THE UNKNOWN: Foo Fighters - The Height and the Weight

Sixteen years ago, the world was standing around at midnight, waiting for the new Guns N Roses albums to be released. Use Your Illusion were two CDs released at the same time by the biggest band on the planet. Everyone thought these records would change the world of music fo year to come. Everyone was wrong. Ironically, two albums by two unknown artists were being released at the exact same time. These albums would be the albums that would shape the musical landscape for the rest of the decade. The albums were Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten.

This month, the two most-anticipated rock releases are Eddie Vedder's first solo album (Into The Wild) and the Foo Fighters 6th official studio album (Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace). History does repeat.

I do wish Dave had titled the album with an N-word (like Never, New, Nice, Normal) instead of Grace. Then, abbreviated, the album would have spelled ESPN. That would have been cool.

Here is part one of three Foo Fighters B-Sides albums. I will post the other two (There Is Something Left To Win and For My Disgrace) but only on one condition, that is that everyone goes out and buys the new Foo Fighters album. It's a thousand times better than their last album...and much more like their first 4 releases.

Purchase at any of these places (Overstock $9.49, The Disc Wizard $9.98, Circuit City $9.99 ). I'd also recommend the Bonus tracks version for slightly more...(here).

The Foo Fighters - The Height and the Weight (1995 - 1998)

1. How Do You Do?
2. Winnebago
3. Ozone
4. Podunk
5. How I Miss You
6. The Colour and the Shape
7. Baker Street
8. Requiem
9. Drive Me Wild
10. Down in the Park
11. Gas Chamber
12. Touch

The 11 Best Neil Diamond Songs

It's Yom Kippur. From Sundown to Sundown, we are supposed to be fasting. I already had a chocolate covered pretzel and a diet Sierra Mist. Thankfully, we don't believe in hell. It's great being a Jew sometimes...except for the fact I'm also half-Catholic, which means I get twice the guilt...but also twice the presents during the holidays.

Here are the 11 Best Neil Diamond Songs:

1. Forever in Blue Jeans
2. Sweet Caroline
3. Cracklin' Rose
4. Shilo
5. Done Too Soon
6. America
7. Song Sung Blue
8. Cherry, Cherry
9. Love on the Rocks
10. I Am...I Said
11. Mr. Bojangles

11 Great Eddie Vedder Performances (sans Pearl Jam)

Eddie Vedder is a rock n roll legend. He's an icon. He's the voice of a generation. When I was in college, I would buy an entire CD just to hear him singing back-up vocals for 3 seconds. Every thing he did was genius. At 19, I didn't have a lot to go on...but for my generation, he was ours and I wanted everything he ever did to be mine.

Sixteen years since the first Pearl Jam album, Eddie Vedder has done the thing that everyone knew he would do someday...that is releasing a solo CD. But in true Eddie Vedder fashion, he is releasing it not as a vanity project, instead, he did it as a soundtrack to the upcoming film, Into The Wild (directed by Sean Penn).

The early verdict, IMO, is great. This might be the best thing I've heard from Vedder since before I packed up my last flannel shirt. But this isn't the first time Vedder went off without the foundation of his badmates...here is a brief tour though some of his other visitations.

11 Great Eddie Vedder Performances (sans Pearl Jam)

1. Against The 70s - Eddie Vedder and Mike Watt
2. Break On Through - Eddie Vedder and the Doors
3. Light My Fire - Eddie Vedder and the Doors
4. Roadhouse Blues - Eddie Vedder and the Doors
5. Devil Doll - Eddie Vedder and the Supersuckers
6. I See Red - Eddie Vedder and Neil Finn
7. Croon Spoon - Eddie Vedder and Susan Surandon
8. Hymn - Eddie Vedder and Hovercraft
9. Watch It Die - Eddie Vedder and Bad Religion
10. Take Me Out to The Ball Game - Cubs Game
11. The Star Spangled Banner - Bulls Playoff Game

Buy Eddie Vedder's new solo CD...right now!!!

THE UNKNOWN: Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged 1992

It was said best on Monday Night Football...The 49ers, Green Bay, Denver, and Cowboys are all undefeated and OJ Simpson is back in jail...it's the mid-90s all over again. Well, I'll add one more piece of nostalgia to that list...Eddie Vedder is back on top of the charts. This time he's solo. If you don't know that he's releasing a solo CD for the soundtrack to film, Into The Wild, then you must be living under a rock...or you just have something better to do with your life.

In celebration of the 90s flashback, here's Pearl Jam's MTV Unplugged performance from 1992.

1. Intro
2. Oceans
3. State of Love and Trust (Thank You instr.)
4. Alive
5. Black
6. Jeremy
7. Porch
8. Even Flow
9. Rockin' in the Free World

But Eddie Vedder's solo CD and get an exclusive t-shirt.

The 11 Best Songs By The Jesus Lizard

Happy New Year! It's Rosh Hashanah for all you Jews. For all you non-Jews, it's Thursday. And what better way to celebrate rebirth than with a retrospective with everyone's favorite Jesus! No, not that one. I'm talking about David Yow, lead singer of the 90s rock group, The Jesus Lizard. What does the Jewish New Year have to do with a lead singer that likes to get naked on stage and tuck his junk between his legs? Well, I'll tell you. On Tuesday, David Yow released his first CD since joining the band Qui.
Who?
Qui.
Who?
Not the Who. Qui?
Qui?
Yes.
Yes?
No, not yes. Qui!!
Who?

Oh nevermind....

Buy Qui's new album (Love's Miracle) here.

Here are the 11 Best Jesus Lizard Songs:

1. Puss (Liar)
2. Countless Backs of the Sad Losers (Down)
3. Then Comes Dudley (Goat)
4. Thumbscrews (Shot)
5. Gladiator (Liar)
6. Thumper (Shot)
7. Horse (Down)
8. Blue Shot (Shot)
9. Glamorous (Lash)
10. Nub (Goat)
11. Skull of a German (Shot)

THE UNKNOWN: Iron and Wine - His Specific Alphabetical Nights

My friends and I have been having a discussion over the notion of freewill. The topic on the table stems from this quote by Bad Religion singer Greg Graffin: "The allusion of freewill is so strong that we might as well assume we have it." It's an interesting quote when you start to explore the thought behind it. Now remember, this quote is coming from someone who is a sworn atheist. His belief is that because of our genetic make-up and our environmental upbringing our lives are practically pre-determined. No matter what you do...from the job you choose to work at to the lunch you are going to eat...has all be pre-determined in your subconscious decades prior to this very moment. For example, today for lunch I had canned Chef Boy-R-Dee's Ravioli. My choice to eat this lunch stems from 30 years of upbringing. I like the ravioli because I used to eat Chef Boy-R-Dee as a kid. So I have an affinity for it. Also, it's an easy to make meal that I can do in little time, since I work from home and had a lot of work to do today. I am also trying to conserve money and eat things that are inexpensive. The fact that I am responsible and try to conserve when it comes to meals comes from the moral codes that my parents raised me with. So as you see, I had no choice but to eat the raviolis.

Here is Iron and Wine's B-Side Album.

His Specific Alphabetical Nights

1. The Trapeze Singer
2. Dearest Foresaken
3. Peng! 33
4. Dead Man's Will
5. Love Vigilantes
6. Communion Cups and Someone's Coat
7. Such Great Heights
8. Sacred Vision
9. Same Old Song
10. Call Your Boys
11. Sleeping Diagonally
12. No Moon
13. Sinning Hands
14. Her Tea Leaves
15. Ab's Song
16. Carissa's Weird
17. Waiting For A Superman

Pre-order Iron and Wine's new album....The Shepherd's Dog (Due Sept. 24th)

Buy Greg Graffin's Book: Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant here.

11 Songs for the Working Man

It's been awhile since my last post. I have been touring the California countryside only shortly thereafter to be entranced in Fantasy Football bliss. Drafting fantasy football teams is about as close to actual professional sports that most of us will ever come. Sure it's more pathetic than playing on a local flag football team but somehow it's immensely more rewarding. On a flag football field when you make a great play, it's only a momentary thrill. But in fantasy football, when LT goes for 5 touchdowns and he happens to be your starting RB, you feel like the entire country just watched your player. Even the announcers seem to be rooting for you in your extremely unimportant internet game. I kid you not, last year commentators spent more time talking about fantasy stats than actual game stats. There's a revolution coming. Mark my words but in a few years, we won't even need the real players.

Happy Labor Day!

Here are 11 Songs For the Working Man:

1. Working Class Hero - John Lennon
2. Workin' Man Blues - Merle Haggard
3. Living On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
4. The Working Man - CCR
5. Working Man - Rush
6. Work, Work, Work - The Rakes
7. Work is a Four-Letter Word - The Smiths
8. Jah Work - Ben Harper
9. Mr. President - Randy Newman
10. Workin' Late - Lone Justice
11. John Henry - Woody Guthrie

The 11 Best Rilo Kiley Songs

I wanted to do a list of the best actors turned rock stars...but my choices were limited. Besides Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis, the pickings are slim and none-to-good. There's Phantom Planet. But they're not good, they're just not terrible. Johnny Depp was in the band P (although they were actually pretty terrible). Bruce Willis, the Bacon Brothers, and Theo Huxtable have all journeyed into the world of decadence...all with mild success. I guess, I could list all the Nickelodeon stars that have dominated the pop charts (Raven, Duff) but again I'd be better off selling my ass for quarters on Hollywood Blvd. (been there done that) So I've opted to go very by the book. Tuesday sees the release of the new Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklights.

Here are the 11 Best Rilo Kiley Songs:

1. More Adventurous (More Adventurous)
2. With Arms Outstretched (The Execution of All Things)
3. Portions For Foxes (More Adventurous)
4. Love and War (11/11/46) - (More Adventurous)
5. August (Take-Offs and Landings)
6. The Execution of All things (The Execution of All Things)
7. The Good That Won't Come Out (The Execution of All Things)
8. Accidntel Deth (More Adventurous)
9. My Slumbering Heart (The Execution of All Things)
10. Wires and Waves (Take-Offs and Landings)
11. Hail To Whatever You've Found In the Sunlight That Surrounds You (The Execution of All Things)

The 11 Best Songs By The Anniversary

One of the worst things that can ever happen to you in life is discovering a band on the verge of breaking up. Discovering bands at other times does have its measure of suckage. For example: if you follow a band from the beginning, it's hard to let go when they break up but at least you had a considerable amount of time to get to know them and enjoy them. Also, if you discovered a band after their break-up, there isn't the same sorrow because you knew they were broken up to begin with.

The Anniversary is one of those bands that kills me. I discovered them only shortly after they released their epic "Your Majesty" possibly one of the greatest albums of the emo age. Yes, yes, I'm aware that "great emo" is an oxymoron but there were highlights before the Fall Out Boys and Panicing Discoballers!!?!?! All I remember is listening to YM and thinking to myself, this band is going to have one of the greatest careers and I've discovered them early on!! The next thing I know, they broke up. I was pissed. I actually ran over a homeless man in my car in protest (he's fine now). The break-up was three years ago. Since then, 3/5 of the band reformed as The Only Children. They just released their second album this Spring. It's not the Anniversary, but it's not a bad substitute. In fact, it's one of my most listened to albums of the year. Take that, Chris Cornell!

This week, one of the MIA members (Adrianne Verhoeven) returns to music in the band Art in Manila. It's on Saddle Creek and the band features Orenda Fink...so I mean, come on, how bad could it really be? While we are getting used to a world without an Anniversary reunion on the horizon, all we are left to do is look back...

1. All Things Ordinary (Designing a Nervous Breakdown)
2. Peace, Pain and Regret (Your Majesty)
3. Husam Husam (Your Majesty)
4. Without Panasos (Designing a Nervous Breakdown)
5. Perfectly (Designing a Nervous Breakdown)
6. O' Lady Butterfly (Superdrag Split)
7. The Death of the King (Your Majesty)
8. Follow The Sun (Your Majesty)
9. The D In Detroit (Designing a Nervous Breakdown)
10. The Siren Sings (Your Majesty)
11. I Believe the End of the Reign of Terror is Soon Near (Vagrant Comp)

Buy The Only Children's fantastically underrated new release here.

Buy Manila on Fire here.

THE UNKNOWN: Ryan Adams - Hate Is Heaven

Barry Bonds was a home run hitter long before the famous 73-HR season. He had hit 40+ five times prior to that, including a 46 season early in his career. He also consistently led the league in walks (which always lowers the numbers).

In an interesting comparison, Hall-of-Famer, Tony Gwynn, gained the exact same amount of weight as Barry did at the exact age as Barry and had an upsurge in his his hitting also. Prior to 1997, Gwynn has only had two 10+ home run seasons. But starting in 1997, he went three seasons in a row, hitting 10+ in all three seasons. Does that mean Gwynn was on steroids too...or possibly when hitters age, the natural weight that's gained gives the ability to hit with more power?

And, since it was mostly pitchers taking steroids, that would mean that many pitches would be faster, allowing a good home run hitter greater ability to launch the ball out of the park.

And how would you explain Roger Maris, who normally hit 20 HRs a year, who all of a sudden hit 39 one year, then 61 the next...which is almost exactly the same thing Bonds did who went from 49 one year to 73 the next...

(note: Maris only hit over 30 hr 3times in his entire career. and only once over 40...which was the 61 season.)

Here is the 2nd of 4 Ryan Adams B-Side Albums: Hate Is Heaven

1. Halloween
2. Closer When She Goes
3. Funeral Marching
4. Twice As Bad As Love
5. Hypnotixed
6. Hey Parker, It's Christmas
7. Caterwaul
8. Choked Up
9. Ah, Life
10. Song For Keith
11. Fuck The Universe
12. Nervous Breakdown
13. Poor Country Girl