Category Archives: music

music

I can’t understand why Robert Plant is so tough on re-joining Led Zep admittedly…

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I just finished reading Mick Wall’s biography book on Led Zeppelin titled, “When Giants Walked The Earth” and you’ve probably heard of it. It was a great book. Pretty informative stuff about the band over the years. Of course, I’ve already known most of Zeppelin’s history and I’ve learned a few new things from that book that I didn’t know about yet.

You know how Robert Plant have always been tough and difficult on re-joining Led Zeppelin full time today? That’s nothing new with Robert. Robert has always been a huge pain in the ass about re-joining Led Zep ever since John Bonham died. As you can see Robert hasn’t changed since then. He haven’t agreed to a Led Zep reunion until the 2007 O2 gig obviously. Why did Robert finally agree to a one-off reunion? Simply because he wanted Zeppelin to go out on a positive note. He wanted a proper farewell for the band and that was their opportunity. Of course the 2007 O2 reunion wasn’t enough for the fans and the media and they kept begging Robert to join them on a full tour or a new album. Robert kept saying “No”.

After the O2 reunion, I remember Jimmy, Jonesy and Jason almost went on with Led Zeppelin with Myles Kennedy as singer. Jimmy ended up trashing that idea ’cause they realized that the world wouldn’t accept Zeppelin with a different singer. They realized that Led Zeppelin with a new singer wouldn’t be successful.

Over the years, Robert claimed that he didn’t want to perform Led Zeppelin songs ’cause he was done with loud rock music and he claimed that he can’t sing Led Zep anymore like he used to. Just recently when Robert formed his new band the Sensational Space Shifters, they went on a tour and Robert’s new band played a bunch of Zepppelin songs: “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You”, “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll” and maybe others (see youtube for those performances). After seeing Robert singing all those Zeppelin songs with the Sensational Space Shifters, I was like, “Wow, Robert is really killing it.” Robert still CAN sing Led Zeppelin songs well so I don’t know what he’s talking about when he claims he couldn’t perform them anymore. I guess Robert can be his own worst critic.

Will Led Zeppelin ever reunite again? Jimmy is dying for it to happen and he still does want it to happen. He’s just waiting for an “okay, lets do it” from Robert which he haven’t got yet obviously. If the band can’t make it happen, I can understand ’cause bands move on. Bands can’t play forever.

People are still bugging Led Zeppelin about a reunion to this day. I can see why the band are getting frustrated and annoyed. People won’t leave them alone. Robert went on with the Sensational Space Shifters and Jimmy is about to go solo again. I’d say never say never on another Led Zep reunion ’cause anything is possible with those guys. In the meantime, I’ll just continue to enjoy their other projects they got going on.

Like for example, you should check out Robert Plant’s new album he just did with the Sensational Space Shifters, the new album, “Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar” is Robert’s best solo album in years. Seriously, that album is fucking sick. I love it. One of the best albums of this year. I love that album a lot more than his album with Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand”.

I do wish people would give the band a break on the Zeppelin reunion, though. They have to understand that they are musicians and they want to move on to other things. The band wants to move forward to their future and leave the past behind.

If a Led Zep reunion doesn’t happen again at all in the future, then I’m okay with that. I’ll still continue to support them as musicians and whatever projects they’re currently doing.

Kev

music

The Foo Fighters release new song from “Sonic Highways”…

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Pretty rockin’ song like usual. The Foo’s never disappoint! Love the heavy guitar riff in the song too, kind of thrash-metal almost.

I’m definitely gonna get the new album for sure. I have always been a Foo’s fan since their first album. Still am a fan of them.

How about the drumming of Taylor Hawkins in this song, hey? Taylor is a pretty sick drummer and pretty underrated at what he does.

Enjoy the new song. I dig it!

Kev

music

Neil Young finally lands on the Howard Stern show and the interview was entertaining as hell!!!

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Neil Young finally lands an interview on Howard Stern. Howard have been trying to get Neil on his show for a long time and Howard finally got him. I listened to the whole interview this morning in the video below.

This interview makes me respect Neil even more now. Neil was very polite and humorous throughout this interview. I loved how they joked about Neil not knowing how to tune a guitar by ear. When Neil says in the interview that he doesn’t know how to tune a guitar by ear, he’s just joking and kidding around. Of course he knows how to tune a guitar by ear.

I enjoyed listening to all the topics Neil and Howard discussed.

In the beginning of the interview, they talked about Neil growing up and how he became a musician and all that. They talked about Neil’s projects over the years like Buffalo Springfield, CSNY, and his solo career.

Of course, later in the interview they talked about the Pono player and toward the end they mostly talked about the Earth and “energy” type of stuff. My favorite part is when Neil ripped into Obama a little bit about the Fracking. Even if Neil seems to be a liberal/democrat, it doesn’t sound like he’s a big fan of Obama at all.

Neil and Howard never talked about the divorce with Pegi but they did bring up Neil’s feud with David Crosby a little bit by Neil saying, “I wish nothing but the best of him”. Darryl Hannah was brought up a little bit in the interview too keeping the divorce with Pegi out of things. While I’m sure Neil was willing to answer any question that Howard asked him, Howard didn’t ask Neil about his divorce out of respect which is cool of Howard. A divorce shouldn’t be talked about publicly. Who cares about the details of the divorce between Neil and Pegi, that should be between them, not us. I’m glad they kept the divorce discussions off the interview.

It was an entertaining as hell interview and worth a listen. I’m looking forward to getting his new album, “Storytone”.

I’ve been a Neil Young fan for a long time myself. He’s one of my heroes. I also loved it when Neil admitted that he’s not the greatest singer in the world. Neil was pretty humble throughout the interview, no ego in him at all. You should give this interview a listen too when you have the free time.

Kev

Books, music

Why I love to read rock memoirs by rock stars…

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I love to read books written by rock stars. Many famous rock stars have written their own memoirs (or autobiographies) over the years. Rock stars writing their own memoirs is becoming quite a huge trend in the music industry. I have read lots of rock star memoirs. I’ve read books by Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Sammy Hagar, Ace Frehley, Dave Mustaine, Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Dee Snider, Pete Townshend, Joey Ramone, etc.

Today, I have just purchased Billy Idol’s new memoir, “Dancing With Myself” for the Ipad in Ibooks. I have been a long time fan of Billy Idol and have been interested in reading his book for a long time. I’m interested in reading his story so I can’t wait to start reading his book soon.

I like reading rock memoirs ’cause they’re simply put, interesting to read. I like to learn the history of their life and career. That’s what they’re for pretty much. It’s an opportunity to get to know them better. Even if you have never met these guys in person, you feel like you already know them but you wanna know more so you read their books. I think it’s important for every music lover in America to read these books. If you really wanna become a big time music expert, you should read all this stuff ’cause it’s good research material.

I think their stories deserve to be told ’cause we get an idea of how they became rock stars and why they do what they do. All that stuff.

There are still plenty of other rock star memoirs out there that I still need to read that I haven’t gotten to yet but will soon. I still need to read Joe Satriani’s book, “Strange Beautiful Music”… gotta get that one at some point.

I think another reason why these guys write their own books is ’cause they want to give you a reality check of what the music industry is really like. Is the music industry always fun and positive as it looks? Not always. There’s going to be ups and downs in the music industry. Being a famous rock star isn’t always fun as it looks.

I can’t wait to start reading Billy Idol’s book. Not gonna read it now ’cause I’m reading a different book about Led Zeppelin (a book NOT written by the band, a book written by Mick Wall).

This is becoming a trend ’cause we’re at the point where all the iconic rock stars from the past are aging and they’ve achieved all that they needed to do so they feel that their story needed to be told. They don’t write these books for the money at all.

I hope more rock stars continue to write them. I wish James Hetfield would write his story ’cause that would be interesting. I also would like David Bowie to write his book (I did read somewhere that he is doing one).

I just enjoy reading them. They can be pretty informative when you want to learn about music.

Kev

music

Look like a David Crosby vs. Neil Young feud have just ignited…

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Look like a David Crosby Vs. Neil Young feud just ignited and it all started after talk if Neil will ever reunite for CSNY. At a solo show, Neil claimed that he will never rejoin CSN but he claims that he still loves those guys. Later on fans asked David Crosby for an explanation and David claimed that Neil is “very angry with him”. Then it was speculated that the reason Neil is angry with David is ’cause David called Darryl Hannah (who is rumored to be Neil’s new girlfriend) a poisonous predator in an interview

http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2014-10-13/crosby-confirms-end-for-csny

Sounds to me that David is only trying to warn Neil not to trust Darryl Hannah. To me, he wasn’t really trying to upset Neil. Just trying to warn him that Darryl is gonna hurt him terribly and just trying to tell him that she is a bitch. Calling her a “poisonous predator” was just a polite way of saying it. Sounds like David doesn’t like Darryl. David does have a point, though.

I mean, Neil ends his 36 year marriage with Pegi and then he hooks up with “Splash” actress, Daryl Hannah? Something sounds a bit fishy here. Somehow I get this feeling that Darryl talked Neil into it. She’s probably a gold digger who wants Neil for the money. She’s about to get Neil destroyed and he doesn’t realize it.

I’ve read that Neil and Daryl have been dating for months before Neil filed the divorce papers so maybe he have been cheating on Pegi after all???

It’s no surprise that Neil would go crazy over a woman like Daryl since both are heavily into political activism and protesting. I remember Daryl have gotten arrested a lot for her protests too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Hannah

Daryl’s gonna end up getting Neil arrested so maybe David has a point!

The CSNY album, “De Ja Vu” is a masterpiece, though. That’s one of my favorite albums of all time. I really should get that album from Itunes for my Ipod soon!!!

Kev

music

I’m a new fan of the band, Yes… they are pretty amazing…

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How come the band Yes isn’t in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame when they should have been a long time ago? I finally got around to listening to their two albums I got for the Ipod. The albums titled, “Fragile” and their new album, “Heaven and Earth”. I thought both were amazing masterpieces. I was blown away with both of these albums and it makes me want to get more of their music.

This band is so underrated. The only people who would know who they are are musicians mostly. They are one of those bands that you wouldn’t know that they are still around playing music.

I think Steve Howe is a genius guitar player and Jon Davison is an awesome vocalist. I’m a huge fan of prog rock. I love all prog rock music like Rush, Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Tool, etc. I just like long songs and improvised jams. That’s what these bands do.

Yes is a pretty incredible band and underrated… I’ll probably get more of their albums in the future. You should check them out too if you don’t know much about this band. I’m sure most people only know them for their “Fragile” album which is a masterpiece but I’m planning on listening to more of their music.

Their latest album “Heaven and Earth” that they put out earlier this year is killer too. In fact, “Heaven and Earth” is one of the best albums of this year, pretty high up there. At least somewhere in the top 5. You wanna listen to some real music? Listen to some, Yes. There’s some real music for ya.

Kev

music

Jimmy Page talks about how he wrote, “Stairway” w/ Led Zeppelin…

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Check out this nice video of Jimmy Page himself talking about how he wrote the Led Zep anthem, “Stairway” with the band. Jimmy is sitting in a chair while he plays the song on vinyl and he talks about how the band wrote it together. Jimmy wasn’t the only writer for the song, “Stairway”. Each member had their own contributions to the song.

You can tell that Jimmy is very proud of the song as he sits there and listens to it.

See the video here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29550639

Kev

music

Jimmy Page warns fans that his new solo album will be nothing like Led Zeppelin…

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Jimmy Page is planning to release a new solo album soon; however, he warns fans that his next album is not gonna be Led Zep-like. Probably meaning that the album will not be hard rock. He’s probably saying that there won’t be any Led Zep-like riffs and ripping solos. Jimmy hasn’t released that much solo material over the years. The only solo album he did was “Outrider” back in 1988. After Led Zep, he mostly did other side projects with Robert Plant and other bands/artists over the years.

I’m all for anything Jimmy Page. Whatever he’ll come up with musically, I’m sure it’ll be amazing stuff even if it won’t be that heavy Led Zep-like kind of music. Jimmy sound like he’s getting bored with that and wants try something different. I’m looking forward to JImmy’s new solo album no matter what kind of music he puts on it.

I’m sure fans won’t leave him alone on the Led Zep reunion but he’s a musician and songwriter himself. He’s gotta move on to other things. He wants to make his own music and go forward.

Kev

music

2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations announced…

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Finally, Stevie Ray Vaughn got a nomination. If he gets ignored for an induction, then I think I will be boycotting the Hall of Fame. SRV should have got an induction a long time ago.

You can only vote for 5 so I’m gonna vote for: SRV, Lou Reed, The Smiths, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and War. I think they are definitely worthy!

http://rockhall.com/voting/2015-rock-hall-nominees-fan-vote/

So far SRV, Green Day and NIN are in the lead, though. Which doesn’t surprise me.

Some of you may ask, why did Green Day get the nomination? In order to be eligible a band/artist must have their first album that was released 25 years before. Welp, Green Day’s first album was released in 1990 so the album will hit 25 years in 2015 so that makes the band officially eligible. It may not seem like it but Green Day have been in the music business for years. I used to like Green Day, just not anymore. All they play is power chords and Billie Joe’s singing is amateur at best.

I don’t agree with Green Day getting inducted this soon when there are tons of other rock acts that are more deserving of a nomination like: Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Ted Nugent, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Yes, etc.

I wasn’t much of NIN fails either and I think it’s too soon for them.

I can now understand why people call this, “The Rock and Roll Hall of Shame” ’cause it’s true.

Kev

music

Ac/Dc releases new song, “Play Ball”…

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Ac/Dc just dropped their new song, “Play Ball” today. A song from their upcoming new album, “Rock or Bust”. Their first album without guitarist Malcolm Young. Stu Young played guitar on the album. Despite the new guitarist, the band’s sound and style is still the same which doesn’t surprise me.

The new song is okay, I guess. Nothing amazing or mind blowing. Just your typical Ac/Dc pop song which kind of reminds me of “You Shook Me All Night Long” a little bit.

Like I said before, there’s gonna be a lot of complainers and whiners that Ac/Dc will continue without Malcolm but they did the same thing when Bon Scott (the original singer) died. They were successful at replacing a new singer without a public backlash and I’m sure they will do the same with their new guitarist.

The boys in Ac/Dc are good like that. They really know how to pick their members without their fans making complaints like, “Waaah, they are not true Ac/Dc!”. When other legendary bands continue on with new members, they usually get a public backlash by their fans but when Ac/Dc does it, that doesn’t happen to them. So far, I haven’t seen much complaints from fans of Ac/Dc continuing on without Malcolm. The guys Ac/Dc are pretty careful when choosing members, they know what they’re doing.

Anyway, I’m sure it kills the band going on without Malcolm but like they all say, “The shows must go on”. The band is moving forward ’cause they know that’s what Malcolm would have wanted. It’s been confirmed by Malcolm’s family that he’s suffering Dementia which means that he’s suffering memory loss. That also means that Malcolm probably doesn’t even remember playing in a band called Ac/Dc and he won’t remember who his band mates are anymore. That also means that he must of forgotten how to play guitar due to memory loss and he won’t be able to play ’cause of that. Look like Malcolm’s guitar playing days are over. If he was to relearn guitar over again… it would take years. I still wish Malcolm well.

I’m a huge fan of Ac/Dc always have been. I love both eras of Ac/Dc, Bon Scott and Brian Johnson. I’ll still get their new album, though.

Kev