Rolling Stones - 'GRRR!' CD Review (ABKCO)

"GRRR!" is sound most Rolling Stones fans make when realizing they have to buy yet another greatest hits compilation to hear two new songs (of middling quality). If fans choose to trade up to the 'super deluxe edition' ($139.88 on Amazon), they can also get the official release of the 1963 IBC Demos along with a 1964 BBC session (both of which have been widely bootlegged and readily available for the past couple decades). With all of the economic pundits on the news attempting to forecast the country's economic direction (consumer spending, etc.) for 2013, a pure cash grab, like this box set, would seem to provide a good leading indicator.

Here is the track list for the three-disc set:
(Note: Also on Forty Licks - FL)

Disc 1:
1. Come On
2. Not Fade Away (FL)
3. It's All Over Now (FL)
4. Little Red Rooster
5. The Last Time (FL)
6. (I Can t Get No) Satisfaction (FL)
7. Time Is On My Side
8. Get Off Of My Cloud (FL)
9. Heart Of Stone
10. 19th Nervous Breakdown (FL)
11. As Tears Go By
12. Paint It, Black (FL)
13. Under My Thumb (FL)
14. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (FL)
15. Ruby Tuesday (FL)
16. Let's Spend The Night Together (FL)
17. We Love You

Disc 2:
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash (FL)
2. Honky Tonk Women (FL)
3. Sympathy For The Devil (FL)
4. You Can't Always Get What You Want (FL)
5. Gimme Shelter (FL)
6. Street Fighting Man (FL)
7. Wild Horses (FL)
8. She's A Rainbow (FL)
9. Brown Sugar (FL)
10. Happy (FL)
11. Tumbling Dice (FL)
12. Angie (FL)
13. Rocks Off
14. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
15. It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (FL)
16. Fool To Cry (FL)

Disc 3:
1. Miss You (FL)
2. Respectable
3. Beast Of Burden (FL)
4. Emotional Rescue (FL)
5. Start Me Up (FL)
6. Waiting On A Friend
7. Undercover Of The Night (FL)
8. She Was Hot
9. Streets Of Love
10. Harlem Shuffle
11. Mixed Emotions (FL)
12. Highwire
13. Love Is Strong (FL)
14. Anybody Seen My Baby? (FL)
15. Don't Stop (FL)
16. Doom And Gloom
17. One More Shot

So - what you have with GRRR! is a huge overlap with Forty Licks but Forty Licks included four new songs to GRRR!'s two. Unfortunately, another similarity to Forty Licks is that a number of tracks on GRRR! are edited versions - which makes little sense as none of this set's three discs clock in over an hour. The one thing GRRR! has going for it is that it presents the tracks in chronological order but...the problem with this is that you can quickly hear the quality of the Stones' output in decline as you get into the second half of Disc Three.

Now for the new tracks - "Doom and Gloom" is a decent mid-tempo rocker that is somewhat in the same vein as "Don't Stop". While Jagger's vocals are immediately recognizable, Richards teases but never never throws down any memorable guitar licks and there is nothing striking from the other members of the band so this sounds more like a Jagger solo track than "the new single from the Rolling Stones". "One More Shot" is a slower bluesier number that starts off with some strong guitar licks but the song fizzles into blandness as it never kicks into high-gear (no drive, no energy, weak chorus).





Jumping over to the bonus tracks on the 'super deluxe edition':

The Stones' IBC Demos (IBC Studios, Portland Place, London, March 11, 1963) mark the Stones' first trip into the recording studio where they recorded five blues numbers with engineer Glyn Johns. My biggest complaint is that I would have expected more than 15 minutes of bonus tracks given the high price point of this set.

1. Diddley Daddy
2. Road Runner
3. Bright Lights Big City
4. Honey What's Wrong
5. I Want To Be Loved

The tracks on the 7" EP were originally recorded for the BBC's "Blues in Rhythm" program (5/9/64):
1. Route 66
2. Cops & Robbers
3. You Better Move On
4. Mona

It is a sad statement when the bootlegger outdo the major label record companies as these tracks PLUS two Saturday Club Sessions and Chess Studio, Chicago sessions were included as bonus tracks on the Russian reissues of England's Newest Hit Makers and Now!.

"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" - John Lydon

Links:
Rolling Stones

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Young Things - 'Hello Love / Goodbye Sexual' CD Review

After having recently slogged through too many releases where I either couldn't figure out what the band was trying to accomplish or was simply being bored by the release, Brooklyn's Young Things' debut disc Hello Love // Goodbye Sexual goes a long way toward re-establishing my faith that there is still exciting music out there. Young Things seem to take vocal queues from Queen but combine this with soaring melodic hooks and garage-rock riffs that fall somewhere between The Killers and The Bravery and add a slice of Beatles-era McCartney on top of all this. It is a crazily compelling mix that will likely get a cooler-than-thou crowd at Mercury Lounge swaying a bit, if not dancing.



The 11-track disc (30 minutes) starts out somewhat similarly to The Bravery's The Sun and The Moon as the first track, "No One Taught You How to Fall in Love Alone", is a minute-long intro to the dark and anthemic track "All Human Life". While the intro track has a glam/Queen vibe, "All Human Life" is a fist-in-the air chant-along number with hypnotic, tribal drumming and grimy guitar riffs. Switching complete gears, the band goes from here into the urgent rock tale of suburban bliss gone awry, "Lucy Bloody Tuesday", which seems to capture elements from both The Beatles and Beck. Keeping the dance party going and never letting the listener get complacent, "Golly Gee" is a loping Brit-Pop number with clear ringing vocals from Mikey accompanied by some stiff-backed drumming. "Talking Too Loud" has a two-tone/dancehall feel and you can quickly hear the McCartney vibe being channeled on "Hello Love" and "Easy Lie". "Goodbye Sexual" is the big alt/punk-rock dance floor number with edgy, angular guitar riffs and Mikey trading off vocals with Har Mar Superstar. The disc ends with the chill-out number "A Long Time Ago Tomorrow Morning" which starts with Mikey singing out someone bottoming out backed with just an acoustic guitar.

It doesn't look like Young Things have any upcoming shows but - for anyone who needs additional music - the band has posted the Holiday EP ("Modern Christmas Music for Tomorrow's Men & Women") they recorded last year as a free download on their website.

Links:
Young Things

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The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary CD Review [Super Deluxe Edition]

I'll be glad when this wave of $100 'super deluxe edition' / 'experience edition' box sets passes. Most of these releases seem like overkill and are either targeted to the 'newbie' who wants a multi-disc, greatest hits collection (plus the inevitable 'bonus tracks' exclusive to the box set) or completists who think having '50 takes' of the same song is a cool concept. The problem I have with the "super deluxe edition" of Velvet Underground & Nico is that this box seems to be targeting both the completists and the 'newbies' and, while there is some great stuff within this box, $14/disc is a steep price point.

Taking the box apart disc-by-disc, here is what you have:

Disc 1: Velvet Underground & Nico - Stereo Edition
Tracks 1 - 11 are the standard 11 studio tracks; tracks 12 - 16 are alternate takes, mixes and backing tracks. While there are some minor differences in these alternate versions, there isn't anything shocking here. These last five tracks are:
- "All Tomorrow's Parties" (Alternate Single Voice Version)
- "European Son" (Alternate Version)
- "Heroin" (Alternate Version)
- "All Tomorrow's Parties (Alternate Instrumental Mix)
- "I'll Be Your Mirror" (Alternate Mix)

Disc 2: Velvet Underground & Nico - Stereo Edition
This disc has the same 15 tracks that came out as Disc 2 of the 2002 "Deluxe Edition" of Velvet Underground and Nico (This "deluxe edition" sells for $18.05 new from Amazon 3rd party sellers or $8.99 used) and was later broken out of this set as a single disc "rarities" edition ($6.22 new from Amazon 3rd party sellers).

Disc 3: Nico - Chelsea Girl
I don't know what the record company's fascination with this release is as tracks from this disc were tacked on to the 'stereo disc' with the 2002 "deluxe edition". The issue I have is that Nico's solo material is an acquired taste - this is like getting a Yoko Ono solo CD in a John Lennon box; it really doesn't matter (except to completists) that Lennon (or in this case, various members of the Velvet Underground) played on the disc.

Given that the record company cleaned up a 2CD mono bootleg for this release, it would have been pretty cool if they had replaced this disc with a cleaned up version of Lou Reed & Nico's post-Velvet's "Bedroom Tape" or even a rehash of the Le Bataclan '72 show (with Reed, Nico and Cale).

Nico's Chelsea Girl is selling for $2.68 new from Amazon 3rd party sellers. Take a listen to the title track and see for yourself...



Disc 4: Velvet Underground - Scepter Studios Sessions & Rehearsals at the Factory, Jan. 3, 1966
This disc has both its good and bad points...the Scepter Studios Sessions are the rejected first mix of the band's VU & Nico album. It is a great raw take on these songs and "European Son" works up a head of dirgy, pre-Swans noise, "Heroin" is raw and primitive and someone sings falsetto backing vocals on "Femme Fatale" (I can't imagine either Reed or Cale taking this part but, it is unlikely it was Sterling Morrison).

The Factory rehearsals are both brilliant and disappointing. This was predominately a jam session and was allegedly recorded a week after Nico arrived in America. You can hear Reed trying to teach Nico the lyrics to "Venus In Furs" and both she and Reed take run-throughs of "There She Goes Again". What is disappointing is that these five tracks are from the same recording as an eleven-track bootleg that has been floating around since the mid-90's. For anyone curious, the bootleg has the tracks:
- Walk Alone (3:28)
- Buddy Holly jam (1:15)
- Venus in Furs/Crackin' Up (3:50)
- Blues jam (5:15)
- R & B jam (2:22)
- Run Run Run intro into Miss Joanie Lee (11:48)
- Day Tripper into Boom Boom Boom Boom (6:18)
- Heroin (6:10)
- Green Onions (5:57)
- There She Goes Again (Lou Reed vocal) (3:29)
- There She Goes Again (Nico vocal) (4:18)

Discs 5&6: Velvet Underground - Valleydale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, November 4, 1966
The show has been bootlegged (in its entirety) for 'forever' (vinyl bootlegs like the 1966 LP (the show's first and last song) and The Warlocks/The Falling Spikes (the rest of the songs) have been around since the 80's and the entire show was also on the more recent CD bootleg Caught Between The Twisted Stars) but this is the first time the show sounds halfway decent. The power and ferocity of the set - starting and ending with 30 minute noise pieces ("Melody Laughter" and "The Nothing Song") must have both scared the college audience and inspired many of the noise bands that followed in the 70's and 80's.

The show was recorded on a mono deck and has gone from a (bootleg grade) of VG/- to VG. It is very listenable but this isn't the sort of thing that you would play for an audio purist.

Coming back full-circle - there are essentially three discs of new material in this set. The Scepter Studios/Factory Rehearsal disc is available as part of the 2CD version of The VU & Nico 45th Anniversary Edition, along with the stereo mix of the album which includes the five bonus tracks mentioned above ($16.72 new from Amazon).

The real question is what is the value to the listener of having a cleaned-up copy of the Valleydale Ballroom show. Given that all of the other discs in this set are available outside of this set for a cheaper price, that makes the price of this box set extremely prohibitive.

Links:
Velvet Underground

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Fear (Lee Ving) - 'The Fear Record' CD Review (The End Records)

Well...I've done a side-by-side comparison between The Fear Record and Fear's - The Record (the 1991 Slash/London CD version) and here is how the two compare.

To start with the obvious differences, the Slash/London contain the single "Fuck Christmas", which was recorded during the sessions for The Record but wasn't issued until after the record was released. The Fear Record contains re-recorded versions of all fourteen tracks that were originally on The Record but most of the tracks run a few seconds longer than the original versions (though there is nothing noticeable added, so not a big deal). What is somewhat strange is that the tracks have been re-ordered on The Fear Record but there doesn't seem to be a discernible reason for this.

Here is what is different about the music...the sound of the The Fear Record is noticeably louder and a lot more 'dense' instrumentation has been added. The Record has a clean sound but there isn't much of a bottom end where there is a big bottom end on this new disc. What is also very noticeable is that original guitarist Philo Cramer's clean, angular guitar lines have been replaced by more metallic riffs and the drums on this new disc aren't quite as crisp sounding as the original recording. Lee Ving's voice has held up well over the years and the vocals are pretty comparable between the two recordings.

What this disc reminds me of is The Meatmen's 1988 'farewell' album We're the Meatmen...And You Still Suck!!! where these 'later period' guitarist Stuart Casson added a much more metallic edge to the music than the studio discs with his predecessor Brian Baker. All-in-all, The Fear Record isn't a bad disc - it just isn't different enough for anyone to want to go out and replace their copy of The Record.

Check out the 2012 lineup of Fear and you will get a sense for what the differences on The Fear Record sound like.



Links:
Fear

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Stevie Ray Vaughan - 'The Fire Meets the Fury: The Radio Broadcasts 1999" CD Review

Let's start with the obvious questions - this disc was not recorded in 1999 but in 1989, on the final dates of Stevie Ray's tour with Jeff Beck. This disc is also not a 'bootleg' but a copyright gap CD where (if I understand the UK laws correctly) artist permission is not needed to reproduced radio broadcasts that are more than twenty years old. As such, the disc is readily available through Amazon.co.uk and third-party sellers have this disc available for an affordable price on Amazon.com.

This disc was originally broadcast on King Biscuit Flower Hour and was bootlegged shortly after the broadcast under the title Last Farewell. The track list and locations are:

1)The House Is Rockin'
2)Tightrope
3)Look At Little Sister
4)Texas Flood
5)Leave My Girl Alone
6)Wall Of Denial
- Live at Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, November 28, 1989
(Note: There is a 7-track limited edition vinyl version of this show that recently surfaced and is available for sale at the major UK retailers. The additional track is "Let Me Love You Baby".

7)Superstition
8)Cold Shot
9)Life Without You
10)Crossfire
11)Voodoo Chile
- Live at McNichols Arena, Denver, Colorado, November 29, 1989

While there don't appear to be any videos online from these particular shows, below is a live version of "Life Without You" that was recorded a few nights earlier.



As the music on this disc was originally broadcast on FM radio, the sound quality is perfect. Audio purists may want to note though that a 1989 radio broadcast can't quite compare to today's uber-digital multi-track recordings.

Fans of Stevie Ray are sure to appreciate this recording as I don't think there are any other commercially available recording from this tour and Stevie Ray sounds great. This tour showcased a revitalized and re-energized SRV who had recently shaken off drug and alcohol addictions and he talks a bit about how he is glad to still be standing during the 12+ minute version of "Life Without You". The other lengthy jam on this disc is a 11+ minute version of "Voodoo Chile", which closes the disc.

Links:
Stevie Ray Vaughan

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Guillotine Riot: Porno-Punk Band Plays Fontana's on Nov. 28th / Recording New Album w/ Steve Albini in the Spring

I've read too many band bios that read something like the following - 'Timmy and Tommy were best friends since childhood and formed a Bright Eyes tribute band in high school. The duo started writing their own music (which Timmy's grandmother said sounds better than Bright Eyes) and moved to New York to make it big. Thus far, the duo has played legendary clubs like Sidewalk Cafe and Arelene's Grocery (where THE STROKES got their start!!)'.

To that point - Guillotine Riot's bio (below) is refreshing....and what is even better is that the band has the musical chops to back up their outlook on life.  The songs on the band's new album (available as a free download) range from a cover of The Misfits' "Horror Hotel" to the angelic "Flower" (which is a song about total debauchery). 



Guillotine Riot plays Fontana's on Wednesday, Nov. 28th along with Shattersound and Erica Glyn. Cover is $7 and Guillotine Riot go on at 11PM.



Links:
Guillotine Riot

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Cotton Club Parade: A Celebration of the Music of Duke Ellington Made an Encore Return to City Center for a 6-Show Run

Broadway musical Cotton Club Parade opened for a limited six-show run at City Center earlier this month. The show is an exhilarating celebration of Duke Ellington's four year residency at the famed Harlem nightclub which started in 1927, "when the joint was jumping with revues featuring big band swing and blues, dancers, singers, comedians and novelty acts".

Jazz virtuoso Wynton Marsalis serves as the musical director and he and the Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars orchestra provide the musical backdrop and the rhythmic heartbeat for this recreation of the Cotton Club’s floor shows.



This show marks the Broadway debut of Glee’s Amber Riley and, while she stays within her "Mercedes Jones" comfort zone when belting out "On the Sunny Side of the Street", her rendition holds its own against Ella Fitzgerald's earlier version. Other stand-out vocal performers were Joshua Henry (who is also part of the cast of Porgy and Bess), who served as the show’s narrator and tour guide for this evening’s trip though uptown Harlem, and torch singer/vamp (and Tony award winner) Adrienne Lenox. Henry has a strong singing voice (and he delivered a particularly delightful version of "I've Got the World on a String" - a snippet of which can be seen in the video below) and his narration, which he mixes with quotes from Langston Hughes' "Montage of a Dream Deferred", helps paint the picture of Harlem in the 1920's. Lenox serves as a counter-point to Henry's narration about the glories of the night and she nails Sippie Wallace’s “Women Be Wise” along with the sultry "Go Back to Where You Stayed Last Night".



The dancing was what kept the audience riveted as it ranged from from formal to tap to free-form. The tightly choreographed, limb-popping dancing of Jeremiah “Supaman” Haynes and Andrew “Dr. Ew” Carter was simply phenomenal and the duo’s showcase number was “Hottentot”. Both the music and dancing came together on the full cast tour de force finale “Freeze and Melt”.



The night that I was in attendance, the show looked to be at capacity so...if Cotton Club Parade comes back for a second encore next year, I wouldn't wait to get tickets as you might otherwise miss out on what The Times called a "thrilling 90-minute celebration” that “made period jazz come to life with a focused intensity and rhythmic savvy".

Links:
Cotton Club Parade

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