Steely Dan, “Here At The Western World”, Showbiz Kids:  The Steely Dan Story

Ol’ Don and Walter bless us with another enigmatic lyric on this cut recorded during the Royal Scam sessions.  Are we at a brothel?  Skinny girls, red doors, rappin’ with canes, hiding from madmen… don’t bother figuring it out, just enjoy another smooth jazz/rock fusion hybrid Dan cut with its tasty hooks, sweet backup vocals, and excellent piano and lead guitar work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkIFE2sLmkM

Sacred Reich, “The American Way”, The American Way

My intro to the mighty Sacred Reich.  What separates these Arizona thrashers from their counterparts was more of a “real world” approach to the lyrics, “The American Way” offering cutting commentary on the state of the US in the Reagan/Bush years.  On top of that is one fairly simple but absolutely pummeling riff with a killer breakdown come chorus time, so much so that if you’re not headbanging or foot tapping at some point there’s no help for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOg4bDlZyAA

Metallica, “Master Of Puppets”, Master Of Puppets

To steal a line from the old TV show “Name That Tune”-  I can name that song in one note!  My all time favorite Metallica song and one of my all time favorite thrash songs ever.  What’s funny is that it took me a while to actually get Metallica but when I did there was no stopping the love for thrash metal.  The reckless pace of this song, the commanding bark of Hetfield, frighteningly cool lyric, and that choppy riff.  And oh yeah, that awesomely cool breakdown halfway through.  You want to introduce someone to thrash?  You can’t go wrong with this one.

Stone Temple Pilots, “Crackerman”, Core

It’s funny, listening to this song years later I sure can’t pick up where people said these guys were jumping on the grunge bandwagon.  Definitely not Pearl Jam, Nirvana, or Soundgarden but I can catch a hint of Alice In Chains in the riff and distorted vocal delivery.  Nevertheless, this song absolutely rocks nonstop right from the first snare crack.  The swagger of Weiland and rock solid playing from the DeLeo brothers certainly lead the charge on this cut from Core.  

AC/DC, “Let’s Make It”, The Razor’s Edge

I have a hard time knocking songs from my favorite bands but “Let’s Make It” certainly would be near the bottom of my favorite AC/DC cuts.  A too simple (even by AC/DC standards) riff, fairly flat chorus, and silly lyrics are redeemed by a pre-solo change up and brief solo spot that is really the only change of pace in an otherwise unmemorable song.  Shame as the intro riff is a bit promising too.  Razor’s Edge  is the first album where I noticed a major change in Brian’s voice, which was quite the shock at the time.  But it’s AC/DC!

Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Saturday Night Special”, One For The Road

One of my fave Skynyrd cuts and outstanding lyric that is more anti-gun than you would think (“why don’t we dump ’em people, to the bottom of the sea”).  Slippery guitar work from Rossington/Collins/Gaines with a memorable riff and an off kilter time signature, but nothing quite beats the story telling of Mr. Ronnie Van Zant.  Such a killer combination of lyric, rhythm, and pacing makes this song top notch.

The Yardbirds, “I’m A Man”, Beckology

A hopped up cover of the Bo Diddley classic with guitar wizardry courtesy of the one and only Jeff Beck (dig the switch to “rave-up” mode when Beck hits the distortion around the 1:30 mark).  The whole band is on fire here,  Jim McCarty kickin’ it on drums and Keith Relf’s vocal and harmonica rounded off by Paul Samwell-Smith’s propulsive bass runs (Chris Dreja’s guitar likely on here too).  Man, to see these guys in the day would have been totally cool.

The Mars Volta, “Copernicus”, Octahedron

A much more laid back and stark Mars Volta here but a thing of sheer beauty.  Spacey melody with excellent harmony vocals and tranquil guitar kick us off, taking us to faraway places as we dreamily float away into parts unknown.  Extra subtle touches  midway through offers a change up but nothing that kicks us too far off course.  Subtle electronic beats, haunting keys, and mellow piano on the fadeout rounds things out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne9UBdCY4gg

Cheap Trick, “Love Comes”, Standing On The Edge

First off, I love Cheap Trick.  LOVE Cheap Trick.  Huge fan over the years, but this is not one of my favorite songs from their catalog.  That said, this probably would be much, much better as an acoustic number without the extra production touches (weak keys and gated snare cracks, AUUUGH).  A pretty melody burdened by an 80’s sound.  Best part of this song is definitely Robin Zander, that dude can sing anything.  Check out his solo acoustic versions of this song on YouTube, much better!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3tB98D5odE

Public Enemy, “She Watch Channel Zero”, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Even though I’m not a huge rap fan, I have massive respect for artists like Public Enemy.  Sure, there is a lot of sampling in rap (SLAAAAAYYYYERRRR!!!) but Chuck D’s delivery and lyrical content oftentimes make you stand up and pay attention.  No raps about “bitches” and “hos” here, just straight on music with a message with the always colorful commentary from Flavor Flav.

Wow, great shuffle week here.  The Mars Volta disc is a fairly recent pickup that I’ve been listening to quite a bit and “Copernicus” is one of my favorite cuts on it, but who can deny old school Metallica.  MASTER!  MASTER!  “Master of Puppets” is the pick of the week

The year…  1989….  The times… hair metal was still en vogue, but with a slight twist due to new kids on the block Guns N Roses.  Hard rock and metal seemed to be shifting more from the power ballads and glammy stylings of bands like Warrant and Poison to the more street level approach and classic rock appeal of Guns N Roses and Jane’s Addiction.  But there was one band who took things to another level with their debut album:  Badlands.

By 1987, Jake E Lee was unceremoniously fired from Ozzy Osbourne’s band and set about forming a new band with vocalist Ray Gillen, bassist Greg Chaisson, and drummer Eric Singer.  Taking cues from 60s and 70s blues based rock, the band quickly put together a debut disc that had some similarities to the newer, edgier rock and metal but hearkened back to a more soulful era a la Free, Humble Pie, Cactus, early ZZ Top, and Led Zeppelin.  Great guitar playing?  Check.  Outstanding vocals?  Check.  Solid rhythm section?  Check.

Badlands’ first disc is an exceptional effort, a little dry on production but rock solid on all other fronts.  No longer was Jake E Lee going to be compared to previous Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads-  Jake’s playing and tone on this CD puts his Ozzy work to shame (although Bark At The Moon has its moments).  Just listen to the introductory cut “High Wire”-  that is ONE MEAN RIFF.   Jake’s tone is fatter than his Ozzy crunch of yore and a bit warmer too.  An excellent tune to kick things off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6LXVqetMeo

The 80s were also the era of new guitar heroes, with many discs providing a solo spot for the six string slinger in the band.  Jake shines on the intro to “Jade’s Song”, showing off his acoustic chops and deft playing as it segues into “Winter’s Call”, a cut akin to how Led Zeppelin could easily switch between multiple shades often within the same song.  Clean electric playing and softer vocal before another nasty riff pushes the song into new, heavier territory and ends on a swirling, almost psychedelic fade out.

Now I know I’ve been talking up Jake E Lee a bit so far but Ray Gillen deserves much credit for how well this album works as well.  Gillen’s vocal work with Badlands is outstanding with touches ranging from Robert Plant wails to the soulful singing of a young Paul Rodgers.  The aforementioned “Winter’s Call” is a great example of how Gillen can easily handle the transition between the mellow and the heavy.  Other cuts such as “Streets Cry Freedom” and “Seasons” give Gillen plenty of space to shine as well, offering up plenty of atmosphere in which to dance around vocally (especially in the former) or to find the groove and ease into it (in the latter).

Last but not least… the rhythm section.  Not only do Chaisson and Singer rock on this disc, they are extremely tight and do not overplay.  Listen to a cut like “Rumblin’ Train”-  drum and bass work lay the foundation for Lee and Gillen to do their thing and boy, do all parties do it well.  Or listen to how everyone comes in midway through “Devil’s Stomp”-  Lee’s riff is duplicated by Chaisson on bass and Singer’s kick drum stomp propels the song with a nasty groove.  Not to mention another tour de force vocal performance from Ray Gillen.

Hard to pinpoint favorites on this disc, especially since I had this on constant repeat in the summer of 1989 (especially after catching them at a club gig; one of my all time favorite shows), although I may have to go with “High Wire” as it was my first taste of the band as it’s the first cut on here.  “Winter’s Call” comes close too but if I had to choose a dark horse it would be “Streets Cry Freedom”, a song with such monumental vibe from beginning to end that just knocks me out every time I hear it.  Atmosphere on so many levels it’s ridiculous.

Badlands would go on to make one other album (the mighty fine Voodoo Highway) before breaking up in the early 90s.  The great Ray Gillen would pass away shortly thereafter and the band eventually would posthumously release Dusk, another excellent collection of songs that they recorded pre-breakup in an effort to land a new recording contract.  Such an extremely talented band truly deserved a much wider audience and better record company support, but alas… it was not meant to be.