Category Archives: Unsung Heroes

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

The Record Vault – Blue Murder

Once the world got a taste of the little concoctions that Coverdale and Sykes cooked up, Sykes couldn’t shake the Whitesnake tag.

And I feel he struck too late with Blue Murder.

Blame John Kalodner.

Blame Bob Rock.

Blame Geffen Records for catering to David Coverdale’s needs as he was withholding the “Slip Of The Tongue” album because of John Sykes.

The window of opportunity is small in the music business.

And the debut album doesn’t get the mainstream love, despite being solid throughout. Can’t say much about the pirate swash buckling image, however the music is epic and majestic.

Originally Blue Murder was going to have Cozy Powell on drums. Eight months into the project Powell decided he wanted to do session work instead. Vinnie Appice from Dio heard that Sykes was looking for a drummer and he called his brother Carmine.

Through various friends and record industry acquaintances, Sykes also hooked up with former Firm bassist Tony Franklin.

They spent six weeks recording in Vancouver. Then the project came to a halt while Bob Rock went to work on the “New Jersey” album for Bon Jovi and then the “Sonic Temple” album from The Cult.

During this period, Sykes kept on trying out singers as he never intended on doing the lead vocals himself. And the album kept on getting pushed back.

The self-titled Blue Murder debut was seen as the successor to the self-titled 87 Whitesnake album by many peers. This pissed Coverdale off.

And others spoke about how John Sykes was solely responsible for taking a blues rock band that Whitesnake was and turned them into a metal giant. Either way, he was in the conversation because of his Whitesnake output. And this pissed Coverdale off even more.

To me, there is no filler on this album.

And Sykes’s influences are all over this album, like the “Stormbringer” riff from Deep Purple in “Ptolemy”. Funny how it’s from a song that David Coverdale co-write.

Weeks after the release, the album was enjoying a decent run on the charts. Geffen then pulled their promotion of the album and with that went the mainstream career of John Sykes.

Black Hearted Woman

My favourite song on the album and it is a derivative version of “Children of The Night” and “You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again” from his Whitesnake days.

Valley Of The Kings

Co-written with Tony Martin.

You’re workin’, slavin
Into death every day

Depending on how people view a 9 to 5 job, not much has changed since the time of the Pharaoh kings.

Jelly Roll

It’s the ballad like ending that rocks however an ending that good is lost within this song.

Billy

This is Sykes’s first real nod to Phil Lynott’s vocal style and story-telling about a Bonnie and Clyde style character called Billy.

Ptolemy

How heavy is the song?

And what about that groove!

It’s good enough to bring a storm.

Listening to Blue Murder today, it doesn’t sound dated. This is the power of the riff and John Sykes was damn good at creating an awesome riff.

And it’s follow up “Nothin But Trouble” got stiffed by the record label playing grunge politics. While “Nothing But Trouble” didn’t have the same impact as its predecessor, it is still a very satisfying album.

Released in 1993 on Geffen Records and produced by John Sykes.

And if John Kalodner is allowing a project which he’s involved in, to be self-produced, well the theory is that he had lost interest in the artist. Kalodner also allowed John Sykes to record the album in his own home studio, which further supports the theory. It’s all part of the A&R thinking, “If we give in to the artist demands and if they deliver the goods, then we all come out winners, however, if they fail, then they only have themselves to blame.”

Sykes wasn’t even sure if he should be the singer, because Kelly Keeling was hired to sing, only to get his vocals overdubbed later on by Sykes, which is basically another added expense for no reason. Plus the band from the debut, which featured Sykes, Tony Franklin and Carmine Appice is no more, although they do play on some of the songs, while the other songs are done by Sykes, Marco Mendoza and Tommy O’Steen.

But time is important here.

Releasing a follow up album, four years after the debut, and in a landscape that was forming amnesia around guitar heroes and artists associated with the 80’s was always going to be a difficult task without a proper promotional push. But John Kalodner and Geffen had washed their hands with Sykes, so the promotional push was two videos which got no airplay in Australia.

We All Fall Down

“We All Fall Down” a tale about people losing their loved ones to addictions, has to be one of the best tracks Sykes has written.

Musically, it’s a sum of his influences. You can hear Phil Lynott in the vocal melodies and in the riff department, Sykes is borrowing from his “Youre Gonna Break My Heart Again” style riffing.

After the killer opening, “Itchycoo Park” is a miss for me. I don’t know what the plan was here. But there is redemption with “Cry For Love”. It’s another epic like “Valley of The Kings” and “Still Of The Night”. And that outro solo.

Cry For Love

You promise heaven, but hell is all I see
(Mojo rising on the wind)
If there’s a lord above
Come rescue me
(Mojo rising on the wind)

Any song that starts off with the above lyrics has my attention. “Cry For Love” is another derivative version of the “Valley Of The Kings” and “Still Of The Night” style that John Sykes is renowned for, however it doesn’t sound like a forgery.

Runaway

The song has a clichéd lyrical theme that was done to death in the Eighties, with Poison’s “Fallen Angel” and Bon Jovi’s “Runaway” being two notable examples. Still Sykes makes it sound original and heartfelt.

“Dance” is just a foot stomper party track which. “I’m On Fire” is typical of the 80’s and while a good track, a bit dated when it came to 1993. “Save My Love” tried to capture the “Is This Love” vibe. “Love Child” is a derivative version of the “Sex Child” from the debut but the Chorus on “Love Child” is way stronger. “Shouldn’t Have Let You Go” is also a re-write of “Riot” in the music department, especially in the verse riff.

“I Need an Angel” is one of my favourites musically and it reminds me of “Looking For Love” which is also one of my favourite Syke’s cuts. At 7 minutes long, it feels like the song is over in a much shorter time span. The vocal melody is strong and that outro from the 5 minute mark gets all the emotions firing.  

I don’t have “Bye Bye” on any of the releases I have, but I found it on YouTube. It’s a Japanese bonus track and a derivative version of “Sex Child” and “Riot” with brass instruments.

Then Sykes went solo. But he couldn’t get US distribution, so his Japanese only releases ended up being expensive imports in other parts of the world.

But his solo career is for a different Record Vault story.

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Hot Metal June 1992 – Issue 40

Let’s get into the time machine and go back to 1992.

In the magazine, it was announced that Vivian Campbell joined Def Leppard.

White Zombie was in the “Fresh Flesh” section even though the earliest incarnation of the band had been doing the rounds since 1985. It’s a long way to a major label deal and an even longer way to mainstream success.

“Invincible she devils from the fifth dimension, living aliens and warped sexual experiments” was how “La Sexorcisto: Devils Music Vol. 1” was explained/promoted.

The “Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert” got a five skulls out of five skulls review.

Kiss was promoting the “Revenge” album by saying “We’re Kiss and That’s The Revenge” which got a four skull out of five review. So did “The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion” from The Black Crowes who also had a tour on the cards.

Meanwhile Slaughter’s “The Wild Life” and Twisted Sister’s “Big Hits And Nasty Cuts” both got three skulls.

And Body Counts self-titled album and Iron Maiden’s “Fear Of The Dark” both got five skulls.

I guess you know which albums I got during this period. Anything with three skulls and above.

Geffen Records was hedging it’s bets by promoting Guns N Roses, Nirvana, White Zombie and Roxy Blue all on one ad, with the slogan “HIT someone you love with metal”.

And the HM editor spent six days on the road with Metallica and the best quote from the interview came from James on Lars traveling drum kit:

I find it silly. As much as he wants to be in the spotlight, he also gets to move around. He’s basically a front man on drums.

Speaking of drummers, Motörhead sacked Philthy Phil (again) and hired Mikkey Dee from Don Dokken’s solo band. Dee was also helping out World War III because Vinny Appice left to rejoin the revamped Black Sabbath.

Wayne’s World became part of popular culture and L7 was getting heavily promoted in Australia.

Motley Crue still hadn’t announced their vocalist. Maybe because Sebastian Bach was still auditioning. This is what John Corabi’s Scream band mates had to say:

I guess the dedication from Corabi didn’t come through and those cool cats on vocals to replace John Corabi also didn’t come through for The Scream.

And the song “Young And Dumb” from The Scream appeared on the Encino Man soundtrack, but it was Vince Neil who took top billing. How fitting.

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The Record Vault – Beethoven Symphony Nr. 5 / Wiener Philharmonic, Carlos Kleiber

Beethoven came into my life when I was studying guitar. Yngwie Malmsteen made it clear that violinist Niccolo Paganini and Johan Sebastian Bach are influences. Ritchie Blackmore and Randy Rhoads showed a nod to classical music, but there was no clear artists influence there. Meanwhile, Accept made it clear that they liked to reference Beethoven in their songs, but my main exposure to Beethoven came from Looney Tunes cartoons.

This record was a loose change pick up at a record fair in the 90’s.

Fast forward to 2012 and a New Yorker article names the Carlos Kleiber recording as one of the greatest interpretations of this piece. And when you hear the power of it, you wouldn’t disagree at all. It is a perfect snapshot for the ages.

The various musicians on the recording are nameless, no one will know who they are, but the mastery they exhibit over their instrument, the power and the passion they generate is unbelievable. Even in the quiet sections of the symphony.

And conducting it all was the eccentric Carlos Kleiber, who according to BBC Music, is the greatest conductor of all time.

He was born in Berlin, in the 30’s to an Austrian father (who was also a conductor) and an American mother. They moved to Argentina a few years before war broke out in Europe, and he was lucky to be learning and developing during a period of instability and war.

Like all conductors, there is praise and disdain for them from people. And a lot of what happens in rehearsal rooms remains secret. More so before, than today. Even his death was secret. The world found out he had passed on the day of his burial in 2004. Regardless there are various performances conducted by Carlos Kleiber from various classical masters that are preserved for the rest of the world enjoy.

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1984 – VII – The Crusader Blitz Lays Down The Law To Steal The Light

Here is the playlist for 1984-7.

If you want to read the previous 1984 posts, here are the links.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Keel – Lay Down the Law

Ron Keel did everything at 12. When he delivered a vocal, he was up there at an 12 intensity.

I really thought Keel would go on and do great things. They had Gene Simmons writing and producing the band at one stage. By 1987, they had Jimmy Bain from Dio writing with them, along with Jack Ponti. But each new album started to become the same as the previous album, that even the core audience started to move on. I felt like the same theme carried over four separate albums.

How many times can you re-write, “Metal Generation” into “The Right To Rock” into “Raised On Rock” into “The Final Frontier” into “United Nations”?

Anyway.

“Born Ready” starts off with a “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” style riff for a song about coming of age and being ready to take control.

“Metal Generation” has this Ratt like riff based on “Lack Of Communication”, but hey, the LA scene was awash with similar sounding riffs and bands. And while the song sounded generic, the lead break is worthy of guitar hero status. Listen to it, and if you are not playing air guitar by the end of it, you don’t appreciate shredding.

“You’re The Victim (I Am The Crime)” is just a fast dumb song that’s too good to turn away. The double kick throughout brings back memories of “Overkill” from Motorhead and the riffs are that fast, that they could have been lifted from “Kill Em All”. But the lead break steals the show again. Marc Ferrari and Brian Jay proved to be a dynamic guitar duo.

If you dismissed Keel because of the vocals or the generic themes, you need to revisit them just to hear the lead breaks.

Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve – Through The Fires

What a great idea to get a few guys with chops in a room and letting them jam. HSAS is a perfect example of what is beautiful about music. These guys didn’t get together to create songs to sell millions of albums. They got together because they wanted to create. And from those creations, they wanted to gig. And then they ran out of time to record more studio albums because Schon went back to Journey and Hagar joined Van Halen.

“Top Of The Rock” has this foot stomping riff to kick it off and Sammy Hagar during this period is in top form. And his lyrics about life, status and society are brilliant.

It aint easy speaking out, some people take it to heart

And if you’re not standing on top of the rock they will tear you apart

“Missing You” for such a generic, ballad sounding title is nothing as such. If you want to hear where “Ghost” takes his influences, then you need to check out this song. Take out Sammy’s voice and add the voice of the clergy and you will have a Ghost song. The vocal line that Hagar delivers here is out of the park.

And Neal Schon, is referencing his “Don’t Stop Believin” riff with a few tweaks here and there for the Chorus. Plus he really lets loose on the lead break, as Journey Neal Schon started to become a decorator instead of a shredder.

“Valley Of The Kings/Giza” has everything, as HSAS become world musicians and take the exotic Phrygian Dominant scale into their set list. “Whiter Shade Of Pale” is a song I always enjoyed playing and hearing, as it was one of the first songs my guitar teacher showed me back in the day. It’s got such a cool chord progression that soloing over it is awesome and Neal Schon does exactly that. “Hot and Dirty” while dumb lyrically, is great melodically and musically.

“He Will Understand” has a riff which should have been a number 1 pop riff. Sammy again delivers a great vocal, although lyrically the song didn’t connect. But the music. It’s excellent. And check out these lyrics.

“Friendships can fade away”

“There’s not much to talk about because there’s too much to say”

And then Neal Schon starts to deliver a metal like riff from the 2.20 minute mark and then the band morphs into a 70’s progressive style band, in the Chorus. Plus have I mentioned how Neal Schon goes to town in each song and shows the world why he’s one of the great guitarists.

I thought “My Hometown” would have been a ballad when I saw the title, but man, in my mind, it’s a song that is influenced 100% by Van Halen and ZZ Top. And that Chorus riff, is the Seattle sound and groove. Check it out if you don’t believe me.

The Rods – Let Them Eat Metal

When Johnny Rod joined WASP, I thought he came from a band called The Rods (it was actually King Cobra). I was always curious to hear the origins of musicians, but to hear an album meant I had to spend money on it and I had other more higher profile releases earmarked for that. So I didn’t hear these guys until well into the 2010’s decade and it was all because I thought a bass player came from the band but he didn’t.

And this album is a cool listen. You can’t take it seriously but you can enjoy the hell out of it.

There isn’t really a stand out song, but there isn’t a bad song either. But if I was been tortured by some doctors from a dictatorship government and I had to pick a favourite, it would be “Nuclear Skies”, for its enlightening lyric, “from the air we are breathing, we should all be dead” and its vocal harmony chorus.

And I don’t know how they had the balls to release “Bad Blood” because man, that song is “Breaking The Law” from Judas Priest. But hey, music is based on the sum of our influences and you can hear in this song, The Rods had a pretty big Judas Priest influence.

Saxon – Crusader

They’ve had a career in music for a long time and they still write and record albums today. When they came across my radar, my initial impression was that they would be as big as Iron Maiden. And it didn’t happen and I was confused as to why.

The “Crusader” intro was enough to get me ready to break desks. The bass rolls along like “Heaven And Hell” and the guitars decorate.

“Fight the good fight, believe what is right”

The song is about the Crusades, but some of the lyrics can be interloped with the current world situation. We have democratic countries, with democratically elected leaders, spying and carrying out surveillance on their citizens, in the same way that dictatorship governments do/did. And the hypocrisy is that our leaders then stand on their soapbox and condemn these kinds of governments, but it’s okay for our leaders to do it, because they tell us they are the good guys, but we all know they are beholden to the corporations.

“Sailing To America” actually took me by surprise, because the vocals sounded like a cross between Sting and Steve Perry and I really dug that vibe. And this is probably the predicament Saxon had. They dabbled in many different styles, but the record labels like to promote (in other words pigeon hole) an artist in a particular genre/style, which is totally wrong.

“Do It All For You” has one of those intro’s that makes you pay attention, like “The Hellion”. And when I was expecting an “Electric Eye” style riff it goes into a ballad, which was okay, but not worthy of the intro. And I enjoyed “Just Let Me Rock” and “Rock City” but they didn’t connect. I think I was over all the song titles coming out with “Rock” in the title. In saying that, did Dee Snider get influenced by this song for a certain song on “Come Out And Play” called “You Want What We Got”. As “Rock City” states, you want it, we got it.

Krokus – The Blitz

I think they tried really hard to shake their AC/DC tag on this one, bringing in a lot of Judas Priest like elements, a cover songs and some outside writers. But when you have a vocalist who sounds like an AC/DC vocalist, it’s hard to shake that tag.

The production team behind the album is unbelievable. Bruce Fairbairn is producing, Bob Rock is an engineer and Mike Fraser is an assistant engineer. Even Survivor’s Jimi Jamison makes an appearance as a backing vocalist.

I want to talk about “Hot Stuff”. Now this song is what Krokus is all about to me. The intro is like “The Hellion” from Judas Priest, while the verses roll along like AC/DC and the Chorus is very LA sounding. And the lead break combined elements of Schenker, Young and EVH.

On “Boys Nite Out”, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance are also co-writers, so the label really wanted this album to succeed.

Legs Diamond – Out On Bail

So Legs Diamond (stupid band name by the way) came into my radar because I kept hearing from the one person in the area I grew up in (that seemed to have every single rock and metal album), that if I liked Tom Keifer’s voice, then I would like Legs Diamond. The band could play, and they bordered on NWOBHM and melodic rock.

The electronic drums. You either like em or you don’t. To me, they are a major distraction from the rawk and roll of the music.  

The band was actually broken up, but when they saw that their albums started to sell here and there, they reformed to capitalise on this new found interest.

The way I see it, “One Way Ticket” captures what the band is all about, combining all of their rock, metal and melodic influences into their own style. And at seven minutes long, it wasn’t long enough for me. It made me, press repeat. To compare, the title track “Out On Bail” comes across as rooted in the AC/DC/NWOBHM groove, “Radio” feels like a ZZ Top/Deep Purple medley and then “Fugitive” comes across like Journey synth AOR. Three distinct compositions. “Walkaway” should have been a Top 10 hit, but it wasn’t.

But “One Way Ticket” is the song and its unknown.

And the other song that defines their sound is “One Last Kiss”. Musically, it has so much happening, it has a flute solo and its over pretty quick.

Tony Carey – Some Tough City

I didn’t know what to expect on this album. I saw it on a melodic rock list, so I cued it up as the name Tony Carey appeared on a few Rainbow albums as a keyboardist. And I swear, it feels like “Lost Highway” from Bon Jovi was written after hearing the song “A Fine Fine Day”, then again maybe Mellencamp was an influence here.

Q5 – Steal The Light

I knew about this band, because Floyd Rose played guitar in the band. And for those who don’t know, Floyd Rose invented of course,  the “Floyd Rose” tremolo locking system that stopped guitars from going out of tune whenever the whammy bar was activated. In a Guitar World issue, years ago, this invention was rated as one of the most ground breaking guitar inventions.

So one day in the 90’s, my fingers were walking over the $1 bin LP’s in a second hand record store and it was there I came across Q5’s album. I took it and a lot of other obscure metal and rock bands home, dropped the needle and I just enjoyed every note and every word. There is not a bad song on it.

The opening NWOBHM style riff of “Missing In Action” hooks me. The intro harmony leads in “Lonely Lady” get me playing air guitar. “Steal The Light” has an intro riff that forces me to pick up the guitar and learn it.

“Pull The Trigger” is AC/DC all metalized. “Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady” could have come from the “Highway To Hell” album. “Rock On” feels like it’s a metal version of “Peter Gunn” in the verses and “Hells Bells” like in the Chorus.

They had one more album on Polygram a few years later, argued when it didn’t do anything commercially and disbanded. Frontiers then resurrected the band around 2014 and a new album came out a few years after that.

Well that’s it for another 1984 post, I am pretty sure I have a few more to go.

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The Record Vault – Tommy Bolin

I first heard “Teaser” when Motley Crue covered it on the “Stairway to Heaven/Highway To Hell” compilation album for the Moscow Peace Festival. 

This was back in 1989, and the writer of the song is T.Bolin.

Pre Internet era, it meant I had to go to the record shop and ask them if they have anything on T.Bolin. And they didn’t, unless I wanted to import it.

Fast forward another 10 years and I had picked up both solo albums via record fairs and second hand record shops.

The first thing that grabbed me is the funky sleazy riff and the wolf whistle slide guitar.

She sips gin from a teacup, wears those fancy clothes
And somebody always knows her no matter where she goes
She’ll talk to you in riddles that have no sense or rhyme
And if you ask her what she means, says she don’t got no time

“Teaser” showed me how influenced a young Nikki Sixx would have been by the lyrics.

Then the solo breakdown section kicks in where it’s just the bass and drums simulating an excited heartbeat at the beginning and it moves into a free form jazz fusion lead break. 

Jeff Porcaro from Steely Dan and Toto fame played drums and Stanley Sheldon from Peter Frampton’s band played bass.

As I listened to the album over and over again, I found other gems in the instrumental “Homeward Strut”, with its James Gang Funk inspired verses and its unbelievable harmony lick that acts as a Chorus.

The piano ballad “Dreamer” with Glen Hughes singing the last verse (even though he is uncredited) and piano played by David Foster, the same David Foster that would go on to produce and compose songs for Whitney Houston, Michael Buble and many others.

You have the blues funk of “Savannah Woman” with Phil Collins providing percussion.

Side 2 doesn’t have the same impact as Side 1 but the closer “Lotus” makes up for it with its fusion of hard rock, blues, jazz, funk  and synth orientated pop.

Similar in structure to “Teaser”, it has that unbelievable breakdown solo section, which closes the album.

And “Private Eyes”.

It didn’t have the star studded guests and it’s more focused on its mixture of groove, funk, jazz rock. Better songwriting.

And then it was over.

In 1975, Tommy Bolin released “Teaser” and “Come Taste the Band” with Deep Purple, and in 1976 he released “Private Eyes” in September. By December he was dead.

His music forever lives.

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A Bit More Tool

I realised in the last week, I haven’t written anything about Tool since this blog started in 2013. And the reasons I could come up with is because their music didn’t exist digitally in any legal way for me to access and I really hate using YouTube, putting up with their ads and how I could come across a song with the audio quality being hit and miss. Plus since I pay for Spotify, I’m not interested to pay for YouTube. And even though I own a lot of vinyl and CD’s, I don’t play em anymore. And Tool, up until a few weeks ago, were a band that existed in the physical world.

So out of sight, out of mind.

And then Tool is suddenly back in.

And for a lot of people Tool is known as an “acquired taste”. Tool writes music that is progressive, but not a thousand notes style progressive. It’s elements are more about exploring and building grooves, some of them in 4/4 and others in 7/8, 6/8 and so forth. They have elements of styles known as rock and metal in there. Vocally, it is a bit harder to categorize. On the “Aenima” album, just check out “Stinkfist” and the lyric, “Elbow deep beyond the borderline”. I don’t recall too many bands who sell out arenas singing about fisting.

And people talk about the band and people come back for more and people pay more for their product. Because Tool is a unique artist. Most of the other artists in the major music markets are lumped into a few genres, while Tool lives without category, regardless of what the marketeers want from them.

Go left when everyone wants you to go right. Be the “none of the above” answer when everyone wants you to be part of the above.

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A Tool Conversation on Fear Inoculum

Here is a conversation that took place on the 30/8/2019 when Tool released “Fear Inoculum” their first album in 13 years.

Tom: 

So have you been cranking the new TOOL yet?

Pete: 

Yep and you.

Tom: 

Kids had a fathers day thing at the school this morning.

Anyway, I’ve just started cranking it.

Onto “Descending” now. Song 6 of 7 and 66 minutes in. Lol.

Tool don’t really edit their songs to fit a radio playlist or whatever. And their progressive style of rock is very different to say Dream Theaters prog Rock as Tool sits on a groove for a long time before they change.

Pete: 

What did you think of “Invincible”?

Or what did you think of certain sections in “Invincible”?

Tom:

Was gonna say that was tough. Man, they didnt like editing this time ay.

Pete: 

Not really…(my response to the editing statement)

I listened to two songs coming into work this morning. All up 24 minutes worth.

Tom: 

So far they have had mad grooves and build ups but there has been an absence of climaxes.

Some cool solos though.

The solos in Tool are like riffs played in the higher register.

Pete: 

In “Descending”, I like how they end it with the drums doing the off beat that the guitar did earlier.

There is a section in “Invincible” when the guitarist just plays this open string groove and the drummer actually plays a stock beat.

Tom: 

So far “Descending” has been the one that kicks the most.

Before I heard “Descending”, I would say “Invincible” would have been it.

The songs sit on a groove for a long time.

Pete:

Did you hear the riff in “Invincible” that was from “H”?

Tom: 

The “H” riff didn’t pop out on this listening. I will keep an ear out for it next time round

“Descending” is dragging on, but its a lot more exciting.

Pete: 

What?? Its the main riff of “H”.

I felt like rippping the steering wheel off when I heard it.

It’s like a nice little throwback and it was one of the first riffs i learnt from em.

Tom: 

lol

“H” is still my favourite song, its the first song I remember hearing from them on JJJ.

Pete: 

“Culling Voices”

Whats your thoughts on it?

Actually just fast forward to the 6 minute mark.

The first six minutes dragged on for a bit too much for me.

Tom: 

“7empest” seems a little old school like the “Opiate” and “Undertow” era.

I guess this is the one with the 5 minute solo.

Pete: 

I don’t recall a 5 min guitar solo at all on the album.

Well not a guitar solo like how I call a guitar solo.

Tom: 

“7empest” is the one with the guitar solo.

Pete: 

Ignoring Tom’s review of the last song, I was back listening to the album from start to finish.

So “Fear Inoclum” is a pretty cool song.

“Pneuma” continues the tone set and the way they jam that bass riff from about the 1.20 minute mark is pretty cool

That riff from about 9.20 in “Pneuma”. As if it doesnt make you want to break the desk. And it just keeps building until the end.

Tom: 

There isn’t a song with Maynard in the climax, coming in screaming “VICARIOUSLY I, LIVE WHILE THE WHOLE WORLD DIES, MUCH BETTER YOU THAN I.

Pete comment: Tom is right here that Maynard’s absence in the endings is missing.

Pete: 

Well he is a WARR-I-OR.

STRUGG – I – LING.

The above is a lyric from “Invincible”.

Tom: 

I have to admit, its definitely a TOOL album.

They didn’t go all weird or anything like that.

Pete: 

That open string riff from the 8 minute mark in the song “INVINCIBLE”. First its just the riff, then some keys, then Maynard starts with “tears in your eye” then the drums come in mimicking the guitar.

Tom: 

Yeah man, the only criticism I have is the lack of Maynard power vocals in the climaxes of the songs that are traditionally there.

It’s missing in all the songs otherwise everything else is pretty epic.

Tom is still on about the lack of the vocal climaxes. And if you remember our “Justice For All” conversation, the bass was a big issue for him as well. Lol.

Pete: 

Then at 9.40 in “Invincible”, the drummer plays a stock beat.

This will be head banging section of the concert and the last 2 minutes.. Those riffs

Actually those last 4 minutes of “Invincible”…. x 13 years wait = ??

Tom: 

For me its “Descending” from 5:54 to 6:50, the vocals are epic. They just needed to be repeated at around 10:53 over the new riff, I have to find a way to do it.

And Tom over that weekend downloaded some editing software and did it. And it sounded better.

Pete: 

“Invincible” over “Descending” for me…

I always saw the vocals as an extension of the instruments. Maynard sang like he was a lead guitarist instead of a lead vocalist. His melodies are like guitar melodies. And as a lead vocalist he normally hid behind screens live, so it was more about the sound than the look and words.

So lets talk about “7empest”.

Tom: 

Like I said it has an early Tool feel for me.

I don’t mind it, more rocky and the solo isn’t bad either

 Pete: 

What solo?

I always poke fun at the term solo mixed in with Tool. To me they are cool melodic riffs.

Tom: 

The 5 minute one.

Pete: 

Lol

Tom: 

It’s a solo man, the closest we will ever get from Tool

Pete: 

Petrucci – Live at Budokan for “Hollow Years”.

Now that is a solo.

Tom: 

If emotion is what you are after then “Lines In The Sand”.

Pete: 

I’m still listening to the 5 minute guitar solo. I forgot it was a guitar solo.

It feels like a riff played on the higher strings.

Tom: 

Thats the trick.

Pete: 

Take a riff and play it on the G, B and E strings and call it a guitar solo, that goes for 5 minutes.

Tom: 

Your right about the last bit of “Invincible”.

It kicks but still missing Maynard going top gear.

Maynard’s vocals is one of the reasons why I love Tool.

And him not being in the climax’s makes it feel like it is missing something.

Pete: 

Nah for me it was the grooves. The jams.

And obviously the lack of editing.

I felt like with the first APC album, Maynard’s vocals are brilliant.

I saw some comments online about how the long songs will only pay for one stream when they could have done three 4 minute songs and gotten paid for three streams.

These people don’t get it.

Tool don’t care about the per stream payment.

Why do you think it’s taken em this long to come onto digital services?

They got the upfront payment and the rates they want.

Final Note:

It’s good to have Tool on streaming services and back in the music scene with a new album.

They held off long enough to get a deal with Spotify on their terms and their rate.

They’ve always done things their way and even in this era of social connections, Tool is still the outsider. And outsiders win.

And the album is long which will be ignored by a lot of people, but there will be enough old and new people tuning in.

I enjoyed listening to their jams and how Tool seems to be the only big act who doesn’t care about what’s happening in music, how it’s become a hit game and how streaming monies saved the record labels. They live in their own world.

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

The Record Vault – Bonfire

From Germany.

My older brothers had a friend called Greeny. He had funds and he liked metal and rock music. It was from his car stereo I heard bands like Cinderella, Great White, Leatherwolf and Bonfire for the first time. 

I really got into this band. I thought they would be the next big thing. But they didn’t get there. Not for a lack of trying.

And it pisses me off that these two albums are not on Spotify Australia.

Fireworks

Released in 1987.

There isn’t a bad track on this album. Maybe when it came to the charts and the hearts and minds of consumers, its many years too late in sound and style, as the public by 1987 was hooked on Jovi, Van Halen, U2, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, GNR and soon, Metallica.

And then you get the Bonfire sound, which is rooted in melodic heavy metal circa 1982 to 1985.

The album tracks are written by vocalist Claus Lessmann, guitarists Hans Ziller and Horst Maier and bassist Jörg Deisinger.

“Ready 4 Reaction” is the opening track and it blasts out of the speakers. “Never Mind” continues the melodic rock. “Sleeping All Alone” is an attempt to hit the charts as Jack Ponti and Joe Lynn Turner have a co-write. It didn’t chart, however it’s a good song.

“Sweet Obsession” also has Joe Lynn Turner and Jack Ponti as co-writers. I got the single and then I couldn’t find the album for years. So I dubbed it.The current version of the band doing the rounds these days always reference this album in the live arena and they totally ignore the follow up.

Point Blank

Released in 1989.

A big shift in personnel happened on this album with founder Hans Ziller being fired even though the album features his music. And before Ziller was fired, guitarist Horst Maier-Thorn was also let go.

Desmond Child was brought in. Bob Halligan Jnr was brought in and Jack Ponti was brought back. Desmond Child even recovered the song “The Price Of Loving You” for his own solo album, that’s how high he held it.

Even Michael Wagener was hired to produce. It was an all assault to get the music buying public into the band.

And the album did nothing.

There was no promo in Australia for it and a little paragraph in the Metal Edge magazine many months after it was released tipped me off.

Like the debut, the album sound was out of date by a few years. By 1989, the tastes and sounds morphed even more. This album would have done great if it was released in 1987.

Acoustic/Unplugged was becoming a thing and the Blues had come back into the sounds of rock and metal with bands going back to their roots.

Of course, Motley Crue released a thunderous sounding album dripping with groove and GNR was still riding the wave of their punk boogie oriented debut album, furnished with an EP of acoustic songs.

And somewhere in between Bonfire sat, without one of its founding members.

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

The More Things Change – Cinderella

Turned on my radio to the same old song
Some big mouth talking trying to tell us where the world went wrong

You can replace the radio with Twitter or Facebook or any other platform which gives people a voice. Remember the Fyre Festival. It was the big mouths (social influencers) via social media who spread the word and suddenly people are getting ripped off to the tune of $50K for 4 tickets.

And if it’s not social influencers, it’s other powerful people. Or people who had some popular appeal and want the attention back again.

But all this talk of peace and love
It’s only for the news
Cause every time you trust someone
You end up getting screwed

You live long enough you get to see that the world is not very nice. Nature alone wants to have balance in its ecosystems and unleashes destructive forces to keep it that way. As humans, we are fighting to stay alive from our first breath against nature and then against the evils of the world created by humans.

We get to experience school and all the things that come with it. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends. And we experience sports, holidays with families and when you get older, even our brothers or sisters betray us on some days. But we still hope, we still trust and we move on, to another day, to a better day. But some don’t move on to another day.

The more things change
The more they stay the same
Everyone’s your brother till you turn the other way

People get jealous towards each other. They feel like someone is stealing their thunder or their just dragging them down. Friendships go bad and relationships go sour. People in a romantic relationship couldn’t keep their hands off each other once upon a time and then over the course of time, they can’t stand to be around each other.

What changed?

The more things change
The more they stay the same
All we need’s a miracle to take us all away from the pain

Its why self-help books, improvement books, behavioural science books have become a billion dollar industry. And if those kind of things don’t do it for you, then religion is there to fill in the gap. Or if any of those things don’t do it for you, there is exercise, opioids, narcotics, cigarettes and various other addictions like social media.

Either way, there is some miracle there waiting to take away the pain. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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

The Record Vault – Bonham

“The Disregard Of Timekeeping” was released in 1989. People expected big things from the son of John Bonham.

I remember seeing a few video clips of Bonham and thinking the songs are pretty cool, but with funds being limited, thought nothing more of it at that time, but when i saw the album at a heavily reduced price of $1 in a second hand record shop, i thought why not.

“Wait For You” has this Faith No More intro (like “Epic”) before it morphs into a Led Zep like verse and chorus.

“Guilty” for such a clichéd title, sounds massive. And that Chorus deserved a top 10 placement on the Billboard charts.

The funny thing is that Winger played a similar brand of rock music to Bonham. Both bands had serious musicians who paid their dues in other bands. But Winger had greater commercial success than Bonham.

“Holding On Forever” to me captures the Bonham sound. It doesn’t sound like a Led Zeppelin cut (but it has Led Zep influences), nor does it sound like a song chasing some commercial dream (although it has some elements) and it has a solo section/chorus that reminds me of the LA scene. It’s these kind of songs which didn’t get released as a single by the label that define a band’s sound.

The label marketed “Guilty” and “Wait For You” as the singles.

And by 1989, the music buying public had burned out on Led Zep Clones. So if you didn’t have the album, you wouldn’t be able to get in deep and find songs like these.

Then they released “Madhatter”.

I didn’t buy it, nor did I find a copy of it via the record fairs or second hand record shops many years later.

But I did find a CD single of “Change Of A Season”.

You get one album track and three non-album tracks.

And “Change Of A Season” is a great track. A track good enough to promote the album. And I called it up on Spotify today.

My favorite tracks are “Change Of A Seasons”, “The Storm”, “Ride On A Dream” and “Chimera”. All of em are a bit more experimental than the standard verse and chorus fair.

The band was building their style and it’s a shame they didn’t get a chance at a few more albums.

And for those record label suits today who still reckon a sale equals a fan.

The album I have was purchased by a music consumer, who then heard it and traded it in to a second hand record and book store. I guess this official fan didn’t like it.

And then when I purchased it, I guess I don’t count because my purchase is off the books. But I played it once and put in away for many years until I pulled it out recently to hear.

And the single was never meant to be sold as its stamped promotional copy. But it got sold and purchased unofficially.

So how would the record label suits account for these?

By saying the band is in debt.

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