Saturday, May 18, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Slash (May 4) & Aerosmith (May 8) Live in Manila!!!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day!
Same day of last year, same cold drizzle, same bad case of hangover. My mom and I spent Mother's Day morning draggin' each other in the most ultimate tug of war battle the stairs of our home have ever seen.
The event: Yours truly was hellbent on deliverin' a can of whoop ass to an asshole of a neighbor who was at it again. I could have gone to jail for what may have transpired had my most prudent of a mom gave all her strength to contain my demon-like possession.
How our mothers save us from damnation, mystery.
And so I slide back to the lessons our mothers taught us. None could be more identifiable than the words of this Lynyrd Skynyrd song:
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day
Oh, take your time don't live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
Go find a woman you'll find love
And don't forget son there is someone up above
And be a simple kind of man
Be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me son if you can?
Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you my son is to be satisfied
And be a simple kind of man
Be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me son if you can? Oh yes, I will
Boy, don't you worry you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you my son is to be satisfied
And be a simple kind of man
Be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me son if you can?
Baby be a simple, be a simple man
Be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Friday, December 17, 2010
My Totally Ominous Christmas Wish:
Dear Friends,
Make this happen, and do your "Like"-trigger-happy finger a favor. Go to the Facebook Page, click Like then suggest to friends! And soon we'll all be painting this town, er..rather, country, blood red!
Cheers!
-Rawhide
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Black Label Society's Order of The Black - A Re-inspired Zakk is Back!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Three New Amazing Records to review..
My shitty iPod which almost ended up as trap shooting target for my double barrel has never been this busy.
It's a few songs shy of getting to ten thousand, hundreds of albums lined-up and dragged to my "bite" playlist- a set of potentially good ones, old and new, that I feel I may actually get to like. Well, it will have to wait again. Right now, this dumb old-fashioned disk is in heavy rotation of three relatively new albums. And I hope to get back with decent reviews of them because these bands bark of reputation for kicking serious ass.
Order of The Black, Black Label Society.
Released last August, I only acquired this record recently when I decided to look into their last compilation Skullage (2009) and how much of Mafia (2005) made it into that selection. I got re-acquainted with Fire It Up and Suicide Messiah, one nostalgic fit led to another, eventually making me remember how much I used to fucking love these berserkers.
I figured I should give their latest one a spin..
Mastermind, Monster Magnet.
Argh!! Can't have enough of this band!
Call him what you will, cheapo Iggy Pop incarnation or Anthony Kiedis drugged dead ringer- Dave Wyndorf is a fuckin' legend. There are but a few lyricists of his caliber, mighty witty and entertaining as hell. Powertrip and Dopes to Infinity remain to be my favorites but it's time for a new one from this pillar of stoner rock. Released last October 25, it has been sending ripples throughout the entire heavy music community since.
DAATH, Dååth.
I can't do the goddamn typeset, so let's just leave it at that. Would be fuckin' cool if I could though.
Most probably the one I am most thrilled about. The heavy metal world, as far as I observe, has never been this fired up about an upcoming record from a relatively new band. Sure everyone went nuts with the release of The Final Frontier and Death Magnetic, but man, Daath is far from being a decade-old band. I will have to go back for another post about how their last record The Concealers totally fucking blew me away. If you don't have that one yet, grab it and just plain marvel at the sheer technical prowess and brutality of the band. Surely that will explain why everyone is this stoked about their new self-titled record released last October 28.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
HOMEGROWN: Bloodshedd's Spare No One
Before things get ugly, I would like to first and foremost point out that this entry has nothing to do with that recent Metalsucks Reader's Choice fiasco. Absolutely nothing to do with it I swear. Notice I didn't place the link here and make this a portal to your worst reading nightmare. This draft has been in my shitty laptop since I made my last trip to my good ol' local cd dealer. You heard me right, I buy homegrown stuff. And on that last visit, I came with a list that had Intolerant's Reasons for Unrest and Sin's Audio Summoned Flesh. Thing is, I always buy three from my dealer. So I was, to put it mildly, kind of forced to choose one more.
From the official Tower of Doom You Tube channel, here's Time For You To Die.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Clutch's Blast Tyrant Blasts Big Time!
They are, for me, kind of like the Dave Matthews Band of hard rock. They are a no-frills type of band, no bullshit, never gave a dirty rat's ass about image but are real geniuses musically and lyrically. They have gone on relentless touring and have constantly put out one record after another since the early 90's. Sometimes they have even served as opening act for bands with lesser talent and flair. Yet they haven't really left the scene despite the sand dunes of music trends.
Maybe that's why they have forged such an ultimately loyal fan base. And its one that encompasses a wide array of genres, from Classic Rock fanatics to extreme metal practicioners.
Without having to resort to visual imagery or commercial packaging, they have painted a picture of a badass hard rock act through words and music only. By turning a blind eye to bigotry and imperialism, they proved it's alright to be a redneck at this day and age. They even made it cool to wear plain white t-shirts in rock again.
I can waste a year's worth of blog space here if I were to describe their brand of hard rock. And I'm sure as hell I won't even get close to defining their music. I do think though, that they shift along the lines of rock but the 'hues' change from one album to the next in their entire discography, which is one hell of a list by the way.
Blast Tyrant will probably be their most accessible record to date. It is chock-full of hard-hitting rhythms and intelligently woven lyrics, broad-ranging from life beyond the Ol' Mason-Dixon line to political jabs in comedic delivery. I have never been so lyrically amused for a long time.
This is also the record you get out when you throw in slabs of meat on the grill, smash bottles to the wall or just get plain stoned to. Almost every reviewer out there says this is a mix of stoner rock, blues and funk, and I must say to an extent it really is. What amazes me though is how homogeneous that mixture is to my ears. The mood it sets for being stoner music catches up real tight but in no way close to being Monster Magnet, it is funky without bending that much to Chili Peppers yet you can groove (but I won't) pretty fine with it. AND, get this: it is full-on Blues Rock without almost any blues soloing! There's really not much complex blues guitar licks you'd find in here but the songwriting is topnotch. Not even the real 'masters' of blues guitar have thought of taking the music to a level the way Clutch did in this record, riff-wise.
One thing I must add before you get this one is for you to clear a space, not just on your list of greatest rock records ever, but also one from your list of most gifted singers. Neil Fallon's voice may not have that much of range, but hell, with that kind of power, who needs one in this sort of heavy rock?
Labels: album review, badass, blues rock, classic rock, hard rock, review, rock, stoner rock
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Metallica: Français Pour Une Nuit
But it's just too hard to ignore the fact that Metallica: Français Pour Une Nuit (French For One Night, is that it?) is one badass almost-medieval metal live dvd. I found it impossible not to get my hands on this one, evidently everything about it tells me it falls into great halls of awesomeness. True enough as it actually took place in the literally awesome halls of a Roman amphitheater!
But the location shot can only get one so far. If I were to single out one factor why I was so snagged by this that it finally got me writing, it would have to be that they played so much from ..And Justice. Which by the way, is my favorite Metallica record. And merits more space and time for me to brag about. But I'm just too damn glad the ..And Justice songs were played in full length, not like the fuckin' medleys they used to do!! The tracklist below shows it, they launched forth with Blackened, and they even played Harvester Of Sorrow! I'm sure there's just four tracks from it, but better that than any other post Black Album stuff. But then I realize there's no better theme for such a location other than what the cover of ..And Justice speaks of.
You all know the drill. You must have seen a lot of Metallica's live performances, and quite tellingly, you might place them as predictable in a way. Well set this one aside, for it's an entirely different ride. There's just no better way to appreciate the Arena of Nîmes in a rockin' show, unless maybe, you dig Rammstein or Dire Straits.
02. Creeping Death
03. Fuel
04. Harvester of Sorrow
05. Fade to Black
06. Broken, Beat and Scarred
07. Cyanide
08. Sad But True
09. One
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master of Puppets
13. Dyers Eve
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
--Encore--
16. Stone Cold Crazy
17. Motorbreath
18. Seek and Destroy
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Mike Portnoy leaves Dream Theater
Seems like it truly is Mi Ultimo Adios to his band of 25 years.. Just a reposting of what has been stirring up every heavy metal news site since this morning. The initial source, his actual goodbye letter, is in his Facebook Page. Again, here it is to save you the hassle. Apologies to hangovered Dream Theater fanboys..
After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater....
Labels: dream theater, heavy metal, mike portnoy, prog, rock
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The best Aerosmith Tribute Record - Not The Same Old Song and Dance.
It must be that we truly did not live the early days of Aerosmith to have that nostalgic fit and not accept any new take on their classics. No disrespect to the band but I can no longer get back to hearing the originals after being used to these new versions of heavier guitars and more complex licks. Kind of like playing Mama Kin after quite some time of imbibing the Gn'R cover. Most of the tracks covered here are from the early days, which means both Joe Perry and Brad Whitford weren't using that much of delicious, crunchy distortion effects. And it's really a break to hear those songs again with a much 'thicker' take.
Only the singing is another matter.. A bit of rearrangement gives a different flavor, but the voice from the second most famous rubber lips in rock can never be duplicated.
Back in The Saddle remains to be my favorite here. Contrary to what I said above with regard to more distortion, Albert Lee delivered right on spot with only simply overdriven guitars. In fact, you'd mistake it for just being plain clean tone. And to be honest I really don't find Mark Slaughter's singing to be that good either. But this version, I will never trade for any other out there, most especially that one from Bas Bach and Axl Rose!
Rag Doll kicks ass too, you'll notice Ted Nugent doing both the vocals and guitar parts. For such a hardass I think it's pretty fucking cool of him to pay tribute to the band coz as you may well know, he's not some junior fan. The Old Nuge actually thrived in hard rock glory in the same era that early Aerosmith did. And his playing seems to just get heavy as he grows old, maybe that's why many regard him as a great guitarist despite sticking to basic I-IV-V blues. Other players in his same age bracket are getting the stiff finger syndrome, but he still shoots those licks like a twenty-year old!
And Ronnie James Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen on Dream On? Such fantastic soul-searing voice and majestic licks to add up to an already regal tune. Outstanding. Chip Away at The Stone introduced me to Blues Saraceno and I've been a fan ever since. We used to break this song apart to find out what's so special about his playing though in the end, his 'expressionism' was what we could only make different. I've got more to say about him but that again, is a tale for another day.
Steve Lukather doing Walk This Way, Tommy Skeoch, before being kicked out of Tesla is with Jeff Keith on Draw The Line..an almost Damn Yankees take on the song Sweet Emotion with the late, great Randy Castillo..
Damn, better grab yourself a copy of this one and get ultimately hard rock on yourself! There's just so much cold beer waiting for me outside to be blogging, so I'll be spinning this instead!
Cheers!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Pantera's 'The Will To Survive' and the 20th Anniversary 'Cowboys Deluxe'.
We will be premiering the track "The Will To Survive right here on our FB page at Noon EST on 8/30/10. Stay tuned for more details. And check out the packaging for the 3cd Deluxe 20th Anniversary Edition of Cowboys From Hell:
Labels: dimebag, new album, pantera, thrash, thrash metal
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Long Live Heavy Music - 1st Steamin' Anniversary!
Since it has been a year already, finally I had surrendered to the idea that I should let my readers in to my metal treasure chest. As a result, I had rolled out a link list of other blogs I read by the sidebar on the right. Shall I lose the few readers I have to them metal gurus, so be it. Pretty damn fine consolation knowing they will be in good hands. Funny thing is, I have my own selfish reasons, but to be included in their blog roll is certainly not one of those. I may be guilty enough to admit what I've been echoing from Blabbermouth, but I don't have the audacity to not acknowledge other sites that keep my metal juices up and running.
So give me this chance to thank as well, them angels (or rather devils) on my shoulders.
Lastly, thank you, readers! Takers and haters alike!
Because as what the mighty Slayer says, 'I deny, defy and spread a little hate wordwide!!"