Category Archives: Unsung Heroes

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

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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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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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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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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The Record Vault – Blind Guardian

I couldn’t recall how a track sounded from the “Battalions Of Fear” album when I pulled this off the shelf.

I have some of their later albums dubbed on cassette which are a lot better.

My cousin Mega is into them, and I dubbed like a best off from him. So when I saw this album in one of my many ventures to second hand record shops and record fairs, I purchased it.

Calling it up on Spotify, and pressing play on the first track “Majesty”, I remembered my thoughts about the drumming. It’s so frantic and fast and thinking back now, I don’t know if in 1984 there was a drummer on a record who played this fast. And the double kick drum just doesn’t stop.

Overall, the album is fast, raw and unrefined speed metal whereas the later albums would have different dynamics to go with their Tolkien inspired lyrics and are a lot better.

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Dog Eat Dog

And the night’s illuminated, By the endless glowing sand

That swallowed all the oceans, And choked off all the land

In a world beyond resuscitation, Even by God’s hand

April 2031 – Warrant

Warrant delivered their best album with “Dog Eat Dog”. But it didn’t sell anything compared to the “Cherry Pie” album and it was seen as an expensive bomb. So the band gets dropped.

Even the song titles had me interested, like “April 2031” which deals with a dystopian future after a nuclear fallout and “Andy Warhol Was Right” which covers how every person will have their fifteen minutes of fame, in this case a young boy who plays with toy guns growing up to be a gunman in a mass shooting.

“April 2031” also has probably the heaviest riff, Warrant have ever committed to tape.

“Andy Warhol Was Right” nails it’s “15 minutes of fame” theme perfectly, starting off the song with a young kid singing, before morphing into an angry man because he feels life has past him by. This is the song that got me to re-listen to the album, because Lady GaGa’s song “Shallow” sounds like it and this other “not famous” dude is suing Lady Gaga because he claims he wrote a song which Lady Gaga copied. Well that dude then also copied Warrant.

The “Machine Gun” title had me interested until Jani Lane (R.I.P.) started singing about being harder than a coal train and loving her like a machine gun. He might as well have called the song “Fuck You As Fast As A Machine Gun”. But that intro/verse riff is pretty wicked.

And while Joey Allen and Erik Turner didn’t get the respect they deserved as guitar heroes, they showcase what they are capable off on this album.

“The Bitter Pill” is a classic Warrant song, but that Latin/German section in the middle is Queen esque.

In “Hollywood (So Far, So Good)”, Jani delivers a brilliant line with;

While money is buying your house, It’s selling your sanity

In “All My Bridges Are Burning”, I think Jani is Jimmy in this song.

Jimmy goes through the money like a millionaire, bills pile up around him but he doesnt care

And for people who think that Jani was all about cherry pies, that actual album was meant to be called “Uncle Toms Cabin” until a last minute request from the label to write an additional song changed all of it.

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The Record Vault – All That Remains

The Pirate Bay introduced me to All That Remains circa 2008.

It actually happened in a more complex, funny kind of way, so for any label rep who thinks that scorched earth promotions is the key to get people’s attention, well check out this Discovery. (Spotify Discovery are you reading as well).

I got into Killswitch Engage because the bass player in a band I was in liked em, so I asked him to give me some of their music. He burnt me “The End Of Heartache” and I dug it. This was circa 2005. The hardcore screamo vocals didn’t set my world on fire, but the melodic vocals sure did, the way the songs were constructed hooked me and the music is melodic and heavy at the same time. 

Suddenly I am seeing interviews with Killswitch Engaged founder, guitarist, producer and songwriter, Adam Dutkiewicz in the Guitar mags. And Adam produces other bands. Unearth, As I Lay Dying and All That Remains came into my headspace because of Adam.

So almost three years after getting into Killswitch Engaged, off I went to TPB, typed in All That Remains and their catalogue from start to 2008 was available.

And the first track on the “Overcome” album (released in 2008) is called “Before The Damned”. It’s brutal death metal in the verses and when the Chorus kicks in, its arena rock. I was hooked straight away. “Two Weeks” from the same album is their most streamed song with over 40 million streams on Spotify and 26,644,942 views on YouTube.

In 2010, “For We Are Many” came out and I liked it, but I didn’t commit financially until the 2012 album “A War You Cannot Win”.

Opening track, “Down Through The Ages” has some of the best thrash metal riffage (along with some deep growls)

“So many fall away” indeed. The most likeable kid at school has bi-polar now and looks like Crusty The Clown, all because of too much drugs. But he’s made it, while others have either spent time in jail or hanging on the end of a rope or struggling to breathe, surrounded by carbon monoxide.

Check out the lead break. It’s a hum a long, until the whammy dive kicks in.

“You Can’t Fill My Shadow” has a lead break that keeps me coming back.

“Stand Up” is pretty accessible, with clean tone melodic vocals throughout and great riffage throughout. Stand up and be proud of the choices you made.

To me, this song is a big FU to the people who criticised the band for bringing in some melodic rock influences into their songs. Well if it wasn’t for those influences, I wouldn’t be a fan.

“Asking Too Much” is another hard rock song, easily digested. “Just Moments In Time” is brutal and heavy, with screaming death metal vocals and lyrics which state, “We are all just moments in time, We come from nothing and we’re nothing when we die”. 

“What If I Was Nothing” is almost country’ish in the intro, but a hard rock relationship song in the end. Super melodic, with 24.6 million streams.

“Sing For Liberty” tells people to take back their freedoms.

“A War You Cannot Win” has so many lyrical lines that resonate.

One voice can silence the masses, One voice just scream these words say, No, hell no

“The Order Of Things” was released in 2015 and this album is very accessible for people who like hard rock music but don’t like too much hardcore style vocals or death metal style vocals. 

The piano line intro in the opening track “This Probably Won’t End Well” reminds me of the Paradise Lost “Draconian Times” album, albeit for 45 seconds. Then it’s back to the hard rock/metal that All That Remains does well.

“The Greatest Generation” is a favourite, with a lyric of “remember what made us great”. And we have forgotten that.

“For You” is personal, about a relationship breakdown, and that lyric line of “I won’t wait for you”. “A Reason For Me To Fight” is about making a promise to fight for something you believe in. “Bite My Tongue” has this Jazzy style breakdown which I dig, and when Phil starts singing, “You’re Right, You’re Wrong” it’s time to bang that head.

My favourite track on this album is the closer, “Criticism And Self Realization”. For starters the title hooked me, so it was the first song I listened to. And after that 45 second clean tone intro, the metal arrives. And the verses are heavy with hardcore style vocals, while the Chorus is melodic and emotional. The whole thing connects instantly.

And at 3.20, it goes back to the clean tone intro and it feels like the song is repeating. But it’s not. Its segueing into a new section. And from 4.20, that clean tone intro becomes an outro, with harmony guitars and then lead guitars. By 5.12 the loudness is replaced by a piano, which is playing the same intro music, but slower, sadder, more solemn. And I just want it to continue. But by the 7 minute mark it’s over.

Since, 2015, they released “Madness” in 2017 and “Victim Of The New Disease” in 2018. After the release of this album, founding guitarist Oli Herbert (who also laid down some wicked soloing and riffage on Dee Snider’s “For The Love Of Metal” album) was found dead in a pond. While early reports suggested accidental drowning, an investigation is still pending for foul play. 

And I am glad that vocalist Phil Labonte (also the back up Five Finger Death Punch singer when Ivan Moody goes off the rails) is carrying the All That Remains flame.

And with this post, the record vault for the letter A ends (at this point in time) and I am onto the letter B. My kids reckon I won’t get to Z.

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The Record Vault – Another Lost Year

You can’t find “Better Days” on streaming services in Australia. Which is ridicilous if you ask me, but hey, lets find a way to stop fans from listening to your album legally, however YouTube has songs from the album and it pays less.

Like Adelita’s Way, I got access to the music of ALY via peer to peer services. And i liked it and I purchased.

And then I never heard from em, until I looked em up on Spotify recently and have seen the following content;

A six song EP, called “The Revolution: Pt. 1 The Other Side”, released in 2014. Another six song EP, called “The Revolution: Pt. 2 It’s A Long Way Home”, released in 2016, an album called “Alien Architect”, released in 2016 and a 3 song EP called “Democrazy”, released in 2019. But no “Better Days”.

Anyway”Better Days” came out in 2012.

“I know I will move on to better days”

To have hope is to be human. To think that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, keeps us going. Not all of us make it, but we try our hardest to get there.

“War On The Inside” is heavy and yet accessable at the same time. And the lyric line of “All these voices, calling my name” begins the mental struggle within.

Am I good enough?

What if I make a mistake?

How will people see me?

What if i look like a fool?

I dont want to fail.

If you’ve spoken the above thoughts to yourself, then you are part of the many who has a war within everytime you step out of your comfort zone.

What if you replaced those thoughts, with, how would it be in 12 months if I fail today?

In “All That We Are” there is a lyric in the Chorus which connects.

“If you could just believe in all that we are”.

Trying to convince someone that the relationship (either friends or romantic or band) is worth keeping when they have mentally checked out, is difficult.

“Broken” has a bone crushing riff in the intro and verses.

“What I Deserve” has an intro that reminds me of Bonfire’s “Ready For Reaction” from the Fireworks album. And in the verses, I feel like I’m listening to “Love Song” from The Cure.

“Angels” is a ballad and it’s my favourite song.

“Theres nothing left, theres nowhere to hide”.

I never really sat down and payed super attention to the whole message of “Angels”. I just gravitated to the lines that grabbed me.

Eventually all the riches and good and bad deeds won’t save you when it’s time to meet your end.

“All the worlds you built they all fall down”

We can build walls to keep people out but if history has taught us one thing, all great civilizations fall. And that’s no different to our personal relationships and our private thoughts. It all falls down.

Basically after six tracks, its a six from six for me.

“Runaway” could have come from a Three Days Grace or Shinedown album. “Writing On The Wall” sounds very familiar and that Chorus. Brilliant.

“Come And Gone” is sad and hopeful at the same time and that lyric line, my time has come and gone.

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Past Success

Is past success a good indication that you will have success again in the future?

Netflix thinks so, with the signing of the “Game Of Thrones” TV show creators to a $200 million deal. Their track record on reinterpreting other peoples material is pretty good, but their original content is pending review especially how they reinterpreted the last two seasons of GoT without really having source material to fill in the details.

This is like signing an artist to a $200 million deal when all of their songs are written by outside writers.

Remember the band Bananarama. They had a hit with “Venus”, a cover song and then their other hits were songs written by a British songwriting team called Stock-Aitken-Waterman. Well they got the mega deal, but didn’t really get the hits again.

Kevin DuBrow was given a million dollar contract to form his own band DuBrow but what the label failed to notice was that Quiet Riot’s two biggest songs are cover songs. Or offering Jay Jay French from Twisted Sister the same deal when Dee Snider wrote the material which made the band famous.

When Dokken splintered, Geffen went after Don Dokken and Elektra went after George Lynch, but what both labels failed to notice was that Jeff Pilson was the maestro, with a hand in co-writing all of Dokken’s most successful tracks. But no label went after him.

Even when Vince Neil left Motley Crue, he was courted by label’s and Warner Bros eventually signed him. But his fame is based on tracks Nikki Sixx had written.

Good business sense would be to see what their original shows or movies end up like.

But businesses don’t think like that. Netflix is losing subscribers for the first time in 11 years, Disney is taking back their content for their own streaming service and HBO and Amazon are also keen to get the GoT guys.

So by Netflix having these guys on board, by 2022 they would expect something in return. And Netflix would count on people keeping their subscriptions because of what they have in the pipeline.

But it’s all based on one key metric, as long as the GoT TV show creators brand doesn’t get further damaged in the meantime.

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