Archive for Music

What Do You Love?

// February 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // Comics, Film, Food & Drink, I ♥, Music, Sean, Tech, Television

You know he's evil cuz he's got a goatee

You know he's evil cuz he's got a goatee

Nothing says love like spending four days with your family and your girlfriend and feeling like it was far too short. I love my family, but I unfortunately don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. While I do get to see the two and a half hours away girl on a more regular basis, it’s never quite enough. Sigh.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend and I thought I’d share a few things I love, but leaving out some obvious choices like friends, family and the two and a half hours away girl. What do you love?

KISS
Rock and roll super heroes… is there really anything better? You know, there are people who love KISS and there are people who LOVE KISS. I love the band, but I don’t have a basement dedicated to everything KISS with a pinball machine, a glass case full of pictures, magazines, trading cards, model kits, lunch boxes and who knows what. My collection pretty much is music, movies and books about the band. In fact, I just recently bought the Peter Criss solo album on vinyl the other day.  Still haven’t played yet.

Skyline chili
I have to thank my friend Andy for turning me on to the pleasure of heating up some frozen or canned Skyline chili. This isn’t just your run of the mill, average chili. It’s a spicy, flavorful chilidog topping first and then a bowl style second. I like mine with a handful of oyster crackers and cheddar cheese. I know you wanna try it.

Coffee / Tea
When I started drinking coffee, I’d take it with like five sugars and a ton of creamer. My co-workers at the time called it a milk shake. So, I started drinking it black. A perfectly brewed cup of coffee doesn’t need sugar or creamer. Unfortunately, I rarely come across a great cup of perfectly brewed coffee. I usually just add a few packs or spoonfuls of Splenda to take the bitterness edge off. On the other hand, tea is best with the right combination of heat, tea and sweetener. My favorites lately are Ginger Peach Decaf and Cinnamon Apple Spice.

Sleeping in on Sunday
Only the deeply religious would argue with my belief that everyone should sleep in on Sunday. I don’t go to church and haven’t in quite some time. I don’t need the social aspects nor do I feel the need to fill up some spiritual hole. To each their own, of course.

My Droid Eris
Easily the best phone I’ve ever owned. I have barely scratched the surface of what it can do, but my Eris already has exceeded my crappy Blackberry Storm. Next purchase will likely be an iPhone on the Verizon network, but maybe not. HTC + Google + Verizon Network = WIN.

Apple hardware and software
Working with Windows is a collection of frustration wrapped up in a desperate ringing of the hands. To do any basic work like word processing, email and web browsing a PC is adequate enough. However, if you want to do any other kind of work like photo manipulation, graphic design, layout or website creation, Windows sucks. If you like to build your own workstation with all your own parts and spend the time tweaking everything to your own personal settings, an Apple just isn’t for you. However, if you want a computer that just works like it should, buy an Apple.

Water parks
I think it might have been Walt Disney World’s Typhoon Lagoon that turned me on to water parks. There were a few waterslides around my hometown and I did happen to meet the two and a half hours away girl as we were heading to a water park, but giant tube slides and tall speed slides just didn’t exist. Pretty soon, my daughter and I will be heading to Key Lime Cove, an indoor water park in Gurnee.

The Godfather
I have only two movie posters in my apartment, Blade Runner and The Godfather. Both are movies I came to late in life. I tried to watch both, but never truly understood either until I had some experiences of my own and a bit more maturity in my tastes. Of the two, The Godfather is my favorite. The Italian-ness of the family reminded me of my own extended family to a certain degree. Not the mobster part, but the family comes first part.

The Legion of Super Heroes
When I was a kid, my Dad let me go up in the attic and pull out a dozen or so of his comics. He had boxes of comics, all bought for nickels and dimes, of his own money. I was consistently drawn to a group of young heroes from the future who all came from different worlds and had specific super powers. They fought intergalactic bad guys, had relationships, sacrificed themselves for the greater good, had easily one of the largest supporting casts in all of comics and made an enormous impression on me. I’m looking forward to reading the new series coming out later this year.

Mirror Universe/Parallel World Stories
My favorite Star Trek story involves an evil parallel universe where our characters are evil doppelgangers. My favorite comic book story is one where the Justice League meets evil counterparts from a parallel world. There’s just something about taking the heroes we know and love and twisting them, usually by adding an awesome goatee, into bad guys.

So, there you have it… ten things I absolutely love. What about you?

==

LINKY GOODNESS

SHOUTING AT THE SEA

“I’m more comfortable in my imagination than I am in actual human discovery. The best days of my life are when I’ve dreamed about a sexual encounter with someone I’ve already been with. When that happens, I cannot lay off myself.” — John Mayer

COLOPHON

Sean McDevitt could really use a working Legion flight ring.

I Can’t Fight This Feeling

// January 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // I ♥, Music

3609118442_18d0352c05_mI’m laying on my couch as I write this and my iTunes has just shuffled to REO Speedwagon’s “I Can’t Fight This Feeling.” It’s a song that I’ve kept in my heart for one person since I added it to the first mix tape I ever made for her. Yes, I’m talking about the two and a half hours away girl. It may not be “our” song, but it certainly is “my” song for her.

I close my eyes and it’s the summer of 1985. I’ve just turned 17. I owned Thriller, Pyromania and Shout at the Devil, a Member’s Only jacket and a pair of black and gray parachute pants. Sunday nights meant going to the Refinery for teen night and drinking Coke flavored water and hoping to dance with that cute girl from Mr. Chapman’s World History class.

“Even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight.”

Not to get too melodramatic, but my life changed in July of 1985. My parents let me go on a day trip to a water-park that no longer exists in Collinsville, IL. My friend Mike Wernsing invited me and he drove. Along the way we’d be picking up a friend of his and her brother. I can remember it like it was yesterday… walking into that McDonald’s and meeting the two and a half hours away girl for the first time. It was magic. She was sitting in a booth waiting for us and while she may have given Mike a big hug she couldn’t take her eyes off me.

All the way the way to the park, she turned around in the passenger’s seat to chat me up in the back. I don’t remember what she asked or what we talked about. All I remember are the feelings… I really like this girl. She spoke in rapid fire half-sentences. She bounced from topic to topic like a rubber ball. I loved the way her eyes were this not quite shade of green.

After the water-park, we went to the nearby mall, got something to eat and walked around. The chemistry between us was so strong. We had fun laughing and joking around like we were old friends when in reality we had barely met. The silly sexual innuendos of virgin teenagers (a giant green snake comes to mind) were met with “come hither” smiles and knowing winks.

“What started out as friendship has grown stronger.”

We exchanged addresses and phone numbers and from that moment on we were connected. The letters poured in from her and receiving an actual hand written letter was better than gold. I still have every letter she sent me. I’m sad my daughter will only have a hard drive full of emails instead of real ink on tattered paper kept in a shoe box like her old man.

I can remember begging my parents to call her on the phone and then spending three or more hours with her talking about everything and nothing. I would bemoan my fear of asking this one girl to dance at the Refinery and she would complain about her current boyfriend or cheerleading. It didn’t matter.

I would visit her infrequently. A three hour drive from college just to spend a few short hours and get my first kiss from her was worth every second. Of course, we always danced around a real relationship. In our sweet, innocent and “scared to death of ruining our friendship” way, we took far too much pleasure from holding hands and talking on the phone late into the night. What might have been…

Today, after many years and far too many dead-end paths taken, we are together. At least as together as we can be since we remain two and a half hours away. I can’t see her as often as I’d like and nowhere near as often as she would like. Our arrangement isn’t perfect and maybe it never will be.
Our friends and family sometimes have a hard time understanding why we continue this relationship when it doesn’t really appear to be moving in any direction. I can never adequately explain it. It’s just the way we are wired, I guess. Our hearts are intertwined and our chemistry, found 25 years ago, hasn’t gone away.

I miss her. I love her. And I can’t fight this feeling anymore.

==

LINKY GOODNESS

SHOUTING AT THE SEA

“I hope to hell that when I do die somebody has the sense to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddam cemetary. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody.” – J. D. Salinger

COLOPHON

Photo by stevefaeembra

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Agree to Disagree

// January 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Books, Comics, Current Affairs, Film, Food & Drink, Music, Religion, Science, Sports, Television

I have a question for you.ebertsiskel

Why exactly do you like the things you do? What makes your favorite music, movie, food, TV show, sports team, author, whatever it is… your favorite? And what do you do when someone tells you what you like is stupid?

Taste’s change. People grow up. I was a huge fan of the Monkees in third grade, but today I’d be hard pressed to listen to “Valerie” without rolling my eyes. Although to be fair, you all are now singing the chorus along with me. I know. It’s okay.

Interests usually get solidified early. For example, I grew up in a house full of awesome silver age comic books. So, of course, I love comics. I also grew up in a house knee deep in St. Louis Cardinals, James Bond soundtracks and Starlog magazine.

For example, I know when I fell in love with KISS. It was 1978 and I learned rock and roll super heroes existed. Come. On. How could I not love that? Especially since one of them looked like he belonged on the cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland and another thought he was from some planet named Jindell. At the tender age of 10, I found something that I’ve enjoyed for 30 years. I bet you have a similar tale.

The real test is how you defend your likes when someone says what you like sucks. Likes and dislikes are all subjective. I may understand why some people like Radiohead, but I just can’t find myself enjoying much of their catalog. Isn’t there a T-shirt with the slogan, “Your favorite band sucks?”

I’ve never been a music, movie or television snob and I think my open-mindedness has allowed me to simultaneously enjoy a serious, well-made, Academy Award-winning film like The Departed along with a not-trying-to-be-anything-but-a-way-to-entertain-you-for-an-hour-and-a-half-movie like Rock Star starring that girl from Friends and Marky Mark doing his best Jeff Scott Soto by way of Judas Priest.

Another good example is how I can’t fathom why anyone is a fan of the Chicago Cubs. They haven’t won anything in years, yet Wrigley Field is filled each summer with fans hoping next year is this year. It would be easy to say (and I’ve said it more than once myself) that Wrigley Field is the biggest beer garden that also happens to have some guys throwing a baseball around in the middle of it all and that’s the real appeal. There’s some truth to it, but I would never tell a Cubs fan they’re stupid for enjoying their team. It is what it is.

Take it one giant step further with topics such as politics or religion and one can quickly see what kind of crazy intolerance is out there. Nobody is born Republican or Protestant at birth. It’s thrusted upon children from the moment they enter the world. In my view, if your religion gives you personal comfort more power to you, but don’t tell me I’m going to hell because I don’t believe quite the same thing you do.

I enjoy debating with my friends regarding political policy especially because my friends don’t treat being intellectually retarded as a virtue. One of my friends is deeply conservative but he would be the first to tell you he’s not a Republican and the Presidency of George W. Bush was a disaster. I’m way more progressive then he is, but neither one of us would slam the other for our points of view – especially if we find some common ground. We always simply agree to disagree and move on. Our whole lives are not wrapped up in finding the right wing or left wing POV of every little detail. How sad would that be?

My biggest pet peeve is willful ignorance. I get a bad feeling around people who are proud of being stupid. I’m no fan of talking heads and other “personalities” who relish in knocking down the intellectually elite because they graduated from an institution of higher learning and studied the world around them. More to the point, you can’t engage these mouth-breathing buffoons in conversation or, better yet, in debate because their “reality” seldom crosses over into my reality. There’s no agreeing to disagree with these people because it’s always their way or the highway, even when information comes along that destroys their tiny little world view. I avoid them.

In fact, it’s more fun debating with my friends whether or not Wolverine is the best post silver age character ever created. Now that’s a way to kill a Sunday afternoon.

==

LINKY GOODNESS

SHOUTING AT THE SEA

“I have masturbated myself out of serious problems in my life. The phone doesn’t pick up because I’m masturbating. And I have excused myself at the oddest times so as to not make mistakes. If Tiger Woods only knew when to jerk off. It has a true market value, like gold bullion. [The reason is] because I want to take a brain bath. It’s like a hot whirlpool for my brain, in a brain space that is 100 percent agreeable with itself,” — John Mayer

COLOPHON

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My Favorite Decade 2000-2009

// January 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Comics, DVD, Food & Drink, Music, Sean, Sports, Travel

Me & the 2 1/2 Hrs Away GirlMy life from 1990 to 1999 was a whirlwind blur of grad school, graduation, marriage, new baby, divorce, and a series of not so great career decisions. Aside from the birth of my daughter, I don’t have a lot of personal highlights or fond memories for that time period. Bit sad, really.

As this most recent decade ends, I was suddenly struck by all the personally positive events in my life over the last ten years.  Sure, I lost more hair, endured the sting of failed relationships and changed jobs more often than I’d like to remember, but overall I had some real highlights.

The following is a list of events, choices or “things that happened around me” that were my favorites. It’s a nice microcosm of what was important to me over the last ten years. I wonder how indicative it is for the next ten years?

10.) Moving to Champaign, IL

Easily, the best decision I ever made. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for my hometown, but I could not move forward and still live in Effingham. I may have been comfortable there, but never challenged.  So, I moved in early 2001 to an apartment I still live in and have really never looked back. I made a few friends here, but it’s the town and its institutions I love more than anything – Seven Saints, G-Mart, Assembly Hall, Jim Gould’s, Art Mart, Virginia Theatre, Taste of C-U, The News-Gazette, That’s Rentertainment, Smile Politely, Sholem Pool, Jupiter’s, The Great Impasta, Ebertfest and so much more.

9.) Wizard World Chicago (1999 – 2008)

My personal mini-vacation for many years was attending Wizard World Chicago. It reignited my love for comics in the early years and kept it alive throughout. I have hundreds of great experiences and each con was a unique happening. My bedroom wall is a testament to various years of sketches acquired and books signed. I’m saddened at the decline of the convention into mostly featuring D-List celebrities. I’m hoping the first C2E2 in April will become a new tradition.

8.) My Brother’s Wedding

My wedding was a small affair. It was a rushed, panic-inducing time. I never got the bride in a white wedding dress or much of a reception and I never really thought or cared too much about it. However, being the best man in my brother’s wedding was easily my favorite wedding/reception. He had an extravagant and lovely Christmas wedding eight(!) years ago with a massive reception I never had with great food, happy relatives and a great DJ. I gave a humorous and resounding best man speech, danced like a fool and I’m pretty sure a married woman flirted with me. Still, what I remember most was standing next to my little brother watching him well up as his soon-to-be-wife walked down the aisle.

7.) Voting for Barack Obama

I was not really all that political until George W. Bush. After Katrina and the bogus reasons for going to war, I thought Bush was a ridiculous caricature of incompetency. Several years before his announcement, I felt Obama was a legitimate candidate for the Presidency. The historic weight of my vote didn’t move mountains. Nationally, my state has been solidly blue for many elections and whether or not I voted for the man probably didn’t mean much. Nevertheless, participating in the process was exciting. The results were a mandate and even after a year I’m still pleased Barack Obama is President.

6.) I Purchase my MacBook

I bought two vehicles in the last decade, but by far the best major purchase I made was my MacBook. I was tied for too long to a desktop iMac and this new laptop afforded me the luxury of mobility. I’ve taken my MacBook with me on vacation, to the coffee shop, to the airport, everywhere. It’s not quite yet been usurped by faster and fancier machines. I fully expect my daughter will inherit it as soon as I purchase something new… probably a MacBook Pro.

5.) Illinois Basketball in 2005

This one is a bit of a cheat. I didn’t have anything to do with the team making it all the way to the NCAA Tournament Championship game. I had no personal stake in the team. I didn’t even meet any of the players until years later. At the time, all I did was cheer them on. Living in Champaign-Urbana during their magical run was exciting. The town turned orange and blue and everyone was a basketball fan.  I was lucky enough to have been able to score seats to a few of those early games. I’m not a big sports guy, but since I moved to Champaign University of Illinois basketball is one of my true favs.

4.) KISS Releases Sonic Boom

I never thought I’d ever hear a brand new KISS album of original material again. Having the album debut at number two on the charts (Damn you Michael Bublé appearance on Oprah!) was unbelievable. Having the tracks sound like classic KISS right there between Rock and Roll Over and Love Gun was beyond all hope. My fervent wish is the band decides they had a ton of fun in the studio and go back in and do it again. Even better.

3.) Visiting Grant in Phoenix

Since my friend Grant moved to Phoenix he quietly badgered me into coming out and visiting. For years, I nodded in agreement and then never could find the time. Finally, I afforded myself a week’s vacation and flew from spitting rain in Indianapolis to a pleasant 85 degrees in Phoenix. I spent my time with Grant and his amazing family eating awesome barbecue, swimming in their pool, watching The Hangover and getting ready to drive to San Diego for Comicon. Just writing about it makes me want to get on a plane and do it all over again (except for the driving to San Diego part. I’m sweating just thinking about it.).

2.) The Trip to King’s Island with my Daughter

As my daughter grew up, I decided we needed to take a few mini-vacations. The King’s Island trip was the farthest we’d gone for a weekend trip – about four hours. We arrived way ahead of schedule and couldn’t check into our room. Even though the weather was overcast with spitting rain, we ventured over to an adjacent waterpark and enjoyed ourselves on all the waterslides sans long wait times. The highlight for me was my kiddo facing her fear and jumping into 15 feet of water from a platform about ten feet from the water’s surface. I did it first and then watched her make that jump, break the surface, swim over to me and say, “I wanna do that again!”

1.) The Two and a Half Hours Away Girl

I can’t explain to anyone our relationship. She’s been my “girl” friend, my crush, my “one that got away,” my confidant, my advice giver, my lover, my best friend, my girlfriend and basically a part of my life for over 25 years. I broke down when she called to tell me she was going to try and make it work with the long lost college love of her life and I gradually let her back into my life after that endeavor crashed and burned. Today, it’s as complicated as ever and as simple as can be. I have no idea what the future holds for us.

What will be my highlights in 2020 as I look back on my life? What will be the events and moments that marked my time and my friends and family? I don’t know, but I expect it will be wonderful.

==

LINKY GOODNESS

SHOUTING AT THE SEA

“Everything this president sees is a political opportunity, including Haiti, and he will use it to burnish his credentials with minorities in this country and around the world, and to accuse Republicans of having no compassion,” – Rush Limbaugh

How very telling. Rush looks at the devastation of Haiti and sees minorities. The rest of the world sees people. Thank goodness thousands of individuals and companies ignored Rush and pledged money and services. Have you?

COLOPHON

If you like (or don’t like) what I’ve written here or in the past, please let me know. Comments are appreciated.

Content versus Form

// October 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Books, Comics, DVD, Music, Tech, Television, Video

2902815972_86ee6a6584_mI love walking into bookstores. I can pick up three paperbacks and they will all be priced $7.99 no matter if they are by best selling authors or someone I’ve never heard of before. A book that is considered a best seller costs the same as the book that doesn’t crack the best seller list. It’s the same with paperbacks as well. We are buying form verus buying content. It’s simply the cost for book production plus a few extra dollars for profit, royalities, marketing and overhead.

Content versus form is everywhere. Newspapers, magazines, movies and music have the same problem. Are we paying for the content or the form? Also, what happens when users start acquiring these things online for free?

Newspapers like to pretend they provide news, but that would be false. A newspaper provides eyeballs for businesses wishing to advertise with articles, editorials, and pictures used to bring in those eyeballs. But of course, the vast majority of those eyeballs just want the articles and stories and could care less about the advertising. Even worse for the poor newspapers is when those readers actually want advertising they don’t go to newspapers. Instead they go to Cragislist or eBay or somewhere else. Craigslist and eBay destroyed the classifieds section of most major newspapers practically overnight and remember classifieds used to be a cash cow.

Which brings us back to content. When users can find the content they desire for free they rarely will pay for it. Unless it’s at a price point they will tolerate or there’s value added incentives. I could easily download any movie from the net, but not the commentary tracks or the behind the scenes featurettes. Those are value added. I love it when muscians add DVDs or other material to their releases because it brings something extra to the purchase. It also helps when they price their product correctly – $10-12 for new releases. Distribution is easy – Just use Wal-Mart.

Apple and iTunes have figured out the content/form equation perfectly. They don’t overcharge for content that is basically created for iPods. They are the perfect middleman. Google has created tools to aggregate news, blogs and other social media into one user interface in a way newspapers and magazines only dream about.

Speaking of relatively free or low cost content, Hulu has figured out a way to get eyeballs on shows with limited commercial interruption. In fact, with Hulu the era of appointment television is over. It began with the arrival of DVRs and skippping over of commercials, but really has come into the forefront with the success of Hulu.

The people who are watching a program on Hulu or use a DVR like Tivo are not the same people who will watch a program during regularly scheduled times.

A quick aside to those who postpone putting a new show on Hulu by a week (Fox with House, for example) are doing themselves a tremendous disservice. Those who will watch a program online will just simply go to a site without any commercials to watch it on a more timely basis. And guess what, they aren’t watching your commercials and even worse they may just decide to watch ALL their programming that way even if the quality is not as high as Hulu.

The networks are slow dinosaurs who like record companies before them are slow to pick up on how this generation views entertainment and content. Every step is incredibly tentative and they will continue to lose viewers, listeners and money.

Today, it is a different audience. Almost anyone who would buy a book to put on their Kindle is not the same person who wants a bookshelf full of books. The same can be said for iPod owners. Anything you want that can be digitized in some form or another is available online with a few clicks of a mouse and a high-speed internet connection.

It’s the content they want, not the form. And people are tired of the old forms.

Tick, Tick… Sonic Boom

// October 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music, Video

When I was a kid, nearly every day I would go over to the house of my friend Mark Schwartz to read comics or play with our Mego Action Figures (I had the Spider-Man with Spidermobile). One day, we were playing outside near his older brother’s open bedroom window. That particular day, he was playing an LP on his record player and the sounds were nothing like I’d ever heard before. Up to that point, I was fed a steady diet of Simon and Garfunkel, The Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack and the Monkees.

We went up to his window and he showed us the album cover. It was KISS Alive! From that moment on, I knew I’d found something cool, maybe dangerous, and in my grade school mind, rebellious. Soon after, I bought my first KISS album with my own money. KISS Love Gun was played over and over and to my parent’s credit, they never once asked me to turn it down.

KISS were rock and roll super heroes who sang about love guns and meeting in the ladies room. To my mind, this group was the coolest thing ever. The funny thing is, I still think they are one of the most innovative and cool bands in the world. Sure, they aren’t U2 or The Who or Led Zepplin.  They carved their own niche. One that millions of fans love.

Today, I’m the father of my own 14-year-old finding her own way with her own music. I wonder if 25 years from now she’ll still be listening to Muse or Angels & Airwaves the way I still listen to KISS.

I love all eras of KISS. The 70s Super-KISS with appearances on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special, the Jerry Lewis Teleathon and starring in KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. I love 80s KISS with the harder sound of Creatures of the Night and the sans make-up years. I love 90s KISS with the swagger of heavy new material from Revenge melding with make-up gems. I love the Reunion era and the magic of seeing the original line-up at the height of their reclaimed glory.  Lastly, I love the current incarnation of the band finally striking out with it’s own identity.

Which brings me to the brand new KISS album, Sonic Boom.

Sonic Boom is so good it makes me forget about Ace Frehely and Peter Criss. Nothing will diminish Eric Carr in my heart as the best KISS drummer ever, but the line-up of Stanley, Simmons with Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer is one of the most tight, yet loose groups ever.

As they toured off and on from continent to continent, this line-up has gelled like no other. They re-recorded older material and it sounded great. From what I can tell, the experience of working together in a studio setting plus night after night on stage has re-energized the band. Nothing showcases this energy better than Sonic Boom.

You might think Sonic Boom would be the last gasp of the well-documented Stanley/Simmons money machine. You would be wrong. This is easly the most solid effort to create a KISS album since probably the early 70s. They used no outside writers or producers. They worked together as a band in a way they probably hadn’t done in a long time. And it shows.

Sonic Boom sounds like a modern KISS record, but stuck in the Rock and Roll Over/Love Gun years. The opening track and first single, “Modern Day Delilah,” grooves seemlessly with classic KISS. In fact, the whole record just feels like classic KISS.

Gene’s songwriting is easily the strongest in years. Aided by Stanley for the first time in decades, the Simmons tracks keep the right vibe both sonically and lyrically. It just sounds the way KISS is supposed to sound. The bass playing, for instance, is a showcase of his talent not heard since, say, “Detroit Rock City.”

Stanley brings a unique tone to his vocals this go ’round. Not content to scream on key or hang around in a high register throughout a song, he utilizes a more normal register which makes it uniquely KISS and nothing like his recent solo album.

Thayer plays like someone who has been a huge fan of the band for many years. In fact, the solos feel like Frehely solos as if they were played less sloppy and with a contemporary ear. While he doesn’t directly lift from Frehley (except for a few licks), his playing adds classic KISS pixie dust to each song. He isn’t trying to be Ace, but he easily sounds the most Ace-like than any lead guitar player KISS has ever employed.

Almost a year ago, I wrote an open letter to Doc McGee and KISS asking them to consider several things I felt the band should do in preparation of the new record and tour. On nearly every point, the band followed through. From new outfits to no outside song writers to Wal-Mart exclusivity to video documentation of the recording to stage-size video screen, the band and I were uncannily simpatico.

The only misstep I’ve seen so far is the album cover. It’s obvious the band wanted to try and catch lightning in the bottle again by utlizing the same artist who created the iconic Rock and Roll Over cover. The result is just not good. Of course, in this day and age of digital music, does the cover really make or break an album anymore?  I don’t have any answers, but I know I would have loved to have seen what my suggestion of Todd McFarlane could have done.

The bottom line, this is the best KISS album since Revenge and the most classic KISS sounding record since Love Gun. I hope the experience was so good, they do it again.

Short Bursts

// September 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Books, Film, Music, Performance, Television, Twitter

Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough Department

You may have heard about Michael Jackson? The child singer recently went to the great big “Neverland in the Sky,” but like Elvis before him, he’s worth more now than as the stand-in for Skeletor. Apparently before he had massive heart failure, MJJ was filming his rehearsals for his upcoming British concert gigs. The wise and powerful Sony grabbed the guy from High School Musical and decided to edit the footage down to make some sort of musical documentary that, you know, isn’t Spinal Tap. Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ will probably generate a few bucks and some rubberneckers at the local cineplex. I think I’ll wait for the inevitable DVD release.

Master of Moptops is Pulling Your Strings Department

I have been informed there is a band which plays Beatles songs in the style of Metallica. They are named, Beatallica, of course. The guy does an amazing James Hetfield impression.

The Future’s So Bright Department

Remember the early 90s commercials from AT&T that asked various technology questions and then ended with Tom Selleck saying “You Will?” If not, here they are for you to ponder. I find it fascinating how truly accurate the predictions were… and a “Before They Were Stars” Jenna Elfman in the baby one. I wonder what would be in a set of new ones created today?

Twits and Bats Department

Once Twitter’s arch-nemesis, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is now buddy-buddy with the blue bird. Cardinals fans were treated to a ceremonial opening pitching by none other than Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s Creator and Co-founder. The milestone event pretty much puts to bed the former quarrel between La Russa and Twitter, which had the baseball manager suing the company for trademark infringement, cybersquatting and misappropriation of name and likeness. The best thing to come out of it was Verified Accounts, which elimiated the Fake Celebrities on Twitter.

Tooting About Nick Hornby Department

I’ve read the first chapter of the new Nick Hornby book, Juliet, Naked. I loved every word. I love the name of the characters and I really loved the plot. From the description:

Annie loves Duncan-or thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn’t. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music ten years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life.

In doing so, she initiates an e-mail correspondence with Tucker, and a connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they’ve got. Tucker’s been languishing (and he’s unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional and artistic ruin-his young son, Jackson. But then there’s also the new material he’s about to release to the world: an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album, Juliet-entitled, Juliet, Naked.

What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one’s promise.

Here’s a link to the first chapter. If you love music just a little bit, you won’t be disappointed.

A Thousand Little Needles

// September 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Current Affairs, Food & Drink, Music, Performance

I saw arguably the best slide guitar player in the world last Thursday and I’ve been paying the price ever since.  Let me explain.

Thursday night I was invited to the opening night of the Ellnora Guitar Festival and had an incredible time. I saw Chicha Libre, a band I’d never heard before, play their brand of psychedelic surf. If Robert Rodriguez doesn’t use these guys for one of his movies, I’ll be disappointed. Of course, the highlight of the evening was The Derek Trucks Band. Again, I had no idea who Derek Trucks was before last Thursday. Afterwards, I immediately grabbed his latest CD from the library.

Even though we had plenty to drink and some awesome food, we still only ended up three rows from the stage. I guess we could have just parked ourselves at the front of the stage, but then we would have missed the museum, Guitar Hero and free picks. Ten feet away from Eric Clapton’s sideman? I’ll take it.

I quickly realized this Derek Trucks guy was going to draw a crowd. Thirty minutes before the band was scheduled to hit the stage, it was wall-to-wall people. You couldn’t move. The crush of patrons was, amazingly, civilized save for one gentleman who asked, in a sugar sweet voice, a backpack wearing college kid to kindly take his fucking backpack off and move to the complete other side of the crowd before he beat the snot out of him. The backpack kid just looked at him slack jawed and asked, “Are you serious?” His friends restrained him from knocking this kid’s head off.

The only downside to this musically filled evening was the fact I had to stand for three hours plus with a variety of semi-sweaty people, grooving to the music. By the end of the night, my legs, feet and ankles were in tremendous pain.

I was so sore, I was reasonably worried I wouldn’t be able to walk up my steps. After finally sitting down, I had a tingly sensation up and down my legs. A thousand little needles.

Consequently, all weekend long I’ve been nursing my right ankle. I mostly tried to stay off of it, put it up and take some decent drugs to dull the strained muscles and tendons. I probably should have started a cold compress. By the way, two Vicodin do not even dent my ankle pain. I’m scared to take more.

What a drag it is getting old.

Raindrop Melody Maker

// September 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music, Weblogs

 
This is pretty cool. Something to do while the Monday morning coffee kicks in.

KISS Outfits 2009

// September 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music

KISS has not had a new look to their outfits since putting on the make-up for the reunion tour. In fact, they actually started with Alive II era outfits and worked backwards to Alive! era outfits. However, with a new album and tour the band has decided now is the time to have new outfits.

Feast your eyes on the latest designs:

 
All of them harken to different outfits from the past. Paul’s is the best. LOVE the new Flying V guitar he’ll be using on tour.