| The
Crossing - January 2007 Edition
Lo and behold, 2007 is here
and from the start, I’m gonna make a prediction: 2007 is gonna be a banner
year for music releases. As the year
progresses, I think this
is going to become pretty obvious. But, I won’t bore you with names of
artists
that ‘may’ show up on the
radar. Instead,
let’s see who has shown
up already:
ARTIST of the MONTH:
Not a bad way to start off
the new year, than with a new release from the Heartland rocker himself,
Mr. John Mellencamp. Out January 23rd is
“Freedom’s Road,” Mellencamp’s
17th album more or less...not including his very early stuff. You’ve probably
already heard the first single
titled ‘Our Country’ from
the Chevy truck commercial and from his performance at the World Series
in Detroit. Probably the right tune for the
right time. A country seemingly
so divided on so many issues needs a little reminder that we stand together.
In the great tradition of songs like
Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land
is Your Land’ and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Rising’ before it. John Mellencamp’s
music has always painted pictures and have given impressions. A look at
what life is like in his home state of Indiana and the great Midwest of
the United States. From song after
song like ‘Jack & Diane,’
‘Pink Houses,’ ‘Small Town,’ ‘Rain on the Scarecrow’ to ‘Jackie Brown’
and ‘Lonely Ol’ Night’ and ‘Now More Than
Ever’, the songs are all
portraits, each taken individually and collectively show a broad vista
into life and how we live it. 35 of these songs alone are on the compilation
“Words & Music” released in ‘04. Now, purportedly, a record exec talked
John Mellencamp into doing another album
after John had gone into
a hiatus of sorts since his last album “Trouble No More” back in 2003.
That was an album of cover songs and
traditional tunes. This
new album will be his first of all new originals since “Cuttin’ Heads”
back in 2001. John Mellencamp has always been kind of an ‘everyman’ living
in the shadows of the likes of Bruce Springsteen, but it may be just that
he hit it big a few years after Springsteen. But
like Springsteen and Tom
Petty and Billy Joel, Mellencamp has hit after hit song and all of his
albums are pretty solid cut for cut, best enjoyed
listened to as a whole like
so many of the greats. “Freedom’s Road” is already getting rave reviews.
Check out this quote from Bill Lavery at
Village Records:
“Too early for album of the
year? I don't think so. This is the album that his entire career has been
heading towards. A year in the making and completely shaped by the world
we have found ourselves in. Everything that was hinted at on "Scarecrow"
and "The Lonesome Jubilee" is
perfected here. The front
porch, by way of the garage sounds that he is so good at are back. The
recent elections were not an end to this long
struggle. They are a new
beginning and this album can stand alongside of the best of Guthrie and
Seeger when it comes to chronicling the path we're on and the road we've
traveled.”
That’s high praise! So, get
ready for this and many more promising albums as 2007 progresses...
By the way, I didn’t catch
anything that I missed in December so there’s nothing in the ‘recently
released’ column.
Let’s rumble...
1/2
* Elvis
Presley - “Essential Collection” (2 CD set.)
* The
Bridesmaid - DVD
* Snakes
On A Plane - DVD
* Lunacy
- DVD
1/9
* Holmes
Brothers - “State Of Grace”
* Kenny
Wayne Shepherd - "10 Days Out: Blues From the Backroad" (2 CD live set.)
* Neko
Case - “Live from Austin City Limits”
* Johnny
Cash - “Live from Austin City Limits”
* Heather
Greene - Five Dollar Dress”
* Mercury
Rev - “Back To Mine”
* Genesis
- “Definitive Collection” (2 CD set.)
* Color
Of The Cross - DVD
* The
Night Listener - DVD
* The
Illusionist - DVD
* Idiocracy
- DVD (Mike Judge’s follow-up to Office Space.)
* Quinceanera
- DVD
* Street
Fight - DVD
* Crank
- DVD
1/16
* The
Smithereens - “Meet The Smithereens: a Tribute to The Beatles” (Covering
The Beatles’ entire first American release “Meet the
Beatles”.)
* Erin
McKeown - "Sing You Sinners"
* Stacie
Orrico - “Beautiful Awakening”
* The
Autumn Defense - “S/T”
* Crowded
House - “Farewell To The World” (2 CD/DVD live set.)
* America
- “Here and Now” (2 CD set; featuring quite a few guests.)
* The
Band - “Jubilation” (reissue.)
* Diana
Ross - “I Love You”
* Yes
- “Definitive Collection” (2 CD’s)
* Roxette
- “Collection” (new date.)
* Various
Artists - “Best of Hootenanny” (3 DVD set.)
* The
Guardian - DVD
* School
For Scoundrels - DVD
1/23
* John
Mellencamp - “Freedom’s Road”
* Josh
Ritter - “Live at the Record Exchange” (EP.)
* Peter
Rowan and Tony Rice - “Quartet”
* John
Hiatt - “Acoustic LP”
* Kristin
Hersh - “Learn to Sing Like a Star”
* Bjork
- “Drawing Restraint #9”
* Moe
- “The Conch”
* The
Good, The Bad & The Queen - “S/T”
* Of
Montreal - "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"
* The
Brokedown - "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On"
* The
Shins - "Wincing The Night Away"
* Menomena
- "Friend and Foe"
* The
Honeydogs - “Amygdala”
* Skinny
Puppy - “Mythmaker”
* Deerhoof
- "Friend Opportunity"
* Field
Music - “Tones Of Town” (import.)
* Youth
Group - “Casino Twilight Dogs”
* The
Resentments - “On My Way To See You”
* Clinic
- “Visitations”
* Julie
Doiron - “Woke Myself Up”
* The
Earlies - “The Enemy Chorus”
* Jesse
Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - “Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls
of the Soul”
* Saliva
- “Blood Stained Love Story”
* Atreyu
- “Best of”
* Echo
& The Bunnymen - “Very Best of”
* Faces
- “Definitive Collection” (2 CD set.)
* White
Lion - “Definitive Collection” (2 CD set.)
* This
Film Is Not Yet Rated - DVD
* Sherrybaby
- DVD
* Gridiron
Gang - DVD
1/30
* Phil
Keaggy - “Dream Again”
* Norah
Jones - "Not Too Late"
* Lily
Allen - “Alright, Still”
* Lisa
Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell - “Catch the Moon” (Children’s album.)
* Daniel
Powter - “Daniel Powter” (CD/DVD.)
* Art
Garfunkel - “Some Enchanted Evening”
* Bill
Kirchen - “Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods”
* Clap
Your Hands Say Yeah - "Some Loud Thunder"
* Katatonia
- “The Great Cold Distance”
* Various
Artists - "Endless Highway: Music of the Band"
* Evanescence
- “After Midnight” (DVD.)
* Iron
Maiden - “Death On The Road” (DVD.)
* Open
Season - DVD
* Catch
A Fire - DVD
* Flyboys
- DVD
* The
Gathering - DVD
2/6
* Patty
Griffin - “Children Running Through”
* Over
The Rhine - “Discount Fireworks: a Collection”
* Apples
In Stereo - “New Magnetic Wonder”
* Fall
Out Boy - “Infinity On High”
* Sondre
Lerche - “Phantom Punch”
* Goldfrapp
- “Ride A White Horse”
* Jann
Arden - “Uncover Me” (covers project.)
* Belinda
Carlisle - “Voila”
* Stevie
Nicks - “Best of” (New date.)
* Nickelback
- “All The Right Reasons” (CD/DVD.)
* Hollywoodland
- DVD
* Trust
The Man - DVD
* Flicka
- DVD
2/13
* Lucinda
Williams - “West”
* Danny
Vaughn - “Traveller”
* The
Departed - DVD
* Marie
Antoinette - DVD
* Half
Nelson - DVD
* The
U.S. vs. John Lennon - DVD
* Zoom
- DVD
2/20
* Jesse
Malin - “Glitter In The Gutter” (Guests include Bruce Springsteen, Ryan
Adams and Jakob Dylan.)
* Rosie
Thomas - “TBA”
* Kaiser
Chiefs - “TBA” (import.)
* Peter
Himmelman - “My Green Kite”
* Tommy
Womack - “There, I Said It”
* The
Frames - “The Cost”
* Dolly
Varden - “The Panic Bell”
* The
Silos - “Come On Like The Fast Lane”
* Southern
Culture On The Skids - “Countrypolitan Favorites”
* Tommy
Shaw & Jack Blades - “Influence” (Covers project.)
* The
Magic Numbers - “Those The Brokes”
* Kittie
- “Funeral For Yesterday”
* Shut
Up & Sing - DVD (Dixie Chicks documentary.)
* The
Prestige - DVD
* For
Your Consideration - DVD
* Man
Of The Year - DVD
* Flushed
Away - DVD
2/27
* A Good
Year - DVD
* Tideland
- DVD
* Harsh
Times - DVD
3/6
* Son
Volt - “The Search”
* Mary
Chapin Carpenter - “The Calling”
* Lucy
Kaplansky - “Over The Hills”
* Over
The Rhine - “Live from Nowhere, Vol. 2”
* Bright
Eyes - “Four Winds” (EP.)
* Wheat
- “Everyday I Said a Prayer...”
* Wolf
& Cub - “Vessels”
* Sevendust
- “Alpha”
* The
Fall - “Reformation Post T.L.C.”
* Ry
Cooder - “My Name Is Buddy”
* Air
- “Pocket Symphony”
* Greencards
- “Viridian”
* Guns
N’ Roses - “Chinese Democracy” (penciled in here.)
3/13
* The
Arcade Fire - “Neon Bible” (penciled in here.)
* The
Innocence Mission - “We Walked In Song”
* Good
Charlotte - “Good Morning Revival”
* Finger
Eleven - “Them vs. You vs. Me”
3/20
* The
Stooges - “The Weirdness” (Iggy Pop & company’s first album in 33 years.)
* Ted
Leo & The Pharmacists - “Living With the Living”
* Tracey
Thorn - “Out of the Woods”
* Willy
Mason - “If the Ocean gets Rough”
* The
Roches - “Moonswept”
* Bobby
- DVD
3/27
* Jack
Ingram - “This Is It”
* Grant-Lee
Phillips - “Strangelet”
4/3
* Fountains
Of Wayne - “Traffic and Weather”
LYRICS of the MONTH:
Well I can stand beside
Ideals I think are right
And I can stand beside
The idea to stand and fight
I do believe
There’s a dream for everyone
This is our country
There’s room enough here
For science to live
And there’s room enough here
For religion to forgive
And try to understand
All the people of this land
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
That poverty could be
Just another ugly thing
And bigotry would be
Seen only as obscene
And the ones that run this land
Help the poor and common man
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
The dream is still alive
Some day it will come true
And this country it belongs
To folks like me and you
So let the voice of freedom
Sing out through this land
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country
From the east coast
To the west coast
Down the Dixie Highway
Back home
This is our country.
John Mellencamp, the song ‘Our Country’ off of the album Freedom’s Road.
See you in February!
Chris Barlow
For more info on John Mellencamp, check out his official site here:
http://www.mellencamp.com
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