More Substance Than Bro Country, More Country Than Sam Hunt

On Sirius the other day I heard the d.j. say that she had heard The Eagles would be considered “country” today. Which is funny ’cause I have recently been thinking about that. I loved The Eagles. They’ve dabbled in country for years. The truth: they would NOT get played today because they are “too traditional.”

 That quote came from the comments section on an article on the website Saving Country Music from a user identified only as Justin.

It got me to thinking that a lot of 80's hair metal power ballads are more country than what you hear on mainstream country radio today. So of course I went down that rabbit hole. And then I got stuck on Cinderella. At their core, Cinderella was really more of a blues rock/Southern rock band than a hair metal band. But they had the look and played the part. But the music told a different story.

I could mine ten songs from the Cinderella catalog that would make a more country album than you could get from taking ten songs from eight hours worth of mainstream country radio.

But I digress from the main point. Taking individual songs (and yes I know, that's cherry picking) from artists such as Cinderella, Motley Crue, Poison, Warrant, Faster Pussycat, Guns n' Roses, and L.A. Guns, just to name a few, you can find songs more country than anything Sam Hunt has done.

And here's the real kicker. While the demise of the glam/sleaze rock scene was mired in misogyny and shallowness, there is more substance to be found there than in the bro country scene. Want proof? Glad you asked. I made a Spotify playlist of songs with more substance than bro country and more country than Sam Hunt.

Granted, none of these songs are really country in the true sense of country music. It's more of an exercise than anything else. And yes, I have an affinity for 80's hard rock, what I grew up with.  And yeah, I took some liberties including KISS and a Lita Ford cover of an Alice Cooper song. It's my playlist.

If you Spotify, enjoy:

Retro Album Spotlight: Hanoi Rocks: Two Steps From the Move

I'll be honest, I had never heard of Hanoi Rocks until Motley Crue was involved. In a negative way.
Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, Hanoi Rocks' drummer was killed in a car accident in which Motley Crue singer Vince Neil was the driver.

1984. That's when Two Steps From The Move was released. And that may have been the genesis of my love for albums and not songs.

Two Steps From The Move starts off with a pretty killer cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Up Around The Bend".




And you know I like records you can listen to with little or no skips.  This is one of those albums. If Steel Panther does not cite Hanoi Rocks as an influence, I would be disappointed as "High School" is right up their alley.

"I Cant' Get It" is a knock on excess, even though 80s rock is  a case study in excess.




That is followed by "Underwater World". If Guns 'n Roses claims not to be influenced by this, they are lying.




Before power ballads were a thing, Hanoi Rocks was already doing them. "Don't You Ever Leave Me" is a perfect example.




And probably my favorite Hanoi Rocks song: " Million Miles Away".



Last video. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".  There are three more songs on the record. If you've made it this far, then I don't need to go on.

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.

Good Song, Bad Video: Motley Crue: Looks That Kill

I'm old enough to remember the time when MTV was actually Music Television and played videos. And play videos, they did. Good videos. Bad videos. Any videos.

So let's revisit some of that. There is a plethora of content out there.

We'll start with a band that can take it. Despite this ill-conceived, misogynistic video, Motley Crue has withstood the test of time.

I don't fault the Crue, or anyone else in this series, for these atrocities. It was a part of the times.

From Shout at the Devil, here is "Looks That Kill".

Artist Spotlight: Y&T

Y&T was one of the most underrated hard rock bands of the 80's. They have always been one of my favorites from that era. Personally I never understood why they didn't get swept up in the wave of Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Poison, Def Leppard, etc.

Maybe bad luck. Maybe never at the right place at the right time. Maybe an unfortunate twist of fate. Maybe bad karma. Whatever, it was never meant to be. Oh, sure, they had their one unfortunate hit with "Summertime Girls", but that was never what Y&T was. They were always much more than that.

Staunch Y&T aficionados will disagree with me, but I feel 1983's Mean Streak is their best work. I won't disagree with those who have an affinity for Earthshaker and Black Tiger, both fantastic albums, but I have a visceral connection with Mean Streak as it was my first introduction to Y&T, so it holds a special place in my heart.

Lead vocalist/lead guitarist/lead everything for Y&T, Dave Meniketti is one of the best combo vocalist/guitarists (along with Tom Keifer) in hard rock. Along with longtime partner in crime Phil Kennemore (RIP), Y&T never wavered from their particular brand of hard rock.

If you never heard them, here's a bad 80's video of a great song:

Y&T on Amazon

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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?