The other night, Tee Bone was making the artwork for next week’s LeBrain Train episode, Top 5 Ballads. I asked if he could add in a picture of me playing acoustic guitar. It started there, turned into “me recording my acoustic ballad album on the beach”, and it simply grew and grew!
Can you name them all?
Lots of surprises and a couple F-bombs on the show this week!
Normally you would expect Tim Durling (Tim’s Vinyl Confessions) and I to agree about everything. This week, we did not! Instead, Eric Litwiller and I matched nearly album for album. Meanwhile, John T. Snow (2Loud2OldMusic) snuck in some really different picks. Plenty of discussion, disagreement, love and laughs!
We started the show with an “ABSUЯD” unboxing and a special surprise from Aaron! Thanks for watching! If you missed it you can catch it below.
Upcoming Schedule:
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & Friends
Episode 98 – The Millennium Show: Top Five Albums from the year 2000
A suggestion from the Meat Man — why not do our top albums from the year 2000? The turn of the millennium was a weird time in metal. A lot of bands were still suffering from the fallout of the past decade, while others were in the midst of big comebacks. But there were so much more than just metal in 2000, as you will see with tonight’s lists!
The panel this evening:
Give ’em a follow while you’re at it, and make sure you don’t miss tonight’s show! As always, the best way is to catch it live so you can participate in the comments. And as usual, there will be special unboxings for those who show up early! There could be something “ABSUЯD” in there.
Saturday February 18, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!
Upcoming Schedule:
GHOST – “Hunter’s Moon” (2022 Loma Vista 7″ single)
The new Ghost album Impera is almost upon us! (March 11.) The group’s sound has changed from album to album, progressing from a gothic metal band with a foot in the past, to something more perversely pop. Their last album 2018’s Prequelle, pushed further in that direction, with at least one song (“Danse Macabre”) sounding like a keyboard-drenched rock single from back in ’86. So who knows what we will get this time out?
The single “Hunter’s Moon” from the film Halloween Kills might be a clue. The single version does not appear in the film, but a much more elaborate mix runs during the end credits. Presumably, the single version will be on Impera as well.
The beat is strong, and the melody is prominent. The chorus is a little more old-school Ghost, so perhaps the album will be a hybrid of styles. There’s a cool guitar line and the usual idiosyncratic Tobias Forge vocals. It sounds like latter-day Ghost with a little of the early thump, and one particularly Sabbathy guitar bend. Plenty pop, plenty gothic. Good song though not up there with “Rats” or “Danse Macabre”.
According to Max the Axe: “All the neat metal tricks save it from being a simple pop song, and transcends it to hook-laden heavy rock. Lots of breaks and dynamics.”
On the B-side is the Halloween Kills main title theme by John Carpenter. It’s a variation on the familiar, iconic Halloween piano theme, bare with synth and choir. A very nice add-on to this cool single.
3.5/5 stars
RECORD STORE TALES #974: I Was a Bit of a Jackass
Part of my process, after breaking up with Radio Station Girl in 2003, was simply to explore new things. Music, piercings, and movies. Moving on, adapting, becoming a new me, and resurrecting parts of my old self as well. The immature inner child that persists. As kids, we weren’t bad boys, but we did get into mischief and play pranks. I always felt that if we had access to a video camera back then, we could have been Tom Green before there was a Tom Green. But we didn’t, and Tom Green was the real pioneer in that regard. And he took things way further than we did. Still, Green reminded me of me when I was younger.
It’s not a controversial statement to say that Jackass, particularly Bam Margera, owe a debt to Tom Green. Green was pranking his parents before Margera was on MTV doing the same. Where Green did it with a coy faux innocence, Margera’s version of the same was with manic violence. Jackass turned everything up several notches. As soon as a copy of Jackass: The Movie entered the store where I worked on used DVD, I grabbed one. I was curious.
Soon I was hooked!
I could remember taking shopping carts for a ride when I was teenager. Early teenager. When Bob started working at the grocery store, he told me “Do you know how much those carts cost? $1000 each. So from now on we return them.” Before that though…yes, we sure did give them a spin in parking lots. Parking lots were empty on Sundays and you could do just about anything. We never took serious tumbles like Johnny Knoxville and crew, but we did race them around a bit. I could live vicariously through Bam, Steve-O, Knoxville, Ryan, Ehren, Dave, Pontius, Preston and Wee Man. They could do the things I thought were funny but would never do myself! I killed myself laughing when Johnny rented and destroyed the car at the smash-up derby, then refused to pay for the damage. Just the absurdity of it all. You know that everybody signed waivers and got MTV reimbursements after the fact, so all’s even-steven in the end. In other words it’s OK to laugh.
Another reason I dove hard into Jackass: girls that I thought were pretty cute seemed to really like them (especially Bam). So if I was into Jackass, that was something I had in common with the cute punk and goth girls I liked. I also took style pointers from the guys. I had piercings and a couple tattoos, and I had one photo with curly blond hair that I thought looked just enough like Ryan Dunn. I bought wristbands and shirts at Hot Topic and skate shops. I dyed my hair frequently. I looked the part.
Visiting my parents regularly was something I really enjoyed doing after moving out and getting my own place. I liked to watch movies with them. Rather, I enjoyed making them watch things of my choosing. And so it happens that I tricked them into watching Jackass: The Movie with me.
They liked documentaries, so I told them that “Jackass is a documentary about stuntmen.”
I just re-watched the movie recently to refresh my memory for this story. Calling it a documentary was a bit of a stretch, but calling it a documentary about stuntmen was really pushing it. There are stunts, yes, but there was also poo, pee, puke, and bottle rockets firing out of Steve-O’s anus.
My mother was not impressed. “I hated it! I don’t like crude things,” she insists.
Jackass was indeed crude, with the climax being a prank involving Dunn sticking a toy car up his ass and then getting a hilarious reaction from an X-ray doctor.
“That kind of humour to me is not very intelligent,” says my mom, correctly. It’s fact it’s quite anti-intelligent. But that can also be escapism. My mom didn’t see it that way.
I asked her which sketch she thought was the worst. “The only one I can remember is the guy pooping in the toilet.”
Ah yes! Dave England walked into a hardware store with a newspaper in hand, sat on one of the display toilets, and took a dump right there. This is funny? My mom didn’t think so. But as kids, when we were dragged out into hardware stores by parents for (seemingly) hours on end, did we not sit on those toilets making farting sounds? I bet we did.
That’s the side of me that Jackass appealed to. The inner child, the immature side that still laughs when someone farts in a movie. That’s OK. What makes you laugh could be very different and that’s OK too! I needed to get back to that a little bit, and rediscover my childish side after having my heart crushed by a Radio Station Girl.
Just don’t share this side with your parents. Trust me, they won’t get it!
On Saturday Tim Durling, and I recorded a fantastic episode of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions about rare CDs that received loads of comments and questions! Tim has been wanting to try going live for a while now, so Sunday morning we went for it with a followup show!
So, yes: That means this weekend there were three hours of Tim and I yammering about music! But apparently they were a good three hours according to viewer feedback. Here’s the “Aftermath” show that we did at 7:30 AM on a Sunday! Loads of fun — I love mornings!
LeBrain Train Upcoming Live Schedule:
Part Twelve of the Def Leppard Review Series
RECORD STORE TALES #973: “Let’s Get Rocked” – The Wait for Adrenalize
Before the internet, the best way to access your rock news in Canada was to buy magazines and watch the Pepsi Power Hour. We had all the US magazines plus M.E.A.T and some of the best rock coverage with MuchMusic. You’d be negligent in your rock and roll duties if you didn’t buy some magazines.
I remember buying one at the end of the 80s, the turn of the decade. It might have been Metal Edge or something of a lower tier. (You bought what was on the shelf when pickings were slim.) But they had a column by a psychic who was making rock and roll predictions for the coming decade. Stuff like “Will Jon and Richie break up?” What interested me the most was what she predicted for Joe Elliott of Def Leppard. The biggest rock band in the world, she claimed, would get only get bigger. Joe’s next album would outsell Hysteria, and he would get involved with some important causes.
Was she confusing Joe for Bono? Cool if true, but outselling Hysteria? Hard to imagine.
A few things were known about the next album at the start of the new decade. They’d be trying to produce it without “Mutt” Lange for one. “Mutt will be involved,” said Joe, but in a different capacity. The goal was to make a “quick” album — one year instead of several. They had one song earmarked from a B-side called “Tear It Down”. They also had some unfinished ideas left over from Hysteria such as the ballad “Tonight”. As kids, we imagined an album less produced than Hysteria, but hopefully just as good. I had actual dreams of anticipation at night, imagining the new album cover sitting there on the shelves. Continuing with the “-ia” naming convention, the next album was said to be titled Dementia. A title they dropped in favour of something less negative, when once again things went down the toilet.
Rick Allen’s car accident was extremely unfortunate, but what happened this time was tragic. Steve Clark, always the band’s riff-master and shape-throwing classic rocker, was gone.
The guitarist had been suffering from his addictions, and this time a deadly mixture of prescription pills and alcohol was enough to end his life. January 8 1991, “Steamin'” Steve Clark was no more.
The band didn’t know what to do but carry on. Record the the album as a four-piece. Dedicate it to Steve. Don’t even think about replacements until it’s necessary.
And so the fans mourned, and waited. As the band toiled away, now producing with Mike Shipley, we anxiously awaited news. Any news. A few song titled leaked out: “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”, “Stand Up”, “Tonight”, “Tear It Down”.
And then, over a year after Clark’s death, listening to the radio one snowy afternoon: Q107 out of Toronto, announced: new Def Leppard. Coming right up.
My sister and I huddled around the radio. We may have popped in a tape to record it; I can’t remember. We didn’t need to since it was about to carpet-bomb the nation with radio and video play. “Let’s Get Rocked” was here!
And it was…
OK.
It was OK. It sounded like Def Leppard. It didn’t push the boundaries in any fashion. It was safe, straightforward, and simple.
“Well, that classical section with the violins was different,” I said trying to see the bright side.
“Yeah, but that was just one short part,” answered my more realistic sister.
Through the years of anticipating a new Def Leppard album, we imagined some growth. Maybe not as drastic a transition as they made from Pyromania to Hysteria, but something at least. The one-time biggest band in the world shouldn’t just spin their tires musically.
“You know what, I’m gonna let it go,” I said. “They’ve had to deal with so much, and when Steve died, they just needed to get an album out. They can grow on the next album.” (And boy did they!)
With that attitude, I counted the days until I would trek to the mall and finally get the new Def Leppard in my hands. Now with the title Adrenalize, and with “Let’s Get Rocked” climbing up the charts, it was time for Leppard’s return. A long time coming, if not the way it was planned!
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13: Adrenalize
Jethro Tull’s brand new album The Zealot Gene has people talking not just because it’s their first album without Martin Barre on guitar since their debut. It’s also because it’s really good! Christmas music aside, this is the first studio album under the Jethro Tull banner since 1999’s J-Tull.com. It’s essentially an outgrowth of Ian Anderson’s solo band, which he finally felt comfortable bringing back full circle to Jethro Tull. Whatever! It’s all good.
“Mrs Tibbets” is the first song on The Zealot Gene, and a surprising one at that. Thought it’s not short at 5:53 in length, it has distinct pop qualities. The 80s keyboards certainly bring to mind a past era, when Van Halen was topping the charts with their own keyboard-drenched music. The flute is a main feature, delivering the first melodies and, as always, many jaw-dropping passages. Florian Ophale on guitar makes comparisons to past lineups unnecessary, when the track gets heavily progressive mid-way through. The axework has a nice vintage sound to it.
The lyric book references Genesis chapter 19 verses 24-28.
24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
I don’t think this is a song I’m going to crack conceptually after a few listens. Give it a go and see what you think. Brilliant track!
Blinkered against the harsh and raging sun
They said, divert your gaze, don’t look behind
It was time, they said, to do that thing
Mindful, they, of peace and peace of mind
Don’t feel bad, they said, about the numbers
Don’t feel bad about the melting heat
The burning flesh, the soft white cell demise
And the shattered ground beneath the trembling feet
Mrs Tibbets’ little boy
August morning silence breaks
Eyes to Heaven, Manhattan toy
Drops in for tea and Eccles cake
All for the good and ultimately
Saving precious lives in longer run
Set a course for home and happy holidays
Tell yourselves thank God what’s done is done
Mrs Tibbets’ little boy
August morning silence breaks
Eyes to Heaven, Manhattan toy
Drops in for tea and Eccles cake
Maybe if Lot had stopped and stood his ground
And maybe if Peter hadn’t turned away
What if that Judas stole no kiss?
What if, what if, Enola Gay?
Mrs Tibbets’ little boy
August morning silence breaks
Eyes to Heaven, Manhattan toy
Drops in for tea and Eccles cake
Have yourselves a merry little Christmas
Open parcels, gifts of different kind
A bigger bang will call for bigger bucks
So pay the ransom, don’t look behind
This morning I had a blast taping this episode of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions! Together we showed off some of our rarest CDs. That’s part of the pleasure of being a collector: sharing our treasure with you!
Thanks for having me Tim! Enjoy this awesome two-hour extravaganza of digital rarities!
LOUDNESS – On The Prowl (1991 Atco)
Loudness made a distinctly commercial move when giving original lead singer Minoru Niihara his walking papers. They replaced him with American singer Mike Verscera, and on some tracks, they made a turn towards radio-playable rock. Their second record with Vescera was an interesting one. 1991’s On The Prowl features only three new songs, and eight re-writes from their first four Japanese albums. To most listeners, they would be like new songs anyway.
“Down ‘N Dirty” is predictably a hard rocker, slightly sleezy like something Extreme or Bulletboys would have put out. Not a bad song by any means. It surpasses many of its better-known contemporaries by being a bit heavier and by virtue of Vescera’s amazing voice. Having a schooled shredder like Akira Takasaki on lead guitar doesn’t hurt either. But this is a far cry from a “Rock and roll Crazy Night”!
Second track, “Playin’ Games” attempts to go back to the speedy metal of Loudness’ past. It is partially successful. There’s some ripping and shredding going on between Akira and drummer Munetaka Higuchi, who is awesome on this.
Third and last of the new songs, “Love Toys” does compete for “worst title”. Not a bad track actually, with some different playing from Akira, just a bad title. It seemed obvious they were trying for something that worked in America. No songs about crazy doctors this time. Good tune, cool riff, and some great drumming.
Vescera rewrote all the lyrics for the re-recordings. Not all the originals were in Japanese before, but perhaps Vescera was meant to make the lyrics more accessible. “Never Again” was once known as “Silent Sword” (single B-side), a fine ballad indeed, but you can see how the lyrical change would make it a little easier for some to digest. The chorus is also beefed up, massively. Keyboard adornments sweeten the tune further.
“Deadly Player” (formerly “Lonely Player) was an early thrashing diamondback snake in the original days, and it still kicks tremendous ass. There’s a Rush-like quality to the opening, but then Vescera gets a-screamin’. A frantic mixture of disparate metallic parts welded together, this tune is aimed at the brain. Akira even takes a jazzy guitar interlude.
1984’s Disillusion boasted a cool but challenging tune called “Milky Way”; here it is re-titled “Take It Or Leave It” but it is no less slammingly fun. The chorus is probably an improvement, but that’s highly subjective. The playing is awesome.
“Girl” is one of only two tracks not re-titled in some way. This oldie from Devil Soldier is one of the most twisty & turny tunes, with challenging timing. It is faithful to the 1982 original. Though far heavier, it even has a Zeppelin-like flavour to one of the main riff sections. You could picture Page and Bonham jamming on it, but then the track goes full metal (with some serious jazz to the guitars).
1988’s “Long Distance Love” is the most recent track on this album to get the re-recording treatment. From the Jealousy EP, it was never available in the States even though Loudness already had three studio records out in North America. It’s more mid-tempo and melodic than the earlier tracks tackled here. Presumably, Loudness felt it was overlooked. Re-titled “Long Distance”, it came pre-packed with a solid chorus and Van Halen-like hooks.
The legendary “In the Mirror” (no title change) was always one of the early band’s greatest triumphs. Like a lost Judas Priest classic, it combines riff and tempo in that magical way that gets the heads a-bangin’. Vescera’s high pitched screaming (his control is enviable!) adds a modern taste, but the song is just as fortified as ever.
“Sleepless Nights” is now a plural. The original (singular “Sleepless Night”) from The Law of Devil’s Land boasted one of Akira’s very best riffs. Recreated here, with modern production, it is like concrete. Perhaps Minoru Niihara’s original vocal was harder to digest, so here Mike sings with more attention to melodic sensibilities. What a riff though! Let’s not kid ourselves — this song is about the riff. The chorus is different though, and perhaps less of a fit than the original.
The last track is the earliest: “Find A Way” was originally known as “To Be Demon” on the Loudness debut album The Birthday Eve. This classic is half ballad, half monster riff-race! It’s shorter than the original, beginning as a ballad without the speed-rock intro. The vocal melody is completely different and certain memorable sections of the song are missing or altered. While the new version is undeniably more immediate, it might be at a cost. In both versions, Akira slays.
At the end of it all, On The Prowl is mostly an exercise in improved production. Those Japanese albums were not recorded with the kind of expertise that Loudness were able to employ in Los Angeles. The raw appeal of the originals will always be there, but the sonics here are clearly better. That’s On The Prowl‘s strength. Not to mention the new singer was no hack. But there’s a certain commercial slant to new tracks, particularly “Down ‘N Dirty” that feels out of place.
Needless to say, On The Prowl did not reverse Loudness’ fortunes and they were soon without a singer once more. Abandoning the American adventure for the time being, they looked back to Japan for a new singer: E-Z-O’s Masaki Yamada. 1992’s incredible Loudness continued the story, with Yamada even adding “Down ‘N Dirty” to the setlist! Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all?
4/5 stars
mikeladano.com 