THE SMASHING PUMPKINS DEEP PURPLE FOREIGNER
LIVE ROCK CRITIC SIXTEEN: SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE
I have written so many bad reviews that I thought I might be characterized as a negative critic. A search of HDTV live rock recordings was undertaken and for a while Bush, Jet and Cheap Trick were on my list of excellent live performance bands; I highly recommend their live performance videos.
Deep Purple founded in 1968 at Hertford England has sold 100 million albums. That has nothing to do with LIVE ROCK CRITIC. I criticize and I praise contemporary live rock performance. In 2006 Deep Purple performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Most impressive in their start: Boom Boom right out of the box. Ian Gillian sings so clearly and when he lets loose he has incredible power and a clean multi-octave vocal range.
Rodger Glover on bass and Steve Morse are masters of the huge stacks of speakers and powerful amps. The instruments are under superb unfailing control. More control than Billy Corgan but not as psychedelic. “Rapture Of The Deep” in deed with a surreality akin to Pink Floyd. Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse constantly progressively accurately changes along with the exotic composition of my favourite cuts in “Rapture of the Deep”.
And the organ chimed and raged and pealed thunder in perfectly proclaimed notes of neo-classical hard rock. Don Ariey has a Kurzweil on top of his Hammond organ must be a B3, Don plays incredible innovative beyond organ. Ariey might be the most incredible organist I have ever heard.
Bass organ and guitar all together create such a heavy perfect rage of instrumental power. This band sounds large.
The early week spot was a boring Steve Morse solo not up to Deep Purple class. Many people would be impressed but like Morse’s following Hendrix tribute, heard it to much perhaps. Deep Purple played some very good neo- classical music but I did not like it nearly as much as the beautiful jazz number which Deep Purple played because it was “The Montreux Jazz Festival”.
The three bands which I will review are not necessarily one two three, but peers, equals in excellence in many ways. My personal taste leaves the best for last. Right in the middle Foreigner. Foreigner is performing in 2010 at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville Tennessee.
King Crimson guitarist Mick Jones founded Foreigner in 1976 with Ian McDonald. By 2010 Mark Schulman, joined 1992 plays drums and does backup vocals. Thom Gimbell plays guitar saxophone and flute. Jeff Pilson plays bass and assists with vocals which are handled by the incredible Kelly Hansen Foreigner’s new vocalist. I can not believe how strong Hanson’s voice is and how long it can last in concert. Michael Bluestein, joined 2008 plays keys, synths and assists with vocals as does Colin Pilsner who plays bass.
Foreigner’s classic hits are reprised with time machine like perfection. “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, “ I Want To Know What Love Is”, “Dirty White Boy”, “Juke Box Hero”, and most of all “Urgent” are songs which I remember dancing to in clubs for decades. With the exception of the first two songs I had no idea that Foreigner was responsible for so many great dancing tunes and I am sure there are many more which I have not recognized as the work of this powerhouse hard rock band. I had known them for their incredible moody scene setting music such as “Waiting for a girl like you”. Their first hit “Feels Like The First Time” I don’t really care for that much so many of their other songs are better. Other critics recognize Foreigner as a long time top rated concert touring band. Mick Jones is the founder and the main driving force in Foreigner.
Mick plays some very nice piano on synthesiser and his steady Les Paul guitar constantly perfect but never flashy mindless showing off such as we saw with Ted Nugent who probably thinks he’s better than Mick Jones but he’s not. For steady guitar propulsion of a band its possible that there’s nobody better than Mick. Talented musicians produce great music I highly recommended listening to all of the new and hit songs of Foreigner.
The Smashing Pumpkins, live in 2008 "The Fillmore Residency"top my list of what I found on HDTV. The Smashing Pumpkins have not always been as great as in San Francisco in 2008 at the Fillmore Auditorium. This critique is about this concert as it was provided on HDTV.
The Smashing Pumpkins were formed in Chicago in 1988 by Billy Corgan who writes most of the songs sings and plays guitar and James Iha. Today’s line-up is different from that of 2008, with Nicole Fiorentino and Mike Byrne, Jeff Schroeder and Billy Corgan working on “Teargarden”.
The Smashing Pumpkins had disbanded in 2000 due to conflict and drug use, I viewed a 1999 performance and it is nothing like 2008.
Billy Corgan had written new songs and in 2006 got together again with Jimmy Chamberlin and there had been a number of different musicians, up to 10 members, but by the time of 2008 “The Fillmore Residency” Lisa Harrington played keyboard, Jeff Schroeder played guitar and everybody sang backup to Billy Corgan including an occasional vocal from bassist Ginger Reyes.
I was not that impressed with the first songs with acoustic guitar but I am sure fans of this genre would find Corgan’s work excellent. By the third song “Ninety Nine Floors” continuing through “Blue Skies Bring Tears” and “SuperChrist” the Smashing Pumpkins take us on a psychedelic
journey. The band swells together in alchemical transmutation. The Smashing Pumpkins produced heavy rock with extreme psychedelic composition and drama. I am impressed and entertained, transported as I have asked to be to another space. Such heavy space, such wide sound and so perfect, so clear and wild as a wind storm with lightning and thunder, bleak black speeding clouds and rays of shinning light. This is the sound and what it brings to mind, I am typing as I listen. I think that this concert and its compositions are so complex and deep that I could listen to these songs more than once. The psychedelic rock is done so perfectly that I am awe struck and I have low end sound, I am hearing the performances on the speakers of a Sony 955XS.
I highly recommend viewing this performance The Smashing Pumpkins “The Fillmore Residency”, on HDTV.
LIVE ROCK CRITIC SIXTEEN: SEARCH FOR EXCELLENCE
I have written so many bad reviews that I thought I might be characterized as a negative critic. A search of HDTV live rock recordings was undertaken and for a while Bush, Jet and Cheap Trick were on my list of excellent live performance bands; I highly recommend their live performance videos.
Deep Purple founded in 1968 at Hertford England has sold 100 million albums. That has nothing to do with LIVE ROCK CRITIC. I criticize and I praise contemporary live rock performance. In 2006 Deep Purple performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Most impressive in their start: Boom Boom right out of the box. Ian Gillian sings so clearly and when he lets loose he has incredible power and a clean multi-octave vocal range.
Rodger Glover on bass and Steve Morse are masters of the huge stacks of speakers and powerful amps. The instruments are under superb unfailing control. More control than Billy Corgan but not as psychedelic. “Rapture Of The Deep” in deed with a surreality akin to Pink Floyd. Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse constantly progressively accurately changes along with the exotic composition of my favourite cuts in “Rapture of the Deep”.
And the organ chimed and raged and pealed thunder in perfectly proclaimed notes of neo-classical hard rock. Don Ariey has a Kurzweil on top of his Hammond organ must be a B3, Don plays incredible innovative beyond organ. Ariey might be the most incredible organist I have ever heard.
Bass organ and guitar all together create such a heavy perfect rage of instrumental power. This band sounds large.
The early week spot was a boring Steve Morse solo not up to Deep Purple class. Many people would be impressed but like Morse’s following Hendrix tribute, heard it to much perhaps. Deep Purple played some very good neo- classical music but I did not like it nearly as much as the beautiful jazz number which Deep Purple played because it was “The Montreux Jazz Festival”.
The three bands which I will review are not necessarily one two three, but peers, equals in excellence in many ways. My personal taste leaves the best for last. Right in the middle Foreigner. Foreigner is performing in 2010 at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville Tennessee.
King Crimson guitarist Mick Jones founded Foreigner in 1976 with Ian McDonald. By 2010 Mark Schulman, joined 1992 plays drums and does backup vocals. Thom Gimbell plays guitar saxophone and flute. Jeff Pilson plays bass and assists with vocals which are handled by the incredible Kelly Hansen Foreigner’s new vocalist. I can not believe how strong Hanson’s voice is and how long it can last in concert. Michael Bluestein, joined 2008 plays keys, synths and assists with vocals as does Colin Pilsner who plays bass.
Foreigner’s classic hits are reprised with time machine like perfection. “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, “ I Want To Know What Love Is”, “Dirty White Boy”, “Juke Box Hero”, and most of all “Urgent” are songs which I remember dancing to in clubs for decades. With the exception of the first two songs I had no idea that Foreigner was responsible for so many great dancing tunes and I am sure there are many more which I have not recognized as the work of this powerhouse hard rock band. I had known them for their incredible moody scene setting music such as “Waiting for a girl like you”. Their first hit “Feels Like The First Time” I don’t really care for that much so many of their other songs are better. Other critics recognize Foreigner as a long time top rated concert touring band. Mick Jones is the founder and the main driving force in Foreigner.
Mick plays some very nice piano on synthesiser and his steady Les Paul guitar constantly perfect but never flashy mindless showing off such as we saw with Ted Nugent who probably thinks he’s better than Mick Jones but he’s not. For steady guitar propulsion of a band its possible that there’s nobody better than Mick. Talented musicians produce great music I highly recommended listening to all of the new and hit songs of Foreigner.
The Smashing Pumpkins, live in 2008 "The Fillmore Residency"top my list of what I found on HDTV. The Smashing Pumpkins have not always been as great as in San Francisco in 2008 at the Fillmore Auditorium. This critique is about this concert as it was provided on HDTV.
The Smashing Pumpkins were formed in Chicago in 1988 by Billy Corgan who writes most of the songs sings and plays guitar and James Iha. Today’s line-up is different from that of 2008, with Nicole Fiorentino and Mike Byrne, Jeff Schroeder and Billy Corgan working on “Teargarden”.
The Smashing Pumpkins had disbanded in 2000 due to conflict and drug use, I viewed a 1999 performance and it is nothing like 2008.
Billy Corgan had written new songs and in 2006 got together again with Jimmy Chamberlin and there had been a number of different musicians, up to 10 members, but by the time of 2008 “The Fillmore Residency” Lisa Harrington played keyboard, Jeff Schroeder played guitar and everybody sang backup to Billy Corgan including an occasional vocal from bassist Ginger Reyes.
I was not that impressed with the first songs with acoustic guitar but I am sure fans of this genre would find Corgan’s work excellent. By the third song “Ninety Nine Floors” continuing through “Blue Skies Bring Tears” and “SuperChrist” the Smashing Pumpkins take us on a psychedelic
journey. The band swells together in alchemical transmutation. The Smashing Pumpkins produced heavy rock with extreme psychedelic composition and drama. I am impressed and entertained, transported as I have asked to be to another space. Such heavy space, such wide sound and so perfect, so clear and wild as a wind storm with lightning and thunder, bleak black speeding clouds and rays of shinning light. This is the sound and what it brings to mind, I am typing as I listen. I think that this concert and its compositions are so complex and deep that I could listen to these songs more than once. The psychedelic rock is done so perfectly that I am awe struck and I have low end sound, I am hearing the performances on the speakers of a Sony 955XS.
I highly recommend viewing this performance The Smashing Pumpkins “The Fillmore Residency”, on HDTV.
