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I suppose the knee-jerk reaction to Sting‘s latest endeavor is to simply dismiss the whole thing and say he’s scraping the bottom of the creative barrel. And yes, it’s true Sting hasn’t released an album’s worth of original material since 2003′s Sacred Love which might indicate some sort of writer’s block. But whatever the case may be, Symphonicities is surprisingly an enjoyable listen. It’s far from being a perfect record, mind you, but even with the flaws, there’s just something about hearing a full orchestra reinterpret these ol’ tunes that make you wanna hit the repeat button again. and again. Maybe I’m just like the rest of Sting’s ever-aging fanbase who are all inclined to nostalgia but there’s just no denying the power of well-written melodies featured in songs like “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and “Roxanne”.

The new arrangements vary in quality though. Some are very inventive including the new versions of “I Burn For You” and “We Work the Black Seam” but others are unimaginative and basically play it safe like “Englishman in New York” (almost a carbon copy of the original down to the hip-hop drum break in the middle which is a bit lazy in my opinion), “I Hung My Head”, “When We Dance”.

But in the end, let’s just say the album is some damn fine ear candy for the middle-aged. and there’s nothing wrong with that.

retroGrade: B-

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Eagle Rock Entertainment has recently announced the next installment of their Classic Albums series for DVD and blu-ray. This time around, the focus will be on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1979 Damn the Torpedoes album.

I personally love the format of the Classic Albums series. The original album producer along with band members usually sit at the mixing desk and go through the multi-tracks and explain the process of how the songs were recorded. You can’t get that level of detail anywhere else. Kudos to the director and producers of the series for not incorporating MTV-style hyper-editing or dumbing down the info. The show is a straight-forward documentary that will please the fans that prefer content over style.

I’m looking forward to this release. “Damn the Torpedoes” was a significant album in Petty’s career which featured the hits “Refugee” and “Don’t Do Me Like That”. Can’t wait to see it. Look for it in stores starting August 3rd 2010.
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Here’s an interesting lil’ video clip I recently came across featuring an interview with Paul McCartney’s long time guitar tech Keith Smith (or as Smith says in the interview, “Paul’s Technical Manager”), backstage at the Israel gig in 2008. It’s a guitar fanatic’s dream to get to see some of the rare & valuable instruments Sir Macca uses on tour. And this is as good as it gets for most of us since we’ll never see these guitars up close and in person. Smith shares some neat tidbits about the various vintage guitars including the 1963 signature Hofner bass, the Epiphone acoustic and the extremely rare left handed Gibson Les Paul goldtop.

holy crap! Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr on stage last night to sing “Birthday” to celebrate Ringo’s 70th birthday!!

Ringo and his All-Starr band had a gig at Radio City Music Hall in NYC and played their usual set. But it wasn’t just another ordinary day, it was Ringo’s 70th b-day. So to commemorate the occasion, a whole slew of famous friends attended the show. Most came on stage to singalong to “With a Little Help from My Friends” including Yoko Ono, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh and Max Weinberg. But the biggest thrill of the night came afterwards when Sir Paul put on his signature Hofner bass and counted out the start of “Birthday”. Definitely an amazing moment. Thankfully it was captured on video for all to enjoy. kudos to the original uploader for sharing the video clip!
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In case you haven’t heard, the new Rolling Stones’ documentary titled Stones in Exile arrived in stores last week. And thanks to the kind folks over at Universal Music, one lucky retroblog reader will receive a brand new copy of the Stones in Exile DVD.

Interested? well, here’s how to enter the drawing:

Just simply post a comment below with your personal top five favorite Rolling Stones songs. Also be sure to leave a legitimate email address so that I can contact you in the event that you are selected. Don’t worry, your name/email address will not be sold or used in any other manner.

You can also earn an extra entry by posting the following on twitter: @retroblog is giving away a new Rolling Stones DVD – Stones In Exile enter to win http://bit.ly/ceoojO #giveaway

Be sure to post a followup comment here about your tweet in order to receive your bonus entry in the drawing.

This contest/giveway ends at 11:59pm July 11th, 2010. A winner will be picked randomly from all entries and will be contacted by me via email by July 13th. Once the winner provides a mailing address, it will be forwarded to Universal Music who will be sending out the prize.

No purchase necessary and the contest/giveaway is only open to U.S. residents age 18 or older. By participating in this RetroBlog contest, you agree to allow RetroBlog to post the winner’s name and city on this site.
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I’ve been listening to Audio Fidelity’s remastered Asia CD for the past week and I can enthusiastically confirm to all the Asia fans out there that it’s definitely the best sounding version of Asia’s 1982 debut album available. Most fans probably own the Asia Gold 2-disc anthology released by Geffen/Universal since it compiled the first three Asia albums plus all the b-sides into one package. Convenient, yes but the sound left a lot to be desired. Geffen/Universal felt it necessary to remaster the disc to compete with other modern day CDs. in other words, the audio ended up compressed, limited, re-EQ’ed and ultimately, not that pleasant to listen to.

Thankfully the audiophile record label, Audio Fidelity chose to issue their own version of this landmark pop-prog album. I’m not totally sure how they ended up choosing Asia since they’re not a band high on an audiophile’s list but I ain’t complaining.

Mastering engineer Kevin Gray made sure to produce a more faithful representation of the original master tapes with the dynamic range restored. The general public need to finally realize that “louder” isn’t always “better”. And yes, this CD is most definitely not as “loud” as the Geffen/Universal Gold edition. The sound is much more natural and clearer than before. Just listen to the smooth decay of the cymbal crashes as one reference point. Also the mid to high frequencies aren’t as harsh sounding as before. The recording is now easier on the ears and less prone to ear fatigue which tends to happen now with modern masterings.

The only thing missing in my opinion are the B-sides/bonus tracks. But from what I understand Audio Fidelity only focuses on creating the best sounding version of the original album and never adds bonus tracks on their releases.

Now if only we can get a better sounding Alpha album. but from what I understand, a better mastering job can only do so much. With such a dense sounding mix, I believe Alpha requires a full remix to get things cleared up!

retroGrade : A

Asia (self-titled)
label: Audio Fidelity
reissued: June 2010
features: John Wetton, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer, Steve Howe
Produced by: Mike Stone
remastered by: Kevin Gray

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Black Country Communion, a brand new rock supergroup featuring vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Trapeze), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin), Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) and blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa, recently confirmed the track listing and release date of their upcoming debut album “Black Country”.

Mascot Records will be releasing the album in the UK/Europe on Monday September 20th, with a North American release through J&R Adventures on Tuesday September 21st.

The must anticipated album was produced and mixed by Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Journey), and mastered by legendary engineer Bob Ludwig.

All songs are sung by Glenn Hughes, with the exception of “Song Of Yesterday” and “The Revolution In Me” which are both sung by Joe Bonamassa. Hughes and Bonamassa share lead vocals on “Sista Jane” and “Too Late For The Sun”. Also included is a new version of “Medusa”, the rock classic Hughes originally recorded with his first band Trapeze.

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Watch Black Country Communion perform “One Last Soul” via youtube:

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I’ve got “Crowded House” on the brain due to recently hosting a group of my kids’ friends for a weekend sleepover. With kids running around the house into the wee hours of night, I’ve come to the realization that “sleepover” is a misnomer. And needless to say, our home definitely felt like a crowded house this past weekend. ugh. and it’s not likely I’ll be allowing that again anytime soon.

So, speaking of Crowded House, they’re currently on a world tour in support of their latest album, Intriguer, which is set for release here in the states on July 13th. and right in time for the release, the group will be touring the U.S. from mid-July until labor day weekend.

Crowded House U.S. tour dates 2010

Fri 07/16/10 Buffalo, NY Erie Canal Harbor
Sat 07/17/10 Boston, MA House Of Blues Boston Presented By Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mon 07/19/10 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Tue 07/20/10 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Wed 07/21/10 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Fri 07/23/10 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre
Sat 07/24/10 Atlantic City, NJ House Of Blues
Mon 07/26/10 Vienna, VA Filene Center At Wolf Trap
Wed 07/28/10 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
Thu 07/29/10 Miami Beach, FL Fillmore Miami Beach At Jackie Gleason Theater
Fri 07/30/10 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Cafe / Hard Rock Live
Sun 08/01/10 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Mon 08/02/10 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
Wed 08/04/10 Austin, TX Stubb’s Bar-B-Q / Waller Creek Amph.
Thu 08/05/10 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
Thu 08/19/10 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia
Fri 08/20/10 Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia
Sun 08/22/10 San Diego, CA Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay
Mon 08/23/10 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre
Tue 08/24/10 Saratoga, CA The Mountain Winery
Thu 08/26/10 Troutdale, OR McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater
Sat 08/28/10 Woodinville, WA Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery
Sun 08/29/10 Vancouver, BC Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Mon 08/30/10 Victoria, BC Royal Theatre
Wed 09/01/10 Edmonton, AB Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
Thu 09/02/10 Calgary, AB Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
Sat 09/04/10 Apple Valley, MN Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater
Sun 09/05/10 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
Mon 09/06/10 Chicago, IL House Of Blues

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There’s no denying that 2010 is turning out to be the Year of Bret Michaels. The former 80′s glam rock poster boy seems to be everywhere nowadays. The man is simply unstoppable… literally. Not even a brain hemorrhage could keep the man down. Capitalizing on the renewed interest from his win on Celebrity Apprentice, he’ll be on tour for most of the summer. and his latest studio album, Custom Built is set for release on July 6, 2010 via Poor Boy Records. but wait, there’s more! Bret also has a brand new reality show premiering in the fall called “Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It”.

whew, now that’s a full schedule.

and thank the Lord Bret is too busy to film another installment of his dreadful “Rock of Love” series. it’s a blessing in disguise, my friend.

Here’s the Custom Built tracklist:
1 Riding Against The Wind
2 Nothing To Lose (Featuring Miley Cyrus)
3 What I Got
4 Go That Far (Theme To “Rock Of Love”)
5 Open Road
6 Nothing To Lose (Bret-Only Demo)
7 Lie To Me
8 Wasted Time
9 Every Rose (Country Version)
10 Driven
11 Rock’n My Country
12 I’d Die For You

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Ed Vigdor, Todd Rundgren’s videographer during the 1988-89 Nearly Human recording sessions, recently posted a rare video edit from the recording of the song “Fidelity”. It’s not an officially sanctioned music video but it’s fantastic nonetheless. Kudos to Ed for posting this. It’s pretty much a dream for any fan to witness their idol in action in the studio. And Vigdor’s videos from the sessions are as close as most of us will ever get to see this musical genius in this type of recording session.

Some of the musicians in the video include: Todd Rundgren, Brent Bourgeois, Lyle Workman, Michael Urbano, Bobby Strickland and Michele Gray

Hopefully more of Vigdor’s footage from the sessions will see the light of day in some form or another. From what I’ve been told, there are hours and hours of footage from the various sessions that made up Nearly Human and it’s a matter of compiling all of the raw footage into some sort of presentable fashion. Unfortunately, no one has the time and/or resource to take on the project.

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