Def Leppard Hysteria Mercury Released: 8.3.87 We all start somewhere, right? It was four or five years after Hysteria ’s 80s-appropriate blend of hook-savvy and sugar-metal anthems had become permanently linked to my budding musical awakening that I found punk rock, which meant that all that had come before needed to be abandoned.   I was all in.   So, all that had been me was now forgotten with a cause, my newfound purpose to revel in my Alterna-angst and familiarize myself with all that was raucous and angry the main objective.   Def Leppard ’s Hysteria , despite all that it had meant to me, was no longer necessary.   We all go through this, right?   As eras change and tastes shift, especially when one is afflicted with prepubescent self-doubt and the need to fit in somewhere, you find yourself trying to outrun the things you once enjoyed and become this other thing that you may or may not relate to.   I was a child of the 80s, grow...

When The Beatles ' entire catalogue had been remastered in 2009, I penned a three-part review of the box set for No Ripcord.  For the band's 1966 release, Revolver , this is what I had to say : "In a way, Revolver is a bolder album than Pepper was, an experimental hybrid clashing symphonic string arrangements ('Eleanor Rigby'), rock n’ jolly 'Singin’ In The Rain'-styled ditties ('Good Day Sunshine'), kid-friendly sing-alongs about friendly aquatic transports ('Yellow Submarine'), Eastern influences ('Love You To') and the decade’s introduction to psychedelic rock n’ roll ('She Said She Said,' 'Tomorrow Never Knows'). An absolute plethora of influences and styles at work and they marry perfectly onto Revolver with nary a concept at work, nor a marching suit to hide behind.  Revolver is Beatlemania’s actual 'good riddance' and the very reason they couldn’t go on as a touring band. As a continually grow...

I haven't written one of these "fond remembrance" type entries lately, having skipped all of 1995.  But, after going through the albums I'd acquired in 1996, my sophomore year in art school, I thought a couple releases would be worth addressing.  Others not so much, but I'll address them anyway. NOFX – Heavy Petting Zoo I first saw NOFX at the Trocadero the year Heavy Petting Zoo was released, the farm-animal-as-fuck-puppet theme of the album further explored via blow-up sheep, ("There's even a hole for your cock!", as I remember singer/bassist Fat Mike excitedly putting it), being volleyed and bounced throughout the audience.  And of course there was the raunchy banner of the greasy-haired 1950s looking dude on the cover in a 69 with a sheep acting as a backdrop for the band's performance.  At the time, sure it was funny.  Now?  Eh, whatever. I can't deny that NOFX was actually a solid live band and that those shows were a lot...

Queens of the Stone Age Lullabies To Paralyze Interscope Records Released: 3.22.05 A little over a week ago, Lullabies to Paralyze , the fourth album from Queens of the Stone Age , turned 10.  Realizing that this particular volume of QOTSA's output doesn't necessarily garner the respect of its predecessors, 2000's Rated R and 2002's monumental Songs for the Deaf , Lullabies to Paralyze was, for me, an important album, one that occupied a great deal of my time and consideration for months following its release. Remembering 2005, as I saw it, The Strokes and The White Stripes were supplying rock journalists with all the content they required.  Garage was retro-chic and vintage blues was the shit.  While QOTSA's Songs for the Deaf had earned itself some very well-deserved acclaim, (aided in part by the star power and involvement of Dave Grohl ), Elephant and Room on Fire , both of which were the 2003 follow-ups to milestone releases for both The Strokes a...

And then there were all the albums that came out in 1994 that I caught up to much later.  Here are those albums: Fugees – Blunted On Reality Nas – Illmatic Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Let Love In 311 – Grassroots Gravediggaz – 6 Feet Deep Sebadoh – Bakesale Public Enemy – Muse Sick 'N' Hour Mess Age Liz Phair – Whip–Smart Ween – Chocolate and Cheese Korn – s/t Method Man – Tical (And, yes, some of these are also embarrassing to admit, so feel free to poke fun.) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Since 2014 is almost a memory, I figured I'd finish talking about my 1994 fascinations and regrets. L7 – Hungry For Stink Following the still relatively decent (though dated)  Bricks Are Heavy , L7 released Hungry For Stink , an album I remember listening to quite a bit after I picked up a copy.  At some point, though, maybe after a month of consistent listening, I put it down and it's only gathered dust since.  I blame "Andres," mock-worthy lyricism ("Down in North Hollywood/There's a guy with... long hair...") coupled with grunge-as-cliché distorto-chugging, and the super-cheesy "Shirley," which was a very lazy tribute to drag racer, Shirley Muldowney .  To the album's credit, "Freak Magnet" and "She Has Eyes" continue to stand out as worth mentioning.  The rest of the album, however, has faded from memory. NOFX – Punk In Drublic  Bad Religion – Stranger Than Fiction Rancid – Let's Go I'm f...

Took a break from the nostalgia for a bit.  Here are two more albums that spark some remembrances: Helmet – Betty In 1994, I got to see Helmet play at the Tower Theater with Rollins Band and Les Claypool 's other- Primus , Sausage .  It was a great night: a triple threat that didn't disappoint and left me both awed and deaf.  I'd already been a fan of Helmet's thanks to Meantime , but their albums didn't touch where they were sonically as a live band.  Visually they contrasted with the flannel adoration of the time, four  very clean cut gents with a hint of fraternity to them.  And, then they'd plug in.  Beyond the stage the main floor shifted and moved, a veritable current of bodies acting fluid and shapeless.  The crowd's response at a Helmet show was reliably violent every time I saw them play. Betty was another album I'd picked up from Record Revival and I remember being unsure about it at first.  The nonsense riff that launc...

Four more... As I've been delving into all of this personal history (or old CDs), some of which I haven't revisited in ages, it's apparent which albums have held up in my mind versus those that haven't.  This has proven both interesting and disappointing depending on what I've listened to.  In some ways this sort of makes me regret my decision to reexamine these albums, their impact permanent despite my new assessments.  You sort of go, "Huh...  I wonder why this was such a big deal."  Naturally, exposure humbles your opinions with regard to your milestone records.  Age does, too.  At 17, my musical world tiny next to where I am at 37, I definitely interpreted these releases differently.  But, like I said, some have held up.  For that, I'm grateful.   Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral When Trent Reznor released the Broken EP, which was much more of a metallic and guitar-driven affair than Pretty Hate Machine had been, I ...

I'm not big on nostalgia.  At least, not normally. It's rare that I bask in the warm glow of fond remembrances or gaze at photos or relics of my youth satisfied with the experiences they depict or the joyous interactions we've shared.  The past for me is empty and I find myself looking ahead most of the time as the unchanging and meaninglessness of yesterday falls deeper and deeper from the grasp of recollection.  Any time I've allowed myself even a second's worth of self-examination via personal history, I wind up irretrievably sunk into a vast network of "what ifs," rethinking my way out of mistakes I've made, pissed off at being young and stupid and incapable of doing things differently.  Truth be told, childhood and adolescence were both obstacles for me, something that had to be negotiated and worked through before being finally rewarded with adulthood.  There wasn't much to enjoy about being young.  I wanted autonomy.  I don't envy the ...

Like everyone, much of my relationship with music is rooted in where I was and who I was when I’d first heard/been more or less irreversibly altered by whatever album from whichever musician/band.   This is true of all of us who recall certain feelings or events once a certain note is plucked and the gears begin to turn and twist into an apparatus of reminiscence and sometimes longing that results in bliss, tears or vomiting.   For me, twenty years ago isn’t a wellspring of fond remembrances, though that was the year I began to build my CD collection.   I graduated from my tape deck to a boombox with dual decks and a CD tray, which would later enable me to spend countless hours in what I remember as a perpetual cycle of revelation and mix tape assembly.   This isn’t to say, though, that cassettes weren’t still investigated and sought after.   After all, I could still play both and cassettes were cheaper than CDs at the time.   My m...