Lynch Mob, Brotherhood

I'm amazed that after a few decades of closely following rock music, there are many bands from the 80s and 90s who not only are still around, but are still making great music. 

One of them that only gets better album by album is Lynch Mob.  The more I listen to them, the more I am blown away by their music.  Their newly released CD Brotherhood has had that effect on me and more.

What do I mean by more?

It has brought new and fresher meaning to the words solid, relentless, fresh, consistent, polished, crisp, among many other words I don't have the capacity of think of. With that said, you could listen to this one CD no fewer than a thousand times and always hear something different every time.  

It is said that things happen in 2s and 3s.  When it comes to Lynch Mob, it comes in 5s.  And it is only awesomeness.  You will hear and feel limitless attitude and unleashed hard rock-style creativity with the lyrical themes.  Complicated love, a confused mindset (that's the best way I can put it), and life on the road--you can't get much better than that.  If I didn't know any better, I would think these songs are in respective order on a soundtrack for a rock hard musical production.

The "storyline" only made me want to hear more, the boundless limits and talent of this band; no intermission needed.

In the years I have listened to Lynch Mob, I know they don't play only rock.  They have occasions where they'd play different styles of music.  Let's just say that when I heard "The Forgotten Maiden's Pearl," I felt like dancing into a calypso-style dance.  That's just my funny way of saying the acoustic guitar and Oni's voice complement each other.

Nothing is finer than the staccato intro for "Black Mountain." Jimmy's grooves are so clear, anyone listening who doesn't have rhythm can easily do it.  It gets even more intricate in "Dog Town Mystics." Let me just say that may have taken some supernatural ability, and is a pattern I'd advise other drummers to try to duplicate.  They are difficult times, but we all get through them, right?

Where the true heart is of Lynch Mob lies in "Miles Away."  There is something to be said about turning down the volume and turning up their hearts...and heartaches.  George is at his best in his bluesy guitar break.  For the record, I don't recall backup vocals giving me goosebumps.

It's in the last song on the CD "Until I Get My Gold" that you hear a fantastic culmination of talent and then some.  Lynch Mob-style fusion at its best.  If you hadn't heard the myriad facets of Oni's voice, you will in this song.  What a bow to put on the CD!  But you will only want to replay it, I promise you that.

Though I have heard many hard rock bands' albums and noticed some "weaknesses" (for a lack of better words) in their music, all I can say about Brotherhood is, you can certainly ask me to find one in this album.  But it may take a while.  I will never get around to that.  Instead, I'll be ever-captivated by the creativity, talent and professionalism Oni, George, Sean, and Jimmy generate in their music.

Brotherhood is a hard rock dessert, topped with whipped cream and a cherry, that continually makes listeners only come back for more (and it has no calories or fat, to boot).

Next time I look up the words solid, relentless, fresh, consistent, polished, and crisp in the dictionary, I expect to see a picture of Lynch Mob.

Book Review: Visions, Dreams, and Rumours

There is power in the reason and significance of the first record you ever bought.  Mine was Wild Heart, Stevie Nicks' second solo album.  For the better part of a year, I had listened to "Stand Back," "Nightbird," and "If Anyone Falls," and loved hearing it every time.  It was only right for me to buy the album...and to keep it for life.  

I later found out she was part of Fleetwood Mac, the one pop band who brought us such hits as "Don't Stop," "Go Your Own Way," and "The Chain," one of my personal favorites from the album.  

Stevie Nicks an ever-creative soul who refuses to give up, whose one and only passion is music no matter what happens, and who gives to things bigger than herself, and is a sage to other young women emerging onto the music scene.

What stood out to me in the production of Rumours was Nicks' "Silver Springs" was originally nine verses long.  She was asked to make it shorter.  But she had a hard time with that because she felt like the beauty of the song would be compromised.  What she also had to overcome was, that song wouldn't be on the original album for Rumours.

I don't consider it coincidental that while I was reading this book, Tom Petty died an untimely death, and I experienced a stressful personal situation.  I loved reading how her love for Tom Petty was at a superfan level, and so strong, the band made her an honorary Heartbreaker.

My respect for the late Tom Petty only great stronger when he encouraged Nicks in a low point in her career, taken from page 311 of the book

Heartache and heartbreak are what Stevie herself is no stranger to.  In addition to her life and complicated times with Lindsay, she experienced the death of her best friend, and a had longtime battle with cocaine addiction that almost caused permanent brain damage, thanks to the drug being handed out like candy in the making of Rumours.  Between her hit songs, both with the Mac and as a solo artist, and her personal journal writings, there is nothing she hasn't written.

That inspires me.  I can live on that alone for the rest of my life if I could.  What have I done since reading this biography?  Written down my dreams soon after waking up, writing more now in my spare time instead of wasting time on social media, and writing in a Favorite Moment a Day journal. In so doing, I have had my own visions and dreams.