Tesla - "Reel To Reel"

There are three bands in my pantheon of musical artists: Aerosmith, Tesla, and Thunder. So when Tesla announced this spring that they'd be releasing a double-album of covers and a 20th-anniversary boxed set this year, I nearly lost my mind with excitement.

The covers album is a pariah in the music world; much like the double-live album, it's usually more an object of critical derision than excitement. And admittedly, Tesla's not the first band of their era to try it recently; Def Leppard released "Yeah!" last year after two years of waiting, Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades (of Styx/Night Ranger/Damn Yankees fame) paid homage to their heroes earlier this year with "Influence," and no lesser a light than Poison, the kings of hair metal, released a half-assed covers album of their own this year (on the same day as Tesla's! The nerve.) as well. Even Warrant got into the action a few years back.

Right from the first sighting of the track listing, though, I was very excited. "Seasons of Wither"? "Thank You"? "I Want To Take You Higher"? Wow. As soon as songs started appearing on MySpace, I couldn't get them out of my head.
The album was released on June 5, and it hasn't left my CD player (or my "New Music" playlist on my ZiPod) since. I love everything these guys have ever done, and this is just another brilliant Tesla album to me. Start to finish, this disc (and the second disc, which is currently only available at their live shows, but will be available for general purchase in the fall) just rocks my balls off. Jeff Keith wails; some might not like his voice (Mr. Amazon Reviewer Guy), but this isn't about sounding like Robert Plant or Sammy Hagar, it's about Teslafying the songs... which they absolutely did.

Hits: Walk Away, Thank You, I've Got A Feeling, Stealin', Bell Bottom Blues, All The Young Dudes, Shooting Star, Is It My Body, I Want To Take You Higher, Do You Feel Like We Do, Seasons Of Wither, Saturday Night Special - really, almost all 25 songs...
Misses: Rock Bottom (just too long and sloggy), Dear Mr. Fantasy (Jeff sounds a little off on this song, although the guitar duel is excellent)

Accidentally In Love... With 2004

I'm a big baseball fan, and also a big Counting Crows fan, so I thought it was neat to have them perform during the opening ceremonies to last night's All-Star Game. I have to figure the reason they asked the Counting Crows to perform was because they're from San Francisco, and because they write hit songs.

The only problem is... Counting Crows haven't had an album of new material since 2002. And the song they performed, "Accidentally In Love," was from the Shrek soundtrack. "Great, you say! That new Shrek movie is excellent!" Except it was from the last Shrek movie, Shrek 2. In 2004.

Wikipedia says they're working on a new album. I don't expect them to come out and play a song nobody's ever heard before, but they did sound a little dated last night. That said, I really enjoy "Accidentally In Love." It's everything a CC song should be; catchy, jangly, poppy... I dig it. And I don't know who I would have replaced the Crows with, as I'm not all that familiar with the history of San Francisco's musical scene, but you have to figure there's some band or singer that would have been a more current option.

Regardless... if Counting Crows really are working on a new album, I'm excited about it, because I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love (and not accidentally, either) with Hard Candy, which I think is a great album... perhaps even better than their debut, which is one of those albums that changed my life back in the day.

Hop On The Midnight Ferry

Welcome to Midnight Ferry.

I'm a big music fan, and I wanted a place where I could post my ramblings and thoughts and reviews. So I spent a few minutes in the Blogger shipyard and put together my own Midnight Ferry, named after a song I wrote back many years ago. Just as I never finished writing the song, I don't know that that this will ever be a complete working site, but it gives me the opportunity to blather off on what I'm listening to and why you should -- or shouldn't -- check it out.

The snack bar is open, as is the bar on the back deck. Life preservers are located on the top deck, and the jukebox never stops playing. Welcome aboard.