Shinzon: Dread and the Fugitive Mind – A Tee Bone Man Multiverse Story (By Harrison Kopp)

SHINZON: Dread and the Fugitive Mind

A Tee Bone Man Multiverse Story

If there was a bright centre of the universe, then Shinzon was certainly very far from it. In fact, the area he found himself on the edge of was now called the Shadow Sector for good measure.

This particular planet was called Stavros, and it was, to put it charitably, a cesspool. A large prison transport had crashed there many cycles ago and the local law enforcement had never bothered to recover the inmates. The planet itself wasn’t good for anything more than an open-air prison, they said. So to say the local population were a bit rough around the edges would be an understatement.

Shinzon had not planned to make a layover here, but an encounter with a bounty hunter over Stygia on the way to Mars had damaged his hyperdrive and forced him to take refuge on this slimy mudhole. He needed repairs, a ride or a new ship and he wasn’t particularly fussed how he got it.

In his downtime (which he now had a fair amount of), he skulked around the tavern, keeping his eye out for anyone who looked like they wouldn’t consider his presence an insult to their existence.

Not that he had the luxury of striking up a conversation with just anyone. Since he had abandoned his master, Lord Tyranus, and struck out on his own, he had been forced to keep a close eye over his shoulder. Tyranus had put a bounty on his head, and Shinzon wasn’t going to put money on Tyranus wanting him alive.

But what did Shinzon himself want now? It wasn’t a question he had asked himself before. His priorities had always been assigned to him in the past, and now he was free to choose his own targets. It was a bit overwhelming really. So many scores to settle, riches to claim and people to kill.

I just want to be myself. 

Did he think that? It had to be him. Who else could it be? But where had it come from?

Be myself…be myself, the thought echoed.

He’d never really thought hard about who he was before. It was always easy, because it had all been predetermined for him, and he wasn’t even good enough for that apparently. So what was he good at? What did he want to do?

Lost in thought, Shinzon’s attention lapsed, and he failed to notice the entrance of the bounty hunter Los Dianos.  Not that Shinzon would been able to name him anyway, but Dianos was quite legendary in this sector for his preference for never taking his targets in alive. His mechanical leg (a souvenir from a previous bounty) squeaked with every step as he searched the tavern for his quarry.  Shinzon was unaware as he pondered his own existence, one which Dianos was ready to end presently.

Looking past the bar in the centre of the room, the hunter locked his eyes on Shinzon. Recognising his target, the hunter pulled a high-powered pistol from underneath his black coat and aimed it straight between Shinzon’s eyes.

But luck was on the young clone’s side today, as a drunk patron chose at that very moment to fall back off his chair.  The blaster bolt “fated” for Shinzon instead struck an overweight Gliesian.  The rotund, amphibious alien didn’t feel a thing, but the sound of the blaster summoned Shinzon from his stupor.  He dove directly to his left, behind a bar counter, which took the brunt of a volley of laser blasts, shattering it to splinters.

Thinking quick, Shinzon’s eyes darted around the room. His focus was crystal clear now. He pulled a concealed blade from his boot and hurled it straight at his attacker’s face. It unfortunately struck him with the handle end, but this did stun Dianos enough for Shinzon to make his next move.  His eyes darted to a nearby table. He grabbed a tankard of something foul smelling and hurled it onto Dianos’s cybernetic leg. The effect was immediate. The limb spasmed, sparking and smoking as it stuck out, locked at a very unnatural angle.

Shinzon bolted as Dianos fell to the floor, an angry shot flying well wide, and striking the wall by a particularly beefy Alpha Centauri male. Meanwhile, the creature who had had his drink liberated from him was too drunk to know who had taken his glass, but that wasn’t going to stop him from beating the snot out of the nearest unlucky patron.  By the time the barfight was over, and Dianos had repaired and rebooted his limb, Shinzon was already in the upper atmosphere in his starship. But Dianos could tell from the trail of smoke that he wouldn’t make it far.

He tuned his radio frequency to that of his partner.

“He won’t be able to leave this star system.  He’ll be coming your way. There’s nowhere else for him to go.”

Dianos was right. Shinzon found himself once again descending into the atmosphere of a moon he’d rather not be on. This time it was Frolix 9, the ninth moon of the gas giant Frolix in this system. On Stavros he’d heard stories of this place, and its heyday as a major trading port. But that was a long time ago and the trade routes had since moved, leaving Frolix 9 in poverty and decay.

Breaking through the smog of the lower atmosphere, Shinzon’s worst fears were confirmed. A wide vista of smoke and dilapidated buildings extended as far as the eye could see. There were a few billboards or other electronic lights still operating, but on a whole it looked like it had been an eternity since someone had last put effort into the upkeep of this place.

At least I won’t stand out, Shinzon thought to himself as he brought his Quadjumper down in for rough landing on a free pad. The ship had left more than a few skid marks by the time it came to a stop.

At least he hadn’t damaged the ship any further. The hyperdrive was still shot, but he was pretty sure he’d have a better chance of getting it fixed here. As he powered down the ship post-landing, he made sure to remove the ignition coil and stashed it in a hidden compartment under the seat. Can’t be too careful around here, he thought to himself. It wouldn’t stop a hoard of Tarkalean rats, but a least any would-be thieves would be unable to start the ship’s engines.

He cast his eyes out the cockpit at the miserable sight before him. While it was a stark contrast to the sterile white halls of Tyranus’ labs, it seemed more real than the city he “grew up” on.

He wasn’t here to lay low – or, at least he didn’t plan to. He needed a sturdy ship that was capable of more than just limping between planets in the same system. He wasn’t sure which black hole someone had pulled the old Quadjumper out of, but it was barely holding itself together. He wasn’t holding his breath that he’d get the chance to steal anything better, but if the opportunity came along, he wasn’t going to let it pass by.

Shinzon cracked the seal of the cockpit and exited, into a cloud of steam, only to find a green alien inspecting it.

“Looks like you’ve seen a bit of action,” it laughed.

“Yes,” Shinzon replied, not interested in retelling the story.  “And I need some repairs done to the hyperdrive’s motivator, if you’re up to the task.”

The mechanic cast some of his many eyes over the peeling paint and dented panelling and did some mental calculations.

“That’ll be 1,750 credits for the replacement parts, plus 1,250 labour,” it stated with firmness.  It placed two of its hands on its hips, awaiting Shinzon’s answer.

“I’ll pay for the parts now and you get the rest once the labour is done,” Shinzon countered.

The mechanic thought for a second, sizing up Shinzon.

“Fine, deal.”  It spat something blue onto the ground and held out a hand for payment.  Shinzon wasted no time dumping a handful of credits into the alien’s hand and stalked off into the city. He wasn’t going to hang around here in the open if he could help it and, besides, he needed to get some more credits.  Lost in thought, for the second time, Shinzon failed to pay attention.  The mechanic made his way to a nearby communication panel to make a call, as Shinzon obliviously walked away.

“Marshall?” whispered the mechanic through an orifice.  “I think the guy you’re looking for just pulled in for repairs.”

With urgent caution, Shinzon strode through the dilapidated area.  The sound of voices drew his attention from the harsh neon lighting all around, and he headed down a flight of stairs into an alien market.  Or was it a red light district?  He didn’t know any of these species and it was hard to tell. Aliens of all kind were mingling, either hawking wares or seeking a bargain. There would be money here for sure. It was still a little brighter than he liked, but at least he could hide fairly well amongst the people.

He strode forward into the area and began hunting for unguarded registers and open pockets. As he walked, voices from the street leaped out at him.

“Dr. Futurity’s the man for you! He can build you a new arm!” hawked one.

“It’s a scanner, darkly painted so as to blend in wherever possible!” bartered another.

“I heard that Gears singer has been gaining some serious support on the lower level,” said someone as Shinzon strode past.

Shinzon continued on. He was not interested in the petty troubles of the people here. He had his own problems. His stomach agreed, voicing its displeasure with the lateness of dinner. And Shinzon had to agree, it had been almost 18 hours since he had last ate.

He looked around for someone selling something that looked like it had been made today, not that he had much choice. After a few minutes of searching, he settled for some bread (he presumed) from a ‘baker’ who had set up shop in one of the buildings on the edge of the market.

He handed the creature the few credits he had left and grabbed one of the less stale pieces of bread. It tasted pretty bad, but it would fuel him all the same.  He sat, for the first time since Stavros.  Taking a moment to eat and reflect, he started mentally prioritising his revenge list.  Every moment he had to spend in this place made his desire for revenge that much more intense.  They will pay for all these indignities and more.

Suddenly, Shinzon became acutely aware of the silence around. Everyone had frozen, a street vendor not even daring to turn the gas down on his now overcooked Scazz steaks.

At the end of the street stood a presence. Burning red eyes, wide brim hat, dark brown coat, he was hard to miss, and judging by the reaction of the people in the street, none had. Including Shinzon, who quickly ducked inside the bakery and held his breath.

The imposing cybernetic visage at the end of the street was Marshall Lokjaw, one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the business.  He wasn’t from around here, which meant payment must be substantial this time.  The Marshall came from a distant galaxy, and no one knew who or what had summoned his foul presence upon the Milky Way.  He had evidently taken a liking to the quarry here, or rather, the payment associated with said quarry. Destruction was his justice, like this world had never seen.

Marshall Lokjaw slowly moved forward, the clunk of each footstep echoing around the street. No one spoke as he slowly advanced through the alley, his roving eye seeing every movement. Shinzon held his nerve, but with Lokjaw determinedly approaching, he needed an exit. And he did find one. He just couldn’t see what was on the other side of it. But he couldn’t waste any more time, so he grabbed a nearby and terribly stale loaf, and hurled it through the cracked glass. This was very quickly followed by Shinzon hurling himself through the window, and into a dumpster below.

Lokjaw’s head immediately snapped to the source of the noise, and he fired his laser beam once, then twice for sure. No sooner had the second blast left the barrel was he upon the smoking bakery, inspecting the damage.

Destruction of premises: 700 credits in repairs. Not his problem. One shopkeeper: dead. His problems: over now. Primary target: unaccounted for. This was a problem.

Reassessing the premises, Lokjaw spied the window, and launched himself there in a flash.  His photoreceptors identified wet footprints on the ground below, and he dropped down to the surface with a heavy thud.

Not far away, Shinzon sprinted across the rain-soaked permacrete, not daring to slow down or look back. After what seemed like hours, but was likely only minutes, he found a suitable place to catch his breath: a packed casino.

He ran straight into the building and found a shadowing corner to hide in. But if the gasp of the Ferengi a few seats away from him was anything to go by, Shinzon wouldn’t have long to rest.

He took a peek around a corner and, sure enough, there, in the metal, stood Marshall Lokjaw himself. The robot spoke for the first time, addressing the crowd in front of him in a harsh metallic voice.

“The one who turns him in gets to live.”

Most of the crowd didn’t know who Lokjaw was referring to, and some of them even knew he couldn’t shoot them all, but none of them wanted to be around when he started blasting, and they all immediately scattered in a myriad of directions.

Shinzon was among them, running through the kitchen and out the back door. He followed the path down an alleyway and into a far more industrial area than he had been in before. The harsh neon light was gone, replaced by the smell of oil, grease and hyperfuel.

Shinzon wasn’t fussed about the aesthetics, but he needed a way to fight back (or at the very least lose his pursuer for a bit).

He wasn’t sure the abandoned factory in front of him was either of those things, but it beat running out in the open, so he smashed open the boarded-up door with his shoulder and cautiously ventured inside.

The machinery was in better condition than he expected.  Just a little dusty. He immediately ran deep into the facility and hid behind a lathe, looking around for anything that could do some damage. The clunk of metal footsteps outside told him he was running out of time.

And pretty much right on cue, Lokjaw strode in and examined his surroundings. Formulating a plan, he pulled out his laser gun, ensuring it was fully charged. Lokjaw then slowly and deliberately shot every coolant tank on the level. Within a minute a thick steam had completely enveloped the lower levels. Which was exactly where Shinzon was…and he didn’t possess the advanced photoreceptors of an android.

Which left him in a spot of bother.

The clunk of Lokjaw’s steps echoed all around the room. Closer, farther he was always around. And just when Shinzon thought he had an opening to break for the door, two laser bolts streaked out of the steam and slammed into the machine next to him. They exploded in a shower of sparks and Shinzon was forced to creep up a flight of stairs to avoid his pursuer.

Lokjaw continued to prowl, making his way up the same flight of stairs. The steam was not as thick here, but that was a small consolation. What was of considerably more usefulness though was the welding torch Shinzon had swiped from a bench. With a few tweaks to the internal components, he had a laser gun of his own on his hands.

The game of cat and mouse quickly became more akin to a wild west shootout. But for every shot Shinzon sent Lokjaw’s way, he got two in return, which was not a very sustainable way to operate a firefight. Shinzon needed to finish this battle quick, preferably with him still alive.

“There’s something,” he muttered to himself, sighting an option available.

He carefully manoeuvred himself, backing up until he reached a cargo crane. Using the cockpit as cover, he engaged a series of inputs on the control panel. Lokjaw advanced relentlessly as Shinzon took shelter behind whichever parts of the crane’s cockpit hadn’t been blasted away yet.

But Lokjaw had been too busy focusing on the moving organic, that he had ignored the machinery. When the crane arm was on a direct collision course for him, his programming didn’t account for it until it was too late. Which was to say he didn’t notice until he was flying sideways over the railing.

Lokjaw disappeared below the layer of steam and hit the ground with a thunk. Shinzon didn’t feel like sticking around to confirm if his pursuer was still operative, so he swung the crane around in the other direction, straight through a crumbling wall.

Wasting no time, he clambered into it the hole he just made, and crossed the bridge he had revealed to a walkway on the side of another building. Not daring to look down, he crossed the gap like a monkey and ran for his life.

Turning, rolling, diving, Shinzon raced back through the neon-drenched alleyways to the landing pad his ship was on.

The Quadjumper! he thought to himself in relief. His relationship with the ship had always been love/hate, but right now it was a sight for sore eyes.

Breathless, he addressed the mechanic.

“My ship – is it fixed?”

“Yes,” the treacherous mechanic replied. “Now payment is due.”

Shinzon pulled out the modified welding torch.

“I don’t think so.”

“Ha! You think I haven’t had people try to swindle me before? Your ship’s going nowhere without the fuel I drained from its tank!”

“Like hell it ain’t,” Shinzon sneered back. “This is a Quadjumper, it’s got two fuel tanks.”

This was very much a revelation to the mechanic, who sputtered in confusion.

“Well then I’ll take your ship as payment”, he said, pulling out his wrench and lunging at Shinzon. But before he could make good on his threat, Shinzon quickly swiftly hit him with a backhand across the face and flipped the stunned alien around, putting him between Shinzon and the entrance to the landing pad.

The mechanic’s eyes (all of them) went wide with fear as he saw Marshall Lokjaw bearing down on them, laser in hand. Two shots later and he was dead.  Shinzon threw his limp body aside. Lokjaw continued to fire, just missing the ducking Shinzon by mere inches.

Shinzon returned fire, and scored a hit on the bounty hunter, square in his chest. Lokjaw staggered, falling briefly to one knee, but continued on his course.  Shinzon took this opportunity to bolt for the ship’s ramp.

Reaching the cockpit, he very hastily reinstalled the ignition coil and fired the engines. Laser blasts battered the hull, but he made it.  “Launch!” he cried as the engines engaged.

Shinzon’s ship streaked into the upper atmosphere, as Lokjaw watched it go with futility gleaming in his eye.  Once it had left his view, he silently turned and stalked back into the concrete jungle.

Eventually the Quadjumper left the planet’s atmosphere and Shinzon collapsed back in his seat, exhausted. He would not be able to survive all these hunters much longer, and the bounty on his head was only going to get bigger.

Then he had an idea. At the navicompter, he keyed in the coordinates to Earth. It was well out of the way, and he could rely on the heroes there to take out any alien threats to him. Such a delicious irony, that one.

Plus, he smiled, he had some unfinished business with a certain Fanboy Mike there.

Earth.

Said Fanboy Mike was in the middle of putting the LOOFAH into long-term storage. It was regrettable, but with fuel prices these days he couldn’t afford to roll out the massive metal beast every time someone robbed a grocery store. And besides, he’d always have Edie Van Heelin’ to protect him anyway. With the last bit of coolant drained from it, Mike closed the doors to the large garage and put in the locking passcode.

Then he turned and ran back to the house. He had a hockey game against Edie to get to, and he certainly didn’t want to be late.

Space.

Meanwhile, across the universe, Tyranus sat in his personal shuttle, fuming. Since Lokjaw had let Shinzon escape there had been no concrete leads on his locations. A possible sighting near the Magellanic Clouds was the best he had, and that was a week ago. Tyranus was absolutely incensed. Jango Fett would have brought me his head by now Tyranus thought to himself.

But despite the great danger Shinzon’s limited knowledge posed to his plans, Tyranus could no longer delay the next phase. He keyed in the communication details of his agent on the Earth. An orangey-skinned man with blonde hair answered.

“How are you?  I appreciate you taking time out of your day to talk to me. That is the nicest thing.”

Tyranus did not have time for pleasantries and got straight to business. Time to see if the Martians did a better job with their creation than the Kaminoans.

“Initiate subtext 66”, he spoke clearly and deliberately.

The man’s eyes changed in an instant as a preprogrammed personality took over.

“My lord, what is thy command?”

Tyranus spoke again.

“The Northern Lights. Destroy them all.”

The man replied.

“It will be done.”

Tyranus smiled and turned off the communicator. At least something was going his way. Now to go about locating the renegade clone Shinzon. Maybe he should increase the bounty further. It was a risk though. If it got too big, the hunters would be fighting each other for it rather than doing their job. Given the circumstances though, it would be an acceptable risk.

But the Sith Lord would eventually find out that this was in vain, for Shinzon was far beyond his reaches now. The Quadjumper touched down on the edge of Kīlauea, a volcano in what is known on Earth as Hawaii. Shinzon soon exited and looked around.

Yes. He thought to himself. This will make a fine place to build a lair to hide out in and operate from. 

And so the many pieces across this giant chessboard known as the Milky Way moved their movements. Things were in motion now, unstoppably so, and some people were about to become something that they would not walk away the same from:

Victims of Changes!

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN:  PHASE ONE – THE SQUIRREL SAGA 

THE ADVENTURES OF TEE BONE MAN:  PHASE TWO – THE MULTIVERSE SAGA

 

THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF EDIE VAN HEELIN’

THE WRITER’S ROOM

REVIEW: Metallica – …And Justice For All (1988)

METALLICA – …And Justice For All (1988 Elektra)

As I cast my mind back to 1988, the omnipresence of Metallica’s …And Justice For All cannot be ignored.  For one thing, the band’s new studio album was a double album, which was all but unheard of at that time.  The cover art was striking.  The band were now on TV, after stubbornly avoiding music videos for years.  “One” was the name of the song, and it was even more stark and impactful than the album art.  If the band wanted their first-ever music video to be influential and monumental, they succeeded.   However despite all the praise, the cries of “sell outs!” echoed on the “letters to the editor” section of various rock magazines.  How dare Metallica make a music video.  One letter in Hit Parader magazine compared Justice to Bon Jovi.  It’s hard to imagine a reaction like that from the perspective of today, but as much as Justice was Metallica’s most successful album to date, there were thousands of fans who resented them for it.

The other elephant in the room is the production and mix of the album, which is brittle and lacks bass.  There were various stories, such as hazing the “new kid” Jason Newsted by removing the bass, but today Lars and James largely blame themselves, saying their hearing was burned out and they just kept turning everything up until you couldn’t hear the bass.  There are other stories and other parties who received blame at various points of the timeline, but the thing is this:  Justice has sonic issues.  We all are aware of this by now.

Let’s dig into this hour-plus album and hear what the fuss was all about.

A backwards guitar harmony fades in from the start, a striking and cool effect.  Then immediately the riff and drums kick in, and the snare is loud.  It dominates the mix, with the riff itself chugging away behind.  James Hetfield awakens the dead, and this could have been his vocal peak, in terms of grit combined with sheet lung power.  “Blackened” is a blast, like Metallica of old, and though the pace is breakneck to start, it soon switches up to a deliberate march.  Lars is absolutely bangin’ away, and there are so many wicked riffs and licks that you’ll want to go back and take notes.  This is a textbook course in writing metal, with a dose of complexity and catchy challenges.  Kirk Hammett really plays some cool stuff in the solos as well, demonstrating his experimental side just a tad.  “Blackened” is the only song on the album with a Newsted co-writing credit.

The title track is second, almost 10 minutes in length and loaded with riffs and tempos.  Hetfield growls like a beast of the social ills of the world.  Lars’ drum parts are almost out of the jungles.  It’s a cool track, undoubtedly powerful and a peak for a certain kind of Metallica track.  They had come a long way from their New Wave of British Heavy Metal / punk rock hybrid sound of old.  But, much like Iron Maiden at the same time, Metallica were becoming more interested in progressing musically.  You can actually hear some bass on this track ,and Jason’s really playing some wild stuff.

At this point of the album, we’re getting acclimated to the frigid cold mix and brittle guitars.  Kirk’s wild solos are an anaesthetic to the constant cutting of James’ rhythm guitar.

On vinyl, this is where side one would have flipped to side two, opening with “Eye of the Beholder”.  Cool, underrated opening riff to this song, and again Lars sounds like a jungle beast.  James is singing lower, but with the same ferocity.  Lyrically, James tapped into the angst and frustration that their fanbase felt in their lives.  He was able to articulate for them, the things that they were seeing in their world.  And they were pissed off.  Kirk’s solo comes from a more exotic locale, but fits in regardless.

“Beholder” ends somewhat abruptly, and then the opening machine gun fire of “One” announces the arrival of the coming hit single.  The clean guitars that open the track actually sound pretty good, though the snare drum is a sharp contrast to them.  Though not Metallica’s first foray into softer tones of metal, “One” was top-notch.  There’s no need to go into details on the lyrics as that could be a post unto itself.  Like many classic metal bands before them, Metallica took inspiration from literature, though via a film interpretation.  The anti-war word resonated with the audiences of 1988.  The video, using dialogue and visuals from the film Johnny Got His Gun, was all but universally lauded.  As a song, “One” doesn’t need the video to stand up.  It builds until it eventually turns into a musical battlefield, with machine guns made of bass drum hits, and explosions from snares.  Then Kirk’s solo tells a story of its own, a manic tale of fight-or-flight tension.  “One” is every bit as good as they say it is.

This is where vinyl, or even cassette, has their advantages.  This is a good place to give your ears a break, at the end of side two.  Ear fatigue will set in if you don’t take a moment here!  So, on your CD player or streaming service, take a pause.  For vinyl, just keep flippin’.

Side three opened with “The Shortest Straw”, another hammering riff, and then Metallica take it for a twist.  Hetfield is barking mad on this one!  It is not the most memorable of the Justice nine, but it doesn’t play it simple or safe either.  The chorus is one you can shout to, and Kirk’s solo is certainly unorthodox.

“Harvester of Sorrow” became a concert standard, and it is a bit of a needed slower moment after the brutality was that “Shortest Straw”.  The riff is simpler, more deliberate and to the point, and melody is present in the vocal growls!  It’s one of their more accessible moments, but for some irate Hit Parader reader to call stuff like this “Bon Jovi” is utterly ridiculous.  It’s slow but stomping.  James’ vocals would still raise the dead.

Side three’s closing track is the lesser known “The Frayed Ends of Sanity” and I still hate that “oh-wee-oh” bit (“March of the Winkies”) from The Wizard of Oz that opens it.  Totally out of place, and I could swear New Kids on the Block or somebody like that used the bit in one of their songs too.  Anyway.  The band never played it live until 2014, making it the last song from Justice to make it into the live set.  That’s not to say it’s a bad song – there’s a really cool middle section that just builds and builds, and then unleashes an absolute monster of a riff, like Iron Maiden on speed.

The final side features Cliff Burton’s last writing credit, “To Live Is To Die”.  Almost 10 minutes in length, this largely instrumental track features the appearance of the Metallica acoustic guitars, which soon give way to robotic hammering and a monumental set of riffs.  Solo work by both James and Kirk is extraordinary.  There are left turns, and it all serves to set up the closing blast of “Dyer’s Eve”.

“Dyer’s Eve” is a thrash blast of metal; so fast that it’s the only “short” song on the album at 5:12.  It comes in suddenly and after a brief cascade of metal madness, and goes full thrash, pedal to the metal, all burners on full.  It’s so much, packed into such a short space.  It’s one of the most effective songs on the album for that reason, and a bit of a cult classic.  “Dyer’s Eve” is one of the deep cuts that just scream for more exposure.

Justice is a trip, a journey, a series of chapters in a larger story.  It deserves the scrutiny given to its mix but conversely, it also deserves as much attention as your ears are able to pay to it.  Despite the lack of bass, there are things here your mind can dissect down to some brilliant performances if you give them the focus.  Justice is not an easy listen, but they don’t all have to be.  The cool thing with it is, as you grow with it over the years, different songs become your favourites.  Maybe 30 years ago, it was “One” or “Blackened”.  Then after a while, maybe “Beholder”, then “Dyer’s Eve” and “Shortest Straw”!  The album will never cease to have favourite moments if you love Metallica.

It would be easy to give it a 5/5 stars, but the issues with the bass cannot be ignored.

4.5/5 stars

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions: Tim and John the Music Nut get Mike on the Y&T train!

Today Tim’s dropping a special episode of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions:  Getting me into Y&T!  We were joined by John the Music Nut, and they did some gentle arm twisting.  Check out that episode on TVC today.

On my channel, you can watch the unboxing. These are some sweet discs! Have a look for yourself.

Books That Rock! Grab A Stack of Books with Mike and Jex

What a show!  Thanks for watching!  Jex and I had a blast going through a selection of my favourite rock (and a couple other) books.  What a variety of books too!  Many genres of music, and a few outside the musical box.  Jex’s books are currently in storage, so what we did instead was watch a Youtube video from his channel CineBrosSupreme.  In 2016, Jex went through his music book collection, and we screened that and commented on it as well.  (Jex has not aged since 2016, and a few viewers mentioned this!)

Tim Durling’s new 2nd edition of Unspooled is available now at Amazon.

It was amazing to me how many of these authors I know personally.  I am such a lucky guy.

My pick for Book You Need Immediately:  Frank Zappa’s Real Frank Zappa Book.

Off the top of the show, we unboxed two classic 80s metal/hard rock albums.  We also took a question from Tim, to Jex.

 

Mike’s books covered (Author or Band):

  • Brian Vollmer / Helix
  • Dale Sherman / Kiss, Alice Cooper
  • Mick Wall / Iron Maiden
  • The Beatles
  • Neil Peart
  • Stephen Adler / Guns N’ Roses
  • Nikki Sixx
  • Motley Crue
  • Aaron Lebold
  • Robert Lawson / Cheap Trick, Nazareth
  • Michael D. LeFevre
  • Brent Jenson
  • Martin Popoff / Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Van Halen
  • Dr. Kathryn Ladano
  • Tim Durling
  • Les Stroud (Survivorman)
  • Robert S. Vuckovich / Kiss and Philosphy
  • Spinal Tap
  • Ian Gillan / Deep Purple
  • Frank Zappa
  • Sean Kelly
  • Jon Collins / Marillion
  • Alice Cooper
  • Aerosmith
  • David Lee Roth

Thank you Jex, and thank you to everyone who watched!

Jex and Mike Grab Stacks of Rock Books from the Front Porch, this afternoon at 3:30 PM EST!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Jexciter

Episode 33:  Reading on the Porch!

“Back to school, back to school, to prove to Dad I’m not a fool…”

As the kids come home from their first week back in class, Jex and I will be back on the porch for the first time in a month!  There’s nothing better than talking music from the front porch of the cottage on a Friday afternoon.  To go with the “back to school” theme, I’ve packed a number of my best music books.  They only scratch the surface, but there are a bunch here that you may never have seen before.

As for Jex?  You never know what the mighty Jex Rambo is packin’ up his sleeve(less).

It’s always a great time so don’t miss out.

 

LIVE Friday Sept 8 at 3:30 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:30 P.M. Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

#1083: The Helicopter Video (The Great Record Album Collection)

RECORD STORE TALES #1083: The Helicopter Video (The Great Record Album Collection)

1983/84.

Music videos were just starting to happen when I was a kid. There wasn’t a MuchMusic yet, but there were a few ways to catch music videos on your Canadian TV sets. One was Toronto Rocks out of channel 7, City TV. Another was a show called The Great Record Album Collection, which we saw out of WNED TV in Buffalo NY.  Channel 29!

I don’t remember much of this show. I recall seeing Quiet Riot, but there was one video I saw twice that I cannot identify.

If you can help me find out the name of the band and song, it would be a great help.

Here’s what I can recall:

I remember seeing a music video with a three-piece band.  We have to assume it was a new wave band based on the year.  It was not the Police.  In the video, I recall there was a helicopter.  It had red in it.  I think it was a remote control model ‘copter, and at the end of the song, the ‘copter crashed and/or blew up.  That’s all I can remember.  The band was playing on a black stage as I remember, intercut with occasional shots of this helicopter.

I was transitioning from childhood into adolescence.  It was important to like music, and not just John Williams symphonies.  I thought “These guys are cool.  I like them.”  But I only saw them twice and never again.

Ideas?  Post a YouTube link to a video in the comments.

REVIEW: Rod Stewart – The Definitive Rod Stewart (2008)

ROD STEWART – The Definitive Rod Stewart (2008 Warner)

Compilations, eh?  You get one, and it’s great, but…it doesn’t have all the songs that you like, does it?  In this case, I was craving some Rod (now now!) and I really wanted to hear one from my youth:  “Infatuation”!  I was craving that hook!  “Oh no, not again!  It hurts so good, I don’t understand!”  Jeff Beck:  lead guitar!  I searched my library and I was missing that track.  What to do about it?

Rod Stewart has numerous compilations to choose from, going back to 1973’s Sing It Again Rod.  (That one’s interesting for the inclusion of “Pinball Wizard” from the London Sympony version of Tommy.)  You could go any number of ways.  1989’s Downtown Train had “Infatuation” on it, as well as “People Get Ready”.

I could have sought out the original album it was on, Camouflage, but I don’t recall liking the album much.  I decided instead to augment my collection with another 2 CD compilation:  2008’s Definitive.  It’s extremely similar to the 2001 set, The Story So Far, but with a slightly better track list.  This time we get “Passion”, “Infatuation”, “My Heart Can’t Tell You No”, and “Stay With Me” (The Faces) among the rest of the 70s, 80s, and 90s hits.  We lose “Don’t Come Around Here” which is a good thing.  Unfortunately we also lose the Stones cover “Ruby Tuesday” and “All For Love” with Sting and Bryan Adams.  There’s no such thing as a perfect compilation.  You’re always going to have to get a couple, and even then, you’re still missing the amazing Robbie Robertson cover, “Broken Arrow”.

This set goes all the way up to MTV Unplugged.   Rod made great music after that, but a lot of the albums were his American Songbooks of standards, that not everybody needs.  The cool thing is, there’s also a bonus track from 1998.  “Two Shades of Blue” is an outtake from his excellent rock album, When We Were the New Boys (the one with the Oasis cover “Cigarettes and Alcohol”).  This ballad might not have been necessary on that record, but it’s actually quite good if a bit generic.  Interestingly it features a sample from a Russian opera, so it’s not exactly ordinary either.  The actual cool thing is that it is a Rod sole-written original, not a cover or something written for him.  Rod’s a great songwriter when he wants to do it!

This album won’t tick all of your Rod Stewart boxes, but it’ll cover most.

4/5 stars

Mike Unboxes Marvel Lego Minifig Wave 2 Blind Pack [Video]

Let’s just say I didn’t end up with an A-lister!

Note to those who used the “baggie feel” method to identify figures: Lego just changed your game.