You know this is gonna be good. Popoff writing the definitive book on his fave band of all time? I’m in. I ordered this with his Scorpions bio.
Dirty details:
260 pages, 100,000 words. Pics: live, studio, records, etc.
The sound, as per Popoff: 92% Blue Oyster Cult crossed with Cheap Trick, topped by 4% Kansas and 4% Zappa.
I’ve made no secret of my love for this band, and Martin’s books. Now he’s finally shedding light on a band about whom info is usually scarce. It’s a must for me, and all fans of Canadian rock.
Contact Martin, and his site for lots of books and ordering info. Martinpopoff.com.
When this album came out I bought it immediately. Well, as soon as it was made available by Columbia House music club, that is. I remember that I described it to a work friend named Mark as “raw bluesy shit”, and I still stand by that three word description. With an emphasis on raw. For 1989, this kind of production was unheard of. You can hear everything on this album, you can hear Jake’s fingers talking. Very little embellishment going on here.
Badlands were almost a supergroup of sorts: Ray Gillen (ex-Black Sabbath), Jake E. Lee (ex Ozzy Osbourne), Eric Singer (also ex-Black Sabbath, now in Kiss) and Greg Chaisson (ex-nobody significant). Jake had always complained he didn’t have an outlet to play the blues in Ozzy’s band, so this is his version of the blues, and it’s hard as hell! The band also had a vision of an album with two sides: a first harder rocking side, and a second bluesier side with longer songs.
“High Wire” kicks Badlands off with Jake’s raw, stripped back guitar sound. Producer Paul O’Neill (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) was also managing Badlands, and his production work here is completely different from the layers that he is better known for. The effects are stipped back, and Jake’s guitar is very different from The Ultimate Sin. A groovy exciting track, “High Wire” is driven by the riff and Gillen’s authoritative Coverdale-esque lead vocals.
The single “Dreams In The Dark” is next, the closest thing to a commercial song that this album gets. It has a strong chorus, instantly memorable, but you’ll be forgiven for thinking this is a Whitesnake outtake at first. A brief instrumental precedes my favourite song, “Winter’s Call”. It is as close is you’ll get to a ballad on this album, and only because its intro is slow and acoustic. However once that first riff kicks in, there’s no looking back. Eric Singer’s drum patterns are complex and hard hitting. The song itself is atmospheric and still kicks my ass all these years later. It’s infectious, like an old Zeppelin number. I hear sitar!
A pair of rockers finish side one, “Dancing On The Edge” (an accelerated raw rocker with a great chorus) and “Streets Cry Freedom” a steamy, slower tune like a classic Coverdale prowl. Both songs are standouts.
Side two starts with a serious rocker, “Hard Driver”, but from there it is on to the long, slower bluesy numbers that the band talked about. “Rumblin’ Train” is the bluesiest number, and “Devil’s Stomp” is as heavy as the title implies. “Seasons” is a slow moody one, brilliantly dramatic thanks to Gillen’s emotive vocal. The cassette/CD bonus track was called “Ball & Chain” and it finishes the album on a another hard bluesy note. (Yes, back then when they couldn’t fit all the songs on an LP, they’d still include it on the cassette version and call it a “bonus track”.)
Badlands made a couple more albums, but this one is my favourite. Martin Popoff himself rates this one a 10/10. I gotta agree with the man on this one. On a 5 scale…
Way back in the day, Tom had this book; a book of reviews of metal albums. I don’t know where he got it. He had recently acquired it and was perusing album reviews daily. Hanging out one evening, he said to me, “Have you ever heard Gillan?”
I said, “Gillan, as in Ian Gillan’s band?”
“Yeah,” responded Tom.
“No,” I said.
“You’re going to have to find some. This book gives him consistent 10 star ratings. There are some pretty cool song titles man, like ‘I’ll Rip Your Spine Out’.”
Cool! So “The Book“ (as it came to be known) made the rounds. T-Rev borrowed it for a couple weeks and explored the Max Webster and Kim Mitchell ratings. Trevor enjoy the reviews of the writer, one Martin Popoff. He commented to me, “This guy is pretty bang-on for most of them, but you have to read the Def Leppard and Rik Emmett reviews…hilarious, man.”
Trevor was right! Ipso Facto by Rik Emmett was rated a 0/10, with a single sentence review: “Man, don’t get me started.” The book was hilarious and informative at the same time. We all found it entertaining as well as useful.
When the book came around to me, I was really curious about this band called Budgie. New fave band! Eventually, I returned the book to Tom who passed it on to someone else, probably Uncle Meat. Certain things always stuck in my head. According to Popoff, I clearly needed more Thin Lizzy, so I began rectifying that with a box set. He didn’t think much of Kiss, but I could understand this given his criteria, even if I disagreed.
I wished I owned a copy, and a year later I found one downtown at Encore Records, second hand. Then a weird coincidence happened. Just as I was craving another read, and was preparing to go downtown and buy a copy of Riff Kills Man, a regular customer of mine gave me his copy. I don’t remember too much about this guy, except that he sold more than he bought. He sold a lot of hard-to-find goth and punk stuff, and he always wore a jean jacket, and he strangely always smelled like fried eggs. Since I can’t remember his name, I’ll call him Fried Eggs Man.
So Fried Eggs Man had been talking to me about the book, and passed it onto me free of charge. I thought that was really cool of him. The book too smells of fried eggs, and was coming apart. I used Bounce dryer sheets to help out with the smell, and I painstakingly glued the pages back in with Elmer’s white glue. I had to do some cover repair work as well, but the book is solid as a rock and has served me well for probably a decade and a half by now.
MARTIN POPOFF – Riff Kills Man! (1993 Power Chord Press, Toronto Ontario)
Martin Popoff, a writer for BW&BK magazine, is simply one of the most knowledgeable metal fans out there. His record collection sounds like it’s to die for. Riff Kills Man! is his first book, but today, he has an extensive bibliography of books that I consider among the best sources of rock information out there. In fact, LeBrain himself relies heavily on Popoff’s teachings, and I will admit to consciously emulating him in my earlier reviews.
Riff Kills Man!, later supplanted by his more up to date and complete Collector’s Guides, is an album-by-album review of virtually every major metal record from its inception to 1992, all stuff which belonged to Popoff’s personal collection. He covers subgenres such as punk metal and grunge, and bands so obscure that you may never be able to find their albums. Rated from 1 to 10, with strict rules for rating, Riff Kills Man! gives you a great place to start when looking for something “new” to listen to. If it wasn’t for all the 9 and 10 star reviews in this book, I may never have started listening to Budgie, or Thin Lizzy, or Diamond Head.
His rating system is fairly complex, but for the most part, as objective as possible. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the author’s opinions. For example, Popoff really dislikes a lot of pop rock and gives both Adrenalize and Hysteria by Def Leppard a big fat 0. “An offensive kick in the head from the rock n’ roll bored room,” writes Popoff. You may agree, but for me Hysteria is a classic record. Regardless, he makes valid points that even the most staunch fan such as myself have to grudgingly agree with.
Popoff also tends to dislike live albums with meandering jams like many old Deep Purple recordings. He generally focuses on studio albums, avoiding most EPs and complitions. So if you’re looking for complete reviews of, say, the numerous Thin Lizzy EPs, live releases and compilations, look elsewhere.
Martin ends the book with several lists and indexes: Top desert island albums, top guitar players, vocalists, producers, you name it. He also has a lot of unique categories all his own, such as best showman, best comeback, most consistent band, etc. AC/DC are ranked as his #1 band in the category of worst album covers!
That aside, Riff Kills Man! was, for me, an essential and often hilarious piece of reading. Pick it up, and then move forward for some of Popoff’s more complete and more specialized books. I keep mine in my desk at work at all times!
DISCLAIMER – Although it can be found used, this book is out of print. I spoke to Martin Popoff once about this book, and he told me he finds it a bit embarrassing today. I still think it’s awesome.
5/5 stars
Also recommended by Popoff: His books on Sabbath, Rush, Rainbow, and Priest are definitive. The best books on the market for those bands.
mikeladano.com 