“Divine Step (Conspectu Mortis)” Coroner Coroner

Kicking things off with a bit of Swiss thrash, Coroner gives us a nice, choppy riffed track with typical gritty vocal.  Not much melody here but straight ahead balls n crunch, heavy on the trebly guitars with very little to no bottom end (not that there’s anything wrong with that).  Halfway through the cut things get coolly atmospheric just to throw you off track, making you wonder if you’ve accidentally ended up in Pink Floyd land for a good 45 seconds or so before that battering ram riff comes in for a brief second and switches up to a Maiden-esque gallop but with double bass drums.  Cool leads as well.

“Siege Mentality” Satan Trail Of Fire – Live In North America

Man, talk about an AWFUL sounding live recording-  it’s as if someone smuggled in a tape recorder and this was somehow converted over to a crappy MP3.  That said, this is definitely a live, warts ‘n all performance that’s actually pretty cool for a band that reunited only a few years ago.  Satan was one of those English bands that started around the time of NWOBHM, playing in a bit of a top speed riff heavy style that possibly influenced thrash players in the coming years.  If you dig fast, technical playing you may dig this (version below is a studio cut).

“Ship Of Fools” Robert Plant Now And Zen

If you read my post on my favorite vocalists of all time you’ll remember that 1) Robert Plant is my top choice and 2) “Ship Of Fools” was one of my recommendations for his better vocal performances.  If you don’t have this cut, BUY IT NOW.  This is Robert at his most subtle backed by a fantastic performance by his band at the time; the recording a great mix of well played acoustic guitar, great percussion touches, and fantastic washes of keyboards that perfectly sets the mood for an outstanding Plant vocal.  The song builds perfectly as well, giving Robert plenty of space to ooze the charm and charisma that’s always been on display since his early Zep days.  Utter cool for miles…

“Locomotive Breath” Jethro Tull Aqualung

Yes, Tull could rock back in the day as this long term staple of classic rock radio proves.  Things start a little slowly to set the mood, piano tinkling with a bit of bluesy guitar and gradually picks up over a good minute and a half before that well known riff kicks in.  Ian Anderson’s witty lyric and great vocal performance helps set the tone as well as the song builds o’er top a throbbing bass pump and occasional drum fill every measure or so, plus Ian throws in a typical nifty flute solo to boot.  Who doesn’t know this one?  A bit of trivia… this song was edited on some stations to change the “got him by the balls” line to “got him by the fun”.  Huh?

“Halfe Caste” Thin Lizzy Vagabonds, Kings, Warriors, Angels

I haven’t yet worked on a favorite lyricists post but Phil Lynott would certainly rank very high on the list.  “Half Caste” is a reggafied true story in a way as Lynott is of mixed race (father black and mother white) and sings this from the perspective of a daughter’s boyfriend and a disapproving father, adding a sardonic vocal to the title during the chorus.  This cut was actually release as a b-side to Lizzy’s “Rosalie” single of 1975 and really shows the talents of that band as they groove rhythmically around Lynott’s bass line and vocal.  Really cool song overall.

“Gods Of War” Bruce Dickinson Balls To Picasso

Another high up my favorite vocalists list, Bruce Bruce had tired of the Maiden machine by 1993 and left for a brief solo career.  “Gods Of War” is a bit of an epic cut that shows Bruce in fine vocal form, keeping the verses fairly low range but belting things out come chorus time.  Musically heavy in spots but overall removed from Maiden gallop in that there is plenty of pockets for the man to actually SING as this cut is more of a bluesy grower, keeping things calm and cool before belting out the white hot chorus.  I’d have to put this one high on my list of favorite Bruce solo cuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShTQff5PZtg

“Diablo Blvd” Corrosion Of Conformity America’s Volume Dealer

COC drops a funky/sludgy cut on us, sounding a bit like the Red Hot Chili Peppers with more of a stoner groove.  That Mike Dean bass in here sounds like something off a Bootsy Collins record!  But yeah, this is definitely the new COC and Pepper Keenan does a fine job belting this one out (I still think Load-era Metallica was highly influenced by COC).  Relatively straight forward for these guys too compared to a couple records previously and far, far removed from their more hardcore roots, but don’t let that scare you away.  “Kickin’ hard time!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3SPdJIvF5Q

“Steady Decline” Prong Beg To Differ

Prong has always stood out to me as a band that’s fairly recognizable-  solid, echoey drums, virtually NO bass, and awesome Tommy Victor riffage.  What’s interesting here is that there are similarities in riff and tone compared to the Coroner song that kicks off this post.  However, where that was more technical thrash this song crosses more into a hardcore vibe based on the dirty riff and semi-gang vocal at the chorus.  But yeah man…  Tommy Victor riffage…  this is some good early Prong before they got a little too industrial in later albums.

“Born To Kill” Gillan Double Trouble

Ian Gillan’s solo years offered up a bit more experimentation than Deep Purple, “Born To Kill” awash in moody synths and piano far removed from the hoary Hammond of Jon Lord.  And Colin Towns’ piano really sets the tone and mood here, allowing Gillan to paint a picture with the lyric and vocal for the first three and a half minutes of this cut.  After that we are into more of a full on rock performance, although a bit on the proggy side compared to normal solo Gillan fare.  Ian’s vocal covers a lot of ground throughout this cut, softer lower range early and then full on belt the rest of the way with an occasional full on scream (yeah!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIVvLXT9PRQ

“Killing Allan” The Hellacopters Cream Of The Crap, Vol I

Who ARE these Swedish dudes and how dare they sing songs that sound like a mix of The Stooges, Monster Magnet, Motorhead, and Nirvana?  A really cool band, that’s who.  So take a bit of garage rock, punk, swirling psychedelic distorted guitars and throw that against the wall and you’ve got The Hellacopters, a band that amps things up with tons of nasty riffs, screaming vocals, and loads and loads of feedback.  “Killing Allan” is nothing but a simple riff and vocal but it’s HOW it’s played that makes this a nasty piece of work.

Favorite cut this post goes to “Ship Of Fools”!