“This is the golden age of television.”

This essay, extolling the virtue of free markets in broadcasting, with a case study in government stifling of the same, is a valuable lesson.

With a hat tip to Binary Bonsai, I point you to this hilarious little piece about the irritation of mobile phones in movies.

Hat tip: Binary Bonsai (Michael Heilemann)

This is probably old to some of you, but I just saw this, and my heart is pounding.

When I first saw pub photos of the new Superman and his new outfit, I was nonplussed, to say the least. However, the more I’ve learned about this film, the more excited I’ve gotten.

First, I saw the teaser trailer several months back. It did exactly what it was supposed to: tease and capture my attention. Then, just before going underway about a month and a half ago, I read an article in the Sci-Fi Channel’s monthly print mag on Brian Singer, the director. It talked up the new movie a lot, but the thing that really fascinated me was this: Brian Singer is the director of the first two X-Men films, and left the third X-Men project to direct Superman Returns. I loved both X-films, and I was thrilled, to say the least. (I highly recommend the article; check your local library.)

This trailer tops it. The character driven story lines, Kevin Spacey as Luthor: I’m tingly. I haven’t felt this way about a new film in a very long time.

Firefly aired on Fox for an aborted season of 12 (out of 14) episodes. Creator Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and spin-offs) crafted a series about realistic characters and freedom that just happened to be set after a galactic civil war had been won in favor of an empire that looks suspiciously like a mix between post-bellum federalist America, the current United States, and the Galactic Empire of George Lucas’ imagination. (The losers — that is, the protagonists of the story — are Rebels. Go figure.)

But, let me reiterate, the story is about people — believable characters. As such, it appeals to far more than just the nerd who wears Darth Vader outfits to Comicons. For proof, see the critical reviews of the film that resulted from this series last year, Serenity (such as the one by Orson Scott Card that I mentioned just after its release).

Color my world very happy. Even after twelve listens, I really like this album a lot. Chicago XXX is the thirtieth album from one of the oldest rock acts still playing on the concert circuit. (The XXX is Roman numerals for thirty, of course. You pervert.)

My first gripe is that the album was not immediately available from the iTunes Music Store like the February 14 preview single was. (It wasn’t available at 5am, I mean, before I headed off for work and a road trip to Connecticut; the single was available that early on the day of its release.) It is there now, so I have no idea what the issue was.

Chicago performs for a schizoid fan base: Some love the band from Chicago Transit Authority until some point when the band “sold out,” anywhere from Chicago II until the present. The other faction loves what I like to call “eighties Chicago”: big, sappy Adult Contemporary songs with a choir of Peter Cetera clones (or Jason Scheff clones) singing all the vocals. I’m a fan who loves the entirety of their catalog. This puts me in the borderlands between the two, but mostly with the former crowd.

When I first arrived at college, I was standing in a registration line and struck up a conversation with a girl about Chicago. “Oh!” she squeeled, “I love Chicago!” I excitedly expressed that I, too, was a Chicago fan, and asked if she had their latest (which was 1991′s Twenty1). She said that she did. Eventually, the conversation revealed that she only liked two songs on the album. Being a songwriter, I already knew which ones: “Explain It to My Heart” and “Chasin’ the Wind,” both penned by Diane Warren. I didn’t have the heart to correct her; people who love Chicago solely because of “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and “You’re the Inspiration” don’t understand why “Mongonucleosis” is a perennial concert favorite.

This album is directed in both directions. In fact, it is nearly split in half. The first half is mostly ballads. “Caroline” is not, but it is, like the other songs up to and including “Long Lost Friend,” meant for Adult Contemporary listeners who love Celine Dion, as well as “You’re the Inspiration.”

The album begins with a “Hot Single Mix” of their initial single, “Feel.” This is distinguished from a mix labelled “(With Horns)” that closes the album. (The horn-embellished version was sold via the iTunes Music Store beginning February 14.) The horn section is a major distinction for Chicago, so I disagree with mixes that omit or subdue the horns solely for the sake of getting more airplay. I’m not sure it’s worth it. That said, I think this mix works, primarily because it’s too big already; removing the horns allowed me to hear some subtleties that the more overwrought mix drowned.

“King of Might Have Been” reminds me very much of “Hard Habit to Break” because of its chord changes and its chiaroscuro juxtapositioning of mellow piano/voice combos with big guitar/horn sections.

Personally, big ballads don’t do it for me anymore, and I was hoping that Chicago would feel the same. With concert performances of “What Kind of Man Would I Be” where Jason Scheff plays piano while James Pankow smokes a muted trombone solo or of “Look Away” where Bill Champlin and Keith Howland play two acoustic guitars, the band has proved that they can pull off powerful, subdued arrangements. The ballads on this album disappoint precisely because they’re too big. Luckily, each one gives some little nugget that can be appreciated

“Why Can’t We” showcases a duet between Bill Champlin and rookie country singer Shelly Fairchild. In spite of the big production, I really like this song. Bill Champlin was once hailed as Chicago’s “secret weapon,” a blue-eyed soul that usually catches most people by surprise (unless they’re Chicago or Champlin fans). Fairchild is likewise a blue-eyed soul vocalist, and so their performance together is a perfect match. Look to see single mixes of this with steel guitars for play in Country markets.

After “Long Lost Friend,” which has a very nice coda, I was beginning to despair and fear that perhaps every song would be like the previous six. “90 Degrees and Freezing” put that fear on ice for three and a half minutes. With a groove that verges on ethnic, it recalls the early days when Chicago experimented with diverse styles, including cacophony and dissonance. The interlude, strongly influenced by Latin music, is deft and smooth, the product of thirty-eight years of performance.

Next, “Where Were You” opens with a smooth choir of Scheff + Scheff + Scheff ad infinitum, and initially I thought we were back to ballads. But then a syncopated, 4/4 rock rhythm with a solid horn riff over the top made my heart jump.

In fact, the second half of the album comes as close to capturing the high-energy of a Chicago concert as any studio project I’ve seen. Producer Jay DeMarcus (from country group Rascal Flatts) could finally be a successor to James William Guercio, Chicago’s original producer. DeMarcus seems to get Chicago, or at least Chicago fans, and so it comes as no surprise that he’s always been a fan.

Chicago XXX has the potential to be a come-back album on the level of Chicago 16. Though I disparage the first half of the album, my comments should not be taken to mean I don’t like these songs. In fact, in every song I’ve been able to find something that I like, whether it’s an amazing sequence of harmonic changes or a subtle coda. And after twelve listens, they’ve definitely grown on me. While the first half will suffer the skip button over the course of my life, everything from “90 Degrees” to “Better” will be played over and over again. The second half captures everything I’ve always hoped a new Chicago album could be: faithful and inventive.

I’m already late for sleep, but I simply could not let the great day pass without publishing my first impressions of Chicago XXX. I’m ecstatic with this release. It is the first album of all-new material in fifteen years: Twenty1 was release just before I graduated from high school! But that’s not why I’m ecstatic. This is Chicago at their best. I’m accustomed to disappointment, and so part of me was ready for a disappointment. I have some quibbles, sure — I am a fan, after all! On the whole, though, music like this is why I fell in love with Chicago so many years ago.

I haven’t figured out whose lead vocal that is. Lee Loughnane? If some other Chicago fan has a clue, help a brother out and leave a comment.

Update: “Feel” debuted in the number one position, which should surprise no one. It beat out such hits as “Troparion for the Sunday of Orthodoxy,” by Capella Romana, Chicago’s “If I Should Lose You,” cowritten by Burt Bacharach, and King’s X’s “Complain.” I’m talking about my own Top 25 playlist, of course.

The Official Site of Chicago the Band – XXX MARKS THE SPOT FOR CHICAGO’S 30TH ALBUM

Chicago, the legendary rock ’n’ roll band with horns and one of the best-selling and longest-running American bands, begins a new chapter in their history with the release of their 30th album, Chicago XXX. The first single, “Feel,” will be released on February 14. The album will be released March 21 at all retail and digital outlets and at www.rhino.com.

OH YEAH, BABY. I’ve been waiting for a new Chicago record for years. This is going to be awesome. Only a week until the first single is released.

Also, according the press release linked above, they’ll be touring with Huey Lewis and the News this summer. I’m sorry I missed their collaboration with Earth, Wind, and Fire, although that’s available on DVD. But, seriously, I’m familiar with a relatively small number of EWF tunes. I love Huey Lewis and the News and know a bunch of their songs; seeing them together will be something I just can’t miss!

Ooh! I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

Memory eternal.