This week was a big week for women in rock. I saw the second round of VH1 Rock Honors, the first one being a hard rock tribute featuring Judas Priest, Def Leppard and Kiss along with newer bands covering their classics. It was an entertaining show that played on VH1 Classic about every 20 seconds every day for a few months. Now there's a second one which I was really looking forward to because it sounded like my high school cassette tape collection: ZZ Top, Heart, Genesis and Ozzy. I grew up listening to all these bands, except Ozzy who I only have a mild liking for.
I was really looking forward to watching Genesis reunite with their classic 80's touring lineup (go Chester Thompson!) and they were solid but the band I really enjoyed both in performance and tribute was Heart. The Wilson sisters cranked through "Crazy On You" with the power and grace they've shown throughout their career. I've liked "Crazy On You", "Straight On" and "Barracuda" since I was a kid who didn't know it was all the same band. In the 80's,I played their Heart (1985) and Bad Animals (1987) tapes to death with great power ballads like "What About Love" and "Alone". At the start of the 90's I lost track of the band though I've enjoyed a few television appearances the Wilsons made since then.
But the one performance that blew me away more than any other musical event this week is Alice In Chains with Country star Gretchen Wilson and Heart's Nancy Wilson. Alice In Chains rendered a slightly grungy, hard charging version of "Barracuda" with Gretchen Wilson wailing like the Ann Wilson of the mid 70's. Gretchen Wilson's voice had a touch of country to distinguish it from the original, but the sass and gut bucket fury matched Ann Wilson's to a T. Add Nancy Wilson with her famous "rocker" poses and leg kicks and you've got the most potent rock performance so far this year. This unlikely combination of performers brought down the house with a sound that was driving, technically brilliant (Jerry Cantrell's solos were astounding) and pretty damn sexy (Redneck woman Gretchen Wilson belted with intensity in her tight jeans while Nancy Wilson bounced around like it was the "Never" video).
Another strong performance came from Kelly Clarkson on American Idol. The more I hear her new song "Never Again" the more I think eh...but it sounds like her support for the new album is wearing on her voice. While this may not be good for her pop stuff, Clarkson's rocker side benefits from the raspiness and limited vocal power. Clarkson sounded dead on like Pat Benatar raising a mediocre song to new heights. Lots of rumors about the quality of Kelly Clarkson's new disc being bad in the press, I hope the rumors are false with performances like this one!
Oh yeah, Jordin Sparks won American Idol. Sparks seemed nice and talented, yet I just don't care.
Oh well,maybe Sparks can duet with Clarkson on "Heartbreaker". The Pat Benatar song, not Led Zeppelin or Dionne Warwick. Keep rockin and enjoy VH1 Rock Honors. Fast forward the Bam Margera parts. I know I did :)
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