In Brightest Day, In "Black Love" in the year “1965”

After the “Gentleman”, the Whigs kept on going ‘til ’98. The music continues to be big, the sound expands a bit.. but the steam starts to leak. Also, they were a little loss in the surge of Alt, as it started to fade away and we all began dithering over what "Alt" meant, who was really "Alt", and why the fuck would anyone buy "Backstreet Boys" or "N-Sync"

“Gentleman” is a CD that comes to mind, that you can imagine picking up out the blue and putting on again and again. “Black Love” and “1965” are both great, and having had replayed them very recently, are both great, but aren’t as high on the instant play.  They aren’t the OHMYGOD SO AMAZING that the first album is.

Another way to describe the two is a really good scotch or whiskey. Not the best ever, but one you have to remember you have, and are rewarded for playing again. After the first sip, after the it sinks into you, you remember why you keep a bottle or two of it in your liquor cabinet.

But. these are high recommends. I need to listen to more of Dulli and co’s non-Whig output, but if you like
“Gentleman” at all, these are must buys.

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: Black Love
Year: 1996
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: ****
Best Songs: Bulletproof

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: 1965
Year: 1998
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: ****
Best Song: Uptown Again

You’re No “Gentleman”

One thing I have to say bewilders me. Somehow, music that you’ve burned and listened to many a time, that has happily lived on your iPod or other lesser mp3 player, disappears from your hard drive.

HOW THE FUCK DOES THIS HAPPEN? I DON’T KNOW!

!!

!

Ok.. back to the music.

In the early 90’s, while New Wave was fading and Grunge and Alt where taking over, I was working in the music industry while starting acting. And, starting to really get into music. Like, REALLY. Like, learning credit cards are FUN FUN, into music.

Anyhow.

Not every band was trying to be Nirvana, thank god. An early stand was The Afghan Whigs. I heard them here and there, saw them onto MTV News way more than they were played on MTV, and I just liked their sound, and their lyrics. Look, no matter how good a person you are, part of you has some mildly to seriously  hateful thoughts in it. And guess what..  kick ass rock n’roll can be quite cathartic in that respect.

“YEAH! WORSE PEOPLE THAN ME EXIST! AND MAKE A GREAT NEW SOUND WITH IT! AND AREN’T METAL DOUCHEBAGS!”

Well, maybe not that extreme. But you get my point.

The Whigs never took over the world, and as stories go, and allegedly they broke up amicably. Seeing Greg’s interviews, it’s not entirely believable. But for some of the best of early 90;s alt, you can’t go wrong with them.

I’ll be hitting the other two LP’s separately, but I’m including the EP in this entry. “Gentleman” is an essential part in any cd collection. Great to either amp you up or get you through dark moods, worth listening to the words while doing the head bop, and of the moment it was produced in but not stuck in the moment.

“What Jail Is Like” is a great little EP. Not only does it feature another great song from “Gentleman”, but it shows some different angles of the band. They have some banjo, they show some of the love of soul and classic R&B which marked them as more diverse than your average rock band.

And, it allows me to cheat a little. “What Jail Is Like” is another great song from the “Gentleman” cd, and instead of bursting the Best Song category completely, I get to put it in with the EP.

THANKS, GUYS!

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: Gentleman
Year: 1993
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: *****
Best Songs: Be Sweet/ Deboanir

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: What Jail Is Like
Year: 1994
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: ****
Best Song: What Jail Is Like