We sometimes wonder about those serious musical questions, whether they be real life events or infamous rumors…  what would Elvis be doing if he were still alive?  What if Eddie Van Halen had joined KISS?  Is Paul McCartney really Billy Shears?  Did Keith Richards really snort his dad’s ashes?  Did that scream in the middle of “Love Rollercoaster” really come from a woman that got killed in the studio?  Let’s take a moment and ponder an alternate reality of five truths, rumors, and(?) tall tales…

• Jimi Hendrix lives and goes on to record a couple of space age funk\jazz\fusion album with Miles Davis and nearly disappearing from the music scene altogether in the 80s until Michael Jackson invites him to guest on a new album. Hendrix is so inspired by the material that he goes on to revolutionize dance music as we know it.

• Jimmy Page convinces Jeff Beck, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle to form a new supergroup, effectively ending both The Yardbirds and The Who. Band recruits Steve Marriott for vocal duties and releases four albums of blistering hard rock before Moon leaves in 1970 to begin a lifelong career as game show host on the BBC.

• After the “Toot And A Snore” attempt a few years prior, John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet in a New York studio in 1976 to begin writing sessions for a secret project. Once writing is complete, they call in Ringo and George and lay down enough tracks for a triple album.  The Fabs are excited about the material and call it “our best work”, but unfortunately the record company refuses the masters, telling the band that it won’t sell as disco is the “hip new thing” and “the future of music”

• In 1981, MTV debuts with the goal of introducing the general public to music with “substance over style” focusing on musicianship, intelligent lyrics, and keen insight. The new channel is a hit with the older generation, and, surprisingly, the younger folks as they are introduced to artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Weather Report, Johnny Cash, and Bob Marley and newer stars such as former nun\now folk balladeer Madonna Louise Ciccone.

• After jokingly running for President of the United States in 1980, Joe Walsh gets serious about a career in politics and decides to run for office again in 1996 as a third party candidate. Although he loses, he is so loved by the public that President Bill Clinton creates a new position in his cabinet for Walsh as Ambassador of Good Will.  Walsh’s responsibilities include hotel room trashing seminars for visiting dignitaries, reading children’s stories on the White House lawn through a talk box, and lead environmental spokesman to save marine life called the ILBT initiative (I Like Big Tortoises).

Good news!  Future Publishing has come to save the day!  The publishing company has purchased Team Rock, thus returning the magazine titles back to their previous home (Future sold the titles to Team Rock in 2013).  Future will also take over ownership of Team Rock Radio, plus the Metal Hammer and Golden God award ceremonies.  No other details at this time around impact to publishing dates, if any.

Information about the deals can be found via the attached links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/01/09/rock-magazines-saved-former-publisher/

https://www.gigwise.com/news/108880/team-rock-classic-rock-and-prog-future-publishing

http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/future-buys-back-metal-hammer-and-classic-rock-following-teamrock-collapse/

As mentioned previously, the JustGiving campaign founded by Orange Goblin’s Ben Ward is still up and running.  Donations go to those TeamRock staffers who lost their positions before Christmas (you can still make a donation HERE).  Per the above news links, it is not clear what will happen to the 73 that lost their positions- hopefully, some of that staff will be brought along.

Depending on your age group, the name Danny Elfman may ring a bell-  take a look at the guy’s film score and TV credits:  Pee-Wees Big Adventure… The Simpsons…  Batman…  Beetlejuice…  The Nightmare Before Christmas (theme music AND the singing voice of Jack Skellington).  But for those of us that grew up in the 80s we were first exposed to the manic genius of Elfman as leader of Oingo Boingo, who, interestingly enough, had some of their songs included as part of the soundtracks from movies ranging from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Weird Science, Teen Wolf Too, and my first taste as part of the band in the classic Rodney Dangerfield movie Back To School.  That song on prominent display is the extremely catchy and unforgettable “Dead Man’s Party”.

Kicking off with a snakily distorted and echoey guitar line, the song hits a comfortable groovy stride early with various percussive elements, Elfman’s utter cool vocal, and the return of that guitar.  What’s great about this song is the various melodic lines that flow throughout and how it’s offset by the stabbing horn arrangement, insistent, ping pong-y bass groove, and insanely catchy verse and chorus.  Toss in a few funky and sinuous keyboard lines that intertwine with the guitar and horns in an extended instrumental section and you’re in ska/new wave heaven!  You want to get people up and moving on the dance floor for your next Halloween party, make sure to toss this on the turntable 🙂

One other quick note…  the band released a “live in the studio” version found on Boingo Alive that’s a bit more uptempo plus it kicks off with the horn part before the guitar and vocal comes in.  A bit of a different feel overall but just as impressive and fun as the original.  You can’t go wrong with either option for your next soiree.

Those of us classic rockheads of a certain age have grown up with a number of iconic bands and possibly none moreso than a couple of Britain’s finest in The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.  As a kid growing up in the 70s/80s, you could not escape either band on the radio regardless of AM or FM or the frequency you were listening to.  I like both bands but if I was told that I could only listen to one for the rest of my life, that band would be…  The Beatles.

Music is a funny thing though-  I probably listen to more music that influenced the Stones and was influenced by them than I do The Beatles, but there’s something to be said there.  The Stones did a great job mixing blues influences with psychedelia and smatterings of country to create their own unique hybrid, but Beatle influences are harder to spot.  To me, The Beatles were an entirely different creature that morphed and changed over time.  Not that the Stones didn’t do that, but the creative swirl from the Fab Four during their brief tenure stands higher than their counterparts as they effectively mixed folk, early rock n roll, psychedelia, raga, baroque, and orchestral into their mix.  And with the help of a great producer in George Martin they were able to take those influences and create everything from sweeping, complex soundscapes to beautiful melodies to a little bit of everything in between.  Lennon and McCartney were an ace songwriting team and with the occasional contribution from Harrison, the band was able to create a wealth of excellent material in such a brief period that continues to stand the test of time.  Amazingly enough, for as many years as I’ve heard the songs on the radio or listened to them on headphones I’m STILL hearing something new.

As for Mick, Keith, and the gang?  Fantastic band and I must admit that if I need a quick rocking pick me up I’d probably go for “Jumpin Jack Flash” over something from The Beatles but overall, there just aren’t as many earworms that stick with me.  Don’t get me wrong, they have a ton of classic songs and many that I like a lot but from a “listening experience” standpoint I gotta go with the Fabs.  Sure, the Stones are the more raw and primal option of the two but if I’m looking for that vibe I’m going to go to their blues influences instead.  And since we’re talking head to head here, I favor the rich musicality of The Beatles

What say you?

I did this for the 2000s, now it’s time to cover the previous decade!  Key here is the band has to have formed sometime during the 90s- not released their first album, but actually started anywhere between 1990-1999.  Here goes, no special order!

1.  Symphony X
2. Clutch
3. Oasis
4. I Mother Earth
5. Stone Temple Pilots (previously Mighty Joe Young, changed to STP in ’91)
6. Arc Angels
7. Rage Against The Machine
8. Spiritual Beggars
9. Nevermore
10. The Verve
11. Kyuss
12. Gov’t Mule
13. Foo Fighters
14. Skyclad
15. Down

As a budding music fan, I got introduced to music magazines around my junior high years.  My mom brought home a copy of “Song Hits”, which had the lyrics to the popular songs of the day in which you could sing along to your heart’s content (I distinctly recall Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson on the cover but don’t recall any Tull songs in the mag!).  Shortly thereafter I would go to the bookstore and start buying my own magazines, the best of the lot being Hit Parader, Circus, and Creem.  I spent hours on end poring over these magas to read about my favorite bands and occasionally cutting out photos to put in my locker at school, and also sharing these mags with other likeminded friends.

At some point my musical tastes were going in different directions than the artists that were being covered, so I started reading various guitar magazines and occasionally buying import copies of Kerrang! and Metal Hammer.  Both of these periodicals featured the heavier bands in my wheelhouse, with a good dose of bands like Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Metallica, etc etc etc.  But at some point grunge took hold of the mainstream and fewer bookstores and record stores carried the better music mags, leaving only Rolling Stone, Spin, and a few others to keep me in the loop on the scene.  Fortunately, the Internet was in its infancy and I was getting bits and pieces of the music I liked but I really missed the printed format.

At some point around the early 2000s I saw a copy of a magazine called Classic Rock.  I don’t recall who was on the cover of my first issue (I can recall the Stones being on my first SUBSCRIBED issue tho!), but it was the featured bands that grabbed me.  I’d finally found a new magazine that fully piqued my interest!  Articles abound regarding my old favorites but lots of newer artists as well, some which I’d not heard before but with the monthly samplers that became part of the magazine, ones that would become new favorites in time.  Classic Rock was soon to spin off another magazine in Prog, focusing on that particular genre of music and introducing me to even more newer artists.  As a subscriber, I eagerly awaited each monthly issue and savored over each article and record review, reading everything from front to back.

Unfortunately Team Rock publications, the company behind Classic Rock Magazine and sister publications Metal Hammer and Prog, has filed for bankruptcy and has laid off 73 employees just a few short days ago.  Orange Goblin frontman Ben Ward had launched a Crowdfunding campaign (link HERE if you’d like to donate) to support these employees with a goal of raising 20,000 pounds- amazingly, that number has been smashed and is now over 80,000 pounds as of this writing.  While it’s sad to think that these three magazines may be gone for good, it is wonderful to see such spirit (Christmas or not) from the music community in rallying behind the Team Rock staff during this difficult time.

Best wishes to the Team Rock staff and we hope to see you and the magazines back on your feet soon!

Time to opine on the first ten songs that pop up in shuffle mode on the iPod!

“Blood Stained”, Judas Priest Jugulator

After what seems like ages, the mighty Priest pick up the pieces after singer Rob Halford leaves them high and dry for a few years of self discovery and latches on to one Tim “Ripper Owens”, formerly of a Priest cover band and a decent screamer in his own right.  “Blood Stained” was the lead cut from their Jugulator release, very British steely in metalness and a fine tune to introduce the new boy to the masses.  One of the better Ripper era cuts.

“Confused”, Onslaught In Search Of Sanity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ifzE6S6u9U

Onslaught was one of Britain’s thrashier hopefuls; however, come this album the band (likely?) bowed to record company pressure and brought in former Grim Reaper singer Steve Grimmett to add a more classic metal sheen to the album.  “Confused” is a straight forward dose of metal, barely reaching the two minute mark with Grimmett in fine yet safe voice only to be gone after this album and the band breaking up until the mid-2000s.

“Tomorrow Never Knows”, Living Colour Collideoscope

Living Colour keeps the trippy psychedelia of the Beatles’ original and adds a dose of percussive clatter and guitar noize into the blender while lead singer Corey Glover keeps the spirit of the original vocal.  Soundscape is fairly thick and dense with oddball, distorted guitar tricks from Vernon Reid mixed in with various keyboard/synth textures in this grab bag of sonics.  Fairly cool cover overall.

“Worst Of It”, Prong Power Of The Damager

Prong mainstay Tommy Victor foregoes the industrial leanings of the Rude Awakening era and returns to more of the straight ahead hardcore thrashiness of the band’s early days.  “Worst Of It” is a bit more sing songy for Victor than previous material but the crunchy guitar tones are on full display, marking a welcome return to form.  One of the more underrated heavy bands that fell in that pre-grunge era that deserved more attention.

“Hot (I Need To Be Loved)” James Brown Star Time

Wait a minute…  isn’t this “Fame” by David Bowie?  Why, yes it is.  Recorded a year after the Bowie classic, Brown’s steal isn’t quite up to par to that version even though it cops the chicken scratch guitar and fuzz riff to a tee.  There is a semi funky breakdown midway through but somewhat weak for JB’s standards.  Interesting note, Carlos Alomar (co-writer of the song) was a member of Brown’s band in the 60s before joining Bowie and writing this one.

“Mother Popcorn” Aerosmith Live Bootleg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdHQk-yQEKc

Speaking of James Brown!  Oddly enough, this song was my first exposure to the great man’s music as Aerosmith pulls off the rockingly funky cover on their Live Bootleg release.  Drummer Joey Kramer was already a vet of funk bands and guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford plus bassist Tom Hamilton hold their own on this seriously groovy version.  Fine sax, and of course lead singer Steven Tyler is obviously having a ball fronting the band here as he improvises line after line.

“Dressed To Kill” Nazareth Classics Vol. 16

Scottish rockers Nazareth bust out a bit o’ boogie woogie for this 50s style rocker, keeping the mood fairly light in overall feel.  Lead vocalist Dan McCafferty sounds great here, not in full belt mode a la “Hair Of The Dog” but keeping it more in a mid tier range and the rest of the band have some decent guitar runs throughout.  Dig the Jerry Lee Lewis style piano on display here!

“Lazy” Deep Purple Live Montreaux 2006

Yes sirree, there’s still life in these legends yet.  Blackmore long gone, Jon Lord having left the band (RIP!), but ably replaced by Steve Morse on noodly guitar and Don Airey on smoking Hammond organ.  Not quite as tight or fiery as the classic version on Made In Japan but this version rocks nonetheless, Ian Gillan even getting into the fun with some spirited harmonica runs even if his classic scream isn’t quite there.  Good clean fun for all!

“The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg” Iron Maiden A Matter Of Life And Death

Iron Maiden’s Dave Murray rarely pens material for the band but he’s helped co-write a few cool tunes over the band’s history.  Breeg intros with some of that sweet bluesiness from Davey before the rest of the band slowly sets the tone before the gargantuan stomping riff comes in at the two minute mark.  One of my favorite latter period Maiden cuts, so simple in construction but extremely solid playing and Bruce Dickinson in fine fettered vocal form.

“Wild Talk” EZO Fire Fire

Man, good luck finding a copy of this anywhere without shelling out a few extra bucks for a used copy (I’ve got a crappily recorded version from my old cassette tape).  I’ve vouched for this Japanese band in an “Under The Radar” post a year or so ago as one of those unheralded hair era bands that rocked mighty fine.  “Wild Talk” takes the tunefulness of the bands of that time and mixes it with grittier guitar, snarlier vocal, and some kickin’ drumwork. Very underrated, maybe a more melodic Skid Row for comparison.

Talk about an interesting batch here, mostly heavy with a tinge of funk.  Cut of the week is a tough one, but seriously man…  “Wild Talk” is a gem and barely beats out Maiden due to overall catchiness.

I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas music: gimme the classics by artists from the 50s and 60s instead of a classic sung by a newer artist any day of the week.  I’m sure much of that has to do with holiday sentiments and thinking of childhood innocence because I can’t think of an artist who has put out anything over the past 30 years that even comes remotely close to what I grew up with (Harry Connick Jr has a couple out and I’m a fan, but he’s about as retro as you can get).  And with me being a hard rock guy, you may be surprised that I don’t get into Trans-Siberian Orchestra ‘cept for that smoking version of “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)”, tho I do dig The Kinks’ raucous “Father Christmas”.

For my money, if you had to pick one album to play during the holiday season it’s gotta be The Andy Williams Christmas Album.  It’s easy listening, it’s hip, it’s somewhat jazzy, it swings in spots, and overall is just a downright classic.  You’re bound to have heard his ubiquitous version of “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” either on the radio or a few years ago as a back to school commercial for Staples, but besides that song he’s got some which should rank just as high on your all time Christmas favorite lists.  Excellent versions of “White Christmas”, “Happy Holiday”, and “Little Drummer Boy” are here but the standout cuts for me are his versions of “O Holy Night” and “Sweet Little Jesus Boy”, both displaying Williams in beautiful tenor voice accompanied by a string orchestra.  “O Holy Night” is a real showcase, giving Williams opportunity to stretch his vocal range from softer passages to greater heights.  Absolutely stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UseFjJ7cmSA

Whether you prefer the classics as I do at this time of year or you want the latest and greatest from your favorite artists, I wish all of you the best and hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season!

Not sure why I’d not done so before, but now is the time to periodically review new full length album releases and what better way to start out with than arguably the biggest metal release of the year (maybe IN years) in Metallica’s Hardwired…  To Self-Destruct.  I’m sure many of you out there were wondering the same thing as I was when you first heard that a new mighty Met platter was on the horizon…  will this thrash like there’s no tomorrow or will it be a “Load” of crap?  What will the sound quality be like?  Will we get “Unforgiven IV”?  Will James sound like old school Jaymz? Will we hear the bass?  Well…  the answers are a mix of “yes”, “no”, and “kinda”.

Back in October we were treated to title cut “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct” and on first impression the results were somewhat mixed.  In my eyes I was excited but somewhat worried for fear that the well had run dry and they were starting to recycle riffs (“Damage Inc.”, anyone?), plus the lyrics seemed a bit juvenile on first listen.  But…  BUT!  I’ll be damned after a couple of listens that my spirits were up mighty high for two specific reasons…  James Hetfield’s vocal was FANTASTIC (as it is throughout the album), all piss n vinegar and a nice healthy bark full of conviction with some melodic touches; and… THAT RIFF!  Even though it was reminiscent of earlier material there were enough twists and turns where it wasn’t a dead on copy, PLUS it was a sign that we may be in for a much different album than recent history would have us believe.  Just how different?  Read on…

Slowly but surely additional songs were rolled out before the release dropped on us in mid-November, but we’ll skip all that and dive right into overall thoughts on the album:  IMHO, this may be the best thing they’ve put out since 1988’s …And Justice For All.  Does it hearken back to past greats?  Absolutely.  Are there songs reminiscent of their Bob Rock produced (and gazillion seller) era, where the band was riding high in the charts and selling out stadiums and coliseums?  Yep.  Are they treading new ground?  Yeah, somewhat.  But most importantly the band hasn’t sounded this fiery and (dare I say) menacing in years.  Cross Justice with the Black Album with a dash of Kill ‘Em All and a hint of Load/Reload and you’re in the ballpark.

So what about the songs?  I’d say out of the twelve on the two main discs (we’ll skip the deluxe edition for now), there are a solid six or seven that fit that “no skip” category-  each of these run the gamut of their hookiest, hard rock material to dead on old school headbanging thrash and a couple which mix both styles.  Out of these, clear winners are “Atlas Rise” and “Moth Into Flame” with both mixing heads down no nonsense riffing and a sense of melody from that middle period; “Now That We’re Dead” and “Here Comes Revenge” mix a bit of steely Judas Priest metal in their straightforward and extremely effective tunefulness; and the aforementioned “Hardwired” and supercharged “Spit Out The Bone” that hearken back to their glory days as leaders in the mid to late ’80s thrash movement.

So what about the others?  “Dream No More” and “Confusion” straddle that line of the middle period as “Dream” mixes the heft and chunk of a “Sad But True”-style riff and “Confusion” kicks off like the son of “Am I Evil?” before hitting another Black-era riff and tempo akin to “Wherever I May Roam”.  Both songs are good but ride that middle rail of hefty riff rock with some slower moments, whereas the better cuts on the album are a bit weightier with more solid tempo changes to keep things exciting.  That said, these are still two winners that throw a bit of shade against those heavier moments.

Unfortunately, there are a handful of songs that haven’t grown on me as of yet.  “Halo On Fire” is a bit of a charming oddball, coming off a bit like a Blue Oyster Cult creepy classic but one that doesn’t live up to the sum of its parts.  James is in crooner mode here making for an oddly unsettling Dracula bite but the song drags on a bit too long as it moves and slithers into a handful of other riffs that don’t quite gel.  Thumbs up for getting a bit adventurous and treading new ground as some of the melody lines on the guitars are pretty sweet but ultimately it falls a bit flat for me.

That leaves us with “ManUNkind”, “Am I Savage?”, and “Murder One”, all decent songs but none which are standout tracks.  The former actually runs with a decent chunky funk riff but would have worked a bit better with a drummer with a jazzier touch and tastier fills instead of Lars Ulrich’s heavier thump.  I love Lars but the odd timing is deserving of something other than the militaristic march he’s rolling out here.  As for the latter two cuts,  decent ideas but musically reminiscent of the weaker material on the Black Album or Load/Reload.  Major points though for the Lemmy tribute but if you’re gonna do that it’s got to be a thrasher!

As a whole though, this thing is SOLID:  Hetfield hasn’t sounded this good in years and the riffing is much fresher than it’s been for a long while.  Sound quality is much better than than previous album Death Magnetic and avoids the Bob Rock sonics (especially on the bottom end as Rob Trujillo is low in the mix) in favor of more older school guitar tones, although Lars’ kick drum is mixed higher on some songs making for the occasional odd listen.  As for Kirk Hammet’s leads… yeah he’s the king of the wah wah pedal but he’s got some fresh ideas, especially the tasty moments in “Now That We’re Dead” and the runs in “Spit Out The Bone”.  Too bad he doesn’t have a writing credit but based on the strength of the Hetfield/Ulrich material we can wait for the next album.

Those of you that haven’t picked this up yet, I highly recommend the deluxe edition.  Non-album cut “Lords Of Summer” is really good and I would have put it on the album over some of the weaker cuts, plus the previously released covers are well worth the money as is the live set from Record Store Day earlier this year.  Toss in a live version of “Hardwired” and you’ve put a nice little bow on this hefty package.

On a scale of one to ten I give this a solid 8 due to some of the weaker numbers but leaning 8.5 due to the overall strength of the better material and performances within.  Welcome back guys…  you’ve been missed 🙂

Likely THE song that really cemented my lifelong fandom of Iron Maiden, “The Trooper” ticks all of the boxes for what epic songsmithery should be:  excellent riff, otherworldly singing, fabulous lead playing, colossal drum fills, a massive sing songy bit (good for concerts, y’know), and ridiculously good and descriptive lyrics.  Invoking “The Charge Of The Light Brigade” (Google it!) in not only that stellar wordplay but also in the galloping tempo, Steve Harris once again stepped up his game and delivered a classic that is many a Maiden fan’s favorite and one that continues to appear in the live shows to this day.  There aren’t many songs that I’ll hit the repeat button on for multiple plays but due to those aforementioned fiery performances on display I’m bound to hit it at least a couple of times 🙂

In the live environment, this song often takes on a life of its own.  Maiden shows over the years will often amp up the excitement level of songs by increasing the tempo and even “The Trooper” gets an extra kick in the pants, amazingly enough.  Live versions over the years often show the band in danger of careening off the rails but I’ll be damned if they don’t pull it off well.  Drum fills may feel slightly off, guitars may not be in sync, vocals may be rushed, but the energy and excitement levels are through the roof especially come the “whoah oh oh oh” come chorus time.  If pressed, I’d have to pick the Live After Death version (and it’s not even close).

So lessee…  I would have been 15 when this came out?  I think I air-EVERYTHINGed when I heard it and sometimes I still do-  air guitar, air bass, air drums, and air vocal.  My God THAT VOCAL.  One of those songs I wish was in my range as it is one of Bruce Dickinson’s command performances.  And that guitar solo?  One of Dave Murray’s best.  And that bass?  A Steve Harris masterpiece.  And that…  oh never mind, you get the picture. 😉