SHELLAC...

FUCK YEAH!

(That's all that needs to be said right now....maybe more later.)

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Neil was right: "Rock and Roll Can Never Die."

“Rock is Alive and Kicking Again.” “The Saviors of Rock.” “Rock and Roll is Dead.” This is the type of shit you see emblazoned across glossy magazines (this piece is like four years too late probably I don’t look at Spin anymore luckily.) And it’s bullshit; either rock is alive and kicking now and always has been or it’s been dead since the first notes were played on an electric guitar. There are just as many good bands out there today as there were 15,20, even 30 years ago, and tons are better than the White Stripes and Coldplay and whoever else is the best band in the world by Rolling Stones’ standards; you just gotta go look for them. So why was rock and roll deemed dead? And who the fuck gave that asshole that deemed it so the right to do that? Is rock dead because rap/hip-hop took over big time in the mainstream? When was the mainstream ever the way to measure quality/quantity of rock and roll/music? (Goddamn that was a lot of questions in a row.) Never; that’s the answer to question number four. Just because you and your little sister now like one band in common does not mean that you should rejoice because rock and roll is alive. Instead you should weep; when was the last time your sister liked something cool? Never I’m betting. Short of the sixties when the scene – for lack of a better word; oh how I hate it – was bubbling with way too much talent, the mainstream is never the measure for quality; of course there are always some tight acts in the ‘stream to look out for. But who cares if millions know about a band? In fact I may be an indie elitist pig, but I prefer for every cheerleader and Paris Hilton wannabe to not cop a band I like (not that I’ll disown said band if it happens.) But besides bands that have been around since the dawn of time (i.e. the Beatles, the Stones, who’s marketing has worked wonder for them in that department. That huge lips and tongue logo is everyfuckingwhere and once you get everywhere it’s easy to become accepted by Barbie) what cool bands are liked by your mom? Sure she likes Dylan probably and has a couple Neil Young records and listens to Sabbath occasionally (actually if your mom listens to Iommi and the boys give her my number, I’d like to burn one with her.) But she grew up with that shit; so it’ll be like when your kids are stealing your records and they see all those Queens of the Stone Age and Radiohead album they’re gonna go “Oh shit my dad was cool.” But when they see those Nickleback cds you hide away now, their eyes are gonna roll and “Never mind” will never be spoken faster. It’ll be just like when I found those Yes and Emerson Lake and Palmer albums in my dad’s otherwise cool collection. Where was this going? Oh yeah…If rock and roll only needs one band to save it, then kill that son of a bitch. If that band is the Strokes or the Vines or the Datsuns (see what I mean about way too late in time where are those bands now?) then give me the motherfucking gun.

Oh Yeah I had a Thing Going on at One Time. "Bands I'd Like to Fight" Lives On.

The Red Hot Chili Pepper. Hall of Fame bound Band. Innovators. Living Legends. Dorki Malorki (it’s Latin). I hate the Peps. They just piss me off something fierce. Maybe it’s the slap bass; maybe it’s the same vocals in every song; maybe it’s that they have John Fruscainte in their band and still manage to be lame; maybe it’s that their drummer looks like Will Ferrell. They try to act all shocking and scary but they’re like 45 years old. Flea likes to act “crazy” but I’m not buying it. You guys went on that CD USA show with those cast off from The Real World. Real punk rock dudes. Their new video is lame to the max. The go through music trends from the ‘50s to the now and dress the part in each one. So ground breaking. So awe-inspiring. The song isn’t though; it’s a fucking rip off of a Tom Petty song. Their new-er video looks just like the old new video or something. Their fusion of rap and funk and metal and punk just sounds like shit to me. Every other video has then doing something crazy (like having braids in their hair or dressed up in orange) and dancing around like idiots. That one video show how fucking egotistical they are. The lead singer gets kidnapped and Flea has to come to the rescue. What? Why would some one want to kidnap you? That's like having "hot babes" in your video; it doesn't prove you fuck hot chicks, just that you can pay some two-bit whores to star in your video. Same concept here. The worst part is the singer is holding Germ’s lead singer Darby Crash’s biography. Flea was in Fear too. How did he fall so far? Frusciante has scars all over his arms from drugs; again how are they fucking up with him in the band? He’s got dentures too, also from drugs, which I can’t figure if that really awesome or uber-lame. Anyways Kiedis is one of the worst frontmen of all time. I’m going on record with that one. He sounds like a complete moron; his lyrics are all about California; he dances around like a dork. He’s probably the real reason I utterly despise this band. So, Flea, you can thank your psuedo-poet buddy for losing an album sale. Actually I hate the music too. So you can blame yourself. But big bands never tour around here so this is just an idealized dream really. Man this was jumbled mess but I'm sure you get the point.

It's pronounced Foo-Gah-Zee. Say it Real Slow. You'll sound Retarded.

So mission accomplished (for today at least.) I listened to Kyuss' (Welcome to) Sky Valley (which is an amazing record; not as good as Blues for the Red Sun but not many are) and Fugazi's 13 Songs (their first two vinyl EPs on one plastic cd.) And man oh man is Fugazi one red hot band. Makes me want to shave my head, wear cut-off Dickies as shorts, go all SXE, and listen to NPR.

But on a serious note Fugazi's music always takes a backseat to it political views, which is really stupid. Any one can not give interviews to Rolling Stone and oppose Bush (in fact I'm doing it right now. Ta-da!) but not everyone can write a song like "Waiting Room" (which is about going to the doctor I'm pretty sure.) The vocals are passionate and heartfelt, the lyrics are slightly vague but meaningful all the same, Joe Lally and Brendan's rhythmic work is inspiring and should be ripped off ad nauseam, and Ian's guitar work (Guy didn't start on guitar until after this stuff) is so dynamic and moving. But it seems like people on want to talk about the $5 shows and the anti-moshing policies.

Basically if you can't get off on songs like "Give Me the Cure" or "Suggestion" (which is about women's mistreatment) or "Glue Man" (which is about homeless people) or "Bad Mouth," then you have no soul and should be forced to listen to a mix tape with My Chemical Romance, Panic! at# the $ Disco@, Secret Lives of the VFW, and whatever that kid in the really tight shirt that shows off his man tits has in his walkman until your ears bleed.

Daniel's an inspiring guy.

Today, a fellow blogger said that his mission was to listen to an album everyday--and not the shit that he would listen to normally, rather stuff he had packed away for long enough periods of time where grandpa brown recluses were reading bedtime stories to their offspring's offspring about the big rat that got away one night upon a copy ofAnimals(although, the old spider concludes, to everyone's relief, that the rodent got what he had comin').

So . . . maybe if I pushed myself to excrete a little shart of writing everyday--just a tiny nugget, mind you--I would be able to hopefully transform myself into a better writer. Of course, the nugget ain't shit unless it packs some potency (I mean really stench-ridden on this one), so maybe I should take time to jot about something that everyone hates.

People with iPods.

Okay, a bit extreme there because I, of course, have one to back up all my music files, even though everyone knows I'm the stickler who would rebuy a record that got stolen, broken, lost, conned out of, swindled, et cetera.

But what about those people who bring their iPods to work out with at gyms and listen to soft rock. WTF? Who the fuck wants to listen to soft rock, pop, or r&b when running 3 miles? They could listen to some crappy anthemic rock (Eye of the Tiger, which is the cliche if you're from the 80s), shitty metalcore (which would make you so angry about the position of music today that if would force you to get pumped up enough to go drive 500 miles out of your way on a random college roadtrip so you could go to every member of that band's house and personally give each one an ass-kicking 'that will never be forgot [sic]'), or even rap (I mean, what's angrier than songs about shooting heroin, raping women, and shooting yourself to forget it all? None. 'None more black.').

But these people insist on listening to their Celine Dion while on the treadmill because they feel it inspires them to walk forever. This is "music" from the same "artist" that inspired Leonardo DiCabriolet to hurl himself from that big ship into the fucking freezing glacier water and die an icy death. It's like getting a fly in your Coca-Cola and instead of helping set him free, you keep stirring the carbonated beverage so the little bastard who ruined your drink will pay with his life that would have probably already been cut short by the cat on the kitchen counter anyway. So are you doing him a favor, or torturing the poor insect?

Holy Shit I'm "Productive"

So I'm on a mission and that mission is to listen to one album a day; actually that's a little misleading. I'm going to listen to at least one album that I don't normally listen to or have not delved into as deeply as I'd like to or an album I haven't listened to in a while. See I'm the type of music listener who gets into grooves and stays there; like this whole summer basically I've been on a singer-songwriter kick. Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, CSN (&Y), ect ect. Which I'm fine with because when you're in the mood (for a song, an album, an artist) and it kicks in and you turn the volume up, there is no better feeling in the whole wide universe. But lately I've felt like I'm in a rut and I can't get out; you can't just go from a three month stint of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and then crank some Slayer. So instead I'm just gonna force myself to like stuff (inside reference; I'm reluctant to call it a joke since it's not funny.) Today I played My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, which I haven't heard a lot (one time I feel asleep listening to it and you tend to not like albums that put you to sleep but I always forget that I hadn't slept for like 28 hours before that listen but you always blame everyone but yourself.) and I listened to an Urge Overkill record, that I used to love, yesterday. And so thus my project (this is my idea of a project and that is sad; Amish people build barns, I listen to record. I like mine better but it's not as ambitious.) was born. I'm gonna listen to an album a day give or take and see where this goes. I'm actually sorta excited about it. I was looking through my albums (and holy fuck I got a lot) and many of there are still basically unknown to me (see what I mean about the rut factor.) So this mean all those shitty burned cds some guy gave me will finally get a full listen and that double album of feedback and whale noises will get played too. Yippee.

So I encourage you to do the same (I also encourage you to do drugs, grow your hair out, drop out of school, torch bomb a government building, vote, drink your milk, kill your idols, drive sensibly, treat your mother right (Mr. T knows), read Ginsberg, and go to bed before midnight.) What's the worst that could happen? You listen to a shitty record (by the by I'm not telling you to pull out all your old records since I know some people don't sell shit back so don't bust out your Limpbizquik albums just yet)? Maybe but you could also discover a lost treasure in your collection that you're more apt to enjoy now or just forgot about its awesomeness. You (I'm just guessing based on what I do) probably listen to a minimum of five albums a day; make this one of them and you're not losing much. Or don't listen to me.What the fuck do I know?

Funny and Smart. What Else Does a Girl Need?

“Chappelle’s Show” was a juggernaut; it was bigger than a television show should be. It destroyed its competition and when people look back it will have defined its time period. Okay maybe it didn’t have as big an affect as the Beatles did (no one converted to Islam because Dave Chappelle practices, I’m sure) but for the last four years or so it has been inescapable. It created catchphrases (“I’m Rick James, Bitch”) and had frat boys and hipster nerds alike quoting entire episodes verbatim. It was thought provoking, it was ground breaking, it was controversial, but most of all it was funny, the most important feature of a comedy show. Dave Chappelle is a true artist and an inspiration to any one who believes in following your muse. He turned down fifty million dollars because he didn’t believe the third season could follow the other two (and he was right, if you’ve seen the “Lost Episodes”) so he killed his own creation rather than see it exploited. That’s an artist right there. Disagree if you’d like but Chappelle’s various forms of comedy (from Half Baked to his stand-up) move me more than all the postmodern art in all of France. And that’s what art does: it moves people.

Comedy Central isn’t about art; it’s about making money via advertisements and I can dig that. They’re big business. I just wish big business didn’t have to crush art all the time. Case in point: “Mind of Mencia.” It follows the same exact format as the aforementioned show – both guys come out in front of a studio audience tell a couple jokes then go to a prerecorded piece, both shows hit upon taboos and are controversial, both host are cocky and fearless. Only difference? Mencia’s world is not funny at all. So since this is true Mencia comes off like an ass. His controversial nature just seems like bullshit posturing. And his attitude seems overblown and boring. Any one can screaming “RETARD” but not everyone can make some subtle point about today’s society and be funny while screaming. Mencia’s show is obviously a desperate attempt by the network to keep Chappelle’s audience around for a while. And they succeeded because most people are sheep and couldn’t see sincerity if it bit them in their soon-to-be-wool asses.

I gotta connect this to music, which will be easy sadly, or I’m gonna be pissed at myself. I made rules and I’m gonna follow them. God Damn It. (I hate rule breakers like all good red-blooded, meat-eating, Republican-voting Americans do.) Every time one band makes it the record labels send A&R guys all across the country checking out new act to follow suit. Nirvana came along and Seattle clubs couldn’t host a show without dudes with suits and ponytails looking for the “Next Big Thing.” That produced Pearl Jam, a band with some good tunes and some ethos, which then lead to Creed, a band with none of the criteria, later on down the road. This sadly produces shit for the most part. You rush art and it falls apart. Let the shit develop and it may do something worthwhile. But labels can’t afford to wait, I understand that; and act that could be amazing if left to develop for five years won’t mean shit to the ever so fickle public at that time. But this kills any chance for real bands to “make it” or to be heard. Instead we still got fourth generation should be Pearl Jam cover bands flooding our airwaves.

More List. More Favorites. More Shitty Pseudo-Reviews

So the BBC (british radio for you yanks) has this show called Desert Island Discs, where...well you get the idea or you're a moron. Well as a take off of the five favorite artist things I'm going to do this. I encourage you to do the same. You can tell a lot about a person by this (if you're like me and a total elitist scum where music taste makes a person.)

The BBC's format is to allow eight (9) disc on the island so I'm gonna go with that to allow for more music. If it fits on one (1) disc then it's fine (ie Electric Ladyland is two albums but is one cd, while The White Album is both a double album and a double cd.) No comps or greatest hits; that's just not fair in my opinion. And live albums are not ok either cause well I'm a dick. These are in no order.

Tonight's the Night -- My favorite overall Neil Young album and thus one of my favorite albums. Great songs, great mood, great performances make for a great listening experience.

Highway 61 Revisited -- Nine great Dylan songs. Do I have to say anything else?

Maggot Brain -- I'm sure there will be times on this island that I'll want to listen to the greates guitar solo ever recorded, dance, and sing along with "more pussy to power/ more pussy to the people" and "more peter to the pussy" (that seems fitting for you Milo) and this album allow me to do all three of those.

Raw Power -- Yeah why would I not want this?

Meat Puppets II -- Country fried punk filtered through Dead Head's ears and guitars with a drunk cowboy singing. That's pretty much all I've ever wanted.

Reign in Blood -- I'm pretty sure I'd be pissed to be on some island with only 8 albums. This would be my soundtrack in those times. Plus it'd scare off any cannibals because you don't want to eat anyone who listens to Slayer. They taste bad so I've heard.

Exile on Main Street -- I love rock and roll, you know drunken sloppy rock and roll, thus I love the Rolling Stones and this is their underproduced, over ambitious masterpiece plus it has nineteen songs where the other albums have like eight. No huge hits (like "You Can't Always Get What You Want" or "Sympathy for the Devil") but the strongest overall albums from their peak years ('68-'72)

#1 Record/Radio City -- This is cheating I think but it's on one disc, it's just two albums. But oh well I've been in love with this record lately. It's like Tom Petty (who, by the way, is great. I found a stash of his records in my dad's collection, which I didn't know he had and his first album would be on here but I haven't listened to it enough but one day it will replace one of these) but if Petty was more into the Beatles than Dylan. They are power-pop exemplified. Cheap Trick wishes they could have been this good.

That's eight right? I can't count. I hate math. Of course this will change and all that jazz but this is a solid list I think.


**** Dudes in the band. Attention.We need to discuss what time we're gonna practice/jam/drink/do drugs/freak Zimmerman out with feedback. So put info about arrival times or when we can get together or whatever. I'm trying to get to school as soon as possible because I need to re-arrange my room to my benefit and to fuck over my roommate. So comment or message me or what the fuck ever, you cocks.******

I Can't Wait to be 50 and Reunite the Compliments.

So re-unions are usually a bad idea, that goes for high school, families, you getting back together with the gang from college and bands are no exception. Because people, at least we should all strive to, progress; they do not stay in the same mindset and laugh at the same jokes. So when you get back together after 10 years and the spark is gone it leaves you a little deflated. This is the case for most reunions involving bands as well but there are the key exceptions: X (saw them and they hadn’t missed a step sounding like they stepped right outta 1980), New Order (who rose from the ashes of Joy Division following Ian Curtis’ death but I don’t think they count since they are a whole other band), the Stooges got back together and sounded pretty vicious and other I didn’t think about. But these are the exception not the rule. There are two types of reunions: where the band gets back together without a member or the other type, which is less offensive and usually more successful, when they band reunites as a whole. When the Sex Pistols reunited, it screamed sell-out, which it was and they also sucked on stage and without bassist extradonaire Sid Vicious how could they not? The most offensive reunion is, to me, the Who. After Keith Moon died in 1980 the band got back together not just to tour but also to record an album. Then if that wasn’t bad enough after John Entwistle died, in the coolest way ever, they have proceeded to continue on as see in all its atrocity at Live 8. I know Townshend wrote all the songs and he’s one of the best rhythm guitarist ever but the Ox and Mooney added the rhythm section, one of the Who’s greatest attributes, and all the personality to the band. Who’s gonna hold down the personality department now? Roger Daltry? I don’t fucking think so. Another attack on music fans everwhere is the Shit-fits, which is the Misfits without Glenn Danzig. Which is funny because DANZIG WROTE ALL THE SONGS. What are they doing with Michael Graves up there? And nowadays Jerry Only sings and they put out an album of old ‘50s hits. Who the fuck thought that was a good idea? Danzig would be rolling in his grave if he were dead but since he’s not he should just beat the fuck out of these imposters. One more example is when the Doors instruments player got the dude from the Cult to replace Jim Morrison thus creating the Doors of the 21st Century. What in the hell is that? Morrison was the Doors to most people (not me I kinda hate the Doors because of Morrison and actually like the music somewhat) and now he’s been replaced. Rob Tyner died making that two of the original MC5 down but for some reason brother Wayne Kramer and the boys thought it was a good idea to keep on playing even though they had broke up in 1972. So they recruited a pair of replacement singers and a slew of guest guitarist to replace the irreplaceable Sonic Smith and toured the world and elsewhere. This actually did not turn out as bad as it should have thanks to the facts that DKT, as they deemed themselves, could still play plenty good, and the inclusion of Mark Arm of Mudhoney, who has one of the greatest rock and roll voice America ever produced. Still the whole affair had an air of lameness about it but I guess that’s what you get when you get Evan Dando from the Lemonheads involved.

So Here's the Rest of Those God Damn Dylan Reviews.

John Wesley Harding – Basically Dylan got really sparse and acoustic and dropped the huge band sound of the previous three albums and became a much more coherent storyteller. It uses a lot of Bible imagery and urban myths for inspirations. The title track tells of the famous outlaw of the same name and how he never hurt an innocent man. “As I Went Out One Morning” is about meeting Tom Paine and a lady in chains. “All Along the Watchtower,” which has been famously rocked up a bit by Jimi Hendrix, is almost better than that legend’s version; the harmonica playing here is outstanding and the song is a classic regardless of who does it. “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” is pure country. “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” is related to Judas and Jesus or something; yes Judas Priest the metal band is named after this song. Every song on here is good and I obviously just got bored typing so yeah. This is good so go for it.

Nashville Skyline – Opens with the Johnny Cash duet retake on “Girl From the North Country” and that is followed up by the instrumental “Nashville Skyline Rag.” “To Be Alone With You” is a ripe song indeed. “I Threw It All Away,” tells of fucking up with a great girl, which is sad when you can to relate. “Peggy Day” continues the theme of females on the album. “Lay Lady Lay” is the classic from this here album. “Tell Me It Isn’t True” is about his girl having an affair and him not wanting to hear the truth so he ask the girl to lie to him. “Country Pie” is surrealist to some people but I’m pretty sure it’s about fucking sex. “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” is about…well what the title says and…well sex. So that’s basically every song. Good Luck.

Blood on the Tracks – This is one of the most heart breaking disparaging albums about love and love lost of all time; probably the first and foremost one. Written when Dylan’s first marriage was falling apart and it shows. “Tangled Up in Blue” is the most well known song here I do believe. One of my Dylan favorite (but I say that a lot don’t I?) “Simple Twist of Fate” is dead on as is “You’re a Big Girl Now.” But the only song that matters, at least when you’re heart broken, is “Idiot Wind,” where Dylan “you’re idiot babe/ it’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.” The venom in which he spit these lyrics makes the song break up track numero uno but don’t worry it’s not too bitter since the final lyric he includes himself in the blame. “We’re idiots babe/ it’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.” The only song that doesn’t fit the bitter format of the record is “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” which tells some incredible story and last like nine fucking minutes. “Shelter From the Storm” is unbelievable; it contains one cool ass lyric “I asked for salvation and she gave me a lethal dose.” The album ends with “Buckets of Rain” and the lyrics “life is sad/life is a bust.” So go cry or something.

Desire – Dylan collaborated with some French dude on most of the tracks here but it still fares as one of my favorite Dylan records on a whole. Opens with “Hurricane” about the same subject of the movie of the same name. It used to be my favorite Dylan song. It contains everything great: violin, a great hook, controversial matter, sticking it to the Man, Bob Dylan. “Isis” is the real deal with its story about marriage and adventure and some other shit. “Oh, Sister” is about God and some girl or Dylan’s sister or him trying to sleep with his sister or something but it’s a very good song. “Joey” is long as fuck and a little boring after a while. But the chorus of “Jooooooooeeeeeeey” is kinda cool. It ends with “Sara” his ode to his then wife, which is absolutely beautiful. “So easy to look at/so hard to define.” What’s better than that?

Why Did I Not Post This Yet? Or Did I?

Another movie entry but I think it should be okay since it’s about music too. So this one’s called Dig! And it’s about two bands the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols; more specifically it deals with the rival that slowly develops between the once friends. The movie really focuses on Antone Newcombe, lead singer of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and his genius, which the movie oddly leaves out. They talk about him being on par with Dylan and Lennon-McCartney but never actually back it up. It also shows the different paths that can be taken in the music biz; the Dandies make a $400,000 music video with some fashion designer or something while Jonestown plays to ten people for ten hours in a Communist Party Headquarters in the middle of fucking nowhere. The Dandies come off as complete posers (which is weird since their lead singer narrates the movie); and this is none more evident than when Jonestown throws a party at their house but the Dandies can’t make it because they are off hanging with the aforementioned fashionista, but when it comes time for a photo shoot the Dandies go to Jonestown’s place to make look like they are hard partying rock stars, which John Lennon ringer Matt Hollywood points out. This and the petty rock star bitching that they band exhibits throughout.

But this movie isn’t really about music (I lied earlier); it’s about the complete mindfuck that is the Brian Jonestown Massacre. As I told a friend, if it wasn’t about music they could be the greatest rock and roll band of all time. They do mass quantities of drugs, fight (there are several fight scenes all of which are worth seeing the movie for), they have huge egos, they go to jail, they are all fucking crazy, and they have quite the image. To be honest I’ve yet to hear much of either of these band, but you don’t have to like the bands to enjoy this movie. If you like fights or seeing bands do coke or bands talk shit as much as I do, then you should dig on this movie (I didn’t even notice that pun). I hope I didn’t ruin this movie for you with all the spoilers but the plot is non-existent and the fights are all that matter. Remember that and you’ll do fine.

I Hate Interaction.

Some kid posted a thing about top favorite band artist type dealy thing way back when but I failed to respond and now it's too late so I figured I'd do my own post and let any one correct themselves.

The Stooges - Iggy's an unbelievable frontman/singer. James Williamson refines Stones-type guitar playing on Raw Power in a way that would shame King of Heroin Fiends himself. Ron Asheton makes that guy from the Kingsmen seem like Jimi Hendrix on the self titled disc (which might sound like a bad thing to any one who isn't me) but makes the guitar sound other worldly on Funhouse. Not to mention the fact that all eight songs on Raw Power could fit into my top five songs list maybe only squeezed out by "I Wanna Be Your Dog."

Neil Young - I own more albums by this dude than any other artist but I've never been bored or let down by him. You couldn't ask for more sincere and heartbreaking songs than "After the Gold Rush" and "I Am a Child" and "Don't Let It Bring You Down" or songs that rocked harder than "Like a Hurrican" or "Cowgirl in the Sand" or "Alabama."

Bob Dylan - I like poetry and I like rock and roll. Combine the two and what could go wrong?

Black Flag - If you aren't moved by the opening of "Nervous Breakdown" then you have no soul and if Damaged doesn't make you want to start a hardcore band circa 1980 and live off of dog food and bread then you are not punk rock.

The Who - Just getting back into them after a long, and sad, time away. Tommmy, pretentious concept and all, is pop masterpiece. Their early singles can not be beat by any one within miles. Quadrophenia is a mighty mighty record. They were a better live band than "the world's greatest rock and roll band" the Rolling Stones (compare Live at Leeds to Get Your Ya Ya's Out and there is no denying it.) Townshend was the world's greatest songwriter (if only he'd had his own counterpart ala Lennon-McCartney, I think they could have surpassed that team.) Entwistle and Moon are better than the dudes in Zeppelin or any other band you think to compare them to. And The Kids Are Alright is the greatest rockumentary ever made.

That's my list right now. It'll probably change around 4:30 tomorrow afternoon.