Summertime Spin- Motley Crue: Theatre of Pain (1985)

Hey Folk’s! Welcome back to another round of “Summertime Spin” where I transport you all back to those good old days of the 80’s, where certain albums had those kind of impact moments on me as a listener upon there release when I was young, much younger!

Summer of 85 and I was starting my second summer working for a living as I was going on 18 my job washing dishes was basically funnelling my addiction to all things hard rock. Magazines, the odd purchase on cassette and mostly on vinyl ruled my world when payday would roll around.

One such album that came out right when I was finishing up Grade 12 was the very eagerly awaited new album from Motley Crue!

Now Playing- Theatre of Pain.

Crue was huge in 85 for some of the wrong reasons as we all know about the car accident in which Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle was killed as Crue singer Vince Neil was charged with vehicular manslaughter. A few people in the other car that Neil plowed into also were hurt.

I’m not going to go down that whole road as there has been enough written about it but come that summer, how would the Crue respond.

Before I get to far into this you have to transport yourself back to that summer of 85 with me.

Sure over time “Theatre of Pain” has been trashed by many a fan and fair enough as if you bought this at the time I bet ya liked some if not all of it.

I’m calling you out!

My point being there wasn’t much Crue to compare it to as this record was the third major release by them. (“Too Fast For Love” and “Shout At The Devil” came out in 1981 and 1983 respectively)

See thats the thing with 20/20 hindsight. What is maybe considered meh in 2021 was awesome in 1985!

So anyways with Vince Neil freshly out of the clink and back with Motley out comes “Theatre of Pain” in which I was fully invested what the band was selling upon its release.

At the time I dug that look the Crue was going for. Back in 85 I was an imperishable teen who lapped up what Nikki Sixx was pouring my way.

Let’s go Glam says Sixx and the masses bought into it. Crue must have been the first act or close to it as come a year later in 86 Poison releases on the world their debut(” Look What The Cat Dragged In”) and that Poison front cover had many fooled. You know what I’m talking about.

Actually looking back some good stuff oozed itself off this album like the Aerosmith driven “City Blues Boy”. I thought this style of sleaze rock was good.

I was burnt out at the time and still am ironically enough in regards to cover tunes as “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” I found somewhat boring on the album but I thought the video was funny enough and I could handle watching it in 1985 times so to speak.

Speaking of video. “Home Sweet Home” is a good one as this song I believe saved the album from going to the cheapie bins rather quickly. Once again I liked the video over the album version. As I loved that live and backstage footage of the band.

Sixx was smart or someone at the management was as they knew how to sell the show to a yahoo like me at the time and this video went bonkers and I bet ya sold a million copies of this record alone on that track.

The rest of the record was good not great with “Keep Your Eye On The Money” being perhaps my favourite off this album back in 85 and even now in 2021.

Sixx hit one out of the park on that one…

“Comedy and tragedy
Entertainment or death
Like Sister Morphine
Hooked on her game
Time to place your bets“

Considering the Crue was kinda in a mess at this time personally its amazing that they could pull it together and put out a record at all.

I guess back in 1985 that was saying something as Sixx, Lee, Mick and Vince were partying and pulling all nighters, a young deKe’s was getting up at 5 am to go to my summertime job at the hospital to fuel my addiction to rock and in doing so in buying albums like “Theatre of Pain”.

Your Welcome Sixx!

Judas Priest: British Steel (1980)

 

Crazy to think that “British Steel” by Judas Priest is 40 years young this year.

Crazier to think that it took me 40 years to finally own a physical copy of this album!

WHUT??

Ok, so the story goes that when I discovered Priest in 1979  the fantastic live opus “Unleashed In The East” hit the streets. I loved that album but being 12 years young in 1979 and 13 years young in 1980 and hitting 14 years old in 1981 my allowance would only take me so far at the time. 

The brilliant “Point of Entry” album by Priest in 1981 I bought as I needed some cassette tapes as the family was headed to a campground outside of Thunder Bay for 2 weeks. I needed Metal and the recently released “Point of Entry” satisfied my desire for the sonics that JP delivered on Point of Entry. I still also remember taking out to camp with me the Creem issue(August 1981) that had singer Rob Halford on the cover.  (See the picture below.)

s

Over the years when Priest released new music as in Screaming For Vengeance(1982)” Defenders of the Faith (1984) Turbo (1986) Priest Live (1987) I was pretty in synch at getting the albums basically on or close to release day.

“British Steel” I had dubbed on cassette throughout the early 80s. By the end of the decade though when CD’s became the rage I never bit and purchased them. Who knows why? 

In 2010 British Steel had its 30th Birthday and Judas Priest reissued it with bonus tracks and a live show from 2010 where Priest played the album front to back.

I bought it but from iTunes so I’m sure you physical product lovers out there (I know who you are) would disqualify me on said purchase. lol

Not until September 2020 when RSD was going on and I ordered the Ace Frehley album “Trouble Walking” from Montreal to make it worthwhile since I was paying $15 for postage why not include a second album at a cheaper price to make the postage a little easier to accept!

British Steel is just that a classic! Nine songs make up this fabulous platter served up by Rob Halford and the boys!

Side One lifts off with Breaking The Law. As Preist do they do indeed go about breaking the law on this album as the next eight tracks that follow are classics!

Lot’s of great metal on here as the vocals of Rob Halford are top-notch from the get-go as his two co songwriters on the album Guitarists KK Downing and Glenn Tipton lay down their own law on the six strings! Dave Holland (drums) and Ian Hill(bass) are a very simple yet effective rhythm section that gets the job done in servicing these tunes.

Ok, deKe enough about the word Law!

Seriously though there are all kinds of metal on here. Fast ripping tunes like Rapid Fire and album closer Steeler.  Tunes that have such a cool breakdown in them and build up like Grinder, songs that have always gone over well in concert those being Living After Midnight and of course Breaking The What?? Breaking The What?? Breaking The Law!

Ok, I promise now! I won’t say the word Law again! 

If you were to ask me what my favorite track from this album would be I would have to go to Side 2 and that would be track seven You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise.

Love this tune as Halford delivers the perfect vocal especially when he sings the line of…

“I grow sick and tired of the same old lies”

Give it a listen and hear Halford soar at the 1:26 minute of the tune. It’s those little octave changes that always grab me as a listener!

What a stellar track that along with the rest of the album is indeed British Steel!

 

 

 

Iron Maiden: ‘The Book Of Souls:Live Chapter(2017)

So today at work on my coffee break as I was scrolling my timeline on FaceCrack out of nowhere comes direct from Iron Maiden HQ’s the news that Maiden is releasing a live album to coincide with the recently finished Book Of Souls tour.  Here comes the live album!

Whut???

That was my first reaction. My second reaction was to show my pal at work Deaner the Maiden posting as well!  This came out of nowhere and what a pleasant surprise as the studio album and tour were stellar!

November 17th 2017 is when this bad boy drops and I CAN’T WAIT!

The packaging looks spectacular! Check out the pics below! 

Must also mention that Maiden is going to stream the Concert Video of this album for free at a date to be determined.

The full show recorded at various points round the globe!

The track listing is as follows!

01. If Eternity Should Fail – Sydney, Australia
02. Speed Of Light – Cape Town, South Africa
03. Wrathchild – Dublin, Ireland
04. Children Of The Damned – Montreal, Canada
05. Death Or Glory – Wroclaw, Poland
06. The Red And The Black – Tokyo, Japan
07. The Trooper – San Salvador, El Salvador
08. Powerslave – Trieste, Italy
09. The Great Unknown – Newcastle, UK
10. The Book Of Souls – Donington, UK
11. Fear Of The Dark – Fortaleza, Brazil
12. Iron Maiden – Buenos Aires, Argentina
13. Number Of The Beast – Wacken, Germany
14. Blood Brothers – Donington, UK
15. Wasted Years – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Posted the live version of Speed Of Light at the top of the page that Maiden dropped today as the lead single from Live Chapter!

Maiden to this day still know how to do it right!

Up The Irons!

Iron Maiden/ Book Of Souls(2015)

Yes folks today I’m cheating with a repost of this review from April 2016! The reason? Well  I’m off to see Maiden Live in Minneapolis tonight(June 16th) and that’s thanks to my brother Todd who got us tickets on a presale as the show sold out in 2 days back in January! So thanx to Todd I’m outta here but fret not…Full Live Review….ASAP!

It wasn’t for the fact that Maiden after 35 years of albums would release a double studio album too psyche me out! Nope! It also wasn’t for the fact that Maiden as per protocol would have some tunes that clock in at 13 minutes and one at over 17 minutes! Nope…

It was the fact that in the credits as it listed the bands  names  their’s lead singer Bruce Dickinson credited with both vocals and piano!

Scccccreeeeeeech…..HALT! Yep my fine readers at Stick It In My Ear that is the difference between Maiden 2015 and Maiden 1985!

If you’re looking for Maiden speed metal  in Aces High from yesteryear just keep on trucking. They can still hold down the Metal Fort thank you very much but their sound has advanced proggy,epic in spots,a different kind of recording beast in 2015!

Just like how Rush stepped up and delivered a classic in Clockworks Angels back in 2012. Iron Maiden step up and deliver what I would say is there best album since Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son(1988)

Rush and Maiden have nothing left to prove but how they managed to step up and release such majestic epic recordings pushing  the age of 60 years young  is mind-boggling but yet for us Lovers of Hard Rock its a win win…..

Bruce Dickinson(vocals) Dave Murray,Janick Gers,Adrian Smith (all guitars) Steve Harris(bass) and Nicko McBrain (drums) are still alive and kicking into The Final Frontier(Ha!) ….No slouching around at Maiden HQ when Commander Harris is at the controls!

IF ETERNITY SHOULD FAIL- Ahhh so the proceedings begin with Bruce and some Voodoo Hoodoo Mayan like vibes. Yep all is fine with the Air Raid Siren and at age 57 his vocal pipes are as strong as ever  and why wouldn’t they be? Before too long the rest of Maiden shoots out of the gate and I like the production courtesy of Kevin Shirley who keeps things dry in other words he doesn’t overproduce  Maiden he keeps things sonically balanced. First thing is that I notice is Harris bass is mixed  down and not that twangy vibe like some sonic beef was added to the grill. Great chorus and Bruce’s vocals just sail over and Frigg his voice is outstanding. Dig how the song shifts into a Steve/Nicko mashup before the solos are launched by the Three Amigos on guitar. What a powerhouse opener as Maiden always deliver on the first song on each of their albums! Stand up and take notice Fokkers! Must also mention that I dig Bruces old creeper voice at the end of this song where he talks…”Good Day My Name Is Necropolis…….” Love it! Also a round of Hip Hooray for a close to 9 minute opener!

SPEED OF LIGHT- When I preordered this album from iTunes they dropped this tune Into my iPod! Read how at the age of 48 I still go Bonkers over these guys! …https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/iron-maidenspeed-of-light/

FYI- I posted a live clip of this tune from Mexico a few weeks back! Check out the crowd at the beginning as you see now nutty the crowd is with beer flinging through the air people just flat-out Rockin! Well done people of Mexico! Plus you see how a frontman aged 57 named Bruce has not lost a step like the frontman  he was at the age 27!

THE GREAT UNKNOWN- It starts off chill with some nice electric picking along with Bruce’s voice and then builds up into a heavy kick of Maiden Prog as Nicko sets the tempo with his driving Sonor drums and the chorus here is the money shot. Bruce soars vocally (Shocker! Not!!) and lifts the song as only he can do. Nice guitar work and as the song wraps up its back to where it began with some nice electric picking and Bruce’s voice!

THE RED AND THE BLACK- How about a 13 minute plus Maiden Attack as Bruce and Steve lead the charge from the get go and now about that guitar that cruises along with Bruce’s vocals during the verses. The Red And The Black has a bunch of music and it gets heavy proggy at the end and when you think it ends it keeps going and why not? Stop? Naaaa when the riffs are rolling keep em rolling! Nice interplay between all three guitars and I’m sure this song will go down a storm  when played live! As per protocol the song ends as it started!

WHEN THE RIVER RUNS DEEP-Kinda could have been on the Somewhere In Time album from 1986 me thinks! The song super charges ahead and theirs Nicko riding that Paiste Cymbal like no ones business. When the song crashes into the verse Maiden slip gears and crank it up with a slower doomed pace with some slick backing vocals perhaps Bruce doubling up but regardless When The River Runs Deep is a great track! Freight Train Maiden Full Steam Ahead!

THE BOOK OF SOULS- 10 minutes of the title track and if you want tempo change look no further! This track sweeps through all kinds of musical landscapes meshed with the Maiden Synth firmly entrenched in the background but not overstepping the boundaries of the guitars of Dave,Adrian and Janick. One of the things I love about  Maiden is right around the 5 minute mark the song does indeed shift gears and that’s thanks to Nicko as he does his smooth as silk drum n tom rolls and Maiden go into the zone and blast off with solos and its back to the Prog but Maiden Heavy Prog!

DEATH OR GLORY-A nice little ditty that kicks ass! It launches right out of the Maiden Gate with all hands on deck! Nicko is smashing the cymbals while the guitars play off each other and man oh man there’s the Air Raid Siren stretching his tonsils and laying down a great vocal. Believe it or not it’s a Maiden tune under 6 minutes! Video is posted so play it please!

SHADOWS OF THE VALLEY- The beginning riff is straight outta Wasted Years kinda and this tune would have fit nice and snug on side 1 of Somewhere In Time! Tons of Maiden synth fill the backspace along with Maiden ensemble! Great tune and better solos. Nice pace as well!

TEARS OF A CLOWN- A song inspired by Robin Williams (RIP)and its a fabulous piece of musicianship,lyrics and voice! It’s all here. Love the  Crispy Crunch sound of the guitars and the amped up Maiden Synth during the chorus. One great track but I have been saying that all along this review haven’t I!?

MAN OF SORROW-A mid tempo track that is paced once again by Nicko and the features a ton of Maiden triple guitar combo attacks and also features some real slick bass playing by one Mr Harris! Nice Cymbal riding at the end of this tune!

EMPIRE OF THE CLOUDS-And Here It Is …Piano! Ha! But well done and played by Bruce(what can the guy not do!) Cellos sweep across the backing of Bruce’s Piano playing and it’s a great hook! Nicko does his marching snare to Bruce’s vocals! Amazing that Bruce composed this tune about a Military Airship ( to understand the scope of this the Titanic could have fit in this Airship!)pre Hindenburg and can keep the song and more importantly us the listener interested as the song clocks in at 18 minutes! Yep 18 minutes! It’s a journey it’s not Metal but Maiden keep it moving as for the first time ever in Maiden History the piano drives the tune!  Epic comes to mind! I know people were going on about Bruce only writing a couple of tracks for Book Of Souls. This qualifies as about 3 plus tunes! Give the guy a break! Ha! Fantastic song! It ends how it started with Bruce at the piano!

Holy Heck Maiden show up yet again and knock me on my ass! A double bubble epic album release. If you’re a reader at Mikeys site you know this was my Numero Uno #1 of album releases in 2015! No one came close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iron Maiden/Live After Death(1985)

Live After Death is in the upper echelons of my all time favourite Live Albums Period! Still to this day!

Shall we rewind back Somewhere In Time?

A week after my 18th Birthday in October of 1985 Iron Maiden drop on my senses this Double Whopper Of  A Live Album. The Double Whopper being its a Double Album.

Live After Death was released on Friday October 15th 1985 to be exact and I remember this day well as I had seen the ads in Circus Magazine  pre hyping it’s release a month or two before and I was chomping at the bit to go and fetch this upon its release which I did after the school bell rung on that Friday.  Basically barricaded myself in my bedroom with this album for the whole weekend! Frigg ya as Maiden as per their protocol went all out on this album. Cool artwork by Derek Riggs Double Gatefold Sleeve/Tons of Pictures/All the tour dates/Lyrics/Pics/Stats (like how many guitar strings and pics were used and how much booze was consumed) you know the important stuff involving suds! Even the Road Crew schedule was posted!

I drooled as here I am in Tbay with my head fried from my  Grade 12 Sociology Class yet Maiden and band mascot Eddie made me forget the hard trials of school that day and well….

So here it is Iron Maiden recorded over 4 Nights in Scream For Me Long Beach( California ) on there very successful World Slavery Tour 84/85. Plus a an added kicker they released this on VHS Video as well. A  few years back as Maiden released this on DVD with a bunch of extras…. They still know how to package their product!

Maiden Men…

• Bruce Dickinson – vocals, guitar on “Revelations”
• Dave Murray – guitar
• Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals
• Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Nicko McBrain – drums

Losfer’s Words & Music…

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	“Intro: Churchill’s Speech“	Winston Churchill	1:09
2.	“Aces High” (from Powerslave, 1984)		4:07
3.	“2 Minutes to Midnight” (from Powerslave, 1984)	Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson	5:52
4.	“The Trooper” (from Piece of Mind, 1983)		3:59
5.	“Revelations” (from Piece of Mind, 1983)	Dickinson	5:59
6.	“Flight of Icarus” (from Piece of Mind, 1983)	Smith, Dickinson	3:21

Side 2
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (from Powerslave, 1984)		13:03
2.	“Powerslave” (from Powerslave, 1984)	Dickinson	7:06
3.	“The Number of the Beast” (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)		4:48

Side 3
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	“Hallowed Be Thy Name” (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)		7:17
2.	“Iron Maiden” (from Iron Maiden, 1980)		4:11
3.	“Run to the Hills” (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)		3:52
4.	“Running Free” (from Iron Maiden, 1980)	Harris, Paul Di’Anno	8:16

Side 4
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	“Wrathchild” (from Killers, 1981)		2:54
2.	“22 Acacia Avenue” (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)	Harris, Smith	6:04
3.	“Children of the Damned” (from The Number of the Beast, 1982)		4:19
4.	“Die with Your Boots On” (from Piece of Mind, 1983)	Smith, Dickinson, Harris	4:51
5.	“Phantom of the Opera” (from Iron Maiden, 1980)		7:01
Total length:			98:09

YUP! Just over 98 Minutes of Maiden! Now you know why I locked myself in Bedroom with my stereo blasting this album on that cold October weekend! Special mention must be made to my parents who never ever once told me too turn it down but at times they must have wondered what the hell was going on in my bedroom! No worries Folk’s I was on the Flight Of Icarus!

Basically you have the first three sides recorded in Long Beach and man oh man did Bruce trademark the “Scream For Me Long Beach!” If he hadn’t he should!

Of course with Maiden on  this tour was the stages of all stages with a Mummified EDDIE leading the way! Massive is what I would call it!

The album opens with Churchill doing his War Speech and about never surrendering and Bam! Here’s Maiden ripping into Ace’s High  and tons of rolling/rolling turning/turning through out! The songs are crisp and clear. The Musicianship is second to none! Bruce’s vocals soar through out the whole album.

This is just one rock solid album from start to finish! The songs all stand on their own merit! It’s basically a Greatest Hits set done live while spreading throughout songs from the current Powerslave album that had walloped me outside the noggin the previous year!

Adrian Smith and Dave Murray in my opinion are the best two lead guitar duo’s ever in the business of Music! There playing is friggin unbelievable even up till this day (Along with current sidekick Janick Gers)  The solos’ are slick/well thought out and are hammered into our skulls as epic riff’s. Nicko the lunatic playing the drums does all the drum rolls and you want epic crash n smash style but keeping it smooth look no further than the track Powerslave after the Dave/Adrian solo’s man he just is so smooth as in making it look easy. Steve Harris being the main songwriter and he is the leader(much to Bruce’s chagrin at the time I suppose) as this was his vision put forth by him and manager Rod Smallwood. 

So if you want an  epic Harris track  look no further than Rime Of The Ancient Mariner as it weaves over it’s 13 minutes of tempo changes and keeps you the listener entrenched and no boredom ever sets in with this track.  Pure Greatness!

Course the big end of the set tune Iron Maiden pulls out all the stops! Just watch the clip below and see for yourself!

Side Four is recorded in England at the infamous Hammersmith Odeon and if my memory serves me correct this side was for the diehards across the pond as Maiden would mix up the set list as to keep the hardcore fans happy as America hadn’t caught on as quickly as Europe. I may be wrong here ….

22 Acacia Avenue rips accordingly and I love how Bruce drops the line of ‘Speak For Me Hammersmith!” over the guitars of Davey and Adrian before Bruce ramps back up vocally on the second verse!

Die With Your Boots On is another kicker of a track. Great everything about this one as well! Love the guitar playing  on this track as Nicko drives the bus with his drums and keeps it all together!

Phantom Of The Opera always fascinated me back than as did the other tracks that were sung by original singer Paul Dianno on the studio versions before he got tossed and Bruce took charge. Of course now in 2017 it’s nothing new when Bruce sings the Paul tunes but back in 1985 other than hearing a B-Side of Bruce singing Remember Tomorrow you had no idea how the Dianno songs would come across with Bruce singing them!

Well the answer after listening to Live After Death was that Bruce basically took them over and made him his own.

Don’t get me wrong folks I love Dianno’s singing style on the debut Maiden album/Killers and especially Maiden Japan but the Air Raid Siren just belts it out like there is indeed no tomorrow!

Live After Death was the bridge gap between 84’s Powerslave and 86’s Somewhere In Time albums but this live audio/video showcase features a band showing everyone else in the Metal Spectrum how it’s done!

 

 

Deep Purple/Infinite(2017)

 

Mikey Ladano has to be the biggest Deep Purple Fanboy I have ever known. The dude loves his Purple so when this album dropped in early April of this year I knew Mikey in his review would give Purple’s latest Infinite a fair shake!

Mikey raved on about it even reviewing a couple of the singles before the actual album dropped! He was invested in this album Huge. I commented that the track Time For Bedlam was pretty good. But to be fair I thought I would wait for Mikey’s review of the whole Purple Meal Deal of Infinite to see if i would purchase it myself!

When the album was finally released Mikey reviewed it and raved about it so I took the plunge a few days later and purchased it myself!

Before I go any further I like the cover of that Ice Freighter carving it’s way thorough the Ice and making the DP Logo. Very bright looking!

Actually this is my first Deep Purple purchase of a new studio since 1996’s Perpendicular which featured Guitarist Steve Morse making his Purple studio debut replacing everyone’s favourite Loose Cannon Man In Black Ritchie Blackmore.

I guess you could say I was long overdue to hop aboard the Purple Tour Bus and give it another go!

Boy…Am I glad I ever did!

“Time For Bedlam”
“Hip Boots”
“All I Got Is You”
“One Night In Vegas”
“Get Me Outta Here”
“The Surprising”
“Johnny’s Band”
“On Top Of The World”
“Birds Of Prey”
“Roadhouse Blues”

Ian Gillian/Ian Paice/Don Airey/Steve Morse/Roger Glover along with producer Bob Ezrin(Alice Cooper/KISS/Pink Floyd/Hanoi Rocks) have put out a real fine piece of Hard Rock that delves into the sound of there 70’s past but have also made it sound modern as well basically a mashup of the 70’s and 80’s with an added touch of keeping it current!

Time For Bedlam begins with a Gillian like chant almost hypnotized if I say so myself and before long the boys in the band fire up behind him and this is a good straight ahead rock track. Guitarist Steve Morse and Keyboardist Don Airey lock in together and Ezrin does a great job at keeping the mix of the guitar and keyboard from not overpowering the other. The chorus here is the money shot! Great opener! Must also mention the one line Ian sings which is ‘Sucking my milk from the venomous tit of the state’  Is Tbone writing lyrics for Deep Purple?

So we delve back into the time capsule and put our Hip Boots on and this is a swampy like Purple N Jam tune. Love the lyrics to this one.

You can bury me up to my knees in shit
Or anything else… I don’t mind a bit
You think I’m gonna drown but you’re wrong
‘Cos man I got my hip boots on

Hip Boots just sounds like a total Jam tune as I had mentioned and I just love the laziness feel good vibe it projects….

Purple open All I Got Is You with that eery creepy like Hammond Keyboard Sound that we have heard for years but don’t be fooled as the song picks up the Paice(ha) and propels the song forward with tons of Morse and Airey Guitar/Keyboard mashing up throughout this song and the album as a whole!

One Night In Vegas is a great song with a ton of fun like Gillian lyrics where basically he was  snapped up on drink in Las Vegas met a girl went to the chapel had no recollection of this happening and they are still together 30 years later! True story? Dunno but a great tune with some nice riffing by Morse.

Drummer Ian Paice’s drums sound awesome at the beginning of Get Me Out Of Here.  Ezrin once again let’s the boys get to it and this is one of those tunes that has a decent pace to it with the keys and bassist Roger Glover producing a huge wall of sound but make no mistake when I’m listening to this album I don’t think of it as I’m hearing a bunch of old guys playing rock. No sir! I’m thinking it’s a bunch of old guys creating new Rock!

The Surprising leads off with some real cool 6 string picking courtesy of Mr Morse. This song  eases of the Purple Gas Pedal a bit but Paice and his drums keep the song moving forward. Hey,I have no squabbles about slow songs but I hate slow like mush tunes like many act’s get sucked into but as long as the drummer fella keeps the beat moving  forward.  I have no problems whatsoever!

Now here’s a cool tune called Johnny’s Band. A song that is written about a dude named Johnny and the fella’s in his band which would be Bill/Pete and Benny, Johnny’s Band in the lyrics of this song hit the top than hit the skids(like so many do!) but Johnny keeps given ‘er even though he’s playing the clubs. Cool interplay between Steve on guitar and the vocals of Gillian on the chorus!

On Top Of The World has a pretty cool groove to it and thats because Airey knows how to add space to let Morse soar on these songs on guitar.

Time for a psychedelic like stomping tune that’s called   Birds Of Prey. This song is out there, kinda trippy but  enough oomph to not make it a wimpy  waste of space. This track has Ian and the boys out there to  and heading into infinity and beyond. Basically loading up and going Space Truckin!

Roadhouse Blues. Yup this is The Doors cover from decades back and you know what! I love this cover of it. Tons of harmonica/tons of guitar and tons of musical swagger shown in Roadhouse Blues. Here’s a little tip for you folk’s out there reading this…’Yeah, keep your eyes on the road, your hand upon the wheel!”

The iTunes version I purchased has 4 added bonus tunes.  Paradise Bar/Uncommon Man/Hip Boots(demo)/Strange Kind Of Woman(live)

What a great record in the year 2017 from The Deep Purple Fella’s! It’s cool to see a band with about 50 years of history being able to cook up a batch of great rock tracks.

Steve Morse totally rules on this album as he plays flawlessly not overdoing it with a whole bunch of  wanker fest wang bar diddle daddle look at me soloing! Nope! Than again Morse has never been that kind of 6 stringer! Everything about this album is solid…Songs/Musicianship/Singing/Production. It’s all here!

This album is worth the dough folks!

 

Motorhead/No Sleep Til Hammersmith(1981)

Amazing how a cover could sell the album to you! No Sleep Til Hammersmith did just that to me back in early 1982. That album cover with the Bomber airplane being used as a lighting truss and another power trio band(Power Trio being the term used lightly here) playing METAL!

Lemmy(RIP) Fast Eddie and Philthy  Phil blew my brains out with their style of Metal. It was loud/noisy/fast but there was still hooks buried somewhere in between Lemmy’s vocals/rumbling distorted Bass and Eddie and Phil’s thrashing about on the Guitar and Drums respectively.

Ace Of Spades opens the 11 song album and Spades just destroys anything in its path. Welcome to the world of Motorhead as an 15-year-old! Stay Clean/No Class/OverKill/Bomber and my favourite tune on this album We Are The Road Crew just reek of booze/smoke! Just general chaos!

This fellow in high school with me at the time David Kunis bought all of Motorhead’s stuff so the next album I had heard was Iron Fist but it didn’t take to me at all and it wasn’t until 1992’s March Or Die that I would purchase another Motorhead album!

Make no mistake though No Sleep is Live! No OverDubs!

Loud Metal!

Kick Axe/Welcome To The Club(1985)

 

Kick Axe slammed down a great debut in Vices(1984) and in 1985 here comes the followup Welcome To The Club.

WTTC is a more polished sounding album than the debut but make no mistake this album can still pack a wallop when spun! George Christon delivers these songs with a great rock voice especially on the title track and Make Your Move as these songs also feature  the wickedly great guitar dual of Larry Gillstrom and Raymond Harvey.

This album is a more progressive sound from the Saskatchewan Bunch.

Kick Axe could write more than just cheese like tunes as they had bands like King Kobra and an Ozzy Less Sabbath checking out there song’s.

The one set back for Kick Axe was Spencer Proffer. Proffer signed Quiet Riot and a bunch of other bands and used the same production team for these acts so the sound of each artist albums sonically was the same. Shame really as Kick Axe had superior songs than what QR and K.K were putting out at that point.

Kick Axe is in the record books here in Tbay as they were the first ever band to headline in our Shitty Auditorium back in 1985!

Metal Shuffffffle!

 

Krokus/Heart Attack(1988)

 

Krokus named there 1988 release Heart Attack and it was an appropriately named album if there ever was one. It’s basically Krokus flatlining once and for all after a  promising start career wise in the early 1980’s.  By the end of the 80’s Krokus and more importantly there creative gas tank was on empty….

The dry up started back in the 86 with the Change Of Address album where Krokus got all glammed up and put out a stinker of an album. I bought it…..Tbone bought it….we were fooled by the zany Swiss fellows…. Krokus man in that pic below would have had their asses handed to them if they were involved in a street brawl against the Village People!

Swiss Cheese…

Marc Storace – vocals
Fernando von Arb – lead guitar
Mark Kohler – rhythm guitar
Chris von Rohr – bass, piano, percussion
Dani Crivelli – drums

Tbone was smart. He zipped right off the Krokus Tour Bus after the Change Of Address fiasco whereas I stayed the course and bought the awful live album Alive And Screaming.  The awful part was the recording of  it. I think I only listened to it a few times as the sound was atrocious. The cover was Goofy….see pic below…

See what I mean….Gah!  Show a live action shot for Gawd’s sake! Crap Cover =Crap Album…

Yet still…

1988 and Krokus ditch the glam look that scared Tbone away and went for a street look and a back to basics kinda vibe with trying to release a Rock N Raw album. Like a true Music Fan Boy I bought  Heart Attack in the summer of 88 on cd….

The verdict….

Not Good! It’s surprising that outside the drummer this is the classic lineup that demolished my senses with the Headhunter release from 1983. Von Rohr split before the Blitz album from 84 but returns here to salvage a sinking ship but it’s too late ….

Code Blue…The Song’s..

Side one
“Everybody Rocks” – 3:50
“Wild Love” – 4:01
“Let It Go” – 4:31
“Winning Man” (Fernando von Arb, Chris von Rohr) – 5:15 (originally on Hardware)
“Axx Attack” – 4:24

Side two
“Rock ‘n’ Roll Tonight” – 3:58
“Flyin’ High” (Krokus, Jürg Naegeli) – 4:14
“Shoot Down the Night” – 4:37
“Bad, Bad Girl” – 5:58
“Speed Up” – 6:24

The only song I recall even somewhat liking 1988 style is Let It Go(posted the video for it) …

The production handled by Von Rohr and Von Arb is decent enough but that isn’t gonna salvage the tunes…

 

Heaven&Hell/Live From Radio City Music Hall(2007)

The Great Ronnie James Dio(RIP) once again hooked up with pals Tony Iommi/Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice to have another go round of Dio fronted Sabbath. 

The only catch is this time they were calling themselves Heaven And Hell not Black Sabbath perhaps due to legal stuff who knows but any hard rock music listener will know the deal!

When I reviewed the  epic Mob Rules(1981) this incarnation of the band was my first introduction to Black Sabbath and I just loved and still do the Mob Rules album as sometimes those first listens to a certain period of a band just resonates with you the listener just a little more!

Special thanks to our family member…Fender The Wonder Dog whom hung out with me on a Sunday afternoon while I scribbled this review!

Of course as soon as dug Dio Sabbath RJD split and released the epic solo album Holy Diver(1983) and from there in the early 90’s Ronnie once again hooked up with these guys for the Dehumanizer (1992) album and of course that went down in flames as well….

But….

2007 and the Sabs….er I mean Heaven And Hell are back in town, well Radio City in NYC that is and they record a Live Album. So following the purchase of a Dio/Sabbath Greatest Hits set to coincide with the Tour here comes once the tour winds down the live album and Deke’s is up for it!!

Disc One
No. Title Length
1. “E5150/After All (The Dead)” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 8:30
2. “The Mob Rules” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 4:04
3. “Children of the Sea” 6:52
4. “Lady Evil” 5:20
5. “I” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 6:27
6. “The Sign of the Southern Cross” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 9:06
7. “Voodoo” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 7:42
8. “The Devil Cried” (Dio, Iommi) 11:40

Disc two
No. Title Length
1. “Computer God” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 6:41
2. “Falling Off the Edge of the World” (Dio, Iommi, Butler) 5:45
3. “Shadow of the Wind” (Dio, Iommi) 6:05
4. “Die Young” 7:44
5. “Heaven and Hell” 15:15
6. “Lonely Is the Word” 6:48
7. “Neon Knights”

This album is chalk full of Huge and I mean Huge Bombastic Iommi Riffs and man I just  dig the Sabbath Sludge crawl of opener After All which upon first listen is kinda of a head scratcher but this is there deal and they’re gonna do what they wanna do! Pay your $6.66 to the bus driver folks as Ronnie and Crew are taking us on a one way trip to Hell! Crazy opener but cool!

The next 6 songs that follow…Mob Rules/Childern Of The Sea/Lady Evil/I/ The Sign Of The Southern Cross and Voodoo are classic Ronnie Sabbath. The songs have a quicker tempo than any of the Ozzy era led Sabbath for the most part and perhaps it was a calculated move back in 1980 when Ronnie joined. Shake  up the Sabbath song structure retool it for the 80’s. New band …New set of rules. Sounds like to me anyways especially the track Mob Rules with Appice driving the beat forward folks and the guy is a monster on the drums on this show as well as he gets the complimentary drum solo on The Devil  Cried.(one of the new tracks that was on the Dio Sabbath Comp)

Disc 2 opens with Computer God from the Dehumanizer album and this is another one of my Dio Sabbath Fav’s. Sure it trucks along at a snail’s pace at times but when the chorus kicks in it’s all bets off with Geezers grumbling Bass. Vinny smashing the cymbals while Tony hooks it altogether musically with his King OF Doom Riffs. Ronnie harness it all in with the vocals!

Cool that these guys don’t play for years together yet when they put there issues aside it’s like a step has never been skipped! This album proves that as they fire away at Die Young along with a 15 minute sing along with Satan on Heaven And Hell  and to finish things up a big round of blast off with Neon Knights! Neon Knights is a huge fireball of speed riff’s  and drums that are rocking off the Highway To Hell!

This is a fantastic live record ….