The Alternative Nation News Report 02.01.09: Two Columns In A Row? Shocking!

Posted by Taylor Martin on 02.01.2009

Bummer: Faith No More not playing Coachella, RIP Billy Powell, Radiohead plays the Grammys, Quickies, DLC, and the greatest albums of 1992. Man, I’m on a roll!



Column Start

What the hell is up? I'm going on two weeks in a row now and it looks like I'll be back next week. It looks like this column is becoming a regular thing now.

You know, like it was supposed to be.

NEWS TIME!

News N' Stuff

So, for the past couple of months, rumors have been swirling that Faith No More would be reuniting at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival this year. Coachella has been known for getting bands back together (or at least trying to), including Rage Against the Machine, Tool (they were never actually broken up, but the 2006 festival was their first live performance in almost four years), Portishead, and The Stooges. Promoters also offered $50 million to Johnny Marr and Morrissey to reunite The Smiths, but, of course, they turned it down. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case with FNM. The lineup this year will feature vocalist Mike Patton teaming up with human beatbox Rahzel. This disappoints me, as regular readers will know that I'm a huge Faith No More fan. Mike Patton has said that a reunion is possible down the line, but it looks like it won't be at Coachella.


Billy Powell, the keyboardist of Lynyrd Skynyrd died on Wednesday, joining his fallen bandmates in the Great Gig in the Sky. Powell called 911 in the early morning hours, complaining of shortness of breath. When paramedics arrived, they found him unconscious and still clutching the telephone. He was pronounced dead shortly after of an apparent heart attack. Powell was influential keyboardist and he will be missed by many fans and fellow musicians.


Radiohead, who are up for five Grammy awards this year, will be performing at the ceremony, which takes place later this month. I'm excited for two reasons: it's fucking Radiohead, and the Grammys are notorious for weird pairings when it comes to live performances, so look out for Radiohead featuring Lil Wayne. Man, that would be weird.


Quickies!

- A new Smashing Pumpkins song will debut during a Hyundai commercial that will air during the Super Bo- I mean the Big Game.

- Kelly Clarkson set a new record for biggest jump to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, jumping from #97 to #1. Which doesn't really mean much, considering that the record has been broken like 7 times in the past two years.


DLC of the Week

Rock Band:

A lot of variety this week:

Thin Lizzy
"The Boys Are Back In Town (Live)"
"Jailbreak (Live)"
"Cowboy Song (Live)"

These tracks are from a recently discovered live performance featuring the band's original lineup. Thin Lizzy is an underrated classic rock band if there ever was one, so these tracks are recommended.

The Pretenders
"Precious"

I'm not a big Pretenders fan, so I can't really recommend this one.

Pat Benatar
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot"

This song was also in Guitar Hero III, but this version is the original master recording. Oh, and this is not recommended because it's fucking Pat Benatar.

Nikko
"Break My Heart"
"Don't Tell Me"

This is more Nickelodeon stuff so this is not recommended. Unless you like Nickelodeon stuff.


Guitar Hero:

No DLC this week, but there are more songs next week that look to be pretty good.

The Greatest Albums of My Life

The Best Albums of 1992

Honorable Mentions: Sonic Youth - Dirty, Alice In Chains - Dirt, Beastie Boys - Check Your Head, Nine Inch Nails - Broken, Dr. Dre - The Chronic, Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction, Eric Clapton - Unplugged, Pantera - Rage Against the Machine, Tool - Opiate

3. Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power: 1990's Cowboys From Hell is seen by many fans as Pantera's debut album, but it was actually their fifth. Their first four were in a glam metal style (Dimebag in glittery spandex. *shudders*), but they ditched that style in favor of an emerging style known as "groove metal". Taking influences from traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, and hardcore punk, Vulgar Display of Power is one of the best and most influential albums on the 1990s. Every time I hear "Walk" or "Mouth for War" I just want get up and beat the shit out of someone or something. If there was one band that could pump up anyone and get their adrenaline going, it's Pantera. Sadly, we will never se Pantera reunited, but in the early to mid-90s, there was no better metal band than Pantera.

Recommended tracks: "Walk", "This Love", "Mouth For War", "Fucking Hostile"

Pantera - Walk



2. R.E.M. - Automatic for The People: After Out of Time made them international superstars, R.E.M. quickly went back into the studio to record their best album, Automatic for the People. After the somewhat poppy tone of Out of Time and Green, the band opted for a darker, more sparse sound, utilizing acoustic guitars and string arrangements by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. It's no surprise that the songs with strings are the best songs on the album. "Everybody Hurts" may be a little cheesy, but it's a damn powerful song and I challenge anyone to listen to it and not feel better afterwards. After this album, it was all downhill for R.E.M. until last year with the excellent Accelerate, but this is prime R.E.M. and it's what made them the biggest band in the world in the early 90s.

Recommended tracks: "Everybody Hurts", "Man on the Moon", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Nightswimming"

REM - Everybody Hurts



1. Faith No More - Angel Dust: Trying to describe why this album is so awesome would be futile, so I would suggest you listen to it and find out for yourself.. You might not get it the first time, but with repeated listening, you'll soon see why this is one of the most influential albums of the past 20 years.


Recommended tracks: "Midlife Crisis", "A Small Victory", "Land of Sunshine", "Easy"

Midlife Crisis Faith No More



Column End

Will I be back next week? Stay tuned!

Bye forever.