ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MARCH 17, 1994 By Steve Newton Twenty years or so ago, I impulsively laid down $2.50 for a used copy of ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres LP, which sounded like hard-rock heaven on my $175 Phillips stereo system. Back then I viewed ZZ Top as a great new heavy-metal … Continue reading Album review: ZZ Top, Antenna (1994)
Album review: Pearl Jam, Vs. (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 25, 1993 By Steve Newton Although I became a fan of Pearl Jam the first time I heard its debut album, Ten, I must admit that I haven’t played that disc a lot since scoring a review copy back in ’91. Shortly after its release I saw … Continue reading Album review: Pearl Jam, Vs. (1993)
Album review: Guns N’ Roses, The Spaghetti Incident (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, NOV. 25, 1993 By Steve Newton As Guns N’ Roses would likely proclaim themselves, The Spaghetti Incident KICKS F***IN’ ASS! It’s the band’s rockingest album ever, although when you’re out to deliver raunchy covers of tunes by the New York Dolls (“Human Being”), Iggy Pop (“Raw Power”), and … Continue reading Album review: Guns N’ Roses, The Spaghetti Incident (1993)
Album review: John Hiatt, Perfectly Good Guitar (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 14, 1993 By Steve Newton When I first heard the title of John Hiatt’s new album, Perfectly Good Guitar, I thought for a second that maybe it was an immodest reference to the guitar-playing skills of Hiatt himself. I should have known better, of course, since Hiatt … Continue reading Album review: John Hiatt, Perfectly Good Guitar (1993)
That time I asked Dickey Betts why the Allmans weren’t playing “Ramblin’ Man” live in ’92
kirk west photo By Steve Newton As I've said before on my other posts about Dickey Betts, I just like hearing the dude's voice. If you do too, here's another audio excerpt from my interview with the guitar legend from July of 1992, which--for those who struggle with the math--was over a quarter-century ago. At … Continue reading That time I asked Dickey Betts why the Allmans weren’t playing “Ramblin’ Man” live in ’92
Album review: Rod Stewart, Unplugged…and Seated (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 17, 1993 By Steve Newton I always thought that the opening riff of Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla” was one of the most simple and beautiful things in rock ’n’ roll, so I wasn’t too thrilled when I first heard Clapton’s lounge-style, Unplugged version of the song, … Continue reading Album review: Rod Stewart, Unplugged…and Seated (1993)
Album review: John Mayall, Wake Up Call (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JUNE 3, 1993 By Steve Newton Blues legend Mayall lays down 12 bare-bones blues-rock tunes on Wake Up Call, his third good album in a row after Chicago Line and A Sense of Place. Fans of wailing harp and biting guitar won’t be disappointed by the sounds coming … Continue reading Album review: John Mayall, Wake Up Call (1993)
Album review: Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Sport Fishin’ (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 27, 1993 By Steve Newton There’s a tune on this Shadowy Men release called “We’re Not a Fucking Surf Band”, but I dunno—the Shadowy Men still sound like a surf band to me, and that’s a good thing. There’s nothing cooler than the sound of a trebly, reverb-laden … Continue reading Album review: Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Sport Fishin’ (1993)
Album review: Aerosmith, Get a Grip (1993)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 6, 1993 By Steve Newton When I first heard Aerosmith’s “comeback” releases—1987’s Permanent Vacation and 1989’s Pump—I thought they were mighty fine. In the intervening years, however, I found myself playing those discs less and less, tending instead to dig around in my vinyl collection for earlier … Continue reading Album review: Aerosmith, Get a Grip (1993)
Album review: Glen Stace, Road to Damascus (1992)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, OCT. 15, 1992 By Steve Newton Glen Stace’s debut album, Buddha Hotel, was one of my favourite Canadian albums of ’91. A guitar-driven collection of rough-edged tunes with an infectious pop sensibility, it showed the Saskatoon-bred singer/multi-instrumentalist to be an artist to watch for. His classy follow-up, Road … Continue reading Album review: Glen Stace, Road to Damascus (1992)
Album review: Megadeth, Countdown to Extinction (1992)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 17, 1992 By Steve Newton Used to be that whenever Megadeth albums like Peace Sells...But Who’s Buying? or Killing is My Business...And Business is Good came my way, I’d pass them off as just too thrashy and evil-sounding for my more melodic sensibilities. That was good news … Continue reading Album review: Megadeth, Countdown to Extinction (1992)
Album review: Joe Satriani, The Extremist (1992)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 10, 1992 By Steve Newton As much as I admire Kim Mitchell as a musician and songwriter, I must say that he ticked me off somewhat when I interviewed him a couple of months back. We were talking guitarists when Joe Satriani’s name came up, and Mitchell … Continue reading Album review: Joe Satriani, The Extremist (1992)
Album review: Sonny Landreth, Outward Bound (1992)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 10, 1992 By Steve Newton Sometimes when I hear a particularly snazzy slide guitar lick, I get a shiver up my spine, as if that cold piece of glass or metal stroking the strings were making a move up and down my own backbone. It doesn’t happen too … Continue reading Album review: Sonny Landreth, Outward Bound (1992)