2.2.13

On February 2nd I listened to Nas Illmatic, Led Zeppelin II, and The Joy Formidable Wolf's Law.

If I was late to the Jay-Z party, I missed the Nas party. I knew of Nas, but never bothered to pay attention to anything he ever did until 2006! And then it was by the urging of a co-worker who said, “if you like Rap, at all, this is the best Rap album ever recorded.” So, I gave it a shot.

Illmatic is fucking dense. It takes like five listens before anything sinks in or sticks out… for me anyway. I remember instantly thinking that Nas sounds like A Tribe Called Quest, if A Tribe Called Quest didn’t have any fun. Illmatic is all business, nothing personal.

“N.Y. State Of Mind,” “Life’s A Bitch,” and “Halftime” are songs I gotta slip into my regular rotation and “Memory Lane” is the money jam. That’s the song that sounds great doing lazy shit. Taking a ride just to take a ride? Throw on “Memory Lane.” Sitting in the yard enjoying a libation? Throw on“Memory Lane.” Fucked up, feeling glad to be alive, and don’t want the night to end? Throw on “Memory Lane!"

Led Zeppelin are the original Lord Of The Rings dorks! “Ramble On” to Mordor!

This is probably the Led Zeppelin album that drove me to the Classic Rock cliff. “Whole Lotta Love,” “What Is And What Should Never Be,” and“Heartbreaker/Living Loving Maid,” were probably the most over played Led Zeppelin tracks of all time! As much as I splooged all over Led Zeppelin I for sounding April fresh, I haven’t listened to much off of II in just as long and I feel like I gotta put it back on the shelf for another ten years. However, I did get a little caught up in the climax of “What Is And What Should Never Be.”

Speaking as I man whose best friends are his balls, how couldn’t I love “The Lemon Song.” To me, that song is about balls and the juice they make.

As an enormous fan of The Joy Formidable’s first album The Big Roar and their live shows, I had high hopes for this follow up! I should also say that I have an enormous crush on singer Ritzy Bryan. She’s adorable, but she’s also a bona fide Rock ‘N Roll force!

Wolf’s Law seems to be delivering on the band’s potential, the problem is I gotta hear it more. “This Ladder Is Our,”is a strong opener that leads into a couple more tracks that capture the bands huge sound, but it’s too much to take in in one listen. I’ll be going back for more and hopefully finding a new favorite song every time I do. 

1.1.13

Listening to Led Zeppelin I, The Clash The Clash and The Beastie Boys Licensed To Ill yesterday was invigorating!

I haven’t listened to Led Zep I from front to back since the late 80’s! I forgot what was on it. “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” is going into heavy rotation on my MP3 player straightaway! By the time I got to “Communication Breakdown,” I re-realized what an embarrassment of riches this fucking record is and then my all time favorite Zeppelin track “How Many More Times” closed it down!

My excitement for something so simple is kind of a funny thing. Fuck me for not listening to an album so good for so long, but on the flip side, the time away really made this record special again. 

As I listened to “You’re Time Is Gonna Come,” I was reminded of all those hacky Classic Rock radio stations that got the Led out every night. By putting Led Zep on such a pedestal and trying to create something special, they sucked the life from it. THEY KILLED IT. But, let him who is without sin among us be the first to throw a stone… I used to host Mandatory Metallica every night at ten o’clock on the radio. I played three songs from a library of twenty songs. After the first month, I hated Metallica.

But enough about me.

There isn’t a room on the planet that doesn’t get like a million times cooler by throwing on The Clash’s self-titled debut album. Put this on in the background of your Nana’s kitchen next time that you’re there and test my theory. 

It was a calculated juxtaposition to listen to The Clash’s working class angst right after Robert Plant and the boys hit me with a symphony of blues, rock and cheatin’ whores!

“White Riot” and “Career Opportunities” were great to hear in the context of their album mates. “Remote Control,” “London’s Burning,” “Police & Thieves” and “Garageland” are all going to be given extra attention from now on. Man, did Weezer rip off the shit outta “Garageland” by the way. “Cheat” gave me my favorite Joe Strummer “fuck ‘em” moment when he sings “If you wanna survive… you better learn how to lie.”

I love the fact that The Beastie Boys’ Licensed Ill starts off with a track that contains samples from Led Zeppelin and The Clash. All I will say about this album is this… I can sing the whole thing. Every fucking word! AND it sounds as fresh today as it did in 1986! Did you know they wanted to call it, Don't Be A Faggot? Columbia Records said "NO!"

I did notice something that I predict will become a theme by listening to classic albums all year. The radio hit. When “Fight For Your Right” came up on Ill, I wanted to just skip it. I don't hate the song, but I've heard it too much and to enjoy I gotta be in the right mood. Most of the time I just tune it completely out. It’s a great irony, without “Fight For Your Right,” Licensed To Ill doesn’t sell 9 million copies and maybe I wouldn’t love it as much, but in the context of the whole album… it sticks out like your mother’s dick.

See you tomorrow. I dunno, maybe.

“I got the trees on my mirror, so my car won’t smell.”