GRETA VAN FLEET – Anthem of the Peaceful Army (2018 Republic Records)
Greta Van Fleet have become one of the most controversial new bands in a dog’s age. They are either lauded or loathed for their slavish adherence to a classic Led Zeppelin niche. It wasn’t cool of them to claim that Aerosmith was a bigger influence — we know the truth. Just like somebody from Kingdom Come claimed he’d never heard Led Zeppelin. It was bullshit in 1988 and it’s bullshit in 2018.
The problem is, Greta Van Fleet are pretty good. They’re young, they’re impressionable, and this is their first real album. Every band should be allowed some leeway so early in their careers. Especially when, in 2018, that classic Zeppelin sound is so refreshing. They might get young kids into that sound. When I was 15, I wouldn’t give Led Zeppelin a chance because they looked old-fashioned and the lead singer wore sandals on stage. I did, however, listen to Kingdom Come.
What makes the band special is singer Josh Kiszka. A voice like this is rare. A younger, smoother Robert Plant, perhaps. He will eventually develop and come into his own. His soaring voice makes “Age of Man” such an impressive opener that you will have to keep going. Its slow, epic quality is unusual for an opener, and sets the tone for an album that might take itself too seriously, but not at the expense of good music.
There’s nothing as blazingly celebratory as “Highway Tune”, but admit it or not, Greta Van Fleet have written an album’s worth of good songs. “Cold Wind” rocks. It’s loaded with obvious Zeppelin references like an outtake from Physical Graffiti. They captured a Bonham-esque drum sound to go with it, but haters will be nauseated by Josh’s “ma-ma-ma-ma” improvisations. “When the Curtain Falls” might have been chosen as a single because it sounds so Zep (with hints of Deep Purple), but it’s not the strongest song here. They sound better when using tasteful doses of keyboards, like on “Lover, Leaver (Taker Believer)”, an epic and one of the most slammin’ tunes. (Great slide guitar too.)
Their acoustic “You’re the One” is Zeppelin III oversimplified; a good tune but not enough to fill the shoes it’s trying to be in. “New Day” is better because it doesn’t adhere to the blueprint. Also a lil’ different is “Mountain of the Sun”, but Josh’s yodel-like vocal affectations might be too much. Still, check out the apocalyptic “Brave New World”, definitely a step in the right direction. It gets a little wobbly again at the end, with a return to the hippie Zeppelin acoustic format.
Anthem of the Peaceful Army is a good album for a debut long-player. They will have to continue to step it up. In the meantime, this collection of songs will be spending lots of time in my ears this winter.
Yesterday my mom got home from a vacation in China. She went with my Aunt and some friends; my dad stayed home. She kept us posted every day via email. Facebook is blocked in China, but her emails came in steadily with pictures attached. In one email from Beijing, she said that the following day they were flying out to see the famous Terracotta Army.
Even my dad was impressed.
“Did you read that your mother is going to see the Chocolate Warriors?” he asked me.
Terracotta dad, not Chocolate! Although a Chocolate Army is one I wouldn’t mind sinking my teeth into.
GETTING MORE TALE #713: End of the Road? Paul Stanley’s Voice
In 2012, before the release of the last Kiss album Monster, I wrote an editorial about Paul Stanley’s voice problems. Thanks to the advent of Youtube, anyone can hear how rough Paul’s voice has become in the last decade. The guy who was once one of the top singers in rock, ever, is now the worst singer in Kiss!
Curiosity in Kiss and Paul’s voice has peaked again due to the End of the Road tour. I received some hits from a Q&A site called Quora, so I followed the address and checked out the site. I found something very interesting, from a man named Kevin Richards, who says he was a vocal coach for Paul Stanley and others such as Rod Stewart. His story checks out. Mr. Richards answered a question about Paul’s current vocal state, and it was very revealing indeed.
Richards said that Paul’s vocals today are a result of health and age. He is also trying to live up to his own image too hard. “He is trying to maintain a stage presence from 25 years ago and doesn’t realize he isn’t in the vocal shape to do so. He is being VERY STUBBORN in doing anything that changes what he thinks the audiences expectation of the ‘Starchild’ should be. The way he moves, the way he sings, etc.”
Paul is still great as a frontman, but to me, it’s the music that matters more, and the voice is the biggest part of that. Richards continued, saying he “told Paul that he needs to rethink how he sings his songs because it’s not 1990 or 1984 or 1976 anymore. He had to make adjustments to his vocal delivery and rearrange the set lists to give him more space between his songs. He reluctantly agreed but again stressed the ‘needs’ of the audience. I said ‘yes, but they also have an expectation that you sound good at THEIR concert. Bad vocal performances aren’t rumour anymore, its on Youtube the next day.'”
You have to admire Paul for wanting to give fans a level of showmanship above and beyond the call of duty, but his priorities seem mixed up. Richards’ bottom line is that Paul is a “stubborn, aging rocker refusing to accept that he can’t perform like he’s 30 anymore.” There is even more, so be sure to read what he had to say.
“Great” form? I’ll let you know how Paul sounds when Kiss hit Toronto in March 2019. Can Stanley’s voice survive a whole tour? Will there be more Gene, Eric and Tommy vocals to compensate? We will find out at the End of the Road.
GETTING MORE TALE #712: Does Paul Stanley Get Enough Credit for Writing Killer Riffs?
Think for a moment about the greatest guitar riffs of all time. “Smoke on the Water”, “You Really Got Me”, “Iron Man”, and “Whole Lotta Love” might make your own personal favourites. Indeed, these songs usually show up on any decent list of great rock riffs. Planet Rock did a dubious list in 2017, featuring the classics and questionable choices like The Darkness. It also featured a number of hot licks by Hendrix, Ozzy, and Van Halen. The usual suspects. They do get points for including Budgie’s “Breadfan”.
I once read a quote by a guitar player* who said he hated Jimmy Page because “He already wrote all the greatest riffs, and I’m jealous.” Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, the Young brothers and even the young fellas from Metallica are often credited as the greatest riffmasters in rock. They’ve all done their part to enrich our lives with memorable, chunky and headbangin’ guitar riffs. But so have others.
Consider Kiss’ Paul Stanley. Once upon a time, the singer was considered one of the best with very few rivals. You’d often see his name on singers’ lists with guys like Freddie Mercury and Ronnie James Dio. Paul must, absolutely, be considered one of the greatest frontmen in history. That is hard to dispute. On the other hand, few give him credit for his guitar.
“I’m no slouch,” said Paul of his guitar playing. He’s even responsible for some Kiss solos. But as a riff writer? We rarely think of Stanley, yet behold the songs! Looking only at tracks with lone Paul Stanley writing credits, the list of monster riffs is impressive.
“Black Diamond”
“Hotter Than Hell”
“C’mon and Love Me”
“Rock Bottom”
“God of Thunder”
“I Stole Your Love”
“Love Gun”
“Tonight You Belong To Me”
“Magic Touch”
Paul had some pretty awesome riffs on co-written songs like “Mr. Speed”, “Makin’ Love” and “Creatures of the Night”, but since other writers may have contributed, we’ll exclude those. This list also doesn’t include his catchy acoustic riffs like “Hard Luck Woman”, or lesser-known later material like “Modern Day Delilah”. If you wanted to delve further into Sonic Boom and Monster, there’s plenty of Paul’s guitar thunder without co-writers. This is strictly a list of the most impactful material: the 1970s.
So Stanley doesn’t get enough credit. Does this make him a riff master, up there with the other guys?
I’m going to go out on a limb: Maybe, leaning towards yes.
“God of Thunder”, “I Stole Your Love” and “Love Gun” are monolithic enough to stand next to an Iommi or Blackmore riff. Just like a Deep Purple fan knows there is more to them than just “durrh durrh durrh!”, a Kiss fan can recommend a number of rock solid riffs from their albums. A huge number of those are Paul’s, although certainly Gene did just fine with “Deuce”. “Deuce”, admitted Gene, is just a Stones lick played backwards. Paul’s best stuff is less derivative than that. “God of Thunder” is just that — “God of Thunder”. You can say it sounds vaguely Sabbathy, but it doesn’t sound like anything specific. Same with “I Stole Your Love”. As for “Hotter Than Hell”? Much like a great Sabbath song, it boasts two killer riffs in one track!
Elitists like to scoff; make fun of adults in makeup and spandex. Fair enough. Tony Iommi never needed makeup or particularly tight pants to be a rock star. Sabbath played with the “Satanic” gimmick but didn’t rely as heavily on image and flash. Kiss wouldn’t have made it in the first place without the makeup and costumes, but as they developed, they had the music to back it up.
Do yourself a favour and go back to listen to Paul’s classic guitar riffs. They are often highlights of the song, little rock solid gems that are ready for air guitar. He really hasn’t received the credit due for coming up with a number of simple, solid and dynamic riffs on his own. Should his name be spoken with Page, Blackmore, or Young when talking of riffs? We’ve made our case, so get Kiss’ed on these classics.
HELLOWEEN – Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I (1987 Noise)
It’s 2AM in my land, and I really need to catch the Z’s. I put this review off way too long, and now I must suffer the consequences. But if you thought I was going to miss the last review of the month (on Halloween nonetheless) you are very incorrect. Sleep deprivation is no stranger to this man, I SHALL FORGE AHEAD WITH MY TRUSTY KEYBOARD TO REVIEW… Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I. This is my review of the power metal classic, it’s going to be just as kickass as the album itself, and I don’t care if no one agrees. I’m right in my own little world, and that’s all that matters to me. Really this is just stream of consciousness, which is impressive because I’m barely awake. Awake as in “I Awake” by Soundgarden. There’s a good Halloween tune.
Holy shit, Batman! I’ve got to stay focused. Anyway, Helloween – We Couldn’t Think of a Longer Fucking Title if We Tried, So Fuck Anyone Trying to Review This You Stupid Pricks Pt. 1 is a classic power metal release. Manowar can piss off; Helloween is the real deal. Unlike Manowar, Helloween knows how to make an album with classics instead of just one to two good songs and a whole lot of Viking poser bullshit ballads (Manowar sux). This album is a real step up for the band in that Helloween finally realized that they needed a good singer, so they got Michael Kiske who basically sounds like a German Geoff Tate with a little less power. I’m talking prime real estate Geoff Tate too, so this is pretty good as far as metal singing goes.
When I first put on this album there were obvious classics, “I’m Alive”, “Twilight of the Gods”, “Future World”, and the epic “Halloween”, but all the other two full length tracks “A Little Time” and “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” revealed themselves to me upon repeated listening to be the genre staples that they claimed to be. There are only six songs on this beautiful slab of wax because “Halloween” is over thirteen minutes long, and two songs are an intro and outro respectively. And I do respect them, because they’re not very long and they add to the tension instead of impeding on the awesome. These are complex, compelling, melodic tunes that don’t get sunk by their European ambitions. “Holy wars… in the skYYYYYYY” the classic “Twilight of the Gods” bridge will have you tapping your fist against the wall in no time, because it’s so good. LOVE IT ALL. It’s worth it. If you’re a metal fan and don’t have this in your collection, you’re doing it wrong my amigo.
STEVE PERRY – Traces (2018 Fantasy Records deluxe edition)
So what’s the story? Does Steve Perry still “got it”?
He does. We just might not agree on what exactly “it” is.
Traces is Perry’s first solo album since 1994’s For the Love of Strange Medicine. He’s been keeping a low profile since leaving Journey after 1996’s Trial By Fire. If you were worried that Steve Perry has gone “soft” and his voice has changed in that time…then you were right!
But that’s not a bad thing. Steve Perry’s voice is one of a kind. The soul cannot be copied; it’s just raspier now. If you want the youthful range, go listen to Journey instead. Or buy Arnel Pineda’s forthcoming solo album. If you want an older, wiser but still the same Steve Perry, he is here on Traces. He’s collected 10 slower songs, some more upbeat than others like the lead single “No Erasin'”. Each one still retains Perry’s ability to compose memorable material. These songs are honed, short, and to the point. Even the ballads are pretty basic: quiet and contemplative, but with soft hooks. All fat has been trimmed. “We’re Still Here”, “No More Cryin'” and “We Fly” are among the best tracks, but “No Erasin'” is the clear highlight.
The deluxe edition, a Sunrise exclusive in Canada and Target for the US, has five more songs of varying styles. “October in New York” sounds like a quiet piece from a stage musical. “Angel Eyes” goes more for soul, while “Call on Me” has the tropical flavours you might remember from Journey’s “Baby I’m Leaving You”. The fabulous “Could We Be Something Again” has a choir on it. The good thing about the bonus tracks is you can tell the reason they were cut was not quality. It was simply that they don’t fit in with the direction of the main album.
Traces is not for Journey fans who wanna rawk. This is for fans of classy pop rock, soft rock, and the ballads on Trial By Fire. If that’s you, get Traces (the deluxe of course) and take some time to dig a little deeper.
GETTING MORE TALE #711: Why Kiss Need to Suck it Up and Bring Ace Frehley Back
In a recent episode of Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon, former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley said, among many things, that it would take $100,000 per show for him to play on Kiss’ recently announced End of the Road tour. While that amount of money may seem like ransom, Ace might be able to make those kinds of outlandish demands. He may have Kiss over a barrel of sorts.
Ace is in a good position right now. 2018 is an interesting time for this Kiss farewell tour to happen, because of what Frehley has been up to. Since acrimoniously splitting with the band in 2001 (after a previous “farewell” tour), Ace has rebuilt his credibility and his standing. Over the last decade he’s regained the respect of fans who feared he could no longer write, with a series of increasingly good solo albums. Anomaly, Space Invader, and the recent Spacemanhave been well received by fans and critics alike. Most importantly, since 2016, some crazy things have happened. First Ace reunited with Paul Stanley on Origins, Vol. 1, a covers album. Then Ace re-ignited his friendship with Gene Simmons, as Gene promoted his Vault box set. Gene appeared on Spaceman, and now Ace is touring with Gene’s solo band. Ace appears cozier with Kiss than he was when he was actually in Kiss.
Throw the farewell tour into the mix. Kiss will be touring with the current lineup of Stanley, Simmons, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer. Some fans still call Singer and Thayer “scabs”, merely imitating Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. Eric Singer has won over more fans than Tommy Thayer has. Perhaps it’s because Singer has been in the band longer and played on the legendary Revenge. More likely, the fans resent how closely Thayer imitates the licks of Frehley — on the orders of Simmons and Stanley, let’s not forget. At the end of the day, they sign the paychecks, and the employees play the way they want them to. That’s why they are still in the jobs all these years later. Regardless, fans have largely accepted Singer as the drummer in the Cat makeup. Peter Criss has retired with dignity, and realistic fans know that he’s no longer really capable of playing the kind of tour that Kiss are looking at. Peter had his farewell with Kiss and his chapter certainly appears to be closed.
Frehley, however, is on a new leg of his career and the quality of his new material is encouraging. In addition to his ask of $100,000 per show, Ace has also suggested the real way to end Kiss would be one final studio album. It’s almost as if he’s throwing down the gauntlet to Kiss. An Infinity Gauntlet with only four stones: Ace, Paul, Gene and Eric.
A studio album might be a bit far fetched. Monster is from 2012, and Kiss seem scared of their own shadows in the studio. But Ace on tour? It simply has to happen before it’s over. Not doing so would be a slap in the face.
Fans are going to demand it. Black Sabbath blew it on their The End tour. Bill Ward probably couldn’t have done a tour, but to not invite him back, for at least a few songs at the end? A wasted opportunity that can never be repaired. The original Black Sabbath were all still alive. Bill Ward was willing and able. The Sabbath camp didn’t want to hear it, and so finished with 3/4 of the original band plus Ozzy’s drummer Tommy Clufetos. It’s sad to say, but the next reunion of the original Black Sabbath might have to be at one of their funerals.
Deep Purple can never reunite their original or even their Mk II lineup.
Led Zeppelin will never be whole again. Neither will Queen, Styx, Stone Temple Pilots or Soundgarden. Sabbath had the chance, and they let it go. Truly a regrettable, ego-driven mistake.
Kiss cannot make the same mistake. True, without Peter Criss, it’s not the originals, but Criss has not expressed interest or ability. Ace has. Repeatedly. And we know the clean and sober Ace today can do it. He is on another creative high, and already getting along with Paul and especially Gene. To lose this opportunity in the face of the fans would be a mistake some would be unwilling to forgive.
Start the tour, as normal, with Tommy. Bring Ace out for a couple guest appearances. See how it goes. I’ll tell you how it will go. Ace would sing “Shock Me”, the crowd would go bananas, and you’d be forced to do it again. And again. And again. Eventually, Tommy could bow out gracefully having had his farewell. Ace could take over from that point. Or do half a show each. There are many permutations for this to work. This is almost exactly how Duff McKagan returned to Guns N’ Roses. You’re Kiss; you can figure it out.
Don’t let money stand in your way, Kiss. Money is not forever. History is. You do not want to go down like Black Sabbath, when you could go out the way fans want to see you.
Nobody knows how much time they have left on Earth. The next reunion cannot be a funeral. We also don’t really know how many shows Paul’s voice has left before it’s gone for good. A reunion with Ace Frehley must happen before it is too late.
What about Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick, you ask? It would be wonderful to see them guesting too, but let’s not set hopes too high (even though Vinnie has been spotted in Kiss makeup). Focus on what is important: that is getting the original Spaceman back for the final leg(s) of this tour. Fans may have to be vocal. (As if Kiss fans are anything but.)
What if Kiss just flat out refuse to pay Ace’s greedy ransom, and Ace can’t be negotiated with? It would be a loss for all parties, particularly the fans. While Kiss will still play spectacular shows, would ticket sales be any different from the last few tours? Kiss have always done well enough (that’s why they keep touring), but the 1996 reunion tour made $144 million gross, which Kiss haven’t equalled since. A farewell tour without Ace, and with Paul’s voice in its current condition, simply won’t touch that.
With Ace though?
With Ace, they would generate a lot more hype, press and positive reviews. Ace Frehley, playing as great as he is today, could inspire yet another generation of kids to pick up the guitar. It’s what Ace does. He is a superstar, and even the most staunch fan must admit that Tommy Thayer is not. If Kiss want to go out as big as they can, they need Frehley. It’s that simple.
No dates have been announced yet. Paul Stanley has teased on his social media that the band is rehearsing. They’re talking about doing a 25 song set. There is plenty of time for more pieces to fall into place. A big piece is Spaceman-shaped. They need to make it fit. Without Frehley, The End of the Road tour will just be another Kiss tour. New costumes, sure. That alone won’t sell tickets.
Kiss have always been a band that claimed to “listen to the fans” and “gives the fans what they want”. This then would be Kiss’ last chance to live up to it.
Good day everybody; Harrison here with a public service announcement/review. You see, on the 20th of September 2018, something amazing happened. As part of their endeavours to digitise their archives, the Beat Club (a poor man’s Rockpalast), surreptitiously uploaded a video to YouTube. But this was no ordinary video. It was a video of an Iron Maiden show. As Iron Maiden are renowned for their stinginess with archive material and reissues [1], this upload was met with celebrations across cyberspace for those in the know. And for those not in the know, here is this review of the show to bring it to your attention. [The video can be found at bottom — LeBrain]
As you will be able to tell, this show falls in the Di’Anno era, of which the only official video release was the six song “Live at the Rainbow” from 1980, which left fans clamouring for more. (Yes, I am aware of the 1980 show on Disc 2 of The Early Days but given its status as a curiosity due to its terrible quality, I’m ignoring it for the purpose of this review). As a side note, while the original six-and-a-half song broadcast of this show has been available as a bootleg for quite a while, this is the full twelve song show (and a little more), without the visual effects of a degrading VHS either. Unfortunately, the audio and video are just ever so slightly out of sync.
We kick things off rather characteristically with the taped “The Ides of March” heralding the band’s arrival onstage and it’s instantly clear, that this is going to be so much better visually than Live at the Rainbow. While yes, the Iron Maiden stage set of the Rainbow is not present, neither is the tape hiss of that show, which, rather obviously, leads to a much better sounding show. That’s not all. The atmospheric theatre lighting of the Rainbow is also gone, having been replaced by the ever-present TV studio lighting. While it does break the immersion a little, the net result is a picture that despite being only 480p, puts virtually every other video from that era (and some after it too [2]) to shame. It really does look fantastic for its age. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The band have the performance to back it up too. [3]
The performance commences rather uncharacteristically with “Prowler” following “The Ides…” instead of the quintessential “Ides of March/Wrathchild” combo, although this was well known as “Prowler” opened the original broadcast as well. With Paul Di’Anno and Clive Burr both in fine form, “Prowler” doesn’t get much better than this.
Next up however, is something that did not feature on the original broadcast nor features on any Maiden video since: one of my favourite songs from the debut, “Charlotte the Harlot”. It becomes clear here, as the band kick the energy up to 11, of the great hindrance that Wil Malone’s production on the debut was. Steve Harris is right. It didn’t even begin to capture their ferocity live. Thankfully this mix rectifies that error, and this song is a definite highlight of the show, no mean feat in a Maiden performance. Another broadcast song, “Wrathchild” follows on, with the honour of being the first song of the show from their then unreleased second album. An awesome rendition of the enduring Di’Anno era classic, there’s not much else you can say about any of Maiden’s performances of this song.
On the other hand, there is much to say about the performance of “Remember Tomorrow”, except, not much of it has to do with “Remember Tomorrow”. During the second verse there’s a most interesting sound coming through: the sound of a technical failure, and the band stop playing soon after, having a beer and mucking around with their guitars as the problem is fixed. I’m so glad they left this interlude in. It shows a little bit behind the scenes and is a nice deviation from the main stuff, one that is not often shown, even on these full show sorts of things. Eventually someone decides to stop using up tape, and we cut to the start of the second go at “Remember Tomorrow”, which is done by the numbers in spectacular Maiden fashion.
With things definitely back on track the band plough into “Transylvania”. When it comes to instrumentals, Maiden really knocks it out of the park, and I do wish they’d done more. This performance is no exception, although I do think I might prefer “Genghis Khan” from Killers. Now, despite being one of their few singles at the time, “Running Free” didn’t make it onto Live at the Rainbow. This travesty thankfully does not reoccur here, and while Live After Death boasts the ultimate “Running Free”, Di’Anno and co. are no slouches and that’s reflected in probably one of this line-up’s best performances of the song.
Another Killers song, “Innocent Exile” is next. It’s done well, and as this is before the era of the twig-snapping bass tone, you get a nice full little bass workout from ‘Arry as the intro. [4] “Sanctuary” comes next. It’s one of my least favourite Di’Anno era songs and I fully believed it outstayed its welcome on subsequent tours. It’s not the best rendition either: Di’Anno mixes some lyrics up and the solos are not up to the usual standard.
Now here’s something interesting though: “Killers”. This show was recorded only 11 days before that release of Killers, yet this version of “Killers” is the most experimental I’ve ever heard it. The intro and the guitar harmonies have a spacey feel to them and there’s even the changing up the lyrics for a couple lines. Di’Anno’s screams being mostly absent for most of the intro only accentuate this experimental vibe. It’s nice to have a good quality video now of the album lyrics (most of them anyway).
“Another Life” is the next song, one that was fade-cut halfway as the credits rolled on the original broadcast. Now it’s here in all its glory: a good, if perhaps almost filler song from Killers. It’s a fiery rendition, but it suffers from “If you’ve heard it once you’ve heard it three times”. The drum solo is sadly but expectedly skipped on this show, pushing this good, if unspectacular song into the background.
This slight lull in awesomeness is immediately rectified with “Phantom of the Opera”. The original Iron Maiden epic, it was played at breakneck pace at the Rainbow show and it’s not much slower here, a slight shame because “Phantom of the Opera” is one of the few songs I think isn’t better when done faster. That being said, it’s still a chunk of pure awesome no matter how you slice it.
Of course, now it wouldn’t be an Iron Maiden show without “Iron Maiden” and it wouldn’t be an awesome rendition of the song without Paul Di’Anno. [5] The end of the show is signalled in spectacular fashion, with the ever-reliable Eddie making an appearance to send off the show in style. Except that it’s not the end yet. They were recording for TV after all, so the band semi-encore with another rendition of “Sanctuary” to replace the muffed version from before. And then it’s over. One hour’s worth of early classics and deep cuts by the best band on earth. [6]
Watch now or else.
4.5/5 stars (-0.25 for audio/visual sync issues, -0.25 for lack of Di’Anno screams here and there)
Tracks: – Intro/”Ides of march” – “Prowler” – “Sanctuary” – “Phantom of the Opera” – “Iron Maiden” – “Wrathchild” – “Innocent Exile” – “Sanctuary” – “Another Life”
[1] This year is the 20th anniversary of the 1998 remasters.
[2] The 1983 live album and video Alchemy by Dire Straits is a prime example of this. It has terrible lighting, being way too dark most of the time. But then again, most landmark live albums don’t have video components anyway, so we should be grateful to have any sort of video of Alchemy in the first place. Although when it comes to picture quality verse age, you can’t beat Deep Purples Granada 1970 performance.
[3] Don’t even get me started on the video of The Rolling Stone’s Live at the LA Forum 1975. Complete waste of valuable high-quality film.
[4] ’Arry’s bass tone on Maiden England ’88 is a thing of beauty. (Actually no, it really isn’t)
[5] The only Dickinson rendition of this song I think is truly awesome is the Beast Over Hammersmith one.
QUEEN – Bohemian Rhapsody – The Original Soundtrack (2018 Hollywood Records)
“Best Queen greatest hits yet,” said a trusted fellow Rock Connoisseur. “Nahh”, I thought, remembering the red and blue CDs I grew old with. But his theory might just hold water. For fans new and old, listening to the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack from start to finish is very satisfying.
The movie’s getting torn to shreds by the critics. Don’t let that scare you away from the album. Worth the price of admission for die hard fans is the new Queen version of the “20th Century Fox Fanfare”. Who needs an orchestra when you have a Brian May? Then it’s “Somebody to Love”, which you can imagine playing over the opening credits, can’t you?
“Doing All Right…revisited” is a pre-Freddie version of the Queen song, by the pre-Freddie version of the band, called Smile. This is a first for collectors, and is hopefully a taste of more Smile music to come. Moving on chronologically, it’s the scorching classic “Keep Yourself Alive” from the legendary Live at the Rainbow ’74. Because Queen was one of the greatest live bands of all time, having live tracks mixed in with hits won’t phase the old fans. Folks out there who hate live versions (yes they exist) will whine that the originals aren’t included. That’s OK because sometimes Queen live was actually as good or better than Queen in the studio. “Keep Yourself Alive” is one such track.
One can’t fault the song selection. “Killer Queen”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Under Pressure”, “Another One Bites the Dust” and “We Will Rock You (in a movie remix) represent the radio perennials. Other favourite Queen songs are present in a mini-set from Live Aid. It’s not the whole set, unfortunately, but a large slice: “Bohemian Rhapsody” (also present earlier on the CD in its studio version), “Radio Ga-Ga” “Hammer to Fall” and “We Are the Champions” are stellar performances from an historic concert. No one is poorer for having these.
You may question your need to own a remix of “Don’t Stop Me Now” with too much guitar, or a live “Now I’m Here” from the Night at the Odeon album. Well, you’d do it to get “Fat Bottomed Girls”, which was chopped from the Live Killers album, or “Love of My Life” from Rock In Rio in front of 500,000 people. It’s a trade-off with you as the winner.
GRETA VAN FLEET – Anthem of the Peaceful Army (2018 Republic Records)
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