The Alternative Nation News Report 12.07.08: Reunited And It Feels So Eh...

Posted by Taylor Martin on 12.07.2008

Reunions: some are awesome and some the complete opposite of awesome, Grammy noms, Nine Inch Nails, Weezer, DLC and the best albums of 1990. A milli!



Column Start

Back again, are we? I knew you couldn't stay away. Pretty soon I'll have to file a restraining order.

I'm not kidding.

On a random note, is it just me or does Punisher: War Zone look kind of badass? I think it looks pretty awesome and will probably be better than the 2004 movie, whether it's actually good or not. Man, that one was horrible.

But this isn't a movie column, this is a music column. Then again, I do discuss video games. Whatever, let's get to the news.

News N' Stuff

- Grammy nominations were revealed this week and they are about what you would expect. Lil Wayne leads the pack with eight nods, followed by Coldplay with seven. Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West all picked up six nominations, while Radiohead, Robert Plant, Allison Krauss, John Mayer, and Jazmine Sullivan all received five. Here's a list of the more high-profile categories. My personal choices are bolded and who I think will actually win is underlined:

Record of the Year:

Adele – "Chasing Pavements"
Coldplay – "Viva la Vida"
Leona Lewis – "Bleeding Love"
M.I.A. – "Paper Planes
Allison Krauss & Robert Plant – "Please Read the Letter"

Album of the Year:

Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo – Year of the Gentleman
Allison Krauss & Robert Plant - Raising Sand
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Song of the Year:

Estelle ft. Kanye West – "American Boy"
Adele – "Chasing Pavements"
Jason Mraz – "I'm Yours"
Sara Bareilles – "Love Song"
Coldplay – "Viva la Vida"

Best New Artist:

Adele
Duffy
Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance

John Mayer – "Gravity"
Paul McCartney – "I Saw Her Standing There"
Bruce Springsteen – "Girls In Their Summer Clothes"
Eddie Vedder – "Rise"
Neil Young – "No Hidden Path"

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group:

AC/DC – "Rock N Roll Train"
Coldplay – "Violet Hill"
The Eagles – "Long Road Out of Eden"
Kings of Leon – "Sex on Fire"
Radiohead – "House of Cards"

Best Hard Rock Performance:

Disturbed – "Inside the Fire"
Judas Priest – "Visions"
The Mars Volta – "Wax Simulacra"
Mötley Crüe – "Saints of Los Angeles"
Rob Zombie – "Lords of Salem"

Best Metal Performance:

Dragonforce – "Heroes of Our Time"
Judas Priest – "Nostradamus"
Metallica – "My Apocalypse"
Ministry – "Under My Thumb"
Slipknot – "Psychosocial"

Best Rock Song:

Bruce Springsteen – "Girls In Their Summer Clothes"
Radiohead – "House of Cards"
Death Cab for Cutie – "I Will Possess Your Heart"
Kings of Leon – "Sex on Fire"
Coldplay – "Violet Hill"

Best Rock Album:

Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus
Kings of Leon - Only By the Night
Metallica – Death Magnetic
The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely

Best Alternative Album:

Beck - Modern Guilt
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Best Short Form Music Video:

Erykah Badu – "Honey
Gnarls Barkley – "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?"
Alicia Keys & Jack White – "Another Way to Die"
Radiohead – "House of Cards"
Weezer – "Pork and Beans"


- With all of the reunions going on lately, this one makes me the happiest: 10 years after disbanding, Faith No More is considering a reunion. "Insiders" have suggested that the highly influential funk/metal/alternative/punk/whatever quintuple have reserved a number of venues in the United Kingdom and could possibly play some festival dates in the summer. Bassist Billy Gould said he had not heard of any news of a reunion but that it would have to be something that everyone in the band wants to do. It is not clear which band members will return, as FNM went through numerous lineup changes in its nearly two decade existence. Mike Patton, who said for years that a reunion would never happen has changed his tune in recent years, even going to say that he would like to work with the other members again, but as an entity other than Faith No More. This is fucking awesome for two reasons: if this does actually happen (and I sincerely hope it does) it could lead to a new album. Also, a couple of years ago, I set a personal goal of seeing my top 3 favorite bands in concert at least once. I saw Radiohead this past summer and I got to see Tool a couple of years back so this is one step closer to achieving my goal.


- But, alas, with good news come bad news. It looks like the Creed reunion is a done deal. Is God playing a cruel joke on us? What have we done to deserve this? I'll tell you what we've done. We let movies like Twilight dominate the box office and bands like Nickelback and Hinder to rule the airwaves. We watch mindless entertainment like According to Jim and the entire CBS lineup. We entertain the notion that a stupid, backwards, close-minded bitch like Sarah Palin could possibly be considered an experienced candidate to the office of the Vice President of the United States; a position, mind you, that was one melanoma away from running this pathetic excuse of a country.

But I digress. Creed is but one thing that is wrong with this country. But if we let them know that they aren't wanted, that's one less thing that America has to be shameful for. Don't support this abomination called a reunion. Friends don't let friends listen to Creed.


- Guns N' Roses has been all over the news for the past couple of months and the stories keep getting weirder and weirder. Case in point, this little gem: Axl Rose disappeared two months before the release of Chinese Democracy. Record execs at Geffen are blaming Rose on the less-than-stellar sales of the album and say that they couldn't even contact him on the day he delivered the finished product. That's not the most interesting part of this story, however. It's what he was doing over those two missing months. He reportedly tried to get in contact with the original lineup, including Slash. If he succeeds in this quest to reunite the classic lineup, I think that the band can be relevant again. With the uncertain future of Velvet Revolver this seems more probable than it did a few years ago.


Quickies!

- Trent Reznor has scrapped a proposed Nine Inch Nails 3-D concert film due to problems with licensing some of his own music (which is owned by his former label, Interscope). This would have been pretty cool, as the tour that the film would have been based off of was specifically designed for a 3-D film.

- Weezer will be following in the footsteps of frontman Rivers Cuomo and release a rarities compilation. If they include material from the "lost" album Songs From the Black Hole, I will instantly buy this.


DLC of the Week

Rock Band:

This week, we've got another album coming out:

No Doubt - The Singles: 1992-2003
"Just a Girl"
"It's My Life"
"Hey Baby"
"Bathwater"
"Sunday Morning"
"Hella Good"
"Underneath It All"
"Excuse Me Mr."
"Running"
"Spiderwebs"
"Simple Kind of Life"
"Don't Speak"
"Ex-Girlfriend"

Let's do this album by album. Anything from Tragic Kingdom is recommended, "Ex-Girlfriend", "Simple Kind of Life", and "Bathwater" from Return of Saturn is recommended, avoid anything from Rock Steady except "Hella Good". "It's My Life" (which was a new track when this compilation was released) gets a very, very mild recommendation.

Guitar Hero:

Some cool tracks this week:

Nirvana
"Sliver"
"You Know You're Right"
"Negative Creep"

It's Nirvana, so it's you know it's good. Highly recommended.

The Greatest Albums of My Life

The Best Albums of 1990

Honorable Mentions: Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss, The Flaming Lips - In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Megadeth - Rust In Peace, The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker, Depeche Mode - Violator, Primus - Frizzle Fry, Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual

3. Fugazi - Repeater: No band in modern history has been more adverse to mainstream popularity than Fugazi. Formed from the remnants of two D.C. hardcore punk bands, Minor Threat and Rites of Spring in 1987, Fugazi adopted the business practices of both bands. They have never been on a major label, they never charge more than 5-7 dollars to see them live, and they don't sell merchandise. They don't even do interviews with magazines that advertise alcohol or tobacco products. Despite that, Fugazi is recognized as one of the most successful and most well-known underground bands in recent history. Musically, however, the band was very different from the two bands that created it. Hardcore punk was still a major influence, but the band also took inspiration from other genres like alternative rock, 70s rock like Led Zeppelin and Queen, and even funk and reggae. Repeater would be the first cohesive album with these influences. The guitar work by both Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto combines structured rhythms and pretty straightforward riffs, with sudden bursts of noise and weird effects (not unlike Sonic Youth). MacKaye and Picciotto also trade vocals and while MacKaye is admittedly fond of anthemic choruses and audience sing-alongs, Picciotto is more abstract and his vocals more resemble beat poetry more than actual singing. Repeater is a landmark in the genre of post-hardcore and would take from merely a supergroup, to heroes of the underground.

Recommened tracks: "Repeater", "Turnover", "Sieve-Fisted Find", "Merchandise"



2. Social Distortion - Social Distortion: This self-titled release was Social D's first on a major label. It continued the punk/outlaw country hybrid that was implemented on their previous album, Prison Bound. This is, by far, their most successful album both critically and commercially. The band's most well-known songs are on this album, including "Story of My Life", "Ball and Chain" and a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". As my grandmother would say, Cash couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, which is a good description of lead singer Mike Ness as well. But like Cash, Ness' voice is strangely endearing, even to the point where it's actually good. Dennis Danell's guitar playing is what best embodies the album's punk/country style. Sadly, Danell would pass away in 2000 after a brain aneurysm. Social Distortion is still active, though, and is planning to release a new album sometime next year. Their self-titled effort, however, remains their best and most respected work.

Recommended tracks: "Ball and Chain", "Story of My Life", "Ring of Fire", "Sickboy"



1. Sonic Youth - Goo: This album marks Sonic Youth's third entry in this series. Also, like Social Distortion, Goo was the band's major label debut. It continues the style of combining experimentation with more accessible alternative rock structures implemented in 1986's Evol, honed in 1987's Sister, and perfected in 1988's Daydream Nation. Goo moves even further toward traditional alternative hooks and riffs, but still contains quite a bit of noise and distortion. "Kool Thing", arguably the band's most successful single, is one of drummer Steve Shelley's finest moments. The song is rumored to be about LL Cool J and Chuck D from Public Enemy contributes vocals in the track. Goo, while not as good as its predecessor, is still a solid entry in Sonic Youth's storied catalog. It also catapulted the band into mainstream popularity it could be said that without the buzz surrounding this album, Daydream Nation might have been out of print longer than it was. Goo, in many ways, was both the end of an era and a beginning of a new one, as now the band had to juggle artistic integrity with commercial viability. For the most part, they succeeded.

Recommeded tracks: "Kool Thing", "Dirty Boots", "Disappearer", "Mary-Christ"




It's Over!

That about wraps up this edition of The Alternative Nation. Come back next week for more of whatever it is I do in this column.

Later!