Category — Albums

On my vacation, I went record shopping and picked up a few things. One of which was a vinyl version of Black Sabbath’s classic “Vol 4″ album. This album is already one of my favorites as it features awesome riffs and great all-around playing by the whole band. It is arguably, (along with Sabbath’s Master of Reality), THE landmark album for the “stoner rock” genre.

For me though, the star of the band has always been guitarist Tony Iommi. Most people know by now that Iommi basically created the heavy metal riff. All the members are great, but it’s Iommi’s overall vibe that carries the songs. I’d definitely love to have Iommi’s tone, and on a limited budget, as I know he uses something crazy, like 6 Laney amplifiers on-stage.

Regardless, his sound is pretty stripped down aside from the loudness of his live setup. The most impressive sounds he gets on this record are the pure Gibson SG with overdrive and wah run through a tube head, just straightforward. I am sure his setup has changed drastically over the years but this record really reminds you how awesome he is. It also has the cleanest sound of the classic first 4 Black Sabbath albums. If you haven’t heard it, pick it up at some point.

His setup at guitargeek.com (not sure of the accuracy of it)…

Tony Iommi’s Live Setup Circa 1971

As I reported here before, Sigur Ros fans can expect a new album from the group, which have now just solidified some firm details about the release.

“On the heels of their 2007 live release “Heima,” Icelandic group Sigur Rós is preparing to release its next studio album, “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.” The album, which translated into English from Icelandic means “With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly,” is due June 24 via XL”.

The band worked with famed producer Flood (Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, and more…) and recorded for the first time outside of Iceland. The record was recorded in New York, London and Havana as well as Iceland.

This new album also marks the first time the band have written a song in English. The song is called “All Alright”, the tracklist for the new record is as follows…

Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust:

01 Gobbledigook
02 Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
03 Góðan daginn
04 Við spilum endalaust
05 Festival
06 Með suð í eyrum
07 Ára bátur
08 Illgresi
09 Fljótavík
10 Straumnes
11 All Alright

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So its pretty much been decided by critics and fans alike, the new Weezer album will suck. Well, at least the 1/3 of it that has been released via iTunes and leaked so far. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo has another trick up his sleeve. He’s writing a new song, only he’s not just writing it, he is asking you to write it with him.

The Weezer singer has taken to YouTube where he has asked people to help participate in contributing riffs, lyrics and structure to a song. This has been going for quite a while now, but he is still writing/working on it. The title has also been selected for the song, it is “80’s Radio,” not really surprising that Rivers went with that title, is it?

He is currently on “Step #10″ writing lyrics to the bridge of the song. Rivers says “Don’t try to be a William Shakespeare,” this is funny. Maybe people shouldn’t try to be a William Shakespeare…It would be nice however, if a recent Weezer song would come out containing at least some decent lyrics, besides random crap about being a rock star and/or famous person. This song actually sounds better than anything that I’ve heard from the forthcoming “Red Album” but it still sucks.

Open Letter/Note to Weezer:

Bury the hatchet and get Matt Sharp back in the band, start playing cool Fender Jaguars again and rehearsing in a house, (like in the “Say It Ain’t So” music video) and get Ric Ocasek of The Cars as a producer again and THEN record a new album and tour. Otherwise, just break up already! Jeez…

Help Rivers Write a Song @ YouTube.com

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Well, continuing in the tradition of the late spring season, here is another new album being discussed. This time it’s the famous/infamous Courtney Love…The widow of Kurt Cobain, ex-Hole lead singer and current solo artist.

Love’s last album, as most people know, (or don’t I guess) “America’s Sweetheart” was a total bomb. The album was released in 2004 and to date has sold 86,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Now Courtney Love is speaking about her upcoming album via her MySpace blog. She is once again working with Custard Records owner and famed producer/songwriter Linda Perry.

“Don’t assume you know any songs on this album,” she continues. “Some may sound somewhat familiar or even have the same titles and arrangements. A few are just precious diamonds I wouldn’t touch, but there’s TONS of NEW ones which you haven’t a clue about.”

“I think we made a beautiful, vibey, magical record,” Perry told Billboard in late 2006. “Courtney Love’s name should be right next to Bob Dylan when they say best lyricist of all time.”

Well, I don’t know about that…Bob Dylan? Really? The reason I’m posting about Courtney Love here is simple, it’s because she’s a lot of people’s favorite guitarist (sarcasm). She actually did have her own guitar that she took part in designing, it was part of Fender’s lower budget Squier series models and it was called The Venus. While I can’t comment on the playability of the guitar, I think its cool that she designed a more affordable model.

As far as Courtney Love’s music and my opinion of it, I actually thought Hole’s first album ‘Pretty on The Inside” was a good record and even Live Through This, everything after that point im not all that familiar with. We’ll see what happens with this new album I guess.

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I don’t think I have done any posts regarding a bassist or bass in general since I started this blog. I am mainly a guitar player but I like playing bass a lot as well and I figured, what better bassist to post about…

Justin Chancellor is the English-born bassist for Tool. I’m not going to really delve into his background or try to do a bio or whatever. He is one of my favorite bassist’s for a few different reasons. He never limits his playing to just keeping the pulse or groove. In Tool, Chancellor and guitarist Adam Jones trade off with parts and assume the roles of each others instruments pretty frequently.

Chancellor also is capable of writing amazingly creative riffs, usually in odd time signatures, sometimes changing time signatures mid-measure, check out “Lateralus” and “Schism.” On Tool’s latest album he displays his ability to flat out attack the bass with crazy distortion as heard on the song “Jambi” which features him destroying his D string to the songs beat in 9/4.

I also appreciate Chancellor’s use of effects, which is not traditional at all by bassist standards. He uses Distortion, Delay, Flanger and the discontinued DigiTech Bass Whammy among others. He uses Wal basses, which were made in England. He also is a cool, down-to-earth guy. He owned a very small record/book shop in Topanga, CA called Lobal Orning and responded back to me when I sent him a copy of my bands 7inch record, saying he thought it was great. I visited the shop and was amazed to see my bands record sitting up on the shelf.

Here are some of the Boss effects pedals used by Justin Chancellor…

-Boss Delay

-Boss Flanger

-Boss Chorus

I posted about Weezer gearing up to release their new record last week and that some new songs from it had found their way online.

The release date of the album has now been pushed up to 6/3 presumably because of the online leaks. A digital single for the “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)” is now available for purchase on iTunes and inclues the lyrics…

“I’ve got the money/ And I’ve got the fame/ You’ve got the hots / To ride on my plane.” This line, which Pitchfork has marked as being “another Beverly Hills,” if indicative of the rest of the album, will be pretty horrible. The first single “Pork & beans” got a lot of Weezer fans excited because of its fuzz box guitar sound and harmony vocals, reminiscent of the bands finer moments on their classic Blue and Pinkerton albums. Unfortunately most of the songs that have surfaced online so far don’t really reflect this style and most fans seems to be pretty displeased with what they’ve heard so far.

Unless the other tracks on the album are really really amazing, its pretty safe to say you should avoid the Red Album. I might piss some people off in saying this but…All in all I don’t think Weezer’s been legitimately good since…oh…1996. I think its time to throw in the towel guys, sorry.

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It seems a ton of new album announcements have been touted, posted and talked about on music websites right now. I don’t know if its just the summer season or what.

Sigur Ros has offered up a preview of their new album here. As the video begins the words “Assault & Battery, May 2nd” appear as well as a clip of a new song and various footage of the band in the studio.

The band’s sole US tour dates so far are as follows…

06-11 Omaha, NE - Orpheum Theater
06-12 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
06-14 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
06-16 New York, NY - Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom

Sigur Ros - Official Site.

Critically acclaimed rock band Autolux is gearing up to release their 2nd record, “Transit Transit” the follow up to 2004’s “Future Perfect.”

The band has made the first single from their new album “Audience No. 2″  available on their MySpace page and iTunes. So far there is not a set date for the release of “Transit Transit” but one would expect it to be released in the next few months since the first single has just been released.

I’m interested in what kind of turn, if any, the bands sound will take. Autolux have always had a pretty good blend of effects laden shoegaze parts as well as more streamlined grooves and riffs. This new record, I assume, will blend these kind of elements once again.

Autolux @ MySpace.com

In a surprising move, Nine Inch Nails have posted access to a free download of their new album “The Slip” via www.nin.com. The band had been posting on their official site that a surpirse was due for Monday, May 5th.

The album is 10 tracks and is available in a variety of formats, including MP3 as well as high-quality lossless, all of which are free. Physical copies of the album will be released in July of this year through traditional distribution methods.

“A statement on the site from frontman Trent Reznor says simply, “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years — this one’s on me.”

Demand for the music has been high, as nin.com slowed to a crawl after the free download had been posted.

Personally, I think this is a great idea, and more importantly a great way to show appreciation to all the NIN fans out there. Nine Inch Nails is a band that has been heavily supported by its fans since the early 90’s. I am going to download a copy of the album for myself, give it some listens and post a review here. I’m curious to see if the album is similar to Nine Inch Nails last release, “Ghosts” with lots of ambient and guitar effects, or if it’s similar to their earlier material, it might be neither.

Source - Billboard.com

Veteran British band The Cure will be releasing its as yet untitled 13th full-length studio album on Septemeber 13th this year. The band also plans to release 4 singles, at a rate of one per month starting May 13th.

“The new album, arriving via Suretone/Geffen, was originally due in early 2007 and then postponed twice, to fall 2007 and spring 2008. It will be the group’s first studio offering since its self-titled 2004 effort.”

“Bandleader Robert Smith told Billboard.com last July that the planned double-disc set would include “songs about relationships, the material world, politics and religion. They’re very upfront and dynamic. People will be surprised how stripped-down and in-your-face the record is.”

The band is also launching an upcoming full US tour with dates already booked.

May 9: Washington, D.C. (Patriot Center)
May 10: Philadelphia, Pa. (Wachovia Spectrum)
May 12: Boston, Mass. (Agganis Arena)
May 14: Montreal, QC (Bell Centre)
May 15: Toronto, ON (Air Canada Centre)
May 17: Chicago, Ill. (Allstate Arena)
May 19: Kansas City, Mo. (Starlight Theatre)
May 21: Denver, Colo. (Red Rocks Amphitheatre)
May 23: Salt Lake City, Utah (E Center)
May 25: George, Wash. (Gorge Amphitheater – Sasquatch Festival)
May 26: Vancouver, BC (General Motors Place)
May 29: Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara Bowl)
May 31: Los Angeles, Calif. (Hollywood Bowl)
June 1: Los Angeles, Calif. (Shrine Auditorium)
June 3: San Diego, Calif. (Cox Arena)
June 4: Phoenix, Ariz. (Dodge Theatre)
June 6: Dallas, Texas (American Airlines Center)
June 8: Austin, Texas (Austin Music Hall)
June 9: Houston, Texas (Toyota Center)
June 11: Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum)
June 13: Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Band Atlantic Center)
June 15: Atlanta, Ga. (Gwinnett Center)
June 16: Charlotte, N.C. (Charlotte Bobcats Arena)
June 18: Cleveland, Ohio (Wolstein Center)
June 20: New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
June 21: New York, N.Y. (Radio City Music Hall)

Source - Billboard.com