REVIEW: Blaze Bayley – Alive In Poland (2007)

BLAZE BAYLEY – Alive In Poland (2007 Metal Mind Productions)

Blaze Bayley had the honour of fronting Iron Maiden for two albums, and he’s not about to let you forget it.  Six of the 15 tracks on the double Alive In Poland are Maiden.  No fault there, if you were in Maiden you’d play those songs too, and probably more of them.  What Blaze did with his selection is quite adventurous.  Two of them were never played live by Iron Maiden — ever.

It’s no mercy, high octane, pedal to the metal from the get-go.  “Speed of Light” requires no description beyond the title.  It is what it says!  Throw some wicked Maiden-esque guitar harmonies on top.  Blaze is in great voice, full power, and with passionate delivery.  That goes for the entire show.

“The Brave” is borderline thrash but still with a Maiden-y flavour never too far away.  From there Blaze goes into a cranked-up version of “Futureal”, way faster than Maiden played it.  The double bass parts are insane.  It almost goes off the rails but stays intact.  The guitar harmonies somehow sound richer than the original.

One of the fun aspects of this live album is that Blaze was very talkative on stage that night.  Before “Alive”, he goes off on a great rant about a record label who advised him, “Don’t go out on tour Blaze, it doesn’t sell CDs.”  Thankfully he didn’t listen and this album is the fruit of his hard work.  “Alive” is a brilliant track, slowing it does to a mean groove like something out of the early 1990s.  From rhythm to riff, this thing just grinds along with an irresistible beat.  Dig those dissonant chords.

Wolfbane’s “Steel” is retitled “Tough As Steel”, but it’s the same track, only heavier!  Like Grim Reaper, Accept and Loudness rolled into one.  That rolls right into Maiden’s “Man On the Edge”.  Trying to get the festival crowd going, Blaze blasts ’em.  “Fucking wake up!  The gig has started, we have your money now and we don’t give a shit!”  That gets them up, and Blaze plays a pretty faithful version of the Maiden single.  No bassist sounds like Steve Harris, but Blaze’s bassist David Bermudez is able to play the challenging part.  Another lesser known Maiden single, “Virus“, is a total surprise.  This is the full length version with the long intro.  Not one of Maiden’s finest songs, “Virus” is much better live.  It has more life and Blaze really bites into the lyrics.

Disc 2 continues the spree of Maiden songs.  “Two Worlds Collide” was one of the better tunes from Virtual XI and one that Maiden only played on that tour.  “Look For the Truth” from The X Factor, on the other hand, has never been played live.  A shame that is, since the “Oh, oh, oh” refrain works best live.

Back to originals, “Kill and Destroy” is as heavy as it gets.  Post-Maiden, Blaze was unafraid to take things heavier.  Yet there’s still a melodic edge.  Changing pace, “Silicon Messiah” from Blaze’s first solo album is a prescient warning about technology, delivered with pure gusto and intent.  Choppy of riff, loaded with brilliant performances.  Into the brutally heavy “Tenth Dimension”, Blaze is still not letting up one iota.  He just keeps going at 11 the whole way.

A more direct arrangement of Maiden’s “Sign of the Cross” is the first sign of weakness in the voice of mighty Bayley.  He falters at the quiet intro, but recovers when bellowing the verses and chorus.  As the penultimate track, “Sign of the Cross” sets up “Born As A Stranger”, the wicked closer.  Good enough to be a Maiden tune itself, it’s a great track to go out on.  A solid banger, especially the outro.

Alive In Poland certainly isn’t Blaze’s only great live album.  The Andy Sneap-produced As Live As It Gets is also highly rated, where you’ll hear “Dazed and Confused” instead of “Look For the Truth”.  Both have their strengths, but Alive In Poland has a number of tracks that are not on the prior live album.  Buying one doesn’t make the other redundant.

4.5/5 stars

#933: Great Steaks, Shitty Music

RECORD STORE TALES #933: Great Steaks, Shitty Music

Two things I take really, really seriously:

  1. How much I love my wife.
  2. Steaks.

We celebrated our latest anniversary at the revered Charcoal Steakhouse.  Last year we didn’t really do anything, this year we said “fuck it” and decided to go out.  Restaurants are not busy right now, which might be bad for business but is good for me.  I’m antisocial on the best of non-pandemic days, so sitting in an empty room suited me just fine.

What did not suit me was the music.  An endless stream of soundalike songs, almost all of which were autotuned.  I identified one that sounded like Maroon 5, and all the rest of the songs were virtually the same.  There was one that went “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good” over and over again.  Another one featured a guy singing “I been messin’ around.”  Great anniversary music!

Jen and I complained about how far modern music has sunk while we waited for our appetisers, some Parisian cheese toast.  Then came the steaks.  She ordered a peppercorn-crusted monstrosity while I went for the wagyu.  The only wagyu I’d tasted before was Japanese A5, the best marbling score in the world.  Charcoal serves an Australian MS7 steak.  Still good, but not A5.  There is simply no comparison between the two.  I like to say that the Australian wagyu was the second best steak I ever had.  It was cooked perfectly medium rare, and was so rich that it really didn’t need that pat of butter on the top!  Everything was rich and I could only eat about half.  The toast was thick with cheese, and my fries were done with parmesan and truffle oil.  Everything was great.  Awesome in fact.  It just wasn’t Japanese A5.

The only thing that wasn’t awesome was that terrible music.  Not one decent song came on the entire time we were there.  I was doing this awkward head-bop dance thing that Jen found hilarious.  The kind of thing I would only do in an empty room!

What I learned tonight was that there is a chunk of modern music out there that absolutely sucks.  Who do I blame?  The Maroon 5 guy?  Why not.  Adam Levine, I have legitimately enjoyed some of your music in the past.  That song you did with Slash was the bomb.  But this shit you’re putting out now sounds exactly like all the other garbage I heard.  Garbage — the same notes, the same voices, no dynamics, no tension, no edge, no nothing!  Just wishy-washy melodies massaged by software to sound exactly like everything else.  It was truly awful.

Thank God the steaks weren’t!

 

 

 

#776: (Wag)yu Shook Me All Night Long [Reblog]

Today is our anniversary!  In this throwback post from 2019, enjoy some wicked looking steaks.

RECORD STORE TALES #776: (Wag)yu Shook Me All Night Long

For highway driving, nothing quite hits the spot like AC/DC.  It feels right.  Who Made Who works as a quickie “greatest hits” selection for a quick spin down Highway 401.  Mrs. LeBrain and I were heading to the GTA to celebrate 11 years as a married couple.  We rocked to “You Shook Me All Night Long” on the dance floor that night, and we were returning to the very same location once more.

Highway 401 is in a perpetual state of construction, but good music helps take the edge off.  This was my first drive that way in the new vehicle, and also the first with my latest gadget, a nifty dash cam that is sure to provide lots of content for my YouTube channel in the coming months.

Sorry, quick tangent:  Phil Rudd is the “man”, but Simon Wright doesn’t get enough credit for his time on the AC/DC drum stool.  AC/DC isn’t an easy beat to get the feel for, and every AC/DC drummer has their own approach.  The 1980s were a period of hard-hitters and Simon Wright was the perfect drummer for that era.  His precision is absolute on “Who Made Who” and it just sounds right.  Compare the original to Chris Slade’s interpretation on AC/DC Live.  That’s all I have to say about that.

We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon and I settled into the jacuzzi pretty quickly.  I wanted to do a funny gangsta style photo in the hot tub with me holding a couple of American dollar bills.  I was thinking about when Floyd Mayweather threw the $1s at Conor McGregor.  And holy shit did Facebook react.

“Dude you look like if Kuato from Total Recall was successfully removed from his twin, grew up, lived a long and depressing life and got really excited when someone gave him 2 bucks to sh!t in the local YMCA jacuzzi.”

Two things:  Yes, I had pants on.  And yes, that “gang sign” is the Vulcan salute.  Relax.  Let a man enjoy his jacuzzi, publicly on social media like damn 20 year old.  Are you not entertained?!

We did some shopping.  Because, like an idiot, I forgot to bring a nice pair of shoes for dinner, I had to get a new pair just for this one night.  Then we met up with Jen’s best friend Lara for lunch.  Did some more shopping.  I wanted to go to stores that we don’t have at home.  There isn’t much of that, just the same old chains.  We did hit one up cool store, where I bought something called “Jean Guy”, but we couldn’t find any cool music or toy stores.  At least I got my shoes!

So where were we headed?  In ’08 when we got married it was the Pavilion Royale, but now it is a high end restaurant called 17 Steakhouse & Bar.  It’s very different on the inside, but recognizable.  There was the dance floor, where I once spun to “You Shook Me All Night Long”.  But we chose 17 for more than sentimental reasons.  The main draw was the real Japanese A5 wagyu.  And that’s what this chapter is really about.

I’ve never had real wagyu in my life and American wagyu was not going to do it.  You only live once.  Carpe diem.  Go big or go home.  It’s only money.  All that bullshit.  I’d done my research, I knew what I was getting my wallet into.  I’d been planning it over a year.

We started with a simple but delicious field green salad, with incredible goat cheese.  The smoothest goat cheese I’ve ever tasted.  Only when we finished the salads did they began firing our steaks.  None of that “here comes your main dish before you’ve finished your starter” nonsense.  Jennifer chose the US prime T-bone, medium rare, and let me tell you, that alone could have been the best steak I’ve ever tasted.  It was 25 oz, so more than enough to share.  So tender!  With cripsy, tasty fat.

Jen’s steak could easily have been the most tender I’ve ever tried, if not for my Japanese A5 wagyu.  Market price was $30 per oz.  I chose an 8 oz striploin, medium rare.  You should always get a wagyu steak cooked to medium rare.  I was electric with tense anticipation.  The steaks arrived, cooked precisely to order.

I gently cut a thin slice, which came off like butter.  There was a lovely char on the outside, a crisp splash of flat, and then the most tender meat you can imagine.  It was seasoned simply and perfectly, the saltiness enhancing that beefy umami.  On the tongue, it was like butter with only the slightest sensation of a meaty texture.  I probably didn’t even have to chew.

It’s a very rich piece of meat, far more than I anticipated.  I’d estimate that I finished about 3/4 of my meal, leaving a $60 chunk of wagyu in my takeout bag.  And that chunk of leftover wagyu was the best lunch I ever had the following day.

For sides, we ordered the fingerling potatoes roasted in duck fat and thyme, the asparagus with hollandaise, and the scalloped potatoes au gratin.  Of those three, the asparagus was the clear winner, with the potatoes au gratin in second place.  Only I liked the fingerling potatoes; Jen didn’t care for them, leaving her batting average with any form of duck to be zero.

We had an incredible dessert of cheesecake, Crème brûlée and whipped cream which was supernaturally good. Everything was.

Having had probably the most expensive steak I’ll ever buy, was it worth it? If you are a steak lover, then yes, it is worth it.  And I love steaks.  A little goes a long way, but every steak lover should try real Japanese wagyu once.  It’s unlike anything I’ve had before and it is easily categorised as a true delicacy.  Having said that, should we return to 17 Steakhouse in a year, I don’t know that I would order it again, and that is only because there are other interesting features on their menu that I would like to try.  The 36 oz tomahawk would be a sight to behold, though I couldn’t eat it all myself.  I would also like to try the Porterhouse, the lobster bisque, and beef tartare.

Yes, the wagyu was worth it, and I can still taste and feel its texture on my palette.  It won’t be for everyone except in small doses.  They have a 4 oz minimum order, and I suggest that may the perfect size to experiment with.

17 Steakhouse & Bar gets 5/5, and so does the wagyu. 

We started with AC/DC so we’ll finish with AC/DC.  Who made wagyu?  17 Steakhouse did, and it was hell’s bells!  I couldn’t wait to sink the pink steak in my mouth.  It’ll shake your foundations just like it shook mine.  It’s a little bit of a ride on, down the 401, but worth the drive.  Hell ain’t a bad place to be(ef)!*  For those about to rock, I wagyu.

* Courtesy 1537

Long Live the LeBrain Train

The weekly LeBrain Train has come to an end after 18 solid months.  I’ve done what I wanted to do — keep you entertained and connected during this pandemic.  I’ve not missed a week, but my fuel tanks need refilling and now’s the time to take a break.  But not to fear — as we announced, there is an alternative.

Darr Erickson said, “What about re-running classic episodes instead of going live?”  So that’s what we’re doing!  Special and well regarded past episodes will be repeated on Friday nights at the regular time and regular place.  The shows aren’t necessarily easy to find so we’ll do the searching for you, and play the best of the best one more time.

Next week tune in for the ZZ Top Deep Cuts episode, which made many lists tonight.

Oh right, the lists!  Joined by Harrison the Mad Metal Man, we listed the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten episodes of all time.  Lists submitted by:

  • Tee Bone (x 2)
  • Rob Daniels
  • Uncle Meat (x 2) – special cameo appearance
  • John T. Snow
  • Scotty Peddle
  • and me (x 2)

We also had plenty of special features!

  • Harrison’s Top Albums He’d Save From a Fire (0:08:00)
  • Brand new Tee Bone song “Ode to Darr” (0:29:00)
  • Special Sausagefest 20 highlights & video from Uncle Meat (0:31:15)
  • Lego LeBrain Train diorama & Easter Eggs with Harrison (1:01:30)
  • Not one but two new LeBrain train intros, adding new faces

Watch the video to learn who’s who in this Lego diorama by Harrison!

 

Discussion in the comments was lively and made me wonder if more people are still home on a Friday night than I assumed.  I hope you enjoy next week’s repeat of the ZZ Top episode.  With Dusty’s recent passing, it will be interesting in retrospect.

And we’ll be back with Superdekes on September 24 to talk to Storm Force one more time.  Our first interview was Storm Force so it’s full circle.  Stay tuned for plenty more list and theme shows.  The ideas flowed in the comments section so there is no shortage of potential themes!

‘Til next time….

A LeBrain Train Retrospective

Lego by the awesome Harrison

 

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 81 – A Retrospective

When you put as much into something as I have with this show, you eventually need a break.  I said I would keep doing this every week so long as Covid is keeping people stuck at home with nothing to do on a Friday night.  I think I’ve done that.  While not 100% of us are back to situation normal, it’s clear that most of us have had other things to do on the weekends.  And that’s awesome.

Given that the landscape has changed, and I’ve been at this for 18 solid months, changes are coming.  This show is to honour the past and look to the future.

Tonight, Harrison and I shall discuss our Nigel Tufnel Top Ten LeBrain Train Episodes of all time.  We’ll also run down the show’s history from its debut on March 20, 2020 to the present.  The fun, the ambition, the setbacks, the wins, the losses, and the memorable.  And what is to come!  We have something very, very cool planned.  You have Darr Erickson to thank.

I’ll be back September 24 with Superdekes to talk to Greg Fraser of Storm Force.  And we’ll be back again and again, any time a bunch of us want to talk about music on a Friday night.

As Ozzy would say, “Thank you, goodnight, I love you all.”

And you know about Ozzy and farewells.

 

Friday August 27, 7:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook:  MikeLeBrain and YouTube:  Mike LeBrain.

 

Complete Show List

 

REVIEW: Paul Laine – Stick it in Your Ear (1990)

PAUL LAINE – Stick it in Your Ear (1990 Elektra)

A remarkable album by a singular talent.  Paul Laine came equipped with buckets of ability and a hell of a team.  Laine wanted Bruce Fairbairn at the producer’s desk, and through sheer determination, that’s who he got.  His debut album Stick it in Your Ear was compared to Bon Jovi, but Paul had more youthful innocence and exuberance.  Similarities are inevitable, but you can hear the difference when he starts to sing.

If you want to play the comparison game, the long dramatic intro to the song “One Step Over the Line” is similar to Bon Jovi’s “Lay Your Hands On Me”.  This tough little mid-tempo rocker gives Paul a chance to belt.  The cool keyboard accents are from an era when rockers were unafraid of a little sweetening.  It goes a bit Deep Purple during the long instrumental break — the track is over seven minutes long.

Things really kick into gear on “We Are the Young”, a legitimate rock anthem.  Laine was just a kid, so when he sang it, he meant it.  In the middle is a progressive rock keyboard break, proving Paul had many dimensions already.  Then he goes all Robert Plant in the outro!

After two pretty epic tracks in a row, Paul’s big hit “Dorianna” makes its appearance.  This irresistible little pop rocker is replete with organ intro (edited out of the single version) and shimmering guitar harmonies.  Not to mention that chorus, which will stay in your head for the rest of the day.

A power ballad, “Is It Love”, represents that best that the genre has to offer.  If you thought you’ve already heard every ballad that is worth hearing, then make room for one more.  The power chorus nails it, and that backing piano must be a Fairbairn twist.  This is followed by the most “Bon Jovi” of any of the songs, “Heart of America”.   But only if Bon Jovi could sing like a screamin’ hurricane, because the truth is, this songs blows away any of Jon’s in terms of power.  Corny lyrics, but what’s a kid from Canada going to write about?

“Main Attraction” opens a bit like Van Halen, showing off the shredding, and then breaks into a dash.  It’s the least individual of the songs, sounding the most generic, but it’s not a bad tune by any means.  Just the least impressive of nine pretty awesome tunes.

Things take a striking turn on the blues “Doin’ Time” featuring a jam with James Cotton on harmonica.  Beginning authentically, Paul soon breaks into a wicked screamin’ blues.  When James Cotton starts blowin’, the thing just goes to another level.  One of the best rock-blues tracks you’re likely to find this side of Badlands.

A big anthemic ballad called “I’ll Be There” blows the nuts off anything Jon Bon has cooked up over the years.  It’s more like Holidays In Eden era Marillion, two years early.  But that’s just a preamble to the finale:  “Break Down the Barricades”, a massive tune with enough hooks to feed an entire nation of hungry rock n’ rollers all their vitamins and minerals.

Stick it in Your Ear might be the last great debut album of the hard rock age.  While the genre suffered from too much similar product on the shelves, and was destined to be supplanted by something more edgy, this is one album that deserved a shot.  More so than some of its contemporaries by established bands entering slumps at the same time.  This is simply a very special album that started Laine on a long career that continues today.

4.5/5 stars

#932: Ode to Darr

There once was a man,
A mighty beer-drinking man,
His name was Darr Erickson.

Loved watching the train,
The mighty LeBrain Train,
Down the tracks ’til dawn.

Darr loved the Train,
Darr needed the Train,
Could not bear to see it gone.

Darr used his brain,
Darr saved the Train,
And now we all owe him one!

…To be continued…

Rest in Peace Charlie Watts (1941-2021)

Charlie Watts, the legendary Rolling Stones drummer, has passed at age 80.

While not the original drummer, Watts joined the fledgling Stones in 1963 and played on every album they ever recorded.  He was as steady as the morning star, and the Stones often said if Charlie wasn’t there, then the Stones weren’t either.  However in recent weeks doctors advised Watts that he should not tour with the band and they enlisted Steve Jordan as a fill-in.  Watts never recovered and passed away in hospital.

The Stones have sold 200,000,000 albums over the last 57 years.  Watts’ steady beat was behind them all.

His style was simple yet essential.  Charlie was one of the steadiest drummers in rock history.  Perhaps his greatest performance was on “Gimme Shelter”, his unmistakable rhythm propelling the song.

Of all the rock star deaths in 2021, this could be the most devastating.  Rest in peace, Charlie Watts.  You helped make rock and roll what it became.