While I am having computer issues, it's great that Brian and Cliff and anyone else help me out to keep this thing going for the rest of the universe, Brian today checks in with some shit from the Rollins Band......they were a favorite of my yonger brothers, myself not so much, but you know the policy of this blog: PUT IT UP, I DON'T GIVE A HALF A FUCK........so here is a fine Rollins post fro Brian, you can either check it here or at his own NEW blog Rustbeltoutpost, either way, matters not to me......I don't care WHERE you get it from, just so you HEAR it, and THAT is what recorded music.comedy/speech is FOR, TO BE HEARD, NOT NOT NOT to be "sold" as some profit making endeavor. Those days are over, I am sorry......if you join us in the sharing community, you will realize at ONCE that we are not trying to "steal" ANYTHING from ANYONE, we are TRYING to get this stuff to an audience that MIGHT NOT oridinarily hear it, without OUT help........it is so odd that we are trying to do you the biggest favor in the world, yet you have been brainwashed into thinking we are your ENEMY. All in perspective.
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Rollins Band Live Discography
In this version of the blog, I really want to put up stuff that you don't see on blogs much...I also want to make available things that are really rare. Both those things turn out to be true in the case of one of my favorite artists: Henry Rollins.
When I got into him as a teen (about '92), he was this ex-Flag guy with a band of his own who also did spoken word shows. I actually got into the spoken stuff first, and then the music, but I've been a fan a long time. I'll put some spoken gigs up some day, but right now I wanna talk about his music.
It's a point of pride of mine that I was a fan of him before "Liar" came out. That song was huge back then, but it's all people seem to remember of his stuff. History has given his music short shrift (other than "Damaged", maybe), and that's crap. The R. Band released some of the most direct, vital music of that whole 80's/90's alterna-war era. They sounded unique: dissonant hard rock with a punk edge, and an utterly crushing sound. I once heard them referred to as "emotional funk metal", and that's just dumb. Just because the group had a prominent bass sound didn't make them "funk". This ain't the Red Hot Chili Peppers, kids. This is a punch to the face!
I'm not giving you studio albums, though. This group truly shined live - helped by brilliant soundman Theo Van Rock in the early years - and honed their songs (and sound) to a razor's edge. These live releases cover all eras of the band: the early days, the End of Silence and Weight eras, the underrated 2nd version of the band (98-'03) which I'll talk more about, and even a decent sounding live boot from the 2006 reunion tour of the Melvin Gibbs lineup.
There will be songs repeated, but they sound distinct on each release. A song that's on 'Do--It' won't sound like it does on 'Electro Convulsive', for example. I couldn't get ahold of --Turned On--, so that's not here. Enjoy.
A little over a year in, and this band completely blows it away live. A prime lost classic of 80's punk. Definitive versions of early songs. Practically replaces the first two R. Band albums. Highly, highly recommended! Listen to "Gun In Mouth Blues" really loud...
Actually recorded in front of a studio audience on Aussie radio, yet the band give 120%...contains their crushing cover of Cheech&Chong's "Earache My Eye", as well as early versions of two classic End of Silence songs.
I found this RARE AS HELL Japanese import gathering dust in an East Toledo record store years ago for $5. Contains "Crazy Lover/Ghost Rider" as well as their amazing medley of VU's "Move Right In" and their song "Obscene" by way of the BeastieBoy's "Gratitude". The final word on the crushing, "dirge" era of the band as bassist Andrew Weiss left awhile later. Good good stuff, and very rare.
Their much-lauded performance at Woodstock '94. Sounds like a dupe off of the cable TV feed. Not bad though, for a bootleg. The last live material for 5 years, and the last of this lineup.
THE MARK 2 VERSION OF THE BAND.
In '98, Henry hooked up with the band Mother Superior, a younger band with a more "classic rock" edge, and released several great albums over the next few years. They went utterly unnoticed at the time...people were too busy listening to Eminem and The Strokes. While there are a few weak spots - Marcus Blake is no Melvin Gibbs/Andrew Weiss, and Jim Wilson's solos can occasionally meander - but they did some kickass shows. I actually saw them live at the very beginning of the tour that's documented on this first release....
Recorded at the Danish Roskilde festival a 100 dates into their first tour together. Big open air gig. They pound out an energetic, full throttle set. You can tell Henry's voice is blown, but he just goes for it anyway. There's a definitive "What Have I Got", there's the great Thin Lizzy medley in the middle, as well as the "Do It" that closed the set. This is a long out of print website-only release. I think of this as Henry's "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith". I'd totally put this in a Top Ten live albums list.
This 2 disc show was recorded in Chicago on the "Nice" tour. The set list here is bigger than on "Clockwork", with even more time given to this lineup's songs. There's some kickass moments: "Going Out Strange", "On the Day", a blindingly intense "Gone Inside the Zero"... "Clockwork" still gets my nod, but this set list kicks ass.
Washington D.C. 8/15/2006 LINK
This is an audience recording from the R. Band's tour with X in 2006. It's good quality, though the person was clearly on the bassist's side of the stage. "On My Way to the Cage" is a great opener. It's good the original lineup got one more chance to perform together, as Henry has given up music.
I think this is really neglected stuff. I mean, take something like "Do It" and put it up against hip stuff from the era: Sonic Youth, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, even the mighty "Nevermind"...It blows that stuff away I think