michael jackson

REVIEW: Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (12″ single)

This is the third review from the The Toronto Musical Collectibles Record & CD Sale!  Wes bought me this 12″ single, which was real nice of him.  So for Wes, here’s the review!

For the last review in this series, click here.

TWISTED SISTER  – “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (1984 Atlantic single)

I’ll skip the formalities, and I won’t be discussing the single A-side.  What is understood need not be discussed.  On the off chance that you spent your youth in Antarctica, here’s the very clever and original music video (later ripped off by Michael Jackson for his own “Black or White”).

The B-sides are three of Twisted’s all time best, recorded live, and unreleased on CD to date.  All three are classics from You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll:  “The Kids are Back”, “We’re Gonna Make It”, and the album’s title track.  These were recorded live in Poughkeepsie, New York.  Although it seems odd, Dee’s usual spoken opening, “We are Twisted fuckin’ Sister” skipped the expletive.  I’m not sure if it’s edited out or not, for the release of this single.

As far as a single side of Twisted onslaught goes, I don’t know if you could have selected three better songs.  The performances are typical live Sister; fast and reckless.  In other words, perfect.  The live tracks were co-produced by bassist Mark “The Animal” Mendoza so you know that the band at least had their hands in the mix, too.

Another cool fact:  neither “The Kids are Back” nor “We’re Gonna Make It” are on the Live at the Marquee CD, minimizing overlap with that later release.  They were recorded within the same time frame, so the band is in similar ferocious shape to that great live album.

4/5 stars

Part 192: Mix One

MIX ONE

RECORD STORE TALES Part 192:  Mix One

Blank discs are so cheap, and musical tastes so fleeting today, that I wonder if anybody but me still has the first mix CD they ever burned?

I’m hoping some of you have, and I’m hoping to hear it about from you too.  My first disc was made in early 2001 when we got our first burner.  It was made for a very specific purpose.

At the store, there was an informal rule that if you were closing one day and opening the next, it was “OK” to borrow a movie overnight, watch and return it.  So if that was true for movies, why not a CD?  Why not a dozen?  A few nights after having the CD burner installed, I borrowed a bag full of discs and burned this compilation on a Maxell CD-R 650.  74 minutes!  Up to 16x certified!

I returned the discs the next day, all albums that I wanted one or two songs from, but not the whole album.  Many were soundtracks and tribute albums.  I ended up buying The Strokes’ album a few weeks later, an ill-advised purchase that yielded only two or three listens.  I don’t have that one anymore.  But I still have my mix CD with “Last Nite”!

The Robbie Williams + Queen track is taken from the soundtrack to A Knight’s Tale.  I shall maintain the anonymity of the store employee who had the crush on Heath Ledger and inundated us with this soundtrack.  The same disc also yielded “I Want to Take You Higher” by Sly and the Family Stone.

Track 3 is an industrial-rock hybrid tune called “Violent New Breed”.  I later purchased the Violent New Breed album by Shotgun Messiah.  Industrial rock fans will know that Messiah’s original bassist/singer was Tim Tim, aka Tim Sköld of KMFDM, Marilyn Manson, and his eponymous band.  I liked the title track enough to later buy the album and the prior one too.  Both were keepers.

I’ve been a Goo Goo Dolls fan for a while so I thought I would grab their INXS cover “Don’t Change” from an Ace Ventura soundtrack.  Their cover of “Bitch” came from the 1993 No Alternative compilation album.

Apparently I was on a Warrior Soul kick at that time as well.  Shame that there isn’t a great Warrior Soul compilation album that suits all my needs.  I bought and sold their studio albums.  As for Michael Jackson, I later decided to add a single disc compilation to my collection, offsetting my burning of “Billie Jean”.

This being a real odds n’ ends disc, it’s not a spellbinding listen today.  It’s fun to remind myself of some oddball tracks that I liked enough to burn but not enough to buy.  I’m also amused by the title Mix One, the first of many!  And I was even doing cover art back then, too.  On the cover is myself dressed up as the alien from Part 148: Navigate the Seas of the Sun!

2/5 stars!

NEXT TIME ON RECORD STORE TALES…

The return of the Dandy!

REVIEW: Orianthi – Believe (II)

I’d like to give a shout-out to Tommy Morais, who requested this review!  Check out his Amazon Reviews, he is one of their top rated reviewers!

I first became aware of Oriantha when Alice Cooper hired her as his new lead guitarist, replacing Damon Johnson.  Doing my research, I saw that she had even worked with Steve Vai and Michael Jackson!  This meant, the lady could play!

Because I don’t do things small, I decided to pick up the Japanese import of Believe (II) to check out her skills.  The Japanese import contains 3 bonus tracks:  two versions of a Cream cover, “Sunshine of Your Love”, and a useless remix of “According To You”.

ORIANTHI – Believe (II) Japanese import with bonus tracks (2009)

I’m not really into this kind of pop rock anymore, but Orianthi does fill this more aggressive pop rock void that Avril used to occupy.  Believe (II) reminds me of that one sincerely good Avil album, the second one, in that it’s undoubtedly rock yet melodic and well recorded, not overproduced.

What separates this girl from the rest of them is that her chops on the guitar are absolutely stunning.  Each song has a solo spot, well composed, and expertly executed.  This girl is a shredder who happens to play commercial pop rock.  Well, OK.  I can dig it.

The best tracks to me seem to the be chosen singles:  “According to You”, “Shut Up and Kiss Me”, and the instrumental “Highly Strung”, featuring Oriantha trading licks with Vai.  There’s also a decent version of “Missing You” by John Waite, which, I guess, I like better than the original, since I really don’t like John Waite.

The songs are written by the usual suspects, song doctors new and old including Desmond Child.  There are a couple tracks though that are not messed with by song doctors, and I hope that Orianthi is moving more in that direction in the future.

Orianthi has a good but not an especially different sounding voice from all the other girls rocking it out there these days.  Her range is good, she has power, just not a particularly unique sound or style.  I also can’t help but think she’s trying to sing “American”.

I think it’s a good enough album for this stage in her career, and I think she is going to grow by leaps and bounds, touring the world with Alice Cooper.  But before Orianthi makes another solo album, I hope she has the opportunity to record with Cooper.

For Believe (II): 3.5/5 stars