JOHN LENNON vs. VAN HALEN – “Imagine A Jump” mashup by “Mighty Mike”
I love it. It’s certainly not complex but it’s brilliant how the two songs fit together, given a little fidgeting with the timing. I really like this. I never would have “imagined” (see what I did there?) these two songs fitting together like this.
One of the cool things about the internet, digital music, and computers in every home is that people can create something like this themselves. While it’s not the same as writing and recording your own original music, I think there’s a certain amount of creativity involved in envisioning a mashup this well executed.
Lennon’s vocal has been erased and we’re left with just the piano and drums from “Imagine”. Dave’s vocal from 1984 has been reduced to a capella, and it melds seamlessly with Lennon’s piano recorded in 1971. I think I will always think of one song, when I hear the other in the future.
I originally had this review scheduled for later. I pushed it up in light of recent events. #biebersucks
SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003 Paramount)
Directed by Richard Linklater
Do you have kids? This movie should be compulsory viewing for all parents who want their children to kick their Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus habits. In this surprisingly family-friendly rocker, Jack Black turns a group of school kids on to the greatest sounds known to man: classic rock! Funny with great songs, School of Rock is among my favourite Jack Black films. Even those who aren’t particularly into classic rock have been lured in by this movie, such is its charm.
Down-and-out rocker Dewey Finn has been kicked out of his metal band, and replaced by a shirtless guitar player named Spider. Desperate to pay his share of the rent to his substitute teacher roommate Ned Schneebly (Mike White), Dewey steals a teaching gig at a private school. He pretends to be “Mr. Schneebly”, but is barely literate himself. Of course, Dewey’s a bit of a burnout, but he has never let go of his dream. He believes that the world can be made a better place by performing the public service of rocking out. He believes that he has what it takes to rock out. All he needs is some money and a new band….
Starting at the school, he is under the watchful eye of the principal, perfectly played by Black’s High Fidelity castmate Joan Cusack. When Dewey hears the kids play classical music at the school, he realizes he’s found his band. He just needs to teach them a little bit about rocking.
Black is infinitely quotable in this movie, and the music is top notch. The original songs are all stellar, particularly “Way Hard Core”. The classic rock soundtrack are some of the best ever assembled: Metallica, rare Kiss, The Ramones, and even Zeppelin who gave special permission for “The Immigrant Song,” which is used to full effect. The cast is more than good, and lots of very talented young people all appear. And these kids all play their own instruments, too.
Bonus features are generous, and include Black and the kids begging Zeppelin to use “The Immigrant Song”. Insightful behind-the-scenes features concentrate on the kids, and they seem so happy to be taking part in this film and the music.
This film is fun for the entire family, perhaps the only Black film that is appropriate for that. Most importantly, it will give kids an appreciation for the greatest music in the world: rock and roll. And a healthy dose of stickin’ it to the man!
5/5 stars
Jack Black as Dewey Finn (lead singer, guitar) Joan Cusack as Principal Rosalie Mullins Mike White as Ned Schneebly Sarah Silverman as Patty De Marco Miranda Cosgrove as Summer Hathaway (band manager) Joey Gaydos Jr. as Zack Mooneyham (guitar) Kevin Clark as Freddy Jones (drums) Rebecca Brown as Katie “Posh Spice” (bass) Robert Tsai as Lawrence “Mr. Cool” (keyboard)
1999 was shaping up to be an exciting year. The Black Crowes’ most recent disc, Three Snakes & One Charm, wasn’t bad but it didn’t excite me. Rolling Stone magazine made negative comments about Chris Robinson’s beard as if the beard wrote the songs. The rumour mill was going full speed, that the Crowes had returned to their “earlier” sound. The new album, By Your Side, would be more like Shake Your Money Maker, and less like a bunch of bearded hippies jamming after a toke. I know today the Crowes had recorded an album called Band (now available as CD 2 of The Lost Crowes), but it was rejected by American Recordings who wanted the band to make a basic rock n’ roll album, so they shaved off their beards and that’s what they did.
OK, sure, whatever – I was on board. I don’t mind some changes to shake things up. I don’t necessarily always endorse a full-on “return” to a sound, because you can’t really duplicate a specific era. But this was the Crowes, a band who injected integrity into everything they’d done so far.
The first single released, “Kickin’ My Heart Around” was a frickin’ steamroller of a rock song. It was released in November 1998, about two months before By Your Side was to come out. It created a real buzz. I was hearing excitement in the store from a lot of Crowes fans. Naturally, the new Crowes album would be a subject for Statham and I to discuss, and discuss it we did. Statham knew then that I collected Crowes B-sides, and “Kickin’ My Heart Around” had two that weren’t going to be on the album.
I’m not too sure about Chris’ Prince Valiant haircut
In late December, Statham strolled into my store with a surprise. He had picked up for me my own copy of “Kickin’ My Heart Around” since I had been unable to locate one! Best of all, it was a Christmas gift – the first gift that I was given by a customer at the record store that I can recall. I was quite blown away. I didn’t ask Statham to get the CD for me, and I certainly didn’t expect a gift from a customer! But then again, as he has said in the past, he believes in treating his record store guys right. That’s something I’ll never forget.
The two B-sides “It Must Be Over” and “You Don’t Have To Go” were both quality tunes on top of it all. I was thrilled. I brought the CD home and showed it to my dad.
“Get this, dad!” I began. “One of my customers bought me this CD that I have been looking for! It’s an early Christmas present! Cool, huh?”
My dad, being the “negative Nancy” that he can be sometimes said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to accept gifts from customers. What does he expect in return?”
“I don’t think he expects anything in return, dad. It was just a thoughtful gift. He’s a nice guy.”
“Well just be careful,” my dad cautioned. “In my experience nothing’s free!”
I’m glad to say in this case, my dad was wrong. Statham had no secret agenda, beyond friendship, and we’re still friends 15 years after that. If anything we’ve taken gifting music to each other to an extreme that we both enjoy. The mutual benefits have been incalculable! Thank you Statham for this CD, which I still treasure today.
Turn Up The Music! is a compilation by EMI Special Markets. Translation: You know those cheap CDs that they sell at gas stations? That’s what this is. It has no booklet or liner notes, it runs at a brief 35 minutes and the tracks are not remastered. However I really enjoy this CD and here’s why.
Back in ’89, I got this album on cassette. I remember going to a pharmacy store to get acne medicine with my parents and this tape was sitting in their cheapie bin. Yep, I was so cool there at the pharmacy store with my folks buying zit cream. I remember seeing a girl there from my highschool on this particular trip. I was so embarassed. I always remember that detail when I listen to Turn Up The Music!
This was my first exposure to pre-“I Can’t Drive 55” Hagar. To this day I don’t know a lot about this stage of his career but mostly because those albums are hard to find on CD, not because I don’t dig the music. I lost this tape a while ago (probably in a Thunder Bay landfill), but it’s pretty easy to find the CD version online.
I know “Trans Am” and “Plain Jane” come from the Street Machine album (one that I do have). I love these two songs. I wish Van Halen covered “Trans Am” live, that would have been something. Eddie would have gone bananas on those cool guitar slides. “Plain Jane” is just a really cool Seger-esque song, based on piano and acoustic guitar on the verses. The bass line bops along and Sammy sings awesome.
“Iceman” is kind of an odd duck. It tries to be atmospheric and bluesy but it really only sizzles during the chorus. “Run For Your Life” was my second favourite song after “Plain Jane” and I am really glad to finally have this song back in my collection again. It’s really 70’s in this cheesy/cool Journey way. In fact Steve Perry sings on it.
“I’ve Done Everything For You” is also from the Street Machine remastered CD. This song, I am 110% certain, was not on my cassette original. It could be this is an extra track. Anyway, this pop rocker was a major hit for Rick Springfield later on, apparently.
Side two of the original cassette began with “Rock N’ Roll Weekend”. This is a cool fast rocker, another one that Van Halen would have sounded awesome covering. The lyrics are your typical “Been working hard all week, now the weekend’s here and it’s time to party lyrics.” And that’s fine, there’s always time to party. If I feel like listening to something more serious I already have all the Dream Theater albums….
“Turn Up The Music” is a fun rocker with a nice tuneful riff. There’s some nice Seger-ish piano backing this one too. “Urban Guerilla” is one I never liked much for its awkward riff. As far as hard rock goes, this is as heavy as Sammy’s ever been. This one is pure heavy metal, fast and brutalizing. If only it had decent production. Unfortunately the song is tinny and the hi-hat is maddeningly annoying.
“Love Or Money” is a fast over the top rocker, catchy and memorable as hell. The final track is also quite metallic in delivery, “Reckless”. Aside from the overused title, this one is loaded with charisma. It works great as a compilation closer. An organ riff keeps it grounded inside a solid pocket.
So there you go, 10 songs, a full 7 of them being worth owning to me. Maybe there is a better compilation of this material elsewhere, I really don’t know. I do own the really cool Essential Red Collection but most of these songs are not on there. There is a CD called The Best of Sammy Hagar that has 7 of these songs, but my second favourite song “Run For Your Life” isn’t on it.
Proceed with that in mind, and purchase accordingly. The original cover of the cassette, by the way, was the same picture as the Danger Zone album cover. Weird!
ZAKK WYLDE – Book of Shadows(1996, 1999 Spitfire reissue with bonus tracks)
There are many albums in my collection that I have bought more than once, just because I love them so much. Kiss Alive for example I’ve owned on LP and CD every time its been reissued. Likewise, Book of Shadows. When this album was issued with the 3 bonus tracks on an extra CD, I made sure I added it to my collection, because this is such an amazing collection of songs and I needed more.
Book of Shadows, Zakk’s second album outside Ozzy (Pride And Glory being the first) was a departure. Every song is largely acoustic, and electric guitar is usually only heard distantly in the mix, or in some of the solos. Instead of shredding, this album is driven by Zakk’s soulful voice, electrifying lyrics (very underrated!) and songwriting excellence.
I recall playing this for Tom and T-Rev when I first picked it up. Tom’s immediate first reaction was, “This sounds like Hootie and the Blowfish.” The reason for that is Zakk’s deep voice, and the fact that these are mostly mellow acoustic songs. However a few more minutes in, and it was clear that this was a Zakk album. Especially when that first electric guitar solo kicked in. By the time the albums ends on the electric, grinding, Sabbathy-outro to “I Thank You Child”, we had been thoroughly blown away.
Zakk’s lyrics run the gamut from philosophical to funny. “The Things You Do”, for example, seems to be about an ex-girlfriend and contains the lyric, “How do you do the things you do? You make Satan look like Christ, you know it’s true.” Elsewhere, “Way Beyond Empty” is a powerful, mournful song with a chorus so good that it will not let you go. I also enjoyed “Throwin’ It All Away” for its drama and orchestration. The three bonus tracks are just as good as anything else on the album, particularly “The Color Green”, an indictment of modern greed. Lyrically the bonus tracks are more topical than the album in general. They are “Evil Ways”, “The Color Green”, and “Peddlers of Death”. A vastly different re-recorded version of “Peddlers of Death” later appeared on Black Label Society’s debut album Sonic Brew.
If you are a Zakk fan, obviously this purchase is a must. If you’re not a Zakk fan but you happen to stumble upon this review, do what you can to hear it. I’m firmly convinced that if Book of Shadows had a larger overall awareness, it could have been a hit album with multiple successful singles.
Band lineup:
Zakk Wylde – lead vocals, guitars, piano
Joe Vitale – drums, keyboards
James Lomenzo – bass
WHITESNAKE – Slip of the Tongue (1989, deluxe edition)
Normally I go crazy for these deluxe editions. Many are great! The Whitesnake deluxe editions have not been great. This is the third and last one in my Whitesnake deluxe edition series of reviews.
Once again, instead of two CDs, you get an expanded CD and a brief DVD. The lack of decent bonus material really frustrates me because there is more in the vaults. You know there has to be more in the vaults. In fact in the liner notes, David tells us that there is more. He name-drops several unfinished songs that didn’t make the cut, but fans would kill to hear.
Slip Of The Tongue was not the best Whitesnake album (not by a long stretch), but with 20/20 hindsight and the presence of Steve Vai, it’s fun to listen to. Yes, it’s too glossy, and yes, Vai was not the right guy to be in Whitesnake, but the result is one of those strange one-off’s like Black Sabbath’s Born Again, or Motorhead’s Another Perfect Day. It’s an album that doesn’t quite fit with the back catalogue, but has become a cult favourite. I have long been a fan of it, simply because Steve Vai is jaw-dropping even when playing pedestrian hard rock.
For Vai fans, he plays it pretty straight here, not a lot of craziness. There’s a broken string on one song, and some cool solos, but nothing bizarre like you’ll find on a Vai solo album. If you want to hear him just do some serious hard rock and balladeering without the crazy stuff, this is the CD for you. Within the scope of Whitesnake, Vai sets the album on fire; throwing in notes where you didn’t know they could fit, making sounds you didn’t know a guitar could make, and overdubbing a mountain of fills. Just check out opening track “Slip Of The Tongue” for some serious burning, via a 7-string Ibanez guitar through an Eventide harmonizer.
Song-wise, this is mostly hard rock and very little blues. The slick remake of “Fool For Your Loving” (originally from Ready An’ Willing), which Coverdale’s liner notes reveal he didn’t want to do, is inferior to the bluesier, groovier original. “The Deeper The Love”, purportedly a soul song, is actually just a great hard rock ballad with some wonderful Vai licks. The best songs are the epic Zeppelin-esque “Judgement Day”, the aggresive “Wings Of The Storm”, the hit rocker “Now You’re Gone” and the signature Coverdale album closer “Sailing Ships” which has become one of his philosophical classics.
Among the sparse bonus tracks: the B-side “Sweet Lady Luck”, which is available many times elsewhere now, on both Whitesnake and Steve Vai compilations. Also, the US single mix (by Chris Lord-Alge) of “Now You’re Gone” is included but many fans would be hard pressed to tell the difference. The promo-only “Vai Voltage Mix” of “Fool For Your Loving” predictably throws in a lot more guitar. (I already had this on a promo single that I acquired for $2, but this is good for fans to have.) There are two tracks from the 1990 Donington Festival, which would have been a real treat, because these songs (unlike the other bonus tracks) had never been released before. This was the first ever official release of Whitesnake live stuff with Vai. But it was also just a sneak preview of an actual 2 CD/1 DVD release of the full Donington show. Double dipping sucks!
Then, just like on previous deluxe editions…another live track by a more current edition of Whitesnake! Honestly, this ticks me off for two reasons. One, you can get the new live Whitesnake albums with no difficulty and two, it’s from 15 years later and has nothing to do with Slip Of The Tongue. Yet these new live versions pop up on all these Whitesnake reissues. Why?
The DVD is brief and hardly as satisfying as another CD would be. You get the three original music videos, the two Donington live songs, and then another bunch of unrelated live stuff. Two live tunes from 1997’s Starkers In Tokyo acoustic show, and yet another live track from a more recent Whitesnake live DVD, which is available on its own. Again, I feel this is a bit of a ripoff. It’s nice to have these Starkers tunes on a DVD, but why not release an entire separate DVD of that show? It has nothing to do with Slip Of The Tongue, except that Coverdale played a couple of these songs live.
The booklet by Coverdale is a real treat, revealing much previously unknown tidbits to tease your friends with. I had no idea that Adrian Vandenberg for example managed to play a little bit of backing guitar on the album. Previous issues of the CD stated that Vai handled all guitar duties, but that has turned out to be false. Also, Coverdale talks a bit about Glenn Hughes, and why you can barely hear him sing on this CD, even though he’s credited on backing vocals.
Frustratingly though, Coverdale also mentioned all those unfinished and unreleased songs from these sessions: “Kill For The Cut”, “Burning Heart”, “Parking Ticket”, and so on. These were all titles that I read about 25 years ago in Hit Parader magazine, and wondered why they didn’t show up on album B-sides. The booklet reveals that they were never finished, but that is no excuse — they should have been presented here as bonus tracks instead of this unrelated live stuff. The Sabbath deluxe editions have tons of unfinished songs on them. So do some of the reissues of the early Whitesnake albums, such as Come An’ Get It. This CD should have been the same. Unless David is hanging onto these songs for some kind of anthology box set in the future, I can’t figure out how they arrived at the selections for this reissue CD! It’s maddening. Do it right, or not at all.
Decent album, great liner notes, top notch and generous packaging, and great remastering job. Crap bonus material.
Good things come to those who wait. Longtime contributor STATHAM has returned to talk about shoppin’ for Black Crowes. He’s in italics, me in burgundy. (That makes him Snake Eyes while I remain the Crimson Guard.) Let’s boogie!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 260: Sho’ Nuff – The Return of Statham
I believe in being friendly to record store employees. A lot of people just treat them like any other retail clerk, but not me. Talk to them, find out common ground. They learn your interests, make recommendations… it’s a way better world than just treating them like a gas jockey. And there’s no reason why you can’t be nice to the people at the gas station, either, you know.
I started going to Mike’s shop sometime in 1995. And I left to go live in Montreal in 1999. In those four years I was in that shop a lot. I like music, and it was basically across the street from where I lived. My favourite was the Bargain Bin. Always a treasure or three in there. And Mike always seemed to be there. Rare was the trip in that he wasn’t on duty. I think he slept in the back room.
True to my practice, I talked to the guy, we discovered a lot of common ground. He was most fair on CDs I was trading in. He steered me to many great records (and laughed with [or at] me when I chose some stinkers). We never hung out outside the store, though there’s no reason why not. But over that time I got to know him as a stand-up guy.
In late 1998, The Black Crowes were gearing up for what was hyped to be a “comeback”; a “return to their classic sounds.” The fact that Chris Robinson had shaved off his cave-beard was supposed to indicate something to fans that fell off the wagon after 1994’s Amorica. Part of this calculated campaign including reissuing all four original Black Crowes studio albums, remastered, with bonus tracks and videos.
Statham kept me apprised of the latest Crowes happenings. He had his finger on the pulse, and during his regular visits he would update me. We discussed the band, the reissues, what we hoped for, and as always we disagreed over favourite albums. I’m an Amorica guy. He’s a Southern guy.
One day, Statham phoned me at the store with some exciting news.
Somewhere in 1998, my sister (who took my introduction of her to the Black Crowes and ran with it something fierce) told me the Crowes had announced a box set, called Sho’ Nuff. This was exciting for many reasons, mainly the extra tracks that were rare (at that point), two on each album, and the live EP to be included. We already owned the four albums in the box, and couldn’t care less about any remastering job done to them.
Also remember, this was in the days when the internet existed, but it was nowhere near what it is now. We certainly never ordered CDs online. It was pure brick and mortar for us. Seemed this set was (purportedly) some kind of exclusive release. We HAD to have it.
He’s right, the box set was an American exclusive — no Canadian release. However, the big HMV in Toronto was going to be importing a limited quantity. The live EP included within was from the Amorica tour which put it high on my priority list, and it was also exclusive to the box set. It is simply titled The Black Crowes Live.
I told Mike about the set, and how we were going to Toronto to get them ASAP. I’d called ahead to the HMV at 333 Yonge and they said they might still have a couple on hand. We panicked. “A couple?” Gah! We need to get these! Our course was set. I asked Mike, did he want us to bring one back for him? I don’t think his reply was precisely “hell yes!” but the level of enthusiasm was in that ballpark.
Even today I can recall the tingle of anticipation, the trip there taking too long. We got downtown, made the trek to the flagship HMV and… the staff didn’t know where the sets were. Computer said there should be some on-hand, they’d have to look… finally they were found in some corner, nowhere near anywhere that one would think (like, near the Crowes section, or in a Boxed Sets section. No, that would’ve been too easy). And there were enough for each of us (and not many more). Hooray!
Box sets procurred, we made the most of the rest of our day, and headed home. I brought Mike his copy on my next trip in to the store. He seemed pretty damn happy about it. I wouldn’t do something like that for everyone I meet, probably, but Mike was another story and it was a pleasure to help out. He’d helped me out with a lot, in the store. It was good to return the favour, in some small way.
I wouldn’t be lying if I said whenever I listen to that Black Crowes set, it always reminds me of all the great conversations with Statham. Some obscure memory always flashes back, be it a conversation or a long meandering email thread.
I still have the box set (of course), everything intact including the four stickers (one included in each studio CD) and the fragile blue jewel case for Three Snakes and One Charm. I’m not sure how I would have acquired (or even known about) Sho’ Nuff without Statham. Thanks man. I still owe you for this one! (Figuratively, I did pay him!)
How I came to own this turd of a CD: I got this one used, from my old store’s web order service. It was like $9, free shipping if you spend $30, or whatever. So I picked a couple discs and added this one to my cart. Imagine my surprise when it arrived and I took the CD out of the case — somebody had written, in big black magic marker, “MARILLION SUCKS”, on the artwork under the clear CD tray! This was clearly an intended for me, my love of Marillion being well on record. I don’t know who wrote it on there, nobody would own up to defacing the Simmons CD! I brought it back to my buddy Joe who was a little surprised himself. It took a few months, but they finally got in a replacement copy later on.
Thing is, that first copy I got, I was so flabbergasted about the defaced artwork that I returned it before even playing it. If I had played it…I probably wouldn’t have replaced it with the same item. I think I would have picked something else.
This. Sucks!
There’s a reason Gene Simmons isn’t a standup comedian or a motivational speaker. It’s because he’s not very good. As a speaker, he’s a great bass player. Put it that way.
Recorded at two engagements and consisting of Simmons’ well-known philosophy of life, this is beyond tedious. If you want to hear Gene plug his merchandise, or tell you never to get married or trust a woman with your money, then go for it. Vulgar, unfunny, and dull, this is time you won’t get back. Another thing you won’t enjoy is that the CD is formatted with just one track, so it’s impossible to skip around. So even if there were the odd funny bit that he goes on about, I couldn’t skip to it in the car. Useless!
Besides, it’s just an audio of the DVD version — so while it sounds like there are visuals to go with what you’re hearing, there aren’t. Useless!
No stars, crappy careless release, for the Kiss fans who have to have everything (like Big Idiot Me) and nobody else. Take Gene’s own advice, and save your money.
0/5 stars
The final kicker — in 2011, Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed got (GASP) married!
Uncle Meat is former co-worker, now friend. He worked at one of the other record store locations for about a year. Back inPart 78, he told his side of the story, but I thought I should return the love.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 258: Uncle Meat
My first encounter with the man known as Uncle Meat (his parents still call him Eric) happened in 1987. I didn’t meet Meat in 1987; I met Meat officially in the 1990’s when he was hired at one of our stores. As we chatted about people we both knew, we pieced it together: Both of us were friends with a talented local singer/songwriter named Rob Szabo. Way back in the 80’s, Rob was in a band then called Under 550, and they won the Battle of the Bands at Grand River Collegiate Institute in ’87. I remember they knocked out a version of Rush’s “YYZ”. They were sent to the next round, to battle it out regionally at the Center In the Square.
They added a lead vocalist for the big competition, and temporarily changed their name to Over 550. 550 lbs was the total combined body weight of the band. They were just under 550 lbs, until they added the singer. Get it? They were up against a neighbor of ours, George, who was playing bass in a band called Zephyr. Also in the running were such luminaries as Stomach Acid, and F.U.H.Q.
It was when discussing this gig that Uncle Meat and I realized we were both in the same place at the same time — except he was on the stage and I was in the crowd! I have a distinct memory of watching a very heavy thrash metal band. They were just too heavy for most in attendance, but they had chops and a good singer. That singer was Meat. One thing I’ll never forget about his set is this: a whole row of long-hairs ran down in front of the stage during the first song, and banged their heads through it all. When Meat had played his two songs, they went back to their seats. I’d never seen anything like it before, at that tender age of 15.
Spring 1991 – Uncle Meat singing “Fairies Wear Boots” with Heavy Cutting
Many years later, I worked a shift at the store with Uncle Meat, and that was our first “official” meeting. I remember that it was a pre-Christmas shift, and I was helping out another store. It was the two of us and Meat’s arch-nemesis, a girl who did not get along with him at all. (The story of why was recounted in Top Five Discs That Got Us In Shit.) It was a fun shift, busy as hell, and I remember stopping at an HMV store on my way home and picking up a Savatage CD (their then-latest, Wake Of Magellan).
Here I am, almost three decades later, remembering that night in ’87 like it was yesterday. I could tell you details like what jacket I was wearing (a dark blue leather one). I could tell you who I went with: Bob, Scott, and Todd Meyer. I couldn’t tell you who won anymore, but I do know this: It was fate. It was fate that Meat and I should meet. When we work together on a project, it’s peanut butter and jam. Thanks for friendship Uncle Meat, and thanks for contributing so much to mikeladano.com.
Same night, same gig: Szabo on axe shreds some Judas Priest.
Listen to that fucking singer!
Soundgarden was one of the first Seattle bands I tweaked onto, mainly because Soundgarden (and Alice in Chains) were the most metallic in their approach. I refused to call them grunge — not with riffs this Sabbathy and a singer who could have been Ronnie James Dio’s protege!
Soundgarden broke up for 13 years, and Chris Cornell started (in my opinion) a lucklustre solo career, while Matt Cameron fared better as the longtime drummer in Pearl Jam. There’s a certain renaissance for these kinds of bands now, what with recent critically acclaimed albums by Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam (and that new studio Soundgarden record) being very well received. Telephantasm acts as a sort of “Anthology” collection. Back in the 90’s this deluxe edition would have been considered a boxed set. Just that today, we’ve done away with the box! It’s not quite a greatest hits set (live versions of “Jesus Christ Pose” and “Pretty Noose” are subbed into for the familiar singles), and not quite a rarities set (9 of the 24 tracks are rare or unreleased).
What Telephantasm is, is a really good overview of one of Seattle’s best. From the Deep Six compilation to their final pre-breakup album Down on the Upside, this set chronologically presents Soundgarden at their very best, live and in the studio. Personally I haven’t listened to old Soundgarden in a while. I have a bunch of albums and singles at home, but after I quit the record store, I reverted back to my metal roots and didn’t listen to Soundgarden much anymore. For me, this was almost like the first time again. Hearing the songs in this new context didn’t take away from what they were on albums either.
Outstanding classics for me include: “Fopp”, “Superunknown”, “My Wave”, “Dusty”, “Burden In My Hand”, “Rusty Cage”, and “Spoonman”. I mean, every fan of musicianship absolutely needs a song in their collection with a killer spoons solo!
Outstanding rarities for me were: the video mix of “Fell On Black Days”, and live versions of “Pretty Noose”, “Flower”, “Blow Up The Outside World”, and a frenetic “Jesus Christ Pose”. Hard to believe that Cameron can play those complex rhythms live. Unbelievable!
Of course there is the much hyped “Black Rain”, an unreleased track from the Down on the Upside sessions. Sounds great. Could have been written for Badmotorfinger. Liner notes are excellent. There are two essays, one by guitarist Kim Thayil (who seems like one of the coolest guys in rock). There are a handful of photos and exhaustive credits. I’m not too keen on the cover art, but there is a big fold out revealing the whole thing, and it’s quite expansive.
Of course there’s the DVD, for some this will be worth the price of purchase alone! This is a pretty comprehensive collection of music videos including uncensored and international versions. For new fans who are upset that they didn’t get the studio versions of “Jesus Christ Pose” or “Pretty Noose” on the CDs, they are here on the DVD.
There is a bonus track on some versions — the unreleased song “The Telephantasm”. However the best way to get that song is to buy the 7″ single, which also includes a killer, killer live version of “Gun”. This is a brand new live version by the reunited band. If you want the truly complete picture of Telephantasm, go out and get that single while you still can. Also required, but much more expensive and still unacquired by me: There is a bonus track on the deluxe vinyl version of the album: “Beyond the Wheel”, live by the reunited band. This is on a included 7″ single, which I would very much like to get.
Lastly I’ll have to say a few words about the mastering of this album. Unfortunately the “Loudness Wars” can add Soundgarden to its body count. The album was mastered way too loud, and it really takes its toll on the sound. You can really hear it on the cymbals. It’s unfortunate, since so many of these songs are previously unreleased. This is the only way you can hear them, and it’s not as good as it should be, thanks to the record company mastering this damned thing too loudly.
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