I don’t like Linkin Park too much, but Mrs. LeBrain does so I’ve heard a lot of their albums. I did like their singer Chester Bennington, I thought he had amazing pipes. It was more the rapping and the samples I didn’t like. I always kind of wished Chester was in a band that I liked.
I do like Stone Temple Pilots though, and “Out of Time” sounds like Stone Temple Pilots! It sounds like the young STP, when Weiland could really wail. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Scott’s voice is simply not what it once was, but Chester is in his prime. And the song is great! Solid riff, powerful sound. If it lacks any of Scott’s swagger, the track makes up for it with Chester’s lungs. It’s just great to hear Eric Kretz and Robert & Dean DeLeo rocking behind such a strong song. Album and a tour? Sure. My interest is peaked.
Part 1 of a miniseries on Rob Halford’s solo career!
FIGHT – War of Words (1993 Sony)
I was devastated when Rob Halford left Priest. I was so heavily invested emotionally in the excellent Painkiller album, I couldn’t believe it was over! Last I had heard, the band were going to be working on two new songs for a greatest hits album (Metal Works) and then Rob would take a break to do a solo album. Instead, the band split completely! Halford and drummer extraordinaire Scott Travis formed Fight with guitarists Russ Parish and Brian Tilse, and the bass player from hell, Jay Jay. (Today, Parish goes by the name “Satchel” when he plays with Steel Panther!) Regarding Jay Jay, Halford says that he did a number of Rob’s own tattoos. Rob figured if he could play bass as well he he tattooed, he was in. Jay Jay also does the grunt-metal backing vocals.
The resulting album, War of Words, is a Pantera-esque thrash-fest, one of the heaviest things Rob had ever done (until Halford’s Crucible album), undeniable brutal, scream-laden, and punishing from start to finish. Halford had cleverly assembled two shredding guitar players with differing styles too: Tilse specialized in the noisy speedy solos, while Parrish played the more melodic and traditional speedy solos! War of Words is solo nirvana for fans of Rob and Priest. And Rob wrote every single song by himself.
The twin openers, “Into the Pit” and “Nailed to the Gun”, are two of a kind: they are rip-yer-head-off thrashers with Rob’s patented glass-breaking screams. The song structures on War of Words are simpler than what we heard with Priest, no doubt since Rob composed the songs by himself. This simplicity serves to make the album feel even heavier and more relentless.
The lyrics, just as simple and aggressive. “Into the Pit” doesn’t feature much in the way of poetry:
Conspiring, for sation Malfeasance, on high Obstruction, of duty Disorder, will rise
Rob takes the pace back a bit on the third track, “Life in Black” which I don’t think you can fairly call a ballad, to me it’s more Dio-era Sabbath with a very vintage-Dio sounding solo. (Rob had just helped out Sabbath live after Dio left, singing lead for two shows while opening for Ozzy Osbourne.) Meanwhile “Immortal Sin” bears a slow groove with a melodic chorus, downtuned but a bright spot in the proceedings.
The title track opens with the American First Amendment (Rob was living in Phoenix). It’s another aural assault with Rob keeping his vocals in the upper register. Travis’ incredible drumming punctuates every venomous word. Considering that less than three years prior, Rob (with Priest) was in court defending his band during the infamous “suicide trial”, the words are apt.
Dream Deceivers, directed by David Van Taylor, the excellent documentary on the Judas Priest trial
It’s back to dark haunting territory next: “Laid to Rest” ended the first side of the album. I find this one to contain one of Rob’s best vocal performances of the album. It’s reminiscent of “A Touch of Evil” by Priest, but downtuned and slightly exotic.
Side Two’s opener, “For All Eternity” is really the final reprieve. It is most definitely a power ballad in vintage Priest vibe, but again with the modern downtuned guitars. A song like this really proved Rob’s songwriting chops. He’s capable of writing emotive, catchy powerful music completely on his own, and the song is an achievement. The bridge around 2:25 is just awesomeness, but Tilse’s guitar solo completes the picture. As if that wasn’t enough, Rob returns to full on scream mode for the end.
“Little Crazy” was a critically acclaimed heavy metal blues, and the second single/video. I’m struggling to describe it beyond “heavy metal blues”, but this song is definitely a highlight. Rob puts everything he has into the slinky lead vocal, while band fuse the blues feel with heavy metal’s precision. I recall reviews of the time saying, “If Rob wanted to drop metal and go full-on blues, he could.” Now that would be interesting.
The rest of the album is no-holds-barred. The triple threat of “Contortion”, “Kill It”, and “Vicious” is almost too much. Each song strips everything down to the basics: simple riffs, violent words, relentless drums, without much in terms of melody. This is the most difficult part of the album to penetrate. In time the three songs grow. “Contortion” protests what we are doing to the Earth with angry frustration. “Kill It” is about TV preachers (whom I’m sure had their opinions on Priest during the trial). “Vicious” was always my favourite of the trio:
You cheating, lying, mother-fucking son of a bitch..
Vicious, vicious, Fucker, fucker!
I was going through an angry phase at the time!
Rob saved the best track for last. “Reality: A New Beginning” is a weighty epic, a perfect closer, slightly exotic and successfully combining Fight’s heavy side with Rob’s ability to write great melodies. This is simply an incredible song, a jewel in Halford’s crown, and a song which definitely deserves another look. The lyrics seem to be autobiographical:
This time, when I’m leaving, Who cares where I’ll go?
There was a hidden CD bonus track (not on cassette) after a five minute silence, a jokey song called “Jesus Saves”. Rob’s voice is electronically manipulated to sound…well, not sure what he’s supposed to sound like. An angry elf, I guess.
4.75/5 stars
There are some supplementary releases available:
1. This one is on my wishlist, I don’t own a physical copy: In 1994 Fight released a Christmas CD single called “Christmas Ride” with a message from Rob! They later reissued this as a free download from Rob’s site, but that is no longer around.
2. The live/remix EP, Mutations (next up in this series of reviews).
3. In 2007, a demo album called K5: The War of Words Demos was released. This featured demo versions of most of the album, plus five more. These include four new songs, and “Psycho Suicide” which was later remade for the second Fight album, A Small Deadly Space. The demos reveal that a much more conventional-sounding metal album was initially planned. (“The Beast Denies” is a very different version of “Reality: A New Beginning”.)
4. The 2008 Fight box set Into the Pit contains remixed versions of War of Words (again without “Jesus Saves”) and A Small Deadly Space. But the cool thing it contains is a DVD, Fight Live In Phoenix. The band rips through the entire album, in sequence (no “Jesus Saves”!) and then Rob’s solo track, “Light Comes Out of Black” (from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack).
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer original motion picture soundtrack. This is the only place you can get the studio version of “Light Comes Out of Black”, featuring his backing band…Pantera. All of Pantera.
I like “Light Comes Out of Black”, but it’s a lot easier to swallow than Fight is on first listen. I remember a M.E.A.T Magazine interview with Glenn Tipton and KK Downing, where they trashed it. “If it were on Painkiller, it would be one of the weaker songs, if not the weakest,” said KK.
KK might have been right about that to a certain extent, but only because Painkiller consists of 10 awesome songs!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 199: Hooray! Hooray! It’s Stock Transfer Day!
A couple weeks ago, I was out driving, rocking to Kiss’ Hotter Than Hell. Suddenly I realized the car in front of me was being driven by my former boss at the record store. We happened to be going in the same direction. I followed him as he pulled into the old record store, where he turned off. He didn’t see me wave but from the stop lights, I could see him go to the back of the vehicle and pull out a big box of discs for the record store.
This brought back a vivid memory — Stock Transfer Day! STD!
Twice a week, the local store managers were required to travel to a central location to pick up stock from the other stores. This stock could include special orders being transferred from store to store. The majority of the boxes were full of stuff for our shelves, and fresh jewel cases since we went through hundreds a week. These would fill the trunk, pile up on the back seats, and once in a while the passenger seat too.
The managers decided to do stock transfer on Monday nights, and Thursday afternoons. I hated Monday nights and Thursday afternoons. The only good thing about stock transfer was the chance to see some of my store manager friends, such as the eternally interesting Joe. It was during one of these stock transfers that I witnessed the immortal Open Door Piss.
What bugged me most about the stock transfer arrangements were that the time, gas and mileage on our cars was considered to be “part of our salaries”. This part of it really sucked, as you could spend a good chunk of your night hanging around doing nothing, waiting for someone. Sometimes a traffic accident or tie-up on the highway could screw somebody’s route home. That’s just the way this city was(n’t) planned out.
So while you’re waiting for someone with some orders that you absolutely need, you’re sitting doing nothing, burning your own time. This happened frequently in winter, but in the summer too. While this is ensuing, at home your porch is unoccupied and lacking in beverages. And that is a shame.
In many ways, Wings of Tomorrow is the perfect Europe album. It combines their early grand metallic leanings with the keyboards and anthemic sheen they would later become known for. Like the first Europe album, it’s loaded with hard rockers, the odd ballad, and an instrumental guitar workout. The same lineup from the last album was intact, with the major difference being Joey Tempest adding more keyboards to the mix.
The opener “Stormwind” is a great hard rock/metal tune, with a memorable chorus, riff, plus a tricky sounding solo from virtuoso John Norum. Second up is the ferocious “Scream of Anger”, featuring Norum playing the heavily distorted riff through a talk box. This is a solid burner, scorched-Earth policy firmly in place, taking no prisoners. Tempest wrote this song with Yngwie Malmsteen bassist Marcel Jacob.
The best known song on the album is “Open Your Heart”, which a later lineup of the band re-recorded for the underrated Out of This World record. I prefer the re-recorded version, because it includes an additional guitar part, really cool and catchy, immediately after the acoustic intro. The original version is still a great song though, a power ballad, and probably the first great Europe power ballad.
The angry prowler, “Treated Bad Again”, takes us back into metal territory. This predatory number would have fit in perfectly on something like a mid-period Judas Priest album. Then, as on the debut album, John Norum ends Side 1 with an instrumental. This one is called “Aphasia”, which refers to a medical condition that can render sufferers unable to speak. Get it?
Side 2 opened with an assaulting metal riff, on the album’s title track. It’s a jagged riff that juxtaposes nicely with Joey’s smooth voice. “Wasted Time” sounds like the aforementioned Yngwie at first, just because of the riff, but then it begins to gallop into Diamond Head style chorus. The guitar solo is shredder’s envy. “Lyin’ Eyes” maintains the momentum.
All this sets the stage for the penultimate song, and possibly the best ballad Europe ever recorded: “Dreamer”. It’s a piano power ballad, without the saccharine overload of songs like “Carrie”. This one’s just a classic ballad, much like you’d find on the first Europe album, but refined a bit.
Wings of Tomorrow closes with the reckless pace of “Dance the Night Away”, which sounds nothing like what its title implies. It’s a simple metal song, fast burning riff, and plenty of solos. It’s a shame the guitar wasn’t mixed in heavier. You get the impression that this album would have sounded so much harder live.
I don’t know if anybody could have predicted the massive success of the next album, The Final Countdown, after labouring in obscurity for two records. But success did come, and these early albums are a memento of a time before Joey Tempest wrote “hits”.
HOT LEG – Red Light Fever (2009 Barbecue Rock Records)
It was a dark time for rock and roll. The Darkness had split into two factions: The Stone Gods, and Justin Hawkins’ Hot Leg. The Gods were out of the gates with their album first in 2008, while Justin followed in 2009 with Red Light Fever. Bizarrely, he credits himself as Justin “Dave” Hawkins in Hot Leg.
The Stone Gods made an excellent album, concentrating on rock and metal sounds. Justin, on the other hand, has synthesized everything he does into one gestalt on Red Light Fever. There are still those cherished AC/DC-like moments that you may remember from Permission To Land (Hawkins even uses the lyric “permission to land” on one song) mixed with those operatic high vocals, taken to new levels of absurdity (“Chickens”). This is mixed with the polished Queen-like moments from the second Darkness album, One Way Ticket…, and the 80’s “keytar” sounds of his solo project British Whale. The result is, quite frankly, an album only Darkness fans will like.
I am a Darkness fan, and I do like it. The album kicks off with the aforementioned “Chickens”, which at first tricks you into thinking Hawkins has gone back to basics. Then the operatic chorus in full falsetto hits, and you realize that Hawkins is just as outrageous as ever.
“You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore”, the second track, reminds you that Hawkins is still one hell of a guitar player. Coming up right down the middle between Thin Lizzy and Brian May harmonies, it is Justin’s guitar work that keeps this band most anchored in rock. The aptly titled “Trojan Guitar” is a cool workout, multi-faceted and complex.
By the time you get to the single, “Cocktails”, you will wonder just how Hawkins crammed so many notes into a word with just two syllables. Many will find this to be simply too much, like coffee with too much sweetener, or a cake with nothing but icing. It’s a great song, with that Def Darkness vibe that I like so much, but the chorus is ridiculous!
“Gay in the 80s” is the most British Whale of the tracks, keytar up front and in your face, and Justin’s lyrics embracing the kitsch of that decade. Not a track for insecure rockers by any stretch. Yet “Whichever Way You Wanna Give It” is the most reminiscent of early Darkness. It has that “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” vibe, with a chorus straight out of One Way Ticket…, and some solid guitar riffs with ample space between the power chords.
The album ends a mere 35 minutes after it began, which some will find absolutely offensive after spending close to $30 (Canadian) on this import. However, if you wanted more, the band used to offer a vintage-Darkness sounding bonus track called “Take Take Take” on their website for free. Unfortunately with the band now defunct, the song has been taken down. Another free song, a bouncy upbeat number called “Heroes”, was available for a limited time only.
According to the inside notes, the album is to be filed under “Man-Rock”.
For the last installment of this series, click here.
WHITESNAKE – Good to Be Bad (2008 Warner/SPV)
Whitesnake disbanded in 1990. Coverdale did his album with Jimmy Page, but that didn’t prove to last either. Although they’d started writing for a second album, the affair ended and David Coverdale assembled a new Whitesnake for a Greatest Hits tour in 1994. This reformation eventually led to an album in 1997 called Restless Heart (billed as “David Coverdale and Whitesnake”. This R&B flavoured album, a personal favourite, did not resonate with some fans of 80’s ‘Snake.
After another hiatus, and a solo album (2000’s Into the Light), David once again formed a new group of ‘Snakes, a mixture of old and new members. After several years of touring (and lineup changes), the long awaited new Whitesnake album, Good to Be Bad, hit the shelves in 2008. Former Dio guitarist Doug Aldrich and Winger’s Reb Beach had been a formidable guitar duo since 2002.
Similarly to his partnership with Adrian Vandenberg, David has retained his writing style of co-writing with just one co-writer; in this case, Aldrich. It seems to be evident that the guys have gone for a John Sykes guitar sound and style. You can certainly hear a lot of trademark sounds and tricks that Sykes used to do, that gave the 1987 album such a cool sound. This isn’t to say that they don’t play plenty of their own style too, but the retro stuff is frequent.
So similar is the direction of this album to 1987, that you can play “name that tune” with all the new songs:
“Can You Hear The Wind Blow” for example directly references moments on 1987, right down to those flares that Sykes used to do. “All I Want, All I Need” equals “Is This Love” Part Deux. Basically, every song on Good To Be Bad is a mash-up of songs from Coverdale Page, 1987 and Slip Of The Tongue, and you can hear the references quite distinctly. “A Fool in Love” is “Crying in the Rain”. “Lay Down Your Love” is “Shake My Tree”, without Jimmy Page. Throw in a little “Kashmir” during “‘Til The End Of Time” (which seems to be based off “Till The Day I Die” from Come An’ Get It) too.
Having said that, despite the lack of originality, Good To Be Bad is still a very enjoyable listen, and a very welcome return. A world without David Coverdale’s voice is like a world without crème brûlée. That voice is in fine form, perhaps even stronger than it was on 1997’s Restless Heart. The album has a lot more life to it than Restless Heart, although it does lack that album’s subtlety and R&B moments. The band play great, kicking it on every tune, even the ballads. The melodies are strong and memorable. It’s just…too contrived.
The bonus live disc is the the Canadian special edition is highlights from Live: In The Shadow Of The Blues. No big deal. It’s nice to hear Whitesnake playing “Burn/Stormbringer” from David’s Deep Purple days, and cool to hear the old 70’s classics.
The real cool version to have is the Japanese release with two bonus tracks. And a sticker! Can’t forget the sticker. The bonus tracks are both remixes (a “Doug solo” version of “All For Love”, and a stripped down version of the lovely “Summer Rain”). For $20, I wasn’t complaining.
In Part 117, we talked about promo CDs: How to identify them, what they were, what they’re worth. A short while ago, Statham and I were having a conversation about promo discs. The conversation began in regards to one of my treasured rarities, a King’s X promo CD for their 1994 single, “Pillow”, from the Dogman CD.
Even though eBay (supposedly) have strict policies against selling promo discs, I just found one as I was writing this, identical to mine, on sale for $46.99 USD. It even says “Promo Copy – Not For Sale” in clear writing on the back cover, in the eBay photo! Somebody at eBay is asleep at the wheel.
I got mine for free, a decade ago!
This one found its way into our warehouse, probably via a liquidation. The warehouse manager knew we couldn’t sell it, not with that big inscription on the back, so he gave it to me, knowing I was a huge fan. As I explained to Statham:
LeBrain: We weren’t legally allowed to sell promos, at least ones that were obviously identifiable as promos, in the store. We’d been caught once when one hit the shelves .Even if I bought this CD from you for $5, I technically couldn’t sell it in store. We could have asked $20 for it easily, because of the unreleased tracks. Those weren’t on anything else.
Statham: So even on the dark days, the ones you HATED about being there, there were then moments like your getting this CD that made it OK again!
LeBrain:Yes! Although I had to keep them secret…Our warehouse manager would slide them my way, on the condition that I don’t tell. Don’t know what they would have done with them otherwise, besides throw them out. That would have been a shame. [I think the statute of limitations has expired on my promise not to tell!] We paid money for these promos though, we got nothing for free. Everything we sold was purchased from somebody else, be it a wholesaler or an individual.
Statham:Right, but all of that is pre-killed by the writing all over the promos prohibiting their sale. So there never was a [legal] leg to stand on, with those. But nobody ever reads those warnings anymore. The Interpol warning at the start of a DVD? Just something else to skip. Part of the scenery. Surely we can ignore that, right?
LeBrain: Yeah exactly. Every other store in town had promos on their shelves too. And they weren’t as discerning as we were, they’d sell anything. [But] you’re right, we didn’t have a leg to stand on. I guess in the long run it meant that I could get stuff like this for free.
Statham: Even as recently as last year, I bought a promo single from there [LeBrain’s old workplace]. So apparently things still slip through the cracks!
LeBrain:I’m sure they do. After all, it was over 10 years ago that we received a warning about selling promos. I don’t know who tattled on us, but it always struck me as unfair. We PAID for those promos. We got NOTHING for free! And I would never buy or sell a promo in the store that didn’t have something worthwhile on it, like bonus tracks of some kind. It had to have some kind of value.
And so it goes. I have a lot of promo discs from those days, stuff that you technically couldn’t buy in stores, stuff that guys at record shows routinely ask $20 for. eBay prices? Double that. Some of them are worthless, one track promo singles with no cover and no real value. Others have exclusive live tracks, like this King’s X single we’re about to discuss.
KING’S X – “Pillow” (promotional CD single, 1994 WEA)
“Pillow” was released as a single in mid-1994, and promptly went nowhere. That’s too bad, as it’s a great song, heavy and slow, fitting right in with the grunge movement that was still dominating the charts. King’s X trademark harmony vocals by Ty Tabor can be heard during the chorus, under Doug Pinnick’s soulful lead. Doug’s 8-string bass chimes while drummer Jerry Gaskill sets the groove. This track, one of the standouts from the Dogman album, simply crushes.
The two B-sides are live, recorded in Dallas on May 8, 1994. “Shoes” is another great Dogman track. What is especially cool is how great King’s X harmonies sound live! This track proves they have the goods, but the Texas crowd is more than happy to take over the vocal chores. They clearly knew the new songs backwards and forwards.
The second B-side is the complex “We Were Born To Be Loved” from the landmark Faith Hope Love album. “I like a crowd that makes a lot of noise,” says Doug, before the band tear into the intricate rhythms and harmonies involved with this rocker. It’s another Doug lead vocal, with Ty and Jerry on the harmonies. Knowing how great King’s X are, I’m sure this truly is live — no backing tapes or overdubs.
There’s not much in the way of artwork; just a sticker on the front of the case and a pretty plain white back cover. Stickers don’t age too well, as the gooey sticky stuff starts to seep through the paper. Plus if you crack that front cover, you’re screwed.
Since this single was released, both these recordings have seen the light of day on an album, called Live & Live Some More, from 2007. While that sort of destroys the collector’s value for a single such as this, it doesn’t change the fact that these songs are awesome!
We were in Kincardine, Ontario, on Queen street, or “the main drag” as my dad calls it. We were in this crappy clothing store called Sandy’s that’s not there anymore. But this time, they had a Kiss T-shirt for sale! I never saw any cool band shirts in Kincardine before. We spent much of each summer there, and when I was younger the place seemed kind of dull. Finding a Kiss shirt there, well obviously I had to get it. It was 1992, a Revenge shirt.
My dad asked, “Did you find a shirt, son?”
“Yep,” I answered. “This one is cool, because it has the new Kiss member on it.” [Eric Singer]
“Yeah,” my dad said with a disapproving smirk. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that bearded guy before…”
This was one of the first, if not the first, discs I bought with my staff discount at the record store!
PSYCHO CIRCUS – Scarred (Anthem 1993)
20 years ago, Psycho Circus were one of the bands hyped as the “next big thing” out of Canada. They originated in Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto. They signed with SRO management (Rush, Van Halen, King’s X, Extreme) and producer Terry Brown (also Rush) and released a trendy but still unique goth-rap-funk-metal album called Scarred. They also released a music video for the excellent “Pulsate”.
These guys were hanging out with old dudes way before Our Lady Peace.
The problem with Psycho Circus is their split personality. On one hand (roughly half the album) they inhabit this cool, dark land I call Diet Faith No More. Singer Vince Franchi has the lungs and range to emulate Patton’s style on The Real Thing. Their cool use of keyboards also reminds me of that band, but without the dementia. On the other hand, there’s a goofy rap-funk side, which does not appeal to me in the least. I think funk metal got stale very quickly, and the juvenile lyrics render the rapping limp. “Acid Monkey Junk”, a song about the testing of cosmetics on animals, is painful at time. “Monkeys in the ocean and fishes in the trees?”
A M.E.A.T Magazine interview by Karen Bliss, from 1993, reveals that the band had already dropped even more irritating material from their live set. They name a discarded song called “Picky Purple People” as being particularly notable for its silliness. Glad I didn’t have to hear that one.
I prefer the Diet Faith No More side of the band: hard, melodic and dark songs like “Thru the Backbone” (which also features rapping in a non-annoying way). “Pulsate” is easily the best song on the album, demonstrating Franchi’s impressive vocal range and power. I’m also fond of the angry “I Know”, the haunting “Leave Me Alone”, and the closer “Goodbye”. The rest of the album is unfortunately skip-worthy and occasionally irritating to me.
There was also a CD single made for “I Know” featuring an exclusive “Psylicone Mix”. Although I don’t enjoy the remix as much as the album version, it’s notable for being remixed by Brown and the band, not some outsider. I happened upon this single within my first year at the record store, and it surely must be one of the rarest discs I have.
Ahh, the much-maligned St. Anger! When I first reviewed St. Anger back in 2003, I pointed out that some Metallica fans are suffering from “Highschool Syndrome”:
Highschool Syndrome: “The band doesn’t sound the same as they did when I liked them in highschool, therefore they are sellouts and I don’t like this album.”
A staunch critic must remember something before they brand St. Anger a sellout. An album recorded this harshly, with songs this aggressive by anyone else would get zero airplay. How is that selling out?
Perhaps by “selling out”, some fans are referring to the lack of solos and the alternative, downtuned sounds on St. Anger. Unfortunatly, the lack of solos is really a mistake. Kirk Hammett did record at least one very cool and appropriate solo for this album; check out the movie Some Kind Of Monster for a glimpse at that. Hammett felt that the cutting of guitar solos was a mistake and so do I. As Hammett said in the movie, “Having no solos dates the album to THIS time (2003)”.
The production by Bob Rock was definitely the wrong direction. He was overcompensating for what was perceived as overproduction on Load, Reload and Black. The band probably should have taken a production direction like Garage Inc. (heavy, but conventional) instead of pushing the envelope like they did. The sound he created was so harsh that it is actually headache inducing for me to listen to St. Anger in one sitting. (And this is selling out?)
The songs contained herein are by and large pretty decent. The title track was brilliant, with a great video to match. My personal favourite is the fast and furious “Frantic”, the melodic “Sweet Amber”, the angry “Shoot Me Again” and the epic “All Within My Hands”. There are ample time changes and musical adventures going on here, which harken back to the ambitiousness of Justice, while not sounding like old-school Metallica.
The lyrics, mostly introspective, are not my cup of tea. Some may call them brilliant, some may call them psycho-babble trash. Whatever they are, it is the first time that Hetfield didn’t helm them and they were written by the entire band. Truly, they’re not that bad when you’re banging your head at full speed, but most fans want to hear Metallica raging against something other than themselves.
The CD comes with a cool booklet, and of course the bonus DVD: all of St. Anger, recorded by the Hetfield / Ulrich / Hammett / Trujilo lineup, in order, in the studio. (Bob Rock played bass on the album.) At the time, a freebee like this was a bigger deal. They were obviously trying to placate pissed off fans after the fallout of Napster. There was even a code to download an entire live show of your choice. Basically, you are getting the value of three albums in one, for the price of a single CD. Not bad.
Yet, St. Anger was a hard album to love, and few people did. It is the sound of a fractured band piecing itself back together and experimenting with some interesting directions. It could have been better. It’s an important album in the sense that, this was a huge turning point. The band were basically reduced to two guys (Kirk and Lars) for months on end while James was in recovery. We all know the story.
From that point of view, it’s an interesting listen. Music had changed, Metallica were trying to lead and play catch-up at the same time, so it seemed. I think you have to give them credit for attempting something new, sometimes those albums end up classics 20 years down the road. There are enough good riffs and solid songs on St. Anger to come back to it once in a while.
Besides, if you want a band to sound the same album after album, why would you listen to Metallica? AC/DC are still around, you know.
3/5 stars
Don’t count Bob Rock out — his work with the Tragically Hip has been excellent!
EUROPE – Wings of Tomorrow (1984 Epic)
mikeladano.com 