Steven Tyler Speaks Out About Injury, State of Aerosmith:

After all the things I've heard about Steven Tyler's injury and subsequent cancelling of the Aerosmith tour, here is a short interview with Tyler explaining what happened.


Steven Tyler Speaks Out About Injury, State of Aerosmith: "We're One for All, All for One" | Aerosmith News | AeroForceOne

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Nickelback: Dark Horse - Produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange

I'm one that has had difficulty being impressed with modern rock bands. Usually I find them to sound like a grunge hold-over, or they try to prove they can make more noise than the old thrash metal bands of the 70's and 80's, and in the process give a whole new meaning to the word grating.

From the time Nickelback started releasing songs to radio, I liked what I heard, but their style was just outside my purchasing preference. Therefore, interest in actually listening to the CD's they released were never gained, until...

As a person that follows producers and songwriters because I can be pretty sure I will like what they work on, I was quite intrigued when I saw the name of Robert John "Mutt" Lange attached to the latest Nickelback release. As producer to most of my favorite records over the last thirty years, I have found myself purchasing an album without ever hearing a note just because Mutt produced it. I have never been let down.

Having gone back to listen to all previous Nickelback (official site) albums I still believe their early albums, while well executed, are just outside my listening preference. I did notice though that they were willing to change a bit with each succeeding album. With Dark Horse, these guys take a giant leap forward. The collaboration of Nickelback and Mutt works in ways unheard of in years. (The actual producing credits for Dark Horse read as "Produced by Mutt Lange, Nickelback & Joey Moi.")

The word for this album is big; big drums; big guitars; big bass; big everything. It's such a foot stompin' good time, with full tilt party anthems, that they seem to be giving Sammy Hagar a run for the money. And it's loaded with enough blatant sexual innuendo that ZZ Top would be proud. The focus on the arrangements are so tight, Dark Horse leaves no doubt that Nickelback are not only close to taking over the mantle of best working rock band, they seem to be trying to stretch themselves into new territory. It's the type of thing most bands are afraid of, but Nickelback pulls it off without sounding like they've tread into a place they can't handle.

If you're a fan of good hard rock, I wholeheartedly recommend this album. Once Dark Horse is in the car CD player, you won't be able to turn the volume down.

Welcome Back Lou Gramm

Rock n' roll, or popular music in general, is filled with well known tragedy. From plane/automobile wrecks to drug and/or alcohol overdoses, the music world is a landscape of people whose behavior, accidents, and calamities are open to the public.

Names like Led Zeppelin(official site), Patsy Cline(os), The Doors(os), Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson(os), Elvis Presley(os), Lynyrd Skynyrd(os), and Nirvana are all known to people the world over with well documented tragedies of some sort for each. Unfortunately, when these things happen, they are usually met with much scrutiny and sometimes disdain rather than the sorrow or empathy they deserve. A side effect of living your life in the public spotlight.

Lesser known, because it is usually not as well documented, is the musician or band/group that faces some sort of unbelievable adversity and is able to carry on after most would have called it quits.

When Def Leppard(os) drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in an automobile accident in 1984, fans wondered if it would be the end of the band, if not the drummer. Allen however, by working with great technicians, was able to build an unprecedented electronic drum kit which allowed him to play with his left foot, via a multiple pedal set-up, what used to be played with his left arm. Today he is still with Def Leppard, whose most recent album came out last year, playing a combination electronic-acoustic set-up. And in 2001, Allen founded The Raven Drum Foundation with Lauren Monroe(os).

How about a broken back? In 1990, Gloria Estefan's(os) tour bus was involved in an accident that fractured her back. It required two titanium rods implanted on either side of her spine, and a year of painful physical therapy. Estefan made her first come-back appearance at the American Music Awards in 1991 after a tearful walk onto the stage, and struggled to maintain her composure while singing her first live song in a year. That performance can be found on YouTube. Today she continues to tour and occasionally release some new music; her most recent album released in 2007.

These two are only a tiny part of the number of performers that have returned to the careers they love after facing something that seemed insurmountable. With that said, next is a man whose music has provided me with a catalog of more than thirty years of great rock n' roll.

Lou Gramm(os) is responsible or co-responsible for sales that hover around 80 million albums worldwide; and they're still growing! Very few artists can say they have ever even come close to such a feat. A detailed examination of his career follows in order to appreciate where he is at now.

Gramm started his music career as a drummer in the late sixties and early seventies, playing with various bands before switching to lead vocalist when forming the rock band Black Sheep with bassist Bruce Turgon(os), and guitarist Don Mancuso(os). Gramm has said that at the time, Black Sheep was heavily influenced by the blues rock sound of Free. Black Sheep released three albums, one EP and two on a label, found some success in the northeastern US, but failed to make much of a dent anywhere else.

On an invitation from Mick Jones, whom Gramm had previously met when Jones was with Spooky Tooth, to audition for a new band Jones was starting, Gramm left Black Sheep and the now classic Foreigner(os) was born. A year after that audition, their self-titled album Foreigner was released in 1977. The songwriting team of Jones & Gramm found magic that most musicians can only dream about. Their album was an instant hit, and Gramm was now a bona fide rock star.

Not ones to just sit on their new found success, Foreigner released three albums in successive years. In 1978 Double Vision was released, and on the strength of singles Hot Blooded, and the title track, sales were even bigger than the first album. 1979's Head Games continued the success started two years earlier. That record was almost as well known for its then controversial cover as for its music.

In 1981 Foreigner unleashed 4 on the world, an album that is now considered by some to be one of the best rock albums ever created. Produced by famed music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange & Mick Jones, 4 showed what could happen when a couple of supremely talented songwriters teamed with an equally talented producer. The end result was a wildly successful album that gave us several hit singles, and proved to have no weaknesses throughout. Gramm himself called 4 "a very, very strong album", and has said in the past that he believes it to be the high point of his time with Foreigner.

Since Foreigner would be touring at length through '81 and '82 in support of 4, and it would be awhile before returning to the studio, a greatest hits package, Records, was released late in 1982. Similar to the Eagles(os) Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 being their biggest selling album, Foreigner's Records has, over the years, become their biggest seller. Another similarity is that both of these greatest hits records cover each bands first four albums.

After the tour and a break Gramm, Jones, and co. returned to the studio, and Agent Provocateur was released in December of 1984. A concept album whose concept didn't really work, Agent Provocateur showed that Gramm and Jones were starting to diverge in their respective musical direction. While not a really strong album, it nonetheless sold relatively well. Agent Provocateur was best known for a couple of big singles, That Was Yesterday, and most notably, the gigantic #1 hit I Want To Know What Love Is. A sort-of R&B number penned by Jones, I Want To Know What Love Is was a track believed by many to be a song that couldn't have been done by Foreigner a few years earlier. In the process, it ended up alienating the fans of the AOR sound of the earlier Foreigner. In an interview with Our Prattville News Magazine in May of this year, Gramm claims that he believes he wrote probably 40% of that song but was never credited for it.

With tensions running high between Gramm and Jones, they went their separate ways in order to seek different creative outlets. Jones went on to produce a couple of mid 80's rock albums, one of which was a huge hit, while Gramm teamed with his Black Sheep buddy Bruce Turgon and commenced a lasting songwriting partnership. (Whether or not they wrote together in Black Sheep is anyones guess since finding that information is next to impossible. Should somebody happen to have those old records, and the liner notes have that info, please drop me a line.)

The partnership of Gramm and Turgon proved profitable when in February of 1987, Gramm's first solo effort, Ready Or Not, was released to acclaim, good sales, and a big, top 5 hit single. That single, Midnight Blue, would go on to become what is widely considered to be the Lou Gramm signature song. The sound and structure of the music on the album was miles away from the songs of Foreigner, and a pleasant welcome addition to the Gramm catalog. An absolutely great rock record with the sonic ability to sound tremendous more than twenty years later. Eight of the ten tracks on Ready Or Not were written by Gramm/Turgon, and with sales booming, proved that Gramm could create successful music aside from his partnership with Mick Jones.

In the middle of summer another good Lou Gramm song, Lost In The Shadows, turned up on the successful The Lost Boys soundtrack.

A little later that same year, Gramm and Jones re-teamed to start work on the next Foreigner album. I remember reading somewhere that the album took a mere four months to complete, but the finished product didn't have the sound of a rushed project. Released in December, Inside Information had the sound and feel of a very competent production, but the album showed that Foreigner were continuing to move ever further from their AOR days. More pop and ballady than the rock we were accustomed to, it still managed to chart a few hit singles. While the production on the record was tight, and a couple of good rockers were on there, Gramm said he felt the experience of making it was "creatively unfulfilling". On his website he says, "Mick and I were moving in radically different creative directions. I knew then it was time for me to focus on my solo career." Thus at the end of 1988, Gramm formally announced he was leaving Foreigner.

We didn't have long to wait for more. In November 1989 the second Lou Gramm solo outing, Long Hard Look, hit stores to much excitement from this listener. Teamed again with Bruce Turgon, and collaborating with producer Eric "ET" Thorngren, best known for his work with Squeeze(os), Talking Heads(os), and Robert Palmer, Gramm gave us a great pop/rock album. Vastly different from anything previously attempted by Gramm, the record did manage to produce a couple of hit singles. Biggest was the top 10 hit Just Between You And Me; one of those songs that was heard every time a pop or top 40 radio station was tuned in. After a while, that song started to become kind of irritating and I would change the channel, but the rest of the album still played well.

The musician credits on Long Hard Look read like a who's who list of rock talent. Some of them are Vivian Campbell(os), a future Def Leppard guitarist with a resume that included Sweet Savage, Dio(os), Whitesnake(os), and Riverdogs; Dann Huff, a popular session guitarist and producer that has since worked with the likes of Michael Jackson(os), Billy Joel(os), Shania Twain(os), Celine Dion(os), Bon Jovi(os), just about every country music artist over the past twenty years, and his own hard rock band, Giant; and of course, Peter Wolf(os), best known as the frontman for The J. Geils Band(os). He has worked as a writer, player, or producer for just about anybody and everybody over the last thirty years.

Still looking for other creative outlets Lou Gramm and Bruce Turgon teamed with the aforementioned Vivian Campbell, and Kevin Valentine of Donnie Iris And The Cruisers(os) fame, to form the new band Shadow King. They released a self-titled album in October 1991 that failed to chart, and a changing music scene with the rise in popularity of hip-hop and the new-found grunge were quickly blamed for the failure. I believe this to be incorrect. The music on the album is listenable, but seems to require multiple spins to find anything catchy. With the talent behind this band, the album didn't turn out to be what it should've or could've been. Instead, it tends to play as a rather bland concoction of uninspired tunes. Over the years I would return to give this CD another listen, thinking maybe I had missed something, and eventually learned to appreciate it. Slowly, it became an album I liked, and now listen to it regularly. Unfortunately, even talented musicians can have a misstep, and I believe this to be the only one I have heard in Gramm's long career.

After the commercial debacle that was Shadow King, Lou Gramm and Mick Jones put aside their differences to put together a new greatest hits package. What better way to repair your wounds than to return to what you know? With Bruce Turgon joining Gramm and Jones in Foreigner at this point, they cut three new tracks and added them to The Very Best...And Beyond, released late in 1992. The three new tracks were of course pretty different from other Foreigner tracks, but they added nicely to the mix. Because the album charted for only a few weeks, it appeared the sales wouldn't be forthcoming, but steady purchases over the years eventually gave it multiple platinum status.

Since tours were doing well, it looked like there was still an audience for new Foreigner material. Knowing this, they returned to the studio, and released Mr. Moonlight early in 1995. It turned out to be a fine rock album with Gramm and Jones putting together some challenging and sometimes head-scratching, curious song structures. Sonically it sounded as good as anything they had done in the past, but was largely ignored in the U.S. where classic rock wasn't even selling anymore. However, it did sell extremely well throughout the rest of the world, proving there was still a Foreigner audience out there, just not where they thought it was.

The unthinkable happened when Foreigner were preparing for a tour that would be starting in August of 1996 or '97. Suffering from unbearable headaches, confusing memory loss, and double vision, Gramm says, "I thought I was in a bad dream, really. I just couldn't figure it out." He had himself looked at and an MRI of his head was done. What was found was a benign brain tumor, one Gramm was told he was born with, that had grown to the point it had become life threatening. At first told that an operation to remove the tumor was too dangerous, and that the tumor was too big to be removed, Gramm's situation appeared to be hopeless.

Later, while Gramm was home, he saw a news story on a surgeon doing radical new laser surgeries. The office was contacted, and they told Gramm when they had an opening. So, packing up everything he thought he would need, he went to see what this new doctor would say about Gramm's problem. It was determined that Gramm's condition was an emergency, so he went into surgery two days later. The surgery started early in the morning, and took between seventeen and nineteen hours. While the operation was successful, other unforeseen problems would arise due to the effects of the surgery.

Gramm's operation took place in April, and with Foreigner commitments in August, he had little time for recovery before hitting the road. Because of the short recovery time, and no real time to practice or prepare for the tour, Gramm couldn't remember the words to many of the songs for their set list. Thus, lyrics were written down with a large marker, and taped to the floor of the stage to help. It was while on this tour that Gramm noticed he was becoming more and more fatigued, making it arduous to get through each show. A visit to a clinic determined that he had developed Sleep Apnea. Knowing the problem helped, but treating is difficult.

Over time other problems continued to arise that plagued Gramm, and to him it seemed non-stop. He developed Type 2 Diabetes, and combined with the apnea, he was no longer able to drive. With the effects of the operation adversely affecting his adrenal and pituitary glands, Gramm found himself with almost no stamina, furiously gaining weight, and his voice seemingly going south.

Not wanting to quit his tour with Foreigner, Gramm soldiered on and tackled the problems as each arose. "Well," he says, "it is how I make a living." He stayed with Foreigner until the end of 2002 when a continuing rift between him and Jones caused him to once again leave the band.

In 2003 Gramm formed a touring band, and even performed on Black Sheep buddy Don Mancuso's album DDrive, released in 2004. A record that has a very classic, early Bad Company(os) sound to it. After the death of Gramm's parents within months of each other in '04, the initial lineup he had put together decided to go their separate ways. But he wasn't done yet...

Of this time period Gramm, on his website, said, "It has been a daily struggle getting back to normal, but my faith in Jesus Christ is strong, and in the end, it got me through those tough times and continues to do so." Soon, he pulled some musicians together again including his two brothers Ben Gramm on drums, and Richard Gramm on bass and guitar, as well as Don Mancuso on guitar, and Andy Knoll on keyboards. The Lou Gramm Band was started and they immediately set about writing new material. Of the direction of his writing, Gramm, in the interview mentioned earlier said, "I already had the seed of a Christian rock album planted in my heart and it was growing rapidly and even though my brothers and my friends believe in God they were a little skeptical about what I wanted to do. But they jumped on board and as soon as we started writing songs and they heard the lyrics and that the music could be very powerful also, I think that it moved them."

Released in June of this year, the eponymous album has brought one of the great rock stars back with his first album of all new material in fourteen years. Most of the songs have a thick, classic, bluesy, rockin' sound to them, and a few have a gospel/hymnal quality. Hearing Gramm's voice can be a bit of a shock because it is so different than what we're used to, but all the nuances of his vocal styling are there and completely recognizable. Overall, it's great stuff to hear. It's not very often that the Christian rock world gets a classic AOR sounding record on its hands, but here's hoping that it will be embraced by all sides of the music spectrum. It's been a long wait, but considering the circumstances it's great just to see Gramm continuing with his music.

Just before the release of the album, Gramm was asked in the previously mentioned interview about his health and he replied, "My health continues to improve twelve years after my operation and some pretty steep ups and downs...not so many ups, mostly downs. I thought I never would be feeling better." He states that he is "on a ton of medication", that he has to use oxygen to help him get through the sets while doing concerts, but that he is getting better, even if it is excruciatingly slow. On his website, Gramm states, "I am at the point in my life where I can really enjoy the result of my many years of hard work. I am having fun now for the first time in a long time, and I am eager to return to the studio after the current tour to start recording some new music for a couple of different album projects I have planned for the future."

While we look forward to anything Gramm decides to offer us in the future, we have a fine rock record to hold us over.

I used to only be a fan of Lou Gramm, but because of his unwillingness to roll over and give up as some have done that I know, he now holds my respect. Lou, rock n' roll welcomes you back, and in the words of Benny and Bjorn, thank you for the music!

Motley Crue - Crue Fest 2

For those that like their rock n' roll fast, noisy, loud, and nasty, it would probably be difficult to find better than Crue Fest 2. After the gigantic success of Crue Fest last year, this touring music festival started by Motley Crue (official site) looks to be setting itself up to be the big concert draw for the summer of 2009. Besides the Crue, other bands included in the festival are Godsmack (official site), Theory Of A Deadman (official site), Drowning Pool (official site), and Charm City Devils (official site).

There is a rumor floating around stating that some of the shows will include a 2nd stage with some as yet unnamed bands. Have researched this, and am unable to verify.

Also, if you haven't heard it yet, you might want to give the latest Motley Crue album, Saints Of Los Angeles, a listen. Rather than push the creative envelope as they have on a couple of occasions in the past, Motley seems to just be trying to prove they can still rock just as hard as some of the young bands out there. Nonetheless, it is a strong rock record, and deserves a spin.

Crue Fest 2 dates here.

Night Ranger on Tour

Last year Night Ranger (official site) released what I believe to be their ninth studio album, Hole In The Sun, and they've been extensively touring ever since. The ambitious dates they have booked looks like one of their 80's stadium tours. You'd never know these guys are rockers that have been at this game for thirty years or more.

While a fan, I always found Night Ranger's music to be a bit strange. I never thought their albums, except for a few tracks on each, to be wholly accessible. The sound of each album was quite a bit different from other rock albums of the time, giving them an against-the-grain feel. However, after repeated playings, due to hearing something that needed to be heard again, the music would grow on me, and I would find myself listening to them often. The exception to this was their 1988 rocker, Man In Motion. From beginning to end, it was a perfect rock record with great hooks and musicianship throughout, and it had me from the first note.

The fact they are on such a large tour shows that either they have managed to maintain their fanbase, or are garnering a new one. Either way, I am sure they are putting on some great shows.

Over the next couple of months many of the concerts will be with Journey (official site), and then on October 29, 30 & 31, Night Ranger will be joining REO Speedwagon (official site), and Styx (official site) as part of REO's Can't Stop Rockin' Tour.

Click on the following links to see the tour dates for each.

REO Speedwagon

Styx

Journey

NightRanger
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Billy Squier - All Night Long Tour '09

One of the seminal rock stars of the 80's, whose career dwindled much too soon, on his own summer tour. This is one I never thought would happen.

Billy Squier first started performing in the late 60's, and toiled through a lot of different bands, including two albums with Piper, before finding success as a solo artist. From 1979 to 1993, Squier released eight albums, three of which found great sales success; Don't Say No (1981), Emotions in Motion (1982), and Signs of Life (1984). Unfortunately, these three albums, or the singles from them, are the only ones that most people will remember.

Rumor has it that after Billy's last studio album, Tell The Truth (1993), failed to chart due to what he believed was the record label ignoring the album, he left the music business. Some feared is was for good, but it's hard to keep a good rock star down.

After a couple of tours as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Squier has grabbed a fine back up band and hit the road. As he says on billysquier.com, "I had so much fun playing with Ringo and the All-Starrs the past few years that it made me feel like dusting off the entire repertoire and doing it all one more time."

So if your a long time fan, or new to the great 80's rock scene, this is a show not to miss.

Chickenfoot - CD & Tour

Fans of rock n' roll everywhere should rejoice over this one. With backgrounds from Montrose (Ronnie Montrose site), to Van Halen (official site), to the Red Hot Chili Peppers (official site), to solo careers, Chickenfoot comes close to covering the gamut of the past thirty-five years of old school rock.

Much like past bands that surprised us with their get together, the teaming of Sammy Hagar (official site), Joe Satriani (official site), Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith is one that we couldn't have foreseen. Granted, Anthony and Hagar have played together in both Van Halen, and in shows with the Waboritas, the addition of the other two came as a bit of a shock.

After several listens, I've come to the conclusion that because of the consistency of the music, there are no stand out tracks. That's not a bad thing, it's just that I found myself actually listening for such a song. This CD plays as a foot-stompin', dashboard thumpin', and sometimes head-bangin' good time.

Satriani's guitar work covers just about everything, including a lot of dark sounds I've not heard in rock music in quite awhile. Anthony and Smith give us pulsating rhythms that drive everything forward in fine hard rock fashion, and even add to the aforementioned darkness. Hagar on the other hand is, well...Hagar. At almost 62, Sammy gives no inclination of retirement, and indeed proves that rock is in his blood.

The one thing I did find standing out on this album is fun. It's fun to listen, and fun to crank up the volume. Whether the studio work is fun or not, these guys make it sound as if they are having a blast playing these songs. Just the sort of band you want to see play live. With a summer tour that started in Europe and concludes in the States at the end of September, we'll get our chance. I am definitely curious what songs are on their playlist.

Album available on CD, as an MP3 download, and even on Vinyl Record.

See tour dates here.