Blog Johnson Official

Personal blog of Canadian musician Rock Johnson sharing thoughts on mostly rock-hard rock-metal via album reviews, discography rankings and probably some slices of "personal philospophy".

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It is Monday! Time for another Behind The Lyrics video! This week I feature Track 2 - Dear Child :)

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We Are Chemical

The Motorleague · Song · 2013

EAST COAST REWIND When it comes to this song, I just can not tire of it’s immediate energy, catchy chorus and hard driving riffs. This song made me fall in love with New Brunswick’s The Motorleague. I just felt this needed to be said in a public forum!

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Over The Edge (Clip) - Silly Promo

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Rock Johnson I Have Imagined Lyric Video Today I started learning how to use video editing software, welcome to the first thing I gave birth to! 10 More days!

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New Release Alert - East Coast Edition

Artist: The Town Heroes

Single: Fuse (2021)

Prolific rock duo The Town Heroes have dropped their latest single titled "Fuse"! The "about young love" track is a hottie and you should check it out at the links above!

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*New Release Alert - East Coast Edition Album: Goldenrod (2021) Artist: Lukey The debut release from Halifax musician Lukey was released today. The word vibe is the most prominent word I can find to describe this shining new edition to the world of music! Until now I have known Lukey exclusively as a bassist, and a fantactic one at that, but now after hearing his voice I wonder where this has been all my life! The chill stylings of Goldenrod had be hooked after only a few seconds into the opening guitar lick, this record already has my heart.

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Track By Track - The Tragically Hip - Saskadelphia

Artist: The Tragically Hip Album: Saskadelphia (2021) My Favorite Track: Not Necessary Surprise! Surprise! A new Hip album! Upon hearing that the iconic Canadian band have released an EP of “Road Apples” session leftovers I had my reservations. Usually when you hear the term “leftovers” or “B-sides” what you usually end up with is a lot more filler than meat. When I hit play I was hopeful, but scared. That being said, lets get into the tracks! 1. Ouch Well, this opener is undeniably Hip! It has a familiar groove indicative of it’s “Road Apples” counterpart “Twist My Arm”. Gord Downie’s signature vibrato at the end of each phrase is haunting, almost like the last 30 years haven’t happened. The anguished screams that end the track ooze with conviction, and guitarist Bobby Baker is grooving here with the ascending licks providing great energy to this mid tempo rocker. The lyrics of struggle to balance who you have been, who you are and who you could be. “ I spike the recipe and turn my inner peace Into an aching for some more “. This track opens the album with swagger, and allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief knowing full well that this track is worthy of the Hip’s legacy. 2. Not Necessary The energy level takes a bump up on the second track! Again, this song is a true blue Hip tune, a straight ahead rocker with Downie’s unmistakable vocal phrasing reminding us all that he is still very much with us. To me the lyrics tell a story of the beauty of simplicity, great advice. “And all these things I carry, they're not so necessary”. This song is very similar in feel to The Reason’s “Longest Highway Home”. 3. Montreal (Live) On Montreal The Hip pull the energy down matching the dark subject matter described at the front of the track as “The identification process” an ode to the victims of the 1989 Montreal Massacre. “ Don't you worry, Her mama's gonna make her look good.” this line gave me chills, I can’t say I’ve thought much about ever having the misfortune to have to identify a loved one, but this definitely made me stop and think. Another great tune delivered by Downie’s poetic tounge. 4. Crack My Spine Like A Whip This is the only song from the album I had knowingly heard before having caught a live version on Much Music when I was a teenager, and I have always loved this tune! The main guitar riff reminds me of The Offspring’s “Come Out & Play”, which this obviously predates. Lyrically it seems to tell the tale of the demise of a personal relationship where one person’s expectations and demands are wearing down the other. “You're cracking your spine like a whip, and it's cracking my spine just like a whip.” 5. Just As Well This kind of reminds me of “Gimmie Three Steps” by Lynard Skynard in it’s general vibe. The Hip were always a bar band at the heart and this song is quintessential bar band hip. This is the shortest track of the six, but feels long enough. “Didn't really push me I kind of just fell, well, I guess that's just as well” 6. Reformed Baptist Blues After hearing the first three notes I thought “Tall Trees” by Matt Mays then straight into a pepped up Folsom Prison Blues parody. The title says it all, the Hip aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but they do it well and they make everything sound like their own. The lyrics are a hilarious take on a husband’s dismay when his wife finds religion and finds himself in a thruple with his wife and the Almighty. “ God's salvation doesn't interest me at all, found the answer at the bottom of a bottle”. Overall I enjoyed Saskadelphia and the more listens I gave the album, the less I viewed it as a novelty item and more as a very cool complementary piece to a timeless work of rock history. If you like classic Hip, this should be easy for you to love.

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Ranking The Albums - Extreme

Guidelines: No live albums or compilation, only studio albums considered. Rankings are based on personal taste, not charts or sales. Share your own ranking! Tell me why I’m wrong ;)

Band: Extreme

My Entry Album: Extreme II: Pornograffitti

My Year of Discovery: 1991

My Favorite Song: Cynical (1995)

1. Waiting For The Punchline (1995)

I love every single song! To this day I still reach for this over every other album, and without hesitation I will champion this brilliant piece of rock n roll till the day I die! A lot of fans didn’t give this album a proper listen and wrote it off as “Trendy”, but I think with an open mind and viewing on its own merit instead of “Not Pornograffitti” they would see how truly strong this record is, the track order is perfect.

2. III Sides To Every Story (1992)

This album is a masterpiece! It took me a while to warm up to this album, but my band mate insisted on its awesomeness and since he was a genius musician I kept giving it a shot, and am I ever glad I did! This album more than any other taught me about deep listening, which in my opinion is the most important piece to becoming a better musician. I loved “Warheads”, “Rest In Peace”, and “Cupid’s Dead” right away, the rest of the album is where my challenge sat. I was still a very new musician when this album came out and the subtle intricacies were very much lost on me, what a revelation when it finally started to click.

3. Extreme II: Pornograffitti (1990)

Pornograffitti was my introduction to this band and I was IN love fully and completely with all things guitar heroes are known for. To me this album was perfect at the time. In years past it has not aged quite as well as the first two albums on this list, but it is still a beast of a record and Nuno firmly entrenched himself as a bonafied axemaster! “More Than Words” was such a massive hit, and I do like it too, but to me it pales in comparison to the bangers on this album.

4. Saudades de Rock (2008)

This album is a great follow up to Waiting for the Punchline stylistically, and admittedly hasn’t had the benefit of being played endlessly on repeat like the top 3 albums on this list, but it rocks none the less! The love I have for Nuno as an artist and musical visionary is immense, the riffing on “Learn To Love”, “Run” and “Comfortably Dumb” is just so groovy. “Interface” is a beautiful song and melodically captivating. I am feeling the band’s classic rock influences on this record more than any other. Worth a listen, and with more spins it may even climb the list.

5. Extreme (1989)

For a debut record it’s pretty impressive, but the rest of their catalog just buries it, a victim of the future growth. It has not aged well, but it was the seed that blossomed into what they became. There are a few gems on here like “Kid Ego”, that song has always grabbed me and could easily have been on the next record. “Play With Me” and “Mutha (Don’t Wanna Go To School Today)” are still fun tracks. Extreme’s harmony laden vocals have always been one of their biggest strengths, and it is in the vocals that I feel the big influence of the British rock sound.