Recent Releases:Quickie Reviews

EDIT-6/13/11. THIS WENT UP INCOMPLETE LAST NIGHT. NOT SURE WHY. SORRY. HERE'S THE FULL THING, DAVE.

Here are a few new capsule reviews for you.

EDDIE VEDDER-UKULELE SONGS

Well, you can't fault the guy for false advertising. It is what it says it is, Eddie strumming on his Uke and singing away. There are a few instances of extra instrumentation and harmony vocals but if you blink you'll miss them. It's an interesting idea and one that puts the focus where it belongs..on the songs.

As for the songs, there are no real surprises here. Thiings start off with the Pearl Jam nugget "Can't Keep" and continue on with each song sounding like it belonged on one PJ album or another. This isn't a bad thing by any means,and songs like "Sleeping By Myself", "Longing To Belong" and "Satellite" are top notch as is the Cat Power duet "Tonight You Belong To Me".

The only real negative here is the length. The songs are all good enough and the ukulele is a fine sounding instrument, but after a while the gimmick wears thin.

3 out of 5 Daves.

HANK WILLIAMS III-HILLBILLY JOKER

This ain't new, this is "This Ain't Country". Perhaps a bit of history to help explain:

Most know Hank III as the son of Hank Williams Jr. He plays country music with an edge to it and sings about drinking, drugging, Satan, and all elements of the dark side of life. And he enjoys it. Outlaw Country indeed. However, there is another side to him, the metal side. Hank 3 has played with Phil Anselemo of Pantera in the band "Superjoint Ritual" and has his own metal outfit called "Assjack". When he tours the first half of his shows are country and the second half hardcore. An odd mix to be sure but he's made it work for him.

That's where this record comes in. It was originally titled "This Ain't Country" and presented to Curb records years ago. Curb shelved it as they were only interested in country music and preferably a slightly more sterile version at that. Long story short, the relationship went sour, and two albums later Hank 3 is free from his contract. But as a parting jab, Curb has finally released the record that caused all the fuss in the first place which brings us up to date.

Now all that's interesting enough, but what about the music? I went into this CD with low expectations. Any Hank 3 show I go to I generally leave about 4 or 5 songs into the hardcore set as it's never appealed to me and has always sounded achingly average to my ears. But I gotta say...I kinda like this. There are a few metal by numbers songs here, sure, but the majority of these songs are what 3 himself calls "Hellbilly music" and combines the country with the hardcore.The title track starts things off right while "Life Of Sin", "Hellbilly", and "Tennessee Driver" are standouts. It's not exactly perfect, but it is fun.

Okay, so the "Satan is cool, drugs are cool, imbecilic behavior in the name of rebellion is cool" lyrics are getting old but they fit in better here than on the country records. If you're a fan this is worth checking out as a curiosity if nothing else. Metal fans may want to give it a spin or two just to hear a variation on the form. Otherwise, check out "Straight To Hell" or "Lovesick Broke And Driftin'" for some of Hank 3's best work.

31/2 out of 5 Daves

IRON MAIDEN-FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (Best of 1990-2010)

Cash grab. Only useful for completests (me) and older fans who may not be keeping up with the band's current work.

Having said that, this is actually a pretty decent collection, and does a pretty good job representing the time period covered. Maiden make an interesting choice here in not selecting any songs featuring Blaze Bayley on vocals and instead going with live versions of the songs from his tenure in the band sung by Bruce Dickinson instead. Probably a wise move, but feels a little like cheating.

It is impossible to release a collection like this and please everyone. some favorites will always be left out, and hardcore fans will argue about the selections made for years. But this does act as a good primer for those unfamiliar with these songs. It is also a two disc release so there is room for a few deeper cuts here as well, and since Maiden purposely decided to price this as a single disc (I got my copy for $9.99), there is little to complain about. Besides, with Iron Maiden you can't go too far wrong.

Up, as always, The Irons!

41/2 out of 5 Daves

 See you soon.