Clarence Yu

If you’ve ever listened to the funky groove of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” or the powerful percussion of “Sweet Emotion,” then you’ve heard Joey Kramer.  Aerosmith’s legendary drummer has been with the Boston Bad Boys for the past 39 years since their inception in early 1970.

Though you’ve heard Joey Kramer play, you might not have heard him as much as the Toxic Twins Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.  Being a member of the “Lesser Known Three” with guitarist Brad Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton, Joey has always let his musicality do the talking.  

Now, Kramer has decided to tell his own story in his new book, Hit Hard: A Story of Hitting Rock Bottom at the Top. In the book, Joey reveals his own personal battles with drugs and alcohol, and how he kicked his addictions, only to find out that he had many more battles to fight.  Most interesting is the little known (to casual Aerosmith fans) story of Joey’s bout with depression and anxiety, most notable during the death of his father in 1997 when Aerosmith was recording their Nine Lives album.  Caught up in a nervous breakdown, Joey had to take a break during the recording, forcing the band to hire session drummer Steve Ferrone to play on the demos.  Joey eventually recovered to record the album and tour again with Aerosmith.

“Not long after I had my breakdown, I was back on the Rock and Roll trail again,” Kramer states.  “And during an interview, I chose to be forthcoming on my battle with depression and anxiety. Shortly thereafter, there was an overwhelming response from people thanking me.  And if my story can help even one person, then the four years I’ve spent writing this book was well worth the effort.”

More than just a rock and roll memoir, Kramer says that Hit Hard is a book about “life, about hitting rock bottom while my band was on the top of the world.”  Hit Hard went on sale last June 30.  
 
 
 

In one day, both iconic stars have died, sending shock waves throughout the world. As one tweet puts it, “MJ and FF is now news at the speed of light”–thanks to Twitter and Facebook.

The King of Pop died of cardiac arrest, reports say. The beautiful and original Angel Ms. Farrah Fawcett succumb to cancer. MJ was 50, Farrah was 62.

If you were already born at those times when both were at the peak of their careers, they drew a lot of attention. Of course, who can forget the lovely Mrs. Majors (yes, of the six million dollar man) and the moonwalk. Since high school, we’ve been attempting to emulate that space walk-inspired move but have failed many times.

And Farrah. Oh my. ‘Nuf said.

I discovered Jackson during his “Thriller” days–same song which inspired hundreds of inmates in a Cebu prison. Every kid back then, including yours truly, admired MJ. He danced, he sang. I tried the former, but failed. I tried the latter and, er, somehow have made some progress. And his music videos were works of art. I’ve never seen so many screaming and crying fans on video when MJ goes on stage. To this day, one of my favorite guitar pieces is “Man in the Mirror.” (Tuck Andress created this beautiful arrangement of that song for the guitar).

When I entered college, my musical taste changed abruptly as I went for heavier sounds that bordered on noise. But while I headbanged to the music of Metallica and jumped around as I copied Van Halen, MJ’s music was always there–(Beat It, for instance, was one song where Van Halen was asked to play a monster riff), hovering.

MJ, has indeed made the world a better place for a lot of people, despite major bumps in his career. His music will live on. Thanks MJ!

Now that we got your attention. This is not about music piracy. This is about the new album of Coldplay, which they are actually allowing people to download for free. I was happily checking the Trending Topics on Twitter when I saw Coldplay popping out. Curious, I clicked on the topic and was led to talks about free music from the band. So I went in and checked it out and found that it wasn’t a hoax. But expect to wait because a lot of people are now downloading this free live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft from band, which incidentally, was slapped with copyright infringement by Joe Satriani (I wonder whatevery happened to that case).

This free album was announced earlier as a gift to fans.

According to Coldplay’s website, this free live album is its answer to the economic crisis.

…the give-away is meant as a recession-busting mark of gratitude to everyone who’s supported them: “Playing live is what we love. This album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.”

The album was recorded over the past year in various cities around the world on the Viva La Vida tour. Its tracklisting is as follows:

1. Glass of Water
2. 42
3. Clocks
4. Strawberry Swing
5. The Hardest Part/Postcards From Far Away
6. Viva La Vida
7. Death Will Never Conquer
8. Fix You
9. Death And All His Friends

By Clarence Yu

MR. Big, the hard rock supergroup that formed in the 1980’s and yielded the hits “To Be With You” and “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” has reunited.

The band is comprised of bassist Billy Sheehan (of Talas and David Lee Roth Band fame), guitarist Paul Gilbert (formerly Racer X), drummer Pat Torpey (formerly of The Knack) and singer Eric Martin.

The group debuted with their eponymous album in 1989. This album laid the groundwork for their distinct sound: crunching, shredding guitars, precision-pounded drums, booming bass and raspy melodic vocals. Soaring choruses combined with crunch delighted fans of the band the world over.

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By Clarence Yu

In continuing with the “tradition” of band-centered video games in their Guitar Hero franchise, Activision has finally confirmed that Guitar Hero: Van Halen is currently in development and, according to a report from Joystiq, will be due for release hopefully by the second half of this year.

Previous band-centered games in the Guitar Hero franchise include Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero: Metallica. In both cases, the band made a ton of money from game sales, while at the same time experiencing a boost in their album catalog sales.

Arguably however, Van Halen might be a little more difficult to put down on a video game.

First of all, Activision has confirmed that the game will only feature David Lee Roth era songs, which effectively narrows down the possible albums in the game to six: Van Halen (1978), Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), Diver Down (1982), and 1984 (1984). The band had also recorded two new songs with Roth on 1996’s Best of Volume I–the superb songs “Can’t Get This Stuff No More” and “Me Wise Magic.”

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