The KMA is run by two dudes Aaron and James! Check there stuff out just look over to your right and under the heading of Fellow Friends there they be! Click Keeps Me Alive …and have some laughs as Aaron and James have a great way with words. James is great with words he thinks things out kinda like a old school western gunslinger someone like Wyatt Earp he shows up out of the blue and throws down some well written reviews whereas Aaron is like Billy The Kid he’s constantly moving, darting around with his words making you laugh and than BAM! Aaron shoots you between the eyes with his writing! No questions asked. Aaron is a fantastic wordsmith! Dude constantly cracks me up…..
Best in both worlds of writing and considering both of them run there site together and even though they are worlds apart in writing styles it works!
Kudos Fella’s!
KMA means Keep Me Alive to me though it’s Kick My Ass so here it be!
Enjoy the week Hombres!
Kick My Ass Week…and guess what another snappy happy 3 album meal (maybe?)deal. I think James and Aaron would endorse these three albums (maybe?)I’m about to review….so sit back and enjoy the ride!
1986 and the Metallica Metal Booze Express is loaded with Jack and pounding the sonics of youth across Canada and the world! My first purchase of Tallica was in 1985 with Ride The Lightning and man considering how metal it was and how young they were and how much they liked booze that they could pull of a tune like Fade To Black just blew my mind! It just showed you there seriousness at there craft And Fade To Black just makes that point more clear that they had there shit together when they unleashed Master Of Puppets in 86!
I bought Masters on cassette and great on Metallica they included full lyrics and credits in the sleeve which was good and hey speaking of the credits they thanked Neil,Geddy and Alex and we all know who they are right? If not do your homework friends!
Master Of Puppets man its impressive it found its audience in 1986 as everyone was glamming out sonically but here’s Metallica wearing street clothes holes in the jeans sporting Misfits t shirts slammimg back Heineken and playing music at full throttle!
For Whom The Bell Tolls with James Hetfield,Cliff Burton(RIP),Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett…..
BATTERY-some nice little classical guitar is played and boom here’s the crush of Lars on drums,Cliffy on bass, James and Kirk on guitar and let the surge and purge begin! Battery rips along at speeds i didn’t think we’re possible at the time. Holy hell listen to the vid posted especially during the chorus when James,Kirk and Lars are playing and leaving room for Cliff to Riff on his Rickenbacher! Ha! Cliff To Riff sounds good to me! Shit man these speeds are sick and than heres Kirk dropping down solos at breakneck speed and the song not tilting under the speedometer at 150 mph! Seriously? This is only track 1!
MASTER OF PUPPETS-Big and I mean a big power crashing sweep of Sonics opens Masters Of Puppet! The title track unleashes what I have always like about Metallica! The song builds up slow than rips into the verses and James leads the charge with his vocals and yeah we all can chant MASTER,MASTER during the chorus and it just shoots through the roof as Lars is gulping O2 to keep up and instant Gem I do say ! Kirk plays crazy ass licks but riffs that don’t annoy you or take aways the vibe of the tune! Master builds it up,Master rips it down! This is a full out metal assault! The great thing about this song and for this album in general is not dated to the time of 1986! Keep flinging back those Heinekens Boys I like what I hear!
THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE-love the groove of this tune it’s not metal at 150 mph more like doing 85 in a 55 zone! Lars and Cliff lock up tight in there playing with Lars slapping his snare drum silly and James following chaos underground! Kirk stays the course on guitar and that’s what i dug about Hetfield the dude could sing with all the amps cranked behind him.
WELCOME HOME SANITARIUM- great slow build up with some neat picking by Kirk and Lars plays busy drums but doesn’t get to crazy and this song goes and gets heavy in the chorus! These lyrics are deep,heavy thought provoking and shit these guys have the chops! Love Cliffs bass runs on this tune! The song ramps up and kicks into overdrive during the solo. Yee haw!
DISPOSABLE HEROES-drums a smashing guitars a crashing and this song gallops in a metal way! Heavy! Big time speed on the pre chorus amn this is metal and Kirk riffs having as Lars is pounding double bass and smashing his Tama drums into the ground! Lots of Kill,Die and Hell and ripping solos ….Geez when James sings “Back To the Front …you coward! ” Umm Yep that’s me he’s refering to as back in 1986 I’m hiding behind my copy of Poisons Look What The Cat The Dragged In! Drums are just dope sick good on this song….fuck this is metal
LEPER MESSIAH-Lars counts in and boom metal kinda like a mashup of ACDC groove mixed with Metallica except Lars is playing drums and than halfway thru the tune the song ramps up and ACDC is left behind but man the production on this album by Flemming Rasmussen is mint! Even now in 2015! Kudos producer guy! More Lie,Die,Lie,Die stuff for your listening pleasure.
ORION-Orion is a musical only track with a smash of a Gong! Cliff gives his Rickenbacker a real work out with some serious riffing on it and all the guys do there thing like think of it as a Rush musical on Roids!
DAMAGE INC-Gem man…just love this tune…like the eery creepy guitar effects at the beginning and how about an smash over the head with some real Metal played fast and furious with reckless abandon! But Tallica know the deal end the album with a sure fire mass of metal lodged into your noggin. This works! Speed …man,does not kill it just makes me want to break things! Like Tbone,where’s your Bad English cassette so I can destroy it?
IN CONCLUSION- you want MEEEEEEEETAL! You got it with Puppets! There is no fooling around here folks! Hetfield and Crew put on the hard hats dig themselves a deep trench and get to work! They knew they had there own fan base so like how Rush did it on there own Metallica goes about it the same way! You with us …GREAT! Your not…MOVE ON……
Check back Wednesday for another installment of KMA Week….
deKe's Vinyl Reviews & More... 
I think this band is one of my bigger musical regrets. Although my peer group played them a lot back in the day I never picked up any of their stuff. Then in the 90’s Lars went crazy over napster (look up some of the videos mocking him for a laugh) and I avoided them. I mean, who whants that crazy dude showing up on your door ready to destroy you. It wasn’t until I saw Some Kind of Monster when it just clicked. These guys are f’ing awesome. I pick up an album every year or so and they just don’t disappoint.
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For me being in Highschool when Masters came out I followed them and bought there stuff but I was no where near fanatical about them as some were! Still though always put out real good product plus they had the backing of all the magazines and the fact that they held out on making a video until One and that just shot them thru the roof in popularity as they were the lonely band to do that! (Great PR move!)
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I had nothing to do with these guys in high school. I knew tons who were into it, and they made me mixed tapes with tracks etc, but I just never got to it. I really can’t say I was onboard back in the day… but I made up for lost time!
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Zee Melting Pot!
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Yup, we’re all in the pot. May as well melt, already! 🙂
I like to cover a lot of ground, when it comes to music. Keeps this restless old fart interested!
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Oh no! We’re in the crosshairs! Kick My Ass week! Oh man. Hahaha brilliant. Thanks for your kind words, Deke! I enjoyed the analogies, although I always say James is the real wordsmith, full of life and humour and incisive comments. He holds back until he’s got something to say and then WHAMO! Awesome sauce. And then there’s me, the monkey over in the corner, gibbering and throwing shit at the wall to see what’ll stick. So if anything goes BAM! for you, that’s the stickier stuff that managed to cling! [NB: That’s not me fishing for more compliments, I do figure it that way!]
Master Of Puppets is probably (mostly) an Aaron record. I don’t know what James would say about it! I’m gonna send him the link so he can chime in! But holy hell I do love it unreservedly. Total classic. You’ve nailed it completely, on every track! It’s that balls-out, full-speed, total abandon yet controlled aggression that just slays me every time. It’s got this perfect balance, and if it ain’t total perfection it’s near as dammit.
And yup, it wouldn’t be me Back To The Front either – I’m a lover, not a fighter! 😉 Although, in 1986, I probably would’ve been hiding behind my copy of Strange Animal… Guerilla Soldier… hey wait a minute… And poor T-Bone, you’re always ripping on him for Bad English. Hahaha that’s what friends are for eh? Oh jeez.
Thanks so much, Deke! We’re honoured to be, um, honoured this week! Metallica FTW! 🙂
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Ha! Enjoy the week! Should be interesting if anything right?! Ha! I mean it’s all about the music but when I was putting this week together on my Hiatus is For Chumps two weeks shutdown It came to me That these reviews this week are right up,your alley and hopefully James too!
One I have never done and one I kinda have done! If that makes sense…
Sayin no more!
In my opening paragraph I wrote back when u were putting out 5 posts a day and than you changed your format..HAHAHAHA……
Also in regards to Tbone he has been a huge source of True Life Fodder! We had a laugh last week when he said it was his idea for the 3/4s Filler deal! Hahahaha….he probably didn’t realize that it would be a endless parade of cheap shots, of albums gone wrong towards him! He’s a good sport man……
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We will indeed definitely enjoy the week! I sent the link to James, as I don’t know how he receives his notifications anymore. He’s an internet wizard.
Hm… one you have never done… has Deke listened to jazz? I didn’t feel the Universe tilt, so maybe not… 😉 And one you’ve kinda done? Whut. Hm. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
5 posts a day… you mean when I did that couple-week spell of brevity and just jamming through a shit-ton of stuff? Man that didn’t last long, but it was fun! That was back around the new year, I think. Whoa. I will be my own undoing!
Honestly I like the new set-up better. I still write all week, but only post up once a week. It gives me time to re-read things before slapping them up there… maybe the most editing I’ve ever done! And even then it’s only a once-over… And of course you still have the possibility that James’ll swoop in and post something great at any time.
Damn, man, October of 2006 we started that blog, on a different free blog site altogether. I think there was one other site in between before we hit WP. Why move? Sites stopped working, or were more hassle than they were worth, so buh bye! Anyway, this all means next month will be the start of 9 years! Oy vey!
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9 years man..that’s totally impressive! That’s a lot of stuff written or gospel written hahaha….
Congrats man….that’s a feat worth celebrating!
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Haha yeah or maybe time to hang up the skates! Naw, I’m kidding. I can’t see Stop(ping) This Thing We Started a long time ago. And yeah, it’s a lot of music in these ears. Sadly, not everything I heard got reviewed. Alas.
Celebration? Sure! I’ll come over and we’ll down some wobbly pops.
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Holy man that Adams tune rings true …Can’t stop This Blog We Started ! Can’t chart the course the blog plotted!
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Haha yeah, “you gotta knoooow it’s alright!” Oh man I am quoting Bryan Adams at you.
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I’m Wyatt Earp! Delighted.
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Only gave this a cursory listen, Deke. Initial thoughts were that it had a different vibe to the Metallica I’d heard bits and pieces of (yon Black Album thingy and Load). Anyhoo, reckon I need to go give it a proper listen now, eh?
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Yup! J give it s spin I mean Tallica 86 is a different Neart for sure than Tallica 91. Those guys got ripped for the Black album,Load and a Reload but I always thought there was some real good stuff on there,than agiain I’m not a total hardcore fan…..
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Load was the first Metallica album I heard. Had it on cassette believe it or not. I liked the single … Until It Sleeps (?), but didn’t really go back or forward with them. Just left it at that. One of my good friends is a real big fan and he threw me all the stuff he considers essential. So I’m gonna listen to them and see how I get on … I’ll start with this one.
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Can’t wait to hear what you thing, J. Metallica is a pretty slippery slope. Once you get in there, you’re gonna wanna immerse yourself! GIVE ‘ER!
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MEEEEETTALL!! As I can never forgive the production on Justice, this is the last Metallica LP I liked until Death Magnetic came along.
Battery wins every fucking time for me!!
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Battery! For sure is a great lead off track song period! So Joe your one of the diehards huh! Nice to meet Ya!
I can see how people stopped following esp when 1991-1993 rolled around….fair enough and Yep Death Magnetic is a great metal record…..
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I might be one of those weirdos that likes all of the Metallica albums. [ducks in case things get thrown]
It’s true. The first four are classics (yes, even Justice, 1537!), then the 90s stuff was its own animal, lots of great songs. The stuff in the 00s has been huge. I dunno, I don’t think they’re really missed at all ever. Even Lulu had its moments.
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BATTERY! BAT-TER-Y!!
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To which I say, BATTERY!! BATTERY!!
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Kick My Ass Week, love it!
James & Aaron make a formidable 1-2 blogging combo & I’d argue the Battery/MOP opening might be the strongest 1-2 lead-off of the 80s.
Theme weeks!
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Great album and possible the best one. A good start to Kick MY Ass week.
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