Not warming to new Rancid

Bought the deluxe edition of the new Rancid CD "Let the Dominoes Fall" on Tuesday, the day it came out. I'm a big fan from way back.

The deluxe set has lots of cool stuff: the new CD, a second CD containing acoustic versions of 12 of the new songs, a DVD documentary of the making of the album, three posters and four guitar picks. OK, I'm a recovering drummer, but the guitar picks (each with a headshot of the four band members) is a nice touch. Reminds me of something Cheap Trick might have done.

But after a half-dozen spins of the CD, it's not taking. Either my ears have softened or there's a lack of edge. No one will ever accuse Rancid of being polished, but there's a softened sound that's evident throughout, even on the songs that have some crunch. I haven't had time to dive into the acoustic stuff or the DVD, so will update this as soon as I have an opinion on those.

Bottom line: After six years since the last Rancid disc, I was hoping for more.

UPDATE (June 12, 2009): OK, I've listened multiple times to the CD, the alternate CD with acoustic versions and the DVD and I remain underwhelmed. Even an appearance by Booker T. Washington (Booker T and the MGs) didn't move me. And I'm a geek for Southern Soul. Same with the appearance by Matt Hensley from Flogging Molly.

The 37-minute DVD from filmmaker Rachel Tejada is informative, adding insight into the band's history, passions, influences and details on their gear, with an overriding theme on making the new album. But it's stripped to a distorted black-and-white that is so annoying it interferes with the message. Bad = perceived art over clarity and message.

Bottom line No. 2: I'll revisit these discs again but not to the same degree of their previous CDs, all of which are among my favorites. A poor Rancid album is better than most other music these days.

Going back in time

The first edition of Crawdaddy came straight off the typewriterMusic aficionados of all ages bemoan the loss of great music publications that played big roles in their lives.

For me, the closure of Trouser Press was killer. It’s one of the few times in my life where I stopped in my tracks and went into a daze when I heard bad news. I’ve experienced that to a lesser extent with the downfall of Musician, Creem and Yeah Yeah Yeah.

But the Internet has brought some of those publications back to life. TrouserPress.com isn’t quite the same as the fun print mag, but has all its reviews online. And today I discovered that Crawdaddy is online – and offering complete versions of the original printed mags from 1968-69.

Crawdaddy was way before my time, but it helped shape and give credence to rock journalism. It’ll be fun to pore through each of those issues and see what I discover.

Any great lost mags you’ve discovered getting second lives online?

Wisdom of Colin Cowherd

I've said this before, but I'm constantly amazed at how much marketing and business insight I get from listening to ESPN's Colin Cowherd on the way to work.

His most recent gem came in discussing how the National Spelling Bee attracted TV ratings that rivaled prime-time Major League Baseball. It was a topic on his show because hardcore baseball fans had complained that the spelling bee was a dog and not equal to baseball in interest or importance.

"Don't listen to the diehards and the purists," Cowherd said. "Do not let them drive the bus."

His point was that diehard fans and baseball purists are blind to new possibilities.

I heard Cowherd's take at the same time we're tackling a dramatic redesign of our newspaper that could take us in bold new directions and question many of the strategies that have served newspapers so well over the years.

Consistently throughout this redesign process the voice in my head has been saying, "Don't listen to the diehards and purists."