Tag Archives: Hard Rock

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

The Record Vault: Dream Theater – Live At Budokan

This is one of my favourite live releases from the 2000 era. Dream Theater is touring on the back of their most metal album ever in “Train Of Thought”.

“Live at Budokan” was recorded at the Nippon Budokan Hall on April 26, 2004 in Tokyo, Japan and released on October 2004. It’s the same venue as “At Budokan” from Cheap Trick, however the audio for the Cheap Trick album was from the Osaka show, as the audio from the Budokan show was unusable.

Due to time constraints for the set, the songs “The Great Debate”, “Under a Glass Moon” and “Caught in a Web”, which included an extended drum solo, were removed from the set list at the last minute.

As I Am

It makes sense to kick off the show with the opening track “As I Am” from the “Train Of Thought” album with its ominous Black Sabbath like intro making way for a Metallica like riff. Of course, any influence from the past is done in the Dream Theater way with some fills and different endings on the 4th bar.

This Dying Soul

It also makes sense to feedback into the thrash metal like “This Dying Soul”.

The song actually moves through quite a few musical and vocal styles. It reminds me of “Beyond This Life” which also comes next. While James LaBrie cops a lot of flak, he is a very diverse and unique singer who can cover a lot of different vocal styles.

Scene Four: Beyond This Life

They take a long song and extend it to 20 minutes in length. For a band that is very technical and very precise, they really like to be loose and just jam. Sometimes I wish they didn’t, but hey, if I wanted to hear the songs as per the album, then I would just press play on the album. This is another song that moves through a lot of styles musically and vocally.

Hollow Years

This is why the live album is a favourite.

The song is extended. But, it’s not just extended for the sake of it.

The intro has John Petrucci on acoustic guitar doing some flamenco/classical like leads over the verse chords that Jordan Rudess plays on the keys. The actual song (like the studio cut) version starts at 1.20.

At 5.30, there is an approx. 2 minute guitar solo which John Petrucci shreds on. And you know how in concerts the guitar solo spotlight is just that, the guitarist and no one else. Well, here Petrucci uses the songs solo chordal structure and the whole band for his spotlight.

It’s basically them extending the songs solo section. Something like how The Black Crowes do. And it is excellent.

If you are a guitar player you need to hear this. If you are not a guitar player you still need to hear this. This is why I go to the live show. To hear artists communicating musically on stage. Even James LaBrie thinks this is a highlight, as he screams in the microphone at 6.21, Mr John Petrucci and the crowd roars their approval. At 6.40 it’s over and they are back into the song’s pre-chorus.

War Inside My Head / The Test That Stumped Them All

These two songs are back to back in the “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” song and they always should be played back to back. They are thrash groove Metal done in Dream Theaters way.

Endless Sacrifice

I get the same goose bumps when I hear the live version as I do for the studio version.

Instrumedley

It wouldn’t be a Dream Theater show if it didn’t have an instrumental song created purely for the live show.

In this case and on this tour, they take sections from their instrumentals and the instrumental sections from lyrical songs and create some new jams with it and they must have had a proviso that said it had to be at least 12 minutes long.

It’s broken down like this.

I. The Dance of Eternity
II. Metropolis—Part I: ‘The Miracle and the Sleeper’
III. I. Erotomania
IV. The Dance of Eternity
V. Metropolis—Part I: ‘The Miracle and the Sleeper’
VI. The Darkest of Winters
VII. When the Water Breaks (Liquid Tension Experiment Cover)
VIII. The Darkest of Winters
IX. Ytse Jam
X. The Dance of Eternity
XI. Paradigm Shift (Liquid Tension Experiment Cover)
XII. Universal Mind (Liquid Tension Experiment Cover)
XIII. The Dance of Eternity
XIV. Hell’s Kitchen

As a fan of those musical sections, it didn’t feel long nor boring. Plus you get some “Liquid Tension Experiment” sections, which I am also a fan of.

And they finish it off with my favourite section from “Hell’s Kitchen”.

Trial Of Tears

The keyboard ringing out segues into “Trial of Tears”. Another massive cut at almost 14 minutes long.

But it never gets boring, bringing back memories of 70’s progressive rock with a hook that reminds me of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (the “it’s raining” part).

New Millennium

This song rocks.

I can get over how hard rock sounding the song really is. Its technical but still rooted in hard rock. Maybe because the keyboard parts are written by Derek Sherinian originally.

The style of Allan Holdsworth and what EVH was trying to do with “Van Halen III” comes to mind here musically.

Keyboard Solo

It’s a skip for me. Not all live shows are killer.

Only A Matter Of Time

A track from the long forgotten debut album. This track had embryonic elements of songs like “Learning To Live”, “A Change Of Seasons” and “Metropolis” that would come after.

Goodnight Kiss

It’s almost like a lullaby. Very Pink Floyd like with the shimmering clean tone guitar and samples of children voices playing. It’s another song within the massive “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” song. Petrucci’s lead break is full of hope and wonder.

Solitary Shell

They continue with the major key vibes and go into “Solitary Shell” from the “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” album. This one is very Peter Gabriel like.

Stream Of Consciousness

Another instrumental from their recent album. LaBrie gets a chance to rest while the remainder of the band jam for another 12 minutes. And the song goes through so many different movements, you cannot get bored listening to it.

Disappear

Press play to hear the section between 4 and 5 minutes. James LaBrie. What a vocal performance. Brilliant.

Pull Me Under

When I saw this album title for the first time ever, I just presumed it was a song about getting jerked off. Man, was I wrong. Never judge a song by its title.

As soon as the acoustic guitar lines start, the crowd is at its loudest and it’s all systems go.

In The Name Of God

Press play to hear the bone crunching riffs and the jazz fusion like lead section which has Petrucci wailing away at supersonic speeds.

And it’s not an easy song vocally with a lot of highs, but LaBrie does it well.

I have the DVD and the CD of this release. The DVD was also certified Platinum in January, 2005.

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Music, My Stories

Getting Older on YouTube

I was watching some Iron Maiden on YouTube. 

“Rock In Rio” on the back of the “Brave New World” vs “Rock In Rio” on the back of the “Senjutsu” album.

I wonder how many of the old Maiden fans went back and played “Senjutsu” over and over again.

Most of the songs on the new album I don’t really know how they go by looking at the title. It didn’t happen before. As soon as a person mentioned a Maiden song from their 80’s output, I knew the riff and the vocal melody.

Is it because of time?

I saw some research recently over at The Conversation website, which talks about how we stop exploring new music as we get older. While i don’t jump right in for new artists, I do know still like to see what my favorite artists are up to.

Did I have more time to listen to music before than now? 

Bruce will always be a legend and Iron Maiden music is a massive part of my youth soundtrack growing up.

Getting old affects everybody, and Bruce is also struggling. It seems he doesn’t have the throat muscle to pronounce the words properly. Playing the songs a little bit faster in a live setting doesn’t help either. Plus the dude battled throat cancer and won.

Then I caught some Bon Jovi footage after I heard an NSTS Podcast from Brent Jensen, which spoke about JBJ’s voice on the recent 2021 and 2022 tour. Fans on Facebook commented after viewing a video somebody shared, that they want their money back from the show, and they weren’t even there.

The songs are down tuned, which is normal as a band ages. The backing vocals are triggered and pre-recorded, so it looks like they are singing, which they are, however when they sing, the louder pre-recorded vocals are heard more. This is also normal in this day, especially when rock acts age.

But the down tuning of these songs, takes the life away from them. Instead of that big key change to a Gm in “Livin’ On A Prayer” and getting those ball crunching woooh, we’re halfway there, who-oh livin’ on a prayer” you get a very low baritone like vocal (if there is one at all) as Jovi is a master at getting the crowd to fill the gaps.

Like Bruce, JBJ will always be a legend and Bon Jovi music formed a soundtrack of my youth, between 1984 and 1994. I’m not a huge fan of “These Days” but got back on board with “Crush” and left forever after “What About Now”.

I also wanted to see and hear how Motley Crue looked and sounded with John 5 live. It’s like he’s been part of the band forever. He just fits the picture and I mean no disrespect to Mick Mars, who will always be a legend as well, for the music that Motley Crue did in the 80’s also formed a massive part of my youth soundtrack. But I still think their best album is the Motley Corabi album. Which they ignore because Vince didn’t sing on it.

Then again, you don’t go to a Crue show to hear Vince sing. It’s an experience.

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

1976 – Part 5.8: Camel – Moonmadness

John Field designed the cover after the label sent out a job order to different artists. They only had the title of the album to work with.

This is the thing.

Bands in the 70’s experimented. They experimented with song structures and most importantly with sounds. As the technology got better and the studio techniques got better, the sounds just happened to get better.

And sometimes artists would get it right and at other times they would get it wrong.

I had a quest in the 90’s.

To listen to as many progressive bands and artists from the 70’s I could find. In my favour was the price crash of vinyl. For those who don’t know, most people were selling or giving away their vinyl collections as they made the transition to CD’s. Suddenly the second hand record shop had more people visiting it than the actual “record store” which sold overpriced CD’s.

Then in the late 90’s, peer to peer sharing would become a thing which would lead to even more discoveries.

So Camel.

I would see the band name in lists of progressive artists to check out from the 70’s in various magazines I was purchasing.

“Moonmadness” is studio album number 4 released in March 1976 on Decca and Gama Records and is their last album recorded by the group’s original line-up of Andrew Latimer, Peter Bardens, Doug Ferguson, and Andy Ward.

The band broke through with the previous all instrumental album called “The Snow Goose” and for “Moonmadness” they decided to incorporate vocals.

Aristillus

A 2 minute instrumental that does nothing.

Song Within A Song

I heard Kansas first and this song feels like a Kansas song in the intro, before it goes into a Pink Floyd “Us And Them” kind of feel.

At 3.15, it goes into a musical interlude. It’s slow, it’s got time changes and yet it is hummable. Who said that to be progressive you need to be technically excellent and be able to play time changes at break neck speeds?

And you don’t get a Camel record to listen to memorable vocal melodies. Its music first and vocals are a distant last.

Chord Change

It sounds like a TV intro theme.

Spirit Of The Water

The intro has this “Moonlight Sonata” feel and I like it.

The song just percolates and it feels haunted especially the piano melody.

Keyboardist Peter Bardens who also wrote this, shines. Press play to hear it.

Another Night

King Crimson comes to mind. A repeating guitar line, is echoed before the excellent main riff comes in.

And that main riff is excellent.

Press play to hear this song.

Air Born

Skip

Lunar Sea

Skip

On Spotify, the release is an expanded edition which has the single edit for “Another Night”, which is all about the riff and it is an excellent edit. There is also the piano demo for “Spirit Of The Water” which is even more haunted and impressive.

In other words, press play to hear these two tracks,

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The Record Vault: Dream Theater – Official Bootleg: STUDIO Series: The Making Of Scenes From A Memory

You see, large legacy artists today are releasing these kind of albums as part of their anniversary editions. Whitesnake comes to mind with their excellent box sets. But Dream Theater, well, they were doing it as part of their Official Bootleg series.

Released in 2003 on Ytse Jam Records, what you hear on this double CD “Making Of Scenes From A Memory” are alternate takes, partial jam sections that are a bit different, random noises and improvisations, plus alternate mixes.

Some of the stuff on CD1 is not that interesting. For die-hard fans like me, it’s okay to listen once and then it goes to the collection.

But there is also some great stuff here.

“Regression” is an alternate vocal take. The guitar progression that JP wrote became the central theme tying the album together. It appears in “Through My Words”, “Finally Free” and is the foundation for the excellent, “The Spirit Carries On”.

“Through Her Eyes” has James LaBrie trying a few different vocal melodies but the piece d’resistance is the sax solo on the outro which was left off the final mix.

The booklet notes from Portnoy mentions the following for “Through Her Eyes”;

“Originally we wrote 2 different versions of this song.

The working title was “Titanic” so there was the “Short Titanic” (this arrangement that ended up making the final CD) and the “Long Titanic” (which was more of a traditional rock arrangement, with drums and some additional chord progressions).

Because of time restraints, the “Long Titanic” is not included on this CD, but it can be found on the closing credits of “Metropolis 2000 – Scenes From New York” DVD.

John Petrucci’s vocal demo guide for ‘The Spirit Carries On’, is warts and all auto-tune free and pretty funny to listen to.

And then we come to CD2, which are the original mixes for the album.

This was the first album that had John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy producing. David Bottrill was hired to mix the album because of his work with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and Tool. It was a weird mix, because Dream Theater in sound is more heavy metal and hard rock with progressive elements. The bands that Bottrill worked with are not hard rock and heavy metal. They have unique soundscapes special to them.

Bottrill mixed the album in 10 days with the band members giving him “expert advice” to make the drums louder, more guitars, more keys, higher vocals and higher bass.

While the mixing process was happening, the band members were giving it their tick of approval, however after the mixes were complete and sitting with the mixes for a few days, the band expressed concerns at the sonic intensity of the mixed songs. It was a bitter pill to swallow as they all had large inputs into how it should be mixed.

Petrucci reached out to Kevin Shirley. Shirley had some time to do a few mixes, so they gave him three tracks to start off with in “Home”, “The Spirit Carries On” and “Through Her Eyes”. Shirley did the mixes (on his own, without any band input) and sent them back. The band compared the mixes to the three songs mixed by Bottrill and they were happy with the sonics this time around.

All was not lost as some of Dave Bottrill mixes survived to the final cut in “Regression”, “The Dance Of Eternity”, “One Last Time” and “Finally Free”.

The weird part is you have this low profile official bootleg release, where the fans get the original mix for the album, when nowadays these kind of tracks are the “in thing” for anniversary editions or special remixed editions.

And so far, this release has not been re-released as part of the “Lost Not Forgotten” series via Inside Out Music.

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How Has It Aged: Devin Townsend Project – Transcendence

“Transcendence” is the seventeenth studio album by Devin Townsend and it is the seventh and final album in the Devin Townsend Project series. It was released on September 9, 2016, via HevyDevy Records.

Think about that for a second. 17 albums.

It got a lot of awesome write ups and I think Loudwire gave it the Number 1 spot on albums released in 2016. I only listened to two songs from it as they came up on playlists (in “Stormbending” and “Failure”) and never really went back to listen to the full album during that year. I don’t know why I didn’t check it out fully, as “Failure” was and still is a great head banging track.

I don’t know how to describe the album.

I grew up on the sounds of the 80’s. The only thing that resembles the 80’s here is the distortion guitars and some shredding guitar lines. Sometime in the early 2000’s, extreme metal bands started to add atmospheric synths to their sounds, and they slowed their tempos so they have groove. It has some of that.

Then there was a genre called Math Metal which morphed to Djent and its now known as progressive metal. Well it has a bit of that. Operatic themes are present as well.

In the end, Devin Townsend is pushing the bar on creativity and originality, using the various digital audio workstation tools and plug-ins to achieve uniqueness. The future will probably look back at this album and hold it in high regard like the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven. Maybe he will bring about world peace like the Wyld Stallions did in Bill And Ted.

Truth

A groove metal riff (almost nu-metal like in feel) underpins the song while the synth keys give it a very Euro vibe. At the 1.30 mark it goes into this classical like section.

At 2.15 minutes, it’s like a fire ritual, with a spaced out, very heavily reverb’d “Hallelujah” chant happening over a chaotic wall of noise. It sounds ethereal, dissonant yet melodic and hypnotic. And you can’t really make out the lyrics, (which ain’t much) as they are heavily loaded with effects.

And it ends like mindfulness music.

I also didn’t know it at the time that this was an updated or reimagined version of the same song which appeared on Townsend’s solo record, “Infinity” from 1998. And suddenly the nu-metal feel makes sense.

Stormbending

Devin Townsend can play some serious guitar and the dude can sing and growl with the best of em. In other words, he is one talented mf.

This song was perfect back in 2016 and it still is now.

You need to listen to the section that kicks in 1.46. Did anyone say “guitar hero”? Well you have it with Devin Townsend. The lead break that comes after that reminds me of A Perfect Circle. Actually the whole cinematic like vibe is reminiscent of the debut APC album. Then again, we wear our influences on our sleeves.

At about 3.28, it goes into this major key like vibe. It sounds hopeful and it goes with the lyrical line of “All we’re offering is a change to be loved”. And they continue this vibe before it fades into a cacophony of noises which segue into “Failure”.

Failure

The way this song starts off. It’s so heavy yet it lifts you up.

And they continue that groove (which reminds me of Tool), adding extra guitars, synths, harmonies and what not.

All I could be is press repeat over and over again to hear it.

And while the music is perfection, Devin Townsend reminds everyone what a great rock singer he is. He’s all clean tone, using his natural baritone voice, with high falsettos and when the Chorus kicks in, it’s like a sermon, with some high deity singing to the masses.

At 2.21, a lead break starts. He’s melodic, keeping within key, then he goes all dissonant and chromatic but at 3.11 he goes modal, keeping within the key and I am hooked. Just listen to it.

If you weren’t converted to Devin Townsend by know, this song could be the key.

And at 6.82 million Spotify streams it’s virtually forgotten.

Secret Sciences

It’s got a major key strummed riff to start it off. Its pop music and yet it still sounds heavy.

And when he sings “let it go” in the Chorus, a certain Disney song comes to mind.

Higher

It reminds me of Pink Floyd and “Goodbye Blue Sky” in feel.

Then at 1.20, it goes into a quirky “Higher” chant and then a Tool like groove kicks in, but the vocals are far removed from Maynard.

At 3.25, I like the whole movement and Townsend’s “craft your life” vocal line which then segues into a progressive interlude and an extreme metal passage. Add to that some groove metal over different time changes, operatic vocals and you would think the song is done.

But it’s not.

At the 6 minute mark, it goes into this doom grind riff. It’s so heavy, it will sink ships.

And I am thinking, how did this song which started out so beautiful, descend into chaos and violence musically. That’s the best way to sum up Devin Townsend.

Stars

I have read in reviews that this is a metal ballad. To me it is a metal song. There’s nothing ballad about it. I also love the Chorus hook of “I can see you in the stars tonight, lost in love and light”

And that change at 2.15. Press play to hear it.

Transcendence

It feels like a U2 track with orchestras and a wall of guitars.

Offer Your Light

It’s metal like, with a frantic tempo and a dance like synth pattern. And I like it, especially the angelic voice of Anneke van Giersbergen.

From The Heart

An 8 minute pre-closer. It feels cinematic and grand like when the hero saves the day and the darkness gives way to light.

Transdermal Celebration

The closing track is a cover from Ween, a psychedelic rock band who released this song in 2003. It’s done in Townsend’s unique way and you wouldn’t know it was a cover.

If there is a complaint, there are times when I feel that Townsend’s vocals are buried under the walls of guitar noise and operatic sound experimentations.

Overall, the album still sounds as fresh and as crazy as it did back then. The styles and moods are so schizophrenic that it will never date or be dated to a certain movement or sound like “The Sunset Strip” or “Seattle”.

And I can’t believe I found 1000 plus words to describe it.

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Music, My Stories

Spotify Ramblings from 2022

I listened to 33,090 minutes of music on Spotify last year. It equates to 90 minutes a day and it doesn’t include any vinyl or CDs played on my stereo system.

This involves listening to 1214 different artists.

I say it ever year.

Once upon a time the maximum records I would have purchased in a year was between 20 to 30 different artists, when I had my own money and before that when my parents were funding me, it was 8 to 12 different artists and most of em came in November for my birthday and December for Christmas.

And those artists would hold my attention for a lot longer because that was all I had to listen to.

But when you have the entire history of recorded music at your fingertips (almost), it’s pretty easy to flick between so many different artists.

And to be creative with playlists (aka old mixtapes) from so many different artists.

Like an old school playlists incorporating 80s and 90s songs (above) or a more current 2010s and above playlist (below).

Or you can combine the entire history of an artist into a playlist. Like Glen Hughes. 27 hours worth of music. There are a few more releases to add.

The same with Dio, but this time I tried to sequence the playlist like an album.

Then again Dio’s career is so wide, I was able to sequence a lot of different albums.

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Australian Method Series: The Poor – Who Cares

When Airbourne came out almost a decade later, most Australians would have said, “we have seen this movie before, and it’s called The Poor.”

But let’s go back a little bit. 

Formed in 1986 in Darwin, Northern Territory. The original line up would go through some changes before they end up with the members who would play on the recorded product.

In 1992, there was “The Poor Boys” who released the EP, “Rude, Crude & Tattooed” on Sony/Columbia Records. It was produced by The Angels’ members Rick Brewster and Bob Spencer. It got the band onto Radio and Music Television. It sounded more like “The Angels”, “Kings Of The Sun”, “Rose Tattoo” and “The Screaming Jets” than “AC/DC”. Then again, all of those bands have roots to AC/DC.

It also got them touring. 

In 1993, another EP called “Underfed” came out, which again, got them on the road. This was produced by Brent Eccles (also a member of The Angels). They followed this release by backing United States acts, “Alice in Chains” and “Suicidal Tendencies”, on the Australian leg of their combined tour. It’s always cool to have an act that rocks like AC/DC.

‘The Poor Boys:” then became “The Poor” to avoid confusion with a US group.

And then came “Who Cares” in 1994. A balls to the wall, sleazy rawk and roll album straight from the pubs and clubs of Australia. It was a middle finger salute to Seattle and Grunge and flannel shirts.

Produced by Paul Northfield, the band is made up of Skenie on lead vocals, original founder Julian Grynglas on guitar, Matt Whitby on bass and the nephew of the Young brothers James Young on drums.

They supported AC/DC on the “Ballbreaker” tour and that is when I got a chance to see them live.

Poison

If you like your AC/DC and D.A.D then you will like this and the innuendo in the Chorus hook, “come on baby, take your poison, you want it, I got it”. The only thing missing is “pulling the trigger of their love gun”.

Dirty Money

This could have come from Baby Animals and I like it. It also appeared as the opening track on their “Underfed” EP from a year before.

Man Of War

A Jimmy Page like acoustic fingerpicked intro kicks it off.

A serious attempt telling the “man of war to stop the bleeding”. I guess things haven’t changed. War is a constant in our lives.

At 1.23 the song kicks into overdrive. 

Tell Someone Who Cares

Oh, that riff in the intro, it could sink ships at its heaviness. It then drops out and lets the bass rumble when the verses kick in.

Press play to hear it. 

And the Chorus is basic, a tribute to those AC/DC Choruses. 

More Wine Waiter Please

What a title? 

Full of decadence and debauchery. The riff to introduce it is heavy and rolling. Once the drumming kicks in, it reminds me of “Deuce”.

If you like your hard sleazy rock, then press play on this. It’s a must on playlists.

Ain’t On The Chain

I know Accept liked AC/DC and on this, The Poor channel Accept’s take on AC/DC with a nod to Udo. Then again, you could say that they are channelling the Bon Scott era of AC/DC. But that is for the vocals. Musically, it has a lot of LA Sunset Strip style of rhythm playing.

This song also appeared on the “Underfed” EP from 1993.

Downtown

You can never get enough of acts showing their love for AC/DC. Think “Sin City” here.

Hair Of The Dog

I like the heaviness.

About going into a bar the other night and getting into a fight.

Liar

She’s a liar, a little two faced bitch.

Enough said, just press play.

Ride

It’s a thrash-a-roll. 

Only The Night

“Hit the road jack, ain’t gonna come back no more” comes to mind in the intro and then it goes into “Hot For Teacher”.

If you want to hear the decadent love child of AC/DC and Van Halen then press play on this.

As a bit of trivia this song goes back to the debut 4 song EP, “Rude, Crude and Tattooed” from 1992.

After the release they toured the U.S supporting, Scorpions before hitting Europe and Japan.

When they believed that the touring cycle was done for the album, they got a call in early 1996 to open for AC/DC on their Ballbreaker international tour.

And they weren’t done. They also got the Kiss support slot and in 1998 they also got the Van Halen support slot.

And we finally got some new music from then, a single called “Simple Livin'”, which was to be the first single from the follow-up to “Who Cares”. There was no identity crisis here for The Poor. While other acts tried to fit into the post Grunge, neo-industrial environment, The Poor channelled their love of Thin Lizzy and AC/DC to create “Simple Livin’” and its B-side “Love Isn’t On Again”.

But the new album never came and they disbanded in 2000 into two separate heavy rock projects called “Lump” and “Blackseed”.

Only to reform in April 2008 to play on an Australia tour with W.A.S.P.

Then a new album called “Round 1” came out in 2009 and “Round 2” in 2010 by Australian label “Riot!”.

And finally The Poor are in full swing with the soon to be released fourth album (first in thirteen years), “High Price Deed” on 2 February 2023.

The pre-release singles “Payback’s a Bitch”, “Cry Out”, “Let Me Go” and “Take the World” have impressed so far.

The band at this stage is Daniel Cox on guitar who joined in 2019, Anthony “Skenie” Skene is still on vocals and rhythm guitar, Matt Whitby is still on bass guitar and Gavin Hansen on drums, having replaced James Young in 1997.

Play it loud. 

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

How Has It Aged: Van Halen – Balance

28 years ago. January 24, 1995.

The Seventh Seal

The sound of the monks immediately gets my attention.

When the whole band kicks in, the running bass line from Michael Anthony stands out, while EVH is playing power chords with the high E and B strings ringing out, Anthony is changing the root note.

Then the palm muted riff for the verse begins. It’s perfect.

How good is the section with the lyrics “under darkest skies”?

In relation to album openers, it’s one of their best since “Running With The Devil”.

Can’t Stop Loving You

It’s the Sammy Hagar vocal that rocks here over a chord progression influences by the 60’s and songs like “Stand By Me”.

EVH is also playing a-lot for the song, His free spirited approach is still there but focused.

Don’t Tell Me

When I purchased my 5150 Peavey Combo Amp, this was the first riff I played on it.

A simple riff, with some palm muting, the melodies from Hagar are perfect.

I like how EVH tweaks the chord progression for the second verse, bringing in some arpeggios.

The solo break is perfect. Just the three of em, jamming and no rhythm track. Plus we get an outro solo.

And underpinning it all is the Bonham like drumming from AVH.

Amsterdam

That section from the 3 minute mark. Wow. And I wanted that outro solo to continue until the band stopped but they faded it out.

Big Fat Money

A Bluesy tune but from the fingertips of EVH it’s like progressive blues. The energy is “Hot For Teacher” like level.

Hagar’s breathless delivery in the verses are a highlight. And AVH and Michael Anthony are solid in the rhythm foundations.

Strung Out

Yeah this track was a waste back then and still is. EVH is hitting the strings on the piano I think.

Not Enough

This one is a sleeper hit. Their take on songs like “Hey Jude”. B

Check out the solo here from EVH. His phrasing and his Bluesy bends are the highlight.

Aftershock

My favorite track here. Its shredding. I felt that they tried to rewrite it with “Humans Being”.

Regardless, press play and let your ears enjoy the Van Hagar version at their Metal best.

Especially that section from 2.48.

Then again the solo from EVH is a masterclass in different techniques.

Doin Time

Yeah, I would have left this off.

Baluchiterium

And this as well.

Take Me Back

EVH channels his love of Jimmy Page.

Feelin

An awesome deep cut. Eddie goes to town in the solo.

“Balance” is so underrated in the world of VH. It is heavy, yet it has a bit of everything.

The drama that came after the “Ambulance Tour” between Hagar, manager Ray Daniels and the Van Halen brothers shrouds the greatness of the album.

And before I forget, the production from Bruce Fairbairn is stellar.

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Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

The Record Vault: Dream Theater – Official Bootlegs: LIVE Series: Los Angeles, California 5/18/98

This original Ytse Jam bootleg has not been re-released as a “Lost Not Forgotten Archive” yet.

This was recorded on the “Falling Into Infinity” tour. The band was James Labrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitars, John Myung on bass, Mike Portnoy on drums and Derek Sherinian on keyboards.

The mighty Bruce Dickinson guests on vocals for the songs “Perfect Strangers” from Deep Purple and the Iron Maiden songs “The Trooper”, “Where Eagles Dare” and “Killers”. And yes that is him on the cover as well, making it look like he was the frontman instead of James LaBrie.

Ray Alder from Fates Warning also guests on “Pull Me Under”.

This was recorded live at the House Of Blues in Los Angeles on May 18, 1998. There are no touch ups here folks, just a soundboard recording which was then mastered. So you get it all, warts and all.

Lines In The Sand

The opener, from the “Falling Into Infinity” album.

Live they pushed the 11 minute run time to about 14 minutes. On the studio recording the soulful voice of Doug Pinnick appears in the Chorus, however live, that job fell to Mike Portnoy.

Petrucci delivers his emotive solo as expected and LaBrie acknowledges it by telling the audience “that is John Petrucci on guitar” after the solo finishes.

Burning My Soul

This song is a groove metal behemoth. It’s also from the “Falling Into Infinity” album.

The only thing you could do is press play and bang your head to it because the “pressure keeps burning my soul.”

Take The Time

They have fun with this classic from the “Images And Words” album.

It moves between metal, rock, jazz fusion, funk rock and progressive rock.

Live they also chuck in a lot of cover solos in the outro like “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Hot For Teacher” by Van Halen and “Moby Dick” by Led Zeppelin and the intro of “YYZ” by Rush.

Anna Lee

From the “Falling Into Infinity” album, it’s a piano ballad that does nothing for me, so it’s a skip for me here.

Speak To Me

This one was written for the “Falling Into Infinity” double album, but when the label said they only want one album, it was left off the list. I still don’t know how “Anna Lee” made it over this one.

Press play and enjoy.

It’s Dream Theater’s take on how 1980’s U2 would sound through the DT blender. And its performed brilliantly.

A Crack On The Mirror / Puppies On Acid

It’s an instrumental, combining various ideas.

It starts off with Derek Sherinian doodling on the keys, before he starts to play a riff which gets Portnoy to join and eventually the band. They play some sections from “The Mirror”, forming their own medley from the song.

I would rather have heard the song “The Mirror”.

Just Let Me Breathe

Not my favourite song from “Falling Into Infinity” so I would have preferred to hear something else.

Sequencing in live gigs is important, and apart from “Speak To Me”, the other songs like “Anna Lee”, “A Crack In The Mirror” and “Just Let Me Breathe” lose my interest.

Lie

This is DT putting the groove metal from Pantera into their blender.

Is Progressive Groove Rock a genre?

If it is, this song stands tall.

LaBrie is a bit hard to handle here vocally, but hey, if you want the studio recording, press play on the CD. I would rather take a ticket to the show instead.

Peruvian Skies

They set a standard with this song.

Every time they play it, they play parts of the songs that inspired and influenced the song, so you will hear excerpts of “Have A Cigar” by Pink Floyd and “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Not a lot of artists would mash up Pink Floyd and Metallica but Dream Theater did and it’s called “Peruvian Skies”.

Then again, not of a lot of artists would show which song influenced them, in case they get a writ.

Press play to hear how they mash it all up.

John Petrucci Guitar Solo

I don’t like guitar solos on their own like this.

I really like how Petrucci started to incorporate his solo moment into a song, by extending the normal solo section of the song, like how he did with “Hollow Years” from “Live At Budokan”.

Pull Me Under

Ray Adler from Fates Warning guests on vocals here.

This is the song that made me a fan.

From a song writing point of view, the band takes the initial intro riff and they keep tweaking it throughout. It’s a great study in how to write different iterations of the same riff and same chordal sequence.

But they don’t do the clean tone intro here, they go straight into the riff that comes about a minute into the song.

Scarred

It’s an 11 minute prog rocker, with a lot of vocal highs. And it doesn’t help LaBrie that the song is sped up a little bit, which is a curse of performing live.

Musically some of the riffs that sounded a bit buried in the studio mix are high in the mix here and I like it.

A Change of Seasons IV: The Darkest Of Winters

A small 3 minute diversion into the mammoth “A Change Of Seasons”.

Ytse Jam

Ahh yes the instrumental that defined Majesty, the name of the band before Dream Theater.

Mike Portnoy Drum Solo

Like the John Petrucci guitar solo moment, I’m not a fan of individual drum solo’s as well. I would rather hear a song with some kick ass fills in between bars than to hear just the drums on their own.

Once the drum solo is done they go back into “Ytse Jam” for about 10 seconds before they start “New Millenium”.

New Millenium

It’s actually the opening track on the album, however it is played as the last song of the set before the encores begin.

Press play and enjoy it.

The first encore begins with Bruce Dickinson lending a hand on “Perfect Strangers”, “The Trooper”, “Where Eagles Dare” and “Killers’.

Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple cover)

How cool it would have been to get Bruce Dickinson up on stage.

You need to remember this is Bruce Dickinson in 1998. His return to Maiden and the “Brave New World” era wasn’t yet done.

It took a verse for the mixer dude to put up his microphone.

The Trooper (Iron Maiden cover)

How iconic is “you take my life and I’ll take yours too”.

Where Eagles Dare (Iron Maiden cover)

They started it and then they stopped after a few verses, as Bruce said, “fucked if I know, it’s been years since I’ve sung it”.

Killers (Iron Maiden cover)

And they go straight into this classic. I never saw it as a progressive track, but hearing it today, it’s definitely got a progressive attitude.

They did a couple of verses before they stopped it as well. And Bruce walked off with a laugh.

It’s a fun little encore section, almost jam like in its nature.

The second Encore begins they don’t play the full songs, just a medley.

Metropolis

From “Images And Words”, the song is a classic. But they don’t play the full song. So I’m not a massive fan of this medley.

Learning To Live

My favourite track from “Images And Words” but they only play sections.

Why write long songs of your just going to cherry pick certain sections of them to do a medley.

A Change Of Seasons VII: The Crimson Sunset

A fitting finale.

To get a re-release, they would need to get Bruce Dickinson’s approval to do so or they remove the songs that he sang and tried to sing.

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

How Has It Aged: Megadeth – Dystopia

January 23, 2016.

Seven years ago, Megadeth dropped “Dystopia”. Their 15th studio album and one of their best in the 2000 era of the band.

I reviewed the album on the site when it dropped and again a few years ago.

I keep making mention of the powerhouse drumming from Chris Adler, who at the time was still in Lamb Of God and worked as a “hired gun” on this. I still don’t believe I have done his contributions justice. His command of the kick drum is a must listen for any aspiring drummer. He locks into the riffs when he needs do, he plays simple when he needs to and he can thrash and roll when he needs to.

The cover is striking and memorable.

Being from Sydney, the Harbour Bridge is an iconic land monument which when built connected the Northern and Southern parts of Sydney, so seeing a bridge that looks very similar to it in a state of destruction and disrepair, immediately gets my attention.

Then you have those “1984” aerial devices that either “spy on you” or act as “judge, jury and executioner” for the ruling party.

And then there is “the humanoid”, holding the decapitated head of another humanoid.

The Threat Is Real

A mournful Middle Eastern voice begins the song before a fast open string riff is deployed with military precision.

And I am hooked.

Dystopia

The title track.

It brings back memories of “Hanger 18” which of course had its main riff based on a progression that Mustaine wrote for “The Call Of Ktulu”.

The whole outro section is essential listening. Especially how Chris Adler brings it to a frantic end.

Fatal Illusion

Groove, chromatics and dissonance. They are not meant to work together but they do in the fingertips of Mustaine.

At the 60 second mark, the bass from David Ellefson stands alone as he plays the main riff.

When the whole band crashes in, my ears tune in again to the drumming of Chris Adler.

In composition it reminds me of “Wake Up Dead”, riffs upon riffs and no section which could be a Chorus as every section could be one.

Death From Within

I didn’t gravitate to this song back then but I was a fool. It’s 12/8 “Children Of The Grave” rhythm hooked me in straight away today.

Bullet To The Brain

The acoustic arpeggio intro is brief. Its classical influenced but not really classical.

But the best bit is the melodic lead played over the verse riff between 0.39 and 0.56. This happens again from 1.40 to 1.53.

I also like the section I call “The Disturbed Section” between 1.12 and 1.29. This also happens again from 2.10 to 2.28.

The lead breaks on this song are “Guitar Hero” wow.

Post American World

A throwback to “Symphony To Destruction” and those accessible riffs.

Poisonous Shadows

The acoustic intro, which reminds me of a solo section from “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” between the 8.50 and 9.10 mark. Since the song is a co-wrote with Kiko Loureiro, I presume he wrote this riff.

Press play to hear it and then compare the two. The keys are different, the speed is different but the way the notes move is the same.

Listen to the way Adler locks in the kick drum with the riff in the verses.

The Chorus reminds me of a similar song from the album “The World Needs A Hero”. I think it’s “Promises” which is another forgotten track from the vast catalogue that is Megadeth.

Conquer Or Die

It’s an instrumental written by Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro.

A flamenco intro from Kiko starts the song which I like.

Lying In State

My favourite song from the album and it’s up there as one of the finest Megadeth songs.

The drums from Chris Adler on this are powerful. While the riffs serve as the songs foundation and Mustaine vocals are top notch, it is the way Adler performs on the drums that elevates the song.

That whole section from 2.19 is “smash the walls” stuff. When the melodic lead break starts, I’m ready to go through the wall.

The Emperor

There’s no way you can’t like the way it starts off. It’s got this “Dread And The Fugitive Mind” kind of feel.

Foreign Policy

It’s a “Fear” cover.

For those who don’t know. FEAR, is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1977. Since its formation, the band has gone through various line-up changes, and at one point featured Flea on bass.

This song appeared on “The Record”, the debut studio album released on May 16, 1982. Dave Grohl holds this album in high regard and he interviewed vocalist/rhythm guitarist Lee Ving for the 2013 documentary film “Sound City”.

Duff McKagan picked the song “We Destroy the Family” for his 2016 list “The 10 Best Punk Songs” and said, “Fear’s debut album “The Record” still gets played backstage before he goes on.

“Let’s Have a War” was included on the “Repo Man” soundtrack album and covered by A Perfect Circle on the album “eMOTIVe”.

Hearing this song, you can hear how thrashy the hard-core punk movement was in L.A. The song could have been written by Mustaine as it has that technicality that Megadeth is known for.

Melt The Ice Away

It’s basically a fast blues NWOBHM track.

For those who don’t know, it’s a Budgie cover. That same Budgie that wrote “Breadfan” which Metallica covered

Budgie remained quite obscure during their career, however a lot of hard rock/metal artists have cited them as an important influence and covered their songs, including Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Van Halen, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. It’s an impressive list.

This song appeared on Budgie’s seventh album, released in February 1978 on A&M Records.

Overall, “Dystopia” is a masterpiece.

A lot of bands don’t get to fifteen albums and if they do, it is very rare that the album is any good.

Sort of like “Super Collider” released in 2013 was; where the best song is a cover from Thin Lizzy. Okay “Kingmaker” is one of the best opening tracks Megadeth have written.

But that was it.

Okay the title track “Super Collider” also gets a pass and although it was weird to hear Mustaine sing “Burn, Baby, Burn” and rhyming “fire” with “desire” the song “Burn” is a pretty cool hard rock track which actually reminds me of early Budgie.

But overall, critics hated it and the fans hated it even more. Something had to be done.

So Mustaine corrected the “Super Collider” hard rock experiment with the progressive speed metal album “Dystopia”. He had too and by doing so, he replenished his fan base all around the world and he grew it even more in South America with the addition of Kiko Loureiro.

Plus they won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for “Dystopia” and when they got up to get their award, “Master Of Puppets” played from Metallica. Nice one Grammy’s. Rookie mistake 101.

And the album has aged really well. It sounds as current as it did back in 2016.

Crank it.

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