“Push Me Pull Me” Pearl Jam, Yield

I’m a bit of a fair-weather Pearl Jam fan, having liked their first couple of albums and bits and pieces of everything they’ve released since but man, “Push Me Pull Me” is down in the lower tier of the catalog.  A bit surprised that I actually have this song on here but with a lot of Pearl Jam I’ve picked up over the years, I’ll leave it on and then see if something grabs me in shuffle mode.  This does not, although the bass throb from Jeff Ament and drum whack from Jack Irons is decent but the disaffected vocal from Eddie Vedder makes this a thumbs down for me.

“Man Of Golden Words” Mother Love Bone, Mother Love Bone

Oh, if Andrew Wood would only have lived how the entire grunge scene would have changed..  well, maybe not the entire scene but no Pearl Jam (Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament were on board here).  At any rate, “Man Of Golden Words” is a decent, solemn piano and acoustic based ditty that features the cool croon from Wood and for you trivia buffs out there is the song in which Temple Of The Dog took their name from.  Interestingly, this leans a bit closer to Alice In Chains/Soundgarden territory in darkness but stands uniquely on its own.

“Cowboys From Hell” Pantera, Cowboys From Hell

NOW we’re talkin’….  early 90s were certainly a sea change in rock and metal music-  hair was fading, alternative rock was making a scene, grunge was creeping around the corner, and heavy music was getting more and more bombastic and rifftacular.  And boy what a riff-  “Cowboys” features one funky, choppy chunkster, putting Dimebag Darrell Abbott front and center as the latest guitar hero in town.  And the rest of the band ain’t to shabby either with brother Vinnie Paul on drums and Rex Brown on bass, but holy sh!t those vocals…  Philip Anselmo is LETHAL.

“Execution – Don’t Save Me” Death Angel, The Dream Calls For Blood

Kicking off with a brief acoustic spot topped with harmonized guitars (“Execution”, I’m assuming) comes this heavy thrasher from Bay Area boys Death Angel.  This cut mixes some serious breakneck pacing in the main riff which eases the throttle some in the main verse section before flooring it during the solo sections once again, while singer Mark Osegueda belts out in fine, rip roaring fashion.  In some ways I miss that early, nearly chaotic vocals that young Mark would belt out back in the day but his voice has matured like a fine wine.  Still, it’s those riffs that bring us all to the yard.

“Willie Brown Blues” Ry Cooder, Crossroads

I’ve always had huge respect for Ry Cooder although I’d not picked up much of his material until just recently.  The Crossroads soundtrack was one of the first I’d grabbed as I’d loved the movie and dug the tunes (dig the cameo from Steve Vai!) with “Willie Brown Blues” being a good example; pretty much a jump blues with some fiery harmonica playing from John “Juke” Logan and vocals from “Willie Brown” himself, actor/singer Joe Seneca.  And yeah, movie magic made Karate Kid Ralph Macchio look good on the six string but that’s actually Mr. Cooder himself with the funky goods.

“Child Of Mine” Fleetwood Mac, Bare Trees

Mid-period Fleetwood Mac reminds me of that old joke…  “Paul McCartney was in a band BEFORE Wings???”  Yeah the Mac has gone through a few iterations before the Buckingham/Nicks era, with “Bare Trees” being the only album that featured the guitar tag team of Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch.  “Child Of Mine” is a damn good rocker, sounding maybe a tad bit like Marc Bolan backed by the Stones with Billy Preston on organ.  Sung by Kirwan with a cool vocal but man, that rhythm section of McVie\Fleetwood is nails and Christine McVie is groovy baby on the keyboards

“Things Change” Dwight Yoakum, The Very Best Of

I’ve made plenty of comments before about how I dislike most modern country, but as Dwight likes to sing…  things change.  But hey, screw it-  I’m not in the demographic they are writing for.  At any rate Dwight is on point here with one of his late 90s hits that’s maybe a tad bit more produced than his classics, but dig that vocal melody and his excellent voice plus those singalong “na na nas” that stick in the brain like an earworm.  Toss in some sweet electric guitar playing from his partner in crime Pete Anderson and you’ve got a country tune I can agree with.

“Ain’t Enough” Army Of Anyone, Army Of Anyone

Army of Anyone was a bit of a one album supergroup featuring the brothers DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots, singer Richard Patrick from Filter, and drummer Ray Luzier who spent time bashing away behind David Lee Roth.  Their lone album featured alternarock not too far removed from STP although Patrick’s vocal melodies hailed more toward classic rock singers than some of the Bowie flavors and warbling roar favored by that groups Scott Weiland.  If you like STP and Filter then you should dig what’s going on here as it’s not far removed from either band.  All in a all a good tune.

“Black Dog On My Shoulder” Manic Street Preachers, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

One of the great things about buying so many CDs and doing a good bit of listening on shuffle mode uncovers a lot of gems that you might not pick up as you listen to a band’s single disc.  I’d had the Manic’s rollicking debut album and had picked up a couple of latter period discs but hadn’t really listened to them until their brilliant, beautiful melodies of Everything Must Go.  “Black Dog” is a bit similar in style but leans a bit more 70s with its mix of sunny, folky acoustics and string backdrops but it’s James Dean Bradfield’s vocals and melodies that shine.  Quite an underrated band that is good for a smooth change of pace.

“Travelin’ Band” Creedence Clearwater Revival, In Concert

One of my all time favorite Creedence tunes, “Travelin’ Band” owes a serious debt to Chuck Berry from a guitar standpoint but John Fogerty sure lays down his best Little Richard impression too with his shouty, exuberant vocal.  How can you not like this?  Well, I have to drop a few points as this is the live version which is pretty darn swell and as usual Fogerty is on fire vocally and on guitar.  But what’s seriously missing from this version compared to the studio is that horn accompaniment, which is capably replicated here on guitar but is a bit too loosey goosey and not as tight as it should be, especially during the solo.  But it’s Creedence!  (I love Creedence 🙂 )

The gold goes to Cowboys From Hell by 20 car lengths followed by Travelin’ Band (only penalized by it being live) for the silver and the gold goes to Child Of Mine.

For those not in the know, your intrepid blogger was hospitalized a couple of times in December after a crazy bout with shingles, vertigo, and other complications that pretty much left me bedridden and darn near immobile for a good few days.  My head felt like it weighed 500 pounds and pressure on the left side of my noggin was equivalent to a blunted drill bit trying to work its way into my brain.  On top of that, I couldn’t keep any food down as any slight movements would send my into a violent spin and then…  well, you get the picture.  Toss in a morphine drip that did nothing other than generating vivid dreams of bluish white, dreary rock strewn landscapes that would melt and appear as “talking stomachs” (don’t ask) and I was an abject mess.

It’s hard to describe just how my five day hospital visit went but those first four days were extremely ugly and most of all, helpless.  All I wanted to do was lay there.  The TV was on but I couldn’t (and wouldn’t) look at it because the motion was enough to make me want to vomit.  Conversations between anyone in my room or with me and the nurses would just exacerbate the “brain ache”-  I couldn’t just turn them off entirely; I had to answer questions I was asked but I would rather have just turned my brain off and lay there.  I really just wanted my brain to be devoid of any thought because it was essentially too much to think about anything as that drill kept grinding away on the side of my head.  I knew I was sick; I was just too worn down to think about getting better.  I would just fade in and out of sleep/consciousness and watch the crazy melting and talking tummies.  Day one of these morose feelings blended into day two, which blended into day three, then day four.  Then something magical happened on Day Five.

On Day Five I got to the point where I wasn’t quite feeling the vertigo symptoms and the headaches had become less intense, so I decided I’d try to sit up in bed a little more and watch some TV.  My wife helped get me situated and got me some breakfast while we both watched the morning news and talked about just how soon I’d be able to get out of the hospital.  Day Four had been a bit of a turnaround so I was feeling a bit hopeful, although I’d not really moved much from the bed at all.  My mental state was starting to turn around and I was getting a bit of an itch but still a little worried to move as I thought for sure I would once again “lose my lunch” even if I rolled over.  And then…  I heard it…  that piano…  and those faint words…  “when I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be…”

And…  I cried.  I looked up at the TV and saw one of those Time/Life commercials and Paul McCartney was singing and playing the classic Beatles tune, accompanied by good ol’ Ringo behind the drum kit and that’s all it took.  The music that is always part of my daily repertoire in my mind was back after being gone for four days thanks to Paul McCartney and this silly commercial.  They probably didn’t play but ten seconds of the song but that’s all it took-  my eyes watered, my mind cleared somewhat, and then I realized…  I think I’m going home today.  My wife looked at me with concern and said “what’s wrong?” and all I could do was point to the TV with tears in my eyes and trying to get the words out to say that for the past few days I didn’t even think or hear music when I was so down and out and sick.  We laughed a bit, thinking that I was getting a little overly emotional from the steroids I’d been taking, but she knows how much music is a daily part of my life and was happy to see me take a turn for the better.  And yes, I did get to go home a little later that day and I’d like to think that Paul McCartney had a little bit to do with that.  Thanks Paul!