Category Archives: Unsung Heroes

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

2019 – Part 1

A few years ago I stopped doing albums of the year lists and started doing “songs released that year lists”, along with the yearly playlist which Spotify generates for the songs I listened to in the year. These two lists (my lists and the Spotify list) are more precise for what is hot and what is cold in my life in 2019.

And those Spotify end of year lists always surprise me, because even though I didn’t think I listened to certain artists that many times, they still come up. Hey, who am I to argue with the AI counting and tracking my listening habits.

So here we go, here is the Part 1 list of my favourite songs, released this year (except for a few songs released last year that I really got into this year).

The whole playlist is here.

I Am Fuel
Panoptical
Sons Of War
The End Will Begin Again
From Days Of Jupiter

Yep, this album “Panoptical” came out last year, but I dug these songs so much that I kept listening to em this year as well.

And I have written about Days Of Jupiter before, another band from Sweden who is playing a brand of heavy rock which I like.

And I’m still confused as to why “New Awakening” their 2017 release is not on Spotify Australia.

Promised Land
Revolution In Black
We Are Here
Faith In Life
Homes In The Sky
Whats it To Ya!
Raise Our Voice
The World We Live In
From Free Spirits Rising

“Across the world we have grown up knowing, what it means to have terror touch our lives” …from “Raise Our Voice”.

“Our weapons are the way we choose to live, freedom of thought, freedom to love” …from “Raise Our Voice”.

From Australia, the themes of the songs got me interested and there is a lot of guitar in the songs and there is no album release, just a song a month and a very garage sound which reminds me of the 80s albums before MTV required each band to have polished harmony vocals and guitars all sounding sterile and the same.

“Promised Land” and “Faith In Life” deal with enjoying your only life, it’s here, it’s now and you are living in the promised land which you have created for yourself.

“I believe in, living the right way, I believe in, having a say” …from “Promised Land”

“We are here to right the wrongs, we are here to throw back the stones” …from “We Are Here”

“What’s It To Ya!”, “We Are Here”, “Raise Our Voice” and “Revolution In Black” are like the protest songs, about standing up for yourself and using your voice to speak up and try to make change happen.

“What’s It To Ya!” if I like my music loud, and “What’s it to Ya!” if I live my life proud”.

“The World We Live In” just sums up society, and how we like to fill our cups and look the other way.

“Freedom comes, when you have nothing left to lose” …from “Revolution In Black”

Crazy – Acoustic
How You Like Me Now
Hard And Loud
Paranoid
Adrenaline
Light Of The Moon
Devil With Angel Eyes
Be Original
From Royal Bliss

From the self-titled album.

The modern rock sound which combines elements of the 80’s with the Shinedown/Sixx AM style of rock chucked in, really hooked me in, and I became a fan instantly.

When I googled the band name, I found out they are from the US, have been around since 1997, had a major label deal once upon a time and that this self-titled album is number 10.

And the funniest part of their history is that, vocalist Neal Middleton audition for the second season of “The Voice”, but no judge turned their chairs, so he was eliminated. However the eventual winner of “The Voice”, a person the judges felt they needed to turn their chairs for, has more or less disappeared from the music scene, while Royal Bliss and Matt are still at it, releasing albums frequently.

You can’t keep a good rock and roller down. \::/

Never Surrender
West Bound

It came up on a release radar, and the “give it what you got” message with its arena rock chorus and hard rock guitar riffs got me interested.

So I looked em up and Blabbermouth tells me it’s a rock band on Frontiers featuring vocalist Chas West and guitarist/producer Roy Z. And I was interested because Roy Z did a few albums with Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford that I enjoyed.

The song “Never Surrender” is about going through struggles in life and never giving up on your dreams as the tough times can help you define your true character.

Bringin On The Heartbreak
From Matt Nathanson

Matt Nathanson released an acoustic Def Leppard covers album called “Pyromattia” last year. I saw it on a fellow bloggers EOY list for 2018 and I was interested. I checked it out and loved this cover version of one my favourite Def Leppard songs.

Stalfagel featuring Alissa White-Gluz
You Aquiver
Bleeder Despoiler
The Nurturing Glance
The Ageless Whisper
From Soilwork

To me “Verkligheten” (the Swedish word for “Reality”) is Soilwork’s best album. A combination of their aggressive, abrasive and melodic sides. It’s a metal rock album.

Plus, I am a fan of the work that Bjorn Strid and guitarist David Andersson do with Soliwork and The Night Flight Orchestra.

Live Or Die
Shame
From Reach

The album “The Great Divine” came out last year but I really got into these songs in 2019.

Again, it was an EOY list from a fellow blogger that got me interested to check out this release.

And “Live Or Die” with its Muse like vibe resonated straight away, especially that soaring Chorus vocal melody.

The Ending
Problems
From Papa Roach

“Who Do You Trust?” is a weird album for me to digest.

It’s not one of my favourites from Papa Roach but it’s not a bad album either.

Just weird at this point in time and over the last few albums there has been a shift in the sound to the current popular rock train sound.

“The Atlantic” Album
From Evergrey

What can I say?

Evergrey delivers. I have already written my review on this album here.  

And Tom Englund is keeping himself busy with various projects, like his vocalist stint with Redemption and now a melancholy soundtrack like project called “Silent Skies”

Check out the song “Horizons”.

You will not be disappointed.

Part 2 coming up.

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

Soaked – Evergrey

A vocal line, three heavily distorted palm-muted chords and then the next vocal line.

An intro which gets your attention from the outset.

My chest is open
My heart’s on the ground
My bare feet soaked in my blood
As I leave you without a sound

When you enter the depths of a relationship (friends, family or lover) argument, there is no winner, just a lot of bad blood. And you might smile and pretend that everything will be okay when you make up, the truth is, nothing is the same.

There will always be the words said, and the hurt that came with them. Each make up is a reset and a recalibration.

No one to reach for
Even though I stretched too far

It’s an empty feeling, when you are in the depths of loneliness and your thoughts are getting the better of you.

No one sky to warm me up

There are days like this, when you don’t want to get out of bed and face the different situations the day has in store for you or to see the people you need to see.

As darkness clouds the blue

The darkness of the mind and the thoughts that live there, the thoughts that you are scared to confront or seek help for.

I’m leaving
I couldn’t live with the shame
No more denying
I’ve stopped the search for blame

Leaving and making the choice to leave, is the most difficult decision a person can make. And once it is made, nothing can stop it.

Even at the basic level of leaving a job, a home or a school. Once the decision is made, it’s made. There is nothing that can stop you.

Twenty-seven years of falling
Twenty-seven winters slave
Twenty-seven years of dreaming
And this is all the strength life gave
Twenty-seven summers weaker
And the autumn’s just the same
Twenty-seven years…

When I first heard the song, I associated the 27 years to the years given to a relationship. But then I read an interview and this is what Tom Englund had to say about it;

SOAKED is about a friend of mine who killed himself.
Tom Englund

And suddenly all of my interpretations and meanings took on a different light. And 27 is in that zone which the media reports so frequently when celebrities take their lives. It’s the zone of having lived long enough to decide if their life is worth it.

Because from young, people are conditioned to believe that life is an upward trajectory. And when it doesn’t pan out like that, with more lows and disappointments than highs, well….

And if you’d ask then I’d deny that
I didn’t have the strength to fight that drowning weakness
And I buried all signs to cover what I feel underneath
The hollow remains of me

You basically give up. You portray one side of yourself to people and another side, within the four walls of your room. Even if people asked “are you okay?”, you would smile and say “yes”.

And the outro solo from Henrik is impressive in its melodicism.

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The Record Vault – Black Stone Cherry

I heard these guys at the jam place that I used with one of the bands I was in. The guy that owned the premises, is a blues rock drummer and a part time bikie. He had the debut album playing on his stereo in the admin area of the complex. He told me the name of the band and off to TPB I went later that night and downloaded the first two albums.

Black Stone Cherry

The debut, released in 2006.

The opening metal like riff in “Rain Wizard” got me interested and the Chris Cornell like vocals hooked me in. The “Stockholm Syndrome” like riff from Muse in “Backwoods Gold” also made me interested.

And the album keeps rolling with “Lonely Train”, a Mesa Boogie down tuned rattler, about to go off the rails.

“Shooting Star” is a great song but the best song is “Drive”, hidden deep into the album. And the closer “Rollin’ On” closes off the album nicely.

Folklore and Superstition

Released in 2008, this is the album that stands out to me.

“Please Come In” sounds like a Led Zep/Bad Company cut.

“Reverend Winkle” is a cross between “Come Together” and an arena rock Chorus, about a person who knows the only way home. “Things My Father Said” is a song I’ve already written about.

“The Bitter End” is an impressive speed rock song but “Long Sleeves” and “Peace Is Free” are my favourites while “Ghost Of Floyd Collins”, “Stranger” and “Bulldozer” close out a pretty damn fine second album.

Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea

Released in 2011, this album is produced by Howard Benson and outside writers are contributing. The label or the band must have felt like they needed a more commercial pop push, but to me, there was nothing wrong with “Folklore and Superstition”. All it needed was an updated part 2.  

The “White Trash Millionaire” aint “got much and they don’t care” as the song sleazily grooves from start to finish and the “Killing Floor” talks about how some people want other people to pay for their own shortcomings while it metallically smoulders along.

“Such A Shame” is a modern metal rock song. The lyrical theme is heavy, about child abuse, which would also turn off a lot of people from the song, as they don’t want to be confronted by heavy subject matter in music.

“Won’t Let Go” is a cool ballad, a love song about life keeping you running but you won’t let go of what you have. And the album changes tact with “Blame It On The Boom Boom”, a track which could have come from a Josey Scott “Saliva” album.

“Like I Roll” rocks along as it rolls along the open road with Rolling Stones on the radio and flying high until you die. “Stay” is one of those modern rock ballads which works for me about telling someone you love em, just to make em stay. And “Die With Me” closes the album nicely, with an arena chorus which makes me press repeat.

Magic Mountain

Released in 2014 and the heavy stoner groove and sound was exactly what I was looking for. If I had to rate the albums, this one and “Folklore and Superstition” would be battling it out in the Superbowl.

And when I think about it, the reason for really liking this album is the 70’s feel.

The 12/8 feel of “Holding On…To Letting Go” grabs me by the head and makes it bang and the Pantera/Dream Theater “Mirror” like breakdown cemented this song’s status as legendary.

“Peace Pipe” is one of the best Bad Company cuts that Bad Company didn’t write. “Bad Luck and Hard Love” and “Me And Mary Jane” all have that bluesy vibe, which I dig. “Runaway” about a rebel on the run and hooking up with a gypsy on the run, is perfect.

And they ask us to take a trip to the “Magic Mountain” after we drink from the fountain.

And Black Stone Cherry (named after a box of Black Stone Cigars with a cherry flavour) is a favourite, because at the core, they are a rock band, which bring in elements of so many different styles and genres into their mix.

Since, these albums, the band has released “Kentucky” in 2016 and “Family Tree” in 2018, along with two EP releases called “Black To Blues, Vol. 1” in 2017 and “Black To Blues, Vol. 2” in 2018. And it all falls in line with the current music model of releasing more frequently.

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The Record Vault – Jimmy Barnes

After Cold Chisel broke up, Jimmy Barnes was on the loose, as the next pseudo Journey singer, because while Steve Perry was doing solo records, the songs that Jonathan Cain was writing ended up on albums from Jimmy Barnes.

There is no doubt that the record label brought out some big guns to get Barnsey into the lucrative North American market.

On the “Working Class Man” album, the title track was written by Jonathan Cain, who played piano and did backing vocals, along with Randy Jackson from “American Idol” fame. On five other tracks, Mick Fleetwood played drums.

On “Freight Train Heart”, Jonathan Cain is playing and co-writing, and so is Neal Schon with Randy Jackson providing bass. Desmond Child is also co-writing. Check out some of the credit pictures.

And if you are a fan of Neal Schon and his guitar work, you will be impressed with his efforts here and Cain’s contributions from a song writing point of view, show a man at the peak of his powers.

Now “For the Working Class Man”, it actually is the second studio released in 1985, however it has five original tracks and seven remixed tracks that had previously been released on Barnesy’s 1984 debut album “Bodyswerve”.

He was on Geffen and the company really put some effort into trying to break him into the US market however the album went 7 times Platinum in Australia, made Barnsey a legend and it did nothing in the U.S.

And the songs, are written by a who’s who.

For side 1 of the first LP, “I’d Die to Be with You Tonight” is written by Chas Sandford, “Ride the Night Away” by Steven Van Zandt/Steve Jordan and by default, it has a Springsteen feel, Steve Jordan.  The very Journey sounding “American Heartbeat” is the closer of side 1 and “Working Class Man” is the opener of side 2. Both are written by Jonathan Cain. All songs are keepers for me.

And the signature song which Barnsey is known by, which captures the Australian spirit and how our livelihoods were attached to the steelworks once upon a time is written by an American.

Side three and four are all Barnsey cuts from his “Bodyswerve” album, and “No Second Prize” is my favourite.

“Freight Train Heart” is album number three and it came out November 1987 in Australia and around March 1988 in the US via Geffen.

As Wikipedia puts it, “Most of the tracks were written by Barnes and one of the producers, Jonathan Cain, however “Waitin’ for the Heartache” was co-written by Barnes and Desmond Child and “Walk On” was co-written by Child and ex-Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner; (Turner would later record his own version with his band Sunstorm). Two songs were also written with Jim Vallance. According to Vallance, Cain also contributed “later”, most likely during the recording process.”

Those songs in question are “I’m Still On Your Side” and “Lessons In Love”.

And the album did great business in Australia, but failed to get any traction in the America market again.

For me the standout track is “Last Frontier” written by Jimmy Barnes and Jonathan Cain, followed by “Driving Wheels” which also captures the Australian truckie lifestyle, co-written with Cain and David Roberts.

“Too Much Ain’t Enough Love”  has a cast of writers in Barnes, Cain, Neal Schon, Randy Jackson and Tony Brock. It is a super power ballad, better than most of the ballads doing the rounds at the time. “Do or Die” is a Barnes, Cain cut and “I Wanna Get Started with You”  is a Barnes, Cain and Schon cut.

And this would be his last album on Geffen and the last to feature a Cain contribution, who ended up being pretty busy with Bad English pretty much at the same time.

And Jimmy Barnes blew me away this year with his best album in decades titled “My Criminal Mind”. He is one of the best front man in the business with one of the most unique voices there is.

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1978 – IV – Kiss-A-Ganza

The last post for 1978 will kick off with a Kiss-a- ganza. Not one, not two, but 5 Kiss albums, plus lunch boxes, and what not.

Here is the Spotify playlist.

And the previous posts can be found at 1, 2 or 3.

Paul Stanley
Gene Simmons
Peter Criss
Ace Frehley

You take the best songs from each of these solo albums and it’s a pretty solid Kiss album. My list as follows and I’m sure others will have a different opinion.

Side A

  1. Rip It Out – Ace Frehley
  1. You Matter To Me – Peter Criss
  1. Tonight, You Belong To Me – Paul Stanley
  1. Ozone – Ace Frehley
  1. It’s Alright – Paul Stanley
  1. Love In Chains – Paul Stanley

Side B

  1. New York Groove – Ace Frehley
  1. Snow Blind – Ace Frehley
  1. Wouldn’t You Like To Know Me – Paul Stanley
  1. Take Me Away (Together As One) – Paul Stanley
  1. Mr Make Believe – Gene Simmons
  1. Goodbye – Paul Stanley

It’s top heavy with Space Ace and Star Paul because they had their creative juices flowing at this point in time, while Demon Gene and Cat Peter just didn’t have it.

And Ace struck big with his album because its basically a balls to the wall punk album before punk became such a big thing. “Rip It Out” has a punk vibe, with a drum solo and a rock guitar solo chucked in for good measure. 

For some reason, the R&B/Rod Stewart feel of “You Matter To Me” just works straight after “Rip It Out”.

And “Tonight, You Belong To Me” comes in at number 3, a masterpiece in melodic rockisms. If you ask me, it’s a three punch knockout.

At track 4 is a dirty and sleazy Ace track, with “Ozone” a groovy masterpiece in hard rock song writing which put some of the Led Zep work to shame at this point in time.  Even the lead break was very different to the standard blues licks Ace is renowned for.

Track 5 is “It’s Alright” from the Star Child, a nice little rocker, which flows straight after “Ozone” and the first side of my imaginary album, closes with another Star Child cut, in “Love In Chains”, a very mature song musically, especially when you listen to the guitar work and the lead breaks. 

Side B of the best album that never was, kicks off with “New York Groove”, a perfect sing along and clap along. And the Led Zep influenced “Snow Blind” had to be up next, because there’s no use being back in NY if you are not snow blind and lost in space. And how cool is that “Love Gun” style lick he brings in to the lead break.

Paul Stanley’s feel good and very commercial sounding, “Wouldn’t You Like To Know Me” is perfect at track 3 on Side B and Paul continues his momentum with “Take Me Away (Together As One)” which reminds me of a cross between “House Of The Rising Sun” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”.

Demon Gene is Kirk Hammett on this album. His riffs were just not good enough. But “Mr Make Believe” ended up good enough to be included with its take on “Mr Blue Sky” and The Beatles catalogue. And the album that never was, closes with “Goodbye” from Paul Stanley. And how good is the last minute of “Goodbye”.

And of course, with all things Kiss, a best off collection came out called “Double Platinum”. If you didn’t have any of their records, you could have purchased this one, and still have a decent collection of songs. Provided you still had any funds left, after purchasing all four of the solo albums.

Cheap Trick – Heaven Tonight

“Surrender” is one of my favourite tracks because of that god damn addictive Chorus. 

“High Roller” hooks me in with its AC/DC vibe.

“Heaven Tonight” has a pretty addictive intro. It reminds me of “Kings And Queens” from Aerosmith.

Bob Seger – Stranger In Town

One of the best voices ever.

“Hollywood Nights” kicks it off and if you have never been to Hollywood, then you would have felt like you had after listening to this song and a story of a romantic Hollywood meeting, which led to marriage and then a violent broken marriage and how nothing that came after captured that Hollywood Night.

“Still The Same” is another one of those acoustic rolling rockers while “Old Time Rock and Roll’ is basically saying that today’s music ain’t got the same soul as the music that came before and you need that old time rock and roll to reminisce about those days of old.

And the song got multiple reboots in the 80’s via movies and TV shows like “Risky Business” and “Alf”.

“Feel Like A Number” has a riff which sounds like something else (like Filter’s “Take A Picture”) and lyrics which sum up life.

I take my card and I stand in line

Who hates waiting in line to take money out of their bank account. Like sheep, we need to wait to take what is ours.

To make a buck I work overtime

We have been conditioned from birth to believe that hard work will get you through life. We even take up jobs with higher salaries, which means we work more unpaid hours than ever before.

Dear sir letters keep comin’ in the mail

When you are behind in any debt, the letters never stop, until you are out on the streets or back at home, if that place still exists.

To IRS I’m another file

The tax man loves the poor and the middle class, as that’s the only way they can get money, because the rich corporations don’t pay any.

The Rolling Stones – Some Girls

It’s the singles which captured my interest like “Beasts Of Burden” and “Miss You”.

Dragon – O Zambesi

Dragon is one of those acts which captured a sound and style perfect for Australians. And while people might associate the band as Australian, they are in fact from New Zealand.

It was during this album cycle tour, that Dragon attempted to break through into the American market, which ended disastrous at a show in Dallas, Texas. Marc Hunter caused a riot, when he said that all Texans are faggots, which resulted in the band getting pelted with beer bottles, chairs, tables and other members of the audience holding guns out, yelling “I’m gonna kill ya”.

And Motley Crue have nothing on these bad boys. Check out the mayhem.

As soon as the band relocated to Sydney in 1975, their drummer died of a heroin overdose. Two members were involved in a serious car crash in 1977, where keyboardist Paul Hewson (their main songwriter in the 70’s) had his neck in a brace as well as having a broken arm and guitarist Robert Taylor needed plastic surgery. Paul Hewson eventually died of a drug overdose in 1985 and vocalist Marc Hunter died of smoking-related throat cancer in 1998.

“Still In Love With You” and “Are You Old Enough” still get constant radio play in Australia.

Grease (Soundtrack)

How can you not escape this movie?

It was everywhere for over a decade.

Frankie Valli kicks it off with the song “Grease”, the Travolta and Newton-John duet, “You’re The One That I Want” rocks out of the gates. “Rock N’ Roll Is Here To Stay” from the Sha Na Na’s tells us that rock and roll will never die.

Graham Bonnet – No Bad Habits

“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” has a riff which had George Michael very interested and eventually he used it for “Faith”. Of course, that riff is not in the original Bob Dylan version but made up by the guys in the band for their reinterpretation.

And that’s my wrap of 1978. 1977 here I come.

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The Pirate Vault #5

The Pirate Vault box keeps on producing some great memories.

Richie Kotzen – Fever Dream and Cacophony – Metal Symphony

I was in a shred mindset between 1989 and 1992 and I was buying CD’s and albums from Shrapnel artists. And I got these albums dubbed a few years after they came out and i picked em up on CD and LP not soon after.

I heard about Cacophony from interviews I read about Jason Becker and Marty Friedman, who of course at the time had gigs with David Lee Roth and Megadeth. And the music world only got to see a brief appearance of an unbelievable musician in Jason Becker, who still writes music via his eye movements and a system his dad has set up for him due to Lou Gehrig’s disease otherwise known as ALS.  

And of course, Richie Kotzen had the Poison guitar slot, in which he co-write a brilliant blues, rock and soul album called “Native Tongue” (which could have been his solo album) and the busy man he was, he also took Ricki Rockett’s fiancé mid tour. “Layla” from Eric Clapton comes to mind right now.

Dinosaur Jr – Without A Sound and Hand It Over

I was in a hard rock band with a drummer who was into grungy sounding bands, so while I exposed him to Dream Theater, he told me to sink my teeth into Dinosaur Jr.

I was hooked from the opening arpeggios and single note lines in “Feel The Pain” from the “Without A Sound” album released in 1994. And the heaviness of opening track “I Don’t Think” from the “Hand It Over” album released in 1997.

Fuel – Sunburn and Santana – 3

Fuel had significant chart success in Australia with “Shimmer”, however I didn’t commit financially until the second album came out. Another band member did commit, so it was a no brainer to copy this album from them, while another band member really enjoyed the jam aspects of Santana – 3, so in order to understand what they meant at band practice, I had to dub this album.

And it’s funny how in the early 2000’s, I was experiencing a new release and a release more than 30 years old. The beauty of music is that everyone forms a connection at different times.

And the songs “Taboo” and “Toussaint L’Overture” have some of the best and emotive guitar solo work Carlos has recorded on tape. They still make the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

AC/DC – Bon Scott compilation

My mate, Mick is a mad ACCA fan. When he lived in NY for about 12 years, he saw them on every tour, every night. When they come to Australia, he sees the Sydney shows.

One day in a suburban street in Australia, at a time far away sometime in the 80s, I asked him if he was keen to make our own Best Off compilation of Bon Scott material while we polished off a box of beer.

So off to work we went, debating which song should make it and which song shouldn’t. And a few hours later the holy grail of Bon Scott material that we classified as essential was ready to be blasted in the car stereo.

And I still hold that view to this day.

We were meant to meet and eventually do a Brian Johnson compilation, but life got in the way and we never did.

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The Record Vault – Bobaflex

I remember reading in Guitar World about “Bobaflex” and the article said they’re a hard rock band, so when I purchased the album, released in 2005, I had no idea what to expect.

The first thing I didn’t expect was for the great art and attention to detail to make the booklet a worthy addition, instead of the usual band photo, thank you credits and lyrics.

So what is “Apologize For Nothing” about?

Aggressive, syncopated guitars, with aggressive and melodic vocals. And yes, its roots lay in hard rock and heavy metal with a modern sound. Think of Guns N Roses merged with Faith No More merged with Rob Zombie merged with System of A Down merged with Sevendust merged with Galactic Cowboys. Yep I think that sums it up.

“Six Feet Underground” and “Better Than Me” is the sound of what Five Finger Death Punch would take to arena success a few years later. “Guardian” is my favourite and the song “Medicine” has a vocal melody which “The Greatest Showman” decided to use, while “Rescue You” (my 2nd favourite) sounds like one of the best songs System Of A Down didn’t write in 2005.

And on some songs, the way they are delivered vocally reminds me of Galactic Cowboys, a Geffen act from the early 90’s who was marketed heavily but didn’t receive the commercial success the dollars invested in them demanded.

And it’s all over the place with styles, which is a good thing. It got me interested because of its progressive attitude to song writing and the beautiful booklet.  

And some of the music which came after is more accessible, but still worthy, like “Bury Me With My Guns” which is pure hard rock from their 2011 album “Hell In My Heart” or “I Am A Nightmare” and “Long Time Coming” from their 2017 album “Eloquent Demons”. The album “Anything That Moves” released in 2015 is a worthy listen as well.

“Never Coming Back” from 2013’s “Charlatans Web” has some serious riffage and “Pretty Little Things” is layered with vocals and a riff which brings back memories of the 80’s.

In other words, invest some time into Bobaflex.

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The Science Of Things

There is a saying that by the time an artist reaches album number 3 or 4, they are at the peak of their powers. It’s not because of some mystical power or magical power or magical powder; it’s basically a combination of having enough life experiences to create better art.

And if you look at the history of music, there is a consistent trend about the 3rd or 4th album being the album which makes it happen.  Some artists deliver again a few albums after and some artists deliver again as solo artists or via a new band they formed.

If you study history, you will know that beyond every fall of an empire, there is a rise and beyond every rise, there is a fall. And the cycle just keeps repeating. An artist’s career is no different.

But the third Bush album “The Science Of Things”, released in 1999, doesn’t get the attention it deserves. The glory or the rise, went to “Sixteen Stone” and “Razorblade Suitcase”. But the third album is also worthy, however it falls into the side of “the fall”. It doesn’t have hits, it has songs. And albums were designed to be a statement of songs, not cherry picked songs, released as singles.

The whole recording industry blamed Steve Jobs for allowing people to cherry pick songs and just buy them. Well, the label bosses had been doing it for decades in order to make people believe they needed an album. Which is why for me, it was always special to buy an album, when I had no idea what was on the album. But I wouldn’t invest that time today.

“Warm Machine” and “The Chemicals Between Us” satisfies the fans of the debut album. “Spacetravel” is a bit more progressive, an artist writing to fulfil their creative urge, rather than writing for a song to be a hit. Even “40 Miles From The Sun”, it’s the a song The Doors didn’t write.

“Prizefighter” is a favourite, with the jangling guitar strumming over a fuzzed out guitar, and nicely decorated with another shimmering guitar playing natural harmonics. “Disease Of The Dancing Cats” is a terrible title, but that’s what also makes it unique, plus its “Zero” like riff from Smashing Pumpkins. “Letting The Cable Sleeps” also has this melancholy like vibe, it starts off with two major chords and ends with a minor chord, giving the song a yin and yang of happy and sad.

Gavin Rossdale sings in his normal baritone voice. There is no need to copy or mimic another singer whereas on the first two albums, people compared his voice on some songs to Kurt Cobain. And you definitely won’t hear Rob Halford wails on a Bush record, then again Halford went more industrial and guttural during this period with “Fight”.

And an album doesn’t need to be number one on the charts to be a good album, nor does it need to have diamond like sales. But it always happens, when everything is judged against the commercial appeal of an album.

For U2, everything is judged against “Achtung Baby”, for Pearl Jam its “Ten”, for Metallica it’s the self-titled Black album, for AC/DC its “Back In Black”, for Bon Jovi its “Slippery When Wet”, for Europe its “The Final Countdown” however, I believe Europe has surpassed “The Final Countdown” on many occasions musically, but not commercially. For Van Halen, its 1984, but their Sammy Hagar albums sold less, but gave them an even larger audience because of the mainstream sound of the songs.

For Aerosmith, well they had a few mega sellers, like “Pump” and “Get A Grip” in the 80’s as sales of recorded music in the 70’s is really hard to see as accurate, as it’s based on shipping rates and other creative payola ideas.

But there are bands who more or less remain consistent in relation to their output and sales but still play to packed houses, like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Ozzy solo era, Deep Purple, Motley Crue, Rush and Judas Priest. Well Judas Priest did have a big album with “Screaming For Vengeance” and everything else that came before and after supported their legacy.

The problem is when an artist has commercial acceptance of their music, they chase it a little bit more and want it again and again. But it rarely works that way, and some artists, bite the bullet and sell their creative juices to outside writers.

Bush, up until this point, kept everything in house and you can hear that they didn’t really chase the Billboard Hot 100 chart parade with this album. Maybe to their detriment financially, but respect is earned when you play the game your own way.

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

The Record Vault – Blessed By A Broken Heart

I came across a film clip for the song “Forever”. It got me interested enough, so I found the album online, downloaded it via a cyber-locker, enjoyed it enough, that I purchased it from Amazon’s US store.

I wonder if the Amazon US store purchase counts for a sale in the US or because its posted to Australia, it counts for a sale in the Australian market.

Formed in the early 2000’s, Blessed By A Broken Heart (BBaBH) battled hard, became MySpace superstars, lost all of their original members who gave them the MySpace status and with new members in tow, got a deal with Century Media Records in 2007 with a cross between 80’s hard rock/screamo metal and released “Pedal To The Metal”.

This then led to a bigger deal on Tooth and Nail records and the “Feel The Power” album eventually came out (after many delays) in January, 2012 with a sound further evolved to the 80’s hard rock movement.

Vocalist Tony Gambino departed not long after in July 2012 and by September, 2013 the band was finished with repeated record company legal struggles and lack of support from booking agencies given as reasons.

And for some stupid reason, “Feel The Power” is not available on Spotify Australia, so put that down to a lack of record label support as well and for some other stupid reason, the “Blessed By A Broken Heart” YouTube account has a lot of the videos unavailable in Australia. Dumb and dumber.

So the album.

Its melodic rock all the way. The musicianship is top notch, however their Mad Max look was already taken by the Black Veil Brides.

“Forever” has some Dragonforce like “I’m getting finger cramps” sweeps in the lead break, a melodic rock Chorus that soars like a Journey song and music that reminds me of the “Soldiers Under Command” era of Stryper.

“Rockin All Night” could have come from the “Midnight Madness” album from Night Ranger.

“Shut Up And Rock” has this Whitesnake “Slip Of The Tongue” vibe in the intro but overall it has this NWOBHM feel and lead breaks that make Jeff Watson’s eight finger tapping look amateurish. That one screaming verse, never should have been there. If they kept it melodic, the song is a 10 out 10 for me because that Chorus soars, the music soars and the mastery and performance of each note is perfect.

“I’ve Got You” is a ballad with some great lead guitar work which reminds of Vito Bratta’s work with White Lion and an outro solo which burns like a John Petrucci solo.  

“Deathwish” has this Jake E Lee Ozzy style “Bark At The Moon” era like riff which gets me interested and the Chorus, seals the deal with the lyric, “Mama sold her soul to the devil, traded a kiss for a birthday deathwish, mama sold her soul to the devil, traded her pain for the love of cocaine.” And another lead break which is worthy of guitar hero status.

If you like the above songs, then you will like “Scream Like You Mean It” which reminds me of Journey and “Holdin’ Back For Nothin’” with its Dragonforce like power metal.

Lead guitarist Shred Sean Maier effortlessly shreds as his name states and underpinning it all is the orchestrated backing vocals that remind of Mutt Lange and his work with Def Leppard.

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Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Artworks

In the era of the classical composers, you had to go to a theatre or a public place to hear music. It wasn’t something which was portable or sellable or something transmitted into the homes of people.

With our advancements in technology, we got radio. But apart from playing music inside the studio and having it beemed live, there still wasn’t a way to capture/record music properly. The invention of electricity, the magnetic tape and vinyl phonographs between 1900 and 1950’s made it all possible, and all of this came to fruition in the 60’s and a whole new recording business was formed.

And we got Rock and Roll, which was basically an extension of the Blues and this lead to what would become Heavy Metal.

Heavy Metal, came at a time when society was still disciplined to believe in their religious leaders and their government elected officials. And Metal questioned these beliefs and highlighted the divides between the haves and have nots.

The biggest Christian band ever “Black Sabbath” was labelled as satanic because they sang about mental illness, the sweet leaf, the white stuff that leaves you snow-blind, the nuclear arms race that condemns all of the children to the grave and they used the realms of infinite space as a form of escapism. But their biggest crime was to question authority and when authority is questioned, authorities need to make someone as the bad guy and themselves as the good guy.

And this opposition to heavy metal has continued throughout its history. And on occasions, heavy metal even opposed itself and did itself no favours, like the black metal movement in Norway, the Church burnings, the stabbings amongst certain groups. But despite all of this, metal has kept its fan base, all of those misfits and outcasts, who actually came from blue collared middle class suburban families who gave their kids enough freedom to explore and find themselves.

And metal music brought forth a certain musicianship that other artists and genres didn’t have. But the biggest impact that heavy metal music made on music is the album cover art.

If you don’t believe me, check out the covers of artists before heavy metal and hard rock captured the zeitgeist.

No one can forget the iconic Iron Maiden album covers.

But if you even go back to the 70’s and the first Black Sabbath album, with its scary matte cover of a pale lady standing in a field in front of a house that looks scary and compare that to covers that other artists produced that year, you’ll understand what I mean.

Artists (painters and graphic designers) suddenly had a new way to get paid as rock and metal artists called upon their services. Then other genres started to call up these artists.

As a metalhead, I feel it’s pulse and I live its lifestyle every single day of my life. When I need to talk to someone I do, when I need to say no, I do, when I need to kick back, I do. And when I want to appreciate art I will pull out a cover and enjoy it.

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