Hi. I'm Freakboy and what you're reading is The X-Factor - my weekly look at all things crazy, all things cool, and all things rock (and something's pop, depending on my mood). My background is that I've been listening to music for a long time, I ran a music site until the company went out of business like every other website I've ever worked on (sorry Widro), and I'm sick and tired of hip-hop.
Guns n' What the Fuck was That?
Just as a side note, what you're about to read is a column I had written for another site last week. Most of it is still topical, but if the dates and places don't match up, you'll know why.
THE GREATEST ROCK N' ROLL BAND IN AMERICA
I've always caught shit for being a huge Bon Jovi fan. Guys have made fun of me for it. Girls have made fun of me for it. Even people who play Dungeons and Dragons have made fun of me for it and let's face it; if you play D&D you should lose the right to make fun of anyone. I would always hear "Bon Jovi sucks" and "(place band here) is much better."
Bon Jovi playing Times Square last Thursday, as part of the kick off of the new NFL season, was I giant FUCK YOU to all of those people. Here it is, almost twenty years later after I had started listening to the band. "(place band here)" has either broken up, bankrupt, or barely able to sell-out the local pub down the corner. Bon Jovi on the other hand...
-Sold out Giants Stadium for two nights in a row, and did it a decade after they sold it out the last time.
-Were the band chosen to play the tailgate party like I mentioned, with drew over 100,000 people to Times Square.
-Jon and Richie were the two people chosen by VH-1 to open up the 2001 My VH-1 Awards and play tribute to George Harrison, who has passed away a few days earlier.
-Are set to release their 8th studio album (not counting their greatest hits, a live album, and five solo albums by band members) and are still with 4/5 of the original members.
-Most importantly, while most bands struggle to fill up a ninety-minute set, Bon Jovi plays not stop for over two hours at every show, and would keep playing if the promoters weren't so afraid of the stagehands unions.
They are easily, at least in my opinion, the greatest rock n' roll band in the world today.
And on a side note, they are still are responsible for the greatest performance in the history of the MTV Music Video Awards. In an age of hip-hop and disposable pop stars loading the stage with so many extra people and other bells and whistles - to the point where the artist themselves looks like they're loitering - you have to respect two guys who can captivate an audience with nothing more than two microphone's and two acoustic guitars.
PHANTOM PLANET - THE DAWN OF "BRAT ROCK"
What do you get when you cross Francis Ford Coppola's nephew, a Gap Model, the son of the guy who wrote a few songs for the movie "Grease," and two other guys? You get Phantom Planet, a great new rock band that, along with The Strokes, I've dubbed "Brat Rock."
What's "Brat Rock" you ask? It's bands formed by people who come from a more "upper class" upbringing. They've all come from well to do backgrounds, so they had nothing to do but perfect their craft, turning them into great songwriters and a great band. Plus because of their upbringing, there's none of that "angsty, my life sucks" vibe, or "pretty fly for a white guy" poseur bullshit.
Instead of singing about how much their life sucks, or how much they own and how many "bitches" they've been smacking around, they sing about people's lives. That's what makes them unique. Too many bands these days are either what Ian Robinson (the best thing to ever happen to MTV) calls "Picked-On Core," have got nothing to talk about besides getting dumped (pick any Emo band), or work with Fred Durst. Phantom Planet is just good, old school rock n' roll. Hopefully they'll be more "brats" to follow in their footsteps.
THE SONG REMAINS...SR-71'S "TOMORROW"
Here's a little feature where I look at a new rock track I've been digging. This week, it's SR-71's "Tomorrow."
SR-71 is actually one of the few new bands to come out in the past decade that I can actually say I'm a fan of - to the point where I look forward to new releases, go to see them live, etc. One of the main reason's is that instead of a lead singer who blends into the rest of the band, they have a "front-man" who acts as ringleader. Mitch Allen (the frontman in question) is pure energy. He feeds off the energy of the crowd and throws it right back to them, and throws back to guys like Diamond Dave and W. Axl Rose (and no, I'm not talking about those two old guys you've seen lately wearing their clothes).
"Tomorrow" is the title track off of their sophomore album (due out 10/22). It's a lot less poppier that the stuff off their debut "Now You See Inside," and steers more towards a more old-school "Anthemic Rock" style. The title suggests a post-9/11 feel, but it's really more about not wasting time. Allen puts it best himself, "It's about the inevitability of tomorrow. If I do nothing to change my tomorrow, then I'm gonna be just as pissed and miserable as I feel today." Either way, it was a great song and if it's a sample what the rest of the album sounds like, they could very well turn into one of the greatest rock bands of the new millennium.
The song is available for your listening enjoyment at SR-71.net.
GUNS N' WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?
The MTV VMA's (which I believe is Swahili for "karaoke night"), to paraphrase Bart Simpsons, both sucked and blew. There is however one thing I'd like to comment on and that was the Axl Rose led cover band that was passing themselves off as Guns n' Roses. I actually missed the VMA's live, but when I got home I had read about how "Guns n' Roses" closed the show. Being a huge GnR fan, I watched the late night replay just to see them. I mean it's been like what, ten years?
When the performance ended, I had but three questions...
1. THAT'S what I stayed up for?
2. THAT'S what we've be waiting ten years for?
3. THAT'S what's preventing Tommy Stinson from returning for a Replacements reunion?
I'm sorry, but GnR - at the very least - is Axl AND Slash AND Duff. Guns n' Roses wasn't just the frontman. Each member had their own distinct character and personality (like John, Paul, George, and Ringo) and that's what made them one of the great rock n' roll bands in history. And I don't care who the better guitar player is, I'd rather the head full of hair under the top hat than some fruitcake wearing a bucket of KFC.
The funny thing is that, if it does spark a GnR resurgence (and God willing, a Behind the Music), the one man who will benefit most will be Izzy Stradlin. Izzy's got Slash, Duff, and I believe Steven Adler to play on most of his upcoming solo album, and after the success of the Hagar/Roth tour, there's talk of the four of them touring together. So while Axl keeps his "Chinese Democracy" hidden, they'll be the one's cashing in.
Now what I want to see is them pull a Judas Priest and hire a singer from a tribute band to tour with them:)
NEXT WEEK
Among other things, we'll be looking at a potential Van Hagar reunion, an alternative way to "steal music," and I'm going to take a look at some "pop" stars that I personally think can pass for rockers if they can shake the pop stigma. Any ideas? You know the address...
