Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview
Meekos & Me “Anxious Little Turtles” – Meekos & Me is a duo based in L.A.: Joey Colando on vocals and guitar and Danny Grab on cello. Their debut, “Anxious Little Turtles”, due June 21, features 14 mellow tracks best suited for rainy day listening. There are some truly inspired moments where the gentle folk melodies mesh beautifully with the strings, but for the most part this is a mood record. While the music is well played and nicely recorded, the hooks are too few and far between to hold my interest. If sleepy coffeehouse music is your thing, check out the track “Animals In My Room” for a taste. More info on the band can be found here.

Surprise of the week
Paul McCartney is planning to make a “heavy rock album” – and he’s asked Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) for tips on how to go about it. Read all about it here. A heavy rock album from the man who brought us Silly Love Songs? Maybe we’ll be amazed…I’m looking forward to this one!

News
Def Leppard says “We would like to work again with Mutt”. Mutt Lange, that is. The famed producer who helped craft “High ‘N’ Dry”, “Pyromania”, and “Hysteria”. C’mon guys…let’s make this happen! Read the full interview with Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott here.

REO Speedwagon is releasing a special 30th Anniversary Edition of their smash 1980 record “Hi Fidelity” on July 19. It will contain a second CD with 9 previously unreleased goodies.
Disc One – Selections: 1. Don't Let Him Go 2. Keep On Loving You 3. Follow My Heart 4. In Your Letter 5. Take It On The Run 6. Tough Guys 7. Out Of Season 8. Shakin' It Loose 9. Someone Tonight 10. I Wish You Were There.
Disc Two: The Crystal Demos – Selections: 1. Someone Tonight 2. Tough Guys 3. In Your Letter 4. Follow My Heart 5. Take It On The Run 6. Don't Let Him Go 7. Keep On Loving You 8. Shakin' It Loose (Instrumental) 9. I Wish You Were There. (All tracks previously unreleased.)
Read the full story here.

Ingram Hill’s 2010 album, “Look Your Best” was my pick for best of 2010. They have an acoustic set coming out on June 21 called “Blue Room Afternoon” (only on iTUNES). Read more about it here.

Random iPOD song of the week
This week my iPOD reminded me what a gorgeous and moving song Lillian Axe created when they wrote “The Day That I Met You”. Off their excellent “Psychoschizophrenia” album from 1993.

Rare Trax: Lisa Loeb "Keep On Loving You"

Every Saturday at BMF we present rare or deep tracks from my collection for your listening pleasure, or perhaps for your amusement!

This week’s track is by Lisa Loeb. It is a cover of REO Speedwagon's big hit "Keep On Loving You". I don't think this live performance (or a studio version) ever made it onto one of her albums. Enjoy!

Rare CD: REO Speedwagon "Lost In A Dream"

This is classic early REO Speedwagon...1974 release has been out of print since it surfaced on CD in 1992 on Epic Records. At the time, they had vocalist Mike Murphy, not the more familiar Kevin Cronin.

Track listing
1. Give Me A Ride (Roller Coaster)
2. Throw The Chains Away
3. Sky Blues
4. You Can Fly
5. Lost In A Dream
6. Down By The Dam
7. Do Your Best
8. Wild As The Western Wind
9. They're On The Road
10. I'm Feeling Good

Currently selling used on Amazon.com for $33.00. Check now.

5-1-08: Sold for $31.03 on ebay (6 bids).

Review: REO Speedwagon "Find Your Own Way Home"

I was really excited to listen to this CD, despite that fact that REO Speedwagon has done little for me since their mid- to late 80s hey day. "Find Your Own Way Home" (2007) has been hailed as a fine return to form, a terrific comeback for a band that has sold an astonishing 40 million records since their formation in the early 70s. They even scored their first chart "hit" since 1990 with the single and third track on this release, "I Needed To Fall" (it got to 25 on the BillBoard Adult Contempory chart). It was very nice to see a seasoned band score like that in today's sorry music climate.

That said, despite my best effort, I just can't click with most of the rest of the tunes on this release. The first 3 tracks are awesome and ooze with all the things one would expect from REO. But then comes track 4, "Dangerous Combination," which will make you scratch your head and wonder if a Keith Urban track did not get put on this CD by mistake. Surprisingly, it was co-written by the AOR mastermind Jim Peterik (Survivor, Pride of Lions), but clearly is half-assed, bottom-of-his-pile fluff with generic riffs and silly lyrics. Other tracks try to recapture the "old" REO, with some fine solo guitar work in a bluesy bar vibe, but those songs just lack the flair of the analogous tunes from very early REO. They stick out in a bad way from the more melodic tunes comprising the bulk of the CD, disrupting the flow and making the band sound like they are in the midst of an identity crisis.

Another strange thing - Kevin Cronin just doesn't sound like Kevin Cronin on many of these songs (ballads excluded). I'm not saying that is a bad thing...actually, there is more of an edge and urgency in the vocals that I find very appealing. I hope they try again, staying focused on generating more like the tracks I deemed iPOD-worthy.

REO Speedwagon's official site and MySpace page.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8

Check out a performance of "I Needed To Fall" from XM Radio (via YouTube):