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 SPIRITUAL MUSIC ADVICE 'n' STUFF
   by Rev. Richard Visage
 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


 It's quite amazing how things meander around in Cyberspace - I
 put a short, nasty review of Hole's latest CD in some months ago,
 and just now found hostile email in the tank.

 Really, how was I supposed to know that beneath the screeching,
 howling and feedback, that there was music in there. I'll give it
 another listen, honest.

 Just for some contrast, we're going to go with the very new, and
 the very old this month. As loudly requested, let's first spin
 Green Day . . .


 DOOKIE
 Green Day
 -=-=-=-=-

 I approached this one with a fair bit of trepidation. It's wa-a-ay
 up there on the charts, and has the reputation of being the new
 teenage angst album. This is generally not a good sign.

 Guitar crash and lots of power chording light up the instant you
 put this one on the CD player - much what you'd expect. It's
 recorded in a thin, garage band style, and would be viewed as
 being weak by a musicologist.

 So how come it works, and works damned well? The blazing chords
 blend well, in fact, these guys have taken power chords into a
 new, high orbit, and there's even some clever hooks. The boys
 have some pop sensibilities, it would seem (they won't like to
 hear that, trust me). Surprisingly, as a package, it's fresh and
 sounds new, even though there's really nothing you can point at
 to say what's new about it.

 It's a rare tune that has anthem-like qualities, the Who's 'My
 Generation', the Stones' 'Satisfaction', and the Pistols' 'God
 Save the Queen' all come to mind. I think we can add Green Day's
 'Basket Case' to that list. I won't suggest that Ms. LaBamba
 donned her peek-a-boo leathers and trashed the hotel room while
 'Basket Case' was playing, just in case the Dream Forge lawyers
 are reading this.

 This probably isn't an album for the over-forty set, but it's
 just damned good music, charged with energy and new
 interpretations.


 Voodoo Soup
 Jimi Hendrix
 -=-=-=-=-=-=

 I have always avoided posthumous albums like the plague. I mean,
 really, just how new can you expect something to be when the
 musician has been dead for 25 years. Somehow, they seem to manage
 to trot out new Hendrix and Jim Morrison albums on a regular
 basis.

 I only bought this one because of a gushy review (probably
 Rolling Stone) that made this one sound special.

 Is there anything new here? Not that I could find. Yes, a few
 obscure tracks, but all have been on vinyl at some point. And
 there are good tunes here - a few of the 'Band of Gypsies'
 favourites like 'Angel', 'Freedom' and 'Ezy Rider' - and unless
 my ears tricked me there's been some slick re-mastering work
 along the way somewhere.

 Still, I'm not impressed. I think Hendrix peaked on the 'Electric
 Ladyland' album, and it stands to this day as one of my all time
 favourites. Do yourself a favour, skip 'Voodoo Soup' and add
 'Electric Ladyland' to your CD collection.

 Religiously yours,
 Rev. Richard Visage
 fido (1:163/409)
 rv@visage.akasha.net

 (Note to Editors: Gee, thanks guys. It must have taken one hell
 of a lot of effort to reel in an endorsement from "BillyBob's
 Records" and get me that free disk. Don't get me wrong, it's not
 that I don't *like* tuba music, it's just that when I listened to
 'Ferd Quigly and his Tuba - Unplugged' I couldn't quite make it
 through the version of 'Innagaddadavida' without having to crack
 a new bottle of JD.)

 (p.s. Saaay, there's an idea - think the nice folks that distil JD
 would want to sponsor the column?)


                                {DREAM}

 Copyright 1995 Rev. Richard Visage, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Rev. Richard Visage is the official Spiritual Advisor to Fidonet,
 and is listed on the masthead of the Fidonews, where his
 correspondence is published regularly. The Rev. operates
 1:163/409 on a laptop from various hotel rooms, and is bankrolled
 by expense accounts from unsuspecting publications who showed the
 poor judgement of hiring him. Canadian Government officials list
 him and his semi-clad secretary, Ms. LaBamba, as officially being
 "at large" somewhere in North America. rv@visage.akasha.net
 ======================================================================

