en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/ The Last.fm journal for guitarnoise. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2008/05/5/717244/ Mon, 5 May 2008 03:50:35 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2008/05/5/717244/ Tom Petty side project sound like?

The answer is something not too dissimilar to a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album with a hint of Traveling Wilburys thrown in. The Wilbury twist arrives in the form of a loose sounding collection of band-orientated songs.

Mudcrutch teams Tom Petty up with a few of his old bandmates from before he struck oil with the Heartbreakers. The music flows a bit freer than a regular Petty album, owing to the fact that it was recorded over a two week period. Petty also sets aside the guitar to take up bass duties.

There is probably a lot more group writing here. The sound is swinging country rock California style. Fans of Tom Petty will like it. Some of the songs touch upon themes that appear throughout his career. Scare Easy reminds me a lot of I Won't Back Down.

Rolling Stone's review puts it like this: "Even a dude with a track record as golden as Tom Petty's needs to reflect on paths not taken."

Nice.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/12/23/604783/ Sun, 23 Dec 2007 09:37:50 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/12/23/604783/
Crowded House – Time On Earth

This band gets better with each new album. The old stuff still sounds pretty good to me, and they keep writing new songs that grow on you. I never thought they’d be able to top Together Alone, but that is exactly what they did with Time on Earth.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand

This is a bit of a genre bender of an album. There are no new songs here and the title might make you think this is a duets album. Never mind that 2007 was the year that Led Zeppelin returned to the stage and secured their legacy, this is one of the year’s best albums. If you like hearing voices being used like instruments – you should own this album.

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II

This is a moody searing album that has Neil back with the Bluenotes, for one song anyway. It’s a passionate mish-mash of styles that easily ranks among Neil’s best albums. There are two epic songs clocking in at over 10 minutes, and nothing can stop Neil from switching between acoustic and electric. There isn’t much new here, and that’s why it sounds so great.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/12/11/595535/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:18:13 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/12/11/595535/ Led Zeppelin reunion gig was an astounding success. The set featured sixteen rock and blues numbers from the band's catalog, including “For Your Life”, which the band has never been played live before. Looking at the songs played, it seems the goal was clearly to give the best concert of their career.

Last night’s setlist was: "Good Times, Bad Times," "Ramble On," "Black Dog," "In My Time of Dying," "For Your Life," "Trampled Underfoot," "Nobody's Fault but Mine," "No Quarter," "Since I've Been Lovin' You," "Dazed and Confused," "Stairway to Heaven," "The Song Remains the Same," "Misty Mountain Hop" and "Kashmir." And for the encore: "Whole Lotta Love" and "Rock and Roll."]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/10/27/559476/ Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:51:56 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/10/27/559476/ Neil Young is back! Which is a funny thing to say because he never went anywhere. Furthermore, the music he has been putting out of late has been fairly good. I quite liked the understated Prairie Wind and his Live At Massey Hall 1971 is excellent.

His latest release, Chrome Dreams II, is an album most fans will really like. It sounds like a return to albums like This Note's For You (1988)and Freedom. It's a mish-mash of raw styles without too much of a thematic template.

The album's centerpiece is definitely the 18 minute-plus epic Ordinary People. If it sounds a little dated (reference to Lee Iacocca) it's because it was recorded in 1988 with The Bluenotes. But it's still passionate stuff and a Neil classic.

Other could-be classics on this album include Beautiful Bluebird, Boxcar and No Hidden Path.

This is nothing like last year's Living With War. It's a straight out rock album Neil Young style. Do yourself a favor and get it.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/10/26/558590/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:42:02 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/10/26/558590/ Robert Plant's next album would be a collaboration. There is nothing I would prefer more than another album featuring The Strange Sensation, Plant's band on the excellent albums Dreamland (2002) and Mighty Rearranger (2005). But fortunately, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raising Sand isn't anything at all like a duets album. It doesn't even sound like a collaboration per se; it sounds more like a brand new band put together especially for the occasion.

There is no preparing you for this album. Raising Sand features thirteen songs unlike any you would expect to hear from either of these artists. More accurately, it is a collaboration of three minds. The New York Times review of the album, When It Takes Three People to Make a Duet, rightly gives a lot of credit to the album's producer T-Bone Burnett.

There are no new songs on Raising Sand, it's all reworkings of older tunes. Most listeners will be too young to remember any of the songs that fill Plant's first album with an American band. What else is new on this album is the way Plant has to hold his voice back. The music is all very laid back, yet not laid back in a The Honeydrippers kind of way. There is a timeless, mystical air that surrounds each song.

A few truly outstanding songs are Polly Come Home, Trampled Rose and Nothin'. Each song slowly drifts and turns until it ends, and you can't even remember how long you were listening. It's timeless music indeed.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/09/28/536241/ Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:22:32 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/09/28/536241/ The Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger. BBC will pick a selection of the best questions submitted through their website and publish them along with Jagger's answers on October 2.

Send your question to Put your questions to Mick Jagger.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/09/14/524842/ Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:22:55 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/09/14/524842/ Led Zeppelin are set to take to the stage next month for a good cause. For the occasion, I decided to put together my dream setlist. With so many songs to choose from it was no easy task. Many great songs like Whole Lotta Love, Dazed and Confused, Battle of Evermore were all left out.

I only gave myself one rule: a two hour time limit. Two hours of music in iTunes could easily be a 3 hour concert - with gaps in between songs, extended intros and a little jamming. I wanted to include a lot of the blues numbers as well plenty of acoustic stuff. I once saw Robert Plant live and he opened with Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. It was a moment I'll never forget.

What songs would you add or leave out?

(acoustic set)
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Black Country Woman
Thank You

(electric set)
Good Times Bad Times
Heartbreaker
Living Loving Maid (She's Just a Woman)
Traveling Riverside Blues
How Many More Times
What Is and What Should Never Be
Over the Hills and Far Away

(acoustic set)
Going to California
Tangerine
That's the Way

(electric again)
No Quarter
Since I've Been Loving You
When the Levee Breaks
I'm Gonna Crawl
Black Dog
D'yer Mak'er
Moby Dick
Wearing and Tearing
Kashmir

(encore)
Celebration Day
Rock & Roll]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/09/13/523822/ Thu, 13 Sep 2007 03:59:04 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/09/13/523822/ Led Zeppelin are reuniting for a one off concert at London's O2 Area on November 26. The concert will be a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the founder of Atlantic Records who died in December.

The founding members of Zeppelin have only reunited twice since John Bonham's death in 1980. The first time was Live Aid in 1985, and then for Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary in 1988. Jason Bonham will be filling in for his father on drums. ]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/08/1/489489/ Wed, 1 Aug 2007 06:37:01 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/08/1/489489/ Planet Earth might simply be remembered as the album Prince gave away for free. A recent New York Times article wrote that after 20 plus years, Prince still hasn't become a nostalgia act because he's always doing something new. Whether giving away free copies of the new album with a British tabloid was meant to stir up controversy or compel the recording industry to change, we'll never know. The Artist is not giving interviews. I like to think a line from a new song sums it up:

I got a lot of money
I don't wanna spend it on me

Planet Earth is a Prince album much like all the others he has released in the past ten years. The songs don't quite grab you on the first listen. You've got to give it plenty of time, listen to it over and over; and then one day, it will get a hold of you and not let go.

Many of the songs sound like old Prince. Clocking in at 45 minutes, the music comes at you in bite size pieces. With only a year since his last album, you could say Planet Earth follows fast on the heels of 3121. What sets the two releases apart, is that 3121 unleashes a lot more energy. Planet Earth is heavy on ballads, and moves along quite slowly.

In Lion Of Judah, Prince sings:

Looking for the energy to take you there
The places you wanna go

Planet Earth might leave you wishing for a little more energy. It's not until the rambunctious Chelsea Rodgers that you actually find any real energy. Chelsea Rodgers, for lack of a more insightful description, is a killer track with a driving disco beat and fantastic horn arrangement. This is the one song you really want to hear played live.

Guitar is another song that tries for energy, but doesn't quite succeed. It's not a bad song, though it does feel a little silly at times. You kind of wish the shredding solo at the end would go on a little longer, after all, this is a song about playing guitar. But you sense that Prince really wants to keep this album short.

Overall, I'd give Planet Earth 4 out of 5 stars. It won't replace any of the classic Prince albums in my collection, but it will still get a lot of listens for a long while yet.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/07/19/479503/ Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:16:23 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/guitarnoise/journal/2007/07/19/479503/ Crowded House's last disc Together Alone. Their new album sounds like the same old band, but they're not playing same old songs. You can't hold that against them. Time On Earth magnificently finds the right balance. They have done just about everything right by sounding the same while doing something new.

Of course, with such a long break between albums, you can't exactly hit the ground running. Time on Earth is one of those albums that will have to grow on you. I wondered how many listens I would have to give it before I could really start liking it. I found myself enjoying it more on the third listen, and really starting to like it on the fourth listen.

For fans of Crowded House this is a great album. It's not the same old Crowded House though. The music is much more sombre and low-key, which is not surprising given that this album comes after drummer Paul Hester's suicide in 2005. Noticeably absent is the band's trademark humor that appears throughout all their other albums. Also, there is little in the way of bouncy, happy pop songs. That's not to say that this album isn't as good, or better, than any of their previous efforts.

It's easy to believe that Hester's ghost haunts this album. You could easily interpret any of the lyrics to be about his passing. For example, the album's excellent opener, Nobody Wants To:

Down on the ocean floor
That's where I'm heading for
Hold on to a sinking stone
Until the worst is known

Nobody wants to think about it
Nobody wants to talk about it
Nobody protects you

After a few listens this song will grab you as powerfully as anything else they have ever done. It's like Distant Sun all over again. All Crowded House albums have great songs like Don't Dream It's Over and Better Be Home Soon. Nobody Wants To is that song, except this time it brilliantly opens an album that is not going to let you down.

Another unforgettable track is Silent House, which was written with Dixie Chicks and appears on last year's Taking The Long Way. Beth Rowley adds back up vocals on Transit Lounge, which sounds like it could have been a U2 song, if that band were made up of better musicians and wrote better songs.

Undoubtedly this is a great Crowded House album. Once the songs grow on you you will like the entire album from start to finish. Time on Earth is nearly ten minutes longer than any other studio album they've released. You always feel like you're are listening to a long album, and that means it might take just a little longer to grow on you. But you can trust that when it does grow, it will stay with you.]]>