Long day today, there was only two of us in the office today, so it was busy as hell, we managed to get a ton of work done though. I had rehearsal afterwards; one more until the show on Saturday. Being the perfectionist that I can be sometimes I am unsatisfied with how the guitars sound right now, so Dan and I are going to hopefully go up and mess around with the amps before the band gets there tomorrow night and do some last minute tweeking, write down all of the settings our amps are on and hopefully rock on Saturday. The music sounds fine though, the songs. The jams are getting better, shorter, but more to the point. I think once we play this show we will get more into the long jams that last over 45 minutes again, but for now we are playing it safe so we don�t shoot ourselves in the foot. I am happy with my new guitar I bought last week. I love the Telecaster. I must say I look forward to writing some new material, as I am sick to death of the songs we recorded at this point.

Anyway, I�m continuing my project of reviewing my 100 favorite �rock� albums of all time, here is the second group of five:

The Flamin Groovies � Teenage Head

Mick Jagger apparently once said that this classic album was better than their Sticky Fingers, which was released around the same time actually. I think Mick does have a good point to a degree. While many folks say that Sticky Fingers has the two hits, and a bunch of filler, this album doesn�t really let up from beginning to end. Opening with the bluesy �High Flyin� Baby�, which leader Roy Loney admits borrowed heavily from Captain Beefhearts� �Sure �Nuff �N Yes I Do�, I can feel the soul oozing out of the speakers. Keyboardist Jim Dickinson lends a hand on the opener, fresh from recording with the Stones on Sticky Fingers actually. Raw power indeed. Picture the Rolling Stones crossed with Iggy Pop, and you�ll get a feel of what this record is all about. The precursor to Guns and Roses �Welcome to the Jungle� is the second slow country blues number, �City Lights�. Precursor lyrically anyway, as it talks about the temptations a country boy faces upon arrival in the big city. �Yesterday�s Numbers� is a great pop song that echoes a similar guitar sound to Keith Richards on �Street Fighting Man�. The catchy-as-hell title track has Loney singing like Alice Cooper with a southern drawl. For fans of the New York Dolls, the Stooges, MC5, etc this album is essential. Where would Jon Spencer be without this record? The Buddha reissue of this has 7 extra songs from the recording sessions that were mostly culled from their live sets, including �Shaking All Over� (that give the Who a run for the money), and �Louie Louie�. Rock and roll all night, party every day.

The Cure � Pornography

Hands down the best Cure album to date, following right behind would be The Top, and Faith. Released in 1982, this is the quintessential �Goth album�, check out the opening line: �It doesn�t matter if we all die/ambition in the back of a black car�. None more black. Some of the most gorgeously dark melodies to be put to wax in the history of the world. This album only had one real �hit�, �The Hanging Garden�, probably the albums weakest track, but great in context with the album as a whole. The classic line up is on this record of Robert Smith, to this day one of the most underrated guitar players in music, Simon Gallup on bass, and Lawrence Tolhurst on drums. I doubt I would be playing guitar the way I do, and writing songs if it weren�t for this record. One day, the band will cover something off of this classic.

Janes Addiction � Nothings Shocking

Everyone loves this band, or should anyway. When I first heard this, it was exactly what I was looking for in music at the time. Dynamics that the Smashing Pumpkins came close to a little while later, and killer guitar work to boot. Dave Navarro is one of my favorite guitar players, if only for the fact that he wrote �Summertime Rolls� the opener on side two. Upon first discovering these guys on this, their major label debut, second album though, I thought they were from outer space. Surreal album cover of one of Perry Farrell�s sculptures, and the photo of the band on the inside cover brings even more mystique to the band. The greatest balance of heaviness and mellow rock I�ve heard in my life, the band went on to record another great album and called it quits, this will remain my favorite as it was the first I had heard of them and there isn�t a bit of filler on it.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band � Trout Mask Replica

Whenever someone asks me what Captain Beefheart is all about I can�t help but mention Frank Zappa, but that is definitely unfair. Zappa produced this record, and was a childhood friend, and did compose some pretty bizarre music in his time, but that�s about where the similarity ends in my eyes. Quite possibly the hardest record to get into on first listen, and more or less impossible to the ears of most people, this is what music is all about to me. Beefheart made his most ambitious move of his whole career with this 28 track record. Once you know the history of this record it becomes even more amazing. It was recorded in a house they were living in, Beefheart, real name Don Van Vliet, was said to be a strict band leader literally locking the band members in the house to rehearse it. Stacks of music on paper littered the house, and he even allegedly wouldn�t let certain band members eat until they learned how to play their parts. On this record, Vliet synthesizes rock, free jazz, beat poetry, among other styles. These elements are combined roughly as the musical seams show quite clearly. He sings in a rustic, bluesy voice, with an obvious nod to legendary bluesman Howlin' Wolf. If it sounds difficult to imagine, it is even more difficult to listen to. Ideologically, this album has been a huge influence on many a band from the Clash to Gang of Four, to PJ Harvey, musically, it stands alone. Musically more akin to what guys like Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor were doing with jazz though. With a good set of headphones, you can hear how the guitars play off each other. With some patience this record starts to open up and become a little more friendly, try it out if you dare�

U2- Achtung Baby

The Irish band drops the political posturing, and heads into post-modern territory on this, their first album of the nineties. Many people didn�t know what to do when this came out. It doesn�t sound like anything the band had done before, upon further listen it does though. The vocal harmonies fans knew and loved are all over the chorus of the opener �Zoo Station�, the album really hits for me on the second track �Even Better than the Real Thing� though. The Edge reinvented his special brand of guitar playing again on this record putting him up there with other pioneers before him. The overall feel of this record is what gets me, this dark seedy underworld of sleaze amidst synthesizers and dizzying guitar lines, with Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. laying down a thick rhythm that would make Bootsy Collins and Clyde Stubblefield proud. �One�, the albums biggest hit could be the bands best song ever written, from a songwriters point of view, it offers a breath of fresh air, or a calm after the storm of the two monster openers, even if it is a serious song. The guitar solo on �Until the End of the World� reigns as my favorite guitar solo ever recorded closely behind the one Hendrix laid down on �All Along the Watchtower�. A perfect album from start to finish, and a glimpse of what was to come for two more albums.

That's it for tonight, I'm dog tired...

"Anyone who is serious about music has got to be

kidding. - Captain Beefheart

before & after