Are you listening to this new Tool album?

I can’t turn it off! It takes you into uncharted territory and cares not a whit about the rest of the landscape, what’s a hit, what’s streaming…it exists in its own space.

Now once upon a time Led Zeppelin was heavy metal, I kid you not. And Black Sabbath was considered too far out. But as metal evolved, certainly into the 21st century, it became faster and more incomprehensible and obscure, it was made for a loyal tribe, and everybody else could come along if they were willing to dedicate their lives, but it was not for casual listeners, but believers!

In other words, metal became niche. And oftentimes one listen was not enough, you had to immerse yourself in the music to even understand it, it took full dedication, and in an era of increasing options, most didn’t want to make the journey.

I was introduced to Tool thirty years ago, when Bud Scoppa was an A&R man for Lou Maglia’s Zoo Records, when CD sales were burgeoning and everybody wanted to get in on the action/profits. And the Zoo band that hooked me first was Canada’s Odds, with their great song “Wendy Under The Stars.” But then Bud gave me the first Tool album, before it was released, and I immediately got it. That’s the funny thing about music, to paraphrase what that Supreme Court Justice once said about porn, when it comes to music, you know it when you hear it, it’s this indescribable threshold where you don’t want to lift the needle, but hear more.

And in today’s hit and run world that’s rare, you’re always fearing missing out on something better. Actually, John Mayer talked about this concept in “Playboy” re pornography and masturbation and it put a huge dent in his career, but he was nailing the essence of today, when those with the biggest megaphones, the big time media, often have no idea what is going on.

So to stop somewhere and say something’s great, that’s a huge step.

That’s what we’re all doing in the creative arts, trying to make you stay, get involved.

But people are wary in this clickbait world, if you overhype them they’re not going to partake.
And I was aware that Tool had a new album. I was aware it had been over a decade since they’d released one.

Then I read about the physical package, which humored me, with its HD screen and amplifier, and then the story became about how Tool was going to eclipse Taylor Swift on next week’s chart, which is only interesting because it’s Taylor Swift, otherwise number one is constantly changing, cult bands enter at the top and then instantly fall off after all the fans are satiated.

But with this Tool album…

I’m not saying that the album won’t fall on the chart, but it’s going to sustain, it’s not something you play a track of and then forget about, it’s something you want to go deeper into.

Because it’s unique, it doesn’t pander, it’s a journey to where no one else is taking you.

Everybody in the hit parade is waving their arms, looking for attention, it’s like you’re at the county fair and you’re encountering dozens of barkers… Hell, you know what it’s like when you come out of a big name show and there are people there with fliers, trying to get you to come to their gig, your main goal is to avoid them and for sure you don’t want to take one of their handbills, as a matter of fact, they’re scattered all over the ground.

And rock is supposed to be dead. But what is this Tool sound? It’s kinda metal but it’s also kinda prog, a sound that those at the Rock Hall and other positions of theoretical power denigrate on a regular basis. But Tool doesn’t seem to care about them. All Tool seems to care about is themselves. This is not an act that will pay fealty to its listeners, testifying that they’re keeping them alive, pausing to look at the sky and praise Jesus at the same time, this is a band doing its best to push its own envelope, which is something the youngsters can’t do, they haven’t lived long enough, they don’t have enough experience, they’ve got no frame of reference.

Now “Fear Inoculum” is an eighty minute opus in a world where they tell us to make it bite-sized, otherwise people will pass it by. But the truth is people have an unlimited attention span for what is great, and “Fear Inoculum” is truly great, especially by today’s standards, it’s a tribute to art with no pretension, not worrying about trends, this is the future we’ve been looking for, albeit from a band of the past. While all the has-beens are featured on TMZ, working social media, these guys sans mainstream attention have illustrated the possibilities of the art form.

Other than the relatively brief interludes, every track on “Fear Inoculum” is over ten minutes long. A bad idea if you want to get paid on Spotify, where repetition is everything. But in today’s world there are many ways to make bank other than through recordings. You build an enterprise and try to get people to buy into it.

And the forty and fiftysomethings who make up the band’s primary audience will instantly embrace “Fear Inoculum,” but then younger listeners will encounter it and become intrigued and then invested, because it’s not old, but brand new.

Now listening to “Fear Inoculum” is difficult in this multitasking world wherein you don’t just sit in front of your stereo in the dark and listen. Not that “Fear Inoculum” demands total attention all the time, but you need a couple of listens alone to pierce the surface first, and we rarely have the time anymore. Probably the best place to listen is in the car, but are you in there for that long to begin with?

Now “Fear Inoculum” is not for everybody, every last soul in the world is not going to salivate over it, but that’s also the mark of a true artist, one who doesn’t worry about satiating everybody, who wants an audience to come to them because of the quality as opposed to banging people over the head to listen.

I’m sure on tour you’ll see youngsters in the audience. Because you want to get closer to this sound. And it is about sound first and foremost, you just want to close your eyes and drift.

Now I’m not sure “Fear Inoculum” will completely resonate on earbuds, for this you need accuracy, power, depth, amplification and air to become involved in the sound, to let it surround you. This is music for the big rig, with only you in the room.

If you hate Tool ignore “Fear Inoculum.” If you believe music starts and ends with hip-hop, forget it. If you’re a popster, or a classical devotee, this is not for you. But if you lived through the eras of rock experimentation, you need to check it out. There’s a good chance you’ll hate it, but a tranche of the public will absolutely adore it and will not stop listening to it and talking about it.

Like me.

Pretty Heart

I’ve been listening to music and answering my e-mail.

I started off listening to the Spotify Top 50, and a few songs in I wondered who this music was made for. It’s all surface with no soul, made to be played in the background. As for the vaunted Taylor Swift…this is what all the critics are raving about? It seemed like she was busy studying the business trying to figure out how to make a strategic strike. As for working with Jack Antonoff…he’s not only a producer, he’s a writer and Taylor’s not the only one to use him, so uniqueness is difficult. As for these tracks, Taylor’s voice is not in service to them, it’d be like having Judy Collins making a record with Max Martin. And so what you end up with is something catchy that does not penetrate, it’s not made to do that, it’s made to satiate the crowd, whereas Taylor triumphed originally by connecting one to one, opening her heart to the equally wounded, who adopted her first.

So I switched to Release Radar, and the first track was an amalgamation of artists as disparate as Andra Day, Gary Clark, Jr. and…CHUCK D? And Sheryl Crow. Sounds atrocious doesn’t it? BUT IT’S NOT!

I’ve got a love/hate relationship with Sheryl Crow. I was not a fan of “Tuesday Night Music Club,” but everyone said she couldn’t do it all by her lonesome, but eventually she triumphed with “The Globe Sessions,” where she was totally in charge and it was great, sales were boosted by highly produced videos, but the music was totally listenable.

And then “Soak Up The Sun” was just too obvious. And I guess I had a problem with the facelift. She was selling honesty, I figured it would be best to age naturally. But she did have a hit, and then the bottom fell out not only for Sheryl Crow but the sound she was selling, anybody who was not rapping, to the point where you can release a new album and we don’t even know about it. Hell, Sheryl put out a live album last year and I just found out about it when I went to her page on Spotify, see what I mean?

Oh yeah, one more thing, “Safe and Sound,” premiered in Jimmy Iovine’s 9/11 concert, when we were all ensconced in our homes afraid to go anywhere. When you “get” a song the first time through you know it’s something special, when you can sing it to yourself after hearing it only once, when you wait for it to come out on wax…actually I had to steal the file on Macster, that’s how much I had to hear it.

But that was nearly two decades ago, before the streaming revolution, before it became all hip-hop all the time, before you could tour playing your old hits but the crowd went to the bathroom when you played something new.

Now there’s been a ton of print hype on Sheryl’s new record, about the collaborators, her saying it’s her last…yeah, right, even Sinatra could not retire, players don’t give up until they can’t play anymore, it’s in their blood.

But liking “Story of Everything,” the track referenced above, I clicked over to the new album, “Threads,” and the second song, entitled “Live Wire,” with Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples had that roots rock, gut-punching honest sound Bonnie specializes in. It was good, even though it shouldn’t be, haven’t we heard enough of these collaboration albums before, didn’t it become a cliche? But the game with “Threads” is almost all the songs are new! A twist on the formula.

“Tell Me When It’s Over,” featuring Chris Stapleton had the vibe, the feel of one of his tracks, you know, laid back, but penetrating, the kind that starts your head nodding and…

Joe Walsh wails on “Still The Good Old Days.”

I can’t say that Sheryl’s vocal always fits the track, but I’m nearly stunned. What should be nostalgic crap is anything but. Sure, she’s a brand name, but that’s what gets you attention in today’s world. If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool rocker, ever liked Sheryl Crow, you should check “Threads” out. It suffers from digital reproduction, it’d be best on vinyl, but crank it up and feel it.

But back to the e-mail. I came across a missive from my number one country guru, the guy who got me into modern country, the subject line said: “New Track -Its gonna be big”

And it will be.

I pulled up Parker McCollum’s “Pretty Heart,” released only two days ago, and as soon as it hit the chorus, I got it, this was definitely gonna be a hit.

This is what too many musicians don’t understand, they want acclaim, they want an audience, they believe the system is rigged against them, but the truth is they don’t know how to write a hit.

What makes “Pretty Heart” a hit is the chorus. It gets into your system immediately. After that the groove resonates, as do the lyrics.

I tried to do research on Parker, but there was not much info. I couldn’t figure him out. He’d put out indie albums previously and…

I went back to the e-mail, and it said:

He will sell 3000 tickets tonight in Waco, TX
He has 128,000 followers on twitter
This was all built before the label got involved
This is 1st Universal Records Signing release

Ah, I’ve got it now, it sounds like a major label record, it’s not gonna change the world, but I had a yearning to find out what garnered Parker McCollum so much attention. I went to Spotify and played “Hell of a Year,” with 8,362,572 streams, and it’s the opposite of “Pretty Heart,” it’s much less produced, and totally genuine, you can resonate. And “Meet You In The Middle” was just as strong. So this guy is for real, he’s writing his own songs, he decided to do it himself, and he built his own fan base, illustrating it doesn’t only happen in hip-hop.

It was incredible.

If live music were always this good, I’d go every night!

Now this was an older hipster crowd, who knew every lick from way back when and came to pay fealty to Bryan and hear the tunes once again. This was not the Stones crew, down and dirtier, this was people with some cash who listened to KROQ back when it was free-format, who are not casual music fans, but BELIEVERS!

They started with “India,” from “Avalon.” It was eerie, almost like they were tuning up, the stage was dark, and then from the side of the stage emerged the most debonair man in music, who spills it all out in his songs, but utters almost nothing on stage.

And then the music switches, they’re playing THE MAIN THING! My favorite track from “Avalon,” which I can listen to ad infinitum, it’s the mood, the groove. You’re cruising along the rails into the future, still aware of your past, you see people outside the window, but they don’t matter, you’ve got a job to do, even if nobody notices the results, you’ve got to be the best you, you’re inspired, you’re nearly smiling, maybe you’re having intercourse, maybe you’re in the cocoon of your car, maybe you’re sitting in front of the stereo speakers, but if you were alive back then, after Roxy Music reunited, you’ve got the music in you, the two of you are as one.

Now “Manifesto” had a hit, at least by FM standards, “Dance Away,” but it was not as great as what had come before.

“Flesh and Blood” was better, there was no hit, but the album contained the exquisite “Oh Yeah,” one of the most heart-touching tracks of all time, and “Over You,” as well as some covers, like Ferry had done on his solo LPs.

Then came “Avalon.” HUH? There was no hit, no track that obviously stood out, but if you were a fan of the band you played it and about the third or fourth time through it became your favorite album, you never burned out on it.

Now when you go to a live show today…it’s usually a production, choreographed, not only dancing but lights, musical triggers. It may be seamless, but it’s not quite real.

And then there are bands that specialize in rough, it’s more about the energy, the attitude, getting it perfect is not the goal.

And then there’s Bryan Ferry.

We never had acts like this in the U.S. That only came out at night, dressed to the nines, playing music best listened to after dark. To tell you the truth, if I tried to describe it, I couldn’t, but last night they were playing it, like an orchestra, everybody knew their part and it all came together.

Let’s see, Tom Vanstiphout picked out some incredible leads, he carried the band impeccably. But he was overshadowed by the man to his left, none other than CHRIS SPEDDING! He’s now 75, he occasionally sits down, he can’t fit in that leather suit he wore during the “In Your Mind” tour, but believe me, HE CAN STILL PICK!

The audience knew who he was, you’ve got to see the greats now, there is little time left. And Spedding is not flashy, he adds accents, but when it was his turn to wail, HE DID!

And Tawitha Agee was one of two backup singers, you should have heard her sing the ethereal wails at the end of “Avalon,” it was just like the record, but it was better, because it was live…you were touched, brought back to ’82, feeling fully alive, glad you lived through the era, not pissed at all you’re getting long in the tooth, you just couldn’t believe the sound!

And Tawitha had Fonzi Thornton next to her, doing an equally good job on the backup vocals.

Neil Jason held down the bass, as he did on the “Avalon” LP and “Boys and Girls.”

Luke Bellen was Neil’s counterpart in the rhythm section, he played drums.

And Richard Cardwell played the keyboards, but he stayed up on his riser all night, he was never the center of attention, like Jorja Chalmers and Marina Moore.

Moore is a violinist.

At this point we’re used to women as singers, as bass players, watching Marina inspired, illustrated the opportunities for girls in the future.

But the star of the band, who also played keyboards, like Bryan himself, was saxophonist Jorja Chalmers.

I finally got it.

You see there are women who can only date musicians, because their music speaks through them, if you’re not a player, you’ve got no chance.

But I’m a guy. I’ve never found someone to invest my hopes and dreams in that way. Sure, there are singers like Joni Mitchell, but that’s different. Jorja doesn’t sing, she’s a player. Imagine Eddie Van Halen with a sax. Although Jorja moves around more.

Lithe in her jeans, Jorja pranced around the stage, traded licks with Spedding, she was nearly the star. You wondered, how did this woman have the music in her?

Now we get to the material.

Sure, Bryan played his showstopper, “In Every Dream Home A Heartache,” which starts slow and quiet and then erupts.

And “Slave To Love” also slays.

And we all sang along to “Love Is The Drug”…remember hearing that on the radio, with that door slam? Or maybe you listened in your dorm room, but you, like the Greek Theatre audience, know it by heart, you too would stand and shimmy and sing along like the assembled multitude.

But the first surprise was “Can’t Let Go,” with its L.A.-centric lyrics.

It’s a winding road from Cuesta Way
Down Sunset to the beach
Though Canoga Park is a straight safe drive
It’s too far out of reach

I remember listening to “The Bride Stripped Bare,” in law school, wishing I was anywhere but there, maybe cruising in a car with Bryan Ferry.

But the shocker was “If There Is Something.”

Bryan said he was gonna play something from the first album, and this was in the latter part of the show, I figured this was the time for “Virginia Plain,” which was not on the original English album, but was added to the U.S. LP.

“If There Is Something” was the track that got me into Roxy Music, made me buy their first album. I was standing in a record shop in London during the summer of ’72, and it was dark and thrilling because there is no shrinkwrap and you can check out the entire LP.

And “If There Is Something” makes a great big switch, from jaunty to meaningful, it changes groove, there’s a predominant violin.

And “If There Is Something” is a long song, over six minutes, I figured there was no way they were going to play all of the long outro.

But just when it looked like they had finished, Jorja strode to the front of the stage and played the melody on her sax. It was over the top, a band firing on all cylinders. Yes, remember when there were bands on stage? Who had to rehearse to get it right? Obviously Bryan had schooled these players, maybe they pushed it up a notch because they were in L.A.

But this was more of an ensemble than a band. Playing cohesively. Sure, players got to show their chops, but the cumulative effect was overpowering and overwhelming.

And there was a smattering of twenty and thirtysomethings. Bryan Ferry is not the kind of act experiencing a renaissance, starting over with the younger generation, he’s more for thinking people, who have a few miles on their souls. But I swear, anybody of any age, even if they’d never heard this music before, would be entranced by the sound, by the magic. It was all about the music, which locked on to you immediately, grabbed hold of you to the point where you didn’t want to check your phone, you didn’t want to break the mood. The audience was hypnotized, everybody in their own mind, paired with the music, there was no way you could let go.

And the show stopped with “Let’s Stick Together,” the Wilbert Harrison number Ferry covered on one of his solo albums. And it’s funny to hear Bryan, with his unique, high voice, sing R&B, but that’s why it’s so endearing.

So, the mood has been broken, they’re rocking out, we’re all dancing.

And then Bryan blows some kisses and…THAT’S IT!

No encore!

I haven’t seen that in eons. It’s usually a choreographed part of the show, the act comes back, even if there’s almost no applause, and plays their hit or a cover, riding the energy.

But Bryan was truly gone.

Now “To Turn You On” was the first song to reveal itself to me on “Avalon.”

I could show you in a word
If I wanted to

Feeling your power, knowing that your charm cannot be resisted.

A window on a world
With a lovely view

Of Central Park. On a dark day, when you’re warm inside, but you can see the city moving on this miserable day.

Is it raining in New York
On Fifth Avenue
And off Broadway after dark
Love the lights don’t you
I could walk you through the park
If you’re feeling blue
Or whatever
Spring summer whenever
Winter through fall
I’d do anything to turn you on
Anything to turn you on

And if you’re not turned on listening to the tune, you’re thinking of being. This is not juvenile, but positively adult. This is the life you want to lead.

And “To Turn You On” was in the middle of the second side. I lifted the needle to play it again and again, but eventually I let it slip and got into “True To Life,” jauntier than what came before, and then the spacy coda entitled “Tara,” as if you’re in the Middle Ages, pondering the distance.

And when you flipped the record over, you were powerless, you had to let the music continue, what you heard was the instantly inviting “More Than This.”

It was fun for a while
There was no way of knowing
Like a dream in the night
Who can say where we’re going

That sums it up. We went expecting a few hit tunes, nostalgia, but even though the songs were old the music was newer than a track dropped on Friday. It was like classical repertoire, the song is just a start, it’s about the performance thereof. Bryan and his band did not always hew exactly to the record, they occasionally changed the rhythm, they were not going through the motions, this music could not have been more alive.

And that’s why I mentioned all the band members, because they contributed nearly as much as Bryan Ferry himself.

I can’t expect hearing more than this.

Yacht Rock

This must be just like living in paradise.

And I don’t want to go home.

Yesterday all my numbers were in the zone, other than glucose, but I hadn’t been fasting, and this is the first time since I was diagnosed with CML Leukemia back in 2009, but to tell you the truth for the last year I haven’t been taking the Gleevec, that’s a new policy, you can go off until the leukemia comes back, which could be up to two years, but as short as…tomorrow.

And this has been a great boon. Primarily because my hemoglobin is in the normal range, and it hasn’t been in a decade, and for a while there it went so low I thought twice about climbing stairs.

And when I was done, I checked in with the map programs, and they all agreed to go up Roscomare instead of taking the 405 from the hospital, so I did.

Now cell service is notoriously spotty up there, so I switched to my music library, because I wanted to hear my WAZE prompts via my new head unit, and while I was cruising up the hill, I heard this David Lee Roth song, my favorite from his solo career, you remember the rock climbing video, or maybe you don’t, but during that era Steve Vai replaced Eddie Van Halen and his guitar screamed, but it…still wasn’t Eddie.

But David Lee Roth is one of the great frontmen of all time, and he’ll tell you so, and he carries this track. And “Just Like Paradise” is rock par excellence, you know, you crank it up and it squeezes out the rest of the world and makes you feel good.

And I was feeling good. It was not only the numbers, it was the weather.

Now fall in L.A. is not like fall on the east coast, the light changes, it gets a bit colder, and that’s it! Those November days, those rainy days, they don’t exist! Forget summer, if you really want to get the L.A. bug come in the fall. And cruise up and down the canyons. You’ll be closed.

And yesterday driving through the twists and turns I was feeling like nothing could mess with me, I was only a speck in the world but inside my automobile everything was groovy.

Now I’ve been listening to Yacht Rock on SiriusXM, Richie Beilenson, the man with the hookup, told me to check out the stations in the 300s, which I could now receive.

There’s a cool cover channel. Another one featuring the music of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but the station I’ve been listening to the most is…

Yacht Rock!

You know, that music which has been denigrated, made for wimps, unlistenable to hipsters.

But this is not the way it used to be, once upon a time most of these acts were revered with hits. Then again, not Starbuck and Rupert Holmes, but the Doobies…

And Steely Dan.

I was driving down the 405 on my way to UCLA and I heard “Any Major Dude Will Tell You.” And suddenly the words were clear, even if they weren’t fully comprehensible, but I loved when Fagen sang them. This is the antithesis of the pejorative. If Steely Dan is yacht rock, sign me up for a cruise.

Actually, today, on the Yacht Rock channel, I finally got Pablo Cruise’s “Love Will Find A Way.”

Now dedicated readers will know I love “Watcha Gonna Do” and “A Place In The Sun.” Actually, I had to buy their third album, also entitled “A Place In The Sun,” just to hear those two numbers.

I can wax rhapsodic about “A Place In The Sun,” but I already have. There’s the flourish in the opening, like the gates are being opened for the queen. And then that guitar picking, all this is in the intro, the vocal doesn’t even begin until a minute in, and then Bud Cockrell sings with exuberance! Actually, the number appears in “An Unmarried Woman,” the Mazursky movie starring Jill Clayburgh, she’s now alone but her mood is turning, she’s dancing around the kitchen with her daughter, to “A Place In The Sun.”

And “Watcha Gonna Do?” follows “A Place In The Sun” on the LP, a one-two punch I never got much beyond, yup, I loved those Pablo Cruise cuts, but nothing more, I found “Love Will Find A Way,” too sappy, an effort in search of a hit, but today…that guitar got to me, just like in “Pretzel Logic.”

Yup, when I got home I put that album on.

I didn’t buy “Can’t Buy A Thrill.” Nick had it, I’d play it every time I went to his dorm room, I could not hear “Do It Again” enough. But the LP was on ABC and I only had so much money and…

The second album has only been considered a classic in hindsight, it didn’t have a big radio song and it looked like the act was over.

And then came “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”

It’s that intro, after the spacy bass. We’re instantly in the groove, and Fagen starts to testify. As if he was in your dorm room after midnight telling the story, and you were privileged to hear it, since he was so much cooler than you.

And stunningly, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” became a hit!

Yup, that was the criterion back then, placement on the AM. Not everybody had an FM tuner in their car, crossing over made you gigantic, before AM cratered and MTV saved the music business.

So I bought “Pretzel Logic.” Because it was one of my bonus records from the Record Club of America, which made no sense to the point it went out of business shortly thereafter.

But the LP had so much surface noise. Now the Record Club of America had the right to press its own discs, so was that the problem? Then again, ABC records always sounded trashy too.

And “Rikki” was the only hit from “Pretzel Logic. And the rest of the numbers didn’t sound like anything else, literally. And the album was so short, 34 minutes when everybody was going longer, and I can’t say I loved “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo,” it was just too jazzy for me, but the rest of the numbers had a place in my brain.

Got to tell you, the first track that resonated, other than “Rikki,” was “Barrytown,” which I’ve never ever heard anybody talk about.

And then “With A Gun.” and “Night By Night.” Remember when that happened? You liked a song on a side and you let the album play through to the point another track ultimately revealed itself to you.

And “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” was smooth and in the pocket and could be played on the radio, but I never heard it, even though it was the b-side of “Rikki.”

But what gripped me listening to “Pretzel Logic” was the title tune. Oh, I always liked it, it’s the groove, which has your body moving immediately. But listening on Deezer Elite through my Genelecs all these years later, what gripped me and tossed me over the top, was the guitar playing. I figured it was Larry Carlton, he plays in this style, every note articulated and clear and then running together, but with soul.

My whole body was moving, it’s moving now, remembering that era when you played an electric guitar as opposed to working the turntables, and we knew the players and they were exalted.

It turned out to be Skunk Baxter!

I really had no idea he was this good. I mean I knew he was good, but he’s so right, so perfect, you’ve got to put him in the top tier! And then he switched to the Doobies and ultimately took a complete left turn into defense consulting. I’ve got to give Skunk credit, he was self-taught in this area, and to be accepted at the elite level, that’s quite an achievement, but we’ve lost an axeman of the highest rank, then again, there’s no place for these gunslingers anymore.

Except on Yacht Rock.