Shakespeare In The Alley

Might be. But it's probably my favorite MMJ album, in large part because it was the first new MMJ release I heard, so I can't claim the longtime fan disappointment thing that's earned it its bad rap. It has its flaws, no doubt, but the songs I really like on EU are way better than the ones I really like on the other albums. I'm pretty sure Smokin' From Shootin' is my #1 MMJ track. I don't even hate Highly Suspicious. Fun song. I'm a huge Prince fan, so hearing Jim mess around with that style was awesome.

Heavily watermarked, I assume? Evil Urges is great, so I'm down with a repeat. But anything's fine. Very psyched for this record.

I know this is probably right, it's just too big a jump for me. I can safely assume Neil's not barely getting by paycheck to paycheck, but anything beyond that is too far.

Like Tinnitus kinda said, I'm not comfortable just assuming Neil's a multi-millionaire, and any money made touring is completely superfluous. Obviously he's got hits and years of touring and whatnot, but it's still a big assumption to make. He might need the money, I can't possibly know.

I didn't get to see one of those shows.

Just to reject the "doing it for the money means it's not worth it" thing, Leonard Cohen was 100% open about his reasons for touring the world the last few years. Money, money, money. Got ripped off, had none left, booked a shitload of tour dates to make it all back. He didn't hide that for a second. But those shows were critically acclaimed as brilliant, and worth every penny. I don't mean this as a ticket price thing, although Cohen's tour had some pricey options too. I just mean to say that doing it for the money is a pointless criticism.

From the glance I got at the seating charts when I bought my ticket, the entire balcony was $50. The orchestra seats were the most expensive, but the balcony is a big chunk of seats, and those seemed to all be $50. Probably not an even 50/50 split between $50 seats and $100+, but pretty close.

Didn't mean he's strapped for cash. Just that the appeal of going on the road likely isn't what it used to be, but certain dollar amounts are real hard to turn down. I'd probably be more bitter about this if I wasn't seeing him at one of these shows for a very reasonable $57. It's a balcony seat, bought at the box office to avoid Ticketmaster, but still. That theater's small, and I know it'll be worth it. This entire thing gets blown out of proportion by people only looking at the higher end tickets. I know some theaters are still pricey for "bad" seats, but not all of them. Any decent thea

But music is a business, whether tickets are $50 or $150. That's not a new thing whatsoever. Neil Young, at this age, probably wouldn't hit the road if he wasn't making "enough" money doing it. You can call it greed, and I can't really argue that it isn't, but I also think it's something he's earned with a lengthy career. The money NY would make selling $20-$50 seats might not be enough to entice him into a tour at his age. This kinda entirely contradicts my "it's not Neil's fault directly" point, but still.

If Neil played small/midsized theaters with $50 max tickets, scalpers would totally buy up as many seats as possible, and fans would still have to pay the higher prices, but they'd be paying it to the scalping folks. It's a sad reality, but I'd be shocked if it didn't play a role in setting prices.

Not that I don't agree that the prices are high, but I have a hard time believing Neil himself is personally setting all these ticket prices. Especially on these recent tours, with the theaters he's playing. Those places just aren't cheap to book, so the tickets, naturally, won't be cheap to buy. The $60 I paid for a balcony seat to see him in April is definitely towards the higher end of concert tickets I've bought, but it was still in a reasonable range for me. If it was out of my range, I skip it and use the money to see whatever smaller shows are around me. No big deal.

I definitely need to hear those Greg Dulli covers. Everybody Needs Love is easily one of my favorites on Go Go Boots. And I think it's awesome that, even as a cover, they're pushing it so hard. I don't know if it'll be an actual single or not, but playing a cover on two late night shows is pretty selfless and amazing.

I listened to it beginning to end ten times, so it had plenty of chances. Ghost and Separator are good, and I liked Magpie. But overall, meh. There's been much better stuff this year.

But WTA is 11 songs and it's only five minutes longer than TKOL. Eight song tracklist isn't a bad thing at all. I don't really like TKOL, but it's certainly not because it's "only" eight songs. I'd personally love an extremely succinct album from Wilco, especially if they continue in their current vein. Trim SBS and WTA down to the 37 minute area and you have much better albums.

I think I win.

Likely always gonna be the best cover ever, as far as I'm concerned. Lanegan's version is great, but Cobain blows him away.

Link?

The hip hop scene badly needed him the past few years. Great voice. Totally turned some mediocre material into classic hits. I knew he'd suffered two recent strokes, but I was really hoping for a comeback. RIP.

Love that album cover. And basically every Beasties album. Hello Nasty could use some heavy editing, but the good songs on there are real good. Anyway, pretty psyched for this.

QOTSA have done some really cool covers of bands you wouldn't necessarily expect them to cover. This has always been my personal favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z68SxtmSzP4

Era's good, definitely check it out. I'd go Lullabies, R, Deaf, S/T, Era. But they're all excellent. Best rock band going these days. I'll take Homme over Jack White any day if you want to argue that whole "21st century rock savior" nonsense. I haven't heard the S/T remaster yet, because I've had a CD copy of that for a while. But it's extremely hard to find, so if you want to buy that one, the reissue is your only real option.

Your QOTSA rankings would be?

I find it hard to believe that so many of the people complaining about ticket prices wouldn't take the same opportunities to make more money. If I could sell out theaters at 50-200 a seat, I won't even pretend for a second that I wouldn't. It doesn't mean you have less artistic integrity, it's just business. Which even art is in today's world.

One more reason I don't think the ticket prices are all that ridiculous. I've only heard a few of his songs (I intend to get to more, don't worry), but he's a talented dude. Psyched to see him play.

But that's missing the point that cheap Neil Young tickets would almost certainly be bought up and scalped at a higher price than the cost of already expensive Neil Young tickets. It's a sad reality, yeah, but I bet it plays a role in price setting decisions. Obviously I'd rather spend $30 or so, but not if it means I have to fight the tons of scalpers that cheap tickets would draw. I'll just pay up to whatever I feel it's worth, and if not, oh well. If I'm paying closer to $100 for a Neil Young ticket, I'd rather that money, whatever his cut is, go to NY and not a scalper. There's also the