Kansas - Point Of Know Return

Checking the old Suggestion Box, a while back follower janis! asked that I take a peek at some Kansas. Now, I know my way around a Kansas record - but I can't really say that I've ever taken the time out to listen to a full length recording. Not sure why - but maybe they've never been my wheelhouse groove since I was a kid. Now, it what I would call the shocking revelation of 2011 - Kansas formed in, yes - Kansas. I'm sure you're stunned, I know I am too. They got their start in the early 70's, and they were kind of a hodgepodge of band members that just liked jamming out. They have a very unique style - mixing their love to boogie with very complex symphonic arrangements. It makes for the opera type album from start to finish. You certainly have the climaxes and falls that you'd expect to hear in a very well told story. They didn't really hit it big until 1977 with their release of 'Leftoverture' which produced the single 'Carry On Wayward Son'. That album sits at 5x platinum, their highest selling record to date. It was one year later that this album dropped, and it has reached a very respectable 4x platinum. The reason I chose this record instead, is the signature track 'Dust In The Wind'. Even if you never heard Kansas before, you probably have seen 'Old School' and can picture Will Ferrell belting out that track while serenading his deceased buddy - Blue. It's pretty much in the middle of the album - and it creates this really nice ballad break for the listener. You can't ignore the opener track as well, 'Point Of Know Return'. Very uptempo style that doesn't really carry that unique classical Kansas feel. But the rest of this album falls right in line to that symphonic effort, and they basically mastered that craft. It's not going to fit everyone's tastes, but it's a pretty solid album. And if nothing else, you can never go wrong listening to 'Dust' over and over.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Point of Know Return
2. Paradox
3. Spider, The
4. Portrait (He Knew)
5. Closet Chronicles
6. Lightning's Hand
7. Dust in the Wind
8. Sparks of the Tempest
9. Nobody's Home
10. Hopelessly Human

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Dust In The Wind
2. Point Of Know Return
3. Nobody's Home

FINAL RATING:
3.75 out of 5 stars

LL Cool J - Mr. Smith

So recently I was talking with someone about music, and upon asking what music this person was big into - one of the first responses was LL Cool J. After I stopped laughing, I returned a glance to notice this person was dead serious. So clearly I missed out on something and need to go back to his stuff. I went with this album as it's his best selling, at 2x platinum. He had a couple other 2x records as well, but I didn't feel like listening to 'Mama Said Knock You Out' today. Some people refer to LL as a visionary, and one of the pioneers of hip hop. Why you might ask? Great question! He was one of the first rappers to really arrange his songs in a pop style - and basically blend the two together. Before LL, believe it or not, pop fans and rap fans were two very separate groups. He took a big hit in terms of street cred for that, in which he has responded over the years. He's done a number of more hardcore rap records, in which pretty much all of them are terrible. It's hard to listen to a guy talk about all the things he likes in the bedroom as his "style" and then talk about blowin' holes in gangsta's. It just doesn't jive. He tried though, and that's half the battle. So here's why I don't like his music. This album is 15 tracks deep. The bigger singles on this album were 'Hey Lover' and 'Doin' It'. Now, if you listen to those songs, you'd get the feeling this is a guy who is going to do collabo ballads and that's his sweet spot. But then you have the 'I Shot Ya' tracks here, where he seems to be trying to be hardcore. You can't have it both ways! And then you go and do this NBC show 'In The House'? That's supposed to clean up your soft image? Get serious. I heard he's pretty good in the NCIS series and I actually liked the movie 'Any Given Sunday', in which he did a fine job. Personally, I think he should stick to acting and call it a day. Thankfully, he hasn't dropped an album since 2008 - and I don't see a plan for another.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Intro, The (Skit)
2. Make It Hot
3. Hip Hop
4. Hey Lover
5. Doin It
6. Life as...
7. I Shot Ya
8. Mr. Smith
9. No Airplay
10. Loungin
11. Hollis to Hollywood
12. God Bless
13. Get da Drop on 'Em
14. Prelude (Skit)
15. I Shot Ya (Remix)

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. I Shot Ya (Remix)
2. Doin' It
3. Loungin'

FINAL RATING:
1.5 out of 5 stars

Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks

Sorry for the delay today. Somehow I was locked out of my computer for two hours. The mysteries of these crazy machines that will someday take over the world. Anyways, when I think about punk rock - these guys typically enter my mind first. I'm not really sure why, but when I play word association with myself, punk rock = Sex Pistols. Now for some of you, you may think that's perfectly normal. But the strange thing is, I've never really been a fan of theirs. I know some of their stuff, but I don't own any albums or have a poster on my wall or anything. It's fairly random. And even in pop culture, these guys formed in 1975 or so, and they only lasted for about two and a half years. Only dropping one studio album. Yet somehow, they are known as one of the most influential acts in music history. The band had really just started rolling when bassist Sid Vicious passed away. Interesting story. His girlfriend was murdered and found dead in his apartment via a knife that belonged to Sid. He was in a drunken and drug based stupor - and claims he had nothing to do with it. He was charged with murder, and thusly tried to kill himself. When he failed, he was in Bellvue Mental Hospital for a while. Upon his release, they had a party to celebrate where his mother had heroin delivered to the party - against the wishes of his girlfriend he'd met his first day out. Sid ended up OD-ing, but the folks at the party were able to revive him. He died in his bed that night. Shortly thereafter a note was found that said this: "We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye." Crazy stuff. There is so much more about that story I'd like to tell, because it's fascinating, but I digressed too much already. This is mid 70's punk rock at its finest. If you enjoy punk rock today, this is where it all got started. I won't suggest that I'm their biggest fan, because I still won't be after listening to this. But I respect it. I think had they been able to continue with the original line up, they'd have been one of the best selling bands ever. Instead, this album is platinum in the states, and they never reached that mark again. Take a listen to this and remember what was, and what could have been.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Holidays in the Sun
2. Bodies
3. No Feelings
4. Liar
5. God Save the Queen
6. Problems
7. Seventeen
8. Anarchy in the U.K.
9. Submission
10. Pretty Vacant
11. New York
12. E.M.I.

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Anarchy In The UK
2. Bodies
3. God Save The Queen

FINAL RATING:
4 out of 5 stars

Nirvana - Nevermind

Recently, Nirvana would have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of 'Nevermind'. Since this occurred during my quasi-hiatus, I didn't get a chance to tell you guys about it. This album was expected to pretty much do nothing. It was this small Seattle based band that drew inspiration from a band like the Pixies - just making music that identified with the grunge era. Then, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' hit the MTV circuit and the song hit the radio. It went from something that would sell maybe a million to something that sold well over 10. To display how big it was, by 1992 it topped Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' in the billboard charts. That's no small feat. People have made a big deal about the lyrical quality over the years. But in my opinion, it's just nit-picking a really tight, solid album. Sure, you can't fully understand what Cobain is saying all the time, and sure, if you do make it out, it doesn't always make sense. But so what? Whatever he was singing about, he was obviously very passionate about it. And attempting to decipher any rock band and their lyrics is mostly an exercise in futility. It's frankly amazing how sites like Rolling Stone initially gave this a 3 out of 5 the day it dropped, but now consider it one of the best albums of all time. Why is that? At first glance would you think, "oh - it's just another rock band doing the grunge thing?" But then we got to know Cobain through his death, and all of the sudden all the works we did have became legendary. I wasn't on board with that. I always felt Nirvana's music was glorified because of the way it ended, versus the quality. Well, I was a fool. Listening to this again and again, it's just flat out awesome. 'Teen Spirit' is one of my least favorite tracks on the record. The rest of them are powerful, well done tracks that make you want more. There is a reason this album sold over 30 million copies worldwide - and it isn't just because the frontman died tragically. Do yourself a favor and pick this up again. I think even casual rock fans will come to remember and respect what Nirvana was all about.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit
2. In Bloom
3. Come as You Are
4. Breed
5. Lithium
6. Polly
7. Territorial Pissings
8. Drain You
9. Lounge Act
10. Stay Away
11. On a Plain
12. Something in the Way

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. In Bloom
2. Lithium
3. Something In The Way

4. Come As You Are
5. Breed

FINAL RATING:
5 out of 5 stars

Daft Punk - Discovery

I'm no fool. I know 'Techno Tuesday' isn't the reason most of you log on to read on Tuesday's - or any other day of the week. But heck, I like dance music. And I know a couple others that do too. So if nothing else, this makes me remember to listen to some beaty goodness each week. And why shouldn't anyone want to listen to Daft Punk? The only person I know that doesn't like the song 'One More Time' is follower Mithrandr. Craziness. Anyways, I believe I've documented my enjoyment of this band before. I reviewed their 'Homework' album a while back, to a fairly high praise. Discovery here is a bit of a curveball to their earlier works. This one is a little more synthed out than previous albums, and has a little different feel overall. It's called Discovery as it's supposed to mimic the stages of being a child, and really figured out what everything is in this crazy world. Other than the big hit I already mentioned, a lot of this album feels like late 70's funk music and then early 80's synth rock music. It's like if George Clinton and Styx got together and made a funky fresh dance album - this would be the offspring. When this came out in 2001, the dance revolution was starting to calm down quite a bit from what it was in the late 90's. They lost a little steam from their prior record, and this never got to be quite a big as they all thought it could have been. Maybe because a song like 'Short Circuit' sounds like a really bad 'Top Gun' song - but still. There are a couple good tracks here, and if you like dance music, you'll like this.

TRACK LISTING:
1. One More Time
2. Aerodynamic
3. Digital Love
4. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
5. Crescendolls
6. Nightvision
7. Superheroes
8. High Life
9. Something About Us
10. Voyager
11. Veridis Quo
12. Short Circuit
13. Face to Face
14. Too Long

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. One More Time
2. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
3. Voyager

FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars

Scotty McCreery - Clear As Day

Ahh yes. The HIGHLY anticipated debut release of Season 10 American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery. Seriously, did anyone even remember about this kid? I understand the show is huge and that people vote in droves for this contest. But is anyone really going to rush out today and pick this up? Please let me know if you are. Anyways, New Music Tuesday swings into place with Scotty here. He's 17 years old, and hails from Garner, North Carolina. What he has going for him, is he has the vocal of a guy 55 years old who has been smoking and drinking whiskey his whole life. Perfect if you want to get into the country music business. Even though he was from NC, he ended up auditioning in my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The judges of course were impressed and shocked by his voice. He won the show pretty easily, among seemingly no real competition. This is all my opinion of course, and I don't find his style to be all that appealing. When I do listen to country music, I enjoy listening to guys sing about their issues and stuff I can relate to. This "kid" is a kid! He's 17! What's been his biggest problem so far? I wanted to kiss a girl, but I didn't have the courage? My mom didn't make pancakes this morning and I had to settle for two Eggo's WITHOUT any syrup? These aren't problems I can relate to. And that's pretty much what this album is. Sure, he's got the voice. Sure, he's got some pretty nice arrangements on this album. But it's pure nonsense. 'The Trouble With Girls'? Come on. If you're over 16 this song shouldn't be relate-able to you. I'm all fired up now. It isn't so much as this is bad, it's just not worth listening to. I'd rather listen to Taylor Swift's problems - at least she has a great Kanye story.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Out of Summertime
2. I Love You This Big
3. Clear As Day
4. Trouble with Girls, The
5. Water Tower Town
6. Walk in the Country
7. Better Than That
8. Write My Number On Your Hand
9. Dirty Dishes
10. You Make That Look Good
11. Back on the Ground
12. That Old King James

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Better Than That
2. Clear As Day
3. Back On The Ground

FINAL RATING:
1.75 out of 5 stars

Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon

We're back on what is shaking out to be a normal week for me, and thusly, regular reviews! Hooray! Iced Earth here is a Florida based heavy metal band. The lead man of the group is Jon Scaffer - who has been around since day one. He started the band while in Columbus, Indiana - and called them Purgatory. The name was forced to change when he moved down to Florida, and there was already a fairly popular band with the same name lingering around. Iced Earth is became, and the rest is history. Their first studio album came out in 1990, and they are still out there making tunes today. This particular record came out in 2007 as part of a two piece concept recording. They were going for this metal opera type theme which tends to be pretty common. For some reason, metal makers seem to have this deep down desire to be thespians and make albums showing such. But this concept was two albums depicting the fictional creation and destruction of mankind. Heavy stuff. I'm not really sure what I think about this. While on one hand, the deep down metal lover in me says it's pretty solid. I like the Mustaine type vocal and the really fast paced guitar in places. The other side of me that's logical, hates when bands create these alternate worlds and sing about them as if we're supposed to know what's in their crazy dreams or nightmares. If I can weave my way past that though, there is some good music here. And it opens with track one being this, brooding melody that sets the tone. The only down side is how a couple of the tracks are a little cheesy, and sound like something The Lonely Island would parody. But all in all, it's worth listening to. And it's probably only a metal fan type of record - but give it a shot anyway. Maybe if you're into fictional novels like LOTR or that ilk, this will be your thing too.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Overture
2. Something Wicked, Pt. 1
3. Invasion
4. Motivation of Man, The
5. Setian Massacre
6. Charge to Keep, A
7. Reflections
8. Ten Thousand Strong
9. Execution
10. Order of the Rose
11. Cataclysm
12. Clouding, The
13. Infiltrate and Assimilate
14. Retribution Through the Ages
15. Something Wicked, Pt. 2
16. Domino Decree, The
17. Framing Armageddon
18. When Stars Collide (Born Is He)
19. Awakening, The

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Framing Armageddon
2. A Charge To Keep
3. Reflections

FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars