heavy metal

REVIEW: Helix – Vagabond Bones (2009)

Welcome back to Canadian Rawk Week!

HELIX – Vagabond Bones (2009 Universal)

2009 was an exciting time to be a Helix fan. 15-odd years of rotating lineups kept the band alive and in the clubs, but it was hard to grow attached to any band members when they only stayed for a couple years and were off elsewhere. Helix main man Brian Vollmer had always maintained strong ties with former members, and guys like Brent Doerner often showed up on albums, or in the audience at local Helix shows. It was still a surprise when Doerner, drummer Greg “Fritz” Hinz, and bassist Daryl Gray all returned to the Helix lineup. This completed the classic 80’s version of the band, or at least the surviving members thereof. Paul Hackman was killed in 1993 in a tragic auto accident. Replacing him in the lineup was Kaleb “Duckman” Duck, who had previously worked with Brent.

Vollmer was working on a new album (originally called It’s Rock Science, NOT Rocket Science!), writing with his partners Sean Kelly and Moe Berg (The Pursuit of Happiness). The final product entitled Vagabond Bones has a variety of different players on it. Former Helix members Brent “Ned” Niemi and Rob MacEachern play drums, and guitar maestro Kelly (also briefly a Helix member) contributed to guitar and bass. Also on the CD is Steve Georgakopoulos who played on a few past Helix albums. You’d think it would be a case of “too many cooks” in the kitchen. That’s not the case; Vollmer and Co. brewed a potent mixture of songs, with all the attitude and quality that you have come to expect from this band.

Immediately you’re hit over the head by the slick production work by Vollmer, Kelly and Aaron Murray. “The Animal Inside (Won’t Be Denied)” has the stamps of both Helix and Sean Kelly all over it, from the absurdly catchy chorus to the shredding solos. Vollmer sings powerfully, but his voice has so much depth character from years of training and road work. Very few singers from the 70’s still sound the same, but Brian Vollmer is damn close! “Go Hard or Go Home” has another powerful chorus, plus great catchy riff, and fun lyrics. “Go hard, or go home, take your little whiny candy ass and go.” Considering all that Helix has been through, Vollmer surely knows only the strong survive. “No short cuts, no sweet deals,” he sings and he knows it! The title track “Vagabond Bones” makes it three great songs in a row. It’s an instantly likeable good time hard rock boogie.

Helix really developed a knack for melody as they grew. One of the most pop moments is “Monday Morning Meltdown”, a song that Brian compared to Cheap Trick in terms of style. You can hear it in the choruses, but it’s just a great pop rock song with another great Sean Kelly riff holding down the fort. Very different for Helix, and very good.

Onto a fast vintage Van Halen style shuffle, “When The Bitter’s Got The Better Of You” is the fifth straight up great song in a row. It too is very different for Helix. It continues a theme of “down on your luck” songs, but always with a message to keep on givin’ ‘er. That holds true on “Hung Over But Still Hanging In”, a sleeze rock duet with Russ Dwarf of Killer Dwarfs. If you need a hard rocking party song, then this is what you want. It has the groove, the fun, and the lyrics so just hoist them wobbly-pops and rock on!

My personal favourite song has always been “Best Mistake I Never Made”. It has a classic 70’s rock aura, an acoustic guitar, and if I had to compare it to something else it would be Helix’s excellent 1992 single “That Day Is Gonna Come”. That’s a trip down memory lane that I don’t mind taking. “Make ‘Em Dance” is a fast stomper with a beat that strikes me as almost Disco. It just rages though, I wouldn’t try dancing to it until you want to break your neck!

Ending the album on a funky rock vibe is “Jack it Up”. This is a really interesting song, because I used to hate it. You may have to let it grow on you because, like much of this album, it’s forging new territory for Helix. It’s still great party rock, but just a little laid back.

With sharp production, Vagabond Bones was certainly the best sounding Helix album, and the best overall in many a year. And that’s saying something, because 2007’s The Power Of Rock And Roll was very, very strong. Hearing this album for the first time, I just smiled. I had to. Helix were back and pretty much better than ever.

5/5 stars

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Prince of Darkness (1989)

ALICE COOPER – Prince of Darkness (1989 MCA)

Even though Alice hadn’t produced anything as timeless as “School’s Out” during his 1980’s comeback, his profile rose greatly. Clean, sober and focused, Alice Cooper was very active in the last part of the decade. The same year as his final MCA album Raise Your Fist and Yell, he had memorable appearance at Wrestlemania III. In the corner of “good guy” Jake the Snake Roberts, Cooper had the honour of draping Roberts’ snake named Damien all over the Honky Tonk Man. After that, even my dad knew who Alice Cooper was.

Cooper only had a two record deal with MCA: Constrictor was the first in ’86; also the first album in the comeback period. Having re-established himself with MCA, Alice then signed with Epic and had a genuine smash success with 1989’s Trash. With a dream team of writers and collaborators (including hitsmiths Desmond Child, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and many more), Alice scored a platinum album.

While Trash was still charting and producing singles, MCA put out a competing record: Prince of Darkness, a 10 track compilation of Cooper’s material for that label. Normally these kinds of releases are throw-aways, but Prince of Darkness is not and this review will tell you all about it.

It is not unfair to state that Constrictor and Raise Your First were mixed affairs. You had to wade through a significant amount of filler to reach a disproportionate amount of modern classics. Prince of Darkness does a great service by collecting some of the best material together on one CD. It is well sequenced and even includes one rare track, an exclusive on compact disc.

A grand opening is the dark and metallic “Prince of Darkness”, a theme song from a movie of the same name. This ominous and menacing track is one of the more memorable from this era, a heavy monument. It works amazingly well as an opening track, and “Roses on White Lace” follows by going faster and heavier. It was surprising to hear Alice creep this close to thrash metal, but what a track! A distorted vocal adds to the creep factor, making this one of the better samples of Cooper’s music during his “splatter horror” period. The 1986 single “Teenage Frankenstein” would be a must-own for any fan, and there it is in the #3 position. The big single from this era was “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)”, a synthpop classic quite unlike the prior metal material. Right here is an easy and simple way to get this classic track, without having to buy Constrictor. Same with “Teenage Frankenstein”.

A nice little track here is a 1976 live recording of “Billion Dollar Babies”! This was a B-side from the “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)” single, but Prince of Darkness is the only CD with it. The track itself sounds heavily remixed (remixing is credited to Garth Richardson) but it is indeed a B-side that is easy to acquire by getting this disc. Ignore the annoying, screaming overdubbed crowd and just dig the vintage performance of one of Alice Cooper’s most timeless numbers.

There are a few filler tracks on side two. “Lock Me Up” was fun, but not particularly memorable. Feel free to skip “Simple Disobedience” and “Thrill My Gorilla”, and go straight to “Life and Death of the Party”. Alice steps back into the shadows for a chilling horror number, mid-tempo and overcast. We are over and out with “Freedom”, another great single and dangerously close to thrash metal again. Prince of Darkness serves as the most effective way to get this one.

That’s why I recommend Prince of Darkness to any fan who wants to get a slice of Alice in the late 80’s — but just a slice. The whole cake is for diehards.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987)

ALICE COOPER – Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987 MCA)

And lo! The beast named Alice reincarnated with a slab of wax, and they called it Constrictor. Slithering into the spotlight again was a triumph of will: Alice battled his demons (including the bottle), found some new young band members and started fresh on a new label. Though the music was merely OK, at least the man himself was doing just fine. As fans, I believe we genuinely wish our rock star heroes to be healthy and happy, so even if the music wasn’t the greatest, we could be glad that Alice was back.

In the 70’s and early 80’s, Alice Cooper maintained a breakneck release schedule. This slowed down a bit in the second phase of Cooper’s career, but he still managed to follow Constrictor a mere 12 months later with Raise Your Fist and Yell. I probably don’t need to tell you this, but look at the cover: certainly one of the worst to ever envelope a major label release. The guilty party is a fella named Jim Warren who must hate this cover as much as I do, because just look at it.

It continued with the same shock-rock horror-splatter-movie theme, but turned up louder. Indeed, the lead single “Freedom” was the fastest most thrash-like track that Alice had yet performed. Censorship was a big target in Alice’s sights. “Freedom” was his ode to the PMRC: “You want to rule us with an iron hand, you change the lyrics and become big brother. This ain’t Russia! You ain’t my dad or mother.” Lemme tell you, when “Freedom” came out, the PMRC seemed a genuine threat. Dee Snider and Frank Zappa were testifying in front of the senate and stores were refusing to stock records. “Freedom” was an anthem we could all get behind. I don’t think anybody expected him to go so heavy!

The video was interesting. Kane Roberts looks like he’s not sure if he’s at a bodybuilding competition or a music video shoot. There were some new guys in the band; that’s not Kip Winger on bass. On drums is Ken Mary, later of House of Lords. Most interesting is the guy dressed as a priest. You can see him up close during the lyric “Back off preacher I don’t care if it’s Sunday.” They looked like the biggest bunch of misfits assembled. Perhaps this is what Alice was going for?

During this period, Alice was writing a few goofy rock songs. “Lock Me Up” is silly, but fun. It has a beat and you can headbang to it. “Take the Radio Back” sounds like a predecessor to “Hey Stoopid”, but not quite. “Give the radio back to the maniac!” sings Alice. Is he begging for airplay? It’s OK, but “Step on You” isn’t really. There are moments here and there, but these are mediocre songs. “Step on You” has an interesting atonal instrumental section but it doesn’t fit the song at all. “Not That Kind of Love” continues the heavy rock, but without hooks.

Back to quality, “Prince of Darkness” is a heavy metal horror movie theme, from the film of the same name in which Alice had a cameo. Menacing and intense, this tune scores high marks on both the Cooper Scale of Rock Thrills and Chills, and the Cooper Scale of Heavy. Kane Roberts’ lead solo is pure pointless 80’s excess, but the song is what counts and it’s a good’un. The acoustic outro is perfection.

“Time to Kill” keeps things above the bar. “Chop, Chop, Chop” does not. I know — you’re surprised, right? A song called “Chop, Chop, Chop” isn’t a diamond of the highest carat weight? Nor is it a turd, but certainly well below the watermark. It does serve as a lead-in to “Gail”, a high quality also-ran that recalls Alice in the year 1975. It is the only Kip Winger co-write on the album, and he’s responsible for its eerie keyboard vibe. Finally it’s “Roses on White Lace”, another borderline thrash metal track that absolutely rips every head in the room off. This track, firmly in the splatter film world, is an excellent example of Alice at his heaviest. For its entire duration, it’s breakneck speed. Bold song to end an album with.

Post album, Kip Winger and keyboardist Paul Taylor bailed, and formed another band you might have heard of. Michael Wagener produced this record, and while heavy, the album is definitely lacking sonically in comparison to its contemporaries. All told there are four songs worth buying the album for: “Freedom”, “Prince of Darkness”, “Roses on White Lace”, and Gail. Three of those four songs can be found on the MCA compilation Prince of Darkness. So…your move.

2.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Vince Neil – Exposed (1993)

VINCE NEIL – Exposed (1993 Warner)

When Vince Neil finally unleashed his first solo album Exposed in 1993, it looked like he was the early winner in the great battle: Vince vs. Motley.

As is par for a volatile band like Motley Crue, the acrimony behind the split was intense and overshadowed any music either party was about to come out with. Even after reading Motley’s book The Dirt, it’s not really clear what happened. Vince was complaining that he wasn’t into the new Motley music they were working on. “Like 4th rate Physical Graffiti outtakes” he once commented in Metal Edge, with too much emphasis on keyboards and backing singers. Crue, meanwhile, felt the lack of dedication coming from the singer. He had missed a few rehearsals. After driving through a torrential rainstorm making him late at the studio, he was confronted. “We’re thinking about having new lead singer auditions again,” said Nikki Sixx to Vince Neil. The band put out a bogus statement saying Neil was diverting his focus to race cars, and Vince was battling from the bottom again.

After working on one tune with the Damn Yankees (three out of four anyway, minus Ted Nugent) called “You’re Invited (But Your Friend Can’t Come)” for the opening song of the Encino Man soundtrack, it was time to put together a new band. An early lineup consisted of ex-Ozzy Osbourne bassist Phil Soussan, but that didn’t last. When Soussan left, newcomer Robbie “Ichabod” Crane (a nickname he pretty much stopped using immediately) switched from rhythm guitar to bass, while the legendary Steve Stevens of Billy Idol fame was the main shredder. Vik Foxx from Enuff Z’nuff was hired on drums, and another newcomer named Dave Marshall took over the vacant rhythm guitar spot. Vince wanted two guitars, unlike Motley’s one.

With the ex-Billy Idol axeman by his side, Vince Neil already had everything he needed to make an incredible album. The help of Stevens, Soussan, and Tommy Shaw & Jack Blades from Damn Yankee meant he had a songwriting dream team. Fired up and motivated to prove everybody in the music business wrong, Vince was in the zone, and the chemistry was working. He also beat Motley to the punch by 11 months.

The last thing I expected from a new Vince Neil song would have been a six minute epic with more guitar action than Motley Crue had packed into six albums. Vince was in great voice at this time, and his singing on this album is exemplary. On every track, he sounds like he means it. Crisply captured by producer Ron Nevison, the song is driven forth by the relentless Vik Foxx (sounding like he’s doing his best Rush impression) and the space-age technique of Steve Stevens. It’s an exotic metal groove, with flash and tricks like you have never heard before. I don’t know how Stevens does some of the things he does, but that’s why he’s the guitar hero and not me. If record labels weren’t scared shitless of releasing a six minute single, then this should have been the single.

Instead “Sister of Pain” was the single, a song that does not make as strong an impression. It’s a hard boned sleezy cock rocker in the Motley fashion, which is probably what they were going for. Vince felt that since Motley were changing styles, it was up to him to keep the old Crue sound alive. That’s “Sister of Pain”, a catchy and satisfactory rock single, although still five minutes due to the intense soloing. This is one of the tunes that Vince wrote with Shaw and Blades.

“Can’t Have Your Cake” has a neat slippery riff, and it too was used as a single. This fits the niche of the “fast Motley rocker”, like (say) “Kickstart My Heart”, though it’s not as heavy. Thankfully it’s a song to its own, thanks to Stevens’ creative licks. I like “Fine, Fine Wine” better. Vince is as dirty as ever, proving he doesn’t need Nikki Sixx to write a sleezy rock lyric. It’s just a kicking groovy guitar song, perfect for playing air instruments to.

Stevens fans know his flamenco work is incredible. He gets to show it off for the first 30 seconds of “The Edge”, finally a song about Vince’s supposed true passion — racing! Not an instantaneous song in any way, “The Edge” has a lot going on but it’s worth the challenge. This kind of technical rock was beyond Motley Crue before, but with guys like Steve Stevens, Vince was able to show them up a bit. There’s more of Stevens’ incredible classical guitar on the ballad “Can’t Change Me”, a sentiment I have always identified with. This is the kind of pop ballad that would have made Vince the king of radio only two years earlier. Not surprisingly it’s a Tommy Shaw co-write, because that’s exactly who it sounds like.

Nothing like a cover to kick off side two, and “Set Me Free” by the Sweet is basically the original “Kickstart my Heart”. May as well go back to the original and amp it up a bit with some slippery Steve Stevens fretwork. It’s a heavy, layered presentation of guitars and ass kicking drums, and we can certainly forgive Vince for putting a cover on his album. Besides, the next track “Living is a Luxury” has a nocturnal, smoky vibe that makes it one of the most interesting cuts. The jazzy guitar is like nothing on any Motley Crue album.

Then we’re down to a remake of “You’re Invited (But Your Friend Can’t Come)” from Encino Man. Damn Yankees played on the original, and sonically and vocally, that is the one I prefer. The album version of course has more guitars. It’s too bad they couldn’t add that one in as a CD bonus track, but the Encino Man soundtrack was on Hollywood, not Warner. Regardless of which version we’re listening to, this is still a dynamite blast of adrenaline that seems over way too soon. I used to play the soundtrack version on repeat in the car. Rewind and go again.

“Gettin’ Hard” is a great mid-paced rock tune, but what’s odd is that the lyrics in the booklet are nothing like the actual song, except for the choruses. It’s as if they changed the words at the last minute but forgot to tell the people who print the CD sleeves! A strange little oddity to go with a grooving cool song. Out come the acoustics again for the last track, “Forever”, a really sweetly made ballad. The layers of shimmery guitars make it a class above most ballads of this ilk. It ends the album on a glowing nostalgic note.

Unfortunately for Vince, he was unable to follow this album with anything decent. We realistically knew that Steve Stevens wasn’t going to hang around long, but what hurt Vince most was his ill-advised attempt to cross over, getting the Dust Brothers to produce. 1995’s Carved in Stone failed to make any impression whatsoever. Meanwhile, his former cohorts in Motley Crue quietly cooked up a beast of an album with Bob Rock. 1994’s Motley Crue was about the only thing that could have topped Exposed.

4.5/5 stars

#469: Stump LeBrain (Getting More Retro!)

GETTING MORE TALE (Retro) #469: Stump LeBrain Week, by Aaron!

“Getting More Retro” is a sub-series of my music stories Getting More Tale. I posted this back in March in 2012, when nobody was reading except Aaron and my old boss from the Record Store. Before that, Aaron posted it on the KeepsMeAlive (Feb. 19). And now, for the third time, here’s Stump LeBrain Week!

I had become such a dominating force on the 4 O’Clock 4-Play, my favourite music contest on 107.5 Dave Rocks, that listeners were now writing in 4-Play quizzes specifically to stump me! For a while there it seemed everybody wanted to be the one to put an end to LeBrain’s reign!

Craig had me in the studio for the contest, live on the Craig Fee show, during what he dubbed “Stump LeBrain Week”. Each day that week, I came in at 4 o’clock in order to play the contest on the air. Craig selected five 4-Plays, one for each day. If I answered correctly, I won the prize (I Mother Earth tickets). If I was stumped, the person who wrote the 4-Play question would win the prize.

At the end of the week, I sent Aaron audio CDs of all my appearances minus commercials. He was kind enough to document it in the written word for history. Since very few saw this when I re-posted it at the launch of this site, I’m re-posting it once again for you! Re-use and recycle, baby!

Big thanks to Aaron for listening to all five shows and writing it down, and of course thanks to Craig for giving me the opportunity! Here we go. Ready?

Four-Play #1 (submitted by Chris Cottingham)

01 Motley Crue – Shout At The Devil

01 Mike’s Guess: ‘tracks that were not singles’ (no)

02 Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar

02 Mike’s Guess: ‘bands that have toured with guns ‘n roses’ (no)

03 Bruce Springsteen – Cover Me

03 Mike’s Guess: ‘special lp packaging’ (no)

04 Loverboy – Working For The Weekend *

04 Mike’s Guess: ‘album covers featuring pants’ (yes!)

* at this point, before Mike’s last guess, it was exposed that the Motley Crue song was supposed to have been Live Wire, which changed everything, and he got it from there.

Comment: He still got it, even with a wrong song played. Improbable? Never! The man is a machine.

Score: Mike is 1/1.

Four-Play #2 (submitted by The Crook in Elmira)

01 Motorhead – Ace Of Spades (live)

01 Mike’s Guess: ‘artists who’ve done duets with Ozzy Osbourne’ (yes!)

02 Alice Cooper – School’s Out

03 Dio – Holy Diver

04 Lita Ford – Kiss Me Deadly

Comment: He nailed this one before the first song was even over. Jeez.

Score: Mike is 2/2.

Four-Play #3 (submitted by Kathryn Ladano, Mike’s sister)

01 Rush – Subdivisions

01 Mike’s Guess: ‘album covers with dogs on them’ (no)

02 Neil Young – Rockin’ In The Free World

02 Mike’s Guess: ‘all Canadian artists’ (no)

03 Guess Who – Runnin’ Back To Saskatoon

03 Mike’s Guess: ‘songs about Canadian cities’ (no)

04 Loverboy – Turn Me Loose

04 Mike’s Guess: ‘all artists who sang on Tears Are Not Enough’ (yes!)

Comment:

Broadcasted live from Chicopee ski resort. This was not the Four Play that Kathryn had wanted played, so her confidence at being able to stump her brother was pretty low, at the outset. It shocked me that Mike had never heard the Guess Who song before. I thought everybody knew that song.

Score: Mike is 3/3.

Four-Play #4 (submitted by Greg Laughtenschlager)

01 Megadeth – Hangar 18

01 Mike’s Guess: ‘science fiction, aliens, conspiracy theme’ (no)

02 Quiet Riot – Mama We’re All Crazy Now

02 Mike’s Guess: ‘books (1984, Roswell)’ (no)

02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘stripey pants’ (no)

03 Iron Maiden – The Trooper

03 Mike’s Guess: ‘bands that opened for Sabbath’ (no)

04 Dio – Rainbow In The Dark

04 Mike’s Guess: ‘all four albums covers were paintings with mascots’ (yes!)

Comment: Definitely a HEAVY set, which I thoroughly enjoyed. And Mike nails it. So cool.

Score: Mike is 4/4.

Four-Play #5 (submitted by Nick Byerjean sp?)

01 KISS – Beth

01 Mike’s Guess: ‘songs that originated as b-sides’ (no)

01 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘no members of the band played on the track’ (no)

01 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘crappy songs from great albums’ (no)

02 Guns ‘N Roses – Used To Love Her

02 Mike’s Guess: ‘single monikered album titles’ (no)

02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘songs with unusual percussion’ (no)

02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘songs people think is about one thing, but it’s about something else” (no)

02 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘acoustic ballads’ (no)

03 Aerosmith – Angel

03 Mike’s Guess: ‘bands led by duos’ (no)

03 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘bands who shortened their name from something longer (no)

03 Mike’s Extra Guess ‘all are bands from America’ (no)

04 Slash with Andrew Stockdale – By The Sword

04 Mike’s Guess: ‘songs released in even numbered years’ (no)

04 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘all albums released in leap years’ (no)

04 Mike’s Extra Guess: ‘songs released in Canadian-hosted Olympic years’ (yes!)

Comment: OK, that was RIDICULOUS. Hearing him work through that last one was incredible. Even with all the extra guesses, that answer was from so far out of left field. Wow.

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Constrictor (1986)

EPIC REVIEW TIME.

ALICE COOPER – Constrictor (1986 MCA)

Alice Cooper’s bizarre DaDa album was the end of an era. It marked the last album Alice recorded for his Warner Brothers contract, now complete. It was also the end of his experimental period that ran from 1980’s Flush the Fashion through to DaDa. It was the the last album Alice would make that he couldn’t remember making.

Alice mostly disappeared for the next three years. His activities were so low key that most people didn’t even notice them. He was hospitalized for cirrhosis of the liver caused by his blackout drinking. He got sober, for good. He also dealt with a divorce. Musically there was very little going on. In 1984, Alice starred in a very low budget horror movie called Monster Dog. He recorded two songs for the soundtrack: “Identity Crisises” and “See Me in the Mirror”. These two tracks are very much the conclusion to Alice’s early 80’s art-rock persona. “Identity Crisises” has a lo-fi, garage-y Iggy Pop sound. “See Me in the Mirror” is in the synthpop direction of DaDa: creepy, atmospheric and mostly electronic. These two songs were finally released for purchase on the legendary Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper boxed set in 1999.

Alice next emerged with one of the bands he inspired: Twisted Sister. Along with Brian Setzer, Clarence Clemens and Billy Joey, Cooper accompanied Twisted Sister on their single “Be Chrool to Your Scuel”. A very clever zombie-filled big budget horror-inspired music video was made for the song, which Alice co-starred in, as did Bobcat Golthwait (who was also in Sister’s “Leader of the Pack” clip). It should have been a big deal, with Alice getting equal screen time with Dee Snider. Unfortunately hardly anyone saw the video. MTV barely touched it. As a result it did nothing to aid Alice in terms of a comeback. It was good to note that Alice looked healthier than he had in years.

Alice regrouped and re-invented himself in a new persona. Taking inspiration from his Welcome to My Nightmare period, Alice went into “slasher film” mode. He recruited a massive muscle-bound heavy metal guitarist and songwriter, Kane Roberts, to be his co-pilot for this adventure. Also along for the ride was a hot new bassist and singer named Kip Winger, whose large mane hid the fact that the man was a classically trained musician. With producer Beau Hill, they made an album in tune with what was happening in 1986, and that meant heavy metal. Alice had always been a diverse, experimental artist, but this time the mission was pretty simple and the lines were clear.

Another horror film served to launch the next official Alice Cooper music: Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Alice appeared in a brief cameo, but more importantly contributed two new songs to the movie soundtrack. They were the anthem “Hard Rock Summer”, and “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)”, which served as the movie’s theme song. “Hard Rock Summer” was a bit of a throwaway, and was not used on the next Alice album. You can really hear the backing vocals of Kip Winger and Kane Roberts on it, but a classic it is not. “He’s Back”, and its very cool music video became synonymous with this new period of Alice Cooper’s life.

The new album, Constrictor, was finally released in September of ’86. With a snake in his mouth on the cover (not really; you can see it’s cheaply cut and pasted) it was pretty clear that Cooper was going for the scares. Opening track “Teenage Frankenstein” continues the horror theme, but combines it with Alice’s teen anthem style from the early 1970’s. “Teenage Frankenstein” is essentially an “I’m 18” for 1986. It’s not as memorable, inventive, or as good, but it gets the job done. It’s an Alice Cooper heavy metal anthem for pounding your fist to in concert. In lieu of a proper music video, a clip from his live show The Nightmare Returns was used, featuring Alice building a living robot monster on stage, which then turns against him! Alice was still one of the best live acts in the world.

It’s funny that DaDa is remembered as Alice’s “drum machine” album when it’s clear on “Give it Up” that a lot of the beats are programs and samples. “Give it Up” is a radio friendly hard rocker, nondescript but at its core not that different from the music Alice made in the 70’s. It’s even has some rock and roll piano. It’s just dressed up for the 80’s. There’s not much going on with “Thrill My Gorilla”, just a forgettable song with the shrill production that was so popular in the 80’s. Much better is the somewhat epic “Life and Death of the Party”. Slower, creepier and much more effective, “Life and Death of the Party” is the kind of song I like to point to as proof there was some mighty good material during this period. Unfortunately “Simple Disobedience” isn’t among that material. Like “Thrill My Gorilla”, there is little here to attract listeners today. The electronics and samples really are a drag. It is like there is a layer of distraction over the song that you have to penetrate through.

Flipping the record over (or pretending to since I own this on CD), “The World Needs Guts” isn’t a bad start to the second side. It could have been much heavier. It verges on the speedy power metal tendencies of bands like Accept, but the production keeps it from going all the way. As such it kind of sounds like a thin Judas Priest Turbo outtake with the synths stripped off. “Trick Bag” may sound familiar. It actually started life as “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)”. There’s a demo version of “He’s Back” on the aforementioned Alice Cooper box set musically identical to “Trick Bag”. “He’s Back” was re-written, but the original music ended up as “Trick Bag”. It’s a decent album track but like much of Constrictor not particularly classic. “Crawlin'” is pretty close. With all the melody and hooks of an old 70’s Alice Cooper track circa Goes to Hell, “Crawlin'” is pretty good stuff.

“The Great American Success Story” is fantastic for two reasons. One is that it was originally written for the Rodney Dangerfield classic Back to School. Second, it’s like an updated “School’s Out” for the 80’s. Instead of celebrating the end of school, this time we are celebrating going to school. “He’s gonna take that plunge, gonna jump back in there.” Which, if you’ve seen the movie, you know is also a reference to Dangerfield’s character joining the diving team. “He thinks about the teacher in his literary class,” and I don’t blame him; it was Sally Kellerman! “Always been a brat, don’t get no respect” is another obvious reference to Dangerfield. But it’s a good song! It really should have been a single, and it probably would have been if it were in the movie.

Closing the album, we go full circle back to Friday the 13th and “He’s Back”. There’s little question that “He’s Back” is the best song on Constrictor. It actually bears more similarity to the synth-pop of DaDa than it does to the rest of the album. It’s brilliant because they stripped the song down to a very basic frame, which is a creepy digital pulse. There’s a little guitar but it’s mostly just horror pop of the finest quality. Ch-ch-ch-ha-ha-ha…don’t turn out the lights.

Part of the problem with Constrictor is that Alice had a faceless, fairly bland group backing him. Kane Roberts can play guitar, and Kip Winger can play the bass, but did they have their own identities? No. Dennis Dunaway played bass on those early Alice Cooper albums like no other bassist in the world. Michael Bruce, Steve Hunter, Dick Wagner, and the other great players Alice worked with all had their own sound. There is none of that on Constrictor.

I want to give Alice and company an A for effort: for finally getting sober, for finally getting back there on tour, and also for going heavy this time. Unfortunately Constrictor was a comeback album that needed a bit more comeback in it. The good news is that Alice did eventually get back to full quality, but Constrictor is only about half an album. Therefore:

2.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Deep Purple – To the Rising Sun…in Tokyo (2 CD/1 DVD + Japanese bonus tracks)

The Deep Purple Project is a massive, ongoing series of in-depth reviews. This is the last for now as we take a break, but Purple will return.

DEEP PURPLE – To the Rising Sun…in Tokyo (2015 Edel 2 CD/1DVD set, Japanese CD with 2 bonus tracks)

Purple live releases have been in strong supply lately. Last year, Purple released a matching set of double live albums, each with a complete DVD of the show in one package. The first set, In Wacken, was reviewed yesterday. Today, we look at In Tokyo. In order to “get it all”, I added the Japanese 2 CD set with bonus tracks to my collection. The bonus tracks are on the CD portion of the package. As we did yesterday, we’ll get the bonus material out of the way first.

The two Japanese extras are instrumental versions of “Hell to Pay” and “Apres Vous”, newer songs from Now What?! I am happy to report that these instrumentals are not live. Since both songs are complete and live on the album proper, I was pleased to find these two are instrumental mixes of the studio cuts. This makes sense, since the instrumental “Hell to Pay” is used as the main menu backing music on the live DVD. As with any instrumental mix, it is interesting to pay attention to the musical interplay. Since it’s Deep Purple we’re speaking about, it’s that much more enjoyable.

Moving on to the live part of the set, the recorded intro of Holst’s “Mars: Bringer of War” has the Budokan crowd in Tokyo excited for the return of Deep Purple. The band bravely opened with “Apres Vous”, the new cut from Now What?! It works surprisingly well by setting a mood. Ian Gillan keeps it from getting too serious by wearing one of those tuxedo-printed shirts. I want one of those.

Gillan’s hoarse on “Into the Fire”, but overall he’s stronger than he was in Wacken. The added grit makes the song tougher and closer to the 1969 original. Also from way back then is “Hard Lovin’ Man”, a pairing that always works well. Don Airey takes an extended Hammond solo, and the song gallops in a way that set the basis for Iron Maiden’s career. Thrills and chills abound, but Morse is smiling so much that you know we’re all in for a good time. What a contrast with the moody and unpredictable Ritchie Blackmore! This breathtaking assault of a song absolutely needs to be played live. It’s no surprise that they need to lay back with something slower after that. “Strange Kind of Woman” does the trick with that unforgettable groove. Morse pulls off a jazzy solo that just kills. This is a far better version than the one in Wacken. Speaking of women and strangeness, it’s odd that “Woman From Tokyo” wasn’t played this time.

“That was the end of the jazz part of the show,” says Ian. Back to new songs, “Vincent Price” is rolled out next. Brought to life on the stage, “Vincent Price” is heavier and chunky. The spooky keyboards are intact and Gillan injects the song with extra terror. Steve Morse is on a roll now, and it’s time for his solo. It’s chopped up a bit compared to how they played it earlier in the year. “Contact Lost” is still first, but this time that goes into “Uncommon Man”. I love watching Steve Morse playing volume swells with his pinky on the knob, while hammering out a complex melody. There are plenty of hand close-ups here. Copy if you can! (I can’t.) When “Uncommon Man” begins, Ian Gillan whispers in Steve’s ear. I like to think he just said, “That was incredible.”

“Uncommon Man” is powerful live, by the way. Steve goes again with his playful “The Well-Dressed Guitar”. The dexterity here is quite unbelievable, but you knew that already. Once again I’m grateful for plenty of hand close-ups. I have no prayer of being able to play this but I love to watch and see how it’s done, and just marvel. During a break in the keyboard part, Don Airey claps and dances along; quite amusing!

The Fireball oldie “The Mule” is always welcome out of the mothballs. A drum workout, Ian Paice is given a chance to show that time has not lessened his abilities one iota. It’s a busy drum song, and quickly descends into a mad solo. At one point, the lights go out and Ian plays with glowing sticks, Sheila E style. He gets to slow down a little on the Jon Lord tribute “Above and Beyond”. Jon’s image behind them on the big screens of the Budokan, you can sense the emotion of the moment. His successor Don Airey plays a Hammond tribute to Jon, before the band return to the sound of “Lazy”. It’s just a seamless blur of one incredible piece of music after another.

“Hell to Pay” continues to prove its worth as a stage-ready, fun rocker. You can tell that the formalities are over now, because Gillan has changed out of his tuxedo print shirt! Don Airey dominates on the Hammond. He gets a spotlight solo next, a chance to do his own thing. Like his solo in Wacken, this includes a snippet of “Mr. Crowley”, a song that Don played on way back in 1980, and the ensuing Ozzy Osbourne tours. His solo runs the gamut from tender piano, to classical passages, to spacey synth. He quotes the melody of “Woman From Tokyo” which the crowd clearly appreciated.

It’s all business from here. “Perfect Strangers”, as usual the only song from the 80’s, is as timeless as always. Back to Machine Head for “Space Truckin'”, Roger Glover seems to be having a great time rocking it for the crowd in Japan. Gillan’s sounding a bit knackered, but he’s still going for it. No retreat, no surrender. The classic riff, “Smoke on the Water” explodes in the Budokan, as we draw close to the end. You can tell they still have fun playing this song, loose and never the same twice. Two encores are still to be had: the medley of “Green Onions”/”Hush”, and “Black Night”. “Hush” is given a neat slinky jam section, because they’re Deep Purple and why the hell not? After a brief Glover bass jam, “Black Night” commences as the final song of the night. Gillan’s sounding tired, but that’s rock and roll. They’re finally done, Roger lingering to make sure he’s thrown out every last pick. That too is rock and roll.

These two sets were time consuming but very entertaining. I think they are both worth having, but if you are not the Purple diehard that needs as much as you can consume, be aware that these are men in their late 60’s. They are not spring chickens, so don’t expect To the Rising Sun…in Tokyo to be the equal of Made in Japan.

3.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Deep Purple – From the Setting Sun…in Wacken (2 CD/1DVD)

The Deep Purple Project must continue! Their most recent live releases are next up.

DEEP PURPLE – From the Setting Sun…in Wacken (2015 Edel 2 CD/1DVD set)

“This record is the first of a double release,” says Roger Glover in the liner notes. The second is called To the Rising Sun…in Tokyo which we’ll examine in a separate review (including the Japanese bonus tracks). This nicely assembled three disc set has the entire show on both CD and DVD, a 2013 concert at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival.

Our friend of ours, Jessie David at 107.5 Dave Rocks, went to Wacken in 2015. “I can say that going to Wacken is truly life-changing. It is an experience like no other: Where every single person there is part of a family.” Roger Glover says the real stars of this show are the audience.

There is one small bonus feature on this DVD to get out of the way before we start the show. It was surprising to see Deep Purple release a new music video in 2013! “Vincent Price” was a fun music clip, featuring plenty of band shots. The horror movie storyline is entertaining and make for a fun video. Perhaps the actor in the video playing the titular character should also play Governor Tarkin in an upcoming Star Wars anthology film? This video is not really appropriate for kids, so be forewarned!

Purple’s Wacken set was filmed and recorded for posterity quite well. I don’t know if I have ever seen Deep Purple captured so clearly. Taking the stage in daylight, we begin with “Highway Star”.

Ian Gillan’s voice is quite thin; this is one of the poorest live Deep Purple releases as far as vocals go. That’s unfortunate but at least they didnt’ “fix it in the mix” as they say. Roger Glover seems to be having a blast, pulling faces and poses over on the bass station. Bathed in the setting sun (hence the album title), the lighting is quite dramatic. The old In Rock classic “Into the Fire”, rarely played, is up next. Ian really struggles with his voice, having to affect a nasal tone, but he’s starting to warm up a bit now. Hey; the man is 70 years old! Then, directly into “Hard Lovin’ Man” from the same album, another rarely played smoker. Ian’s on track now! Organist Don Airey is brilliant on this.

Newish single “Vincent Price”, the same song as the music video, is next in the set. Because of the spooky keyboards, it does not sound like any of the prior songs, which is great as the sun goes lower on the horizon. I think new material works best sprinkled in the set at the right times, and that’s the approach Purple took here. This corker moves directly into “Strange Kind of Woman” somehow, but this oldie is starting to sound a bit tired. The first solo spot of the show is Steve Morse’s dual guitar solo, “Contact Lost” and “The Well-Dressed Guitar”. This dramatic scene is a show highlight, as thousands of people wave their hands in the air to the music. The two musical pieces are brilliant in composition and execution. Another new single, “Hell to Pay” has to follow this smoke show. The song always struck me as custom-written for the stage, and this appears to be true in Wacken.

Don Airey’s keyboard spotlight on “Lazy” is impressive. It’s hard to forget the man he replaced in Deep Purple (Jon Lord). In many ways his solo is a tribute to Lord, as he plays a few cues that Jon wrote. The band never seems to tire of playing it. However they stall a bit on “Above and Beyond”, perhaps a song less well adapted to the stage. “No One Came” on the other hand always kicks ass live. With Don Airey on keyboards it has some new flavours to it, and then he gets a full-fledged keyboard solo of his own. He plays all over the musical map, and even hints at “Mr. Crowley”, a song he used to play with Ozzy Osbourne.

“Perfect Strangers” is usually the only song from the 1980’s that Deep Purple still play. The drama builds as we get closer to the end of the show. It is dark out now in Wacken but the crowd still bounce along to the music. I have long felt that “Perfect Strangers” works very well with Steve Morse on guitar, and that was true in Wacken in 2015. Then we’re off “Space Truckin'”, another song boasting many jawdropping musical moments.

The biggest surprise is the appearance of a wisened Uli Jon Roth on “Smoke on the Water”. He and Steve Morse have a blast playing off each other. Think of it: Two of the most unique and incredible guitarists in the world on one stage, playing back and forth. I say this often in my Deep Purple reviews, but what more could you want? Uli’s solo is pure magic. He is a force of nature, but so is Steve Morse. If Uli is wind, then Morse is fire.

Encore time: Purple started playing “Green Onions” as a prelude to “Hush” a couple years ago. This is one of the most magical moments in the set. The energy is palpable. “Black Night”, which also has a brief segue into Zeppelin’s “How Many More Times”, is the final tune of the night, an otherwise standard take with amazing playing regardless.

It’s a fair bet that Purple won over Wacken in 2013. Pick up this live set for a taste.

3.5/5 stars

#468: The Lies of Ian

We will return to the Deep Purple Project after this instalment of Getting More Tale.

GETTING MORE TALE #468: The Lies of Ian

I feel blessed to have grown up in the 1980’s. What an era! It was the age of Star Wars, Van Halen, Dio, GI Joe, and Transformers. We had the A-Team and Magnum PI fighting on the side of good. By the end of the decade, hard rock had hit another major peak again (before being dethroned by grunge in 1991). It was a good time to be in school. In fact I would argue it was the best time to be in school.

I spent nine years, from Kindergarten to grade eight, in the same place: St. Anthony Daniel Catholic school. Or, as my sister used to call it, the “Hell Hole”. I lived in a great time to be in school; too bad I went to a shite school! The bullies were mean and the teachers did not give one shit — not even one. In fact the teachers often exacerbated the situation by embarrassing the shy and fragile in obvious loud ways, giving the bullies more ammunition come recess time.

It was in this environment that I befriended Ian Johnson, a kid with a pretty wild imagination. He was a good guy, we had birthday parties together and sleepovers and went to movies. We played a lot of Star Wars. His dad made Star Wars “tables”: giant playsets of Dagobah and the Death Star, built out of actual tables with bits cut out. Ian was definitely the only kid around who had one of those! He was also the only kid in class who claimed to have ninjas training in his basement.

Ian Johnson lived in a townhouse. He did not have a basement.

We would walk home from school together, usually in a small group with one or two other kids. Ian was well known for his tall tales. He would swear up and down that every word was true. If that is the case, I have some startling news to share with the world!

1. It was not Walt Disney that came up with the ideas for Bambi. It was in fact Ian Johnson who gave Disney the idea to make it. Please don’t scrutinize the timeline of events too closely. Ian said it; it had to be true.

2. Ian was a mathematician. He was one of the world’s leading mathematicians. When I asked him why he failed the math quiz in class, it was because he was “not an expert in math that hasn’t been invented yet.” (That would be long division.)

3. He had a squad of ninjas training in his basement. Below his townhouse, he had a training facility several storeys deep. The exact depth changed from tale to tale. The main takeaway from this is that Ian had a huge concrete ninja bunker full of the deadliest weaponry hiding under his townhouse in suburban Kitchener, Ontario. This one, nobody bought. We’d fallen for some of his lies before but this one was just too big and fat to swallow. We nodded and smiled because to question Johnson’s stories would lead to endless arguing.

4. Ian knew George Lucas. He had read Star Wars episodes I, II and III. He knew what happened in them and described it in great detail. There was an encounter between Jabba the Hutt and Han Solo, setting up the bounty on Solo’s head. The level of detail made this one hard to disbelieve. Solo took a shot at Jabba with his blaster, who jumped out of the way, dodging the bolt. Indeed early versions of Jabba the Hutt before 1983 did have legs. He also described a sequence including creatures called “stonemites”. Solo was hiding in a cave full of these things which could eat through stone like termites through wood. It wasn’t until 2002 that I learned Ian had lifted these elements wholesale from Marvel Comics’ Star Wars issue #28, from 1979. That’s why his descriptions were so clear and believable. It was things like this that made it hard to tell when Johnson was lying or telling the truth.

5. Mixing half-truths with fiction, Ian told us all how he knew Brian Vollmer of Helix. I later confirmed this part of the story to be true. Back in Record Store Tales Part 2: Gimme an R! we talked in great detail about a time when Helix were local legends in these parts. I confirmed with Vollmer myself that he did live on Breckenridge Drive in Kitchener, three doors down from Johnson, exactly as Ian described it. He would often point to the Vollmers’ townhouse as we rode by on our bikes, but there was rarely anyone home. Ian also described a Christmas card that Brian Vollmer received from Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. This also turned out to be a true story. I recognized the card when Brian added a picture of it to the official Helix website. Again, it was exactly as Johnson told us. What was not true is that Ian took credit for the “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'” music video. “That music video was my idea,” claimed Ian. “I was talking to Brian Vollmer and I told him, ‘what you really need is a video with lots and lots of girls in it.'”

I will give Ian Johnson credit for one thing, which is while I was still listening to Iron Maiden and Kiss, he had discovered a newer heavier band called Metallica. They only had two albums out, Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning. “Have you ever heard Metallica?” he asked me. “You will.” He brought the tapes to school and played a track or two. Giving credit when it’s due, Ian was the first kid I knew to have heard of Metallica. He was on top of his heavy metal.

That is, until 1986. That is when Ian Johnson dropped the metal and went full-bore new wave. “Girls don’t like heavy metal,” he explained to me during a heated argument. Girls. PAH! Like many kids, Ian turned from friend to bully later in school.

This one is for Ian Johnson wherever you are. I’m sure he’s still out there, consulting Disney on the new Star Wars movie backed by a squad of fully trained ninjas.

REVIEW: Deep Purple – The Soundboard Series – Australasian Tour 2001 (12 CD box set)

The Deep Purple Project continues! Here is one big solid chunk of rock majesty.

DEEP PURPLE – The Soundboard Series – Australasian Tour 2001 (2001 Thames 12 CD box set)

One day in spring of 2002, I wandered into Encore Records in Kitchener. I spied this lovely box o’ rock up front in their glass case, where they stored similarly awesome boxes of rock.

“What’s that?!” I asked, and was promptly handed 12 CDs of live Purple. A quick glance, and “I’ll take it.” Only a short while before, I bought yet another 12 CD live Deep Purple box set. When I first noticed this box under the glass, I was hoping it was just a reissue of the same thing; something I already had that I could safely pass on. It only took one close look to realize that this was a whole other animal completely. Rather than a collection of bootlegs from the 80’s and up, like the one I had, this box chronicled Deep Purple’s 2001 tour of Australia, Hong Kong and Japan. What special concerts those must have been. Read on and you’ll discover why.

Each concert presented in this box is complete, and mixed from the 8-track soundboard DAT tapes. No audience recordings in this bad boy, which is a good thing, since Purple were touring with numerous extra musicians and accoutrements that require sonic clarity. Of the six concerts included, four are largely the same. A lot of Ian Gillan’s song intros are the same from night to night, and the setlists are by and large the same. Of course where Deep Purple are concerned, that means very little. Their solos are never the same, and each performance is its own experience. Steve Morse has never really repeated himself night after night, nor did Jon Lord.

There are some cool surprises in the sets. One of the best tracks, and one of the most rarely played, is “Mary Long” from Who Do We Think We Are. This rhythmic monster goes down smashingly well, and it’s a wonder that Purple never tried it any earlier. There are some true buried gems on those early Purple albums, especially Fireball and Who Do We Think We Are, that were never given a fair shake in their day. Deep Purple today are able to have more fun with their setlists than they were in the 70’s. Another such track is “No One Came”, one of the strangest songs in the catalogue. It benefits greatly from a three piece horn section (the Side Door Johnny’s). There are versions with horns on some other live albums as well, such as Live at the Olympia ’96, so while horns are not unheard of in Deep Purple, they are rare. “No One Came” and “Fools” (both from Fireball) are quite a treat any time you get to hear them live, which you didn’t get to do in the 70’s. They also play the classic B-side “When a Blind Man Cries”, a blues that deserves the spotlight.

Of course Deep Purple always play new material, but what’s really surprising is that they only played one song from their last studio album (1998’s Abandon), and only one time, during the first four concerts! At the first show, in Melbourne, they played “’69”. Then it was dropped and the set slightly shuffled. “Smoke on the Water” was moved from the middle to the second half of the set. Speaking of “Smoke”, fans familiar with the Steve Morse version of Deep Purple are aware that he really likes to have fun with the intro. He teases out several classic rock riffs, all instantly recognizable, as he tries to remember which riff is the one he’s supposed to be playing (or so it seems). AC/DC’s “Back in Black” is the one that really stands out, and it’s remarkable how well it works with Deep Purple. There are lots more, including “Whole Lotta Love”, “Heartbreaker” and “Stairway to Heaven”, that one normally does not associate with Deep Purple! Other favourite riffs include “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Little Wing”, and even a Van Halen inspired version of “You Really Got Me”, but the one that surprised me the most was “To Be With You”, by Mr. Big. Don’t forget, Mr. Big are absolutely huge in Japan, so when they played that little bit in Tokyo, I’m sure everybody knew it.

Also of note, Jimmy Barnes came out for “Highway Star” and “Smoke on the Water” for a couple Australian shows. Sharp-minded readers will remember that Barnes was one of many singers who auditioned for Deep Purple in the late 80’s before they hired on Joe Lynn Turner. He seems to have a blast screaming his way through “Highway Star”! Must be like a dream come true. Gillan’s in great voice too, by the way!

For more thrills with special guests, we must go to the last two shows, in Japan. Australia surely had a treat with the Side Door Johnny’s and Jimmy Barnes, but what Japan got was even better. Fresh off their well-received Live at the Royal Albert Hall album from 2000, conductor Paul Mann joined Purple for two nights in Tokyo. That meant a full performance of the legendary and almost never performed Concerto for Group and Orchestra, all three movements. Mann and the New Japan Select Orchestra joined Purple on a number of their songs as well, including “Watching the Sky” from Abandon, but it was only played on the first night. All that said, there was no greater thrill than the presence of Ronnie James Dio. As he did on the Albert Hall album, Ronnie sang lead on two songs from the Purple solo catalogue. He performs Roger Glover’s “Sitting in a Dream” and the delightfully bouncy hippy anthem “Love is All”. Ian Gillan, meanwhile takes the lead on Jon Lord’s “Pictured Within”. Dio also returns for “Smoke on the Water”, trading with Gillan, but what’s really special is that Purple actually performed two Dio songs at these shows. Though Dio and Purple are two very different bands, Purple adapt and do great versions of “Fever Dreams” and “Rainbow in the Dark”. The drum and keyboard parts are the most different, but nobody’s complaining! It’s great that they did “Fever Dreams” from Dio’s Magica, a great album that deserved the recognition. “Fever Dreams” is one of Dio’s best tunes from the latter period.

“Wring that Neck” and “Pictures of Home” were brought out of mothballs for the Tokyo concerts. “Wring that Neck” is a jazzy version with the horns coming in strong, just like it was on the Albert Hall CD. Undoubtedly though, the centerpiece is the Concerto itself. Even though it put Purple on the map in 1969, it wasn’t particularly well liked by the members of the band (Jon Lord aside, obviously, since it was his creation.) With Steve Morse in the band instead of Ritchie Blackmore, feelings softened and ideas like resurrecting the Concerto were possible. The music however was lost. It took Dutch composer Marco de Goeij years to re-create it, but once Lord helped him finish, it could be performed once again. It’s incredible to think that they were able to take it to Japan and play it for those lucky fans, both nights. You can absolutely tell the difference from the London version. It’s fortunate that it was recorded so well (not perfect but damn well good enough!), and released for you to be able to own forever.

There is no point in breaking this down for a disc-by-disc rating. If the box set could be faulted for anything, it is that there is so much repeat between the first four concerts. For me, box sets tend to work best in the car. I put this on a flash drive and took about three weeks to listen to the whole thing in sequence. In that environment, I don’t bore of the songs. Instead I enjoyed the slight differences. “Oh, this is a little different than the way they introduced it, when I heard it a couple days ago.” Obviously, only a true Deep Purple lover needs to own this. But every Deep Purple lover should own it.

Discs 1 & 2 – Melbourne, March 9 2001

Discs 3 & 4 – Wollongong, March 13 2001

Discs 5 & 6 – Newcastle, March 14 2001

Discs 7 & 8 – Hong Kong, March 20 2001

Discs 9 & 10 – Tokyo, March 24 2001

Discs 11 & 12 – Tokyo, March 25 2001