New Music Tuesday

Well that’s 4 of 4! Apple has just added the complete George Harrison catalog to iTunes. Over the past year, Apple has also added John, Paul & Ringo with little fanfare. Now you can buy any John, Paul, George or Ringo song…you just can’t buy a Beatles song. ???!!!

All songs are DRM free in George’s catalog. I suggest starting with Thirty Three & 1/3 from 1976. Great seventies groove- can’t miss with this one.

Complete Clapton
Complete is a pretty big statement. Considering this release only has 37 tracks of Clapton’s work, I wouldn’t say it falls under the definition of “complete.” But, if you don’t already own all of Clapton’s work on vinyl (ahem), then for just $25 this is a fine place to start.

Necessary Evil by Debbie Harry
Oh Debbie, what have you done? Formerly an American punk frontrunner, Debbie has gone soft. She still has a great voice at age SIXTY TWO (!!). Still sexy and sultry, but she’s lost the sass she needs to even pass as a pop music artist. This recording comes off as bland and unremarkable and I doubt it will receive much play on even the mushy adult contemporary radio stations. Skip this one.

The Best of Chicago
Try not to confuse this one with The VERY Best of Chicago, Heart of Chicago (both volumes), Greatest Hits 82-89 or Love Songs. This lame repackaging attempt signals to me that Chicago might just be living out a contract with Warner. These are the same, albeit great, songs from Chicago but new cover art, a different track order and slapping the word “remastered” on this package won’t make it sell, folks. If you don’t already own Chicago 1-30 and you are looking to leap into the Chicago sound, this is a decent primer of material. Thirty songs for just $15. Not bad.Famous by Puddle of Mudd
The l-o-n-g awaited album by Puddle of Mudd. The current single “Famous” has been playing on rock radio since May 2007. Leave it to the record companies and lawyers to get in the way of an album releasing on time! This may possibly hurt the CD on the charts since listeners have cooled to the title track while waiting for the CD to drop. We also haven’t heard anything from this band since the 2003 release of “Life on Display.” Hopefully, listeners haven’t forgotten how hard Puddle of Mudd can rock and they’ll pick this one up.

The title track, as well as “Merry Go Round” and “I’m So Sure” show Wes Scantlin penning some of his best. Word of advice: Don’t be an ex girlfriend of Scantlin. He seems to write best when scorned and for god-knows-what-reason he has been there often. (Girls, what is wrong with this guy?) His I’ve-been-wronged-and-no-body-cares style works for the band and fuels some head banging guitar crunch.

The current single "Psycho" is a nice little ride. Reminds me a little bit of "She F*ing Hates Me" simply because of the darling quirky little verses that fall into a thrashing chorus pit. You can check out a video of this one at the Puddle of Mudd Myspace page.

I’ll wager that “Thinking of You” will have to be a single at some point. It’s radio friendly and has a much softer edge to it and for that, girls will dig this song. Guys will learn to play it. Girls will love guys that learn to play it...ah, the cycle of rock and roll. Another radio possible track is the almost-too-Nickelback-ish “We Don’t Have to Look Back.” Again with the softer and friendlier “girl rock” but you have to give them credit for reaching out to both sides of the market.

“Radiate” is this album’s “Blurry.” It’s got that lilting, lower register that Wes does so well. Still heavily guitar driven, but this is a vocal standout. Could be another big hit.

If fans haven’t forgotten the name Puddle of Mudd, then this release will do well because it’s just plain well written. Period. Right now the best career move would be for these guys to start recording another album right immediately. Release it in the spring and go out for a summer concert tour. The music industry and consumer dollars wait for no one- let’s not have another four years between releases!