Author: mikeladano

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

Part 44: eBayers

Shortly after we kicked off our website, we ran into a brand new breed of customer.  This breed was probably accidentally created in a lab when scientists cross the “annoying customer” with the “computer” and tossed in some DNA from “the internet”.

These guys bought the same titles, over and over and over again.  Then they would re-sell them on eBay and double their money.  The problem is these guys would get up early in the morning, check the website updates, and snag them before sane people wake up.

Some of the titles they were always hunting for:

  • Alanis Morissette – Alanis
  • Alanis Morissette – Now is the Time

These were Alanis’ first two dance-pop discs that have never been reissued.  For obvious reasons.

Another:

  • Last of the Mohicans – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

This classic score was out of print for a long time.  That, and it’s dramatic quality, made it a classic for eBaying.

  • The Traveling Wilburys – Vol 1
  • The Traveling Wilburys – Vol 3

Before these two albums were reissued recently with bonus material, they were completely unavailable.  People were willing to pay up to and over $50 for the first one on eBay.

There were pretty strict company rules about staff buying product for resale on eBay for their own personal profit.  You can see why this would be so, the store is not there to supply an employee’s personal eBay business.

However before that rule kicked in, and eBay was new to the world, a few of us tried selling some stuff as an experiment.  I remember getting good good money for the following, which I sold multiple times:

  • Freddie Mercury – Mr. Bad Guy
  • The Tea Party – Release (EP)

Now it’s almost impossible to imagine a time when you couldn’t get (almost) anything on eBay, if you can afford it.  Yet there are still some things I’m hunting for, and I have not found yet on eBay.  If you have either of these, drop me a line!

  • The Cult – Capsule 2
  • The Sultans of Ping F.C. – Casual Sex in the Cineplex

REVIEW: Nickelback – Dark Horse

First of all, this Victoria Day weekend, I would like to apologize to the nations of the world, for Nickelback.  You forgave us for Celine, you forgave us for Bryan Adams, do we get three strikes?

NICKELBACK – Dark Horse 

the only thing that could make me feel worse about my life would be to play bass for nickelback. — Mike Jackson, actor, “Trevor” on Trailer Park Boys.

As if Nickelback weren’t bad enough on their own, here comes Mutt Lange to “polish” their sound! The result is an album that — guess what! — sounds like a cross between Nickelback and Def Leppard. Don’t believe me? Check out those “HEY”‘s on “Shakin’ Hands”. Lifted straight out of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, but without the sugar.  This is more like aspartame.

In fact this is one of the least fun album about beer and chicks that I’ve ever heard. Kroeger’s overwrought, over-serious singing style makes this one tedious listen. I’ve never heard a “party” band take themselves so seriously before. Even Metallica don’t take themselves this seriously.

The lyr-yucks are a nauseating mix of cliche after cliche, stripper after stripper, beer after beer. But without a wink and a smile, like David Lee Roth used to do. This time, nobody’s laughing.

Worst songs:
“Something In Your Mouth” (how can a band write such stupid lyrics? With rapping?)
“This Afternoon” (a pretty dour sounding party)
“Shakin’ Hands” (Nickelfunk?)
“If Today Was Your Last Day” (philosphy 4 dummies )

There’s a reason Nickelback are hated by millions and got rocks thrown at them in Greece. This album boils it all down into one handy package for you to piss on.

No stars.

My favourite thing about Chad Kroeger is how dumb he sounds when he’s trying to sound smart!

Part 43: Shake Your Foundations (Epilepsy Sucks!)

In 2008, the year we got married, Jen was diagnosed with epilepsy.  Some people with epilepsy never have a seizure, once diagnosed and medicated.  Unfortunately for us, Jen is not one of those people.

It’s been a long hard struggle, but we have made it through so far with humour and a positive attitude.  One part of having a positive attitude came from my research on the illness. While researching epilepsy online, I discovered that numerous rock stars have it, but still function!  Knowing this was a huge boost to our attitudes, because being on stage involves lots of lights, and lights can be a trigger for many people with epilepsy.

I constructed a 4 O’Clock 4-Play for Craig at 107.5 Dave FM, involving this theme.  My goal was simply to raise awareness.  I told Craig, “If just one person hears this and learns something about epilepsy then my work is done, because so many people have no idea what it is.”  Judging by the feedback I got, it did succeed in getting people thinking!

1. Prince.  The royal single-monikered one was born epileptic and suffered a lot of taunting at school.  He’s obviously come a long way since!  I submitted “Let’s Go Crazy” in my 4-play but Craig subbed in a collaboration with Stevie Nicks which was fine by me!

2. Lindsay Buckingham.  He was born with a mild form of the disease, but still manages to tour with Fleetwood Mac.  Good on him!  I chose “Go Your Own Way”.

3. Adam Horovitz.  This Beastie Boy is sensitive to flashing lights, which I am sure they use in their stage show.  It certainly didn’t seem to hold him back from massive success.  For this 4-play I chose “Sabotage”.

4. Neil Young.  He was medicated for epilepsy as a child, but didn’t like the side effects of the meds, which can go all over the spectrum depending on you and your meds.  Neil chose to make lifestyle changes instead, and has lived without medication since!  And, obviously, rocked the world.  Good on you Neil.  I used “Rockin’ in the Free World”.

Epilepsy scares a lot of people when they see a seizure happen.  Don’t be scared, but if you want to learn more, check out some of these links.

http://www.epilepsyontario.org/

http://www.epilepsy.ca/en-CA/Epilepsy-Canada.html

http://twitter.com/#!/EpilepsyOntario

REVIEW: Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows (UNKLE Remix) CD single

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – “No One Knows” (UNKLE Remix) CD single (2002)

Remixes…meh.

There are a few different singles for “No One Knows”. The one you are currently taking a look at is the UNKLE remix single. As far as remixes go, this isn’t bad at all. It’s actually a really interesting remix, completely reinventing the song and changing it into something else, while still retaining that haunting Homme melody. A job well done, for sure, a truly good remix.
However I can’t rate this single any higher than 2 stars simply because it contains four versions of the same song, and I usually like a lot more out of my singles. The disc contains the original version, and three versions of the UNKLE remix (extended, edit, intrumental).
This is mainly for remix fans. Even completists should put this low on their priority lists.
2/5 stars

REVIEW: Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous (deluxe edition)

“Is there anyone here who has some Irish them? Are there any girls who’d like a little more Irish in them?” — Phil Lynott

SAM_2217

THIN LIZZY – Live and Dangerous (2011 deluxe edition)

Kiss Alive. Frampton Comes Alive. Live At Leeds. Live and Dangerous. What is it about live albums that, in the past anyway, pretty much defined a band’s career? If you were going to own one Kiss album, let’s face it, it was Kiss Alive. Likewise with Lizzy — this was the album you were most likely to find in the older brother’s record collection. Or the dad’s CD collection, as time goes on. What is it about live albums in general and this one in particular?

Hard to say. However, one thing it does have common with Kiss Alive is that it was heavily overdubbed in the studio. The liner notes go into great detail on this, with producer Tony Visconti and guitarist Scott Gorham disagreeing on the details. So we may never know, except to listen to the results and blindly enjoy them for what they are!

Now expanded to two discs with two bonus tracks, Live and Dangerous is still a fantastic listen from front to back. I can’t believe how great this album still sounds. If this was concocted in the studio, I have no idea how they managed this kind of energy. In particular, Phil’s vocals are better than anything he’d ever done anywhere else — more soulful, more pronounced, powerful — pick your adjective. Either way, this is the sound of a real singer, singing live, improvising notes here and there, making it more real.

Enough good things cannot be said about Live and Dangerous so I will just add two more things and leave you to buy (or not, but you’d have to be a real suckypants not to want to own this). I was disappointed in two things:

1. Only two bonus tracks were included, and the B-side “Me And The Boys” is not one of them. This is very rare for deluxe editions, which usually include as many B-sides as possible, and there was room on the discs. (Don’t fret though, the live version of “Me And The Boys” can be had on the Lizzy box set.)

2. The DVD Live And Dangerous – Live at the Rainbow Theatre 1977 just includes the show itself and none of the special features included on actual individual DVD editions you can buy separately.

As an added note, you may enjoy the “sequel” album Still Dangerous, although there is some overlap.

5/5 stars. Just buy it.

Part 42.5: Random Klassic Quote

The two most common requests here at LeBrain’s blog are the following:

1. We love the classic quotes!

2. You ramble on too much!

So, for your long weekend pleasure, a single Klassic Quote for you.

Remember way back in Klassic Kwotes II I mentioned a girl who shit her pants in the store?  Funnier still was the reaction from one of my regular customers that day.  Peter the Rocker.  Ahh, Peter, what ever happened to you?  Peter the Rocker was from Austria.  When the girl shit her pants in the store, the first thing heard in the store, very loudly, was from Peter the Rocker.  Picture this in thick Austrian accent.

“Hey man!  I think somebody shit their fucking pants in your fucking store, man!”

Also funny was when Peter the Rocker once declared to us, in Austrian accent:

I am no longer Peter the Rocker!  Now I am Peter Hard Core!

Part 42: The Barefoot DJ

RECORD STORE TALES Part 42: The Barefoot DJ

We had one regular at the store, Barefoot DJ.  He used to come in and say, “Do you have that song, Mistadobalina? Mr. Bob Dobalina?”  With no shoes.  Every time.  He said he had a foot disease that made his feet feel like they’re on fire.  Therefore, he could’t wear shoes.  So I said, wear flip flops.  I had to kick him out so many damn times!  He said he filed a report with human rights, all that stuff.  It was an insurance thing.  If the guy cut his foot on a broken CD case shard, we get sued.

The problem is, there were some discs that were just hard to find and Del tha Funkee Homosapien wasn’t exactly a regular, like, say, Hole (bargain bin perennial, that one!).  So he’d come in, ask for the song, do his little rendition (no shoes this whole time) and then tell us we sucked because we didn’t have it.   Then he’d be back two weeks later asking for the same damn song.    This, and “Pink” by Aerosmith, were the two that the Barefoot DJ was constantly looking for.

But…he wanted “Pink” on a greatest hits album!  Even though it was their new single at the time, from their brand new album, he wanted it on a hits album.  Wouldn’t buy it otherwise.  I told him he was just going to have to wait.  There was no pleasing this man, even when he did wear shoes!

CODA:  A question raised by Craig Fee, of 107.5 Dave FM:  “Who the fuck wants that stupid song by Aerosmith?”

Answer – Me….

TORONTO RECORD SHOW_0013

REVIEW: Metallica – Beyond Magnetic

METALLICA – Beyond Magnetic (EP, 2011)

Forget the fact that I bought this twice. (Shame on you Metallica for releasing this digitally without even announcing that there would be a forthcoming physical release.) This EP, Metallica’s umpteenth (and fourth in a row last I checked) is totally worth whatever your local shop is asking you to plunk down for it. There’s nothing in the way of special packaging so if you already own a digital copy, you’ll probably be fine with just that. For sheer riffage per minute, this is Metallica the way I remember it.

The production or lack thereof is rougher than Death Magnetic, which is fine by me. The songs themselves all could have been on Death Magnetic, there’s really nothing weak here. “Hate Train” is among the better Metallica songs from the last 20 years. It careens from fast and heavy to melodic and back again. And that’s just the first track. If you liked Death Magnetic, then buying this is a real no-brainer. If you didn’t, and still can’t get over the fact that Metallica don’t sound the same as when you were in highschool, then avoid, because I’ll tell you right now this won’t change your jaded mind.

4/5 stars.

REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Master of Reality (deluxe edition)

 

This is the third time I have bought Master of Reality on CD.  I’m addicted to buying these deluxe editions.   Check out more of my Sabbath deluxe reviews by clicking here!

SAM_2160

BLACK SABBATH – Master of Reality (2010 deluxe edition)

Black Sabbath really began to grow on Master of Reality. Wheras their first wax and Paranoid seem largely cut from the same cloth, Master exhibits some new flare. Acoustic guitar, flute, adventurous arrangements…this was the first step on a road that would later lead to the masterpiece Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.

You already know the big songs: “Into the Void”, “Sweet Leaf”, “Children of the Grave”. These songs all combine crushing riffs, stark vocals, and the quintessential Black Sabbath sound that only these four guys could produce. Something about Bill Ward’s slightly off timekeeping and Geezer Butler’s trademark slinky bass drives these songs on a hellbent path.

You can’t go wrong with the rest of the album either, not a weak song in the bunch. “After Forever” combines a couple riffs together into a mutant beast of hard rock. “Lord of This World” is brutal. “Solitude” is hauntingly beautiful, a masterpiece that neither Sabbath nor Ozzy would equal later.  In my opinion.

This deluxe edition combines the original album with a bonus disc containing demos and instrumentals. There are alternate lyrics as well. I like the instrumental versions because you get the hear the band stripped down, and the interplay of the instruments. These guys truly were psychically locked in. (Geezer and Tony have always said so.) Casual fans won’t need this bonus disc, as there is a lot of repeat, but diehards like myself love having these previously unheard versions.

Last of all is a completely unreleased song, also unknown to me previously, called “Weevil Woman”. The great thing about this song is that it is not a throw-away. It is up to the Sabbath standard, and almost as good as anything on the album itself. Collectors rejoice, the inclusion of this one song makes this purchase compulsory. It’s a no-brainer.

My only complaint? My old Castle remaster of this album had an embossed cover, replicating the original vinyl. It’s a shame something similar wasn’t done with this. Embossing the cover would have replicated the original vinyl artwork so much better, as the original album had the album title only embossed so you can barely see it, it was not coloured at all.

Liner notes and inner artwork are, of course, great.

5/5 stars.

Oh! And one last thing. Bill Ward’s non-involvement with the Black Sabbath reunion means it is NOT a Black Sabbath reunion. It is simply a new lineup. Not happy with this!

Part 41: Klassic Kwotes VI!

Part 41 already?  Holy crap!  Thanks for tagging along, enjoy the classic quotes!

1.  When you opened up in the morning, you’d show up early, unlock, and disarm the alarm system.  On a regular basis, I would turn around to find someone had followed me in.  “Are you open?”  Yeah, because everyone opens up at 9:15, jackass.

2. “Are you guys open tomorrow?”  Sure, not an odd question, right?  Well, it is when it’s December the fucking 24th!  We’re a record store, not Tim Horton’s!

3. “Do you have any Walter Ostenek?”  Said to me by…Walter Ostenek.

4. “Hey, I know you!  You’re the one that won those Juno awards!”  Said by me, to Walter Ostenek.  His deadpan response?  “They were Grammies”.

5. “I can’t wear shoes, I have a foot disease.”  EEWWW?  Said to me by a DJ who ignoreded our annual summertime “No Shirt, No Shoes, No CDs!” sign.

6. “Because highschool is free, and Jerry Springer does not work here, please wear a shirt in the store.”  A sign that Trevor made!

7. “Who would win in a fight?  Darth Vader, or Anakin Skywalker?”  A very difficult question, posed by one of my regular customer’s kids.  The kid quizzed me on Star Wars every time he was in the store.  It was awesome.

8. “Where do you keep the GOOD music?”  Another puzzling question, but this time by someone who was old enough to know better.

9. ” My name’s Winston.”  Said to me by a guy who’s driver’s licence clearly said “Eggbert”.

DISCLAIMER – Do not read on, if you are weak of stomach.

10. “Sometimes, I shit in the shower.  It’s easy.  You just shit in your hand, drop the poo in the toilet bowl, and since you’re in the shower already you just wash your hands.”  –– Joe Big Nose.  True story.