REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Dehumanizer (deluxe edition)

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BLACK SABBATH – Dehumanizer (2011 deluxe edition)

After a chaotic decade of lineup changes, solo-but-not-solo albums, record label switcharoos, and a few aborted attempts to reconcile with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi finally did something that we fans had been wishing for:  He recovened the classic Mob Rules lineup of the band, featuring fellow cohorts in rock Ronnie James Dio, Geezer Butler, Vinnie Appice, and unofficial keyboardist Geoff Nicholls.

The results were staggering: Dehumanizer, the best Black Sabbath since Born Again at least, and Sabotage at best. It is incredibly heavy even for Black Sabbath, topped only by the same lineup’s The Devil You Know in 2009. Yet heaviness alone would not make any album a classic. Dehumanizer is marked by outstanding production (by Mack of Queen fame), newfound seriousness in the lyrical department, and a certain rhythmic thrift courtesy of Appice. To me, Dehumanizer is among the best of all Sabbath albums, and that includes Ozzy’s. For that vintage guitar sound, Iommi resurrected his old Gibson SG that he used back in the Paranoid days. That’s why it sounds like a monster puking distortion out of the speakers.

A track like “Computer God” relies on Appice’s relentless hammering, until Iommi’s riff subdues you into a pulp. None of these songs are immediate. The sludge of “After All (The Dead)” crawls along, but slowly burrows its way into your memory. My personal favourite song is “I”, which…man, I won’t even try to describe it, except to say that it’s awesome.

The liner notes reveal that the band had to convince Dio to drop the rainbows and dragons from the lyrics, and the album is that much more powerful for it. This carried on through to some of Ronnie’s solo albums as well. It is a shame that this newfound seriousness did not strike a chord with the grunge scenesters of the time.

This deluxe edition is pretty much as good as they get. It collects every B-side side and associated track for Dehumanizer, as well as one previously unreleased one. On the bonus disc you will find three non-album versions of “Master of Insanity”, “Letters From Earth”, and “Time Machine” (the version from Wayne’s World). “Letters From Earth” is an early version with slightly different lyrics and riffs. This had been on a B-side before.

You also get five live tracks, all from single B-sides. This was a real coup for me, as I didn’t even know these existed before. I missed out on those singles. As far as live songs go, they could be better. “Die Young” is a mere two minutes long (you can hear that it was about to merge into “Too Late” before the fade). Geoff Nicholl’s keyboards are mixed in too loudly. “Master of Insanity” is previously unreleased, and although unlisted it is actually a medley with “After All (The Dead)”. I’m glad that this brief era of Sabbath has been documented with some live songs, and Dio was in peak form back then.

For some reason, I couldn’t get this from the Canadian Amazon site. I had to order it in from the States. Weird.

5/5 stars. A crucial slab of Sabbath that has now been given the appropriate treatment, same as Heaven And Hell and Mob Rules. Complete your collection.

Party On! Excellent!

Part 45: S.F.G.

When customers order discs, as a rule of thumb, it was always a good idea to, at minimum, get the name of the person you are ordering for.  So, imagine the scenario about to unfold….

Perfectly normal looking middle aged guy, dressed in a suit and tie, walks in and wants some Stevie Ray Vaughan.  I say, OK, I can get you such-and-such an album for ‘x’ amount of dollars and I can get it here before the weekend.  Are you interested?  Can I get your name?

“Yeah, can you hold it for S.F.G?”

S.F.G.?  That’s who you want us to ask for on the phone?

“Yeah.  Short Fat Guy.   S.F.G.  See ya.”

I swear to God because you can’t make this shit up, he always gave that as his name.  I had to call him once.  “Hi, is this S.F.G.?” 

I’ll tell you something, it was a game we all played with each other, when we had to call customers for their orders.  But nobody ever wanted to call the ones with the weird names.  S.F.G.  Koolio.  Yeah, one guy was in the system as “Koolio”. 

So we’d always leave the weird named ones for whoever was working next.  If I was working in the day, I would put a note on it saying, “Call during evening.”  If I was working the night, I would write a note saying, “Number busy, try during day.” 

Check out the cool video below for some SFG…err…I mean SRV!

Part 44: eBayers

Shortly after we kicked off our website, we ran into a brand new breed of customer.  This breed was probably accidentally created in a lab when scientists cross the “annoying customer” with the “computer” and tossed in some DNA from “the internet”.

These guys bought the same titles, over and over and over again.  Then they would re-sell them on eBay and double their money.  The problem is these guys would get up early in the morning, check the website updates, and snag them before sane people wake up.

Some of the titles they were always hunting for:

  • Alanis Morissette – Alanis
  • Alanis Morissette – Now is the Time

These were Alanis’ first two dance-pop discs that have never been reissued.  For obvious reasons.

Another:

  • Last of the Mohicans – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

This classic score was out of print for a long time.  That, and it’s dramatic quality, made it a classic for eBaying.

  • The Traveling Wilburys – Vol 1
  • The Traveling Wilburys – Vol 3

Before these two albums were reissued recently with bonus material, they were completely unavailable.  People were willing to pay up to and over $50 for the first one on eBay.

There were pretty strict company rules about staff buying product for resale on eBay for their own personal profit.  You can see why this would be so, the store is not there to supply an employee’s personal eBay business.

However before that rule kicked in, and eBay was new to the world, a few of us tried selling some stuff as an experiment.  I remember getting good good money for the following, which I sold multiple times:

  • Freddie Mercury – Mr. Bad Guy
  • The Tea Party – Release (EP)

Now it’s almost impossible to imagine a time when you couldn’t get (almost) anything on eBay, if you can afford it.  Yet there are still some things I’m hunting for, and I have not found yet on eBay.  If you have either of these, drop me a line!

  • The Cult – Capsule 2
  • The Sultans of Ping F.C. – Casual Sex in the Cineplex

REVIEW: Nickelback – Dark Horse

First of all, this Victoria Day weekend, I would like to apologize to the nations of the world, for Nickelback.  You forgave us for Celine, you forgave us for Bryan Adams, do we get three strikes?

NICKELBACK – Dark Horse 

the only thing that could make me feel worse about my life would be to play bass for nickelback. — Mike Jackson, actor, “Trevor” on Trailer Park Boys.

As if Nickelback weren’t bad enough on their own, here comes Mutt Lange to “polish” their sound! The result is an album that — guess what! — sounds like a cross between Nickelback and Def Leppard. Don’t believe me? Check out those “HEY”‘s on “Shakin’ Hands”. Lifted straight out of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, but without the sugar.  This is more like aspartame.

In fact this is one of the least fun album about beer and chicks that I’ve ever heard. Kroeger’s overwrought, over-serious singing style makes this one tedious listen. I’ve never heard a “party” band take themselves so seriously before. Even Metallica don’t take themselves this seriously.

The lyr-yucks are a nauseating mix of cliche after cliche, stripper after stripper, beer after beer. But without a wink and a smile, like David Lee Roth used to do. This time, nobody’s laughing.

Worst songs:
“Something In Your Mouth” (how can a band write such stupid lyrics? With rapping?)
“This Afternoon” (a pretty dour sounding party)
“Shakin’ Hands” (Nickelfunk?)
“If Today Was Your Last Day” (philosphy 4 dummies )

There’s a reason Nickelback are hated by millions and got rocks thrown at them in Greece. This album boils it all down into one handy package for you to piss on.

No stars.

My favourite thing about Chad Kroeger is how dumb he sounds when he’s trying to sound smart!

Part 43: Shake Your Foundations (Epilepsy Sucks!)

In 2008, the year we got married, Jen was diagnosed with epilepsy.  Some people with epilepsy never have a seizure, once diagnosed and medicated.  Unfortunately for us, Jen is not one of those people.

It’s been a long hard struggle, but we have made it through so far with humour and a positive attitude.  One part of having a positive attitude came from my research on the illness. While researching epilepsy online, I discovered that numerous rock stars have it, but still function!  Knowing this was a huge boost to our attitudes, because being on stage involves lots of lights, and lights can be a trigger for many people with epilepsy.

I constructed a 4 O’Clock 4-Play for Craig at 107.5 Dave FM, involving this theme.  My goal was simply to raise awareness.  I told Craig, “If just one person hears this and learns something about epilepsy then my work is done, because so many people have no idea what it is.”  Judging by the feedback I got, it did succeed in getting people thinking!

1. Prince.  The royal single-monikered one was born epileptic and suffered a lot of taunting at school.  He’s obviously come a long way since!  I submitted “Let’s Go Crazy” in my 4-play but Craig subbed in a collaboration with Stevie Nicks which was fine by me!

2. Lindsay Buckingham.  He was born with a mild form of the disease, but still manages to tour with Fleetwood Mac.  Good on him!  I chose “Go Your Own Way”.

3. Adam Horovitz.  This Beastie Boy is sensitive to flashing lights, which I am sure they use in their stage show.  It certainly didn’t seem to hold him back from massive success.  For this 4-play I chose “Sabotage”.

4. Neil Young.  He was medicated for epilepsy as a child, but didn’t like the side effects of the meds, which can go all over the spectrum depending on you and your meds.  Neil chose to make lifestyle changes instead, and has lived without medication since!  And, obviously, rocked the world.  Good on you Neil.  I used “Rockin’ in the Free World”.

Epilepsy scares a lot of people when they see a seizure happen.  Don’t be scared, but if you want to learn more, check out some of these links.

http://www.epilepsyontario.org/

http://www.epilepsy.ca/en-CA/Epilepsy-Canada.html

http://twitter.com/#!/EpilepsyOntario

REVIEW: Queens of the Stone Age – No One Knows (UNKLE Remix) CD single

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – “No One Knows” (UNKLE Remix) CD single (2002)

Remixes…meh.

There are a few different singles for “No One Knows”. The one you are currently taking a look at is the UNKLE remix single. As far as remixes go, this isn’t bad at all. It’s actually a really interesting remix, completely reinventing the song and changing it into something else, while still retaining that haunting Homme melody. A job well done, for sure, a truly good remix.
However I can’t rate this single any higher than 2 stars simply because it contains four versions of the same song, and I usually like a lot more out of my singles. The disc contains the original version, and three versions of the UNKLE remix (extended, edit, intrumental).
This is mainly for remix fans. Even completists should put this low on their priority lists.
2/5 stars

REVIEW: Thin Lizzy – Live and Dangerous (deluxe edition)

“Is there anyone here who has some Irish them? Are there any girls who’d like a little more Irish in them?” — Phil Lynott

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THIN LIZZY – Live and Dangerous (2011 deluxe edition)

Kiss Alive. Frampton Comes Alive. Live At Leeds. Live and Dangerous. What is it about live albums that, in the past anyway, pretty much defined a band’s career? If you were going to own one Kiss album, let’s face it, it was Kiss Alive. Likewise with Lizzy — this was the album you were most likely to find in the older brother’s record collection. Or the dad’s CD collection, as time goes on. What is it about live albums in general and this one in particular?

Hard to say. However, one thing it does have common with Kiss Alive is that it was heavily overdubbed in the studio. The liner notes go into great detail on this, with producer Tony Visconti and guitarist Scott Gorham disagreeing on the details. So we may never know, except to listen to the results and blindly enjoy them for what they are!

Now expanded to two discs with two bonus tracks, Live and Dangerous is still a fantastic listen from front to back. I can’t believe how great this album still sounds. If this was concocted in the studio, I have no idea how they managed this kind of energy. In particular, Phil’s vocals are better than anything he’d ever done anywhere else — more soulful, more pronounced, powerful — pick your adjective. Either way, this is the sound of a real singer, singing live, improvising notes here and there, making it more real.

Enough good things cannot be said about Live and Dangerous so I will just add two more things and leave you to buy (or not, but you’d have to be a real suckypants not to want to own this). I was disappointed in two things:

1. Only two bonus tracks were included, and the B-side “Me And The Boys” is not one of them. This is very rare for deluxe editions, which usually include as many B-sides as possible, and there was room on the discs. (Don’t fret though, the live version of “Me And The Boys” can be had on the Lizzy box set.)

2. The DVD Live And Dangerous – Live at the Rainbow Theatre 1977 just includes the show itself and none of the special features included on actual individual DVD editions you can buy separately.

As an added note, you may enjoy the “sequel” album Still Dangerous, although there is some overlap.

5/5 stars. Just buy it.

Part 42.5: Random Klassic Quote

The two most common requests here at LeBrain’s blog are the following:

1. We love the classic quotes!

2. You ramble on too much!

So, for your long weekend pleasure, a single Klassic Quote for you.

Remember way back in Klassic Kwotes II I mentioned a girl who shit her pants in the store?  Funnier still was the reaction from one of my regular customers that day.  Peter the Rocker.  Ahh, Peter, what ever happened to you?  Peter the Rocker was from Austria.  When the girl shit her pants in the store, the first thing heard in the store, very loudly, was from Peter the Rocker.  Picture this in thick Austrian accent.

“Hey man!  I think somebody shit their fucking pants in your fucking store, man!”

Also funny was when Peter the Rocker once declared to us, in Austrian accent:

I am no longer Peter the Rocker!  Now I am Peter Hard Core!

Part 42: The Barefoot DJ

RECORD STORE TALES Part 42: The Barefoot DJ

We had one regular at the store, Barefoot DJ.  He used to come in and say, “Do you have that song, Mistadobalina? Mr. Bob Dobalina?”  With no shoes.  Every time.  He said he had a foot disease that made his feet feel like they’re on fire.  Therefore, he could’t wear shoes.  So I said, wear flip flops.  I had to kick him out so many damn times!  He said he filed a report with human rights, all that stuff.  It was an insurance thing.  If the guy cut his foot on a broken CD case shard, we get sued.

The problem is, there were some discs that were just hard to find and Del tha Funkee Homosapien wasn’t exactly a regular, like, say, Hole (bargain bin perennial, that one!).  So he’d come in, ask for the song, do his little rendition (no shoes this whole time) and then tell us we sucked because we didn’t have it.   Then he’d be back two weeks later asking for the same damn song.    This, and “Pink” by Aerosmith, were the two that the Barefoot DJ was constantly looking for.

But…he wanted “Pink” on a greatest hits album!  Even though it was their new single at the time, from their brand new album, he wanted it on a hits album.  Wouldn’t buy it otherwise.  I told him he was just going to have to wait.  There was no pleasing this man, even when he did wear shoes!

CODA:  A question raised by Craig Fee, of 107.5 Dave FM:  “Who the fuck wants that stupid song by Aerosmith?”

Answer – Me….

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REVIEW: Metallica – Beyond Magnetic

METALLICA – Beyond Magnetic (EP, 2011)

Forget the fact that I bought this twice. (Shame on you Metallica for releasing this digitally without even announcing that there would be a forthcoming physical release.) This EP, Metallica’s umpteenth (and fourth in a row last I checked) is totally worth whatever your local shop is asking you to plunk down for it. There’s nothing in the way of special packaging so if you already own a digital copy, you’ll probably be fine with just that. For sheer riffage per minute, this is Metallica the way I remember it.

The production or lack thereof is rougher than Death Magnetic, which is fine by me. The songs themselves all could have been on Death Magnetic, there’s really nothing weak here. “Hate Train” is among the better Metallica songs from the last 20 years. It careens from fast and heavy to melodic and back again. And that’s just the first track. If you liked Death Magnetic, then buying this is a real no-brainer. If you didn’t, and still can’t get over the fact that Metallica don’t sound the same as when you were in highschool, then avoid, because I’ll tell you right now this won’t change your jaded mind.

4/5 stars.