Tag Archives: rock music

Clutch – Live at the 9:30 Club (DVD)

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2010 Weathermaker Music

(note:  I wrote this right after the release of this DVD last year, but noticed that I saved it as a draft and never posted it.  Sorry…)

Being the total Clutch homer that I am, I pre-ordered my copy of this…just so I could get my own 2-foot long Clutch logo sticker which I now proudly display in my studio:) Clutch is the band that turns me into a 15-year-old again…when nothing mattered but music.

If you buy into the Clutch thang, you’ll undoubtedly be happy with this. First, you have the live show which clocks in at around 90 minutes. Clutch is a machine live…and you never know what the set list will be from show to show. Unlike so many corporate bands (Def Leppard comes to mind in a big way), Clutch doesn’t forsake their early material when it comes to their live shows.

In fact they celebrate it…and it’s testimony to their songwriting that early songs like “A Shogun Named Marcus,” “The House that Peterbilt,” and “Escape from the Prison Planet” sound even better today in a live setting with Clutch’s modern deep-fried groove and resident vocabularian Neil Fallon’s more melodic vocal stylings.

The latter song is on this DVD in full-force as our fave Maryland boys play their self-titled 1995 disc in its entirety in this live set. 1995’s Clutch album is a bit of an underground classic, but I never truly appreciated the songs until I heard them live. Truth is, I always felt the production on that album was way too thin…but man do these songs just burn live and it’s such a kick to hear a rabid crowd singing along to “Escape…,” “Spacegrass,” and my two faves “Rock and Roll Outlaw” and “I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth.”

I could go on and on…and most of my friends are probably tired of me talking about Clutch. Lol   Just a wonderful band and a wonderful live document here.

The second CD is a 100+ minute documentary following Clutch on the road with both band and fan interviews. Loads of fun with a band that’s unbelievably humble considering how good they are. Listening to Jean-Paul “The Master” Gaster talk about drums is mesmerizing. A lot of thought goes into the sounds both he and the entire band make.

This is a band that cares.

We all should.

Rating:   5 out of 5

The Cult – Electric

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   1987 Sire Records

An album that I hold dear to my heart (and indeed I know it by heart through hundreds of repeated listens), ‘Electric’ shares time with Tricky Woo’s ‘Sometimes I Cry’ as my consistent favorites of all time.

Producer Rick Rubin’s massive repertoire consists of, in most cases, the very best work by each individual band and this is no exception.  ‘Electric’ possesses what I think is the greatest no-frills mix in the history of rock, spilling forth like the best cheap wine from your speakers.  No kidding, it’s both accomplished and delightfully reckless at the same time, saturated liberally with what I think is the sexiest rock guitar sound ever achieved on record.

Opener “Wild Flower” is one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time, and a song I used to play on my morning show on KLSU (Louisiana State University’s college radio station) to piss off all the alternative music know-it-alls who hated ‘Electric’ because it wasn’t ‘Love – Part II.’  I never understood that sorry lot’s “either/or” attitude.  I liked both albums!

“Peace Dog” was a staple of the local rock bands in Baton Rouge in the early-mid 90’s and is just a powerhouse, while “Little Devil,” “Bad Fun,” “Love Removal Machine” and “Outlaw” are my other personal favorites.   The only drawback on this album is the most powerless and anemic cover of Steppenwolf’s classic “Born To Be Wild” that I’ve ever heard.  How it made the final cut I’ll never know.

This is pure guitar, bass, drums and vocals in all its rock and roll glory.   Riffs and the classic rock vibe of the 70’s are all shamelessly rehashed in the ultimate tribute to the grandeur of rock, with spirited performances and the best pure rock mixing job ever winning the day.

Rating:   5 out of 5

CLICK HERE TO BUY Electric AND OTHER CULT MUSIC