Category Archives: Derivative Works

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

1977 – Part 2

Here we are in 1977, for another set of albums that I had heard well into the 90’s. But, I did hear the single cuts that got played on radio or on music video programs.

UFO – Lights Out

Produced by Ron Nevison.

“Too Hot To Handle” is probably why Bad Company started to wane a little bit commercially, as UFO was doing Bad Company better than Bad Company was. Plus UFO had Michael Schenker on guitars, who at the time was the talk of the town, and revered as a “Guitar God”.

If you need any evidence, check out “Try Me”, which has one of Schenker’s best solos ever committed to tape. You need to stick with it, as it comes in the last 90 seconds of the song.

“Lights Out” inspired another classic track which I like in “More Than A Man” from Stryper. Both are F#m grooves and they both have a similar feel. Credit Pete Way for that F#m bass groove which inspired a generation.

“Gettin’ Ready” is pure Bad Company and a very underrated track. “Alone Again” has this “Paint It Black” vibe merged with The Beatles merged with ELO, and it’s cool how UFO covered it.

“Electric Phase” came from well of Joe Walsh and Mountain. That intro riff and the slide guitar in the verses from Schenker are brilliant.

“Love To Love” is one of Steve Harris’s favourite tracks. Europe also covered it for an acoustic album. Michael Schenker even used the guitar riff as the main riff for “Desert Song” which I used to called “Dessert Song” once upon a time.

And “Lights Out” is one of my favourite albums from the UFO era.

Kiss – Love Gun

Produced by Eddie Kramer.

How good is the cover from Ken Kelly?

Kelly’s artwork also graced a few other albums I am in possession of, like, the “Destroyer” album from Kiss, “Rising” from Rainbow, every Manowar album between 1997 and 2007 (which comes to 5 albums in 20 years) and in 2014, it came full circle for Kelly as he did the “Space Invader” artwork for Ace Frehley.

And how good is the riff to kick off “I Stole Your Love”?

And it as a derivative version “Burn” from Deep Purple. I guess you can’t keep a good riff down.

“I remember the day that we met, I needed someone, you needed someone too”.

How good is that lyric about life and our need to connect?

“Christine Sixteen” shows how far society has changed. In 1977, it was okay to sing lyrics like these and in 2020 it’s an arrestable offence. Hell, what would Elvis Presley be classed as today, with his shenanigans with Priscila.

“Shock Me” reminds me of “All Right Now” from Free. “Tomorrow And Tonight” has this “BACK In the USSR” feel as it stomps its way through a twelve bar blues rock full of backing singers and honky tonk piano.

“Love Gun” kicks off side 2 and what a song. And if you’ve read “Face The Music” from Paul Stanley, he goes into detail how music is a sum of our influences, as he mentions a few of em for “Love Gun”.

The small solo at the end of “Hooligan” from 2:39 with Peter Criss singing “Ain’t nobody going to pull me down”. It’s perfect.

The main riff in “Almost Human” is a favourite and if you YouTube “Plaster Casters”, apart from the Kiss song, there is a documentary about a certain “plasterer” called Cynthia.

And for a Kiss fan, 1977 held another release in “Alive II”. From reading some of the interviews, it probably had more involvement and effort than the studio album that came before it. There are songs from a Japan show, a LA show and a NJ show, plus sound check songs and studio songs with various overdubs, involving other musicians plus added crowd noise and what.

In the words of “Austin Powers”, groovy baby. And the first “Alive” release I got into was “Alive III” and then “Alive IV” and they are my favourites.

Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick – In Color

They got a deal in 1976 with Epic Records and by the start of 1977, they dropped their self-titled debut and towards the end of the year, the follow up, “In Color”. At the time, both albums were classed as dud’s, but many, many, many years later (as Commandant Lassard from Police Academy would say), “In Color” is in the list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time from Rolling Stone.

So Jack Douglas produced the debut and Tom Werman produced the second. The productions differ on both albums. The debut is raw hard rock, while the second is more polished courtesy of Tom Werman’s layered production. And while the second album didn’t really do much in the U.S, in the place of the rising sun, it made the band superstars. They took their British influences, Americanised em and off they went.

The debut is a cross between punk rock, a bit of new wave which was still in its infancy around the world and rock and roll with blues, sixties pop and hard rock influences. In the 80’s, “Hanoi Rocks” reminded me of early Cheap Trick.

From the debut album, “ELO Kiddies” has a cool Chorus riff. “Taxman, Mr Thief” has an excellent guitar riff, a top vocal performance by Robin Zander and lyrical themes of working hard only for the taxman to get ya. Plus a pretty obvious lyrical influence from The Beatles song called “Taxman”.

“You worked hard and slaved and slaved for years, break your back sweat a lot, well, it’s just not fair”

“Oh, Candy” is a preview of the melodicism to come in the future. “He’s A Whore” is influential. The Ramones borrowed a riff from it, and the blueprint of Foo Fighters can be found in these early Cheap Trick albums. “The Ballad Of TV Violence” shows its nod to “Come Together” from The Beatles which is a nod to another song from Chuck Berry.

On the second album, “Hello There” is over as soon as it began, with an awesome melodic ending which should have gone longer. “Big Eyes” has this interlude riff which becomes the backing riff for the solo section, which I dig. “Downed” has this chorus that inspired some of the songs on “Generation Swine” from Motley Crue.

“I Want You To Want Me” has that “Radar Love” style drum pattern, and an undeniable melodic line, which merges the best of The Beatles into a hard rock ditty.

“You’re All Talk” came from the Mississippi Delta and the Texas Ranges, with its combination of blues and ZZ Top blues boogie. And if you listen closely to the verse riff, you will hear some ideas and concepts that would have inspired a young EVH to end up writing the classic “Hot For Teacher” verse riff.

Bad Company – Burning Sky

Album number 4, which dropped in 1977.

The title track, “Burnin’ Sky” has this pounding beat and that “Wishing Well” vibe from Free in the Chorus. In addition, it’s got a funky bass riff in the Verses, a Mick Ralphs flanged/phased solo and Paul Rodgers wailing away. This track sums up Bad Company to me, with each band members have a place in the song.

“Leaving You” and “Like Water” have good moments, while “Everything I Need” has so many similarities to “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “Louie Louie” and “I Need A Lover”.

See you back in 2000, for part three.

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Copyright, Derivative Works, Music, My Stories, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

Hallowed Copyright

Remember that whole “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “The Nomad” suit filed by retired band manager Barry McKay against Iron Maiden and Steve Harris.

Remember how McKay stated it is all about intellectual property rights and how these IP rights need to be protected from blatant copying while the other side stated that music is all about inspiration and influences and that McKay never actually wrote anything and is a serial litigant.

Well, these IP rights that McKay was championing for protection, all revolve around a fee to be paid. If you haven’t read the stories, you can read em at Loudwire or Blabbermouth.

Remember when any rights to intellectual property ceased when the creator died (provided they still had a right at the time of death). Well, the corporations who held the copyrights to a lot of these works pushed really hard to get laws changed in the 70’s to last the life of the artist plus another 70 years, so what we have now is people who really contribute nothing to culture, locking up culture for a generation and getting paid in the process.

But there was a side in the Government who actually cared about culture, the public domain and were against Government granted monopolies, so they put in a clause that allowed the actual creators to get their rights back after 35 years. But, the labels and the publishing companies who control the rights don’t want to let go of the works as it diminishes their power.

Remember John Waite, from The Babys, Bad English and his work as a solo artist. Well, he wanted his songs back, Universal Music Group said “No”, your works are created under a “works for hire agreement”, John Waite said, “no chance in hell are the songs created under a works for hire agreement” and off to court they went.

So how did it all come to this?

You need to remember that any aspiring artist, had/have/has no bargaining power when for negotiating and signing contracts. If they wanted to get their music out there (pre internet), they more or less had to give away their copyright in their works as part of the contract to get their music out there and monetised.

Then, when an artistic work turns out to be a “hit,” the majority of the royalties goes to the organisation who holds the rights to the works rather than to the artist who created them.

But this “ownership of copyright” by the organisation was meant to be limited. And if the artists wished, they could reclaim their rights. Some artists used the threat of “termination rights” as a tool to negotiate higher royalty rates and advance payments.

But as artists grew popular and they realised they could make some money, they created loan out companies, which is basically a business entity used by the entertainment and sports industries in the US, in which the creator is the ’employee’ whose services are loaned out by the corporate body. The corporation is used as a means to reduce their personal liability, protect their assets and exploit taxation advantages.

And the courts have determined that any rights granted to the labels from the loan out company cannot be terminated, only the rights granted by the actual creator themselves.

For example, John Waite created a loan out company called Heavy Waite Inc. So if he signed a contract to give his copyrights to a label via the loan out company, these rights cannot be terminated. Only the rights that John Waite himself gave up.

It’s pretty fucking stupid if you ask me, but nothing surprises me when lawyers get involved and try to get these termination suits booted on technicalities.

And check out this article for some insight on copyrights from the one and only Desmond Child. Here is the snippet in case you don’t click on the link;

Have you retained your copyrights?

Well, tragically, I fell into some lean times in the late ’90s. I had moved to Miami – we’d fled LA after the [1992] earthquake and we were picking up the pieces.

At that time I got an offer for my catalogue, and I sold my song writing and publishing share to Polygram [now Universal Music Group] – and it was a mistake. I retained my song writing performance rights, and that’s how I know how big a mistake it was, and how much I sold myself short. They made their money back x 20.

I was pressured by people around me to sell. Especially my father, who had grown up in the depression. When I told him the amount, he said, ‘Grab the money, you’ll write other songs, grab the money.’

Also, my lawyers told me, ‘Don’t worry, you get your songs back after 35 years,’ but that’s not true. You don’t get them back for the whole world, you get them back for the US only. And you don’t get your songs back for the versions that made them hits, you only get them back for the new versions – versions made after you sold.

When I found out those two things, it was like two buckets of ice water being poured over me.

The people doing the deal for me were so keen to get their percentages that they didn’t explain these things to me. Had I known, I wouldn’t have signed the deal and I would have been in a much better financial position.

And that my friends is how far Copyright has evolved, where people who create nothing of value get paid and everyone is trying their best to lead the artists astray so they can get paid.

It has nothing to do with intellectual property rights or an incentive to create.

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

The Unforgiven II

I’ve been cranking this tune.

My playlist even starts off with “The Unforgiven” trilogy.

My cousin purchased the “ReLoad” album on release day. I didn’t even know it was out. He calls me to come over, as he’s got a song he’s been working on that he wants me to hear.

So I go over and he plays a song. And I’m thinking why is the song starting exactly the same as “The Unforgiven” with that blaring car horn effect.

And I go to my cousin, “why are you playing me “The Unforgiven”, I’ve already heard it.”

But, I didn’t finish the sentence as the distortion chords with the octave guitar melody over the same chord progression as the first song, kick in.

James Hetfield sounds like he’s taken a dose of country as his voice in the verses is exactly like that. Even the way he arpeggiates, and does those double stop bends, it’s country.

Artists growth is an important tool. Hetfield grew up on hard rock and southern rock at first.

In a “SoWhat” interview, James mentions that he even wrote a letter to the Aerosmith fan club address he had in the 70s, telling the band how much their music meant to him and asking them a question, but he never got a response back.

And James brings his influences into the Metallica mix and the band keeps growing.

The Chorus has that unique Hetfield voice, melodic, aggressive and abrasive and it’s that Chorus that remains with me.

What I’ve felt, what I’ve known, turn the pages, turn the stone, behind the door, should I open it for you

The lost soul, a new “The Unforgiven” is found by another. But the door is shut, unable to let this other in.

But now I see the sun, now I see the sun
Yes now I see it

Only when “The Unforgiven” has lost the one thing that was known as love is the door to the heart finally open and the sun let in. But it’s too late.

Play it loud. \::/

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

1985 – Part 2

With a DeLorean and a Flux Capacitor, the year is set for 1985.

Here we go.

Bon Jovi – 7800 Fahrenheit

JBJ hates this album as none of the songs get played live anymore. But to the fans who were there before “Slippery When Wet”, they either like it, understand it or ignore it.

For me, the band needed to get this album written as it pushed the melodic rock/metal sound from the debut to the limit, so a new clean slate was needed.

Check out the melodic guitar work of Richie Sambora on tracks like “The Price Of Love”, “Only Lonely”, “The Hardest Part Is The Night” and “Always Run To You”. And when it comes to balls to the wall riffing, “Tokyo Road”, “In And Out Of Love” and “King Of The Mountain” showcase that AC/DC vibe. The only track I don’t like is “Silent Night”.

Stryper – Soldiers Under Command

I heard “The Rock That Makes Me Roll” on a “Headbangers Heaven” compilation and I became a fan because of the riffs.

“Soldiers Under Command” (the track) is a metal tour de force. That intro riff, influenced by Judas Priest is excellent. “Makes Me Wanna Sing” is another song influenced by Judas Priest and their song “Running Wild”. Then again, so is Maiden with “The Wicker Man” intro riff.

“First Love” is a cool ballad. Probably one of their best ones, but it doesn’t get the dues it deserves because bigger cheesy ballads came after which got some MTV love.

“Waiting For A Love That’s Real” reminds me of “Faithfully” from Journey and “Purple Rain” from Prince, but in a rocking way. And the lead break in this song is guitar hero worthy.

“Surrender” is one of my favourite tracks. It’s got this progressive metal/power metal vibe in the vocals.

The riffs are excellent.

Y&T – Down For The Count

I played this album a few days ago for my boys. They are 15 and 14. And they started pressing “like” and saving songs to their playlists. Songs like “Summertime Girls”, “Anytime At All”, “Hands Of Time” and “In The Name Of Rock”.

I guess there is something about this album that makes 14/15 year old teens like it.

From a guitar point of view “Hands Of Time” stood out straight away and I still like it.

And the band that we knew as Y&T was on their way to breaking up. Leonard Haze would depart after this album and Joey Alves would depart after their 87 “Contagious” album. The fan base would also move on and there wasn’t enough new fans replacing the ones moving on.

Night Ranger – Seven Wishes

“Midnight Madness” is my favourite Night Ranger album, but “Seven Wishes” really tried to compete with it.

After this album, Night Ranger never captured that attitude and energy they had on the first three albums. And you know the saying, your attitude determines your altitude.

The guitar solos on “Seven Wishes” are wow. “Faces” has an awesome synth inspired chorus. “Four In The Morning” has an addictive vocal melody and the guitar leads, man, if they don’t get you playing air guitar, please check yourself for a pulse.

“If “I Need A Woman” was recorded by Robert Palmer, it would have been number 1.

“Sentimental Street” and the solo from Brad Gillis. Triple A, all the way.

“This Boy Needs To Rock” gets that rocking vibe happening again and another guitar solo that makes me play air guitar.

“Night Machine” has some cool guitar riffage and another Triple A lead break.

And I don’t know why these Night Ranger albums are not on Spotify. It’s the dumbest move ever to withhold em, unless you are in dispute with the label about what you should be paid.

Rush – Power Windows

Even if you don’t like the music, you would like the stories in the lyrics.

“Big Money” goes around the world, spreading greed and consuming all. “Big Money” weaves a mighty web and draws the flies. In “Grand Designs” there is so much poison in power.

The “Manhattan Project” tells us about a weapon that would settle the score and how the big bang shook the world at the Rising Sun.

“Better the pride that resides in a citizen of the world, than the pride that divides when a colourful rag is unfurled” is classic Neil Peart from the song “Territories”.

In “Middletown Dreams”, dreams transport the ones who need to get out of town.

Accept – Metal Heart

Critics panned it, but hey, who listens to critics. The record label told them it’s a dud because it didn’t reach or outsell their previous efforts. But it’s my favourite Accept record.

“Metal Heart” has this open string riff, which defines the song. Lyrically, it’s 1999 and the human race needs to face some mysterious truth, like “judgement day” style, man versus machine.

Even when Metal bands tried to be serious or sound serious they still ended up sounding comedic.

With the Beethoven licks in the solo, you either like it or hate it.

“Midnight Mover” is basically Scorpions. The arpeggio lick/riff in the intro gets me interested. The single note riffs with pinch harmonics in the verse keeps the interest going. And even though the Chorus sounds very AOR, it’s still heavy metal.

Finally the lead break.

Wolf Hoffman doesn’t get the guitar hero crowns he deserves.

“Up To The Limit” is basically AC/DC. The bass from Peter Baltes just rolls along in the verses, while Hoffman and Fischer play staccato like power chords.

“Wrong Is Right” is basically Judas Priest. That verse riff could have come from the “Screaming For Vengeance” album.

“Screaming For A Love Bite” is a terrible title for a song, but I suppose that’s what makes it memorable. I’ve always enjoyed it when metal bands take major key riffs and put them into their mix. In keeping with themes of other bands, this one could have fitted nicely on a Journey album, even a Night Ranger album.

And like that Side 1 ends, with no filler whatsoever.

Side 2 kicks off with the very AC/DC sounding “Too High To Get It Right”. And how can you not like it, especially that gang like vocal in the Chorus.

“Dogs On Leads” is so underrated and also in the vein of AC/DC. The bass just rumbles while Hoffman plays jangly chords before it kicks into overdrive. Again, the gang like vocals are so loud, they remain with me long after the song is finished.

“Teach Us To Survive” sounds like it came from a Pink Panther movie. Jazz fusion metal.

Artist’s used to do this on albums before, like write a song that was a bit out there, but still rooted in metal. Then when albums became a two to three year cycle, it changed. Suddenly artists either played it safe and stayed true to what came before or they went completely different for the whole next album, not just for a track or two.

“Living For Tonite” has this pulsing bass, guitar and drum groove.

How can you not like it?

“Bound To Fail” is basically a power metal tune in the intro, but when the verses roll around, it’s got that blues rock swagger in the Chorus that Guns N Roses would bring to the masses on “Welcome To The Jungle”.

Again, how can you not like it?

And that’s a wrap for 1985, Part 2.

See you in 1977.

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

2000 – Part 2

Motley Crue – New Tattoo

Three Crue members plus Randy Castillo, who was a very competent drummer in his own right, but he’s not Tommy Lee nor would he have had the same input and pull as Tommy Lee would have had on the Crue music.

Actually, Lee himself decided to not participate in the song writing for the “Saints of Los Angeles” album. Then again, if you just heard the two songs he dropped recently, maybe that’s a good thing. But as an artist, you need to have different outlets to explore different creative sides.

This version of Motley Crue and this album acts as a music bridge between the eras.

After the excellent self-titled Corabi led album, they brought Vince back and pushed the industrial sonics on “Generation Swine”. This didn’t sit well with a lot of their existing fans, and it didn’t gain them any new fans either. So Nikki Sixx, forever the marketing guru, knew that a return to hard rock would be on the cards.

Musically, it’s okay.

The AC/DC influenced “Hell On High Heels” and “Punched In The Teeth By Love” are typical Motley, while the title track “New Tattoo” carries on the spirit of the 94 Corabi album. “Fake” has a heavy F#m groove which I dig and the punky “Porno Star” has some of the funniest lyrics from Sixx, about his credit card being in debt due to visiting too many dot cum websites.

But the year 2000 isn’t 1980 and some of these lyrical themes just didn’t resonate.

Pretty Maids – Carpe Diem

“Seize The Day and living their life” is what the Pretty Maids (aka founding members Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer) did with this release and their brand of Euro Hard Rock.

“Violent Tribe” is on steroids while “Tortured Spirit” shows you can be heavy and melodic. “Poisoned Pleasures” and “Until It Dies” shows what a great songwriter and guitarist Ken Hammer is.

And track number 5, “Clay”, for a ballad which doesn’t get cheesy is a great track.

And the last three tracks, “They’re All Alike”, “Time Awaits For No One” and “Invisible Chains” makes you press repeat.

Cold – 13 Ways To Bleed On Stage

I picked this one up in a bargain bin, 3 for $20 and I was surprised by how good it was. But I didn’t get any of their other music afterwards.

Maybe because guitarist Terry Balsamo left to join Evanescence.

I just did some reading on this album and was surprised to read how people called it a low-budget album (which it wasn’t, as Geffen financed it and had people like Adam Kasper who was doing Foo Fighter albums involved).

Basically if you are a fan of modern hard rock and alternative rock, then you will like this album.

Racer X – Technical Difficulties

Racer X is a band which was needed, so that all of its members could get a start and then go out and take over the world with different bands. You can call it an origin band. An origin story.

Paul Gilbert is now more famous for his Mr Big gig and his solo records and his instructional videos, plus his amazing list of guest appearances and tribute album appearances.

Drummer Scott Travis got the Judas Priest gig for the “Painkiller” album, then went to Fight with Rob Halford and he returned to Judas Priest for the “Jugulator” album in 1997 and has remained there since.

Vocalist Jeff Martin ended up as the drummer for Badlands for the “Voodoo Highway” album and since then he has done stints with Dokken and The Michael Schenker Group. Plus he had an excellent Judas Priest like band called “Surgical Steel” which appeared in a very underrated movie called “Thunder Alley” before “Racer X”. It definitely is a long way to that invisible line which symbolises the top.

Bassist Juan Alderete went into The Scream with guitarist Bruce Bouillet and after Corabi fled the coop for Motley Crue, he started working with others and ended up in “The Mars Volta”.

This album came out in 1999, however I am pretty sure it got a release in Australia in 2000, so it’s in the 2000’s for me.

And it’s their best album by far with the stand out track being the title track and Paul Gilberts guitar prowess.

Check it out and you will know what I mean.

Yngwie Malmsteen – War To End All Wars

The cover is a Frank Frazetta painting so Molly Hatchett came to mind immediately.

When you get tracks with titles like “Molto Arpeggiosa” and “Instrumental Institution”, you know what you are gonna get. Malmsteen and the rockets in his fingertips, tap dancing on the fretboard.

And in “Bad Reputation”, Malmsteen gives his self-defence counter argument in the lyrics.

So if you like overdone guitar leads at the expense of other instruments and cheesy lyrics by Malmsteen, with a crap production, then you will like this album.

And I remember looking at the CD booklet at my cousin Mega’s place, with 20 or so photos of Malmsteen in various self-love poses, thinking, this must be a new record of artist shots for an album.

But…

There are some good songs here, which are lost in the mush that “The Fury” created.

I would really like to hear songs like “Crucify” and “Bad Reputation” with a better production and mix like he had on “Odyssey” and “Marching Out”.

David Coverdale – Into The Light

What can an artist do after being in the game of making music for 26 plus years with Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Coverdale/Page?

What can an artist do in a musical climate dominated by Nu-Metal and Alternative Rock, which proved to be very hostile to the artists who had success in the 80’s, courtesy of MTV and their music videos?

When in doubt, you go back to the beginning, and to the blues.

If you want to read a review I agree with, check out the fantastic blog 2loud2oldmusic by clicking here.

So into the time machine I go and set course for 1985.

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

May 2020 – Part 3

December
Highway To Paradise
Gathering Of Kings

I really need to sink my ears into this album and learn more about the project because even though their brand of melodic rock is derivative, I like it.

On their debut album, it had a lot of guest vocalists, and because Bjorn Strid from Soilwork and The Night Flight Orchestra was involved, I was interested.

These tracks are from the follow up.

The Shift
10 Years

I’ve been a long time fan of 10 Years.

There form of groove rock, which in the beginning, had a nod to Tool but in a concise 4 minute package, got me interested.

And since then, they have kept on morphing into a unique rock band.

Darker Thoughts
Ghosts
Paradise Lost

I became a fan with the “Draconian Times” album and then they lost me with their Depeche Mode style album in the late 90’s.

Since the start of the 2010’s they have started to creep back in. “Darker Thoughts” is sombre, as it percolates with just an acoustic guitar, violins and cellos. Then it kicks in, and that riff from 2.18.

House On Fire
Asking Alexandria

This band did a covers EP once, and they had songs from artists I grew up with.

For example, on the “Life Gone Wild” EP from 2010, they covered “18 And Life” and “Youth Gone Wild” frim Skid Row.

Then in 2012 they dropped another EP called “Under The Influence: A Tribute To The Legends Of Hard Rock” which had, “Separate Ways” from Journey, “Kick Start My Heart” from Motley Crue, “Here I Go Again” from Whitesnake and “Hysteria” from Def Leppard.

This track is from their new album and its different, bordering on the sounds of “Imagine Dragons” in the verses with a massive Chorus, which gets the foot tapping.

Check it out.

Uninvited
Earshot

“Earshot” is another band that found a niche combining the angst of bands like Korn with the progressiveness of Tool, into concise 4 to 5 minute rock songs. This was between 2004 and 2008. Then they disappeared, while similar bands like 10 Years and Chevelle kept on going.

“Uninvited” is a great return.

And I’m interested.

It has this epic, Middle Eastern/Arabic feel as it percolates and rumbles through, with a kicking guitar solo.

The following songs, I have already written about on some of the Release Day Friday playlist posts.

Make It Out Alive
Tell Me How You Really Feel
Trapt

The cover for “Make It Out Alive” is a skull with the American flag painted/engraved into the bone, wearing a gas mask all on a black background. It’s a great piece of art and the song portrays that angst.

Dark Necessities
Luca Stricagnoli

This dude can really play an acoustic guitar.

This is a cover of a RHCP song and what you get, is the guitars, the vocal lines, the bass lines and a percussive beat all played on the guitar.

He also has his own special designed acoustic guitar with three necks which allows him to play these songs live.

Watch his YouTube videos to see him in action.

And it was two of those YouTube videos that made me a fan.

“Thunderstruck” and “Fear Of The Dark”.

Watch em and be in awe.

There is so much talent in the world today, that deserves to be heard and seen, the same way guitarists in the 70’s and 80’s were heard and seen. And Luca Stricagnoli is one of those artists.

Prove Me Wrong
Dee Snider

After 40 years in the business, Dee Snider is still proving people wrong. His recent batch of releases, which takes a stab at modern pop rock with “We Are The Ones” and modern groove metal with “For The Love Of Metal” has returned him to the throne of the black sheep’s, the SMF’s.

And “Prove Me Wrong” has a foot stomping metal riff that could make it on a Metallica album with Dee at his metal best.

Atlas Falls
Shinedown

I am a fan of Shinedown.

Their last two albums moved away from the hard rock sounds that got me into em, but they have enough goodwill in my book, for me to remain a fan, plus they had enough tracks on the last two releases to keep me interested.

So when this track was released, a left over from the “Amaryllis” album released in 2012, I was hooked, because this is the Shinedown I like.

Skyfall
Vandenberg

This tune just smoulders, like those epic 70’s tracks from Rainbow and Deep Purple.

Yep, that’s the vibe I get, a Ritchie Blackmore vibe.

Invasion
Haken

The vocal delivery reminds me of Styx and the sounds in the first minute are like an 80s video game.

Musically, it ticks all the boxes for me.

And just like that, they are back in my life as I became one in 2016, then I was on the fence in 2018 and now I’m back.

Voices
Long Distance Calling

They have no singing, it’s all instrumental, but instrumental music built on a groove or a riff and they just keep building it with derivative versions of the same riff.

You need to listen to it, to understand what I mean.

Change For The Better
FM

I knew about FM from the 90’s but never heard anything from em. And in the 2010’s they started to come into my life.

And then they really came on my radar because of “Shot In The Dark”, the song which is known as an “Ozzy” song.

You see, Phil Soussan wrote that song while he was in a band called Wildlife with the Overland brothers (before FM was created). According to the Overland brothers, they helped develop a lot of the concepts and progressions and lyrical melodies, including the keys for “Shot In The Dark”. But they didn’t get the credit and even questioned what Ozzy Osbourne actually did to the song to get a credit.

So they re-recorded the version they had done with Soussan back in the Wildlife days as a bonus track to their 2016 EP.

Give it a listen on Spotify and or go on YouTube.

And as Wikipedia states, “this authorship issue has become a source of contention over the years, and in spite of its success, the song has rarely appeared on Ozzy Osbourne greatest hits compilations as a result.”

As for “Change For The Better”, it’s a mix of Journey and Toto when they used to rock a little bit.

Blackened 2020
Metallica

It was great to see James Hetfield again on the YouTube video of this.

And what a comeback song for him, with a pretty cool acoustic rewrite in the Ennio Morricone style for one of their most progressive and powerful tracks.

To me, the “Justice” album is an unbelievable record. I don’t care that the bass is missing and that the guitar sound has too many mids or the drums sound too compressed. Because a great song is a great song regardless and the “Justice” album has a lot of great songs.

And man, didn’t “One” really shake up MTV.

For a band that didn’t do any clips, they did two versions, one with the film footage and the other with just the band performing in the warehouse. Suddenly you had a million kids buying a double bass drum kit and off they went to practice the double kick “landmine” section.

But “Blackened” opened the album and it’s 7/4 time signature for the intro riff grabbed me by the throat instantly.

“Termination (termination)”

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

May 2020 – Part 2

Here we are with May Part 2.

The Black Serenade
Gunfire
Sign Of The Times
The End Of The Line
Bad Reputation
Wings Of The Storm
Into The Fire
Axel Rudi Pell

As soon as I saw the song titles and how un-original they sounded, I wasn’t really keen on this, but I’m glad I bit, because it’s a good metal album (metal being, the way I know metal) and Johnny Gioeli who has had vocal duties for over twenty years, delivers.

If you like good riffage plus lead breaks that sound like they came from the 70’s classic rockers and melodic vocals, then this album should be on your list.

“The Black Serenade” has the synth choirs happening while Axel Rudi Pell emotes and then burns for the minute and thirty seconds album lead track. “Gunfire” has the same venom of “Ace Of Spades” with a lead break that goes for almost two minutes, but never gets boring.

“Sign Of The Times” is epic, “The End Of The Line” is just one of those songs that could have come from a Rainbow album, about a “valley far away” and “Bad Reputation” has this major key vibe.

“Wings Of The Storm” is a blues tune, a metalized version of “Fool For Your Loving” and “Into The Fire” is epic, “Kashmir” like.

Cut Me Down
Ryders Creed

From the UK. That’s all I know. So I let the music do the talking and the song ended up in my playlist. They have an album out as well, which I will check it, as I’m interested to hear more.

Mysterious
DeVicious

From Germany.

This is why I like the recording industry and Spotify. Every artist can participate and somehow their music finds a way. From the artists mentioned, there are two German acts and an UK act.

All For Love
Joe Satriani

Satriani wrote a song once called “The Enigmatic” (it was called that because of the scale he was using was the Enigmatic scale) and that is how he has remained with me.

An enigma.

I’m on the train and I’m off the train.

“All For Love” is one of those slower tempo songs that will remain with me for a long time. So I’m back on the train.

Can’t Stop This Train
Hartmann

This song sounds a like those early 90’s songs that hit the charts, which focused on a blues like groove but still rocked hard. And the vocals remind me of David Coverdale so much on this one.

I also really like the lead break on this one, so I need to check out who the guitarist is.

Hollow Convictions
I Feel Alive Again
Prophets Of Treason
Killswitch Engage

Killswitch Engage live in that world between aggression and harmony, between screaming and melody. In purgatory. It’s a balance. “Hollow Convictions” is excellent musically and it connects the balance for me, with a melodic Chorus. “I Feel Alive Again” also achieves that balance, along with the aggressive “Prophets Of Treason”.

Eternity Now
Love Is Alive
New Event Horizon
Everything You Want It To Be
Big Sugar

I had never heard of “Big Sugar” at all. But thanks to the blogging community and Deke at “Thunder Bay” I now have.

“Eternity Now” sounds like it could come from a Rush album. “Love Is Alive” sounds like the best Don Henley song that Henley didn’t write. “New Event Horizon” sounds like a reggae/Latin song which could be appear on an Enrique album. “Everything You Want It To Be” sounds like a funk song, until that ELO like Chorus kicks in.

Basically if you like variation in your artist, then Big Sugar delivers it.

That’s it for Part 2. May Part 3 is coming up.

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Copyright, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Stupidity

Blues For Copyright

Here is a great post about the blues and how the genre was appropriated by others and on many occasions the original creator is not even credited.

The 60s blues explosion from the UK happened because the artists took the blues standards from the 30s and made em their own (either by building on an existing work or by just saying that they wrote the song without any credit to the creator).

Remember that histories are written by the winners.

I watched a documentary on “The Australian Sound” and there is no mention of the black blues musicians who influenced the white musicians. It just goes back to the white blues musicians from the 60s and it moves forward from there.

Music is all about influence and experience. What you hear, what you read, see, smell, taste and live, all end up in the song.

Similar sounding songs is big business for lawyers. When you have an artist covering another artists songs and claiming that songs as their own, well, that’s morally wrong and also big business for lawyers.

It’s all because Copyright lasts 70 years after the death of the creator. Remember that Copyright was designed to give the creator a brief monopoly on their works so they could make money and as a by product, an incentive to create more works.

These terms originally were 14 years to 28 years. And if the creator passed while they still had a copyright it expired on death and it all went to the public domain for it to be built on and reused.

So what incentive is there if the creator is dead.

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

1977 – V1

All of these albums I got many years later. Actually all of my 70’s music came well into the 90’s

AC/DC – Let There Be Rock

I knew the songs before I even heard the album. There was no way you could escape AC/DC.

“Dog Eat Dog”, “Let There Be Rock”, “Bad Boy Boogie”, “Hell Aint A Bad Place To Be” and “Whole Lotta Rosie” were always on in car stereos and jukeboxes. The only tracks that were new to me, were “Go Down”, “Overdose” and “Crabsody In Blue” (which was substituted by “Problem Child” for the North American market.

And some of favourite AC/DC riffs are on this album, along with the lyrics, especially the social conscious themes of “Dog Eat Dog”. Plus for a blues based rock band, “Let There Be Rock” is an early precursors of speed metal.

Meatloaf – Bat Out Of Hell

In Australia, this album was still massive in the 80’s and it got even bigger in the 90’s when Meatloaf dropped Part 2. Like 25x Platinum like massive for Australia. And my favourite track (apart from the title track) is the ballad, “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad”.

It was also weird for me to read that another songwriter who is not part of the band solely wrote all the music.

I believe that the success of this album around the world is also down to the resilience that Steinman and Meat Loaf showed to get the album recorded, the band signed and eventually the album released.

Because the project started in 1972 and the songs got rejected because the label heads wanted to hear the typical “verse – chorus” arrangement, which as we know, Jim Steinman didn’t really abide by. Instead he relied more on the theatre/opera style of arrangements and the rest is history. In the US alone, the album is 14 x Platinum.

Queen – News Of The World

How do you follow up two successful albums with multi-tracked harmonies?

You go back to basics and rock out, which is exactly what Queen did with “News Of The World”.

There was no escaping “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” but my favourite track on this album is the John Deacon penned “Spread Your Wings”.

And a bonus mention for the Roger Taylor penned “Fight From The Inside”. Listen to it and you will hear how groovy and hard rock Queen could be. “American Woman” also comes to mind when I hear it. Slash said the guitar riff on this song is one of his favorites and it’s not even played by Brian May, but by drummer Roger Taylor, who also plays bass on the track.

Kansas – Point Of Know Return

I picked up the first five Kansas albums all in one swoop for less than $10. The covers got me interested and all I knew about the band was a few mentions by other artists in interviews from the progressive rock family.

That was it.

I had no idea about “Carry On My Wayward Son” and “Dust In The Wind”. And I played “Point Of Know Return” first because the cover was the best of all em and the song titles interested me.

So I dropped the needle and listened and read the credits and lyrics and became a fan.

Musically it’s a fusion of so many styles, blended in with the distorted sounds of hard rock and a band in top form.

Without Wikipedia or any form of internet to guide me, I had no idea how successful this band was or how their songs became radio staples in America. But it didn’t matter to me, because it these kind of discoveries when you go record hunting that remain.

Rush – A Farewell To Kings

After I was exposed to “Exit Stage Left” I was hooked and I started to seek out the Rush records I could find at the used record shops as CD’s in Australia, were still selling for $30. At one stage they got to $38. Seriously, the recording industry really over estimated their value.

This is album number 5 and the follow up to “2112” which was their make or break album. This fertile period of Rush would last to “Moving Pictures” in 1981 and then the synths would take over for about six years before they brought back the three piece sound.

And as a prog fan, I am always into songs which have sections, so “Cygnus X-1” was on my radar, but I was surprised by “Closer To The Heart” and that arpeggio guitar intro.

Foreigner – Foreigner

No one knew Mick Jones until this album dropped. No one knew the pipes on Lou Gramm until this album dropped.

Released in 1977, no one was sure if disco was ending or rock was starting.

And the album has some songs which are forgotten, but they rock as hard as anything I have heard.

A song like “Starrider” would work on any Deep Purple/Rainbow/Whitesnake album. Even on an Y&T or Scorpions album.

“The Damage Is Done” has this outro solo ending that reminds me of Santana or even “Winds Of Change” from Y&T. “At War With The World” could have come from a Rush album. There is so much variety on this album. It’s a shame that the first two cuts ruled everything.

Did I mention that “Cold As Ice” is also on this album?

Check out the debut.

That’s it for 1977 Part 1 and now we go back into the future for 2000 Part 2.

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

1985 – V1

Two releases come to mind immediately for 1985, that I can never forget. They are “Live After Death” from Iron Maiden and “Come Out And Play” from Twisted Sister. I’ve written about these albums before and will probably keep on writing about them.

Iron Maiden – Live After Death

It’s the best live album ever and my first proper exposure to Iron Maiden, as prior to this it was just the few video clips I taped from the music TV shows.

Because this was my first proper exposure, I got to hear Bruce Dickinson sing the DiAnno era songs before Paul DiAnno and I didn’t know it at the time, but the tempo of the songs had a small increase compared to the recorded versions. So when I eventually got to the first two albums, DiAnno’s voice (along with Blaze Bayley many years later) proved to be a struggle, but when Bruce did those songs live, wow.

P.S.

Maiden hit the bullseye again with the “Rock In Rio” release, especially the live footage in the DVD release. And on that “Rock In Rio”, Bruce Dickinson also gave the Blaze era songs a new life.

P.S.S.

Maiden did it again with “Flight 666” which is a great memento for me for the two nights I watched em perform the same set.

Twisted Sister – Come Out And Play

I just remember dropping the needle on this, laying in my bed, reading the lyrics of each song and looking at the graffiti art on the back cover.

So what was happening in the Twisted Sister department?

By the time this album hit, Twisted Sister was on an album per year cycle and while the “Stay Hungry” album was written during the recording of “You Can’t Stop Rock N Roll”, this one was written after the “Stay Hungry” tour.

And it didn’t sell as much as “Stay Hungry” and “You Cant Stop Rock N Roll”, because everyone were still buying those albums.

And just because the sale didn’t match the label expectations, it didn’t mean that this album is not a quality album.

But I wasn’t a fan of the singles like “Leader Of The Pack” and “Be Cruel To Your School”. All of the other tracks definitely resonated and the bonus track “King Of Fools” is one of my favourite Sister tracks. But those two singles proved to be a bad decision.

And they didn’t soften their sound just because they made it with “Stay Hungry”. They came out all guns blazing with the title track and “The Fire Still Burns” is a speed metal classic.

Dee said to “join our cavalcade” and join I did.

P.S.

But the cavalcade that jumped on the ship with “Stay Hungry” didn’t all come back in 1985, but they would return ten fold in the 2000’s.

P.S.S.

One more album later in 1987 and the band would cease to be until the 2000’s.

Dokken – Under Lock And Key

It was the “Unchain The Night” video release which got me interested. My cousin Mega dubbed it off some other guy who dubbed it off some other guy. And I dubbed it off my cousin. The video sounded dodgy, with that white noise effect running in the background, due to it being copied so many times.

So I didn’t get this album until two years later, because the cover didn’t scream out “buy me” either.

There are songs which do sound like they are written for the charts, but its tracks like “Unchain The Night”, “Lightning Strikes Again”, “Will The Sun Rise” and “Till The Living End” which showcase the metal side of the band and still to this day, stand out as favourites. And when you add the rock tracks like “The Hunter”, “In My Dreams”, “Its Not Love” and “Don’t Lie To Me”, well, you have a pretty solid little album even though it was made from punch-a-thons, arguments and arm wrestles.

P.S.
Pilson likes this album, but in a recent interview he said that “Tooth And Nail” is his favourite. And he had a co-write in all of those tracks. The true unsung hero of Dokken.

Yngwie Malmsteen – Marching Out

One of the bands I was in, the co-guitarist was a devoted Yngwie fan. He would make fun at my tastes of guitarists because according to him, none of them came even close to the maestro level of Malmsteen. It was this elitism from him that made me hate Malmsteen at the start, but I also understood that in my journey to be a guitar player, I would need to check out some of the Malmsteen recordings.

And.

This is a good album.

Jeff Scott Soto on vocals brings it on songs like “I’ll See The Light Tonight”, “Don’t Let It End” and “Caught In The Middle” which he also co-wrote with the man known as the Fury. The other standout to me is “On The Run Again” which Malmsteen originally wrote while he was in Steeler with Ron Keel. At the time it was called “Victim Of The City”.

And I became a fan up to the “Fire And Ice” album. As soon as grunge hit and his albums were not available in Australia, he wasn’t on my radar anymore. I’ve heard a few albums since on Spotify and I can honestly say those 80’s and early 90’s albums are the go to albums for me.

P.S
Malmsteen would use JSS for one more album, “Trilogy”, and then many years later would diss him by saying that he (Malmsteen) came up with everything and JSS did nothing.

P.S.S.
Malmsteen is the fury.

Motley Crue – Theater of Pain

Only two video clips came out to support the album. And it was enough because the Crue generated enough controversy to remain in the press permanently.

“Louder Than Hell”, “Tonight”, the Bad Company sounding “Raise Your Hands To Rock”, “Fight For Your Rights” and “Save Our Souls” are some of my favorites.

Even tracks like “Keep Your Eye On The Money” and “City Boy Blues” are worthy tracks. So to me, there isn’t really any filler on this album. Actually I would put “Smokin In The Boys Room” as a filler track.

P.S

Was there really an imposter pretending to be Nikki Sixx during this period?

P.S.S.

Mick Mars, riffs away on this album and he’s playing is so underrated, it’s criminal. And Tommy Lee is a pocket drummer, something he doesn’t get enough credit for.

Ratt – Invasion Of Your Privacy

“Lay Me Down” and “You’re In Love” sold this album as the clips got a lot of TV time in Australia.

And when you drop the needle on it, you are greeted with a triple knockout punch. It kicks off with that LA Sunset riff for “You’re In Love” and it moves to “Never Use Love” and “Lay It Down”.

P.S.

The album came out too early as “Out Of The Cellar” was still selling a lot, so people would have had to choose between those albums. In other words, Ratt and their label cannibalized their sales.

P.S.S.

It’s a solid album.

And that’s it for 1985 part 1. Now I’m off to 1977.

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