the Friday Free for All – Get On Your Boots
It’s time once again for Retroblog.net’s Friday Free for All. For today’s edition, I thought we should explore the vast underworld of bootlegs a bit. thanks to the almighty internets, the sharing of rare and interesting boots exploded these last few years. here’s just a random sampling of some that I have on hand at the moment.
Enjoy the tracks. and feel free to post a list of some of your favorite boots.
please note the sound quality will vary here due to these being “bootlegs” obviously.
GTR – Away (No One is to Blame) from the unreleased NeroTrend album (1987). This features Max Bacon on lead vocals and Steve Howe on guitar. Steve Hackett left the group at this point and Robert Berry was his replacement.
Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello – So Like Candy demo from the Flowers In the Dirt Sessions boot (1988). This is a great version that features both McCartney and Costello singing lead.
Todd Rundgren – Slut from the Vancouver August 25, 2006 boot. a great audience recording. It’s a rough and loose rendition with Tony Levin on bass and Jerry Marotta on drums.
Lindsey Buckingham – Go Insane from the Coach House December 10, 1992 boot. an awesome solo performance of his early eighties hit. definitely an improvement over the original recording which sounds a bit dated now due to the heavy use of the Fairlight sampler.
Susanna Hoffs – Darling One from her unreleased columbia album (1994). This is from the album that Columbia Records rejected. Hoffs ended up re-recording this song (along with some others) for her 1996 album “Susanna Hoffs”. This particular version is more upbeat than the officially released one.
Yes – Cinema/City of Love from the June 19, 1994 Canandaigua, NY boot. There are a ton of boots from this tour since the band did a simulcast of each show via “ConcertSonics”. Even though the “Talk” album isn’t one of my favorites, I thought some of the performances on this tour were pretty strong. I definitely miss Trevor Rabin, though. It’s definitely way overdue for Rabin to get back on stage!!
Journey – Send Her My Love from the Detroit Raised On Radio simulcast in 1986. It’s not the greatest sounding live recording but the “Raised on Radio” tour is fascinating to me for a multitude of reasons – one of which is the presence of Randy Jackson (of American Idol) on bass for this tour. listening to these old live recordings of Journey make me miss Steve “the voice” Perry even more!
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Happy Friday, everyone!
and he finally did it with the recently released 
. Yes, I know Buckingham made a “comeback” of sorts with 
in 2006 but the understated acoustic album didn’t really count in my book. To me, Buckingham’s solo outings are all about the “excess”- you know, the “going overboard” with song ideas and production techniques that he couldn’t find a place for under the “Fleetwood Mac” umbrella. His 2006 solo effort was more of an anomaly with its hushed-vocals and lack of hooks or strong melodies. But thankfully Buckingham’s signature “big hooks” are in full force on his new album. The one-two punch of the openers “Great Day” and “Time Precious Time” feature Buckingham’s unique style of fingerpicking. The stereo output that he gets from his custom Rick Turner model guitar sounds absolutely phenomenal. I DO have to mention though that beyond his amazing guitar playing on the first two songs, there’s not much else to take away from them. They’re essentially there to set things up for the third track, “Did You Miss Me” which *finally* kicks the album into gear. Tracks like “Did You Miss Me”, “Love Runs Deeper” and “Bel Air Rain” are great reminders of what a pop genius can do in four minutes. As an added bonus we get to hear the rock solid Fleetwood Mac rhythm-section (Mick Fleetwood and John McVie) on three tunes – “Wait For You”, “Gift of Screws” and “The Right Place to Fade”.
I love the uncertainty in the lyrics to “Underground” which is a dig at his record company (They heard fifteen seconds and that was enough, the idea was new but the business was tough, I think I might wander underground). And it’s interesting to point out that he didn’t end up going “underground” and is still with Reprise Records. The album ends strong with a nice strum-along tune titled “Treason” about moving forward from all the lies and deceit. Like most of Buckingham’s lyrics, the song is wide open for interpretation – it could be about a destructive relationship or the dynamics within Fleetwood Mac or a jab at George W. Bush. But with a title like “Treason”, I suppose it’s Buckingham’s take on Bush. In any case, the song works on all levels and a good strong finish to a solid effort.
