Happy Anniversary to my beautiful soul mate Jennifer. Every day gets better and better, and you look younger and younger! I don’t know how you do it. Meanwhile I’ve turned into a grey-bearded old man with a bad back and lactose intolerance, and you still keep me around! Must be love. It’s the only possibly explanation why you live in a house full of Transformers, CDs, and records.
The last six years have been the happiest of my life. Thank you for being the puzzle piece that was missing all that time.
Love you, sweetie. Here’s one of the songs we danced to six years ago, on the best day of my life.
MARK ST. JOHN – Magic Bullet Theory (2003 Loch Ness Monster Records)
Mark St. John (1956-2007) is best remembered as the lead guitarist on Kiss’ 1984 Animalize album. He was however much more than just a Kiss guitarist. His exotic shredding was the basis of an instrumental solo album, Magic Bullet Theory. Thanks Lemon Kurri for hooking me up with this CD.
“AWOL” blasts the doors open wide: high-octane tempo, high-speed shred, high-tech tricks. There are Yngwie-like moments, Van Halen harmonics but also enough melody and song structure to keep it interesting. Mark’s solos feature a number of different sounds and styles. Intricate flamenco and electric guitars open the title track “Magic Bullet Theory”. Then it turns into a melodic instrumental with lead guitar center stage. Next, out of left-field comes the jazz workout of “Bourbon Street”. This delicate number features non-stop jazz guitar shredding, full speed ahead, which some will find to be just too much to absorb. “Too many notes,” some might say. I am not one who would say that.
It’s back to instrumental heavy metal with “Slave Driver”, which reminds me of Yngwie’s “Leviathan”. “Utopian Trip” is more laid back, and I can hear mandolin on this one. Mark lays a blistering lead guitar line over the largely acoustic track. “Communicator” offers plenty more shred, perhaps resembling the high pitched screech of some 60’s sci-fi communication device. “Baghdad” has guitars that sound like air raid sirens, certainly appropriate given the title. But the song itself is Arabic is style, with a lot of very complicated acoustic guitars.
“Wait No More” is more melodic instrumental hard rock, but with complex rhythms and tricks aplenty. “Between the Lines” is ballad-like, with layers of shimmering guitars,until the song gives way to a nice rock riff. This is of course accentuated by plenty of lead and melody guitars. Finally “The Lone Gunman” closes the album on a heavy note. (Notice how this title ties in with “Magic Bullet Theory”.) The is a riffy track, which frankly the album could have used more of. It’s also the longest song on the album, and probably the most epic emotionally.
Although Magic Bullet Theory is not as song-oriented as I prefer instrumental albums to be, it has plenty of memorable moments and tracks. It certainly shows off the talent that Mark had, that the world doesn’t know enough about. Magic Bullet Theory comes recommended to all dyed-in-the-wool Kiss fans, and those who enjoy intelligent shreddery.
3/5 stars
…But wait, it’s not over! After a five minute silence is an unlisted classical guitar rough recording, melodically lovely and astonishingly fast! A nice coda.
What the hell? It’s not April 1. Are you on the wrong site?
Nope, it’s me, LeBrain. And today we’re going to be talking about a Snoop Lion movie. Snoop Lion, aka the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg.
It may surprise you to learn that Snoop Dogg/Lion entertains me. It was one of my old staff guys, Matty K, who exposed me to Snoop’s music. I enjoyed the humour in the lyrics and his smoove voice. He’s funny. And, let’s face it, who didn’t think he kicked ass as Huggy Bear in Starsky and Hutch?
Reincarnated is a documentary that chronicles Snoop’s transformation from gangsta to peaceful Rasta. This process included a visit to Jamaica, to record his first ever Reggae album (Reincarnated) with such talented artists as Bunny Wailer, Damien Marley and Stewart Copeland of The Police. (Snoop: “We got the drummer from The fuckin’ Po-lice!”) He also had the last surviving Wailer. The creative process of the album is observed, and it’s always fascinating to me, to watch songs evolve. Snoop’s singing voice does well with Reggae. He is a natural fit, and he had some damn good guidance there in Kingston.
Snoop discusses his early adult life as a pimp bluntly and honestly, but says that he wasn’t comfortable with that lifestyle and image any longer after his friend Tupac Shakur was killed. The night Tupac died is described in full detail; a heavy moment in the film. After this, Snoop decided on a change of lyrical direction, under the guidance of Master P of No Limits records. Louis Farrakhan became a guiding force to Snoop at this time, and Snoop was inspired by the Nation of Islam to clean up his act. The process of transformation led him to many moments of epiphany, but the death of his friend Nate Dogg in 2011 really hit him hard.
I won’t lie to you, there’s a shit-ton of weed in this movie. One memorable scene involves a trip up a mountain with some local Rastas (where they grow the herb) to smoke the herb. While climbing down the mountain, Snoop’s cousin falls down laughing, and can barely stand, having smoked so much. You will even see Bunny Wailer smoking a pipe made out of a carrot, I shit you not. It’s there, it’s part of it. If that’s not something you need to see, fair enough.
As fascinating, sincere and transformative the movie seems, I did wonder if Snoop has maintained his Rasta values and practices? Or if this too was a phase? In researching for this review I found that Bunny Wailer has since accused Snoop of “outright fraudulent use” of Rastafari. This issue comes up in the film itself in a segment with Bunny. He does not seem to like the commercialization of Rastafarian culture, through popular music, images and style. It seems that since the movie, he lumps Snoop into that category.
Be that as it may, I’m only going to review the film, regardless of that controversy. I enjoyed it, quite a bit actually, and I’m putting the album on my Amazon wishlist.
In 1996, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Juno Awards, a box set titled Oh What A Feeling was released. It was four CDs loaded to the gills with Canadian music, from all corners of the country and all styles of music. It was a great set and one which sold regularly in our stores. The original run of the set sold out briskly. We had a hard time keeping it in stock new, and a few years later, used copies were somewhat scarce. We sold it at a very reasonable price of $19.99, used.
We had one customer, who I never gave a name to except for “Eastern European Guy”. He had an accent and broken English so that worked for me. He pulled Oh What A Feeling off the shelves and asked to listen to it on one of our six crappy listening stations. I popped in all four CDs, handed him the headphones and remote, and left him to listen.
One thing that always pissed me off was people who constantly need help on the listening stations. It’s not hard. Volume controls were right there in front of you. The remote was like any remote that people would have had at home. People who couldn’t figure out how to skip tracks pissed me off. How do you listen to music at home? I didn’t get it.
Eastern European Man motioned with his hand for me to come over. “This song…there is a problem with it. Listen please.”
“Hey, I have an idea. Let’s stick the lead guitar player behind the bassist for this video.”
I placed the headphones on my head. It was track 1, disc one. “American Woman” by The Guess Who. I listened for a few seconds, nodded my head in approving time with the song, and removed the ‘phones.
“Sounds good. What problem are you having?” I asked as politely as I could manage.
“This song…there is strange sound. Listen again.”
I placed the headphones back on. Dah da da da da, dah da. American Woman, stay away from me-hee. Sounded fine. I heard no strange sounds. I told him I heard nothing unusual.
“There is a sound…ticking sound. Tick tick tick. Listen please.”
I put the phones on for the third time. Finally I got it. I heard the ticking. It was the cymbal.
“Oh, OK, I get it. Yeah, that’s not a defect. That’s the drummer playing cymbals.” I made a drumming motion to get my point across.
“No, no. There is ticking sound. Tick tick tick. This not right.”
I explained again, “I hear the ticking sound you’re talking about. It’s part of the song. It’s the drummer playing cymbals, it’s a percussion instrument, like this.” I made the drumming motions again.
“I not like. Can you order me other copy?”
Man, I freaking hated ordering shit in when I didn’t have to. There was nothing wrong with Oh What A Feeling. If I ordered in a copy, it would be coming from another store in our chain. We carried this item as a used item, but they were all going to be the same. When we brought in this item from another store, we wouldn’t make any money on it. The store that sent it to us gets the sale. So, even if he buys it which was not guaranteed since the next copy would have the same tick tick tick, I would be losing the sale.
He insisted. I ordered in the box set, we called him, and inexplicably, he bought the new one even though they were identical. He never even returned it, which I completely expected.
Later on, the same man came in and picked out Bruce Dickinson’s album Balls To Picasso to listen to. Once again, I brought him over to the listening stations, and left him to listen. Once again, he signaled me over with a hand gesture. I made my way to home wondering what the hell could be wrong this time.
“Did you put in correct CD? I know this singer. This is…not him.”
I put on the headphones and turned it up. It was Bruce singing “Cyclops”, track one.
“This is the right CD. This is Bruce Dickinson,” I told him.
Puzzled, the man said, “He changed his style!” Well, win some lose some man. I left him to listen once again. I got back to my work, I had lots of customers to deal with that day. About 10 minutes later, he motioned me over once again.
“The player…it not working.” This happened quite frequently. Our stuff was used and abused by the lowest scum and passersby who needed to kill 10 minutes while they waited for the bus. Tire kickers. They like to try things, but not to buy things. Eastern European Man was not one of these, he did buy things. However our stuff took a lot of abuse from others and was always on the verge of failure.
Attempting to joke around with him, I put on a happy voice and said, “Oh, did you break it man?”
Not understanding the humour, he answered, “Ehhh…perhaps.”
He bought the disc. After a while, I never saw him again. It’s funny. You dread people like this coming into your store, and you having to wait on them hand on foot when they want to listen to something. You hate them constantly signaling you over when you’re busy with other customers. But, then you miss them. You miss that eastern European accent because hey, he might have been annoying but at least he wasn’t a dick, and he did buy things. He might have treated you like a servant to him, but technically that’s what you were. You might have been a manager but to these guy you’re serving them, and they’re the customer, and that’s it, and I don’t begrudge it anymore.
But what happened to him? Did he return to Eastern Europe? Did he go online and start listening and downloading there? Who knows. After all, I never caught his name. He was just Eastern European Man.
A World With Heroes EP – A KISS Tribute for Cancer Care(Anniversary release)
You’ve heard me talking a lot about this one lately. It’s a release I’m really excited about. The record shows that I heartily approved of last year’s A World With Heroes (A Kiss Tribute for Cancer Care), assembled by Mitch Lafon. Proceeds went to benefit the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Palliative Care Residence in Hudson, Quebec. And it was a killer, killer CD as my 5/5 star rating attested to. To hear there was an EP coming featuring more Kiss covers, that peaked my interest. Lafon always makes sure that there are quality tunes, performed by artists we care about.
The Killer Dwarfs do “C’mon and Love Me” just right. I like that Russ Dwarf throws in some of Gene’s mannerisms in the chorus, but also sings it in his own voice. If you like Killer Dwarfs and Kiss, you will love this, guaranteed. Once again, the A World With Heroes series has delivered a solid Kiss cover that is valuable to fans.
“Calling Dr. Love” as performed by Crash Kelly is a real rarity. You had to pre-donate to the original compilation CD to get an mp3 of it. Now you can buy it on the EP. They turn in a fun version of “Dr. Love”. They make it a bit more pop rock in feel, and Sean Kelly absolutely nails Ace’s solo note for note. It’s uncanny. We all know Sean is a talented axeman, but that solo was flawless.
“Save Your Love” is an awesome Ace song, but Matt Bradshaw’s take on it is unique to say the least. He transforms it into a funky acoustic ballad. But it works! I was prepared to hate it but was pleasantly surprised. It’s bizarre how the song completely works in this format. This is an example of an intelligent, innovative cover — something that is rare these days. Brilliant cover. Seriously.
“Every Time I Look at You” was originally from the Revenge album. Some fans assume that Bruce Kulick played the guitar solo, but it was in fact Bob Ezrin’s old pal, Dick Wagner. Dick Wagner passed away recently, at age 71. This was his last song ever, which makes his version of this song that much more poignant. His quavering voice speaks of the years past, but much like a late period Johnny Cash album, it only adds character to the song. He sounds like a cross between Bob Dylan and Keith Richards. The guitar work is lovely of course.
The Dwarfs return with “Nothin’ to Lose” from the first album. Once again Russ nails the Gene mannerisms, while still sounding like Russ Dwarf. This one is replete with piano and cowbell (Piano is by Bruce Stephen Foster, who also played on the Kiss original!). I gotta be honest with you, I like the idea of the Dwarfs covering Kiss songs. They can do more if they want. They’re allowed.
Sudden Flames are a metal band from Quebec City. They heavy up “Coming Home” considerably. It’s one of my favourite Kiss songs ever, so it’s kind of funny to hear it with drums blasting away like this. Like “Dr. Love”, this song was only available to those who donated in advance to the original CD. Now you can get it on iTunes too. I enjoy hearing their Québécois accents, truly one of the greatest accents on this Earth.
When The Cult finally reunited, the rock world rejoiced. It felt like a long time, in that post-grunge wasteland, since the world had been blessed with any new Cult music. Not only had they reunited (with their former drummer Matt Sorum, also formerly of Guns N’ Roses) but they had also reunited with producer Bob Rock, for the third time. Much like his last outing with the band (1994’s The Cult), this Cult album sounds like none before it. This time, The Cult have gone full-bore ground-shaking heavy metal. The template was a song the old band were working on before they split “In the Clouds”, from 1996’s High Octane Cult. The resemblance is uncanny.
“War (The Process)” invites you to the stage. Its weight is astounding; Duffy’s guitars crushing while Sorum attacks his kit as he always has. Duffy’s guitars have acquired a much heavier metallic tone. Bob Rock applies them in layers, which has always worked well for The Cult. When “The Saint” enters, your head could be blown from your shoulders. This is The Cult at their heaviest, but Billy’s melodic sensibilities are intact, and his guitars always sound like Billy Duffy. Ian, of course, sounds like Ian, howling at the ghosts.
The single from this album was “Rise”, which is no less brutal than the first two tracks. Its stuttering de-tuned riff recalls Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age. Song after song, the album crushes. “Take the Power” is a rallying crying over a noisy Duffy arrangement. This time, the layers of guitars form this wall of awesome that threatens to fall on you at any moment. Astbury is delivering a lot more melody with his lead vocals than he did on The Cult.
“Breathe” offers a respite, but it’s only brief. It soon turns into a mid-tempo groove rocker, but a forgettable one. “Nico” is a highlight, an “Edie”-esque beauty. It would have been my choice for a single. Somebody should really start asking me.
No sooner have you had a chance to relax before “American Gothic” smashes through the wall. This is one of the heaviest Cult songs to date. Cult bassist Chris Wyse (back in the band today) has a solid groove but is overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the Duffy guitar layers. “Ashes and Ghosts” too is groove laden and heavy as plutonium. “Shape the Sky” has a little bit of the old Cult’s prowl, but it’s still pretty heavy like spent nuclear fuel. Ian has a knack for a cool chorus, and this is one of them. “Speed of Light” has a bit of that robotic pulse from 1993’s “The Witch” before it descends into a detuned metal riff and chorus. Then, “True Believers” gives you some breathing room again, although still slammed by electric guitars. This slow tune is a bit more about the melody than the headache.
The final song on most editions of Beyond Good and Evil is “My Bridges Burn”. The Cult bow out on a scorching rocker, blowing the speakers out for those who dare to follow them. Australia received an additional song, “Libertine”, on which to close. This song feels like a coda and is powered by an Anthrax-esque stomp. Top that with a soaring Astbury howl and those patented Duffy guitar melodies and you have a good summation of The Cult 2001.
I think many old-school Cult fans, the kind who think they made a wrong turn on Sonic Temple, would dislike Beyond Good and Evil. For those of us who don’t mind the Cult when they just fucking rock, I think it’s a brilliant album. The songs are not designed to be instantly catchy. They are designed to create a sledgehammer of an album that relentlessly powers its way into your soul. For me, it worked. You could listen to it once and say, “Sure, it’s heavy, but there are only a couple memorable songs.” Keep listening. Let Beyond Good and Evil pummel you with body blows until all you can do is let it sink in.
First of a CULT double shot! Come back tomorrow for another!
THE CULT – The Cult (1994 Universal)
This is an ugly album. Even though a 1989 MuchMusic interview with Billy Duffy revealed The Cult would most likely not work with Bob Rock again, they did indeed re-team with the Canadian producer on 1994’s The Cult. Duffy didn’t think the magic of Sonic Temple was something that could be repeated, based on the less than satisfactory (to him) results of working with producer Steve Brown twice. On The Cult, however, no attempt was made in any way to recapture any sound or era. This was brand new from the womb of 1994, and sounds very dated to that dark time.
The twisted “Gone”, unorthodox and sparse, was a shock to the system. Once the listener gets his or her bearings, it’s actually a great fucking song. Just a little off-kilter; enough to sound as if it’s not being played right. It’s a whole new side to The Cult. I wonder how much of this has to do with the new lineup, including bassist Craig Adams (The Sisters of Mercy/The Mission) and drummer Scott Garrett (Dag Nasty). Ian Astbury’s delivery was also quite different. Rather than simply howling those patented Astbury melodies, Ian barks, whispers and bellows.
“Coming Down (Drug Tongue)” was the first single, very different from the hits from the past two or three albums. It had a droning, U2-ish vibe. It’s quite a good song, but it wasn’t love at first listen. “Real Grrrl” has a slower sway to it, and there is a lot to like about the song. It’s interesting to hear Bob Rock using open space a lot more in his production; this is right after the supersaturated Motley Crue album. Much of the instrumentation is very dry, but then there are Bob Rock trademarks, such as the Scott Humphrey synth on “Real Grrrl.”
Sounding much like a Superunknown (the softer side thereof) outtake, “Black Sun” is dark and quiet. Ian sings of abuse. The band back him with the barest of instrumentation, before the Billy Duffy solo around 3:20. It is impossible to ignore the similarities to all the grunge bands of the time. The basic, stripped down guitar parts and rhythm-driven arrangements speak of the time.
There are few standouts on The Cult. The album is more cerebral than past Cult albums, and is more about its overall direction than individual songs. The aforementioned tracks are all great, as are a few others. They include “Star” (also a single) which is a song that was re-worked many times going back to Sonic Temple. Previously, it had been known as “Tom Petty” and “Star Child”, and can be found in both forms on the expansive Rare Cult box set. It is one of the few songs that slightly resemble “old Cult”. “Be Free” was a single (in Canada at least) given away with a case of beer. How Canadian, eh? (I sold mine on eBay for $10). It too is a pretty good song. Then there’s “Sacred Life”, a somber ballad naming Abbie Hoffman, River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain as painful losses to the world. Album closer “Saints Are Down” is a powerful epic, and also a standout.
The Cult broke up/went on hiatus after this album. They reunited in 1999 (with Matt Sorum on drums) and released a new song called “Painted on the Sun” written by Diane Warren (!!) from the Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack. This was followed by the excellent Beyond Good and Evil CD, also produced by Bob Rock. This self-titled departure remained just that, as The Cult went full-bore metal on Beyond Good and Evil. This album is an experiment that went unrepeated, and that is fine. I like it for what it is, but I don’t need another.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m getting closer to the end of the line with the Record Store Tales. These are some bits and pieces I had lying around that I never managed to make full stories out of. Below are four memorable characters from the Record Store days. It’s funny how even 20 years have gone by in some cases and I still remember these customers.
1. Richard the Indian. I don’t like making racial jokes, but Richard the Indian (nickname applied by himself) liked to make them, and always about himself! Richard had a First Nations Status card, which he had to present to us to be exempt from the Provincial Sales Tax. He used to joke at the front counter about his barely-working Discman: “This Discman must have been made by Indians, it already broke!” He was a nice guy, but I always felt like I couldn’t laugh at that joke! You know what I mean?
2. “Oops There It Is” Kid. This kid came in every week for a year, looking for the song “Whoomp! (There It Is)” by Tag Team (except he couldn’t say the name right). Being a kid, he wasn’t allowed to spend money, so he could never buy one of the albums we had. Then one day, we got in a whole bunch of cassette singles on clearance, including “Whoomp! (There It Is)”. It was a buck or two. You should have seen his eyes when we finally got a copy in that his mom would let him buy! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a happier kid.
3. Hammond Organ Man. I think this may be the same customer that I referred to as Jaded Rock Guy. The reason he was also known as Hammond Organ Man was that he refused to believe that one of our store managers even knew what a Hammond organ was (even though she did). I don’t know why that’s so hard to believe.
4. Johnny. This guy was a burn-out from my old highschool. He was in the same class as the store owner. In mid ’94 he was always coming in asking, “When is the new Cult out?” We hadn’t seen any release dates at all, but every week he asked the same question. “When will the new Cult be out?” Finally my boss answered him, “Next week,” just to see what Johnny would say. His eyes went wide. “Really? Can you hold one for me?” My boss told him he was just kidding, but he stopped asking about the new Cult album. Then when it finally came out in October ‘94, he hated it! He bought it from me new and sold it to me used.
I have been challenged for the #ALS #IceBucketCompetition. SARCA from Caught Me Gaming has passed the baton to me and 3 members of the “Cupface Crew”. Rock fans know that ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) afflicts the genius musician Jason Becker. The above isn’t my attempt, just a simulation on what my attempt may look like!
The idea isn’t to dump a bucket of ice water on your head. The idea is you donate $10 to an ALS fund (I chose ALS Society of Canada), dump a bucket of ice on your head, and challenge three more to do the same. (I have already selected my victims.) I don’t personally know someone affected by ALS, but I do so hate the neurological diseases with a passion. Like many others, for my video I will also add my own LeBrain twist. Stay tuned!
Hundreds of celebrities have already done the challenge, so here’s a video of Kiss’ and Def Leppard’s attempt! They were challenged by Motley Crue.
GUNS N’ ROSES – “The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993 Geffen)
The hype surrounding this album was palpable. The disappointment was legendary. When I began working in a record store in July 1994, less than a year after the release of “The Spaghetti Incident?”, we couldn’t give these away, no matter how low we marked them down. This disc effectively ended Guns N’ Roses domination and ushered in an era of a new wave of bands, the post-grunge onslaught. GN’R survived grunge only to be put to bed with this terrible album!
The reason is, while most of these songs are great in their own rights, these versions are not. The recording is sparse and basic, a far cry from the layered intricacy of the Illusions albums. While Slash’s goal was to get the production back to basics (read: Appetite), this album was an ugly beast and not even close to the shiny black gleam of Destruction. Some songs are just plain boring. “Since I Don’t Have You” was an odd choice for a single, and “Black Leather” just plain sucked. I think there were quite a few fans who were baffled by the number of Duff lead vocals too.
The best song (which wasn’t even recorded by GN’R), is Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory”. This is actually a Duff McKagan solo track, an outtake recorded for his first solo album, Believe In Me. Other standouts include Axl’s raging “I Don’t Care About You”, Duff’s “Attitude”, and “Down On The Farm” which had been played live way way back when Izzy was still in the band. A lot of fans were off-put by Axl’s faux-English accent on “Down On The Farm”, but that’s the way it was played live and I don’t mind. The New York Dolls’ “Human Being” is a great Guns cover. “Ain’t It Fun” is also an angry standout.
Nazareth’s “Hair of the Dog” is underwhelming although Axl does nail the lead vocal. Why GN’R covered a Soundgarden song (“Big Dumb Sex”) is beyond me, and of course there’s the worst track on the album, and most legendary — Charles Manson’s “Look At Your Game, Girl”. Axl’s obsession with Manson was just another nail in the coffin for GN’R, as most fans couldn’t wrap their heads around it. It didn’t help that Slash publicly said that the song “sucked” and that he refused to play on it.*
“The Spaghetti Incident?” will go down in history as the last music of the Illusions sessions to be released, and also is the only album of the Rose/Slash/McKagan/Sorum/Clarke/Reed lineup. By the time Guns N’ Roses released their next single (another cover, the Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil”), Gilby Clarke was fired by Axl and replaced by Axl’s hometown bud Paul Huge. And that was the last straw for Slash, and the beginning of what would later be known as Chinese Democracy. And that was it. “The Spaghetti Incident?” is the last album to feature Slash, Duff, and Matt, and I think that is just sad and kind of weird too.
If you love Guns N’ Roses, then you already have this, because you have everything by the band. If you only “like” Guns N’ Roses, you don’t need this. You’ll play it a few times and then file it away, never to be heard again.
mikeladano.com 