Monthly Archives: April 2021

Music, My Stories

The Artbook Saga Ends

The Artbook finally arrived. The saga is over.

It was posted on 18 February, 2021.

Cleared for international departure on 20 February, 2021.

The album was released on 26 February, 2021.

A few weeks ago, I followed up the whereabouts of the Artbook as the tracking number still showed it as cleared for departure in Frankfurt, Germany. The record label responded in their usual, it’s on its way and out of their hands. A typical helpful record label response to the people who make them money. It was beneath them to do any further investigation.

It arrived in Sydney on 14 April, 2021 and arrived at my door on 16 April, 2021.

It’s a nice package with a lot of studio photos, artwork and lyric pages.

I like the size. It’s basically the same size as a vinyl record and fits nice with the vinyl collection.

You get the CD and a 7 inch single bonus track.

It’s a smart marketing move to include the bonus tracks as a 7 inch single. As a collector, I like it.

In previous posts, I have been critical of the album format and why artists would spend so much time recording a slab of songs, just to release them, have their name in the news for a 4 to 6 week period and then nothing. But as a collector and if the edition is done right, it does deliver a cool piece of art.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music

Re-Recordings

Last week, there was a lot of discussion on Taylor Swift and her re-recordings. This week, crickets. Nothing. It’s amazing how fast news rises and dies. And I’m surprised at how many different views people have on it.

In the end it’s all about control.

In metal and rock circles, these kind of re-recordings have been happening from when I could remember.

Def Leppard created forgeries of a few of their songs in the last 10 years so they could be on streaming services as they were having a contractual dispute with the label over the payments they should be getting from digital services.

Any artist that ends up on Frontiers Records, ends up doing forgeries of their classic songs. Check out this Frontiers list of a whose who ofre-recorded classics.

Jeff Lynne re-recorded a lot of ELO songs and released them as a solo album with the title, “Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra.”

Stryper re-recorded their best off and called it “Second Coming” album.

Whitesnake had their biggest hit by re-recording an earlier song in 1987 which was on Geffen Records and as a Frontiers artist David Coverdale re-recorded his Deep Purple era and released it as a Whitesnake album.

Journey re-recorded the majority of their classics with Arnel Pineda and released these re-recorded songs with an album of new material as a bonus disc.

Pretty Maids did the same with “Louder Than Ever” in which they left the “sacred” albums of “Future World” and “Jump The Gun” alone but took songs from the others.

Trixter did it with a few songs on each of their Frontiers albums.

Kid Rock said in 2012 that he will re-recording his 12x Platinum smash, “Devil without a Cause” so that he will own the rights to the new versions.

Styx re-recorded some of their classics plus a couple of Damn Yankees songs with the “Regeneration: Volume I and II” releases.

Dokken (the version with Don Dokken on vocals, Jon Levin on guitars, Barry Sparks on bass and Mick Brown on drums) re-recorded the classics from the 80’s and released those versions as a “Greatest Hits” package in 2010. Maybe the title of the album should have been “Greatest Re-Recorded Hits”

KISS also re-recorded their classic songs with current members Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer and released em as a bonus disc with “Sonic Boom”.

Arch Enemy went down this route to re-record classic songs from their first three albums with their new singer. Fans who liked the original albums didn’t like the forgeries while people who discovered the band during the Angela Gossow period, didn’t care.

Any person who purchased a “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band” game, most likely supported an artist who had re-recorded their song because the master went missing, or something was wrong with the master or because they wanted to have control of the higher license payment for the songs that appeared on the games.

And let’s not forget what the Osbourne camp did with “Blizzard Of Ozz” and “Diary Of A Madman” by taking out Kerslake and Daisley from the recordings and getting their parts re-done by the current members at the time in Mike Bordin and Rob Trujilo. Bordin expressed regret at doing it many years later.

Standard
Influenced, Music, My Stories

The Week In Destroyer Of Harmony History – April 12 to April 18

4 Years Ago (2017)

There wasn’t much of anything during this period.

8 Years Ago (2013)

It was a busy week.

I found an old issue of Metal Edge in which Gerri Miller (RIP) did a track by track breakdown of the Motley Corabi album.

I did three separate posts on it. Parts 1 and 2 you can read here and here and Part 3 will be in next weeks post.

They should have called the band something else but that massive Elektra contract they signed when Vince was still in the band, demanded that the release be labeled as Motley Crue.

Gerri Miller is Metal Edge to me. Miller was on every story or on every interview that mattered.

For “POWER TO THE MUSIC”, Miller said that
this album opener started out as a repetitive detuned riff dreamed up by Nikki.

Who said the music’s dead in the streets?

Don’t know what they talk about.

Rock music was alive and well. Just because the labels abandoned it, it didn’t mean that the audience abandoned it. For the labels to kill rock and metal, they had to put a bullet in the head of every fan.

For “HOOLIGAN’S HOLIDAY”, it inItially started off as like a “Highway Star” cut recorded by Nikki and John at Nikki’s house. Tommy and Mick weren’t too keen it it. They then totally rewrote it—only the chorus and title are the same.

“POISON APPLES” was originally called “Hangin’ by a Thread.” Meanwhile Nikki was working on a possibility for his solo song with the title of “Poison Apples”.

“TILL DEATH DO US PART” is about pride and standing up for what you believe in. Nikki said it reminds him of “Danger” from the second album.

And I was still on a Bon Jovi listening kick, doing various posts to bring attention to certain songs or deep album cuts.

Check out the post as I discuss “Next 100 Years”, “I Could Make A Living Out Of Lovin’ You” and “Ain’t No Cure For Love” which is the best ZZ Top song not written by ZZ Top. It’s written by Richie Supa, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Supa is known for his contributions to Aerosmith, plus Sambora used him for a lot of the “Undiscovered Soul” songs.

An interview that Danny Stag did in Guitar World was posted.

He talks about the Led Zep comparisons being blown out of proportion.

“Maybe some of the bad blood started when a journalist misquoted me.

This guy told Page that I claimed to never having heard Led Zeppelin. That’s obviously absurd and Jimmy would have a right to feel ticked off.”

The successful version of Kingdom Come called it quits in August 1989, so by the time the interview appeared in the September 1989 Guitar World issue, Kingdom Come was no more.

A selected transcript of Vito Bratta’s interview with Eddie Trunk was posted.

Here are a few selected quotes.

VITO BRATTA – so the record company’s saying we need another “Pride”.

I say, Ok, so what exactly does that mean?

The label goes we need the hit singles…

I go, “listen man, the songs we gave you on “Pride” weren’t hit singles written purposely to be hit singles. They were just songs that became hit singles and they were just songs we wrote. Now you’re telling me that I have to purposely write a hit single.

How do you do that?

How do you purposely write a hit single, I mean there are people out there that do that…

“Big Game” was a setback for the Label. It didn’t sell as many. The Label said wouldn’t it be great if we played at Wembley with Motley Crue and Skid Row.

Skid Row went on and they were just killing the place. And Motley Crue had a great show and here we are sandwiched in between. We realized, that night, on stage at Wembley that these songs from the “Big Game” album aren’t translating well in the live show.

Then we went back to the States and we told the record label, no more tours on this album. We are going to do the album that we want to do.

And they said well considering how the last album went, they said “go ahead”. They gave us unlimited funds. “Mane Attraction” was a half a million dollar record. They just said go and do everything that you want. Now the problem was that by the time it came out, that whole scene was over with.

C.C DeVille also featured with an old September 1989 interview.

When I go to bed at night I’m very hurt that people consider us a joke band. We concentrate on writing good pop songs.

John Sykes “Black Hearted Woman” got some musical analysis.

And “Cold Sweat” from Thin Lizzy which featured John Sykes was doing the rounds.

I did a post called “Persistence” and used Tommy Thayer as an example of persistence.

Nuno Bettencourt was also doing the rounds during this time. You can read about it here.

You can see a very heavy bias towards guitarists on this site.

And I was reading a lot of self development books so I wrote some posts on some of the concepts here and here.

Finally I was sharing my view that the album concept is gone and it needs a rethink to properly meet today’s expectations.

As long as people buy albums, the labels will still order their artists to create and release them. This is where the labels make most of their money. Even if the sales are anemic for some.

Standard
Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, Unsung Heroes

Australian Method Series: Wolfmother

It would have been easy to write about the debut album which came out in 2005.

But.

How do you follow up the debut album that took a whole lifetime to write and achieved 5x Platinum certification in Australia and Gold certifications in the North American market?

That was the question facing Andrew Stockdale, Chris Ross and Myles Heskett.

But something happened within the band, as in August 2008, Ross and Heskett left. Replaced by others who I can’t even remember.

Did it matter if the original guys left?

Stockdale wrote the songs and he’s still there.

“Cosmic Egg” came out in 2009. The debut album gave the band a 4 year victory lap.

But.

Sales of the album didn’t get anywhere near the debut album even though the album was critically acclaimed. And the album does have some kick ass songs.

I overdosed on “Sundial”.

It’s the best track on the album.

A Sabbath/Hendrix like riff all fuzzed up with the wah on starts it all off and then the Chorus chords ring out while a single note piano lead plays.

And now it seems no time at all
The sundial wonders
How could you see nothing at all?
The sundial wonders on

Its probably the best Chorus that didn’t appear on an Ozzy album.

Make sure you crank it.

“In The Morning” sounds like a Zeppelin cut musically and a Beatles cut vocally.

“10,000 Feet” is a foot stomper.

“Cosmic Egg” has the foundations of “Roadhouse Blues”.

“Pilgrim” has that “let’s hit the road Jack ain’t gonna come back no more” vibe.

And then there is the closer.

“Violence Of The Sun” is a favourite.

It has a lot of psychedelic rock vibes with the roto-organ as it percolates for the first 3 minutes until the distortion chords explode for the 3 minute outro as Stockdale does a lot of ohhhs and ahhs outlining a haunting vocal melody.

And when you think that’s it, a guitar lead starts that mimics the vocal melody.

A perfect closer.

Check it out.

Standard
Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories

2001 – Part 1.5: Ozzy Osbourne – Down To Earth

This is the final album that makes up the 2001 – Part 1 post.

The first post was “In Search of Truth” from Evergrey. 

The second post was “Origin Of Symmetry” from Muse.

The third post was “Supercharger” from Machine Head.

The fourth post was “The World Needs A New Hero” from Megadeth.

The title according to Ozzy in an interview with Guitar World, for the November 2001 issue is in reference to Earth, the original name for Black Sabbath. His whole career is down to his involvement with Earth/Sabbath, hence the title of “Down To Earth”.

In addition, the photos of an X-Rayed Ozzy interspersed with physical Ozzy makes it look like someone is coming down from somewhere, with the destination hopefully being Earth.

Zakk Wylde was basically a session guitarist on this album. 

While Ozzy said that if it wasn’t for Tim Palmer, the album wouldn’t be, Zakk had a different view of Palmer. Tim Palmer’s resume at that point in time included working with U2, Tears For Fears and other British pop acts. He was definitely an unlikely choice for the producer gig. 

In the November, 2001 issue of Guitar World it was mentioned that, Palmer, apart from being the Producer is also a co-writer on the majority of the tracks and when it came time to Zakk redoing his riffs, the two didn’t see eye to eye. There were times in the studio where Palmer would take the guitar out of Zakk’s hands and say to Zakk, “can you play it more like this?”.

Zakk of course didn’t like this. Palmer also asked Zakk to use a Telecaster and Zakk said it’s Les Paul and Marshall’s all the way.

In the same Guitar World issue, Zakk was also displeased that he had to play riffs to some songs that Dave Grohl wrote, which Dave Grohl clarified a few years later that those same songs, he ended up using on his Probot project (King Diamond sang on one track and the Trouble singer, sang on the other track) as Grohl didn’t hear back from the Osbourne camp that any of the songs would be used.

“Foo Fighters is a fucking candy ass girl band, but you’ve got that motherfucker submitting songs for the album and those douche bags from the Offspring submitting songs, too.

I mean, none of these guys could play a Randy Rhoads solo if they tried. Dave Grohl. Fuck Dave Grohl. Let him get up there and play “Mr Crowley”; he can’t fuckin do it. And it’s like, you’re getting this guy to write songs for Ozzy? Just because he played drums for fucking Shitvana?”

Zakk Wylde – Guitar World, November 2001 issue. 

Yep, Zakk didn’t hold back.

“Gets Me Through”

A haunting piano riff starts the ride. 

Then the riff kicks in, heavy and syncopated. It’s not written by Zakk but Zakk made it sound like Zakk even though the person who wrote it, Tim Palmer didn’t end up being Zakk’s bestie.

I try to entertain you the best I can

The organ in the verses plays a Kashmir like chromatic ascending chord progression.

Stick around for the lead break. Zakk is melodic, then pentatonic, then emotive

“Facing Hell”

The intro riff is head banging material. This song is written by Osbourne, Palmer, Scott Humphrey and Geoff Nicholls.

Zakk mentioned that in the Guitar World, November 2001 issue he “just wanted to make it as slammin’ as he could.”

He changed a lot of the tracks around, not to the point where he would get a song writing credit on it, but he would change the riffs and modify them to what he wanted to do. 

“Dreamer”

It reminds me of “So Tired” from the “Bark At The Moon” with a bit of Lennon chucked in. It’s written by Marti Frederiksen and Mick Jones with Ozzy also listed as a writer.

Lyrically, it’s taken a page from Bob Daisley and the lyrics he wrote for “Revelation Mother Earth”. 

Your higher power may be God or Jesus Christ

I always found the lyric a bit weird, because God and Jesus Christ come from the same place of faith. If the song writing team was looking for a three syllable word then Buddhism fits to showcase a different higher power.

Make sure you check out Zakk’s lead break. 

“No Easy Way Out” 

It’s written by Osbourne and Palmer and it sounds like a cut from “No More Tears”. So whatever Zakk added to the riffs it works.

The crushing weight on my shoulders now is bearing down and it seems

“That I Never Had”

This one is credited to Osbourne, Frederiksen, Joe Holmes and Robert Trujilo but the riff sounds like it came from “Miracle Man.”

“Junkie”

The riff is excellent.

This one is credited to Osbourne, Frederiksen, Holmes and Trujilo. The title is pretty self-explanatory.

Running Out Of Time

It’s from the same “Dreamer” song writing team, who try and re-write the same song, but this one in the Chorus reminds me of the “Old L.A Tonight” bridge.

“Black Illusion”

This is a cut that is written by Osbourne, Palmer, Nicholls and Andy Sturmer from Jellyfish.  

It’s got a foot stomping groovy riff and it sounds like something that Zakk would write for Black Label Society.

“Alive”

It’s written by Danny Saber with Osbourne.

This is Ozzy telling the world that he is still alive and he doesn’t have any plans to go anywhere as he likes living. And if you look at the drugs and alcohol that Ozzy has abused his body with, rockers who have done less, didn’t make it.

“Can You Hear Them?”

The marching drum beat sends an image of the voices marching to its beat. This one reminds me of Jake E Lee for some reason. Maybe it’s the pre-chorus riff which sounds like something from “The Ultimate Sin” album.

So sick and tired of living and so afraid to die

I’ve lived so many lives and still I wonder why

The way the world perceives me is not the way I am

The one half thinks I’m crazy, the other thinks I’m mad

There is a bias when it comes to Ozzy.

He’s been labelled Satanic, but his whole life he’s worn the crucifix of Christ. He’s done some crazy stuff, but who hasn’t when they’ve been juiced up with drugs and alcohol.  

Check it out.

Standard
Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

2001 – Part 1.4: Megadeth – The World Needs A New Hero

The Evergrey – “In Search Of Truth” post, the Muse – “Origin Of Symmetry” by post and the Machine Head – “Supercharger” post were meant to be part of one 2001 – Part 1 post, however after I finished writing those posts they had a lot of words in there to be part of one, so they ended up as separate posts.

This post is 1.4 and the upcoming Ozzy post will be 1.5.

Megadeth – The World Needs A New Hero

I was excited for this album as I am a fan of Al Pitrelli. I like his work with Widowmaker, his session and song writing work with Alice Copper (plus touring), Y&T, Savatage, Danger Danger, TSO and many more. Plus in the few interviews he had in the guitar magazines, he shares a wealth of information about soloing and modes and what not.

“The World Needs a Hero” is the ninth studio album and a return to the metal and sometimes thrash of Megadeth between the “Countdown To Extinction” to “Cryptic Writings” era.

And to understand this album, you need to understand what a commercial disappointment “Risk” was in 1999 and how it eventually led to the departure of Marty Friedman and Nick Menza.

And it’s their first album on Sanctuary after they parted ways from Capitol Records with cover art by Hugh Syme.

Drummer Jimmy DeGrasso also features on this and the usual two Dave’s, but in this case, this would be the last album Ellefson would feature on until 2010. It was DeGrasso who actually recommended Pitrelli to Mustaine.

“Disconnect”

The intro riff reminds of “Trust”.

I like the interlude when it’s just bass and chords ringing out and then the lead break from Pitrelli starts. And I played air guitar to every note.

Lyrically the song deals with living a double life between the person we portray to people which is very different to the person’s inner thoughts or even Google search history.

“The World Needs a Hero”

If it’s a musical hero, a techie hero, a sporting hero, an author, a politician, whatever. We all need someone to look up to, to aspire to be like. Sometimes it’s a parent, a brother or a sister or another family member. It’s not my favourite song but I do like the title.

“Moto Psycho”

This song is about people who commute to work every day and spend a lot of time on the road.

In between 1997 and to the end of 2000, I drove 80 minutes to get to work and 80 minutes to get home. Then I changed jobs and commuted via a train, which took me 90 minutes to get to work and 90 minutes to get home.

Do the math.

160 to 180 minutes a day on travelling. That’s 800 to 900 minutes a week travelling. 41600 to 46800 hours in the year wasted on the road building someone else’s dream instead of my own.

“1000 Times Goodbye”

The intro riff is enough to hook me in. And then the drums come in, building the section until the verses explode.

And for some reason it keeps reminding me of “Tornado Of Souls”.

From about 3.57, the solo section begins. And after Mustaine says “you suck”, Pitrelli takes over for another guitar hero moment.

Check it out.

“Burning Bridges”

Check out the harmonized guitar riff in the Chorus.

“Promises”

The acoustic riff reminds me of “Dream On”. The violins make it haunting.

The song is about relationships that can’t be together in this life because of religion or social norms.

“Recipe for Hate… Warhorse”

It’s fast Intro gives way to a bass riff and spoken verse. And it’s a weird song with flamenco inspired passages. More like MegaZappa than Megadeth.

“Losing My Senses”

No one likes it when people speak the truth and that’s how this song starts off.

Check out the main riff. It puts all those alternate metal acts to shame.

Or the “When The Levee Breaks” inspired solo section which gets Pitrelli soloing with a Middle Eastern vibe.

“Dread and the Fugitive Mind”

My favorite song on the album. Especially the “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine” section.

And don’t forget the whole interlude build up into the Pitrelli solo section.

“Silent Scorn”

An instrumental which gets played over the sound system at concerts.

“Return to Hangar”

The sequel to “Hangar 18” as the captive aliens from the first song escape and kill their captors. When I saw the band live, they played both songs back to back.

Make sure you check out the harmony lead break.

“When”

The main riff and structure of “When”, is reminiscent of “Am I Evil?” by Diamond Head, which Mustaine said was intentional.

After this album, the band was ended as Mustaine had to deal with a career ending arm injury. Then once he resurrected Megadeth, he had to deal with lawsuits from former members. But that story is for another day.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Influenced, Music, Unsung Heroes

The Record Vault: Coheed And Cambria – The Color Before The Sun

The album came out in 2015 and it’s the only non-conceptual album the band has released and easily there most accessible. Then again, with each release their old emo hard-core and metal roots got less and less as some prog rock influences came in and then classic rock.

I got the limited edition, deluxe box set which includes two CDs, the album and a disc of demo tracks, plus two hardcover books, one featuring album lyrics and artwork and another featuring a “behind-the-scenes look” of the album’s creative process, plus an in-studio DVD, and a clear 7-inch record of unreleased demo tracks.

I also got a custom house key, a lapel pin, a certificate of authenticity; as well as exclusive, members-only access to new music, videos, concert tickets, merchandise and commentary from the band to a special website that requires a log in and all that.

“Island”

The acoustic single note riff to kick off “Island” is addictive. It reminds me of Rush and “The Spirit Of Radio”(not because the riffs sound the same, but because of its feel) and then a riff which reminds me of “Jessie’s Girl” kicks in with the same single note riff in distorted played over it. It’s upbeat and poppy, but lyrically the song deals with doubt and about “getting off the island”, in which this case the island is a metaphor for the comfort zone of our lives or the war we have within our head about starting something new or staying with the old.

I live inside this head, and I’m at war
Hero and villain, Same type, keeping score

“Eraser”

It has a groovy bass played in the verses and drums which dominate.

Oh Middle age, bring me a crisis
What am I worth, does the truth hurt?

Yes what are we worth and what are our lives worth. There’s nothing like age to get you reassessing and re-evaluating. In this case, Claudio wants the clocks to be turned back to the way things were.

I’ve been nostalgic recently, maybe because I am watching “Sopranos”, but when I think to turning the clocks back to the past, it might sound exciting, but I don’t want to live in a world with a few channels, no internet or slow dial up internet and listening to music based on purchases instead of leasing.

“Colors”

I lost myself along the way
Restless nights mixed with purposeless days
Counting forward, taking steps
To a better man, the one you can live with

The song deals with changes like selling a house, moving to a new house and spending time away from family. And until you get settled again, it takes weeks maybe months before you make sense of it all.

“Here To Mars”

It’s in the stars
And you’re my everything from here to Mars

A very upbeat love song from Claudio to his wife Chondra, like “Blood Red Summer” upbeat.

Make sure you check out the interlude section from 2.18 to 3.02 as it builds up into the Chorus again as Claudio sings, “I will never let you go”.

“Ghost”

The acoustic guitar riff keeps repeating like a metronomic grandfather clock. The song is simple, as Claudio’s vocal harmonies carry the song.

“Atlas”

That you’re the weight of his anchor,
The love that is guiding him home,

Written for Claudio and Chondra’s son, Atlas.

“Young Love”

The song is an apology to The Big Beige, Claudio’s old house in New York. And for those fans who always wondered why the demo releases are called the “Big Beige” versions, well it’s because he did them at home.

I like the repeating guitar lick.

“We leave for the coast/In the wrong hands/You where bruised, disposed”

I like the ending, as at it transitions into “You Got Spirit, Kid”.

“You Got Spirit, Kid”

It’s the first single released for “The Color Before The Sun”.

The plastic king of castle polyethylene
Go on, time to be a good little pig

‘Cause when the rug gets pulled out from underneath
Just embrace the fall
Oh you got spirit, kid
You’re number one
Go on living that farce
Cause nobody gives a f… who you are

Manufactured pop stars don’t have a long shelf life which is a shame, because there is talent there, but it’s never given a chance to be its own beast as others control it. And when it all goes bad, the people who control just move on to the next wannabe. In other words, you will come to a point in life when you realise that the problems you see as big aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things.

There is a nice little Pink Floyd jam at the end which makes an amazing segue into “The Audience”.

“The Audience”

This song became a favourite instantly with its Tool like groove. Just listen to the music in the verses. The guitars play an intricate riff, the bass syncs up with the bass drum while the drums free style and still keep a beat.

This is my audience
Forever one together
Burning Stars
Cut from the same disease
Ever longing, what and who we are

The fans of Coheed and Cambria have expectations as to how the band should sound, the industries who make money from Coheed and Cambria have expectations as to how the band should sound and the band members themselves as they grow older have evolving wants as to how they should sound. Sometimes they don’t align and sometimes they do.

“Peace To The Mountain”

It’s a simple acoustic, drum and vocal song.

I learned to keep quiet,
How to keep my distance.
Afraid to let strangers in,
How to keep my secrets.

I see this as Claudio hiding behind the characters and the Sci-Fi world he created because he was scared to express his own feelings in his songs. But he’s now older and wiser and at peace with who he is.

So if you were scared to check out Coheed and Cambria before, because of the Armory Wars saga, check out this album.

Standard
Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

2001 – Part 1.3: Machine Head – Supercharger

The Evergrey “In Search Of Truth” post and “Origin Of Symmetry” by Muse post were meant to be part of this large post, however after I finished writing all of the posts they had a lot of words in there to be part of one post, so they ended up as separate posts.

The Machine Head post will be 1.3, the upcoming Megadeth post will be 1.4 and the Ozzy post will be 1.5.

Machine Head – Supercharger

Supercharger is their fourth album.

It came out just weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and it got lost in the aftermath. Roadrunner also gave them zero promotion and to this date, its considered a commercial failure by the label. They even went on tour for the album without any label support which was a slap in the face to the band as Robb Flynn has admitted that “The Burning Red” and “Supercharger” were albums that Roadrunner pressured them to do, so they could break into the mainstream.

But when the mainstream didn’t come, Flynn said that the band was going to return to “what we they did best”.

It is also the band’s last release to feature lead guitarist Ahrue Luster and as a by-product it set in stone the next 15 years.

For me, this was the first album I purchased from Machine Head.

And in relation to the album being a commercial failure, in a 2015 interview with LouderSound, this is what Robb Flynn had to say about it.

“Supercharger sold 250,000 copies. If that’s a disaster, I’ll take it.

We played nine shows in the UK, all sold out, and the US tour was mostly sold out, which was a first.

Every night when we play “Bulldozer”, that whole theory that everybody hates “Supercharger” gets completely stomped into the ground. We play “Bulldozer” and it’s one of the top five reactions of the night, every time”

After a minute of “The Declaration”, the iconic riff of “Bulldozer” kicks in. Listen to the drumming from Dave McClain in the intro. In the live arena, this song is powerful, mosh pit powerful.

“Full steam we go against the odds, headfirst we go against the grain”.

But the lack of solos is going with the grain, as between 1999 and 2005, there was a “no guitar solo” movement. This song was missing a ripping lead.

“Crashing Around You” is a great hard rock song. It was the only single from the album and it had a film clip with a burning San Francisco skyline and stuff crashing down around them.

It was pulled from MTV and rock radio because the term “crashing” was found to be offensive.

But the lyrics are excellent, the music grooves and having this song pulled from every promotional outlet definitely hurt the band. But the fans loved it.

When they pulled this song out for the concert, the place went nuts.

“Kick You When You’re Down” sounds like a track from the “Catharsis” album with its catchcry about believing in yourself and following your heart.

“Only the Names” deserves more attention. This Robb Flynn penned track is classic Machine Head merging all the doom from the early era. Tracks from the current era even sound like this song. That distorted riff would sink submarines it’s that heavy. Early Tool comes to mind here.

“All in Your Head” is one of my favourite Machine Head tracks. That intro, especially live, is head banging material and in its essence it’s basically a hard rock song.

“American High” kicks off with a Tarzan like vocal chant, which is actually the riff of the song. It sounds like the guys are having fun and Flynn brings out some of his spoken word raps in the verses but this song got slammed by the reviewers, for the Tarzan chant.

“Nausea” feels like a Deftones style track especially in the verses.

“Blank Generation” reminds me of early Tool. It’s Aggressive with a capital A.

“Trephination” has a cool bass riff to kick it off.

“Deafening Silence” keeps building until it explodes towards the end.

“Supercharger” has a great intro riff, but that dissonance Korn style riff in the first part of the verse didn’t enhance the song in anyway.

The Japanese version has a cover of “Hole in the Sky” from Black Sabbath as its bonus track. A lot of fans saw this as a weird choice considering the nu-metal style of the album.

But from a rhythm guitar point of view, there is a lot here to unpack.

And after being exposed to Machine Head by various band members this album was my first financial commitment to the band, so it holds a special place in my history.

Standard
Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

2001 – Part 1.2: Muse – Origin Of Symmetry

The Evergrey “In Search Of Truth” post from last week was meant to be part of this post, however after I finished writing it, it was close to 2000 words, so it ended up as a separate post.

And as I was writing the rest of the posts for Muse (which will now be 1.2), Machine Head (which will be 1.3), Megadeth (which will be 1.4) and Ozzy, (which will be 1.5), I started to realise that maybe it’s best for these posts to be separate as well.

So here we go with the rest of 2001 – Part 1 in various stages

Muse – Origin Of Symmetry

Matt Bellamy is on vocals and guitars and midi sound effects and piano and organs and everything else, Chris Wolstenholme is on bass and Dominic Howard is on drums.

At the time, this was officially album number 2, hot on the heels of “Showbiz” from a few years before. It’s a progression, putting the building blocks in place for “Absolution” which came out in 2004 which to me is the piece d’resistance in their catalogue.

“New Born”

It starts off with an arpeggio guitar/piano that is sort of classical/lullaby like.

The bitterness inside
Is growing like the new born

The titles of the songs are hidden in verses or not even mentioned at all in the songs. They are linking something beautiful (the new born) with something bitter.

Check out the double time drumming, octave bass lines from the 2 minute mark over a pseudo classical chord progression and falsetto vocals.

And at the 3:30 mark, Bellamy pulls out one of his normal tremolo picked leads that outlines the notes of the major and minor chords in the progression.

“Bliss”

It’s got that TonePad effect to start off which continues throughout the song, under a layer of distorted bass lines and crashing drums.

“Space Dementia”

The piano riffs are clearly influenced by Sergei Rachmaninoff and his “Piano Concerto No. 2 In C Minor Op.18.” And I hadn’t listened to Rachmaninoff at all, until I read an interview with Bellamy who mentioned him as a major influence on this album and that actual concerto.

“Hyper Music”

It has this Hendrix like riff to start off the song or “Snakecharmer” from Rage Against The Machine comes to mind, before it moves into the Muse pseudo classical like chord progressions before moving back into blues hard rock and back again.

“Plug In Baby”

It’s got a great arena rock chorus and a memorable single note guitar riff done in the Muse pseudo classical way.

“Citizen Erased”

The intro riff hooks me in immediately to pick up my guitar and jam it. It’s metal like and with a lot of groove.

Break me in
Teach us to cheat
And to lie, cover up
What shouldn’t be shared?

The concept that we are all born without any viewpoints and we are made to be who we are by culture, the family, society and institutions.

The whole quietened down section is haunting.

You also need to listen to the outro.

“Micro Cuts”

A simple arpeggiated guitar riff, with a locked in bass and drum groove starts off the song, before Bellamy’s falsetto vocals take over. Make sure to stick around for the blues like breakdown riff to close out the song.

I’ve seen what you’re doing to me
Destroying puppet strings
To our souls

“Feeling Good”

It’s a great hard rock cover of a Nina Simone song released in 1965. It’s sleazy, groovy and it follows the pseudo classical chord progressions that Muse are so well known for.

Check it out.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

The Week In Destroyer Of Harmony History – April 5 to April 11

4 Years Ago (2017)

I was writing about the labels and streaming services.

Spotify is a service, that provides music to users. It was created by techies because the record labels didn’t have the clout to do what was required for their artists and the vast copyrights they hold. But for Spotify to work, it needed access to the vast libraries of copyrights the record labels hold. And in the process the three major labels got a stake in Spotify.

And the labels still control the narrative. They have done such a great job with their fake news stories about streaming rates killing music, but at the same time their revenue goes up due to streaming payments.

8 Years Ago (2013)

It was a Bon Jovi week. I tracked how “What About Now” dropped from #7 to #34 in a week.

Sales had dropped from 101,000 to 29,000 to 16,000. And news happened about Richie Sambora dropping off the tour due to personal issues.

In comparison to sales with other acts, “Babel” from Mumford and Sons was still moving 37,000 units, and “Night Visions” from Imagine Dragons was moving 47,000 units. Both albums had been on the charts for 27 and 30 weeks respectively at the time.

Then I did another post which had “What About Now” dropping from #34 to #50 at week 4.

It only moved 2,383 units for the week but the tour was selling out. I wrote that the album is the worst Jovi album ever. It debuted at number 1, then went to number 7 and then it went to number 34 and then at 50.

I even got creative and asked the question what could have Bon Jovi done differently.

But reading back now, I went on a misguided rant which is embarrassing to read but still part of this blogs history.

“Last Man Standing” from Bon Jovi is a classic song waiting to be rediscovered.

Everyone knows the hits. However, there are a lot of songs that deserve more attention than what they have received. 

“Last Man Standing” is written by Jon Bon Jovi and Billy Falcon. The studio version was meant to be on 2003’s “This Left Feels Right” greatest hits package, however, it ended up on the “100,000,000 Fans Can’t Be Wrong” box set released in 2004.  It was a laid back acoustic style ballad with slide guitar and all the country twang you can get into a song.  An acoustic live version of the song was added to the “This Left Feels Right” DVD.

It was then re-worked into a great rock song for the 2005 “Have A Nice Day” album.  The intro grabs you and makes you want to pay attention and the theme of the song is about kids turning up to a circus/freak show act to see the last real performer of live music.

I also wrote about “Undivided” which is another classic Jovi song waiting to be rediscovered.

“Undivided” was written by Bon Jovi, Sambora and Billy Falcon and it’s probably the heaviest song Bon Jovi has recorded. The producer was Luke Ebbin (who was introduced to JBJ by A&R legend John Kalodner) and the song was originally called “One”.

I wrote about how Black Sabbath was employing the same scorched earth marketing that Bon Jovi employed to promote their new album “13” and their first with Ozzy since 1978.

I got into Black Sabbath via Randy Rhoads and the “Tribute” album. The “Blizzard” and “Diary” albums became my bibles in relation to guitar playing. I needed to learn every riff, every lick, every bass line and every vocal melody line. It was an obsession.

On “Tribute”, I heard three songs that where not written by the usual Ozzy, Randy and Bob Daisley combination. I actually feel sorry for Bob Daisley. The Osbourne’s have tried hard to write Daisley out of the Ozzy history. 

It was “Children of The Grave” that got my attention. The way it’s done on “Tribute”, with faster tempo and the wonderful Randy Rhoads Guitar Hero solo.

I was listening to a lot of Periphery at the time as well. And I wrote a post about their song “Ragnarok”.

I saw Periphery live at the Annandale Hotel in Feb 2013, as a sideshow they did from the Soundwave tour. 

They were good. Very good. Technical and melodic. Technical and aggressive. Technical and progressive. Technical and rocking. Technical and serene. Technical and mechanical. 

Ragnarok. The end of the world in Norse mythology by submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and be repopulated by two human survivors. Does this sound familiar to all? 

This song explodes from the 2.20 minute mark to about 4.30. Check it out.

Andy Johns also passed away. He was a pretty big deal in my life as he was involved in quite a few influential albums for me.

Cinderella and the “Night Songs” and “Long Cold Winter” albums. Then came “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” by Van Halen. Ted Templeman was on board to record Sammy Hagar, as Andy Johns was too demanding for Sammy.

Majority of music lovers will remember the artists and the songs attached they wrote and the producers become forgotten.

I discovered a Swiss band called Polution that played a brand a rock I like, so I wrote about em.

I checked em out on Spotify to see if anything else has come out since and nothing has. So I guess another one bites the dust.

Standard