Part 136: Black Sabbath, July 22 1995 (REVIEW!)

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!

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Raising Hell (Bruce’s final show 1993) (DVD/VHS)

Part 19 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

IRON MAIDEN – Raising Hell (1995 BMG VHS)

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:

  1. “Be Quick or Be Dead”
  2. “The Trooper”
  3. “The Evil That Men Do”
  4. “The Clairvoyant”
  5. “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
  6. “Wrathchild”
  7. “Transylvania”
  8. “From Here to Eternity”
  9. “Fear of the Dark”
  10. “The Number of the Beast”
  11. “Bring Your Daughter… to the Slaughter”
  12. “2 Minutes to Midnight”
  13. “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”
  14. “Heaven Can Wait”
  15. “Sanctuary”
  16. “Run to the Hills”
  17. “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…

Part 135: GUEST SHOT! Back In A Tracksuit

“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!

Should’ve put it in the “Saskatoon pile”!

“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!

VIDEO REVIEW: Iron Maiden – “Bring Your Daughter…To The Slaughter” etched 7″ single!

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 after No Prayer For The Dying!

IRON MAIDEN  – “Bring Your Daughter…To The Slaughter” (1990, etched 7″ single)

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Carmine Appice – Carmine Appice (1981)

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.

2/5 stars

REVIEW: Iron Maiden – Live At Donington August 22nd 1992

Part 18 of my series of Iron Maiden reviews!

“Satan’s work is done Donington!” – Bruce Dickinson

IRON MAIDEN –  Live At Donington August 22nd 1992 (1993 CD, 1998 remastered edition)

I imagine if Bruce remained in the band, Maiden probably wouldn’t have released three live albums in one year.  But they needed time to regroup and figure out what the hell to do next.  In the meantime, as if to say, “We’ll be back!” Maiden released Live At Donington August 22nd 1992.

A much better recording than its two predecessors (A Real Live One and A Real Dead One), it’s a very special set.  It’ll never be Live After Death (that’s impossible) but this is one of the finer Maiden live albums to come down the pipe.  I mean, just look at the first three songs!  A smoking “Be Quick Or Be Dead”.  An absolutely devastating “Beast” (I like that they threw it in early).  A surprising “Wrathchild”, one of the best Maiden songs of all time.

Then I get a little disinterested — “From Here To Eternity” is not a personal fave, and “Can I Play With Madness” is flat sounding again, just like on A Real Live One.

“Wasting Love” is better.  The dual guitar harmony is a little off, but it’s live, what you hear is the way it was.  Bruce pushing his voice to the breaking point.  The mix is nice here.  You can hear Nicko’s drums beautifully and both guitars clear as a bell.

A fiery “Tailgunner” takes us out of ballad territory and back into traditional Maiden:  pumping guitars and lyrics about good ol’ WWII.  I like when Bruce sings, “No more bomber just one big bomb, hey hey, whooo!  Pussshhhttt!” as if to imitate the sound of a bomb going off!

Then, “The Evil That Men Do” lives on and on.  Bruce urges Donington to scream for him; they do and he responds with a solid “Fuck yeah!”

Incidentally, does anyone know why Bruce always seems to sing the words to this song wrong, live? This album and A Real Live One, he sings:

“And I will pray for her,

Someday I may return,

I will bleed for her,

If I could only make her learn.”

The actual lyric on the album is:

“And I will pray for you,

Someday I may return,

Don’t you cry for me,

Beyond is where I learn.”

Anybody?

Bruce then introduces the modern war ballad, “Afraid To Shoot Strangers”.  I think this is one of Maiden’s greater songs, at least once it gets going into that awesome guitar melody…and then another one after that!

The first CD of Donington closed with “Fear Of The Dark”.   Interesting — playing this one halfway through the show, and not the end!  How things would change, as this song became more and more of  a classic.  The Donington version is great, I love Janick’s pinch harmonics.  The remastered CD loaded four more songs onto disc one from here, freeing that space off disc two for video content.  I’m only mentioning this because depending on which version you have, your disc may end on a different song.  But I think “Fear Of The Dark” may as well close the disc, as it’s a perfect place to pause!

“Bring Your Daughter” was up next.  I can always pass on this song, although the redeeming factor are the wild and crazy guitars!  I could do without the singalong intro, but the fans at Donington are sure into it!

The brilliant “Clairvoyant” pumps the crowd up once again.  Once again, Janick crazies-up the guitar work making the whole thing more manic.

“Heaven Can Wait” of course was the big singalong song, I just wish they’d play something else from Somewhere In Time instead of this number.  Although I do like it when Bruce allows Nicko to have a word.  “Oiiiyyyeeeee!”  This is followed by “Run To The Hills”, which indicates we’re getting closer to the end.  Personally I’m tiring of this song, and the guitars sound too thin.

“2 Minutes To Midnight” serves as a reminder of the great tunes that Bruce and Adrian used to write together.  Great riff (even if poached from “Wildfire” by Budgie), great song.  Funny:  As a kid, I loved “Hills” and didn’t really like “2 Minutes”.  Now, I really love “2 Minutes”, but I’ve heard “Hills” just too many times.

Then:  four classics in a row.  “Hallowed”, “Trooper”, “Sanctuary”, and “Running Free”.  “Hallowed” is still one of the very greatest Maiden tunes of all time, and in many ways I think it’s better live.  In particular, the Live After Death version is great.  But Bruce sings his teeth into this one too, and it’s just that much better for it.  Once again, I can hear some tasty pinch harmonics in the opening.  Is that you Janick?  Guess I’ll have to wait until this show comes out on blu-ray in 2013….

“The Trooper” is of course pummeling as ever,  and “Sanctuary” a welcome rarity from the earlier punkier days.  I like when Bruce introduces Nicko as “old Flatnose himself”.

“Running Free” though was very special indeed, and a harbinger of things to come.

Adrian came out and joined the band for this one, a special appearance at a special gig.  For years I had no idea:  It’s not like you can really understand what Bruce is saying when Adrian comes out, perhaps overcome with emotion!   This really was a preview of the most beloved, long-standing Maiden lineup of all time:  Bruce, Steve, Nicko, Davey, Janick, and Adrian.  It would be seven years before they played together again, but here’s the first.

The cover art and packaging was decidedly bootleg:  A plain white cover with a Maiden logo stencil and the title in sloppy typewriter font.  No booklet at all.  Thankfully, this was rectified with Mark Wilkinson’s poster art, used for the remastered cover art.  The remaster did indeed feature a full booklet packed with photos, and some live video stuff that may or may not work on your current machine.

And thus ends Live At Doningon, and thus ends the last album with this lineup.  It would be uncharted waters forward, as Maiden began the audition process for a new lead singer for the first time in a decade.

But there would be one more special show.  One more release to talk about:  Not an album, but a video.   Next time, we’ll talk about Bruce’s final show, called Raising Hell, featuring the decapitation of the band’s lead singer!

4.5/5 stars

Part 134: Dave

RECORD STORE TALES PART 134:  Dave

In late 2005, I met Dave for the first time.

Jen and I had just started dating, since September 18 actually, and I think I met her dad on our second date (by complete accident, we were out for a walk and as he was driving by).  He made me very welcome to their family early on.  He treated me like a son when I spent Christmas Day 2005 with them.

Dave was one of the greatest people I’ve ever met, and one of the most generous.  He truly would have given the shirt off his back.  I kept hearing the same stories over and over again:  “Dave really helped me out in the past,” or “I remember Jen’s dad let me stay with them for a week when I had nowhere to sleep.”  He never asked for repayment.  I remember when he helped my sister move from Etobicoke to Kitchener.  He drove the moving van (actually his delivery van) and he signed up for one trip to Kitchener and that was it.  Well, we couldn’t get everything in one load.  We had to do a second load.  So, he drove back to Etobicoke, and back again to Kitchener, before finally retiring for the evening.  I had to twist his arm just to get him to accept a Canadian Tire gift card in repayment!  That’s the kind of guy Dave was.

Did I mention he’d never even met my sister before that night?  He just did it because he was that kind of man.

We lost Dave three years ago, Nov 3 2009.  He was only 58 years old.  Jen misses him — we all miss him — every day.  It still shakes us.

We lost a great man, probably one of the greatest I’ve ever known.  I couldn’t let Nov 3 go by without talking about him.

Miss you, Dave.

REVIEW: Cozy Powell – Over The Top (1979 Polydor)

Next in line of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012!  Check out the video below if you missed it.  This one bought at Sonic Boom Kensington.

MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO

Let’s boogie!

The lineup is impressive enough:  Joining Cozy are Don Airey on keyboards/moog and Jack Bruce on bass.  Guitarists include Gary Moore, Bernie Marsden and Clem Clempson.   So, that’s all good.

But Over The Top starts with the disco-sounding “Theme I” (written by George Martin of all people).  There’s too much of Don’s dated sounding synth.  That continues into the next track, “Killer” featuring Gary Moore.  Don’s ray-gun keyboard are too much, although Gary is brilliant, and a highlight to the track.

Cozy expertly steps his way through every track,  sounding like nobody but Cozy.  But these cheesey keyboard anthems don’t lend themselves well to his style.  Too much disco, too much funk, too much boogie and not enough rock.  Jack Bruce is great, of course, very few can do what he does.  His bass here is articulate and precise but for me, too much jazz fusion and not enough anchor!

Most of this is progressive-based rock, but the dated synth echoes too many things that nobody really liked anymore.  The songs are not especially stiking, and Cozy doesn’t really go nuts until the final song, “Over The Top”.  The producer behind this mess?  None other than Martin Birch!

Best Song:  “El Sid” which has some groove and stomp to it, the keys are toned down while Jack plays some beautifully stretchy basslines, and Bernie Marsden throws in one of those bluesy solos that you know and love from early Whitesnake.  (Bernie wrote this one.)  Second best is “Sweet Poison” which has moments that smoke.

I dig the cover art with Cozy jumping his drums with his bike!  Sweet.

2/5 stars.  I think it likely that if Cozy were with us, hey’d probably regret the keyboard-saturated sound today.

TRACK LIST:

Side One – “Theme I”, “Killer”, “Heidi Goes To Town”, “El Sid”

Side Two – “Sweet Poison”, “The Loner”, “Over The Top”

Part 133: Die For Love

RECORD STORE TALES PART 133:  Die For Love

1996 was my first year of managing my own store.  In the very first weeks of business, in came this little gem, Japanese import, never seen it before.

The band featured Iron Maiden’s former guitarist, Dennis Stratton.  Dennis of course played on the first immortal Maiden platter and a few B-sides too.  The album featured one great single, “Die For Love”, which had one of the cheesiest music videos of all time.  Band must rescue blonde damsel in distress from horny-looking mad scientist.

It’s actually a really cool song, very commercial but solid and I’d been hunting for it for years.  Yet another treasure that fell into my lap.  Japanese import, $20 used, but with my discount more like $15.

Still, I ended up passing on it.  I only really liked the one song, and I had other stuff to buy that week including the new Scorpions and King’s X.  So, I made a judgement call and threw it on the shelves.  I put a sticker on it that said “Dennis Stratton ex-Iron Maiden” and it sold in a couple weeks.  It was after it sold that I regretted my decision!  I didn’t realize how rare the disc was, and I underestimated how much I liked that one song!

Thankfully it’s since been reissued.  Still, wouldn’t it have been nice to have that Japanese import?  Yeah.