Pop culture is theater of the absurd. I want the Spice Girls to debate feminism with Snoop Doggy Dogg. I want Marilyn Manson to give make-up tips to k.d. lang. I want Axl Rose to arm wrestle Elton John on pay per view. I want to throw a stack of Marshall amps into the gene pool and see all humanity shake in electrified ecstasy.
For better or for worse, I�m your new music reviewer, and I�m here to give all this... and more. Much more.
Pearl Jam is no longer a young band, and they can no longer depend upon sheer momentum and the long-dead grunge love buzz to sell records. Their fifth release, �Yield� is a logical progression in The World According to Pearl Jam. Starting with �Vitalogy� (1994), the band became more experimental and a tad darker, perhaps consciously trying to disassociate itself from its Seattle roots and the legacy of ex-peer Kurt Cobain. �Yield� continues that trend. Its 13 tracks range from �Brain of J.,� a characteristically driving, guitar-heavy Pearl Jam tune, to an untitled percussion ditty by the band�s third full-time drummer, Jack Irons. The founding members -- Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Ed Vedder -- are still able to write songs that give you goose bumps (�In Hiding�) or make you shake your head and think, Where did that come from? (�Push Me, Pull Me�)
It appears that Pearl Jam is one of the few acts that was able to escape the early �90s with its principles and musical vision intact. �Yield� is solid throughout, certainly a must-buy for fans. The band has continued to take the best elements of grunge and nurture them into the next generation of classic American rock.
My humble prose couldn�t possibly add anything to the literature of a band so gargantuan, so influential, but I�ll give it a whirl anyway.
Though Led Zeppelin has appeared in several forms since drummer John Bonham died of alcoholic misadventure in 1980, dyed-in-the-wool fans haven�t really had anything new to sink their teeth into since then (apart from scores of admittedly high-quality bootlegs, including many made right here in Japan). The remasters were nice, but not earth-shattering. Page�s dabblings with David Coverdale are something adherents would rather relegate to the trash bin. The Plant-Page tour was unprecedented, but where was John Paul Jones?
With �BBC Sessions,� we have Led Zeppelin during their heyday, playing to small gatherings in studios in Britain and France. We get to hear cuts without backing tracks, something rare for Zeppelin, and thus the band playing purely as a quartet. There area also oddities, like a medley on disc two that features �Boogie Chillun,� a cover of the John Lee Hooker gem.
Because this set is a compilation of several concerts, some songs are repeated. �Communication Breakdown� appears three times, and �Dazed and Confused� gets the nod twice. But I can forgive this because each recording illuminates different aspects of Zeppelin�s live presence. For example, the first version of �Dazed� runs about seven minutes, the other a more familiar 18:36. There are also songs from the band�s fourth album, known in some circles as �Zoso� or as �Zeppelin IV,� before it was released, perhaps revealing how they envisioned future live gigs.
Devo covers have a rich history, from Nirvana�s raw punk rendition of the B-side �Turn Around� to Robert Palmer�s debonair interpretation of �Girl You Want.� But never before has there been a Devo tribute album (at least a readily obtainable one), even during a period of music history when such ass-kissing offerings are rife. To those of you who think Devo is nothing more than �Whip It,� I say this disc is a long-overdue pursuit.
It�s an esoteric assortment of bands that is tipping its energy domes (a.k.a. flower pots) here. Possum Dixon does �El Mongoloido,� a Spanish treatment of the early classic �Mongoloid.� Voodoo Glow Skulls sprinkle ska sounds on 1982�s �Time Out For Fun.� Ridel High goes heavy on �Blockhead,� a distinctly minimalist tune in its original form. Add 10 more covers by undergrounders like SNFU, Don Knotts Overdrive, The Vandals and Jughead�s Revenge, and you have a litmus test to see if you should venture into the mutated, devolved realm of the real Devo.
First there were cola wars. Then there were burger wars. Next there were late-night talk wars. Now there are late-night talk soundtrack wars. It�s all about bucks, kid, and all the royalty of the wee small ones are slated to release CDs.
Lovable Dave is basically Milquetoast with attitude, so don�t expect this disc to stray too far from the beaten path of pop music. The 14 tracks feature Gerry Garcia (�Friend of the Devil�), Jewel and Flea (�You Were Meant For Me�), Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach (�God Gave Me Strength�), Lenny Kravitz (�Are You Gonna Go My Way�) and R.E.M. (�Crush With Eyeliner�).
Round off the disc with Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Sheryl Crow and Paul Schaffer and his house band, and you have a disc appropriate for solitary contemplation or crowd-pleasing party fodder.
Final note: One nice thing about such sound stage recordings is the odd mixture of purity and grittiness they offer. They�re live recordings, yes, but they benefit from tailored acoustic surroundings. Therefore, the tunes are simultaneously raw and refined, orchestrated yet unbridled.
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