The Production Side

The first question you may be asking is, who exactly is Black Market Radio.
Well, that’s a good question. Black Market Radio is a New  City based band formed by Peter Cornell (this would be Chris Cornell’s brother) and bassist Keith Mannino. Currently, the band is rounded out by the brothers Hummel on guitar and drums.
Better Than A Killer is actually a revamped version of the band’s debut album Suicide Parlor. As for their music, it should be exactly what 90’s and current alternative fans are looking for. BMR accomplishes what so many other bands have failed to do; make music …read more

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If you have ever seen the spectacle that is a Flaming Lips concert, then you know that this band is one of the best live shows around. Imagine their already famous show, but at a zoo in their hometown. That’s exactly what U.F.O’s at the Zoo delivers.
Filmed on September 15, 2006 at the Zoo Amphitheater in Oklahoma City, this DVD captures all of the highlights of a Flaming Lips show. There is of course people dressed as animals, confetti, fake blood and spaceships. But at this show, their at a zoo as well!
The 24 song track list spans the Lips’ 20 …read more

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So last week I wrote an FYI post about Alice in Chains and another B5 blogger, Jennifer who writes some great stuff at Hippie Sounds, reminded me of Mad Season’s Above.
Mad Season was a Seattle supergroup consisting of AIC frontman Layne Staley, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin and bassist John Baker Sanunders from the Walkabouts. McCready put the band together in 1994; but it wasn’t until October 1994 that the band became complete with the addition of friend Layne Staley and called themselves the Gacy Bunch and eventually Mad Season.
The band released only …read more

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This was STP’s third, and in my opinion, their best album from 1996. While Core was a decent debut and Purple remains a classic; Tiny Music established STP as one of the best bands from the 90’s. The album was, and still is, incomparable to the rest of STP’s catalog.
Scott traded in his rougher pipes for a smoother set and proved that he had one of the best voices around. The DeLeo brothers beautifully blended some jazzy riffs with some 60’s style psychedelia. And, let’s not forget the underrated Eric Kretz holding it down with his sweet drumming. All …read more

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One of my guilty pleasures from the 90’s, Garbage, releases their first greatest hits package Absolute Garbage.

It’s probably been a long time since you’ve heard from Garbage. But you have to remember who they were. The band started by three producers and fronted by a beautiful red-haired Scot.
Being a greatest hits package, all of the usual suspects are there. Everything from “Only Happy When It Rains”, Stupid Girl”, “I Think I’m Paranoid” and “#1 Crush” from Romeo + Juliet. Also featured on the album is the theme from the James Bond flick The World Is Not Enough and a new …read more

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It’s been 5 years since Silverchair released an album and it was well worth the wait.

Who would thought that Silverchair, a group of Australian teens, would bloom into one of the best bands around right now. Australia may have never forgotten the lads, but most of us in the States seemed to; which means a lot of people are missing out on a still young and ever growing band.
I’ll be honest, I kind of forgot about Silverchair for a couple of years myself, despite loving their debut Frogstomp and being the first band that I saw live when they …read more

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I wanted to throw this album out there because I’m seeing The Police this week and there were not many new releases this week, except for Minnie Driver’s new album Seastories (yes, Minnie Driver the actress from Good Will Hunting and Hard Rain).

The 1978 debut from The Police is one of my favorites. Lyrically it’s very dark, but musically is upbeat. If you didn’t listen to the lyrics, you would probably dance around and not even know that Sting is singing about suicide. Genius. I read that the album didn’t sell much when first released, but eventually caught on …read more

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It’s been 7 years since the Smashing Pumpkins have released a new album, maybe they should have waited another 7.

The first problem is Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin going White Stripes style and becoming a duo on Zeitgeist. There is no depth in the music without any other musicians and Corgan’s guitar solos get stale real fast, as well as, his back up vocals which generate an unpleasant annoyance. In fact, the album gets boring about half way through.
The second problem is the band is trying to please fans from every era, which creates an album with no originality. While everything from Adore and …read more

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Most 90’s, or rock fans in general, probably own The Foo Fighters 1997 classic The Colour and the Shape. But now you’re probably going to buy a second copy with the release of the 10th anniversary edition.
The Colour and and the Shape is considered the band’s best album and it’s hard to disprove them. The first Foo Fighters album as a band (Dave Grohl did everything on the debut) unleashed the hits “Everlong”,”My Hero”, “Monkey Wrench” and “Walking After You”. “Everlong” has become a classic, and is still a fan favorite as a concert closer, not to mention the …read more

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WARNING: Please be advised that the following album could blow the roof off of your house or vehicle if played too loudly due to the guitar work of Slash, play with caution.
 
I’ll admit that I was very anticipated to get my hands on Contraband, the 2004 debut album from Velvet Revolver. Being a huge STP fan and admiring Guns ‘N’ Roses for their sheer raw talent, Velvet Revolver seemed too good to be true. I still think that Scott Weiland is one of the best frontmen ever and not too shabby of a vocalist either. Slash, Duff and Matt Sorum teaming up with such a showman …read more

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