11 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
10 Temmuz 2012 Salı
9 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
Film Review: U2 -"From the Sky Down' (The Story of he Making of U2's Achtung Baby
To contact us Click HERE
U2 – ‘From the Sky Down’
Film / BluRay Review [Originally published over at antiMUSIC]
***1/2 Stars
By Anthony Kuzminski
Buy the Blu-ray HERE
Fear of failure is something everyone lives within every person who breathes. As cocksure and confident one person may be, deep inside of them is a nightmare of falling on their face. Many see disappointment as the end of the line whereas it fuels others. It takes hold of them and forces them to work twice as hard the next time they climb the mountain. In the music industry record and ticket sales have always been viewed as the barometer of success, but sometimes artistry and relevance are better measuring points. In early January 1990 in Holland, U2 closed out a four year cycle that including writing, recording and touring The Joshua Tree and then writing, recording and touring Rattle and Hum. Smashed in the middle was a concert film. While achieving astonishing success during this period, they went from being on the cover of Time magazine in 1987 to taking a critical drubbing in late 1988 for what was viewed as the pompousness of Rattle and Hum.Once a musician reaches a certain level of commercial success, it handicaps them from ever making a truly career defining album ever again because if they repeat the formula of their rocket ship they’re viewed as riding on their own coattails and when they venture down dark and desolate roads for the road-less-traveled they’re viewed as stretching beyond their boundaries. Upon listening to Rattle and Hum in the fall of 1988, the world felt that U2 had peaked with The Joshua Tree and probably would never create another record as endearing or great. They were wrong. However, it wasn’t without profound hardship and tribulation. Great art is usually made amidst chaos and pain and U2’s monumental Achtung Baby is no different.
A true 180-degree change of direction that is met with both critical and fan acclaim in mostly an anomaly in the music industry. Artists have often made departures resulting in a fresh, enlivening and new sound, but rarely is it met with open arms. I could speak to you all day about the brilliance of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, but the truth is most people would prefer to hear Born to Run. I personally feel Mick Jagger’s last few solo releases (1993-2004) found Jagger to reveal more within the albums than he ever would in an autobiography but the truth is few yearn to see him without Keith Richards at his side. Change is a condition of our lives we grapple with the most. Many would rather stay in a job or marriage where they are dejected than go through a short term ache which will lead to greener pastures. Many people are scared to try new food thinking they’ll loathe it when in reality they’re just as likely to take pleasure in it. In many ways, music is the toughest nut to crack. Most people gravitate towards the music they enjoyed during their teen years and what they hear on the radio. Getting someone to seek out new acts is tough and asking them to listen closer to more experimental works by their favorite artists is even tougher which is what makes the success of U2’s 1991 masterpiece Achtung Baby all that much more of an anomaly.
Before U2, the only band to truly manage a commercially and artistic 180-change of direction was the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were able to do it to a lesser extent with Some Girls, but in my opinion, that record’s strengths are more of a result of the songs. Obviously, David Bowie transformed several times in his career, but he never quite reached worldwide success at the level of the Beatles or U2. Achtung Baby was not a record that should have worked and even if it did, why did anyone think the public would accept it? Back in October of 1991 when I first heard “The Fly” I was perplexed. The sound was unlike anything U2 had attempted before and I wasn’t sure I liked it. When I heard the album a month later, I wasn’t sold. There were some sonically remarkable moments, but I wasn’t sure I would be listening to the record a year down the road, let alone twenty years. History has told a different tale as it is largely viewed as one of the decade’s ten greatest albums and the furthermost changes of direction in the history of music. To celebrate the film’s twentieth anniversary there was an elaborate ten-disc reissue of the album (6 CD’s and 4 DVD’s) with a documentary by director Davis Guggenheim being potentially the most revealing snapshot of the band ever. Two decades later it’s evident that U2 did indeed come through on the other side and managed the impossible, they reinvented themselves without sacrificing who they were in the process. In the new documentary film From the Sky Down we learn that in order to achieve this, the band had to forget everything they knew and almost lost the band in the process.
Director Davis Guggenheim took a high level approach with the film infusing it with enough minutiae to appease fanatics but reigns it in just enough to appeal to a informal viewer who will most likely find the story exhilarating. If the film has one flaw, it’s that it’s entirely too short. This is a case where an extended director’s cut would have been most welcomed. Comprised of interviews conducted in 2011 alongside vintage footage shot by Rattle and Hum director Phil Joanou in 1987, we see a band at the top of the world, but who was falling apart. Shifting between the past and the present gives a visceral view into their working process. Most bands once they attain a certain amount of celebrity rest on their laurels. It’s not that they don’t care about their art, but they may not obsess over it as much as they previously had. However, U2 is not like most bands. First and foremost, they’re a band in the truest sense of the word. Bono may be out front and a voracious spokesperson but as one can see from the interviews and video of the band during this period, all four members are essential to U2. Bono’s ego does not go unchecked and the Edge may create a kaleidoscope of colors but its drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton who keep the group from veering too far off course. It’s the fact that these four musicians, shepherded by their Svengali manager Paul McGuiness that keeps the band not just grounded but capable of making three undisputed masterpieces in three separate decades (The Joshua Tree in 1987, Achtung Baby in 1991 and All That You Can’t Leave Behind in 2000).
As they prepped for their 2011 tour, U2 began to re-learn and rehearse several of the songs from Achtung Baby. We see them rehearse and relearn many of the songs and this should be boring, but it’s rather fascinating as we’re a fly-in-the-wall during a rehearsal. We see a partial performance of the incandescent “So Cruel”, which was performed a measly five times on the 1992 tour. You begin to understand their need for perfection. I only wish more of these performances had been included. Aside from new interviews one of the key items that give the film historical focus is the footage Guggenheim was given access to. Snippets of clips from 1980-81 are startling to see because it’s a reminder as to why they’ve become the biggest band in the world. We next see their 1984 footage of them recording The Unforgettable Fire but the most revelatory vintage footage comes in the form of outtakes from Rattle and Hum in 1987. Some of this has leaked out on bootleg in the past and I can say the footage is pristine and makes one wonder when these outtakes will find an official release. Surprisingly, while some of the footage is fascinating (like the jam in Austin, Texas of the band with Stevie Ray Vaughn and T Bone Burnett) but it’s the modern day interviews paired with scenes of a band grasping their sudden success and inner doubt. On playing stadiums in 1987, Adam Clayton said “We would have this over-riding feeling of doom and gloom, that we just weren’t good enough”. Granted, the band has more than two decades of insight to come to these conclusions, but it’s still a revelatory comment. It’s evident that Rattle and Hum could have been a much more fascinating and better received film if they had let us into more than their musical minds and hearts. This works to Guggenheim’s favor as this footage feels fresh and new and doesn’t so much show a band brash as it reflect one struggling with uncertainty.
There was a deep dissection as to how big they had become. Footage of their 12/31/89 show from Dublin closes out 30-minutes of the decade that had preceded it and leads into the Manchester underground rhythms that would influence Achtung Baby and it’s sibling Zooropa.. Discussing their transformation is also a fascinating look at their relationship with Anton Corbijn. “We always felt that the photographs should look like the material. Anton was not photographing us, he was photographing our songs”. While this information may be well known to the followers of U2, I still found it wholly absorbing to see the steps they took to make this transformation a reality. However, no matter how big the concert stage or how bright the album sleeve, none of it would have mattered without the music. In 1990 the band set-up in Hansa Studios in Berlin expecting the magic of the city and studio to infect them with greatness; except greatness proved to be late to the party. It wasn’t until a 30-minute jam session for what became “Mysterious Ways” where things intensified. In the middle of an extended jam session, the band pulled out a snippet and began to work on the song separately. That song was “One” and the film unfolds this discovery in a goose-bump inducing scene you will never forget. You literally hear the birth of one of the defining songs of the last quarter century.
The breadth of Guggenheim’s film is wider than your typical music documentary. Many of those films take place inside a bubble where the director and artist never leave. However, by hiring an Oscar winning documentarian, the scope of the film is grander, more mysterious and earnest than an undemanding documentary would normally be. As someone who lives for minutiae, I long for further access to the band’s vaults and moment-by-moment video and recordings of everything tied to this period. However, the U2 fans that largely dismissed the film late last year when it appeared on Showtime missed the point. The band’s purpose was to take a larger audience into the chaos of their lives while revealing hidden treasures for the first time. The footage from the Rattle and Hum period is eye opening as it shows the band at their most innocent and their footage from 1991 shows not just a band but four friends who together overcame the obstacles in front of them to create a masterpiece. From the Sky Down was included in the ten-disc edition of Achtung Baby released last October in DVD format only. The Blu-ray was released this past January separately. In a head-scratching move, the Blu-ray has access to exclusive material not available on the ten-disc set. The Blu-ray includes three acoustic performances of “The Fly”, “So Cruel” and “Love is Blindness”. “So Cruel” features Bono solo and the rarely performed song (only five plays to date) is eye-opening, as is the partial full-band performance within the film. “Love is Blindness” is sung by the Edge and these two performances are so intensely stunning you can almost forgive the double-dip. The last extra of note, and one that could not have been included on the DVD, is a forty-five minute press conference with Bono, the Edge and Davis Guggenheim from the Toronto Film Festival. This is no ordinary interview as Bono sprinkles his dialogue with very rich tidbits of U2’s past, their present and their future. It’s a wholly engrossing interview with the band and is a worthy addition to the Blu-ray.
In the end, U2 achieved more than anyone could have imagined with Achtung Baby. They didn’t just create a weighty record that sold millions of copies and influenced a whole generation of artists but its release allowed the band to reinvent themselves. Above all else what matters more than the music was the friendships that endured. Most artists are so driven in their need for success that they forget that it was the artistry that brought them to this job. More importantly, U2 is a rare band where all four members equally care about what the other thinks and believes. While some may take issue with the film for not going deeper and more detailed, I think this serves the emotional tone better. From the Sky Down isn’t so much about the making of Achtung Baby as it is about four friends who managed against all odds to retain their friendship and conquer the world not once, but twice while doing it as a democracy. Their strength as a foursome is greater than any individual member and their ability to maintain their friendships, respect and love for one another is their greatest legacy of all and From the Sky Down reflects this beautifully.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Film / BluRay Review [Originally published over at antiMUSIC]
***1/2 Stars
By Anthony Kuzminski Buy the Blu-ray HERE
Fear of failure is something everyone lives within every person who breathes. As cocksure and confident one person may be, deep inside of them is a nightmare of falling on their face. Many see disappointment as the end of the line whereas it fuels others. It takes hold of them and forces them to work twice as hard the next time they climb the mountain. In the music industry record and ticket sales have always been viewed as the barometer of success, but sometimes artistry and relevance are better measuring points. In early January 1990 in Holland, U2 closed out a four year cycle that including writing, recording and touring The Joshua Tree and then writing, recording and touring Rattle and Hum. Smashed in the middle was a concert film. While achieving astonishing success during this period, they went from being on the cover of Time magazine in 1987 to taking a critical drubbing in late 1988 for what was viewed as the pompousness of Rattle and Hum.Once a musician reaches a certain level of commercial success, it handicaps them from ever making a truly career defining album ever again because if they repeat the formula of their rocket ship they’re viewed as riding on their own coattails and when they venture down dark and desolate roads for the road-less-traveled they’re viewed as stretching beyond their boundaries. Upon listening to Rattle and Hum in the fall of 1988, the world felt that U2 had peaked with The Joshua Tree and probably would never create another record as endearing or great. They were wrong. However, it wasn’t without profound hardship and tribulation. Great art is usually made amidst chaos and pain and U2’s monumental Achtung Baby is no different.
A true 180-degree change of direction that is met with both critical and fan acclaim in mostly an anomaly in the music industry. Artists have often made departures resulting in a fresh, enlivening and new sound, but rarely is it met with open arms. I could speak to you all day about the brilliance of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, but the truth is most people would prefer to hear Born to Run. I personally feel Mick Jagger’s last few solo releases (1993-2004) found Jagger to reveal more within the albums than he ever would in an autobiography but the truth is few yearn to see him without Keith Richards at his side. Change is a condition of our lives we grapple with the most. Many would rather stay in a job or marriage where they are dejected than go through a short term ache which will lead to greener pastures. Many people are scared to try new food thinking they’ll loathe it when in reality they’re just as likely to take pleasure in it. In many ways, music is the toughest nut to crack. Most people gravitate towards the music they enjoyed during their teen years and what they hear on the radio. Getting someone to seek out new acts is tough and asking them to listen closer to more experimental works by their favorite artists is even tougher which is what makes the success of U2’s 1991 masterpiece Achtung Baby all that much more of an anomaly.
Before U2, the only band to truly manage a commercially and artistic 180-change of direction was the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were able to do it to a lesser extent with Some Girls, but in my opinion, that record’s strengths are more of a result of the songs. Obviously, David Bowie transformed several times in his career, but he never quite reached worldwide success at the level of the Beatles or U2. Achtung Baby was not a record that should have worked and even if it did, why did anyone think the public would accept it? Back in October of 1991 when I first heard “The Fly” I was perplexed. The sound was unlike anything U2 had attempted before and I wasn’t sure I liked it. When I heard the album a month later, I wasn’t sold. There were some sonically remarkable moments, but I wasn’t sure I would be listening to the record a year down the road, let alone twenty years. History has told a different tale as it is largely viewed as one of the decade’s ten greatest albums and the furthermost changes of direction in the history of music. To celebrate the film’s twentieth anniversary there was an elaborate ten-disc reissue of the album (6 CD’s and 4 DVD’s) with a documentary by director Davis Guggenheim being potentially the most revealing snapshot of the band ever. Two decades later it’s evident that U2 did indeed come through on the other side and managed the impossible, they reinvented themselves without sacrificing who they were in the process. In the new documentary film From the Sky Down we learn that in order to achieve this, the band had to forget everything they knew and almost lost the band in the process.
Director Davis Guggenheim took a high level approach with the film infusing it with enough minutiae to appease fanatics but reigns it in just enough to appeal to a informal viewer who will most likely find the story exhilarating. If the film has one flaw, it’s that it’s entirely too short. This is a case where an extended director’s cut would have been most welcomed. Comprised of interviews conducted in 2011 alongside vintage footage shot by Rattle and Hum director Phil Joanou in 1987, we see a band at the top of the world, but who was falling apart. Shifting between the past and the present gives a visceral view into their working process. Most bands once they attain a certain amount of celebrity rest on their laurels. It’s not that they don’t care about their art, but they may not obsess over it as much as they previously had. However, U2 is not like most bands. First and foremost, they’re a band in the truest sense of the word. Bono may be out front and a voracious spokesperson but as one can see from the interviews and video of the band during this period, all four members are essential to U2. Bono’s ego does not go unchecked and the Edge may create a kaleidoscope of colors but its drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton who keep the group from veering too far off course. It’s the fact that these four musicians, shepherded by their Svengali manager Paul McGuiness that keeps the band not just grounded but capable of making three undisputed masterpieces in three separate decades (The Joshua Tree in 1987, Achtung Baby in 1991 and All That You Can’t Leave Behind in 2000).
As they prepped for their 2011 tour, U2 began to re-learn and rehearse several of the songs from Achtung Baby. We see them rehearse and relearn many of the songs and this should be boring, but it’s rather fascinating as we’re a fly-in-the-wall during a rehearsal. We see a partial performance of the incandescent “So Cruel”, which was performed a measly five times on the 1992 tour. You begin to understand their need for perfection. I only wish more of these performances had been included. Aside from new interviews one of the key items that give the film historical focus is the footage Guggenheim was given access to. Snippets of clips from 1980-81 are startling to see because it’s a reminder as to why they’ve become the biggest band in the world. We next see their 1984 footage of them recording The Unforgettable Fire but the most revelatory vintage footage comes in the form of outtakes from Rattle and Hum in 1987. Some of this has leaked out on bootleg in the past and I can say the footage is pristine and makes one wonder when these outtakes will find an official release. Surprisingly, while some of the footage is fascinating (like the jam in Austin, Texas of the band with Stevie Ray Vaughn and T Bone Burnett) but it’s the modern day interviews paired with scenes of a band grasping their sudden success and inner doubt. On playing stadiums in 1987, Adam Clayton said “We would have this over-riding feeling of doom and gloom, that we just weren’t good enough”. Granted, the band has more than two decades of insight to come to these conclusions, but it’s still a revelatory comment. It’s evident that Rattle and Hum could have been a much more fascinating and better received film if they had let us into more than their musical minds and hearts. This works to Guggenheim’s favor as this footage feels fresh and new and doesn’t so much show a band brash as it reflect one struggling with uncertainty.
There was a deep dissection as to how big they had become. Footage of their 12/31/89 show from Dublin closes out 30-minutes of the decade that had preceded it and leads into the Manchester underground rhythms that would influence Achtung Baby and it’s sibling Zooropa.. Discussing their transformation is also a fascinating look at their relationship with Anton Corbijn. “We always felt that the photographs should look like the material. Anton was not photographing us, he was photographing our songs”. While this information may be well known to the followers of U2, I still found it wholly absorbing to see the steps they took to make this transformation a reality. However, no matter how big the concert stage or how bright the album sleeve, none of it would have mattered without the music. In 1990 the band set-up in Hansa Studios in Berlin expecting the magic of the city and studio to infect them with greatness; except greatness proved to be late to the party. It wasn’t until a 30-minute jam session for what became “Mysterious Ways” where things intensified. In the middle of an extended jam session, the band pulled out a snippet and began to work on the song separately. That song was “One” and the film unfolds this discovery in a goose-bump inducing scene you will never forget. You literally hear the birth of one of the defining songs of the last quarter century.
The breadth of Guggenheim’s film is wider than your typical music documentary. Many of those films take place inside a bubble where the director and artist never leave. However, by hiring an Oscar winning documentarian, the scope of the film is grander, more mysterious and earnest than an undemanding documentary would normally be. As someone who lives for minutiae, I long for further access to the band’s vaults and moment-by-moment video and recordings of everything tied to this period. However, the U2 fans that largely dismissed the film late last year when it appeared on Showtime missed the point. The band’s purpose was to take a larger audience into the chaos of their lives while revealing hidden treasures for the first time. The footage from the Rattle and Hum period is eye opening as it shows the band at their most innocent and their footage from 1991 shows not just a band but four friends who together overcame the obstacles in front of them to create a masterpiece. From the Sky Down was included in the ten-disc edition of Achtung Baby released last October in DVD format only. The Blu-ray was released this past January separately. In a head-scratching move, the Blu-ray has access to exclusive material not available on the ten-disc set. The Blu-ray includes three acoustic performances of “The Fly”, “So Cruel” and “Love is Blindness”. “So Cruel” features Bono solo and the rarely performed song (only five plays to date) is eye-opening, as is the partial full-band performance within the film. “Love is Blindness” is sung by the Edge and these two performances are so intensely stunning you can almost forgive the double-dip. The last extra of note, and one that could not have been included on the DVD, is a forty-five minute press conference with Bono, the Edge and Davis Guggenheim from the Toronto Film Festival. This is no ordinary interview as Bono sprinkles his dialogue with very rich tidbits of U2’s past, their present and their future. It’s a wholly engrossing interview with the band and is a worthy addition to the Blu-ray.
In the end, U2 achieved more than anyone could have imagined with Achtung Baby. They didn’t just create a weighty record that sold millions of copies and influenced a whole generation of artists but its release allowed the band to reinvent themselves. Above all else what matters more than the music was the friendships that endured. Most artists are so driven in their need for success that they forget that it was the artistry that brought them to this job. More importantly, U2 is a rare band where all four members equally care about what the other thinks and believes. While some may take issue with the film for not going deeper and more detailed, I think this serves the emotional tone better. From the Sky Down isn’t so much about the making of Achtung Baby as it is about four friends who managed against all odds to retain their friendship and conquer the world not once, but twice while doing it as a democracy. Their strength as a foursome is greater than any individual member and their ability to maintain their friendships, respect and love for one another is their greatest legacy of all and From the Sky Down reflects this beautifully.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Benefit for Lucinda's Kids
To contact us Click HERE
Last December, our close community of friends, musicians, and music lovers lost one of its own when Lucinda Gallagher took her own life. Lucinda was kind and generous, and would give anything she had to anyone in need. She loved music, her friends and family, but more than anything in this world, her two amazing children. The children, now in the care of Lucinda's dear friend Jamie, both have their mother’s rock and roll spirit. Like her, they are bright and soulful, and have a deep appreciation for music. Young teenagers, both are gifted budding musicians.
This benefit will include live shows on April 29th and 30th at the Bowery Electric, as well as an auction and raffle that will raise money to be put in trust for Lucinda’s children. All artists and persons involved have generously donated their time and talents, as well as items for auction and raffle. With the advisement of Bob Benjamin of the Light of Day charity, we will ensure that 100% of the proceeds are placed into a trust for the children.
Read Marah's comments on the show HERE
The Aquarian has a piece on the benefit HERE
ARTISTS ON APRIL 29th
Marah
Jesse Malin
Jimmy Gnecco & Dave Milone
Jim Boggia
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Petter Ericson Stakee (of Alberta Cross)
+Special Guests!
BUY TICKETS HERE
ARTISTS ON APRIL 30th
HR (of Bad Brains)
Tommy Stinson
James Maddock
Alan Vega
Aaron Lee Tasjan
+ Special Guests!
BUY TICKETS HERE
AUCTION & RAFFLE ITEMS FROM
Bob Gruen
Danny Clinch
John Varvatos
Mary Louise Parker
Morrison Hotel Gallery
+ many more!
Go like the official page :
https://www.facebook.com/BenefitForLucindasKids
Buy tickets here:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4486515
If you can't make it to the show, but you would like to donate, you can do so here:
https://www.facebook.com/BenefitForLucindasKids?sk=app_18015191938
Last December, our close community of friends, musicians, and music lovers lost one of its own when Lucinda Gallagher took her own life. Lucinda was kind and generous, and would give anything she had to anyone in need. She loved music, her friends and family, but more than anything in this world, her two amazing children. The children, now in the care of Lucinda's dear friend Jamie, both have their mother’s rock and roll spirit. Like her, they are bright and soulful, and have a deep appreciation for music. Young teenagers, both are gifted budding musicians.
This benefit will include live shows on April 29th and 30th at the Bowery Electric, as well as an auction and raffle that will raise money to be put in trust for Lucinda’s children. All artists and persons involved have generously donated their time and talents, as well as items for auction and raffle. With the advisement of Bob Benjamin of the Light of Day charity, we will ensure that 100% of the proceeds are placed into a trust for the children.
Read Marah's comments on the show HERE
The Aquarian has a piece on the benefit HERE
ARTISTS ON APRIL 29th
Marah
Jesse Malin
Jimmy Gnecco & Dave Milone
Jim Boggia
Aaron Lee Tasjan
Petter Ericson Stakee (of Alberta Cross)
+Special Guests!
BUY TICKETS HERE
ARTISTS ON APRIL 30th
HR (of Bad Brains)
Tommy Stinson
James Maddock
Alan Vega
Aaron Lee Tasjan
+ Special Guests!
BUY TICKETS HERE
AUCTION & RAFFLE ITEMS FROM
Bob Gruen
Danny Clinch
John Varvatos
Mary Louise Parker
Morrison Hotel Gallery
+ many more!
Go like the official page :
https://www.facebook.com/BenefitForLucindasKids
Buy tickets here:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4486515
If you can't make it to the show, but you would like to donate, you can do so here:
https://www.facebook.com/BenefitForLucindasKids?sk=app_18015191938
2011 antiMUSIC Reviews
To contact us Click HERE
I always mean to ensure there are cross posts between this blog and antiMUSIC but I sometimes run out of time to do the proper formatting. To ensure you haven't missed out on any of my feature articles, they will all be linked below.
- Matt Nathanson: Concert Review- Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL on October 15th, 2011
- Morrissey: Concert Review - Congress Theater – Chicago, IL - December 17, 2011
- Rush - Time Machine 2011: L:ive In Cleveland DVD Review
- Patrick Stump - Soul Punk (My choice for "Album of the Year")
- Pearl Jam Twenty (Book Review)
- Pearl Jam Twenty (Film Review)
- Pearl Jam Twenty Festival Day Two: Concert Review - September 4, 2011 - Alpine Valley
- Pearl Jam Twenty Festival Day One: Concert Review - September 3, 2011 - Alpine Valley
- Judas Priest / Black Label Society: Concert Review - November 12, 2011 Hammond, IN
- Peter Gabriel - New Blood: Album / DVD/ BluRay Review
- Jo Wymer - Living With Scars Album Review
- The Rolling Stones - Some Girls Live in Texas '78 Live Album/DVD/BluRay Review
- Guns N' Roses: Concert Review - Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL 11/15/2011 (The Best Concert of 2011)
- Ace Frehley: Concert Review -November 9, 2011 House of Blues – Chicago, IL
- Will Hoge: Concert Review - Double Door November 3, 2011 Chicago, IL
- Weezer: Concert Review - Riot Fest, Chicago, IL Congress Theatre 10/9/2011
- Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy Album Review and Reflection
- Sugarland: Concert Review - Indianapolis, IN 10/28/2011 Conseco Fieldhouse
- Danzig Legacy: Concert Review - Congress Theatre, Chicago, IL 10/7/2011
- Butch Walker and the Black Widows: Concert Review - Double Door, Chicago, IL 10/13/2011 and The Spade Album Review
- Keith Urban: Concert Review- October 14, 2011 - Allstate Arena – Rosemont, IL
- Social Distortion: Concert Review - October 6, 2011 - Congress Theatre - Chicago, IL
- Duff McKagan - It's So Easy (And Other Lies): Book Review
- Ani DiFranco: Concert Review- September 21, 2011 - Vic Theatre - Chicago, IL
2012 antiMUSIC Reviews [Updated July 8th, 2012]
To contact us Click HERE
My apologies for not keeping the blog as current as possible. I'll work on getting it updated over the next week. In the meantime, I've been writing a ton for antiMUSIC and below you can get links to my most recent reviews. There are currently twenty-six (26) in-depth reviews covering albums, concerts, books, movies, documentaries and special features...enjoy!
My apologies for not keeping the blog as current as possible. I'll work on getting it updated over the next week. In the meantime, I've been writing a ton for antiMUSIC and below you can get links to my most recent reviews. There are currently twenty-six (26) in-depth reviews covering albums, concerts, books, movies, documentaries and special features...enjoy!
- Sarah Buxton: An Undiscovered Soul
- Willie Nelson: Live in Waukegan, IL 6/7/2012
- Sweetwater and the Satisfaction: "Love More Than Anything" review
- Moonrise Kingdom Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Review (Wes Anderson film)
- Radiohead: Live in Tinley Park, IL 6/10/2012
- Roger Waters: Concert Review- Performing The Wall live in Wrigley Field 6/8/2012
- Megadeth: Book Review Another Time, A Different Place (by Bill Hale)
- Huey Lewis and the News: Concert Review- Hammond, IN 5/19/2012
- The Beach Boys: Concert Review- Chicago Theatre, Chicago 5/22/2012
- The Rolling Stones - Some Girls reissue review (5-stars)
- Kaiser Chiefs: Concert Review- House of Blues Chicago 4/19/2012
- The Who - Quadrophenia: The Director's Cut album review and reissue
- Counting Crows: Concert Review - Riviera Theater – Chicago, IL on April 22, 2012
- All- American Rejects: Concert Review - The Metro, Chicago, IL 4/9/2012
- U2 From the Sky Down Bluray / Film Review
- The Ting Tings: Concert Review - Metro, Chicago, IL 4/3/2012
- Ryan Adams: Concert Review - Cadillac Palace, Chicago, IL - December 11th, 2011
- Kelly Clarkson and Matt Nathanson: Concert Review - Hammond, IN (The Venue) March 10, 2012
- Bruce Springsteen: Album Review - Wrecking Ball
- Van Halen: Concert Review: United Center, Chicago, IL 2/24/2012
- My Best Albums of 2011
- My Best Films of 2011
- A Marriage Between Music and Movies Part III: Cameron Crowe's Top 10 Greatest Hits
- A Marriage Between Music and Movies Part II: Cameron Crowe's Greatest Hits (25-11)
- A Marriage Between Music and Movies Part I: Cameron Crowe's Greatest Hits (50-26)
- Drive Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album Review
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The Screen Door's Favorite Albums of 2011
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The Screen Door's Favorite Album’s of 2011
By Anthony Kuzminski
Music for the last several decades is more than an art form to me, but an essential limb. Besides being the soundtrack to my life it’s also a crucial entity as imperative as a liver or heart to the body because of the simultaneously blissful and calming effect it provides, I’m passionate about music and at the end of a day, I like what I like and I write about it in the hopes someone will possibly look at an artist, song or album in a framing they had not imagined before. We come to the end of another year and I give you yet another list. As you can glance from my list below, it’s anything but cool, but it lists the music that meant the most to me in the last twelve months. These albums serenaded me when the going got tough and they also liberated me when it was most needed. With each passing year, the album continues to lose its grip on the music buying public and artists have often allowed it to slip further from their grasp often completing inconsistent works at best. Make no mistake, as you can see from my runners-up list at the bottom, there was a lot of good to very good music in 2011, however fewer LP’s contain top-to-bottom greatness. What I have listed below are my ten favorite records of the year with an honorable mention. Only one album was christened with four-stars (see #1) but the rest are all equally enlightening,
I know I have a few choices which will send them into a state of shock. I’d like to tell you that I think the new Florence + the Machine and Feist albums are among my ten favorite records of the year, but they’re not. For the record, both are exquisitely beautiful in their own way, but the truth is I listened to Britney Spears and Natasha Bedingfield’s albums much more and song-for-song found greater pleasure in them than the two aforementioned critics favorites. Does this mean I have bad taste in music? Possibly, it might also mean I’m willing to let my freak fly in public and simply state what didn’t just move me emotionally but physically as well. One of the most intrinsic beauties about music is how often we embrace it. If I go over my Top-Ten films on any given year, there are a few I saw only once and may see less than five times in the next decade. But an album is more portable; in the car, on a plane, running, commuting to and from work, etc. It allows for a deeper introspection and these songs seep their way into your head and heart in ways you never could have imagined. A song may appear on the radio, in a film or simply on shuffle and on that particular day, it opens windows that transcend our existence. Songs like “Shake It Up” by Florence and the Machine and “Till the World Ends” by Britney Spears can mean different things on different days and despite the hollowness of a lyric, it may strike you in a way that doesn’t make just your day but your life. What I have below is a non-conventional list of the music I adored in 2011. Some of it is cool, some of it’s not but at the end of the day, my advice is to not let the taste makers define your music experience, but rather your heart. So without further adieu, my ten favorite records of 2011;
Number One: Patrick Stump – ‘Soul Punk’
Patrick Stump’s Soul Punk is an extension of his very soul. Besides writing and producing the entire album, he performed every single instrument on it. If that isn't enough for you, he footed the bill for the entire project signifying how much he believes in these songs. This isn't an ego trip but a reflection of an artist in the truest sense of the word. Stump is a virtuoso who wanted to do more than simply step outside of familiar terrain but was hell bent on reinventing himself in the process. Despite winding tales of quiet menace and despair, the album's finest tracks ignite your inner spirit. "Coast (It's Gonna Get Better") culminates the ten song journey on an affirmative note with a repeating chorus that invades your mind while "Spotlight (New Regrets)" is a hymn of empowerment. Soul Punk is a triumph in pop production where Stump's forthrightness turns an agnostic into an advocate; he expands the pop spectrum in a way few of his contemporaries would even dare. No record released in 2011 better exemplifies the world we live in. Despite numerous warning shots to the soul, its melodic throb infects the listener. From self-empowerment to infidelity to despondency to addiction to hope this record is bursting with life lessons. Patrick Stump's Soul Punk isn't just a daring and revelatory detour but the bravest and most remarkable album released in 2011. Patrick Stump has crafted ten exquisite songs which illustrate an artist who has and continued to experience ache and uncertainty, yet his unrelenting belief in himself ignites not just his soul but his music as well. There is an acute awareness of reality here and it lifts the album to another plane where pop music rarely resides.
Read the full review HERE
Number Two: Robyn – ‘Body Talk’
I’m cheating here, but for good reason. I mentioned Robyn’s EP’s in last year’s “Best of” list and yet I never fully embraced Body Talk until this past year. The actual album (which houses exclusive songs and mixes) was released in December of 2010 and I spent all of 2011 listening to the record (and the aforementioned EP’s). Robyn invades your body, mind and soul with pensive lyrics and euphorically charged dance grooves that are engrossing. Body Talk spins around your mind and your feet. She does for the dance floor misfits what Springsteen does for the blue collar steel worker; she encapsulates their existence perfectly with songs about dreams amidst a lingering atmosphere that could lead down to either the road of redemption of the hell of heartbreak. Body Talk is a personal triumph; a rare synth-pop record where it’s equally danceable and emotionally devastating.
Number Three: Adele –‘21’
Nothing needs to be said about 21. The voice, the pining, the heartache and the exuberant arrangements have made one of the most enduring albums of the decade. It’s funny how record executives complain about how the internet ruined music, and yet 21 was released in the UK one month before it was in the US and yet piracy is a non-issue here. There was only one music video for the first eight months. The tour was limited to smaller venues. Her interviews and award show appearances were minimal. Every rule that big music management has laid before its clients to ensure monstrous record sales she turned down. So how did this record sell over ten-million albums (and counting)? Its simple-the music. It’s raw, real and incredibly well crafted. Let this be a lesson to the music industry everywhere, it you create a record that is top-to-bottom great and feed not just your imagination but your soul as well, people will want to not just steal or stream it, they’ll want to own it so they can feel closer to the music.
Number Four: Jo Wymer – ‘Living With Scars’
Listening to Jo Wymer's debut CD Living with Scars is akin to having a cold bucket of water thrown upon you as you are in a hibernating sleep but also is as warm as a fire on a winter night. She doesn't just take us inside her world, but lays out the mental secrets and personal distress which we try and often fail running from. Most of life's greatest tragedies come out of never letting go of the past however Wymer embraces her life and uses it as a stepping stone which she has risen above. Jo Wymer comes off as one who has lived life, breathed it in, learned many dear lessons and is sharing them here. The record, which covers the spectrums of rock, pop and blues, is full of contemporary clarity whereas so much music is drenched in nostalgia making us yearn for something long gone. Instead of questions and ache, there's a deep resolve in the lyrics that's sexy as hell. Most artists are fragile souls who still haven't found their groove, their inner peace or who even fully understand who they are. What makes Living with Scars such a revelatory listen is her brazen confidence with which she delivers the songs. Her voice is husky, yet sweet. It could easily overpower the arrangements but it doesn't. However she is able to remind one of such stinging emotions you can't help but be daunted. The album is a study of light and darkness as she takes us down her harrowing hallways of heartache, desire and ultimately redemption. Jo Wymer is New Jersey’s answer to Adele with a deeper well of experience and stories to draw on.
Read the full review HERE
Number Five: Lindsey Buckingham –‘Seeds We Sow’
Most people probably don’t have a desire to listen to Buckingham outside of the constraints of Fleetwood Mac and that’s a shame, because on Seeds We Sow his songwriting has reached new heights. Delivered in a dreamy foyer where pictures come alive, his lyrics find a way to steep themselves within. The devilish musical arrangements are unyielding yet memorable and above all else Buckingham proves that he may very well be at his best when he holds the dial back. “That’s the Way Love Goes” is as gut wrenching as anything he’s ever done with Fleetwood Mac and his cover of the Rolling Stones “She Smiled Sweetly” is lilting and as pure as a first kiss. Seeds We Sow is a truly top-to-bottom gorgeous record that should be the soundtrack to our dreams and desires.
Number Six: Butch Walker & the Black Widows – ‘The Spade’
The Spade is an operatic look back at Butch Walker’s life with stories and sonics that are equally abounding. Textured guitars, proverbial melodies and a monolithic rhythm section make us feel like these are songs buried in the back of our brains from another time and place. "Summer of '89" is a joyous romp you can't help but love wholly upon your first listen. The upbeat "Drunk Day", written for his father, is harrowingly endearing musically but it cuts through you when you sit back and really listen to the lyrics ("Push through the dark like that underground train") and the slide guitar reminds me of "Sleepwalking" from the 1950's even though it sounds nothing like it. It breaks hearts in two just by the guitar’s echo in its breathtaking finish. Walker’s well of inspiration is boundless as he finds a way to blend, country, rock, pop, blues and rhythm and blues into his own intoxicating concoction. Like a master of cinema who grips different styles and genres of film making with ease, Walker is an artist who is always evolving.
Number Seven: Ryan Adams – ‘Ashes and Fire’
This is Adams most straight forward record and it’s a truly alluring one at that. Comparing it to other works in his catalog is a fruitless exercise, because what we have here is an engaging record you can wholly immerse yourself in. His knack for lush lyrics is on display but the spare arrangements make the listener feel as if they are hearing his heartbeat race. The electric guitar is mostly absent in place of entrancing atmosphere of striking minimalism. If you open yourself to the spare arrangements, you discover that Ashes & Fire is a slow burning record, where the songs slowly evolve from acquaintances to friends. I proclaimed Ryan Adams the “Artist of the Decade” over at antiMUSIC a few years back because song for song no one else was as consistent or as fertile. I’m not sure if he’s ever sounded more confident or assured than he does on Ashes and Fire so for your next road trip or late night listening, dive deep with this record and discover a new friend.
Number Eight: ‘Drive’ (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
There is an 80's inspired synth-pop soundtrack that should sound dated but isn't. Drive is simultaneously a nightmare and a dream evoking the feeling of undying love while throwing the sick and violent nature off the real world in your face. Composer Cliff Martinez created soundscapes that echo the underlying and bristling emotions within the film. Chosen for his work on the indie break-thru sex, lies, and videotape from more than two decades back, Martinez once again delivers a score full of restraint that's icy as it is alienating. We've come to associate scores that are ostentatious, exacerbated and manipulating but Martinez has crafted a series of mood pieces that tie-in directly with the story and its characters. If you don't pay attention close enough, you may not even notice his musical touches which is truly the highest compliment I can give. Instead of a walloping crescendo of strings, Martinez compliments a hypnotizing universe in constant motion with subtlety.
The score is complimented by five songs. The opening title sequence features "Nightcall" by Kavinsky, an electronic musician from France. The marriage of music and film on these opening titles is esoteric. We're not sure where we are being taken or what roads will be traveled, but the early distorted vocals add an element of darkness before Lovefoxxx acts in contrast to the monstrous machine-like vocals at the beginning. It foreshadows what is to come. Chosen by the editor of Drive, Matt Newman, it sets the perfect tone for what is to come. "Under Your Spell" by Desire, a synth-pop group from Montreal calls to mind wistful fantasy. The music moves beyond words thus taking you into a dreamlike state. Watching the song onscreen induces a feeling of déjà vu. It feels wholly familiar but isn't. It could have been from an 80's film but instead it appears here for the first time in nearly three decades later. It houses an air of innocence and within the confines of Drive, its genre busting. The film's climax is "A Real Hero" by College which repeats itself throughout the film, notably at key transitional moments for Gosling's character. David Grellier is the driving force behind College and he roped in Electric Youth for "A Real Hero". The song is gentle yet distinctively 80's. Greillier is someone who was influenced by 1980's pop culture and created a song that is wholly original and yet has an affectionate and distinctive feel to it. From the second it penetrates your ears, it sounds like the greatest song you've never heard that could have been a long lost club cut or even a song you heard in a previous life. It's perfect in every way imaginable. The songs within Drive are not ones I would have initially paid attention to outside of the context of the film but within it they come across as soulful hymns as they root out thee character's agony and elation. \ You may not know it but Drive is more than 2011's best film; it is also the most transfixing and arousing soundtrack of 2011 as well.
Number Nine: Natasha Bedingfield – ‘Strip Me’
This record came at me from the least expected of places. Due to some clever uses of the songs within film trailers and during movie credits, I sought it out. The album didn’t even crack Billboard’s Top-100 and yet, I find it to be an elating ride down the corridors of reflection and self-awareness. This is a more defiant album than Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. It may be front loaded with greatness and even though its consistency dips towards the back half, her vocal delivery is primordial for a pop record. It’s not a showcase for her to show you her instrument but a tool she utilizes to mesmerizing effect. I didn’t feel as if I was listening to songs but someone who was expressing something. Polish and multi-layered production can’t diminish her Spartan voice. “A Little Too Much”, “Strip Me” and “Neon Lights” find the narrator bursting back to life with a sense of empowerment. It may be cliché and paint-by-numbers, but she sells it better than anyone. We view pop stars as Shakespearean tragedies. Their talent is sacrificed for the masses and dollar signs. But what if someone can articulate themselves through the sheen of the glistening pop? Natasha Bedingfield pulled it together, did it her way and through it all you hear her tenacity. At the core of Strip Me are self-empowering lyrics broken down to the most essential elements. I feel alive, indomitable and believe I can accomplish anything listening to this record. On the track “A Little Too Much” she ends the song with a poignant yet gut wrenching lyric that you hear loud and clear, “I’d rather love just a little too much”. Bedingfield casts a spell on her listeners on Strip Me where she aims squarely at the heart. I don’t just hear someone coming into their own as an artist, but someone who has grasped their inner soul.
Number Ten: Britney Spears – ‘Femme Fatale’
Femme Fatale is a collection of twelve full-bodied dance songs that clock in at a mere 44-minutes. Max Martin and Dr. Luke have created a sweat filled anthology of infinitely infectious songs dripped in bigger-than-life beats and paired with melodies so sweet they can place the listener into a pop music coma. The tempos are so heated and booming they can even make the whitest of white men hit the dance floor even if the world is not ending. It’s easy to view the first arc of Spears career as slight but since her well manicured comeback beginning in 2007, she’s surrounded herself with the best of the best in terms or writers, arrangers and producers. It’s the quintessential album for stone faced clubbing souls who really just want a little bit of human touch. These are records music purists like me should be appalled by, but the songs had the reverse effect on me; I was spellbound. The pounding “Big Fat Bass” is absorbing and further escalates the tension between her and the listener. “How I Roll” with its unremitting clapping beat and its magnetizing chorus should have found itself worthy of an A-side single and video. Ultimately Femme Fatale is both a triumph and a tragedy. Its construction is so unyielding it warrants a placement on this list, but it’s also simultaneously heartbreaking because for the music purists, it’s merely a glimpse of the potentially great records Spears could be making only if she would divulge a bit of what’s in her head and her heart.
Honorable Mention: Peter Gabriel – ‘New Blood’
Peter Gabriel may take his time with his studio records but New Blood is every bit as invigorating as his best solo work. It's a cue to the incredible vastness his small body of work possesses. There's no time frame on when he will next tour or release new material and New Blood is more than a stop gap release or footnote in his career but a bold and critical reinterpretation of one of music's greatest songbooks. Throughout both the live DVD and studio album, Gabriel's naked voice shines through on these cuts reminding us that his ghostly voice is one of rock's greatest instruments. The voice alone is enough to make you stand up and take notice. To Gabriel's credit, he didn't go for a streamlined greatest hits approach. Instead, he took the songs that benefited the most from the New Blood Orchestra arrangements and cut them in the studio. As a result, the New Blood album is an extraordinary reintroduction for much of his audience and a celestial detour for his most staunch and devout followers.
Runner’s Up (In Order):
Airborne Toxic Event – ‘All At Once’; Matt Nathanson – ‘Modern Love’; Noel Gallagher- ‘Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds’; The Joy Formidable-‘The Big Roar’; Danger Mouse-‘Rome’; Lady Gaga – ‘Born This Way’; Tennis-‘Cape Dory’; Beastie Boys-‘ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two’; Shelby Lynne – ‘Revolution Road’; SuperHeavy-‘SuperHeavy’; Michael Monroe- ‘Sensory Overdrive’; The Black Keys- ‘El Camino’; Whitesnake-'Forevermore'; My Morning Jacket-‘Circuital’; The Horrible Crowes- ‘Elsie’; Fleet Foxes-‘Helplessness Blues’; Wilco-‘The Whole Love’; Ellie Goulding-‘Lights’; Motörhead-'The Wörld Is Yours’; Anthrax- ‘Worship Music’; St. Vincent-‘Strange Mercy’; Florence & The Machine-‘Ceremonials’; Noah and the Whale -'Last Night on Earth'; Raphael Saadiq-'Stone Rollin''; Indigo Girls -'Beauty Queen Sister'; Foo Fighters-‘Wasting Light’; Foster the People-‘Torches’; Avril Lavigne-‘Goodbye Lullaby’; Miranda Lambert-‘Four the Record’; Pistol Annies –‘Hell on Heels’; Alice Cooper-‘Welcome 2 My Nightmare’; Feist-‘Metals’
By Anthony Kuzminski
Music for the last several decades is more than an art form to me, but an essential limb. Besides being the soundtrack to my life it’s also a crucial entity as imperative as a liver or heart to the body because of the simultaneously blissful and calming effect it provides, I’m passionate about music and at the end of a day, I like what I like and I write about it in the hopes someone will possibly look at an artist, song or album in a framing they had not imagined before. We come to the end of another year and I give you yet another list. As you can glance from my list below, it’s anything but cool, but it lists the music that meant the most to me in the last twelve months. These albums serenaded me when the going got tough and they also liberated me when it was most needed. With each passing year, the album continues to lose its grip on the music buying public and artists have often allowed it to slip further from their grasp often completing inconsistent works at best. Make no mistake, as you can see from my runners-up list at the bottom, there was a lot of good to very good music in 2011, however fewer LP’s contain top-to-bottom greatness. What I have listed below are my ten favorite records of the year with an honorable mention. Only one album was christened with four-stars (see #1) but the rest are all equally enlightening,
I know I have a few choices which will send them into a state of shock. I’d like to tell you that I think the new Florence + the Machine and Feist albums are among my ten favorite records of the year, but they’re not. For the record, both are exquisitely beautiful in their own way, but the truth is I listened to Britney Spears and Natasha Bedingfield’s albums much more and song-for-song found greater pleasure in them than the two aforementioned critics favorites. Does this mean I have bad taste in music? Possibly, it might also mean I’m willing to let my freak fly in public and simply state what didn’t just move me emotionally but physically as well. One of the most intrinsic beauties about music is how often we embrace it. If I go over my Top-Ten films on any given year, there are a few I saw only once and may see less than five times in the next decade. But an album is more portable; in the car, on a plane, running, commuting to and from work, etc. It allows for a deeper introspection and these songs seep their way into your head and heart in ways you never could have imagined. A song may appear on the radio, in a film or simply on shuffle and on that particular day, it opens windows that transcend our existence. Songs like “Shake It Up” by Florence and the Machine and “Till the World Ends” by Britney Spears can mean different things on different days and despite the hollowness of a lyric, it may strike you in a way that doesn’t make just your day but your life. What I have below is a non-conventional list of the music I adored in 2011. Some of it is cool, some of it’s not but at the end of the day, my advice is to not let the taste makers define your music experience, but rather your heart. So without further adieu, my ten favorite records of 2011;
Number One: Patrick Stump – ‘Soul Punk’
Patrick Stump’s Soul Punk is an extension of his very soul. Besides writing and producing the entire album, he performed every single instrument on it. If that isn't enough for you, he footed the bill for the entire project signifying how much he believes in these songs. This isn't an ego trip but a reflection of an artist in the truest sense of the word. Stump is a virtuoso who wanted to do more than simply step outside of familiar terrain but was hell bent on reinventing himself in the process. Despite winding tales of quiet menace and despair, the album's finest tracks ignite your inner spirit. "Coast (It's Gonna Get Better") culminates the ten song journey on an affirmative note with a repeating chorus that invades your mind while "Spotlight (New Regrets)" is a hymn of empowerment. Soul Punk is a triumph in pop production where Stump's forthrightness turns an agnostic into an advocate; he expands the pop spectrum in a way few of his contemporaries would even dare. No record released in 2011 better exemplifies the world we live in. Despite numerous warning shots to the soul, its melodic throb infects the listener. From self-empowerment to infidelity to despondency to addiction to hope this record is bursting with life lessons. Patrick Stump's Soul Punk isn't just a daring and revelatory detour but the bravest and most remarkable album released in 2011. Patrick Stump has crafted ten exquisite songs which illustrate an artist who has and continued to experience ache and uncertainty, yet his unrelenting belief in himself ignites not just his soul but his music as well. There is an acute awareness of reality here and it lifts the album to another plane where pop music rarely resides.
Read the full review HERE
Number Two: Robyn – ‘Body Talk’
I’m cheating here, but for good reason. I mentioned Robyn’s EP’s in last year’s “Best of” list and yet I never fully embraced Body Talk until this past year. The actual album (which houses exclusive songs and mixes) was released in December of 2010 and I spent all of 2011 listening to the record (and the aforementioned EP’s). Robyn invades your body, mind and soul with pensive lyrics and euphorically charged dance grooves that are engrossing. Body Talk spins around your mind and your feet. She does for the dance floor misfits what Springsteen does for the blue collar steel worker; she encapsulates their existence perfectly with songs about dreams amidst a lingering atmosphere that could lead down to either the road of redemption of the hell of heartbreak. Body Talk is a personal triumph; a rare synth-pop record where it’s equally danceable and emotionally devastating.
Number Three: Adele –‘21’
Nothing needs to be said about 21. The voice, the pining, the heartache and the exuberant arrangements have made one of the most enduring albums of the decade. It’s funny how record executives complain about how the internet ruined music, and yet 21 was released in the UK one month before it was in the US and yet piracy is a non-issue here. There was only one music video for the first eight months. The tour was limited to smaller venues. Her interviews and award show appearances were minimal. Every rule that big music management has laid before its clients to ensure monstrous record sales she turned down. So how did this record sell over ten-million albums (and counting)? Its simple-the music. It’s raw, real and incredibly well crafted. Let this be a lesson to the music industry everywhere, it you create a record that is top-to-bottom great and feed not just your imagination but your soul as well, people will want to not just steal or stream it, they’ll want to own it so they can feel closer to the music.
Number Four: Jo Wymer – ‘Living With Scars’
Listening to Jo Wymer's debut CD Living with Scars is akin to having a cold bucket of water thrown upon you as you are in a hibernating sleep but also is as warm as a fire on a winter night. She doesn't just take us inside her world, but lays out the mental secrets and personal distress which we try and often fail running from. Most of life's greatest tragedies come out of never letting go of the past however Wymer embraces her life and uses it as a stepping stone which she has risen above. Jo Wymer comes off as one who has lived life, breathed it in, learned many dear lessons and is sharing them here. The record, which covers the spectrums of rock, pop and blues, is full of contemporary clarity whereas so much music is drenched in nostalgia making us yearn for something long gone. Instead of questions and ache, there's a deep resolve in the lyrics that's sexy as hell. Most artists are fragile souls who still haven't found their groove, their inner peace or who even fully understand who they are. What makes Living with Scars such a revelatory listen is her brazen confidence with which she delivers the songs. Her voice is husky, yet sweet. It could easily overpower the arrangements but it doesn't. However she is able to remind one of such stinging emotions you can't help but be daunted. The album is a study of light and darkness as she takes us down her harrowing hallways of heartache, desire and ultimately redemption. Jo Wymer is New Jersey’s answer to Adele with a deeper well of experience and stories to draw on.Read the full review HERE
Number Five: Lindsey Buckingham –‘Seeds We Sow’
Most people probably don’t have a desire to listen to Buckingham outside of the constraints of Fleetwood Mac and that’s a shame, because on Seeds We Sow his songwriting has reached new heights. Delivered in a dreamy foyer where pictures come alive, his lyrics find a way to steep themselves within. The devilish musical arrangements are unyielding yet memorable and above all else Buckingham proves that he may very well be at his best when he holds the dial back. “That’s the Way Love Goes” is as gut wrenching as anything he’s ever done with Fleetwood Mac and his cover of the Rolling Stones “She Smiled Sweetly” is lilting and as pure as a first kiss. Seeds We Sow is a truly top-to-bottom gorgeous record that should be the soundtrack to our dreams and desires.
Number Six: Butch Walker & the Black Widows – ‘The Spade’
The Spade is an operatic look back at Butch Walker’s life with stories and sonics that are equally abounding. Textured guitars, proverbial melodies and a monolithic rhythm section make us feel like these are songs buried in the back of our brains from another time and place. "Summer of '89" is a joyous romp you can't help but love wholly upon your first listen. The upbeat "Drunk Day", written for his father, is harrowingly endearing musically but it cuts through you when you sit back and really listen to the lyrics ("Push through the dark like that underground train") and the slide guitar reminds me of "Sleepwalking" from the 1950's even though it sounds nothing like it. It breaks hearts in two just by the guitar’s echo in its breathtaking finish. Walker’s well of inspiration is boundless as he finds a way to blend, country, rock, pop, blues and rhythm and blues into his own intoxicating concoction. Like a master of cinema who grips different styles and genres of film making with ease, Walker is an artist who is always evolving.
Number Seven: Ryan Adams – ‘Ashes and Fire’
This is Adams most straight forward record and it’s a truly alluring one at that. Comparing it to other works in his catalog is a fruitless exercise, because what we have here is an engaging record you can wholly immerse yourself in. His knack for lush lyrics is on display but the spare arrangements make the listener feel as if they are hearing his heartbeat race. The electric guitar is mostly absent in place of entrancing atmosphere of striking minimalism. If you open yourself to the spare arrangements, you discover that Ashes & Fire is a slow burning record, where the songs slowly evolve from acquaintances to friends. I proclaimed Ryan Adams the “Artist of the Decade” over at antiMUSIC a few years back because song for song no one else was as consistent or as fertile. I’m not sure if he’s ever sounded more confident or assured than he does on Ashes and Fire so for your next road trip or late night listening, dive deep with this record and discover a new friend.
Number Eight: ‘Drive’ (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
There is an 80's inspired synth-pop soundtrack that should sound dated but isn't. Drive is simultaneously a nightmare and a dream evoking the feeling of undying love while throwing the sick and violent nature off the real world in your face. Composer Cliff Martinez created soundscapes that echo the underlying and bristling emotions within the film. Chosen for his work on the indie break-thru sex, lies, and videotape from more than two decades back, Martinez once again delivers a score full of restraint that's icy as it is alienating. We've come to associate scores that are ostentatious, exacerbated and manipulating but Martinez has crafted a series of mood pieces that tie-in directly with the story and its characters. If you don't pay attention close enough, you may not even notice his musical touches which is truly the highest compliment I can give. Instead of a walloping crescendo of strings, Martinez compliments a hypnotizing universe in constant motion with subtlety.
The score is complimented by five songs. The opening title sequence features "Nightcall" by Kavinsky, an electronic musician from France. The marriage of music and film on these opening titles is esoteric. We're not sure where we are being taken or what roads will be traveled, but the early distorted vocals add an element of darkness before Lovefoxxx acts in contrast to the monstrous machine-like vocals at the beginning. It foreshadows what is to come. Chosen by the editor of Drive, Matt Newman, it sets the perfect tone for what is to come. "Under Your Spell" by Desire, a synth-pop group from Montreal calls to mind wistful fantasy. The music moves beyond words thus taking you into a dreamlike state. Watching the song onscreen induces a feeling of déjà vu. It feels wholly familiar but isn't. It could have been from an 80's film but instead it appears here for the first time in nearly three decades later. It houses an air of innocence and within the confines of Drive, its genre busting. The film's climax is "A Real Hero" by College which repeats itself throughout the film, notably at key transitional moments for Gosling's character. David Grellier is the driving force behind College and he roped in Electric Youth for "A Real Hero". The song is gentle yet distinctively 80's. Greillier is someone who was influenced by 1980's pop culture and created a song that is wholly original and yet has an affectionate and distinctive feel to it. From the second it penetrates your ears, it sounds like the greatest song you've never heard that could have been a long lost club cut or even a song you heard in a previous life. It's perfect in every way imaginable. The songs within Drive are not ones I would have initially paid attention to outside of the context of the film but within it they come across as soulful hymns as they root out thee character's agony and elation. \ You may not know it but Drive is more than 2011's best film; it is also the most transfixing and arousing soundtrack of 2011 as well.
Number Nine: Natasha Bedingfield – ‘Strip Me’
This record came at me from the least expected of places. Due to some clever uses of the songs within film trailers and during movie credits, I sought it out. The album didn’t even crack Billboard’s Top-100 and yet, I find it to be an elating ride down the corridors of reflection and self-awareness. This is a more defiant album than Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. It may be front loaded with greatness and even though its consistency dips towards the back half, her vocal delivery is primordial for a pop record. It’s not a showcase for her to show you her instrument but a tool she utilizes to mesmerizing effect. I didn’t feel as if I was listening to songs but someone who was expressing something. Polish and multi-layered production can’t diminish her Spartan voice. “A Little Too Much”, “Strip Me” and “Neon Lights” find the narrator bursting back to life with a sense of empowerment. It may be cliché and paint-by-numbers, but she sells it better than anyone. We view pop stars as Shakespearean tragedies. Their talent is sacrificed for the masses and dollar signs. But what if someone can articulate themselves through the sheen of the glistening pop? Natasha Bedingfield pulled it together, did it her way and through it all you hear her tenacity. At the core of Strip Me are self-empowering lyrics broken down to the most essential elements. I feel alive, indomitable and believe I can accomplish anything listening to this record. On the track “A Little Too Much” she ends the song with a poignant yet gut wrenching lyric that you hear loud and clear, “I’d rather love just a little too much”. Bedingfield casts a spell on her listeners on Strip Me where she aims squarely at the heart. I don’t just hear someone coming into their own as an artist, but someone who has grasped their inner soul.Number Ten: Britney Spears – ‘Femme Fatale’
Femme Fatale is a collection of twelve full-bodied dance songs that clock in at a mere 44-minutes. Max Martin and Dr. Luke have created a sweat filled anthology of infinitely infectious songs dripped in bigger-than-life beats and paired with melodies so sweet they can place the listener into a pop music coma. The tempos are so heated and booming they can even make the whitest of white men hit the dance floor even if the world is not ending. It’s easy to view the first arc of Spears career as slight but since her well manicured comeback beginning in 2007, she’s surrounded herself with the best of the best in terms or writers, arrangers and producers. It’s the quintessential album for stone faced clubbing souls who really just want a little bit of human touch. These are records music purists like me should be appalled by, but the songs had the reverse effect on me; I was spellbound. The pounding “Big Fat Bass” is absorbing and further escalates the tension between her and the listener. “How I Roll” with its unremitting clapping beat and its magnetizing chorus should have found itself worthy of an A-side single and video. Ultimately Femme Fatale is both a triumph and a tragedy. Its construction is so unyielding it warrants a placement on this list, but it’s also simultaneously heartbreaking because for the music purists, it’s merely a glimpse of the potentially great records Spears could be making only if she would divulge a bit of what’s in her head and her heart.
Honorable Mention: Peter Gabriel – ‘New Blood’
Peter Gabriel may take his time with his studio records but New Blood is every bit as invigorating as his best solo work. It's a cue to the incredible vastness his small body of work possesses. There's no time frame on when he will next tour or release new material and New Blood is more than a stop gap release or footnote in his career but a bold and critical reinterpretation of one of music's greatest songbooks. Throughout both the live DVD and studio album, Gabriel's naked voice shines through on these cuts reminding us that his ghostly voice is one of rock's greatest instruments. The voice alone is enough to make you stand up and take notice. To Gabriel's credit, he didn't go for a streamlined greatest hits approach. Instead, he took the songs that benefited the most from the New Blood Orchestra arrangements and cut them in the studio. As a result, the New Blood album is an extraordinary reintroduction for much of his audience and a celestial detour for his most staunch and devout followers.
Runner’s Up (In Order):
Airborne Toxic Event – ‘All At Once’; Matt Nathanson – ‘Modern Love’; Noel Gallagher- ‘Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds’; The Joy Formidable-‘The Big Roar’; Danger Mouse-‘Rome’; Lady Gaga – ‘Born This Way’; Tennis-‘Cape Dory’; Beastie Boys-‘ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two’; Shelby Lynne – ‘Revolution Road’; SuperHeavy-‘SuperHeavy’; Michael Monroe- ‘Sensory Overdrive’; The Black Keys- ‘El Camino’; Whitesnake-'Forevermore'; My Morning Jacket-‘Circuital’; The Horrible Crowes- ‘Elsie’; Fleet Foxes-‘Helplessness Blues’; Wilco-‘The Whole Love’; Ellie Goulding-‘Lights’; Motörhead-'The Wörld Is Yours’; Anthrax- ‘Worship Music’; St. Vincent-‘Strange Mercy’; Florence & The Machine-‘Ceremonials’; Noah and the Whale -'Last Night on Earth'; Raphael Saadiq-'Stone Rollin''; Indigo Girls -'Beauty Queen Sister'; Foo Fighters-‘Wasting Light’; Foster the People-‘Torches’; Avril Lavigne-‘Goodbye Lullaby’; Miranda Lambert-‘Four the Record’; Pistol Annies –‘Hell on Heels’; Alice Cooper-‘Welcome 2 My Nightmare’; Feist-‘Metals’
"They've come to take me home"-Peter Gabriel's Birthday 2/13/2012
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Peter Gabriel - New Blood
Album/DVD-BluRay Review
Chicago, IL June 20th, 2011 Concert Review
Originally published on antiMUSIC
Peter Gabriel is an artist whom I turn to in my darkest hours. He reminds me of those dark times which fuel me during my better days. He's a prophet of the human heart for both the lovelorn and the scorned. He has an inherent ability to whisper a secret in your ear that's prophetic and simultaneously create a song so captivating you can't help but smile when you hear it. Since the release of Us in 1992, he has released one proper solo album, Up ten years later in 2002. The years in-between there were scores for films, dozens of songs for individual soundtracks (which should be released in a box set), numerous recording sessions, collaborations (notably OVO and Big Blue Ball), a brilliant live album (Secret World Live), a handful state-of-the-art DVD's and concert tours. To me there are two Peter Gabriel's, the patient perfectionist who will not let go of a creation until it suits his vision and the stage performer who brings these tales of wonderment, heartache and longing to the forefront of our minds. As painstakingly produced as his records are, the songs burst to life on the stage complimenting their studio counterparts. It's as if one single live performance can send you back scurrying to the album to see what other songs passed you by when you weren't paying attention.
For an artist who is so sacred about his proper albums (he technically has released a mere seven solo albums in thirty-four years), it came as a surprise to me when he released Scratch My Back in 2010. Intended as a partnership where he covered certain artists' songs and they in turn would do one of his. While a handful of acts took Gabriel up on his offer and challenge, many did not due to schedules. I adore Peter Gabriel and he's one of the few acts I've ever met who I felt it was a necessity to tell him what his music meant to me and how it pulled me through the bottomless morass of gloom. I never ask for a picture or an autograph when I happen to be in the right place at the right time, but there was something inside of me that had to tell him the positive impact his body of work has had on my life and how I am a better person because of it. Fortunately I was clear eyed and sober and (hopefully) put my point across without venturing down the path of fandom. I tell you this because I found Scratch My Back a difficult album to digest. Nearly two years later I still don't enjoy listening to many of the songs and arrangements. Even more befuddling was that Gabriel reunited with producer Bob Ezrin who manned the boards for Gabriel's self-titled debut in 1977. When Gabriel has covered someone in the past, I often find the song definitive. His cover of Joseph Arthur's "In the Sun" is striking. So is Arthur's, but there's something hypnotic about the rhythm Gabriel brought to his adaptation that makes you feel dangerously alive, which leads to my main issues with Scratch My Back; the arrangements. In a daring and bold move Gabriel decided to record these songs with an orchestra and leave out all drums and guitars. Gabriel helped bring world music to the northern hemisphere's attention. He didn't just infuse his own work with it, but he opened Real World Records as a label so these distinctive and gifted groups could be heard. The rhythm and nuanced guitars that color by best work are absent on Scratch My Back and as breathtaking as his vocals are, I can't help but feel something is misplaced. Scratch My Back became the first Peter Gabriel album I admired more than loved.
As I mentioned earlier, there's the perfectionist in the studio and then the artist who takes the songs to the people on the road. Without long-time bassist/stick player Tony Levin and guitarist David Rhodes beside him, I wasn't sure what to expect or whether or not the show would be as spiritual as the one's I have previously seen before and yet the show was a high point of my concert going in 2011. The concert had an accomplished series of musicians (dubbed the New Blood Orchestra) bring his covers and many of his well known hits to the stage. It was the introduction of his originals that brought the shows to life. The emotive "Father, Son" was accentuated beautifully by the orchestra and several other deep album cuts proved to be an unexpected treat for many long time fans. I didn't expect to be moved by these renditions, but I was taken as deep into his music with the New Blood Orchestra. They embellished the songs with more beauty and horror than I could ever imagine. As I left the United Center in Chicago, there was a bit of pain within as I knew that this show deserved a far wider audience than turned up to see it. Fortunately now, they will have their chance with two stunning new releases that are more than mere stop gap releases and they magnificently showcase the patient perfectionist and the stage performer.
A live DVD and a CD of reinterpreted songs (done in the studio) share the title of New Blood. The DVD was shot over two nights at London's Hammersmith Apollo in March of 2011 with the New Blood Orchestra. There is a 3D version of the DVD that once again puts Gabriel ahead of his contemporaries in the home video market. Forever the innovator, Gabriel is always embracing new technologies to present his art. I unfortunately did not see the 3D presentation, but if the DVD release is any indicator, it probably stands alone from all other music video releases. Even on the standard DVD release the orchestra jumps out at you with Gabriel digging deep into his catalog for this special occasion. The sound is extraordinary; the pacing of the set exhilarating and the overall execution of the show carries an emotional resonance not found on a simple covers album. Surprisingly, only three songs from Scratch My Back make appearances here. When he came through the US, "'Heroes'" was riveting opener and is missed on the DVD/Blu-ray. That being said, the rest of the performance is near perfect with Gabriel weaving his way through three decades of cult hits. "Intruder" and "The Rhythm of the Heat" roar with the orchestra taking on a Godzilla like presence whereas "Mercy Street" and "Wallflower" perfectly compliment their studio cousins. Of the covers from Scratch the most wondrous was "The Book of Love" originally used in the US remake of Shall We Dance. Here the lovely orchestra embroiders the naked voices of Gabriel and his daughter Melanie. "Downside/Up" also features Melanie and Gabriel playing off one another in a arrangement that I would say surpasses the original found on the Millennium Dome project/album OVO from 2000. There was the unexpected performance of "The Drop" from 2002's Up. The solemn piano piece closed the record leaving a devastating atmosphere more shattered than before. Here the orchestra provides dimensions to the song that may be more appropriate.
The presentation of these songs often reminds me of avenues Bruce Springsteen has ventured down where he dramatically reinterprets his songs for certain tours. Many acts do this usually at least once in their career, but few truly succeed in creating something as gripping as the original. Gabriel has achieved a rare feat as he has managed to create alternate universes for these compositions. His meticulous presentation of these songs within the album context is undeniable, but he found the right arrangements and presentation for several of these songs and thirteen of them made it to the album, New Blood, not to be confused with the DVD/Blu-ray release of the same name. After shifting through much of his catalog over the last year where he reinterpreted his songs for the orchestra, Gabriel and conductor John Metcalfe went into the studio and re-cut fourteen songs. Thirteen appear on the standard version of the album and the deluxe edition has a disc full of instrumentals with a bonus track of the unfurling ache of "Blood of Eden", which I really wish had found its way onto the standard album. "Digging in the Dirt" was one of the toughest songs for the New Blood Orchestra but they found a way to reinterpret it and the sting of "to find the places where I got hurt" is as burly as ever. "San Jacinto" begins with a grave piano flourish and around the three-minute mark, he begins to hoist his voice in a performance where the strings compliment the rippling emotions he stirs up. The orchestral and vocal arrangement of "Intruder" calls to mind paranoia. When I saw the concert in Chicago, "Wallflower" was the song that made me realize this was more than a simple ego trip but an artist painting in different hues. The New Blood rendition of "Wallflower" is definitive. It originally appeared on his 1982 record Security (Peter Gabriel 4 around the world except for the US). The computerized drum track on Security dates the track a bit where as on New Blood the orchestra compliments the song but never overpowers it. The inner poignancy with two backing voices finds the heart of the song. With his inventive concerts, flashy state-of-the-art videos and adventurous studio creations his gift as a lyricist is often overlooked. "Wallflower" reminds us of this hidden and often unappreciated talent. One track isn't exactly a song, "A Quiet Moment" features the sound of nature, birds and what feels like a breeze off an ocean before "Solsbury Hill" comes on. Gabriel didn't want to include this song here but did so for the long-time fans that would most likely scream bloody murder if he didn't, so he separated from the other twelve cuts so it appears at the end like a true encore.
In a weird twist of fate, there's once again oddly nothing from Peter Gabriel II his sophomore disc which often goes unrepresented in when it comes to live performance and compilations. However every other album is represented with four songs represented by his best selling record, So. "In Your Eyes" is the album's most jovial arrangement with the strings hailing the sun to reveal itself even on what could be the cloudiest of days. "Mercy Street" features an arrangement of great relaxation while "Red Rain" is feverish with piano and violins scurrying across the speakers like a storm in the sky. "Darkness" from 2002's Up is ominous in its arrangement but this time around, Gabriel's lyrics (arguably one of his five best as a lyricist) can be discerned. On Up they're disguised by frenzied distortion. "Darkness" is a prime example of where both renditions are integral and offer the listener two different but equally riveting glimpses of his heart and mind. There are two songs from OVO, the soundtrack to the Millennium Dome Show in London released in 2000. Despite being under the radar to virtually everyone except Peter Gabriel fans, he has continued to perform many of the songs in concert. This release of "Downside-Up" is actually the song's third as it was on OVO and then a live version was on 2003's Hit. I'll go on record that the New Blood version is warranted and definitive. "The Nest That Sailed the Sky" was the only instrumental orchestral song performed on the tour, often as the evening's final version with Gabriel behind a piano. It's inclusion on New Blood makes complete sense as he was striving to give New Blood a album feel however there is little difference between the OVO cut and this one.If I had one minor reservation about the studio release of New Blood it would be its length. With so many of the arrangements previously worked out on stage, I long for more. "The Drop", "Biko" and "Washing of the Water" all are stunning eye-openers on the DVD/Blu-ray. Reinvention is rare these days but Peter Gabriel makes it look easy on New Blood.
Peter Gabriel may take his time with his studio records but New Blood is every bit as invigorating as his best solo work. It's a cue to the incredible vastness his small body of work possesses. There's no time frame on when he will next tour or release new material and New Blood is more than a stop gap release or footnote in his career but a bold and critical reinterpretation of one of music's greatest songbooks. Throughout both the live DVD and studio album, Gabriel's naked voice shines through on these cuts reminding us that his ghostly voice is one of rock's greatest instruments. The voice alone is enough to make you stand up and take notice. To Gabriel's credit, he didn't go for a streamlined greatest hits approach. Instead, he took the songs that benefitted the most from the New Blood Orchestra arrangements and cut them in the studio. As a result, the New Blood album is an extraordinary reintroduction for much of his audience and a celestial detour for his most staunch and devout followers.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Album/DVD-BluRay Review
Chicago, IL June 20th, 2011 Concert Review
Originally published on antiMUSIC
- Buy the New Blood album HERE
- Buy the New Blood DVD HERE
Peter Gabriel is an artist whom I turn to in my darkest hours. He reminds me of those dark times which fuel me during my better days. He's a prophet of the human heart for both the lovelorn and the scorned. He has an inherent ability to whisper a secret in your ear that's prophetic and simultaneously create a song so captivating you can't help but smile when you hear it. Since the release of Us in 1992, he has released one proper solo album, Up ten years later in 2002. The years in-between there were scores for films, dozens of songs for individual soundtracks (which should be released in a box set), numerous recording sessions, collaborations (notably OVO and Big Blue Ball), a brilliant live album (Secret World Live), a handful state-of-the-art DVD's and concert tours. To me there are two Peter Gabriel's, the patient perfectionist who will not let go of a creation until it suits his vision and the stage performer who brings these tales of wonderment, heartache and longing to the forefront of our minds. As painstakingly produced as his records are, the songs burst to life on the stage complimenting their studio counterparts. It's as if one single live performance can send you back scurrying to the album to see what other songs passed you by when you weren't paying attention.For an artist who is so sacred about his proper albums (he technically has released a mere seven solo albums in thirty-four years), it came as a surprise to me when he released Scratch My Back in 2010. Intended as a partnership where he covered certain artists' songs and they in turn would do one of his. While a handful of acts took Gabriel up on his offer and challenge, many did not due to schedules. I adore Peter Gabriel and he's one of the few acts I've ever met who I felt it was a necessity to tell him what his music meant to me and how it pulled me through the bottomless morass of gloom. I never ask for a picture or an autograph when I happen to be in the right place at the right time, but there was something inside of me that had to tell him the positive impact his body of work has had on my life and how I am a better person because of it. Fortunately I was clear eyed and sober and (hopefully) put my point across without venturing down the path of fandom. I tell you this because I found Scratch My Back a difficult album to digest. Nearly two years later I still don't enjoy listening to many of the songs and arrangements. Even more befuddling was that Gabriel reunited with producer Bob Ezrin who manned the boards for Gabriel's self-titled debut in 1977. When Gabriel has covered someone in the past, I often find the song definitive. His cover of Joseph Arthur's "In the Sun" is striking. So is Arthur's, but there's something hypnotic about the rhythm Gabriel brought to his adaptation that makes you feel dangerously alive, which leads to my main issues with Scratch My Back; the arrangements. In a daring and bold move Gabriel decided to record these songs with an orchestra and leave out all drums and guitars. Gabriel helped bring world music to the northern hemisphere's attention. He didn't just infuse his own work with it, but he opened Real World Records as a label so these distinctive and gifted groups could be heard. The rhythm and nuanced guitars that color by best work are absent on Scratch My Back and as breathtaking as his vocals are, I can't help but feel something is misplaced. Scratch My Back became the first Peter Gabriel album I admired more than loved.
As I mentioned earlier, there's the perfectionist in the studio and then the artist who takes the songs to the people on the road. Without long-time bassist/stick player Tony Levin and guitarist David Rhodes beside him, I wasn't sure what to expect or whether or not the show would be as spiritual as the one's I have previously seen before and yet the show was a high point of my concert going in 2011. The concert had an accomplished series of musicians (dubbed the New Blood Orchestra) bring his covers and many of his well known hits to the stage. It was the introduction of his originals that brought the shows to life. The emotive "Father, Son" was accentuated beautifully by the orchestra and several other deep album cuts proved to be an unexpected treat for many long time fans. I didn't expect to be moved by these renditions, but I was taken as deep into his music with the New Blood Orchestra. They embellished the songs with more beauty and horror than I could ever imagine. As I left the United Center in Chicago, there was a bit of pain within as I knew that this show deserved a far wider audience than turned up to see it. Fortunately now, they will have their chance with two stunning new releases that are more than mere stop gap releases and they magnificently showcase the patient perfectionist and the stage performer.
A live DVD and a CD of reinterpreted songs (done in the studio) share the title of New Blood. The DVD was shot over two nights at London's Hammersmith Apollo in March of 2011 with the New Blood Orchestra. There is a 3D version of the DVD that once again puts Gabriel ahead of his contemporaries in the home video market. Forever the innovator, Gabriel is always embracing new technologies to present his art. I unfortunately did not see the 3D presentation, but if the DVD release is any indicator, it probably stands alone from all other music video releases. Even on the standard DVD release the orchestra jumps out at you with Gabriel digging deep into his catalog for this special occasion. The sound is extraordinary; the pacing of the set exhilarating and the overall execution of the show carries an emotional resonance not found on a simple covers album. Surprisingly, only three songs from Scratch My Back make appearances here. When he came through the US, "'Heroes'" was riveting opener and is missed on the DVD/Blu-ray. That being said, the rest of the performance is near perfect with Gabriel weaving his way through three decades of cult hits. "Intruder" and "The Rhythm of the Heat" roar with the orchestra taking on a Godzilla like presence whereas "Mercy Street" and "Wallflower" perfectly compliment their studio cousins. Of the covers from Scratch the most wondrous was "The Book of Love" originally used in the US remake of Shall We Dance. Here the lovely orchestra embroiders the naked voices of Gabriel and his daughter Melanie. "Downside/Up" also features Melanie and Gabriel playing off one another in a arrangement that I would say surpasses the original found on the Millennium Dome project/album OVO from 2000. There was the unexpected performance of "The Drop" from 2002's Up. The solemn piano piece closed the record leaving a devastating atmosphere more shattered than before. Here the orchestra provides dimensions to the song that may be more appropriate.
The presentation of these songs often reminds me of avenues Bruce Springsteen has ventured down where he dramatically reinterprets his songs for certain tours. Many acts do this usually at least once in their career, but few truly succeed in creating something as gripping as the original. Gabriel has achieved a rare feat as he has managed to create alternate universes for these compositions. His meticulous presentation of these songs within the album context is undeniable, but he found the right arrangements and presentation for several of these songs and thirteen of them made it to the album, New Blood, not to be confused with the DVD/Blu-ray release of the same name. After shifting through much of his catalog over the last year where he reinterpreted his songs for the orchestra, Gabriel and conductor John Metcalfe went into the studio and re-cut fourteen songs. Thirteen appear on the standard version of the album and the deluxe edition has a disc full of instrumentals with a bonus track of the unfurling ache of "Blood of Eden", which I really wish had found its way onto the standard album. "Digging in the Dirt" was one of the toughest songs for the New Blood Orchestra but they found a way to reinterpret it and the sting of "to find the places where I got hurt" is as burly as ever. "San Jacinto" begins with a grave piano flourish and around the three-minute mark, he begins to hoist his voice in a performance where the strings compliment the rippling emotions he stirs up. The orchestral and vocal arrangement of "Intruder" calls to mind paranoia. When I saw the concert in Chicago, "Wallflower" was the song that made me realize this was more than a simple ego trip but an artist painting in different hues. The New Blood rendition of "Wallflower" is definitive. It originally appeared on his 1982 record Security (Peter Gabriel 4 around the world except for the US). The computerized drum track on Security dates the track a bit where as on New Blood the orchestra compliments the song but never overpowers it. The inner poignancy with two backing voices finds the heart of the song. With his inventive concerts, flashy state-of-the-art videos and adventurous studio creations his gift as a lyricist is often overlooked. "Wallflower" reminds us of this hidden and often unappreciated talent. One track isn't exactly a song, "A Quiet Moment" features the sound of nature, birds and what feels like a breeze off an ocean before "Solsbury Hill" comes on. Gabriel didn't want to include this song here but did so for the long-time fans that would most likely scream bloody murder if he didn't, so he separated from the other twelve cuts so it appears at the end like a true encore.
In a weird twist of fate, there's once again oddly nothing from Peter Gabriel II his sophomore disc which often goes unrepresented in when it comes to live performance and compilations. However every other album is represented with four songs represented by his best selling record, So. "In Your Eyes" is the album's most jovial arrangement with the strings hailing the sun to reveal itself even on what could be the cloudiest of days. "Mercy Street" features an arrangement of great relaxation while "Red Rain" is feverish with piano and violins scurrying across the speakers like a storm in the sky. "Darkness" from 2002's Up is ominous in its arrangement but this time around, Gabriel's lyrics (arguably one of his five best as a lyricist) can be discerned. On Up they're disguised by frenzied distortion. "Darkness" is a prime example of where both renditions are integral and offer the listener two different but equally riveting glimpses of his heart and mind. There are two songs from OVO, the soundtrack to the Millennium Dome Show in London released in 2000. Despite being under the radar to virtually everyone except Peter Gabriel fans, he has continued to perform many of the songs in concert. This release of "Downside-Up" is actually the song's third as it was on OVO and then a live version was on 2003's Hit. I'll go on record that the New Blood version is warranted and definitive. "The Nest That Sailed the Sky" was the only instrumental orchestral song performed on the tour, often as the evening's final version with Gabriel behind a piano. It's inclusion on New Blood makes complete sense as he was striving to give New Blood a album feel however there is little difference between the OVO cut and this one.If I had one minor reservation about the studio release of New Blood it would be its length. With so many of the arrangements previously worked out on stage, I long for more. "The Drop", "Biko" and "Washing of the Water" all are stunning eye-openers on the DVD/Blu-ray. Reinvention is rare these days but Peter Gabriel makes it look easy on New Blood.
Peter Gabriel may take his time with his studio records but New Blood is every bit as invigorating as his best solo work. It's a cue to the incredible vastness his small body of work possesses. There's no time frame on when he will next tour or release new material and New Blood is more than a stop gap release or footnote in his career but a bold and critical reinterpretation of one of music's greatest songbooks. Throughout both the live DVD and studio album, Gabriel's naked voice shines through on these cuts reminding us that his ghostly voice is one of rock's greatest instruments. The voice alone is enough to make you stand up and take notice. To Gabriel's credit, he didn't go for a streamlined greatest hits approach. Instead, he took the songs that benefitted the most from the New Blood Orchestra arrangements and cut them in the studio. As a result, the New Blood album is an extraordinary reintroduction for much of his audience and a celestial detour for his most staunch and devout followers.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Album Review: Bruce Springsteen - 'Wrecking Ball' (on antiMUSIC)
To contact us Click HERE
Bruce Springsteen – ‘Wrecking Ball’
Read the full review HERE over at antiMUSIC.
The centerpiece of the album, “Death to My Hometown” is a stinging portrait of betrayal. Highlighted with a booming martial drumbeat that evokes the cries of a community under siege it lashes out against unpunished criminals who did something worse than physically attack our land; they gutted it from the inside out. “Hometown” is an account of how we mistakenly believed that outside sources would destroy our country when in fact Americans who never wielded a gun or knife caused more harm than anyone ever could have imagined. The streets we grew up on, the towns that made our cars and the small businesses that helped our country and communities thrive, dried up because of greed. The glaring irony here is that in 1984, Springsteen foreshadowed this in a deeper level as he spoke about the closing of auto plants and how it ruined the heart of these small towns on “My Hometown”. That death and destruction went beyond main street America and infected the country as a whole. This was a decades-long detonating bomb that shattered the American dream. The final chorus changes to “Death to our hometown” where he places himself next to the listener. Springsteen is doing more than telling a story but mourning the loss of his childhood and his home. The streets and shops he walked with his father are gone and no amount of money and success can bring it back. It’s a subtle change in the song, but it penetrates the listener and pulls them closer like a friend in need. There is no divide between Springsteen and his audience here; we are one in the same sharing the same dreams and nightmares.
Read the full review HERE over at antiMUSIC.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Bruce Springsteen – ‘Wrecking Ball’Read the full review HERE over at antiMUSIC.
The centerpiece of the album, “Death to My Hometown” is a stinging portrait of betrayal. Highlighted with a booming martial drumbeat that evokes the cries of a community under siege it lashes out against unpunished criminals who did something worse than physically attack our land; they gutted it from the inside out. “Hometown” is an account of how we mistakenly believed that outside sources would destroy our country when in fact Americans who never wielded a gun or knife caused more harm than anyone ever could have imagined. The streets we grew up on, the towns that made our cars and the small businesses that helped our country and communities thrive, dried up because of greed. The glaring irony here is that in 1984, Springsteen foreshadowed this in a deeper level as he spoke about the closing of auto plants and how it ruined the heart of these small towns on “My Hometown”. That death and destruction went beyond main street America and infected the country as a whole. This was a decades-long detonating bomb that shattered the American dream. The final chorus changes to “Death to our hometown” where he places himself next to the listener. Springsteen is doing more than telling a story but mourning the loss of his childhood and his home. The streets and shops he walked with his father are gone and no amount of money and success can bring it back. It’s a subtle change in the song, but it penetrates the listener and pulls them closer like a friend in need. There is no divide between Springsteen and his audience here; we are one in the same sharing the same dreams and nightmares.
Read the full review HERE over at antiMUSIC.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Film Review: U2 -"From the Sky Down' (The Story of he Making of U2's Achtung Baby
To contact us Click HERE
U2 – ‘From the Sky Down’
Film / BluRay Review [Originally published over at antiMUSIC]
***1/2 Stars
By Anthony Kuzminski
Buy the Blu-ray HERE
Fear of failure is something everyone lives within every person who breathes. As cocksure and confident one person may be, deep inside of them is a nightmare of falling on their face. Many see disappointment as the end of the line whereas it fuels others. It takes hold of them and forces them to work twice as hard the next time they climb the mountain. In the music industry record and ticket sales have always been viewed as the barometer of success, but sometimes artistry and relevance are better measuring points. In early January 1990 in Holland, U2 closed out a four year cycle that including writing, recording and touring The Joshua Tree and then writing, recording and touring Rattle and Hum. Smashed in the middle was a concert film. While achieving astonishing success during this period, they went from being on the cover of Time magazine in 1987 to taking a critical drubbing in late 1988 for what was viewed as the pompousness of Rattle and Hum.Once a musician reaches a certain level of commercial success, it handicaps them from ever making a truly career defining album ever again because if they repeat the formula of their rocket ship they’re viewed as riding on their own coattails and when they venture down dark and desolate roads for the road-less-traveled they’re viewed as stretching beyond their boundaries. Upon listening to Rattle and Hum in the fall of 1988, the world felt that U2 had peaked with The Joshua Tree and probably would never create another record as endearing or great. They were wrong. However, it wasn’t without profound hardship and tribulation. Great art is usually made amidst chaos and pain and U2’s monumental Achtung Baby is no different.
A true 180-degree change of direction that is met with both critical and fan acclaim in mostly an anomaly in the music industry. Artists have often made departures resulting in a fresh, enlivening and new sound, but rarely is it met with open arms. I could speak to you all day about the brilliance of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, but the truth is most people would prefer to hear Born to Run. I personally feel Mick Jagger’s last few solo releases (1993-2004) found Jagger to reveal more within the albums than he ever would in an autobiography but the truth is few yearn to see him without Keith Richards at his side. Change is a condition of our lives we grapple with the most. Many would rather stay in a job or marriage where they are dejected than go through a short term ache which will lead to greener pastures. Many people are scared to try new food thinking they’ll loathe it when in reality they’re just as likely to take pleasure in it. In many ways, music is the toughest nut to crack. Most people gravitate towards the music they enjoyed during their teen years and what they hear on the radio. Getting someone to seek out new acts is tough and asking them to listen closer to more experimental works by their favorite artists is even tougher which is what makes the success of U2’s 1991 masterpiece Achtung Baby all that much more of an anomaly.
Before U2, the only band to truly manage a commercially and artistic 180-change of direction was the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were able to do it to a lesser extent with Some Girls, but in my opinion, that record’s strengths are more of a result of the songs. Obviously, David Bowie transformed several times in his career, but he never quite reached worldwide success at the level of the Beatles or U2. Achtung Baby was not a record that should have worked and even if it did, why did anyone think the public would accept it? Back in October of 1991 when I first heard “The Fly” I was perplexed. The sound was unlike anything U2 had attempted before and I wasn’t sure I liked it. When I heard the album a month later, I wasn’t sold. There were some sonically remarkable moments, but I wasn’t sure I would be listening to the record a year down the road, let alone twenty years. History has told a different tale as it is largely viewed as one of the decade’s ten greatest albums and the furthermost changes of direction in the history of music. To celebrate the film’s twentieth anniversary there was an elaborate ten-disc reissue of the album (6 CD’s and 4 DVD’s) with a documentary by director Davis Guggenheim being potentially the most revealing snapshot of the band ever. Two decades later it’s evident that U2 did indeed come through on the other side and managed the impossible, they reinvented themselves without sacrificing who they were in the process. In the new documentary film From the Sky Down we learn that in order to achieve this, the band had to forget everything they knew and almost lost the band in the process.
Director Davis Guggenheim took a high level approach with the film infusing it with enough minutiae to appease fanatics but reigns it in just enough to appeal to a informal viewer who will most likely find the story exhilarating. If the film has one flaw, it’s that it’s entirely too short. This is a case where an extended director’s cut would have been most welcomed. Comprised of interviews conducted in 2011 alongside vintage footage shot by Rattle and Hum director Phil Joanou in 1987, we see a band at the top of the world, but who was falling apart. Shifting between the past and the present gives a visceral view into their working process. Most bands once they attain a certain amount of celebrity rest on their laurels. It’s not that they don’t care about their art, but they may not obsess over it as much as they previously had. However, U2 is not like most bands. First and foremost, they’re a band in the truest sense of the word. Bono may be out front and a voracious spokesperson but as one can see from the interviews and video of the band during this period, all four members are essential to U2. Bono’s ego does not go unchecked and the Edge may create a kaleidoscope of colors but its drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton who keep the group from veering too far off course. It’s the fact that these four musicians, shepherded by their Svengali manager Paul McGuiness that keeps the band not just grounded but capable of making three undisputed masterpieces in three separate decades (The Joshua Tree in 1987, Achtung Baby in 1991 and All That You Can’t Leave Behind in 2000).
As they prepped for their 2011 tour, U2 began to re-learn and rehearse several of the songs from Achtung Baby. We see them rehearse and relearn many of the songs and this should be boring, but it’s rather fascinating as we’re a fly-in-the-wall during a rehearsal. We see a partial performance of the incandescent “So Cruel”, which was performed a measly five times on the 1992 tour. You begin to understand their need for perfection. I only wish more of these performances had been included. Aside from new interviews one of the key items that give the film historical focus is the footage Guggenheim was given access to. Snippets of clips from 1980-81 are startling to see because it’s a reminder as to why they’ve become the biggest band in the world. We next see their 1984 footage of them recording The Unforgettable Fire but the most revelatory vintage footage comes in the form of outtakes from Rattle and Hum in 1987. Some of this has leaked out on bootleg in the past and I can say the footage is pristine and makes one wonder when these outtakes will find an official release. Surprisingly, while some of the footage is fascinating (like the jam in Austin, Texas of the band with Stevie Ray Vaughn and T Bone Burnett) but it’s the modern day interviews paired with scenes of a band grasping their sudden success and inner doubt. On playing stadiums in 1987, Adam Clayton said “We would have this over-riding feeling of doom and gloom, that we just weren’t good enough”. Granted, the band has more than two decades of insight to come to these conclusions, but it’s still a revelatory comment. It’s evident that Rattle and Hum could have been a much more fascinating and better received film if they had let us into more than their musical minds and hearts. This works to Guggenheim’s favor as this footage feels fresh and new and doesn’t so much show a band brash as it reflect one struggling with uncertainty.
There was a deep dissection as to how big they had become. Footage of their 12/31/89 show from Dublin closes out 30-minutes of the decade that had preceded it and leads into the Manchester underground rhythms that would influence Achtung Baby and it’s sibling Zooropa.. Discussing their transformation is also a fascinating look at their relationship with Anton Corbijn. “We always felt that the photographs should look like the material. Anton was not photographing us, he was photographing our songs”. While this information may be well known to the followers of U2, I still found it wholly absorbing to see the steps they took to make this transformation a reality. However, no matter how big the concert stage or how bright the album sleeve, none of it would have mattered without the music. In 1990 the band set-up in Hansa Studios in Berlin expecting the magic of the city and studio to infect them with greatness; except greatness proved to be late to the party. It wasn’t until a 30-minute jam session for what became “Mysterious Ways” where things intensified. In the middle of an extended jam session, the band pulled out a snippet and began to work on the song separately. That song was “One” and the film unfolds this discovery in a goose-bump inducing scene you will never forget. You literally hear the birth of one of the defining songs of the last quarter century.
The breadth of Guggenheim’s film is wider than your typical music documentary. Many of those films take place inside a bubble where the director and artist never leave. However, by hiring an Oscar winning documentarian, the scope of the film is grander, more mysterious and earnest than an undemanding documentary would normally be. As someone who lives for minutiae, I long for further access to the band’s vaults and moment-by-moment video and recordings of everything tied to this period. However, the U2 fans that largely dismissed the film late last year when it appeared on Showtime missed the point. The band’s purpose was to take a larger audience into the chaos of their lives while revealing hidden treasures for the first time. The footage from the Rattle and Hum period is eye opening as it shows the band at their most innocent and their footage from 1991 shows not just a band but four friends who together overcame the obstacles in front of them to create a masterpiece. From the Sky Down was included in the ten-disc edition of Achtung Baby released last October in DVD format only. The Blu-ray was released this past January separately. In a head-scratching move, the Blu-ray has access to exclusive material not available on the ten-disc set. The Blu-ray includes three acoustic performances of “The Fly”, “So Cruel” and “Love is Blindness”. “So Cruel” features Bono solo and the rarely performed song (only five plays to date) is eye-opening, as is the partial full-band performance within the film. “Love is Blindness” is sung by the Edge and these two performances are so intensely stunning you can almost forgive the double-dip. The last extra of note, and one that could not have been included on the DVD, is a forty-five minute press conference with Bono, the Edge and Davis Guggenheim from the Toronto Film Festival. This is no ordinary interview as Bono sprinkles his dialogue with very rich tidbits of U2’s past, their present and their future. It’s a wholly engrossing interview with the band and is a worthy addition to the Blu-ray.
In the end, U2 achieved more than anyone could have imagined with Achtung Baby. They didn’t just create a weighty record that sold millions of copies and influenced a whole generation of artists but its release allowed the band to reinvent themselves. Above all else what matters more than the music was the friendships that endured. Most artists are so driven in their need for success that they forget that it was the artistry that brought them to this job. More importantly, U2 is a rare band where all four members equally care about what the other thinks and believes. While some may take issue with the film for not going deeper and more detailed, I think this serves the emotional tone better. From the Sky Down isn’t so much about the making of Achtung Baby as it is about four friends who managed against all odds to retain their friendship and conquer the world not once, but twice while doing it as a democracy. Their strength as a foursome is greater than any individual member and their ability to maintain their friendships, respect and love for one another is their greatest legacy of all and From the Sky Down reflects this beautifully.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
Film / BluRay Review [Originally published over at antiMUSIC]
***1/2 Stars
By Anthony Kuzminski Buy the Blu-ray HERE
Fear of failure is something everyone lives within every person who breathes. As cocksure and confident one person may be, deep inside of them is a nightmare of falling on their face. Many see disappointment as the end of the line whereas it fuels others. It takes hold of them and forces them to work twice as hard the next time they climb the mountain. In the music industry record and ticket sales have always been viewed as the barometer of success, but sometimes artistry and relevance are better measuring points. In early January 1990 in Holland, U2 closed out a four year cycle that including writing, recording and touring The Joshua Tree and then writing, recording and touring Rattle and Hum. Smashed in the middle was a concert film. While achieving astonishing success during this period, they went from being on the cover of Time magazine in 1987 to taking a critical drubbing in late 1988 for what was viewed as the pompousness of Rattle and Hum.Once a musician reaches a certain level of commercial success, it handicaps them from ever making a truly career defining album ever again because if they repeat the formula of their rocket ship they’re viewed as riding on their own coattails and when they venture down dark and desolate roads for the road-less-traveled they’re viewed as stretching beyond their boundaries. Upon listening to Rattle and Hum in the fall of 1988, the world felt that U2 had peaked with The Joshua Tree and probably would never create another record as endearing or great. They were wrong. However, it wasn’t without profound hardship and tribulation. Great art is usually made amidst chaos and pain and U2’s monumental Achtung Baby is no different.
A true 180-degree change of direction that is met with both critical and fan acclaim in mostly an anomaly in the music industry. Artists have often made departures resulting in a fresh, enlivening and new sound, but rarely is it met with open arms. I could speak to you all day about the brilliance of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, but the truth is most people would prefer to hear Born to Run. I personally feel Mick Jagger’s last few solo releases (1993-2004) found Jagger to reveal more within the albums than he ever would in an autobiography but the truth is few yearn to see him without Keith Richards at his side. Change is a condition of our lives we grapple with the most. Many would rather stay in a job or marriage where they are dejected than go through a short term ache which will lead to greener pastures. Many people are scared to try new food thinking they’ll loathe it when in reality they’re just as likely to take pleasure in it. In many ways, music is the toughest nut to crack. Most people gravitate towards the music they enjoyed during their teen years and what they hear on the radio. Getting someone to seek out new acts is tough and asking them to listen closer to more experimental works by their favorite artists is even tougher which is what makes the success of U2’s 1991 masterpiece Achtung Baby all that much more of an anomaly.
Before U2, the only band to truly manage a commercially and artistic 180-change of direction was the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were able to do it to a lesser extent with Some Girls, but in my opinion, that record’s strengths are more of a result of the songs. Obviously, David Bowie transformed several times in his career, but he never quite reached worldwide success at the level of the Beatles or U2. Achtung Baby was not a record that should have worked and even if it did, why did anyone think the public would accept it? Back in October of 1991 when I first heard “The Fly” I was perplexed. The sound was unlike anything U2 had attempted before and I wasn’t sure I liked it. When I heard the album a month later, I wasn’t sold. There were some sonically remarkable moments, but I wasn’t sure I would be listening to the record a year down the road, let alone twenty years. History has told a different tale as it is largely viewed as one of the decade’s ten greatest albums and the furthermost changes of direction in the history of music. To celebrate the film’s twentieth anniversary there was an elaborate ten-disc reissue of the album (6 CD’s and 4 DVD’s) with a documentary by director Davis Guggenheim being potentially the most revealing snapshot of the band ever. Two decades later it’s evident that U2 did indeed come through on the other side and managed the impossible, they reinvented themselves without sacrificing who they were in the process. In the new documentary film From the Sky Down we learn that in order to achieve this, the band had to forget everything they knew and almost lost the band in the process.
Director Davis Guggenheim took a high level approach with the film infusing it with enough minutiae to appease fanatics but reigns it in just enough to appeal to a informal viewer who will most likely find the story exhilarating. If the film has one flaw, it’s that it’s entirely too short. This is a case where an extended director’s cut would have been most welcomed. Comprised of interviews conducted in 2011 alongside vintage footage shot by Rattle and Hum director Phil Joanou in 1987, we see a band at the top of the world, but who was falling apart. Shifting between the past and the present gives a visceral view into their working process. Most bands once they attain a certain amount of celebrity rest on their laurels. It’s not that they don’t care about their art, but they may not obsess over it as much as they previously had. However, U2 is not like most bands. First and foremost, they’re a band in the truest sense of the word. Bono may be out front and a voracious spokesperson but as one can see from the interviews and video of the band during this period, all four members are essential to U2. Bono’s ego does not go unchecked and the Edge may create a kaleidoscope of colors but its drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton who keep the group from veering too far off course. It’s the fact that these four musicians, shepherded by their Svengali manager Paul McGuiness that keeps the band not just grounded but capable of making three undisputed masterpieces in three separate decades (The Joshua Tree in 1987, Achtung Baby in 1991 and All That You Can’t Leave Behind in 2000).
As they prepped for their 2011 tour, U2 began to re-learn and rehearse several of the songs from Achtung Baby. We see them rehearse and relearn many of the songs and this should be boring, but it’s rather fascinating as we’re a fly-in-the-wall during a rehearsal. We see a partial performance of the incandescent “So Cruel”, which was performed a measly five times on the 1992 tour. You begin to understand their need for perfection. I only wish more of these performances had been included. Aside from new interviews one of the key items that give the film historical focus is the footage Guggenheim was given access to. Snippets of clips from 1980-81 are startling to see because it’s a reminder as to why they’ve become the biggest band in the world. We next see their 1984 footage of them recording The Unforgettable Fire but the most revelatory vintage footage comes in the form of outtakes from Rattle and Hum in 1987. Some of this has leaked out on bootleg in the past and I can say the footage is pristine and makes one wonder when these outtakes will find an official release. Surprisingly, while some of the footage is fascinating (like the jam in Austin, Texas of the band with Stevie Ray Vaughn and T Bone Burnett) but it’s the modern day interviews paired with scenes of a band grasping their sudden success and inner doubt. On playing stadiums in 1987, Adam Clayton said “We would have this over-riding feeling of doom and gloom, that we just weren’t good enough”. Granted, the band has more than two decades of insight to come to these conclusions, but it’s still a revelatory comment. It’s evident that Rattle and Hum could have been a much more fascinating and better received film if they had let us into more than their musical minds and hearts. This works to Guggenheim’s favor as this footage feels fresh and new and doesn’t so much show a band brash as it reflect one struggling with uncertainty.
There was a deep dissection as to how big they had become. Footage of their 12/31/89 show from Dublin closes out 30-minutes of the decade that had preceded it and leads into the Manchester underground rhythms that would influence Achtung Baby and it’s sibling Zooropa.. Discussing their transformation is also a fascinating look at their relationship with Anton Corbijn. “We always felt that the photographs should look like the material. Anton was not photographing us, he was photographing our songs”. While this information may be well known to the followers of U2, I still found it wholly absorbing to see the steps they took to make this transformation a reality. However, no matter how big the concert stage or how bright the album sleeve, none of it would have mattered without the music. In 1990 the band set-up in Hansa Studios in Berlin expecting the magic of the city and studio to infect them with greatness; except greatness proved to be late to the party. It wasn’t until a 30-minute jam session for what became “Mysterious Ways” where things intensified. In the middle of an extended jam session, the band pulled out a snippet and began to work on the song separately. That song was “One” and the film unfolds this discovery in a goose-bump inducing scene you will never forget. You literally hear the birth of one of the defining songs of the last quarter century.
The breadth of Guggenheim’s film is wider than your typical music documentary. Many of those films take place inside a bubble where the director and artist never leave. However, by hiring an Oscar winning documentarian, the scope of the film is grander, more mysterious and earnest than an undemanding documentary would normally be. As someone who lives for minutiae, I long for further access to the band’s vaults and moment-by-moment video and recordings of everything tied to this period. However, the U2 fans that largely dismissed the film late last year when it appeared on Showtime missed the point. The band’s purpose was to take a larger audience into the chaos of their lives while revealing hidden treasures for the first time. The footage from the Rattle and Hum period is eye opening as it shows the band at their most innocent and their footage from 1991 shows not just a band but four friends who together overcame the obstacles in front of them to create a masterpiece. From the Sky Down was included in the ten-disc edition of Achtung Baby released last October in DVD format only. The Blu-ray was released this past January separately. In a head-scratching move, the Blu-ray has access to exclusive material not available on the ten-disc set. The Blu-ray includes three acoustic performances of “The Fly”, “So Cruel” and “Love is Blindness”. “So Cruel” features Bono solo and the rarely performed song (only five plays to date) is eye-opening, as is the partial full-band performance within the film. “Love is Blindness” is sung by the Edge and these two performances are so intensely stunning you can almost forgive the double-dip. The last extra of note, and one that could not have been included on the DVD, is a forty-five minute press conference with Bono, the Edge and Davis Guggenheim from the Toronto Film Festival. This is no ordinary interview as Bono sprinkles his dialogue with very rich tidbits of U2’s past, their present and their future. It’s a wholly engrossing interview with the band and is a worthy addition to the Blu-ray.
In the end, U2 achieved more than anyone could have imagined with Achtung Baby. They didn’t just create a weighty record that sold millions of copies and influenced a whole generation of artists but its release allowed the band to reinvent themselves. Above all else what matters more than the music was the friendships that endured. Most artists are so driven in their need for success that they forget that it was the artistry that brought them to this job. More importantly, U2 is a rare band where all four members equally care about what the other thinks and believes. While some may take issue with the film for not going deeper and more detailed, I think this serves the emotional tone better. From the Sky Down isn’t so much about the making of Achtung Baby as it is about four friends who managed against all odds to retain their friendship and conquer the world not once, but twice while doing it as a democracy. Their strength as a foursome is greater than any individual member and their ability to maintain their friendships, respect and love for one another is their greatest legacy of all and From the Sky Down reflects this beautifully.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
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