Neil Peart's Rush

Its hard to say who's the greatest drummer that ever sat in front of drum set. Its tough to say who's the best of anything really. But if I had to pick the greatest drummer Neil Peart has got to be at the top of the list. The drummer for some may say the greatest Canadian band to ever walk the great white north Rush has an array of songs where you can see why hes considered the greatest drummer. YYZ is one of those songs. But I can't just place all of credit for Rush's success mainly on Neil Peart. Their lead singer Geddy Lee is an amazing bass player as well. Also Alex Leifson is a great guitarist and also shows it in this video. But Peart is where its at in this video. Prepare to have your mind boggled by Neils sick drum solo, dont try this at home.

The Keys To The Future

Hair bands did it in the 80s. Nirvana did it in the 90s. Today its The Black Keys turn. Patric Carney and Dan Auerbach brings a whole new style of music to the table. Some may argue that The White Stripes were the first, maybe so but The Black Keys, in my opinion, did it the best. With just one drum and one guitar they tear up the stage and studio, leaving behind fans stunned and recordings polished. Their brand of new punk/blues is a breath of fresh air from today's pop music or number one hits. It mixes blues, rock, heavy metal and soul all into a nice tight package for all to enjoy. Their new album Brothers is not a let down to say the least. It screams gold and critiques are raving about it. It has been nominated for numerous Grammy awards and Rolling Stone magazine has named it the number 2 album of 2010.
The album starts off with Everlasting Light, which was Rolling Stone magazines number 11 best single of 2010. The song starts off with a blistering drum beat from Carney. Auerbach comes in with his high pitch voice. The song has a grunge feel to it, with the guitar licks and drum beat. I can tell how it got picked as the #11 best single of the year.
Next girl fights in next with its killer guitar riff and solid drum beats. Dan's voice is less high pitched on this song. The songs about how his next girl isn't going to be like the one he has right now. Always picking looks over overall beauty. I like this song alot becuase of they lyrics and Dan's voice sounds great on it.
Their first single Tighten Up comes in next. The song starts with with a nice whistle melody, which i think should be incorporated into more music these days. This song has a bluesy feel to it but like most Black Keys songs its always updated. Its hard to keep your foot from stomping on this song, its one of my favorites on the album. The video is probably one of the best videos I've seen in a while, two friends fighting over one girl. Check it out and be blown away by how great this song is and keep those feet tapping. Tighten Up has been nominated for two Grammys, Best Rock Song and Best Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals. Not too shabby for two guys from Ohio.
Howlin For You comes it next. Blues has a huge influence on this song, maybe even a tribute to the late great Howlin Wolf. Love drum slap that sounds sort of like hand claps at the beginning of the song that goes right on through. I like this song alot, its catchy and has clever lyrics throughout.
Here comes in another Black Keys blues song, this one you can hear the influence of rough blues greats like RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. The guitar is rough, with screeching solos and feedback that would make Cobain shed a tear. But that is what makes The Black Keys who they are, its what made grunge, and today they are doing the same. Great song from a great group.
Black Mud charges in next. Its a great instrumental, so great its been nominated for a Grammy award as Best Rock Instrumental By A Group. The mix of drums, guitar licks and piano sounds amazing. It takes you back to the 1960's when free form instrumentals was an everyday occurrence. Well done.
Again with a raging drum beat followed by great keyboard. Aurbachs voice is up to high pitched again. Its amazing how he can sound different from one song to the next but diversity in today's music is a great gift to have. The production from Carney and Aurbach is noticed here, flowing each instrument into each other is hard to do but its highlighted on this song.
Next is Too Afraid To Love You. This songs sounds like some earthly gospel song. With Auerbach banging on the keys. Its a song over frighten lust, love that is hard to grasp. Confusion and loneliness is packed into this song and you can tell it was written straight from the heart. The song has a bitter sweet loveliness to it that cant be denied. Listen to it with your eyes closed and listen closely and you probably can hear the teardrops splash on the keys.
I love how they start this song off. One lick from the guitar and then the drums roll in. Its raw yet brilliant. Ten Cent Pistol carries in next. Its one of their well written storytelling songs. A song of death and murder. A song of cheating and heartbreak. These songs can been found in old country western tunes as well as blues favorites. Its probably what inspired Carney and Auerbach  to write such a great song. They succeed in what they set out to do and wrote what I think to be one of their best storytelling songs to date.
Blasting in next is Sinister Kid. The beginning guitar licks sound like a robot. With backing vocals from Nicole Wray. This song is about a kid who has a troubled past and future. The song is violent just like the kid. Ripping guitar and bashing drums. Its as raw as it gets right here. A song about a kid who fights and disregards authority cant be played any other way. The lyrics and music fits extremely well together.
Next is The Go Getter. A song about making it big in LA and the music industry. Its most likely a autobiographical song. A song about not being around family as much as he should be. Work has got him down. A lot of people out there can relate to this song. Everyone from hard working stiffs to straight up business men. In todays time of economy going down the drain everyones working to make a life for themselves, fighting for that next dollar. That is what this songs all about. Working hard to make a living but not living enough.
I'm Not The One tracks in next. Its not one of my favorite songs on the album. Its sounds a little forced. Like they needed filler which i dont agree with since theres 15 tracks on the album.
I love the beginning of Unknown Brother. Its a beautiful song. Again well written and well played. The progression the the guitar chords are simple but sweet. It seems like a song that was written for a child that has passed away early. Maybe a brother that he hasn't met yet. Auerbach tells the child don't worry we will play together again in heaven. Very sweet song.
Never Gonna Give You Up sounds a lot like a old Motown song mixed with a little disco ala Donna summer in there. Its also the only song that Dan and Pat didn't write on the whole album. It was written by Jerry Butler, the leader of the Impressions. A soul singer with a huge following. The Keys heard this song and had to cover it. They did an amazing job and it shows. Its a slow song that you can listen to and enjoy or take your girl in your hands and slow dance the night away.
The last track on the album is These Days. Its also a low tempo song where you can slow dance to. Its another tearjerker. The lyrics are probably the best written through the whole album. The Keys surely left the album on a great song.
This album is amazing, its on my top list of greatest albums of 2010. In today's music world of horrible music that has no soul or meaning. Just babbling lyrics and thrown together beats, its a relief to hear such bands as the Black Keys to release an album that stands true to everything that music is all about. Heart and soul. They respect the elder bluesmen of the delta, study the crooners of motown and look up to the classic rock gods of the 60's and 70's. Music needs more groups like The Black Keys to carry on the tradition of making pure great music, be it rock, soul, blues, folk, anything, its all music.
 

First cut is the deepest

How great is vinyl? Well to me its the greatest way to enjoy any kind of music be it old or new. Record collecting has been an addiction that I've embraced for about 8 years now, with a collection of well over 2000 albums. I am constantly adding as well as enjoying the sound the needle makes as it rotates around that crisp wax until it reaches the middle. I really enjoy the snaps and crackles of old records as it adds to its history. There's nothing better to me than closing my eyes while the record is spinning and just imagining how great would it be to be there in the studio, how personal it must have been for the artist/artists to have just finished the last cut and listen to their final product, their heart and soul poured into the songs, be it pain or love or both.

In my opinion vinyl is much better sounding than a digital cd can ever sound. Don't get me wrong, I must admit that I do have a cd collection of my own, not nearly as vast as my record collection though. As it is with vinyl you can find albums that are not and will not be released on cd, same goes for cds especially newer music. For instance Neil Young (one of my favorite artists by the way) has two albums (Time fades away, Journey through the past) that he has openly announced that will never be released on cd. Why you ask? Because he has said that those albums will never sound as good digital; which I agree with on most albums.

The first thing that drew me to love vinyl is the sound. It's just untouchable and never bettered. Second is the history and collectabilty of albums. There are so many different sub versions of records; be it first pressings, colored vinyl, imports, promos, etc. These can make the same album go from being $10 to $150. There is always that chance of finding a diamond in the rough, the thrill of the search. Thirdly its the Art. You can never truly appreciate a well thought out album cover by just a tiny cd picture.

A record cover is the perfect size to pick out the details of a brilliant cover. For instance Iron Maiden's Powerslave album. Its Egyptian flavor is great but the amazing part is when you get really up close and you can pick out all the details in the pyramids (a hidden Mickey Mouse head on the bottom left hand corner above the sphinx); a stoners paradise. There are banned covers such as Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland British import that had a fold out of nude women of all shapes and sizes (which I have in my personal collection) to the Beatles infamous Yesterday and Today Butcher cover that has all four Beatles sitting and standing, smiling, with baby doll parts laid out on their body's covered in blood. Not good for publicity so it was yanked from the shelves. Then you have the great cover art of Pink Floyd, King Crimsom, Mahogany Rush, Yes, Rush, so on and so on. In my blog which I will be posting to mostly every day, I will be discussing my love of music, from my album collection to video postings to live music that I have enjoyed that day. I love a huge array of music from classic rock to blues to folk to jazz to gypsy to country to celtic to prog to punk... so I can promise you there's something for everyone in my collection. Music is my passion and I really enjoy sharing that passion with everyone I meet and now people I may never meet.