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Showing posts from May, 2021

1980: Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

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I love this album, really fast, frenetic vocals, fuckin' Jello Biafra!  Everything is better with JELLO!  If you wanna hear another great album with Jello, he did the Never Breathe What You can't See album with The Melvins in 2004, phenomenal!   Every song on Fresh Fruit jumps right into it, bam-blam!  There are a lot of dynamics.  It is punk at it's best but there is a sophistication to the arrangements.  I love the jangly guitars and the dissonant chords. Lots of bands have been influenced by 'em and covered songs from this release.  Hi/Jack does a bang-up cover of California uber alles.  Drug Me reminds me a lot of System of the Down.  I would be happy if The Night Howls covered any of the songs on Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.  People are probably most familiar with Holiday in Cambodia. Thanks Dead Kennedys!

1979 : Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

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  It's the last album from the legendary Led Zeppelin, In Through the Out Door (other than Coda, released in 1982, which was a collection of outtakes and unused tracks...I really dug Coda!) In Through the Out Door is a great album!  John Paul Jones was the star of this album, showing his keyboard, bass and writing chops big time.  To be as big as Led Zeppelin, every member has to be great.  I think bass players often don't get the respect they deserve.  Michael Anthony from Van Halen is another example.  You have to be a solid bass player to be in a band like Van Halen with all them licks and solos.  You have to know how to sit right in the mix and Michael was a HUGE part of the background vocals.  He hit the high parts, kind of like Roger Taylor of Queen.  Back to John Paul Jones, Great!  Who would have thought he'd be playing with Them Crooked Vultures 30 years later! In Through the Out Door , the tracks: In the Evening : Starts with...