Reviews

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!

REVIEW: Deep Purple – Listen, Learn, Read On (6 CD box set)

In ages past when spells were cast

In a time of men and steel

When a man was taught no special thing

It was all done by feel

So, listen

So, learn

So, read on….

PURPLE BOX FRONT

DEEP PURPLE – Listen, Learn, Read On (6 CD box set, 2002)  (currently $298 on amazon.ca)

I recently listened to this box set again over the course of two weekends. Delving into the gorgeous box, 6 CDs, 120 pages of text, pictures, and credits, I felt fully immersed in a Purple world. Of all the Deep Purple box sets, and there are a lot of them, this one truly is a must. Covering the years of Deep Purple’s first era (1968-1976) plus surprises, there has never been a more comprehensive set of rarities and album cuts by this band.

Starting off with solo tracks by each member of the first four versions of Deep Purple, I never had any of these tracks before, except for the one by Episode Six. I was really impressed with The Outlaws’ (featuring Blackmore) version of “Keep A Knocking”. It was also great to finally have “Medusa” by Trapeze.

After a handful of very 60’s tracks by Deep Purple Mk I, the set really begins. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover helped create an entire new beast. Before too long we’re immersed in demos, rare live versions, remasters, outtakes and the odd album cut. My only complaint was that “Speed King” is not included in its album version, as I think it is superior to the two versions included. Suitable to this version of Purple, disc three kicks off with the 30 minute version of “Mandrake Root” from the 1970 Stockholm concert. Through Fireball, Machine Head, and Who Do We Think We Are, you can hear the band grow, experiment, and eventually stagnate. However, by the end of disc 4, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes are on board. The band was revitalized with the Burn album, but had not changed in their jamming tendencies. Disc five contains the 30 minute version of “Space Truckin'” from the Gaumont, and an unreleased 12 minute version of “Mistreated”, as well as an 18 minute version of “You Fool No One”.

The final disc contains some then-unreleased quad mixes from Stormbringer (now available in a surround sound DVD) and the final recordings of the band. Tommy Bolin replaces Blackmore, and there is material here from his first rehearsals (from the Days May Come CD). By the time the Last Concert In Japan material hits the speakers, you are overwhelmed and exhausted by the majesty of Deep Purple. Simon Robinson wisely ended the set with a remastered verion of “You Keep On Moving”.

Robinson’s liner notes are, of course, detailed and exemplary. It will take you longer to finish them than it will to listen to this monstrous set.  Tracklist is below, for your perusal and analysis.  Click the gallery and enlarge.

5/5 stars. The buck stops here, this is the one.

REVIEW: The Beatles in Mono (box set)

THE BEATLES – In Mono (box set, 2009, currently $260.00 on amazon.ca)

I’ll be brief here, mainly because this is The Beatles, and this music is so ingrained into everybody’s psyches now.   Nobody wants to see me blather on about these songs.  I was very happy with my purchase of The Beatles in Mono, despite the price. I was not lucky enough to get a first run, but Amazon hooked me up with the second run when it was in stock.

The Beatles in Mono is, as far as I know, a complete collection of every mono mix they’d ever done. The Beatles were hands-on with their mono mixes, where George Martin and his staff tended to helm the stereo mixes. This is, therefore, the mixes that the Beatles intended you to hear back in the 60’s. Playing them remastered on a modern stereo today makes them sound that much more fierce and aggresive, noticeably different from their stereo counterparts. In addition many of the actual mixes are drastically different. “Helter Skelter” is the one in particular that jumped out at me. It sounds like a completely different version of the song. Really refreshing after only having the stereo version for 20+ years!

There are some Beatles albums not included in this set, but that’s OK. Let It Be, Abbey Road, and Yellow Submarine were not mixed in true mono. The mono mixes once available of those albums were not mixed by the band.  They were just “fold downs” of the stereo mixes. I guess if you were dying to hear them, you can make your own fold-downs from The Beatles in Stereo set. What is included here is a new compilation called the Mono Masters (a companion piece to the Past Masters) which includes all the non-album mono mixes, and some previouly unreleased ones like “Across The Universe”.

This box set is for anyone who calls themselves a true Beatles fan, anyone who wants to own the versions that the Beatles themselves mixed, or any completist.

Is it worth the price? Well, the packaging is very nice, each CD is housed in its own little duplicate LP packaging with the white, square box. That means you get the full booklet from Magical Mystery Tour and all the goodies enclosed within the White album. Very nice. The CDs slide in and out, which may not be to your personal taste especially after spending this much money. The call, ultimately, is yours. There is also an exhaustive booklet to consider.

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Born Again (deluxe edition)

SAM_2197

BLACK SABBATH – Born Again (1983, 2011 deluxe edition)

Born Again is my favourite album of all time. #1. Numero uno.

It wasn’t always that way. When I first owned it (on cassette) I really only enjoyed two songs, “Trashed” and “Zero The Hero”. But I was persistent. Soon other songs started to emerge from the muddy morass that is this album: “Born Again”, “Keep It Warm”, “Disturbing The Priest”. Now, years after first hearing this album, it is an indispensible part of my collection and my musical background. I don’t know exactly why I love it so much. It’s an ugly duckling of an album, uglier even than its cover.

In 1983, Don Arden (father of Sharon Osbourne) recommended that Black Sabbath tap Ian Gillan (ex-Deep Purple) as new lead vocalist replacing Ronnie James Dio. Gillan had just folded his self-titled band (the excellent Gillan) to rejoin Deep Purple, but the reunion failed to happen. Drummer Bill Ward, at this point an alcoholic and still reeling from the death of his father, but still managed to come back long enough to record this album. (Soon, he was out again and replaced by ELO’s Bev Bevan, whose picture is also included inside.) Gillan said he was expecting this to be some new supergroup, under a new name, and was surprised when it became the next version of Black Sabbath.

“Trashed”, a fast smoker, kicks you in the nuts right from the beginning, with Ian Gillan’s colourful storytelling. “It really was a meeting, the bottle took a beating, the ladies of the Manor, watched me climb into my car…” No question what this song is about – drinking, ladies, and fast cars.  Narrowly escaping death, the drinking driver in question proclaims at the end, “Oooh, Mr. Miracle, save me from some pain. Oooh, Mr. Miracle, I won’t get trashed again.”

An atmospheric instrumental called “Stonehenge” (a dark watery piece) seques straight into the biggest asskicker of the whole album. “Disturbing The Priest”, the most evil sounding song on any Sabbath album, is actually anything but. Lyrically it’s just about recording the album next door to a church and waking up the neighbors! You can’t tell that from Gillan’s hellish screams or Geezer Butler’s fluid, lyrical bassline.

Another brief instrumental (“The Dark”) acts as in intro to “Zero The Hero”, the epic single, the most evil video the band ever made, and the riff that Slash (allegedly) ripped off for a little tune called “Paradise City”. Gillan sings his patented “English-as-a-second-language” style of lyrics: “Sit by the river with the magic in the music as we eat raw liver.” Raw liver?  What the hell? Musically, this song is the definition of heavy metal.

Side 2 of the original LP begins with another fast scorcher, but still a much more straightforward song than anything on side one. “Digital Bitch” smokes from start to finish. Angry, vicious and brutal, this is a rock song for metal heads. “Keep away from the digital bitch!” warns Gillan.  Iommi’s riffery is tops.

“Born Again” is, I guess, a fucked up blues, filtered through Tony Iommi’s echoey underwater guitar sounds. If I had to compare it to another song, it would be Deep Purple’s “Wasted Sunsets”, for mood and vibe. Yet this is a much darker beast, highlighted by a metal chorus replete with screams.

Another fast rocker, “Hot Line”, is up next which the band used to play live. Very similar to “Digital Bitch” in style.

The final track is “Keep It Warm”, a midtempo song with rich vocals by Gillan, and more of that Engligh-as-a-second-language lyricism. “Keep it warm, rat, don’t forget pretty pretty one that your man is coming home.” Rat?

Photo0421

So: if this record is loaded with such amazing riffage and tunes, why was it so unpopular? Why did it almost destroy Black Sabbath as a band? Why did it rate so low, everywhere? The answer is simple to me — the production sucks. Rumour has it that Geezer Butler snuck into the studio and turned the bass up so high that it couldn’t be fixed in the mix. As a result, this is a muddy, bass-heavy album with non-existent cymbals or even treble. Bill Ward’s drum sound is similar to the sound of hammering on a sheet of 1/8″ thick steel. Even his drum style has changed — in the 70’s he was much looser, then he got stiff and this was the first album where he sounds so stiff and relentless.

Yet, as a package, to me it works. I love this album and the sound is part of that. From the cover art, to the look of the band, to the songs & videos, this is a picture of pure rock and roll evil! Sabbath is usually at their best when plying the darkest waters, and Born Again is indeed the darkest of the dark. I think this CD remaster goes a long way towards making the album enjoyable. (The liner notes are also excellent.)

After this tour, Gillan left for Purple (for real this time), and the band hired yet another singer — David Donato who later turned up with Mark St. John (Kiss) in a band called White Tiger. Donato joined the original members for a photo shoot, but this new lineup produced no music, and Sabbath disbanded. Tony Iommi began work on a with another ex-Purple singer, Glenn Hughes (notice a pattern here?)…but that is another totally confusing and convoluted story!

Gillan maintains to this day that he was “the worst singer that Sabbath ever had,” while Ozzy thinks this is the best Sabbath album since he left the band. But, much like Another Perfect Day by Motorhead, it is a different sounding album that has a strong cult following.

You decide!

AND NOW! Onto the bonus disc.

SAM_2200

First up is “The Fallen”, a heavy fast rocker with a great riff. It is a riff unlike most Iommi riffs but it’s a solid one. The song has been heavily bootlegged before, but the deluxe edition is its first official release. Interesting but not essential is an extended version of “Stonehenge”, the watery intro to “Disturbing the Priest”. Next is the live set at Reading. This is the first official release of anything featuring the Sabbath lineup of Gillan/Iommi/Butler and Bev Bevan. I have a bootleg of the Montreal show (Black and Purple), which is awful. Gillan’s voice was all over the map on that one, maybe his monitors were off or maybe he was hoarse, but he sucked that night. This Reading show is much better! You have to remember that Ian Gillan, of all the Black Sabbath singers, put his own spin on these songs. He didn’t always sing the words as they were written, and his voice is so idiosyncratic that it’s hard to put Made In Japan out of mind. That’s not a bad thing to me, I love Ian Gillan. It may not be to everybody’s taste.

Photo0422

Strongest on the live stuff were “Digital Bitch” and “Hotline”. “Zero The Hero” is sloppy, but drummer Bevan is solid. In fact it is Bevan with whom I am most frequently impressed here. Aside from some “percussion” sessions on the Eternal Idol album, this is the first official release of any Sabbath music with Bev Bevan on drums, and certainly the largest chunk of Sabbath music available with his performances.

The crowd goes absolutely nuts for “Smoke On The Water”, more so than any Sabbath song before it. It’s weird hearing any band that’s not Deep Purple sing the story about Montreaux, but I think they had no choice. They really did have to play it or the crowds would have rioted. Sabbath play a blocky heavy metal version of the song.

Disappointingly, there is no Dio-era material. On the Montreal bootleg, Gillan sang “Heaven and Hell” (gloriously screwing up the words) and “Neon Knights”.

Still, this is an absolutely great reissue. Wonderful packaging and liner notes, finally answering the rumours about that album cover.

5/5 stars! This will always be my favourite Sab platter. Plus it tends to scare the neighbors.

REVIEW: The Cult – Capsule 1 (2010)

CAPSULE FRONT

THE CULT – Capsule 1 (EP, 2010)

And then the hype began.

…first of 3, possibly 4 capsules…

…we’re not releasing an e.p…We’re releasing ‘a capsule’…

…new songs…a film aspect…music videos that you can download …maybe a t-shirt…

Bullshit!  It’s an EP dammit!  Which is fine, except this one was so fucking hard to get!  Tried Amazon…nothing…tried eBay…nothing on CD…went to the official Cult site and paid over $30 for this thing.

And then, it didn’t even play in any but one of my CD players!  My oldest one, strangely enough.  See, Capsule 1 is one of them there fancypants “DualDiscs”.  A load of crap, I sez.  Half the time, they don’t work in CD players!  But the idea is, one side of the disc is a CD and the other is a DVD.

Before I get to the music, let’s talk about the DVD side.  Ian’s hyped “film aspect”.

What the fuck was that?  What the fuck did I just watch?  Prelude to Ruins is 4 minutes of abstract whateverthefuck that I’ll never get back.  And for this 4 minutes, I can’t get a regular CD that I can play in my car?

Thankfully, the music is fucking awesome! 

First track “Every Man and Woman is a Star” is a stuttering, triumphant return for the Cult.  I think this is the best Cult track in many years, since possibly “The Witch” which is kind of takes me back to.  Another new song, “Siberia”, follows.  This mournful masterpiece drives with the darkest of pulses.  Ian’s vocal is among some of the most powerful I’ve heard!  Fuck yeah!  This takes me back to why I loved the Cult in the first place!  Both songs show different sides to the band, but upon hearing them there is no way you could mistake them for anything but the Cult.

This “capsule” is rounded out by two live tracks:  the best version of “Rain” that I have ever heard in my life, and a dull “Brother Wolf, Sister Moon”.  Ian barks his way through “Rain”, deviating from melody, but trading melody for aggression.

No T-shirt, Ian!  For $30 you could have sent me a shirt.

I’ve heard that Capsule 2 has skipped the DualDisc concept, but I don’t know for sure because I’ve never been able to locate a copy.  At $10 per good song, I thought that Capsule 1 was a bit pricey.

Musically:  4/5 stars

Value:  1/5

Oh, and Ian, it’s still just an E.P!

REVIEW: Thin Lizzy – Vagabonds of the Western World (deluxe edition)

SAM_2314

THIN LIZZY – Vagabonds of the Western World (2011 deluxe edition)

Thin Lizzy’s history is much like Deep Purple’s in certain respects. Both bands had an early period (three albums for both bands) with an earlier lineup, and a sleepier 1960’s-oriented sound. This is before both bands galvanized their sounds and boiled it down to rock and roll.

Vagabonds is the third of these three Lizzy albums, and the closest in sound to what they would later become. This is also the best of these three Lizzy albums. This deluxe edition of Vagabonds is also the best Lizzy deluxe edition that I have heard thus far. Both the remastering and bonus material is fantastic. Just listen to that bass intro on “Gonna Creep Up On You”. The original CD release did not reveal this much detail, the bass has so much depth now.

The album itself gets off to a slow start, with “Mama Nature Said”, “The Hero and the Madman” and “Slow Blues” which you will hear on this package no less than four times! None of these songs are personal favourites. However track four, “The Rocker”, is a pure Lizzy classic. It could have fit in easily on an album like Fighting, Jailbreak or Johnny The Fox. It is simply awesome with an extra dose of rocket sauce.

From there it’s pretty much non-stop. The title track is up next, a personal favourite with loads of atmosphere. The moody “Little Girl In Bloom” is a tale of a girl who finds herself with child, and must tell her father. Phil Lynott offers his advice on how to do this. Is this based on someone Phil knew? We now know that Phil had at least one son that didn’t know who his father was. Could his mother have been the little girl in bloom?

“Gonna Creep Up On You” and “A Song While I’m Away” end the album in style, a couple of great numbers.

That ends the orginal LP, but disc one is still filled with bonus material from singles and B-sides. One B-side from the original CD is missing, which was “Black Boys On The Corner”. This song however is available on the Thin Lizzy box set, so it can still be had. The other singles and B-sides include the raging classic “Sitamoia”, a song by Brian Downey with its chorus in Gaelic. “Randolph’s Tango” is another highlight, a song which vaguely reminds me of “El Paso” by Johnny Horton in terms of story. It is, not surprisingly, a tango with a fantastic flamenco solo by Eric Bell. You will also hear the funky “Cruising In The Lizzymobile” and the powerful horn-laden “Little Darling” on this disc. “Broken Dreams” and “Here I Go Again” round out the singles. Throw in a couple single edits (for “The Rocker”, “Randolph’s Tango”, and “Whiskey In The Jar”) and you have a near-perfect first disc. But there’s still more. The 1977 remix of “Slow Blues” featuring Gary Moore and Midge Ure is included, its first CD appearance. This track was lifted from a rare remix LP that Lizzy did to bring the sound of their early material in line with what they were doing later. It is vastly different and perhaps superior to the original “Slow Blues”, with Moore re-recording the guitars himself.

The second disc is entirely made up of live BBC recordings, and do they ever cook!  Extra rocket sauce!  They sound incredible and the band was playing great. Live material with the Eric Bell lineup is scarce and this is some of the first live stuff I’ve heard by them. Taken from multiple sessions, you will hear most of the original album performed live as well as earlier tunes such as a sleepy “Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm”. Interestingly, there are also live versions of two later Lizzy tunes: “Showdown”, from Nightlife, and “Suicide”, from Fighting. I had no idea that they were written earlier with the Eric Bell lineup, until now.

SAM_2319

Liner notes are great and there are a handful of pictures included. (There’s even a photo of the very, very rare Funky Junction album, which was basically Lizzy playing Deep Purple covers. Oh, my left nut for a re-release!)

This package is, for a lot of people, probably the only Eric Bell era album that they need. I am happy to report that it is simply a fantastic reissue.

5/5 stars

DUAL REVIEW: The Trashmen – “Surfin’ Bird” / Family Guy “I Dream of Jesus”

THE FAMILY GUY: “I Dream Of Jesus” (Episode 2, Season 7)

My buddy Chris and I seldom agree on anything to do with TV shows. (Two and a Half Men? Seriously Chris?) One fact that we do agree on: “I Dream Of Jesus” had the potential to be the best Family Guy episode of all time. They had it going in the first half, only to blow it in the second.

In a nutshell: Peter gets all nostalgic for the song “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen. He acquires a record and torments his family by playing and singing the song so much that he is literally driving Stewy and Brian insane. To me this was Family Guy at its absolute best.

That was the first half. The second half involved Peter befriending Jesus and the episode just got weird from there. Chris and I both agree: The proper way to end this episode would have been to have another giant chicken fight. Bird is the word. Chicken fight. It could have been perfect!

3/5 stars

surfin

THE TRASHMEN: “Surfin’ Bird” (1963)

I love the oldies. I always have. It probably came from watching movies like Christine and American Grafitti. This is right up my alley. For 1963 this is absolutely raging! “Surfin’ Bird” (actually a combination of two other songs) is rock and roll! I defy you to not get this stuck in your head!

I love stuff like this. If I was a young teenager in 1963, I would have wanted this record.

5/5 stars

Part 34: SPECIAL! “Bands That I Think Suck” FROM THE ARCHIVES!

I was cleaning out the closet two weeks ago.  I found a folder, full of old writing.  I found stuff that I had written with chums Danesh and Andy back in highschool.  But most interestingly, I found this.  This is not my first published work (that would be an article about turtles from grade 2 in the local newspaper).  This may be, however, my first published work along the lines of what I’m doing now.

Dating back to 1995, my second year at the store, I was already getting jaded!  This is my very first music article:  “Bands That I Think Suck”.  It was published in the University of Waterloo paper Scientific Notation as a comedy piece.  Thanks to Abbas Rizvi for doing so, wherever you are.

I still stand by most of this, but I have since grown to like Pink Floyd.  (See:  Part 28: The Boy Who Killed Pink Floyd). 

OK…ON WITH THE EMBARASSMENT!

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Old School (1964-1974) (4 CD/DVD/LP/7″ SINGLE & BOOK)

ALICE COOPER – Old School (1964-1974) (2011)

This might be the last time I obsessive-compulsively buy one of these crazy expensive box sets. With fresh memories of how beautiful the AC/DC Backtracks Deluxe box set was, I eagerly placed my preorder. I mean, Alice Cooper 1964-1974! The golden years! The orginal Alice Cooper Band! When it finally arrived I was blown away by the packaging, bonus goodies, and other finds.

SAM_1972

However, musically, this is almost not even worth owning. You have to be a massive, massive, die hard Cooper fan to want to hear a whole five minutes of Bob Ezrin’s kids giggling and singing during the School’s Out sessions. You have to be a masocist to want to hear that horrible loud feedback that just goes on forever during a seven minute run through the same song. The radio ads are nice, but hardly what we as collectors want out of a box set of this stature. Sprinkled in with this junk are the odd good live takes, such as “Under My Wheels” in New York 1973. Unfortunately there are just as many early tracks from the Zappa years that aren’t nearly as good, nor recorded that well. Everything on the first two odds n’ sods discs are either live, rough sketches or demos, studio sessions, or radio ads. Lots of repeat too — there are three takes of “Muscle Of Love”, you will hear “School’s Out” three times in different forms, and “I’m Eighteen” three times as well.

The third CD is, disappointingly an interview disc. It’s a shame to spend this much money and only get three CDs worth of music (the fourth CD is a live one). I did enjoy hearing Alice discuss Muscle of Love and the end of the original band. The other surviving band members, and Ezrin, participate in the discussion.

The only real treasure here musically is the fourth CD, a 10 song set from the Killers tour in 1971. This set is duplicated on a 180 gram vinyl enclosed within. It is from bootleg sources, but where sound quality suffers, the band makes up for it in youth. Lots of static and noise but the band is absolutely on fire in a way that they are not on the first two CDs. I also like that they duplicated the look of 70’s bootleg vinyl with the packaging.

SAM_1962

Finally, there is a 7″ single, heavy vinyl, a replica of Cooper’s first single from 1967 as Nazz. The tracks are “Wonder Who’s Loving Her Now?” and “Lay Down And Die Goodbye”.  (I only wish that there was a way to download this in mp3 format with the purchase of this set.)  See scan below for complete tracklist for the entire box set.  LeBrain is nothing if not helpful!

There is a documentary DVD included as well, which although containing lots of fun vintage clips, is very poor value for the money. You are treated to — for the second time now! — the same interview that you just finished listening to! And not only that, but they chose to shoot the interview with the original band in a noisy maintenance room. Why?

SAM_1964

Now, packaging wise, this box set is a whole other beast!

The box itself is shaped like a kid’s school desk. The old wooden kind that they had in the 50’s, with the top that opens up and the ink well. It’s hinged and it opens where the school desk would. It is very sturdy and the hinge is metal. Inside are, as discussed:

The 12″ vinyl of the live 1971 show.
The 7″ single reproduction.
1 DVD, Old School 1964-1974
4 CDs, Old School 1964-1974

There is a yearbook, with the whole story told by multiple sources. However, a few things are brushed over, such as the alcohol problems that were setting in. Alice was a full blown alcoholic, a 2 beer first thing in the morning kind of guy. His guitar player Glen Buxton was so wasted that they had him onstage with his guitar turned down to 0, and having a guest guitarist play way off to the side. So none of this is in the yearbook. Great photos though, particular of Alice’s own yearbook. The entire band were a highschool band. All five guys. Lots of great photos from this era, and on to the mid-70’s.

SAM_1969

There is a booklet, inside of which is a reproduction concert ticket from 1972 for Wembley. (£1.00 admission back then apparently, imagine that today!) There is also a 1971 tour book (Killers tour), a complete reproduction, and a whole bunch of 8 1/2 x 11 poster reproductions. Lastly there is a replica setlist, which is nothing special. The thing I don’t like about this booklet is that you have to be very careful when you put items back into it, or when you fold everything back together you’ll dogear something.

As I said in the beginning, I think this is the last time I buy one of these box sets compulsively. I knew the music was likely to be iffy and it was. I probably should have saved my money, although the box is a beautiful conversation piece.

2/5 stars, regrettably.