If you like the hard rock of Led Zeppelin and the blues rock of Bad Company, Whitesnake and Led Zeppelin, you will love this album. Doug Aldrich on guitar is a force to be reckoned with.
Tag Archives: Led Zeppelin
Lifehouse
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 the lead-off single Hanging By A Moment had the traction, it was cuts like Cling and Clatter, Quasimodo and Everything that hooked me in. I especially enjoyed the song Everything and its movement from an acoustic introspective song into a Stairway To Heaven big finish.
No Name Face was the pinnacle. Stanley Climbfall and the self titled album didn’t even come close. I was starting to lose interest and to my surprise so was my wife. Who We Are in 2007 got my attention with the sorrowful Storm, the soul searching rock of Disarray and the Johnny Cash vibe of Broken . Then in 2010, came Smoke and Mirrors. Tracks 1 to 8 are top notch. They should have stopped the album right there. It would have been perfection. The most recent album Almeria has the song Moveonday, which reminds me of When The Levee Breaks from Led Zeppelin. The rest however pales compared to No Name Face and Smoke and Mirrors.
All In is a great song from the Smoke and Mirrors album released in 2010.
It’s a Jason Wade and Jude Cole composition. The soft first fret capo’d strumming in the intro is all an illusion to the rock song that lay in waiting. The chords that are played are F, C, G and Am, with a capo on the first fret.
The chords then change to C, F, Am – G and F for the verse and the chorus. This is a part of Lifehouse I like a lot. They use the same chords for the verse and for the chorus and they change the vocal melody. This is the extreme opposite to say Dream Theater, who will have a verse riff that is unique and a chorus riff that is unique.
And I’m all in
Nothing left to hide
I’m all in
I’m all in for life
It’s those moments in time when you realise, yeah, I am in love, so let’s do this. My father always said to me that you marry for life. In 2013 my wife and I are going to celebrate 15 years of marriage with our three kids. It’s been a ride. There have been highs and there have been lows. However, I am all in for life.
There’s no taking back what we’ve got
It’s too strong we’ve had each other’s back for too long
There’s no breaking up this time
When I come across people that tell me they never argue and that everything is perfect, I just smile and reply that they are so lucky. However I am thinking that at least one person in the relationship is not telling the truth. Eventually they implode. It could have been a secret gambling addiction, not being truthful about money and so on. There have been times in our relationship were it is easier to just walk away, however we have had each other’s backs for so long, walking away was never an option that came in our minds.
It’s the best song on Smoke and Mirrors.
Falling In would not be out of place on a Daughtry album. It’s the laid back feel that hooks me in. It’s a Jason Wade, Jude Cole, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and Kevin Rudolf composition.
Outside writers can bring a lot to the table, however they can also make the song very formulaic. Kevin Rudolf is known to be the “King Of The Cross Genre”. His resume is diverse, involving song writing credits with Timbaland, Cobra Starship, My Darkest Days, Lil Wayne, Natasha Bedingfield, Flo Ride and so on. As I mentioned earlier, the overall sound of the song would not be out of place on a Daughtry album. I am hearing the pop formula at work.
This is another song where the verse riff and chorus riff use the same chords. In this case they are G, D, Em and C. The vocal melody is designed to carry the song and it does a marvellous job at it.
Every time I see your face
My heart takes off on a high speed chase
Now don’t be scared, it’s only love
Baby that we’re falling in
It’s that moment when you commit. You don’t know what the outcome is going to be, you just know at that point in time there is nothing else you want except the love.
Smoke And Mirrors
It’s the Tom Petty and REM influence that hooks me in. It’s another Jason Wade and Jude Cole composition. The Intro of Em, G and D times 3 is the familiar Chorus progression. This ends with a dissonant Eb6 sus4 chord and then a C/G chord.
The verses move from C to D times 3 and it ends with the same dissonant Eb6 sus4 chord and then a C/G chord.
Now the days roll hard and the nights move fast
They say be careful what you wish
But having everything means nothing to me now
What we had is everything to miss
All the riches we have, we cannot take to the grave. All that will be left is the memories. That is the legacy we leave behind. If people talk about their experiences and the moments they had with you, that is a legacy. No one is going to remember if you had millions or billions in your bank account. This whole song is about striving to be someone you are not, and then when you get those riches, you realise that it really meant nothing to you. The real smiles, the romance, the good and the bad of a relationship are the things that really mattered.
Gonna drive all night ’til we disappear
Chasing down the miles so far from here
As the smoke and mirrors start to fade away
And we’re all we’ve got so let’s hold on tight
When the masquerade is over and all the crowds are gone you are either all alone or you still have your loved one hanging in. Strange as it is, this song reminds me of the Savatage song, When The Crowds Are Gone from the Gutter Ballet album, released in 1987. The message of the song is about a person who is sitting on the empty stage, reflecting on all the unfinished dreams and trying to remember those memories that seem to slip away like faded photographs. Throughout his or her life, they conformed to win over the masses and then when the masses then went on to something else, what is left?
The story’s over, when the crowds are gone
You need to have that other life, that place of sanity, that when the crowds disappear and all the money disappears, you still have that love. When one story ends, the other story still continues.
This is the beauty of music were a song from a different genre brings back a memory of another song that is 26 years old.
When the crowds are gone
And I’m all alone
Playing a final song
For any artist or an actor, that is the way it will end. The crowds and the riches will not be around forever. Look at Johnny Cash, who in his last days was recording his music from a hospital bed, without the crowds and the riches. He just had his family.
Had Enough is an interesting song. First it is written by Jason Wade, Chris Daughtry and Richard Marx. What a combination of Top 10 writers. It also features Chris Daughtry. Furthermore, Bon Jovi has been trying to write a song like this for years, however he just never nailed. Just Older from the Crush album is probably the closest Bon Jovi got.
The intro and verse are built around an Am, F, C and G progression, moving to a Dm and F progression just before the chorus. The chorus is built around a C, F, Am and F progression. I like the movement from the minor key sadness in the verses to the major key “hope” and it’s time to move on mantra in the Chorus.
Loneliness facing up and down these hallways
Second guessing every thought
Mystified, just spinning ’round in circles
Drowning in the silent screaming with nothing left to say
You know the feeling of suffering in silence trying to make things work, but really doing nothing special to make it work.
Every time I reach for you, there’s no one there to hold on to
Nothing left for me to miss, I’m letting go, letting go of this
Lost my mind thinking it through, the light inside has left me too
Now I know what empty is, I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough of this
The part in the relationship where you know that the other side has checked out emotionally and lovingly, however they are still around physically because both sides cannot find the strength and the effort to call full time.
From Where You Are is a Jason Wade composition. According to Wikipedia the song is dedicated to the teens who have lost their lives in car accidents.
The intro and verse is a F, Am and G progression, while the Chorus moves to a Am, F, Am, G progression. The song moves from a major key in the verses to a minor key in the Chorus.
I miss the years that were erased
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things
I never thought that they’d mean everything to me
In the end, no one is going to miss the wealth or the fame. We will miss all those little things that at first glance we didn’t see as important.
It Is What It Is
It’s another Jason Wade and Jude Cole composition.
Play the Capo on the 4th fret and the intro/verse progression is Em | C | G-D | G-D. The Chorus progression is G | D | Em | C and the Bridge progression is C | D | Em | Am.
It is what it is
I was only looking for a shortcut home
But it’s complicated
It’s hard trying to keep a relationship going. There are no shortcuts and its very complicated. So many strings are attached to it. Sometimes in those times of doubt it is better to be without each other. Love is complicated. More complicated than we think.
If the time could turn us around
What once was lost may be found
For you and me, for you and me
Time moves on. Once it is gone, we cannot get it back. To use a plate analogy for love, once the plate is broken, it doesn’t matter how the plate is glued back together, it is never the same.
Nerve Damage
It’s another Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Jude Cole, Kevin Rudolf and Jason Wade composition. It has that Stairway To Heaven feel at the beginning that hooks me in. In this case the song begins in Bm instead of Am. I also love the bluesy feel of the lead.
New circus freak
With black eyes that speak
Life takes it’s toll
You push and it pulls
You’re losing control
The mask that we wear makes us look like circus freaks. Even though this song is about a relationship, I take a different meaning from this verse.
I see the lines “New circus freak with black eyes that speak,” is the aftermath of the violence. The person is so battered and so bruised, they look like a circus freak. The black eyes is the result of the violence.
The lines, “Life takes its toll, you push and it pulls, you’re losing control,” is the result of the bed the person made for themselves. There is an old saying, “you live and die by the life you lead.” In this instance, the person is losing control of their life as the situation they are in takes its toll.
Meltdown’s looking for a new clown
Living in a world that’s make believe
Used up burned out always got a hand out
Ain’t nothing here for free
Now you’re hanging on the edge of tomorrow
Let go let it be
This is what happens when you play a game of being someone you are not. You end up used, burned up and hanging by a thread to this thing called life. The meltdown is like the machine of life, always looking for new souls to keep it running. In the end, nothing is for free. We all end up paying the price for something we have done.
Hell bent looking for a god send
Kicking down the door waiting for a sign
Right side turning on the bright side
That might not be what you find
Wake up move on nothing left to prove
Got nightmares in your dreams
This last verse is about restoration. Get out of the make believe nightmare you created and move on. Let that past life be a nightmare in your dreams from this point forward. Don’t let it drag you down anymore.
Halfway Gone is a Jason Wade, Jude Cole, Kevin Rudolf and Jacob Kasher composition. It is using the same chords as Had Enough, which are Am, F, C and G with a capo on the 4th fret.
You were always hard to hold
So letting go ain’t easy
I’m hanging on but growing cold
While my mind is leaving
You know that it is over in your head, but you haven’t called it quits in the physical realm.
Cause you’re halfway in but don’t take too long
Cause I’m halfway gone, I’m halfway gone
The contradiction. One is halfway in, while one is halfway gone.
Hellyeah – Stand Or Walk Away
This song is so underrated. It’s got that Kashmir groove and even though the band is called Hellyeah, the song would not be out of place on a Mudvayne album.
Stand Or Walk Away is not one of those tracks you listen to passively. Your whole body becomes involved. The head nods, the foot starts to tap and your fingers start to lay down the beat. There is heaps of stuff happening in the track. There is a sense of classic rock familiarity that intrigues you and it is modern at the same time.
It’s dark yet uplifting and at position number nine it is best track from the 2010 album Stampede. With all the negative reviews around the overall album, it is very easy to miss a great song.
The Diary Of A Madman influenced acoustic intro kicks it off and then the Led Zeppelin Kashmir groove kicks in. Any song that is a derivative work of two classic songs that came before it, deserves attention.
I was told that life is beautiful
Well I’m not looking through those eyes
Wished upon a star and watch it fall away
Well that’s just one more thing that couldn’t be forever
Growing up I wasn’t told that life is beautiful. My father was quick to remind me that life is hard. He is an honest realistic man. He didn’t sugar coat things. So as I got older and I started to see what my father was taking about come to fruition it wasn’t much of a shock or a letdown to me as it was to some of my friends, who had parents that raised them with unrealistic ideals. There is a difference between providing realistic guidance and providing false guidance.
Don’t know if I should live or die
Should I stand or walk away
This is the reason why this song makes a connection with me. It is those two sentences. This world that we live in forces you to measure your worth in gold and status. It forces you to betray the honest ideals you grew up with to attain both. Then that moment comes were I needed to press the reset switch and start again.
I’m full of scars but I’m not made of stone
And my hearts exposed, my transparent life of terror
Our life is mistake riddled. That is the only way that we can really learn. You don’t appreciate the value of money until you hit rock bottom and have lost it all. You don’t appreciate the value of life, until you are laying in a hospital bed, broken and bruised.
Did I throw it away because of my ways?
If you are asking the question, then you know the answer to it.
The band Hellyeah is sort of like an enigma. Chad Gray is a great vocalist. His voice is unique and original. That is why the Mudvayne tag is hard to shake. Much in the same way that Device is seen as an extension of Disturbed due to David Draiman’s uniqueness, I am pretty sure that the fans see it same way between Mudvayne and Hellyeah. For me, it is all about the songs. If the songs are there to make a connection with me, then I am tuned in.
The Stampede album is nothing special. I only have this one song on my iPod from it. When I heard that Hellyeah was a goer, I thought to myself, geez, this band is going to have to live up to a lot of expectations, with the fusing of Mudvayne, Pantera and Nothingface. Those expectations to me is still the Achilles heel of the band.
It will be interesting to see what kind of magic, Kevin Churko brings to the next album. Kevin Churko to me is the definition of a rock star. He has the same traction as the musicians he works with. I can honestly say that I will purchase an album of music just because Kevin Churko produced it. I seriously believe that Churko will get a better crafted album from them.
One last thing, when the future generations write the history of metal guitarists, talented players like Greg Tribbet will be forgotten. But they shouldn’t be. Tribbet is a sum of his influences. He can be progressive (Mudvayne’s 2nd album is the piece d resistance in progressive riffage), he can be heavy, he can be the guitar hero and he can be soulful, bluesy and even countrish. He is very underrated and a great talent.
So since we are in the single music era, go and stream the crap out of this song. It will be worth your time.
Learning To Live – Dream Theater – Classic Song To Be Re-Discovered
It’s the music that makes Learning To Live a classic.
If I had to recommend one song to a new Dream Theater fan that typified the progressive rock leanings of the band, then that song would be Learning To Live. Learning To Live was released on the 1992, Images and Words album. The song is that good, that Dream Theater even rewrote it and called it Breaking All Illusions. That version was released on A Dramatic Turn of Events in 2011.
The Kevin Moore keyboard intro kicks things off with a wicked 15/8 time signature. This same passage re-appears and this time it is played over alternating time signatures, starting off with 14/8 for 2 bars, then 13/8 for one bar and back to 14/8 for another bar. Then it goes back to 13/8, 14/8, 13/8, 7/8.
In between you get a very metal like passage in the vein of Immigrant Song from Led Zeppelin, that moves between 7/4,6/4,4/4 and 5/8 time signatures over F#m, C#m and Em root notes. It doesn’t sound forced. It is very fluent like.
The verse is unbelievable. Myung holds it all together with an unbelievable groove over a 7/4 and 6/4 time signature, that is supplemented by Kevin Moore’s choir like voicing’s outlining the Em9, Cmaj9, Amadd9 and Em9 chords. Myung paraphrases the novel Atlas Shrugged from Ayn Rand.
There was no time for pain, no energy for anger
The sightlessness of hatred slips away
Walking through winter streets alone, He stops and take a breath
With confidence and self-control
I look at the world and see no understanding
I’m waiting to find some sense of strength
I’m begging you from the bottom of my heart to show me understanding
Petrucci and Portnoy build the song nicely into the chorus. Petrucci begins with normal volume swells, while Portnoy locks in with Myung. As Petrucci’s guitar gets busier with harmonics, chords and arpeggios, Portnoy’s drumming becomes busier.
The second verse has an unbelievable progressive groove that keeps within the 7/4 and 6/4 time signature of the first verse. This time it’s all power chords and its heavy as hell. Chugging along on an E5 power cord, Petrucci enhances the riffs by chucking in B5, Bflat5 and F power chords, utilising the devil triton to maximum effect.
The 90s bring new questions
New solutions to be found
I fell in love to be let down
Then when you think they are going to go into the Chorus again, they go into a bridge part with a simple 4/4 groove and then the instrumental break starts. Petrucci is now playing what Moore played in the intro.
The flamenco passage at 5.30 kicks things off. From 6.30 it gets progressive and then the woo ohh ohhs kick in and Petrucci takes over at 7.10 in one of the most heartfelt solos Petrucci has laid to tape. Those bends remind me of Dave Gilmour in Comfortably Numb.
The whole Wait For Sleep segment that begins at 7.30 and ends at 9.35 includes brilliant jazz bluesy solos from both Moore and Petrucci and the main piano riff from Wait For Sleep. It then segues back in to the Chorus.
The way that your heart beats
Makes all the difference in learning to live
Just when you think the song is over, the outro kicks in, again led by an unbelievably groovy and very funky Myung bass line. Then Petrucci joins in with the Natural Harmonics and then the monk style voices take over. As a listener I just sit back with the head phones and allow myself to be taken away. A brilliant song and a brilliant piece of work.
Mike Portnoy has gone on record saying how much he hated working with the producer David Prater and the use of drum midi triggers. Portnoy feared that the triggers would make the album sound dated and seen as another generic hard rock album.
One thing is certain. The album still sounds fresh and current in 2013 as it did back in 1992. As Rush’s 2112 laid the groundwork for what was to come for Rush, Images and Words did the same for Dream Theater.
The old rock star is dead. Its time to create a new rock star that is a product of the times
Influences/Inspiration
Nobody exists in a vacuum. Inspiration comes from what you read, watch and experience. Inspiration is the merging of these experiences and influences into something new. When Metallica came on the scene they were inspired and influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. They were influenced by Punk. They were inspired and influenced by Classic Rock. They were excited and this made them nervous. Nerves made them play faster.
When Black Sabbath came on the scene they were originally influenced by the Blues. Just another blues band among the many blues bands doing the rounds at that time. Then they applied their gloomy industrial upbringing and the rest is history.
Experience
Inspiration doesn’t take place in a vacuum. All day long you are experiencing.
Could Nikki Sixx have written Kick Start My Heart if he didn’t experience death and life? Could James Hetfield have written The Unforgiven if he was brought up in a wealthy household that didn’t have Christian Science beliefs? Could Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi have written Wanted Dead Or Alive if they never toured? Could Dee Snider have written We’re Not Gonna Take It, if he was rich?
If you think you can write a hit song with no prior experience, you’re dreaming. Our whole life is information. Be ready to reference it. Trust your first initial feeling.
Sign Of The Times
Don’t get caught up in doing things in the old way. Today’s medium is the Internet. No one wants to hear new music from their favourite artist every two years. We surf the net each day, looking for new music and information. If there is a demand for your music, you should create and distribute constantly.
The days when we used to have very little music are over. The days of saving up to buy an album and the playing the same album over and over again are also gone. Now, we’ve got the history of recorded music at our fingertips. YouTube has everything that you want, Spotify has almost everything that you could want and if all of that fails cyber lockers and The Pirate Bay fill the void.
Product Of The Times
The old rock star is dead. Its time to create a new rock star that is a product of the times. Keep innovating. Embrace the new reality that is being born. Stop playing by the rules of the Classic Rock artists.
Look at the band Heartist. When they formed, they decided that they would not play by the old rules of playing as many gigs as possible just to get noticed. They decided to not play by the old rules of guaranteeing promoters 50 presales for each gig (which more or less meant, the band either had to beg people to come to their show that didn’t want to be there or they basically paid to play). They decided to write songs. They decided to keep on writing. They started posting demos on YouTube. They started building a buzz. The songs had quality. People started to spread them, share them, talk about them. They played ONE gig and got signed by Roadrunner and management.
What Does Music and Success Mean These Days?
Music is for the fans. Music is for the people. Music is not for a record executive to make billions so that they can compete with the Forbes 100 Rich List. If you want to be in the music business, you need to focus on what music means. Be inspired! Create! You have to practice, be original and wait for your moment, when you have to deliver.
Def Leppard’s Hysteria was out for over a year before it exploded on the back of the Love Bites single. A sleeper hit that no one saw coming. If the song is really damn good it will get people’s attention.
If you want success, you need to get people’s attention. If you want success you need to work hard and don’t plan for it. If you want success, practice and be ready to turn that inspiration into a product. If you want success, you need to know that you have no control over what spreads and what doesn’t. Don’t judge the success of your project straight away. Success is always ten steps behind. It takes a while for it to happen. Don’t just the success of your project in dollar terms. Success is about laying a solid foundation and building on it.
Your music has to be accessible. It needs to make an instant impact. Fans do not have the time to spend on letting an album sink into our brain like the old ways. These days there are so many options and people don’t endure that which is not pleasing to them, They move on. Repetition is not an artist’s friend in the current times. The life span of a song is different these days.
Most of the time you get one shot for each new fan. It is that one time when people will hear what you have created. One time where you need to satisfy them, so that they can respond and share.
Today, you need to have that one unbelievable cut, that makes the people need to hear it over and over again. That one cut that makes the people want to go and find out more about you.
Whether it be Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, Dio’s “Holy Diver”, Ozzy Osbourne “Crazy Train”, Kiss “Lick It Up”, Shinedown’s “Second Chance” or Metallica’s’ “One”. It works in every genre of music.
Connections
Artists can go straight to their audience, there are no restrictions. Artists by now should know that their career depends on building a loyal relationship with as many fans as possible. In order to build relationships, you need to get people’s attention. You need to find a way to be heard over all the noise.
Standing Out – Visuals and Music
You want to be remembered. You want to be talked about. How can you achieve that? Society is a visual culture. That is why we watch TV shows, movies, take pictures and film ourselves.
Why do you think, when you see a preview for a new movie coming out, the studio marketeers have music with it? Why do you think TV shows and movies have soundtracks? They are re-enforcing the visuals with music, as people take more notice when that happens. If people notice they will talk about.
Putting your music with visuals is a big step forward to getting people’s attention. How many times have you walked out of a movie, thinking, what a tough score. I just watched World War Z and I loved the track that Muse did for it. Man Of Steel had an unbelievable score by Hans Zimmer, that captured the emotion in each scene. It was also inspiring and uplifting. I still remember the preview to the Captain America movie, where they had the music (46&2) from Tool playing and that was almost three years ago.
Standing Out – Opinions
No artist can please everyone. So don’t try. All artists stand for something. If you write a song that is anti-(insert topic here), you will alienate some, and connect more with others. When people get fired up (via positive or negative feelings) they pay attention.
Standing Out – Different = Success
If you look at all of your heroes, they are there for a reason. They are different. When they came on the scene, they were different. Twisted Sister was different to all the other bands in the Eighties in how they dressed and looked. Their style was a combination of AC/DC style rock, mixed with Judas Priest metal, with a dose of punk chucked in. Metallica was different to all the metal and rock bands when they came onto the scene. Motley Crue was different to all the new wave music that was popular at the time. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were all different to the Eighties Glam Rock movement. Black Sabbath was different to all the hippie folk music at the time.
Different also includes doing cover versions of popular songs. Take jazz songs and turn them into rock songs. Take pop songs and make them into rock songs. The original artist’s fans will be curious to hear these versions. Led Zeppelin did a lot of covers, Metallica the same. Van Halen had cover songs on their first five albums. Motley Crue did Smokin In The Boys Room and Helter Skelter.
What Does It Mean to be an Artist Today?
You don’t want to be an artist that becomes who others want them to be. You don’t want to be an artist that whores themselves out to make money. You don’t want to be an artist that does what they have to do to keep the status quo.
It’s okay to not be liked by everybody.
Real artists don’t believe in conforming. Real artists stay true to who they are. Real artists play to their fans and allow the fans to talk about them. Do not change for all the new people that could tag along to your success train, that’s death. You need to keep playing to the hard core fan base. A great artist is someone who leads us into the unknown who we can’t help but follow.
Dream Theater is one artist that comes to mind, that did it their way or the hard way. Signed as a progressive band, they released When Dream and Day Unite, which the label ignored and then went on a long search for a vocalist. When Pull Me Under got traction on MTV and Radio, the band was then a commercial prospect for the label. So the label now wants more crossover songs, and this lead to the issues with the label around the Falling Into Infinity project. After that the band stayed true to who they are and they have grown with each album and are more successful now than ever.
The Kashmir Effect
Stone Temple Pilots – Plush (1992)
And I feel that time’s a wasted go
So where ya going to tomorrow?
And I see that these are lies to come
Would you even care?
Yes, Stone Temple Pilots did a derivative work of Kashmir. Instead of going up the fret board chromatically, they go chromatically down the fret board. The drums and the feel of the song, is John Bonham reincarnated.
Plush is from the excellent debut album Core. Regardless of the Scott Weiland shenanigans going on right now, there is no denying that Stone Temple Pilots released two ground breaking albums.
Kingdom Come – Get It On (1988)
We’ve come a real long way to be with you
It’s not that easy doing what we do
There are those lonely times and then there’s happiness
Now it’s time we gonna do what we do best
Get It On was the reason why people went out and purchased a million plus units of the debut Kingdom Come album. People actually thought this was Led Zeppelin. The verse riff is very heavily inspired from Kashmir.
Whitesnake – Judgement Day (1989)
We walk toward desire,
Hand and hand
Through fields of fire
With only love to light the way
On the road to Judgement Day
The Kashmir effect strikes again. Whitesnake must have said, if Kingdom Come can pull it off, why can’t we. It should have been the lead off single instead of the re-recorded Fool For Your Loving. Dave Coverdale had a lot to prove when he started to write the follow-up to the mega successful Whitesnake 1987 album that was penned with John Sykes.
Metallica – The Call Of Ktulu (1984)
The same riff that Mustaine wrote for The Call of Ktulu, is the same progression that is used in Kashmir. It is also in the same key of D minor. The only difference, is that Dave Mustaine arpeggio’s the notes. Dave Mustaine doesn’t play on the Metallica version, that was released on Ride The Lightning, however he is the creator of the main piece of music on this song.
Dream Theater – Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper (1992)
As a child, I thought I could live without pain without sorrow
As a man I’ve found it’s all caught up with me
I’m asleep yet I’m so afraidSomewhere like a scene from a memory
There’s a picture worth a thousand words
Eluding stares from faces before me
It hides away and will never be heard of again
When the verse riff kicks in, it’s Kashmir at a prog level. The chordal keys that happen over the Em triplets, is all hair on the back of the neck stuff. Pull Me Under introduced Dream Theater to the world, however Metropolis is the star on the Images and Words album.
Megadeth – Hanger 18 (1990)
The military intelligence
Two words combined that can’t make sense
Possibly I’ve seen too much
Hangar 18 I know too much
Kashmir and The Call of Ktulu merged into an excellent thrash opener that deals with aliens and conspiracy theories. Dave Mustaine references himself and Jimmy Page again.
Coheed and Cambria – Welcome Home (2005)
You stormed off to scar the armada
Like Jesus played martyr,
I’ll drill through your hands
The verse riff and the John Bonham drums. It’s Kashmir again. Coheed and Cambria knew they had a winner with this song. It is the song that announced them to the world. It is the song that we all wanted to hear at the recent concert I attended at the Metro Theater in Sydney.
Megadeth – In My Darkest Hour (1988)
My whole life is work built on the past
But the time has come when all things shall pass
This good thing passed away
The B to C to C# to D note changes over a E pedal point from In My Darkest Hour is the same is the A, B flat, B, C over a D pedal point from Kashmir. Music written after the death of Cliff Burton, had to be epic and it had to be big.
Kashmir is Led Zeppelin’s definitive statement. It was released in 1975 on the excellent double album Physical Graffiti. It’s influence since then on the rock / metal scenes is extraordinary. Even Hip Hop sampled it. The Tea Party built a career on it. The bands mentioned above wrote career defining songs on it.
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed
West Ruth Ave – The Night Flight Orchestra
It’s the Kiss – I Was Made For Lovin You guitar riff that grabs your attention. It hooks you in along with the staccato drumming.
The Bee Gees style drumming that comes in after along with the congas give it that decadent seventies feeling. You also hear the Bon Jovi Living On A Prayer Em-C-D piano chords under it. However in this case the song is in Dm.
It’s on the 2012 album Internal Affairs released via Coroner Records.
When I hear of side projects, I normally say, crap. Not this one. The Night Flight Orchestra side project is brilliant.
It’s the brain child of Soilwork‘s Bjorn “Speed” Strid on vocals and Arch Enemy‘s Sharlee D’Angelo on bass.
First the name. Night Flight is a Led Zeppelin song. They have merged it with Electric Light Orchestra to come up with The Night Flight Orchestra. They also use the same abbreviation; ELO vs NFO.
The fact that this song is written by guys that play in melodic death / metal bands makes it even better.
I always tell people that the most gifted musicians end up playing in the metal arena. This is further proof.
The NFO captures the magic of classic rock and they make it sound so authentic. Each song can be used in pop trivia, to “name the band or song that influenced a certain part of the song.”
You can hear the fun, it’s like an infection in the music giving it a soul that a lot of bands that write for money can never achieve.
“Im obsessed with the thought of all the things we could do.”
The lyrics are rock n roll. It’s about telling a story. In this case, Bjorns escape along West Ruth Avenue. It’s not even auto tuned. It’s human.
And then the outro kicks in referencing the Layla outro.
Rudolf Schenker – Guitar World – March 1986
RUDOLF SCHENKER ON THE AESTHETICS OF HEAVY METAL GUITAR
By Bruce Nixon
The below article in italics appeared in the Guitar World March 1986 issue. I have re-typed here and added my bits and pieces to it.
The aesthetics of heavy metal guitar? Well, think about it. Rudolf Schenker was intrigued. He was sitting in a backstage dressing room, a litter of soda cans, ashtrays and half filled beer bottles on the low table in front of him, quietly noodling on his trusty black-and-gold Flying V. He balanced the guitar on his knees and spread his arms out wide, smiling broadly, his eyes sparkling. Already, conversation had drifted over Vs and V players, and the Scorpions’ well-known axeman had displayed a deep and interested passion for the guitar life.
That is the iconic look, Rudolf Schenker with a trusted flying V. This issue is from March 1986. Rudolf had been in the game for over 26 years by now. Rock You Like A Hurricane from 1984’s Love At First Sting album was a monster hit for the Scorpions. Winners never quit. They persist. They persevere. Sure, the Scorpions had an audience in Europe and Asia, but it wasn’t until 1984 that they broke through in the US.
“The aesthetics of heavy metal guitar…” His accent was middling thick with a slightly skewered command of idiom, but it didn’t set in the way of his enthusiasm. The idea had captured his attention, in any case.
“I know of several different kinds of players,” he said. “There is Van Halen, very technical and very creative. Him I like very much, because he has put new things into guitar playing. He is very good rhythm-wise. And the other I like very much is my brother Michael.”
This, of course, referring to Michael Schenker, the Scorpions’ original lead guitarist, now fronting his own band.
“He can play melodically—but he puts the three parts of the guitar together, the melodic, the technique and the feel. Some have more technical skill, but in my brother, all three parts are equal. He has feel, but he keeps the melody inside and the exact rhythm inside.”
The impact of Edward Van Halen to rock music is immense. Back in 1986, it was still at a level of what he brought to the guitar playing circles and how an expectation was made that any band with desires to make it, had to have a guitar hero. Of course afterwards, EVH would branch out into guitars, amps and gear.
I am the youngest of three boys, so to hear Rudolf talk about his younger brother in such high regard, is cool. His words ring true. Michael Schenker was a monster player. UFO couldn’t contain him. Their best works happened when Michael Schenker was in the band. (We will forget about the crappy 90’s reunion album and the bad Vinnie Moore reincarnation, even though i am a fan of Vinnie Moore as well). His solo work in the eighties as part of MSG and McAuley Schenker Group was a stand out as well.
Going back to March 1986, Rudolf’s summation of his brothers ability made me curious to find out more about Michael Schenker. This is artists promoting other artists. I don’t believe that form of promotion happens these days anymore? Growing up in Australia, the nineties brought a certain elitism ideal to certain local scenes, where each band only looked out for themselves as they where worried that another band might take their fans. What artists failed to realise is that fans of music always like more than one band. That is how fan bases are made, a common love of music across different bands.
“You see, metal is a new style. Heavy rock is based on guitar and drums together. If you want aesthetics, when you go looking for a good guitar player, you will find them in heavy rock. This is a place where the guitar player has the most openings. Look at Rick Springfield—his guitar player is good, but the music is based on the singer. In heavy rock, the guitar player has more parts than the singer has. In heavy metal, the players are young and fresh, too, open to new styles and new sounds, new everything! Whole roads are open to them. We all used to copy Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but bands don’t do that anymore.”
Bands started to copy their peers.
Motley Crue hit the LA scene in 1980 with a mix of Seventies Punk, Americana Rock / Pop and British Classic Rock. Bands like Poison, Warrant, Bullet Boys and Tuff came out influenced by bands like Motley Crue and Ratt.
Bon Jovi came out influenced by Seventies Classic Rock, Bruce Springsteen and the New Jersey keyboard driven pop scene. Then you had every band writing songs in a pop metal vein.
Van Halen came out influenced by the English Blues Rock and Americana Rock/Pop. Name me one band in the eighties that didn’t try to sound like them.
Def Leppard wanted to record an album that mixed Queen style pop harmonies with the NWOBM sound they were involved in. They achieved that with Pyromania and perfected it on Hysteria, spawning thousands of imitators.
Guitar players became the ones that got the attention as well. The band dynamic had evolved. It started in the Seventies and continued with the Hard Rock / Glam Rock movement in the Eighties.
“I like to listen to heavy rock very much,” he added. “Jimmy Page, in his good days, was so good. Now, Jeff Beck has always been good, and I like his solo album very much. I hear Malmsteen—he s very fast, very technical, much into classical. Take Ritchie Blackmore—of course, he is from the older generation of players, but he doesn’t get older in his sound. Beck is more for older people these days. Ritchie is one of those guys who has old and young kids in his audience. He has that fresh energy.”
Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple and Rainbow is one guitarist that appealed to both old and young guitarist. The older crowd that is into the blues rock style loved what Blackmore did with it, the middle-aged got the best of both worlds and the younger crowds maybe didn’t appreciate the blues rock vibe of Blackmore however they related to his classical technicality that fit perfectly with the rise of the Eighties shred. That is where Michael Schenker also comes into the picture. He also accommodated both audiences.
He suggested that the greatest heavy rock players were European-except for Jimi Hendrix and Leslie West. America has not been highly nourishing soil for metal guitarists. In metal, at least. Europeans maintain more of a purists approach to the genre.
“I think European guitarists have been more original.” he remarked matter-of-factly. Page—Beck—Clapton- Ritchie—my brother. In heavy rock. English players, especially, have had a more original feel. In coming from Germany, when I watch television over here, I see everything is made for posing—the advertisements and stuff. In Europe, people are more natural, they are relaxed. They don’t pay as much attention to those things. Maybe the guitar players are like that, too.”
There is that name again Jimi Hendrix and who the hell is Leslie West. It was years later that i heard Mississippi Queen, if you know what I mean.
By 1986, America had a decent amount of heavy rock players. Going back to the Seventies, you had players like Ted Nugent, Ace Frehley, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon and Eddie Van Halen. By the Eighties you had players like Randy Rhoads, Warren DeMartini and George Lynch join the ranks.
It was hard to come up with any more American guitarists who fit the bill. At the mention of Randy Rhoads, Schenker nodded enthusiastically, and then shook his head sadly.
If it wasn’t for Randy Rhoads, I wouldn’t have been able to play the way I play. His dedication and precision on the two Ozzy albums will be forever remembered.
“Blues is the basis of all good guitar playing in this style of music,” Schenker concluded. The Americans are not as bluesy as the English are. Clapton, Beck, Page—they’re all influenced by the blues. English players found the right combination for bringing blues and modern rock together.”
Artists speaking their minds. If you agree with Rudolf’s point of view or not, one thing is clear, he is not afraid to get it out there. Maybe it is that famed German arrogance, or maybe it is truth.
I honestly believe that music captured in its purest form is magical. The purest form is when music is written without the thoughts of profits in minds. In the late sixties and early seventies, this is what music was. It was pure. It wasn’t tainted by Wall Street, by profit margins and balance sheets.
According to his guitar technician, Vince Flaxington, Rudolf Schenker keeps it simple. The Scorpions’ veteran rhythm player carries six Flying Vs on the road, his favorite of the bunch being a black and white 1964 model that his brother gave him about a year or so ago; he also likes the black and gold model, an ’82 reissue, while the remaining four are strictly backups.
Schenker is a Flying V fanatic, having forty-odd variations of the instrument at home, about a third of which are original issue models. Indeed, he doesn’t own anything else. He saw his first V in the hands of Johnny Winter and became an instant convert to its sleek good looks. The best one he ever had, he said, went with his brother when Michael Schenker left the Scorps. His guitar tech says every one is stock, Rudolf uses only Gibson pickups and refuses to let anyone alter his beloved Vs. Not even with Strap-Loks.
Onstage, the guitarist uses three 50-watt Marshall heads that drive six 4 x 12 cabinets. The Marshalls are “quite old”—a ’67, a 1970, and a 1980, all stock. The volume is set at 9; the EQ knobs are all full-tilt. His sole effect is a Vox wah-wah, one of the first made, although Schenker only uses it for about five numbers in the current set. The cabinets also are stock. He uses a Nady wireless system.
“His tone is like broken glass,” Flaxington grinned. “That’s the way he wants it—sharp, clear and raunchy.”
Simply and effective set up. He is a purest. He didn’t go searching for that sound the way others did. He just plugged in and let it rip.
Storm Thorgerson – Off to the Bright Side of The Afterlife
The album cover was an important part of each album release. A lot of the times we purchased albums based on how the cover looked. Iron Maiden immediately comes to mind. Most of the times people are unaware who the artists are that create these iconic images. In this case, Storm Thorgerson is a name that people either know or don’t know.
I guarantee if you mention to anyone the name Storm Thorgerson they would look at you like you are speaking a different language.
However if you mentioned Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon, then you get a reaction. You can say that he is best known for creating the prism-spreading color spectrum on the front of Pink Floyd‘s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ album. (All images are sourced from Wikipedia, so that I can showcase my favourite album covers by Storm).
Pink Floyd – A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was the first Pink Floyd album I purchased in the late eighties. From this album I started to go back and explore the others.
Storm passed away, on Thursday 18th April after a long illness with cancer and the after effects of a stroke in 2003. He was in his 69 years old.
If you have Dream Theater’s – A Change of Season EP, Falling Into Infinity album or Once In A Livetime album, then the cover art was all designed by Storm. Dream Theater is one of my favourite bands at the moment.
Megadeth’s – Rude Awakening DVD cover, was designed by Storm. This cover is a dead set classic.
Europe – Secret Society – again very creative, the secret society is faceless people pulling you in all directions.
Thornley – Come Again – this is one of his best covers, the trap door exit into another world or an alternate reality.
Peter Gabriel – I love the ghostly face in the car with the raindrops. The light and dark shades capture the moment.
Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy – this one was a rare one from Storm, as most of his album covers involved photographs and manipulation of photographs. This one is more or less a drawing.
Muse – Absolution – the shadows of the people falling down from the sky, while the person looks up. Brilliant. Or are the people finding absolution and are being taken up the sky. Again it makes you think.
Led Zeppelin – Presence – I always took this photo as showing a side of the wealthy/powerful and the black presence in the middle of the table. I am sure others have a different take on it. It has been known the Jimmy Page dabbled in black magic, and could this be the presence that the album cover refers too. It makes you think.
The Mars Volta – Frances The Mute – we are all faceless people bypassing each other, just to get ahead.
Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions – i love the contrast of the Red and the Blue. Very war like.
There are a lot of other covers out there, so delve deep and remember the man who is iconic to pop culture. He worked with the best and he is the best. Rest in Peace and thanks for the memories.
Danny Stag – Guitar World – September 1989
The interview below (in italics) appeared in the September 1989 issue of Guitar World. It was written by Brad Tolinski.
Kingdom Come lead guitarist Danny Stag speaks with the humility of a man who knows he’s been blessed. ‘”It was a mind blower” he says, describing last summers’ Monsters Of Rock tour. “Our U.S. debut was in front of 40,000 people. Some bands only get to do that a couple of times in their whole careers, and many never get that chance at all. We did a whole tour to those numbers.”
We got short changed in Australia. We never got these mega bills of super star bands. I remember buying Circus, Metal Edge and Hit Parader and reading about the Monsters of Rock tour. It had Kingdom Come opening, followed by Metallica, then Dokken, then Scorpions and the mighty Van Halen headlining. Kingdom Come formed in 1987, taking musicians from various other rock groups that were paying their dues on the club circuit. By 1988 they had gone multi-platinum with their debut and are playing to 40,000 people. It was this kind of ride to the top, that a lot of kids expected to happen to them once they formed bands. When it didn’t happen within one to two years, they would call it quits.
On the tour with Stag were some of rock s most lauded guitarists, including the legendary Edward Van Halen. When asked whether he found such fast company intimidating, Stag launches into an illuminating examination of his roots. “I realized that I was the only a blues based player,” he says. “Rather than competing, I was playing in my own ball game. My tastes run more towards Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimi Hendrix. People don’t usually think of Hendrix as a blues traditionalist, but I feel he was one of the masters, maybe the ultimate.”
As an aspiring guitarist, this is what I wanted to read. Who influenced the people that are influencing me? Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Willie Dixon. Back in 1989, I had never heard of those players. There is that name again Jimi Hendrix. His name just kept on popping up in interviews from the Eighties.
Although one wouldn’t immediately detect the Mississippi Delta in the arena rock anthems of Kingdom Come, interludes like the funky acoustic intro to “Highway 6,” off their latest, In Your Face, suggest a refreshing depth and sense of history. Stag is pleasantly forthright and even passionate about his music and his influences. However, he makes only brief mention of the band Kingdom Come is most often compared to Led Zeppelin. How valid does Stag see those comparisons to be?
“I must admit, I used to scratch my head in disbelief when people compared me to Page. He was an influence, but not a big one. I really liked Zeppelin’s first two albums, but I didn’t care that much for what followed. I think younger people are missing the Hendrix part of my playing because they aren’t as familiar with him as they are with Page.”
“This Led Zeppelin/Kingdom Come comparison has been blown way out of proportion. Some of it comes from the way Lenny (Wolf, Kingdom Come’s vocalist) sings, but if you listen to Lenny and Robert Plant back-to-back you’ll find they don’t sound anything a like. Plant’s voice has completely different tonal qualities. Maybe we come out sounding like Zeppelin when everything is mixed with our drummer, who plays a monster back beat. It’s hard to escape the fact that Zeppelin created certain hard-rock conventions that every band uses.”
“But you could accuse Hendrix of ripping off Muddy Waters,” says Stag with increasing irritation. “Voodoo Chile is a lot like Water’s (I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man. The Beatles were influenced by Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers. The difference is, the Beatles and Hendrix did variations on the music they loved and their influences were more like tributes. Paying respect to your musical forefathers is part of a long tradition. Ex-Zepsters Page, Plant and John Paul Jones, who’ve been openly hostile to bands like Kingdom Come and Whitesnake, should perhaps re-examine the condition of their glass houses. It’s fairly common knowledge that Led Zeppelin brazenly borrowed, almost note-for-note, several Chess-label classics.”
“Whole Lotta Love, one of their biggest hits, was proven in a court of law to have been taken directly—without permission or subsequent knowledge—from a Willie Dixon tune. After I read an interview with Page where he accused me of stealing from him, I wanted to do a solo album and call it Houses of The Bitter. I’d record Whole Lotta Love, I Can’t Quit You and You Shook Me and write in huge letters who really wrote those tunes. To be influenced like we’ve been is one thing, but to steal songs without acknowledgement is another.”
“I don’t know. Maybe some of the bad blood started when a journalist misquoted me. This guy told Page that I claimed to never having heard Led Zeppelin. That’s obviously absurd and Jimmy would have a right to feel ticked off.”
Back in September 1989, this was a shock to read. Led Zeppelin borrowing songs from other artists and passing it off as their own. These days, I am older and wiser, but back then I was green. They even stole the intro riff to Stairway To Heaven and failed to acknowledge it. I have said it many times, musicians are the sum of their influences. No music is created in a vacuum. Kingdom Come is very similar to the hard rock version of Led Zeppelin and they hit pay dirt with that similarity. The audience wanted Led Zeppelin to be around. Since Led Zep was not around, other bands stepped up like Whitesnake and Kingdom Come to fill the void. The audience lapped it up, sending these bands to the top of the charts.
Stag sounds defensive but he doesn’t need to be. His manic, hormonally charged soloing, aggressive pick attack and tightly would vibrato remain distinctive whether filtered through a single coil Strat pick up, a fat sounding Les Paul or a plain old acoustic Martin.
“I never work out solos,” says Stag. “I just wait til I’m inspired. Then I have the engineers crank the music real loud in the control room and I go for it. I just shut my eyes and improvise. It’s like a short burst of emotion. When you want to comment on something, you use the words available to you in your vocabulary. Soloing is like that with me. I’m commenting on what’s happening musically by reaching into my built up musical vocabulary of licks and scales and use whatever is relevant. I don’t worry about how it’s going to work, it’s just a feel thing.”
I used to read the comments from guitarists who said they never worked their solos out with a grain of salt. My idol Randy Rhoads worked his solo’s out and he created masterpieces, Vito Bratta the same. Solos are meant to add to the song. This is what guitarists forgot towards the late eighties. In saying that, Stag’s leads where good on the ear. By having a musical vocabulary, he had that knowledge to work out the solos on the fly.
To translate that feeling in the studio, Stag uses a 1962 Stratocaster with a bridge-position humbucker, in tandem with a 50-watt Marshall head. All of Stag’s Stage effects are by T.C. Electronics. “My system is pretty simple. The 2290 has five effects loops, and they’re completely programmable. Most of the time I just use a little delay panned so that two of my cabinets are dry and two are wet. I keep the dry cabinets so I never lose punch. I have some parametric eq’s, but I only use them on one song and a couple of solos. They help emphasize my single-coil sound.”
How minimal the set up? That is what Rock N Roll is all about. Plug the guitar into the amp, turn it up and bash away. These days, the guitar rigs are a plethora of schematics.
Now that Kingdom Come has comfortably settled into star status, what does the future hold for Stag?
“I’d like to experiment more with sound, like the weird stuff Hendrix was doing on Axis: Bold As Love. I don’t really think you lose your identity when you change tone or pickups; it’s what ‘s under the fingers. You could tell it was Hendrix whether he was playing clean or whether his sound was balls-to-the wall. Having sound is everything, but having a sound is not. Kingdom Come is close to taking its place alongside the great bands. We’re like a Deep Purple, a Rainbow or a Led Zeppelin. We might not be as original as those guys were in their time, but we have that kind of musicianship. We’ve got the depth.”
The interview appeared in the September 1989 Guitar World issue. It was obviously done around April / May 1989 when the In Your Face album was released. Kingdom Come called it quits in August 1989. So by the time the magazine hit the newsstands, Kingdom Come was no more. They left us with two magical albums. In Your Face is a very under rated album and it deserves more attention than what it got. However that is for another day.
destroyerofharmony 