Green Day - Uno! Dos! Tres!

Released 24th September 2012 (US release 25th)

Billie Joe Armstrong recently called the band's forthcoming trilogy of albums "a crazy idea that happens to be working really well." Speaking to Rolling Stone about '¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré!', Armstrong also explained that the new albums will be 'power pop'. He said of the band's fresh musical direction: "We wanted something punchier, more power pop – somewhere between AC/DC and the early Beatles."

 

I am not what you would call a fan of Green Day, over the years there have been a few songs here and there that I have liked - especially some of the singles that were released off of 'American Idiot' like 'Wake Me Up When September Comes' and 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and 'Jesus of Suburbia'.

The Singles

Oh Love (Live at Reading Festival 2012)

Kill the DJ (Promo video Explicit Lyrics)

Let Yourself Go (Live at Red Seven 2011 Explicit Lyrics)

The one thing that lets it down time and time again for me when I listen to Green Day is their constant and sometimes unnecessary use of the f-word! It's almost like they are saying "Look, we are still a punk rock band, and we don't really have anything to rebel against anymore but look and listen, we can still swear with the best of them!" Personally it does nothing much at all for me except make me want to press the skip to the next track button! 

'Oh Love'

Of the three singles, I really liked the first one (and not because it actually doesn't have any swearing and thus proving that they can write a decent tune without obscenities). That "power pop" feel was pretty good I thought. David Fricke of the Rolling Stone magazine must have been on some very strong meds the day he said that the song could be compared to The Who's 'Quadrophenia' and that Armstrong's vocal sounds like John Lennon!!

'Kill the DJ' - I am slightly puzzled that this has been spoken of in the same breath as 'Sandinista' and 'Combat Rock' by The Clash. It's Green Day trying to make a dance record "without turning into a dance band". I actually gave up listening after the first chorus as the endless repition of the f word bored me to tears!

'Let Yourself Go' - again I found myself reaching for the skip to the next track button. I do believe it's possible to write an angry song without resorting to spewing out f-bombs all over the place!

Released 12th November 2012 (US release 13th)

Released 14th January 2013 (US release 15th)

 

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball Tour - Nationals Park Washington 14th September 2012

Three hour and thirty-two minute set

1. Prove it All Night (with 1978 intro)
2. My Love Will Not Let You Down
3 .The Ties That Bind
4. Hungry Heart
5. We Take Care Of Our Own
6. Wrecking Ball
7. Death To My Hometown
8. My City Of Ruins
9. Spirit In The Night
10. Blinded By The Light (tour premiere)
11. Jack Of All Trades

12. Jackson Cage
13. Shes The One
14. Johnny 99
15. Darlington County
16. Shackled and Drawn
17. Waitin' On a Sunny Day
18. The Promised Land
19 .Racing In The Street
20. The Rising
21. Badlands
22. Land of Hope and Dreams

**************
23. We Are Alive
24. Thunder Road/25. Born to Run
26. Detroit Medley
27. Dancing in the Dark
28. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
29. American Land (with guest Ali Weinberg - Max's daughter - on accordion)
30. Twist and Shout

Kirsty MacColl First Four Albums To Be Reissued

On CD for the first time Kirsty's debut album 'Desperate Character' will be released on 8th October. (Pre-order on Amazon for a great price!) Album includes her first hit single, 'There's A Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Who Swears He's Elvis'.

Kirsty's 2nd album, 'Kite', is a masterpiece and contains many of her hit singles. This package comes with a second disc of non-album b-sides and remixes. Tracks included are: 'Innocence', 'Free World', 'Days', 'Don't Come the Cowboy with Me Sonny Jim', and 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby'. (Check Amazon to Pre-order). Album is released on 30th September 2012.

Kirsty's third album. 'Electric Landlady' will be released on the 8th October 2012 (Check Amazon for Pre-ordering). Includes the brilliant 'Walking Down Madison' single. The second disc contains remixes and a four track BBC Session that included the duet with Billy Bragg on 'A New England'.

'Titanic Days' gets reissued on 8th October 2012 (again check Amazon for pre-ordering). The album includes the beautiful 'Soho Square', 'Angel' and the single 'Titanic Days' and a second disc includes a bunch of different mixes of 'Angel' and a 1995 live set from the Fleadh Festival from London.

The Rolling Stones - Yet Another Greatest Hits!

There appears to be a lot of excitement at the moment about this up and coming release by The Rolling Stones. The Guardian newspaper had an article online that declared 'Rolling Stones to release first new music since 2005'. The only problem is that it's actually only two new songs! Two new songs in seven years! I know they are getting on in years but really, two songs!!

Once again their discography has been plundered to put together yet another compilation of "Greatest Hits". It's actually quite shocking that they now have more compilations (30) than studio albums (29)! The price of the Super Deluxe Edition though is shocking I think. Okay there are a few extras included but really, are these boxsets worth the money? So many labels and artists seem to be doing this kind of thing these days and whilst I'm sure that serious collectors will go out of the way to purchase it, personally I think it doesn't really have enough to warrent such a high price.

If they wanted to do something good they should have taken a leaf out of the book of The Kinks. Their 'At the BBC' box set contains 129 tracks over 5 CD's and a DVD with live footage of concert and tv performances, all for the nice price of  £40.67! Personally speaking I know where my money would go if I was given the choice of which one I wanted!

From The Rolling Stones website
The Rolling Stones, ABKCO Music and Records and Universal Music Group are pleased to announce the release of GRRR! by the Rolling Stones on the 12th November 2012 for the world, excluding North America, and on the 13th November 2012 in North America.
Available in five different formats, including a three-CD 50 track version including 50 tracks, and a four-CD super-deluxe version gathering a whopping 80 tracks, the collection tells the fascinating ongoing story of the Greatest Rock’n'Roll Band In The World, from their high octane version of Chuck Berry’s “Come On”, their first single issued in June 1963, via the thrilling chart-toppers “The Last Time”, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, “Get Off Of My Cloud”, “Jumping Jack Flash”, “Honky Tonk Women” and the perennial juke-box and concert favourites “Brown Sugar”, “Tumbling Dice”, “Miss You” and “Start Me Up”, all the way to the present day with the inclusion of “Gloom And Doom” and “One More Shot”, two new studio recordings recently completed by the group in Paris, France in August 2012.
These brand new recordings constitute the first time Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood have all been together in the recording studio since completing the exalted A Bigger Bang album in 2005, and follow on from the critically-acclaimed expanded re-releases of the historic 40th Anniversary live Madison Square Garden concert Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out in November 2009, and of two of their seventies masterworks, Exile on Main St., in May 2010, and Some Girls, in November 2011.
All GRRR! formats will feature a striking painting by award-winning American artist Walton Ford, who has created the latest in a long line of iconic artwork that has always been part of the band’s DNA.

GRRR! GREATEST HITS FORMATS:
50 Track 3CD album
3CD / 50 tracks in a digipack with 24 page booklet
50 Track 3CD Deluxe Edition
3CD / 50 tracks in a DVD size box with 36 page hardback book and 5 postcards
Super Deluxe Edition Box Set
4CD / 80 tracks plus Bonus CD, 7″ Vinyl, Hardback book, Poster, 5 postcards in a presentation box
12” Vinyl Box Set
5x 12″ Vinyl / 50 tracks in a casebound LP Box

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball Tour - 8th September2012 Chicago

1. Promised Land
2. Ties That Bind
3. No Surrender
4. Hungry Heart
5. We Take Care Of Our Own
6. Wrecking Ball
7. Death To My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
8. My City Of Ruins
9. E Street Shuffle
10. Pay Me My Money Down
11. This Depression (with Tom Morello)
12. My Hometown (with Eddie Vedder)
13. Darkness On The Edge Of Town (with Eddie Vedder)
14. Because The Night
15. Working On The Highway
16. Shackled And Drawn
17. Waiting On A Sunny Day
18. Who'll Stop The Rain
19. The Ghost Of Tom Joad (With Tom Morello)
20. Badlands
21. Thunder Road
22. Rocky Ground
23. Born To Run
24. Rosalita
25. Dancing In The Dark
26. Tenth Avenue Freeze
27. American Land (with Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello)

Otis

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball Tour - Chicago 7th September 2012

Bruce Springsteen's first-ever show at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday night featured two special guests: Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello.
There were rumors that Vedder, who was at Monday's show in Philadelphia but did not play, would take the stage with Bruce in Chicago. He came up to sing with Bruce on "Atlantic City" and later joined in on "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out."
Morello, who has joined Bruce several times already this tour, joined in on "Death to My Hometown," "Jack of All Trades," "Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out."
One tour premiere, "None But the Brave" was played in the 28-song, three-hour-and-27-minute show.

1. Prove It All Night (78 Intro)
2. My Love Will Not Let You Down
3. Out in the Street
4. Hungry Heart
5. We Take Care of Our Own
6. Wrecking Ball
7. Death to My Hometown (With Tom Morello)
8. My City of Ruins
9. Spirit In The Night
10. Trapped
11. Jack of All Trades (With Tom Morello)
12. Atlantic City (With Eddie Vedder)
13. Lonesome Day
14. I'm Goin' Down
15. Darlington County
16. Shackled and Drawn
17. Waiting on a Sunny Day
18. NONE BUT THE BRAVE (tour premiere)
19. Ghost of Tom Joad (With Tom Morello)
20. Badlands
21. Land of Hope and Dreams

Encores:
22. We Are Alive
23. Thunder Road/24. Born to Run
25. Dancing in the Dark
26. Jungleland
27. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello).
28. Twist and Shout (with Eddie Vedder and Tom Morello)

Bob Mould - Tavastia Helsinki 6th August 2012

Live Footage from Tavastia Set


A Good Idea
Helpless
The Slim
If I Can't Change Your Mind
Fortune Teller
Slick
Man On The Moon

Three of the Seven Husker Du tracks Bob played

Hardly Getting Over It

I Apologize

Chartered Trips

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball Tour - 3rd September 2012 Philadelphia

‎1. FACTORY (acoustic solo)/2. Adam Raised a Cain
3. Streets of Fire
4. Prove It All Night (78 Intro)
5. Something in the Night/6. We Take Care Of Our Own
7. Wrecking Ball
8. Death To My Hometown
9. My City of Ruins
10. Spirit in the Night
11. Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
12. It's Hard to be a Saint in the City
13. Frankie (request)
14. Jack of All Trades
15. Atlantic City
16. Darlington County
17. Shackled and Drawn
18. Waitin’on a Sunny Day
19. The River
20. Lonesome Day
21. Badlands
22. Thunder Road

23. We Are Alive
24. Born To Run
25. Dancing In The Dark
26. Jungleland
27. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
28. American Land

Listen to the Whole Show Here

Two Dreams Fulfiiled at One Show - Dancing and Singing with The Boss

Kaileen Rozanski danced in the dark Wednesday with Bruce Springsteen.
Springsteen plucked the 18-year-old Avon woman out of the crowd in front of the stage at Vernon Downs. As the band played, the pair hugged and danced.

Video of Rozanski dancing with Springsteen

 "Springsteen was such a big inspiration for me growing up," Rozanski said.
Rozanski graduated from Avon High School in the spring, worked the summer as a recreation counselor and is entering Monroe Community College next week. She also spent the summer getting ready for her first Springsteen concert.
When she heard Springsteen was playing at Vernon Downs, a mere 2 1/2-hour drive away, she began making plans. She got tickets the moment they went on sale. She convinced her father, who went with her to the concert, to show up early. Way early. She was at the gate at 3 p.m.
As any good Springsteen fan knows, the video for Springsteen's 1984 song "Dancing in the Dark" features a very young Courtney Cox being plucked from the crowd by Springsteen and the pair dance on stage as the band plays.
Rozanski said she was aware from YouTube videos that Springsteen still pulled dancers up on stage.
Rozanski wore a red bandana on her head ("How could I go to a Bruce Springsteen concert without wearing a red bandana?") and she carried a sign: "HEY BRUCE I WANNA DANCE IN THE DARK."
When the concert started, she held the sign high over her head.
"I could see that he was reading it," she said.
As the concert went on, she held up the sign. And then Springsteen "communicated with me," she said.
"He mouthed, 'Yes, later, not now.' "
The crowd pushed her up toward the stage, she said. She even thought he had forgotten her. And then the band played "Dancing in the Dark."
After Springsteen finished singing the song, the band continued playing. Springsteen went to the edge of the stage, bent down and took her sign. He showed it to the band.
Then he offered her his hand and the crowd pushed her up on stage.
"It's literally something I've been dreaming of forever," Rozanski said.
"Two times he hugged me. Two times I hugged him. He kissed my cheek. I told him he was a big inspiration. I said 'I love you.' He said he loved me," she said.
And there she was, dancing with Bruce Springsteen.
"The band was on one side and 20,000 people on the other," she said.
Springsteen took her red bandana and modeled it for the crowd. He gave Rozanski his harmonica. They danced, hugged again and he lowered her down from the stage.
"I'm so blessed by the experience," she said.
She has video of her moment on stage, but the quality isn't that great, she said. She hopes someone may have taken video or still photos of her moment.
She's posted her video on her YouTube channel: ohkaythatscool. Anyone with any video or photos of her can contact her there, she said.

 Michael Paternoster Sr., of Pulaski, got his family of five to Vernon Downs at 8 a.m. Wednesday to make sure each one got a wristband allowing them to stand in the pit during that night’s concert by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Some 16 hours later, that move paid off.
Springsteen fulfilled the hope and dreams of 8-year-old Michael Jr. by pulling him on stage to sing “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” with the band. Michael Jr. knew the words by heart. The crowd went nuts.
Michael Sr., wife Rene, and daughters Kaeleigh, 15, and Samantha, 11, watched in awe.
“Very exciting,” Michael Sr. said Thursday. “I’m totally amazed. I’ve been a Springsteen fan since the early ‘80s. I’m totally shocked. This is a memory that will never leave us.”
“It felt amazing,” Michael Jr. said..
It was dad’s 26th Springsteen show, including one earlier during this “Wrecking Ball” tour. So his son knew that Springsteen had been pulling kids out of the pit to sing “Waiting on a Sunny Day” with him.
Yet Michael Jr. is no one-song wonder. “He knows at least 20 or 25 (Springsteen songs),” says Michael Sr. “His favorite is ‘Shackled and Drawn.’ He knows ‘Jungleland.’ ‘Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.’¤”
Michael Jr. said now his favorite is “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.”
Springsteen’s eyes were drawn to a sign held up by Michael Jr., who shares the same birthday as The Boss, Sept. 23.
“It said, ‘Michael, born 9/23/03,” Michael Sr. said. “Then it said, ‘Birthday wish No. 1, Bruce tickets.’ We had it crossed out. Then it said, ‘No. 2. Have Bruce sign my book.’
The 8-year-old had read a book about Springsteen to write a school book report.
When a security guard deposited Michael Jr. back with his family after his time on stage, the boy told his family, ‘My biggest dream in the world came true. I got to sing with Bruce.’
Then he broke into tears.
“It’s the No. 1 (Springsteen) show for him,” said Michael Sr. “It’s always one to remember.”
Does Michael Jr. feel famous? “Oh, yes,” he said. 

Video of Michael Jr. singing with Bruce