Author: mikeladano

Metal, hard rock, rock and roll! Record Store Tales & Reviews! Grab A Stack of Rock and more. Poking the bear since 2010.

#833: Flag Boy (Part Two of the 1986 Saga)

STOPARRETPotentially triggering material ahead.

 

 

GETTING MORE TALE #833: Flag Boy

Part Two of the 1986 Saga

One of the many recurring themes here has been the awful experiences of being a metalhead in Catholic school.Β  A story that has somehow escaped being told until now is the one where those bastard kids gave me the name “Fag Boy” for a whole school year.

Grade 8, the 1985-86 year, had to be the worst.Β  It was kicked off by a huge fight with the school bully Steve Hartman, a total piece of shit, but at least I won.Β  Not that it helped.Β  I was teased relentlessly all year for my love of Kiss and Judas Priest.Β  Then I had mono.Β  Incidentally, Catholic school bullies are the worst and the teachers didn’t give a fuck.Β  When one kid, Ian Johnson, got into a fight with another bully, the teachers made them walk around the schoolyard together hand in hand.Β  What was that supposed to do?

The only thing that made life easier that year was beating Hartman in September of ’85.Β  That kept him off my back for the school year, although there were other bullies waiting in the wings.Β  Jeff Brooks, who stuffed snow down my jacket every Thursday after shop class.Β  Kevin Kirby, who copied my homework.Β  Towards the end even Hartman was campaigning for a “rematch”.

My sister used to call that school the “Hell Hole”.Β  She would sing Spinal Tap’s “Hell Hole” when we drove by.Β  This is a little kid in grade 4 calling her school that name.

At the start of the eighth grade, to learn social responsibility, we all had to volunteer for something.Β  There were a limited selection of slots for each role we were offered.Β  I cannot remember all of the duties that were set out on our menu of options.Β  Volunteering at the church was definitely among them, but I volunteered for the one I thought would be the most interesting:Β  security!Β  On a regular basis, we were to walk around the school when it was closed to make sure all was well.Β  Keep an eye out for anything wrong, like vandalism.Β  It was perfect because I was always biking around that direction anyway.Β  It was really the most appealing of all the options to me.

I’m sure you have already guessed they didn’t give me the security assignment.Β  No, I was given something that was supposed to be better, but was actually far worse.Β  It was such a dubious honour.Β  I was Flag Boy.

I wasn’t athletic, I was a skinny kid who openly listened to Judas Priest.Β  No way were they putting me on security.Β  They gave the two open positions to a couple of the athletic kids.Β  I don’t think either of them did any security that year.

As Flag Boy, I was responsible for putting out and bringing in the Maple Leaf at the start and end of every day for the year. It was worst at the start of the day.Β  When announcements were about to commence, I had to get out of my seat and leave the class, which always seemed to amuse them.Β  Then I had to walk down the hallway past the other grade 8 classroom, who always mocked and laughed and pointed at me as I went.Β  They called me “Fag Boy” from day one.Β  What made it even worse were my boots.Β  My dad gave them to me.Β  I thought they were so cool.Β  They didn’t have laces, they had dual zippers.Β  The boots only made me more a “Fag Boy”.

When the first pair of boots wore out, my dad gave me his second identical backup pair.Β  Ironically those boots would be considered so retro and stylish today.

The abuse that year was pretty bad and I faked sick a lot.Β  I faked sick mostly on Thursdays, which was shop class.Β  They bussed us to another school, St. Joseph, which had a woodworking shop.Β  The supervision was minimal and the bus rides were all but intolerable.Β  At one point or another I just decided I couldn’t take it anymore and faked sick as many Thursdays as I could.Β  By the time I got sick with mono for real, I had several incomplete projects in woodworking.Β  I was home for the rest of the term, and I never had to worry about those Thursday bus trips again.

Having mono sucked a lot, but Thursdays on the bus were far worse.Β  I considered it more than a fair trade.

While sick at home for real, I absorbed as many Pepsi Power Hours as I could.Β  I heard Hear N’ Aid for the first time.Β  I became addicted to “Rough Boy” by ZZ Top because of that damn music video.Β  (I guess I learned from an early age that I’m really a leg man.)Β  My heavy metal credentials grew by leaps and bounds and I listened to more and more songs:Β  “Metal on Metal”, “Never Surrender”, “Turbo Lover”, “Rock and Roll Children”.Β  To this day, I associate those songs with my sick time in 1986.Β  Especially Dio’s “Rock and Roll Children”.Β  The surreal music video suited the way I felt physically.Β  It didn’t look like the real world and I didn’t feel like myself.

My association of heavy metal music with relief from the outside world was cemented that year.Β  I had always come home to the comfort of a few Kiss tapes.Β  In 1986, sick with mono, I was safe from the school and surrounded not by bullies but by Ronnie James Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, and Bruce Dickinson.Β  They didn’t call me “Fag Boy”, in fact their lyrics encouraged me to dig for strength.Β  Recovering from my illness, I had built this wall of metal around me.Β  It would be my armour for life.

I don’t know if those kids remember calling me “Fag Boy”, or if they would admit it.Β  I know I wouldn’t recognize Hartman if I saw him today.Β  They used to talk about forgiveness a lot in Catholic school.Β  You can forgive, but you never forget.

 

#833: Juice Tin Saw Blades (Part One of the 1986 Saga)

GETTING MORE TALE #833: Juice Tin Saw Blades

Part One of the 1986 Saga

It was Bob Schipper that discovered if you cut out the top of a juice tin, and then continue to cut teeth into it, you could make yourself a replica saw blade wrist band like the ones wielded by Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P.Β  Bob was always the one inventing things.Β  He was the most creative of us.Β  He was usually the instigator.

We had to improvise with our rock n’ roll accessories.Β  Neither of us had the resources or the parental approval to make or wear leather studded wristbands.Β  You could buy studs at the local mall rock shop (there were rock shops opening up everywhere) but instead of trying to do that, we made our own out of the same juice tins.Β  Before too long we had studded wristbands made of black electrical tape backed by cardboard and tin.

What I really wanted to do, but failed to achieve in a realistic looking way, was to make Vince Neil’s arm gauntlet.Β  He had this wrist piece that appeared to have a crossbow bolt launcher on it.Β  It looked lethal!Β  Though I tried, I couldn’t make anything that looked quite like it.

Bob was also working on a jean jacket project, with buttons and a huge back patch of Iron Maiden’s Powerslave.Β  Buying a back patch was an important component of the jacket.Β  He had to pick a cool image that meant a lot to him, because it would be his identity, at least from behind!Β  The only thing people would know about him from behind was that he liked whatever band his back patch was.Β  The Powerslave choice was perfect.Β  When Bob eventually outgrew the jacket, he took the back patch off and sewed it to the front of his guitar amp.Β  That he blunted the sound of the amp wasn’t the issue — looking cool was the point.Β  At least he got a lot of mileage out of that patch.

Meanwhile we’d drink as much apple juice as we could, to gather more raw materials for our precious projects.Β  A soup tin, for example, could be carved into the shape of a ninja star.Β  Scouring our recycling bins for more, we would create our little weapons and throw them at trees, trying to get them to stick.Β  In the summer of 1985 we had an entire arsenal made of tin.Β  Each throwing star was only good for one or two throws before they were blunted and deformed.Β  Bob got the idea to buy throwing knives instead…improvised throwing knives.

We went to the Zellers store, bought a set of the cheapest possible kitchen paring knives, took them home and threw them at trees.Β  A paring knife would last longer than a soup tin throwing star, but not by much.

Hey, give us some credit!Β  We didn’t steal mom’s knives and wreck them.Β  We bought our own!

It was an innocent time, but we’d heard that the cops would give you a warning if you were downtown wearing spikes.Β  Not studs, but spikes — the pointy kind.Β  So we kept to our neighbourhood with the juice tin sawblades and throwing stars.Β  I can remember one Sunday, riding my bike solo with my juice tin sawblades on.Β  I ran into a kid I knew who had a good laugh at me.Β  I never wore them again.Β  They were pretty haggard.

You can imagine how silly we looked, riding around on our BMX bikes with studded wrist bands that smelled like soup.Β  Short-haired boys with just a tiny fringe of growth at the back.Β  “Leave the back long,” we’d tell the barbers though they never did.Β  “I have to cut off the dead ends,” they’d respond.Β  And you’d come out of the salon with short hair again.

You know, mom and dad used to give me a hard time about the way I looked, but thinking back they probably had good reason!

 

#833: Introduction to the 1986 Saga

GETTING MORE TALE #833: Introduction to the 1986 Saga

Upon reflection, I don’t think any year was more pivotal in my life, personally and musically, than 1986.Β  When I finally posted the “lost chapter” about 1986 a couple years ago (over 5000 words!), I thought I had said everything I had to say about that year.Β  I was wrong.

A few weeks ago I started writing more chapters from that period, reliving the music, sometimes trauma.Β  There was a lot still to unpack.Β  The Catholic school years were not pleasant.Β  After writing a particularly raw chapter (to be called “Flag Boy”), I received some really good advice.Β  “Have you ever tried writing a letter to your younger self?”

The idea is to show kindness to your inner child.Β  While I was familiar with the concept, doing it myself had never occurred me to.Β  That’s not the kind of writing that I do.Β  But what if I could frame it in such a way so that it is the kind of writing that I do?

In a caffeine-fuelled two-hour spurt I wrote a story, including the letter, which flowed out of me like a stream.Β  I played the very same albums while writing that I played back then.Β  Emotions were happening so I had to stop a couple times.Β  By the end of it I was completely spent.Β  It was not only a therapeutic experience, but I also pushed my abilities past their normal boundaries.Β  The end result is a story I am so proud of that I’ve chosen to publish it, even though that wasn’t the original intent.Β  I chose “me, 1986” as the younger self to write to and so it only makes sense to include this work as part of the series.

The 1986 Saga currently stands at five chapters, with the letter as the centerpiece.Β  Music exists as an important component to every part of this journey.Β  Rock music.Β  Hard rock music.

I hope it’s not too much of a downer.Β  Some chapters are funny, and I made sure the SagaΒ has an upbeat and optimistic ending.Β  And so it should.Β  I’m still breathing, right?Β  I’m still rocking and rolling, keeping on keeping on, and doing my part to spread the rock to every corner of the globe.

Including the previously published lost chapter “1986”, this series will make it a total over 11,000 words on the subject.Β  If this were a proper book like an autobiography I would have weaved them together into a single chapter, but the nature of online publishing means you get the instant gratification of posting piece by piece any time you want.Β  The end result feels more like a “work in progress”, but I get to put everything out now and feel that satisfaction from it.

Because everything has to connect back to music, we’ll be revisiting early love of W.A.S.P., Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Spinal Tap, and of course, Kiss.Β  Music helped me survive that year, and hopefully by the end of the 1986 Saga you will understand how.

THE 1986 SAGA

VIDEOS: Star Wars Black Series 2020 Vignettes (Parts One and Two) – Kathryn Ladano β€œMasked” and “Contentions”

PART ONEΒ (Vignettes I – VI)

PART TWO (Vignettes VII – XIII)

Lockdown got ya bored? Not me! Today I’m playing with my Star Wars guys.

 

Live Stream – “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” RUSH albums & more! – Saturday May 16

Missed the May 16 live stream? No problem. Watch LeBrain and special guest Uncle Meat below, discussing favourite Rush albums. Then LeBrain dives into Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath singles, and finally makes a surprise purchase live on the stream! We also pay tribute to Fred Willard who passed away at age 86. We’ll miss you Fred.

There has been an audio lag issue with the Facebook live streams which looks like an issue that happens when one person leaves during a split screen.Β  Going forward I will either have to reboot the stream at that point or use another platform.Β  Apologies for the audio lag.Β  Enjoy the show.

 

Sunday Chuckle: Sh*tface

Uncle Meat likes to (teasingly) call me “Bum Face” during my live streams.Β  However the fact is I am now a Shit Face.Β  Look at this mask that Mrs. LeBrain bought for me.Β  Typical, eh?Β  I can’t get no respect!

 

Saturday Live Stream: 6:00 PM E.S.T – No Theme, Just Stream!

No theme, just stream!Β Β Stuff planned for this week:

  • Oddball releases
  • New arrivals
  • Cassette singles
  • Coffee
  • Special guests
  • Pants optional

Weather and technology permitting, I may do this live stream outdoors.Β  Change of scenery!

6:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.Β  Facebook:Β  Michael Ladano

 

REVIEW: Ozzy Osbourne – Live at Budokan (2002)

OZZY OSBOURNE – Live at Budokan (2002 Sony)

Ozzy’s last paint-by-numbers live album was almost two decades ago.Β  In actuality, you really only need a live one with Randy Rhoads and you’re golden.Β  But if you’re in the mood for downtuned Ozzy songs, Live at Budokan might be the way to go.

While the new rhythm section of Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Rob Trujillo (Metallica) do have a positive impact on the sound, Zakk Wylde is tiring.Β  His constant divebombing all over Randy’s composition “I Don’t Know” just rubs the wrong way.Β  Then it’s an unremarkable song called “That I Never Had” from Down to Earth.Β  The most enjoyable thing about it is actually Zakk’s backing vocal.

Ozzy spaces out old songs with new ones so sleep doesn’t take you too soon.Β  “Believer” is a nice inclusion, since we’ve never had a version of it with Zakk on guitar.Β  There’s a novelty to it for that reason, so it’s notable.Β  A crap new song called “Junkie” acts as filler before “Mr. Crowley”.Β  They used to have an acronym in Star Trek that they would paint on pipes and conduits on the Enterprise:Β  “GNDN”.Β  Goes nowhere, does nothing.Β  That’s “Junkie”.Β  And “Crowley” just drags.

The last of the new songs here is “Gets Me Through”; the single, you know the one.Β  The one with the hilariously unimaginative lyric “I’m not the kind of person you think I am, I’m not the Antichrist or the Iron Man”.Β  We sure do miss Bob Daisley’s lyrical touch.Β  “Gets Me Through” might be the most paint-by-numbers of any Ozzy track since Zakk joined the band.

Get ready for a whole shit-ton of No More Tears stuff, as Ozzy rolls out four of ’em.Β  The title track is still great and doesn’t strain Ozzy as much as the earlier songs.Β  “Mama I’m Coming Home”, well sure, it has its fans.Β  “I Don’t Want to Change the World” is still a yawn and “Road to Nowhere” fares well.Β  The crowd sure loves ’em, those familiar hits.Β  They go nuts for “Crazy Train” which just doesn’t sound right tuned down like this.Β  Same with “Bark at the Moon”.Β  Ozzy closes with the only Sabbath track on the disc, “Paranoid”.Β  The double tracked vocals are obvious and annoyingly artificial sounding.Β  It’s cool hearing the Faith No More style of drumming all over it though.Β  Mike Bordin is a tremendous talent but was he the right guy for Ozzy Osbourne?

As the most unessential of all Ozzy releases, Live at Budokan should really be the last one to add to your collection.Β  If you care, it was available with two covers:Β  red printing, and black printing.Β  For extra pain, you could also go for DVD.Β  Best track:Β  “Believer”.

1/5 stars

 

#832: This Is Spinal Tap

GETTING MORE TALE #832: This Is Spinal Tap

I can admit it.Β  I was only 13 years old, and I thought Spinal Tap were a real band.

How was I to know?Β  A lot of media surrounding Spinal Tap took them seriously.Β  When MuchMusic’s J.D. Roberts interviewed Ronnie James Dio about the Hear N’ Aid project in 1986, he played it straight.Β  David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap appear on the track “Stars”, which Ronnie produced.

Roberts:Β  “I think that one of the great coups of Hear N’ Aid, and I think you’ll have to agree with me, was having David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls of Spinal Tap enter the project.”

Dio:Β  “Yeah that was a real special moment. I must tell you that there was a little consternation on the part of some of the people who did not turn up, who were asked to take part in ‘Stars’, that the inclusion of those two people, or anyone from Spinal Tap, made this project a laughing stock.Β  I’d like to be able to reply to anyone who thinks that’s a valid point.Β  Again, we are human beings.Β  And part of human nature is to laugh.Β  Probably the nicest part of human nature is to laugh.Β  And these are two wonderful people who made us laugh, not only in this project, but in Spinal Tap.”

Even though Dio actually broke the wall for a moment and entered the “real” world with his answer, Roberts shot right back into the fictional world with his followup question.Β  Dio played along this time.

Roberts:Β  “It’s a good thing, as Derek says, that you didn’t let them do the lead vocal, because they would have blown everybody away.”

Dio:Β  “Well they did a lot of singing when the tape wasn’t rolling, and they were better than all of us.Β  And they happen to both be the best guitar players I’ve ever heard too.”

Never mind that Derek plays bass!

Shortly after the interview rolled, Much played the video for “Hell Hole” and I had a chance to hear Spinal Tap for myself.Β  Yeah, that blonde guy could sing.Β  It was a decent song.Β  I expected something heavier — more thrash like.Β  Maybe the reason I hadn’t heard of them was they were a thrash band?Β  If they were so highly praised by Ronnie James Dio, I couldn’t understand why I never heard of them.Β  I didn’t have much to go on either.

According to the Dio interview, there were some unnamed rock stars who felt that Spinal Tap would turn Hear N’ Aid into a “laughing stock”.Β  Why?Β  I turned various scenarios over in my head.Β  Were they satanic?Β  Well, they had a song called “Hell Hole” and there was a big demon skull head in the backdrop, but that didn’t make them satanists.Β  Just what was the story exactly with this Spinal Tap?

They did seem arrogant in the Hear N’ Aid “making of” video.

David St. Hubbins:Β  “They asked us to do the leads, but like I said before, I didn’t wanna blow these other blokes away, you know.Β  I’ve been doing this a lot longer than they have.Β  I’ve got pipes I haven’t used yet.Β  Haven’t located them yet.”

Derek Smalls:Β  “He could break the board in there.Β  It’s really an act of mercy to the engineers that he doesn’t sing lead.”

Arrogant yes, but…St. Hubbins has been doing this this a lot longer than they have?Β  Just why haven’t I heard of Spinal Tap before?Β  Analysing the video for “Hell Hole” revealed little.Β  Yes, there was a comedic slant to it, but the song actually rocked.Β  Other bands put comedy in their music videos too, like Twisted Sister.Β  There was no reason whatsoever to suspect the truth.

The only real clue that I had was when Dio briefly mentioned a film.Β  There, the trail went cold.Β  Never heard of it, never seen it, didn’t know anybody who did.Β  It was a couple more years before I eventually put the story together.Β  While continuing my education in KISStory, I learned that their film, Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, was shown in a double bill with This Is Spinal Tap for a limited run.Β  This happened in England, a β€œHeadbanging double feature”, around October 1984.*Β  I began to read names like “Michael McKean” and “Harry Shearer”.Β  Eventually a highschool friend named Andy recommended that I see the movie ASAP so I rented a copy from Steve’s TV.

The truth is, I did not like This In Spinal Tap the first time I saw it.Β  I didn’t laugh.Β  It certainly wasn’t a gleeful rock and roll comedy, as I watched the hard times roll out one after another.Β  But then the next day back at school, talking about it with Andy, I started to get the jokes.

“…and then when they’re stuck in those pods for ‘Rock and Roll Creation’ and the bassist can’t get out…they have to bring out a blowtorch…” said Andy.

“Oh yeah, that was pretty funny actually.Β  You know what part I did like, was when they were lost in the basement trying to find the stage.Β  Did you notice Billy Crystal was the mime?Β  Mime is money!”

I finally got it.Β Β I rented it again, and this time I dubbed a copy for myself.Β  I understood Rob Reiner’s role in the concept and recognized the actors from other roles.Β  Christopher Guest, the other singer, was Count Rugen in The Princess Bride, only one of the greatest movies ever made.Β  Also directed by Rob Reiner!Β  I watched Spinal Tap again, and again.Β  I think I had a new favourite movie!

There’s no shame in admitting being fooled by Spinal Tap.Β  That was the whole point, wasn’t it?Β  Otherwise the band wouldn’t have continued doing interviews in character.Β  The idea was to always keep it believable enough that you can fool a small minority.

My dad used to say, “If that band is just a bunch of actors, then I guess it doesn’t take much talent to play rock and roll.”Β  But my dad missed something then, that he now understands.Β  Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest are actually excellent musicians on multiple instruments.Β  And that is why Spinal Tap was so believable.Β  When Nignel Tufnel rips a solo in the video for “Hell Hole”, it looks right because Christopher Guest performed that solo.Β  You know, maybe Spinal Tap should be considered a real band after all!

 

 

 

* Thank you Dale Sherman for that detail!

REVIEW: Loudness – Masters of Loudness (1996)

LOUDNESS – Masters of Loudness (1996 Warner Japan, 2010 Wounded Bird reissue)

By 1996, Loudness already had three singers, 11 studio albums, and numerous EPs, compilations and live records.Β  15 years on from their debut album The Birthday Eve, it was time for an anthology.Β  Masters of Loudness is made up of 29 tracks (eight live ones) including all singers and all eras.Β  It uses Japanese mixes of some songs, different from their US counterparts, and what appears to be one exclusive new tune.

How the mixture is balanced can only be determined by a solid listen.

The original Loudness commences the anthology, which is mostly in chronological order but not entirely.Β  Minoru Niihara has always been a hell of a singer, and his melodic singing helps make “Angel Dust” accessible as a speed metal rocker can be.Β  Like a cross between vintage Scorpions and Priest, pedal fully to the floor.Β  It doesn’t matter that most of the words are in Japanese.Β  From the excellent Disillusion album, “Dream Fantasy” is included in all its Maiden-esque glory.Β  Not “Crazy Doctor” though — Masters of Loudness chooses to include some of the biggest and best songs in live form instead.Β  This is an unfortunate though popular strategy used on numerous anthologies and it is a win/lose proposition.Β  In the “win” column, it breaks up monotony, represents more releases, and allows you to hear lesser-known versions of popular songs.Β  On the other side of the coin, it means you don’t get the best known versions of the best songs.Β  You get, frankly, inferior versions of possibly the only songs you know.Β  And that’s why it’s unfortunate.

The third track “Speed” is one such live inclusion, from 1983’s Live-Loud-Alive.Β  It does allow you to hear how hot Loudness were on stage so early in their career.Β  The entire Thunder in the East album is bafflingly skipped over.Β  It is possible, from the Japanese perspective, that Thunder in the East is not as significant as it is here.Β  Instead we jump ahead to 1986’s Shadows of War (released here as Lightning Strikes) and 1987’s Hurricane Eyes.Β  The Japanese mix of “Let It Go”, their most commercial track, is notably different.Β  The vocals are more distant and there are additional shouts and bits of guitar included.Β  The US mix was more streamlined and polished for radio.Β  “Shadows of War” and “S.D.I.” are also Japanese mixes each awesome in its own right.Β  “Shadows of War” just has the vibe, right in the middle of darkness and light.Β  Meanwhile “S.D.I.” is an iconic thrash that goes down easy thanks to Minoru Niihara’s vocal prowess.

This anthology skips past the final release with Niihara (1988’s Jealousy EP) and picks up with new vocalist Mike Vescera, their first and only American member.Β  Strangely the first Vescera track is “Slap in the Face” which is actually from his last release with the band, a 1991 EP.Β  It’s biting and heavy, but the loss of Minoru Niihara changed not only the voice of Loudness, but also their identity.Β  Where they used to sound uniquely Japanese, Vescera made them sound like a band from anywhere.Β  He was and is a great singer with grit and remarkable range and power.Β  He could certainly take on Minoru in terms of vocal ability.Β  But they sounded less like Loudness.Β  That said, “Slap in the Face” is a heavy stomper that was perfectly in line with the direction bands like Metallica and Megadeth were going in the early 90s.

“You Shook Me” (their biggest track with Vescera) and “Demon Disease” represent 1989’s Soldier of Fortune album which still has a cult following.Β  Loudness only made two albums with Mike, and that era is unfortunately weighted too heavily on this set.Β  Nothing against the songs themselves, but this brief period gets far more disc time than all of the Niihara era.

Mike’s final Loudness album was 1991’s On the Prowl which mixed new material and new English re-recordings of selections from some of the older Japanese albums.Β  One of the new ones, “Down N’ Dirty” is predictably a stumble.Β  It sounds like some sassy band from Hollywood, not a band with the regal history of Loudness.Β  Trying to sound like Poison?Β  Perhaps.Β  At least “In the Mirror” and “Sleepless Nights” sound like Loudness, and they should, being re-recordings of the same songs from The Law of Devil’s Island.Β  Truthfully, Vescera sounds heroic here, like a true metal warrior come to rid the town of its evil.

A trio of live tracks with Vescera singing close off the first disc.Β  At the time of release these would have been considered rarities, but in 2009 a full live album with Vescera was issued called Live Loudest at the Budokan ’91.Β  These are cool live tracks and help fill in some songs that were missing from earlier.Β  The power ballad “Never Enough” is a remake of an old B-side called “Silent Sword”.Β  The cheese factor is cranked up, but let’s face it, this is the kind of song people were having hits with until grunge changed that forever.Β  Akira Takasaki’s guitar solo is delectable.Β  Then finally it’s “Crazy Doctor”, possibly the best riff that Akira ever wrote.Β  Vescera has no issues with the notes or the power necessary to deliver them effectively.Β  Finally the CD ends with a live cut of the very first song from the very first album:Β  “Loudness”.Β  It’s quite good and an excellent showcase of Mike’s abilities, not to mention the extended Takasaki solo, a composition until itself, where he shows Eddie Van Halen how guitar tapping is done.

Loudness changed once again, when Mike Vescera bailed to join Yngwie J. Malmsteen.Β  They also lost original bassist Masayoshi Yamashita at this time.Β  The second CD (mostly) represents the Masaki Yamada (E-Z-O) era of Loudness, their current singer at the time of release.Β  With that in context, you can understand why so much time is dedicated to Masaki, who only had two Loudness studio albums under his belt so far.

The first Masaki, 1992’s Loudness, has five of its ten tracks represented here.Β  They selected five of the best:Β  “Pray for the Dead”, “Slaughter House”, “Black Widow”, “Hell Bites”, and “Firestorm”.Β  By and large, the new Loudness was focused on heavy grooves.Β  Banging heads was a priority once again.Β  “Firestorm” thrashes as fast and heavy and any vintage Loudness classic.Β  The big difference was Masaki’s clearly noncommercial voice.Β  Unlike Vescera or even Minoru, you can’t really imagine Masaki’s songs on the radio.Β  It was, however, the 1990s, and Masaki was able to harness the altera-heavy going on at that time.

From the 1994 live album Once and For All, “Waking the Dead” is included, another song from the first Masaki album.Β  Then finally it’s “Crazy Night”, Loudness’ biggest and most beloved hit from Thunder in the East.Β  Strangely though, instead of the Masaki live version from Once and For All, we are back to Mike Vescera again.Β  It’s a fine version indeed, but this confusion could have been avoided by just putting the studio version on CD 1.Β  It’s probably confusing for the listener to be bouncing around from one singer to another.

There are four songs from the second Masaki album, 1994’s Heavy Metal Hippies.Β  This is when Loudness started their real 1990s evolution, focusing less on metal and loosely expanding into other styles.Β  They also lost two more members at this point.Β  Bassist Taiji Sawada, who replaced Masayoshi Yamashita in 1992, was out and Akira played bass on Heavy Metal Hippies.Β  Original drummer Munetaka Higuchi also left and was replaced by E-Z-O drummer Hirotsugu Homma.Β  By the numbers, at this point Loudness was actually more E-Z-O.Β  The change is audible in the music, still heavy, but less melodic and more modern (“Howling Rain” being an exception).Β  Though Heavy Metal Hippies was released only in Japan, they still managed to get a metal big namer to produce:Β  Chris Tsangarides.

The Loudness lineup solidified once more with bassist Naoto Shibata, who appears on the live tracks “Desperation, Desecration” and “S.D.I” from 1995’s Loud ‘n’ Raw.Β  Yes, “S.D.I.” is the only song to appear twice on this anthology.Β  Why “S.D.I.”?Β  Why not.Β  It’s important to have live versions of old classics, but with the new singer at the microphone.Β  Unfortunately in a comparison between Masaki and Minoru, Minoru wins.Β  He wrote the song for his own voice, and Masaki’s growly style is barely compatible.

Masters of Loudness saved the best for last:Β  “Master of the Highway”, an excellent song that seems to be an exclusive.Β  It puts the focus right onto the riff, a sharp Takasaki blitz of six-string chunk.Β  Masaki has never sounded so menacing as when growling this tune.

Black stars!
Coming down.
Power!
Pedal to the metal.
Night rider,
Machines of steel.
I am the master! Master of the highway!
Yeah yeah! Oh yeah!

As Masaki tears off through the “demon night”, he only turns up the menace further.Β  “You’re with the master!Β  Master of the highway!”Β  Akira then lays down a face melter of a solo, and before you can get back up, it’s all over.

Rare is the single track that is worth buying a 2 CD anthology just to get, but there it is.

It would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall and to know exactly what the thinking process is in making a release like this.Β  How was each track decided upon?Β  Why was there a Mike Vescera version of “Crazy Night” right in the middle of a disc that is otherwise entirely Masaki Yamada material?Β  Did somebody higher up say “Nope, we need a melodic version of the song, put on an earlier one”?Β  And why live versions of such big hits anyway?

Masters of Loudness can be broken down this way:

  • Suffers from too many live substitutions.
  • Minimizes the Minoru Niihara era in favour of later singers.
  • Breaks chronological order twice.

But it can also be said that Masters of LoudnessΒ has:

  • 29 awesome Loudness tracks.
  • One really smoking “new” track in “Master of the Highway”.
  • A representative slice of every Loudness lineup from 1981-1996.

As always, cost will be a factor and Japanese imports are rarely cheap.Β  If you can afford it, it’s worth picking up Masters of Loudness and of course, playing it loud.

3.5/5 stars