2012 Year In Review

And what a good year it was....

2012 Highlights -

1) A new album!!! Who would have thought?! "La Futura" proved to be mostly worth the wait, with high quality ZZ sounds and spaces coming through your speakers. Make sure to get the vinyl copy, which has a more forgiving and more dynamic mastering. Gotta get the two extra tracks too, whether through Best Buy or alternative means. Only disappointment was a lack of more songs - nine years for 12 songs can be a little frustrating. But Billy has hinted there is more in the can - hopefully Rubin can maintain some semblance of normalcy and work with Billy to get these additional tracks out in some form or another.

2) A new live setlist. Thank you, thank you, thank you for dropping "Cheap Sunglasses". The additions of "Thank You", "Heaven, Hell or Houston", Vincent Price Blues", "Stages", "Beer Drinker", "25 Lighters", "Chartreuse" and "Mississippi", as well as "Thunderbird" in Europe, made this a year to remember. Let's hope more changes come into play next year. I once was, and always will be, a "Fool For Your Stockings"...

3) Interviews. Billy and Dusty made a point to speak their mind each year, and even if Billy does essentially take forever to say nothing, it's still nice to here the Boyzz speak...

4) Awards. The band received multiple accolades this year, all well deserved for what is now one of America's iconic rock bands.

2012 Lowlights -

1) Dusty's voice. No use in beating around the bush, he is having trouble. His once broad and forceful range is long gone. I know, I know, he's 63. The only person on the planet who sounds the same in his sixties as he did in his twenties is Steven Tyler. Many, like Robert Plant, Roger Daltrey, Bob Seger all have lost their signature instrument, but Dusty's decline is unique, both due to its late onset (the past three years or so) and its rapid pace (huge change from 2009 to 2012). It may be time for him to take a year off and focus on his health. I know he loves the road and all, but if you want to keep doing this into your seventies you gotta give yourself a break.

2) Linear drumming. As I recently commented to a fellow Top fan and friend, to each his own, it's none of my business. But taking up chain smoking again in your fifties is never a good choice if you want to have energy and stamina to partake in your lifelong passion. It's a little hard to watch, and two drum fills a night is not indicative of the skills and precision that lie within. Another reason to take a year off and focus on health.

Predictions for 2013 are not due until January. And a few shows have already been booked for next year (no Rodeo yet), but it would be good if Billy continued his relentless pursuit of weird and worked on his solo album while his fellow band mates took a well deserved 365 day sabbatical.