Favorite Albums At the Quarter Pole

I admit, I have not written about music for a while. Sorry folks. Life happens. I have been listening.

I'm going to reimagine this blog, maybe. Gonna try to do this monthly, but for now, this is what I've been digging for the first quarter of 2019. Bear with me. I'll try to do better.

In no particular order:

Jenny Lewis - On The Line

Admittedly, this is outside of my wheelhouse. There is not enough swamp there, but the songs are so damned good I could not include it. It's eclectic enough to keep me interested, yet never strays outside of her zone.

Here is one of my favorite songs:


Alice Wallace - Into The Blue

Alice Wallace puts the Western in Country and Western. Specifically California Western. I love that it is unapologetically California. Artists who write albums that encompasses where they're from usually comes off as very authentic. Wallace does it well on Into The Blue. "Echo Canyon" may be the best song I've heard where the music, mood and lyrics mesh so effortlessly and beautifully.



Rival Sons - Feral Roots

By far Feral Roots is the best rock album I've heard this year. I read about a new (to me) term recently: NWOCR, which stands for new wave of classic rock. Rival Sons have nailed it.  Feral Roots is an amalgam of 70s classic rock, Soundgarden and some sounds from doom metal. And it has elements of swamp.



Elles Bailey - Road I Call Home

Elles Bailey's sophomore effort, Road I Call Home, has been called blues or country or roots rock among other things. What it actually is, is a badass collection of 11 songs. Yeah, there are blues elements, country elements, rock elements, but it doesn't really matter. What matters are the songs. And the songs are there in spades.


Adia Victoria - Silences

Adia wants to characterize this album as a blues album. OK. It's not what I think of when I think blues. To my ears it's more in line with the weird, trippy, uncategorical vibes of Kate Vargas. And that's a good thing. I'm a music first guy, if you're music isn't interesting, I don't care about your message/lyrics (and those are for every individual listener to interpret). Silences is interesting and good.



Vandoliers - Forever

Vandoiers debut album The Native was an almost perfect representation of their home state of Texas. They have continued that with their sophomore effort, Forever. It's a fun album and a great listen. And it has more depth than their debut.



Austin Meade - Waves

I've waffled on this album. There is nothing bad, but there is nothing that stands out. But there is enough there there to warrant inclusion. Full disclosure here, I saw him live before I ever heard anything from him. Great live. So that clouds my vision. I understand the restraints of recording. Make the best of what you can with the budget you have. I'll be interested in following his career to see what comes next.



Lauren Jenkins - No Saint

This may be my favorite album early in 2019. The songs are so well-crafted. Even the songs I don't particularly like have redeeming qualities. There's a groove or a hook that can't be denied. And that voice. It has that Stevie Nicks quality that can't be quantified, it just is. This song just resonates with me, dammit it's MY bar. This is from the EP, but you get it.



Diamond Dogs - Honked! All Over Again

OK, this is kind of cheating. This is a 25 year anniversary release to digital. In other words, this is the first time the debut album from the Diamond Dogs is available to stream. It contains some B-sides and extras, I don't know which is what since I just discovered them recently. This Swedish band, heavily influenced by Honky Tonk Woman era Rolling Stones, does it well. It's a fun listen and they seem to be self-aware. From the original album:

EP Spotlight: Lauren Jenkins: The Nashville Sessions

The first thing I noticed about Lauren Jenkins was that unique smokey voice. I could listen to her sing songs I don't like.

Her first EP, The Nashville Sessions, is a six song collection that has four songs that she co-wrote and two cover songs. One of the covers is the song she did for for the Motley Crue tribute album. Her version of "Looks That Kill" was my first introduction to her voice and I've been waiting for more from her ever since.

The other cover is of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love", with, of course, her own spin. Personally, I could have done without either cover, replacing them with more originals, though I do think "Looks That Kill" is very interesting.

Here is one of the originals that I really like, "All Good Things". 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.