You can always count on lil’ Stevie Vai to deliver something completely off the wall…except when he’s trying to play it straight.
Compared to Passion and Warfare and Sex & Religion, Steve plays it remarkably straight on the stripped back mini-album Alien Love Secrets. Remarkably straight for Steve Vai, that is. This is a guy who is known to make his guitar sound like anything except a guitar. There’s plenty of that here (check out “Bad Horsie”, which sounds like some kind of bad horsie at times), but there are also actual grooves and riffs too. Alien Love Secrets is an instrumental mini-album that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Steve’s music has always been an alternative to the mainstream, but grunge and heavy rock play an influence on “Bad Horsie”, one of the heaviest Vai riffs in existence. Former Ozzy/Journey drummer Deen Castronovo is there to help cement the grooves (Deen also played on Ozzy’s Vai-written song “My Little Man”). Alien Love Secrets is the ideal starter for people who don’t think they’re Vai fans. The heavy rock continues on “Kill the Guy With the Ball”, featuring Deen doing some serious steppin’.
It’s wall to wall shred, but if you’re looking for something even more straight-ahead, you’ll dig “Juice” which is just a classic Van Halen shuffle done a-la Steve. What about ballads? From the very beginning, Planet Steve has included ballads. “Die to Live” is a stock Vai ballad, melodic with tricky lead parts. Some of the licks remind of “Hina” from David Lee Roth’s Skyscraper. “The Boy From Seattle” would also be pegged as a ballad, but it’s definitely a bit more challenging. Then there’s the beautiful closing track “Tender Surrender”, which is blues for the intergalactic age.
People who don’t like Steve’s goofy side will loathe “Ya-Yo Gakk”, a duet between infant child and lead guitar. Steve has always experimented with guitar imitating the melody of a human voice, like “So Happy” from Flex-Able. This is more of a song, but still a matter of taste.
Alien Love Secrets will still be incomprehensible to some, but it’s probably Steve’s most accessible release overall. Without the layers upon layers of tracks, you can get in there and just listen. If you want more, there is a cool DVD release, with a video for each track on the album!
Do you remember your first Guns N’ Roses? I sure do. I skipped Appetite and went straight to GN’R Lies. We were heading to the cottage one spring weekend and my parents offered to buy me a new cassette. “Patience” hadn’t even been released as a single yet. I knew no songs. But I was intrigued by the idea of a half-acoustic EP. I fell in love with the acoustic guitar around that time, and I wanted to check out Lies as my first Guns. I’m kind of proud that my first Guns wasn’t Appetite.
The acoustic side was the second; first I was assaulted by the jet-propelled electric “live” side. Which wasn’t really live. It was recorded in the studio with crowd noise dubbed in from the 1978 Texxas Jam. If you listen to the vocals, knowing that Axl is always in motion on stage, you can tell they are not live. This is, of course, with 20/20 hindsight. This electric side was a reissue of the first Guns EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide. Fans had been paying ridiculous amounts of money to acquire it, so Guns decided to beat the dealers by simply reissuing it with some new songs on top.
“Reckless Life” dated back to Hollywood Rose. Even though it’s not from Appetite, it sure could have fit on that album. It had the energy and the hooks to make it. It speaks to the strength of the album that songs like “Reckless Life” were left off. A slick and groovy tune, “Move to the City”, is also included on Lies. It’s obviously different from the direction of Appetite (horns!), but not all that dissimilar to the Illusions albums. The electric side is rounded out by a couple covers, something we later learned that Guns really excel at…or fail completely. There is no in-between with Guns N’ Roses covers. They either rule or suck. Both covers on Lies rule: “Nice Boys” (Rose Tattoo) borders on punk, foreshadowing the future. Finally, Axl announces that “This song is about your fuckin’ mother!” Not exactly the kind of thing parents enjoy, but a killer track: “Mama Kin” introduced many youngsters to the Aerosmith classic for the first time.
That first side felt dangerous. We were used to bands like Def Leppard. Suddenly this guy is talking about our fuckin’ mothers? Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide aka “side one” is also catchy as fuck, so we kept going back for round two, three, and more.
It was actually quite genius of them to pair Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide with four acoustic tunes on side two. The contrast works, and when you flip the record it feels fresh when you drop the needle again. In fact it’s easy to just flip back to side one and listen again. The quality of the acoustic songs didn’t hurt. The side progresses from softest to hardest. “Patience” is first, which eventually became one of Guns’ greatest hits. You didn’t hear acoustic guitar solos often back then, or a ballad with no drums. Even though ballads were all the rage, few bands had a song like “Patience”. The brilliance of “Patience” isn’t the melody or the whistling. It’s the minimalist arrangement.
I still remember my dad watching the “Patience” video with me. “That guy’s not a very good guitar player!” he scoffed as Slash solo’d. He never liked Guns N’ Roses.
“Used to Love Her” was always a bit of a novelty, but even so, a good novelty track. “A joke, nothing more,” according to the cover. It’s about a dog, in case you didn’t know. “Used to Love Her” is upbeat, catchy and easy to sing along to. Regardless of what my dad may think, Slash’s (electric) solo work on it is tops.
One of the most interesting songs is “You’re Crazy”, a re-recording of the Appetite for Destruction favourite. The cover states that it was originally slow and acoustic, before being cranked up on Appetite. Because it’s unique, the Lies version is the better of the two. It was notorious in the highschool halls for its refrain of “You’re fuckin’ crazy.”
Even more notorious however was the closer, and for good reason. Certain words in certain contexts are unpalatable. Context is the key. It matters who is saying the word, and why. Words in themselves are not offensive, it is their usage that can be hurtful. “One in a Million” is an ugly, angry song. Axl’s pissed off at the cops, religion, and seemingly homosexuals and the black community as well. Some of the harshest words are levelled at foreigners:
Immigrants and faggots, They make no sense to me. They come to our country, And think they’ll do as they please. Like start some mini-Iran, Or spread some fucking disease. And they talk so many God damn ways, It’s all Greek to me.
Later on, Axl has the gall to state, “Radicals and racists, Don’t point your finger at me. I’m a small town white boy, just tryin’ to make ends meet.” Here we are in 2017, three decades later, and the world is still infested with angry, small town white boys. Although Axl smugly apologized for the lyrics in advance on the front cover, “One in a Million” can’t be excused that easily. Axl has since worked with gay and African American artists…hell, Slash’s mom was African American. As a fan of the music, I would like to hope that Axl has learned more about the world since 1988. We are shaped by our experience, and I hope Axl has had more positive ones.
Moving on from the lyrics, the interesting thing about “One in a Million” is that it was album debut of Axl Rose’s piano, on a song solely written by Axl. It’s simple and guitar based, and Slash’s acoustic solo is utterly fantastic.
Finally, one of the most appealing aspects of GN’R Lies is the cover. Taking a cue from Jethro Tull, the cover looks like a newspaper replete with dirty articles. Open it up, and there’s a naked woman inside. “The loveliest girls are always in your GN’R L.P.” says the headline. I quickly folded up the cover to hide it from my parents.
Lies was a good stopgap for Guns, considering the five year gap between Appetite and Illusions. It demonstrated growth, and cool roots. It will always be remembered for “Patience”, but also a couple ill-advised words that had lasting repercussions.
GETTING MORE TALE #615: “Shhhh, be quiet, we’re recording!”
Kids today have it easy! Want a song? Just copy and paste a file. There’s no skill in it. Not like we had to do it when we were really young.
My old Sanyo tape deck didn’t have audio in and audio out jacks. It didn’t have a dual tape deck. It had a headphone plug and that was it. You couldn’t record anything except with the built-in microphone.
Like kids of the 80s always would, we improvised and did the best with the equipment we had. Recording back then required planning and discipline for pretty shoddy results.
How did we do it? In the most primitive way imaginable.
Step one: Phone a friend who also had a tape deck.
No dual tape deck? No problem, all you needed was a friend who also had something to play music on. Come on over!
Step two: Shhhhhh! Be quiet!
We’d find a space in the house without a lot of commotion. In our house, that was the basement. We’d set up two tape decks, facing each other, about three or four feet apart. One for playing, one for recording.
We’d tell all parents and younger siblings to “be quiet” and “stay out”! Once this message was received we could begin recording. Press “record” on one tape deck and “play” on the other. Then, very very quietly, step out of the room let the tapes run until the whole side was recorded, open air style, in glorious mono.
The end product was usually awful, but as pre-teens we didn’t know any better. You could usually hear us whispering at the start or stop.
This is how I first got Styx’s song “Mr. Roboto”. It’s how I made copies of my Quiet Riot Metal Health tape for my friends. I sold them for $1 per copy. I thought I was some kind of entrepreneur! I even recorded the audio of Star Wars off the TV so I could listen to it, before we had a VCR.
Hard to imagine this was the best we could do, but for years we made it work!
Star Trek: Discovery is a controversial series. Reviews have been very mixed, and fans are split.
Before reviewing, I watched every Discovery episode twice. Even three times for some. My review is rather positive — 3.5/5 stars — and hopeful for the future of the show. Discovery is not perfect. Not only is there room for improvement, but things that simply must improve. But Star Trek has a history of poor first seasons. Remember The Next Generation in 1987? Nobody liked Next Generation best in 1987. It had a rough, rough start.
My review received lots of great comments. Nobody agreed with my full assessment, just bits and pieces here and there, but comments were helpful and completely relevant.
All but one! Enjoy this WTF Comment from Dick Dirk.
He blocked me shortly after.
In the words of William Shatner, “It’s just a TV show! Get a life!”
There are some good reasons why Circle II Circle’s debut album, Watching in Silence, is a dead ringer for Savatage. First and most obviously, singer Zach Stevens is best known from the Florida progressive metallers. When he left the band to form Circle II Circle, he had some Sava-help too. Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery wrote or played on every single song. Oliva co-produced. They’re just a helpful kind of band.
Fans of Stevens-era ‘Tage will adore Watching in Silence from start to finish. It has the heavy, it has the soft, and it has the drama. There are even the layered operatic vocal arrangements (“Forgiven”), though used sparingly. Circle II Circle utilise keyboards and piano, but don’t go for the full-on conceptual direction that Savatage did.
Though the album can drag from time to time, there are a number of exceptional tracks. “Into the Wind” is the first to boast one of those unforgettable Stevens choruses. The single “Watching in Silence” has the patented Sava-power, composed in equal measure of riffs, piano and killer vocals. The easiest comparison is to “Edge of Thorns“, Stevens’ first single with Savatage. Virtually every song has a memorable chorus to go with it.
Let’s all wish a happy birthday to Uncle Meat! Good pal, Jedi Master, and rock and roll contributor Uncle Meat is one year older with more metal in his body than ever before. (A plate in his leg!)
Happy birthday Meatmaster General! A man actually made of metal!
GRETA VAN FLEET – From the Fires (2017 Republic Records)
Got 32 minutes to kill? I have just the thing.
Frankenmuth, Michigan’s Greta Van Fleet won’t be disappearing any time soon, not with the release of their new “double EP” From the Fires. Double EP? For simplicity’s sake, we’ll just call it an album. From the Fires has all four songs from their last EP, Black Smoke Rising, along with four new tracks. Whatever you want to call it, if you missed Black Smoking Rising, then you’ll wanna get From the Fires ASAP!
Of course you will get their smash hit “Highway Tune”, which is still as exciting as the day we first heard it. Current single “Safari Song” is first on the new CD. Greta’s biggest influence is the mighty Zeppelin, and “Safari Song” certainly has that bluesy Zep stomp. Lots of “oh mamas”. This mid-tempo rocker is quickly becoming a favourite of the airwaves.
The new “Edge of Darkness” sounds less like Zeppelin, although singer Joshua Kiszka bleeds Robert Plant. “Edge of Darkness” recalls newer blues rock bands, but the voice immediately sounds like Plant. Then “Flower Power” brings us back to hippy-era acoustic Zeppelin. It’s more than a little derivative, but this band is young and only starting out. Joshua Kiszka really blasts on the slow soulful “A Change is Gonna Come”. What a singer — someone to keep an eye on!
Some of Greta’s more dramatic tunes appear closer to the end. “Meet on the Ledge” has a plaintive, epic quality. Then “Talk on the Street” goes upbeat, with a brilliant thrilling rocker. These new tunes indicate that Greta is indeed still growing, and we haven’t heard what they’re capable of yet. Yes, they can do vintage 1969 Led Zeppelin to a “T”, and they have the acoustic bases covered too. The songwriting is growing, and their musicianship is already there. Their playing sounds like a group who have several records under their belts already.
“Black Smoke Rising” has become a personal favourite Greta tune. This closer boasts incredible vocals, melody and riffs. It’ll put goosebumps on your arms if you let it. It sounds very little like Led Zeppelin. It actually recalls Triumph more than anyone, and that’s just fine.
Now is the time to get some Greta Van Fleet. This release has all their studio recordings; a compact 32 minutes. Double EP? Van Halen had classic albums shorter than this. From the Fires is an album. Get it!
Who doesn’t love lists of musical firsts? I’ve done my own, but here’s a record that I forgot to include.
It wasn’t my first record. As a kid, I had read-along story records: Star Wars, E.T., The Black Hole, and more. The E.T. record was cool because it was read by Drew Barrymore. I also had John Williams’ music soundtracks, like Indiana Jones.
My first “metal” album was Quiet Riot’s Metal Health. I had it on cassette. It changed my life. Going back even further, Styx’s Kilroy Was Here was the first rock album that I ever bought, but technically it wasn’t my first “rock” record. Technically. It all depends on how you define “rock”, but for the purposes of this article we’ll include soft rock under the umbrella.
In 1981 there was a new TV show that, by all signs, looked like it was going to be awesome. It was about a goofy superhero. He couldn’t fly straight, and he looked silly with his blonde curly hair in a red skintight outfit. His landings were always crash landings, and what kid doesn’t find a grown man falling down absolutely hilarious? The premise was that aliens gave the protagonist this super-suit, but he lost the manual and doesn’t know how it’s supposed to work. Funny, right?
Sadly, the program called The Greatest American Hero never lived up to the premise or the TV ads. We kids swiftly lost interest in it. Magnum P.I. occupied our TV time, and The A-Team and Knight Rider were only a couple years away. The Greatest American Hero was quickly forgotten, except for one minor detail.
The Greatest American Hero had a terrific theme song. Theme songs are important. I can hum the themes for the A-Team, Knight Rider and Magnum P.I. Can you? The Greatest American Hero had an even more memorable theme song: “Believe It Or Not”.
I didn’t know the name of the guy who sang it, I just knew I liked the song. I told everyone it was my favourite song. So one day, my Aunt from Calgary came for a visit and gave me a copy of the single. I was elated! The singer was somebody I never heard of called Joey Scarbury, and now I had the record and I could play it any time I wanted! I did, over and over.
The names meant nothing to me then, but “Believe It Or Not” was written by Mike Post, who also wrote – surprise surprise! – Magnum P.I. and the A-Team! Though Mike Post is mostly known as a TV composer (The Who have a song called “Mike Post Theme”), he even produced Van Halen III! “Believe It Or Not” must be one of his most well remembered songs. It didn’t hurt when it was spoofed on Seinfeld back in the 90s. Remember George’s answering machine? “Believe it or not, George isn’t at home…” Since then, it’s been used and re-used again in TV shows and commercials.
I remember as a kid, flipping over the record to listen to the B-side, which I immediately hated. The ballad “Little Bit of Us” was not for me. I tried playing it at different speeds to see if it would make the song any better. It didn’t and I never played it again.
I don’t actually know what happened to the record. I know I lost the sleeve (it wasn’t a picture sleeve, just a plain white one) and filed the record in with another 45. From there, it disappeared.
I may have outgrown “Believe It Or Not” but playing it today still brings a smile to my face. Not enough to try and re-watch an episode of the Greatest American Hero, and definitely not enough to track down more Joey Scarbury music. Just enough for some nostalgic rememberings.
STEVE VAI – Alien Love Secrets (1995 Relativity)
It’s wall to wall shred, but if you’re looking for something even more straight-ahead, you’ll dig “Juice” which is just a classic Van Halen shuffle done a-la Steve. What about ballads? From the very beginning, Planet Steve has included ballads. “Die to Live” is a stock Vai ballad, melodic with tricky lead parts. Some of the licks remind of “Hina” from David Lee Roth’s Skyscraper. “The Boy From Seattle” would also be pegged as a ballad, but it’s definitely a bit more challenging. Then there’s the beautiful closing track “Tender Surrender”, which is blues for the intergalactic age.
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