New Music Tuesday with Butch Walker

Butch Walker's latest album Afraid of Ghosts dropped today. He had released a few singles leading up to the release. "21+" was one of them.  What a great song.

I'm just now getting into the entire record, but this song I'll share now. Hauntingly beautiful.

But the best part may be what he wrote on the youtube note:

"so I wrote a song called “21+”…. and no, it’s not a Florida Georgia line song about trying to get into a bar with a fake ID, cooler full of cold beer, pickup truck, girl, babe, angel, tight jeans yada yada yada… sorry. it’s actually just a sad song with a total bummer of a lyric…. for your sad days. but i like it. so here it is."

That's just fabulous. Enjoy.

Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute to Motley Crue - Full Review

I posted a knee-jerk quickie review on the Nashville Outlaws Motley Crue tribute record when only one minute snippets were available. I have now had the chance to listen to the record in its entirety. While I've had some slight changes of opinion after listening to the whole songs, I will say that my quick hits were fairly spot on.

With 15 songs all done by different artists, this record can't be judged as an album, but rather the individual songs deserve to be critiqued on their own individual merits. Because this thing is all over the map, I'll do a song-by-song breakdown.

First a little background. While I'm not the biggest Motley Crue fan in the world, I grew up listening to hair bands and sleaze rock. The Motley songs that I really liked, I judge the covers a little differently than the songs I thought were meh. I'm also a fan of country music. So I come at this from both angles. Or maybe neither. Or a combination.

I wouldn't even bother with this if it had turned out to be the trainwreck I initially thought it would be when first hearing of the project, but there is some really interesting stuff on the record. Let's get to it.

If you can get past Rascall Flatts' "Kickstart My Heart", things get better. I promise. It's not that it's awful, it's just that there's nothing original there. It's a straight-up cover of the original. With Gary Levox on vocal. The studio musicians are good. But as in most of the straight covers, they should have consulted Mick Mars on how to get that bathtub guitar sound. It's just bland and pointless.

I really don't like saying nice things about Florida Georgia Line, but although they did a pretty straight cover of "If I Die Tomorrow", it sounds pretty good. After the first verse the singer loses some of his drawl and it starts to sound real. Wisely, they didn't try to replicate Mars' guitar sound and infused some banjo?, mandolin?, but it doesn't sound out of place. I would be much happier if FGL would stick to this kind of stuff and leave the EDM and rap somewhere else.

Odd song choice for Lee Ann Rimes with "Smokin' in the Boys Room". Which is actually a cover of Motley's cover of the old Brownsville Station song. While I initially didn't care for this song at all, the bluesy, jazzy vibe is kind of cool. The problem is that Rimes stretches the song out about two minutes too long. It just starts getting tiresome at the end.

The lead single from the record, Justin Moore's "Home Sweet Home" with Vince Neil is a watered down version of the original. All 80's power ballads translate easily into country music. So, it makes sense. This was just unnecessary. The original was all that was needed.

While Cassadee Pope's "The Animal in Me" doesn't stray too far from the original, it's interesting to hear the song with a female voice. It's obvious she feels comfortable in this type of music, although it's not much different from what she puts out for country radio now. I do like this one.

Now we get to something truly original and interesting. Aaron Lewis turns "Afraid" into a very classic sounding country song. I really didn't care that much for the original song. If anyone didn't know this was originally a Motley Crue song, they might think it was an Aaron Lewis original. Let's take a little time here to give a little credit to Nikki Sixx as a songwriter in general and lyricist specifically. I mean, just listen to lyrics in "Afraid". Lewis took those lyrics and constructed a very country song around them. This may be my favorite track on the record. May be.

Big and Rich's "Same Ol' Situation" just doesn't do it for me. That may be just

because I really liked the original so well. Or it may be because the cover is crap. I will give them credit for not going straight cover. I really can't say it's bad, it's just not for me. Moving on.

"Without You". Another 80's power ballad. Again, easy transition. But Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio do it as a duet. And pretty much acoustically. And it works. This is one that after hearing the full version, I've changed my opinion. I like it. It really has more of an Americana feel than country. It's well executed.

The Eli Young Band's "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)" is another straight cover that is pointless. I'm sure Eli Young's fans will think it's great. It's not bad. It's just not anything other than a cover.

That brings us to the second really big departure from the original, Lauren Jenkins' "Looks That Kill". Lauren Jenkins has that kind of smoky Kim Carnes voice. And a definitive musical style that she does not depart from. I think this is genius. A lot of people are going to hate it. The melody is recognizable, but the instrumentation is totally divergent. This is another of my favorites.

"Live Wire" by The Cadillac Three, I hated the first time. It's grown on me, just a little bit. It's just a bit sludgy and swampy. Just the subject matter of the song, not to mention what the original was, lends itself to more energy. "Live Wire". Electricity. This was when Motley was wild, young and living free. This sounds a bit like grandpa's version of "Live Wire".

OK, so I said "Afraid" may be favorite track. The Mavericks' "Dr. Feelgood" is right there. The Mavericks take this cautionary tale from the dark alleys of Los Angeles and transport it to Miami. Musically anyway. It feels just a real as the original, but in a very different way. I really like interesting covers. This is very, very interesting. And good.

Brantley Gilbert does "Girls, Girls, Girls". Of course he does. This is a sleazy song about strip clubs. And Gilbert manages to just make it creepy and uncomfortable.

Gretchen Wilson's "Wild Side" is another straight cover. It shows that Gretchen has metal pipes on par with Lzzy Hale and Doro. Little else.

Lastly we come to "Time For Change" by Darius Rucker. Give Rucker credit, he's been doing Hootie for a long time. He gives this song the Hootie treatment. And it works. If you're a fan of Hootie and Blowfish and/or Darius Rucker, you'll like it.

Quick Thoughts on Nashville Outlaws Motley Crue Tribute

OK, so I haven't listened to the entire record, only the one minute snippets available to preview on iTunes. But that's enough to know that Nashville Outlaws - A Tribute to Motley Crue is not the massive train wreck I expected it to be.

There is some good, some meh, some bad and a couple truly inspired tracks.

Pretty much, every artist that tried to do a standard remake of a song just came off as a watered down version of the original: Rascall Flatts' "Kickstart My Heart", Justin Moore's "Home Sweet Home", Eli Young's "Don't Go Away Mad", Brantley Gilbert's "Girls, Girls, Girls", Gretchen Wilson's "Wild Side" and Darius Rucker's "Time for Change".

Florida Georgia Line actually sounds like a good Southern Rock band with their version of "If I Die Tomorrow". If they would stay in that pocket they probably wouldn't be the butt of so many jokes that they are today.  And Cassadee Pope stays pretty true to the original on "The Animal in Me", but I like way she does it.

Some artists decided to stray off far from the original, with mixed results. Lee Ann Rimes' "Smokin' in the Boys Room" is just....odd. And not quite right. Clare Brown & Sam Palladio on "Without You" just falls flat. Big and Rich's "S,O.S." is ill-conceived and boring.

But.....and wait for it, there are three gems on this record.

Aaron Lewis, lead singer of the band Staind turned a pretty bad Motley song into a pretty damned good country song. His version of "Afraid" might be the largest departure from the original, but also the most successful.

Lauren Jenkins (don't know who she is) but her version of "Looks That Kill" is pretty killer in it's own right.

Finally, the Mavericks' doing "Dr. Feelgood" is just about genius. It takes the original out of the streets of Los Angeles and transports it right into Miami. It feels very "Miami Vice". And it doesn't feel wrong.

Are You Ready for A Country Motley Crue Tribute?

By now, most everyone has heard that Motley Crue has announced their final tour. It will run through the end of 2015 and then that's it. No more Crue.

They even added the twist of signing some sort of legal document that prevents them from ever touring again. Whatever that means.

Can they reunite for festivals? How about a residency in Vegas? Who knows?

Also coming out of that news conference was the disturbing news that the head honcho at Big Machine Records, Scott Borchetta, plans on releasing a Motley Crue country tribute album with the artists of his label. Some of Big Machine's artists include Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw and Cassadee Pope.

Sure, some Motley songs lend themselves easily to being "countrified". "Home Sweet Home" and any other power ballad would slide quite nicely onto current country radio. Other songs such as "Girl Don't Go Away Mad" and "Same Ol' Situation" fall along the same lines.

But how about "Dr. Feelgood", "Kickstart My Heart", "Looks That Kill", "Live Wire" and "Wildside"?

It's been suggested that I keep an open mind about this. And I will. But I just can't see those songs being anything but a train wreck. I could be wrong. Taylor Swift could do a killer version of "Dr. Feelgood". Maybe Rascal Flatts surprises with a new and unique twist on "Live Wire".

Or not.

Somebody's going to make some money on this ill-advised venture. And that's what it's all about in the end, right?

Saving Country Music

No, no, no, no, NO!

I'm not trying to save country music. I don't think country music needs my help.It may could use my input, but that's another story.

Saving Country Music is a website that I've been diving into the past few days. Very interesting stuff there.

I'm not a country traditionalist. I really am not much of a traditionalist anything. I don't necessarily agree with everything on this site. But what I really love about it is that it showcases artists who are not being played on radio.

It's more of a music (mostly country, but there is no box) lovers site. Sharing stuff that doesn't get recognized. I love that. Some of the music I like, some I don't. But in just a few days I've learned quite a bit and found some very cool artists that I don't know how I would have found otherwise.

If you are satisfied with what is currently being played on mainstream country radio and think that what is being played is great, you will not enjoy this site at all.

If you like some of the stuff currently being played but long for something more, think a lot of it is polished pop country crap, you will have a ball on this site.

If you think everything about current popular country music is horrible, well, you need help, but will find enough on this site to satisfy you temporarily.

If your favorite artists are Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, et al, stay away from this site at all costs for your own well-being. Because it will throw you into a rage.

I think my two or three readers of this blog will like it. Check it out.

Here's a sample of some of the stuff you might find: