p Springsteen dominated the charts in the early to mid eighties and was popularly known as ldquo;The Boss rdquo;. This greatest hits compilation is a testament to The Boss , and although a lot of fans will complain it has all the songs they already own, it shows the very talents of the diverse Springsteen. br / br / I first was introduced to his music with the song ldquo;Hungry Heart rdquo;, and for years was not sure who he was but was determined to find out.
Dancing In The Dark , Born In The USA , Glory Days and The River were played repeatedly during the 80s on a show called i Ready to Roll /i . It gave me a taste of Mr. Springsteen and I have loved him since.
br / br / I think one of the problems fans have with this album is it actually has seven of his hit singles from his chart-dominating album, i Born in the USA /i . Fans would like to hear the rarer tracks that were just as brilliant on i Greatest Hits /i , but then you can rsquo;t win them all I guess. I see this CD as the perfect example of what Springsteen is capable of.
For new Springsteen fans and those out there who don rsquo;t want to buy all his albums just for their favourite hits, this is the perfect album. br / br / As mentioned earlier, it has all the songs that made him huge in the 80s - Dancing In The Dark , Glory Days , Born In The USA , and The River as well as some of the brilliant tracks from the 90s: Secret Garden and Streets Of Philadelphia . br / br / One thing I do love about this album is that while Springsteen never fails to move far from his role as the boss, he can be diverse and never fails to sing about what is important to him.
Springsteen not only developed a mass of fans for his lyrics and moody dark penetrating gaze but also for the fact he sings about blue-collar America, songs that people can relate to. He rsquo;s never been afraid to shy away from the political with his Born In The USA and My Hometown and that makes him even more endearing to his fans. br / br / This album is one of my all-time favourites and it still makes me want to stand up and dance, or slam my fist in the air whenever I heard Born In The USA and Glory Days .
br / br / Best songs on the album: Glory Days , Streets Of Philadelphia , Born To Run , The River , Hungry Heart , My Hometown , and Blood Brothers . br / br / In fact there isn rsquo;t a song on this album, I don rsquo;t love. I give this 5/5 br / br / Record Label: Columbia br / Year: 1995 /p p From the first energetic kick of the guitar and drum combination that begins its opening track, ldquo;It rsquo;s Over, rdquo; the Nick Black Band mdash; consisting of Nick Black (Vocals), Clay Davies (Guitars), Jaedis (Bass), and Robin Diaz (Drums) mdash; lay all their cards on the table, as they bet that listeners are ready for something that rsquo;s been hard to find lately, a solid rock and roll record.
/p p Whether it is the grand surrender of Nick rsquo;s vocals on ldquo;Fall to Pieces; rdquo; the churning guitar-work on ldquo;Something Real rdquo; as it amplifies a demand for nothing more or less than to find or experience ldquo;something rdquo; real in life; the give and play of both lyrics and the superb rhythm work of Diaz and Jaedis on ldquo;Want You More; rdquo; the surprisingly heart-felt intensity on a grand version of Heart rsquo;s ldquo;Barracuda; rdquo; and the elegantly arranged title track that closes out the album, i Hollow /i manages to be an album that fulfills its opening promise. br / /p p img src="http://myowncommotion.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/albumcoverlarge.
thumbnail.jpg" border="3" alt="Hollow cover art" title="Hollow cover art" hspace="3" vspace="3" width="128" height="127" align="left" / Don rsquo;t get me wrong, i Hollow /i is not what I would call a perfect rock album. Every now and then I feel like the album is too precise and polished, which makes me wish that Nick and co.
would have just let loose and blown the gloss off of some of these songs. Having said that, however, I rsquo;ll admit to thinking that way due to my love of all things garage rock. Really, when one rsquo;s main complaint against an album is that it sounds too good, perhaps one should just shut up and enjoy the music.
br / br / To that I say, ldquo;Touch e , self! Touch e . rdquo; br / br / So, that rsquo;s what I rsquo;ve been doing for the past few hours, ever since I found myself at the end of that final paragraph.
I rsquo;ve been keeping Nick Black rsquo;s band on rotation in my headphones, in hopes that it would inspire some amazingly brilliant ending to this review. You know, something that would cause anyone reading it to leap into action, whip out the credit cards, and purchase the album for themselves. br / br / In short, it felt like I rsquo;ve been chipping away at a king-hell case of writer rsquo;s block.
Which is a shame, really. When trying to get people inspired to want to listen to an album, you rsquo;d think it would be phenomenally easy if it is an album that you really like, right? Well, it is, and I do.
br / br / Whether it is in my headphones and helping to drown out the insanity of working at my local newspaper, cranked obscenely loud in my car as I rsquo;m tooling around town, or whispering quietly to me through my bedroom speakers as I rsquo;m fading off into slumber, i Hollow /i has been a constant companion of my eardrums, ever since I rsquo;ve had a copy. br / br / If that rsquo;s not enough to convince you, I heartily encourage you to head on over to the a href="http://www.nickblack.
net/homepage.html" band rsquo;s website /a , or a href="http://myspace.com/nickblackband" myspace page /a , and take some of these songs out for a spin in your own ears.
Once you do and come to the conclusion, as I did, that this is an album worth owning. You rsquo;ll find yourself wanting to either purchase it directly through the band rsquo;s a href="http://nickblack.net/store.
html" online store /a , or through a href="http://ax.phobos.apple.
com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.
woa/wa/browserRedirect?url=itms%253A%252F%252Fax.phobos.
apple.com.edgesuite.
net%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewAlbum%253Fi%253D177080591%2526id%253D177080495%2526s%253D143441" iTunes /a . br / br / If enough of you do that, perhaps, Nick and his music will reach the mainstream sooner than later, and you rsquo;ll be able to be just that much smugger in the knowledge that you not only helped to bring good music to the masses, but that you were smart enough to have known about it ages before anyone else.
br / /p br style="clear: both;"/ p What is it about seeing your first concert that makes such an impression? I can still see every detail so clearly; the cigarette smoke hanging low over the crowd, the girls gripping the stairwell handrail as they trashed to the music, the music pounding heavily into my bones. I was enthralled, captured and in love suddenly with something simply called a lsquo;show rsquo;.
/p p I was sixteen the first time I went to a show. I saw Tool at the Myriad in Downtown Oklahoma City. I sat in nosebleed seats with a group of teenagers I barely knew, most of them older than me by two years.
By the time the show was over we were all fast friends. Later in school hallways they would greet me as if I was a long lost childhood friend. I wasn rsquo;t just the shy girl in the corner anymore, I had been to see Tool with them.
It is amazing how one experience can change everything about you. /p p Since then Tool has been through Oklahoma City several more times but I have always missed them; not enough money to get tickets, working late shifts the night of the show, and family commitments. But not this time.
/p p Originally the show in Oklahoma City was scheduled for April 29th but because of Danny Carey rsquo;s torn bicep the date was moved to May 19th. So last night I, along with hundreds of other fans, headed downtown to see Tool complete with Danny Carey. /p p I unfortunately missed the opener, even though we had left an hour before the show started, once we got downtown the traffic was beyond crazy.
But we found our seats quickly enough and got a chance to look around. I was surprised to see that the entire floor had folding chairs put up. /p p A fight broke out in the seats in the tier above me.
Most just stood around and watched while a few urged the two men on. In no time the cops were there and handcuffing one of the men whose pants had slipped during the altercation and hundreds of people were treated to a view of his pale backside. /p p Fortunately the lights dimmed and everyone turned to face the stage.
One by one they came onto the stage; Maynard James Keenan, Justin Chancellor, Danny Carey, and Adam Jones. The crowd stood and screamed, clapped, yelled, and shoved lighters and fists into the air. /p p They went straight into Jambi.
Maynard, who had come onto the stage with a cowboy hat, an orange pull over which he pulled off to reveal a t-shirt, and a large rodeo style belt buckle, waved his cowboy hat at the crowd before going into the song. /p p While they mostly played songs from i 10,000 Days /i they also included songs from i Aenima /i and i Lateralus /i ; Forty six and 2, Lateralus, and Schism. It was great to be able to hear some of my favorite songs.
While I had had my fingers crossed for Jimmy and Sober, two songs that had made the play lists of previous tour dates, I was not disappointed in their song selection for last night. /p p The visuals were also amazing. The whole stage was white with four screens along the back with two more hanging to the side.
The videos and images were projected onto the screens as well as the stage. The lighting was fantastic. I have never seen a better light show.
/p p When the last song died the entire crowd was on their feet, lighters making the dark arena a constellation of stars, as they clapped and screamed. The band did a group hug and turned to bow to the crowd. The screaming and clapping continued, deafening when people began to stamp their feet and chant lsquo;Tool, Tool, Tool!
rsquo;. /p p Walking out of the building people were screaming lsquo;Tool rocks! Tool is awesome!
rsquo;. The streets were crowded, honking cars with people leaning out of them screaming back at the people on the streets. /p p Most things are never as good as your remember them.
But this show was even better than the first one I saw all those years ago. Next time they come through, come hell or high water, I rsquo;ll make sure I have a ticket with my name on it. /p div id="authorbio" I spend more time reading than I should.
/div br style="clear: both;"/
/i /p p I can't begin to explain what this album does to me every time I hear it. It gives me almost a sense of pride to have been old enough to remember when this album was released, and to have enjoyed it the first time around. With traditional riffs, catchy lyrics, it is pure Bon Jovi through and through.
/p p Although it's probably a little outdated these days, for anyone who grew up listening to "Lay Your Hands On Me", "Bad Medicine," and "Born To Be My Baby" this is a pure winner, not only in music but also penmanship. /p p One thing that seems to have been a theme for Bon Jovi in the 80s was the cowboy. Songs like "Ride Cowboy Ride" and "Stick To Your Guns" can be added to the collection of cowboy songs Bon Jovi like to sing, such as "Wanted Dead Or Alive".
Jon Bon Jovi finally seemed to have got that out of his system when he released "Blaze Of Glory". /p p "Bad Medicine" and "Lay Your Hands On Me" are traditional of Bon Jovi, and showed that cock rock everyone in the 80s loved so much. The album title is a strong implication of how proud the New Jersey band are of their roots, and the imprint of this is throughout the album.
As always there is the traditional love song that comes from Bon Jovi, and "I'll Be There For You" is beautifully written, beautifully sung and beautifully performed. It's probably one of the best rock ballads out there. /p p It follows up i Slippery When Wet /i with songs about defiance, love surviving all, friendship, and of course the most common thread for any 80s hard rock band: sex.
br/ The whole album goes from strength to strength with its music. /p p Stand out songs: Pretty much every song stands out, but the real winners are "Blood On Blood", "Lay Your Hands On Me", "Bad Medicine", "I'll Be There For You", "Born To Be My Baby" and "Living In Sin". /p p For Bon Jovi fans, and new fans-this is the defining album you should have in your collection.
If you're not hooked by the end of it, you never will be.
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