MEDICATION: A BUDDYHEAD BLOG

Metallica "Garage Days Re-Revisited"

Travis and myself got into this discussion the other day – he likes cover songs, I do not. He asked me what good bands didn’t at least do one cover, and I pointed out Black Sabbath and the Stooges. I won that argument. But I will give in with him a little bit here with this record.

We all had to watch what happened with the Black Album, and the nonsense that followed. But we all should know and acknowledge that early Metallica ripped. I saw Metallica for the first time in 1984 at a club in my hometown called the Eagles Ballroom, which was also a supperclub. There couldn’t have been more than 60 people there. They came out and opened with “Fight Fire With Fire” and James Hetfield broke his top string in like the first 20 seconds. He threw his guitar down pissed, tossed back like two Jagermeister shots, grabbed a new one and started the song again. They blew my mind. 

One weird thing about Metallica though, they did A LOT of covers. All I have to say is this: if you’re going to do a covers record, make sure it rocks this hard.

(Download - "Helpless")

The Stone Roses - "Second Coming"

This isn't a very popular record among fans of The Stone Roses or even members of The Stone Roses themselves. When Aaron and I interviewed Ian Brown he told us "on the first Roses record John Squire (the guitar player) was trying to be Jimi Hendrix and on Second Coming he was trying to be Jimmy Page and he wasn't very good at being Jimmy Page." Even with that said, I really dig on "Second Coming". Although if you don't own their self titled debut, go buy that first... it's a classic. My favorite track on "Second Coming" is its eleven minute and twenty one second epic opener, "Breaking Into Heaven". It starts off with four and a half minutes of chirps, noises and bongos (which is plenty of time to get your joint rolled and light the end of it), then kicks into one of the best funky (don't let that word scare you away) drug rock songs I've ever heard. Ian Brown sings: "Heaven's gates won’t hold me... I’ll saw those suckers down... I’m gonna break right into heaven... I can’t wait anymore." Fuck yeah! It doesn't get much cooler than that if you ask me. Also check out "Ten Storey Love Song" and the video for this slab's first single "Love Spreads".

(Download - "Breaking Into Heaven")

(Download - "Ten Storey Love Song")

Radio Vago - "Radio Vago"

Radio Vago have called it quits, but now you can buy their self titled farewell/debut full length which Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez from The Mars Volta produced and played on. Seeing as how the band broke up it won't be coming out on cd or lp format, but you can buy it digitally on itunes (or pretty much any other digital music service). If you're a fan of The Mars Votla, Radio Vago or just wanna put a few dollars in our pockets to keep this website free... please buy this crap. Thanks for dealing with this advertisement. It was as painful for me to write as it was for you to read.

(CLICK HERE TO BUY THIS ALBUM ON ITUNES)

Depeche Mode - "Suffer Well"

Check out this new bizarre Depeche Mode video for their song "Suffer Well" off their last album "Playing The Angel". After watching it there's no doubt in my mind that these dudes are back on drugs. In other words, DM goes off!

The Black Heart Procession - "The Spell"

I really liked the first three records from San Diego's The Black Heart Procession (which were cleverly titled "one", "two" and "three") because they were dark, moody, depressing at times and most importantly... unique sounding. But when they put their last record out, "Amore Del Tropico", it seemed a little too much on the happy side of things for them. I figured the sun, the surf culture or just the lameness that is Sandy Gaygo had finally gotten to them or something. But with this new pack of jams, called "The Spell", it sounds like these dudes have returned from spring break and are back to their old dark and gloomy ways! I've only listen to this record once (so I can't really gage exactly how good it is yet or if I'm even diggin' on it) but I figured some of you out there would be curious to hear what Black Heart has come up with after a four year break since their last sunny release. So here's the song I picked to post here... mainly because the drums sounded cool. Also, check out "Three Mile Pilot" (homeboy's band before this and who are also working on a new album due out next spring) if you start getting down with everything Black Heart...

(Download - "Not Just Words")

The Replacements... again.

This is my favorite music video ever. It proves that old theory, "less is more". The song, "Bastards Of Young", also happens to be my favorite song by The Replacements. Sometimes things work out nice kids.

If you've ever had a drink, you'll relate to this killer b-side. It's from a bootleg called "Sucking Wax" that I stole from Das Corpse's house cuz he's on tour GOING OFF and I get to raid his record collection, drink all his Mountain Dews and watch his gay pornos. It's no coincidence that this song is also about going off. Sometimes things work out nice kids. My favorite line from this song is:"Twenty push-ups this morning, that was half my goal, Tonight I'll be doin' pull-ups, On the toilet bowl, And somewhere somebody's throwin up". I thought it didn't fuckin' rain in LA...

(Download - "If Only You Were Lonely")

The Clash - "Give 'em Enough Rope"

The Clash always had something to say, and live they really had the aggression – but to me their recordings always fell flat. But I love this record, particularly because they sound pissed without the overly British vocal scowling of the first record (where Joe Strummer seemed to be doing his best impression of John Lydon). It’s always weird to me that this was the record the band hated the most, particularly because of the production. Their label forced them to work with producer Sandy Perlman on this one, who was best known for producing “hard rock” bands of the 70’s like Blue Oyster Cult. They hated it, but to me, the results are the best they laid to tape. While the songwriting progressed on later records, the production to me went south and didn’t capture the live raw sound of the Clash. If I had to recommend one Clash record to anyone, this is it.

(Download - "Tommy Gun")

(Download - "Cheapskates")

(Download - "All The Young Punks")

Nardwuar V.S. Al Goldstein

Here's another tasty little blast of Nard... this time it's The Human Serviette VS Al Goldstein of Screw Magazine...

(LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW)

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Black Sabbath - "Live At Last"

I haven't heard any new and exciting music, so here's something old and really exciting... live Black Sabbath bitch. "Live At Last" came out in 1980 (but was recorded in 1973 so it's Ozzy singing not Dio, don't worry) and it now comes as disc 1 of the kinda weak double disc "Past Lives" record with a bunch of fake crowd noise added in (although that thing does come with a pretty killer Sabbath mini poster). Ozzy's really stoned on this record (he even admits it at one point) and manages to say "We Love You" pretty much every song. But my favorite moment is when the Ozzman yells out "SMOKE IT" on "Killing Yourself To Live". Here's the first three tracks, enjoy. And like Ozzy says... "SMOKE IT!"

(Download - "Tomorrow's Dream")

(Download - "Sweat Leaf")

(Download - "Killing Yourself To Live")

 

Neil Young - "Time Fades Away" Part 2

This is for everyone who has been emailing me requesting the rest of this album to be posted. The dude abides! If you didn't see part one already, click here. Together these two posts are the complete album. This shit smokes! With that said.... Mind if I do a J?

(Download - "Yonder Stands The Sinner")

(Download - "Love In The Mind")

(Download - "The Bridge")

(Download - "Last Dance")