The Day Some Of My Music Died

It’s 1991. I’ve recently graduated college for music & video business. I’m driving to Clearwater with my friend Bill to meet some girls. Bill has recently come home from the Guitar Institute in California. It’s a car full of music people listening to good tunes. What’s playing? Queen. We have found out that one of our favorite singers in one of our favorite bands has passed away this day. The tunes are cranked, the windows are down and we’re remembering how Freddy Mercury & Queen have influenced us.

For me, Queen’s album The Game was one of the first records I owned that didn’t have the KISS logo on it. From start to finish I played the hell out of that album. I learned every word, every beat and every air guitar solo as a kid. This album is on my “desert island” list. You know the lists, “if you were stranded on an island and could only have five albums, what would they be?” This of course is assuming our island has solar power for our electronic gadgets to make it seem more like home.

Growing up I’ve heard numerous Queen songs on the radio, but that was the first album of theirs that I owned. It has since graduated to CD because the album was no longer playable after all those years since 1980.

After Freddy’s passing I saw the tribute show and was extremely saddened at how we won’t be graced with his miraculous voice on our airwaves any longer. The most notable performance of that night was from George Michael. I dare anyone to dispute it. Why Queen hasn’t chosen to record with this man is beyond me. There must be some strange goings on somewhere to make this not happen.

While we’re driving the music stops on the radio and the announcer states that death has taken another rocker from us. Eric Carr of Kiss has passed away.

Bill & I are huge Kiss fans. We met on line for Kiss tickets for the Crazy Nights tour. We’ve been friends ever since. We’re floored. Not one, but two amazing musicians have been lost.

Kiss was it for me growing up. My first albums that I ever wanted for myself were Kiss albums. I had them all and had the cool parents to buy them for me growing up until I could save my allowance or paychecks to purchase my own as the years went by. There was a period where I quit listening to them because Ace Frehley was no longer in the band. Then I heard the song Heaven’s On Fire. That was it. I’m sold. I had the album the day it was released. From there I got Lick It Up and Creatures of the Night to get caught up on the years I was missing.

Both Bill and myself were completely taken by surprise and it affected us in a weird way at that age. Musicians we listened to just didn’t up and die like that. Sure we lost others, but usually due to accidents or drugs. But not like that, and not from bands that we grew up listening to.

Music is a powerful thing. A song can trigger an emotion or bring back a distant memory. It is one of the most important things in my life. Great rock music is timeless. As I write this, some of my favorite Queen songs have been playing in the background and I remember when I heard them on the radio in the back seat of my parent’s car going somewhere.

November 24^th, 1991. It has been eighteen years since we lost these two. Eighteen years and you still hear their music on radio stations. There’s a reason for that. They were and are great and they will never be forgotten.

Return of the Album

Yes, vinyl has been making a strong comeback more this year than the past 10, but that's not what I mean. What I'm getting at is the return of the album as a whole. Every song from start to finish. No filler. No crap.

*The following sentence is a nod to Pop Zombie*
In a world full of forgettable music that won't be remembered unless there's a new dance that goes with it...

But, I digress. I am going to speak solely of rock music here, not the golden touches of the Black Eyed Peas and Fergie, not even the Midas finger of Lady Gaga, just straight up rock and roll, the type of music most of us grew up listening to before trying other styles or staying with it.

Those of you who know me well enough know that when I start preaching a band it's usually worth a listen to even if you don't think as highly of them as I do. These bands or artists are usually a bit removed from the beaten path of what you're usually running on musically. Some past examples of my "discoveries" are not limited to but include the following; Lord Tracy, WWIII, Fifth Angel, Arch Enemy, Fear Of God, Sanctuary & Nevermore. Some of these were discovered with friends and others I force fed until they probably hated me, but at least they loved the band. Mission accomplished.

One of my latest favorite discoveries has been Wolfmother. Their first album grabbed me and hardly let me go for months, in fact, it's still in my car to this day. Their second release Cosmic Egg should catapult this band into instant stardom if all is right in the world. This is the first album that's come out in a long while that I did not want to stop listening to. I wanted to see where it took me to next with each song. Yes, you read that right, this album sounds like a journey. You music fans know how rare this is. How many albums can you name that can truly make you feel immersed? It kind of made me feel like a kid being driven around by my parents and some really great 70s rock came on the radio. Almost like hearing Kashmir for the first time, a bold statement I know, but I did say almost.

For those of you who may not know Wolfmother aside from that rocking song in Guitar Hero they, to me, sound like Tony Iommi and Jimmi Page were mad scientists and created something new to terrorize our music players of choice with.

There is no filler or crap on this album which says a lot being there are 16 tracks on it. Heavy, melodic, trippy and engrossing from start to finish. I could only imagine what kind of concept album these guys could create if they chose to do so.

Their album covers even make me feel like I've had them in my collection since childhood. I know album covers may become a thing of the past in the maybe not so distant future, but sometimes you can judge an album by it's cover unlike a book.

So if you're looking for something different to listen to than what's gracing your ears lately. Pick up a copy of Wolfmother's Cosmic Egg and let it have it's way with you.