THE PREACHER'S KIDS, 'Devil's Hitlist' [re-imagined LP]

Preacher's Kids 

THE DEVIL'S HITLIST    (2005)

French Blues (Spanish Boots)

Blow You a Kiss

Devil's Hitlist

Good Times Are Still Yet to Come

Is This Love*  (7" version)

Crooked Road

------------

I Wanna Be a Lost Cause

Young Lovers

Two Sides to Every Coin

Childhood on the Rocks

Tonight is Gone Tomorrow**

Haunted By Desire**

This is the third album by singer-songwriter Tyler Keith and his band The Preacher's Kids. It was originally self-released in 2007 belatedly following line-up changes and a split from their label Get Hip! Records (which released their previous album Wild Emotions in 2003). It included 12 songs and there was also a pair of vinyl 45 singles released, as well. "Is This Love" was a different version from the album with backing vocals featured in the mix. The flipside was a cover of "Don't Talk to Me" by G.G. Allin and The Jabbers sung by guitarist Johnny Valiant. "French Boots" was the 2nd single backed with a cover of "20th Century Boy" by T-Rex sung by drummer Frank Coutch. From what I know, the band was recording at Easley Studios in Memphis, TN. There was a fire at the studio at some point...and some of the tapes were thought to be lost. In 2011, a friend of mine (close to the band) revealed to me a CD-R with some rough cuts from the sessions. I heard an unfinished mix of the song "Ghost Writer" (a fan favourite that reportedly ended up having to be sourced from an MP3 rip for the album master) missing the wordless bridge section with its Beach Boy-style falsetto vocals (probably by guitarists Johnny Valiant and Talbot Adams--as well as bassist Van Thompson) along with two unreleased tracks--"Tonight is Gone Tomorrow" and "Haunted By Desire". The latter tune was reportedly intended to close the album but was mixed up with the similar sounding "Our Time to Live".  

To make an awesome album even better...I swap "Blow You a Kiss" for the inferior sound quality MP3 rip of "Ghost Writer" (which TK would later re-cut--among others--for his solo acoustic album Alias Kid Twist) and I add the two outtakes at the end. My only real quarrel with "Our Time to Live" is the hard one-sided mix of the vocal that makes it almost inaudible and definitely unintelligible. "Ghost Writer" is a fucking brilliant tune and the Easley Studio mix is unfortunately unfinished. I propose including that and "Our Time to Live" with rips of the previously mentioned vinyl 45 b-sides for a bonus E.P.

1. Ghost Writer  [Easley Studio mix]**  
2. Don't Talk to Me*   ["Is This Love"  7-inch]
3. 20th Century Boy*    ["French Boots" 7-inch]
4. Our Time to Live   [The Devil's Hitlist]

THE REIGNING SOUND, 'Pill-popping Mom Only Taking What She Needs To Get By' [imagined LP]

The Reigning Sound

PILL-POPPING MOM ONLY TAKING WHAT SHE NEEDS TO GET BY    (2003)

Find Me Now*

If You Can't Give Me Everything*

Medication Blues #1*

Carol*

What Could I Do?*

Funny Thing*

Drowning

-----------

When You Touch Me

Let Yourself Go

Medication

I'll Cry

You Got Me Hummin'

Get It!

Uptight, Tonight

In my continued mission to both find new projects of interest and promote bands I think you should hear...I present to you the lost original 3rd Reigning Sound LP. Now first off, the reason for an 'alternate view' is simply to find a new way to listen some albums I have played out many times. The Reigning Sound is a band I haven't heard do a bad song. Seriously. 

In 2003, the Memphis based quartet had recorded their follow-up to 2002's highly praised Time Bomb High School. Lead singer-songwriter Greg Cartwright had toyed with calling the album 'PILL-POPPING MOM ONLY TAKING WHAT SHE NEEDS TO GET BY' from an article in the medical advice column of the local Memphis paper The Commercial Appeal. Apparently, the writing direction changed and it ended up becoming a much louder record with the appropriate title, Too Much Guitar! This also tied in with the departure of keyboardist Alex Greene. The remaining trio (Cartwright, bassist Jeremy Scott and drummer Greg Roberson) picked up recording at Cartwright's own Legba Records (now Goner Records) store with help from local musicians Jay Reatard (R.I.P.) and Alicia Trout (then both of The Lost Sounds). 

Basically the first half of this was recorded with Greene (including versions of "Funny Thing" and "If You Can't Give Me Everything") but was left off (except "Drowning" and the rest on side 2) in favor of new recordings. Now that the band would be a trio, a new batch of songs was laid down alongside the previous batch (with Greene in the mix) and released in 2004 as the excellent Too Much Guitar! LP. These first songs were later released on the 2005 compilation album Home For Orphans. The transition of "If You Can't Give Me Everything" from the two sessions is something else!  For the compilation CD i just mentioned--I basically switched out songs and adjusted the tracklist for that reconstruction. I won't bother trying to re-construct the cover when the original is fine. Here's the 45 sleeve of their X-Mas single:

The Reigning Sound

HOME FOR ORPHANS   (alt.)

Your Love is a Fine Thing   

We Repel Each Other      

So Easy

If You Can't Give Me Everything*    

Funny Thing*                    

Excedrine Headache #265

------------
Black Sheep*     [Live at Goner Records]
Do Something*     [Live at Goner Records]

I Walk By Your House**      [Time Bomb High School  *CD only]

If Christmas Can't Bring You Home

Pretty Girl

Here Without You

Don't Send Me No Flowers, I Ain't Dead Yet


The first side is from the original Too Much Guitar! LP recorded as a trio. The first couple songs on side 2 were cut from a live show in 2005 at the same Goner Records store (previously Legba Records) they recorded in previously. "I Walk By Your House" I include because of its exclusion from the LP version of Time Bomb High School. I also listen to that album in its LP format (ballads on one side; rockers on the others). You can drop that one for "Do Something", if you please. The other songs made their LP debut on the original Home For Orphans in 2005. 

THE VINES, 'In Miracle Land' [re-imagined LP]

The Vines

IN MIRACLE LAND   (alt.)

Hate the Sound

Sky Gazer

Leave Me Alone

Broken Heart

Annie Jane

In Miracle Land

Waitin

Slide Away

Emerald Ivy

I Wanna Go Down

Gone Wonder

-----

Now this album just came out, but it could do with some re-sequencing to make it the best it could be, IMHO. I usually don't do albums that are this recent--but this should be heard. The Vines make some good tunes. All tracks taken from the new album. I cut "Willow" out and just switched things around for a more cohesive listen. Check it out for yourself?  11 songs at about 31 minutes.

The inability to tour and the diagnosis of frontman Craig Nicholls having Asperger's Syndrome being tied to that have waned the surge of popularity they last saw in 2004. Nicholls has carried on with varying line-ups and made at least three great records since then. 2006's Vision Valley was the follow-up to their 2004 supposed 'sophomore slump' Winning Days. Despite having a hit from that album with "Ride" (used in Nissan commercials), legal problems and the departure of bassist Patrick Matthews cut the supporting tour short. 2008's Melodia grew on me; the diminishing returns in songwriting seem to begin here, though. After 2011's Future Primitive, only Nicholls remained in the band before he would re-group once more. By 2014, not one but two LPs of new stuff was released on the 22-track Wicked Nature--a return to form to my ears. The Vines were now a trio once again and performing live again. This album--their seventh since 2002--was preceded in 2016 by a digital single release of the title track. As of current, Nicholls has reunited with the Winning Days line-up to perform at a couple shows in Sydney with their fellow countrymen Jet. In Miracle Land was released on 29 June of this year. The reviews have been good but mixed so far. Some of the complaints of the album's pacing are what led me to re-evaluate it and now here we are, superstar.

Cheers!

GUNS N' ROSES, 'Chinese Democracy' [re-imagined LP]

Guns N' Roses

CHINESE DEMOCRACY  (1999)

Chinese Democracy 
Better
Street of Dreams
10 Years*     [Believe in Me]
Anxious Disease*     [Anxious Disease]
There Was a Time
Madagascar
---------
Catcher in the Rye   (Brian May lead guitar mix)**
Believe in Me*    [Believe in Me]
Riad n' the Bedouins
Tijuana Jail*   [Pawnshop Guitars]
I.R.S.
Six Feet Under*    [Neurotic Outsiders]
This I Love


All tracks taken from the original 2009 LP except where indicated. I've seen the Garden City reconstruction and the similar Beggars & Hangers On; I thought I'd try one with Axl Rose singing more than one song. Yes, these are exercises in re-imagining history to make an interesting listening experience to an album I've played out, actually. I thought why not make a compromise between the less industrial tracks on said album and combine some possible contributions from the late 90's period where it all started. Slash left the group in 1996 after recording the Snakepit record with the other guys and singer Eric Dover. No offense to him, but he's not singing on this one. Slash contributes to other members' tracks I included to complete the deal. Duff sings "Believe in Me" and "10 Years" from his solo album; Gilby Clarke sings "Tijuana Jail" from his album; West Arkeen contributes the title cut ("Anxious Disease") from the album by his band The Outpatience (which includes Slash and Axl contributing musically on this track). I also included a third song by Duff called "Six Feet Under" from the album by his group the Neurotic Outsiders. 

Everyone will have a different opinion on what should be included to make this accurate for release circa 1999 or so. Don't let that get in the way of a good listen...14 tracks clocking in a little over an hour. Not quite the undertaking of hearing the original CD in one sitting. However, I did leave the heavier tracks for an E.P. release sequel to GNR Lies put together with "Oh My God" and the 'new' version of "Welcome to the Jungle" from a couple soundtrack releases around the time. The fact that Axl owned the name and was very much in control...it's arguable Duff and Gilby Clarke's material would have remained even had they been gone by the time of its release. The presence of their voices lends to the familiarity missing from this 'new GNR' record that alienated older fans. I was a casual fan, but I heard it and loved it!  Appetite is a classic while the Use Your Illusion records could use some trimming, IMHO. The loss of Slash as a songwriter could be filled by Axl and Duff's collaborator and friend West Arkeen; he had contributed in the past and was considered 'the sixth or seventh' Gun. This isn't me saying the void was filled, mind you!  I'm just saying Axl would likely bring him in and allow Duff and even Gilby (say he didn't get replaced by Axl so abruptly this time) to balance out the writing. It can be also argued that the reason the writing of the album took so long was because the lack of collaborative spirit the classic line-up(s) had brought before to the final product. Axl Rose himself was more or less quoted as saying "It has some songs that sound like Guns and some more like an Axl Rose record...but hopefully you'll like some songs on there." 

ELLIOTT SMITH, "From a Basement on the Hill" [re-imagined 2 x LP]

ELLIOTT SMITH

From a Basement on The Hill   (alt.)

Yay! (instrumental)*
Coast to Coast
Let's Get Lost
Suicide Machine*
Abused*
Don't Go Down
Strung Out Again
A Fond Farewell
King's Crossing
The Assassin or Kill/Fuck (instrumental)*
Cecelia/Amanda*
Brand New Game*
Stick Man*
Melodic Noise (instrumental)*
Twilight
-----------
Mr. Good Morning*
True Love     [Heaven Adores You soundtrack]
A Passing Feeling
Blue Mood (instrumental reprise of "Abused")*
The Last Hour
From a Poisoned Well*
Dancing on the Highway*
Shooting Star
O So Slow  (instrumental)*
Memory Lane
Little One
A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to Be Free
Trouble*
See You in Heaven (instrumental)*
Everything's Okay*


--------------------------------------------------------------


I've been trying to find the missing pieces to complete an approximation of the 30-song double LP the late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith had intended to be his 'own White Album'--we know history didn't turn out that way for him. I first heard the song "Twilight" on a mix CD my cousin gave me 15 years ago. Then I got into his body of work and was truly blown away. I was too late to see the man in concert. He had (allegedly) committed suicide in October 2003. Sad ending for a man who had been to hell and back with drugs and depression and was trying to overcome them to produce what he hoped would be his defining album. By the summer and fall months of 2003, Elliott Smith had recently cleaned up--albeit the most extreme way possible--and was completing final vocal tracks for what would've been the true From a Basement on the Hill.

From what I've read...some 50 tracks were recorded for a projected 30-song double CD (ala The Beatles' White Album). By the time the unfinished project saw the light of the day, only 15 songs would be released on a single disc by ANTI Records in 2004. Due to Smith's death in Oct. 2003, his family came into possession of the tapes. David McConnell was Smith's original producer and collaborator on the album, but the family chose to enlist producer Rob Schnapf (who previously worked with Smith) and musician Joanna Bolme (a former girlfriend) to sort out the final project. 

Two things off the bat--"Pretty (Ugly Before)" would not been chosen to be included as it had already been released as a 7" in 2001 backed with an early version of "A Distorted Reality". Also, "Ostriches and Chirping" was included as a preface to "Twilight" on the released CD...but it's not an Elliott Smith composition at all. That's a loop of a toy bird created by McConnell that ended up on one of the reels and included by mistake.Several songs including "Suicide Machine", "Abused", "Stickman", "Mr. Good Morning", and "See You in Heaven" were intended for the album but left off (most likely because of the lyrics and subject matter). "True Love" was also left off but ultimately surfaced on the Heaven Adores You soundtrack from a few years back. Other tracks that may have been part of the album I found and included here as well. 30 tracks clocking in just under two hours. Now, I could not find vocals for "See You in Heaven" and "Blue Mood" and I know lyrics were written (according to the internet--lol) for them both. "Melodic Noise" I included in place of "Ostriches and Chirping" as an intro to "Twilight". I tried to sequence as best I could; dividing it between "Twilight" ending the first half and "Mr, Good Morning" opening the second half. There have been incorrectly labeled tracks floating around that ended up on the posthumously released 2-CD compilation New Moon as well as the recent deluxe re-issues of Either/Or and Roman Candle. I took the liberty of including "Brand New Game" and "Cecelia/Amanda" though they date back to Figure 8 era. It was said he had older unreleased songs that were being considered for re-recording. A complete tracklist has never surfaced. However, I think this as close as it gets (maybe for now).  

THE TEMPTATIONS, "More With a Lot O' Soul!" [imagined LP]

The Temptations

MORE WITH A LOT O' SOUL!   (1967)

I Got Heaven Right Here on Earth        [Emperors of Soul]

I'm Doing it All         [Emperors of Soul]

Angel Doll      [The Ultimate Collection]

What Am I Gonna Do Without You      

Love is What You Make It

No Time

Last One Out is Brokenhearted

How Can I Forget                [50th Anniversary - The Singles Collection, 1961-1971]

Forever in My Heart

I Now See You Clear Through My Eyes

Camouflage (ver. 2) 

We'll Be Satisfied

12 songs at 32 minutes leftover from the With a Lot O' Soul! LP sessions in 1967. That was my first Temptations album I bought on vinyl (I had previously been introduced via BMG Music--remember that and Columbia House???--with The Ultimate Collection CD). David Ruffin is probably my favourite singer of all time; but Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks just seal the deal!  The rest of the songs are taken from Lost and Found - The Temptations: You've Got to Earn It  (1962-1968).

Cody ChesnuTT, "THE HEADPHONE MASTERPIECE" [re-imagined LP]

CODY CHESNUTT

'The Headphone Masterpiece'   (alt.)

My Women, My Guitars

Somebody's Parents

When I Find Time

Eric Burdon

Upstarts in a Blowout

5 on a Joyride

Daylight

So Much Beauty in the Subconscious

The Seed

If We Don't Disagree

Look Good in Leather

6 Seconds

Serve This Royalty

The Most Beautiful Shame

My single disc reworking of this underrated singer-songwriter's 36-track self-produced debut released in 2002. I remember seeing him pop up in The Strokes's "Last Night" video and of course "Look Good in Leather" was out on the airwaves, too. And of course, The Roots putting out "The Seed (2.0)" with Chesnutt on guitar and vocals--the breakout hit. Chesnutt defends the entire double LP to be taken as a whole--hence, why he put it out on own instead of polish anything for interested record labels sniffing around. I can respect that artistic integrity--(in Jerry Seinfeld/Larry David voice) "Now having said that..." LOL. I whittled this thang down to a single disc...14 tracks at roughly about 43 minutes. There's a lot of skits and improv bits in there, too. Any leftover songs could be applied to an E.P. release. I just had this one to do sometime ago...you can try it out on Spotify at this link:

 The Headphone Masterpiece (alt.)