The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 62 – 5150 Time & a Trifecta of T-Bone
Tune in tonight for beer, some T-Bone (his 3rd appearance) and an in-depth discussion of an album that went to number one 35 years ago this week: Van Halen’s 5150. The complete panel will be as follows:
To quote Pearl Jam, it’s “Five, five, five against one.” I’m the lone dissenting voice that will be highly critical of 5150, while the other five guys will probably take turns punching me in the balls.
[Integrity Mix] was an idea that came from Kevin. For a while there, he was making a new mix CD every month, made up of the best stuff he was listening to in the last 30 days or so. The idea was, you’d have a neat chronicle of your most impactful listening experiences. And a good mix CD in general. — From Record Store Tales Part 46: Integrity Mix
RECORD STORE TALES #900: Integrity Mix Again
In the years before beginning to publish my writings, I poured my musical creative energy into making mix CDs. I spent hours on them. I tested them in the car before giving them them “OK”. I called them “Integrity Mix”, after one of Tom’s favourite words. Integrity. Music with integrity, people with integrity…that was Tom’s word. The concept of the CD originated with Kevin, one of the guys I worked with at the very end of the Record Store. Kevin and I had a falling out over the way I portrayed the store, but he deserves credit for many things, including these mix CDs.
The idea was simple. Make a new mix CD every month (or so), made up on songs you were into during that period.
It was a great concept and one which I latched onto with gusto. I made many, and some months ended up getting double CDs because there was just too much music that needed to be remembered. Each one had a cover, though some were just simple track listings, some were more elaborate.
It’s fun to put things away and not look at them for a long time. That’s what happened with these discs. When I switched gears to writing on a daily basis, I wanted to listen to full albums. Mix CDs started to collect dust. I hadn’t looked at my Integrity Mixes for about five years, but noticed them in a corner and thought it might be fun to have a look.
What I discovered was, without even having to play a single track, I could see by much of the artwork just what I was into at that given time. Here are all the covers I made with some kind of art:
February 2008: Arrested Development
September-October 2008: “Bird is the Word” via Family Guy
December 2008-January 2009: Kenny Vs. Spenny
February-March 2009: Battlestar Galactica
January 2010: UFOs
February 2010: Dedicated to my buddy Chris Thuss who had just left work
June 2011: Super Troopers
May 2008: Transformers
The music often reflected the shows I was into. “All Along the Watchtower” is a key track on the Battlestar Galactica disc. You can find tracks from movie soundtracks.
Kevin was right about doing that. Looking back at these discs, the tracklists, and dates, I can clearly remember events from my life. I don’t have to guess when it was — the discs are all dated. Brilliant idea Kevin. I feel bad that we fell out, and I’m sorry that I ever hurt him. I hope he would have enjoyed that his idea had legs and I kept going with it long after we worked together. Credit where credit is due!
“Forever, carry on! Turning up the sound and let it roll. Raise your fist up in the sky! The spirit of metal will never die!”
LOUDNESS – Metal Mad(2008 Tokuma Japan)
Loudness reunited their original lineup in 2000, but little did they know it would not last a full decade. Drummer Munetaka Higuchi was diagnosed with liver cancer only two months after the release of the 2008 album Metal Mad. He passed away in November of that year. Although they had enough drum tracks recorded to make one more record with Higuchi (2009’s The Everlasting), Metal Mad was the last in his lifetime.
Metal Mad is the 21st Loudness studio album, recorded in the midst of a flurry of studio activity, as Loudness never slowed down, and guitarist Akira Takasaki was pounding out solo work on top of it.
One certain thing about Loudness: just because they reunited the original lineup doesn’t mean they wanted to backtrack musically. Metal Mad is heavy. It continues the sonic experimentation that Loudness began in the mid 90s. Though it does contain one undeniable anthem, this album is a heavy grind of metal styles, all very loud.
The opening instrumental “Fire of Spirit” sets the tone with a heavy riff that could have come from one of Loudness’ thrash contemporaries like Megadeth or Metallica…but with far more weight, and with an absolute master on the drums. There’s a hint of the St. Anger snare, but it does not persist through the album. Instead the track fades into the anthem of the album: “Metal Mad”!
“Metal Mad” is a fast, simple track, but damn does it get the job done! “Forever! Carry on! Turning up the sound and let it roll. Raise your fist up in the sky! The spirit of metal will never die!” Custom built for the festival crowds. Akira takes a couple bananas solos as the perfect icing on this sweet piece of metal cake.
But that’s it for that style of metal on this album. They thrash through “High Flyer” with singer Minoru Niihara’s voice filtered through distortion. Then it’s a hint of rap metal on the very aggressive “Spellbound #9”. Funny thing is, Minoru can pull it off. This is heavy stuff, certainly strong enough to compete with the big name heavy bands that Loudness inspired in the first place. “Crimson Paradox” takes on groove metal, with a touch of exotic guitar added for spice.
The metal is heavy on “Black and White”, but with lyrics like “bullshit bullshit”, it’s a little too much of the “nu” variety. Same with the droning guitar and vocal of “Whatsoever”, though the melodic chorus isn’t bad. “Call of the Reaper” takes things back to centre with a riff similar to “Be Quick Or Be Dead” by Iron Maiden, but within a song that goes in a different direction. Mental solos! “Can’t Find My Way” starts promisingly, with quiet experimental guitars, and focuses strongly on vocal melody despite the heavy riffing going on. In fact the only thing wrong with it is one particular riff that too strongly resembles (ugh) “Loch Ness” by Judas Priest.
The end of the album is heralded by two interesting final tracks, “Gravity” and “Transformation”, both experimental with grooves and great guitar work. Akira uses so many different tones on this album, often within the same song. “Gravity” is guitar player nirvana, while “Transformation” even goes a little funky.
Metal Mad ain’t bad. Its strength is the musicianship. Metal Mad has the title track going for it, but not a lot of actual memorable songs besides that. By focusing so much on being heavy, it loses distinction between the songs.
CONEY HATCH – Live at the El Mocambo (2021 limited numbered & autographed edition)
It only took four decades, but like a fine Chardonnay, time made it just parfait. Coney Hatch’s first live album, recorded back in October 2020 at the legendary El Mocambo is, in a word: perfect.
First, let’s define “perfect”. “Perfect” doesn’t mean “exactly like the studio versions”. Not when we’re talking about live albums. It means there’s an exciting vibe, great songs, top-notch performances, and a band that sounds like they’re out for blood. Coney sound as if there was no pressure — but they delivered their best anyway.
Four albums, 15 tracks, over an hour of tunes. Live at the El Mocambo represents the entire career of Coney Hatch, including all your favourites like “Stand Up”, “Devil’s Deck”, “Monkey Bars”, and “Hey Operator”. A couple great tunes from Coney Hatch Four (like “Marseilles”) prove that the Hatch lost nothing when they reunited a few years back. While everyone will have their own highlights, “Wrong Side of Town” absolutely smokes. The album is paced perfectly with more contemplative tunes like “She’s Gone” balanced out by bangers like “Boys Club”. Lots of songs about “girls gone bad”, according to Carl.
Andy Curran discusses Live at the El Mocambo
The on-stage banter by Andy Curran and Carl Dixon is warm and humorous. It’s clear that they appreciate where they are in their careers now, fortunate to have this amazing second run. In the back, drummer Dave “Thumper” Ketchum gives us an idea of how he earned that nickname. But let’s not forget the newest member, guitarist Sean Kelly, who proves why he is one of the most in-demand players you’re likely to hear these days. His ripping licks on this record are hair raising.
Another strength is that these guys have lost nothing in terms of vocal abilities. It’s all there. How Carl hits the notes he does, is actually unknown to modern science. Andy Curran has just as much expression as ever, the ying the Carl’s yang. When the band sing together on a big chorus, it’s arena-ready.
The first 100 copies came signed by all four members, and with a Coney Hatch can cooler! If that’s not an invitation to get your buzz on with this great album, I don’t know what is. It’s done in true bootleg style: plain white cover, with logo stamped on the front, and plain white labels on the records. The track listing is on a separate insert. The non-limited version is available for you to purchase so get on that right now!
When Loudness released their first live album with new singer Masaki Yamada Once And For All, they took the oft-misguided step that many bands with replacement singers make. Much like Van Halen, they dropped the majority of their earlier material from the set and focused on the new album. Unlike Van Halen, this wasn’t done due to ego, but because of changing styles of the 90s.
You hate when bands do that, don’t you? Well allow Loudness to open your mind on the concept.
In 1992, Loudness released their self-titled new album with Masaki on vocals. It is excellent. Like many late-period self-titles, it sounds like a new start. Masaki was a very different kind of singer from either Minoru Niihara or Mike Vescera. Truthfully his voice was not well suited to the old material (shades of Blaze Bayley). Focusing on the fine, new songs for their first live album together was a wise move.
Loudness opened this live set with some smokin’ guitar licks and the first two tracks from the new album: “Pray For the Dead” and “Slaughterhouse”. Masaki was in great vocal shape, able to hold it steady and belt. The slow, exotic groove of “Pray For the Dead” screams “early 90s” but in a good way. “Slaughterhouse” has a faster tempo and more “metal” vibe. Drummer Munetaka Higuchi (R.I.P.) has this song by the balls. He gets a wicked solo at the end, too.
The sole Mike Vescera song that lingered in the setlist is “Down N’ Dirty” from 1991’s On The Prowl. A little dated-sounding, its persistence in sets over the years is surprising. New bassist Taiji Sawada (R.I.P.) has the opportunity to shine on the slinky opening. The Masaki-era version is heavied-up, but that chorus can’t be saved. Never cared for it. But personal favourite “Everyone Lies” comes next in the set, a punchy fast groove with an angry vocal.
Masaki’s old group E-Z-O were not unknowns; they put two albums out on Geffen and are something of a cult band. Their “House of 1,000 Pleasures” is deservedly visited for track five. Akira Takasaki takes a wicked solo here, in a song that definitely owns its place on the album. It’s also nice to get tracks that are not on regular Loudness studio albums when you pick up a live disc.
Track six would fall where “side two” should begin — the single “Black Widow”. This menacing groove is performed to perfection. All the tracks are. Album accuracy is not an issue, but the live versions do have more energy. “Black Widow” kills, as it should.
Two more of the newer songs follow before they finally dip into classics: “Twisted” and “Waking the Dead”. Akira blazes for a bit before “Twisted”, just a prelude to the extended jam in the middle of this funky rocker. The three instrumentalists Akira, Taiji and Higuchi really get a chance to show off their chops as the song goes on for 10 minutes. After that workout, the straight-ahead riffing of “Waking the Dead” is almost a relief.
The two classics from the Minoru Niihara days are the two most obvious songs: “Crazy Night” and “S.D.I.”. Masaki’s style transforms “Crazy Night” into something more 90s. He simply isn’t the kind of singer to belt out a melody. Masaki tortures the melody and bends it to his range and growl. It is not a bad version of “Crazy Night”, but it is a different take than Minoru’s. “S.D.I.” is the encore, a blitzkrieg of metal that fares well with Masaki leading the charge. It was always a bit of a screamer.
Once And For All isn’t easy to find, and is often prohibitively expensive. This isn’t the kind of album you’re likely to just find sitting on the shelf at your favourite used CD store. It’s the kind of thing that must be sought. If it were a 5/5 star live album, I’d say “seek it”. But very few live albums are an 5/5.
Just a quickie for you this Sunday. In rather cool news, KISS announced a new series of live soundboard albums. The first of these is Tokyo 2001, one of Ace Frehley’s last shows with the band. The lineup is one never before represented on any official releases until now: Stanley/Simmons/Frehley/Singer.
The vinyl can be purchased on black or “exclusive 3LP crystal clear vinyl with bone swirl”. Or for those of us not made of money, plain ol’ CD. Check it out.
1. “Detroit Rock City”
2. “Deuce”
3. “Shout It Out Loud”
4. “Talk to Me”
5. “I Love It Loud”
6. “Firehouse”
7. “Do You Love Me”
8. “Calling Dr. Love”
9. “Heaven’s On Fire”
10. “Let Me Go Rock & Roll”
11. “Shock Me”
12. “Psycho Circus”
13. “Lick It Up”
14. “God of Thunder”
15. “Cold Gin”
16. “100,000 Years”
17. “Love Gun”
18. “I Still Love You”
19. “Black Diamond”
20. “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”
21. “Rock and Roll All Nite”
It was a beautiful day today. In the afternoon I got the ol’ laptop dusted off, and brought it out onto the patio to listen to some tunes and watch some YouTube. The laptop is at least a decade old, probably older, and has served me well as my travelling machine. Today, it could barely do two things at once. Obviously it will not serve me well for live streaming this summer at the lake. It did a stand-up job last year, with Streamyard and video editing. This year it simply will not cut the tomatoes so I pulled the trigger on a new HP. I didn’t want to go down in screen size so I ordered a 17.3″. I always get nervous when buying a new computer, and I’ve never bought HP before. I’m excited though. Whatever happens, it cannot be worse than a decade-old Acer. It could be here as early as Tuesday. Wish me luck — this summer’s future LeBrain Train episodes will depend on this laptop! Meanwhile the old one will be brought to Sausagefest — if there will be such a thing this summer.
The laptop is delivering by Purolator, which is totally safe. Amazon unfortunately is not. Their couriers leave the parcel at the door and that’s that. Because there is so much theft of Amazon parcels in these parts, for the last six months or so, I have been having everything sent to my mom and dad’s address. I am still working from the office and they are home all the time. Jen has appointments that usually has her out of the house when Amazon come knocking. As a result, I have to pick up my parcels from them about once a week. And, according to Ontario’s current regulations, having an outdoor socially distanced visit with them is currently illegal.
“Hey, would you guys like to come out back for an illegal visit?” asked my mom.
“Sure,” I shrugged.
We’ve all been vaccinated with the first shot and are at 50% immunity. We distanced. Well, my dad got a little close as he sometimes does. But it was nice. Something almost normal. I would like to go down into the basement and look for some of my old sketches from when I was a kid, but we aren’t taking any chances. We stayed out. Doug Ford can suck it.
Ironically, one of the things I was picking up was a cheap pair of computer speakers. Every time Doug Ford goes live on TV to open his big mouth, I can’t hear him. It’s too quiet. Annoying. So I ordered some cheap Amazon branded speakers so I can actually listen next time he opens his big yap. And they’re my speakers, so if I want to use them for my new laptop, I’m good there too.
Some music also arrived. We will be interviewing Paul Laine soon on the LeBrain Train, so I grabbed his Zokusho album by the Defiants. Looking forward to that. In a previous order, I received Long Distance Voyager by the Moody Blues. Uncle Meat told us that it was his dad’s favourite album, and he would love if we listened to it or even reviewed it. So I listened to it, loved it, and ordered a CD so I can listen properly for review. I’m happy to do that for him.
I have also completed my set of Whitesnakes Red, White & Blue trilogy. In hand are the recent compilation CDs The Rock Album, The Love Album, and The Blues Album. All tracks have been remixed and updated, while unreleased songs are also included. John Snow over at 2loud2oldmusic did a fantastic job of reviewing them all. The Blues Album came from Encore while the other two are Amazons.
We talked current events, we talked family matters, we had a few laughs. All is well, more or less. This is the first pandemic for everyone present. In the five stages of grieving, I think my mom is at the anger stage. Last week on the phone, when I told her that us visiting would be against the rules, she said “I don’t give a damn about the rules!” I don’t know the last time I heard her that angry! Let’s face it, we the people of Ontario have been getting jerked around. She has a lot to be mad about. I love my mom.
My dad, on the other hand, decided to watch a documentary about Ozzy Osbourne on A&E. Excitedly, he told me all about his history with Black Sabbath and as a solo artist. “He had a lot of success on his own, when no one thought he would!” he explained to me. But it wasn’t easy for the Ozzman either. My dad told me all about Ozzy’s son Jack, and the role that Sharon played in his success. It was one of those moments you cherish. I love my dad.
My mom also loved The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which concluded on Friday. We talked about Sam and the new Captain America. To my dad, there is only one Captain America and it’s not Sam Wilson or Steve Rogers. It’s someone I’ve never heard of — Grant Gardner, district attorney and the 1944 version of Cap that he grew up with. He has no interest in the new Cap, while my mom was really drawn into the storyline. Hopefully next time we visit illegally, my mom will have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier which I told her to watch next.
I realize I have incriminated myself and my family with this story, and to that I say: oh well. We were safe and respectful of common sense. When this pandemic eventually ends — and history has shown that eventually it will — I will have these chapters as a document of the weirdest times of our lives. And that has more value than a fine.
The rules were flexible to say the least, but the lists were solid as rock! What 11 albums would you bring with you, if you were stranded on a desert island? And why? Each of us had our reasons and some great lists.
Unfortunately John Snow (2loud2oldmusic) could not make it tonight. He felt terrible about cancelling, but fortunately pinch hitter Aaron from the KMA stepped in at the last minute with a list he made while cooking dinner!
The lists start at 0:25:20, and as always Aaron wrote ’em down. Read ’em at bottom!
The schedule:
April 30: T-Bone returns and we discuss Van Halen’s 5150 in depth. Guests: Kevin (BuriedonMars), Uncle Meat, Superdekes, and Aaron.
May 7: Paul Laine from Danger Danger and the Defiants with co-host John Snow.
May 14: List show by Uncle Meat’s suggestion — Best Cover Tunes — with panel TBA.
May 21: New booking! Sean Kelly (Coney Hatch, Crash Kelly, Helix, Lee Aaron, Trapper, Nelly Furtado) joins us with co-host Deke!
May 28: Dave Lizmi of the Four Fuckin’ Horsemen! Co-host will be T-Rev.
June 4: One year anniversary of Harrison’s first appearance. We re-hash the Top 11 Priest Albums and will have Geoff Stephen to graph it! Co-host is TBA.
June 18: Robert Lawson, author of Still Competition: The Listener’s Guide to Cheap Trick. Hosted by Superdekes.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano
Episode 61 – Desert Island Discs
This topic has been in the hopper a long time. Contributed by longtime reader Holen, the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Desert Island Discs are the 11 albums you would bring with you if you were stranded on an island (with a hand-cranked record player obviously). Surely a great subject for discussion!
Just as interesting as the lists will be the rationale for inclusion. And remember: it’s more fun when you can watch live and participate yourself! Subscribe to my YouTube and get notified every time I go live, announced or otherwise.
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