From Guitars That Rule the World, Vol 2: Smell the Fuzz – The Superstar Guitar Album!
I was a big fan of the first installment of the Guitars That Rule the World. It had a really eclectic and diverse list of guitarists, including Zakk Wylde (doing chicken-pickin’ for the first time on record), Albert Collins, Richie Sambora, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, and many others. This volume (with a stupid cumbersome title) is geared more towards alternative artists such as Billy Corgan, J. Yuenger, and Kim Thayil. There’s also John Christ of Danzig, Alex Lifeson, and Robert Fripp. Hell even Billy Sheehan has a track, and he’s a bassist! (But, you can already get the Lifeson and Sheehan tracks on albums by their side projects Victor and Niacin.)
To me this album is only worth buying for the brand new Ace Frehley track. It’s an instrumental called “Cherokee Boogie”, and while it doesn’t boast too many particularly strong catchy melodies it is still the Ace. Ace’s soloing is (as always) note perfect for the song. The riff is quintessential Ace, thick and chunky, albeit not one of his best. It’s still nice to hear his distinct Les Paul squeal on a new track. I especially love when the song gets fast and thrashy just past the halfway mark. At this point Ace is burning rubber, and it’s a real rush.
I’m not familiar with the backing musicians on this recording. They are Saul Zonana (bass) and Phil Richford (drums). They get the job done without getting in Ace’s way.
I would say that “Cherokee Boogie” would have made a strong instrumental interlude on any of Ace’s post-Kiss solo albums. It’s 4:00 of solid rock guitar.
Welcome to the latest installment of WTF Search Terms! This series presents actual search terms that real people typed into Google, somehow leading to my site. If you missed the last installment, click here!
I’ve noticed there are a lot of confused people out there. I thought I would do a public service, by correcting some people’s misconceptions. Enjoy.
Flash back to summer 1993: Steve Vai was just about to debut his brand new “commercial” rock band on Jay Leno. I had been tracking the progress of this band via the guitar mags. Vai already had TM Stevens (bass) on board, as well as the singer Devin Townsend, from Vancouver’s Caustic Thought on vocals. I had heard Vai say in a previous interview that “Nobody sings better than David Coverdale, and nobody is a better showman than David Lee Roth. But I need a singer who combines the best of both singers.” How could you not be psyched? Expectations and hopes were high.
Back to Leno — Vai comes out, his hair in dreads, and he strums the first chord of “Still My Bleeding Heart”. And the singer…holy crap…there was this bald, psycho-looking dude with stuff written all over his body in magic marker. “Caustic Thought” was written in huge letters on his leg. I was taken aback! What the deuce was this?
HI TRACY
I taped the performance, so I rewound, rewatched…and quickly became hooked on the song, and the vocalist, Devin Townsend. Here was a guy, I thought, who would be the next Mike Patton. He had the power, and range and quirkiness, yet had his own style. Devin was a unique right from his first major release! Here, his style is based mostly on (as Devin once put it, and I quote) “screaming his balls off!” Devin said he was usually pretty happy as long as he sounded as if his larynx was bouncing off the studio walls.
This album is my second favourite Vai platter after Passion and Warfare. A band effort with Terry Bozzio on drums, Sex & Religion was a mindblowing album to me at the time. I thought it was extremely profound, though it sounds somewhat dated today. It still kicks my kicks my ass to listen to it, you cannot go wrong with this lineup. The music is intricate, composed with great care to both stimulate and rock. I don’t need to tell you that the guitar is a shredder’s wet dream.
To me, 90% of the songs here are winners. Highlights are “Still My Bleeding Heart” and the single “In My Dreams With You”. Both are extremely catchy rock songs with slightly off-kilter arrangement, innovative guitar playing, and challenging but powerful vocals. There is an emphasis on melody, even if they melodies are not typical of modern rock music. Elsewhere you will find “Down Deep Into The Pain”, a very fast and heavy song that was obviously designed to keep up with some of the newer heavy bands that were out at the time. The lead vocal here is absolutely shriek-tastic.
I’m also a big fan of “Dirty Black Hole” which combines a speedy assault of instrumentation with a soul-rock chorus. The title track is a bit funky, with Devin doing some scream-rapping. I remember my mom being offended by the lyric, “Jesus Christ is in your bed tonight.”
More standard rock arrangements can be found on songs like “Survive” and “Here And Now”, although they are still well coated in Vai-isms and guitar madness. There are instrumentals sprinkled in as well, “Touching Tongues” being especially sublime. And then there is “Pig”. It’s the only song with a co-write by Townsend. This is what happened, according to Vai, when he tried to write song “Remedy” by the Black Crowes. Vai was into the Crowes at the time, and somehow “Pig” was the result of that. Can you hear any connection to “Remedy”? I sure can’t! This song is where the album hits its peak of absolute madness. As Vai likes to say, “Sorry folks, I just can’t help myself”.
That sums up this album in a nutshell. “Sorry folks, I just can’t help myself.” It is a simply brilliant piece of work that will take some folks a while to get used to. For Vai fans, this might be easy listening compared to some of his instrumental workouts. Either way, if you can penetrate its sometimes off-putting weirdness, you’ll find a rewarding listening experience.
The final song , “Rescue Me or Bury Me”, is the only one I can do without. Featuring Steve singing lead, I find it too long and meandering, spoiling what was for me an otherwise gripping ride the whole way through.
In a previous chapter, I mentioned that in 1994, I had created our store’s very first online ads. They were in colour, made in full glorious ANSI, and eye-catching. We even had a flashing logo on screen! I did this for free, because I was so passionate about the store. And it was fun! (Tip: One thing I had to learn was that if you do something for free once, it becomes expected later.)
The reactions were mostly positive. One guy, a 14 year old kid who went by the online handle “Mr. Self Destruct” (I think his real name was Justin), posted a message that was a bit of a wake up call.
“The kind of things I look for,” he said, “like imported Nine Inch Nails and Pop Will Eat Itself singles, you can’t get at a mall store like the one that Mike works at. You can only get those downtown, at the good stores.”
That burned! So I decided to do something about it.
The boss had always told T-Rev and I to order stock that we thought the store needed. We both took this to heart. T-Rev for example made sure we stocked things like the new Guns N’ Roses single (“Sympathy for the Devil”) and several other up and coming titles. Later on, Trevor made sure we stocked all the Oasis singles. I took care of the Nine Inch Nails side.
I ordered in “Sin”, Pretty Hate Machine, “Head Like A Hole”, Fixed, and Broken. Fixed had just been deleted, we missed that one. I ended up buying copies of “Sin” and Pretty Hate Machine for myself (we ordered 3 copies of each). Unfortunately, it wasn’t like having a few of these titles in stock changed the fortunes of our store. They sold all but immediately, but there was no sudden and dramatic jump in numbers. Yet, by summer 1995 we had a much cooler selection. I like to think we made a difference, albeit a small one, to music lovers. We sure did try anyway. It was more about just loving the job and store, and wanting to give 200%.
By that summer, we were even carrying live bootlegs. The boss picked them up in Toronto, and he’d walk in with a box full of 20 or 30. I remember T-Rev and I drooling all over them and the boss warning us that there would be no discount on these puppies! (I didn’t need a discount to want them!)
This period circa 1995-1996, was probably my personal peak at the record store. It was my peak time for happiness, for motivation, input, pride, and satisfaction. It was a time of mutual respect, fellowship, and hard work. I loved every day of it.
Our inventory now had some stuff that you couldn’t get at the cool downtown stores. I still have some of the bootlegs that I bought: bands like Guns N’ Roses (Covering ‘Em) and Nine Inch Nails (Woodstock 94). There were lots more titles (such as the Pearl Jam edition of Covering ‘Em), and our boss would try to get multiple copies of the good ones, like Nine Inch Nails. We even started getting in Japanese imports! I remember when we carried Hormoaning, by Nirvana, it was like $60 with taxes. The one guy who bought it had to trade in most of the rest of his collection to buy it. My buddy Aaron got the other copy.
I spread the word online, and a few of those people became customers. Guess who was among them? Mr. Self Destruct!
FAITH NO MORE – “Everything’s Ruined” (1992 Slash, 2 discs sold separately)
A short while ago I reviewed the landmark Faith No More album, Angel Dust. This is one of four singles (that I know of, anyway) lifted from that album. It’s a great tune, and if I may quote my own review, I said “I’m sure it was chosen [as a single] because it is a solid mix of aggressive rapping with a memorable soul-influenced chorus. While it doesn’t sound like it would have been on The Real Thing, it’s about as close as Angel Dust gets.” The chorus is definitely a winner, and this is a Faith No More song more likely to appeal to non-fans.
There are live B-sides a’plenty, all recorded in September 1992. Disc 1 (sold separately but containing room for disc 2) has “Edge of the World”, from The Real Thing, and the bizarre “R.V.”, from Angel Dust. “Edge of the World” is where Faith No More have the audience sing along, to Patton yelling “Fuck me harder!” The trailer-trash-talk of “R.V.” sounds a little too laid back live, something’s missing. I’m sure it would be much better with the full visuals of a Mike Patton performance.
Disc 2 has a couple more newbies: “MidLife Crisis” and “Land of Sunshine” live. These two performances stand out. Patton’s even more unhinged on the live versions. “MidLife Crisis” in particular is an exceptional version. Regardless, officially released live Faith No More is rare indeed. Collectors would be advised to put these two singles fairly high on their priority lists.
Most of the stuff I picked this year was too obscure. Stuff like “The Cut Runs Deep” by Deep Purple. “The Hockey Theme” by Neil Peart. “Wall of Sound” by Kiss.
I did however vote for the Countdown’s #1 song, “Toronto Tontos” by Max Webster. It was 33rd on my list, but six people also picked it, putting it at the #1 spot on Saturday night.
Four picks from my top 20 made the countdown: “Die Young”, “Zero the Hero”, “Caught Somewhere in Time”, and “Breadfan”!
So, here were my top 20 picks. Tomorrow, I will post the entire Countdown! Stay tuned…
ALICE IN CHAINS – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013 Capitol Records)
You know how in offices they have those phones with the little speaker in them, that plays the local radio station? That’s how I first heard “Hollow” by Alice in Chains. Not the greatest way to hear it. I couldn’t hear the harmonies or the bass guitar. The song came off as a dull drone and I didn’t like it. However Mandy Grant on 107.5 Dave FM said the album was lined up to be her album of the summer. Then Tricky Nick gave it 5/5 and praised its genius!
Now it’s my turn to throw my hat in the ring. I had no problem with Black Gives Way to Blue; yes it’s a sad album and we know why. If anything I found some of the songs to be not memorable. On the other hand, I found some of the softer material to be among Chains’ best. Here, William DuVall does a great job. I don’t get the sense that he’s trying to sound a certain way, but when he sings with Jerry it’s Alice in Chains.
Onto The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. Love the title, love the artwork, love the packaging, but we’ll get to that in a few moments. It’s an album that reveals more and more as you listen to it. It’s really well produced for one. Sonically, this is the best album Alice in Chains have ever made. But musically, it peels like an onion: brief guitar interludes, dual guitar harmonies, bass hooks, vocal flare, all of this stuff and more comes through when you spend some time with it.
I think I’d like to invent a new genre here and declare this record to be “Progressive Grunge Rock”. It has elements of both, which really isn’t too much of a leap as Chains have always comprised some great musicians. Mike Inez was one of my favourite bass players from his Ozzy days, and Sean Kinney is very creative with his symbol work and weird time signatures. Only 2 of the 12 songs are under 5 minutes; the album clocks in well over an hour. Unbelievably, it doesn’t drag. This is accomplished with a combination of well written memorable hooks, and a variety of song styles. Some moments recall mellow things like Jar of Flies, others the “Dog” album. There’s also a lot of riffing and soloing that is pure traditional heavy metal.
Many reviewers have mentioned that this album seems a lot brighter than Black Give Way to Blue and I’m in agreement with that. Keep in mind this is Alice in Chains and they’re not turning in a sunny-happy-joy-joy album at any time. There is however a certain jubilant quality to this album that is quite infectious.
I keep waffling between favourite songs. All of these are contenders:
“Stone”
“Voices”
“The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here”
“Breath On a Window”
“Scalpel”
“Phantom Limb”
“Choke”
There aren’t any weak songs, but for me those 7 are all really exceptional. I really love “Phanton Limb”. It’s one of the most “metal” in some respects but it’s also one of the most unique. Its riff is just mechanically punishing. “Voices” is like Jar of Flies meets Cheap Trick or something.
The packaging is really cool but fragile. Mine arrived with a slight crack on it. It’s a coloured red jewel case, but with a function. Remember how G1 Transformers used to come with those “Tech Spec Decoders”? You had to use this red plastic “decoder” to read the stats on the robot’s packaging. You could still sorta read it without the decoder, but Alice in Chains took it a step further. You can only read the lyrics by inserting the appropriate page into the jewel case. There are big red XXXXX‘s over most of the words making them very difficult to read. When you put the page under the jewel case, it’s easy!
Having lived with the album for a week now, I concur with Mandy: I think the love will grow, and this will be one of my albums for the summer, too. The most important thing about The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is that it sounds like Alice in Chains. There is nobody else out there that sounds like this.
I’m not a big fan of early Sloan. I rarely listen to the first album Smeared (haven’t played it in years despite having two great singles on it). I don’t really get into Sloan until their second album, the magnum opus Twice Removed. I didn’t like them back then in 1992 at all; Sloan were the enemy. A bunch of glasses-wearing short-hairs who pouted and didn’t play a lot of solos. The antithesis to what I liked; and the Canadian embodiment of the kind of thing that was killing off my kind of music like a cancer!
So there’s that. Listening to the peppermint EP today (I even hate that the title is all lowercase) still doesn’t do much for me. “Underwhelmed” is an outstanding song, but this early slower version is just a patch on what it would later become. I do like its lyrics, even though it contains these lines:
She skips her classes and gets good grades, I go to my courses rain or shine, She’s passin’ her classes, While I attend mine.
Taken out of context, kind of lame; but the song is actually quite clever lyrically and one of their finer achievements.
Patrick Pentland’s “Sugartune” is catchy but not outstanding. “Pretty Voice”, sung by Jay Ferguson is also one of the better tunes. This one did not make the album Smeared for whatever reason. It’s the first really fast upbeat song, and it has a bit of a tasty guitar riff to it. It’s just recorded so damn muddy, as is all of peppermint. And that’s my biggest obstacle to liking this EP. It boils down to the sound.
Even though the band themselves are noisy and enjoy guitar squeals and feedback at this early stage, it’s not captured on tape. Instead there’s this dull roar of 90’s sounding guitars, without a lot of distinction. I can hear bits and pieces of coolness and even genius, but only buried under the morass of the mix.
Finally, Aaron actually found me a CD copy of this album, only the second one I’ve ever encountered. He asked me to do a “package opening” video when this surprise arrived, so I did. The unintentionally funny results are below:
Needless to say I have some history with this album. Before too long, T-Rev would start incorporating lyrics from this album into our daily dialogue. For example:
“Hey Trevor, how’re you doing?”
“Back in the Tracksuit!”
I have a hard time describing this album. It has a snearing punky vibe, hilarious shrieky lead vocals and lyrics to match, topped with an Irish accent and guitars! “Back in the Tracksuit” is a perfect example of this; a blast of punk guitars & drums with the bizarrely catchy lead vocals of Niall O’Flaherty. Half the time we couldn’t figure out what he was singing. “Indeed You Are” sounds like he’s singing “Konichiwa!”
“Veronica” is a cute serenade with strings and harmonica. Maybe it’s a take on early period Beatles, filtered through their own bedraggled lenses. “2 Pints of Rasa” is in a similar spirit: a stroll through the park on a sunny Saturday afternoon “drinking with the guys”…and with strings! In the lyrics, O’Flaherty proclaims to his girl of interest, “but I still like you, you are my ice cream.”
A broadside shot of breakneck guitars kick off “Stupid Kid”. T-Rev and the rest of us loved this refrain. The chorus was infectious! “You’re stupid, S-T-U-P-I-D kid!” I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more entertaining combination of snark and melody. One of the best tunes on the album. “You Talk Too Much” is a twin brother, shrieks and surf-rock drums notwithstanding.
A rollicky bass intro kicks off “Give Him a Ball (And a Yard of Grass)”, and the body surfing begins! I have no idea what O’Flaherty is singing for most of it, but it hardly matters. You can sing along as if you do, and nobody will notice.
“Karaoke Queen” is OK, a little slack, but it is quickly followed by “Let’s Go Shopping”. It’s another one of those sentimental Sultans numbers about, well, going shopping. We always found the jubilant lyrics quite mirthful:
Put on your flip-flops and we’ll go shopping, dear
Put on your flip-flops, we’ll go flip-flopping, dear
You can buy crisps and I can buy jam,
You push the trolley, I’ll push the pram.
The sentiment stops there, since the next song is entitled “Kick Me With Your Leather Boots”! That means you can count on brisk, boisterous shenanigans. “Clitus Clarke” approaches being skip-worthy, but who cares since the final song is our favourite, “Where’s Me Jumper?”
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.
It’s just great fun. You can’t help but move to it. To me this album would be worth buying just for the one song.
Thankfully, this collection has an assortment of really great songs and some pretty good ones too. All of them are gladdening and memorable, so for that reason Casual Sex in the Cineplex has a permanent spot in my car’s MP3 player.
I don’t like Linkin Park too much, but Mrs. LeBrain does so I’ve heard a lot of their albums. I did like their singer Chester Bennington, I thought he had amazing pipes. It was more the rapping and the samples I didn’t like. I always kind of wished Chester was in a band that I liked.
I do like Stone Temple Pilots though, and “Out of Time” sounds like Stone Temple Pilots! It sounds like the young STP, when Weiland could really wail. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Scott’s voice is simply not what it once was, but Chester is in his prime. And the song is great! Solid riff, powerful sound. If it lacks any of Scott’s swagger, the track makes up for it with Chester’s lungs. It’s just great to hear Eric Kretz and Robert & Dean DeLeo rocking behind such a strong song. Album and a tour? Sure. My interest is peaked.
To me this album is only worth buying for the brand new Ace Frehley track. It’s an instrumental called “Cherokee Boogie”, and while it doesn’t boast too many particularly strong catchy melodies it is still the Ace. Ace’s soloing is (as always) note perfect for the song. The riff is quintessential Ace, thick and chunky, albeit not one of his best. It’s still nice to hear his distinct Les Paul squeal on a new track. I especially love when the song gets fast and thrashy just past the halfway mark. At this point Ace is burning rubber, and it’s a real rush.
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