Author: mikeladano

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

Most Unrightfully Ignored Albums of the 1990s – LeBrain’s List Part 4

This is it!  The end!  In alphabetical order, here’s Part 4 of 4:  88 albums that meant the world to me in the 1990′s but never got the respect I felt they deserved.   Thanks for joining in!

Savatage – Streets:  A Rock Opera (sheer brilliance, their first and best rock opera)
Savatage – Edge of Thorns (an album to give Queensryche a run for their money)
Savatage – Handful of Rain (recovering from tragedy to create a triumph)
Savatage – The Wake of Magellan (how did this band just keep getting more brilliant?)
Scorpions – Face the Heat (had a couple good heavy rockers on there like “Alien Nation”)
Shaw/Blades – Hallucination (Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, campfire goodness)
Skid Row – Subhuman Race (when you’re pissed off and you know it, bang thy head)

Sloan – 4 Nights at the Palais Royale (one of the best live albums of all time – ignored internationally)
Dee Snider’s SMF’s – Live / Forever Twisted (fuck, I missed Dee in the 90’s!)
Spinal Tap – Break Like the Wind 
Stryper – Can’t Stop the Rock (a compilation with two great new tunes)
Sultans of Ping F.C. – Casual Sex in the Cineplex (see here)
Talas – If We Only Knew Then What We Know Now… (Billy Sheehan and the boys reunited for one night, and has the wisdom to record it)
Tesla – Bust A Nut (in some ways it’s better than their prior records)
Testament – The Ritual (really heavily slagged at the time as a sellout)
Tonic – Sugar (much better than the first record, you know, the one that was a hit)
Devin Townsend / Ocean Machine – Biomech (one of his more accessible albums)
Union – Union (Bruce Kulick + John Corabi = better than what the Crue or Kiss was releasing)
Steve Vai – Sex and Religion (Devin Townsend — lead throat)
Veruca Salt – Eight Arms To Hold You (their best album, better than the big hit one)
White Lion – Mane Attraction (it was a little mushy, but brilliant guitars by Vito Bratta)
Whitesnake – Restless Heart (back to his blues rock roots, it wasn’t even released here)

We’re done!  88 albums that meant a lot to me in the 1990’s, but in some cases were criminally ignored.  Check them out.

KOBRA AND THE LOTUS cover IRON MAIDEN’s “The Wicker Man”

I’m not sure where I stand on this band.  Brittany Paige’s vocals are hit or miss for me.  I realize she’s classically trained and all that.  Doesn’t mean I have to automatically like it.

Regardless, I think it’s cool that they chose “The Wicker Man” to cover.  Check it out below, starting at the 9 minute mark.  It’s not a bad cover, but nobody can touch Bruce Dickinson.

Most Unrightfully Ignored Albums of the 1990s – LeBrain’s List Part 3

In alphabetical order, here’s Part 3:  88 albums that meant the world to me in the 1990′s but never got the respect I felt they deserved.  

King’s X – Faith Hope Love (most KX discs didn’t get the attention they deserved!)
King’s X – Dogman
King’s X – Ear Candy
King’s X – Tape Head
Kiss – Carnival of Souls (while you can’t argue it wasn’t a sellout, it sure wasn’t wimpy!)
Leadfoot – Bring It On (Karl Agell and Phil Swisher ex-COC)
Marillion – Brave (what a brave, brave album)
Marillion – Radiation (a lot of people don’t like this one, but I consider it a highlight for them)
Duff McKagan – Believe In Me (diverse, fun and pissed off)
Kim Mitchell – Aural Fixations (a little soft, but Kim in the 1990’s was scarce indeed)
Kim Mitchell – Kimosabe
Motley Crue – Motley Crue (they were better without Vince, honestly)
Vince Neil – Exposed (…and Vince wasn’t doing too badly himself)
Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzmosis (it sold by the buckets, but I think today it’s ignored which is a shame)
Poison – Native Tongue (Ritchie Kotzen took them to a new level of maturity and virtuosity)

Pride & Glory – Pride & Glory (Zakk Wykde’s first album without Ozzy, and one of the best)
Queen – Innuendo (in North America, most of what Queen did went ignored before Freddie passed)
Queensryche – Promised Land (spacey and mature)
Queensryche – Q2k (riffy)
Quiet Riot – Terrified (the only thing they’ve done since the 80’s worth playing)
David Lee Roth – Your Filthy Little Mouth (I didn’t need to hear Dave do reggae but it ain’t bad)
David Lee Roth – DLR Band (John 5 on lead guitar…crank it up)

Most Unrightfully Ignored Albums of the 1990s – LeBrain’s List Part 2

In alphabetical order, here’s Part 2:  88 albums that meant the world to me in the 1990′s but never got the respect I felt they deserved.  

Dokken – Dysfunctional (reunion with George, adventurous album)
Steve Earle – I Feel Alright (jail obviously did him some good — his best record)
Steve Earle – El Corazon (among his best records)
Extreme – III Sides To Every Story (don’t get me started!)
Extreme – Waiting For the Punchline (a stripped-down oft-forgotten classic with Mike Mangini)
Faith No More – Angel Dust (…)
Faith No More – King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime
Fight – War Of Words (I didn’t like Halford’s followup effort but this one is brutally heavy)
The Four Horsemen – Nobody Said It Was Easy (it wasn’t easy, is why)
The Four Horsemen – Gettin’ Pretty Good…At Barely Gettin’ By (but they released two great records in the 1990’s)

Fu Manchu – The Action Is Go (started me on my Fu Manchu addiction)
The Gandharvas – Sold For A Smile (my cousin turned me onto this one while I was in Calgary)
Halford – Live Insurrection (better than any of the live albums that Priest did without him)
Harem Scarem – Mood Swings (brilliant album, you can hear Queen influences, but it’s the guitar and vocals that set it apart)
Harem Scarem – Karma Cleansing (…now a bit more progressive, like progressive-lite)
Harem Scarem – Big Bang Theory (…and now, short and to the point!)
Helix – It’s A Business Doing Pleasure (too soft for the general Helix masses)
The Hellacopters – Grande Rock (the album Kiss should have made instead of Psycho Circus)
Glenn Hughes – From Now On… (anthemic and spiritual)
Iron Maiden – Fear Of the Dark (it gets a bad rap but it pretty much got me through 1992)
Journey – Trial By Fire (I don’t think they’ve ever made a better record to be honest)
Killer Dwarfs – Dirty Weapons (ditto!)

Most Unrightfully Ignored Albums of the 1990s – LeBrain’s List Part 1

In alphabetical order, here’s Part 1:  88 albums that meant the world to me in the 1990’s but never got the respect I felt they deserved.  When appropriate, I’ll pop in with comments.  Part 1!  Enjoy!

  • Aerosmith – Nine Lives (better than Get A Grip)
  • Armored Saint – Symbol of Salvation (John Bush lead vocals, nuff said)
  • Barstool Prophets – Last of the Big Game Hunters (from Ottawa Ontario Canada, great album)
  • Big House – Big House (from Edmonton Alberta, long forgotten hard rock classic)
  • The Black Crowes – Amorica (my favourite)
  • Black Sabbath – Cross Purposes (bleak gooder from the Martin-era Sabs)
  • Blue Rodeo – Nowhere To Here (psychedelically delicious)
  • Blue Rodeo – Tremelo (acoustically psychedelically delicious)
  • Bon Jovi – These Days (their most mature albeit darkest work to date)

  • Gilby Clarke – Pawnshop Guitars (the all time best GN’R solo album)
  • Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation (fans love it in hindsight, but it sold poorly in 1994)
  • Corrosion of Conformity – Deliverance (I was hooked upon hearing “Clean My Wounds”)
  • Coverdale Page – Coverdale Page (unrightfully ignored? well, most just disrespected)
  • Cry of Love – Brother (guitarist Audley Freed plays his Fenders like bluesy butter)
  • Deep Purple – Slaves & Masters (I have a soft spot for this ballady Deep Rainbow disc)
  • Deep Purple – The Battle Rages On (there are some strong forgotten tracks here)
  • Deep Purple – Purpendicular (one of the best records of their career)
  • Def Leppard – Slang (ditto)
  • Bruce Dickinson – Balls To Picasso (I believe I’ve discussed these enough in my in-depth reviews)
  • Bruce Dickinson – Accident of Birth 
  • Bruce Dickinson – The Chemical Wedding
  • Dio – Strange Highways (it took a while to grow on me, but at the time it was criminally ignored)

Part 2 of 4 coming tomorrow…

REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Forbidden (1995)

BLACK SABBATH – Forbidden (1995, bonus track)

Once upon a time Black Sabbath were the most vital metal band around, but not in 1995.  The 80’s and early 90’s were much rougher, with a rotating lineup of singers, drummers, and bass players. Only original member Tony Iommi and longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls weathered the storm consistently.

Bill Ward and Geezer Butler were both playing in Black Sabbath again in late 1994, but by 1995 both had bailed (for the umpteenth time) again.  That left Iommi with Nicholls and singer Tony Martin not knowing what was going to happen next.  There were rumours in the press that Ice T (yes, Ice T) would be soon joining Sabbath.

That didn’t happen (thank God!) and the lineup here is nothing but pure heavy metal pedigree.  It is also a reunion of the 1989-1991 Tyr band.  Neil Murray and Cozy Powell were back on bass and drums.  This would be Murray’s second and Powell’s third Sabbath album.  Murray and Powell, of course, also did time together in Whitesnake, forming a rock solid rhythm section that only great chemistry can produce.

So what happened? What went wrong? Why does Forbidden suck so bad?

The reasons are threefold. One, the album was rushed out amid much confusion within the band. Rumours of Ozzy’s return abounded and Martin didn’t know if he was in or out. Morale sucked.  Second, the record company insisted on a more “current” sound. Thus, the album was produced by Body Count’s Ernie C, and I guess that is the connection to Ice T, who guest raps on the opening track.   Third, I think the album was recorded in roughly a week and doesn’t really sound finished.  Rather, it sounds like a demo sonically and song-wise, with all the filler songs that don’t normally make it to a released album.

Powell, normally a thunderous drummer, is reduced here to a dry hollow whollop thanks to Ernie C’s crummy production.  It’s too bad because Cozy is playing some serious awesome drums that you can’t hear properly.  The entire album suffers, the vocals sound raw and rushed, and the songs smack of second rate tunage.  Granted, everybody knows that Iommi has bags and bags of tapes full of riffs, and some of these riffs are great. However, a riff cannot make a song, and without decent vocal hooks, this Sabbath album is as flat as they come.

It is truly a shame that Tony Martin had to go out with this as his final Sabbath album, after years of loyalty and being dumped twice! I saw them on this tour, and they were great. Shame they were supporting a terrible album.

Highlights:

“Can’t Get Close Enough” is close indeed to being a great song, but not quite. It has a great mellow intro and then this incredible distorted riff kicks in, but the vocal track is slightly underwhelming.

“Kiss of Death” is the closing epic, and best song on the album. Cozy’s drum rolls are like the thunder of Valhalla by the time you get to the choruses and outro. The song reaks of anger and betrayal. “Nothing you can do will hurt me, I am indestructible,” sings Martin over a slow, powerful riff.  Wonder if he knew the writing was on the wall as far as his tenure in the band went.

And that’s it. “Rusty Angels” and “Forbidden” have great riffs but are otherwise not noteworthy. “I Won’t Cry For You” had potential as a ballad, but is inferior in every way to similar songs like “Feels Good To Me”, for example. This album is so dead, so lifeless, not even the grim reaper on the cover can be bothered to stand up.

I know some critisized the cover of this album as being too cartoony, but once you open it up and get the full picture, it is much better. The reaper is sitting next to a tomb, and out from the tomb are the ghosts of all five Sabbath members, Ice T, Ernie C, and lots of ghouls and goblins, done in MAD Magazine type charicatures. It’s a rare fun cover from a band that usually takes its doomy image far too seriously.

Shame that the album isn’t as fun. In the 15 years (and counting) since I bought it, I can usually count on it as a sleeping aid. It’s just that boring.

1/5 stars

OF NOTE: Japanese version had a bonus track, a short 2 minute song called “Loser Gets It All”. It is, sadly, the best track on the album. The good news is that you can get it on a compilation album called The Sabbath Stones if you can’t find the Japanese version.

Side one
1. “The Illusion of Power”
2. “Get a Grip”
3. “Can’t Get Close Enough”
4. “Shaking Off the Chains”
5. “I Won’t Cry for You”

Side two
6. “Guilty as Hell”
7. “Sick and Tired”
8. “Rusty Angels”
9. “Forbidden”
10. “Kiss of Death”

Japanese bonus track
11. “Loser Gets It All”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSHOq_bhMwI&w=560&h=315]

Part 140: For I Have Dined On Honeydew

RECORD STORE TALES Part 140:  For I Have Dined On Honeydew

Back in 19xx, I decided to do a road trip to get some proverbial “good lobster”.  I took T-Rev with me, not because he likes seafood (“nothing that swims” was his slogan) but because you need a road trip companion for a 2 hour drive to get lunch!

We both had Sundays off.  We ditched the record store, and hit the road one Sunday morning for Kincardine, Ontario, home of Pelican’s Roost.  It was the best lobster place in the province.  It’s not there anymore, but it sure was awesome.  T-Rev brought some road tapes.  He was always the master of making road tapes.  I remember he did one that was basically the best of Use Your Illusion I and II.  Another one collected the best tunes by Four Horsemen.

Problem:  The Roost was closed!  It didn’t open again until 5.  I sheepishly apologized to Trevor and asked if it was cool if we stayed until they opened.  He agreed, in the meantime we had lunch at Hawg’s Breath.

Then, we killed time looking for discs.

Kincardine didn’t have a record store then (it did in the late 80’s/early 90’s), but it did have a discount shop with a few thousand used discs to go through.  The great thing about out of the way places like this was finding weird stuff that was valuable, that nobody realized was valuable.

What T-Rev bought that day was not valuable.  It was, however, just too weird not to buy.  So he did.  What the hell were with those track titles?  “Muffle That Fart” was sure to be a top smash hit.

That certainly worked up an appetite for some lobster!

The Pelican’s Roost opened, and I put that unsightly album cover behind me!  I ordered the lobster tail with butter while T-Rev had the chicken.  We returned home with full bellies, and a disc that was just too weird to leave behind!

VIDEO BLOG: Rock The Nation

Join LeBrain as he searches for more rarities….

 

 

 

REVIEW: Dokken – Back For the Attack (1987)

bfta

DOKKEN – Back For the Attack (1987)

Dokken have never surpassed Back For The Attack, although they certainly have tried hard. This album is the pinnacle of Dokken. (No laughing!) No ballads! “Heaven Sent” is as close as we get. 13 songs, one being a George Lynch instrumental (pure smoke!), this album is packed full of great tunes and performances.  Think about that — 13 songs, in 1987.  That was overachieving, big time.  Overkill!

One could argue that you only need one Dokken album proper, and I would argue that it’s Back For The Attack.  Never had the band been so heavy or focused. Turns out they were falling apart at the seams, but at the time they were “Burning Like A Flame” up the charts indeed.

It’s a heavy regal hard rock sound, with oodles of smokin’ Furious George guitar as only he can play it.  Not to be outdone are Jeff Pilson on bass and backing vocals (the vocals being a critical component of early Dokken) and “Wild” Mick Brown destroying his kit, cymbal by cymbal!

Highlights:
The heavy angry groove of “Kiss Of Death”, Don at his screaming (!) best
“Burning Like A Flame”, the melodic but not-wimpy single
“Mr. Scary”, George’s ferocious solo piece
and of course the hit single “Dream Warriors” which everybody knows.

Even the cover art is the classiest thing this band has done, and totally representative of the music inside.

5/5 stars! ( I only wish the track “Back For the Attack” was included! Get it on the “Dream Warriors” single instead.)

Side One

  1. “Kiss of Death”
  2. “Prisoner”
  3. “Night by Night”
  4. “Standing in the Shadows”
  5. “Heaven Sent”
  6. “Mr. Scary”

Side Two

  1. “So Many Tears”
  2. “Burning Like a Flame”
  3. “Lost Behind the Wall”
  4. “Stop Fighting Love”
  5. “Cry of the Gypsy”
  6. “Sleepless Night”
  7. “Dream Warriors”

REVIEW: Bruce Dickinson – The Chemical Wedding (1998 Japanese Import, single)

Part 27 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

BRUCE DICKINSON – The Chemical Wedding (1998)

Disclaimer:  I know nothing of the writings of William Blake.  Curious because of this album, I decided to take a crack at them.  I did not get far!

Suffice to say The Chemical Wedding is a swirling Blake-inspired non-concept album, a distinct up-ratchet from the excellent Accident of Birth.  Upon hearing The Chemical Wedding, I said, “Well that’s it — Bruce has buried Iron Maiden, and his own back catalogue too!”

Seriously heavy, much heavier than anything Bruce has done before or since, The Chemical Wedding is an absolute triumph.  The lineup remains the same:  Bruce and Roy Z with Adrian Smith, Eddie Casillas, and David Ingraham.  With a little bit ‘o narration from Bruce’s hero Arthur Brown (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown).  The lyrics range from alchemy to the legend that Christ once went to England during his missing years, it’s a spellbinding listen, as long as you don’t hurt your neck from all the headbanging you’re going to do.

I had one customer who was a Christian.  He asked me what was good in new metal, so I put The Chemical Wedding on for him.  He ripped the headphones from his ears — couldn’t stand the lyrics!  He told me they were “too demonic”, particularly the lead single “The Killing Floor”:

Satan has left his killing floor

Satan – hellfires burn no more

Although there is also a line about “Panzer divisions burning in the mud” so to me this is another commentary on the evil present in the world.

Going through the album track by track would get monotonous.  So choose from the adjectives below:  “fast”, “powerful”, “scorching”, “heavy”, “grinding”, “wailing”, “throbbing”, “headache-inducing” for the various songs.

There are numerous highlights, but my two favourites are:

“The Tower” – this one has a unstoppable pulse thanks to Eddie Casillas, and is one of the more melodic songs on the album while retaining its heaviness.

“Book of Thel” – with velocity comes the album epic, this one picks up where “Darkside of Aquarius” left off from the last album.  I don’t know what a book of Thel is, but judging by the heavy evilness coming from my speakers, maybe I don’t wanna know!

Not to be outdone are the scorching opening “King in Crimson” (does not seem to be about a Stephen King character!) and the melodic Maiden-esque Japanese bonus track “Return of the King”.

The single for “The Killing Floor” had two unique B-sides, “Real World” and “Confeos”, neither of which are as strong as anything on the album.  These songs plus “Return of the King” have been collected on the Bruce Dickinson deluxe editions.

When Accident of Birth came out in 1997, I said, “This is incredible, Bruce is back and better than Maiden are.  How the hell is he doing to top this one?”  Unlike previous solo albums, Bruce didn’t do a complete 180 and change direction.  Instead he simply added more fuel to the fire and created one of the best albums of his entire career, one he should be very proud of.

But again, I had to ask the same question, “How the hell does he top The Chemical Wedding“?  I couldn’t see him turning up the gas any hotter without foraging into thrash metal territory, or losing what melody he still had.  Luckily, fate intervened.

It turns out that Iron Maiden themselves were looking for another new singer.  And Bruce was looking to finish his career off doing arenas, not clubs.  A phone call was made….

5/5 stars

…And it is here that we shall pause again. Stay tuned for more Maiden in the days to come.