Viva La Mainstream Presents an Album A Day!

I mentioned in a post last week that I have a metric ton of music sitting idly on my computer, never listened to, doing little more at the moment than taking up space. Much of this music is actually made of full albums that friends or band managers give me. So in an effort to expand my musical knowledge, increase the breadth of sound that this blog covers, and to give meaning to countless gigabytes of data on my computer, I'm hereby starting a project in which I listen to an album in its entirety every day. For the movie fans reading who also frequent Ain't It Cool News, this project is borne of my appreciation Quint's A Movie A Day project.

I might not write about each daily album I listen to, but I'll let you know what that day's record was and probably give a few words on it. I'm excluding greatest hits albums and similar compilations, but soundtracks are still fair game (though they'll probably be rare). Furthermore, not every album will be something I'm hearing for the first time; of course I'm gonna go dig out the old favorites, but this is also a project to give me new bands to talk about, and thus share with you, so everybody wins!

Some of the records I've listened to in the last couple days:
The Black Crowes - Amorica (1994)
Until last Thursday night The Black Crowes were in that very large category of "Bands I had heard of and been recommended, but never actually listened to". Justin handed me Amorica, the album largely considered their breakout album. Make no mistake; The Black Crowes rock, but it's not the kind of rock where you roll down the windows, turn up the speakers and sing along while driving. Suffice it to say it was quite appropriate for me to have listened to them shortly after midnight in a largely empty library. Very chill, bluesy rock and roll. Whoever said that rock and roll fell off the face of the earth in the 90s after Kurt Cobain died missed the boat as much as I did.

The Black Crowes - Nonfiction [iTunes]

The Black Keys - Attack & Release (2008)
Much of what I said about The Black Crowes just now applies to The Black Keys as well. This does virtually nothing to help the fact that I get the two confused easily. But where the Black Crowes take a more mellow approach to blues rock (think Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton), The Black Keys turn the volume up a bit higher and channel more Led Zeppelin than they do Slowhand. Attack & Release comes in as unassumingly as it exits, and at just under 40 minutes, it's something that demands multiple listens. So perhaps you can look for this record to be the subject of a future Album A Day post.

The Black Keys - Strange Times [iTunes]

AFI - Decemberunderground (2006)
I said last week that a couple of my friends encouraged me to listen to more AFI. I've had Decemberunderground in my CD collection since it came out in 2006, but it never got much play. "Miss Murder" was a fun track and there were moments of alt-rock brilliance, but it never quite stuck with me. After finding that I liked Sing the Sorrow more than I expected, I decided it was time for Decemberunderground another spin. The album is by no means bad, as there are some fantastic tracks here ("Miss Murder", "The Missing Frame", to name two), and AFI's flirtation along the shores of glam rock are worthy of being explored on future albums. The problem here is that the album breaks too early. By the time "The Missing Frame" comes to a close at track 8, I've already heard the best the album has to offer. The final tracks are nothing to write home about, leaving about 15 minutes of music that does little more than tread water.

AFI - The Missing Frame [iTunes]

That's enough for now. I've got a laundry list of albums that are going to appear in this segment in the coming days. If you've got something you want me to hear, drop a comment with the artist and album here, or email it to TJ.ONeill1024@gmail.com

==TJ==

Can You Cover Up These Eyes?

Apologies on the 48 hours without updating. But this is a good one, I promise.

So AOL's music branch has started a project where they bring in current rock bands and have them do stripped-down covers of songs/artists that influenced them. It's actually a pretty good idea. The best example by far is AFI doing David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust":



(Video may not work on Firefox. If so, here's the link. I'm gonna try to upload an mp3 of it in the near future)

They have other covers from bands like Hellogoodbye (Frank Sinatra), 30 Seconds to Mars (The Police), and Rise Against (Buffalo Springfield). So that got me wondering about other bands and what covers I'd like to see them do. Here are 5 of my picks.

Bright Eyes - Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan): A lot of people say artists like Dylan or The Beatles are untouchable and that their work is so perfect it shouldn't be redone by anyone. I disagree. No artist has reached such an echelon. As proof of how a cover can be done right, go youtube Jay-Z, Linkin Park and Paul McCartney's performance of "Numb/Encore/Yesterday" from the 2006 Grammys. Conor Oberst has already drawn Dylan comparisons, and the thought of him hearing him wail on the chorus to one of the greatest songs of the '60s makes me giddy. Odds of this one happening are slim, but it's still one a great musical fantasy of mine.

The Killers - Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney/Wings): I don't know if its The Killers' '80s revival sound, or the fact that the opening lyrics are "When You Were Young..." (also the name of a Killers hit), but I think this song is in Brandon Flowers's wheelhouse. It's got a perfect mix of bravado and campiness, and its totally not impossible to see The Killers try to pull it off in the near future. I'm dead serious here. Can I please get someone at Island Records on this?

Foo Fighters - Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas): Dave Grohl and co. are already known to do this one live from time to time. Since Grohl has already said that the chances of covering anything from Nirvana are slim, perhaps they could do a studio version of this one just for kicks. Ignoring the Foo's lack of a keyboardist, I think this one has some real potential. Foo Fighters have proven they can do the big arena rock-style tracks, I want to see them go all the way with it.

Godsmack - Nothing Else Matters (Metallica): We all know Godsmack can do the 3-minute, balls-to-the-wall rock, but the closest they've come to expanding was "Serenity", which was a solid track to end the Faceless album, and The Other Side EP, which had little to offer since they ignored it after that. Sully Erna has the voice to pull off the soft end of the Metallica hit, and I think trying to expand on the softer edge of their range might yield something pretty cool.

Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac): I haven't come up with who I want doing this one, but there are a couple candidates, and this is definitely one that could turn into a hit for someone if done right. I can see The Fray doing this one (they've got the vocal harmony to do it), or even the Barenaked Ladies (though it might be too serious for them nowadays), or perhaps give it to 30 Seconds to Mars (for a much angstier take on it). But I think The Fray have the best shot of a hit with this one.

That's my list. If you read this blog, please comment and let me know. It'll make me feel better and give my ego that tiny little boost.

==TJ==