Boston

#1107: Dark Clouds & Silver Linings: CD & Vinyl Haul, and Grab A Stack Of Rock spotted on WWE Wrestling

RECORD STORE TALES #1107: Dark Clouds &; Silver Linings:
CD & Vinyl Haul, and Grab A Stack Of Rock spotted on WWE Wrestling

Jen has experienced a few health setbacks.  Last week, she took another hard fall.  It wasn’t a seizure this time, but a pothole in the sidewalk.  She took a tumble, busted her expensive therapy glasses, and ended up with a bruise on her forehead that became its dominant feature.  During a moment of levity, I dubbed her Mikhail Gorbachev, which she took to heart with a comedic post on Facebook about her resemblance to the former Russian president.  You have to laugh sometimes.  Despite this, all the setbacks have taken a toll on my own health, and I really have not been doing well either.

One night last week, I was so stressed out that I slept for 10 hours and still woke up feeling like a zombie.  My head banged and every limb ached.  I really struggled to come down after some of the recent events and scares.

However, as always, there are good things amongst the rest.

I took Jen to the eye doctor after her fall, and killed some time at the local Record Store.  They had a bunch of cool Marillion and Fish in stock, so I snagged all of it.

  • Marillion – “Incommunicado” 5″ CD single – damaged packaging, but this is a duplicate CD and will be donated to a worthy friend
  • Marillion – “Freaks” (Live) 5″ CD single
  • Marillion – “Hooks In You” 3″ CD single
  • Marillion – “Uninvited Guest” 3″ CD single
  • Fish – “Big Wedge” 5″ CD single
  • Fish – “A Gentleman’s Excuse Me” 5″ CD single
  • Boston – Greatest Hits CD
  • Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast 40th anniversary LP

I’ve been wanting a complete collection of classic 80s Derek Riggs Iron Maiden on vinyl, so why not.  I remember when Sam the Record Man had Powerslave, brand new, for $5.99.  Beast was $39.99.  Holy moly.  The total haul was $92.

New music is good for the soul, so this haul, expecially the 3″ discs, was especially satisfying.  I did notice a few things about the Record Store.

Back in my day, there was a “not hats” rule.  That was hard and fast.  I had bad hair a lot of days and couldn’t hide it under a hat.  On this visit, one guy had a touque, the other a baseball hat.

Neither guy asked me if I wanted any help.  That also used to be a hard and fast rule.  You had to ask every single person who walked in the door.  Give ’em a minute, and ask.  Neither guy bothered.   Things sure have changed in the last 20 years.

I had to laugh at a couple things though.  An older man came in and asked about a movie on DVD.  The guy at the counter told him the movie was still new in theaters.  I remember having that very conversation in my days at the Record Store.

I also observed people coming in with boxes and tubs full of CDs, movies and videos games, reminding me of my busier Saturdays in the days of yore.  I really didn’t enjoy buying used CDs by the tub, but in came the discs regardless!  By the tub, bag or box, the CDs came in a never-ending stream of media.  I spotting a woman bringing in a Tragically Hip Phantom Power CD from 30 feet.  I still got the skills.

I think I did well at the store today.  I did even better after.  Cooler than a CD haul at a Record Store though, was the surprise that Johnny Clauser had for me.

John Clauser, from My Music Corner on Youtube, is one of my favourite music people.  He was off to a televised WWE event, Road to Wrestlemania Smackdown, in Birmingham Alabama.  Johnny had ringside seats.  Rumour had it that Dwayne “The Rock Johnson” was going to be there that night.  He was.

On national television, John Clauser can clearly be seen, wearing his Grab A Stack of Rock shirt.  It’s there for the world to see.

When the Rock enters, it appears he sees the shirt, and stares at it for a few seconds.  John says he was staring directly at the shirt…the Grab A Stack of Rock shirt!   You can see it happen on video.

Regardless of the rumours, John planned two weeks in advance on wearing my Grab A Stack of Rock shirt to the event.  I didn’t know of his plan until he started sending me pictures from ringside.  By the next day, people were sending me screenshots and video clips of John at ringside, on national television.

John, I cannot tell you how much this means to me.  To see my shirt on your chest on national television.  To have this image of the Rock and my shirt together…it is beyond words.  I cannot express my gratitude to you.  It’s beyond measure, sir.  I’m sure John has plenty of shirts.  Thank you sir, for making my day a little sunnier.

As it turns out, the sun came out Saturday for the first time in many days.  It was glorious to behold.

Spring is closer and closer.  Better days ahead.  I smell the what the future is cooking!

 

 

 

Check out the Rock spotting my shirt at 14:50

REVIEW: Extreme – Extragraffitti (1990 Japanese EP)

EXTREME – Extragraffitti (1990 A&M Japan EP)

This little EP, exclusive to Japan, is almost like a miniature “greatest hits” for Extreme.  Of the six songs, five were singles.  You might say “It’s not a greatest hits if it doesn’t have ‘More Than Words’ on it, and that would be a valid point, but that breakthrough ballad hadn’t been released as a single yet in November 1990.

Opening with the current single “Get the Funk Out”, we are off to a good start.  This track works most excellently as an opener.  That bass rolls in, before the guitar riff starts to rip.  Once the horns kick in, your face is thoroughly melted.  This EP focuses on fun.  There’s nothing here that’s a drag.

An edit version of “Decadence Dance” is unblunted.  It’s mostly just the intro stuff that’s missing anyway, and that belonged on the concept album from which it came.  The bonus here is you get Paul Geary’s cymbal count-in instead, which you can’t hear on the Pornograffitti album.  So dance to the beat of the decadent drummer, and get rocked.  This is one of Extreme’s best bangers, a full-on Van Halen romp with hooks and flash…as you like it.

Back to the self-titled 1988 debut album for the next three tracks.  A remix of “Mutha (Don’t Wanna Go to School Today)” may have more bass, edge and clarity.  It’s not a radical remix.  Nuno’s guitar fills jump out nicely.  The first Extreme album was a mixed bag of material, with none of it reaching the upper echelons like the second record.  That said, “Mutha” was probably the best track of the bunch, and the most like what came later.

“Little Girls” only loses about 20 seconds, so you’re fine with this version.  Again, it’s the opening missing.  This song is notable for some remarkable harmonica playing by Rapheal May.  Really impressive stuff here, just as superb as Nuno’s guitar work.  The lyrics, however, can’t be saved.  They were never good, even by 1988 standards.  “Incestual blood is thicker than water,” has to be the worst words that Gary Cherone has ever penned to paper.  Roll up your windows if you intend to sing along to this song.  Shame the band is so hot.

The album version of “Kid Ego” is here unaltered, it’s just not that interesting of a song.  The groove plods along in a lazy, 1980s way that every single band was doing.  It sounds like every band had their metronome set to the same time.

The B-side “Nice Place to Visit” has been released in a number of places, such as the “More Than Words” single in 1991, but first it was the B-side to “Little Girls”.  As an outtake from the so-so first album, this song is also so-so.

The final track, and the only one exclusive to this CD, is a message from Extreme!  These messages from band members were fairly common on Japanese EPs and singles by Western bands.  It is geared specifically for the Japanese fans, and it’s adorable hearing their deep Boston accents.  This message is fairly light.  Nuno talks about their goals as a band, and Gary assures the fans that they will see them real soon.  Apparently, the Japanese fans also sent the neatest, tidiest mail.

Good EP for its time.  There’s even a sticker inside.

3.5/5 stars

 

Part 232: Amanda

RECORD STORE TALES Part 232:  Amanda

Although by this time, 2004, I had become a jaded prick in the relationship game, I decided to give dating another shot.  I met this girl from Cambridge named Amanda, nice girl, nothing wrong with her.  It was quickly obvious however that it wasn’t working out.  She liked Trailer Park Boys and had her own car which was a bonus.  She just didn’t get my passion for the rock.

Back at that time I was already working on the Record Store Tales.  In the original sequence of events, I was actually writing what was then supposed to be Part 13:  Perspective.  Most of the original Record Store Tales were excised, but the original Part 13 would have fit in between what became today’s Part 4 and Part 5.  As I was home writing Part 13, Amanda was on MSN, wanting to chat.  Even though my record store bosses regularly accused me of abusing MSN Messenger at work, I have never like it.  I’m an email guy. I always found it annoying.

AMANDAI told Amanda I was deep in a creative mode and I wanted to finish writing this chapter.  She waited about 10 or 15 minutes before pestering.  She was bored, but I was in the midst of what seemed like a multitude of musical and personal revelations.  It was just one sign that she didn’t really get what I was about.

That weekend it snowed.  I was working the Saturday, and after work she picked me up to go and get something to eat.  I had just read an article about Yusef Islam, the former Cat Stevens, and how he was on a no-fly list in a world of post-911 paranoia.  Two subjects I’m passionate about are music and politics.  While I leave politics aside for LeBrain’s Blog, I do like to discuss issues in private.  Making conversation, I asked her if she’d heard this story about Cat Stevens.  She was irritable about having to drive in the snow, and didn’t answer.  I quietly asked again, trying to thaw the personal ice a bit.

“Did you hear that story, about Cat Stevens?” I prodded.

“Actually, I don’t care,” she answered.

We went out to eat, but those words just ate away at me.  She didn’t care.  And music is the most important thing in my life.  Who was I trying to fool?  This wasn’t going to work out.

The next time we spoke, we agreed to part ways.  She was pretty upset.

Looking back, the funny thing to me is the day when I was all wrapped up in the writing of the original Part 13.  For all my bluster about being a “writer” and “an artist” working on “my story”, and pouring all my soul into it, Part 13 didn’t even make the cut in the end!  Crappy writing is crappy writing and some would say I haven’t improved much since!

REVIEW: Extreme II – Pornograffitti (1990)

EXTREME II – Pornograffitti (1990 A&M)

1990:  Everybody was buzzing about the sophomore album by Boston’s Extreme, and their stellar lead guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.  Extreme II: Pornograffitti (“A Funked Up Fairytale”) is one of the last great hair metal albums of the era.  It is chock full of diverse songs, great playing, great writing, and adventurous arrangements. Big kudos must of course go to Nuno whose guitar playing is at once tasteful and (pardon the pun) extreme.  Not to be outshone is lead vocalist Gary Cherone who was at his peak here.

EXTREME II_0007A loose (very loose) concept album, Extreme II commences with atmospheric rainfall, which introduces us to “Francis”: our protagonist and the kid on the front cover. The crashing licks of “Decadence Dance”, the first single, interrupts this moment.  Gary’s lyrics are witty and Nuno’s fingers nimble.  The song kills.

There is a wide swath of styles covered on Extreme II. Obviously funk is a big one (“Get the Funk Out” with a blazing horn section, “When I’m President”, the title track.)  Of course there are the landmark acoustic ballads “More Than Words”, “Song For Love” and “Hole Hearted”. The cool thing about this trio of singles is that all three ballads are different.  None of them share the same style as well.  “Hole Hearted” is more a campfire rock song than a ballad anyway.  While “More Than Words” is now considered the prototypical acoustic ballad, it must be remembered that when it came out, it was unlike most. It contains no drums and only one acoustic guitar. Gary Cherone’s vocals merge harmoniously with Nuno’s creating this lullaby effect.

Other interesting songs include the lounge tune, “When I First Kissed You”. I once read Nuno saying that his inspirations were Queen and Prince, artists who were fearless to include different styles on their albums. Meanwhile, “Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee” contains some of the greatest and fastest guitar soloing of any era. It doesn’t get much more diverse than this withoug losing coherance, but Extreme II holds together as a concept and an album.

The album is filled out with killer hard rockers: Songs like “Suzy Wants Her All-Day Sucker” and “He-Man Woman Hater” are some of the catchiest rock songs this side of Aerosmith, but are tricky enough to keep your interest peaked. By the time the album ends, you’ll be exhausted from rocking out so much, but you’ll still want to start over again from the beginning.  The album appears to be designed that way, since it closes with the same rain and thunder.

This is a must-own classic for any hard rock fan who likes it smart.

5/5 stars

Once you absorb this album, you have to pick up the following companion pieces:

1. The “More Than Words” and “Hole Hearted” singles, which contained different remixes of “More Than Words”, one being A Capella with congas.

2. The “Song For Love” single, the B-side of which was Extreme’s amazing cover of Queen’s “Love of my Life”. Incredible cover, which was designed to segue into “More Than Words”.  They did it this way when played live, as they did at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

3. The Guitars The Rule the World (the first one, not Vol 2).  This has a Nuno Bettencourt electric blues instrumental called “Bumble Bee (Crash Landing)”.  This is the second part to “Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee”, which on the album was trimmed down to exclude the “Crash Landing” portion.   When I recently ripped this album to my computer, I used Audacity to recreate the original complete “Bumble Bee” track.  I dropped the file into the correct place on the album to create an “unedited” Pornograffitti experience.   It was kind of cool how it worked, segueing into “He-Man Woman Hater”.

MOVIE REVIEW: FUBAR II (2010)

“Knowledge of non-knowledge is power. “  – Dean Murdoch

FUBAR II

FUBAR II (2010 Alliance, directed by Michael Dowse)

Most sequels aren’t worth owning.  Fubar II is.  Plus, it comes with a bonus disc: Fubar, the original complete film. This was a total surprise to me. I had no idea it was going to be in there. I’m a little bummed that I bought the original film on blu shortly before this.  I gifted it to my buddy Cliff at work who also adores the exploits of Terry and Deaner.

Synopsis:  5 years after surgery, Deaner is celebrating these years of good health. Even though an eviction is looming, he and Terry have no real worries.  During a drunken house-trashing party, Tron tells them they have jobs waiting in Fort McMurray. Terry and Dean pack up their meager belongings and head to work in the oilsands.

As with the first Fubar, tragedy must eventually strike. Terry and Dean come to blows over a girl, Trish, who Terry has moved in with. Dean gets some bad news, and Terry gets even more unexpected news from Trish. For a while, Fubar II becomes much darker than the first film.

Unbelievably, a stroke of scripting genius turns Dean’s tragedy into triumph. This ending was as satisfactory as it gets. I ended Fubar II with a huge smile on my face. This sequel does something very unusual: it is funnier than the original, it has more emotion than the original, yet it doesn’t copy it. I have to say this is one of the best sequels I’ve seen.

The footage of the oilsands is really cool.  It looks like a cross between Vegas and the Mustafar system – a whole other planet. One thing about this movie, you can tell it had a budget this time, compared to the original. There are some really nice looking shots, and the movie itself looks great. The graininess has been replaced by slick production. The documentary style has been mostly dropped in favour of more traditional storytelling, although a few interview segments are scattered within.

For music geeks, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness has a vocal cameo near the end.  You’ll know it when you hear it!  The movie also features excellent tunage by Ronnie James Dio & Black Sabbath, The Gun, and Dean’s own classic “Whale Hunter”.

I mentioned the bonus disc with the entire original film, bonus features intact.   Other special bonuses in this set include a ton of deleted scenes. While some were overly long and you can seen why they were edited or pared down, others add to the story and comedy. There were several regarding Dean’s illness that might have worked well in the movie. One, “Mixing Meats,” was a shorty that just had me howling. Also, like the original film, this one comes with a commentary from Michael Dowse and others. Better though will be the in-character commentary by Terry and Dean. This was a real treat on the original film, and I’m sure this one will be too. I’ll have to check that out on next viewing.

Pick this up. Just give’r.

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Anthrax – Anthems (2013)

ANTHEMS COVER

ANTHRAX – Anthems (2013 Megaforce Records)

Anthrax have recorded some of the most entertaining covers of the last 30 years.  Many of them have appeared as hard to find B-sides or bonus tracks.  Anthems is Anthrax’s new covers EP, readily available, and a welcome addition to a metal lover’s collection.

As if they needed to show off how well they could play, the EP kicks off with “Anthem” itself, a Rush cover, and a stunning one at that.  Joey Belladonna’s voice strains to reach the highest of notes, but he hits ’em.  This is one dead-on accurate Rush cover, not an easy thing to execute.  And it’s heavy as balls.

“T.N.T.” is a blast.  Again, this is not an easy song to cover, because it is so indelibly linked to AC/DC and Bon Scott.  Incredibly, Anthrax do so with as much accuracy as they did Rush.  Joey sounds perfectly in his element paying tribute to Bon.  Up next is “Smokin'” as performed by Boston.  Like a chameleon, suddenly Joey is in Brad Delp’s shoes.  As great as the entire band is on Anthems, at this point, it is Joey that is blowing me away the most!  What’s also cool about “Smokin'” is that the lengthy organ solo is intact, performed by Canadian Fred Mandel (ex-Alice Cooper).  An extended keyboard solo with Anthrax?  Smokin’!  (No kidding though, it’s great.  Like it or lump it!)

We all know Joey Belladonna is a huge Steve Perry fan.  It is a joy to hear him having a chance to pay tribute to his hero on “Keep On Runnin'”.  Scott Ian proclaims in the liner notes that “On paper, Anthrax covering Journey may seem weird,” but he reminds us that “the song just fucking rocks”.  Charlie Benate ensures this with surgically inserted blasts of drum fury.

“Big Eyes” is a Cheap Trick song I had somewhat forgotten about.  It has a monster groove and yet another fantastic lead vocal.  Anthrax bring the song to its knees.

“Thin Lizzy is arguably the most underrated and under appreciated band of our time,” says Scott in the liner notes.  Amen brother!  But he also points out their paradoxical great importance and influence.  Scott reveals he’d like to do an entire record of Lizzy covers.  Phil Campbell of Motorhead plays the solo, as per the Live and Dangerous version.  I love hearing Joey do the “Hey you, good lookin’ female! Com’ere!” line.  So much more menacing than Phil Lynott!

From Anthrax’s most recent record, Worship Music, comes “Crawl”.  I am on the fence with this song, as all I can think of is Soundgarden.  “Fell On Black Days”.  Can you hear it, there in the first minute of the song?  (Maybe it’s their Soundgarden cover, eh?)  Also on the EP is the remix of “Crawl”, which was previously only available on the Japanese version of Worship Music.  So this purchase worked out well for me.  I had been putting off buying Worship Music until I could find a reasonably priced Japanese import.  I prefer to get all the bonus tracks, so with Anthems now in hand, I can just pick up the domestic Worship Music and be done with it!

As a nice touch to collectors, Anthrax released this EP with six different covers.  I pre-ordered this thing from Amazon, so I didn’t get the luxury of picking my cover art.  If I did, I might have chosen the Rush or Journey versions.  What I got was the Cheap Trick cover, but I think I like it best anyway.

5/5 stars