“Hey, Johnny Park!” (Foo Fighters Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to this weekend edition of the Laptop Sessions video blog! Today’s acoustic cover song is from the Foo Fighters, a band that my fellow songwriter Jeff Copperthite has covered several times before. I’ve only gotten into this music within the past few months, after a faithful YouTube viewer and fan of the Laptop Sessions requested that I cover the Foo Fighters song “Everlong.” I went out to the store, bought the album The Colour and the Shape, and immediately got into it. For those of you who don’t know me, you need to understand that I’m a big fan of well-packaged CD’s, and this was the 10th anniversary remix with a nice, lengthy booklet and a shiny cover. Now, this may have coloured (pun intended) my perception of it, but what I really liked about the album was its overall progression. It begins with an electric guitar and Dave Grohl’s subdued vocals on “Doll,” a song that gradually builds up and suddenly ends after about a minute and a half. The next song, “Monkey Wrench,” is pure energy and rock’n’roll. The album continues to rev up and slow down and vary as it goes. Previously to this, I had only heard their In Your Honor album. I love the concept — one disc of electric songs, one of acoustic music — but I found it unremarkable.

I haven’t quite perfected my version of “Everlong,” but this is another great track from the album to tide you over while I practice that one. “Hey, Johnny Park!” is a title that I have yet to understand — Foo Fighters fans please help by commenting here!! — and it certainly made me stretch my range a bit, but I love the guitar intro/riff and it really translated pretty well as an acoustic cover song, as the other Foo Fighters covers by Jeff did.

Without further ado, here’s your official Saturday Laptop Session — don’t forget to check back tomorrow for another quality Copperthite cover…

See you next session!


Reflections on Rock Music: What makes for a 5 star album?

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As I’m still locked out of YouTube and waiting on a reply email from Google support, I figured it was the right time to add a fifth installment to the “Reflections on Rock Music” series…

By Chris Moore:

This year, I’ve been reading and writing more album reviews than ever before.  I’ve kept to my goal of writing one full review a week (typically long-form, 750-1000 words), and I’ve added regular installments in the “Yes, No, or Maybe So” series of one-sentence reviews.  As always, I look forward to reading new editions of Rolling Stone magazine, particularly the album review section at the back.

More often than not, I’m infuriated by what I read, but that’s half the fun of it, I suppose…

This year, I’ve been making regular trips to online sources for music reviews such as Allmusic, Spin, and Uncut when I have the time and interest.  Studying how other reviewers approach the same music that I’m reviewing has been educational as I develop the aspects of my writing style I like, and perhaps even moreso as I decide how I want to distinguish myself from others.  After all, for any given album or even song, there are multiple opinions and points of view to be had and expressed.

Which brings me to the question of the evening:

What makes for a five star album?

FACTOR ONE:  Instrumental Excellence

The most basic indicator of an outstanding album is its instrumental composition.  This is not to say that an album needs be complex in order to be excellent, but there is an ineffable quality of music that stands out, whether it be unique, or well-executed, or demonstrative of impressive talent.  Still, even the most simple arrangements can cause listeners to lose themselves in the flow of the song.

Perhaps the most notable example of an instrumentally excellent five star album is the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.  Under the direction of Brian Wilson, the studio session musicians worked together to create what is arguably the single best album of all time.  To put on headphones, or — even better — to sit at the center of a set of surround sound speakers, is a transcendent experience, listening to this flawless, intricately woven tapestry of instrumentation and, of course, vocals.

FACTOR TWO:  Lyrical — and Vocal — Excellence

A song can only go so far as its lyrics and vocals will provide for it.  Although some may disagree with me, a song needs to be lyrically engaging in order for it to have any longevity on my iPod.  There are exceptions to every rule, but songs should be engaging and thoughtful.  Even simple songs should be well-constructed.  If it seems like the lyrics are phoned-in, then it’s a foregone conclusion that the song can only be interesting for so long.

Bob Dylan set the standard for great lyrics as early as his second release.  By Blonde on Blonde, his seventh studio album, Dylan had not only perfected his sixties rock sound, but he also unveiled some of his wildest, most poetic lyrics yet in gems like “Visions of Johanna” and “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.”  The words certainly work best set to music, but taken out of context, they are poems in their own right.

FACTOR THREE:  Strong Individual Songs

Anyone who plays an instrument knows that it takes more than musical talent, a way with words, or distinctive vocals to make a great song.  Sometimes, all three can be present, and yet the song falls flat.  The ability to write a truly excellent song can’t be learned from a book and could never be deconstructed.  There are simply those who can create and balance guitar riffs, vocal hooks, and the like.  And there are those who can’t, or at least not often.

Pearl Jam’s Ten is a great example of a five star album on which each track is equally outstanding in its own unique way.  To think that rockers like “Once,” “Even Flow,” “Alive,” and “Porch” are on the same disc as ballads and dirges like “Black,” “Jeremy,” “Oceans,” and “Release” is mind-blowing.  This is a case of eleven five star songs adding up to a five star album.

FACTOR FOUR:  Thematic Cohesion & Relevance

It’s one thing to have a song or even several that are excellent, it’s another to have an album’s worth, and it’s yet another to have an album’s worth of songs that are thematically cohesive and provocative.  The latter is key, as an album needs to pass the “So what?” test in order to be considered for the full five star rating; after all, who wants to or will continue listening to an album repeatedly if it doesn’t provide relatable emotions, situations, etc.?  I’m also a strong believer that truly great albums have images, symbols, and/or themes that run throughout from front to back.  These don’t need to be blunt, but they should be available for those who care to listen for them.

The Moody Blues are the inimitable masters of the concept album.  The story of their first seven studio releases is one classic record after another.  Perhaps the best of that sequence is On the Threshold of A Dream, an album whose tracks all lend to the larger topic of dreams that unifies the album.  This was released at the peak of their creativity as a five-piece band, each member making notable contributions which range from rock songs to beautiful tunes to the spoken word.

FACTOR FIVE:  Timelessness

The fifth and final factor is such an important one, and yet it is the one factor that I will admit that I second-guess myself on.  True five star albums should be as relevant, thought-provoking, and entertaining ten years from now as they are today.  Only time will tell how my favorite five-star albums of this decade will stack up at the end of the next decade, or the ones after that.  It is quite easy to look back at some of the classics (such as those mentioned above) and recognize that they are five star quality.  It is another to imagine how one’s taste and interests will shift and influence the perception of contemporary albums.

I have no doubts that my five-star records of the 2000s — albums like the Wallflowers’ Red Letter Days, BnL’s Maroon, and Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot — will be every bit as impressive to me for all my days to come, and I know with time that I will hone my ability to judge timelessness.  I’m already improving, and this is all the more reason to exercise my instincts and analytical abilities in weekly editions of the Weekend Review.

** Hurry back this weekend for a live set list — posted live song by song — from a great rock band on Saturday, and a review of the concert on Sunday! **

“About A Girl” (Nirvana Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

And a happy Thumpin’ Thursday to you as well!  I hope this evening finds you healthy, warm, and enjoying the awesome weather we are supposed to receive for the next few days.  I can finally say “So Long and Farewell” to Winter, and to the hope of any more snow days from school.

Of course, I may be smitten for saying that.

Well, anyway today’s song is one that I actually heard a couple of days ago and said “Hmm…that song would be a good one to cover”, so here you are!  It’s another song by Nirvana and is called “About A Girl”.  It is from their debut 1989 album “Bleach” (wonder if it was clean…).

I did some reading about the history of this song and there’s a few cool stories about it.  First off, when presented to the band the then-drummer Chad Channing asked Kurt Cobain what the song was about, and Cobain replied “It’s about a girl”.  Cobain didn’t want it put on the album for fear of it being too pop sounding, and having it overwrite their perceived grunge image from their fanbase.  Eventually they decided to put it on the album, citing the producer’s image of it even being a single.

There was a girl that he wrote it about.  It was his then-girlfriend Tracy Marander.  She had asked him at one point why he hadn’t written a song about her, and that was among the inspirations that helped him write this song.  Funny thing is it took 10 years for her to find out that the song was about her, and she only found out by reading the biography of Nirvana called “Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana”.

The song is a rather light number and is perfect for our covering style.  I hope you enjoy it!  I’ll see you next week, and be sure to check back throughout the week for more covers from all of us!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

“Writing Thousand Kingdom Blues” (Original Acoustic Song)

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By Chris Moore:

This, as you’ll probably be able to tell once you start listening to it, is a song that I wrote a long time ago.  In some ways, this would be a reason to choose a different song to record, as I think I have better songs to showcase that I’ve written more recently.  I do feel that I’ve progressed as a writer and that I’ve written more structurally complex and lyrically thoughtful songs.

And yet, in other ways, this is one of those songs that reminds me how I used to write and, in some ways, reminds me of a type of song that I don’t really write any more.  This song, “Writing Thousand Kingdom Blues,” was written just as I really started to get into Bob Dylan’s work.  Everything about him fascinated me — his lyrics, his music, his personality.  Everything about him had an other-worldly feel to it, particularly to a young high school student who had yet to experience many things.  At the time, I hadn’t even heard nearly as much music as I have now.

That being said, I wrote this song without filters.  That is, I didn’t think about literal meaning as I was writing; I focused more on the feeling and the overall image that the words conveyed.  Thus, terms like “chalkboard salesmen” or “unnecessary sports gaming powers-that-be” didn’t need to make immediate sense to everyone; it was more important that what was in my head flowed out and onto the page honestly and in as creative and unique a form as possible.  I’ll freely admit now that I don’t remember exactly what I meant by all these lyrics in the song.  I do remember the specific references for a lot of them, though, and it’s fun to think about the ones that I don’t.  That’s what I always hoped people would want to do with my music — with any music, really — to take it in and come up with a theory about what it means and, perhaps, how it could relate to their own lives.

The inspiration for the title came from a novel I read in my senior year of high school — Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres.  My English teacher, Mr. Rinaldi, had us read it alongside Shakespeare’s King Lear and draw comparisons between the characters and plot details.  It was an enjoyable book, and I remember its themes and ideas creeping into my own writing of the time.  That’s actually one of the things I miss most about being a student — the ability to take in a lot of new literature and information in general and tune out class when inspiration hits, putting the pen to paper and writing.  My most boring classes in college were often the ones that I got the most writing done during.  I can think of a couple for which the only interesting aspect was trying to complete a poem or decide on how to finish the chorus to a song.

Ah, well, there’s always my nine remaining master’s degree courses to look forward to…  🙂

Well, that’s it for me tonight.  But, before I conclude, I should point out that I have the honor of recording and posting the very first Original Wednesday of 2009!  For my next Original Wednesday, I’ll be debuting another new song that will be featured on my upcoming album (to be recorded in 2009!).  For now, I hope you enjoy this blast from my recording past.

See you next session!