Bob Lange, Author at Glide Magazine

U2: Popmart:Live from Mexico City

Bob Lange November 8, 2007 No Comments

Popmart finds U2 at their most bloated. The set is absolutely huge and probably has enough lights to illuminate a mid-size town. The grand entrance with the band entering as a boxing entourage heading to the ring of a championship bout (with Bono as the fighter) all set to the tune of M's "Pop Muzik" is about as over-the-top as it could be. They had costume changes. At one point, they return to the stage in what appears to be a UFO. With all this superficiality, how could they possibly connect with the fans?

Ramones: It’s Alive 1974-1996

Bob Lange October 29, 2007 No Comments

I have but one complaint about this DVD although I have no reasonable solution to remedy it: I wish the DVD was made up of complete concerts rather than songs culled from various shows over the years. Of course the sacrifice would be the variety of shows that a career overview should cover, so it's a fair trade-off. That being said, I can find no other fault with it.

Building the State: Faces in the Architecture

Bob Lange October 25, 2007 No Comments

Both indie and math rock can easily degenerate into dispassion on their own. Combining the two should increase that possibility exponentially, making Building the State's latest EP all the more remarkable.

DOA: Smash the State

Bob Lange October 18, 2007 No Comments

In the days where a huge corporate rock band like Rage Against the Machine reunites to enrich themselves under the guise of protest music, seeing a band who lived their message as DOA did is engaging and inspiring. When DOA was tearing up stages in protest to all they saw wrong with the world, there was no major label money, no big arena shows and no slick videos, just some kids trying to make a difference.

Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970: Various Artists

Bob Lange October 10, 2007 No Comments

here are a few points in rock n roll time and space where everything just comes together and something new is born. Love Is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970 tries to capture that point on the space-time continuum in four CDs.

Frontier Folk Nebraska: The Devil’s Tree

Bob Lange September 26, 2007 No Comments

Desperation and salvation often have a parallel existence as evidenced by the role of religion in in the worst of times. Perhaps it is the hope of a better life to come, that light at the end of the tunnel, that allows people to hold on in these dire times. More likely it seems, in this band's view, it is the resolve of faith more than any real optimism. Frontier Folk Nebraska mixes Dust Bowl desperation with Bible Belt religion for an album that chronicles the struggle of faith in trying times.

Pink Floyd: Piper at the Gates of Dawn (40th Anniversary Re-Issue)

Bob Lange September 24, 2007 No Comments

Piper at the Gates of Dawn is almost universally accepted as a great album. Certainly, "Astronomy Domine" is amazing in its own right. The three group compositions in the middle of the album are good, though somewhat underdeveloped, indicators of where Pink Floyd would be headed after Syd Barrett's departure.

Foreign Born: On the Wing Now

Bob Lange September 21, 2007 No Comments

A lot of bands these days have been rehashing the 80s, but very few of them bring anything particularly new to the table. For me, it's really dull to have your own teenage years spit back to you as if it's new, so it's refreshing to hear a band do something interesting with it. Foreign Born are pretty steeped in the 80s, but they are most definitely not regurgitating it back. Instead, they take that era of post-punk, new-wave and pop, dig back to its influences and come up with their own sound.

Patti Scialfa: Play It as It Lays

Bob Lange September 18, 2007 No Comments

lay It as It Lays is a light bluesy rock album with touches of country, folk, soul and even gospel, but the whole thing is really just a vehicle for her voice with it's nice movement, mild rasp and country twang.

Sly and The family Stone: Greatest Hits: Reissue

Bob Lange September 14, 2007 No Comments

Released in 1970 to fill the gap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Sly and the Family Stone's Greatest Hits compiles many of the top tracks from the band's early years. While every song on this album is also contained on the later Anthology release along with selections from their later catalog, this is in most ways a superior album.

Bob Lange

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