Record Store Day is already said and done in Australia, and Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation has returned with reports, and bounty.
Peter presents to us some exclusive Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, and some acts that are a little more regional to his neck of the woods. I show off a bit of my favourites from past years. We also discuss the value and collectability of RSD releases in general. Give it a watch!
If anyone wants to do me a solid, I’m looking for:
JOE SATRIANI – Surfing With the Alien (1987, 1999 Sony remaster, 2017 RSD Epic 2 LP reissue)
On October 15 1987, the face of rock music was shaken when a little instrumental album called Surfing With the Alien started making waves. The record eventually went platinum, and its songs found itself used on radio and TV for decades to come. Why? Possibly because of Joe’s impeccable attention to songwriting. Though his guitar playing put him on the map, it was his knack for writing catchy rock songs that made this album so special. Satriani’s songs are written as if the lead guitar is the lead singer. There are verses and choruses, and attention to structure and melody. That must be why Surfing With the Alien was nominated for two Grammys in 1988.
Opening with the title track, a striking little chugging riff starts the show. But then Joe’s melodic lead guitar kicks in, and you realize it’s exactly like if a singer was leading the show! You can literally sing along to Joe’s guitar and a little wah-wah effect doesn’t hurt. And then the shred begins, and you feel like, “OK, I get it now. This guy is an actual genius.”
Yet it’s all accessible. He may throw in licks as fast as greased lightning, but you can still follow. Your brain still picks out notes and melodies that satisfy those musical needs.
The cool “Ice 9” is a funky groove (Joe on bass) with a slick melody on top. Joe can work with mid-tempo grooves just as well as high-speed blazes. Solos with different sounds and guitar tones add diversity. A fun tune, but the third song “Crushing Day” has more tension and urgency as the tempo is turned up once again. The variety of solos, melodies and riffs in one short song is quite remarkable. Joe’s guitar tone is bright and shimmery, like the Silver Surfer himself.
Incidentally, regarding the striking album cover featuring the titular Marvel character from Silver Surfer #1 (1982), Joe lost the licensing for him at some point in the 2000’s. This is why the 2017 RSD reissue has different artwork, without him. (Look carefully at the new art, and you will see that they replaced the yellow streaks with yellow guitar picks!) Hopefully Joe doesn’t feel too badly about losing the Surfer art. Marvel comics repaid him for the popularisation of the character outside the comic world by naming a planet after him.
The beautiful ballad “Always With Me, Always With You” might be considered the most famous song. It received three Grammy nominations in three separate years (live versions, you see) and was prominently featured in an American Dad episode. It is hard to describe exactly what makes it so special, without you listening for yourself. The guitar is lyrical and memorable, and it worked so much better than it would have with a lead vocal. This is an instrumental ballad, made magical.
“Satch Boogie” is arguably just as popular. Deep Purple played it during the brief period when Joe Satriani was in the band post-Blackmore and pre-Morse. It has been used on TV, radio and video games. It is indeed a boogie! It taps into the Van Halen vibe a-la “Hot For Teacher”, but burns straight through without stopping to talk. Mid-song, there’s a jaw-dropping solo that is pure tapping nirvana.
An ominous and brief interlude (“Hill of the Skull”) paints an apocalyptic picture. The programmed drums don’t detract, as it is all about the tale that the guitar is telling, with layered wails. This serves to set up “Circles”, one of the most interesting tracks. Echo is employed to great effect on this mellow but dark ballad. Without pause, the striking chimes of “Lords of Karma” enter the picture, a pounding guitar rocker with drums by Jeff Campitelli. (Drums on this album are a mix of live and programmed.) Much like “Crushing Day”, “Lords of Karma” is a bit faster and more intense.
A lovely classical sounding interlude called “Midnight” sets up the final track. “Midnight” features techniques that an expert will have to identify, except to say it sounds remarkable and innovative. The spotlight is never really on Joe’s fingers though – just on the notes and sounds he magically produces with them (and an array of effects). Then the thud of bass opens “Echo”, the last song on this important album. It’s unlike the previous ones, with the bass so prominent. The song sounds as if it’s always just bubbling under. Perhaps it would come as a surprise that the final song on this album of guitar showcases is so much about feel and restraint.
That’s one thing about Surfing that does make it special. Like any good album, it is sequenced as a full listen, not as a collection of shreds. Even without the shreds, it’s still not bad.
That’s what the 2017 Record Store Day deluxe vinyl edition is all about. A bonus LP is included, with all the lead guitar stripped off. This allows you, the ambitious home player, to try to solo over the bed tracks. For the rest of us, it just allows us to listen a little bit differently to an album that is very familiar.
The drums seem more prominent on the title track, allowing us to better hear Jeff Campitelli’s fills. Mostly though, you can still bang your head, and maybe sing along to an imaginary vocal melody. “Ice 9” is particularly fun in this guise, sounding a bit like an “80s dance remix” even though it’s not. “Always With Me, Always With You” is still delicate and beautiful. You get the picture. These tracks, though needing the lead guitar to be whole, are perfectly listenable without. Only “Circles” and “Midnight” seem completely barren. You don’t have to be a guitar player to enjoy this bonus record. You just have to be interested in music, and how it is constructed in the mix. You can hear melodies and accents, even on “Always With Me”, that you might have missed on the album version all these years!
There are many ways to acquire copies of this impactful album, that opened the charts to Steve Vai and others a few years later. There is a 1999 Sony remaster with liner notes and nice packaging. There is a deluxe edition with a live DVD from the 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival. The version with the most actual audio tracks, however, is the limited 2017 Record Store Day reissue. You don’t get the lovely Silver Surfer artwork, but you do get the bonus record of stripped tracks, and red & yellow coloured vinyl.
No matter what choice you make, Surfing With the Alien in any form is an essential addition to a serious rock fan’s collection. Some may argue it’s the best rock instrumental guitar album ever made.
5/5 stars
A spontaneous Grab A Stack of Rock on a chilly Wednesday afternoon!
Thanks to Dave Lizmi for watching me unbox this awesome new Van Halen – LIVE: Right here, right now vinyl RSD reissue. It’s gorgeous. Bonus track!!
STYX – The Same Stardust (2021 RSD EP)
Anecdote: I wasn’t able to get this Styx EP with seven exclusive tracks on Record Store Day, so I knew I would have to pay the “late tax”. I was surprised that pretty much every copy for sale on Discogs was coming from Russia. Given the current situation I didn’t want to risk having a record coming in from Russia. I found one from somewhere else (Estonia perhaps) and bit the bullet and ordered. Two days later I got an email saying, “We are relocating to Russia! We will mail your record from there!” I almost asked to cancel but decided to be patient, and it has finally arrived. In perfect shape. Whew.
To accompany their excellent new album Crash of the Crown, Styx released an EP with two exclusive studio bonus tracks, and five live. Not bad value for an EP when all of them are previously unreleased. The record is on beautiful, heavy transparent blue vinyl, is low on surface noise, and just sounds wonderful!
The title track “The Same Stardust” opens, and it’s a theme we often hear in science: we are all, every one of us, made of the same matter from a star that exploded billions of years ago. It’s a unifying theme, but not a wimpy song. A crescendo of drums leads us to an upbeat rocker with lead vocals by Lawrence Gowan. There’s a great little riff after the chorus, and Gowan’s lead vocal recalls the Beatles. “Walk away from hate!” he sings, reflecting the sentiments of the Fab Four. Tommy Shaw sings the powerful bridge and then rips into a melodically cool solo. Easily of album, or single quality.
The second exclusive studio song is called “Age of Entropia” and it is best described as progressive like Styx of old. Tommy sings this number with a gentle acoustic opening. It builds into a more robust construction in time, really sounding like only one band: Styx. Good song but less instant.
Side two contains the live material, and the side opener is a track as desirable as the unreleased studio songs, if not more: a new live version of “Mr. Roboto” from 2020! This often shunned hit has finally been recorded again in a live setting, now with Gowan on vocals. It’s been tuned down a bit, but it still thrills. As soon you hear that trademark keyboard opening, you can’t help but smile. Especially knowing how rarely it gets played live. We all miss Dennis DeYoung but it is clear that Tommy Shaw doesn’t really want to hear about him. Gowan does an admirable job, as do all the Styx vocalists, as there is a lot going on. He even adds some of his own flare. There’s a slightly harder edge on this “Mr. Roboto” and that’s just fine.
Another treat, at least to those in the know, is “Radio Silence” from the excellent album The Mission. One of the best tunes from that sci-fi concept album indeed, and the first live release of any song from it. So that’s special, even if Crash of the Crown may very well have topped The Mission. That’s subjective…but possible.
Classics follow, dominated by Tommy Shaw tuneage. “Man in the Wilderness” has the same vibe as the newer material, cut from the same cloth. The heavy solo section is jaw-droppingly cool with wicked wah-wah effects. James Young gets the spotlight on his heavy hitting “Miss America”. Always a welcome listen, his unique vocal stylings are necessary for the overall Styx sound. And that riff! Speaking of riffs, Tommy closes the disc with the legendary “Renegade”. Still classic, still awesome, still hard to resist the urge to shake it! And though it does sound tuned down, Tommy’s voice has an incredible timeless youth.
The Same Stardust is a damn near essential add-on to your Crash of the Crown album. It would have made an awesome bonus disc to a deluxe version of…oh, man. After what I paid for this, if they put The Same Stardust on a future deluxe edition of Crash of the Crown, I’ll be pissed!
4.5/5 stars
JOE SATRIANI – Joe Satriani (1984 Rubina EP, 2014 Relative Record Store Day 180 gram reissue)
In 1984, The Squares guitarist Joe Satriani quietly put out a low-key instrumental EP on his own label, Rubina records. How limited was the release? An exact figure is hard to find, but original copies today run about $500. Four of the five tracks were reissued on Joe’s Time Machine album, but the fifth track’s master tape was damaged.
This is a release most people assumed they’d never own without parting with some serious dough. Then in 2014, for the 30th anniversary, the original Joe Satriani EP was reissued for Record Store Day. Unfortunately, due to the lack of liner notes, we don’t know how this was accomplished. The damaged track, “Talk To Me” is intact and sounds just fine. Was it sourced from an original vinyl? Was it restored? You can now experience a 180 gram “replication” of the original 1984 EP that started it all.
Guitar Player magazine went nuts for the EP, which is remarkably performed entirely on guitar. Every instrument you hear is a guitar. The “drums” are Joe tapping on his pickups. The “bass” is a detuned six string. The sound effects and other “instruments” are Joe wringing every sound he could think of from his instrument. It’s truly innovative. It’s even pretty listenable.
The record opens with “Talk To Me”, which could be seen as a precursor to Joe’s uptempo guitar anthems like “One Big Rush”. In fact, there’s a familiar lick in this track that Joe used as a main hook on Flying in a Blue Dream‘s “Back to Shalla-Bal”. This track, thought long lost, is probably the best of the five and most indicative of where Joe was headed.
“Dreaming Number Eleven” is an interesting song, with a suitably dream-like opening that soon gives way to a funky beat complete with “slap bass”. The experimental side of Joe manifests in the sound of a roaring train, all performed on guitar.
Side two commences with the light and tropical “Banana Mango”, a breezy track with blazing speed laid overtop. This contrasts with the nuclear “I Am Become Death”, a gothic dirge. There is a middle section that sounds like the wind blowing through a wasteland. Then, a backwards guitar section that foreshadows part of Flying in a Blue Dream. Finally, “Saying Goodbye” is a brief but tender ballad as Joe is known to do. It is constructed from gentle volume swells.
It’s clear from this record that Joe was going to be a formidable composer, let alone player. Just as interesting as the guitar work are the arrangements. They are all meticulously constructed, and though some tracks are more listenable than others, they all make up a snapshot of who Joe Satriani would become. Within three years of its release, Joe would change rock history by Surfing With the Alien, his talents now fully expressing themselves. The Joe Satriani EP is an experimental prototype to the genius to come.
3/5 stars
GETTING MORE TALE #723: A Tribute to James
Anyone who reads these pages regularly knows what I’m talking about. Good friends who also love music are crucial to an ever-growing CD collection. When you have friends in different parts of the world, it’s even better. Today we’re paying tribute to one such friend who has done so much for my music collection. That man is Regina’s own James Kalyn.
Funny thing: I’ve never met James. I know James through mutual friend Aaron. (Together, James and Aaron are The KMA.) Aaron talked about this guy who loves Sloan and music in general, and figured we would get along. Shit got serious when Sloan started releasing limited edition fanclub live albums and boxed sets. James would pick up three copies each time: One for him, one for Aaron and one for myself. Thanks to James I’m a proud owner of things like the Twice Removed box set.
In addition to Sloan vinyl, James has also acquired for me a number of Record Store Day limited editions. Sometimes I can’t, or just can’t be bothered, to go. James has an “in” with his local record store guy, and often knows what they’ll be carrying and how many copies. Last year he scored me Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes’ Live at Jones Beach. I couldn’t find one locally, but his guy had it. A few days later, I did too, packaged with care by James.
There are few things that James failed to find for me. As a collector, I put a limited scope on what I’m hunting for. If there is a release with exclusive music on a physical format by an artist I collect, then I want it. In 2016, Alice Cooper released a very limited Record Store Day single called Live From the Astroturf. This was a single from a special concert featuring the surviving members of the original Alice Cooper group: Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith. Sitting in for the late Glen Buxton was Ryan Roxie from Cooper’s current band. It was heartbreaking for me, but even James couldn’t get me a copy. Prices on Discogs were insane. I guess I would just have to do without it.
Unexpectedly, 2018 offered a surprise: a full album release of Live From the Astroturf! Not just two songs, but the full set! I collect the music more than the releases, so I would be perfectly satisfied with this. Guess what happened?
James came through!
It wasn’t cheap. It was $80, but James tells me “there’s stuff inside” (a poster and a 16 page booklet). Plus the record inside will be one of 12 random colours! “Collect all 12,” says the ad on the front. Let’s do the math on that.
12 x $80 = …holy shit. $960 bones! And that’s if the random inserted vinyl colours don’t happen to be the same. You’d blow through a thousand bucks and more trying to collect all 12! But somebody out there has done it, I’m sure.
I haven’t opened mine yet. I’m just going to stare at it a while. Maybe tomorrow I’ll open it.
Thanks James. You are truly a man among men!
Recorded October 6 2015 at Good Records, Dallas
Tracklist:
2018 Good Records
The mailman has been busy this last week or so. Just look at the goodies!
LED ZEPPELIN – “Rock and Roll” / “Friends” Record Store Day single
DEF LEPPARD – Live at Abbey Road Studios 12″ Record Store Day EP
RAINBOW – Memories in Rock II Japanese CD – 2 bonus tracks
STRYPER – God Damn Evil Japanese CD – bonus track
STEPH HONDE – Covering the Monsters
DALE SHERMAN – Mel Brooks FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Outrageous Genius of Comedy books – one for me, one for my dad’s 80th birthday! SHHH don’t tell. He doesn’t read this!
LED ZEPPELIN – “Rock and Roll” / “Friends” (2018 Atlantic Record Store Day single)
The hype for Record Store Day exclusives is as strong as ever, but most of these releases are just empty cash grabs. Coloured vinyl reissues of this, that or the other thing…nothing will compete with a mint original. Sometimes you’ll see vinyl releases for albums that used to be exclusive to CD, but rarely will you be able to buy exclusive music.
Led Zeppelin saw to it that your Record Store Day dollars did not go to waste.
And as if you thought Led Zeppelin had “cleared the vaults” of unreleased material! Here’s two more unheard mixes. These cannot be found on the Zeppelin deluxe editions. If you’ve collected all those already, then prepare to add two more tracks to your collection. This is a pretty clear indication that Jimmy Page is not finished dusting off old tapes to sell.
There are no liner notes to explain when these mixes were done or by whom, but “Rock and Roll” was mixed at Sunset Sound. Alternate mixes are fun for a fresh sound on an old favourite. You can hear different nuances. “Rock and Roll” has a nice clear heavy sound and maybe a little more echo. “Friends” (from Olympic Studios) has a harsher sound, with the percussion part prominent in the mix. The old intro is trimmed off in favour of a clean start with the acoustic guitar.
The yellow vinyl is a gorgeous bonus. Add it to your Zep treasure chest.
4/5 stars
Thanks to Mr. James for picking this up for me. You are a true gentleman, with a creepy Facebook avatar.
RICH ROBINSON – Got to Get Better in a Little While (2016 Universal 10″ clear single for Record Store Day)
This really pretty record (a single or an EP, who cares?) was found on the Taranna 2016 expedition with Mr. Books. It’s apparently a Record Store Day exclusive from April 2016, although I had no problem getting this one for $16.99 in October. This my first purchase of anything by Rich without his brother Chris. Knowing the Black Crowes, I was fairly certain it wouldn’t suck. I was still surprise to see on the back, an ad for not one not two not three but FOUR Rich Robinson “Expanded Editions” on CD and LP! Who knew? Not this guy!
“Got to Get Better in a Little While” is a Derek and the Dominoes cover, apparently one that Crowes used to do regularly, as does Rich. You have to hear this if you like bluesy rock that produces pure smoke from sheer musical chemistry. Yes, Clapton is God and the original can’t be touched, but a real jackass could easily make this song sound like shit. Rich does the opposite, and it sounds as part of his musical being. There’s some deep bass that just cuts through, and this goes on for eight and a half minutes of jam session heaven. Just bop along.
The second side has two Rich originals. Greasy late night blues is on the menu. “Look Through My Window” sets a scene of steamy Tennessee dusk. Brilliant stuff for any fan of slippery slidey guitars. Then an acoustic/electric tune called “Falling Away” closes on a first light of a quiet dawn. Great tunes, both, making up a tidy little 16 minute EP. Or single. Whatever!
The vinyl itself is clear and thick. The package doesn’t say anything about clear vinyl, but you almost expect clear or coloured when you buy these limited editions. It looks lovely spinning with its green label. Great little EP, reasonably priced for the collector and fan.
4/5 stars
Gratitude to James Kalyn of the KMA for acquiring this treasure.
JIMMY PAGE & THE BLACK CROWES – Live at Jones Beach (2017 The Orchard Record Store Day EP)
Aficionados of Led Zeppelin and the Black Crowes rejoice! It has been a long time since the fantastic concert collaboration, Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes Live at the Greek (2000). That double CD delivered a surprisingly bang-on dose of legendary Zeppelin cuts and blues covers. Here, it’s a seven piece band consisting of Page, Rich Robinson and Audley Freed in a lethal triple guitar lineup. The band was completed by vocalist Chris Robinson, drummer Steve Gorman, bassist Greg Rzab and keyboard player Eddie Harsch. Now you can hear three more tracks, from an additional concert at Jones Beach.
As expected, Pagey and the Crowes are whipped up into a blues jam rock frenzy loaded with atomic playing. Off to Middle Earth with “Misty Mountain Hop”, a song easily conquered by Chris Robinson. You may be surprised by how comfortably it fits the Crowes. “Bring it on Home” seems more their style, and with Jimmy they turn it into a loud rocking assault. The three guitarists are really able to bring to life “In the Light”, giving it the kind of depth it has in the studio. Chris and Rich double the vocals to emulate the production on the Physical Grafitti original.
4.5/5 stars
This was a 200 word review in the tradition of the #200wordchallenge.
mikeladano.com 