I nestled in my bed, resting comfortably, and changed the channel to WETA, a Washington DC public access station. As luck would have it, an excellent documentary called Pearl Jam Twenty was on, and I was immediately hooked. I wanted so badly t0 turn it off, to change the channel, to sleep – but I couldn’t. I’ve always been a fan of Pearl Jam’s music, but I never got to know the members of the band the way I knew the members of Nirvana, or Metallica, or Harvey Danger (joking).

The documentary goes into detail about the storied career of the members, and how they honed their craft and made artistic works that people truly enjoyed. It tells of the band’s formation, the issues they had in finding a drummer that could stick around, and the enjoyment they found in creating music and the lasting fun they would have, touring and sharing their art with appreciative fans.

One of the most interesting aspects of Pearl Jam’s story is that in all of their touring, they did their best not to play the same setlist for the whole tour. Instead, they made it a habit to change the setlist every night. This is interesting to me for a few reasons; the most obvious being that this is an incredibly hard task to undertake, as touring is a grueling event already, without the need to figure out what the song order is the night of the show. The reason they did this, however, was because they wanted to keep everything fresh.

Playing hits is all well and good, but you can only play them so many times before you become bored of them. Pearl Jam kept things interesting not only for their fans, but for themselves as well. This is the kind of thing that creates staying power and allows a band to stay relevant and interesting way past their break into the mainstream.

You’d do yourself a favor by trying to find a copy of this documentary. It’s well worth a look.

The bar was serving up Natty Boh like it was going out of style (it never will, but that’s beside the point). The bar was dimly lit, save for the stage, which was at a heavy and exposed contrast to the surrounding darkness. Drummer Jon Caplan (of Neutron Bomb) took a seat behind a small drum kit and after a few moments, Brandon Fratini, in all of his tall and imposing might, plodded onto the stage, guitar in hand. They then proceeded to perform what can only be described as grunge rock gymnastics as they went back and forth with widely varying styles of play.

After a few songs, Jon Caplan took a break due to his right hand seizing up and on came rioLinda’s previous drummer, Jeremy Conte, to make the save. Jeremy’s wild drum style makes for an even more entertaining show than it was already. Combined with Fratini’s fantastic vocals and slick guitar (not to mention his Super Mario Bros. shirt), it was just simply an awesome and enjoyable set.

This was my second time watching rioLinda perform and though I still can’t remember the names of any of their songs, save for “Locked & Loaded”, I’m gonna make certain to take every opportunity to see them play. If you’re down with a group whose influences include Nirvana and Local H, you’d do well to check them out sometime.

As you may have heard, my favorite band when I was but a tyke was Twisted Sister, an 80′s glam metal outfit from Long Island, New York. I attribute this purely to the surroundings in which I was brought up. My father was a big fan of Ozzy and Journey, while my mother was a Bon Jovi and GnR fan. The rest of it is filled in by my various aunts and uncles, whose taste ranged from Madonna to Metallica. Needless to say, I got my fair share of 80s influence.

So I chose Twisted Sister as my go-to group. The 1984 album Stay Hungry was the first record I owned. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, my folks bought me a record that had a man in makeup eating the remains of a human leg on the cover. Don’t ask me why they did it – to this day, I can’t get a straight answer. At any rate, that was then and this is now. I’ve got the album on the turn table and I’m ready to rock.

One of my favorite tracks happens to be the title track, “Stay Hungry.” It’s an all-around great metal tune with wild guitar riffs and a catchy chorus. The second track on the album, “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” is a true rock anthem and really captures that rebellious spirit of old metal and dirty rock. The others are hit or miss, save for “I Wanna Rock,” which is the first track on the B-side.

When I was about five, my mother took me and a few of my cousins to Ocean City for some summer fun. This usually involved long days at the beach and long nights on the boardwalk. On occasion, it also involved me embarrassing my family by behaving like a spoiled brat, but I digress… The boardwalk in Ocean City is a long one, full of shops that sold useless trinkets and tacky clothing. We came upon one, however, that stood out.

This shop, you see, would allow you to pick a song and they would then play that song’s backing track so that you could sing along to it and they would record it and give you the cassette tape. How could we have possibly passed this up? So my mom took me into the store, we picked “I Wanna Rock” and I proceeded to sing my little 5-year-old heart out. It was a great time, and I wish so bad that I could find that cassette. Hopefully my mom’s reading this article and can tell me where it is.

We arrived to the show late, but it didn’t look like we missed much as the opener was nothing special; some blondie doing Britney covers – meh. Jordin Sparks was up next and I’ve got to admit, she’s got a really great set of pipes on her. It was weird, though, watching her on stage made me envision some sort of high-class karaoke – there was no band or anything, and the stage setup for her was very simple. Her bit was enjoyable, however, as she performed her hits like “Tattoo” and ”Battlefield” and sounded really good.

After a long intermission, New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys finally made their appearance. I swear to whatever gods may exist, I thought the roof was going to come off the place in an explosion of estrogen. I’ve never been subjected to so many screaming girls in my life. If I may make a point, though – I thought it strange that there were so many younger (like, early teen) girls at this show as these bands were the ones that were hot when I was that age. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

At any rate, the show was an enjoyable one as the groups took turns doing their own bits and then singing together. There were lots of pyrotechnics, and lots of choreographed dancing to go along with the “ooo girl”s and the “hey baby”s they were singing. I’ll admit; even though I’m not a fan of this kind of entertainment (let’s be clear – this is entertainment, not art), I enjoyed hearing songs that I hadn’t even thought about in twenty years. It was good to seeDonnie Wahlberg doing something other than playing “make-believe cop,” although at one point I definitely remarked about how I was glad I wasn’t chained up as I may have crushed my ankle to escape.

All in all this was a fun show. The 13-minute encore at the end was worth the price of admission alone, and seeing as it was my first concert at a major venue, I feel it was appropriate that it was to see two boy bands.

Explosions are a four piece from Texas and have been together since 1999.  Unlike Mogwai or Tortoise, Explosions seem to stay within the bounds of rock music and craft some amazing tunes.  I will warn you that there is a lot of build up for several of these tracks but the payoff is well worth it.  As of late I find myself listening to more instrumental rock music and I find that it gives me time to focus on the playing instead of vocals.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good vocalist that can draw in an audience and craft a song but often times that takes away from the background and that is where some magic can happen.

You can hear that magic all over this album and each of the six tracks are well thought out plans to take you on a different journey.  Opener “Last Known Surroundings” is a great way to get this record moving and the slow building of “Human Qualities” is perfect.  “Be Comfortable Creature” is more of a cerebral venture into space.  With a run time of 45 minutes that is enough to take you far away and drop you right back where you started.

Since there are so few tracks, you can start with the ones I mentioned or “Postcard from 1952″, “Trembling Hands” and “Let Me Back In” which rounds out the rest of the record.  What I’m trying to say is that you should take chance on this album and maybe look into some of their previous work.  I know I will and I’m glad I went with my gut and bought this, so will you be.

It’s no wonder, then, that this album was placed on Rolling Stone’s list among other greats of the same era like Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden. Mellon Collie spawned several singles including “Muzzle,” “1979,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” and “Zero.” and was The Smashing Pumpkins’ most successful album to date, earning them a Billboard debut of #1 and seven Grammy nominations for their efforts.

But enough about the facts; this is supposed to be an opinion piece, right?

Plain and simple, this album rocks and if you don’t enjoy it then the fact of the matter is you simply have no soul. None. Zero. Zilch. Bupkis. Zip. Nada.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more diverse collection of instruments in a single alternative rock album before, except perhaps for Beck’s Odelay. The fact remains that the album has a sound all its own and not one band since has, in my opinion, even come close. In fact, I’d say this one should be even further up the Rolling Stone list than it is. Corgan’s vocals and lyrics are simply the best on any Pumpkins’ album, period. Typically, with albums from the mid-nineties, I can only give them a partial listen as they tend not to age well. Mellon Collie is the exception and if you haven’t heard it, I suggest you frickin’ get on that.

As far as their EP goes, for the tracks that are available through the social networking sites, I would say to give them a listen if you can. If you get the chance to see them live, however, do not pass it up. These guys kick massive amounts of ass live. Their lead guitarist, Chuck Stilletto, hits the guitar solos like nobody’s business and the band’s charisma and showmanship were easily the best of the night (February 11, Sinix in Essex– Yes, Essex. Thank you very much). My favorite song is easily “I Quit Drinking (Again).”

I’m not giving them a glowing review because Hayden bought me a shot of whiskey, mind you. That’s beside the point because I would’ve done the same for him because he rocked so hard. Watching them on stage, you can tell that these guys are into what they’re doing and if they keep it up, they may have a really great thing on their hands. For now, though, they have a good thing going and I encourage them to keep it up. This is all for selfish reasons, of course, because I need more 80′s rock revival bands in my life, dammit, and these dudes deliver.

And seriously, who doesn’t need more 80′s hard rock in their lives?

Put those frickin’ hands down, you turds.

Slayer’s debut album, Show No Mercy came out when I was only one year old. Slayer had recorded their album on a shoestring budget, the majority of which came from lead singer Tom Araya’s earnings as a respiratory therapist, as well as money borrowed from guitarist Kerry King’s father. Needless to say, the production values on the album are not the greatest, but that’s part of the album’s charm. It’s very raw and unpolished, which allowed for the group’s talent to really shine through.

Conjuring imagery of death, evil and demons, Show No Mercy hits hard with the opening track “Evil Has No Boundaries” and keeps the blood flowing throughout the album with metal anthems “The Antichrist,” “Die By the Sword,” and “Black Magic.” The abundance of guitar solos on this album has pretty much retired my air guitar, which was begging for mercy after about track four — I was strumming that viciously.

Show No Mercy is a solid metal offering and after giving it a good listen, it’s blatantly obvious to me why Slayer is held in such high regard. It saddens me that I’ve missed out on this band through all these years, but I will definitely be going through their back-catalogue, one album at a time. I owe it to myself and I owe it to the band to give them a fair shake.

And just as an aside, Metallica wishes they were even half as metal as Slayer. These guys kick ass.

Something truly great happens at these places, however. On a late night, with three or four bands on the card (most of whom you’ve never heard of), hundreds of people shuffle in and friggin’ rock the EFF out. The atmosphere is real and the people didn’t come because the radio specifically told them to. They came because they wanted the true grit of a rock show. The drinks in these places aren’t overpriced like they are at the larger venues. After a song, if you look up at the lead singer and you yell “Dude, that was friggin’ great!” and he gives you a pound, you can be sure that that’s genuine appreciation you’re experiencing.

Another really great aspect of these joints is that you needn’t pay full attention to what’s going up on stage to enjoy the event. The kinds of people that come to these places are often as entertaining as the bands. Because of this, people-watching while sitting at the bar as the band plays in the background has become a favorite pass time of mine. You really can’t beat a relaxing night of rock and metal. I’ll take the grungy realness of a small venue over the sterility I find at the more established places any day.

Go find yourself a place like this. They’re everywhere and you’ll find them easy enough, but only if you look.

A twelve-track album, Pennies Are Useless boasts rock stylings reminiscent of Cake and Beck, hip-hop flows drawing from greats like MC Frontalot and MC Chris and contains more vibraslap than you can count (unless you’ve got a lot of free time). The album starts off with Rockstar Cola (no relation to the energy drink, I’m sure), which is a powerful opener with fun beats and a groovy synthesized guitar. Most of the instrumentation Catch uses are software instruments. If you ask my friend, he’ll tell you otherwise, but we all know the truth.

Perhaps my favorite song on the album is The Pastel Suit. It’s a song about a guy who gets stood up on a date and decides to not let it get him down because, well, he’s got a friggin’ pastel suit on and why should he be sad? The unfortunate part about some of the songs is that the vocals are muddied in certain sections and downright unintelligible in others. It’s to the point where you just go “oh well, I guess he’s saying something of meaning.” There’s no lyric sheet included and whenever you’d ask the guy, he’d instruct you to interpret the lyrics as you like.

I can see his point, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Don’t be shy. Let it all out. Blemishes and all. I’d say that’s my biggest criticism of this artist and this album that, while inspired and fun to listen to, it lacks the warmth of an album with passion. Nearly every song is tweaked to post-production perfection, every “ooh” and “ugh” placed ever so gently between lines.

Don’t get me wrong, now– I’m just being critical. The fact is that I enjoy listening to this album and am happy to say that I was recently able to get some Eastern Block Robot Cowboys demo tracks from when Catch was just an idea. Good stuff, and much more raw. If he really wanted to, the guy behind Catch could make a great album. Unfortunately, we’ll have to settle on good.