Category Archives: Classic Songs to Be Discovered

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

The Case For Cryptic Writings

It’s 1996 and you are writing riffs for your next album. Your first four albums pushed the boundaries of technical thrash metal. Your last two albums went for more accessible song structures, which gave you radio airtime.

Seattle came and went but its cultural changes remained. Industrial Metal was becoming a thing, Alternative Rock, EMO and Goth Metal/Rock were slowly becoming a thing.

Your label wants to sell albums and the only way you can sell albums in their eyes is by having your songs on the radio.

You also fired your previous manager, as you believed that he was also taking a paycheck from the label. He reckons he wasn’t but hey that’s a story for another day.

So what do you do?

These were the questions that Dave Mustaine had to answer in 1996.

This wasn’t the Dave from ten years ago, addicted to drugs and with nothing to lose. This Dave had something to lose now, a family and a corporate machine called Megadeth.

Freedom to do what you want doesn’t come when you have something to lose. In addition, this Dave had been in and out of rehab since 1988, and he just finished another rehab stint just before the “Cryptic Writings” sessions started.

Oh, and by the way, his band was also splintering.

Actually his band was always splintering, but the longest running version of Megadeth was splintering. For those who don’t know, this version involves Marty Friedman, David Ellefson and Nick Menza (RIP).

Dan Huff is producing and the new management company ESP Management was led by Bud Prager, who had guided Foreigner from a small time rock band to an 80 million seller.

Mustaine still had a chip on his shoulder from a certain band he was in and he “wanted what Metallica had even if it meant selling a piece of his soul to the devil” (his exact words on page 276 of his bio).

Trust

The drum intro. Its familiar.

Avenged Sevenfold were very heavily influenced by it for their opening track “Shepherd Of Fire” on the “Hail To The King” album. Metallica had “Enter Sandman” before this and the great AC/DC had “Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap) before all of em.

Once a great drum hook, it’s always a great drum hook.

If I look into my crystal ball, I can see the heirs of the artists or the Corporations that would end up owning the Copyrights litigating against others for this drum groove in the future.

When that riff kicks in, its head banging time. Yes the tempo is slower, the song is more accessible but it wasn’t a sell out. This was still very much Megadeth.

The Chorus; anthemic.

Apart from becoming a set list staple, it’s also their biggest hit single.

Almost Honest

That intro riff.

It’s bone crunching with a feel and vibe from AC/DC and a Major key Chorus which is a massive no-no to the Minor key Thrash community.

In the end, Mustaine was trying to rewrite “Symphony Of Destruction” and he got a song that sounded similar but different enough to stand on its own.

Very accessible but still very much like Megadeth.

Use The Man

Alternative rock or Grunge. Take your pick as it’s still rock and metal to me.

Plus I always like it when artists take what is popular at the time and still make it sound like their sound.

Mastermind

An intro riff influenced by “Walk This Way”.

The verses are demented, perfect for Mustaines snarling.

The Disintegrators

It’s fast and thrashing like the old Megadeth, but with more melody in the vocals.

If the main riff sounds familiar, Mr Hetfield was obviously influenced as “Lux Aterna” has a similar riff.

Then again, both Mustaine and Hetfield are influenced by the NWOBHM and this riff is from that movements playbook.

And the solo. Brilliant.

At 3:04, it’s over and the only thing left to do is to press play again.

I’ll Get Even

It’s got the same playbook as “Almost Human” but with clean tone in the verses and a psychedelic alternative rock Chorus.

And how good is the bass groove, locked in with the drums.

SIN

It’s accessible but it’s still Megadeth. The riffs are angry and head banging.

A Secret Place

From writing an accessible album, they came up with a classic, a song that still does the rounds in the live show.

As soon as the Intro kicks in, I was hooked.

Have Cool, Will Travel

The harmonica, and a groove reminiscent of “American Woman”, yet it still feels like a Megadeth track.

She-Wolf

A masterpiece.

Make sure you stick around for the Outro harmony section.

Vortex

Another classic but this one gets no love.

It’s a fast cut influenced by the NWOBHM especially Judas Priest, with a demented Mustaine snarl in the verses and an anthemic melodic chorus.

FFF

The fast punk that Megadeth is known for is evidenced here. Definitely a forgotten track.

The Wrap Up

The album achieved a Platinum certification but it didn’t bring in a new audience as Mustaine and his new management team had anticipated.

I read that hard core fans were confused. They liked it but didn’t like it completely. That viewpoint never made sense to me as I see myself as a hard core fan and I like it alot.

Mustaine mentioned in his book that by “trying to become more melodic and still remaining true to their metal roots”, he alienated his core fans with this album as he didn’t get the mixture right.

A terrible Howard Stern interview didn’t help matters either. And during the tour, Nick Menza was booted with Jimmy DeGrasso replacing him. However Menza would still return for the next album.

Overall, “Cryptic Writings” is a great album. The concise songwriting and simple arrangements suited Mustaine and for me, having this album in 1996 was a godsend, compared to some of the other confused albums my favorite artists started delivering during this period.

If you haven’t heard it, hear it. If you have heard it, hear it again.

\::/

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The Case For “Unmasked”

Gene Simmons hated it.

Paul Stanley called it wimpy.

Ace Frehley didn’t get the memo that the album was meant to be a pop rock album.

Peter Criss, well he just didn’t participate.

And I was confused why Paul Stanley didn’t use Desmond Child again, since their hit from “Dynasty” was co-written with him.

Instead Vini Poncia, who produced the album, co-wrote most of the tracks.

In case you are confused, I’m writing about “Unmasked” released in 1980.

It didn’t meet commercial expectations in the North American market however it did very good business in Northern Europe.

And in Australia, it sold more than 110,000 copies on the first day of its release and 3,000 more were stolen from a truck on the way to stores. Well, this is according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

You see “Kissmania” or “Kissteria” in Australia was about 4 years behind their U.S. peak.

It didn’t sound like past Kiss, but this record definitely gave the power pop / melodic rock scene a good kick in the ass. You had bands like The Raspberries and Small Faces, but suddenly you could mention Kiss in the same sentence.

Its influence on the Scandinavian market is large and it’s no surprise that a lot of melodic pop and rock artists and songwriters have come from these markets.

Is That You?

The opening track and it’s not even written by a Kiss member.

But it is the parent to “Lick It Up”.

Listen to the verse riffs in both. The feel and groove is the same. The layered backing vocals are also great, something which Def Leppard mastered with Mutt Lange.

And Stanley always challenged himself vocally, the falsettos on the pre-chorus are braver than the ball tearers on “I Was Made Lovin You”.

On a side note, as a solo artist, McMahon’s 15 minutes of fame came with “Cry Little Sister” from “The Lost Boys” movie, 7 years later.

Shandi

Australia was also going through a “disco ABBA mania craze”, so it’s no surprise that a crossover disco/rock pop ballad went huge here.

And if ABBA wasnt doing music like this anymore, fans would always look to others to fill the void.

If you want to hear what inspired it, press play on the song “Tomorrow” from Joe Walsh. Paul basically lifted the first 60 seconds from it. And Joe Walsh is far from wimpy.

Talk To Me

Ace steps up with a rocker, which did good business as a single in Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Australia.

It has an intro riff that sounds like it was influenced by Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl”.

The major key riffage in the Chorus reminds me of “Do Ya” from ELO.

Naked City

My favorite song on the album and one of Gene Simmons best, giving melodic rock music some grit.

It’s written by a committee involving Simmons, Poncia, Bob Kulick and Peppy Castro.

Ace even contributed a solo, while Anton Fig and Bob Kulick did the drums and guitars.

But it all started with Bob Kulick who had the guitar riff and he demoed the song with Peppy Castro.

But the final recorded version didn’t make Bob happy and he has said that “Kiss ruined “Naked City”.

Ruined or not, it’s my favorite. And if the demo is available anywhere, please share it.

What Makes The World Go Round

I always like it when artists take influences from different styles of music.

In this case, Paul is taking inspiration from soul act, The Spinners and fusing hard rock, pop, soul and R&B into a unique style that still sounds like a rock song.

How good is the Chorus?

Tomorrow

My second favorite.

The power pop of 2000’s acts like Wheatus, Good Charlotte and the like is right here.

It might sound light on the rock, but inside the song you’ll hear a feel and vibe from “Coming Home”.

It’s also influenced by “Tonight” from The Raspberries along with Rick Springfield.

And even the most hardened rocker cannot resist singing along to the Chorus.

Two Sides Of The Coin

More ELO meets Free from the Spaceman.

I forgot to mention on “Talk To Me” that Ace employs an Open G tuning, a tuning popular with slide players because with one finger they can play a chord instead of fretting the chord. He also employs this Open G tuning here.

Keith Richards was a well known user of this tuning, however many believed that Keith used this tuning because of how wasted he was. It’s easier to play with one finger than four. And that same view point was held for Ace, however if you look at interviews during this period you cannot see or hear Ace sounding wasted.

The lyrics are dumb but then again Kiss weren’t scholars when it came to lyrics, so that’s what makes their music fun.

She’s So European

Press play for the intro. That’s all you need to listen to here.

Then again Gene Simmons does a good job on the lyrics and melodies as well, about a girl with a glass of pink champagne and well you can read the rest.

Easy As It Seems

Another favorite.

Paul is the star of the song. His bass riff is sinister, yet groovy and his sense of melody elevates the track.

I’m also a fan of The Pretenders and it looks like Paul was influenced by them as their song “Mystery Achievement” came out in January, 1980 and Kiss released their album in May 1980.

Check em out, they are both great songs.

Torpedo Girl

Press play for that rhythm and blues swing drum groove and stick around to hear Ace summon Joe Walsh for the verse riff and The Beach Boys for the Chorus.

You’re All That I Want

It has that feel of early Kiss musically. And somehow it gets no love.

The Wrap Up

They didn’t tour the North American market, but they did hit Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It kept em in business.

On Australian TV they also got a lot of press and interviews.

They appeared on the Australian “60 Minutes”. The segment is on YouTube if you want to see it. Bill Aucion was also interviewed, telling the interviewer how Kiss was turning over $120 million a year, and how he was looking to get the band into movies and comic books.

We sort of know how that turned out with “The Elder”.

A few things to note for 1980.

AC/DC dropped “Back In Black”, a slab of hard and bluesy rock that proved you can be commercially successful during this period playing that style of music.

The NWOBHM was also gaining momentum. This was even harder sounding and more abrasive than AC/DC and it also had an audience that was growing.

Most of the acts who had success in the 70s were either broken up, or on their last legs with the original members and looking to bring in new members.

So I understand the “wimpy” and “not sound like Kiss” comments, but this album has aged well because so many of the songs are so well written.

For a band that was just not functioning anymore they still found a way to deliver a great album.

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

Four For Friday

I’ve written posts about songs which sound similar to songs which came before, with the lens solely focused on hard rock and heavy metal.

Like.

One Riff To Rule Them All

The Kashmir Effect

The Kashmir Effect 2

The While My Guitar Sleeps Effect

Sanitarium Debate

Just to name a few.

And I’ve always thought that Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath shared a connection musically but I’ve never verbalized it or wrote about it.

The viewpoint came from a 1995 documentary called “History Of Rock and Roll”, which has Ozzy recalling how “Led Zeppelin I” had a huge impact on him and his bandmates.

Let’s see what kind of impact.

DAZED AND CONFUSED (1969) vs PARANOID (1970)

The authorship of “Dazed and Confused” is heavily disputed and there are various pages out there specifying who wrote what and when.

But, for the sake of this post I will focus on the Led Zeppelin version.

There is a section in “Dazed and Confused” at the 5.02 mark that sounds very similar to the Intro in “Paranoid”.

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN (1969) vs PARANOID (1970)

Then the verse riff in “Paranoid” has a running E pedal point played over an E5 power chord for two bars, then a D5 power chord for the third bar and the fourth bar ends with three chords G, D and E at the end.

“Communication Breakdown” has a running E pedal point playing for one bar with three chords of D to A to D played in the second bar.

The similarities here are evident. In the way the three chords are played at the end of each bar and the running E note.

It’s basically musicians influencing each other.

But if the entities who hold the Copyrights to Marvin Gaye’s music had a hold of these rights, then there would be litigation everywhere.

HEARTBREAKER (1969) vs THE WIZARD (1970) and IRON MAN (1970)

These ones are a bit different sonically but they all have a common element, which is the Minor to Major transition.

For example, if it was in the key of E minor, it would be an Em to G transition. If the key was in A minor, it would be Am to C transition.

It’s a common element and a building block for creating but I’m sure if the rights of these songs landed with the heirs of Marvin Gaye there would be a lawsuit.

Bonus – SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE (1967) vs NIB (1970)

Check it out and let me know.

The same elements here are also heard in the song “Cocaine” which came out in 1976.

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Four For Friday

PET SHOP BOYS vs DRAKE

The Pet Shop Boys need to relax.

The lyric in question is “the west end boys and east side girls”.

The lyrics are the main Chorus words for “West End Girls” by Pet Shop Boys and those same words are said three times in Drake’s song “All The Parties”, which is a shit song by the way.

And the words are not said with any sense of melody or to a backing track of music. They are just said. Spoken like and then auto tuned.

But “East End Girls” is at 239 million streams on Spotify so the Pet Shop Boys are very protective of their intellectual property.

COPYRIGHT TERMS

John Naughton writing for the The Guardian said the following;

…especially copyright – have been monopolised and weaponised by corporate interests and that legislators have been supine in the face of their lobbying.

Authors and inventors need protection against being ripped off.

It’s obviously important that clever people are rewarded for their creativity and the patent system does that quite well.

But if a patent only lasts for 20 years, why on earth should copyright last for life plus 70 years for a novel?

Yes why should it.

When the songs from the 60s were recorded, the Copyright terms for the songs was 28 years with the chance to renew for another 28 years. A total of 56 years.

And yet those songs got retroactively locked up for a long time by a 1978 Amendment to the Copyright Act by Disney which changed the terms to “life of the creator plus 70 years”.

This would mean that Disney’s “Mickey Mouse” created in 1928 and based on the laws of the time, should have been out of Copyright by 1984 however it would be locked up until 2003.

But in the late 90s and with the 2003 date looming, another Disney amendment was made that extended this law for Corporate works to 95 years. So the Mickey Mouse work from 1928 would finally be out of Copyright in 2023.

And 10 months in, Disney hasn’t suffered the financial losses they said they would if they lost the rights to Mickey Mouse.

SITE BLOCKING

In Australia, the Labels and the Movie/TV networks can go to the Federal Court with a list of sites they want blocked and the Federal Court will just approve the lists and the ISPs will then need to block their users from accessing these sites

The Federal Court is meant to review the lists (which they don’t) before rubber stamping the lists (which they immediately do). Because hey, these entities are the good guys, trying to protect Australians from pirates. And the ISPs need to do their bit to protect the business models of the labels and studios.

WHAT I’M CRANKING RIGHT NOW

Savior from Rise Against.

I became a fan because of the Guitar Hero game this song featured on many years ago.

And at 618 million streams it’s definitely making money for whoever holds the rights to it.

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Tony Martin – Sweet Elyse

“Sweet Elyse” was released on the solo album, “Back Where I Belong” in 1992 on Polydor. Tony Martin decided to do a solo album when his Black Sabbath project was doing its “Dehumanizer/Dio” project.

Production was done by Nick Tauber, who is best know for his work with Thin Lizzy and Marillion.

The album is not on Spotify, which irks me. But YouTube has a lot of uploads from fans, who call Tony Martin the best Sabbath vocalist ever.

And “Back Where I Belong” is not available anywhere to buy these days, unless someone’s selling a second hand copy.

The reason why it’s not available are varied. When Martin rejoined Black Sabbath, Polydor deleted the album from their catalogue and took it off the shelves.

And somehow his manager at the time owns the entire rights to this album, which gets me thinking “how the hell did the manager pull that off” and “how is Copyright protecting the artist at this moment to give the artist an incentive to create”.

But I have seen interviews and posts where Martin mentions how he wants this album re-released and the label Battlegod Productions, which is the label for his solo album “Thorns”, is in negotiations for it.

The track burns from the start and it reminds me of songs like “Highway Star”, “Burn” and “Speed King” from Deep Purple.

And I like the familiarity.

The session line up for the song is also impressive.

Nigel Glockler from Saxon pounds those drums and Neil Murray from Whitesnake is the master of the groove.

Tony Martin also shows off his guitar prowess as he, Paul Wright and Carlo Fragnito play the rhythm guitars with Richard Cottle on the keys.

There are also demos floating around the internet of this album which has Tony Martin playing all the guitars.

For the solo, Adrian Dawson brings out his Blackmore influences. And it’s excellent.

Crank it.

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Vandenberg – Sin

Adrian Vandenberg has come full circle.

When John Kalodner met with him in 1987, Kalodner had two propositions; one was to replace all the Dutch members of the Vandenberg band with American musicians and the other was for Vandenberg to join Whitesnake.

Morally Adrian Vandenberg couldn’t do that to his Vandenberg members and he also couldn’t pass up on a position to work with a vocalist like David Coverdale.

So he chose Whitesnake.

But when he tried to resurrect Vandenberg circa 2014/15, those Dutch 80s members didn’t have the same moral conviction as Adrian did and they took him to court so he couldn’t use his own surname anymore.

Six lawsuits later and a lot of money spent, Vandenberg was allowed to use his surname again.

But while all of the lawsuits were happening, Vandenberg’s Moonkings was created and they released three albums.

Then Vandenberg returned, dropping the excellent 2020 album with former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie Romero on vocals, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Brian Tichy on drums.

And here we are in 2023, with another excellent album called “Sin”. This time around Adrian is joined by vocalist Mats Levén, drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Randy Van Der Elsen and the album is produced by Bob Marlette.

How cool is the cover art?

Once again, created by Adrian, he wanted to show an actual destination for the flying sharks who made their appearance on the “Heading For A Storm” album.

Instead of flying over a road in the desert, they are now flying into New York, the city of sin.

Thunder And Lightning

This is a person writing songs for the love of it. No pressure to write hits and no pressure to conform.

For those who grew up in an era of driving with the window down and cranking the music from the stereo, well this song is perfect for it.

Vocally, Mats Leven is channeling David Coverdale. Musically the song channels the spirit of Eddie Van Halen and the Euro blues rock of Michael and Rudolf Schenker.

Stick around for the guitar solo.

House On Fire

Heavy palm muted arpeggios start it all off with Leven singing in a low bass/baritone. Then it goes into a sleaze like riff.

This is a straight ahead rock and no one is doing it better in 2023 than Adrian Vandenberg.

Sin

This sounds so good. Vandenberg rewrote “Judgement Day” and I like it?

Then again “Judgement Day” is heavily based on “Kashmir”. And I still like it.

Alot of legacy artists keep saying “what is the point in writing new music as no one cares about it”. Tell that to Vandenberg.

Light It Up

Love the swagger on this.

Walking On Water

Ooh, that guitar intro and the vocal. Very 70s Free like.

And stick around for another masterful guitar solo.

Burning Skies

The album keeps going, sounding different from cut to cut. Like “Back In Black”. This one feels like a classic Scorpions cut.

Hit The Ground Running

It’s all about the vocal.

This one has Leven channeling Coverdale and the groove sits nicely on your lap.

Baby You’ve Changed

It’s intimate.

A ballad that rolls along like “Is This Love” and “The Deeper The Love”. But it’s not a copycat.

Out Of The Shadows

The arpeggio riff in the Intro reminds me of Coverdale/Page and their song, “Whisper A Prayer For The Dying” but the song is nothing like that.

It’s got this classic 70s Rainbow Dio era vibe and I like it.

It’s just 9 songs clocking in at 41 minutes. Like old school albums, pre CD.

Mats Leven is one hell of a vocalist. A journeyman like so many other vocalists from the late eighties and early nineties.

He came to my attention with the band Swedish Erotica in 1989.

He has then performed (just to name a few) with Treat, Yngwie Malmsteen, Candlemass, At Vance, Firewind, Trans Siberian Orchestra and Therion.

By doing so and picking up whatever work he could get, he found a way to survive the wastelands of the 90s and early 2000’s which were not very kind to hard rock vocalists. Jeff Scott Soto and Johnny Gioeli are two others that come to mind.

Finally, Adrian Vandenberg is 69. He still rocks as hard as he did when he was 29. He hasn’t mellowed out at all. He’s actually gotten heavier and he is free to write the music that he wants to write.

If you want to read my review of Vandenberg’s recorded output up to a certain point in time (it was up to 2014 and the first Vandenberg Moonkings album), you can read it here.

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Tony Martin – It Ain’t Worth Fighting For

Tony Martin never wanted to be a singer.

When he went to an audition with a band called “Legend”, he took his guitar.

But they said to him that they need a singer and wouldn’t let him play.

And then he gets the vocalist gig for Black Sabbath, who were going through an identity crisis between 1984 and 1987.

And as soon as he righted the Sabbath ship, he was out and Dio was back in for the “Dehumanizer” album.

And while that was happening on the Sabbath front, Tony Martin kept writing until he had enough material for a solo album.

“Back Where I Belong” was released in 1992 on Polydor.

“It Ain’t Worth Fighting For” is the opening track from the album.

The musicians are seasoned professionals.

Nigel Glockler from Saxon is on drums. Neil Murray from Whitesnake is on bass. Richard Cottle is a session pro, and he plays the keys and also performs the saxophone solo. Carlo Fragnito is on guitars.

A bit if trivia, Fragnito and his brother Anthony formed a band called Blacklace, with vocalist Maryann Scandiffio.

Hailing from Canada, their music is best described as NWOBHM. They released “Unlaced” in 1984 and “Get It While It’s Hot” in 1985. Like a lot of bands who didn’t see success right away, they struggled and eventually broke up.

Carlo then became a session pro.

As soon as you press play, the riff that smacks you in the face is reminiscent to “Headless Cross”.

But the track feels like a heavy blues rock track instead of a metal track.

If it ain’t worth fightin’ for
It ain’t worth having
And I just gotta have your love

The Chorus is Arena Rock. Make sure you pay attention to the melodic guitars underneath the vocal melody.

Bad Company comes to mind here and the feel from “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy.”

Vocally, Martin comes across as a combination of Lou Gramm and Paul Rodgers.

And that Sax solo works perfectly. It outlines the Chorus vocal melody with some improv.

Press play.

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The Record Vault and Australian Method Series: AC/DC – Fly On The Wall

Disaster. That’s how the American magazines described this album.

Released in 1985, the album never stood a chance.

It was fighting for our attention along with a lot of other things.

Like.

The trilogy of Mutt Lange albums were outselling everything else AC/DC put out during this period.

The Sunset Strip gave the charts and MTV a major shake up and sales followed.

The British had invaded the U.S again with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, a solo Ozzy Osbourne and Def Leppard cementing themselves as arena acts.

The Germans also invaded via a hurricane called The Scorpions.

And finally an underground Speed Metal scene in San Francisco was slowly taking over the U.S.

But in Australia we remained true. Never wavering. And we made it triple platinum.

But let’s go back in time.

The success of “Back In Black” in 1980 showed the labels that their was an appetite for hard rock music. And the labels wanted more of the same.

So it’s no surprise that by 1985, most of the label rosters had a lot of “hard rockers” on the books. But these rockers wore everything that wasn’t denim and their hair kept hair dressers employed for decades.

Even acts from the 70’s started to participate in this new look so they could remain relevant. But AC/DC didn’t change. They stuck true to their denims and Angus still wore the schoolboy outfit.

And the critics found them irrelevant while they still sold out arenas.

Fly On The Wall

The music is infectious and the vocals indecipherable.

Sign me up.

Shake Your Foundations

It was the only song that got a pass back in the day.

How good is that intro and the Chorus is iconic?

Plus it got decent radio play in Australia.

First Blood

Musically, it’s typical of AC/DC.

Lyrically, Brian Johnson is indecipherable and hard to understand.

Danger

“Come Together” comes to mind when I hear this.

“Here come old flat top” is what my ears are expecting when the song begins.

It’s no surprise that the Young brothers are referencing Chuck Berry here as his fingerprints are all over the riffs the Young’s write.

Sink The Pink

The music clip comes to mind here.

Seeing the band playing in a pub/bar again and that pesky fly from the cover getting a hard on (via its nose going from limp to hard) when a women dressed in pink enters the pub.

But it’s the music that seals the deal and Brian Johnson sounds better in the video than the recording.

I like the musical reference to “For Those About To Rock” and The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. So I was hooked.

“Sink the pink, it’s all the fashion”

It has so meaning meanings.

The Urban Dictionary tells us, sink the pink means to “have sexual intercourse with a virgin, and to pop her cherry”.

But the Urban Dictionary didn’t exist in 1985 and my young impressionable brain saw it as a song about drugs.

And thanks to the Internet, I believe it is.

Welcanol was known during the eighties as the South African Heroin (Pink Heroin). It could be obtained via a Doctor prescription and it came as a pink tablet.

So before OxyContin there was Pink Heroin.

“Drink the drink it’s old fashioned”

I’ll take an old fashioned drink any day.

Playing With Girls

I love the music and the groove here.

But I hate the title and the fact that Johnson is mixed low and indecipherable.

Definitely a missed opportunity here.

Stand Up

I like this song. It’s defiant and it rocks.

If you just listen to the Chorus you would think it’s about standing up and facing the world, but when you read the lines in context with the verses, well, it has a different meaning.

Hell Or High Water

A 4/4 groove and we are off.

But it’s pointless as Johnson is buried in the mix and the song is ruined.

Back In Business

A deep cut. It reminds me of ZZ Top and I like it.

Send For The Man

Musically it rocks but the buried Johnson chainsaw like vocals ruin it.

It’s not a perfect album, then again most of the albums released in 1985 are far from perfect. In other words, the era of more filler than killer was well and truly in motion.

But I would say, it’s an underrated album from a band that enjoys doing their thing without over obsessing about it.

The U.S tour had controversy. It all took place underneath the censorship discussions concerning rock music. Religious groups tried to ban certain shows while city officials wanted to rate each show and give the shows a movie style rating, which would then exclude fans from going. Fire officials would also get in on the act and limit or stop any pyrotechnics.

But the band went on.

In the vinyl album sleeve of the “Fly On The Wall” re-release from 2020, Angus sums up the tour like this;

“This tour’s a little like a series of wrestling matches with the loonies. But what’s the fun of life without an occasional tussle”.

Enough said.

Get to it folks. Crank it and start tussling.

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2001 – Part 6.2: Seven Mary Three – The Economy Of Sound

Six years had passed since “American Standard” (1995) hit the streets and chalked up a Platinum award.

Seven Mary Three was written about as an “overnight sensation” by the media. An overnight sensation which had built their success mile by mile since 1992.

They finally got their major label deal and switched to Atlantic from Mammoth after “American Standard”. Actually I think the labels were joined at one time and they split apart with the band agreeing to sign with Atlantic.

“RockCrown” came out in 1997 and it failed commercially. The emphasis on folk rock alienated their hard rock audience who didn’t want to go on this journey with them.

But “American Standard” was still selling and “Cumbersome” was still on radio, so Atlantic put them back in the studio. Let’s reap whatever sales we could get was Atlantic’s motto.

A year and a month later, “Orange Ave.” comes out and it also fails commercially. Atlantic dropped em and Mammoth took em back.

In 1999, one of their main songwriters, guitarist Jason Pollock left, citing writers block. Thomas Juliano took his place, joining vocalist Jason Ross, bassist Casey Daniel and drummer Gigi Khalsa.

And here we are in 2001, with “The Economy Of Sound”.

Sleepwalking

It’s written by Ross and Juliano. It reached #39 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

It’s a great post grunge/alternative rock track, reminding me as a cross between Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Rolling Stones, The Vines and Collective Soul.

Can’t stop this sleepwalking
Can’t stop my mind

A sense of being helpless or unable to exert control over our actions and thoughts.

And my spies realize that my hope’s euthanized by the paranoid ape in my heart

A feeling of disillusionment due to internal struggles or fears.

Wait

Written by Ross.

It reached #7 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and #21 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks.

It reminds me of the song “Signs” which Tesla made popular again in the early 90s. On its Wikipedia page, the song is criticized as being a “Goo Goo Dolls” knockoff or a Bon Jovi homage.

Regardless, this song is littered with some of my favorite lyrical lines.

Machines and luxuries don’t last

Machines and luxuries are temporary and can’t provide lasting fulfillment.

I took my sleep for granted in the past,

Taking our sleep for granted in the past, only to realize the consequences later.

And I woke up half-dead in the hourglass.

It portrays the feeling of time slipping away and the importance of valuing things that truly matter.

Wait, you’re almost there it’s gone

A sense of missed opportunity. We are always focused on the goal and in achieving something, but by the time we realize it, the opportunity has already passed.

It could be about realizing the value of something too late or the fleeting nature of moments.

I never found a gift you get for free, You pay for them dearly

Nothing is obtained without a cost.

Even though things might appear to be free initially, there is usually a significant price to pay in terms of effort, sacrifice, or consequences.

Faster

Written by Ross.

It’s standard pop alternative rock, more like what Good Charlotte would do.

Before tearing it down. I’m alone by my design.

A deliberate choice to be alone while making changes or taking actions.

Summer Is Over

Written by Ross and Juliano, it’s got this chromatic descending line, reminiscent of Stone Temple Pilots “Plush” and certain songs from Collective Soul.

And by some six degrees of separation that Seven Mary Three listened to the “Slang” album from Def Leppard, we’ll I hear that as well.

So this song is a definite like for me.

Honey

Written by Ross.

“Song No 2” from Blur comes to mind.

Still I Find You

Written by Ross.

And still I find you waiting for me on the other side.

A hidden deep cut, with its Led Zeppelin and Beatles feel. They should have lived in this world for a little bit longer and written more songs like this.

And it’s a favorite.

Breakdown

Written by Ross and Daniel.

Its aggressive like a Blur song and its got an excellent Bridge section which is very Beatles “Helter Skelter” like.

Man In Control?

Written by Ross, it’s got this groove and feel that The Wallflowers became famous for with “One Headlight”.

Zeroes and Ones

Written by Ross and keyboardist Kevin McKendree.

It’s got this “Heroes” vibe and I like it.

First Time Believers

Written by Ross, it feels like an attempt to be Collective Soul.

Steal A Car

Written by Ross.

Velvet Revolver comes to mind here and I like it.

Tug

Written by Ross.

It’s an acoustic heartland like cross that wouldn’t the out of place on a Jovi or Collective Soul album.

And the album was another commercial disappointment.

After the release, their label Mammoth would also be swallowed up by Hollywood Records/Disney and the band was again without a label.

But they continued.

A few more albums, a couple of EPs and a live album would come out and then in 2012, the band broke up.

There was no announcement or updates on their Facebook page.

Just the end.

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The Record Vault: Dream Theater – Tokyo, Japan 10/28/95

All at once in 2004, Dream Theater dropped three bootlegs under the sub headings of DEMO, COVER and LIVE.

The DEMO release was reviewed here, and it covered the “When Dream And Day Unite” period between 1987 and 1989.

The COVER release is their play through from start to finish of the “Master Of Puppets” album and will be reviewed next.

This review is on the LIVE release and as I’m writing this review it has not been re-released as part of the Inside Out re-releases/new releases.

So all we have at the moment is the Ytse Jam Records release.

The full 2 hours and 20 minutes, recorded live on the run of shows used to promote the “A Change Of Seasons” EP.

This is from October 28th, 1995 at NHL Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

The band is John Petrucci on guitars, Mike Portnoy on drums, John Myung on bass, James LaBrie on vocals and Derek Sherinian on keys.

Intro

There is a tape intro that goes for about 1 minute. It’s got a clock ticking and the sad piano lines from “Space Dye Vest” are played.

Then there is a voice over, some backwards sound effects and the octave notes from “Under A Glass Moon” kick in.

Under A Glass Moon

I like the surrealist title.

The verse riff on this song with the keys playing Chords over it. Perfection.

Stick around for the solo as it’s one of Petrucci’s best.

The Mirror

It’s a heavy song with Petrucci deploying the 7-string. Its intricate arrangements and dynamic shifts are interesting.

Lie

It goes together with “The Mirror” as some musical sections appear in both songs. This was a single from the “Awake” album, however it didn’t have the same success as “Pull Me Under” from the album previously.

The mix of heavy riffs and melodic moments, highlights their versatility.

Petrucci as usual delivers a few killer solo sections.

Lifting Shadows Off A Dream

It starts off like a slow jazz blues fusion jam before it goes into the well recognized bass intro.

It feels like a cross between U2, ballad like Marillion and 80s synth Rush.

Instrumental Medley

You get to hear “The Rover” from Led Zeppelin, “Killers” from Iron Maiden, “Damage Inc.” from Metallica, “In The Flesh” from Pink Floyd and “Heart Of The Sunrise” from Yes.

Press play to hear the way they fuse all these different songs into one cohesive track.

Innocence Faded

It’s in a major key. While it rocks it does have pop sensibilities.

But it’s the outro that you should listen to.

Because if you worship at the altar of guitar gods then the outro is for you. Even James LaBrie screams “John Petrucci” when it starts.

If you can’t find this track, then any other official live version or even the studio cut will suffice.

A Change Of Seasons

You get the full 23 minutes.

The way this piece is written is that each part can be played separately in the set list amongst other songs or it can be played as one song, like it is here.

And like all multi-part epics, it serves as the grand centerpiece of the show, displaying their songwriting prowess and technical skills in a live setting.

Lost Without You

“Lost Without You” was officially released in 2005 on John Petrucci’s solo album “Suspended Animation”.

But here it is, live in 1995.

Its an intimate and introspective moment within the setlist, very blues/jazz fusion like and I’m all in.

Petrucci nails it and the emotion drips from the strings.

Surrounded

The “Images And Words” album is all killer.

And this song is largely out of the conversation, however the band does a stellar job playing tracks from the back catalogue in the live setting.

After the piano intro and verses, the song picks up. Listen to how Petrucci decorates.

Derek Sherinian Keyboard Solo

I’m not a huge fan of solos in concert like this, but this one actually rocked and kept me interested.

It was a mixture of ragtime, blues, classical and cinematic/video game like music.

Erotomania

Mike Portnoy takes over the middle of the song with a drum solo.

But at least they go back into the song and to one of my favorite instrumental sections.

Voices

This is another song that seems like it’s out of the conversation when it comes to Dream Theater songs.

But it’s a classic

The Chorus is arena rock.

And that solo is what guitar heroes are made of.

The Silent Man

It’s a great acoustic song.

And they bring the 70s Classic Rock vibes (which is known as Country Rock these days) to it live.

Pull Me Under

Closing the main set with their most recognizable hit, leaves the audience energized.

The 1st Encore begins with a cover.

Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple cover):

The Deep Purple cover sounds like it came from the minds of Dream Theater.

You can hear the fun in the music and they definitely jam it out.

The 2nd Encore begins with the last two tracks of the “Images And Words” album. And for a 1995 set list it’s perfect.

Wait For Sleep (Acoustic version)

An acoustic version of “Wait For Sleep” is excellent.

Learning To Live

The grand finale. The whole song is a masterpiece.

And then that outro section. Wow.

In summary, its raw as a bootleg should be.

The setlist is diverse and it showcases their instrumental virtuosity and ability to navigate complex musical compositions.

There are mistakes and pitch issues but hey, if I wanted the studio recordings I would play them.

The inclusion of covers and acoustic moments also adds depth to the overall concert experience.

Crank it.

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