Rush - Clockwork Angels

Rush has been around a very long time.  In the early 1970s they were clearly influenced by Led Zeppelin.  By the late Seventies they produced three science-fiction themed albums [2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres]. With Permanent Waves [1980] and Moving Pictures [1981] they opted for shorter song structures and seemed to have put the epic storytelling to bed.  Starting with Signals in 1982, Rush went hell bent for leather with synthesizers which de-emphasized the guitar work of Alex Lifeson.  The nadir of this development came with 1987’s Hold Your Fire [the less said about that album, the better].  With 1989’s Presto things started to look up for those of us who wanted Rush to get away from the cheesy synths and get back to making rock records with cojones.  Presto and its follow-up Roll the Bones [1991] were steps in the right direction but the sound was a little thin.  But in 1994 Kevin Shirley produced Counterparts.  Alex Lifeson and his guitar were back with a vengeance, and Geddy Lee’s bass provided a massive bottom end.  It was the album I wanted them to make since 1984, the year they released the synth-driven Grace Under Pressure.  Since Counterparts Rush has made some good records [Test for Echo (1996) and Snakes & Arrows (2007), both of which were very nimble and dynamic], and one not-so-good record [Vapor Trails (2002) – too loud and crunchy].  This brings us to the newest release, Clockwork Angels.  With this latest release, Rush has done what I thought to be unthinkable – they made a concept album!  What they have done with Clockwork Angels is combine the epic storytelling of the late 1970s with the heaviness of Counterparts, with a dash of dynamics from Test for Echo and Snakes & Arrows.  They’ve borrowed from their past and produced an album that far exceeded any expectations I had after a five-year wait.

What is the concept behind Clockwork Angels?  Kevin B. Anderson is a science fiction writer, and a good friend of Neil Peart.  He’s going to novelize Clockwork Angels.  According to this tidbit attributed to him that I found from the Rush blog Rush is a Band:  “In a young man's quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid malevolent Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.”  I’m thinking the Watchmaker is a lot like the dictatorial priests from 2112, since there isn’t a God per se in Neil Peart’s worldview.  He’s more of a secular humanist than anything.   His storyline one based in a dystopian steampunk world and fusing sources such as Joseph Conrad, Voltaire and Daphne Du Maurier.  Until this album came out, I had no idea what “steampunk” is, so I had to look it up.  So I found this from the online Urban Dictionary:

“Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan "What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner." It includes fiction with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes.”

This is the first time they've done an entire concept album.  The 2112 story was just a side-long affair.  Cygnus X-1 was broken into two pieces over two albums [A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978)].  Fear was three songs over three consecutive albums [Witch Hunt (Part III) - Moving Pictures (1981), The Weapon (Part II) - Signals (1982), The Enemy Within (Part I) - Grace Under Pressure (1984)].  They added a Part IV on Vapor Trails 20 year later [Freeze].  But Clockwork Angels is the first time they made a single story into an entire album.

Ok then…I think I’ve got the concept.  What about the music?

The songs:  The album's first two songs, Caravan and BU2B, were released as singles in 2010.  Rush played them on their Time Machine tour.  Both songs appear on the live document of that tour.  Two songs [Clockwork Angels and Headlong Flight] clock in over seven minutes.  Three songs [The Anarchist, Seven Cities of Gold, The Garden] clock in over six minutes.  With a couple of exceptions, the rest of the songs are around the five-minute mark.  So what is my point?  These guys get to stretch out and play.  Rush doesn’t improvise much, but longer songs and multiple time changes within those songs more than make up for it.

Favorite songs (so far):

Clockwork Angels

The Anarchist

Seven Cities of Gold

Headlong Flight

Given that these are the longest songs on the album, this short list of album favorites shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Geddy Lee’s voice:  He’s no longer communicating with bats like he did in the 1970s.  He sings in a middle register now, so the vocals are more than tolerable.

Geddy Lee’s bass:  Geddy’s bass is more forward in the mix than in albums past.  I’ve always liked the sound he gets from his Fender Jazz Bass in concert, and that sound is present on Clockwork Angels.

Alex Lifeson’s guitar:  Like Counterparts, Clockwork Angels is a guitarist’s record.  Unlike records past, Lerxst resisted the temptation to layer guitar part on top of guitar part.  He wanted the guitars he did put on the record to have more of an impact, and in that regard he succeeds.  On many of the songs Lerxst solos without a rhythm guitar underneath, just the way he would play it live.  Without the rhythm guitar, one can hear more of Geddy’s bass.

Keyboards:  They’re there, but they’re in the background and “unobtrusive.” Rejoice!  An acoustic piano makes an unexpected appearance on The Garden.

Neil Peart’s drumming:  Once again, Neil Peart proves he is the best drummer in rock – period.  Here’s an interesting bit I picked up on the Net – Neil didn’t work out his drum parts ahead of recording like he usually does.  For this album he worked out his drum parts differently than on previous albums.  Alex Lifeson would usually make copies of songs for Neil with drum programs or click tracks so that he has some reference points that he might want to use or develop. He’ll go through the songs methodically, works on his drum arrangements, and he memorizes what he’s going to play. When that’s done, they record.  On this album co-producer Nick Raskulinecz wanted Neil to learn his parts on the fly.

Strings:  I can’t remember there being strings on very many Rush songs [Nobody’s Hero from Counterparts, Mellotron strings on 2112’s Tears immediately come to mind].  Strings make their appearance on Halo Effect, The Wreckers, BU2B2, and The Garden.  But don’t think that because there are strings on a Rush record that our friends from the Great White North have gone soft – they haven’t.

Acoustic Guitars:  Like Snakes & Arrows, there are plenty of them on Clockwork Angels.  They work well in the arrangements the band have created.  Halo Effect, the shortest complete song at 3:13, is primarily an acoustic song.  The final song, The Garden, is the same way.  The Garden is a soft landing after all the stürm and drang that came before.

Instrumentals:  Unlike Snakes & Arrows which had three (!), Clockwork Angels has none.  With the longer songs, it doesn't need any.

Bottom line:  Clockwork Angels shows a band at the top of their game.  These guys are all pushing 60, but this album proves they are nowhere near ready to retire.  As much as I love Counterparts, Clockwork Angels is better.  I would go so far as to say it’s their best effort from start to finish since Moving Pictures.  A must-have for any Rush fan.  Today is Father's Day.  Give the gift of Rush for Dad!

Parting Shots...

Ok, so last week I wrote about great songs that opened albums.  Beatles producer George Martin is oft quoted that an album needs to start with what he called a good “potboiler.”  But how does one finish an album?  I would think songs that finish an album have to have two things – 1) leave your audience wanting more for the next album.  The listener’s reaction should not “meh”; 2) have a song that can’t possibly be followed by any other on a given album.  I haven’t found nearly as many closing songs as I have opening songs, hence a much shorter list.

The End [The Doors, The Doors, 1967] – The surviving Doors themselves will play any song except this one. Remember, this was the mid-1960s, and songs like this were just starting to be accepted as something to be listened to.  This was the era when music was getting away from the very tight 3-minute format and has to have a good beat you can dance to.  How does one dance to a “kill the father, fuck the mother” story, especially an entrancing 11-minute epic like this one?  This got the Doors fired from the Whiskey A Go-Go, but it also got them a recording contract.  After 45 years it’s still amazing music.

Whipping Post [Allman Brothers Band, The Allman Brothers Band, 1969] – Gregg Allman is mistreated by a woman and boy is he pissed about it.  This song follows Dreams, the slow 7-minute spellbinding glimpse into Gregg Allman’s Southern Gothic visions.  Berry Oakley’s thunderous bass intro sets the ominous tone, the drummers are relentless, Duane and Dickey are blistering.  Gregg is channeling bluesmen from years past to give a vocal performance that belies his 22 years.  How could such a young guy be so world-weary? 

Won't Get Fooled Again [The Who, Who's Next, 1971] – Who’s Next was quite an album.  It has their best opening song [Baba O’Riley] and their best closing song [Won’t Get Fooled Again].  There’s a lot of good stuff in-between as well.  The live version from The Kids Are Alright is even better because of John Entwistle.

Hallowed Be Thy Name [Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast, 1982] – Iron Maiden’s best song and it’s a beauty.  It opens with an atmosphere of doom as the song’s protagonist is waiting in a jail cell to be hanged.  There are quite a few tempo changes throughout, and Bruce Dickinson sings his butt off.  This is a master class in progressive metal.  Their version from Rock in Rio is even better.

Desolation Row [Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, 1965] – “They’re selling postcards of the hanging…”  Eleven minutes with a lot of singing – how does Dylan [or anyone else] remember all the words?

Truckin' [Grateful Dead, American Beauty, 1970] – “Living on reds, Vitamin C and cocaine, all a friend can say is ‘ain’t it a shame’….”  What a long strange trip indeed.

A Day in the Life [The Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967] – The Beatles had lots of great songs to start albums, but not a lot to finish them.  There’s A Day in the Life and Tomorrow Never Knows, both of which can’t possibly be followed by another song on their respective albums.  I chose this one with the flip of a coin.

When the Levee Breaks [Led Zeppelin, LZ IV, 1971] – Two words – John Bonham.  Undoubtedly the best drum sound he ever got on any Led Zeppelin recording was recorded in a spiral staircase at Headley Grange.  The bass drum sounds like a cannon shot.  The rest of the band doesn’t sound too bad either.

Brain Damage/Eclipse [Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon, 1973] – Technically these are two songs, but like ZZ Tops’ Waitin’ for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago, you never hear one without the other.  On most of Pink Floyd’s albums, the last song was an anti-climax, but this is a great climax.  There’s no dark side of the moon really…matter of fact it’s all dark…

Moonlight Mile [Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers, 1971] – This is one of the best ballads the Stones ever recorded. It’s about life as a coked-up rock star keeping up appearances on the road that gently closes Sticky Fingers. It’s an oriental-sounding piece with a string section courtesy of Paul Buckmaster. There’s no Keith in sight on this one – there doesn’t need to be as both Micks have the musical end covered very well.

Voodoo Child [Slight Return] [Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland, 1968] – At first I thought Are You Experienced? would be the Hendrix song, but something in the back of my mind said there was something better, and I remembered this song [Doh!].  Hendrix’s best album ends with a one-two punch of All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Child [Slight Return].  How could I forget?

Redemption Song [Bob Marley, Uprising, 1980] – This is the last song from Bob Marley’s last album to be released in his lifetime.  It’s just him and an acoustic guitar – very un-reggae.  There is an electric band version, but it doesn’t convey the power of the message as the solo acoustic version. The lines "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery/None but ourselves can free our minds" come from a speech by Marcus Garvey.  Political anthems don’t get much more enduring than this.

Keep Me In Your Heart [Warren Zevon, The Wind, 2003] – Warren Zevon knew he was dying when he made this.  The song says “goodbye” in a very poignant, tender way.  This song kept running through my head at my brother-in-law’s funeral.

The Show Must Go On [Queen, Innuendo, 1991] – Freddie Mercury knew he was dying when he made this.  A most dramatic way to end a career – how typical of Freddie.

Let It Rain [Eric Clapton, Eric Clapton, 1970] – The first time I saw Eric Clapton was at Red Rocks in 1983.  We had good weather until this song.  When Clapton sang “Let It Rain…,” we got rain.  He really is God! J  That being said, this song, and the solo that goes with it, is really the first shot of Eric Clapton’s solo career.

The Thrill Is Gone [BB King, Completely Well, 1969] – BB King’s most famous song.  BB wrings a lot of emotion out of Lucille.  He’s finally away from a possessive woman, but he sounds more relieved than happy about the situation.  Originally, BB didn’t want the strings on the song, but after he slept on it he thought they were ok.  At the time, this was a departure for him.  This is one of the best “kiss-off” songs of all time.  An absolute necessity for any blues fan.

Opening Salvos...

The Ultimate Classic Rock website published a list of the 10 Best Opening Songs from classic rock albums.  Having read the list, I said “I can do better.”  The ground rules for my list are simple and few – don’t limit the list to just ten, and pick only one song from any band.  So here’s my list in no order whatsoever.  I know I left out a few.  Feel free to disagree and discuss...

Statesboro Blues [Allman Brothers Band, At Fillmore East, 1971] – Perhaps the best live album from a rock band, this song opens with the immortal words “Ok, the Allman Brothers Band…”  This song is the band’s calling card.

Black Sabbath [Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath, 1970] – awhile back I wrote a blog about Tony Iommi and I said that if one put a gun to my head and asked what is the quintessential Tony Iommi track, I said Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.  I also said that could change on any given day.  Well today is that given day.  This is the first song from the first album from the guys who invented heavy metal.

Like a Rolling Stone [Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited, 1965] – Dylan’s electric phase starts here, and it begins literally with an “opening salvo;” the crack of a drum.

Highway Star [Deep Purple, Machine Head, 1972] – This song is Deep Purple at its finest.  As fate would have it, it is also the opening track from their live album Made in Japan [1973].

White Room [Cream, Wheels of Fire, 1968] – Wheels of Fire was the very first album to be certified “Platinum.”  White Room shows Cream at their studio best, with Ginger Baker’s uncredited 5/4 intro, Clapton’s wah-wah drenched soloing, and Jack Bruce doing a superb job singing Pete Brown’s goofy-assed lyrics.

Break On Through [The Doors, The Doors, 1967] – I had to flip a coin between this one Roadhouse Blues from Morrison Hotel.  This was the world’s introduction to The Lizard King.

Bertha [Grateful Dead, Skull & Roses, 1971] – After the pastoral acoustic albums that were Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, the Dead plug back in and record another live album.  Los Lobos did a better version, but this one still smokes!

Rocky Mountain Way [Joe Walsh, The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get, 1973] -  Post-James Gang, pre-Eagles Joe Walsh at his finest.  This is Joe’s best song as a solo artist. 

Aqualung [Jethro Tull, Aqualung, 1971] – a classic rock staple from a “concept” album.  I have a warm place in my heart for this one.  My friend Alan and I were working sound for a Black Student Union party at USC.  After hearing too many rap and hip-hop songs, we went downstairs, cracked open a bottle of Black Velvet and turned on the stereo.  This was the song that came on and saved our sanity.

Enter Sandman [Metallica, The Black Album, 1991] – Metallica finally hit paydirt with this masterpiece when they ditched the long songs with the changing time signatures, shortened their songs and decided to do songs in 4/4 time. One from …And Justice For All finally got the public to notice the band.  Enter Sandman turned them into millionaires.

Ace of Spades [Motörhead, Ace of Spades, 1980] – Is this punk, is it metal, or is it a cross-pollination of both?  Who cares!  It’s Lemmy!

My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) [Neil Young, Rust Never Sleeps, 1978] – Neil Young’s acoustic ode to Elvis and Johnny Rotten, the electric version of which closes the album. 

Red Rain [Peter Gabriel, So, 1986] – Peter Gabriel finally hit the big time with So.  The big hit from that album was Sledgehammer, but I like this one much better.

Gimme Shelter [Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed, 1969] – this is the coolest song Keith Richards ever wrote, period.  Need I say more?

Wouldn't It Be Nice [The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds, 1966] – Pet Sounds is Brian Wilson’s masterpiece.  A lot of times Carl Wilson or Mike Love had the main mike, but this time it’s Brian’s turn.

A Hard Day's Night [The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night. 1964] – There are so many other great Beatles opening tracks to choose from [Help!, Taxman, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Back in the USSR, Come Together], but I choose this one.  This song is what Beatlemania sounds like.

Welcome to the Jungle [Guns ‘N Roses. Appetite for Destruction, 1987] – Let’s face it – the 1980s had a lot of real shitty hair metal.  Welcome to the Jungle was a great, refreshing, and real.   This kicked the crap out of poseurs everywhere.

London Calling [The Clash, London Calling, 1979] – Is there really any explanation needed for why this song is on my list?

Baba O'Riley [The Who, Who’s Next, 1971] – There is nothing The Who did before 1971 that came close to sounding like this.  There is a running argument between Carol and I about “the best Who song ever.”   This is Carol’s choice [mine is Won’t Get Fooled Again].

Highway to Hell [AC/DC. Highway to Hell, 1979] – The Ultimate Classic Rock website chose Hells Bells from Back in Black [a worthy choice].  I choose this one.  Why?  Bon Scott, that’s why.

21st Century Schizoid Man [King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King, 1969] – For better or for worse, this song is the template for progressive rock.  Gov’t Mule did a smokin’ version on Mulennium.

Born on the Bayou [Creedence Clearwater Revival, Bayou Country, 1969] – This song and Proud Mary define CCR.  If someone wants to know what “swampy” means, play them this song. 

Purple Haze [Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced? (US version), 1967] – When I bought this album on vinyl, this was the leadoff track.  The UK’s version had Foxey Lady.  It’s Jimi Freakin’ Hendrix!

Waitin' for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago [ZZ Top, Tres Hombres, 1973] – I know, it’s really two songs, but have you heard one without the other?  Didn’t think so…

Black Dog [Led Zeppelin, LZ IV (or ‘Zoso’ or ‘Untitled’), 1971] – No explanation required.

2112 [Rush, 2112, 1976] - Heavy metal meets science-fiction concept.  It's all one song with several movements.  In my feeble mind, that counts.

Cream: Royal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6 2005

When this band formed in the mid-1960s, Eric Clapton envisioned Cream as a blues trio. As history has shown, things didn't quite turn out that way. Forty years later, Slowhand finally got his wish. There are blues numbers here in abundance from the likes of Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Albert King, and Skip James. Recorded 37 years after their final proper concert at this same venue in 1968, time may have ravaged their looks, but definitely not their playing. Cream acts like a band this time around rather than as a group of egotistical soloists going for the jugular night after night as they did "back in the day." The jams for which Cream are renowned are kept to a tolerable length. Most songs on this collection clock in around 5-6 minutes. Those that do go long (Stormy Monday, Spoonful, We're Going Wrong, Sunshine, Toad) do not suffer as a result.

As it was back in their heyday, each member is afforded his own showcase. For Jack Bruce, it's "Rollin' And Tumblin'." On this number Jack, accompanied by his harmonica (no bass), Eric playing the slide, and Ginger Baker on the drums, stuns and amazes the crowd with an energy that belies the fact that the man nearly died in 2003. Eric Clapton's showcase is the T-Bone Walker classic "Stormy Monday." This is a new song for Cream as it was never on an official Cream release until this collection came out. Slowhand demonstrates that when he wants to, he is a master of the blues guitar. The man was simply on fire the night they recorded this song. Ginger Baker's showcase was, of course, the drum solo "Toad." By and large, drum solos are usually excuses to head to the bathroom or the concession stand. Not so here. "Toad" is simply compelling. It's isn't boring - it's Ginger Baker demonstrating that yes, the drum IS a musical instrument. By the time the solo ends you don't realize it had gone on for over seven minutes. It's that good!

The big surprise of this whole collection is Ginger's song "Pressed Rat and Warthog" from "Wheels of Fire." On the DVD that visually documented this reunion, Ginger told the interviewer that he was "threatened with execution" by his family if he didn't play this song. At a little over three minutes, this is the only hint of psychedelia that Cream shows throughout the set. Slowhand plays it straight - not a wah-wah pedal to be heard, and frankly it isn't missed (much). Jack Bruce is in fine voice throughout. Of interest is the band's different take on White Room. Instead of Jack Bruce singing the entire song as he has done since he wrote it, Jack sings the first two verses, Eric takes the refrain of those two verses, then the two swap roles for the third verse and refrain. Eric's song "Badge" had never been played live by Cream as it was recorded at the end of their 1960s run, and here Jack Bruce proves once and for all to hear that if you took his bass lines away from the song, there would be no song.

There are lots of plusses on this collection. The jamming is kept to a tolerable length, hence more songs to enjoy. The volume is lower than in their heyday, so the musicians can hear each other, and the interplay between the musicians makes for some outstanding music. One need look no further for proof of this than Cream's take on "We're Going Wrong". Thirty-seven years ago this band was full volume pedal to the metal jamming. Today this band plays like adults - it swings! Credit that to Ginger Baker, who plays more like a jazzer these days (when he does play). There is one minus - no "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (they fixed this oversight when they played MSG in October 2005). Other than that, this collection is a worthy addition to Cream's legacy.

Joe Satriani - Satchurated: Live in Montreal

Awhile back I was TDY in Northern California, and I was doing what I normally do while I’m there with nothing better to do – I was wandering about the independent music stores I could find, waiting for the one CD that would jump out and say “buy me!” While I was doing said wandering, one of the people working in the store played a familiar tune. It was Joe Satriani’s Flying in a Blue Dream. This version was live, and I thought it sounded pretty good. I always liked that song. Now fast forward a few weeks to another TDY, this one in Phoenix. I wondered through a nearby Best Buy and spotted Satriani’s new live 2-CD set, Satchurated: Live in Montreal. After I spotted it, I heard the little voice say “buy me!” This is quite a step for me because many years ago I tired of Joe Satriani’s music. I had Surfing With the Alien, Flying in a Blue Dream, and The Extremist. This was so long ago that Satch still had a full head of hair. I had these albums, but the songs all started to sound the same to me. When all the songs start to sound the same, I lose quickly interest.

The guy is an astounding guitarist, but here’s my beef with Satch’s music. Have you watched the movie Amadeus? Mozart presented a four-hour piece of music, during which the Hapsburg Emperor yawned. When Mozart asked the Emperor what he thought of his music, the Emperor said “too many notes.” That is my criticism of Satch’s music. But I bought Satchurated anyway to see if any of his music since The Extremist has mellowed any. I also wanted to see if my own attitude to his music has changed in almost twenty years. In short, my attitude is unchanged. I can take Satch’s music in small doses, but after hearing one shredfest after another, that “sameness” that I mentioned earlier was still there. Satchurated comes roaring out the gates with Ice 9, and doesn’t let up until Pyrrhic Victoria – nine songs later. The first thing resembling a slow song doesn’t come until the second disc’s Littleworth Lane. For those keeping track, it’s the seventeenth song in the set. That’s a long time to wait for a change of pace. One of his more deliberate and better known songs, Always With You, Always With Me doesn’t show up until near the end of the set. I read one author say this of Satch’s live presentation – “Joe Satriani knows almost everything about playing the electric guitar. He knows very little about how to effectively pace a concert… most of Satriani's solos emphasize technique over feeling.” Let me echo that sentiment – I tried to watch a Chickenfoot show on the Palladia channel awhile ago. For the first time ever, a rock show bored me. Need I say more?

Not all is lost on Satchurated. There is some fine music here – one just has to have the patience to sit and wait for it. Songs I really like – the aforementioned Flying in a Blue Dream, Dream Song, Premonition, Revelation [I’m sensing a theme here…], God Is Crying [a good guitar-keyboard duel with keyboardist Mike Keneally, the same guy who used to work with Frank Zappa], Andalusia [acoustic!], War, Why, Pyrrhic Victoria, Crystal Planet, Satch Boogie [ALWAYS a good one]. There are two new studio tracks at the end – Two Sides to Every Story and The Golden Room. Satch successfully resists the urge to shred his brains out and produced something [dare I say] melodic.  These two songs are very, very good. As a result of listening to this album, will I be going out of my mind to acquire all the solo stuff and the Chickenfoot stuff there is? Carol will be glad to read this – the answer to that question is “no.” This CD will serve as my fix for wanting to hear awe-inspiring technique, if I don’t already get that fix from the otherworldly guitarists that I listen to [David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, et al]. Since this a 2-CD set, I’m glad I paid only $14.99 + tax for it. Otherwise I think I’d really be pissed. If non-stop shredding and jaw-dropping technique is your thing, this collection is for you. Satchurated: Live in Montreal is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some excellent songs here, but those take up about only half of the album. I wanted to like this album, but after hearing a few songs I want something else in the CD player. It’s small doses of Satch for this guy.

Tony's Guitarist Picks - Joe Walsh

Once upon a time long ago and far away in a land called Colorado, a 17-year kid met a girl and fell in love.  She turned that kid on to the Eagles, and by doing so turned him onto a guitarist named Joe Walsh.  He bought Hotel California , The Long Run and But Seriously Folks… and was very impressed by Joe Walsh’s playing.  Yeah, that kid was me.  The hilarity of the song Life’s Been Good [which he once dubbed “an industrial love song”] was refreshing.  It was strange, and I like strange things, so the attraction was instant.  I then got The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get and was floored by Rocky Mountain Way [still am…J].  Having heard this album I wondered “why is this guy in the Eagles?”  Between these four albums I found Joe Walsh’s playing to be impeccable.  Even if he was a bit of a lunatic, his playing was the hook for me.  The love affair with the girl died long ago, but the love affair with the playing of Joe Walsh continues to this day.

What are those things that have endeared me to Joe Walsh’s prowess as a guitar player:

The slide - Joe learned his slide technique from none other than Duane Allman.  Apparently Duane was a good teacher, and Joe was a good learner.  Duane showed him the open E tuning, and gave him one of his glass Coricidin bottles.  Joe's slide playing is flawless.  One needs to look no further than Rocky Mountain Way.  In the most recent issue of Guitar World magazine, he said Rocky Mountain Way was his “Hey, I play slide too!” song.  Indeed he does – he uses both glass and metal, depending on what sound he wants to get for a particular song.  To hear his slide playing [with a glass slide] on the acoustic guitar, look for The Confessor.  Warren Zevon's final work [The Wind] features some of Joe's nastiest playing on Rub Me Raw [where he uses a metal slide].

The talk box - Long before Peter Frampton made himself known with Do You Feel the Way We Do and Show Me the Way, Joe beat him to the punch on Rocky Mountain Way.  The talk box is a Joe Walsh trademark.   Joe revealed recently that it was he who showed Peter Frampton the way on the talk box.

Other effects – Joe Walsh has been a ham radio operator since 1961.  As such, he likes to tinker with electronics.  He’s been known to use a Maestro Echoplex tape-delay unit, Leslie rotating speaker cabinets, or beef-up amps switching to boost gain and treble.

Innate talent – all effects aside, Joe Walsh the guitar player can flat-out wail.  His peers hold him in very high regard:  Jimmy Page: “He has a tremendous feel for the instrument. I’ve loved his style since the early James Gang.” Eric Clapton: “He’s one of the best guitarists to surface in some time. I don’t listen to many records, but I listen to his.” Pete Townshend: “Joe Walsh is a fluid and intelligent player. There’re not many like that around.”

Joe Walsh’s recording career began with The James Gang.  They played in a power-trio format like Cream, Mountain and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.   He did three studio albums and one live album with them before venturing solo.  Joe wanted to do more than just power trio stuff.  Walk Away from Thirds is a great power trio song [Joe is credited with playing “trainwreck” at the end – an apt description].  It’s my favorite James Gang song.  But there were some songs format just wouldn’t work in the power trio format, like Tend My Garden or Ashes, the Rain and I.  The dominant instrument on Tend My Garden is the Hammond B3 organ.  Ashes, the Rain and I is an acoustic song with a string section accompaniment.  So after leaving the James Gang, Joe could indulge himself with stuff outside the power trio format.  He was a multi-instrumentalist who could play piano, Hammond B-3 organ, bass, pedal steel guitar, ARP synthesizer. 

Compared to his work with the James Gang, his first solo album Barnstorm is a fairly quiet affair. Acoustic guitars abound on Barnstorm.  The only raucous track would be the first version of Turn to Stone.  The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get wasn’t quite as quiet as Barnstorm, given that it has both Rocky Mountain Way and Meadows.  So What was a noisier album, but it had its quiet moments.  Joe could write a simple acoustic song like Help Me Thru the Night, or he could come up with a dreamy, ethereal thing like County Fair that has layers of electric guitars.  He produced Souvenirs for Dan Fogelberg in 1974.  This was around the same time he was making So What.  Souvenirs is a fairly pleasant and pretty safe record [emphasis on “pretty”], but Joe plays all over it.  Having heard it I thought it was foreshadowing of things to come in the Eagles.  Of note, amongst all the pretty songs is a very good guitar song called As the Raven Flies.  Carol is a Dan Fogelberg fan.  I heard As the Raven Flies on the radio one time and thought “Hey! Pretty cool song!  Who is it?"  Carol told me “that’s Dan Fogelberg, and by the way that’s Joe Walsh playing guitar.”  Dan Fogelberg’s cool factor went up a couple of notches when she told me that.

I’m very conflicted about Joe Walsh being in the Eagles.  He’s a guitarist I really like in a band that I liked at one time in my life but that I now no longer care for.  After his live You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind, Joe joined them in late 1975.  With his addition just in time for Hotel California, his hard edge made them sound almost lifelike.  His duel with Don Felder on the title track is a career highlight.  There’s some very tasty playing between those two going on there.  The riff from Life in the Fast Lane is his.  Bill Szymczyk produced the Eagles, but the guitars didn't bite like they did on his productions with the James Gang and Joe's solo work.  Perhaps Don Henley and Glenn Frey didn't want to be overshadowed by Joe Walsh and Don Felder [pure speculation on my part], and that's a pity if true.  On The Long Run, the highlights are Joe's.  The most exciting track was his In the City, a song he probably should have kept for himself.  His slide playing on Heartache Tonight is some of the best of his career.  Other than that, The Long Run was a snoozefest.  When the band reunited for Hell Freezes Over, the best sounding song of the bunch was his Help Me Thru the Night.  I think both Henley and Frey knew it too, so there's no wonder why the song was in the telecast but not on the CD.

After the Eagles split up I continued to follow Joe Walsh’s career.  He would put out an album every two years [There Goes the Neighborhood – 1981, You Bought It, You Name It – 1983, The Confessor – 1985].  The tracks that KILO-94 played on the radio [reflected in my list below] were all very good.  The playing was still outstanding, but I noticed he had an annoying habit of putting out albums that had some very good songs while the rest of the songs were “going through the motions” filler.  Little did I know that he was leading the rock-and-roll lifestyle that he depicted in Life’s Been Good to the hilt.  In hindsight, one could plot the quality of his musical output and see a downward trend.  By the time Got Any Gum came out in 1987, there were about three good songs on it. He did two tracks with Steve Winwood in 1986 [Freedom Overspill, Split Decision], one of which he wrote with Winwood.  I thought the pairing of those guys was a good match.  What a pity they didn’t pursue it any further than the record.  When Ordinary Average Guy came out in 1991, I was disappointed because the title demonstrated “truth in advertising.” The album was ordinary, as was the follow-up, Songs for a Dying Planet.

The Eagles reunion in 1994 came not a moment too soon for Joe Walsh.  His last solo album was 1992’s Songs for a Dying Planet, which sounded to me like “Songs for a Dying Career.”  I say that because that was around the time that Joe’s alcoholism brought him to a low point.  He hadn’t done a solo album since then, but later this year he will have his first in 20 years with the release of Analog Man.  Apparently Glenn Frey decreed that if anyone wanted to play in the Eagles again, they had to be sober.  Joe Walsh took that to heart and has been sober ever since.  Having heard him play on Hell Freezes Over, it appears Glenn Frey gave Joe the kick in the ass that he needed.  I hope Analog Man is the re-start of Joe’s solo career.

Joe Walsh factoids:

He attended Albert King’s funeral.  On the way to the funeral, he stopped in a Memphis guitar shop and rented a Gibson SG and an amp.  He used them to play Amazing Grace at Albert’s funeral.

He sold Jimmy Page the 1959 Gibson Les Paul that Jimmy used on every Led Zeppelin record after the first album.

He gave Pete Townshend a Gretsch 6120 guitar and a 3x10 Fender Bandmaster amp.  Pete used this combo to record Who’s Next.

He can play the mandolin, bagpipes, clarinet and the oboe in addition to the piano, Hammond B-3, acoustic and electric guitars, and the bass.

He played on sessions for BB King’s Indianola, Mississippi Seeds album as a rhythm guitarist.

Tony’s iPod Songs: 

Walk Away – Thirds [The James Gang]

Rocky Mountain Way, Wolf, Meadows – The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get

Help Me Thru the Night, Turn To Stone, County Fair – So What

Tend My Garden, The Bomber, Ashes, the Rain and I – James Gang Rides Again

Over and Over, Tomorrow, Inner Tube-Theme from Boat Weirdos, Life’s Been Good – But Seriously Folks…

Rivers [Of the Hidden Funk], A Life of Illusion – There Goes the Neighborhood

I Can Play That Rock & Roll, Told You So – You Bought It, You Name It

The Confessor, Rosewood Bitters, Good Man Down – The Confessor

The Radio Song, Got Any Gum-Up To Me – Got Any Gum

Split Decision – Back in the High Life [Steve Winwood]

As the Raven Flies – Souvenirs [Dan Fogelberg]

Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985.  In his mind the band was a “spent force” creatively.  Perhaps with him still in the band, it was.  He wrote all the songs on The Final Cut.  Rick Wright was out of the band after The Wall shows were complete in 1981.  David Gilmour’s guitar provides little more than a cameo to most of the songs, and he sings lead on only Not Now John.  Nick Mason was replaced by Andy Newmark for the album finale, Two Suns in the Sunset. Gilmour wanted to wait so he could contribute songs to The Final Cut, but Waters didn’t want to wait.  In essence, The Final Cut was Roger Waters’ first solo album.  It didn’t sound like a Pink Floyd album at all.

Both David Gilmour and Roger Waters put out solo records in 1984 [About Face and The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, respectively].  Kurt Loder reviewed both albums for Rolling Stone magazine.  He concluded About Face showed that Gilmour had the patent on the Pink Floyd sound.  Gilmour and Mason decided to make more music under the Pink Floyd banner.  They even brought back Rick Wright to drive that point home.  Although both Mason’s and Wright’s names appeared in the album credits for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, neither played very much on the record.  The album was essentially a David Gilmour solo album as there were lots of outside studio musicians on the album.  Like The Final Cut, A Momentary Lapse of Reason didn’t sound like a Pink Floyd album.  But since Gilmour was still in Pink Floyd and Waters was not, Gilmour had another opportunity to make a Pink Floyd album that sounded like Pink Floyd.  With The Division Bell, released eighteen years ago this week, Gilmour succeeded in making that album.  The Division Bell turned out to be the last Pink Floyd studio album [the live album PULSE came out the in 1995]. 

Cluster One – The Division Bell begins with this Gilmour/Wright piano/guitar duet.  Unlike Signs of Life from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, this isn’t an overture.  Cluster One just goes on its own merry way until…

What Do You Want From Me – This song from Gilmour/Wright shows something one rarely finds in David Gilmour’s recorded work – anger, mixed in with a heavy dose of frustration.  Gilmour asks his listening public what they want from him – should he sing until he can’t sing anymore, should he play until his hands bleed?  Should he play in the rain for them?  The guitar work is some of the nastiest on the album, reminiscent of another song from a different time [Have a Cigar from Wish You Were Here].  Where Have a Cigar was a jaundiced look at the music business and all that is wrong with it from Roger Waters, David Gilmour has an equally jaundiced view of his audience, at least in this instance anyway.  Rick Wright’s keyboards makes one think this is a Wish You Were Here outtake.  It definitely has that WYWH sound.

Poles Apart – I don’t know why, but I don’t like this one – I never did.  It annoys me.

Marooned – Another instrumental which won a Grammy.®  Gilmour communicates with bats on his lap steel.

A Great Day For Freedom – Whenever one hears a David Gilmour or Pink Floyd song with a reference to a “wall” one is tempted to think “A-ha!  This one is directed at Roger Waters.”  Sorry folks, but the wall in question here was the Berlin Wall.  On the day the wall came down they threw the locks onto the ground, and with glasses high we raised a cry for freedom had arrived…  But as the celebration of freedom goes on in Berlin, conflict is brewing anew in another land – Yugoslavia.  Now life devalues day by day as friends and neighbors turned away, and there’s a change that even with regret cannot be undone… Now frontiers shift like desert sands as nations while wash their bloodied hands, of loyalty, of history in shades of grey… Gilmour sang this at the Solidarity celebration in Gdansk, Poland in 2006.

Wearing the Inside Out – For the first time since Dark Side of the Moon, Rick Wright sings on a Pink Floyd album.  He describes himself as a burned out shell of his former self that crawled into a state of self-imposed isolation.  But he’s better now; he’s able to speak for the first time in many years.  This is perhaps the emotional core of The Division Bell.  There’s some very bluesy playing from Gilmour.  Dick Perry returns to play sax on a Pink Floyd album for the first time since Wish You Were Here.

Take It Back – A new guitar sound for a Pink Floyd album – the E-bow.  After four songs at a very laid back tempo, the Floyd pick up the pace with this one.  I saw the video for the song which suggests it’s about the environment.  But how does one account for the following line - So I spy on her, I lie to her, I make promises I cannot keep.  To me it’s more about the pushing the boundaries within a relationship.  Consider the following - Her love rains on me easy as the breeze, I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the sea, I was thinkin' all about her, burning with rage and desire.  So I chalk this up as another ode to the future Mrs. Gilmour.

Coming Back to Life – Where were you when I was burned and broken?  Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless?  Because the things you say and the things you do surround me…Was this directed at the woman who eventually became Gilmour’s second wife?  Had he met her while she was with someone else?  Was he biding his time while she was waiting for someone else?  While you were hanging yourself on someone else's words dying to believe in what you heard… This song is like a companion piece to Wearing the Inside Out. Both songs have that theme of coming from being an emotional cripple to becoming a functional human being once more.  The guitar tone here is clean without any distortion at all.  There’s a long guitar introduction, then the singing bit, concluded by a lot of guitar playing, all of it superb.  If there is one complaint I have about this song, it’s that there is “too much cowbell.” J  The story has a happy ending – Gilmour got the girl.

Keep Talking – At the time of The Division Bell’s release, it had been seven years since the previous Floyd album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason.  So when I heard this Gilmour/Wright gem on the radio [I still listened to radio then before it turned to complete shit…], to my ears it sounded more Floydian than anything since The Wall.  “About damn time” I thought…This sounded like Pink Floyd the band, not Pink Floyd the brand name.  What was missing from previous efforts?  The answer is simple – Rick Wright.  He provides the atmospherics throughout the song that gives it the Floydian feel.  In addition to Gilmour’s stellar guitar playing, we’re also treated to a solo from Rick Wright [the first since Run Like Hell].  Rick is also playing the Hammond B-3 throughout.  When The Division Bell came out, David Gilmour was asked if there was a concept for the album.  His response was there was no real concept, but there was an underlying them about the inability to communicate with others.  This exchange between Gilmour and the female singers underlines this point:

Gilmour: I think I should speak now…

Female voices:  Why won’t you talk to me?

Gilmour:  I can’t seem to speak now…

Female voices:   You never talk to me!

Gilmour:  My words won’t come out right…

Female voices:  What are you thinking?

Gilmour:  I feel like I’m drowning…

Female voices:  What are you feeling?

Gilmour:  I’m feeling weak now…

Female voices:  Why won’t you talk to me?

Gilmour:  But I can’t show my weakness…

Female Voices:  You never talk to me!

Gilmour:  I sometimes wonder…

Female Voices:  What are you thinking?

Gilmour:  Where do we go from here?

Female Voices:  What are you feeling?

Then there’s the disembodied “voice” of Stephen Hawking – It doesn’t have to be like this…All we need to do is make sure we keep talking… Note the last two words – the title of the song.

In the last verse, Gilmour breaks out the talk box for the first time since Animals and mimics the female voices [he mocks them, actually…].  Every time they sing a line, he comes back with a guitar line that sounds, with the help of the talk box, like they’re nagging him.

Lost for Words – This song is mostly acoustic with touches of electric for coloring.  When I heard these words I was certain they were addressed to Roger Waters.  I’ve read that they are not, but consider what they say - So I opened my door to my enemies, and I asked “could we wipe the slate clean?”/But they tell me to “please go fuck myself,” you know you just can’t win…  What follows the final lyric is a superb solo on the acoustic from Gilmour, which is reminiscent of another WYWH song [the title song]. The song fades into ringing church bells and bird sounds that lead into…

High Hopes – A single church bell rings; a piano plays a simple opening theme. This, the last song on the last Pink Floyd album, shows Gilmour looking back on his childhood in Cambridge.  There and then it was a “world of magnets and miracles,” where the imagination had no boundaries.  The grass was greener, the light was brighter, with friends surrounded, the nights of wonder…  Unless you had a very unhappy childhood, who doesn’t think that one’s childhood was idyllic, that they were the best of times when everything smelled better, tasted sweeter, sounded better, felt better, when the nights were wondrous?  He brings himself back to his present circumstance in adulthood, where things maybe aren’t quite as rosy as one would hope - Encumbered forever by desire and ambition, there’s a hunger that’s still unsatisfied/Our  weary eyes still stray to the horizon, though down this road we’ve been so many times… After the singing is over Gilmour turns to the lap steel and plays what I think is his emotional guitar solo…ever.  Michael Kamen [RIP] provided a superb orchestral arrangement that, combined with the lap steel, draws you in and compels you to feel.  This song’s greatness cannot be overstated.  I never tire of listening to it.

So there you have it - Pink Floyd’s final opus.  I don’t think anybody knew it at the time [maybe Gilmour did, but he didn’t tell anybody], but events between now and then have made it so.  Rick Wright passed away in 2006.  David Gilmour has stated in public on numerous occasions that he’s done with Pink Floyd.  There was the one-off reunion at Live 8 in 2005, but that’s all it was – a one-off.  Gilmour and Waters have since buried the hatchet and are at least friendly to one another.  That story has a happy ending, but Rock Wright’s passing makes that happy ending bittersweet.  As for The Division Bell, it isn’t a great album, but it is a damn good one.  That’s enough for me.  With 20/20 hindsight, one can see a logical progression from this to David Gilmour’s solo career and what came next with On an Island.