|
 The
Major Lift
By
Erik Hage
As
we head into the crucible of the holiday season, it’s probably
best to stick with the tried and true when purchasing music
for others. (Now is probably not the time to bounce the new
Rihanna album off of Aunt Carol, for example.) Fortunately,
a lot of blue-chip musical giants are weighing in—with recent
releases that include a couple of live records, a remastered
classic, and an inter- generational supergroup.
Paul
McCartney capitalized on the sort of instant nostalgia
he embodies—and provided a rare bright spot in the Mets’ season—by
releasing his summer 2009 Citi Field concert on audio and
DVD formats as Good Evening New York City. (The show
was, obviously, a nod to the Beatles’ hallowed 1965 Shea Stadium
concert.) The live collection is heavy on well-executed and
hyper-polished takes on McCartney’s signature Beatles songs:
“Eleanor Rigby,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “Hey Jude,”
Lady Madonna,” and “Yesterday.” There are also some interesting
surprises, however, including “Day Tripper” (with sour flatting
on the vocal) and “A Day in the Life,” both which allegedly
haven’t been played live since their recording.
 He
also unleashed a touching tribute to George Harrison via “Something,”
which swells from a quaint opening (with Macca on ukulele)
to the kind of rock histrionics the song calls for. The set
also pulls in the Wings standards “Jet,” “Band on the Run,”
and “Live and Let Die,” as well as more recent solo fare such
as “Only Mama Knows” (2007) and “Flaming Pie” (1997). While
this is a controlled and immaculate performance—even the once-blistering
“I’m Down” never quite hints at raw feistiness—McCartney still
puts on a great live show. The only true clinker is “I Saw
Her Standing There,” with its Billy Joel guest spot.
Rush
have also released a new live set, Working Men, but
it should generate a whole lot less excitement than Mc Cartney’s,
mostly because it’s a compilation live set culled from
their last three, very recent live albums, Snakes &
Arrows Live, Rush in Rio, and R30. I mean, Snakes
& Arrows came out in 2008, for crying out loud—this
seems like some hasty repackaging. Add to that the fact that
Rush in Rio came out in 2004, and R30 in 2005,
and one can safely assert that the market is glutted with
Rush live albums. And let’s not forget that the classic and
definitive early-Rush live set, All the World’s a Stage,
is still out there. Nevertheless, as a point of interest I
would like to bring up the Socratic question that Stephen
Malkmus once put forth on a Pavement album—“What about the
voice of Geddy Lee? How did it get so high? I wonder
if he speaks like an ordinary guy?”—and point out that Lee’s
still freakishly high concert voice is actually down a register
from where it once was. But enough funnin’ on Rush. This album
is clearly redundant; like the group or not, however, their
continual snubbing by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a
real head-scratcher.
 If
live retoolings of super-familiar songs aren’t one’s cup of
tea, perhaps David Bowie’s 40th Anniversary Deluxe
Edition of Space Oddity will hit the gift sweet spot.
Originally released as Man of Words/Man of Music,
the album has come to mark the beginning of Bowie’s identity
and sound shifts. Here he presents to us as psychedelic folk-rocker,
with the masterful title track offset by the indulgent, pessimistic,
and purely psychedelic “Cygnet Committee”; the cheesewad,
flutes-and-toadstools pomp of “Occasional Dream”; and more
bracing fare, such as the rocked-up “Unwashed and Somewhat
Slightly Dazed” and the appealingly delicate “Letter to Hermione.”
Overall, however, the album still comes off like a two-years-late
hangover from the psychedelic London of 1967. And this is
a dated reality that the added demos, B-Sides, BBC sessions,
stereo versions and punched-up remasterings can’t alleviate.
An album for extreme fans only.
Some
folks may prefer their nostalgia to be shot through with a
bolt of something new; in that case, consider the self-titled
debut of Them Crooked Vultures, the supergroup power
trio consisting of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, Josh Homme
(best known for Queens of the Stone Age), and Foo Fighters
leader Dave Grohl, who here occupies the drum stool he once
held in Nirvana. Clearly, the primary mode is ’70s-styled
hard rock, with “New Fang” calling to mind Rick Derringer
and “Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up”
funneling dark Doors-y sludge. But some of this is also outright
disappointing—“Reptiles” and “Caligulove” seem more suited
to one of Scott Weiland’s recent group outings.  I’m
sure that Grohl and Homme were looking for any platform and
excuse to work with Jones, though, and that joy and gratification
does seep through the grooves in many spots.
|
Site
Search 
