Welcome to theWEEK OF FLAMING TURDS! This week we will be looking at a collection of malodorous music. Strike a match, you’ll need it for these stinkers! Let us begin with a story from Getting More Tale.
GETTING MORE TALE #473: Party For Two
I found this old diary entry. Sometimes you don’t need any commentary. So here you go!
Date: 2006/10/05 Title: GOD DAMMIT
Fuck, me. I am listening to Shania Twain.
“Party For Two” with Mark McGrath.
FUCK, ME. I am listening to Shania Twain AND Mark McGrath.
What the fuck has happened to me?
Jesus Christ. I can’t fucking believe this. I used to make fun of my buddy T-Rev who started listening to Shania Twain because his girlfriend liked them. In my case it’s not my girlfriend. She hates Shania Twain. It’s the fucking am radio at work. God damn them to hell and then may Satan skullfuck them until they bleed red scales out of the ears.
I better go put on a Testament or Anthrax CD or something. FAST.
OK fine, I’ll add some commentary. One of the bosses at work dated Shania Twain when she was a teenager named Eilleen. It’s true. As far as I’m concerned, her music still stinks!
DEEP PURPLE – Space Vol 1 &2 (Live in Aachen 1970) (2001 Sonic Zoom)
Over the course of the decades, Deep Purple and their official Appreciation Society have found numerous interesting live recordings to release for the fans. From significant moments to obscure gigs, each disc has had their own points of interest. It doesn’t hurt that Deep Purple never did the exact same thing twice.
This German gig from 1970 wasn’t well documented or reported on. Purple were on a large bill including Pink Floyd, Free, Traffic and Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s possible but not known for certain that Kraftwerk may have also played that day. Bootleggers made sure that at least some of it was recorded. The released bootleg H-Bomb was one of the earliest Deep Purple live recordings available, and has been available in bootleg form since it taped. According to organist Jon Lord, he heard that the bootleggers sneaked in an eight track mixer inside a Volkswagon, hidden under the stage. When they had the chance to hear the recordings on LP, the band were actually impressed with the overall quality.
In 2001, Sonic Zoom released the show on CD and called it Space Vol 1 & 2. Since the original tapes were long lost, Sonic Zoom went back to the earliest vinyl pressings, and cleaned them up, using the best sounding versions of each track.
What you get here is only four longs, but quite a long set, being well over an hour long. Purple opened with their instrumental “Wring That Neck”, stretched out to include lots of solos and jams. They tease out recognizable melodies such as “Hall of the Mountain King”, “Jingle Bells”, and a jazzy “Three Blind Mice”, disguised on rock instruments. Vocals were scarce that evening, perhaps because Ian Gillan was suffering from a sore throat. As such his vocals don’t come through as well, but they also often sound as if he’s singing into a tin can. Though most everything else is well recorded enough, when the vocals do happen such as on “Black Night”, they are very rough and tumble. Jon Lord was also known to be very hard on his Hammond, and like electric whip cracks you often hear the instrument yelping away in the background.
The Stones cover “Paint It, Black” is mostly another excuse to jam on something. 11 minutes of equipment-destroying guitar, drums, bass and organ madness is a lot for anyone to digest. If you dig drum solos, Ian Paice will keep you mesmerized for many minutes of straight high-velocity rhythmic instructional. You’ll know it’s over when the other guys finally come back! That’s nothing, though. Half an hour of “Mandrake Root” awaits, one of the longest versions known. Ian spends a lot of it screaming, but when it’s jam time you can hear him on the congas. The first half of the jam is loose but at least structured. Lord considered this his best keyboard work that had been captured so far. Interestingly, part of this jam resembles a future song called “Highway Star”. Then, the second half descends into pure madness. Atonal noise, feedback and electric pain dominate these 10 minutes. It is an endurance challenge to be sure.
It is not known for certain if any other songs were played that day, but because it was a festival it seems likely that Purple played for this hour and nothing more. According to the only written account of the day, Purple won over the festival crowd by powering over them. That much is clear from this recording.
ALICE COOPER – Freedom for Frankenstein – Hits & Pieces 1984-91(1998 Raven, Australian import)
After a productive spurt of activity in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Alice Cooper laid low for a while. A fun live album called A Fistful of Alice in 1997 was his first such release in 20 years. There was then a long wait for the next Cooper studio album (Brutal Planet, 2000). In the meantime, fans got to snack on interim treats such as the Australian release, Freedom for Frankenstein.
There are already a number of compilations that cover similar periods to Freedom for Frankenstein. Prince of Darkness (1989) tackled the two MCA albums Constrictor (1986) and Raise Your First and Yell (1987) plus one single B-side. 1995’s Classicks summed up the Epic albums Trash (1989), Hey Stoopid (1991) and The Last Temptation (1994), with the bonus of rare live tracks from the 1989 live home video Alice Cooper Trashes the World, plus the Hendrix cover B-side “Fire”! With those releases already on the market, does Freedom for Frankenstein offer anything unique?
Hell yeah!
1. “I Got a Line on You”. Spirit wrote this one in 1968 and Alice Cooper covered it in 1988 for the Iron Eagle II soundtrack. Alice’s version was released as a cool music video and stands as one of his best tracks from the era. (You can also get this on the Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper box set.) Here is an easy way to get the song, a must-own for fans of 80’s Alice. This was our first look at Alice’s new musical direction: commercial hard rock! He dropped the splatter horror direction and went full-on for radio and video hits.
2. Four-count-’em-four rare live single B-sides. These are “Go to Hell”, “Ballad of Dwight Fry”, “Sick Things” and “Only Women Bleed/Wind Up Toy”. None overlap with the other two compilations. “Wind Up Toy” was only played on the Hey Stoopid tour.
3. “It Rained All Night”. It is absolutely inexplicable how this song wasn’t included on the Life and Crimes box set. An original Alice Cooper/Desmond Child composition, “It Rained All Night” was also too good to be just another B-side. It backed the single for “Hey Stoopid” but stood as a better track than some on the album. Perhaps it was nixed for being too ballady on an album that didn’t need any more. You can get it most easily now by buying the Hey Stoopid 2013 reissue…but if you get Freedom for Frankenstein instead, you won’t need that reissue at all.
By getting this, you will also acquire “Fire”, and a good number of the best songs from this period. “He’s Back”, “Teenage Frankenstein”, “Freedom”, “Poison”, “House of Fire”, “Hey Stoopid”, and “Feed My Frankenstein” were the big singles, all on one CD. Then there’s “Side Show”, the incredible opener from Alice’s 1994 concept album The Last Temptation. In fact, the only weakness with this CD is that there is only one song from The Last Temptation. Classicks has three — but none of them are “Side Show”.
Freedom for Frankenstein was compiled with the help of Andrew Carpenter, “Australia’s biggest Alice Cooper fan” and archivist. Full points are awarded for the interesting booklet and rarities in the tracklist. I think the running order could be slightly tweaked for a smoother ride, but at over 78 minutes long, these hits and pieces provide value for your bucks.
HOUSE OF LORDS – House of Lords (1988 Simmons Records/BMG)
Yes you read that correctly. Simmons Records. Did they ever put out anything decent?
House of Lords actually made a hell of a debut with Simmons Records in 1988. Nobody was calling them a “supergroup”, but most of the members had been around the block more than once. House of Lords evolved out of Giuffria, a pretty good AOR rock band featuring the keyboard stylings of Greg Giuffria. In fact there are several songwriting credits by ex-Giuffria singer David Glen Isley, giving clues to the genesis of this CD.
Lanny Cordola played guitar on the prior Giuffria LP, and continued on to House of Lords. Bassist Chuck Wright had a stint in Quiet Riot (in fact he’s back with them today). Drummer Ken Mary kept time during Alice Cooper’s metal phase. All they needed was a singer, and they found a great one in James Christian, who today is the sole remaining original member of House of Lords. They signed to Gene Simmons’ imprint, and got legendary producer Andy Johns behind the mixing desk. All the ingredients were in place.
MuchMusic were promoting the shit out of these guys, and so I dutifully picked up the cassette at A&A Records and Tapes in the fall of 1988.
The self-titled debut, though classy, didn’t have enough identity. Good songs throughout, no clunkers, but also nothing that identified House of Lords as something unique. And so, this great CD has remained largely unknown over the years.
The keyboard heavy opening on “Pleasure Palace” has less to do with Bon Jovi and more to do with the progressive rock bands of the 70’s. The production is pure 80’s, with the echoey drums and the hard to hear bass. It is what it is, and Andy Johns did a better job than most producers could have done in ’88. James Christian comes across as a full-lunged, well rounded singer. He’s able to sing with a little of blue eyed soul, and he’s capable of the screams too. The feature that actually sets the song apart is the keyboards, very gothic and European sounding, but not wimpy.
“I Wanna Be Loved” was the first single/video, an easy choice being mid-tempo with a shout-along chorus. “Oh woah, oh woah, I just wanna be loved!” Sure, sounded good to 16 year old me. Heaps of backing vocals thicken up the mix, and Lanny Cordola plays a tasteful albeit standard guitar solo on top. “Edge of Your Life” serves as a keyboard power-ballad, and a dramatic one at that. The musicianship is stellar and the arrangement is expert, but the standout performer is James Christian.
Since you need a bar room blaster for the dudes, “Lookin’ For Strange” fits the bill. Instruments aflame, and with obvious inspiration from the Van Halen shuffle of old, “Lookin’ For Strange” is nonetheless a ton ‘o fun. Ending the first side of the tape was “Love Don’t Lie”, another power ballad, this one a bit on the soft side. It was also edited down and remixed by David Thoener for a single release. This mix was used for the music video and can be found on reissues of the CD. The album version is the better of the two, since edits often sound…awkward.
Rock and roll resumes with “Slip of the Tongue”, a title that David Coverdale would use a year later. High octane, full speed ahead, this is House of Lords doing the shred. The musicianship speaks for itself and you can hear clear Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy influences. The fast pace sets up “Hearts of the World” very well via contrast. From here, the album becomes more progressive, dramatic, and bombastic. “Hearts of the World” is AOR perfection, choppy with caverns of keyboards and waterfalls of gang vocals. It all sounds so serious, but it’s hard to deny the quality of this song. “Under Blue Skies” follow this with bagpipes (!) and ELP-like keyboard horns. It’s another dramatic, melodic winner with progressive qualities. The outro has those “na na na na na” vocals that all but guarantee you’ll be singing along. “Call My Name” makes it three in a row, though it changes the forecast to sunny. Bright and positive, “Call My Name” is still a big sounding song, with the gang vocals and guitar shreddery that you’ve come to expect.
Cordola gets the chance to show a lil’ bit (a minute) of classical guitar chops as an intro to “Jealous Heart”, the last of 10 tracks. This is your typical album-ending breakup ballad: weepy hearts, melodramatic lyrics, powerhouse vocals…it’s a dead ringer for Journey! Good Journey, though. Since Journey were defunct in 1988, let’s forgive House of Lords for a little hero worship.
House of Lords is a good debut album. Is it great? I would have said so back in ’88 or ’89, but the production has caused it to age, not so well. That’s unfortunate because what House of Lords put out here was pretty remarkable hard rock.
“He influenced me as a drummer, but not a person.” – Simon Kirke, Bad Company
BEWARE OF MR. BAKER (2012 SnagFilms)
Directed by Jay Bulger
Cream. Graham Bond. Fela Kuti. Blind Faith. Masters of Reality. The resume is one of the most impressive for any drummer of any genre. It belongs to the one and only Ginger Baker, a phenomenon of a man, a loose cannon, and a rhythmic genius. As you might guess, a documentary based on this wildman prodigy had to be tour de force.
From the start, you know this is not going to be your typical love-fest documentary. It begins at the end, with Ginger Baker assaulting director Jay Bulger with his cane, cracking his nose over the issue of who else might appear in this film. Indeed, Ginger was not happy about some people the director was interviewing, perhaps his ex-wives and arch nemesis but brilliant bandmate Jack Bruce (RIP).
The bloodied director Jay Bulger
Bruce is one of many associates interviewed. Bill Ward, Chad Smith, Neil Peart, Charlie Watts, Eric Clapton, Chris Goss and many more praise the drummer’s abilities. His skill seemed to earn Baker many a free pass over the years, for his quick temper. Poor Eric Clapton thought he was free of the fiery drummer with the end of Cream, but then Ginger joined his new band Blind Faith! In this film, Baker seems like an incredibly difficult individual. He barks at the director many times over questions he doesn’t like. He’s purposely difficult. Living a faraway life on a ranch in South Africa, Ginger Baker had isolated himself from his past. It is a recurring theme in his life. When things got tough, or when he went flat broke, he has always uprooted and gone elsewhere, starting over fresh. Baker never had it easy, losing his dad in World War II when he was only four.
The constant uprooting and starting anew took its toll on Baker and his family. While living in California in the early 90’s with his third wife, he hooked up with Masters of Reality for their landmark second album, Sunrise on the Sufferbus. Though it was a good experience musically, Baker couldn’t hack starting over this time. Opening for Alice in Chains, the drummer was pelted with crap by grunge fans that had no idea who the legend Ginger Baker even was. The union did not last and Baker was off again to start over once more.
Through the mess that was his life, Ginger Baker was always one of the most brilliant drummers on the stage. More a jazz drummer who played heavy, Baker learned to move all four limbs independently which created an illusion of a blur of speed. He wasn’t physically moving as fast as it sounds, but the end result was a unique sound in rock that nobody else copied. Jazz drummer Phil Seaman introduced him to African rhythms which led to a life-long quest. Baker lived in Africa more than once, absorbing the local rhythms and playing with Fela Kuti, learning all he could from the birthplace of the drum.
Johnny Rotten, with whom Baker played in P.I.L., praised the drummer regardless of his personal shortfalls. Whatever his personality might be, it is what was necessary for Baker to perfect his craft, argues Rotten. The ends justify the means. He could not have been Ginger Baker, if he was not Ginger Baker. A very punk-like attitude. Whoever Baker bruised and bloodied, the higher goal of rhythmic transcendence was achieved, and could not have been achieved if he was a different person. That’s the way Johnny Rotten sees it, and since nobody can change the past, that’s a good way of looking at it.
GETTING MORE TALE #472: The Fellowship of the Ring
My old man took me to a lot of movies as a kid. The tradition was, I had to see every Star Wars movie in the theater three times. That also went for Raiders of the Lost Ark. When those movies were new, you couldn’t just wait for them to come to home video. You had to see them in the theater and memorize every moment. As he got older, my dad liked going to movies less and less. Actually, he liked going anywhere less and less. He’s also not fond of the loud volume level at a modern movie theater. We can’t drag him out to movies too often. My sister managed to get him to see The Force Awakens. Before that, my last success getting him into a movie theater seat was Avatar.
Now, let’s go back in time 15 years. Peter Jackson’s incredible Lord of the Rings trilogy had finally begun, with Fellowship of the Ring. My dad wasn’t familiar with Tolkien. I was just starting to read his books, starting with Fellowship of the Ring. The movie was obviously going to be a must-see, and it had several actors he liked: Sean Astin, Ian Holm, and especially John Rys Davies. I know we didn’t go opening weekend, so we probably went to see it the following weekend. The theater was busy, packed full of nerds waiting to whip out their preciouses. My dad doesn’t like crowds much so that didn’t help his mood. My mom and I dragged him out, and he was definitely letting us know he wasn’t going willingly.
We got our tickets, found three seats together, and sat directly behind some Tolkien fans who were more excited about it than my dad. Continuing with the complaints, he asked the first question of the night. “How long is this movie?”
I answered casually, “About three hours.”
“Oh dear God. Oh Jesus Christ,” he responded with his head in his hands. “Three hours. Dear Jesus.” He didn’t seem that enthused as he muttered loudly. I could feel people staring at the back of our heads.
He complained through the trailers, but a strange thing happened over the course of the movie. He started to like it. It’s undeniable that Sir Ian McKellan was the Gandalf that everybody wanted to see. He liked seeing old guys like Christopher Lee still on the screen. He liked Frodo. He liked Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen. But he didn’t know one little minor detail about the film….
We neared the end. The final Orc battle was impressive; expertly orchestrated and shot. It was a marvel to behold at the time. Unfortunately, the Fellowship was now fractured. Boromir was dead. Frodo and Samwise were all alone. Merry and Pippen had been captured by Orcs. All seemed lost. Roll credits.
“That’s it?!” my dad howled. “Why didn’t he just throw the goddamn ring into the fire?!” Now, two girls in the row in front of us were staring him down. “What kind of ending is that? I thought they had to throw the ring in the fire!”
I exlaimed, “They’re still going to throw it in the fire! There’s two more movies still! It’s a trilogy.”
And then, his final complaint. “Two more movies? Oh dear God. Oh Jesus Christ. I have to do this two more times just to see him throw the damn ring into the fire? Why the hell didn’t they just go there and throw it in? I was expecting him to throw it in the fire and that’s it!”
If eyes could shoot daggers, then at least 20 daggers were fired in his direction. I awaited popcorn missiles. We managed to get to the minivan without being attacked by swarms of Elves or even worse, Cave Trolls.
The really amusing denouement is, my dad actually loves Lord of the Rings today. But he loves it right where he likes it: On his widescreen TV, in surround sound, in front of his favourite chair. And that’s alright by me.
Well alright alright alright! 2016 has been a stinky year so far with the winter “blahs” and far too many musical deaths. It’s time for something new and something positive. Thankfully the trio Evilyn Strange have picked this time to return with their new EP, Evilution.
I like a sense of continuity in cover art, and lead singer Phillip Strange is responsible for this one. I like that you can immediately tell it’s the same band. With the last album, Mourning Phoebe, I couldn’t quite tell what kind of music I was going to find inside. Evilution on the other hand looks like rock and roll and nothing but. Are you ready to be slain?
I was surprised by the heaviness and speed of the opening track “Let It Rain”. Great riff, great vocal melody, and tasteful use of backing keyboards — I get a sense of 80’s metal meeting the modern age, and I like that just fine. In particular it’s the menacing double bass of “The Ghost” (drums/keys) that drives the song into your skull. Once it’s in there, it ain’t coming out.
“Invisible Man” grooves rather than thrashes, but again the tasteful backing keyboard adds nice accents and moods. Phillip kicks ass on this vocal, imbuing the song with melancholy power. Throw on a smoking solo by Mikael Johannesson and step back because this baby explodes! I can’t say who this song reminds me of. It has elements of lots of bands that I enjoy, from Sabbath to Whitesnake. But “Storm Clouds” is thrash metal, pure and simple. I can’t find a more appropriate tag. The Ghost’s slamming on it, while Mikael riffs away faster than I can headbang. The only thing unlike thrash metal is Phillip’s singing, always melodic. This is challenging, impressive stuff — maybe a bit too busy? It packs more into one song than most hard rock bands put into an entire side.
More Strange-like is “Never”, a powerful metal ballad. Phillip injects the song with the required angst and there’s even a hint of some bluesy slide guitar. A proper soft ballad ends the EP on a dramatic note. This song “Stay” couldn’t be more different from “Storm Clouds”, only two songs prior. Somehow it all works as a fairly cohesive EP. That’s the vocals of Phillip Strange holding it together, I think, tying the songs.
Evilyn Strange named this EP appropriately. They are evolving, as all bands must. That they took such a strong lean on old, classic thrash and metal influences was a delightful surprise to me. I didn’t see that one coming. But much like evolution in the biological world, old traits still remain. These are the memorable riffs, melodies and musical themes. What’s very interesting however is that Evilyn Strange have a full-length album coming later this year, and it’s entirely new material. Can we expect another evolution? I think it’s possible….
Check out Evilyn Strange at evilynstrange.co.uk, where you can buy this limited edition CD for a piddly £3.99. Click the link on their page if you prefer iTunes. Do what you need to get this in your ears!
BIG HOUSE – Big House (1991 BMG) Not to be confused with the country band also called Big House.
Big House hit the ground running out of Edmonton, Alberta in 1991, but it was hard to take them seriously at the time. The hair and headbands were pretty silly, and they had annoying song titles such as “Refuse 2 Run” and “Nothing Comes 4 Free”. I acknowledged they had a pretty cool single “Dollar in My Pocket (Pretty Things)”. This was lifted from a prior EP called Pretty Things, very hard to find. They also claimed to be former punk rockers. Drummer Sjor (pronounced Shore) Throndson once stated that the band used to have mohawks when they were teenagers, but shaved them off and had a change of musical direction. With that, the silly hair and the dumb name, it was pretty easy to ignore Big House.
Then a co-worker at the Record Store named Kam talked me into listening to it. The year was 2005 and my feelings quickly turned from indifference to delight. Big House, for all their flaws, were actually pretty good! Every song on this album has swagger. It doesn’t sound like a debut album at all, and perhaps that’s due to the experience of having done a prior EP. The band, and singer Jan Ek in particular, make this sound like a second or third album.
“Dollar in My Pocket” made for a good first single, but what a cheesey video. I still cringe at the 30 second mark, when Sjor glances flirtingly down towards his pants on the line, “I got a dollar in my pocket for you.” Fortunately, just a taste of their punk background shine through in the melodies, making this song a bit more unique than the crowd in 1991. Jan Ek has a good scream going on, and lungs of power. They had a knack for writing catchy guitar licks like the one in “Dollar in My Pocket”. The song is all about attitude, so “come along, you can have it if you want it, baby.”
The first chunk of the CD was top-loaded with singles. “All Nite” was a minor hit, a Motley-Poison mixture of rock thrills. Generic, but with that knack for melody once again, not to mention the leathery lungs of Jan Ek. Those two factors elevate the song beyond the morass of crap swimming in the seas of cheese in 1991. Another decent rocker, the Kiss-like “Refuse 2 Run” stays the course before you’re up for the next single, the ballad “Baby Doll”. Generic acoustic sentimental tacky stuff is this, but why do I like it? Maybe that quiet moaning slide guitar? Sounds a lot like Cinderella. Truthfully it’s not bad, but it’s really not that different from any of a hundred ballads. Thankfully “Can’t Cry Anymore” has some noisy guitar and plenty of attitude, especially in the punk rock blowout ending. Once again, it’s remarkable what a handle Big House had on writing great rock melodies. “Can’t Cry Anymore” is one of many on this disc.
“Devil’s Road” sounds like the opening of a second side, and a strong opening it is. “So make the music faster, for the spells we’re castin'” sings Jan Ek on the fine choruses. None of these songs are particularly fast, but they all rock in one way or another. For example “Nothing Comes 4 Free” is slow, but has a menacing vibe and the requisite hooks on the chorus. The closest they get to filler is “Happiness” but even that is not bad. It’s an unusual cross of pop melody with classic rock guitars — Cheap Trick meets Kiss, perhaps?
Final track “Angel on My Arm” is a celebratory tough little rocker, but the penultimate track “L.A.” is my favourite of them all. It seems Mr. Ek’s girl has left to go to L.A. and a be big movie star, and isn’t coming back. But then Jan gets a long distance call from L.A. It seems she mis-dialed and got Jan when she expected to get “Jack”. He responds incredulously, “Jack who?! Jack Palance? Jack Nicholson? Jack…Jack who?!” It’s great fun! Listen to that bouncy bass. That’s pop punk, baby. So are those unabashed “la-la-la-la” pop hooks. Just a killer, instantly likeable fun song is this. “I been drinkin’ with every damn girl in town,” sings Ek after the disappointing phone call. “If I seem a bit too forlorn, I’ve been loving her too long.” People, I’m serious: This song is a triumph of songwriting and execution. You are free to disagree, but all I know is that I have played this song on repeat countless times. In fact I’m doing it now. I’m already on spin #3 for this session.
Silly name and album cover aside, I suppose it all works as a package. It’s no wonder the band never made it big with a cover this horrible; imagine my shock when I saw that it was done by none other than Hugh Syme, master of many Rush records. And this faceless cover conceals within it one of the best hard rock albums of the era. Sadly that era died before Big House could make a second album, but let’s celebrate that we have this one. Just like we are glad for the first two Skid Row albums, or New Jersey by Bon Jovi, I’m happy now to have Big House in my, err, house.
2009 was an exciting time to be a Helix fan. 15-odd years of rotating lineups kept the band alive and in the clubs, but it was hard to grow attached to any band members when they only stayed for a couple years and were off elsewhere. Helix main man Brian Vollmer had always maintained strong ties with former members, and guys like Brent Doerner often showed up on albums, or in the audience at local Helix shows. It was still a surprise when Doerner, drummer Greg “Fritz” Hinz, and bassist Daryl Gray all returned to the Helix lineup. This completed the classic 80’s version of the band, or at least the surviving members thereof. Paul Hackman was killed in 1993 in a tragic auto accident. Replacing him in the lineup was Kaleb “Duckman” Duck, who had previously worked with Brent.
Vollmer was working on a new album (originally called It’s Rock Science, NOT Rocket Science!), writing with his partners Sean Kelly and Moe Berg (The Pursuit of Happiness). The final product entitled Vagabond Bones has a variety of different players on it. Former Helix members Brent “Ned” Niemi and Rob MacEachern play drums, and guitar maestro Kelly (also briefly a Helix member) contributed to guitar and bass. Also on the CD is Steve Georgakopoulos who played on a few past Helix albums. You’d think it would be a case of “too many cooks” in the kitchen. That’s not the case; Vollmer and Co. brewed a potent mixture of songs, with all the attitude and quality that you have come to expect from this band.
Immediately you’re hit over the head by the slick production work by Vollmer, Kelly and Aaron Murray. “The Animal Inside (Won’t Be Denied)” has the stamps of both Helix and Sean Kelly all over it, from the absurdly catchy chorus to the shredding solos. Vollmer sings powerfully, but his voice has so much depth character from years of training and road work. Very few singers from the 70’s still sound the same, but Brian Vollmer is damn close! “Go Hard or Go Home” has another powerful chorus, plus great catchy riff, and fun lyrics. “Go hard, or go home, take your little whiny candy ass and go.” Considering all that Helix has been through, Vollmer surely knows only the strong survive. “No short cuts, no sweet deals,” he sings and he knows it! The title track “Vagabond Bones” makes it three great songs in a row. It’s an instantly likeable good time hard rock boogie.
Helix really developed a knack for melody as they grew. One of the most pop moments is “Monday Morning Meltdown”, a song that Brian compared to Cheap Trick in terms of style. You can hear it in the choruses, but it’s just a great pop rock song with another great Sean Kelly riff holding down the fort. Very different for Helix, and very good.
Onto a fast vintage Van Halen style shuffle, “When The Bitter’s Got The Better Of You” is the fifth straight up great song in a row. It too is very different for Helix. It continues a theme of “down on your luck” songs, but always with a message to keep on givin’ ‘er. That holds true on “Hung Over But Still Hanging In”, a sleeze rock duet with Russ Dwarf of Killer Dwarfs. If you need a hard rocking party song, then this is what you want. It has the groove, the fun, and the lyrics so just hoist them wobbly-pops and rock on!
My personal favourite song has always been “Best Mistake I Never Made”. It has a classic 70’s rock aura, an acoustic guitar, and if I had to compare it to something else it would be Helix’s excellent 1992 single “That Day Is Gonna Come”. That’s a trip down memory lane that I don’t mind taking. “Make ‘Em Dance” is a fast stomper with a beat that strikes me as almost Disco. It just rages though, I wouldn’t try dancing to it until you want to break your neck!
Ending the album on a funky rock vibe is “Jack it Up”. This is a really interesting song, because I used to hate it. You may have to let it grow on you because, like much of this album, it’s forging new territory for Helix. It’s still great party rock, but just a little laid back.
With sharp production, Vagabond Bones was certainly the best sounding Helix album, and the best overall in many a year. And that’s saying something, because 2007’s The Power Of Rock And Roll was very, very strong. Hearing this album for the first time, I just smiled. I had to. Helix were back and pretty much better than ever.
Do you use social media? If so, you probably know the same sinking feeling that I do.
You wake up in the morning and open your Facebook and/or Twitter. Your feed is flooded with a certain musical artist. “This was my favourite song of theirs…”, or “I still remember the first time I heard them.”
I knew this morning was one of those days when I saw Sir George Martin’s face, and heard tons of his music, all over my social media. Another legend lost. This time we can say he lived a long, fruitful life. Sir George was 90.
Music writer Dale Sherman today highlighted that George Martin was the first real “modern” producer. It was he who learned to push the recording studio to the limits. He put his stamp on the songs, and was one of the first to do so. They called him the “Fifth Beatle” and I think that is very true. He was a collaborator, a teacher, and a genius. Of course, he produced so many more bands than just the Beatles, but who will he always be identified with? There is only one correct answer.
My personal favourite non-Beatles recording of his was Aerosmith’s cover of “Come Together”, and for the Beatles it would have to be “Tomorrow Never Knows”. “Tomorrow Never Knows” was the most brilliant thing the Beatles ever did, sounding as modern today as it did in 1966. Though it’s not the song that best represents the George/Beatles sound, I think this is their greatest achievement.
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