Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Spotify Stats

I kicked off the year with “Better” from Guns N Roses.

My top 5 most streamed artists on Spotify for 2015 are:

  • Trivium
  • Machine Head
  • Lotus Crush
  • Y & T
  • Tremonti

My Top 5 most steamed albums are:

  • “Rabbit Hole” by Lotus Crush
  • “Silence In The Snow” by Trivium
  • “Bloodstone And Diamonds” by Machine Head
  • “Down For The Count” by Y & T
  • “All I Was” by Tremonti

My Top 5 most streamed tracks are:

  • “Hearts And Minds” by Lotus Crush
  • “Blood In The Water” by Lotus Crush
  • “Down From The Sky” by Trivium
  • “In Due Time” by Killswitch Engage
  • “I Ain’t Old, I Ain’t Young” by The Night Flight Orchestra

I listened to 67 different artists and 206 different tracks.

In Summer;

  • Machine Head, Blowsight and Guns N Roses did the rounds.

In Autumn;

  • Tremonti, 10 Years and Submersed did the rounds.

In Winter;

  • Trivium, The Night Flight Orchestra and Linkin Park did the rounds.

In Spring;

  • Lotus Crush, Trivium and Y&T did the rounds.
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Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

2015 – Part IV: My Horns To The Sky

NUMBER 13:
Halestorm – Into The Wild Life
Adele might get all the press, but Lzzy Hale is the one that will outlast them all. This is a pretty solid album and each week it’s still selling units and it’s being streamed. Spotify tells me that 3 million unique listeners streamed 330 years worth of Halestorm music. As an artist, that is all you can ask for.

“All you doubters and haters, actors, and fakers, I don’t have time for you” ….. from “Scream”

The truth is; we do have time for the doubters, haters and fakers. Initially, their spite; upsets us. In time, we harden up and are able to shrug it off.

“’Cause I’m a sick individual and I’m doing this thing called whatever the fuck I want” ….. from “Sick Individual”

It’s a brilliant play on words.

“And just like old school Sabbath, Zeppelin, and Lemmy
I need to drop it down low and make it heavy” ….. from “I Like It Heavy”

“Since I was 13 years old, I’ve had my horns to the sky” ….. from “I Like It Heavy”

I dig the reference to Lemmy instead of Motorhead. His legend is bigger than that of his band.

NUMBER 14:
Europe – War Of Kings
Europe had massive success back in the 80’s. You could tell that while they had fun, they just weren’t comfortable being in a pop world. You could hear in their music that they wanted to explore more territory creatively. And they did just that with their reunion in 2004. Five albums later they are making more money now than what they did in the Eighties. They have their own company, own their music and license it to people who want to work with the band. They plan their tours and merchandise. They work really hard on social media.

Spotify tells me that 6 million listeners played 240 years worth of Europe music in 2015.

I’m a big fan of Europe’s return to mysticism in the lyrics and personal reflection. They have re-invented themselves. And for lovers of the seventies Euro Rock influences, then “War Of Kings” is the album. Dave Cobb who produced “Rival Sons” is on hand to produce.

“Hit” songs on this album are “Days Of Rock N Roll” (how good is that riff), “War Of Kings”, “Children Of The Mind” (what a groove), “Angels (With Broken Hearts) and “Rainbow Bridge” (for the exoticism groove).

“Somebody told me, it’s all the same now
Somebody told me, we’ve had our turn
Gotta believe that times still ours” ….. from “Days Of Rock ‘n’ Roll”

I remember reading interviews with Europe during the writing and recording of “Prisoners Of Paradise” and how the record company asked them for “hits”. Eventually the album comes out; in a marketplace that was changing and morphing into an anti-rock movement. You can just imagine the record heads then telling Europe, “your career is over, your style of music is finished and there is a new style replacing the old style”. Sort of like “Ten Thousand Fists” from Disturbed.

“Nothing can touch the living hope the human spirit owns” ….. from “Rainbow Bridge”
“We build our lives, hopefully the one that we choose” ….. from “Angels (With Broken Hearts) Lyrics”

A decision was forthcoming for one of my kids, that as a parent I had to make for him. The road he will be on next year is a decision that was made solely by me, as a parent. Based on the information at hand right now, it feels like the right decision. Years into the future, hindsight might prove otherwise. And that is life in a nutshell. Born into this world, the main decisions are made by our parents. They set a course for our lives and hopefully it is not too far detached from the life we want to live when we get older.

NUMBER 15:
Periphery – Alpha / Omega
I saw Periphery at a small pub in Sydney called the Annandale Hotel. Impressive was the fact that six of them fitted onto that tiny stage that my three piece band once upon a time couldn’t fit on. It was a sold out show and Periphery didn’t disappoint.

I must say that I am a fan of their songs when they have more clean tone and melodic vocals instead of the screaming/growling vocals. In saying that some of their songs like “Ragnarok” have a mixture of both and a song like that needs that style.

I have seen some websites call them the modern face of metal. Periphery is a band that is technical. Nowadays, the odds are stacked against most bands that deviate from the basic verse-chorus formula. In my view, bands like Periphery and TesseracT always need to innovate with each release. Their style is such that they can borrow/be influenced from any musical style, culture/genre and fans expect that innovation.

And they are a band that is from the people, being formed via forums, blogs and other social media websites. Fans of the band ended up in the band. And they are realistic in their goals. They know they will not be as big as Metallica. So they play to their core and their core sustains them.

Spotify tells me that Periphery have 694,000 listeners, who have streamed 130 years worth of Periphery music in 2015. But if you look at their sales record, it is anemic compared to their streams.

Which brings me to the double album; Alpha and Omega. A concept story, albeit a pretty scary one if you read the lyrics. Check it out.

“What’s yours, is ours for the taking
Take this bruise as a sign that we own you now and forevermore” ….. from “MK Ultra”

“It’s never greener inside the mess we’re in
Wanting what you never have
The less we are content the more we throw away what little time we have left to grow” ….. from “Alpha”

“Staring at the hourglass, my life it feels like a machine running with no direction” ….. from “22 Faces”

“Hold your breath
We’re sinking down for miles in an ocean full of mortal mistake, where the light is much clearer
Is it time to purge our lungs amongst the shipwreck?” ….. from “Rainbow Gravity”

“Now I am a product of a mind that wasn’t ever mine and now it says “Kill them slow”” ….. from “Psychosphere”

“Suffocating in a world of human filth
Yes pull me under
Stop treading in a pool of your own blood
Accept demise” ….. from “Graveless”

“Can we show the ones who are blind?
Show them that we’re not blind” ….. from “Omega”

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A to Z of Making It, Music, My Stories, Stupidity

Fame Game

“You let them know you are large and in charge. It’s the way you stand, the way you carry yourself. Being a front man is less about your voice than your ability to connect with a crowd. A front man is a salesman. Steve Jobs was a front man. Wozniak was the great songwriter, but he couldn’t sell the thing he created. He needed the cock rocker Jobs to say, “Pay attention to this!” I wasn’t always confident, but confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It starts as false bravado—you’re acting like you’re cool and confident even when you’re not—but if you’re convincing enough, people start to believe it. Then you start to believe it and then it’s the reality.”
Dee Snider on his philosophy on how to connect with an audience

You see, fame ain’t what it used to be. In the past, very few people made it and when they did, we all knew their name, regardless of their style of music. Now, no one even knows who the “stars” are. The odds of breaking through your inner circle are tiny, but people keep trying.

So where does that leave the artists who are trying to sustain a career in an ever-changing marketplace because fame is a game. It’s not always about the music, but more about communication and participation.

Sully Erna is a salesman. He goes on a radio show and Nikki Sixx becomes the topic of his conversation. He generates a ton of interest, a lot of discussion and he played the fame game. But that was weeks ago. The feud is old news again. Forgotten for the time being. The audience moved on to another topic, to another artist.

Remember when music records and singles used to be number one for ages. Well, that doesn’t happen anymore in music and it definitely doesn’t happen when it comes to information. News is an on demand item. The only question is where are we going to get it from. The usual suspects are far from impartial. Look at the Top 20 lists at Loudwire and Noisecreep and Ultimate Classic Rock and you will see that the lists are made up of the bands that had big PR campaigns with the website; not because the albums are worthy of being in the top 20.

Music is not the leader anymore. Information is. And with a million ways to occupy ourselves, artists need to find a different way to make us pay attention. So with everything available, we are drawn to very few.

Like James Hetfield.

The “SoWhat” fan club magazine interviews offer up personal viewpoints and feelings that people can connect with. He doesn’t do side projects because it needs to add to what he is about and not detract from Metallica. However he is now okay with his band mates side projects. He told us that Metallica lost millions doing the Orion Music + More festivals and he offers his insights as to why that might be the case. He gives us his feelings on “Lulu”. Then there is the movie “Through The Never” that cost the band millions. Again more insights or “excuses” as some metal websites called them.

So even though Metallica hasn’t released new music in seven years, Hetfield is constantly out there playing the fame game.

Whether you agree with the viewpoints or not, it’s actually good to listen to artists having a say instead of not saying anything. Even artists like Scott Ian, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley who fail to understand or realise that the record company model is based on stealing everything from the artist, are good at playing the fame game, especially when they have nothing new to offer musically.

Because it is virtually impossible to get mindshare in todays cluttered and chaotic world. We had MTV, Hit Parader, Circus, Rip and Metal Edge magazines and they reached everybody. Today, we get the popular squeezing out the less popular and what we have are people complaining there is no money in music.

And who cares what sales record is broken. Adele is all over the news about her sales figures. Star Wars the same. Michael Jackson and Thriller just passed 30 million.

Does anyone know who many records Black Sabbaths “Paranoid” sold, or Motley Crue’s “Shout At The Devil” or Dream Theater’s “Images and Words” or Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” or Twisted Sister’s “Stay Hungry” or Journey’s “Escape”.

Hell, even the bands won’t know how many albums they would have sold, as the accounting of it all was dodgy and secretive. But the music has maintained. Dream Theater is still doing victory laps from the success of “Images and Words”. I just forked out $170 for “The Astonishing” pre order of the deluxe edition.

In the end, everything is a game, with winners and losers.

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Copyright, Music, My Stories, Stupidity

Politics and Music

“We also license our music very aggressively. This is for two reasons: We derive a huge income stream from this exploitation, and our music reaches listeners in new ways, building more fans.”
Jay Jay French

There has been a bit of backlash to politicians and other movements using popular songs as backing tracks to their campaigns and demonstrations. “We’re Not Gonna Take It” was exploited by Arnie for his California Governor campaign and recently by Trump for his presidential bid. Both times, the TS machine allowed it to happen. However, in 2012 Dee Snider asked Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan to stop using the song, because he did not support Ryan.

Prior to Trump using “We’re Not Gonna Take It” he used songs from other artists.

Steven Tyler asked Donald Trump to stop using the power ballad “Dream On” at his campaigns. Trump responded by saying that he found a better song to take its place.

Trump was also asked to stop using, R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in The Free World”.

In Australia, anti-Islam rally groups started to use a song from Cold Chisel at their rallies, which had Jimmy Barnes (the vocalist) taking to his Facebook page to state that he did not support these groups using the music.

So what right do artists have if any, to stop these exploitations from happening?

Did you know that Neil Young was asking Trump for money for his stupid PONO music player before Trump decided to enter politics. Then months later, Young is asking Trump to stop using his music because he doesn’t agree with his viewpoints nor does he want to be associated with it.

How can it be that it is okay for people to purchase the music of the artists, but not okay for those same people to use the music of the artists to prove a point or get a message through.

Don’t we live in a democratic society, where freedom of speech is valued?.

And then that Copyright word is put out there. If an artist sells their copyright to a corporation for a fee, then what right do they have to “use copyright” as a censorship tool. They have sold their right. You can’t have it both ways.

If anyone has the right to complain, then it is the corporation.

So which way do artists want?

I have read articles where Dee Snider is even contemplating telling Trump to not use “Were Not Gonna Take It” anymore, however I hope he doesn’t do so.

Because, in the end, music needs people to thrive and it can be used by the people in many different ways. Many supporters of political campaigns and movements are music fans. So while the artist thinks that they are taking a stand against the politician or the movement, as a by product of taking that stand they are also taking a stand against their own fan base.

Now, people might come from different walks of life and have differing viewpoints on a range of issues. Just because an artist doesn’t agree with a viewpoint it doesn’t mean the people should be stopped from using songs that they grew up with or songs that could get their message across in a way no speech could.

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

1981 – Part 3 – “Don’t Live For Pleasure, Make Life Your Treasure”

Black Sabbath – Mob Rules
“Mob Rules” was released at the same time as Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads “Diary Of A Madman” album. For both Sabbath and Osbourne albums it was a case of “what worked before, lets repeat it”. There is a book out by Mick Wall called “Black Sabbath: Symptom Of The Universe”, that mentions how it pained, Tony, Geezer and Ronnie to see Ozzy’s 2nd album doing so much better than theirs.

Martin Birch was on hand to produce and engineer again and it is also the first Black Sabbath album to feature Vinny Appice on drums, who replaced original member Bill Ward. “Mob Rules” was plagued with stories of drugs and arguments.

The arguments started after the success of “Heaven and Hell”. Warner Bros, offered Dio a solo deal, while also extending the Black Sabbath contract. The solo deal didn’t go down well with Iommi and Butler. In addition, during the mixing of the album, Iommi and Butler had a falling out with Dio due to some misinformation being spread from their engineer about Dio sneaking into the studio at night to raise the volume of his vocals. Dio was also not happy with how he was represented in the artwork. Eventually, it all proved too much and the solo deal Dio got proved the out.

“Turn Up The Night” is a derivative version of “Neon Knights”. Hell, it could have been on a Thin Lizzy album.

“Voodoo” is a derivative version of “Children Of The Sea” in its groove. It even tried to occupy the same space that “Children Of The Sea” did in the album sequencing.

“Sign Of The Southern Cross” is a derivative version of “Heaven And Hell” and “Children Of The Sea” combined and the foundation of the sound that would become “Dio”. The best on the album.

“The Mob Rules” feels like a derivative version of “Tie Your Mother Down” from Queen.

“Country Girl” feels like a Led Zeppelin track.

“Falling Off The Edge Of The World”, is a brilliant song as well, technically an early influence to what Iron Maiden and Metallica would achieve and build their careers on.

“Over and Over” is a derivative version of “Black Sabbath”, purely for its sludgy groove.

“Don’t live for pleasure, make life your treasure” ….. from “Sign Of The Southern Cross”

Thin Lizzy – Renegade
Since “Chinatown” proved to be a cult hit with the guitar team of Scott Gorham and Snowy Shaw the year before, like all of the other bands that released music in 1980, it was a case of “what worked before, lets repeat it” in 1981.

And each album, has a song or two that sell it, and in this case “Angel Of Death” and “Hollywood (Down On Your Luck)” are the songs. Lynott does a brilliant job blaming the “Angel of Death” for the Great San Francisco Earthquake, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust prophecies of Nostradamus.

“I’ve seen two world wars
I’ve seen men send rockets out into space
I foresee a holocaust
An angel of death descending to destroy the human race” ….. From “Angel Of Death”

“Nobody gives a break
When you’re down on your luck
Everybody’s on the take
When you’re down on your luck” ….. From “Hollywood (Down On Your Luck)”

UFO – The Wild, The Willing and The Innocent
“Lonely Heart” has got this Springsteen vibe happening, but the song that I go to first, is “Profession Of Violence”. It’s got that Gary Moore “Parisienne Walkways” feel. If you haven’t heard “Parisienne Walkways”, trust me, you have heard it, because many years later, the song morphed into “Still Got The Blues” and Moore’s biggest hit.

“Down the halls of justice, the echoes never fade
Notches on my gun, another debt is paid” ….. from “Profession Of Violence”

Rainbow – Difficult To Cure

How good is “I Surrender” with that classical vibe, over a pop structure. Written by Russ Ballard, to me, Ballard was a musician known for writing good songs that other artists covered or made better.

“Can’t Happen Here” is one hell of a good song and a very underrated Rainbow cut. It has all the elements of a protest song, a good rock and roll vibe and all the guitarinisms that Blackmore is known for.

“Supersonic planes for a holiday boom
Rio de Janeiro in an afternoon
People out of work but there’s people on the moon
Looking for the future” ….. from “Can’t Happen Here”

“Spotlight Kid” is another classic Rainbow tune, this one about the trappings of fame and what happens when the crowds are gone. And what about that “Burn” like solo section.

“Jokers and women they hang ’round your door
They’re all part of the scene
Just like a junkie you’ve got to have more
It’s a pleasure machine” ….. from “Spotlight Kid”

Midnight Oil – Place Without A Postcard
An Australian political band, known around the world for their songs “U.S Forces” and “Beds Are Burning”. This is their third album, released in 1981 and like most of their albums, it is 75% filler, so it was no surprise that the “singles” are the album tracks that still resonate today.

“I’m an innocent victim, I’m just like you
We end up in home units with a brick wall view” ….. from “Don’t Wanna Be The One”

“Armistice Day” has a lyric that more or less sums up the bullshit weapons of mass destruction, twenty years later.

“I went looking for a war, but the only guns I saw
Never used in anger”

Lead vocalist Peter Garrett has a voice that you either like or hate. There is no getting used to his voice. Glyn Johns produced the album, however the band and Johns clashed frequently, and even more so, when the band refused to record more commercial pop songs for a U.S release.

Iron Maiden – Killers
It’s essentially a Steve Harris solo album.

Each album has a song that sells it. In this case, it is “Wrathchild”. That bass intro groove from Harris, makes you want to press repeat over and over again. Because I had the “Live After Death” album, and “Wrathchild” was on it, I had no real desire to spend my money on “Killers”. It wasn’t until the 90’s that I finally heard the full album.

“I was born into a scene of angriness and greed, and dominance and persecution” ….. from “Wrathchild”

“Prodigal Son” is another favourite and I dig that acoustic intro that sounds very similar to the intro that Randy Rhoads wrote for “You Can’t Kill Rock N Roll”.

“The devil’s got a hold on my soul and he just won’t let me be” ….. from “Prodigal Son”

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Music

Return Of 2015: Part III

NUMBER 8:
Days Of Jupiter – Only Ashes Remain
If you don’t like Disturbed’s comeback album, then get into this album.

Days Of Jupiter hail from Sweden and they started in January 2010, however the members have been in various bands prior. Like anything to do with music, it’s a long way just to rock and roll.

They take Disturbed’s / Shinedown / Five Finger Death Punch and Alter Bridge style of music, amp it up with “Rammstein” style grooves, mix in some Tool progressive grooves, add in some Euro/Metal influences like Accept, Scorpions, Evergrey and top it off with Arena Rock choruses.

The result is “Only Ashes Remain”; their second album. For those that don’t know, “Secrets Brought to Life” released in 2012, is their debut album.

The opening moments of “Ashes” bring back memories of Five Finger Death Punch’s “The Bleeding”. “Broken Halo” is a hell of a good song. “Remember My Name” is a metal tour de force.

“I” reminds me of the “Draconian Times” album by Paradise Lost. “Shut Up” is a monster song, with that Rammstein marching beat and “Last One Alive” brings back the intro of “Ashes”.

NUMBER 9:
Sweet and Lynch – Only To Rise
The people who spread the word for the project are either fans of Stryper and Dokken or Michael Sweet and George Lynch. Sweet and Lynch are two veterans of the music business who know they need to play to their core. It is the core audience that will sustain them and it will be the core audience that will abandon them when they deviate too far from it. My review can be found here.

The whole album is an example of the progress is derivative model that I subscribe too.

NUMBER 10:
Muse – Drones
I have a lot of time for this band, because of “Stockholm Syndrome”. That song was copied and used by a ton of metal and rock bands afterwards. “Drones” to me has enough to satisfy the core, and to pick up new fans. Check out “Psycho” that merges a “Black Sabbath” sludgy groove with classical overtones. Then comes “Mercy” that will satisfy the pop fans of Muse, plus it has enough grit to satisfy the rock fans. I will even go out on a limb and call Muse the modern-day Led Zeppelin.

“Reaper” kicks off with a Van Halen “Hot For Teacher” vibe and it has this “Still Of The Night” vibe from Whitesnake in the Chorus, while the bassist is playing lines like “Heart Of The Sunrise” from Yes. Brilliant.

Then you have a keyboard led song like “Aftermath” with it’s Claptonesque blues style of leads in the intro.

Chuck into the mix the Morricone themed “The Globalist” that morphs into a “Stockholm Syndrome” style movement that then morphs into an Elton John crossed with jazz movement and you can see why I call Muse the modern-day Led Zeppelin.

And the lyrics from Matt Bellamy are brilliant, especially for a band that has commercial appeal, who also racks up at least 5 million streams on Spotify each day. While Coldplay and Bon Jovi tell their audience they can move mountains, Muse/Bellamy tells them what is happening in the world at this point in time.

“Your mind is just a program and I’m the virus” ….. From “Psycho”

“Absent gods and silent tyranny
We’re going under hypnotised
By another puppeteer” ….. From “Mercy”

“I’m just a pawn and we’re all expendable” ….. From “Reapers”

“You were my oppressor
And I, I have been programmed to obey
Now, you are my handler
And I, I will execute your demands” ….. From “The Handler”

“Oppression is persisting
I can’t fight this brain conditioning
Our freedom’s just a loan
Run by machines and drones
They’ve got us locked into their sights” ….. From “Revolt”

NUMBER 11:
Coheed and Cambria – The Color Before The Sun
You can hear how fatherhood and love has affected Claude Sanchez.

“Island” kicks off the album. It’s similar in style to other major key rockers COCA have done in the past. However, the best song is Claude’s love song, “Here To Mars”.

And as usual Claude Sanchez comes up with some excellent lyrics;

“Now give me one good reason to stay here at all
When the fee is too big, our apartment’s too small
Where’s my life-saver when I’m screaming danger” ….. From “Island”

“You, you keeping on screaming from the top of your lungs,
Mr. Who Gives A Shit, just shut up” ….. From “You Got Spirit, Kid”

“You’re number one
Go on living that farce
Cause nobody gives a fuck who you are” ….. From “You Got Spirit, Kid”

NUMBER 12:
All That Remains – The Order Of Things
Maybe all the love goes to “Killswitch Engage”, but man All That Remains are up there as well.

“This Probably Won’t End Well”, “The Greatest Generation”, “For You”, “A Reason For Me To Fight”, “Bite My Tongue” (love the little jazzy breakdown solo section) and “Criticism and Self Realization” are stand outs.

And if you are looking for voices who are not afraid to speak their minds, then look no further than frontman, Phil Labonte. Check out some of his lyrics.

“Mistakes that are made are the gifts that keep giving” ….. From “This Probably Won’t End Well”

“They dug and shaped the earth and with their hands gave birth,
To all the modern wonders that you see, they worked from dawn till dusk” ….. From “The Greatest Generation”

“Cause I can’t wait while you think this through
We don’t have endless time, remember who left who” ….. From “For You”

“No cavalry left that we can call, we’re on our own, backs against the wall” ….. From “A Reason For Me To Fight”

“Apologies are empty words, I know you’re only sorry (because) you got caught” ….. From “Bite My Tongue”

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

Once Upon A Time In 2015: Part II

NUMBER 4:
Bullet For My Valentine – Venom
BFMV is always re-defining themselves with each album and still sticking to their core sound. They started off classed as “Metalcore” or “EMO” for “The Poison” released in 2007. Then they went all “Thrash Metal” on their best album “Scream Aim Fire” in 2008. For 2010’s “Fever” they adopted a more hard rock/metal approach, which they re-defined and commercialised a bit more for “Temper Temper” in 2013.

Now in 2015, they have combined elements of all releases into a very good album from start to finish. The core will lap it up and man it’s got some pretty good head banging mosh pit moments.

“No Way Out” is relentless. A thrash-a-thon.

In “Army Of Noise”, before the Chorus comes in, there is this foot stomping riff that just gets me ready to break stuff. “Worthless” is more moody and groovy in a Deftones kind of way than the first two songs. “You Want A Battle? (Here’s A War)” starts off with the call to arms.

“Venom” the title track surprised me, because of its U2ish delayed riffs in the Verses. It’s actually a pop metal song, and I dig it.

“Skin” has another “I Want To Break Stuff” intro that I dig and a Chorus riff that reminds me of “Iron Maiden”. My favourite track of the album.

“Lights out, fist raised, Adrenaline rushing, infecting our veins, Now feel the heat as the temperature spikes, Bodies are thrashing the fire ignites” ….. From “Army Of Noise”

“We will not take this anymore, These words will never be ignored, You want a battle? Here’s a war” ….. From “You Want A Battle? Here’s A War”

“Now I’m giving up, I’m never looking back, here we go again, You keep giving me a taste of your venom” ….. From “Venom”

“I wish that I could tell you so you know, There’s things I’m hiding deep beneath my skin, beneath my skin” ….. From “Skin”

NUMBER 5:
Revolution Saints – Revolution Saints
Love the album and Deen Castronovo on vocals is excellent. It’s a shame he is in the press for all of the wrong reasons. He even lost his Journey drumming gig.

And for the record, I still can’t understand how a guitarist like Doug Aldrich can do an album and not write a single song on it. Anyway, “Back On My Trail” has a good melodic riff. Not a fan of the chorus/vocal melodies, but the music is of high quality. “You’re Not Alone” is quality. “Locked Out of Paradise” is brilliant. All three are written solely by Alessandro Del Vecchio.

So a lot of people are asking who is Alessandro Del Vecchio?

First and foremost he is a musician, fronting his own band “Edge Of Forever” and being a member in “Hardline” (remember that band that came out in the early nineties that had Neal Schon in it, well the current version is very different). When he isn’t doing his own thing, he is producing, performing and writing for the head of Frontiers Records, Serafino Perugiono.

Chances are if you have heard melodic rock music from Resurrection Kings, Moonland, L.R.S., Rated X, Three Lions, Bailey, Mother Road, Faithsedge, Ez Livin’ and Revolution Saints, then there is a good chance you would heard songs from Del Vecchio. He got into Frontiers by doing is own thing, which was the melodic rock Edge of Forever albums, on a label which was distributed by Frontiers.

Another artist/songwriter/producer that is represented on Revolution Saints is Erik Martensson.

“Dream On” is a better derivative version of “Back On My Trail” and it brings back memories of Night Ranger. However this one has music written by Erik Martensson (from the Swedish melodic rock band Eclipse) along with Finish-Swedish songwriter Johan Becker. And one of the best songs on the album is the Eclipse track “How To Mend A Broken Heart” that’s also written by Martensson.

NUMBER 6:
TesseracT – Polaris
For those that don’t know, TesseracT is a British progressive metal band formed in 2007 and has released three full-length albums and two EPs. They have built their audience, mile by mile, show by show, release by release. There is no harder working band than these guys.

“Polaris” is a pretty good album. Actually, all of TesseracT’s releases have been excellent for me. I know that “Survival” has gotten some press recently as singer Dan Tompkins mentioned it’s about struggling financially and dealing with the difficulties of being away from his wife and son for extended periods of time.

And if you want an introduction into the album, then “Survival” is the song. It’s math rock with a catchy arena rock chorus.

“Hexes” is a progressive, math like atmospheric tune, like “Dark Side Of The Moon” era Pink Floyd. It’s got a delay riff at its core, which keeps on building into an explosive syncopated progressive riff.

“Tourniquet” has this cool vibe. At its core, the song has a repeating apreggiated riff and the song continues to build and transition around it.

“Cages” also falls into the cool atmospheric vibe, with a repeating lick that the rest of the song builds and transitions over, so by the time the song comes to the end, its unique and powerful.

“Seven Names” has one hell of a vocal performance under the beautiful and chaotic bed of music.

“It isn’t a secret this mind shatters in mystery
It isn’t a secret I find terror in memory” ….. from “Hexes”

“Disturbed – will I disappear with a vision of tomorrow or will I fall?
Disturbed – and I get the feeling I’ve been here before on the abandoned road” ….. from “Survival”

“Your love is my tourniquet
Learn to rise, contain the pressure” ….. from “Tourniquet”

NUMBER 7:
Tremonti – Cauterize
In the words of the immortal YODA, a solid listen, this album is. An outstanding song, there is not. Intention of Tremonti, was not the hit single.

For those who don’t know, Mark Tremonti is the guitarist and main songwriter for Creed, which then morphed into Alter Bridge with an even better singer and songwriter in Myles Kennedy. Plus Myles is one hell of a guitarist. Both bands styles however are in the hard rock arena. In between downtime, Tremonti decided to hook up with some friends and pay homage to his metal influences.

“Cauterize” intro riff is speed metal to a tee and the song morphs into a Euro Metal tour de force. “Another Wait” has a groove metal intro. “Tie The Noose” borders on Rammstein and Five Finger Death Punch groove riffing. “Sympathy” is more in line with the rock of Alter Bridge.

But the piece de-restitance is “Providence”.

That riff that comes in at 2.25. Then it gets doubled, then the rest of the band comes in, then a cool vocal line comes in and then the shred begins.

“Shield what you love and hope it’s enough and pray that your providence comes”…. From “Providence”

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

1981 – Part 2: Punching In, I Feel Like Punching Em Out

Van Halen – Fair Warning

Van Halen’s “Jump” was everywhere in Australia, however the first albums I owned from the band came from the Van Hager edition. So it wasn’t until the late Eighties/Early Nineties that I started to get my hands on the earlier Van Halen albums via the good old’ Second Hand Record Shop.

Coming into “Fair Warning” Eddie had racked up a reputation as a riff maker. “Runnin’ With The Devil”, “Dance The Night Away” and “And The Cradle Will Rock” come to mind. That tradition continued with “Meanstreets” and “Unchained”.

I think it’s safe to say that “Fair Warning” is their hitless album and their most metal sounding album. As soon as the frantic tapped intro kicks in for “Meanstreet” you get the feeling it’s going to be heavy. Then the ZZ Top Blues Groove kicks in and the head is nodding and the foot is tapping while the drums make it swing.

How good is that little breakdown that Eddie fills with volume swells? It then morphs to an outro riff that all of the NuMetal bands used over and over again in every god damn song, 20 years later.

“Unchained” is a classic melodic rock/metal tune that would inspire many bands in the mid to late Eighties. That flanged dropped D intro is “music store” heaven.

“Push Comes To Shove” is one of my favourites (musically) because it’s different and I dig that “I Shot The Sherriff” reggae/funk groove that is happening. Musically, the song has so many cool movements. The lead break alone is a song within a song movement.

The ideas from “So This Is Love?” would eventually morph into a certain song called “Hot For Teacher” a few years later.

And David Lee Roth does manage to write some lyrics that are pretty good.

“At night I walk this stinkin’ street past the crazies on my block
And I see the same old faces and I hear that same old talk
And I’m searching for the latest thing, a break in this routine
I’m talkin’ some new kicks, ones like you ain’t never seen” ….. From “Mean Street”

“Change, nothin’ stays the same
Unchained, and you hit the ground runnin’” ….. From “Unchained”

“And then one night in stunning victory
She decides and you agree, she’s leaving” ….. From “Push Comes To Shove”

Rush – Moving Pictures

Now Rush was a band that I got into during those years of 1994 and 2000. Again, this album came into my collection via the “second hand record store”. I credit Dream Theater and the countless interviews and song transcriptions in the Guitar Magazines where Rush and Alex Lifeson are mentioned as inspiration.

So “Tom Sawyer” kicks off the album and immediately I am hearing something familiar that I couldn’t link too. Eventually, I realised I was hearing the end of “Welcome Home” from Metallica. Then that keyboard lead break which kicks in at about 1.30 has appeared in many Dream Theater songs.

“Red Barchetta” has this riff from 2.30 to about 3.00 that I reheard again many years later in the outro to “Innocence Faded” from Dream Theater.

“YYZ” kicks off with what Geddy Lee once described as a “Morse Code Rhythm”. Again, there are a lot of bits here that I have heard other prog rock bands in the Nineties use as inspiration.

“Limelight” was the first song I sat down to learn thinking it would be easy. The hard part is the movements, the stops on the off-beat, the 5/4 timing in the intro, the arpeggios cleanly picked in the Chorus and so forth. And what about that emotive and moody lead break, with the busy underlying bass groove, which picks up the section from balladesque to rock in under a minute.

Then you have a song like “Witch Hunt” which I didn’t really rate, and then Machine Head covered it as part of the bonus tracks for the “Unto The Locust” album and suddenly I was digging it.

And to close the album, “Vital Signs” is the dark horse with its New Age, reggae feel.

And as usual Peart comes out with some great lyrics about thinking for yourself and dealing with fame.

“No, his mind is not for rent, to any god or government, Always hopeful, yet discontent, He knows changes aren’t permanent” ….. from “Tom Sawyer”

“Living in a fisheye lens, caught in the camera eye, I have no heart to lie,
I can’t pretend a stranger, Is a long-awaited friend” ….. from “Limelight”

“All the world’s indeed a stage, and we are merely players, performers and portrayers” ….. from “Limelight”

MSG – MSG

His influence on guitarist coming through the Eighties is huge. Kirk Hammet and Marty Friedman are two that come to mind immediately that have spoken highly of the German.

There is no denying his output with UFO is world-class and it was only natural that a person like Schenker would get the big money offer to go solo. In a years’ time he would also audition for the Ozzy Osbourne gig. But the Axeman had his eyes set on a solo career. The first albums I purchased from MSG were the “Perfect Timing” album and from that commercial sounding album, I went back and purchased the earlier stuff. All thanks to the second-hand record store.

There’s no mistake, no denying, we’re just one of a kind, there’s no conceit, seems like we’re all black sheep” ….. from “Are You Ready To Rock”

“Dreams just fade away, realities soars” ….. from “On And On”

“When voices of innocents cry out, Seeking the justice to come, Lies that’s all I ever get from you” ….. from “I Want More”

Foreigner – 4

In 1985, “I Want To Know What Love Is” was everywhere, but at the time I didn’t pay attention to it or the band. It wasn’t until “Say You Will” hit MTV that I started to pay attention to Foreigner. This was around 1988. So in a few years, by way of the second-hand record store, I would end up with Foreigner’s back catalogue.

Mutt Lange had really wanted to do 1978’s “Double Vision” however Mick Jones, didn’t believe he was ready at the time, nor was he considered for 1979’s “Head Games”. So Lange goes away and he proves himself to Foreigner. He takes on AC/DC and produces “Highway to Hell” in 1979 (their American breakthrough album) and “Back in Black” in 1980 (their first with Brian Johnson and their biggest album in regards to sales to date). He also produced “For Those About To Rock We Salute You” in 1981. So by now Mutt Lange is more than ready and the result is one of Foreigner’s biggest albums.

How’s that for committment?

So it was no surprise that Mutt Lange would go on to greater things.

“Night Life”, “I’m Gonna Win” and “Break It Up” are excellent rock songs and it’s easy to forget them under the noise of the “hit songs” like “Urgent”, “Jukebox Hero” and “Waiting For A Girl Like You”.

“And that one guitar made his whole life change” ….. from “Jukebox Hero”

Men At Work – Business As Usual

Who would have thought that almost 30 years after the song “Down Under” was released, a publishing company would become a part owner of the song. I called it “The Great Copyright Hijack” in the land down under.

For those who don’t know, the song “Down Under” has a flute riff in it that was inspired by a vocal melody of a 1940’s children song. The fact that the creator of the song is long gone, should mean that the song and its sheet music is out of copyright. However Copyright was hijacked by the Corporations in the Sixties and Seventies, so that is why we have this sad situation of Copyright lasting for the life of the owner, plus 70 years to 90 years after death. So in this case, a Publishing Company purchased the rights of the 1940’s Children song and eventually opened a court case for plagiarism.

“Buying bread from a man in Brussels, he was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”, he just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” ….. from “Down Under”

Australian Crawl – Sirocco
“Sirocco” was the Crawl’s first US and European release and it was coming off the success that “The Boys Light Up” album set in motion. The album recently has resurfaced back into the public conversation, as fans of Australian Crawl believe that “Sweet Child O Mine” from Guns N’ Roses ripped off “Unpublished Critics”.

“My finger on the pulse, and my hand around a beer” ….. from “Unpublished Critics”

“Too many people need a pseudonym” ….. from “Can I Be Sure”

Y&T – Earthshaker

Y&T is another band that came into my collection via the second-hand record shop.

In case people don’t know, Yesterday and Today became Y&T on 1981’s “Earthshaker”, their first album for A&M Records. Since forming in 1972, with Dave Meniketti joining in 1973, Y&T honed their craft on the stage and the “Earthshaker” album perfectly captures their live sound to a tee.

“Punchin in, I feel like punchin ’em out, It makes me scream, it makes me wanna get up and shout” ….. from “Hungry For Rock”

Ahh, the Monday morning after the weekend and the last place anyone wants to be is at work. A simple lyric that sums up the early Eighties. Hell, it’s still relevant now.

“I was down, I was barely makin’ it, She was gone and I couldn’t take it, I was lookin’ for a new way of thinkin’” ….. from “Rescue Me”

“Your phony friends, they all counsel you” ….. from “I Believe In You”

“It’s a song I wrote a long time ago. Well a long time before it got put on a record, which is kind of a drag in a way, because our original managers ripped us off for our publishing on the first two Yesterday and Today records. We haven’t received a penny publishing to this day from those two records. I wrote” I Believe in You” about the time they were managing us so when I put it on the Earthshaker record well after they were gone they still took my publishing and never gave me a cent for I Believe In You Anyway it was written a long time ago about a break up that I had with a long-time relationship I had with a girl so the song inspired itself more or less.”
Dave Meniketti

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A to Z of Making It, Music, My Stories

Branding

“Initially when we put the band together in ’89, like all bands, I guess, our intentions were to put it together to keep it together. Man, we’ve had such a revolving door… I think this is really the final version of the band that has the same elements that it initially was conceived to have in 1989; it just works, the chemistry works. I haven’t had that in a long, long, long time.”
George Lynch on a revolving door of members

“If people are still in the band it either means they wanted to stay or I wanted them around. If they’re not, it means they didn’t want to stay or I didn’t want them around. It doesn’t mean they’re not good players or that they’re not nice people. Sometimes things run their course — sometimes things are meant to be, and sometimes they’re not.”
Dave Mustaine on departing members

As much as we want our bands to tough it out and stay together, the reality is very different. On some occasions, a record deal and immediate success would make some tough it out, but it would also make people argue over money splits and what not.

So was Dokken really a band?

It’s been a debate I have been having with people for a while now.

Think about it for a second.

The “band” was made up of veterans from different scenes. When Dokken started to get mindshare in 1983 and 84, and mainstream success by 1985, the band members had been trying to “make it” for over a decade in separate bands. In the end, it took Don Dokken (who was tapped to replace Klaus Meine in the Scorpions once upon a time) to get a European recording contract by using songs that George Lynch and Mick Brown had written in Xciter. So the marriage of convenience was already seethed in resentment, which would lead to their break up in 1989 at the peak of their commercial powers.

“Of course, everything we (Lynch Mob) release is always compared to the benchmark “Wicked Sensation” – and that’s a pretty high mark. That record took probably at least a year or more to make, and about a half a million dollars or more.”
George Lynch

George Lynch via Lynch Mob went first with “Wicked Sensation”. Meanwhile, Don Dokken was holed up in a studio with a supergroup of musicians recording “Up From The Ashes”. But he had the backing of Geffen Records and the large advance.

But Lynch was marketable. He was in Guitar Magazines and normal music magazines. Oni and Mick were also in the mags.

Meanwhile, Don Dokken had a supergroup of musicians, however, the magazines didn’t want to interview them. John Norum is a fantastic guitarist, but in the U.S he was virtually an unknown. Most of the public at that time believed Kee Marcello played on “The Final Countdown”, much in the same way, the majority of the new Whitesnake fans had no idea who John Sykes was.

Don Dokken is a great singer, but he wasn’t a marketable singer in 1990. At the time, the magazines glorified, Sebastian Bach, Jani Lane and so forth. He couldn’t use the Dokken name for the new band, because Lynch and Co.. wouldn’t let him and even took him to court.

In the end, a combination of riffs and melodies would sell the “Wicked Sensation” album. The guitar magazines dissected the songs, devoting pages to the makeup of the riffs and the leads. These articles alone sold the album to the legion of guitarists. None of that PR happened with Don Dokken and his supergroup.

That’s not to say that the Don Dokken album is terrible. It is good, but it was no different to the thousands of other melodic rock releases that came out in 1990. In the end, the brand of the “band” Dokken, wasn’t tied to Don Dokken. It was more tied to George Lynch than anyone else. He was the one selling the brand Dokken because everyone wanted to interview him.

When it comes to Megadeth, did anyone know that ex-members of Megadeth formed a band called “Act Of Defiance” and released an album. As a fan of Megadeth, and based on the two songs I have heard so far, I am officially back on the band wagon. Chris Adler on drums is a machine. The songs are proggy which is so early Megadeth and exactly what a Megadeth song should be.

Did it matter that Mustaine had an ever revolving door of musicians?

Of course it doesn’t matter, because the brand of Megadeth is Mustaine.

And if you are an artist, the brand is where it’s at.

“So much of branding is repetition: Repeat, repeat, repeat. I understood why they (other Twisted Sister band mates) wanted to change it up, but they didn’t understand why I didn’t. My face became the face. I carry the legend of Twisted Sister. Nobody knows who the other guys are.”
Dee Snider

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

2015

“Progress is made by improving on what came before”.

Music is no different. If you want a career, if you want to make progress, you need to improve on what came before. The class of 2015 so far is doing just that.

NUMBER 0:
Protest The Hero – Pacific Myth Subscription Series

PTH is one band (of many) that are using different ways of connecting and engaging with their fan base.

I was one of those fans that contributed to their Indiegogo campaign for the “Volition” album, watched em live when they came to Oz, purchased merch and now I am one of those fans that is contributing to the “Pacific Myth” subscription series. The way PTH geared it up is they have two packages for a one of fee of $12 and $25. On both packages, the subscriber would receive a monthly song (for a period of 6 months) to stream, or download. In addition, you will also receive the instrumental version, along with artwork, lyrics, music scores and notes. The $25 package also includes a six part doc series.

As vocalist Rody mentioned in the video launching the series, “think of it as an EP spread over six months”.

“We have done the full-length album and ensuing record cycle four times now. While they all had their benefits, they all dragged on. Most record cycles are at least 2 years. That’s two years of promoting 40-or-so minutes of music. Music that you may have written two years before that! We have never been able to release what we want to release NOW. So that’s exactly what this is. These are songs we love now, songs we are proud of now, and songs which are inherently more candid than our other material. Don’t get us wrong, this is very much the pth you either know and love or know and hate. If you like what we do, we are pretty sure you are going to dig this crap. I guess we’ll let these little lullabies speak for themselves…”

This again is another innovative way for the band to connect directly with the fans. It’s a brave new world out there for monetizing your fan base. You can scream and complain about royalty payments or you can innovate, adapt and connect with your audience like PTH, for it is your audience that sustains you, keeps you employed.

Now, if you like a hard rock song or a metal song that sticks to formula, then you will probably not like Protest The Hero. If you are into progressive and technical music with different moods, that could have melodic vocals and harsh vocals (especially in the earlier days) with intelligent lyrics, then PTH is a band you would like.

“Begging the questions “why?””, why do we work until we die” ….. from “Tidal”
“A drop into the sea whose ripple turns to a tidal wave and sweeps the shores it once forgave” ….. from “Tidal”
“The sun, the moon, the Earth, conversed and agreed, the people of the world must pay for its atrophy” ….. from “Tidal”

Here is the link for “Tidal”.
Here is the link for “Ragged Tooth”.

NUMBER 1:
The Night Flight Orchestra – Skyline Whispers
This is the best album for 2015 by far.

For the ones that don’t know, TNFO is a very classic AOR rock sounding side-project. From “Soilwork”, Björn “Speed” Strid and David Andersson are on vocals and guitar. From “Arch Enemy”, Sharlee D’Angelo is on bass. From Swedish rock group “Von Benzo” comes Richard Larsson on keyboards. From Swedish metal band “Meanstreak and Swedish rock group “Orchid” comes Jonas Källsbäck on drums. Rounding out the band for the second album is Sebastian Forslund from “Kadawatha” on congas, percussion and guitar.

So way back in 2012, TNFO released an incredible album called “Internal Affairs”. It was a throwback to the Classic Rock era of the Seventies and a joy to listen to from start to finish. Fast forward to 2015, and we have the second album, “Skyline Whispers”. Like the debut album, it is a trip down memory lane. However in this case, instead of being a throwback to the sounds of the Seventies, it is a throwback to the sound those Seventies bands did towards the end of the Seventies and into the Eighties.

Check out “Sail On”, “Living for the Night-time”, “I Ain’t Old, I Ain’t Young”, “Spanish Ghosts” and “The Heather Reports” for essential listening.

“I have crossed too many oceans
I was born a rambling man
And I’ve caused a lot of heartaches
But I never gave a damn

Now the road that lies before me
Gives no answers to my prayers
But I still have hopes that surely
Things will add up in the end

Sail on, sail on”

NUMBER 2:
Whitesnake – The Purple Album

To be honest, Whitesnake has had a tough run. When the band and Coverdale got that huge success in the U.S (thanks to MTV) between 1987 and 1989, no one really had a clue about Coverdale’s origin story.

The majority of the 7 million people in the U.S that purchased the 1987 album were clueless that Coverdale had released over 10 albums prior to that and that he was even in Deep Purple. And who would have thought that “Here I Go Again”, “Still Of The Night” and “Is This Love” would take that much mindshare and become a soundtrack to people’s lives.

Which brings me to “The Purple Album”.

I have read a lot of comments on social media that either hate “The Purple Album” or love it. There is no in-between. I’m confused as to why it is causing such a great divide. “The Purple Album” is the perfect bridge to bring Coverdale’s Deep Purple legacy into his Whitesnake legacy.

Who better to do remakes of those great songs than Coverdale himself?

With the help of John Kalodner at Geffen Records, Coverdale proved himself a master at doing remakes. Remember “Crying In The Rain” and “Here I Go Again”.

People also forget that Jimi Hendrix’s biggest songs were remakes of songs already released. Think “Hey Joe” and “All Along The Watchtower”. Hell, Def Leppard did their own remakes of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and “Rock Of Ages”, due to a record label “licensing vs sales monies to be paid dispute”. Anyway, whatever peoples’ views on remakes/forgeries are, “The Purple Album” is a classic modern sounding album with no filler, that a new generation of fans would gravitate to.

“The Purple Album” project was birthed by tragedy. After the death of Jon Lord, Coverdale reached out to Ritchie Blackmore to discuss a possible get together and to thank Blackmore for giving an unknown an opportunity to be the lead singer in Deep Purple. When that new collaboration didn’t eventuate, the project would go on to become a new Whitesnake project. With the backing of Frontiers Records, who just love to wrap up new sound recordings of songs written in the Seventies and Eighties for another 100 years of copyright, the project was a go.

“People are sayin’ the woman is damned, She makes you burn with a wave of her hand” ….. from “Burn”

“Ride the rainbow, Crack the sky, Stormbringer coming, Time to die” ….. from “Stormbringer”

“Many times I’ve been a traveller, I looked for something new” ….. from “Soldier Of Fortune”

“My mama showed me how to rock in the cradle, but I learned how to roll along,
My papa said “son, gotta git some fun, Cos when your old it ain’t too good on your own” ….. from “Coming Home”

NUMBER 3:
Iron Maiden – The Book Of Souls
What can I say, it’s the mighty Maiden. Hell, the football Summer Comp team my boys are in is called Iron Maiden. Plus I purchased 5 tickets to their concert next year, so that I can take my whole family to watch them. Enough said.

It’s been five years from the “The Final Frontier” album. During that period, Maiden has hit the road in support of “The Final Frontier” and they hit the road to celebrate a milestone from the past. Add to that, live DVD releases, the writing and recording process of the new album, Bruce Dickinson’s cancer diagnosis, and the result is “The Book Of Souls”.

First, the album doesn’t sound like a professional mega band recording. It is raw and with mistakes.

Second, I do wish that on some of the songs some editing was employed. And that is a difficult thing for me to say as a lot of my favourite songs clock in at over 10 minutes. However, the Maiden concerts are known for fans chanting and singing along with the riffs and the chants, and “The Book Of Souls” is full of songs that have those chants.

It’s funny, but Iron Maiden is one of those bands that has a fan base that loves them. That is evident by the ticket sales and merch sales they rack up in each city they hit. They could make a career of revisiting their legacy on each tour, like the “Caught Somewhere Back In Time” tour. But Maiden doesn’t want to be a nostalgic act.

The album is number three on my list because each song has an idea that is like a lightning strike, a moment that makes me tap my foot, nod my head and take notice. And it could have been a perfect 60 minute album, instead of a 93 minute album.

“The red and the black
People don’t want the truth
Look in their eyes and you send them away” ….. from “The Red And The Black”

“If you should sell your soul as cheaply as I did then
The road to ruin is a long road to hide in
We signed our lives away to have an escape
It’s something that will be whatever our fate” ….. from “When The River Runs Deep”

“We must go now, we must take our chance with fate” ….. from “Empire Of The Clouds”

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