I don’t even know where to begin this one, so we’ll start here:

I’m messaging back and forth today with my friend AK, one of my friends that goes way back in my timeline.

I guess that she and I have known each other nearly 20 years now, and yet we know each other better now, than we ever did back in the day. I’m pointing her towards some music here that she needs to listen to (grab the zip, people!) and she compliments me on the story that is included with the download. She says “fine work, and I don’t compliment writing lightly.” I know that she doesn’t, and it means that much more coming from her since I know that.

On the heels of my story, she shared another one with me, and put the cap on a good discussion that started over random song lyrics. I love that.

It’s been a weird week. On Tuesday night, I drove up to the Giant Eagle near my house, listening to Chicago 17, the album that initially made me a Chicago fan as a kid in 1984. 80s Chicago takes a good amount of flack from both critics and music fans, but wow, take a look at the track listing on Chicago 17.

All killer, no filler.

As the album liner notes say on the reissue, Chicago 17 was a “hit-seeking missile packed with more potential smashes than their management and their record label could handle.” Don’t you know that they were thrilled to find a way to get “hit-seeking missile” into the liner notes?

So cheesy!

It had been a while since I had listened to the album in full, and I had forgotten how GOOD it sounds when you listen to it in full, particularly the vibrant guitar strumming that opens “Prima Donna” and the album closer, “Once in a Lifetime.” At a point where some albums are sitting in park, “Once in a Lifetime” kept the car running until the very end.

With 80s memories flowing hard, I walked into the Giant Eagle and noticed a sign that this location was going to be closing in a week. Now the 90s memories are rolling out, as I think about all of the times that I was in and out of this location in the early years after I had moved out of my parents’ house.

I was living down the street, walking distance from this location, and would often walk or bike to get items from the store. I spent most of the 90s working downtown, and did a lot of walking, biking, and public transit, to the point that I eventually got rid of my car for about three years.

End of an era.

Today I was driving and speeding on two separate occasions. Rare, since I’ve been taking public transit to and from work for the past few months, but I drove my car to work because I had to pick something up at lunch.

In the morning, I was grooving to Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac with tunes like “Monday Morning,” and “Second Hand News.” It occurs to me that “Second Hand News” is kind of an older brother to Buckingham’s “Holiday Road,” very similar, and both are great driving songs that make you want to drive fast.

Lindsey is here at House of Blues on my birthday, and I’m really hoping not to miss him this time around. I missed the ultimate Lindsey show when he played the old Peabody’s Down Under on the Out of the Cradle tour. Those of you from Cleveland familiar with the old Peabody’s can imagine how cool that show would have been. And I heard exactly how cool it was, from friends that were there.

Speaking of Peabody’s, during that same time period, I missed a very special small hall Peabody’s homecoming performance from Pat Benatar, on tour supporting Gravity’s Rainbow – one of those gigs that you hear about the fire marshal showing up multiple times, etc.

I did see Buckingham with Fleetwood Mac on the initial reunion tour stop at Gund Arena in the late 90s, and perhaps this will be the year that I cross solo Buckingham off of my concert wish list. We’ll see.

FYI – Buckingham has a new CD on the way Gift Of Screws that borrows the title of the aborted album project of the 90s, most of which wound up becoming Fleetwood Mac’s Say You Will album. The new album mixes some of the remaining tracks from the original Gift of Screws project with new material, and looks like another winner. The album is in stores on September 16th.

Tonight, I’m driving home (and speeding some more) listening to five of the new Metallica tracks from Death Magnetic in full resolution that were released by the label for radio today. After listening to the full album earlier this week, I’ve had a lot of fun discussing it with fellow Metallica fans that are unexpectedly and similarly blown away by the new music. Everyone that I’ve talked to says the same thing – can’t believe how good it is, can’t wait to buy an official copy next Friday. Metallica have really hit one out of the park with Death Magnetic, and TJ @ Viva La Mainstream really captures a lot of my thoughts on the album with his review here.

edit – here’s another friend’s review of the album. My comrade Chris doesn’t appear to have his review online yet.

My early favorites are “That Was Just Your Life” and “All Nightmare Long,” both songs that are filled with jaw dropping guitar riffs in an album that has a lot of them.

The band officially premiered Death Magnetic with a nationwide radio special last night, hosted by Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters. I didn’t get a chance to hear it, but a quick search of Google Blogs shows that the interview is readily available if you want to hunt for it.

P.S. – just in case you’re not remembering the Dave Grohl/Metallica connection, there is a prior lovefest that led up to all of this.

If you’re not on board with the new Metallica album yet, trust me – you’re not going to want to miss this one! Stream six songs from the new album @ Metallica.com and pick that sucker up on Friday!

Random note – my worst nightmares have come true, and Nickelback have a new album that will be out in November. The sucker was produced by Mutt Lange, and with Mutt on board, it might even be good? Oh man, I can’t believe I just typed that last part.

Speaking of Mutt:

Final piece of music for today – Def Leppard’s Adrenalize which in my opinion, was the last really good album from Def Leppard. A matter of perspective I guess, depending on where and when you tuned out Def Leppard. Some said goodbye after High and Dry, and a few more said goodbye after Pyromania. For me, Pyromania, Hysteria, and Adrenalize ushered in a new era of Def Leppard, that I was just as okay with, as I had been with the prior Leppard albums pre-Pyromania.

While there were moments on Euphoria and X, Adrenalize was the last full album from Def Lep to hit it with me. Adrenalize has one of my favorite DL songs, a tribute to fallen guitarist Steve Clark called “White Lightning” that fully exposes the heavy emotions of dealing with the loss of Clark that run throughout Adrenalize.

From the liner notes:

This record is dedicated to Stephen Maynard Clark, guitarist and close friend. We all have different memories of him: from threatening to quit the band in late 1978 unless we stopped rehearsing and actually played a gig, to some totally off-the-wall “shape throwing” with his Les Paul hanging down to his knees, or his off-stage performances in bars and hotel rooms. It’s a funny thing, thinking you really know someone while slowly realizing there is more going on than meets the eye. The last couple of years of Steve’s life were a battle. It stopped being about writing or recording our music, and started being about one man’s lonely struggle to survive. Watching someone disintegrate right in front of our eyes is a tough thing, and even though it’s frustrating as sh*t, it’s impossible to stop. We learned about human nature, and trust us, it ain’t necessarily pretty. Anyway, enough. Steamin’ had a hand in writing music for most of this recording, and music is what he’ll be remembered for.

We miss him.

Def Leppard – White Lightning (purchase)
Chicago – Prima Donna (purchase)
Chicago – Once in a Lifetime (purchase)
Fleetwood Mac – Second Hand News (purchase)
Fleetwood Mac – Monday Morning (purchase)