R-n-R Reviews

Pearl Jam's New Album: Backspacer

2009-09-20T21:58:00.004-05:00

PJ's album Backspacer came out today. I love it! It's been awhile since their last album, which I have to say holds a special place in my heart because it helped get me through some very hard times.

Oddly enough, Pearl Jam's albums seem to always speak to what I'm going through in my life at that time. This one is more upbeat than the last and I am hopeful for what that means for my future.

The song, Amongst the Waves, is especially uplifting. Here's just a piece of what I'm talking about:

Love ain't love until you feel it
Up riding high amongst the waves

I can feel like I
Have a soul that has been saved
I can see the light
Coming through the clouds in rays

I gotta say it now
Better loud than too late

The fixer is also very positive:

When something’s on let me shed a little light on it
When something’s cold let me put a little fire on it
If something’s old I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When something’s gone I wanna fight to get it back again

Of course their are some more melancholy songs but the whole album is awesome!!!

Goodbye to Michael Jackson

2009-07-07T22:10:00.002-05:00

Today, in case you live under a rock and were unaware, Michael Jackson's memorial service was held. I found it touching and bawled through a great portion of it. That may sound silly to the few who weren't fans, but I was amongst the thousands of fans for whom Michael Jackson was an idol. People, let alone artists, like Michael do not come along often in this world. I can't think of anyone still alive who holds a candle to his all-around greatness.

More than any of the performers or speakers at the service, I was completely moved by his daughter Paris. I know what it is to lose a father and I'll tell you it doesn't matter what bad things other people say about them; to a kid, a parent is everything.

While there was so much positivity amongst the sorrow, I have to say I made the mistake of recording it via ABC News. While it was bad enough, and I tried to let it go that they had Martin Bashir commenting the night he died, I was appalled at the fact that they made this mistake twice.

After what Martin Bashir did to Michael Jackson, he should be hiding under a rock right now. The gall it takes for him to be commenting, like they were on good terms, after he completely betrayed Michael for the whole world to see. I am horrified...horrified!

Secondly, with all the recaps of everything that is Michael, I keep seeing Jamie Foxx's asinine statement, "We want to celebrate this black man - he belongs to us - and we shared him with everybody else.". Michael wanted to breakdown the color barriers. Things like this go against everything Michael spent his life trying to do and to overcome. After Jamie Foxx's racist comment about Miley Cyrus, maybe he should shut up for awhile.

Michael Jackson: 1958 - 2009

2009-06-25T22:05:00.005-05:00

Today, the world has lost the best artist of my generation, Michael Jackson. It's a shame that so much controversy surrounded his life, but I remember when ...

I remember seeing Moonwalker at school and thinking I was going to marry him. I remember rushing to play his new tapes as soon as I got them, records too. I remember watching him dance in absolute awe of his gifts. I remember singing Man in The Mirror in Choir.

I remember collecting everything I could; things that I still have to this day. In fact, I still have the shirt I am wearing in the picture. I remember wanting to get a Michael Jackson tattoo when I got older. I had the design and everything.

Man, I loved him. I'm truly sad. He will be greatly missed.

Pearl Jam's re-release of Ten

2009-03-03T22:02:00.005-06:00

You've probably heard that Pearl Jam is reissuing their album, Ten on March 24, 2009. I, being a huge, huge, huge fan, am very excited, to say the very least. This has been my favorite band since I was 16. I can still remember the first time I saw them on television and how I fell deeply in love with Eddie Vedder. Oddly enough, it was my mom who brought them to my attention. She thought they looked like someone I'd like. Man, was she right about that one.

There will be 4 different versions of the album released:

Legacy Edition (2-disc set in mini-LP style slipcase):
Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by
Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat"
Re-designed packaging

Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD specially designed
hardbound package):
Disc 1: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered
(original mix)
Disc 2: original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and
remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat"
DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged
performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans" with 5.1 surround sound audio remix

Vinyl Collection (2-LP set)
LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien

Super Deluxe Edition (2-disc set plus DVD, 4 LPs and
replica cassette in linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box):
Disc 1:
original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered (original mix)
Disc 2:
original Ten tracklisting digitally remastered and remixed by Brendan O’Brien, plus six bonus tracks: "Brother," "Just a Girl," "State of Love and Trust," "Breath and a Scream," "2,000 Mile Blues" and "Evil Little Goat"
DVD of Pearl Jam’s previously unreleased 1992 MTV Unplugged performance including never before seen bonus performance of "Oceans" with 5.1 surround sound audio remix
LP 1: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl
LP 2: original Ten tracklisting remastered for vinyl and remixed by Brendan O’Brien
LP 3 & 4: Drop in the Park – Live at Magnuson Park in Seattle on September 20, 1992 (audio mixed by Brendan O’Brien)
Cassette: replica of original "Momma-Son"
Pearl Jam demo cassette featuring "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps" Package also includes an Eddie Vedder-style composition notebook filled with replica personal notes, images and mementos from the collections of Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament, a vellum envelope with replicated era-specific ephemera from Pearl Jam’s early work and a two-sided print commemorating the Drop in the Park concert.

They have created a fun on-line puzzle game to promote the album. Check it out, it's fun.

MP3 Downloads & other FREEbies

2009-02-28T22:33:00.011-06:00

You can get FREE MP3 Downloads at Amazon here. There's songs from Ani Difranco, David Byrne, American Idol's Jason Castro, Ben Kweller, Ted Nugent, Snoop Dogg, Sepultura, Willie Nelson and many many more.

Wired.com also has free music downloads, new every Friday.

Money Saving Mom has another post on how to get subscriptions to Family Fun & Focus on the Family's magazines. I got mine!

Pandora.com

2008-12-05T22:30:00.002-06:00

I've listened to Yahoo's launch music station for years until now. My husband introduced me to Pandora. While you can program launch to play music that suits your taste based on ratings you give artists that they play, Pandora takes that theory and fine tunes it. You pick an artist or a song and it can start a station based off that. Then you rate songs, good or bad, and it customizes based on that.

What's great about it though is how consistent the station is. I put in People In Planes, for instance and everything they played is exactly like that type of music and I like almost everything they play. Launch, however, could throw some stuff at me that they couldn't think I liked based on things I had rated. Plus, Pandora doesn't have commercials. Launch charges you if you want that feature. So, I highly recommend checking it out if you like to listen to new music while on the computer.

Playlist.com

2008-11-20T22:40:00.008-06:00

You may have already discovered this site, but if you haven't, you should definitely check it out. Basically, it's just what you think the site would be. You can look up your favorite music and create a playlist that you can add to your blog, myspace, etc.

Here's mine:

Now I know you're probably going to think I have multiple personalities because I like just about everything, except country. But who knows, I tend to go through phases, so nothing's ever ruled out. Right now, I love the blues but I also like anything fun. Music that doesn't take itself too seriously, like Brit Rock. In my mid twenties, I loved the hard stuff. In my teens, I was all about grunge. Before that, I loved rap.

Just to point out, there are some sadder songs that are special to me because they helped me get through my Dad's death. Kirk Frankin and Pearl Jam were especially helpful. I don't know, maybe they will help someone else out there.

emusic.com

2008-03-17T13:46:00.002-05:00

I had signed up for emusic.com, advertised with Netflix, where you can get 35 free music downloads. It sucked. I mean I like to think I have a wide variety of music knowledge and taste, but the choices there were too obscure. They didn't have any big name artists that I wanted and not alot of middle of the road artists either. I ended up cancelling before the trial even ended and still had songs remaining because there just wasn't enough selection to make it worthwhile. Personally, I don't have hours to spend searching for decent songs.