Brian Downey

Part 166/REVIEW: Anthrax – “Cowboy Song” (promo single)

RECORD STORE TALES Part 166:  Anthrax – “Cowboy Song”

Stuff like this didn’t happen often, but it did happen.  Sometimes one of my customers would just give me a CD that they thought I would want.  Unfortunately my journal didn’t record who gave these discs to me!

Date: 2005/11/26 13:14

WICKED!  Someone today gave me a free copy of the “Cowboy Song” single by Anthrax, a rare Thin Lizzy cover.  Also got Doin’ The Nasty by Slik Toxik for free.  SCORE.

Statham did on occasion give me free discs.  I recall once he gave me a Black Crowes single.  Another one of my customers (name long forgotten) gave me a Jimi Hendrix hardcover book.  But this was not a frequent occurrence.  Unfortunately, most people treated the guy behind the counter at the record store like shit.  I guess that’s part and parcel of working in a buy-and-sell environment.  Stuff like this helped make the job tolerable.

This single was a Sam the Record Man exclusive.  It came free with copies of Sound of White Noise purchased there, but for a limited time only.  I don’t know how rare it is today, but it certainly is a collectible, being a store exclusive.

I wish I could remember who gave me this cool Anthrax single.  It could have been somebody I knew that worked at Sam’s (that narrows it down to 3 or 4 people) or somebody I knew that worked for Warner (narrows it down to 2).  Either way, I thank you.

Onto the review!

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ANTHRAX – “Cowboy Song” (1993 Warner Music Canada promo)

This promo single comes with no case or cover, but does have some liner notes printed on the CD itself.  It was produced by Dave Jerden and Anthrax, and all guitars were performed by Scott Ian.  Presumably, that means Dan Spitz doesn’t appear on the song.

This was recorded as a bonus track for the Japanese edition of Sound of White Noise, and can be currently found on the remastered edition of the same album.  This is an awesome cover, very authentic to the live version that Thin Lizzy used to do, made famous on the Live and Dangerous album.   The lead vocals are, of course, by John Bush.  John Bush doesn’t attempt to do a Phil Lynott impression (thankfully, that wouldn’t be wise) but does deliver the vocal with his trademark grit.

Scott Ian nails all the guitar parts perfectly.  You’d swear there were two guys playing.  It comes as no surprise that Charlie Benate’s drum parts are also perfect.  I think Brian Downey was and is one of the most underrated drummers in rock, and Benate does him justice.

I love this cover.  Anthrax are well known for choosing and performing great covers.  Add this one to the list.

4/5 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.