Long Live A$AP by A$AP

I rarely listen to and even less often review rap music but today am making an exception. In the last couple of weeks I have heard quite a bit about this rapper. Rolling Stone seems especially to have been very excited about his talent.

I must confess that, to me, for the most part much of this music sounds the same and I am certainly not a fan of the bitches and ho's attitude of much of it. That said I do recognize that some of these fellows have a talent at it. I think Eminem is talented, I think Wiz Khalifa is good at what he does even if I do not like it. I also think it is important to listen to new things, I am constantly trying to tell my kids that they need to expose themselves to all kinds of music, even if it is just listening to the non radio cuts on an album they like. Of course rarely do kids even by the album these days, I keep having to tell myself the world is changing.

On his first album A$AP certainly does seem good at what he does. I cannot pretend to tell you any message or theme. I do not understand some of what they say, and the constant UHH is a bit much but the first single called nicely F@*kin Bitches is a winner. I cannot help but feel like I am writing that sarcastically but it actually is a neat song as far as beats and rhymes, and a reference to The Beatles never hurts. I listened to the clean version so I am sure that made it a bit more acceptable for me.

Wild for the Night on which some of his backup track is provided by the very hot Skrillex ( another fellow who is a bit beyond my taste) seems to me sure to be a winner. How can I tell, I try to see if I can picture this being played at ten in my middle son's room. On 1train the back track is even better with a slower beat, joined by Kendrick Lamar for a verse this song is also strong. If I'm not the hottest then hell must have froze over is a pretty good line, and on this song A$AP reminds me of Kanye West. Again not sure if that is a compliment or not but I think in this case it is.

My favorite song on the album is surely Phoenix. Starting with a slow beat, and references to God, Mary J Blige, Kurt Cobain, Jesus Christ, A$AP has something to say on this song. Talking about judgement and scrutinizing making us all less than we could be there actually is a message here even I can understand.

So tonight I get to ask my middle son if he has listened to this new rapper yet, if he has I guarantee you it is only to the single. It is good to be ahead of the curve, something my wife says I am very good at. Even if you have to listen to a fellow with a dollar sign in his name.

Check it out, I assure you your kids will be listening to it.

Seconds by U2

A great deal of the fans of U2 have most likely never heard this song. I was in college when U2 was breaking from a college band across the pop divide in the mid eighties. When the album War was released the foundation of rock and roll might well have shifted.

The album War was one of the great albums in rock and roll history, not only for the incredible music it featured but because it was the beginning of the widespread acclaim of U2. The early albums Boy and October had made them the quintessential college band but they were still far from the mainstream success that would happen in 1987 with The Joshua Tree.

With songs like Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Years Day War is usually the place that new or next generation U2 fans start. Still more often than not that is where they stop. Two Hearts and traditional concert closer " 40" might be the choices for those who want to go one step further.

This morning listening to First Wave on the satellite when Seconds came on I was floored at what am amazing song this is. With it's constant beat, it's fade out and fade in the song owes as much to Pink Floyd as it does to the Beatles but when one considers that this is an album track. An album track that features the sing song " Airborne ranger" marching song as background noise no less but still an album track. Taken along with " Refugee" these two songs sealed the deal on what might be one of the most thematically true rock and roll albums in history.

Coming from Ireland and witness to the troubles as the grew up no one could speak with more authority than U2 on the perils of war, declared or not and speak they did. This was an incredible album, something I was jarringly reminded of this morning. Sometimes it is easy to forget how meaningful music is to you when you are 19 years old. This morning I got a glimpse into my past and remembered. It only took a " Second"

Analog Man by Joe Walsh

When I was in high school for some reason Joe Walsh was considered one of the cooler people in the Entertainment World. I had a friend named Bob who had a shirt that said Bob for Pope, Joe Walsh for President.

It has been a long trip for Joe Walsh. He has stayed on the periphery of pop culture but not been a major influence for the last twenty years or more. Occasionally a solo album. he would reappear and make a ton of money as part of any Eagles reunion but all in all Joe Walsh has been quiet.

This year his exposure increased in the spring when he made a few appearances playing guitar for Paul McCartney. Walsh has married into the extended Beatles family recently by marrying his good friend Ringo Starr's sister. Walsh had played on several of Ringo's All Star Tours. Rock and Roll is a primarily incestuous family much of the time.

Now this month Walsh has released a solo album and at least to my ears it is a very strong album. One should not confuse very good with will be a big seller as I do not know what the market for any album is any more, at least one that does not have hip hop or teenage girls singing but Walsh has released an album anyone of a rock and roll youth should enjoy.

The album begins with the title cut Analog Man in which Walsh plays everyman, stating that he is not comfortable with technology and does not everything need, that vinyl is just fine Joe is and will remain an analog man. I find this to be a quandary for many of our age group. I detest all the technology but I love my Iphone, Spotify, and of course here I am blogging. Let's just say I am conflicted.

Many of Walsh's albums in the last decades have had a cute song or too but the albums as a whole cannot carry the load. This album is much deeper. For those wishing to hear a little Eagles inflected Joe Walsh the song Spanish Dancer will be a hit. Close your eyes and the first thirty seconds will place you in the late seventies Joe Walsh Eagles sound.

The album ends with Funk 50 and update of the old James Gang Funk 49, followed by an instrumental India. These are both interesting but the instrumental especially is not virtuoso material, that is, warranting a spot on the album is questionable.

This is corrected however by a couple standout songs on the album. In Band Played On Joe takes us through some of the modern day problems that we appear not to be able or willing to fix. Much better is the song Family, in which the now happily married Walsh sings about the happiness and contentment he has found with wonder. " I finally found a wife and a home, and a family that matters means more to me than anything I'll ever believe," Walsh sings from the heart, he has been through a busy life, a crazy up and down life and now he ....it seems ...he feels blessed for not only his wife but his circle. Good for you Joe.

One Day at a Time is a standout. When Walsh says " I was always the first to arrive at the party and the last to leave the scene of the crime, it started with a couple of beers and went I don't know how many years." he tells us of the excesses in his life. He learned to live his life One Day at a Time. Maybe not the party anthem of the summer but for many his age the song will be very resonant.


These songs in itself make a strong album, but Just Lucky That Way makes it clear that this album will connect. An auto biographical song Walsh admits how lucky he has been, how far above his original wishes he has come. When Joe says he is Just Lucky That Way he is thanking the stars for the last forty years of success and perhaps also thanking for coming out on the other end of that success and feeling a level of contentment all the party days never provided.

Not an album that will change rock and roll. Still an album many aging rockers and rock and roll fans can appreciate and connect with. As Joe would sing " That's not so bad after all. "