. BY A THREAD is Gov't Mule's first studio album since HIGH & MIGHTY was issued in 2006. Since that time, bassist Andy Hess has been replaced by Jorgen Carlsson, though Hess appears on two tracks at the end of the album. Carlsson's playing style is much more aggressive than Hess', and is therefore closer - in spirit anyway - to Gov't Mule's original bassist, the late Allen Woody, though he possesses an adventurous sense of time and is harmonically more colorful than either Woody or Hess. Carlsson and drummer Matt Abst are a solid match, since Abst is a drummer used to shifting time signatures and allowing the unexpected in while still driving a band. The band's keyboardist and rhythm guitarist, Danny Louis, is a shape-shifter, playing to whatever is needed in a given track. His manner of coloring sounds inside and around a particular tune's framework is a large part of what makes Gov't Mule's sound so fresh here - despite the fact that they don't stray far from what they do best. Warren Haynes and his guitar are, as usual, front and center, his guitar screaming, his big throaty growl hammering down lyrics like a Southern fire-and-brimstone preacher with earthshaking soul. The material on this set is tight; there is less jamming but Gordie Johnson's production and mixing equalize everything at ten, making it feel like the disc is recorded live.

The set opens with the pulsing bass throb of "Broke Down on the Brazos," just before Haynes and guest guitarist Billy Gibbons enter and let the tough, riff-laden blues snarl get in and slash it up a bit. The roar is wondrously deafening and the pace is fierce. Likewise, the slightly more tuneful "Steppin' Lightly" does anything but. With its funky big rock trio riff, it kicks up dust with Haynes playing some killer funk-laden fills as Carlsson and Abst syncopate and pop through both hard rock and reggae backbeats. The hook on the choruses is a nice surprise, but it's anything BUT a pop song. Other notables include the Delta blues-flavored "Railroad Boy," which opens up into full-on stun, with staccato riffing that recalls Led Zeppelin at their very best. The Hendrix-ian "Any Open Window" is dedicated to the memories of Mitch Mitchell and Buddy Miles, and the tune's structures recall them both - different as they were. The interaction in the rhythm section here is simply stunning. "Frozen Fear" is a country-rock midtempo ballad with a reggae backbeat and showcases Louis on Hammond B-3.

The album's longest cut, "Inside Outside Woman Blues #3," also recalls the big wide-open blues and wah-wah jamming style of Jimi Hendrix. Haynes opens with a savage solo, and moves into the big, slow, metallic blues that Gov't Mule do better than anybody at present.


  Michael Jackson's This Is It CD
  by Michael Jackson
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Originally intended as a chronicle of Michael Jackson's possible reascension to the pop king throne by way of a massive 50-date tour, the documentary THIS IS IT became something much different when Jackson suddenly died mere weeks before its kickoff. Now a movie capturing the complicated figure in vulnerable moments during the last days of his life, THIS IS IS boasts a soundtrack comprised of the classic originals of the hits featured in the film. It also contains a new single co-written by Paul Anka and featuring Jackson's brothers on back-up vocals, as well as a variety of demos.

  90125 CD
  by Yes
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When Jon Anderson rejoined Yes after DRAMA, he was inserting himself into an unusual situation. Keyboardist Geoff Downes and longtime guitarist Steve Howe had left to form Asia with prog rock vets John Wetton (King Crimson, Roxy Music etc.) and Carl Palmer (ELP). Chris Squire and Alan White brought original Yes keysman Tony Kaye back and recruited vibrant young Australian guitarist/vocalist/composer Trevor Rabin. The quartet had already begun writing and recording, but Anderson was able to insert himself into the proceedings with such ease that the new combination sounds completely natural on 90125.

Mostly, the band was concerned with trimming the musical fat to keep pace with the onslaught of the 1980s. Thus, tracks like "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "City of Love" are full of samples, splices and almost funky beats and riffs. The unusual time changes and complex riffs of tunes like "Changes" and "Cinema" leave little doubt that this is still a Yes album, but the band succeeds in giving their sound a contemporary overhaul on 90125.

Includes 6 bonus tracks. Recorded at Sarm Studio, London, England. Originally released on Atco (90125).


  K.O.D. CD
  by Tech N9ne
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As an acolyte of horrorcore, a rap micro genre adorned with grisly lyrics and macabre themes, Tech N9ne is one of the more controversial and misunderstood figures in hip-hop music. Coming off the heels of his second album of collaborations, the early 2009-release SICKOLOGY 101, the ever prolific Tech released a late-2009 solo effort entitled K.O.D., painting some of his most gruesome depictions of psychosis and shock-addled lyricism yet. While the overall tone of the album is as savage and cold-blooded as a slasher flick, songs like "Leave Me Alone" and "Show Me a God" pen some of his most introspective lyrics yet, revealing a decidedly more personal side to one of rap's most sinister personalities.

  Greatest Hits CD
  by Foo Fighters
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Dave Grohl formed Foo Fighters with ex-Germ Pat Smear and the rhythm section of early-emo-warriors Sunny Day Real Estate shortly after the sudden tragic end of Nirvana. That what was seemingly an overshadowed drummer's side project became one of the leading alternative rock bands for over a decade is one of the more impressive stories of the post-grunge era. A deft mix of emo's pomp, punk rock's kick, and power pop's hooks, Foo Fighters scored a run of hits, from the playful "This is a Call" to the brooding "Everlong" to the wistful "Learn to Fly." GREATEST HITS collects all of the band's many hits on one disc.

Recording information: Hook Studios, North Hollywood, Ca; WGNS Studios, Washington DC; Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Robert Lang's Studio, Seattle (10/17/1994-10/23/1994); Grand Master Recorders, Hollywood (01/1997-02/1997); Studio 606, Virginia (1999); Studio 606, Virginia (05/2002); Pantages Theater, Hollywood, CA (08/2006); Studio 606, Virginia (2007); Studio 606, Virginia (06/2009).

Liner Note Author: Dave Grohl.


  If On A Winter's Night... CD
  by Sting
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It's no secret that Sting is a serious man, so it's only logical that his holiday album -- his first new music since the Police reunion, not that it really matters -- is a serious endeavor, thank you. No niceties for him, no comforts of carols; he favors formal over familiar, writing madrigals, not ditties. It is music made by someone who lives in a castle, which isn't necessarily such a bad thing: the austerity is genuine, not affected, and the cerebral nature of the album is fascinating, albeit mildly so, as this is as sleepy as it is thoughtful. And it's that thoughtfulness that does distinguish IF ON A WINTER NIGHT...; no other Christmas album exists in the head like this. It's a holiday album for people who have never wanted to hear a holiday album, let alone, own one.

Liner Note Author: Sting. Recording information: SevenSeas Studios, New York; Steerpike Studios, Il Palagio, Italy; Manhattan Center Studios, New York; Clinton Recording Studios, New York; The Source, Malibu.


  Embryonic CD
  by Flaming Lips
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A SPACE ODYSSEY: transformative chaos that results in a new start. From THE SOFT BULLETIN onward, the Lips seemed focused on tidying the loose ends of their earlier work, almost to the point of constraining themselves. Their wilder side is unleashed on Embryonic's 18 tracks, and the band sounds more off-the-cuff than it has in years -- some tracks are barely longer than snippets, others are rangy epics, and it all holds together so organically that listeners might wonder just how much these songs were edited. Musically, EMBRYONIC is the least polite the Flaming Lips have been in nearly two decades, mixing in-the-red drums, blobby, dubby bass, squelchy wah-wah guitars, and sparkling keyboards into a swirl of sounds that are strangely liquid and abrasive at the same time.

CHRISTMAS ON MARS might be the Flaming Lips' bona fide sci-fi epic, but EMBRYONIC is the musical equivalent of the final scenes of 2001.


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