It’s a clean, sober and healthy looking Vince Neil! Once again, MuchMusic had Terry David Mulligan with all the hot questions. This chat includes a surprise announcement of Motley’s next album Decade of Decadence.
TDM raises the following subjects:
What does Bob Rock bring to the Crue?
How will the Crue celebrate its 10th anniversary?
Thoughts on the next 10 years
Music of the 80s
“In 18 months there won’t be 20 teenagers left in America that would be caught dead listening to Motley Crue.” – Creem magazine
“If you coulda gotten a camera up in a tree, you mighta been able to talk to Ted.” – Tommy Shaw
Who doesn’t love a bromance? Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades formed a lasting one with Damn Yankees and it’s obvious in this summer 1990 interview. They finish each others’ sentences and talk over each other like excited kids. MuchMusic’s Michael Williams hosts this excellent interview as they discuss:
Getting signed to a label
Working with Ron Nevison
Terrible Ted and the “wimp police”
Tommy’s “critically acclaimed” solo career. Haha!
You’ll even see Michael’s Ted impression. Check out why live Much interviews were always best.
In the summer of 1990, Kim Mitchell and video director Don Allan stopped to visit with MuchMusic’s Dan Gallagher to ask fans for help. Kim’s first solo live album, I Am A Wild Party, was burning up the charts and tape decks nation wide! All he needed was a music video.
Mitchell is always a card and this segment is no exception.
Kim and Don Allan wanted footage of your “wild party” or your “air bands”; anything really to go with that “Rah! Rah! Olé!” chorus. I also included a few snips of my own footage that I filmed specifically with a rented camera for the video! Ultimately though, Mitchell and Allan abandoned the fan video concept, and made a straight live/studio clip for “I Am A Wild Party”.
This is historically interesting to Kim fans since the video as originally conceived never came to be.*
Enjoy some goofy Kim on Much!
*EDIT: Mike from Facebook was the winner chosen for the “I Am A Wild Party” video and says this!
I was the one that won that contest, and in MM’s defence they made a “limited edition play version” with about 10 seconds from our submission video that was cut off in the final version. But thanks for finding this… Rah Rah Ole!
MuchMusic’s Terry David Mulligan was always one of their best interviewers, and here he has a nice informal chat with (then) Whitesnake’s Steve Vai! TDM asks a loaded question about leaving Whitesnake and going solo.
Vai is always forthcoming and in this entertaining interview you’ll hear about the Passion & Warfare concept, lucid dreaming, the tuba, David Lee Roth, and of course wanking.
The first great album of 2020 is upon us. Brighton Rock guitarist extraordinaire Greg Fraser has returned to the recording studio and emerged with Storm Force, a hot new band born out of the roots of the 80s.
I am hesitant to do a full-on “review” of Storm Force just yet. Why? It’s simple really. Some albums sound as if purposesly concocted for certain environments. I sense that Storm Force is going to sound bloody perfect this summer in the car with the windows down. In fact, I cannot wait to do it that way. I think this album demands it. Just like certain hard rock classics of the past just sound better on a warm afternoon on the highway.
Though the band has no weak links, it’s important to single out the strength of vocalist Patrick Gagliardi. His power and range is reminiscent of singers such as Jack Russell and Axl Rose. There’s grit, soul and there are vocal acrobatics aplenty. Whether he’s singing a ballad or screaming a road-burner, Patrick is on point!
It cannot go unsaid that Greg Fraser has pulled some killer riffs out of the bag. These are classic hard rock riffs, and would have been at home on any Brighton Rock record from 1987-1991. Not to mention his lead work is still fantastic. Frase has a recognizable style and you can hear it on Age of Fear.
You won’t find a weak track inside, and they run the entire range that a hard rock album should. Closer “Ringside” is burning hot metal, but “Marshall Law” has a vibe akin to Lizzy’s “Jailbreak”. For a commercial “rock single”, check out “Because of You” which pushes all the buttons. “Different Roads” features piano like a classic Aeroballad from 1987. Hard to pick a favourite among these great tunes.
GREG KEELOR – “Pine Ridge” (1996, from Pine Ridge: Songs for Leonard Peltier)
Blue Rodeo are taking some heat these days for their stance on indigenous rights. A small group of fans are abandoning the band for (quote-unquote) “going political”, but politics is nothing new for this Canadian institution. In 2015, they recorded “Stealin’ All My Dreams” just in time for the 2015 Canadian election. (The mp3 file had a tag reminding fans to vote!) It was pretty clear from the song where they stood on the issues. Further back, in 1996, they participated in Pine Ridge, a benefit CD for Leonard Peltier. It’s a long story that has resulted in at least three movies, a U2 song, and support from Rage Against the Machine. Greg Keeler’s contribution to the Pine Ridge CD is one of the strongest songs of his entire career.
The track may be credited solely to Greg Keelor, but if you look at the players, it’s actually Blue Rodeo. Jim Cuddy, Bazil Donovan, Glenn Milchem, James Gray, Kim Deschamps…the gang’s all there, the classic Five Days in July lineup. So it’s a Blue Rodeo song in every way but in name. At 10 minutes in length, it is unprecedented in complexity for this great band. And they wore their politics directly on their sleeves.
The government man hate the colour of your skin and your dogshined reservation, No reasons why those two FBI were on Oglala land chasing that red van, And the FBI admit Leonard Peltier did not commit the killings that have Kept him 20 years in prison.
The track runs the gamut from quiet, contemplative picking to soulful and dramatic choruses, to a funky mid-section, and a huge ending. It’s as epic as Blue Rodeo get. It tugs at the soul, and stimulates the mind. It’s a protest song in the grandest tradition, right out of 1969. And nobody can flat-out play like Blue Rodeo. Pedal steel, dobro, organ…it’s all here. And it’s massive.
Stay political, Greg. Regardless of where you fall on the current situation in Canada (it ain’t pretty), we can all agree that the world is richer for all the great protest songs of the past. Here is another one, now an oldie itself.
5/5 stars
The Pine Ridge CD also features performances by The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, ex-Blue Rodeo keyboardist Bob Wiseman, Jane Sibbery, Michael Ondaatje, Ashley MacIsaac, Sarah McLachlan, the Skydiggers and many more. Worth the investment.
Forget Valentine’s Day…except when it’s good for traffic! Back in my single days I used to call it “Bon Jovi Day” and listen to nothing but Jon & Richie. Here’s some Bon Jovi for you!
BON JOVI – “Real Life” (1999 Reprise & promo CD singles)
There was an unprecedented five year interregnum between These Days and Crush. This pause allowed Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora to get some solo albums out of their systems before the band re-convened. In the buildup to the new album, Bon Jovi contributed a new single called “Real Life” to the movie EdTV. Remember EdTV? There were two movies out at the same time about a guy who had his whole life broadcast on television 24/7. One, The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey, was a huge hit. The other, Ron Howard’s EdTV starring Matthew McConaughey, was the also-ran. EdTV might have been more interesting, but bombed. This rendered the Bon Jovi single relatively obscure. It’s not the first time a Bon Jovi movie track misfired. Remember “Good Guys Don’t Always Wear White”?
“Real Life” was a decent tune, but it was a ballad at a time when Bon Jovi already had plenty. There’s little to draw your attention, aside from Richie Sambora’s always alluring guitar and vocals. The watery guitar tone is not far removed from These Days, but that album boasted the kind of ballads you’d never forget. Songs like “Something to Believe In”, “These Days”, and “(It’s Hard) Letting You Go” are the kind of songs you carry your whole life. “Real Life” is not. In the wake of These Days, it was just another ballad.
Who is “Desmond Childs“?
This commercial single has two versions of “Real Life”, but there are actually four versions out there! For the “album version”, if you don’t want the EdTV soundtrack, look for a promo single instead. The differences between the album version and the radio mix are slight, but the album version has more guitar where the single mix has more piano. The third version is an instrumental mix, which is nice if you want to listen to Richie’s guitar a little more. The fourth and final version is an alternate mix that can be found on the box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong.
Finally, a live recording of “Keep the Faith” rounds out the single. It seems to be a standby live B-side for this band. They used another version on the 2013 single for “Because We Can“. It’s certainly one of their most accomplished songs. The bass groove and Tico’s busy drum patterns keep your feet moving. It’s noncommercial and it strives to be something bigger. It might be, in a technical sense, Bon Jovi’s most unapologetic and best hit.
Interestingly enough, “Real Life” is the only Bon Jovi video without David Bryan who was away on an injury. I don’t think he missed out on much.
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY – “Seven Days” (1995 Sony promo CD single)
COC’s landmark album Deliverance spawned three singles, the least known of which was “Seven Days”. The promo CD single contains a rarity that makes it worth tracking down. It’s not expensive, and thanks to online stores not hard to find.
Deliverance is a heavy album even with a few slower songs on board. “Seven Days” is one such track. A slow, heavy dirge can often make for a good single. This CD has two versions, the full-length album cut and a shorter single edit with a truncated fade-out.
The special track here is a “jam box tape” of “Fuel”, a track that was as yet unreleased. COC recorded it properly for their next album, Wiseblood. This early version is an identical arrangement, but way way more ragged. Pepper sounds like James Hetfield on this one, but it has far more balls than the Metallica song of the same name. Total smokeshow. This is the proverbial “song you buy the single for.”
Gre-ea-easy! That’s how the molton hot guitars sound on this landmark album. Greasy, in the most complimentary way. Six-stringers Woody Weatherman and Pepper Keenan have a way of making their guitar licks sound slippery and heavy at the same time.
Corrosion of Conformity (“COC”) did something really smart when they set out to record this album. After the departure of bassist Phil Swisher and singer Karl Agell (who both turned up later in Leadfoot), they promoted Pepper Keenan to lead vocals, and brought back founding member Mike Dean on bass. Pepper scored a hit for COC last time out with a lead vocal on “Vote With a Bullet”, so it was a logical move. As for Mike Dean, his punk roots and busy bass are important to the sound of this band. Dean was also COC’s vocalist from time to time in the past, and gets a lead vocal once again on the title track.
The resulting album Deliverance is 14 tracks (give or take an instrumental or two) of heavy, dirty metal they way they make it in Raleigh, North Carolina. Pepper’s vocals lent them a southern edge. Metallica are fans — Pep auditioned for them on bass when Newsted left the band. (What a sound Metallica could have had, with James Hetfield backed up by Pepper Keenan on vocals!)
Regardless of who’s singing or playing, COC nailed all 14 songs. None of the proverbial “filler”. This is one hell of a trip, an album that demands to be listened to from start to finish, no skipping. John Custer’s crisp and chunky production brought out the metal side more than ever.
“Help me Jesus, help me clean my wounds. He said he cannot heal that kind.”
Check out the choppy riff on the single “Clean My Wounds”. The song is a tour-de-force, a textbook example of all the right ingredients. The riff is outstanding, but the verse and chorus melodies slay. Drummer Reed Mullin has a spare groove, but he knows exactly when to accent it with some heavy hitting. The multi-tracked vocal in the chorus (“Knock it down!”) is the perfect fit, but the Lizzy-ish guitar solos are an additional layer of perfection.
Another key track, “Albatross” is too heavy to be a ballad so let’s call it a dirge. You can hear what Mike Dean brings to the table — a slinky, Geezer style of bass that provides subliminal melody. “Albatross” flies on the wings of a strong melody and heavy performance. It has a vibe similar to “Outshined” by Soundgarden but more mournful.
The aforementioned instrumentals are integral parts of the album. Remember how a Black Sabbath album had key instrumental bits, usually introducing another song? That’s what COC do here. “Without Wings”, a dark acoustic guitar figure, leads into the heavy-as-fuck “Broken Man” exactly like a Sabbath song. Later on, “#2121313”, an electric guitar piece, is joined directly onto “My Grain”. “Mano de Mono”, another acoustic piece, is basically the front end of “Seven Days”, a mid-paced groove single.
Speaking of “My Grain”, it’s the most punk rock track, but even so it features a kickass bass solo! Other noteworthy tracks include the wah-wah inflected title track (Mike Dean on vocals). Jittery, jumpy riffs dominate “Señor Limpio”, another blistering blitz. Finally there is “Pearls Before Swine”, the slowest and bluesiest of the tracks and a seriously heavy closer.
Corrosion of Conformity have made some good (albeit very different) albums over the years, but like many bands they have a clear peak. That is Deliverance, the one perfect album they made.
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