hard rock

REVIEW: Hurricane – Take What You Want (1985 EP, 1989 reissue with bonus tracks)

HURRICANE – Take What You Want (1985 Enigma EP, 1989 reissue with bonus tracks)

Hurricane attracted my attention initially because I was a Quiet Riot fan.  I considered Hurricane to be a “brother” band to Quiet Riot.  Bassist Tony Cavazo’s brother Carlos was in Quiet Riot.  Guitarist Robert Sarzo also had a brother, in Rudy.  I loved that Carlos played bass, and Robert played guitar.  I just knew that they chose those instruments so they could have jammed with their brothers, on guitar and bass respectively.

Perhaps Hurricane are best known as a band that launched its members into higher orbits.  Robert Sarzo has been a member of Geoff Tate’s Queensryche.  Drummer Jay Schellen is in Yes.  Singer Kelly Hansen is with Foreigner.  Big names!

Their debut EP was not a bad start.  It boasted one single/video that impressed me as a kid, but we’ll get there.  The original EP opened with “Take Me In Your Arms”, a tough little rock crooner with a great chorus.  Right from the get-go, it’s the singer that impresses.  The production buried him a bit too far back in the mix.  It may be a case of “too many cooks”, as Kevin Beamish, Mike Clink and Hurricane all get co-production credits, with Bob Ezrin in an executive role!  The swampy backing vocals don’t really help, but fortunately Hansen was more than capable of driving a chorus home.  It was also obvious that Jay Schellen was going to go places.  His drumming here is far from simplistic, standard rock cliches.

The second track gives Tony and Jay a chance to jam a bit before Robert comes in with some squealing guitar.  “The Girls Are Out Tonight” is not especially remarkable, but like the preceding song, it has a great little chorus to go with some pretty poor lyrics.  “Laughin’ and talkin’ about the boys, with whom you want to be seen.”  You don’t see the word “whom” in rock lyrics very often, I’ll concede.  The MVPs on this track are Tony Cavazo with a rollicking bassline, and Robert Sarzo with some great 80s excess on guitar.

The title track “Take What You Want” goes third, with an ominous little riff to open it.  There’s a vibe here somewhere between Journey and Kiss.  Hansen impresses thoroughly with those pipes!  The mood of the song isn’t consistent however, going for a more cliched rock vibe on the verses, while the chorus just smokes.  Almost a great song, but not quite.

Hurricane’s eponymous track was the single/video back in the day, and immediately impressed with the riff.  Traditional metal with a hint of exotic, “Hurricane” was my favourite song for two weeks straight.  “You’re like a hurricane comin’, you don’t forgive!”  Get pumped up and rock this tune on repeat.  It’s great.

“It’s Only Heaven” features Robert Sarzo and Tony Cavazo making really cool, atmospheric sounds with their instruments.  Then Schellen comes in with a classic drum beat, followed by Kelly Hansen.  This ballad could have been a Scorpions song, perhaps.  Vocally it’s very different from the Scorps, but Klaus can sing anything he wants.  Though slow, this ballad could have gone down in history like similar songs by Dokken…except for a really bad key change almost six minutes into the song.  Otherwise, it’s pretty epic and spectacular.  Somebody should have chopped the last minute and a half of it though.

Back to the hard rockin’, “Hot and Heavy” was the closing song on the original EP.  It gets the job done.  It’s fast, rippin’ with shout along hooks, and ready to tear it down.  Robert Sarzo illuminates the sky with guitar pyrotechnics.  Good little tune.  Nothing remarkable of course, but adequate for the task.  The whole EP is above average, because of the skill of the players and some occasional production goodness.  It’s just a nose above the rest of the bands that didn’t quite have the same level of musicianship.

Old CD copies came with a bonus track, “La Luna”, a beautiful classical guitar piece by Sarzo.  There is some really clever backwards guitar mixed in with the forwards.  It’s almost like next level Randy Rhoads.  The entire band got credited for writing, which means the band had an agreement to split writing credits.

This CD reissue has three bonus tracks, all from the next album Over the Edge.  The first is a single version of “Over the Edge” itself.  This hard rocker opens and closes with cool acoustic guitars, which caught my ear back in the day.  I loved this tune.  The production is still a bit wanting, but you can hear the talent shine through.  Schellen’s got a great groove going, and Kelly was so underappreciated as a singer back in the day.

“I’m On To You” was another great single from that album.  This is just an edit version.  This “super stormin’ hook edit” opens straight away with the chorus, which may or may not be to your taste.  “Na na na na na na, I’m on to you!” croons Kelly Hansen.  You’ll love it or hate it.  Finally, the CD ends with “Baby Snakes” (not a Zappa cover)…and finally it’s an instrumental version, without the phone call stuff!  That part of the song was amusing for a few minutes, but hindered re-plays.  This instrumental version remedies that!

Hurricane could have gone further than they did.  Unfortunately for them, Robert Sarzo departed after Over the Edge, replaced by a guy named Doug Aldridge that you might know from some other bands.  They started using outside writers, and that’s rarely a good sign.   They have since reunited, but never with this original lineup again.  An album and an EP was all we got.  At least they were both decent.

3/5 stars for the original EP
3.5/5 stars with bonus tracks

REVIEW: Brian May – “Too Much Love Will Kill You” (1992 CD single)

BRIAN MAY – “Too Much Love Will Kill You” (1992 EMI/Parlophone CD single)

The first time that most of us heard “Too Much Love Will Kill You” was in 1992, at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert.  Surely one of the biggest and most spectacular such events ever hosted, Queen played a scorching set with guests that night.  One of the highlights was a song that Brian May humbly said was the best he had to offer.  That song was the ballad “Too Much Love Will Kill You”, which Queen recorded but did not release on The Miracle (until 2022).  For that album, the band chose to only include songs written solely by the four core members.  “Too Much Love Will Kill You” was co-written by Brian with Elizabeth Lamers and Frank Musker.   A few months after the concert, May would release his solo version of  the song on his album, Back to the Light, and also as a single.  (There is now a deluxe edition of Back to the Light, containing all the songs from this single.)

“I’m just the pieces of the man I used to be,” croons May after a a delicate intro.  A song about being torn between two lovers, you somehow actually feel sorry for the guy who’s trying to choose between two women.  “Too much love will kill you, just as sure as none at all.”  May’s version is different from Queen’s, with lush orchestration taking up much of the space.  It’s absolutely gorgeous!  Queen’s version was as well, and it may be difficult to choose between versions.  Brian takes a lovely acoustic guitar solo, which is so rarely heard from the master of electric layers of bliss.  His vocals are impassioned, perhaps even more than Freddie’s were.  Though loaded to the gills with strings and accoutrements, it’s a spellbinding version.

Second on the single is a rocker named “I’m Scared”.  If it were a Queen song, it would be one of the harder-edged.  It’s a speedy ride through an amusement part of guitar and drums (by Cozy Powell, with bass by his Black Sabbath and Whitesnake compatriot Neil Murray).  Brian talk-sings for most of it, which works well, especially when he mockingly has trouble getting his words out towards the end.  It’s a performance, and the chorus ain’t bad regardless of the vocal storytelling.  It’s too weird for radio, but could be one of those cool deep cuts.

Track three is the “guitar version” of “Too Much Love With Kill You” which, believe it or not, is an instrumental.  Brian’s electric guitar takes the place of the singer.  It’s a cool and unexpected version.  It’s an incredible, lyrical version.  Brian takes liberties and doesn’t play the vocal melody note for note, but you can make it out just the same.  This could be one of May’s greatest guitar performances, simply because he uses his instrument to speak in a way that very few guitarists can do for four minutes straight.  He changes voices, he adds luscious trills, and it’s an absolute knockout.

The last track is a re-do of lead single “Driven By You”, with Cozy and Neil.  Brian played bass on the album version.  This version is hard and punchy.  The song is a melodic rock classic.  If it had come out a couple years earlier, it could have been a summer hit.  Cozy and Neil were in Brian’s live band, so having them re-do the track for a B-side probably made sense.  It’s really strong, and the bass and drums are both in your face.  Diehard fans will absolutely be able to recognize the legendary rhythm section.  Cozy in particular has a signature sound, and Neil does as well to a lesser degree.

What a great single, combining rarities with hits and a deep cut.  A total score.

5/5 stars

 

REVIEW: Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here (2022)

SKID ROW – The Gang’s All Here (2022 Edel)

I’ve never hid my disappointment that Skid Row have been unable to hang into a lead singer for long since Sebastian Bach’s 1996 ouster.  Johnny Solinger was their best shot at a permanent lead singer, since replaced by a dizzying array of vocalists.  Erik Grönwall, from Swedish Idol and H.E.A.T., was probably the biggest hope.  Sadly, as a cancer survivor, Erik was forced to resign and focus on his health.  The one album he made with Skid Row, The Gang’s All Here, received critical acclaim in 2022 and was called Album of the Year by several outlets.

Erik Grönwall brings the necessary range and power, more so than Solinger.  Unfortunately, both Solinger and Bach had a lot of character in their voices.  Grönwall has a more generic sound, and this robs Skid Row of some of what made them special.  He almost sounds too good, too professional.

A lot of people will disagree and that’s fine.  We’re all entitled to our opinions.

Only two songs here, “Time Bomb” (sort of a punky rewrite of “Piece of Me”) and “The Gang’s All Here”, made it onto the tour setlist.  80% of the album was not played live.  There are shout-along choruses, Kiss-like guitar licks, and Bolan’s bass bounce…but do the songs stick to the brain like albums of yore?  Some do.  The best moments are the ones that recall the past, such as “Resurrected” which has a “Monkey Business” familiarity.  Unfortunately, the trite lyrics are another one of those “we’re back where we belong” kind of songs.

The strongest song is the ballad “October’s Song”, which comes closest to nailing the timeless Skid Row level of quality.  Grönwall’s schooled approach to singing is opposed to Bach’s desperate passion to blow down the biggest of buildings, but that was a long time ago, and Bach is never coming back.  “October’s Song” has some great riffage and should have been made a permanent part of the setlist.  You’ll not find a better song among the new ones.  We’ll say it right here:  this song stands up against the back catalogue, even the intense Slave to the Grind ballads.

Credit due:  Skid Row almost go activist on the environmental message song “World On Fire”.

Much of the album was written with previous singer Z.P. Theart, of Dragonforce.  Core Skid Row members “Snake” Sabo, Scotty Hill, and Rachel Bolan handle the majority of songwriting, retaining Rob Hammersmith on drums.

If you want a new Skid Row album that you can pump your fist to, stomp your feet, or bang your head, then The Gang’s All Here is a must-buy.  If you were hoping for a Skid Row album that you’ll remember for years like Slave to the Grind, Subhuman Race, or even Thickskin, then the jury is still out.  Thickskin had way better songs – there, I said it!

3/5 stars

#1132: Youth Gone Not-So-Wild

RECORD STORE TALES #1132: Youth Gone Not-So-Wild

I love admitting to my past musical sins.  Perhaps others will learn from my mistakes.

I was in grade 11, a mere 16 years old, when the music video for “Youth Gone Wild” hit the airwaves.  Skid Row were the latest thing, a band promoted by Jon Bon Jovi himself, from his home state of New Jersey.  We didn’t know yet that the lead singer, Sebastian Bach, identified as a Canadian.  He grew up in Peterborough Ontario, just on the other side of Toronto.  In fact, I didn’t know that I already had something of Bach in my music video collection.  I had a brief clip of him, with teased up hair, in a prior band called Madame X.  This band was led by Maxine Petrucci, sister of Roxy Petrucci from Vixen.  They featured a young Sebastian Bach and Mark “Bam Bam” McConnell whom Bach would play with in VO5.   I wasn’t into any of those bands.  I was pretty hard-headed about what I liked and disliked.

In Spring 1989, I first encountered “Youth Gone Wild” on the Pepsi Power Hour.  It could have been Michael Williams hosting, but whoever it was, they hyped up this new band called Skid Row.  I liked getting in on new bands from the ground floor.  Made them easier to collect when you started at the start.  At that point, I wasn’t even sure how many albums Judas Priest actually had.  I was intrigued enough to hit “record” on my VCR as the music video began.  I caught the opening “Ba-boom!” of drums, and sat back to watch.

While I wasn’t blown away, I kept recording.  The key was the singer.  If the singer sucked, I’d usually hit “stop” and rewind back to where I was.  The singer passed the test:  he didn’t suck.  I kept recording.

After about a minute, I pressed the “stop” button, and lamented that this new band wasn’t for me.  What happened?  What did Skid Row do to turn me off so quickly?

I can admit this.  I’ve always been open about the fact that I was very image-driven as a teenager.  We all were!  With the exception of maybe George Balazs, all the neighborhood kids were into image to some degree or another.  I was probably driven by image more than the average kid, consuming magazines and music videos by the metric tonne.  So, what exactly was wrong with Skid Row?

I’ll tell ya, folks.  It was serious.

The bass player had a chain going from his nose to his ear.

I just could not.  I couldn’t put a poster on my wall with some band that had a bass player with a chain that went from his nose to his ear!  No way, no f’n way.

I pressed rewind, and prepared to record the next video over Skid Row.

That summer, the glorious, legendary summer of ’89, I went with Warrant.  I bought their debut album sight-unseen, based on a blurb in the Columbia House catalogue.  Warrant were the selection of the month.  “What the hell,” I thought, and checked the box to order it immediately.

Meanwhile, Bob Schipper and the girl I liked, named Tammy, were really into Skid Row.  They knew all about my issues with the nose chain.  They got under my skin about it a bit, but I wouldn’t bend on Skid Row.

“18 and Life” was the next single, a dark power ballad that was easy for me to ignore.  “I Remember You” was harder to pass on.  It was the perfect acoustic ballad for 1989.  You had the nostalgic lyrics, which Bob and I both connected with.  Somehow, we knew that 1989 was the absolute pinnacle.  We knew this would be the summer to beat!  Bon Jovi and Def Leppard were still on the charts.  Aerosmith and Motley Crue had new singles out with albums incoming.  We walked around singing “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams, except we changed the words to “Summer of ’89”.  We just knew.  “Got my first real six string…” we sang.  And we both had our own fairly new guitars that we could barely play.

“I Remember You” was a massive hit, and still I resisted.

“Because of the nose chain?” Bob Schipper questioned me.

Absolutely because of the nose chain!

I stood firm for two years.  Bob Schipper went to college, and Tammy was long distance and not meant to last.  I felt a bit like an island by the time 1991 rolled around.  I felt alone.  My best friend was gone, I had no girlfriend, and most of my school friends went their own ways.  I was a loner like I’d never been in my life before.  Music was my companion, and my beloved rock magazines were my library.

That’s how Skid Row eventually got me.  Sebastian Bach had a good friend in Drew Masters, who published the excellent M.E.A.T Magazine out of Toronto.  Drew’s praise for the forthcoming second Skid Row album, Slave to the Grind, was unrelenting.  He caught my ear.  I was looking for heavier music in my life, not satisfied with Priest’s Painkiller as one of the heaviest albums I owned.  I wanted more rock, and I wanted it heavy.

The other thing that got me was the collector’s itch.  When I found out that Slave to the Grind was released in two versions with different exclusive songs, I was triggered.  I had to have both.

“I’ll make a tape, and put both songs on my version!”  It was a pretty cool idea.

Costco had Slave to the Grind in stock.  They had the full-on version with “Get the Fuck Out”, the song that was excluded from the more store-friendly version.  Columbia House stocked the tame version, which had a completely different song called “Beggars Day”.  I bought the CD from Costco, the vinyl from Columbia House, and suddenly I was the only guy in town who had the full set.  I made my cassette with joy, recreating the Skid Row logo on the spine, and writing the song titles in with red ink.

“Get the Fuck Out” was track 6, side one.  “Beggars Day” was track 7, side one.  I still have them in that order in my mp3 files today.

Sure, there was an audible change in sound when the tape source went from CD to vinyl, but I couldn’t afford two CD copies.  Little did I know how cool it would be later on to have an original vinyl copy of Slave to the Grind.

I loved the album.  I loved all three of the ballads.  The production was sharp.  There were excellent deep cuts:  “The Threat”, “Livin’ on a Chain Gang”, and “Riot Act” were all as great as any of the singles.  Furthermore, the singer had taken it to new heights of intensity and excellence.

I let Skid Row into my heart that day.  It was a good decision.  Skid Row accompanied me through times good and bad, lonely and angry.  They were my companion through it all, and they’re still pretty good.  It was meant to be!

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – The Best of the Atlantic Years (2016)

TWISTED SISTER – The Best of the Atlantic Years (2016 Atlantic)

Nobody likes buying the same thing twice, so Twisted Sister have ensured this “greatest hits” album is vastly different from their other stand-by, 1992’s Big Cuts & Nasty Cuts.  That album boasted a side of live B-sides, now collected as Live at the Marquee.  As such, it only had 10 studio tracks, whereas this new compilation has 17 plus a previously unreleased bonus.

The repeated songs are the obvious ones:

  • “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!”
  • “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll”
  • “I Am (I’m Me)”
  • “The Kids Are Back”
  • “I Wanna Rock”
  • “We’re Not Gonna Take It”
  • “The Price”

That leaves a whole lotta songs, including a few singles, that you’ll find here but not on Big Hits.  Notably though, that means this compilation doesn’t have “Shoot ‘Em Down”, “Under the Blade”, or “Bad Boys of Rock ‘N’ Roll”.

What makes this compilation a little more special is that the tracks go almost chronologically, and don’t skimp out on songs from Come Out and Play, or Love Is for Suckers.  Founding guitarist Jay Jay French mentioned in the liner notes that Suckers was supposed to be a Snider solo album, but we do get two songs.

Opening with Twisted’s first Atlantic album Under the Blade, we are treated to the 1985 remixes of “What You Don’t Know (Sure Can Hurt You)”, “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!” and “Sin After Sin”.  It’s a nice one-two-three punch, with “I’ll Never Grow Up, Now!” being a bubble gum punk sandwich, stuck between two heavy metal hard hitters.  It’s actually a nice change of pace, getting the echo-laden remixes this time.

The heavy metal assault continues with what might be my favourite Twisted song of all time:  “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll”.

“Like a charging bull, it’s a juggernaut,With steam at full, never to be caught,Incarnate power, roaring from the sky,While others cower, rock ain’t gonna die.”

The slow intro, the chugging riff, the pounding drums of the late great A.J. Pero (my favourite member as a kid) and the roar of Dee Snider made this the perfect heavy metal song to entice a young teenager back in the 80s.  “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll” is part of a trio included from the same-titled album, joined by melodic metal masterpieces “I Am (I’m Me)” and “The Kids Are Back”.  When Twisted went all melodic, they drew upon classic influences, but combined with the heavy guitars, they almost sound like precursors to pop-punk.  In many regards, Twisted Sister were ahead of their time.  It’s a simple recipe:  Guitars chug, bass joins them, drums throw in some catchy fills, and Dee Snider delivers the hooks with the band on backing vocals.  Simple, but difficult to master.

The largest clutch of songs obviously comes from Stay Hungry, with six.  The three big singles are the obvious ones, but also thrown in are the classic deep cuts “Burn In Hell”, “The Beast” and “S.M.F.”  In these songs, you get the heavier side of “Stay Hungry”, minus the title track itself.  People who don’t actually know Twisted Sister might be surprised how heavy Stay Hungry could get once you ventured outside the safe singles.  “Burn in Hell” is an exersize in intensity that deserves every listen you can give it.  Perhaps the oft-forgotten “The Beast” is the most welcome here, as a true red-blooded slow burner metal monster.

Despite the quality of the lesser-heard Stay Hungry songs, one remains the pinnacle of Twisted Sister’s finest moments:  “The Price”.  Twisted probably took guff from the press and the doubters for attempting a ballad, but “The Price” puts the “power” in power ballad.  Notably, A.J.’s drums are far busier and heavier that you expect from the average paltry power ballad.  Dee Snider demonstrates his expert-level versatility here on the high notes, rendering this song very hard to sing note for note today.

This album wastes no opportunity.  Come Out and Play is finally given a fair shake.  The dark ugly duckling of the Twisted discography is represented by the title track, “Leader of the Pack”, “The Fire Still Burns” and the forgotten sing-along “You Want What We Got”.  They didn’t skimp out here, and you get the full length version of “Come Out and Play”, including the Warriors homage of “Twisted Sister, come out and play!”  Pero’s final album, and his drumming on this track is as blazing fast as it got for Twisted Sister.  “Leader of the Pack” is campy fun, but it really had to be included, being an integral part of Twisted’s early history and eventual failure (at least according to Jay Jay in the liner notes).  “The Fire Still Burns” has an intense flame indeed, though did Dieter Dierks’ production do it any favours?  Of note:  “You Want What We Got” is not the album version.  It is longer at 4:21, and contains an outro with Dee Snider talking, and dropping a deleted expletive!  This version is not credited as being unique, and it’s currently unknown where it originated.

Love Is For Suckers is often neglected.  The Beau Hill-produced album was written to be Dee’s solo debut, and included members of other bands from the Hill camp, such as Fiona, Winger and Kix.  Reb Beach played lead guitar, which led to a sudden change in sound, away from the heavy metal of Twisted Sister’s roots, and more towards what was popular at the time:  the subgenre they call “hair metal” today.  Joey “Seven” Franco replaced A.J., and was so nicknamed as he was the band’s seventh drummer.  Franco also followed Dee into his solo band the following year.  “Hot Love” was the single, which should have been a hit, while “Love Is For Suckers” was the only cover the band ever recorded without playing live first.

The final song is the bonus track, “Born to be Wild”, the Steppenwolf cover that they have indeed played live (going back to 1976, but more recently on Live At Wacken: The Reunion).  This new studio version was recorded in 2005 and produced by Mark “The Animal” Mendoza.  It was used prior to this release in a reality TV series called Knievel’s Wild Ride.  It’s tremendous fun, with Twisted Sister ripping into it with their usual reckless abandon.  Mendoza’s bass is delightfully bass, but Dee Snider really lets loose at the end.

This set, being limited to the Atlantic years, gratefully doesn’t include anything from Still Hungry or Twisted Christmas.  That’s fine and dandy; they would unbalance this release.  The Best of the Atlantic Years is the best single Twisted Sister compilation on the market.

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Pretty Maids – Red, Hot and Heavy (1984)

Thank you to Thor Blackmore for this CD!

PRETTY MAIDS – Red, Hot and Heavy (1984 Sony)

I ignored Pretty Maids when I first heard of the band.  “Pretty Maids?  What kind of name is that?”  Shallow kid stuff, but impactful, because now in 2024 this is my first real listen to Pretty Maids with intent.  Red, Hot and Heavy was the debut album for the Danish hard rock band, after a self-titled EP in ’83.  The six-piece band had some moderate success with the album, so let’s have a listen.

Opener “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi” is actually an excerpt from Carl Orf’s “Carmina Burana”, and is credited as such on the back.  It’s just a few seconds.  The real opener is “Back to Black”, a scorching metal number with tempo and riffs sharpened and at the ready.  The raspy vocals of Ronnie Atkins differentiate the song from the works of other metal groups such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.  The keyboards give a highbrow neo-classical vibe.  It’s heavier and fuller than Dio, but with all the drama and guitar solo shenanigans.

The title track is slower and nastier.  A rallying cry for metal heads, “Red, Hot and Heavy” doesn’t pretend at being anything more than it is.  A slow metal banger, perfect for fist-pounding and shouting along with at the concert hall.  The shout chorus is custom made for the stage.  The duel guitar solo is pretty cool.  A stock metal chugger, but there is a need for a drum-bashing, stompy riff-rocking concoction such as this.

The highbrow keyboards return on “Waitin’ for the Time”, a very European sounding song which builds from a ballady opening to an upbeat pounder.  Sounds a bit like the Swedish band Europe during their Wings of Tomorrow era, with a hint of Def Leppard in the riff.  It’s an excellent song with light and shade, and a complete musical journey without exceeding five minutes.

“Cold Killer” begins with news broadcast dialogue, and then goes in a fast and ominous music unlike the other songs.  The rather clunky lyrics are about the weaponization of space, a hot topic in 1984 with Reagan’s “Star Wars” program in the nightly news.  But…clunky.  “There should have been a paradise, instead there’s a killer out in space.”  We’ll give them credit for trying at least, which is more than could be said for many bands of the 80s.  Musically it’s a terrifically fun ride through sweet guitar riff and solo action.  The keyboards add a progressive vibe, though some might say pretentious.

The anti-war theme flips over onto side two, with “Battle of Pride”.  Again, it’s not poetry, but the lyrical theme was very popular in metal at the time.  Musically it’s a fast Dio-like rocker with the keyboard accents giving it a different flavour.  Ronnie Atkins’ rasp continues to separate Pretty Maids from other bands, but by the time we hit side two, the ear is craving more variety in the voice.

“Night Danger” is a pure blitzkrieg, now more in the wheelhouse of a band like Accept.  These guys are not slouches when it comes to riffs over 80 mph in speed.  The irony is that, even at that speed, the song doesn’t really go anywhere.  It’s speed for its own sake, and that’s actually fine, because it’s plenty fun and doesn’t need to be anything else.

Acoustics join the electric guitars on “A Place in the Night”, one of the most impressive songs on the album.  Mid-tempo melodic rock, and dialing down on the vocal growls, is exactly what the album needed at this point.  The chorus explodes with passion and power at the right moment.  The keyboards add to the mixture by thickening up the melodic accents.  Brilliant deep cut late in the album.

“Queen of Dreams” has an Yngwie vibe again, though Malmsteen wouldn’t put as much emphasis on the other instruments.  The keyboards add a regal synth-trumpet sound over the guitars, but when the drums kick in, there’s no nonsense.  It’s that kind of metal that is obviously influenced by Deep Purple and Blackmore’s Rainbow, but amped up for the 80s.

The surprise is the closer:  a cover of Thin Lizzy’s single “Little Darling”.  Formerly a horn-laden rock classic, Pretty Maids heavy it up a bit and increase the tempo.  Though “Little Darling” will always be a personal favourite, I don’t think Pretty Maids did it any favours.  Their backing vocals are too shrill for the chorus, and without the horns, it loses that something special.  A swing and a miss for Pretty Maids, which is terribly unfortunate.

Red, Hot and Heavy is a strong debut.  Obviously the band grew and expanded their sound, and still continue today.  This is the foundation.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Y&T – Ultimate Collection (2001)

Y&T – Ultimate Collection (Universal)

When Tim Durling, author of Down For the Count: The Y&T Album Review, found out I didn’t own any Y&T, he sought to rectify the situation.  As a passionate and knowledgeable fan, he knew that I wanted to start with a good compilation that covered all the songs I liked, and as many albums as possible.  The Ultimate Collection was the CD he vouched for, and he did not steer me wrong.  This is an amazing compilation.

The disc opens with four songs from Earthshaker, their first album as Y&T after two records as Yesterday & Today.  “Dirty Girl” is an unusual if brilliant opener.  It’s both slow and heavy, with a couple genius guitar solos, one different from the other, and each telling a story.  This track plods in the best possible way, with a cool signature riff and a stomping beat.  The chunky “Hurricane” and an epic “Rescue Me” follow, but “I Believe In You” is a real standout from Earthshaker.  This is a powerful metal ballad, like something the Scopions used to score hits with.  Dave Meniketti has expert control of his voice, with a vibrato to die for.

A clutch of songs from Black Tiger (produced by Max Norman) follows.  The title track from that album fades in from ominous jungle sounds (because tigers usually live in the jungle).  “Cat eyes!  She draws you in!”  Dave is singing about a different kind of jungle here.  The black tiger he’s singing about is of the feminine variety, and Dave wants you to heed his warning.  “She’s playing for keeps, so you better get away!”  Just a smoking metal track with stinging guitars.  “Open Fire” is just as heavy, if a bit faster.  These two songs boast hooks, both on guitar and vocals.  Y&T are experts at this high-velocity rock, but “Forever” could fool you into thinking it’s another ballad…until it storms off, bordering on thrash metal.  “Forever” definitely competes with the kind of heavy rock bands that were starting to make a name for themselves in the early 80s.  Leonard Haze pushes it over the top with his adrenalized drumming.

Chris Tsangarides took over production duties on Mean Streak.  We only get two heavy hitters, including the title track “Mean Streach”.  (That’s a joke – listen to the chorus.)  “Midnight In Tokyo” is the other, and by contrast, this song isn’t as simple or straight ahead.  Complex, jazzy verses collide with melodically heavy choruses.  Phil Kennemore must be credited for some really incredible, gallopy and melodic bass playing.

In Rock We Trust was produced by Tom Allom of Judas Priest fame.  We only get one track from this record, the big hit “Don’t Stop Runnin'”.   This one is especially notable for the backing vocals.  The band probably don’t get enough credit for that, and the thick and sweet chorus is all band.   Though I did see this music video on Toronto Rocks and the Pepsi Power Hour once or twice, it should have been a lot bigger.  This band had a number of circumstances against then, as discussed in Tim Durling’s book, available on Amazon.

The next couple studio albums were produced by Kevin Beamish.  Some may love, and some may hate, the direction this band evolved on Down for the Count and Contagious.  If the songs chosen here are any indication, the band were going for a more radio-oriented mid-80s mainstream sound.  They still managed to pack punch into the songs, but “Summertime Girls” and “Contagious” are notable more streamlined and polished.  The melodies and backing vocals take more prominent positions, and keyboards enter the fray.  I think these tracks are great.  They are among my childhood favourites.  I love the backwards-recorded drum parts on “Summertime Girls”.

A live track from Open Fire provides some much-needed music from the first Yesterday & Today album, which was on London Records and unavailable for this compilation.  Wicked riff from Joey Alves on “25 Hours A Day”!  Note the backing vocals once again.  Whether they were polished in the studio, it doesn’t matter.  The band can sing.  This fun rock groove has a little more power than the studio version.  Nice bass solo from Phil!

The end, temporarily, was 1990’s album Ten produced by Mike Stone.  The ballad “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” turned me off back in the day.  It was too soft for the direction I was headed.  Judas Priest was dropping “Painkiller” while Y&T released a ballad.  It just wasn’t what I wanted.  I should have given Ten a chance.  I love this song now.  Though the lineup had changed, and Journey’s Steve Smith was playing drums in the studio, it still sounds like Y&T.  Those melodies and backing vocals!  That “touch by touch, little by little!” hook just knocks me out, not to mention Meniketti’s voice and delivery.

Y&T came back in 1995, retaining Stef Burns and Jimmy DeGrasso from the last incarnation.  Musically Incorrect was the name of the album, and “I’m Lost” is an absolute smoker!  You’d think it came from one of the earlier albums…because it does.  It was originally on Struck Down and re-recorded here.  It’s one of the fastest songs on the compilation, and the raw 9o’s production gives it a vintage sound.  It’s challenging stuff.  DeGrasso absolutely smokes on the drums.  No wonder he ended up in Megadeth a bit later on.  The same lineup remained on Endangered Species in 1997.  A heavy ballad called “God Only Knows” represents that album.  It’s passionate metal, with the kind of wrought-iron arrangement you expect from a power ballad.  Absolutely killer lead solo work.

The final track takes us back to the beginning.  A live version of “Beautiful Dreamer” from 1991 is originally from the debut Yesterday & Today.  Again, it’s a little more complex, but still boasting the kind of melodies, riffs and singing that we expect from Y&T.  That is, high quality heavy rock.

This is easily the best first-purchase Y&T you can make.  It’s a great sampling of as much music as you can reasonably expect.  Solid listen front to back, and then back to front.  Liner notes are by the late Gerri Miller of Metal Edge magazine.

5/5 stars

 

 

 

REVIEW: Tuff – What Comes Around Goes Around (1991)

TUFF – What Comes Around Goes Around (1991 Atlantic)

This is going to be a little different for my style of review.  I’m not going in deep, researching the players, the singles, the writers and the releases.  This time I’m just listening to the songs and spitting out my words.  You’ll see why.

I do like that Tuff has one member who looks like a Ramone (or Nikki Sixx), one guy who looks like he’s in Britny Fox, and a miniature Bret Michaels in the band.

Will someone please tell us what a “Ruck A Pit Bridge”?  The song is pretty good.  It’s generic and could be Warrant, but they wrote a decent song with decent playing here.  The singer lacks any kind of identity.  You could plug any singer into this…until the funk section, which horribly dates the song to 1991.  Literally every band was trying this rap/rock/funk hybrid.

I groaned at the title “The All New Generation”.  Really?  And cowbell too.  It’s their version of “Rocket” by Def Leppard lyrically, name-dropping names and even little bits of songs (“Girls Girls Girls”).  They even quote the “Oh my God!” line from Van Halen’s “Hot For Teacher”.  This is really bad.  Musically it’s fine, but the shout-rock chorus is probably overdone.  Best thing about this band seems to be the guitar player.  I guess someone needed a song about 80s hair metal bands, Van Halen and Aerosmith, but I didn’t.  It didn’t help the rock situation at the time, just made it sound more like a joke, especially since they’re also toasting Bon Jovi, Skid Row and GN’R in an era when  they were not yet legends.

Time for a ballad!  Break out the acoustic guitars!  “I Hate Kissing You Good-Bye” is the Mr. Skid Big Extreme ballad of the album.  If you combined those bands, put them in a blender, you’d get “Kissing You Good-Bye”.  It actually sounds a little bit like Sven Gali from the Great White North, but with more maple syrup on top.  The singer has a decent rasp but that’s about all he has going for him.  And when he name-drops “American Pie”, I barfed a little.

“Lonely Lucy” has one of those riffs we’ve heard a million times.  It sounds like cookie-cutter music.  Nothing here of any quality.  Echoey, vacuous cock-twirling.

Side one closer “Ain’t Worth A Dime” reminds me that this album is way overpriced online.  Seriously though, I enjoyed the drums.  The drum part is cool.  The song itself is no good and a big part of that is that the singer is so bland.  At least the guitarist shreds.

On side two, we finally get a good song!  “So Many Seasons” is similar to “Edge of Broken Heart” by Bon Jovi, a mid-tempo rock ballad.  It loses what makes it special as soon as the singer opens his mouth, but at least Tuff wrote a good song here.  It’s a little too similar to Bon Jovi, but we’ll let it slide because hey, we should be a little kind here.  Good song.  Good choruses.  A keeper!  Would love to hear another band cover it!

“Forever Yours” had a good riff to it.  Sounds a bit Skid Row, a little familiar, but then the kiddie-chorus comes in, and it’s so corny.  Tuff fans will accuse me of listening with my Rush T-shirt, but there’s something just too sickly sweet about this chorus, especially the overdubbed keys and backing vocals.

Time for another acoustic ballad, and “Wake Me Up” sounds like faux-country, with contrived piano overdubs for extra that panache.  They mentioned Aerosmith earlier.  Well, this is their attempt to write an Aero-ballad, but without the skillz of Tyler, Perry, or their assorted song doctors.  There’s also hints of Skid Row, Ozzy, and others who hit the charts with ballads.  OK song, but absolutely nothing unique or special about it.  Sweet sweet love, loneliness, promises, and being unable to change yesterday.  Heard it all before.

“Spit Like This” is OK.  Lots of guitar pyrotechnics, but not enough song.  It tries to incorporate light/hard dynamics, but it’s uncompelling.

“Good Guys Wear Black” is an ample closer, with the singer acting all tough.  A few years later, Bon Jovi would write a song called “Good Guys Don’t Always Wear White”, but it would be a stretch to say Jon ripped off Tuff.  This is a completely different song.  Very Skid Row, with Motley Crue “shout” vocals.

OK album.  Just OK.  Too many “HUAH’s!” in the vocals.

2/5 stars

Fun fact:  Bassist Todd Chase is the brother of Badlands’ Greg Chaisson.  He left after this debut.

 

 

 

A1 Ruck A Pit Bridge 3:44
A2 The All New Generation 3:38
A3 I Hate Kissing You Good-Bye 4:19
A4 Lonely Lucy 3:04
A5 Ain’t Worth A Dime 3:07
B1 So Many Seasons 4:12
B2 Forever Yours 3:04
B3 Wake Me Up 4:17
B4 Spit Like This 3:37
B5 Good Guys Wear Black 4:17

Rock Daydream Nation: The Rise and Fall of Hair Metal – Tuff’s Debut Album Reviewed!

Hot on the heels of the fallout from our Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years critique, I was invited back on Peter Kerr’s Rock Daydream Nation along with John Clauser and Steve Deluxe, to review the debut album by Tuff.  I’d never heard What Comes Around Goes Around before, so it was a little “tuff” for me to get up to speed with the other guys.  I listened to the album intensely for a week, and then we recorded this show.  It is a show of which I am extremely proud.

The goal here was to be fair and honest.  I think we were.  I will tell you one thing:  one of our panel members went in with a negative perspective, but had it changed after playing the album today.  I highly recommend you check out this excellent episode.    Even if you don’t like the band Tuff, or the hair metal genre in general, what we have here is a thoughtful and sometimes hilarious discussion about music that, for a little while at least, was one of the most popular genres in the world.

This is what Peter has to say about the show.

Rock Daydream Nation featuring John Clauser (My Music Corner), Michael Ladano (Grab a Stack of Rock) and Steve Deluxe (Rock and Metal Invasion) talk about Hair Metal in the 90s and specifically the Tuff debut album What Comes Around Goes Around (1991)…

For those who like it saltier, stay tuned for my written review which goes up tomorrow.  It’s a little spicy.

REVIEW: Kick Axe – “Piece of the Rock” / 2005 remaster of Rock the World (1986)

Part Six-point-five of a series on KICK AXE!
Thank you to JEX RUSSELL for donating this to the collection.

KICK AXE – “Piece of the Rock” (from Rock the World – 2005 remaster) (2005 Amber Interactive)

The Kick Axe discography, though small, is difficult to complete!  There are the first two albums released on Pasha in the US, and the third album on Roadrunner in the US.  Rock Candy reissued the first two albums with bonus tracks, and the third without, so they’re fairly easy to get.  Then we also have a fourth independent album, an early independent single, a live track released by Playboy, and two songs on the original 1986 Transformers soundtrack (under a different name).  That’s about it, right?

Nope!

One important song almost slipped through the cracks.  When Kick Axe were working on Vices with Spencer Proffer, the producer was considering using the band to help write the next Black Sabbath album.  Additionally, Ian Gillan was out of the band, and they needed a singer.  Kick Axe’s George Criston was one of the singers considered, though Kick Axe didn’t want to lose their main man.  “Piece of the Rock” was one of the songs written for the Sabbath project.  Though Sabbath didn’t use it, like “Hunger”, it was recorded and released by King Kobra on their debut Ready to Strike.  As a result, the Kick Axe version went unheard for almost two decades.

That version, harder than King Kobra’s, is actually available on an obscure Kick Axe remaster that pre-dates the Rock Candy versions.  Strangely enough, it ended up on a reissue of Rock the World, an album it had nothing to do with.

The plot thickens.  Rock the World was remastered by Kick Axe’s Ray Harvey…who was not in the band when it was recorded, and is not on the album aside from the bonus track!

Kick Axe Career Retrospective

Things get crazier still – and this is something that isn’t documented anywhere, even on Discogs.  Upon listening, some songs are actually longer!  “Rock the World”, for example, opens with two seconds of pick-handling that is not on the original album.  The Fleetwood Mac cover “The Chain” has a much longer intro (almost double its original length), with a short section restored.    “Red Line” is also significantly longer.  Considering the Rock Candy release has no bonus tracks, this version might reign superior.  Ray Harvey clearly decided to re-edit some of these tunes as well as remaster.  There does not seem to be a remix.  The remastering isn’t as loud as the Rock Candy version, though it still sounds fabulous.

Where Rock Candy exceeds is in liner notes and packaging.  The Amber Interactive version doesn’t have the original artwork, and actually looks really cringe!  The back cover is a computer generated sword handle with a metal “X”.  Need I remind you, an axe is not a sword!  The front cover artwork is atrocious, even compared to the low budget looking original.  It does have the lyrics to “We Still Remember”, which is interesting in itself.  See how many references to other bands you can find.  “In the days of the haze, the colour was deep purple.”  “We ride the killing machine.”  “And the wind it cries Mary.”  “We won’t get fooled by helter skelter.”  References within references.

“Piece of the Rock” should have been released by Kick Axe back in the day, but here it stands on an album!  It sounds completely finished for release, with the lush backing vocals fully overdubbed and ready for radio.  The other nice thing is that it gives you an old school Kick Axe song on an album that was largely more complex and less instantly accessible.  That’s not to say that Rock the World is weak album.  Our review will attest to that (links at bottom).

This version of Rock the World deserves an extra half-point for the bonus track and lengthier versions of existing songs.  Extra unadvertised value is always good.  Shame they couldn’t use the original art (licensing issues), but small gripe.

4.5/5

Part One:  “Reality is the Nightmare”
Part Two:  “Weekend Ride”
Record Store Tales #773:  Rock Candy + Internet = Kick Axe!
Part Three:  Vices
Part Four:  The Transformers soundtrack (as Spectre General)
Part Five:  Welcome to the Club
Part Six:  Rock the World
Part Six-point-five:  “Piece of the Rock”
Part Seven:  IV
Part Eight: Career Retrospective on Grant’s Rock Warehaus
Part Nine: new album!