My thoughts are with those in Boston tonight. Yesterday, T-Rev, Wes and I attended the The Toronto Musical Collectibles Record & CD Sale. T-Rev went specifically hoping to find Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake by the Small Faces, on vinyl, with the original round cover in displayable condition. He came home with that record for the price of $30.
I hit paydirt. I came with $200 and I left with $0 (there was a $5 entrance fee). I also left with seven (7!!!) Japanese import rock albums all with bonus tracks, five 12″ records, a 7″ single, and a rare book. Today I’ll show you the CDs, which I am most excited about! You can see the rest another day.
You can’t find Japanese imports anymore around here. And many of these are long out of print. I’ve been looking for the Pistols’ Filthy Lucre Live since 1996. Blackmore’s Rainbow is one that I’d seen before. The HMV store at Fairview Mall in Kitchener had one…in 1995. Rob Vuckovich used to try to goad me into buying it, but I couldn’t pay the $50 price tag for just one bonus track. $15 though? With obi strip intact? Hell yeah!
So here’s the list of Japanese imports and what I paid. I believe most of these have to be half of retail.
HAREM SCAREM – Live at the Gods. This is a Japanese exclusive live album. I paid $20, sealed.
SEX PISTOLS – Filthy Lucre Live. I’ve been waiting a long time. I love this album. Two bonus tracks: “Buddies” (“Bodies”) and “No Fun”.
SCORPIONS – Face the Heat. I paid $15, for 2 wimpy bonus tracks called “Kami O Shin Jiru” and “Daddy’s Girl”. Both are ballads, but for $15, no bother!
IAN GILLAN – Gillan’s Inn. This one was a bit more expensive: $30, because it had the DVD (that won’t play in this region). But it also has the bonus track “Eternity” that isn’t even on the Tour Edition.
CORROSION OF CONFORMITY – Wiseblood. I paid $20, has the bonus track “The Land of Free Disease”.
RAINBOW – Stranger In Us All. Bonus track: “Emotional Crime”. Paid $15.
WHITESNAKE – Good To Be Bad. Paid $20, sealed. Two bonus tracks: “All For Love (Alt mix/Doug solo)” and “Summer Rain (Unzipped)”.
BON JOVI – “Because We Can” (2013 Island Records Japanese single)
There was a time I used to look forward to new releases by Bon Jovi. It’s been a long time since I felt that way. I thought the band bounced back (pun intended) with 2002’s Bounce, then they lost me immediately again with This Left Feels Right. I don’t like to give up on bands that I used to feel strongly about, so I decided to check out Bon Jovi’s newest single, “Because We Can”.
I chose the Japanese single as it had one more track than the European. I had not even heard the song yet. It is written by Jon, Richie and songsmith Billy Falcon, produced by Jon and John Shanks. (In other words, more of the same…) The single came with a small 6-panel fold out poster and lyric booklet in English and Japanese.
The light glare completely erased Dave Bryan from this photo!
Like many fans who have been hanging on long past Bon Jovi’s best before date, I found the song disappointing. Rather than growing, it sounds like Bon Jovi are returning to the mainstream modern pop sounds of Have A Nice Day or even Lost Highway. Bon Jovi’s never been the hardest rocking band, but they have written some great passionate rock songs in the past. “Because We Can”, by title alone, should be in your face and proud of it. Instead, it’s another faceless Pop Jovi song. I’m going to write my own Pop Jovi song called “Who Says We Ain’t Strangers Tonight Because We Got It Goin’ On”.
I hate the chorus, it would be embarrassing to be caught singing this one. There are some nice guitar licks flitting here and there, almost Brian May-like in sound, but barely audible. Everything is buried under a thick blanket of backing vocals, plastic drums and electronic sounds. You can barely make out Richie’s voice, and what passes for a guitar solo is really just a layered guitar melody. At least the Japanese single comes with an instrumental version, which will allow you to hear Richie’s simple and sparing guitar.
The third and final track is a 7 minute live version of “Keep the Faith”, from 2010 in New Jersey. Even this is slightly more laid back than the original 1992 version. But at least it shows that Bon Jovi can write and play challenging material while keeping it accessible. From the manic drum patterns to Richie’s smokin’ solo, this live version is everything that “Because We Can” should be. Richie really shines on this track; I hope he comes back. Bon Jovi without Richie ain’t Bon Jovi.
Based on this single, I won’t be buying the new album What About Now unless I find it cheap.
Disclaimer: I am in a very small minority of fans who love the Q2k album. Most don’t. Many consider it a continuation of the “grungy” sounds of Hear In The Now Frontier, but weaker. That’s not my point of view, so be forewarned. Read on.
Chris DeGarmo’s departure after Hear In The Now Frontier shattered the group, but they decided to soldier on with old friend Kelly Gray (ex-Geoff Tate’s old band Myth, producer of Dokken, Candlebox, Bob Rivers etc.). Gray was a strong writer, but had a completely different style from the melodic DeGarmo. Gray’s sound is more based in heavy riffing, groove, and lots of wah-wah solos. It’s a different Queensryche and change was exactly what this band needed after the terrible Hear In The Now.
Sure, the album title sucks. I wonder if they regret it now? I’m sure they must. Thankfully, the music inside doesn’t suck. Heavy, grooving, riffy, powerful, well recorded…I love this album. The only flaw, and the only reason this doesn’t get five stars from me, is that there is a certain sameness to the songs. Almost all have a similar groove. Yet all are catchy and enjoyable. Truly this is Queenryche at their most “rock” and rock it does!
This remastered edition, like all previous Queensryche remasters, contains liner notes by Geoff Tate and bonus tracks. The liner notes reveal the strife that the band had experienced at the time, largely due to the change in guitar players. Clearly this was not a happy time for the band but the music is only stronger for it. The bonus tracks are cool, my favourite of them being the ballad “Until There Was You”. I was always quite pleased to finally get the live version of “Sacred Ground”, originally only on the Japanese version.
Fave songs:
“Falling Down” – tribal thumping opens this groovy riff rocker
“Sacred Ground” – a droney riff that somehow works within the Queensryche context
“Liquid Sky” – a little more old-school on the riff, but with that same groove
“Breakdown” – sounds a bit too much like “Falling Down”, but is no less powerful
“Burning Man” – the faster side of Queensryche, furious drumming from Rockenfield, simply awesome
“Wot Kinda Man” – the first of the dumb Tate titles conceals a wah-wah infested rocker
“The Right Side Of My Mind” – the most proggy and the most old-school ‘Ryche
Bad lyrical moment: “Like electrical shock-waves in the sky.” Yikes!
Dull song: “When The Rain Comes”. It’s not a terrible song, just a bit too slow without building into anything memorable.
I mentioned the bonus tracks. “Howl” is the first song, very similar to the heavier rocking songs on Q2k. You can see why it was left off initially, as the album is already loaded with songs like this. “Howl” is just slightly inferior in terms of melody and heaviness. “Until There Was You” is a much better song, and I think it should have been on the album. Indeed, the band chose this song for their anthology, Sign of the Times. It’s a ballad with a great chorus, memorable and strong.
“Sacred Ground”, as mentioned, was the live Japanese bonus track. This is not the same version as the one on Live Evolution, this is an earlier recording. Collectors will be happy that they don’t have to hunt down a Japanese copy. Lastly there’s a single edit of “Breakdown”, chopping a minute out of the song. I wasn’t too fussed to have this one, because I already own all three promo singles from this album, from my record store days. I was given free copies of “Breakdown”, “Falling Down”, and “The Right Side of My Mind”. (There was no edit version of “Falling Down”, but the edit version of “Right Side” is missing from this expanded edition. I was actually given two sets of these, but I sold the other set.)
I’m quite fond of Q2k, and I can honestly say that I haven’t liked any of the albums since then quite as much, not even Mindcrime II which should have been a slam-dunk winner. I do hope that the new Queensryche (with La Torre) will return them to the rocking glory years.
QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS – “Fire and Water” (The Cosmos Rocks Amazon.com bonus track, 2008)
When I reviewed the full album, The Cosmos Rocks, I was frustratingly missing one song: “Fire and Water”, their Free cover only available by download on Amazon.com. The reason I was missing it, is that Amazon.com tracks can only be downloaded by people living in the United States. I don’t know if they can tell by your IP address, or by where your credit card is registered, but only Americans can download this track. I’d tried to acquire it via the dark recesses of the internet, but no such luck.
Aaron, being the good chap that he is, offered to ask his brother in law in the United States if he could help. Unfortunately, this song being an Amazon exclusive, of course you have to buy the whole album to get the one track. Anyway, Aaron’s bro in law was a good soul too, and did me that favour, sending me the track.
Am I a sucker for buying the whole album again for one song? Let’s not get into that. I’ve paid more for less in the past. It was a quest long completed and that’s what matters to me.
“Fire and Water” is of course a cover of Paul’s classic Free song, written by Rodgers and Andy Fraser. Unfortunately, Amazon didn’t advertise that this was a live cover. I had assumed that, like the iTunes bonus track “Runaway” (a Del Shannon cover) that this was a studio version. It is not.
This being a download, there are of course no liner notes, no way to tell where this song was recorded or when. I’m working on the assumption that it was probably recorded at the same concert as the live iTunes bonus track, “The Show Must Go On”, which was the Super Live in Japan concert.
Anyway, I have it now. And of course it’s great. “Fire and Water” is a classic song, and I believe that Brian May does the guitar work total justice. It’s a chance for him to deep dig and groove with Roger Taylor. Paul Rodgers is perpetually young, although the song’s key has been lowered to accommodate an older voice. I don’t think this detracts from the song, which is a pretty authentic rendering of a true rock classic.
I don’t have much else to say, I’m glad to finally have the track, completing my Cosmos Rocks album. Right? Right?
Now, none of this information was easily available before, which is what led me to this problem. So for what must surely be an internet first, I give you the most comprehensive overview of The Cosmos Rocks available. There’s all the tracks, and there’s the best ways to find them.
Ahh well. A collector and his money are soon parted.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 166: Anthrax – “Cowboy Song”
Stuff like this didn’t happen often, but it did happen. Sometimes one of my customers would just give me a CD that they thought I would want. Unfortunately my journal didn’t record who gave these discs to me!
Date: 2005/11/26 13:14
WICKED! Someone today gave me a free copy of the “Cowboy Song” single by Anthrax, a rare Thin Lizzy cover. Also got Doin’ The Nasty by Slik Toxik for free. SCORE.
Statham did on occasion give me free discs. I recall once he gave me a Black Crowes single. Another one of my customers (name long forgotten) gave me a Jimi Hendrix hardcover book. But this was not a frequent occurrence. Unfortunately, most people treated the guy behind the counter at the record store like shit. I guess that’s part and parcel of working in a buy-and-sell environment. Stuff like this helped make the job tolerable.
This single was a Sam the Record Man exclusive. It came free with copies of Sound of White Noise purchased there, but for a limited time only. I don’t know how rare it is today, but it certainly is a collectible, being a store exclusive.
I wish I could remember who gave me this cool Anthrax single. It could have been somebody I knew that worked at Sam’s (that narrows it down to 3 or 4 people) or somebody I knew that worked for Warner (narrows it down to 2). Either way, I thank you.
Onto the review!
ANTHRAX – “Cowboy Song” (1993 Warner Music Canada promo)
This promo single comes with no case or cover, but does have some liner notes printed on the CD itself. It was produced by Dave Jerden and Anthrax, and all guitars were performed by Scott Ian. Presumably, that means Dan Spitz doesn’t appear on the song.
This was recorded as a bonus track for the Japanese edition of Sound of White Noise, and can be currently found on the remastered edition of the same album. This is an awesome cover, very authentic to the live version that Thin Lizzy used to do, made famous on the Live and Dangerous album. The lead vocals are, of course, by John Bush. John Bush doesn’t attempt to do a Phil Lynott impression (thankfully, that wouldn’t be wise) but does deliver the vocal with his trademark grit.
Scott Ian nails all the guitar parts perfectly. You’d swear there were two guys playing. It comes as no surprise that Charlie Benate’s drum parts are also perfect. I think Brian Downey was and is one of the most underrated drummers in rock, and Benate does him justice.
I love this cover. Anthrax are well known for choosing and performing great covers. Add this one to the list.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 164: “You scratch my back…”
In the past, (Part 120, in fact) I talked about how T-Rev would keep his eyes peeled for discs that he knew I wanted. It worked out to be a mutually advantageous arrangement; a large chunk of my collection came to me simply because T-Rev knew I wanted something. I’m sure the reverse was also true. But this referred just to discs that showed up in our respective stores.
I had a different arrangement with “QUO”, who worked with me at my own store. In this case, we’d actually buy each other stuff while we were out on our own record shopping excursions. I found the following entries in my journal, illustrating exactly the kind of “you scratch my back…” arrangements that we had. It was pretty awesome.
Date: 2005/10/25 16:26
Today I picked up a Bright Eyes 45, an Arcade Fire 45 for QUO, and the new Motley DVD since I didn’t see the tour. I hope the documentary footage kicks ass! The last Motley DVD (given to me by an ex) really sucked. Maybe Vince actually sings on this one instead of letting the fans do it all!
I actually picked up the Bright Eyes 7″ for QUO as well, but he already had it, so I just kept it for myself. I don’t know which Arcade Fire I bought for him (it was probably “Rebellion”), but the Bright Eyes was “Gold Mine Gutted”. (The Motley DVD I am referring to was Carnival of Sins.)
This was in return of a favour QUO did for me, one week prior!
Date: 2005/10/18 10:00
QUO picked up three CDs for me in Toronto last night:
1. Bon Jovi “Have A Nice Day” single (has two live tracks first released on the box set, but in studio versions). 2. Bruce Dickinson Tyranny Of Souls Japanese import with bonus track. 3. Iron Maiden “The Trooper” CD single.
I remember giving QUO a wishlist. This was back when HMV Toronto still carried Japanese imports (which they no longer do, see rant here). I remember putting Avril Lavigne CD singles on that wishlist too!
This is what obsessive Record Store Guys do. We help each other out. It’s in our blood, the blood of the collector!
I’m going to try and cover more rarities from my collection in 2013. Here’s a very rare one indeed! First, the story of how I acquired it, then the review.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 160: Harem Scarem Acoustic Sessions
Everybody at the store knew I was a big Harem Scarem fan. A bunch of Japanese imports found their way into the store, and I bought them all. I also played their music frequently in-store, as it was melodic and radio-friendly. Their stuff ranged from early Jovi-goodness to mid-period progressive pop rock sounds, to later pop punk. I liked pretty much everything they did, until they changed their name to Rubber and drifted too far into the pop direction for my tastes.
At one point in the early 2000’s, we had a large warehouse in the back of one of our stores. The idea was, we’d warehouse stock for opening future stores. There was a warehouse manager, and he would inventory everything in there. We’d send him anything decent that we had too many copies of. He’d also have stock from liquidations, or estate sales.
A lot of the time, the stuff from liquidations would include promo CD singles. I have dozens of promo discs from him, that we couldn’t sell in store. Usually these promo discs would have edit versions of album tracks. I have stuff from him including promos from Metallica, David Lee Roth, Motley Crue, and King’s X. Some of them, like the King’s X (which we’ll talk about in the future), had rare non-album tracks too.
He also ran our eBay store, and eBay have strict rules about selling promo discs. So basically, anything that was obviously promo sat in boxes gathering dust in our warehouse. On occasion, when it was a band like Harem Scarem that he knew I liked, he’d let me have it. Otherwise it would have sat there for years, probably just to be thrown in the garbage at some point.
One of the discs that he sent my way was a Harem Scarem EP called Acoustic Sessions. Subtitltled Limited Edition, there were only 500 copies made (see footnote for confirmation of this number.)
Most commercial retail releases have barcodes, and this one does not, indicating it probably was not a commercial release. Yet it also doesn’t say, “Not For Sale: Property of Warner Music Canada Ltd.” like a promo should, so who knows? It doesn’t even have a year printed on the case, only the CD itself (1991). The spine of the CD doesn’t even have a serial number. Maybe it was given to fanclub members or contest winners?
Either way: Never seen it before, never seen it since. I don’t truthfully know how it ended up in our possession, whether it was a liquidation, or just something we purchased off a regular customer somewhere. The details are now lost to the sands of time, but either way it ended up in our warehouse and consequently my collection. I also don’t recall what I paid for the disc. Probably $3. That would have been typical, with my staff discount, for something like this. With hindsight, we probably could have sold it for much more than that, but the folks in charge always underestimated the selling power of bands like Harem Scarem.
If it’s true that there’s only 500 copies out there, then I’m thrilled.
Oh, who am I kidding? It’s a rarity no matter what! I’m still thrilled!
HAREM SCAREM – Acoustic Sessions Limited Edition (1991 Warner Music)
The EP starts with a 3:16 edit version of their single “Something To Say”, the fifth single from Harem Scarem’s self-titled debut album. It’s a ballad, pleasant enough, acoustic. It has a really nice acoustic guitar solo courtesy of virtuoso player Pete Lesperance. Otherwise I’ve never considered it a standout. If you like “To Be With You” by Mr. Big or “More Than Words” by Extreme, this is another ballad for your collection. This same version was later released on another EP called Live & Acoustic.
Onto the exclusive acoustic tracks. These three songs were only available here, or the 1994 Japanese import version of the debut album. Good luck finding that today at a decent price!
The debut single “Slowly Slipping Away” (co-written by songsmith Marc Ribler) is rendered in acoustic form first. These acoustic sessions were recorded at Cabin Fever studios and self-produced by Lesperance and singer Harry Hess. As great a song as “Slowly Slipping Away” surely is, I think it does miss something in its acoustic form. That really nice electric guitar hook that precedes the verses, I miss it! I also miss that throbbing bassline. Yet the band’s incredible harmony vocals are just as powerful as ever.
“How Long” is next, a great album track in acoustic form. The chorus is just as big and dramatic as the album version, thanks to the band’s trademark harmonies. In my opinion, the band’s strength here was the original drummer, Darren Smith. What a voice. (The quartet were rounded out by original bassist Mike Gionet who stayed for three studio albums and a couple live releases.)
“Hard To Love” was not a single, but it works really well acoustically and maybe should have been a single after all. Once again the harmonies soar, with Smith in particularly standing out. I’ve always felt that the band really lost something when he left in the early 2000’s. This is a great track, radio ready and full of hooks.
The fifth and final track is just the regular album version of “Something To Say”, at 4:41, with the full (intricate) acoustic intro.
For a five song EP, this one is a winner. Just wish I knew more about its history!
4/5 stars
ADDED NOTE: Reader Danny has emailed the haremscarem.net site, and heard back from somebody regarding there being only 500 copies of this CD:
yes it’s true. Very rare now, because it was released in this very limited quantity. Take care, Dan
BRUCE DICKINSON – Tyranny of Souls (2005, Japanese version)
I spoke about this album’s lyrics at length previously in a Record Store Tale called Navigate the Seas of the Sun. Part of the reason I love this album so much is due to the lyrics. As good as The Chemical Wedding was, science fiction is much more my speed than is William Blake. Therefore, given that slight edge, I actually do prefer Tyranny of Souls. If you’re curious about the lyrics then do please check out that aforementioned Record Store Tale.
Lyrics aside, Bruce Dickinson has had a pretty consistent decade as a solo artist, Maiden notwithstanding. Ever since his Accident Of Birth CD, he’s done nothing but truly excellent heavy metal music. Tyranny Of Souls, however is unique among them: It is Dickinson’s first solo album since rejoining Iron Maiden in 1999. Would anything be different this time? After all, usually when one does a solo album, it is to get ideas of one’s chest that are not appropriate for that band. Sometimes, that can lead to misguided genre experiments that are pleasing to few but the artist.
Reassuringly, Tyranny Of Souls is not a drastic departure from the music Bruce made on his last solo album, The Chemical Wedding. Tyranny uses that album’s sound as its starting point, but actually grows and progresses as you listen to it. It starts just as heavy, but then starts to explore light and shade.
“Mars Within” is an instrumental bit that sets up the first song, “Abduction”. It’s one of Bruce’s heaviest, but then he takes it even heavier with “Soul Intruders”. This is metal just as awesome as Bruce’s best work.
Then we get a little anthemic with “Kill Devil Hill”, easily one of the best melodies Bruce has ever written. The Wright brothers’ first flight is the subject here. We all know Bruce is a pilot and aviation is a passion of his. The passion ended up producing one of his best tunes. Just a great, incredible singalong anthem. I challenge you to get the chorus out of your head.
“Navigate The Seas Of The Sun” is a Maiden-esque power ballad, it could have fit right in with anything on Dance Of Death. Every bit as good as “Kill Devil Hill” with thoughtful lyrics to boot. More awesome songs follow: another anthem called “The River of No Return”, a fast metal tune called “Power of the Sun”, and the insanely catchy “Devil on a Hog”. Despite the silly title, this is simply a great groover, a ride you do not want to end.
The dull sludgey “Believil” is the only stumble. Skip worthy and dumb-titled, I consider this one to be filler. It’s one of those slow dirgey songs that tries to sound modern and fails. Luckily it’s also short, and it is followed by the monstrous title track, which ends the domestic album on a rather sudden note. I prefer the way the Japanese CD ends, with the epic power ballad “Eternal”. Roy Z’s incredible guitar soloing propels this one to the clouds, ending the album on a much more satisfactory note.
Speaking of Mr. Z, he does co-write and produce once again. The drums are ably played by a chap named David Moreno, who replaced the very talented David Ingraham in Z’s Tribe of Gypsies. The bass is handled by a couple guys named Ray Burke and Juan Perez. I miss the recognizable character of Ingraham and original bassist Eddie Casillas, but this album is still strong without them.
Tyranny of Souls is a triumph in many ways. One is that Bruce managed to make a heavy metal record different from Maiden, but just as good. Another is that Bruce made an album worthy of his own back catalogue. Whether you agree with me that it tops Chemical Wedding is not important. I realize that’s a tall order. Hopefully, you will agree that Bruce made yet another winner, a staggering string of great records.
And with this under his belt, Maiden returned to the studio refreshed and renewed, ready to take on A Matter of Life and Death…
We had a staff Halloween party in the late 1990’s. T-Rev had this cool “alien head” — he got it back in ’97 or ’98 from a convenience store. It had alien head suckers inside. He asked the guy at the store, “how much for the alien head?” The guy answered, “If you buy all the suckers in it, you can have it.” So he did.
The candy was awful by the way. I did my share, trying to help him consume it all.
But he got this alien head out of it, and with it, made a cool alien costume. And for the Halloween party that year, I wore the costume.
We had one girl at the store who had a phobia of aliens. I’d never heard of that before. We found it amusing, so after she got to the party, I came up the stairs wearing the alien costume. Well, she was just terrified. We thought it would be funny, but it wasn’t funny. If I could go back and change that, I would. It was a dick move on our part.
I don’t know the story behind the alien phobia, but back then I didn’t believe in aliens. I subscribed to Carl Sagan’s theories. I was a big fan of his book The Demon Haunted World. I simply didn’t think there was any evidence for alien visitation, nor did I think it was possible. Speed of light and all that.
Since that time I’ve read a lot of books. Stanton T. Friedman was the most convincing. A nuclear physicist has credentials that are difficult to dismiss, and he makes convincing cases. I’ve also read Whitley Strieber, Jenny Randles, and many others. I’ve come to the undeniable conclusion that some UFO sightings are real. Most are hoaxes. I’m not interested in those.
But what the hell does this have to do with music?
Aliens and UFO’s have provided subject matter for numerous classic rock and metal songs. Sammy Hagar’s a believer, and he’s incorporated that into some of his lyrics. Mick Mars is a hardcore believer. Blue Oyster Cult’s “Take Me Away” is a great example. Fu Manchu’s “King of the Road”. There’s many more.
In my years of collecting though, I have never found a better set of lyrics on the subject than side 1 of Bruce Dickinson’s excellent Tyranny of Souls album. Kevin, an employee, picked me up a copy at HMV Toronto back when they still sold Japanese imports. That was the cool thing about working in a record store. We helped each other out.
Bruce Dickinson is clearly a believer. I suspect he’s read his share of Von Daniken. Witness the lyrics to “Mars Within”:
Mankind returns to the stars But sometimes, the stars return to mankind… Didn’t you come this way before, a million years ago?
Although there’s also a reference to Professor Bernard Quatermass in the same piece, it’s easy to associate these lines with Von Daniken’s theories on ancient aliens.
But there’s so much more on the same album. “Abduction”:
Are you the truth to sit in judgement on my sins Evil laser gadgets come to penetrate my skin
The next song, “Soul Intruders”, is more abstract but contains clear space references about the “solar wind” and “cosmic streams of time”. But one really cool lyric is “Kill Devil Hill” which combines these themes with the Wright Brothers and first flight. Everyone knows Bruce is a pilot and is interested in the history of aviation. The Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk in North Carolina, is where the Wrights were the first to achieve heavier than air powered flight. But the lyrics hint at more:
Blood brothers of angels, now hear us We earthbound your offspring, don’t fear us God willing, we’ll raise up, be near you So open your arms now and take us
To me, Bruce is referring to the aliens as the “blood brothers of angels”, and mankind as its offspring. This too is a common theme in UFO lore. Some believe that, at minimum, aliens have manipulated our DNA and directly interfered with our evolution. There’s no proof of course, but that’s not my point. I’m just looking at the lyrics and their inspirations.
The final song of these sci-fi themes on the album is “Navigate the Seas of the Sun”. Bruce even paraphrases Albert Einstein:
If God is throwing dice, And Einstein doesn’t mind the chance We’ll navigate the seas of the sun
Einstein once said, “As I have said so many times, God doesn’t play dice with the world.” Einstein was talking about quantum mechanics and its seemingly random predictions. But what Bruce seems to be saying is, if Einstein’s wrong about the universe, then there’s a chance we can break the speed of light and journey to the stars.
Later on in the same song, Bruce changes up the wordplay:
If Einstein’s throwing dice, and God, he doesn’t mind the chance We’ll navigate the seas of the sun
I love this.
The song is loaded with all sorts of beautiful sci-fi wordplay. The song is clearly about leaving Earth behind:
So we go and will not return To navigate the seas of the sun Our children will go on and on To navigate the seas of the sun
This conjures up the image of multi-generational ships that may be necessary to colonize other worlds. The song in general brings to mind the Arthur C. Clark novel The Songs of Distant Earth. Eventually, our sun will use up all its fuel. This is inevitable. It’s physics. If humanity is to survive (if we even last that long) we will have no choice but to find another world to live on. Earth will be fried to a cinder when it goes nova and turns into a red giant.
We can’t go on tomorrow Living death by gravity Couldn’t stand it anymore We’ll sail our ships to distant shores
Death by gravity is another theme that Clarke explored in his books. He felt that we could extend our lives by leaving this cradle and living in zero gravity. Now we know that living in zero gravity deteriorates our bones, possibly to the point of no return. So should we go on to explore the stars, this is an obstacle that must be overcome.
I’m grateful to Kevin for supplying the Japanese version of Tyranny of Souls, but I’m really, really sorry to the girl that we scared with the alien costume! With the benefit of hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it if I knew then what I believe today.
mikeladano.com 