Hoodoo Man

I don't really give a rat's ass how Wilco's songs are rated, nor do I care what this cat considers over or under rated; what bothers me is that we fell for this blatant con by MAGNET to get us to hit their website. I feel rather foolish. So foolish that I might grace some of Wilco's undeserving, less intellectual fodder, i.e. HMD, Box of Letters, with my discriminating, uber hip listening time.

This type of discussion always leads to the next question, "Can Bob Dylan be counted as a band?" Most important artist, songwriter, guitarist then Dylan is certainly in the discussion, but I think Dylan is disqualified here because he is not a band.

Beyond that, I don't think I really care who the most important band in America is. It's all relative to me.

So many great tones have already been mentioned so I'll try to go a little off the beaten path:

Brian Setzer - The Dirty Boogie (whole album, not just title song)

I just recently pulled this one out and the whole album is beautifully produced and mixed. His tone just goes from sweet to nasty without ever seeming out of place.

This past Friday night (1/23) my wife took our 2 oldest boys to Sports Authority to look for cleats for this baseball season while I took care of our 2 youngest kids. She called me from the store and told me that my 10-year-old wanted me to know they were playing Wilco at Sports Authority. She said "It was something about a fast walker." I've never been prouder of my son!

Did we really make it through 101 posts before someone thought to include Every Rose??

No shit. I can't believe nobody thought of it before me. Perhaps most people have stashed that horrid memory in a dark corner of their minds.

Based on the criteria for inclusion I'd have to say "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison. This type of whiney, "poor me", pseudo-philosophical power ballad is what made me put my distortion box away and try to become a bluesman (it didn't work, I'm still a nerdy white guy).

I'm not sure that explains Bono's lyrical shift, though. He has always written about big ideas and personal stuff--but his lyrics have taken a turn for the clumsy and literal.

Yeah, it may not explain his shift as much as it explains my patience for his shift. Still, I think maybe he's lost a little of his passion and that may have an effect on his abilities. Or maybe he's just running out of ideas. .

If I may deposit my $.02 regarding lyrics. As I have gotten older, my sympathy for waning lyrical talent has grown. I truly believe that as one ages, his or her raw emotions change dramatically. Instead of being angry at the world and all of its injustices, you're angry at your kid's baseball coach for only allowing your kid to bat once in the past 3 games. Instead of looking forward to a day when countries' borders fall and the world becomes a giant commune, you just look forward to getting home from work and getting a big, gummy smile from your 4-month old. I just think writing sappier lyrics as a songwriter ages is natural and to be expected. Therefore, personal lyrics about losing one's father or seeing a courageous person with a debilitating condition reach me just like lyrics about yearning for an end to a religious war.

I haven't been around in a couple of days so I just saw your post today. If it wasn't Cheap Trick I'd hate this idea, but I'm a big enough CT fan to be interested in this show. Unfortunately, I'm not really close to this locale. I read about the previous shows and they received really good reviews. I keep hoping that there will be a dvd/cd release but I would prefer no guest singers. If Zander isn't singing all of the songs, my interest wanes a bit.

seconded.

Thirded? Can you do that?

Cheap Trick was the first rock band I was ever really in to 100%. In the 80's I was kind of embarrassed to admit to liking them, but I still bought all their stuff and went to see them every time they came to town. Budokan was and still is a great album. For those of you who have never seen them live, you need to. Their sets are sadly way too short and way too predictable, but this band was built on the stage and they still excel there.

Side note: when I was 11 I formed my first band with 3 of my buddies. I actually had to teach the other guitarist and our bassist how to play every song we learned. Anyway, we learned the entire Budokan album except "I Want You To Want Me" and "Surrender". A real insight into why my music career sucked...you're supposed to play the songs people like, not vice versa!!! We would dress like our counter parts in Cheap Trick and were even named after one of their songs. I believe we were the first ever Cheap Trick tribute band.

I didn't know this book existed but would love to get a copy of it. I'm from Memphis and have an uncle who was involved in the music business and had a lot of dealings with Big Star and even more with Alex Chilton back during his Box Tops days. He's told me and my brothers the Big Star story from his point of view and turned us on to them many years ago. But still, I've never really found a lot of info on the band. Thanks for posting about the book.

I guess we weren't very responsible parents because we allowed our kids to watch and ask as many questions as they wanted. Granted at the time one was 5 and the other almost 3, but they wanted to know and we felt like shielding them was not the answer. My 12 year-old still remembers that day and I hope it is the most significant day of his life. My 9-year-old doesn't really remember much about it. But I hope they can one day explain to our 6-year-old and 5-week-old what that time was like for them. I don't want them to ever forget.

That day changed my life in many ways. Some were very negative. On the positive side, after I got over the depression, fear and most of the anger I decided that I was going to learn to savor every single day of my life. I try hard not to just go through the motions of life. People I work with think I'm weird because to me Tuesday is just as cool a day as Friday. But I refuse to wish days away. 9/11 taught me that life is way too short to not enjoy it.

Peace.

Even if you're not cool, surrender, but don't give yourself away ...

Oh you're cool alright. You must be on top of the world for being such a high roller...

"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke."

 

Some people are passionate about changing the direction from an imperial hierarchy (oligarchy per Jon Stewart) to a country that fights to help people and themselves, not kill people and take their shit. It is important. Feel it.

I have nothing to add to this discussion except to say...

"and to you we sing this final song...for you there is no hope!"

Only cool people will no what that means.

That is GREAT. I didn't realize he was such an accomplished guitarist!

Jerry Reed was an outstanding guitarist, for sure! Sadly, he's remembered mostly for some of his hokier tunes. I guess it's better than not being remembered at all.

RIP, Jerry. SON!!!

Happy Birthday Jeff Tweedy!!!

You make my life better!

Huh? In Rainbows is arguably one of the best albums of the decade...I think its their best work, period.

 

In regards to Portishead, I dont think they make music to be "enjoyed", at least in the traditional sense. I know they completely despised what "Dummy" morphed into..here you have Beth Gibbons baring her soul, singing about the absurdness of everyday modern life, and its being used as a soundtrack for yuppie cocktail parties, the very crowd they were rallying against. So it makes sense that this time around it would sound rougher, and more in tune with the despair of the lyrics. I dont think they feel comfortable having any sort of popular appeal. And I think this album was a very conscious attempt to de-construct their sound and alienate the superficial population who latched onto their music the first time around.

I'm not really familiar with Portishead, but what you've described happens to a lot of bands. It happened to Pearl Jam, Radiohead and even Wilco. But Tweedy finally figured it out and wrote about it. Musicians and artists cannot dictate who listens to or enjoys their art. Once it's given to the public, the artist loses control of the art. So I'm not sure attempting to alienate the unwanted fans is even worthwhile.

On an unrelated note, I see the term Yuppie used a lot on this site. Is Yuppie even a relavant term anymore? When I was in college it was a young, upwardly mobile professional. Is this still the case or does Yuppie apply to anyone who is out of college and has a steady job? I'm just too old to know the difference these days.

Kevin,

I doubt you remember helping me out a couple years back with some b & p's, but you were/are a cool cat to deal with. Don't beat yourself up. You realize who you are and you're learning to deal with it. That's all part of life. As a fellow introvert, I could have written your post just as easily. Except for one thing, I'm so introverted that I find chatting on the internet too draining. Seriously. Look at how long I've been a member and my number of posts. I just like reading what ya'll have to say.

You're doing fine!

Thirteen

99 Problems

One On One

has anyone checked out this album yet? I picked it up the other day and am very impressed with it. there's a couple of sinkers, or growers, on it but the majority of the tunes are great. "Will It Grow" is such a great song! but now everytime I listen to "Something Good This Way Comes," I think of Curious George...

Sorry about that. Hopefully that's not a negative. There's worse things you could think of while listening to a song. Plus George was a good little monkey, and always very curious...

When I first heard "Something Good This Way Comes" my first thought was, "Jakob Dylan must have beat out Jack Johnson for the Curious George 2 soundtrack."

Trust me, I have 3 kids and a 4th on the way. I know my Curious George soundtrack.

"Sucked Out" - Superdrag

"I hate that fucking Wilco."

I thought she was going to finish that thought with something like, "The bathrooms are never clean and they way overcharge on the malt liquor."

For a laugh I'd go with any of these: Goose-Step Mama, Blue Suede Schubert or Ouch! There are some really good tunes though like Hold My Hand, Double-Back Alley and Cheese And Onions. He knew exactly how much Beatles to mix in without the songs being a total rip. Brilliant stuff!

I've done this as well and just took the tracks in the order they appear on the respective albums and it flowed surprisingly well. I threw "When The Roses Bloom Again" between the 2 albums.

Cali Stars

Hoodoo

At My Window

Christ

One By One

Hesitating

Another Man

When The Roses

Airline

Feed of Man

Secret

Mountain Bed

Blood

Joe Dimaggio

Someday