vinyl

#1132: Youth Gone Not-So-Wild

RECORD STORE TALES #1132: Youth Gone Not-So-Wild

I love admitting to my past musical sins.  Perhaps others will learn from my mistakes.

I was in grade 11, a mere 16 years old, when the music video for “Youth Gone Wild” hit the airwaves.  Skid Row were the latest thing, a band promoted by Jon Bon Jovi himself, from his home state of New Jersey.  We didn’t know yet that the lead singer, Sebastian Bach, identified as a Canadian.  He grew up in Peterborough Ontario, just on the other side of Toronto.  In fact, I didn’t know that I already had something of Bach in my music video collection.  I had a brief clip of him, with teased up hair, in a prior band called Madame X.  This band was led by Maxine Petrucci, sister of Roxy Petrucci from Vixen.  They featured a young Sebastian Bach and Mark “Bam Bam” McConnell whom Bach would play with in VO5.   I wasn’t into any of those bands.  I was pretty hard-headed about what I liked and disliked.

In Spring 1989, I first encountered “Youth Gone Wild” on the Pepsi Power Hour.  It could have been Michael Williams hosting, but whoever it was, they hyped up this new band called Skid Row.  I liked getting in on new bands from the ground floor.  Made them easier to collect when you started at the start.  At that point, I wasn’t even sure how many albums Judas Priest actually had.  I was intrigued enough to hit “record” on my VCR as the music video began.  I caught the opening “Ba-boom!” of drums, and sat back to watch.

While I wasn’t blown away, I kept recording.  The key was the singer.  If the singer sucked, I’d usually hit “stop” and rewind back to where I was.  The singer passed the test:  he didn’t suck.  I kept recording.

After about a minute, I pressed the “stop” button, and lamented that this new band wasn’t for me.  What happened?  What did Skid Row do to turn me off so quickly?

I can admit this.  I’ve always been open about the fact that I was very image-driven as a teenager.  We all were!  With the exception of maybe George Balazs, all the neighborhood kids were into image to some degree or another.  I was probably driven by image more than the average kid, consuming magazines and music videos by the metric tonne.  So, what exactly was wrong with Skid Row?

I’ll tell ya, folks.  It was serious.

The bass player had a chain going from his nose to his ear.

I just could not.  I couldn’t put a poster on my wall with some band that had a bass player with a chain that went from his nose to his ear!  No way, no f’n way.

I pressed rewind, and prepared to record the next video over Skid Row.

That summer, the glorious, legendary summer of ’89, I went with Warrant.  I bought their debut album sight-unseen, based on a blurb in the Columbia House catalogue.  Warrant were the selection of the month.  “What the hell,” I thought, and checked the box to order it immediately.

Meanwhile, Bob Schipper and the girl I liked, named Tammy, were really into Skid Row.  They knew all about my issues with the nose chain.  They got under my skin about it a bit, but I wouldn’t bend on Skid Row.

“18 and Life” was the next single, a dark power ballad that was easy for me to ignore.  “I Remember You” was harder to pass on.  It was the perfect acoustic ballad for 1989.  You had the nostalgic lyrics, which Bob and I both connected with.  Somehow, we knew that 1989 was the absolute pinnacle.  We knew this would be the summer to beat!  Bon Jovi and Def Leppard were still on the charts.  Aerosmith and Motley Crue had new singles out with albums incoming.  We walked around singing “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams, except we changed the words to “Summer of ’89”.  We just knew.  “Got my first real six string…” we sang.  And we both had our own fairly new guitars that we could barely play.

“I Remember You” was a massive hit, and still I resisted.

“Because of the nose chain?” Bob Schipper questioned me.

Absolutely because of the nose chain!

I stood firm for two years.  Bob Schipper went to college, and Tammy was long distance and not meant to last.  I felt a bit like an island by the time 1991 rolled around.  I felt alone.  My best friend was gone, I had no girlfriend, and most of my school friends went their own ways.  I was a loner like I’d never been in my life before.  Music was my companion, and my beloved rock magazines were my library.

That’s how Skid Row eventually got me.  Sebastian Bach had a good friend in Drew Masters, who published the excellent M.E.A.T Magazine out of Toronto.  Drew’s praise for the forthcoming second Skid Row album, Slave to the Grind, was unrelenting.  He caught my ear.  I was looking for heavier music in my life, not satisfied with Priest’s Painkiller as one of the heaviest albums I owned.  I wanted more rock, and I wanted it heavy.

The other thing that got me was the collector’s itch.  When I found out that Slave to the Grind was released in two versions with different exclusive songs, I was triggered.  I had to have both.

“I’ll make a tape, and put both songs on my version!”  It was a pretty cool idea.

Costco had Slave to the Grind in stock.  They had the full-on version with “Get the Fuck Out”, the song that was excluded from the more store-friendly version.  Columbia House stocked the tame version, which had a completely different song called “Beggars Day”.  I bought the CD from Costco, the vinyl from Columbia House, and suddenly I was the only guy in town who had the full set.  I made my cassette with joy, recreating the Skid Row logo on the spine, and writing the song titles in with red ink.

“Get the Fuck Out” was track 6, side one.  “Beggars Day” was track 7, side one.  I still have them in that order in my mp3 files today.

Sure, there was an audible change in sound when the tape source went from CD to vinyl, but I couldn’t afford two CD copies.  Little did I know how cool it would be later on to have an original vinyl copy of Slave to the Grind.

I loved the album.  I loved all three of the ballads.  The production was sharp.  There were excellent deep cuts:  “The Threat”, “Livin’ on a Chain Gang”, and “Riot Act” were all as great as any of the singles.  Furthermore, the singer had taken it to new heights of intensity and excellence.

I let Skid Row into my heart that day.  It was a good decision.  Skid Row accompanied me through times good and bad, lonely and angry.  They were my companion through it all, and they’re still pretty good.  It was meant to be!

#1130: If I Had A Million Dollars? A Top Five List

RECORD STORE TALES #1130: If I Had A Million Dollars? A Top Five List

 

If I had a million dollarsWell, I’d buy you a fur coatBut not a real fur coat, that’s cruelAnd if I had a million dollarsIf I had a million dollarsWell, I’d buy you an exotic petYep, like a llama or an emu

 

Fur coats?  Exotic pets?  No thank you!  If I had a million dollars, I’ll tell ya exactly what I’d buy!

 

1. AV Designhaus Derenville VPM 2010-1

There goes half my money in one shot ($650,000)!  What do I get for my money? A belt-driven turntable on a Corian chassis, that rests on four feet that are supported and balanced through an air suspension system. Has an ethernet connection, and a HD-TV camera that monitors the diamond stylus.  Why?  To watch it on a high resolution monitor and make necessary adjustments. It would probably take two engineers to set up and test; I certainly couldn’t do it myself!  I doubt there is much you could do to improve the sound of a vinyl record that this turntable doesn’t already have packed in.

2. Vintage 1982 Nakamichi Dragon 3 Head Autoreverse Cassette Recorder

This one will cost me another $10,000 Canadian, but some consider it the Rolls Royce of tape decks. If you ever wanted to make a tape sound almost as good as a CD, this is the way to do it. It requires tuning, maintenance, and knowledge. But money is no object in this exercise, so why not? Dare I say why not? It’s a sleek, beautiful looking beast of 80s esthetics.  Just look at all those buttons and LEDs!  Might be more work than it’s worth, but the sound you can get from a high-quality blank tape and this machine are better than what my ears can discern anyway.

3. PS Audio FR30 speakers

$40,000 for the pair. Then I’d need the amplifiers and Paul McGowan himself to set it all up.  I’d also need to move into a bigger house.  They require a large, neutral listening space.  Which I’d like to have anyway!  By all accounts, these speakers (when set up correctly) provide a very real sounding experience, as if you’re in the room with the musicians.  The low end is supposedly amazing, aided by eight passive radiators.  Plus, don’t they just look gorgeous?

4. Iron Maiden – Best of the Beast vinyl (1996)

Needed for just a handful of tracks!  A live version of “Revelations”, and technically the Soundhouse Tapes EP.  In the condition I want it, it’ll cost me upwards of $1000.  Wish I bought it for $300 new when I had the chance back in 1997.  It’ll sound as good as CD, over my new AV Designhaus Derenville VPM turntable and PS Audio speakers!

5. Marantz SA-10

May as well grab a new CD transport while I’m at it!  This Super Audio player boasts a high-end DAC, and will play files from FLAC to MP3 via a USB stick.  It won’t connect easily with your iPhone, which means nothing to me anyway.  I’ve always wanted a Super Audio player, so why not go with the best?   This will set me back about a grand, and I’ll probably never use most of its features.  But that’s what dreaming is all about!

There you go.  500 words on what I could do with a spare million bucks just kicking around.  What would you buy?  Keep it fun – this is a fantasy exercise, so no need for serious answers.  Drop your comment below!

 

REVIEW: Alice Cooper – Breadcrumbs (2024)

ALICE COOPER – Breadcrumbs (2024 earMUSIC, expanded reissue of 2019 Edel EP)

Wait a second…”Breadcrumbs“?  I thought the full title was The Breadcrumbs EP?  It was, but with the addition of two bonus tracks, it appears that Breadcrumbs has been upgraded to an album, with a modified title and altered cover art.  Interestingly now the artwork highlights the production of Bob Ezrin.

Back in 2019, Alice Cooper wanted to do a Detroit garage rock record and pay homage to his roots.  The Breadcrumbs EP was originally six tracks of stripped down goodness on 10″ vinyl and limited to 20,000 copies.  (I own #48!)  Now on CD, it is expanded to include the 2020 standalone Covid-era single “Don’t Give Up“, and a live track from 2022.

For the first six tracks (the original EP), Alice is backed by the MC5’s Wayne Kramer, bassist Paul Randolph, Grand Funk’s Railroad Mark Farner, and Detroit Wheel Johnny “Bee” Badanjek. A remake of Alice Cooper’s “Detroit City” (from The Eyes of Alice Cooper) is an appropriate starting point:

Me and Iggy were giggin’ with Ziggy and kickin’ with the MC5,
Ted and Seger were burnin’ with fever,
and let the Silver Bullets fly,
The Kid was in his crib, Shady wore a bib,
and the posse wasn’t even alive.

That’s some rock and roll poetry right there.  Not one of Alice’s finest songs but worthy of a second chance.  Then “Go Man Go” is a new original composition co-written by Wayne Kramer.  It’s punk rock Alice, as authentic as the bands he’s paying tribute to.  Bob Seger’s “East Side Story” is anchored a steady groove, right out of Hendrix’s version of “Gloria”.  A really funky “Your Mama Won’t Like Me” (Suzi Quatro) is the centrepiece of the EP.  Horns blastin’, Alice hasn’t been this funky since his dance-oriented Alice Cooper Goes to Hell in 1976.  “Devil With a Blue Dress On” (Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels) is the soulful side that Alice occasionally shows.  It’s merged with “Chains of Love” (J.J. Barnes) which pulls everything back to rock.  Finally “Sister Anne” by the MC5 puts the snot on the nose and the grime in the rock.  Kramer’s simply awesome riff is perfectly complemented by Cooper.

The world suddenly changed in March of 2020.  By May, Alice had made his statement on Covid-19:  “Don’t Give Up”!  It’s the most direct, most topical, and the least “Alice” song of the bunch.  Why?  Because this time he’s not telling stories, or covering a rock classic.  This time he’s addressing the listening directly and talking about current events.  Wisely, he just stuck to the feelings.

“Yeah, I know you’re struggling right now. We all are, in different ways. It’s like a new world that we don’t even know. It’s hard to sleep, even harder to dream. But look, you got seven billion brothers and sisters all in the same boat! So don’t panic. Life has a way of surviving and going on and on. We’re not fragile and we sure don’t break easy.”

Since it was 2020, the single was recorded in home studios and eventually released on vinyl, with a different version appearing on the Detroit Stories album.  This is the first CD release of the original 2020 version.   Musically you could call “Don’t Give Up” a power ballad.  It has a very 80’s guitar figure, with Alice speaking his message over it.  The chorus is more modern, with Alice singing as plaintively as he can.  It was never a remarkable track, but it was an important one in its time.

2020’s live version of “Go Man Go” features his live band, including Hurricane Nita Strauss on lead guitar.   This is a short blast of live track, and well recorded, at Hellfest 2020.  Probably just because of the live vibe, it’s a more enjoyable listen.

Nobody likes getting double-dipped and having to buy the same thing twice.  However, we’re used to getting fleeced by now.  It’s easy to ignore.

3.5/5 stars

#1126: Mail Shenanigans & Look at the Arkells’ Disco Loadout SIGNED CLEAR SPLATTER VINYL with Peter Kerr/Rock Daydream Nation [VIDEO]

RECORD STORE TALES #1126: Mail Shenanigans
& Look at the Arkells’ Disco Loadout signed clear splatter vinyl
with Peter Kerr/Rock Daydream Nation

Supplementals:

It has been a hell of a week.  There’s an untold story here; one that I have elected not to tell.  Let’s just say I’m out a lot of money, and other setbacks have caused me to take a step back from social media for a few days.  Just too much going on for me to deal with in a calm and cool manner.  Better to retreat into the shadows a bit.

As always, the Show Must Go On, and so I was determined to do my best on Friday May 17’s Arkells special on Grab A Stack of Rock.  It was the first show I’d done without a co-host (just a special guest) in a long while.  I felt unprepared despite a whole week of listening.  Things came together at the last minute, and all I needed was the new Arkells album, Disco Loadout Volume One, for the show to go right.  I planned to spend the afternoon listening to the CD and hoped to open up the autographed clear splatter vinyl live on the show.

The thing about going live is that it’s a double-edged sword.  The plus is you get the rush of live viewer feedback, and that sparks the show to be so much more exciting.  The negative is that when things go wrong, there’s nothing you can do about it.  That’s live for you.

My record was supposed to arrive on May 15.  It didn’t.  May 16 came and went.  Surely, it would be in my mailbox by May 17, the release date.  It had to be.

I arrived home from work early on Friday.  I raced with my heart pounding to the mailbox.  “It’ll be in there,” I reasoned to myself.  “Why wouldn’t it be?  It has to be.”

It wasn’t.

Furious, I went right to my computer and called up the tracking.

“Good news!” said Canada Post.  “Your parcel was delivered to your locked condo mailbox on May 16!”

Umm, no it wasn’t!  I picked up the phone.  I searched for a phone number.  Do you know how hard it is to call Canada Post on the phone and get a human being on the phone?  I was completely unsuccessful.

I went ’round and ’round on phone menus for half an hour.  I called my local post office, only to go to voicemail after an agonisingly long wait.  I swore up and down, and let out a primal yell that would have frightened the upstairs neighbour, had he been home.

I called Encore Records, and fortunately they had CD copies of the album in stock.  I ran downtown, grabbed the album from them (and a few other discs as well).  I was greeted there by old pal Chris, and I want to thank Encore for saving the day.  Once home, I immediately played the album once-and-a-half times, and began my show prep.  (I also picked up three other discs – a 4 CD Faster Pussycast set, the new Beatles single “Now and Then“, and the new Ace Frehley 10,000 Volts.)

I wouldn’t be able to open the signed splatter vinyl live on the show, but I filed a report with Canada Post.  It was all I could do.  There were no other options available.  Showing a CD copy wouldn’t be as exciting, but at least I had it in hand and could read the credits while listening.

The show went incredibly well; far better than I expected.  This was due to special guest Nurse Kat and her enthusiasm, and to some excellent notes from D’Arcy Briggs.  I’m really happy and proud of the show we did together.  I’d never attempted to do a show on a new album, on the day of release before.  We were treading new ground in multiple ways, and while it almost didn’t work, it ended up being one of the best shows to date.  The passion for the music came through.

Two days later, there was a knock on the door.  A tall gentleman from down the hall had a parcel for me.  It had been delivered to his unit.

How this happened, I’ll never understand but someone at Canada Post wrote the number “103” on the parcel.  Even though my correct unit number was written clearly on the parcel where the address was, this scribbled “103” put my parcel in the tall man’s mailbox.  Fortunately he is one of the good ones, and not all of them are.  Just this week, an upstairs neighbour had an expensive Amazon parcel opened and stolen.  It’s not a good feeling to have mail thieves in our building, but I have been victim twice before.  I’m glad this wasn’t the third time.

Even though I didn’t get to unbox it live, Peter Kerr from Rock Daydream Nation was kind enough to join me for a quick look at a beautiful record.  It looks as great as it sounds.

And so the week of stress comes to a happy ending.  The other bit of good news is that the social media hiatus was a good idea.  I went on a writing bender like never before.  Expect loads of reviews this spring and summer.

Thank you to the guy down the hall, to Peter Kerr, to D’Arcy Briggs, and to Nurse Kat for turning this potential disaster story into one of triumph!

 

#1122: Debbie’s Records [VIDEO]

A video sequel to #725:  Mum’s Music

RECORD STORE TALES #1122: Debbie’s Records

Rediscovering music can be just as good, if not better, than discovering it in the first place.

I’m not sure why I segregated these records from my collection.  When we brought “Mum’s” music home with us after she passed, I stuffed these nine albums in my closet, without assimilating them into my proper collection.  I’m sure there were reasons, but today I welcome them with open arms.

Mum liked Canadian music, soundtracks, and the classics.  Not so much classical, but classics like…well, you’ll see.

I made this video instead of writing a story, because I wanted the camera to capture the emotions of seeing these records.  I went in unspoiled.  I didn’t look at the records in advance, because I did not want to spoil the surprise.  It has been years since I looked at or played any of these albums.  These not were the only albums of Mum’s that we kept.  Elsewhere, mixed into my collection properly, are the Beatles, Gordon Lightfoot, and The Buddy Holly Story.

Please enjoy this emotional look at Debbie’s Records.

 

#1121: A Look at the New CD Section at the Old Toys R Us Store [VIDEO]

 A sequel to #1119:  The Olde Toys R Us Store Sure Has Changed…

 

RECORD STORE TALES #1121: A Look at the New CD Section at the Old Toys R Us Store

Lo and behold!  CDs have joined their vinyl brethren at the Toys R Us Store!

They are filed with the same lack of attention and care, but they have arrived.  Deluxe and super deluxe editions?  Yes.  Deleted items?  Also yes.  Value?  Sometimes?  The prices were scattered from deals to ripoffs.

Pricing is a problem across the board, but keep in mind, they did beat the Beat Goes On across the street on some vinyl pricing on last visit.  It’s hard to tell if some prices were real or a mistake.  On vinyl, the new Beatles single, for example, on black 7″, was $32 bucks.  The same price as their cheapest Iron Maiden long-player.  They wanted $130 for their Whitesnake Still Good To Be Bad box set.   Other boxes, like Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull, were moderately priced in the low $30s.

Joining the CDs were DVDs, Blu-rays, and TV series box sets.  They had picture discs and collector’s editions.  I just hope the section continues to grow, and improves in execution, instead of withering on the vine.

For a detailed look at everything I scored at the Toys R Us music section, enjoy the short video below!

 

 

Mike and Aaron go to Toronto: The Complete Series + More

If you weren’t following back from 2012 to 2019, you may have missed all the Mike and Aaron Go to Toronto excursions!

From 2012 to 2015, Aaron and I went to “Taranna” every year to go hunting for CDs, records, books and more.  We always made our regular stops:  Sonic Boom, BMV and Pauper’s Pub.  Some years, we hit up shops like Kops Records, Paradisc Bound, and Moonbean for coffee.  I missed 2016 and 2017 to go to TF Con in Toronto instead.  There are only so many dollars!  Aaron and I returned in 2018, at the behest of my late mother-in-law, who was dying of cancer.  “Go with your friend,” she insisted.

After her passing, Jen and I decided to spend the summer of 2019 at the cottage.  We were not able to go at all in 2018.  We made up for lost time, but in 2020 the pandemic hit!  Aaron and I were not able to return to Toronto together since.

I always documented and edited these trips into videos.  I recently compiled all these videos (and some bonus stuff) into two live streams that you are able to watch below!  Both streams have bonus footage!  The first has a musical unboxing from Aaron.  The second stream has a brand new chat with Aaron that you have never seen before!

Aaron and I will be returning to “Taranna” in 2024.  Watch this space…

#1119: The Olde Toys R Us Store Sure Has Changed…

RECORD STORE TALES #1119: The Olde Toys R Us Store Sure Has Changed…

Where Toys R Us stands today in Kitchener Ontario, there once was a drive-in movie theater.  That was torn down in the early 1980s, and the mighty Toys R Us was raised.  There it has loomed heavy over Fairview Mall across the street, for four decades, beckoning children with aisles and aisles of Star Wars toys, then replaced by GI Joe figures and Transformers.  It was impossible to enter Toys R Us without finding something you wanted.  It has ebbed and waned since then, now stuffed with unwanted and overpriced 6″ figures and Super 7 cards.

“At least we still have a Toys R Us,” we say.  “Mastermind Toys is closing, and Walmart sucks.  Now let’s go check out the vinyl at the Toys R Us store.”

Full stop.  What?  Vinyl at Toys R Us?

In another attempt to stay relevant as Hasbro drives their prices up and quality down, creating shelfwarming superheroes and Sith lords, Toys R Us is now stocking vinyl at their Kitchener location.

Last time I visited there, about a month ago, they were in the process of re-organizing.  Where the Lego and Hasbro products were, was becoming a book section.  Interesting!  Book stores haven’t done well in the area, with the short-lived Booksmarts closing a decade ago, across Wilson Ave from TRU.  Still, we must applaud any attempts to get kids reading books.  I didn’t have a look at the book section myself; nothing caught my eye.  What did catch my view was the familiar shape of white bins containing shrink-wrapped packages, 12″ by 12″.  Each one was different, boasting vibrant artwork.

They were not calendars.  They were records.  Vinyl had come to Toys R Us.

The first one I noticed was Prequelle by Ghost.  $25.  Not bad.  I picked it up in my eager hands.

I considered buying Ghost on vinyl at that price.  Oh, sure, I already own a CD copy with a lenticular cover and bonus tracks, but…vinyl, right?

I put it back.  Ghost are more of a car band for me.  I wouldn’t play the vinyl more than twice.  Decent price though.

Thinking of the bands aching to be collected on vinyl back at home, I looked for Kiss and Iron Maiden.  No Kiss; lots of The Killers though.  The albums were loosely organized.  Toys R Us doesn’t have a dedicated person for this section to keep things organized, and…ouch!!  What’s that?  A record was clumsily wedged between two rows, pulling the cover in two directions and creating an ugly crease.  I put the records back in rows, but this is why you need a dedicated person when you put a record store inside a toy store.

There were some interesting finds there.  Purple Rain on vinyl would be cool to have.  I chuckled when I saw a Linkin Park Meteora 2.0 box set.  Jen used to love Linkin Park.  I bought her the Linkin Park/Jay-Z album for Christmas when we were dating.

Over to Iron Maiden.  They had a decent selection – better than a lot of the local chain stores.  Several albums I needed on vinyl, and even the three-LP En Vivo set.  A-ha!  Number of the Beast.  I just got ripped off at The Beat Goes On with an overpriced copy a few weeks prior.  How does Toys R Us pricing compare?

Cheaper!  Four bucks cheaper!  Toys R Us had The Number of the Beast four bucks cheaper than the $40 copy I bought at The Beat Goes On across the street.  How can Toys R Us be beating The Beat Goes On, a dedicated music store, in prices?  According to friend Kevin, the record sections are actually little HMVs.  They also have one in St. Catharines.

“They really need to work on their merchandising,” said Chris Preston, who had copious notes on how to improve this situation.  “No genres whatsoever,” he added.  Chris also felt it was a big miss to not sell turntables or accessories with the records.

There was no signage, and the records were as much in order as you’d find at the local mall stores.  There were no letter groups – A, B, C, etc.  Many additional records were not displayed at all, and just shoved into a lower shelf.  That’s where I found Purple Rain.  They did have coloured vinyl and limited editions.  It wasn’t a bad little corporate record section, if it was properly cared for.

I questioned the wisdom of placing a record section in a store primarily occupied by running and screaming pairs of hands, right around record shelf height.  I dealt with this at a CD store, remember.  I think they’re gambling on the nerd factor.  Those people who are coming in for the newest Lego releases or collectible figures.  They’re hoping those people will also stop and buy a record.

“Nerds like records too now, right?”  You can imagine an executive asking that question in a boardroom, somewhere in a downtown metropolis where decisions such as these are made.

Considering three, briefly, I ended up not buying any.  I considered but dismissed Prequelle, and also Somewhere In Time and Powerslave by Iron Maiden.  The prices were a little high for Maiden albums that I remember being stocked at $10 or less at the downtown Sam the Record Man in 1989.  Incidentally, Toys R Us had Powerslave cheaper than Amazon at the exact same time, also by about four bucks.

What does it mean when Toys R Us stores are stocking vinyl in a makeshift music section, but no other formats like CD or cassette?

I think this means we have hit peak vinyl.  HMV is dumping their stock in these micro-locations, because they have too much.  I’ve seen it before.  We did similar things when we had too many CDs in our warehouse.  The Boss Man tried moving them in bulk to a micro-location.  That was one of many schemes that I remember.

I do look forward to buying at least one record at Toys R Us in the future.  I’ll keep the price tag on forever, just to prove it happened.

My overpriced Beast vinyl from The Beat Goes On.  I wonder how the old Boss Man feels about another chain inching in on his territory, with cheaper prices?

REVIEW: Joe Satriani – Surfing With the Alien (1987, 1999 remaster, 2017 RSD 2 LP reissue)

JOE SATRIANI  – Surfing With the Alien (1987, 1999 Sony remaster, 2017 RSD Epic 2 LP reissue)

On October 15 1987, the face of rock music was  shaken when a little instrumental album called Surfing With the Alien started making waves.  The record eventually went platinum, and its songs found itself used on radio and TV for decades to come.  Why?  Possibly because of Joe’s impeccable attention to songwriting.  Though his guitar playing put him on the map, it was his knack for writing catchy rock songs that made this album so special.  Satriani’s songs are written as if the lead guitar is the lead singer.  There are verses and choruses, and attention to structure and melody.  That must be why Surfing With the Alien was nominated for two Grammys in 1988.

Opening with the title track, a striking little chugging riff starts the show.  But then Joe’s melodic lead guitar kicks in, and you realize it’s exactly like if a singer was leading the show!  You can literally sing along to Joe’s guitar and a little wah-wah effect doesn’t hurt.  And then the shred begins, and you feel like, “OK, I get it now.  This guy is an actual genius.”

Yet it’s all accessible.  He may throw in licks as fast as greased lightning, but you can still follow.  Your brain still picks out notes and melodies that satisfy those musical needs.

The cool “Ice 9” is a funky groove (Joe on bass) with a slick melody on top.  Joe can work with mid-tempo grooves just as well as high-speed blazes.  Solos with different sounds and guitar tones add diversity.  A fun tune, but the third song “Crushing Day” has more tension and urgency as the tempo is turned up once again.  The variety of solos, melodies and riffs in one short song is quite remarkable.  Joe’s guitar tone is bright and shimmery, like the Silver Surfer himself.

Incidentally, regarding the striking album cover featuring the titular Marvel character from Silver Surfer #1 (1982), Joe lost the licensing for him at some point in the 2000’s.  This is why the 2017 RSD reissue has different artwork, without him.  (Look carefully at the new art, and you will see that they replaced the yellow streaks with yellow guitar picks!)  Hopefully Joe doesn’t feel too badly about losing the Surfer art.  Marvel comics repaid him for the popularisation of the character outside the comic world by naming a planet after him.

The beautiful ballad “Always With Me, Always With You” might be considered the most famous song.  It received three Grammy nominations in three separate years (live versions, you see) and was prominently featured in an American Dad episode.  It is hard to describe exactly what makes it so special, without you listening for yourself.  The guitar is lyrical and memorable, and it worked so much better than it would have with a lead vocal.  This is an instrumental ballad, made magical.

“Satch Boogie” is arguably just as popular.  Deep Purple played it during the brief period when Joe Satriani was in the band post-Blackmore and pre-Morse.  It has been used on TV, radio and video games.  It is indeed a boogie!  It taps into the Van Halen vibe a-la “Hot For Teacher”, but burns straight through without stopping to talk.  Mid-song, there’s a jaw-dropping solo that is pure tapping nirvana.

An ominous and brief interlude (“Hill of the Skull”) paints an apocalyptic picture.  The programmed drums don’t detract, as it is all about the tale that the guitar is telling, with layered wails.  This serves to set up “Circles”, one of the most interesting tracks.  Echo is employed to great effect on this mellow but dark ballad.  Without pause, the striking chimes of “Lords of Karma” enter the picture, a pounding guitar rocker with drums by Jeff Campitelli.  (Drums on this album are a mix of live and programmed.)  Much like “Crushing Day”, “Lords of Karma” is a bit faster and more intense.

A lovely classical sounding interlude called “Midnight” sets up the final track.  “Midnight” features techniques that an expert will have to identify, except to say it sounds remarkable and innovative.  The spotlight is never really on Joe’s fingers though – just on the notes and sounds he magically produces with them (and an array of effects).  Then the thud of bass opens “Echo”, the last song on this important album.  It’s unlike the previous ones, with the bass so prominent.  The song sounds as if it’s always just bubbling under.  Perhaps it would come as a surprise that the final song on this album of guitar showcases is so much about feel and restraint.

That’s one thing about Surfing that does make it special.  Like any good album, it is sequenced as a full listen, not as a collection of shreds.  Even without the shreds, it’s still not bad.

That’s what the 2017 Record Store Day deluxe vinyl edition is all about.  A bonus LP is included, with all the lead guitar stripped off.  This allows you, the ambitious home player, to try to solo over the bed tracks.  For the rest of us, it just allows us to listen a little bit differently to an album that is very familiar.

The drums seem more prominent on the title track, allowing us to better hear Jeff Campitelli’s fills.  Mostly though, you can still bang your head, and maybe sing along to an imaginary vocal melody.  “Ice 9” is particularly fun in this guise, sounding a bit like an “80s dance remix” even though it’s not.  “Always With Me, Always With You” is still delicate and beautiful.  You get the picture.  These tracks, though needing the lead guitar to be whole, are perfectly listenable without.  Only “Circles” and “Midnight” seem completely barren.  You don’t have to be a guitar player to enjoy this bonus record.  You just have to be interested in music, and how it is constructed in the mix.  You can hear melodies and accents, even on “Always With Me”, that you might have missed on the album version all these years!

There are many ways to acquire copies of this impactful album, that opened the charts to Steve Vai and others a few years later.  There is a 1999 Sony remaster with liner notes and nice packaging.  There is a deluxe edition with a live DVD from the 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival.  The version with the most actual audio tracks, however, is the limited 2017 Record Store Day reissue.  You don’t get the lovely Silver Surfer artwork, but you do get the bonus record of stripped tracks, and red & yellow coloured vinyl.

No matter what choice you make, Surfing With the Alien in any form is an essential addition to a serious rock fan’s collection.  Some may argue it’s the best rock instrumental guitar album ever made.

5/5 stars

 

Grab A Stack of Rock: Brighton Rock Collections with Len Labelle, on CD & Vinyl

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and Len Labelle

Special Edition Episode:  Our BRIGHTON ROCK Collections

Established in 1984 under the name Heart Attack, from Niagara Falls Ontario came the mighty BRIGHTON ROCK!  Powerhouse screamer Gerry McGhee, Greg “Shredder” Fraser, Stevie Skreebs, Martin Victor and Mark Cavarzan comprised the original lineup.  Johnny Rogers joined in the by the first album on keyboards, and the band began making their footprint in rock history through an EP, three studio albums, a live CD and a handful of standalone recordings.  We walk you through all of it from start to finish.

Joining me for this special episode is longtime friend Len Labelle, a local collector whose history with Brighton Rock goes back to the debut.  Len talks first impressions, a brief encounter with a band member, and favourite songs.  We played two vintage MuchMusic interview clips with the band and talk about a VHS tape that we believe never came out.  Towards the end, we detoured and took a great look at A World With Heroes, a Kiss tribute album featuring Brighton Rock.  We returned course and talked about the final Brighton Rock recordings, and the present day with Storm Force.

We hope you find this episode fun, informative, and full of love.  We lost Gerry McGhee to cancer in 2020, and fans continue to miss him.  I hope we did Gerry justice.

Please enjoy this special episode of Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike and Len.  If you know anything about that Brighton Rock home video, please leave a comment or drop us a line!

Discussed this episode:

  • Brighton Rock EP (1985)
  • Young, Wild and Free (1986)
  • Take A Deep Breath (1988)
  • “Hangin’ High & Dry” 12″ single (1988)
  • Unreleased home video? (1989)
  • Love Machine (1991)
  • Room For Five Live (2002)
  • “Creatures of the Night” (2013)
  • “End of Time” (2019)
  • and Storm Force Age of Fear (2020)