Category Archives: Unsung Heroes

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

Rock Me

Great White began their career in the early 80’s with “Out Of The Night”. Then EMI signed em, released an album and didn’t really know what to do with the band, so they dropped em and then Capitol records got em on the books.

In 1987, “Once Bitten” their third album, got the platinum treatment and they went on tour in the U.S with Whitesnake. Then “Twice Shy” followed in 1989 and this led to more platinum sales and their own successful headline tour.

By 1991, most of the world was heading into recessions, and the hard rock public was getting a bit jaded with the same lyrical themes and sound-a-like chord progressions of hard rock. So “Hooked” didn’t really set the charts alight.

“Psycho City” came out in 1993, and by then band members had left, band members had marriages and divorces and illnesses. And hard rock was not a commercial force anymore, but bands who had success before, wanted the same success. And so did the record labels, but when this didn’t eventuate, it was goodbye to the record deal and hello to arguments within band members.

“Rock Me” came out at the same time as “Appetite For Destruction”, maybe it got lost in the noise, but it still got a lot of airplay in Australia, and I’m thinking its blues tinged hard rock definitely hit a note with the programmers and Australian audiences.

The bass boogie kicks it off.

The drums are simple, high hats for some time, slowly percolating until the right moment to explode in the chorus. And the guitars are just decorating, until it comes time for them to explode as well.

Rock me
Rock me
Roll me through the night

How good is the Chorus?

And when you think the song is about to finish, they pick it up and blast in to an outro solo for the last minute. At 7 minutes long, the blues boogie doesn’t gets boring.

Today, it has 7 million listens on Spotify and the 5 minute music video has 12 million views on YouTube. The song is forgotten compared to the numbers other songs have, but if you were alive during this period, it was a song from our youth.

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Unknown Heroes

For every guitarist that makes it, there are a lot of well-known guitarists who have a large impact on their development and style. And there are also a lot of guitarists who didn’t make it out of the club/pub circuit, who despite never attaining platinum albums, inspired a generation of guitarists to pick the guitar and rock like hell.

Dave Sabo and Scott Hill kept talking about several unknown musicians from New Jersey who inspired them to rock and roll. These hometown guitar heroes and the thousands of other gifted musicians who play in cover bands, one man shows, who teach, who jam in their rooms and once in a while break out the electric to inspire their kids or grandkids, these people we don’t know about are nothing short of legendary.

And the same goes to the blogging community who share their stories and experiences around the music they love. Even though they are unknown, they are all legendary.

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Lazy Days, Crazy Nights

It pisses me off that “The Great Radio Controversy” has been removed from Spotify Australia but “Lazy Days, Crazy Nights” is still available via the “Gold” compilation album. But so many other good songs are not available.

How good is the intro?

It’s a simply Amadd9 to Cmaj7 chord progression over a static and ringing fretted E and open B note. It sounds heavy, because of its dirgey groove. Bands like Alice In Chains built a career with grooves like these.

I’m feelin’ so much better, but not quite feelin’ fine

We are unique creatures. overwhelmed by choice. The internet keeps us connected forever. We see a feed or a post on social media and we think someone is having or living a better life than us. So we sit down, set goals for ourselves and we feel great. And then we achieve what we set out to do and then set new goals. The cycle keeps repeating and we think we are so much better, but we still feel a bit uneasy.

Now, I’ve got to get my shit together,

Do we ever get our act together?

We like to think so, but in reality all we do is replace one thing with another. One paid debt is replaced by another. One relationship is superseded or replaced by another. One addiction is replaced by another. Knowledge we accumulated 10 years ago is replaced by new knowledge from now.

Then the Chorus riff rolls around and it’s a 101 lesson in how to write hard rock riffs, as it boogies between the A to G notes that so many songs of the era used.

But I love those lazy days and crazy nights, It’s my way, it’s my life.

I like the night. I am in my element and I feel creative when night rolls around. When I was unemployed, I used to sleep in. It’s why Slaughter’s “Up All Night” resonated with me.

The problem for me now, is that my days are not so lazy anymore. They are so crazy that my nights start to become a snooze fest because of tiredness. Getting older it’s more like “crazy days and sleepy nights, it’s my way, it’s my life”.

Regardless, hearing those lines when I was younger, it made me want to sing-along and scream those words at the top of my lungs.

I love those lazy days and crazy nights, It’s my way, it’s my life.

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

Paradise City

We have all read the stories and formed stories ourselves about how grunge came along and replaced hard rock, hair bands, glam rock, glam metal and metal in general. But it never did really replace it. The major record labels abandoned most of the rock and metal acts who had marginal success, so from a commercial sense, hard rock and metal music was absent from the mainstream. But it was still there.

A long time ago, Led Zeppelin was seen as a heavy metal act and Black Sabbath was even more extreme. Today, Sabbath’s sound is like Playschool compared to what other metal bands sound like. But there was a period when rock did dominate.

And Guns N Roses via “Appetite For Destruction” gave rock music a few more years of mainstream success, because the labels had already saturated the market with Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Ratt and Poison copy like bands. Up next, the labels started signing Guns N Roses copy like bands, like Skin N Bones.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” was the hit, but every GnR fan loves “Paradise City”. It’s the closer of Side 1, when sequencing vinyl records was an art form in itself. Each side had to open with an awesome cut, and close with an awesome cut.

GNR had been gigging for a while around L.A, via Hollywood Rose and the other bands the members were in before GnR became a band. Slash even auditioned for Poison and Stryper during these periods. But there was hype and then a record deal and then the album eventually came out. 

And nothing. 

It wasn’t a failure, but it didn’t set the sales and charts alight from the outset.

Then MTV played “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. And the album got a second wind, sort of like how “Hysteria” got a second wind on the back of “Love Bites”.

“Welcome To The Jungle” came back into the charts, and then the seven minute live video of “Paradise City” dropped, with Axl in the white jacket which Lars Ulrich got a few years later and James Hetfield kept hassling him about it.

Anyway back to the paradise city where the girls are pretty. The opening arpeggio chords of G, C, F, C – G of the song with the “We Will Rock You” influenced drum pattern gets your attention immediately. When Slash starts that Em Pentatonic solo, you can only smile, and you’re thinking it’s this Southern Rock style of song.

Then the whistle blows. 

And all hell breaks loose. 

That Chromatic riff that comes in is bone crunching and head banging material. Wikipedia tells me it’s based on “Zero The Hero” from the Black Gillan album “Born Again”.

If that riff was in a Slayer or Machine Head or Metallica song, it would be circle pit time. And those descriptive storybook lyrics set the scene so nicely.

Just a urchin livin’ under the street, I’m a hard case that’s tough to beat

I’m your charity case so buy me something to eat, I’ll pay you at another time

“Welcome To The Jungle” part 2. It’s the same theme, coming to the Sunset Strip, looking for people to hook up with, especially women, who would look after you. Motley Crue did the same.

Rags to riches or so they say, Ya gotta keep pushin’ for the fortune and fame

So many pushed for fortune and fame, but only so few made it. And the ones who made it, didn’t end up staying there for long. Only for a brief moment. But for that moment, they ruled.

And then the song gets even crazier with its double time ending,

Slash soloing and Steve Adler basically breaking his drum kit in the process.

And this song was released as a single in 1989, almost two years after the album was released. If you needed evidence of the power of this album, then look no further than this single release.

Take me back to the paradise city, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

Yes please.

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18 And Life

Once Sebastian Bach joined, a bidding war happened between Geffen Records and Atlantic. Geffen wanted a Bon Jovi act and Atlantic wanted a Guns N’ Roses act. And these two labels were in an East vs West Coast war. Geffen even brought in a producer who said that “18 and Life” and “Makin’ A Mess” should be kept and songs like “Youth Gone Wild” and “I Remember You” should be scrapped. Doc McGhee wanted them to go with Geffen. Everything pointed towards to Geffen except for the guys in the band especially Rachel Bolan.

Atlantic A&R guru Jason Flom had been following the band for a while and increased the Atlantic offer at the last minute.

Both labels saw “18 And Life” as a quality song. A serious subject matter, so far removed from the romantic vibes of “I Remember You” and the rebellious “stand your ground” anthem “Youth Gone Wild”.

The video dominated MTV in the US but not so much in Australia. The fans made this a cult favourite.  

The C#m arpeggios in the intro, moving to an A and B chord got me interested. If you’ve watched Skid Row live (the Bach led version that is), they extend this intro, with a pretty kicking lead break from Scotti Hill. Actually, Jorn did a cover of Don Henley’s “New York Minute” and the intro sounds like the live version of “18 And Life” that I remember.

And Skid Row is becoming forgotten.

When I googled “18 and Life lyrics” it came up with the lyrics for the song and the artist was listed as “Asking Alexandria”. So whatever issue, Rachel Bolan and Dave Sabo have with Sebastian Bach, its leading their band into irrelevance and into the history pages of the internet. Because come on, one of their biggest songs doesn’t come up listed to them, but to a band who covered it.

Ricky was a young boy, he had a heart of stone
Lived nine to five and worked his fingers to the bone

It summed up most of the kids growing up in the 80’s and 90’s (when I started working). I remember getting my first wages and I felt like I was on top of the world. But at that time I was still living with my parents and social reality hadn’t hit me yet.  And I didn’t have a heart of stone. I cared for my family and friends. But I knew people who were just like Ricky.

Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down

You all know how a blade just explodes out/pops out when a button is pushed. Well imagine a human just losing control like that. Joe Pesci in “Goodfellas” sums up this kind of action. I knew a few people like that, always getting into fights from out of nowhere. 

And he fought the world alone 

No one is alone. For every feeling a person has like this, remember there are people out there that feel like you and there are people out there that care for you. Talk to em.

Tequila in his heartbeat

His veins burned gasoline

It kept his motor runnin’

But he never kept it clean

You can interchange tequila with any other alcoholic beverage. Drinking whiskey makes me jump out of moving cars. I’m Superman.

He married trouble

Had a courtship with a gun

I don’t think I have met a person who doesn’t love adventure. But adventure which leads to mischief and trouble, could be cool while you are young, but as you grow up, it could be dangerous and deadly. And in Australia, we don’t have a law that gives us the right to bear arms to protect our property, so our courtship with a gun isn’t as strong as it is, in other countries.

He fired his six-shot to the wind

That child blew a child away

Accidents happen, but a life lost is a life lost. 

The lead break and that outro arpeggio riff (with the lead break as well) are my favourite pieces to play on the guitar, along with the intro guitar arpeggio riff.

Enjoy it.

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Harem Scarem – Change The World

I listen first to the music. There has to be something there which resonates and connects with me. If the guitar riff makes me pick up my guitar to learn it, then god damn, it’s a good song. And on occasions the guitar riff could be simple, but the vocal melody and the lyrics drive home the song. There is no perfect science, but, if there is cool guitar riff, then I am sold.

And Harem Scarem’s new album, “Change The World” has a lot of nice guitar work. Pete Lesperance is one of the most underrated guitarists, ever. His style of playing is exactly what I like, even bringing back memories of Vito Bratta’s style playing.

I remember purchasing Guitar World magazines in the 90s and suddenly how uncool it was to play fast and to practice. But practicing was all about developing different techniques so that the guitarist had an arsenal at their disposal, ready to produce the correct weaponry when needed.

Change The World

The E major intro lick reminds of “Glasgow Kiss” from John Petrucci’s solo album. But this is its own beast.

The chords in the verse move from an E to a B chord but under an E pedal point. The chorus has a stock chord progression that every chart topping song uses. In the key of E major, the chords are E to B to C#m and A.

The main lead break is brilliant and as good as any lead break from all of the 80’s guitar heroes.

Aftershock

The intro riff, is heavy and melodic. The way Lesperance uses octaves and single notes under ringing pedal points reminds me of the best things about grunge music and bands like Smashing Pumpkins.

The main lead break, needs to be heard.

It’s so well structured, it flows nicely, and the phrasing is perfect. It’s got legato lines, bends, string skipping, palm muted fast picked lines and hammer ons.

Searching For Meaning

Waiting for the lead break is worth it, as it kicks off with double-stop bends before it moves into a melodic section.

And the man riff of the song is scattered with power chords and palm muted arpeggios.

The Death Of Me

The intro riff grabs me and that lead break again, god damn. Lesperance’s use of the Lydian and Mixolydian scales over minor key chords, works so good.

Mother Of Invention

It’s a ballad.

And I had an idea as to how the solo would go from hearing the chord progression.

And it went down that road, starting off with pentatonic lines and some bends, then there was a section of some fast pull off patterns and hammer ons, then a fast picked open string lick and some string skipping interval slides to end it.

Perfect.

Next.

No Man’s Land

Now this solo starts off, with this classical style lick and it reminds me of that Christmas tune that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra do.

On the Savatage album, “Dead Winters Dead” it’s called “Sarajevo”.

And that same lick ends the song, it’s that good.

In The Unknown

So many of the Harem Scarem songs start off with a sing along guitar lick like this song.

Do I have to mention that you need to listen to the lead break, constructed like a separate song within a song. It has this repeating open string lick for 8 bars which is catchy and melodic, before it goes to some octave slides and fast picked licks.

Riot In My Head

Another memorable riff to kick off a memorable song with another memorable solo.

Swallowed By The Machine

This is one of my favourite songs, hands down. The lyrics connect, the music connects and the lead breaks definitely connect.

We’re falling into dystopia
It’s crumbling before our eyes
Black mirror reflecting all our lives

Don’t worry about the “Black Mirror” TV show, which shows some of the horrors our love of technology could bring forth to us.

But we should worry about how many times we access our tablet or iPad’s or phones.

I access my tech devices so much, just to hear music from it. I feel like I am constantly touching it, calling up different albums on Spotify, saving songs, adding songs to playlists and finding other albums.

Then I check my emails a few times throughout the day, then Twitter three times a day and WordPress a few times a day as well. Then there are text messages and phone calls to deal with and I also read books on iBook’s and the Kindle app on the iPhone.

Suddenly, that little black mirror has seen my face and fingerprint an unbelievable amount of times.

We all have dreams
We all have doubts
Be careful which you feed
And don’t get swallowed by the machine

If you want to transform your reality, make sure you avoid all the negative people and doubters in your life, and surround yourself with people who believe in your potential to achieve your dreams.

Good things happen, but you need to look for these good things and open up your outlook and your mindset. Feed the good and ignore the doubt.

And crank Harem Scarem’s new album.

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And The Cradle Will Rock

From the jet flanger in the intro, played on an electric piano, cranked through a Marshall, to the cruising vibe of the song and DLR freestyling over the verses, it makes this one of my favourite Van Halen songs. In addition, the purchase of this electric piano led to the “Jump” keyboard riff.

Well, they say it’s kinda frightening
How this younger generation swings
You know it’s more than just some new sensation

It’s like the movie “Footloose” before it was even written and made.

No one wanted to go to school.

We just wanted to hang out somewhere, listen to music, read about music, talk about music and do so many other things. Because going to school was like being in the military. It’s why “I Wanna Rock” resonated. The teachers demanded obedience and everyone was moulded to fit a box.

But that doesn’t work.

It’s been proven to not work. The military even stopped this kind of teaching in the early 70’s, but schools kept at it, up to the late 80’s. Kids need to have their beautiful uniqueness kept intact, it’s what makes em special.

And these days we tell our kids to enjoy school, as it should be the most stress free time of their lives. Unless they freak out over exams, which means, it’s not as stress free. But you know what I mean.

Teachers are also at a different level these days, being more enablers than disablers. But kids need to deal with social media and the good and bad which comes from it. So maybe not as stress free as it should be.

Which brings me back to the words of the mighty David Lee Roth which I quoted above.

Well, they say it’s kinda frightening
How this younger generation swings
You know it’s more than just some new sensation

The younger generation swings to technology more than music these days.

Once upon a time, having an album from an artist was like a badge of honour and now, the kind of phone you have is the new totem. Plus, the mainstream news outlets just don’t understand the youth of today. They worry about climate change and student debt and all the things that the current powers ignore, while they drain our Earth of its resources.

It was the youth that blew apart the record labels business model. They killed CD’s, adopted Napster early, then iTunes, then YouTube, then other streaming services. And the youth have short attention spans, moving from one thing to the next. The only thing they can do for a short time is binge Netflix.

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February 2020 – Part 3

And with this post, February 2020 is wrapped up. You can find the Spotify playlist here and posts one here, and post two here.

Tension
Afterlife – Alternate Version
Avenged Sevenfold

These old cuts are from their B sides re-release on Spotify.  “Tension” is a favourite of mine.

I sit in traffic every single morning
Just as I arrive, im slaving to the grind
Making the money so I feed my family
But I can’t raise them, cause I aint got the time

God damn, that was my life for 7 years as I commuted 90 minutes (on a good day) to work one way.

And what is the point of making money for your family when you can’t spend time with them.

By the way, the outro solo in “Afterlife” makes me want to break my guitar and never touch it again. The speed, the precision and the melody.

Bubbles
Framing Hanley

It reminds me of Chevelle and I like it.

There’s a revolution coming’
Fuelled by years of giving’ in

These kind of revolutions are always long overdue, but giving in for too many years is not how one should live their life. The song could be about a relationship, but society at large is no different. We give in to the demands of teachers, employers, corrupt politicians and everyone else who tries to exploit someone.

And then the fuel turns to fire.

I’ve sat in silence
burning up my tongue

Man, I have been there so many times. I wanted to say the words, I wanted to step in, but I didn’t. I am thankful I didn’t bite, but man, my tongue was on fire.

All our lives in a bubble
Losing sight of reality
We paint the lie in pretty colors
And blur the lines and what’s between

So many people I know are separating because their bubble burst and reality took over. There is only so much bull shit a relationship can take. Even in society, when the GFC happened, the bubble burst big time and its bursting again now because of COVID-19. And people need to face this shit, it’s real and it’s here.

Your confusion
Has got you twisting’ facts
Your fantasy intact
Tell the story how you want to
But we both know the truth

This could be about any Facebook news site or website, which is filled by the same voices, saying the same thing, in a constant echo chamber.

Eventually, people who are not sure what to believe, come across these viewpoints and stories, and start to believe that it is all true.

If there is one thing I can recommend, read critically. Read points of view that differ to your own, read points of view that you agree with and read points of view that are totally out there. Somewhere in between the lines of what you expose yourself to, there will be your truth.

Under The Graveyard
All My Life
Eat Me
Straight To Hell
Goodbye
Ozzy Osbourne

These are my favourite tracks from the album at this point in time.

For a 70 year old artist, to deliver an album this good, it’s amazing. The people around Ozzy, like his family, the label, management and so forth, they know that Ozzy is marketable. Surround him with creativity and good musicians/producers, it can’t really go that bad, could it.

“Under The Graveyard” has a clean tone intro which could end up on any pop song, that’s how much crossover appeal the riff has. The chorus is heavy, and that “Children Of The Grave” solo section fits.

“All My Life” is similar to songs that have appeared on previous Ozzy albums. The album “Scream” has a few songs with this major key vibe. “Eat Me” came from the depths of Ozzy’s Delta Blues Sabbath past. “Straight To Hell” rocks out of the gate and “Goodbye” starts off like “Iron Man” but it sounds like a track from “Ozzmosis” which is an album I dig.

Get well Ozzy, scrap touring and keep recording and releasing.

Create a final legacy and based on current Copyright laws (which I disagree with anyway) your music and image will be with your family for another 70 plus years after death (there is an RIAA push to extend this to 90 years).  

Dangerous Ground
Come Clean
Victory
We Are Gods
Adrenaline
One By One
Heaven Must Have Won An Angel
Under The Gun
Rise
H.E.A.T

This album surprised me at how good it is. I can’t even explain all the influences on it that I hear.

Songs feel like they come from Harem Scarem, Skid Row, White Lion, Van Halen, Ratt, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Whitesnake, DLR, Dokken, Queensryche, Europe, Scorpions, Nelson, Lynch Mob, Firehouse, Ozzy “Bark At The Moon” and “The Ultimate Sin” era, Malmsteen “Trilogy” and “Odyssey” era, Judas Priest, Poison and Motley Crue albums.

There is just so much good stuff happening, and if you really like the 80’s, then man, this album is for you.  

“Dangerous Ground” kicks off with the sound of an high performance motor vehicle starting. It’s perfect for a Mad Max movie. “Come Clean” has a Chorus which remains with me long after the song is finished. “Victory” kicks off with an instantly memorable guitar lick before morphing into a heavy riff. “We Are Gods” sounds like it came from the movie “Rockstar”. “Adrenaline” has this Journey vibe, but the more rockier Journey than the ballad Journey.

Heartless Madness
Dynazty

I love the Swedes. The music that comes out of the country is something which resonates with me. This one is like a symphonic classical rock song, with some Vito Bratta style soloing. And we get treated to two solos, in the middle and the outro. Check em out and be blown away.

I Will Not Fall
King King

From Scotland, their cover of a song called “Jealousy” by Frankie Miller made me a fan and I have been following them ever since. This one is more funky and I like it.

Catastrophist
Trivium

I love Trivium. The riffage from these guys gets me head banging all the time. This song just came into my life at the end of Feb so it’s in my March list as well.

Wait
Earshot

This is from 2004 and it came back into my life this year. If you like Tool, then you will like Earshot. If you hate Tool because they don’t know how to edit their songs, then Earshot is the band for you, who write nice 4 minute songs with arena rock choruses chucked in but with a Tool like vibe.

Underwater Silence
Audiovent

I checked this band out because of the blog, 2Loud2OldMusic.

This is from 2002, a one off album before they argued over the direction of the second album and broke up. This song is a mixture of all the best things I like about Muse, hence the reason why it stuck with me.

Man Or Ash
Corrosion Of Conformity

This is from 1996.

Mike Ladano started reviewing Corrosion of Conformity albums on his blog, I commented that I got into the band because James Hetfield spoke very highly of em in various interviews and suddenly I am overdosing on this song.

The riffs on this song, a cross between Sabbath, Metallica, Soundgarden and Pantera, gets me moving, gets me frowning and gets my head banging. And once the lead break kicks in, the speed of it comes from out of nowhere before it morphs into a wah drenched bluesy break.

Plus did I mention that James Hetfield provides backing vocals and he sounds as angry as ever.

Day At The Beach
Joe Satriani

This is from 1989 and I was showing my son a song that has tap harp like harmonics. Listen to the intro of this song and get blown away.

The mighty Satriani never disappoints. 30 plus years in the business as a solo artist playing primarily, instrumental music. That’s Legend status for me.

And that’s a wrap for February 2020 releases with a few oldies but goodies chucked in.

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Dust N Bones

From the proper follow-up to “Appetite For Destruction”, the two CD “Use Your Illusion”. I never counted “Lies” as a follow up, it was just a stop gap cash grab to capitalise on the success of “Appetite”. I remember clearly saying, they didn’t even need to release this EP because “Appetite” was still selling like crazy.

This song is what Izzy Stradlin is about, that social, bluesy, laidback feel and full of soul.

And the lyrics are some of the best he has written.

“He lost his mind today, he left it out back on the highway”

There is nothing like a long drive to get you thinking. Our thoughts can be our best friends and our worst enemies.

“Time moves on, that’s the way, we live an hope to see the next day”

I want to live and see the next day. It’s the basic fight or flight response within us. To survive

“Ya get out on your own and you take all that you own”

So true. When I moved out of home the first time, I just took my music collection. It was all that I owned.

“And you forget about your home and then you’re just fucking gone”

I never forgot about home, I still want to return to it. My life story will have a final chapter about the return.

“There’s no logic here today, do as you got to, go your own way”

These lyrics are from 1990/91 and has anything really changed today.

“Time’s short, your life’s your own and in the end we are just Dust n’ Bones”

Damn right. Life is short, use every moment you can, to do something you love.

GNR haven’t been the same act since Izzy left. Some would say it’s a natural progression for GNR to move to the sounds on “Chinese Democracy”, but GNR is a rock band, that’s what they do best. “Chinese Democracy” became a rock album in the end, but Axl took a very long way to get there, first with electronic sounds and industrial sounds, then with so many different studio guitarists and when you hear sweep picking in songs (like that sweep picking lick in “Better”), then you know that path of good intention went a bit sideways.

Axl, Slash and Duff should get Izzy back. And Steve Adler. Fans will lose their shit. And release new music with the original five.

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Miss Mystery

Black N Blue started off like every band, with some high school friends getting together to write and play. In this case, it was vocalist Jamie St, James and guitarist Tommy Thayer.

Brian Slagel then came across their song “Chains Around Heaven” and added it to his Metal Massacre Vol 1 album in 1982, the same album that had songs from Metallica, Ratt and Malice on it. That same year they also moved from Portland to LA and started doing the Sunset Strip scene, which led to a recording contract with Geffen in 1983 and their debut came out in 1984.

“Miss Mystery” is a forgotten track from their second album, “Without Love”, released in 1985, and man this album had some secret herbs and spices in the production.

The song is written by Jamie St. James, Tommy Thayer and Jim Vallance. The same Jim Vallance who had a great song writing partnership with Bryan Adams and the same Jim Vallance who co-wrote the Gene Simmons signature song for the 80’s, “War Machine”.

Producing the album is Bruce Fairbairn, engineering is by Bob Rock, with support from Mike Fraser, before they all became household names with “Slippery When Wet”.

Speak to any listener of music under the ages of 30 and they would not even know who Bruce Fairbairn is, let alone Mutt Lange. They are almost completely forgotten. It’s a crime.

And “Miss Mystery” is a pop rock gem, building on the sounds that Def Leppard brought to the masses a few years before. As fans of this music, we can move on, hear different songs and artists, but we still return to this sound.

If you call it up on YouTube, watch the video clip and see why bands could never recoup. That clip would have been charged back to the band in the hundreds of thousands and its nothing special.

They toured with Kiss on this album and this got Gene Simmons interested in the band, who would go on to produce their next two albums and co-write with the band, as well as take some of the riffs from their songs and write a song called “Domino” which is then solely credited to Simmons. And then Thayer also joined Kiss in 2002. Actually Tommy Thayer has been a member of Kiss longer than Ace Frehley but Ace has appeared on more albums (well depending on which books you read, maybe not).

Somehow, Black N Blue, still didn’t break through like the other acts even though they had a major label deal with Geffen and a production team from Canada on their second album.

Maybe the involvement of Gene Simmons as a co-writer for albums three and four, wasn’t the best decision for the band, as Simmons didn’t really set the charts alight with his songs around this period and as Paul Stanley said in his book, Gene went missing from Kiss around 1984 to 1987. They should have kept him just as producer.

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