Jaw dropping…  stunning…  incredibly moving…  flat out killer…  just how do you describe a piece of music or song that you enjoy?  I had a hard time figuring out how I wanted to start this version of the “Shameless Plug” series of posts.  Did I want to highlight artists re-recording one of their originals?  How about how the dichotomy between a band’s regular style and their more lighter fare?  Or maybe touch on the impact of the unplugged movement of the late 80s/early 90s?  Sure, all of that applies here but what I really want to hit on with Testament’s acoustic remake of their 1992 thrash ballad “Return To Serenity” is just how good it is.

The early 90s for the thrash movement had already started to shift gears when Testament came out with The Ritual in 1992.  Whether it be due to record company interference, the onset of grunge, or possibly due to the success of Metallica’s “Black Album”, many of the band’s peers were changing up their sound- songs were less frenetic, paces were slowed down just a tad, and things often felt a bit more overproduced and overthought.  In the case of Testament, their fifth album felt the same effects although with more tightly hewn riffs akin to Judas Priest rather than the manic assault felt on their first couple of albums.  However, the original “Return To Serenity” was a minor masterpiece in songwriting and craft that stood far apart from the rest of the release-  a semi-ballad with multiple layers, a subtle vocal, and incredible musicianship.  I loved the band’s fast and heavy stuff, but this?  THIS was different.  And very, very good.

Fast forward a few years to 1995…  after the music world had been turned on its ear courtesy of “the Seattle sound” and the growing prominence of gangsta rap, thrash music had fallen out of favor with the major labels and had gone underground.  Testament had released another major label album the previous year and as a stopgap before they planned their next move they self financed and released their first live album Live At The Fillmore.  While their heavier tunes were up front and in your face, tacked on to the tail end of the CD were acoustic studio versions of three of their more atmospheric songs:  “The Legacy”, “Trail Of Tears”, and in my mind the definitive version of “Return To Serenity”.

How do you top an original?  That’s often a difficult task (and why would you?), but in more ways than one the acoustic version of this song should be viewed as a Testament classic.  It is no doubt far removed from their thrashier material and exists as a dark horse/outlier in the catalog, but based on delivery, song structure, ebb and flow, vocal, and all parts in between it deserves your attention.  While the original has a certain level of sonic mastery, the acoustic version reveals a deeper emotional depth at its core as those heavy layers are peeled back.  What’s left is an incredibly haunting and beautiful performance on all fronts.  Let’s break it down:

Song structure…  three echoed notes really set the tone here, offset with a separate acoustic pattern and the onset of drums and bass to a slightly heavier tempo before a liquid solo slithers out and continues the build.  About one minute in comes a dynamic change; a simply played yet elegant figure reminiscent of daybreak on a chilly November morning offset by a second guitar’s slight flamenco vibe.  The ebb and flow of the song moves between both motifs and increases come solo time before it eases out to an elegant ending.

Delivery…  where do I start?  What stands out on this version compared to the original is the slightly faster pace, which has a bit more swing to it than the somewhat choppier original (cursed a little by a more pronounced and heavier drum thwack).  This version flows extremely well between all parties, allowing the melody to breathe more via the exquisite guitar layers (including electric guitar overdubs and understated yet grooving bass) and less heavy handed production that focuses more on the strength of the vocal.

Vocal…  good Lord…  Chuck Billy really is an outstanding vocalist and his delivery here is spot on but the real “star” here is the incredible accompaniment from Native American singer Star Nayea, who echoes Billy’s vocal and adds her own flair deep in the mix.  Both voices mesh well together and the performance easily outdoes that of the original as Chuck and Star’s dreamlike vocals have a more definitive flow courtesy of the acoustic delivery and subtler touch.

Musicianship…  one of the reasons this band stands above some of their peers is the incredible guitar work courtesy of Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick.  However!  This version includes the talents of James Murphy, who hopped on board for the Low album and adds his mind-bending talents to this version.  Acoustic, flamenco, electric…  Murphy does it all (accompanied by Peterson) and his replication of the original solo is phenomenal as he balances half the solo with a dramatic acoustic build before an electric crescendo kicks the song into an even greater stratosphere.  Skolnick’s original solo is magnificent in its own right and I would have loved to have heard his take on acoustic but Murphy delivers his all and then some.  His silvery touches are similar to his predecessor yet slightly more aggressive, adding to the already heavy emotional scope of this performance.

Download now, dim the lights, throw on the headphones, and ease in to a master performance by these Bay Are legends that may surprise you.  Hit that repeat button a few times while you’re at it.

I’ve never been someone who believes that friends and loved ones that have passed on have the ability to communicate with you from the afterlife.  Television shows featuring mediums that “talk to the dead” are just a bunch of hoo hah in my eyes and anything supposedly revealed is just happenstance or a coincidence.  But something weird has been happening in my neighborhood over the past couple of months that makes me think…  is Gregg Allman trying to communicate with me?

So before I get into the why, let me step back just a bit.  As many of you likely know, Gregg Allman passed away in late May of this year due to complications from liver cancer.  I’d recognized a number of recent passings of favorite artists, but due to the ever increasing ages of my rock heroes I thought to myself…  do I really want to recognize every artist when they die?  Do I just do favorites or those that have made an impact on me?  What if I forget someone?  After much waffling and internal debate on the subject, I figured it might be best to stop it altogether and make a casual reference to an artist in a shuffle post or in some other form rather than dedicate an entire post.  And I made this decision shortly after the death of Gregg Allman.

I’m not sure exactly when the odd occurrence happened, but I’m pretty sure it’s been over the past couple of months.  I take out our dog three times a day- once when we wake up, right after work, and before we go to bed.  We generally follow the same boring routine of out the door, turn left to go around the cul de sac, and then at the stop sign go whichever direction the dog’s sniffer takes us.  One evening when walking the dog before bed I hear the faint strains of music.  I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from but it was maybe 15-20 seconds worth of what sounded like some sweet melody from an unknown instrument.  My first thought was that someone had left the radio on because it would repeat every few minutes, but each time I was not close to the source of the sound.  I didn’t think much of it…  that is, until I heard it again… and again… and again…  during different times of the day and night.

Oh, it didn’t happen every day that I took the dog out nor did it happen any other time I may have been outside, but each time it slipped from my memory that darn figure would pop up again.  One day when it was fairly quiet I got a good listen to the tune-  a sweet guitar melody that sounded very familiar but couldn’t quite place it.  And finally I deduced the source of said tune-  a kid’s toy that looked like a little pink bus in my neighbor’s front yard, parked under one of their small trees..

What makes this story even stranger is that that toy has remained in the same location for the past two months with nary a child playing with it.  It’s been left out in the sweltering Midwest humidity, it’s been dumped on with inches and inches of rain, it’s been caught in hailstorms and windstorms and whatnot and I’d STILL hear that song.  Just when I thought the batteries may have died out or that the weather had finally gotten the best of it, that little pink bus would fire up it’s 15-20 second melody.  Short of Toy Story coming to life, I thought…  when is it going to stop?

And then it finally did.  Or so I thought…  two, maybe three weeks goes by and nary a peep from the neighbor’s yard.  I started to miss that little tune and tried to remember exactly how it went because it sounded like the Allman Brothers and always brought a smile to my face- was it “Little Martha”?  Maybe it sounds more like “Blue Sky”?  I dunno, but…  I haven’t heard it in awhile.  That is until today, bright and early at 6:30 AM when I was out with the dog as he did his business and then suddenly I KNEW.  This was a sign, a message from Gregg Allman telling me that I should have made a reference to his passing in a post.

So Gregg…  here it is…  it’s not going to be very long but I get the vibe from the short tune that it’s OK to be brief.  Many thanks for great music over the years and I hope you are up there laying down some new tunes with brother Duane and drummer Butch Trucks.  The Allmans legacy will live on in the hearts of jam bands everywhere.  May you rest in peace.

Oh yeah…  I know if I don’t hear any more out of that car then it really WAS you!

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

Time once again for a curveball on the shuffle post by giving my musings on the first ten artists that pop up on the iPod, plus pick my favorite three songs from the artists.  Let it roll…

Mercyful Fate

Of course, let’s start with a tough one…  Mercyful Fate, a band I never really got into until maybe the 90’s when King Diamond decided to resurrect the band after his lengthy solo career.  All that said, King and the boys were a huge influence on the metal scene (especially Metallica) with songs full of steely riffs, macabre lyrics, and over the top vocals.  And that Denner/Sherman guitar tag team is aces and the King’s ultracool personality (not to mention insane singing style) is totally unique.

Favorite Cuts:  “A Corpse Without Soul”, “Curse Of The Pharaohs”, “Evil”

Wild Cherry

Only got one cut from Wild Cherry and it’s a KILLER…  the ubiquitous “Play That Funky Music”; a song with an insistent funkiness and stanky groove topped off with an insanely catchy singalong chorus.  Never fails to bring a smile to my face even after years and years of hearing it, and if someone is gonna frown on it then I don’t want you hangin’ out at my party.  Hate to say that I’ve never heard anything else from the band though.  Oh well.

Favorite Cut:  “Play That Funky Music”

Survivor

Loved these guys back in the early 80s and liked their extremely popular Vital Signs LP with the major hits (well, those outside of “Eye Of The Tiger”), but man…  if I clamor for some Survivor I have to go with the Dave Bickler era-  just some great heavy blue collar rock from the Chicago boys.  Sure, the Jimi Jamison era was more popular but it got a little too poppy and ballady for my tastes which now I look at it more as a product of the MTV era.

Favorite Cuts:  “Poor Man’s Son”, “The One That Really Matters”, “Eye Of The Tiger”

Allman Brothers Band

Big fan here; love the Allmans and really got into them moreso over the past 15-20 years or so.  Preference is definitely for the Duane Allman era but I certainly don’t discount anything done since his unfortunate demise (especially the latter Warren Haynes years).  Brother Gregg’s (RIP) soulful singing o’er top of that dual guitar interplay between Duane and Dickey Betts is the main selling point for me, plus they wrote a good number of hits and did some excellent blues covers.

Favorite Cuts:  “One Way Out”, “You Don’t Love Me”, “Nobody Knows”

Rory Gallagher

Wow, tough tough call here as I have a few things from Rory but I don’t listen to him enough to make the call but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do and I’ve put three down that I like.  Hard thing though is actually picking songs because he’s mostly known for his guitar prowess, which is quite incredible.  I was in a record store one evening and they were playing his Live In Europe and I was floored by the insane fire and energy from his performance.   And yeah, the live stuff is where it’s at.

Favorite Cuts:  “I Take What I Want”, “Cruise On Out”, “Bullfrog Blues”

The Winery Dogs

I remember when these cats teamed up and how excited I was at the prospect of what they would put together, but I was slightly disappointed.  Not sure exactly why though as the talent is there but it may have been that I was looking for more fiery fretwork and less bluesiness from the band, which is a shame in my thinking as the players are all killer and Richie Kotzen has some great soulful pipes.  Still, I’m wanting a more aggressive approach from him to match the tunes.  Got some really good tunes though.

Favorite Cuts:  “Six Feet Deeper”, “Desire”, “Not Hopeless”

The Beatles

As much as I dig the Fab Four it’s hard for me to say that I absolutely love them.  That may be blasphemy to some; however, my tastes lean heavier and a bit more bombastic compared to the melodic tunefulness and brilliant songcraft of the band.  That said, I have MASSIVE respect for what they’ve done and they definitely fall into the top tier of favorites of all time due to their immense creativity and wealth of iconic music.  They literally changed the face of popular music during the 60s and their influence cannot be denied.

Favorite Cuts:  “A Day In The Life”, “Let It Be”, “Eleanor Rigby”

Sex Pistols

Short of the Never Mind The Bollocks… CD I have nothing else from the Pistols so I’ll be a little biased towards my choices.  Funny tho, I’d heard covers of Pistols songs before I actually heard a thing from the band themselves.  Even funnier listening to this these days is how relatively tame it seems to be, which just goes to show how much punk rock influenced a lot of the heavy music I grew up with.  Still, Johnny Rotten’s snotty delivery is often imitated and never duplicated and the songs were strong- don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Favorite Cuts:  “Anarchy In The UK”, “God Save The Queen”, “Holidays In The Sun”

Iron Maiden

Yeah, don’t need to go into much more detail on my all time favorite band having already done that as they achieved the #1 spot on that list.  But yer gonna get another small dose of it anyway.  Great musicianship?  Check…  Excellent songs?  Check…  Fabulous live energy?  Check…  Cool lyrical content?   Absolutely…  the best metal frontman ever?  Hell yes…  We can talk Maiden on here all day, but I’ll leave you with this-  there’s not a band anywhere that’s as deep in my soul as these guys are and there never will be.  Entrenched and anchored well within…

Favorite Cuts:  “The Trooper”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Wasted Years”

Monster Magnet

The cool thing about working at a record store back in the day were the promos that were sent out, which was my first exposure to the great Monster Magnet.  At one point in the 90s I thought that their brand of stoner rock would be THE NEXT BIG THING but unfortunately it was not.  Still, they did have a semi hit with the over the top video for “Space Lord” but they never did replicate that success.  But man, the band’s spaced out fuzz and trippy lyrics are really deserving of more exposure.  Runs the gamut from stoner to cock rock and it’s all good.

Favorite Cuts:  “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”, “Space Lord”, “Medicine”