This one goes out to FanFigureZero and his jaw-dropping site.
In downtown Kitchener last night, I dropped in at the great store Lookin’ For Heroes, to pick up the lastest issue (#94) of Transformers Re-Generation One. Unfortunately I was a week early, but they did have Eddie! Several different Eddies. I decided to start yet another Iron Maiden collection!
I already had the old McFarlane figures from a long time ago, but this new series has seven figures in it. And I plan on getting them all!
WHOCARES: Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi & Friends – “Holy Water” / “Out of My Mind” (2011 Edel charity single)
Remember Rock Aid Armenia? Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, and many other friends gathered together to raise money for earthquake victims in Armenia. 21 years later, Gillan and Iommi returned to help again, by recording two more awesome songs. Joining them are Nicko McBrain, Jon Lord, Jason Newsted, and Linde Lindstrom from H.I.M.
First of all, I will just say how wonderful it is to hear Ian Gillan’s voice in front of Tony’s guitar again, first time since the Gillan’s Inn album. Even better is hearing Jon Lord’s organ with Ian. It’s just jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring. It makes you miss Jon Lord even more. It’s great that they managed to collaborate once more.
“Out Of My Mind” is a heavy-groove-sludge-monster, with some exotic sounding notes in the powerful riff. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Nicko McBrain play a groove like this before, proof that the man is one of metal’s greatest drummers; he’s versatile. The song vaguely reminded me of a more ominous “Soon Forgotten”, from Purpendicular. There’s also some face-melting guitar solos if all that wasn’t enough for you.
The second track, “Holy Water” is even more exotic. It has flute sounds and other non-rock sounding instruments. Once the song gets going though, it’s a little more upbeat than “Out Of My Mind”. The organ here is by someone named Jesse O’Brien, but once again the Hammond provides muscle.
To make this CD a little bit more worth the purchase price, they included the video for “Out Of My Mind” (made up of studio footage, much like the old Rock Aid Armenia video) and a 27 minute documentary.
I would have loved a vinyl copy. Only 1000 were made. I had it on pre-order from Amazon, but they never got it.
4/5 stars
“Part 6 in a miniseries of reviews on Rob Halford’s solo career! If you missed the last part, click here!” That was a rhyme, that ain’t no crime…Breaking the Law! Breaking the Law!
HALFORD – Live Insurrection (2002 Japanese Import)
Having a wealth of solo and Priest material to draw from, this seems like a good place for a double live album to drop. And so it was; Live Insurrection, Rob’s first full-fledged live solo outing. For me personally, this is the peak. This Rob’s home run of solo projects.
Admittedly, there is a certain sense of Rob trying to bury parts of his recent past. There are no songs from Two, and the set is Priest-heavier than prior tours. I found the Halford band to be kind of faceless, a little devoid of personality. They’re absolute pros and there is no question of them cutting it. That’s not the issue, it’s just one of…I can’t hear the different personalities of the players, compared to Fight.
On the other hand, the setlist is so much richer than Fight used to do. The songs are culled from the Halford album Resurrection, the Judas Priest back catologue, and the first Fight album, with a lot of added surprises.
These surprises include three studio tracks, two of which are tracks written by Judas Priest, but never released at the time! You also get Rob’s duet with Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, “live” (recorded during rehearsal I believe), and the two bonus tracks from the Japanese version of the Halford album, once again performed live. Rob even sings his first-ever solo track, “Light Comes Out Of Black” which was originally on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer soundtrack back in 1992. The Priest material is a great mix: old obscure stuff from Sad Wings and Stained Class, as well as more obvious stuff from Hell Bent and Screaming. Rob’s voice is in fine form, doing justice to the Priest and Fight material.
Rob’s so hardcore, he stapled his fuckin’ forehead!
The Japanese bonus track is “Blackout”. Yes, the old Scorpions tune, and recorded here with a Scorpion: Rudolph Schenker! Halford easily handles Klaus Meine’s vocal part. It’s a great bonus track, easily worth the extra cash that I spent on this import version. I got this from Amazon.com in 2002.
They give you lots of great packaging with this live album. Decent liner notes, lots of pictures, plenty to look at while you spend a couple hours listening to this platter of metal perfection. Enjoy the feast.
5/5 stars
I’ll be taking a summer break from this series. I’m a bit burned out on Halford albums now, and there are so many new arrivals to listen to! But fear not. I’ll be following this review with Crucible, another Japanese release, a box set, and more.
There were some pretty awesome picks this year. I have to give Scottie props for “Coming Home” by Iron Maiden, from the excellent Final Frontier album. I found some things a bit surprising, such as the overplayed-on-radio “Black Betty” by Ram Jam, placing so high.
“Thick As A Brick” was the live version, so just over 10 minutes. Other long bombers included all of “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis, which resulted in a tirade by Phil for just as long, about how much he thinks it sucks! (And he’s an old-school Marillion fan…surprising.) And of course there were several Maiden tunes that clock in well over 5 minutes.
For your edification, here is the official Sausagefest XII Countdown: 75 tracks, plus 35 tributes. One tribute for each person that submitted a list! 110 songs over one weekend! Awesome.
| 1 | Toronto Tontos | Max Webster |
| 2 | Long Cool Woman in a Red Dress | The Hollies |
| 3 | The Grudge | Tool |
| 4 | Rooster | Alice in Chains |
| 5 | Supper’s Ready | Genesis |
| 6 | Papa Was a Rolling Stone | The Temptations |
| 7 | Mississippi Queen | Mountain |
| 8 | Black Betty | Ram Jam |
| 9 | Locomotive Breath | Jethro Tull |
| 10 | I’m Your Captain | Grand Funk Railroad |
| 11 | Wasted Years | Iron Maiden |
| 12 | Low Hanging Fruit | Tenacious D |
| 13 | Green Eyed Lady | Sugarloaf |
| 14 | Hey Joe | Jimi Hendrix |
| 15 | Headlong Flight | Rush |
| 16 | Roadhouse Blues | The Doors |
| 17 | Thick as a Brick | Jethro Tull |
| 18 | Powerslave | Iron Maiden |
| 19 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen |
| 20 | Trapped Under Ice | Metallica |
| 21 | Nautical Disaster | Tragically Hip |
| 22 | No Quarter | Led Zeppelin |
| 23 | Mr. Blue Sky | Electric Light Orchestra |
| 24 | The Wizard | Black Sabbath |
| 25 | Mama Told Me Not To Come | Three Dog Night |
| 26 | Blackened | Metallica |
| 27 | Jungle Boogie | Kool and the Gang |
| 28 | Telegraph Road | Dire Straits |
| 29 | Sanitarium | Metallica |
| 30 | Renegade | Styx |
| 31 | Eulogy of the Damned | Orange Goblin |
| 32 | Throw Down the Sword | Wishbone Ash |
| 33 | Electric Worry | Clutch |
| 34 | The Alabama Song | The Doors |
| 35 | Rise of the Fenix | Tenacious D |
| 36 | Livin Thing | Electric Light Orchestra |
| 37 | The Shape I’m In | The Band |
| 38 | Mother | Danzig |
| 39 | The Chain | Fleetwood Mac |
| 40 | No One Knows | Queens of the Stone Age |
| 41 | Die Young | Black Sabbath |
| 42 | Bang Bang | Terry Reid |
| 43 | Caught Somewhere in Time | Iron Maiden |
| 44 | Buried Alive | Avenged Sevenfold |
| 45 | Dream Police | Cheap Trick |
| 46 | Would | Alice in Chains |
| 47 | Don’t Fear the Reaper | Blue Oyster Cult |
| 48 | Zero the Hero | Black Sabbath |
| 49 | Pool of Booze | Volbeat |
| 50 | Parabola | Tool |
| 51 | Why Cant We Be Friends? | War |
| 52 | Rock and Roll | Led Zeppelin |
| 53 | While My Guitar Gently Weeps | The Beatles |
| 54 | Breadfan | Budgie |
| 55 | Strutter | KISS |
| 56 | Holy Wars | Megadeth |
| 57 | Old Man | Neil Young |
| 58 | Southern Man | Neil Young |
| 59 | The Pusher | Steppenwolf |
| 60 | Tempus Fugit | Yes |
| 61 | Fight Fire With Fire | Metallica |
| 62 | Kielbasa | Tenacious D |
| 63 | Green Onions | Booker T and the MG’s |
| 64 | Weird Beard | Fu Manchu |
| 65 | Tonight’s the Night | Neil Young |
| 66 | BYOB | System of a Down |
| 67 | The Zoo | Scorpions |
| 68 | As the Years Go By | Mashmakhan |
| 69 | Toxicity | System of a Down |
| 70 | Deuce | KISS |
| 71 | Space Truckin’ | Deep Purple |
| 72 | South of Heaven | Slayer |
| 73 | Rocky Mountain Way | Joe Walsh |
| 74 | Roadie | Tenacious D |
| 75 | Rock and Roll | Motorhead |
| TRIBUTES | ||
| TOM | Earache My Eye | Cheech and Chong |
| ERIC | Rosanna | Toto |
| BUCKY | A Day in the Life | WAR |
| LAMB LORD | The Wizard | Uriah Heep |
| LEBRAIN | Well You Needn`t | Herbie Hancock Quartet |
| TROY | Caught Up in You | .38 Special |
| ERNIE | Apocrophon | The Sword |
| SCOTTIE | Coming Home | Iron Maiden |
| RYAN | Still Counting | VolBeat |
| SEB | Demiurge | Meshuggah |
| PHIL | Under Black Flags We March | Arch Enemy |
| CHUCK | New Fang | Them Crooked Vultures |
| TYLER G. | Come on in my Kitchen | Robert Johnson |
| C | Time After Time | Savage Steel |
| CHAD | She`s a Rainbow | The Rolling Stones |
| DR DAVE | Ogre Battle | Queen |
| LOGAN | Cowboys From Hell | Pantera |
| GRANT | Around the World | Red Hot Chili Peppers |
| WAYNE | Inside Looking Out | Grand Funk Railroad |
| CAM | Red Hot Mama | Funkadelic |
| AARON | High Caliber Consecrator | Clutch |
| JOHN B. | I Stay Away | Alice in Chains |
| TAL | Dear God | XTC |
| LAMB LAD | Kick Out the Jams | MC5 |
| ALEX | Chicken Strut | The Meters |
| TREVER | Volare | Dean Martin |
| FRANK | Whiskey in the Jar | Metallica |
| JAGGER | Frozen Love | Buckingham/Nicks |
| MARK E. | Are You Mine? | The Arctic Monkeys |
| JON K. | Stone Deaf Forever | Motorhead/Metallica |
| TYLER W. | We Are All on Drugs | Weezer |
| MARK S. | People are Strange | The Doors |
| JUSTIN | Monsters | Blue Oyster Cult |
| MIKE | Monarchy of Roses | Red Hot Chili Peppers |
The official video
Most of the stuff I picked this year was too obscure. Stuff like “The Cut Runs Deep” by Deep Purple. “The Hockey Theme” by Neil Peart. “Wall of Sound” by Kiss.
I did however vote for the Countdown’s #1 song, “Toronto Tontos” by Max Webster. It was 33rd on my list, but six people also picked it, putting it at the #1 spot on Saturday night.
Four picks from my top 20 made the countdown: “Die Young”, “Zero the Hero”, “Caught Somewhere in Time”, and “Breadfan”!
So, here were my top 20 picks. Tomorrow, I will post the entire Countdown! Stay tuned…
| 1 | HERBIE HANCOCK | WELL YOU NEEDN’T |
| 2 | IRON MAIDEN | FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF GOD |
| 3 | BLACK SABBATH | DIE YOUNG |
| 4 | KISS | BLACK DIAMOND |
| 5 | QUEEN | IT’S LATE |
| 6 | UFO | LOVE TO LOVE |
| 7 | ALICE COOPER | BALLAD OF DWIGHT FRY |
| 8 | JOHNNY CASH | DON’T TAKE YOUR GUNS TO TOWN |
| 9 | TED NUGENT | GREAT WHITE BUFFALO |
| 10 | QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE | IF ONLY |
| 11 | THE WHO | A QUICK ONE |
| 12 | BRANT BJORK | CHICO |
| 13 | JUDAS PRIEST | THE RIPPER |
| 14 | IRON MAIDEN | CAUGHT SOMEWHERE IN TIME |
| 15 | BLACK SABBATH | ZERO THE HERO |
| 16 | FAITH NO MORE | SURPRISE YOU’RE DEAD |
| 17 | FAITH NO MORE | LAND OF SUNSHINE |
| 18 | FAITH NO MORE | EVIDENCE |
| 19 | BUDGIE | WHISKEY RIVER |
| 20 | BUDGIE | BREADFAN |
The official video
Sausagefest is an annual all-dude, all-meat, countdown of rock. Five of us from the old Record Store attended! This year, there were 110 songs (75 countdowns plus 35 “tributes”). #1 was Max Webster — “Toronto Tontos”. Other artists who made the countdown included Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Kiss, Queens of the Stone Age, Tool, Rush, and Tenacious D among others. For the history of this event, check out Record Store Tales Part 30.
Thanks to Jeff Woods and Craig Fee for your contributions — above and beyond the call of duty!
And of course, thanks to Tom our host, and Uncle Meat, Seb and Dr. Dave for the music.
Uncle Meat will be providing me with the full track list. Stay tuned for that post, too!
ROCK AID ARMENIA – Smoke on the Water: The Metropolis Sessions (2010 Edel CD/DVD set)
When some of the biggest names in both British and Canadian rock combined together to re-record “Smoke on the Water”, as a mega-collaboration charity track, I don’t care who you are: You gotta listen! Originally released as “Smoke on the Water ’90” on The Earthquake Album, it didn’t garner the attention of, say, a Hear N’ Aid, but it’s definitely a noteworthy track. The Earthquake Album contained just the radio mix, which was an edited down version lacking Paul Rodgers. This package on the other hand is a CD/DVD combo set including all 4 versions of “Smoke ’90” and a documentary.
The region 0 encoded DVD is 40 minutes long, and filled with incredible behind-the-scenes footage and candid interviews. First, an explanation of the cause: rebuilding a children’s music school in Armenia, destroyed in a 1988 earthquake. Then, the musicians arrive! Roger Taylor (Queen) is first in the door. Can’t do anything without the drums! He shows off his considerable chops while warming up. Chris Squire (Yes) is next, who reveals that all egos have been dealt with in advance of the recording. Brian May turns up with a broken arm (skateboarding accident) to offer his support; he would return to record after the arm has healed. The recording takes place over five separate sessions. One benefit of this arrangement was that it enabled Ritchie Blackmore to show up, without having to see Ian Gillan!
Oh, to be in that room…
Soon to arrive: Tony Iommi. Paul Rodgers. Bruce Dickinson. David Gilmour. Alex Lifeson. Two keyboardists: Keith Emerson and Geoff Downes. Even Bryan Adams sings some backing vocals, after he turned up just to check out the recording studio! (Gilmour can’t help but take a stab at Rogers Waters during the interview segments.) Incidentally, I found it cool that Rodgers recorded his vocals with a hand-held mike.
I’ve always been a fan of this version of “Smoke”; in fact this was the first version of that I ever heard, 23 years ago. The band was dubbed Rock Aid Armenia. They got together in late ’89, and recorded this updated sounding cover. Gillan, Dickinson and Rodgers handled the lead vocals, in that order. It’s great to hear Iommi playing those chunky chords again. Chris Squire’s bass work is fairly simple, but perfect.
The CD includes an updated 2010 remix that cuts down a lot of Keith Emerson’s cheesey keyboards. Emerson stated that he wanted to put his own stamp on his parts, based on ELP’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”. He probably wouldn’t be happy to be mixed down on this version, but his keys always stood out like a sore thumb to me. The 2010 mix adds in a lot more previously unheard guitar fills instead. Other extras include a previously unreleased version of the song, with an entire Ian Gillan vocal take.
This is a great little-known recording, and I’m glad an obscurity like this has finally been reissued properly.
4/5 stars
Footnote: In 2011 and 2012, Gillan and Iommi followed this with a single and compilation album under the name WhoCares; also featuring Nicko McBrain, Jon Lord and Jason Newsted!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 209: The Phanton Menace
Some at the record store made fun of me for being such a serious Star Wars fan. I’m not a hard core fanboy; I don’t go to conventions or follow the books and TV shows, but I am pretty dedicated to the films. I booked May 19, 1999 off work well in advance to see The Phantom Menace on opening day.
I’m not going to turn this story into a review for Phantom Menace. That movie’s been reviewed by thousands of people and I’m not interested in contributing to the background noise. The only thing you need to really agree with me on is that there was a tremendous excitement for Phantom Menace back in 1999. I had been dreaming of what might happen before and after the Holy Trilogy since I was 5 years old. My sister was only a baby when the first Star Wars came out, but she did get to see Empire in the theaters. She is a slightly bigger fan than I am, but she doesn’t follow the expanded universe or any of that stuff.
We both booked the day off work and planned to go together. Our strategy was this: Since we knew that the theaters would be absolutely packed for the midnight opening, we picked an out of the way (but still THX) theater that had a noon showing. So, all we had to do was wait an extra 12 hours (at home), and we’d get in no problem!
We showed up at the theater and were, like, seventh in line. No sweat. Soon we had our seats in a sparsely seated theater. Then the trailers (something called Titan AE, which inspired a heckle of “What the hell was that?” from the audience). Then the Fox fanfare, the Lucasfilm logo and finally…”A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….”
136 minutes later (we stayed for the credits of course) we were pretty satisfied with the movie. Keep in mind that fast shit had been whizzing in front of our faces for over two hours. There were things that didn’t make sense, there were things we didn’t like much (the kid, Jar Jar) but we kept telling ourselves the same thing.
“Yeah, but it’s the first chapter. The next one will be where it really starts.”
As we were talking about it, I said, “Wanna see it again? It went so fast there was a ton of stuff I’m sure I missed.”
“Sure!” she answered. “Yeah!”
We went back out to the ticket counter. There were a few people in line, but not many. “Two for Star Wars, please,” I said as I approached the counter.
“Didn’t you just come out of Star Wars?” she said with that snooty tone.
“Yep. We liked it,” I answered.
“And you want to see it again?” We did.
We went back in. The second time lacked a bit of the awe. This time, I paid more attention to the details. Questions came to my mind. “If Yoda is the Jedi Master that instructed Obi-Wan, then why is Liam Neeson training him?” Stuff like that.
I still remember that on the way home, we stopped at the HMV store, and I bought Ed Hunter by Iron Maiden. When we got home, we were still excited about the movie, telling Mom and Dad all the details. My dad was skeptical.
“Does it have the emotion of the first one? Does it have the feeling?” he inquired.
“Well…no not exactly,” I rationalized. “This is just the first chapter. The next one will be where it really starts.”
My dad was onto something.
The hilarious Red Letter Media review
I also distinctly remember watching Phantom Menace again with Tom and a franchise owner, on VHS, shortly after it came out.
In 2005 I first met the girl who would later become my wife, but she had never seen Star Wars. I was really excited to be the guy that got to watch Star Wars with her for the first time. For some stupid reason that to this day I will never understand, I decided to start her off with Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Bad idea.
“That stupid fucking dino-guy” is what she named Jar-Jar Binks. She hated it. (She liked Episode III though.) Then, her dad (rest his soul) decided that he wanted to see the Star Wars prequels too. One Saturday night I went over there with my DVD copy of Phanton Menace in hand. And so it was that Jen had to see Phantom Menace not once, but twice.
We’ll be married five years this August, more awesomer than ever, so “that stupid fucking dino-guy” couldn’t have been all that bad, right?
NEXT TIME ON RECORD STORE TALES…
LeBrain on the radio!
RECORD STORE TALES Part 208: Flashback 1995
November/December 1995 was freakin’ busy. We sold a lot of discs that Christmas. What we didn’t do was listen to a lot of discs! No; our boss really, really liked Don Henley and TLC. He played them ad-nauseum. Like on repeat three times in a row. I’m not kidding about that. I distinctly remember the repeat. Here are the Top Three Discs I Had to Listen to Until My Ears Bled, December 1995.
3. Boney M – Christmas Album
2. Don Henley – Actual Miles
1. TLC – CrazySexyCool
Trevor on the other hand was introducing me to Oasis and managed to get a few cool discs into rotation:
3. The Beatles – Anthology Vol. 1 (usually just disc 2)
2. Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters
1. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
We were also working with this new guy, Donnie, and we let him pick Dance Mix ’95 a few times. Unfortunately, the Big Shiny Tunes series hadn’t begun yet.
I didn’t get to pick as many discs as the others — the boss didn’t like my picks. When I did, I chose the new Def Leppard – Vault (Greatest Hits 1980-1995).
Looking back, there were also a few albums that I found utterly disappointing that season. They included:
3. AC/DC – Ballbreaker
2. Lenny Kravitz – Circus
1. Savatage – Dead Winter Dead
All three were albums that I was solidly looking forward to, but largely disappointed me. I never did buy Circus. I own the other two, but only because I’m a completest (and I got AC/DC for $3).
Finally there were three albums that really got me through that season. I had just been dumped by my first serious girlfriend and I was really angry about it. Away from work (my boss didn’t want these ones played in the store) these three albums totally spoke to me that Christmas:
3. Alice in Chains – Alice in Chains
2. Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzmosis
1. Iron Maiden – The X Factor
Let me tell you something people: I still fuckin’ hate TLC. I’ll never go chasin’ waterfalls, ever again.
Next time on Record Store Tales…
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
WTF SEARCH TERMS III: Pol Rodgers Edition
WTF Search Terms is a new feature here at LeBrain’s, where I reveal some amusing words that people typed into search engines, ending up at my site. Today I’ve gathered 10 of the funnier Rock-related search terms! If you missed the last one, click here.
10. “show me all of iron maidens art dra” “Show me”? Pfft. Show me your dra first.
9. “pol rodgers fire and waters” He knew how to spell Rodgers, but not Paul.
8. “band acting like a puppet” My best guess is Supergrass.
7. “jonbonjovi phoyoes never seen” If you’ve never seen it, neither have I.
6. “where was montly crew attacted in saskatchewan” He spelled Saskatchewan right.
5. “deep purple songs about nature appreciation” This thought had not crossed my mind once before now.
4. “when will def leppard be on itunes” Perhaps the answer is, like my old Psych 301 prof used to say, “On the 12th of Never.”
3. “why does burke shelley sound like a woman” Maybe because his last name is Shelley, huh-huh, huh-huh.
2. “paul di anno teh beast” Teh.
1. “does sebastian bach really like model trains” Yes, him and Sheldon Cooper!
mikeladano.com 