HEAVEN & HELL – Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell – Live in Europe (2010 Armoury)
Even though there was a double live CD (Radio City Music Hall) shortly before this, I don’t think anybody was complaining. Obviously, with Dio now gone, this is his final live album. There was also a studio album in between these two live albums (The Devil You Know) and there are three songs from it here. The fact that none of these albums are released under the name “Black Sabbath” means nothing, to me this is Black Sabbath by any other name. Please excuse me if you find me using the names Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell interchangeably.
Obviously Ronnie was not a young man when he died, and the human voice changes naturally with age. This is not the same sound as the guy who recorded Mob Rules or Heaven and Hell. The older Ronnie had a deeper voice, the range reduced noticeably. However, it is still Ronnie James Dio, one of the most powerful charismatic metal singers of all time. It might be an older, wiser Ronnie, but he knows how to work around his voice’s limitations to still deliver stirring versions of these songs. He made stylistic changes to compensate.
The band itself is cooking. Tony’s riffing and soloing sounds straight out of 1980. Vinnie’s drumming is more fill-laden than it was on The Devil You Know which was very sparse. I’m happy about this. Geezer is playing those rolling, rollicking bass lines that only he can compose. This helps define that “Black Sabbath sound”. Geezer played on 3/4 of Black Sabbath’s studio albums, and his bass sound is part of that identity. Most importantly, Heaven & Hell were having fun, showing the world why these guys together were as Black as any Sabbath. This is the way it should have gone with the Dehumanizer tour. That reunion should have lasted a long time, should have produced tours like this one, and should have produced a live album. I guess there were still egos and wound and the band weren’t ready to stick it out back then. This then is our last chance to appreciate the Iommi/Butler/Appice/Dio gestalt of Black Sabbath. They should have but didn’t get all the glory back in ’92, the last time they tread the floorboards of hockey barns nationwide.
The track listing is just fine and dandy if brief. I would have preferred a double CD like Live Evil or Radio City Music Hall. Highlights for this listener included the three new songs, especially “Bible Black” and “Fear”. I also loved the new version of “Heaven and Hell,” which has some new tricks during the extended middle. I guess the guys were being creative right up til their last.
Because the keyboards are handled by Scott Warren (Dio) and not Geoff Nicholls (Sabbath 1980-1995), there is a slightly different sound to the backing keyboard parts. He uses different voices than Nicholls did. Not a huge deal but an observation worth mentioning. Speaking of voices, I don’t like the way that Sabbath have been using tapes/samples on the backing vocals. This is especially noticeable on “I,” where you can hear several distinct Ronnie’s singing backup vocals while the “live” Ronnie sings lead. I guess Sabbath lacks a good solid backup singer, and Ronnie couldn’t hit the same notes anymore, but I feel cheated. I am firmly in the category of people who like their live music to sound live.
4/5 stars. Still a crucial part of the Sabbath live canon and necessary to all fans as Ronnie’s last stand.
I had to treat you guys right on a Monday. This edition needs no commentary. These are all real search terms from real people who ended up (somehow) at my site. Enjoy (I guess). If you missed the last one, Mythbusters edition, click here!
WTF Search Terms VIII: Fetish edition
A photo-heavy review for you today folks, enjoy the goodness! This one goes out to Rich, from KamerTunesBlog, a collection of detailed journeys through the discographies of many great artists.
LED ZEPPELIN – The Complete Studio Recordings (1993 10 CD Atlantic box set)
It’s funny to read some of the complaints about this box set on sites like Amazon! “The Song Remains the Same isn’t included!” Well, correct. It’s called Complete STUDIO Recordings, not Complete Live Recordings. “The artwork is too small!” Well, it’s a CD, not an LP. I’m of the belief that you can’t go wrong buying the Zeppelin LPs in mint condition. Much like Kiss or Alice Cooper, Zeppelin often gave you extra bang for your LP buck (more on that later). “Presence and Coda suck!” Well, I’m sorry if you feel that way, but this is the COMPLETE Studio Recordings, not the Personal Favourite Studio Recordings.
Anyway, I listened to the entire box set last weekend once again, and it’s always nice to revisit Zeppelin’s back catalogue in that way. After all, each album is a portrait of where they were at that time, and are truly best when played as complete albums, not songs on a compilation. Zeppelin I and II are an embrionic, pseudo-heavy metal band with hippy tendencies, but you are immediately blown away by how good this band was. All four members were simply stunning, a raging and ripping Plant included. By Zeppelin III they really started to explore the “light and shade” that Pagey speaks of in the included Cameron Crowe essay. It is a beautiful album. Zeppelin IV of course combines the sounds of the first three together into one multi-platinum work of art.
After Zeppelin IV, their albums become harder to characterize, but diversity is still key. Much like the Beatles before and Queen after, Zeppelin were not content to be a simple bass/guitar/drums combo. Strings, prototypical tape-based synth, and numerous other instruments are brought in to add to the Zeppelin mosaic. Houses of the Holy contains one of my favourite moments in “No Quarter” which is anchored by John Paul Jones’ keyboard and synth work, a hauntingly beautiful piece. Physical Grafitti contains perhaps their highest achievement in “Kashmir”, but certainly songs like “The Rover” continue the metallic goodness that spawned the band. Presence is an album misunderstood by many, a back-to-basics tour-de-force of power. The very Rush-like “Achiles Last Stand” combines progressive rock tendencies with Plant’s lyrical mysticism. Finally In Through the Out Door represents Pagey taking a step back and Jones filling the gap with modern forward-thinking synthesizer arrangements. “All My Love” is a ballad that came about five years too soon, a Plant/Jones penned masterpiece of beauty. “In The Evening” haunts with Plant’s vocals buried in the mix under cascades of Jonesy’s synth and Page’s whammy bar. “Hot Dog” is a pure country ho-down, and Zeppelin ended their career with the diversity that they started it with. But it doesn’t end there, as an expanded version of Coda is included, an odds-and-sods collection of outtakes. Certainly these are not the absolute greatest of Zeppelin moments, but “Bonzo’s Montreaux” represents the kind of experimentation that Zeppelin were founded on. A sequel of sorts to “Moby Dick”, it is a drum orchestra and worthy of the albums before. The expanded edition includes one of my favourite tracks, Zeppelin’s version of “Traveling Riverside Blues”. Page’s slide guitar is eloquent as it is excellent.
The packaging is ample. A thick booklet with photo after photo is included, as well as the aforementioned Cameron Crowe essay. Reading it, you can see where much of Almost Famous came from. Each CD is packaged with a reproduction of each LP’s original artwork. That means, for In Through the Out Door, you get all six covers, plus an image of the paper bag, and the inner sleeve. Zeppelin III gives you a miniature version of “the wheel”, and Physical Graffiti, the “windows”. These are static versions; if only you could manipulate them like the originals, but alas.
Remastering job is OK. I detected what I thought were a couple problems, I thought I heard some tape drop-out. I hate to say it, but maybe the Zeppelin catalogue could use a fresh remastering. 20 years have passed since this was released. And hey, just in time, Jimmy’s working on remastered deluxe editions of each album! Stay tuned.
As for the here-and-now, you can either go out and buy each album separately, or you can buy this set. Personally I think this set is the way to go, especially if you care about packaging. And it’s Zeppelin — you kind of need all the albums, don’t you? I won’t rate albums individually (that would require a Zeppelin series, something I would like to do) but I can give this box set:
5/5 stars
RECORD STORE TALES Part 226: Alarm!
I remember growing up, my dad managed a bank. It happened periodically that the phone would ring in the middle of the night. It would be a security company telling my dad to get down to the bank, because there was an alarm. He’d get up, get dressed, and at like 3 am, head to the bank.
I knew when I became store manager of a record store, this could possibly happen to me too. Thankfully, it only happened once, and it was late-afternoon on a Sunday. But it was weird.
It was a sunny summer day, a couple hours after we closed at 5. When the phone rang and the security company was on the other end, I was ready to do whatever they needed me to do.
“We’ve had calls,” they said, “that people were walking in and out of your store. We need you to get down there and check out the situation.” That was a bit freaky, but the store was a mere 10 minutes away from my house. It didn’t take much for me to get there.
What I found when I got there was a locked door, and an undisturbed store. The alarm was still on, but not triggered. I checked the safe, the cash register, everything. It was quiet as a mouse. The only activity was another store in the plaza, doing an invite-only customer appreciation sale, but even they weren’t that busy.
I called the alarm company. I explained that there was zero activity here, and whoever called them must have been confused. I explained that another store in the same plaza was having a sale, and people were walking in and out of that store, but not mine. I went home.
Shortly after coming home, they called me again! They said their alarm system was showing an open door. I assured them that this was not the case. They asked me to go down there again, and I said I had just returned from there, and everything was fine. I wasn’t going back.
This went back and forth before they finally mentioned the street name. And guess what? It wasn’t the right address. It was in fact one of our franchisee’s stores, a totally different owner in a completely different city.
“Wait a second – you’ve called the wrong guy,” I said. “I don’t manage that store. I’m not even in that city.” I then gave them the name of the correct person they should have called.
“We have you down as the contact,” they said.
“Well that’s wrong and you have to change it,” I retorted.
“We’ll have to talk to your store owner to make any changes like that. In the meantime, can you call the correct person and let him know his store is showing an open door?”
I looked up the number, called and left a message with his grandmother, who relayed it to the franchisee. Good to know that alarm companies are on top of their game!
A little bonus review, part 5.5 in my series of Ace Frehley reviews! Just a single track today. Missed the last installment? Click here!
ACE FREHLEY – – “Cherokee Boogie” (1996 Attic)
From Guitars That Rule the World, Vol 2: Smell the Fuzz – The Superstar Guitar Album!
I was a big fan of the first installment of the Guitars That Rule the World. It had a really eclectic and diverse list of guitarists, including Zakk Wylde (doing chicken-pickin’ for the first time on record), Albert Collins, Richie Sambora, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, and many others. This volume (with a stupid cumbersome title) is geared more towards alternative artists such as Billy Corgan, J. Yuenger, and Kim Thayil. There’s also John Christ of Danzig, Alex Lifeson, and Robert Fripp. Hell even Billy Sheehan has a track, and he’s a bassist! (But, you can already get the Lifeson and Sheehan tracks on albums by their side projects Victor and Niacin.)
To me this album is only worth buying for the brand new Ace Frehley track. It’s an instrumental called “Cherokee Boogie”, and while it doesn’t boast too many particularly strong catchy melodies it is still the Ace. Ace’s soloing is (as always) note perfect for the song. The riff is quintessential Ace, thick and chunky, albeit not one of his best. It’s still nice to hear his distinct Les Paul squeal on a new track. I especially love when the song gets fast and thrashy just past the halfway mark. At this point Ace is burning rubber, and it’s a real rush.
I’m not familiar with the backing musicians on this recording. They are Saul Zonana (bass) and Phil Richford (drums). They get the job done without getting in Ace’s way.
I would say that “Cherokee Boogie” would have made a strong instrumental interlude on any of Ace’s post-Kiss solo albums. It’s 4:00 of solid rock guitar.
3.5/5 stars
Very poor audio on this
Part 5 in a series on Ace Frehley! Missed the last part, Trouble Walkin’? Click here!
Spacewalk – A Salute to Ace Frehley (1996 DeRock/Triage)
Just in time for the massive Kiss reunion tour came this tribute CD. There were several versions of this. I have the second-coolest of the three:
This is one of those tributes made up of a mish-mash of metal musicians, no real “bands” so to speak, although all are great musicians. Scott Travis plays drums on most of it (lending an awkward Priest-like vibe to the drums), Charlie Benate plays with Scott Ian on “Rip It Out”, and Vinnie Paul of course plays with Dimebag Darrel on “Fractured Mirror”. (This site has all the information and credits for the CD. Enjoy! You’ll notice the backing band is basically Racer X on most tracks.)
I’m good with every track on here except one: Bruce Bouillet’s version of “New York Groove”. I’m not into drum loops in general, and although the track has a funky groove to it, it’s just not my bag. On the other hand, Scott Ian’s cover of “Rip It Out” is Anthrax-worthy. Frankie Bello’s on bass, and somebody named Zach Throne sings it with Scott. Zach nails an authentic Ace-like vocal, while Charlie’s relentless on the drums. The Anton Fig drum solo is almost exact note-for-note. As is the signature guitar solo.
Gilby Clarke’s “Shock Me” is one of the better tracks. I don’t usually think of Gilby as a soloist, since in GN’R he didn’t solo. His soloing style is unlike Ace’s, but he performs an original solo of his own that is appropriate to song. On the other hand I wouldn’t count “Deuce” by Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) as a favourite. The vocal (by somebody called Tom Gattis) is a tad overwrought. Another “blah” tune is “Snowblind”, performed in a too-modern metally sound by Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys) and Snake Sabo from Skid Row.
Ron Young (Little Caesar, the Four Horsemen) has a soulful but southern sound on “Hard Luck Woman”, an odd choice for a Frehley tribute. Written by Paul and sung by Peter, the original was created for Rod Stewart to sing! But it’s as good a cover as any, and I don’t have a lot of other stuff of Ron’s, so I’m cool with this. Jeff Watson (Night Ranger) is on guitar.
We all knew Sebastian Bach would knock it out of the park on “Rock Bottom”, and he does. “Rock Bottom” wasn’t written by Ace, but he did write the intro, performed here by Russ Parish of Fight/Steel Panther. Baz is obviously a huge Kiss fan and the song is in great hands, although the solo’s way too modern. Still, I wish I had “Save Your Love” too.
Tracii Guns is passable on “Parasite”, but again I think the song is done in a style too contemporary. Up next is John Norum of Europe, with “Cold Gin”! (Hey, two songs in a row written by Ace!) McMaster is back on lead vocals, not my fave singer in the world. John is a great guitarist, and this version of “Cold Gin” is heavy with fills. Some go with the song, some miss the mark.
Dime’s “Fractured Mirror” is perfect, even the production and sound of the acoustic guitar is eerily similar to Ace’s original. Dime may well have been the biggest Ace Frehley fan in the world. Darrell does throw some of his own personality into the song, but I think foremost on his mind was probably playing the song the way he remembered it. And he does.
Lastly, “Take Me To the City” is performed by Ace himself, with his crack band: Steve Werner on drums, Karl Cochran on bass, Richie Scarlet on guitar and backing vocals, and…Sebastian Bach is there too at the end! This Ace rarity is the best of all reasons to track down this CD. This is Ace back to a hard rocking Frehley’s Comet sound, with an anthemic chorus. When Baz shows up at the end, it’s icing on the cake (although you need to turn it ^UP^ to catch him in the fade).
I don’t really buy tribute albums anymore, because I find these mish-mashes of somewhat related artists to be a bit tedious. Still, it’s pretty solid, and definitely worthwhile to fans of bands like Pantera, Skid Row, or Anthrax. The Ace bonus track is pretty much a compulsory purchase.
3/5 stars
Soon, we’ll also be talking about another quality tribute album with some surprising guests and alumni. Stay tuned.
RECORD STORE TALES Part 225: Bait & Switch
One Wednesday afternoon in 1997, I was working alone. A gentleman in his mid-20’s walked into my store. He browsed the hip-hop section and I asked him if he needed any help finding anything. He said no, and was pleasant enough. About 10 minutes later, he approached the counter to make a purchase.
I knew immediately there was a problem. In his hands was a used copy of Puff Daddy’s brand new smash hit album, No Way Out. It had one of our Bargain Bin stickers on it, priced at $5.99. However the album was a fairly new release, and any used copies we had were always priced at $11.99. I’d never put one of them in my Bargain Bin, ever at this point. You just didn’t throw a new release into a sale bin. As Puffy said, “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
I couldn’t rule out staff error, so I double checked. Each price tag had a stock number on it. That stock number told me the location of the actual CD; the discs were all kept safely behind the counter.
Sure enough, I referred to the stock number which led me to a completely different CD, one that was common for our Bargain Bin. It wasn’t staff error. This meant that somebody switched the Puff Daddy price tag with another CD, from our Bargain Bin.
I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.
“OK, I have a problem here,” I began, as gently as I could. After all, I had no way of knowing for sure that this guy switched the tags himself. It was probable that he would, very few people would switch a price tag and leave it. I could even see where the tag was peeled off and re-applied. “This CD isn’t actually $5.99. It’s supposed to say $11.99. It looks to me like someone switched the price tags. I’m not saying it was you…I’m sorry about this…but I can’t sell you this disc for $5.99. $5.99 is less than we actually paid for it.”
He shrugged. “That’s not my problem. You have to honor the price tag.”
“This price tag,” I countered, “links back to a CD by Hole. I can sell you that CD for $5.99, but not Puff Daddy. This is a brand new release, we never put new releases out in our Bargain Bin.”
Then he got fancy. “Are you familiar with the Bait & Switch law?”
I was. From Wikipedia:
First, customers are “baited” by merchants’ advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the advertised goods are not available, or the customers are pressured by sales people to consider similar, but higher priced items (“switching”).
“This isn’t a Bait & Switch,” I argued. “Somebody else switched the price tag. Like I said, this tag right here links back to Hole, not Puffy. I can sell you Hole for $5.99, for Puffy, you’d pay $11.99. Again, I’m not saying you switched it. But somebody did. I’m sorry about that but I can’t lose money on this CD because somebody switched a price tag on me.”
“Legally, you are obligated to let me have that CD for $5.99. You’re in violation of Bait & Switch laws. Do you want me to get the cops involved?”
I knew he wouldn’t do that. “You can do that if you want, but what’s to stop me from going over to Walmart, taking a price tag from a $2 bag of chips, and putting it on a CD myself? Would Walmart have to sell me that CD for $2?”
Cool as a cucumber, he just shrugged.
It was at that moment that my boss walked in.
“What seems to be the problem here?” he asked.
I explained the whole situation, how somebody switched the price tag, and how he wanted Puffy for $5.99. I explained how I was 100% certain of the situation, and how the stock code on the price tag led me to a $5.99 Hole CD.
One issue that I had with my boss was that he didn’t always stick up for store managers in situations like this. I could never predict if he would stick up for us or cave. So what did he do? He apologized profusely and he rang in the CD for $7.99 or something like that. The customer was happy as could be, so polite.
He strolled out knowing he’d won. I wonder who he scammed next?
I walked over to the Puff Daddy section to see if I could find evidence of the missing but correct price tag. Sure enough, what did I find? A Hole CD, with a poorly applied $11.99 price tag on it, in the hip-hop section not far from Puffy. And what did that $11.99 tag’s stock code lead me to? The spot that the Puffy disc occupied.
An $8 scam was hardly going to break the bank, but I felt about two feet tall, because I knew I was right. I never let anybody else scam me in that way again. But that’s another story…
Part 2 of a 2 part Mr. Big special. Click here if you missed Lean Into It!
MR. BIG – “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” (1991 Warner UK 7″ single)
I won’t talk about the song “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind”; I did that already. (In short: “classy and cool”.) I picked up this 7″ promo import from the UK from a record show in London (Ontario). At $5, it was a no-brainer purchase. The sleeve is cardboard, not paper, and pretty cool.
I was in the dark as to what the B-side “Shadows” was. The label indicated the song is from 1990, and produced by Giorgio Moroder. Although it’s not credited as such, that would make the song from the Navy Seals soundtrack. They didn’t write it, so it doesn’t sound like Mr. Big. It’s very “hard rock” circa 1990. I could swear parts of the verse melody are directly ripped off of Whitesnake. So, “Shadows” is a curiosity, nothing to get too excited about.
I know there was a second song from the Navy Seals soundtrack called “Strike Like Lightning”, if you’re interested in tracking it down. Also on the soundtrack was Bon Jovi’s cover of “The Boys Are Back In Town” and “Try” by Blue freakin’ Rodeo! How the hell did that happen?
MR. BIG – “To Be With You” (1992 Warner Europe CD single)
Like with the other single, I want to focus on the B-sides. I will say that this version of “To Be With You” is an uncredited edit version. It’s 6 seconds shorter and lacks the count-in. This German import CD single has three live tracks. I found this one at Fairview Mall in Kitchener, an incredible score for the time!
Mr. Big sound like they are killer live. “30 Days In the Hole” is more spontaneous and funky than its album counterpart. It’s a lot more fun, and man could this band groove. The Tokyo crowd clearly loves it too.
In crashes the old Talas/David Lee Roth speed demon, “Shy Boy”! The band can pull it off musically, Sheehan repeating his bass magic, and Gilbert having no problem with a lightning fast solo. The only one who can’t keep up is vocalist Eric Martin. His normal soulful voice isn’t right for a song that was defined by David Lee Roth.
The final track is a medley. They first tease the Japanese audience with the first couple minutes of “Woman From Tokyo”, before switching gears to “Baba O’Riley”. It’s all but seamless, and natural. Gilbert plays the synth lines, but on his guitar. Meanwhile Sheehan handles the riff, on his bass. Martin shines on this one, much more at home with a song like this. He really gets to stretch out, and I love it. Sounds like Gilbert singing Townsend’s vocal part. Really cool.
“Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” – 3/5 stars
“To Be With You” – 4.5/5 stars
mikeladano.com 