RECORD STORE TALES Part 295: That Damn Phone Again!
Getting phone calls from simpletons is part of every day life when you work in a store. I’m sure you’ve had dozens of your own that you could share for a chuckle, if you’ve ever slaved over a hot cash register for a living. That’s to be expected. Another thing that grinds your gears is the repetition of certain questions. I would say on average, these would have been my five most common questions over the phone:
1. “When do you open/close?”
2. “Do you have (artist), (title)?”
3. “How much?”
4. “How much can you give me for my (artist), (title) CD?” (We couldn’t do quotes over the phone without seeing the product. This will be discussed in further detail in a future Record Store Tale.)
5. “Do you still have that sale on washer/dryer units?”
That last question was because people often called us thinking we were Sears. Maybe the numbers were similar. I never figured that one out, but it happened often enough!
Perhaps the question that irritated me the most due to its frequency was “Is the owner in?” After several years of hard work he no longer worked in a store. He had an office with his own phone number. This question would come many times a day from friends and business associates. I’d just give them his office number and get them to call there. His office was just in the back of the store, but we had separate store and office lines for a reason. (I remember way back in the old original store, we had one line that was for both the phone and the VISA machine. You couldn’t run a credit card if you were on the phone.)
I was most irritated the time I caught hell for one such call. A friend of his had phoned the store, but he was out of his office. I asked if he’d like to leave a message, and he declined. He did however pepper me with questions.
“I’m coming to town in a few days to visit,” he began. “Can you recommend a good hotel that’s close to him?”
I’ve never stayed in a hotel in my home town in my life. What am I a travel agency? I suggested the Waterloo Inn.
“Are there good places to eat around there?”
The questions kept coming! Did I have the number for the Waterloo Inn? Were there good bars in town to hit? Do I have the address?
This being a friend of the boss, I did my best to answer, but I really didn’t have a clue. Finally the guy hung up, once again declining to leave a message. “Nah that’s OK, I’ll try him at home later.”
So, the next day I got in shit.
“Mike,” said the boss. “A friend of mine called here yesterday looking for me. You didn’t give me the message.”
The frustration boiled inside me. Seriously? “He didn’t want to leave a message!” I defended myself. “He asked me a good hotel to stay in that’s close to you so I suggested the Waterloo Inn.”
I got a lecture on writing down messages. The good news is, his friend never called me for hotel recommendations again!
MOTLEY CRUE – New Tattoo (2000 Motley records, EU edition with bonus track and 2 CD edition)
The worst Crue album? Could be Theater of Pain, Generation Swine, or 2000’s New Tattoo. I don’t like speaking ill of the dead, but Randy Castillo was not a suitable replacement for Tommy Lee. Tommy Lee isn’t a great technical drummer by any stretch, but he has bombast and his songwriting is crucial to the Motley sound. Here, the songwriting void is filled by future Sixx A.M. collaborator James Michael.
The drum sound is flat and lifeless, the guitar is dry, and there is simply no fire here. The songs drone from soundalike to soundalike, and you will forget which is which. This is the Crue on cruise control if not pure autopilot. Of course, the band hyped this as a “return to the roots” album, which it is not. The Crue’s roots are bombastic loud chrome plated sleezy metal with loads of attitude and aggression. This is dull, pointless, meandering rock that goes nowhere. Without Tommy, I am inclined to say there is no Crue. Compare this to the Vince-less self titled 1994 album, a 5/5 star release all the way. Who is more crucial to the band’s energy?
Not one, I repeat, not one great song here, but plenty of mediocre ones. “Hell On High Heels” isn’t too bad, but it’s certainly not up to the standards of Motley Crue singles past. Also half decent is “Punched In the Teeth By Love”, a title which dates back to 1991’s Decade of Decadence. Unfortunately the majority of New Tattoo is clogged up with dreck like “She Needs Rock N’ Roll”, “Hollywood Ending” and the title track. Nothing stands out after numerous listens.
MVP: Mick Mars, who always seems to nail a tasty solo when needed.
The saving grace to this particular release is the live disc with Samantha Maloney (ex-Hole) on drums. It is more fun and entertaining than the album itself, but maybe that’s because the live disc is 66.6% oldies. The two demos included are no better than the album versions, but collectors should be aware that Europe got a version with a different bonus track called “Time Bomb”. On top of that, Japan got an exclusive song called “American Zero”. It’s too bad it was relegated to Japan alone, because it might be the only track that actually hearkens back to the good old days.
Avoid. A bore and a chore to listen to. Pick up 1994’s self-titled release instead.
RAINBOW – Finyl Vinyl (1986, 2 CD Rainbow Remasters edition)
Finyl Vinyl was the third Rainbow album I bought, right after Rising and Straight Between the Eyes. The year was ’96, and the place was Dr. Disc. I bought it on vinyl initially, because the original CD edition omitted two tracks for space limits (a major flaw with double albums issued in the early CD age). However what I did not know until recently was that the vinyl also omitted a song: “Street Of Dreams” which was only available on cassette!
This complete 2 CD remaster contains all the songs from all the versions. For sheer portability reasons, it made sense for me to own this. I have filed my vinyl copy away, and I now rely entirely on this new Universal CD version.
I love Finyl Vinyl and even though it was issued posthumously and consists mostly of unreleased live songs, I think it’s one of the most enjoyable Rainbow albums to listen to. It contains music from all three of the original Rainbow eras: Dio, Bonnett, and Turner. It leans most heavily on the Joe Lynn Turner era, with only a couple songs from the Ronnie James Dio era. Graham Bonnett also appears on two songs, and there is an instrumental B-side from his Down To Earth era as well. It is worth noting that the B-sides contained herein have been issued on other albums since.
Finyl Vinyl contains a lot of my favourites, and in great versions too: “I Surrender” and “Miss Mistreated” sound great live. Pop rock goodness, made classy as only Blackmore/Turner can do it. “Jealous Lover” is a standout midtempo burner from the Joe Lynn era. Blackmore’s picking is resplendent. Unfortunately the two Dio-era songs don’t have the fidelity of the later Turner recordings, but you can’t have a Rainbow collection without representing Ronnie James. That is done via unreleased 1978 live versions of “Man on the Silver Mountain” and “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll”.
My only complaint: The photos inside are too damn small and blurry. One of my favourite things about the vinyl release was that there were pictures of almost every incarnation of Rainbow, but here you can barely tell who’s who. Too small, too blurry like a bad scan; the booklet should have been expanded. Also, the credits still contain some errors that were never corrected from the original vinyl issue (see Wikipedia).
QUEENSRYCHE – Promised Land (1994 EMI, Japanese import)
I’m sure the pressure was on to top Empire, so what did Queensryche do? They retreated to an isolated but luxurious cabin on an island, and wrote & recorded an introspective atmospheric masterpiece of a record. Far from record companies and hangers-on, the band focused on the art. By their own admission, the isolation (plus smoking pot and drinking wine) were catalysts for this great album.
I spoke to bassist Eddie Jackson about 13 years ago regarding this album, and I told him I thought it had a lot in common with Rage For Order. He didn’t see it at first, but both albums feature loads of sound effects and atmospherics. Neither album is a true concept album, but both have recurring themes and ideas that run the course of the CD. Promised Land is a deeply personal CD, mostly slower-paced, and one that must be listened to with headphones on.
Drummer Scott Rockenfield came up with the opening piece, “9:28 a.m.”, which is a collage of tones and sounds, ending with some shattering chimes and a baby’s birth. This melds into the first song, “I Am I”, not a typical Queensryche rocker by any stretch but certainly one of the most brilliant things they’ve ever composed. Tate’s lyrics begin the introspective theme of the album, backed by odd percussion instruments, voices, sitar, cello (by guitarist Chris DeGarmo) and droning power chords. There is so much going on beneath the surface of this song; that is why I say that headphones are required.
A skipping CD sound leads straight into the next song, the heavy and dark “Damaged”. “Damaged” is about psychological damage, the effect that bad relationships and experiences have on the self. At various times, Tate’s voice doubles and triples and quadruples, seemingly indicating multiple personalities, or perhaps voices in head. At one point it sounds like his voice has short circuited. Eddie Jackson told me that effect was a total accident in the studio that they couldn’t duplicate.
DeGarmo’s “Out Of Mind” follows, an acoustic piece regarding mental illness. It is a nice quiet composition with spare drumming and a beautiful DeGarmo guitar solo. This break in the pace continues with the next acoustic song, “Bridge”. DeGarmo’s shattered relationship with his father is the theme here. He has hinted before at issues with his father, (“Are you my father? The one that was promised?” from “Screaming In Digital”) but here we get more of the story. His father wishes to mend bridges, but DeGarmo tells him, “You never built it, dad.” A sad tale, and an odd choice for a single, but a single it was.
Side one ended with the powerful epic title track which is nearly 9 minutes long. Anchored by Eddie Jackson’s rumbling bass and Geoff Tate’s atmospheric sax, this is a mindblowing song. The lyrics deal with the fact that as youths, we are told that the world is our oyster, and a promised land is waiting for us. But it doesn’t pan out that way for everybody. There are many voices and sound effects in the background of this song, and Tate’s vocal is wracked with feeling. You can hear that this is taking place in a bar (“Drinks for all my friends!) Again, use headphones!
You hear a person leaving the bar, walking across a gravel lot. This melds into industrial city sounds. Soon the next track has begun, “Disconnected” (writted as “Dis con nec ted” in the lyric sheet). Tate’s vocal is spoken, to great effect. When he speaks in a staggered manner (“I must…release…my…rage…”) it is so understated; yet another mindblowing moment. Again, this song is anchored by Eddie Jackson’s deep bass lines, underscoring. Due to the odd staggered vocal, this song will not be for everybody. On the surface, it sort of resembles “Della Brown” from Empire. This song seems to be about feeling disconnected from the world around us, despite the technology that supposedly brings us together.
“Lady Jane” follows, revisting the mental illness theme. This is a dramatic piano-based song; the piano is played by Chris DeGarmo. The next track is the most straightforward song on the album, “My Global Mind”. A rocker with few frills, this is perhaps the most Empire-sounding of all the tracks. The plaintive “One More Time” comes next, with some amazing melodies and a fairly standard song structure.
All this leads into one epic final song, “Someone Else?” which is simply piano and voice. The lyrics, as with all of Promised Land, are incredible and Tate’s vocal is among the best he’s ever sung. Looking back, the person he is seems to have been someone else all along. This look back ends the album, which of course started with the birth sequence. Very nice bookends.
The Japanese got bonus tracks (of course), one of which is “Real World” from the Last Action Hero soundtrack. Strings are the main feature here, by the late Michael Kamen. The arrangement is a little too saccharine for me, but that’s Kamen for you. Then we also have the “full band” version of “Someone Else?” which adds an entire verse, but loses the piano arrangement that made the song special in the first place.
The remastered edition of Promised Land (which I don’t have and don’t need) has two additional live tracks, which were “Damaged” and “Real World” recorded in ’94. There were, of course, lots more live tracks available on singles at the time, but for those you will have to track down the actual singles. Some of them, such as “Dirty Lil’ Secret” which was issued with the Empire remaster, for whatever reason. And of course there was the ultimate rarity, an acoustic song called “Two Mile High” which was recorded specifically for the Queensryche’s Promised Land video game. This too is not included on the remastered CD, leaving the song frustratingly unavailable today.
On a final note, when I saw ‘Ryche live in Toronto on the final date of the Promised Land tour, they played the entire album live (albeit not in order), a good 10-15 years before doing so was in vogue. That’s how strong this album is, and that’s how good this band is.
Headphones are a must. Multiple listens are a must. Queensryche have never been deeper or more trippy. A masterpiece.
In addition to sharing stories that I hope make you laugh, I also like to share my knowledge from over a decade of Record Store experience. As a manager, I knew customer service was king. It was easy for some stores to beat us on pricing. It was also a given that one or two stores had better stock. Because of location and client base, some stores simply got in cooler used music. These are things you have limited control over. What you can control is your own customer service.
Rule #1: Ask everybody* (in a non-intrusive, non-annoying way) if they need help finding anything.
The reason for this is really simple. People are shy. They’re less likely to ask you for help than they are to leave if they can’t find what they are looking for. If you don’t scare the customer off by being overbearing, you have at bare minimum indicated that you are available for questions if they have any at any time. This invitation can make the difference between a sale and a not-sale.
I have had experiences when I approached people, and it immediately made a difference. I walked up to a guy and asked if he needed help, and he simply responded, “No, thank you.” Then, 30 seconds later, he had a question for me about a CD. A lot of people say “no” immediately as a knee-jerk reaction. Their shields are up and they don’t want to be “sold” anything. But now that they think about it, they can ask you that question about the CD in their hands.
Rule #2: Don’t double up!!
I was out shopping today. I went to two stores: Reebok, and ECS Coffee. I went to both stores having a good idea of what I was looking for. Customer service was pleasant at ECS, not pushy, but a little much for my taste. What I always tried to avoid doing was “doubling up” on a customer. That means, if Suzy asks the customer if they need help, then James should not ask the same customer 5 minutes later. I ran into this at ECS, but they were very pleasant and it was easy to forgive.
Reebok were more aggressive, and I was actually tripled up there, not including the greeter who informed us of their 40% off sale. Sales people were everywhere. At the record store, I really tried to avoid this. Usually we’d have two staff members on duty, so you could easily double up on customers. What I tried to do was co-ordinate it a little better. I’d communicate who I had spoken to. “The guy in the blue there? I’ve already asked him for help, but his buddy in the red I have not.” If I saw a staff member making their way to a customer I’d already asked, I’d try to get their attention before they asked again. I think it worked out pretty well. We reduced the doubling up factor pretty successfully.
Try these tips out in your own stores. Let me know how it works out for you!
* We were allowed to make exceptions in cases such asThe Lady in Red.
Yesterday we examined Judas Priest’s British Steel, the original album and first CD of this three disc set. Today we’ll look at the live stuff and packaging. If you missedyesterday’s installment, click here.
JUDAS PRIEST – British Steel (30th Anniversary Edition, 2010 Sony)
You could buy the British Steel 30th Anniversary Edition in several configurations:
A CD/DVD set with the album and a live DVD of British Steel played live in 2009,
A 2 CD/DVD set with the live 2009 concert duplicated on CD (minus one song),
iTunes download with all the music from both CDs plus the missing song (“Prophecy”).
The 2 CD/DVD edition is beautifully housed in digipack, with lots of photos in a nice booklet with essay. The photos are all from their recent tour; none are vintage, which disappointed me. I would have loved some fly-on-the-wall photos of them recording this album at Ringo Starr’s house, Tittenhurst Park. Maybe no such photos exist?
The second CD, only available in this edition, is packed to the brim. “Prophecy” wouldn’t have fit or the CD would have run over 80 minutes. Otherwise, it is a straight stereo mix of the same content on the DVD. With audio being my primary medium to enjoy, I obviously needed the version that came with the live CD. The iTunes bonus track was available for separate purchase, so that was easy to add to my files, once ripped.
The third disc of course is the DVD. Backed by a British Steel backdrop, Priest played the album in sequence remarkably well considering their ages! Only drummer Scott Travis wasn’t around for the original album, but he plays the drum parts pretty straight to the original, minus Dave Holland’s robotic coldness.
The main question people have when discussing Priest live is, “What was Halford’s voice like?” It is true that he is an older man today and has to restrain himself and change arrangements in order to sing the songs. This is no exception, but man, when he screams, he still has it! He just screams less, which makes sense. The vocal melodies of some songs have been re-arranged, which may or may not be to your taste. Surely, the vocal melody is such an important part of each song. Halford sings what sounds like harmony parts to the original melodies in order to sneak around certain high parts. It is what it is. And, as per many concerts, the audience sings some choruses on their own when it comes to the big hits.
I was pretty impressed with the live stuff after British Steel. This is surely one of the best live versions of “Victim of Changes”. Halford nails that angry end scream perfectly, I thought his head would explode. “Hell Patrol” was a nice touch. “Freewheel Burning” stumbles a bit. “Prophecy” was excellent, and I’m glad a Nostradamus track was included. Halford seems to relish spitting out the words. Satisfyingly, “Diamonds and Rust” is done in its electric version. An excellent surprise. The album ends, predictably, with Halford’s “audience participation” thing, and “Another Thing Coming” which I could probably do without at this point.
One thing I’m starting to notice, is that Priest are sort of nerdy live. From Rob’s audience participation thing (“Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah YEAH yeah!”), to the stage moves, to Scott Travis’ weird drum stick thing on “United”, this is the concert equivalent of a Star Trek convention in some ways. But Priest have never been trendy, and they’ve always seemed oblivious to it. I guess that’s what makes them cool.
The DVD is rounded out by 30 minutes of interviews with Rob, KK, Glenn and Ian (no Scott). This is the kind of thing most people would probably only watch once, especially when the Classic Albums series already released a full DVD of the making of British Steel.
Now to the British Steel 30th Anniversary set as whole: As good a package as this is, I wish there was less emphasis on the “today” portion and more attention paid to the 30th anniversary of the original album. There is at least one unofficial full concert CD from the 1980 tour out there (live in Denver), released unofficially. Surely Priest could have included some vintage live recordings as well?.
4/5 stars. Despite my beefs, this is a great collection for your collection!
Part one of two. Today we’ll be looking at Judas Priest’s landmark album British Steel. Tomorrow, the second and third discs of the 30th Anniversary Edition: British Steel live!
JUDAS PRIEST – British Steel (30th Anniversary Edition, 2010 Sony)
Man, does this make me feel old. Back in my highschool days when I first got serious collecting music, British Steel was a must-have. It was considered the quintessential Priest platter, and even back then when it was only in the recent past, it still had all the makings of a classic. Then, on its 30th (!) anniversary in 2010, it was given the treatment it deserves, perhaps not the exact treatment we dreamed of, but it is certainly satisfying enough.
I’ve bought British Steel five times now. First was my original cassette back in highschool. Then I picked up a used vinyl, probably from a co-worker named Chris that was purging all his metal (for shame, but I got a lot of Priest from him). I bought the remastered CD (with bonus tracks) when it came out in 2001, then a 180 gram vinyl reissue a couple years ago. Let’s just say I’ll be really pissed off if Priest decide to do a 35th anniversary edition.
Disc one appears to be the same audio as the 2001 remaster. The credits are not clear, but that would be logical since the CD is identical down to the two included bonus tracks. These are a live version of “Grinder” from an unknown tour, and the completely unrelated “Red, White & Blue”. This song has no place on the album as it was written and recorded for the Turbo/Ram It Down sessions in the late 80’s. I’m not sure why it was retained for this 30th anniversary edition; it seems sloppy to leave it.
My original cassette edition of British Steel had a different track order. “Breaking the Law” commenced the set, so it is still shocking to me to hear British Steel open with “Rapid Fire”. Beginning with your heaviest guns can be a big gamble. “Rapid Fire” was borderline thrash metal, before that term had really been coined. The brutal lyrics are among Halford’s most enjoyable to listen to due to clever internal rhymes:
“Wielding the axe comes the one culmination That’s always seemed certain to bring down the curtain on greed Sifting the good from the bad it’s the age for the rage Of the dogs which must fall to the just and be free.”
Unfortunately “Rapid Fire” also introduces the big problem with British Steel and every Judas Priest album for the next decade: The robotic combination of producer Tom Allom and new drummer Dave Holland (ex-Trapeze). Where Priest had enjoyed the lyrical swing from great drummers such as Simon Phillips and Les Binks, they had chosen Holland to usher in the 1980’s. Coming from a funk rock band such as Trapeze, I’m still not sure how Priest arrived at Holland. His style is certainly not to my taste. While he is known for some simple but tasty fills from time to time, as far as I’m concerned a drum machine could have done the same job.
The second track is the classic “Metal Gods”, complete with the banging of silverware on Ringo Starr’s kitchen countertops to simulate the marching of a robot army. On a track like this, Holland’s robotic rhythm works perfectly. “Breaking the Law”, made immortal by Beavis and Butthead, is a song every metal fan should know. Though heavy, it was simpler and more accessible than much of the music Priest had recorded before.
Some of Priest’s worst lyrics can be found on “Grinder”. It’s too bad because “Grinder” has a cool relentless beat. But I just can’t sing along to “Grinder, looking for meat. Grinder, wants you to eat.” On the other hand, I do love lines like, “Got no use for routine, I shiver at the thought. Open skies are my scene, this boy won’t get caught.”
“United” is a cool slow anthem, marked by Dave Holland’s echoey drums. I always considered it a brother song to “Take On All the World” from Killing Machine. It has a similar vibe and direction. On the original LP, it appropriately closed side one.
Side two was introduced by “You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise”. You gotta love that title. This is a pretty standard hard rocker, catchy and strong. It also fits with the more accessible direction of British Steel in general. Following it is the ultimate Priest single “Living After Midnight”. I still enjoy this song. I enjoyed it when I was a kid, and it was the theme song for the WWF tag team, the Mightnight Rockers (later The Rockers: Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)! It’s one of those songs that everybody knows.
“The Rage” was estimated by bassist Ian Hill as one of only two bass intros he got to play. It’s a slow groove, angry musically and lyrically. The guitar solos absolutely complete this song as the classic that it is. From slow to fast, “Steeler” is next, the final song of the original nine. KK and Glen throw down some serious guitars on top of this scorcher. Lyrically, the title seems to be quite blunt as to what this song is about. Sounds like Priest are pissed off about being robbed, as so many bands were:
“Check for decoys, stay sharp edged, Double crossers get your head, Carpet baggers bluff and strike, Kiss of Judas, spider like.”
What a statement to end an album like British Steel on, as it crashes to a close on one final power chord.
…Only to be followed by “Red, White & Blue” which sounds absolutely silly and out of place by comparison. I don’t think it would have been a good song if it were included on Turbo or Ram It Down where it belonged, and it’s definitely not a good song on British Steel. I don’t know how to describe it but to say it’s definitely of outtake quality.
Then from Long Beach, California comes “Grinder” live. This is probably from 1984, Defenders of the Faith tour. It’s interesting to compare the live versions on discs one and two, since it’s so many years later. There is no question Rob’s voice has changed, but that’s stating the obvious.
Tomorrow we’ll look at the live portion of this 30th anniversary set. Be sure to come back then, or better yet subscribe! As for British Steel?
4/5 stars
1. “Rapid Fire”
2. “Metal Gods”
3. “Breaking the Law”
4. “Grinder”
5. “United”
6. “You Don’t Have to Be Old to Be Wise”
7. “Living After Midnight”
8. “The Rage”
9. “Steeler” 2001 bonus tracks
10. “Red, White & Blue”
11. “Grinder”
DEF LEPPARD – Songs From the Sparkle Lounge (2008 Deluxe edition, Japanese version)
Could it be? The band who I once wrote off with the Euphoria album, followed by the dismalX, actually came back with something approximating a rock album! And not a bad rock album at that!
The band say that doing the covers album Yeah! revitalized them. Maybe. Personally I thought the covers album sucked, and that the dozen or so bonus tracks available elsewhere were way better than the actual album they released. Whatever. That was then and this is now, inside the Sparkle Lounge.
Terrible title, although I liked the single-disc cover art quite a lot. We know Def Leppard are more of a glam band than a metal band. The problem is, they were such a great metal band! High ‘n’ Dry is a masterpiece of riff-rock. Anyway, if you can forget High ‘n’ Dry, On Through The Night, or even Pyromania, you can get into Sparkle Lounge for what it is: A strong ballad-free return for one of the most beloved rock acts of the last two decades. Even Joe Elliot decided to show up this time, and sing to the best of his ability.
Very few weak tracks, lots of strong ones. “Go”, “Love”, “Hallucinate”, “Tomorrow”, “Only The Good Die Young”, “Bad Actress”…there is some serious fire happening here on these tracks! But the band saved the best new song for last. “Gotta Let It Go” has a riff and melody that fit right in with Def Leppard’s earlier sound. Only the occassional drum programs betray the thunder.
One song that I would call a weak track is the single “C’Mon C’Mon”. In my review from the 12″ vinyl single, I called it a “crap song”. It’s a shameless T-Rex rip-off, and also a Def Leppard rip off. Next!
Japanese bonus tracks are disappointing in the sense that they are not different songs, just different mixes. “Nine Lives” appears without Tim McGraw (this is my preferred version as nu-country is like kryptonite to me and would probably kill me if I was overexposed). “Love” appears as a powerful piano version, in some ways superior to the original, but turning it into a ballad dilutes the purpose of this album.
I have no comments as to the SHM-CD. It sounded the same to me. I guess these things are supposed to last longer? The DVD includes the music video for “Nine Lives” (yuck), an album commentary and a “behind the scenes” feature. For me, the all-region NTSC DVD contents and the lacklustre packaging don’t really justify the existence of a “deluxe edition”.
So, whatever went right, this is the best Def Leppard album since the criminally underrated Slang in 1996. It could be the heaviest album since Pyromania. It’s far from perfect, but the good news is you can play it in the car with the windows down and nobody will laugh at you.
I keep finding these old concert reviews that I forgot to post here! Enjoy this one from former HELIX guitarist Brent Doerner. This was written the day of the show. Photos from an old crap Motorola phone.
BRENT DOERNER’S DECIBEL – March 10 2007, Edelweiss Tavern, Kitchener ON
It was only an hour ago, but it is already a blur.
Just after 9:30 pm, Brent Doerner’s DECIBEL hit the stage at the Edelweiss with earthshaking volume. The three Gibsons of Shane Schedler, Ralph “Chick” Schumilas, and Brent himself were crystal clear and gelling beautifully. I can’t even remember what song they opened with, but it might have been “Taking The Colour Out Of The Blues”, one of the best tracks from their debut CD. This was only their second “real” show, and the new lineup (featuring bassist Hilliard Walter and Brent’s twin brother Brian Doerner, fresh off a Saga tour) sounded hot. Most importantly, the pressures of playing to a hometown crowd didn’t phase them at all, and they looked like they were having an awesome time.
Brent Doerner has evolved from Helix’s lead gunslinger to a frontman in his own right. I suppose if one is in a band for a decade and a half with a guy like Brian Vollmer, you’re bound to learn something about being a frontman. Yet Brent has his own style. He points to the crowd, he interacts with them, he slings his guitar to the side and sings to them. He hoists his guitar like a shotgun for emphasis, and does it all as if it’s second nature. The guy is a natural, no doubts there.
All the best tunes from the CD were played, in effective order, along with four new ones. And let me tell ya, folks, these weary heavy-metal eardrums of mine rarely hear a song as good as “Maybe Love”. The song has only been played twice, and they band are still working out the kinks, but could you tell? No, this song smoked, as more than one person in the audience noticed. As my fiancée noted on the way out, “that song was the single.” And yes, indeed, if Decibel were to suddenly press up a slab of 7” vinyl, that would be the song to put on the A-side.
Video for “Maybe Love”, after some lineup changes and a name switch to My Wicked Twin
The show was not without technical problems, but the band overcame with lots of comedy courtesy of Brian Doerner, and a wicked impromptu drum solo from the rock god. In the dark. He couldn’t have even seen what he was doing, but did that solo ever smoke. While some bands would view a blackout as a disaster, Decibel turned it into a rare chance to see a drum solo by one of Canada’s most underrated percussionists. And he made sure that lots of people got complimentary sticks, too, which was really cool.
One of the many highlights of the show was Shane Schedler’s vocal turn on “Never Turn Your Back”. Not to be outdone, however, Hills Walter kicked out the jams on his vocal “Dancin’ Frogs” featuring not a dancing frog, but a dancing blonde in a top hat, fishnets and Decibel panties. Sweet!
Such was the reaction from the crowd that Decibel were unexpectedly forced to retake the stage after they had already said goodnight. Having nothing else to play, they played “Taking The Colour” one more time, this time with even more excitement. The crowd ate it up, every last morsel, and left very very satisfied.
You simply must see the band live. If you care about rock and roll, if you care about local artists, then you must see this band live. If you don’t, you are the only one missing out.
Good show boys. See you next time, front row center.
I found this concert review on a hard drive and realized I had never posted it to mikeladano.com. OVERSIGHT!
This was a special experience. Read on.
video by John Hockley
HELIX – The Power Of Rock And Roll – CD Release Party Report – East Side Bar & Grill, London Ontario, 2007/08/19
Today Jen & I headed down to London to check out Helix playing, and to celebrate the release of their new CD, The Power of Rock and Roll, on EMI. We threw on some Helix for the drive down, and met John Hockley (Helix MySpace guru) and his family at noon. John has quite an impressive autograph collection, as anyone who’s got him added on Facebook can attest to.
Stocking up on coffee and Timbits, John and I trekked over to Brian and Linda Vollmer’s house to drop off some salad for their after-show BBQ and to say hello. It was my first time at their place and I was blown away by Brian’s cool collection of rock and roll stuff! My favourite thing of his was his prop from the fourth season of Trailer Park Boys, “Ricky’s Dope Map”. Very cool to see it up close and personal.
Brian was gracious enough to take a photo with me, and Linda told me how everyone loved my [now deleted] YouTube video “Why I Prefer Helix To Rush”. That was very cool; I told her that if I had known that anyone would actually watch it that I would have worked harder on it! Maybe next time….
From there, we headed over to the venue to see Helix play. Milled around the crowd, ran into Brent Doerner and said hello.
John introduced me to Randy, the merchandise guy, who had also seen my YouTube video. He sold me some rare Helix stuff, including the CD Never Trust Anyone Over 30 which I thought I would never be able to find! Then I got it signed by Rainer Wiechmann who played guitar and engineered a lot of the later Helix stuff on it. Rainer was cool, and thank you John for introducing me.
We found a table, and sat with a very nice couple, Diane and Mark from Kitchener. Wouldn’t you know it…Diane used to be Greg “Fritz” Hinz bookeeper, and asked him to come over and sign my CD for me! I told Fritz that my very first concert was Helix at the Center In The Square in 1987. […where he mooned the crowd.]
Then the band hit the stage. This was our second time seeing the current live lineup of Helix. [Brian Vollmer – lead vocals, Rik VanDyk – guitars, Jim Lawson – guitars, Paul Fonseca – bass, and Brent “Ned” Niemi – drums.] Nine months after seeing this version play for the first time, I think they were even tighter, and definitely heavier. I have never seen Helix play so fast and heavy before. Blew me away. Still played a couple of slower tunes as well, but even they had more energy.
The full and complete set list:
1. No Rest For The Wicked / Band intro and solos
2. Boomerang Lover
3. Get Up!
4. Wild In The Streets
5. Dirty Dog
6. Eat My Dust
7. Running Wild In The 21st Century
8. The Kids Are All Shakin’
9. Heavy Metal Love
10. Rick Van Dyk guitar solo / segue into Metallica’s Creeping Death riff
11. When The Hammer Falls
12. Deep Cuts The Knife
13. Good To The Last Drop
14. Baby Likes To Ride
15. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’
16. The Power Of Rock And Roll
17. Animal House
18. Rock You
ENCORES
19. (Make Me Do) Anything You Want
20. Fill Your Head With Rock
Packed house, great show, the band played & sang great. Thanks Helix for an amazing afternoon!
mikeladano.com 