The Daily Vault – Page 19

19 Dec

2013: Full Power

dvadminBest Of

Despite railing on a semi-regular basis against the tyranny of genres in music, I spent an awful lot of 2013 within the confines of just two of them, and the two could hardly have been more different—progressive rock and Americana. But as the saying goes, if you’re going to dig, shouldn’t you mine where the gold is? Best One I Missed Last Year (I Do That A Lot)Gary Clark Jr. – Blak And Blu I prefer this title for this award to the leading alternative: Jason Is Slow Sometimes. Gary Clark’s major-label debut is a blazing inferno of blues-infused psychedelic…

19 Nov

Springsteen & I: The Story of Rock’s Biggest Fan, and His Fans

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They used to call Eric Clapton “God,” but the highest anyone’s ever placed Bruce Springsteen in the pecking order is “The Boss.” This is ironic only insofar as anyone who has ever observed the fervor and absolute devotion of Springsteen’s most loyal fans can attest to the fact that the man has been essentially deified. As more than a casual fan myself, I have witnessed this firsthand, and the results aren’t always pretty. I remember one particular run-in I had in the early days of the Internet with a fan on the old USENET group rec.music.artists.springsteen who was basically furious…

04 Nov

Benjamin Ray’s The Year That Was

dvadminAnnouncement

Over a half century into the era of rock and roll, if there's one thing we've learned, it's that every year is different. Some are defining years, some are years of transition. Some are years of transformation, some of beginnings, and some of endings. In every case, it's fascinating to view the entire tapestry of that year's music all at once, to see how different artists reacted to the same trends, the same fresh ideas, in real time, in parallel to one another.Your professor for this extended course in historical musicology will be longtime Daily Vault contributor Benjamin Ray. Every…

27 Oct

Devotion & Desire: Bayside / What’s Eating Gilbert / State Champ Live

Paul HansonFeature

I drove two hours to see this show and, due to other obligations, I wasn’t able to stay around to see Motion City Soundtrack (MCS). I was looking forward to hearing “When You’re Around” and them hope to catch you next time they’re in the area. Don’t take it personally, MCS. The first band on the bill, State Champs, is a five piece hardcore/punk/alternative rock band that play their material with spirit. Cramped onto a small stage, the lead singer was forced to simply jump and down. Some might even be able to make the comparison to a boy band…

04 Oct

Jason Warburg’s Deluxe Edition

The DV StaffAnnouncement

In an era when the big labels—those few still in existence, that is—are increasingly reliant on recycling their own catalogues by issuing “deluxe” editions of classic albums featuring newly unearthed obscurities as bonus tracks, it seems only fitting that we follow suit. Before Jason Warburg joined the Daily Vault staff in October 1997, he cut his teeth as a music reviewer for a semi-weekly arts-and-entertainment tabloid called On The Town in Sacramento, California. While a handful of those early reviews have been republished on the Daily Vault over the intervening years, most had not, until this feature launched. From October…

29 Sep

Generation(s) Metal: Saxon / Fozzy / Halcyon Way / The Unity Live

Paul HansonFeature

Probably 150 people came to see the tour that rolled into Spicoli's in Waterloo, Iowa last week, but for those 150 people, seeing a legendary metal band like Saxon play in an intimate club setting was worth every penny for a ticket. The Unity, Halcyon Way, and Fozzy warmed up for Saxon. Each band had high points. After slaying through their original songs, The Unity ended their short set with a note-for-note worship of Iron Maiden's "The Number Of The Beast" as the approving crowd roared. Next up was Halcyon Way, who rocked the stage with their material, including the…

07 Sep

The Kinks Retrospective

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They were at the vanguard of the original British Invasion, still considered by many to be one of that movement's original four horsemen -- the other three being the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and The Who. They would go on to be one of the first, and arguably most successful, proponents of the concept album, churning out a memorable string of them between 1968 and 1975. And they featured one of the great love-hate sibling rivalries in the history of rock in the persons of frontman Ray Davies and lead guitarist Davie Davies. They are The Kinks, the subjects of…

28 Aug

Carnival of Madness: Shinedown / Skillet / Papa Roach / In This Moment / We As Human Live

Paul HansonFeature

When you go see the Carnival Of Madness tour in 2013 as it weaves across the USA to your town, you need to remember to note the starting time. If you do not, it’s possible you will miss the first band, We As Human. Don’t blink. In Cedar Rapids, they got 30 minutes and played five songs, including the well received “I Stand” and “Strike Back.” This quartet is the best band you’ve never heard on your local rock station. Because they are first, they get a small stage, but it was big enough for Skillet’s vocalist to come out…

21 May

iTunes And The iPod: Ten Years Later

Jeff ClutterbuckEssay

It was about eight years ago that I penned an essay for the Vault entitled “What Was An Album?” It was 2005, and the digital music revolution has just become to realize its potential. It made us as consumers consider the question of just how much things were going to change for the industry, and even the art form itself. You can point to a variety of reasons that there was such a radical transformation, but at the core, there is iTunes and the iPod. At the end of April, iTunes celebrated its 10th anniversary and that occasion prompted some…

13 May

Jon Anderson of Yes: The Daily Vault Interview

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Jon Anderson will always and inevitably be best known as the co-founder, lead voice and lyricist for iconic progressive rock band Yes. The group’s flights of musical fancy, tenacity, and rough-and-tumble internal politics have all become legend over the past very eventful 45 years. Those at-time bruising politics resulted in Anderson’s replacement in 2008 by a tribute band singer, since replaced himself by current Yes vocalist and Anderson soundalike Jon Davison. Anderson himself seems to have taken this tumult in stride; there were a few understandably bitter words in the immediate aftermath of his ouster, which took place while he…