Reviews

REVIEW: Dio – Strange Highways (1994)

Scan_20151011DIO – Strange Highways (1994 Reprise)

Black Sabbath had a very acrimonious split with Ronnie James Dio in 1993.  Sabbath were asked to open for Ozzy Osbourne at his “farewell” concerts in Costa Mesa.  At the end there was to be an original Sabbath mini-reunion.  Ronnie James Dio outright refused to perform and left the band immediately afterwards.  Sabbath were forced to get Rob Halford, not so far away in Pheonix, to fill in (the first of two times he would have to do so in Black Sabbath, the second time due to an Ozzy illness).  Halford did so admirably under the circumstances.  After the show, drummer Vinnie Appice joined Ronnie in a new version of Dio.

The new Dio lineup was a four-piece for the first time since album #1.  On bass, Jeff Pilson (ex-Dokken), also helping out with keyboards and backing vocals.  Pilson was always capable of singing the high parts in Dokken songs, and with Dio he adds a little bit of melodic accent by harmonizing with Ronnie.  On guitar, controversially so, was Tracy G (Griljalva) from the band WWIII, which had also included Appice at one point.  Dio described his mood as “pissed off” during this period and it certainly came out in the heaviest Dio album yet.

The thing with Tracy G was that he had an abrasive, atonal drony guitar sound, although certainly fitting to the new angry Dio sound.  It was very different from the slick neo-classical bent that guys such as Vivian Campbell added to their solos.  It was a brutally heavy and edgy change that should have earned Ronnie some credit rather than criticism.  “Jesus, Mary & the Holy Ghost” opens the album on a speed metal approach, showing off the new guitar player.  Tracy G was like the mad man’s scientist heavy metal guitar player crossed with Steve Stevens from Billy Idol’s band.  If you want to check out what Tracy G did within Dio, just crank up “Jesus, Mary & the Holy Ghost”.

Admittedly, a whole album of Tracy G’s razor blade guitars can make one weary, but fortunately Dio albums are usually varied in song tempo and style.  “Firehead”, the second track is a slow metal groove that suits Dio well.  Arguably, the Dio lineup with Pilson on bass is more adept at this Sabbathy path than any other.  Pilson has always been one for the low end, and his bass has an elastic thud that is similar, but different from ex-Dio bassist Jimmy Bain.  Slower and heavier still is the title track “Strange Highways”.  Ronnie has always stated that he liked to hear the space between the instruments, and that’s “Strange Highways”.  This really was a great lineup for the band.

“Hollywood Black” is based on a lyric that Ronnie wrote for the sessions of Black Sabbath’s Dehumanizer album.  Maybe it’s even the same melody; the original has never been leaked.  This is a strong mid-tempo slog; the most mainstream Dio song yet in this collection.  Side closer “Evilution” (love that title) is even better; nastier and snippy.

I have a funny story about this song.  I bought the cassette while out on a road trip with my buddy Peter, who was always a much bigger Ozzy fan than Dio.  We put the tape in the car deck.  The words at the end of the song baffled us both, but it was a case of mis-heard lyrics! On Peter’s overdriven, bass-heavy car system, we heard the closing words as:

“Hello, good night, it’s me,
I’m open again,
Come back, come in, goodbye,
Wear clothes!”

The actual final line is “We’re closed.” If you play the song and pay attention…you can hear it too, can’t you? “WEAR CLOTHES!” Misheard lyrics…or hidden message?

As if there was any question from the first side of the album that Ronnie was in a bad mood lately, then “Pain” should settle.  “Take the water and wash your face with pain!”  Or, “Take the hammer and pound yourself with pain!”  My favourite, “Bury my bones on the moon, if they ever should find me it would be too soon.”  It was hard to find Ronnie’s usual positivity in some of these words.   But listen to that one floor tom hit at 2:00 in!  Holy drums, Batman!  I love that one hit, it’s my favourite part of the song, which is actually pretty good.

“One Foot in the Grave” is a lot more upbeat than you’d expect by the title and it too is pretty decent.  Notice these songs are not “great” — they are just shy of whatever quality makes a song great.  Then “Give Her the Gun” is the Dio power ballad, but thematically it too stark and real for some tastes.  Child abuse, gun rights?  In a Dio song?  All power to the man for speaking his mind, but even the most ardent supporter must concede that this is an unusually blunt song for him.

Onto “Blood From a Stone”, back to metaphors once again, and back to blazing hot Tracy G shreddery.  Back to insuppressible Pilson bass.  There are some 80’s-isms in some of the guitar licks, but blink and you’ll miss ’em.  Then, rock out to “Here’s to You”, which sounds like a blazing hot celebration of the rock, or the “masters of the universe”, or something.  But according to Ronnie, “The wheel goes ’round, so here’s to you!”  Sounds like by this point in the record, Ronnie has worked out whatever bitterness he had left seething in his system.  Finally “Bring Down the Rain” ends the album on a very Dio note, with all the majesty and power he can inject into a closing song.  It’s just heavier than before.  “Put out the flame”, sings Ronnie, his leathery lungs never more impassioned nor powered.

Perhaps Dio still had much anger left in him after all, since the next album was the aptly-titled Angry Machines.  But that’s another review.

Strange Highways in a good album bordering on great — but not quite.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Glueleg – Heroic Doses (1994)


GLUELEG – Heroic Doses (1994 Page Publications)

Any band that can handle an instrument as beastly as the Chapman Stick is worth listening to at least once. Glueleg, from Toronto Ontario, were once such band. They boasted not only the Stick but also a horn section with sax and trumpet. If that wasn’t enough to garner them some local praise, a few people turned their heads when they hooked up with James Stewart (cousin of The Cult’s Jamie Stewart) to produce their first CD, Heroic Doses. Prior Glueleg releases were cassettes…CD was the big time.

The title track was the first single/video, and entered rotation on MuchMusic and several rave reviews. Guitar player Ruben Huizenga sings this immediately infectious track. The hypnotic vocals, the punchy horns, the Stick, that low-as-fuck rib-busting riff…this track is perfect in every way. “Heroic Doses” nails it completely and there is no wonder that it garnered some serious attention. The end result of this was a record deal with EMI, but nobody can accuse Glueleg of being commercial on “Heroic Doses” even so.

“Pollo” (“Chicken”) is rapped and sung by Stick player Carlos Alonzo. He has an interesting voice, able to do a rap in a Beastie-like style but with his own spin. He can also sing quite well. He also sings “Mister Pink”, another manic groove. The horns deliver consistent punctuation, and that Stick just thumps. “Lilies” has a droney riff/groove combo that stoner rock bands today love to utilize. “Spiderman” is an original, an instrumental, but it certainly recalls the classic cartoon theme. Glueleg songs don’t tend to adhere to convention song structures. They have more in common with Mr. Bungle than the Chili Peppers, but much more accessible. Their songs have the complexity and chops of Bungle, but are direct. There are also grunge elements, a-la Alice in Chains.

The sonics of this album are really quite good even today. The Stick has a snap to it, and the horns have depth. Having two singers enabled them to play different styles of songs even within the confines of what Glueleg were doing. “Dust” is a dirge, for example. Then the next track “Pampa De Chooch” is completely different, at times almost sounding like Kyuss with horns. “Park Alien” might be Zappa-esque progressive jazz. “I Saw You Joja” is then something else again. Perhaps there’s a lack of focus, or maybe it’s just that Glueleg were so bursting full of ideas, but some songs come off as scattershot.

Biggest surprise of the album: the closing track “Red”, the King Crimson instrumental. What a drum tour de force performance this is, by Christian Simpson. Simpson is no slouch; he later went on to play with Saga for several years, as well as David Usher and Edwin.

I like all of it. Heroic Doses is one of those discs that are indicative of their times, and has nostalgia value, but also plenty of musical chops to keep you busy. If the songs had been tightened up a bit more I think you’d have a serious classic here. Unfortunately there are some songs that are just not quite there.

3.25/5 stars

REVIEW: Whitesnake – The Purple Album (2015 Japanese & deluxe editions)

WHITESNAKE – The Purple Album (2015 Frontiers,  Japanese & deluxe editions)

One old school buddy of mine, Rob Vuckovich, was a huge David Coverdale fan back in the 1980’s, but mostly a Deep Purple fan. He took great pride in telling me that he went to see Whitesnake on the 1987 tour. He held aloft a sign that said “PLAY PURPLE”. David reportedly acknowledged his sign by saying, “We’re not doing any of that!” What changed?

Jon Lord’s dying wish to his friend David Coverdale was to somehow reform Deep Purple MkIII. “Life’s too short and too precious to hold any animosities,” learned David after Lord’s passing. He reached out to Candace Night, wife of Ritchie Blackmore, and eventually spoke to the Man in Black about a Lord-less reunion. Blackmore was intrigued and David started working on updated arrangements for the tunes. He didn’t want to sing them in the same way that he did in his 20’s. The situation with Ritchie didn’t work out, but David did not want the work he had gone to on the new arrangements to go to waste. He approached his band and asked them what they thought about a Deep Purple covers album. The response was instant. Joel Hoekstra (guitar) in particular was pumped.

The result is The Purple Album. Sourced from Coverdale’s three albums with Deep Purple (Burn, Stormbringer, and Comes Taste the Band), 15 songs were selected. It’s hard to argue with the selection, either. There are chances taken. “Holy Man” is a damn hard song to sing, and it was originally performed by Glenn Hughes, not David. And four, count ’em, four songs (on the deluxe) from Come Taste the Band, perhaps the most underrated album in the Purple canon.

Scan_20151007 (6)

The sound is “Snaked up” as David says, which means modern guitars and technical shredding. To his credit, David really let his band play instead of copying Deep Purple. Joel Hoekstra is a hell of a guitarist, able to shred. He has brought some soul back to Whitesnake that I felt was missing from their two studio albums with Doug Aldrich. Other songs are stripped down, such as the now-acoustic “Sail Away”. This song is dedicated to Jon Lord and it’s certainly among the best songs on The Purple Album. It’s very “live” in the studio.

Is it necessary? Hell no, but David’s entitled to do what he wants. Nobody else is keeping these songs alive except for Glenn Hughes now and then. Jon Lord would be delighted with the quality of it, but he would surely be saddened that Deep Purple MkIII has never reunited. Since that was indeed the case, David and Whitesnake worked very hard on plenty of new parts and licks for their own arrangements. Reb Beach sings many of the Glenn Hughes lead vocal parts (quite well), and finally Whitesnake feels like a real band again. It’s odd that it happened on a Deep Purple cover album, but the band sound like a real band, on album for the first time in ages. Hopefully the injection of passionate young blood in Hoekstra and new bassist Michael Devin will result in new music some day.

The deluxe edition of The Purple Album comes with two bonus tracks and a loaded DVD. “Lady Luck” and “Comin’ Home” from Come Taste the Band are actually two of the best selections. It’s rare that bonus tracks are album highlights, but just because these songs are not as world-renowned as “Burn” does not mean they are not as good. They’re awesome. “Comin’ Home” is very different from the original, having a new and very Whitesnake (circa Slide It In) riff installed.

Japan usually get exclusive bonus tracks and this time it’s a different mix of “Soldier of Fortune”. The reason for the alternate mix (according to the documentary DVD, which we’ll get to) is that David was somewhat torn on which version he liked best. The original concept was a straight acoustic version, with just David’s voice and an acoustic guitar — one guitar, like in Deep Purple. That version didn’t make the album. In a last minute decision, David chose to record bass and other embellishments, and that is what you hear on the standard album. The lucky fans in Japan (or those who wish to shell out for an import!) get the original concept as a bonus track. Delightful.

The bonus DVD is a nice treat, for the 30-minute “Behind the Scenes” feature. It’s great to see the band get so much face time, talking about their love of Deep Purple. Things like this aid in your appreciation of the final album. Observations: Reb Beach does a hilarious Coverdale impression. Tommy Aldridge is still an unstoppable beast of a drummer, even today. Indeed, the new Whitesnake lineup comes across as an inspired band. It is a brand new era for Whitesnake, according to David. He is happier with their sound than he has been in years.

Then there’s the fluff, the Whitesnake EPK (electronic press kit) which is just a condensed version of the main feature. Added to this are four music videos. It’s almost amusing that Whitesnake made music videos today, but again the band get a lot of face time and that’s cool. In the music videos, it really seems like Whitesnake are a band regardless of the lineup changes. The videos are glossy, a little cheesy, but a nice little add-on.

The original rating for this album was going to be 3/5 stars. Cover albums just can’t be judged by the same yardstick as an album of original material. Having seen and heard how much passion and work Whitesnake put into The Purple Album, I’ve grown to appreciate it more. Therefore:

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Bon Jovi – New Jersey (Super Deluxe, part 2)

Concluding an in-depth review of the Bon Jovi New Jersey Super Deluxe edition. Previous reading:

BON JOVI – New Jersey (2014 Universal Super Deluxe edition, part 2)

Of all the Bon Jovi albums, New Jersey certainly deserved the Super Deluxe treatment.  New Jersey‘s promotional cycle included two VHS releases, both present on this DVD: The old Wayne Isham tour documentary Access All Area, and New Jersey: The Videos.  Isham was responsible for virtually every cool larger-than-life video Bon Jovi made.  In 1988, trendy grainy black and white footage was all the rage, and so Access All Areas, where we will begin, has an over-abundance of it.

In a piece of incidental pre-show rehearsal footage, Richie Sambora sings “Purple Rain”, proving who the talent in the band always was.  It is nice though to see everybody in the band hanging out, having a good time, and seeming like genuine friends.  As for the audience, it’s amusing to see the giant hair from the perspective of today.

The sound of “Bang” by Russian metal band Gorky Park indicates we’re off to the Soviet Union.  Bon Jovi were pioneering in being one of the only hard rock bands to play behind the Iron Curtain (they were officially sanctioned by the government), and this part of the show is certainly the most interesting.  Bon Jovi even have a ten-man blues jam with the Russian band, building bridges at the end of the Cold War.  The blues is universal.  This visit leads to the massive Moscow Music Peace Festival, which I had on tape from MTV, and wore completely out.  (Not shown: the backstage moment when Tommy Lee rips the shirt off Bon Jovi manager Doc McGhee’s back, for allegedly upstaging Motley Crue by using fireworks in Bon Jovi’s show, against prior agreement.  It’s a long he-said she-said story involving McGhee who was managing both Motley and Bon Jovi at the time.  Motley felt McGhee had prioritized Bon Jovi, and fired him immediately after.)

The boys have a blast in the warmth of Rio de Janeiro, quite a contrast with snowy Moscow.   In Tokyo they are chased by a swarm of screaming girls.  Through it all, even though they’ve been on the road forever and can’t wait to get home, they maintain themselves with a lot of joking around.  Fortunately Isham captured this endearing footage.  The live rehearsal stuff is also excellent, up close and in the faces of the band.

In a very cool moment backstage at Wembley, Bon Jovi, Cinderella and the Scorpions work on covers together for a big jam.  “Travelling Band”…holy shit, is that Elton John on piano?  Sure looks like it.  Rick Allen, Brian May, Lita Ford!  “I am the happiest kid on Earth!” shouts an excited David Bryan.  Another gig features Bon Jovi with the late comedian Sam Kinison on “Wild Thing”.  At Tower Records, they are threatened with arrest by the riot squad if they perform, so naturally Jon and Richie break out the acoustics and do “Ride Cowboy Ride”.  In swoop the fuzz, who had nothing to worry about.  Alec John Such’s birthday is celebrated in West Berlin, where they visit the wall.  (In a shivery moment, Jon is eyeballed by an East German soldier on the other side.)  Their cover of “The Boys Are Back in Town” is performed, and Jon takes a chip out of the wall.

Jimmy Page is present at a three hour charity gig at Hammersmith, and they jam on “Train Kept a Rolling”.  (Best moment: when Jon sings a Steven Tyler “wha-ga-ga-ga” in it near the end, just like Tyler did in Aerosmith’s version.)  It’s clear that even then Jon was the boss — he alone makes the setlist, and says if something goes wrong he’ll call the shots.  He comments he has “never been so nervous.”  Bad Company’s “Shooting Star” is a duet with Richie Sambora, who had been playing it long before Bon Jovi formed.  It’s a stunning version and it’s hard to imagine Bon Jovi ever doing anything this big again, both in terms of success and quality.

Australia!  “Bon Jovi: We go everywhere, but we live nowhere!” says Sambora.  “Love For Sale” is played at HMV for swarms of long-hairs both male and female (but mostly female).  Sam Cooke’s “Having a Party” is another incredible cover selection, and you have to give Jon credit for that.  The final show is a big multi-gig stand in Guadalajara, Mexico that almost never happened due to “politics” (money) and a riot!  The first gig is postponed to the next day forcing Bon Jovi to play a double-header starting at 11 am!  “We should go on stage in riot gear,” jokes (?) Jon.  (They don’t.)

Access All Areas was a good rock doc for the time.  It feels whitewashed and scrubbed clean of blemishes, but that was music in general in the late 80’s.  The real pleasure is getting to see the other band members hanging out.  Alec John Such seems a funny, talented guy with a great voice.  David Bryan is clearly a lot more gifted than he gets to show off in the band.

The music videos (only mixed in stereo, unfortunately) are all you remember them to be: more mixtures of black & white, and colour footage, golly!  Both versions of “Bad Medicine” are included.  (More Sam Kinison!)  There are funny interludes with the band in between the songs, joking around back stage.  (Special guest: Skip Rope Skid Row’s Dave “Snake” Sabo.)  “Me, if I wasn’t a musician, I’d be a drummer!” says Jon. Of the music videos, “I’ll Be There For You” and “Lay Your Hands On Me” are the coolest, just no-nonsense stage performance clips.  “Blood on Blood”, which I’d never seen before, is a live version.

The DVD portion of this box set is a nice supplement, but you won’t be in a hurry to sit down and watch again.  The black & white/colour back and forth is very tiring.  Fortunately Bon Jovi seem(ed) like a nice bunch of guys from the neighborhood that have loads of talent, and fun to watch in any setting.

DVD: 3/5 stars
Bonus tracks: 4.5/5 stars
Album: 4.5/5 stars

Overall rating:  4/5 stars

Thanks for joining us for this massive review! Back to something else tomorrow.

REVIEW: Bon Jovi – New Jersey (Super Deluxe, part 1)

BON JOVI – New Jersey (2014 Universal Super Deluxe edition, part 1)

BACKLOG! I received this box set over 10 months ago.  We at LeBrain HQ are so busy with so much rock and roll that it has taken that long to finally give this entire box set a proper examination.  Fortunately, we (the “royal” we) have already reviewed New Jersey itself, in March of 2014 before this box set was released.  There is no need to repeat what was said in that review.  It is still an accomplished album worthy of its 4.5/5 star rating.  New Jersey was and easily remains a very high water mark.  For this review we will look at all the bonus tracks and the entire DVD in detail.  All three parts combined will probably give you the most complete look at the New Jersey Super Deluxe edition out there.

There are loads of bonus tracks to discuss, some of which were available before.  Bon Jovi must have known this release was always in the cards.  Look at the track list for their box set, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong.  Not one of these demos is on that massive five disc box set.  Many of these tracks had been leaked a long time ago on bootleg CDs such as Keep the Faith/New Jersey Outtakes, but never issued by the band.  It’s natural to be cynical and say, “Well they must have been saving them for another box set like this one.”

“The Boys Are Back in Town” is an A-OK Thin Lizzy cover.  When Lizzy wrote this song, Phil Lynott almost had the blueprint for the future of Bon Jovi plotted out.  Bon Jovi, a back who love singing songs about the boys being back in town, were the perfect band to cover it and make it their own song.  Cynics may laugh, but Richie Sambora and Tico Torres are quality players able to inject class into the cover.  Keyboardist David Bryan uses the “organ” setting on his keys to offer appropriate backing for the boys.  It’s hard to have a winner with a Lizzy cover and not sound like a bunch of jackasses.  This one was recorded by Bruce Fairbairn for the 1989 anti-drug compilation Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell.

“Love is War” was good enough to be a single in its own right, but it was only the B-side to “Living in Sin”.  Perhaps the reason it was chosen for B-side status was that the verses and chorus don’t quite jibe.  The song has great, dark verses and a big old Slippery-like chorus.  It doesn’t quite sound like a New Jersey song, but it’s hard to track down today.

A very rare bonus track is an acoustic version of “Born to Be My Baby”, only available on a Japanese “Living in Sin” CD single.  Fans love when Jon and Richie just sit down together with a couple acoustics and do a live-in-the-studio rendition of a hit.  It’s an uber-rarity that LeBrain HQ did not even know existed before this box set was issued.  As usual, Richie’s soulful singing reaches deep into your guts.  His classical-influenced guitar solo is a masterpiece.

Famously, Bon Jovi once considered the awful title Sons of Beaches for their 1988 album.  Disc two is called the Sons of Beaches Demos and there are plenty more great tracks here that are familiar to bootleg collectors.  The opening demo version of “Homebound Train” is even bluesier and greasier than the great album take.  Anyone who doubts the instrumental ferocity of Bon Jovi can check this out and see what the original lineup was capable of.

IMG_20151004_090939

“Judgement Day” opens with traditional “nah-nah-nah” Bon Jovi vocals, giving it a sound-alike quality to other more familiar Bon Jovi songs.  It is good enough that it could have been on an album (or single B-side).  Then “Full Moon High” (also known as “River of Love” on bootlegs) is familiar.  I recognize the music from somewhere else: it became the Keep the Faith B-side “Save a Prayer”!  The riff is intact, and what “Full Moon High” amounts to is an alternate 80’s version of it.  It is just as great as “Save a Prayer”, and it is difficult to pick a preferred version.  “Full Moon High” is an achievement, and Richie’s guitar playing is nutso.  “Growing Up the Hard Way” is back to the “nah-nah-nah’s”, and it sounds as if this is an early version of “Love is War”, but with a very different chorus.

With a slinky, dusky song behind him, Jon urges someone “Let’s Make it Baby”.  This tune would have been good enough for Keep the Faith, but did not surface until a double disc version of These Days was issued in the mid-90’s.  This is a noticeably different mix from that release — more raw.  Then “Love Hurts” goes into upbeat territory with a decent set of melodies to sing along to.  It is a bit similar to “Love is War” once again, but that’s why these songs were never officially released before.  I’ve had this song in my collection for 20 years, but not with this level of audio quality.  Likewise “Backdoor to Heaven”, a ballad that fans have loved for a long time (just not officially).  Again, this song was probably deemed too similar to others such as “I’ll Be There For You”.  Same with “Now and Forever”, another ballad of high quality, but also similarity.

A harder-edged “Wild is the Wind” demo is otherwise very similar to the album arrangement, with some different bits on keyboards and acoustic guitars.  Singling out Tico Torres as drummer extraordinaire, I love his hard hitting style.  Same with the excellent “Stick To Your Guns”; it’s more or less already complete at the demo stage.  The rawness is a beautiful thing…you can hear Richie talking at one point.

The one track of all of these which LeBrain HQ was most excited about is “House of Fire”, a song that Jon donated to Alice Cooper for his Trash LP.  Cooper’s version was “unremarkable” [LeBrain Trash review], but Bon Jovi did it right.  If Alice didn’t release his own single for it, I wonder if Jon would have?  One word:  infectious.

Fans in the know have always loved “Does Anybody Really Fall in Love Anymore”, another ballad that might be deemed too similar.  Another issue is that the chorus really reaches for the high notes, and Jon misses most of them on this demo.  Somebody probably realized it would be a difficult song to bring to the concert stage.  The bootleg version of this is more complete, with backing vocals filling it out.  This demo, perhaps earlier than the one that was bootlegged ages ago, lacks all backing vocals and sounds like it may be live in rehearsal.  “Keep going,” says Jon to someone, indicating this is likely the case.

IMG_20151004_091117“Diamond Ring” became such a fan favourite after the band played it live that this New Jersey demo was tried out again for Keep the Faith, and finally made an album in 1995 for These Days.  Each arrangement of the ballad was different from the last.  This one is the earliest, featuring bluesy electric guitars and organ.  Its final incarnation was much quieter.

Very conspicuous by its absence:  “Rosie”.  This was written by Richie and Jon about someone they knew growing up (as many of their songs are).  Desmond Child and Diane Warren helped them finish it, and it was recorded by Sambora for his first solo album Stranger in This Town.  Since that album featured Tico Torres and David Bryan on drums and keys, you can almost consider that a Bon Jovi song.  But why is it not here, with the demo sessions that it belongs with?  It’s cynical but not unlikely to think it’s due to Jon and Richie’s feud.  Shame.  There are other Sons of Beaches demos missing that are out there on bootlegs, such as “Love is War” so don’t fool yourself, this is not a complete set of ’em.

Come back tomorrow and we’ll look at the final disc in this set, the DVD.

To be concluded…

Scan_20151004

REVIEW: Judas Priest – “Bullet Train” (1998 single)

Scan_20151003JUDAS PRIEST – “Bullet Train” (1998 Zero, from Japan)

I know not why it took Priest until 1998 to release a single from 1997’s Jugulator.  In hindsight, the choice of “Bullet Train” as a single seems a calculated move.  Nu-metal was all the rage with the disaffected youth of the late 90’s.  The new singer (Ripper Owens) was capable of doing any kind of vocal, so why the hell not, I guess?

Whatever kind of metal it is, it seems Priest can play it.  With Scott Travis nailing the double bass like a metronome, “Bullet Train” is an example of razor-sharp precision.  Travis is always a pleasure to listen to just blasting away.  It’s just a shame they didn’t choose a better song for a single.  “Bullet Train” is only about the fourth-best song on Jugulator, an album so atrocious that it’s more accurate to say that “Bullet Train” is only the seventh-worst.

Of course, nobody would order this all the way from Japan unless there were B-sides worth having, and there are.  Much like Iron Maiden did with Bruce Dickinson, Priest decided to re-record some old Priest classics with the new singer.  They picked two incredible songs; timeless metal favourites updated for the period.  From British Steel, it’s “Rapid Fire”!  Neither Owens nor Travis played on the original, so the song is naturally more fierce and aggressive.  Both of them kill it.  Some may object to Ripper’s insertion of addition lyrics:

“Rapid fire, between the eyes,
Rapid fire, terrifies,
Rapid fire, before you die
Rapid fire.”

Doesn’t bother me.

“Green Manalishi” is updated in an interesting way.  Unexpectedly it is slowed down.  Live, they always tended to play it just a hair faster than the mid-tempo original.  On this studio re-take, they’ve gone the opposite direction, closer to the original 1970 Fleetwood Mac tempo.  This is just a one-off, they did not perform it live in this slow guise.  Live, it was faster than ever.  Given that this is ultimately just an alternate slant on an obscure single, it lives on as an interesting side road.  The tempo naturally extends the song, giving you even more Priestly goodness!  The star of the show is the singer.  Ripper takes one final scream at the end there that seals the deal:  he was definitely good enough for Judas Priest.

Not a bad little single here.  The two B-sides were later re-released on a limited edition digipack version of their next album, Demolition.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Jugulator (1997)

Scan_20151003JUDAS PRIEST – Jugulator (1997 BMG)

One of the most anticipated, but frustratingly bad albums that I have ever looked forward to was Judas Priest’s big return on Jugulator.  Seven whole years had passed.  Rob Halford split, taking drummer Scott Travis with him, and had an entire career with the modern metal band Fight, before they split in ’96.  Travis returned to Priest, who had found their new singer in Tim “Ripper” Owens, a young man with incredible pipes.  Owens came from a Priest tribute band, and this was considered an interesting enough story to warrant an entire movie loosely based on him (Rock Star).

The resultant album, the heavy-as-fuck Jugulator, was a disappointment from the first note.  Opening with over a minute of looped samples (of clanking metal) and drony guitars, the album takes way too long to really start.  Only at 1:45 into the title track does Ripper finally let out a scream (a blood-curdling one at that).  The riffs finally take over, turning the song into “Painkiller, Part II” for all intents and purposes.  That’s fine — “Painkiller” is a high water mark of intensity and speed.  But when I put “Jugulator” on a mix CD, I edit out the first 1:45 because it’s just a waste of space.

The fact that “Jugulator” sounds uncomfortable like “Painkiller” shouldn’t come a surprise.  Just look at the cover art.  Mark Wilkinson created a Painkiller Jr. for the album cover, including a modernized Priest “tuning fork” logo in his forehead.  Musically (and intro aside), “Jugulator” is one fine metal assault, even if it is just a second cousin to “Painkiller”.  Lyrically, “Jugulator” is among the worst crimes Priest have foisted upon us.  With Rob Halford gone, Glenn Tipton was left to write the lyrics.   The words he eventually produced are such a pale imitation of past Priest that I cringe to hear them.

“Exterminator, you are dead.
Mu-til-ate.
Sharpened razor, takes your head.
Jugulator.”

I do like the word Glenn invented in one line, “Predit-hater”.  I like one word in the whole song!

“Blood Stained” is fierce, and was even better live (such on ’98 Live Meltdown).   It’s obvious from the cranked bass, detuned instruments, noisy guitar anti-solos, and driving groove that Priest were trying to emulate nu-metal.  Quite a few fans were turned off by the modern twists in songs like “Blood Stained”, including grunted vocals.  There is enough of the core Priest sound, including screams, riffs and standard solos that “Blood Stained” is really more of an amalgam of old and nu-metal.  Ripper is certainly a capable singer, and should shoulder none of the blame if you don’t like it.  Blame Glenn and K.K., not the vocalist.

It’s not until the third song, the creatively titled “Dead Meat”, that I lose interest.  Until now, the songs had been good enough.  “Dead Meat” is not.  The violent, bloody lyrics are starting to wear thin.  There are always individual moments of brilliance, such as the solos, drum patterns, and high-pitched wails.  This is not enough to carry a song.  One of the more nu-metal tracks is “Death Row”, which is even worse, especially when it comes to the prose.  “Oh no, I won’t go!  You’ll never get me down to death row.”  Priest have shed no light whatsoever on the issue of capital punishment, only written a boring cartoon song about the subject.  Even worse, there is dialogue in the intro to the song that is so poor that I’m embarrassed for them.  Sticking to a theme that already wore out its welcome, “Decapitate” is about the guillotine!  “Your head, you will lose it.  Severed, when executed”.  That’s the opening line!  The atonal nu-metal guitars have also worn thin.

If this were an LP, that would be the side closer.  The second half of the CD is heralded in by “Burn in Hell”; a little bit better song than the previous three in a row.  It seems a little more effort went into the melody this time, although “Burn in Hell” is just as heavy as everything else.  It builds and has some dynamics to it, which you cannot say for most of Jugulator.  It’s too long at 6:41.  Unfortunately much of this album is just too long.

“Brain Dead” is yet another stunningly creative song title.  This slow chug has no character, it’s just a senseless march into oblivion.  I feel “Brain Dead”, listening to it drone on and on.  Thematically it’s just Judas Priest stealing “One” by Metallica and calling it something else.  For my money, Jugulator can end right here (only seven songs in), because I’ve checked out.  My brain is turning to mush; that’s how it feels.  Then “Abductors” should have been a winner for me, a UFO buff.  The opportunity for a cool song is blown on yet another nu-metal sludge-fest with shite for lyrics:  “They come at night and they infiltrate you, they paralyse and they mentally rape you.”  The only redeeming quality is the likeable Ripper Owens.  He rolls his R’s like Halford used to, and you have to give the guy credit for doing the best he could with the material he was given to sing.

The single was “Bullet Train”, which I have on Japanese import (of course).  This isn’t a bad tune.  It drives like a perpetual motion dynamo.  It’s more nu than old metal, which may be why it was chosen as a single, compared to a better song like “Blood Stained”.  Finally, the lyrics are about something other than death or maiming.  It’s still not sunshine and puppy dogs, as the words seem to about someone suffering from Siderodromophobia, or fear of trains, while riding on a train!  Fun!  Let’s be clear: this is an improvement.

The final song offers a little redemption.  “Cathedral Spires” (over nine minutes!) is in the mold of old Priest classics such as “Beyond the Realm of Death”.  A slow, mellow opening with dramatic lead vocals invites you in, and it’s a due respite from all the nu-metal bombardment.  Ripper really sinks his teeth into the singing, and I think it was quite clear that he loved his job.  The classy intro eventually degenerates into another sound-alike chug, but once again redemption is ahead.  The chorus is great: pure traditional Priest drama with the nu-metal grunts in moderation.

I’ve listened to Jugulator many, many times over the years.  I desperately want the next listen to be the one where I finally “get it”.  That has yet to happen, and it almost certainly never will.  Thankfully Judas Priest realized they needed to diversify their sound next time around.  2001’s Demolition was a marked improvement.

2/5 stars

In tomorrow’s review, we’ll take a look at the B-sides on the Japanese CD single for “Bullet Train”.

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)

Welcome to PRIEST WEEKEND! It’s a long Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, and…

Well, here’s the truth of it. I had three Judas Priest reviews lined up and needed a spot to schedule them. A three day weekend worked. That’s how much thought went into the scheduling of this Thanksgiving theme.

Enjoy PRIEST WEEKEND starting with their immortal second album…

Scan_20150930JUDAS PRIEST – Sad Wings of Destiny (1976 Gull)

It’s quite a shame that Judas Priest haven’t regained the rights to their first and second albums.  Too many fly-by-night labels have done shoddy or half-arsed reissues of the albums and Sad Wings is no exception.  This one, on Snapper, isn’t too objectionable.  It’s funny to see “digitally mastered” on the front sticker, as if this is some kind of selling feature.  All CDs are digitally mastered!  Remember that old AAD, ADD, DDD logo that used to appear on CDs?  The A and D refers to analog or digital processes: recording, mixing, and mastering.  Every CD is at least AAD.  The “informative liner notes” (by somebody called “Krusher”) is just a blubbering general history essay on the band.

Fortunately, no matter how it’s packaged, the music is exceptional.

“Victim of Changes” defines “epic”, and probably remains Judas Priest’s definitive word on the epic song.  This is actually a mashup of two earlier songs called “Red Light Lady”, written by Rob Halford, and “Whiskey Woman” by original singer and founder, Al Atkins.  That’s how it came to be that Halford shares a writing credit with his predecessor, an unusual circumstance indeed!   The finished song “Victim of Changes” has everything: the concrete heavy riffs, the drama, the melody and the unearthly screams!  It takes its time, but it simply lays waste to the landscape.  By the time Rob nails his final scream, you may find yourself hard of hearing.  As if that wasn’t enough, “The Ripper” (a shorty) contains even more screams-per-minute than “Victim”.  Priest seemed to take a turn away from blues, towards metal on Sad Wings of Destiny.  The first two songs are as sharp and devastating as anything else in the Priest canon.

Although they are often separated on compilations and whatnot, “Dreamer Deceiver” and “Deceiver” are more or less one song.  One sounds incomplete without the other.  “Dreamer Deceiver” is an airy, acoustic number about some sort of ethereal being.  It is as entrancing as its title character:

“We followed the Dreamer through the purple hazy clouds,
He could control our sense of time.
We thought were lost but, no matter how we tried,
Everyone was in peace of mind.”

Rob’s vocal performance on this one ranges from the deep and dramatic, to the wails that Priest fans crave.  It is the blueprint for similar early Iron Maiden tracks such as “Remember Tomorrow”.  Even the guitar solo is a well-composed piece of music, but this is just the beginning.  Morphing into “Deceiver”, the acoustic plucking has changed to an electric chug.  This time the guitar solo blazes rather than cries.  “Deceiver” burns out quick, ending the first side.

Scan_20150930 (3)

Side two begins, as it obviously should, with a piano instrumental!  Glenn Tipton wrote and performed “Prelude” which is really just another track meant for you to let your guard down…before being ploughed over by the evil “Tyrant”!  He is the destructor, and every man shall fall!  The way Rob screams it, you believe it.  This is straight up the alley of prior tunes, like “Ripper” and “Deceiver”:  fast, lean, and heavy as balls!

“Genocide” is a change of pace, a leaning towards the mid-tempo ground that Priest would find great success with later.  There is a Priest stamp to it: a simple 4/4 beat, a couple of cool riffs, verses, chorus and solo…but I like the slow middle section best.  “Sin after sin…I have endured, but the wounds I bear, are the wounds of love.”  Sin After Sin was used as the next Priest album title.  Then, another surprise.  “Epitaph” is a piano ballad with Rob singing with a Queen-like backdrop of vocals.  Only piano and vocals, that is it.  Once again this is a Glenn Tipton song, and even though Priest let on that they had quiet tendencies, this is still a bit of a shocker.  “Pretty” is an appropriate word.  It is a tour de force for Rob, who performed some very intricate singing.

Chugging off to into the horizon, “Island of Domination” is the final track on a purely excellent heavy metal album.  Multi-layered Halford screams usher in the final assault.  Rocking both heavily and intelligently, the mighty Priest finished the album with a blitzkrieg, taking no prisoners.  From gallop to groove, “Island of Domination” has a bit of everything Priest did well.

What an album.  Do you like heavy metal music?  Then you need Sad Wings.  Period.  Exclamation point!

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Gillan & Glover – Accidentally on Purpose (1988)

IAN GILLAN & ROGER GLOVER – Accidentally on Purpose (1988 Virgin)

Shit LeBrain’s Customers Said

I was playing this album in-store one afternoon in the 90’s.  A customer walked up to me and asked what I was playing.

“This is a side project by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover from Deep Purple,” I answered

He responded, “Roger Waters from Pink Floyd?“

What…?  No!  No!  You got just two words of that right: “Roger” and “from”!

Deep Purple’s The House of Blue Light was an incredibly difficult album to make, especially for Ian Gillan.  A working vacation was in order, so he and Glover took off for the Caribbean.  They settled in to Sir George Martin’s recording studio AIR Montserrat, to record whatever they felt like.  The result was the light and tropical Accidentally on Purpose, an album that Gillan says has become the favourite record for a number of his friends.  He is very proud of it, especially since it came on the heels of a terrible creative experience in Deep Purple.  It would not have been born if not for the gloomy Purple process.  Many guests contributed to the jovial sessions, such as Dr. John, George Young, and Andy Newmark.

Jump in your TARDIS, and travel back in time to 1987.  Your destination:  a tropical island with plenty of rum, beaches and a recording studio.  Can you picture it?  Can you hear the sounds of the late 80’s in your mind?  Then you can imagine what Accidentally on Purpose sounds like.

There are no “Clouds and Rain” in the images in my mind, only boats and surf and sand.  Glover plays bass and keyboards, Newmark is on drums, while George Young contributes a light sax solo.  This is not for most Deep Purple fans, most assuredly.  This is for those who want to open their minds and have a trip into the clouds and sunshine.  This is about as light as light rock gets, but there is a quality to it above the pop morass.

Hard hitting electronic drum beats back “Evil Eye”, a much edgier track.  Still, don’t expect guitars, solos or Ian Gillan to scream his ass off.  If you enjoy the kind of pop rock that Robert Plant was doing in the 80’s, you’re in the right ballpark for this.  It’s blatantly commercial compared to Deep Purple, but at the same time it’s not because there are musical challenges to be found here.

“She Took My Breath Away” is a sweet love song, similar musically to the brightness of “Clouds and Rain”, but relying too much on electronics.  Then they get goofy on “Dislocated” which sounds like Ian Gillan having a blast.  (I recognize one of the keyboard voices on this song from our old Yamaha back in the day!)  Glover’s enjoying himself too; he plays some brilliant bass parts, very different from Deep Purple.  “Via Miami” ended the first side with an old time rock and roll party!   It’s the first significant guitar rocker, and it sounds like something the Honeydrippers could have gotten away with.  (In fact Plant would sound brilliant singing this.)  Bring on the sax!

There is plenty more guitar on “I Can’t Dance to That”, which unfortunately is not a good song.  It is not different enough from Deep Purple rawk, but not good enough for Deep Purple.  The old blues classic “I Can’t Believe You Wanna Leave” is incredible, giving Ian a chance to sing something different, and he does it with lung power!  Dr. John on the keys lends it that funky N’awleans drawl.  If you were to make a mix tape of Ian Gillan’s finest vocal performance, then this song should be on it.  The skippable “Lonely Avenue” only has synth to back it; largely forgettable.  Synth-rocking to “Telephone Box” is more fun; it’s probably the best rocker on the album.  Cool female backing vocals make Gillan sound even more suave.  He breaks out his trusted congas on it, and truthfully you could imagine the Deep Purple of today performing a song like this now.

The last tune on the record was “I Thought No”, rocking bluesily along to the end.  If you want a drunken, laidback jam session with scads of harmonica to go, then “I Thought No” will deliver the right thrills.  Just open a bottle and dive in…but the CD offers three more bonus tracks!   The cool rockin’ blues of “I Thought No” is contrasted by the most nauseating track, “Cayman Island”.  Ian’s done some kind of Jamaican twist to his accent.  Pure synth, with all those keyboard presets I remember from the 80’s, that’s “Cayman Island”!  And I love every second of it, as terrible as it is.  No matter how much you hate “Cayman Island”, you have to be a real hard hearted bastard if you don’t like “Purple People Eater”.  That’s exactly the song you think it is, and who better to do it than the guys from Purple?  You want a golden oldie performed by the guy who loves the golden oldies the most?  I sure do so fuck off if you don’t!  It’s brilliant, and you just gotta dance.  The last song is a synth throwaway called “Chet”, which references a boat called the Carrie Lee; Gillan also name-dropped the vessel in Cayman Island.

Accidentally on Purpose probably kept Ian and Roger sane at the time.  That has to be why it sounds so gleeful.  They needed this.  Does a Deep Purple fan “need” this?  No.  But they’d find some good times here regardless.

3/5 stars

Scan_20151005 (3)

REVIEW: Aerosmith – Jaded (2001 EP)

Scan_20150922AEROSMITH – Jaded (2001 Sony EP)

It’s not unfair to suggest that I might be a little J-J-Jaded when it comes to 2000-era Aerosmith. People ask me when I think the decline hit. I answer, the abomination that is “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”.  Nine Lives was a good album.  It might not be an Aerosmith classic, but it was good, no two-ways about it.  By the time Aerosmith hit 2001 with Just Push Play, the co-writers and love ballads had taken over completely.

That said, the first single from Just Push Play, “Jaded”, was a pretty good song.  Joe Perry didn’t write that guitar hook, but it’s more the drum part that I am drawn to.  Joey Kramer was capable of turning crap into class (not that “Jaded” is crap), he is so talented.  “Jaded” boasts both catchy verses and choruses, and is firmly ensconced in acoustic-electric-pop land.  I think it’s a great track actually, but in the context of its album, it was one of very few.  You can handle something like this as a commercial track on a single.  On an album where each song is more sold-out than the last, “Jaded” was a very minor victory.

But wait, there’s more!  There is an acoustic and a “guitars mix” of “Jaded” as well.  The stripped down acoustic version is pretty cool although it lacks punch.  If you want to hear the song taken back to the basics without embellishment, here it is, and it’s still a good song.  It just misses the soft/loud contrast of the album version.  The guitar mix is the opposite.  It’s the album track with the electric guitar parts turned up in lieu of the strings.  So with the three tracks, you kind of get it in the full spectrum, from the light to the heavy.  (Incidentally, there’s also a radio remix of “Jaded” out there, on a 2 CD version of Just Push Play from Japan that I don’t have.)

“Angel Eye” is a non-album track from the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack, saving you from buying that CD for one song.  Thankfully it’s a heavy song, but without any serious hooks.  The guitar riff is devastating, but once again, Joe didn’t write it.  When it comes to this aeon of Aerosmith, perhaps we should just be grateful for a heavy song, period?

The final track is a bit of a throw-away at a mere 1:00.  “Under My Skin” sounds like an album outro, or a piece of incidental music recorded for a soundtrack.  I guess it’s a teaser for the full-length song that appeared on the album?  Too bad because “Under My Skin” is one of the most irritating songs on Just Push Play.  I don’t recognize this bit from the song, but I also don’t really want to investigate any further.

2/5 stars

Scan_20150922 (2)