Grammys not showing their "metal"

Awards show gets it wrong ... again
By Peter Lindblad

AC/DC gave a commanding
performance at this year's Grammys

For just a second, let's forget about Kanye West and his weird obsession with getting Beyonce a Grammy. Can we talk about the Grammys and their "heavy metal problem?"

Why can't they ever seem to get metal right? Smartly, the Grammys kicked off their soul-sucking awards show with AC/DC doing "Rock Or Bust" and then following it up with a galvanizing performance of "Highway to Hell."

Katy Perry – yes, that Katy Perry – had plastic devil horns on her pretty little head and was flashing signs. Lady Gaga was losing her mind over it. Everybody was on their feet, from clueless industry executives to Dave Grohl, celebrating the survival of battle-scarred veterans rocked by a founding member's debilitating health problems and another's bizarre legal battles.

Oh, Grammys ... we knew you cared. This was a magnanimous gesture, one that would surely lead to peace between an institution that either had no clue about metal or was intentionally dismissive.

Metallica's ... And Justice for All
lost the Grammy to Jethro Tull

And then came the award for Best Metal Performance. The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences first recognized metal in 1989 with a category known as Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental. A lot of people forget that "Best Hard Rock" part, because that year, the Grammy inexplicably went to Jethro Tull's Crest of a Knave. over Metallica's ... And Justice For All.

The metal community has never forgiven the Grammys for that disaster. Still, there is that nagging feeling that at least they were taking into consideration the "Best Hard Rock" part of the equation in making the decision. Still, hardly anybody mentions Crest of a Knave anymore, except when people want to talk about how out to lunch the Grammys are when it comes to heavy metal.

Over the years, the title of the category has changed, and Metallica has ended up with their fair share of Grammys. Controversy has dogged this area, with Soundgarden's Chris Cornell wondering why Dokken was nominated in the heavy metal category a year later. Many, including yours truly, had a beef with Soundgarden winning a Grammy for "Spoonman" in 1995.

Here's the rest of the entrants that year: Rollins Band's "Liar"; Pantera's "I'm Broken"; Megadeth's "99 Ways to Die"; and Anthrax's groundbreaking collaboration with Public Enemy on "Bring the Noise." Little did Cornell know that he'd be living in a newly furnished glass house five years later when he made his remarks about Dokken.

Anyway, the point is, there have been good choices and not-so-good picks in the past 15 years, but surprisingly, the Grammys had generally avoided making complete fools of themselves in that time. That is until last year, when the show cut off a performance from Queens of the Stone Age, Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham before it was finished – a sort of musical coitus interruptus, if you will.

Reznor declared a self-imposed exile from the event forever. They were insulted, and it stands to reason that aside from Grohl, who always seems to want to play peacemaker, none of them will ever do the Grammys again. Black Sabbath's win aside, this was not a good moment for the Grammys and metal. This was Vladimir Putin defecating in Obama's corn flakes. And that doesn't even take into the Grammys' In Memoriam snub to Slayer's Jeff Hanneman, repeated again this year with its overlooking Gwar's Dave Brockie.

So, we come to this Sunday's event, filled with the usual ridiculous drama and lame thrown-together collaborations it's always had and awards handed out to the undeserving – Beyonce, I'm looking at you!

But here comes Best Metal Performance. In this category are Anthrax's "Neon Knights," Mastodon's "High Road," Motorhead's "Heartbreaker" and Slipknot's "The Negative One" – all worthy candidates. But, when that envelope was opened, the award somehow went to ... Tenacious D's remake of Dio's "The Last in Line."

Okay, Tenacious D are great at what they do, and Jack Black and Kyle Gass came up with an amazing version of "Last in Line," doing Ronnie James Dio proud. But choosing a slap-sticky acoustic comedy duo over four incredible bands like that? It's a, pardon the pun, joke ... and it smacks of the Grammys consciously and with malice of forethought again spitting on metal. What it comes down to is this: whatever you think of the Grammys, at the very least, they are supposed to recognize sublime artistry in music. By that yardstick, it's hard to even fathom why Tenacious D was nominated in the first place.

And lest you believe this is rampant paranoia or an oversensitivity as to how metal specifically is mistreated by the Grammys, do you think for a moment they'd ever choose somebody like Tenacious D over their precious Taylor Swift or Sam Smith in any other category? Not in this lifetime. This was a decision made carelessly and deliberately so, and because of that, it's a slap in metal's corpse-painted face.

I don't buy the notion that the Grammys are simply lorded over by old geezers who somehow just don't get metal and make decisions based on a lack of awareness. That argument didn't hold water then and it doesn't now. They've had all this time since the Jethro Tull debacle to figure out how to give metal the respect it deserves. And time and time again, they prove they just don't give a shit about it. This is the Grammys saying, "Hey, I've seen those guys in the movies. Forget all the rest of those clowns. Let's give it to them. I liked 'The Pick of Destiny.' Hell, 'Nacho Libre' was a work of cinematic genius!"

And if the Grammys really and truly were paying attention to metal, wouldn't they stop trotting out the same old acts to reward retroactively for sins of the past? Wouldn't they include newer acts in the Best Metal Performance category, like Revocation, Periphery, Animals As Leaders, etc., etc.?

Trashing the Grammys is dumb. It's like a vegan trying to get McDonalds to give up beef for tofu. They'll never change. I hate talking about them. And yet, here we are. Damn it, Grammys ... you've won again. Visit http://www.grammy.com/ and tell 'em what you think. At least Brann Dailor got to show off that cool suit.

CD Review: Uriah Heep – Live at Koko

CD Review: Uriah Heep – Live at Koko
Frontiers Records Srl
All Access Rating: A-

Uriah Heep - Live at Koko 2015

Most of the face of that clock on the cover of Uriah Heep's upcoming two CD/DVD concert release Live at Koko is gone, revealing rusty gears and a shoeless man walking the rim, his arms mimicking the hour and minute hands above him and seemingly struggling against time like a mime pretending to be at the mercy of a strong wind.

One of the flagships of '70s progressive hard-rock, although they were actually formed in 1969 by guitarist Mick Box and vocalist David Byron, Uriah Heep has better things to do than count the days, weeks, months or even years until its certain end, as the invigorating and unbridled Live at Koko resuscitates their reputation as a driven and powerful concert act – no matter their advanced age.

While their middling 2014 studio album Outsider indicated that maybe they were running out of ideas, this career-spanning set from Frontiers Records Srl at the very least confirms the notion that Uriah Heep's combustible band chemistry has never been more dynamic – the pulse-pounding, one-two punch of opener "Against All Odds" and "Overload" hitting listeners right in the chops and buckling their knees. Their skillful brilliance is still miles ahead of most of the competition, with Box's solar-powered, squealing guitar forays and Phil Lanzon's smoldering, storming organ making roaring sonic furnaces out of "Between Two Worlds," "Can't Take That Away," "Free and Easy" and, of course, the driving, ever-popular closer "Easy Living."

"Sunrise" and "Stealin'" – the latter a major Top 40 hit in both the U.K. and the U.S. off 1973's Sweet Freedom album – emerge from their condition as slumbering legends and grow into tuneful awakenings in the this sultry London 2014 performance, raising up with sweet vocal harmonies and dewey, yearning melodies. On a quiet and calm "July Morning," the crowd can be hearing singing along joyously, just before the song surges with power, transforming into a fervent and glorious hymn. Poetic and deeply reflective, "Lady in Black," so beautifully written by former member Ken Hensley, drifts in next, with its infectious acoustic guitar strumming and expansive instrumentation enhancing the telling of this lyrical tale through the superb interpretation of vocalist Bernie Shaw, who is absolutely sublime here.

Contemporaries of iconic bands Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, the durable Uriah Heep never quite seems to get its due from critics and rock historians. The sweltering Live at Koko offers them a chance to reassess what has always been an underrated catalog, with few missteps.
– Peter Lindblad

Revolution Saints' second video sees light of day

Clip for 'Back On My Trail' unveiled
By Peter Lindblad

Revolution Saints - S/T 2015

Not everyone can be as clever or creative as Red Fang.

What the Portland metal maulers can do with a shoestring budget is genius-level stuff, as Red Fang has created some of the funniest and most imaginative music videos of this, or any, era – the big-budget days of MTV included.

Today, the newly formed supergroup Revolution Saints unveiled its second video in anticipation of the release of their debut self-titled album, which is happening Feb. 24 via Frontiers Music Srl. It premiered on Billboard.com.

If you were expecting a grand cinematic masterpiece on the scale of something like "Citizen Kane," you reader have ridiculously high expectations. That said, while the video for "Back On My Trail" won't ever be a threat to take home an Oscar, it should generate excitement for one of the hotly tipped releases of 2015. Judge for yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_-oy6dRJt8

The setting for basically what amounts to a performance clip appears to be a well-appointed home studio, where Journey drummer Deen Castronovo, Night Ranger's Jack Blades and former Whitesnake guitarist Doug Aldrich are playing "Back On My Trail" with gusto – somebody off-camera having tuned them in via an old FM radio, after some compelling vintage knob-twiddling footage. Aside from that, it's a high-energy clip for a song with a bumper crop of melodic hard-rock hooks, with Castronovo – the band's singer – wailing about trying to belong somewhere in a confusing and often cold, cruel world.

Clear and masculine, with just a hint of vulnerability, Castronovo's powerful vocals are phenomenal, and finally, he gets to show off what are some pretty amazing pipes. There's a searing solo from Aldrich, with the cameras getting in there close to capture his dizzying finger work and everybody seems to be having a jolly time, a behind-the-scenes shots thrown in to capture the group's obvious joie de vivre.

Fast-paced and edited tightly to make the action come alive, the filming is actually rather stylish for what it is: a simple, unabashedly fun romp through a fairly cheesy, but nevertheless utterly infectious, '80s-style rock anthem and while it's not arty or challenging in any way, it'll be a crowd-pleaser of a song. Previously, the band released a video for "Turn Back Time," which, as it turns out, is not a cover of the glitzy Cher hit and it's somewhat more melodic, with sunsets and landscape shots interspersed throughout. It was directed by Devin DeHaven, who's credits include videos for Rick Ross, KISS, R. Kelly and Whitesnake. Expect more of the same from Revolution Saints.

Of the song "Back On My Trail," Castronovo said, "'Back On My Trail' was the first song I recorded drums and vocals on. It was a new experience for me and really was the beginning of Revolution Saints. I pulled no punches, and I hope everyone can hear the fire on that track."

Available for pre-order at Amazon in standard CD format at http://geni.us/RevSaintsAMZReg, with a deluxe version combined with a DVD available at http://geni.us/RevSaintsAMZDlx. Those who order the album digitally via iTunes at http://geni.us/RevSaintsiTunes will get automatic downloads of "Turn Back Time," "Back On My Trail" and "Way to the Sun (featuring Journey guitarist Neal Schon).

To get familiar with the band and the making of the album, here's an EPK for the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOKjuLhUkKs

DVD Review: Deep Purple With Orchestra – Live In Verona

DVD Review: Deep Purple With Orchestra – Live In Verona
Eagle Rock Entertainment
All Access Rating: B+

Deep Purple With Orchestra -
Live In Verona 2014

Any list of the world's most spectacular outdoor concert venues would be woefully incomplete without an entry for Arena di Verona.

Originally built in 30 AD, the beautifully preserved Roman amphitheatre provided a dramatic and elegant backdrop for a glorious 2011 performance from hard-rock giants Deep Purple, backed on this enchanted evening by the full instrumental might of the Neue Philharmonie Frankfort and lushly filmed for a new DVD "Live in Verona" released by Eagle Rock Entertainment.

Lending added weight, complexity and richness to a set loaded with familiar classics, the orchestra – obviously relishing the moment, playing with both passion and precision – pushes and prods Deep Purple to go for broke and drive "Highway Star," "Strange Kind of Woman" and "Woman From Tokyo" like getaway cars used in a daring bank heist. It is, indeed, the thrill of the chase that still moves Deep Purple.

Quick cutaways make the action onstage come alive, the cameras expertly capturing Ian Gillan's expressive wails and honing in with artful subtlety on the virtuoso chops of guitarist Steve Morse, drummer Ian Paice, keyboardist Don Airey and bassist Roger Glover – Morse's fluid soloing brilliance drawing most of the attention, and rightly so. And while they plow through "Knocking at Your Back Door," "Space Truckin'" and "Smoke on the Water" with the usual organ-fueled horsepower of a dependable, rugged vehicle that has a lot of miles on it, Deep Purple is at its best here when swimming in the sonorous, mystic oceania of a breathtaking version of "Rapture of the Deep" and giving a soulful rendering of "When A Blind Man Cries." Bonus versions of "Hush" and "Black Night" make this a package worth getting.

Of course, this isn't the Deep Purple of old, some of the fire of youth having understandably diminished over time, although the visually stunning "Live In Verona" proves they're still eminently capable of burning this lovely setting to the ground when properly motivated. And they are in fine form here, even if the bloom is off the rose, so to speak, when it comes to seeing Purple once again perform with an armada of strings and other classical accoutrements.
– Peter Lindblad

'That Metal Show' announces first guests

Rush, Dream Theater fans ought to be excited

By Peter Lindblad

'That Metal Show' returns Feb. 21 with
hosts Jim Florentine, Eddie Trunk
and Don Jamieson

The waiting is over. "That Metal Show" returns Feb. 21 on VH1 Classic, and, drum roll please, who will be the first guest? Why it's none other than today's Tom Sawyer Rush's Geddy Lee!

It'll be his second appearance on the acclaimed hard rock/heavy metal program, hosted by Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine. Lee will be there ostensibly to promote this summer's highly anticipated Rush R40 Live 40th Anniversary Tour, a 34-city run through North America.

"Back when 'TMS' was first born Geddy & Alex were nice enough to fly to New York and be a guest in our very first season. I've always had a great relationship with the Rush guys and it meant so much to me they were willing to support something that I was doing that at that point hardly anyone had seen or heard of," said host/co-producer Eddie Trunk. "Amazingly, almost seven years have passed and we're now about to debut our 14th season of 'That Metal Show' and I couldn't be more honored to welcome back Geddy to the set to celebrate 40-plus years of Rush and the return of 'TMS'!"

There's another little surprise in store for viewers of the season premiere, as Dream Theater's seven-string virtuoso John Petrucci will make his inaugural appearance on the debut episode. Dream Theater is currently working on a new album, expected to be released later this year.

All the TMS favorite segments are back, including "Metal Modem," "TMS Top 5," "Rank" and "Take It Or Leave It," as well as "Stump The Trunk" and Ms. Box Of Junk, Jennifer.

Fans can watch previous episodes and other exclusive bonus clips at ThatMetalShow.VH1.com and the new VH1 app.

TMS debuted on VH1 Classic in November 2008. Check out That Metal Show's Facebook page for more information at https://www.facebook.com/thatmetalshow

CD Review: U.D.O. – Decadent

CD Review: U.D.O. – Decadent
AFM Records
All Access Rating: B+

U.D.O. - Decadent 2015

Udo Dirkschneider is, once again, spoiling for a fight. Lined up in his crosshairs on Decadent, album No. 15 from his long-running post-Accept band of battle-scarred, traditional metal warriors, are greedy, cigar-chomping fat cats given to spitting on the less fortunate.

Waging class warfare with torrential, tight-fisted riffs, galloping rhythms and growling, impassioned, teeth-gnashing vocals, U.D.O. takes on corruption and Capitalism run amok, questioning whether societies with such wide divides between the rich and poor can, or even should, survive.

On point and on message, the team of Udo, Mattes and Fitty Wienhold – the same threesome that produced the titanic Steelhammer release a year ago – have a clear vision for Decadent. The thrashing toxic waltz of a racing "House of Fake" snarls and lashes out, while the rugged, down-and-dirty groove of "Breathless" is a caged animal pacing impatiently. An uprising of big hooks and bass thumping that sounds like cannons going off, "Pain" is melodically tumescent, its growth unchecked as riff blitzkriegs "Speeder" and the philosophical "Meaning of Life" – fast-fingered guitar leads flying underneath the tumult – carry the fight with focused aggression.

Oddities like the bi-polar, deliciously sinister and heavy "Mystery" and a directionless acoustic number entitled "Secrets in Paradise" are strangers in this land of U.D.O., but Decadent rarely deviates from its righteous path of honest indignation and designing sharp-clawed metal constructs that are so familiar, yet so undeniably compelling. Though a somewhat less powerful statement of purpose than Steelhammer, Decadent has more to say and it does so in a more varied manner. still slamming its battering ram of a head against the wall and hoping for the betterment of human kind. Let's hope U.D.O. won't ever water down its ideals or its sonic assault.
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Yes – Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome

2 CD/DVD Review: Yes – Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome
Frontiers Music Srl
All Access Rating: A-

Yes - Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol
Hippodrome 2014

The path's been pretty well beaten by now, the progressive-rock elders of Yes having performed live the favorite songs of 1970's The YES Album and 1977's Going for the One so often they could be forgiven for being bored to death with them. On its spring 2014 tour of the UK, Europe and Canada, Yes pledged to play both of them in their entirety, however, delving ever deeper into two of the most iconic records of their extensive catalog.

Playful and eager to engage in extended jams stretching the boundaries of famously complex arrangements, Yes breathes new life into dusty old compositions on the engrossing and expansive two CD/DVD set "Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome," the venerable masters taking liberties with subtle, nuanced alterations. A rollicking, extended piano run here, some extra guitar noodling there, and a gorgeous blending of vocal harmonies thrown in everywhere make for a joyous, captivating listen – the sound so vivid and clear, emphasizing the band's full-bodied instrumental flourishes and calculated precision, off-kilter melodic shifts and wonderfully interwoven vocal harmonies.

Summery and cheery, "Starship Trooper" culminates with a spiraling crescendo, the entwined machinations of guitarist Steve Howe and bassist Chris Squire sending wordless messages heavenward, while "Yours Is No Disgrace" motors through complicated twists and turns with easy grace. The proggy hootenanny of "Going for the One" is an aural ballet of elongated movements, the swooning "Wondrous Stories" and "Turn of the Century" are beautifully rendered to win over even the most jaded of audiences and "Awaken" swells majestically. And if it's intricate acoustic guitar picking you want, Howe obliges, with his folksy, whimsical turn on the lively instrumental "Clap."

Occasionally, he strains to reach certain notes, but otherwise, vocalist Jon Davison handles the material with warmth and skill, while Geoff Downes' keyboards add symphonic color to and shade in grand arrangements and Alan White glues it all together with intuitive rhythmic dynamics. Doing just one classic album in a concert setting seems to be passe for Yes, who've taken the concept to a whole new level. Not long afterward, they would attempt three on another series of live outings. Would it be too much to ask for four?
– Peter Lindblad

What's my age again? Drama with Blink-182

Pop-punk trio is going through a messy break-up
By Peter Lindblad

Blink-182 in happier times

Blink-182 didn't want to grow up.

When the adolescent pop-punk manifesto Enema of the State came bounding out of San Diego in 1999, with smiling porn star Janice Lindemulder on the cover sadistically pulling on a plastic glove just for effect, Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker should have been encased in amber, never to age a day.

This was their moment. Even more juvenile than Green Day, Blink-182's sound was deliriously infectious, even sunny and completely irreverent – songs like "All the Small Things," "What's My Age Again?' and "Adam's Song" were like sonic bags of Pop Rocks, bursting with radio-friendly hooks that were as addictive as crack. Nothing was out of bounds lyrically, as they trafficked in potty humor and youthful sexual clumsiness, displaying the kind of stupid courage exhibited by skateboarders hopped up on Mountain Dew. Somehow, these class clowns had control of the classroom, and they had everybody pogoing.

Gradually, the party started winding down, although Take Off Your Pants and Jacket hit No. 1 in 2001 in three countries, including the U.S. For the self-titled Blink-182, released in 2003, they started messing with the formula, experimenting with and incorporating new styles and people starting throwing around the word "maturity." Cue the death knell.

DeLonge left in 2005, but the trio reformed four years later, eventually recording Neighborhoods for a 2011 release. It seemed they were on track to follow that up this year, but this week, rumors began flying that all was not well in the Blink-182 camp. That's putting it mildly.

Again, DeLonge appears to be on the outs with Hoppus and Barker, who've accused him of being "ungrateful, disingenuous" in a Rolling Stone article found here http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/blink-182s-hoppus-barker-blast-ungrateful-disingenuous-tom-delonge-20150126. DeLonge shot back on Facebook that band drama had "poisoned" everything, writing an open letter explaining his side of the story. And more's been coming out ever since the first bombshell dropped. Now boys, dad's going to have to stop this car if you don't quit all this nonsense.

Apparently, the ride has come to a halt, at least for now. Not that any of this should come as any great surprise, as tales of infighting in Blink-182 are not exactly government secrets. Barker, in perhaps the most telling comment on the matter, said in the Rolling Stone article, "Why Blink even got back together in the first place is questionable."

And that really is the question, isn't it? Unless you're the Rolling Stones, rock bands usually have a pretty short shelf life, and Blink-182 hit its expiration date a long time ago. They weren't built for the long haul. Theirs was a aesthetic that appealed to youth culture at a certain point in time. Aside from Barker's tattoos, they weren't at all scary or intimidating; rather, they were clean cut and approachable, safe enough for soccer moms who'd wag their fingers at their antics while secretly lusting for their boyish charms and about as harmless as kids caught toilet papering the neighbors' trees.

Of course, they probably said the same things about Green Day, and who could have predicted they'd come out with American Idiot, a stinging and powerful indictment of the Bush presidency and the dumbing down of the country that elected him. It's hard to imagine Blink-182 following suit, not that they'd have to do so to justify their continued existence. Now in their 40s, though, do they have anything left to say? Have they ever shown the slightest interest in tackling more "adult" subject matter? And even if they did, could they pull it off? Has their sense of humor evolved over time? Could they do "dad rock" and make it funny ... like Louis C.K. funny? That would be refreshing, if they could. The Beatles were able to grow as artists, but even Led Zeppelin ran out of steam.

Individually, the members of Blink-182 might go on to make great art, but as a group, it's probably time to hang it up, especially if they can't work through their issues. Airing a band's dirty laundry in public is always a dicey proposition, and it greatly dims any prospects of reconciliation. At least we'll always have our memories ... and Enema of the State.

CD Review: Lord Dying – Poisoned Altars

CD Review: Lord Dying – Poisoned Altars
Relapse Records
All Access Rating: A-

Lord Dying - Poisoned Altars 2015

There's plenty of sludge to crawl through on Lord Dying's roiling, action-packed sophomore LP for Relapse Records, Poisoned Altars, although it's not an arduous march.

Unlike other bands of their grim ilk, the doom-laden Portland outfit, creators of 2013's highly acclaimed Summon The Faithless album, don't just creep along stuck in low gear all day. Their paralyzing breakdowns result in unexpected tempo shifts, the epic, almost cinematic closer "Darkness Remains" expanding and changing course at will, as Lord Dying engages in push-pull dynamics that are compelling, to say the least.

And while "Suckling at the Teat of a She-Beast" is a frenzied charge of barely controlled thrash, the title track, "The Clearing at the End of the Path" and "(All Hopes of a New Day) ... Extinguished" are monolithic, chugging surges of iron-clad riffs powered by brutally heavy churn-and-burn machinery and caught in stormy sonic seas, tossed about along with mighty hooks, muscular grooves and growling vocals. Feel the hot breath of sinister blackened death-metal expelled in "Offering Pain (and an Open-Minded Center)." Get sucked into the infectious vortex of "A Wound Outside of Time." When it's all over, lay a sacrifice at these Poisoned Altars. For Lord Dying has wrought aural devastation on a biblical level, much as Crowbar and High On Fire have, and somehow, nobody got killed.
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Pat Travers Band – Live at the Iridium NYC

CD Review: Pat Travers Band – Live at the Iridium NYC
Frontiers Music Srl
All Access Rating: B+

Pat Travers Band - Live at
the Iridium NYC 2014

Obviously feeling his oats, Pat Travers isn't lacking for confidence when he declares that he's "going to kick your ass" to the crowd at the famed Iridium Club in New York City.

In February 2012, while out on tour with a reunited Pat Travers Band, the fiery guitarist did just that, showcasing a variety of electrifying, finely honed chops in a feverish two-night binge of no-nonsense, working-class blues rock. Perhaps not quite as essential as his 1979 classic concert LP Live! Go For What You Know, Live at the Iridium NYC is energetic, joyous and occasionally stylish, the sizzling funk of "Gettin' Betta" eating the exhaust of a full-throttle "Rock and Roll Suzie" – complete with perfectly in sync dual lead guitars – with the smoky, simmering blues of "Crash and Burn" slinking into a blazing version of "Heat in the Street."

Bold, assertive and galvanizing, the Pat Travers Band – with Sandy Gennaro back on drums – is a finely tuned engine on Live at the Iridium NYC, able to downshift into a smoldering version of Ray Charles' "I've Got News for You" and cook it slowly, before turning around and whipping a celebratory "Ask Me Baby" into shape, although its "Josephine" that sparkles and shines like a cut-glass tumbler full of whisky on the rocks. Its mix of melodic toughness and sweetness goes down easy, but with a slight burn.

Recorded with full-bodied sound and warm clarity, Live at the Iridium NYC is a fine survey of Travers' illustrious career, even if it doesn't approach this kind of music in a particularly fresh or innovative way – not that it has to, considering the high level of performance and raw vitality here. Little additions, like Jon Paris playing blues harp with great feeling on "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day" and "Spoonful," make for a wonderful listen, with inspired choices all over the set list and Travers' smoking licks laying out a case for him to be mentioned among the all-time guitar greats. The evidence is overwhelming. https://www.facebook.com/frontiersmusicsrl?fref=nf
– Peter Lindblad

CD Review: Sweet & Lynch – Only to Rise

CD Review: Sweet & Lynch – Only to Rise
Frontiers Music Srl
All Access Rating: A-

Sweet & Lynch - Only to Rise 2015

It is 2015, isn't it? Seemingly from a different era, when glam-metal was king and Michael Sweet and George Lynch were lords of the Sunset Strip, Only to Rise is a debut album of towering melodic hard-rock spires from Sweet & Lynch.

While unabashedly raising a toast to the good ol' days, it's Sweet's penchant for yearning, grandiose melodies that makes this set actually seem timeless and not at all dated. Still, in many ways, Only to Rise certainly could be considered a time capsule from the mid-1980s.

Pairing a very busy Stryper front man with the equally hard-working ex-Dokken guitar shredder, Only to Rise soars on clarion vocals, generous hooks and sugary guitar crunch from Lynch, his riffs solid as bedrock, while he solos like a heat-seeking missile – all of it lending these songs the blazing thrust of NASA booster rockets. Adding more force and muscular drive to Only to Rise is the top-notch rhythm section of bassist James Lomenzo (Megadeth, White Lion) and drummer Brian Tichy (Whitesnake), two names that probably deserve some mention on the marquee alongside Sweet & Lynch.

Aside from the dreamy, if slightly schmaltzy, ballad "Me Without You," Only to Rise has big rock aspirations, building skyscrapers out of bittersweet anthems like "The Wish" – suffused with nostalgia for the Hollywood they remember – and "Dying Rose" in a matter of minutes, and doing likewise with "Recover," where Sweet nails difficult high notes like a champ.

With its juxtaposition of smoldering, bluesy verses and radiant, psychedelic chorus, "Divine" opens up the shutters and lets in a stream of light, while tracks like "Rescue Me," "Love Stays" and "Time Will Tell" build to amplified crescendos, flowing together beautifully like wild, swollen rivers that bring arena-rock floods somehow contained by the sandbags of superb songcraft and emboldened by strong, modern production values that bridge the present with the past. Had the '80s produced more of this, that party might have lasted a little longer. http://www.frontiers.it/
– Peter Lindblad

Shake your moneymaker: The death of the Black Crowes

Southern-rock champs calling it quits, what's their legacy?
By Peter Lindblad

The battling Robinson brothers are at it again, and this time, it seems their fussing and feuding has resulted in the death of The Black Crowes.

The Black Crowes have decided to
call it quits

On Friday, guitarist Rich Robinson issued a statement that reads, "I love my brother and respect his talent, but his present demand that I give up my equal share of the band and that our drummer for 28 years and original partner, Steve Gorman, relinquish 100 percent of his share, reducing him to a salaried employee, is not something I could agree to."

Ah, money, the root of all evil, and apparently, it is the cause of yet another Black Crowes breakup, although we've yet to hear Chris Robinson's side of things.

The writing was on the wall in October 2014. Back then, Gorman told Rolling Stone magazine, "I've said in the past, 'I know we'll work again' or 'there's no way we'll work again,' and I've been wrong. But right now, the likelihood of us doing anything again is as low as it's ever been. We could all see things differently in a year, but I'll be surprised if the Black Crowes do something again. Ever."

This coming from Gorman, who once quit the band near the end of 2001, only to return four years later.

Rich Robinson also said in that statement, "It is with great disappointment and regret that after having the privilege of writing and performing the music of the Black Crowes over the last 24 years, I find myself in the position of saying that the band has broken up." So, there you have it.

He also said, "I hold my time with the Black Crowes with the utmost respect and sincerest appreciation. It is a huge swath of my life's body of work. I couldn't be more proud of what we accomplished and deeply moved by the relationships people created and maintained with my music. That alone is the greatest honor of being a musician."

They certainly did nothing to stain their legacy on their final tour, at least if their show in Madison, Wis., on Sept. 22, 2013 was any indication. The Crowes were masterful that night, blazing through a well-chosen set list highlighted by a jaw-dropping supernova of a guitar duel between Rich Robinson and newcomer Jackie Green.

Is it too early to write a eulogy? Just what is the band's legacy? Are they the last great rock 'n' roll band?

There was a party going on in the '80s, as glam-metal was living fast and about to die young. The Black Crowes were formed in 1984, and they weren't invited. Not that they would have gone.

The Black Crowes - Shake Your
Moneymaker 2014

The Crowes were all about revivalism and swagger, bringing Stax-style soul, gospel, blues, classic rock and the Rolling Stones and the Faces back into fashion, and they looked the part – dark, even a little sinister, and certainly planning to do bad things to your daughters. And in 1990, they burst onto the scene with a debut album in Shake Your Moneymaker that turned music upside-down, just when grunge's crusty flannel-covered melancholy was on the verge of exploding.

An anomaly or an outlier in those early days, the Crowes' first smash hit was a rousing, raucous version of Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle." More singles followed, including the rolling boils "Jealous Again" and "Twice As Hard," and then hitting again with the soulful ballad "She Talks to Angels." They were shoving the '60s and bluesy rock 'n' roll right down the public's throat like it was castor oil or some detoxifying musical medicine that initiated a much-needed cleansing.

The Black Crowes - Southern Harmony
And Musical Companion

And just to prove they hadn't peaked too soon, the Black Crowes created a masterpiece with The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, which shot straight up to No. 1 on its release and delved ever more deeply into their roots. The songwriting was even better, as assertive, spirited rockers "Remedy," "Sting Me" and "Hotel Illness" all paraded around like strutting peacocks and the sun-dappled "Thorn in My Pride" was mellow gold. Amorica was just as good, and for "Wiser Time" alone it should be considered a classic.

Personnel changes, sibling squabbles and some uneven, often uninspired records slowed their momentum, and even in their heyday, some critics accused them of a lack of authenticity and originality, of being a pale imitation of those that had come before them and too dogmatic. Somehow what they were doing didn't ring true. The Crowes just couldn't win. It's a Catch-22 that the Stones and The Beatles were all too familiar with. At the same time they were harangued for simply going over the same old, well-trod ground as their influences, others argued they weren't paying them the proper respect, that they could never be the genuine article and how dare they even try.

Luckily, the Crowes paid them no mind and just went about their business, writing great, memorable tracks that never really celebrated the South, but certainly captured its rebellious, quirky nature in song. More importantly, they gave new life to all those styles of music they were supposedly defiling and taught a master class on it to a new generation of rock 'n' roll fans that desperately needed the education. What they took from The Faces and The Rolling Stones was a vibe and a preternatural feel for what made that music special, and they went one step further, giving that old, decaying music a jolt of energy and passion.

Jimmy Page recognized it. So did the Grateful Dead. The Crowes opened for both, and with a charismatic rooster of a front man in Chris Robinson and players capable of soaring, transcendent performances, they were hard to top as a live entity, even if by the end they were more of a nostalgia act than anything, having last released an album in 2010. They've all got other projects now – Chris Robinson's Brotherhood, Steve Gorman's Trigger Hippy and Rich Robinson's always doing all sorts of stuff. This isn't the last you've heard from any of them, but if this is, indeed, it for the Black Crowes, it's a sad moment for rock 'n' roll.