“Airwaves.” It seems there’s always one song on most albums that rises to the top for me on first listen. “Ever Know” may well be that song on this record. I love it. Of his three solo records, Silent Roar is by far the most Chris- tian-rock based. The message is there, set to the beat of the amazing and uniquely Billy Crain rock guitar. A very special album, with a very special
message....Although I dig Tay- lor Swift, Melissa Etheridge’s new album eats Taylor Swift’s new one for breakfast and washes it down with whiskey-soaked vocals and a few buckets of passion. This is M.E. is undoubtedly one of the best rock albums of 2014. Etheridge rocks hard with the balls to the wall bombast of “Monster,” one of the many outstanding tunes on the album. When she sings “They’ve been calling me a
monster every since the day I was born” I can see it. She is. A freakin’ rock and roll monster. Just as that song finishes, and you are trying to decide whether to continue with the album or pick up the needle and start the song over again you get hit between the eyes with the equally rockin’ “Ain’t That Bad.” Every song on the album just punches you hard with a right hook to the solar-plexus, dishing up lyrics of love, lust and life laid across a bed of danceable, head bangable, drums, bass and gee-tar (and the occasional banjo). “Like a Preacher” also rises to the top, through the flames of Hell and into Heaven- so to speak. “A Little Bit of Me” wouldn’t be out of place on Taylor Swift’s new pop record, if delivered by young Taylor. But Melissa adds a whole new layer, a little dark side in the mix. She may well be the “Anti-Taylor.” The set closer, the beautiful “Who Are You Wait-
ing For” had me closing my eyes and envi- sioning Etheridge staring in a Broadway show, singing this one bathed in the glow of the spotlight, pouring out every last ounce of heart onto the stage. The lady knows how to rock. She also knows how to write a love song. After listening to her album twice in a row, I still can’t manage to shake it off... Just before his passing, Johnny Winter recorded one of the most exciting albums of his career. Step Back (Megaforce) finds Johnny in fine form both vocally and guitar wise. It’s a solid rave- up of classic blues songs performed with the help of a few very special friends. The record opens with Johnny, backed by the Blues Brothers Show Band and Review, just tearing it up on the Joe Cocker tune “Unchain My Heart,” and by the time he duets with Ben Harper on “Can’t Hold Out (Talk to Me Baby),” you know there is some major magic going on. The blues just don’t get any better than “Don’t Want No Woman,” especially when it is performed by Johnny Winter and Eric Clapton. Lord have mercy. This album can do no wrong, fellow babies, with Johnny sharing the spotlight with his guitarist/pro- ducer Paul Nelson (a man who deserves huge credit for Johnny’s big “comeback”) on the timeless “Killing Floor;” and duets with Brian Setzer, Leslie West, Joe Bona- massa, Jason Ricci, Dr. John, Joe Perry and Rev. Billy Gib- bons him- self. One of the coolest tracks on the record is Johnny all by himself on a resonator slide guitar singing “Death Letter.” That’s the blues, brothers and sisters! From “Blue Mon-
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