Just Like Old Time Rock 'n' Roll

Rumor out of Detroit Rock City is that Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's shows at Cobo Hall this week and week-end will be recorded for a possible live album. Sure, Bob and the boys could make some cash off of a live album, probably appropriately titled "Live Bullet II" or something corny like that. I don't want to see such a sequel. Even KISS, with Alive I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, etc. never returned to Cobo to record any of the sequels ... Saginaw, yes, but not Cobo.

Yeah, Bob is a Detroit rocker and all that ... but a sequel, or follow-up, or whatever, does not feel quite right. It's like Meatloaf, who is up to like Volume III or "Bat Out of Hell." Whatever happened to originality?

I recently had a conversation with some friends about the state of music today. It's quite different from years past, as everyone knows. Much more focus on digital delivery than just two years ago. The compact disc is being phased out, really, as was the cassette, LP, and 8-track before it. I remember in 1988 when I bought AC/DC "Back in Black" as my first CD -- you couldn't burn a copy of a CD then but you could make cooler mix tapes with better sound -- I never, ever thought the format would change. It has.

I think that bands should release to their fan clubs via the Internet rough tracks from albums they're working on. I think this will probably become commonplace eventually when more bands take the independent route. I see more bands being their own record companies and releasing material digitally. Remember, back in the early days of rock 'n' roll, musicians released new albums nearly every year. Until a few years ago, Elton John was the last pop artist really to release something new every year. Country artists still do, especially guys like Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney. As artists take more control of their careers, more and more material will become available (probably like today's "box sets" with lots of outtakes.) We can be a part of the recording process.

Hey, rock on!