RECORD STORE TALES #925: A Tribute to Gozer the Gozerian
Our first dog was Crystal.Β Somehow, because my dad is who he is, that name eventually metamorphosed into “Gozer”.Β My dad just does that and you have to hope to understand what he’s really talking about.Β But Crystal was called Gozer in the end, which of course is the name of the evil demon at the end of Ghostbusters.Β Gozer the Gozerian.Β Named after a Class 7 apparition.Β The way she goes.
I have some good footage of Gozer with a rockin’ soundtrack that I took in June 1990.Β I was home alone on summer holidays and my sister was about to graduate.Β So, we rented a video camera.Β We had it for 24 hours, and I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity, being on holidays.Β This is my earliest solo filmmaking!Β And you can hear what I was listening to on the tape deck that beautiful June day.
Summer holidays, man. Listening to rock music on a ghetto blaster on the front porch. Hanging out with my dog in the sun. Being creative, making movies. Trying to do a shot like John Fogerty’s “The Old Man Down the Road”.Β Doing fades.Β Crash-zooms and close-ups.Β Animating a pair of scissors.
Gozer didn’t like that many people besides Mom.Β I’m not even sure if Gozer liked me all that much. You can kind of tell from the video that she’d rather just be left to lounge in the sun. But we had good times and I’m lucky we have video footage of Gozer the Gozerian.Β The only reason we do is because my sister was graduating, we wanted to rent a camera, and I was on summer holidays with the dog.Β My mom used to think I wasted a lot of batteries and tape with that camera.Β I beg to differ.
“I don’t think Styx will ever topThe Mission.” — Me
“I think Styx just topped The Mission.” — Also me
STYX – Crash of the Crown (2021 Universal)
Remarkable!Β 49 years old, and still putting out some truly superlative records.Β What’s the secret?
Like their contemporaries Journey and Whitesnake, Styx have expanded to a seven-member band including new guitarist/songwriter/producer Will Evankovich.Β With just as many songwriting credits on the new album Crash of the Crown as Tommy Shaw has, this addition feels appropriate.Β James “JY” Young and Chuck Panozzo (original bassist, now part time) are the only links to the distant past.Β Styx have not always been the most focused on new music (14 year gap between Cyclorama and The Mission) but it seems like Evankovich has sparked their creativity.Β Two albums in a row, Styx have risen to high-water marks, pleasing fans and stunning critics.
If there’s a blatant concept this time it’s not as obvious, but recurring musical themes hint that there might be more going on than just 15 new tracks.Β Crash of the Crown is assembled from smaller chunks of music that flow together in one seamless whole, but the individual songs are all under four minutes, including two brief interludes.
Opening with a wicked Lawrence Gowan keyboard bit, “The Fight of Our Lives” is a powerful and catchy intro to this distinguished album.Β Tommy Shaw: lead vocals, backed by the increasingly thick Styx choir.Β Pay attention to the main guitar theme as it’ll be back.Β Beatles-y chords are another recurring affair.Β (The Fab Four sound like a major influence on both Crash of the Crown, and the new Dennis DeYoung album 26 East Vol. 2.)
A progressive guitar/keyboard riff brings us to “A Monster”.Β If anything it’s a song about the last two years.Β “Here’s to the prisoners trapped in their cages,” could certainly be about the current time, “a monster chasing its tail”.Β Big guitar solos and hooks make this an unorthodox and complex little winner.
Acoustics ring on “Reveries”, the first Gowan lead vocal.Β It has a big powerful chorus and the acoustic base is reminiscent of classic 70s Styx.Β But before too long, Tommy Shaw and JY rise up for a massive tandem electric guitar break.Β Stuff like this is why they need a third guitarist now, so the rhythm doesn’t drop out live.Β “Reveries” flows seamlessly into the dull rain of “Hold Back the Darkness”.Β The foreboding tune, like clouds warning to stay ashore, is spare with piano and acoustics forming the basis.
Winston Churchill’s words form a part of “Save Us From Ourselves”, always a nice touch in a rock song.Β It possesses a more upbeat pulse, but no less powerful.Β The Tommy Shaw refrain in the chorus is typically bright and rhapsodic.Β It builds into something stageworthy, and leads into the title track and single “Crash of the Crown”.Β Individually, this song impresses less on the radio.Β It belongs on the album, flowing in and out.Β It’s a component of a larger piece.Β Incidentally it’s the first Styx song with three lead singers.Β In order:Β JY, Shaw and Gowan, each with completely unique sections.Β Stick with it, and a riff from “Fight Of Our Lives” returns to knock you back in your seat.Β Then there’s some instrumental wickedness and robot vocoder madness.Β Β It is like three or four songs crammed into one and it’s boggling why it was chosen as a single.Β Except to impress the fact that Styx aren’t playing around.
You need a bit of a break after a workout like “Crash of the Crown” and so the folksy “Our Wonderful Lives” is the ideal tonic.Β A huge singalong chorus is backed by simple kick drums, acoustics, and accordion.Β It’s a beam of hope on an album born from dark times.Β Sounding a bit like “39” by Queen, and completed with a blast of Beatles-y horns.
The dark growl of a Hammond B3 transitions into “Common Ground”, slower and thick with the modern Styx harmonies.Β It has some very different parts, one pounding with heavy drums and one light and flighty.Β While it stands as a song to itself, it also works to transition into “Sound the Alarm”, an RSD single and album highlight.Β This handsome Shaw ballad is reminiscent of some of his past best and serves as a bit of a hippy-like anthem.Β “There is no future in the way it was,” Shaw sings correctly.Β All at once, it has ingredients similar to “Show Me with Way”, “Mr. Roboto”, “High Enough” and “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)”.Β There’s sorrow, there’s hope, there’s bombast and a digital pulse.
The digital pulse leads directly into the drum-heavy “Long Live the King”.Β It’s also the most Queen-like, with an absolutely May-ish solo.Β Imagine if you tried to build a Queen song on top of the drum beat from Guns N’ Roses’ “You Could Be Mine”.
Gowan has a brief piano segue called “Lost At Sea” before the proper song “Coming Out the Other Side”.Β This calm ballad has a taste of India with the tabla, but manages not to sound like the Beatles this time.Β It recalls rebirth, and there’s a killer solo to go on top.Β “To Those” goes full-blown upbeat triumphant Styx, a brilliant refrain brimming with adrenaline.Β “For those who do survive, find beauty in your lives.Β Don’t be afraid of love, stand up and rise above.”
Instrumental segue “Another Farewell” steers into the final track “Stream”, which sounds and reads like an ending to a story.Β Β Whether the band intended to or not, it seems they’ve made another concept album in Crash of the Crown.Β “We’ve never been a protest band,” insists Shaw, “We’re more like a gospel caravan trying to send out positive messages wherever we go.”Β If that’s the case, then “Stream” must be the happy musical ending, an upbeat drift into the fade.
Perhaps there’s a clue to Styx’s meaning in the packaging.Β Morse code hidden in the CD tray reveals the words “WHOS GONNA SAVE US FROM OURSELVES”.
According to the lengthy liner notes, Styx went into Crash of the Crown with no compromises and came out of it with the album they wanted.Β With a diverse set of instruments at hand, they clearly had no inhibitions.Β The end result is an album less direct the The Mission, but dense with ideas compacted into mere minutes of songs.Β Fortunately most of those ideas were really excellent.Β Any time a band like Styx makes an album, there’s a fear it will be the last one.Β It sounds like this band has plenty more fuel left in the solid rocket boosters.Β Whatever the future holds, Crash of the Crown is the kind of triumph any young band would hold as their magnum opus.Β With Styx, there is so much history it’s futile to compare.
Community! If you enjoy the LeBrain Train then definitely check out The Rock Shop with Ralph.Β He’s interviewed everyone from Ron Keel to Simon Wright to Joel Hoekstra.Β Plus, Darth Vader may choke you with the Force if you don’t….
When I was a kid, I wanted to collect “all” the Def Leppard music videos.Β Hysteria was pretty much my favourite album for two years.Β Their videos were ubiquitous.Β Any time MuchMusic had a new one to debut, you could count on it being a hit.Β “Pour Some Sugar On Me” was the anthem of the summer of ’88 and the video was on all the time.Β But some Def Leppard videos were played far less frequently.
The 1988 VHS Historia collected all Def Leppard’s music videos up to “Love Bites”, along with some rare television performances that never aired over here.Β They were introduced by quaint title cards, and each video was presented in full — no edits.
“Hello America” with Pete Willis was the first one we’d never seen before.Β Why was the drum kit out front?Β Nobody knew, but this cool song sounded like a lost hit.Β The “fake live” trio of “Let It Go”, “High ‘N’ Dry”, and “Bringing on the Heartbreak” ended the Willis era of music videos.Β These three were seen on TV here, but only rarely.Β “Heartbreak” was the original album mix.
The big three Pyromania videos by David Mallet were up next, “Photograph” in its uncensored version.Β Then there’s a TV performance (lip syncing of course) of “Too Late For Love”.Β This includes a neat set up with Steve Clark and Phil Collen coming down these hydraulic staircases. When spending the money to buy a VHS tape of music videos you can see on TV, it’s nice to get real rarities like this.
“Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)” is another serious rarity from Japanese TV. With Union Jacks draped behind, Leppard rarely looked this cool. It’s no shirt required for Rick Allen, and a mop-topped Joe Elliot screams behind his hair into the microphone cupped in his hands. Unfortunately, during the guitar solo the director chose to focus everywhere but on Phil for most of it.
After Pyromania blew up all over the world, Leppard reissued Hign ‘N’ Dry with two bonus tracks.Β Music videos were made for each:Β The remixed versions of “Bringing on the Heartbreak” and “Me and My Wine”.Β The DVD release is mucked up and includes the wrong audio instead of the remix of “Heartbreak” but the VHS has everything right.Β These two videos are exact opposites.Β “Heartbreak” is a high budget extravaganza with the two guitarists playing on massive silos, smoke all around.Β Then there’s Joe crucified on a barge for some reason.Β The performance stuff is pretty cool at least.Β But “Me and My Wine” is a total contrast, just Leppard jamming it up in a cheap flat, wrecking stuff and playing in the showing.
And then finally it’s the Hysteria era, the big big hits with the million dollar videos.Β “Women” was cool, with that Def Leppard comic book theme.Β “Animal” and “Hysteria” had a lot of mainstream play.Β There’s also the original UK version of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, with Leppard playing in a house in the midst of demolition.Β The “fake live” US version is also included, with the familiar extended remixed intro that was actually unreleased in audio form at that time.Β It is paired with “Armageddon It”, made from the same batch of concert footage.
Finally, in the days before hidden CD tracks were all that common, Leppard hit you with an unlisted bonus video.Β It’s “Love Bites”, the brand new video that shortly took over the world for them once more.
Videos weren’t cheap to buy — they were $25 to $30 for something like Historia.Β What you wanted was value for your money (stuff you didn’t see on TV) and rewatchability.Β Historia was constantly in our VCR, often for a full play-through.Β It more than earned its share of my allowance.
It’s a long weekend here in Canada, and since we’re stuck in Kitchener instead of the lake this time, I spent my Saturday ripping music to hard drive.Β And then backing up that hard drive to about five other devices.Β I’ve been slowly but surely putting my collection on the ol’ PC for years now, in spurts.Β Huge catalogues of bands have gone un-ripped due to negligence.Β It’s fun to do when I’m looking for something to listen to that I haven’t heard in a while.
Right now I’m working on my Soundgarden.Β Most of my Soundgarden was sitting there on theΒ shelves unloved until now.Β Before that, I updated my Nine Inch Nails folder with all my CDs.Β Apparently I was collecting NIN right up to The Slip (2008), although I missed a few albums like The Fragile and Ghosts.
I enjoy doing pretty mechanical tasks, like combining “part 1” and “part 2” of a CD single into one folder.Β Adjusting the id3 tags.Β For my “March of the Pigs” double CD, I added in an mp3 of the live music video as a bonus track.Β All the while, listening to this music I haven’t played in over a decade.
Remixes are not something I’ve derived a lot of enjoyment from over the years, but bands like Nine Inch Nails flood their singles with them.Β Β And I found myself enjoying quite a few of them.Β The nine minute version of “Wish” from the Fixed EP is awesome.Β Might even be my go-to version!Β The “Clay” mix of “Head Like a Hole” (which is on both the “black” and “pink” versions of the single) was quite enjoyable.Β And I have a lot of Nine Inch Nails it seems.Β Three bootlegs too, including Purest Feeling (early versions and unreleased songs), Demos & Remixes (which includes “Supernaut”) and Woodstock ’94.Β Diving back in is an adventure, listening to Trent Reznor evolve.
While I was grabbing my Prodigy Fat of the Land and “Firestarter” single, I lingered in the “P” section and pulled Elvis Presley, Praying Mantis, and Gord Prior.Β Praying Mantis with Paul Di’Anno and Dennis Stratton, in fact.Β A lot of Maiden covers that just remind me that nobody sounds like Iron Maiden.Β Nobody.Β I’ll probably get more enjoyment from the Elvis 30 #1 Hits.Β “Suspicious Minds” and “In the Ghetto”, oh yeah!Β I know the saying goes “There are only two kinds of people, Beatles people and Elvis people”.Β I’m a Beatles guy.Β That’s all the Elvis I need, I’m good with it.
Moving up into the “O” section, I realized I hadn’t touched any of my Our Lady Peace.Β I don’t have a lot.Β A couple singles, Naveed, Spiritual Machines, Gravity and Burn Burn Burn.Β Raine Maida is admittedly an acquired taste vocally and I won’t spend any time trying to convince you, or Kevin.Β Spiritual Machines is interesting for two reasons.Β One, it’s a concept album about artificial intelligence, and two, I have an early copy in the rare black jewel case in perfect condition.
One thing for sure I’m noticing about these pockets of my collection.Β I went big or I went home.Β I have the DualDisc versions of Nine Inch Nails albums, or the CD/DVD combo sets.Β I have the double CD of Badmotorfinger.Β I didn’t buy the basic version of anything.Β It looks like I also bought just about every single I could get my hands on.Β Most of this stuff was acquired back in the Record Store days, so I had access to the rare stuff in the best condition.
Soundgarden seem to be hit or miss as far as B-sides go.Β For every “Cold Bitch” there’s a “Jerry’s Garcia’s Finger”.Β I see there is a super deluxe of Superunknown out there with four discs of extras.Β I think I’d better just listen to what I’ve neglected before I worry about any upgrades.
Tangent:Β Speaking of super deluxes, this week we were given previews for new ones from Whitesnake (Restless Heart) and Black Sabbath (Technical Ecstacy).Β We have a 42 CD Judas Priest box set coming with oddles of unreleased live albums.Β A Metallica “Black” album box with 14 CDs, six LPs and 6 DVDs.Β There. Is. A. Lot.Β It’s getting harder to pick and choose.Β It’s also getting harder to find time to listen to it all.Β In particular, all that DVD content.Β There are not that many long weekends.
I know what my dad would say.Β “Don’t you have enough music?”Β Evidently!
A music collection is the kind of thing we justify by saying “It’s there for me to listen to on a rainy day.”Β A long weekend home from the lake is kind of like a rainy day, so here I am enjoying the very dusty corners of my music collection.Β Let’s see if these Soundgarden B-sides get any better!
One of the greatest “heel” tag teams of all time were Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik.Β It was the height of the Cold War, and what could be more antagonising than the Russian national anthem sung in the middle of Madison Square Gardens?Β Only the Sheik declaring “Russia #1, Iran #1!” and spitting on the USA.Β In reality Nikolai (Josip Hrvoje PeruzoviΔ) was from Yugoslavia and was known as a really nice guy.Β By contrast, the Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) actually is from Iran and might be a little psychopathic!Β Or it could all be an act, who knows?
Even though Nikolai’s anthem was designed to irritate, I actually like it.
In 1990 Nikolai switched sides, turned “face,” and was gifted an American flag by “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.Β (Incidentally, Duggan and Sheik were once caught doing cocaine together, a tremendous scandal as they were supposed to be sworn enemies!)Β Nikolai used “The Stars and Stripes Forever” as his entrance music when he turned “face”, waving his new American flag.
But I’ll always remember him as one of the greatest villains, singing that Russian national anthem as only he could!
Lots of laughs and musical wisdom from the inspiring Polychuck on today’s episode of the LeBrain Train!Β Influenced by everybody from Yngwie J. Malmsteen to Post Malone, Polychuck strikes from Montreal with his new EP Shadows Exposed.Β Β Deke and I had a blast talking to the man about topics such as:
Kiss
Mixed martial arts
Guitar influences
Progressive rock
Metallica
Touring
Merch
Working on an album
Check out his music on YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes.Β This fascinating artist is going places.
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and Deke
Episode 77 – Polychuck
We’ve been talking about Montreal’s multi-instrumentalist Polychuck for a few weeks; well now it’s time to talk to the man himself!Β His new EP Shadows Exposed features five new tracks, including “In the Dark” and “Beating Me Down”.Β Introspective songs with modern urban beats and shredding guitar solos.Β A unique combination to be sure.Β Polychuck has been shredding since age 13!Β We can’t wait to find out what makes him tick.Β His use of striking visuals and unique influences are sure to come up in our conversation.
What is anger?Β One of the most powerful of the human emotions.Β It can take over your rational mind, but it is just a mask for what is really going on in your head.Β Grief, frustration, loss of control…these can all manifest as anger.
Right now, I am angry.
I’m processing a lot of information.Β Earlier this week, we lost Joey Jordison of Slipknot, younger than me at age 46.Β Before that it was Mike Howe of Metal Church at age 55, not much older than I am.Β I didn’t let these deaths affect me.Β I didn’t let the losses in.Β Ignored and plowed forward.Β Sometimes you can handle the shit, sometimes you can’t.Β A little bit of denial got me through the days.
Then we lost Don Simmons of Helix.Β This one stung because Don’s sister is a long time family friend.Β We’ve known her…what, 35 years?Β 40?Β In fact she was going to hook me up with Don for an interview.Β Β Don was 64 and now things were hitting close to home.
Then it was ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill.Β Just as long as we’ve known Don’s sister, Dusty Hill has been singing me the blues.Β Rocking blues actually, but Dusty and ZZ Top have been a part of my life for so long.Β Most of my life.Β ZZ Top have been a standby.Β Great tunes when I needed them, on demand, when I had the blues or needed a kick.Β Dusty’s gone.
And then, mere hours after Dusty, as if the world needed another kick in the balls, an old friend of mine lost his wife.Β Age 40.Β Multiple sclerosis.Β And they are good people.Β They did nothing to deserve this.Β I worked with him several years ago, but we kept in touch.Β Good by, from Newfoundland, who loves AC/DC and Sloan.Β And his wife.Β She was inspiring.Β Those of us touched by neurological disorders tend to feel a bond.Β Whether it’s epilepsy or MS, there are many shared experiences.Β I always felt like we had this in common; that we were the loving supporters of our sick wives.Β Β So stuff like this, it hits home.Β Hard.Β I was sad when he moved out to Fort McMurray.Β I can’t imagine what he’s going through now.Β I don’t want to.
What is my anger masking?Β Fear.Β Grief.Β Confusion.Β And I’m going to have to deal with them eventually.
For my friend, in indescribably pain, a song by his favourite band.Β No grief here, just rock.Β I’m thinking of you.Β This one’s for you man.
The band that has had the same three members for 50 years has lost a brother. ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill is gone, in the middle of an absolutely brutal week for music. Joey Jordinson, Mike Howe, Don Simmons, and now Dusty Hill.
The bassist with the groove. The mover and the shaker. The guy who sang “I think it’s time to spank my monkey” on a mainstream rock album. He’s gone.
Dusty missed a show earlier and it was most likely the first time ZZ Top ever played without the bearded bassist. After 50 years in the same band together, you can bet that Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard are going to miss their brother.
Rest in Peace, Dusty Hill, May 19 1949 – July 28 2021.
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