Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

Tophat665 · 02-07-2004, 08:34 AM

Bought two last night:

Warren Zevon - Life'll Kill Ya.
This is the album he started writing when he realized he would be dying sooner rather than later. It is everything one expects from Zevon: Wry, Clever, Savage, Flippant, and Wistful, and the music spans his repetoire from flat out Guitar Rock to piano ballads to spare and beautiful folk arrangements. Everything you'd expect, but then some, because he obviously knew this was going to be either his last or second to last chance to get it right. Almost every song on the album is as good as it could be. "Porcelin Monkey" gives Elvis the treatment Warren once administered Skynyrd. "My Shit's Fucked Up" is disbelieving acceptance, and prettier than a song of that title has any right to be. His cover of Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life" is nearly a hymn, as is the final track "Don't Let Us Get Sick". As he says in the title cut, "Requiescat in Pace, that's all she wrote."
9/10 (easily)

The other one I got was Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets. This is not as good, and harder to review or judge. The first track, Bad Horsie, sets the tone: It's both an incredible display of guitar virtuosity and fairly annoying to listen to. Because there are no vocals to speak of, it's hard to pick particular songs out, but there are some worth noting. The final song, "Tender Surrender", has been a favorite of mine for a while. It's a good counter argument to folks who thing he has no soul. There's a song in there that makes incredible use of a delay effect, and another that's in an odd time signature (7/8, I think) and breaks the sterotype of the robotic rhythm section behind the guitar wizard. For the most part, it's just fastfastfast guitar work on an effect somewhere between George Thorogood and Lemmy Kilmeister, and boring even as it impresses. I guess there's such a thing as making it look too easy.
5/10

02-07-2004, 08:34 AM	#21 (permalink)
Tophat665 Minion of the scaléd ones Location: Northeast Jesusland	Bought two last night: Warren Zevon - Life'll Kill Ya. This is the album he started writing when he realized he would be dying sooner rather than later. It is everything one expects from Zevon: Wry, Clever, Savage, Flippant, and Wistful, and the music spans his repetoire from flat out Guitar Rock to piano ballads to spare and beautiful folk arrangements. Everything you'd expect, but then some, because he obviously knew this was going to be either his last or second to last chance to get it right. Almost every song on the album is as good as it could be. "Porcelin Monkey" gives Elvis the treatment Warren once administered Skynyrd. "My Shit's Fucked Up" is disbelieving acceptance, and prettier than a song of that title has any right to be. His cover of Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life" is nearly a hymn, as is the final track "Don't Let Us Get Sick". As he says in the title cut, "Requiescat in Pace, that's all she wrote." 9/10 (easily) The other one I got was Steve Vai - Alien Love Secrets. This is not as good, and harder to review or judge. The first track, Bad Horsie, sets the tone: It's both an incredible display of guitar virtuosity and fairly annoying to listen to. Because there are no vocals to speak of, it's hard to pick particular songs out, but there are some worth noting. The final song, "Tender Surrender", has been a favorite of mine for a while. It's a good counter argument to folks who thing he has no soul. There's a song in there that makes incredible use of a delay effect, and another that's in an odd time signature (7/8, I think) and breaks the sterotype of the robotic rhythm section behind the guitar wizard. For the most part, it's just fastfastfast guitar work on an effect somewhere between George Thorogood and Lemmy Kilmeister, and boring even as it impresses. I guess there's such a thing as making it look too easy. 5/10 __________________ Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns. Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.