My pal Craig Feehas returned from Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh with a bag full of goodies for me!
Craig strongly recommended a two to three day stay at Jerry’s Records should I ever find myself in Pittsburgh. That’s how much vinyl they have. He also told me that they had a whack of old Van Halen picture sleeves. I said cool, bring ’em back to me! So he did, every single one that they had. He also picked up a promo Helix 12″ single for “Wild in the Streets” on red vinyl! That and some Triumph 12″ promos, plus a surprise that I think tops them up. I think the real treasure may be David Lee Roth’s “Stand Up”, from Skyscraper — a 12″ remix vinyl single that I was previously unaware of! Pretty exciting huh? Additionally, the Van Halen “Best of Both Worlds” contains the live version from the Live Without A Net video on the B-side.
Total expenditure? $45 bones. Craig is a great shopper. Thanks man!
All of these will come in handy in the future, because they coincide with a couple different series ideas that I was already going to work on. Now, those series will be even cooler. Stay tuned.
THE BLACK CROWES – Freak ‘n’ Roll…Into the Fog: All Join Hands, The Fillmore, San Francisco (2006 Eagle Records)
I somehow missed this when it first came out! This double live album (acquired at Sonic Boom Music for the awesome price of $7.99), recorded in 2005, reunited the Robinson brothers with members from the classic era. Returning are Marc Ford (guitar), Ed Hawrysch (keyboards, from Toronto Ontario), Sven Pipien (bass) and original drummer Steve Gorham. I believe the original bassist, Johnny Colt, was busy with Rock Star Supernova at the time…
Anyway, with a set concentrated on classic Crowes tunes from the earlier albums with a few other gems, this is an awesome collection. There are a few later songs, such as a mind-blowing psychedelic version of “Soul Singing” (Lions). Many of the songs, “Soul Singing” included, turn into long extended jams. I wouldn’t call them meandering jams; they are spellbinding and with purpose at every moment.
The Crowes are backed by guests: the Left Coast Horns and backup singers. The horns kick ass on the extended “(Only) Halfway to Everywhere”. They transform “Welcome to the Goodtimes” into something a little more sassy, likewise with “Let Me Share the Ride”, and “Seeing Things” from the first LP. They also help stretch “Non Fiction” into 10 minutes of exploratory rock. The backup singers really compliment “My Morning Song” transforming it into an ecstatic moment.
I have always taken a bit of flak from other Crowes fans over my favourite album. Mine is Amorica, and most people I knew favoured Southern Harmony. Regardless, it’s a delight to hear “Wiser Time” from Amorica on this album. Songs like this are really special, and with most of the original players on it, “Wiser Time” shines.
I enjoy that the Crowes threw some rarities, covers and B-sides on Freak ‘n’ Roll. “Sunday Night Buttermilk Waltz” and “Mellow Down Easy” are among the highlights of these tracks, but I was most excited about “The Night they Drove Ol’ Dixie Down”. The original is a favourite of mine so I couldn’t wait to hear the Crowes’ interpretation. And guess what? It’s awesome. It would be ludicrous to compare it to the original by The Band. All that matters is that the Crowes wring more soul out of the song than you’ll hear in modern rock on any given day.
The Walmart version of the CD came with a download code for a bonus track, the Stones’ “Loving Cup”. I obtained it via the seedy underbelly of the internets. On the DVD this was played after “Welcome to the Goodtimes”. I’m glad to have this song because the horns really fatten it up nicely, and it’s also a great tune!
POISON – Open Up and Say…Ahh! (1988. 2006 Captiol remaster)
Man, did I feel old when this 20th Anniversary Edition came out. I remember buying the cassette back in ’89 (the year after it was released). I even conned my dad out of the $10 for it by saying it was for a school project! (It was…sort of.) I purchased this at A&A Records & Tapes on the way home from school.
I’m glad that today, Poison are still around (as a live entity, anyway), and back to the same four guys who rose to fame in the 80’s. Although Flesh & Blood is a good album, and Native Tongue is criminally ignored, Open Up and Say…Ahh! is actually quite strong and best represents the early Poison sound.
Starting off with “Love On The Rocks” (featuring the lyric “swallow this” which was actually the original title of this album), Poison are off to a strong start. The riff is catchy, somewhere between glam rock and old classic rock n’ roll. What C.C. Deville brings to the party is a love of rock n’ roll, and that’s why when he left. The band went more bluesy, too bluesy for his tastes. That and the drug addiction did C.C. in. I don’t evem mind his guitar sound on this, I kind of like it. It’s overdriven and shrill, but it rocks and C.C. manipulates his instrument to pull off some cool sub-Frehley solos.
From there it’s the classic “Nothing But A Good Time”. The riff seems ripped off from “Deuce” by Kiss, but then later re-ripped off by Kiss for their song “Never Enough”! Anyway, you know the hits already, so I won’t spend too much time discussing these songs. Suffice to say that I still hear “Nothin’ But A Good Time” on the radio.
What was actually surprising was that Open Up and Say…Ahh! is more than the sum of its singles. The album tracks are almost entirely as strong. “Back to the Rocking Horse” is another fun, catchy Poison rocker, followed by the harmonica-laden-shoulda-been-a-single “Good Love”. “Tearin’ Down The Walls” ended side one on a fairly strong note, and actually features some interesting changes.
Side two started with “Look But You Can’t Touch”, a juvenile sex song (it sounded juvenile to me even then), which nonetheless has a lot of energy. Then, three singles in a row: “Fallen Angel” (best song on the album), “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” (no comment required), and the Loggins & Messina cover “Your Mama Don’t Dance”. Why was bassist Bobby Dall getting arrested in that video? I still don’t know! The album ended with “Bad To Be Good”, a bit too slow and ploddy, and the weakest song on the record.
This special edition has just a scant two bonus tracks, and one is a useless interview. Most people will stop the CD before the interview. The other is the very raw B-side “Livin’ For The Minute” which, if memory serves, was originally the B-side on the “Every Rose” 7″ single. It’s a fast rocker, demo-quality, and is more akin to the sound of the first Poison album. I don’t know where the interview comes from. In all my years of collecting singles, I’ve never run across it before, so if you care about it, it does seem to be a genuine rarity. “Livin’ For The Minute” has been released multiple times elsewhere. (Missing is the B-side “Gotta Face the Hangman”, available on the Crack A Smile CD.)
Also of note, if you had the censored version of this cover, the original has been restored on this edition. Yes, this cover was censored. Columbia House sold a version with the tongue and everything below blacked out. Packaging-wise, don’t expect much else.
As an album, this is fun and has a great 80’s sound, thanks to the production talents of Tom Werman. Younger kids will dig it for the pop punk-like energy. Older fans will want it for nostalgia purposes. That, and it still rocks really well.
As much as I usually maligned C.C. DeVille (Swallow This Live is almost unlistenable), I really like his work here. He may be no guitar wizard, but at some point you have to recognize the fun guitar playing here. It’s like toffee — sticky, sweet, and good. Too much might make you sick, but in moderation, it hits the spot. And really, he weaves some really fun melodic fills over his riffs, like icing on a cake.
“Here We Go Again” with more WTF Search Terms! Everything seen below is an actual search term, that a real person clicked to somehow get here to mikeladano.com. As David Coverdale might say, “Here’s some rock and roll for ya!”
jon mikl thor arnold the beatles greatness (One of these things is not like the other)
Finally, the end! Part 9 of my 9 part series on Ace Frehley! Via this series, we took a comprehensive look at every significant Frehley solo release that I had access to. Here’s a directory to the whole thing in case you missed a part!
Ace had a pretty good backing band on this, only his fifth solo album! Anton Fig on drums, Anthony Esposito (ex-Lynch Mob) on bass, and a few guests here and there such as Brian Tichy. The overall sound is much heavier than anything Ace has done before. There are lot of chunky guitars, and a ton of riffs.
“Foxy & Free” is fine as an opener, but melodically a little awkward. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what I don’t like about it, but it’s not one of the better songs. Much better is “Outer Space”, Ace’s re-imagining of a song by a band called Shredmill. While that band originally conceived the song as a Danzig-esque prowl, Ace cranks it up. Pedal to the floor, this is the best song on Anomaly. Too bad it’s a cover because this is the kind of original that Ace needs. Unfortunately “Outer Space” is followed by “Pain in the Neck”, another one I find melodically annoying.
Another cover, “Fox on the Run”, restores the album. Much like “Do Ya”, I think Ace knocked it out of the park with this cover. His modus operandi seems to be taking catchy pop songs and rocking them up. He does it very well. Another thing he does very well is instrumental tracks, and “Genghis Khan” is a fascinating one. You don’t think of Ace as being influenced by Led Zeppelin so much, but this definitely sounds like Zeppelin for the most part! This is thanks in part to Anton Fig’s perfect execution on drums. But it’s not exactly an instrumental, as it does have a chorus! “So, long, Genghis Khan!” But that’s pretty much it in terms of lyrics!
Like a see-saw, the album swings back to melodically questionable territory. “Too Many Faces” is not a stand out. It’s heavy but lacks significant hooks. “Change the World” is a another high. Frehley’s an electric hippy praying for peace. It’s not the first time, but it’s a worthy successor to songs of the past such as “Remember Me”. Unlike many of the weaker songs, “Change the World” is catchy, singalong quality, and fun!
A punishing and cool instrumental called “Space Bear” is actually overshadowed by another version of the song later on, so I’m going to skip it now. “A Little Below the Angels” is a pretty good acoustic ballad. I really dislike the middle section, with Ace talking to the girl…wish that had been excised. It’s back again to heavy territory on “Sister”, one of the few really decent original Frehley heavy rockers on the album. This one features Scot Coogan (Brides of Destruction) on drums, and he really throws caution to the wind and goes for it! His drums are a highlight of a great Frehley rocker.
“It’s a Great Life” is certainly interesting. It’s a funky 80’s sounding rocker, with Ace’s personality. The chorus could have been stronger. Imagine what a producer like Eddie Kramer could have done with the sound of this album! Sonically, Anomaly is disappointing for the most part. If Kramer had produced, I’m sure the closer “Fractured Quantum” would shimmer like the other three “Fractured” songs. Don’t get me wrong, I love “Fractured Quantum”, I just think it lacks a certain sonic shine that the others have. Like the other “Fractured” instrumentals, it consists of layers of acoustic guitars with some electrics here and there. It is melodically simple and it works.
iTunes offered their exclusive bonus track, “Return of Space Bear”. This song is either a) no longer available on iTunes, or b) not available on iTunes in Canada. Needless to say I was forced to acquire it in the shady underbelly of the internets, but find it I did. “Space Bear” is a reference to Ace’s hilarious drunken appearance on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. On October 30 1979, Kiss appeared on the show, and Ace was pre-lubricated. A visibly upset Gene Simmons attempts to divert attention away from Ace and his “first space bear ever in captivity”, a little teddy bear version of himself! On this iTunes version, Ace’s dialogue is added, and this is the version I like best. Ace re-enacts some of his funniest drunken lines over some cool rocking riffs. To me, the tune sounds like early rocking Aerosmith, circa Rocks.
photo: heavymetal107
I will say that I don’t like the packaging. The cardboard case thing unfolds into a pyramid, but I’ve never tried. As a device to hold a CD, it’s annoying to get the disc in and out, and mine is pretty scratched. I did find a photo of the “pyramid” form at a cool blog called Heavy Metal 107 — click the thumb to see.
And that’s Anomaly, Ace’s first solo album in 20 years. By coincidence, just like last time (Trouble Walkin‘), Ace’s new album came at almost exactly the same time as a new Kiss CD, Sonic Boom. As before, fans compared and argued over who had made the better album. I think these fans miss the point. It doesn’t matter who made the better album, what matters is that both finally got back to making albums!
3.75/5 stars
When Ace returns for his next solo album, you can bet I will be here to tell you all about it. Thanks for reading this series! I hope you enjoyed.
One can indeed judge a book by its cover. David Lee Roth is hands-on with every aspect of his product, be it a photo shoot, a recording session, or an interview. He must have known his Diamond Dave album was crap, so he made a terrible cover to match it. Check out the tan, that wig and them pants! (Also notice: furry walls!)
This album, following up another aborted Van Halen reunion and the surprisingly powerful album DLR Band, switches gears and shows Dave’s “multi-faceted side”. Sure, we all know Dave likes disco, jazz, blues, showtunes, and standards. It’s Dave doing what he did very successfully on Crazy From the Heat, and trying to do so again. To make an album of this stuff would be fine, but Diamond Dave lacks any sort of zap. At all. It’s just one “who cares” cover after another, a couple crappy originals, and a Van Halen tune.
Dave’s voice just doesn’t generate the heat it once did, and all of Diamond Dave suffers for it. The way Van Halen did A Different Kind of Truth used a lot of production on Dave. Here, Roth is a whimper, a wheeze, a breathless gasp at the greatness that once was. To listen to this album in one sitting is an exersize in stamina. I know because I’ve done it.
Positives: Instrumental moments on the Steve Miller cover “Shoo Bop”. The ace rhythm section of LoMenzo and Luzier are complimented by a guitarist named Brian Young who is shit-hot on this. Then Dave goes all dance-y on it…ugh. “She’s Looking Good” is old-school and well done.
The indigestible: The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen”. Nobody needs to cover the Doors; Dave makes them sound like Smash Mouth. Hendrix’ “If 6 Was 9” has too much of Dave’s boring talking voice, but not enough crooning. His cover of the otherwise excellent Beatles number “Tomorrow Never Knows” (which he actually had the audicity to rename “That Beatles Tune”!?) sucks all the life and innovation out of a great song, as he wheezes to the finish line. This is by far the worst song, even though he also covers “Let It All Hang Out”.
There is only one number here worth owning, which is his Las Vegas version of “Ice Cream Man”. He did this shortly after Your Filthy Little Mouth with Edgar Winter, Omar Hakim, Greg Phillinganes, and Nile Rodgers! According to Dave’s autobiography Crazy From the Heat, this was recorded in a live in a video shoot. The video was never released, but the audio finally was. It lives up to the hype if not the wait.
Decide what you are willing to pay for one or two songs, and buy accordingly.
What a rotten week. I had just started my last year of school. Fresh with the sting of rejection from that summer’s crush, with shoulders hunched, I cut a lonely figure in the hallways. All my old school friends were gone. I had taken a bunch of classes that I didn’t like. I had nobody to talk to at school, but thankfully I now had the record store. The store gave me something to look forward to when I didn’t have much else.
I still have lyrics that I wrote from that period, and they’re…well, they reflect my age and some of my emotions at the time:
Evil man, With demon smell, Down on your knees, Back into hell.
I came home from class one morning to discover that a lighting storm had fried my stereo, among many other home appliances. It was a Panasonic deck with CD and cassette. It was just toasted. My sister’s Sony stereo had also burned out in the storm. I was essentially without a good way to listen to music. I still had my lousy Walkman with its crummy earphones, but I didn’t have any way of playing a CD.
While insurance companies sorted out the damages, I waited to replace the stereo. In the meantime, Bon Jovi had just released their new single, “Always”, from their forthcoming greatest hits set called Cross Road. I loved Jon’s heartbroken lyrics, but the really good track was a B-side called “Edge of a Broken Heart”. It was a catchy commercial Pop Jovi song, an outtake from Slippery When Wet, and one of their better tunes. Certainly one of their best B-sides. But I had no equipment to play it on.
Luckily I was going to work on the Sunday, and I was working alone for the whole day. I could therefore listen to whatever I wanted, and I brought a couple discs to work to play. One of them was “Always”, and I looked forward to listening to it. I really enjoyed the slow Sunday shift, as it was only four hours long, and I always worked alone on Sundays.
I walked to work as I always did. I already had a key. I unlocked and unpacked the pack of CDs that I brought with me. Bon Jovi was my first selection. I inserted the disc into the player, and turned up the volume so I could hear the music as I vacuumed.
I was startled by two figures at the door. My boss, the store owner, was one, and the other was Trevor who was our new hire. What the hell were they doing there? Meanwhile, they had that exact same question for me!
“I’m opening the store…what are you doing here?” I responded.
“I’m here to train Trevor,” my boss answered. “and Trevor’s scheduled to work today.”
“No…I’m scheduled. Aren’t I?”
A quick look at the calendar had revealed that Trevor was scheduled in, and I had the day off!
“Shit…to be honest I was really looking forward to working, my stereo is blown at home and I have these new CDs!” We had a laugh at my expense, and I left feeling a little like an idiot. I was mostly disappointed that I didn’t get to play my new Bon Jovi.
It was another week before I finally got my new stereo. Having the ability to play CDs again was a salve, to soothe my aching soul. I could not believe how much I missed it. That brief period without the ability to play my discs was a dark start to the school year. Gratefully, it got better after that!
How many bands is Mike Portnoy in anyway? I have no idea, but I’ve bought many of them over the years. Flying Colors is another, a supergroup featuring Steve Morse, the unrelated Neal Morse of Spock’s Beard, Dave LaRue from Steve Morse Band, and Casey McPherson of Alpha Rev. McPherson is the only one I’m not familiar with from elsewhere, and he handles lead vocals as well as keyboards and guitar. Peter Collins (Rush) produces, a man who knows plenty about progressive rock that gets played on the radio.
Together they created an accessible album of jaw-dropping chops but also something melodically engrossing. While these guys are all primarily renowned as musician’s musicians, together it seems they know how to write a song or two. The 7-minute opener “Blue Ocean” is a great example. It’s very hard to describe because it’s not any one thing. It has a hypnotically cool lead vocal, but backed by a neat shuffle and Morse’s trademark hybrid style.
“Shoulda Coulda Woulda” is a heavy one, again with a hypnotic vocal. It’s unforgettable and one of the most powerful tunes. Steve Morse lays yet another awesome guitar solo on top of it. It’s not how many notes he plays or how fast he plays them. It’s what he wrenches out of them. Then like a 180, “Kayla” opens with some gorgeous classical guitar, as if we switched to a Blackmore’s Night album! But this is temporary; “Kayla” is a sparse mid-tempo rock song, with an anthemic chorus. “Kayla” is one of the most instantly catchy moments on Flying Colors. The vocal harmonies in the middle section are killer.
This is followed by my favourite tune, the radio-ready “The Storm”. The chorus here is the best one on the album, powerful and layered. The verses are soft and melodic; commercial rock goodness. Portnoy perfectly compliments the song without overplaying. Only a classic Steve Morse solo could further elevate “The Storm” to the heavens, and that’s exactly what happens.
LaRue funks it up a bit on “Forever in a Daze” which thumps along nicely. “Love is What I’m Waiting For” has a Beatles vibe, which is interesting enough. It’s probably worthy of radio play in a perfect world. “Everything Changes” is another 7 minute long-bomber, and I don’t want to call it a ballad, so I’ll call it “quiet”. It’s an epic. It has acoustic guitars and strings and all kinds of cool stuff, including plenty of electric Morse. Once again, I hear Beatles.
The introspective “Better Than Walking Away” is another really good song, soft and pretty but lyrically intense. Then like a cold slap in the face comes “All Falls Down”. This the most “metal” moment on the album, a blazing blitzkrieg of guitars and drums. It’s over in 3 minutes and 20 seconds, but it’ll leave you knocked out. I really love the vocals on this song too.
Approaching the end, “Fool in My Heart” is a slow dance. Its melodies are warm and classic sounding. This serves to cleanse the palette before the final 12 minute feast of “Infinite Fire”. It’s one of my favourites, and it’s over more quickly than it seems it should be. It doesn’t wear out its welcome; it has a bit of everything in it including melody and spellbinding playing.
How the hell have Portnoy and Morse managed to put out multiple great albums in 2013 is beyond me. Why are guys like these not the biggest rock stars on the planet? Thankfully, a live album and second studio record are on their way.
Disclaimer: I am so happy with this album, Deep Purple’s latest, that I put off and put off writing a review for it. As a fan of both Deep Purple Mk VIII and Bob Ezrin, this album would either colossally astound or disappoint me. I’m happy to say that NOW What?! is my favourite album since Purpendicular back in ’96.
At first I thought NOW What?! was going to be an uncomfortably mellow album. How wrong I was. Sure, “A Simple Song” starts powerfully soft (think Purpendicular‘s “Loosen My Strings”). It then takes off into a modern Purple tangent, with groove, a chorus that kills and absolutely outstanding organ work by Don Airey. If there was ever a man to pay tribute to the legacy of Jon Lord, it is Don Airey. He does so with class, homage, and love.
I love “Weirdistan” both for the title and the song itself. It is however “Out of Hand” that is the first mind-blower for me. The strings and arrangements of Ezrin are on this song like a stamp, yet it is also blatantly no other band than Deep Purple. Even though Purple have been backed by strings many times before, Ezrin’s approach sounds like classic Ezrin. It’s hard to verbalize, but Ezrin uses the strings in a support role, yet often up front and in your face.
If none of the previous songs sounded enough like old Deep Purple to you, “Hell to Pay” is sure to satisfy. The edited version from the CD single has nothing on this. The soloing is better than the song, quite frankly, and too much of it was edited out of the single version. Musically “Hell to Pay” has that hard, slightly funky vibe that a lot of later Deep Purple possesses. As far as the solo sections, you’re hearing things that go all the way back to 1968 and “Mandrake Root”. It’s trippy. The spirit of Jon lives on.
“Body Line” is pretty good, again it’s kind of funky in that Purple-y way. Ian Paice, the only remaining member from the original 1968 Mk I version, is responsible for many of the funk vibes, aided and abetted by Morse and Airey. Actually, it’s really hard to single out any one member as MVP on most of these songs. Deep Purple Mk VIII have gelled so well as a band over the last decade, that everything is in sync. Everybody bounces off the other players in a way that is reminiscent of the classic Deep Purple years.
“Above and Beyond” (to be released as a 7″ and CD single October 25) is one of two songs dedicated to Jon Lord. This is probably the most progressive sounding of the new songs. It’s certainly one of the most epic. I think Jon would have loved it. It’s worth noting at this point that Bob Ezrin, as per his modus operandi, has a writing credit on every song. In the same way you can hear him tightening up the songwriting of artists like Kiss and Alice Cooper, you can hear his shine on “Above and Beyond”.
I’m sure it’s a coincidence since almost all the members are different, but “Blood From A Stone” begins similarly to “You Keep On Moving” from Come Taste the Band. Then it gets slinky, before Morse rips some heavy riffs on the chorus. Don Airey shines as well, classing up the place several notches more. This transitions seamlessly into the second Lord tribute, the beautiful “Uncommon Man”. Morse’s guitars are uplifting and unmistakable. I just love listening to him play because there is truly nobody else in the world who sounds like Steve Morse. (Just as there is nobody, Yngwie included, who sounds like Richie Blackmore.) Back to “Uncommon Man”, it features a similar fanfare to “Above and Beyond”, linking them thematically. It also has my favourite keyboard solo on the whole album.
“Après Vous” sounds like a Rapture of the Deep outtake, but a good outtake. Glover has a great groove going on, and there is once again a long instrumental section. When it’s a band like Deep Purple, these aren’t the sections you want to skip through. These are the highlights of a song!
I reviewed “All the Time in the World” when the single was released. Quoting myself, “I’m really fond of “All the Time in the World”. It reminds me of the laid back Purple from Bananas. The classy keys from Don Airey seal the deal for me, but how about that Steve Morse solo? Fantastic!…It might not sound like the Deep Purple of 1970, but that was a long time ago now. It does sound like a rock band staying classy well into their silver years. I don’t hear any compromise nor contrivances here.”
Uncle Meat’s favourite song on the album was “Vincent Price”, and while the whole album is excellent, “Vincent Price” is also instant. It’s really fun, and Ezrin brings his trademark sound effects back to the table. Morse’s spooky guitar line seals the deal. Gillan’s lyrics about vampires and zombies are amusing enough. (This is the kind of lyric that never would have made it past the tyrannical Blackmore.)
There are a couple bonus tracks to be had. “It’ll Be Me” is an unlikely cover, by country singer Jack Clement. Deep Purple pull it off, thanks to Gillan’s lively vocal. “First Sign of Madness” was a free download track, also later released on the “Vincent Price” CD single. It’s a lively song, but different from the album tracks. It reminds me of “Via Miama” from the Gillan/Glover album Accidentally on Purpose. It took a while to grow on me, but I quite like it now just because it doesn’t sound too much like the rest of the album. But these songs will all be on the forthcoming “tour edition”.
Deep Purple pulled off the damn near impossible and put out one of their best albums 45 years after initially forming. Most bands would dream of being able to do this. Hell, most bands don’t put out albums as good as NOW What?! during their primes. If this is a career capper (and I pray Purple have another album in them) then I couldn’t imagine a better album to finish on. The same goes for Ezrin, the guy who produced such classics as The Wall, Destroyer, and Billion Dollar Babies. If Bob retired tomorrow, he could do so having done a freaking great Deep Purple record.
I got this Japanese import CD from one of our franchisees. Even though we technically were not “allowed” to buy CDs from one of our franchises, we all did it, even the head office people who enforced the rules. In this case the franchisee himself was glad to have a guaranteed sale, rather than sit on an expensive Dokken flop for several months in inventory. It even came with the original obi strip, stickers, and everything else was mint. The scarcity of the complete package was reason alone to buy it.
The infamous Shadowlife will probably go down in history as the worst Dokken album. It’s certainly the most dysfunctional (even though that was the title of the previous, much better album). The dysfunction largely came down guitarist George Lynch, who according to sources at the time, purposely sabotaged the album. He did this to put an end to Dokken, go the claims. Don himself was very unhappy with it, as quotes from the era will reveal (look them up). He also referred to a lead vocal shot (“Here I Stand”) by bassist Jeff Pilson as too “bar band-y”, meaning the lead singer of a pro band is the lead singer, and the bassist is the bassist. Clearly, ego was an issue as well.
Kelly Gray
Not to escape without blame is producer Kelly Gray, who had just ruined the career of Sven Gali a couple years prior. Gray produces, engineers, mixes, and even co-wrote a couple tracks. According to Don, Mr. Gray would not let the band sing their trademark harmonies, opting for grittier more modern sounds. Gray’s trademark distortion on the lead vocals is omnipresent.
There are very few standout tracks here, although many have good parts and interesting bits. It is difficult to remember any songs distinctly even after a few listens. The grungy “Puppet On A String” is OK, due to a blazing George Lynch guitar solo (although buried in the mix). It has a heavy groove, but the distorted lead vocal wrecks it for me. “Cracks in the Ground” is better, containing a shadow of the Dokken harmonies, but mired in boring melodies and production. “I Feel” sounds like Dokken, at least. Not really great Dokken, but Dokken nevertheless.
The Japanese, always so lucky, got two bonus tracks: “How Many Lives” and “Deep Waters”. Neither stand out any more than the album tracks. Not really a bonus this time, sorry Japan. If anything, these songs detract from the album, by making it a longer, more agonizing experience.
In general the album is too slow, too tunelessly dull, too dreary. It’s disjointed and it’s uninspired. Too rainy, like a dark Seattle mist. Mick Brown does rock, at least. There are a few heavy songs, such as “Hello”, but I think my favourite song would be the moody acoustic ballad “Convenience Store Messiah”. It’s the only song that sounds like a fully composed, complete arrangement.
Avoid.
1/5 stars
Afterword:I played around the idea of just writing a two word review a-la Spinal Tap (“Shit Sandwich”). I was going to call it “Shadow Turd”. In the end, my OCD level attention to detail refused to allow it, and the wordy essay on the art of turd-making you just read was posted instead. I’m sorry. (Blame Kelly Gray for that, too.)
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