REVIEW: Metallica – The First 30 Years 7″ single / Metal Hammer 30th Anniversay Event

Metallica – The First 30 Years 7″ single / Metal Hammer 30th Anniversay Event ($19.99)

In December 2011, Metallica played four special 30th Anniversary shows at the Fillmore.  Each show featured guests too numerous to list, a completely unique set list, and one new song at each show.  (Those four songs later became Beyond Magnetic — my review here!)

Two songs from the December 10th show are available on this neat 7″ single, available with a special copy of Metal Hammer magazine.

Side a:  “So What” (Live – featuring Animal from the Anti-Nowhere League)

Side b: “Through the Never” (Live)

What do I need to tell you?  It’s Metallica live, you know the songs, you know what Metallica do.  I think it’s great!  I love “So What” with Animal handling the lead vocals.   That song also features a bit of an intro for Animal by James.  “Through the Never” is your standard live version, just as fast as when the Black Album came out over 20 years ago.

If anything, this disc just whets the appetite.  Fortunately Metallica have made all four shows available to purchase (download only, no physical release) from their site. 

The magazine is cool, loads of pictures and interviews about the show with just about anybody you want to to hear from.  It’s glossy, 132 pages, the perfect souvenir of an important series of concerts for this band.  If you’re a fan, this is a no-brainer, even if you don’t own a turntable.  If you do own a turntable, then I think $19.99 (Canadian, when I got it at Sunrise Records) is a more than fair price for this cool item.

5/5 stars

More here:

http://www.metallica.com/content/so-what-metal-hammer.asp

Part 62: Creepy Danny (Spice up your life!)

Nobody shall ever forget Creepy Danny. So named, because some of the girls at the store were really creeped out by him. Me, I think he was harmless albeit annoying as hell. Sometimes, I wonder how people like Creepy Danny managed to function (feed, clothe themselves) on a daily basis.

Creepy Danny was this short little guy who somewhat resembled a human troll. He seemed…not right in the head. He had a high, whispery voice with a lisp and stutter, and tended to repeat the same question over and over again in the same breath. And he liked Spice Girls, a lot.

“D-d-d-do you have Spice Girls? Do you have Spice Girls?”

Once you’d show him Spice Girls, the next inevitable questions were (not necessarily in this order):

“D-d-d-do you like Spice Girls? I like Geri. Do you like Spice Girls? Do you like Geri? I like Geri best. Then Scary, Baby, Posh and Sporty. Do you like Spice Girls?  Have you seen the v-v-v-video for ‘Spice Up Your Life’?  P-p-people of the world! Spice up your life!”

There was no stopping Creepy Danny when he was on about Spice Girl.

“I heard th-th-th-that Geri quit Spice Girls. Is that true, is that true?”

He was indeed crushed when I told him that Ginger was no longer a Spice Girl.

However, it wasn’t many months before he started asking the next, inevitable question:

“D-d-d-do you have the new CD by G-G-G-Geri Halliwell? D-d-do you have Geri Halliwell?”

I think I sold about 3 copies of that album in total by the way.

But he was harmless. He just took a lot of babysitting, and time out of your day, and two Advil.

The phone would ring. I’d hear that high stuttering voice. “D-d-d-do you have Backstreet Boys?” Sometimes, I would hand the phone over to someone else. “Brad, it’s for you.” And then hand him off to Creepy Danny.

I have a theory about Creepy Danny.

He was simply too bizarre to have been a real persona. In all my years at the store, I have never met anyone as purely strange yet functional as Creepy Danny. I believe that Creepy Danny was actually a University Sociology masters student, and it was a persona he adopted in public as some sort of elaborate social experiment, to see how people treat those who are different.

I imagined a scenario where I might catch Creepy Danny out of character. I imagined that one night, I would be out for a nice expensive dinner at Charcoal Steakhouse. I would be there with a girl, and at the next candlelit table, there is Danny, with a knock-out babe. He pours the wine. He catches a glimpse of me. A glimmer of recognition. Suddenly, he reverts back to character! “D-d-d-do you like Spice Girls?”

That’s the way I imagined it unfolding. My theory was never proven, nor disproven. But in my mind, a character as weird as Danny was simply had to be cooked up by a student. There’s no other way!

Part 61: Obsessive Compulsive / REVIEW – Oasis Live (1994)

 

I’ve always had a little obsessive-compulsive in me.  This really came out when I started collecting music.  First, I had to have all the albums.  Then when I discovered B-sides, I had to have all of them, too.  Easier said than done.

Nowadays, the picture is so much more complicated.  While single B-sides are much more scarce today, much pricier bonus tracks have now replaced them.  Today, one has the choice to collect Japanese imports, for one or two elusive songs, at premium prices.  Or, you could choose the iTunes version for its own exclusive songs.  Vinyl bonus tracks are becoming more common.  Then, on top of that, Best Buy often have their own exclusive songs.  Classic Rock Magazine gets bonus tracks sometimes.  Occasionally, different countries will have their own additional music.

This leaves the obsessive-compulsive collector in a precarious position.  I’ll give you this example.  Alice Cooper, Welcome 2 My Nightmare.  In order to get every song associated with this album, I purchased:

The regular retail “deluxe edition” with four bonus tracks.

The iTunes edition which had its own bonus tracks…but not the ones from the physical versions.

The vinyl version, which had its own bonus track, “Flatline”, but none of the other bonus tracks.

The single for “I’ll Bite Your Face Off”, which has a live B-side from Download festival.

 

Being obsessive-compulsive about music sucks!  While you can usually get things at a fair price if you are patient and wait, sometimes you will never find what you want that way.  You could hunt every used CD store you ever enter, but will never find some of those Maiden singles, like “Wasting Love”, for under $40.  At least it’s never happened to me.

When you do get lucky, you have to act, and immediately.  One of my biggest scores happened to be a very, very rare item by one of Trevor’s favourite bands.  This was a sticking point.  More on that later….

The guy who sold it to me was one of those customers that nobody liked, except me.  As such, I always caught a lot of grief when these customers came in, because if I was seen chatting it up with them, it was considered “socializing” and not “work” because he was my “friend”.  This was one of those guys.

Well, define “friend”.  Did I go out for drinks with this guy?  No.  Did I ever see him outside work?  No.  Did I know his birthday?  No.  Did he buy stuff?  Yes, which in my mind makes him a customer.  Chatting up customers is called “customer service” as long as it’s welcomed by the customer.  Anyway.  Off topic.

One bonus about having customers who are “friends” is that when they trade, they always bring their good shit straight to your store first.  This guy in particular had just moved in from out west and didn’t like the attitude of the downtown stores.  He, like me, was an obsessive compulsive music collector, so I understood his needs.  Like me, he wanted the stuff to complete the collection, in good condition, and we had similar definitions of “good condition”.

Condition, needless to say, is important to the obsessive compulsive collector.  And what he brought me one day in 1998 was in beautiful, mint condition.

It was a UK promo disc of Definitely Maybe by Oasis.  The bonus here was a complete live album called Oasis Live, recorded 1994-12-10 at the Cabaret Metro.

I scooped up the disc.  I told Trevor immediately, knowing he would not be happy that I, the lesser Oasis fan, would keep it.  Trevor’s point was valid.  “I’m the bigger Oasis fan!” he said.  “If I got in a Kiss CD, no matter how rare, I would always give you first crack at it.”

He was right.  He would.  That’s why I still feel guilty about it today.  I did tape it for him, and later on burned it for him, but even that is not the same as owning.

I never saw it again, and I don’t know anybody who’s seen it before besides me and the guy who sold it to me.  According to the CD notes it is a Sony UK disc, ESK 6805.  As I mentioned, it was bundled with Definitely Maybe, a UK pressing, EK 66431.

As it turns out, the Oasis live album was incredible and justifiable to keep!  It was from the tour for the first album, and they played loads of those songs and some B-sides.  It has some of those classic Liam and Noel moments.

Liam – “This one’s called Up In The Sky!”

Noel – “No it’s not, it’s called Bring It On Down!”

And, of course, Liam sings his “I’d like to buy the world a Coke…” line during “Shakermaker”.

It’s an excellent recording.  Sounds like a small venue, which I find always seem to produce the best sounding live albums.  The band are playing with the youth and energy with which they began.  Liam sneers his way through the songs and there’s a minimum of talking.  No ballads.  Rest assured, when you see “Fade Away” on the tracklisting, it’s the electric version, not the acoustic!

I love this disc.  I didn’t even buy Familiar to Millions, because this one satisfies.

5/5 stars.

Your track listing:

  1. Rock and Roll Star
  2. Columbia
  3. Fade Away
  4. Digsy’s Dinner
  5. Shakermaker
  6. Live Forever
  7. Bring It On Down
  8. Up In The Sky
  9. Slide Away
  10. Cigarettes and Alcohol
  11. Married With Children
  12. Supersonic
  13. I Am The Walrus

 

REVIEW: Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me / Rock of Ages 2012 (iTunes)

DEF LEPPARD – Pour Some Sugar On Me / Rock of Ages 2012 (iTunes exclusive single)

As the title suggests, Def Leppard have re-recorded two of their biggest hits, “Pour Some Sugar” and “Rock of Ages”.  This obvious move was made to capitalize on that new Rock of Ages movie that I have no desire to see.  Also, the songs coincide with a summer tour.

Apparently, you can’t get Def Lep’s studio versions on iTunes for contractual reasons with the label, and the band didn’t want to miss the window of opportunity afforded by the movie.  So they re-recorded both songs and put them up on iTunes.

These will never replace the original songs in any universe, but they’re actually not bad.  Both tracks are very, very close to the originals.  Knowing Def Leppard I am certain that this was intentional and done with surgical precision.  Aside from some additional guitar parts and sounds added to “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, the recordings are nearly identical.  This surprised me particularly on “Rock of Ages” since you don’t hear Joe do the high voice that often anymore.

For $1.29 a piece, I’m not going to complain too much.  I doubt I’ll listen to this very often, but the obsessive compulsive collector in me is glad to have these recordings.  I’d advise serious music fans to just buy the original two albums, Hysteria and Pyromania.  Both albums are loaded to the gills with hits so you can’t go wrong, plus I believe songs are best enjoyed in the context of the albums.

Having said all this, I hope some kind of limited edition physical release is forthcoming.  The collector in me would like that.

3/5 stars.

UPDATE:  According to Joe Elliot, there are more of these “forgeries” coming.

POUR SOME SUGAR

REVIEW: Rush – Clockwork Angels

RUSH – Clockwork Angels (2012)

When the first single from Clockwork Angels was released in 2010 (!!!) I wasn’t too into the new songs.  “BU2B”/”Caravan” were heavy and stomping but to me, not memorable.

Then the band went on tour and finished the album and that’s why you’re reading this today.

Alex, Tom, Meat, Geddy

Alex, Tom, Meat, Geddy

Like all Rush albums, Clockwork Angels is a grower.  I feel a bit like a jackass for even trying to review it after only listening to it thrice.  However, they were good listens:  Twice at home and once in the car.  Surprisingly, because Rush aren’t always this way, Clockwork Angels sounded best in the car.

To me, this album combines the “classic” 1970’s progressive sound of Rush with the classic-nouveau of 1993’s Counterparts.  At times it sounds like the band are ripping themselves off, but who cares?  This is the Rush album that many fans have been wishing for, before they went to bed each night.

Now, this is a concept album, but I don’t pretend to have penetrated the lyrics yet.  They are striking, and yet on the surface straightforward, the story easy enough to follow.  I am sure I will get more out of it I go deeper.  For example I found a reference in the text portion of the story to Neil’s late drum instructor, so who knows what is in there?

All I can tell you for certainty is that there is a fantastic world of steam powered airships that take our protagonist on a odyssey across a strange and familiar land.  There is some sort of Watchmaker that seems to run the show with clockwork precision.  I know I have heard the word “watchmaker” as a metaphor for God in the past so I wonder if Neil had that analogy in mind.

There are a lot of bright spots to this album and not a lot of lows:  I count “The Anarchist” as having some of the best Rush riffage of all time, for catchiness and simultaneous complexity.  I think “The Wreckers” would make a most excellent third single.  “Headlong Flight” is one of the best songs, and probably the most traditionally Rush sounding, with tempos careening to and fro.  “Halo Effect” has a shimmery guitar part that reminds me of Snakes and Arrows.

Even “Caravan” and “BU2B” sound fresh to me.  I am certain they are freshly mixed, so hang on to your old single, collectors!

Most importantly, you can hear the sheer joy in the playing.  Geddy, Alex and Neil sound like they are playing for nothing more and nothing less than their own enjoyment.  It’s a truly inspiring sound and I think the album will continue to grow on me, as it stays in my car deck all week….

I even rank Hugh Syme’s artwork as among his best.  Each page leaps with messages hidden and obvious, a symbology with multiple meanings.  Although truthfully, I can’t stand the front cover.  I don’t think it captures the many colours and textures within.

As with everything released these days, there are multiple versions:

  1. Stardard digipack CD
  2. Classic Rock Fan Pack (no bonus tracks though, just the magazine)
  3. And, of course…2 LP, 180 gram vinyl.  Sweet.

5/5 stars

Part 60: Back to the Start

Holy crap!  Part 60 already?  I hope you’ve been enjoying the Record Store Tales so far.  For this sort-of-but-not-really-special edition, I’m going to take you back to the start. 

Marko Fox asked me today, “LeBrain, how did you get to be LeBrain?”  Well, it was a unique set of circumstances Marko.

1. Obsession.  Ever since I was a kid I think I was an obsessive-compulsive collector.  I had to have every Star Wars figure, I had to have all their names memorized, I had to have it all.

2. Rock Magazines.  The first rock magazine I ever bought was an old Circus special on Kiss.  All my friends seemed to know all the important details about bands:  Which guy was the bassist and which played guitar, the names of the members, the brands of the guitars.  I decided to needed to catch up and so I started reading magazines.

3. The Power Hour. This MuchMusic show ran for an hour, twice a week.  Two hours of pure rock a week!  I taped them religiously and never missed one until I got my first part-time job.

4. Columbia House.  Remember them?  Buy 11 CDs for a penny, get 2 free, and only have to buy 8 more at regular club prices within the next two years?  We got Columbia House when I was in grade 11, my sister and I, and we split it evenly.  I read the Columbia House catalog cover to cover every month.  So that meant I not only knew who Iron Maiden was, but also Miles Davis, Bell Biv Devoe, and Alan Jackson.

Those four factors sealed into my brain and endless stream of musical knowledge and listening experience that has only grown with the the birth of the Interweeb.

Jump-cut to 1994.  It is July.  I just started at the record store a few days ago.  My boss is having me file discs to get to know the inventory.  He is shocked that I know where to file Miles Davis.  He is surprised that I know which Alan Jackson album has “Chattahoochee” on it.  He asks me how I know this stuff?  I tell him, “Columbia House!”

It wasn’t too long before I was teaching him things, too.  I remember I bought a disc for stock by Pigface (Fook).  The next day he took me aside, holds up the CD, and says, “What is this that you bought?  You paid $4 for this?”  I said, “Yeah.  Side project of Ministry.”  That was when I became known as the guy who knew the side projects from just about everybody.

He was more than happy to stock something if I told him I know it would sell.  With him knowing what was going on with the charts, and Trevor knowing what was happening with new rock, we were a formidable force.

So there you go, Marko.  That is how LeBrain became LeBrain.  You’ll note that two of the four contributing factors don’t exist anymore, so perhaps there could never have been a LeBrain if not for the 80’s!

REVIEW: Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix (+ all bonus tracks)

TENACIOUS D – Rize of the Fenix (2012)

Could the “D” top the Pick of Destiny?

The answer is…no.

Nothing could.  That movie and soundtrack made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest.  But Rize of the Fenix is a close, close second.

There are no vocal cameos by anyone else, just JB and KG and a slew of studio musos.  (Dave Grohl is back on the skins.)   There are only a couple skits, the rest is all music.

The lyrics have never been more self-referencing.  From the Pick of Destiny bombing, to “Hollywood Jack” becoming a big movie star, if you love the “D” then you will love this.  The songs are more epic than ever and the joke is still funny.

I particularly enjoyed “Roadie”, an ode to those who keep the show going on.  From stringing guitars in the shadows to testing the mic, the roadie’s work was unrecognized, until now.  But what will happen when a pretty young thing wants a backstage pass so she can hook up with Kyle Gass?  What then, roadie?  Listen and learn.

Another classic:  “Deth Starr”, arguing that we should really build a hundred of  ’em.  And let’s not forget the musically epic “The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage” which takes Jethro Tull and turns them up to 11.

And finally, there is “39”, JB doing his best Neil Diamond.  This is a sentimental ballad, a ode to a girl who’s 39.  Just lovely, sentimental balladeering.  Lovely.

Best Buy has two bonus tracks:  “Quantum Leap” which compares the “D” to Moses, Leonard Nimoy and François Truffault.  They also have the brief “Rivers of Brown”.  Worth having this edition for “Quantum Leap”.  (Also, I will note:  The Best Buy edition has the real album cover, and is not censored.)

iTunes had a song called “5 Needs”, a little hippy ballad about what we need to survive (such as air, food and rock).  However they don’t have it anymore.  Pre-order only.

Any way you slice it, buy whatever version you like — but do not buy the censored.  What’s the point?

4/5 stars

REVIEW: KISS – Kiss (1974)

I’m going to publish reviews of every Kiss album, including compilations, gearing up for the 2012 release of Monster!

KISS – Kiss (1974)

KISStory began in 1973 when Ace Frehley joined Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Gene Simmons. The band rose from the ashes of Wicked Lester, a 5-piece band featuring Stanley and Simmons who cut a record for Epic. The record was never released but some of the material here originated in the Wicked Lester days.

Produced by Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise (as was the next album, Hotter Than Hell), Kiss lacks that “oomph” of guitar that the band would become noted for later on. Most songs, even powerful fast ones like “Deuce”, rely on rock-and roll-guitars with a little more jangle to them. The tempos are often a bit slower than the versions the band would play (see:  Alive!)  but the spirit is there in this basic rock recording.

The first song, “Strutter” introduced Kiss to the record-buying public. Everybody knows “Strutter”, just as strong today as in 1974. “Nothin’ To Lose” is next, one of my all time favourite Kiss songs and is sung by Gene, Paul and the catman himself Peter Criss. It’s a rock-and-roll song made special by the three vocalists, a gimmick which I wish Kiss would have used more often. “Firehouse” follows this, complete with sirens, and is quite a bit slower than live versions and plods a bit. Ace’s song “Cold Gin” is next, sung by Simmons, a man who never gets drunk which always struck me as an odd pairing. It’s another classic, again a bit slower than live versions but with that great riff intact. Side 1 ends with one of Paul’s earliest songs “Let Me Know”. It was previously known as “Sunday Driver”, which features in the first line of the song: “Let me be your Sunday driver, let me be your Monday man.” Gene sings the verses and Paul sings the bridge. It features a coda that Kiss often played live attached to other, later songs such as “She” or “Watchin’ You”.

Side 2 began (on reissue versions) with the cover tune “Kissin’ Time”. This song was released as a single first, and added to the album later. It’s nothing special even though it does again feature all three singers. (Frehley would not sing a lead until Love Gun.) “Deuce”, which should have kicked off side two, is a song everybody knows.  It is Gene’s signature song, a tune which Ace played as a solo artist as well, simply because he loves the song.  This version is almost asgood as the Alive! version. Next, “Love Theme From Kiss”; a meandering instrumental.  It was once called “Acrobat” and featured a second part known in fan circles as “You’re Much Too Young”. That part was chopped before the studio version was recorded, and later became the main riff to “Detroit Rock City”.  “100,000 Years” begins with a trademark Gene Simmons bass slide, and then goes into that great groove with Paul taking the lead vocal.  This is as grooviest as Kiss ever get, although again the Alive!version is superior.  The album ends with the first Kiss epic, “Black Diamond”. It starts with a mellow acoustic opening, Paul’s smooth vocal, and “ooh ooh” backgrounds. Then there’s a countdown, Paul yells “Hit it!” and the whole band kicks in. Peter sings the rest of the song. It is an absolute classic and one of Kiss’s very best.

On the album cover:  You’ll notice some rare things.  Ace has silver in his hair, and Peter’s makeup is completely different. The reason given is that Peter had a professional do his makeup for the cover whereas the rest of the guys did their own. I’m not sure why Ace’s hair is silver but I’m sure it was impractical. If it wasn’t for these oddities, I think this cover image would be more iconic in Kisstory, because it is otherwise very cool.  They were going for that iconic Meet the Beatles type of simple image, and they came close to nailing it.

The first three Kiss albums share a common “rock-and-roll” sound with less distortion and more jangly guitars. Most fans consider the Alive! versions to be superior. I would tend to agree.  Still, this was the start:  it’s remarkable just how many of these songs would become Kiss classics and would be played live through the years. In fact by my counting there are no less than 8 out of 10 songs here that are bonafide classics in Kisstory.

5/5 stars