rudy sarzo
#891: Condition Critical
RECORD STORE TALES #891 Condition Critical
Allan Runstedtler was looking at my tape collection. This was something kids did. Every kid had a few tapes. Maybe they even had a nice tape case to put them in. I started the year 1985 with only one tape case. It held 30.
Allan reached for my Quiet Riot.
“Condition Critical? What’s that? I only know ‘Situation Critical’ by Platinum Blonde.” said Al.
I was never one of the cool ones.
There was this kid from school named Kevin Kirby. One day I was in his neighbourhood and he introduced me to a friend of his. Kevin asked me to tell him what my favourite band was. I answered “Quiet Riot” and they both laughed. I still liked Quiet Riot? They were so 1983.
Not much time had passed, but Quiet Riot were already toast. I felt cool for all of 3 months when Quiet Riot were big. Metal Health was my first hard rock album. I loved that album. I still love that album. I was the anomaly. All my classmates (the few that liked Quiet Riot in the first place) had moved on. Platinum Blonde were huge. And rightfully so. Standing in the Dark was a great album. Their followup Alien Shores was also successful, going to #3 in Canada. Platinum Blonde, however, were not for me. They were not a hard rock band. I didn’t even consider them to be a rock band. I labelled Platinum Blonde with the same label I used on everything I didn’t like. These loathsome artists were all dubbed “wavers”. There was no greater insult to me than “waver”. You were either a rocker or a waver. There was nothing else in my eyes more wretched than “New Wave” music.
Quiet Riot were not wavers, they were rockers. They had songs like “Party All Night” and “Mama Weer All Crazee Now”. But they had made a “Critical” blunder. They followed Metal Health with an inferior carbon copy in Condition Critical. It was a collection of leftovers and it was obvious. It even included a Slade cover like the prior album. It still went platinum. But Metal Health sold six times that. It was seen as a critical and commercial failure. Dubrow earned Quiet Riot no favours when he decided to trash other bands in the press. That stunt misfired, gloriously so.
No wonder Allan had never heard of Condition Critical. I tried to get him into some of my music. I showed him the video for “Death Valley Driver” by Rainbow, which I thought was really cool. He wasn’t as impressed as I was.
Going back a bit, I received Condition Critical for Easter of 1985. Almost a year after its release. I can remember a conversation with my mom about what kind of gifts I would like, and I answered “the new Quiet Riot, because I want to have all the albums by a band.” Hah! I had no idea, none whatsoever, that Metal Health was their third, not first. In Japan, Quiet Riot and Quiet Riot II were released in the late 70s. These featured the late Ozzy Osbourne guitar wizard Randy Rhoads on lead guitar, but I had yet to learn all these important details. I wanted to have Condition Critical so I could have a “complete” Quiet Riot collection. Something I’m still attempting to have.
Easter of ’85 was spent in Ottawa with my mom’s Uncle Gar and Aunt Miriam. We all stayed in their house. They were amazing people. Uncle Gar was injured in the war, but always had a smile on his face. He didn’t like my growing hair or my rock music, but I think he was happy that I turned out OK in the end. I stayed in a little spare bedroom. I brought my Sanyo ghetto blaster and my parent’s old Lloyds headphones.
I hit “play” on Quiet Riot not expecting to like every song, and I didn’t. I enjoyed the two singles, “Party All Night” and “Mama Weer All Crazee Now”. I thought the lead track, “Sign of the Times”, as as strong as the first album. But I didn’t think much of “Scream and Shout”, “Bad Boy” or “(We Were) Born to Rock”. And the ballad? I was not a ballad kid, and I thought “Winners Take All” was even worse than “Thunderbird”!
I’ve softened on the ballads since (pun intended), but it’s true that this is just an album of soundalikes. It’s not outstanding. I knew I’d have to give it a bunch more listens, but even then I knew a “sequel” when I saw one. Similar. More of the same of what you like. But not as good.
I kept giving them chances, though. I had to. They were the first band I wanted “all” the albums from. When my buddy George told me that Quiet Riot were back with an awesome new song called “The Wild and the Young”, my excitement was restored. “Kevin Dubrow even looks like Paul Stanley in the music video,” he told me. Cool!
Of course we know how that ended. A sterile, keyboardy comeback that fizzled out with Dubrow’s ousting.
There are bands I have given up on and never looked back. Yet I keep buying Quiet Riot, loyally, album after album. If they release another, I’ll buy that too. And it’s all because of what I told my mom when she asked me what I wanted for Easter. “The new Quiet Riot,” I answered, “because I want to have all the albums by a band.”
REVIEW: We Wish You A Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year – Various Artists (2008)
WE WISH YOU A METAL XMAS AND A HEADBANGING NEW YEAR (2008 Armoury)
Yep, It’s another Bob Kulick album with various guests. You know what you’re going to get. Let’s not dilly-dally; let’s crack open the cranberry sauce and see what a Metal Xmas sounds like.
Generic! A truly ordinary title track features the amazing Jeff Scott Soto on lead vocals, but it’s a purely cookie-cutter arrangement with all the cheesy adornments you expect. Ray Luzier fans will enjoy the busy drums, but this does not bode well for the album.
Fortunately it’s Lemmy to the rescue, with “Run Rudolph Run”, an utterly classic performance with Billy Gibbons and Dave Grohl. All spit n’ vinegar with no apologies and nary a mistletoe in sight. I remember playing this for my sister Dr. Kathryn Ladano in the car one Christmas.
When Lemmy opened his yap, she proclaimed “This is bullshit! How come they get to make albums and not me?”
Lemmy Kilmister, pissing people off since day one, has done it again. You can buy the CD for “Run Rudolph Run” even if the rest is utter shit.
A silly “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by Alice Cooper echoes “The Black Widow”, but novelty value aside, is not very good. A joke song can only take you so far, and Alice is usually far more clever. (At least John 5’s soloing is quite delicious.) And even though Dio is next, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” comes across as a joke, too. Which is a shame because the lineup is a Dio/Sabbath hybrid: Tony Iommi, Rudy Sarzo, and Simon Wright. Dio’s joyless, dead serious interpretation is amusing only because of its unintentional dry humour.
Funny enough, Geoff Tate’s “Silver Bells” has the right attitude. Even though Geoff is perpetually flat, his spirited version (with Carlos Cavazo, James Lomenzo and Ray Luzier) kicks up some snow. That makes me happy, but it pains me to say that Dug Pinnick’s “Little Drummer Boy” (with George Lynch, Billy Sheehan and Simon Phillips) doesn’t jingle. Ripper Owens, Steve More & pals team up next on “Santa Claus is Back in Town”, so bad that it borders on parody.
The most bizarre track is Chuck Billy’s “Silent Night”, with thrash buddies like Scott Ian. Chuck performs it in his death metal growl, and it’s pure comedy. Oni Logan can’t follow that with “Deck the Halls”, though it’s pretty inoffensive. Stephen Pearcy’s “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” adapts the riff from “Tie Your Mother Down” and succeeds in creating a listenable track. “Rockin’ Around the Xmas Tree” is ably performed by Joe Lynn Turner, sounding a lot like a Christmas party jam.
The final artist is Tommy Shaw with John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)”. It’s an authentic version and while not a replacement for the original, will be enjoyable to Styx fans.
Christmas albums by rock artists are, let’s be honest, rarely worthwhile. This one has only a handful of keepers so spend wisely.
2/5 stars
REVIEW: Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (6 CD/1 DVD 30th Anniversary box set)
WHITESNAKE – Slip of the Tongue (originally 1989, 2019 (6 CD/1 DVD 30th Anniversary Rhino box set)
There’s a theme you may have noticed every time we review a Whitesnake box set: David does it right.
Here’s another one: Coverdale cares.
Slip of the Tongue gets the super-deluxe treatment this time, the third of the “big three” to go that way. This is the album that divided fans the most. Replacing Vivian Campbell was none other than ex-David Lee Roth stringbender Steve Vai.
“What the hell would that sound like?” we all wondered.
Longtime Whitesnake fans felt it was a step too far into the world nebulously defined as “hair metal”. Others loved the guitar mania inside, with Vai stretching out in ways different from his prior bands. Not the “definitive” Vai record that they still wanted (and would get a year later), but certainly a platter they could sink their teeth into. And it was a weird reason that Steve was playing on Slip of the Tongue at all.
As you’ll see from a feature on the included DVD (“A Look Back: Whitesnake Chronicles with DC and Adrian Vandenberg”), the album was written and thoroughly demoed with Adrian. They wouldn’t need a guitarist until it was time to tour. At this point, Adrian injured his wrist and was unable to finish. Steve Vai and David Coverdale found that they got along famously and the seven-string wizard brought his unique and advanced stylings to the blues-based Whitesnake.
What the hell would it sound like?
It sounds absolutely mental.
With the benefit of now hearing all the demos that Adrian laid down, it’s obvious Steve Vai didn’t just pick up his guitar and play the parts. It’s clear right from opener “Slip of the Tongue”. Compare the album to Adrian’s demos on the other discs. Vai changes one of the chord progressions to high-pitched harmonics, and, let’s face it, improves the song. Elsewhere there are unique trick-filled runs and fills that add another dimension to the music. If Whitesnake was always 3D rock, Vai upped it to 4. The guitar work is blazingly busy, never cliche, and always to the advancement of the song. With all respect to Adrian Vandenberg who wrote these great songs, Steve Vai was more than just icing on a cake. Slip of the Tongue arguably sounds more a Vai album than Whitesnake, even though he didn’t write any of it.
The beauty of this set is that if you’re more into ‘Snake than alien love secrets, you can finally hear the purity of Adrian’s vision in the multitude of early demos included.
Unfortunately, if you’re familiar with the album you’ll hear something’s up by track 2. “Kitten’s Got Claws”? That song used to close side one. What’s up? The album running order has been tampered with, and so has “Kitten’s Got Claws”. It’s now missing the Steve Vai “cat guitar symphony” that used to open it. It could be a different remix altogether. My advice is to hang on to your original Slip of the Tongue CD. You’re probably going to still want to hear the album and song as they were.
This running order puts “Cheap An’ Nasty” third, a song that structurally resembles the ol’ Slide It In Whitesnake vibe. Of course Vai’s space age squeals and solos modernized it. Listen to that whammy bar insanity at the 2:00 mark! Up next is “Now You’re Gone”, a classy rocker/ballad hybrid that has always been an album highlight. The demos on the other discs allow us to hear how much this song was improved in the final touches. That cool answering vocal in the chorus, and the hooks that Vai added, came much later. Strangely, this box set puts the other ballad, “The Deeper the Love”, up next. Keyboard overdubs made it a little too smooth around the edges, but a good song it remains.
The Zeppelinesque “Judgement Day” is a track that used to piss off some fans, who felt it was an abject rip off from “Kashmir”. The Vai touch of sitar (replacing guitar in the early demos) probably aided and abetted this. Regardless it succeeds in being the big rock epic of the album, and a favourite today. Another strange choice in running order follows: “Sailing Ships”, formerly the album closer. It’s quite shocking to hear it in this slot. Again, Vai replaced guitar with sitar, and David goes contemplative. Then suddenly, it gets heavy and Steve takes it to the stratosphere.
“Wings of the Storm” used to open side two; now it’s after “Sailing Ships”. Some tasty Tommy Aldridge double bass drums kick off this tornado of a tune. Vai’s multitracks of madness and pick-scrapes of doom are something to behold. Then it’s “Slow Poke Music”, a sleazy rocker like old ‘Snake.
The new version of Slip of the Tongue closes on “Fool for Your Loving”, a re-recording of an old classic from Ready An’ Willing. The new version is an accelerated Vai vehicle, lightyears away from its origins. Coverdale initially wrote it to give to B.B. King. Vai is as far removed from B.B. King as you can imagine. The original has the right vibe, laid back and urgent. This one is just caffeinated.
The only album B-side “Sweet Lady Luck” is the first bonus track on Disc 1. By now it is the least-rare B-side in the universe, having been reissued on a multitude of Whitesnake and Vai collections. Valuable to have to complete the album, but easy to acquire. It’s basically a second-tiered speed rocker with the guitar as the focus. Other B-sides from this era were remixes, and they are included here as well. The Chris Lord-Alge mix of “Now Your Gone” is the kind that most people won’t know the difference. Vai said that Lord-Alge could make the cymbals sound “like they have air in them.” Then there’s the “Vai Voltage Mix” of “Fool for Your Loving”, which has completely different guitar tracks building an arrangement with way, way, way more emphasis on the instrument. The rest of the disc is packed with four more alternate remixes: “Slip of the Tongue”, “Cheap An’ Nasty”, “Judgement Day” and “Fool for Your Loving”. These mixes have some bits and pieces different from the album cuts. Vai fans will want the alternate solo to “Cheap An’ Nasty”, though it’s less whammy mad.
Of course, “Sweet Lady Luck” wasn’t the only song that didn’t make the album. In old vintage interviews, Coverdale teased the names of additional tracks we didn’t get to hear: “Parking Ticket”, “Kill for the Cut”, and “Burning Heart”. They’ve been safely buried in Coverdale’s vault, until now. Additionally, it turns out that Whitesnake also re-recorded a couple more of their old songs: “Ain’t Gonna Cry No More” and “We Wish You Well”. They’re all here in different forms on the demo discs.
Perhaps “Kill for the Cut” would have been one dirty song too many for the album. It ain’t half bad, and has a unique little bumpin’ riff. “Parking Ticket” had potential too. Rudy Sarzo gave it a pulse that might have taken it on the radio. The 1989 monitor mix would have been perfect for B-side release. Why did Cov have to hold out on us all these years? “Burning Heart” was a special song, a re-recording of an old Vandenberg track that David really loved. Unfortunately the monitor mix is is only a skeleton of what could have been a sensational Whitesnake ballad. “Ain’t Gonna Cry No More” is heavily modernized, with keyboards sounding like they were trying to recapture “Here I Go Again” (which they were). “We Wish You Well” is more contemplative, with piano as the focus.
All of this previously unheard material is scattered over several discs. “Evolutions” (Disc 3) is a familiar concept to fans of these box sets. Demos from various stages of completion are spliced together into one cohesive track. You will be able to hear the songs “evolve” as the band worked on them. Every track from the album plus “Sweet Lady Luck”, “Parking Ticket” and “Kill for the Cut” can be heard this way. Disc 4 is a collection of monitor mixes with all the album songs and all the unreleased ones too. These discs are the ones that allow us to really hear the album the way it would have been if Adrian didn’t hurt his wrist. We would have got an album that sounded a lot more like Whitesnake. It was audibly different even if familiar.
Perhaps the best disc in the entire set is “A Trip to Granny’s House: Session Tapes, Wheezy Interludes & Jams”. It’s just as loose as it sounds. Enjoy the funk of “Death Disco”, the funkiest David’s been since Come Taste the Band. If you’ve always wanted to hear David sing “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree”, now you finally can! There’s a lot of goofing off in some of these tracks, but also a lot of rock. It’s live off the floor as they rehearse the songs, as a four piece band with Adrian. Not all the final lyrics or solos are set, but the songs are so raw and fresh. Some of the jams show a side of Whitesnake we rarely got to see. Kind of Purple-y in the way they just could take off and rip some blues.
Given all the rich audio extras, it’s OK if one of the CDs is a little impoverished. That would be disc 2, “The Wagging Tongue Edition”. This is a reproduction of an old promo CD, featuring the album Slip of the Tongue with a Dirty David interview interspersed. This was meant for radio premieres. It has the entire album in the correct order, but because it’s faded in and out of interviews, it’s really not a substitute for a proper copy of the original album. At least the vintage 1989 interviews are interesting. It saves collectors from buying a copy on Discogs. (Coverdale claims “Judgement Day” was originally titled “Up Yours Robert”. Ooft.)
There’s another disappointment here and it’s difficult to forgive. In 2011, Whitesnake released the long awaited Live at Donington as a 2 CD/1 DVD package. This brilliant performance finally gave us a permanent record of Whitesnake live with Vai. In our previous dedicated review, we had this to say:
Musically, it’s a wild ride. It’s not the Steve Vai show. Adrian gets just as many solos, and his are still spine-tingling if more conventional. It is loaded with ‘Snake hits, leaning heavily on the three Geffen albums. In fact there is only one pre-Slide It In song included: The Bobby “Blue” Bland cover “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City”. And, since it is also the pre-grunge era, there are plenty of solos, which today seems excessive. Aldridge does his drum solo at the end of “Still Of The Night”. Vandenberg gets his “Adagio for Strato”/”Flying Dutchman Boogie”. Most excitingly, Steve Vai performs two songs from his then-brand new (and top 40!) album Passion And Warfare: “For The Love Of God” and “The Audience Is Listening”, with Aldridge on drums. Coverdale even introduces him as “Mr. Passion and Warfare!” so I imagine there was no sour grapes that Vai’s album was doing so well. And lemme tell ya folks — the audience WAS listening, and going nuts too!
Unfortunately, to save a little bit of plastic, this set was reduced to a single CD for its inclusion here. The Vai and Adrian solos were cut, though Tommy’s drum solo in “Still of the Night” is retained. To cut the guitar solos in such a guitar focused boxed set is not only unwise but unforgivable. Fans who don’t have Live at Donington are going to want to shell out again just to get the solos. Fortunately, the whole show is uncut on the included DVD.
The DVD has plenty of added value; it’s not just a reissue of Live at Donington. You’ll get the three music videos from the album (“Now You’re Gone”, “The Deeper the Love” and “Fool for Your Loving”). There’s even a brand new clip for “Sweet Lady Luck” cobbled together from existing video. Then, you can go deeper into the album. The aforementioned sitdown with David and Adrian is really enlightening. Another behind the scenes feature narrated by David is fantastic for those who love to watch a band create in the studio. Coverdale’s not a bad guitarist himself.
These Whitesnake box sets also include ample extras on paper. There’s quite a nice miniature reformatted tour program with the majority of cool photos. A large Slip of the Tongue poster can adorn your wall, or remain safely folded up in this box. Finally, there is a 60 page hardcover booklet. This is a treasure trove of press clippings, magazine covers, single artwork, and more. Lyrics and credits wrap it all up in a nice little package.
Because we know that David puts so much into these box sets, it’s that much more heartbreaking that this one is so slightly imperfect. The shuffled running order and lack of guitar kittens on “Kitten’s Got Claws” is a problem. The truncated live album is another. It means I have to hang onto old CDs that I was hoping to phase out of my collection in favour of this sleek set. Alas, I’ll keep them as they are my preferred listening experience.
Otherwise, in every other way, this box set delivers. It makes a lovely display next to its brethren and it justifies its cost.
4.5/5 stars
MORE Slip of the Tongue?
Just Listening to…Whitesnake: Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary)
Sit down Sykes fans, because I’m a Vai kid and this is “my” Whitesnake. The fact that this lineup existed at all is miraculous. The most creative guitarist of all time joining one of the most successful commercial rock bands at the peak of their popularity? Recipe for, at the very least, interesting history. And absolutely perfect box set fodder.
So here we are buying Slip of the Tongue for at least the third time, and finally getting it (mostly) right. At a quick glance, it appears the only detriment to buying this box set is that you will not get the complete Live at Donington concert on CD. In order to fit the whole thing on one CD (disc 6), they axed all the solos. Let’s face it folks. When your band includes Steve Vai, you don’t cut the solos. You’ll have to shell out for the original triple disc Donington set to get them on CD. The good news is that the whole Donington concert is still here on video, on a fully-packed DVD (disc 7). (The DVD also includes a detailed interview with David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg, touching on Adrian’s mysterious 1989 wrist injury.)
The running order of the songs on Slip of the Tongue, the 30th anniversary remaster, has been slightly shuffled. It’s strange and off-putting enough that I’m keeping my old copy of the album, so I can still listen to it the familiar way. “Sailing Ships” isn’t the last song? “Fool For Your Loving” is. The bonus track versions included, with alternate solos and guitar fills, are stunning additions. Then there’s an entire CD, the “Wagging Tongue” edition, with the songs in the correct order but interviews with David interspersed. This is a reproduction of a vintage 1989 promo CD, for contemporary perspective. Disc 3, the “Evolutions” CD, is a favourite. The “Evolutions” series of tracks, now a Whitesnake reissue trademark, mixes early demos with later demos and and even later versions, so you can hear the tracks evolve as you listen. It’s deconstruction and reconstruction in one. Importantly, you finally get to hear what the album would have sounded like before Steve Vai came in to record it. Disc 4 includes 16 monitor mixes, including some superior rarities. Finally, after 30 years of waiting and teasing, we get the unreleased tunes “Parking Ticket”, “Kill for the Cut”, and “Burning Heart” (originally by Vandenberg). We also get “Ain’t Gonna Cry No More” and “We Wish You Well”. Verdict? Worth the wait. Oh, so worth the wait! There’s no reason some couldn’t have been released as B-sides in 1989, and they should have! “Parking Ticket” has a neat Van Hagar-like, and could have been a summer hit.
Disc 5 is “A Trip to Granny’s House”, actually the name of a rehearsal studio they used. These funny tapes, “Wheezy Interludes & Jams”, are informal fun. A highlight is the funky “Death Disco”, not unlike some of the stuff Purple were doing with Tommy Bolin towards the end. These tracks predate Steve Vai’s involvement, so you’ll get the purity of Adrian’s original playing.
I look forward to investing more time with this box set. Let us hope that David continues to empty the vaults. Next up: Restless Heart?
REVIEW: Jim Crean – The London Fog (2019)
JIM CREAN – The London Fog (2019 Visionary Noise)
Vocalist extraordinaire Jim Crean is back with two new solo albums. Not only is there a 16 track covers album called Gotcha Covered, but also The London Fog, a new original CD. As usual, Crean boasts a killer hitlist of special guests, including Carmine & Vinny Appice, Mike Tramp, Rudy Sarzo, Chris Holmes, Steph Honde and plenty more. Buckle up — it’s a heavy duty trip.
The London Fog goes wide open from the start, with the two new songs Crean released on last year’s Greatest Hits: the excellent “Scream Taker” (tribute to Ronnie James Dio) and the riffy “Conflicted”. “Scream Taker” features Dio alumni Vinny Appice and Rudy Sarzo. These tracks follow the traditional blueprints of classic 80s metal, particularly “Conflicted”. (The dexterous bassist that I initially mistook for Billy Sheehan is actually A.D. Zimmer.)
Want more riffs? Then get “Broken”! There’s a great chorus here: Melody and power, with some tasty licks from Steph Honde. “Aphrodisiac” takes things to a more nocturnal place, but more menacing. Still, there’s always room for some dirty rock, and that would be “Lady Beware”. If Dokken’s classic lineup released another song today, it would probably sound a lot like “Lady Beware”. This is the kind of rock we all miss, and have a hard time finding today.
Jim Crean is equally at home on rockers and ballads. “Let It Go” (with Honde on piano and keyboards) has an epic quality for a ballad. It might be a bit Scorpions, Whitesnake (circa 1987) or Guns N’ Roses…the comparisons are up to the listener. The keyboard solo is a cool touch. Then heavy sounds circulate on “Loaded” (more Zimmer on bass), but yet Crean maintains a knack for melody.
A familiar voice welcomes you on “Candle”, a Mike Tramp (Freaks of Nature) cover featuring Tramp in a duet. The song is new to these ears, and I like how the parts shift and change moods. A riff for the ages follows, on an original track called “1981”. Again I’m reminded of Dokken, the classic era. It’s hard to recapture a time period with such clarity, but Jim Crean has a talent for writing that way. Some of his originals could very well be from another time. (Drummer Colleen Mastrocovo gives “1981” a serious kick.)
Another obscure cover: Robin Zander’s 1993 solo track “Time Will Let You Know”, a classy ballad from an underrated album. Jim doesn’t try to sound like Robin Zander, but does it justice. Then it’s Rod Stewart’s dance classic “Passion”. Very few singers have the right rasp to do Rod Stewart justice, but Jim Crean is one of them. That’s the always slick Tony Franklin on bass. And get this! Franklin’s Blue Murder bandmate Carmine Appice, the same guy who played on the the original “Passion”, also plays on this cover. He approaches both versions very differently. Rod’s version is slick dance rock, and this is more like metal that you can dance to. Same song; familiar but a completely different arrangement. If John Sykes ever played with Rod Stewart, maybe this is what they could have sounded like.
“Passion” could have closed the album and you’d be completely satisfied, but there’s more. A funky “Fool” sounds like Aerosmith, and who’s that on guitar? Ray Tabano, the original Aerosmith guitarist before Brad Whitford joined the band! This song is more Aerosmith than anything that band has recorded since 1993! Then it’s another lesser-known cover and duet: Angel’s “Don’t Take Your Love” featuring original Angel singer Frank DiMino. Great melodic rock songs are always welcome, and this one is truly great.
Finally comes the metallic closer “Tears” featuring Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.). The contrast between the heavy riffs and Jim’s melodic vocals is what makes this style work so well for him. The riff has a W.A.S.P. vibe, but Crean takes it in a totally different direction.
Another fine album from Jim Crean and friends. Fans of hard rock “the way they used to make it” will thoroughly enjoy.
4.5/5 stars
Check back for a look at Gotcha Covered, coming soon.
REVIEW: Quiet Riot – Cum On Feel the Noize (1989 CBS cassette)
QUIET RIOT – Cum On Feel the Noize (1989 CBS cassette)
From the same line as the previously reviewed Trouble Shooters by Judas Priest, here’s a tape-only Quiet Riot compilation. Like the Priest tape, Cum On Feel the Noize has nothing more recent than five years. For Quiet Riot, that unfortunately means you’re only hearing songs from two albums! (Nothing from the first two which were only released in Japan.)
The title track (and Slade cover) “Cum On Feel the Noize” goes first, muddy tape hiss and all: this cassette has seen better days! It’s an edited version (roughly 3:10), so perhaps something you don’t have in your collection. The speedy album track “Run For Cover” then delivers the scalding hot metal. Two more big hit singles follow: “Mama Weer All Crazee Now (another Slade cover) and “Metal Health” (sometimes subtitled “Bang Your Head” in case you didn’t know the name). These two hits will keep the party flowing, and that’s it for side one.
Proving they had more than just a passing interest in mental health, “Let’s Go Crazy” kicks off side two with a bang. Frankie Banali is the man — his drums really sell this one. “(We Were) Born to Rock” is another solid number, all rock no schlock. “Slick Black Cadillac” is a shrewd inclusion. Gotta have a car song for the road. Then “Party All Night” finishes it off with a pretty clear message.
As a party tape, Cum On Feel the Noize would have done the trick. You should probably just own Metal Health and Conditional Critical instead, but this is a fun tape and would have been enough Quiet Riot for most folks.
3/5 stars
REVIEW: Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition box set)
WHITESNAKE – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition Rhino box set)
Back when I reviewed the original “Deluxe” edition of Whitesnake’s 1987, I said, “Great album, but this reissue could have been so much better.” And so here we are.
Let’s get right down to it. You already know the story of Whitesnake 1987 or you wouldn’t be here.
The main feature is the 2017 remaster of 1987, which actually sounds pretty great. In this day and age, if you’re seeking the warmth of a vintage vinyl experience, you can go and have that experience for far less money than this box set costs. For a compact disc, this might be as good as we’ve gotten so far. If you look at the Audacity waveforms below, you can see the 2017 remaster (top) has roughly the same levels as a previous one from Whitesnake Gold.
I’m still hanging on to my original UK version of 1987, but for compact disc, this is probably it.
David Coverdale wanted to adapt Whitesnake to the 1980s with this album, and this lineup with John Sykes, Neil Murray, and new drummer Aynsley Dunbar was certainly able to deliver. The album was always loud, especially compared to their 70s output. Sykes provided the squeals that the kids wanted. David was back in top voice. The album they delivered is legendary for how it changed Whitesnake’s fortunes.
The running order on this box set is not the original UK or US, but the combined running order as used on the previous 20th anniversary edition.
“Still of the Night” blows the doors in, a tornado in the night, mighty and sexy too. Whitesnake had never been this aggressive before, but “Give Me All Your Love” lulls the listener back to something easier to digest on first listen. “Give Me All Your Love” was a successful single because it’s melodic pop rock with guitars. But then the band scorch again with “Bad Boys”, top speed right into your daughter’s headphones! Whether it was Aynsley Dunbar or just the songs that they wrote, the pace is high gear.
“Is This Love”, a song that David was writing with Tina Turner in mind, was another massive hit. John Kolodner (John Kolodner) insisted that they keep it for themselves, and he was right as he often was. For a big 80s ballad, “Is This Love” really was perfect. It tends to work better in a stripped back arrangement, since the original is so specifically tailored to that era. Still, Sykes’ solo on it has to be one of his best.
Speaking of hits, “Here I Go Again” is the one that Sykes didn’t want to do, and look what happened. That humble pie probably tasted no good to Sykes when he found himself fired by Coverdale after the album was completed. His replacement, Adrian Vandenberg (Vandenberg) actually played the guitar solo, so dissatisfied was Coverdale with the one Sykes produced. “Here I Go Again” was of course a minor hit from Saints & Sinners, but deserving of a second shot in America with production more suited to their tastes. Don Airey on keyboards; though Whitesnake did without an official keyboardist this time.
“Straight For the Heart” is a great also-ran that perhaps could have been another single if they kept trottin’ them out instead of stopping at four. High speed but with incredible hooks, it’s impossible not to like. “Looking For Love” is the second ballad, but actually originally unreleased in the US. It’s toned down from the style of “Is This Love”, and Neil Murray’s bass is pronounced. He was a huge part of the groove on this album, if you really settle in and listen to the rhythm section. His bass has a certain “bop” to it. “Children of the Night” returns the tempo to allegro and the lyrics to dirty. I can’t imagine too many fathers of the 80s wanted their daughters to go to the Whitesnake concert if they heard David cooing, “Don’t run for cover, I’m gonna show you what I’ve learned, just come a little closer, come on an’ get your fingers burned.” Another UK exclusive, “You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again” cools it down slightly, but that Sykes riff is hot like a torch!
“Crying in the Rain” is held back to second-last in this running order, even though it opened the US album. Another re-recording, “Crying in the Rain” was suggested by Kolodner because he knew Sykes could give it that massive blues rock sound that it had in the live setting. Again, he was right. “Crying in the Rain” is massive — perhaps the most sheerly heavy piece of rock that Whitesnake ever dug up. Finally the CD closes with the last ballad, “Don’t Turn Away”, which closed the US version. It’s a fine song indeed, and a really good vibe on which to end Whitesnake 1987.
The second CD in this set is called Snakeskin Boots: Live on Tour 1987-1988. Presumably, these are recordings from throughout the tour, assembled into a CD-length running order. The “boots” in the title implies bootleg quality, but it certainly sounds better than that. Soundboards maybe?
The studio lineup of Whitesnake dissolved and David got Vandenberg in, followed by Vivian Campbell (Dio) and the rhythm section of Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy Osbourne). This new lineup was not based in the whiskey blues of the old band(s), but in the flashy stylings of the 1980s. Vivian and Vandenberg were both capable of shredding your brain. That’s generally how they do it on these recordings. Opening with “Bad Boys”, the manic tempo is maintained while the guitars reach for the stratosphere.
Sounds like it was a hell of a show, rolling into the groove of “Slide it In” and “Slow An’ Easy”, and the good news is the 1987 band can play the 1984 songs too. David Coverdale is the ringmaster, the veteran, confident and in prime voice. All the songs are from either 1987 or Slide it In, with only one exception: the slow blues “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City” from the original 1978 Snakebite EP. Sounds like Vivian Campbell accompanying David on this slow, classy blues. No Deep Purple in the set; but my old pal Rob Vuckovich once said he went to the Toronto show on this tour bearing a flag that said “PLAY PURPLE”. He also claimed David acknowledged it by saying, “We’re not playing any of that!”
“Here I Go Again” comes early on the CD, fourth in line, and it’s excellent. “Guilty of Love” is a nice surprise, and “Love Ain’t No Stranger” is more than welcome at the party. “Is This Love” is well received, and works well in the live setting without too much extra production. Adrian can’t top the Sykes solo, though he gets within very close range. Vivian and Adrian get a feature solo with a keyboard backdrop, and it’s quite good — more like an instrumental than just a solo. It leads into a brutally heavy “Crying in the Rain”; Tommy Aldridge literally beats the shit out of it! The CD closes on “Give Me All Your Love” with David substituting the word “baby” in the opening line with “Tawny”!
There’s little question. For most fans, the major draw of this box set will be this live CD. If that is you, you will not be disappointed by Snakeskin Boots.
Disc three in this monolith of a box set is the 87 Evolutions. This is an interesting concept but not one that you will be craving to have a listen regularly. This disc is intended for deeper study. These tracks are the album’s songs in various stage of demoing. “Still of the Night” for example starts as a living room demo, with David slapping his knees for drums, and only the most basic of lyrics. Then this demo fades seamlessly into a more advanced full band arrangement, with the lyrics still unfinished. There’s a funky middle solo section here that is more jam than song, but a blast to hear.
That is the kind of thing you can expect to hear on 87 Evolutions. No need to spoil what you should enjoy discovering yourself. This is for the hardcore of hardcore fans, those that want every squeal that ever came from Sykes’ axe. You are gonna get it. Incidentally, I think I prefer David’s original, rough slow bluesy version of “Give Me All Your Love” to the glossy pop song it became.
This disc ends with a “Ruff Mix” of the completed “Crying in the Rain” from Little Mountain studios. All the parts are in place, the mix just needed that modern bombast that David was aiming for.
The fourth and final CD, 87 Versions, is a collection of alternate remixes released on various singles, and brand new remixes as well. These are really cool bonuses. The 2017 mix of “Still of the Night” has a really dry sound, allowing you to really hear the spaces between the instruments. A lot of these remixes have a different balance of instruments, so you will hear different things yourself. There are two remixes of “Give Me All Your Love” on this CD: the 2017 with the original Sykes solo, and the highly coveted alternate with “new” solo by Vivian Campbell. There are also two remixes of “Here I Go Again”, including the old “Radio Mix” with a completely different group of musicians and a much more pop arrangement.
Among these remixes is something called the 1987 Versions: Japan Mini-Album, proving that Japan always get the best stuff. This apparent EP contains the B-sides and bonus tracks that you couldn’t get on the album. “Standing in the Shadows” was another song re-recorded for 1987, though left as a B-side. “Looking For Love” and “You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again” are also included, since back then you could only get them in the UK. “Need Your Love So Bad” was a previous Whitesnake B-side, remixed in 1987 for a new B-side! It’s an absolutely stunning ballad, quiet with only keyboard accompaniment.
With all these tracks included, pretty much every track associated with the 1987 album and singles is covered.
Whitesnake: The Videos is the fifth disc, a DVD. It’s really just an add-on, nothing substantial (like a 5.1 mix). First on the menu: “More Fourplay”, the classic MTV videos that set the world on fire in 1987. Some behind the scenes footage too. MTV was a huge part of this band’s success (hopefully Tawny gets paid a royalty from this reissue?). These glossy videos are…well, they didn’t age as well as the album did. Why does Rudy always lick his bass? You just gotta laugh at “Here I Go Again”; the pretentious image of the three guys (Viv, Adrian, Rudy) playing keyboards passionately side by side…utterly silly. But yet iconic. “Is This Love” has the band playing on evening rooftops, Rudy wielding a double-neck bass. Why? Doesn’t matter; in 1987 we thought it was awesome. “Give Me All Your Love” is a notable video, being a “live on stage” type, but also with the brand new guitar solo cut by Vivian. For his solo, Viv chose to play on the wang bar a bit too much, but at least David let him do one. It remains Vivian’s only studio appearance with Whitesnake, ever. Unannounced but cool just the same, “Love Ain’t No Stranger” (from Slide It In) is used in whole as the end credit song for the “More Fourplay” segment.
Next up is a 28 minute documentary about the making of the album. David has clear recollections and is always a delight to listen to. (Some vintage Coverdale interview footage is actually from a MuchMusic piece with Denise Donlon.) Interestingly, he claims that the “Still of the Night” riff is one that he found in his mother’s attic, that he wrote back in the tail of Deep Purple. “Still of the Night” could have been a Purple song, but it took John Sykes to make it what it became. We then move on to the assembly of the touring lineup, dubbed the “United Nations of Rock”. Tommy and Rudy are also interviewed in vintage clips, with Tommy proudly proclaiming that they want to bring musicality back to rock and roll.
The “Purplesnake Video Jam” (whut?) video of “Here I Go Again” is basically a brand new music video using alternate footage from the time. The mix is similar to the old single mix, but spruced up. Finally there is the “’87 Tour Bootleg”, and woah! It’s pro-shot multi-camera footage. You only get half of “Crying in the Rain”, and all of “Still of the Night”. Why not more? Is this a tease for some kind of upcoming DVD? The footage reveals a band of their time, but a good band. Not the best Whitesnake lineup ever (Sykes gets that), but a good lineup with something special together. They were tight, they could all play their nuts off, and present a high energy 80s stageshow, especially Rudy. By the end of “Still of the Night”, David is actually dodging panties being thrown at his head. I kid you not.
As per usual, any box set worth its own respect is packed with added stuff usually made of paper. In this case, a nice hard cover booklet, a smaller softcover lyric book, and a poster. Posters have to be the biggest waste of money in a set like this. Who’s going to hang it? I’m probably never even to unfold mine once.
Now that you have all the details, you should be able to decide if this box set needs to be in your collection. It needed to be in mine. And guess what — Slide it In is next!
5/5 stars
REVIEW: QUIET RIOT – Live at the US Festival (2012 CD/DVD)
QUIET RIOT – Live at the US Festival (2012 Shout! CD/DVD set)
This was a long awaited release, since the US Festival was way back in 1983! The Holy Grail would be an official Van Halen release of their legendary performance, but I digress. There aren’t a lot of really great live Quiet Riot albums out there, with one called Extended Versions being the best package. Live at the US Festival is brief at just seven songs (plus a 4:38 guitar solo that also includes a sneak preview of a song called “Scream and Shout”). It does capture Quiet Riot at their peak, at a critical gig, and includes a DVD of the whole thing for the complete package. (Come on, Van Halen…)
Let’s have a look at the DVD first. The crowd is vast, the costumes ridiculous, but there’s some kind of fire in the air. The atmosphere is electric and the band are absolutely great visually, particularly Rudy Sarzo. DuBrow is the consummate glam frontman, and an underrated one at that. Have a giggle at the old style giant screens displaying the band logo.
The CD itself sounds good, no complaints there, and the recording sounds untampered (evidenced by a messy Carlos Cavazo guitar solo in “Cum On Feel the Noize”). Sarzo’s bass is mixed nice and audibly. It would have been better if more of a booklet was included, but it’s just a simple fold-out with no liner notes. This set is sparse and just over 40 minutes long. A lot of that time is taken up by talking. You get the big hits though, and the non-album track “Danger Zone”.
Live at the US Festival is a pretty easy Quiet Riot purchase to justify because of the included DVD.
3.5/5 stars
REVIEW: Quiet Riot – Condition Critical (1984)
QUIET RIOT – Condition Critical (1984 CBS)
I’ve reviewed almost every single Quiet Riot album now. Only Guilty Pleasures awaits of the studio albums I have left to cover. Why did I leave 1984’s Condition Critical for so long? As the follow-up to Metal Health, you’d think I would have tackled it already. But I didn’t even have the album ripped to my computer.
As a half-arsed Metal Health clone, I’ve never felt like Condition Critical deserved a lot of time spent on it. I received it in 1985, and it has never been an album I have particularly cared for. I still think today that most of the songs are not very good. At that, almost every song is an inferior clone of a prior one on Metal Health:
- “Sign of the Times” = “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)”
- “Mama Weer all Crazee Now” (Slade cover) = “Cum On Feel the Noize” (Slade cover)
- “Winners Take All” = “Thunderbird”
And so on and so forth. Spencer Proffer returned to produce, so even sonically Conditional Critical is all but a clone of the previous record. I’m sure the guys thought they were repeating the magic to take them back to the top of the charts. How wrong they were! Most of the new songs were written solely by Kevin DuBrow, and it feels rushed.
Condition Critical still retains some of the fun of Metal Health. Although not as good, the dumb-titled “Stomp Your Hands, Clap Your Feet” is plenty fun just like Quiet Riot classics. “Party all Night” is also a hoot, and you have to admit that the guys did make a pretty hilarious music video for it. Quiet Riot broke with the help of MTV, and they at least retained their knack for making an amusing music video.
On side two of the album there was hidden a serious heavy tune, the title track “Condition Critical”. This slow grinder is one of those great lost tracks that you can only get on the album. Banali breaks the levee with some solid drums. Songs like this make tracking down the record worthwhile for those willing to give it a shot.
On the other hand, I had a friend who said “Winners Take All” is probably the worst Quiet Riot song of all time.
Proceed with caution.
2.5/5 stars
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