Category Archives: Derivative Works

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

1985 – Part 4

Kiss – Asylum

My son asked me yesterday, “what decade of Kiss do I like for new music released?”

I grew up on the 80’s Kiss, with the exception of the “Dynasty” and “Unmasked” albums. So my go to albums from Kiss are the 80’s albums, along with “Revenge”.

My first proper “Alive” experience was “Alive III”, then “IV” and then I went back to listen to “I” and “II”. But I like “III” better.

In the last 20 years, Kiss haven’t really set the world alight with new music (“Hell Or Hallelujah” will beg to differ and it’s up there as one of the best tracks for me), nor have they really dug into the vaults. Then again, Gene Simmons did raid his vault and from the reviews I read over at 2Loud2OldMusic, Simmons did a pretty good job at it.

Now in Australia, Kiss was larger than life. They always had an interview on TV or a music video clip on TV or a song played on radio. And they had their loyal following, plus any fly by nighters who would fall in and out of fandom with the band.

This album has Paul Stanley pulling quadruple duty on song writing, guitar playing, production duties (which even though Gene is listed as co-producer, Stanley did 90% of it) and bass playing. And I gravitated to the Stanley tracks, because they were just better.

This album also sticks out because it’s part of the era of bad jackets. Like very bad glam like jackets. If you’ve seen posters or press photos of bands during this era, you would know what I mean.

And it needs to be said, that Bruce Kulick is a guitar hero. He doesn’t get the “shred cred” he derserves, maybe because he played with Kiss. But his solos, from “Animalize” to “Revenge” are nothing short of guitar hero shred.

“King Of The Mountain” is written by Stanley, Kulick and Desmond Child and it gets the album off to a good start.

“Tears Are Falling” is a Stanley cut and although generic, it proved very popular for Kiss on MTV. “Who Wants To Be Lonely” is another cut that sticks around, this one being a co-write with Stanley, Child and Jean Beauvoir who would become well-known with the song, “Feel The Heat” from the Cobra soundtrack.

And let’s not talk about “Uh! All Night” even though some brain dead label rep thought it was a good idea to also release it as a single.

White Lion – Fight To Survive

I didn’t hear this until the 2000’s post Napster era was happening.

It wasn’t available at all in Australia and I didn’t know anyone who had a copy of it.

And it’s a forgotten album but it shouldn’t be, because it showcases Vito Bratta. While Bratta didn’t get back into the music business once White Lion broke up, his recorded output and musical legacy is down to the four White Lion albums and the backroom label dealings and stabbings which would affect Bratta.

They got signed to Elektra in 1984 and they record the album. Elektra refuses to release the album and terminates the bands contract. So now they have an album recorded, which they can’t access as its owned by Elektra and they have no deal.

Then a Japanese label releases it in Japan, and another label in the US release it under license to Elektra and the band tours on it, but the label in the U.S goes bankrupt. And the band is going through changes in the bass and drum department.

They did get singed to Atlantic in 1987, but that’s another story for another year.

Stand Outs with Great Bratta Moments

“Fight To Survive” is brilliant musically. Lyrically it’s about street life and fighting to be alive each day.

Great tapping intro that breaks down into the bass groove for the verse, with the volume swells and then it picks up for the big chorus and I love the delay in the solo section.

“All The Fallen Men” is influenced by “Rocking in the Free World” in the verses. Then again this came before Neil Young, and it’s a pretty generic chord progression, so..

“El Salvador” is the best song on this first album. The flamenco intro moving into the distortion riff is brilliant. You can hear Al DiMeola’s “Mediterranean Sundance”. And once the song kicks it’s all Thin Lizzy. Phil Lynott would be proud.

Clichéd Songs with Great Bratta Moments

“Broken Heart” has typical 80’s lyrics from Mike Tramp. Bratta shreds in the solo section with finger tapping and tap bends.

“All Burn In Hell” reminded me of Twisted Sister’s “Burn in Hell”. Musically it is typical of the 80’s. But the syncopated interlude before the solo. Brilliant.

There is a modern alternative rock metal vibe. And the solo section to me is a song within a song. A great Bratta moment.

Bad Songs with Great Bratta Moments

“Where Do We Run” – reminds of a 100th rate AC/DC song in the verse. Tramps lyrics and melodies are lame. It’s a shame because it has a killer solo, very much in the vein of Randy Rhoads – “Flying High Again” and George Lynch – “Tooth and Nail”.

“In The City” – up until the interlude and solo section, where Bratta wails, the song sounds like a Y&T rip off lyrically.

Firehouse also did a song, where the vocal melody was similar.

Does anyone remember “The Dream”?

Actually does anyone remember Firehouse the band?

Filler Songs

“Cherokee” – The lyrics are tacky, “Cherokee, riding free”. Maybe because I heard it after Europe’s “Cherokee”, which I also didn’t like.

“Kid of a 1000 Faces” – the less said about this song the better.

“The Road To Valhalla” – with that title I was expecting something epic.

AC/DC – Fly On The Wall

I love the cover art. I drawed it in Art Class. I wish I still have my art journals. The teacher hated it, as he was anti-rock/metal.

Malcolm tried really hard to remove AC/DC from the overproduced and super focused Lange albums. And although their worldwide sales especially in the U.S market didn’t set the world on fire post Lange, in the land of Oz, they couldn’t do no wrong.

We lapped up the 7 inch singles, their songs got played on radio and the music video clips for “Shake Your Foundations” and “Sink The Pink” got played relentlessly.

See me leaning, on the bar
I got my head in a whiskey jar

It’s the Australian way of life to be leaning on the bar, intoxicated. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And maybe it’s a big reason why the music videos resonated with Australian fans. They are both filmed in a bar/pub and people are playing pool while drinking. It’s the Australian way of life.

ZZ Top – Afterburner

How do you follow up “Eliminator”?

By continuing on with using synths, sequenced beats and midi samples with their blues boogie riffs.

A new take on an old sound.

I called it “New Wave Blues” (NWB). And I meant it as a compliment.

How good is the cover?

It was enough to hook me in.

And while “Sleeping Bag” kept in that NWB department, “Stages” is a melodic rock gem that I didn’t see coming.

“Rough Boy” has some of Billy Gibbons most melodic and emotive lead breaks. Check out the intro lead break and the outro lead break. He brought long guitar solos to the mainstream.

“Can’t Stop Rockin’” is “Got Me Under Pressure” a 12 bar blues boogie with sequenced drum beats. “Planet Of Women” rocks out of the gate, and man, this song has Gibbons putting in some serious playing in the riffage department.

The album is a product of its time and era, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Gary Moore – Run For Cover

It was the mid 90’s when I heard this album. And it’s one of his best albums.

“Empty Rooms” and that lead break is one of his best lead breaks, better than “Parisienne Walkways” and “Still Got The Blues”. “Military Man” has Phil Lynott singing, while “Out In The Fields” is a duet between Lynott and Moore.

The mighty Glen Hughes sings on “Reach For The Sky”, “Nothing To Lose” and “All Messed Up”, while Moore sings on “Run For Cover”, “Empty Rooms”, “Once In A Lifetime” and “Listen To Your Heartbeat”.

And Moore also has Lynott, Hughes and Bob Daisley playing bass on the album. Four different producers in Andy Johns, Peter Collins, Beau Hill and Mike Stone. In other words it’s an expensive album, but it did nothing sales wise in the U.S, while in Europe, it did a lot better.

But the piece d’resistance is “Empty Rooms”. The lead break from Moore was talked about a lot in guitar circles. And it’s a re-recording. He released it on “Victims Of The Future”. A longer version of 6 plus minutes. This one is more concise at 4 minutes.

And the way “Run For Cover” starts off, you know that Moore means business,. There isn’t a bad song on this album. The cuts that Hughes does vocals on are favourites and I need to do a playlist of songs Hughes has done over his career, like how I did with Ronnie James Dio, covering Rainbow, Sabbath and his solo career. The only album missing on that list is the “Heaven And Hell” band album from the two thousands because it’s not on Spotify Australia.

Phil Collins – No Jacket Required

His voice is one of the best.

It’s like Soul Rock and I like Collins when his also bluesy with a touch of rock.

The “hit songs” on this album are not my favourites. The brass instruments are just too much for me on those. But with any Collins release, there is always something to sink your ears into.

“Long Long Way To Go” is a favourite. It’s the mood and the repeating guitar/synth lick.

Then there is “I Don’t Wanna Know” which is a melodic rock masterpiece, with a great outro guitar solo.

“Don’t Lose My Number” reminds me of Marillion for some reason. It has a feel that Marillion would explore later on when they changed vocalists.

“Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore” has this driving beat to kick it off before it subdues in the verses, but the drums still roll on.

And there’s so much more music to get through for 1985, but that will be for other posts.

So into the time machine we go and I’ll see ya at 1977 for Part 4.

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

The Record Vault – Coverdale/Page

The album came out in 1993.

The guitar work on it from Page is exceptional. Which was needed, as his 80’s projects “The Firm” and his solo album “Outrider” didn’t really set the charts alight or have people talking about him again.

But on this album they did talk about Page again.

The opening string pull off lick for “Shake My Tree” is an oldie from his Zep days. Simply, yet effective and Coverdale follows the riff with the vocal lead. Then when it gets heavy, it’s a cross between “Still Of The Night” and “Communication Breakdown”.

The lead break on “Waiting On You” is simple and effective and the riffs groove behind it.

“Take Me For A Little While” is one of Coverdale’s best songs. Jimmy Page breaks out one of his best lead breaks and that little lead lick in the Chorus, makes me press repeat on this song.

“Pride and Joy” could have come from Led Zep III, as Jimmy Page brings his open string tunings to David Coverdale. And while it rocks acoustically, it’s the heavy open string verse riff which connects, and when it goes back into the open tuning acoustic bit, it’s just perfect.

Four tracks in and I’m on the floor.

When “Over Now” kicks in, I am digging the psychedelic nature of the vocals and the exoticism of the music.

Page doesn’t follow the typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus. “Over Now” has no real structure as it moves between verses and something which resembles a chorus and an outro which feels like a cool jam.

You talked to me of virtue / And sang a song so sweet / But all I know is I could smell / The perfume of deceit / And it’s over now

Coverdale is referencing his break up with the Jaguar dancing Tawny Kitaen. And there are quite a few songs on the album which reference the relationship.

“Feeling Hot” is the sped up child of “Johnny Be Goode” crossed with “Hit The Road Jack”.

And the comparison to Led Zep is always going to happen, because Jimmy Page is Led Zep’s main musical writer and it doesn’t matter with who he works with, his riffs will always sound like Page and Page’s career is held within his work with Led Zep.

Like “Easy Does It”.

It is one of the best Led Zeppelin tracks that Led Zeppelin didn’t write. And when it morphs into a rocking track from about 2.40 mark, it’s so cool to hear Coverdale steer away from the typical verse and chorus format.

It’s these kinds of songs that get me to commit. For Whitesnake, it was “Still Of The Night” which got me to commit, because it didn’t follow the conventional verse and chorus format.

“Absolution Blues” has David Coverdale delivering a near perfect Led Zep vocal line in the verses.

Come the dawn of judgement day / I’ll get down on my knees and pray / The Good Lord don’t send me away / I’ll never ever go

No one wants to leave the land of the living. They realize then how much living they really need to do.

“Whisper A Prayer For The Dying” is one of my favourite songs on the album. That dropped D intro riff is excellent. Even System Of A Down used a very similar style riff for their awesome song “Aerials” from the mega selling “Toxicity” album.

Also the idea of the song happened back in 1982-83 as their is an acoustic demo of the song on the “Slide It In” Deluxe reissue.

And when you combine the various wars for lyrical inspiration and Jimmy Page”s dropped D riff, you get a classic.

The suffocating heat of jungles, burning desert sands / Where everything reminds you, you’re a stranger in a strange land

There is a whole generation of people who wouldn’t even know about the Vietnam War or the Gulf War. And when leaders from around the world decide to send in their troops to a place, well those troops already have a target on their back, as strangers in a strange land.

Machine gun, battle cry / You pray to God when the bullets fly / The bombs fall like black rain / And all your dreams take you home again

At the end of the first Gulf War, the Iraqi forces set an oilfield alight, which burned black toxic smoke for months. And when it rained, all those black toxins came back down as black rain. And the ones who survived, are struck with PTSD.

You try to carry the heavy load / Walking down Armageddon road, oh, Armageddon road

In reality what did all of the Wars achieve?

Iraq invaded Saudi Arabia and all the democratic countries rushed to the Saudi aids so their young Prince could grow up and order the dismemberment of a journalist who spoke out against him. And Iraq along with Afghanistan is still a hotspot of violence and extremism.

And as soon as this project got traction, Page jumped ship to work with Robert Plant again, who suddenly wanted to work with Page again.

Funny that.

And Coverdale went back and reformed Whitesnake, with Adrian Vandenberg and Warren DeMartini on guitars, Rudy Sarzo on drums and Denny Carmessi on drums.

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

The Record Vault – The Cult

It’s going to be a long road to go through the record collection. All the A’s and B’s are done. This involves, Vinyl LP’s, 12 inch singles, 7 inch singles, CD singles, CD LP’s, Cassettes, Tour Booklets and DVD’s of the artists.

Now we are up to C.

First up is “The Cult”.

This band was heavily played in Australia. I had their video clips recorded on various VHS cassette tapes plus live in studio appearances which they did for the various music channels.

But I only have a few physical products from The Cult.

Wildflower (12 inch single)
From the “Electric” album, released in 1987.

As soon as I heard the AC/DC like riff and groove I was in.

And the vocal melody of Ian Astbury sealed the deal.

Love Removal Machine (12 inch single)

Also from the “Electric” album.

How can you not like it?

It starts off like “Start Me Up” from The Rolling Stones and even the Stones song is a nod to “All Right Now” and that song is a nod to the whole British Blues Explosion from the 60’s that merged blues and folk.

And how good are the covers?

Sonic Temple

This is the album that made me commit.

The singles I heard continued in the hard rock direction set up with the earlier “Electric” album.

And producing is Bob Rock.

He wasn’t the famous producer he would become after “Dr Feelgood” hit the streets, as that album was still a few months away from being released (“Sonic Temple” came out in April 1989, and “Dr Feelgood” came out in September 1989), but he was still known to me from the credits of the “Slippery When Wet” album and the Loverboy albums.

There isn’t a song I don’t like.

“Sun King” could have come from any 70’s Rock album. It’s drenched in that psychedelic vibe.

“Fire Woman” rolls through like a fire storm. It’s hard rock but nothing like the LA hard rock otherwise known as Hair Metal.

“American Horse” has this “Mississippi Queen” feel in the verses which gets me interested and that melodic riff in the Chorus/Intro gets me playing air guitar.

How good is that sleazy groove in the outro?

The acoustic intro to “Edie” is simple, but effective.

“Sweet Soul Sister” was close to being my favourite because of that Intro riff.

But the piece d-resistance is “Soul Asylum” with that Kashmir drum feel and staccato guitar riff. And I would have been happy if the album ended here.

Then the riff started for “New York City” and my foot was tapping again as Astbury delivers a vocal line that’s Aerosmith worthy while “Automatic Blues” has Astbury and Duffy channelling Led Zeppelin. “Wake Up Time For Freedom” channels Alice Cooper and “I’m Eighteen” in the verses.

“Medicine Train” closes the album, the slide guitar acoustic and harmonica in the intro is a diversion for the rawk and roll coming on the horizon.

Pure Cult

Astbury and Duffy thought no one would be interested in this collection of tracks, but a lot of us where, because although we liked the bands singles and taped the music videos, we didn’t really want to fork out on all the earlier albums that most reviewers said, “had a lot of filler”.

So when this collection dropped, it was the perfect compendium.

And they could tour with Aerosmith, Metallica and Soundgarden. Their music was smart enough and timeless to transcend genres in people’s minds. You can like Slayer and still like The Cult. Because Astbury didn’t come across as a cock rocker. Vocalists like Astbury and Glenn Danzig built their careers on that whole Morrison vocal vibe and it never dated.

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

2000 – Part 4

A Perfect Circle – Mer De Noms

This album became a favourite of mine. It was metal, but different. It was hard rock, but different. It was progressive rock, but with shorter songs and based on moods and grooves. It was atmospheric rock, but different. It was like soundtrack music but it wasn’t.

This project is the brainchild of guitarist Billy Howerdel, who did his time as a guitar techie for countless musicians and tours. On down time, he wrote songs on his computer, which Tool vocalist Maynard heard and wanted to write lyrics to. And APC was born.

It was a 5 skulls out of 5 skulls review in the Hot Metal mag I used to buy, which at this time became known as “HM” as the term “Metal” was uncool to use.

“Judith” has a groove riff which gets the head banging. And that pre – chorus;

Fuck your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

“Orestes” is my favourite track on the album.

The vocal melody from Maynard is like a lead guitar and the drumming in the song, especially in the outro by Josh Freese is a testament in its own right. And when the lead from Billy Howerdel comes in, it’s like a vocal melody as well.

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue

“Renholder” has a “Diary Of A Madman” like intro which hooks me. Actually, the band used to merge “Diary Of A Madman” with “Love Song” from The Cure in live settings.

“Brena” which when sang is “Brenya” is another one of those atmospheric songs in the verses with a crashing chorus and a vocal line that sounds like a lead instrument. And again, those outros make you want to press repeat.

Godsmack – Awake

Their brand of Groove Metal, a band name from an Alice In Chains song and Sully Erna’s voice (being different to what I was used to) is what interested me.

While I gravitated to it, a lot of people didn’t. I remember reading reviews that said the band “puts out average boring metal” and I’m like, what the hell does that mean.

And this album is the in between sophomore slump. You know the one. The first album, it has your whole life’s worth of song writing ready for consideration, but on the second album, you only have a few months to come up with tunes. And artists write consistently, but sometimes, they need to go back and revisit tracks. Time makes them great.

Stand out tracks on this one are “Awake”, the closer “Journey/Spiral”, “Trippin” and “Greed”.

The next album, “Faceless” is the album that really put Godsmack on the map.

Papa Roach – Infest

“CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT!”.

The lyrics are from “The Last Resort”, which has a Bruce Dickinson/Gers riff from “Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter” hooked me in to this band.

Other worthy tracks are “Broken Home” and “Between Angels And Insects”.

And it doesn’t matter which way you look at it, Papa Roach might have broken during the Nu-Metal phase but they are a hard rock band with some serious mileage on the board.

Twenty years’ worth of mileage.

Lifehouse – No Name Face

All of my hard rock friends ignored Lifehouse because they got labelled “post-grunge”. And I was like, what the hell does that mean.

They are just a rock band.

Anyway, Lifehouse just seems to hang around in my life. Maybe it is because my wife played the “No Name Face” album to death at home and in the car when it came out in 2000.

While “Hanging By A Moment” had the traction, it was album cuts like “Cling and Clatter”, “Quasimodo” and “Everything” that hooked me in. And if you do listen to any track, make sure its “Everything”. That last 90 seconds feels like a spiritual awakening, a perfect end for the melancholic beginning.

“No Name Face” is the winning season, the championship, for everything that came after.

Three Doors Down – A Better Life

“Kryptonite”, “Be Like That” and “Loser” got a lot of air play, but this album has some good album cuts, a bit heavier, like “Duck And Run” and “Better Life”. Especially, the lyrics in “Duck And Run”.

To this world I’m unimportant
Just because I have nothing to give
So you call this your free country
Tell me why it cost so much to live

There was always winners and losers but it was never amplified the way it is today, with social media. The endless “death scroll”, as people see the happiness that other people are supposably having. Covid-19 has changed it up a bit, as a lot of people would normally put up holiday shots at scenic places, but these are on hold for the next couple of years.

And I live in a free country as well, but man, I am budgeting my way through life, because to live is expensive. And that’s just to keep a roof over our heads.

All my work and endless measures
Never seem to get me very far
Walk a mile just to move an inch
Now even though I’m trying so damn hard

Ever tried to lose weight. You bust your ass dieting and working out, only to drop a few grams each week, but within a week of stopping, you have put on a kilo.

And when I’m putting plans in place to try and create a better life, there are times, when it feels like I’m operating with an unseen life anchor, which likes to keep me in the same place. It’s at this moment, I ask myself, do I give up or do I change tact or do I re-evaluate and re-calibrate.

And I won’t duck and run, cause
I’m not built that way

As John Cougar Mellencamp said, you need to stand for something or you would fall for everything. Stand for what you believe in and say your truth. People might disagree or people might agree or people might offer different advice. That’s all part of life.

Powderfinger – Odyssey Number 5

They played a brand of rock that music writers said “moved between Post Rock, Hard Rock, Folk Rock and Pop Rock”. And Australian audiences loved em. To me, they are simply a hard rock band.

Bernard Fanning is one hell of a vocalist, who had this voice that could rock as hard as Scott/Johnson from AC/DC, be all Robert Plant like when it needed to be and yet, he could produce the baritone vocals of Eddie Vedder, all tied in with his own unique tones.

“Waiting for the Sun” opens the album with a jangly minor chord and it’s all systems go.

“My Happiness” was the big single.

My happiness is slowly creeping back,
Now you’re at home.
If it ever starts sinking in
It must be when you pack up and go

Whatever your job might be, the worst is when you have to say goodbye to loved ones for a period of time. Going on a tour, going interstate or overseas or being deployed with the military.

“The Metre” starts off with just an acoustic guitar, a vocal and some strings. It was rejected as sounding too similar to their other stuff, but yeah, this is Powderfinger, so you would expect them to have songs similar in style. AC/DC built a 50 year career on it.

And I like the Beatles like chorus melody with the lyrics “Welcome to the saving grace / There’s a sunset on the road / reappearing as we go”.

Time moves forward, and we need to move forward with it.

Sunsets and Sunrises are part of life.

What we do with each one is up to us?

“Like a Dog” has a dig at the Australian Government of the time and their treatment of Indigenous Australians, with an AC/DC like Chorus and a sleazy bluesy single note riff to underpin it.

“Now we’re trying hard to reconcile a history of shame/ But he reinforced the barriers that keep it the same.”

“Up and Down and Back Again” is one of my favourite tracks.

If everybody knows just who you are
When your walk on role becomes a major part
Have you ever attempted to be yourself?
When everybody wants you to be someone else?

You see it a lot when it comes to art, especially art that starts to make money. Because once art starts making money, people who create nothing want a cut, so they enforce their expectation onto the artist. It even happens in the workplace, when it’s hard to be yourself or to express your views.

“My Kind Of Scene” has a rolling single note guitar line, a subdued drum beat, with a haunting vocal line from Fanning.

Tell me where I’m supposed to begin
an unhappy life working, some kind of dead end job

Is this the scene you want?

And Covid-19 has shown the world, that nothing is stable. So people are queuing up for unemployment benefits, while Governments foot the bill.

Which they should?

“These Days” has one of the most simplest and effective vocal intros ever.

This life, well, it’s slipping right through my hands
These days turned out nothing like I had planned

So it’s time to re-evaluate and re-calibrate. The destination is never a straight line from here to there. It’s got its bumps and roundabouts and back to starts.

See ya at 1985 for Part 4.

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

11th May 1992 Australian Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Charts Snapshot

I posted last week about the albums that made up the Top 20 in Australia back in 1992.

Here is the Singles List.

Number 1
Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chilli Peppers

The Hendrix “Little Wing” inspired intro from Frusciante converted a lot of rock heads to the RHCP. Their album was on top and their single was on top.

Number 2
To Be With You – Mr Big

Their worst song by far, but it cashed in on the Unplugged acoustic craze. It worked for Extreme and it worked for Mr Big. But those ballad fans who cross over for the song are fly by nighters.

Number 3
Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

The variety on the self-titled “Black” album is a big reason why it sold. There was enough there to please metal heads, rock heads, thrash heads, country heads and pop heads. And this song is a perfect example of it. Plus it has a killer James Hetfield lead break.

Number 4
Alive – Pearl Jam

I get why it was popular, but I didn’t like it when it came out and after I purchased the album, I preferred a lot of the other tracks to this.

Number 5
Let’s Get Rocked – Def Leppard

So you wanna get rocked…. I guess we still wanted to get rocked.

Number 6
Thought I’d Died And Gone To Heaven – Bryan Adams

This is from the “Waking Up The Neighbours” album that went to number 1 everywhere.

Adams has a lot of fans down under, so it’s no surprise his songs chart well. And what a run he had between 1983 and 1999. And he made some big choices, like moving from Jim Vallance to Mutt Lange and the momentum just kept getting bigger.

Number 7
November Rain – Guns N Roses

You get three emotive Slash solos.

What more could you want?

Number 8
Viva Las Vegas – ZZ Top

It’s a cover song, but at this point in time there was nothing that ZZ Top could do wrong. This is one of the two new tracks, the other being “Gun Love”. Like Adams, they were on a winning plus decade.

Number 9
Dream Alone – Killing Time

An Australian hard rock band, which had a band name, the same as the U.S hardcore band and after this single release they would change it to Mantissa.

They supported bands like Janes Addiction, Baby Animals and Pantera on National tours but they had a constant turnover of musicians which felt like a momentum killer.

Number 10
Sister’s Crazy – Candy Harlots

This band story is a combination of Anvil and Motley Crue.

They had a deal offered in 1987 but their manager refused to sign it, because he wanted a bigger cut and then signed the band to a four year management deal, which suppressed the band from signing the record deal themselves. No other label wanted to get involved in this legal mess. They finally did sign a deal in 1991.

They had a massive Club following like Motley Crue. There was tragedy when one of their main songwriters Ron Barrett died before they even got their deal. In the 90’s, Barrett’s death was reported as a drug overdose, while these days, its reported as an asthma attack. And the evolving door of musicians just kept on happening, with drummer Tony Cardinal being the only founding musician in the band when they got their deal.

And as soon as they released their “Five Wicked Ways” album in 1992, within a year it was over.

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

Derivative Versions

In the Cult’s song “Peace Dog”, do the verse riffs bear a striking resemblance to “All Right Now” from Free and does the middle part bear a striking resemblance to a part in “Stairway to Heaven”?

Maybe too much red wine.

How would Yoda say it?

The red wine clouds everything.

Anyway, all of em are great songs. Enjoy em.

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

The Pirate Vault #10

The Angels – Live Line

There was a period in Australian music when “The Angels” ruled. Their brand of punk rock, merged with New Wave and hard rock, connected with all kinds of audiences.

I never owned any of their music, just the video clips which I taped from the music TV stations and a few taped cassettes. I taped this cassette from one of my brothers friends who was a DJ for parties and most of the parties back then played hard rock songs.

Coming in 1987, its sandwiched between my two favourite albums, 1986’s “Howling” and 1990’s “Beyond Salvation”.

In Australia, it charted high and The Angels did a massive tour to support the live album with a three hour, An Evening With concept.

Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist And Yell
King Diamond – Fatal Portrait

“Freedom” and “Time To Kill” are two songs which stood out for me. They had that blend of Alice Cooper 70’s Anthems and 80’s MTV Hard Rock. And what a band Alice Cooper had, with future Winger bandmates Winger and Paul Taylor on bass and keys, future House Of Lords drummer Ken Mary, and Kane Roberts on guitar.

For King Diamond, I was on an Andy LaRocque phase. This is the debut solo album for King Diamond and it has Michael Denner from Mercyful Fate as well on guitars.

Blank Title Mix Tape

This tape was done to get me out of a musical rut. My line of thinking went something like this;

  • Put all these different style of songs on a tape.
  • Listen to it and my song writing will change.

So there is some variation in the song but it’s all still rock and metal.

Side A

Boston – Amanda

This song took me by surprise and made me realise, what a good song it is.

Judas Priest – Blood Red Skies

From the “Ram It Down’ album, it’s my favourite cut.

That acoustic intro, it brings back memories of Scorpions, Accept and Crimson Glory. Halford vocally and melodically is brilliant.

Then at 1.44 it goes into this “Turbo” feel. Which is not surprising as the song was meant to be part of the Turbo double album that the label stopped.

Heart – All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

I had a Mutt Lange phase.

I couldn’t believe the amount of hits this dude was writing or involved in, so I was trying to listen to em as much of em as possible.

He wrote this song in the 70’s as a normal love song for Don Henley and it was recorded by a different artist called Dobie Gray. He then updated the lyrics about “an affair to conceive a baby” in the 90’s and this is Heart’s version, released in 1994.

Heart have abandoned the song, refusing to play it live as vocalist Ann Wilson hated the message in the song, but the band were under pressure by the label to do it.

Asia – Only Time Will Tell

From their 1982 debut album, written by John Wetton and Geoff Downes.

MSG – I’m Gonna Make You Mine

From “Built To Destroy”, released in 1983, written by Andy Nye, Michael Schenker, Gary Barden and Ted McKenna.

Tygers Of Pang Tang – Mirror

This is a John Sykes cut from “Spellbound” released in 1981. It closes side 1 and it’s one of those cuts that makes you press repeat.

Europe – Ninja

Released in 1986, it closes Side 1.

The same side which has “The Final Countdown”, “Rock The Night” and “Carrie”.

The lead guitar melody in the intro and in the Chorus is what hooks me.

Keel – The Right To Rock

Released in 1985 and produced by Gene Simmons.

Ron Keel did everything at ten, but it’s the AC/DC like riff in the intro that gets me to pay attention. And then I heard the first two lines of the 1st verse, “all my life I’ve been fighting for the right to make my stand”.

And I was in.

MSG – Desert Song

One of my favourite Schenker songs, with the carbon copy riff from “Love To Love”.

Keel – United Nations

Released in 1987 and produced by Michael Wagener. Ron keel did everything at ten take 2 but it’s that harmony guitar intro which hooked me in again.

And the label they were on, just didn’t know how to market the band and this album would be the last to feature both Marc Ferrari and Bryan Jay on guitars.

Side B

WASP – The Real Me

It’s a cover from The Who and WASP do an excellent job, capturing the craziness of Moon on the drums and Entwistle on the bass.

Scorpions – Don’t Stop At The Top

From 1988 and their “Savage Amusement” album.

A great intro and a brilliant first verse.

“You never take the easy way, the wind is blowing straight into your face” is covering the resilience self-help industry.

“There’s no risk that you’re not taking, not a mountain that’s too high, spread your wings, you’re gonna make it to the best time of your life” covers the perseverance self-help industry.

Why buy a 300 page book from an Harvard grad, when the Scorpions have it all for you.

And the lead breaks from Rarebell are the breaks of guitar heroes.

Black Sabbath – Children Of The Sea

From 1980 and the excellent “Heaven And Hell” album.

The many different movements from the acoustic intro to the doomy guitar riff about humanity being the lost children of the sea.

Whitesnake – Blindman

It appeared on a Whitesnake album called “Ready An’ Willing” in 1980, but it was released on David Coverdale’s solo album, called ”The White Snake” in 1977.

One of my favourite Whitesnake songs, done as a power ballad but the way power ballads were done in the 70’s.

Heart – Who Will You Run To

From “Bad Animals” released in 1985 and written by Diane Warren. It was overshadowed by the power ballad “Alone”,

Lita Ford – Falling In And Out Of Love

Released in 1988 on the “Lita” album and co-written with Nikki Sixx. The music, the vocal melodies and the guitar leads are all perfect.

And I was all in.

MSG – Follow The Night

This was the last throw of the dice for the label.

The album “Perfect Timing” was released in 1987. The production was a typical 80’s glam/hair metal production, instead of his normal UFO/British production from the previous albums. The Choruses were all big AOR attempts so the songs could chart.

But I am a Schenker fan because of his guitar playing and when he has a song that makes me pick up the guitar to learn it, I am in.

RUSH – Afterimage

From “Grace Under Pressure” released in 1984. Apart from the music capturing me, the lyrics from Peart about the death of a friend sealed the deal.

Sanctuary- Future Tense

From 1990.

A monster of a song.

It starts off doomy like Black Sabbath, before it builds into a metal tune.

And the lyrics. Check em out.

What do you see on the news when you watch T.V.
War in the name of God, or a playground killing spree

Has anything changed since 1990.

Politicians promise you the world, and a preacher cries
All he ever wanted was your money, and a bitch on the side
What went wrong? Did society twist him?

There is a saying that society does twist everyone as no one is born to hate, steal and lie. Those seeds are implanted. It’s like the saying, everyone is born to win and raised to lose.

What do you see in the centre of the public eye
Rock stars on smack, and a serial killer fries

The media reports what will get eyeballs. Feel-good stories don’t get eyeballs like the train wrecked lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Radicals blame suicide and murder on our form of art
Brainwash the youth, you know they claim we all play a part
What a shame that they can’t think for themselves

Remember that 80’s Satanic Panic and all the court cases that came out of it. Judas Priest and Ozzy got taken to court because of it.

And the band was pressured to change their musical style from metal to grunge by the label. But bassist Jim Sheppard and vocalist Warrel Dane did not agree and they would go on to form Nevermore, which they kept running for 17 years plus before they returned to Sanctuary.

And they released the excellent “The Year The Sun Died” in 2014.

And then Warrel Dane died from a heart attack in 2017, while he was recording a follow up to his first solo album, “Praises To The War Machine” which was released in 2008. This album “Shadow Work” came out in 2018 but it wasn’t done properly, as it was completed using vocals from various studio and pre-production sessions.

Keel – The Final Frontier

Released in 1986 and produced by Gene Simmons. Remember Ron Keel operates at an intensity of 10.

Magellan – Test For Wills
Angra – Fireworks

My cousin who was into Death Metal, was also in Thrash Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Rock/Metal.

Basically he was into everything distorted and he had the dollars to purchase.

So he was my filter.

He recommended these two albums to me, but I don’t recall anything from em.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories

Take To Create

I guess I’m back in the “New York Groove” today.

So what’s an original riff these days?

One Direction – “Midnight Memories” borrows from Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.

And it borrows from Joan Jett – “I Love Rock N Roll” and it borrows from Ace Frehly – “New York Groove”.

Take a little bit from here and a little bit from there to create something a little bit different.

All good songs and part of my Sunday listening.

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

The Record Vault – Pat Benatar

Although Pat Benatar was promoted as a solo artist, Benatar had a consistent set of band members, for her career. Guitarist Neil Giraldo (who would become her husband) and drummer Myron Grombacher did time with Rick Derringer’s touring band. Other band members put in decent stints as well throughout the years in original bassist Roger Capps and original rhythm guitarist Scott St Clair Sheets who were involved in writing some of the big songs.

And they all did their time in previous outfits before Benatar, honing their chops and song writing abilities.

In The Heat Of The Night

The debut album released in 1979 and you see, on this album, what A&R reps used to do once upon a time.

Which is to find songs for an artist to record. If that meant taking songs recorded previously and re-doing em, so be it. The only original songs on this album are “My Clone Sleeps Alone”, “So Sincere” and “We Live For Love”.

“Heartbreaker” has a wicked riff and a lead break. Plus one of the best voices in rock music. And it’s a cover. The song appeared originally on the 1978 album “Queen Of Fools” by Jenny Darren, who appeared in the 12th season of Britain’s Got Talent, at the age of 68, singing “Highway To Hell”. Her record label was also a publishing company and they knew they had a song to shop around, and shop it they did.

While John Cougar Mellencamp delivered a 5 minute song, Pat Benatar delivered a concise pop rock song with “I Need A Lover”, which made Mellencamp a lot of money.

Fun fact is that “I Need A Lover” was a hit in Australia first, when it came out in 1978 on John Cougar’s debut album. It was then re-included on his 1979 album with the U.S market in mind. This time the U.S fans took to it and Pat Benatar helped it along with her version.

“In The Heat Of The Night” has this bass and drum groove with palm muted pentatonic lines which got me interested. And Benatar is oozing with sexuality in the vocal delivery. This is a Smokie cover, and they also covered “If You Think You Know How To Love Me” which was a hit for Smokie in the UK, but it did nothing in the U.S, so the label assumed that if it was done by a female vocalist, it would probably cross over in the U.S. But even Benatar’s version of “If You Think You Know How To Love Me”, which was the first single of this album, proved to be unsuccessful in the U.S.

And while the album is produced by Peter Coleman, the Mike Chapman tracks are produced by Mike himself, as he didn’t want anyone else messing with his tracks and the sound of this tracks, hence the title of Dictator Mike.

And both of these Smokie songs are written by Mick Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who had a run of hit singles between the years of 1970 and 1978. And another song that these two dudes wrote for Sweet also appears on the album called “No You Don’t”.

“We Live For Love” has this Blondie New Wave vibe which Neil Giraldo wrote.

“Don’t Let It Show” reminds me of The Beatles and Benatar delivers a soulful lead, while Neil Giraldo delivers a simple and emotive lead break. The song is written by The Alan Parsons Project songwriters in Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson.

Finally Rated X was a song on a Nick Glider solo album released on Chrysalis. Glider was a glam rocker in a Canadian band called Sweeney Todd. And another fun fact, when Nick Glider left Sweeney Todd to pursue a solo career, he was replaced by an unknown 16 year old called Bryan Adams. And yes, it’s that Bryan Adams.

And with all of this work going on to find songs and what not, it proved successful. The album sold well.

Crimes Of Passion

Released a year later in 1980 and produced by the great Keith Olsen. It also makes the appearance of Myron Grombacher on drums, who would become a mainstay and song writing partner in the Pat Benatar band. Bassist Roger Capps and rhythm guitarist Scott St. Clair Sheets are also there.

“Treat Me Right” is written by a Doug Lubahn (who played bass in The Doors, worked with Billy Squier and Ted Nugent). This song appeared on a “Riff Raff” album, which Lubahn was the bassist and vocalist and it kicks off Benatar’s album, with an arena rock Chorus.

“You Better Run” is a cover of “The Young Rascals”, a song they released in 1966. Benatar and Giraldo gave it a new life in 1980. “Never Wanna Leave You” is a Giraldo and Benatar cut with a reggae feel and a new wave type of vocal. But its sandwiched between four great tracks.

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” is written by Eddie Schwartz, a Canadian solo artist and song writer who had some hits with Benatar, Paul Carrick and The Doobie Brothers in the 80’s plus he wrote tracks that ended up on Honeymoon Suite, Helix, Meat Loaf and Joe Cocker albums. The riff reminds me of “Since You’ve Been Gone”.

“Hell Is For Children” is a great title to get people thinking. Giraldo, Benatar and bassist Roger Capps went with the heavy theme of child abuse on this song. And it feels weird to write that it is a great song because of the theme. But it is. It’s been covered by a lot of metal and rock acts.

Billy Steinberg is on hand to write “I’m Gonna Follow You”. Steinberg is a few years away from teaming up with Tom Kelly and writing “Like A Virgin”, “True Colors”, “Alone” and “I’ll Stand By You”.

Then there is a Kate Bush cover of “Wuthering Heights”. I didn’t like the original so this one didn’t do anything for me.

“Prisoner Of Love” is written by bassist Scott St. Clair Sheets. It’s got this John Cougar Mellencamp Americana theme .

“Out-A-Touch” is a Giraldo, Benatar and Myron Grombacher cut. The first of many to come.

And like the debut, all the hard work to find songs to cover has paid off, as this album sold better than the debut. 4 million plus U.S sales and one of Benatar’s most streamed songs. Keith Olsen has the Midas touch.

Precious Time

For all of these out of touch and clueless musicians who whinge about releasing music too frequently, here is Pat Benatar releasing an album each year. This one came out in 1981, produced by Keith Olsen and Neil Giraldo.

“Promises in the Dark” is written by Neil Giraldo and Pat Benatar. It kicks off the album and when it starts to rock, how good is Giraldo on the guitar. That dude has gotten a lot of riff based songs onto the mainstream charts.

“Fire and Ice” is written by Tom Kelly (yes, the Tom Kelly that would go on and write with Bill Steinberg who also wrote a song for Benatar on the previous album and on this album called “Precious Time”), Scott St. Clair Sheets and Benatar. It’s like all of these song writers connected over a Pat Benatar album.

The drums kick it off, then the guitars and bass come in. And then then sultry vocal line from Benatar kicks in. And you’re thinking the song can’t get any better, but it does in the Chorus.

“Just Like Me” is a cover of a 60’s song by Paul Revere And The Raiders. Wikipedia tells me that the tune was written by Rick Dey and Rich Brown of the Longview-based band, The Wilde Knights. The Raiders manager Roger Hart then paid them $5,000 for the use of the song and this fee would give Roger Hart a song writing credit. But he didn’t write anything.

“Precious Time” is a Billy Steinberg composition.

The reggae influenced “It’s a Tuff Life” is written by Giraldo. And in the Chorus it moves into a New Wave Rock Chorus.

“Take It Anyway You Want It” is another cut written by Giraldo with the help of a Martin Briley who also wrote songs for Night Ranger, Michael Monroe, Michael Bolton and Jeff Healey, just to name a few. “Evil Genius” is a Giraldo, Benatar cut.

“Hard to Believe” is written by Giraldo and Myron Grombacher. And those major key chord voicings hook me in as it reminds me of songs like “I Need A Lover”.

“Helter Skelter” is written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I’m a fan of the song, so I enjoy the various cover versions. Motley Crue did a killer version and so did U2. And those blues boogie riffs from Lennon and Harrison, Giraldo and Sheets cover em brilliantly.

Get Nervous

Released in 1982. This one is produced by Neil Giraldo and the producer from their first album, Peter Coleman.

Rhythm guitarist Scott St. Clair Sheets left and was replaced by keyboardist Charlie Giordano who ended up playing in “The E Street Band” after the death of original organist Danny Federici in 2008. St Clair left to focus on his own musical projects. One of the projects, a glam metal band called John Scott, finally got a deal in the early 90’s and then lost it when Grunge took over.

Sheets also formed a band in 1990’s called St Clair, and their self-titled debut album had Rudy Sarzo on bass and Jimmy Crespo on guitar with Ron Corbett on vocals.

“Shadows Of The Night” sounds like it influenced a young Jon Bon Jovi or Desmond Child, because god damn, it sounds like “Edge Of A Broken Heart” was born from it. The track is written by a person called D.L. Byron who also brought a case of Copyright Infringement against Rascal Flatts and their song “No Reins” for sounding very similar to “Shadows Of The Night”

Now we start the Giraldo and Billy Steinberg cuts to close of side one.

“Anxiety (Get Nervous)” has this staccato palm muted riff from Giraldo that Jake E Lee would use in songs like “Waiting For Darkness”. “Fight It Out” moves between piano ballad and power rock with Benatar’s voice carrying it. “The Victim” is a rock tour-de-force.

“Little Too Late” is written by Alex Call, who performed it in a band called Clover between the years of 1970 and 1979, which also had members like Huey Lewis and Jeff Porcaro in the band and they did work with a certain Mutt Lange in the 70’s.

Everyone is paying their dues.

“I’ll Do It” is a Giraldo and Benatar cut with a hooky and jangly guitar riff and melody. “I Want Out” has this “Flash” Queen vibe and it’s another cut written by Giraldo and Steinberg.

And I love the little connections and stories to different artists that Benatar and Co, introduced via the songs they selected to include on the album.

I don’t have the “Live From Earth” album (which was released in 1983) but it needs to be mentioned here, because it includes a studio track called “Love Is A Battlefield” which has 62 million plus streams on Spotify.

Tropico

Released in 1984.

Another change in the band department, with original bassist Roger Capps leaving and Donnie Nossov (who played with Jon Waite) replacing him. And it’s the album which sees Neil Giraldo take the reins of song writing, co-writing 8 out of the 10 tracks.

It wasn’t as loud as the previous efforts, more Madonna”ish and Cyndi Lauper ”ish. It was full of midi samples. And probably the album I don’t go back to even though it had “We Belong”.

Seven The Hard Way

A 1985 release and in seven years, Pat Benatar released an album each year. All in the aim to get her name and music out there. Artists seem to forget this cycle nowadays.

Once upon a time, artists had an album released, year after year. The labels cannibalised their sales of older product with new product. As a by-product, the artists built up careers.

Ronnie James Dio always comes to mind. From the first Rainbow album, to Black Sabbath and to the Dio “Sacred Heart” album, Dio had released album after album, each year. And people wonder why he was playing in arenas. You need to strike while you are hot, because it disappears quickly. More so today than ever before.

According to Benatar, “Seven the Hard Way” cost the most to make and sold the least. It’s also the last Pat Benatar album to feature bassist Donnie Nossov, who along with drummer Myron Grombacher went on to play with Lita Ford on her breakthrough album, Lita (1988) and on the supporting tour. However, Grombacher would return to Benatar’s band for the follow-up album.

And it’s not an album I go back to.

Wide Away In Dreamland

Three years between albums, this one was released in 1988.

One song.

“All Fired Up”.

It was huge in Australia.

Massive.

The music sounded like it came from the Aussie Pubs and it resonated quickly with Australian audiences. And I was curious as to how this Aussie Pub sound made its way to Pat Benatar. Looking at the credits, the song is written by Kerryn Tolhurst. Back then, that meant nothing to me, because I didn’t have an easy way to research things. But fast forward many years, later, and I find out that Kerryn Tolhurst is Australian, who was in an Australian country rock band called “The Dingoes”. When that band broke up, he formed a few others, and “Rattling Sabres” is the band that recorded and released “All Fired Up” in 1987.

And it did nothing in Australia.

Zero.

A year later, with Benatar and Giraldo taking the reins on it, the song got a new lease of life.

Choice Cuts DVD

A DVD which more or less covers the huge music video career of Benatar.

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

1977 – Part 3

Quiet Riot – Quiet Riot

It’s not on Spotify and never will be. Who knows who even owns the rights to these songs?

The main songwriters in Randy Rhoads and Kevin DuBrow are gone. If anything, these songs should be in the public domain. But Copyright is a lot different these days, so someone/most probably a corporation is holding the rights to these songs locked up until 2080 and that someone has done nothing to enhance culture except to profit from it.

DuBrow resurrected some of these recordings in the 90’s for an album called “The Randy Rhoads Years”. Which is also not on Spotify. And it probably never will be.

And on those recordings he took the original tracking of Rhoads guitar sound, (there was a DI take with no effects on the master tapes) and DuBrow put the DI guitar take through different pedals to update the sound. Then he re-did his vocal tracks and the drums and the bass. Purists call it sacrilege and I call it “keeping the songs alive”.

The band for the debut album, (which was released in Japan only) was DuBrow on vocals, Rhoads on guitar, Kelli Garni on bass and Drew Forsyth on drums.

Randy Rhoads still riffs away like the guitar hero he is. More in a glam pop/rock kind of way.

“It’s Not So Funny” has an aggressive minor key verse riff, with a major key Chorus. A style that RR would use in “Crazy Train”. This song also made it to the “The Randy Rhoads Years” CD many years later.

“Mama’s Little Angels” has a sleazy bluesy riff that David Coverdale would have loved to sing over. And Kevin DuBrow did just that when he re-wrote the lyrics for the song (with a little help from Bobby Rondinelli), re-sung it and called it “Last Call For Rock and Roll” on “The Randy Rhoads Years” album. And suddenly, a better version of the song was kept alive.

In “Ravers” there is a riff that RR took for “Over The Mountain”, just before he plays the “Black Sabbath” lick in the song.

“Back To The Coast” is familiar, a song solely written by Randy Rhoads and his brother Kelle Rhoads.

And I like QR because Kevin DuBrow was unique, very different to the other metal/rock singers in looks and style, but I always struggled to connect with any of DuBrow’s lyrics, except for a few tracks like “Bang Your Head”, “Run For Cover”, “The Wild And The Young” and “Don’t Want To Let You Go” which was written by Carlos Cavazo.

“Look In Any Window” is written by Randy Rhoads and it’s very Alice Cooper-“ish” which isn’t surprising as Randy Rhoads has talked about the influence of the two Alice Cooper guitarists on his playing and song writing. This one also appears on “The Randy Rhoads Years” album.

As I was listening back to the QR1 album on YouTube, I was reading the comments and people like to compare between EVH and RR.

If you compare QR1 to VH1, well there isn’t a comparison. VH1 is far superior. Even RR didn’t like QR1 and he made his Mum promise to never get it released in the U.S if something happened to him.

Sammy Hagar – Sammy Hagar

Sammy’s voice is one of the best. This album is interesting because of its variety. If you are looking for hits then this album is not for you. But if you are looking to hear an artist stretch their wings and try different things out, then you will like this album.

“Red” has this bass groove which reminds me of ELO. “Catch The Wind” is a ballad, which reminded me of R&B soul artists. And then I remembered it was a cover from “Donovan” who had a hit in 1965 with it and was known for his folk rock songs.

“Cruisin’ And Boozin’” moves between acoustic and distortion, the verses sounding progressive, while the Chorus could have come from an AC/DC album.

“Free Money” has a haunting piano riff to kick it off. It’s a cover of Patti Smith song. Musically and melodically, the song moves at the correct pace, slowly percolating until its ready to explode. And that happens from about the 2.09 minute mark. And although it’s like a rock song with a 4/4 time signature, its song structure is progressive in nature.

When I saw the title “Rock ‘N’ Roll Weekend” I sort of had a sound and groove in my head as to how it would sound. And it didn’t disappoint, with its nod to Bad Company.

“Fillmore Shuffle” comes across like a Southern Rock track, moving between its acoustic riff and harmony leads. But underpinning it all is Hagar’s voice. And it’s another cover song which Hagar has taken and given them a new Hard Rock life.

There is a horn section on “The Pits” and some of Sammy’s best social lyrics about not having enough money to survive.

“Love Has Found Me” is the heaviest track on the album (whereas I expected a ballad), and the closer “Little Star- Eclipse” brings back the progressive nature of the album which was introduced with the Patti Smith cover, especially when it moves into the “Eclipse” part of the song and that riff to kick it off.

David Coverdale – White Snake

It’s not on Spotify for his first ever solo release and a return to his blues/soul rock for the album which would become the birth of Whitesnake.

After Purple splintered, Coverdale started writing and when he got stuck with ideas, Micky Moody would come in and help him. Some of these songs and some of the songs from “Northwind” would eventually end up on Whitesnake releases.

“Blindman” is one of my favourite cuts ever. I like everything about it. It appeared a few years later on the “Ready N Willing” album.

The acoustic guitars, the vocal line, the backing singers, the lead breaks and the distortion riffs when it call kicks in and overall, the lyrics.

“White Snake” is a twelve bar blues sleaze romp. And it was two words before it became one word, about DC having a White Snake and does she want to shake it.

“Time On My Side” reminds me of a Bad Company cut and at that age, DC had time on his side, but these days, pushing almost 70, time is not with him. And it’s that sense of mortality which resonates even more. When I was young, I felt indestructible and the whole world was there for the taking. Now, I don’t feel so indestructible, and the amount of broken bones I’ve endured and had to heal from because of sports or drunken stupidity, keep reminding me that time isn’t on my side.

“Peace Lovin’ Man” captured me instantly because of its title and the soul rock vocal line from DC, hooked me in.

And it’s that soul voice from DC that makes these songs stand out.

Ted Nugent – Cat Scratch Fever

The U.S Patriot that dodged the draft. I saw that comment on a Dee Snider tweet. Actually anything I read on Mr Ted these days, is because of his controversial comments, but at least he stands for something. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree. Like John Mellencamp said, you need to stand for something, otherwise you would fall for everything.

I always thought Ted Nugent was the singer as well. You wouldn’t think that another person sang the songs, with Crazy Ted all other the covers.

I like the riff that kicks off “Cat Scratch Fever”. It rocks, it grooves and its heavy. “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” has this riff that is played after each line is sang. And I like it.

“Death By Misadventure” has a boogie woogie verse riff, and so does “Live It Up”. Santana was also writing songs like these around this same period.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Street Survivors

Credit Zakk Wylde. His love for this music translated into well-spoken interviews and he got me interested to check out these kind of influences.

The last album before the plane crash which happened a few days after the album was released. And of course, this tragedy translated to a lot of sales, which kept the record label happy. But the world lost a lot of talents in Ronnie Van Zant, and a guitar hero the world will never know in Steve Gaines along with his sister Cassie Gaines who did backing vocals.

It was Cassie who recommended her younger brother Steve to replace Ed King when he departed and it was Cassie who initially refused to board the plane because of a small fire on one of the engines on a previous flight. But she was persuaded to board by Van Zant. And she survived the plane crash only to bleed to death. 18 months later, the mother of Cassie and Steve Gaines, got killed in a car crash near the cemetery where Cassie and Steve are buried. So much tragedy.

“That Smell” written by Allen Collins and vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, about the smell of a person’s surroundings doing drugs and alcohol captured me instantly. The guitar player from the riffs to the lead breaks had me picking up the guitar to learn em. And at 6.30 plus minutes, it’s perfect.

“One More Time” just plods along and as soon as the harmony leads kicked in for the outro, it ends.

“I Know A Little” sounds like the songs that SRV would take to the top and there is this lick before the verse kicks in, that sounds like “Unskinny Bop”, which means a young CC DeVille would have been listening. And this track is solely written by Steve Gaines. It’s his guitar hero spotlight.

Well that’s a wrap for the third part of 1977, so off to 2000 we go again for part four.

Standard