Monday, October 29, 2007
DVD Review: Queen
Queen
Queen Rock Montreal (DVD)
Eagle Vision
By David Chiu
On this latest DVD, Queen’s 1981 performance at the Forum in Montreal finally gets the upgrade it deserves. It was originally released as a concert film, entitled We Will Rock You, in the mid 1980s but the band didn’t own the movie rights. Now under the supervision of surviving members Brian May and Roger Taylor, the movie has been properly restored to much better visual and sound quality, and has a new name. It captures Queen at the height of their popularity in North America, coming off of the success of The Game album. Most of the songs performed in Montreal are now considered classics: “Killer Queen,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Tie Your Mother Down,” Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” The highlights include a fast version of “We Will Rock You,” a medley of “Now I’m Here/Dragon Attack,” Roger Taylor’s tympani solo, and one of the earliest, if perhaps the first, live rendition of Under Pressure. It’s always poignant to see the late great singer Freddie Mercury strut his stuff, tight white shorts and all. Now that this concert film has gotten the official proper release, it’s about time the band start releasing performances from the ‘70s. (Another version of this DVD contains the band’s memorable 1985 performance at Live Aid).
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# posted by NewBeats @ 9:20 AM
CD Review: Rilo Kiley
Rilo Kiley
Under the Blacklight
Warner Bros.
By David Chiu
The recent Fleetwood Mac comparison, as made by Spin, about this L.A. band is somewhat justified: Under the Blacklight definitely has a very commercial, poppy and bouncy southern California sound. It has drawn some mixed reviews but it’s for the most part a solid album. It’s stylistically diverse from the funk rock groove of “The Moneymaker” to the ‘60s-styled pop tune “Smoke Detector; Breakin’ Up is a such a feel-good pop song despite the heartache evoked in the lyrics. Longtime fans not impressed with their new direction should be satisfied with material like “Silver Lining” and the country-fied “15”.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 9:17 AM
CD Review: Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Dylan
Columbia/Legacy
By David Chiu
As a single disc, Dylan, which commemorates Bob Dylan’s 45th anniversary in the recording business, offers no surprises but conveniently encapsulates his entire career up to this point. With a body of work that’s legendary, it’s almost impossible to put all of it in 80 minutes. But if you only had to pick 18 songs, you can’t really argue with the track selection, drawing mostly from his ‘60s zenith: “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” "Just Like a Woman," "Mr. Tambourine Man," and “Positively 4th Street.” The ‘70s is represented with the classic “Tangled Up and Blue” and bypasses the ‘80s, his most mixed decade creatively. It picks up with his late ‘90s rebirth with “Make You Feel My Love,” and last year’s “Somebody’s Baby” off of the excellent Modern Times. Dylan is a convenient sampler but the simultaneously released 3-CD set, also called Dylan, covers far more ground judging by its track list.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 9:14 AM
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Interview: Neil Sedaka
Legendary singer/songwriter Neil Sedaka recently celebrated 50 years in the music business with a scheduled tribute concert at Lincoln Center this past Friday. Read my interview with the Brooklyn-born Sedaka that appeared in the Courier-Life Publications. You can also check a TV preview segment on him from CBS Sunday Morning.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 6:16 PM
Saturday, October 13, 2007
CD Review: Chicago
Chicago
The Best of Chicago—40th Anniversary Edition
Rhino
By David Chiu
Yet here comes another Chicago compilation (a.k.a. Chicago XXXI). But what makes this one special is that it celebrates the group’s 40th anniversary: a career of numerous Top 40 hits, millions of albums sold, and relentless touring. Unlike the previous hits collections, it incorporates tracks from the solid, if underrated, recent studio album, XXX.
Disc One captures the original group at its artistic and popular peak in the ‘70s—dominated by keyboardist Robert Lamm’s songwriting and the horn section of trumpeter Lee Loughnane, woodwinds player Walt Parazaider, and trombonist James Pankow. Songs such as “Saturday in the Park,” “Just You ‘N’ Me,” and “If You Leave Me Now” still gets radio airplay today. That classic and best line-up showcased some innovative playing, particularly the guitar work by the late Terry Kath; the jazzy drumming of Danny Seraphine; and the three vocal leads of Kath, Lamm and Peter Cetera.
The ‘80s and beyond version of Chicago occupies Disc Two of the collection—a period consisting mainly of Cetera-sung/David Foster-produced power ballads. Tracks such as “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” “Hard Habit to Break” and “You’re The Inspiration are great but they represent a major sea change from what Chicago used to be from the previous decade. Jason Scheff and Bill Champlin proved to me a more-than-adequate front men after Cetera’s departure although the group was still mired in those power ballads like “I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love.” Fortunately the songs off of the recent XXX album, “Feel” and “Love Will Come Back,” are surprisingly pleasant and heartfelt.
One can’t argue with the obvious hits on Best of, although loyal fans will probably be critical about the edits, particularly on the earlier tracks, especially “25 or 6 to 4” is a disappointment. (For a more comprehensive listen to the band’s music, try Only the Beginning: The Very Best of Chicago, or the 5-CD The Box) Still it is a decent hits package.
Watch YouTube videos of Chicago performing “If You Leave Me Now,” “You’re The Inspiration,” and “25 or 6 to 4”:
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# posted by NewBeats @ 8:13 PM
Interview: Robert Lamm of Chicago
Chicago’s Brooklyn Boy Comes Home: Super Group Returns With XXX
By David Chiu
For someone who has been in a successful rock band named after the Windy City, and has played to audiences all over the world, singer, keyboardist and songwriter Robert Lamm still holds Brooklyn close to his heart.
“The reason I’m back in New York,” said Lamm, 61, “was because I always carried images of growing up [in Brooklyn] with me. They’re still very much alive.”
A large part of Lamm’s musical career has been with Chicago, the horn-powered rock group who scored 21 top 10 hits, including three Number One songs, and sold 100 millions records worldwide since 1967. Songs such as “Saturday in the Park,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “Hard Habit to Break,” and “Just You and Me” have been familiar staples on radio.
Chicago’s longevity extends into 2006 with an upcoming show at Radio City Music Hall on May 9. The band recently released its 30th album titled XXX—its first new album of original material in 15 years. The group had originally planned to release a new album, Stone of Sisyphus, in 1993, but it was considered unmarketable by the band’s then-label Warner Bros., and was eventually shelved. Ironically XXX is being released by Rhino, which is part of Warner Music.
The new album was produced Jay DeMarcus of the country group Rascal Flatts, and recorded in Nashville, miles away from Chicago’s home base of Los Angeles. It started indirectly about three years ago when Lamm was recording his solo album, Subtlety and Passion, which featured several members of Chicago.
“Part of why I invited them on my album was to rekindle the flame a little bit,” said Lamm, “to remind them it was fun to make new music.”
XXX’s first single, “Feel,” with Lamm’s distinct baritone lead vocals, might be considered Chicago’s most aggressive and heartfelt song in a while. It was so emotional for Lamm that when the band performed it on the road last year, he almost couldn’t get through the song.
“People just stood up and cheered,” he remembered of the crowd’s reaction. “I’ve never seen that for new material live at a concert before the album is released. I don’t know whether people who came to Chicago concerts who were so relieved that we are playing something new that they have to stand up and cheer. If that’s the case, we’ll take that too.”
One of two songs that Lamm wrote or co-wrote on the album is “Come to Me, Do,” a tender number that recalls the classic Memphis soul sound of the ‘60s.
“I love Al Green and I love that whole Stax era,” said Lamm. That’s where the band started. When we were in college playing in bars and clubs in Chicago and the Midwest, a lot of our repertoire was from that era. I was attempting to write a song that was very stripped down, kind of like an Al Green song.”
Soul music and piano playing were some of the important ingredients in Robert Lamm’s childhood. He was born in Brownsville, grew up Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge, and attended Brooklyn Technical High School. His early musical experience dates back to when he sang in a Brooklyn Heights choir. “It was kind of where I lit up regarding music,” he recalled. “It felt so good.”
The musician would later pay homage to his former home in his own music. “A few years back I wrote a song with Steve Lukather from [the group] Toto, where I kind of talked about what the summers were like in Brooklyn going up to the roof of our building. We could see all the way to Coney Island and the parachute jump. And there were still actually fireflies, and the Good Humor man coming out the block. So I carry all those images with me. I’m just very grateful that’s where I’m from.”
Lamm later moved to Chicago with his family when was 15. Originally an art major in high school, he switched to music when he attended Roosevelt University. In 1967 he hooked up with some musicians and formed a band that became Chicago (They were originally the Big Thing, and later Chicago Transit Authority). “It was a decision of, ‘This sounds interesting, let’s see where it goes,’” he remembered about joining the band.
As keyboardist and singer, Lamm wrote majority of Chicago’s popular ‘70s songs: “Beginnings,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?”, “25 or 6 to 4,” and “Saturday in the Park.” He also penned socially- and politically-conscientious numbers such as “A Song for Richard and His Friends,” “Dialogue,” and “Something In This City Changes People.’” Even after 30 years, those particular songs that dealt with the human condition still resonate.
“It’s amazing how pertinent and timely those lyrics remain,” he said. “Obviously when the songs were written it was a very tumultuous time in our country and the world. That’s the time in a young man’s life that you can change things from the bottom up.”
His role as Chicago’s primary singer and songwriter diminished in the ‘80s when the band had a second string of hit songs that were mainly sung by bassist Peter Cetera, who later left the band in 1985.
“I remember when we were having all those hits where I was not being asked to sing. I remember a conversation with our manager Howard Kaufman. I asked, ‘Howard, can you ever envision my voice singing on a single? He said, ‘Not really.’”
Lamm’s solo albums were a reaction to the power ballads that became Chicago’s niche at that point. “I wasn’t going to let it keep me from writing songs and doing what I do,” he said. “When [1992’s] Life Is Good In My Neighborhood was recorded, it was really for me a stretch in learning once again that I could be independent. I knew that I would continue to do solo work on the side as long as I could.”
He is currently working on a bossa nova album, which is allowing him to expand his range as a musician. “I’m really developing a whole new dimension of what I do, and I’m singing in a different way—in a lush setting.”
In addition to playing with Chicago and maintaining a solo career, Lamm is a working artist. His art works can be seen on his web site robertlamm.org. “It’s a therapy without a doubt. It’s been really fun.”
With the new Chicago album due for release, Lamm will continue to keep himself busy on the road. He and Chicago will embark on a tour this summer with Huey Lewis and the News. Next year Chicago will officially turn 40.
“I think we had some very good guidance in the beginning, great encouragement from other musicians, and our families,” Lamm explained about the band’s longevity. “We intuitively at some point realized that the music this band created from the beginning is unique and actually more important than the individuals who make it.”
Chicago’s new album XXX is out now on Rhino Records. For more information on Chicago and Robert Lamm, visit chicagotheband.com and robertlamm.org.
Originally published in Courier-Life Publications on April 26, 2006
Here's a YouTube clip of Chicago performing "Saturday in the Park" written by Robert Lamm:
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# posted by NewBeats @ 6:55 PM
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Concert Review/Preview: Dan Deacon
Dan Deacon
Webster Hall
September 15, 2007
By David Chiu
The scene was very festive at Webster hall when musician/DJ Dan Deacon performed opening for the main act Girl Talk. It was a surrealistic experience in several ways. Deacon, a bespectacled and perhaps corpulent guy in a blue T-shirt and shorts, programmed the music from a table set up on the floor level of the venue rather than on the stage. And it wasn’t like Deacon performed with several keyboards or computers—essentially he was fiddling with what looked like a small Casio and endless amounts of wires.
The Webster Hall crowd stood and surrounded Deacon, and when he began to program his quirky, beat-heavy electropop music, they started to dance. It was like a huge party of carnival-like proportions; there was even a green skull on top of a long pole as some sort of prop. The blend of the music and the unusual set up guaranteed a fun time.
Dan Deacon is playing at the Silent Barn, Brooklyn on Oct. 16, and at the Bowery Ballroom, NYC on Oct. 17. For information, visit www.myspace.com/dandeacon
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# posted by NewBeats @ 5:48 PM
Interview: Mary Weiss
Check out my interview with former Shangri-Las lead singer Mary Weiss that was published in the Queens Chronicle. Weiss is performing a show at Brooklyn's Southpaw on Oct. 12. For information, visit www.maryweiss.com.
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# posted by NewBeats @ 2:34 PM
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