Tag Archives: Classic Rock

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

The Case For “Unmasked”

Gene Simmons hated it.

Paul Stanley called it wimpy.

Ace Frehley didn’t get the memo that the album was meant to be a pop rock album.

Peter Criss, well he just didn’t participate.

And I was confused why Paul Stanley didn’t use Desmond Child again, since their hit from “Dynasty” was co-written with him.

Instead Vini Poncia, who produced the album, co-wrote most of the tracks.

In case you are confused, I’m writing about “Unmasked” released in 1980.

It didn’t meet commercial expectations in the North American market however it did very good business in Northern Europe.

And in Australia, it sold more than 110,000 copies on the first day of its release and 3,000 more were stolen from a truck on the way to stores. Well, this is according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

You see “Kissmania” or “Kissteria” in Australia was about 4 years behind their U.S. peak.

It didn’t sound like past Kiss, but this record definitely gave the power pop / melodic rock scene a good kick in the ass. You had bands like The Raspberries and Small Faces, but suddenly you could mention Kiss in the same sentence.

Its influence on the Scandinavian market is large and it’s no surprise that a lot of melodic pop and rock artists and songwriters have come from these markets.

Is That You?

The opening track and it’s not even written by a Kiss member.

But it is the parent to “Lick It Up”.

Listen to the verse riffs in both. The feel and groove is the same. The layered backing vocals are also great, something which Def Leppard mastered with Mutt Lange.

And Stanley always challenged himself vocally, the falsettos on the pre-chorus are braver than the ball tearers on “I Was Made Lovin You”.

On a side note, as a solo artist, McMahon’s 15 minutes of fame came with “Cry Little Sister” from “The Lost Boys” movie, 7 years later.

Shandi

Australia was also going through a “disco ABBA mania craze”, so it’s no surprise that a crossover disco/rock pop ballad went huge here.

And if ABBA wasnt doing music like this anymore, fans would always look to others to fill the void.

If you want to hear what inspired it, press play on the song “Tomorrow” from Joe Walsh. Paul basically lifted the first 60 seconds from it. And Joe Walsh is far from wimpy.

Talk To Me

Ace steps up with a rocker, which did good business as a single in Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Australia.

It has an intro riff that sounds like it was influenced by Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl”.

The major key riffage in the Chorus reminds me of “Do Ya” from ELO.

Naked City

My favorite song on the album and one of Gene Simmons best, giving melodic rock music some grit.

It’s written by a committee involving Simmons, Poncia, Bob Kulick and Peppy Castro.

Ace even contributed a solo, while Anton Fig and Bob Kulick did the drums and guitars.

But it all started with Bob Kulick who had the guitar riff and he demoed the song with Peppy Castro.

But the final recorded version didn’t make Bob happy and he has said that “Kiss ruined “Naked City”.

Ruined or not, it’s my favorite. And if the demo is available anywhere, please share it.

What Makes The World Go Round

I always like it when artists take influences from different styles of music.

In this case, Paul is taking inspiration from soul act, The Spinners and fusing hard rock, pop, soul and R&B into a unique style that still sounds like a rock song.

How good is the Chorus?

Tomorrow

My second favorite.

The power pop of 2000’s acts like Wheatus, Good Charlotte and the like is right here.

It might sound light on the rock, but inside the song you’ll hear a feel and vibe from “Coming Home”.

It’s also influenced by “Tonight” from The Raspberries along with Rick Springfield.

And even the most hardened rocker cannot resist singing along to the Chorus.

Two Sides Of The Coin

More ELO meets Free from the Spaceman.

I forgot to mention on “Talk To Me” that Ace employs an Open G tuning, a tuning popular with slide players because with one finger they can play a chord instead of fretting the chord. He also employs this Open G tuning here.

Keith Richards was a well known user of this tuning, however many believed that Keith used this tuning because of how wasted he was. It’s easier to play with one finger than four. And that same view point was held for Ace, however if you look at interviews during this period you cannot see or hear Ace sounding wasted.

The lyrics are dumb but then again Kiss weren’t scholars when it came to lyrics, so that’s what makes their music fun.

She’s So European

Press play for the intro. That’s all you need to listen to here.

Then again Gene Simmons does a good job on the lyrics and melodies as well, about a girl with a glass of pink champagne and well you can read the rest.

Easy As It Seems

Another favorite.

Paul is the star of the song. His bass riff is sinister, yet groovy and his sense of melody elevates the track.

I’m also a fan of The Pretenders and it looks like Paul was influenced by them as their song “Mystery Achievement” came out in January, 1980 and Kiss released their album in May 1980.

Check em out, they are both great songs.

Torpedo Girl

Press play for that rhythm and blues swing drum groove and stick around to hear Ace summon Joe Walsh for the verse riff and The Beach Boys for the Chorus.

You’re All That I Want

It has that feel of early Kiss musically. And somehow it gets no love.

The Wrap Up

They didn’t tour the North American market, but they did hit Europe, Australia and New Zealand. It kept em in business.

On Australian TV they also got a lot of press and interviews.

They appeared on the Australian “60 Minutes”. The segment is on YouTube if you want to see it. Bill Aucion was also interviewed, telling the interviewer how Kiss was turning over $120 million a year, and how he was looking to get the band into movies and comic books.

We sort of know how that turned out with “The Elder”.

A few things to note for 1980.

AC/DC dropped “Back In Black”, a slab of hard and bluesy rock that proved you can be commercially successful during this period playing that style of music.

The NWOBHM was also gaining momentum. This was even harder sounding and more abrasive than AC/DC and it also had an audience that was growing.

Most of the acts who had success in the 70s were either broken up, or on their last legs with the original members and looking to bring in new members.

So I understand the “wimpy” and “not sound like Kiss” comments, but this album has aged well because so many of the songs are so well written.

For a band that was just not functioning anymore they still found a way to deliver a great album.

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

Four For Friday

I’ve written posts about songs which sound similar to songs which came before, with the lens solely focused on hard rock and heavy metal.

Like.

One Riff To Rule Them All

The Kashmir Effect

The Kashmir Effect 2

The While My Guitar Sleeps Effect

Sanitarium Debate

Just to name a few.

And I’ve always thought that Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath shared a connection musically but I’ve never verbalized it or wrote about it.

The viewpoint came from a 1995 documentary called “History Of Rock and Roll”, which has Ozzy recalling how “Led Zeppelin I” had a huge impact on him and his bandmates.

Let’s see what kind of impact.

DAZED AND CONFUSED (1969) vs PARANOID (1970)

The authorship of “Dazed and Confused” is heavily disputed and there are various pages out there specifying who wrote what and when.

But, for the sake of this post I will focus on the Led Zeppelin version.

There is a section in “Dazed and Confused” at the 5.02 mark that sounds very similar to the Intro in “Paranoid”.

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN (1969) vs PARANOID (1970)

Then the verse riff in “Paranoid” has a running E pedal point played over an E5 power chord for two bars, then a D5 power chord for the third bar and the fourth bar ends with three chords G, D and E at the end.

“Communication Breakdown” has a running E pedal point playing for one bar with three chords of D to A to D played in the second bar.

The similarities here are evident. In the way the three chords are played at the end of each bar and the running E note.

It’s basically musicians influencing each other.

But if the entities who hold the Copyrights to Marvin Gaye’s music had a hold of these rights, then there would be litigation everywhere.

HEARTBREAKER (1969) vs THE WIZARD (1970) and IRON MAN (1970)

These ones are a bit different sonically but they all have a common element, which is the Minor to Major transition.

For example, if it was in the key of E minor, it would be an Em to G transition. If the key was in A minor, it would be Am to C transition.

It’s a common element and a building block for creating but I’m sure if the rights of these songs landed with the heirs of Marvin Gaye there would be a lawsuit.

Bonus – SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE (1967) vs NIB (1970)

Check it out and let me know.

The same elements here are also heard in the song “Cocaine” which came out in 1976.

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Tony Martin – Sweet Elyse

“Sweet Elyse” was released on the solo album, “Back Where I Belong” in 1992 on Polydor. Tony Martin decided to do a solo album when his Black Sabbath project was doing its “Dehumanizer/Dio” project.

Production was done by Nick Tauber, who is best know for his work with Thin Lizzy and Marillion.

The album is not on Spotify, which irks me. But YouTube has a lot of uploads from fans, who call Tony Martin the best Sabbath vocalist ever.

And “Back Where I Belong” is not available anywhere to buy these days, unless someone’s selling a second hand copy.

The reason why it’s not available are varied. When Martin rejoined Black Sabbath, Polydor deleted the album from their catalogue and took it off the shelves.

And somehow his manager at the time owns the entire rights to this album, which gets me thinking “how the hell did the manager pull that off” and “how is Copyright protecting the artist at this moment to give the artist an incentive to create”.

But I have seen interviews and posts where Martin mentions how he wants this album re-released and the label Battlegod Productions, which is the label for his solo album “Thorns”, is in negotiations for it.

The track burns from the start and it reminds me of songs like “Highway Star”, “Burn” and “Speed King” from Deep Purple.

And I like the familiarity.

The session line up for the song is also impressive.

Nigel Glockler from Saxon pounds those drums and Neil Murray from Whitesnake is the master of the groove.

Tony Martin also shows off his guitar prowess as he, Paul Wright and Carlo Fragnito play the rhythm guitars with Richard Cottle on the keys.

There are also demos floating around the internet of this album which has Tony Martin playing all the guitars.

For the solo, Adrian Dawson brings out his Blackmore influences. And it’s excellent.

Crank it.

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Vandenberg – Sin

Adrian Vandenberg has come full circle.

When John Kalodner met with him in 1987, Kalodner had two propositions; one was to replace all the Dutch members of the Vandenberg band with American musicians and the other was for Vandenberg to join Whitesnake.

Morally Adrian Vandenberg couldn’t do that to his Vandenberg members and he also couldn’t pass up on a position to work with a vocalist like David Coverdale.

So he chose Whitesnake.

But when he tried to resurrect Vandenberg circa 2014/15, those Dutch 80s members didn’t have the same moral conviction as Adrian did and they took him to court so he couldn’t use his own surname anymore.

Six lawsuits later and a lot of money spent, Vandenberg was allowed to use his surname again.

But while all of the lawsuits were happening, Vandenberg’s Moonkings was created and they released three albums.

Then Vandenberg returned, dropping the excellent 2020 album with former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie Romero on vocals, Rudy Sarzo on bass, and Brian Tichy on drums.

And here we are in 2023, with another excellent album called “Sin”. This time around Adrian is joined by vocalist Mats Levén, drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Randy Van Der Elsen and the album is produced by Bob Marlette.

How cool is the cover art?

Once again, created by Adrian, he wanted to show an actual destination for the flying sharks who made their appearance on the “Heading For A Storm” album.

Instead of flying over a road in the desert, they are now flying into New York, the city of sin.

Thunder And Lightning

This is a person writing songs for the love of it. No pressure to write hits and no pressure to conform.

For those who grew up in an era of driving with the window down and cranking the music from the stereo, well this song is perfect for it.

Vocally, Mats Leven is channeling David Coverdale. Musically the song channels the spirit of Eddie Van Halen and the Euro blues rock of Michael and Rudolf Schenker.

Stick around for the guitar solo.

House On Fire

Heavy palm muted arpeggios start it all off with Leven singing in a low bass/baritone. Then it goes into a sleaze like riff.

This is a straight ahead rock and no one is doing it better in 2023 than Adrian Vandenberg.

Sin

This sounds so good. Vandenberg rewrote “Judgement Day” and I like it?

Then again “Judgement Day” is heavily based on “Kashmir”. And I still like it.

Alot of legacy artists keep saying “what is the point in writing new music as no one cares about it”. Tell that to Vandenberg.

Light It Up

Love the swagger on this.

Walking On Water

Ooh, that guitar intro and the vocal. Very 70s Free like.

And stick around for another masterful guitar solo.

Burning Skies

The album keeps going, sounding different from cut to cut. Like “Back In Black”. This one feels like a classic Scorpions cut.

Hit The Ground Running

It’s all about the vocal.

This one has Leven channeling Coverdale and the groove sits nicely on your lap.

Baby You’ve Changed

It’s intimate.

A ballad that rolls along like “Is This Love” and “The Deeper The Love”. But it’s not a copycat.

Out Of The Shadows

The arpeggio riff in the Intro reminds me of Coverdale/Page and their song, “Whisper A Prayer For The Dying” but the song is nothing like that.

It’s got this classic 70s Rainbow Dio era vibe and I like it.

It’s just 9 songs clocking in at 41 minutes. Like old school albums, pre CD.

Mats Leven is one hell of a vocalist. A journeyman like so many other vocalists from the late eighties and early nineties.

He came to my attention with the band Swedish Erotica in 1989.

He has then performed (just to name a few) with Treat, Yngwie Malmsteen, Candlemass, At Vance, Firewind, Trans Siberian Orchestra and Therion.

By doing so and picking up whatever work he could get, he found a way to survive the wastelands of the 90s and early 2000’s which were not very kind to hard rock vocalists. Jeff Scott Soto and Johnny Gioeli are two others that come to mind.

Finally, Adrian Vandenberg is 69. He still rocks as hard as he did when he was 29. He hasn’t mellowed out at all. He’s actually gotten heavier and he is free to write the music that he wants to write.

If you want to read my review of Vandenberg’s recorded output up to a certain point in time (it was up to 2014 and the first Vandenberg Moonkings album), you can read it here.

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The Record Vault and Australian Method Series: AC/DC – Fly On The Wall

Disaster. That’s how the American magazines described this album.

Released in 1985, the album never stood a chance.

It was fighting for our attention along with a lot of other things.

Like.

The trilogy of Mutt Lange albums were outselling everything else AC/DC put out during this period.

The Sunset Strip gave the charts and MTV a major shake up and sales followed.

The British had invaded the U.S again with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, a solo Ozzy Osbourne and Def Leppard cementing themselves as arena acts.

The Germans also invaded via a hurricane called The Scorpions.

And finally an underground Speed Metal scene in San Francisco was slowly taking over the U.S.

But in Australia we remained true. Never wavering. And we made it triple platinum.

But let’s go back in time.

The success of “Back In Black” in 1980 showed the labels that their was an appetite for hard rock music. And the labels wanted more of the same.

So it’s no surprise that by 1985, most of the label rosters had a lot of “hard rockers” on the books. But these rockers wore everything that wasn’t denim and their hair kept hair dressers employed for decades.

Even acts from the 70’s started to participate in this new look so they could remain relevant. But AC/DC didn’t change. They stuck true to their denims and Angus still wore the schoolboy outfit.

And the critics found them irrelevant while they still sold out arenas.

Fly On The Wall

The music is infectious and the vocals indecipherable.

Sign me up.

Shake Your Foundations

It was the only song that got a pass back in the day.

How good is that intro and the Chorus is iconic?

Plus it got decent radio play in Australia.

First Blood

Musically, it’s typical of AC/DC.

Lyrically, Brian Johnson is indecipherable and hard to understand.

Danger

“Come Together” comes to mind when I hear this.

“Here come old flat top” is what my ears are expecting when the song begins.

It’s no surprise that the Young brothers are referencing Chuck Berry here as his fingerprints are all over the riffs the Young’s write.

Sink The Pink

The music clip comes to mind here.

Seeing the band playing in a pub/bar again and that pesky fly from the cover getting a hard on (via its nose going from limp to hard) when a women dressed in pink enters the pub.

But it’s the music that seals the deal and Brian Johnson sounds better in the video than the recording.

I like the musical reference to “For Those About To Rock” and The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. So I was hooked.

“Sink the pink, it’s all the fashion”

It has so meaning meanings.

The Urban Dictionary tells us, sink the pink means to “have sexual intercourse with a virgin, and to pop her cherry”.

But the Urban Dictionary didn’t exist in 1985 and my young impressionable brain saw it as a song about drugs.

And thanks to the Internet, I believe it is.

Welcanol was known during the eighties as the South African Heroin (Pink Heroin). It could be obtained via a Doctor prescription and it came as a pink tablet.

So before OxyContin there was Pink Heroin.

“Drink the drink it’s old fashioned”

I’ll take an old fashioned drink any day.

Playing With Girls

I love the music and the groove here.

But I hate the title and the fact that Johnson is mixed low and indecipherable.

Definitely a missed opportunity here.

Stand Up

I like this song. It’s defiant and it rocks.

If you just listen to the Chorus you would think it’s about standing up and facing the world, but when you read the lines in context with the verses, well, it has a different meaning.

Hell Or High Water

A 4/4 groove and we are off.

But it’s pointless as Johnson is buried in the mix and the song is ruined.

Back In Business

A deep cut. It reminds me of ZZ Top and I like it.

Send For The Man

Musically it rocks but the buried Johnson chainsaw like vocals ruin it.

It’s not a perfect album, then again most of the albums released in 1985 are far from perfect. In other words, the era of more filler than killer was well and truly in motion.

But I would say, it’s an underrated album from a band that enjoys doing their thing without over obsessing about it.

The U.S tour had controversy. It all took place underneath the censorship discussions concerning rock music. Religious groups tried to ban certain shows while city officials wanted to rate each show and give the shows a movie style rating, which would then exclude fans from going. Fire officials would also get in on the act and limit or stop any pyrotechnics.

But the band went on.

In the vinyl album sleeve of the “Fly On The Wall” re-release from 2020, Angus sums up the tour like this;

“This tour’s a little like a series of wrestling matches with the loonies. But what’s the fun of life without an occasional tussle”.

Enough said.

Get to it folks. Crank it and start tussling.

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The Record Vault: Dream Theater – Tokyo, Japan 10/28/95

All at once in 2004, Dream Theater dropped three bootlegs under the sub headings of DEMO, COVER and LIVE.

The DEMO release was reviewed here, and it covered the “When Dream And Day Unite” period between 1987 and 1989.

The COVER release is their play through from start to finish of the “Master Of Puppets” album and will be reviewed next.

This review is on the LIVE release and as I’m writing this review it has not been re-released as part of the Inside Out re-releases/new releases.

So all we have at the moment is the Ytse Jam Records release.

The full 2 hours and 20 minutes, recorded live on the run of shows used to promote the “A Change Of Seasons” EP.

This is from October 28th, 1995 at NHL Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

The band is John Petrucci on guitars, Mike Portnoy on drums, John Myung on bass, James LaBrie on vocals and Derek Sherinian on keys.

Intro

There is a tape intro that goes for about 1 minute. It’s got a clock ticking and the sad piano lines from “Space Dye Vest” are played.

Then there is a voice over, some backwards sound effects and the octave notes from “Under A Glass Moon” kick in.

Under A Glass Moon

I like the surrealist title.

The verse riff on this song with the keys playing Chords over it. Perfection.

Stick around for the solo as it’s one of Petrucci’s best.

The Mirror

It’s a heavy song with Petrucci deploying the 7-string. Its intricate arrangements and dynamic shifts are interesting.

Lie

It goes together with “The Mirror” as some musical sections appear in both songs. This was a single from the “Awake” album, however it didn’t have the same success as “Pull Me Under” from the album previously.

The mix of heavy riffs and melodic moments, highlights their versatility.

Petrucci as usual delivers a few killer solo sections.

Lifting Shadows Off A Dream

It starts off like a slow jazz blues fusion jam before it goes into the well recognized bass intro.

It feels like a cross between U2, ballad like Marillion and 80s synth Rush.

Instrumental Medley

You get to hear “The Rover” from Led Zeppelin, “Killers” from Iron Maiden, “Damage Inc.” from Metallica, “In The Flesh” from Pink Floyd and “Heart Of The Sunrise” from Yes.

Press play to hear the way they fuse all these different songs into one cohesive track.

Innocence Faded

It’s in a major key. While it rocks it does have pop sensibilities.

But it’s the outro that you should listen to.

Because if you worship at the altar of guitar gods then the outro is for you. Even James LaBrie screams “John Petrucci” when it starts.

If you can’t find this track, then any other official live version or even the studio cut will suffice.

A Change Of Seasons

You get the full 23 minutes.

The way this piece is written is that each part can be played separately in the set list amongst other songs or it can be played as one song, like it is here.

And like all multi-part epics, it serves as the grand centerpiece of the show, displaying their songwriting prowess and technical skills in a live setting.

Lost Without You

“Lost Without You” was officially released in 2005 on John Petrucci’s solo album “Suspended Animation”.

But here it is, live in 1995.

Its an intimate and introspective moment within the setlist, very blues/jazz fusion like and I’m all in.

Petrucci nails it and the emotion drips from the strings.

Surrounded

The “Images And Words” album is all killer.

And this song is largely out of the conversation, however the band does a stellar job playing tracks from the back catalogue in the live setting.

After the piano intro and verses, the song picks up. Listen to how Petrucci decorates.

Derek Sherinian Keyboard Solo

I’m not a huge fan of solos in concert like this, but this one actually rocked and kept me interested.

It was a mixture of ragtime, blues, classical and cinematic/video game like music.

Erotomania

Mike Portnoy takes over the middle of the song with a drum solo.

But at least they go back into the song and to one of my favorite instrumental sections.

Voices

This is another song that seems like it’s out of the conversation when it comes to Dream Theater songs.

But it’s a classic

The Chorus is arena rock.

And that solo is what guitar heroes are made of.

The Silent Man

It’s a great acoustic song.

And they bring the 70s Classic Rock vibes (which is known as Country Rock these days) to it live.

Pull Me Under

Closing the main set with their most recognizable hit, leaves the audience energized.

The 1st Encore begins with a cover.

Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple cover):

The Deep Purple cover sounds like it came from the minds of Dream Theater.

You can hear the fun in the music and they definitely jam it out.

The 2nd Encore begins with the last two tracks of the “Images And Words” album. And for a 1995 set list it’s perfect.

Wait For Sleep (Acoustic version)

An acoustic version of “Wait For Sleep” is excellent.

Learning To Live

The grand finale. The whole song is a masterpiece.

And then that outro section. Wow.

In summary, its raw as a bootleg should be.

The setlist is diverse and it showcases their instrumental virtuosity and ability to navigate complex musical compositions.

There are mistakes and pitch issues but hey, if I wanted the studio recordings I would play them.

The inclusion of covers and acoustic moments also adds depth to the overall concert experience.

Crank it.

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Touch Of Madness

They got some traction with the single “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” from the “Dawn Patrol” album in 1982. The future looked bright.

Then their record label “Boardwalk” went under.

But they had a believer in former Boardwalk vice-president Bruce Bird, who organised a deal with Irving Azoff to sign the group to MCA. Night Ranger would be the first signing to Bird’s new imprint under MCA, Camel Records Inc.

“Midnight Madness” came out in 1983. Check out the ages of the guys in the band.

Jack Blades is 29, Brad Gillis is 26, Jeff Watson is 27, Kelly Keagy is 31 and Alan Fitzgerald is 34. These are seasoned pros, who have paid their dues in other bands since the start of the Seventies.

And in 1983, fame came to them in the form of music television.

MTV would turn regional club acts into arena acts instantly on the back of a song, and “Sister Christian” along with “(You Can Still) Rock In America” became the songs that launched Night Ranger across North America.

While the album has alot of good songs my favorite is the first song on Side 2.

“Touch of Madness” is written by Jack Blades.

The eerie music box gets your attention immediately.

Then a heavily palm muted arpeggio single note riff kicks in before, all hell breaks loose with the blues slide rock riff from the 19 second mark.

The playing is excellent.

At the 42 second mark, the verse groove comes in. It’s groove Rock and Kelly Keagy thunders on the kit.

Blades delivers a stellar vocal,

The lyrics suggest a feeling of being drawn to someone who has a captivating and mysterious quality.

She say
“I get high when I want to
Don’t ya think you need it too”
I need a touch, I need a touch of madness

All of the religious leaders in the 80’s got it right, that the youth of the world had been seduced by the devil’s music. We liked to get high when we wanted to and Mister Juana was a favourite.

The “touch of madness” is the irresistible allure of someone’s unpredictable and exciting nature.

I need a touch, a touch of madness

The lead break is Randy Rhoads-esque. Building on a simple motif and embellishing it with fast scalar runs.

I like how you get another verse, pre and chorus after the solo section. It’s the reason why it clocks in at 5 plus minutes.

Crank it.

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Four For Friday

MOTLEY CRUE

How many times can they release the same album?

All the music here has been released before circa 2003 when the band remastered their albums on their own Motley Records label.

But let me highlight how many issues of the album they have done recently.

In 2022, they released a Limited Edition, Reissue, Black/Clear Split Vinyl edition. The music on this edition was just the normal album.

In 2018, they released a Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Clear With Red Swirl Vinyl Edition. The music on this edition was just the normal album.

In 2016, they released a Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Red With Black Swirl, 180g Vinyl edition. The music on this edition was just the normal album.

In 2011, they released a Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Mini Vinyl Replica edition. The music on this edition was just the normal album.

Again in 2011, they also released a Reissue, 180g, Gatefold edition. And again, the music on this edition was just the normal album.

Between 2003 and 2023, they also released various CD versions of the album with wording like, HDCD, Club Edition, Limited Edition, Enhanced, Reissue, Remastered and SHM-CD (for Japanese Releases). Apart from the 2003 edition, it’s been the same album re-released.

But, it’s selling for $370AUD. It looks like a nice collectors piece and if you don’t have this album, you’ll be thinking “why not”, but at that price I would have expected something to be included that hasn’t been released as yet.

Take a cue from Mr Coverdale, who puts the effort in with his evolution compositions, different jams/rehearsals of the songs and live recordings.

STEVE JOBS

At 12 years old Jobs called Bill Hewlett (the co-founder of Hewlett-Packard) to ask for spare computer parts.

Jobs got the parts and a summer job working the assembly line at Hewlett-Packard.

Steve Jobs, believes asking is the single thing that “separates the people that do things from the people that just dream about them.”

METALLICA

Brian Slagel is putting together the Metal Massacre compilation album.

Slagel met Lars Ulrich a year ago at a Michael Schenker concert. Lars calls him up and asks him, “if he puts together a band can he be on the record?”

BON JOVI

It’s 1982 and Jon Bon Jovi has just finished writing and recording “Runaway”.

He shopped it around and couldn’t get a record deal. He couldn’t get a band together to play live because original bands didn’t make enough money.

Luck would have it that a brand-new radio station would open in New York. It was so new it didn’t have a receptionist so nobody was there to stop Jon from walking straight to the DJ and asking him to play “Runaway”.

The song quickly gained traction and Hobart entered Bon Jovi into a contest the radio station was running for the best unsigned band.

Jon won, he got his Mercury deal and by the summer of 1983, the song had become a huge hit.

It’s amazing what could happen from asking.

SONG ON REPEAT

“Crime Of The Century” by Revolution Saints.

That Chorus hook is undeniable. It’s from the new album “Eagle Flight” which has Joel Hoekstra and Jeff Pilson joining Deen Castronovo.

Check it out.

BONUS SONG I’M LISTENING TO

“Burn For Me” by The Night Flight Orchestra. It’s the Bowie “Modern Love” feel which hooks me in and then that feel gets put in the TNFO blender and what comes out is an infectious AOR Rock song.

And that Chorus hook. Wow.

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

The Night Flight Orchestra – Death To False AOR Tour: Crowbar, Sydney (Leichhardt)

I remember the kids asking me around 2019, if The Night Flight Orchestra (TNFO) would ever tour Australia as they are massive fans but they couldn’t come as it was an over 18s gig.

I said to them that Bjorn Strid as part of Soilwork tours here, so it’s a possibility but it all depends on a promoter who wants to bring them out and it also depends on fans. Streams and sales are key here.

Fast forward 4 years later, TNFO arrived on our shores. Hardline Media was the promoter who got em out here. I’ve purchased stuff from the site before and Doug does a great job/deed for Metal and Rock music in Australia.

Their first gig was at Brisbane, on Thursday 3rd August at a venue called “The Zoo”.

And on Friday, 4th August, they had their show in Sydney at a venue called “Crowbar”.

Their final show was on Saturday, 5th August in Melbourne at a venue called “Max Watts”.

It’s like waking into a time warp and coming out 40 years ago when you enter “The Crowbar”. The pub was formerly known as “The Bald Face Stag” (it was a venue I played with one of my former bands) and in 2018, it relaunched as “The Crowbar”. The furnishings are still very 80s retro, it’s painted black and I like it. Plus their is a decent selection of boutique beers on tap and in cans. Their is also a decent sized live room inside the pub, which they utilize for live music.

I purchased two VIP Meet and Greet packages.

This included:

  • early access to the show and merch stand,
  • a photo on my phone/device with the band
  • an Australian tour poster to get signed by the band
  • exclusive VIP lanyard/laminate
  • plus I was able to bring along 3 personal items to get signed.

And the prices at $160 each were reasonable.

I was thinking of what merch to take for signing. And I settled on the vinyl album, “Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough”. It’s a gatefold album, with a massive picture of the band on the inside, so it would be cool to get them to sign it. Plus I had two copies of the albums as I forgot I purchased it and then purchased it again.

The meet and greet was very relaxed. They signed our items including the tour poster and then we got the photo.

The band is Sharlee D’Angelo on bass, Sebastian Forslund on guitar, percussion and congas, Anna Brygard on backup vocals, John Lonnmyr on the keys, Bjorn Strid on vocals, Asa Lundman on backup vocals, Jonas Kallsback on drums and Rasmus Ehrnborn on guitar. In the middle, ruining the photo is yours truly.

Midnight Flyer

It was the first song recorded for the “Amber Galactic” album and the first single released to promote the album.

It’s a great opener.

Then again so is “Siberian Queen”, “Sail On”, “This Time” (which sounds like the twin of “Midnight Flyer”), “Servants Of The Air” and “Violent Indigo”.

I remember reading an early interview from the band that Deep Purple’s “Made In Japan” and “Made In Europe” are favourites.

And I can hear it in “Midnight Flyer”, how it builds from the keyboard intro, similar to how “You Fool No One” builds on the “Europe” live album or “Speed King” on the “Japan” live album.

I’m not leaving
I’m just going somewhere else
Far from the sighs and whispers
And the weakness of myself
Now is not the time
To think of all I’ve lost
There are skylines left to conquer
There are oceans left to cross

The work ethic of the TNFO members is high. Multiple bands means more touring, more time in recording studios, more time song writing and lots of champagne. Meanwhile they are all trying to keep relationships going.

I’m a midnight flyer rushing through the storm
I got lost without your loving and I can’t find my way home

Such a great lyric for the Chorus hook.

They went straight into “Sometimes The World Ain’t Enough” and we were moving and singing.

That keyboard Intro is from what David Coverdale calls “Hook City”, a mythical place of arena-like choruses and riffs.

And I love the drum beat which I call the “Deuce” beat. I know other 70s acts did this kind of beat, but I’m a Kiss fan so I’ll associate it with Kiss.

Every song TNFO played got us moving. My order of the songs is wrong compared to the live show, but here they are.

“Divinyls” rocked. It grabs your attention as soon as the guitar intro starts and it builds nicely with the drums. Rasmus Ehrnborn filled in for TNFO when Dave Andersson couldn’t tour. Now he is the guitarist in the band.

“Gemini”, “Paralyzed”, “White Jeans”, “Burn For Me”, “The Sensation”, “If Tonight Is Our Only Chance” and “Satellite” all followed with lots of grooving, people dancing and some head banging.

“Something Mysterious” (which reminds me of “Burning Heart” from Survivor) was dedicated to guitarist Dave Andersson, who passed away in 2022. For those who are not aware, Andersson was a co-founding member of TNFO along with vocalist Bjorn Strid. A lot of the TNFO songs have his riffs and lyrics. He also wrote this.

They closed the set with the 9 minute long “The Last Of The Independent Romantics”. As Bjorn said in the Intro, let’s go on a journey. And we did.

The band went off stage and we went into a football chant.

It was encore time.

“Josephine”, “Stiletto” and “West Ruth Avenue” closed the night.

“West Ruth Avenue” deserves special mention as Bjorn got a decent Conga Train happening which resembled a circle pit. Instead of people running, people were dancing.

It was also this song from the debut album which made me a fan. And the tempo was slightly increased. Which I like.

I am biased but this gig is a 10. They never let up on the energy and the setlist was perfect.

Moving forward, current single “The Sensation” is doing the rounds. A new album is expected in April/May 2024 and I’m looking forward to adding it to the collection.

Hopefully another Australian tour as well. They put down some roots here so let’s see what grows.

\::/

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A to Z of Making It, Music, My Stories

Four For Friday

RESIDUALS

Actors and Writers are striking.

The actors have joined the writers in taking industrial action, because they want streaming giants to agree to a fairer split of profits and better working conditions.

And a recent Black Mirror episode has made em all worried about digital replicas, so they want further protection in this area.

The BBC article has this to say about it;

Mark Ruffalo went on to say that while actors and screenwriters have “made great content”, the business brains behind them had “created an empire of billionaires”, who are “laughing like fat cats” and “believe we are no longer of value”.

You see, actors are paid residuals. Residuals are a form of royalty paid to actors when movies and TV shows air on television after their initial run.

Residuals came into practice in the 60s and were updated to include Cable TV. But it doesn’t work for streaming because streaming shows aren’t scheduled.

To show how valuable residuals are, the article over at “The Conversation” states;

Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of “Squid Game,” forfeited all residuals when he cut a deal with Netflix.

It earned Netflix nearly US$1 billion, but Hwang got none of that bounty.

You see, Hwang would get a large upfront fee to create “Squid Game”. It would be large enough to tempt him to forfeit all residuals. Netflix and Hwang both gambled and Netflix won.

And while some actors are paid well because they had the “old gatekeeper power” to get residuals higher, the rest struggle, while the streaming services and studios along with their CEO’s earn billions and multi-millions.

WHAT MAKES IT

Because no one knows what will make it big. Here is a snippet from a newsletter that Billy Oppenheimer writes;

When Tom Hanks was filming Forrest Gump, he asked director Bob Zemeckis, “if anybody will care enough to watch the movie?”

Zemeckis replied with “It’s a minefield, Tom. You never know what’s good…It’s a minefield! It’s a goddam minefield! We may be sowing the seeds of our own destruction.”

There is no safety net or guarantee that things will become popular.

After Bon Jovi finished recording “Slippery When Wet”, producer Bruce Fairbairn was hoping it would get a Gold Certification, which is 500,000 sales in the U.S. Currently the album is at 13,364,000 units sold.

David Coverdale just recovered from surgery after a bad sinus infection. He had fired everyone. He was over $3 million in debt to Geffen. The music to the songs which would make up the 1987 album were recorded. All he had to do was sing.

And he hoped there was a place for Whitesnake in the market dominated by Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Scorpions and Europe. It’s at 8 million and counting in U.S sales.

“Welcome to the Jungle” from Guns N’ Roses performed poorly in both the United States and the United Kingdom when first released in September 1987.

As the band’s popularity grew steadily in 1988, on the back of “Sweet Child O Mine” and their ferocious live performances, it became a sleeper hit in the US and reached the top 10 of the Billboard charts. It was then re-released in the UK, charting within the top 40 there.

In June 2005, it was certified Gold in the U.S.

By 2017, it surpassed 3 million in sales however it’s never been re-certified.

Nirvana’s second album “Nevermind” was released in September 1991 with low expectations, hoping to sell 500,000 copies.

The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 144.

It entered the top 40 in November.

When December rolled around, the album was selling 300,000 copies a week.

By January 1992, it replaced Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” at number 1 on the Billboard charts.

The album has gone on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.

When Def Leppard released “Hysteria” in 1987, they were expecting the same sales as “Pyromania”. In addition, due to the lengthy recording process, in order to break even they had to sell a minimum of 5 million albums.

After 8 months, the album had sold 3 million in the U.S and the band was preparing to wrap up their tour, take a short break and go back into the studio.

Then “Pour Some Sugar On Me” and “Love Bites” hit the airwaves. The popularity of the singles led to renewed interest in the album and the band was back on the road.

The “Hysteria” tour ended on 27th October 1988. By then the album had moved 7 million units in the U.S. It was basically moving a million units a month in the U.S from June.

By May 1990, the album was at 10 million units in the U.S. and it’s still selling today.

DO THE WORK YOU LOVE

It’s a strong mindset to work on a project and knowing that no one will possibly care about it once it’s released.

But the ones that do it, do it because it’s a need to create and they live to create. If it’s successful, the money and fame is a byproduct of their need to create.

THE JOURNEY

When Bruce Springsteen dropped “Born to Run” in 1975 he was 11 years into his journey. During those years he was in and out of numerous bands and his first two albums as a solo artist bombed.

When “Appetite For Destruction” came out in 1987, Guns N Roses were an 7 year over night success. And the album was a slow burner. It took over a year to get traction and once it did, it was outselling everyone.

During these periods, “talented” and “schooled” musicians were in their thousands. But the biggest artists didn’t come from Julliard or Berklee.

If your are not committed to the journey talent doesn’t matter.

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