Paul McCartney - Good Evening New York City CD/DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

When the Beatles played Shea Stadium in 1965, it revolutionized the concert industry. Rock bands didn’t play baseball stadiums and though you could barely hear the band over the drone of screaming girls, it set the tone for bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Led Zeppelin.

Now 44 years later, Shea Stadium is gone, but the Mets have a new stadium and who better than Paul McCartney to christen its concert stage? Captured over three nights at Citi Field in 2009, Good Evening New York City is an excellent document of these historic shows.

Containing two CDs and one DVD, Good Evening New York City offers a healthy cross-section of McCartney classics old and new — from “I Saw Her Standing There” with New York-native Billy Joel guesting on vocals and piano to “Sing the Changes” from McCartney’s critically acclaimed Fireman album, Electric Arguments — the latter featuring images of Barack Obama on the video screen during the performance.

As has been the case in recent tours, Paul pays tribute to both John Lennon and George Harrison by performing “Here Today,” the song he wrote after Lennon’s passing and “Something” for George, featuring Paul on ukulele for the first part of the song. McCartney gets visibly choked up during “Here Today” and his voice cracks, only adding to the song’s poignancy.

McCartney has also taken to performing Lennon-written songs in recent years with “Day Tripper” and “A Day In The Life/Give Peace a Chance” getting the nod here. With Lennon and Harrison gone, McCartney has effectively become the curator of the Beatles legacy.

“I’m Down” was added to the set list as a nod to the Shea Stadium show from 1965. While the CD features the unedited audio of the performance, the DVD has a mash-up of both footage and audio with the Beatles’ performance and McCartney’s. It’s a clever touch and very well done.

It’s not all hits either. Obscure gems such as “Mrs. Vanderbilt” from Band on the Run and “Calico Skies” from 1997’s Flaming Pie sit nicely in between the better known “Blackbird” and “Eleanor Rigby.” In addition, the limited number of shows McCartney does these days has done wonders for his voice, as it is the strongest it has been in years.

Fans have been clamoring for a McCartney DVD release that offers a straight performance without interruptions, interviews, cuts to different shows and the like. Good Evening New York City delivers in this regard, focusing on the New York show, without too much audience hamming or rapid-fire MTV-style editing. In a clever touch, many in the crowd were handed handheld flip cameras to film whatever they wanted. Some of that footage is included in the DVD, which has a 5.1 DTS Surround Sound mix as well as standard stereo.

For fans of Paul McCartney, Wings and The Beatles, Good Evening New York City offers something for everyone. These are timeless songs, played by an energized McCartney with a crack band. What’s not to like?

Chickenfoot - Deluxe Limited Edition CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

It’s been a great first year for the super group Chickenfoot. With a critically acclaimed album and tour and a Gold Certified record, it’s been as good a start as former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Pepper Chad Smith and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani could have asked for.

Now the band is giving something back to the fans by releasing a deluxe, limited-edition version of their CD exclusively through Best Buy. The CD contains the original album, as well as the previously only available through iTunes and vinyl bonus track “Bitten by the Wolf” — a heavy blues track that would be at home on the acoustic side of Led Zeppelin III with its distorted vocals and slide guitar.

In addition to the CD is an hour-long DVD filled with studio footage, interviews, live clips and the full-length music video for “Soap On A Rope.” The band intros all of the clips by singing a variation of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” substituting Chickenfoot for the word Christmas and with each band member setting up the footage. It’s clear from these clips, as well as the other studio footage and interviews that these guys love being in a band together, which is refreshing to see, especially considering the sometimes rocky internal politics of both Van Halen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Live footage is taken from a number of locations, most notably the band’s appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, though additional audio was taken from Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut and the House of Blues in Atlantic City. While the studio versions of these tracks are strong, live is where Chickenfoot really shines, extending solos and driving the songs much harder than on CD.

While some fans may accuse the band of double dipping by rereleasing their album, the CD is limited edition and the DVD is worth the price alone. Chickenfoot is a band whose members play purely for the love of music and it shows. After a successful album and tour, the future looks bright for the band.

REO Speedwagon - Not So Silent Night CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

It’s been a busy few years for veteran rockers REO Speedwagon. From releasing their first album in more than a decade, one that had the band rediscovering its rock roots — 2007’s Find Your Own Way Home — to nonstop touring with the likes of Styx, Journey, and Night Ranger, the band has worked at a harder pace than many bands half their age.

Now, nearly 40 years after their debut, REO is releasing its first Christmas album. Not So Silent Night mixes traditional Christmas carols, obscure gems, and a cover of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” with the classic REO sound — big, melodic choruses and guitars.

The album begins sweetly with a short, melodic version of “The First Noel,” before segueing into a bluesy “Winter Wonderland.” ‘Silent Night” and “Children Go Where I Send Thee” show the band in a surprisingly gospel vein and prove to be highlights of the disc with the former done as a ballad with choir and the latter as an up-tempo number.

For a band most famous for its ballads, the fact the slower material works better here is not surprising. “The White Snows of Winter” in particular stands out and should prove to be a favorite of fans of the band’s softer side.

The Lennon cover is by the numbers and while not an improvement over the classic original is still a strong track. In keeping with the holiday spirit, all proceeds from this track go to the John Lennon Foundation. The band’s cover of “Blue Christmas” finds them veering off into country territory in surprisingly convincing fashion

While the band rocks up their versions of “Deck The Halls” and “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman,” these versions come off as forced and aren’t to the same standard as the rest of the CD. Still the positives outweigh the negatives here.

REO Speedwagon may not be the first band people think of when it comes to recording a Christmas album, but they make it work. Fans of the band and of Christmas music should enjoy this release for years to come.

The Transformers: Season Two, Volume One (25th Anniversary Edition) DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

After the success of the initial 16 episodes of The Transformers, the show was renewed for a whopping 49 episodes, 28 of which are collected on The Transformers: Season Two, Volume One. As the show’s main purpose was to sell toys, season two introduced a number of new characters, including Autobots: Omega Supreme, Beachcomber, and Cosmos, and Decepticons: Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust. In addition, a number of combining robots were introduced (several robots that combined to form one large robot) including the Aerialbots, Protectobots, Stunticons and Combaticons. New human characters were introduced as well, including Carly, Spike’s girlfriend.

When the Dinobots are deemed too dangerous to keep at Autobot headquarters, they are sent to train at Dinobot Island, which was also the name for this two-part episode. The Autobots discover an energy field in the middle of the ocean coming from the island. When they investigate, they find the island to be inhabited by real dinosaurs, making it a perfect place to send the Dinobots. The island is also rich in energy, which Decepticon leader Megatron is keen to steal. In spite of Starscream’s warnings, Megatron steals the energy, which causes a time rift. Portals open and out come cavemen on wooly mammoths, pirates, and cowboys from the old west. The Autobots soon discover they need to release the energy to restore time to its normal state.

In “Enter the Nightbird,” the Decepticons capture a human-made ninja robot named Nightbird and reprogram her to fight the Autobots. She breaks into Autobot headquarters and steals the World Energy Source. Though Optimus Prime vowed to protect the robot, he has no choice but to attack her to foil the Decepticon's plans.

“Autobot Spike” finds Sparkplug creating Autobot X out of spare Autobot parts. When Megatron attacks Bumblebee and Spike though, Wheeljack transfers Spike’s mind into Autobot X so they can save Spike’s body. Spike is horrified by his new form and, after seeing Frankenstein on TV, believes he is no different from the monster. Megatron seeks to exploit Spike’s anger by trying to turn him against the Autobots.

Cliffjumper accuses Mirage of being a traitor to the Autobots for not reporting electro cells he found. In reality, he was trying to trick the Decepticons. His plan backfires though when Megatron, thinking the Insecticons have set him up by stealing his energon cubes, fires on them. The Insecticons decide to make Mirage their slave via a brain chip and it is up to the Autobots to save him. Every character — Autobot, Decepticon and Insecticon — is under suspicion in one of the highlight episodes of season two.

It’s disappointing that season two has been spit up into volumes (There’s a complete set of the show’s entire run available for those who can’t wait) and there are no bonus features on the discs. One can hope the bonus features will appear on Season Two, Volume Two. The enclosed episodes are treated with the same loving restoration as season one though and the extra episodes, as well as the fast-paced action make The Transformers: Season Two, Volume One a winner.

Ace Frehley — Anomaly CD Review

Written by General Jabbo

After the release of his classic album, Trouble Walkin, Ace Frehley repeatedly promised fans its follow-up was imminent. Well, 20 years and one KISS reunion later, Anomaly is here, featuring all-new material, save for a rocking cover of Sweet’s “Fox on the Run” and “Sister,” a song that dates back to the mid 1990s that Frehley debuted on tour before reuniting with KISS.

The album starts strong with the driving “Foxy & Free,” referencing Hendrix, and “Outer Space,” which covers Frehley’s typical sci-fi themes. These are strong, heavy tunes that would be at home on Frehley’s 1978 solo album and both feature some excellent lead guitar work by Ace and drumming from Ace Frehley/ KISS/David Letterman show band alumni Anton Fig.

Ace channels his inner Zeppelin with the mostly instrumental “Genghis Khan,” whose bombastic drums and exotic tones recall “Kashmir,” while he reprises his “Fractured” series with the album-closing instrumental “Fractured Quantum.” The title of the instrumental, “Space Bear,” refers to the legendary The Tomorrow Show interview KISS did in 1979 where a very inebriated Frehley created a space bear by putting his KISS costume pieces on a teddy bear he found on the set, much to Gene Simmons’ chagrin.

That was the old Ace, however. In the last few years, Frehley has gotten sober and many of the lyrics reflect a more mature outlook on life. On the introspective “Change the World” he sings, “When I was young, I played. I had lots of fun, but now I can see it’s time for a change.” Frehley is more direct on the acoustic “A Little Below the Angels,” “Alcohol was a friend of mine. It almost got me dead. I crashed some cars, got into fights, some things I now regret.” The song features a somewhat cheesy spoken-word part, but this is a changed man baring his soul, and it’s obvious he is being sincere. Frehley celebrates his survival and sobriety on “It’s a Great Life,” a surprisingly groove-oriented song from the guitarist.

Anomaly does have a couple clunkers, most notably “Pain in the Neck” with its dissonant chorus and “Too Many Faces,” which seems disjointed. That’s disappointing news for fans waiting 20 years for this album, as it should be all killer, no filler. There’s plenty of killer though and Anomaly is definitely an album that gets better after repeated listens. Besides, it’s nice to hear Frehley taking chances, even if they don’t all work as well as he had hoped.

There are a few nods to Frehley’s 1978 solo album in the packaging — from the original artwork being used with new artwork on top of it to the back cover with its dedications. The inner packaging folds into a cool prism and harkens back to the days when KISS included fun extras in their releases. These touches, along with a number of rocking tracks, should please both Ace and KISS fans alike.

Two and a Half Men - Season 6 DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

Season six of Two and a Half Men brings more of the usual antics from drunken womanizer Charlie (Charlie Sheen), his neurotic brother Alan (Jon Cryer), and Alan’s dimwitted son, Jake (Angus T. Jones) but offers some twists. Charlie finds a girlfriend named Chelsea (Jennifer Bini Taylor) who tried her best to reign in the eternal playboy, Alan considers patching things up with his ex-wife Judith (Marin Hinkle), and Jake ponders college and a cooking career of all things after his grandmother Evelyn (Holland Taylor) offers to pay for his college.

In the first episode, Charlie runs into an old flame who doesn’t want anything to do with him. Problem is, she has a son who looks and dresses just like Charlie and even plays the piano like him. Charlie is desperate to know if this is his son and ends up having a nightmare that he has hundreds of children running around. Finally, out of guilt, he offers financial support to the child’s mother, but is he really the father?

Alan decides that rather than start from scratch every time he breaks up with a woman, he’ll just date two at a time. He figures if Charlie can do it, so can he. He finds it’s not as easy as he thinks though. Meanwhile Jake, who is now 14, misunderstands the advice Charlie gives him about drinking and gets a man named Satellite Jack to buy him beer at a party store with $20 Alan had given him.

When Charlie’s friend and old partner-in-crime, Andy (Emilio Estevez), dies while visiting Charlie, it causes Charlie to rethink his own life, buying gifts for everyone except Alan and nearly proposing to Rose (Melanie Lynskey). He tells Alan that Andy was like the brother he never had, which is ironic, of course, as Estevez is his real-life brother. While at Andy’s funeral, he nods off and imagines his own funeral. Alan has inherited everything as Charlie left no will, James Earl Jones delivered the eulogy for $25,000 and a succession of Charlie’s ex-girlfriends line up to spit in his casket.

After Judith breaks up with Herb (Ryan Stiles), Alan visits Judith and ends up sleeping with her. Judith tries to act nice and patch things up with Alan until a disagreement about kissing brings out the old Judith. Turns out she wanted Alan to kiss more like Herb, who she welcomes back. Later, she drops a bombshell that she’s pregnant. Alan wonders whether the baby is his.

Chelsea makes her debut in the “Pinocchio’s Mouth” episode and remains a fixture for much of the second half of the season. This marks the fourth character Taylor has played on the show, but the first with any longevity. This episode finds her upset that Charlie never stays at her place. Reluctantly, he agrees, but complains about everything from sleeping on the wrong side of the bed to not having his personal pillow. Finally, he brings all of his belongings over for one night and Chelsea, not wanting to deal with him anymore, decides she will always stay at his place. Chelsea appears in 10 episodes, but can Charlie stay committed to one woman? To make matters worse, another ex-girlfriend, Mia, returns in the last episode leaving Charlie torn.

Extras on the DVD include “Two and a Half Men: Growing Up Harper” about the evolution of the Jake character, “The Women of Two and Half Men,” and a gag reel.

In spite of the love-hate relationship some viewers seem to have with the show due to its juvenile sense of humor, Two and a Half Men remains very popular and both Sheen and Cryer were nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for this season. For those who enjoy the humor of Men, Season Six is another winner.

Elvis - The Ed Sullivan Show: The Classic Performances DVD Review

Written by General Jabbo

1956 is often viewed as the “Big Bang” year for rock 'n' roll and no star made a bigger bang than a young man from Tupelo, MS named Elvis Presley. Presley’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show shattered TV records with 72 million viewers, making millions of girls swoon and inspiring countless musicians in the process. Those performances are collected on Elvis - The Ed Sullivan Show: The Classic Performances.

Ironically, these performances almost never happened. Sullivan wasn’t interested in booking Presley and it wasn’t until his appearance on The Steve Allen Show killed Sullivan in the ratings that he booked him for three appearances for a then unheard of $50,000. Presley won over Sullivan though by being easy to work with and a gentleman and Sullivan essentially apologized to his audience for typecasting him in the first place.

While this material has been previously released as Elvis - The Ed Sullivan Shows, those DVDs featured the entire broadcasts as they originally appeared. For fans who just want the Elvis portions, this is the DVD to get. The songs are complete and the picture quality is excellent.

And what performances they were. Elvis and his legendary original band featuring Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on bass, and DJ Fontana on drums, along with the Jordanaires on backup vocals delivered 15 classic performances that ranged from pop (“Don’t Be Cruel”) to tender ballads (“Love Me Tender”) to rockers (“Hound Dog,” “Ready Teddy”) and even gospel (“Peace in the Valley”). These songs caused such a frenzy that Elvis’ third appearance in January of 1957 was famously filmed from the waist up. This was rock 'n' roll at its most primal and it scared parents.

The DVD includes a number of bonus features, including a silent home movie of a 1955 Elvis performance from Houston, TX (The earliest known footage of the King), interviews with Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and TV personality Wink Martindale, home movies of Elvis and Priscilla, and original Ed Sullivan clips promoting the show.

Elvis defined a generation with his sound and his look. His music influenced countless artists, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, literally paving the way for rock as we know it today. The importance of these performances cannot be underestimated. For fans that wonder why they call Elvis "the King," this DVD offers ample proof.