john williams

REVIEW: Star Wars: The Force Awakens soundtrack [spoiler free]

NEW RELEASE – SPOILER FREE

Scan_20160103 (8)STAR WARS: The Force Awakens original motion picture soundtrack (2015 Lucasfilm/Disney)

After seeing The Force Awakens on December 18, my radio pal Rob Daniels who had not seen it yet asked me, “How was it, seeing a Star Wars movie without the 20th Century Fox logo and fanfare at the start?”

It was strange.  Not unexpected of course; we all know the reason there is an Episode VII today is because Lucasfilm sold Star Wars to Disney.  The old 20th Century Fox fanfare does not commence the soundtrack, which instead begins with the main Star Wars title theme.  This quiets and slows, as the covert start to the movie begins.

“The Scavenger” introduces the character of Rey.  Add this to yet another intriguing piece of character music from the mind of John Williams.  “The Scavenger” is unlike any of the other Star Wars cues; it’s brand new, just like the character of Rey.  I get goosebumps hearing it again, such is the power and identity of the score.  It also has the tone to connect this new chapter to the other instalments of the saga.  This is only a brief respite.  Much like the movie itself, the action resumes shortly.  The title “I Can Fly Anything” suggests you should fasten your seatbelts for this cue!*  Williams allows you to close your eyes and picture the flurry yourself.  He always has; that’s his magic.  As kids, we would drop the needle on the soundtrack to The Empire Strikes Back while navigating an asteroid field with our Kenner Millenium Falcons.  Or, you would flip the pages of your Marvel Star Wars comic movie adaptations, while listening to those records.  The experience still works today.  Through the drama and occasional quiet moments of reflection, you will notice callbacks to cues from the classic trilogy — “The Falcon”, or “Han and Leia” for example.  These pieces of music are warmly remembered.

When the soundtrack to The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, the track “Duel of the Fates” became a bit of a hit single.  There is no “Duel of the Fates” here, but “Rey’s Theme” serves well as the memorable track this time out.  With more subtlety (and perhaps even femininity?), “Rey’s Theme” is a new kind of Star Wars music.  I have high hopes that the character and story arc will unfold in a way just as emotional and satisfying as her theme music.  Star Wars deserves to have characters that you can invest your emotions in.  With the prequel trilogy, I could never feel much for Anakin Skywalker.  You always knew that no matter what happened in the prequels, he’s just going to end up in the black suit and blowing up Aldaraan.  Rey’s future is unwritten.  Having a strong theme will help her character going forward.

Scan_20160103 (7)

Vintage Star Wars fun can be had on the tension-packed tracks “The Rathtars!”, and “Kylo Ren Arrives”.  Somber beauty is “The Starkiller”, ironic considering the scene in question.  For deeper listening, check out the tracks “Maz’s Counsel” and “Snoke”.  Perhaps there are musical clues buried in these pieces to help us identify who some of these characters may be?

The soundtrack is a wild ride like the movie from which it came, picking up suspense as it nears the end.  The less said about the last few tracks on the CD the better, except to mention that Williams continues to forge new ground for Star Wars right to the finale.  With passion and precision, every track is the perfect accompaniment.

My only disappointment, although not unexpected since this is only a single CD release, is that some music is naturally omitted.  The one track I wish was available is the neat rasta-space-blues song playing when our heroes arrives at Maz Kanata’s tavern.  It’s the “Cantina Band” or “Lapti Nek” of the movie, but it’s not on the CD.  There are whispers that a 2 CD deluxe edition is forthcoming this year.

5/5 stars

* The Millenium Falcon has seatbelts, but the USS Enterprise does not.  Discuss!

MOVIE REVIEW: Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Spoiler-free]

NEW RELEASE – SPOILER FREE ZONE!

Star_Wars_The_Force_Awakens_Theatrical_PosterSTAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)

Directed by JJ Abrams

“Faster, more intense!”

15 minutes ago, I was sitting in my theater seats.  That’s how fresh this review is!

As mentioned in this morning’s post, Star Wars Episode VII is the movie I really wanted to see, ever since 1983.  We didn’t care about backstory, we didn’t want to see prequels.  All we cared about was “What happens next?  What happens to Han, Luke and Leia?”  That’s one reason Timothy Zahn’s written sequel, the “Thrawn Trilogy”, was so well received by fans worldwide.  But that’s just a book — what really happens after the second Death Star is destroyed?

Now I know, and I am not disappointed.

Director JJ Abrams has re-captured the magic.  The lived-in universe is back.  The wooden, stiff dialogue and exposition are gone.  The new quartet of leads (Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and especially the impressive Daisy Ridley) are everything we wanted out of a new generation of Star Wars heroes and villains.  They will now join the pantheon of characters that live on in our hearts.  The camaraderie and friendships that were never believable in the prequels have finally come back to life.  Without the misguided hands of George Lucas at the tiller, the Star Wars sequel trilogy has begun anew, with life.

Rey is a scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku.  The parallel here to Tattooine is unmistakable and obviously intentional, but Jakku has its own charm by being strewn with original trilogy space junk.  In fact, the whole movie is littered with original trilogy callbacks, from certain objects on a familiar starship, to the overall look and deco of the universe.  The galaxy has seen a lot of wear and tear, but a new threat called the First Order has risen, and wants to see the end of the New Republic.  The Republic (which we don’t get to see much of), is defended by a secret organization much like the rebels, called the Resistance.  They are led by General Leia Organa, continuing on doing what she knows how to do best.  How does Rey fit in?  When a droid carrying a secret message for the Resistance (sound familiar?) and an ex-stormtrooper fall into her life, it will never be the same again.


Uber-fans will like to know that there are some shots and lines in the trailers that are different in the movie.

The new characters serve the archetypes that worked in classic Star Wars movies.  You have an orphan on the desert world, a hotshot pilot (or perhaps two), and the cute but witty little droid who helps out at all the right moments, but mostly needs rescuing.  Original?  Not hardly.  The original trilogy, with its familiar set pieces and dialogue, are omnipresent.  Fans have set the bar much lower since the prequels, and a group of re-tread heroes will have the fans satiated.  Then we have the villain, Kylo Ren, the enforcer of the First Order, and face of the Disney marketing campaign.  Much has been made of Ren’s wimpy voice, but in full theater sound it works much better.  Adam Driver, an extremely talented and distinguished looking actor, fit the role like a glove.  His epic temper tantrums rival those of his idol, Lord Vader himself.

But don’t worry.  There aren’t any dreadful “Noooooooooo’s” or lines about sand being course and getting everywhere.  There aren’t wishy-washy speeches about love, although Finn and Rey have a bond that could develop into romance later on.  Writer Lawrence Kasdan, who worked on the classic trilogy and knew where Lucas wanted to take this thing, helped tremendously.  From opening crawl to final scene, this feels right.

In many respects, The Force Awakens is Han Solo’s movie.  When he and Chewbacca hook up with our new heroes (in a totally believable way), he takes over the lead and drives the plot forward.  Harrison Ford seems to have turned his “Han Solo” knob up to 11.  The older, wiser and sadder man has seen it all, now.  As another character once said, “It’s not the age, it’s the mileage”.  Solo and Chewie’s presence make the whole thing really feel like Star Wars.

My biggest concern going into this was that a Star Wars sequel trilogy would not feel like it was part of the whole; it would feel tacked on to the end.  That is not the case.  While George Lucas had nothing to do with the film, it does carry his wish that a new Star Wars trilogy would focus on a new generation of heroes, while remaining a story about the Skywalker family.  JJ Abrams has done that, in an appropriate and lively way.  The new Star Wars is the most exciting in many years, and what it lacks in originality it makes up in spirit.  I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

My only serious beef is about this new superweapon the First Order have.  Superweapons are a part of Star Wars, and always require blowing up.  This one made no sense at all, especially how it was visually depicted.  We need Neil DeGrasse Tyson to do a pop-up video and tell us just how stupid that thing is.  If you thought the “red matter” and destruction of Vulcan sucked in Star Trek, wait until you see this stupid thing.  Just pretend it makes sense and watch the pretty starship dogfights.

Oh, and Luke Skywalker?  Some will be disappointed, but those who love Star Wars will have the same goosebumps that I did.  Mark Hamill is the man.  Luke is back, looking weary but powerful and wise.  There are a lot of loose ends to tie up.  Get ready, galaxy.

4/5 stars

Don’t forget to tune in tonight at midnight (ET) for Rob Daniels’ Visions In Sound, when he and I will be playing the brand-new Star Wars soundtrack composed by John Williams!  Tune in locally on your FM dial to CKWR 98.5, or elsewhere, just click “listen live” via their website!  The show runs from midnight to 2 am (ET).  Coffee?

20151217_181733

EDIT: Stream the whole show here!

#455.5: More Star Wars radio, tonight!

SWTFA

Tonight at midnight, you can again catch me LIVE on Robert Daniels‘ radio program VISIONS IN SOUND.   Tune in locally on your FM dial to CKWR 98.5, or elsewhere, just click “listen live” via their website!  The show runs from midnight to 2 am (ET).  Coffee?

Tonight’s subject:  STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS!  The brand spanking new soundtrack by John Williams.

This will be our first time hearing it.  Last week, Rob and I covered the music from the classic trilogy also composed by John Williams.  We had an amazing time talking about the music, what it means to us as fans, and what it does for the films.  Tonight will be interesting because I have no idea what the music sounds like!  I am hoping to see The Force Awakens this morning or afternoon.  One thing I mentioned to Rob last week (and I can’t even remember if this was on or off the air) was that this is the movie we have really been waiting for since 1983.

In ’83 when the credits rolled, all we really wanted to know was “what happens next?”  Lucas had long teased us with the idea of three trilogies, but after Jedi it soon seemed unlikely that a sequel trilogy would ever happen.  In 1983, we didn’t care about whatever happened Episodes I, II, or III.  Many of us consider that to be backstory that would be better off left to the imagination.  Kind of like reading the indices in a Tolkien book.  We really wanted to see what happened next with Luke, Leia and Han.  Would Luke become the most powerful Jedi ever?  What new threats would emerge now that Vader and the Emperor were dead?  And most interestingly, would Luke find and train new Jedi Knights, as Yoda instructed him?  “Pass on what you have learned.”

That’s what we wanted to see.  Then Lucas crapped out and said, “No more Star Wars.  We’re done.”

By the time 1994 rolled around, his tune changed.  It was Jurassic Park that did it.  Lucas became enamoured with computers and said, “Now we have the technology to go and do Star Wars the way I always wanted to do it.”   He began work, and as the prequels emerged from 1999-2005, Lucas often said “I only have ideas for six movies.  That’s all there is.  There are no sequels.  The story is about Anakin Skywalker’s fall and redemption.”  Yada, yada, yada….

I’ve always believed that George Lucas, much like his creation Han Solo, was just “making it up as he goes”.  Although George did come up with story ideas for Star Wars Episode VII and beyond, what we will see today is a brand new creation.  Lucas always said that if there were to be any sequels, they would be about Darth Vader’s grandchildren with Luke playing a mentoring role, like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Today, we finally find out.

But tonight, I hope you’re able to tune in and catch what I assume and hope to be some incredible music.  The Force Awakens will be the seventh Star Wars film composed by John Williams, and I am certain that it will be a treat.  I’ve already reviewed all the classic trilogy soundtracks already, so if you need to catch up before the awakening, here they are:

Check in tonight, and may the Force be with you!  Always.

EDIT: Stream the show now, right here:
Visions in Sound archive

REVIEW: Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack)

STAR WARS: Return of the Jedi – Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack (1997 RCA limited edition with holographic discs, original soundtrack released 1983)

The final soundtrack of the original trilogy received the most disappointing Special Edition soundtrack.  The reissues for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back essentially offered complete collections of all the music from those two films.   The soundtrack for Return of the Jedi suffers the most from the Special Edition changes.  New music replaces old well-loved tunes, which is rarely a good idea.

Instead of the classic music of “Lapti Nek” (Jabba’s palace scene) we now get “Jedi Rocks”.  I need not tell you how unwelcome that song was, replacing “Lapti Nek”.  All because Lucas didn’t like that the singing alien puppet’s lips didn’t move enough, so he decided to “fix” that by putting in a much more elaborate musical number to go with the new CG lips.  Thanks, George.  Thankfully “Lapti Nek” was included on the 4 CD Star Wars Anthology box set.

The other missing music is “Ewok Celebration”, which fans worldwide know as “Yub Nub”.  This Ewok song was one of those miserable little teddy bears’ few redeeming qualities.  “Ewok Celebration” is replaced by the bland new “Victory Celebration” which ends the film.  Thankfully the original music is also on the Anthology box set.  (I would like to get that.)

Yub Nub!

Return of the Jedi gets off to a slower start than the other soundtracks.  Instead of a battle or vicious Wampa attack, Jedi opened with a couple droids wandering through the desert before finding gainful employment with Jabba the Hutt.  I know, right?  How could that not make for exciting music?  It’s not until Luke Skywalker confronts Jabba (track 6) that things start to move.  Until then, the music remains largely atmospheric and creepy.  There are a few unforgettable musical cues, such as that which accompanies Han Solo’s thawing.

Because Jedi was the third movie in a trilogy, it revisits a lot of familiar themes.  The music for “The Imperial March” is heard several times for example (such as within “The Emperor Arrives”), but there isn’t much in terms of new memorable themes.  I suppose that is to be expected.  The nature of the film, including the deaths of beloved characters and other upsetting revelations, lent themselves to a darker soundtrack.  A lot of atmospheric pieces helped underscore the mood of these scenes.  This is offset by child-like Ewok segments of brightness.

A nice touch is the inclusion of alternate versions.  The exciting “Sail Barge Assault” is included in an alternate take.  There is also a sweeping concert suite of “The Forest Battle” on disc two.  “Lapti Nek” and “Yub Nub” would have been nice, but in 1997 George was really trying to bury the original versions of the films forever.  I’ll just have to find an old record, or that Anthology box.

The original music, excised for the Special Edition, is what this CD misses most.

3/5 stars

REVIEW: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack)

STAR WARS: The Empire Strikes Back – Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack (1997 RCA limited edition with holographic discs, original soundtrack released 1980)

Composed and conducted by John Williams

When I was 8 years old, this was my favourite album.  It was my favourite album for a long time.  I didn’t have a lot of albums when I was young, but The Empire Strikes Back was a clear favourite.  It was only usurped by Styx’s Kilroy Was Here several years later.

Even when I was a child I had a sense that this one was something special.  The Empire Strikes Back contains one of the best known Star Wars anthems ever: “The Imperial March”.  Hard to imagine today, but that piece of music did not exist when the original Star Wars came out in 1977.  The character of Darth Vader grew tremendously in the second film, and I think “The Imperial March” helped drive it home.

As far as I’m concerned, composer John Williams is a rock star.  He makes instrumental concept albums.  That is exactly the way that my rocker ears hear this music.  I cannot express how true to me that is.  For me, this album (in its original double LP format) was like The Wall, Tommy, or Quadrophenia.  It has always been a rollicking journey to listen to, preferably loud.  It has swells and drops, peaks and valleys.  It has memorable “songs” that you can go back to over and over and over again.

The original soundtrack from 1980 was a massive two record set, but it was still only long enough to contain 75 minutes of the film’s music.  This double CD has a whopping 124 minutes — the complete score.  Even all these years later, revisiting the soundtrack, I can immediately tell when a piece of music wasn’t on the original record.  “Ice Planet Hoth” was the first such moment.  Other pieces such as “The Magic Tree” are very familiar because I played those records so many times!  As a kid, I don’t think I even realized that the LPs didn’t have all the music.

Having the whole soundtrack, in order, on CD, is a real treat.  It makes me want to take a dig through my parents’ basement and dig up my old Kenner Millenium Falcon.  Or even better, get the bigger, badder, awesomer new one.  That thing looks incredible…but I digress.  My point is, it reignites that feeling I had as a kid.  I’d hear this music, and go grab my Falcon toy, and “fly” it around.  That feeling hasn’t gone away.  In fact, with this baby remastered the way it is, I’d say that feeling is stronger than ever.

Other honorable mentions:  “The Battle of Hoth”, “The Asteroid Field”, “Mynock Cave”, and “Yoda’s Theme”.  All these are almost as memorable as “The Imperial March”.

Since I’m not musically schooled in any way, I wanted to talk to someone who is. I spoke to world-renowned bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano about the music:

This album is one of my favourite soundtracks, and I still listen to it often. In fact, when I got my new turntable for Christmas, the original LP soundtrack for Empire was the very first album I played on it. In terms of Star Wars soundtracks, I think this is the best one. I am certainly more critical of John Williams’ soundtracks in general now than I was as a kid because I now know that much of his material was “borrowed” from other composers, but despite that knowledge, this album still has a lot of iconic and evocative themes. My favourite is probably “The Asteroid Field”, but obviously “The Imperial March” is pretty amazing too.

If I had to pinpoint a favourite moment in this soundtrack, it actually appears during the track “Carbon Freeze/Darth Vader’s Trap/Departure of Boba Fett”.  From about 5:10 to 5:20 is a series of dissonant chords that I have always loved the sound of (especially the one at 5:17 – 5:18!). Long before I studied music or played an instrument, those dissonant chords resonated with me and I still love hearing them.

I now know what album I’m going to listen to today.

I’m fortunate to have the limited edition CD wallet version of this soundtrack.  As with A New Hope, the discs are hologram etched.  This time, instead of the striking image of the Death Star, it’s just a fairly flat Imperial logo.  Not quite as awesome.

Still, 5/5 stars.

STAR WARS_0003REVIEW:  Star Wars – A New Hope soundtrack Special Edition (1997)

REVIEW: Star Wars: A New Hope (Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack)

STAR WARS: A New Hope – Special Edition original motion picture soundtrack (1997 RCA limited edition with holographic discs, original soundtrack released 1977)

Composed and conducted by John Williams

Everyone over a certain age remembers the feeling of seeing Star Wars for the first time.  Star Wars — not “A New Hope“, a subtitle used starting with the 1981 theatrical re-release.  It was hard not to be blown away by it.  Star Wars was groundbreaking in many ways, but let’s not forget about the music!  Before Star Wars, space movies didn’t have much in the way of original soundtracks.  The best space movie of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey, used entirely pre-existing music by composers as diverse as Strauss and Ligeti.  Lucas himself wanted to do the same thing.  He had selected pieces such as The Planets by Holst, before having a change of heart.  [Thanks to Rob Daniels from the Visions in Sound show for this info.]

Movie veteran John Williams came recommended by Steven Speilberg, who struck gold with the composer on Jaws.  Incredibly, Williams turned in a score for Star Wars even more memorable than that of Jaws.  Utilizing the London Symphony, a soundtrack of incredible emotional depth and themes was forged.

This 1997 issue of the soundtrack was released to coincide with the Special Editions, but don’t let that frighten you away.  When the original was released on vinyl, the complete score could not fit onto two LPs.  The special editions enabled the engineers to go back and do new digital transfers from the original master tapes.  A full chronological soundtrack was then assembled including previously unreleased music, as well as bonus alternate takes.

STAR WARS_0003

The discs are housed in a nice CD wallet that is prone to scratching the discs if you are not careful.  The discs themselves are etched with a hologram of the dreaded Death Star.  The other two soundtracks in this series of reissues had their own holograms, but only for the initial run of discs.  When they sold out, they were replaced by un-etched discs in simple jewel cases.  The first run are collectibles, at least when the CD wallet is in good shape and still has the embossed outer cardboard shell.  Unfortunately over my years at the Record Store, I saw many of these in absolutely mangled condition.

The wonderful thing about listening to a soundtrack like this, in order, is enjoying the images that come with it.  You could be cleaning the house or working on your taxes, but subliminally, your mind is re-playing the scene when Obi-Wan gives Luke his father’s lightsaber.  You know the score by heart: when old Ben says, “A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pubil of mine before he turned to evil, you hear that mournful theme swoon.  When we were kids my sister and I used to play Star Wars to the music of The Empire Strikes Back soundtrack, and it made the scene we re-created with our Kenner toys that much more awesome.

STAR WARS

Put on the track “The Battle of Yavin” and try not making laser blast sounds, and a big ol’ explosion when the Death Star blows up.  It’s more fun just to go ahead and make the sounds anyway.

Disc one contains the bonus track, an alternate take “Binary Sunset”.  You know the scene, when Luke is looking longingly as the twin suns set.  Hidden within the track, but unlisted, are alternate takes of the opening scene music, complete with voice cues.

I’m a firm believer that the Star Wars soundtracks are basically the heavy metal of the classical world.  Listen to those trumpets and horns blasting those battle themes.  Put that on an Iron Maiden album played by the duo of Smith and Murray, and you have primo heavy metal.  That’s one reason why I recommend John Williams and the Star Wars soundtracks to fans of heavy metal who want to expand their horizons.

5/5 stars

#389: LeBrain Trivia Facts!

Picture 16 A

RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#389: LeBrain Trivia Facts!

Time to get to know your host here a little better. Here are 10 facts I bet you didn’t know about LeBrain.

1. I don’t wear a watch. I was sick of them always breaking, plus I don’t find them comfortable.  When I worked at the Record Store, I would take off my watch at the beginning of every shift and put it on again afterwards.

2. When I was really really young, I didn’t know the difference between a guitar and a bass, until somebody told me a bass only has four strings and therefore four tuning pegs. Until that time, I had assumed Michael Anthony was actually Eddie Van Halen, because he looked cooler to me!

3. My very earliest exposure to rock music was through a couple TV shows – The Flintstones, and the Hilarious House of Frightenstein!  Frightenstein featured a character called “The Wolfman”, based on Wolfman Jack…but a wolfman!  He would spin Rolling Stones and Kinks singles.

4. My first musical idol was John Williams. I loved his movie soundtracks and played them until they skipped.  Star Wars and Indiana Jones were awesome, but his best was the 2 LP set of The Empire Strikes Back, which was loaded with photos.

5. After John Williams came Johnny Cash, my very first concert at age 12.

6. I have been given a speeding ticket a total of three times over 24 years of clean driving.

7. I come from a musical family, but I can’t really play anything.

8. I make stop motion Transformers movies using my toy collection. I have never released any of them, even though I think I did better in one weekend with $0 than Michael Bay did in a year with a $Zillion dollars.

9. Much like everyone who grew up in the 1980’s, I owned Thriller by Michael Jackson and Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen, on cassette.

10. My last name has been misspelled for about the last 100 years. Can you guess how it was originally spelled?

The two videos I chose for this post have a specific common element. Can you name it?

Part 0: A Few Words for Days Gone By…

I decided to do something special for Part 250…by not doing Part 250 at all.

This isn’t one of those bullshit prequels, like when George Lucas says, “Oh, Episode I, I had that written for decades,” when it was pretty obvious he was making it up as he went along!  Nope, this isn’t like that.  I started writing the Record Store Tales over 10 years ago, and what you see below is the original first chapter.  It existed solely for the purpose of background and context, but I excised it in favour of starting things faster with the second chapter, “Run To The Hills”.  Since that became Part 1, it makes sense that this earlier introduction should be Part 0.  With hindight, I kind of wished I’d kept it in, so here it is!  And don’t forget to check out my new complete Table of Contents, should you wish to read  more!

KATHRYN GEOFF MIKEYeah…don’t ask. That’s me on the right.

A Few Words for Days Gone By…

What is childhood made of? In my mind, when you’re a kid, life consists of two things:

1. School
2. Summer Holidays

That was the cycle.  To break it down to the core, to an 11 year old life was 10 months of school followed by two months of glorious, warm sunny freedom.  Sure, you’d get to go home at the end of the day, but you were never truly free until the end of June. No more pencils, no more books, all that stuff.  It was way better than Christmas holidays.  The Canadian winters offered such fun treats as shoveling, besides snow pants, parka, boots (laced up too tight), and mittens which prevented you from using your fingers.

Our summers were boisterous. My sister Kathryn and I were like peas in a pod. We would play some kind of game every day, usually under my leadership. I would declare that today, we were going to play Star Wars. Other possible declarations included building fleets of Lego ships and cars, and having a giant war. Or inventing a new ball game.  Once GI Joe came along, we’d dig trenches in the yard, as well as forts and garages of twigs and leaves, and have an entire day (or week) dedicated to Cobra Commander’s new secret weapon. Aside from an occasional rebellion from my sister, our summers were mostly uninterrupted merriment.

STAR WARS

My sister and I both clearly remember one such rebellion, where she wanted to do things her way.  It involved our Star Wars figures.  We were already mid-battle.  I was setting up a perfect counter-offensive. The Millenium Falcon would sneak attack Vader’s base, take out his Tie Fighter early in the melee, while Luke would take out Boba Fett. Leia and Lando had to distract Jabba The Hutt, so that he couldn’t stop Luke when he eventually confronted the Emperor. Game over! The plan was perfect. Now I just needed my sister to coordinate the battle with me, under my command of course.

Much to my disappointment, she had moved around some of the figures and now had them seated.  Luke and Vader were next to each other. “Why are Luke and Vader sitting there? Luke is about to attack and Vader should be getting into his ship.”

My sister continued playing with the figures, and without looking up, replied, “Luke and Vader want to be friends now. They’re having tea.”

It didn’t matter that half the figures were hers, if she didn’t know how to play Star Wars right. So I’d yell a bit, act like a big brother usually does, and eventually she’d go along with the plan, or cry and leave.  The evil Empire would be defeated once and for all, thanks to my brilliant leadership and strategy.  We were definitely pals, growing up.

For years, this was the way of the summer holidays. We’d be doing something awesome at home, or at the cottage, but it would always be something cool. It didn’t matter where we were: games continued wherever we went.  We’d make a game out of anything.   You give us a pile of junk and we’ll make a game out of it.

STYX FRONTAll things do come to an end. The Star Wars trilogy ended in 1983 and something needed to fill the vacuum. While GI Joe and later Transformers would temporarily take its place, I was getting older.  My attention was drifting.  I was looking for something cool, new, and exciting.  Video games didn’t hold my attention and neither did sports.

Starting in 1983, several things happened in a short time frame.  Styx released a single called “Mr. Roboto” that some of my friends at school were obsessed with.   Then I heard a song called “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC, and it was pretty cool too.  Then, a newer band called Quiet Riot came out with an album called Metal Health that would go on to sell three million copies.  This was my first rock cassette purchase when I was in the 6th grade.  Something connected…

AC/DC.  Van Halen.  Ozzy Osbourne.  Black Sabbath.  Def Leppard.  Motley Crue.  Iron Maiden.  Who were these people? I had a lot to find out.

Continued in Record Store Tales Part 1:  Run to the Hills

Part 209: The Phantom Menace

 

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!

Part 1: The Beginning – “Run to the Hills”

 

RECORD STORE TALES PART 1:  The Beginning – “Run To The Hills”

I still remember the first time I heard Iron Maiden.

Maybe it’s this way for some when they remember the first time they heard the Beatles, or the Stones. Or for those younger, maybe it’s like the first time they heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Fake Plastic Trees”. The first time I heard “Run To The Hills” was monumental to me, but I didn’t realize yet what the massive impact would be.

It was Christmas of 1984. I was a mere 12 year old looking for musical direction.  I hadn’t been much interested in music prior to that.  I had albums by Quiet Riot and Styx, but my majority of my collection was John Williams’ movie soundtracks.

I really wasn’t interested in music yet. I had yet to dedicate myself to any particular style. At the same time that I would listen to Quiet Riot, I somehow also thought Billy Ocean was cool.

Well, the video for “Loverboy” was nifty….

I had always been kinda afraid of heavy metal bands.  Guys that wore spikes, like Judas Priest or Iron Maiden. Kiss literally scared me when I was buying my first comics (there were always ads for Kiss posters inside comic books), and I know I wasn’t the only one. The neighbor kid was scared to death of Gene Simmons spitting up blood. Bands like Maiden and Priest looked like a bunch of hooligans, definitely up to no good, definitely out to hurt people, including kids.

Boxing Day, Bob came over. It was tradition, every Boxing Day, Bob and I would get together and compare our Christmas scores. Bob scored a cassette tape called Masters Of Metal Volume 2 and I was given an Atari game called Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron.

In my basement, we sat down to play the video game. Our goal was to take the game as far as humanly possible, to see what happened when you shot down so many planes that the Atari didn’t have enough characters to display it anymore. (Incidentally, disappointingly, like most Atari games, it just starts counting up from zero again.) We sat there playing that game so long that Bob had to go home and eat lunch, then come back. But what he left behind while eating was Masters Of Metal.

“Run To The Hills” came on. Some people speak of moments of clarity: That was my moment. The music was fast, powerful, dramatic and melodic. The lyrics were cool and you could mostly sing along. Most importantly, the music and lyrics seemed to combine with the game experience. When Dickinson was singing “Run to the hills, run for your lives!” it meshed perfectly!  Too bad Aces High wasn’t out yet!

A moment like that could quickly pass into history and be forgotten for most people.  As the day wore on, I realized that I had found something. This music kicked ass!  I was brought up on movie soundtracks.  This stuff had the same drama, but with guitars!   This was even better than Quiet Riot and AC/DC, so I said at the time.

It didn’t end there of course. We played through Masters Of Metal, finding a few more diamonds. “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” By Judas Priest was definitely a close second to “Run To The Hills”. We were fixated on Accept’s “Balls To The Wall”.  We’d play it over and over again laughing hysterically at the lyrics.  But the song still rocked!  I can still remember when MuchMusic started the Power Hour, and they played that video.  There’s little Udo Dirkscheider, in his camo pants, and crew cut, rocking with these skinny German guys with long hair.  It was fucking hilarious!

We skipped (what we then thought was) the crap…Lee Aaron, Anvil, Triumph.  I grew into them later, particularly Triumph.  Something to do with double guitars, maybe.  I digress.  We always came back to Iron Maiden.  Always.

Bob would bring other tapes over as the months and years went by. W.A.S.P., Motley Crue, Black Sabbath. Now Bob’s a father of four who doesn’t listen to rock music anymore, which makes me sad in a way.  I’m not sad for him, because he’s got a great family and always has.  I’m more sad because I don’t think he can ever appreciate what impact our shared experiece of rocking out had on me.  Listening to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and the rest.  The was it, the beginning.