It's hell time man... (part 1)

First blogging in a long while - today about one of my favourites, Bob Dylan.
I wanted to talk about some of his lesser known compositions, that can be found on various out of print soundtracks, obscure and long-deleted 45's and compilations! Part one today, part two some other day!

The title of today's blog comes from the chorus of a soundtrack song, the title song of the movie Band of the hand. Dylan wrote and recorded the song in 1986, while on tour with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and vocal backing group The Queens of rhythm, who all participated on the recording. Furthermore, Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac happened to in the neighbourhood and also contributed backing vocals. Much more rocking than much of what had come from Dylan the previous 3-4 years, the song sounds perhaps a bit more like Tom Petty than Bob Dylan. But it helped get Dylan back into playing rock music, which he would follow up on in 1987 by initiating a tour with the Grateful Dead. The lyrics were inspired by the movie, and spoke of confrontation with gang mentality and mobsters.
The song was released on the soundtrack album, which also contained the score by Michael Rubini, and was also released on a single backed by a piece of soundtrack music. It has never been officially released on CD, but is available on a few of Dylan's bootlegs. As the tour continued, the song found it's way into the set list at a few of the concerts. But following the 86 tour, it was apparently never played live again.

Continuing on in 1987, Dylan recorded 3 songs for a movie he also starred in, called Hearts of fire. The movie was apparently intended to start Dylan off on a career as an actor but it was so horrible that noone really considered such a thing again until decades later.
But the soundtrack had some great moments, not least 3 previously unreleased Dylan songs.
The two originals Night after night and Had a dream about you baby were fine mid-80s Dylans ongs, but the real barn-burner of the soundtrack was his cover version of John Hiatt's song The Usual. A great rocking track, which he also performed in the movie, it belongs with Band of the hand as two of the strongest Dylan performances of the 80s and can be seen on youtube by typing in Bob Dylan + The usual. The clips are taken from the movie, of which this song was definetly the best part. The rest of the soundtrack wasn't bad either but as it's been out of print since it was released pretty much, and usually runs up in price on ebay to at least 50 dollars, I'd advice Dylan fans to seek out his contributions elsewhere. Had a dream about you baby was re-recorded for the Down in the groove album, whereas the other two songs were never officially re-released. All can be found on the bootleg Hard to find vol. 1 tho.

And while we're on that particularly bootleg, it includes two rare tracks that have only been released as singles and on a hard to find compilation. One is Rita May which is a nice 70's sounding song with violin and a catchy chorus. The other is the song George Jackson that Dylan recorded two versions of, released as the a and b-sides of a single. A with a band, and b acoustic. The song was about the Black Panther member Jackson, who was imprisoned and then shot dead while in prison. It followed the tradition of Dylan recording songs in tribute of what he felt were wrongly convicted or mistreated prisoners. The band version, and Rita May, can both be found on the 3 CD compilation Masterpieces.

All these songs are considered rarities as they haven't found widespread release on CD and some not even on vinyl, but they're well worth checking out for Dylan fans.
To be continued...

Spring of doom!

It's holiday, the weather is lovely and heavy, molasses-thick sounds are seeping from my speakers... with fresh albums by some of the biggest and best doom bands around, this is truly the spring of doom! Let's investigate further...

First up, a two-pronged attack from Sweden! Preceding a new Candlemass album, mainman Leif Edling has released his first real solo album, Songs of torment, songs of joy.
Opting to 'sing' on all the songs himself might not have been the wisest choice, but man - those riffs are still carved from molten rock! Just check out the guitar/hammond organ in 'It is not there' and marvel at the eerie atmosphere on most of the album. To me, the vocals let the whole deal down a bit. With a proper singer this could have been lethal! Overall tho, the organ is used well and some haunting background choirs appear here and there around Leif's whispered/snarled vocals, and as a whole it is a good, heavy album. I give it a solid 7 out of 10, because when all is said and done this is still a riff-master at work!

Candlemass weigh in with the second album featuring new singer Robert Lowe, and the album (Death Magic Doom) is a good continuation from the recent ep Lucifer Rising.
It sounds like Lowe has been involved more in the way the vocals go this time, and the songs seem to fit his voice better than some of the tracks on the first album he was on.
Opener If I ever die and songs like Dead Angel are great uptempo metal tracks, but the slow deliberate Candlemass style shines through in songs like Hammer of Doom and the eerie closer My funeral dreams. Try as they might to update the candlemass sound, I will still always prefer the albums with former singer Messiah Marcolin, but this album is the best yet with the new lineup. I award it 8 out of 10 for it's crushing, clear production and the awesome songs Candlemass always deliver.

In England, one third of the dark brotherhood of british 90's metal is stirring again. My Dying Bride released their 10th album, For lies I sire, in late March. With this band, no news is good news, but the album does bring back something that I, personally, have missed a lot in MDB's sound. The violin! Albums by MDB are always a depressing, lamenting trawl through the human hearts dark corridors, and the melancholy violin just adds to that. One song, Chapter in loathing, harks back to the bands death metal beginnings, which I'm not a big fan of. But the rest of the album is pure misery and all the better for it. The acoustic guitars that sometimes sneak in remind me of passages of the album 'The dreadful hours', which was a latter-day favourite. Aaron Stainthorpe's vocals ensure that this band always sounds suitably english, and that is part of the big charm of bands like MBD, and the other two 'dark brotherhood' bands, Anathema and Paradise Lost. A return to form, 9 out of 10!

Already some legandary names, but here comes one that will appeal more to people who like their Doom mixed with desert-dry stoner rock instead of gothic splendour.
Yes, the former Obsessed, St. Vitus and Spirit Caravan leader, Wino, has returned and is bringing a brand new solo album. Punctuated Equilibrium is the title, and Wino himself handles vocals and guitar as usual. Lots of uptempo tracks on this one, with some great solos thrown all over the place, and it seems like Wino is on top form. I would have liked it to be a little more doom-like, with some slower tracks with massive riffs and all, but it is a good rockin' album from start to finish pretty much. Could perhaps have been a little better considering it is the man's first album in his own name, but still - worthy! 7 out of 10.

Soon to emerge is also a brand new Black Sabbath album, with Dio on vocals! Of course it will be under the name Heaven & Hell, and judging by the first leaked track Bible Black, it is going to be fantastic! Review to follow when available!

Who are... City Boy!

Sorry to my reader(s?) for getting so far behind on my blog. Here's the year's first post then!
In the 'Who are' category of bands that time passed by, now we come to City Boy.

What ?
Formed in England in 1975, out of the previous folk band Back in the band.
Notable members included guitarplayer Mike Slamer (later of such bands as Streets and Seventh Key) and singer Lol Mason. The band released 7 albums between 75 and 81, 6 of which are now available on CD thanks to Renaissance Records.

Sounds like.. ?
The band that City Boy remind me of most is another english band, Queen. It's not that the vocals sound like Queen's but more the way that City Boy were all over the place with their songs, like vintage Queen. On their biggest selling album,1979's The Day The Earth Caught Fire, there are songs that if not for the lead vocals could be mistaken for Queen. Listen to the title track for instance, with those cascading riffs and background vocals. One of the group's two 'hits', along with the poppier 5-7-0-5 from the 1978 Book Early album, the song defined City Boy's flamboyant rock style. Large choruses, big arrangements and album-oriented rock instead of single-oriented. The style of the day was punk - with short sharp and organic sounding songs about life and anti-establishment. While big bands like Queen were able to survive, many of the other 'proggy' bands like City Boy and Be Bop Deluxe failed to gain the success they had hoped, and are not remembered much today. Which is a shame, because the music on display is often really good. The best years of the band were 77 to 79, in which time they released their 3 most 'rock-oriented' albums. After two more albums followed, which both leaned more on pop like in the band's early days, but with occasional diamonds such as Life on the balcony from 1980's Heads are rolling.

Discography
1975 - City Boy
1976 - Dinner at the Ritz
1977 - Young men gone west
1978 - Book Early
1979 - The day the earth caught fire
1980 - Heads are rolling
1981 - It's personal

Best and worst
The Day the earth caught fire is the album to recommend, but all the albums have good songs if you can stand the eclectic style that Queen employed on albums such as 'Jazz'.
I haven't heard more than 1-2 songs from It's personal so I can't comment too much on that, but as previously mentioned the 77-79 years is where it really came together for the band. Unfortunately they did not reach the big leagues and are relatively obscure today. For semi-obscure rock, this is a great band to check out, especially now that most of their output has been reissued on CD.

well!

A woman's work is never done! A reader of this blog (possibly the only reader!) made me aware that I had left out 'Garage Inc.' from the previous blog about Metallica. It was kind of intentional but for the benefit of readers, here comes an evaluation of it!

Released in 1998, Garage Inc. is the only Metallica compilation so far, and it's a collection of other people's songs. Disc one were freshly recorded cover songs, made specifically for the album, and disc two collected the cover songs the band had recorded since their debut in 84. This included the entire $5.98 ep, various b-sides and tracks recorded for a tribute to Lemmy from Motörhead. This older material is a rag-tag of quality, as not all of the chosen cover-songs are equally interesting to anyone but Metallica. But great covers of Diamond Head and Queen make it a fun compilation, and especially for completists.

The new recordings saw Metallica change their sound again. After the dark, brooding Load and Reload albums, the style on Garage Inc. could almost be described as cheerful on some tracks.
Thin Lizzy's 'Whiskey in the jar' rendition gets an update with some fine guitar licks from Kirk Hammett, 'Sabbra Cadabra' (a Black Sabbath original) gets a good run-through, and Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Tuesday's gone' gets an acoustic overhaul along with friends of the band. This recording was taken from a radio jam-special, which is available on several bootlegs and is a funny if not entirely relevant snapshot of the band at play rather than work.
A few of the new cover songs did retain some of the brooding sulky grunge of the previous albums, but in general things were changing for the band again. That they would change to the extent of next studio album St. Anger was a big surprise to most.

The friend I mentioned at the beginning of this blog told me she found this release to be unimpressive and the first signs of a big identity crisis for the band. I don't think the band really intended to impress with this release, but rather tie up some loose ends and provide something fun for the fans meanwhile. I could agree to this being a sign of identity crisis, as the sound of the new recordings in particular are all over the place. But I still much preferred the sound of this to St. Anger!

The more things change...

As a long-time music fan, one is bound to notice the paths one's favourite bands follow.
Concerning some bands, there isn't so much to notice about it. Great rock giants like Motörhead and AC/DC have pretty much made the same basic album about 10 times at least. That is not necessarily a bad thing, since in the case of those particular bands, it's a GOOD album that they continually release. Just look at the new AC/DC album Black Ice. I mean, who can argue with that ? There might occasionally be a song or two that flirts with a new direction, such as the recent tendency to include a ballad or two on Motörhead's albums, but in general you always know what to expect when you buy one of their albums.

Critics and journalists in music related media generally give favourable reviews to these two bands, while lambasting others for not 'evolving' or 'pushing the envelope'. But sometimes, when a band who's style seems to be set in stone DOES evolve or experiment, the results are sometimes so far from what one expects that critics don't know how to react to it. Case in point, today's blog topic... the evolution of Metallica!

Metallica had their album-debut in 1983, with the album Kill 'em all. Originally scheduled to be called Metal up your ass, they wisely changed the title before release. The album was recorded for a small budget, but the eagerness of the band shines through the sometimes not quite sufficient production. The style was rough thrash based on the band's love of Motörhead and Diamond Head, and it featured some instant Metallica-classics in songs like Seek and destroy and Phantom Lord, later to be covered by a ton of other metal bands. Four of the songs were co-written by recently sacked guitar-shredder Dave Mustaine who would soon release his first album with his own band, Megadeth. He co-wrote two more songs, that would be saved for their first classic album - Ride the lightning.

Ride the lightning was released in 1984 and for many fans this remains the band's greatest achievement. One of those albums that for me must be played end-to-end, it contains some of the best and most recognizable songs of early Metallica. Fade to black with it's fantastic intro, the riff-marathon of For whom the bell tolls, and the smashing instrumental epic The call of Ktulu to name but a few. The style on this album helped define thrash metal to a wider audience, mixing NWOBHM aggression with shredding solos and a melodic approach, and it shows what can be achieved when a band just clicks completely.

They followed it with 1986's Master of Puppets, the last album with awesome bass player Cliff Burton who sadly died in a bus accident shortly after it's release. Burton's death would be instrumental in changing Metallica forever. The album itself is long (near one hour) power display, showing the beginning complexity in Metallica's compositions and bringing thrash metal further classics like Battery, Orion and Damage Inc. So influential was this album that it would later be re-recorded in it's entirety for the magazine Kerrang! by today's crop of metal bands. Neo-prog metallers Dream Theater also recorded and released an live version of the entire album in their 'official bootleg' series.

The first album without Burton, 1988's ... And Justice for all was where the changes brought on by his death would be heard first. Tho the band had found a new bass player in Jason Newstead (ex. Flotsam & Jetsam), the album suffered from a lack of any substantial bass lines, and again an insufficiant production. The album itself was a sprawling behemoth (one hour plus) of complex thrash, at times sounding as bit forced. It can't have been easy for the band to get over losing Burton in such a meaningless accident, and it lead to some creative confusion in the band. The lyrics of the album added to a thrash tradition of anti-government/authority themes and fear of the nuclear threat of the cold war. A hard album to access for Metallica-beginners, it nevertheless contains some classics of it's own, not least the fantastic One.
Following this album the changes would be much more significant. Metallica were about to truly go mainstream.

And they did so with 1991's Metallica (the Black album). It remains to this day the band's best-selling album and it isn't hard to see why. Playing down their thrash roots a bit to make way for a smoother, less complex and above all less threatening sound, they instead focused on a brand of heavy metal that the world at large could easier swallow. Songs like Enter Sandman and Sad but true were still riff-heavy head-bangers, but in a decidedly more pandering way. This album is officially where vintage metallica ended. There were still elements of their old style, but there were also hints of what was to come in the balladry of Nothing else matters that would go on to be a huge hit for the band. And to this day, that song is what most non-fans think of when you say Metallica. The album still has it's share of Metallica classics, but for fans of political thrash-shredding this is where the story ended.

Metallica took a break from recording, returning as a totally different band in 1996 with Load and 1997 with Reload. These two albums look alike, sound alike and will therefore be mentioned together. The reactions of various music media was as different as the albums were to vintage Metallica. I vividly remember reading reviews that doomed the band upon hearing these albums, deeming the new style 'Metallica goes grunge' or 'Metallica ditches thrash for good'. The latter was kind of true, tho it wouldn't be for good. Load and Reload did flirt with grunge but they were so much more. Metallica obviously felt they needed to get with the times, and what came out of it were two very dark brooding albums of rock, blues, mock-country and intro-spective songs dealing with James Hetfield's alcohol abuse.
To me, these albums were initially surprising but the more I listened the more I loved them. Load went all over the place with the country stylings of Mama Said, balladry of Hero of the day and the brooding epic Bleeding me. The band looked, sounded and WERE a darker beast than the denim-clad long-haired thrashers I was used to. Reload followed a year later, and was more of the same basically. Unforgiven II, The Memory Remains and Low Man's lyric continued the grunge-groove-melody theme, and the lyrics were sometimes simple yet relevant.
Many of the songs, as well as some vintage Metallica thrashers would get a symphonic update on the live-with-orchestra S&M from 1999. I really liked this too, and the two new songs -Human and No leaf clover continued the style. I had high hopes for the future of the band as they had obviously found a new creative streak.

But then.. oh dear, but then... In 2003 Metallica returned. As soon as rumors of an impending new album started, everyone were excited about their return. But then they released St. Anger and I dare say it came as a surprise to pretty much everyone. About as far from 'accessible' as it is possible to get, the album featured long and kind of incoherent songs. The production, the drum sound (it sounds like Lars Ulrich is drumming on cardboard boxes throughout) and the complete lack of guitar solos turned many fans off the band completely at the time. Newstead had left the band amidst public arguments over wether he was ever accepted fully as Burton's replacement by the other members of the band, and even more public arguing with Dave Mustaine. I understand that the band had a lot of aggression they needed to release, but this ? It's like an out-stretched middle finger aimed squarely at the fans of the band.
Even though the album received good reviews in some media outlets, the general feeling among the fans of the band is that this is the weakest release ever from the band. I have to say I completely agree.

Because of this, I was not exactly jumping for joy when I heard that Metallica were recording a new album. It did help a bit that there were rumors of Rick Rubin producing. After all, the man had completely resurrected Johnny Cash before his death, and is generally known for bringing out the best in the bands he produces. Then another rumor started circulating. The new album would be kind of like ... And justice for all, it said. That's when I started having a little higher hopes for this new release. In the months and weeks up to the release, my hopes were raised even further when Metallica recorded a great version of Iron Maiden's classic Remember tomorrow for a Kerrang! tribute album. And finally a release date was announced and the first single The Day that never comes was released. Fantastic! The song was a throwback to the good old days of Metallica epics with great guitarplaying and complex but comprehensible song-structures. The release of the album Death Magnetic was highly anticipated and is rightly hailed as a return to glories past for Metallica. Long, but never boring. Hard, but never inaccessibly so, and full of great thrashing songs, if it wasn't for Rubin's modern production and the inclusion of new bass player Rob Trujillo, it could indeed be the logical follow-up to ...And Justice for all.

What is next for Metallica ? Who knows. I hope they continue their new-found style of blending new and old, and re-claim their place on top of Metal's foodchain. After all this is a band that released some of the mandatory classics in the genre, and it is only befitting that they have now released their strongest album in many years. Here's to another 25 years of Metallica!

Return of the dinosaurs!

Share my joy! 2008, what a year it's been! For someone like me who is an avid fan of the music of the 1970's and early 1980's, it's been nothing short of fantastic. A lot of the dinosaur rock bands from days of yore have released strong albums this year, and there is still more to come!

I'd like to point out some of the highlights of dinosaur-variety rock this year so far, for those that may be that way enclined!

February brought us a new Magnum live double-album, Wings of heaven live. Magnum have been on a roll lately with several good studio albums in a row!

In March, Denmark's White Lion returned with a new album called Return of the pride. A bit quieter than the rock of their heyday, it did nonetheless contain some great song-writing. After seeing them on tour a few years ago though, I was a tad disappointed at the rock-song to ballad ratio!
The same month, Nazareth returned with an album called The News, to coincide with their 40th anniversary tour! Longevity! This is also the first studio album without original drummer Darrell Sweet who died in 1999.

In April, the mighty Whitesnake slithered forth once more with a good, old-school sounding album of punchy rock songs and slightly masked zep-tribute! Good to be bad hopefully is the beginning of a new period of creativity for the 'snake!
Not ones to be outdone, Def Leppard returned with a new album called Songs from the sparkle lounge, led off by fantastic singles Nine lives and C'mon C'mon. After some lean years, it's good to have the Leppard back as well!
Rush also weighed in this month with a live album, Snakes and arrows live.

Fast forwarding a bit to June, two mighty dinosaur bands of the 70s and two from the 80s treated us to some great albums, and one not so great!
Judas Priest seem to be back on form, with original singer Rob Halford back in the fold and the double-concept-album Nostradamus meeting favourable reviews in most places. A double concept album with a symphony orchestra ? How very un-Priest! But how cool! Digital era be damned, they even released it as a double-vinyl deluxe package!
One of my personal faves, Uriah Heep also came back on the album-scene with Wake the sleeper, a slight return to their late 70s sound but with a contemporary edge. Great stuff all around. AOR heroes Journey released an album with their new singer Arnel Pineda, who managed to sound uncannily like Steve Perry! For the dedicated, the album was released in a double-CD edition with a bonus cd of re-recorded Journey classics with Pineda on vocals. I still prefer the originals, tho the new album is fantastic.
Mötley Crüe unfortunately sounded kind of tired on The Saints of Los Angeles, but then I've never been a huge Crüe fan. Still, as tired as they sounded they totally LOOKED worse. Seriously, Mick Mars looks like he's dead.

July was host to the return of Alice Cooper with a concept album of his own, Along came a spider. His band play tight, and Alice being Alice came up with a spooky story set to his fantastic lyrics. Triumph!

In August, the kings of dirty rock 'n' roll Motörhead issued forth yet another studio album, Motörizer. Motörhead are like AC/DC in that you usually know what to expect from them! But repeating the same formula doesn't mean a decline in quality! Another great album from the 'head. Once poodle-permed rockers Extreme also returned, with an album called Sausades de rock, which at the time of writing I've yet to listen to. Friends tell me it is not quite a return to the glories of the past.

September... oh September! The mighty Metallica released a new studio album, Death Magnetic, their first since the horrible St. Anger. After all the hype (back to the old style, Rick Rubin producing) the album definetly lived up to the expectations of the majority of fans, if reviews are anything to go by! Face-melting riffs, shredding Hammett-solos and Lars Ulrich actually using DRUMS! Fantastic!
And as if that wasn't fantastic enough, Queen + Paul Rodgers also released a new album! The Cosmos rocks had about a 50-50 chance of being good, and I must say for my money it's a great album. They avoid wearing too much on the legacy of Queen and Rodgers' previous bands Free and Bad Company, by blending the styles and adding a more contemporary sound. The album works well as a whole, and while not containing any new 'classics', it's certainly a worthy first effort from these aging rockers!

As if all this wasn't enough, we've also had compilations from riff-machine Megadeth, british rockers UFO and NWOBHM pioneers Iron Maiden, DVD releases from boogie-rockers ZZ Top and Deep Purple and in October, none other than AC/DC release a new studio album! What a year for rock and metal fans!

A tribute to Richard Wright

Richard Wright, keyboard-player and backing vocalist for legendary rock band Pink Floyd, died on the 15th of September following a bout with cancer.

Pink Floyd came about in 1965, and Wright was there right from the beginning. He co-founded the band with Roger Waters, Nick Mason and short-time guitarplayer Rado Klose, after a brief period in pre-Floyd bands like 'The T-Set' and 'The Abdabs'. Wright would remain in the band right up until the last album and tour, and participated in the 2005 Live8 reunion concert. That would turn out to be the last Pink Floyd concert ever, if one is to believe statements from guitarist David Gilmour and Waters.

During the Pink Floyd glory years, Wright's keyboard and piano underlined the elaborate progressive rock of all their albums, and between Floyd activities he also found time for a solo career. His first solo album 'Wet dream' was released in 1976, and he handled the vocals and the writing of lyrics himself. A rock album in the vein of success-era Floyd, the album sadly went largely unnoticed and even today it is rarely seen or heard of. As good as it was, Wright would better it 18 years later with his second solo album 'Broken China'. The album's lyrics dealt with his wife's battles with depression and suicidal thoughts, and again the lyrics and vocals were handled by Wright himself, with two exceptions. On two of the records emotional tracks, Wright got Sinead O'Connor to contribute vocals. The best of these, and the best track on a good and underrated record, is the song 'Reaching for the rail'. This album, like his previous solo one, sounds rather like mid-tempo Pink Floyd with Wright singing. In latter years Wright toured with David Gilmour, and as a special surprise, they performed the song 'Breakthrough' live at the concerts, which can be seen (and heard) on the DVD 'David Gilmour live'.
At the time of his death, Wright was working on a third, instrumental, album.

In addition, he formed a band called Zee with Dave Harris of the band Fashion.
They only released on album (Identity in 1983), which failed to register much notice, just like the rest of his non-Floyd material. The album is one for completists, as it has very little to do with Pink Floyd and rock music in general, as it has more of an electronic music feel.

An underrated musician and writer, Wright's work is there for all to appreciate on such Pink Floyd classics as 'Shine on you crazy diamond', 'Run like Hell' and on former Floyd vocalist Syd Barrett's first two albums. To someone like me, who is a big fan of 70's rock music, Wright is another in a long line of musicians that worked hard for their bands success and will be missed. He was 65 at the time of his death, and leaves behind a wife and three children.
In one of life's small twists, his daughter Gala is married to musician Guy Pratt who played bass in Pink Floyd after Waters' exit.