Tim’s Vinyl Confessions

#1079: How To Take the Weekend Off Guilt-Free

RECORD STORE TALES #1079: How To Take the Weekend Off Guilt-Free

Out of necessity, I’ve leaned back into live streaming hard this summer.  It was survival and I have to thank Jex Russell and Harrison Kopp for helping me make this happen.  Jex was there for me when all plans went out the window and along with Mr. Kopp and an array of awesome friends, we have managed to put out some of the best shows, and most popular to date.  The Canada Day show was a raging success.

I’ve also been busy recording projects behind the scenes some of which haven’t even been released yet.  I did a couple with Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, one with Grant’s Rock Warehaus. and one with Rock Daydream Nation, among other projects.  It’ll be cool for me to watch these as they finally drop, as we had good times talking controversial rock topics!

In order to enjoy what’s left of summer, and some earned time off, there will be no Grab A Stack of Rock tonight.  In fact, for the remainder of the season, if I’m at the cottage there won’t be a night show.  The sun is setting earlier, and there’s no wasting daylight around here.  And so, we’re taking this weekend off guilt-free.

It’s not easy, but sometimes in work, in life, and even in friendships, you have to prioritise yourself.   That’s OK; and you have to tell yourself that’s OK.  Get all your work stuff together so all your responsibilities are taken care of.  Make sure you’re good to go.  And then go!

There’s only so much time left before the leaves start changing, and this time, I’m going into autumn with a new attitude and new strategies.  No more making my plans around other people.  This time it’s about me – guilt free.

 

REVIEW: Journey – In The Beginning (1979 CBS cassette)

JOURNEY – In The Beginning (1979 CBS cassette)

Journey began scoring hits when they acquired powerhouse vocalist Steve Perry on Infinity (1978) and Evolution (1979).  Why not issue a compilation sourced from the band’s first three Perry-less records, with new cover art that ties into their present?  Seems like a no-brainer.  And so we have Journey’s first compilation album (and a double length at that) called In The Beginning.  Thank you Tim Durling for gifting this copy for the collection and for review.

In The Beginning contains five of the seven tracks from Journey’s self-titled debut.  It begins with three.  As on the original LP, “Of A Lifetime” opens.  The long organ and guitar-drenched opening gives way to a slow and passionate Gregg Rolie lead vocal.  Were Iron Maiden influenced by this song when they wrote “Strange World” for their own debut?  Probably just coincidence, but it can be heard.  The main hook in “Of A Lifetime” was the unmistakable guitar hook.  At this early stage, Journey boasted two guitar players:  Neal Schon and the late George Tickner.  They have to share the spotlight with an absolutely raging Aynsley Dunbar on drums and Rolie tearing it up on the synth.  Undervalued bassist Ross Valory also must be mentioned, playing concrete but melodic foundations under the feature players.

George Tickner’s instrumental “Topaz” goes second, starting slow and then taking on a jamming, progressive jazz rock fusion vibe.  This complex track is not to be taken lightly.  Just absorb every different section as they hit you.  Once again, Dunbar is a monster.  Third is “Kohoutek”, the memorable Schon/Rolie instrumental that was also track three on the debut album.  On vinyl, in both cases, it closed Side One.  It’s another challenging track with a cool galloping section.  (There’s a reason I’ve heard Dunbar referred to as an octopus – he sounds like he’s playing with eight arms!)

Rolie’s “On A Saturday Night” from album #2, Look Into the Future is a completely different style from the first three progressive sprawls.  Under four minutes with a bopping piano, this is just great rock and roll!  Tickner was out and the band was reduced to a quartet with Schon as the sole six-stringer.  Shades here of where the band would head once they figured out their future direction.  Schon’s solo is an example of melodic composition.  The Beatles cover “It’s All Too Much” from Look Into the Future follows.  It fits this new concise straightforward Journey sound, and it is quite excellent.  Rolie was the perfect guy to sing a George Harrison song, and the backwards ending is suitably trippy.  The blues “In My Lonely Feeling/Conversations” takes us back to the debut album.  This Rolie/Valory composition scorches with passionate fretwork.  Not surprisingly, the bass is the foundation.  Also from the debut, “Mystery Mountain” closes side one.  A short, but jamming track with subtle use of the wah-wah pedal.

Opening (cassette) Side Two, “Spaceman” from Next (album #3) was a melodic single.  Journey were honing in on that simple pop rock ballad.  “Spaceman” is one of their first.  As it did on album, “People” follows “Spaceman”, featuring synth and acoustics.  Very psychedelic for Journey.  The back to album #2, “Anyway” rocks hard and slow, like a monumental Whitesnake track from the 70s.  (Dunbar later joined Coverdale & Co. for 1987.)  From the same record, “You’re On Your Own” switches from slow and bluesy verses to a pounding chorus, enabled by Aynsley.  There’s a Beatles influence here in “I Want You (She’s So Heavy”).

We’re into the last tracks here, as vinyl listeners would have been flipping to side four for “Look Into the Future”, a brilliant ballad and one of the band’s early best.  “Nickel and Dime”, a legendary jam from Next feels like a throwback to the first album and for good reason:  it’s a leftover Tickner co-write!  And finally, In The Beginning closes with the epic “I’m Gonna Leave You”, the same song that closed the debut Journey.  Coupling some killer organ with with a heavy riff, this bluesy rocker also boasts some of Rolie’s best vocalizin’.  Legendary!

For those who only know Journey as a lovin’, touchin’, squeezin’ band of crooners and balladeers, this compilation would come as a shock to the system.  But a shock can be a good thing.  In The Beginning is a great way to get many of the key tracks from the first phase of Journey in one purchase.  This stuff doesn’t usually make it onto regular Journey compilations.  It’s a good set to own.

4/5 stars

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions: Ep. 445: Flash Gordon (Movie and Soundtrack review)

FLASH! AH-AH, SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE!

Today we wish Sam J. Jones a happy birthday, on a very special Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. Join Tim, Jex and I with Robert Daniels in his first-ever Tim’s Vinyl Confessions. Only this time we’re not confessing vinyl! Not really anyway. Yes, Queen did the soundtrack, but our focus was more on the celluloid.

Apologies in advance for any Flash Gordon fans who will automatically hate my perspective on this show.  At least it was funny…

August in Paradise

I have not had time to put together a new cottage video yet, due to the insane amount of photos and footage I’ve accumulated.

It was another very busy five day weekend!  I did two shows (one Grab A Stack of Rock, and one Tim’s Vinyl Confessions).  We listened to a lot of music – Arkells, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Y&T, Night Ranger, and more.

In this photo set you can see:

  • My recording location for Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, by fireside.
  • Jen and I jamming some acoustic bass on the porch.
  • The Iron Sheik!
  • The beach at sunset.
  • A 400,000,000 year old rock!

 

The Dumbest Thing You Will See On YouTube Today: Mike Opens $1600 Box Set (With Jex) on Grab A Stack of Rock, featuring Paul Shortino

So it shall be written, so it shall be done!  The Metallica box set has been unsealed, opened, and displayed.  And I am glad that I did it.  Yes, I could have turned it around for $1600 but I chose to let the music be played as intended.  (Then there was an added screw-up, which I quickly fixed before too late, you’ll have to see it!)  Obey your Master, and watch this epic unboxing of the Master of Puppets box set.

The box included prints, lyric sheets, buttons, 3 LPs, 10 CDs, 2 DVDs, and a cassette.  We tried to get a look at all of it.  Pause to gaze at the track lists in detail.

In addition we took a peak at some new arrivals:

  • Judas Priest – Hero, Hero vinyl in pristine condition
  • Alice Cooper – Killer and School’s Out deluxe CD editions
  • Official Tee Bone Man stickers

Jex brought the fire with some cool video from Geomatrix.  You have to check this out.  See for yourself at about the 32 minute mark.

A big thank-you to an exhausted Max the Axe, who tried to make an appearance but suffered at the hands of the Streamyard gods.  We never found out what was wrong, but Tim sympathizes!

We had our “Ask Jex” questions this week – a pair from first-timer Rob Daniels.  Thanks Rob!  Great questions.  Keep them coming.

Finally, sincere appreciation to Paul Shortino for a wonderful Cameo, giving us a shout out at Grab A Stack of Rock, to the tune of “Dreaming Again” by Rough Cutt.  The guy still has an amazing voice.  We ran this Cameo twice, once at the start and once at the end of the show.

Thanks for watching and we will probably see you again next Friday evening!

 

 

 

Friday Afternoon – Cloudy With a Chance of Max, on Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike and Jex!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Jexciter

Episode 30:  Cloudy With a Chance of Max (and Tim)

A casual afternoon at the cottage with Jex!  Just for fun, we invited Max the Axe to show up, but if he does or not…who knows!  We’ll be playing his music regardless.  Tim Durling is also a possible sighting!  We’ll be talking all the latest in our musical lives, doing some unboxings, and rocking some tunes!  Of course, we need to talk about Jex’s new WordPress called Jex Russell – Pop Culture Nut!

This week, we even have a celebrity cameo!  From who?  I guess you’ll have to tune in and find out.  One clue:  “Forever we will shine!”

We will be showing of a wealth of musical treasures as always, and this time…I may FINALLY unbox that Metallica Master of Puppets box set that I’ve been sitting on for five years!  According to Patrick Olsen formerly of 107.5 Dave Rocks, sealed copies of these now go for up to $1600.  This could be the dumbest thing you see on YouTube today!

Therefore, don’t miss it!

Friday August 4 at 3:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

 

 

 

Birthday Bonanza on Grab A Stack of Rock with Harrison, Tim, Aaron & Grant!

Thank you Grant, Aaron, Tim & Harrison for celebrating my birthday with me!  We did a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten – Mike’s favourite birthday years.  We showed off all his gifts this year, and looked at photos and gifts from years past.

Tim treated us to a guitar solo, and the guys had cool stuff to show us as always.  Aaron’s signed Mystique poster was a highlight!

Lastly, Mike unboxed the new Grab A Stack of Rock theme song picture disc by vinyart.co.  Tee Bone Erickson’s first vinyl.  Now I need him to sign it!  Thanks for celebrating everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1981

  • Lego Technic Bulldozer set #856 from 1979 – “best present ever!”

1984

  • Michael Jackson – Thriller
  • Culture Club – Colour By Numbers

Transformers – Skywarp and Windcharger – my very very first two!

MOVIE:  Saw The Last Starfighter for Bob’s birthday.

1985

Transformers – Slag (Dinobot)

GI Joe Dragonfly, Cobra A.S.P.

1987

  • All four KISS solo albums
  • Ozzy Osbourne – Tribute
  • AC/DC – Who Made Who

1988

  • Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden
  • Judas Priest – Ram It Down
  • Scorpions – Savage Amusement

MOVIE:  Saw Spaceballs for my birthday.

1989

  • The Cult – Sonic Temple
  • Kim Mitchell – Rockland

1990

MOVIE:  Saw Total Recall for my birthday.

1991

  • Extreme – Pornograffitti
  • Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

1992

  • Queensryche – “Anybody Listening?” CD single
  • The Cult – Live at the Lyceum cassette
  • Faith No More – Angel Dust

1993

  • Spock shirt
  • Ozzy Osbourne – Live & Loud (grille cover)

1994

  • Alice Cooper – The Last Temptation
  • Alice Cooper – Nobody Likes Me

1999

  • The entire Max Webster studio album discography

2001

  • The complete Stanley Kubrick DVD collection

New Grab A Stack show intro, now with more Jex!

By popular demand, here’s an updated version of the show intro!  Now featuring more Jex Russell!

Here’s some site news.

  1. Jex has contributed his first guest shot – a review of a movie that we will be discussing August 12 on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions.
  2. We have plans for a very unique show on Grab A Stack of Rock – a show first.
  3. I appreciate all the support I have received over the last two months.  Music will become more of the central focus here once again.
  4. The feedback is unanimous.  List shows are coming back.  There will be more Nigel Tufnel Top Tens and the return of Cinco de Listo.
  5. Jen is feeling much better lately, and will be contributing more to the site in the future!  She wants to do more guest appearances on live streams, and we have plans to write an episode from the Tee Bone Man Multiverse!

Stay frosty,

Mike

 

#1065: Even the Best Weekends Can Turn to Crap

RECORD STORE TALES #1065: Even the Best Weekends Can Turn to Crap

It started great!

Thursday night, the music on the trip up to the lake was amazing. We began with The Cult’s Fire Woman EP, and moved on to Michigan Left by the Arkells.  Jen fell asleep in the car and I was left to sing along by myself.  Never a problem!

We came packed with lots of Lego, and plenty of new music to unbox live on Grab A Stack of Rock.  We arrived with coffee, treats and tunes!  Immediately I set up on the front porch and started playing mellow music.  Jim Cuddy’s All In Time is one of the best cottage front porch albums for dancing that I have ever heard.  From rockers to tear-jerking ballads, what an album!  I used to consider it “just a Blue Rodeo album without Greg” but it’s actually far more than that.  Articulating it is hard, but the album evoked emotions and dance moves that Blue Rodeo didn’t.  We also played some of Alice Cooper’s more emotional, cinematic tunes that night.  It was a magical start.

Friday was a wonderful day!  I commenced with some more porch music, and then we hit The Beef Way for our weekend meat!  We chose two T-bone steaks, a turkey breast fillet (for Jen) and a beautiful duck breast (for me).  It was my first duck breast.  I seasoned heavily with salt, pepper and garlic powder to offset that gamey taste.  I scored the fat, cooked it skin side down in a frying pan for 10 minutes to get it cripsy, and finished it in the BBQ.  When finished, you could have mistaken it for steak, it was that good.  The skin was the best part, and I’ll get duck breast from The Beef Way again.  Just an awesome lunch!

Of course, Friday night was Grab A Stack of Rock, and an excellent show was had, almost two hours long!  Grab A Stack really did rock this time!  Lots of new music revealed, to be reviewed in the coming weeks/months, including Journey Through Time.

First thing Saturday morning, I taped an excellent Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, reviewing the new Def Leppard Drastic Symphonies.  I cannot wait until this airs!  Although we were both kind but critical, I’m sure the Fanboy trolls will be out when it’s released on YouTube.  I will of course be posting it here for ease of viewing.  It was possibly my favourite Tim’s Vinyl Confessions that I’ve been involved with to date!

We did “Jazz Saturday” morning with Herbie Hancock’s Quartet.  By recommendation of Robert Lawson, next Jazz Saturday will be to Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life.  It’s ordered and on its way.  Then we switched to the back yard, and built Lego all afternoon.  We are both enjoying the Lego “Speed Champions” series of licensed car models.  They are all roughly the same scale and although they are similar in design, very few of them use the exact same design techniques.  Jen also build a New York City skyline, while I finally finished my knockoff Titanic set.  I’ll never buy knockoff Lego again.  It looks cool complete, but it was very hard to build with confusing instructions and bags.  The final fitting pieces were not up to Lego’s standards.   It does look good, but never again.

It was Saturday evening that turned everything to shit.

I made the steaks, damn perfect if you asked me, and Jen proclaimed “I’m gonna eat the whole thing!”  I was already half full from snacking on chips so I knew I was keeping leftovers.  As she took a mid-meal break, Jen had a seizure.

The coffee spilled.  The Coke spilled.  I could stop neither because I was busy keeping her from falling off her chair.  Eventually I got her safely down, where she soaked herself in spilled coffee.  It took some work to get her into bed.  More seizures later that night.  She fell off the bed, and once again Mike managed to pull off a save.  I’ve lost track of the rest of the seizures that night but we figured it was four or five total.  Not the most restful night, and I was completely exhausted from cleaning up the spills.  I went to bed early and slept in late.  Not the way I usually do things at the cottage.  I like to stay up late and enjoy the creatures of the night.  That didn’t happen this weekend.

I came home Sunday completely exhausted and Jen slept the entire way.  Music on the way home was also mellow:  Ward One: Along the Way and When the Bough Breaks by Bill Ward.  Really good and felt appropriate to my mood.

We will have more Lego to build next time.  My Jazz Quartet set looks challenging and interesting.  Hopefully the next trip will be less eventful!