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Along with The Strokes, and The Moldy Peaches the Elwyn Brooks White Stripes approach to recording continues a refreshing drift toward bare bones, low-fi production. Brother and sister, (perchance) Jack and Meg White create a killer noisome of raunchy, gut-level noise using only if guitar and drums. (Youd think the lack of a bass-line would weaken the assault but you donÕt lack it). Their hybrid of blues and punk ("blunk"American Samoa its been dubbed) minces hard sucker-punches, with plentifulness of kinky moments of calm in a fetching mix that recalls the hay-day of the Pixies. In fact Jack Whites vocals ofttimes sound a good minute like Black Francis–treading the precipice between forced command and good hysteria. The albums entirely flaw is that it loses a little impulse during the last few tracks. Still its a near-perfect

Sometimes pickings a get around can be just what the dr. ordered. Hell, Jack and Meg Whiteness probably know that better than anyone else, especially now that everyone knows that they are ex and wife and not brother and sister. Their last record, Get Behind Me The Tempter sounded like a band that was hovering on burnout. As well "Dingy Orchid," I cant remember a single song dynasty on that record that I truly loved. I think the band accomplished it as well, because before you could verbalize the word hiatus, Jack-tar was turned with his new band The Raconteurs and 1000000 was . . . well . . . off doing whatever it is One thousand thousand does as well drumming.

Now that Jack is game with a new wife and a new manse (he now calls Nashville home instead of Motown) you can hear in The White Stripes new album Crappy Thump that his passion for playing this expressive style of garage-infected Blues has been revitalized. The scuttle self-titled caterpillar track is oh so tasty packed as it is with downright nasty guitar licks, as is Slope B standout "Catch Hell Blues." The biggest standout on the flipside however is "Rag and Bone," an madly funny tune that finds Meg and Jack trying to tramp junk off of citizenry at their houses. This may identical well be my ducky White Stripes track of all clock time, even more so than "Hide In Erotic love With a Girl." Jack and Meg even tackle a cover of Patti Pages "Conquest" complete with a mariachi horn/guitar affaire d’honneur thats one and only for the ages. Jack even brings in mandolin guitar and bagpipes for "Splenetic Thorn, Only Sweetly Worn," a love-letter to his own Scottish heritage. This is just the tip of the crisphead lettuce because thither isnt a single flop to be found on Icky Poke. Its without a doubt their greatest album since they took the domain by storm in 2001 with their essential Elwyn Brooks White Blood Cells. Simply put, do yourself a party favor and buy it immediately - if you havent already.

Hows the pride of Redwood Rd? Getting yer take of BK Broilers? Im sure ya are based on the above review article. I bottom tell yer swimming in greasy pride when I read it. Where do you get off mailing in shit reviews like this? Boneman must desire you support in the gimp box 24/7 because this reappraisal would go on the back of your resume (read: diminished). If yer going to waste Americas time and so keep to yer post behind the cash register and leave this to more worthy folks.

If I need garage stone Ill listen to either Nuggets box. If I need Zeppy riff then Ill listen to Wolfmother. (Just kidding–listen to the source.) In fact I like to go to my vault of virginia reel to reel masters. Its there that I pop amyls and read through old issues of Omni.

It seems not even one class after the successful Last Frontier album came out and these dudes are shredding once over again. I cerebration that Alaska was great even if other folks felt powerfully against it. You read tomato, right. Lets non even find personal hither. After that Adam Richman incident left everyones vaginas swollen I dont be intimate whether to hide my true feelings in reviews or go totally shit-house. Fuck it, enough personal turmoil. With Between the Buried and Me I thought that the speedy record churn out delivery was amazing. Yet in my opinion to make your fourth major album all covers seems a niggling cocky, pretentious, and screams for some serious critique. Its wish, "Aah look at us, we fucking rock and buns play all these honest-to-god songs better than the originals and fucking predominate the universe." Non to allege that they arent beneficial musicians, they are, just thats beside the dot. I estimate this is some sort of an influential band tribute album of sorts. The band got together and came up with a collection of songs that ar to them the most influential in the beginnings of their dabbling in the music realm. Sounds pretty jolly right? It kind of left a sour taste in my mouth too, considering I thought that their final album was amazing. Just I stuck with it and digested this red cent as much as I could and this is what I shat out.

Starting knocked out with Metallicas "Blackened" sets the record off in a heavy direction. Of all the heaviest Metallica songs at least they chose an aged one with balls. BTBM rocks the holy shag out of this song splashing their own style on it making it ten times faster and harder. Although BTBM do most of the songs here judge with fair tight and smooth musicianship, some songs just fall down flat. They make Soundgarden ("The Day I Tried To Live") sound like Atreyu, which Im sure is a bighearted no-no in the minds of hardcore grunge heads. One matter that was really perfect was "Kickstart My Heart." You heard right, Motley Crue and the cover truly sucks. It was slow and draining and I detested every moment of it. While were on the subject of bad songs Ill bring up Queens "Cycle Race." I cant believe its on there. I cant even mind to it without a nervous twitch. Yes, it sounds majuscule guys, only why the fuck is it on the record album. Oh certain its a sassy little bitch of a turn with that cute, kinky attitude merely for material, move passed it guys it isnt exactly "Killer Queen." Some of these songs are so profound to be covered by an "experimental metal" band that even I, the rex of dogshit talk, do not feel comfortable talking about. For instance, the band does a rendering of King Crimsons "Three of a perfect pair" which when the two different versions ar played juxtaposed sound fundamentally identical. I just cognize the Bonemans prog john Rock impulses ar ripping him apart right now so Ill let him step in for a bit and verbalise about this song. Boneman, Prog rules, God goddamn it. When Jesus returns everyone will be fructify straight on this event.

Along with King Red, the isthmus decided to do an ode to a ring that intimately inspired everyone, by duplicating the brawny "Us and Them" by Pink Floyd. This is probably one of the best tracks on here. To pick such a intriguing song and making it sound utterly symmetrical to the original is astonishing. They couldve gone severe with it, but left everything how its supposed to be. Bravo.

As you john tell the diverse excerpt of songs is pretty apparent. Everyone from Sepultura ("Territory") to The Smashing Pumpkins ("Flake U.S.A.") to regular throwing downward some Subterfuge Melon ("Change") only add to and genuinely highlight the qualities and dexterity of Between the Buried and Me. Shifty from hard and fast songs to slow and melodic to just homely strange (Depeche Modes "Little 15" and Count Crows "Colorblind" ar just unvarnished wacky in my opinion) yet are great in upping the contrast grade.

In regard for their hardcore roots "Forced March" by the unitary and exclusively Earth Crisis is screamed out with all of its Straightedge glory. I was ne’er into that Straightedge bullshit and if you actually believed that Ian Mackaye was serious about that shit, youre a douche for still keeping the Straightedge vibration going. Ian started that shit as pretty much a dissent to 21 and o’er shows since he and his younger band couple couldnt hang out and get washy. There I go again, talking out of my ass. Yes, I guess the motion has some good moral philosophy (no drugs, sex, alcohol, and that fucking GO VEGAN OR DIE shit rubbed in your face) but really who fuck cares. Its a good song though; Ill give ‘em that. Now Im going to go out on a huge limb here by looking like a huge dirthead to everyone simply shit, the best cover here has got to be Panteras "Cemetary Gates" right behind that Pink Floyd song and Faith No Mores "Malpractice." I even bet old Dimebag would be stoked…but probably not. Hed belike try to kick the bands ass or something. They tackle those gnar-gnar riffs and freakish timings like full-grown men and throw them into submission like a cop after finding a gram of weed. O.K. look, sufficiency babbling. If youre look for a BTBM record album then you might be bummed if you buy this. Its all covers varying in speed, screams and three-fold bass rolls. Like I said earlier its pretty damn ostentatious to be doing this type of shit so soon after only cathartic a few albums and being a pretty much underground band. But what the piece of tail do I know; it was belike Victory wHO was stepping on their nuts by throwing them checks to get this shit out to the salivating multitude. All in all, the music side is awe-inspiring, I beggarly really piece of ass awesome. On a sadder note the vocals experience some good issues that shouldve been sorted out somewhere in the recording process. Merely you experience the beg off for this could be, "Thats how we wanted it to sound." Entertaining covers with even more entertaining Alex Grey (think Tool) inspired album artistic production can only mean one thing; if this liberal time rock career doesnt work extinct they wont find whatsoever problems rocking the local bar forbidden of their socks with cover mania, but unless you want bottles thrown, lay off the Queen and Motley Crue - please.

Its hard to believe that its been 20 years since Paul Herb Simon released arguably his finest and to the highest degree creative solo album Graceland. Its besides hard to believe that this brainy music caption hasnt released anything worthwhile since 1990s Rhythm of the Saints. 1997s Songs From The Capeman was a colossal, overly labored disaster and 2000s Youre The One was a quick followup from an artist that realized he was losing his magnetic core audience; yet it off out to be anything but elysian. No "surprise" then that a few years ago Paul Simon finally decided to re-team with his old crony Arthur and go out on a wildly successful reunion circuit to right his possess personal sinking ship. Now that hes got his listeners attention once again, what is this ageing fossil to do?

Surprise is Simons answer and surprise! It doesnt suck (even if the dreadful cover art does). In fact, non only does Surprise non suck, its definitely his best platter since Rhythm (not that thats truly a brobdingnagian compliment or shock to anybody) and probably his most elysian since Graceland. It likewise rocks! Simply dont be alarmed easy listening fans, you do have to consider that this is Paul Herbert Alexander Simon were talking about here. Credit Surprises producer Brian Eno (Roxy Music keyboardist, producer for U2 and Talking Heads, the male parent of Ambient music and legendary solo artist in his possess right) for pushing Simon Zelotes in a new management. It couldnt have been easy for Eno to convince Tribe troubadour Simon to append louder guitars and electronic beats to his repertory, but thankfully Simon went with it. Try listening to something like "Everything Around It Is A Honey Song" with its engulfing techno influenced style and tell me Simon could have come up with something as engaging on his have this late in his career.

With Eno being brought in to care about the "sonic landscape" as its written in the liner notes, Simon seems to be solely focussed on the delivery and creation of lyrics and melody, and for the most voice these arent just lyrics, theyre verses of gracility and poetry. Yes, in that respect are terribly silly moments such as "Outrageous" where Neil Simon tries overly hard to show jr. generations he can soundless be hip by trying (and flunk) to unleash his own brand of rapping. Simply Surprise is full of rich and tender moments that in truth took me aback, such as "How Canful You Live In The Northeast?" which deals with prejudice on all levels, and "Beautiful" which is based around the benediction of adopting children from third humankind countries. On all levels, Surprise is aptly coroneted and at times more of a shock; a record that no one could take seen advent from an artist that has proved here that the Pugilist still has a few good rounds left in his legs.

No one is more than surprised than myself over the grace and beauty of this record - your correct, the Boxer still has some punch left, how cool is that?

Who is King Arthur?

With Damon Albarn branching out and co-creating Gorillaz, and guitarist Graham Coxon leaving the band, it certainly seemed possible that Blurs c. H. Best work was well behind them. Think Tank proven with flying, sonic colors that this clearly wasnt the caseful. I believe that the diverse Cogitate Tank is the best record of the bands career and while my top 25 is populated with some truly outstanding artists, this is without a uncertainty my favorite CD of 2003. With the catchy opening number "Ambulance," the zany "Crazy Beat up," the short just sweet ode to punk rock "Weve Got a File on You," and my favorite cart track, the smooth "On the Way to the Club," Blur proved that they still accept great albums to get. And if Think Army tank werent distinguished enough, the band proven they tush still capture an audience live. Of the 70 plus bands that played at the Coachella Music and Humanities Festival utmost April, Smutch was well one of the circus tent three c. H. Best acts to strut their stuff. Cerebrate Tank is a must!

1 - Blur - Think Tank<br />2 - Outkast - Speakerboxx/Love To a lower place<br />3 - Elvis Costello - North<br />4 - Elefant - Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid<br />5 - Rufus Waggonwright - Want One<br />6 - Ryan Adams - Love is Hell<br />7 - Radiohead - Hail to the Thief<br />8 - Strokes - Way on Fire<br />9 - Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There To Come Back<br />10 - David Bowie - Reality<br />11 Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium<br />12 - Ben Harper - Diamonds on the Privileged<br />13 - Supergrass - Life on other PlanetsThe<br />14 -The Mavericks - The Mavericks<br />15 - Howie Day - Block All The World Now<br />17 - Pete Yorn - Daytime I Forgot<br />18 - The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow<br />19 - Postal Service - Give Up<br />20 - South - With the Tides<br />21 - Sting - Sacred Love<br />22 - Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate highway Managers<br />23 - The Thrills - So Much for the City<br />24 - Longhand - Atrocious Organ<br />25 - My Morning Jacket - It Still

Looking over Ryans list makes it pretty clear that 05 was so a secure year. The fact that his list of 50, could contain so many strong to brilliant albums, and still omit things like Feists Let it Die (an oversight of a really good album?), Wilcos brilliant live set Kicking Television, and the Go! Teams Thunder, Whitening, Strike (I guess its possible that some of these were left off because their actual release dates were prior to 2005) in any case it simply goes to show that this twelvemonth was peerless of the better ones in late memory - and all without a new Radiohead joint!

Im actually scarcely now realizing what a &quot;crappy&quot; year it was for just around everything in the mainstream (thank Immortal for Kanye). I cant think of many, if any, capital rap albums outside of the mates that Ive listed (Commons &quot;Be&quot; wouldve made my top 30, about likely), and country, a genre I try to stay up on, had a godawful year, and if you ask me R&amp;B fared indisposed, as advantageously. All you have to do is take a look at these lists to go it - Indie Rock-and-roll is where its at.

1. Dungen - Ta det Lugnt<br />2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois<br />3. Wilco - Kicking Television (live)<br />4. The Modern Pornographers - Twin Movie house<br />5. Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane - At Carnegie Hall<br />6. Spoon - Gimme Fiction<br />7. Feist - Let it Die<br />8. Edan - Beauty and the Dumbfound<br />9. Marc Ribot et al - Spiritual Unity<br />10. Kanye West - Late Registration<br />11. Low - The Great Undoer<br />12. Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers<br />13. Blood on the Wall - Awesomer<br />14. Gorillaz - Demon Years<br />15. Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth<br />16. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Madonna<br />17. Clap Your Work force and Aver Yeah<br />18. The Go! Team - Thunder Lightening Strike<br />19. Milton Nascimento - Pieta<br />20. System of a Down - Mesmerize<br />21. Bloc Party - Dumb Alarm<br />22. Sigur Ros - Takk<br />23. System of a Down - Hypnotize<br />24. Broken Social Scene - ST<br />25. Animal Collective - Feels

Who is Jeff Hubbard anyway?

Fair question!

Yes, Ive been fair in absentia this class, and I need to get back on the proverbial horse, but I used to write a review or two around here.

So thats me (see 2004 reviews of things like Brian Wilsons &quot;Smile&quot; and the Black Keys &quot;Arctic Factory,&quot; if you care).

Gotcha - I went endorse and checked out your list for 2004, the fact that you wrote about each album on your number made it much more interesting than the ones who scarce listed theiers. Youre right dude, you should get back on your horse and write.

Jeff

You and I seem to throw similar tastes &amp; Im curious around what you think of the Blood On The Wall. Would you compare them to anything else? Give me the abject down.

hell yeah!! please come indorse. i miss you:) lol!!!whereve you been anyway? totally myspacing it!?

hey man weve had our diffs in the past times but shag that, its squashed all right…squashed! i like your stylus here,: very simple and straight forward. SOAD was good, sure…but…wHO the hades is #18? he sounds exotic, you know like maybe i should jump on this shit also. what do you suppose? what gives with #18…details.

Im surprised at you TC, I idea everyone knew that Lunatic Milton Nascimento was the original drummer for Yugoslavias premiere black metal isthmus Goldfish Assassins. An horrifying struggle for creative control of G.A. forced Milt to walk away from the band and strike out on his own. Desperate for creative freedom, and food money, Milt sold blood and semen, pretty much anything he could squeeze forbidden of his victims - for Milt was no poseur he lived his nightmarish lyrics, and with the money hed ammased from the blackmarket he was able to roll his next project plainly called M.I.L.T. (Mothers Id Like to Torment) His first base album Pieta (Slavic for prison) was released posthumously after his tragic death that most attribute to autoerotic-asphyxia. Fans mourn the loss of the creative person and salve their painfulness with the thought that at least he died doing wHO he loved. I hope that was helpful Tys.

thanks man…wow i feel care a douche. but i love INXS if thats cool.

Regarding queries from Slacker and Tyson: whassup, homies? Yes, I pot definitely compare Blood on the Wall to early acts (and, suprisingly, granted the call, none of them are death alloy); namely, Sonic Youth and the Stooges. If the two had sex and had a child together, Blood on the Wall would be at least a fraternal twin. They took a while to grow on me, I must confess. I was expecting something a niggling more sophisticated, a la SYs mid-period stuff, merely the riffage leans towards early Stooges, with boys and girls alternating track vox. I now genuinely dig the record, and how canful you non love a title like &quot;Awesomer,&quot; specially when the album is, in fact, pretty awe-inspiring?

As for Milton, hes been about forever - not in eastern Europe, though, as otherwise indicated (yes, I know it was a joke). He was one of the earlier, and better, Tropicalia pioneers, along with Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Jorge Ben. If youve never heard Nascimentos voice, youre missing out on one of the wonders of the modern domain. His raw record isnt a straight-up masterpiece (for one such, track down his early-70s milestone &quot;Club da Esquina,&quot; which is probably my single dearie Brazilian release ever), simply its closer than hes come in years, and it is super enjoyable, if you dont mind not reason a blessed thing hes singing (if you mouth Portugese, I stand corrected). Pat Metheny and Wayne Shorter ar huge fans, if that means anything to you. If not, well okeh then.

Merry Christmas. God bless us… EVERYONE!

Just the other night Adam and I had the distinct pleasure of observance (certainly the funniest) if not the best film of the year, Ice Harvest. Throughout the film the couplet &quot;As falls Wichita, so falls Wichita Falls, was scripted on the stalls of restrooms and spoken aloud a few times. Afterwards the celluloid was over I challenged Adam to tell me what fine musician had named an album the very same. Not having the benefit of at one time being an obsessive fan of jazz (primarily prog-jazz, I had to tell him that it was none other than Rap Metheny. Which brings to mind one of my favorite &quot;brush with greatness&quot; stories. Years ago when I was in college Id travelled to Park City to construe Pat Metheny in concert. It was during his White Album tour, just after he and his band had finished a tour as Joni Mitchells band. I had arrived early for the read which was to claim place in the capable air pavillion and had plenty of time to poke about before the show. Off to unitary side of the stage was a ski chalet lounge and as I passed through and through in search of a beer, I happened upon Pats guitar leaning against one of the many identical chairs in the place. Nowadays, anyone that knows their Pat Metheny knows that his guitar is easily distinquishable from any other guitar on the satellite. A blonde hollow-body Gibson that is held together along the bottom with several layers of duct tape. Thither didnt seem to be anyone around, so I took a seat succeeding to the guitar (if for no other reason than to stand look on over the famous legal instrument). It wasnt long before the guitars owner would come walking up to find a stranger sitting suspiciously close to his baby. I was agile to disabuse him of any concern regarding the guitar putt my tutelary excuse to good economic consumption. And so there I sat chatting with, whom at the time anyone would have listed in their top 5 sterling guitar players, it seems he had gone off in search of a tooth find fault with which he was using to dislodge some sort of gunk that was inside one of his pick-ups. We wheel spoke of all things wind, his recent project with Ornette Coleman, Charlie Hayden and Jak DeJohnette for one, when what to my inquisitive eyes should appear his pianist Lyle Mays world Health Organization had a winsome charwoman on his arm. They took a seat beside me and Pat Metheny introduced me to Joni Mitchell - as if introductions were necessary. So in answer to your question Jeff, the key Pat Metheny does band a vanessa Bell.

Jeez, coloration me impressed! Thats an amazing story. Given the &quot;Song X&quot; reference, Im guessing this wouldve been some meter around 85, which places the chronology of his &quot;Gabardine Album&quot; a bit off (you sure it wasnt the &quot;First Circle&quot; tour? That album likewise had a white cover).

In whatsoever case, Im sick with jealousy. Just sick. Hes one of my favorites, even if he hasnt made an album I truly dig since about the clip you met him.

Hubb you really made me go to the engines to guarantee my saneness. Actually there is no error in my history, but I can go out how your investigation mightiness call it into motion. In 1980 Metheny recorded under the moniker of the &quot;Pat Metheny Quintet,&quot; which included Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Hayden, Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker. The fact that I included Ornette Coleman in that list is not as erroneous as it may seem, because at the time he was known to client with the quintet in concert. Which I mentioned because as I discussed the design with Rap, he mentioned Coleman glowingly and radius of a future contrive in which he hoped to include Coleman. Which as you pointed out did come to realization with Song X around five age after my fortuitous brush with my heroes. Youll also note of hand if youre studying the timeline that Methenys coaction with Joni Mitchell was recorded in September of 79 and is now available on DVD as &quot;Shadows and Light&quot; - simply the spell continued into 1980. The show I saw was in the spring of 1980. Skillful try.

YOu seem to be the most expansive of the bunch so Ill aske you. Ive seen a few lists including Rolling Stones that included Mariah Carrey in their charles Herbert Best ofs. Is this the result of &quot;payola&quot; rearing its head once more or did the twittering Queen of the Trill actually make an album that can buoy stand up to ridicule, Just speculative -

Im sledding to be completely honest and articulate that some how, some way, I managed to not hear a exclusive tune from what I believe is now the top merchandising album of the year. Im probably not the best person to ask about the relative charles Frederick Worth of a Mariah Carey record, though Im non going to deny shes had moments in the past. I think that the truth lies somewhere in those numbers; when the record debuted, I remember it getting only when decent reviews for the most part, but since its revived her calling, it seems the record album now carries some degree of critical cache. Solely some, though. &quot;Rolling Stone&quot;s list is one of the alone ones Ive seen that included &quot;Emancipation,&quot; and it might be smart to remember that they chose &quot;A Bigger Bang&quot; by the Stones as number iI - absolutely ridiculous. Nowadays THAT smacks of payola.

pat metheny is non in the top 5 of anything except the

Galactic tastes like a dry chicken bone from New Orleans deep-fried in<br />the grease of Gorillaz, Monster Attractive feature, and The Commodores. Hey Galactic,<br />Ben Harper called, he wants his voice back. Ruction seems like a jam album<br />more than a singing album like all of Galactics other stuff and thank<br />God because singer, Theryl Declouet, sounds like he is nerve-racking waaaayyyy<br />also hard to sing smelly. &quot;All over doing-it&quot; is also some other great direction to<br />account his voice. Annoyingly, the vocals pop up at random times<br />dispersed end-to-end the album. Stand-out lame vocalizing turns up on &quot;Uptown<br />Odyssey&quot; &quot;Bittersweet&quot; and &quot;Never Called You Crazy.&quot; The music on the<br />album is great and well composed, but it gets washed-up as shortly as the<br />Theryls singing comes in to play; much like that guy from New Found<br />Aureole. One song known for its musical longevity is &quot;Gipsy Fade&quot; which has<br />some Weird Al Yankovic-style tech-wizardry on the accordion. Im probably<br />pee off a lot of people by not liking this band but honestly I dont<br />give a shit. People reading this that like the band have plausibly got a<br />trigger finger poised on their mouse and ready to fire at the message<br />card to vociferation back. Come on, I am non going to like a band just because<br />the majority says theyre amazing. Go beforehand call me an<br />arse who doesnt know shit about euphony, see if I care, this is about<br />as honest as I throne get.

No matter how many lineup changes this band goes through, they seem incapable of making a bad phonograph record. The Jayhawks dont even have their lead isaac M. Singer Mark Olson anymore, just long-time indorsement fiddle, Gary Louris, has filled the void in a way that makes you forget all nigh Olsen. Similar to their last release Smile (which fans either hated for its over-the-top production, or loved because is took jangly pop rock to the soap), Rainy Day Music is a few steps down on the production scale, but incredibly strong. Longtime Ryan President John Quincy Adams producer Ethan Johns is up to the task of fusing the Jayhawks Gram Parsons-meets-Graham Nash sound into something completely beautiful. Tracks such as &quot;Stumbling Through the Dark&quot; and &quot;Tailspin&quot; ar hard to beat, especially with help from an array of talented guests including: St. Matthew the Apostle Sweet and Jakob Bob Dylan of the Wallflowers. Rainy Day Music is another fine addition to already great catalogue of albums from the Jayhawks.

About 12 years ago I was enjoying myself thoroughly at a Steve Earle prove, when he introduced his next song as organism written by the guy who made it cool to play country music–it was Gramme Parsons &quot;High Fashion Queen.&quot; First of all I want to thank Lusterlessness Hansen of the band Trigger Locks for pointing me in the charge of this incredible compilation. Ive listened to cipher else since I picked it up. One motivation only glance down the amazing line up of talent to fix an thought of how well-regarded Grams music is among his peers and contemporaries–Sheryl Crow, Cowboy Junkies, Evan Dando, Julianna Hatfield, Steve Earle, Beck, The Pretenders, The Mavericks, Elvis Costello, Wilco, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, EmmyLou Harris, both Lucinda and Victoria Williams, and Gillian Welch. Wow–this is a serious treat.

For those of you unfamiliar with G, he was the Harvard-educated hillbilly world Health Organization invented country-rock in the mid-sixties. He developed his patented recipe with the International Submarine Band, and then perfected it with The Byrds, The Fast Burrito Brothers, and on two extraordinary solo albums, before his unfortunate death in 1973 at the age of 26.

While The Eagles turned Parsons style into multi-platinum history, his original vision was honest, raw, and grievous. He called it Cosmic American Music and the fact that this description so capably fits this collection of tribute interpretations as well as it fit the original recordings is testament to the timelessness of his songs. Parsons was a maverick who refused to be pigeon-holed into any musical categories and a unspoilt number of those whove chosen to honor him on this tribute consume followed that same fine tradition.

Parsons joined The Byrds in 1968 and was the obvious catalyst behind the bands sudden excursion into traditional country music. Considering the strong-minded nature of Roger McGuinn, its noteworthy how effortlessly the 19 year previous Parsons was able to make the Byrds fly south. Sweethearts of the Rodeo, stands as Parsons biggest mainstream contribution.

Parsons went on to pattern and criminal record two albums with The Flying Burrito Brothers, and later teamed up with Emmy Lou Harris on his solo albums–GP and Grievous Holy person. To give you an idea of what this album sounds like, remember in damage of The Band, crossed with The Eagles, and toss in a little Willie Nelson. I wasnt familiar with more than a handful of these songs and listening to them is a divine revelation not unlike watching The Last Walk-in or seeing the Dead live for the first time.

For me the albums highlights start cancelled with the

Beyond good and seductively evil is more like it, this album will rock you straight into submission as The Cult resurrect straight-up teeth-shattering rock n roll.

Aside from drummer Lustrelessness Sorum being an ex-skin beater for Guns n Roses, I wasnt all that familiar with The Cult. Just after one listen to their up-to-the-minute CD I was nigh immediately drawn into the fold. Like a desperate battle cry out from the long laden genre of music known as Rock candy, The Cult hit with all the scorching erinyes of Metallica, Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin.

On rails 1 coroneted &quot;State of war (the treat)&quot; They start out soft and intoxicating, and just as I was about to get comfortable, they snapped my head back with what turns out to be one and only heavy, hard rock masterpiece.

In todays rock economy its rare that you come across someone wHO actually sings like a classic frontman, but Ian Astbury lays it out with power and style. He carries the loading much the same way as Henry Martyn Robert Plant did for Graf Zeppelin. Still, the most habit-forming part to this record is Nightstick Duffys infectious guitar playing, set to the backdrop of, Matt Sorums Bonhamesque drums. Theres no logical reason why todays new crop of metal hard-core fans shouldnt eat this one up, so unite the cult and raise your fists to stone!

Music shouldnt be reviewed, but Im bored.

&quot;War&quot; &quot;Rise&quot;&quot;American Gothic&quot;&quot;Ashes and Ghosts&quot;

&quot;Hurrying of light&quot; Great songs.

This Album is great from start to finish. Catchy heavy riffs , powerful vocals , and basically great musical engineering makes this album worth every penny . The cult is definitely one band that knows how to careen and get the epinephrin going. Pure power , emotion , and resilience. Personal favourites are &quot;Breathe&quot; , &quot;True believer&quot; , &quot;Rise&quot; , &quot;War&quot; , and &quot;Nico&quot;.( by the manner , this band had influenced me into hard rock more than any other band..Metallica come minute.)