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

The Record Vault – The Cult

It’s going to be a long road to go through the record collection. All the A’s and B’s are done. This involves, Vinyl LP’s, 12 inch singles, 7 inch singles, CD singles, CD LP’s, Cassettes, Tour Booklets and DVD’s of the artists.

Now we are up to C.

First up is “The Cult”.

This band was heavily played in Australia. I had their video clips recorded on various VHS cassette tapes plus live in studio appearances which they did for the various music channels.

But I only have a few physical products from The Cult.

Wildflower (12 inch single)
From the “Electric” album, released in 1987.

As soon as I heard the AC/DC like riff and groove I was in.

And the vocal melody of Ian Astbury sealed the deal.

Love Removal Machine (12 inch single)

Also from the “Electric” album.

How can you not like it?

It starts off like “Start Me Up” from The Rolling Stones and even the Stones song is a nod to “All Right Now” and that song is a nod to the whole British Blues Explosion from the 60’s that merged blues and folk.

And how good are the covers?

Sonic Temple

This is the album that made me commit.

The singles I heard continued in the hard rock direction set up with the earlier “Electric” album.

And producing is Bob Rock.

He wasn’t the famous producer he would become after “Dr Feelgood” hit the streets, as that album was still a few months away from being released (“Sonic Temple” came out in April 1989, and “Dr Feelgood” came out in September 1989), but he was still known to me from the credits of the “Slippery When Wet” album and the Loverboy albums.

There isn’t a song I don’t like.

“Sun King” could have come from any 70’s Rock album. It’s drenched in that psychedelic vibe.

“Fire Woman” rolls through like a fire storm. It’s hard rock but nothing like the LA hard rock otherwise known as Hair Metal.

“American Horse” has this “Mississippi Queen” feel in the verses which gets me interested and that melodic riff in the Chorus/Intro gets me playing air guitar.

How good is that sleazy groove in the outro?

The acoustic intro to “Edie” is simple, but effective.

“Sweet Soul Sister” was close to being my favourite because of that Intro riff.

But the piece d-resistance is “Soul Asylum” with that Kashmir drum feel and staccato guitar riff. And I would have been happy if the album ended here.

Then the riff started for “New York City” and my foot was tapping again as Astbury delivers a vocal line that’s Aerosmith worthy while “Automatic Blues” has Astbury and Duffy channelling Led Zeppelin. “Wake Up Time For Freedom” channels Alice Cooper and “I’m Eighteen” in the verses.

“Medicine Train” closes the album, the slide guitar acoustic and harmonica in the intro is a diversion for the rawk and roll coming on the horizon.

Pure Cult

Astbury and Duffy thought no one would be interested in this collection of tracks, but a lot of us where, because although we liked the bands singles and taped the music videos, we didn’t really want to fork out on all the earlier albums that most reviewers said, “had a lot of filler”.

So when this collection dropped, it was the perfect compendium.

And they could tour with Aerosmith, Metallica and Soundgarden. Their music was smart enough and timeless to transcend genres in people’s minds. You can like Slayer and still like The Cult. Because Astbury didn’t come across as a cock rocker. Vocalists like Astbury and Glenn Danzig built their careers on that whole Morrison vocal vibe and it never dated.

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

2000 – Part 4

A Perfect Circle – Mer De Noms

This album became a favourite of mine. It was metal, but different. It was hard rock, but different. It was progressive rock, but with shorter songs and based on moods and grooves. It was atmospheric rock, but different. It was like soundtrack music but it wasn’t.

This project is the brainchild of guitarist Billy Howerdel, who did his time as a guitar techie for countless musicians and tours. On down time, he wrote songs on his computer, which Tool vocalist Maynard heard and wanted to write lyrics to. And APC was born.

It was a 5 skulls out of 5 skulls review in the Hot Metal mag I used to buy, which at this time became known as “HM” as the term “Metal” was uncool to use.

“Judith” has a groove riff which gets the head banging. And that pre – chorus;

Fuck your God
Your Lord and your Christ
He did this
Took all you had and
Left you this way
Still you pray, you never stray
Never taste of the fruit
You never thought to question why

“Orestes” is my favourite track on the album.

The vocal melody from Maynard is like a lead guitar and the drumming in the song, especially in the outro by Josh Freese is a testament in its own right. And when the lead from Billy Howerdel comes in, it’s like a vocal melody as well.

Gotta cut away, clear away
Snip away and sever this
Umbilical residue

“Renholder” has a “Diary Of A Madman” like intro which hooks me. Actually, the band used to merge “Diary Of A Madman” with “Love Song” from The Cure in live settings.

“Brena” which when sang is “Brenya” is another one of those atmospheric songs in the verses with a crashing chorus and a vocal line that sounds like a lead instrument. And again, those outros make you want to press repeat.

Godsmack – Awake

Their brand of Groove Metal, a band name from an Alice In Chains song and Sully Erna’s voice (being different to what I was used to) is what interested me.

While I gravitated to it, a lot of people didn’t. I remember reading reviews that said the band “puts out average boring metal” and I’m like, what the hell does that mean.

And this album is the in between sophomore slump. You know the one. The first album, it has your whole life’s worth of song writing ready for consideration, but on the second album, you only have a few months to come up with tunes. And artists write consistently, but sometimes, they need to go back and revisit tracks. Time makes them great.

Stand out tracks on this one are “Awake”, the closer “Journey/Spiral”, “Trippin” and “Greed”.

The next album, “Faceless” is the album that really put Godsmack on the map.

Papa Roach – Infest

“CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT!”.

The lyrics are from “The Last Resort”, which has a Bruce Dickinson/Gers riff from “Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter” hooked me in to this band.

Other worthy tracks are “Broken Home” and “Between Angels And Insects”.

And it doesn’t matter which way you look at it, Papa Roach might have broken during the Nu-Metal phase but they are a hard rock band with some serious mileage on the board.

Twenty years’ worth of mileage.

Lifehouse – No Name Face

All of my hard rock friends ignored Lifehouse because they got labelled “post-grunge”. And I was like, what the hell does that mean.

They are just a rock band.

Anyway, Lifehouse just seems to hang around in my life. Maybe it is because my wife played the “No Name Face” album to death at home and in the car when it came out in 2000.

While “Hanging By A Moment” had the traction, it was album cuts like “Cling and Clatter”, “Quasimodo” and “Everything” that hooked me in. And if you do listen to any track, make sure its “Everything”. That last 90 seconds feels like a spiritual awakening, a perfect end for the melancholic beginning.

“No Name Face” is the winning season, the championship, for everything that came after.

Three Doors Down – A Better Life

“Kryptonite”, “Be Like That” and “Loser” got a lot of air play, but this album has some good album cuts, a bit heavier, like “Duck And Run” and “Better Life”. Especially, the lyrics in “Duck And Run”.

To this world I’m unimportant
Just because I have nothing to give
So you call this your free country
Tell me why it cost so much to live

There was always winners and losers but it was never amplified the way it is today, with social media. The endless “death scroll”, as people see the happiness that other people are supposably having. Covid-19 has changed it up a bit, as a lot of people would normally put up holiday shots at scenic places, but these are on hold for the next couple of years.

And I live in a free country as well, but man, I am budgeting my way through life, because to live is expensive. And that’s just to keep a roof over our heads.

All my work and endless measures
Never seem to get me very far
Walk a mile just to move an inch
Now even though I’m trying so damn hard

Ever tried to lose weight. You bust your ass dieting and working out, only to drop a few grams each week, but within a week of stopping, you have put on a kilo.

And when I’m putting plans in place to try and create a better life, there are times, when it feels like I’m operating with an unseen life anchor, which likes to keep me in the same place. It’s at this moment, I ask myself, do I give up or do I change tact or do I re-evaluate and re-calibrate.

And I won’t duck and run, cause
I’m not built that way

As John Cougar Mellencamp said, you need to stand for something or you would fall for everything. Stand for what you believe in and say your truth. People might disagree or people might agree or people might offer different advice. That’s all part of life.

Powderfinger – Odyssey Number 5

They played a brand of rock that music writers said “moved between Post Rock, Hard Rock, Folk Rock and Pop Rock”. And Australian audiences loved em. To me, they are simply a hard rock band.

Bernard Fanning is one hell of a vocalist, who had this voice that could rock as hard as Scott/Johnson from AC/DC, be all Robert Plant like when it needed to be and yet, he could produce the baritone vocals of Eddie Vedder, all tied in with his own unique tones.

“Waiting for the Sun” opens the album with a jangly minor chord and it’s all systems go.

“My Happiness” was the big single.

My happiness is slowly creeping back,
Now you’re at home.
If it ever starts sinking in
It must be when you pack up and go

Whatever your job might be, the worst is when you have to say goodbye to loved ones for a period of time. Going on a tour, going interstate or overseas or being deployed with the military.

“The Metre” starts off with just an acoustic guitar, a vocal and some strings. It was rejected as sounding too similar to their other stuff, but yeah, this is Powderfinger, so you would expect them to have songs similar in style. AC/DC built a 50 year career on it.

And I like the Beatles like chorus melody with the lyrics “Welcome to the saving grace / There’s a sunset on the road / reappearing as we go”.

Time moves forward, and we need to move forward with it.

Sunsets and Sunrises are part of life.

What we do with each one is up to us?

“Like a Dog” has a dig at the Australian Government of the time and their treatment of Indigenous Australians, with an AC/DC like Chorus and a sleazy bluesy single note riff to underpin it.

“Now we’re trying hard to reconcile a history of shame/ But he reinforced the barriers that keep it the same.”

“Up and Down and Back Again” is one of my favourite tracks.

If everybody knows just who you are
When your walk on role becomes a major part
Have you ever attempted to be yourself?
When everybody wants you to be someone else?

You see it a lot when it comes to art, especially art that starts to make money. Because once art starts making money, people who create nothing want a cut, so they enforce their expectation onto the artist. It even happens in the workplace, when it’s hard to be yourself or to express your views.

“My Kind Of Scene” has a rolling single note guitar line, a subdued drum beat, with a haunting vocal line from Fanning.

Tell me where I’m supposed to begin
an unhappy life working, some kind of dead end job

Is this the scene you want?

And Covid-19 has shown the world, that nothing is stable. So people are queuing up for unemployment benefits, while Governments foot the bill.

Which they should?

“These Days” has one of the most simplest and effective vocal intros ever.

This life, well, it’s slipping right through my hands
These days turned out nothing like I had planned

So it’s time to re-evaluate and re-calibrate. The destination is never a straight line from here to there. It’s got its bumps and roundabouts and back to starts.

See ya at 1985 for Part 4.

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Music, My Stories, Stupidity

The Trolley Dilemma

This whole mask argument reminds me of the trolley dilemma.

There is a runaway train, coming down the tracks towards five workers who cannot hear it coming and if they do spot it, it will be too late to save themselves. But as disaster is coming close, you realise that you can choose to divert the train from the main track by pulling the lever. You will save five people on the track, but you will also kill the lone worker on the other track.

Killing one to save five.

An alternative variation, is that two people are standing on a bridge above the train tracks. And you see the large man standing next to you. You are thinking that his size would be able to stop the runaway train. So would you push him off the bridge, killing one to save the five further down the track.

In the alternate version you are actually responsible for the death by pushing the person and in the original dilemma, you are responsible for diverting the train towards that person.

So Dee Snider is asking one of his detractors, a person called “HairMetalGuru”, who has an issue wearing a mask because it encroaches on his freedom, which the dude doesn’t really know, is already restricted.

The Government has laws to spy on you and gather data on you. The banks are allowed to get a credit history on you, and decide to give you credit. And if you don’t repay it, well, they have the right to close in on you and bankrupt you or foreclose on you.

Then there laws that further restrict your freedom from the utility companies, which they use to suspend your services if you don’t pay on time. Plus all of the laws around how fast you can drive, how much you can drink before you can drive, how old you can be to actually drink and how old you can be to actually drive. I guess living in a free country means giving up freedoms to be secure.

Anyway this is Dee’s post;

On the outside chance that by you wearing a mask might prevent another human being from getting sick or dying, you can’t find it in your heart to compromise your freedom and put one on. Personally I can’t deal with that thought. Just askin’.

To me it feels like the trolley dilemma. Wear a mask so you don’t infect people but you might infect yourself if you don’t handle it properly.

What’s your view?

And the same arguments on masks are held everywhere. It’s like a worldwide echo chamber.

The main one against wearing masks which gets traction is that you can get sick by bringing the virus home with you on the mask if you don’t dispose of it.

So that means single use masks should be used.

But most of the masks that people are wearing are reusable masks, which means, people are wearing them, then putting them in their pocket or their bag and then wearing them again and then putting them in their pocket or their bag and then washing them.

The arguments of people that they will not wear a mask because it restricts their freedom is BS. In order to be secure, we all give up freedoms.

If you don’t believe me, don’t go home tonight to your fixed address. Use your imaginative freedom, to go and make your bed where you want tonight. A U.S citizen did that in a parking lot of a fast food joint and got shot by police because of it.

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Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

When Does Good Art Stop Being Good Art?

Dee Snider asked this question on his Twitter page.

Should an artists personality or world views change your perception of his or her art?

Art is usually created by very imperfect human beings. It’s their issues that motivate them. Case in point, Bill Cosby put out some of the funniest comedy records of all time. Are they no longer funny because of his criminal acts? Funny is funny.

The question I believe was in relation to Dee’s views on Trump.

A lot of large artists are keeping quiet on this front so they don’t alienate their fan base. Their corporation is too big so they don’t risk putting their view points out there in case the dollars get less. Artists like Jovi and Metallica come to mind. Even Dave Mustaine is quiet on this front.

Which is bizarre for me as I grew up on the anti-corrupt-Government lyrics written by Megadeth and Metallica. But as they say, the pains that bother you when you have nothing to lose don’t exist when you have something to lose.

Meanwhile artists like Dee Snider, Nikki Sixx and Robb Flynn are not keeping quiet. And there supporters who also support Trump are not happy with them for expressing their views.

And when people questioned Snider and told him to keep his mouth shut, Dee fired back with;

And you support that Russian/North Korean ass kissing commie draft dodger rich boy in the White House?

And discussion centered around Ted Nugent, Michael Jackson, the Trapt lead singer, Eddie Murphy, Gary Glitter and everyone else where a person did something wrong,

And this was Dee’s answer to his original question;

FOR THE RECORD…I don’t have the answer. It’s one that plagues me. I myself have turned on art I’ve loved because I discovered something I found distasteful about the artist. But why does that make the song/painting/book/movie less great?

I will turn on the art of an artist if they did something repulsive. Then again I was never a Cosby fan nor a Lost Prophets fan nor a Gary Glitter fan.

I would never turn on an artist because for their political views.

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

Friday Rambles

Another Dokken track was released today from the album is known as “The Lost Tapes” which is more or less modern day re-recordings of these songs, instead of the original tracks re-mixed and mastered.

So far it’s a zero from two strike rate.

And of course, Don Dokken’s ex band mate, is also Re-Imagining his early works, in this case, George Lynch is redoing “Wicked Sensation”. Its him and Oni Logan, with the help of Robbie Crane on bass and Brian Tichy on drums.

“The term ‘re-record’ makes me cringe, this is not that. We re-invented the wheel on this record. It’s really a different animal than the original! Fans won’t be disappointed!”
George Lynch

Interesting to hear what reinvention he’s talking about. I remember a Lynch Mob album called “Revolution” in which Lynch reinvented some Dokken songs with different grooves. It’s not something which I have played a lot since I purchased it.

Since I have every single thing Lynch has released on my shelf, I would probably buy this, but I will wait to hear it on Spotify.

You see, when a different artist does a song from another artist, it’s known as a cover, but for some reason, when the same artist re-does their earlier stuff, it was always seen as a forgery.

The only time a forgery was done to an excellent standard was with the 1987 self-titled Whitesnake album. John Kalodner cracked that whip and David Coverdale along with Sykes on “Crying In The Rain” and Sykes/Vandenberg on “Here I Go Again” or Dan Tuff on the radio friendly version delivered in gold. Because two years later, the Steve Vai version of “Fool For Your Loving” didn’t cut it.

Then again, every artist from the 80’s who has a deal with Frontiers is encouraged to re-record their successful 80’s music for the label.

Even Def Leppard did it them selves while they had that ongoing dispute with their label over what they should pay the band to have their music on digital services.

And in relation to payments and digital services, Don Henley wants the U.S Government to pass laws so that anyone who plays his music, pays money for the use of his songs.

Regardless.

He mentioned how his label, Universal has over 60 people patrolling the internet to take down unauthorised uses of his songs. On occasions these automated takedowns, take down legitimate uses as well.

And I’m thinking, their wages are paid by the monies the label receives from exploiting record music. Shouldn’t those monies be paid to the artists who create the music.

Then there is the other side of the debate, people who actually use music from artists to promote the artists music on YouTube.

What is fair use, and when should their popular YouTube video earnings be handed over to the label?

A site I follow, made mention of another site called totalfollowers.com, which I checked out. Since I was writing about Dokken, Lynch Mob And Def Leppard, I thought I should check out their reach.

I typed in Lynch Mob and there are 240,313 followers.

I typed in Dokken and there are 552,280 followers.

I typed in Def Leppard and there are 11,571,109 followers.

I guess that’s the difference between having diamond certifications to platinum certifications to no certification.

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A to Z of Making It, Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

11th May 1992 Australian Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Charts Snapshot

I posted last week about the albums that made up the Top 20 in Australia back in 1992.

Here is the Singles List.

Number 1
Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chilli Peppers

The Hendrix “Little Wing” inspired intro from Frusciante converted a lot of rock heads to the RHCP. Their album was on top and their single was on top.

Number 2
To Be With You – Mr Big

Their worst song by far, but it cashed in on the Unplugged acoustic craze. It worked for Extreme and it worked for Mr Big. But those ballad fans who cross over for the song are fly by nighters.

Number 3
Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

The variety on the self-titled “Black” album is a big reason why it sold. There was enough there to please metal heads, rock heads, thrash heads, country heads and pop heads. And this song is a perfect example of it. Plus it has a killer James Hetfield lead break.

Number 4
Alive – Pearl Jam

I get why it was popular, but I didn’t like it when it came out and after I purchased the album, I preferred a lot of the other tracks to this.

Number 5
Let’s Get Rocked – Def Leppard

So you wanna get rocked…. I guess we still wanted to get rocked.

Number 6
Thought I’d Died And Gone To Heaven – Bryan Adams

This is from the “Waking Up The Neighbours” album that went to number 1 everywhere.

Adams has a lot of fans down under, so it’s no surprise his songs chart well. And what a run he had between 1983 and 1999. And he made some big choices, like moving from Jim Vallance to Mutt Lange and the momentum just kept getting bigger.

Number 7
November Rain – Guns N Roses

You get three emotive Slash solos.

What more could you want?

Number 8
Viva Las Vegas – ZZ Top

It’s a cover song, but at this point in time there was nothing that ZZ Top could do wrong. This is one of the two new tracks, the other being “Gun Love”. Like Adams, they were on a winning plus decade.

Number 9
Dream Alone – Killing Time

An Australian hard rock band, which had a band name, the same as the U.S hardcore band and after this single release they would change it to Mantissa.

They supported bands like Janes Addiction, Baby Animals and Pantera on National tours but they had a constant turnover of musicians which felt like a momentum killer.

Number 10
Sister’s Crazy – Candy Harlots

This band story is a combination of Anvil and Motley Crue.

They had a deal offered in 1987 but their manager refused to sign it, because he wanted a bigger cut and then signed the band to a four year management deal, which suppressed the band from signing the record deal themselves. No other label wanted to get involved in this legal mess. They finally did sign a deal in 1991.

They had a massive Club following like Motley Crue. There was tragedy when one of their main songwriters Ron Barrett died before they even got their deal. In the 90’s, Barrett’s death was reported as a drug overdose, while these days, its reported as an asthma attack. And the evolving door of musicians just kept on happening, with drummer Tony Cardinal being the only founding musician in the band when they got their deal.

And as soon as they released their “Five Wicked Ways” album in 1992, within a year it was over.

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

Derivative Versions

In the Cult’s song “Peace Dog”, do the verse riffs bear a striking resemblance to “All Right Now” from Free and does the middle part bear a striking resemblance to a part in “Stairway to Heaven”?

Maybe too much red wine.

How would Yoda say it?

The red wine clouds everything.

Anyway, all of em are great songs. Enjoy em.

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

The Pirate Vault #10

The Angels – Live Line

There was a period in Australian music when “The Angels” ruled. Their brand of punk rock, merged with New Wave and hard rock, connected with all kinds of audiences.

I never owned any of their music, just the video clips which I taped from the music TV stations and a few taped cassettes. I taped this cassette from one of my brothers friends who was a DJ for parties and most of the parties back then played hard rock songs.

Coming in 1987, its sandwiched between my two favourite albums, 1986’s “Howling” and 1990’s “Beyond Salvation”.

In Australia, it charted high and The Angels did a massive tour to support the live album with a three hour, An Evening With concept.

Alice Cooper – Raise Your Fist And Yell
King Diamond – Fatal Portrait

“Freedom” and “Time To Kill” are two songs which stood out for me. They had that blend of Alice Cooper 70’s Anthems and 80’s MTV Hard Rock. And what a band Alice Cooper had, with future Winger bandmates Winger and Paul Taylor on bass and keys, future House Of Lords drummer Ken Mary, and Kane Roberts on guitar.

For King Diamond, I was on an Andy LaRocque phase. This is the debut solo album for King Diamond and it has Michael Denner from Mercyful Fate as well on guitars.

Blank Title Mix Tape

This tape was done to get me out of a musical rut. My line of thinking went something like this;

  • Put all these different style of songs on a tape.
  • Listen to it and my song writing will change.

So there is some variation in the song but it’s all still rock and metal.

Side A

Boston – Amanda

This song took me by surprise and made me realise, what a good song it is.

Judas Priest – Blood Red Skies

From the “Ram It Down’ album, it’s my favourite cut.

That acoustic intro, it brings back memories of Scorpions, Accept and Crimson Glory. Halford vocally and melodically is brilliant.

Then at 1.44 it goes into this “Turbo” feel. Which is not surprising as the song was meant to be part of the Turbo double album that the label stopped.

Heart – All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

I had a Mutt Lange phase.

I couldn’t believe the amount of hits this dude was writing or involved in, so I was trying to listen to em as much of em as possible.

He wrote this song in the 70’s as a normal love song for Don Henley and it was recorded by a different artist called Dobie Gray. He then updated the lyrics about “an affair to conceive a baby” in the 90’s and this is Heart’s version, released in 1994.

Heart have abandoned the song, refusing to play it live as vocalist Ann Wilson hated the message in the song, but the band were under pressure by the label to do it.

Asia – Only Time Will Tell

From their 1982 debut album, written by John Wetton and Geoff Downes.

MSG – I’m Gonna Make You Mine

From “Built To Destroy”, released in 1983, written by Andy Nye, Michael Schenker, Gary Barden and Ted McKenna.

Tygers Of Pang Tang – Mirror

This is a John Sykes cut from “Spellbound” released in 1981. It closes side 1 and it’s one of those cuts that makes you press repeat.

Europe – Ninja

Released in 1986, it closes Side 1.

The same side which has “The Final Countdown”, “Rock The Night” and “Carrie”.

The lead guitar melody in the intro and in the Chorus is what hooks me.

Keel – The Right To Rock

Released in 1985 and produced by Gene Simmons.

Ron Keel did everything at ten, but it’s the AC/DC like riff in the intro that gets me to pay attention. And then I heard the first two lines of the 1st verse, “all my life I’ve been fighting for the right to make my stand”.

And I was in.

MSG – Desert Song

One of my favourite Schenker songs, with the carbon copy riff from “Love To Love”.

Keel – United Nations

Released in 1987 and produced by Michael Wagener. Ron keel did everything at ten take 2 but it’s that harmony guitar intro which hooked me in again.

And the label they were on, just didn’t know how to market the band and this album would be the last to feature both Marc Ferrari and Bryan Jay on guitars.

Side B

WASP – The Real Me

It’s a cover from The Who and WASP do an excellent job, capturing the craziness of Moon on the drums and Entwistle on the bass.

Scorpions – Don’t Stop At The Top

From 1988 and their “Savage Amusement” album.

A great intro and a brilliant first verse.

“You never take the easy way, the wind is blowing straight into your face” is covering the resilience self-help industry.

“There’s no risk that you’re not taking, not a mountain that’s too high, spread your wings, you’re gonna make it to the best time of your life” covers the perseverance self-help industry.

Why buy a 300 page book from an Harvard grad, when the Scorpions have it all for you.

And the lead breaks from Rarebell are the breaks of guitar heroes.

Black Sabbath – Children Of The Sea

From 1980 and the excellent “Heaven And Hell” album.

The many different movements from the acoustic intro to the doomy guitar riff about humanity being the lost children of the sea.

Whitesnake – Blindman

It appeared on a Whitesnake album called “Ready An’ Willing” in 1980, but it was released on David Coverdale’s solo album, called ”The White Snake” in 1977.

One of my favourite Whitesnake songs, done as a power ballad but the way power ballads were done in the 70’s.

Heart – Who Will You Run To

From “Bad Animals” released in 1985 and written by Diane Warren. It was overshadowed by the power ballad “Alone”,

Lita Ford – Falling In And Out Of Love

Released in 1988 on the “Lita” album and co-written with Nikki Sixx. The music, the vocal melodies and the guitar leads are all perfect.

And I was all in.

MSG – Follow The Night

This was the last throw of the dice for the label.

The album “Perfect Timing” was released in 1987. The production was a typical 80’s glam/hair metal production, instead of his normal UFO/British production from the previous albums. The Choruses were all big AOR attempts so the songs could chart.

But I am a Schenker fan because of his guitar playing and when he has a song that makes me pick up the guitar to learn it, I am in.

RUSH – Afterimage

From “Grace Under Pressure” released in 1984. Apart from the music capturing me, the lyrics from Peart about the death of a friend sealed the deal.

Sanctuary- Future Tense

From 1990.

A monster of a song.

It starts off doomy like Black Sabbath, before it builds into a metal tune.

And the lyrics. Check em out.

What do you see on the news when you watch T.V.
War in the name of God, or a playground killing spree

Has anything changed since 1990.

Politicians promise you the world, and a preacher cries
All he ever wanted was your money, and a bitch on the side
What went wrong? Did society twist him?

There is a saying that society does twist everyone as no one is born to hate, steal and lie. Those seeds are implanted. It’s like the saying, everyone is born to win and raised to lose.

What do you see in the centre of the public eye
Rock stars on smack, and a serial killer fries

The media reports what will get eyeballs. Feel-good stories don’t get eyeballs like the train wrecked lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Radicals blame suicide and murder on our form of art
Brainwash the youth, you know they claim we all play a part
What a shame that they can’t think for themselves

Remember that 80’s Satanic Panic and all the court cases that came out of it. Judas Priest and Ozzy got taken to court because of it.

And the band was pressured to change their musical style from metal to grunge by the label. But bassist Jim Sheppard and vocalist Warrel Dane did not agree and they would go on to form Nevermore, which they kept running for 17 years plus before they returned to Sanctuary.

And they released the excellent “The Year The Sun Died” in 2014.

And then Warrel Dane died from a heart attack in 2017, while he was recording a follow up to his first solo album, “Praises To The War Machine” which was released in 2008. This album “Shadow Work” came out in 2018 but it wasn’t done properly, as it was completed using vocals from various studio and pre-production sessions.

Keel – The Final Frontier

Released in 1986 and produced by Gene Simmons. Remember Ron Keel operates at an intensity of 10.

Magellan – Test For Wills
Angra – Fireworks

My cousin who was into Death Metal, was also in Thrash Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Rock/Metal.

Basically he was into everything distorted and he had the dollars to purchase.

So he was my filter.

He recommended these two albums to me, but I don’t recall anything from em.

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

11th May 1992 Australian Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Charts Snapshot

Number 1
BloodSugerSexMagik
RHCP

I’m not an overall fan of RHCP albums but I am a fan of some of their songs and their resilience to keep at it, and to create a whole soundtrack of music for people.

On this album, the groove riff in “Suck My Kiss” and the Hendrix inspired intro in “Under The Bridge” got my attention.

Number 2
Adrenalize
Def Leppard

While it wasn’t as strong as the previous two albums, they still had enough goodwill with their fans.

Number 3
Ten
Pearl Jam

A slow burner, this album would be around for a few more years, on the backs of album cuts like “Black”.

Number 4
Vulgar Display Of Power
Pantera

I heard this album and totally avoided it for a very long time. I couldn’t believe that after “Cowboys For Hell”, the vocals turned into hard core screaming. But I gave it a shot, circa 2005, and although I hate Anselmo’s vocal delivery, Dimebag delivers musically.

Number 5
The End Complete
Obituary

My cousin is a Death Metal fan. I liked the cover, heard it and forgot it.

Number 6
Nevermind
Nirvana

Like it or not, there is some good riffage on this album. The psychedelic “Come As You Are” still gets me.

Number 7
Wasted In America
Love/Hate

I still haven’t heard it.

Number 8
The End Of Silence
Rollins Band

I still haven’t heard it.

Number 9
Badmotorfinger
Soundgarden

This was my first introduction to Chris Cornell and his voice. And I liked it.

Number 10
Baby Animals
Baby Animals

One of my favourite hard rock records. Suze DeMarchi and crew deliver on this debut.

Number 11
Metallica
Metallica

This album is still charting. In 2020.

Number 12
Bleach
Nirvana

No one cared for this album, until “Nevermind”. Sort of like the old Whitesnake and Metallica catalogues after “1987” and “Black” album. We all went back to listen.

Number 13
Body Count
Body Count

Ice T stirred the pot with “Cop Killer” but it’s the 70’s Classic Rock influenced “The Winner Loses” which grabs me. If you haven’t heard, you should get to it. The whole 6 minutes.

Number 14
User Your Illusion II
Guns N Roses

There was always the debate, which album is better. The first one or the second one. Based on sales in Australia, the second one.

Number 15
Hysteria
Def Leppard

Five years later, this was still selling in the land of Oz.

Number 16
Fire and Ice
Yngwie Malmsteen

Australia has a Power Metal fan base and Malmsteen at this point in time serviced it well. And you couldn’t tell the Elitist Power Metallers about any blues based players. They would change their views years later.

Number 17
Use Your Illusion 1
Guns N Roses

I like the first album better.

Number 18
Vae Solis
Scorn

I haven’t heard it nor do I know anything about the band.

Number 19
America Must Be Destroyed
GWAR

I just saw them as a fad, but they had a career that spanned over 20 plus years. And I still haven’t listened to em.

Number 20
Blind
Corrosion Of Conformity

There isn’t a stand out cut, but each cut has a groove that I can latch onto.

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A to Z of Making It, Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories

Take To Create

I guess I’m back in the “New York Groove” today.

So what’s an original riff these days?

One Direction – “Midnight Memories” borrows from Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.

And it borrows from Joan Jett – “I Love Rock N Roll” and it borrows from Ace Frehly – “New York Groove”.

Take a little bit from here and a little bit from there to create something a little bit different.

All good songs and part of my Sunday listening.

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