant player in the car, MiniDisc player, iPod, CD player, etc ever since.

That first album has some amazing tracks on it. For the uninitiated, id recommend Dog New Tricks, As Heaven Is Wide, Not My Idea and Only Happy When It Rains as the best mix to get a good feel for the album. Milk is good to hear a slower song with some trippy loops in the background. But if I had to pick one track to play at a mix party it would have to be Stupid Girl. That fucking amazing (and often sampled) Clash drum sample at the start of the song sets it off on a journey that to this day still takes me to happy places.

But im here to talk about Version 2.0.....

The first half of 1998 was a bit of a weird time musically for me. I’d done the infamous Metallica tour of New Zealand and Australia and I was a bit “over” heavy music for a while. U2’s POP album was a constant player at home and I was more into Public Enemy and that sort of turntable/sampled style of music. So Version 2.0 was released in the May and I got it immediately. I’d heard the lead single “Push It” a lot on the radio and on TV and I loved the production sound. With three producers in the band it would be hard to not have a good sounding record. One of them in particular – Butch Vig – is my favourite producer of all time. Well second favourite. Ok – maybe third. Fuck it – Butch, Brendan O’Brien, Rick Rubin, and Bob Rock are my favourite producers. Shit – I forgot Quincy Jones too.....

Anyway......... I really got into this album. I played it non stop and every single song rocked my world. Musically, lyrically and of course the production – it just rocks. I love the drum beats, the samples, the looping guitars, the vocal effects, the pop sounds on some songs, the eerie vocal on some songs, the pumping bass lines – it’s all there. And lyrically it is the bands best work. From what I’ve read about the band, Shirley was a little introverted during the making of the first album, but totally came out of her shell during the 2 year world tour to promote the album and then the subsequent writing of Version 2.0.

It starts off with probably the weakest track off the album – Temptation Waits. It’s a bit over trip hop to me, but that’s just me. Other Garbage fans probably rate it higher than I would. Second single “I Think I’m Paranoid” really kicks the album off for me. The bass line is really simple at the start and then the guitars and real drums kick in before the start of the chorus. It’s the line at the end of the chorus that made me (and a few million other males) fall in love with Shirley

Bend me
Break me
Anyway you need me
All I want is you

Oh what i would have done to be the recipient of a bit of Shirley Manson circa 1998.....

“When I Grow” up was also released as a single. The song confuses me – it sounds a bit too “pop” and really fits better when played mixed in with tracks from their third album Beautiful Garbage. And Shirley doesn’t look as cite in the video – boo. “Medication” has an almost “Milk” feel to it – i really dig the way Shirley sings the chorus:

Somebody get me out of here
I'm tearing at myself
Nobody gives a damn about me or anybody else

And the way she sings the line after the chorus (at the 2min 15sec mark for those playing along at home) just totally owns me. The synth sounds create an eerie vibe to the end of the song

And still you call me co-dependent
Somehow you lay the blame on me

If this song was written chronologically, I think the guy on the receiving end of the awesome “Bend me, break me” line is in a bit of trouble.

“Special” is up next and had a very cool video promo clip. Great guitar sound and again a pounding bass line throughout the song. I really like the lyrics here “Do you have an opinion? A mind of your own? I thought you were special. I thought you should know” Shirley’s Scottish accent really comes out in the song. And the vocal harmonies right after the chorus (that sound double or triple tracked to me) just really make the song perfect. I can only imagine how much fun Steve, Duke and Butch would have in their studio producing a song like this. And I’m sure they would have some way cool Pro Tools rig. This is the sort of album I’d love to see made into a BBC Classic Albums documentary.

“Hammering In My Head” would get me raving my glowsticks if I was at a Rave party. I like the piano and effects towards the end of the song. Reminds me of some of the effects in Milk, and to me shows how great Shirley’s vocal range is. Her voice fits with dance, pop, rock and slower/easier tracks. I haven’t ever heard the music she made with Angelfish – her first band, but I’d be interested to see if her Garbage vocal style is the result of the work with three great producers or is natural.

I briefly mentioned the production quality of the next track “Push It” above, but I really do marvel at just how great this track. From the Brian Wilson “Don’t Worry Baby” vocal sample to the whispering effect on the line “push it” throughout the track. If you haven’t heard it I recommend listening to it using good can style headphones as I did on one of the first times i heard it from a CD. This track also has a really cool video.

One of the bands most chilled out tracks is next – “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing”. I’ve listened to this on repeat for over an hour once and still didn’t get bored of it. I like the cello sample in the background throughout the chorus, to the acoustic drum sound, to the bass line to the soothing keyboard to the occasional guitar chords. And again, Shirley’s voice just blows me away– it makes what would be a good song into a great song. Not their best promo video, but a good live version of the track is here.

“Dumb / Sleep Together / Wicked Ways” are all great tracks, but they sort of blend into one for me. Wicked Ways being the best of the three. My problem is when I listen to the album (and its an album that should be played in its entirety instead of a track here and there in my opinion), I listen to the brilliant “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing and then I know there’s three good but not as good as the previous track songs to come before I get to what has to be my favourite ever Garbage song – “You Look So Fine”

Back in 2002 when I was working on the original The Audio Project mix CD this was probably the easiest song for me to put on to the album. I love this song that much that it closes the album – above Foo, above Bruce, above Jovi, above Satch, above Metallica. It embodies everything I love about this band - lyrics, music, production. I won’t dribble on again about harmonies, drum effects, bass lines, synch sounds, etc. Just listen to the song and read the lyrics.

You look so fine

I want to break your heart
And give you mine
You're taking me over

It's so insane
You've got me tethered and chained
I hear your name
And I'm falling over

I'm not like all the other girls
I can't take it like the other girls
I won't share it like the other girls
That you used to know

You look so fine

Knocked down
Cried out
Been down just to find out
I'm through
Bleeding for you

I'm open wide
I want to take you home
We'll waste some time
You're the only one for me

You look so fine
I'm like the desert tonight
Leave her behind
If you want to show me

I'm not like all the other girls
I won't take it like the other girls
I won't fake it like the other girls
That you used to know

You're taking me over
Over and over
I'm falling over
Over and over

You're taking me over
Drown in me one more time
Hide inside me tonight
Do what you want to do
Just pretend happy end
Let me know let it show

Ending with letting go

Let's pretend, happy end

It is one of the bands and director Stephan Sedanoiu’s greatest video’s. Stephan has done some great Bjork and Red Hot Chili Peppers videos and I totally love his DVD in the Directors Label box set that I have. Here is a fucking awesome live version of the track. What I like about this version is that it clocks in at about 7 minutes – 3 minutes of extra Garbage goodness

Enjoy what has been one of my favourite albums of the past 10 years.

ab

Pearl jam - Immortality

2008-05-09T00:54:00.004+10:00

I thought about typing something about this song and my day today and how this song just fucking owns me every damn time I hear it. But instead ill just let the 5 of you read the lyrics and watch a cool version of it being played live.

Artist - Pearl jam
Album - Vitalogy
Track - Immortality

Vacate is the word...vengeance has no place on me or her
Cannot find the comfort in this world
Artificial tear...vessel stabbed...next up, volunteers
Vulnerable, wisdom can't adhere...
A truant finds home...and a wish to hold on...
But there's a trapdoor in the sun...

Immortality...

As privileged as a whore...victims in demand for public show
Swept out through the cracks beneath the door
Holier than thou, how?
Surrendered...executed anyhow
Scrawl dissolved, cigar box on the floor...
A truant finds home...and a wish to hold on too...
He saw the trapdoor in the sun...

I cannot stop the thought...I'm running in the dark...
Coming up a which way sign...all good truants must decide...
Oh, stripped and sold, mom...auctioned forearm...
And whiskers in the sink...
Truants move on...cannot stay long
Some die just to live...
Ohh...

Record companie$ / The Cure

2008-05-04T17:47:00.000+10:00

The below article is about The Cure’s new release schedule for the singles off their new album and its also about how the majority of record companies have forgotten how to market and sell music these days.

And I 100% agree with the comments of the journalist.

I once wanted to work in the music industry. I thought it would be perfect for me. I loved music. I wanted to make it my career. I cant play an instrument – well mostly I cant. The angry young teenager in me loved to play the drums as a kid, and I still rock it like a mofo when im stuck in traffic every day. And I purchased an Ibanez guitar and a Marshall 100watt amp about 5 years ago promising myself that id learn how to play. But alas nothing has happened yet and probably never will. But man that axe and amp look cool.

Anyway, I worked at Myer (Australia's largest retail department store chain) when I was younger. I spent a while working in the music department – and yes I at times acted a little like Jack Black’s character in High Fidelity. I once told a customer we didn’t stock any Spice Girls on a dare from a colleague. But I did tell them they could try Target or K-mart (they were our sister companies so at least I was supporting the corporation). So I got to know the account managers at some of the record companies. One guy from Sony was really cool. Since the internet hadn’t exploded back then in 1997, he was my source of information on new albums, pre-release promo CD’s, upcoming tours, etc. Great guy. I asked him once what it was like working in the music industry as a fan. And he told me flatly – “don’t do it. Its full of marketing people with spreadsheets. And a great album is one that sells well and makes lots of money” He said one more thing that has remained with me “they aren’t like you and I”

That was 1997. And I can only imagine what its like working there now.

I'm sure there is some great people at some of the major's. And from what ive seen there is some great independent record companies out there. I just wish that record companies were run and staffed by people who cared about the product over the money. They should be driven to promote good music and not push crap onto people based on the potential marketability of the artist.

LINK

The Cure Screw Radio and Records, This Is How It Should Be Done

by Paul Cashmere - May 3 2008
photo by Ros O'Gorman

The Cure have once again broken the 20th century mould that has frozen the radio and record industry. They will release a single a month, just like it should be.

The Cure will release four singles, complete with A side and B side, once a month on the 13th of every month, for the next four months leading up to the release of the next album.

The first single will be 'The Only One', backed by 'NY Trip' on May 13th.

On June 13th, prepare for 'Freakshow' with 'All Kinds of Stuff'.

On September 13th, The Cure will release their yet-to-be-titled 13th album (hence the 13th day of each release).

Innovative? Actually not. This is how it used to be done before radio research and record company marketing plans fucked themselves (and the industry) up.

The Beatles released 2 albums a year. The Stones did 2 albums a year before they got really big in the 70s and cut it back to one. We were all horrified when Pink Floyd went 3 years between albums once. Creedence Clearwater Revival did their three albums in 10 months.

But by the early 80s, radio no longer cared and record companies thought they still mattered. The result to this day is people with marketing degrees are creating music for people with no ears so that advertisers are happy.

What I love about this is that the radio industry and the major record labels are no loner set-up to handle this kind of activity with a fan base. Radio doesn't have the set-up time it so ridiculously thinks it needs to "research new music" and the major labels don't have the set-up time to "market to the passive music buyer".

In one swoop, The Cure has said fuck you to both sides and will do it themselves the right way.

The industry has lost its soul. The old school of 20th century radio and record people deserve their slow death.

There is a new breed that still care about the music and The Cure are ready to take sides with the 21st century thinkers and piss on the old school.

Good one Robert Smith and co. This is making music that matters.

It is great to see a band that knows how to reach and keep the interest of the core fan base. Congratulations to The Cure.

Queens Of The Stone Age - Make It Wit Chu

2008-05-04T16:28:00.004+10:00

One of the things I love about seeing band live is the music they play in between the support acts and the headliner. Some times it sucks. Some times it rocks. Sean and I were talking the other day about how cool it was when Helmet played the entire Sound Of Music soundtrack before their 1997 show at Selinas.

The last two nights I went to see Foo Fighters at The Acer Arena. Great shows that im going to write about shortly. But what rocked was the tunes the audio crew played before and after their set. There was some Clash, some Pantera (fucking A - its always great to hear Domination live in an arena, even if its off a CD) and some Queens Of The Stone Age. You may recall Dave Grohl played drums on their Songs For The Deaf album back in 2002. Great great album, probably their best work if you ask me.

So after the show on both nights the audio crew played one of the coolest Queens Of The Stone Age tracks since the Songs For The Deaf album - Make It Wit Chu. I know the title makes it sound like a stupid Pussycat Dolls song. But its not. Its a damn cool song full of hooks and some really laid back piano loop playing underneath the bass line. Me likey like lots.

"Make It Wit Chu"

You wanna know if I know why?
I can't say that I do,
I don't understand the evil eye,
Or how one becomes two.
And I just can't recall what started it all,
Or how to begin in the end,
I ain't here to break it,
Just see how far it will bend,
Again and again,

I wanna make it,
I wanna make it wit chu,
Anytime, anywhere,
I wanna make it,
I wanna make it wit chu,

Sometimes the same is different,
but mostly it's the same
these mysteries of life, that just ain't my thing
if I told you that I knew about the sun and the moon,
I'd be untrue,
The only thing I know for sure
Is what I wanna do,
anytime, anywhere and I say

I wanna make it, (again and again)
I wanna make it wit chu,
Anytime, anywhere,
I wanna make it, (again and again)
I wanna make it wit chu,
I wanna make it, (anytime, anywhere)
I wanna make it wit chu,
I wanna make it,
I wanna make it wit chu.

I wanna make it, (again and again)
I wanna make it wit chu,
I wanna make it, (anytime, anywhere)
I wanna make it wit chu,
I wanna make it, (again and again)
I wanna make it wit chu,
I wanna make it, (again and again and again and again and again..)