#1 Alice Cooper Hammersmith 2009
Consistent is the word for Alice Cooper with this tremendous new release.
Alice Cooper - Theatre Of Death-Live At Hammersmith 2009 (DVD W/Bonus CD) (2010)
Review by Joe ViglioneAlso on TMR Zoo http://www.tmrzoo.com/2010/16287
For those who remember the television show "Rock Concert" where Alice Cooper did a superb Bloodrock-ish version of "I'm 18" to open the program, it was one of those iconic televised moments, as classic a moment in 70s TV rock as David Bowie on the Midnight Special. It did come out on a terrific double lp bootleg followed a couple of years later by Warner Brothers single l.p. release The Alice Cooper Show (Live) which featured the Dick Wagner/Steve Hunter band from Lou Reed's Rock 'n' Roll Animal and it's quick follow-up, Lou Reed Live.
Now with the dawn of the DVD you've got multiple releases from major rockers who are still out there kicking, artists like Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson and Alice, pros who keep touring the world and build new fans while keeping their loyal followings happy. Shout Factory! recently put the Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper Live 1973 - Billion Dollars Baby Tour out on DVD which makes this tremendous effort on the Bigger Picture DVD label a wonderful chance to a/b the two eras - classic Cooper and Alice today.
Where the Warner Brothers 70s single lp release wasn't enough for the fans (not when J. Geils Band, Humble Pie, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton and even Bob friggin' Seger got double discs out to their rabid fans) it still had a bevy of hits -"Under My Wheels", "Eighteen", "Only Women Bleed", "Sick Things". the quintessential "Is It My Body", "I Never Cry", "Billion Dollar Babies", "Devil's Food/The Black Widow", "You and Me", the medley of. I Love The Dead/ Go To Hell/ Wish You Were Here and "Schools Out".
This project takes the concept where it should've gone 35 years ago - "The Ballad Of Dwight Frye" in all its gory glory, superb camera work, Alice right down to business with no nonsense, and a solid band that - while it doesn't have the sloppy fun of the original Alice Cooper Group (a la the good old days of The Rolling Stones) or the machine-like menace of Hunter/Wagner, it is what Alice needs for the new millennium. This is a terrific double disc set with the audio on a disc separate from the DVD and it should be a very satisfying fix for those who like keeping track of Alice's escapades.
Highly recommended.
Jo Jo Laine Was In For Something Good
#2 Jo Jo Laine was in for Something Good
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2010/16272
#3 New Jesse Barish CD
Review by Craig Fenton
Jesse Barish Continues To Be Soul Superlative
Not too long ago my girlfriend wanted to know how I got introduced to Jesse Barish. Sincere thanks are offered to the combination of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and KBC Band) and Mike Somavilla (number one historian of the legendary band Quicksilver Messenger Service). Jesse’s resume of writing timeless tunes which includes but are not limited to “Count On Me”, “St. Charles”, “Atlanta Lady”, and “Hearts” is only superseded by his ego-free existence. He is the true professional, successful yet humble and appreciative of his fans and his craft. READ MORE HERE:http://www.tmrzoo.com/2010/16267
#4 Andrew S. Rotondi’s Film “Friends In Heaven” Debuts in Boston October 29, 2010
Director/Producer Andrew S. Rotondi’s film, Friends In Heaven, makes its debut at the Bell in Hand Tavern on Friday evening, October 29, 2010 on 45 Union Street in Faneuil Hall. Along with being set at the Bell In Hand, the film has a creepy Halloween vibe to it with the concept of a man who hasn’t spoken to his brother in five years...read more here: http://www.tmrzoo.com/2010/16210
#5 Film: Inside Job
When Eliot Spitzer is the first visible guest in the film trailer stating: “The regulators, they had the power to do every case that I made when I was State Attorney General. They just didn’t want to”, you have a feeling that Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job is going to be a powerful work. And it is, for as that trailer points out, the 2008 financial meltdown was avoidable.
Along with being powerful Inside Job is also complex so maybe the best way to preface this review is to quote Roger Ebert who noted that the film is about “How the financial industry set out to defraud the Ordinary American investor”, quoting the veteran film critic because this writer got outraged while watching and reviewing what is the definitive (yet unofficial) sequel to Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary epic Fahrenheit 9/11. Many films have tried to come close to Moore’s knock-out punch and for my money this work succeeds.
Read more here: http://www.tmrzoo.com/2010/15803
#6 Deb Swiss The Tin Ticket
#7 Jillian Cardarelli
Jillian Cardarelli Releases 3rd CD – Little Big Sky
Jillian Cardarelli’s Little Big Sky is an impressive collection of eleven songs produced by Marty Walsh (session guitarist for LeAnn Rimes, former guitarist with Supertramp) and with material co-written by noted songwriter Don Campbell. The material is strong with most compositions coming in around the three to four minute mark, “If He Asks” as good as anything on an Olivia Newton-John release back in her glorious heyday of pioneering pop/country crossover on a mass scale.
With radio what it is these days Caradarelli is smart to go the country route, classy melodies with the young lady’s expressive voice works in a big way. Just listen to the quasi-Jackie DeShannon-styled “One Way Ticket” with its perfect “Needles and Pins” guitar hook (thank you Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono). Read more here:
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2010/15710
#8 Juanito Pascual
Get familiar with flamenco: Juanito Pascual performs at Somerville Theater Oct. 9
Malden resident Jonathan “Juanito” Pascual will present The Junglewood Concert with his ensemble at The Somerville Theater on Saturday, Oct. 9, at 8 p.m. If Pascual’s video of Viaje (The Journey) Bulerias on YouTube is any indication the evening of music and dance, it will be a unique and entertaining experience.
The song on the video is the elegant and final track on his eight selection CD, Language Of The Heart, the follow-up to 2003’s Cosas en Comun, and both works are impressive in both their scope as well as their ability to communicate Pascual’s refreshing approach to the guitar.
The second solo CD was released in June 2009 and it is simply exquisite. On Viaje Bulerias, the aforementioned video, Pascual employs a rhythmic slap along with dynamic colourings, searching out notes on the fretboard in an inspired and eloquent fashion that creates a feeling of multiple musicians performing the stringed instrument in unison.
For those not familiar with a flamenco guitar, not knowing if the sound it creates is like the mandolin on Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” or the stylings of Jimi Hendrix, consider that it’s much, much closer to the brittle yet captivating sound on Stewart’s first big hit...and is best exemplified for pop audiences on a song from television stars The Monkees entitled “Valerie.” The performance on the hit by the TV show band may not be exact flamenco, Wikipedia noting that on the famous recording “session musician Louie Shelton (contributes) a flamencoesque guitar solo,” but it is close enough to the style of what Pascual is playing for the general public to relate to. Read more here:
#9
Meet Malden resident Don Schulze of the Beatles tribute duo, The Two of Us
Don Schulze, of Malden
In the July 22 Malden Observer, it was noted that the music of The Beatles is getting recorded and/or played in this city, some of the fans/musicians such as David C. Mooney and David Andrulli, showing up for Ringo Starr’s June performance in Boston, or guitarist Len Tetta opening for Greg Hawkes of The Cars.
Hawkes has a new CD out entitled “The Beatles Uke by Greg Hawkes,” where he performs the Beatles hits on Ukulele. Hawkes also had the distinction of performing on Paul McCartney’s Flowers In The Dirt album. There was also the Observer’s May 10 story on Malden native John Lubinski who literally jumped onstage to meet the Fab Four back in 1966.
Or how about Ed Ames of The Ames Brothers covering Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” on his Who Will Answer album?
Beatlemania, it seems, is alive and well in Malden.
Guitar teacher and Malden resident Don Schulze has a Beatles tribute/musical duo called “The Two of Us,” named after one of the tracks off of the Fab Four’s Let It Be album. Thanks to Jeff Munro of the Acoustic Open Mic Nights at Hugh O’Neill’s Pub & Restaurant, we tracked Don down at BMR Music on 185 Salem St. Read more here:http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/fun/entertainment/x372513109/Meet-Malden-resident-Don-Schulze-of-the-duo-The-Two-of-Us
#10 New album from Lauren Bateman
11
![Cover (Brutally Live [DVD & CD]:Alice Cooper)](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg100/g160/g16025w60jy.jpg)
Recorded live on July 19th, 2000, at LaBatt's Apollo in Hammersmith, England, the double-disc Brutally Live features both a live CD with 20 songs, and a DVD featuring those 20 plus five additional titles: "Ballad of Dwight Frye," "Pick Up the Bones," "Dead Babies," "I Love the Dead," and "Black Widow." The DVD also includes an alternate camera angle and bonus video of "Gimme." This is actually a monumental achievement and has to be put in the context of other live releases from Alice Cooper. His rendition of "I'm Eighteen" taped for the In Concert TV show back in the 1980s was one of the great moments of rock on television and is still hard to top. It made its way onto a bootleg and is a defining moment that would be hard for anyone to capture again, let alone decades after the fact. What this document does is prove that 30 years later Cooper still has the power and the glory long after many other artists from his era passed their prime. The band is great, probably his best outfit since Alice utilized remnants of Lou Reed's "Rock 'n' Roll Animal" group on The Alice Cooper Show live disc. Read more here on AMG:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/brutally-live-dvd-cd-r662679/review
#12 Billion Dollar Baby by Bob Greene
I've always loved this book by Bob Greene, a nice inside look at the final tour from the original Alice Cooper Group. Can't believe it is going for 89.00 on Amazon...wow...ya think they would re-release it!
http://www.amazon.com/Billion-Dollar-Baby-Bob-Greene/dp/0451067134/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288615040&sr=8-1
Check out the reader reviews...fascinating
http://www.amazon.com/Billion-Dollar-Baby-Bob-Greene/product-reviews/0451067134/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
about Bob Greene
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Greene
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Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He was a film critic for Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com and produces and hosts Visual Radio. Visual Radio is a fifteen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed John Lennon’s Uncle Charlie, Margaret Cho, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere, Marty Balin, Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
