Album Review: Archon Angel - Fallen

People have been clamoring for nearly two decades for Savatage to return, and I don't quite get why. I find their career to be way too inconsistent, but more than that, the main players are still out there doing their thing. John Oliva has put out plenty of records, and so too has Zach Stevens. What I can say, after hearing most of them, is that none of it points to a reunion of Savatage being great. Both sides have played out that style of music for so long they don't have much left in the tank. There have been highlights along the way, but neither side has shown any ability to follow through time and again.

Zach is someone I like as a singer, even though I shouldn't, and Circle II Circle does have three albums I think are fantastic. The problem is that they are interspersed with some epically boring ones, which makes it hard to be a fan. That band seems to be on hiatus, so Zach has started this project, where he makes the same sort of music with a few different people. If that doesn't sound exciting, it's not meant to.

Archon Angel recylces the same sounds Zach has been associated with all along, just repackaged under a new name. What has been true of Zach for as long as I've been listening to him is this; his voice is very flat, and because of that he needs songs with super-sized melodies or drama to compensate. At his best, he's able to ground melodramatic music with a darker sound. At his worst, he is the very embodiment of dullness.

This album falls somewhere in the middle. There are a few songs, like the title track and "Rise", where there is enough melody to buoy Zach's voice, and the results are crunchy and appealing. While he can be a polarizing singer, Zach works for me when the material is good, like those songs are. However, Zach's writers on this album don't give him enough of that. We also have plenty of songs like "Under The Spell", where there is practically no melody, which turns the song into a long slog that never goes anywhere.

I was afraid this album was going to mine the Savatage sound too much, but the real fear was in taking more cues from Circle II Circle, specifically their weaker material. Much of this record is lacking drama, or any real presence. They are standard metal songs written to make Zach comfortable, which feels to me too easy. There's no "Edge Of Thorns" on this record. Heck, there's no "Diamond Blade" either. Even though this is a new project with new players, this could easily be one of the Circle II Circle albums I don't care for. Everything about it has that sound and feeling, which also leaves me wondering why they needed to start a new band to make such similar music.

There's nothing here we haven't heard before. The question you have to ask yourself is whether you want to hear more second-rate Zach Stevens music. I'm holding out for his better work, so I think I have to keep waiting.

Album Review: Starbenders - Love Potions

We have heard a slew of bands over the last couple of years who are trying to bring back the 80s. For most of them, that means either adding too much reverb to their music, or throwing cheesy synths onto everything. Time only moves in one directions, so these attempts to bring back the past are merely a coat of paint atop music that doesn't need to be dressed up. If you're going to be diving back into some of those sounds, you need to do something fresh with them, which so few of them are able to. Starbenders are trying to do just that. The self-proclaimed glam-punks have heavy doses of latter-day synths, but there's a spirit about their music that feels unique among this wave.

We get a heavy dose of that on the first song, "Hangin' On Tonight", where the band sounds like they're having a blast, and Kimi Shelter's voice cuts through with the swagger and tone of Stevie Nicks. Glam punk does sound like an accurate description of the music, with the combination of synth atmospheres and slick melodies pulling a bit from both of those genres. When Starbenders are at their best, their music is bright, peppy, and charmingly fun. I suppose you could say they're an alternate-universe version of The Smiths, where a Morrissey who doesn't hate himself instead pointed his band towards a good time.

With "Precious", we get a combination of gritty guitars and essentially synthwave, but with a bouncier melody than my limited exposure to the sound is used to. But that's nothing compared to "Holy Mother", which is an earworm for sure. There's still nuance to the arrangement, but everything is focused on Kimi's gripping hook. It's the key to all great music; no matter what you want the listener to take away from your music, you have to give them a reason to keep listening. The point gets lost if no one is paying attention when you make it. Starbenders are about more than simple hooks, but those are what get you in the door.

"Bitches Be Witches" adds in some flavor from the occult rock wave, and Kimi's voice is a perfect fit for the style, with the slight grit and sinister tone playing so well against the big pop hook of the song. It's fantastic stuff.

Sure, with fourteen tracks on the record, there are a few that don't reach the same heights. "Never Gonna Die" is the least melodic song, and doesn't have nearly the same snap or sparkle the better tracks on the album do. I get what they were going for, but it does detract from the run of great songs the album builds up. Still, one misstep doesn't harm an album very much. I just wouldn't be an honest critic if I didn't mention it.

In the end, what Starbenders have give us with "Love Potions" is a record with a lot going for it. Throwing the past and present together, their sound is endearing, and their songwriting is strong. They could have polished this record to within an inch of its life, but that would have neutered the power that comes from something not being perfect. By being a bit messy, it's better. "Love Potions" is a fun record, and it's one I'm glad to have heard.

Album Review: Green Day - Father Of All....

We all know the music business is a business, and often a shitty one at that. Bands find themselves in record deals that suck the life and money out of them, and we're supposed to root for them when they finally get a chance to break free from the corporate shackles and forge their own path forward. I say 'supposed to', because that's not always possible. Let's take Green Day here, as an example. The rumors going around are that this is the last album of their current deal, and was mostly put together for the sake of getting out of that contract so they can start a new chapter of their career. So we should excuse them if this isn't all that great, right?

Well, no. It's one thing to screw over the record label on the way out the door, but there's also the audience to consider. If Green Day was putting out a half-assed album to get out of a contract, what does that say to the fans who have been following them for years? What does it say to the people who are still going to make sure this record is sitting in their mailboxes on release day? What does it say when the fans care more about a record than the band themselves?

I think the answer to those questions is simple; Green Day is playing a dangerous con with their fans. They might think the audience knows what's going on, and it's all wink-and-nod, but that's foolishness on their part. Too many people, both in the media and the audience, will take it at face value that this is a serious Green Day album. And considering the drug-fueled half-assery of their triolgy, this would make four of their last five albums that had little to no care put into making them as good as possible. I'm sorry, but punk or not, that attitude doesn't cut it anymore. Green Day can't coast on their good will, not when it's been so long since they have put in the effort. Inertia has stopped.

But more than that, I fail to see the reason why the band would want their name associated with this horrible collection of songs. Contractual loophole or not, these songs will now be a part of their legacy, and it baffles me why they would do that to themselves, further watering down their career highlights with even more weak filler material. Heck, the album Billie Joe Armstrong put out under the guise of The Longshot was miles better than anything on this 'record'.

"Father Of All..." is a record designed as a middle finger to everyone. It's a middle finger to the label, it's a middle finger to the press that will still give it rave reviews, and it's a middle finger to the fans. That's the one that bothers me the most. Notice that I haven't said much of anything about the music, and that's because I don't have to. Knowing the story behind this album, just saying it's bad should be enough to convince you not to waste your time on it. As a record, it's a bad joke born out of bitterness. It's half an hour of a band seeing how little work they have to put in to still be loved by their fans. It's like going to see an insult comic, but he doesn't know he's a comedian. It's insulting, but it's the mean kind, and it doesn't get better in context.

Green Day thinks it's fun to stick it to their audience. I think it's insulting, and I don't like Green Day enough to let them treat me like this.

Singles Roundup: Lucifer, Demons & Wizards, Creeper, and Allen/Olzon

January is often considered a wasteland of releases, and that isn't without some merit, but we're getting closer now to the start of bigger, more obviously quality releases being on the horizon. Here's a few new tracks pointing to what we can expect.

Lucifer - Ghosts

This band took a big step forward with their second album, leaving behind the slower doom for more classic rock elements. It's still got a sound that dirtier, and with hints of their occult roots, but they've managed to inject a lot more melody and energy into their writing. Johanna's voice has a detachment that works, because the music doesn't follow suit. There's contrast and interplay, and that makes all the difference. I think this is a strong sign that album number three should be similarly good.

Demons & Wizards - Midas Disease

But for every good, there is a bad. After fifteen years apart, and with Jon Schaffer running his own band into self-parody, I didn't expect a lot from the rebirth of this group. I'm not getting much. Single number two is slightly better than single number one, but mainly because it wastes two less minutes of my life. These power metal 'legends' are trying to be AC/DC for some reason, and the whole thing is rather tired, flat, and uninspired. This sounds like a band that should have stayed a memory.

Creeper - Annabelle

At this point, Creeper might be the album I'm anticipating the most this year. They sound fresh and vibrant, and are giving me something I don't hear from anyone else. "Born Cold" was a fabulous single, and I'll be honest and say this one is not at that level. That said, it's still a good song, and has a charm to it I find appealing. The spoken word bit takes me out of it a bit, not so much because I don't like it, but it sounds quite a bit like a section of a Brian Setzer song practically no one but me remembers. Still, all signs are pointing to an interesting, if not important, album.

Allen/Olzon - Worlds Apart

We get a lot of records with singers teamed up, and most of them don't need to exist, because there's a rule of duets that doesn't get followed (I'll talk about that when I review the record). This one is different, and the first song we've been graced with is a lovely example of how to do melodic metal well. Russell Allen and Anette Olzon are both great singers, but the real joy is in hearing their voices blend. There's something magical about that, and when you pair it up with a good song, it's hard to beat. This album has the potential to be one of the better releases of the first quarter.

Album Review: Blackguard - "Storm"

Glory of glories, the day we dared only dream of has finally arrived!

Studious readers of this page no doubt are aware of my longing for the next Blackguard album.  At the conclusion of every yearly conversation, Chris asks me what I’m looking forward to in the next year, and for every year since it was first announced in 2013, I have listed Blackguard’s “Storm” as one of the premier attraction of the subsequent twelve months.  Long have my hopes been dashed, and yet I kept the faith.

How we got here isn’t important.  What’s important is that we’re here now.

“Storm” is, in short, everything a Blackguard fan could want it to be.  It continues the band’s legacy by simultaneously fusing the farcical high-wire act of “Profugus Mortis,” with the down-and-dirty bulldozing of “Firefight,”  Cutting to the chase, the end product of “Storm” is a textbook in how symphonic death metal (just to mention two of the myriad styles it reflects,) should be executed in the modern era.

And yet, the band accomplishes this awesome feat by making only minor tweaks to their established formula.  Blackguard’s best strength has always been the ability to build atmosphere and strength, properly making a dramatic connection between the theme and pace of their music.  In the case of “Storm” this is most masterfully done during “Clouds,” which serves as a necessary interlude.  The album crashes ahead with the severity of a runaway freight train for the first measure, but “Clouds” is an etheric spacer that draws the listener back in to the gravitas of the album’s last three tracks, which by the by, might be the best sequence on the album.

Diving deeper, even within single tracks, Blackguard skillfully delineates the contrast between high and low tones.  “Visions (of Blood and Gold)” is constructed almost entirely on a foundation of juxtaposition between the arcing melody of a clean guitar and the thunderous rumble of the rhythm beneath.  It creates a depth of field that blends the best of power metal and death metal in a truly unique way.

Much of “Storm,” as we mentioned above, proceeds at a pace that can best be described as blistering, but the band is not afraid to change their pace as the mood suits.  Coming off the airy end of “In Dreams” (itself similar to the transition of “Clouds,”) we are launched into mosh pit fodder with the shambling, pounding gait of “Mourning Star.”  This is the flux point of the album, the end of the first act and commencement of the second, which tells two similar but different stories.

We’ve talked a lot about separation points and transitions for “Storm,” and while it’s true that those are the stand out moments on the record, it’s also true that those are the moment that stand out, if you take the double meaning.  “Storm,” for all its welcome revelations and refreshing breaths in the genre, does suffer from a degree of sameness.  Outside of the immediate, orchestral hook of album starter “By My Hand,” it can take several times listening through the album to really find the distinction between the tracks we haven’t talked about above.  It occasionally feels like the different flavors of guitar solo are the primary changes.

“Storm,” even with that, is a great way to start 2020 and in summation is an album that deserves the listener’s time and recognition.  Blackguard was a rising star upon the time of their hiatus and “Storm” represents the culmination of their evolution, even after a seven-year wait.

The only remaining question to keep fans up at night at this – this album was done years ago.  It took this long to wrest control of it from the label and release it unto the masses.  Will this be the end?  Does the band have an appetite for more?  We can only hope so.

Album Review: Delain - Apocalypse & Chill

I understand that at times it looks like the world around us is crumbling. Civility is at a low-point for our lifetimes, the fabric of democracy around the world is being stretched to its limits, and there isn't exactly much in the news to give us hope. But with that being the case, I don't see why there is so much dystopian entertainment out there. Maybe it seems timely, but who wants to look into an even bleaker future when things are already looking bleak in reality? Entertainment should be our escape, not a means to make us feel even worse.

And so we come to the new Delain album, a self-billed 'dystopian masterpiece', which is centered on human darkness and elements of inhuman synth-metal. Before we get into the music itself, I'll be honest and say the approach and themes Delain has picked are not what I want to hear at this particular time. Maybe you do.

With this record, Delain's sound becomes more modern, and perhaps heavier. The riffs chug along with low-tuned rhythms, which sound a bit too low for Charlotte Wessel's vocal range. Her tone is soft and sweet, and she floats a bit too far above the rest of the band. There's a disparity between the guitars and her voice that never quite gets sorted out. It sounds to my ear like the band either needed to tune up a bit to fit her voice more, or she needed to sing with more power. As it is, her gently layered vocals in the choruses of songs like "We Had Everything" as a bit too fluffy, a bit too disposable.

There have been a lot of bands in the last year or two who have taken a similar tact with their music, which makes Delain's shift in style feel more calculated than it might have actually been, but it also gives them a lot of competition in this space. Actually, we only have to look back a few weeks to see Temperance's "Viridian", which similarly doubled down on modernity at the expense of the more melodic and grandiose musical backdrops they used to have. The approach is the same, but the difference is that Temperance brought huge hooks to every song, while Delain isn't able to inject the necessary pop elements to make this sound sparkle. Without melody in the music, the vocal lines are even more important, and I just don't feel like Wessels delivers enough great ones.

My own personal dystopian hell is one where music exists without melody. We've been inching in that direction, especially in the pop world, but metal is following suit as bands like Delain keep moving to a far more rhythmic approach. "Apocalypse & Chill" is the sort of album that's fine to listen to, but soon after you realize most of it has gone in one ear and out the other. For trying to be big and bombastic, the end result is surprisingly tame and forgettable. Perhaps the 'chill' part of the title comes through a bit too much.

There's nothing really wrong with this record, but when I just heard a better version of it a couple of weeks ago, I'm not going to get excited. Delain gets respect for trying something new, but this version of their sound didn't really click with me. For what they're going for, I'd say go listen to Temperance instead.

Bloody Good News: Ticket Prices, Biber's Scam, & Unmemorable Rock

Our Top Story: As if we haven't already been gouged enough by the music business, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have said that they consider concert tickets to be underpriced, and see increasing said prices to be a huge source of revenue growth moving forward. As researchers noted, in the last twenty-four years, the average price of a ticket to a concert has increased 250%, and yet these companies think that is still not enough. The reality of the concert industry is eating itself, and considering that is the major source of income for bands, they are bringing on their own demise sooner than it would naturally occur.

There are two different concert industries. There is the one of the huge artists, and the one for everyone else. At the highest level, they might be able to get away with this scheme. The biggest artists only go to the biggest cities, where more people have more money. The average fan of any of these artists likely lives too far away to ever see them, or can't afford the cost of good seats to a show. These concerts are events where people will have to treat those two hours (if they're lucky) as a vacation, and organize their entire life around affording and getting to that one special night. That is not a sustainable model.

The rest of the music world has to pick up the scraps that are left. They go to the smaller towns across the country, playing in bars and clubs where many of the people in the crowd are there to drink, and the music is a nice bonus. When you're driving across the landscape in a decade-old van, playing to crowds where you can count how many people are watching while you play, there's a hard price limit on what you can charge. Bands simply cannot charge exorbitant prices in small-town America when they're struggling to fill even smaller venues. Calling tickets that aren't yet selling underpriced is ignoring the reality on the ground.

Raising prices is one thing, but telling fans they aren't paying enough is a special kind of stupid. Live Nation and Ticketmaster are not only planning to rob you, they're telling you in advance, so you feel even worse when it happens, because you couldn't stop it.

In Other News: Justin Bieber was shamed into deleting a post that was calling on his fans to cheat the system in order to give his latest flop of a single a shot of becoming #1. It was technically a reposting of something put up by a fan, but it in Bieber endorsed the idea of making a playlist of his latest song that could be played throughout the night, while sleeping, to rack up plays he didn't earn. There are two elements to this story I hate. The first is Bieber so blatantly cheating, and being rather shameless about it. I've grown to realize expecting better of nearly anyone is stupid, but it does still amaze me to live in a time without shame. Corruption is as commonplace as ever, but it's done more openly, and somehow we've come to accept it. That doesn't say much for us.

The other angle is that there doesn't seem to be a reliable way to assess what songs are actually popular. Radio play is sometimes bought and paid for by corporate structures, download sales are being phased out, and streaming is able to be gamed through these pathetic means. So how exactly are we to judge which songs are truly popular, and which have had money poured into the right means of inflating their stats? I don't know if there is a way, and that renders the entire idea of the charts possibly meaningless. That might actually be a good thing, though, since it could lead to us listening to what we want, rather than what's popular. Who knows?

And Also: In a recent interview, members of Greta Van Fleet said, "these days, there isn't a lot of rock that gets stuck in your head." While the band gets criticized routinely for their sound, on this account they are absolutely right. If we're talking about the American rock scene, and especially the music being played on rock radio, there is a decided lack of memorable songs. The trend has been going on ever since the end of the grunge era, but in recent years the decline has become even more profound. As post-grunge became influenced by itself, guitars kept dropping their tunings, and singing became less important, what counts as rock music has been devolving.

Turn on a radio now, and when you aren't being played songs from the 90s still, what we get are largely bland songs that barely have riffs or melodies, and use angst and/or screaming as a replacement for memorable songwriting. That's why a band like Ghost is able to stand out. They write memorable songs with catchy choruses, the kind of music that appeals to audiences. Funny how that works, huh? It's actually why Greta Van Fleet is also successful. While they may sound remarkably like Led Zeppelin, they also write songs that have more immediate appeal to them than anything Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, and the like have come up with in a decade. Rock has become so insulated that the crossover elements that once made it big have been selected out of it, leaving us nothing but the most commonplace elements. That's not a recipe for excitement.

Album Review: Lordi - Killection

If we lived in a different time, I could safely say that Lordi are a singles band. From the time "Hard Rock Hallelujah" became a huge thing straight through today, they have put out a string of solid singles that make for some fun, albeit gimmicky, hard rock. The problem is that we don't live in that time when bands like Lordi could get airplay, so their singles have lived on albums that feature plenty of filler, which dilutes the power of those songs, and doesn't let the band play to their strength. They would be bigger, and more love (especially by me), if we were able to have them provide single after single that gets repeated exposure, rather than what we have now. Because if I'm being honest, there hasn't been a single Lordi album that, in full, has impressed me. Plenty of songs, but no albums.

Maybe I'm a bit of a prophet, because I wrote those words before reading the material that accompanied the record, wherein the concept is revealed as this record being a 'greatest hits' compilation of Lordi's hit singles if their fictional monster identities had been making music for the radio over the last forty years. Singles, eh? How did I ever arrive at the idea that's what Lordi is best at....

This would have been good information to have known when the album's first track was released, because now it makes sense that "Shake The Baby Silent" sounds like a Rob Zombie track because that's exactly what it's supposed to be copying. What at first sounded like a weird case of theft decades too late turns out to be a just a stupid gimmick. The song is still terrible, but at least I know why it exists. Lordi hasn't completely lost their minds, like I thought they might have.

Of course, there's a big problem with an album operating under this conceit; asking fans to enjoy both Zombie-esque 90s pseudo-industrial rock and synth-heavy 80s pomp-cheese rock is a bridge too far. I don't see a lot of the audience being willing to go along with all of the styles Lordi tries on throughout the album. There isn't enough overlap between them, and just being Lordi isn't enough to wash that away, especially since there is another bit of uncomfortable information here; Lordi isn't good at most of these styles.

Lordi does have a side to them I enjoy, but they are not a diverse band by any means. There is one mode they succeed in, and this album shows that when the branch out and try other things, they aren't very good at it. The campy fun and big hooks of their best stuff aren't present anywhere on this record, partly because they're so focused on recreating the sounds of the past, but also because they are adopting styles that don't mesh with their best qualities.

The other thing I don't quite get is why they didn't order the songs in supposed chronological order. It's jarring to go from a couple of 80s rockers straight into a dirty late 60s number, only to veer right back after. I like compilations to be chronological, so we can see how the artists evolved and changed with the times. This batch feels more random than anything. And that's without addressing their Kiss-disco track.

So is this album entirely a failure? Well, as an album, yes. "I Dug A Hole In The Yard For You" is a good song, but it sounds like every other Lordi single, so that's why. Everything else here is about the worst Lordi music I've ever heard. Lordi are not good at proto-metal, yacht rock, hair metal, or any of the other stuff they try here. It's bad music, and most of it doesn't even sound like Lordi, so I don't know who is supposed to enjoy this. I sure didn't. This is the first album short-listed for worst of the year honors.

Album Review: Serenity - The Last Knight

There are some bands that are deeply frustrating, because you know they have the potential to be great, and they consistently fail to deliver. Serenity is one of those bands. From the first time I heard them with the "Fallen Sanctuary" album, right through today, every record they have put out has had a handful of amazing songs, and the rest of the album comes across as filler. They have tried various guest vocalists and lyrical conceits, but the problem remains consistent. They are one of those bands I know I'm always going to be on the fence about.

In fact, after the last album left me rather cold, I wasn't expecting to cover another of theirs (if circumstances gave me enough content to do so), but I do try to give everyone a fair shake, so I listened to the two singles put out for this new effort. And much to my amazement, they were back to being the Serenity I like the most, and even if they turned out to be the highlights of the record, they were enough to draw me back in.

At their best, Serenity play power metal of the dramatic kind. The keyboards and orchestral sounds give the songs the scope and setting of a fantasy epic, as this time the album seems centered around medieval knights, so we get yet more power metal songs about swords and steel. I'll say this; I'm rather tired of the projection metal bands put forward of themselves as knights, warriors, etc. You're musicians, and there's nothing heroic about playing a guitar. Swinging a sword for any purpose besides self-defense isn't exactly heroic either, but moral examination isn't something I expect to be found in metal albums.

Georg Neuhauser remains a polarizing vocalist, with one of the most nasal voices in the genre. I don't mind him, and he certainly gives the band a sound unique from everyone else. That also made a certain 'mystery' band from not too long ago not much of one, but that's an unnecessary diversion. At his best, Georg gives the band big, strong hooks that his voice is able to maximize. "Set The World On Fire", one of those aforementioned singles, is exactly that. The chorus comes in with a dramatic swell and stomping energy, but it also has a melodic sheen so polished it only needs one play to become familiar. It's a gem of a song, no doubt.

As for that problem I mentioned, this is finally the record where they have solved it. The song I singled out already is one of the best ones here, but the rest of the album stands up to that high bar with aplomb. "Souls And Sins" boasts a massive hook, while "Keeper Of The Knights" has plenty of charm of its own. Serenity is adept at making their music sound bigger than it actually is, which they continue here. The ten main songs on the album are all roughly four minutes long, with no surprises along the way, but the record feels more expansive than that. Being compact but sounding widescreen is an interesting combination we don't often get to hear.

What those last two paragraphs are saying is that after years of being teased, Serenity has finally reached their potential. "The Last Knight" is, to my ears, the best album they've yet made. This is the best distillation of who they are and what they do given to us yet. From a few heavier moments, to the tavern sing-along "Queen Of Avalon", everything the band throws at us works in the context of this record. It's not exactly 'relatable', but power metal has never really been that.

So I'll say this; "The Last Knight" will never become a true favorite of mine, because there isn't anything in the subject matter for me to use as a mirror or a therapy, but it is a great record in a time when power metal has very few of them, and it's a ton of fun to listen to. Serenity has finally hit the bulls-eye, and "The Last Knight" is the first great album of 2020.

Bloody Good News: The Grammys and Aerosmith; Ugly and Uglier

Our Top Story: Heading into the Grammys, the awards show is even more of a mess than usual. The now former head of the Academy has been forced out amid allegations of improper conduct, but there is a more interesting wrinkle to the story. As she is burning bridges that will never again be crossed, accusations are being leveled that there is widespread cheating and corruption in the voting committees. Notably, she says that at least one nominee for Song Of The Year finished 18th in the balloting, and was given a nomination anyway because the artist served on the board making those decisions, as well as one of their representatives.

This doesn't come out of nowhere. The Grammys have been treated like a joke for ages. It's been roughly twenty years since Homer Simpson threw away his Grammy, stating it's not actually an award. The prospect of their being corruption among the Academy is not in the least bit surprising. What does come a bit out of the blue is the stupidity of the remaining members, who didn't forsee a spurned member going public with insider information. Like them or not (and I would almost always argue not), this is why NDAs have become so widespread. A competently run organization would have locked up a potential dissident in an agreement to protect their secrets. The fact that no one here did that is wildly incompetent.

But let's get back to the issue of music for a moment. What do we make of the fact that we know have information in the public telling us that some (many?) of the nominees being celebrated this year were judged even by the committees to not be worthy? For everyone who has written off the Grammys over the years, as they have shifted from being an awards show to being a televised concert, we now have something we can consider proof that it's all a scam, that the record companies are giving awards to the people whose records they are trying hardest to sell.

That may or may not be true, but the story points out a glaring flaw that inhabits just about every pursuit; people are stupid. Any system that includes the people involved in what is going to be awarded is inevitably going to fall apart. Artists cannot be in any way responsible for honoring their peers. Not only is their conflict when they make their own music, but there is conflict whenever a friend (or nemesis) is considered for a nomination. Also, people who do something are often the worst judges, because they are so involved in their own career and their own music that they hear far less than we, the general public, do.

The same thing is true for anyone else who works behind the scenes, as either a producer, agent, or record company executive. They all have self-interest they can't completely shut off, and the people they already know and/or have an investment in will get all the attention. The only way for an award to be considered the least bit genuine is if there is independence for the people handing them out. If it's nothing but the industry patting itself on the back, of course there won't be any respect. Self high fives don't count.

How did no one see this coming?

In Other News: Speaking of the Grammys, Aerosmith will be performing, and they are embroiled in an equally ugly situation. Drummer Joey Kramer was injured last year, and needed time off from performing to heal up. When he says he was ready to come back, the band disagreed, and forced him to audition and prove he was up to the job, after which they denied his re-entry to the band in time for several honors coming to them this weekend.

I'm not sure I can think of another example, off the top of my head, of a member of a band not being allowed to take back his or her rightful spot. This isn't a situation where someone is trying to rejoin after leaving a band. Kramer has always been the drummer of Aerosmith, and the other members have simply told him he can't play. Members who all, at various times, have either left the band or held them up, with no repercussions. Joe Perry left Aerosmith, yet he was welcomed back. Steven Tyler put the band on hold while he did American Idol, then publicly tried to start a solo career, only to return when it was clear no one gave a damn about him without the band. So why is Kramer being singled out and treated like this?

The simple answer is because they can get away with it. Drummers are almost always the most anonymous members of a band, and can easily be replaced without many people noticing or caring. To most people, Aerosmith is Tyler and Perry, and if they can save a few bucks with someone else playing drums, it's not a surprise they would try to put a few more bucks in their own pockets. It isn't a secret that a lot of bands their age are nothing more than business arrangements, where the members only see each other on stage. If that's the reality you live in, screwing someone over is simply monetary policy. They may not see it as screwing a friend. Fifty years in the band doesn't mean much if the 'band' is looked at as a corporation.

There's no getting around stating facts; this is a shitty way to treat a band member. If fifty years in a band gets you that little respect, perhaps the rest of us have to reconsider how much respect to give the resrt of the band.