THE GREATEST ALBUMS OF NO EXPIRATION'S LIFETIME

This is my 2,000th post! It feels like a big deal to me.  I've really enjoyed doing this blog, reading your comments (both here and on the No Expiration Facebook page) and occasionally meeting people who read the blog in person.  Thanks for your support, I'm going to continue doing No Expiration, and maybe add a video element to it at some point. I am in my early 40s, and love music as much as I ever did.

It was difficult to decide what to write about for my 2000th post.  I decided to do a list of the best albums that have come out since I launched this blog in the fall of 2007.  Some of my friends have a laugh over the fact that so many of the artists I listen to are "old" (which is silly and ageist), but in fact there are some newer artists, some who are celebrated by the hipster elite.  In fact, one of these albums topped the Village Voice "Pazz & Jop" album list!

1. The Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do was my favorite album of 2010, and also my favorite album of the past few years.  The DBTs is a band I was hardly aware of until a few years ago.  It was basically listening to SiriusXM's Outlaw Country that turned me on to them, and for that, I'm grateful. Once I started hearing a couple of songs, I started buying albums, and then attending concerts.  I'm in: I'm a fan for life. The Big To-Do is one of their best albums.  If my peers ask me about "new" bands to get into, I'll mention the Truckers.  They're not new, but they're new to a lot of people.

2. Bob Dylan - Together Through Life was my favorite album of 2009. It's amazing to me that Dylan still is adding to his unbelievable body of work. He was 68 (I think) when this came out.  How many 68 year olds are still putting out classic LPs? Well, I guess you can't compare anyone to Dylan anyway. The songs on this album were incredible - instead of writing them all on his own (as he usually does), he collaborated with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.  But the secret sauce here is in the musicians he assembled for this record: Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Los Lobos multi-instrumentalist David Hildago.

3. Bruce Springsteen - Magic He's as relevant as he ever was, and he drove that point home with this album. By this point, he'd driven away lots of his politically conservative fans, and goes hard at the bu$h administration.  And he did it with some of his best songs ever.  I love "Long Walk Home." The line "The flag flying over the courthouse, certain things are set in stone: who we are, what we'll do and what we won't."  The song has one of Clarence Clemons' last great sax performances.  Actually, the live version is even better than the one on Magic, it has great vocal performances by Steve Van Zandt and Nils Lofgren. On the same album is "Girls In The Summer Clothes" which is pretty self-explanatory. This was around the time that lots of younger acts, from Arcade Fire to Gaslight Anthem, were citing Bruce as a major audience.  For a long time you didn't have young artists referencing Bruce that much, around Magic that started to change.

4. Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals - Lifeline My favorite album of 2007.  It was an album that they recorded in Paris over a (I think) two week period while touring for 2006's Both Sides Of The Gun, but it it totally a different album. The Innocent Criminals were really gelling as a band at this point... so it's weird that this is the last that we've heard of them (Ben has recorded either with Relentless7 or Fistful Of Mercy since then). I really hope we hear more from Ben and The Innocent Criminals in the future (I love R7 and Fistful though).  The album has a laid back but really soulful sound.  It's one of my favorites by Ben (who is one of my favorite artists ever).

5. Cocktail Slippers - Saint Valentine's Day Massacre There are two bands that I won't shut up about when people ask me about good relatively recent bands: The Drive-By Truckers and The Cocktail Slippers. Saint Valentine's Day Massacre is just a classic rock record, it actually blows my mind that more people haven't heard of them.  Little Steven, who produced the album, said it is one of the best albums he has ever worked on.  Think about that for a second.  By the way, I agree with him.  This album would be considered a classic and they would be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if this came out in the '60s, '70s or '80s.

6. Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop, Drop and Roll!!! Of course, FHT is actually Green Day, but this was a great side project, and it's my favorite thing they've ever done, including American Idiot. This was my favorite album of 2008. The greatest radio station of all time, SiriusXM's Underground Garage, played every single song on this album. (yes I work at SiriusXM). It is perfect garage rock.  It's fun, unpretentious and the songs are incredible. It's too bad that they don't do any FHT songs during Green Day concerts (and the Hot Tubs rarely do concerts).

7. The Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark which was one of my favorite albums of 2008.  This is when I started rollin' with the Truckers.  I think I heard "3 Dimes Down" on another of my favorite radio stations, SiriusXM Outlaw Country, and I was sold on the band. I love that they quote Seger's classic "Rock and Roll Never Forgets" in the song. That's one of the things that's so great about this band.  They did it with no irony, most modern bands would sort of do that tongue in cheek.  One of the many reasons that the DBTs are so much better than most other bands these days.

8. Mavis Staples You Are Not Alone This was my second favorite album of 2010, but the title track was my favorite song of the year.  It's one of my favorite songs ever. The album was produced by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, who wrote the title track for Mavis.  Music is subjective, but I think when you write a song like "You Are Not Alone," you would have to know that it is an incredible song.  For him to give it to Mavis is amazing to me. But she sang it better than he could (I have heard his solo acoustic version on a bootleg, and he does it great, but she takes it to another level). The rest of the album is lovely also.  More than lovely: it's moving.

9. The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely was one of my favorite albums of 2008. (I bet some of you were wondering when Jack White would make his first appearance here!) I think that they are an excellent band, and lately they've been a bit forgotten between Jack's other bands.  I think that Jack and singer/songwriter/guitarist Brendan Benson are a great team, and compliment each other incredibly well.  Jack brings out a bit of darkness in Brendan, and Brendan brings more melody to Jack's songs.  And of course the rhythm section of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler (both of The Greenhornes) rock, they hold it down.  I know they are doing a few shows this year, I hope they return full time.

10. The Roots - How I Got Over was one of my favorites from 2010. The minute I heard it, I knew it was a great album. They were always a great band, but I think playing on Jimmy Fallon's show made them get even better, mainly (I think) because they backed up so many artists.  The album's guests were certainly informed by their experiences on the show: Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk, the ladies from Dirty Projectors and Joanna Newsom all  collaborated on the LP.  Also, Black Thought - in my mind, one of the most underrated MCs in hip-hop and also one of the best - sings a bit, which I think is something that started on Fallon.  As always, Questlove's beats and production is crisp and on point, but this album had some of the group's best songs, including the title track, "Dear God 2.0," "Now Or Never" and "The Day."

11. Social Distortion - Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. If I had to pick right now, this is my favorite album of 2011.  I doubt it will make many, or any, year-end best-ofs.  Social D get respect from music critics (I think), but I don't think many of them listen to their recent music. What a shame - I'd say to them, put down the Animal Collective and check out this gem. There's some new elements on this album: they make more use of Hammond organ than before, and there's also backing singers on a few songs.  And the songs are more accessible than ever, without losing Social D's badass identity.  Listen to this album, and then say it out loud: the D is one of the best American rock bands of the past three decades.  They deserve their due. And you deserve to hear this album.

12. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand What else can I say about this album?  OK, it got a lot of hype, and a lot of Grammys. In retrospect, it deserved all of its props and more. I've always enjoyed Robert Plant's solo career, but this album provided him with a new career peak.  That's no small feat.  It's as timeless and as beautiful as Zeppelin (if not quite as earth shaking or game changing).  Of course, Alison is a huge artist in her own rite as well, and this is one of her greatest albums as well. Some credit needs to go to producer T-Bone Burnett, who helped select the songs and also assembled the band on the record.

13. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy One of my favorite albums of 2010, I recently wrote that I didn't want to write more about it, because so much has been said. But it really is a phenomenal record. Kanye is one of he most ambitious artists in any genre these days, and he deserves credit for that. He certainly is one of the most ambitious in hip-hop, and one of the only commercially successful artists who seems determined to stretch the boundaries of the genre.  Is he a nice guy?  I don't know, is Bob Dylan? I don't want to hang out with Kanye, but I do want to listen to his music.

14. Q-Tip The Renaissance One of the most underrated albums of the past few years and one of my favorites of 2008.  Tip goes his own way, it's too bad that the media doesn't follow him, it would be a more interesting path for him.  I told people about this album and many (even people who described themselves as fans of A Tribe Called Quest) didn't even know about this album.  So I talked about it a lot, and I'll continue to. Tip is one of the best MCs of all time, and you hear it on this album, but musically, he's has his own sector in the universe.  The album doesn't really remind me of anything else out there.

15. The Black Keys  Brothers was one of my favorite albums from last year. The Black Keys recently were on the cover of the great UK magazine Mojo, and they deserved to be.  The cover usually goes to legends (McCartney and Marley have been on the covers of the last two issues), but I think The Black Keys deserve to be there. Brothers is a great album: it has reverence for the past, but isn't bound to it, it's funky, sexy and has swagger but isn't douchey.  There aren't many rock and roll bands doing what they do anymore. This album will hold up in 40 years.

16. Steve Earle  Washington Square Serenade Doing an album with electronic beats instead of working with his long time band, the excellent Dukes, could have gone wrong. Instead, the beats were subtle, and the songs were up front.  It could have easily been an acoustic album - this wasn't a "Dylan at Newport" or "Achtung Baby" moment at all. It featured some of his best songs, which is really saying something.  I think the universe needs to be adjusted: Steve Earle is supposed to be a huge rock icon, like Springsteen, Seger or Petty. His progressive politics (which he's more vocal about than Springsteen) has put off a lot of people (especially the country crowd) but this album doesn't have (too) much of that. OK, other than "City Of Immigrants."

17. The White Stripes - Icky Thump The final album, but we didn't know it at the time. Twelve words: "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)." One of their greatest songs.  It would have been one of Zeppelin's greatest songs. Just amazing. (Great video also).  Of course, I'm bummed that the band announced their breakup a few months back. This album was a great one to go out on (I'm glad they didn't finish with Get Behind Me Satan). They went out while they still were making incredible music. And of course Jack White is still doing interesting things with his two other groups, as well as the artists he produced for his record label, Third Man.

18. Muse The Resistance One of my favorite albums of 2009, and one of my favorite new-ish bands. I was so excited to see this band graduate to arenas on their latest tour, they are one of the only recent bands who can pull off arena shows, in my opinion. There are a few bands that are part of a "prog-rock" underground, but Muse seem to be the only ones able to headline arenas like the prog-rock legends of the '70s and '80s (Yes, Genesis, Rush, Pink Floyd) were able to do. Not to say that Muse is overly in debt to those bands: they definitely have their own thing going on. I can't wait to see what they do next.

19. Pearl Jam Backspacer got an "honorable mention" on my favorite albums of 2009 list.  In retrospect, it should have made the list.  It's amazing that a band like Pearl Jam is still adding new classics to their catalog.  "The Fixer" is one of my favorite PJ songs - the line "If something's old, I wanna put a little shine on it. When something's gone, I wanna fight to get it back again" is something of a mantra to me.  But "Unthought Known" is another classic, and "Just Breathe" should have been a huge hit single. They also get extra points for album art by the great cartoonist Tom Tomorrow.

 20. Elizabeth Cook Welder was one of my favorite albums of last year. Her time is coming!  She is going to be a star... at least if there's any justice in the world of culture (I know there isn't much justice, but hopefully there is at least some). She's a great songwriter, a unique singer and supposedly she is great live (I have to see one of her shows next time she comes through NYC). Her songs range from really funny ("El Camino" and "Yes To Booty") to tragic ("Heroin Addict Sister").  She's got so much talent, and besides being a great artist, she's a great radio host. Hear her weekdays from 10 am - 2 pm ET on SiriusXM Outlaw Country.

21. Robert Plant Band Of Joy was also one of my favorite albums of last year.  People couldn't believe that he didn't do a follow up to his Alison Krauss collab, but you have to remember, this is a guy who choose not to do a Led Zep tour so he could could tour with Alison Krauss! At this point in his career, Robert Plant does what he wants to do, and rightfully so.  The great Buddy Miller produced this album, helped Robert put together the band and choose the songs.  It was masterfully done. Robert's last two albums (and three out of his last four) are covers... I wonder if he still has any great new songs left in him.  Even if he doesn't, he knows how to choose the right material, whether or not he is writing it.  I have to say, even I'm surprised to see Robert pop up twice on this list.

22. Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song Another one of my favorites of 2010. I'm not one of those guys who rips on the current state of country music. It's not totally my thing, but some country hits are great songs. That said, Jamey Johnson is more my speed than most of the big country stars of today.  He is a bit more badass than many of his peers.  And like Johnny Cash, there's a great duality there. He has a dark side, but on the other hand, he recently produced the Blind Boys Of Alabama album. It's like he's searching for redemption, and you kind of hear that in his own songs.

23. Gregg Allman Low Country Blues is one of my favorites of this year. Some people might ask the point of a Gregg Allman solo album: The Allman Brothers Band is his band, and with Dickey Betts gone, why does he need to make a solo album? Well, Gregg isn't into the whole jam band thing, and on this album, he plays lots of blues songs and keeps them short and sweet.  It's another T-Bone Burnett collaboration, and I hope they work together again (or that they have another album in the can from these sessions).

24. Ben Harper Give Till Its Gone is Ben's second time on this list, and its another of my favorites of 2011. This one features Relentless7 as the backing band, but they aren't billed, I guess this is a more personal album, and Ben sees it as a solo album. It doesn't have the heavy rock energy of the last R7 album, White Lies For Dark Times. Ben is one of my favorite artists, and this album holds up to his best material.  The album has sadness, but also a sense of things getting better.  "Rock and Roll Is Free" is one of the best songs about rock and roll in recent memory.

25. Foo Fighters Wasting Light is definitely one of the best albums of the year, and one of the best of their career. It is literally a "garage rock" album - it was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage (albeit with a pretty cool studio built into it). The band, which again features Pat Smear (they're a three guitar band now) has never sounded better. I think people kind of take the Foo Fighters for granted and sometimes just check out their singles, but don't make that mistake here, this is a great album.

26. The Drive-By Truckers Go-Go Boots is their third time on this list! You can see that this group has made a big impression on me in recent years. Yes, this is one of my favorite albums of this year. Recorded around the same time as The Big To-Do, I'm glad they split them into separate albums, they sound like separate albums. Lots of great songs here: "Used To Be A Cop" is really good. Nebraska-good. There, I said it. I wonder if Bruce has listened to them. I'm sure he checks out Little Steven's Outlaw Country channel, so hopefully he's caught them.

27. Karen Elson The Ghost Who Walks was a great debut from a cool singer. Another of my favorites from last year. She happened to be married to Jack White (at the time) who produced the album and played drums on lots of songs.  Now that they've split, I wonder what her career will be like.  Well, she wrote lots of great songs on this album, and based on those, I'd want to hear her next album, I don't care who she is married to. She showed a bit of a different side on her cover of "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" on the recent Buddy Holly tribute album.

28. The Dead Weather Horehound was one of my favorites from 2009. Jack White's latest band is also his darkest. Allison Mosshart was already making pretty heavy music with her other band, The Kills, but this introduced her to lots of new people.  She's one of the greatest frontpeople in rock music right now. In fact, she's the only person who holds their own in the charisma department, when on stage with Jack White. If Jack splits his time between Dead Weather and The Raconteurs, I think he'll keep fans happy for a long time.

J. PERIOD'S Q-TIP MIX TAPE: CHECK IT OUT!

I've never been too familiar with the hip-hop mixtape scene. Most mixtapes aren't, strictly speaking, legal. But J. Period is a producer who has done a bunch of mixtapes... I don't know if they are "authorized" per se, but they are "commissioned." His latest mixtape is J. Period/Q-Tip The [Abstract] Best.

It's kind of like an audio documentary/podcast/tribute hybrid with pieces of songs, clips from interviews with Q-Tip as well as artists who he has worked with and influenced. There are new versions of some songs from his career (De La Soul cover "Excursions," Dres from Black Sheep gives his take on "Jazz" and a bunch of remixes that feature Questlove on drums). I found this collection on iTunes, where I also found a Roots mixtape by J. Period.  He occasionally posts other mixtapes at his website, if you love hip-hop, you should check it out. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: ALBUM ANNIVERSARIES: ALICIA KEYS, RYAN ADAMS, NIRVANA, MEGADETH, R.E.M.

Tomorrow morning on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, I'm talking about some albums that are being reissued in special anniversary editions.

First off, Alicia Keys' Songs In A Minor, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year. I wrote about this one the other night, I think it's a great LP.  To me, it heralded the arrival of a major artist who is going to be making important music for decades.  People rip on her for lots of things.  I guess the fact that she was a star pretty much the minute the album hit stores (thanks to both Oprah's endorsement and also an undeniable first single, "Fallin'") made her seem like an overnight star. (In fact, when she signed to J Records, it was her third record deal, she'd been signed and dropped twice previously). And, more recently, people have criticized her for more personal things which I won't get into.  I'll say that she seems to try and have a positive effect on the world with her money and fame, and I think she makes great music. I'm glad she's a star, and I always look forward to hearing what she's going to do next.

Also turning ten this year is Ryan Adams' Gold. I wrote about this one recently also. When Elton John released his 2001 album Songs From The West Coast (one of my favorite Elton albums, and one that is totally underrated), he said it was influenced by Ryan (although I think he was specifically referring to 2000's Heartbreaker). He wanted to take his band into the studio and do an album in two weeks. Around this time, Elton and Ryan were supposed to film an episode of CMT's Crossroads in New York City.  I was fortunate enough to get tickets.  Ryan, for some reason, didn't show up, but his band did, as did Elton. Elton started off with a solo piano set, and then Ryan's band joined him for a set of Ryan's songs. It was amazing. I'll always remember Elton's version of "La Cienega Just Smiled" from Gold. Ryan has put out lots of albums since then, but I think this is his finest moment.

Nirvana's Nevermind turns twenty this year. Wow. I remember hearing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" for the first time.  I was driving my car on the Meadowbrook Parkway in Long Island while I was in college.  I was listening to WDRE and wondering why they were playing a band that was heavy like Metallica, but of course the singer sounded nothing like Metallica or anyone else. I got Nevermind when it first came out. Obviously it is a classic album.  I loved "Lounge Act," I thought it sounded like The Smithereens (I later read that they were, in fact, an influence). At some point, I found Kurt Cobain a bit too precious and annoying (wearing a "corporate magazines still suck" shirt while doing a corporate magazine cover was cute, but complaining about Pearl Jam bugged me), and I stopped listening to them for a bit. That was dumb of me.  They are one of the greatest bands ever, and Nevermind is an incredible album. There's a deluxe version coming out later this year, but for now, Spin magazine has curated a tribute album called Newermind with The Meat Puppets, The Vaselines, Charles Bradley and Butch Walker, among others.  You can get it for free by liking their Facebook page.

R.E.M. has released a 25th anniversary edition of Life's Rich Pageant.  Having listened to it a bit lately, I've concluded that it is probably their best album (although I also love Automatic For The People). I'm going to do a separate post about this album.  The reissue comes with a second disc of demos and some songs that didn't come out on the album (some were re-recorded years later, others are being released for the first time here). Honestly, the bonuses are cool but kind of academic. But you need to have at least the album proper, if you don't already.

Finally, Megadeth's Peace Sells, which also turns 25.  Unlike the R.E.M. album, I remember this one coming out (I wasn't really aware of R.E.M. yet in 1986).  I knew they were led by a guy who used to be in Metallica, and lots of people were talking about it (I think I also knew that frontman Dave Mustaine was actually credited as a co-writer on a number of early Metallica classics). I listened to this album over and over, just as I did with Metallica. I felt Mustaine had the ability to take metal even further than Metallica did. They seemed to be a bit more political, which I was interested in at the time.  To me, this is one of the best speed metal albums ever. The bonus disc is a poorly recorded live concert from the era.

I know U2 will be releasing a Achtung Baby/Zooropa box set later this year, I can't wait to hear what they put on it (I have most of the b-side and remixes from the era though). I look forward to bringing that one onto a later episode of Larry's show.

GUITAR WORLD'S 100 GREATEST (MY ADJUSTMENTS) (part 2)

This is part 2 of my "adjustments" to Guitar World's list of 100 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Songs. Part 1 is here.

26. The Stooges - "1969" I just inserted it here. The Stooges kick the shit out of most bands that "classic rock" radio plays.  I could have chosen lots of Stooges songs, but "1969," leading off their self-titled debut from that same year, was a roaring counterpoint to lots of the hippie Woodstock stuff going on at the time. More people need to check out The Stooges.  I'm glad they finally got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  R.I.P guitarist Ron Asheton.

27. KISS - "Detroit Rock City (live)" I moved this up a few notches, GW had it at 33. And I replaced the studio version with the one from Alive II. "You wanted the best, you GOT the best! The hottest band in the world..."

28. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Cinnamon Girl" Neil and the late Danny Whitten were a great team. This song is really simple, but if it was easy, everyone would write songs like this. Incredible riff. GW had this at 31, I bumped it up.

29. Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love" which shows off Jimmy Page's godly power, not just as a guitarist but as a producer. Moved up from 35.

30. Yes - "Starship Trooper" Well, I may come off as a bit of a snob sometimes, but on the other hand I am a huge Yes fan. I'm glad GW choose this song instead of one of the more obvious ones. From their third LP, but their first with guitarist Steve Howe, The Yes Album. I never get tired of this song.

31. Derek & The Dominoes - "I Looked Away." Of course GW went with "Layla," but "classic rock" radio has kind of driven that one into the ground for me also. It's a great riff, a great anthem (and a great piano song as well as a great guitar song). To me, Derek is Eric Clapton's best period ever. Putting Eric and Duane Allman on the same record, it's still incredible to hear them together. I think "I Looked Away" is one of the most underrated songs in the Clapton cannon.

32. Bill Haley & The Comets - "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" It sounds quaint now, but in 1954, I'm sure it was pretty radical.  And the guitar is tasty as hell, props to Danny Cedrone who played guitar on the track.

33. Iron Maiden - "Iron Maiden" GW had "Run To The Hills" at #37, but I replaced it with this song, because I prefer the Paul Di'Anno era to the Bruce Dickinson era. Iron Maiden is creepy and evil sounding.  At the same time, "Run To The Hills" was the first Maiden song I'd ever heard, and really turned me on to them, so lets call it a tie, OK? I knew Maiden's imagery was very horror-film-like, and I was surprised to hear them do such a political song. Anyway, guitarist Dave Murray rocks on both songs.  On "Iron Maiden," he plays with co-guitarist Dennis Stratton, and on "Run..." with Adrian Smith.

34. The MC5 - "Kick Out The Jams" in the place of "Carry On Wayward Son." It's just a matter of opinion, but I think "classic rock" radio would actually rock more with more Stooges and MC5.

35. Cheap Trick - "Surrender" They always seem a bit underrated. GW had it at 39, I moved it up four spots.

36. Alice Cooper - "School's Out" Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce were a great guitar team, and Alice Cooper was a great BAND. This song is also a bit overdone, but it's timeless (at least as long as there are schools and summer break).

37.  Michael Jackson - "Beat It" I was glad to see GW include this song, even though no rock stations would ever play a Michael Jackson song.  The fact that he used Eddie Van Halen on this song was pretty radical at the time.  Michael often choose cool guitarists to work with, including Steve Stevens and Slash, but this was his best rock moment.  The fact that you couldn't hear this song on rock radio made rock radio, to me, seem old and out of touch (their very limited playlists didn't help either).

38. The New York Dolls - "Personality Crisis" I used this song to replace a Motley Crue song that was included by GW.  I don't like GW, but I respect that Nikki Sixx has always given a lot of credit to the Dolls for their influence, and even gave them the opening slot on their summer tour (which I think is still going on). But the Dolls are another great, underrated band. They deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they deserve to be on the radio also. Sylvain Sylvain and the late Johnny Thunders: great guitar team.

39. Bob Dylan - "Subterranean Homesick Blues" I'm not sure who the guitar players were on this song, but it's got great playing. Also, it marks one of the most radical artistic departures from a major popular music artist.  Going from folk to rock (or funk) like this... these days, everyone plays electric and acoustic music, but it was a radical idea back then.

40. The Rolling Stones - "Jumpin' Jack Flash" I moved this up from #46. Yes, it's a bit overplayed, but what a classic.  Undeniable riff. Keith Richards and Brian Jones on guitars.

41. AC/DC - "Hells Bells" Obviously "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Back In Black" are bigger songs from the Back In Black album, but I love how this song opens the album. It's their sendoff to Bon Scott, and the first time we hear his replacement, Brian Johnson. As always, Angus and Malcolm Young are devastating.

42. Dick Dale & The Del-Tones "Miserlou" I moved this up from 50.  It's truly an iconic piece of music, and bless Quentin Tarantino (one of the greatest soundtrack curators) for putting it in Pulp Fiction.

43. Crosby Stills Nash & Young "Carry On" I used this to replace CSN's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." I think this is better, and, plus, Neil Young is on it (I think: I know all four guys were on every song together on Deja Vu). When you see it live, it's cool to watch Stephen Stills and Neil go back and forth on lead guitars. David Crosby is a good rhythm guitarist, and Graham Nash is just a great musician. It's a great song to open a concert with.

44. The Grateful Dead - "Bertha (live)" I replaced "Truckin'" with this, I don't need to hear "Truckin'" anymore. This live version opens the "Skull Fuck" album, and they opened with this the first time I ever saw them. I'm not always into the hippie/jam band thing, but Jerry Garcia was a cool guitar player.

45. Link Wray & His Wray Men - "Rumble" Another badass instrumental used in Pulp Fiction, but not included on the soundtrack. I moved this up from 62.

46. The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Another great George Harrison composition, and in this one, the Fab Four gets an assist from Eric Clapton. I moved this up from 63.

47. Heart - "Barracuda" Yes, also driven into the ground by radio, but what the hell, it's  great riff.  Nancy Wilson is an underrated guitarist, and in the interest of fairness, it's worth mentioning that Roger Fisher was the other guitarist in the band at this point. I moved this up from 64.

48. Pearl Jam - "Corduroy" GW choose "Evenflow," which is a great (and has a monster riff that I think Stone Gossard came up with), but "Corduroy" is probably my favorite Pearl Jam song. When they play it live, it just raises the entire arena. People don't talk about Mike McCready enough when they talk about the best lead guitarists around today, but he is one of the best.

49. Van Halen - "Hot For Teacher" You just can't deny how huge Van Halen were in their day, and how great they were. I used to sort of "blame"them for hair metal, but I realized that was ridiculous.  This song is one of Eddie Van Halen's coolest moments.

50. The Yardbirds - "Over Under Sideways Down" This is from the Jeff Beck era, which is my favorite.

RYAN ADAMS "GOLD" TEN YEARS ON

Ryan Adams had been around for a while when he released his breakthrough album, Gold, in 2001. In the '90s, he fronted the alt-country band, Whiskeytown, and in 2000, he released his solo debut, Heartbreaker.

The first single from Gold, "New York, New York," was great on its own. The video was shot, weirdly, with the Twin Towers in the background, days before 9/11. It's hard not to think of those horrible days when I hear that song.  Still, it's a great song.  And the album holds up even without that song. "When The Stars Turn Blue" is a classic (it's been covered by Tim McGraw as well as The Corrs with Bono), but my favorite is "La Cienega Just Smiled." The album sort of set Ryan up for stardom, which he seemed determined to avoid at all costs.  Well, he was successful.

I remember interviewing him a few years after Gold, you could just tell that he absolutely didn't care about being popular, but he cared a lot about his music. In some ways, he reminds me of Prince. He kind of operates on his own terms, releases more music than even his fans know how to deal with.  I think Gold is Ryan's Purple Rain. I don't know if he's released his Sign O The Times yet.

The label that released Gold, Lost Highway Records, is also celebrating its ten year anniversary this year. To celebrate, they have been reissuing some of their important albums on limited edition clear vinyl. Gold is among those and the vinyl reissue has some bonus tracks.

I've been thinking about Amy Winehouse for the past few days; at one point, it seemed like Ryan was on that same kind of dark path.  I'm glad he seems to be doing a bit better these days, it's always interesting to see what he does next. (Right now, for some reason, he's posting covers of Vampire Weekend songs to his website. Next on his list: KISS).

ALICIA KEYS "SONGS IN A MINOR" 10 YEARS ON

After yesterday's sad news of the death of Amy Winehouse, I'd like to celebrate another young female singer who has successfully survived fame at an early age. Ten years after the release of her stunning debut, Songs In A Minor, Alicia Keys has an impressive body of work that just keeps growing.

She's just released a 10th anniversary edition of her debut, and I have to admit, I'd forgotten how good it was.  The singles ("Fallin'," "A Woman's Worth," her cover of Prince's "How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore") are of course amazing, but there are great album tracks on the LP.  I don't know that all contemporary pop artists care about full albums anymore. But Alicia Keys has always had a vision.  When this album came out, she was 19.  She was an exec producer, which is rare for new artists, especially artists of her age. She wrote or co-wrote all the originals.   At that point in her career, she needed to have that kind of control: she'd already been signed by, and dropped by, two record labels.   She was accepted to Columbia University, and dropped out after four weeks.  She knew what she needed to do: she knew she needed to control her career.  She had to focus and the discipline and the wisdom to be able to pull it off. I guess a lot of artists want to do that, but they aren't necessarily capable of doing it. Time has proven Alicia knew what she was doing all along.

So the anniversary edition of Songs In A Minor has the full album. It was definitely a product of Alicia's vision, but she was fortunate enough to have some great contributors: Isaac Hayes did the arrangements and played Rhodes piano on "Rock Wit U" and Brian McKnight produced and played all the instruments on "Goodbye" (but Alicia wrote it).  They're just two of the non-singles that are worth revisiting.

There's a second disc with alternate versions of songs from the album and other rarities.  There's the remix of "A Woman's Worth" (featuring Nas), an early and very funky version of "If I Was Your Woman," a different version of "Fallin'" and a live cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire." Finally, it comes with a DVD with a documentary about the album and some of the music videos. There's a great essay by the writer Alan Light, and also Alicia herself writes about every song on the collection, as well as an essay about the album itself.

Songs In A Minor holds up really well today, as does much of the music she's made since.  Ten years deep, Alicia Keys is still adding to her catalog of excellent songs, and we should be grateful for that.

On a personal note, I'll mention that I interviewed Ms. Keys when I was at VH1, she was one of my favorite interviews.  I figured, if someone that young has to have that much success, I'm glad it's her, she handles it with such grace, and remains a really cool person (I said the same thing about Norah Jones also). I told her I wanted to write the liner notes for her box set and she said "let's do it" or something like that.  Here's hoping she remembers that!

GOODBYE AMY WINEHOUSE, REST IN PEACE

By now, everyone knows that Amy Winehouse has died. She was a very good singer, and she could have been great. Maybe even a legend. Sadly, it wasn't to be.  We don't know how she died yet, but I'm sure most people suspect some sort of substance abuse.  It's just a shame. She had a great voice, and she knew how to use it. She had lots of charisma, people bought into her, they were emotionally invested in her.

I'd actually heard some songs from her first album, 2003's Frank, because I read British magazines and they were writing about her back then. I thought the album showed promise, and "Fuck Me Pumps" definitely showed that she had more edge and attitude than most other mainstream singers.

A few years later, I heard Ghostface's "You Know I'm No Good" which sampled Amy, which led me to seek out her new album, Back To Black. It was a great album, won a ton of Grammys, sold millions, it made her one of the biggest stars in the world.  Ultimately, though, it didn't get her what she wanted... whatever that was.

I know a lot of media outlets will be writing about Amy because it will lead to pageviews, copies sold, ads sold, whatever. People have been as interested in the spectacle and trainwreck of Amy Winehouse as they are in her music. Maybe more.

She wasn't a legend. Yes, she died at 27 like some other legendary rock stars.  She left one pretty good album and one pretty great one. I think there could have been some classics from her. So, I'm just sorry that we won't hear any more new music from her. That's all.

GUITAR WORLD'S 100 GREATEST (MY ADJUSTMENTS) (part 1)

Guitar World magazine's new issue features their list of the "100 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Songs."  I think they put together a great list, with some great choices that, sadly, don't get played on what is known on "classic rock" radio, including Bill Haley & The Comets' "Rock Around The Clock, Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock," Prince & The Revolution's "Purple Rain" and the #1 song, Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode."

As I often do, I create my own iPod mix to go along with the feature, with my own adjustments.   In some cases I switched one band's song with another (like with Led Zeppelin: I know "Stairway To Heaven" is, like, the most played song ever on classic rock radio or something, but I'm tired of it and I prefer "The Rain Song").  In other cases, I replaced some bands for others, creating my ideal classic rock lineup.  Not to be a snob, but on my planet, James Brown, The Stooges and The Clash are classic rock, whereas Kansas and Journey are not.  So, here's my list:

1. Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode" Yeah, it's such an obvious choice (I prefer "Brown Eyed Handsome Man"... read the lyrics and replace "eyed" with "skinned" and it's a pretty radical song for the era).  But it's such an important song.  Not just in rock and roll, but in American culture.

2. Led Zeppelin - "The Rain Song" As I mentioned above, GW used "Stairway To Heaven," but, as much as I enjoy J.R.R. Tolkien's lore, which inspired the lyrics, it's sort of an overplayed song. "The Rain Song" resonates with me much more.  "Upon us all a little rain must fall." This song is as much about John Paul Jones' string arrangements as Jimmy Page's guitar though. But still, it's powerful and beautiful.

3. Jimi Hendrix - "I Don't Live Today" replacing "Purple Haze." I love "Haze," but it's another one that "classic rock" radio has driven into the ground.  "I Don't Live Today" is just as rockin', and is from the same album, Are You Experienced?

4. Guns N' Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine" Overplayed? Hell yeah.  But when this jam came out in '87, you couldn't get enough of it.  Slash's riff was unbelievable, and he and Izzy Stradlin' were just such a great team. "Welcome To The Jungle" also made GW's list, but I kept Guns (and most other bands) to just one song.

5. Metallica - "For Whom The Bell Tolls" replacing "Enter Sandman." I love "Sandman," and I know it's where a lot of people discovered Metallica. I discovered them on a radio show called "Metal Shop," and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" was the song. I've never gotten tired of it. I have always loved James Hetfield's muscular rhythm playing.







6. Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Born On The Bayou" Well, GW went with The Eagles' "Hotel California," so I did what The Dude would do, and replaced them with some Creedence.  Actually I don't hate The Eagles, and "Hotel California" is a great song, but I don't love them enough to put them on my list. CCR on the other hand is one of the best bands ever. John Fogerty had some really evocative guitar riffs, "Proud Mary" was one, and this is another.

7. Black Sabbath - "Hand Of Doom" GW had Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train," which I pushed down the list a bit.  In my world, Sabbath comes before Ozzy, with all due respect. Choosing one Sabbath song is really hard (GW went with "Iron Man") but this one features Tony Iommi's guitar at its scariest and most evil.

8. The Kinks - "You Really Got Me" GW went with Van Halen's version, but, age before beauty.  Of course this one is a bit overplayed also, but come on, Dave Davies' riff is iconic.

9. AC/DC - "It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock and Roll)" GW had Deep Purple in this slot, I moved them down a bit.  At 10, they had AC/DC's "Back In Black," which I love, but for me, the Bon Scott era is my favorite.  This is not a typical AC/DC song (I don't know that they ever used bagpipes again after this) but what an anthem. Angus and Malcolm Young are one of the greatest guitar teams ever.

10. Elvis Presley - "Jailhouse Rock" Scotty Moore plays guitar on this. I'm not the biggest Elvis fan, but you can't deny this song. I love the riff, it's almost surf music, and the solo is rockin'.

11. The Allman Brothers Band - "Statesboro Blues (live)"  GW had Derek & The Dominoes in this slot. Both bands included the late great Duane Allman, and I like The Allmans better.  For The Allmans, GW choose "Whipping Post," but at 20+ minutes, it's a bit long for me.  This is shorter and to the point.

12. Ozzy Osbourne - "Crazy Train" Of course this is as much about the late great Randy Rhoads as it is about Ozzy.  I don't think Ozzy (or Sharon) would mind me saying that. I don't like a lot of the guitarists who Randy influenced, but the two Ozzy albums he played on - 1980's Blizzard Of Ozz and 1981's Diary Of A Madman - just about hold up to Ozzy's Sabbath albums.

13. The Beatles - "Here Comes The Sun" One of George Harrison's finest moments.  The acoustic guitar riff is gorgeous.

14. Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Yes, overplayed (by "alternative rock" or "active rock" or "album rock" radio formats). But the impact of this song in the '90s was tremendous.  I remember first hearing it on WDRE in Long Island and wondering why they were playing something that sounded like Metallica. Then I heard Kurt Cobain's vocals and realized that this was a totally different thing.  Did Nirvana kill hair metal?  I don't know... but at the time, I hoped they would.

15. Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Saturday Night Special" Of course GW went with "Freebird," a great song indeed. But also (of course) overplayed by "classic rock" radio. I think Skynyrd was a really underrated and misunderstood band.  I love this song - about gun control. Gary Rossington/Allen Collins/Ed King: another great guitar team.  Not many bands can pull off three guitars!

16. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - "Pride and Joy" SRV really brought blues music to a new audience, and it kind of started here (although he got his first big break by playing on David Bowie's Let's Dance, of all things).

17. The Rolling Stones - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" A bit overplayed, yes. But like "Johnny B. Goode," it didn't just make an impact on radio, this specific song made an actual cultural impact, I think it really probably summed up the frustration felt by young people in 1965.  And what a great Keith Richards riff.

18. Pink Floyd - "Comfortably Numb" I never get tired of this one. One of the last Roger Waters/David Gilmour songwriting collaborations. Gilmour's playing has never been better.

19. The Who - "Substitute" From their early, mod era. Simple, but not so simple. One of Pete Townshend's best songs, and one of his best riffs too. GW went with "Won't Get Fooled Again," which I bumped down the list.

20. Van Halen - "Runnin' With The Devil" instead of their cover of "You Really Got Me." They had fairly mainstream influences, but were so unique. So many bands imitated them, no one ever came close. Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth, what a guitar/singer team.

21. Cream - "Crossroads" White British rock bands covering blues classics is kind of it's own genre, and thank the lord for that! Without Cream, Zep, the Stones, et al, Robert Johnson would surely be forgotten by now. You should check out the original recordings.  They are difficult at first, but once you develop the taste for them, they can blow your mind. But still, bands like Cream did a great job of doing their own take on those incredible songs.

22. Rush - "Spirit Of The Radio" To me, the song is kind of how lame radio became in the '70s and '80s, so it's kind of ironic that "classic rock" radio plays this song so much.  It's such a beautiful song, and so powerful.  It's about how much music can mean to you.  It's Alex Lifeson's greatest riff. He's so underrated.  GW choose "Limelight" which I also love, but I had to go with "Spirit."

23. ZZ Top - "Tush" Sometimes, rock and roll is just about one thing.

24. The Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop" I think that most "classic rock" programmers hated The Ramones, but that's their problem. Johnny Ramone played in a certain way, but he was great at it.  He didn't have to be Clapton, he was Johnny Ramone. Simplicity is beautiful.

25. Jimi Hendrix - "All Along The Watchtower" I'm not one of those people who think that everyone else does Bob Dylan's songs better than he does, I love Dylan. But Jimi did the best version of "Watchtower," I think Dylan would admit that - Jimi kind of influenced the version Dylan has played live in recent years.

That's my first 25, I'll be doing a few other installments soon.

U2's 360 TOUR RETURNS TO NJ

Giants still walk the earth, and I'm not talking about a sports team.  Last night, U2's concert at the New Meadowlands Stadium was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I've seen lots of U2 shows: I've seen every tour since 1985.  This may well have been the best one.

For the past twenty years, I've felt that the band have had a hard time aligning their two sides: the rootsy, earnest Joshua Tree guys and the edgier, darker guys who chopped that tree down with Achtung Baby. Put another way: their '80s material didn't always fit into their shows in the '90s, and then in the '00s, post-All That You Can't Leave Behind, it sometimes felt like the '90s material didn't totally make sense in their sets.  On the 360 Tour, everything seems to work. Their gigantic stage is a visual assault with both heart and mind. I saw the earlier part of the tour, and this time the show was even better.

Clearly, Achtung Baby was on the band's collective mind: they are about to release a 20th anniversary edition of that album, and they opened up with four songs in a row from the LP: "Even Better Than The Real Thing," "The Fly," "Mysterious Ways" and "Until The End Of The World." The songs sounded better live than they ever have: they've lost some of their techno sheen, replaced by a roaring garage rock sound. When those songs first came out, they sounded like a real departure from "rock" music, but last night they all sounded like stadium anthems.

Speaking of anthems: from there they went into "I Will Follow," which still sounds so fresh. I've never gotten tired of this song. It struck me that this must be so much fun on "Rock Band," especially on drums. Listen to this song, you'll understand why U2 should have been called The Larry Mullen Band. His playing is so cool, but he doesn't try and call attention to himself.  You notice it if you're paying attention.  Larry and Adam Clayton really held it down last night: Adam sounded more funky and aggressive than ever.  He's probably getting more girls than ever (Bono remarked that he still thinks that being in the band is a "great way to meet girls"). You can hear it in his playing.

It's the end of the tour, and they've dropped a few songs from No Line On The Horizon. But they did play "Get On Your Boots" (which doesn't really work for me, it always struck me as an attempt to repeat the similar but cooler "Vertigo," which they also played), the remix of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" (also didn't really work, but they segued into "Discotheque," which is a much better dance jam), and "Magnificent," which is a classic.

There were some of the colossal hits: "Pride (In The Name Of Love)," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "One," "With Or Without You" and "Where The Streets Have No Name." All were incredible as always.

On this tour, they've brought back "Walk On," one of my favorites.  They have Amnesty International volunteers on stage with candles in honor of recently freed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, (read more about her here). Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the audience via video after the song.  It's one of those powerful moments that U2 pull off so well.  Another moment was astronaut Mark Kelly's video intro to "Beautiful Day," where he floated flash cards with the lyrics before the song, and then quoted Bowie: "Tell my wife I love her very much: she knows." How could you not get a lump in your throat! Kelly read some of the lyrics during the song also. He is already home from his space mission, but still, wow. That moment could have overwhelmed the song, but it didn't.  "Beautiful Day" is that rare rock song about, well, beauty... but played with Zeppelin-esque power.  And last night's performance was righteous, as was the performance of its album-mate, "Elevation," which followed.  I know The Edge isn't a typical "guitar hero," his playing is so rocking while also being zen. Like Larry's drumming, you never feel like The Edge is trying to call all the attention to himself.

Some surprising '90s moments: "Miss Sarajevo" and "Zooropa," both of which were excellent. Bono even sang Pavarotti's part of "Sarajevo," and pretty much pulled it off.  He was in amazing vocal form, and of course, was incredible as a frontman (a great moment came when he read a setlist from a U2 show from The Fastlane, 30 years earlier).  Also, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from the Batman soundtrack was great, proving that not all of U2's superhero collaborations aren't disasters.  Although the folks at Marvel Comics probably weren't psyched that "Hold Me" made the playlist ("How about 'Rise Above 1?').

The show ended with No Line On The Horizon's "Moment Of Surrender." My opinion: it holds up with the band's best songs.  Check it out if you haven't.  It's a soul music classic.

And that's the way the show was supposed to end. But Bono says "One more!" And so it was that they launched into "Out Of Control." A song I've always loved and have never seen them perform in the 26 years I've been attending U2 concerts. It's amazing that they are still surprising me after all that time, both with old classics and with their ability to continuously add to their catalog, already bursting at the seam with an embarrassment of riches.

(a few other notes: the show was opened by Interpol, a very Joy Division sounding band, who are no match for Muse, who opened last time. The top photo here was taken by my lovely wife, and the second photo is by my dear friend Ashmi, follow her on Twitter.)

TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT: BUDDY HOLLY, BILLIE HOLIDAY

Tomorrow morning on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SiriusXM OutQ, I'll be talking about two incredible artists, Buddy Holly and Billie Holiday. They both were hugely influential, and are the subjects of new tribute albums.  I just wrote about Buddy Holly's, called Rave On Buddy Holly.  I hope this turns on new fans to his music.  I think he is timeless.  To me, he's an outsider  -- he's not a stud, jock or obvious cool guy like an Elvis, but he's not angst ridden over it. Not over-artsy, not over-angry.  He just doesn't fit in, doesn't care, and wants to have a great time.

By the way, if you're looking to get some music by Buddy himself, you should check out the 2 CD set Gold that Universal Music put out a few years ago, it has lots of the great songs.  You can also find the new digital album, Raving On, which includes Buddy's versions of all the songs on the tribute album. More tribute albums should be accompanied by collections of original versions of songs included on the tribute.

I wrote about the new Billie Holiday tribute a few days ago. It has some cool artists covering her songs, as well as the lovely Angela Bassett reading excerpts from Lady Sings The Blues, Billie's autobiography.  I've really been enjoying Shelby Lynne and Esperanza Spalding's contributions to that album.  I wish there were some bigger names - Billie Holiday should be celebrated by the hugest singers in the world, in my opinion.

Will anyone ever do Buddy songs better than Buddy or Billie songs better than Billie?  It's not likely. But I think it is cool that big name artists give credit to their influences, and keep their songbooks alive. I may be a bit of an optimist, but I do believe that these kind of tribute albums can turn on younger ears, minds and hearts to great artists, and if that happens, then tribute albums are worth doing.

RAVE ON BUDDY HOLLY

I know that a lot of people hate the idea of tribute albums.  I don't.  In the pre-downloading age, I bought tons of them, even if there was just one artist I liked on the album. I really like the idea of artists paying tribute to other artists, I always have. It's hard to overstate Buddy Holly's importance.  He was there at the beginning of rock and roll.  He influenced The Beatles. The Rolling Stones covered him on their first album. I remember watching Bob Dylan talk about a Buddy Holly concert when he was accepting his Grammys in 1997.

I think it's important to our culture to keep reintroducing this kind of classic music to younger generations (or "demographics").  Rave On Buddy Holly does a good job at putting together a great list of diverse artists.   Do any of them improve on the original songs?  No, of course not. But there are lots of great versions of these classics, and if Rave On turns some new people on to Buddy Holly's music, then mission accomplished.

I think my favorite songs on the album are Paul McCartney's "It's So Easy," Karen Elson's "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and Cee-Lo Green's "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)." Sir Paul sounds like he  is harnessing the excitement that he felt when first hearing Buddy's music as a kid. It's actually kind of shocking hearing him rock out so hard!  No Expiration readers know that I really like Karen Elson, and I love her take on "Crying, Waiting, Hoping."  It's hard not to imagine that she was thinking about her soon-to-be-ex-husband (who produced the track and plays drums on it) when she was singing this.  Even still, it's a bit more upbeat than her most of the stuff on her excellent debut album The Ghost Who Walks. Cee-Lo Green? He just sells it so well.

There's a lot of other great moments: The Detroit Cobras (props to the producers for including them) on "Heartbeat," The Black Keys' "Dearest," Justin Townes Earle's "Maybe Baby," My Morning Jacket's "True Love Ways," She & Him's "Oh Boy!" and even Kid Rock's "Well All Right." It's not all good.  The singer from The Strokes and Modest Mouse both do pretty boring takes on Buddy classics.

But even the songs I don't like may serve a purpose.  If popular artists like the singer from The Strokes or Modest Mouse can attract some new people to the amazing and timeless music of Buddy Holly, then well done.

HORRIBLE BOSSES - GREAT FILM SCORE

The new film, Horrible Bosses, has a bit of a ridiculous premise - three guys with bosses of varying degrees of horribleness, decide to team up and kill said bosses - but it's very funny, in a Hangover kind of way. But I'm writing about it because of the cool approach they took to scoring the film.  Composer Christopher Lennertz put together a really cool group of musicians to play on the score, including Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band and Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark. (Lessard and McCready are pictured here from a totally different event, I think Lessard originally posted this photo to Dave Matthews' website).  Anyway, the score is available on iTunes, and you can buy separate tracks, as there are some different musicians on different tracks (also appearing on the album is frequent Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, and a drummer named Matt Chamberlin, who has played for lots of people, including Tori Amos and Stone Gossard). You can watch a cool video about the making of film score here.

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED: NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE DVD

This was released a few weeks ago, without too much hype, but you need to know about it: A Musicares Tribute To Neil Young.

Shot January 29, 2010 at the NARAS 2010 Musicares Person Of The Year event, the show featured some pretty incredible artists paying tribute to Neil.  Some of the highlights included Norah Jones' "Tell Me Why," Ben Harper's "Ohio," Wilco's "Broken Arrow," James Taylor's "Heart Of Gold" (I think he actually sang backing vocals on the original version) and John Mellencamp's "Down By The River." Also a sort of supergroup: Elton John, Leon Russell, Sheryl Crow and Neko Case doing "Helpless." I think it was the first time Elton and Leon performed together.

Also on the bill: John Fogerty, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Dave Matthews, Dierks Bentley, Booker T. Jones, Josh Groban (!), Jackson Browne, Elvis Costello, Crosby Stills & Nash. I think The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed for the first time with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer ("A Man Needs A Maid") but it's not on the DVD.   Neil was there also, he just sort of gave a thank you speech (if you've seen his speeches at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, you know what his speeches are like), he didn't perform at all.

The event, and the DVD, raises money for NARAS' MusiCares, which "offers a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need," including "financial medical and personal emergencies." Learn more about MusiCares here.  

THE MORALS OF METAL

Last night I made my return to The Busted Halo Show on SiriusXM's The Catholic Channel.  It was "Mellow" Matt's one year anniversary as the show's Board Operator, so I was invited to bring some of Matt's favorite music, heavy metal.  No problem.  Except that I had to have some kind of theme, beyond "Matt likes this music." A year and a half ago, I talked about Black Sabbath on Busted Halo, and I felt that went over well.  But I didn't want to repeat myself. 

Here's the thing about (some) heavy metal music.  It has a sense of consciousness, just like folk music, and a sense of outrage just like punk rock, but doesn't get much credit for either.  When I was a kid, though, I didn't really know much about punk rock and folk wasn't really appealing to me.  But there did seem to be a moral code to at least some records by Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth. That struck a chord with me back then, and it still does today. I don't mind songs about cars and girls, but I also enjoy and appreciate when a lyric goes deeper. That's what was going through my mind over the past week when I was deciding what songs to use.

So the theme I came up with was war, and the effects of war on the people forced to fight.  When I first talked about Sabbath on Busted Halo, I used "War Pigs," which decried the fact that wealthy people decide that we need to go to war, but it's generally the poor who have to actually go and fight.

This time, I decided to use another Sabbath song, "Hand Of Doom," which, like "War Pigs," is on the 1970 album Paranoid. I've always interpreted the song about guys who came back from Vietnam and the damage they brought with them.  "Hand of doom" is code for heroin; some soldiers either got hooked on smack while in Vietnam, others started using when they got home.  The song doesn't glorify or moralize anything.  Because of Tony Iommi's fearsome guitar playing, you get the message that "hand of doom" is scary and not something you want to mess with. When people accuse Sabbath of being Satanists, I suggest they listen to this song.  Geezer Butler (who wrote the lyrics) wasn't trying to tell you want to think, just presenting a reality, and Ozzy Osbourne sounding as haunted as he ever would, delivered the song perfectly. To me, there's a great sense of moral outrage in this song.  How could we send people to fight for our country, and let them linger as empty shells when they come back, poisoned by heroin?

Next, I used Metallica's "Disposable Heroes" from one of the hugest albums of my high school years, 1986's Master Of Puppets. Metallica are taken for granted a bit now, as they are one of the biggest bands in the world, but back then they were very radical and underground.  This album was about the different things that control people's lives, mainly drugs and war. "Disposable Heroes" was about soldiers, and it struck me that at the time the album came out, America hadn't officially been involved in any wars, and hadn't been for quite a few years. As opposed to now, when you hear stories about soldiers from the various wars in the Middle East having problems re-acclimating to "normal" life. Metallica frontman and lyricist James Hetfield must have known some Vietnam vets, and made his own observations based on what he saw.  I'd love to ask him about this song.  In the lyrics, Hetfield doesn't have to point out that he cares about what these people were going through: the fact that he sings with such rage tells you all you need to know.  It's a subject that Springsteen has sung about, Hetfield and Metallica reaches a different audience. Maybe this song gave some people some ideas about the consequences of war. 

Finally, I used Alice In Chains' "Rooster," which Jerry Cantrell wrote about his father, a Vietnam vet, and all he went through when he returned home after the war.  The lines that resonate are "the bullets scream to me from somewhere" and also "they spit on me in my homeland." Jerry doesn't take a stance on war, but he shows from his first hand experience, what the after-effects are on people returning from war. It's a pretty heavy song.

When I was a kid, I felt that adults proclaimed heavy metal to be a depraved and angry form of music with no redeeming social value.  That was part of the appeal! But if you paid attention to the lyrics as I did (and I was not alone there), there was a lot you could get out of lyrics to songs like Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills," Anthrax's "Indians" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells." (I'll probably write about those three songs in a later post.) I love the fact that these bands were able to get across ideas without slamming you over the head (lyrically, at least). While getting you to bang your head.