Ghost

                                                                                                     
Ghost is a Swedish metal band featuring a singer who called himself Papa Emeritus I, II and III, along with four other musicians known only as The Nameless Ghouls.  It was later revealed that Tobias Forge was Papa in his various incarnations when the original Ghouls sued him over royalties.


The third album by Ghost is good but not great, and the fourth album is kind of lame, but the first and second albums are so damn fantastic that I couldn't decide which one to feature for Halloween.  That's why I'm going to feature both.

Enjoy.  And have a spooky Halloween...

Monster A-Go-Go

The Fuzztones were part of the Garage Band revival of the 80's.  Most music critics wrote them off as just another bar band.

I say screw the critics.  These guys rock.

'Monster A-Go-Go' is their fourth studio album.

                                                         

I Got Enough Problems

Seems the gals are in the spooky mood, so I sure as hell ain't rock the boat. I know who butters my bread.

Killer

Can't think of a better way to start the Countdown to Halloween...

Heard It All Before

There's supposed to be a women's march on the Pentagon today.  The organizers hope to start an anti-war movement that will begin to rein in the Military-Industrial Complex.  Would be nice, but I don't see it happening any time soon.  The march probably won't even get any coverage from what passes as "the news" in this country.

Our overlords are determined to take us all to Hell.

I'm Starting Not to Care

The Gospel According To The MeninBlack

The Stranglers were one of the more interesting bands to come out of the London punk scene in the Seventies, perhaps because they weren't really punk.  Musically, they were more in tuned with psychedelia... Dave Greenfield on the keyboards giving Ray Manzarek a run for the money..., and their lyrics were often poetic, albeit in the same vein as Edgar Allan Poe or William Burroughs.  Their attitude, on the other hand, was more punk than most punks, which may be why so many punks hated them.  The Stranglers were willing to explore any subject, including subjects that earned them a reputation for being "hairy misogynists".

From 1977 to 1981, The Stranglers released five albums that would easily make my list of the 100 best rock albums.  After 1981, there were a few moments of brilliance, but for the most part the later albums were rather boring... insipid would be an appropriate discription..., and after Hugh Cornwell left the band, I lost interest.

'The Gospel According To The MeninBlack' is the fifth album by The Stranglers.

If We Needed Evidence That Politicians Are Evil...

Richard Nixon started the War On Drugs 48 years ago today.  Congress supported this madness.  Nothing like destroying lives and wasting other people's money for dang near half a century.

Can You Believe It?

On this day in 1955, The Chrysler Corporation launched high fidelity record players for their 1956 line-up of cars. The unit measured about four inches high and less than a foot wide and was mounted under the instrument panel. The seven inch discs spun at 16 2/3 rpm and required almost three times the number of grooves per inch as an LP. The players were discontinued in 1961.*

I did not know that. But now I do, and my knowledge of all things in the universe is neartly complete.

Suck on that, Einstein!

* I guess potholes hadn't been invented yet.

Gris-Gris

Louisiana Bayou Blues meets West Coast Psychedelia.  What's not to love?

It's Zombie Time!

The kool kids know what I'm talkin' about...

I Can Share

This is a Happy Birthday shoutout to two greats from completely different ends of the spectrum:

Steve Miller, born today in 1943, and Brian Johnson, born today in 1947.

I think I know who Mrs. 17 will favor, just as I think I know who Fauna will favor.

Me? I prefer Pink Floyd.

The Firstborn Is Dead

There's something about the stark beauty of Nick Cave's second studio album with The Bad Seeds that keeps bringing me back.  It is a paean to the American South of myth and history, and to the horror story that must have been life in that place and time for so many people.

There is no crazy quite like Ol' South crazy.  An Australian by birth, Cave captured that craziness better than most.