Category Archives: Music

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

Henrik’s Spotify List

Here is the playlist.

Henrik is a regular reader and commenter of this blog and a week ago he shared his Top 100 Spotify list for 2018.

Well, like all things that deal with music, I had to give it a listen, especially when I saw his number one was from a band I’ve never heard of. It’s always cool to see similar musical tastes/songs in other people’s playlists and it’s even cooler to be introduced to bands I have never heard before.

So after listening to the playlist, here are my selections of Henrik’s Top 100 Spotify List.

John Carpenter Powder Ballad
Turbonegro
From the album “Rock N Roll Machine”.

It’s the first time I’ve heard the song and the band. And its good. Don’t know how the band name would go down in the U.S, but hey from reading their Wikipedia page it looks like they like to push the political correctness debates.

For me, I’m a fan and the last minute of the song, makes me want to press repeat.

Hot For Nietzsche
Turbonegro
From the album “Rock and Roll Machine”

I dig all the references to “The Who” and so many other bands I like.

No Surrender
Judas Priest
From the Firepower album.

This was on my list as well.

In The Heat Of The Night
Make The Move
U.D.O
From the Steelfactory album.

U.D.O is hit and miss for me, but these songs have riffs and grooves too good to refuse. Especially, “Make The Move” which has a riff and vocal feel, very similar to a certain Beatsie Boys song called “Fight For Your Right To Party”.

Mess You Made
Only Human
Vega
From the Only Human album.

I’m interested, clicked on follow and we will see what the band does next.

Black Smoke Rising
Safari Song
Greta Van Fleet
From the “From The Fires” album.

Their path is like Led Zep. Coming out around 1968/2018 with a folk hard rock sound and tweaking it as they move into the 1970’s/2020’s.

Walk In The Shadows
Queensryche
From the “Rage For Order” album.

The song that made sense on this album on the first listen. The rest of the album took some time to digest, but this one was easy.

Dance Macabre
Ghost
From the “Prequelle” album.

It’s also in my 100.

Perfect Storm
Breathless
Volster
From the “Perfect Storm” album.

The first time i heard this band. And I clicked save on the songs and I also follow the band.

Distance
My Allied Ocean
Evergrey
From the “Storm Within” album.

These appeared on my list for 2017, and “Distance” also appeared in 2018.

A new album will drop in 2019, so expect to see Evergrey in my list next year.

This Time
Sometimes The World Aint Enough
The Night Flight Orchestra
From the “Sometimes The World Aint Enough” album.

These are also on my list.

Life On Death Road
Jorn
from the “Life On Death Road” album.

The riff is brilliant, and those outro leads make me press repeat.

Suite Sister Mary
Queensryche
From the “Operation Mindcrime” album.

I haven’t heard this in a long time.

Those voices/choirs remind me of the “Omen” movies. So powerful and it takes the song into the stratosphere.

Bark At The Moon
Ozzy Osbourne
From the “Bark At The Moon”

Here is the classic riff that Ozzy wrote with one finger on a piano while Jake E.Lee watched.

And that outro lead. I guess Ozzy’s finger moved really fast to write it and then show Jake E. Lee.

This is the bullshit of music copyright and how people with money and status can fuck up the real writers, in this case Bob Daisley and Jake E. Lee.

Quicksand Jesus
Skid Row
From the “Slave To The Grind” album.

One of the best Skid Row songs, especially when Sebastian Bach takes it to another level with his Bridge and Outro vocals. This is also on my lists of 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Fuel The Fire
One More Round
Bullet
From the album “Dust To Gold”.

I swear i thought i was listening to Keel singing. And to be honest, it’s the vocals that stop me from getting into it.

Fool On Fire
One Million Miles
Babylon A.D
From the album “Revelation Highway”.

“Fool On Fire” is not my favaourite as I prefered other songs over this one. But still cool to see Babylon A.D on another listeners list.

On the other hand, “One Million Miles” is up there as a sleeper classic.

The Art Of Loss
Redemption
From the album “The Art Of Loss”.

Any song that starts off with sweep picking, alternate picking scalar runs and a wicked beat/riff under it, is up there in my book.

Hope Dies Last
Redemption
From the album “The Art Of Loss”.

You need to be in the mood to sink your teeth into a 10 minute song. This one is also a favourite of mine, because it feels like a Fates Warning song.

And that section from about the 5.50 minute mark to the 6.10 minute mark is finger breaking stuff.

Master Of The Universe
Man Behind The Gun
Cool Runnin’
Palace

Never heard of the band before, however there sound is up there with the melodic rock i dig. I’m interested, what comes next is up to the band.

Show Dont Tell
Rush
From the album “Presto”.

No Rush made it to my list this year, but man, there was a big Rush period between 94 and 2004 for me.

I remember this song well, sitting down to learn the riffs, the feel and the groove.

And those open chord voicings from Alex Lifeson are perfect. A true master at simplicity and yet it sounds complicated.

Breathe With Me
In The Arms Of A Devil
Dynazty
From the album “Firesign”.

Yep, these ones are on my list as well. And those guitar solos, its guitar hero stuff. Sweep picking, string skipping, legato lines, bends, tapping, alternate picking. It’s got everything.

Break Down The Wall
Stone Fury

Ahh yes, Lenny Wolf’s German band before his U.S band, Kingdom Come conquered the world with their Led Zep influences and then when interviewers questioned them, they told everyone they have never heard of Led Zep. It’s okay to say you are influenced by others, it’s how music works.

This song is perfect melodic rock and you can more or less hear the embryo of Kingdom Come’s melodic side right here. I actually have it in a Kingdom Come playlist and it’s not out of place.

For The Love Of God
Bellevue Suite

Another new band to sink my teeth into.

Let It Go
Def Leppard
From the “High N Dry” album.

When you hear Def Leppard’s earlier songs, you get to hear the metal and rock ethos they started out with and this rock and metal spirit would sustain them.

This song rocks as hard as any song that came out during this period, but the embryo of those multi-layered vocals that took “Hysteria” to millions in sales are here.

Face It
Grand Design
From the album “Viva La Paradise”

Man, i really dig the music and the melodies, but the tone of the helium vocals is too much.

Take Hold Of The Flame
Queensryche
From “The Warning”

You can hear the embryo of the ‘Operation Mindcrime” album in this song.

The Warning
En Force
Queensryche
From “The Warning”

Two classic metal songs.

Please give that verse riff in “En Force” a real listen and try to pick out which song it’s borrowing from as it always eludes me. Is it a Thin Lizzy song?

Star Of Rio
The Night Flight Orchestra
From the “Amber Galactic” album.

Yep, this song is on my playlist for 2018 and it was in there for 2017. It’s a classic in my book.

Downtown
In And Out Of Trouble
H.E.A.T
From the “Live In London” album.

This band delivers a sound and style i like, and they are a tight band on this live album. Provided that the live album didnt fix things up back in the studio.

Masque Of The Red Death
Crimson Glory
From the “Transcendence” album

This is a blast from the past. I have this on CD, but i haven’t listened to Crimson Glory on Spotify at all.

One Night In The City – Live at Pinkpop Festival
Dio
From the album “The Last In Line” Deluxe Edition

Hearing Dio live, you get a sense of what a super tight band he had, especially Vinny Appice.

Man, the guy doesnt miss a beat at all.

King Of Errors
Evergrey
From the “Hymns For The Broken” album.

This song crushes.

The verse riff is simple and effective and the Queensryche “Operation Mindcrime” sounding Chorus riff is perfect.

What about that lead break?

Killer
Crazy Lixx
From the album “Ruff Justice”

This one is also saved on my playlists as it reminds me of Yngwie Malmsteen.

Marathon – Live In Birmingham England/1988
Rush
From the “A Show Of Hands” album.

Hearing Rush in a live setting, you get a feel for how good they really are and how tight they are as a live band. Especially for a three piece.

A perfect example of paying your dues and honing your chops for years before you make it.

Eyes You Dare Not Meet In Dreams
Redemption
From the album “Long Night’s Journey Into Day”.

Yep, this one is also in my list.

Havana
Red Dragon Cartel
From the album “Patina”.

Jake E Lee lays down a mean blues boogie shuffle in typical Jake fashion, but the vocal line melodies do not connect at all with me.

Bodom Beach Terror
Triple Corpse Hammerblow
Children Of Bodom
From the album “Hate Crew Deathroll”

Musically this band is brilliant and Alexi Laiho (i am spelling from memory here, so maybe there is a mistake) is one unbelievable guitarist. When you hear his style, it’s so heavily influenced by Randy Rhoads, which is perfect to my ears. Vocally it’s not my thing, but musically i really enjoy it.

Check out the solo in “Triple Corpse Hammerblow” and it’s “Over The Mountain” influence.

I even wanted to cover their songs in bands i was in and have the vocal melodies sung instead of growled.

Lock And Key
Rush
From the album “Hold Your Fire”.

Man i havent heard this song for a long time. I feel a Rush binge coming up for the Xmas holidays.

Tightrope
Vandenberg’s MoonKings
From the MK-II album.

Adrian Vandenberg sure knows how to write a good four minute song. This came across my playlists as well, but with so many releases coming through, it sort of got dropped off.

Reign Of Fire
Armored Saint
From the “Symbol Of Salvation” album.

This song is also on my lists. That opening riff is enough to break your desk and start swinging air punches.

Nobody’s Hero
Rush
From the album “Counterparts”

Again, it’s been a long time since we’ve shared a listening experience, so welcome back “Counterparts”.

Life In Still Water
Fates Warning
From the album “Parallels”.

It’s also been a long time since i’ve listened to the “Parallels” album, so it was cool to see this song on a playlist.

Thanks for the playlist Henrik and others should also check it out.

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A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music, My Stories

Fight The Copyright Powers That Be

I know this is a site about metal and rock but sometimes I need to go outside these styles.

Case in point.

Taylor Swift and her new record deal.

She left Big Machine Record’s and signed with Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.

In her new deal, Swift owns her Copyright. In other words, those master recordings are hers.

Remember I’ve been saying those who own their own copyright will win in the end. Swift isn’t stupid, she has seen how much streaming services pay the “copyright holders” of recordings. So instead of selling her rights to the corporation for a large advance right now, she’s keeping her future songs in her bank.

But that’s assuming that her future songs will have the same impact and success as her Big Machine Records catalogue, which in this case all stays with Big Machine Records.

The big one for me is how the sale of Universal Music Group Spotify shares are distributed (provided the sale happens).

Basically the label was in a powerful negotiating position against the streaming service because it had amassed a shit load of copyrights over the years. It held the rights of songs other people had written even when those songs should have been in the public domain.

So if Universal sells its Spotify stake, the label must pay all of its artists a cut of the sale as non-recoupable. Universal’s stake in Spotify is estimated to be above $850 million.

Sony already sold its stake for $768 million and Warner Brothers sold some of their stake for $504 million. Both labels, cashed up, distributed monies to their artists differently. Sony artists got monies paid as non-recoupable and Warner Brothers artists got the monies applied to their recoupable balances.

The VOX article gives a great example of why this happens:

When an artist signs with a music label, the label advances the artist some of the money it thinks the artist will bring in. Essentially, if an artist signs a $3 million contract, the label is saying, “We’re pretty sure you’ll earn $3 million in royalties in your first year of sales, so here’s that money early.” But that means the artist doesn’t get any more royalty payments until they’ve earned back that $3 million.

Whenever an artist hasn’t yet earned back an advance, they have what’s called “an unrecouped balance” with their label. As far as the label’s accounting books are concerned, the artist owes the label money.

So when a label sells Spotify shares — which means a big payday — it’s got two possible ways of sharing that payday with its artists. It can either count the money toward any unrecouped balances, or it can choose not to.

Sony decided that when it shared its Spotify money with its artists, it was going to ignore any unrecouped balances and send them the money directly, without applying it to their advances. Warner Brothers did the opposite, and applied the Spotify money to artists’ unrecouped balances before passing any of it along. In practice, that meant Sony artists got a big paycheck out of the Spotify deal, but the only thing that a lot of Warner Brothers artists got was the promise that they were a little bit closer to seeing an actual royalty statement someday.

For Universal, Taylor Swift is forcing their hand to distribute the monies to all artists regardless if they owe the label money or not.

Swift’s spirit here is the rock and roll spirit.

So how did a country artists who crossed over into pop become a rock star in ethos by standing up to the powers that be?

“We’re Not Gonna Take It” was the war anthem for a whole new metal/rock generation. But what are the rockers and metal heads doing right now.

Metallica with their label went to court against their fans, while Swift is seen as an artist standing up for other artists against the Copyright monopolies and greed of the record labels.

Like her or not, she had issues with Spotify and Apple over payments, and then probably realized it’s her label that was the issue.

Regardless, in true rock and roll spirit she asked for her music to be removed and it was. Until she decided it was time to put it back on, at the price she believed it was worth.

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

2018 -II – Feels Like I’ve Been Here Before

Here is the Spotify playlist.

The Day When Legions Burn
Trust
Desolation
Tremonti

Mark Tremonti is a riff master. He just keeps churning out song after song after song. He also knows the modern game is to release frequently and to get people to listen.

“The Day When Legions Burn” is up there as a classic speed metal song and those leads are guitar hero material.

“Trust” has got this groovy and cool intro/verse with a Chorus that would not be out of place in Creed and Alter Bridge. But that slowed down bridge section which reminds me of “Blackbird” is a fuck yeah moment.

And in “Desolation” that section from 2.15 minutes to the end is perfect.

Deja-Vu
Monument

From England and man you can hear their Maiden influences on the “Hellhound” album.

This song is actually a cover of one of my favorite and obscure Maiden songs from their “Somewhere In Time” album.

Monument also have a song called “Death Valley” on the album which has a vocal line similar to “Deja-Vu”.

Feels like I’ve been there before indeed.

Dance Macabre
Ghost

How good is this band?

They just nail it with riffs that remind me of songs from my youth and Tobias Forge is one hell of a lyricist and vocalist. Even if you don’t like his Evil Pope/Cardinal look, there is no denying he’s an excellent artist.

Lover
Artsidir

From Iceland and I have no idea how this pop rock band ended up on my playlist, but the song is catchy and it sounds familiar and it’s a cool listen.

Living In A Hurricane
King Company

From Finland. Another super group project of extreme metal musicians playing songs from their influences and I fucking dig it.

The intro riff is straight from the “Sunset Strip”.

The whole “Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough Album”
The Night Flight Orchestra

Read my review here.

Awaken The Tyrants
Motorjesus

From Germany.

This is the beauty of Spotify. Every artist from any part of the world is available to be found.

I love the sound of this song. It’s classic heavy metal the way I now it.

The whole “For The Love Of Metal” album.
Dee Snider

Read my reviews here and here.

The whole “Long Nights Journey Into Day”
Redemption

Read my review here.

Killing Ourselves To Live
Buzz
Black Vultures
Halestorm

Lzzy Hale gets it. She communicates with her fans via Twitter and she writes lyrics which reflect life. And her topic range is huge from tongue and cheek songs about threesomes and vibrators, to more serious subject matter about internet trolls and taking risks to stand for something.

“Killing Ourselves To Live” to me, is about not being afraid about the pain that the fight for a better life and society will bring ya.

“Buzz” based on the lyrics looks like it’s about a vibrator.

“Black Vultures” to me is about the social media haters (the black vultures) circling and waiting for Lzzy to fail.

Easter – Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Marillion

The lead break here is what hooks me. It hooked me from the first time I heard it and it still hooks me now.

Why Won’t You (Die Motherfucker)
Mile

Any song that starts off with the words “why won’t you die motherfucker it’s time for you to leave” has my attention.

It’s aggressive and energetic and I dig it.

It came across my radar when Spotify added it to one of their playlists which I follow.

And of course they are from Sweden.

Paralyzed
Feel The Way I Feel
Nonpoint

It sounds nothing like the Nonpoint I first heard, but goddamn it, I like it. It’s a risk and they are flying high with it.

Running Out Of Time
Home
Heartline
Ladders For Leaders
Dead Letter Circus

Great Aussie rock band.

“Heartline” and “Ladders For Leaders” are the standout tracks for me.

Check out these lyrics;

Villains created,
Become ladders for leaders
To keep us from asking
Who’s holding the strings
Coming from their backs

Governments defined. Create an enemy and use said enemy to ascend the political wilderness and rise to the top. And behind you, the corporations and their lobbyists are filling you with cash so you bow down to them.

Another Day
Ultraphonix

This album was an interesting experiment from George Lynch and Corey Glover and this song is by far the best.

Body Of Work
Degreed

Degreed are hit and miss with me. On this song, they nail the heavy rock in the verses with a super catchy melodic rock chorus.

And of course they are from Sweden.

Some Thing About Love
Saliva

It’s not Josey Scott on vocals but they still rock. This song could have been on a Good Charlotte album it’s that catchy.

Take Away My Soul
Uriah Heep

They are still rocking it, being led by Mick Box who is the only original member left.

I am not a person willing to buy into this (I’m a free man)
I stand by my own decision I made long ago (I’m a free man)
I am stronger and I go my own way

We believe we are free, but we are tied to a lot of institutions, it’s not even funny.

Plus there is an outro guitar solo that seems to go on forever and I like it..

The whole Persistence album
Kingcrow

From Italy.

Read my review here.

Walk Me Through The Fire
Nordic Union

The Road To Hell
Sunstorm

Nordic Union is a Danish/Swedish Frontiers project featuring Pretty Maids vocalist Ronnie Atkins and guitarist/songwriter/producer Erik Martensson from Eclipse and W.E.T.

Joe Lynn Turner fronts Sunstorm and melodic rock songwriter Alessandro Delvecchio provides keys and songwriting. “Road To Hell” is a song that has a few musical passages reminiscent of “Judas” from Malmsteen.

And I’ve had this feeling for a while that the projects Delvecchio and Martensson are involved in are starting to sound very similar. And Frontiers really needs a rethink here.

Remember this is why hard rock went into cardiac arrest while everyone blamed Grunge. Too much samey equals career suicide.

Stay tuned for 3.

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Copyright, Music, My Stories, Piracy, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

The Way The World Works

Corporations lobby the Government to have their taxes lowered while banking titans rort the system, say sorry at a Royal Commission and all is forgiven.

Welcome to Australia or any democratic country for that matter which has become a plutocracy.

Read this Guardian article about donations from a lobby group called Village Roadshow to Australian political parties.

Put enough coin in the pockets of politicians and watch them vote YES for the laws the corporation wants even though said law is bad for the people who voted the politicians in.

In this case the laws are all around Copyright legislation and site blocking powers. Plus Village Roadshow is allowed along with other entertainment lobbyists to direct search engines to remove links to sites they don’t like and there is no due diligence done.

Village Roadshow is basically allowed to become an internet police force as they tell ISPs to take down sites at their choosing.

You can imagine the heads of Village Roadshow agreeing to take some losses now financially and reap the benefits later. No different to the drug cartels who will allow a shipment to be lost while many more slip through and millions come flooding in.

We will know in February 2019, how much Village Roadshow donated to the parties for the most recent legislation. And for those people who still don’t know what I’m talking about, this is basically a rich corporation trying to influence the passing of legislation to benefit their business model.

In saying all of the above, the public will also find out how much the internet providers and companies like Google would have donated to politicians for them to stop the legislation.

Again this is for their own business models to succeed. Once again the people who matter the most, the consumers of entertainment are nowhere in the conversation. Remember, if there is no connection between a consumer and art, there is no money.

What Village Roadshow and the entertainment industries want is a return to their business model which more or less began 100 years ago. Seriously if you want to look at organizations resistant to change, look no further than Village Roadshow.

And Politicians should be embarrassed as they failed the people who voted them in, for a selfie with the rich and famous.

At least one politician raised the concern or maybe he was paid by Google to raise the concern;
“As lawmakers, just because we might get a selfie with Richard Roxburgh — I love Rake as much as anyone else — or a political party gets a donation from a rights holder, does not mean that we should stop looking at how to make the types of reforms that balance the needs of creatives and the needs of producers versus the needs of consumers.”
Ed Husic – Labor MP

It’s hard work to balance the needs of creatives and producers versus the needs of consumers and no one right now likes hard work, so people go down the simple route of serving the needs of creatives and producers and screwing consumers.

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

2018 Spotify Stats

I listened to 6,178 different songs and devoted 43,201 minutes to music on Spotify.

So to all the people who say music is finished, remember there are millions of people around the world with similar listening habits. But “we need stronger Copyright”, the RIAA would say.

I started the year listening to “Dream Evil” by Dio and Headstones became the first new band I checked out based on a review by Deke over at ThunderBay.

I spent 34 hours or 2,040 minutes with Machine Head.

My five top artists for 2018 are Machine Head, The Night Flight Orchestra, Def Leppard, The Butterfly Effect and Dee Snider.

As you can see there are no new artists in the list. It’s a lifers game. If you are in it for a quick buck, get into the stock market or deliver Pizzas.

My top five songs for 2018 based on listens are “Monolith” from Thirty Seconds To Mars, “A Love Unreal” from Black Label Society, “Final Conversation” from The Butterfly Effect, “The Peace” from WASP and “This Is War” from Audrey Horne.

Spotify tells me that I listen to non-mainstream artists 73% more than the average listener – so here’s to being different. I’m sure there are a lot of others who are exactly like me.

Here is my Top 100 playlist Spotify put together for me.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, Unsung Heroes

My Spotify Top Artist For 2018 is … Machine Head

Don’t let the bastards grind you down is the catch-cry from Machine Head this year. It pissed some people off and inspire others.

Apart from dropping a new album at the start of the year, Machine Head’s back catalogue features heavily in my life.

And Robb Flynn’s vocals are an acquired taste as he merges aggressive throat breaking barks to soaring melodic passages. It’s a voice built from his lifestyle. No one else can mimic it.

Thanks for the music and even though 2018 ends a bit uncertain for the band with two members leaving, I am sure Robb Flynn will go on and deliver a stellar Machine Head album.

The world is watching. New drummers and guitarists are waiting to join. It’s up to you.

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Music, My Stories

A Justice Conversation

Here is a normal work day conversation over Skype For Business.

If you see any sentences in Italics, it’s basically me trying to fill gaps for the reader.

Enjoy.

Me:

Go listen to the deluxe reissue of “…And Justice For All”.

It has the album remastered, then there is a live performance and the best parts are the demos from James Riffs tapes.

Tom:

Did they finally put Newstead’s bass track up?

From Day 1, Tom has been pissed about the missing bass, more so than the actual bassist.

Me:

Nope, still missing.

Tom:

Not interested then…

Me:

Apparently they couldn’t remix it, because of Lars.

There are so many tape cuts and re-joins to punch Lars in, the tapes are more or less useless.

If you don’t want to hear the album, check out the demos.

There is an interview with Steve Thompson who mixed the album explaining why they couldn’t remix it due to so many cuts to the tape.

Tom:

They had an opportunity to really change the dynamic of this reissue which everyone would have wanted to check out and then they threw it away.

You can see how heavily (with sarcasm) the missing bass affects Tom.

Me:

Just listen to the demo tapes.

Tom:

I will check out the demo’s.

Me:

Get over the missing bass. It’s been missing since 1988. 30 years ago.

Tom:

Wow. 30 years from the first time I heard “One”.

Me:

I know, where does time ago. I remember picking it up from Brashs at Westfield…

Tom:

Brashs lol.

Me:

Do you remember it?

Tom:

Yeah I remember it.

I’ve still got a tape deck that I bought from there at my parents place but I don’t think that record store was called Brashs.

Me:

It was Brashs. “Justice” and “Dr Feelgood” came from that store, plus a lot of blank BASF cassettes that ended up in my trousers as I walked out. Money was in short supply.

Tom:

Was it called something else before Brashs?

Me:

Nope just Brashs… They had a very small collection of music to sell as they mainly focused on Hi Fi products.

Tom:

Its where I picked up my five vinyl singles after I won them on a radio contest.

Remember when I picked that Sinead O’Conner’s “Nothing Compares” would be number one in the contest.

I still think the shop was called something else. Yep, I’m a stubborn prick

Tom is one of those people who is always right. If you don’t know him, it will rub you up the wrong way, but hey, we’ve been mates for 36 years, so I’m used to him.

Me:

You can call it whatever you want. In the end history will show it was called Brashs.

And then around the corner on the other side was Rings Music World.

Tom:

Rings Music World. That was it.

I have two remastered ones on Spotify. One has 9 songs and the other 147?

I knew he was talking about Rings Music World when I was talking to Brashs. I just thought I’d play the game a little bit longer.

Me:

147 songs

Tom:

I’m listening to “Frayed Ends of Sanity” demo and James vocal melody.

Nah nah nah

lol

Bah nah nah, whoa nah na

James Hetfield has a magical ability to hum out a perfect syllable melody, with whoas and nahs which he would then use to write lyrics to. I always enjoy listening to those demos.

Me:

Brilliant lyrics, so inspiring

Of course, I’m being sarcastic here.

Tom:

Then from out of nowhere “Frayed Ends of Sanity, hear them calling me”.

Me:

It looks like he had the title and the hook and too many vodkas.

Maybe it was tea or Buds.

Tom:

I like the demo’s better. Guitar’s sound tough. Man he could write some riffs back then.

There is a general view that when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose, so you are free to do what you want.

This is what I believe Tom is referring to when it comes to James and his technical riffs because after you break through into the mainstream, then you have something to lose and you are not as free as you want to be.

Me:

Damn right. I think we both have agreed that James could sack everyone and it will still be Metallica. In the end, he’s the songwriter and the voice.

This is so true. Lars knows it, hence the reason why he trademarked the Metallica name in his name as the owner.

Tom:

Guitar Solo – Live At Long Beach Arena.

What happened to Kirk?

Kirks guitar playing on Metallica albums from Load onwards is covered up with too much wah. Maybe that was the reason they told him, no guitar solos on “St Anger”, as they got sick of hearing the wah.

Me:

He got lazy.

How is the guitar solo – I haven’t heard it…

Tom:

Nothing impressive, but you can hear how tight he used to be and the range of ideas he had as opposed to the standard sloppy mess he does now with bends and the Wah to cover it all up.

Then he plays “Little Wing”. Its no Stevie Ray Vaughan version though.

Me:

I watched a few pro shot videos of Metallica on their recent tour.

“Fade To Black”, “Now That You’re Dead”, “Spit Out The Bone” and man Kirk is a mess with his leads, even in the “Fade To Black” intro lead he ad libs some hammer ons and pull offs and he misses the beat. It’s pretty poor.

Tom:

I think their live concerts today are not worth it. More dissapointing. Lars is all over the place with tempo’s and ad libbing whatever the hell he wants.

I went on YouTube looking for some drum lesson things and came across a whole set of video’s of drummers “Lars’ing” songs. It was hilarious.

Lars’ing is basically a drummer playing pop songs to the way Lars might play them. Sometimes a bit too busy than needed.

The big difference as mentioned in the comments is that this drummer is on tempo and his fills are spot on and don’t carry over. So I call Lars’ing songs with the correct tempo.

Me:

I saw em on “St Anger” and when Lars refused to play some of the double kick stuff, I was like what a waste.

James as usual was on song, Trujillo was the new guy, and James kept saying how hes a brother and been part of Metallica forever.

As much as the fans bang on Lars, there is no denying he is perpetual. For everything that gets thrown his way, he has built a 38 year career in music.

Tom:

I think James suffers live from trying to keep up with Lars’ shennaigans and ridiculous tempo changes.

Me:

I don’t think James cares anymore it.

Tom:

There’s a clip of where they let Joey from Slipknot play a few tracks live probably 10 years back when they were on tour together. Its sounds spectacular.

Tempo is on point and the double kick is like a machine.

It was a festival and Lars called in sick so the show went on with a few drummers from the other bands on the bill.

Me:

I was the one that told you about it.

Did you forget?

Right, I forgot, you are stubborn prick.

Tom always takes credit for things, remember he’s always right.

Tom:

Well my thoughts are as follows:

Lars is still stuck on the idea that they are the fastest band in the world and thats why people come to see them.

It was one of their calling cards in the 80’s, so I think on purpose, he tries to play faster to live up to that ridiculous title he has in his head.

Maybe Tom is right after all.

Me:

Lars reckons he will be playing Metallica songs, well into his 70’s. Umm, yeah…

There is an interview doing the rounds that mentions this.

Tom:

Kirk is also over thrash and has no interest in playing the same solo again, and thinks by ad-libbing licks however he wants, it somehow adds to the individual performance concert goers can experience.

He thinks thats what makes each concert special and this is what fans prefer rather than hearing the song as they know it.

While James is only trying to salvage the carnage of these two buffoon’s ideas whilst saving his voice.

Kirk believes he’s a blues guitarist but he’s not. And he lied about why he didn’t have songwriting credits, blaming his lost phone. It was up to James to set the record straight and he said his riffs just weren’t good enough to warrant inclusion.

Me:

No argument from me over that one. Its easy to be critical, but for the prices they are charging for tickets, I think the fans deserve to get what they paid for.

For the live part of the “Justice” release, I like how “Blackened” segued into “For Whom The Bells Tolls” – that worked brilliantly.. Crush em with speed and then kick it back a little bit with heaviness.

Tom:

I’m at a point where I would comfortably say that “For Whom the Bells Toll” is Metallica’s best song.

Seriously what is a heavier song than that in Metallica’s catalogue?

Me:

“For Whom The Bells Toll” – well you know I have a special place in my heart for that song. The fact that we have 2 minutes of skull crushing music before the vocals even start is enough to get my ramped..

To me that’s progressive music because all formula of what a song should have goes out the window.

Plus I always say that “Ride The Lightning” is THE Metallica album… Everything that came after is because of RIDE.. It was that good they re-wrote it twice in song styles with “Master” and “Justice”.

Tom:

Now you’re re-writing history again. You said “Master” was the best.

Me:

I’ve never said “Master” is the best. It’s a great album but “Ride” is THE album.

Tom:

Yes you have.

Me:

Hell, I get into debates with people about which one is THE album.

Your memory is crap..

Tom:

I know you get into arguments about which one is better, and I argued “Ride” is better and you “Master”.

Its good that you’ve finally come to your senses and admitted “Ride” is better.

Remember, Tom is always right.

Me:

Speaking of the heaviest song, “Harvester” has to be up there… I’m listening to that live version, from Seattle and it’s thundering…

Tom:

They have a number of heavy songs.

I always liked “The God that Failed” from the Black album. I prefer that over “Sad but True”.

Sorry “Sad Patrol”. I never liked it.

I hate “Wherever I May Roam” as well.

We had a drummer in a band who believed James sang “Sad Patrol” in the Chorus instead of “Sad But True”. The syllables are the same was his answer.

Me:

But I don’t mind jamming that Em groove.

To “Sad But True”.

When I first heard the album, “Holier Than Thou” grabbed me straight away.

Tom:

Yeah that is crushing.

“Unforgiven” is the best song on the album. Wasn’t a big fan of “Enter Sandman” either.

Actually I hated it. But I liked jamming it.

Me:

Whats the go with all these Metallica songs, great to jam but you don’t like it…

Tom:

It’s a weird relationship

“St Anger” is full of those kind of songs.

Me:

True, okay songs, but cool grooves. It’s sort of my relationship with melodic death metal or metal core bands.

Tom:

Other stand outs for the Black album would be “Don’t Tread On Me” for the lyrics and “Through The Never” (the main riff and that heavy bridge riff – I absolutely love)

And probably “Struggle Within”, again because of one riff after the solo which I absolutely love.

That’s Tom in a nutshell. A riff or a solo in an okay song will elevate the status of the song to a higher plane.

Me:

I tell ya, 1989 Metallica live, are, on fire… James vocally as well is killing it. It sounds like James is having a riot with “Seek And Destroy”.

Check it out. His dialogue with the crowd and the way he gets them to sing along is pure gold and you can hear he is having a lot of fun with it.

And that is the end of our conversation. When you talk about music, you go on such different tangents and it’s so much fun.

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2018 – Legends Will Rise – Part 1

It’s time to start the year in review.

Here is the playlist for all the songs.

I have over 150 songs saved, and I’ve broken my comments on each song over a few posts.

When Legends Rise
Godsmack

It’s the title track. Generic nu-Metal in the music, but those vocal melodies from Sully Erna are addictive.

Legs are tired
These hands are broken
Alone I tried
With words unspoken
A silent cry
My breath is frozen
With blinded eyes
I fear myself

It’s the mindset that makes it happen. If the mind believes it’s possible, you will find a way to make it possible, even when your body screams stop.

It’s burning down
It’s burning high
When ashes fall
Legends rise

When your backs against the wall, when you have that last play, that last punch, that last kick, that last run left to do, the ones who succeed are the ones who have failed before.

I played it to my kids and they immediately connected with the lyrics.

Eye Of The Storm
Godsmack

In the eye of the storm I make my stand
But I’m not waiting for the walls to close in
I just brace myself for the winds to change their ways

Great analogy about the chaos of life we face everyday.

Forever And A Day
Gathering of Kings

The song is written by Victor Olsson. Actually all of the songs are written by Victor on this album and there is hardly a mention of him in the news, sort of like how Alessandro Delvecchio is the silent partner in Frontiers project.

This project is like a Steely Dan project in Swedish Melodic Rock circles with musicians from The Night Flight Orchestra, Spiritual Beggars, Treat, Eclipse, Corroded, Saffire and Pretty Maids all involved.

What can I say I’m a sucker for tunes like this.

Through
Remember Me
Gioeli Castronovo

Another Frontiers Records project of getting certain people together to deliver a melodic rock album written by Alessandro Delvecchio.

And how cool does the “Heavens On Fire” vocal melody sound over different chords on “Through”.

Sorry
Stryper

One thing about Stryper is they are still in the game, releasing albums and each one has a classic song or two on them with some killer guitar playing.

Like the lead break on this song.

Check it out.

Monolith
Thirty Seconds To Mars

It’s only a minute and thirty seven seconds instrumental, but it’s enough. It couldnt be any longer as it sets a feel and emotion of something big to come.

Great Wide Open
Thirty Seconds To Mars

Into the great wide open
Across a land of blood and dreams

I remember when Dad and my older brother got our first family car, which was a shitty Mitsubishi L300 Van. It just felt like all the borders and city limits evaporated and suddenly we were traveling into the great wide open.

Live Like A Dream
Thirty Seconds To Mars

Live like a dream
Broken but free

Life is tough. It tries to break us, make us obey and it tries to make us fit a mold made by someone else.

Burn
W.E.T

Get ready to be sent back to the mid 80s in another Frontiers Melodic Rock Project.

Calm Before The Storm
Light The Torch

Howard Jones delivers a stellar vocal performance that deals with addiction.

The nights are getting colder
The days are growing long
And you do not know what you’re fighting for
Come back to where you started
Come back where you belong
And I won’t be your calm before the storm

How good is the Chorus vocal melody?

This Is War
Audrevolution
Blackout
Audrey Horne

From Norway.

I’m fuel to the fire
Flame rising higher
This is war
We we’ll never be silent
Or divided
This is war

When I turn to the news pages on the web, there is so much abuse of power.

Bankers are abusing their position, getting rich by selling debt. Politicians are abusing their positions to cater for corporations instead of the people who voted them in. People in power abusing their positions for sexual gratitude and if the victim doesn’t comply, they railroad their career.

So what can the rest of us do?

Do we just stand divided, so focused on our ones and zeroes in our bank accounts or do we get together and make change.

It’s up to us.

Welcome to the Audrevolution
666 our own constitution

I sing the 6-6-6 with drink-drink-drink.

A Love Unreal
Black Label Society

My review of this song is here and that guitar solo.

Luminary
Juno
Tesseract

Progressive rock has come a long way from its 70s explosion. To me a song can be in 4/4 and still be progressive. TesseracT sit someone in between with their off beat polyrhythms, atmospheric guitars or jarring guitars with melodic vocals.

Are you alone, locked inside
That prison in your head?
You walk through the crowd
Lost in the sound
Invisible to every passing eye

It’s a symptom of the times. We are connected socially by digital means but when in public, we put our headphones on, keep to ourselves and get lost in the crowd, with our thoughts to keep us company.

Walls Come Down
Pink Cream 69

A German act.

You never tried to soften your words
Twisted your terms, took us for fools
And all you know is what you’ve been told

Upbringing, family and the social class you keep as you grow are all pivotal in how you understand the world.

If there is a racist in your circle, you will have racist views. If their is a climate change denier in the group, you will have denial views as well.

And when you come across people with views that differ, how do you respond. Do you yell back with your own views?

The Peace
WASP

Blackie can sure write a kick arse ballad. You can read my review here.

Behind A Mask
Machine Head

Another song which I have covered in a separate blog post.

Right Left Wrong
Strange Days
Three Days Grace

So here I go
Left right left
Right left wrong
I don’t know where I’m going
But I just keep moving on
Moving on

So true. Wandering aimlessly without a thought. You know you need to get away but to where.

Raise a glass to the end of it all
Who’s to blame when it’s everyone’s fault?
And we celebrate our way through dangerous times
Strange days are comin’ for us
Say goodbye to the way that it was
And we celebrate our way through dangerous times

The times in a nutshell. We are comfortable and oblivious to all the shit we allow people in positions of power get away with. To raise our voice, to demonstrate, means to be uncomfortable and the majority just want comfort.

No Surrender
Judas Priest

The riff hooks me and then the chorus lyrics seal the deal.

Chasing a dream as I go higher
Playing it mean, my heart’s on fire
Living my life, ain’t no pretender
Ready to fight with no surrender

Yeah it all rhymes and it’s simple and it’s dumb and i fucking dig it.

Next Few Steps
Surrender The Crown

From Germany.

I know for a fact that duty always bounds to love

Duty means a responsibility or a task of action that one is required to perform as part of ones job.

So when Love gets in the way, get ready for duty.

Transition
CrashCarBurn

From South Africa and they’ve been rocking since 2006. They came into my listening headspace back in 2014 because of piracy.

And since then I’ve been a fan on Spotify. This is from the new album “Headlights” and no one even knows about it.

Love Can Only Heal
Myles Kennedy

The feel of this song and the outro is what hooks me.

Nevermind the pain
‘Cause love can only heal
If only you could trade the dark for light it might reveal
That there’s a place inside
Don’t be afraid to feel
‘Cause love can only heal

Sometimes love is not enough especially when you don’t have it around you.

Blues Won’t Leave Me Alone
RSO

Orianthi kills it on this track. Her vocal line delivery is outstanding and her leads on the track is what legends are made off.

On Spotify it’s totally forgotten at 35K streams and on YouTube it’s sitting at 217K views. Still anemic for the quality in this song.

Creatures
Monsters
Shinedown

As they chase the charts with songs that don’t sound like Shinedown, let’s hope they don’t forget why they made the charts in the first place, by playing kick ass rock.

These two songs are how I like Shinedown to sound.

The Void
Chronos
Prey
Parkway Drive

From Australia.

This is the album that connected with me and it’s album number 6 from them.

Musically the riffs are there, bone crushing when they need to be and melodic when they need to be.

No Masters
Bad Wolves

This is a great song with lyrics that connect.

Back on that chain gang, strumming along
Hammering nails so I can sing my song
The devil done this to me
I drive the spikes down, profound
Building the cages that all broke us down
Boy get back down on your knees

As Sebastian Bach from Skid Row belted out, “how can I be king of the world if I’m a slave to the grind”.

So why are we spending our time building someone else’s dream instead of ours?

So take these chains from me
We’ll break these bastards
There’s no masters here

Sounds great on paper but reality is so much different. As much as we said we’re not gonna take it, we did take it and became slaves in the process.

A thousand boots down on the ground
Beating a drum under a marching sound
You better fucking believe
They’re screaming left right, left right
Fist in the air you better pick a side
Against the plutocracy

Plutocracy means government by the wealthy. And god damn it, it’s true. If the politicians are not wealthy, their faceless sponsors are.

Because even though politicians are voted in by the people, they refuse to serve the people, while the bend over for the corporation and their lobbyists.

Stay tuned for the other parts to come..

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Price Reset

All prices have a reset.

The live business greed at the moment is like the record label greed pre-Napster. Releasing albums with two to three good songs and charging too much for it.

If artists allow corporations to keep exploiting their fans in this way, there will be a backlash.

A price reset.

In the same way housing prices and share prices have a reset.

Even the recording business consumer prices have had a reset however the licensing fees the labels charge to services have increased exponentially.

On demand TV has had a price reset because of Netflix. There is a whole new generation who don’t even remember what Cable is.

Artists need to make money, there is no doubt, however just because they release new music it doesn’t mean they are not entitled to make money.

No one has a right to make money from music. Ed Sheeran gave his music away for free and played for free. It was only after Sheeran established his worth in the market that he was able to start making some money.

In other words, just because Ed Sheeran decided to write and produce music, it didn’t mean he had an entitlement to be paid from the start; he had to prove to people that he was worth paying for before people did so.

The internet distribution methods allows everyone to create. There are no gatekeepers. So anything an artist creates is competing with everything released today and in the past.

You have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script.

This idea of Metallica or some rock n’ roll singer being rich, that’s not necessarily going to happen anymore. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free.

Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I’m going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money?

In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then you’d be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record royalties. So I would say, “Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea of making a living and money.” Because there are ways around it.

Francis Ford Coppola on answering a question about how a start up artist can make money in the current P2P 2011 climate.

It’s an old interview from 2011 but Coppola makes some relevant points especially the last line about disconnecting the idea of cinema (and in my view any art in general like music and books) with the idea of making a living or earning money.

And it’s hard for people because we’ve all grown up in an era that showcased the millions movies and bands made.

And there are always different ways around making money. You just need to put the hard work in.

Trent Reznor had some albums released for free on P2P and they proved popular. He released a super deluxe edition afterwards and people purchased this limited edition run and he grossed $700,000.

Amanda Palmer is the crowd funded hero.

Even Protest The Hero was surprised how large their fan base is when they went the crowd funded route after being dropped by their label. For the next release, they did a special Bandcamp release with a 6 month subscription for a song a month. They then released the songs in vinyl and people still purchased them.

I recently did a post about an R&B artist who uses Spotify listening data to organize tours and making some good coin around it.

So what are you waiting for.

You have the tools, it’s time to find the business model that fits.

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Wildside

I get that hard rock was getting generic and stupid towards the late 80s and early 90s as the record labels signed hundreds of artists and made those artists sound similar to other artists.

But some bands did sound generic but in a good and unique way.

Wildside was a generic sounding band. It didn’t mean they weren’t good like some of the other generic bands like Roxx Gang, Pretty Boy Floyd, Skin N Bones and Sleez Beez.

I’ll even chuck in Bullet Boys, Steelheart and Danger Danger to that list however each band had some real unique talent, like Mike Matijevic on vocals from Steelheart, Andy Timmons on guitar from Danger Danger and Mick Sweda on guitar from Bullet Boys.

But Wildside was different.

Maybe it was singer Drew Hannah, who sounded like a cross between Mark Slaughter/Tom Keifer and Stephen Pearcy.

Then you had Brent Woods who played lead guitar and was capable of acquiring Lynch like status. Benny Rhynedance played rhythm guitar and held the fort well like Malcolm Young, while Marc Simon on bass and Jimmy Darby on drums set the foundations.

They got a deal with Capitol Records who marketed them as the next Poison and “Under The Influence” came out in 1992.

It was produced by Andy Johns and recorded at EVH 5150 Studio. Steve Thompson and Michael Barbierio mixed the disc. It was basically a 5 star production line up.

And the album, just came back into my life via Spotify.

Okay time for a Spotify rant.

I still can’t believe how Spotify keeps on fucking up the generic band names by linking other bands called Wildside with this Wildside. One band is Spanish and nothing like this band. Then you have Fozzy. A metal band created by a wrestler and then you have a serene pop artist called Fozzy. Same name, so they must be the same artist. Dumb and dumber if you ask me.

Spotify rant over.

So like all bands labeled hair, they lost their record deal and by 1994, Brent Woods had also jumped ship to replace Steve Stevens in Vince Neil’s band. But in 2004, the band reformed without Benny Rhynedance and still continue to perform to a certain extent, with Brent Woods probably being the most busiest.

If you want to read a cool history, check out Metal Sludge, as rhythm guitarist Benny Rhynedance recounts the band’s history in a five part series.

“Under The Influence” is a fun album to sink your teeth into, as the band puts all of their influences, ranging from AC/DC, Crue, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Judas Priest and Aerosmith into the songwriting blender to create some cool rocking tunes.

Also if you are a Kiss fan, check out “Clock Strikes”, which is also co-written by Paul Stanley.

And I hope that music like this doesn’t get forgotten in the future as history is always written by the winners.

As those Metal Sludge recaps state, the bands roots go back to 1982, Seattle. It’s a long way to a recording contract and an even longer way to make it to the top.

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