Category Archives: music

music

Limp Bizkit at Lollapalooza last night, I was impressed, they still got it.

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When I was young during high school, I used to be a huge fan of Limp Bizkit. Used to own their first three albums on CD but don’t have ’em anymore, though. Yeah, I definitely was a fan of this band and still am kind of. Now this band won my respect back and I’m a fan again.

Most of Lollapalooza’s lineup this year is mostly garbage. Mostly pop and rap stuff I’ve never heard of before but the only rock Lollapalooza has this year is Limp Bizkit. The band isn’t around much anymore but they still come around occasionally with a new album and tour. Well they have a new album coming out I believe.

Here they are, Limp Bizkit taking the stage at Lollapalooza last night at Chicago. The same members in the lineup since the first album and Wes Borland being back as you can see. Yes, that is Fred Durst sporting a new look with him being 50 now.

I watched the Limp Bizkit set on Lollapalooza live stream on Hulu last night. Of course, Limp Bizkit played mostly their “hits” just to let the fans know that the band really hasn’t gone away and I still remember every song they played. They also played a covers medley during their set too.

I was impressed with them last night, they played a great set surprisingly and they still got it. They haven’t lost their fire and they sound better than ever. They were tight as hell too. During their Mission Impossible song, “Take a Look Around”, Wes Borland went to the front of the stage and threw his electric guitar out into the crowd so that is one lucky fan who caught it and I’m sure that guitar he threw out was very expensive too like $3,000 – $5,000. The band definitely loves their fans for sure ’cause at the end of their set, they were throwing t-shirts out into the crowd and Fred Durst was walking around high fiving to everyone in the front row, giving the fans hugs and stuff. It was cool to see all that.

The band has a new album coming out soon, I believe and I’m gonna get it, I think ’cause they just debuted a new song from the record last night. Even though Fred looks unrecognizable these days, he’s still looking good and very healthy. I’m probably gonna re-buy their first three records, I think too.

I hate most of this year’s Lollapalooza lineup, I only tuned in for Limp Bizkit and that’s all. Glad I did too.

The Foo Fighters headline the festival tonight and I’m thinking about tuning in for them too. Not sure yet… don’t really care for the Foo’s anymore.

Kev

Celebrity/musician deaths, music

RIP Dusty Hill (Bassist for ZZ TOP) 1949 -2021…

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Like most, I’m pretty shocked and bummed out that we lost another one of the most important rock musicians… Dusty Hill… known as the bassist and founding member for blues rock band, ZZ Top. Dusty played bass in the band yes but he also sung some backup vocals and he even sung the lead in some ZZ Top songs.

ZZ Top is one of baddest rock bands on the planet, I’m definitely a fan and the funny thing is, I’ve been buying more of their albums lately. So far, I’ve got 6 of their albums in my music collection: “ZZ Top’s first Album”, “Tres Hombre”, “Afterburner”, “Eliminator”, “Deguello” and “La Futura”.

Dusty’s bass playig in the band was something special for sure…. an in the pocket player who knew how to groove. They were also one of the best live performers.

On stage, they were the type where they improvise and jam a lot so they never played their hits the same way twice. Even though Billy Gibbons just announced the band will continue on without Dusty, the band will no longer sound the same without Dusty, in my opinion ’cause Dusty is ZZ Top… he created the band’s signature sound. Dusty is irreplaceable. Sure, a different bass player could probably learn their hits note for note but someone else will not sound like Dusty. Dusty sounded like himself.

He’s gonna be missed for sure. Thanks for the badass playing, Dusty and RIP.

Kev

music

Ian Anderson puts Jethro Tull out of retirement and the band set to release new album early next year…

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Ian Anderson, who is the frontman of legendary prog rock band, Jethro Tull dropped the surprise announcement this week that he put Jethro Tull out of retirement. Yes, you heard that right that Jethro Tull… the band with the tall man who sings the lead vocals, plays acoustic guitar and the flute for the legendary prog rock band who’s been together since the late 60’s. Ian put the band in retirement in 2012 and they haven’t released any new music until now.

Band signs new record deal with major label and is already set to release new studio record in 2022 titled, “The Zealot Gene”.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/jethro-tull-the-zealot-gene-album/

The current lineup of J-Tull has an all new lineup and the new lineup excludes Martin Barre on the guitar, whose been an important member of J-Tull for years. Question is, why is Martin out? Well I read that Martin and Ian don’t speak with each other anymore. Not sure if they’re no longer getting along or what but I believe Martin just wants to move on with his own musical adventures.

Even if J-Tull has an all new lineup, I’m sure they will still sound like Jethro Tull even after all these years. I would think their sound will still be the same. That same blend of acoustic folk and hard rock with Ian’s vocals and flute.

I’m a huge fan of Tull as I own 3 of their albums on vinyl: “Aqualung”, “Thick as a Brick” and “Benefit”. I want to get more of their stuff though ’cause I’m a huge fan. Love them but I’m more into their older stuff, though.

I’m not sure if I’m gonna get their new album or not. I’m sure they will release a new song pretty soon and after they release a new song and if I like it enough, I’ll probably get it. We’ll see.

Will the band go on a full fledged world tour in support of the new record too? Probably.

Kev

music

Just about done collecting David Bowie’s entire album discography… just 3 more left…

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It took me a long time but like the title says, I’m almost done completing David Bowie’s entire album discography. Yeah, for a long time my goal was to collect every album he has ever recorded. Bowie has a total of 27 albums… I have 24 of them so far. Just got three more left to go… I just got to get the “Labrynth” soundtrack and the two albums he did with his Tin Machine band. Just get to those three albums and then I have them all. I do now have every official Bowie album, though which feels pretty good ’cause I’ve always been a huge Bowie superfan.

I only have one David Bowie live album, though… which is the iconic “Bowie Live” album which is an important live album in the history of rock. I plan on getting more Bowie live stuff for sure and after I complete Bowie’s studio discography, I’m gonna start getting his unreleased compilations and B-side albums ’cause he has plenty of those.

I’ve loved Bowie music ever since I was a teenager and yes, he was one artist that got me interested in singing myself. He also helped sparked my interest in songwriting too. I definitely look at Bowie as a huge inspiration and influence in my own songwriting for sure.

The last two Bowie albums I bought were “Tonight” and “Scary Monsters and Super Creeps”. Haven’t listened to those two albums yet but will later this week.

I just love Bowie, man. Just love his voice and songwriting style. He’s definitely one of those artists where you can love everything he did and there’s not one bad song at all by this man. Everything he has done was so great and he’s one artist you’ll never get tired of listening to ever.

He may no longer be with us but “Bowie 4 Life”.

Kev

music

Metallica used to record their demos on a 4 track recorder Before their HQ days…

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Before the “Black Album”, Metallica was already a mainstream band thanks to the “Master of Puppets” and “And Justice For All” albums that helped get them there. After “And Justice For All”, they were in the process at beginning work for the self-titled album which is better known as the “Black Album”.

Believe it or not, the band used to record their demos on a small 4 track recorder machine at Lars’s house, in his basement. That’s where they used to write and rehearse. Even Metallica have to start somewhere, right? Back then, they couldn’t afford their own studio so they recorded demos first and then they would make the official recording at a studio they would pay studio time for.

A 4 track machine is just a small recorder with 4 tracks on it, I know ’cause I used one before.

I’m sure Metallica never expected the “Black Album” to become an important album in metal. Love Metallica or hate ’em, they’re the ones that helped metal become a little more mainstream. I’m sure the boys in Metallica never expected “Enter Sandman” to be a huge hit either. MTV played the video for “Enter Sandman” throughout the day pretty much and that song was all over FM radio and you heard it everywhere you go. The same with the other Metallica hit singles on that album: “Wherever I may Roam”, “Sad But True”, “Nothing Else Matters” and “The Unforgiven”. That album had 5 smash hits.

That album was huge in the 90’s and still is a pretty huge album even after 30 years. It’s still an amazing record overall, though. There’s other great songs on the album that aren’t hits like “Holier THan Thou” especially and also “Don’t Tread On Me” and “Of Wolf and Man” are kickass songs too. The whole album is great.

Metallica are in celebration for the 30 year anniversary of “The Black Album” so in celebration of that, they are releasing a re-issue expanded edition with more songs and they are also releasing a picture book titled “Metallica: the Black Album in Black and White” and I’m probably gonna buy both of these. Why? Because I love Metallica.

I’ve always been a huge fan. I’ve got every studio album they’ve put out even “Garage Inc.”, “St. Anger”, “Lulu” and “Load/Reload”. I’ve also got Metallica’s “Some Kind of Monster”, “The Big 4” live DVD and their “Through the Never” film on BluRay. I also got to see them live in concert once so you can say that I’m a die hard Metallica fan.

I’ve always defended that band whenever they are in trouble and when they’re being criticized for something. They’re the biggest metal band of all time and yes, they are metal and can’t wait for their next record too.

Kev

music

The new Weezer album, “Van Weezer” is one of the best new albums this year… really, it’s that good!

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I used to listen to Weezer a lot when I was young in high school. You can betcha, I bought their debut “blue album” when it first came out in the 90’s when the band was exploding all over MTV back in the day. I used to own their first four albums: the blue album, Pinkerton, the Green Album and Maladroit but after the “Maladroit” album, I suddenly lost interest in the band. I don’t know, I just stopped buying their albums and got rid of all the Weezer albums that I had in the past.

I did rebuy the blue album and the green album years later, however. Weezer kept releasing new albums over the years and they just came out with another new one this year titled, “Van Weezer”. They released another album this year called, “Ok Human” which I haven’t gotten yet but I did buy “Van Weezer” last week.

Why did I buy the new Weezer album, “Van Weezer” when I stopped listening to the band years ago? Well, I kept reading interviews of Rivers Cuomo talking about the new album “Van Weezer” like through Guitar World and the more I read about the album like through magazines and online, the more it piques my interest. The album is a metal album. Over the years Weezer was always known as a pop/rock band so for “Van Weezer” they decided to do something different and risky and make a metal album. It’s the first metal album they did. Why did they do a metal album? Well, simply because Rivers Cuomo, the band’s leading man is a huge metal fan. He did it ’cause he likes metal and that’s it, really.

I listened to the album like 4 times this week and holy shit, it’s that good. It’s a fucking awesome record. Loved it so much. It just proves that Rivers can play any genre of music after hearing all those covers he did on youtube. Back to the “Van Weezer” album, it’s basically a homage and tribute to 80’s metal. I hear a lot of Ozzy influence, Van Halen, Sabbath maybe, some Poison, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard Guns N’ Roses, a bit of Ac/Dc too and I hear a bit of Metallica in there.

It’s an incredible album… I listened to it 4 times this week and that says something. What I loved the most about this album was that it made you realize that Rivers really is a great guitar player. With a guy like him, you’d think he’d be mostly playing power chords with the type of music that he plays but no, he’s way more than that. He can play lead guitar, two handed fret tapping and all of that stuff.

The “Van Weezer” album totally blew my fucking mind and I’m going to be listening to this one a lot, I think. This album definitely made me a Weezer fan again and I think I’m going to get back into buying their albums again. Rivers is a talented guy and his singing is pretty killer on “Van Weezer” too. I would recommend you buy it or if you’re on streaming services like Spotify/Apple Music, give it a listen yourself. It’s recommended! Rivers is trying to help keep rock alive!

Kev

music

Prince’s “Purple Rain” album is really is a masterpiece… beautiful album for sure…

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I may be late getting into Prince’s music but late is better than never, right? I never bought a single Prince album in my life so I thought I would finally start getting into him. Of course, I picked his “Purple Rain” soundtrack that he made himself for the same film with him in the leading role… well, I thought the movie was excellent too as I remember watching it on Netflix not too long ago. That’s what made me want to get the soundtrack album sometime so I picked up the soundtrack album from Itunes over the weekend since it was $4.99.

I listened to it once over the weekend and the album blew my fucking mind. Prince was a genius for sure and now I can see why he means so much to so many. I’m not gonna deny the guy is extremely popular.

I’m amazed at how melodic Prince’s music is and his guitar playing is killer too. I loved all 9 songs on the album but course, the album’s title track “Purple Rain” is always a beautiful song. Prince proves that all you need is like 4 or 5 chords to write an anthem. It’s a beautiful record for sure, though.

I’m probably gonna get into his music more but I won’t get every album ’cause he has a large discography. I’ll just get the good ones. Prince was a great artist just never got into his music much. He was a great songwriter for sure.

Kev

music

Rock and Roll ain’t dead, it’s still alive and well… don’t listen to the idiots out there that claim it is…

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Well lets see… we have Greta Van Fleet, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, Alter Bridge, Ghost, Royal Blood, Dirty Honey, The Struts, Badflower, Rival Sons, Kings of Leon, Tame Impala, Black Stone Cherry, La Luz, Alabama Shakes, black midi, Gojira, Black Pistol Fire, Bully, Tetrarch and the list goes on and on and on.

I used to defend Gene Simmons at his “rock is dead” comments but I won’t anymore ’cause there’s so many new modern rock bands out that are doing well for themselves, honestly.

Rock has never really died and all those bands I listed above are pretty great too. Those bands I listed are “rock”. Yeah, rock is trying to make a comeback in the mainstream but it will and I think it’s about to. People are tired of pop, rap and country dominating the industry so a lot of people are turning to rock.

There are also still long time rock veterans that are still active in music today like Cheap Trick, AC/DC, Weezer and the Rolling Stones… still actively touring and putting out albums even to this day. So rock isn’t dead, no. Don’t listen to those that saying that rock isn’t going anywhere ’cause at the same time, rock is starting to become more successful again, it’s amazing to see.

I’ve been listening to a lot of the new stuff lately and there’s a lot of great new rock out there especially a band called black midi, they’re the best I think. Some of the bans I listed I haven’t heard much but I should get into them more. I love Gojira too, though… they’ve been around since 2001 so I still consider them pretty new. They make great metal and I love their new one “Fortitude”. Great shit.

I bought Weezer’s new album “Van Weezer” out of curiosity. I stopped listening to Weezer for a long while but I bought “Van Weezer” ’cause it’s a metal album. Looking forward to hearing it, though.

Those saying that rock is dead well, they’re living under a rock and it never has gone away.

Kev

music

Picked up the new Myles Kennedy album “The Ides of March” on Vinyl today…

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I went to the Northshire bookstore in Saratoga Springs today to look at books and their small vinyl section that they have. I’ve been wanting to get the new Myles Kennedy album “The Ides of March” for a while and now that it’s out, I picked up the vinyl.

I’m a huge Myles Kennedy fan. He’s definitely one of the best singers in rock today. I’ll be honest that I don’t listen to his main band, Alter Bridge with Mark Tremonti that much but I should. I do have all of the Myles Kennedy albums he did with Slash, though. I love the Myles Kennedy/Slash albums. I also have Myles first solo album “Year of the Tiger” which is excellent.

Haven’t listened to the “Ides of March” yet but gonna get around to it this weekend.

Myles is a talented guy… good guitar player too. You should check him out as well.

Kev

music

Really pop and rap music ain’t all that bad but I prefer mostly the old stuff, though…

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Is all pop and rap music so bad like a lot of people say out there? I’ve always repeatedly said that I’m NOT against all pop and rap music. I actually like some of that stuff, really but I prefer the older pop and rap like in the 80’s and 90’s, ya know? Today’s pop and rap music is getting so horrible. I can’t get into stuff like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, The Weekend and all that crap.

If you wanna know the good stuff do you remember older pop and rap acts like Salt N’ Peppa, TLC, Destiny’s Child, Paula Abdul, early Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and rappers like 2Pac, Notorious BIG, Ice Cube and Dre? That’s the stuff that I’m talking about. Even though I hate Snoop Dogg, the only good album he did was his debut album, “Doggystyle” which was an album that I actually liked but he got less and less interesting after that fast.

Yeah, I do like pop and rap music. I don’t listen to rock and metal all the time ’cause a lot of times I feel like I have to switch it up some.

I’ve been listening to 2Pac and Biggie music all week and realizing that those two rappers were geniuses. Wow, they were amazing. I’ve read so much about 2Pac and Biggie over the years and watched documentaries about them so now I’m finally getting into listening to them. I do love older rap music like the NWA too as I do have their have their “Straight Outta Compton album. I used to be a fan of Eminem but don’t like him anymore, though.

I remember listening to stuff like En Vogue, their hits “My Lovin'” and “Free Your Mind”. Those are freakin’ badass songs. I do love the Fugees and Lauryn Hill too.

Some people were surprised that I actually do like some rap/hip hop music but I can’t make that kind of music myself since I don’t know how to rap. For some weird reason, I’ve had some people over the years wanting me to write my own rap songs but I can’t do it. I could probably write dance music though and maybe I will.

I like to listen to this stuff ’cause it’s also great workout music. Man, listening to pop and rap music can get ya all psyched up in the gym for sure. It helps.

Yeah, I do listen to this stuff too believe or not. I listen to all genres of music. It’s great to have eclectic taste in music. It’s good for the mind.

Kev