Category Archives: Influenced

Influenced, Music, My Stories

Billboard Album Rock Tracks For Week Ending March 6, 1993

These posts are very time consuming but well worth it, as it gets me listening to songs I hadn’t heard yet, I know how is that possible in this day and age, but it is possible.

Number 1
Pride And Joy – Coverdale/Page

This song had no traction in Australia when it came to the charts but all the American mags I purchased had it advertised.

David Coverdale even made the front cover of a Guitar World issue with Jimmy Page.

And what’s the deal with its digital release. It’s on Spotify Australia, then its removed, then it’s there and now removed again. But YouTube has it.

And everyone said it “sounds like Led Zep” and I’m like, “yeah it will”, because Jimmy Page is a pretty large part of the Led Zep song writing team, so anything he writes will always sound like Led Zep.

Since Led Zep wasn’t doing anything, Coverdale/Page filled the void nicely.

Number 2
Two Princes – Spin Doctors

While “Pride And Joy” from Coverdale/Page got no traction in Australia, “Two Princes” went all the way to Number One here and it was everywhere. 278 plus million streams on Spotify and the song still has value and life in its ecosystem.

Number 3
Don’t Tear Me Up – Mick Jagger

I’d never heard this song until today.

It has that “Walk On The Wild Side” feel in the music.

More U2 like than anything else.

Number 4
Won’t Get Fooled Again – Van Halen

The VH marketing team always tried to keep VH in the Charts. Their live album didn’t really do anything in Australia and neither did their cover of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.

Number 5
Man On The Moon – R.E.M

R.E.M was massive in Australia during the album “Automatic For The People”, to the point that I started to hate every single song on the album. Radio stations played em relentlessly and it didn’t matter to which station you switched.

But time heals all wounds and I’m okay with it.

Number 6
Black – Pearl Jam

My favourite Pearl Jam song, especially that whole 2 minute outro. And to this day, Pearl Jam are massive in Australia.

They would play 5 to 6 sold out shows in the same city during each tour. I had a work friend who followed them around Australia on one of their tours circa 2005/6.

Number 7
Good Lovin’s Hard To Find – Lynyrd Skynyrd

I never got back into the reformed Skynyrd, so today is my first day hearing “Good Lovin’s Hard To Find” and it swings with the horns and the rockabilly blues.

Number 8
Cats In The Cradle – Ugly Kid Joe

Massive in Australia, a cover of Cat Stevens.

The message of a kid, wanting to spend time with his father and the father being too busy to do so because of work or tiredness, resonated with a lot of people.

And as the song nears the end, the father now old and retired, calls up his son to spend time, but the son is too busy because family life and pressures of the workplace and creditors keeps em estranged.

Number 9
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You – Sting

Disturbed covered it recently, trying to cash in on their success of “The Sound Of Silence”.

Sting’s solo career was hit and miss for me. This song is more rooted to his rock ways than some of the other stuff he did and I like it.

Number 10
Sometimes Salvation – The Black Crowes

Ballad like and bluesy with a 70’s Rod Stewart like vocal line. Black Crowes delivered on their earlier albums.

Number 11
Driven By You – Brian May

It’s that usual rock-a-billy style riff in the verses but it wasn’t something that captured my attention for long.

Number 12
Turn It Up Or Turn It Off – Drivin’N’Cryin’

A perfect rock and roll title for 1993. It’s got that heartland style chord progressions that John Mellencamp made famous.

Number 13
Somebody Knockin’ – Izzy Stradlin And The Ju Ju Hounds

The laidback jam like hard rock of Izzy Stradlin and his Ju Ju Hounds was perfect for 1993 and so far removed from what was happening on the main commercial charts.

And it struck a chord with people.

Number 14
Down On Me – Jackyl

And then you have Jackyl who took a riff from The Who and a riff and vocal style from AC/DC. They got no traction in Australia, but the U.S magazines had em featured.

Number 15
Pull Me Under – Dream Theater

When I saw the title, I thought, blah, another band with titles about sexual innuendo and metaphors. But my cousin kept saying, listen to it, it’s got nothing to do with that.

And I still remember hearing the opening arpeggio notes of the intro riff at my cousin’s place. Then the drum tom pattern came in and I was already taping over Side A on a cassette of new music which I just taped a minute before. I was hooked immediately and within a few weeks I would have the original CD in my possession, becoming a lifelong fan in the process.

Eventually the names of Petrucci, Portnoy, Myung, Moore and Labrie would roll of the tongue like the surnames of my best mates.

Number 16
The One I Am – Dan Baird

For a song that was Number 16 on the Charts back in 1993, I would have expected a lot more streams than 25,790 on Spotify.

First time listener today.

I remember seeing the name, but I never invested time or funds to listen. And I like the blues rock vibe. So similar to what the Black Crowes were doing, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Drivin N Crying and Izzy Stradlin.

Number 17
Somebody To Shove – Soul Asylum

It was an MTV Awards performance of “Runaway Train” that made me a fan. When I did some research I saw that this overnight sensation was a decade in the making.

How good is the intro and the verses?

Number 18
Mister Please – Damn Yankees

This band didn’t do much on the charts in Australia. But I was still a buyer based on my fandom of Night Ranger. I didn’t mind Styx and Nugent, but I did like Night Ranger.

And Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw and Ted Nugent, worked well together. The two albums they did are excellent hard rock albums.

Number 19
Eileen – Keith Richards

So we had Mick Jagger at Number 3 and good ole Keith Richards at 19.

How can that be?

Both songs are good Rolling Stones songs.

Number 20
Heart Of An Angel – The Jeff Healy Band

Every time I listen to Jeff Healy (RIP), I think of the “Roadhouse” movie with Patrick Swayze. TJFB is the bar band in the movie and they play behind a Perspex screen so they don’t get destroyed when a fight breaks out.

Healy plays his heart out on the guitar and his soulful bluesy voice fits in perfect.

Crank this one.

Number 21
Waiting For The Sun – Jayhawks

First time, I’m hearing this song. I’ve seen the name “The Jayhawks” mentioned but was never interested at that point in time. And I like the Led Zepp influences and the solo section which sound like it came from “Stairway To Heaven”.

And speaking of solos, you get an outro solo as well.

Number 22
Courage – The Tragically Hip

I have been listening to The Tragically Hip recently as fellow bloggers Buried On Mars and Caught Me Gaming are doing tandem reviews of their discography. They are early in, just up to the “Road Apples” album, released in 1991.

This is the opening track of the next album due “Fully Completely”. And I’m a bit torn comparing it to the tracks from the previous albums I like.

Number 23
She Got Me – Masters Of Reality

First time listener today and it feels like a lot of songs I know. Just think of “Ballroom Blitz” merged with “Radar Love” and a bit of “Let There Be Rock”.

And goddamn it, I like it.

Number 24
Stand – Poison

Poison doing this kind of Country, Rhythm and Blues is perfect for their style. At times it feels like a U2 song and how good are the Gospel singers.

Number 25
In Bloom – Nirvana

This song spawned so many copycat bands in a few years’ time.

Number 26
Return To Serenity – Testament

This song is excellent. The clean tone intro, those little melodic leads and then it goes into a progressive 12/8 swing feel, with a bluesy lead.

This is the Testament I like.

Number 27
Bed Of Roses – Bon Jovi

It’s not my favourite Jovi song, nor is it in my top 100 Bon Jovi songs.

Number 28
Here Comes Trouble – Bad Company

Obviously by this time, I had thought that Bad Company was broken up. But they continued and I heard this album a few years ago.

Brian Howe (RIP) on vocals revitalised the band. This album was mainly written by Howe and guitarist Terry Thomas who also did work with Foreigner, Tommy Shaw and Tesla.

Number 29
Leave It Alone – Living Colour

Great groove rock with a bit of prog added for spice.

Number 30
Say Hello 2 Heaven – Temple Of The Dog

I heard this in the late 90’s as one of the drummers in the band at the time was a big Soundgarden and Pearl Jam fan. It’s like this song was lost in a time warp and resurfaced in the 90’s.

Number 31
Steam – Peter Gabriel

Gabriel tried to re-write “Sledgehammer”.

Number 32
Too Many Ways To Fall – Arc Angels

There is a 10 minute live version on Spotify, with some jamming in the middle section and I like it.

Number 33
Sweating Bullets – Megadeth

Musically, it’s like an Alice Cooper cut, more theatre like but done in a Megadeth way.

How good is that intro?

Number 34
Kiss That Frog – Peter Gabriel

I was way off the Gabriel Express by the 90’s and hearing this song for the first time today, tells me why.

Number 35
Sad But True – Metallica

“Hey, I’m the album that will never stop selling”.

Even in 2021, the self-titled album still moves more units than new releases.

Number 36
Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) – Def Leppard

It’s typical Def Leppard, but by 1993 and after being exposed to this kind of Lep on “Hysteria” and a bit on “Pyromania” it was time for a reset.

And “Slang” in three years’ time was the perfect antidote.

Number 37
I’ll Hate You Better – Suicidal Tendencies

First time listener today, as I never really got into the whole Suicidal Tendencies thing. I know that Rob Trujillo came from em, but even after he joined Metallica, I still didn’t go back and explore his past.

But after hearing this track, I like it. I think some time will be found to listen to “The Art Of Rebellion”.

Number 38
Nearly Lost You – Screaming Trees

First time listener today. I had seen the albums advertised but I never handed cash over. It’s that whole alternative rock vibe, which is okay, but there’s nothing here to get me to commit any further.

Number 39
Stop The World – Extreme

“III Sides To Every Story” is the best Extreme album.

How good is that whole “Stop The World” section, when they repeat the title name over an A, A/G#, A/F# and E chord progression.

All of the vocal layering feels like Queen but it’s not.

Listen to the solo section and how they build it back up.

Number 40
Runnin’ On Faith – Eric Clapton

It’s got that feel from “Wonderful Tonight”. If you like that song, you will like this one.

One thing that is prominent listening to these songs is that the 80’s bands classed as hair metal or glam metal, didn’t get killed by grunge, but by blues rock artists who returned to the source of rock and roll for inspiration.

It also didn’t help all of the 80’s hard rock bands that the labels signed a million other artist that sounded all the same and then saturated the market with D level product.

But in Australia, the alternative and grunge takeover was more prominent, as suddenly the charts and radio stations dropped hard rock bands from their playlists, (except for a few classic acts) and replaced them by alternative acts.

“Peaches” is still played very heavily in Australia.

So many peaches to eat.

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Australian Method Series – Baby Animals

Well, the Australian Summer is over as we move into Autumn. The first day of Autumn was a 33 degree Celsius scorcher and the good folk that is Thunder Bay decided to pack up and leave our shores, taking with em the Australia variant. But the series focusing on Australian artists will not stop. It will continue each week as the Australian Method Series.

The debut Baby Animals album was everywhere in Australia.

Being added to The Angels live show in 1990, when The Angels were the hottest band in Australia, helped build the momentum needed for when the album dropped.

Released in September 1991, the album debuted at number six on the ARIA Album Charts and spent six weeks at number one, eventually going eight times platinum and becoming the highest-selling debut Australian rock album of all time (until the release of Jet’s album, “Get Born” 12 years later).

I saw em live at the Revesby Workers Club on the tour. An up and coming band called Judge Mercy was opening for them, who unfortunately disappeared when the labels started dropping metal and rock acts in a years’ time.

In relation to the live show, the Baby Animals rocked. Drummer Frank Celenza was huge and along with bassist Eddie Parise, they laid a solid foundation for Dave Leslie on guitar and Suze DeMarchi on guitar to shine. Then you had a the bluesy, soulful tones of DeMarchi on vocals.

The album was produced by task master Mike Chapman and engineered by Kevin Shirley, so you know its gonna sound massive.

And my favourite track is “Working For The Enemy”, that whole break down section, lead break and build up is excellent. My second favourite is the metal like “Waste Of Time” with its energetic double kick intro and heavy blues boogie rock riffs.

“One Too Many” is “Rock N Roll Noise Pollution” in spirit and influence, while “Aint Gonna Get” is AC/DC on steroids and highway speed tempos with a Chorus that reminds me of “I Love Rock And Roll”.

And I haven’t even gotten into the singles yet.

How good is the intro to “One Word”?

But DeMarchi didn’t like the song after it was finished and asked the label to keep it off the album. The song went through a transformation, from a country-ish rock feel in the demo (which can be heard on the 25th Anniversary Edition) to the melodic rock beast it became, as Chapman kept asking them to work on it.

Guitarist Dave Leslie is underrated, paying his dues in a Cold Chisel covers band called Swingshift, playing Australian pub rock classics on a nightly basis and he knew what worked with audiences. His chicken finger picked intro to “One Word” is guitar hero worthy.

“Rush You” is the opener as the power chord crashes down and the cymbals ring before it goes into a double time beat and some series riffage and how cool is that “Back in Black” walking chromatic riff just before the verse.

“Early Warning” begins with the drums while a slide guitar plays a rock riff and the music then stops while DeMarchi sings, “Too Young To Know and Too Old To Listen”.

The band kicks in again. Then the verses come and it’s like a Jimi Hendrix song, before it moves into the power of the Chorus.

“Painless” has this funk blues boogie which I like.

If you haven’t heard it, today is a great day for it.

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2000 – The 13th Post

Here we are, the final 2000 post which brings to an end, the tandem 2000, 1985 and 1977 series before I move on to 2001, 1986 and 1976 series.

Motorhead – We Are Motorhead

Its fast and fast and fast. A perfect statement of intent for the 2000’s.

Certain songs had different producers like Bob Kulick, Bruce Bouillet and Duane Baron.

Phil Campbell on the guitar is phenomenal. Very underrated. And of course, Mikkey Dee on the drums is a metronomic machine when he needs to be and sleazy swingy when he needs to be.

Then you have Lemmy.

Heavy as lead, all fuzzed out with his bass lines and throwing his voice into the concrete and still sounding good.

“See Me Burning” clocks in at 3 minutes as the double kick pattern is relentless from the start to the end. “Wake The Dead” has another fast double kick pattern from Dee. “We Are Motorhead” sounds like it came from the “Ace Of Spades” album. “Stagefreight” and “Heart On Your Sleeve” continue the speed.

“Slow Dance” is the mid-tempo hard rock track and my favourite. The riff is sinister like and I like it. Especially that harmony lead before the lead break.

And my other favourite, is “One More Fucking Time”. At 6 plus minutes it’s the longest song on the album.

Fozzy

I like the idea behind the first Fozzy album and the funny backstory they put into the promo.

They had signed with a record company and moved to Japan to be huge rock stars, but the company went out of business, leaving them stranded in Japan for 20 years, while all their demos were snatched and recorded by other bands. Once they returned to America, they realized that many famous artists had ripped off their songs.

So this album is mostly cover songs (which are like the Fozzy songs that other artists took) however, the album does have two new original songs, so that these thieving bands don’t have enough time or a chance to “rip” off these new songs.

So who is Fozzy.

Well wrestler Chris Jericho (credited as Moongoose McQueen) is on vocals, Rich Ward (credited as Duke LaRüe) on guitars, Dan Dryden (credited as Shawn “Sports” Pop) on bass, Frank Fontsere (credited as KK LaFlame) on drums and Ryan Mallam (credited as The Kidd) on guitar.

Megaforce Records had high commercial hopes for this album, but it disappointed the label heads and they more or less cancelled their support of the album and the band.

One more album would come two years later called “Happenstance” and when it did even less business than the debut, Megaforce ran to the hills.

“Stand Up and Shout” written by Ronnie James Dio and Jimmy Bain and performed by Dio kicks off the album.

“Eat the Rich” is a Krokus cover, written by Butch Stone, Marc Storace, Fernando von Arb and Chris von Rohr.

“Stay Hungry” is a Twisted Sister cover and written by Dee Snider. Less than 3 minutes long, it’s a speed metal cut.

“The Prisoner” is an Iron Maiden, written by Adrian Smith and Steve Harris.

“Live Wire” is a Mötley Crüe cover, written by Nikki Sixx.

“End of Days” is written by Rich Ward and Chris Jericho. It got some fast palm muted picking but it doesn’t have that classic riff like the songs above, but it does have a wicked pre-chorus vocal melody, when Jericho/Moongoose sings “Can you believe in love?”

“Over the Mountain” is an Ozzy Osbourne cover, written by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake.

“Blackout” is a Scorpions cover, written by Sonja Kittelsen, Klaus Meine, Herman Rarebell and Rudolf Schenker

“Feel the Burn” is another cut written by Rich Ward and Chris Jericho but its forgettable.

“Riding on the Wind” is a Judas Priest cover, written by Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and K. K. Downing. Like all of the other tracks on the album, they are played with a bit of a pedal to the floor attitude.

The album is basically an 80’s Heavy Metal jukebox under 40 minutes.

Symphony X – V The New Mythology Suite

I read some stuff about this band and how good Michael Romeo is on guitars. But to me, it was Russell Allen on vocals that got me interested, because Romeo was too much like Malmsteen on a lot of the stuff, or maybe he wasn’t like Malmsteen, instead it was the keyboard lines of Michael Pinnella that made it sound like Malmsteen.

Wikipedia tells me it is a concept album dealing with the story of Atlantis, ancient Egyptian mythology, and astrology.

There is a lot of same same here, but “Communion And The Oracle” is a bit different, with its soundtrack like feel and very Kansas feel in certain sections. Its progressive the way I like progressive to be.

Nightwish – Wishmaster

I’m a fan of the riffs. The operatic vocals are hit and miss for me on this album, but they do get better with subsequent releases.

“She Is My Sin” has a kicking intro riff.

“The Kinslayer” has another great riff, but on this one, the vocal line is like that “O Fortuna” vocal line. Brilliant.

If the intro to “Come Cover Me” doesn’t get you playing air guitar then you have no heartbeat.

“Wishmaster” continues that symphonic “O Fortuna” element in the Chorus, when they sing “Mas-ter”, “A-pprent-ice” in that style. Check out the harmony leads as well.

In Flames – Clayman

This is the album that put them on the map for me. Thirteen songs at 50 minutes. No fat whatsoever in the songs.

I really like the melody and aggression in the riffs and those European Minor key harmonies and leads.

Case in point, check out the riffs and leads in “Bullet Ride”. Vocally, its more in the vein of acts like “At The Gates” so if you want to hear a more commercial sounding In Flames, then Ghost AD does a pretty good job as the riffs they use are very similar.

Then you get the fast speed metal of “Pinball Map”. But hang around until the 2.20 minute mark, when it breaksdown into a head banging groove. Then the lead break starts, which copies the Chorus vocal melody before it picks up the speed metal.

How good is the intro melodic lead and that chugging staccato riff for the verses in “Only For The Weak”?

Listen to the lead break in the Chorus for “Square Nothing”.

I wanted Metallica to write a song like “Clayman” around this time. But who knew the dramas that Hetfield was going through during this period.

The clean tone arpeggios and harmony lead to kick off “Satellites and Astronauts” always gets me to pick up the guitar and then the madness starts before it goes back to those clean tone arpeggios for the verses.

The riff at 1.30 in “Brush The Dust Away” reminds me of Lynch/Dokken era. And the lead break starts off with some fast legato lines, some melody, then sweeps and harmonies.

“Swim” sounds like a Europe song from the first two albums, but then it moves into a Dream Theater/Petrucci like riff before the Euro melodic riffs kick in.

Finally “Another Day In Quicksand” feels like it’s the younger brother of “The Fire Still Burns” from Twisted Sister.

Children of Bodom – Follow The Reaper

RIP Alexi Laiho.

A Children Of Bodom album has riffs. A lot of fast riffs and a lot of groove rock riffs and a lot of progressive riffs.

And it has leads plus harmony leads with guitars and keyboards and breakdown grooves.

Check out the intro riff to “Follow The Reaper” and those lead breaks in between.

The verse riff in “Bodom After Midnight” is the best Malmsteen riff that he didn’t write.

How good is the intro to “Children of Decadence” and the 80’s melodic pop grooves for the intro to “Mask Of Sanity”?

Killswitch Engage – Killswitch Engage

For the debut album, Adam Dutkiewicz played drums and he moved to guitars on the albums after. Jesse Leach is on vocals, Joel Stroetzel is solely on guitar and Mike D’Antonio is on bass guitar.

The debut album is way too extreme for me, vocally, with every song in that screaming range. But musically, there are a lot of good riffs in this.

“Temple From The Within” opens the album and listen to that riff at the 1.10 minute mark to 1.33 mark. Then the bass kicks in and its heavy when the guitar kicks in. This track was re-released on the follow up album “Alive And Breathing” in 2002.

Check out the acoustic flamenco section from the 3 minute mark in “Irresversal”, an oasis of melody in the chaos of heaviness and aggression. This track was also re-recorded for “The End Of Heartache” album in 2004.

“Prelude” is only 2 minutes, but that’s enough for an instrumental, with head banging riffs and a sing-a-long lead break. “One Last Sunset” is another instrumental, sad and melancholic.

Nonpoint – Statement

The debut album reminds me of “Sevendust” and “Mudvayne” with a bit of “Tool” on this album. I think it’s a big reason why I gravitated to them.

“Mindtrip” has the vocals kick in start right away and that vocal line “trip inside your mind” reminds me of Tool.

“Endure” is the superior track here, combining melody, aggression and powerful riffs into a cohesive 3 minute track.

“Years” is a cross between clean tone arpeggios, busy drumming and aggressive down picking with a melodic Chorus, very Tool like.

Taproot – Gift

Bands classed as Nu-Metal had a lot of promo in Australia.

But Taproot, while classed in that style had a bit of progressive in them, clean tone vocals, hard core vocals with metal and rock overtones.

“Again And Again” has this groove, which people might say is more Disturbed than anything else, but both bands came out the same time, so let’s just say it’s a 2000 groove. Reminds me of Staind.

“I” is a favourite.

And thats it folks, the year that was 2000 comes to an end.

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

Heartbreak Station

I’ve written about this album many times.

As a Record Vault post.

At 30 Years Old.

The More Things Change

Well, as I normally do I was going through some old magazines and in this case, it was a May 1991 issue of “Guitar For The Practicing Musician”.

Inside the magazine I came across a review by Buzz Morrison of “Heartbreak Station”.

Here it is in italics.

PERFORMANCE: Raw, raspy, rootsy
HOT SPOTS: “Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time”, “Shelter Me”, “Dead Mans Road”
BOTTOM LINE: Knee deep in country-blues loudness

Cinderella is nothing if not daring.

On “Long Cold Winter” they spit in the face of pop metal success with a blast of kickin’ blues rock and still went double platinum.

On “Heartbreak Station”, Cinderella tries even more gender bending, roaming from hard funk to country rock on a visceral, raw record that pays homageto the band’s 60;s and 70’s influences.

Did Buzz mean genre bending?

Not sure, but he definitely had gender bending there.

In severeal places, its more rip-off than tribute, especially “Sick For The Cure” and its “Honky Tonk Woman” aural zerox.

What the fuck is an aural xerox?

Aural means relating to the ear or the sense of hearing.

Xerox is a copy of something written or printed on a piece of paper.

Is that another way to say influences or inspiration.

But the band’s ballsy rocking and bundle of dirty guitar work from Tom Keifer and Jeff LeBar mostly overpower lame songwriting and the big family sound of “Shelter Me” recalls the best of bands like Delaney and Bonnie and Let It Bleed-era Stones.

I had no idea what he meant by Delaney and Bonnie. Thanks to Google, I can tell ya that Delaney & Bonnie were an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett.

In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble called Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis.

So I’m calling em up right now on Spotify to hear what they are like.

While this Philadelphia band cops an Aerosmth like attitude, the Memphis funk of “Love’s Got Me Doin’ Time” and the misty mountain blues of “Dead Man’s Road”, along with the addtion of rolling organ and barking horns on many cuts, show they musical influences largely lie south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Led by Keifer’s straight edge vocals, Cinderella makes “Heartbreak Station” another memorable stop on its rootsy soul train.

I like that “rootsy soul train” comment. So if you haven’t heard “Heartbreak Station” yet, there’s no better time than now.

Get yer fix of gender bending rootsy soul train.

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In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3

It all started in 2007 and a Guitar World interview with Claude Sanchez and Travis Stever. They just dropped the “No World For Tomorrow” album. The interview mentioned hard rock, progressive song structures, concept album, massive sci-fi story and vocals that on occasions sound like they came from Geddy Lee.

But I still didn’t commit.

Then a few months later I was given a burnt copy of “In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3” by an old band member. I was at work and placed the disc into the CD tray of the PC, grabbed the shitty e-training headphones at work and pressed play. I became a fan for life.

Within the space of a few months, I had downloaded their whole catalogue (which at this time was up to 2007) via The Pirate Bay and then started to purchase those releases and I became a day one buyer for all the albums that came after, like “Year Of The Black Rainbow”, “The Afterman”, “The Color Before The Sun” and “Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures”. I went to watch them live and even today, I would drop a couple hundred to get their super deluxe premium releases for each new album.

But it all started with “In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3” released in 2003 and certified Gold by the RIAA for U.S sales.  

It’s their second album about the ongoing saga of the “Keywork” in “The Amory Wars”. It also came with a comic book series and novel. This is how the plot was described in the comic book.

“Ten years after “Second Stage Turbine Blade”, Claudio – the son of Coheed and Cambria, emerges from the depths of Shylos Ten (a barren world located on the edge of the Fence), where the Red Army performs its brutal interrogations and imprisonments.

The Red Army are Wilhelm Ryan’s enforcers, a large force of soldiers and ships he has amassed since the Mage Wars. Claudio finds out that his entire family has been murdered and begins his quest for vendetta. His foes, Supreme Tri Mage Wilhelm Ryan and General Mayo Deftinwolf sense that he is still alive and that he holds special powers.

Meanwhile, Inferno (Jesse Kilgannon) takes up arms against the Red Army in an effort to seek the same kind of vengeance on them. In Claudio’s re-emergence he teams up with Ambellina. The pair along with Sizer, a disassembled IRO-bot, seek out Inferno to find answers as to why his family were killed, but their plans take an unexpected turn in a ship called the Camper Velourium, and a freighter pilot named Al the Killer.”

But you don’t need to be involved in the story to appreciate the album, the music and the melodies as each song stands on its own.

The Ring In Return

A phone rings and a person walks to it. I’m waiting for someone to pick it up and to hear “Mindcrime” on the other line. Fans of Queensryche will know what I’m on about. But the phone keeps ringing, until you hear footsteps walk towards it and eventually the phone is picked up and a woman’s voice says “Hello”. Then some symphony music comes in, sounding hopeful and familiar but it gets dark towards the end, ominous, a forewarning with the words of “Hello Apollo, where should I begin” spoken right at the end. 

In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3

How good is that clean guitar intro and the fuzzed lead? 

When I watched the band live in Sydney, the clean tone guitar intro was a sing-a-long moment as we hummed and yelled the intro notes.

Then at the 40 second mark, the whole band kicks in and its head banging time.

At 6 minute and 30 second mark, the intro comes back and the songs builds into a massive wo-oh-oh chant, sort of like the chant in “Heaven Can Wait” from Iron Maiden. In the live arena, this was another sing-a-long moment.

Cuts Marked In The March Of Men

I like the staccato like groove to kick off the song.

Three Evils (Embodied In Love And Shadow)

That section from the 3.20 minute mark. Listen to the music and the vocal melody especially when the lyric goes “Pull the trigger and the nightmare stops”.

The Crowing

There is the middle section which is progressive with metal influences.

Blood Red Summer

This is their pop punk song. The best part is the “what did I do to deserve” section. Listen to the riff, the pentatonic lead section

“The Velourium Camper” suite is divided into 3 sections of over 15 minutes of music.

The Velourium Camper I: Faint of Hearts

It starts off like a modern Kansas song. 

The Velourium Camper II: Backend of Forever

The intro is a favourite, those palm muted notes over a staccato like guitar riff.

The Velourium Camper III: Al the Killer

“Bye bye world, bye bye world/Die white girls, die white girls.” You get an idea what Al The Killer is all about.

A Favor House Atlantic

Another pop punk song like “Blood Red Summer”. 

The words you scribbled on the walls, the loss of friends, you didn’t have, I’ll call you when the time is right

When I look at the words in this verse, I think of this doco I watched on the Columbine School shootings and how the students were hiding out in a closet and waiting for someone to save them when the time was right.

The Light & the Glass

The acoustic arpeggios to start it off make it campfire heartland cut. And throughout its 9 minutes, it rocks and rolls and for the last two minutes, there is a guitar lead and a vocal line that keeps repeating; “Pray for us all”.

2113

It’s got nothing to do with “2112” from Rush even though countless posts would state otherwise. This song reprises two other tracks in “The Amory Wars”, namely “Time Consumer” and “IRO-bot”, both from the previous album “The Second Stage Turbine Blade”. And you need to listen to the section from about 5.15 minutes to about 5.50. I think it’s very Lifeson like.

And because I have some of the super editions from “The Afterman”, the record vault posts for Coheed and Cambria will be single posts for each album.

The standout songs here are the title track and “The Light And The Glass”.

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

Thunder Bay Down Under Summertime Spin Series – The Butterfly Effect

Here is the usual prologue.

My blogger pal Deke over at Thunder Bay had a cool Northern Hemisphere Summertime Series between July and August.

Each week, he wrote about albums he spun during the summer.

Well, the real Earth summer is between December, January and February in the Southern Hemisphere.

So the good act that Thunder Bay is, boarded a Qantas plane, landed in Sydney, survived 14 days quarantine in a Sydney hotel and is finally here to present the “Thunder Bay Down Under Summertime Series”.

“Final Conversation With Kings” is the third studio album by The Butterfly Effect.

On this album, the band moved into a more progressive style of writing, bringing in moods and different ways of organizing the songs structures. And the public liked it, as it went to number 3 on the Australian Charts.

But all was not well within the band.

The previous album “Imago” was completed with a lot of tension between the members.

On the “Imago” touring cycle, it got to the stage when Boge and band co-founder and guitarist Kurt Goedhart did not speak to one another for the entirety of their six-week American tour with Chevelle.

These tensions would resurface and affect the recording sessions for the “Final Conversation of Kings” album. Disagreements happened in relation to which songs to do, the limited budgeted time in the studio they had and the final song selection of the album.

The title is about conflict. The final conversation has happened and the Kings cannot resolve their issues, so the next step is war. The overall theme of the album is about conflict. The title is also a translation of a Latin phrase “Ultima Ratio Regum”.

The last minute of “Worlds On Fire” especially when vocalist Clint Boge starts singing, “I didn’t ask for this at all, when my back’s against the wall, and my face painted for war, I didn’t ask for this at all”.

It’s Brilliant.

And this song to be included as the opener caused tensions. Boge wanted it and the other members thought it was a closer.

“Final Conversation” is my favorite. It starts off slow and it just keeps building and when the section with the vocal line of “Just stay tonight and never leave, Cause in the morning we’re going home, Just stay here” is excellent.

“The Way” has a progressive feel to the song, there’s a sleazy sax on it and it feels like a crime noir soundtrack.

And those last two minutes.

You will notice a trend here, like a good novel that finishes each chapter in a cliffhanger making me want to explore further, TBE do the same with each song. They end em so powerful and so melodic, that I need to explore further.

In the “Window And The Watcher” that whole section from the minute thirty mark to the end.

Brilliant.

“…And The Promise Of The Truth” has this reggae rock feel in the verses with a memorable pre-Chorus and Chorus.

But the last 70 seconds of the song. Brilliant.

“In These Hands” kicks off with a pull off and hammer on lick before moving into a melodic lead which is like a riff.

The last 90 seconds.

Listen to it, from when it quietens down and rebuilds up.

The way “7 Days” starts off I was hooked straight away. That guitar riff, the volume swells and E-bow effects which also sounded reversed just add to the sadness the riff creates.

Like all the other songs, the last two minutes need to be heard. Boge on vocals uses his voice like an instrument, on some occasions it’s like a guitar lead.

“Rain” is more straight forward hard rock with a frantic drum groove.

And in the first chorus, Boge is more baritone in his delivery, hidden in the mix so when he sings “Let it rain down on me” when the chorus appears the second time, there’s impact.

There is this Muse and Tool like section as part of the interlude which gets the head banging.

Album closer, “Sum Of I” has a fast digital delay style riff. Vocally Boge is using his voice like an instrument, and when he starts to sing “how do we stop this again?”, well, it’s perfect.

Of course after this album touring cycle, the band broke up.

But they reconnected around 2017 and in 2018, they released their first new music in ten years, with the single “Broken”.

They went on tour around Australia and performed a run of sold-out shows. Their tunes and their style of music experienced a resurgence in Australia and The Butterfly Effect name was back in the spotlight.

And new music is on its way.

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

Native Tongue

I was going through a few old mags today. This one takes me back to April 1993, Nuno Bettencourt and Brian May are on the cover and the magazine is “Guitar For The Practicing Musician”.

And reading reviews with the benefit of hindsight is always interesting.

In this case, its “Native Tongue” from Poison.

Here is the word for word review in italics by Vic Garbarini on page 150.

PERFORMANCE: Chliched and confused.
HOT SPOTS: “Bring It Home”, “Fire And Ice”
BOTTOM LINE: New axeman Kotzen breathes some life into faltering popsters

CC DeVille era Poison may have been nothing but ultra-light L.A pop-metal posing as glam and looking for a good time but they had one saving grace – they were fun.

Deville claims he wrote most of their catchiest material and his departure last year left the band without their linchpin just as the Seatle crew set off the alternative revolution. That left bands like Warrant and Poison sounding more marginal than ever.

“Native Tongue”, Poison’s first post DeVille effort, is a mixed blessing at best. The good news is that guitarist Richie Kotzen, when he manages to avoud the usual post-Eddie cliches, plays with a fluid volatility in the Jimi/Eddie/Randy tradition that lends desperately needed weight to the sound.

Unfortunately Bret Michaels posturing vocalsmake Joe Isuzu sound deeply sincer, whole the band’s cliched progressions and by the numbers choruses tend to disspiate Kotzen’s fiery eloquence. But when they hand the new guitarist the reins, as on the crunch’n’funk of “Bring It Home”, the band sounds fresh and renewed.

Who the fuck is Joe Isuzu?

That was the question I had after reading this review because I was buying this album regardless of whatever the review said.

I have Google today, but back in 93, all i had was this magazine and his name. So Google tells me that he’s a fictional salesman in a series of ads for Isuzu. In the ads, Joe Isuzu is a pathological liar who makes outrageous claims about the cars.

While Brett looked the pretty boy, he did have a blues soul voice and Kotzen’s blues rock playing definitely gets Michaels into gear on this album.

1993 reviews had a bias against 80s bands and were very unkind to 80’s artists known as glam metallers or hair metallers.

Case in point is the gospel influenced “Stand”. If U2 released it, the review would be glowing but Poison released it and its cliched.

This album is a must listen for any Poison fan. And since I’m a fan of Kotzen, and a fan coming into this album, his playing is excellent and I rate this album as one of the best guitar albums of that year.

This band didnt survive past this album and while Poison sold a lot of albums in the 90’s via their “Greatest Hits” release, they would be a shadow of their former glory, even after CC DeVille returned.

Make sure you check out the Hot Spots tracks first as I 100 percent agree, they are the best and then explore the rest.

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The Ultimate Sin

The people who run the Ozzy Osbourne machine are trying their best to kill “The Ultimate Sin”.

By 1986, the legend of Ozzy Osbourne was growing. After telling the world he wrote the “Bark At The Moon” album with one finger on the piano, the metal community waited with anticipation as to what magic Ozzy’s finger would create for the follow up.

Ozzy was in rehab once again and the people that held it all together were Bob Daisley and Jake E Lee.

So coming into “The Ultimate Sin” album process, the Osbourne camp needed ideas. Jake E. Lee got burned on the song writing credits for the “Bark At The Moon” album, so he demanded a contract up front before he even started writing.

By the time Ozzy came out of rehab, Jake had already compiled 12 songs and half of em ended up on the album.

Apart from “Shot In The Dark” (which is credited to Phil Soussan and Ozzy Osbourne) all of the lyrics on “The Ultimate Sin” are written by Bob Daisley.

Daisley had a falling out and Ozzy fired him.

Of course, the Osbourne’s didn’t credit Daisley for his song writing contributions on the initial 1986 pressing of the album, though this was corrected on subsequent pressings. So there are 500,000 albums out there that don’t credit Bob Daisley.

Daisley and Lee are not their favourite people, but that doesn’t mean you screw em over for their royalties.

Then again, “Shot In the Dark” got the glory as the lead single and is probably the reason why the album is not available on CD anymore depending on who you believe. Overland brothers vs Osbourne, or Soussan vs Osbourne, or Overland vs Soussan.

At one stage in the late 90’s, this album was deleted and you couldn’t get any new copies. One of the Australian mags mentioned it’s because of Sharon Osbourne’s contract disputes with Bob Daisley and Jake E.Lee. Maybe it was the authorship issue of “Shot In The Dark”.

The Ultimate Sin

The drum intro from Castillo sounds like paper skins, but as soon as the riff kicks in from Lee, it’s head banging time.

Check out the solo.

Secret Loser
Killer Of Giants

Both tracks are from Ozzy Osbourne’s forgotten “Ultimate Sin” album released in 1986.

Who remembers the movie “The Wraith”?

Charlie Sheen stars in it, as a person who comes back to life to avenge his death at the hands of a car gang (who got away with the murder). He kills his murderers by racing each gang member to death. Well, “Secret Loser” appears during one such car race and it connected right away with me.

How good is the riff?

Trapped in a lonely body
I’m losing control
Can’t show my emotions
And I’m losing my soul
Could it be that I’m obsessed with feeding my disease
I couldn’t make it known the hidden things no one sees

Daisley was pretty good at writing autobiographical stories of Ozzy. I think this one is no different, especially the line about how Ozzy is obsessed with feeding the disease and in this case, the disease is the persona of Ozzy being constantly intoxicated, drugged out and doing something publicly embarrassing.

I can understand that what you see
You think is real
But underneath the surface is a wound
That cannot heal

It’s almost like being a fly on a wall in a shrink therapy session. Just imagine the big bad rock star with an image of decadence and debauchery breaking down within the confines of four walls and a chair.

“Killer Of Giants” is as good and as classic as “Diary of A Madman” in my view. Musically, it’s excellent. It’s got that acoustic introduction, social and political lyrics courtesy of Bob Daisley, a great chorus and excellent guitar playing from Jake E. Lee, plus a killer vocal melody from Ozzy.

If none of us believe in war
The can you tell me what the weapon’s for
Listen to me everyone
If the button is pushed
There’ll be nowhere left to run

Daisley, grew up with the threat of the button being pushed. For the generation of today, the threat of nuclear war is in the past, forgotten.

Killer of giants threatens us all
Mountains of madness standing so tall
Rising so proudly it has nowhere to fall
This killer of giants

At the moment our leaders are having a war of words with “rogue nations”. While sticks and stones hurt, a barrage of words can undo all truth.

“Lightning Strikes” borrows from Crazy Train and its instantly a favorite.

It’s 35 years old and no re-release has happened. But the fans don’t forget.

It was my entry point to Ozzy.

Play it loud.

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The Record Vault – Casting Crowns

Once upon a time, in the early 2000’s, the area where I lived had some strange phenomena going on. A radio station frequency I used to tune in for pop rock was also used by a Christian station.

If the radio was at the front of the house, it played Christian music and towards the back of the house it played the normal pop rock.

For some reason, the same FM frequency was used for both stations, and the only way it was separated was via geographical means. But if you lived on that geo border like I did, you just got a blend.

And that’s how Casting Crowns came into my life.

There’s a lot of Jesus, a lot of Lord, a lot of Him and a lot of the Father. Sometimes too much, but hey, that’s their thing. Musically the band is excellent and singer Mark Hall, has one of the best voices from the modern times.

Casting Crowns

The debut, which I got after “Lifesong” and “The Altar And The Door”. Released in 2003 and super successful with double platinum awards from the RIAA for sales in the U.S.

“What If His People Prayed” kicks off the album.

“Voice Of Truth” is like a Journey piano ballad musically in the verse with lyrics derived from various Bible texts. But the Chorus is Arena Rock.

“Who Am I” is another piano like ballad that is basically a rock song. At almost 61 million streams on Spotify, it’s one of their hits.

“American Dream” is like those early 2000 US pop anthems, just think of “Teenage Dirtbag”.

His American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
“Daddy, can you come to my game?”
“Oh Baby, please don’t work late.”
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away

Build your own dream, and don’t let the factories of school and universities condition you into believing that you are here just to get a job. You are here to expand your mind and live the life you want to live.

“Here I Go Again” has an addictive piano riff to kick it off.

“Glory” has an intro riff that could have come from “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”.

The vocals of Mark Hall are so underrated. Very Bob Seger like.

Lifesong

Released in 2005.

“Lifesong” starts off with a guitar riff that reminds me of The Edge.

But it was “Praise You In The Storm” and “Does Anybody Here Her?” that came across on the radio, that hooked me in as a fan.

“Love Them Like Jesus” and “Set Me Free” both have piano riffs in the intro which are memorable, as they go deep into a broken home and depression.

Make sure you check out the Chorus to “Set Me Free”.

It hasn’t always been this way
I remember brighter days
Before the dark ones came
Stole my mind
Wrapped my soul in chains

I always have doubt. I can even procrastinate forever because of doubt. But even those feelings change with time. But some don’t get out of the funk. Depression is a killer.

The Altar And The Door

Released in 2007 and the platinum run of albums continues. It was probably one of my favourite rock records for the year.

What a great opener “What This World Needs” is. It reminds of Bon Jovi and “Hey God” for some reason.

What this world needs is not another one hit wonder with an axe to grind
Another two bit politician peddling lies
Another three ring circus society

Even though the song is about the world needing a saviour, there is so much truth in the verses. The politicians peddling lies got even worse in a decade after this release.

What this world needs is for us to stop hiding behind our relevance
Blending in so well that people can’t see the difference
And it’s the difference that sets the world free

Our society is built to make us all fit a stereotype, shave off our nice little edges that make us different. Same, same is good for business and governments. Viewpoints and different ideas aren’t good, until you change the world.

“Every Man” brings out a Beatles like riff. “Slow Fade” is excellent. “East To West” is also excellent.

Until The Whole World Hears

Released in 2009. And the platinum records continue.

The title track opens the album, with a boogie and a riff that wouldn’t be out of place on any modern rock album.

We’ll sing until the whole world hears

Amen to that.

There is a bit of Coldplay here in “Joyful, Joyful”. And there’s a bit of One Republic in “At Your Feet”.

“Holy One” rocks out of the gate, with a recognizable distorted riff.

Come To The Well

Released in 2011. This one is Gold and on its way to Platinum. It’s not on Spotify for some strange reason.

Like all the other albums, it starts off with a rocking anthem. In this case it’s “Courageous”.

“City On The Hill” sounds like the rock songs doing the rounds on the charts. “Already There” is another nod to their U2 and Coldplay influences.

“Spirit Wind” is like those songs from the heartland. “Angel” is one of those ballads they do so well and “My Own Worst Enemy” brings some rock and grunt and distortion to the mix.

Thrive

It’s a great cover.

Released in 2014. This one is also Gold and on its way to Platinum. With each album they kept adjusting their sound a little bit. This one has that country rock vibe along with some of that contemporary rock doing the charts like Imagine Dragons.

Stand out tracks are “Thrive”, “All You’ve Ever Wanted”, “Just To Be Held”, “You Are The Only One”, “This Is Now” and “Love You With The Truth”.

And my favourite is the Springsteen like “House Of Their Dreams”. It’s got that “My Hometown” vibe.

There are so many moods and emotions here around the music and the melodies.

They’ve released a few more albums after this, but like all things, you fall in and out with artists and I sort of lost track of them after “Thrive”.

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1985 – Part 12

I was always on the lookout for bands that were not part of the mainstream magazine press when it came to metal and rock music.

Waysted – The Good The Bad The Waysted

It’s Pete Way from UFO but Paul Chapman on guitars steals the show. His riffs and leads are excellent. Fin Muir on vocals has a bit of UDO in his style and the grit he brings, works.

“Hang Em High” brings the heavy blues rock to the 80’s with a bit of a George Lynch style inspired verses. The vocals bludgeon their way and it’s the perfect anti-hero to the MTV stars of the day.

“Hi Ho My Baby” delivers the classic rock sound of the 70’s, more Free like, but people would say it’s more like AC/DC.

“Heaven Tonight” takes a bit of Journey from the piano department to deliver the songs foundation, but the song rocks away for a ballad, with a Rod Stewart like vocal and Chapman on guitar delivers the riffs and the melodic leads.

Check out the arpeggio intro to “Manuel” and when it kicks into overdrive, its melodic rock heaven and the last 90 seconds is a section which reminds me of the piano riff in “Love To Love” and the guitar solo. It’s perfect, allowing UFO to influence the new.

“Rolling Out The Dice” sounds like a song The Cult would write in a few years’ time.

“Land That’s Lost The Love” could be one of the best UFO songs that didn’t appear on an UFO album. Chapman delivers a verse riff straight from the gutters of the Sunset Strip, but the Chorus, is classic UFO, a vocal melody which is catchy over a guitar melody. Make sure you check out the lead break from Chapman.

Overkill – Feel The Fire

I liked the logo as it was a tweak on the Iron Maiden font. But I never got any of their stuff in the 80’s because my budget was limited, they virtually got no promotional push in Australia, which meant their albums wouldn’t be in stores and they had a lot of competition.

“Raise The Dead” is pure speed metal. The band is labelled as one of the earlier thrash pioneers, but thrash is a generic term.

Check out the main verse riff and see if you can name the song that inspired it?

“Rotten To The Core” blasts out of the gate like “The Four Horsemen”. A classic and still part of their live show today.

Check out the lead break to “There’s No Tomorrow”. Its guitar hero worthy from Bobby Gustafson.

“Hammerhead” has a riff in it, that Metallica would use on “Disposable Heroes”. And the lead break again from Gustafson is shred’a’licious. The title track “Feel The Fire” is another favourite. It’s got riffs and leads and it will get you playing air guitar. There is a section which is almost “Over The Mountain” like.

Nasty Savage – Nasty Savage

It’s funny how metal musicians got labelled as drunks, drug takers, anti-social and what not. But everyone seems to forget that most of the musicians of bands who had deals but never made it big were serious players.

Nasty Savage live in some weird world of speed metal, hard rock and technicality.

1985 was probably the last year when genres didn’t matter and artists incorporated so many different musical elements into their music. Afterwards, labels would hear bands like Nasty Savage and tell them to change their style to suit a genre which they created and could market.

On Metal Blade, signed by Brian Slagel after their 1984 demo “Wage Of Mayhem”, started doing the rounds on the underground circuit.

“No Sympathy” has this dramatic ominous symphonic music for 50 seconds, before the intro riff kicks in. It’s more technical than the speed metal of early thrash metal. Mercyful Fate comes to mind immediately.

“Gladiator” is more of a hard rock tempo, with a head banging riff. Vocally, Nasty Ronnie is more theatre like, mixing, King Diamond falsetto’s with baritone chainsaw barks. If you like polished hard rock style vocals, then this isn’t for you.
I read a live review in which Nasty Ronnie even smashed a TV set on his head.

At 2 minute the song changes feel before it moves into the solo.

Other tracks are “Fear Beyond the Vision” (listen to the ball busting falsetto’s in the Chorus) and the garage sounds of “Metal Knights”. Check out the lead break in this one. Guitarists Ben Meyer and David Austin have shown, four songs in that they are ambitious and progressive in their song writing.

“Dungeon Of Pleasure” has a great intro riff. “Psycopath” has an intro which is just bass and drums before the harmony melody of the guitars comes in. And then it goes into this demented and chromatic riff.

Lizzy Borden – Love You To Pieces

I judged Lizzy Borden on their logo that they would be like Venom. I know it’s a terrible comparison. So when I pressed play and I heard the hard rock and heavy metal riffs with a vocal style which was more hard rock than anything, I was like goddamn, I’m never judging things by their cover again.

Lizzy Borden is maybe the pre-cursor for Ghost.

Check out tracks like “Council For The Cauldron” for the Iron Maiden like riffs and the melodic lead breaks.

“Psycopath” has this “Friday On My Mind” style feel, just a bit more metal like and some extra additions to make it different. “Love You To Pieces” is a heartfelt ballad about you know, ripping up your loved one into pieces.

And the piece d’resistance is “American Metal”. It more or less sums up the different types of guitar riffs from the metal bands. There are riffs influenced by EVH, Rhoads/Lee, Crosby/DeMartini and Tipton/Downing.

220 Volt – Mind Over Muscle

I heard these guys well into the first 2000’s decade. I really like their merge of early Scorpions, NWOBHM and acts like UFO, Deep Purple and Rainbow. Think of how Europe sounded on their first two albums before “The Final Countdown” merged with Malmsteen’s metal opus “Marching Out”. It’s melodic, its metal, its rock and it works.

This album continues the great work set up on their self-titled debut in 83 and its follow up, “Power Games” in 84 and the song “Power Games” appears on this album and its one of my favourite tracks on this album.

Stand out tracks apart from “Power Games” are “Electric Messengers”, “Secret Dance (Xymania)”, “Blessed By The Night”, “Halloween” and “Mind Over Muscle”.

Crank it and check out the guitar playing.

Faith No More – We Care A Lot

How good is that bass and drum groove from Billy Gould and Mike Bordin to kick off “We Care A Lot”?

Then the keys from Roddy Bottum come in and Mr Jim Martin brings in riffs, here and there to decorate. Vocalist Chuck Mosley does his street rap and street singing style which works for me, over the progressive song structures created by the rest of the band.

Then Mr Martin wrote a nice acoustic classical/flamenco piece called “Jim”.

“Why Do You Bother” also has those drum and bass grooves with the keys over it, which makes the unique Faith No More sound.

“Pills For Breakfast” has a metal like riff and groove which gets me to pick up the guitar and learn it. They didn’t have time to write lyrics. So the music takes it away. And tracks like “As The Worm Turns” and “New Beginnings” have some great musical moments.

And this brings to end the 1985 series after 12 posts. I am off to the year 2000, for the thirteenth and last post of that series.

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