Eric Stepanian - Club Passim, Cambridge, MA - Feb. 3, 2010

Earlier this week, my wife and I went to see local singer/songwriter Eric Stepanian perform live at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA.  Usually, Eric Stepanian is the lead singer and one quarter of the Boston-based band Stepanian - my favorite local band.  While I'm not familiar with a lot of the local music scene, we saw Stepanian open for Bell X1 a few years ago at Paradise Rock Club and really liked them.  Since then, we've seen them live 3 times and it's always a great show!  They play rock/pop music and their most recent album, Wait Our the Rain (the LP), is really good as well. 

While this was Eric Stepanian's first solo show we've seen, it was no exception - it was great!  I wasn't sure what to expect from seeing Eric alone or what music he would play, but he played a mixture of Stepanian songs I was familiar with, new originals and even threw in a few eclectic covers (Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga).  Overall, it was just a good time and he sounded great.  He said he was going to be recording a solo album sometime in the near future, so now I'm really looking forward to it!

Opening for Eric Stepanian was Ben Carter, a local singer/songwriter who is also going into the studio in the near future.  I liked his set as well and would definitely see him live or pick up his cd in the future. 

You should really check out Stepanian if you get a chance - I'm sure you will enjoy!  Also, on a final note, if you are looking for a local venue to see some cool, small shows, you should definitely check out Club Passim!  They have good food and a great mission!

Weezer - Raditude

So here it is, my first review post on this blog. I'll be talking about Raditude, the newest album from the band Weezer, but before I get too deep into this review, I wanted to share a little bit of information how I'll be handling reviews for this blog. First and foremost, I do not claim to be a professional critic of any sort. My reviews are just another way to share what I think about the topic in question, and in the end, whether I like it or not. For each review, I'll be sharing some thoughts about the subject and then provide a rating out of 5 stars. (Hey, the blog is called "Five Star Favorites.") If relevant, I’ll also provide the album stream from Lala at the end of the post. As always, whether you agree or disagree with my reviews, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Okay, back to Raditude: Honestly, I’m not sure exactly what to think of this release. Generally speaking, I like Weezer quite a bit. I really liked their first album, Weezer (Blue Album), and I loved Pinkerton. I've also seen them live 3 times and will be seeing them again next week (review to follow). In their more recent work, there have been some ups and downs, but I would say that I generally have enjoyed everything they put out. I think Raditude fits in the second category with the later albums. It has some ups and downs, but overall, I enjoy it. It’s a bit of a change for the band as there are cameos (Lil' Wayne) and guest songwriters (Tyson Ritter of All American Rejects), and I think you can really hear their different influences. Actually, because of that, my biggest critique is that Raditude doesn’t always necessarily sound like Weezer. A song like “Can’t Stop Partying,” is good and really catchy, but if I heard it on the radio, I don’t that I would have thought "Oh! A new Weezer song!" While this isn’t always a bad thing, it does leave me slightly disappointed since I do still miss the early Weezer sound.

Overall, I find myself enjoying Raditude and listening to it more than I thought I would at first, but it also leaves me wanting more. I’ll give it 3 out of 5 stars, and hope they come back with something closer to Pinkerton next time!

Raditude - Weezer