Category Archives: Music

A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Influenced, Music, Unsung Heroes

Derek Schulman

On October 15, 2020, Derek Schulman appeared on the Bob Lefsetz Podcast.

I first heard of Schulman as the guy responsible for signing Bon Jovi and Cinderella. But before becoming a label executive, he was a member of Gentle Giant (GG), a band that has a bigger fan base today than when they originally broke up.

When Lefsetz asked why GG had grown in popularity, Schulman explained: “We wrote music for ourselves, didn’t follow trends, and the music held up.” Interestingly, GG never considered themselves a progressive rock band. Rock, yes, but not prog. They simply pushed themselves musically.

I believe GG’s resurgence is largely due to the internet. Their music isn’t locked away in a vault, it’s widely accessible. If we were still in the pre-Napster era, their catalog might have remained buried, since labels wouldn’t see the financial incentive to print CDs. Labels have always believed they know what fans want, but they’ve often been wrong. Had they continued releasing hard rock in the ’90s, the genre could have still produced acts selling close to 500,000 units. Instead, they abandoned it.

It always comes back to the music. People return for the music, not for record sales, labels, executives, or streaming numbers.

From Musician to Executive

Before Gentle Giant, Schulman played in a band with a few hit singles, but by 1969, he was burned out from the pressure to keep churning out commercial hits. He wanted to form a band that was the opposite of pop, so GG was born.

But by 1980, after 14 years in bands, Schulman was done. GG had become a job, and he had lost enthusiasm for recording and touring. With nothing lined up, he spent a year feeling lost. Fortunately, he had savings, thanks to his role as GG’s quasi-manager in the mid-’70s.

A friend at PolyGram called with a job offer. Schulman moved from California to New York and joined the label as a Promotions/A&R rep, though his role was mostly promotions. He was hired because two of PolyGram’s heads of radio promotion were huge Gentle Giant fans.

At the time, PolyGram was a mess. The label had major acts like KISS and Def Leppard, but they drained a lot of resources. Schulman’s break came when artists and managers started bringing him albums. Uriah Heep was shopping a new record, and Schulman helped organize a deal to release it.

Then came Bon Jovi.

Bon Jovi’s Breakthrough

Schulman met Jon Bon Jovi and was impressed by his focus and drive. Jon wanted to be bigger than Elvis. He even introduced Schulman to his parents, who told him: “Take care of our son.”

At the time, no other labels were bidding on Bon Jovi. Schulman also had a strict policy, he refused to get into bidding wars.

The key move was bringing in Doc McGhee. Doc originally came to Schulman’s office pushing Pat Travers, but Schulman told him to check out Bon Jovi instead. Schulman saw in Doc the same relentless drive that Jon had.

Jon met Doc, they struck a deal, and just like with Schulman, Jon’s parents needed to approve.

McGhee put Bon Jovi on tour with Ratt and Scorpions. Their debut album was a success, but their second record, “7800° Fahrenheit”, was considered a sophomore slump. Schulman hated the album title, the recording process was a mess, and the overall vibe felt off. But the album did its job, it kept the band on the road while McGhee worked overtime to book shows.

Schulman, meanwhile, had started working with producers Bob Rock and Bruce Fairbairn, who had just finished albums with Loverboy and Honeymoon Suite. Jon and Doc knew they needed great producers to reach the next level.

Schulman suggested co-writing with others. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons had already introduced Jon to Desmond Child. The rest is history.

The label knew they had something big as soon as “Slippery When Wet” was mastered. The original album cover was scrapped, and Jon designed the new one himself. “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” were immediate hits, and the album shot to No. 1. Schulman had a percentage point on the album, but when he left the label, his royalties ended.

Cinderella

Schulman was introduced to Cinderella by an agent, a lawyer, and Jon Bon Jovi, who knew Tom Keifer.

He went to see them play a club in Philadelphia. The band wasn’t great, Tom Keifer stood out, Jeff LaBar was solid on guitar, but the other two members weren’t up to par. Then Schulman listened to a 90-song demo of Keifer’s original material. He was blown away by Keifer’s songwriting.

Schulman told the lawyer: “Get Tom to replace the other two with better musicians, and I’ll give you a deal.”

Andy Johns was brought in to produce “Night Songs”. The album dropped shortly after “Slippery When Wet” exploded, and “Night Songs” shot into the Top 10. Suddenly, Schulman was on fire, he had two bands in the Top 10.

When Lefsetz asked why Cinderella never released another big album, Schulman pointed out that they did, “Long Cold Winter”, but he had briefly forgotten the title.

Tom Keifer eventually lost his voice, which Schulman confirmed was true. Schulman also helped shape Cinderella’s albums with his artist experience, though he didn’t contribute to Bon Jovi’s records in the same way. He even co-wrote songs with Tom but never took credit.

Dream Theater

Derek Oliver, an A&R representative at Atco Records and a passionate fan of progressive rock, was the key figure in discovering Dream Theater.

In the late 1980s, Dream Theater had self-released their debut album, “When Dream and Day Unite”, through Mechanic/MCA Records, but the album failed to gain much traction due to poor promotion and distribution.

Meanwhile, Oliver, who had interviewed and reviewed the band during the period as part of Kerrang was impressed by their technical proficiency and songwriting.

Recognizing their potential, he brought Dream Theater to the attention of Derek Schulman, the head of Atco Records at the time.

After meeting the band and seeing their dedication, Schulman agreed to sign them to Atco. Under his guidance, Dream Theater recorded their breakthrough album, Images and Words (1992), which featured the hit single “Pull Me Under.” The album’s success helped establish them as a leading force in progressive metal, proving that Schulman and Oliver’s instincts were right.

Running Labels

Schulman also played a key role in launching Bob Rock’s production career, giving him his first gig with Kingdom Come, another band that went on to dominate the charts.

In 1989, Schulman left PolyGram to run Atco Records. PolyGram wanted to keep him, offering him control of Vertigo and Mercury, but he wanted a change, even if it meant losing his Bon Jovi and Cinderella royalties.

Doug Morris was hesitant about Schulman at first and saw him as a potential replacement. But Schulman built an impressive roster, signing Pantera and The Rembrandts. He had actually planned to sign Pantera to PolyGram but knew he was leaving, so he told their attorney to wait until he moved to Atco.

At first, Atco thrived. Schulman put together a strong team, and the first three years were fantastic. But eventually, he started losing perspective. One day, he heard a No. 1 song on the radio and liked it. When he asked a work colleague who had signed the artist, they said: “You did.” That moment shook him.

Doug wanted him out, but Schulman quit. He even attempted a coup while on a trip to Russia.

Roadrunner Records and the Rise of Metal

Schulman took a break before getting a call from an old friend, Case Wessels, at Roadrunner Records. Initially consulting for a year, he eventually became president.

Roadrunner was independent, which Schulman loved—no board to answer to. He scrapped some of Wessels’ ideas and focused on breaking bands like Coal Chamber and Fear Factory, both signed by Monte Conner.

Then he saw Slipknot live and knew they would be massive.

He also signed Nickelback. Their first album (with Roadrunner) featuring “Leader of Men”, got some airplay, but when “Silver Side Up” dropped, Schulman immediately recognized its potential. The moment he heard “How You Remind Me”, he knew it would be huge.

Roadrunner was suddenly rolling in cash. Wessels wanted another “Silver Side Up”, but Schulman knew those albums don’t appear every six months, more like every 5 to 10 years.

Lefsetz asked why Nickelback gets so much hate. Schulman believes they’re a guilty pleasure, many people who claim to hate them secretly enjoy their music.

Finally, Schulman pointed out that while the industry panicked over piracy during Napster, hip-hop thrived by giving music away for free.

When streaming took over, hip-hop was already dominant—and it still is.

If you like your hard rock and metal history, then Derek Schulman is an unsung hero and this podcast is one to listen to.

Standard
Music

Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this album yet. It is definitely a top 10 album for me in 2023.

I don’t know how to describe it.

At a high level, it is progressive. But it’s not progressive with complex time changes and intricate passages. Its progressive via the songwriting. Each song is varied with different styles and genres thrown in. Verse riffs are different, and the melodies are different between verses on some songs. Some songs don’t even have a Chorus. Just verse after verse. Some songs have a repeating hook that moves between syncopated progressions.

Chokehold

This is the song that grabbed me by the throat and strangled me. It’s that vocal line and that voice, which reminds me of “Take Me To Church” from Hozier.

The Chorus riff crashes in afterwards, but you don’t hear the Chorus words of “you got me in a chokehold” until the next time.

Then the 2nd verse comes in, with arpeggiated lines and another vocal line, different to what came before.

Then the Chorus crashes in and I am hooked. Mesmerized. At 71.2 plus million streams and counting so are a lot of other people.

Even Daughtry covered it for a live performance, just himself and an acoustic guitar. By doing this, Daughtry demonstrated how pop like the melodies are in the song.

The Summoning

This one is almost at 150 plus million streams.

If you jumped into the band because of “Chokehold” this song might change your mind because its got screaming vocals, intricate atmospheric guitar playing which reminds me of “Between The Buried And Me” and other vocal lines that wouldn’t be lost on the “White Pony” Deftones album.

If anything, it follows the vibe of what people recognize as “Djent”.

The section from the minute mark is essential listening because it comes out of nowhere. Its almost soul like, more Imagine Dragons and One Republic than metal or djent.

Brilliant stuff and I like the variation.

Granite

A synth line kicks off the song, which sounds like it was written on the TonePad iPhone app.

And the song lives in this environment, very pop like and I like it. Then a jarring, math like riff kicks in at 2.40 mark. It could get boring, but then the infectious vocal melody from earlier is sung over it and its worth your attention.

Aqua Regia

The synth/keyboards is a very dominant instrument in Sleep Token. It lives in its atmospheric synth world and doesn’t jar me, but that doesn’t mean it’s a crap song. On the contrary.

Vore

It spends the first minutes with ghoul like vocals, almost black metal guttural before it moves into clean tone vocals which makes me feel I am on top of Mt Everest and I am screaming my lungs out.

That section from 3.50. Listen to it.

Ascensionism

The piano line is hypnotic, and it grabs my attention straight away.

Then at 1.50 it’s a hip hop like song, with autotune and all the bells and whistles which comes with that genre.

Then at 3.44 its back to that haunting piano line and then the distortion guitars kick in and I am sick from all the movements within the song.

Progressive it is, purely from blending their influences expertly.

And that riff from 4.44, is doom metal, with a screaming ghostly scream. Then its back to the hypnotic piano line at the 5.25 mark. But there is still 2 minutes to go.

Make sure you stick around for the last 45 seconds. It’s worth it.

Are You Really, Okay?

A clean tone guitar riff and I feel like I am at a campfire. Its heartland like stuff.

The vocals are all clean tone, enhancing the emotion. When the drums come in, it feels like a Neil Young album, but I cant shake the feeling of “Albatross” from Fleetwood Mac that the song gives me.

The Apparition

“Why are you never real whenever you appear?”

It’s the opening line, over a clean tone fingerpicked guitar riff. It’s almost Spanish like in its feel.

Then a synth line kicks in, demanding attention. Hip hop like drums come in and I am paying attention to see what kind of journey this song would take me on. But it percolates in this vibe.

Then at 2.24 it takes off, with soaring vocals over a math like guitar riff. Its catchy and I am on the magic carpet ride the song offers, soaring between galaxies and the afterlife.

DYWTYLM

It stands for “Do You Wish That You Loved Me”.

The main keyboard riff has sonics that remind me of the TonePad app. It wouldn’t be out of place on an Imagine Dragons album or on one of Daughtry’s albums between 2013 and 2017. Its memorable
and dance like and it lives in this vibe for the whole song.

Rain

It’s at 16 million streams on Spotify. Another piano riff and a catchy vocal melody. And the song just builds.

Take Me Back To Eden

The title track is almost at 67.5 million streams on Spotify. You feel like you are at a nature retreat and the start of the song has that vibe, soothing and relaxing. Even the words like crystal waters, dream in phosphorus and perfect ocases

At 2.30 the distortion kicks in and those soaring vocals are back. Its been a theme of the album, to have these kind of soaring vocals. But at 3.23, it goes to hip-hop and you could think that you are ears deep into an Enimen album.

At 4.44 another hanting section comes in with piano and then when the distortion kicks in, its hopeful, iuts sad but still hopeful. And it lives in this vibe until the end. With the last 50 seconds jarring me out of my nature retreat with screaming vocals which came out from nowhere. And I suppoise this is Sleep Token with so many variables and movements in their songs.

Euclid

My favorite track on the album. As soon as the first notes of the piano riff started I was hooked. The vocal line is hypnotic and it’s a cross between Daughtry and Hozier.

And the way the song builds is perfection.

Press play and allow your ears to take you on a journey.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Influenced, Music, My Stories

The Record Vault: Dream Theater – Master Of Puppets

The cover above is the version I have, released in 2004 via their own YtseJam label.

It was also re-released in 2021 via the “Lost Not Forgotten” Archives with the below cover.

The performance of this album would inspire the writing for their most Metal album in “Train Of Thought”.

The show was recorded live in Barcelona, Spain on February 19th 2002. It was the second night of a two night stand in a city.

And it was the start of a new Dream Theater tradition (while Mike Portnoy was in the band), which was to play an entire album from another band.

This is what Mike Portnoy had to say about it in the CD booklet;

“Dream Theater is playing the 2nd night of a 2 night stand in Barcelona, Spain…

After an almost 2 hour set of DT material and a 15 minute intermission, the lights went out and the opening chords to “Battery”
began…

50 minutes later, the Spanish crowd had no idea what had hit them.

The next day the word was all over the internet and our new tradition to cover a classic album whenever we did a 2 night stand in the same city had been established…but for those 50 minutes in Barcelona, the completely unsuspecting crowd had no way to see it coming…

I remember looking into the crowd by the time we started “The Thing That Should Not Be” and seeing people look at each other like;

“Holy shit…they’re doing the whole
fucking thing!!!”.

Yep, that would have been the same response I would have had.

The band for the recording is James LaBrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitars, Mike Portnoy on drums, John Myung on bass and Jordan Rudess on keys.

Battery

This is performed exceptionally.

LaBrie also brings out the chainsaw aggression of a youthful Hetfield.

Petrucci and Portnoy nail their sections.

Master Of Puppets

As soon as Petrucci plays the first four chords the crowd responds. If this song is played again in 2024, it will be bigger than ever due to “Stranger Things”.

The Thing That Should Not Be

The Intro with the keys is more ominous.

And LaBrie gives the song a more theatrical vibe with an octave higher vocal line, and I like it. It would have been cool if Dream Theater explored the groove doom Metal domain.

Sanitarium

Masterful.

It’s the only way I can describe Petrucci. The intro, acoustic and lead, played by Petrucci is exactly that.

LaBrie tries but doesn’t have the same demented vocal delivery as Hetfield here.

From 3.36, it’s basically a Dream Theater song, with riffs, leads and sporadic vocals. LaBrie is awesome here, his “fear of living on” delivery; excellent.

Disposable Heroes

The drums sound like machine gun fire in the intro.

But it’s that galloping palm muted E string riff that comes after which seals the deal for me.

LaBrie delivers a great vocal here.

Jordan Rudess in an interview with the Revolver Magazine said this;

“Master of Puppets was an eye opener for me because before we covered this album my Metallica knowledge was not so deep.

Having grown up playing Bach, Liszt and Chopin the idea of technique and virtuosities had a definite place in my mind. I have to admit that upon discovering Metallica my perception of technique opened up to other possibilities outside of the classical world.

A song like ‘Disposable Heroes’ sounds like machine-gun fire to me. The blistering, galloping guitar rhythms that sound like the pick is about to go up in flames is an impressive display of intensity and technique. [James] Hetfield really shows what he is made of in a track like this one and I was very impressed.”

Leper Messiah

I always love the section from 40 seconds to a minute. The groove behind it and the way the guitars are orchestrated so that the bass and drums stand out.

Orion

It’s right up Dream Theater’s alley, a nine minute instrumental. And a classic Metallica song.

Damage Inc

They had covered this song previously during the era between “Awake” and “A Change Of Seasons” and released a version of that live performance.

Overall people can compare this album with the real album and find issues.

When an artist covers another artist, it is purely for fun initially and to show respect to the artist who inspired and influenced them.

This is no different and it sounds like the band is having fun, using the last hour of the their three hour set to pay homage to Metallica.

Press play and enjoy.

Standard
Music, My Stories

Machine Head – Live at the Enmore Theatre, Enmore: 16 March 2024

I haven’t missed a show since they came out on “The Blackening” tour, a tour which lasted close to 3 years.

And my Best Man was in tow again who also hasn’t missed a show with me, along with my eldest son this time, who likes only three Machine Head songs in “Darkness Within”, “Bastards” and “Circle The Drain”.

“Do you reckon they’ll play em Dad”, he kept asking me.

“I am sure they will as those songs are up there in streams, so why not”, I lied back.

I had already checked the last 10 shows they had done via Setlist.fm and I couldn’t see those songs in the set. But I wasn’t going to tell him the truth. And selfishly, I wanted him to come and experience a “Machine Fucking Head” concert.

But before Machine Head took the stage, Fear Factory did.

It’s not the classic Fear Factory line up but then again which band these days is touring with the original members.

Guitarist Dino Cazares is the only original member, joined by new vocalist Milo Silvestro who replaced the much loved Burton C. Bell. Pete Webber on drums is also a new addition, then again Fear Factory have had more drummers than Spinal Tap. Rounding out the line up is bassist Tony Campos, who has been with the band since 2015.

I’m not a massive fan but I do like to go nuts on “Archetype”, “Shock” and “Resurrection”. And man, they did play em.

They opened with “Shock”, they closed with “Resurrection” and in the middle they dropped “Archetype”.

“Archetype” was written in the version of Fear Factory without Dino and it wasn’t played live when Dino returned, however once it was added to the setlist in 2013, it never really left.

But I was here to watch Machine Head.

Machine Head is a different beast these days from the first time I saw them. Robb Flynn is basically Machine Head, in the same way Dave Mustaine is Megadeth.

In 2010, joining Rob was Phil Demmel on guitars, Adam Duce on bass and Dave McClain on drums.

Fast forward 14 years, joining Rob this time is Jared MacEachern on bass, Matt Alston on drums and HAVOK guitarist Reece Scruggs, who stepped in for Waclaw “Vogg” Kletyka, who was the recording guitarist but couldn’t make the touring commitments as he was touring with his long time band DECAPITATED.

If you’ve been to a Machine Head concert, you know when “Diary Of A Madman” starts, the concert is about to begin (much like when “Doctor Doctor” plays at a Maiden concert).

And as soon as the outro of “Diary” kicks in, the lights go down and once it plays out, Rob Flynn starts “Imperium”.

It’s a great opener, it sets the tempo, the mood and the aggression.

And the aggression continued with “Ten Ton Hammer”, “Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate”, “Now We Die”, “Aesthetics Of Hate” and “Old”.

“Locusts” was up next and it didn’t disappoint. It was also probably the most melodic song of the night.

The frantic energy and aggression continued with “Take My Scars”, “No Gods, No Masters”, “Slaughter The Martyr”, “Bulldozer”, “From This Day” and “Davidian”.

And the closer was the usual “Halo”.

Till next time.

Standard
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.

\::/

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

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.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music, My Stories, Treating Fans Like Shit

Four For Friday

TAX THE HELL OUT OF YOU

Motley Crue and Def Leppard came and they left, but not without complaints.

Tommy Lee walked into a 7-Eleven and purchased 4 packets of Marlboro Gold 25s in Melbourne.

The price. $251.96 AUD.

Yep welcome to Australia, Mr Lee, the place that loves to tax the hell out of you on everything and on top of that, has the highest tobacco taxes in the world as well. Basically 77% of the retail price is taxes.

If Tommy Lee purchased four packets in the US, it would have cost him $32USD which translates to $48AUD.

And no I didn’t go watch em. I’ve seen Motley Crue too many times and while I haven’t seen Def Leppard play, the price for the tickets was way too high and it was outdoors which I hate.

REISSUES

Remember when Metallica wanted to release the “Metal Up Your Arse” cassette tape as part of the “Kill Em All” reissue or maybe it was for a special Record Store Day release.

Anyway that got shot down by Dave Mustaine because he wouldn’t accept giving song writing credits to Lars Ulrich on songs he didn’t or was involved in writing.

Fast forward a few years and Linkin Park looks like they are in trouble with a former bassist.

As the Billboard article states;

Linkin Park is facing a lawsuit that claims it has refused to credit or pay royalties to an ex-bassist who played with the band in the late 1990s — a legal battle triggered by an anniversary re-release of the band’s smash hit 2000 debut album.

RE-RECORDINGS

The labels are up to their usual tricks again. They seem to forget that they are irrelevant without the artists.

Their whole business model is making money from music. So when they knew in the 60s that songs would become copyright free they lobbied hard and got laws in place to ensure their business model survives for a long time.

But Taylor Swift really messed with this by redoing her albums under her own control. This made the original recordings held by the labels basically worth a lot less.

And now they want to stop that.

I think if an artist wants to re-record a song or an album they created they should be free to do whatever they want.

And it was standard practice for artists to have re-recording rights either two years after their contract expires, or five to seven years after the original recording is released.

MONEY IN MUSIC

Warner Music Group Corp released its full year earnings.

And the take away is, they have earned over $6 billion in yearly revenue for the first time.

How much of that has filtered down to the creators?

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

Four For Friday

A special Australian edition today.

STREAMING

The one thing I like about streaming services is how songs from the past can come back with a vengeance and dominate.

A lot of the times this happens when an artist passes away but it also happens in other ways.

“RipTide” from Vance Joy is over 10 years old and it’s dominating again on streaming and since the charts include streaming numbers it’s back at number 1.

Not a bad place to be especially when the artist doesn’t have anything new released.

LIVE VENUES

Once upon a time, an artist had to play as many places as they could to build a following.

That worked when those places had people there to watch live music. But when people stopped going out to venues to watch live music, it’s a bit hard to build a following when there is no one watching.

So it’s no surprise that venues in Australia are closing. While the headline alludes that these venues are closing due to the pandemic, the truth is, live music venues have been challenged for years.

The sad thing is that the government doesn’t care about the Arts in Australia. So without tax incentives and funding, the Arts will suffer.

LEAVING THE INDUSTRY

So it’s no surprise that at least 50% of artists currently working are thinking about leaving the industry in Australia.

The mass migration. And from that group, 55% are women. As the article states;

Commonly cited reasons within the survey include financial pressures, time constraints, mental health and burnout, a lack of opportunities and a lack of support.

And live gigs make up 60 percent of their incomes but when the venues get less and less, this will shrink as well, unless they are large enough to play clubs and theatres.

MONEY IN AUSTRALIAN MUSIC

APRA AMCOS collects royalties and licensing for Australian artists. For 2023, they collected $690.5m with $595.2m distributed to artists.

In total, 1,628,107 unique compositions earned money.

For a small market, it’s a lot of money. But it’s a good market. And if the Government showed interest, it could be a great market.

Standard
A to Z of Making It, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Four For Friday

A short one today.

IN THIS MOMENT

What happened to em?

“The Dream” and “A Star Crossed Wasteland” are great albums of melodic rock/Metal.

And then the transition started to the point where there is nothing recognizable or worth liking on their new album “Godmode”.

DOKKEN

A new album is out but if you can’t put any effort into the singing, why bother.

It’s the same monotone throughout, which is a shame because songs like “Lost In You”, “I Remember”, “Saving Grace”, “Fugitive” and “Gypsy” could have been great if the vocal delivery had emotion.

LYNCH MOB

George Lynch sure keeps busy and as a fan of the 80s, I like it.

And Mr Scary has still got a lot of things to say with his riffs. And Frontiers Records is keen to give him a platform to showcase his riffs.

So here we are with “Babylon”, the 8th Lynch Mob album. The difference between Lynch Mob and other artists from the 80s is the singers.

Gabriel Colon is a great vocalist with a great tone. He is the X Factor here. On the Metal cuts, it feels like Halford. On the rock cuts, its loose, sleazy and rawk.

And if Lynch could keep him around he has a lot of albums with him.

For the Metal check out “How You Fall”.

For the Rock check out “I’m Ready” and it’s nod to the great EVH.

ANY GIVEN SIN

The song “Dynamite” came up on a playlist and I pressed save instantly. It reminded me of Shinedown and it’s a great act to be associated with.

What do you guys think of em?

And that’s a wrap for this week.

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

Four For Friday

It’s a SPOTIFY and HIPGNOSIS special today.

The article I am referencing is from Music Business Worldwide.

NEW ROYALTY MODEL

There will be an annual stream count that artists must meet in order to start generating Spotify royalties.

Spotify is targeting a tiny proportion of tracks on its service that are very low in popularity.

In total, the tracks Spotify is targeting, generate royalties that when combined add up to tens of millions of dollars a year. If no action is taken, these tracks accumulated together will generate around $40 million.

SO WHAT HAPPENS TO THE $40 MILLION?

It will go back into Spotify’s ‘Streamshare’ royalty pot.

And the monies in the pot will be re-distributed amongst the tracks that are, more popular.

Take from the poor so that the rich get richer.

Spotify is telling the world that this targets the royalty payouts whose value is being destroyed or who are not even being paid to the creators because they haven’t met the digital aggregator minimum level for payments. And they are sitting in their bank accounts, earning interest.

Spotify seems to forget that every artist begins with low plays/streams.

MMM. SO THIS HELPS THE ARTISTS HOW

So while Spotify is thinking of keeping streaming money in their bank account to pay the larger artists, Hipgnosis who is an investment fund is doing something fishy.

As you probably are aware, Hipgnosis purchased a lot of rights to valuable intellectual properties. It’s share price doesn’t reflect what the company believes it’s worth.

It wanted to do something sneaky to inflate or boost its share price by selling a stake of the company to another entity owned by Hipgnosis and to use the profits of the sale to pay down debt.

This was all contingent on some mathematical equations about retroactive Copyright payments from the US.

Hipgnosis estimated they were due USD$21.7M however when all the dust settled they are only getting $9.9 million.

So they had this share but back scheme which they have now shelved and their share price went down even further.

All of these schemes and creative accounts on the backs of the rights they own from artists.

And Yes, I do know that the artists sold their rights to Hipgnosis for a large fee.

Standard