Record Store Day is already said and done in Australia, and Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation has returned with reports, and bounty.
Peter presents to us some exclusive Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, and some acts that are a little more regional to his neck of the woods. I show off a bit of my favourites from past years. We also discuss the value and collectability of RSD releases in general. Give it a watch!
If anyone wants to do me a solid, I’m looking for:
HOLLYWOOD MONSTERS – Thriving On Chaos (2020 Voice Music, Japanese import)
Supergroup? Or just a good time? Singer/guitarist Steph Honde, drummer Vinny Appice, and bassist Ronnie Robson gathered a load of friends and recorded a fun heavy metal album of originals and covers. There is also a healthy helping of Canadian content (such as Robson in the core trio)!
Opener “A Scream Looking For a Mouth” is a raging heavy metal track along the lines of vintage high-voltage Motorhead. Hell of an opener. Add Deep Purple’s Don Airey on guest Hammond organ solo, which just hits the right spot amidst all that raging. “Speak of the Devil” continues the heavy, though not the speed, thankfully, or you’d be seeing a chiropractor from all the headbangin’. A catchy chorus and solid riffing make it another instant winner. Solid metal. A chunky riff kicks off “Something Wicked”, a really fun uptempo rocker.
Things get slower and darker on the monumental “Running Up Hill”, which is instant hit material. Ted McKenna on drums. Instant classic, with a chorus that kills. Regardless of the daily struggles we face, Honde reminds us, “Never surrender!” It’s a message of positivity, and the best track on the album.
“Numb” is another good one, grinding out a riff slow an’ easy. The added keyboards provide texture. Even better is the beautiful acoustic ballad “In This House”. Honde has an excellent acoustic album called Empire of Ashes, and this track easily could have fit on it. Though he’s a rocker, he is exceptional at tender acoustic ballads.
The first cover is “I Don’t Need No Doctor” featuring Jim Crean on backing vocals. It kicks all the expected asses, and Honde’s guitar soloing is tasty as hell. Next up: Canadian content with the Goddo cover “Drop Dead”, featuring Greg Godovitz on co-lead vocals and Tommy Denander on lead guitar. It smokes, and that lead solo? Set phasers to stun!
“Thriving On Chaos” is another impressive original. It has a slow, dramatic riff that is somehow familiar. Excellent songwriting, and hard to pigeonhole. It’s followed by a very Maiden-esque song called “Fortune Teller”, which has a vibe very similar to some of the tracks on Fear of the Dark. Fred Mika plays drums on this tempered-steel monster.
The final cover (and Canadian guest) is the Thin Lizzy cover “Cold Sweat”, as sung by Danko Jones. Danko is the perfect guy for it! He nails the Phil vibe, yet with his own snarl. And the Steph Honde guitar solo? Call the fire department! This alchemy of Jones/Honde/Appice/Robson is pure combustion. You can seldom go wrong with a Thin Lizzy cover, but here everything goes so, so right.
Always a surprise when the Japanese bonus track is one of the highlights. The heavy, thumping “I Am the Best You Can Get” slays! “Heavy” is an understatement! Vocalist Steph Honde goes from scream on the verses, to growl on the chorus. The droning chorus is the best part! This one features (Canadian) Glen Drover on lead guitar and Alexis Von Kraven on the relentless drums. The Japanese CD even comes with a printed interview with Steph Honde – though I cannot read Japanese!
Pick it up – shell out for the Japanese if it’s within your means.
4/5 stars
2020 may have sucked, but the music didn’t. This year I bought and reviewed more new releases than ever before, which I narrowed down to the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten studio albums of 2020 listed below.
I would like to dedicate this list to my good pal Uncle Meat who originated the concept of a “Nigen Tufnel Top Ten” earlier this year. It has become our thing.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2020
11. Now or Never – III
10. Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
8. Kim Mitchel – The Big Fantasize
6. Stryper – Even the Devil Believes
5. Harem Scarem – Change the World
4. Dennis DeYoung – 26 East Vol 1
Storm Force’s debut album goes straight to #1 on their very first appearance! No surprise here. I’ve been raving about this disc since February and I owe it to Superdekes for putting these guys on my radar in the first place. This is a well-deserved #1. Age of Fear is an uplifting album with depth. It’s a thoughtful, heart-pounding blast of classic hard rock.
Deep Purple’s Whoosh! and AC/DC’s PWRUP prove two things: old dogs that both learn and don’t learn new tricks can all be champions. (I call this theory “Schrödinger’s Dog”.) Deep Purple’s growth continues while AC/DC managed to tap into the vein of success that always worked for them. Both records deserve their spots in the Top 3.
It was a thrill for me to learn that Dennis DeYoung both read and enjoyed my review of his newest album 26 East Vol 1. It’s a terrific, Styx-like conceptual work that will please the old fans. As will the new albums by Harem Scarem and Stryper, who didn’t stray far from their successful classic hard rock formulas. Kim Mitchell and Sven Gali on the other hand dared to be different. Kim went laid back and acoustic, while Sven Gali went with their heaviest uninhibited inclinations. As for Mr. Bungle, it has been 21 years since their last album California. All four Bungle studio albums are completely different from one another — four different genres. For The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, they teamed up with Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo to re-record their first thrash metal demo tape. And it could be their best album since the self-titled debut in 1991. Not bad for a bunch of songs they wrote in highschool.
Corey “Mother Fuckin'” Taylor makes his debut on any list of mine with his solo album CMFT. It’s a surprising collection of commercial hard rockin’ tunes. Also appearing for the first time is Now Or Never (NoN) with their third album called III, featuring singer Steph Honde. It’s an excellent, dramatic metal album with light and shade.
BONUS LISTS
Most disappointing: Ozzy Osbourne – Ordinary Man
Song of the year: “LeBrain Train“ by T-Bone Erickson
Single of the Year: Mammoth WVH – “Distance”
Ultimately whether or not you liked the new Ozzy, its success or failure falls at the feet of producer/guitarist Andrew Watt. He is already working on the next Ozzy album, so….
Huge thanks to T-Bone Erickson for the “LeBrain Train” theme song, which amazingly and unexpectedly became the song of the year in 2020! Weird how that happened. No bias here I assure you.
Finally, Wolfgang Van Halen finally released his first solo music under the name Mammoth WVH. The non-album single “Distance” is dedicated to his late father Eddie. Though musically it’s a modern power ballad, the lyrics and especially the music video evoke serious emotion. Well done Wolfgang. Can’t wait to check out his album in 2021.
TOP FIVE LIVE OR COMPILATION ALBUMS IN 2020
5. Metallica – S&M2
4. Thin Lizzy – Rock Legends
3. Sloan – B Sides Win Vol. 1 1992-1997
2. Def Leppard – The Early Years 78-81
1. Iron Maiden – Nights of the Dead – Legacy of the Beast
There were a lot of cool rock releases in 2020, so we need more lists! Of course the brilliant new live Maiden deserved some loving attention. Meanwhile, Sloan, Def Leppard and Thin Lizzy have continued to put out quality collections of rarities & unreleased material, well worth the time and money you’ll spend on them. The Sloan collection is a vinyl exclusive and the first in a series of LPs re-releasing some of their B-sides and non-album and bonus tracks. Finally, Metallica delivered the goods even without Michael Kamen on S&M2, a very different live set than the first S&M. That’s the way to do it!
BEST LOCKDOWN SINGLE
5. Queen + Adam Lambert – “You Are the Champions”
3. Marillion – “Made Again 2020”
1. Alice Cooper – “Don’t Give Up”
A LOOK AHEAD AT 2021
It’s naive to assume that major touring and concerts will return in 2021. This appears highly optimistic at present, with Covid still ravaging the landscape and vaccinations only just beginning. Instead of looking ahead at things like the resuming Kiss tour, or the Motley Crue reunion, we should continue to put our faith in new music.
Accept have a new album due January 15 intriguingly titled Too Mean to Die. It is their first without bassist Peter Baltes. Steven Wilson has a new record out at the end of that month. In February we get new Foo Fighters, The Pretty Reckless, Willie Nelson and Alice Cooper. Greta Van Fleet, Weezer, Rob Zombie, Ringo Starr, and Thunder will be back soon too. Many other bands are writing and recording without an announced due date. Ghost, Marillion, Scorpions, Megadeth and even Ratt are hard at work to make next year suck a little less. Support the bands by buying the music.
This no-disqualification episode was brought to you by Coffee!
First of all — Thank you to all the participants this time out, including Kevin (Buried on Mars) and Deke (Arena Rock). While these two gentleman did appear, they did not do the traditional Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists and so they are not among the songs below. To access their “bonus tracks” you are going to have to watch the video!
Second — The MVP this week was Sarca Sim from Caught Me Gaming. Not to belittle the effort that anyone put into their lists (as you’ll see), but Sarca utilized an additional caveat: her list was 100% CanCon. A difficult, impressive and rewarding feat.
Third — You can decide for yourself if anyone deserved to be disqualified this week. Have Stavesacre or Wesley Willis ever had a legitimate hit? Is Toto a one hit wonder band? You decide.
Finally — Really, everyone was MVP this week. It was a marathon session. The feedback I have received so far has been excellent.
“I was howling for a lot of it. Michelle kept saying ‘what are you laughing about'” – Chris S
“It was like watching an SNL skit” – also Chris S
“Max is a one hit wonder on this stream lol” – also Chris S
“Love it!!!!!!!!” – My mom
Any songs that were repeated are highlighted below. There are not many. Enjoy these tracks!
Mike – LeBrain
11. Blue Cheer – “Summertime Blues”
10. Spacehog – “In the Meantime”
9. Kik Tracee – “You’re So Strange”
8. Wesley Willis – “Alanis Morissette”
7. Marvelous 3 – “Freak of the Week”
6. Tal Bachman – “She’s So High”
5. The Kings – “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide”
4. Blotto – “Metal Head”
3. sandbox. – “Curious”
2. E-Z-O – “Flashback Heart Attack”
1. Loudness – “Crazy Night”
Rob – Visions in Sound and Gimli the Cat
11. Alien Ant Farm – “Smooth Criminal”
10. Arlo Guthrie – “City of New Orleans”
9. Frank Stallone – “Far From Over”
8. Prelude – “After the Gold Rush”
7. J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers – “Last Kiss”
6. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – “Fire”
5. Zager and Evans – “In the Year 2525”
4. Paul Hardcastle – “Nineteen”
3. Information Society – “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)”
2. Yello – “Oh Yeah”
1. MECO – “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band”
John – 2loud2oldmusic
11. Red Rider – “Lunatic Fringe”
10. Modern English – “I Melt With You”
9. Dexy’s Midnight Runners – “Come On Eileen”
8. Aldo Nova – “Fantasy”
7. Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “Relax”
6. Cutting Crew – “(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight”
5. Kix – “Don’t Close Your Eyes”
4. Saigon Kick – “Love is on the Way”
3. The Darkness – “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”
2. Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy”
1. Portugal. The Man – “Feel It Still”
Eric – Uncle Meat
11. Bobby Pickett – “Monster Mash”
10. Nick Gilder – “Hot Child in the City”
9. Neneh Cherry – “Buffalo Stance”
8. Deee-Lite – “Groove is in the Heart”
7. Ace – “How Long Has This Been Going On”
6. Haircut 100 – “Love Plus One”
5. Tracy Bonham – “Mother Mother”
4. Donnie Iris – “Ah Leah”
3. Modern English – “I Melt With You”
2. Martha and the Muffins – “Echo Beach”
1. Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy”
Max the Axe – kind of a big deal
11. Donnie Iris – “Ah Leah”
10. Toto – “Hold the Line”
9. Atlanta Rhythm Section – “Imaginary Love”
8. Holly McNarland – “Elmo”
7. Moist – “Push”
6. Youth Gone Mad – “Crime Rate ’88”
5. Stavesacre – “Shiv”
4. Demon – “Liar”
3. The Trojan Ponies – “Deny”
2. Cheech and Chong – “Earache My Eye”
1. Eddie Murphy – “Party All the Time”
Aaron – KeepsMeAlive
11. The Surfaris – “Wipe Out”
10. Rusted Root – “Send Me On My Way”
9. Dan Baird – “I Love You Period”
8. Billy Falcon – “Power Windows”
7. Coleman Wild – “It Doesn’t Matter”
6. Marc Cohn – “Walking in Memphis”
5. Us 3 – “Cantaloupe (Flip Fantasia)”
4. Blind Melon – “No Rain”
3. Sublime – “What I Got”
2. Timbuk 3 – “The Future’s So Bright”
1. Mountain – “Mississippi Queen”
Sarah – Caught Me Gaming – special all Canadian list
11. Alta Moda – “Julian”
10. Cats Can Fly – “Flippin to the A Side”
9. The Kings – “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide”
8. Eight Seconds – “Kiss You (When It’s Dangerous)”
7. Idle Eyes – “Tokyo Rose”
6. Len – “Steal My Sunshine”
5. Neo A4 – “Say This To Me”
4. Daniel Lanois – “Lotta Love to Give”
3. John Bottomley – “You Lose and You Gain”
2. Maestro Fresh Wes – “Let Your Backbone Slide”
1. The Northern Lights – “Tears Are Not Enough”
Additional resources – Todd in the Shadows – “One Hit Wonderland”
Nine participants. Epic lists. Utter chaos!
The theme for this week’s Nigel Tufnel Top Ten list was One Hit Wonders! This was a special “no disqualifications” matchup so anything went. Are Toto a one hit wonder band? Max the Axe thought so even if the majority disagreed.
You panel this week:
With special appearances by:
I wrote down all the songs chosen, so when given some time I’ll post all the lists for you to examine in more detail. But after an almost three hour show, I need to go get something to eat.
Added bonus: A quick look at the new Thin Lizzy 6 CD rarities box set called Rock Legends.
It’s a long show, but fucking hilarious. Enjoy.
REVIEW: Thin Lizzy – Dedication – The Very Best of Thin Lizzy (1991 Polygram North American version)
It might not be the best introduction to the most underrated classic rock band of all time, but it was my introduction. Dedication was a 1991 Thin Lizzy compilation that was buoyed by the unreleased song “Dedication” which was released as the radio single. There’s nothing wrong with the “new” track, except it wasn’t supposed to be a Thin Lizzy song. Phil Lynott recorded the song in 1985 for his new band Grand Slam. Scott Gorham and Brian Downey replaced the original instrumentation leaving Phil intact. And that’s fine. “Dedication” sounds slightly unfinished but it also sounds like what Thin Lizzy might have been doing had they carried on.
These kind of extra songs usually get spotlighted at the front of the album, or left at the end to whet the appetite. On Dedication, it goes last, leaving the compilation to ascend in chronological order. Is that the best way to approach listening to Thin Lizzy? While many sets go that route, it leads to a very uneven playing experience. Early Thin Lizzy was much more folksy, and dare I say it, just not as good. It certainly had some excellent tunes, and some of the better ones are showcased here. “Whiskey in the Jar” is an actual folk traditional, rocked up and made unforgettable by that Eric Bell guitar hook. That’s followed by the firecracker “The Rocker”, just shy of three minutes but every one of them shockingly great.
Original guitarist Eric Bell left the band after three albums due to exhaustion, and the band was beefed up to a four-piece with Brian Robertson and Scott Gorham taking his place. It took a while for the albums to really catch up with the talent. On CD it’s a lot of slow material before we get to the more rocking stylings of the Thin Lizzy that you know and love. From 1974’s Nightlife we have “She Knows”, “Still in Love With You”, and “Showdown”. A lot of ballads and blues and not a lot of fire. The guitar work is sparkling but the songs are not yet as astounding as they would yet become. Another ballad, “Wild One” from Fighting (1975) is one of the best of the batch. It is bookended by two rockers, “Fighting My Way Back” and the Bob Seger cover of “Rosalie”. Both are tracks you don’t want to live without.
Part of (but only part of) Phil Lynott’s genius was bringing Gorham and Robbo (and later others) together as a unified guitarmony duo. The next batch of classics really hammer this home. “Jailbreak”, “The Boys are Back in Town”, “Cowboy Song” and “Don’t Believe a Word” are the embodiment of what people think of when they picture Thin Lizzy. The driving beats, the hooks, the dual solos, the poetic lyrics — it’s all there in what might be considered Lizzy’s peak era.
Brian Robertson left the band shortly after, and doesn’t appear on “Bad Reputation” or “Dancing in the Moonlight”, but Gorham picked up the slack in the studio and rendered these as two more stone-cold classics. “Bad Reputation” covers the driving side of the band while “Dancing in the Moonlight” is funky, light romantic storytelling. Truly excellent songs even without Robbo.
The Gary Moore era follows with “Do Anything You Want To” and “Waiting For An Alibi”, two more excellent Lizzy classics from the underappreciated album Black Rose. Moore lasted only for one album, and his successor Snowy White for two more. Snowy is only heard on one track here (“Chinatown”) and the man that replaced him (John Sykes) is heard on none! So another failing of the Dedication album is a sudden drop-off at the end, leaving out important songs. “Chinatown” is excellent at least, but so is “Hollywood” and “Renegade”, yet they are not here.
Yes, too many songs were left off Dedication because you couldn’t get ’em all on a single CD. Johnny The Fox (possibly their best record) is an album that isn’t given enough time here, along with Black Rose. And to have no Sykes? Unjustifiable.
Fortunately the last song “Dedication” is better than expected, sounding like Thin Lizzy 1991, beefy and tough. It doesn’t sound like Lizzy ’75 or Lizzy ’83. But it does sound like Lizzy because Phil Lynott’s voice tends to do that. Scott Gorham does a decent job of replicating all the guitar excitement himself (he’s had to do it before). The track, written by Lynott and Grand Slam guitarist Laurence Archer, had one of those guitar hooks well suited to the Lizzy canon. Gorham and Downey did it justice enough.
Dedication is not enough Thin Lizzy but it’s enough to get your feet wet. Although it’s a slow starter it will eventually get you interested enough to try more. It worked for me and it’ll work for you.
3.25/5 stars
THIN LIZZY – Still Dangerous (2008 VH1 classic, iTunes bonus tracks)
Think of this as a companion piece to Live and Dangerous. Four tracks were previously released on that landmark live album. Still Dangerous has a bunch more, purportedly recorded in October 1977 in Philly. 10 tracks; 12 if you got it on vinyl with bonus 7″, on iTunes, or in Japan.
Like Live and Dangerous, what you get is live Lizzy at their peak, well recorded, and charismatic as ever. It’s interesting that they opened with “Soldier of Fortune” since it’s a slower number, though no less powerful than any others. It merges into “Jailbreak”, leaving the audience no chance to breathe…only to be rocked. Impressive guitar and drums on this one.
“Cowboy Song” and “Boys are Back in Town” are the same as Live and Dangerous; legendary! Basically one long ongoing song. Phil introduces their then-new single “Dancing in the Moonlight” as a song with some sax and sex. Yet it has a youthful exuberance. “Now we go steady to the pictures, I always get chocolate stains on my pants.” You can picture that long, hot summer night. The next track, the blistering metal of “Massacre” is from Live and Dangerous. Just listen to Brian Downey on the drums, a prototypical metal machine. Without “Massacre” there could be no Iron Maiden.
“Opium Trail” doesn’t let up the aural assault. Brian Downey impresses once again with his creative fills and patterns. Lizzy moves on to “Don’t Believe a Word”, an older classic but just slightly sluggish. There are more energized versions out there. “Baby Drives Me Crazy” is also a bit dull, with one of those long audience singalong sessions. The standard CD closes with “Me and the Boys”, furiously fast and fun! It’s a long jammer, but its caffeinated pace really keeps things moving.
The two iTunes bonus tracks (mastered annoyingly louder) are “Bad Reputation” and “Emerald”. Only Emerald was previously available on Live and Dangerous. “Bad Reputation” is pure smoke.
Since this album was mixed by Glyn Johns and Live and Dangerous was not, one must assume even the tracks from that album are presented differently here. If you already know that album front to back, then enjoy the fresh sounds of Still Dangerous instead.
4/5 stars
GETTING MORE TALE #719: Mystery Disc
Cleaning out Jen’s mom’s house after she passed away was very emotional work. Nobody’s been living there since July. One day she got up and broke her hip. We didn’t know it yet but the cancer was in her bones. She never came home again. When we started working on the house in September, everything was more or less how she left it.
Her music collection was small with a few gems. One disc that I kept was Cat Stevens’ Icon. I had to take it for “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out.” As told in Getting More Tale #702, that song seemed to make a connection with me when she was sick. One day we went to see her in the hospital, and she was unconscious. No longer able to communicate. That song was stuck in my head for reasons I can’t explain. I like to think she was sending me a message. Not to be sad. It would have been like her to say that to me. I get tears in my eyes thinking about her lying there dying, and that song playing on repeat in my head. I had the song played at her funeral. It just seemed like such a “mum” song, even though I have no memories of us ever listening to it together. When I found out that she actually owned that song, I got the chills again. Finding Cat Stevens made my heart swell.
We also found a number of CD-Rs that I made, but had no labels or covers. For today’s chapter I’m focusing on one specifically. I can’t figure out why I made it, or who I made it for, or what it was doing at Jen’s mom’s house!
It is a lightscribe CD, and burned into the top is the old background from my website. It’s a photo of some model guitars and guitar picks. The 15 song track listing is most bizarre and I can’t figure out what I was doing!
Track 1: Craig Fee saying “LeBraaaain”. This dates the CD to 2012 at the earliest. I liked to introduce my CDs with something amusing, so this works.
Tracks 2-4: “Whiskey in the Jar”. The first is Metallica’s studio cover from Garage Inc. The second is Thin Lizzy’s take from 1972. Last is a live Metallica version, possibly from the CD single. That’s a lot of whiskey – 15 solid minutes worth. Listening back, the Metallica live version absolutely kills their studio cut. Yeah-hah!
Track 5: Steve Earle – “Home to Houston”. This track is from Steve’s political 2004 album The Revolution Starts Now. I haven’t played that album in years and I don’t remember this song. Why it stuck out enough to put it on this mystery disc, I haven’t a clue. Good tune, but I don’t know it anymore!
Track 6: Jeff Bridges & Colin Ferrel – “Fallin’ & Flyin'” from the 2010 soundtrack Crazy Heart. Now, memories are starting to form. I can remember driving around with Jen and her mom, listening to this song in my car. Did I make this CD for her mom? If so, why the Metallica?
Track 7: Johnny Cash – “The Man Comes Around”. One of the greatest Cash songs, from the best American album in my opinion. Goosebumps, still to this day. Jen and I love Cash and had him played at our wedding.
Track 8: Me doing a song intro! The backing track sounds like Motorhead’s acoustic version of “Ace of Spades” with the main lick looped and no vocals. I made this for a past Sausagefest countdown! The track I’m introducing: “Renegade” by Styx! I mention that it was covered by Daughtry and then add sound effects of Nicko McBrain burping and farting. I have to admit it’s a pretty great (and funny) intro! It was #30 on the 2013 countdown. From that I can now assume I made this CD the same year. Which is strange because I wasn’t really making mix CDs anymore in 2013.
Track 9 is a personal favourite, “Rock An’ Roll Angels” from Whitesnake’s 1982 album Saints & Sinners. I’ve always been into rock and roll songs with boogie woogie piano. I have loved this song for three decades. Then Track 10, another Whitesnake classic: “Slow An’ Easy” from the landmark classic Slide It In. That’s another personal fave, because of the slide riff. It’s incredible and I spent many hours as a teenager playing air slide to it. Not to mention air drums! Cozy Powell was so fucking cool.
Then more slide! Track 11: The Black Crowes – “Twice as Hard”. I was clearly trying to make the CD flow. Indeed I used to spend hours shuffling track order until I had it “just right”. With all this slide business going on, I wonder if the next song is going to be some “Travelling Riverside Blues”?
Nope! A total surprise to me, Track 12 is The Tragically Hip! “50 Mission Cap” is Jen’s favourite, for reasons you’ll understand.
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer,
He was on a fishing trip.
The last goal he ever scored,
Won the Leafs the cup.
They didn’t win another till nineteen sixty two,
The year he was discovered.
I stole this from a hockey card,
I keep tucked up under.
I think the lyrics are brilliant because they tell two stories at once. First, they tell the true tale of Toronto Maple Leaf Bill Barilko, who tragically died in a plane crash in a remote part of Quebec. Nobody knew what happened to him until his body was found 11 years later. The second tale is that of a young Gord Downie who read about it on the back of a hockey card.
Track 13 is another surprise: “The Boys are Back in Town” by Bon Jovi! Don’t scoff, this is actually a really good Thin Lizzy cover from their New Jersey period. Lyrically, Jon and Phil Lynott were on similar wavelengths. This is exactly the kind of tune that Jon was writing. “Wild in the Streets” is Bon Jovi trying to re-write “The Boys are Back in Town”.
Track 14: “Big Foot” from Chickenfoot III. Gotta be one of my favourite car tunes. “Got Houses Of The Holy on the box, got it all cranked up cause, yeah! That shit rocks!” What a groove — you can’t help but stomp along. Joe Satriani has a way with a riff.
I had a guess that Track 15 was going to be all of side one of 2112. The track time was over 20 minutes, so I had an inkling it was either that or side two of Abbey Road. I’ve ended mix CDs with 20 minute epics before, and I think it works. The Beatles did it! Granted, the 2112 epic was a side one, but it still functions perfectly in the closing position. Try it yourself!
Listening to this mystery disc has been enjoyable, but my reasoning still escapes me. It’s such a bizarre mix, with the front loaded threesome of “Whiskey in the Jar”. From there it starts to make a little more sense. But how it did it end up at “mum’s” house?
My best theory is that I made it as a gift for Jen’s Uncle Rick, and it never got mailed. He lived in Texas at the time — maybe that’s why I included “Home to Houston”. Rick is also a Whitesnake fan, and a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. I’m just not sure.
How would you rate this mix CD if you were the recipient? I think I’d give it a solid:
4/5 stars
We have had a solid rain in Kitchener, Ontario. Not only are the banks of the Grand swollen to the limit, but there has also been a steady rainfall of new arrivals at LeBrain HQ! Summer has officially arrived, and what is summer without new rock?
First we have some gratuity for Mr. Geoff “1001” Stephen. Some surprise mail arrived from him this week: two 7″ singles and some Leafs memorabilia. As Mrs. LeBrain said, “Thank you Geoff Stephen for the wonderful surprise this morning. The calendar brought back so many memories of my favourite hockey year. Go Leafs Go!”
For myself, a Kiss “Christine Sixteen”/”Shock Me” single, which alas is too late to fit into my Love Gun re-review! Those two songs make it virtually a double A-side. The other single he sent has a similar standing: Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town”/”Jailbreak”. Two singles, four amazing cuts of rock history.
On the same day, I received this from a Discogs seller in Japan: a CD that has been on my wishlist a long time. Despite the long wait, I managed to hold off from buying the domestic edition of Ghost’s debut Opus Eponymous all this time. A sealed copy finally came up on Discogs within my buying threshold, so I jumped at it. For my rewards, I got “Here Comes the Sun”, Ghost’s Beatles cover…and a very different one it is.
We will jump briefly to new arrivals in the toy department. Thanks to J. at Resurrection Songs we recently covered the ins and outs of Third Party products. Behold! Badcube has released their take on Masterpiece Transformer Insecticons. These are heavy, heavy toys with lots of diecast and G1 accurate insect modes, with robot modes an homage to the cartoon. Check them out with their leader Megatron (third party Apollyon) and their original 1985 toys below. These, by the way, are deluxe collector’s editions with clear plastic and chromed parts for added value. I’d love to compare them to an official Hasbro Masterpiece Insecticon, but such a thing does not exist. That’s why third party companies have a niche. Labels by Toyhax.
Apollyon by X-Transbots with Evil Bug Corps by Badcube
Badcube Claymore and Transformers G1 Shrapnel
Badcube Hypno and Transformers G1 Bombshell
Badcube Kickbutt and Transformers G1 Kickback
Last new entry in the toy Department: I found some new Star Wars Black Series 6″ releases kicking around at the local Toys R Us on Sunday. I should have grabbed more of the Imperial AT-ACT driver, that one being a Target/TRU exclusive, but sometimes you find those to still be warming the pegs a few weeks later. The Imperial Death Squad commander will look great with my Stormtroopers, but I feel to ask $30 for one little tiny Jawa figure is a bit much. They should have included two Jawas or a droid in there for that price.
The same day as the Toys R Us trip, I also dropped in at the newly re-opened Sunrise Records at Fairview Mall, which is really starting to come along with great customer service and an improving selection. I couldn’t browse long, so I leaped immediately to the metal section and grabbed two CDs that I was missing by The Sword: Low Country (2016) and the new live album Greetings From… (2017). I am slowly getting caught up on that band — loving everything I have heard so far.
A wonderful week to be sure, but it’s time to stop buying music and toys for a short while, and get ready for Sausagefest 2017. I finished recording my parts yesterday, and I have inside information that suggests that this Sausagefest countdown will be pretty awesome.
Stay tuned.
BLUE MURDER – Blue Murder (1989 Geffen)
For some, expectations were high.
On paper, it was genius. Teaming up the legendary drummer Carmine Appice with anyone will turn heads, but John Sykes, the ex-Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake guitar genius? Sign us up. Add in ex-Black Sabbath singer Ray Gillen, and the Firm’s Tony Franklin on bass, and that right there is an interesting combo. Two words were buzzing around the camp, and they were “blues” and “jams”. When the band did start jamming the blues, they realized that Ray Gillen didn’t have much to do during the long instrumental breaks they were producing. The decision was made to cut Ray and trim the band down to a classic power trio, with Sykes singing lead. The trio format was fairly unique among rock bands in the late 80’s. (Ray hooked up with another new blues-rock band, Jake E. Lee’s Badlands.)
Adding to the hype machine behind the new christened Blue Murder was the tapping of up and coming producer Bob Rock. Coming off of some hit albums by Kingdom Come and The Cult, it was assumed Rock would do the same for Blue Murder. They hiked up to Little Mountain Sound in Vancouver and recorded the album, dedicating it to Phil Lynott.
Unfortunately it was pretty clear after a few listens that despite the hype and big names, Blue Murder was not the supergroup debut that it should have been. Indeed, the lineup expired after one record.
Sykes’ singing was not the issue. His vocals on songs such as “Riot” and “Ptolemy” are more than adequate. Power and range were not an issue for Sykes. Perhaps his unique guitar stylings were too associated with the mega-selling Whitesnake 1987, because the sonic connections are obvious. Too much ‘Snake, not enough Lizzy. The songs are not all bad either, though many could use some minutes trimmed from them. At nine songs and 52 minutes, Blue Murder does have the instrumental chills that Sykes wanted to get across, but at the cost of diluting the impact with meandering rock songs. Other issues must fall at the feet of Bob Rock. Though Blue Murder earned the producer a nomination at the Juno awards in 1990, the muddy sound is very far indeed from what Rock can do. “Sex Child” is a perfect example of this. Rock strove to give Carmine a big drum sound, but there are also excessive keyboards and layers of vocals all occupying the same sonic space. This robs it of the groove. It’s a chore to finish the whole album in a sitting, due to some of these problems.
There are three album highlights that are possibly worth the expense to rock historians. They are the singles “Valley of the Kings” and “Jelly Roll”, and the epic “Ptolemy”. At 7:50, “Valley of the Kings” had to be severely edited down for a single/video. It has all the progressive rock qualities that you know these guys are capable of, and who isn’t a sucker for lyrics about pharoahs and pyramids? Must credit must also be given to Tony Franklin, who makes it sound as if the fretless bass is easy to play! You don’t hear enough fretless in hard rock, and Franklin is one of the world’s very best. Period.
Interestingly, “Valley of the Kings” was co-written by then-Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin. You can absolutely hear parallels to Sabbath’s Headless Cross released the same year – an album that also had some fretless bass on it thanks to Lawrence Cottle!
“Jelly Roll” was a music video, fitting the slot for some good time summer acoustic rock. Instead of going ballad, Blue Murder went to the bayou. The tricky slide licks recall Whitesnake, but unfortunately towards the end, the song sinks into typical ballad territory. It sounds like two songs melded together, but I like the first part best.
The final keeper is the progressive epic “Ptolemy”. Unfortunately the lyrics don’t have much to do with the actual mathematician and astronomer who lived almost 2000 years ago. Instead the song is about tomb robbing; unrelated to Ptolemy of Alexandria. This is a shame since they could have written about Ptolemy’s musical studies (Harmonics), or his influence on the concept of the universe of a series of spheres that create music. Fortunately the musical qualities of the song enable us to overlook the words.
There are also-rans worth checking out: particularly a track called “Billy” which is the most Thin Lizzy of all the tunes. You could imagine, if Phil had lived, that he could have recorded “Billy” for a mid-80’s Thin Lizzy album. Unfortunately most of the material resides in Whitesnake territory, especially the carbon-copy ballad “Out of Love”, and the closer “Black-Hearted Woman” which recycles Whitesnake riffs.
Too bad. Loads of potential, but blown in the delivery.
2.5/5 stars
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