Kenny Chesney

LUCKY OLD SUN:Deluxe Version

I have never been a very big fan of Kenny Chesney.There is something about his hairless(nay-shaved?) chest that I find somewhat creepy in a country singer.

I know it's a sort of,'my problem' kind of thing.It's not that I'm homophobic(This coming from a big 'Queen' fan),it's just that I thought-perhaps,wrongly-that country music was the last safe haven away from this sort of thing.You know,the last place that you had to be politically correct.Gosh darn it,if you can't get your good ol' boy freak on while listening to country music...where can you go?

I assume Kenny exposes his buffness to impress the gals{just like Shania Twain did to attract the guys},and that is the problem.I just assumed Kenny Chesney was a 'chick' thing.

Or,a lite version of Jimmy Buffet.

And I assume-still-that I am correct.But,I also like The Dixie Chicks:they're a chick group,too,right?

So anyway,I just never gave good ol' Kenny the chance of day.

Until I had to here.

And you know what-maybe I am getting in touch with my feminine side(you really can't listen to the live versions of either,'Boston' or 'Got A Little Crazy' without agreeing with me),but I really liked,'Lucky Old Son'.

The cd starts off with,'I'm Alive'.Dave Matthews' guest stars,and this is a very nice song.

In fact,I believe that though Kenny Chesnesy only wrote three of the songs('Way Down here';'Nowhere To Go,Nowhere To Be' and 'Soul Of A Sailor') he uses the lyrics most profoundly.

In fact,the first two singles,'Everybody wants To Go To Heaven'(a Jamaican sort of diddy),and the Mac McAnally penned,'Down The Road',though different in styles,are great/fun ballads.

Not that there isn't some weak stuff.'Spirit Of The Storm',and 'Ten With A Two'(another Caribbean flavored tune) are just typical fare.Fan based stuff.

But what I liked the most,was the extra 'live' stuff.I think Mr.Chesney must put on a heck of a live show.

Am I converted into a Kenny Chesney fan?Nah,not really.But I may put him on the next time I want to snuggle up to the wife.

B-

FREE WEEK # 12

AC/DC:BLACK ICE

OK,OK,I may have just jumped the gun on this one....maybe bent the rules just a tad waiting until Tuesday to go to Wally's World to purchase this cd...but what the hey...This is new AC/DC my good man.

*

And I bet I am not the only one.

*

This is old school area rock & roll.Loud and proud.Balls to the metal,buddy.This is the kind of stuff they used to crank from the Greek houses on late Friday nights.This is the stuff of legend that they used to jam to from everything from old Chevy pick-ups to souped up Trans Am Firebirds.

*

Yet,it isn't.I suppose every song deserves airplay on the radio.Yet,there isn't a stand out song in the bunch.I don't know why this fact bothers me.This is a very hard rock album.

*

Maybe that's it...it makes AC/DC seem-for all of it's noise-somewhat-safe.There doesn't seem to be that old anti-anthem feel to the whole cd.

*

There is no,'For Those About To Rock' mutten chops on this cd.

Besides this vague minute point{I mean AC/DC was never meant to be a thinking man's kind of artsy fartsy rock group-you rock out to AC/DC-not sit back like it's Pink Floyd or something} I have no disclaimers to this long awaited cd.

*

This-only can be purchases at Wal-Mart-release rock and rolls.If you can't rock out to,'She Likes Rock & Roll' and 'Decibel' you can't rock out.

*

The same can be said for the whole of 'Black Ice'.Turn it up.Crank it out.Play it loud.

*

*

*

B

T.I.

Paper Trail
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
The word out on the street is that 'rap' is dead/if not dead-stagnant at best.I hear every day how music loving people hate 'rap'.This comes from the farm boys out on the farm all the way to music elitists whom shout that there hasn't been anything fresh and new come out of the 'rap' world in nearly a decade.
*
Meanwhile.T.I. is getting dissed for basically the same thing: BORING!
*
I am here to basically lay claim to the truth of these statements and to refute them both at the same time.
*
It is true that T.I. does nothing new on,'Paper Trail'.That is the point.
*
This is blue blooded true to life fresh shit.
*
There is nothing new in the Numa Numa song,'Live Your Life',except that T.I. and guest artist,Rihanna,excel so freakin' gracefully on it that the song is simply spellbinding.
*
This is just one highlight on this cd.With guest stars galore this is one sweet album.
*
Other stand outs are,"'What Up,What's Haappin','Porn Star','My Life-Your Entertainment(featuring Usher)','Swagga Like Us(featuring the new rap pack of T.I.,Jay-Z,Kanye West and Lil' Wayne) and etc.,etc.,and so forth.
*
I guess what I am trying to say in my own special way,is perhaps,just perhaps,maybe,just maybe,we are in the golden age of 'rap' and just don't know it.While most 'Rap' productions may seem cookie cutter,that is not necessarily a bad thing.'Paper trail' is a prime example.



B+

FREE WEEK #11

Michael Stanley: The Soft Addictions




Michael Stanley has been such a part of my adult life that I can hardly image it without his and his band(MSB) not being a part of it.

From my senior year in highschool with,'You Break It You Bought it' until this week's 'Soft addictions',I have been a huge fan.In between,I have discovered Michael Stanley's earlier stuff and almost everything in between.

Be it via 1979 jamming to 'Stage Pass' with my brother Greg in his dorm room,or treating my sister,Nora,to a MSB concert in Canton.

Be it rocking to side 'A' of the Michael Stanley Band album,'MSB' with my roommate,Mike Vinkler,or having an album listening party to,'Heartland',with my cousin Frank.

Or going on a Lake Erie fishing trip with my brother,Carl,and all of his buddies rocking out to,'Friends & Legends',or drinking over at my brother,Ted's,cranking out,'Ladies' Choice'.

Be it hoping that,'Cabin Fever' to 'You Can't Fight Fashion' being the break out album that makes them nationwide phenomenons,or going down to Florida celebrating spring break by praising WMMS as the best radio station in America and MSB as the next best thing.

Or taking various girlfriends to various MSB concerts,or crying to the 'Forth And Ten' live version of ,'Lover' {Thank God For The Man Who Put The White Line On The Highway},after a particularly bad breakup.

Be it dancing with my wife,Robyn,to the very romantic,'Spanish Nights',or putting,'Voodoo' on my Halloween mix tapes for our once small triplet boys...

...well,you get the idea.

The end came not when-no matter how hard MSB fought the fashion-but when WMMS fell to the new god of media trifling.When 'MMS played Madonna,I knew independent-nay-important,local radio was dead.

Hammering MSB's final death nails into it's own coffin was Michael Stanley himself by becoming a radio DJ for Cleveland classic rock("you were sick of this song in 1980-you have to be really sick of it now.") station WNCX...virtually guaranteeing no MSB radio airplay on any other North Coast radio station.

Michael continues to make music-some good,some uneven,via 'The Ghost Poets' or various solo projects('Live In Tangiers' would have been one of his greatest albums ever,if only Michael would have sung instead of half talked his lyrics).But lighting has never caught and put back into the bottle.

That is until,'The Soft Addictions'.This is one fine classic cd.The music is tight and Michael Stanley has never sounded better.The two best songs(amongst the many finely crafted tunes)come back to back.'Same Blood(Different Vein) and 'Cadillac Man'.They are are just excellent songs.

I think,'Drinkin' In The Driveway' would have worked better if Mr.Stanley would not had made the man a bigot...instead,having the man noticing the differences in a neutral tone instead.

In fact,if he had,this song could have gotten some air play on 'country' radio.The whole album could.It's funny,as much as this cd rocks,it has more of the modern soft rock/country feel to it.Just shows how the industry has changed.

Will,'Soft Addictions' become that sleeper cd that Michael has always dreamed of?I seriously doubt it.Does it matter?

A

Free Week #10









CSNY/Deja Vu Live

One of the very hardest things in rock & roll must be trying to bottle lighting twice.Crosby,Stills,Nash and Young try to do that here.

The first time that they bottled lighting was in-perhaps-the greatest live album of all time:'4 Way Street'.One half acoustic;one half rock & roll.A literal masterpiece.

Here,on,'Deja Vu Live',Crosby,Stills,Nash & Young come very close to achieving said goal.

Based mostly on Neil Young's,'Living With War',with a few classics thrown in,this is a very honest cd at the very least.For instance,on the end of,'Let's Impeach The President',CSN&Y let you hear both the cheers and the boo birds.Powerful stuff.

Of course,though all of their voices show their ages,that is not a bad thing.Indeed,I say it is a very good thing.But not as good as Neil and Stephen playing oh so well together(One of the quite strengths of this cd is the excellent drumming by Chad Cromwell).

The two highlights are,Deja Vu',and,'Wooden Ships'.And let's not discount the great live version of,'For What's It's worth'.

But that is not to discount the,'Living With War',stuff.This is a political album to be sure...perchance lost on this modern day 'Clear Channel' generation,but it still is message driven.I can see why Crosby,Stills and Nash would gladly offer their many talents to this offering.

I particularly liked,'Looking For A leader','Living With War{all three-two?-versions},and,'Families'.

All in all this is a pretty impressive album.The only flaw that I can see is the way it is mixed.It seems to me not a concert cd at all,but rather a bunch of live tracks from their current tour slapped together.

Strangely,after a few listenings,that is not a problem.

A-