The Artist Formerly Known As LeBrain

Part 157: The Year in Review / Top 5

RECORD STORE TALES Part 157:   The Year in Review

So here we are, the tail end of 2012.  While I’m sure you’re just starting to get your drink on, we here at LeBrain’s Blog are tirelessly bringing you the rock even into the wee final hours.  This is the time, traditionally, when we look at the past year!

We used to do Top Five of the Year lists at the record store, when we used to have our newsletter.  Unfortunately I don’t have copies of any of those newsletters, not a one, which is a real shame since I poured my heart and soul into them as much as anybody else at the store.  It would have been fun to look back 15 years and see what my top five of 1997 was.  I do know for certain two albums that were on it:  Accident of Birth by Bruce Dickinson, and The Colour and the Shape by Foo Fighters!  The rest have been lost to the dusts of time.

Hey, if any of you guys are still speaking to me and have copies of the newsletter, lemme know eh? ;)

Back to the present for a moment:

What can I say about 2012?  Before I even thought about doing my own blog, events were in motion that pushed me in that direction.   My good buddy Craig Fee invited me down to 107.5 Dave FM for an entire week — Stump LeBrain Week!  I spent a week on the air, with listeners trying to stump me.  There were even a couple LeBrain Weeks and an entire month of LeBrainuary, where every single day’s 4 O’clock 4 Play quizzes were mined from my own brain’s knowledge.  It was a blast, and left me hungry for more.

I’d always been writing Record Store Tales.  The oldest ones were at least a decade old on my hard drive, but I had no idea what to do with them.  I’d also been writing reviews — well over 800 of them on file before I launched — that very few people had seen.  Craig said to me, “LeBrain, you need to get blogging this stuff.  Write something every day.  If you build it, they will come.”

So that’s what I did, and I thank you for reading.

Back to the Record Store Tales:

I published Part 1 on March 9 2012, the beginning of the story, called Run to the Hills.  It was about the very first time I heard Iron Maiden, a date I’ll never forget.  And thus LeBrain’s Blog and Record Store Tales were launched.

Some highlights from the early months that you may have missed if you’re fairly new here:

So, if you have nothing better to do on this New Year’s Eve, there’s a good waste of time for ya.

And now that we’re done with the preamble…let’s get down to business.

LeBRAIN’S TOP FIVE OF 2012

5. TENACIOUS D – Rize of the Fenix

KG and JB cannot be stopped.  This album is the “Deth Starr” of rock, The D aim “To Be The Best”!   Read LeBrain’s review of Rize of the Fenix here, including all bonus tracks.

4. THE DARKNESS – Hot Cakes

I will never stop loving this band.  Welcome back.  Read LeBrain’s review of Hot Cakes here.

3.  RUSH – Clockwork Angels

My favourite Rush album since Counterparts, at least. Read LeBrain’s review of Clockwork Angels here.

2. VAN HALEN – A Different Kind of Truth

I’d never been more worried that a band would fuck up their big comeback.  Thankfully, Van Halen did not.  Read LeBrain’s review of A Different Kind of Truth here.

And finally…

1. KISS – Monster

You know this was gonna happen.  Aside from the fact that I’m the biggest Kiss fan around, it’s a fucking great record.  Read LeBrain’s review of Monster here.

Runner up:  Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson – TAAB2 Thick As A Brick 2.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Most Anticipated New Releases of 2013 (?)

I was having an offline discussion with the mighty Heavy Metal OverloRd and The CD Whisperer about the albums we’re most excited about in 2013.

It’s easy to think back just one year and remember how we couldn’t wait to see if the new Van Halen would be a triumph or disaster.  Now it’s the end of the year once again, and as long as the world doesn’t end on December 21, there are some cool releases lined up for the new year.

What are you most excited for?  Is there something in particular that you KNOW you’ll be buying before you hear a single note?

I have five must-buys in 2013.  Here’s my list.

queensryche

5. QUEENSRYCHE

This could end up being a total disaster.  Replacing a beloved (albeit knife-weilding) original frontman with a relative unknown is a huge risk.  Kudos to the band for trying, I’ll play along.  The key will be to walk a fine line between avoiding a retread of the past, and reminding fans how good they used to be.  Not an easy task.  Will Todd La Torre be up for it?  Time will tell.

crue

4. MOTLEY CRUE

Nikki has said the band is writing music to follow the lacklustre single “Sex”.  They’ve got tour dates with Kiss lined up in the new year.  I’ll admit I’m actually not that excited about a new Motley release, but I have been faithfully following this band through ups and downs through their entire career.  I even bought New Tattoo!

Voivodtarget

3. VOIVOD – Target Earth

This one has a confirmed release date of January 22.  Although some may say that the idea of a new Voivod album without the late guitarist Piggy is sacrilege, life goes on.  This is the first album in over two decades with Blackie on bass.  From what I’ve heard of the first single, “Kluskap O’Kom”, it does sound like Voivod.  I’ll be supporting the boys in 2013, count on reading my review in the new year.

Sabbath Logo

2. BLACK SABBATH

Some might say that the idea of an “original” Sabbath album without Bill Ward is sacrilege!  Hell, I might be one of them!  But I love this band, and I have to have faith that the combined might of Sabbath plus Rick Rubin will produce something worthwhile.  Will “Scary Dreams” be on there?  I sure hope so.  First album with Tommy Clufetos on drums, a much more metronomic drummer, so I wonder if Sabbath can capture that loose vibe of the precious first 8.

Purple

1. DEEP PURPLE

Confirmed for an April 26 release.  Confirmed that Bob Ezrin is producing.  Confirmed song titles:  “Out Of Hand,” “Hell To Pay,” “Weirdistan,” “Uncommon Man” and “Above and Beyond.”  “Above and Beyond” is a tribute to late organist Jon Lord, who passed away far too soon.  “Weirdistan”?  I love it.  That title can only come from Ian Gillan.  Astoundingly this is the fifth album with Steve Morse and third with Don Airey.  And some said they’d never last without Blackmore!  I will most definitely be pre-ordering whatever cool editions the band has lined up.

What are you psyched about in the new year?  I want to hear from you.

GALLERY: Four Great Finds! (with store report card – Encore Records)

During a trip to Encore Records in Kitchener, Ontario, I found some pretty cool stuff among their used discs.  I used to work with the guy behind the counter, Chris — trained him in fact.  We had a chance to catch up and discuss the difficulties of being a collector.  Piles and piles of discs, an expanding collection and lack of space for it.  Filing systems.  How easy it is to get behind in your filing.  Good to know there are still kindred spirits out there.

Thanks for the discs Chris, and without further delay…

1. VAN HALEN – In Concert

This double CD is at least partially taken from Live Without A Net, the old Van Halen home video.  That’s cool to me — some of those versions, like “Love Walks In”, were the originals that I was first familiar with.  It’s weird today hearing Sammy Hagar play guitar solos on Van Halen songs, but that’s how I first heard them.  $9 used.

2. HELIX – Wild In The Streets (Rock Candy remaster)

PROS:  These hard-to-find (in Canada) Rock Candy reissues have great liner notes and pictures.  CONS: It lacks the lyric sheet from my old Capitol Records version.  This one was expensive ($14 used) but the great Heavy Metal OverloRd tells me they are well worth it.

3. FISH – “Credo” CD single

Limited edition, #5945.  Cool?  Yeah, but how many copies did they make of a Fish single?  Anyway, this has two non-album cuts, a 7″ remix of the title track and a song called “Poet’s Moon”.  “Credo” itself is a great song from Internal Exile.  Great cover art by Mark Wilkinson!  $6 used.

4. IRON MAIDEN – Virtual XI with limited edition lenticular cover

This was a limited edition (expensive in Canada) that had a 3D cover similar to the current Kiss Monster CD.  I tried to get an idea of this in the photos.  Look at Eddie’s finger in relation to the boy’s headphones.  You can see it’s not in the same place in the two photos.  It’s much cooler in person.  Now, I know Aaron is probably going to give me shit for buying a Blaze Bayley album — any Blaze Bayley album — twice.  But it’s more about the Maiden collection than Blaze.  This is one I’d wanted back in the day but completely forgotten about.  $10 used.

REPORT CARD

Encore Records, 54 Queen St. South, Kitchener ON, (519) 744-1370

Encore is as good as as any of the stores that Aaron and I reported on in Toronto.  Sure, I’m biased in that I did train the guy behind the counter, and it was great having a conversation with somebody who understands my point of view vis-à-vis collecting.  But their selection is second-to-none in this town (rock, indi, roots, jazz, blues, vinyl), with fair prices, and excellent quality.  Not one blemish on any of the discs that I purchased.   As an added note I found a number of Guided By Voices singles for Aaron (some stealthily pictured below) — although he is apparently banned from purchasing them at this time, until he wins the lottery!

For these reasons, Encore’s grade is:

5/5 stars

VIDEO BLOG: Surprise Parcel From Aaron!

For the full story behind this, click here:

RECORD STORE TALES Part 135: Back In A Tracksuit

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Every Record Wins Blogging Award! — and so does LeBrain!

See:  Every Record Wins Blogging Award!

And thanks for the recognition!  That was really cool.  Keep reading, I’ve only scratched the tip of the iceberg that is my collection.

MOVEMBER: Top Five Canadian moustaches of Rock!

Idea stolen from Every Record, with a Canadian twist:

For MOVEMBER, the top five Canadian moustaches of rock!  (I didn’t use John Albini from Lee Aaron’s band since Every Record did.)

5. Neil Peart (Rush)

4. Gordon Lightfoot

3. Dave Myles & Pye Dubois (Max Webster)

2. Burton Cummings

1. Pretty much all of Helix

(moustaches l-r: Mike Uzelac, Brian Vollmer, Paul Hackman)

Sh*t Uncle Peter Says

Jen’s Uncle Peter is nothing if not opinionated about music.  Tonight, however, deserved its own blog entry.

Straight from the horse’s mouth, here’s Uncle Peter:

“Jazz music is all crap…no rhythm at all.  Just a jumble of noise with no beat!  It’s just two brushes and a snare drum!  That’s all jazz is.  If they could sing, it would be a miracle.

“I could walk into a jazz club and play drums as good as any jazz guy.  They play any random rhythm and they call it jazz!”

Love ya Uncle Pete…but I take no responsibility for any comments that may follow!

GEOFF TATE – Yup…still a douche

This is news to me.    “Queen of the Reich” isn’t a popular Queensryche song?

“Actually, it’s not very popular at all. It’s funny actually a lot of people don’t know about that song. A lot of people don’t care about that song. It’s an early song that was written and it shows. It’s funny the reaction you get because it’s a lot of blank stares. In fact it’s the same stare you get when you play a new song that nobody’s heard before. People just aren’t that familiar with it. Given there are a few hardcore fans that might know that song or like that song and know what it is but the majority of the people there don’t. So it’s not really a song that I enjoy singing strictly because lyrically its pretty adolescent.”

I wish Geoff would just shut up.

This crowd didn’t seem to mind the song (that Geoff didn’t write):

More Queensryche:

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part I

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part II

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part III

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part IV

Most Unrightfully Ignored Albums of the 1990s – LeBrain’s List Part 4

This is it!  The end!  In alphabetical order, here’s Part 4 of 4:  88 albums that meant the world to me in the 1990′s but never got the respect I felt they deserved.   Thanks for joining in!

Savatage – Streets:  A Rock Opera (sheer brilliance, their first and best rock opera)
Savatage – Edge of Thorns (an album to give Queensryche a run for their money)
Savatage – Handful of Rain (recovering from tragedy to create a triumph)
Savatage – The Wake of Magellan (how did this band just keep getting more brilliant?)
Scorpions – Face the Heat (had a couple good heavy rockers on there like “Alien Nation”)
Shaw/Blades – Hallucination (Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, campfire goodness)
Skid Row – Subhuman Race (when you’re pissed off and you know it, bang thy head)

Sloan – 4 Nights at the Palais Royale (one of the best live albums of all time – ignored internationally)
Dee Snider’s SMF’s – Live / Forever Twisted (fuck, I missed Dee in the 90’s!)
Spinal Tap – Break Like the Wind 
Stryper – Can’t Stop the Rock (a compilation with two great new tunes)
Sultans of Ping F.C. – Casual Sex in the Cineplex (see here)
Talas – If We Only Knew Then What We Know Now… (Billy Sheehan and the boys reunited for one night, and has the wisdom to record it)
Tesla – Bust A Nut (in some ways it’s better than their prior records)
Testament – The Ritual (really heavily slagged at the time as a sellout)
Tonic – Sugar (much better than the first record, you know, the one that was a hit)
Devin Townsend / Ocean Machine – Biomech (one of his more accessible albums)
Union – Union (Bruce Kulick + John Corabi = better than what the Crue or Kiss was releasing)
Steve Vai – Sex and Religion (Devin Townsend — lead throat)
Veruca Salt – Eight Arms To Hold You (their best album, better than the big hit one)
White Lion – Mane Attraction (it was a little mushy, but brilliant guitars by Vito Bratta)
Whitesnake – Restless Heart (back to his blues rock roots, it wasn’t even released here)

We’re done!  88 albums that meant a lot to me in the 1990’s, but in some cases were criminally ignored.  Check them out.

KOBRA AND THE LOTUS cover IRON MAIDEN’s “The Wicker Man”

I’m not sure where I stand on this band.  Brittany Paige’s vocals are hit or miss for me.  I realize she’s classically trained and all that.  Doesn’t mean I have to automatically like it.

Regardless, I think it’s cool that they chose “The Wicker Man” to cover.  Check it out below, starting at the 9 minute mark.  It’s not a bad cover, but nobody can touch Bruce Dickinson.