My Amazon Reviews: Kings Of Leon "Mechanical Bull"

Ride it or Buck it.
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Having been a fan of Kings of Leon since "Youth and Young Manhood," it's been interesting to watch how they've changed and matured as each album comes along. "Mechanical Bull" is their slickest yet. Cleanly produced, vocals upfront, heck, even strings (on "Comeback Story"). It's also the Kings' most blatantly commercial album, even more so than "Come Around Sundown." If you found that album to be too much for you, you're not going to like "Mechanical Bull."

However, I do. It's OK for a band to progress beyond their roots. With all the infighting going on after "Sundown," I'm surprised we have an album at all. But, as they say, blood is thicker than water, and when Caleb Fallowill sings he'd "take one in the temple for you" (on "Temple"), he could easily be talking about the relationship he's got with his fellow bandmates. They're back to bringing out the best in each other, including some very tasty guitar on "Coming Back Again" from Matthew Followill, who is in top form throughout "Mechanical Bull." Be it the arena sized soloing ("Rock City") or even just using it for subtle coloration ("Beautiful War"), he's become a force to be reckoned with.

"Mechanical Bull" revels in that diversity. Between the aforementioned strings, the pedal steel on "On The Chin," and the album's leaner feel, Kings of Leon are finding their way to greener pastures. And that's no Bull.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Steve Earle "Copperhead Road"

The D.E.A.'s Got a Chopper in The Air
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Steve Earle had two well received and critically acclaimed country albums under his belt, but he had been saying all along that he didn't consider himself a country singer. Being a big lefty liberal wasn't endearing him to the staid conservatism of the Music Row establishment. With these worlds colliding, Earle went all in for his third album, 1988's "Copperhead Road." MCA Nashville and MCA Los Angeles were so befuddled by it that they resurrected the old UNI Records imprint to try and find a bridge between the two worlds. And for his part, Earle hit a park on "Copperhead Road" that took him almost a decade to recover from.

The album is, at its absolute best, a perfect ahead of its time blend of rockin' with the new country crew that Earle was initially batched in with. Rock as hard as he wanted to, but he couldn't escape that southern drawl and many of the lyrical tropes of the genre. At the same time, the guitars, drums and overall sound were closer to John Mellencamp than George Strait. The epic title song is all but a Mellencamp record with a tougher lyrical punch; a story about a moonshiner's son who comes back from Vietnam with a bag of pot plants and post traumatic stress disorder. With that kind of content, it's no wonder that the Suits in Nashville didn't know what the fox to do with him. The same with the unknown soldier who is angry about how his Grandfather came home a hero, but he's disabled, standing alone on a runway in San Diego and "there's nobody here, maybe know body knows" (in "Johnny Come Lately").

Earle could still do convincing country, like the gunslinger's lament "Devil's Right Hand" and the pedal steel ballad "Once You Love." All the same, Earle had reached a crossroads, personally and musically. "Copperhead Road" remains his commercial apex and is among his best albums, but his decline into addiction and his overall distrust of the music industry left him stranded until 1995 and "Train a'Comin'." But for the sheer raw power of a battle waged and won, Steve Earle's "Copperhead Road" remains a must listen.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Alabama Shakes "Boys and Girls"

8.5 On the Richter Scale
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The debut from Alabama Shakes is a wall rattler. Fronted by a rock wailer named Brittany Howard, the band kicks in with a (sadly) low-fi amplifier buzz and a Tyrannosaurus stomp. Even with the primitive recording, there's no escaping that these four folks are the real deal, mixing their rock with R'n'B and Howard's force 10 voice. I was fortunate enough to catch them live at 2012's Newport Folk Festival and was so blown away that I had to get the CD as soon as I got home. They've got that much dynamism live, and "Boys and Girls" catches the better part of it.

Alabama Shakes are not a band you'll walk away from without an opinion. From the thunderous "Rise to The Sun" and the bluesy first single "Hold On," they exude personality and muscle. They also know how to work up a sweat (the Stones-like "Be Mine") or tease some Jack White humor (the brief story of a night gone hinky on "After The Party"). One almost hopes Jack White, who always seems to work magic with strong women in rootsy settings, gets a hold of them before someone slickens the band up for the sophomore effort. I'm already worried that the fans who have discovered this raw and young band (they've only been together for a couple of years) will be screaming sell-out once they get some polish. Frankly, that's something I think they need a little more of.

Just don't let that stop you from enjoying "Boys and Girls" now. Alabama Shakes make the most of their youth and Howard's raw talent. i am already wondering and hoping for what they grow into over time.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Cage The Elephant "Thank You Happy Birthday"

Elephants Uncaged  
4 Out Of 5 Stars 

After the long slow climb of their debut album, Cage The Elephant finally get to release their second. "Thank You Happy Birthday" has allegedly been in the can for some time, but with the long arc of the debut's success, these songs have been laying in wait for almost a year. The difference between the two albums is striking. Where the first album seemed to be chasing Kings of Leon's brand of southern steamed Stones, "Thank You Happy Birthday" finds Cage The Elephant racing away from the straight up, greasy rock of album one and lunging headfirst into "Nevermind" with a serious dusting of Pixies dust.

Their worldview reamins the same, with plenty of Us V Them raging. "Indy Kidz" and "Sell Yourself" are broadsides that seemed oddly aimed at the kind of kids who'd dig the band anyway. "2024" has a raging punk propulsion driving its screaming guitar, yet the final song "Flow" plays like a jam band's kiss goodnight. Vocalist Matt Schultz has surprising rock range in that he manages both the punk-funk angst of "Sell Yourself," the whispery croon of "Flow" and the gravely rock of "Aberdeen" and "Shake Down" (in my opinion, the disc's two best songs).

The rest of the band is keeping right up with him. "Thank You Happy Birthday" is a reckless sophomore album that lurches from style to style with total abandon and little regard for cohesion. Cage The Elephant are fortunate in that their newness gives them enough edge to keep this disparate batch of songs from collapsing in on itself. There are moments ("Indy Kidz" and "Around My Head") where the contrivance gets too obvious, but the pluses here far outweigh the minuses. "Thank You Happy Birthday" finds Cage The Elephant whupping the sophomore slump with a sturdy, rocking records.

 

My Amazon Reviews: Kings of Leon "Come Around Sundown"

Riding with The Kings  
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The Kings of Leon took the old fashioned route to stardom; they made consistent albums, toured relentlessly, ignored trends and waited for the world to catch up. Their fifth album, "Come Around Sundown," capitalizes on that steady as we go philosophy by keeping to the basics. Caleb Followill still sings like he's got honey in his mouth, the guitars are big and echoed, yet trace their roots to Southern Rock via U2's arena blast, and the songs themselves are rants and rolls about love, women and sex.

If you caught on to Kings Of Leon via "Only By The Night's" hits, that will probably suit you just fine. For those of us with the band since "Youth and Young Manhood," this will fee like a holding pattern. Granted, they are still messing with the formula (the dow-woppy "Mary" or the slide guitar country of "Back Down South"), for the most part, "Come Around Sundown" sounds pat.

That still isn't enough to wash them off just yet, as both "The End" and the hooky "Radioactive" hit the right spots. "Beach Side" could be the smoothest track they've done so far. The bass line in "Pony Up" makes me smile each time I hear it. Kings Of Leon have yet to disappoint me, and even though "Come Around Sundown" doesn't show the kind of exponential progressions that the first four albums did from each other, it's still a great rock album from a band at the top of their game.

 

My Amazon Reviews: Cage The Elephant "Cage The Elephant"

Elephant's memory
4 Out of 5 Stars 

I guess now that Kings of Leon have proven that there's still an audience for loud, sloppy rock and roll, labels are tripping over themselves to find the next KoL. Seems they didn't have to look very far. Cage The Elephant hail from Kentucky and make a glorious, unbridled back-to-basics guitar racket that hails from the long buried collective memories of The Rolling Stones, The Faces and others that turned their amps up and started shouting at the world.

 The main draw here was "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked," a snappy moralizing number that asks why people do devious things to survive. That survival theme runs through most of Cage The Elephant's music, with the kick start of "In One Ear" and the crossroads-type saga on "Drones In The Valley." There's plenty of old fashioned Us V. Them power that drives their music and more than enough unbridled energy to go around. No pretense, little gloss, good playing and good singing with no auto-tune in sight. Along with Crash Kings, one of the best of the current crop of new rockers.

My Amazon Reviews: Kings of Leon "Youth and Young Manhood"

Their Kingdom Comes
4 Out of 5 Stars

I have been a fan of this band since this CD, and realized I'd never posted a review about it. "Youth and Young Manhood" is a rock CD that strips away pretense, gets down to basics, turns the amps to ten and cracks open the Jim Beam. Raw and intense, this is garage rock as filtered through the Mason Dixon line. There's elements of Iggy, the Faces and yes, although the comparison has long since worn off, The Strokes.

Given that Kings Of Leon have gotten better with each successive album, hearing "Youth and Young Manhood" after a near six year career shows where the band was coming from. There's the Tom Petty drawl of "Joe's Head" or the Stones intimidation of "Molly's Chambers." The commandingly sexual "Holy Roller Novocaine" should have been a hit. In these songs, you can hear the cockiness that would soon spread into confidence by Aha Shake Heartbreak.

It's that self-assuredness that makes Kings Of Leon one of my favorite bands. There's little PC about their music (although there aren't any of the bad sex puns that have shown up on successive CD's), and it's highly entertaining to listen to a band that doesn't concern itself much outside the rock and roll basics. "Youth And Young Manhood" captures a gang of aggressive southern kids with a six-pack, a Strokes and Black Crowes library, and time to kill.

My Amazon Reviews: Black Crowes "Shake Your Money Maker"

Shaking it up with the Black Crowes,
5 out of 5 Stars

It's hard to believe that, as the 80's drew to a close, an album like this was taken to heart and to the charts. A band that mixed the greasier aspects of The Rolling Stones and the Southern rock of the Allman Brothers, along with a little soul and gospel, would fit in during the last dregs of New Wave and the mad popularity of the Jackson clan. But the lo-fi rocking of "Hard to Handle" and "Jealous Again" turned this booze soaked pair of brothers into stars.

Between vocal brother Chris Robinson's approximation of Rod Stewart's vocal swagger and Rich's muscular riffing, "Shake Your Money Maker" snagged an audience of classic rockers that were being under-served in 1990. The band also knew how to make a stoner anthem ballad with "She Talks To Angels," an acoustic classic that captured the band's versatility. Striking, direct and to the point, "Shake Your Money Maker" kicked off a career that The Black Crowes have stuck to ever since. What was dismissed by many as retro some 20 years ago still has the groove of classic rock in its veins, even as such newer albums as Warpaint continue their mastery of the genre.

My Amazon Reviews: Ryan Bingham "Roadhouse Sun"

Rough and Road Ready,
3 Out of 5 Stars

Ryan Bingham is not some faux rodeo clown with a stetson and western shirt. He picked up guitar as a teen-aged ranch hand and once he'd worked up a batch of songs, hit the Texas rodeo circuit, often sleeping in the back of his truck when better sofas weren't available. The rough and road weary tone of his second album, "Roadhouse Sun," spares no quarter and minces no words. He takes one of his catchiest songs, "Dylan's Hard Rain," and blows any chance of radio-play by dropping a mother-f-bomb in the middle of it. He derisively snorts in his tear-down on 21'st century politics;

"And down in Tijuana people are growing tubloads of marijuana.
Maybe some day our friends will be American Farmers."

While Ryan makes his label home on Lost Highway, his take on American Roots music hews closer to Springsteen's Devils & Dust or Steve Earle's Washington Square Serenade than Willie or Merle. The CD closer, "Wishing Well," is the kind of southern rock The Black Crowes can whip up on a regular basis. (Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford is "Roadhouse Sun's" producer.) There's still plenty of roadhouse to be found here, whether it is the stomp of "Hey Hey Hurray" or the straight up country of "Tell Mama I Miss Her So."

On the other hand, "Roadhouse Sun" still doesn't feel like Bingham's got his whole scope under control, bringing to mind another Americana Ryan, one Ryan Adams. It took Adams several albums before he could lasso all his muses into a coherent entity, and "Roadhouse Sun" gives me somewhat the same impression. Bingham offers plenty to like with lots of promise - and his band, The Dead Horses, sure make a convincing backup racket - making Ryan Bingham an artist to watch.

Recommended for fans of :
Steve Earle
James McMurtry
Springsteen's Nebraska