QUIET RIOT has “amicably” parted ways with singer Scott Vokoun and has replaced him with LOVE/HATE vocalist Jizzy Pearl. Pearl will make his live debut with QUIET RIOT on New Year’s Eve (December 31) in Flagstaff, Arizona. QUIET RIOT is currently in the recording studio with Jizzy in preparation for the release of a new album in early 2014.
It’s the end ofTHE WEEK OF SINGLES!Each day this week we saw reviews and images of a recent CD or vinyl single acquisition. Thanks for hanging out and reading along!
ALICE COOPER – For Britain Only(1982 Warner UK EP)
Long ago, when I first acquired the uber-cool The Life and Death of Alice Cooper box set, I discovered the Alice Cooper song “For Britain Only”. According to the liner notes, this was from a 1982 EP produced (you guessed it) for Britain only. I think it’s cool when an artist records a song for a specific region such as this. W.A.S.P. did something similar with a song called “Tokyo is Burning” from a Japanese release.
I need to preface my review by saying that I do not own the Special Forces album. Subsequently I don’t know a lot about this period of Alice Cooper. It’s one of the few albums I’m still missing. (The “need” list: Easy Action, Special Forces, Zipper Catches Skin, Constrictor, and a few live CDs.) I know some people hold Special Forces as a hidden gem. This EP was released after Special Forces, and contains three live tracks from that tour. These were recorded in Glasgow on February 19, 1982.
The live tracks are pretty good. “Who Do We Think We Are” has a long, atmospheric intro. Alice’s delivery is very current for the time, and the song has one foot in New Wave. Even Alice’s look on the sleeve is a little more punky. Note the Samurai hair, which would return around the time of Brutal Planet and Dragontown. This merges seamlessly into “Model Citizen” from Flush the Fashion. It’s not one of my favourite tracks, as I find the chorus a little annoying. I like it much better in this live guise. The final live track is an oldie, “Under My Wheels”. It’s a little faster than the original, but pretty cool. Alice is in good voice, and the band is tight, as Cooper’s backing bands always are. The players are not credited, but they would have been Mike Pinera and John Nitzinger (guitars), Erik Scott (bass), Duane Hitchings (keyboards) and Jan Uvena (drums).
Although the title track, “For Britain Only” has never been one of Alice’s most notable, it’s grown on me a lot through the years. It kind of reminds me of Killers-era Kiss. It has a similar sound and direction to the new songs Kiss did for that album. I like that there’s a basic stripped-back hard rock sound to “For Britain Only”. It has a basic riff and hooks, it’s catchy, and it’s rock and roll. For Alice Cooper fans in 1982, that was probably enough. It rocks hard enough, and it sounds great to my ears.
And that’s the EP. I paid £6.00 for my copy, perhaps a bit steep for 14 minutes of music (only 11 minutes that I didn’t have before) but I’m still satisfied.
AEROSMITH – “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” (1987 Geffen 12″ single)
There was an old Canadian magazine called Music Express that was…well, it was OK. Back in 1987 they did a spread on the new Aerosmith (Permanent Vacation), including a really cool caricature of Steven Tyler that I cut out and kept. This Aerosmith article contained what I now consider to be a myth, although one that led me on a wild goose chase for years.
Music Express
The magazine claimed that one of the new Aerosmith B-sides was a song called “Once is Enough”, a collaboration with Willie Nelson. Not only did I believe this to be true, but it was seemingly confirmed by an old customer of mine who insisted she had this Willie Nelson tune. Now I’ve finally acquired the “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” 12″ single with “Once is Enough”, and there is absolutely no indication that Nelson had anything to do with it. I wonder if the confused writer thought that John Kalodner in the music video for “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” was Willie Nelson? That’s as much insight as I can offer on this strange myth.
As it turns out, “Once is Enough” is an outstanding song, and no wonder: It was written by Richie Supa, who also wrote three of my personal Aero-faves: “Chip Away the Stone”, “Lightning Strikes”, and “Amazing”. Supa has a certain magic in his melodies, rooted in old time rock n’ roll. When Aerosmith record a Supa song, the results are seldom disappointing (“Pink” being the only letdown I can think of). It does have a country twang to it, particularly the intro, but otherwise this is a rock n’ roller.
Although “Once is Enough” is instantly likeable and arguably an unknown classic, it was never released on any of the numerous Geffen Aerosmith compilations. I think it’s stronger than much of the material on Permanent Vacation itself. I can only assume it did not make the album because it’s too different from the songs that did. In fact it probably would have fit better on Pump, which also had some twang on the hit “What It Takes”. The country vocal harmonies are really sweet, and Joe Perry lays on some awesome slide. When it takes off into full-on rocker mode, it’s irresistible. Why a great tune like this remains so hard to get more than 25 years after its release, I don’t know.
The rest of the songs on the single are Permanent Vacation album tracks: “Dude”, “Simoriah” and “The Movie”. I’ll be honest, I never thought much of “Dude”. It was originally titled “Cruisin’ For A Lady”, but obviously the new words (supposedly inspired by Motley Crue) have become a Tyler landmark. So, good on them. It’s been used in numerous movies and is a radio staple today. With that Bruce Fairbairn horn section in there, I just thought it was too pop. No matter how I feel about this commercial rock song, Joe Perry’s solo smokes.
Both “Simoriah” and “The Movie” are filler as far as I’m concerned. For its merits, Permanent Vacation had a bit too much filler on it. I’m more of a Pump guy myself. As filler goes, “Simoriah” has a speedy groove going for it, but it’s not an outstanding song. “The Movie” is just an atmospheric instrumental. I’ve never felt that Aerosmith compose the most interesting instrumentals in the world.
Just 3/5 stars for this one…but 5/5 stars for “Once is Enough”!
One last thing: I also have a CD single for “Dude (Looks Like A Lady)” completely different from this. It was obviously a later release, since one of the B-sides was “Love In An Elevator” live. “Once is Enough” was not on that CD single.
It’sTHE WEEK OF SINGLES!Each day this week I’ll be bringing you reviews and images of a recent CD or vinyl single acquisition. Today’s is fresh hot off the presses! I received this single on Saturday (the 16th).
DEEP PURPLE – “Above and Beyond” (CD and 7″ singles, Edel)
This has been a banner year for Deep Purple singles! We’ve had “All the Time in the World”, “Hell To Pay”, “Vincent Price” and now “Above and Beyond” from the excellent new album NOW What?! There’s a “gold” edition of NOW What?! coming soon, and I believe most of the B-sides from these singles will be on it. Most, but not all…
“Above and Beyond” is one of two songs on the new album dedicated to Jon Lord. It’s probably the most progressive sounding of the new songs. It’s certainly one of the most epic. I think Jon would have loved it. Canadian producer extraordinaire Bob Ezrin adds his shine on “Above and Beyond”, you can really hear it in the arrangement.
The second track on the CD version is “Things I Never Said” from some editions of Rapture of the Deep. It was originally from the Japanese CD, and then the “special edition”. It’s one of the better songs from Rapture, and I’ve always liked Steve Morse’s guitar riff. I just didn’t need to buy it again on a single…
Brand new live recordings are the real bait on this single. The CD has two; I don’t believe either is going to be on the “gold” edition of NOW What?!. “Space Truckin'” (Rome, Italy 07/22/2013) doesn’t seem as peppy as other live versions I’ve heard. I suppose that’s why some versions are destined for B-sides, right? A pair of covers close the CD: Booker T. and the M.G.’s classic Hammond organ instrumental “Green Onions” and Joe South’s “Hush”. “Green Onions” serves as an intro to “Hush” essentially. It’s a great song for a band like Purple to do anyway. These come from Sweden, 08/10/2013. Gillan’s struggling a little bit on “Hush”, but Airey and Morse get playful during the solo section, and it’s very reminiscent of how Blackmore and Lord used to interact.
The exclusive bonus track on the 7″ vinyl single is a different recording of “Space Truckin'”. This one is from Majano, Italy, two days after the other version. I actually prefer this version to the one from Rome. I’m not sure why; maybe it’s just that audio illusion of warm vinyl. Maybe Morse just sounds dirtier. This single is absolutely beautiful, on purple clear vinyl complete with limited numbered stamp. Mine? #1934 of 2000. I’ll consider myself lucky. It’s kind of mind blowing to think that there’s an exclusive Deep Purple live recording out there, only 2000 copies made, and I have one of them.
I’ve been hinting at this for a couple weeks now. No more teasing! For this is…THE WEEK OF SINGLES! Each day this week I’ll be bringing you reviews and images of a recent single acquisition. For the purpose of this week, EPs count as singles. First up comes one I teased you about in myOverload of Van Vinylgallery.
VAN HALEN – “Best of Both Worlds” (1986 Warner 7″ single)
Craig Fee returned with this single (among many) from Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh. It was actually $3, not the $2 on the sticker (no big deal). About the store itself, Craig says:
Jerry’s Records in Pittsburgh has incredible online reviews for a reason. When I was last there, Jerry and I chatted about the legendary Peter Dunn’s Vinyl Museum(s) in Toronto. We laughed about the random samples of Bible verse stamped on every single record sleeve that Peter sold. It was completely over the top! Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one who WTF’d the first time I encountered it.
I asked Craig to pick up any Van Halen singles with picture sleeves that he could find. Of those, “Best of Both Worlds” has one of the least interesting covers. No pictures of the band, just a generic looking sketch of a globe and two jet planes. Not even a proper Van Halen logo to be found. This lack of anything amusing on the cover is compensated for by the exclusivity of the tracks.
The A-side is a version that I didn’t have before. It’s a 3:58 edit version of the song, chopping 50 seconds out. The edit is quite noticeable at the 1:00 mark, where the second verse is chopped out, and then replaced after the chorus. It’s into the guitar solo from there, and then the final verse. Missing is the “There’s a picture in a gallery, of a fallen angel looked a lot like you,” verse.
Van Halen never released the ubiquitous Live Without a Net home video on any kind of official audio format. Some of those songs, such as the live version of “Love Walks In” did make it onto an unofficial CD called In Concert (found at Encore Records in Kitchener). “Best of Both Worlds” did not make it onto In Concert, but here it is on the B-side. It’s live in New Haven, complete with the extended intro, bringing the track to over 6 minutes. The intro features Eddie and Sammy doing a fun call and response bit and I’m glad it wasn’t edited out for the single release. I’ll always have a fondness for the old Live Without a Net versions. Back in ’86-88 I didn’t have the money to buy every single album by bands that I liked. I didn’t have 5150, and Live Without a Net was on TV enabling me to record it. Therefore I probably know this version of “Best of Both Worlds” better than the 5150 version! It’s a little tougher, where the album version’s a tad too sterile.
I don’t mind this song. It’s not a Van Halen classic, but it’s still catchy. Unlike some of the other singles, it wasn’t keyboard based. That gave it an edge to my 16 year old self who didn’t like keyboards as much as guitars. Craig on the other hand had a different reaction to it:
“Best Of Both Worlds” is the song that might’ve been the catalyst for my divorce of Van Hagar as the logical continuation of my favourite band. The lyrics are absolute fucking cornball nonsense. Look them up. You’ll see what I mean. The Live Without A Net version on the B-side of the single brought me vivid flashbacks of those awful pink sweat pants Eddie wore onstage for the concert video. Those terrible Sammy and Mike harmonies. That cheesy walk Mike, Sammy and Ed did onstage. Sammy’s spray painting of the shoes and the accompanying ad-lib were possibly the lamest shit I’ve ever heard. Do you think David Lee Roth would’ve had a pair of fucking SHOES thrown onstage? Hell no! There’s a reason I don’t own a copy of this myself.
He does have some valid points there. Thankfully this 7″ single contains just the music, and not those cheeseball visuals! Why was Eddie so into sweat pants? I blame Sammy Hagar. For me, this was a great find and a great way to kick off Singles Week at LeBrain HQ. Check back tomorrow for another rarity! (A brand new release in fact.)
SCORPIONS – Taken By Force (1977, 2002 Hip-O/Universal remaster)
I don’t have all the Scorpions albums, but I’m filling in the blanks with some of the critically acclaimed early albums. Through that process I discovered that I really like the Uli Jon Roth period! Taken By Force was their last studio album with Roth, although it was followed in 1978 with the double live Tokyo Tapes. Taken By Force was also the last Roth-era album that I needed in my collection. Unfortunately, according to the Wikipedia, although this remaster contains a bonus B-side and live track, it also contains an edited version of “Sails of “Charon”, a flaw common with almost all CD versions.
Taken By Force immediately states its heavy metal purposes with “Steamrock Fever”; the sound of a jackhammer and pounding riff opens the album. Its anthemic chorus, melded with some Roth six string trickery and that unrelenting jackhammer will knock you down. The Scorpions are not winning any awards for lyrical poetry, preferring to take the sledgehammer route with their message too.
All this is well and good, because next is a respite. At least for a few moments, “We’ll Burn the Sky” allows you to cool down, before a classic Schenker riff takes the fore. “We’ll Burn the Sky” is classic Scorpions. It combines their penchant for melody and talent for executing memorable guitar riffs. Roth’s slippery classical-like licks are icing on the cake.
“I’ve Got to Be Free” is the first Roth composition and features the odd bluesy licks flickering in and out of an otherwise heavy rock song. I really like the screamed verses. The broken-English lyrics of “The Riot of Your Time” seems to refer to the death of Elvis Presley, while foretelling the future of “’94 or ’95”. According to the Scorpions, if the world is still alive by 1995, it will “be the start for the riot of your time”. I don’t know what that means exactly, but the guitar seems to echo The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” through a heavy metal filter.
The original LP would have been split there and side 2 introduced by wind-like sounds, before entering “The Sails of Charon”. That windy intro is cut on this CD, so “Charon” commences with the riff. Surely, “The Sails of Charon” must go down as Uli Roth’s greatest contribution to the Scorpions. This majestic masterpiece is ambitious, elegant and exotic. And heavy. Let’s not forget that the riff, while highbrow, is as heavy as a load of concrete. (Incidentally, Testament did an amazing cover of this.)
“Your Light” is a funky Roth composition, one of the most likeable on the whole album. When I say “funky” I don’t mean Sly and the Family Stone, think more the Deep Purple variety of funky. There is also common ground here with sounds that Van Halen would later inhabit. Then, “He’s A Woman – She’s A Man” resumes the sledgehammer assault that dominated side one. New drummer Herman Rarebell had his first writing credit on this single. Album closer “Born to Touch Your Feelings” is a ballad, with a long outro and overlapping voices. It’s a solid, dramatic closing to an album that grabbed my attention at every turn and every song.
This 2002 remaster contains two bonus tracks. First is “Suspender Love”, which was originally the B-side to “He’s A Woman – She’s A Man”. It’s a slinky tune, fun and all, but very much unlike Taken By Force as a whole. Still, I have no problem with the inclusion of relevant B-sides, so I’m glad to have this. The other bonus track is “Polar Nights”, originally from Virgin Killer but included here in the Tokyo Tapes version. This was done because when Hip-O reissued and remastered Tokyo Tapes, they did it as a single disc meaning this song wouldn’t fit. It was included here so you could still buy a complete Tokyo Tapes. This is kind of sloppy, but at least the whole package is still available. Also, since “Polar Nights” is a showcase of Uli’s bluesy, funky fingering, it’s also a nice way to close his final album with the Scorpions.
5/5 stars
As usual, the Scorpions courted controversy with their album cover. The original “graveyard gunfight” photo was replaced in many regions with a plain cover with band photo. This remaster unfortunately has the alternate artwork. Shame about that.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 244: Diary of a Mad Record Store Man
I’d like to share with you a selection of entries, verbatim from my journal in 2005. Here’s a snapshot of Record Store Life, November 2005, one month before quitting the store.
Date: 2005/11/04 10:35
PLAYING IN CAR:
Fu Manchu – King Of The Road
I was just thinking today how much I hate bars. I haven’t been to a bar in a year. Last time I went, a bunch of jocks wanted to kick my ass because they thought I looked “gay”. (With my Motörhead shirt on?)
Also thinking about how rude some customers can be. Like it is MY fault that they have to pawn their shit to buy crack.
Date: 2005/11/04 11:59
Today has been very annoying thus far.
People are idiots sometimes, and people rarely seem to listen. And while I’m working away here among the idiots, the Hives are singing, “Walk Idiot Walk”. Very nice.
Oakville tomorrow…yeah…not hyped for that, either.
Date: 2005/11/15 07:29
I have 3 hours to clean my apartment before my parents arrive.
Date: 2005/11/22 19:51
What goes up must come down.
– I spilled candle wax all over my brand new rug (only 6 days old).
– The trunk of my car has a leak, water has ruined a few items inside.
– I have no money.
– I have a total of three days off in the entire month of December
Date: 2005/11/24 19:39
With this new beard, people have taken to calling me either “Ewen” or “Señor Speilbergo”. I’m fine with either name.
Date: 2005/11/25 11:05
Just because you are spending hundreds of dollars in my store does NOT make me your bitch.
Date: 2005/11/26 17:56
There’s this dude in my store that looks exactly like a short Sean Astin.
Except I’m not really sure, maybe Sean Astin is short anyways? I mean, he’s a hobbit, right?
Warning: The delightfully titled Hot Tub Time Machine is the same as every other modern comedy. Outrageous situations! Gross-outs! Swearing! Hollow characters!…but I liked it. What can I say, I’m easily amused. I don’t mind this kind of movie, plus it has an 80’s metal slant. The performances by John Cusack and Rob Corddry were good enough to keep me entertained long enough.
Plot in a nutshell: Three dudes plus Cusack’s nephew are going nowhere in life and in their relationships. Trying to dip back into the past, they visit the same ski resort that they went to back in ’86. It’s gone downhill since then, but after a drunken night in the hot tub, they wake up (gasp!) back in 1986, forced to relive one of the most interesting vacations of their lives! Will they do things the same? Will they try to change the future? Can they even get back to the future? What about the nephew? Watch to find out!
Each character has his own trip to relive, Corddry’s being the lynchpin of the whole situation. The plot is pretty simple but the movie is fun. Great music from the 80’s — Poison, Motley Crue, and more — make this a movie for the balding generation. Heck, there’s even a vintage-looking Poison concert complete with some dude that looks exactly like C.C. Deville circa Look What The Cat Dragged In.
To its credit, the ending was a twist I didn’t expect, and I enjoyed the cast including Chevy Chase. It was fun revisiting some aspects of 1986 (even though some tunes, such as “Kickstart My Heart” didn’t come out until ’89).
Blu-ray special features include commentaries, deleted scenes and extended scenes. The best deleted scenes were multiple hilarious takes of Corrdry, who’s comes across as a pretty funny guy. Digital copy is included but don’t ask me about it, because I don’t use them. All I know is that the digital copy is just the “rated” version of the film.
In 1991, hard rock was breathing its last gasp (for the moment, anyway) and Swallow This Live is a perfect example of how this happened. Many rock fans were fed up with substandard releases, and this is one of the biggest turds of that era.
Swallow This Live was a double — yes, you heard that right — a double-live CD from a band who only had three studio albums! And Poison are not Kiss. On the cassette version, two tracks were missing: “Life Goes On”, and “No More Looking Back”. I think Poison instead should have excluded Rikki Rockett’s painful, overly long drum solo. They definitely should have cut C.C. (billed here as “Cecil”) DeVille’s horrendous guitar flatulance.
Poison imploded before this was even released. The fact that C.C. DeVille was only seen in the video for “So Tell Me Why” for a matter of seconds spoke volumes. (Opening lyric of the song: “I’d like to put to bed the rumours”.) This was after the train wreck that was the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. There’s C.C. with bright pink hair, not able to play an entire song…it was no surprise when he was fired, although the band waited until after the release of Swallow This Live to tell anybody.
C.C. also hated the bluesy, more serious direction that Poison’s music was taking, which was fully realized on their next studio album, Native Tongue. With guitar maestro Richie Kotzen as the catalyst, Poison finally delivered a mature piece of work which of course did not sell. But that’s another story.
Here, we have a very rough sounding live disc, overly long, and embarassingly bad. Every song is superior in its studio version, making this album completely redundant. Ironically, coming from the band who once said, “Fans comes to see us play, not PRESS play,” you can hear lots of backing vocal tapes, especially on “I Want Action”. You do get basically every hit that Poison ever had, which was an impressive amount. However, even that couldn’t pad out a full 2 CD release, so they also played some really terrible songs live. “Look What the Cat Dragged In” is awful, but even worse is the blues massacre, “Poor Boy Blues”. Bret’s ad-lib is a cheesy mess.
The only reason to buy this CD is the new studio material Two of the new songs are among the best that Poison had recorded up to this time. “So Tell Me Why” is a firecracker of a song, a brilliant rocker held aloft by fantastic guitar melodies. “Only Time Will Tell” is one of their best ballads, along the lines of “Life Goes On” or “I Won’t Forget You” crossed with some Native Tongue maturity.
If you can get Swallow This Live at a decent price (I used to sell it around $8.99), pick it up for the new studio stuff, but don’t blame me if C.C.’s live guitar solo makes your ears bleed! (Note: I know this has been reissued as a single disc with various track omissions, so buy according to your needs.)
2/5 stars
Don’t forget that Poison’s second album was originally to be called Swallow This!
ACCEPT – Blood of the Nations (2010 Nuclear Blast)
I had a few Accept albums at home: Metal Heart, Balls To The Wall and Eat The Heat. I’d never bought an Accept album when it was a “new release” before, and I’d never bought anything post-reunion. I suppose I was interested in the music I was familiar with and nothing beyond that. When I heard they were reuniting with a new singer I was instantly skeptical. I was ready to bring the hate!
Some glowing reviews on the Eddie Trunk show opened my ears, and when Eddie started playing new tracks like “Beat The Bastards” and “Teutonic Terror”, I was hooked! New singer Mark Tornillo (who I’d never heard before, but have found out was critically acclaimed as the singer of TT Quick) had filled Udo’s teeny tiny little shoes and somehow made them fit, plus added his own style. Tornillo is not a screamer like Udo, but he can scream when necessary, and damn…it sounds awesome when he does!
New singer or not, the difference between a real fresh start (like Accept) and a mere tribute band with a new singer (like Quiet Riot) is new material. If the new material sucks, then there is no point. If it stands up, then the band is vindicated. I was glad to report that Accept’s new material was awesome. I don’t like to throw that word around lightly, because too many people overuse to pump up their favourite bands. Well, a) Accept has never been a favourite of mine, and b) this album really is awesome. Every song has life. The riffs courtesy of Wolf Hoffman are alive, powerful and catchy. Vocal melodies are traditional metal. Everything about this album is traditionally metal except the loud n’ proud, raw modern production by Andy Sneap. In short the album sounds great.
There’s also some solid groove on this album. Take “Pandemic” for example. It reminds me of the old Testament classic, “Electric Crown” in terms of groove and tempo. As far as I’m concerned, Accept absolutely nail it on Blood of the Nations, from the rock solid rhythm section to the screaming leads.
I’m really glad I got this album, and this edition. The bonus track “Time Machine” is one of the stronger songs. Yet every song is equally strong, there are no weak links in this chain. It’s just a great album from start to finish and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do.
This album is rejuvenation. You have to hear it to believe. That they followed it with the equally strong Stalingrad is almost as astonishing.
mikeladano.com 