Let's just jump straight in today:
Tony Iommi - World Alone
After the passing of Ronnie James Dio, Jorn Lande sang with Heaven & Hell at the tribute show, which led to much speculation that he would be the perfect singer if Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler wanted to carry on. That didn't materialize, but the chatter must have made an impression, because Tony has recruited Jorn to be the voice behind his upcoming solo album. It's an interesting choice for him to work with someone new at his age, rather than team up with a familiar partner like Glenn Hughes or Tony Martin once again. Jorn has the voice, obviously, but is the combination going to have the same spark as with Dio?
This song doesn't really answer that question. Once the initial surprise of hearing Tony and Jorn working together wears off, we're left with a song that doesn't feel like what I would expect of a first impression. There isn't one of those immediately memorable and singable Iommi riffs to power the song, and Jorn doesn't provide a melody that is easy to grasp onto. What we have sounds like a song from the album Heaven & Hell made before Dio's passing, only without Dio's personality to add more color to the dark atmosphere.
Jorn has spent so much of his career putting himself in the mold of Dio that to hear him singing with Iommi is almost too on-the-nose. There are songs on some of Jorn's solo albums that sound like him writing his own versions of Iommi/Dio tracks, and that's what this also sounds like. Because Jorn has spent so much time as a Dio acolyte, copying this very style, it makes this first-time pairing already sound too familiar. Don't get me wrong, I like this song, and I love Jorn's voice (for the most part - but I'll get into that when the album comes out), but he's hard to get excited about hearing these days.
Sailor Hunter - Error
On their latest single, Sailor Hunter return to their blend of crushing guitars and dynamic vocals, punctuated with bits of symphonic grandeur. With lyrics that talk about fighting against the control the forces of the world try to cage us with, the band is in full control of their power. The playing is tight as the guitars chug the deep riff under the expanded sonic rainbow. It's a controlled fury that gives Dimitra a canvas to explore the range of her vocal abilities. She belts the choruses with just a hint of grit, jumps into classical notes to highlight the melody, then unleashes a passionate scream toward the end. Metal, when not careful, can sometimes be one-note, but she ensures Sailor Hunter has layers to explore on every song.
There are days when it feels like every aspect of our lives is being sold off to the highest bidder, so they can use data and algorithms to herd us into the mold that makes them the most money. To be human is to resist that shepherding, to embrace the lack of control anyone else has over our own lives, and that we sometimes lack over our own as well. Being human is making mistakes, is finding our way through the chaos, is making our own path regardless of what others recommend for us. That is what "Error" is reminding us, namely that as long as we survive, we are winning the battle. Songs like this definitely help.
Sheri Moon Zombie - I Love My Robot
I find it rather funny that as the world digitizes and catalogs the entirety of existence in storage, finding information only seems to be getting harder. I say that only because I don't know if Rob Zombie is still a big enough act to justify the existence of this song. I hear almost no discussion about Rob anymore, so I would be inclined to think his time as a musician of note has come and gone, but it wouldn't be the first time I am out on an island when it comes to these things. I suppose I'm just trying to figure out how much I blame everyone involved for thinking this was a worthy pursuit.
I don't want to pile on Sheri too much, since I wouldn't be surprised if Rob was behind this whole thing, but it is her name on the song. Rob has been engaged with horror concepts and horrible comedy for years, but this takes it to new levels of annoyance. Yes, it's only two minutes, but it's two minutes of the same kind of annoying claptrap pop that birthed "ABCDEFU" and "Apt", and plenty of other songs that think "Mickey" was the highest form of musical composition. It's repetitive, annoying as all hell, and the sort of song that a notable label should be embarrassed to be promoting.
Worst of all is that it is yet another song about AI, written about not wanting to turn everything over to AI... but sounding like it was written by a fairly poor AI. The 'story' of the lyric is the conflict between not wanting to give AI control over the choices we make that fuel and entertain us, but still wanting a robot vacuum to clean the floor. It's not a thrilling concept to begin with, but it's written with no depth at all, which leaves it as flat and vapid as the 'horror girl' trope who gets killed off early in movies like the ones Rob makes.
"It goes a zoom," Sheri sings of her Roomba. I'm not sure I can express how much I hate this. It's even worse than when Rob massacred The Munsters. Ugh.
Kelly Clarkson - I'd Be Lyin'
My days as a pop music fan are far enough in the rear-view that I'm not sure I can name a single song that has been a hit in the last decade other than "Flowers" and the Taylor Swift catalog. We moved in different directions, and I'm not necessarily complaining about that. I'm from a different generation than who that music is aimed for these days, and I shouldn't relate to it. That would be as weird and creepy as when people my age are trying to find dates at high school graduations.
The only time I'm really bothered by the shift is when I hear someone I was honestly fond of who has tried to keep up with the trends, and doesn't exactly sound like themselves anymore. Kelly Clarkson made perhaps the best pop album of my lifetime with "Breakaway", and slowly drifted toward the more generic and manufactured sounds that dulled my interest. That makes it interesting that this new song, while not a return to that particular era, does bring back enough of her older sound to remind me of better days. This is less "Breakaway" and more "All I Ever Wanted", which is still a-ok in my book.
I've always loved Kelly's voice, and hearing it put back in a context with more organic instrumentation highlights all of the texture and color in it. She sounds as good as ever singing this song about getting over an unhealthy relationship, either with or without the help of alcohol. This is a sound that matches our ages, and feels more authentic than adopting whatever the youngsters are doing. For that reason alone, this is my favorite Kelly song in many years. I can only hope it means something bigger in this style will be coming our way. I would honestly love that.
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