Music's 3R's 12.21.09: Frusciante Leaves Chili Peppers, Amazon Leaks Lil’ Wayne, Rock Band: Green Day, Ozzy Album Title, More

Posted by Aaron Titan on 12.21.2009

From John Frusciante leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers again, Amazon leaking Lil' Wayne's new album, and Kid Cudi punching a fan to positive news in the Deftones' and Beastie Boys' camps, Rock Band: Green Day, and Ozzy's lame title for his upcoming album, 411's Aaron Titan brings you all the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous in the music world in this week’s Music 3R’s!



Greetings

Welcome, welcome, welcome with most laudable joy, merriment, and holiday cheer! Yeah, kind of corny, I know, but I've got the Christmas spirit!!!

This is the Music 3R's and I'm Aaron Titan, bringing you another rousing edition of music news commentary. I know I promised my 2009 wrap-up edition of the R's this week, but plans can change every now and again, can't they? I figured since there's one more Monday after this one, I'd do the 09' special right before the new year, especially since there were some juicy tidbits in the music world this week I thought it'd be fun to comment on.

This may or may not have some rather aged news bits, depending on what happened – if anything – Saturday and Sunday, as I had one busy weekend. I got off work early Friday and went to trade in my old car and buy a new one. Nothing says giving like giving yourself a new car for Christmas, right? Actually, I'd planned on waiting until the end of winter to get my new ride, but the right deal popped up at the right time with the right financing, so I just went for it. I get to start off my new year with some debt!

After that, I went to Chicago to visit and stay with a good friend from college. Her dad – through work – acquired tickets for a skybox at the United Center for the whole weekend, so we got to go back-to-back nights to watch the Bulls play the Atlanta Hawks and then the Blackhawks play the Detroit Redwings. Free food, drink, and sports? Yeah, my kind of weekend!

So yeah, basically, with that crazy of a weekend, I penned this on Friday since my deadline is Sunday night and I had no free time other than Friday to get it done. Enough bitching from me though, right? Let's get to work!

THIS FIRST…

The Column

For those unfamiliar with the 3R's concept, here's the breakdown. I will be reporting and commenting on happenings in the music world and categorizing all the hoopla into three sections: the Right, the wRong, and the Ridiculous. The Right will feature news, albums, and announcements music-related that I'm personally stoked about. The wRong will be the bad versions of all three of the aforementioned. The Ridiculous is the worst of it all, that which makes good ol' Mr. Titan shake his head in perplexing amazement.

The Right

2010 Bounce Back That: Two of my all-time favorite bands are going to be bouncing back from some serious tragic circumstances starting in 2010 and are beginning to self-release the information about their upcoming projects.



First off are the Beastie Boys. I'm so glad that these guys are gearing up to make 2010 what 2009 should have been for them. MCA (aka Adam Yauch) has updated fans that he is doing well and his salivary gland cancer scare seems to be behind him now, having had surgery this past summer and recuperating for the last several months. They were the reason I almost went to Lollapalooza this summer, so I hope they end up on the bill this year as well as many festivals and concerts across the nation. 2010 will be a solid year for the Beasties and it all starts with the new album, The Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1, which Yauch himself said the following of recently:

"We're just figuring that out right now. But hopefully, it looks like it'll be coming out early part of next year. I don't know that it's official yet, but that seems to be the direction we're moving in."



Second are The Deftones, a band I've always dug through thick and thin, though most of my friends do not support me in such endeavors. I think for traditional hard rock fans, Chino Moreno's vocal approach is an extreme turnoff, which I can totally understand. I just happen to dig on it. I've seen them live three times, and hope to do so again in 2010 if the opportunity presents itself.

The band has been stagnant for a few years now since they scrapped the Eros sessions' material for the time being and bassist Chi Cheng was in a coma as the result of a car accident. For a while, Moreno revealed they considered just not moving on at all without Chi, but they found some sort of way to get through it and the tragedy has brought them together for their new album they've been working on. The musical sound and vibe are very – according to Chino – reminiscent of those for Around the Fur and White Pony, my two favorite Deftones albums!

The tentative release date for the yet-to-be-titled album is April 27, 2010. Fill-in bassist Sergio Vega plays on the record and will tour with the band until Chi is well enough to return to the fold. He's steadily improving and the band has made several efforts to raise funds to alleviate his medical bills. On behalf of the 411 Staff, I wish Chi a continued recovery!

The wRong

Frusciante Leaves Chili Peppers: Yes, it was recently confirmed after the rumors floated around for a while that Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has quit the band for a second time. John himself posted the following post on his Myspace page as a clarification of his earlier post regarding his exit from the band:

When I quit the band, over a year ago, we were on an indefinite hiatus. There was no drama or anger involved, and the other guys were very understanding. They are supportive of my doing whatever makes me happy and that goes both ways.

To put it simply, my musical interests have led me in a different direction. Upon rejoining, and throughout my time in the band, I was very excited about exploring the musical possibilities inherent in a rock band, and doing so with those people in particular. A couple of years ago, I began to feel that same excitement again, but this time it was about making a different kind of music, alone, and being my own engineer.

I really love the band and what we did. I understand and value that my work with them means a lot to many people, but I have to follow my interests. For me, art has never been something done out of a sense of duty. It is something I do because it is really fun, exciting, and interesting. Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.

Sending love and gratitude to you all.

My immediate reaction to this was that it sucks. A lot of people may tend to think of Anthony Kiedis or Flea when the Chili Peppers are talked about, or hell, even Chad Smith, as he's risen to even more fame with the success of Chickenfoot. I however, have always been a fan of John and his guitar playing on those RHCP albums he was on, most especially Blood Sugar Sex Magik. When I saw the Chili Peppers headline Lollapalooza 2006, it was John's playing that enraptured me the whole set and really made me truly believe they were the best act I saw that weekend. He's just got this grace and flair to the way he plays and his work has its own voice. When he plays, I can tell it's a Frusciante riff or lick, and nobody else's.

In the end though, it sounds like he did what he had to do to be happy with his music and creativity. He had to follow his passion, and really, to walk away from so much money that the Chili Peppers machine will continue to generate takes great resolve and belief in what he feels he's gotta' do. More power to ya' John! Just keep playing, whatever you do!



Green Day Coming to Rock Band: Rock Band: Green Day will be coming to a gaming console near you in 2010. I say phooey! A few quick reasons:

1) I'm a Green Day fan and have been so for a long time. I was not very high on 21st Century Breakdown however and felt the band were trying way too hard to remain epic on an American Idiot level. This just feels like another step in that direction, just as the Broadway musical version of the aforementioned concept album was. Maybe I just feel jaded by how big the band is getting, but that's my prerogative as a music fan and columnist.
2) The songs will be way too easy to play. It's a lot of chords and such. I mean, the drumming might be somewhat challenging, but just my opinion overall is that it won't be taxing enough. The Beatles game wasn't terribly challenging, but it was the fuckin' Beatles and that made it super fun. Green Day are NOT The Beatles.
3) They should throw even more money at the surviving members of Led Zeppelin in order to get them to allow Rock Band: Led Zeppelin to happen first, before the Green Day version.



Ozzy's New Album Title?: Yeah…it's called Soul Sucka. Lame. One of the lamest album titles in quite a while man. Blizzard of Ozz, Diary of a Madman, even Sabbath's Paranoid and Master of Reality: all great album titles. Soul Sucka just reeks of, well, Ozzy of the last ten years or so. Plus, no more Zakk Wylde on the guitar on this album. The title sounds like something either Sharon or a corporate suit came up with. Not much else to say about it.

The Ridiculous



Kid Punchi:



Well, Kid Cudi left the Lady Gaga tour he was opening on citing the need to "balance his schedule surrounding the recording of his next album and acting commitments." HA! I love you Kid Cudi and I love your music, but you punched a fan and that's why you left man. Probably not the best move man. I've seen artists get fans kicked out before, and since you're renting out the facilities for that night, you could legitimately make that shit happen. C'mon man!

Honestly, this guy's got pretty bad luck on the touring front. He was supposed to be on that Kanye/Lady Gaga "Fame Kills Tour" but then that whole Taylor Swift thing happened. Now, he's on a tour that's on its legs with one of the biggest acts in the entire fuckin' world in Lady Gaga and you do this. Now, to be fair, there was no press release saying he got kicked off or was encouraged to leave by his or her management, but really, it looks just a little too suspicious given the timing.

But hey, now he's got some fuckin' street cred right? I mean, 50 Cent has his nine bullet wound scars, but this is a start, eh? Nah, probably, not…

Here's the funny part. The kid who got punched was interviewed later on and broke down what happened. Someone had thrown a wallet onstage and Cudi threw it back in the crowd. The kid caught it, it wasn't his, so his threw it back onstage. Then, he got punched. Damn!

Just lay low for a bit and work on that Cudder album man. You're gonna be just fine Kid. I mean, it takes a whole lot to get the press and music world to hate you. Say, where the hell has Kanye West been?



Weezy Leaks on the Amazon: No, that headline is not meant to be reminiscent to Ozzy pissing on the Alamo! Lil' Wayne's oft-delayed Rebirth album leaked this week, but the circumstances were drastically different compared to how it usually happens, with someone getting a hold of it through some means or another and posting it online to be reproduced over and over.

Well, OK, that happened, but like, this is on a whole other level. The album was supposed to be out on the 15th, after five release delays. Then, a few days before it was supposed to drop, the date was pushed back to February. However, Amazon.com accidentally shipped 500 copies from its warehouse. Hil-ar-i-ous!!!

I mean, by pushing back the release, despite there being about a million copies already pressed and ready to be sold, Wayne's record company theoretically lost a bunch of money. If there's that many copies out there, somebody's bound to get a hold of the album sooner than later. Now, rather than it leaking shortly before the release, it'll seem like old news when it finally gets its official release about 50-60 days later. It's not like artists don't face leaks and shit already, but isn't this a little bit of a bigger deal? That can be for you to decide I suppose.

So how's the album sound? Well, I'm in the middle of listening to it right now, and while I publicly doubted it given what I'd heard initially and the fact that it'd been delayed over and over, I've got to say that I'm pleasantly surprised. There's some pretty righteous riffs, drums, and rhymes on this joint, and it's not 100% auto-tune crooning like Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak was. I mean, the song I've got on my headphones right now is this funky joint called "Runnin" that has Travis Barker on the drums. Also, the track "Drop the World," featuring Eminem, is one of the most unique rap songs I've heard all year.





The guitar playing is simple but it works with the hip-hop production pretty seemless for most of the songs. It's hard to believe Wayne is the one playing on some of the songs. Not that it's technical, virtuoso, Malmsteen shit, but still! I can enjoy it for what it is. It doesn't sound quite like I expected it to, which I guess is the point really? It's Weezy and that's what I like about the dude. He probably dreamt this shit up on cough syrup!

And what the fuck is wrong with me tonight? I didn't like the song "Prom Queen" AT ALL when I first heard it several months ago, but now I kind of dig it. I don't know man. I'm pretty sleepy right now, so maybe that has something to do with it.


Hasta Luego: That's it folks! This has been another edition of the Music 3R's. I'll catch you here next week for my last edition of the R's for 2009 with my '09 wrap-up special. Cheers!

Soundtrack to the 3R's this week was played by the following artists…
Lil' Wayne – "American Star"
Lil' Wayne – "Prom Queen"
Lil' Wayne – "Ground Zero"
Lil' Wayne – "Paradice"
Lil' Wayne – "On Fire"
Lil' Wayne (f/ Eminem)– "Drop the World"
Lil' Wayne (f/ Travis Barker)– "Runnin"
Lil' Wayne – "One Way Trip"
Lil' Wayne – "Knockout"
Lil' Wayne – "The Price is Wrong"
Mudvayne – "Beautiful and Strange"
Mudvayne – "1000 Mile Journey"