Nude as the News

Not what you think.

Actually, Nude As The News bills itself as "Rock Writing for the Musically Obsessed", so it's right down my alley. In fact, I'm kinda surprised it has taken me so long to get hip to this well done website (or is it a blog? I dunno).

The current front page review is of the most recent Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen albums, bashing both of them as weak offerings in their respective catalogues and pointing out that Young has more experience releasing duds than Springsteen.

And while I think I like Devils & Dust more than this reviewer did, I still have a nagging suspicion that he's right insomuch as it is not an album that meets the standards set by his seminal work (Nebraska, Ghost of Tom Joad, Tunnel of Love just to mention the records done without the E Street Band that outshine his latest). Still, I hope that's not discouraging to the Boss, as I certainly don't think he's even close to reaching a point of irrelevance and even if it's not quite as outstanding as, say, The Rising, it nevertheless is a very satisfying and enjoyable album (even "All The Way Home", which the NATN reviewer heartlessly compared to "an outtake from Human Touch...ouch!).

Alas, I have not heard Neil Young's new album...heck, I've got Neil Young albums in my collection that I've had for a couple of years that I haven't gotten around to listening to. The man is just too darned prolific. It's kinda ironic, I suppose, that the guy who wrote "It's better to burn out than it is to rust" just keeps churning out product year after year, the bulk of which most artists of his stature would have left in the vaults for a post-mortem Anthology celebration ("...oh, I can see why he didn't want to put that out while he was still alive, but now that he's gone it's rather poignant...").

I will keep my eye on Nude As The News, because it looks to be a pretty well-written venture, plus they've got a really good interview with Mark Kozelek in the archives...