I'm currently camping in the Rockies, but on a brief foray down to buy supplies, I find that one of the monsters of hard rock, Ronnie James Dio, has died at the age of 67.
A superstar, regarded by many as the finest voice of heavy metal, Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne as the singer in Black Sabbath, prior to which he sang for Richie Blackmore's Rainbow. His later career included Heaven & Hell, and the self-titled Dio.
The singer revealed last year that he was suffering from stomach cancer, shortly after finishing a US tour with his band.
Dio's wife, Wendy, said that her husband died on the morning of Sunday, May 16, adding her heartfelt comment that "Today my heart is broken."
Black Sabbath's ninth album, Heaven & Hell, which was released in 1980, is considered by many fans to be the finest heavy metal album ever recorded.
Lou Reed has always gone against the grain. During 1967's so-called summer of love, his band The Velvet Underground
released a debut album about prostitution and heroin addiction. Then,
when the hippy revolution turned sour, the VU released their happy,
trippy pop album, Loaded, starting with the decidedly hippyish "Who Loves The Sun."
But most contrary of all was Reed's 1975 solo album, Metal Machine Music
(1975), four sides of unlistenable noise which divided fans: 99% hated
it, while 1% considered it a challenging but worthwhile work of
conceptual art. Last year a Rolling Stone reviewer described it live as
"a continuous blaring fog that rose and decreased in its deafening
intensity, marked by shrill electronic shrieks, long demented sax solos
and Reed’s occasional yelling voice."
Warning: This video should not be listened to by anyone
Great news (!) - Lou Reed is
taking his blaring fog, shrill shrieking and demented soloing on tour!
So far only European dates have been announced, but the April shows
will coincide with a full reissue program which will include Metal Machine Music on Blu-Ray for the first time. Perhaps a marginal improvement in audio clarity will make it an easier listen? Probably not.
April dates:
17 Cambridge, England - The Cambridge Junction 18 Oxford, England - O2 Academy 19 London, England - Royal Festival Hall 21 Paris, France - La Cigale 22 Brussels, Belgium - A/B (Domino Festival) 24 Copenhagen, Denmark - DR Koncerthuset 26 Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene 27 Bergen, Norway - Ole Bull Scene (Bergen Festival) 30 Mallorca, Spain - Teatre Principal de Palma
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.
The world needs more music critics like Charles Shaar Murray. Looking forward to the release of Jimi Hendrix's Valleys of Neptune (yes, a new Hendrix album!), I've been reading Murray's Crosstown Traffic. It's brilliant writing. Hendrix is the book's centerpiece, but there's a load to learn here for anyone who likes books about music. The subtitle of its best chapter yet asks, "So was Jimi Hendrix a sexist pig or what?"
Murray argues that "the sexuality expressed through the blues gradually mutated into the penile dementia of heavy-metal rock." And with what fervor. He exemplifies the point by comparing Muddy Waters' "You Need Love" -- warm, avuncular, intimate, relaxed, utterly sensual -- with Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love":
"Led Zeppelin, by contrast, come on like thermonuclear gang rape. The woman -- who, in Muddy Waters' song, is evoked as a real person with real emotions in a real situation -- is here reduced to a mere receptacle; an entirely passive presence whose sole function is to receive the Great Zeppelin (as depicted on the group's first two album covers: lumbering facetiousness posing as irony) with a suitable degree of veneration and gratitude. Even her response is superfluous: Zeppelin's vocalist Robert Plant virtually has her orgasm for her. After all, the satisfaction of the woman in the case is not intended for her benefit, but for his: it is the validation of his masculine prowess and the price of his admission to the alpha-male society. The stud-strut of heavy metal is a ritual by which men celebrate each other; it is not primarily intended for women, who -- at British metals shows, if not at their American counterparts -- demonstrate their understanding of the nature of the event by not showing up."
As Murray goes on to say, "The technical term for this stuff is 'cock rock'."
Seems hard to believe, but The Wallby Pink Floyd was released 30 years ago today, November 30, 1979.
And, even harder to believe, the WTO protests in Seattle, also known fondly as The Battle in Seattle or N30, started 10 years ago today, November 30, 1999.
Both of these N30 anti-establishment zeitgeists featured elements of rioting, burning rubbish, and gas masks. Coincidence? I
think not.
There are plenty of live albums issued solely as afterthoughts or
contract fulfillments, but there are plenty that are as transcendent as
the best in-person concert experiences, only with zero lines at the bathroom. For
this particular list we came up with the following criteria:
• Only one album per artist.
• Albums were been performed live in front of an audience, but don't necessarily have to be culled from a single performance.
• No EPs or singles—this list is about albums
• We decided to limit this list to music, which means no comedy. We
wanted to save those records for a separate list for laffers.
Of course, we exercise their judgment regarding quality and/or
historical significance. If you disagree with our choices (and there's
a good chance you will), let us know in the comments.
After 61 year old AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson announced his impending retirement, Lady Luck seems to be suggestively digging her elbow into various aging members of Aerosmith,
not least 61 year old frontman Steven Tyler, to think about following
suit. Tyler was airlifted to hospital on Wednesday night after
sustaining minor head, neck and shoulder injuries falling off-stage at
a concert in South Dakota. An onlooker told the Rapid City Journal
“I’ve never seen that happen before. But you could kind of see it
coming because he was dancing all over the stage.” It's the latest in a
long line of injuries and setbacks that have hit the band recently. In
May last year, Tyler checked into rehab to recover from an operation on
his foot. In February concerts were canceled when guitarist Joe Perry
required emergency surgery to deal with an infection in his knee. In
March Tyler contracted pneumonia, delaying plans to record a new album,
and last month more shows were canceled after Tyler injured his
hamstring on-stage. Guitarist Brad Whitford
missed several shows after he required surgery, reportedly due to
bumping his head really hard as he exited his Ferrari. Then, bassist Tom Hamilton
had to take time off to recover from some unspecified "non-invasive
surgery." Although Tyler's latest injuries are not serious, there's
only so many hits a man can take before he thinks about throwing in the
towel.
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
