Wing Gold
Wing gold
Road tunes for the Ramblin' Man
RIDE WITH BOB
Asleep at the Wheel
How good was Bob Wills, King of Western swing and the subject of this 1999 tribute album? Try this, pardner: Wills was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, along with a few guys you may have heard of-Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel. An infectious mix of blues, jazz, honky-tonk and big band, Western swing has been kept alive by Asleep at the Wheel with 22 albums since 1970. They're joined on this latest effort-nominated for six Grammys-by an all-star cast of country artists, including Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett and the Dixie Chicks. Good, toe-tapping stuff, riding with Bob is a great way to pass 80 or so miles, given that you've set the cruise control somewhere north of the national soeed limit. Yée-haw!
David Edwards
BORN ON A PIRATE SHIP
Bare Naked Ladies
"Pirate Ship's" 14 tracks are extremely well recorded, come out loud and clear on the Honda's quad speakers, and the mix is enter i tainingly expanded by the Wing's ambiance processing. The lyrics are laugh-out-loud funny, and the pace is
always brisk enough for the road. Also, considering the route and weather on my leg, it was an appropriate choice-these guys are Canadian, so they understand what it's like to be really freakin' cold.
Paul Seredynski
GREATEST HITS
Bob Seqer & The Silver Bullet Band
-~-~ I ye never seen Bob Seger in concert. Can't recall catching him on MN, `r either. But his music is nonetheless a part of me. Maybe it's his Midwest working-class roots and no-frills lyrics. Or maybe it's because he influenced another of my favorite performers, John Mellencamp. Whatever, Greatest Hits is a shoo-in for any getaway. As Seger intones in "Roll Me Away," Fell so good to be, finally feeling free..
Matthew Miles
METROPOLIS PART 2: SCENES FROM A MEMORY
Dream Theater
I like to listen to cinematic, soundtrack-style music while I'm traversing the wide-open spaces, something that complements the scene being played out on the big (wind)screen in front of me. Even better if it's got a story line, like this ambitious concept album from Long Island, New York-based progressive rockers r Dream Theater. With haunting melodies, virtu oso musicianship and a plot worthy of a Broadway musical, this CD was perfect for killing 75 mm utes in the cornfields of Iowa.
Brian Catterson
LIQUOR IN FRONT
The Reverend Horton Heat
Yeeeehaaaa!!! Party! Get naked! Buy us beer! Throw furniture! Gin `ii' Tonics! Get naked! Those are the entire lyrics from .. N "Beer:30," a song from one of the Rev's earlier albums. Ya gotta love it. The Reverend Horton Heat is a full-custom psychobilly trio straight out of Texas and if their music doesn't get your mojo movin' you're probably a corpse. From honky-tonk ballads to punked-up juke-joint jumps, the Rev plays it all as long as it's about broads, brawlin' and boozin'. These hol lering hicks even have a logo inspired by the famous Norton emblem. How cool is that?:
Brad Zerbel
LIVE IN TEXAS
Lyle Loveft
`~ My favorite road CD has to be Lyle Lovett's Live in Texas. The big-band/swing feel of this live record ing matched the free-and-easy gait of my dash across West Texas. Fast, but eminently relaxed, with a lot of local story-
telling in the process. And Lyle likes bikes!
Larry Little
MCMXC a.D.
Eniqma
I love music, but I'm not much for mixing it with motorcycling. I do some of my clearest, most productive thinking while cruising the open road, and I usually don't like to have that solitude distracted by anything other than the task of operating the bike. On those rare occasions when I do choose to infuse a little recorded rhythm into my ride, I'll dive into a mixed bag
of musical types and styles. But for pure, soothing, thought-inspiring road music, I haven't found anything that can beat Enigma's MCMXC a.D. It's an alternative-rock mix
that combines Gothic choir vocals with pan flute instrumentals-kind of like Catholic High Mass meets Zamfir at a Navajo tribal ritual. Sounds goofy, but for helping miles pass invisibly while I iron the wrinkles out of a
complex problem, nothing works better for me.
Paul Dean
TITLE OF RECORD
Filter
This was no time for "nice" music. There was road to mow, and there's nothing better than Filter for an adrenaline rush to keep you moving through a lull. Their driving, techno-inspired beats are allied with loud, ripping guitar rifts and pained, wailing lyrics that somehow all turns out musical in the end. You know, authentic rock-n-roll brought fully into modern times, and just right
for the 80-mph low-fl winds of the road.
Mark Hoyer
