Thursday
Jul062006
The Looooonng Drive(s) Home
Thursday, July 6, 2006 at 02:32AM
Well, I'm back. I've been pretty much out of touch with the computer for a couple of weeks now. Kind of nice, actually. (Besides this nagging guilt over not blogging every day...)
As I think I mentioned before, Cliff "knew a guy who knew a guy" that enabled Alison and I to replace our dying cars with some more reliable ones this past week. The problem was: they were in Houston. So one at a time, I drove them back. Maybe it's that I'm older, or that I don't usually make long drives alone, but I'm tired of driving right now.
The good part: both cars had air conditioning and working stereos (things I have lacked in mine for about five years...) so the drives weren't that bad. It was actually the first chunk of time I've been able to spend listening to music in months, so that's what I did. I thought about trying to write a little review on each album I listened to, but each drive was 14 hours long and that ended up being quite a lot of records. So I'll list them and see what happens...
DRIVE ONE
Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits
(besides Rainy Day Woman, which is just not good, this album, along with Springsteen's, is the exception to the rule on Greatest Hits. It flows like an album, and a really good one at that. But it should have "Tangled Up In Blue" on it...)
Marc Cohn - Burning the Daze
(this one makes me think of Ben Shive's greatness and makes me wish I had this great of a lower register vocally. I wonder if that will happen with age. I hope so...)
Big Bang - Poetic Terrorism
(my current favorite thing to listen to. It's making me realize I don't hate acoustic guitars, just the way they get used in Nashville...)
The Fire Theft - The Fire Theft
(hearing this album all the way through for the first time made me like it a lot more. Some great rock band moments.)
Jeff Buckley - Grace
(Only one of the most influential albums ever. This dude is so freakishily talented. I am amazed every time I hear this how it just shatters all ideas of genre and song structure. And the dude's voice is the most incredible instrument. His version, the only one that matters, of "Hallelujah" is quite easily the most beautiful performance ever captured on tape.)
Sixpence None The Richer - Divine Discontent
(my favorite album by one of my favorite bands ever. In heaven, one of the things I hope to get to do is play these songs with this band. The fact that this record bombed is the essential proof that christian music has lost any ability it might have had to encourage true art, beauty or faith...)
At this point I was really tired and listened to a lot of NPR about President Bush and the Japanese Prime Minister coming to Graceland. I was in the Memphis area at that time. Sleeping in my backseat in a Target parking lot.
I also listened to a Ricky Gervais podcast and laughed so hard I could barely breathe, let alone wipe the streaming tears from my burning eyes. Before that I heard an interview with Jerry Falwell. The most incriminating thing NPR could have done to him was just let him talk about himself. Sad and scary. Somewhere after that I got home, at around 10:30 am and went to bed.
DRIVE TWO
Three days later. Got a slightly earlier start.
Jars of Clay - Good Monsters
(Matt gave me a copy of their new one to check out and I really loved it. Rock and roll, man. The guitar tones are fantastic and I love the swagger they have now with Jeremy playing drums. Dan's voice sounds great, too. Can't wait to see these songs live.)
Andrew Peterson - The Far Country
(Made me call Andrew and tell him he needs to make another record and let me be a part of it again. This is one of my favorite things I've ever gotten to work on. Really a beautiful album.)
The Beatles - Revolver
(George's masterpiece. Seriously, he does effortlessly in sixteen bars with his solo on Tax Man what Jeff Tweedy has been trying to do for four albums. This is also the record that makes you realize The Beatles weren't just icons and great songwriters, they were a kick-butt rock band. This is the album you would want to see them play live.)
U2 - Achtung Baby
(Always a little scared to listen to this one. What if it's not as great as I remember? Have no fear, little one, it's beyond perfect, as usual. The greatest album of all time. Makes me realize why I didn't like their latest and why I can't wait for Sept. 18.)
Pink Floyd - The Wall
(I can not believe I used to listen to this every day in high school. No wonder I thought I was depressed. Still, you can't deny the genius of Roger's writing, and the guitar solos are as frustratingly brilliant as always. "Comfortably Numb" and "Love is Blindness" from Achtung Baby being my two favorite guitar solos of all-time, I started to feel a little like a sham...)
At this point I started to get a little antsy-pantsy, so I listened to the first couple of tracks from...
The Who - Who's Next
Kenny Meeks - Unfaded
The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight
songs from Brian Whitman's MySpace Page
The Clash - London Calling
Portions of sermons from John Piper and Tim Keller and the first few chapters of Luke, as read by some really boring guy. None of it kept me awake, so I had to move on...
Another Ricky Gervais podcast. Again: tears.
And bringing me home...
Pearl Jam - Yield
(this is my favorite of their records. The songs are so great, the guitar sounds and parts are amazing and Eddie's voice is out-of-control awesome. I'm so glad they're still around. Their first record came out when I was 13 and I honestly feel like it's a gift that I've gotten to follow a band that great since they started.)
Well, that's about it. Probably very boring for you, but just wait, tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of my pedal board. That will be even MORE boring for you. But I will enjoy it. And about six other guitar nerds.
Well, the Osengas have all been a little under the weather this week, and staying up to ramble about records is fun, but won't be quite as awesome in the morning when Ella wants me to watch her open and shut doors for a couple of hours. Good night!
As I think I mentioned before, Cliff "knew a guy who knew a guy" that enabled Alison and I to replace our dying cars with some more reliable ones this past week. The problem was: they were in Houston. So one at a time, I drove them back. Maybe it's that I'm older, or that I don't usually make long drives alone, but I'm tired of driving right now.
The good part: both cars had air conditioning and working stereos (things I have lacked in mine for about five years...) so the drives weren't that bad. It was actually the first chunk of time I've been able to spend listening to music in months, so that's what I did. I thought about trying to write a little review on each album I listened to, but each drive was 14 hours long and that ended up being quite a lot of records. So I'll list them and see what happens...
DRIVE ONE
Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits
(besides Rainy Day Woman, which is just not good, this album, along with Springsteen's, is the exception to the rule on Greatest Hits. It flows like an album, and a really good one at that. But it should have "Tangled Up In Blue" on it...)
Marc Cohn - Burning the Daze
(this one makes me think of Ben Shive's greatness and makes me wish I had this great of a lower register vocally. I wonder if that will happen with age. I hope so...)
Big Bang - Poetic Terrorism
(my current favorite thing to listen to. It's making me realize I don't hate acoustic guitars, just the way they get used in Nashville...)
The Fire Theft - The Fire Theft
(hearing this album all the way through for the first time made me like it a lot more. Some great rock band moments.)
Jeff Buckley - Grace
(Only one of the most influential albums ever. This dude is so freakishily talented. I am amazed every time I hear this how it just shatters all ideas of genre and song structure. And the dude's voice is the most incredible instrument. His version, the only one that matters, of "Hallelujah" is quite easily the most beautiful performance ever captured on tape.)
Sixpence None The Richer - Divine Discontent
(my favorite album by one of my favorite bands ever. In heaven, one of the things I hope to get to do is play these songs with this band. The fact that this record bombed is the essential proof that christian music has lost any ability it might have had to encourage true art, beauty or faith...)
At this point I was really tired and listened to a lot of NPR about President Bush and the Japanese Prime Minister coming to Graceland. I was in the Memphis area at that time. Sleeping in my backseat in a Target parking lot.
I also listened to a Ricky Gervais podcast and laughed so hard I could barely breathe, let alone wipe the streaming tears from my burning eyes. Before that I heard an interview with Jerry Falwell. The most incriminating thing NPR could have done to him was just let him talk about himself. Sad and scary. Somewhere after that I got home, at around 10:30 am and went to bed.
DRIVE TWO
Three days later. Got a slightly earlier start.
Jars of Clay - Good Monsters
(Matt gave me a copy of their new one to check out and I really loved it. Rock and roll, man. The guitar tones are fantastic and I love the swagger they have now with Jeremy playing drums. Dan's voice sounds great, too. Can't wait to see these songs live.)
Andrew Peterson - The Far Country
(Made me call Andrew and tell him he needs to make another record and let me be a part of it again. This is one of my favorite things I've ever gotten to work on. Really a beautiful album.)
The Beatles - Revolver
(George's masterpiece. Seriously, he does effortlessly in sixteen bars with his solo on Tax Man what Jeff Tweedy has been trying to do for four albums. This is also the record that makes you realize The Beatles weren't just icons and great songwriters, they were a kick-butt rock band. This is the album you would want to see them play live.)
U2 - Achtung Baby
(Always a little scared to listen to this one. What if it's not as great as I remember? Have no fear, little one, it's beyond perfect, as usual. The greatest album of all time. Makes me realize why I didn't like their latest and why I can't wait for Sept. 18.)
Pink Floyd - The Wall
(I can not believe I used to listen to this every day in high school. No wonder I thought I was depressed. Still, you can't deny the genius of Roger's writing, and the guitar solos are as frustratingly brilliant as always. "Comfortably Numb" and "Love is Blindness" from Achtung Baby being my two favorite guitar solos of all-time, I started to feel a little like a sham...)
At this point I started to get a little antsy-pantsy, so I listened to the first couple of tracks from...
The Who - Who's Next
Kenny Meeks - Unfaded
The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight
songs from Brian Whitman's MySpace Page
The Clash - London Calling
Portions of sermons from John Piper and Tim Keller and the first few chapters of Luke, as read by some really boring guy. None of it kept me awake, so I had to move on...
Another Ricky Gervais podcast. Again: tears.
And bringing me home...
Pearl Jam - Yield
(this is my favorite of their records. The songs are so great, the guitar sounds and parts are amazing and Eddie's voice is out-of-control awesome. I'm so glad they're still around. Their first record came out when I was 13 and I honestly feel like it's a gift that I've gotten to follow a band that great since they started.)
Well, that's about it. Probably very boring for you, but just wait, tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of my pedal board. That will be even MORE boring for you. But I will enjoy it. And about six other guitar nerds.
Well, the Osengas have all been a little under the weather this week, and staying up to ramble about records is fun, but won't be quite as awesome in the morning when Ella wants me to watch her open and shut doors for a couple of hours. Good night!
Reader Comments (15)
I always enjoy your pedal board pictures!
Good to have you back, Andy. Hope you all get to feeling better, and yeah, I'll enjoy the pedal board pictures, too.
Not boring at all, actually. Road trips were made for music!
For some odd reason, I was wondering just this morning if you were a Pearl Jam guy or a Nirvana guy...
good stuff. i like andrew peterson and you too. i also like U2. i'm making my 2342356th trip from houston to baton rouge this weekend. it will also be musical.
It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who appreciates Marc Cohn (and not just "Walking In Memphis"). He is one of the most underrated singer/songwriters, granted he's very Adult Contemporary and doesn't ROCK that much, but he's a wonderful songwriter. I'm currently listening to Wolfmother in heavy rotation. If you like riff-heavy rock in the veins of Led Zepplin and Black Sabbath with a voice similar to Robert Plant and Jack White then you will definitely dig Wolfmother. They are really good and their song "Love Train" is featured in an iPod commercial, so that makes them even cooler...*sarcasm intended* but honestly their album is good.
Honestly, I've not listened to a lot of the artists you've mentioned so I look forward to broadening my 'musical horizons." Thanks sharing.
I actually went to the trouble to register just so I could post a comment to ask: What are you talking about? I understand why you think "Achtung Baby" was great. But you didn't like "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"?
I saw Jars play about half of their new record live last week. It was AMAZING. The best they've ever been.
I've always said that Divine Discontent is one of my all time favorites. Long Gone Before Daylight is also really really great. I want to hear Good Monsters really bad. Koelle would make a great cover for that. It would look insane.
themoonjoon, don't listen to Andrew.
Just found the cover for Good Monsters. Very cool looking. And found their single for the album on iTunes (Dead Man). Totally a new sound for them. I like it quite a bit.
actually, andy...George Harrison wasn't the one to play or write that solo on Tax Man. That comes courtesy of one Paul McCartney. Don't mean to say you don't know your rock...you're just mistaken, that's all.
Really? Wow, that's amazing. I think that's one of the best solos on any of their records. Going to have to listen again in the morning.
And moonjoon, I think the last U2 record was just sort of "phoned in". Doesn't feel to me to be nearly as expressive or engaging as what they usually do. That said, any U2 record is better than most other records, and for older rock stars, they're the most active and exciting of the bunch. I think the root of it, though, is that they're famous for the tortured soul and the lyrical depth, and both of those were sort of passed over to show us that they can still "rock". Not the worst thing, but it doesn't leave me breathless...
One more thing about the Beatles Revolver... it was released days before their final tour in 1966 and they never performed one single song from it live as a group. Oh, and the McCartney solo on "Taxman" was played on an '64 Epiphone Casino.