Power Ballad Syndrome

We all know about Lead Singer’s Disease, but I think there is a related illness that we need to explore: Power Ballad Syndrome.

We all know what it is… a band has that one smash hit that exposed them to the Top 40 listening audience but that hit was an aberration of their style rather than representative. Night Ranger and Sister Christian. Queensryche and Silent Lucidity. Mr. Big and To Be With You. Extreme and More Than Words. The list goes on.

Just like actors who can be typecast, these bands can be pigeonholed and it’s a real shame. That’s one of the reasons I started doing my radio show – not only to let people know about great bands, but to shine a light on some that have been ill represented.

Those hits are both a blessing and a curse. I’m pretty sure people went out to buy Queensryche’s Empire album after hearing Silent Lucidity and some were sorely disappointed that the whole thing was not like that (whereas I was thrilled).

What’s your favorite band that fell prey to Power Ballad Syndrome?

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Wine in a can? I’ve seen this once or twice – mainly as a pre-mixed Bellini, to be taken along to a picnic. I’d try it if I saw it… I’ll drink wine sold in a tetrapak, so why not this?

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I do not think it means what you think it means

I was contemplating going to a Judas Priest show coming to my area. Ticketmaster shows the seating chart of the venue with the areas blocked by the stage greyed out and labeled “unavailable”. For the Izod Center (E. Rutherford) show over half of the arena seating is not available.

That’s just crazy – and also misleading. Makes you wonder about ‘sold out’ shows…

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Uncork NY – if you can find it

Great article in today’s NYT about Finger Lakes wines. I’ve visited there many times and having worked at Vintage NY I know a lot about them. There are some great wines being made up there, and I’d love to support them but they’re impossible to find locally (and let’s not even get started on the topic of shipping wine into NJ!). Guess it’s time to start planning my next visit…

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Wine Laws are serious stuff

…. at least in France. Don’t label your wine according to the AOC regulations? You could go to jail.

Food (or drink) for thought.

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new music coming in 2012

Save your pennies folks: MelodicRock.com reports some awesome new music coming in 2012: new JSS, W.E.T., Seventh Key and Joe Lynn Turner led Sunstorm. It’s gonna be great!

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Hennessey for $6.50/gallon and other bargains

An interesting document from 1898. I think “Missouri wine” just means wine made in the state of Missouri. Anyone know for sure?

 

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A Beautiful Mess

Do Queen fans want this? I don’t think I’m interested – then again, I won’t go see cover bands either. I also didn’t watch that reality show that INXS had on a few years back to find their new lead singer (and we all know how well that turned out). I feel that I might be in the minority on this, but I’d rather watch a DVD of an old Queen performance than go see this American Idol on Tour version of Queen. What do you guys think?

And yes, the post title is an intentional nod to JSS and his frequent appearances at the Queen conventions in the UK. I have a copy of one of those concerts and I do have to admit he does an awesome job of it…. so maybe I don’t entirely hate the idea of someone covering Queen songs.

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On Facebook

Facebook has made another change, and as has historically been the case a lot of people hate it.

In the past people have eventually gotten over their annoyance with the changes. However, this time it’s different – this time Facebook has a real competitor. Now we have Google+, which just opened its doors to everyone. The fact that these two things happened at the same time cannot be a coincidence.

Will people actually leave Facebook for G+? Time will tell of course, but I think that they will. The one thing that most people disliked about G+ was that most of their friends were not there – what good is a social network if you don’t know anyone on it? That is not a barrier anymore.

The real question is, when can businesses start using G+?

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RIP Joe Dressner

The wine world has lost a unique voice. He created a wonderful company which has brought many a lovely wine to the market. Looking for the Louis Dressner Selections label on a bottle of wine that was new to me has always meant a lot, and I am sure it will continue to be so.

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