Mike Mettler

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The Speakers Remain the Same!

Jason Bonham’s very personal Led Zeppelin Experience rambles on, plus transducers underfoot!
- By Mike Mettler
- Posted May 3, 2011
The next leg of Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience tour is officially underway, and I highly recommend you check it out. Dates and info are here.

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Rope Burns!

Producer Butch Vig talks about recording “Rope,” the lead track from Foo Fighters’ new album Wasting Light.
- By Mike Mettler
- Posted April 15, 2011
I spoke with producer Butch Vig at length about the all-analog approach he took to recording the Foo Fighters’ kick-ass new album Wasting Light (Roswell/RCA) in bandleader Dave Grohl’s garage.

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Tomorrow Is Vinyl Saturday...
- By sandv blog
- Posted June 19, 2009
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The Perfect Shield

The Shield remains one of the most seamless shows that has ever aired. It never faltered, never stumbled, never even had a "fill-in" or "coasting" episode. For seven seasons, Michael Chiklis's Vic Mackey runned and gunned all through the seediest neighborhoods in L.A. as if his life depended on it (it did), and we were treated to some of the grittiest, most brutally honest law-and-disorder storytelling and envelope-pushing basic cable ever aired. (Thank you, FX.)
- By sandv blog
- Posted June 10, 2009
The Shield remains one of the most seamless shows that has ever aired, period. It never faltered, never stumbled, never even had a "fill-in" or "coasting" episode. For seven seasons, Michael Chiklis's Vic Mackey runned and gunned all over the seediest neighborhoods in L.A.

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Best CDs of 2007: The Ones That Got Away
- By sandv blog
- Posted December 23, 2007
Our Best CDs of 2007 list will appear soonly in the Feb/March '08 issue (you may even find it posted on the site before that if you dig around some), but I wanted to take a moment and bulletpoint a ten-spot of discs I enjoyed in '07 that 1) didn't get on my personal Top 10 list (also posted) and 2) didn't get a full review either in the mag or on the site.

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Surround & Visionaries
- By sandv blog
- Posted October 18, 2007
Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson (holding down the middle position and leaning on the center channel in the accompanying photo) dropped by the S&V offices yesterday for a 2-hour surround-sound listening session with yours truly (at right) and entertainment editor Ken Richardson (at left).

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Purple Fudge
- By sandv blog
- Posted August 9, 2007
How's this for a double bill — Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple at Radio City Music Hall on Tuesday night (8/7). Or, to be more specific, the original Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple Mark 8. Either way, it was a must-do event.

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Cops N’ Bloggers
- By sandv blog
- Posted August 6, 2007
Saw the last U.S. show of this first leg of the Police's '07/'08 tour at Giants Stadium last night. Having never caught them back during their heyday, this was a must-see gig.

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The Miller Brothers Band
- By sandv blog
- Posted July 30, 2007
"He better stop doing that blues shit." So sneered a fairly svelte brunette seated in front of me during the classic-rock two-fer show I saw at PNC in NJ this past Friday (7/27): the Doobie Brothers and the Steve Miller Band.

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A La Satellite
- By sandv blog
- Posted July 24, 2007
If you follow S&V with any regularity, you know that I'm a HUGE fan of satellite radio.

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Bach to the Future
- By sandv blog
- Posted July 12, 2007
"It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself." —Johann Sebastian Bach

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Traveling Bandburys
- By sandv blog
- Posted July 10, 2007
How gratifying was it to see that The Traveling Wilburys recently debuted at #9 in the U.S. and at #1 in the U.K. with The Traveling Wilburys Collection (Rhino/Wilbury), a three-disc compilation that includes both of their albums (1988's Volume 1 and 1990's Volume 3) and a making-of DVD?

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