Local Music Blog: Rock 'N' Roll Is Back, Baby!

Mark your calendars. Thanks to Garbage and Slash, on May 22, 2012, rock ‘n' roll came back with a vengeance. And I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel. Don’t get me wrong, I love my alternative music, but how the bleep can you call it alt when finding a rock radio station is more difficult than find a Republican with a heart.

But before we get to those aforementioned artists, let's cover Sir Paul and the re-release of his pre-Wings 1971 masterpiece, Ram.

Yikes! 1971? I was just a young lad trying to make my way through the eighth grade without dying at the hand of a yardstick wielding St. Nick’s nun. Of course, we impertinent teenagers were lamenting the fact the Linda McCartney and/or Yoko Ono had destroyed the Beatles forever and the world would never recover from the collapse of the supergroup redefined rock ‘n' roll.

You know, I’d forgotten just how good this album, the only one credited to both Linda and Paul McCartney, really is. Considering the drama surrounding its release, it’s surprising how well it stands up 40-some years later.

The critics hated it because none of Sir Paul’s solo work could measure up to the Beatles. John Lennon took particular offense because he thought Too Many People and Dear Boy were directed specifically about him. Harrison and Starr also considered the song Three Legs, McCartney’s nickname for his former bandmates, to be written about them.

So Lennon “retaliated” with How Do You Sleep on his Imagine album and so forth and so on. C’mon boys! The most influential group in rock history and even that’s not enough for you?

As far as the remastering goes, I haven’t listened to the original album in such a long time that I can’t make a good comparison. All I can tell you is it sounds pretty good to me.

The deluxe box set—always the best option—comes with four CDs, a DVD bonus film, a 112-page book with scads of photographs, a reproduction of McCartney’s original handwritten lyric sheets and more.

If you’re a Paul McCartney/Wings fan, then this one is a must have and I would highly recommend it to everyone else. My only complaint is, while the three previous remasters came in the same tidy book format, this one comes in a box that’s about three times as thick.

If we’re not counting his Slash’s Snakepit albums, Apocalyptic Love is the second solo effort from the former Guns ‘n Roses guitar man known for his stylish top hat.

And this time, Slash surrounded himself with the likes of Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy who, after more than adequately filling in for him at this year’s Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, certainly gives Axl Rose a run for his money.

If you’re looking for another Guns ‘n Roses album you’re going to be just as disappointed as if you paid good money to see the current incarnation of the band. There are no surprises here and the tracks blend together a bit more than I’d like, but it’s better than Velvet Revolver was, and it’s good enough that it will leave you salivating for their next effort.

Given the dearth of real rock ‘n' roll albums, I can easily recommend giving this one a shot.

You can thank me now because I’ve saved the best for last. If I had to compile my top 20 2012 albums list right now, Garbarge’s Not My Kind of People would come out at the top of the heap.

Don’t tell my wife, but I’m madly in love with lead singer Shirley Manson, the redheaded lass from Edinburgh. I’m Only Happy When it Rains is the best (and perhaps only) song about embracing depression ever written.

With lyrics like:

I'm only happy when it rains
You wanna hear about my new obsession
I'm riding high upon a deep depression
I'm only happy when it rains

you can never be sure if Ms. Manson is going to blow you a kiss, or cold cock you with a right cross.

Though the three albums following their amazing debut didn’t live up to our vast expectations, I can tell you that Garbage is back baby. And it was certainly worth the seven-year wait.

Don’t worry! This ain’t no trip down a '90s nostalgia lane either. It’s a breath of fresh air that will chase all your alt-rock blues away. From the driving beat of opening track Automatic Systematic Habit:

Knocked down drag your name out
All across the town
I won't be your dirty little secret
Not for you, not for me,
Not for your other lover
I won't be your dirty little secret.

to the plaintive Blood for Poppies to the insistent I Hate Love and the almost whispered Sugar, this is one fricken’ great album.

What really irritates me is all the other critics are so wrapped in their current alt-rock induced stupor that they’re inexplicably trashing this album. Guys! Wake up! You’ve forgotten what great music is supposed to sound like.

Garbage drummer and uber producer Butch Vig (Nevermind) did a great job putting Not Your Kind of People together and this album is a must have if there ever was one.

Next week! We’ll start with Patti Smith’s first original work in 12 long years, move on to the Beach Boys first new material in two decades, and then finish it off with the remastered reissue du jour, the David Bowie classic, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

Temper Trap is also releasing their sophomore effort, but what I’ve heard of it so far doesn’t impress me. We’ll see about that one.

In the meantime, you’ll find me sitting with my feet up on my desk, leaning back in my chair, hands firmly clasped behind my head as I listen to the vinyl version of Not Your Kind of People so loudly that I won’t be able to hear wife scream “Turn it down!”