BRUCE DICKINSON – Balls To Picasso (1994, deluxe edition)
I remember working at the record store, and a guy asked to listen to Balls To Picasso, by Bruce Dickinson. I put the disc on the player and he slid on the headphones.
About 2 minutes later, he took off his headphones. “You put on the wrong CD. This isn’t the right one.” I went over and checked — Balls To Picasso. Sometimes, though, CD’s could be misprinted with the wrong music, so I put on the headphones. “Nope, this is it. This is the right album,” I told the guy.
He responded, “It can’t be. I know this singer. That’s not him.”
Just one of many reactions to Bruce’s second solo album (and first since leaving Maiden)!
Regardless of the weird title and cover, Balls To Picasso is an album that I loved immediately. Right from the opening grind of “Cyclops” and its vicious lead vocal, I was hooked. Yeah, it does throw me from time to time (rapping, on “Shoot All The Clowns”) but this is a solid album by Bruce. Fans have grown to appreciate it more over the years. And you can’t fault its lineup, Bruce’s first album with Roy Z, Eddie Casillas, and Dave Ingraham from Tribe of Gypsies.
The album had a torturous birth. He started it once using the British band Skin, and aborted. He tried again with Keith Olsen. I suspect that this is the “very different” Peter Gabriel-type album he’s spoken about. It is very different, with a lot of drum programs and keyboards, and very lush, polished production. To me it is very Fish-like. It is definitely not metal in any way, which is fine, but for whatever reason, Bruce opted to shelve this album. Then he finally completed the task with Tribe of Gypsies, the only song making it to all versions of the album being “Tears of the Dragon”.
The end album sounds like alterna-metal, the kind of thing that a lot of metal artists were doing at the time to stay relevant. It is bass heavy, 90’s sounding, and not very Maiden at all until you get to “Tears of the Dragon” itself, which could have easily been on a followup album to Fear of the Dark.
While not every song here was universally loved by the fans, there are many that were. “Change of Heart”, “Cyclops” and especially “Tears” are now considered fondly by Maiden fans. Tribe of Gypsies were a latin-flavored rock band, and they really lent Bruce a cool vibe for this record. There’s a lot of nice percussion stuff going on, and the occasional bit of flamenco guitar thanks to Mr. Z.
I think “Change of Heart” is the best tune on the album. Perhaps it reflects Bruce’s feelings on leaving Maiden. Perhaps not. Either way it is a side of Bruce we’d never seen before, and he shows it with depth and taste.
“Tear of the Dragon” has got to be about Maiden. It seems so on the surface:
Where I was
I had wings that couldn’t fly
Where I was
I had tears I couldn’t cry
The remastering job on this 2 CD deluxe is stellar. I can hear some percussion parts on songs that I didn’t know existed before. I’ve played this album a hundred times in the past, and this time it sounded really fresh.
And of course the real reason I buy this stuff: a second CD of B-sides. I really love it when somebody puts out a quality reissue like this. They have gone to the care of putting on a complete set of every B-side associated with this album. Present are the tracks for the CD singles, as are the tracks that were exclusive to 7″ and 12″ vinyl.
I would have had to buy 8 singles total in different formats to get these songs. Thus far I’d only managed to get 4. So I’m cool with this. The B-sides were songs from the Keith Olsen album, live stuff featuring his new band Skunkworks, and remixes.
4/5 stars
Also seen below: A rare 1994 promo CD featuring a “Shoot All The Clowns” club mix. (!)
…but what you hungry readers are really waiting for is the next Maiden. Well the wait is over. Next time, we’ll get X rated…
Next in line of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012! Check out the video below if you missed it. This one bought at Paradise Bound.
MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO
THE CULT – “Lil’ Devil”(1987 double 12″ single, Polygram)
I had to pick this up. Two 12″ discs, one single. Although all the Cult studio B-sides are collected on the excellent Rare Cult box set, none of the live ones are. And I only have one other single from Electric, “Wild Flower”. This is a double 12″ single, 38 minutes long, including a 19 minute interview with Billy and Ian.
What can you say about “Lil’ Devil”? It’s sometimes forgotten on radio, next to “Love Removal Machine” and the aforementioned “Wild Flower”, but it’s certainly as good as either of those two songs. A swaggering rock song, this is a pinnacle of some sort for this type of track. Four guys in the room with amps. Marshalls. AC/DC comparisons were bandied about.
The B-sides include the familiar “Zap City”, a song that has cropped numerous times since, including The Manor Sessions EP and Best of Rare Cult. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s from the abandoned Peace sessions, which they ditched in order to re-record with Rick Rubin. It’s a lightning-like rock song, much like what The Cult would later do on Sonic Temple. It would have fit right in on that album.
Two live tracks, “Wild Thing/Louie Louie” and “Phoenix” are present as well. I love the live cover, it’s plenty fun. “Phoenix” is ragged with plenty of guitar noise and even a drum solo.
Last is in the interview. It’s informative but far too long. The best bits involve recording with Rick Rubin, and the decision to re-record the album that became Electric. I could have done without the extended song snippets (most people buying the single already owned the album!).
Sadly, my concert review for this show no longer exists. Ye olde floppy discs don’t exist anymore, and the site that once hosted the review (sabbathlive.com) no longest exists. Therefore I’m forced to re-write this as a Record Store Tale.
RECORD STORE TALES PART 136: Black Sabbath July 22 1995
July 22, 1995. Tom, myself, and a few of the boys decided to go see Black Sabbath. They were playing Lulu’s Roadhouse, the world’s longest bar, with Motorhead opening. It felt like a step down for both bands, but the place was packed.
We arrived just before Lemmy hit the stage. They ripped into a scorching set to promote their latest album, the high-octane Sacrifice. I remember Lemmy introducing the title track: “Don’t try to dance to this one or you’ll break both your fucking legs!” At the end of their set, Motorhead promised to return (and they did a year later).
I remember Tom and I being blown away by Motorhead. I didn’t own any — this show officially was what made me a fan. I kicked myself for not really paying attention to them earlier, but better late than never eh?
Motorhead remain today one of the best bands I’ve seen.
But I was there to see Black Sabbath. We moved closer to the front of the stage to be in position. We chose a spot perfectly between where the two Tony’s would be, right up front.
The crowd was getting a little drunk and restless. A fight started…well, I hesitate to really call it a fight, it was over before it started. We all turned around to see this big huge dude headbutt this little tiny Kurt Cobain looking guy. Knocked him out cold. Then the big guy realized everybody was watching and hastily made an exit.
Then, Black Sabbath: Tony Iommi, Tony Martin, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, and Geoff Nicholls. What we didn’t know was that Cozy only had seven more gigs after this one. Then he would be replaced by another Sabbath vet, Bobby Rondinelli. And of course little did I know that I’d never see Cozy live again in any band: He was killed in a car accident 3 years later.
They hit the stage to the classic Martin-era opener, “Children of the Grave”. Sabbath’s set was sprinkled with tunes from the Ozzy era (“War Pigs”, “Iron Man”, “Paranoid”, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”, “Black Sabbath”) and the Dio era (“Heaven and Hell”, “Mob Rules”) and many of his own tracks. They played three from the lacklustre new record, but at least three of the better songs: an awesomely dramatic “Kiss Of Death”, the explosive “Can’t Get Close Enough”, and the filler song “Get A Grip”.
It was just before “Get A Grip” that the stagediving began. Tom vacated the stage area right away. “Get a grip is right!” he said to me. “I’m out of here.” Two songs later I followed him. This drunk girl started grinding me from behind, so I took the first chance to slip away and catch up with Tom.
The one song I really came to see was “The Shining”, one of the best Martin-era tunes, and his first single with the band. Sabbath delivered. They also played two from Headless Cross including “When Death Calls”. Neil Murray played the chiming bass intro to this song that I’d never heard before. It was the only unfamiliar song. I resolved to get Headless Cross as soon as possible. (It took two months for Orange Monkey Music in Waterloo to get it from Europe.)
Vague memories:
Tony Martin was a so-so frontman. Much of the time, he would spread his arms Christ-like and shake his thinning hair. He talked a lot and I remember he had small, beady but friendly looking eyes. He did the best he could. He sang his ass off, although he had lost a fair chunk of his range.
I remember Iommi ditched his SG for an unfamiliar red guitar during the overdriven “Can’t Get Close Enough”.
I could barely see Cozy, which is my biggest regret.
I was pleased that Sabbath played a well-rounded set with new stuff.
Little did I know that the end was near. Not only was Cozy soon to be out, but promoters cancelled much of the end of the tour. Sabbath headed over to Japan, threw “Changes” into the set (OMG!) but were done by the end of the year. For the first time in a long time, Sabbath were put on ice while Tony (Iommi) worked on a solo album with Glenn Hughes.
Meanwhile, the lawyers were conspiring to create a new/old Sabbath lineup. By 1997, Ozzy was back, and the band now featuring founding members Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and new drummer Mike Bordin of Faith No More.
I’m glad to have seen Sabbath with Martin. He did five albums, and I like three of them. I think he did the best he could under difficult circumstances. He’s a talented guy, so it’s great to have seen this lineup especially since Cozy would be gone so soon!
28 August 1993: Bruce’s final show. And for the occasion, Maiden decided to team up with…a magic act?
I don’t know who this Simon Drake fellow is, but his “horror magic show” or whatever the hell you wanna call it is just plain awful! Simon serves as a guest act during Iron Maiden’s final show, Raising Hell, available on VHS and DVD. He does magic skits at various places during the show, sometimes interacting with the band, but always with this really bad cheesy metal music (not Maiden!) behind him. And the bit where he kidnaps Dave Murray? Awful! D’y’think that the real Dave might actually be still behind the giant curtain they walked behind? You can still hear his guitar even after he has it taken away from him, and has a hand chopped off!
Simon Drake sucked! This is magic? He pretty much ruined Raising Hell, for the most part. Good thing VCR’s used to have “fast-forward” buttons!
Thankfully, Iron Maiden kick ass. With a few Eddie’s and some big backdrops, they’re playing a smaller venue (a TV studio) and it feels really intimate. Bruce is awesome, wailing and running around like a man possessed on opener “Be Quick Or Be Dead”. He does “Hallowed” perfect…really, everybody in Maiden is flawless, on fire, possessed. And by flawless, I don’t mean note perfect — there’s mistakes, but they make it perfect!
But you know who really stands out to me? Janick Gers. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a more physical guitar player since Ritchie Blackmore! So why the hell is the camera on Steve Harris during Janick’s manic “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” solo!? There are quite a few missed money shots. Why?
Because it wasn’t directed by Harris, that’s why, it was directed by somebody named Declan Lowney, I guess that’s the TV production type deal. So beware: Maiden England this is not!
One thing I find a little strange: It’s Bruce’s final show, but they still played the instrumental, “Transylvania”. Nothing against that song, but why not one more vocal number? I know they were playing it live on that tour, but still.
Tracklist:
“Be Quick or Be Dead”
“The Trooper”
“The Evil That Men Do”
“The Clairvoyant”
“Hallowed Be Thy Name”
“Wrathchild”
“Transylvania”
“From Here to Eternity”
“Fear of the Dark”
“The Number of the Beast”
“Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter”
“2 Minutes to Midnight”
“Afraid to Shoot Strangers”
“Heaven Can Wait”
“Sanctuary”
“Run to the Hills”
“Iron Maiden”
And of course, it is during “Iron Maiden” that Bruce finally meets his end. One of the few highlights of the magic act is the end of Dickinson…
Rating for just the band, not the magician:
5/5 stars
Rating for the magician, not the band:
-1/5 stars
Rating for the overall video, setlist, stage show, direction, etc:
4/5 stars
Average rating:
2.666~/5 stars
What happens next? Will the band carry on? What will Bruce do? Stay tuned…
“It’s alright to say things will only get better. You haven’t lost your brand new sweater.”
RECORD STORE TALES PART 135: Back In A Tracksuit
Way, way back, in Part 15, I talked about a band called the Sultans Of Ping F.C. (F.C. stands for Football Club.)
Their album, Casual Sex in the Cineplex, was discovered in-store by T-Rev and quickly spread to the rest of us. It was Irish punk rock with hilarious lyrics!
My brother knows Karl Marx
He met him eating mushrooms in the public park
He said ‘What do you think of my manifesto?’
I like your manifesto, put it to the testo – (“Where’s Me Jumper?”)
That album spread line fungus among us. One problem: there was just one copy in the entire chain of stores. And all of us wanted it. So, the CD went on hold into a “store play” pile. Anybody could listen to it on their shift, but it stayed in the store. That arrangement lasted a few months.
But T-Rev remembers this much more clearly than I do. I’ll let him take over:
Here is the official “Sultans Of Ping F.C.” story! We stumbled across this album, as Mike has said, completely by happenstance, put it on, laughed our heads off…history was made!
So, none of us wanted to put it “on the floor” for sale, fearing it would be gone forever, so I put it in my “pile” and there it sat for probably 3-4 months. Other staff members would listen to it (even when I was off) and just put it back in my pile at the end of the night. They didn’t want me to buy it either, as that would mean it would leave the store and enter my collection…which meant we couldn’t listen to it at the store (obviously), and I enjoyed the laugh occasionally. So it kind of became a sort of “store copy”.
One day, the boss came in and it was playing. He hated the album from the get-go (as he got a taste of it shortly after we discovered it) and he made a comment about it still being here in my “pile” and said “if you are not going to buy it, then put it out for sale!” so I did, reluctantly (thinking it would never sell anyway, and i’d be able to snag it later “unnoticed”). That same day, just before shift change, Matty came in and perused the new arrivals (as he often did prior to starting his shift). He found the “Sultans” in said area and looks at me and says “You’re not buying this? Fuck, I will!!”…and the boss sold it to him right in front of me.
That’s the last time I have ever seen an actual copy of that album (although I have a downloaded copy of it now) – not the same!
“Back In A Tracksuit”…”Two Pints of Raza”…”Where’s Me Jumper?”…”Give Him a Ball and a Yard of Grass”…all great tunes, funny yet insanely catchy and quirky!
I remember that we could barely understand the words, and “Indeed You Are” sounded to us a hell of a lot like “Konnichiwa”!
I know that Trevor did once locate a CD single from the Sultans. Was it “Japanese Girls”? Trevor adds:
I have 2 CD singles as well!!
Coincidentally, I have EVERY OTHER Sultans album except Casual Sex…
I have never seen an actual physical copy of Casual Sex again either. A guy in Ireland burned me a copy and mailed it to me, but the sound’s not that great, and the speed sounds a little off.
Still, great songs. Anybody got a copy? You could have a bidding war between me and T-Rev!
Part 13.5 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!(?) I just dug up this single from my collection, so this one actually falls right afterNo Prayer For The Dying!
IRON MAIDEN – “Bring Your Daughter…To The Slaughter” (1990, etched 7″ single)
Next in line of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012! Check out the video below if you missed it. This one bought at Paradise Bound. If you recall, this is actually one of two drummer solo albums I bought that day, the other being Over The Top by Cozy Powell.
MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO
CARMINE APPICE – Carmine Appice (1981, CBS/Pasha)
Well hey. He did co-wrote “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”, and that ended up being one of Rod’s more massive hits. Why not do a solo album?
Carmine co-wrote all tracks herein, and sings lead as well. There are a couple interesting co-writes: “Drum City Rocker” was co-written by an unknown named Vincent Cusano. Cusano would later change his name to Vinnie Vincent when he joined Kiss the following year. Another alumnus from the school of Gene & Paul, Ron Leejack (ex-Wicked Lester) “Am I Losing You”.
The sound is pop rock with pounding drums, a sound I don’t mind too much. I’ve always been a fan of Carmine’s drumming, and his drum sound here is what I like. A big snare drum that sounds like a snare drum, lots of toms and a non-stop approach.
The songs are not great, especially dreadful is a tribal keyboard-drenched “Paint It Black”. Perhaps inspired by Ian Paice, Carmine chose this Stones cover for a drum salvo. He plays it very tribal but…how many people have done covers of this song and buggered them up? Most. The minority do it well.
Better is the ballad “Blue Cafe” with its mournful sounding vocal and keyboard lines. The rockers fare less well, with “Have You Heard” and “Keep On Rolling” both sounding pretty weak kneed for rock songs. The drumming’s great of course, the singing less so. Carmine barely holds it together at times.
“Sweet Senorita” which closes side one is a Bon Jovi-esque rocker that might have been hit worthy in 1981. Really the weakest aspect of the album is the vocal. Carmine’s voice lacks character, sounding very much like Joe Pop Singer. It’s too bad because “Sweet Senorita” boasts a great groove and fine guitar solo, along with memorable hooks.
Side two opens with a drum salvo!…and then this lame vocal part kicks in, “Drum city, drum city…” Yes, it’s “Drum City Rocker”. Why couldn’t they have left it instrumental? It’s otherwise fine, with punchy drum fills and a great boogie!
“Hollywood Heartbeart”, much like the earlier song “Keep On Rolling” sounds like a Journey reject, without any of Steve Perry’s vocal grace. They sound like pale imitations. I had higher hopes for Phil Spector’s “Be My Baby”, being a personal favourite. Thankfully this is more suited to Carmine’s style and he doesn’t butcher it. The backing vocals are pretty sucky though.
“Am I Losing You” is another strong ballad, a good song, a decent vocal from Carmine. I hate buying a rock album only to find that the best songs are the ballads, but in this case, that’s the way it is. Both ballads are good and have some feeling to them.
“Drums Drums Drums” closes the album, and as you can guess, it’s a plethora of drums…with Carmine’s annoying vocals! “Drums drums drums…” he sings. This is followed by an awful “Heyyyyy, heyyy, heyyy–o!” section.
Produced by Richard Polodor. It has this dry, dull sound kind like a Peter Criss solo album.
The record sleeve has an ad (expiring December 31, 1982) to send $12 to buy Carmine’s own book, The Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method! A quick Amazon search reveals that the book is still in print today, available for $18 on Amazon.
mikeladano.com