Throwback Thursday: Pawnshop Guitars, by Gilby Clarke

In 1994 Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke put out is debut solo album Pawnshop Guitars. It featured primarily original material, though there were covers from Rolling Stones and The Clash. Also on the record there were contributions by then-GN'R members Slash, Duff McKagan, Axl Rose, Matt Sorum, Dizzy Reed, and Pixies members Frank Black and Ryan Roxie among many others.

Pawnshop Guitars is fairly eclectic in sound, as it goes from metal, to hard rock, to blues, to country. It's kind of fun to be kept guessing what genre will pop up next. Clarke takes lead vocals on most of it and you get to hear a bit more of what kind of a guitarist he is than you did on the one GN'R record (The Spaghetti Incident). Clarke is definitely an under rated rock guitarist, to say the least.

Dead Flowers is in my opinion the track that sells Pawnshop Guitars. Even though it's a cover of The Rolling Stones it is done in such a fun upbeat way to where it far outshines the original and in some ways sounds like its own song. It's just three chords with some flourishes here and there, but with Axl singing background and Dizzy pounding away at the keys in the back it's hard to feel like this song isn't just one big party through sound.

Cure Me or Kill Me is a Clarke original that sounds vaguely Metallica-esque. The riffs are big and chunky in ways that make you feel like you're listening to thrash. I wasn't quite expecting to hear that out of someone who seems to be more hard rock oriented, but it still works with the aesthetic of the record quite nicely. Slash does an absolutely FANTASTIC job on the lead guitar work here. It's always astounded me how Slash can find ways of fitting his particular style of guitar playing into so many different genres.

Pawnshop Guitars is one of those albums where if you aren't REALLY into Guns N' Roses you probably would not have found out about it unless somehow Pandora turned you onto it through a genre playlist you already had going. That said, it is in my opinion one of those records that is a hidden gem. There are bound to be at least a few tracks on here that you will like, especially if you are even just a casual fan of GN'R. It's definitely worth picking up.

Pawnshop Guitars, by Gilby Clarke receives 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Cure Me or Kill Me
2. Black
3. Tijuana Jail
4. Skin & Bones
5. Johanna's Chopper
6. Let's Get Lost
7. Pawnshop Guitars
8. Dead Flowers
9. Jail Guitar Doors
10. Hunting Dogs
11. Shut Up

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Pawnshop-Guitars-Gilby-Clarke/dp/B000000W5T/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453450016&sr=8-1&keywords=gilby+clarke+pawnshop+guitars

Chickenfoot 99% Done With New Track

Looks like after an extended period of silence super group Chickenfoot which is comprised of guitarist Joe Satriani, vocalist Sammy Hagar, drummer Chad Smith, and bassist/backing vocalist Michael Anthony will be making a bit of a ruckus; though it will be in a minor way.

The group is said to be doing a one-off show in May and are currently working on finishing up a brand new song. In an interview with Northwest Music Scene, Satriani says:

"It looks like we're going to do a show in the middle of May. I think it's a Lake Tahoe show. We're working around the schedule of Chad, who's got a rehearsal scheduled at that point with the Chili Peppers. Then we've got a track that's pretty much done – it's about 99% finished. We actually recorded a song. We're the slowest-working band in history – we take forever. But there is stuff happening, and we're still laughing and communicating."

The new song will be the band's first release of new material since their 2011 album Chickenfoot III. Since then the band has been on the back burner due to Hagar feeling it not worth it to work on a whole album when it costs a lot of money, time, and effort to make an album that won't garner huge sales.

Personally I'm glad we're at least getting SOMETHING out of Chickenfoot - even if it is just one song. It's been too long since the Foot put out some kickass new tunes. Both their albums Chickenfoot and Chickenfoot III are worth checking out if you haven't already. They are fun, punchy, melodic rock songs that will remind you why you love to rock out in the first place.

Eagles Founder Glenn Frey Dead at 67

Ok, this is just getting f***ing ridiculous. All of these awesome musicians/entertainers keep dropping like flies within a short time span of each other. Last month it was Scott Weiland. This month we've lost Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and now Glenn Frey of The Eagles. What the actual f***.

The band posted on their official Facebook a long message saying:

"It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of our comrade, Eagles founder, Glenn Frey, in New York City on Monday, January 18th, 2016.
Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia.
The Frey family would like to thank everyone who joined Glenn to fight this fight and hoped and prayed for his recovery.
Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community & millions of fans worldwide.
Cindy Frey | Taylor Frey | Deacon Frey | Otis Frey
Don Henley | Joe Walsh | Timothy B. Schmit | Bernie Leadon | Irving Azoff
“It’s Your World Now”
Written by Glenn Frey and Jack Tempchin
From the Eagles’ Long Road Out of Eden album
A perfect day, the sun is sinkin’ low
As evening falls, the gentle breezes blow
The time we shared went by so fast
Just like a dream, we knew it couldn’t last
But I’d do it all again
If I could, somehow
But I must be leavin’ soon
It’s your world now
It’s your world now
My race is run
I’m moving on
Like the setting sun
No sad goodbyes
No tears allowed
You’ll be alright
It’s your world now
Even when we are apart
You’ll always be in my heart
When dark clouds appear in the sky
Remember true love never dies
But first a kiss, one glass of wine
Just one more dance while there’s still time
My one last wish: someday, you’ll see
How hard I tried and how much you meant to me
It’s your world now
Use well your time
Be part of something good
Leave something good behind
The curtain falls
I take my bow
That’s how it’s meant to be
It’s your world now
It’s your world now
It’s your world now"

It's a shame that such an influential musician is gone. Yet again. Hopefully soon Death will decide to take a break from robbing us of so many great musicians/entertainers. Maybe knock off someone like a pop star or a rapper? I kid of course, but still. This is ridiculous. May Glenn R.I.P.

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #57

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. Life on Mars, by David Bowie

I know that David Bowie week is over, but I can't help myself. The man has just way too much good music for me to just let it all go that quickly. Life on Mars is an absolutely FANTASTIC piano ballad backed by a string section. It is an impacting song about the effect of the media on young people still forming their opinions of the world around them. Incidentally, Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman played the piano on the recording of the track.

2. Shake My Tree, by Coverdale-Page

The 1993 collaboration between Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Deep Purple and Whitesnake's David Coverdale in my opinion is one of the most absolute under rated collaborations to ever happen. It had all the best elements of rock n' roll. This is nowhere more present than Shake My Tree, the opening track of their only album. It blends 12 string acoustic, punching electric, and harmonicas with Coverdale's howls in all the best ways possible.

3.  Nights in White Satin, by The Moody Blues

This is some powerful stuff, right here. It's mid-late 60's psychedelic rock at its absolute finest. There are so many different musical layers to it while at the same time the lyrics are immensely emotional and sang with so much passion while backed by what at least sounds like a choir. The verses are pretty soft and backed with synth/strings but when that chorus kicks in - BAM. It hits you like a ton of bricks and leaves you a different person by the time it's done.

4.  Elephant, by Tame Impala

This song to me sounds like what The Beatles might sound like were they all still alive, together, and making music today. The vocals have a very John Lennon-esque quality and the music has enough of a swing to it that despite it being almost entirely synth and bass that it would still be fairly passable as a track by the Fab Four. That said, despite its Beatles influence it still has plenty of its own originality to it with some of the subtle nuances.

5.  Let Me Know, by Kiss

This is by far my FAVORITE Kiss tune. It's a rather obscure one from the band's first album, but I consider it a hidden gem. It shows a LOT of Paul Stanley's Beatles influence, although the outro definitely has more of a Led Zeppelin kind of vibe to it. Either way, it features Gene Simmons singing pretty melodically, which to be quite frank is not something you hear all that often. The song is fun, upbeat, and catchy. It deserves more attention than it gets.

 

David Bowie Receives Honor of New Constellation

With the untimely passing of music innovator David Bowie earlier this week, many tributes from fans all over the world have come pouring in almost non-stop. However, this next one kind of takes the cake. Bowie has now been honored by having a new constellation dedicated to his memory.

Belgian radio station Studio Brussels and MIRA Public Observatory registered a seven star lightning bolt shaped constellation near Mars. The lightning bolt for those of you who don't know holds significance to David Bowie because during his time using his famed Ziggy Stardust persona he had a one painted across his face.

Philippe Mollet from MIRA went into detail on the inspiration for the new constellation, saying:

"It was not easy to determine the appropriate stars. Studio Brussels asked us to give Bowie a unique place in the galaxy. Referring to his various albums, we chose seven stars - Sigma Librae, Spica, Alpha Virginis, Zeta Centauri, SAA 204 132, and the Beta Sigma Octantis Trianguli Australis - in the vicinity of Mars. The constellation is a copy of the iconic Bowie lightning and was recorded at the exact time of his death."

MIRA have also done a rather cool thing by having created a website called Stardust for Bowie where fans can add their favorite David Bowie songs to a representation of the constellation.

I guess now with the new constellation there really is a Starman waiting in the sky. Definitely a touching tribute; probably my favorite of all of the ones I've seen and heard so far. It's wonderful that a man who gave so much to the world in only a 40 year career has been shown so much love during this difficult time. If anyone deserves it, it is definitely David Bowie.

That said, this wraps up David Bowie Week on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective. In my own little way this was my way of paying tribute to an astounding musician. I hope you have enjoyed celebrating his life as much as I have.

Throwback Thursday: Hunky Dory, by David Bowie

In 1971 David Bowie put out one of his most prolific albums that would in some ways act as the blueprint for the rest of his career: Hunky Dory. It was the first album to feature Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust persona backed by his band The Spiders from Mars.The lyrics were profound and had immense amounts of cultural importance at the time with issues such as artistic reinvention, youths' reaction to the media, alternative religion/spirtualism, and more. The music itself was big, as though from some great grand movie score.

Hunky Dory features a variety of genres, from big ballads to catchy pop numbers to in your face rock n' rollers. It features some of Bowie's best known hits such as Life on Mars, Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, etc. Many of the songs are fairly easily to follow, having graspable melody and accessible movable grooves. There is something for everyone on this album, honestly. It's no wonder that this is where Bowie REALLY started to make a name for himself.

Oh! You Pretty Things is a peculiar little tune, but the chorus is so damn catchy that it really doesn't matter either way. It has a rather jazzy vibe to it during the verses, especially considering the style in which Bowie plays the piano. However, the chorus very much has a pop oriented feel to it. The styles blend together pretty well. I'm not surprised Bowie pulled this off as well as he did. The lyrics themselves are kind of weird too, primarily focusing on Aleister Crowley - the famed English occultist from the early 20th century.

Changes is a certified Bowie classic and was a staple of his live sets and radio hits. It focuses on Bowie's chameleonic stage and musical persona and how it is always changing as well as the compulsive nature of artistic reinvention in general. Musically it sounds like a REALLY old school night club song, but it has some blusier/poppier aspects to it as well. The chorus is naturally one of the absolute catchiest things to ever smack the face of the planet by surprise. It really is a unique work of art.

If you really want to see where Bowie began to take off, Hunky Dory is the album to go to. It's fun, eclectic, and full of pure Bowie goodness. I personally think it's one of his best albums; probably his second best (the first being The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars). Whether you like softer tunes, louder ones, or something you can dance to you will be guaranteed to have a good time. Do yourself a favor and start looking into the legacy of David Bowie today by picking up a copy of Hunky Dory.

Hunky Dory, by David Bowie receives 4 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Changes
2. Oh! You Pretty Things
3. Eight Line Poem
4. Life On Mars
5. Kooks
6. Quicksand
7. Fill Your Heart
8. Andy Warhol
9. Song For Bob Dylan
10. Queen Bitch
11. The Bewlay Brothers

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hunky-Dory-David-Bowie/dp/B0106UFKDK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452850997&sr=8-1&keywords=david+bowie+hunky+dory

Album Review: Blackstar, by David Bowie

Two days before his unfortunate passing earlier this week, pop sensation David Bowie left us with a gift that was his 26th and final album; a peculiar gem named Blackstar released on the singer's 69th birthday.

What can I honestly say about this album? It really is something else entirely. Blackstar is one of Bowie's most progressive and out there albums. I know he was always one for innovation, but this kind of takes the cake. It blends the most odd parts of avant-garde and jazz music and takes them to a whole other level. This is definitely not an album for those who love the David Bowie who made straight up easy to follow pop music.

When put into the context of Bowie's recent passing from liver cancer after an 18 month battle, listening to Blackstar's lyrics a bit closer is a rather surreal experience. You could tell he knew he was on his way out. There are hints of it all over the songs; especially in the song Lazarus, Dollar Days, I Can't Give Everything Away, etc. Hell, Lazarus's opening lyric is: "Look up here, I'm in Heaven.". I Can't Give Everything Away has a lyric that goes: “I know something is very wrong / The pulse returns the prodigal sons / The blackout hearts, the flowered news, with skull designs upon my shoes.” If that doesn't tell you what's going through his head, I don't know what will

Musically Blackstar is soft and relaxing, yet at the same time that quietness has a sense of tension that tugs at the back of your mind and works its way forward throughout the entire album. In a way that was more than likely what Bowie meant to convey. It was probably the way things were going in his head during his final days while writing and recording the album.

Blackstar is full of odd rhythms, dissonance, harmonies that make the hairs on your arms and neck stand up, etc. Honestly, you can tell that for this album Bowie was doing just what he wanted to do by being creative and not caring about what people expected from him.

There is not much in the way of any followable melody, but if you can separate yourself from the notions of what you feel David Bowie music is supposed to be you will still find merits in Blackstar.

Blackstar is a very suitable farewell from one hell of a magnificent man who changed so much in the world of entertainment and even every day life during his lifetime. It's not a traditional sounding pop album, but it wasn't meant to be. If there is one thing that Bowie was always known for it was being an innovator and well ahead of his time. Blackstar was his way of doing that for us one last time. We'll probably still be working on catching up with him for the next few decades. That said, I would recommend checking this album out. Listen to it with headphones multiple times so you can really get the full experience of it.

Blackstar, by David Bowie receives 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Blackstar
2. Tis a Pity She Was a Whore
3. Lazarus
4. Sue (Or in Season of a Crime)
5. Girl Loves Me
6. Dollar Days
7. I Can't Give Everything Away

Buy the album on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0184MM13Y?ie=UTF8&qid=1452758951&ref_=tmm_msc_swatch_0&sr=8-1