Album Review: Tool’s Fear Inoculum

OK, so I was wrong. They weren’t putting us on; it finally happened. It seemingly took forever, and they certainly dragged it out about as long as they possibly could, but Tool finally released another album.  After 13 years, it’s no surprise that the arrival of Fear Inoculum has made a gigantic impact on the music world, especially among rock fans (though fewer and fewer they may be), and in spite of the ridiculous wait, the praise and enthusiasm from the band’s fan base is well deserved. This album, technically only Tool’s 5^th after nearly 30 years together, is an epically gigantic, heavy weight mass of music and sounds that expands on the group’s previous album, 2006’s 10,000 Days, just as that LP was an evolution of 2001’s Lateralus.  While it may not have been as obvious before now, it becomes clear within even the first few tracks on the new record that there are major themes connecting each and every release in the band’s catalog, whether they be musically, lyrically, or within the albums’ artwork.  Even for a dedicated, long-time fan, Fear Inoculum is a lot to take in.  For the uninitiated, this album is not the place to start. Tool’s new album will take time and repeat listens to be fully broken down, properly digested, and possibly even understood, but it immediately fits in next to all their previous releases.

Before even getting to the music on the album, proper, it’s important to start with the mega-deluxe, over-the-top packaging for the (apparently limited?) physical CD release. Keeping up a tradition of creatively unique artwork and packaging that itself has continued to evolve with each new release over the years, Fear Inoculum comes in a large, gate fold box, housing the CD in a colorful inner sleeve and an over-sized 36-page booklet (with lyrics!  A first for Tool). In between these items is an LED video screen that immediately begins playing a looped computer animation sequence when the listener opens the box to access the music. Then, sounds begin to emit from a speaker installed below the video screen, and without explanation, you are immersed in “Recusant Ad Infinitum”, a 6-minute instrumental blend of tones and atmosphere that serves as a prelude to the album and which does not appear on either the CD itself or the expanded digital version of the album. Which is another thing to note: this album is crazy long, man!! All told, even with only 11 tracks, it still takes over 90 minutes to play the record from start to finish, Tool’s longest ever. It’s so long, in fact, that it doesn’t even fit onto the CD that comes with the expensive, experimental box set. Unfortunately, CDs can only hold up to 80 minutes of music or other content, so the album’s 87-minute digital edition is shortened by three tracks on the physical version (rather than being released as a double CD set, to the chagrin of some fans). There’s been no word just yet on how a forthcoming vinyl edition will be sequenced. While the pieces that were dropped are all instrumental bridge tracks, or musical interstitials, similar to pieces from their previous few albums, removing them from the order of music on the album does change the experience of hearing it at least a little bit.  Thankfully, the CD box also contains a download code for the digital version, but even with this, listeners essentially need to stitch the album together themselves by combining songs from three different sources in order to hear the complete LP, in its highest quality form (though all three sources are included in the CD package).

Having said that, this album breaks down to be 11 songs in about 90 minutes.  6 of the songs are fully formed, multi-section, dynamic, rock pieces with lyrics and structured changes in the style of most of Tool’s other songs but stretched to a much greater length and depth, the shortest of which is still over 10 minutes long. The remaining 5 songs are instrumental pieces of varying density that allow for a break between different sections of the album, though two of them act more as a prologue and epilogue to everything else. Only one of the instrumentals, “Chocolate Chip Trip”, contains enough substance and engagement to be included on the CD edition of the album, and that piece is mainly a blazing drum solo played against synthesizer loops. Without the instrumentals, the album’s length drops by nearly 20 minutes, but a concentrated presentation of the 6 main songs without breaks to help with pacing can feel overwhelming in a different way.

Finally, the 6 main songs themselves. These tracks, Tool’s densest, longest, and most complicated ever, are impressive in almost every sense.  The production and sound remain virtually identical to 13 years ago (or maybe even 18), and every note of each song sounds exactly like Tool sounds. That shouldn’t be specifically noteworthy, and there have been no changes in band membership, but after so many years away, some might expect the band to sound different or to be unable to deliver on the same level as they have in the past. With the exception, some may argue, of the vocal performances  in certain sections, this is not at all the case. Bassist, Justin Chancellor, thoroughly rocks the low end with expert dexterity and precision as his fluid style and signature effects hold the sections of each song together. Guitarist, Adam Jones, continues to impress as he reaches for greater heights on the leads and solos that accent each track. Jones stands out the most on “7empest”, the last “full” song on the album and the longest song on an album made up of only long songs, clocking in at just under 16 minutes. It’s also the album’s best song and its climax, comparable to “Aenima” and “Lateralus” before it. Drummer, Danny Carey, seems to have been involved with the album the most. In addition to his always flawless drum performances throughout, Carey again contributes most of the synthesizer writing and programming, similar to the band’s previous LP, but even more so on this release. The instrumental tracks mostly consist of pieces he developed during a portion of the writing process when the record was envisioned to be one long song, which though not unheard of (see Fantomas, NOFX and others), might have been a bit too much for the average listener to handle. Carey’s synth work is also featured during instrumental sections of the longer “complete” songs and adds a mystical texture that complements the psychedelic prog/metal that weaves in and out of each of them.

Singer/lyricist, Maynard James Keenan, has always been and continues to be a pretty odd dude, an unpredictable and true original, whose work with Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, in addition to his famous vineyard, winery, restaurant locations, has gained him a strong and dedicated following. Having touched on a wide range of topics, both personal, metaphorical, or observational at different times, but with a unique, poetic style and cadence, Tool fans understandably have high expectations for the vocal performances and lyrics in this new material. Whether or not due to age or slightly diminished vocal ability, many of the songs on Fear Inoculum feature vocals that are quiet, a bit reserved, or delivered in a lower register more consistently than on the band’s other releases. Passages with vocals are often quieter musically to allow them to stand out a bit better, and many of the louder sections of the songs either have no vocals at all or return to a repeated phrase for a short time, more as an accent to the music than a central focus. While this style, in general, is not new to Tool, the lack of balance with higher register, louder, or angrier vocal sections makes these songs vary just slightly compared to others in the Tool catalog. The most notable exception is “7empest” at the end of the album, during which Keenan finally lets loose with the fire and fury of many of the band’s classic songs, and which ends up standing out even more since it only really happens on that song.

Lyrically, musically, and even visually, there are connections to themes from those previous releases as well. Aside from Tool’s ongoing collaboration with artist Alex Grey, guitarist Adam Jones continues to take the lead on most aspects of the artwork and visual presentation, with symbolism such as the singular or multiple eyes, use of sacred geometry, and a blend of both dark and bright spiral imagery continuing to be a part of Fear Inoculum as well. Even on the first listen, those already familiar with Tool’s other work will hear what seem to be sections of or references to previously released songs, sometimes seemingly cut and pasted bits of other albums that have been reconstructed or re-purposed into new songs. The instrumental break in “Fear Inoculum” has a drum section that sounds almost identical to “Reflection” from 2001’s Lateralus. The opening moments of “Pneuma” sound like “Right in Two” from 10,000 Days at first and then morph into an alternate version of Chancellor’s famous fuzz bass solo from “Schism” before emerging as something entirely new as Keenan contemplates a possible afterlife and the idea that humans are their spirit rather than their body. He previously explored the idea of another step in human evolution on 1996’s “Forty-Six & 2”, and while Devo (one of Keenan’s favorite bands) often focused on a disappointingly progressive lack of faith in humanity, Tool continues to present a blend of both hope and despair, often leaning toward the possible positives or at least an equal evaluation of both the positive and the negative. Most of the other lyrics from the album’s first half, including the title track and the sprawling and dynamic, “Invincible”, seem to focus on both mustering courage against an individual's own self-doubt or apprehensions, in one case and against irrelevance and aging itself in the other. The lyrics on the album’s second half seem to focus on acknowledging a coming catastrophe (such as climate change or self-created human extinction, for example) and, as on “Descending”, the importance of a focused banding together of people to overcome it and survive. “Culling Voices” seems to focus on the idea that choosing or even forcing oneself to be social and to interact with the people and nature around them rather than on social media or not at all is also part of the bigger plan to survive and thrive. However, “7empest” follows all of this with a reality check, in that nature cannot be tamed or controlled by humanity (regardless of what any politician might tell you), and eventually, it will right things, probably without human assistance (or existence). Whether this is more of a frightening warning or a dark prediction is up to the listener, but the optimism of one side of the issue is more than balanced out by the pessimism of the epic, closing song (followed, on the digital version, by a few minutes of manipulated bird calls, possibly indicating some sort of mutated, post-apocalyptic future).

Despite the darkness within some songs and lyrics, in some ways, Tool might even be a sort of inverse of Devo in that rather than focusing on the decline of humans, they champion and encourage the exact opposite, even if subliminally. Tool’s music and lyrics have continued to build on each new release, and with that progress comes change and challenges to all involved, including the audience. Many of Tool’s songs blended in with those of their peers at first, but as they have continued to write and record, the predictability and comfort of standard rock structures, popular production techniques and any sort of remotely fashionable look, sound, or presentation have gone completely by the wayside. Fear Inoculum shows more clearly than any of the band’s other albums that Tool’s music itself has been a metaphor for evolution possibly since the band’s conception. Each release becomes more complex and stretches further than the one before it. The band members have grown as the music itself has grown, and the audience has grown right along-side as well.

This record is Tool’s most challenging album.  It is a challenge to rock radio because of the length of the songs. It is a challenge, not just to the casual listener, but even to the devoted fan.  It asks a lot of its audience. It requires focused attention and repeat listens to even begin to put the pieces together and to discover the connections that more than a decade of work can create.

The groundbreaking nature of the release of Fear Inoculum, including years of teases and misinformation from the band, the nearly-simultaneous release of their back catalog on all digital services, the differences between versions of the album, and debuting at #1 on the Billboard Album Chart (even over Taylor Swift!) make it special and significant even beyond the music itself. The release of the title track as a single resulted in it becoming the longest song to ever appear on the Billboard 100 Singles (Pop) Chart. All this excitement has kept them in the ongoing pop culture discussion for the last few months, somewhat surprisingly. Unlike Chinese Democracy, the long-delayed album Guns ‘N Roses fans had to wait 17 years to hear and almost immediately panned, Tool’s new record is a much closer continuation of what they had already done that is both satisfying and very rewarding in most respects. There is a sense that this is just the beginning of a new era for the band who could easily coast as long as they’d like from here on out without ever needing to release anything more, though it would be totally in their humor to put another album out next year. Wouldn’t THAT be something?

Overall, Fear Inoculum is an amazing, heavy, complex, and very impressive album that perfectly sits atop the music tower Tool has built over the past 30 years, representing and clearly showing the progressive growth of the band and its music.

1994: Beck’s Big Year

Alt-rock troubadour and veteran road warrior, Beck Hansen, was virtually unknown prior to the release of the single, “Loser”, in 1993, but within a year of its release, he would be hailed as the new Bob Dylan (or at least a successor to Kurt Cobain), all of which Beck understandably distanced himself from as much as possible. 1994 was a gigantic year for Beck in which he released three LPs (each on a different record label), two EPs, and several other tracks and went from anonymous folkie weirdo to pop star who didn’t always know what to make of or what to do with his sudden success. Eventually, Beck would partner with The Dust Brothers to create his breakthrough LP, 1996’s Odelay, but his early, formative releases helped introduce him to the wider modern rock audience and helped Beck discover the type of artist and songwriter he wanted to be.

Stereopathetic Soul Manure

Beck’s first official release, following a cassette of home recordings entitled, Golden Feelings, was a mash up of both studio and home recordings, sound collages and experiments, samples, staged live performances, and field recordings that was both noncommercial and remains one of his most challenging to listeners. While the album could be neatly divided into sections that include punk and noise rock, classic country, alt-folk, and…”other”, the fact that everything is mixed up and mashed together for over an hour is one of its most appealing qualities. Beck’s trademark humor comes across on “One Foot in the Grave”, “Puttin’ It Down”, and “Satan Gave Me a Taco”, once in heavy rotation on the Doctor Demento radio show. While Beck became tagged with the slacker label of the early to mid ‘90s, his drive to experiment with various instruments, genres, and styles of production were anything but lazy. Sentimental country tunes, such as “Modesto” and “Rowboat”, which was later covered by Johnny Cash, balance the screams and screeching of “Pink Noise” and the bizarre tape experiments including recordings with traveling musicians found on the street (or near train tracks?) and others that are simply short readings of diary entries with affected vocal speeds. The collage nature of this album recalls early records by Ween, The Flaming Lips, and elements of Sublime’s Robbin the Hood, also celebrating 25 years in 2019. While most listeners won’t equally enjoy all tracks, it’s safe to say there is something for just about everybody in here somewhere. Be careful, however, not to get lost in the 12 minutes of unlisted “bonus noise” at the end!

*Listen to Stereopathetic Soul Manure here.

One Foot in the Grave

Recorded before but released after Beck’s next album, Mellow Gold, his second (or third?) LP is predominately acoustic folk, blues, and country-influenced songs, including a few classic covers, and some featuring members of Beat Happening, Built to Spill, Love as Laughter, and The Presidents of the United States of America. While Beck’s style lends itself well to collaboration, a fair amount of his early material was performed and produced by him alone, so the inclusion of so many guests on one album is notable within his catalog. While the album’s 16 songs are unique to this release, Beck begins to play around with his already surreal lyrics and phrases to the point where song titles and lines of lyrics from various songs begin to show up in more than one place among this large amount of material, reminiscent of Frank Zappa or early They Might Be Giants in some regards. The more one listens to these three LPs, the more connections begin to appear. The title of the album itself is also the title of a harmonica-driven Beck original, which appears in live form on his previous album, but does not appear here at all.  (Years later, on a deluxe reissue of One Foot in the Grave, a discarded version of the song was finally included, though it does not improve upon the live original.) Among the experimentation in style and production from track to track are acoustic gems like “Hollow Log”, “Girl Dreams” and “Asshole”, later covered by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Aside from a few noisy interludes, One Foot in the Grave is a mostly quiet, sometimes personal, and introspective collection of Beck’s surreal alt-folk. It would remain his softest album until 2002’s Sea Change.

*Listen to the deluxe/expanded edition of One Foot in the Grave here.

Mellow Gold

Beck’s major label debut, this collection of experimental hip hop, alt-rock, folk, and noise starts off with the groundbreaking “Loser”, built around loops and samples that are the style basis for more than half the album. Beck’s surreal free-verse approach to writing lyrics lent itself particularly well to rapping, even if the other noises layered atop the beats took the songs out of the traditional hip hop arena. Three follow-up singles were released after “Loser”, but none received much airplay. The folky, “Pay No Mind” became a concert staple for years, and “Fuckin’ with My Head (Mountain Dew rock)” plays around with the formula of “Loser” though with a different beat and a different slide guitar sample. “Beercan”, a hit on 120 Minutes, summarizes the album and era well in just a few heavily effected, sample-dense minutes. Sprinkled with a few acoustic songs and a few much heavier moments to balance the fusion of the other tracks, Mellow Gold sometimes comes across like a better-produced and more focused take on a lot of what Beck was going for on Stereopathetic Soul Manure, though without nearly as much variety and experimentation. The final three songs alone jerk the listener from a pleasant acoustic jam (“Nightmare Hippy Girl”) to noisy death rock (“Mutherfucker”) and then to heavily affected 12-string acoustic hypnosis (“Blackhole”). While it doesn’t last even a quarter as long, there is even more unlisted bonus noise at the end of the album, this time in the form of the insane tape collage, “Analog Odyssey”, that is bound to clear a room when played among the uninitiated.

*Listen to Mellow Gold here.

Related materials

Amazingly, Beck produced so much material in late 1993 and early 1994 that each of the three releases discussed above could have been a double LP. Most of these additional songs were eventually released on singles, compilations, and after the fact in expanded reissues, most notably on the EPs, Loser, Beercan, and A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight. Another fan favorite, “Bogusflow”, was included on the DGC Rarities vol. 1 compilation, also in 1994. While the supplemental material is not quite as strong or memorable as the tracks that were selected for inclusion on the albums, there are gems and nuggets scattered throughout that add-to the experience that is Beck’s early official catalog.

Other albums celebrating 25 years:

Ween-Chocolate and Cheese

Meat Puppets-Too High to Die

Hole-Live Through This

Album Review: The Flaming Lips’ Freaky Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, the queen died giving birth to a son, who happened to be a giant.  As the boy grew, he saw visions of his mother in the night sky, and after all knowledge, wisdom, the physical universe itself, and all existence is magically sucked into his head, the young king becomes beloved by the people of his land. When a dangerous natural disaster threatens the kingdom, what will the king do to protect it? Then things get dramatic; then they get weird.

Without giving too much away, alt-rock veterans, TheFlaming Lips, return with their 15^th (or 17^th or 18^th) album, depending on how you count them, and with it, they also return to form to an extent, especially compared to their releases over the past 15 years or so. King’s Mouth is a very focused and, by Lips standards, concise album that features 12 songs in 42 minutes, each contributing to a narrative concept that builds as a fairy tale leading to an emotionally powerful climax and falling action on the album’s second side. Sonically crisp and engaging throughout, producer David Fridmann again lends his ear and skill in helping the band realize the sounds and textures they wished to capture and use to build their story.  Core band members, WayneCoyne, Steven Drozd, and Michael Ivins, continue to anchor the project, now active for over 35 years, while collaborating with newcomers Derek Brown, Jake Ingalls, Matt Kirksey, and Nicholas Ley, each contributing various musical elements and visual components to related artwork and music videos, though Coyne continues to handle most of the lead vocals as usual.

In the case of King’s Mouth, between-song narration is also provided by former Clash singer/guitarist, Mick Jones, who adds clarity from one section of the story to the next that is not always clear within the song lyrics and titles themselves. While the narration may become less necessary upon repeated listening, it provides information that makes the story clearer the first few times through it.  Musically, the melodies that appear throughout the album are probably the most engaging, overall, since 2002’s Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots or 2006’s At War with the Mystics, sometimes soft, sentimental, and moving, other times a collage of noise or textures to represent events within the plot or between sections of the story. Lyrically, Coyne strives for the gentle honesty of songs from 1999’s The Soft Bulletin and many of the band’s best ballads from the past 20 years but is slightly less successfully consistent. Some verses and lines of lyrics directly reference the narrative at hand while other lines are broader and more open to interpretation within or outside of the story, adding needed versatility and depth to the album and especially its most emotional moments, such as “The Sparrow”, “All for the Love of the City”, and “Mouth of the King”.

One might be tempted to say King’s Mouth, as a narrative based concept album, is closer in style to Pink Floyd than Radiohead, but elements of both, along with many, many others, can be heard in the album’s 12 songs, and while each track may not be quite as strong as the one before or after it, the album does work well as a piece, especially with access to the songs’ printed lyrics, and the experience of playing it straight through is stronger and more consistent than much of what the Lips have released for several years. It may not win over completely new listeners, but King’s Mouth is more likely to interest older fans who have not kept up with things in the post-Yoshimi years and especially those who cherish that album and the masterpiece that is The Soft Bulletin the most of all.

George Clinton Brings the Funk to Grand Rapids

George Clinton’s farewell tour rolled through 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids Friday night to bring the funk to the assembled and to take another bow during this string of final bows. The legendary Detroit-based, Parliament-Funkadelic, sometimes also billed under variant names, has been performing for 50 years, and Clinton himself has been active in music for almost 65 years, the exact age of rock and roll as a musical style. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. It would be an understatement to say the collective’s performance at 20 Monroe was anything but a thank you and appreciation for Clinton and his legacy, but a fair amount of excellent music, both old and new, was mixed together in the nearly two hour show which got the audience dancing and left big smiles at the end of the night.

The evening began with a set from Miss Velvet and The Blue Wolf, but the act scheduled to perform second, Dumpstaphunk, didn’t show due to a vehicle breakdown in Ohio. Thus, the set change was a bit longer than usual, but P-Funk took the stage, very casually building into a jam out of a tuning warm-up, and the music continued nearly-constantly for the next two hours. In addition to Clinton, guitarist DeWayne “Blackbird” McKnight, with the group since 1978, brought another level of respect and connection to the group’s classic era, taking many of the leads and solos throughout the night, including “Maggot Brain”, originally made famous by late guitarist, Eddie Hazel. Also, on bass, the great Lige Curry, originally from Flint, MI, who has been with the group for over 30 years.

With many new members filling out roles of departed players of the past, some in their 20s, compared to Clinton, who just turned 78. While Clinton has said he expects P-Funk to continue as a group that writes, records, and performs new material in addition to their large catalog of songs, it is hard to imagine a Clinton-less version of the group generating even half as much enthusiasm or interest.

P-Funk touched on a few fan favorites, such as “Red Hot Mama” and “Freak of the Week”, plenty of newer material with which many were unfamiliar, and a fair number of the group’s biggest hits, including sections of “Flashlight”, “Up for the Down Stroke,” “Give Up the Funk”, “Mothership Connection”, and “Atomic Dog”, some of which were part of a tightly-transitioned medley near the end of the concert. The musical styles varied greatly throughout the night, with the classic funk blending with psychedelic rock, hip hop, and, on some of the newer songs, even thrash metal. Overall, it was clear that Clinton was the star of the show, and though he sat back on a chair in front of the drum kit during parts of some songs, he still directed the band from center stage and commanded the crowd in his unique style, enjoying it a few more times before settling into a well-deserved retirement.

George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic Set List (7/19/19)

(intro jam)/Get Off Your Ass and Jam

Red Hot Mama/P-Funk

*(still working to determine which song was performed in this spot)

One Nation Under a Groove

Flashlight

Freak of the Week

*(still working to determine which song was performed in this spot)

Get Low

*(still working to determine which song was performed in this spot)

Maggot Brain

Dirty Queen

Up for the Down Stroke/Give Up the Funk

*(still working to determine which song was performed in this spot)

Mothership Connection/Atomic Dog/(drum solo)/(jam)

------------------------------------------------

25 Years of Great Soundtracks

No 25-year retrospective series would be complete without taking a moment to remember some of the biggest movies and greatest soundtracks from 1994. While soundtrack albums have always been a part of the music industry landscape, soundtracks released during the height of the CD era had a stronger impact than those released in almost any other decade. Chances are, you've got at least a few of these albums in your collection, and you just might be inspired to dig them out and give them a spin (or find your old VHS of the movies themselves)!

Airheads
This hilarious take on hard rock bands and the struggle to break into the business in the early ‘90s features a star-packed cast list, but its soundtrack album is just as impressive with quasi-memorable singles from Motorhead (f/Ice-T and Whitfield Crane), DGeneration, and 4 Non Blondes checking in with a cover of Van Halen's "I'm the One”. Original music by White Zombie, Primus, Anthrax, Candlebox, Dig, and Prong make this a great sampler platter from the summer of '94, and it never hurts to close a compilation with anything by Ramones, ever.

Clerks
The soundtrack album that accompanies Kevin Smith's indie debut came together after the film was initially released, when it was selected for a wider distribution. Some tracks, like Alice In Chains' classic, "Got Me Wrong”, were previously released or recorded leftovers from the selected artists, but Smith's participation in the compilation led to long-term working relationships with members of Soul Asylum as well as early-industrial/modern rock groups like Stabbing Westward and Girls Against Boys. Excellent tracks by the likes of The Jesus Lizard, Bad Religion, Seaweed, and Corrosion of Conformity keep things rocking between hilarious audio clips from the movie and hidden treasures like Supernova's "Chewbacca," which is a must-have for any Star Wars fan.

The Crow
Arguably, the all-around best soundtrack of 1994, this compilation features songs that vary in style but all maintain a dark tone very similar to the mood of the film itself. Stone Temple Pilots released "Big Empty" from this LP, thought it was also included on their second album, released shortly thereafter. Nine Inch Nails and Rollins Band turn in tributes to Joy Division and Suicide, respectively, and excellent tracks by The Cure, Rage Against The Machine, Violent Femmes, Helmet, Pantera, and The Jesus and Mary Chain that are each exclusive to this album make it a must-have for '90s rock fans and die-hard collectors alike.

Forrest Gump
The best '94 soundtrack collection of previously-released material is this nearly perfect companion to the acclaimed, timeless film. Like the movie, this double disc album tells the story of American history from about 1950 through 1980, but the album focuses on a chronological presentation of the music in that story rather than the innovative historical footage and events depicted visually in the movie. Beginning with Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog," and featuring classics by Wilson Pickett, CCR, The Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & The Papas, Buffalo Springfield, The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel, The Byrds, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Willie Nelson, and Bob Seger, just to list the artists behind the most famous songs included, makes this a compressed American music history lesson. Compilations such as this truly have something for pretty much everyone.

The Lion King
Propelled by the massively successful singles, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" and "The Circle of Life," by Elton John, this soundtrack to the beloved, animated feature from Disney was one of the biggest selling albums of the 1990s, with 5 million copies sold in the US in 1994 and over 18 million copies now sold worldwide.

Natural Born Killers
Certainly one of the most musically-diverse of the notable '94 soundtracks, this collection was assembled by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who features three of his own excellent songs, but he also includes a little bit of many different genres and eras of music. Leonard Cohen bookends the album which also features Cowboy Junkies' excellent cover of Lou Reed's, "Sweet Jane," Patsy Cline's immortal classic, "Back in Baby's Arms," a vocal performance from one of the movie's stars, Juliette Lewis, and two Death Row Records contributions, both produced by Dr. Dre during the height of that record label's success. The fragmented and somewhat obscure inclusions of various world music tracks and mashups between songs and artists who probably would not have otherwise collaborated, such as Jane's Addiction and Diamanda Galas, reflect the twisted chaos of the movie and its main characters. Songs by L7, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, and Peter Gabriel are also included. With a lengthy run time and such a variety of interesting music, this soundtrack is a great value and a fun musical adventure.

P.C.U.
While this particular soundtrack is not widely available, nor was it a notably big seller, two key portions of the movie revolve around excellent music from George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, which is already enough to make it worth checking out, and Starland Vocal Band's, "Afternoon Delight," is also here, which would go on to be included in a number of movies over the succeeding 20 years. This film is a fun way to spend 79 minutes, if you've not had the pleasure.

Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino produces a soundtrack almost as well as he produces a film, and this excellent compilation is no exception. Most known for Urge Overkill's cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," Tarantino packs this album with a fantastic blend of '60s surf rock and '70s radio classics including instantly-recognizable tunes by Dick Dale, Kool & The Gang, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, and Ricky Nelson, to name a few. Dialogue clips from the movie are included to keep it all connected, and listening while driving can make one feel as though they are in a movie of their own, which is another Tarantino soundtrack tradition that continues to this day.

Reality Bites
This treasured, Gen-X film spawned a hit soundtrack that produced smash singles for Lisa Loeb, with her #1 pop hit, "Stay (I Missed You)," and reggae outfit, Big Mountain, with their cover of Peter Frampton's, "Baby, I Love Your Way." The rest of the album balances old favorites like The Knack's "My Sharona" and songs by U2 and Squeeze with work from newer artists like Juliana Hatfield, The Posies, Lenny Kravitz, and Dinosaur Jr. While it certainly has a musical grab-bag feel, many of the individual tracks are quite enjoyable, and hearing them all next to one another certainly represents the feeling of the time and place, and of the film.

Other Soundtracks celebrating 25 years:

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

The Jerky Boys

The Immortals-Mortal Kombat (LP)

The Raconteurs Rock Detroit

It was a hot, summer night with an electric vibe and enthusiastic fans at Detroit’s Masonic Temple on Friday as The Raconteurs kicked off their US Tour in support of their recently released, excellent third LP, Help Us Stranger. This was the band’s first performance in Detroit in over a decade and their first in the State of Michigan in nearly 8 years. It was a very special night for bandleaders Jack White and Brendan Benson, both Detroit natives, who engaged the crowd with high energy throughout their performance. Tickets for Friday’s show sold out so quickly, the band added a second show on Saturday to ensure no one got shut out of a chance to attend. As on White’s solo tour last year, cell phones were “pouched” by Yondr at the door, so no photos or videos were allowed, and the cases were unlocked at the end of the concert as ticket holders exited the venue. 

Each of these local appearances also had their own unique opening acts, each fitting a musical theme.  While Saturday’s openers were more typically garage rock oriented, Friday’s audience enjoyed short performances from two local, electric gospel acts, Nikki D. & Sisters of Thunder and The Pure Heart Travelers, both of whom warmed up the crowd and the unconditioned main theater, as the audience excitedly awaited the return of The Raconteurs. It was surprising to see a rare, general admission, standing room floor at The Masonic, which usually opts for organized rows of folding chairs, but the visual elements of the performance were excellent with dazzling lighting throughout the concert from all vantage points. The energy level was high during most songs, especially the up tempo numbers, and while there were bumpy changes and transitions at times, the band rolled this into the performance, coming across more as a sloppy garage rock band than a tight, veteran act with folk, country, and bluegrass chops, in addition to the ability to rock.

The show began with a short jam that led into a performance of “Bored and Razed”, the opening track from the new album, and then alternated between old and new songs for the rest of the night, including spirited takes on “Level” and “Hands” from 2006’s Broken Boy Soldiers and “Old Enough”, “You Don’t Understand Me”, and “Top Yourself” from 2008’s Consolers of the Lonely. The new songs were delivered with messy enthusiasm, with members of the band missing changes, forgetting their parts, and in White’s case, physically tripping about the stage on cables, stands, and the drum riser more than once during the concert. Perhaps the band took a bit too much time away from rehearsing recently, or maybe they are just getting used to the new stage layout, as this was the first proper show on the tour, and either way, even the errors worked within the context of a garage rock atmosphere, so even the blemishes brought character to the performance.

The new material fit in well with the older songs, but some tracks featured bumpy changes and transitions, most notably “Live a Lie”, which fell apart shortly after the second chorus as White segued into the next song instead of attempting to rescue the one that was being played, and “Hey Gyp”, a Donovan cover that also appears on Help Us Stranger. For this song alone, which closed the first of two short sets Friday night, guitarist Mary Ramirez of The Detroit Cobras added guest guitar which, in addition to White’s, Benson’s, and keyboardist/guitarist Dead Fertita’s, meant four guitars were being played at once, and when coupled with it being a new song, that was also a bit under-rehearsed, made for a mushy blend of noise rather than a driving hard rock attack, which was seemingly the intention. That song could have come across much better, but the players sometimes seemed confused about who was doing what and what was happening next while the song was being performed.

The halftime, mini-intermission came after about 45 minutes of music and was reminiscent of White Stripes concerts in the mid-‘00s.  Stripes drummer, Meg White, was herself in attendance Friday night, as was reported from the stage to an enthusiastic response from the audience. The second set started with an energetic “Consoler of the Lonely” and included solid takes on new songs, “Now That You’re Gone” and “Sunday Driver”, both rocking a bit harder than their recorded album versions. The biggest crowd interactions came during the coda of “Somedays” during the first set and during the closing number of the concert, “Steady, as She Goes”, the band’s first-ever single and biggest hit, where the room sang “Are you steady now?” back to the stage during the final chorus. The musical and emotional high point was certainly “Blue Veins”, the second to last song to be performed, and the longest song of the night due to an extended jam between the second and third verses. White’s leads and solos added fire to each song throughout the night, but he waited to drive it home until “Blue Veins” came up in the set.  Also, the band’s most blues-based number, this track gave White the opportunity to run wild with effects and intricate techniques before bringing the show to a close after the following song.

While the sound mix was muddy most of the night, especially during the first three songs or so, the band’s energy and enthusiasm ignited the supportive and excited audience all night, and while most would have enjoyed another song or two, there’s no doubt everyone left feeling well-rocked.

The Raconteurs Set List: (7/12/19)

(intro tape/jam)

Bored and Razed

Level

Don’t Bother Me

You Don’t Understand Me

Old Enough

Somedays

What’s Yours Is Mine

Top Yourself

Hey Gyp (Donovan) (w/Mary Ramirez of The Detroit Cobras)

----------------(short intermission)---------

Consoler of the Lonely

Now That You’re Gone

Hands

Sunday Driver

Live a Lie

Blue Veins

Steady, as She Goes

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Album Review: The Raconteurs-Help Us Stranger

After 11 years of working as a solo artist and collaborating on other projects, Detroit’s Jack White and Brendan Benson return as The Raconteurs with an excellent new album of focused garage rock and multilayered sounds and textures that range from electronic to folk and country, but with only one true ballad (the closer, “Thoughts and Prayers”). At 12 songs in 41 minutes, the self-produced, Help Us Stranger, delivers enough variety to satisfy an album-length listening experience without dwelling on any one tone for too long.

Singer/guitarist/songwriters, White and Benson, friends from their early days in the Detroit music scene of the late ‘90s, formed The Raconteurs with bassist, Little Jackie Lawrence, and drummer, Patrick Keeler, both also former members of Ohio garage rock combo, The Greenhornes, during a break from his main project, The WhiteStripes, and after working with the rhythm section during a recent album recording with the legendary Loretta Lynn (Van Lear Rose). While they have often featured their country, bluegrass, and folk chops as much as their ability to rock, the new collection of songs focuses much more on rock, or rock fused with electronic elements and effects, than their previous record, 2008’s Consolers of the Lonely.

The first side is strong and moves briskly from the opening rocker, “Bored and Razed” and the current single, “Help Me Stranger” to the acoustic pop of “Only Child”, the heavy rock of “Don’t Bother Me” (one of album’s best tracks), and a blend of both on “Shine the Light on Me”. Benson and White trade off singing lead and taking the lead songwriting duties from track to track, but Benson’s “Somedays” closes down the first half of the album with an aching personal reflection and determination that help his songs stand out among his contemporaries, to say the least. White adds soaring and speedy guitar fills and solos to most songs, reminding everyone of his amazing proficiency on his primary instrument. 

The second side begins with a fun rip through a cover of Donovan’s “Hey Gyp” and then into the double A-side single the band released last year to precede and tease the album, the rocking “Sunday Driver” and the moodier, “Now That You’re Gone”. The faster, “Live a Lie”, roars by with more stinging lyrics from Benson before White’s final thoughts on “What’s Yours Is Mine” and the closing ballad, “Thoughts and Prayers”, which asks difficult and reflective questions aloud in a song rather than in a diary or a personal discussion. The raw honesty often included in The Raconteurs’ lyrics is one of the many elements that have connected them to a loyal and patient audience that can only be happy to both enjoy this excellent collection of new songs and to finally have another chance to catch the band live. In a time where straight ahead rock albums are few and far between, Help Us Stranger reminds us all how powerful guitars, vocals, and drums can be, and maybe the next wave of guitar music is just around the corner.