Stef Burns

REVIEW: Y&T – Ultimate Collection (2001)

Y&T – Ultimate Collection (Universal)

When Tim Durling, author of Down For the Count: The Y&T Album Review, found out I didn’t own any Y&T, he sought to rectify the situation.  As a passionate and knowledgeable fan, he knew that I wanted to start with a good compilation that covered all the songs I liked, and as many albums as possible.  The Ultimate Collection was the CD he vouched for, and he did not steer me wrong.  This is an amazing compilation.

The disc opens with four songs from Earthshaker, their first album as Y&T after two records as Yesterday & Today.  “Dirty Girl” is an unusual if brilliant opener.  It’s both slow and heavy, with a couple genius guitar solos, one different from the other, and each telling a story.  This track plods in the best possible way, with a cool signature riff and a stomping beat.  The chunky “Hurricane” and an epic “Rescue Me” follow, but “I Believe In You” is a real standout from Earthshaker.  This is a powerful metal ballad, like something the Scopions used to score hits with.  Dave Meniketti has expert control of his voice, with a vibrato to die for.

A clutch of songs from Black Tiger (produced by Max Norman) follows.  The title track from that album fades in from ominous jungle sounds (because tigers usually live in the jungle).  “Cat eyes!  She draws you in!”  Dave is singing about a different kind of jungle here.  The black tiger he’s singing about is of the feminine variety, and Dave wants you to heed his warning.  “She’s playing for keeps, so you better get away!”  Just a smoking metal track with stinging guitars.  “Open Fire” is just as heavy, if a bit faster.  These two songs boast hooks, both on guitar and vocals.  Y&T are experts at this high-velocity rock, but “Forever” could fool you into thinking it’s another ballad…until it storms off, bordering on thrash metal.  “Forever” definitely competes with the kind of heavy rock bands that were starting to make a name for themselves in the early 80s.  Leonard Haze pushes it over the top with his adrenalized drumming.

Chris Tsangarides took over production duties on Mean Streak.  We only get two heavy hitters, including the title track “Mean Streach”.  (That’s a joke – listen to the chorus.)  “Midnight In Tokyo” is the other, and by contrast, this song isn’t as simple or straight ahead.  Complex, jazzy verses collide with melodically heavy choruses.  Phil Kennemore must be credited for some really incredible, gallopy and melodic bass playing.

In Rock We Trust was produced by Tom Allom of Judas Priest fame.  We only get one track from this record, the big hit “Don’t Stop Runnin'”.   This one is especially notable for the backing vocals.  The band probably don’t get enough credit for that, and the thick and sweet chorus is all band.   Though I did see this music video on Toronto Rocks and the Pepsi Power Hour once or twice, it should have been a lot bigger.  This band had a number of circumstances against then, as discussed in Tim Durling’s book, available on Amazon.

The next couple studio albums were produced by Kevin Beamish.  Some may love, and some may hate, the direction this band evolved on Down for the Count and Contagious.  If the songs chosen here are any indication, the band were going for a more radio-oriented mid-80s mainstream sound.  They still managed to pack punch into the songs, but “Summertime Girls” and “Contagious” are notable more streamlined and polished.  The melodies and backing vocals take more prominent positions, and keyboards enter the fray.  I think these tracks are great.  They are among my childhood favourites.  I love the backwards-recorded drum parts on “Summertime Girls”.

A live track from Open Fire provides some much-needed music from the first Yesterday & Today album, which was on London Records and unavailable for this compilation.  Wicked riff from Joey Alves on “25 Hours A Day”!  Note the backing vocals once again.  Whether they were polished in the studio, it doesn’t matter.  The band can sing.  This fun rock groove has a little more power than the studio version.  Nice bass solo from Phil!

The end, temporarily, was 1990’s album Ten produced by Mike Stone.  The ballad “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” turned me off back in the day.  It was too soft for the direction I was headed.  Judas Priest was dropping “Painkiller” while Y&T released a ballad.  It just wasn’t what I wanted.  I should have given Ten a chance.  I love this song now.  Though the lineup had changed, and Journey’s Steve Smith was playing drums in the studio, it still sounds like Y&T.  Those melodies and backing vocals!  That “touch by touch, little by little!” hook just knocks me out, not to mention Meniketti’s voice and delivery.

Y&T came back in 1995, retaining Stef Burns and Jimmy DeGrasso from the last incarnation.  Musically Incorrect was the name of the album, and “I’m Lost” is an absolute smoker!  You’d think it came from one of the earlier albums…because it does.  It was originally on Struck Down and re-recorded here.  It’s one of the fastest songs on the compilation, and the raw 9o’s production gives it a vintage sound.  It’s challenging stuff.  DeGrasso absolutely smokes on the drums.  No wonder he ended up in Megadeth a bit later on.  The same lineup remained on Endangered Species in 1997.  A heavy ballad called “God Only Knows” represents that album.  It’s passionate metal, with the kind of wrought-iron arrangement you expect from a power ballad.  Absolutely killer lead solo work.

The final track takes us back to the beginning.  A live version of “Beautiful Dreamer” from 1991 is originally from the debut Yesterday & Today.  Again, it’s a little more complex, but still boasting the kind of melodies, riffs and singing that we expect from Y&T.  That is, high quality heavy rock.

This is easily the best first-purchase Y&T you can make.  It’s a great sampling of as much music as you can reasonably expect.  Solid listen front to back, and then back to front.  Liner notes are by the late Gerri Miller of Metal Edge magazine.

5/5 stars

 

 

 

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation (1994 CD, comic books)

Warning:  image heavy review!

LAST TEMPTATION_0001ALICE COOPER – The Last Temptation (1994)

When this album first came out, the local music geeks and I spent a lot of time discussing it. The foremost argument was, “What influence did grunge have on The Last Temptation?” While this is by no means a grunge album, I think there is a subtle grunge influence, and The Last Temptation is all the better for it.

The Last Temptation was heavier…more serious…more raw in production. These are all trends that grunge helped usher in. Alice had taken a bit of a slip, quality-wise, in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The Last Temptation was the album he needed to release in 1994.  While it was not a commercial success, it excited the long time fans.  It was the kind of thing we’d really missed from Alice, since the 1970’s.

The most obvious grunge influence is that Chris Cornell of Soundgarden wrote two songs and co-sings one. “Stolen Prayer”, the best song on the album, is Cornell’s, and his pipes have never sounded so good. Grunge forced a lot of hard rockers to drop the glossy production sheen of the 80’s, get serious a little bit on the lyrics, and write harder songs. This is evident in the world of Alice. This album spends a lot of time on the temptation of drugs, and while many rock fans might cringe at the idea of Alice delivering a “message” to us, this really is nothing new for our favourite masked rock star. He’s been serious before, on some of his finest moments in fact, but he always makes his messages fun to listen to and sing along with. West Side Story has always been a huge influence on Alice as fans know, and The Last Temptation is another album that shows this Broadway influence. “Bad Place Alone”, for example, has a chorus that sounds influenced by musicals.

LAST TEMPTATION_0007Alice is nothing if not ambitious. The Last Temptation was Alice’s first “true” concept album since DaDa in 1983. In fact there was a even three-part Neil Gaiman comic book available at the time to help flesh out the story. One edition of the CD came with issue #1.  Here you can find images from all three issues.

Marvel went all out on these comics.  The covers are hard stock, and the artwork inside by Michael Zulli is detailed and, at times, horrifying.  The colour palette evokes autumn (the story is set in October).  Even Alice himself appears as the Showman character, but the protagonist is (of course) Steven.  These comics were later reissued in a trade paperback, but all are affordable today, running at about $4 each.  The most desireable edition is probably the rare one that came backed with the CD:  issue #1, with a white border.

Musically, Alice is at the very top of his game here. Gone is the gloss. In fact, the opening track “Sideshow” sounds so much like the 70’s that you could swear it’s from the original Welcome To My Nightmare record. Awesome horn sections, great riff, killer lyrics; you’ll be singing this one for days after hearing it. “Nothing’s Free” rips off “Billion Dollar Babies” somewhat with the opening drum hook, but you won’t be complaining when you hear it. Most likely you’ll be pumping your fists to it. The first single “Lost In America” is a fast, tight rock song with insanely catchy lyrics, very different from a lot of stuff Alice had done in the 80’s.

The rest of the album is strong, with “It’s Me” being the sole ballad. “Stolen Prayer” is an absolute diamond.  Chris Cornell sings on the choruses with that classic, incredible 90’s Soundgarden voice.  Although the song is largely acoustic and mellow, the best word I can use for it is “epic”.  It’s a classic, and I believe that to be the reason that Alice used it to close his comprehensive box set, The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper.  (Cornell also wrote the track “Unholy War”, solely — even the lyrics, which Alice used without modification.)

Overall the direction of the album is dark and catchy, with great playing from the entire cast and Alice spitting out the words as only he can. The fact that most of these songs were played live on tour is a testament to the strength of the material and Alice’s confidence that he had made yet another classic album.

The Last Temptation is a record that is sadly unknown to many casual rock fans. However, anybody who loved Welcome To My Nightmare would be well advised to pick this up. They might find that Alice has built a musical time machine, an album that sounds timeless despite its 1994 release date. It may not be a grunge album, but I think we owe a thanks to the grunge movement for helping Alice make the strongest record he’d done since 1975.

What happens to Steven? You’ll just have to listen and find out.

5/5 stars