Sometimes when I read reviews from other publications to check some of my facts, I often wonder if we were actually at the same show. One pub’s writer stated, “At the Aragon however, made the choice to destroy all expectations and flog his songs until there was blood.” I have to be honest, I’ve seen Beck about 6 times and of the 6, this was my least favorite, but the other 5 just happened to be absolutely amazing and...
When Metallica emerged in the 80s, it was written in the blood of Kill 'Em All that their legacy would be built on defining an entire musical genre. Rolling though the late 80s and early 90s they cut a path of destruction releasing Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, …And Justice For All and Metallica (aka, The Black Album). Unfortunately, the band had started to loose their way through a series of unfortunate attempts to build a bigger, better sound...
If you’re regular reader of Ground Control I know what you’re probably thinking. “What the hell was Raymond Ahner, the guy who covers all those punk and metal shows, doing at a concert like this?” Well, let me ask you a question. If you were given the chance to photograph three legendary bands, have a few beers, and take in live versions of "Dream Police," "Magic Man" and "Wheel In The Sky" on a warm Autumn evening, wouldn't you seize...
Fans confused by the guitarist’s first solo record will be gratified when they discover that, for The Fabled City, Tom Morello has steeled himself and put his own name on the front cover in addition to his anonymous nom de folk, The Nightwatchman, That single act implies that the guitarist is brave enough in these songs to stand up behind them, be counted and face any arrows that might get thrown in the direction of his music. That spirit manifests...
It has never been easy for me to get into gothic culture. While the fashion sense has always been easy for me (I look good in black and don’t have to hide from the sun to boast a sort of eerie pallor) the music has, with only a few exceptions, always gone out of its’ way to make sure that the musicians performing it say just the right things in absolutely the right, shadow-clad way. More than most genres, “goth”...
With the deluge of poor, uninspired and generally confusing moves that the band has made of late (Untitled was the worst yet and seemed to sound the demise of the group as fans know them), it’s difficult to envision Korn as the once aggressive and cathartic “nu metal” kings they once were. The decline has certainly been swift; to date, drummer David Silveria and guitarist Brian “Head” Welch have left the band (presumably for health reasons and religious epiphanies respectively),...
The biggest detriment to the career of Kevin Ayers is the fact that he is still alive. If he had shrugged off this mortal coil via a combination of Dr. Robert's finest and scotch in, say, 1971, well then…we'd have another doomed visionary in which to pour all of our hopes and dreams of limitless possibilities in. But Ayers kept it clean and had the astronomical, unflappable nerve to keep on living and to keep on producing. Kevin Ayers, alongside...
In this day and age, you can’t help but be a little skeptical when a band attempts a comeback after several years. Comebacks tend to offer too much change and too little heart; too much effort in being different and too little truth in what is being projected from the artist’s mouth. With that being said, a band’s return to the glare of publicity can often leave us wondering what the precedent behind the album was—a flashy big bang (which...
I'm not really punk enough for punk shows. I mean, I've listened to punk rock in various forms since the '80s, but I just can't get my affinities right. So often do I get caught up in the fast, simple, raging music, the politics that remind me of my own being sung with passion and ferocity, and the camaraderie and companionship for those of us who roll a little off the edge of normal that I neglect to pay attention...
There is something about gigantic, fuzzy riffs—riffs so big that you could land a DC-10 on them and so solid you could build the Freedom Tower on them. They make men dress in denim and tease their hair out. They make heartbreakingly beautiful girls with headbands and sleeve tattoos hang out with overweight, sweaty men who who can't stop dancing into everyone around them. All for the chance to share a moment of perfect riffage. On a recent weekday in...