| Worth the wait
Guns N' Roses fans have long grown accustomed to waiting, twiddling their thumbs as rumors about the release of the group's latest album, ''Chinese Democracy,'' surface every couple of years. As the album approaches its 15th year in music limbo, Spin magazine critic Chuck Klosterman writes, ''If you purchased a kitten on the day that 'Use Your Illusion I and II' arrived in stores, it's probably dead now.'' .
Priestess Upstage The Bronx In Denver
It's hard to believe that only five months ago while visiting London and hearing a then little known band called Wolfmother, I never would have thought heavy rock music would be making such a come back, pummeling fans with sheer walls of sound and fury. I'm talking about music that simply wants to blast out your ears, and race through A/E/D chord progressions faster than MTV pop music gets tossed into the $1 CD bin at your local music store.
So when I heard Priestess, a four-piece rock band from Canada, I knew that Wolfmother was not a freak occurrence of the music world. I knew that Rock, with a capital "R" was back from the dead. Hard enough to be metal, but melodic enough to cater to those who lean toward pop tendencies, Priestess immediately found a place in my current musical rotation.
Behind the legend
Rock-music fans everywhere should genuflect to Mick Jagger for making the terrible 1985 album She's the Boss, followed by the asinine decision to tour without the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards was infuriated enough by those boneheaded moves to pursue other ventures, most famously his pet project Hail, Hail Rock 'n' Roll, the 1987 film tribute to Chuck Berry's music filmed on the man's 60th birthday. (And while making the movie he also found the band, the X-pensive Winos, that would back him on his own superb solo album, Talk Is Cheap). That great movie - part concert, part documentary - ran in theaters and was briefly released on VHS but has been out of the public eye for years. That's now been corrected with this week's overdue DVD release, which includes the entire movie and 5 1/2 hours of bonus material over four discs that completely changes the character of the film (a cheaper two-DVD version of the movie is coming out, but it's well worth it to spring for the four-disc set).
8. The Relentless Quest Of Paul Smith
At first listen you'd be forgiven for thinking that Beyond Reasonable Doubt are the latest in a long line of U.S. imports to hit these shores. Naturally, they hail from that well known American state: Surrey. Anyone with a passing interest in the fortunes of Punk and Hardcore will be more than familiar with the kind of sound that BRD bring to the table. Despite claiming a massive Green Day influence, the band in fact sound as if they've come straight from the rosters of either Fat Wreck or Epitaph. Indeed if you were blindfolded and forced to guess, it might even cross your mind that this is the new album from Bad Religion. So, an American influence is very much in evidence, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps the major give away though, is the focus of the lyrics.
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