Kid Rock Talks About Playing for the Troops

The Pentagon Channel went to Las Vegas to talk with Kid Rock about performing overseas for the military and the thrill of headlining a hometown stadium show in Detroit.

Them Crooked Vultures Remind Us (Me) What We're Supposed to Be Doing Here

Here we are, about seven months into this blog. We've now got lots of statistics and data about what you people like to read and the evidence is compelling: nobody wants to read what we've got to say about music. 

If we come up with a story about waterboarding or birth certificates or first-person shooter games, the pageviews go through the roof and we get lots of comments.

The good news (for me) is that we're in the middle of a site redesign that will make it easier for us to post things and easier for you to see what our popular posts are.

So, back to the music. I enjoy writing about Andy Williams' politics every bit as much as you like commenting on them, but it would be nice to occasionally generate some response with something that everyone could agree on.

All you people (at least the ones who've ever purchased any kind of rock music released in the last 50 years) should be able to agree on the new album by Them Crooked Vultures, a band put together by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones that features Dave Grohl (playing drums!) and John Homme from Queens of the Stone Age.

The album's songs blatantly rips Zep every which way, in a fashion purely designed to remind you that Jones created almost all of the atmospherics that made Led Zeppelin sound so mysterious.

"New Fang" is the single, but the standout songs here are "Nobody Loves Me & Neither Do I" and "Elephants."

So, our new page design is coming. We're going to use it to get back to writing about the actual movies and music in addition to writing about how Glenn Beck believes this record proves that the President is a space alien. 

Oh, yeah. You can buy Them Crooked Vultures at Amazon or iTunes.

Alice in Chains Finds a Way to Carry On

Alice in Chain's guitarist Jerry Cantrell talks to the Pentagon Channel about how growing up as the son of a Vietnam Veteran inspired him to write "Rooster." 

The band just released an excellent album called Black Gives Way to Blue, its first since Layne Staley's overdose death back in 2002. New singer William DuVall (formerly of 80s Atlanta hardcore band Neon Christ) sounds just enough like Layne (and just enough not like Layne) that the album still sounds like the band but things don't get creepy, kind of like when Brian Johnson replaced Bon Scott in AC/DC. Check out the new video for "Check My Brain."

A Veteran's Day Gift from Deer Tick

Back in July, we posted a Pentagon Channel clip about Deer Tick and I said the band's music was a lot better than their interview skills. 

Today, Michael Winneker over at the Pentagon Channel sent me a link a free download from the band and their label Partisan Records.

“In honor of Veteran’s Day, Deer Tick would like to offer all troops, active and non-active, an exclusive free download of a live version of their song ‘Baltimore Blues No. 1’. Thanks to all those serving or who have served. Love, John & Deer Tick”

Unlike some other bands who've offered free downloads to us, Deer Tick make great music and the song's lyrics aren't insulting to people who've died in action.

Right-click here to download "Baltimore Blues No. 1."

Should the NRA Offer Its Support to Lil Wayne?

MTV reports that rapper Lil' Wayne pleaded guilty to a 2007 weapons possession charge resulting from a New York City traffic stop. 

NYC cops pulled over Wayne's bus in Columbus Circle and discovered a .40-caliber semi-automatic weapon hidden in a Louis Vuitton bag. Prosecutors tied the gun to Weezy through DNA testing.

Wayne's detractors will focus on his songs about his love of the sizzurp and the sizzurp-related drug charges he's facing from a 2008 MLK-day traffic stop in Arizona. 

Supporters will point to T.I., an Atlanta rapper who got busted after buying guns from undercover FBI agents. Now serving time after also pleading guilty, T.I. was looking to up his personal protection firepower after his best friend was killed after an Ohio concert and police failed to make an arrest or identify a suspect.

Here's the situation spelled out for the NRA: Lil' Wayne is an American citizen with no prior convictions, dinged on an "attempted weapons possession" charge that will result in jail time and negatively impact his ability to travel outside the U.S. for work once he's released.

Moreover, that arrest came after a questionable traffic stop in New York City, a city that's aggressively trying to interfere with gun ownership both in and outside of its jurisdiction.

Wayne's not the most attractive poster boy for gun rights in America, but it's the hard cases where you really prove the power of your convictions. Are you in or out?

Glenn Beck Can't Get His Muse Story Straight

Self-described "rodeo clown" and radio personality Glenn Beck has run into some trouble with British rock band Muse, currently on tour opening for U2. 

Beck has championed the band Muse on his radio program, going so far as to play their song "United States of Eurasia" on the air and declare that the band shared his "Libertarian" views.

Beck later announced that the band's management emailed him and asked him to withdraw his endorsement, sparking a minor online controversy that had music news sites asking the band what it had against Glenn Beck.

The Guardian reports today that Beck's reps now claim that he was just "joking" and that he has no idea what the band thinks of him.

Muse, preoccupied with their new album and tour, refuse to participate in American political debate and offer no comment on the subject.

Here's a video of their latest single "Uprising," taken from their new album The Resistance.

Andy Williams Knows the Truth About Obama

Most people old enough to remember Andy Williams know him as the guy with the cardigan sweaters who hosted the 1960s TV specials where he sang hits like "Moon River" and "Born Free." 

Now the 81-year-old pop icon is making a comeback with his warnings about the Obama Administration. The Telegraph reports that Williams, a life-long Republican who was also close with the Kennedy family, sees the new guy as a real threat to America: 

"I think he wants to create a socialist country. The people he associates with are very Left-wing. One is registered as a Communist. Obama is following Marxist theory. He's taken over the banks and the car industry. He wants the country to fail." 

Williams did not comment on his own marriage to Claudine Longet, a known person of French descent and therefore a possible Socialist herself.

Keith Urban Shows Some Grace

Keith Urban tells the Pentagon Channel that he doesn't presume that his own experiences give him any particular insight into what the troops are going through. Also, Keith maintains that Glenn Campbell is just as responsible as he is for blurring the lines between pop music and country. (via DoDvClips.mil)

What About Bob?

Every once in a while, Bob Dylan does something that causes a huge problem for his most devoted fans, the ones who want to see him as the ultimate symbol of everything smart and hip. 

His late 70s/early 80s fascination with fundamentalist Christianity led him to record albums like Slow Train Coming and Saved. He's acted in less-than-beloved pictures like Hearts of Fire and Masked and Anonymous. 

Now Bob's really thrown down the gauntlet with Christmas in the Heart, an album of holiday songs recorded with very traditional arrangements. The sound of Dylan's senior-citizen croak against a backing choir is so startling that the usual fans at places like New York Magazine and the Los Angeles Times are telling themselves that the whole thing must be a big joke.

Except Bob's not joking. In his 2004 memoir Chronicles Volume 1, Dylan reveals how he sees himself: as an enthusiastic working musician who pays tribute to the music, books and movies that moved him as a kid. If you got the guy in a room, he'd probably tell you that he likes Hearts of Fire or this new album every bit as much as Blonde on Blonde or Blood on the Tracks.

All of which makes this notorious interview from the documentary Don't Look Back even more hilarious. Who would have believed, back in the 60s, that Bob was completely sincere all along?

"Supporting the Troops" Does Not Cover Up the Fact that Your Song Sucks

Dear Smile Empty Soul,

Without the press releases you've sent to us here at Military.com, we'd think of you as just another nu metal band that got dropped from your major label deal but was still trying to make a living. 

Your publicist has so effectively hammered his point home about "This is War," the free acoustic download that you've recorded as a thank you to the military, that we've posted a link here on our site.

However, we can't figure out why anyone who's actually seen action would identify with your imagined first-person narrative that sounds more like it was inspired by Halo 3 than actual real-life battle experiences. 

Also: your producer really doesn't like your lead singer. Anyone who lays that much Autotune on a vocal for an acoustic song is really just trying to draw attention to how badly he thinks you sing.

Anyway here's the link again to your song. Your publicist got it posted up in here and all press is good press, right? No worries.

Sincerely, best of luck with the making a living part. It's hard out there for a band and most everyone who makes music deserves better than we've gotten this decade.

Regards,

Hearts & Minds Military.com Entertainment Blog