REVIEW: Budgie – Nightflight (1981)

BUDGIE – Nightflight (1981 Active Records)

I love this album. Nightflight sounds like the kind of music I was exposed to, when I was growing in Kitchener, Ontario in the early 80’s. I was surrounded by new and exciting music, thanks to stations like MuchMusic, and friends who would let me tape their records. If I had been aware of Budgie in the 80’s, I absolutely would have been a fan.

In their early days, similarly to Thin Lizzy, Budgie started out with a prototypical sound and eventually evolved into a more metallic beast. Nightflight is Budgie’s Thunder and Lightning, perhaps. It has that vibe, and it’s awesome. Of the records I own, this is my favourite Budgie album. Burke’s voice is as nasal as ever, in the best possible way.  The band has metamorphosed into something more mainstream metal, which still sounding like classic Budgie.  That anchoring bass, the unstoppable grooves, and the simple and smoking solos: it’s still there.

The opening track “I Turned To Stone” is a major highlight. It takes balls to open an album with a song this soft, but eventually the ballad-like tune transforms into an Iron Maiden-gallup with this killer off-kilter guitar solo.  “Keeping a Rendezvous” is more accessible; Budgie plundering hard rock with equal success.  The organ-infested “Reaper of the Glory” is a brief step back in quality.  It lacks the memorable melodies of the first two songs.

“She Used Me Up” kicks ass with a steady AC/DC beat and a choppy Priest-ly riff (circa Point of Entry).  “Don’t Lay Down and Die” continues this overall direction.  You can hear the organ once again, and the guitar solo is catchy as hell.  It is very much in an 80’s metal mold.

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My favourite track is “Apparatus”.  The lyrics are pretty strange, but this ballad is irresistible.  Burke’s earnest lead vocal is high pitched nasal perfection.  But if you didn’t like “Apparatus”, that’s OK because “Superstar” is likely to blow you away.  Budgie again stray into AC/DC territory.  This song anticipates Blow Up Your Video by several years.  Steve Williams keeps it simple on the drums and that’s what makes it cool.

The mid-tempo and melodic “Change Your Ways” is just as likable.  You’ll dig the gang-of-Burke lead vocal technique on the verses.  You have to admire a singer who has his own voice, and doesn’t resemble anyone else.  It’s easy to compare Burke to Geddy Lee, but that’s really not doing it justice.  Both singers have their own techniques.  Burke is more soulful.

“Untitled Lullaby” is pretty much what it sounds like it would be.  It’s one of Burke’s acoustic ditties, only 1:16 so really it’s just a coda.  It’s lovely and it ends the album on an upbeat note.  Nightflight is a short but enjoyable ride.

Upon review, I found seven of Nightflight‘s nine tracks to be indispensable to me.  Based on that math and rounding up:

4/5 stars

Sausagefest Hangover: LeBrain’s list and selected pics

The addition of live bands and open jams at Sausagefest has, in my opinion, revolutionized the whole weekend for the better.  The good news is this:  I recorded so much live footage and got so many great photos that I have more than enough to put together the best Sausagefest video yet.  The bad news is this:  I recorded so much live footage and got so many great photos that it is going to take me a while to edit it together.  Patience is the key.

In the meantime:  Here are some more selected photos from this excellent weekend, PLUS my entire list of songs that I voted for.  Ultimately this year we only did a Top 75 countdown compiled from all the votes.  When that is available I’ll post that too.

In the meantime:  THANK YOU to Jeff Woods (The Legends of Classic Rock), Craig Fee (107.5 Dave FM) and Ben Ward (Orange Goblin) for your contributions this year!  Above and beyond the call of duty.

LET’S ROCK!

1 Your Wife Is Calling Sound City Players
2 Billy Oxygen Helix
3 Wish I Could Be There Helix
4 Wishing Well Black Sabbath
5 Damaged Soul Black Sabbath
6 God of Thunder KISS
7 Pictures of Home Deep Purple
8 Vincent Price Deep Purple
9 The Storm Flying Colors
10 Kayla Flying Colors
11 Shoulda Woulda Coulda Flying Colors
12 Vincent Price Deep Purple
13 I Miss My Chick Brant Bjork
14 MidLife Crisis Faith No More
15 Millionaire QOTSA
16 In The Fade QOTSA
17 It’s Late Queen
18 Keep Yourself Alive Queen
19 Solitude Black Sabbath
20 So Tired Ozzy
21 Rainbow in the Dark Dio
22 Creatures of the Night KISS
23 War Machine KISS
24 Lights Out UFO
25 Mean Streets Van Halen
26 Take Your Whiskey Home Van Halen
27 Hear About It Later Van Halen
28 Dirty Movies Van Halen
29 Sinners Swing Van Halen
30 Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers ZZ Top
31 Hangover Max Webster
32 Blowing the Blues Away Max Webster
33 Gravity Max Webster
34 Masquerade Hibakusha
35 You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise Judas Priest
36 Delivering the Goods Judas Priest
37 Evil Fantasies Judas Priest
38 18 Alice Cooper
39 Dwight Fry Alice Cooper
40 Thunder in Rock Fist
41 Lay It On the Line Triumph
42 Hell Hole Spinal Tap
43 Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight Spinal Tap
44 Rock and Roll Creation Spinal Tap
45 Stonehenge Spinal Tap
46 Heavy Duty Spinal Tap
47 Big Bottom Spinal Tap
48 Cups and Cakes Spinal Tap
49 Gimme Some Money Spinal Tap
50 Listen To What the Flower People Say Spinal Tap
51 Bitch School Spinal Tap
52 The Majesty of Rock Spinal Tap
53 Break Like the Wind Spinal Tap
54 Stinkin’ Up the Great Outdoors Spinal Tap
55 Rock and Roll Nightmare Spinal Tap
56 Hush Deep Purple
57 Kill the King Rainbow
58 Long Live Rock and Roll Rainbow
59 Big Balls AC/DC
60 Dirty Deeds AC/DC
61 Ain’t No Fun Waiting Round to be a Millionaire AC/DC
62 There’s Gonna Be Some Rockin’ AC/DC
63 Squealer AC/DC
64 Ride On AC/DC
65 Fly on the Wall AC/DC
66 Danger AC/DC
67 It’s a Long Way to the Top AC/DC
68 Let There Be Rock AC/DC
69 Soul Stealer AC/DC
70 School Love Anvil
71 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down The Band
72 I Stole Your Love KISS
73 Cold Gin KISS
74 Firehouse KISS
75 Keep The Dogs Away Thor
76 The Right To Rock Keel
77 Hunger King Kobra
78 The Oath KISS
79 C’mon and Love Me KISS
80 Black Diamond KISS
81 Mr Speed KISS
82 Shock Me KISS
83 Hotter Than Hell KISS
84 Got to Choose KISS
85 Killer KISS
86 Rock and Roll Hell KISS
87 Rock Bottom KISS
88 What the Hell Have I Alice In Chains
89 No Excuses Alice In Chains
90 When You Wish Upon A Star Gene Simmons
91 San Quentin Johnny Cash
92 I Got Stripes Johnny Cash
93 I Hung My Head Johnny Cash
94 Orange Blossom Special Johnny Cash
95 Fool For Your Loving Whitesnake
96 Crying in the Rain Whitesnake
97 Come An’ Get It Whitesnake
98 Slow An’ Easy Whitesnake
99 Slide It In Whitesnake
100 Standing in the Shadow Whitesnake

REVIEW: Faith No More – The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection (2009)

FAITH NO MORE – The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection (2009 Rhino/Warner Music UK)

To coincide with their 2009 European reunion tour, some fine record executives (in the UK) decided to issue a new Faith No More hits CD — one of many since their 1998 breakup. It’s 2 CDs – one disc of “hits”, one of rarities. This one is billed the Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection, which is a heck of a title to live up to. Coming from the same band who issued a record called Album Of The Year, it’s hardly a surprise.

Much like Album Of The Year, this compilation is leaving me a little underwhelmed. Here’s why:

1. A very brief booklet lacking in information. For example I would have liked to know where each of the rare tracks came from.  There’s nothing like that.

2. No songs from the first album We Care A Lot (record label reasons?).

3. A limited selection of additional rarities.

In regards to point #3, there are 10 B-sides/rare tracks in all. As I mentioned in point #1, the booklet doesn’t tell you where they came from, only the year of release. I can tell you that tracks 1-6 on disc 2 are all Album Of The Year B-sides, which is unfortunate, because only two are really any good (“The World Is Yours” and “Hippie Jam Song”). I have no idea where two songs come from: “Sweet Emotion” (actually an early version of “Perfect Crime”) and “New Improved Song” (a pre-Patton version of “The Morning After” with Chuck Mosely on vocals).  All I know is that I didn’t own them before. The inclusion of “Das Schutzenfest” puzzles me here, as it’s not really all that rare. It’s from the easy to find Songs To Make Love To EP from 1993, the same album that “Easy” on disc 1 comes from. So why is one considered rare and one not?

Ironically, in this case it’s actually “Easy” that is a true rarity, and for surprising reasons. When I first listened to it, it sounded different, and I couldn’t put my finger on why. Then I realized, the horn section was completely absent. I am guessing this horn-less mix was included by accident (perhaps similar to how Deep Purple’s piano version of “Speed King” was included on a hits CD by accident). It’s not billed as an alternate mix, and parts definitely sound unfinished without the horns. My hunch is that someome grabbed the wrong tape box and nobody noticed.

“We Care A Lot” was re-recorded for Introduce Yourself and is included here.

As far as the actual “hits” disc goes, it’s not the one I would have put together myself. As mentioned, no songs from the first album are included, and the order of the songs is a little strange. Seven songs are included from Angel Dust (which is great) but perhaps one or two could have been chopped to make room for singles such as “Falling To Pieces” or “Anne’s Song”.  On the other hand, a song like “Evidence” from King For A Day makes up for it.

I enjoyed that a couple of oddball songs made the first CD.  “R’N’R” has always been a great album cut from Introduce Yourself.  It was one of the most aggressive, slamming tunes from a great album.  I wish there were more.   “Caffeine” from Angel Dust is another great non-single included here.   It’s absolute balls-to-the-wall insanity put to song.

For my money, I think Who Cares A Lot? Greatest Hits was actually a better compilation. It’s out of print now, but it did include songs from every album, an arguably more challenging tracklist, and some more varied rarities. If you can grab it, that would be my recommendation. If you can’t, get this, but realize there’s a lot more Faith No More out there to get into.

3.5/5 stars

DVD REVIEW: Fanboys (2009)

FANBOYS_0001FANBOYS (2009)
Directed by Kyle Newman

For what seemed like years, we waited…and waited…and waited…for what seemed like it could be the funniest movie ever made. Details trickled out. The trailer came long before the movie. And then when the movie itself finally arrived, that terribly familiar thud of disappointment sank in.

There are so many movies that do what Fanboys does, but so much better. Free Enterprise is a good example. Paul is another. It’s unfortunate that with a decent cast and great spoof material, they could not do better. At least the movie studio didn’t excise the cancer storyline as they wanted to, but what disappointed me was that the movie didn’t live up to the hype — cancer or no cancer, it’s weak.

Funny bits: I liked the Rush references, but they were done better in I Love You Man. I liked the Shatner cameo, but I liked it better in Free Enterprise. I liked Billy Dee Williams as “Judge Reinhold”, but come on…that Reinhold joke has been used twice before, on Arrested Development and Clerks: The Animated Series! I liked the Seth Rogen cameo(s), especially as the hapless Star Wars fan who thinks he’ll be the coolest guy ever by getting a full back tattoo of Jar Jar Binks. That was funny! Also cool was Ethan Suplee as Harry Knowles (Ain’t It Cool News).

Your story (such as it is): It is 1998. Linus has terminal cancer. He will not live long enough to see Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which he and his three friends have dreamed about since childhood. The plan: break into Skywalker Ranch, and steal it. Brilliant setup.

This sets into motion your typical road trip movie. Sidetracks into the desert, biker bars, being forced to strip, peyote…I’ve seen this all before: Beavis and Butthead and Detroit Rock City anyone? Take your favourite modern road trip movie and superimpose it over Fanboys. They are the same.

The movie ends with one funny but ominous line: “What if the movie sucks?” And it did, and after waiting this long, Fanboys didn’t fare much better.

2/5 stars

Sam Huntington … Eric
Chris Marquette … Linus
Dan Fogler … Hutch
Jay Baruchel … Windows
Kristen Bell … Zoe

Part 303: Marking Your Discs

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RECORD STORE TALES Part 303:  Marking Your Discs

In the 1990’s, stealing CDs and selling them to a pawn shop or a used CD store was a fairly common way for thieves to make some money.  Today I doubt it happens at the levels I saw in the 1990’s.  You just can’t get as much for a CD today, not even close.

I had seen too many people lose valuable music to theft, and never get the discs back.  I received many visits and phone calls from upset customers, hoping that someone had sold their stolen discs to me.  But a lot of thieves were too smart to sell them in town.  They’d go somewhere else to sell them, assuming that they’d be harder to catch then.   When somebody lost dozens of CDs in a break-in, they would call all the used stores in town.  “If you see a guy bringing in a huge collection of Jazz box sets, including about a dozen Miles Davis remasters, call me.”

It was always best if you could somehow identify your collection.  Jazz box sets and Miles remasters (for example) would be easy to spot.  If somebody else called and said, “Somebody stole all my rock CDs…I had Stone Temple Pilots, Korn, Creed, Days of the New…” well, there wasn’t much hope.  These are titles that we often saw, probably every single day.  If you could somehow mark the discs as your property, however…

Different people used different methods.  In 1995, I got a call from a guy who worked at the downtown Dr. Disc.  His collection had been stolen.  He marked his discs in a unique way.  He placed a strip of tinfoil underneath the CD tray.  If somebody came in to sell a hundred CDs and they all had tinfoil under the tray, there’s your guilty party.

Most people, who didn’t care about the packaging or condition of their discs so much, would just write their name inside.  Either on the booklet, the inner tray, or the front cover.  I could never deface my music like that, and neither could T-Rev.  He came up with his own method.  Rather than mark the CD packaging itself, he wrote his initials on a tiny red sticker, and placed that somewhere unobtrusively on the CD.  If he ever wanted to remove it, he could do so without wrecking anything.

Tom didn’t share our “no permanent marks” philosophy. He embossed the front covers of his discs with a press that imprinted his initials on the front cover.  Tom gave me a couple CDs once – his initials always bothered me.  When I had the chance to swap covers with a copy that was in better condition, I did.  Tom tells me he doesn’t emboss his CDs anymore.  I’m glad he came to his senses.

T-Rev and I both have had CDs stolen, unfortunately.  Both of us had our vehicles broken into.  T-Rev never recovered the handful of discs that were in his Jeep. (I remember that one was the excellent Barstool Prophets albums Last of the Big Game Hunters.)  They never showed up, anywhere in town.  As for me, I only lost one disc – Fish’s 1998 compilation Kettle of Fish, which was inside my Discman (also stolen).  They didn’t take the CD case.  I imagine they probably threw out the CD; chances are these thieves would not enjoy the subtle sounds of Derek William Dick.  At that time, the album was not available in Canada, and I believe I had to order it directly from the official Fish site in the UK to replace it.  That cost me about $30, to replace a CD that I originally paid $7.99 for.  That was not a good day.

 

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation (1994 CD, comic books)

Warning:  image heavy review!

LAST TEMPTATION_0001ALICE COOPER – The Last Temptation (1994)

When this album first came out, the local music geeks and I spent a lot of time discussing it. The foremost argument was, “What influence did grunge have on The Last Temptation?” While this is by no means a grunge album, I think there is a subtle grunge influence, and The Last Temptation is all the better for it.

The Last Temptation was heavier…more serious…more raw in production. These are all trends that grunge helped usher in. Alice had taken a bit of a slip, quality-wise, in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The Last Temptation was the album he needed to release in 1994.  While it was not a commercial success, it excited the long time fans.  It was the kind of thing we’d really missed from Alice, since the 1970’s.

The most obvious grunge influence is that Chris Cornell of Soundgarden wrote two songs and co-sings one. “Stolen Prayer”, the best song on the album, is Cornell’s, and his pipes have never sounded so good. Grunge forced a lot of hard rockers to drop the glossy production sheen of the 80’s, get serious a little bit on the lyrics, and write harder songs. This is evident in the world of Alice. This album spends a lot of time on the temptation of drugs, and while many rock fans might cringe at the idea of Alice delivering a “message” to us, this really is nothing new for our favourite masked rock star. He’s been serious before, on some of his finest moments in fact, but he always makes his messages fun to listen to and sing along with. West Side Story has always been a huge influence on Alice as fans know, and The Last Temptation is another album that shows this Broadway influence. “Bad Place Alone”, for example, has a chorus that sounds influenced by musicals.

LAST TEMPTATION_0007Alice is nothing if not ambitious. The Last Temptation was Alice’s first “true” concept album since DaDa in 1983. In fact there was a even three-part Neil Gaiman comic book available at the time to help flesh out the story. One edition of the CD came with issue #1.  Here you can find images from all three issues.

Marvel went all out on these comics.  The covers are hard stock, and the artwork inside by Michael Zulli is detailed and, at times, horrifying.  The colour palette evokes autumn (the story is set in October).  Even Alice himself appears as the Showman character, but the protagonist is (of course) Steven.  These comics were later reissued in a trade paperback, but all are affordable today, running at about $4 each.  The most desireable edition is probably the rare one that came backed with the CD:  issue #1, with a white border.

Musically, Alice is at the very top of his game here. Gone is the gloss. In fact, the opening track “Sideshow” sounds so much like the 70’s that you could swear it’s from the original Welcome To My Nightmare record. Awesome horn sections, great riff, killer lyrics; you’ll be singing this one for days after hearing it. “Nothing’s Free” rips off “Billion Dollar Babies” somewhat with the opening drum hook, but you won’t be complaining when you hear it. Most likely you’ll be pumping your fists to it. The first single “Lost In America” is a fast, tight rock song with insanely catchy lyrics, very different from a lot of stuff Alice had done in the 80’s.

The rest of the album is strong, with “It’s Me” being the sole ballad. “Stolen Prayer” is an absolute diamond.  Chris Cornell sings on the choruses with that classic, incredible 90’s Soundgarden voice.  Although the song is largely acoustic and mellow, the best word I can use for it is “epic”.  It’s a classic, and I believe that to be the reason that Alice used it to close his comprehensive box set, The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper.  (Cornell also wrote the track “Unholy War”, solely — even the lyrics, which Alice used without modification.)

Overall the direction of the album is dark and catchy, with great playing from the entire cast and Alice spitting out the words as only he can. The fact that most of these songs were played live on tour is a testament to the strength of the material and Alice’s confidence that he had made yet another classic album.

The Last Temptation is a record that is sadly unknown to many casual rock fans. However, anybody who loved Welcome To My Nightmare would be well advised to pick this up. They might find that Alice has built a musical time machine, an album that sounds timeless despite its 1994 release date. It may not be a grunge album, but I think we owe a thanks to the grunge movement for helping Alice make the strongest record he’d done since 1975.

What happens to Steven? You’ll just have to listen and find out.

5/5 stars