“Another Tricky Day”, The Who Face Dances

A great latter day track driven by an awesomely cool punchy and sliding bass line from John Entwistle alongside the occasional power chord blast from Pete Townshend, Tricky Day shows the band quite strong post Keith Moon’s untimely death.  Moonie’s replacement Kenney Jones is bedrock solid, laying down the backbeat for the band and plenty of room for Roger Daltrey and Townshend to weave in and out with some great vocal interplay.  Throw in some color from keys and some acoustic into the mix and you’ve got a tune that shows that there was still life in The Who post personal tragedy.

“Disillusion Town”, The Knack Normal As The Next Guy

Ahhh, the curse of the one hit wonder and that hit being the lead song on your first record.  But alas!  The Knack always had a “knack” for a good tune, Disillusion Town offering up a great blast of Beatle-y\Byrds-y pop with a nice psychedelic guitar solo to boot.  Melody for miles, great singing from the always fantastic Doug Fieger, and as always on Knack cuts some of the coolest drumming on the planet for this kind of 60’s influenced pop rock-  a little bit of Ringo, a little bit of Keith Moon, and just a touch of 60s session great Bobby Graham to make you shake and shimmy.

“I Will Possess Your Heart”, Death Cab For Cutie Narrow Stairs

First time I heard this song I got sucked immediately into the bass groove, and that was actually the single version.  In some ways this is almost two songs in one, with the first four minutes a bunch of trippy goodness led by a groovy bass and drum pattern with some ambient guitar awash in reverb and spaciness topped with a repetitive piano hook.  Halfway through Ben Gibbard’s vocal brings it down to a small hush and then the groove picks back up and takes you home.  Lyrically a bit on the stalkeresque side but certainly paints the picture for you.  VIdeo is the album version in its eight minute glory.

“Savage World”, Primal Rock Rebellion Awoken Broken

Due to my love of Iron Maiden, I will always pick up any side projects that the fellas do, this one headed up by ace guitarist Adrian “H” Smith alongside one totally unique vocalist in Mikee Goodman.  Other than the heavy guitar, this is pretty far away from H’s day job as it’s quite a bit more modern and moodier across the board.  Vocally this IS NOT for everyone as Goodman has his own dramatic style.  He does express quite a bit of range throughout, mixing in cartoony yelping with some actual singing here and there.  H is a little more free to roam here and there and get a little bit noisier than usual, which is cool to hear.

“Sandy Beaches”, Delbert McClinton Live From Austin

Not my normal cup of tea as this is a bit too smooth and “yacht rock” for me (blame the horns), but hey, Delbert is reliable as ever and can certainly sell a song.  It’s pretty far removed from the bluesy R&B that he’s more famous for, sounding more like a hit soft rock song from the 70s.  If you want to slow dance with the one you love, this is certainly up your alley.  A little trivia note for you-  Delbert has been doing a yearly floating music festival for 20+ years named “Sandy Beaches Cruise” and I guarantee he’ll play this one every year!

“Don’t Go”, Ugly Kid Joe America’s Least Wanted

Rock fans likely remember “I Hate Everything About You”, but may not have been familiar with the talent in this funk metal rockin’ outfit, which is a damn shame as grunge came along and totally killed everything that smelled remotely hairy.  “Don’t Go” is a groovy bit of funkiness with suitably crunchy guitar and great vocal from Whitfield Crane, feeling vaguely southern rock come chorus time.  Probably the best part of these guys was their sense of humor, which doesn’t really come through in this song but an overall sense of good time fun does.

“Electric Twilight”, Vicious Rumors Vicious Rumors

I think all heavy 80s bands had cool, atmospheric guitar pieces either as individual segues between songs or actual song introductions, used either to show off the guitarist’s chops or to offer up a little bit of light and shade to balance out the heaviness.  Vicious Rumors has always featured strong guitarists and was the launching pad for one Vinnie Moore, but this time the guitar work is handled by Geoff Thorpe and Mark McGee, getting a bit ethereal and flashing some Led Zeppelin with touches of mandolin and acoustic with the electric.  Only about two minutes but a bit of fresh air on the CD.

“Everybody’s Got A Mountain To Climb”, Allman Brothers Where It All Begins

A Dickey Betts composition and one that sounds a bit Little Feat-esque, but with that unmistakable stellar slide work between Betts and Warren Haynes.  Unfortunately this would be Dickey’s last go round with the ABB and he pulls off a fantastic vocal here, sounding a touch like Gregg Allman here and there with the Betts twang.  Lyrically a bit of a feel good song too as we all have our own mountains to climb in life.  Did I mention the slide work?  Yeah I did, but I got to mention it again as Betts and Haynes always gelled so well together.

“Promised Land”, Reverend Play God

Former lead throat of Metal Church David Wayne sticks with what he does best, grabbing some hot players (ironically from replacement Mike Howe’s old band) and busting out material very close to his old band-  not quite thrash metal and something a little more heavier than something like Judas Priest.  In “Promised Land”, Wayne swings back and forth between menacing shriek and smooth croon.  Toss in a little bit of groove towards the end before coming full circle to the heavy stomp as Reverend Dave belts it out in fine fashion.

“Hi Fi Mama”, ZZ Top Deguello

Ahh, that lil’ ol’ band from Tejas with a short and snappy number from probably my fave album of theirs Deguello.  To me pre-Eliminator is their best stuff and it’s always a treat to hear Dusty Hill on vocals, who sings as if there’s no tomorrow.  Sure, he can get a little carried away at times but he’s got such a convincing growl that that stuff just washes away.  Throw in some horns (totally different from the Delbert horns mentioned earlier) and some of the coolest licks ever from Rev Billy G and you’ll be dancing your ass off in no time.  Have mercy!

Some awfully tough choices for best song of the week but I’ve gotta to with ZZ and “Hi Fi Mama”.  The Who and Death Cab come in #2 and #3 for the week.

Keeping it simple on this post-  a list of my Top 15 favorite bands that have formed since 2000.  Not ranked in any special way.

1. Mastodon
2. Rival Sons
3. The Answer
4. Black Keys
5. The Darkness
6. Valient Thorr
7. The Fratellis
8. Blackberry Smoke
9. Gaslight Anthem
10. Protest The Hero
11. Walking Papers
12. Vintage Trouble
13. Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster
14. Pride Tiger
15. SAHG

Before I kick off this final installment of “Under The Radar”, I wanted to point out something regarding my thought process with these bands that I didn’t state in the previous two posts:  I purposefully chose artists that had no more than three releases and also single out artists whose releases are generally hard to find.  Some of these have been rereleased over the years and some are now out of print.  It might be hard tracking some of these down but they are certainly well worth your money if the price is right!

Soooo… on we go!

In the years post-Whitesnake, John Sykes was snapped up by Geffen Records and put together a powerhouse trio in drum king Carmine Appice (ex-Rod Stewart, Vanilla Fudge, Ozzy, etc) and fretless bassmeister Tony Franklin (ex-The Firm).  The debut self titled disc was chock full of atmospheric goodies, led by intro single “Valley Of The Kings” and other strong cuts like “Riot”, “Blue Murder”, “Black Hearted Woman” and songs reminiscent of his Thin Lizzy years (check out “Billy” for its Lynott-esque lyric) and his time in Whitesnake (“Jelly Roll”).  Production is solid and features Bob Rock at the helm before he turned his talents to Metallica’s self titled disc a couple of years later.  Disc #2, Nothing But Trouble, has its own heavy moments but the songwriting isn’t quite as solid as their debut (also, both Appice and Franklin no longer appear) and the massive bottom end provided by Rock is missing as Sykes produced this effort.  If you like great guitarwork, heavy blues based songs, kick ass rhythm section, and fantastic vocals from Sykes definitely pick these up if you can find them.  Sykes retired the Blue Murder name in the mid-90s and is technically a solo act now.

Cry of Love was a really cool band that put out a couple of great records in the early 90’s, Brother and Diamonds and Debris.  Unfortunately, their style of 70s blues rock stuck out like a sore thumb with their debut disc coming at the tail end of the hair metal era and at the onset of grunge.  That said, both discs feature outstanding guitar work from Audley Freed who at times mixes Hendrix/Trower tonalities similar to someone like Marc Ford in the Black Crowes (ironically, Freed replaced Ford for a period with that same band).  Brother features the pipes of Kelly Holland, sounding a bit like a modern day Paul Rodgers in soulfulness and delivery crossed with a hint of Bubba Keith from “Nicole” era Point Blank.  Unfortunately Holland was fired from the band, who then recruited former Lynch Mob singer Robert Mason, a great singer himself with his own unique soulful\melodic delivery for second disc Diamonds and Debris.  Both discs are very, very good with tons of highlights that are hard to pick out.  If you dig Hendrix, Trower, Free, Bad Company, Black Crowes, Steve Ray Vaughan, this is for you.

In one of my first “Under The Radar” posts I wrote glowingly about Badlands’ debut disc, so if you read that (please check it out if you haven’t) you’ll get a lot about the strengths of the band.  Fortunately, discs #2 and #3 are equally strong in their own right-  the lineup remains the same but Eric Singer is out (on his way to Alice Cooper and KISS) and on the way in is new sticksman Jeff Martin.  Voodoo Highway adds even more depth, mixing up heavy rock cuts similar to the debut like “Soul Stealer”, “Heaven’s Train”, and “Silver Horses” with acoustic touches varying between the dusty slide blues of “Voodoo Highway” and smoothly strummed intro to “Show Me The Way”.  Throw in the swagger of “Three Day Funk” and “Whiskey Dust” into the mix and you’ve got an eclectic mix from all colors of the spectrum.  However…as the commercial says, “but that’s not all!”  “In A Dream” is an absolute gem with singer Ray Gillen taking us all to church, sending shivers down the spine with an absolute knockout of a performance (how this guy isn’t a legend I’ve got no idea).  Unfortunately band squabbles (partly due to the record company finagling) led to the demise of Badlands, which is a shame of such immense proportions considering Ray Gillen’s passing just a few years later.  Fortunately for us Badlands fans there was one posthumously released disc in Dusk, tunes culled from demos they were putting together for a third disc before being dropped from their Atlantic recording contract.  Outside from the truly outstanding songs, there are a couple of things that stand out about this disc:  1) most of it is cut live in the studio, all in one take; and 2) Ray Gillen is making up 50% of his lyrics on the spot (check out the Wiki entry on “Dusk” and read the Jeff Martin comments).  Run out and find these discs NOW and in the meantime go out to YouTube and do a “badlands live” search and soak up the goodness from Jake E Lee, Greg Chaisson, Ray Gillen, and Eric SInger/Jeff Martin.  You can thank me later.

Man, how about this winter?  March and it’s snowing everywhere from Texas up to the northeast.  Crazy…

“Say Goodbye”, Cheap Trick Cheap Trick (1997)

A damn fine one here and a great example of how Trick can weave a Beatlesque melody into something fresh and new.  Lead throat Robin Zander in absolutely fine form, subtle guitar mastery from Rick Nielsen, cool McCartneyesque bassline from Tom Petersson, and in the pocket Ringoisms from Bun E Carlos make this a winner and a tune that shoulda been a hit!  Yeah, a bit laid back for you rockers but CT has always been more than just “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender”, plus this has a little more meat on the bones than “The Flame”.  Definitely one of my fave latter day Cheap Trick tunes.

“Pay The Man”, David Lindley El Rayo-X

Frequent Jackson Browne sideman David Lindley put out a couple of fine albums in the early ’80s full of totally eclectic stuff.  “Pay The Man” is a perfect example of his eclecticism with its reggafied beat and what sounds like a piccolo or other wind instrument carrying a beautiful melody throughout the song.  Great keyboard work on this one too on top of the subtle rhythmic backbeat.  Oh man… I’m thinking of the beach and warmer weather listening to this one!

“I’d Rather Be (Blind, Crippled, & Crazy)”, Doyle Bramhall Fitchburg Street

My first exposure to Doyle Bramhall was perusing the credits on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas Flood LP and noticing that “D. Bramhall” wrote or co-wrote a few of the cuts, eventually carrying on their writing partnership until SRV’s untimely death.  Flash forward many years and I found this CD, which is quite cool in its laid back bluesy/soul vibe akin to Delbert McClinton.  This song is a great example, with awesome interplay between horns, groovy organ, swinging guitar, and sweet background vocals.  I’d read that Stevie Ray considered Bramhall a vocal influence and you can definitely hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn9ZocwS48g

“Money To Burn”, Psycho Motel State Of Mind

So… whatever happened to Adrian Smith during his “leave of absence” from Iron Maiden?  Well, outside of ASAP good ol’ H put out a couple of albums with Psycho Motel, both very cool and probably hard to find these days.  At any rate, “Money To Burn” kicks off with a simple pattern with a brief snippet of “Unchained”-ish phaser on the guitar that pops up here and there throughout the song.  This is a great, grooving rock tune, fairly simple in structure but quite effective across the board-  think of it as a modern day take on a Sabbatherian riff.  Dig the Schenkerisms when the lead pops up too!

“Get Back To The Country”, Marty Stuart Tempted

Tempted is a great Marty album and one I’d highly recommend if you are interested in his more rockabilly-esque side; however, this cut is a Neil Young cover and probably the most country song on the disc (it’s that danged fiddle and mandolin, I tells ya… not that there’s anything wrong with that).  Typically, Marty does rock it up quite a bit and does a knockout mandolin AND guitar solo to boot.  Visions of a barn dance going through my head…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKXYpa7Fmdk

“Have You Ever Seen The Rain”, Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle Vol. 1

John Fogarty, American treasure that he is, has written many a fine tune and this one certainly ranks up with the best of them.  “Rain” is an example of his more subtle side and that’s not knocking anything one iota-  simply strummed, passionate vocal, great bass/drum work, and beautiful organ make this a winner.  Outside of that, I’ve got some favorite parts to this song:  I love the descending lines played by the piano that you catch throughout and how the bass plays its own descending part throughout the chorus.  Just awesome.  And listen how the drum groove changes during the song, especially towards the end as Doug Clifford moves from hi hat to crash cymbal.  Even more awesome.

“Phallic Tractor”, Racer X Live At The Whiskey:  Snowball of Doom

Short, sweet, slightly weird, and awesomely titled (well, wouldn’t call it quite sweet) is “Phallic Tractor”, kicking off with a Scott Travis drum groove before Pablo Gilberto kicks into a groove and then sends things to weirdo zone midway through.  This ain’t quite a song either, more of an instrumental interlude or exercise in freakiness that those with insane talents like the cats in Racer X have.  Probably more of an example of “let’s see if you can do this shred exercise, and keep up on the drums while you are at it”!

“Livin’ Thing”, Electric Light Orchestra Essential

Like Cheap Trick, ELO takes a spin on the Beatles and puts an almost discofied (don’t hate on me with that term) spin on it with orchestration and strings mixed with spaghetti westernisms (dig the intro violin and brief mariachi horn that pops up) on “Livin’ Thing”.  Yeah, this is technically pre-disco with those strings but Jeff Lynne can get away with it with his great melodies and layered vocals.  Throw in cool percussion effects during the chorus (do I detect a hint of cowbell under that tambourine?) and you’ve got one of the better ELO cuts.  And why am I writing in parenthesis?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2d45tOgBl0

“Dancing On Your Grave”, Motorhead Another Perfect Day (Bonus Disc)

My first exposure to Motorhead (outside of reading Hit Parader back in the day) was a video for “One Track Mind” on MTV, which is funny considering that A) that tune is quite a departure from the Motorhead classics, and B) Another Perfect Day is a bit of an oddball record for the band as Brian Robertson had replaced Fast Eddie Clarke and brought a bit more melody to the guitar department, with “Dancing On Your Grave” here being a fine example.  A bit different from the warts (pun intended) and all approach from the classics of yore, but this album has gained many fans over the years and this tune has popped up in the setlists frequently since the late 90’s.  Robbo soon to be gone with Philthy Animal shortly thereafter.

“Now And Then”, The Kinks UK Jive

Kinks fans are a unique bunch as The Kinks have always been a unique band, straggling that line between rock classics and more laid back efforts such as “Now And Then”.  As always, Ray Davies has a way with a lyric especially when he waxes poetically about “mighty corporations and politicians” ruling the land today vs the simple ways of the past before we all became discontent.  It’s funny, as an adult I can understand the sentiment of the lyrics but as a kid I was definitely drawn to “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night”.  Either way, Ray Davies is a fantastic songwriter.

Favorite cut of the week…  I gotta go with “Say Goodbye” but “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” is a close second with “Dancing On Your Grave” not far behind.

Round one down, on to round two…

Japan has always loved hard rock and metal and has produced their share of bands of the same ilk, bands such as Bow Wow, Loudness, Anthem, and EZO, who first appeared in the early 80’s under the guise Flatbacker.  Towards the late 80’s, KISS man Gene Simmons helmed their first stateside release on Geffen Records with the band now known as EZO.  The self titled release sported a bit of a heavier KISS\Crue crunch with some really cool melodic hooks.  Vocalist Masaki Yamada is pretty damn versatile and quite unique, easily moving between a smoother lower range singing style into more of a midrange gravelly growl.  Songs like “House Of A Thousand Pleasures”, with its chunky, muscular riff and solid drumwork from Hiro Homma and “Million Miles Away” with its swinging groove and excellent hook are great examples of how this band could write some simple but solid rock tunes (check out the speedier “Black Moon” for another change of pace).  Their second album, Fire Fire is my favorite as the production is a little bit brighter and the guitars seem to be more in your face.  Unfortunately, EZO split around 1990 and Yamada and Homma eventually went on to join fellow countrymen Loudness for a brief period.

Those of you familiar with Seattle metal\hard rock in the pre-grunge era definitely know Queensryche, likely know Metal Church, and may have a passing familiarity with Fifth Angel, a short lived band with a couple of strong discs.  Their self titled disc originally came out on Shrapnel Records and produced by Terry Date, features powerful vocals from (Dr.) Ted Pilot, excellent guitar playing from the team of James Byrd and Ed Archer, and slamming drumwork from Ken Mary.  Songs are suitably epic with quite a few solid mid-paced riffsters (“Cry Out The Fools”, “Fifth Angel”) thrown in with the occasionally speedy cut (“In The Fallout”, “The Night”), overall bringing to mind European power metal such as Helloween or Accept mixed in with MSG, Scorpions,  and Yngwie Malmsteen (especially in the lead guitar work).  Disc #2 (Tiime WIll Tell) came out a couple of years later, this time manned by Rush-man Terry Brown who brings a much smoother production style in comparison to Date.  Still, there are some strong cuts like “Dangerous Love”, “Angel Of Mercy”, “Cathedral”, and “We Rule” but the production change leaves this disc sounding more like a heavier Dokken.  Not that that’s a terribly bad thing, but with some sweetening of the vocals and choruses makes it appear as if the record company meddled with this disc looking for a hit (check the chorus of “Wait For Me” or “Broken Dreams” for examples).  After many years, this band has reunited with some members but hasn’t put out anything new.

As I’ve mentioned before, I worked in a record store right before the grunge explosion hit and we always received samplers from Concrete Marketing, who handled promotions for a number of bands during that period.  The samplers were always cool and offered up a number of different metal\hard rock oriented bands, which is how I got my first exposure to the awesomely cool alternative metal band Animal Bag.  These guys were a bit hard to describe, almost a bit of acoustic funk here, ballsy rock there, and a whole lotta psychedelia mixed together to form an interesting concoction.  I’ve fortunately picked up three of their releases and all three couldn’t be any different:  Their introductory self titled disc is a wild batch of eclectic and atmospheric tunes, bringing to mind The Doors eastern influences (“Cheerful Mary In The Rain”), Hendrix\Guns N Roses guitar freakiness (“Everybody”), Zeppelin acoustic touches (“Mirrored Shades”), and modern day funkiness like Faith No More and Saigon Kick (“Hate St.”).  Second disc is an EP called Offering, a mixed bag of originals and covers with an absolutely astounding version of Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s “Wooden Ships” that has become one of my favorite covers of all time-  amazing that this is even more laid back and psychedelic than the original; just gorgeous guitar and vocal interplay between Luke Edwards and Rich Parris.  Lastly third disc is the unreleased “Image Damage”, a disc much heavier than the first two leaning more rock than the acoustic touches found on the first two.  Unfortunately the band broke up during a record company shake up as grunge had now taken over the music world in the States.

Happy President’s Day!

“Nickel and Dime”, Allgood Uncommon Goal

The early 90’s produced some good jammy type bands right around the timeframe that grunge hit.  Allgood was a great example, forging a brief career during this period by offering up some Allmans-esque bluesy boogie rock with some tasty dual guitar work.  “Nickel and Dime” is typical of their style, offering up a laid back groove with a strong hook come chorus time and some smart guitar and bass work.  Dig into a live version from these Athens, GA boys.

“Son”, Jethro Tull Benefit

Yes Metallica fans, Tull were a “heavy” band although not entirely part of their makeup (and yes, Metallica should have won the Grammy that year :))  “Son” is an interesting twist of a cut, stomping through some sinister heaviness before breaking into their inner pomp with an acoustic and piano interlude before swinging back to the stomp.  Ian Anderson and Martin Barre really sell this one, kinda like a mix of Cream and the Beatles.

“Songbird”, Fleetwood Mac Rumours

I’ve always been a sucker for a song with minimal accompaniment, this song being “perfect” in many ways (pun definitely intended).  In an album full of hits, this is highly, highly underrated, one of those songs that would have sounded great tacked on the end of the album but we’ll do with it being the last cut on side one.  Christine McVie sings this beautifully, laying down an equally emotive piano part with lite acoustic guitar touches from Lindsey Buckingham.  My tastes in music definitely lean to the rock stuff but I love a beautiful melody.  Great recording  too with its concert hall feel.

“Wounded Knee”, Marty Stuart Badlands

Ahh, country music…  I own very little and dislike a lot of what’s popular today (with a rare exception or two), but I own quite a bit of Marty Stuart’s material.  To me, Marty is the real deal and shows huge respect to his forefathers Cash, Haggard, Williams, Tubbs, etc with his choice of material.  “Wounded Knee” is a bit of a country shuffle with great acoustic picking and other guitar coloring throughout, with a picturesque lyric sung from an Indian’s perspective (very Cash-esque in delivery).  Leans a bit gospel in vibe and delivery, which is a large part of country classics of yore.

“Descending”, The Black Crowes Amorica

If I ever put together a list of favorite Black Crowes songs, “Descending” would be damn near the top.  I would go so far to state it is my favorite Chris Robinson vocal ever-  the man brings the soul; a little bit of Rod Stewart, a little bit of Otis Redding, and a whole lot of Southern charm.  Sure, everyone knows the hits but this song is a great example of the all around talent in this band-  the slide work of Marc Ford is slick and sweet (“slide like mercury”… man!) and younger bro Rich Robinson rounds it out with some great guitar as well.  And that piano!  Holy schnikies….  just some fine, fine playing from Eddie Harsch throughout but he gets major points for that intro and the absolutely beautiful coda to round out the song.  One of those songs that may come up on shuffle that I have to replay a couple of times just to soak in the awesomeness of it all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40RsqaEavk8

“No One To Depend On”, Santana The Best Of Carlos Santana

Originally on III, this Gregg Rolie penned tune is one of the stellar cuts from the early era, a simmering guitar and percussive led Latin groove until it pulls a switcheroo midway through for some mind bending solo work from Mr. Santana himself and a 17-year old wunderkind named Neal Schon (before he scooped up Rolie to go on and form Journey).  The first two minutes of this cut before the rock freakout in the middle are just a hot and steamy groove, so much so that I can picture the walls sweating in the recording studio.  Man, this band back in the day must have been something to see.

“Time After Time”, The Hooters Hooteriaztion:  A Retrospective

Your trivia question of the day… “who co-wrote the Cyndi Lauper classic Time After Time?”  Your answer… Rob Hyman, founding member of Philly’s favorite sons The Hooters.  This version is a bit of an oddity as it is sung by Hyman, although the arrangement and musical accompaniment are dead on the version made famous by Lauper, in which he also sang background vocals..  The fans on this live cut obviously dig it, but I’m so attached to the hit version that it’s a bit strange to hear this sung from the male perspective (although it is a song about relationships so it should work either way).

“Bad Karma”, Spiritual Beggars Mantra III

For the uneducated, Arch Enemy main man Michael Amott’s side project are these fellow Swedish stoner gods, Spiritual Beggars bringing a bit of Sabbath heft and Purple swing to their psychedelian stomp.  Not really a stoner band per se, the Beggars rock with more might and less sludgy tempos, more in line with their heavier 70s brethren although you get patches of fuzziness here and there (listen to that intro bass).  Great growly vocal from Spice with cool drum solo from sticksman Ludwig Witt and Robin Troweresque solo from Amott.  If you dig the bluesier rock bands that came along during the late 60s/early 70s these guys should be up your alley.  Cut below is an example of the band’s earlier style with Spice.

“Out Of The Night”, Steve Miller Italian X Rays

Early 80’s Steve Miller was a bit more experimental, introducing more keyboards, synthesizers, crazy sound effects and what sounds like obnoxious electronic drums.  That said, “Out Of The Night” is not a bad little cut but is definitely a sign of the times in the early 80s, new wave tics here o’er top a semi rockin’ groove (think ZZ Top’s Eliminator in spots).  Best part of the cut is Steve’s trippy, layered vocal, which is always a staple of anything he puts out.  I have a huge amount of respect for artists like Steve Miller, who are always willing to stretch here and there on records in order to bring you his next aural platter (“Fly Like An Eagle”, anyone?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvAZ8F3R-No

“In Your Town”, Rory Gallagher Live In Europe

Rory Gallagher is an example of an artist that I’d heard about (especially in guitar circles) but never heard any material from.  He’s not someone that has a classic rock radio staple (at least here in the States), but my familiarity all changed one day as I was browsing through a local record store and heard the clerk playing Live In Europe.  It seemed that the intensity of each song went up a notch on cut after cut, so much so that I just had to find out just who in the hell this was that was playing.  “In Your Town” just has fearless, non stop boogie, almost John Lee Hooker-esque in spots as it runs down the same groove throughout with little change.  Rory is on fire not only lead wise, but vocally as well as the band bashes with all their might.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm99WtK_hPE

Song of the week goes to “Descending” by a country mile, and there are some very good cuts this week.

Ahhh, the late 80’s…  if you turned on MTV you saw a lotta hair, a lotta glam, a lotta pouty faces, and frankly, a lotta crap.  Power ballads were di rigueur and hard rock and heavy metal was the music of the day.  Fortunately, my tastes were leaning more thrash metal at this time but there was still some music in the rock vein that was bending my ear that was way cool (junior), with a lotta balls ‘n crunch.  One shakeup in the music world was led by Guns N Roses, leading the charge with their own brand of Aerosmith bravado meets the Stones wallop and swagger.  Shortly thereafter came Jane’s Addiction, mixing a depth of a different color by via a swirling mountain of alternative vibe and heady classic rock.  Some bands followed suit and added more color to their palette while others churned out a heavier tune.  Rock/metal was adopting different flavors into the early 90’s, offering up a slew of new and exciting bands in the pre-grunge days.  Here are three examples in Part 1 of this episode of Under The Radar.

Hailing from New York City, Spread Eagle came stomping out of the gate in 1990 with their debut self titled disc in the mold of early Aerosmith, Motley Crue, and classic Van Halen, even outpunking Appetite era Guns N Roses.  Sporting a ready made guitar hero in Paul DiBartolo, songs like “Scratch Like A Cat”, “Broken City”, and “Back On The Bitch” swing with mighty riff and tasty guitar work, offering up swinging and sweeping leadwork a la Eddie Van Halen.  In the vocal department, Ray West somewhat resembles a bluesier Axl Rose but belting, singing, and screaming in an even more convincing fashion.  Lyrically though a bit juvenile in spots with songs like “Hot Sex” and “Spread Eagle” not winning any literary prizes, certainly the weakest part of the disc.  Production is hot and nasty, with decent bottom end and certainly more of an unproduced, live feel overall.  Both the self titled and second album Open To The Public are hard to track down but are well worth seeking out if you can find them, although I prefer the self titled’s looser production moreso than the smoother second disc.

Yeah, two NYC bands in a row….  first thing I picked up out of this disc was how in your face the production was-  everything seems to be pushed into the red and LOUD:  guitar, drum, bass, and vocal, right up front and immediately grabbing your attention.  Collision was a very solid power trio that only put out two discs, the self titled and Coarse in the mid-nineties.  Each song on the self titled (my favorite) settles into a mid-paced swinging groove, nothing too fast, nothing too slow, just serious riffs, solid bass, outstanding vocals, and massive, kicking Bonham-esque drums.  This disc was definitely an oddball of the time and didn’t really fit, sounding like something straight outta the 70s a la Grand Funk Railroad (who they cover with “Creepin'”).  It’s like these guys just showed up in the studio, flipped the switch, and cut everything live.  Check out “Who Do You Love”, “True Love”, “Juicy Lucy”, and the downright funky and thumpin’ swing of “Things”.  Coarse is a mighty fine disc too, not as loose as this one but a bit darker and spacier in tone and vibe overall.

Last band of the week released only ONE record but featured a couple of heavyweight players in the highly underrated John Corabi (soon to be of Motley Crue) and six stringer extraordinaire Bruce Bouillet, fresh outta the recently (semi)retired Racer X.  A bit reminiscent of Steven Tyler in the vocal department, especially as many of these songs have a feel similar to vintage Aerosmith.  However, Crab’s whiskey soaked vocals feel more in the pocket on the bluesy swing of “Never Loved Her Anyway” and Zep-esque “Man In The Moon”, kicking into an even higher gear with the monstrous “Tell Me Why”, “I Don’t Care”, and “Outlaw”.  As for Bouillet… this disc is far removed from the guitar pyrotechnics of his previous band, offering up a more song oriented approach but plenty of space for tasty guitar work throughout each song.  Unfortunately, the Crue came a’ callin’ and Corabi left to record the much maligned Motley Crue record as Vince Neil’s replacement (a shame as it is a great record).  Good luck finding this record but it is WELL worth your money!

Happy New Year!

“Winona”, Matthew Sweet Girlfriend

The year that this album came out I had the ultimate job for an early twenty-something year old:  record store employee!  Listening to Girlfriend now brings back a lot of memories of this time period-  my musical tastes were ever expanding and this CD was frequently in the disc changer when I was behind the counter.  While the album is a great mix of power pop and rock, cuts like “Winona” expand on the formula, mixing beautiful pedal steel guitar work and acoustic guitar with flashes of electric and Sweet’s plaintive vocal.

“Inside/Outside”, Rhino Bucket Rhino Bucket

One of the many 80’s bands drinking from the AC\DC fountain-  grab a singer that’s a bit Bon Scott-esque with a dash of Brian Johnson o’er top Angus\Malcolm chords and simple structures and you’ve got a decent formula for success.  Sure, there is some similarity here but Rhino Bucket adds a little more vocal melody, especially on this track.  Not to mention the lyrical content, which is much more serious on this cut compared to the more tongue in cheek mania put forth by AC\DC.  Strong meat and potatoes, no frills, rock and roll.

“When The People Find Out”, Steve Earle Ain’t Ever Satisfied: The Essential Steve Earle

Ahhh, Steve Earle…  too country for rock, and too rock for country.  “When The People Find Out” takes a bit of Mellencamp and kicks it up a notch with a rockin’ rhythm topped with “gang” vocals (or is that a church chorus?).  Take a bit of old school rock and roll guitar, throw in mandolin, Jerry Lee Lewis piano, a bit of organ, and fairly simple vocal and continue to build on that for four minutes and you’ve got a simple but effective fun sing along tune.  “Where you gonna run to?  Where you gonna hide?”

“Eyes Of The South”, Down Nola

Wow, right when this kicked in I was thinking it was “Rock Me” from Great White until some cool bluesy guitar kicks into THE HEAVY.  And once that does kick in, boy…  a massive, thick, and weighty riff topped off by a typically awesome performance by one Philip Anselmo.  Like his post Cowboys material with Pantera, Anselmo steers clear of the Halfordesque shriek and sticks more to that midrange bellow with the occasional menacing vocal growl come chorus time.  Throw in a cool mellow curveball halfway through before swinging the chain back to sludgy Iommiesque land to close things out.

“Summertime Rolls”, Jane’s Addiction Nothing’s Shocking

I’ve always thought bands like Jane’s Addiction had as much to do with killing hair metal as did grunge (although the industry had the biggest hand in it, but that’s a story for another day).  Take a simple but effective bass line, washes of multitracked electric guitar (with bits of sitar) thrown in, and a typically offbeat Perry Farrell vocal and lyric and you are MILES away from your Poisons and your Warrants.  Build it up and you’ve got one odd but totally cool sonic cocktail.  This isn’t a song; more of a abstract visual journey into the nether regions of your psyche.

“Pure And Easy”, The Who Odds & Sods

The Who have always been one of my favorite bands ever since I was a wee lad.  That said I was more attracted to the out and out rock stuff than songs like “Pure And Easy”, which was just a little too “ehhhhhh” in my youth- “what’s this?  Singing?  From Daltrey???”.  However as I’ve grown older I’ve come to appreciate it quite a bit, especially listening to the vocal and understanding how the song was supposed to fit into the “Lifehouse” concept that Pete Townshend had originally envisioned (Google it), which was soon scrapped in favor of the album that became Who’s Next.  In all actuality, this song has some great rocking moments in it towards the end, bringing to mind the best of Tommy.

“Eriel”, Dio Magica

Kicking off with a keyboard line straight outta Rainbow’s Rising, Ronnie James Dio gets the chance to go all symphonic metal on us before Craig Goldy reigns things in with a chunky riff about one minute in.  Magica was Dio’s concept album before he rejoined Iommi\Butler\Appice to create Heaven and Hell (aka “Black Sabbath”… yeah, I said it).  “Eriel” is a really cool builder of a song with some excellent fretwork from Goldy throughout and dramatic keys from the generally underutilized Scott Warren.  Unfortunately, Dio died before he could revisit the project as the plan was to work on parts II and III after his Heaven and Hell tour commitments were over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_DI8pGWD5Q

“Struttin’ My Stuff”, Elvin Bishop Sure Feels Good: The Best Of Elvin Bishop

A bit of good time music, plain and simple.  I LOVE Elvin Bishop in all incarnations, whether it be with Paul Butterfield in the late 60s, with his Pigboy Crabshaw country hick persona in the 70s, or his return to his blues roots in the 80s up to today.  This cut comes from the mid-70s when Elvin mixed his bluesy rock with a good bit of funkiness (check out the Fender Rhodes’ lick!) and ever smooth Mickey Thomas on background vocal.  Elvin on main vocal here, with hilarious lyrics and a ton of humor.  There ain’t no ham like Birmingham, y’all!

“The Psalm Of Lydia”, Nevermore This Godless Endeavor

Nevermore came into my life in the mid to late 90s as I was on the hunt for the latest heavy sounds as I was getting sick and tired of the watered down grunge that the major labels started to pick up on.  This Godless Endeavor is actually from mid 2000 and “Lydia” is an absolute scorcher of a track, solid of riff from Jeff Loomis and outstanding twin leadwork alongside Steve Smyth.  However the cherry on top is vocalist Warrel Dane, who “sings” like no other, dramatic of enunciation as he belts out his typical ambiguous but picturesque lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddK7KqO9om8

“Fresh”, Kool & The Gang Emergency

Songs like “Fresh” are a guilty pleasure of mine:  funky bassline, cool groove, and smooth vocal.  The JT years of the band in the 80s were definitely the most successful and I certainly could get behind something like this instead of their “of the period” love songs like “Joanna” and “Cherish”.  Not too far removed from the downright nasty funkiness of “Jungle Boogie” but more focused on song and hook.  Listening to this now I wonder if they picked us some cues from Michael Jackson’s Thriller (especially in the keyboards), which had only come out one year prior.

Gotta go with the guilty pleasure for fave of the week as it’s a hook that sticks in the head-  “Fresh” is the winner in this round, followed by “The Psalm Of Lydia” and “Eyes Of The South”.

“The Feeling’s Back”, Suicidal Tendencies How Will I Laugh Tomorrow… When I Can’t Even Smile Today

Suicidal dives headlong into the thrash world with the How Will I Laugh album, merging their hardcore roots with more of a metal approach.  “The Feeling’s Back” kicks off with a blocky riff and smooth soloing from Rocky George before kicking things into overdrive with a ballsy riff and Mike Muir spitting out the vocal at top speed.  Gang vocals galore as the song kicks into a tribal stomp midway through with another hot solo from George, then shift to overdrive again as the song concludes.

“Bringing Me Down”, Bonham The Disregard of Timekeeping

Sometime around the late ’80s, a bit of a bluesier heavy rock revival kicked in-  Kingdom Come, Whitesnake’s self titled, Blue Murder, Badlands, etc.  One of the more unsung bands from this period was from Jason Bonham, son of Led Zep skinsman John Bonham.  Obviously Zep has some influence here but has the 80’s vibe and feel especially from the keyboards and layered guitar sound.  “Bringing Me Down” is one of the better cuts on this disc-  dig the harmonica and spot the cool Zep references throughout, especially in the drum fills.

“Voodoo”, Black Sabbath Live Evil

Hate on me all you want Sabbath fans, but I absolutely LOVE the Dio years moreso than Ozzy.  This live version of Voodoo moves mountains, taking a turn midway for some improv from the band with Ronnie the town crier warning us all that “there’s evil there”.  One of Tony’s best riffs and one of my favorite Geezer Butler bass lines as well, especially his little runs here and there.  And getting back to Ronnie…  does he ever deliver, each line delivered with appropriate menace and authority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B9i3hj4pec

“Everywhere I Go”, The Call Reconciled

A fine little ditty that takes me back to a period in the 80’s where I was consuming anything and everything music related.  The Call craft a driving cut with some melodic ringing guitar atop a steady rock beat from bass and drums and a convincing vocal.  A bit new wave-y in spots with the keys but typical of the mid 80s as alternative rock was taking hold with newer bands like REM and U2.  One of the band’s more popular songs.

“Dance Of Death”, Iron Maiden En Vivo!

Maiden always seem to be at their best in front of a rabid crowd, this time playing for a few thousand crazy rivetheads in Chile.  Bruce in fine actorly form, over enunciating everything as if his life depended on it (one of those things that I actually love about him and Maiden in general) before this jig really kicks into overdrive with solos galore from the Three Amigos and Nicko almost running away with the bouncy beat.  As with latter period Maiden, this one has a lot of buildup before it kicks into gear and then slows down again.  Fun for the entire family!

“Fool For Your Loving”, Whitesnake Slip Of The Tongue

So Whitesnake covers themselves with guitar demon Steve Vai on six (or is it seven?) string magic, doing a fine version of their earlier, bluesier version from the glory days of the Marsden\Moody years.  I love both versions but have a soft spot for this one as I’d heard it first and because Vai lays down a fine, noodly but still melodic solo.  Layers of Vai guitars and fab vocal from Mr. Coverdale lead to a big thumbs up from me.  And yes, an over the top video too 🙂

“California Man”, Cheap Trick Liverpool University ’79

A cover from CT idol Roy Wood, Cheap Trick rock the house in Liverpool with this cut from a live broadcast from the late 70s.  For the uninitiated, Cheap Trick rocks mighty and hard and this is a great example of what you get outside of those of you only familiar with “The Flame” or “I Want You To Want Me”.  Zander is a little raspier than normal here but carries the song perfectly o’er top the always solid Bun E Carlos on drums and bass from the 12-string king Tom Peterson.  Rick is a little low in the mix but has more fun than any guitarist should.  THE DREAM POLICE!  DAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH NAHH!

“Destiny”, CJSS World Gone Mad

Boy, did I wear this tape out back in the day.  Local legends CJSS were THE metal show to catch back in the mid to late 80s and we were proud to have a guitar god in our own backyard in David Chastain.  “Destiny” is one of the more melodic builders, Russell Jinkens with a strong vocal with great backing from Skimmerhorn and Sharp.  Definitely more Eurometal than what was going on at the time, a bit Accept-y in spots and some galloping Maiden towards the end.  A great live band, walls and walls of Marshalls and huge drum risers.  Link below is to a different cut.

“Never Say Never”, Slunt The Best Thing

The third cover song in this post, Slunt covering the early Romeo Void classic and putting a nasty, guttery spin on it with heavy guitar and snarly vocal.  Led by one time MTV VJ Abby Gennet, Slunt should appeal to the Faster Pussycat\LA Guns\Spread Eagle crowd, minus the ballads.  As much as I like the original, this is a really cool version.  “I might like you better if we slept together”…  yeah, you remember that song don’t you?

“Old Friend”, Allman Brothers Band, Hittin’ The Note

And a slippin’ and a slidin’ we go… an awesomely cool tune sung by the great Warren Haynes with second guitar accompaniment from Derek Trucks.  A song for the guitar lovers in all of us and those that dig the blues.  Not too reminiscent of old school Allmans but a good song is a good song even though no other ABB member is on it (although that may be Jaimoe’s foot keeping the beat).  Much love for songs like this, just sparse guitar and vocal and nothing else.

Man, some tough choices for song of the week here but “Voodoo” wins the prize with “Old Friend” the surprise choice for second place.

So I went to a couple of shows recently and was totally knocked out by both.  Over the years I’ve become a bit of a Primus fan, especially after picking up a couple of discs from the used bins and being sucked in obviously by the talents of Les, Ler, and Herb (and Brain and Jay, for that matter) and just digging into the oddball grandeur of it all.  Primus was touring behind their musical remake of the “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” soundtrack, a bit of a strange choice but not so strange when in the hands of bass genius Les Claypool.  The band kicked off the show in a fairly sparse setting, low on the lights and in front of the theater curtain, and fired off about 8-9 classics before taking a half hour break and coming back with the “Wonka production”.  Costumes, inflatables, candy, Oompa Loompas(!) and big screen showing clips from the classic movie were present as the band played their new album “Primus and the Chocolate Factory (with Fungi Ensemble)” in its entirety.  Talk about a bold move!  The crowd absolutely at it up, with many dressed as characters from the movie as well.  The boys encored with three more classics from the catalog before sending the crowd home happy.  My awesomely cool bass playing son Ian went with me and snagged a t shirt and the new “chocolate” vinyl.  Quite the show!

Flash forward a few weeks to a show I’ve been waiting for for months:  the mighty EXODUS!  I mentioned my awesomely cool bass playing son-  well, he’s got himself an awesomely cool band as well and had the opportunity to open the show!  Unfortunately they were down a couple of band members and were forced to play as a trio with no vocals.  That said, they did an OUTSTANDING job!  Very proud of Ian, Michael, and DJ and how they were able to pull it off.  More to come on these guys in a future blog so stay tuned 🙂

After a few other bands and multiple changeovers it was Exodus time!  My brother and I had seen the band back in 2004 on the Tempo Of The Damned tour, playing in front of a very small crowd (maybe 50 people, tops) in Indianapolis.  While that show was great (it was my first time seeing the band in person), it was awesome to see a much, much larger crowd having some good friendly violent fun as the Exo dudes took a slight detour from their slot on the Slayer tour and played a full gig at the Madison Theater in Covington, Kentucky.  Their new CD “Blood In, Blood Out” has many great cuts on it and it’s great to have the one and only Steve “Zetro” Souza back at the mic.  I’m too old to get in the pit anymore but I was standing a little to the left as mayhem broke out throughout the night, especially during classic cuts such as “The Toxic Waltz” and “Bonded By Blood”.  The guys were at the top of their game and I must say that Tom Hunting is A BEAST behind the kit!  I don’t like just hearing the drums, I like to feel it too and Tom definitely brings it.  These guys are only playing six songs opening for Slayer but if you get to catch them on an Exodus only gig YOU NEED TO GO.  Thrash at its finest.