U2 - October

Released in 1981, October is routinely dismissed by critics and fans as the worst early album by the Irish quartet. Bono has called October a “difficult second album.” It should have been because the subject matter is bold for a pop rock band: god and spirituality. It was the perfect preface for what was the band’s break-out album – the stunning War. But to dismiss October is foolish. The album is a wonderfully complex, atmospheric mediation. Highlights include:

• The gritty, drum-heavy “I Threw A Brick Through A Window” that sounds like it was recorded in a basement

• The wailing lament of English occupation of Northern Ireland in “Stranger in a Strange Land” (just listen to the emotional anguish of Bono’s voice).

• The piano ballad about the death of Bono’s mother “October” feels like a modern church hymn.

R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction

After three successful albums, R.E.M. made some major changes for its generally overlooked fourth album recorded in 1985. The band switched to a producer known for working with English folk bands and left the United States to record in London. The result is moody, sinister reflections about the myths of Southern culture and folk music. If William Faulkner was a musician – he may have recorded Fables of the Reconstruction. The album contains many of the bands best music including:

• The portentous “Driver 8,” which was supposed to be the albums big rock number – yet it feels dangerous and secretive. The song is about the landscape around train tracks.

• “Feeling Gravity’s Pull” opens the album and announces that this won’t be an album filled with jangling guitars. It’s about falling asleep while reading and it signals the bands mysterious direction on Fables.

• The wonderful song “Kohoutek” (which is a comet), but the song is really about (and trust me it gets dangerous trying to interpret R.E.M.) lost friendship.

Pearl Jam – Vitalogy

This 1994 album (and the third) for Pearl Jam was a departure from its Seattle roots rock anthem sound that drove its first two efforts. Vitalogy is more experimental and can feel a bit adrift for fans that were used to the first albums. But Vitalogy shows the band maturing and taking chances – as well as experimenting with different sounds. While it was a critical and commercial success – Vitalogy isn’t often held up as one of the band’s best – but it is. Take these gems for example:

• “Corduroy” is a strange little number that starts with a cool guitar riff and then just builds. It’s a huge concert favorite and despite never being released as a single reached 13 on the Billboard charts.

• “Not for You” is one of our favorite Pearl Jam songs. It’s just got riff – and is very, very cool.

• “Better Man” is a song lead singer Eddie Vedder wrote in high school. It’s a straight on rock ballad about abusive relationships – done right.

Talking Heads – More Songs About Buildings and Food

Could there be a worse name for an album in existence? Perhaps, the poor name is responsible for why this album doesn’t get much attention from critics and fans – other than the fabulous cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River.” But despite the lack of commercial success for More Songs, it perfectly captures the eclectic nature of Talking Heads – a mix of reggae, pop, country, and punk rock. Highlights include:

• “Warning Signs” is a bouncy number that hard not to enjoy. It’s infused with that edgy Talking Heads energy.

• “Found a Job” is a cynical little jab at corporate workers and makes you want to dance like a robot.

• Call us crazy, but “Take Me to the River” is one of the best cover songs of all time.

Led Zeppelin – In Through the Out Door

In 1979, Led Zeppelin released its last studio album before the death of drummer John Bonham. In Through the Out Door was disliked by both Bonham

and guitarist Jimmy Page, who thought the album was weak. It also received mixed reviews from critics (although the fans ate it up). It’s generally considered the forgotten album by the band. But that’s a mistake. In Through the Out Door, quite frankly, rocks. It’s a tighter package than the band’s earlier blues infused tunes. Highlights include:

• The seminal rocker “In the Evening” which begins with an eerie, creepy introduction that was going to be used for a film called “Lucifer Rising.”

• “All of My Love” is a song written by lead singer Robert Plant about the death of his 5-year-old son. One of the only Zeppelin songs that Page wasn’t involved in writing.

• “Fool in the Rain” is the last song by the band to reach the pop charts. It has a soulful, playful sound.

The Doors – Soft Parade

Generally considered the worst studio album by the Doors, Soft Parade actually is very good. The band experimented with added strings to its music with mixed results, but there are several songs on the album that stand out among the best the band ever recorded. Some of the best material on Soft Parade is:

• “Touch Me” is a rollicking good pop song that has become one of the band’s most popular hits.

• “Wild Child” is a hard hitting rock number with a heavy bass line and some fine organ work.

• “Shaman’s Blues” is one of the forgotten Doors’ anthems, but it holds up quite well.

Aerosmith – Draw the Line

Draw the Line was a commercial success in 1977, but hasn’t lived up beyond the 1970s and even the band has been critical of the LP. It was recorded in an abandoned convent in New York – and the band was heavily into

drugs during most the sessions. Yet there’s a raw tension going through Draw the Line that’s difficult to ignore – and it features some of the band’s better songs. Highlights include:

• “Draw the Line” is an explosive guitar rocker that features driving guitars and some vocal free play by lead singer Steve Tyler. Lots of great screaming.

• Long and mournful “Kings and Queens” is an underrated gem by the band.

• The jamming “Milk Cow Blues” which the band rolled out for an unplugged performance on MTV. Awesome harmonica.

The Cure – Pornography

When Pornography was released in 1982, it shocked critics and was generally polarizing for fans. To say Pornography is dark isn’t giving credit to darkness. Yet it was th

is album where the band really found its sound for the foot gazing anthems that made it famous in the 1980s. Highlight (or low lights) include:

• “The Hanging Garden” features lyrics about waiting for animals to die. It’s brilliant stuff.

• The very depressing “Pornography” opens with a police siren and somebody definitely cried during the making of this song.

• “The Hanging Garden” is a Cure staple (also known as “A Single”) and it rocks in a depressing kind of way.

Musical Memory: U2

12 Great but Lesser Known Songs by R.E.M.

Labels: Aerosmith, Doors, Led Zeppelin, Music, Music Review, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Rock, Talking Heads, The Cure, U2

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DaRK PaRTY: For DaRK PaRTY readers unfamiliar with Get the Led Out can you give us an origin story? How did you get together in the first place and why Led Zeppelin music?

Paul: My guitarist Paul Hammond and I have been performing in and around the Philadelphia area in our original band "Sinclair" for many years. Our music is often described as a combination of 70's Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. As a singer, my two biggest influences are Steven Tyler and Robert Plant. So if I'm known for anything it would be my passion and dedication to this style of singing.

In the fall of 2003, I was contacted by bassist Paul Piccari who along with another guitarist was putting together a Zeppelin show that he wanted to take to theaters, festivals and other national venues. He had heard of me and proceeded to track me down. Like most Led Zeppelin tribute shows out there, they wanted to do a version of the movie "The Song Remains the Same." Playing the extended live versions and impersonating the members.

I was never really interested in doing a "cover" project and certainly not an impersonator show. I also had no interest in performing the live versions of Led Zeppelin's songs. The album versions are what hooked me with Zep. Needless to say, we didn't get off to a great start, but in time it would become a dream project!

Long story short, I brought Paul Hammond in, we went through some line-up changes and eventually found all the right guys, we decided on the "studio version" approach, agreed NOT to go the "impersonator route" and hooked up with Frank Kielb of Frank Kielb Entertainment who has helped us to take this thing to the national level. Going onstage as ourselves, putting on a big rock concert performing the studio versions of the Zep catalog has turned out to be what separates us from the other Led Zeppelin shows and I attribute a lot of our success to this. I'd like to tell you that it was a calculated, savvy business move, but in reality it was just the only way I could see doing it.

DP: Why do you think Led Zeppelin remains such a popular rock band even today?

Paul: It seems to me that if you follow the progression of rock from Elvis on, it got heavier with The Beatles, heavier with The Stones, heavier with Hendrix and even heavier with Led Zeppelin. However from Zeppelin on, I don't think rock got any heavier. Maybe louder, faster with more distorted guitars, but not heavier.

There is a depth of musicality with Zeppelin that hasn't been reached since. They are sort of the classical composers of the rock era. I believe 100 years from now Led Zeppelin will be looked at as the Beethoven or Bach of our time (along with The Beatles, The Stones and Hendrix). As cliché as it sounds, their music is timeless. A kid today hearing “Led Zeppelin II” for the first time gets the same feeling I did when I was 15. I KNOW because I talk to these kids at our shows!

DP: Get the Led Out captures the essence of the mystical side of Led Zeppelin -- that mesh of fantasy with rock and roll. How important is that to your performance and what Zeppelin songs go over best with fans in concert?

Paul: Led Zeppelin did all the work. It's the songs themselves that create that mystical vibe. As long as we deliver them with accuracy and passion we should be able to maintain it. It obviously changes with the night and the audience, but generally speaking the big crowd pleasers are "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," "No Quarter," "Heartbreaker," "Moby Dick," "Kashmir," "Whole Lotta Love" and of course "Stairway To Heaven!"

DP: Have you ever met anyone from Led Zeppelin (band, management, record label, etc.) and, if so, what has their reaction been?

Paul: Last year we were contacted by a representative of the ABC Trust, a charity to help feed the children of Brazil. This is a charity that Jimmy Page and his wife Jimena are very involved with. Turns out that the representative, JR Warner was a childhood friend of mine. He explained that he had become friends with the Page family and that they were looking for Zeppelin bands to possibly put on fund raisers. He and Jimmy had watched our latest video online and Jimmy seemed impressed.

JR then attended one of our shows and he and guitarist Paul Hammond really hit it off. JR mentioned that he was going to visit Jimmy around his birthday and wanted to bring him a Martin acoustic guitar as a gift. Next thing you know, JR, Paul Hammond and myself are at the Martin factory helping to design a special birthday gift for Jimmy Page.

Again, long story short, when the guitar was completed JR, Paul Hammond and the guitar flew to England to meet with the ABC trust and to deliver a birthday gift. They met with the heads of the charity to discuss ideas for fund raising events. Jimmy was out of the country at the time but Paul and JR spoke with him by phone. Paul was very excited to "talk shop"(guitars, amps, gear in general) with one of his heroes!

Paul and JR were then invited to the Page home where they spent some time with the family. Paul proceeded to play Christmas songs on the guitar for the kids. All in all, a pretty amazing trip! Jimmy was very appreciative for the guitar and when he finally returned and was able to play it, he expressed how he absolutely loved it!

All the members of Get The Led Out have been in the music business for a lot of years. As a result of this, each of us has had some pretty cool experiences meeting and/or working with people in the biz that we admire. As it relates to Zeppelin, Jimmy Marchiano worked with Kevin Shirley (mixing engineer on "How The West Was Won" and the "Led Zeppelin DVD"). Paul Hammond worked with Steve Albini (producer of Page/Plant "Walking Into Clarksdale"). These were both pre-Get The Led Out experiences so there were no reactions to be had.

DP: What are your three favorite Led Zeppelin songs and why?

Paul: 1. “Babe I'm Gonna Leave You” - It's probably the most moving vocal performance I have ever heard.

2. “Heartbreaker” - Jimmy Page is the king of the rock riff and it just doesn't get better than this one! You can't feel any cooler than being onstage with this song... period!

3. “Whole Lotta Love” - This song IS Led Zeppelin. With all of the musical journeys they have taken us on, one thing remains constant... the groove. It doesn't get groovier. “Whole Lotta Love” is drenched in sex and bombastic in its delivery! It's the very essence of what makes them the mighty Zep!

Read about the 12 Coolest Women in Rock History here

Labels: 5 Questions, interview, Led Zeppelin, Music, Paul Sinclair

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The 9 Best Songs by Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin is the greatest rock n’ roll band of all time. They may not be as influential as the namby-pamby Beatles or as popular as the dinosaurs still stalking the stage and calling themselves the Rolling Stones, but make no bones about it.

Led Zeppelin sits on top of the rock altar.

They had it all – a coolness factor that exceeds both Jim Morrison and Pink Floyd, a heavy-metal, blues-infused sound that has yet to be duplicated, and a rock influence that touches nearly every modern band (from Filter to Pearl Jam). Jimmy Page was one of the best guitarists in rock and who could ever mimic the yowls and vocal range of Robert Plant? And no one could bang drums better than John Bonham or pluck a base like John Paul Jones.

The band has some impressive statistics as well. They’ve sold more than 300 million albums (including more than 110 million in the United States). VH1 ranks them as the best heavy metal band of all time (we’d argue that calling their bluesy, often folksy and funk-induced music “heavy metal” is outrageous). They are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

They also have a damn cool web site. Make sure you have your volume cracked up when you click on the link.

The only sin the band has committed is its stubborn refusal to allow its music catalog to be available online. So you can’t purchase their albums on iTunes or any other music store on the Web. Hopefully, that will change.

Choosing the 9 best songs by Led Zeppelin is a difficult challenge – since you could argue that their 9 worst songs are better than anything topping the charts these days. But we went ahead and tried anyway. Why the number 9? Because they released 8 albums in 10 years – from the self titled debut in 1969 "Through The Out Door" in 1979, but we’re going to include Coda – a collection of B sides and rarities released in 1982 after the death of Bonham in 1980.

That makes 9 albums.

So without further ado – our picks for the 9 Best Songs by Led Zeppelin:

Ramble On (1969)

“Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her.”

Yeah, geek alert. The lyrics are inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” Is it any wonder that Plant once admitted he was embarrassed by the Tolkien references? Little did he know that that would be damn cool nearly 30 years later.

The song is actually one of four that reference Tolkien (“Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “The Battle of Evermore” are the others). The unique drumming on the song is actually Bonham banging on a plastic bucket.

Dazed and Confused (1968)

This is a cover song originally performed by folk artist Jake Holmes. Many people think it’s about an acid trip gone haywire (probably because Zeppelin’s version sounds like it should be), but, in fact, the song is about a girl. The lyrics are mediocre with the first stanza going like this:

“Been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talk and few of them know,
soul of a woman was created below.”

Zeppelin never credits Holmes (and Page takes writing credit for the song on Zeppelin’s first album). What makes Zeppelin’s interpretation of the song so good is that Page uses a violin bow on his electric guitar. The result is an eerie, nightmarish sound that makes the song creepy and rocking at the same time. When Zeppelin played the song in concert the middle of it became a monster jam that could last up to 45 minutes.

Nobody’s Fault But Mine (1976)

What is this song about? There are two popular theories:

1. It’s about Plant’s addiction to drugs
2. It’s about Led Zeppelin’s deal with the devil

I prefer the latter explanation – because it just adds to the Zeppelin mystique. Regardless, the song rocks (even though it was stolen from American Bluesman Blind Willie Johnson who died in 1945 and wasn’t around to complain about the theft).

The song was a staple of Zeppelin concerts and featured some amazing blues rifts from Page (the original recording is done with a triple-tracked guitar introduction). We also get a dazzling harmonica solo by Plant.

When the Levee Breaks (1970)

This is the best song from the band’s famous Zofo album. In other words it kicks the ass of “Stairway to Heaven.” And (surprise, surprise) it’s another song stolen from long dead bluesmen – this time from duo Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie.

But to Zeppelin’s credit they rework the song considerably and make it their own. It’s about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and the beginning of the song features a booming, thunderous drum beat by Bonham. It was recorded by placing Bonham at the bottom of an empty stairwell.

Plant also has some incredible screeches and screams in this baby.

In My Time of Dying (1974)

Another song ripped-off from Blind Willie Johnson. Poor bastard. It is found on the band’s double album “Physical Graffiti” and holds the distinction of being the longest studio song recorded by Zeppelin (11:06).

Hold on to your ball caps. “In My Time of Dying” is a guitar aficionados dream. Page lets his guitar weep and wail on this one.

Not knowing how to end the song, Plant is heard mumbling “dyin’… dyin’… dyin’” and then someone coughs and Plant ad libs “Cough.” Then you can hear Bonham say: “That’s gonna be the one, hasn’t it?”

The end.

No Quarter (1972)

This song is as lonely and forlorn as a cold wind on a rainy night. For some reason, the song conjures up images from the very spooky short story “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs.

The lyrics drive home the feel:

“Close the door, put out the light.
You know they won't be home tonight.
The snow falls hard and don't you know?
The winds of Thor are blowing cold.”

This song also feels like it could also have been influenced by Tolkien and “Lord of the Rings.” It became the centerpiece of most Zeppelin concerts often accompanied by flashing lights and a fog machine.

In the Light (1975)

Zeppelin never played “In the Light” in concert because the eerie synthesizer introduction played by John Paul Jones could not be replicated in concert. It’s also one of the few songs where Page uses a violin bow on his guitar (this time an acoustic guitar).

To say that “In the Light” is creepy – doesn’t do justice to creepy. If Edgar Allen Poe had been a rock n’ roller – this is the song he would have written. However, many people interpret the song as Zeppelin’s redemption song – that they embrace God and Christianity. Mainly due to lyrics like this:

“And if you feel that you can't go on. And your will's sinkin' low
Just believe and you can't go wrong.
In the light you will find the road. You will find the road.”

But we reject this interpretation because as soon as the song lightens – it then rapidly descends again into gloom and mysticism. “In the Light” feels more like a drug trip than a religious indoctrination.

Kashmir (1975)

In the movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” the character Mike Damon tells his buddy Rat that the best way to score with a chick is to play the second side of Zeppelin IV on a date. The movie cuts to Rat and his date in the car with “Kashmir” cracking.

“Kashmir” is on the album Physical Graffiti.

The song has a Middle Eastern flair to it and, in fact, Plant wrote the lyrics while driving through the Sahara Desert (why it’s called Kashmir – a mountainous region in India is unknown). But Plant has cited the song as his favorite.

The song was also played at every Zeppelin concert.

In the Evening (1979)

Zeppelin’s last studio album while Bonham was alive, “In Through the Out Door” is the most disjointed and lighter than the typical Zeppelin album. The one exception is “In the Evening,” which was written by Jones.

The ghostly introduction was originally written for the film “Lucifer Rising,” but Zeppelin had a falling out with the movie’s director. “In the Evening” is a straight rocker and the best song on “In Through the Out Door.”

It’s also another song where Page used a violin bow on his guitar.

Labels: Led Zeppelin, Music

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