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: Stryper – The Covering (2011)

STRYPER – The Covering (2011)

In general, I hate covers albums. I remember spendling something like $25 on an Yngwie Malmsteen covers album a long time ago. I came out of that experience $25 lighter for an album I’ll never listen to again. I swore I’d never buy another covers album by a metal band unless I knew I wouldn’t be wasting my money.

Then I started reading about Stryper’s covers album. Stryper? A covers album??

But I was reading good things. Then finally the trusted Tommy Rose posted his Amazon review, and I ordered the album that night. Sold!

The Covering is a damn fine slice of metal, my friends. The cynical must remember that Stryper neither fit in with mainstream Christian rock, nor the mainstream of metal. They have always been outsiders and a lot of their cringe-inducing 80’s music (I’m looking at you, In God We Trust) was due to record company pressure and outside producers. At their hearts, they’ve always been headbanging heavy metal loving Christians, and The Covering proves it.

Featuring the entire classic lineup (Michael Sweet, Robert Sweet, Tim Gaines, Oz Fox) for the first time in ages, The Covering is the Stryper album to get even the most hardened cynic back into the band. Not that this is the first time, I think Reborn was a damn fine record (check out “Passion”). This however is Stryper at their most accessible and pummeling.

It’s next to impossible to pick favourites, because so many of these songs are ingrained into our collective minds. I found “Breaking The Law” to be absolutely great fun! Stryper’s style and Priest’s style mesh well. Less successful was “Highway Star”. Stryper’s angular, blocky playing doesn’t really complement our memories of Blackmore’s smooth riffing. However a nice fat organ playing Jon Lord’s original arrangement keeps the song from straying too far.

“Blackout” (Scorpions) was interesting because Michael Sweet’s enunciation echoed Klaus Meine’s ever so slightly without becoming parody. I can only surmise that this is due to Sweet knowing that song inside and out, backwards and forwards. “Over the Mountain” (Ozzy Osbourne) was another highlight, as Stryper just nail that Randy Rhoads riff and keep pummeling. “On Fire” (Van Halen) was a pleasant surprise. Oz Fox plays Eddie’s harmonics perfectly, proving he’s got the goods. Not to mention Sweet can hit David Lee Roth’s screams without trouble. (Also without the grit, but that can’t be helped, nobody has David Lee Roth’s grit.) And of course who else could sing Robert Plant’s part on “Immigrant Song”? “Immigrant Song” also features Tim Gaines playing John Paul Jones’ bouncy bass part just perfectly. I’m not too keen on the production in spots, but all I need to do is hear Gaines playing that bass line and I’m back on board!

I can honestly say that, for me, there are only two lowlights to this album. I’ve never been a fan of “Set Me Free” (Sweet) and “Carry On Wayward Son” (Kansas). Yngwie covered “Wayward Son” on his covers album if I remember correctly, and I’ve just never been a fan. “Set Me Free” is one I’ve been sick of for a long time, after hearing numerous covers from Vince Neil and Helix over the years.

Finally, we have the new original Stryper song “God”. Stryper have always felt like they have not been taken seriously as Christians because they have recorded secular music, but “God” is as blatant as it gets. Not to mention it is an absolute ball-crusher. If you don’t know it’s coming next, your first thought as a listener is, “What classic riff are they covering here?” But it’s not a classic riff — it is their own original one, and it’s a great riff to complement this great song. The vocal harmonies soar and hopefully this is a harbinger of what Stryper have in store down the line. The solos are also to die for.

The packaging for this album is great, in digipack, and featuring page after page of comic book artwork.

If you have never bought a Stryper album before, or if you haven’t checked out the band in years, this is the album to get your juices flowing again. Pick it up. Although it is a covers album, it was one of my favourites of 2011.

4/5 stars.

REVIEW: Triumph – Live At Sweden Rock Festival (2012)

Live At Sweden Rock Festival (CD+DVD)

TRIUMPH – Live At Sweden Rock Festival (2012 CD/DVD, Universal)

In 2008, after over 20 years apart, Rik Emmett joined Mike Levine and Gil Moore on stage.  The original Triumph was back, as if time stood still.  All that animosity, gone, poof! and in its place is a stellar live album.

They only played that one gig, but at least it was smokin’.  What’s incredible is that Rik Emmett retains most of his range, even if Gil Moore’s is more limited.  It was always Rik that sang the high parts, and most singers just can’t do it 20 years later.  Rik can!  And of course I don’t need to tell you anything about his guitar playing.  Some consider him to the be the greatest that Canada ever produced, and his playful but solid axework here helps to show why.

He even throws a bit of the “Hocus Pocus” (by Focus!) riff in the middle of “Rock & Roll Machine”!  Rik hasn’t forgotten to rock, and as usual Triumph is backed up by a second guitar player (Dave Dunlop) for some extra heaviness to the riffs.

But Rik also plays a lot of licks that are more along the lines of the jazz stuff he does today, a great mixture of his old style and his modern style.  Gil and Mike are still Gil and Mike, they’ve barely changed at all.  Their playing is as good as they’ve ever been.  I wonder how much the band rehearsed for this show?  They sound as tight as they did on Stages. (Mike says they practiced a lot!)

Setlist is below.  Let me point out two things:  No ballads!  The closest you get is “Magic Power”.  Second…”Blinding Light Show”!  ‘Nuff said!

1. When The Lights Go Down
2. Lay It On The Line
3. Allied Forces
4. Never Surrender
5. I Live For The Weekend
6. Blinding Light Show / Moon Child
7. Rocky Mountain Way
8. Magic Power
9. Rock & Roll Machine
10. Fight The Good Fight

The included DVD duplicates the show, but for your eyes and ears!  There’s also some cool behind the scenes footage (fans, soundchecks, etc.) and a press conference.  Basically, everything you’d want out of a package like this.

I don’t want to understate how much I like this album.  Prior to this, my favourite Triumph album was always Stages, their first live album from 1985.  Live At Sweden Rock is now my #2 Triumph album.  No overdubs, no fixes, this is just pure live Triumph, all killer no filler (or ballads), and they are as good as they ever were, I swear to God.

5/5 stars

    

Part 106: My Favourite Aunt

NOTE:  I do not actually have a favourite aunt!  But there is one that we CALL “my favourite aunt”!  I love both my aunts equally. 

Christmas Eve.  The year is now forgotten.

I always worked Christmas Eve.  It was usually a fun day, people were usually in good spirits.  There’d be the odd disgruntled shopper who was upset that you were sold out of Shania.  Most people were pretty cool and didn’t want to act like a jerk at Christmas to a stranger.

It was getting close to the end of the day.   Everything had gone pretty well.  I was dressed up in suit and tie.  I always did, on Christmas Eve.  It was a tradition my boss had started, but I was the only one who carried on with it.  (The only thing that bugged me:  He made me wear my big, ugly store tag with my suit and tie.  This thing was huge, like the size of a post card, laminated, hanging from a string around my neck.  The idea was, how were people to know that you worked here if you weren’t wearing your tag?  Well, hell, maybe the guy wearing the suit and tie behind the counter knows?)

I was tired, but my Favourite Aunt from Calgary was coming to town!  I’ve written about her in past chapters.  I only get to see her about twice a year, but it was always nice to have her around at Christmas.  It didn’t happen every year.

The previous evening, the 23rd, had been marred by a last-minute crackhead woman trying to sell us a garbage bag full of crap CDs at closing time.  By comparison the 24th was a cakewalk.  Until 5:00.

An hour before closing, I got a phone call from a calm sounding but clearly upset woman.  I can’t remember the scenario anymore.  All I can remember is that it was a no-win situation.  We’d messed something up that couldn’t be fixed.  We probably promised to hold something for her that was clearly gone.  I can remember that it was for her son, whatever the missing item was.

I apologized, I tried to explain how something like this might have happened, but my apology was not going to be enough.

“That’s not a satisfactory answer,” she said.  “You’re going to have to make this right.”

I was tired and there was an hour until closing…and now this.  Jesus Christ!

Suddenly, a giggle…a snicker…a laugh.

The woman on the other end of the phone goes, “Michael.  Don’t you know who this is?”

I didn’t know whether to be relieved or pissed off!  It was Aunt Lynda.  My Favourite Aunt.

“You handled that very well,” she added helpfully.

“Thanks a lot!” I said.  “I nearly had a heart attack!”

“Oh you’re welcome,” she said, and giggled again.  Aww hell, it was nice she was back in town.  And it was also nice I wasn’t in shit.  If something like that had happened an hour before closing on Christmas Eve for real, that would have haunted me all Christmas, I swear to God.

So, to my Aunt Lynda, who is actually in town again this week, this one goes out to you!  It’s good to see you again!

Part 105: 9/11

I slept in.  For me, sleeping in meant waking up at 7:30 instead of 5:30.  I didn’t have to go to work in the morning; I was working the afternoon.  Instead, I had an oil change booked for my car.  My dad and I headed out early, had a coffee at Mr. Lube, got the oil changed, and headed back home.

When we got home, my mom was watching the news.  “An airplane just crashed into the World Trade Center!” she said.

“What, like an accident?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.  “They haven’t said.  But it was a big plane.  A passenger plane.”

The second plane collided around this time, because when we all got to the TV, both towers were burning.  We just sat there, watching events unfold in shock.

I phoned up Matty K, who was working the morning shift at our store.  He was cut off from the outside world, as he didn’t have TV, radio or internet at the store.  I let him know what was going on.  He had not heard about it yet.  I kept him posted throughout the morning any time there was significant news.

I went into work at 1 in the afternoon.  It was all anybody wanted to talk about, customers and staff, understandably so.  Everybody was freaked out, especially when it became obvious that this was a well coordinated attack.  Some were scared, some were concerned for family members traveling, but most of us were just freaked right out.

It was a weird day to work, and the store was pretty dead that afternoon as everyone stayed home to watch the news.  In the end, we all just wanted to go home and do the same thing.

We couldn’t just go home and watch the news.  There was a meeting scheduled that night at 9:30 pm, that store managers had to attend.  None of us really wanted to be there, but it was decided not to cancel the meeting, even though our minds were anywhere else but work.  Our thoughts were with the lost, the survivors, the families, and trying to make sense out of those tragic events.

REVIEW: Max Webster – Max Webster (1976)

This one goes out to T-Rev!

MAX WEBSTER – Max Webster (1976 Anthem Records)

It is difficult to recall a better debut album than this 1976 masterpiece by the four-headed enigma known as Max Webster. Kim Mitchell (vocals/guitars), Mike Tilka (bass), Terry Watkinson (keys) and short-tenured drummer Paul Kersey, along with lyricist Pye Dubois, seemingly emerged fully-formed with this immortal classic.  Right from the feedback kicking off “Hangover”, this album feels like it was custom designed for awesome sauce.

When I first heard it, I recall finding the album artwork mildly disturbing and the music jittery and off-putting. That was first listen.  Then, Trevor bought it (and numerous others) for me for my birthday one year.  THANKS T-REV! 

It only took two more listens to appreciate this album for what it is: A paradoxically funny yet progressive masterpiece that runs the gamut from bizarre to blues to rock to country to campfire,with poetic lyrics to match. From the seemingly out-of-control “Hangover” to the mournful “Lily”, this album really does have it all.

Of note:  This album was produced with Terry Brown, who helmed many Rush classics.

Like Frank Zappa’s bastard children, Max Webster emerged from Sarnia Ontario, perplexing and rocking audiences from coast to coast. Despite the diversity in sounds and challenging arrangements, this band was not short on melody and managed to create catchy songs out of the most absurd material, such as “Toronto Tontos”.  Yet this is balanced by songs like the groovy “Here Among the Cats”.  Regardless, it’s impossible to get either song out of your head.  Mitchell’s soloing on “Here Among the Cats” is stunning, by the way. 

You can’t understate how important, groundbreaking, and fantastic this album is. Just listen to the upbeat “Blowing The Blues Away”, or “Only Your Nose Knows” for a taste of the best music that Canada has ever put up for offer.  “Summer’s Up”…”Coming Off the Moon”…not a bad song in the bunch.  I understand that there are deluxe Max editions available now. I think I might pick one up and see how they are.

I think I’ll start with Max Webster!  (Note:  Don’t tell Mrs. LeBrain, but I did order it from Amazon a few moments ago.)

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Def Leppard – X (Japanese import!)

This review is because of Rob Vuckovich, whom I like to describe as “one of the Jedi Masters who instructed me”.  Vuckovich complained that I rate everything so high.  That’s because, in general, I tend to write about things I like.  However just for Rob, I dug up an album that I hate.  Here you go.

DEF LEPPARD – X (Japanese import, 2002)

This was the lowest point for Def Lep. Writing with Max “Backstreet Boys” Martin? Screw that, man. The only sounds on this album that wasn’t filtered through a computer was the sound of Steve Clark rolling in his grave.

I mean, damn. Listen to “Unbelievable”. See what I mean?  That’s pop radio crapola written by not one, not two, but three pop uber-writers.

“Now” isn’t bad; it has some guitar on it, but what’s with the programmed opening? What’s with these drum machines? Why such a slow tempo and wimpy chorus? The best song is called “Torn to Shreds”, but even that’s a power ballad.

“Long Long Way To Go” has some nice acoustic work (and there’s a superior acoustic version on the Japanese import), but it’s otherwise one of the wimpiest songs in this band’s tarnished history.  Know why?  It too was written entirely by outside writers.

The Japanese import also has another bonus track, “Kiss the Day”, another slow and wimpy pseudo-rocker.  While not a bonus track per se, the official website used to offer a song called “Perfect Girl”, which is a better demo of “Gravity”.

Buy On Through The Night, not X.

1/5 stars.

Part 104: A Nightmare on Cocknuckles Street

Please, people:  Before you pick up your phone, and call and swear at someone, please make sure you’re calling the RIGHT DAMN PLACE!
 
In December 2005, an angry guy called.  He had a CD order that he was waiting for.  Three discs.  He had been waiting a week.  I checked inventory, and there was nothing in stock.  This pissed him off a lot.  These were gifts.  I began trying to solve this by retracing the order steps.
 
I double checked the titles — nothing.  I checked orders in our system — nothing for this guy, and nothing for the titles he was asking for.  I checked everything under his name to see if we had anything he’d requested, at all!  Nothing.  Nothing with this guy’s name on it, nothing with the titles he had ordered.  What happened?  Had we cocked it up?
 
“How is that fucking possible?  I was standing right there in front of you geniuses!  You told me it was available, and it would be there in a week!  Are you saying you morons screwed up?”
 
I just love that kind of language!   

“No, I’m not saying we screwed up, I’m just trying to figure this out.  There’s something missing here.  You say you were standing here?  As in, you didn’t phone in this order?”
 
“I was standing right there in front of you idiots.  I asked for those discs and you said a week!”
 
“OK, again, I’m just trying to clarify here:  You were standing right here where I am, at our store on Cocknuckles Street?” (Address changed for blog.)
 
“No!  I was at the one at Dicklock Street!  Jesus Christ!” (Address also changed for blog…I hope you figured that on your own though.)
 
“Well, that’s the problem right there.  You just called Cocknuckles Street.  We wouldn’t have any record of another store’s order.”
 
“Well FUCK!”
 
And then he hung up.  No, “I’m sorry for being rude,” or “Sorry for the mistake,” or “Sorry for yelling.”  Just “FUCK!” and then a hang up.
 
I called the other store on Dicklock Street a little later.  I asked if this guy called for his order.  He did, and he was polite as can be.
 
Jerkoff.


“Boring conversation anyway…”

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Brian Vollmer of HELIX!
Brian Vollmer and I, back in in 2007 at Planet Helix!

September 7, 2012:  Once again, things are getting exciting on Planet Helix.  If the new single / video “All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup” wasn’t enough, there’s also the new anthology, Best Of 1983-2012.

Lead vocalist and founding member of Helix, Brian Vollmer talked to us about these releases, some special upcoming dates, and a lot more.

The new single seems to be off to a good start, according to the song’s co-writer, Sean Kelly.  Brian filled us in.

“Sean’s from North Bay [Ontario], and he told me we’re getting airplay up in North Bay on that song.”  The video is also doing well:  “We’re up over 5000 hits now, and we’re hoping that the video goes viral.  It’s early in the season…there might not even be an NHL season this year!”

Oh Brian, don’t get me started on Gary Bettman!

The collector in me was excited about the vinyl release of the single.  It’s also going to be on the anthology CD, but the vinyl is designed for collectors in mind.

“I had initially wanted to do vinyl on the Christmas album [A Heavy Mental Christmas], but when we wrote this song, I thought that we’d do vinyl because it’s a collector’s item.  It’s kind of a novelty type of thing, and I think that it’ll appeal to not only Helix fans but also Toronto Maple Leafs fans.  They might like the vinyl just to have in the rec room up in the bar.  We sell it for $19.99 so it makes a great stocking stuffer for people.

“We did it on green vinyl too, to fit in with the season somewhat, and when we go through that pressing we’ll probably change colours.”  Just FYI Brian:  my wife, Mrs. LeBrain, is really hoping for blue!

“We’ve been trying to write a Leafs song for a couple years,” adds Brian.  “We had the working title of ‘I’m Bleeding Blue & White Tonight’.  And we never quite got the song together.  And then we did a radio session, where we were finishing off [new song]  ‘Axe to Grind’, which is also on the anthology album.”  Brian was then supposed to meet up with Travis Wood, of the band Whosarmy (from the TV show Cover Me Canada, which Brian also guested on incidentally).

“I didn’t want to go too early, and just sit around at the restaraunt.  So we started fooling around and all of a sudden, within a couple of minutes we wrote ‘All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup’.  The song was recorded within two weeks.”  The hilarious video was done right after that.  I forgot to ask Brian if any Habs fans are offended!


All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup

You can buy the single on the green vinyl in a bundle with a T-shirt and the new CD, Best Of 1983-2012.  “The Best Of album I just put out has a lot of tracks that you wouldn’t normally hear [on other best of albums] by Helix.  Stuff like ‘Animal Inside’ off the Vagabond Bones  album.  ‘Get Up’ and ‘Fill Your Head With Rock’ from The Power of Rock and Roll album.”

Coinciding with these releases is the forthcoming Heavy Mental Christmas tour.

“Yes, we just added another date in Cornwall.  We have seven dates, mostly through Masonic temples, legions, moose halls, through southern Ontario.  It’s a multi-media show.  We’re taking out screens, so there’s some video segues between songs, other times there’s still pictures with Christmas themes…some of the cameras that are places strategically around stage are broadcasting whatever member might be doing a solo during the song.”

You may want to consider getting your tickets now, as these shows are special indeed, and feature a new lineup.  Not only will you meet the new Helix guitarist, John Claus, but “also Sarah Smith.  Sarah Smith is a great London [Ontario] artist, she’s got two CDs out now under her belt, she’s a great addition to the show.  Just a smiling, very talented person.  She’s on with us instead of Kaleb [“Duckman” Duck, guitars].  Kaleb really didn’t want to do Christmas songs!  Initially, we were going to go with one guitar player, and then I thought of Sarah.”

This turned out to be a good decision, according to Brian:

“I always walk out of our Christmas practices with a big smile on my face.  I love playing the material, and it’s really fun with this group of people, to do these songs.  I wouldn’t want somebody to do any of my projects that wasn’t totally into it.

“It’s a labour of love.  We’ve been working on this show over a year now.”

Really?

“Setting up the website, and the tickets, and the halls, and putting together the show, learning the show, and getting the multi-media involved.”  But it is truly a labour of love, and you can tell by the amount of work that Brian and the band has put in so far.

I mentioned new guitar player John Claus.  As previously reported, longtime axeman Brent Doerner will be leaving Helix at the end of September 2012.  Brian helps shed some light on this lineup change, and what bringing in a new member does for the band.

“We have two more dates with Brent at the end of this month.  One’s at the Rockpile in Toronto, the other’s at the Masonic Temple in Stratford.  That’s a multi-media show as well.  Tickets are going fast for that one, I think a lot of people want to come and see Brent before he goes.

“Brent’s been in the band since about 1975.  No hard feelings with him leaving at all.  He just wants to pursue video production, and in fact, Brent will still be involved on a creative level  with the band, helping us do our videos.

“I tell everyone that Brent, when he initially came back to the fold, he was only going to be here for six months, and he ended up staying three and a half years!  He definitely was better than his word, and stayed for a long time.  So I’m really grateful to him for that.”

On John Claus, who will replace Brent:

“He plays piano and guitar.  He sings, so he’s a great addition to the band.  Nice guy, great personlity.  Whenever we hire new people in the band, we don’t want any ego trips.  So, to get someone who has a nice personality and just a good human being is a nice thing to have.”  John will join the band completed by longtime members Daryl Gray and Greg “Fritz” Hinz, on bass and drums respectively.

The piano aspect will come into play for future shows.  Brian reveals that he and John will probably perform “Dream On”, the Nazareth cover, from Helix’s Wild in the Streets album, as a duo during upcoming Helix concerts.  “And the Christmas shows, we’re doing ‘Hallelujah'” says Brian of another piano-based cover to look forward to!

It’s great to see Helix continue forward through the years.  Brian has worked hard, starting in the 1970’s as an indi artist, and now today continuing down that path.  Once again the band is behind their own music releases, selling it themselves.  Brian has nothing but praise for the team he’s surrounded himself with in recent years.

“I write with Sean [Kelly] nowadays, he’s a great writer, nice person to work with.  Aaron Murray is my producer, he studied from Danny Broadback, who won a Juno for Engineering.  And Danny studied with Jack Richardson, who as you know produced Alice Cooper and the Guess Who, and all sorts of people.”  Brian adds, “Moe Berg [The Pursuit of Happiness] sometimes comes in to write with us, Sean and I.”

Thanks to Brian Vollmer for updating us on all the new happenings on Planet Helix!  Try to get out to see the Heavy Mental Christmas tour, and get tickets while you can!

Upcoming dates:

http://www.planethelix.com/Schedule.htm

Buy the new Helix single, album, and other stuff:

http://www.planethelix.com/Store/StoreMain.htm

Audio of our chat below!

 SOUNDCLOUD

Part 103: Grubby

The same things happened more than once, but my old writings from back in the day still survive, and are remarkably detailed.  It is for that reason that I can relay to you this delightful day that I had with a guy that I shall dub Grubby.

One afternoon, this grubby looking guy walked into the store with a cardboard box of discs.  He was wearing track paints and a stained T-shirt.

 “I wanna sell these,” he said.

 Glancing at the box, estimating how many were in there, and how long it might take to go through them, I said, “OK, no problem.  Give me 20-30 minutes to go through them all.”

 “20 or 30 minutes?  Why so long?  Can’t you just tell me what they’re worth?”

 “Not without going through them,” I said.  “I have to check them all for quality and then check to see what we have in stock, and what we pay for it.”

“They all sound fine.  I listened to them on the way here,” he assured me.  Needless to say, I could not accept that at face value, especially when I started looking at them.  Many looked like a well-used hockey rink, before the zamboni comes out to resurface the ice!

 “What do you think?” he asked me after a few moments.

I was starting to lose my patience.  I hadn’t gotten through more than a dozen yet.  I said “I don’t know yet.  I haven’t even started thinking about pricing yet, I’m still checking out the condition.  If you want to look around, I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

“No, I’m not interested in buying anything.  I said they all play.”

“I’m sure that they do.  But we have to be sure of that, and we also have visual standards that all our discs have to hold,” I said.  I hated the kind of customer that would stand there and watch every move I make!  It’s distracting.  It really pushed my buttons.

“You can play them if you want,” he answered.

“Well, I don’t have time for that.  It would take days to play them all.”

“Well you don’t play them all the way through!  You just skip through them!”

Obviously, you can samples bits and pieces of a CD without hearing a single skip, because a skip can be anywhere on the album.

The guy huffed and then finally started looking around.  This allowed me to actually check the discs for quality with a careful visual once-over.  Then, I arranged them into piles based on that criteria.  Some were mint, some not, and some were just hacked.  The guy looked around for 5 or 6 minutes and came back.  By this time, I was at the computer, pricing the discs.  Before I knew it though, Grubby was into my price piles, and re-arranging the discs!  He was putting similar things together, but he was mixing up the system I had.  

When I saw this, I said, “Oh, can you please leave them in those piles?  I had them all organized.”

“What’s this pile?” he asked.

“Those are discs I am passing on.  They are all just a little too scratched for us to take, and some are pretty common titles.”

“I already told you they all play fine!”  He was raising his voice now.

“I know,” I said, trying to stay patient.  “The thing is, all the discs we sell, we try to keep them a certain quality standard.  They all have to look as new as possible.  These ones are just not good enough for the standards.  Sorry…I don’t make up these rules.  I know they probably play fine, but you can always try selling them at a pawn shop.  They don’t care how a discs looks.”

“Fuck,” he said.  “I don’t want to have to go someplace else.  I want to get rid of them all right now.”

“At best,” I said, “I think I’ll be able to take a little more then half of these.”

“What?” the guy yelled.  “That’s fucked!  They’re all fine!  They all play fine!  This is so fucking stupid.”

“I’m sorry about that, but I’m not done going through them.  I might be able to do better.  Just give me a little more time.  I’m almost ready.”

“Forget it.  I want to sell them all, or nothing.”  He began packing his discs back into the box.  

I hated when this happened, because 7 times out of 10, they’d be back.  And because he put the discs away, messing up my system of price piles, if he came back I’d have to look at them all again.  Which is what happened.  He came back later that evening.  Maybe he was hoping somebody else (less picky) would be working, but at least the second time he came in, I didn’t have to explain everything twice.  I did however have to explain that I couldn’t remember how I had the discs organized, so I’d have to look at them again.

All told, I probably spent an hour with Grubby that day, buying a bunch of crappy discs that would sit for months.

Yep.  Just an average day of a Record Store Guy!

REVIEW: Tony Martin – Scream (2005, Japanese edition with bonus track)

TONY MARTIN – Scream (2005 Marquee Inc., Japanese edition with bonus track)

Some of you might not know the name Tony Martin.  Yet you should — he spent more time fronting Black Sabbath than anyone except Ozzy Osbourne.  He sang on five studio albums and one live.  His powerful voice, which was constantly compared to Dio’s, was behind such singles as “Headless Cross” and “The Shining”.

Scream is only Tony’s second solo album, but it’s bloody fantastic.  This fits the bill for people who miss where Black Sabbath were going before Martin departed for the first time in 1991, to make room for Dio’s return.  The riffs are there, and on a couple you’d swear Iommi wrote them.  This is intentional — Martin collaborated with ex-Sabbath keyboardist Geoff Nicholls (1980-1995) and included music and performances by late Sabbath drummer Cozy Powell.

There are many standout tracks on Scream.  The opener, “Raising Hell”, is a speedy Sabbath-esque number similar to “Eye Witness” from Cross Purposes.  Not coincidentally, this is the track with Nicholls and Powell, a demo for the album that would have followed Tyr.  It’s a standout if you like that period of Sabbath.  Which I do.

Fuck yeah!  I LOVE that period of Sabbath! 

There are blazing guitar solos, organ solos and hell, even a bloody violin solo, and it sounds downright wicked.  Martin himself played it, as he did most instruments on this album.  The rest were handled by his son, Joe Harford!  I’m guessing it was Harford who plays the tasty slide guitar solos too.  I loves me some slide guitar in my metal!  You don’t hear it enough in metal.

Best song:  “I’m Gonna Live Forever”, an anthem that I would say makes the album worth buying on its own. 

Another standout:  “Wherever You Go”, somewhat Zeppelin-esque circa III, but also reminiscient of a Sabbath track like “Odin’s Court”.  Indeed, you will definitely hear Zeppelin creeping in during “Field of Lies”…

Worst songs:  Sadly, I can’t say as I much liked the rap metal song, the Japanese-exlusive “Unbearable”.  It’s basically about how getting no respect is making his life unbearable.  It’s heavy and angry, has some good guitars, and sounds pretty genuine.  I guess it can’t be easy being the 8th (I think) lead vocalist in Black Sabbath.  I also dislike “The Kids Of Today (Don’t Understand the Blues)”.  Basically about what the title says.  It has a synth riff in the verses that is kind of at odds with the title, but maybe that’s the point.

Aside from the two songs that didn’t click with me, Scream comes off as an honest, classy traditional metal album.  It strikes me as a bold attempt to carry the Sabbath flag, during a period when Black Sabbath were not recording.  (Sabbath later got back together with Dio under the name Heaven & Hell, and made one final crushing studio album.)  The songs stand up on their own, with powerful, memorable riffs.  The vocal melodies and indeed the vocal performances are Martin at his best.  This is just a straight great metal album, for those who like it the way they used to make it.

Kids of today.  They just don’t understand!

4.5/5 stars