Dead Weather and David Gilmour

With all the albums that have been being released recently, I somehow already have a back log of things I want to talk about. I'll be talking about the new Drake/ Future mix tape, New Bermuda by Deafheaven, and Disclosure's new effort, Caracal. But for now, I'm going to share my thoughts on the new albums by the Dead Weather and David Gilmour.

The Dead Weather: Dodge and Burn

I have never really been that much of a fan of the whole Jack White oeuvre, and that probably is why the Dead Weather is my favorite of his projects. I am a fan of the Kills, and Allison Mosshart's singing and writing, and her influence over this project improves things considerably for me. This album is a collection of a lot of straightforward rockers, but there's some depth there from time to time. Each song kind of has its own sound and groove about it, so things don't really get that repetitive or tedious. There are a few less White led songs, which is definitely an improvement to some of their other albums. When I'm listening to the Dead Weather, I always find myself losing interest during these songs,which is maybe why this effort was able to hold my attention a lot better. People are always going to put this in the context of Jack White's projects, but to me, his contributions are the weakest part of this group's dynamic.

David Gilmour: Rattle That Lock

So, for any Pink Floyd fan, you know who David Gilmour is. While his tenure leading the band is often less than fondly remembered, I never really minded it. Granted, Endless River and The Divison Bell, are not as high concept as The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon, but does that honestly make them bad? No. Maybe a little more mellow and straightforward, but not bad; Maybe a better way to put it would be to say it wasn't what fans of the Floyd wanted. For the most part, Gilmour continues this style on his fourth studio album, but with a few tweaks. This album is definitely a lot more playful than a lot of his other efforts, with elements of a fun house carnival sound coming through on some of the tracks here. The Gilmour/Samson team of songwriting still has its corny moments, which is why I mostly prefer the instrumentals, but the melody writing is mostly strong. However, there is one glaring error in the track listing here, and it is the title track. This song is absolutely horrible, and the fact that the deluxe edition adds multiple versions of this garbage track does not help things. There's extremely lame lyrics, the production sounds ridiculously '80s (and not in a good way, if you do indeed believe that '80s pop production could be good) and the backing chorus sounds weak as all hell. It's a decent album, but the deletion of that track would have made it so much better.

Check back soon, where I'll take a look at some more new albums.

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Public Image Ltd.- What the World Needs Now...

Public Image Ltd. is definitely a band that does not get the credit it deserves, as it was pretty influential in the field of post punk in the late 1970's. Most people are familiar with front man John Lydon's previous project, the Sex Pistols, but rarely do I ever hear PiL get mentioned in conversation, and if I do, it's only about their 1979 album Metal Box. I got into them a few years ago, and enjoy their formula a pretty good deal. On a PiL album, one can expect noise, experimental musical structures, and John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) spewing angry stream of consciousness rants.

As for the ranting and noise, they are definitely present, though the music is a little more straight forward than in other releases. The band seems more than comfortable playing steady grooves and recycling guitar riffs for a bed to lay Lydon's vocals upon. I don't really find this to be a bad thing, as Lydon's vocal theatrics and insane things he says are more the reason to come to a Public Image Ltd. record than anything else.

Sometimes, the band will overstay its welcome, but for the most part, the album is pretty enjoyable. After all, you can only loop a guitar phrase so many times before it becomes a little tedious. Though the droning patterns are acceptable, I do kind of miss some of the off the wall instrumental things they were doing on past releases.

That is not to say that Lydon and crew still don't have it. This album definitely plays to their strengths, which are Lydon's status as punk royalty and his unique personality that he brings to a track. The band is playing Pittsburgh soon, and I'm definitely considering seeing the insanity in a live forum.

Out of a total of five stars, I give this:

Check back soon for more of my opinions on albums. What was your opinion on What the World Needs Now... ? Next time, I'll be doing a double review of David Gilmour's new record, and the new Dead Weather.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."