“The original Fantastic Four”
I was a little surprised when I heard booing at Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer’s names. Not all fans are classy fans I guess, even if they had enough money to buy a ticket last night.
What I heard were four great speeches from four guys who absolutely, unarguably deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and as a lifelong Kiss fan I’m proud of my boys.
Welcome back to the Week of Rockin’ Movies. We’re looking at movies all week, with significant rock n’ roll connections. If you missed anything, click below!
MONDAY: House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
TUESDAY: The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
WEDNESDAY: 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
THURSDAY: Record Store Tales Part 284: The Impact of Movies
Directed by Nicolas Stoller
WARNING: If you can’t sit through two hours of anything with either Jonah Hill or Russell Brand, don’t even finish reading this review. Just hit your “back” button now and read something else. Or click here if you’d like to read something more your speed.
Get Him To the Greek was the spin-off from Jason Segal’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Sarah Marshall’s ex, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) is back to his hard-partying ways, and his relationship with singer Jackie Q is on the rocks. Worse, his most recent album with his band Infant Sorrow (African Child) is a commercial and critical bust. The New Musical Express has dubbed it “the worst thing to happen to Africa since apartheid”, and while that may be a bit harsh, the music video featuring Snow as a “white African space Christ” certainly didn’t help.
Meanwhile, Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) works for Sergio (Sean “Puffy” Combs) at Pinnacle Records. The label needs to thicken its revenue stream or go bust. Sergio wants fresh ideas, but there’s nothing. Aaron Green suggests a 10th anniversary concert for Infant Sorrow at the Greek theater, to commemorate their most celebrated performance. That can be spun off into a series of reissues, live albums, and DVDs; a potential game changer. Sergio orders Green to get Snow to the Greek.
For Green, everything is on this line. This one opportunity will either make, or break his career with Pinnacle Records. No matter the odds, he must get Snow to the Greek!
This sets into motion a series of events to test Green’s resolve and Snow’s stamina for partying. Getting Snow to the Greek is not as easy as it sounds. A notorious rock star, Snow has no interest in doing anything besides living in the moment, even if it means missing flight after flight after flight. The plot here is not complicated, it’s just a series of funny misadventures as Green desperately tries to make the right decisions to somehow complete this mission. Add in a couple unnecessary side plots about the girlfriends of both main characters. Because you need that, I suppose.
The lowbrow humour is captained by the amiable Brand, with Jonah Hill playing a less loudmouthed version of Jonah Hill. He’s playing the lovable version of Jonah as Green. The best of the bunch is Sean Combs as Sergio. It was he who surprised me the most, as he stole every scene he was in. I also enjoyed numerous celebrity cameos. Sadly for Aldous Snow, Jackie Q seems to have a thing for short bald Danish metal drummers.
The Blu-ray is fully loaded. Rated and unrated versions. Deleted scenes. Commentaries. And so on. You know the drill! Most entertaining are a series of live concert clips of Russell in character as Aldous Snow with Infant Sorrow. There are actually a whole bunch of bonus songs on the blu-ray; totally worth the purchase to have these. The big surprise was a live version of “Dracula’s Lament” with Jason Segal and an understated Jack Black.
Get Him to the Greek lacks Sarah Marshall‘s heart, but it does lampoon rock stars and the music industry quite effectively. Do not watch if easily offended.
3.5/5 stars
Jonah Hill as Aaron Green
Russell Brand as Aldous Snow
Elisabeth Moss as Daphne Binks
Rose Byrne as Jackie Q
Sean Combs as Sergio Roma
Colm Meaney as Jonathan Snow
Aziz Ansari as Matty Briggs
Nick Kroll as Kevin McLean
After hearing so much praise for The Winery Dogs, I finally bought a copy. I decided for now there was no point in writing a review: After all, Jon Wilmenius already said it all. So for my own review, all I’ll write is: “What he said!” Enjoy this review from Jon’s own excellent site, Music and Festival Reviews, reprinted with his kind permission.
Read the original here.
THE WINERY DOGS – The Winery Dogs (2013 Loud & Proud)
Way back in the late 80′s / early 90′s supergroups were popping up like mushrooms in your garden. Bands like Bad English, Mr Big and Badlands had big success with the odd album or two before breaking up, but when the 90′s grunge era took over, supergroups were as rare as money on your bank account. Today, things have turned around and with the music industry looking like it does, musicians are forming different projects and bands with each other like never before. One guy that seems to involved a little everywhere are former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. As of now he is involved in no less than four different bands, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, Adrenaline Mob and now this thing. When The Winery Dogs started out in 2011, they consisted of Portnoy, bassist Billy Sheehan of Mr Big (formerly of Talas and David Lee Roth) and guitarist / lead singer John Sykes (Tygers Of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitensake, Blue Murder), but since Sykes seemed to have too much on his mind, he decided to split and was replaced by multi musician and guitar player / lead singer Richie Kotzen, who also has a successful solo career going on, but also a former member of Poison, Mr Big and Forty Deuce.
Without hearing a note of their music, just by looking at the line up makes expectations rise like a virgin’s dong at the Playboy Mansion. That means that nothing worse than ‘great’ would be acceptable for this trio’s debut release. Now, I don’t know how much music that was written with Sykes in the band and how much of it that ended up on this album, but the fact is, Kotzen is all over this record. Kotzen’s solo career sky rocketed after he got the boot from Poison, at least quality wise and even a tone-deaf could spot his style miles away. Just listen to Poison’s Native Tongue, the best album they ever released, and you’ll hear pretty fast which songs he brought to the table. He really should re-record them as a solo artist someday. So, if you’re a fan of Kotzen’s, this album is a no-brainer – as a matter of fact, it really should be a no-brainer for any a rock fan to buy this CD, because this is amazing stuff. “Elevate” kicks this album into motion with a bang, a rootsy rocker that sounds a lot like Richie’s solo stuff only with Sheehan’s famous and personal bass sound and Portnoy’s heavy groove. “Desire” follows and it is a brilliant tune, full of catchiness and groovy rhythms, “I’m No Angel” has a fantastic refrain and a killer melody, you’re stuck after the first chorus, on “The Other Side”, Sheehan and Portnoy totally rules the groove and the bass and drums are both one and separated at the same time and they give us a brilliant blues ballad in “You Saved Me”. It has a bit of a U2 – feel and Kotzen sings the hell out of it. The guy has got some feel, to say the least.
Both “Not Impossible” and “One More Time” has a lot of Kotzen over them and I find myself thinking that they probably would have been a great fit on his last album 24 Hours. “Six Feet Deeper” has a major swing to it and it strikes me that this is the first album I have heard where Mike Portnoy plays rock ‘n’ roll like this. I mean, he’s an amazing drummer, but his skills has always been in progressive metal where he doesn’t groove that much. This album shows that Portnoy is a lot more all round than people might think. “Criminal” on the other hand, is a heavy piece – not a far cry from how a Kotzen fronted Mr Big would sound. “The Dying” is a ballad, but it leans way more towards heaviness than anything else which is really cool – and it is a great song. The album ends with “Regret”, a classic Kotzen ballad, very bluesy in a 70′s style. Wow! This really is a super trio and they have made one hell of a debut album and hopefully enough people will buy this to convince the guys to keep this project alive. Another thing, has Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy ever played with such a groove like they do here? I mean, they are both ace players and with Kotzen, groove is in his blood, but on here Sheehan and Portnoy really makes the rhythm section swing. When we’re writing January 2014 and making a list on the best albums of 2013, this album will no doubt be up there as a contender for the number one spot. Jon says: Get this!
Jon Wilmenius (9/10)
RECORD STORE TALES Part 283: Shopping at Other Stores
Straight from my old journal: This is what can happen when Record Store guys go shopping at the competition! Keep in mind these are 2005 prices, not 2014 prices.
Date: 2005/12/12 21:34
Forgive me for praising the “competition” tonight, but I just got home from HMV.
I have no idea how it’s possible to have titles like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Ummagumma, and Ben Harper’s double Live From Mars, all on sale at 2-for-$30. Ummagumma has a regular price tag of $46.99 on it! Yet they were selling them at 2 for $30! INSANE. I could buy three of ’em for less than it would cost to buy ONE. That is so…fucked up! So I got one of those, and A Collection Of Great Dance Songs remastered. (Strictly for the “new” version of Money.)
And then I sent an email to a co-worker:
I was at HMV tonight, and they have a CRAZY 2/$30 sale on. Check this photo
out. That’s right, Pink Floyd UMMAGUMMA remastered for $15. If you buy
one, it’s $46 bucks. If you buy two…it’s $15 each. Crazy. BUT they had
a bunch of Beatles and a few Stones as well. Double live Ben Harper, all
kinds of crazy stuff. I don’t know what you still need for yourself or even
gifts, but that kind of sale is worth taking advantage of.
Cool huh? I still have those albums too. I kind of like that I will always have a record of the exact date and circumstances of purchase.
Original photo from that day
EUROPE – Rock the Night: The Very Best of Europe (2004)
Europe’s successful reunion was one of the most unexpected of the last decade, but thus far four awesome studio albums have been the result. A tougher more rock-oriented Europe emerged with Start From The Dark, but not before this appropriate retrospective was released. Containing music from the first era of Europe, from their debut album to their fifth, Prisoners In Paradise, this compilation is the ideal summary of the 80’s and 90’s era of the band.
All the casual fans need to know is that all the hits are here, in their original studio versions: “The Final Countdown”, “Cherokee”, “Superstitious”, “Carrie”, and the title track. That’s enough to make this worth buying for many. But also included are great lesser known tracks, many of which were also singles: “Open Your Heart” (the original version from Wings of Tomorrow), “Dreamer”, “Sign Of The Times”, “Heart of Stone”, “The King Will Return”, and many more. Two of my personal favourites are included: The rhythmically powerful “Girl From Lebanon” and the pop yet inspiring “Prisoners In Paradise”.
The diehards are also baited with B-sides and rare tracks. Many of these such as “On Broken Wings” and “Mr. Government Man” have since been issued on Europe remasters and other compilations, but there were a couple I never had before: live takes of “Time Has Come” and “Let The Good Times Rock” from the 1980’s. There’s also a studio track that I’m unfamiliar with called “Here Comes the Night”. This appears to be from the Prisoners In Paradise sessions, previously unreleased, and it’s a decent track. Best for me was a later B-side version of “Seven Doors Hotel”, with Joey Tempest enunciating a lot more clearly.
For my personal tastes, I didn’t like Prisoners In Paradise much. I found it overproduced and way too commercial and American-sounding. Europe were always much more European sounding, like a more radio-friendly Deep Purple or UFO. So there are too many tracks here from Prisoners for me, including a few that I just hate: “Got Your Mind In The Gutter” (dull blooze-rock) and “Seventh Sign” are not that great. But, it is what it is. I preferred a lot of the songs from Out Of This World and previous albums. I would have preferred to hear “Tomorrow”, “Ninja”, or “Paradize Bay”.
But hey, it’s two CDs of Europe, right? And Europe were and are a good band. In North America, I don’t think they ever got any respect. They are remembered here for the big hair, and the big anthem. That’s too bad. As this collection demonstrates, Europe had a lot more to offer then. There are ballads indeed, but there is also mighty heavy metal, many grand melodies, and hard rock performed with precision.
Good liner notes, decent photos. Good comp.
4/5 stars
FLYING COLORS – Live In Europe (2013 Mascot Music)
There hasn’t been a new band that got me going like Flying Colors did in a dog’s age. Their 2012 debut is a fantastic album, and it’s only grown on me more since I first reviewed it. Songs like “Kayla”, “The Storm”, and “Shoulda Coulda Woulda” had me hooked on repeat — in the car, at home, it didn’t matter. Flying Colors has been on constantly for months.
That’s why I decided to get the double Live In Europe CD. I had to have more. Who cares that it’s a double live album immediately following a debut! All 11 songs from that album are here, plus covers and songs from each member’s past. I am glad to report that Live In Europe is as stunning as the debut, even over its long running time. When you have a band made up of guys like Mike Portnoy, Steve Morse, Dave LaRue, Neal Morse and Casey McPherson, you can count on a live show full of explosive instrumental pyrotechnics. And that is present. But it’s the quality of the songs and the humour of the band that makes it special.
The band open the set with three album tracks in a row, each different from the last. “Blue Ocean” is the long, breezy opener, which is followed by the pummeling “Shoulda Coulda Woulda”. Then, “Love Is What I’m Waiting For” is more soulful. All three are outstanding songs with stunning playing.
Portnoy does most of the talking, but Casey McPherson gets the first solo outing. “Can’t Find a Way” is from his former band Endochine, but played by Flying Colors, it fits seemlessly in the set. Its soft vibe is similar to some of the quieter material on Flying Colors, and McPherson’s emotive vocals set it apart. Steve Morse throws down one of his classic solos and seals the deal. This powerful number could have been on the album easily. They follow this one with my favourite song, “The Storm,” and the whole place ignites.
From 1978’s What If album comes the Dixie Dregs’ “Oddyssey”. Since Flying Colors don’t have a violin player, it’s very different, but every bit as jumpy and complicated. Coming back to something a little more straightforward, the band rock out to “Forever In A Daze.” Then McPherson stuns the crowd with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. Yeah, it’s been a trendy song to cover lately, but when you pull it off as well as MacPherson does, why not?
The first CD ends with a mellow “Better Than Walking Away,” and by now a Flying Colors concert already feels like an emotionally uplifting experience. It is a song like this that underlines not just the chops, but the melodic tendencies of this band. It’s always fun to listen to a bunch of guys shred for 90 minutes, but it’s even better when they play a bunch of great songs, too.
The second CD commences with “Kayla,” which to me is already a classic. The vocal harmonies of Neal Morse and Casey McPherson really dance. After this, Mike Portnoy takes over, at the request of Neal Morse, sings lead on his “Fool In My Heart.” I quite this swinging little ballad, and there’s nothing wrong with Portnoy’s vocal. Dave LaRue’s solo piece, “Spur of the Moment,” leads into a Dream Theater classic. “Repentance,” from 2007’s excellent Systematic Chaos, is part of Mike’s “12 Step Suite.” As such it’s only fitting that he sings it himself. It’s not the whole 10 minute version, it’s pretty much just the first half, “Regret.” But it is every bit as powerful as Dream Theater’s original, yet very different.
From 1998’s The Kindness Of Strangers, Neal Morse performs “June” by Spock’s Beard. This bright ballad enables McPherson and Portnoy to harmonize very nicely with Morse. It’s certainly a nice respite before the slamming “All Falls Down.” After the band lays waste with that tune, it’s only epics from there forward. From the album, 8 minutes of “Everything Changes” is only topped by 12 minutes of “Infinite Fire”. While these two are still “songs,” the shredders get their wishes granted with some long-bomb jams.
In a band like Flying Colors, you can’t single out any one player as an MVP. It seems like a band powered by all five members equally. Having said that, Steve’s Morse’s guitar solos are always a treat, and it also a pleasure to hear the rhythm section of LaRue and Portnoy gel like this. They give the whole album a tremendous pulse. Turn up your bass and see what I mean.
5/5 stars
RECORD STORE TALES Part 282:
T-Rev, Mike, and the Neurotic Outsiders…
T-Rev called me from his store one afternoon in 1996.
“Mikey! Have you heard this Neurotic Outsiders CD? It fuckin’ rocks!”
I had not heard the Neurotic Outsiders CD.
It actually took T-Rev some talking to get me to buy it. (Playing it in-store was forbidden due to the foul language contained therein.) I knew Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum were in the band, with Steve Jones and John Taylor from Duran Duran. I was getting pretty bored with GN’R related solo albums, and while I found this combo intriguing, I was also inundated with other new releases at the same time. These included a new Rush studio album, a Rush tribute album, a new Scorpions, and a new King’s X. I had plenty of new music to keep me occupied!
He persisted, T-Rev did, and I caved and bought the CD. It only took one listen to know that he was right about the Neurotic Outsiders. They did indeed fucking rock. I was hooked immediately.
We played Neurotic Outsiders in the car a lot that summer. If I was driving, Trevor would be playing air drums along with Matt Sorum. Trev’s a drummer and he was damn good at doing Sorum’s style. You know that rolling drum intro to “You Could be Mine”? T-Rev had that one mastered, and there’s loads of that on Neurotic Outsiders. “Good News” is a great example. Trevor used to say my car had “good bass”, but he wasn’t talking about my stereo system. He was talking about the sound he could make when playing double bass on my floor with his feet. He could bruise his legs (snare drums) just from playing in the car.
I didn’t really drink back in those days so I was usually designated driver, which worked out really well. Driving home from a party, Neurotic Outsiders blasting, T-Rev playing slightly tipsy but always awesome air drums next to me. I didn’t have a CD player in that car either, which would have been my old Plymouth Sundance. Piece of shit car. The left driver’s side speaker was blown, making everything sound absolutely weak and lopsided. I recorded Neurotic Outsiders to cassette for car play. T-Rev’s modus operandi was the mix tape, whereas I chose to record entire albums. Either way, we heard “Good News” and “Angelina” a hell of a lot that year.
Fuck, that was a good summer.
NEUROTIC OUTSIDERS – Neurotic Outsiders (1996 Maverick)
This album kind of snuck in under the radar in ’96. Guns N’ Roses was disintegrating (Slash quit in October), but Matt & Duff teamed up with Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and John Taylor of Duran Duran to form this supergroup of sorts. Lead vocals are handled by everyone except Matt Sorum, who provides plenty of his unique double bass/snare/crash cymbol pounding. In fact if any one member dominates in this album, I’d say it’s Matt Sorum! The other three guys all have their own songs, but Matt is the consistent common thread. Taylor tends to handle most of the slower material, Jonesy the heavy snarky stuff, and Duff sings a couple rockers too.
Very few stinkers on this album. Lots of winners. Lyrics with loads of attitude! “The good news is / You’re dying, the bad new is / I’m alive.” (“Good News”) Then, there’s “Jerk”:
“You’re a bitch, I’m a jerk,
I don’t think that we can work,
You’re a prat, I’m a prick,
I don’t think that we will stick,
I’m a cat, you’re a chick,
I think you deserve one more lick.”
There’s a Clash cover, a deliciously noisy “Janie Jones”, but even that great song is overshadowed by the Outsiders’ originals. Check out the opener “Nasty Ho,” one of Jonesy’s hilarious and thunderous punk songs. And if you have any doubts as to punk rock authenticity, I think Duff McKagan is well on record on a connoisseur of fine punk rock.
“Union”, a ballad, seems to be Jonesey lamenting that the Sex Pistols were never a real united band, slagging off everyone (himself included), except his “mate, old Cookie”. It’s a slow song but it has some bite to it. Two John Taylor songs are two of the heavier ones: “Always Wrong” and the smokin’ “Feelings Are Good”. Both these songs were also featured on Taylor’s solo album Feelings Are Good and Other Lies. (The title track was renamed “Feelings R Good”.) Best tune is “Angelina”, a fast punk rocker (today would they call this pop-punk?) with an insanely catchy chorus.
The only tunes that I could skip over are the really slow ones: “Better Way” and “Story Of My Life”. Yet even so, they have some charm. They’re not bad songs at all, just completely overshadowed by all the super-fun punk rock songs. Producer Jerry Harrison captured a raw performance, and I like that you can hear the ambiance of the room on “Story Of My Life”.
As you read in the above Record Store Tale, I was hooked immediately on Neurotic Outsiders, and that proved to be a lasting feeling. I wanted more, and at a visit to HMV Toronto (333 Yonge) I found the CD single for “Jerk”. It contained a “clean” version of “Jerk” (kind of pointless, but you have to at least try to get played on the radio, right?). Most interestingly was the B-side track “Seattle Head”. Duff was born in Seattle and had a connection with many of the artists that came from that city. (He was also one of the last people to speak to Kurt Cobain.) I can’t say that this song has that “Seattle sound”, it sounds like Duff McKagan to me. But it’s also obvious why it’s a B-side; because it’s the weakest of all the songs.
There was another single, a Japanese import for “Angelina”. This one had two more B-sides: “Spanish Ballroom” and “Planet Earth”. I would really, really, really like to have that. Amazon is asking $45. Hard to justify for two songs (although I have done things like that before).
It’s a shame Neurotic Outsiders never made a second album. But maybe not — maybe a second album would have tarnished my memories. As it stands, it is just a one-off and will likely remain so, but it is also an album I still listen to 18 years later.
5/5 stars, and one middle finger!
RIK EMMETT – Absolutely (1990)
Alright, to be fair, with 20/20 hindsight now we all know that Rik Emmett wanted to be a jazzbo. Back in 1990, those of us that weren’t expecting the second coming of Triumph were at least hoping for something with some balls. Either alternative would have been acceptable, but Absolutely is so middle of the road, so directionless, so antiseptic, so horridly contrived and ill-conceived, that we just had no idea where the man’s head was at.
Absolutely is purportedly a rock album, but the sterile cover reveals the terrible secret within. Absolutely is glossy and clean; overloaded with ballads and lite-rock dreck. You’re left with only a couple real rock songs. “Drive Time,” which deceptively opens the album, is a Van Halen speed boogie. (Drummer Randy Cooke is frickin’ amazing.) “Big Lie,” the second song, has a bit of that latter day pop-Triumph sound. It also has decent lyrics which are more relevant than ever today. On side two, there’s a song called “Heaven Only Knows” that has some hard rock trappings. But that’s where it ends.
“The disappearing forests should be no cause for alarm, the greenhouse effect won’t do you any harm.”
The single “When a Heart Breaks” is sappy crappy, the kind of boring ballad that was too common at the beginning of the 90’s. The rest of the album is just shamelessly pop rock. That’s not always a bad thing, I enjoy quite a bit of pop in my life, but this isn’t even good pop rock. “World of Wonder” makes me want to retch. I mean, wait until you get to “Smart, Fast, Mean & Lucky”. Think that title sucks? Wait till Rik starts rapping. When Rik raps, it’s like the Bartman. Hey, at least it was current for the time, but why did rock bands think they had to start rapping in the early 90’s? (Kip Winger, I’m looking at you.)
For fans of Rik’s guitar, there’s just not enough. A song like “Stand and Deliver” has some smoking guitar work, but it’s drowned out by claptrap and clutter. It’s a shame. I’m glad that Rik is now doing what he loves, and even found time to do a mini-Triumph reunion. Anything to forget this misguided solo project.
2/5 stars
SKID ROW – B-Sides Ourselves (1992 Atlantic EP)
This was a great EP, ranking among some of the better examples of such a format in metal. I love the MAD-Magazine-esque cover artwork. I also loved the concept of this EP as a bit of a treat to tide the fans over during the excruciatingly long four year wait between albums. The five selections are all fun, performed competently, and sound like Skid Row. They also sound like a band who truly loves these songs and knows them backwards and forwards. It’s not quite as satisfying as you want it to be, as it’s only about 18 1/2 minutes long. (I mean hey, there’s a Ramones cover on here so there you go.) This is meant to be nothing more than a fun snack, and as such pay no more for this than you’d be willing to pay for any 18 minute CD.
Tracklist time!
1. “Psycho Therapy”
Bassist Rachel Bolan sings this Ramones-approved cover (backed by Faster Pussycat’s Taime Downe). It was chosen as the first single/video. Excellent cover, very authentic. So well received, it was even included on their Forty Seasons: The Best Of CD.
2. “C’Mon And Love Me”
Classic Kiss cover from Dressed To Kill! A great riffy Kiss song. Skid Row do it justice. It’s one of those solid, meat & potatoes rock songs that requires no frills, just some solid guitars. I think this is definitely one of my favourite Kiss covers ever.
3. “Delivering the Goods” (Live)
Featuring the Metal God himself, Rob Halford, in a duet with his buddy Baz! One thing that is immediately obvious is that Baz is absolutely pumped. But then again, he does state that he’s been waiting his whole life to share a stage with Halford. Great cover, very live sounding, mistakes and all. Still, “Delivering the Goods” is the weakest of these covers…yet it still blows away most bands.
4. “What You’re Doing”
Perhaps the best cover on the album. This is a first-album Rush cover. Back when Geddy was writing the lyrics, and before Rush were singing about how trees are talking to each other and how different sides of your brain works, or outerspace bullshit. It’s an absolutely ferocious, angry Skid Row cover with Baz paying tribute to his countrymen. Excellent, obscure choice and the only cover on the album that I hadn’t heard somebody else do before (or since).
5. “Little Wing”
A surprisingly great turn on the Hendrix classic. Very different from Jimi’s version (obviously), this sounds nonetheless authentic and classy. Of note, the Skids also did a live-in-the-studio version for the music video. I wish that version was released on a CD as well. Unlikely we’ll see that happen.
Covers records can be so very hit-or-miss, but this one is five hits. Battleship sunk. Just wish it wasn’t all over in 18 minutes.
5/5 stars
DREAM THEATER: The Number of the Beast (2002 Ytsejam Records, Covers Series)
For the most part, Dream Theater is a band you either love or you hate. Some Metal fans are put off by the keyboards perhaps, while many others find Dream Theater hard to listen to because of the effeminate tone to the voice of singer James LaBrie. On the other hand, music fans who are not into the sensibilities of progressive music would label Dream Theater as “pretentious,” or which have you. Most music fans though can appreciate the musical talent of everyone involved. They are also a very busy unit, often branching out into different projects between DT albums and tours.
While still in the band, and then after his departure from DT in 2010, Mike Portnoy has been the busiest of all the DT members. So much so, that while researching to do this review of Dream Theater’s Official Bootleg: The Number of the Beast, I was blown away with how many projects Portnoy has been a part of that I truly love. Simply said, Mike Portnoy comes off as the biggest music fan in the music business. On top of his resume of original music, his obsessively accurate tribute projects can only be pulled off by someone who is an authentic “music geek super fan”. Sound familiar, LeBrain? So yes, this review has morphed itself into a bit of a Mike Portnoy love fest. Check out this list of his accomplishments outside of Dream Theater.
LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT – The two studio albums with John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess and Tony Levin are fantastic albums. Their self-titled CD is one of my favorite progressive rock albums. With three subsequent live albums with that lineup and two albums with a name change to Liquid Trio Experiment, that makes seven albums with the great Tony Levin alone.
TRANSATLANTIC – Four studio albums and four live albums with this Prog super group along with Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), Neal Morse(Spock’s Beard, Flying Colors) and the bassist from one of my favorite bands…Marillion…Pete Trewavas.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD – After the death of their drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, during the writing of a new album, Mike Portnoy stepped in and played drums on their 2010 CD titled Nightmare. He also joined them for a few shows over in Iran and Kuwait for American troops overseas.
ADRENALINE MOB – Two albums with this band consisting of members from Symphony X and Fozzy. I honestly do not think I have heard it so can’t say much really.
FLYING COLORS – One studio album and one live album playing with my favorite musician of all time… Steve Morse. Consisting of Neal Morse again and others, including the incredible Steve Morse Band bassist Dave LaRue. Maybe you should just read LeBrain’s review of this band right “here”.
WINERY DOGS – With a more straight ahead rock and roll approach, the Winery Dogs is his current gig with bassist Billy Sheehan and guitarist Richie Kotzen. [Check out Jon Wilmenius’ excellent review here — LeBrain]
And that’s just the original music he has been a part of. He has gone to great lengths to put together live shows recreating the concerts of, and playing the music of, his favorite drummers. He has arranged one for Led Zeppelin called Hammer of the Gods. He has also done one for Rush called Cygnus & the Sea Monsters. I actually learned about these while researching the review that I haven’t even got around to yet (yes this has become a much larger project than initially thought), so I am curious to search these out. You should be as well. The one I can comment on is his Beatles tribute called Yellow Matter Custard, named from a lyric within the song “I Am the Walrus”.
Consisting of Matt Bissonette, Paul Gilbert and Neal Morse and himself, this unit recreates what it would have been like to see The Beatles live. A lot of the songs were never played by the Beatles live. I listened to this with a good friend of mine who himself is a great musician and huge Beatles fan. Listening to it brought the Beatles super-fan out of him, most especially loving the somewhat obscure tracks performed live by the band. I highly recommend checking this out if you are a Beatles fan. So that pretty much means everyone.
I can’t believe I am now just starting the intended review, but here goes. In 2002, while touring for the album Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Dream Theater went on a short club tour in Europe where they played a different album in its entirety, track for track. Among the albums covered in this tour were Master of Puppets – Metallica, Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd and Made in Japan – Deep Purple. (Who covers a live album? And one of my favorite live albums of all time? Dream Theater does, that’s who).
On October 24, 2002 DT played a small club called La Mutualite in Paris, France. The album on the menu that night was The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. From the sound of the enthusiastic crowd you can clearly hear throughout the album, this was a well-appreciated re-creation of one of the greatest Metal albums of all time.
The show starts off with album opener “Invaders”. My first impression was how great it sounded. Lively version and a thick guitar sound. Another thing I quickly realized is this: say what you want about James LaBrie and his effeminate style. Not many singers, including Bruce Dickinson himself can sing these songs live. I have seen Iron Maiden play several of these songs live, and even in a reduced key it is a struggle for Dickinson to sing the songs how they are recorded on the album. The opening track just left me looking forward to the rest of the set.
“Children of the Damned” was a joy to listen to, again mostly because of the vocals. This is probably his best singing on the album. Bruce Dickinson would have to get himself on a Lance Armstrong-like drug program to ever have a chance of singing this song in this key again. This song is also where I first really noted one of the truly great and original things about this album. Iron Maiden is a classic two-guitar fueled machine. DT is doing this with one guitar and a keyboard. Check out the twin guitar/keyboard solo in this song and hear throughout as the guitar and keyboard trade solos. A magnificent treat for the ears and surprisingly seamlessly done.
The crowd revs up as the classic Patrick McGoohan intro to “The Prisoner” plays as it is on the album. Chanting along with the intro just before Portnoy launches into the classic Clive Burr drum beat, this makes for a great listen, hearing the energy of the crowd and their appreciation of this show. Awesome version as well I must say.
“22 Acacia Avenue” is another track that is a treat to hear live. Live favorites “The Number of the Beast” and “Run to the Hills” follow. These two Heavy Metal anthems go over with the crowd extremely well as you would think they would. A case could be made that these back to back songs are the two most popular Iron Maiden songs of all time. Agreed? Discuss….
Coming next is their amazing version of “Gangland”. This is easily the most ambitious moment of the show. Kind of making the song their own, they begin the song off as a piano ballad and then make a left turn and turn it into a progressive, almost jazz fusion-ish groove as the song closes out. Absolutely brilliant and is probably my favorite track on the album. The show ends with a perfect version of “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, and the performance is over.
This is not just re-hashing of a great album. This was a well thought out and rehearsed celebration of this album, allowing true Maiden fans to hear what these songs may have sounded like when the album was toured in the 80’s. A friend of mine scoffed at the idea of DT covering this album and I may have shared some of his trepidation before I heard this recording. After listening to it now several times it has become obvious that this is not only a very relevant capturing of Number of the Beast, but it makes a very simple statement. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the players in Dream Theater have a higher level of musicianship than really any of their peers in popular music. And as listed earlier, it seems that everything Mike Portnoy does comes from the heart of just another music fan like you and I. So who is gonna come along and play one of Dream Theater’s albums track for track? Well Dream Theater of course. Who else possibly could? Good luck with that, Three Days Grace.
5/5 stars
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