Jeff Vrabel

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

By Jeff Vrabel

It's not easy to spin alienation, disappointment, and evaporated hope to a crowd that is used to leaving your live show feeling as though the world was a searingly hopeful beacon of justice, rainbows, truth, and fresh-baked oatmeal cookies. [30 November 2007]

Eddie Vedder: Into the Wild

By Jeff Vrabel

The story of Wild is one of alienation and distancing and and the self-discovery that can be found only in wandering and escape and solitude, themes you may remember from Every Other Thing Pearl Jam Has Ever Done. [16 October 2007]

Common: Finding Forever

By Jeff Vrabel

As good as Finding Forever is -- and it's very good -- it's hard to imagine it vaulting Common into superstar status. It's the curse of being sly and thoughtful. [30 July 2007]

Pearl Jam: Live at the Gorge 05/06

By Jeff Vrabel

Gorge is made both for the setlist hounds and those who would like to catch up with live Pearl Jam, but want someone else to do the deciding. [19 July 2007]

Ryan Adams: Easy Tiger

By Jeff Vrabel

This is some of Adams's most professional-sounding, accesssible and brightly rewarding stuff since Gold, the Ryan Adams Album For People Who Don't Have Time For All This Other Stuff. [25 June 2007]

Warren Zevon: Preludes - Rare and Unreleased Recordings

By Jeff Vrabel

Paints a fuller portrait of a talent who remains underrated despite it all. [25 May 2007]

Fountains of Wayne: Traffic and Weather

By Jeff Vrabel

A messy, dark, and defiantly askew center exists at the core of the candy-coated pop-sweetness of Fountains of Wayne's songs -- which is what makes them such a recognizable take on American culture at its twisted best. [2 April 2007]

Born To Run by Eric Meola

By Jeff Vrabel

It's been a very, very nice season for Bruce freaks. [25 January 2007]

Michael Jackson: Visionary: The Video Singles

By Jeff Vrabel

It's impossible to think of anything Jackson could do to stop the bleeding at this point. This ain't it, though. [11 December 2006]

Tom Waits: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards

By Jeff Vrabel

If you hear the phrases, 'The female praying mantis devours the male while they are mating. The male sometimes continues copulating even after the female has bitten off his head, and part of his upper torso,' you are listening to a Bastard. [6 December 2006]

Robert Randolph and the Family Band: Colorblind

By Jeff Vrabel

Conventional wisdom says the modern world just isn't as friendly to bands who don't have names constructed from artful nonsense. [1 December 2006]

Oasis: Stop the Clocks

By Jeff Vrabel

Whatever you think of the Faces/Beatles-chord pilfering and Liam's ability to turn "shine" into a three-syllable insult, when these guys are on, they float right over their own press. [29 November 2006]

The Game: Doctors Advocate

By Jeff Vrabel

Dr. Dre appears nowhere on Doctor's Advocate, except in the title, the sonic influence of most of the beats and about 80 times in every track. Rarely, if ever, has a hip-hop record been so dedicated to an absentee who wasn't a corpse. [19 November 2006]

Bruce Springsteen: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

By Jeff Vrabel

The song "American Land" is what would happen if Bruce and Shane MacGowan ran into each other and - you may want to sit down for this hypothesis - started drinking. [9 October 2006]

Ludacris: Release Therapy

By Jeff Vrabel

After four records, hearing the phrase “Ludacris has a new album” is well less a cause for actual anticipation than a autofired obligation, a low-risk low-reward investment, like a Coke, or a sitcom, or a sack of pizza rolls. [6 October 2006]

Poison: Look What the Cat Dragged In / Open Up and Say… Ahh / Flesh and Blood

By Jeff Vrabel

Sweet Georgia Brown, just drink in these mug shots on the cover of the '20th anniversary' reissue of the band’s debut, 'Look What the Cat Dragged In'. According to this photo, it dragged in four whores. Lady whores. Chick harlots. Puckered-up girly men. Irrationally Mascara'ed sissy-britches-es. [26 September 2006]

Various Artists: The Best Mashups In The World Ever Are From San Francisco 2

By Jeff Vrabel

Call me a mash-up snob, but I just don’t have time to listen to freshmen from Arizona State screwing Tapes n’ Tapes together with … with, whoever. Jim Croce. (Actually, that would be great. Bad example.) [5 September 2006]

Roots: Game Theory

By Jeff Vrabel

What in the name of Memphis Bleek were the elegant, politically fiery, underappreciated Roots, who could establish a foundation to begin donating the street cred they’d amassed over the years, doing hanging the hat on the door of the blingiest big-shot in the game, the guy re-touring with R. Friggin’ Kelly by day and spooning with Beyonce by night? [29 August 2006]

Various Artists: My Old Man: A Tribute To Steve Goodman

By Jeff Vrabel

Pharrell: In My Mind

By Jeff Vrabel

Pharrell has in the past few years endeavored to pitch himself as an average schmoe, a N*E*R*D, a guy just like you n' golly gosh me -- he goes far enough to include in the tray art a pint-size pixilated version of himself reporting: "Wealth is of the heart and mind, not of the pocket." [26 July 2006]

Tom Petty: Highway Companion

By Jeff Vrabel

"Ankle Deep" conjures up a pretty lively harmonic resemblance to Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name", which, in the context of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' biting of "Dani Califonia", turns this sentence quickly into a fun game of Six Degrees of Tom Petty. [24 July 2006]

Cut Chemist: The Audience’s Listening

By Jeff Vrabel

"The DJ of the future is going to be a respected member of the community," drones what I imagine is Ward Cleaver with a buzz-cut and members of the topmost levels of the post-WWII military-industrial complex staring down at him through a forest of unforgiving floodlights. [11 July 2006]

Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band

By Jeff Vrabel

To be sure, a tour like this involves a certain degree of trust, particularly when you're dropping 90 bones to hear the Boss sing 'Froggie Went A'Courtin.' [30 May 2006]

Paul Simon: Surprise

By Jeff Vrabel

A bright and rewarding work that will be lauded as His Best Album Since Fill In The Blank Here, Surprise is a low-key, sneaky little gem. [23 May 2006]

Dixie Chicks: Taking The Long Way

By Jeff Vrabel

It's impossible to ignore that in 2006, fully 70 percent of the country is ashamed of the president, and the Chicks return to a landscape almost the mathematical opposite of the one they faced in 2003. [22 May 2006]

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Stadium Arcadium

By Jeff Vrabel

The following is a message from the Society of Music Fans for the Elimination of Double-Disc Releases. [19 May 2006]

Bruce Springsteen: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

By Jeff Vrabel

A folk tribute to Pete Seeger that's about a thousand times as fun as that description might suggest, We Shall Overcome is also an album as American as apple pie, baseball and Bruce Springsteen. [24 April 2006]

Bubba Sparxxx: The Charm

By Jeff Vrabel

Bubba Sparxxx doesn't go bling and boring, so much as rejoice in it, splash around in it, rub it all over itself and go sprinting through the fields. [3 April 2006]

Kid Rock and the Twisted Brown Trucker Band: Live Trucker

By Jeff Vrabel

Live Trucker is solid fun, as long as you don't mind the sense that you're beating yourself in the head with a can of cold Milwaukee's Best during every last second you're listening to it. [27 March 2006]

Cracker: Greatest Hits Redux

By Jeff Vrabel

It's David Lowery vs. The Man, but its a strictly undercard fight. [7 March 2006]

The Respect Sextet: Respect in You

By Jeff Vrabel

The unmistakable vibe of six brainy kids knowingly smirking at each other (band bio also features Mentos). [23 February 2006]

Shawn Mullins: Ninth Ward Pickin’ Parlor

By Jeff Vrabel

Mullins may still be well beneath the radar, but his strong Crescent City-themed set suggests everything’s gonna be alright. [14 February 2006]

Various: Different Strokes By Different Folks

By Jeff Vrabel

This is not the greatest disc in the world, this is just a tribute. [23 January 2006]

Michael Franti and Spearhead: Live in Sydney [DVD]

By Jeff Vrabel

A big, cathartic house party in which Michael Franti completes his circle. [16 January 2006]

Rob Swift: Soulful Fruit

By Jeff Vrabel

Before he helped the X-Ecutioners become all-stars, Rob Swift, in what some consider to be the first turntablist record ever, got soulful. [11 January 2006]

Imogen Heap: Speak For Yourself

By Jeff Vrabel

The voice of Frou Frou brings the house by herself. [20 December 2005]

Lewis Taylor: Stoned

By Jeff Vrabel

Lewis Taylor briefly makes R&B accessible to those folks who have never spent one second trapped in any sort of closet. [19 December 2005]

Jazzanova: Blue Note Trip

By Jeff Vrabel

The sound of the German DJs collective frolicking around in the Blue Note vaults. [16 December 2005]

Eminem: Curtain Call

By Jeff Vrabel

Eminem's new stocking stuffer Curtain Call has this bizarre morning-after effect, like the drugged pre-teen in 'Guilty Conscience' - oh my God, I totally can't believe we all fell for this guy. [12 December 2005]