As I was listening to some tunes today on my walkman, I thought it would be a good idea to comment on some of the music I listen to, here on the Steven site. Why not? So, I am going to try to keep up on this, and when I get the urge jot down some thoughts on the tunes while my excitement is still fresh. I will not write about things I don't like because I don't listen to things I don't like. This could end up being either just a documentation of some of my favorite music, or maybe I could influence someone to go out and pick up some new music or dig into their tape box for something they forgot was so rockin'. Enjoy my opinion, or don't... Tomato11

• Misfits, "Walk Among Us" - I listened to this today in my walkman at the gym, which sparked my idea for this section of the site. Now this is some serious shit. It is hard to believe that such a young Glenn Danzig had such pipes, mature singing style, and melody sense. This is mature rock, but you know it was done without much real planning on their part. And I guess I respond to that the most in music, where what the band is just doing what they do, and for some reason it just works. I think he was around 18 or so - I can't think of anyone who could sing like that at 18. The backup vocals, yells, and howls add perfect flavor to Danzig's lead, and the buzzsaw guitars make me want to pick one up and strum hard - they must have been a great live band to see in that era. Another great Misfits album to pick up, now that I think of it, is their first release, "Static Age". Like "Walk Among Us", this shows a raw, rockin', heavy blues band - a "punk" band, yes, but behind the punk "branding" is some real true, innocent rock n' roll. Kind of reminds me of Nirvana's "Bleach", a real rockin' blues album, where the music was just pouring out of the band. Just like Nirvana, Danzig and The Misfits made some great albums afterwards, but it seems they thought too much about them in the process, which I guess is inevitable when you are becoming a bigger band.

• Elton John, "Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy" - This album is a couple album's into Elton's career, and really hits a spot in me. The only hit off the album was "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", which still gets me emotional when listening to it, but the rest of the album is full of gems which are on par with this song. "Better Off Dead" has unbelievable melodies that only few of the masters (maybe McCartney, Pollard) have been able to construct, "Bitter Fingers" puts a warm smile on my face, and by the end of the album all I can say is where can I find more songs that make me feel this good.

• Rush, "Permanent Waves" & "Hemispheres" - I put Lori and me through a Rush listening party over the weekend while playing Sega, and was jammin' hard. It's funny how when you put some music away for a while and then put it on, it sounds different - maybe it holds up to your expectations, maybe not. Rush held up and maybe went beyond that. When you put music away and listen to it years later, I guess it is easier to hear the band as just the band they are (or were), and not as a progressive band (like Rush) or a punk band (like The Misfits). Rush's riffs are pretty fuckin' amazing and with the positive, observational lyrics from Neil Peart, this band can maybe now be seen as not just a band that jerked off their instruments. Yes, they are on a higher musical plane, but they used their talents wisely and Lifeson's guitar playing is so singable. In fact you can pick any instrument in the band and sing from it's view of the song. But at this stage, I will say that Lifeson is the glue that holds Rush together, he never seems to go overboard, all of his choices are right. Put on "Jacob's Ladder" or "Natural Science" from "Permanent Waves" or the "Hemispheres" epic or "Circumstances" from "Hemispheres", for example. I really want to pick up "A Farewell To Kings" and listen to "Cygnus X-1"!!!

• Donovan, "Troubador" - I am listening to this greatest hits collection which is some unbelievable shit!! Barbie Smooth turned me on to Donovan over last summer and since then I haven't been able to put it down. There are not many musical phases I go through that last through a couple of seasons. This type of thing has happened for me before with The Pixies in '89, GBV in '94, Flaming Lips in '95, Smiths in '83, Metallica in '86, Thin Lizzy in '88, but otherwise most of my phases last only a month or so. OK, Back to Donovan, this guy rocks, he has John Paul Jones, McCartney, Stills, Jeff Beck, Page, & Bonham on his tunes and sings songs which most mention flowers. It is such delicate music, but still so cool. He is riding that fine line most musicians dare to tread - where if you fall one way you could be taken as cheesy, ridiculous, soft, whatever... but he manages to remain cool no matter what he tries to do. A lot of bands take the easy, painful way out, which even if people don't like it, they still think it is "cool" because it is full of pain; but Donovan can sing things like "Happiness runs in a circular motion, love is like a little boat upon the sea" or "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is" and come off as totally rockin', without actually "ROCKIN'". And dudes like The Allmans even cover "There is a Mountain" on "Eat A Peach"!!! Explain that one to me!!! This guy is too cool . Some comments: "Breezes of Patchulie" makes me want to cry, "To Susan On The West Coast Waiting" makes me want to cry, "Atlantis" and "Lalena" make me want to cry. Word up, pick up some shit by this guy if you want to get into a real gem that will make you look at rock music in a whole different way.

• KISS live in NJ - Last night was a special night. I saw KISS doing their Psycho Circus 3D show at The Continental Airlines Arena in Jersey. Man, this shit was intense. On one hand it brought me back to the 70's, but on the other hand this was also the now and also the future!!! No one does it like KISS - a total spectacle - a 3D screen which really worked (a stadium full of people with glasses on reaching out into the air in front of them to "touch" KISS), flying Gene, flying Paul, Space Ship drum riser, explosions, more confetti than I have ever seen, light show, smoke, and on and on. They care more about giving a good show than anyone in the entertainment industry. I mean, this was live, this was not TV or a movie, or the internet - this was the actual four guys who wrote the book, working, I repeat, working hard to give only the best show, and having fun, joking with each other, a team, showing that they want to please their fans. Ace was so on, and I was even impressed with Paul Stanley whose voice and energy was so amazing, Gene (what can I say?), and Peter giving a great melodic drum solo, which everyone was still out of their seats for, in a world without drum solos. There was not a lag in the 2 and a 1/2 hour show and they pulled out all gems like "100,000 years", "Deuce", "Firehouse", "Let Me Go Rock N' Roll", and even "Do You Love Me", and even "I Was Made For Loving You"!!!! If anyone has anything negative to say about KISS in '98, they are only spoiled by the fact that KISS produces and give you so much more in a show that you can almost get used to all of the spectacle... but then you have to step away and take a look at any other show, past or present, and see what care KISS puts into their show and how nothing really compares. Nuff said. KISS ARMY. ROCK ON.

• Grateful Dead, "Reckoning"- I am a wierd Dead fan. Most Deadheads like the live stuff, the tapes, the bootlegs, probably because it reminds them of the shows they went to, their trips, whatever. Believe me, I can relate to that, but I like the recorded stuff. I love the studio albums, all of them, especially American Beauty (of course), but even stuff like Shakedown or Terrapin as well. Europe '72 is a great live recording and was released by a major label, but otherwise most of the bootlegs I have heard don't represent the songs well to me. Well, I picked up a great live recording from 1980 of all years!!! "Reckoning" is a recording on Arista from acoustic shows they did in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in NYC. And, man, they sound so on, tight, clear, together, with harmonies in tact, and dynamics perfect. There is a great "Ripple", "Dire Wolf", but the ones that really make the cd are "It Must Have Been The Roses", "China Doll", "To Lay Me Down", and "Bird Song". These are four delicate songs played with such care. These are songs which show the true importance, talent and emotion of Jerry Garcia - that which most Deadheads boast about, but most non-Dead fans don't get to hear and can't understand why he was so praised. I just wish that there was a version of "Morning Dew" on this cd, because that is a personal fave. Regardless, the Dead were the only band of its kind, and this cd might help to better show this.

• KISS, "Alive"- Well, I won't go to into it because I spent a whole paragraph on them already, but man I am still in the KISS mode. I picked up a remastered version of KISS Alive when I was down in Miami and this is some fuckin' blues tunes!! Songs like "She", "Watchin' You", 100,000 Years", "Parasite" - most people don't consider the music when talking about KISS, but this is non-stop tunes, great riffs, great Ace solos, great funk, and total singalongs that will have you humming them all day. The energy is totally translated on this recording from the crowd and the band, and you can tell the music was loud and totally heavy. This band did not make it on pure makeup alone, and Alive is a documentation to prove this.

• Zeppelin, "Stairway to Heaven" - I actually got off on Stairway yesterday!!!! I didn't think it was possible, but it has been a long time since I heard it, and it really got me movin'. Put it on one time and wait till Bonham kicks in.

• Be Bop Deluxe, "Axe Victim" & "Sunburst Finish" - It has been some time since I have updated the listening booth, but that doesn't mean I haven't been inspired. I just blew an embarassing amount of money I do not have on some cds from Music Blvd. It is really the best way to cd shop, but it is just a little too easy - you just add cds to the virtual "shopping cart" and then they are delivered in a couple of days. So, anyway, back to Be Bop Deluxe - a band from England in the 70's that never made it in the states - you guys should really pick this shit up. Some of the most beautiful, timeless music/melodies ever recorded, was lead by Bill Nelson who is really one of the most incredible, most inspired and tasteful guitarists I have ever heard. His music was compared a little too much with Bowie at the time and that gave them a bad name. The band is only like Bowie in the futuristic "glammy" kinda mode that was going on, but his talent, melodies and guitar playing is really his own. He has the guitar chops of a virtuoso, but doesn't abuse it at all, that is the beauty of it - most guitarists abuse that and jerk off too much. Nelson has an incredible voice and his guitar just picks up where his voice leaves off, which, mixed with their real 70's hard anthemic rock and great production, just makes for delicious listening - their tunes are like a good meal. If you want to "re-discover" some real talent that doesn't seem to exist in today's music, and get into a long-lost Queen/Bowie-type thing with 6 albums worth of gems, pick one up. The two mentioned are the one's I am listening to now, but the other's are just as good. There are also many greatest hits collections available out there like "Raiding The Divine Archive" - start there and work your way through.

"Don't stop believin'"