Lollapalooza Rock Festival At 20 Year Marker; Another Decade Of Disappointments

by Guerrilla Radio on August 6, 2011

are you getting it?

Good Does Not Equal Great

It’s been 20 years and what a long strange trip… ah well, you know the refrain. Lolla started as farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction and a simultaneous travelling freak show.

Perry Farrell’s baby has evolved into a decidedly more profitable affair, after many twists, turns, formats and venue variations, not to mention numerous ups and downs.

The 2011 variety, once again in Chicago’s Grant Park, boasts 8 stages, 130 bands and 90,000 or so tickets sold for each of the 3 days of the event. The bigger names seem to be Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Eminem and some band called Muse.

If I had my way they would have just had the Foos open up for A Perfect Circle and be done with it, but that’s just me. I wouldn’t mind seeing My Morning Jacket again though. Those boys tend to put on a show.

I can’t help thinking that the whole thing is decidedly less 90′s rockin’ and a whole lot more 2011 poppin’ than my ear buds can tolerate. To wit: Bright Eyes.

Ok, that’s harsh, maybe I’m just annoyed because I’m watching Channel 2 right now (you can watch the whole deal on YouTube/Lollapalooza -which admittedly is very cool) and a band inappropriately named “Naked and Famous” is literally boring me to death… and I’m not the only one.

The crowd, which one would think would have to contain at least a handful of this audio disaster’s more devoted fans is acting like a herd of deaf and lifeless sheep with no shepherd.

It’s as if this audience is only there because they are so high they don’t know where the path to the other stage is. Partly they may be watching the train wreck for the same reason I am… trying to figure out who this band paid in order to get a gig.

Or maybe those sheep are just getting ready to sleep through Coldplay. The tragedy was complete when the trio launched into an ill-advised acoustic cover of a classic Styx tune. Oh man…

Not so much a reflection on Farrell or the festival in general, more so on the current crop of utterly disappointing Rock Stars organizers have to choose from. God let this be rock bottom.

Seriously though, if I was in Chicago this weekend I would absolutely make my way down to see the Foo Fighters, Delta Spirit, MMJ, Grace Potter, J. Roddey Walston (a phenom), the Black Lips, Death From Above 1979, Deftones (killers), Jr. Gong (another phenom), The Cars (out of curiosity), B.A.D., and what I’m sure would be the highlights for me, The Kills and A.P.C.

I fear I’d also be left searching for this generation’s Doors, Hendrix, Who, Stones, Zeppelin or Beatles to emerge and I’d be left completely disappointed… yet again. Hell, I’d settle for a Guns N’ Roses. At least you’d be sure that they are Rock N’ Roll.

This story is getting old. A lot of terrible bands mixed with some very solid bands, and perhaps one great band (A.P.C.) but not a legendary band to be found anywhere in sight. Not to mince words.

~ J. Wise / Guerrilla Radio  - Guerrilla.Radio@Ymail.com

 

The Beauty Of Independence: Reznor Says F.U. To The Man All Over Again

by Guerrilla Radio on July 19, 2011

which one is pink?

Reznor Knows Who's Pink

Trent Reznor let loose last Thursday with a sweet spanking of some record industry tools… effectively outing the suits for trying to pass off a re-release of the band’s legendary Pretty Hate Machine full length from 1989 as something of value.

The re-issue apparently is not worth much to Reznor, nor should it be to you if there is nothing new about it but the cardboard.

The album was not re-mastered and virtually no creative effort went into it, meaning it’s not much more than a scam. Call it squeezing a lemon one too many times if you catch my drift. Reznor and Nails just re-mastered the same album less than 9 months ago, putting a substantial amount of work into that effort.

Props to Reznor, but really it’s requisite isn’t it? Reznor is beyond the industry’s grasp at this point… they can’t hurt him now, so this is a far less risky swipe at the man than it would be for an unknown starving artist.

Reznor has pretty much put his fans first all along though, and it is quite likely that he would have tread through any firestorm his comments might have generated even if he were still operating as an employee.

Regardless, the NIN front-man made no bones about it, effectively landing as close to a death blow to the release as he possibly could have by essentially telling his fans just don’t buy it.

He might as well be shouting “F the man” from the stage at Madison Square Garden, that is how cliche and tell-tale this exchange is. Once in a while it is important for an incident to bubble up which so clearly identifies just how bad a state the record industry is in at the moment.

It also highlights what kind of soul-less non-talents are behind the wheel. We have a Universal Music subsidiary to thank for the latest clear cut evidence… hands in the cookie jar.

The biz is in an utter state of disrepair… and frankly I like Reznor’s approach. The situation is so bad there’s little choice left but to take a flame thrower to this place.

~L. Cristal Hyacinth / Guerrilla Radio   — Guerrilla.Radio@Ymail.com

Red Hot Chili Peppers Release Teaser For The Next Great Rock Album?

by Guerrilla Radio on July 19, 2011

If you’re like me and you thought the last Chili’s record was the best album of the 2000′s, then you are incredibly thankful that the drought is over as of this past weekend.

We had the first taste from the next full length drop on Friday, and while the single isn’t the band’s best work IMO, it leaves hope that the album may be another killer. The album’s title: I’m With You.

The Peppers have a long history of releasing a weaker song from the album as the first single, and if one thing is clear about the music industry these days, that’s entirely because an idiot “upstairs” made the choice.

Prior to Stadium Arcadium’s release, and given that it was well publicized for many months that the disk would be a double, I had wild fantasies of a Physical Graffiti-esque career defining record.

Those hopes were dashed for me personally when Dani California was promptly played to death anywhere and everywhere. Frankly I thought then as I still do, it was one of the most uninteresting Peppers’ songs in memory. Naturally I was then not expecting an album of mega proportions from the full release.

And you know what? Those f*ckers fooled me again. Stadium Arcadium didn’t have another song on it out of a full 25! [or so] that wasn’t thoroughly enjoyable. While the record got generally positive reviews, I think it largely went unacknowledged for what it was… the band’s best work to date and the best album of the decade.

On the last record the Peppers’ made it snow, and on this one for openers they make it rain with a decent if not killer first single “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie” [Youtube] Not all of the pieces are in place to register the single as one of the band’s great tracks, but some very positive signals are found within it anyway.

First off, of the weaknesses I personally identify in the song, none of them have to do with the guitar playing. The latest Frusciante replacement Josh Klinghoffer does a fine job with super tasty clean tone throughout, and superbly delivered funky riffs.

If there was one thing to worry about with this record, it would be a total lack of musical chemistry a new player can bring to the party. It’s early yet, but it appears from the outside that the Peppers may have avoided this fate better than they fared the last time they replaced a mainstay. Partly this is because the Peppers have been jamming with Klinghoffer unofficially for years.

Also a significantly positive signal that the Peppers may in fact serve up with another sweet master-work, Keidis’ lyrics on the new single show a continued “in the zone” kind of word play with his rhymes. Keidis’ songwriting for my money was clearly at its all time best on Stadium.

When a songwriter appears to have written songs easily and not desperately grasping for words as fill, but rather seeming that he is spinning a tale from his gut… it’s a great sign for the overall project.

So what didn’t I like about the single? Well I didn’t say I didn’t like it, I merely said I hope the Peppers’ follow pattern and that every song on the new Lp is better than this one. Speaking plainly, the only thing I don’t like about the single is that it’s a bit formulaic.

As with all bands, the songwriting process has a formulaic aspect, but the Peppers were masterful on the last record to have a line drawn between all the songs from Stadium which made the album a cohesive whole, but yet the songs did not have the dark side of formula… a forced feeling.

Regardless, considering the long drought that we have been shackled to with oh so many wanna’ be bands, the next U2s, the next Cures, the next REMs, the next Oasis… don’t even get me started with the 2 most ridiculous trends in rock history- the Vocoder and modern Metal’s barking dog vocals that just won’t go away… please make it stop.

The bottom line is that the new crop of bands really do suck badly. Sometimes it just takes a killer Lp from true legends to remind us just how bad the weather is. Here’s hoping the new Pepper’s record blows us all away.

Oh, in case you’re wondering what my other decade’s best picks were, I really think the first APC record was equivalent to Stadium, but since Stadium was a double (which are notoriously difficult to pull off) and since I really remember Mer De Noms as a 90′s record for some reason, I gave Stadium the edge.

In 3rd and 4th place are Tool’s 10,000 Days and NIN’s With Teeth. In 5th? Probably something by S.O.A.D. or the first Audioslave record. I don’t care what anyone says, that record was killer. Got to mention the last Deftones record also, coming right on the fringes of the decade. That album was missed by everyone.

By the way, to clarify- if it has a Vocoder on it, it’s not Rock. Also, it automatically means you suck balls. Just sayin’. And if you’re still in a Metal band using Barking Dog AKA Cookie Monster vocals, you missed the memo that went out around ’96 saying just “please don’t embarrass yourself any longer.” If Aaron Lewis got the message 15 years ago, maybe you can too? Oh yeah, and Lemmy thinks you suck too.

~L. Cristal Hyacinth / Guerrilla Radio     –Guerrilla.Radio@Ymail.com

Maynard James Keenan and A Perfect Circle Rock NYC

by Guerrilla Radio on July 16, 2011

A Perfect Circle

APC Jams at NYC's Beacon Theatre

If you came to see TOOL on Friday at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan, then you picked the wrong night…and the wrong band. Most of the fans in attendance who knew the difference between the legendary bands that Maynard James Keenan fronts experienced an emotional and inspired 15 song set with 3 encores. If any fans walked out unsatisfied, they were probably not fans at all.

With this being the first major tour for the band since the 2004 release “EMOTIVE”, as expected the majority of the songs were off that release.  As he often does, fans in attendance saw Maynard command the stage from an elevated box in the back left corner of the stage.

As is customary, Keenan’s logistical position was out of the spotlight as a testament to the music doing all the talking.  His vocals were in top form as he rocked and swayed along to the thunderous drum beats laid down by Jeff Friedl, an up to the task replacement for the otherwise occupied Josh Freese. James Iha, best known as a founding member and guitarist for 90’s alt rock legends Smashing Pumpkins showed he is still in top form. So was Billy Howerdel, who even showed his vocal chops on the Depeche Mode cover, People are People.

Maynard has been keeping himself quite busy over the last few years. The story of the creation and development of his winery and vineyards in Arizona  were featured in the 2010 theatrical release, “Blood into Wine”.  He has also toured with his side project Puscifer.

Below is the set-list from the Beacon show. The band stayed on stage the entire time. MJK rarely speaks much to the crowd at his shows, but tonight we got to see a bit more of Maynard’s humorous side when he said prior to the encore songs “just pretend we left the stage for a few minutes and now we’re back.” Here’s hoping Maynard comes back as often as possible to New York City in any artistic capacity, and with any band. As fans of all of them we will be waiting.  ~ L. Cristal Hyacinth / Guerrilla Radio

Annihilation (Crucifix cover)

Imagine (John Lennon cover)

Weak and Powerless

The Hollow

What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye cover)

People Are People (Depeche Mode cover)

The Outsider

(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? (Brinsley Schwarz cover)

When the Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin cover)

Blue

3 Libras

The Package

Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Black Flag cover)

Orestes

Passive

Encore:

Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums

Fiddle and the Drum (Joni Mitchell cover)

By and Down (new)

Led Zeppelin’s Last Stand and The Creation of Speed Metal

by Guerrilla Radio on June 28, 2011

My good bud Zach sent me this great recent article by Chuck Klosterman, a renown and award winning music writer. This article is rare in that it has something extremely insightful to say about Zeppelin. While few bands have ever had as much written about them as Zep, very few writers get it right.

I disagree with a couple points here, but the article is so good that they are not even worth mentioning. Enjoy Chuck’s article linked here. Be sure to watch the “In The Evening” video which is referenced exstensively in the article, but even more important to me is the very next video in the series on YouTube.

This is the “Achilles Last Stand” rendition from the same show. It’s so important because while “In the Evening” is very much a microcosm of Chuck’s point of the greatness and the sad decline held together inside of just one band for one particular 2 night stand, the Achilles video is extremely significant as it speaks to another part of Chuck’s theme. He touches on how these shows are some of the suckiest in the band’s storied history, but yet there was an absolute monster lurking just below the surface at Knebworth… like the Titanic just after the last portion slipped under the great divide.

Below all the links is my communication back to my bud Zach about the article [Zach is a Guerrilla partner whose favorite band is inexplicably Crowbar].

In The Evening Knebworth ’79

Achilles Last Stand Knebworth ’79

Achilles Last Stand Los Angeles ’77

[To Zach from W!SE] ~ Zep was a defining moment in my life, not just my music life.

I listened to nothing but Zep from ’84 to ’88. There’s plenty of bad and good in them, but they are the “widest” band in rock history. That article is very interesting, but anyone that knows Zep knows they were cooked by ’76. There is no video after ’76 which shows them in a good light, although the Knebworth video hints strongly at a former powerhouse that slowly oozes out of them, like a great ancient ruin. The ’77 video I added shows the band closer to top form, but still definitively on the slide. These recordings still show why the “Destroyer” bootlegs from ’77 were considered mythical for so long.

It is said that JPJ was the only functional one for the last record, so what did anyone expect? 6x platinum though, huh?

The most important thing to know about Zep is that 90% of what they accomplished in terms of ruling their generation was done from late ’68 to ’71 on vinyl, and through ’73 live. In this time frame they killed all comers. Throw away Zep III which was a dream they slept through, and you are left with I, II, and IV which cannot be touched by anyone in such a short period. In hard rock, no else came close. In just plain rock, only the Beatles, The Who and the Stones were in the same league in my humble opinion [though I am in some good company here]. Honorable mention to the Doors, Cream and Hendrix.

And re: Achilles ~ We obviously talked about this a year ago, but just listen to that rhythm section on this. Guys in their “death throws” huh? …. JPJ and Bonham dressed like Internet zillionaires playing that underlying bit that I still say was the creation of speed metal… a musical sidebar that JPJ and Bonham visited briefly in the studio on Presence in ’75 (!!!) and then tossed into the garbage heap of history like yesterday’s news as far as they were concerned. No doubt some others with lesser skills and pride dug it out of the heap and claimed it as their own. Enough with Sabbath having created Metal already. Sabbath was great and hugely influential on me also [I'm a fan] … but Metal was a bastard child that Zep sent to the countryside so the Queen didn’t have to look at it. Sabbath just adopted the child. Far and away the rhythm section that wrote Achilles is the one that invented Heavy Metal.

How can anyone question this from the rhythm section heard on these recordings? And it’s crappy audio at that. There is no great audio from Knebworth although it looked like they were trying to capture it. Early on in that clip the bass is especially clear. Nothing at all needs to be said about the drumming… but listen to that bass! You would absolutely swear that the clicking bass sound was coming from Steve Harris live playing circa Number of the Beast … not JPJ. The bass is even clearer on the ’77 clip. The guy is a master musician… a true multi-talent. Page is obviously fried in this period, but that has been beaten like a mule already. Plant seems to “just be there” by this late stage.

——- ~ W!se

Seasons Roll On By

by Guerrilla Radio on May 9, 2011

You Know When You Hit It

by Guerrilla Radio on May 9, 2011

Jane Says It Again

by Guerrilla Radio on May 9, 2011

Guerrilla Radio T-Shirts – Be The Show!

by Guerrilla Radio on May 6, 2011

Guerrilla Radio is a proud part of a bigger overall media enterprise (Guerrilla LLC) encompassing sports blogs, Internet radio, and an online t-shirt retail outlet.

Our online store, located at http://guerrillashirt.com, stocks the best Rock ‘N Roll t-shirt designs available.  They embody the true spirit of modern rock musicians and fans bringing an attitude and an edge to rock t-shirt design not found in any other clothing line.

Rock N’ Roll swept the U.S. beginning in the 1950s.  What started from American Southern Blues and Gospel, spread at a lightning pace as a speedier, more energetic version evolved for a new American generation.

Next England, then all of Europe succumbed to the power of the louder, raunchier, and more politically charged musical cousin of the Blues. Over time, like dominoes, other world regions (the Far East, South America, Australia, the Caribbean) fell to rock’s dominance!

Rock music is one of the most beloved, universal pastimes on the planet and its culture breeds a loyalty unparalleled in other musical styles.

Guerrilla Radio hopes to inspire the kind of loyalty associated with Rock N’ Roll by continuing to stay on the cutting edge of clothing design. We won’t stop until every music lover around the world has a Guerrilla Radio Rock N’ Roll t-shirt on their back!

Put one on today and join the Guerrilla Radio Nation on our march around the world!

Be sure to also check out our MMA, surf, and lacrosse t-shirts at GuerrillaShirt.com.

Thank God For Mastodon

by Guerrilla Radio on April 20, 2011

One of a few modern metal bands that don’t make us laugh. … meet the new boss: Mastodon – Gibson

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