Queensrÿche: Empire (1990)

Here is my dirty little secret regarding Queensrÿche. No, it’s not that I really dig the new incarnation with Todd La Torre – that’s neither dirty nor a secret. No, it’s that nine times out of ten when I’m reaching for a Queensrÿche album I don’t reach for Operation: Mindcrime. In fact, it’s been years since I felt the need to revisit that album, which truth be told to these ears hasn’t aged all that well. Nope, when I want to scratch that progressive hard rock itch, I reach for Empire. That’s right; fight me if you want but despite not having a pseudo-SF storyline and 10+ minute “suites” I think Empire feels darker and deeper as an album, which an overall stronger collection of songs. There…that feels good to get off my chest.

ChrisJanuary 9, 2023Leave a comment

CD, Vinyl

Suicidal Tendencies: Lights…Camera…Revolution! (1990)

I’m back at work, and back in the office. Which means I’m commuting again. The routine and mental/emotional expense is exhausting, and as I went in this morning I thought about what to listen to to cover for today’s Consuming entry. I put my phone on shuffle and the choice was made for me. I was aware as a kid of Suicidal Tendencies, whether it was through the immortal “Institutionalized” ands its rally cry of “ALL I WANTED WAS A PEPSI!” as well as the anthemic “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” that set as much as a template for the band moving forward as anything else. I love both those songs, and their accompanying albums. But if I’m being honest, my go-to album has always been Lights…Camera…Revolution! It was the one I bought first and listened to the most. So I listened to this again this morning on the way to work. In lieu of a “proper” post instead here are some passing thoughts as each song played.

ChrisJanuary 5, 2023Leave a comment

Lillian Axe: From Womb to Tomb (2022)

It’s probably not a shock, but when I was in my teens I loved the hair/glam/hard rock scene. We were always looking for the next great chorus to sing along to, the next wicked solo. Everyone had their favorites, and mine was Lillian Axe: a hard rock band out of New Orleans who could certainly play to the MTV and hair crowd with songs like “Show A Little Love” but really nailed it on their heavier, almost progressive (for a 80s hard rock band with hair that high) tracks. It’s been a hot minute since the band had done any new music; but as I was putting together my Nine Circles Best of 2022 list I needed a breather from all the extremity so turned to the band only to see that – lo and behold – back in August they released their first album in 10 years, From Womb to Tomb. Another non-shocker: more than a few of those songs have that magic to bring me right back to that time where every chorus was bathed in the glow of youth.

ChrisJanuary 4, 2023Leave a comment

CD, Vinyl

Jane’s Addiction: Nothing’s Shocking (1988)

Jane’s Addiction always brings up a very specific sense memory for me: driving to high school with my friends in the backseat of a station wagon, transitioning from the suburbs to the country, hearing these songs mixed in with Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix (it was always the Smash Hits compilation), and Minor Threat, among others. Ritual de Habitual may have been the chart breaker as it rode the alternative wave in 1990, but I always preferred the hazy, Zep-heavy debt of Nothing’s Shocking. Recently my brother and I went record shopping looking for the songs we grew up with, and whereas his Perry Farrell fix came from Porno for Pyros (we’re seven years apart), mine was with the OG. This just came in on vinyl yesterday, so no better time to give it a fresh spin.

ChrisJanuary 3, 2023Leave a comment

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso: Io sono nato libero (1973)

I was originally going to write about about failure, about how 2022 basically ground me to dust and left me lost…a failure inside, weak in body and spirit, and sick. By giving myself writing goals and objectives and deadlines I turned this outlet, a channel for my passions and joy into just another job, and I don’t need that…don’t want that. It’s just one more thing that puts me further in the dark.

There. That’s the post. Now let’s just listen to an album and record some thoughts about it. And try it again the next day, and the day after that. I’d been meaning to get to the loads of Italian prog I had purchased over the last few months… my post on Arti + Mestieri was just the start of it. So why not kick off 2023 with an album celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the third release from Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, the complex bag of tricks known as Io sono nato libero.

ChrisJanuary 1, 2023Leave a comment

elvis costello - my aim is true cover art

CD, Vinyl

Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (1977)

I’ve been away for a while, I know. I have been writing, whether it’s the 30+ reviews I wrote over at Cinema Dual for the annual Hooptober horror marathon, or the twice-weekly posts for Nine Circles to help out while we slowly start to build up staffing. But writing purely for myself has been rare, and I want to come back and find my voice, find myself again where there are no parameters or guidelines for what I have to write about (well, except it would be music-related). So I came up with an idea, something that will probably take a couple of years before it’s done, and I’ll kick that off in the next couple of weeks here on the site. In the meantime, I’m going to spend some time writing about my favorite records, the ones that have become a part of my DNA. And for no reason other than the fact I grabbed it off the shelf today, we’re going to start with My Aim Is True, the debut from the one, the only, Elvis Costello.

ChrisDecember 8, 2022December 8, 2022Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Category: CD

Queensrÿche: Empire (1990)

Suicidal Tendencies: Lights…Camera…Revolution! (1990)

Lillian Axe: From Womb to Tomb (2022)

Jane’s Addiction: Nothing’s Shocking (1988)

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso: Io sono nato libero (1973)

Elvis Costello: My Aim Is True (1977)