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Forget all about your Creed, your Limp Bizkit, your Korn – the true heartbeat of
rock ‘n’ roll isn’t going to be found on the top of the Billboard charts
or on corporate radio; it may even be hard to find on the shelves of your local
music retailer. Current releases from grizzled rock veterans like Graham Parker,
Ian Hunter, and Joe Grushecky prove that giants still walk the earth and what
the young pups don’t know, the old lions understand.
Although he’ll
never shake off his status as the guiding light of Mott the Hoople – one of the
greatest rock bands ever –
Ian Hunter’s lengthy solo career is no chopped liver in its own right. From his early
collaborations with Bowie axeman Mick Ronson to Rant (Fuel 2000 Records),
his latest effort, Hunter has never fudged his legacy as a true son of rock ‘n’
roll. An eclectic and electric collection of songs, Rant lives up to
every word of praise that Hunter has ever received. Combining personal
reflections with a unique songwriting skill and guitar-driven roots rock,
Hunter’s muse has mellowed only slightly during the passing years. “It ain’t my
fault that I never grew up,” Hunter sings in “Still Love Rock and Roll”, “I got
bitten by the bug,” something every artist mentioned below has in common.
With
a career that has spanned twenty-five years and nearly two-dozen acclaimed
albums,
Graham Parker
has earned his place in rock ‘n’ roll history. It seems that nobody bothered to
tell Parker, however. Deepcut To Nowhere (Razor & Tie) slashes and
burns through twelve songs with the same intensity and electricity of the
artist’s 1976 debut. Parker’s skill as a songwriter has always been in his
caustic wit and biting sarcasm and an uncanny ability to turn a clever phrase,
and these traits are in evidence here in abundance. If the once-angry young man
has gotten older, powerful songs like “High Horse”, “Syphilis & Religion”,
and the cryptic, hard rocking “I’ll Never Play Jacksonville Again” show that
he’s lost none of his rage. Parker’s soulful vocals have softened a bit through
the years, improving with age, while his guitar playing is as strong as a
tightwire. A high-octane performance, Deepcut To Nowhere is the rock ‘n’
roll soundtrack for the summer of 2001.
Unfairly dismissed as the
“poor man’s Bruce Springsteen” during his lengthy career,
Joe Grushecky
continues to rock with a fervor and passion unmatched by musicians half his age.
With the Houserockers, an outfit tempered to a razor edge by more than a decade
of playing together, Grushecky has earned a well-deserved reputation as a
dynamic live performer and an underrated guitarist and songwriter. From
Steeltown To London Town, available only from Grushecky’s web site (www.grushecky.com), offers no-frills packaging but contains seventy minutes of uncompromising
rock ‘n’ roll in a live setting. Taken from performances in London and Sheffield
in February 2000, the disc includes several of Grushecky’s better songs,
including “No Strings Attached”, “Only Lovers Left Alive”, and “Dark And Bloody
Ground”. The band also tackles covers like Springsteen’s “Light of Day,” the
Clash’s “Brand New Cadillac”, and Southside Johnny’s “I Don’t Want To Go Home”
with style and energy. Joe Grushecky is one of rock music’s more obscure
talents, but I suspect that the day will come when his name is spoken with the
same reverence as those of his better-known musical contemporaries.
From
April 1976 to October 1978 – less time than many contemporary artists take to
record a single bloated album –
the Ramones
released four classic collections of rock music. Combining the charm and brevity
of the traditional three-minute pop song with the inspired amateurism of 1960s
garage bands, the Ramones launched a musical revolution on the strength of three
chords and an attitude. Rhino Records has reissued these four discs, appearing
on CD for the first time, in deluxe packages with the original LP artwork, liner
notes and bonus tracks.
For the uninitiated, the band’s self-titled
debut is a good place to begin, offering a dozen fast-and-furious tracks that
clock in just short of 29 minutes. Rhino has padded the album with the band’s
original demos, including several unreleased songs. Their second album,
Leave Home, features many of the Ramones’ signature tunes; the CD reissue
includes the band’s first Los Angeles appearance, 16 songs from an August 1978
show at the Roxy. The next two CDs, Rocket To Russia and
Road To Ruin, offer unreleased tracks and obscurities alongside the
original tunes. All four albums are milestones of rock ‘n’ roll and perfect for
summertime listening at the beach, by the pool or even in the back yard. (View From The Hill, May 2001)
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