classic rock

REVIEW: Jethro Tull – Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! (remastered)

Next in line of my reviews from Record Store Excursion 2012!  Check out the video below if you missed it.  This one bought at HMV Yonge, as sort of a consolation prize, since they no longer sell Japanese imports (for shame!).  Bought at 2 for $25.

MIKE AND AARON GO TO TORONTO

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JETHRO TULL – Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! (1976, 2002 remaster)

I’m far from a Tull expert; more a layman.  I know what I like though, I like the complexity of Tull, I love Martin Barre’s guitar, and Ian Anderson’s virtuoso flute.  I’ve always liked the title track from this album, “Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die”, so it made sense to get the album proper.

It’s another concept album by the Tull, but I’m not too clear on the story details.  It seems to be about an aging rock star, which is funny considering that when Ian wrote it, he was a young man by comparison!  The concept album lends itself to recurring musical motifs, such as the melody from the title track popping up on “Quizz Kid”.

Like many Tull albums from the mid-70’s, there’s plenty of acoustics to go around accompanied by lovely flute passages and complex drum patterns.  There’s also some horns and orchestration courtesy of David Palmer (not yet a full member of the band).

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Personal highlights:

  • “Salamander”, a folksy number with intricate acoustics.
  • The harmonica riffing of “Taxi Grab”, reminiscent of an earlier bluesier Jethro Tull.  The guitar soloing (both electric and acoustic) is also divine.
  • “Big Dipper”, a playful yet complex number with plenty of flute and a fun chorus.
  • The masterpiece title track (obviously), lush with ochestration.
  • “Pied Piper”, one of the most obviously catchy songs on the whole album, albeit still complex with multiple parts and section.
  • The final track of the album, a slow but dramatic grandiose number called “The Chequered Flag (Dead or Alive)”.

As usual, Ian provides liner notes, and dedicates the album to late bassist John Glascock, who died way too young of a heart defect.

There are two bonus tracks included, fully realized songs called “A Small Cigar” and “Strip Cartoon”.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Rush – Sector 2 (box set)

This one goes out to Rich from KamerTunesBlog, a great, informed site that you should check out.

I got the other two Sectors for Christmas, but this is an older review.

RUSH – Sector 2 (2011 box set, 5 CD + 1 DVD)

Damn you Rush.  Damn you!

If it wasn’t for the fact that I liked their past 5.1 mixes so much, I wouldn’t have bought each of these albums again in this box set.  And the fact that only one album (A Farewell To Kings) has been mixed in 5.1 really grinds my gears.  Because you know more is coming.  2112, recently released as a part of Sector 1, in normal stereo, is now coming again in 5.1.  It’s obvious Rush are going to continue to issue 5.1 mixes of their albums, in seemingly random order, which will probably make these box sets completely redundant in the future.

Rich Chycki did the 5.1 mix once again, and once again, it’s a pleasure to listen to.  In particular I found “Cygnus X-1” to really benefit from the treatment.  The swirly opening section made me feel as if I too was aboard the Rocinante, wheeling through the galaxies.  The album sounds three dimensional, clear, shimmery.  I’m very happy with the 5.1 mix.

Farewell is included on a standard stereo remastered CD, and also in stereo on the DVD.  I have read online that there are flaws with the stereo mix of this DVD but I’ve never played it.  I’m not that much of an audiophile that I would really care to, when I already have a CD.

The other CD’s included in the set, aside from A Farewell To Kings, are:

  • Hemispheres
  • Permanent Waves
  • Moving Pictures
  • Exit…Stage Left

…all of which I have now bought more than once.  In Moving Pictures‘ case, three times now, since they just issued that as a deluxe edition with a 5.1 surround blu-ray last year!  (Reviewed here.) Bastards.

I’m not going to review each individual album in this set.  That comprehensive task would require separate blog entries of their own.  They’re all great, of course.  Some (Moving Pictures) more so than others (Hemispheres) in my own personal opinion.  And of course, within this box set you will get such classics as “Closer To The Heart”, “The Trees”, “The Spirit of Radio”, “Freewill”, “YYZ”, “Limelight”, and “Vital Signs”.  In addition there are plenty of brilliant album tracks like “La Villa Strangiato” and “Natural Science”.

The box itself is attractive enough, and if you’re sucked into buying all three, then they all fit together on your shelf as one handsome library.  But you already own some of these albums, if not all, don’t you?  The bait is that 5.1 mix of Farewell.  And it pisses me off that Rush would treat their fans in that way.  Why not just remaster and re-release these albums on their own and in a box set?

The individual album packaging is nice enough too, mini record sleeve reproductions, with a nice booklet with lyrics and liner notes for the whole shebang, all taken from the albums.  As far as the booklet goes, there’s no exclusive essays or other content that is new to me.

And as for the new remastering?  I can’t tell the difference between this and the 1997 remasters.  I can’t.  Sorry.  I’m sure an audiophile would call me an idiot for saying so.

I probably won’t buy Sectors 1 and 3, not unless the prices drop dramatically.  I was able to re-gift my original Rush remasters off to other people, which is one way of dealing with the duplicates, but I’m not going to be getting rid of my deluxe Moving Pictures, since it has the blu-ray and a David Fricke essay.  So I’ve got two copies of that, and people who collect 5.1 mixes and have Sector 1 will end up with two copies of 2112.  Nice eh?

A Farewell To Kings 5.1 mix:  5/5 stars

Sector 2 box set:  1/5 stars

REVIEW: Bob & Doug McKenzie – Great White North (1981)

Good day, eh?  This will be the last post before Christmas!  LeBrain’s Blog will be taking a rare break for Christmas.  We’ll be back soon, so don’t worry eh?

I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and happy holiday whether you celebrate it or not, but most importantly a safe holiday.  Be careful on those roads.

And now for Christmas, I leave you with a very special review. Enjoy!

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BOB & DOUG McKENZIE – Great White North (1981)

Cooooo, loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo!

Merry Christmas, eh?  All Canadians (aka, “Hosers” for my international readers) celebrate Christmas every year with the classic tune, “Twelve Days of Christmas” by our national treasures, Bob & Doug McKenzie.  A sample lyric?

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
5 GOLDEN TOQUES!,
4 pounds of back bacon,
3 french toast,
2 turtlenecks,
and a beer, in a tree.

Twisted Sister, eat your hearts out.  This is the best version (ever!) of this Christmas classic.  All Hosers should know the words off by heart, just as well as they know “Oh Canada”.

This Christmas classic can be found on Bob & Doug’s album, Great White North.  A spin-off from their successful SCTV segment, Kanadian Korner, it wasn’t long before somebody at Anthem records thought the boys should make an album, eh?  Basically half an hour of rambling about back bacon, smokes, donuts and beer, it’s not much of an album.  Bummer.  It doesn’t sound like it was scripted.  It’s hard to stay tuned in for the entire length, although it did somehow go to #1 in Canada.  Much of the album is taken up by welcoming to the listener to different segments, and the boys fighting over what in fact they should be talking about.

One of the funnier segments is regarding “Elron McKenzie” and his church.  The sermon that day was about not killing bugs.  The sermon was a big success, even though people had to drive through 8 feet of snow, eh.

Disappointing was “Black Hole” which features a backwards message.  Using the magic of Audacity, I did play the segment backwards.  I was hoping for something a little more mindblowing, like a recipe for the perfect donut or back bacon sandwich, but no such luck.

All of this is offset not only by the Christmas tune, but perhaps one of the greatest songs in Canadian history:  “Take Off”.

“Take Off” features lead vocals by Geddy Lee, of Canada’s Rush.  Geddy did the single for the princely sum of ten bucks.  This song is not only a must for all Hosers, but all Rush fans worldwide.  The incredible lead vocal may blow your speakers.  As Geddy himself says on the track, “I’m a professional, eh?”

5/5 stars for the two singles

but only 2/5 stars for the album

REVIEW: Triumph – Stages (1985 vinyl)

TRIUMPH – Stages (1985 RCA)

“When The Lights Go Down”, Canada’s Triumph hits the stage. This album, recorded before their descent into mediocrity, is one of the first double live albums I ever got and is still one of my favourites. The band are tight, there’s a hot guitar solo and just about every hit the band ever had. The band are both singing and playing great, and as icing on the cake, they threw in two new studio tracks (one decent, the other bland).

The decent:  “Mind Games” — Gil sings, but does not play drums due to his “annual arm injury”. Gary McCracken, ex-Max Webster, on drums! Can’t get much better than that. This is a great song with a fantastic double-tracked guitar hook.

The bland: “Empty Inside” — pure filler with Rik on vocals. No drummer, as this is a drum machine.  Slow, slow, slow.  Terrible song, terrible way to end an otherwise fine album. Hints of what was to come.

Live highlights for me included “Never Surrender”, an explosive “Fight The Good Fight”, and the double-whammy of “Spellbound” and “Follow Your Heart” (both singles from Thunder Seven).   I think “Hold On” is a bit sappy, although here it is stripped down to a purely acoustic arrangement.

There’s a bonus track on the vinyl, not included on any CD edition of the album.  Therefore, buy the CD at your own discretion.  It’s “Allied Forces” – a wicked version, too.  Gil’s drum solo, “Druh Mer Selbo” (Get it?) is on the CD, but not listed — it’s tacked onto “A World of Fantasy”.  On the LP it was a separate track.  The annoying thing is that there is enough room on a CD for “Allied Forces”, it still comes in under 80 minutes.  I made a CD myself with the entire track list and it fit just fine.

This live album was culled from various shows ’81-’84, so you get a great cross section of key tracks and performances. Yet it is very even sounding, and you can’t really tell that the sources are years apart. It is well mixed and mastered, and it is the Triumph album I play the most.

4/5 stars.

Side 1 LP 1

  1. “When the Lights Go Down” (Gil Moore, Michael Levine, Rik Emmett) – 6:00
  2. “Never Surrender” (Rik Emmett, Michael Levine, Gil Moore) – 6:43
  3. “Allied Forces” (Gil Moore, Michael Levine, Rik Emmett) – 5:07
  4. “Hold On” (Rik Emmett) – 4:21

Side 2 LP 1 

  1. “Magic Power” (Rik Emmett, Michael Levine, Gil Moore) – 6:12
  2. “Rock & Roll Machine” (Gil Moore) – 10:20
  3. “Lay it on the Line” (Rik Emmett) – 5:03

Side 1 LP 2

  1. “A World of Fantasy” (Rik Emmett, Michael Levine, Gil Moore, Tam Patrick) – 4:18
  2. “Druh Mer Selbo” (Gil Moore) – 4:12
  3. “Midsummer’s Daydream” (Rik Emmett) – 2:42
  4. “Spellbound” (Gil Moore, Michael Levine, Rik Emmett) – 3:56
  5. “Follow Your Heart” (Gil Moore, Michael Levine, Rik Emmett) – 3:37

Side 2 LP 2

  1. “Fight the Good Fight” (Rik Emmett, Michael Levine, Gil Moore) – 7:36
  2. “Mind Games” (Gil Moore, Michael Levine, Rik Emmett) – 4:49
  3. “Empty Inside” (Rik Emmett, Michael Levine, Gil Moore) – 4:04

REVIEW: Van Halen – “Can’t Stop Loving You” (2 CD with tin)

You lucky, lucky boys and girls!  Another double feature review?  And this time it’s all Van Halen?  Today, you get Part One – Can’t Stop Loving You!

REVIEW:  Van Halen – Can’t Stop Loving You (parts I & II, inc. collector’s tin.)

In the 90’s, CD singles were a big deal especially in Europe.  Probably due to quirks of the British chart rules which limits a single to 4 songs, bands often doubled up by releasing double singles with each part sold separately.  There were also cases of triple singles, or singles with exclusive tracks on the vinyl versions, in order to get you, the consumer, to buy it more than once therefore charting it higher.

Can’t Stop Loving You by Van Halen was released this way, but without all the bonus tracks that really made it worthwhile.  Instead, you could get a collector’s tin to store both discs in.

Part I of the single (w022cd) came in a standard jewel case and the following b-sides.

  • 2. Crossing Over (non-LP track, Japanese bonus track for Balance)
  • 3. Right Now (live)
  • 4. Man on a Mission (live)

The case has no indication of a second disc being available.  The two live songs are from the album Live: Right here, right now.  The bonus track “Crossing Over” is incredible, and well worth hunting down for any Van Hagar fan.  This thumper is apparently based on music that Edward had written years earlier, and was finished off by Sammy’s haunting lyrics about journeying to the great beyond.  Lyrically it hits the spot, and musically, it cascades atmospherically.  It has a lot of bass, runs very slowly, but is unique in the Van Hagar canon, there is nothing else like it.  It fits the darker, mellow vibe of some of Balance‘s more thoughtful moments.

Part II (wo288cdx)  is only worth buying for the tin itself.  There are no exclusive bonus tracks to be had on this disc.  The tin is your standard CD tin, with the Van Halen “globe”-style logo embossed onto the front.  There’s a helpful (upside down) sticker on the front advertizing that you can also buy the other CD and store it in this case.  There is a foam insert inside to help protect your CD.  The back of the tin has a large sticker with notes and pictures, and a tracklist for the other CD as well — this is handy if you do end up storing them together.

Bonus tracks are as follows.  Once again all bonus tracks are simply lifted from the live album.  The A-side is the standard album version of “Can’t Stop Loving You”, which is also the same as the first CD.

  • 2. Best of Both Worlds (live)
  • 3. When It’s Love (live)
  • 4. One Way To Rock (live)

Rating:

For part one, a solid 4/5 stars for the excellent bonus track “Crossing Over”

For part two, a dismal 2/5 stars.  It’s only there to look at really.

 

Tune in again in a couple days, when we finish this review off with one more RARE VAN HALEN collector’s tin…