Why NOT to buy the soon-to-be-released Pantera Greatest Hits album...

Pantera is releasing a greatest hits album entitled, "A Decade of Domination" on March 30th. While Pantera is one of my favorite bands of all-time and they created one of the best Metal albums EVER (Vulgar Display of Power), I will not be picking up this 2nd round of greatest hits collection. The reasons are very simple...

#1 Wal-Mart exclusive release

#2 Terrible track list

#3 Wal-Mart exclusive release

#4 Terrible track list

#5 Extras??? What extras???

#6 Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboy's Vulgar Hits is enough

When I first heard it was going to be a Wal-Mart exclusive release, my first thought was, "Are they going to censor it?" However, this release is going to come out "unedited." They couldn't have chose a more tame track list. Where the hell is "Fucking Hostile" and "Domination?" This isn't anything more than a money-maker. Not to mention, I have all these songs on the albums already anyways, so what would make me want to buy this...oh...that's right...extras. As far as I can see, the extras are pretty much non-existent.

In closing, I do not recommend picking this up and I hope Dimebag isn't seeing this right now. I mean, Wal-Mart, are you kidding me??? R.I.P. Dime

Until next time...

Radar \m/

High On Fire

After having a killer acoustic jam session and while enjoying a Palm beer, I decided that I need to write about a band I discovered recently. As I have been doing with a lot of shows lately, I blew a chance to see High On Fire open for Mastadon (whom will be discussed in a future blog). My buddy Crowder made the show and informed me that High On Fire blew the roof off of Hard Rock. I had never heard them before so I went to the net and watched their video for "Rumors of War." My first reaction was HOLY FUCKING RIFFAGE!!! Then I asked myself, "Is this guy playing an 8-string guitar???" In fact, it is a 9 string guitar, which is kind of insane.

Anyway, if you haven't heard these guys, all I have to say is GO LISTEN TO THEM RIGHT NOW!!! I heard the new album, entitled "Snakes For The Divine," streaming on their myspace page and all I have to say is that the album is riff crazy! The album comes out on Tuesday (2/23) and I highly recommend picking it up.

That's all I have for now, so it's back to enjoying my Palm beer and watching the highway scene from the 2nd Matrix movie.

Thanks for reading!

Radar \m/

Them Crooked Vultures

Welcome back to the Music Mind Riot blog. Now that the introductory post is out of the way, I can concentrate on what this blog is really supposed to be about...music. Part of what I want do with this thing is give concert reviews & album reviews. Since I have been on a kind of Them Crooked Vultures obsession this week, I decided why not talk about that album a bit.

Them Crooked Vultures consists of some rock music "heavy-hitters." On guitar and vocals are Josh Homme from such bands as Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl once again behind the kit, and the one and only John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame. Their self-titled album was released recently and I have to tell you that it sounds pretty damn good. Josh Homme has some major chops on this album (as he does on most of his previous albums). Dave Grohl goes nuts on the drums, of course. While JPJ bangs the bass and was responsible for much of the arranging on the album.

I highly recommend this album. The fire track would have to be #12 "Gunman." Although, there are many great moments throughout the disc. I won't attempt to describe it any further. Just go listen to the damn album.

Also, you can catch Them Crooked Vultures' Austin City Limits performance on the pbs.org site. This will definitely make you want to catch these guys when they come to town.

Please feel free to comment on what you think about the album. I would like to hear what you think.

Until next time...

Welcome!

Welcome to the first, of hopefully many, posts of the Music Mind Riot blog. I decided to start this blog because I wanted to share my love for music with others. I chose the name Music Mind Riot because I am a fan of several different genres of music and I envision the topics being discussed in the future as being broad and unlimited. However, I will mention that my heart lies mostly with metal and rock music. After all, that's where my love for music started, sort of...

My first 3 cassette tapes (what the hell are those?) were as follows:

#1 Metallica - "... And Justice For All"

#2 Led Zeppelin "IV"

#3 Guns N Roses " Appetite for Destruction"

However, the list of my first 3 CD's I ever owned, which were all gifts, are as follows:

#1 - Michael Bolton "Greatest Hits"

#2 - Bryan Adams "Greatest Hits"

#3 - Metallica "The Black Album"

Needless to say, the Metallica album was the only I played more than once. I was only 13 years old at the time, but I knew that metal was going to become a part of me. The other 2 CD's were inherited by my mom who gave them to me as Christmas gifts with my first CD player (it was a nice thought mom).

Anyway, I am not going to make this blog about myself and my life, but more about the music. At the risk of blowing my nerd cover, I will start with mentioning one of my favorite bands of all time, Dream Theater. I first heard these guys in 1992 when I saw their video for "Pull Me Under" on Headbanger's Ball. I was still a young "metal head" then, but these guys had something about them that ignited an obsession in me that still exists to this day. If you are not familiar with their work, the only thing I can say is listen to them. There is no comparison that I can think of that describes what they sound like. If you are into labels or genres, I would say that they are considered Progressive Metal. Again, by using the word Progressive, I am risking my nerd cover. A good starting CD would be "Images & Words" or "Awake." If you are not into them, then maybe something else I recommend in the future might tickle your musical palette.

I want to close by saying Thank You to those of you who have made it through this blog thus far. I ask that you please comment and share your thoughts, ideas, opinions, or whatever you want to share.

In the meantime, here are a few recent releases that I suggest...

*Alice In Chains "Black Gives Way to Blue"

*Muse "The Resistance"

*Rodrigo Y Gabriela "11:11"

Until next time...