Author: mikeladano

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

REVIEW: Trailer Park Boys – Season 8 (Netflix)

NEW RELEASE

TRAILER PARK BOYS – Season 8 (2014 Netflix)

Thank Santa’s tits! It was with tremendous joy that I watched the long-awaited Season 8 from the Trailer Park Boys this past weekend. I watched five episodes on Saturday night, and five more Sunday morning. Then on Monday, I re-watched my favourite episode, “Orangie’s Pretty Fuckin’ Tough”. As a long time fan, to say that I am pleased is an understatement. I am thrilled. Knowing in advance that a couple characters weren’t coming back (Ray and Trevor are no longer on the show), everything I wanted out of the show was there. There are even a couple new characters, who look like they may be important in the already finished Season 9.

TPB2

As if there was no pause at all, Season 8 feels like classic Trailer Park Boys, immediately. Some new characters are introduced, such as Don, who joins Randy as the new Assistant Supervisor. “Officer Highcock”, another new face, is no George Green. He’s smart. But fear not, George Green is back too, although Lahey is approaching retirement.

Trinity is tending bar at Julian’s new in-park club/gym, “The Dirty Dancer”. Bubbles is building his “Shed & Breakfast” for humans and cats. Julian and Ricky have numerous schemes on the go. Ricky’s growing dope at a mad rate, and refining it into honey oil, by special order of Sebastian Bach. He’s also realized that he can use hash as currency almost anywhere: on the bus, at the hardware store, or the dentist’s office. Seems just about everybody accepts Ricky’s $2 hash coins!

There’s also plenty of shady horsecockery. Cyrus and Sam Losco are working together again, and they want to buy the park and bulldoze it to the ground. The only solution is for Julian and Barb Lahey to work together to keep it. Needing capital, Julian sets into motion businesses and schemes galore. Steve Rogers returns for a hell of a bachelor party at Julian’s bar, attracting the attention of the cops.

ORANGIE

Ricky’s life is complicated by some unexpected news. The only thing holding him together is Orangie.  My buddy Chris and I agree on this:   the best element of Season 8 has to be Ricky’s goldfish, Orangie.  Ricky loves to party with him, and takes him everywhere in a bowl with ORANGIE scrawled on it in magic marker.  Ricky’s car now has a sun roof (of sorts), which functions as Orangie’s swimming pool after it rains.  Ricky wakes one morning to find Orangie unresponsive:  “Orangie, you finally passed out in the pool, did you buddy?”  When Bubbles asks what happened, Ricky explains: “We got fucked up on hash tokes and shooters.   Orangie’s pretty fucking tough.  Woke up this morning with my fucking pants down and my hands on my cock, thanks to Orangie.”  Now it’s up to Bubbles to replace Orangie before Ricky realizes the fish is dead.  As if minding a goldfish isn’t enough, Ricky also decides to turn his trailer into a hockey rink.

Bubbles’ doesn’t have it easy either. Due to a complex series of events regarding Steve Rogers, hookers, crabs, and Bubbles’ shed(s), he goes nucking futs at a drug store and is sentenced to community service. Where Ricky has Orangie for support, Bubbles turns to his new puppets…Bobby Turkelino, and little Ricky! And you know what happens when you mix Bubbles and puppets.

The story arc in this season was hilarious, with only one dud in the bunch (I’ll let you figure out which).  Some story points hint at what may be coming in Season 9, and that has me anticipating more hilarity.  Hopefully, Orangie will make an appearance in Season 9.  With a few more trips to the pet store, Bubbles should be able to make that happen.  Trailer Park Boys is off to a hell of a new start, and with the progress made in Season 8, I see no need to stop.

4.5/5 stars

Review by LeBrain with contributions from Chris Thuss.

My series of Trailer Park Boys TV reviews:

IMG_20140712_183919Part one: Seasons 1 & 2
Part two: Season 3
Part three: Season 4
Supplimental: “Dear Santa Claus, Go Fuck Yourself”
Part four: Season 5
Part five: Season 6
Part six: Season 7
Part seven: “Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys”

VIDEOS: The Cottage in the Woods 3

WARNING:  These videos contain 0% Rock.  However the water was nice and choppy this past weekend.  In addition, I saw a cute family of ducks surfing near their nest!

“SURFIN’ BIRD!”

Enjoy the videos below.

See also:

RECORD STORE TALES Part 308: The Cottage in the Woods
The Cottage in the Woods 2

REVIEW: Deadline – Deadline (1992)

DEADLINE – Deadline (1992 Deadline Productions)

DEADLINE_0008Old school adherents of the classic Pepsi Power Hour may remember the video for “Donna (Do You Wanna)” by Sarnia Ontario’s Deadline.  This self-titled mini-album was not their first release, they did have an indi cassette before this.  Their 1992 CD debut was impressive quality for the period.  “Friction Addiction” (heard in re-recorded form on Raw M.E.A.T 3) is a cool, innovative hard rock number with a funky lead vocal.  The guys were all musically and vocally talented:  the Wood brothers Tim and Tom (vocals and drums respectively), Paul Albert (bass), and Shawn Meehan (guitars).  “Friction Addition” was exactly the kind of song that could have become a hit in 1992.  It was still upbeat, good-time hard rock, but with modern elements that the 1990’s demanded.

“Donna” sounds like an outtake from Extreme’s first album, a bit dated now.  It’s a nice shuffle complete with harmonica blasts, and fans of that old time hard rock will still like it.  The juvenile lyrics however are way below the quality of the music and playing.  “Nothing Left to Lose” is a somber ballad, a cross between Europe’s “Tomorrow” and Dokken’s “Alone Again”.  Bassist Paul Albert is credited as the pianist on the track.

DEADLINE_0001“Imagine That” is one of those early 90’s Ugly Kid Funk Metal™ tracks.  Paint a visual picture and you’ll probably be pretty close.  Regardless of the dated sound, it is still a pretty fun song.  Following that is the less-funky “Do You Believe”, a fun hard rocker that even quotes “Bomehian Rhapsody”.  How 1992!  Once again, Extreme comparisons are apt.  Slaughter too, especially vocally.  “Set Your Sails” is the “inspirational” track.  You always had to have one of those, didn’t you?  As such it’s upbeat and plenty good.  The tricky guitar solo reminds me of Richie Kotzen in style.

The CD ends with the jokey acoustic jam, “I Hate Workin'”.  It has that old Van Halen vibe of the “drunken party” in the background, and the singalong chorus.  Their hearts were the right place, but the song is a bit on the corny side.  Still, for a first CD?  Not bad at all.

After this the band released an EP called So This is Limbo and an album called Tangible Vibe.  These releases had a marked change of direction.  Guitar solos were chopped and songs shortened; as the 90’s progressed so they did, right into pop punk.  Both are pretty good releases, but we’ll have to look at them another time.  Deadline, the debut, scores a respectable:

3/5 stars

Incidentally, this CD will not rip on any machine.  No computer will play it, only an actual CD player.  I have had that problem with a few Canadian made CDs from the early 90’s.

From M.E.A.T Magazine

From M.E.A.T Magazine

Part 318: The Last of the Emails

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RECORD STORE TALES Part 318: The Last of the Emails

I’ve been sitting on this installment of Record Store Tales for months.  I couldn’t post it without heavily editing it.  The emails in question are too raw and emotional for me so I had to edit them down for public consumption.   But these emails are relevant, as we wind down our story.  They highlight exactly how bad it got for me and why leaving was my only option.

The whole ending has been really difficult to finish as it is.  I’ve been delaying and delaying, not wanting to look at it.  Part of that is the pain associated with the whole period.  The other has been that the Record Store Tales have been so fun and I don’t want it to end.

These truly are the last of the emails, the barrel is now all but dry.

9/13/05

Work just called, I FUCKING HATE WHEN WORK CALLS.  They lost somebody’s CDs.  They were RIGHT THERE yesterday.  They ask, “Did you move them?”  No, I did not.  The only person who could have is you.  Now I have THIS to deal with.  I’m pissed off that something so simple gets fucked up even though I left everything extremely clear.  AND I AM PISSED THAT I WILL CATCH HELL FOR IT!  I’m annoyed every day.  And I only get one more hour of peace and quiet at home before I have to go in and deal with bullshit for 8 hours. :(

11/25/05

I have to admit that I am depressed today.  The idea of dragging my ass to work is killing me.  I can’t do another Christmas.  I don’t know what to do.  I want to quit.  Of course I know what a bad idea that is but I’m dying inside.  I can’t even eat.  I just want to quit, say goodbye, leave, dedicate all my energies to finding a new job.  I mean, who am I kidding?  Someone calls me for a job, and we play phone tag for days because I’m never home during business hours.  And then when do I schedule an interview when I’m always working?  It’s impossible.  I don’t know what to do.

12/06/05

This has been the worst Christmas season so far, it has been really difficult to put a smile on my face and put any effort into work.  I need out so bad.

You can see I was fraying at the ends.  It feels like…a different person.

REVIEW: Queen + Paul Rodgers – Live in Ukraine (2009 CD/DVD)

 

QUEEN PAUL UKRAINE_0001QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS – Live in Ukraine (2009 Hollywood 2 CD/1 DVD set)

The show was dubbed “Life Must Go On”, with funds raised going to AIDS research.  Queen had never played in Ukraine before.  350,000 people would be in attendance at the gig, which also functioned as Queen’s tour kick-off.  No pressure.

The massive 28 song setlist consisted of Queen classics augmented by Free and Bad Company tunes, and songs from Queen + Paul Rodgers’ studio album The Cosmos Rocks. The stage has two huge screens on the sides, and an even bigger one behind.  A taped intro to “One Vision” leads to the band taking over with a rapturous entrance.  There is also a center ramp that takes the members right into the crowd.  I have always liked Paul’s slant on Freddy’s songs.  He’s not the same singer, not in the slightest, so the vocals lines change organically and it works.  Unfortunately “One Vision” is shortened so as to lead into “Tie Your Mother Down” which is right up Paul’s alley.  Brian and Roger do their share of the backing vocals, and it sounds pretty Queen-like.  (The live band is rounded out by longtime sideman Spike Edney (keyboards), Danny Miranda (bass) and Jamie Moses (backing guitar.))

QUEEN PAUL UKRAINE_0007“The Show Must Go On” came early in the set, and Paul really poured everything into it.  Even with his “cool biker’ stage look, he had the crowd in the palm of his hands, especially when twirling that mike stand over his head.  “Fat Bottom Girls” sounds a little odd without Freddy, but Paul manages.   Of course Brian and Roger do their part to help.

I found “Another One Bites the Dust” to stumble awkwardly, as I anxiously awaited the song to end so we can get on with it.  “Hammer to Fall” is vastly better, and this flows cleanly into “I Want it All”.  Brian smiles away as Paul commands the song in his own way.  “I Want to Break Free” works better than you’d think, and Brian’s guitar is sublime.

At this point of the show, Brian introduces Paul to the crowd, who then sings Bad Company’s “Seagull” acoustically.  This is a show highlight, as Paul occupies that ramp in the middle of the crowd.  Paul then introduces Brian as the “greatest guitar player in the universe” (I won’t argue), who does “Love of My Life” solo acoustically on a 12 string.  Brian’s sweet voice is augmented by 350,000 others.  Brian then invites Roger and his bass drum up the ramp with him, and they do “’39” together, possibly my favourite Queen song ever.  But it’s just a fake-out; Brian invites the backing musicians to join them and “’39” is fully fleshed out.  It’s funny seeing all five musicians out on that tiny platform in the middle of the crowd, but what a treat for those down there!

Roger Taylor is left on stage with Danny Miranda, and they proceed to play his electric upright bass with drum sticks.  This turns into a medley of famous Queen basslines, all played with sticks.  Nonsense aside, Roger is left to solo on his scaled-down portable kit.  This jazzy solo is another solo highlight, as Roger demonstrates his underrated skills on the traps.  As the solo progresses, his drum tech gradually sets up a full kit around Roger.  By the end of it, Roger breaks into “I’m in Love With My Car” with the whole band.

QUEEN PAUL UKRAINE_0005Finally Paul Rodgers returns to the stage for the latter half of “Say it’s Not True”, a stunning ballad for Freddy.  Halfway through the set now, and this is the first new song.  With Paul back, they decide to do a couple more of his songs:  “Shooting Star” and “Bad Company” (Paul on piano for “Bad Company”).  Both sound great with Queen; the guys’ backing vocals work perfectly, and the crowd clearly knows them.  During “Bad Company”, a slide show of that band runs on the giant screens.

May is front and center for his guitar solo, and the crowd loves every note of it.  This solo goes into “Bijou” from Innuendo, featuring the pre-recorded image and voice of Freddy Mercury.  This then leads into “Last Horizon” from Brian’s solo album, Back to the Light.  Unfortunately this appears to be the part of the show during which one would leave to urinate.  “Bijou” and “Last Horizon” are both great, but it’s too much slooow soloing for too long.  The bit only starts to come to life when guitarist Jamie Moses joins Brian for a harmony lead.

QUEEN PAUL UKRAINE_0006Paul straps on an acoustic for a laid back version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” which degenerates into guitar noodling.  Finally comes Queen’s “new” single “C-lebrity” which is a song I like a lot.  It boasts a solid rock riff and a great performance by Paul Rodgers.  Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and the song everyone had been waiting for, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, follow.  Both songs fail to really combine the elements of Queen + Paul Rodgers fully.  “Feel Like Makin’ Love” is a little too sweet when performed by Queen, and “Bohemian” is done with the recorded image and voice of Freddy singing the song.  The crowd doesn’t seem to mind, but it doesn’t work for me.  Paul only shows up for the heavy part at the end.

Fortunately one more new song was played: “Cosmos Rockin'”.  I wish there were more.  Yes there are a lot of songs to be played, but surely a solo could be cut in order to play more new material.  It feels as if Queen + Paul Rodgers weren’t even giving the album a chance.  It’s not like radio is going to play it, so you have to play it live.  The song is well received with the crowd jumping and down.  When they sing, “We got the whole house rockin’ to the mighty power of rock n’ roll,” I believe it!  They are dancing and going absolutely nuts!

There are only a few “must-plays” left, and undoubtedly “All Right Now” is one of them.  Paul Rodgers has certainly lost nothing through the years and that riff sounds great coming from Brian May.  And finally, the traditional duo of “We Will Rock You”/”We are the Champions”.  I’ve always felt these highschool rally perennials are probably best experienced live.  It’s a “had to be there” feeling, since these singalongs are probably more fun to experience than to watch.  Although Paul since both songs differently from Freddy, I like his slant on them.

Wikipedia reports (unsourced) that digital download versions of Live in Ukraine contained two bonus tracks:  “Radio Gaga” and “A Kind of Magic”.  I’ve been searching online for years and I’ve never found them available anywhere, so take that with a grain of salt.  Both songs are available live on another Queen + Paul Rodgers album, Return of the Champions.  That album has enough different live material from this one, such as “Can’t Get Enough”, “Wishing Well” and “These are the Days of Our Lives”, that both are worth owning.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: My Wicked Twin – Decibel Music (2008)

MY WICKED TWIN – Decibel Music (2008 MWT)

Helix fans take note, since My Wicked Twin was 3/4 composed of former members of that band.  Brent Doerner and his twin brother Brian first joined Helix in 1975-76, and both were members of that band more than once.  Brent in particular clocked in a couple decades total in Helix.   Brian spent a few years touring and recorded with Saga as well.  Joining them on bass is Mike Uzelac aka “Uzi”, who played and wrote on their Capitol Records debut No Rest for the Wicked (1983).  None of these guys seemed to have lost anything with the years.

SHANEMy Wicked Twin evolved from Brent’s first solo outfit, Brent Doerner’s Decibel who released an excellent CD in 2006.  From that earlier incarnation comes guitarist/vocalist Shane Schedler, a talented Kitchener-area musician whom I first met back in the 90’s at the old Record Store.  Needless to say I’m a little biased when it comes to reviewing these guys.  Being objective is the goal, so let’s get on with it!

On first listen it’s clear that Brent has raised the bar. This time there’s more music (12 songs), and it’s noticeably heavier.  At the same time it’s also more diverse, and the production is improved.

I need to single out “Maybe Love” as a particularly outstanding track. When I saw them debut it live in ’07 it was obvious what a great song it was going to be. Its evolved into a superior hard rock song with a melodic vocal and a thoughtful lyric.  There are top-tier rock bands who don’t put out material as good as “Maybe Love” on their albums.  This is a song to be proud of, absolutely.  Brent made a pretty cool video for the song too.

Most of the rest of the album is more raw, and more rock. “All The Action”, with its adventurous melodies, is a highlight. “One Big Bad Whoopie” is a lyric in which Brent shows his sly humour, something that comes frequently on this album. “Decibel City Hall” and “Get Your Game On” are fast boogie rockers a-la-Van-Halen-with-Roth. If you’re a hockey fan, you may have heard “Get Your Game On” before the album came out, as the band submitted it to the CBC for their “Write the new Hockey Night In Canada theme song” contest.  (I prefer it to the selection they finally picked, but hey, it may be a tad too rock n’ roll for Hockey Night In Canada.)

Other standouts include “The Sting I Need” and “Love is What I Lean On”. “Alone Again, Face to Face” is a nocturnal, sneering rocker.  “That Kind of a Love” is a guitar haven within a stunning power ballad.  I tend to use the word “epic” a lot, but it does apply here, especially in the middle when it goes all Zeppelin. As one would expect with musicians of this caliber, the playing is more than competent. Brent and Shane weave cool lick after cool lick, while Brian and Mike groove with nuance. While everything is solidly rock n’ roll, the rhythms are not simplistic, and paying attention to the drums will produce many smiles.

Pick up My Wicked Twin’s Decibel Music, if you’re a fan of rock “the way they used to make it”.  But give it time to grow on you.  Some songs have a lot going on, and not many are instant.  Play it a few times.  You’ll be glad you found this band.  Or, in their words:

“So don’t steal our record,
Cause we gotta eat,
So buy our record,
Satisfies, ’cause we love the taste of meat,
We love the taste of meat!”

I’ve seen the juicy ribs Brent eats, so I’m inclined to agree.

4/5 stars

Gallery: Other Stuff I Collect That Isn’t Music

I collect toys.  Lots of toys.

Part 317: Rival

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RECORD STORE TALES Part 317:  Rival

There were very few people that I had standing orders to kick out if they ever came into the store. Sure, there were some. The Barefoot DJ was to be kicked out if he ever came in without shoes on his feet. The Creepy Twins, a couple of racist identical twin brothers, were to be kicked out if seen. The one that I remember most clearly was the owner of a rival CD chain. He was notable for his coiffed blonde mane. He looked like he was a member of Def Leppard, and still does to this day.  The fear was he would steal ideas for his own store.

That CD chain owner, who I shall dub Mutt Lange, had a longstanding rivalry with my boss, the owner of our stores. Mutt seemed like a total douche.  Just a pompous ass.  When we first started out, we based our pricing scheme on Mutt’s own catalog. He published an annual catalog, which we bought several copies of each year. When we first started creating our own price database, we used Mutt’s as the starting point. That really would have chapped Mutt’s ass if he had known.  I was even sent into Mutt’s locations to buy the newest catalog.  They needed to send someone that wasn’t recognizable.

I recall not really being into Mutt’s stores. I don’t remember ever buying anything there besides the catalogs. T-Rev found some old Saga CDs there, but it wasn’t really my kind of place. A lot of cheap mainstream “Super Saver” CDs, but not a lot of the stuff I was looking for. The catalog was useful, because it not only indicated retail prices, but would tell us if an album was still in print (or not).

My boss also checked out Mutt’s website regularly. I learned a valuable lesson there.

“Look at this,” my boss said while loading up Mutt’s site. “This hasn’t changed in three years. His site is exactly the same. He hasn’t added anything, he hasn’t changed format, or changed the look at all. It looks like a place that isn’t even in business anymore.”  That was a good point, so when we started up our own site, he made sure we gave it a good solid revamp semi-regularly. They’d change the graphics, the layout, and the way the search engines worked. That was probably the best lesson that I learned about e-commerce. Keep changing things up. People have short attention spans, but if it looks like your store is defunct, they’ll probably assume it is.

Back to Mutt himself – I recall seeing that blonde mane walk through my doors one summer day. It was actually T-Rev’s doors; I was filling in for him while he was helping to build a new store. And yeah, I had to kick him out!  Not a fun experience I wanted to repeat!

REVIEW: Tonic – Sugar (1999)

TONIC – Sugar (1999 Universal)

Why did Tonic never make it big? Maybe they didn’t have enough of their own identity, maybe it was the 90’s, maybe it was the “one hit wonder” stigma. Whatever it was, I tweaked onto this band in April of ’96 thanks to a positive review in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record (probably by Robert Reid).  I thought their modern rock take on their classic roots was interesting and full of integrity. Indeed, this band didn’t seem to be about following the flavour of the week, but by reaching back to 70’s rock roots in a modern context.

Sugar, the second album, was the one where it all came together. Not one weak track on the whole bloody CD. The slow songs are sweeter, the hard songs are angrier. Something must have happened to Emerson Hart to really tick him off. Girl problems. From “Knock Down Walls”:  “So don’t tell me that I’ve gone crazy, you’re the one who tried to fucking change me…”  Emmerson also begs the question, “Why do you have to be so fucking mean to me?” on the track “Mean To Me”.

Whatever his inspiration, the anger struck a chord with me. Yet the slow songs like “Waltz With Me” were beautiful, gorgeous, full of love.  It’s not a heavy album, but it rocks and has a level of quality that was often absent in the mainstream rock music of the late 90’s.  Sugar is loaded with layers of electric, slide and acoustic guitars, great drumming, great singing, and relatable lyrics. The songs themselves are packed with variety and quality. Really, this should have been a huge album in 1999, and the biggest hit of Tonic’s career, but they were never trendy. Shame. They deserved more than the one hit.

Highlights:
The whole album, but I especially love “Drag Me Down”, “Mean To Me”, “Knock Down Walls”, “Sugar”, “Future Says Run”, “Waiting For The Light To Change”.

4.5/5 stars