I had forgotten completely about this. It turns out that even before LeBrain was LeBrain, my old record store customers were calling me to pick my (le)brain about everything rock. I found this in my journal:
Date: 2004/08/03 15:34
A dude just called me specifically to hear a “60 second review” of Alice Cooper’s Muscle Of Love record. This is so awesome… I did a damn good 60 second review, too!
I wish I had recorded what I said for my 60 second review, but it probably would have went something like this: “Great album, not as great as the previous four with the original band, but still pretty awesome. Lots of lesser known classics on there, like ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ and ‘Teenage Lament’. A little more basic rock, a little less elaborate than Billion Dollar Babies or School’s Out, because this is the one that Ezrin didn’t produce.”
Working at the record store was a near-intolerable daily grind, but something like this would have made it all worthwhile. I’m glad I recorded it!
KISS – Kissin’ Time in San Fransisco (1974 or 1975 bootleg , Black Diamond Records 1994)
Early Kiss, live Kiss at least, was the best! They were young hungry punks, a garage band in makeup and heels, playing with an intensity that they never equaled even on later triumphs like Kiss Alive! or Love Gun. It was a ferocity on stage, made doubly impressive when you remember that they were weighed down by those costumes.
This widely available bootleg recording showcases exactly what early Kiss was about. Recorded shortly after the release of their second album, Hotter Than Hell, it actually sounds pretty good for 1974 or 75. You may be familiar with some of these recordings. “Deuce” for example was on the Kiss eXposed video. “Parasite” was later made available on the Kiss My Ass VHS and DVD.
What’s astounding here is just how good Peter Criss used to be. I don’t mean technically. I mean in that way that a good rock drummer just slams you in the guts and doesn’t let up. Peter Criss plays like a savage. The two best moments are “Watchin’ You” and “Parasite”. He absolutely demolishes his kit, he’s relentless, and it’s so damn fun to listen to him, young and powerful, laying waste.
Gene’s bass is very loud in the mix, and while Gene was also no virtuoso, it’s nice to hear his compositional abilities on bass. Especially in early Kiss, Gene wrote and played some very cool basslines, melodic and solid. It’s a side of Kiss that is often ignored by the critics. Gene was heavily influenced by bands like Cream and I think you can hear that.
The setlist is pretty standard, with every song later getting showcased on the aforementioned Kiss Alive! These versions are without the spit n’ polish that Eddie Kramer put on that disc, live as it was on that night. In a lot of ways, I prefer these versions. What they lack in audio fidelity, they make up for in sheer adrenaline and barbarism. Paul’s as confident as ever on stage. His stage raps are fully-formed and cocky. His “Do you believe in rock and roll?” rap is present on “100,000 Years”, with Peter Criss hammering out a consistently tribal backdrop.
The CD is padded out by a bunch of unrelated (and often misspelled) bonus tracks. “A World Without Heros” is an instrument demo from The Elder, widely circulated. So is “The Difference Between Men & Boys”, which can be found under different names. “Young and Wasted” is a Lick It Up demo (not from 1971 as stated on the back, who are we kidding?). Lastly, “(We Want To) Shout It Out Loud” is from the Wicked Lester album.
Shot on 70’s film stock to give it that saturated vintage look, and loaded with great original music, Black Dynamite is a treat. It looks authentically 70’s, but it’s not for everybody. Some will look at the poorly focused camera work, the shoddy stunts, the bad dialogue, and the rubber baseball bats and turn it off immediately. Others will “get it” and appreciate this for what it is: A skillfully directed spoof movie that actually works!
Plus, the music is pure funky goodness and nothing but. You’d think it was entirely vintage, from the 1970’s. Nuh-uh, brother. This funky masterwork is all new, dig? Composer Adrian Younge wrote and played nearly every instrument on this soundtrack.
Michael Jai White came up with the look and concept of the title character, Black Dynamite. It cleverly spoofs 70’s blaxploitation and kung-fu films, with built-in defects such as visible boom mikes and actors that are clearly reading their lines off cue cards (including the character names). You’ll see the same car blow up more than once. There’s one character that speaks only in rhymes. This movie comes off so authentic that some people actually think it’s a low budget 70’s film.
Black Dynamite, a former CIA agent who’s seen action in ‘Nam, hits the streets to find out who killed his brother. This takes him face to face with a drug dealing gang lead by Rafelli (Mike Starr), and some kung-fu treachery that goes all the way to the top. Black Dynamite is the toughest cat in town, a kung fu expert and smooth with the ladies. Yet he’s not all bad — he’s got a soft spot for orphans, and a vendetta against drug dealers.
As the movie progresses, it gets more and more absurd. Starting off as a street vigilante story, it eventually escalates to conspiracy and a deadly encounter on Kung Fu Island. By the time it gets to the climax, we are at a level of absurdity unrivaled by the worst action films, except it’s all intentional. Tie this in with some pretty awesome fighting moves by White, and some infinitely quotable dialogue, and you have a movie that you will watch over and over again.
Black Dynamite, as a movie, just works. It is an homage more than a spoof, and obvious love for the genre was poured into the film. At various times it feels like a legitimate 70’s blaxploitation film, at others you’re laughing your face off. As mentioned, it gets more and more bizarre as it goes along, so hang on tight.
Blu-ray extras are sparse, but valuable if you don’t know a lot about this genre. It will give you some insight if you’re unfamiliar with those 70’s classic B-movies. Clearly, Michael Jai White and co. did this lovingly. One of my favourite features is the hilarious trailer featuring fake names for all the actors. “Starring all-star running-back Ferrante Jones.” Love it.
WHITESNAKE – Slide It In (EMI, UK, US mixes, 25th Anniversary Edition)
Slide It In is a great album. I’m very partial to Come An’ Get It, but perhaps Slide It In truly is their best. The production (on the US mix) is absolutely perfect, with Cozy’s drums sounding like drums should sound! Big and loud with lots of emphasis on those rat-tat-tat-tat drum fills of his that I love so much. I personally love 9 of its 10 tracks, only “Gambler” being not my cup of tea. Strangely, the new CD edition opens with “Gambler”. I remember my original cassette opened with the title track!
I was very disappointed with the 25th Anniversary edition of Slide It In. It seems hastily thrown together with not much thought given to collectors nor to continuity. 2 tracks are missing from the UK version of Slide It In! (“Love Ain’t No Stranger” – a single, no less – and “Hungry For Love”). They also talk about the UK mix of B-side “Need Your Love So Bad”, but don’t include it. Instead, they give you the version from the “Is This Love” single, from 1987, which has no place on this reissue. Why isn’t it on the deluxe of Whitesnake 1987? I don’t know!
The missing tracks kind of pissed me off. I had hoped to acquire, in one purchase both classic mixes of the album. Instead, I still hunted for and bought the UK version of Slide It In for two freakin’ missing songs. And then to top it off, a live acoustic version of “Love Ain’t No Stranger” from 1997 was included on the deluxe, taking up space that could have been used on missing songs from the period. This unrelated live version is already available on the live album Starkers In Tokyo.
Anyway, Slide It In. What a great album. Jon Lord, Cozy Powell, you just can’t go wrong! My buddy Rob Vuckovich said, “The final album showcasing Coverdale as a singer…not a screamer. Remember when he went solo after breaking up with Purple? I believe he said something to the effect that he did not want to scream his balls off…strange…listen to him from 1987 and onwards.”
Certainly, Slide It In contains some of Coverdale’s most passionate, powerful vocalizing. Just listen to the amazing not-ballad “Love Ain’t No Stranger”. I know, technically, audible breathing is not considered professional singing. But Coverdale uses it as part of his expression.
The title track is just an incredible rock song with hints of blues, catchy and powerful, if a tad dirty! “Slow An’ Easy” is the album’s six minute centerpiece. That slide guitar riff…oh man! So perfect. Just perfect. All this is punctuated by Cozy’s tastefully perfect drum fills. This was the album that turned me onto Cozy as a drummer. He immediately became a favourite, largely thanks to “Slow An’ Easy”.
As mentioned, “Love Ain’t No Stranger” is another incredible song, a not-ballad with a soaring chorus and mellow,impassioned verses. This is certainly one of the best songs David has written, and he’s written plenty of them. But it’s the only slow moment on Slide It In. This album kicks.
“Spit It Out” (oh, dirty David!), “Give Me More Time”, and “Guilty of Love” are other standouts. I really like “Guilty of Love”, a fast paced fun rocker, with a riff to kill. Just listen to Cozy’s drums! And let’s not forget the classic “Standing In the Shadow”, a song that David later re-recorded in 1987 for the 12″ single “Is This Love”. As with most remakes, the original is superior.
The version of Slide It In that I grew up with and loved most of my life was the remix, the US version. The 25th Anniversary deluxe edition contains this version, and the 8 tracks from the original UK mix.
What’s the difference then? Slide It In was released in the UK with the Whitesnake lineup of David Coverdale and his cohorts Jon Lord (keys), the aforementioned Cozy Powell, Colin Hodgkinson on bass, and guitarists Mel Galley and Mickey Moody. They recorded and released the original version of Slide It In, which came out sounding a little flatter, to my ears. Within a short while Mickey Moody had left the band and been replaced by the more flashy and modern John Sykes, from Thin Lizzy. Hodgkinson was fired and replaced by Neil Murray, who was already a Whitesnake veteran from a previous tenure. Jon Lord went off to rejoin Deep Purple, so Bill Cuomo added more keyboards With Sykes and Murray, much of Slide It In was re-recorded, adding more guitar solos. The album was remixed and released as such in the US to tremendous success.The addition of Sykes’ trademark squeals and a fresh mix made a good but “just another Whitesnake album” into a great and important one, at least for this genre and this band.
I prefer the harder edged US version, but they both have their merits. Different solos can be found on the two versions, and fans of 1970’s Whitesnake may prefer the UK mix. Regardless, from that unstoppable slide guitar on “Slow An’ Easy” to the awesome blue-rock-balladry of “Love Ain’t No Stranger”, this is a great album. Even the quiet, soulful B-side “Need Your Love So Bad” is album quality. It just wouldn’t have fit on a record this rockin’.
The DVD is fine, all the music videos and a few live tracks from the era are included. However, once again…a live version of “Love Ain’t No Stranger”, this one from one of the ‘Snake tours in the 2000’s, and also the Starkers version. Why? I don’t know.
Why not just release a simple 2 CD set with both versions of the album remastered? I don’t know.
The remastering is good otherwise, the liner notes are great, revealing the inner tensions and goings-on with Whitesnake of the time.
Slide It In – standard US version: 4.5/5 stars
Slide It In – 25th Anniversary Edition: 2/5 stars for leaving off two original UK tracks in favour of later content
Slide It In – standard UK version: 3.75/5 stars – the US remix really kicks the songs in the pants!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 173: Gene Simmons’ Asylum Demos
Back in 1994-95, when I was working at our original store, I would always proudly fly the Kiss flag. This was before the mega reunion, and on the heels of the Revenge album, which I was really into.
I had a small online presence back then, I had created our very first online ads in 1994. I was talking about music on every single BBS (Bulletin Board System) in the area, and on one board, called Wanderer’s Rest, I had a forum for my reviews. I was going by the online name “Geddy” (hah!) back then, and I was extremely prolific. Very little has changed since!
One guy, name long forgotten, messaged me. “Hey, I’m a customer at your store. I have some rare Kiss demos. Do you want to do a tape swap?” Of course I did. For him, I made a copy of the March 25 1974 show in Washington at the Bayou club. It was a cool show because they played an unreleased song called “You’re Much Too Young”.
For me, he made a tape of Gene’s Asylum demos, on one of our Maxell UR60’s that we sold in our store. Gene is a very prolific songwriter. Not everything he comes up with is gold (clearly!) but he usually submitted a dozen tunes or more for consideration on each album. Judging by this cassette, Asylum was no exception, even though he was very distracted by Hollywood at that time.
The tape, which unfortunately did not survive the years very well at all, contains 13 of Gene’s demos, 3 being instrumental ideas, and a bonus track. A couple songs made the final album. I tried to listen to the tape, to see if I recognized any ideas. Unfortunately, this tape now sounds terrible and is unlistenable. I ripped only one song, which was “Russian Roulette”, to see if it resembled the version that later ended up on 2009’s Sonic Boom album. From what I can tell, only the title survived to Sonic Boom.
Musically however, the song was recycled on the Monster album, as “Eat Your Heart Out”! It’s the same riff. Although you can’t make out the lyrics on the demo version at all, you can tell they are completely different.
See the pictures below for the tape made for me by the Mystery Kiss Fan back in ’94-95. If you know any of these Gene songs, please comment below! We can hope that good quality versions will come out on Gene’s “Monster” box set, if it ever comes out!
QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS – “Fire and Water” (The Cosmos Rocks Amazon.com bonus track, 2008)
When I reviewed the full album, The Cosmos Rocks, I was frustratingly missing one song: “Fire and Water”, their Free cover only available by download on Amazon.com. The reason I was missing it, is that Amazon.com tracks can only be downloaded by people living in the United States. I don’t know if they can tell by your IP address, or by where your credit card is registered, but only Americans can download this track. I’d tried to acquire it via the dark recesses of the internet, but no such luck.
Aaron, being the good chap that he is, offered to ask his brother in law in the United States if he could help. Unfortunately, this song being an Amazon exclusive, of course you have to buy the whole album to get the one track. Anyway, Aaron’s bro in law was a good soul too, and did me that favour, sending me the track.
Am I a sucker for buying the whole album again for one song? Let’s not get into that. I’ve paid more for less in the past. It was a quest long completed and that’s what matters to me.
“Fire and Water” is of course a cover of Paul’s classic Free song, written by Rodgers and Andy Fraser. Unfortunately, Amazon didn’t advertise that this was a live cover. I had assumed that, like the iTunes bonus track “Runaway” (a Del Shannon cover) that this was a studio version. It is not.
This being a download, there are of course no liner notes, no way to tell where this song was recorded or when. I’m working on the assumption that it was probably recorded at the same concert as the live iTunes bonus track, “The Show Must Go On”, which was the Super Live in Japan concert.
Anyway, I have it now. And of course it’s great. “Fire and Water” is a classic song, and I believe that Brian May does the guitar work total justice. It’s a chance for him to deep dig and groove with Roger Taylor. Paul Rodgers is perpetually young, although the song’s key has been lowered to accommodate an older voice. I don’t think this detracts from the song, which is a pretty authentic rendering of a true rock classic.
I don’t have much else to say, I’m glad to finally have the track, completing my Cosmos Rocks album. Right? Right?
Now, none of this information was easily available before, which is what led me to this problem. So for what must surely be an internet first, I give you the most comprehensive overview of The Cosmos Rocks available. There’s all the tracks, and there’s the best ways to find them.
Ahh well. A collector and his money are soon parted.
When my copy of Johnny The Fox had arrived, it was the last of the initial three Lizzy deluxe editions that I required. For some reason, it took two months to arrive. The wait over, I eagerly devoured this new remastered edition.
As always with these deluxe editions, the packaging is impressive. The cover art looks great, there are liner notes galore, and a bunch of pictures. The remastering was crisp and clear. Job well done. Where this deluxe edition falls short is on the bonus material. I found the bonus material a bit tedious this time out, with some tracks being mere curiosities and nothing you’d really care to listen to more than a couple times.
Johnny The Fox, as an album, is one of my Lizzy favourites. It features the classic lineup of Lynott, Downey, Gorham and Robertson and has some of the best lesser-known Lizzy album cuts. “Massacre” is a Maiden-eque stomp through some bloody history (Maiden covered it later). “Fools Gold” is some fantastic mid-tempo storytelling. I absolutely love this song, emotional and strong. My favourite song, “Borderline”, is a ballad with a slight twang and Phil hitting all the right notes with a beautiful bassline. This is just a very well rounded rock album, with lots of great songs like “Johnny” and “Boogie Woogie Dance” that just jump out at you.
And let’s not forget “Don’t Believe A Word”, one of the best known Lizzy classics. Great song, absolutely timeless. Not to be outshone are classics such as the tough “Rocky” and the cool funk of “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed”. This album was Lizzy at their peak, the classic lineup, and a record equally as powerful as the slightly better known Jailbreak.
Even the lyrics are Lynott at his prime! Check out “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed”:
In the back of a black Cadillac, The voodoo music travels, Down Skid Row only black men can go, The shady deal unravels
See how Lynott also gave a shout-out to his old band, Skid Row, with Gary Moore?
Listening to Johnny The Fox now, I hear no weak songs. “Old Flame” is a pretty ballad with the dual guitar thing going on, a ballad as only Lizzy could do it. Only the slow “Sweet Marie” is as close as you get to a dud.
The bonus disc starts off with two Joe Elliot remixes (“Don’t Believe A Word” and “Johnny”). Once again, Elliot has beefed up the sound while maintaining the integrity of the track. I know that they took great pains to fix every out of tune note, but you honestly don’t really detect it. I’m sure you could if you tried, but just enjoying the tracks, it doesn’t sound too messed with.
There are some good BBC Sessions up next, all very tight and sounding not too dissimilar for the album tracks. Unfortunately by now you have heard “Don’t Believe A Word” and “Johnny” three times each. You’re also about to hear “Johnny the Fox Meets Jimmy the Weed” a third time, this one a lo-fi instrumental take. There are four of these instrumental rehearsals in total, and honestly they’re extraneous. This kind of stuff, while interesting to listen to on an analytical level, were never meant for public consumption. Fortunately, this disc ends with a neat rough demo called “Scott’s Tune” that is a previously unknown musical idea by Scott Gorham. Nice find.
On the whole, I don’t regret this purchase, I’m glad to have the complete set of Lizzy deluxe editions. The packaging is very nice and the Joe Elliot remixes are strong. Some material I’ll be itching to skip over next time. It’s not the best deluxe edition ever.
Back in 1995, when the Goo Goo Dolls finally made the big time with “Name”, I sold an assload of those albums in my store. People couldn’t get enough of them back then. I personally had never even listened to it. I mean, there were so many alt-rock bands in 1995 and ’96! Better Than Ezra, Presidents of the United States of America, Matchbox 20…and I wasn’t interested in any of them. I was a metal head.
As it turns out, (this is complicated, so bear with me) my uncle worked with the mother of the fiance of bassist Robby Takac. So my aunt started asking me all these questions about this band, Goo Goo Dolls. Do you know them? Do you sell them in your store? Etc.
I told my aunt, yes I know Goo Goo Dolls, and yes, I sell a ton of them in our store. They were definitely one of our top sellers, for pretty much a year straight. I mean they were huge at the time.
My aunt and uncle ended up being invited to the wedding, and Goo Goo Dolls played at the reception. They had a great time, very much enjoyed herself, and met the band. Not knowing that I had never listened to a Goo Goo Dolls song in my life, my aunt told Robby and the band that I was a big supporter and sold a whole bunch of their discs in my store for them.
To their credit, they were very thankful (if a tad misled), and FedEx’d my aunt a signed glossy in gratitude!
“Hi Michael,” it says, “Thanks a lot for your help!” It was signed by Robby, lead singer Johnny Rzeznik, and new drummer Mike Malinin.
A tad bemused, I thought it might be a good idea to actually do them the service of listening to their music. So I began to do that, in store, and found that I actually enjoyed the band quite a bit. I like A Boy Named Goo, the album that I supposedly helped them out with, but I think Superstar Car Wash (the album previous) and Dizzy Up The Girl (the album that followed) are both superior. I still like them today, leaning towards the early punk material, with a preference to their excellent deep cuts compilation, What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce.
So there you go. If it wasn’t for a slight misunderstanding, I might never have discovered the band!
Part 3 of the Aaron Challenge: He has challenged me to get out of my comfort zone. Together, we will be reviewing some of the albums he bought in Toronto during Record Store Excursion 2012. I’ve never heard any of these albums before, in fact I know almost nothing about most of these bands. But I do know I sold a lot (a lot!) of Ani DiFranco during my time at the record store.
ANI DIFRANCO – Little Plastic Castle (1998 Righteous Babe)
I remember working at the store back in ’98, and the general reception from Ani DiFranco fans to this album was positive, but mildly critical. There was a vibe that she had sold out for bigger success. That was just what I was hearing.
Having not heard the previous albums, all I can say is good music is good music. Yes, the production is lush and not what you’d think of “indy”. Listen to those mariachi horns on the title track. Not exactly low-fi. But it sounds great! What an upbeat, entertaining track. Awesome. Not to mention her guitar work is excellent. The lyrics seem to be about public perception of what she should and should not be.
“Fuel” is one I’d heard before from Aaron. I liked that one too. I like when she’s goofy. This is beat poetry with a backing band. Normally I go for a lead vocal with melody, but this works due to Ani’s well-composed expression. From there it’s on to “Gravel”, a fast melodic one with more dexterous picking from Ani. Another great tune, with melody to spare. It’s a sparse arrangement, just guitar and voice with some percussion, and that’s it.
Drums introduce “As Is”, a soft pleasant song with barely audible keyboards in the background. It’s laid back and slightly mournful but also playful, and pretty much perfect as is (pun intended). “Two Little Girls” is dark, a tale of a difficult childhood. Ani’s excellent picking, and a bouncy backing bassline, makes it entertaining, but lyrically it seems loaded with pain.
“Deep Dish” is the first song I didn’t enjoy. It features samples and long spoken word bit, and is very rhythmic. It did nothing for me, though. Sorry Ani. Nothing personal! “Loom” however is a brief (under 3 minutes) explosion of drums and acoustic picking, more along the lines of what I like. “Pixie” follows, one I didn’t click with. Ani sings in a soft whisper, expressive as ever, I just didn’t like the song. It didn’t have enough melody or punch for me.
A long song, “Swandive”, is a bit of a change of pace since most of the previous tunes were in the 4 minute range. This one builds slowly. “I’m gonna do my best swan dive, into shark infested waters,” sings Ani, while picking more of those great guitar parts. “Glass House” totally changes the pace, with a bouncy wah-wah infested bass melody intro. This is great. I didn’t see that coming, nor the weird caterwauling trumpet that followed it! Ani then whispers the lyrics, underlined by a pulsing bass, with the odd electronic effect. Then just as you’re getting used to it, the drums kick in, accelerating the tune forward, and the vocals get angry. Ani is nothing if not diverse, I’m learning, even within one song.
“Independence Day” is a beautiful song, melodic and passionate, slow and pretty. A hit song in any just world. The final song, “Pulse”, is another slow builder, with a beat poetry vibe to the verses. It’s not brief either! 14 minutes! It sounds a bit like a jam, but I wonder, since the whole album has more of a vibe of being carefully assembled rather than jammed out.
Little Plastic Castle is an excellent sounding album. The guitars are lush, full and clear. The snare drum sound is perfect. Production-wise, it’s a total triumph (and self-produced by Ani). I think the album tends to sag a bit in the middle, after such a fine start, but it’s still a great album.
mikeladano.com 