Carrie Underwood’s latest titled Play On is like the Wal-Mart of popular music. Underwood along with her producers and writers set out to please the broadest possible listening audience and by doing so, the bulk of the album is generic and bland as mac & cheese. It’s a bit disappointing since Underwood is so darn likeable and she’s obviously got the vocal chops. Too bad the material isn’t challenging enough to keep me interested.
For today’s song of the day, I thought I’d share the sole highlight of the album, a song called “This Time”.
Maybe it’s the way that the stars are aligned
That’s making me feel this way tonight
Maybe it’s the words you left unsaid
Maybe it’s the stardust in my head
But I wanna tell you that my heart is busting at the seams, yeah
And I can’t wait another minute
Life is short, love is sweet ain’t no time like this time baby
Maybe it’s the way that the night is still
Or the sound of the rain on my windowsill
That’s making all the pieces fit
Making it all make perfect sense
But I wanna tell you that my heart is busting at the seams, yeah
And I can’t wait another minute
Life is short, love is sweet ain’t no time like this time baby
Goes by so fast, can’t get it back
There ain’t no time like this time
Yeah I just wanna tell you that my heart is busting at the seams, yeah
And I can’t wait another minute
Life is short, love is sweet ain’t no time like this time baby
- This Time written by Lindsay, McEwan, Simpson
To promote the release of a Journey Greatest Hits compilation in the U.K., Steve Perry gave a rare interview with Nicky Horne on Planet Rock radio this past wednesday. Perry confirmed that he has written some songs and recorded demos but apparently nothing close to a new album just yet. He also mentioned during the interview that he misses performing for fans but doesn’t miss the limelight. Another interesting tidbit from the radio segment is that Perry always wanted to be a radio DJ. Horne, the interviewer, was delighted to hear of this and even invited Perry to join the staff at Planet Rock. heh, heh.
anyway, a fellow fan MerryPeary posted the audio of the interview on youtube so be sure to check out the following links and listen for yourself:
man, these veteran musicians work mighty fast! 80’s supergroup Asia just announced that their brand new studio album titled “Omega” will be released in April. Not only that but also they’ll touring Europe and Japan in April/May to support the new record. No word yet on any U.S. dates. but stay tuned…
Here are the 2010 tour dates that have been confirmed so far: Apr 24 Rome, Italy
Apr 27 Winterthur, Switzerland
Apr 28 Graz, Austria
Apr 30 Paris, France
May 1 Uden, Netherlands
May 3 Nuremburg, Germany
May 4 Pratteln, Switzerland
May 6 Reichenbach, Germany
May 7 Bochum, Germany
May 8 Osnabruck, Germany
May 9 Bonn, Germany
May 13 Tokyo, Japan
May 14 Tokyo, Japan
May 15 Yokohama, Japan
May 17 Osaka, Japan
May 18 Nagoya, Japan
Check out this new interview with guitarist Neal Schon from the recent Winter NAMM show in Anaheim. Schon talked briefly about his vision of the upcoming Journey record. I’m pleasantly surprised to hear that he’s not going for radio-friendly hits this time around. Apparently he and Jonathan Cain will be working on a “conceptual record” that’ll be more musically adventurous than their previous albums. awesome! I’m looking forward to it. According to Schon, the new album is scheduled for a 2011 release.
In the meantime, Schon is keen on doing some solo shows with his own band which includes his son Miles Schon, Marco Mendoza and Prairie Prince. Hopefully he’ll be doing some gigs near me sometime soon. stay tuned…
Minnesota Night is a nice little snapshot of Eric Clapton’s tour in support of his 1986 album August which happened to be produced by his ol’ buddy Phil Collins. I’m not sure if Collins felt like he owed Clapton after the album got panned by critics at the time but in any case, Collins played with him for a number of shows during 1986 and 1987.
So what we have here is a fantastic sounding recording of the April 18th Minnesota show which featured a stripped down four piece unit that included Nathan East on bass and Greg Phillinganes on keyboards. It’s a stellar band and it’s also nice to hear Clapton as the sole guitarist in the group since he normally includes one or two extra guitarists in his touring band.
Even though I’m a huge fan of Phil Collins’ drumming, I have to say that his style is a bit too heavy-handed for some of the material featured here. Frankly, at various points in the show, his pounding backbeat overpowers the rest of the band and even ruins “Layla” by setting the tempo way too fast. But I’m a musician and I’m probably being overly critically about the playing captured here. In any case, this is a unique band lineup and I’m glad to have a nice sounding document from this tour.
retroGrade: B+
It’s definitely worth seeking out. In the meantime, here are a couple tracks from the boot.
Nobody cared what we’d think, what we’d say, what we’d do… – Findlay Brown
Well, if they didn’t care about Findlay Brown before, I’m sure they care for him NOW! Brown’s recent U.S. release titled Love Will Find You is a superb sonic tribute to the classic pop sounds of the early 60’s. The new album is like unearthing a time capsule from that era and finding pop gems that hark back to the sounds of Phil Spector, Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley.
From a songwriting point of view, it’s no easy feat to conjure up new and memorable melodies and catchy refrains within the confines of early 60’s pop chord structures. But somehow Brown has come up with ten terrific tunes that successfully capture the feel and mood of that long gone era without overstepping the line into cheesy parody.
At the helm of this project is producer Bernard Butler who is pretty much the “go-to” guy for getting vintage sounds (i.e. Duffy’s 2008 album “Rockferry”). Highlights on the album include the ultra-catchy “Love Will Find You” (complete with Phil Spector’s “Be My Baby” drumbeat), the Roy Orbison-ish “Everybody Needs Love” and the dramatic album closer, “I Had A Dream”.
TrackList: 1 Love Will Find You (Brown) 3:18
2 Nobody Cared (Brown) 3:56
3 All That I Have (Brown) 2:40
4 Everybody Needs Love (Brown) 4:33
5 That’s Right (Brown, Hinkley) 2:27
6 Teardrops Lost in the Rain (Brown) 3:23
7 Holding Back the Night (Brown) 4:19
8 If I Could Do It Again (Brown) 2:37
9 I Still Want You (Brown) 2:04
10 I Had a Dream (Brown) 5:34
Get Ready To Rock radio will be streaming a brand new Todd RundgrenAWATS interview on their website this weekend.
Todd recently spoke with Get Ready To Rock to celebrate the forthcoming London A Wizard A True Star concert at the HMV London Hammersmith Apollo on Friday February 6th!
Here’s the official announcement from Get Ready To Rock:
Hello and Happy New Year!
Have you checked out our radio channel?
We broadcast every day with a mix of continuous music sequences and feature programmes.
We are available in the radio section (iTunes), via the Reciva and Pure software that powers many wi-fi radio sets, or via the pop-up player at our dedicated website.
All music is hand-picked by specialists and you’ll always hear a healthy blend of the new, less familiar, and classic rock tracks.
This month TODD RUNDGREN is our featured artist, when we add more of his music to our playlists.
This Sunday (10 January, 20:00 GMT) Stuart Hamilton profiles Todd Rundgren’s music followed by a new interview with the man himself (21:00)
Todd talks about his forthcoming London show and his recent career…
More information:
Other weekend highlights include Tony Charles (Sunday 15:00), Joe Matera (Sunday 18:00) and Peter Muir (Sunday 19:00) with their choice of classic rock, melodic guitar-based rock and progressive.
More information: http://www.getreadytorockradio.com
This is your radio station, so do get in touch with your requests, suggestions, and comments.
And starting soon, our quest to find “Ten for 10″, ten bands we’ll support through the year and with a chance to vote for your own favourite.
With best wishes
The Get Ready to ROCK! Radio Team
I’m still amazed that Paul McCartney’s little one-off ditty “Wonderful Christmastime” from 1979 continues to get substantial airplay each and every year around the holidays. I mean, it couldn’t have taken Sir Paul more than a couple minutes to come up with the whole song. Just take a look at the lyrics and it’s pretty obvious.
The mood is right, the spirits up
We’re here tonight and that’s enough
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
The party’s on the feelin’s here
That only comes this time of year
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
The choir of children sing their song
They practiced all year long
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding..
The word is out about the town
To lift a glass and don’t look down
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
Simply having a wonderful christmastime
The party’s on the spirits up
We’re here tonight and that’s enough…
Sir Paul seems to recognize the “won’t ever go away” aspect of the song and even included it in his live set in Cologne (16Dec09). Fans will most likely get to hear it again in Dublin (20Dec09) and in London (22Dec09).
Check out the live footage from Cologne on youtube:
I’m so conditioned to expect mediocre releases from Hillsong that I was really taken aback while listening to their latest CD Faith + Hope + Love. This is by far the best Hillsong album in recent memory. I’m not sure what happened between the recording of this release and their previous effort, Across the Earth: Tear Down the Walls but the material is so much stronger this time around. Casual listeners may not notice a difference since the song arrangements and the overall sound mix are pretty typical for a Hillsongs recording. But the well crafted song structures and the depth of the lyrics take this Hillsong release to another level.
And for a change of pace, a Brooke Fraser Ligertwood song isn’t the major highlight of the album. It’s a song by Jill McCloghry titled “We the Redeemed”. The powerful worship anthem will most likely be a congregation favorite for years to come. And there’s plenty more on the album for worship leaders to use with their respective teams. Be sure to check out: “The First and The Last”, “For Your Name”, “Yahweh” and “The Wonder of Your Love”
It’s also great to hear Darlene Zschech’s lovely voice again on “The Wonder of Your Love”. No longer the main worship pastor at Hillsong Church, Zschech has taken a lesser role on recent Hillsong recordings. Even so, there’s no replacing that remarkable voice of hers which will be forever linked as part of that classic “hillsong sound”.
RetroGrade: A
— Hillsong Live – Faith + Hope + Love released: August 2009
recorded during the month of March 2009
label: Hillsong Music/Integrity
I’ve been listening to some old Paul McCartney boots these last few days just to wash the bad aftertaste left from this whole autotune debacle. I’d rather listen to a pure, un-altered performance of a Macca show than some artificially pitch-corrected mess that’s on Good Evening New York City.
So for today’s Friday Free for All I thought I’d share a few tracks off of the Hey Tokyo! bootleg. It’s a great sounding live recording from 1993 with absolutely no auto-tuning to speak of.
The live band: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Hamish Stuart, Robbie McIntosh, Wix and Blair Cunningham.
from the November 14th and 15th 1993 gigs at the Tokyo Dome
I’m so conditioned to expect mediocre releases from Hillsong that I was really taken aback while listening to their latest CD 
