“Nobody’s Fools”. Not the Cinderella song, but the sixth studio album by Slade within a 10 year period. It was released in March 1976 and produced by Chas Chandler who was immortalised by his work with Jimi Hendrix on the first three albums.
Slade didn’t exist for me until Quiet Riot covered “Cum On The Feel The Noize” and “Mama Were All Crazee Now”. At the point in time I knew of them, but never listened to them. This would change as the 90’s rolled around and then peer to peer sharing and finally streaming.
If you expect to hear a balls to the wall rock album then this album is not for you. There is some loud rock, but overall, there is soul, R&B and other popular styles.
Doing this review retrospectively, it’s always cool to read what people said about it at the time it was released. It’s pretty obvious that British fans didn’t like it when their acts tried to break in to the U.S market. When artists normally attempted this, the fans would accuse them of selling out. This happened with Slade. And it didn’t help matters when they band kept saying that they moved to the U.S to rejuvenate and get new ideas as they felt stale in the U.K.
So it’s no surprise that this album is Slade’s first to not reach the UK Top 10, and to drop out of the chart after a chart run of only four weeks. It would be their last album to make a UK chart appearance until the 1980 compilation “Slade Smashes!”.
Meanwhile, the U.S press praised it, but it didn’t translate to the breakthrough they wanted.
But the album stands up today. Its variation is what makes it entertaining.
The album’s cover was created to coincide with the band’s 10th anniversary, showing the band adopting the same positions as they had on the cover for their 1970 album “Play It Loud”.
Slade is Noddy Holder on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dave Hill on lead guitar, Jim Lea on bass and Don Powell on drums. All tracks are written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea and the album is produced by Chas Chandler.
Nobody’s Fool
The piano is dominant and its more soul rock than hard rock/glam rock. Think Rod Stewart and “Maggie May”. And I like it especially the Chorus. It’s arena rock and no one can tell me any different.
Lea wanted “Nobody’s Fool” to be a “twenty-minute epic” but that takes balls to do and the only one who had Balls to do songs like that was Jim Steinman and the only one silly enough to perform them was Meatloaf. But with over a 100 million albums sold worldwide, I guess the fools were the labels who rejected them.
Anyway I digress.
Do the Dirty
“Play That Funky Music White Boy” and any riff from Joe Walsh comes to mind when the intro kicks in. Its funky, its dirty sounding and it rocks.
How could the fans not like this song?
Let’s Call It Quits
It’s bluesy and sleazy. After it became a UK hit, it was served a writ. Allen Toussaint, felt the song was similar to his “Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)”. The case was settled out of court with the band giving Toussaint 50% in song writing royalties, though Lea maintained that he has never heard Toussaint’s version before or since. But the version that everyone knows is from Three Dog Night. And that version came out in 1974, and it got a lot of airplay, so this could be the version that Lea heard.
To me this is a standard blues track musically and as Keith Richards said, “you can’t copyright the blues”. But in this instance the Chorus vocal melodies do sound similar.
Also when you hear the vocal delivery on this song, you can hear from which vocalist, Kevin DuBrow modelled his vocals on.
Pack Up Your Troubles
Sit around the campfire acoustic country about leaving all your troubles behind and heading into the hills with your liquor and wine. It’s adventurous and I like it.
In for a Penny
It’s very Beatles like. “Penny Lane” and “Eleanor Rigby” come to mind.
It is also the only Slade track to feature the accordion and the guitar playing from Dave Hill is more decorative than riff heavy.
And don’t let the accordion deter you, the song is a psychedelic pop rock masterpiece.
Get On Up
It’s back to their hard rock roots.
Hearing this today, all I am hearing is how much Kevin DuBrow borrowed from Noddy Holder in vocal tone, phrasings and lyrical rhymes. Then again, Holder borrowed from a lot of others as well and that is how music evolves my friends. We all take from what has come before to create something new.
L.A. Jinx
I love the clean guitar strummed pattern. Its funky, groovy, and it rocks.
Lyrically the song deals with bad luck the band seemed to suffer whenever they played in Los Angeles like their gear blowing up or getting electric shocks.
Press play to hear the whole interlude section.
And the star of the song are the vocal melodies from Noddy Holder. Unique and original and still rooted in hard rock territory.
Did Ya Mama Ever Tell Ya
It’s reggae like but with a lot of soul rock thrown in and lyrics that deal with nursery rhymes and a lot of innuendo.
Scratch My Back
Another rock track in similar form to “Get on Up”.
I’m a Talker
It sounds like another song that I can’t think off right now, but hey, that’s why I love music. This one is acoustic, fast strummed, very folk-rock, campfire like.
All the World Is a Stage
The drum groove sets up this melodic rock track before melodic rock was a thing. It moves between minor key verses and major key choruses.
Since I am listening to this on Spotify, it is the Expanded Edition with Bonus tracks.
Thanks for the Memory (1975 non-album single)
It was a sign of things to come and the sound to come.
Raining In My Champagne (B-side of “Thanks for the Memory”)
It’s better than the A side in my opinion. Maybe because it sounds like “Twist And Shout” in the Chorus.
Can You Just Imagine (B-side of “In For a Penny”)
A throwback to the sounds of the 60’s.
When the Chips are Down (B-side of “Let’s Call It Quits”)
In the end, this was the album that Slade hoped would break them into the U.S mainstream, instead, this is the album that put Slade out of the mainstream business worldwide, until their 80’s comeback.
But don’t be a fool and ignore it. The band was adventurous and yet they still made it sound like Slade because the songs were written and recorded in between small tours of the U.S with acts like ZZ Top.
And you can hear their blues boogie translate to the grooves here. And at least they learned how to spell properly.
Each Dream Theater album had touched on the sounds that I would class as Thrash Metal and Heavy Metal. But on “Train Of Thought” they decided to live in this metal/thrash world. And I liked it.
It begins with an album cover that has Black as its main colour screaming Metal. Then again, Pink Floyd did have a black cover for an album that sold multi millions and it had nothing to do with metal, more like dreamy acid rock.
“Train of Thought” was released on November 11, 2003 through Elektra Records before its parent company Warner Music Group decided to merge Elektra Records with Atlantic Records to become Atlantic Records Group in 2004, only to give the Elektra name a new lease of life in 2009 as an independent entity up until 2018, when WMG relaunched Elektra Music as a stand-alone, staffed music company, with labels like Roadrunner Records, Low Country Sound, Fuelled By Ramen and Black Cement under it.
As I Am
This song is a balls to the wall metal classic.
It starts off with the Black Sabbath riff to kick it off. Yes, it is that Black Sabbath riff.
Then it goes into an “Enter Sandman” like groove for the verses. It gets the foot tapping, and the head banging.
Dream Theater toured with Queensryche in 2003. At this point in time, Queensryche’s commercial zenith was in the past and Dream Theater’s star was still rising. Mike Stone was the guitarist in Queensryche, carrying out the Chris DeGarmo role. And Stone decided he should give John Petrucci tips on playing guitar.
Every time you hear the lyric line “Don’t tell me what’s in, tell me how to write”, just think of Mike Stone giving Petrucci tips.
I like the lead break. It is old school and it burns. There is no rhythm guitar track, just bass, keys and drums. Exactly what EVH did when he soloed on a lot of VH tracks.
Vocally, LaBrie is at his metal best. His voice might strain in the live arena, but in the studio, LaBrie is a master.
This Dying Soul
The feedback from “As I Am” segues into the fast groove metal of “This Dying Soul”.
Here, Mike Portnoy continues his “Twelve-Step Suite”, which started with “The Glass Prison” on “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence”.
For those who don’t know, “The Glass Prison” has the following sections; “I. Reflection”, “II. Restoration” and “III. Revelation”. “This Dying Soul” has the following sections; “IV. Reflections of Reality (Revisited)” and “V: Release”. All of the sections are steps in the Alcohol Anonymous Recovery program.
After the thrash-a-thon in the intro, the song gives way to a Tool like groove and vocal melody in the verses. And I like it.
There is this “Blackened is the end” vocal melody in “V:Release”. Once you hear it, you will recognise it. I can’t say I am a huge fan of the loud speaker rap like verses, but I do give full marks for incorporating new elements into their music.
And since these songs are part of the same universe they do share some of the lyrics and melodies.
Endless Sacrifice
The acoustic intro.
It can remind you of Pink Floyd or Pantera depending on your listening history. They touched on these kind of melancholic riffs in “Peruvian Skies” from “Falling Into Infinity”.
But, it is the Chorus that brings the energy.
Then at 4.56, all hell breaks loose as they make their way into the solo section of the song. It’s got this “Creeping Death” meets “Disposable Heroes” palm-muted patterns.
For 8 seconds between 6.28 to 6.36 it sounds like it came from a “Tom and Jerry” cartoon.
Check out the harmony section from 8.58 which gets em out of the solo section and into the final part of the song.
Honor Thy Father
My favourite song for the riffs and melodies. It’s a metal tour-de-force.
The subject matter about Mike Portnoy’s stepfather didn’t resonate with me, but man, the riffs and melodies are fantastic.
After the heavy intro, press play to hear the first verse. And how good is the arena rock Chorus.
When the second verse rolls again, the original riff is played with distortion and man, it works so well. But at 3.51. instead of going into the Chorus again, they go into a verse with the riff tweaked a little bit more to make it sound different and unique.
And like all the songs on the album, from the 5 minute mark they go into a lengthy solo section.
Vacant
It’s the shortest song on the album, at 3 minutes long. It’s a haunting piano riff (which sounds like the bass riff to start of “Stream Of Consciousness”), with a little bit of an orchestra and LaBrie’s vocals.
The lyrics to “Vacant” were inspired by James LaBrie’s daughter, who fell into a short coma after suffering a sudden, unexplained seizure three days before her seventh birthday.
Stream of Consciousness
The DT instrumentals always have memorable sections via a lead or a riff. This song is no different especially the first two minutes. Essential listening.
The title had been around for a while in the DT world.
Of course, the solo from Petrucci is Guitar Hero stuff. Yes, there is flash and some fast picking, but it’s so melodic as well. If you like the playing of people like Steve Morse, Al DiMeola, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and Joe Satriani, then you will like what Petrucci does here.
And at 7.30 that fantastic intro music comes back in, more ferocious with a few little tweaks.
The whole is the longest instrumental on a Dream Theater studio album to date and was the intended title for Falling Into Infinity.
And one of the YouTube comments on the song still cracks me, “LaBrie never sounded better”.
In the Name of God
The closer at 14.15 about religion and how it indoctrinates people to kill in its name.
The acoustic intro sets the tone, before the distortion crashes in. It’s a slow groove by Portnoy before they pick it up and play it double time.
The verse riff is head banging and it reminds me of “As I Am”. Petrucci drops out and lets Myung roll with it on the bass, while Petrucci switches to decorating.
LaBrie is a monster on the vocals here. Listen to him between 4.46 and 5.30. Throat ripping stuff.
As is the theme of the album, they then go into a long solo section in the middle of the song.
Press play to hear Petrucci wail between from the 8.40 mark.
The album did exactly what it needed to do. It put them on tour again, it got them into large metal festivals, something which they couldn’t do before and it renewed their fan base with metal heads.
The debut album from Heart, released in September 1975 for all Canadian music lovers via Mushroom Records. It then got a U.S and international release in 1976.
The band for the album was made up of Ann Wilson on lead vocals, Nancy Wilson on electric and acoustic guitars, Roger Fisher on electric guitars, Howard Leese is on a lot of different instruments, Steve Fossen on bass and Mike Derosier on drums for two songs, with Dave Wilson, Duris Maxwell and Kat Hendriske providing drums on the other tracks.
Mike Flicker is producing. As Heart got bigger so did Flicker’s career.
But the Heart story doesn’t just start in 1975. It goes back almost a decade.
In 1967, bassist Steve Fossen formed the band as The Army, along with Roger Fisher on guitar, Don Wilhelm on guitar/keyboards and lead vocals, and Ray Schaefer on drums.
In 1969, the band went through some line-up changes and took on a new name, Hocus Pocus. Between this period they took on the name “White Heart”.
By 1973, the band was Ann Wilson on vocals, Steve Fossen on bass, Roger Fisher on guitars, Brian Johnstone on drums, and John Hannah on keyboards and they had taken the name Heart.
Ann’s sister Nancy joined circa 73/74 and the sisters quickly established themselves as the main songwriters.
Magic Man
A simple groove and Ann Wilson’s iconic voice. It’s almost psychedelic and progressive.
Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)
It’s a dreamy acoustic arpeggio riff to begin with, before it morphs into some serious acoustic folk rock playing from Nancy Wilson.
Crazy On You
Press play to hear the riff and the infectious vocal melody. This is what Hook City sounds like.
Soul Of The Sea
Another dreamy washy acoustic guitar riff forms the centrepiece. Almost “Albatross” like. The structure of verse and chorus is not here. It feels like verses and various gateways to progressive like movements, more mood and atmospheric like than a million notes per minute.
Dreamboat Annie
Flamenco like acoustic arpeggios are its foundation.
White Lightning And Wine
Its greasy and sleazy blues.
Love Me Like Music (I’ll Be Your Song)
Country folk rock. Even in the title.
Sing Child
Press play to hear the intro riff.
How Deep It Goes
More dreamy/smoking weed acoustic folk rock.
Dreamboat Annie – Reprise
It continues with the dreamy acoustic guitars. Campfire folk rock.
In the end, the standout track here is “Crazy On You”. It’s melodic rock at its best. Then press play on “Magic Man” for its rock groove and vocal melody. If you are still interested, crank the blues rock of “White Lightning and Wine” and finish it off with the dreamy trilogy suite of “Dreamboat Annie” songs.
In Australia, the album went Gold. In Canada in went 2x Platinum and in the U.S it went Platinum.
The success of the album indirectly led to a break between the band and label.
The band tried to renegotiate their royalty rate to be more in keeping with what they thought a platinum band should be earning. Mushroom wasn’t interested so instead of paying the band more in royalties they used the money earned from the band to take out a full-page ad in Rolling Stone, to mock the band, with a special dig to Ann and Nancy Wilson.
Not long after the ad appeared, a radio promoter asked Ann about her lover; he was referring to Nancy, thus implying that the sisters were incestuous lesbian lovers. The encounter infuriated Ann who went back to her hotel and wrote the words to what became one of Heart’s signature songs, “Barracuda”.
The band then signed with Portrait Records.
But Mushroom wasn’t done yet. It’s a big no-no in label land to let an act leave and make money with another label. So Mushroom said that the band was still bound to the contract, which meant they had to deliver two more albums. The band refused and Mushroom released “Magazine” with incomplete tracks, studio outtakes and live material and a disclaimer on the cover in 1977.
The band got a federal injunction to stop distribution of the 1977 edition of “Magazine”. Most of the initial 50,000 pressings were recalled from stores. The court eventually decided that the band could sign with Portrait, however they did owe Mushroom a second album. The band returned to the studio to re-record, remix, edit, and re-sequence the recordings.
“Magazine” was re-released in 1978 and sold a million copies in less than a month.
P.S.
Mushroom Records went bankrupt by 1980 although an Australian arm of Mushroom did survive well into the 2000’s.
Andor is one of the best shows I have seen on Disney Plus.
If you get to the last episode there is a section which I call “The Funeral Scene”. The music for it is written by Nicholas Britell and the song is called “Forming Up/Unto Stone We Are”.
And it’s always the music, the melodic soundscape to moving images that gets me to pay attention.
It starts with two separate marching bands at different ends of the alleys, just tuning their instruments and sort of jamming with themselves. Then the drummer starts the military like tempo and the most saddest of melodies is heard.
They start to walk towards the town centre and they eventually meet, and they are in time playing the song with each other. Director Tony Gilroy wanted this scene to be massive and he got the musicians to come in and learn the musical score so he could record it live instead of using the studio track.
Dream Theater was redeemed. Their previous album “Scenes From A Memory” renewed their fan base while also satisfying the existing fan base.
I was interested at what was next.
A double album. This is something the band tried to do with “Images And Words” and “Falling Into Infinity” however the label both times said “no”. But this time around, they said yes.
With the same personnel of James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung and Mike Portnoy locked in, the band released “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” on January 29. 2002. The first disc is made up of 5 songs that total 54 minutes and 18 seconds. The second disc is one song, which clocks in at 42 minutes, however that one song has 8 sections in it, which are sequenced as individual songs.
On the Wikipedia page for the album, it tells me that the influences for the album’s writing and recording, according to the authors, include Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, Radiohead’s “OK Computer” (and also a Radiohead bootleg Portnoy brought in), Pantera’s “Far Beyond Driven” and the song “Mouth for War”, Megadeth’s “Rust in Peace”, U2’s “Achtung Baby”, Tool’s “Ænima”, Nine Inch Nails’ “The Downward Spiral”, Soundgarden’s “Superunknown”, Alice in Chains’ “Dirt”, Kevin Gilbert’s “Thud”, King’s X’s “Faith Hope Love” and Galactic Cowboys’ “Space in Your Face”, Béla Bartók, Rage Against the Machine’s “The Battle of Los Angeles”, and Maria Tipo’s “Chopin Nocturnes”.
As a fan of the influences mentioned, I can definitely hear their sounds and textures.
The Glass Prison
The opening track.
It’s 14 minutes long, consisting of three parts called “I. Reflection”, “II. Restoration” and “III. Revelation”. The lyrics are written by Mike Portnoy and it’s the beginning of his “Twelve-Step Suite”. This song covers the first three steps of the AA program. The other steps would appear on subsequent albums.
The static phonograph noise that ends “Finally Free” on “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory” (1999) begins this song. Then the arpeggiated bass riff starts the song. Press play to hear it. It’s essential listening, especially when the band starts to crash in and build it up.
At 5.487 million Spotify streams, the track is forgotten. But there are so many good bits in the song, like the thrash metal riff in the Verses which reminds me of “Disposable Heroes” by Metallica, or the Groove Metal riff at 5.55 which reminds me of Pantera or the riff at 11.10 which reminds me of King Crimson.
Blind Faith
Lyrics are written by James LaBrie. For a vocalist, he doesn’t get a chance to write the words he sings for the band. John Petrucci does most of em these days. Previously he shared this duty with Kevin Moore and then Mike Portnoy.
1.802 million streams on Spotify. Another forgotten track, however its dreamy Pink Floydish meets Marillion vibe gets me interested. The verses are a cross between Pink Floyd, U2 and Marillion.
Pink Floyd is a band that people either get or don’t get, hence why they come up in a lot of overrated lists.
For a song that’s almost 11 minutes long, the riff at 5.45 is to be heard.
Misunderstood
Lyrics are written by John Petrucci.
It percolates slowly until it explodes. Just over 9 minutes long, check out the acoustic guitar intro, which again reminds me of Pink Floyd and you need to stick around for the Chorus distorted riff at 4.08.
As part of the solo, Petrucci played the guitar solo, and then reversed it with the DAW software. He then learned how to play this reversed version, and recorded it that way. The listener gets a very unsettling effect.
The Great Debate
Tool immediately comes to mind. Lyrics are by Petrucci and at almost 14 minutes long, the song has a lot of great movements.
A bass guitar riff starts the song off, with Portnoy building it up to a crescendo while voices from various news reports talk about stem cell research while the keys/guitars decorate.
Then it cranks into the Tool riff and for about 5 minutes it follows a Verse/Pre/Chorus structure. Make sure you stick around for the riffs when Labrie is singing “Are you justified” and “Life to save life”. It’s basically Tool without Maynard, then again, Fates Warning released a Tool meets Porcupine Tree sounding album in 2000 with “Disconnect”. Jim Matheos showcased then that he can groove and decorate with the best of em.
Disappear
It’s rare that LaBrie gets two song writing credits. But here it is. The original title was “Move On”. The piano riff in the Intro hooks me, but man, that section from 4.37, it’s so heavy with depression and sadness, which I suppose goes with the “death” theme lyrics.
Disc two is the entire song “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence”. Thank god Portnoy decided to sequence the CD so you can skip to the desired part.
The song explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, post-partum depression, autism, and dissociative identity disorder. The “Unbreakable” trilogy from M. Night Shyamalan comes to mind here.
Overture
It all starts here, the Jorden Rudess composed instrumental, clocking in at 6.50.
While listening to these orchestral piece I find it boring, however when the band heard it, they took various melodies and ideas contained within this version and expanded them into segments of the complete piece. So what you hear here end up in the songs to come. But I still don’t like it.
For “Overtures”, I will take “The Titanic Overture” any day.
About to Crash
Lyrics written by Petrucci. This section clocks in at 5:50 and it’s very Genesis like.
“War Inside My Head” and “The Test That Stumped Them All “
They go together as the heavy/thrash metal pieces of the song with lyrics written by Portnoy.
Together the songs clock in at 7:11 in length. It has to be a special Portnoy nugget to have these two songs come in at 7/11. Press play to hear the Main Riff of “The Test That Stumped Them All”.
Goodnight Kiss
It’s a skip for me.
Solitary Shell
How good is the major key strummed intro from Petrucci who also wrote the lyrics.
About to Crash (Reprise)
The intro riff is a favourite. The first words I said were “fuck yeah”.
Lyrics are written by Petrucci and the song also has this Celtic section at 2.20 that I like along with the piano riff after it.
Losing Time/Grand Finale
A forgettable ending.
It’s never forgotten to me how Dream Theater carved out a career in a musical hostile label and promoters environment between 1992 and 2003.
When they broke big with “Images And Words”, Seattle was the scene. 10 years later, “Nu-Metal” and its various offspring’s like “Post Grunge” and “Alternative Rock” were a thing and acts like Creed, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Offspring, Disturbed and Nickelback were getting platinum albums thrown at em from every corner of the world. And yet they never abandoned their style. While they would incorporate some of the mainstream sounds into their music, they still kept their Dream Theater identity.
And this album was the springboard for bigger and more metallic things to come.
It’s the last studio album by James Gang, released in 1976. Joe Walsh was 5 years into his Eagles slot and the band had continued on with a variety of line-up changes.
Their first album in 1969 was recorded as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and Jim Fox (drums). One of my favourite guitarists Tommy Bolin recorded two albums with the Gang called “Bang!” (released in 1973) and “Miami” (released in 1974) before he accepted the Deep Purple offer.
Only drummer Jim Fox remains. This album is the only one recorded with lead guitarist Bob Webb and keyboardist Phil Giallombardo. Giallombardo was in the Gang’s first ever line up with Fox, however he had left prior to the recording of their first album.
The cover features an atmospheric painting of the folk hero riding off into the sunset, an image which fans had identified as evidence that the band had known this album to be its last.
The players on this album are Bob Webb on guitars and lead vocals on three tracks, Phil Giallombardo on keyboards and lead vocals on the other 6 tracks, Dale Peters on bass guitar and Jim Fox on drums.
I Need Love
Written by keyboardist and co-vocalist Phil Giallombardo.
A simple syncopated bass and kick drum groove starts off the song. It’s almost funky but I feel like its hard rock.
The vocal melodies are overused.
Some of the critics said that the playing is uninspired but these guys can play and groove as evidenced here.
Another Year
Written by guitarist and co-vocalist Bob Webb. It’s a typical 70’s cut, with a dreamy acoustic guitar shimmering with some emotive leads that remind me of “While My Guitar Gently Sleeps”.
Feelin’ Alright
Written by the band, it’s also the most streamed track at 196,915 streams on Spotify. Press play to hear the lead break.
Peasant Song
Written by Phil Giallombardo, it’s a piano ballad with strings and this song feels like a bad Hollywood movie soundtrack, and it doesn’t connect at all.
Hollywood Dream
Written by Bob Webb and I like the rhythm and groove of the blues. It’s almost metal and its forgotten at 46,590 streams on Spotify.
Love Hurts
Written by Andrew Gold who was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He played on a lot of albums from other artists and wrote songs for artists as well. He died in 2011 at age 59 from heart failure.
It’s is an overused title.
The piano is back again, so far removed from the funk and blues of what the band was known for.
It’s a skip for me.
Pick Up The Pizzas
An instrumental track written by Bob Webb. A terrible title for one of the best riffs on the album. Press play and enjoy another forgotten track.
Stealin’ The Show
When Bob Webb writes a track there is guitar on it. On this one the acoustic guitar is back and Bad Company comes to mind.
When I Was A Sailor
The closer, at 6 plus minutes long and written by keyboardist Phil Giallombardo. This song is more Styx than James Gang.
The album is forgotten, with most songs being streamed less than 50,000 times. Especially when you compare those numbers to the Joe Walsh penned tunes like “Funk #49” with 47.382 million streams on Spotify and “Walk Away” with 29.297 million streams.
In the end, this album is just a bunch of musicians who wanted a record deal. Unfortunately for them, it was under the name of James Gang, which would always be known as Joe Walsh’s band, even though he wasn’t a founder. But the label still saw value in the project, however they also pulled the plug on it after the album stiffed.
I like doing these review posts as it gives me the opportunity to read my earlier writing. Some of it is okay, some of it is crap and some of it is good. But the life Reno’s I went through recently put a stop to these weekly posts.
You can read my review of Redemption’s new album at the time, “Long Night’s Journey Into Day”. Vocals on this album were provided by Tom Englund from Evergrey, while previous efforts had Ray Adler from Fates Warning fronting them.
Being a fan of Redemption before Englund joined, I was always keen to hear a new Redemption record, however I was even more keen to hear it when I knew Englund would be singing.
Back in 2018, we had gas poisoning and acid attacks in the UK, Russia meddling in politics (and still meddling via a pointless war in Ukraine) and mother nature taking back her lands via fires, volcanoes, hurricanes/twisters and earthquakes. We have a problem with pollution in the air and plastics in our waters. We have people carrying out mass shootings or driving vehicles into crowds of people. We have wars over religion and poverty/famine in Africa is still happening and as much as big business want to deny it, climate change is real.
And then of course we got lockdowns due to COVID-19.
The past is littered with bands and music in general taking a stand against a problem, a situation, injustice and war. But what about now. What is upsetting musicians enough that they feel compelled to write about it?
“Dr Feelgood” came out on the first of September, 1989. 33 years ago. The album cost me $19.99. I pay just a little bit more than that a month now for my whole family to listen to almost the history of music on Spotify.
The drug overdoses, the death and subsequent return from death for Nikki Sixx, the drugs, the crashed cars, the lawsuits, the drugs again, the imposter, Vince escaping jail, the women, the drugs again times two, the partying, the clashes with the law and the eventual “sobriety”.
“Dr Feelgood” had to be number 1. If the music didn’t do it, the stories would have. Apart from the big songs, the other songs on the album were not mere filler.
“Sticky Sweet” has a wicked solo section, “She Goes Down” has a great bass and drums verse section after the solo section, which ends with the sound of a zipper going down, “Slice Of Your Pie” is so Aerosmith, but it’s the Beatles “She’s So Heavy” outro that hooks me, while “Rattlesnake Shake” has a riff reminiscent to the 60’s blues guitarists that influenced Mick.
“Live After Death” on cassette was my first Maiden. I even high speed dubbed the album, just in case the cassette deck chewed up the original tape. “Powerslave” was released a year before “Life After Death” but it came into my collection a few years after because if you had “Live After Death” you didn’t really need the earlier albums.
The thing with “Powerslave” which makes it great is that it has the power and energy of a live album and the line-up is finally stable. When you don’t have to look for new musicians to fill the void, you can focus on writing great songs as they did with the “Peace Of Mind”, “Powerslave”, “Somewhere In Time”, “Seventh Son of A Seventh Son”.
For an album which is 38 years old, it’s still so relevant today as it was back then. That is the power of music and great song writing.
1979 was a year of transition. While some bands were on their last legs, some were just starting to find their own.
Led Zeppelin were coming to an end while Thin Lizzy was on the ascendancy. The Scorpions had bigger things waiting with “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and “Winds Of Change” while Fleetwood Mac and Bad Company delivered stellar albums that unfortunately got compared to their previous mega gazillion selling albums.
Aerosmith became a shell of the band they were with “Night In The Ruts”, while Motorhead after a few up’s and downs with record label crap, got lumped in with the NWOBHM movement starting off and started their brief commercial rise.
Uli John Roth left Scorpions and created Electric Sun, but in all honesty he should of stayed with Scorpions, while a supergroup of “musicians who all had small record deals” got together and called themselves Survivor. “Eye Of The Tiger” was a few years away, but you get to hear a band allowing their influences to shape their sound.
Basically, all the bands on this list just kept on creating, regardless of their status on the record label commercial tree. Because that’s why people get into music, to create. Not because copyright terms are forever or because some label said I will give you money to create.
Led Zeppelin – In Through the Out Door Scorpions – Lovedrive Thin Lizzy – Black Rose: A Rock Legend Fleetwood Mac – Tusk Bad Company – Desolation Angels Aerosmith – Night in the Ruts Motorhead – On Parole Motorhead – Bomber Motorhead – Overkill Electric Sun – Earthquake Survivor – Survivor Susan – Falling In Love Again
“Generation Swine” and “Saints Of Los Angeles” both came out on June 24, 11 years apart.
How fortunes change for a band in a decade?
Before 1997, Motely Crue was riding high after “Dr Feelgood”. They renegotiated their Elektra contract for a lot of money and dropped “Decade Of Decadence” with 3 new studio recordings. Life was good.
Then Vince left or was fired (depending on whose story you believe). Regardless, the Crue got Corabi and delivered a stellar self-titled album in 94. But it didn’t sell the way Elektra wanted it too, and since they were footing the bills, they wanted the blond guy back in. Yep, Elektra Records A&R Reps in 1995, referred to Vince Neil as the blond guy.
The Crue camp remained defiant and went ahead writing songs for an album to be called “Personality #9” with Corabi. But money wins in the end and Corabi was out and Vince was back in.
It’s never been confirmed, but the Chinese whispers were in full voice, and the story doing the rounds mentioned how Corabi’s wage was coming from the other guys. Basically, Elektra paid Nikki, Tommy and Mick. Management took their cut, legal took their cut, Corabi got paid a wage and the rest was shared between the other three based on the band agreement.
“Generation Swine” came out, you heard it was a confused album. During the tour, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil punched on and Tommy leaves, then comes back and leaves again. Nikki gets into a slanging match with Elektra and eventually the contract was terminated and somehow Nikki managed to get the copyrights of the Crue songs back in the hands of the band. They form their own label and away they go.
Randy Castillo comes in, “New Tattoo” comes out, Randy dies, Samantha fills in on drums, Nikki gets it going with Samantha and his marriage goes to pieces while the Crue play theatres and cancel shows all over the world. I know, their Australian tour got canned. And after “New Tattoo”, the Crue went on hiatus.
In between, they got some stories together and a book called “The Dirt” came out. The band got back together for a few select shows and demand was so huge, those few shows turned into a huge world tour which was encapsulated in the “Carnival of Sins” DVD release.
If you want to have a career as an artist, you need to be a lifer, and be ready to ride the journey. It’s not always bright lights and success after success. There are hard times and good times. Doors shut and other doors are opened. And when everyone wrote them off, they came back stronger than ever.
For a band who were just average musicians at best, they built a career 40 plus years long. And that period between 1997 and 2008 could have been the end, but it wasn’t.
I came across an interview from Vince Neil in Faces USA 1993. Post Crue departure, Vince was the man, the centre of attention. Here are some sections in italics.
Faces: What surprised you the most about the reception you received upon your departure from Motley Crue?
Vince: How quickly I was accepted. A lot of the labels had faith in me. I had a lot of different labels that were interested. It was a really exciting process, walking in there and talking with the different companies, like the heads of Geffen and Giant and Epic.
All these corporate presidents were like “Come on, come and be with us.”
I sat in with Mo Ostin at Warner Brothers and all these dudes and I felt so much power in the room. When I made the deal, went “Okay, give me the money I want and a Warner Bros jacket with Bugs Bunny on it and I will sign the deal.”
I went with a Warner Brothers basically because they gave me the money I wanted and the security of being on the Warner’s label.
Faces: Can you tell us what the deal was?
Vince: Eighteen million dollars for 5 records.
Think about it. Motley Crue signed a 5 album deal with Elektra worth $35 million and the singer who wasn’t even the main songwriter of the band, then goes and signs a solo deal with Warner Bros for $18 million and 5 albums. And the “Exposed” album is a great slab of hard rock during a time when hard rock albums started to disappear from the record store shelves. But in music, these long term deals very rarely are seen to the end. Two years later in 1995, Vince was no longer accepted, and he had no record deal and no management after “Carved In Stone” disappointed commercially.
The person who signed him, Mo Ostin left Warner Bros in 1994, so it’s safe to say the new team, didn’t really like some of the signings that the old team did.
Even Motley Crue didn’t see the end of their Elektra deal. The people who negotiated the Motley deal in 1992, were no longer at Elektra by 1995 and the new Elektra management team didn’t really care for Motley. All they cared about was the bottom line and Nikki Sixx constantly called out current Elektra boss, Sylvia Rhodes at the groups concerts, even calling her from the stage, so the crowd could tell her to fuck off.
So what’s a few million when bands make the labels multi-millions.
SOLO
I expressed my disappointment at the SOLO movie, which basically put into images the words that Han Solo said in the original Star Wars movies.
The problem these days is movies have a lot of action scenes and hardly any good dialogue scenes. Meanwhile TV shows are winning the story script war hands down.
And do movies need to cost $300 million plus to make. In my view the higher the cost of the movie, the less story it has. And people are attached to a story.
It’s sad reading stories about how far removed Copyright Law is from what it was intended to be.
Copyright battles are happening everywhere. Most of the news is on how the record labels and movie studios are calling on governments to pass stronger dictatorship style copyright laws which would give these organisations police like powers.
But Copyright was originally designed to help the creator of the art. However, it’s assisting the corporations to make billions of dollars while the creators make a lot less.
Remember the movie, “This Is Spinal Tap”. Well, the movie has made over $400 million in profits, however the co-creators have received $81 from merchandise sales and $98 from record sales. If you think those amounts are pretty low, well the co-creators thought so as well, and off they went to court, for fraudulent accounting and to get the copyright back in the hands of the creators. And lucky for them they got a judge that saw their side, so the case is going to get interesting. Unfortunately for UMG/Vivendi, the co-creators in this case, also found fame with “The Simpsons” and they have a voice in the market as powerful as the corporation.
8 Years Ago (2014)
EASTERN EUROPE
I was in the middle of our holiday around Eastern Europe and you know what, piracy is king in these countries. CD and DVD shops exist with forgeries. Clothing shops exist with forgeries.
But in all of this piracy, thousands of people turn up to watch artists perform live. Every artist tours Eastern Europe and I am pretty sure that sales of recorded music now and in the past didn’t correlate to the thousands who attended the shows.
I got back from Eastern Europe on a Thursday morning and by Friday night I was at the Manning Bar at the Sydney Uni watching Protest The Hero. The ticket for the night was $45 Australian plus booking fee of about $6. Compared to some of the prices I have paid for tickets, this was a good deal.
And that’s a wrap of about a months’ worth of posts from the past.
When I first heard “Sweet Dreams” I said, that’s “Crazy Train”. I don’t care how Dave Stewart spins it, he was definitely influenced by Randy Rhoads. If you don’t believe me, listen to this recent cover version of the song from Iron Savior.
I guess they heard the similarities as well.
Anyway, “Revenge” is album number 5, released on 29 June 1986 by RCA Records in the United Kingdom and on 14 July in the United States.
All tracks are written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart.
Missionary Man
I like the groove on this song.
Thorn in My Side
This song is excellent. The intro riff alone is iconic in my book.
When Tomorrow Comes
A rarity on the album, written by keyboardist Patrick Seymour.
It’s a melodic AOR rocker.
The Last Time
The rock sounds continue.
The Miracle of Love
This is a song that has survived the test of time. It is one of those crossover songs that works well in hard rock and normal rock. The intro keyboard lead sounds so good on a distorted guitar, sort of like the sax solo on “Careless Whisper”.
For me, it’s a 5 out of 5 for side A.
Side B is a good listen but the track titles always seem to escape me.
Let’s Go!
It’s got a New Wave vibe, with a bit of rock.
Take Your Pain Away
Repetitive with a funky bluesy bass groove.
A Little of You
The Chorus is addictive. Press play to hear it.
In This Town
It’s like they are warming up in soundcheck. And then it kicks in, with a rhythm and blues “Mustang Sally” vibe. The hook of “in this town something got to change” will always be relevant, considering how crazy and divisive towns have become.
I Remember You
A lonely Sax player is wailing away with the sounds of streets noise as the song builds. It’s not a favourite, as it percolates without exploding.
Side B is a 1 out of 5 and not as strong as the opening side.
This album was huge in Australia, reaching number 2 in the Charts and hanging around for a long time on the backs of the singles, eventually reaching a 4x Platinum certification. All the radio stations played the songs and the music video stations played the music clips.
And what is good for Australia, New Zealand likes as well, with the album certified 5x Platinum. Other places the album received certifications include Austria (Gold), Canada and the UK, (2× Platinum), Finland, Norway and Switzerland (Platinum), , while it only got a Gold certification in the U.S, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Press play on the first five songs and check out Iron Savior’s cover of “Sweet Dreams” on the YT link provided.
It’s not even on Spotify. I guess when the hard core fans classed this album as the weakest album of the April Wine catalogue, the band took notice. Then again there was no band when this album was recorded. Read on.
Read on.
“Walking Through Fire” is album number 12. It is listed as being released in 1985 and in 1986. Remember those days when albums would have staggered releases based on geography.
As the Wikipedia page for the album states, it was essentially a contractual obligation to the band’s record label, to whom they still owed one album. And the label made sure that they would never recoup this album, getting songs from outside songwriters and booking expensive studio time.
By this time, the band had broken up, and the album features only Myles Goodwyn and Brian Greenway from April Wine’s “classic line-up” with some session musicians. For those wondering, Myles Goodwyn is on lead vocals and guitar, Brian Greenway is on guitar, Daniel Barbe is on the keys, Jean Pellerin is on bass and Marty Simon is on drums.
Rock Myself to Sleep
A lifeless opener and the first single released from the album, a tune written by two members of Katrina and the Waves in Kimberley Rew and Vince De la Cruz. It failed to make the charts.
Wanted Dead or Alive
This is a great Melodic AOR Rock. Press play to hear the Chorus.
Written by Jeff Cannata and Michael Soldan when they were in band Arc Angel together.
The song was actually released on their self-titled first and only album in 1983 on CBS Records. For those interested, a number of session musicians performed on the album, like, James Christian, Jeff Bova and Hugh McDonald. If you follow hard rock music, those names would be familiar to you. Of course, their brand of AOR Melodic Rock proved very popular in Europe but did nothing in the US as their brand of rock was dismissed by music writers as a Boston/Kansas clone.
Beg For Your Love
Clichéd song written by Canadian songwriter Eddie Schwartz.
You probably heard his song “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” getting a lot of air time courtesy of Pat Benatar recording it.
Half of the songs he recorded for his solo album, “No Refuge”, released in 1981 have been covered by other artists like “Hearts On Fire” by Honeymoon Suite on their self-titled 1984 debut and “All Our Tomorrows” by Joe Cocker on his “Unchain My Heart” album from 1987 to name a few.
Love Has Remembered Me
A ballad written by Myles Goodwyn. It was a minor hit and time has been kind to it.
Anejo
Written by Myles Goodwyn, it’s a skip for me.
Open Soul Surgery
Written by Jim Vallance, who has got a certain hard rock and roll sound and it’s the best track on the album.
You Don’t Have to Act That Way
Written by Myles Goodwyn, this track is a skip for me and I had an uneasy feeling that the rest of the album would follow this vibe. But I was wrong.
Hold On
Written by Myles Goodwyn this song is a hit, however it wasn’t promoted at all. Press play to hear the AOR Chorus.
All It Will Ever Be
Written by Myles Goodwyn rocks hard in the verses while it goes all major key “Life Is A Highway” like in the Chorus. It’s an underrated cut in my book.
Wait Any More
Written by Myles Goodwyn it’s got this summertime major key vibe which I like.
I grew up in the 80’s and this album can compete with a lot of albums that came out during this time. It’s basically a few good songs surrounded by filler, like most of the albums.
If you are interested, start with “Open Soul Surgery”, then go to “Wanted Dead Or Alive” and finish off with “Hold On”.
The Screaming Jets released the single “Better” and two months later, their debut album “All For One” came out. Their sound is made up of an amalgamation of Australian acts like AC/DC, The Angels, INXS, The Choirboys and Cold Chisel, with a little bit of blues, a little bit of Classic Rock and Punk Rock thrown in. And it connected with the people of Oz.
Dave Gleeson always like to push censorship issues, and I remember when he appeared in the MTV Studios in Sydney for an interview, wearing a Metallica T Shirt with the “Metal Up Your Ass” design on it. The MTV guys weren’t too impressed and when he sat for the interview he had to strategically cover the offending images with his hands.
The group then relocated to the United Kingdom for over two years. The wanted to break into a European market first, before attempting their assault on the massive North American market. Doc McGhee was very keen to be the one to break them in the U.S
In the meantime, their youthful energy was getting them into trouble with other artists. The Divinyls wanted them off the Australian tour they were doing together, because lead singer Dave Gleeson insulted Chrissy Amphlett on stage, when he said, “Are you here for a rock and roll show or just a tasteful flash of the vag?”
Warrant copped it as well, when they turned up at a Club that the Jets were playing in Kings Cross, Sydney.
However Skid Row and Motley Crue liked the Jets and the Jets like them back.
As a warm up for their sophomore release, the label decided to release an EP called “Living in England” in June 1992. It included cover versions of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and AC/DC’s “Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)” along the three album tracks. And we loved it. It wetted our appetite for more.
In October 1992, “Tear of Thought” dropped.
The band was unchanged with Dave Gleeson on vocals, Richard Lara on guitar, Grant Walmsley on guitar, Paul Woseen on bass guitar and Brad Heaney on drums. Continuing on from the debut album, bassist Paul Woseen and guitarist Grant Walmsley carried the bulk of the song writing.
And for some stupid reason the European release had a different cover.
Dream On
No, it’s not an Aerosmith cover. Written by Paul Woseen, it’s got this U2 vibe to start off, with backward sounding guitar effects and delays while the drums and bass slowly build it up, until the whole band kicks in.
And suddenly it feels like a post pop punk cut with a nod to The Angels and a 12 bar blues solo that George Thorogood would be proud off.
Here I Go
The intro riff. Heavy fucking Metal.
Please play just to hear it.
The song is written by Paul Woseen and its one of my favorites.
Especially the last 80 seconds, when they go into the main intro riff, the ohhs and ahhs vocal chants begin, the tempo increases, a lead breaks out and the tempo keeps on increasing until chaos reigns and the song ends.
Meet Anybody
Written by guitarist Grant Walmsley.
It has a vibe from The Angels, but man, the verses sit in the LA Sunset Strip style of writing.
When the Chorus kicks in, it’s got that Albert Productions sound. Press play and enjoy.
Alright
Another Grant Walmsley cut which reminds me of Cold Chisel and The Angels, with a head banging rocking solo section.
Night Child
Written by Paul Woseen, the songs music is rooted in the sounds of ACCA DACCA, however if you play the main riff with the distortion set to max, it sounds like it came from the fingertips of the NWOBHM bands.
Helping Hand
Written by Paul Woseen, this song was the unexpected hit.
It’s got this Crime Noir feel in the verses almost jazz blues, but when the bluesy Chorus kicks in, its singalong and infectious, remaining with you long after its finished.
Everytime
Written by Grant Walmsley and I feel like he channels Ian Moss from Cold Chisel with the main riff.
Living in England
Also written by Grant Walmsley, its two minutes of relentless punk speed metal power. It’s heavy and it has a Lemmy/Motorhead vibe all over it. I guess that’s what “Living In England” meant to them. You just become influenced by Lemmy. And Brad Heaney on drums is a powerhouse here.
Think
Written by Paul Woseen it’s got an Alice Cooper “Only Women Bleed” feel with a lot of pub rock decadence. For a ballad, it’s not wimpy and it rocks hard.
Press play to hear what I mean, or you can watch the film clip on YouTube with all the surrealism images.
Best of You
Written by Paul Woseen, this song makes me think of other songs but I can’t remember what they are right now.
Rich Bitch
Written by Paul Woseen, its an attempt to do Fat Rich Cunt Part 2. George Thorogood would be proud.
Tunnel
Written by vocalist Dave Gleeson and guitarist Richard Lara.
The riff from Lara is excellent. The horns in the Pre-Chorus and Chorus enhance the song. Think “Tangled In The Web” from Lynch Mob.
Musically it’s a cross between The Angels, Bad Company and AC/DC.
Hard Drugs
Written by Grant Walmsley its channelling The Angels.
Sick and Tired
Written by Paul Woseen it’s got that jazzy rhythm and blues feel that you hear on “Helping Hand”.
Shivers
Rowland Howard wrote a post punk masterpiece in the form of a ballad. For those that don’t know, it’s a cover from the band he was in called Boys Next Door who had Nick Cave as the vocalist for them.
The opening lyrics “I’ve been contemplating suicide / but it really doesn’t suit my style” immediately grab you by the throat and make you pay attention.
Feeble
Written by Grant Walmsley, the album closer is a different cut, moving between a post punk mood at the start, to a ballad like mid-section, before picking up the fast post punk feel. .
In Australia, it received a Platinum certification and charted as high as 3 on the ARIA chart.
The group supported Ugly Kid Joe on their European tour in 1993, when Heaney was fired mid-tour as he thought that all the band members had turned gay and that the girlfriends they had were just decoys to trick him that they were not gay.
Heaney was temporarily replaced by ex-Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland until former BB Steal drummer Craig Rosevear became the permanent drummer in July 1993.
For those who don’t know, BB Steal were meant to be Australia’s Def Leppard. Singer Dave Gleeson wasn’t too impressed to hear that a hair band drummer was being considered, but after meeting and jamming with Rosevear, he changed his mind.
And that wouldn’t be the end of the changes. In January 1994, after a US tour backing Def Leppard ended, guitarist Richard Lara was replaced by Melbourne guitarist Jimi “The Human” Hocking (ex-Spectre 7).
destroyerofharmony 