John Dolmayan - These Grey Men - Street Spirit (Fade Out) Radiohead cover

Even though System of a Down are currently on a recording break, drummer John Dolmayan has kept busy with his new project called These Grey Men. Calling in a few musical favors, the drummer has put his own touch on some well known songs.

The self-titled These Grey Men album finds John Dolmayan working with fellow SOAD member Serj Tankian, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows and many others.



The first video released is a cover of a classic Radiohead track titled Street Spirit (Fade Out).



In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Dolmayan stated "This song in particular is a really touching and moving song. I love the morose, in-your-room-and-it’s-raining-outside, it’s cold, and your girlfriend dumped you feeling that this song always gave me.… But when I listened to it, I’d be like, ‘I kinda wish the drums came in earlier, or, How would [John] Bonham approach this song if this was a [Led] Zeppelin song?Because I’m such a fan of the song, I wanted to do a version of it in homage."

These Grey Men, Track Listing

1. “Hung Up” (a mashup of Madonna’s song, with edits and a tip of the hat to “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
2. “Street Spirit” (Radiohead)
3. “Beautiful Thieves” (AFI)
4. “Road To Nowhere” (Talking Heads)
5. “Rock Bottom” (Eminem)
6. “Runaway” (Del Shannon)
7. “Starman” (David Bowie)
8. “What You Know” (Two Door Cinema Club)

The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange

Strange title, I know. Just as intriguing, too. Don't you think? When purchasing this album, although I thought I knew what I was getting, I certainly had no idea what would come of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's latest (at the time) release.

It was first released on clear vinyl in November of 2007, between Mars Volta's Amputecture (2006) and The Bedlam in Goliath (2008). The band he assembled is the original Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet including Omar's younger brother, Marcel, who also is a multi-instrument talent himself.In typical fashion Omar released this album in between The Mars Volta recordings, but certainly did not leave anything on the table when putting this together. Two of the tracks are alternate versions of songs previously released on his self-titled, debut album.

The album has a few stand out tracks, in particular, the title track and Coma Pony. The alternate takes of Jacob van Lennepkade and Vondelpark bij Nacht (appears as title track on this album) are excellent displays of Omar's ability (and strong desire) to keep things changing and moving in a new direction. Spared from the Insult List heads off into the Latin Jazz genre with a heavy dose of his signature guitar sound, which at times sounds nothing like a guitar. Fuerza de Liberacion is a bit of a strange song. Not sure who is performing the spoken word through a voice digitizer, but it adds to the insanity of the whole song. And Omar has always pushed the limits with the music, certainly following through on this one.

Here is the first track - Melting Chariots






Finally wrapping the the album up with the 8th track, here is Coma Pony. About as bluesy as Omar can get. Easily my favorite track after the title track itself. This one rings in at around 6 1/2 minutes, about half as long as The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange.





I like introducing people to different types of music. Some you may know, some you might not. Hope you enjoy these.

The Coral

This week, I'd like to introduce a band from the UK that got their start in 1996 near Liverpool, England as young teenagers. The Coral are front man James Skelly (also on guitar) , Ian Skelly on drums, Nick Power on organ , Lee Southall on rhythm guitar and  Paul Duffy on bass. They are typically described as a psychedelic folk rock with a 60's feel to them mixed with a pop/rock vibe as well. The have had much success in England since their self titled debut release in 2002 which reached #5 on the charts in the UK followed by a number one album the following year.


Fast Forward through 3 Top Five albums and in the summer of 2005 the band split after guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones left the band to take care of some personal issues. 2007 brought the return of The Coral with a release titled Roots and Echoes. which produced the huge hit, "Who's Gonna Find Me?". In 2008 The Coral released a greatest hits/compilation album fittingly titled, The Coral - Singles Collection. It was released as a 3 LP set on Deltasonic Records and reached #13 in the UK.

 James Skelly of The Coral

I really dig these guys ;  great story-tellers, great harmonies and a great throwback sound that is refreshing in a day of bland popular music.The first clip is the song that got me hooked on them for the first time, Dreaming of You.

Next is probably my favorite song from The Coral , In The Rain. This one is a rocker as well.






And finally, another great track and amazing live version of Shadows Fall, which first appeared on their first EP which was released in 2001.




Hope you enjoy these guys. If not, maybe you'll like next week. Have an opinion on The Coral, drop me a message.

Pink Floyd

This post has more to do with my love for Pink Floyd than it does any one album. Maybe your a fan, maybe not. But hopefully you have listened to more than just The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon. And I really hope your not judging them based on just those albums. While they are both wonderful masterpieces in their own right, they certainly do not tell the entire tale that is Pink Floyd.

You may have already attempted listening to their earlier works, but in case you haven't, there are tons of tracks you should go through to really get a feel for their roots. From early psychedelic pop songs like See Emily Play and Julia Dream to eerily tense songs such as Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun and Careful with that Axe, Eugene, The Floyd had a wide array of musical compositions that even crossed into the blues once Gilmour had his feet firmly planted in the band. From there they ventured into more melodic, harmony driven music.


An example would be a few of the tracks off of Meddle's first side as well as Fat Old Sun from Atom Heart Mother - two wonderful and a bit experimental albums.Here is a song off of Meddle entitled "Pillow of Winds". The original poster of this video does a very nice job memorializing Richard Wright. The second video is also an original video for Fat Old Sun from Floyd's 1970 release, Atom Heart Mother, one of my personal favorites.









These albums, in addition to the soundtrack for the films More and La Vallée would prepare them for writing one of the most renowned , influential and ground breaking albums in music history in Dark Side of the Moon. This album is still the 4th all-time best selling album and will continue to sell as more fans in the future generations continue to learn and love Pink Floyd.

I LOVE Clare Torry's vocals on this piece - Great Gig in the Sky.






The Floyd went on to record classic albums in Wish You Were Here, Animals - both critically acclaimed albums which lead them up to their Swan Song : The Wall.

I'll save reviews and opinions for those albums for another day. Until then, I'll leave you with a live version of Time, from Wembley Stadium in 1974. My absolute favorite Floyd song. See you next time. Enjoy.

Van Morrison LIVE!

I consider myself a pretty big Van Morrison fan. I've collected his albums over the years, picking up his early CD's here and there and all the while enjoying the ride. I have his first 8 or 9 albums which I love and a few of his newer ones of which I am not a huge fan. But one album that never made the transition to CD (until last year) was his live concert titled "It's Too Late to Stop Now", which was released in 1974. Before I knew this was released on CD,  a fellow record collector from the RCG who goes by weletthegoldfishgo offered to sell me a copy of this album on vinyl. I accepted that offer and was blown away with what I had just purchased. From the first note to the last, Van takes his performances to a level I had not heard before in any studio recordings.

From the opening notes of "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do" to the last words in the 10 minute plus version of "Cypress Avenue", Van strives and hits his stride in the various recorded performances. The songs were taken from several shows of that tour, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica and London. One interesting note about this album was that there were no overdubs or corrections to any of the music.A rarity in live recordings. What you hear is what was played. The only song absent from the masters is "Moondance" due to one note wrongly played during the performance.

 

Some outstanding performances of some of his classics including "Warm Love", "Caravan" and "Into the Mystic" are present as well as my favorite track on the album "I Believe to My Soul" which was originally written and recorded by Mr. Ray Charles.Amazing job on his version of that song as well.

Side one

1. "Ain't Nothin' You Can Do" 
2. "Warm Love"
3. "Into the Mystic" 
4. "These Dreams of You"
5. "I Believe to My Soul" (Mr. Ray Charles)

Side two

1. "I've Been Working"
2. "Help Me" 
3. "Wild Children" 
4. "Domino" 
5. "I Just Want to Make Love to You"

Side three

1. "Bring It On Home To Me"
2. "Saint Dominic's Preview"
3. "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket"
4. "Listen to the Lion" – 8:43

Side four

1. "Here Comes the Night" 
2. "Gloria" – 4:16
3. "Caravan" – 9:20
4. "Cyprus Avenue" – 10:20

Van seems to control what video footage is released, and I do not believe, but will need to confirm, available video footage of this particular show, so instead, I'll share some of my favorite performances.

Here is Van with The Band during The Last Waltz perfomance which included many stars accompanying The Band.

Another great song, originally recorded on Saint Dominic's Preview, "The Way That Young Lover's Do"

And, finally, a rare, live version of Van performing "I Believe to My Soul". Amazing.

Thanks for checking out Vital Vinyl this week. Hope you enjoy.

Soup for your soul

Feeling a bit nostalgic tonight, I decided to go with Blind Melon's 1995 release Soup which was released two months before lead singer Shannon Hoon's untimely death. I acquired this album through a trade with a fellow collector who desired the Nick Drake US release I had posted about in 2009. Soup is one of my all time top ten albums, so acquiring this on vinyl, while coming at the price of surrendering the Drake album, was an easy trade at the time. Especially considering this copy was sealed at the time of the trade.

Blind Melon is most famous for 'No Rain'  which at the time was the track that kicked that album into  quadruple platinum status. Until that video was released, the album had been barely moving any units. Riding the high of their debut album they went to New Orleans to record their follow up. With the release of Soup, the band music and lyrics took a darker turn in its subject matter. Songs about suicide, a serial killer named Ed Gein (who also inspired a Slayer track, Dead Skin Mask) and a mother who drover her car off a cliff with her children still aboard are laced throughout the album along side of tracks that cover the upcoming birth of Shannon Hoon's daughter, a bar brawl and bad breath. And one even sounds to me like it's about his Grandmother (Vernie).

As you make your way through the album, you quickly get a sense of the bands influences and roots in the blues. And from the initial brass-laden intro that leads into Galaxie, you even get a taste of New Orleans. With a recipe containing these ingredients, this Soup was sure to be a success.

Some personal favorites off of the album include, Vernie, Walk, Car Seat (God's Presents) and Skinned. Throughout the album Hoon's lyrics really carry the flow of the song. You can see the band is really at it's prime both musically and lyrically. Brad Smith's bass, coupled with school buddy Roger Stevens (who learned to play guitar from Smith) R.E.M. influenced guitar style, the band, in my opinion, peaks with St. Andrews Fall. Hoon's ability to grab a hold of you and create imagery in your mind is a gift reserved for the upper echelon of vocalist in music. His opening line of Big stretch/ not much sleep/ I got a couple palm trees on each side of my cheek/And it's a bright blue Saturday/And the rummage sellin the rubbish to me, sets the tone of the song. About the midway point of the song is when the 20 story fall occurs and the music takes you down 20 stories with it, culminating with a the song rebuilding and leading to a section in which special guest Miles Tackett plays a beautiful cello under Hoon's vocals that leave you feeling like your dreaming.

Another song worth mention is Mouthful of Cavities which has Jena Kraus performing backing vocals has great dynamics from beginning to the end. The two talented vocalist really blend well as they play off of each other throughout.

All in all,this album really showcases the talented musicians in Blind Melon. Although the album was not a commercial success, the album has a formidable number of supported wich have only added to the legacy of what Blind Melon leaves behind. They have subsequently released an album with a new lead singer and they continue to work with him, but Shannon Hoon's shoes are quite large to fill. I personally hope that Record Store Day requests Blind Melon to dig into their vaults and release some vinyl next year.

Hope you enjoyed this and you enjoy Blind Melon. I've posted one of my favorite tracks below. Mouthful of Cavities.