Just in time for the long weekend, some new tunes! I also ordered a book: Sean Kelly’s Metal On Ice, as reading material for next week’s Sausagefest! Seen below: Original Soundtrack to the movie Still Crazy (thank you The Earl of Swirl for reminding me about this great film) and the new Helix album, Bastard of the Blues.
METAL ON ICE – Tunes from Canada’s Hard Rock and Heavy Metal heroes (2013 Warner Canada)
Good Sir Aaron purchased this for me at his local establishment for the low, low price of $5. In Aaron’s review, he stated, “This is the best $5 I’ve spent on spec in ages. Bar none.” That’s mighty tribute from a guy like Aaron, who buys a lot of CDs on spec.
What is Metal On Ice? The talented guitarist Sean Kelly (Crash Kelly, Four By Fate, The #1 Classical Guitar Album) put together a book of rock tales from Canada’s best of the 80’s: Helix, Anvil, Coney Hatch, Killer Dwarfs, Kick Axe and more. To go with it, he also produced this EP. Metal On Ice, the CD, consists of remakes of Canadian heavy metal classics. For all but one song, he has the original singers from the bands singing lead vocals. For the one that he doesn’t, (Kick Axe’s “On the Road to Rock”) he has Nick Walsh from Slik Toxik. Then to top it all off, he and Walsh wrote a new song called “Metal On Ice” featuring vocals from almost everybody.
Many of these songs are radio staples. “Heavy Metal Love” is one of those Helix classics that has endured. Written by Brian Vollmer and the late Paul Hackman, I think it’s one of Helix’s best tunes, period. Vollmer’s pipes speak for themselves. Sean Kelly was in Helix, on bass, for a few months before Brian reunited the classic lineup. Playing bass on this version however is Helix bassist Daryl Gray. It’s a pretty authentic remake.
I found “Metal Queen” by Lee Aaron to be the most impressive track. I cannot believe Lee’s voice, powerful as ever! With the new production and guitars by Sean Kelly, “Metal Queen” has actually been improved. It’s still an old-school metal chugger, but you can actually hear the lyrics now! What is important is that Kelly has not changed the songs very much at all. His impressively tasteful playing is enough to make each one shine just a little more. Each solo is 100% appropriate to the classic songs.
A great example of this is the Headpins’ “Don’t It Make Ya Feel” featuring Darby Mills. He has captured the vibe of the original guitar tone, and the song is very authentic. Similarly, Nick Walsh does not deviate too much from George Criston’s lead vocals from “On the Road to Rock”. When Walsh screams the high notes, it’s perfect. Carl Dixon sings lead on Coney Hatch’s classic “Hey Operator”. Dixon nearly died in a car accident not too long ago; it’s great to hear his voice as strong as ever. How do these Canadian singers stay perpetually young sounding? Is it our cold, frosty air?
Russ Dwarf returns to remake the Killer Dwarfs favourite, “Keep the Spirit Alive”. This has always been my favourite Killer Dwarfs song, right from the very beginning. It’s absolutely wonderful to hear a well produced updated version. I admit that when I first got this CD, I went back and played “Keep the Spirit Alive” four or five times in a row.
Finally, there is the new original song “Metal on Ice”. This ode to the road features lead vocals from Dixon, Vollmer, Mills, Walsh and Aaron. I love the lyrics: “Hello Kelowna, goodbye Kenora, but we do it all tomorrow in Thunder Bay,” for example. It is these kinds of Canadian towns that has kept the rock alive through trends and changing winds. Walsh proudly proclaims that even though they may never make it to the top, they’re never going to stop.
A great sentiment on which to end a great CD.
4.5/5 stars
HELIX – Smash Hits…Unplugged! (2010 Helix Records)
Smash Hits…Unplugged!, the first ever acoustic release by Helix, was certainly a release that deserved more attention. While Helix have continued to make albums (and good ones, too), many of them have been ignored by the media in general. While an album such as The Power of Rock and Roll kicked as much ass as Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge, it went largely unheard. Smash Hits…Uplugged! was a more accessible version of Helix, but it still failed to garner the attention it deserved. I do hear “That Day Is Gonna Come” from this album on the radio from time to time, but this album is too good not to be heard by masses.
This, to me, was the real “classic Helix lineup” reunion album. Unlike Vagabond Bones, you can actually hear Brent and Daryl singing. Daryl Gray in particular contributes a lot to this album, including singing, bass, guitars, and more exotic instruments such as bodhran. All five Helix members participated, including Kaleb Duck with his first Helix album. Old friends such as Sean Kelly and Cheryl Lescom also dropped in.
Every song on this album was a hit somewhere or another, and every song on this album had the potential to be a hit once again. Vollmer sang his butt off as always. Some of these arrangements are startlingly original. Particularly “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin”, which shines with great harmony vocals and mandolin courtesy of former guitar slinger Brent Doerner. This excellent, energetic version is followed by a great single-worthy take of “The Kids Are All Shakin”. The ballads are also well done, in particular the shoulda-woulda-coulda-been hit “That Day Is Gonna Come” and their cover of “Dream On”.
It is a new cover version that really blew me away. Vollmer sings his very best on “Touch of Magic” originally by the late great James Leroy. This long forgotten song is a wonderful tribute to Leroy, an under-appreciated Canadian singer and songwriter from the 1970’s. His original version of “Touch of Magic” was a #6 charting single. While I can’t say that Helix have topped or equaled him, it is a nice tribute and let’s leave it at that.
Really in total honesty, every version here is great — I can’t say much more than that. I found some arrangements, such as “Rock You”, to be pretty standard, while others to be more adventurous especially in instrumentation. A sprinkle of fiddle here, some 12-string there, and you get a rich unplugged album much more interesting than most major bands’.
Pick up Smash Hits…Unplugged! by Helix. Not only do you know all these songs already, but you’re supporting a band that really deserves it.
5/5 stars
More HELIX at mikeladano.com:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: Brian Vollmer (2012) + Brent Doerner (2007)
CONCERTS: The Power of Rock and Roll CD release party 08/18/2007, London Ontario
REVIEWS: Best Of 1983-2012 + “All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup” single
+ 30th Anniversary Concert DVD + “Good To The Last Drop”/”S.E.X. Rated” cassette single
+ Live! In Buffalo + No Rest for the Wicked
RECORD STORE TALES: Part 2: Gimme an R! + Part 234: Wild in the Streets
September 7, 2012: Once again, things are getting exciting on Planet Helix. If the new single / video “All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup” wasn’t enough, there’s also the new anthology, Best Of 1983-2012.
Lead vocalist and founding member of Helix, Brian Vollmer talked to us about these releases, some special upcoming dates, and a lot more.
The new single seems to be off to a good start, according to the song’s co-writer, Sean Kelly. Brian filled us in.
“Sean’s from North Bay [Ontario], and he told me we’re getting airplay up in North Bay on that song.” The video is also doing well: “We’re up over 5000 hits now, and we’re hoping that the video goes viral. It’s early in the season…there might not even be an NHL season this year!”
Oh Brian, don’t get me started on Gary Bettman!
The collector in me was excited about the vinyl release of the single. It’s also going to be on the anthology CD, but the vinyl is designed for collectors in mind.
“I had initially wanted to do vinyl on the Christmas album [A Heavy Mental Christmas], but when we wrote this song, I thought that we’d do vinyl because it’s a collector’s item. It’s kind of a novelty type of thing, and I think that it’ll appeal to not only Helix fans but also Toronto Maple Leafs fans. They might like the vinyl just to have in the rec room up in the bar. We sell it for $19.99 so it makes a great stocking stuffer for people.
“We did it on green vinyl too, to fit in with the season somewhat, and when we go through that pressing we’ll probably change colours.” Just FYI Brian: my wife, Mrs. LeBrain, is really hoping for blue!
“We’ve been trying to write a Leafs song for a couple years,” adds Brian. “We had the working title of ‘I’m Bleeding Blue & White Tonight’. And we never quite got the song together. And then we did a radio session, where we were finishing off [new song] ‘Axe to Grind’, which is also on the anthology album.” Brian was then supposed to meet up with Travis Wood, of the band Whosarmy (from the TV show Cover Me Canada, which Brian also guested on incidentally).
“I didn’t want to go too early, and just sit around at the restaraunt. So we started fooling around and all of a sudden, within a couple of minutes we wrote ‘All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup’. The song was recorded within two weeks.” The hilarious video was done right after that. I forgot to ask Brian if any Habs fans are offended!
All I Want For Christmas is the Leafs to Win the Cup
You can buy the single on the green vinyl in a bundle with a T-shirt and the new CD, Best Of 1983-2012. “The Best Of album I just put out has a lot of tracks that you wouldn’t normally hear [on other best of albums] by Helix. Stuff like ‘Animal Inside’ off the Vagabond Bones album. ‘Get Up’ and ‘Fill Your Head With Rock’ from The Power of Rock and Roll album.”
Coinciding with these releases is the forthcoming Heavy Mental Christmas tour.
“Yes, we just added another date in Cornwall. We have seven dates, mostly through Masonic temples, legions, moose halls, through southern Ontario. It’s a multi-media show. We’re taking out screens, so there’s some video segues between songs, other times there’s still pictures with Christmas themes…some of the cameras that are places strategically around stage are broadcasting whatever member might be doing a solo during the song.”
You may want to consider getting your tickets now, as these shows are special indeed, and feature a new lineup. Not only will you meet the new Helix guitarist, John Claus, but “also Sarah Smith. Sarah Smith is a great London [Ontario] artist, she’s got two CDs out now under her belt, she’s a great addition to the show. Just a smiling, very talented person. She’s on with us instead of Kaleb [“Duckman” Duck, guitars]. Kaleb really didn’t want to do Christmas songs! Initially, we were going to go with one guitar player, and then I thought of Sarah.”
This turned out to be a good decision, according to Brian:
“I always walk out of our Christmas practices with a big smile on my face. I love playing the material, and it’s really fun with this group of people, to do these songs. I wouldn’t want somebody to do any of my projects that wasn’t totally into it.
“It’s a labour of love. We’ve been working on this show over a year now.”
Really?
“Setting up the website, and the tickets, and the halls, and putting together the show, learning the show, and getting the multi-media involved.” But it is truly a labour of love, and you can tell by the amount of work that Brian and the band has put in so far.
I mentioned new guitar player John Claus. As previously reported, longtime axeman Brent Doerner will be leaving Helix at the end of September 2012. Brian helps shed some light on this lineup change, and what bringing in a new member does for the band.
“We have two more dates with Brent at the end of this month. One’s at the Rockpile in Toronto, the other’s at the Masonic Temple in Stratford. That’s a multi-media show as well. Tickets are going fast for that one, I think a lot of people want to come and see Brent before he goes.
“Brent’s been in the band since about 1975. No hard feelings with him leaving at all. He just wants to pursue video production, and in fact, Brent will still be involved on a creative level with the band, helping us do our videos.
“I tell everyone that Brent, when he initially came back to the fold, he was only going to be here for six months, and he ended up staying three and a half years! He definitely was better than his word, and stayed for a long time. So I’m really grateful to him for that.”
On John Claus, who will replace Brent:
“He plays piano and guitar. He sings, so he’s a great addition to the band. Nice guy, great personlity. Whenever we hire new people in the band, we don’t want any ego trips. So, to get someone who has a nice personality and just a good human being is a nice thing to have.” John will join the band completed by longtime members Daryl Gray and Greg “Fritz” Hinz, on bass and drums respectively.
The piano aspect will come into play for future shows. Brian reveals that he and John will probably perform “Dream On”, the Nazareth cover, from Helix’s Wild in the Streets album, as a duo during upcoming Helix concerts. “And the Christmas shows, we’re doing ‘Hallelujah'” says Brian of another piano-based cover to look forward to!
It’s great to see Helix continue forward through the years. Brian has worked hard, starting in the 1970’s as an indi artist, and now today continuing down that path. Once again the band is behind their own music releases, selling it themselves. Brian has nothing but praise for the team he’s surrounded himself with in recent years.
“I write with Sean [Kelly] nowadays, he’s a great writer, nice person to work with. Aaron Murray is my producer, he studied from Danny Broadback, who won a Juno for Engineering. And Danny studied with Jack Richardson, who as you know produced Alice Cooper and the Guess Who, and all sorts of people.” Brian adds, “Moe Berg [The Pursuit of Happiness] sometimes comes in to write with us, Sean and I.”
Thanks to Brian Vollmer for updating us on all the new happenings on Planet Helix! Try to get out to see the Heavy Mental Christmas tour, and get tickets while you can!
Upcoming dates:
http://www.planethelix.com/Schedule.htm
Buy the new Helix single, album, and other stuff:
http://www.planethelix.com/Store/StoreMain.htm
Audio of our chat below!
mikeladano.com 