Black Label Society's Order of The Black - A Re-inspired Zakk is Back!

Zakk is back!!

Indeed. I couldn’t find any more appropriate three words to begin this. For five years I had been growin’ roots in my ass out of snoozfest from anything post- Mafia. Even Zakk’s presence in Ozzy’s band had been of the same serving. But at fuckin’ last, fate throws in the bucket of cold water, and the beast awakens.

It could’ve been one or all factors together. Ozzy’s firing, blood clotting, alcoholism, whatever it is, there must be something that had finally summoned guts of steel to make Zakk finally put all overused stuff aside, and  bring everything ‘back to basic’. A true return to form, I must say.

Before spinning this record, I honestly felt a need to duck in a quasi-cringed manner in anticipation of a salvo of pinch harmonics and wound string vibratos, three repetitions of each for every riff. But God was I surprised to hear all those had been virtually laid to rest. It will not be until the fifth track, Black Sunday, before this record greets you with the standard BLS sound. And, besides being blown away right off the bat by the preceding tracks, it’s not that much of his ‘template’ either. Notice how it starts with a shredfest of insane legatos and howls (reminiscent of those from that Tesla song) before it explodes into the berserkin Sonic Brew fashion.

My personal pick here, Parade of The Dead, should have been placed as the first track in my opinion. It steps away as a typical southern metal song, and even farther from slow sludge that is trademark BLS. Instead, it hits you so fast on all eight cylinders and lets you feel how Zakk and his boys are so damned dead serious in doing this record. The riff is so tailored-fit for his left-right headshakin and hair-whippin’ move. It opens up with.. Exterminate..! A word that’s in the ranks of Mafia lingo makes me wonder how much of the gangster fascination made it again into this record. The first track, Crazy Horse, also as you may observe is the name of that infamous night club of Adriana from The Sopranos. It could be some Neil Young trib, but I can't help but ponder..

Anyhow, it’s a different ride for every track here but every bit is just killer. War of Heaven starts in slow dark devil’s thirds yet it ignites in a bluesy main riff. Godspeed Hellbound, which is another favorite, employs a fast chugging rhythm but one that is unmistakably fast rock n’ roll. Clearly a biker’s anthem. Chupacabra, smart title choice for such brazen display of talent. Zakk really need not prove how fast his pentatonic is, but as always, he would want it delivered raw, with no effects.

The ballads here, which have been making a fuss about how utterly creative this album is, (or how disappointingly lame and anti-climactic, depending on which perspective you’re at) are of all in an assortment of genres. Darkest Days is a soulful piano ballad. Time Waits for No One (child!), is slow classic rock in the likes of early Elton John and Bob Seger. Shallow Grave is a bit American folkish of a piano ballad, and a darn sad one at that. January, is the 80s rock acoustic session touch thrown in for the finale. There is no doubt this record is some serious display of musicianship, undermining all accusations that Zakk is but pure image antics. 

Overall, Order of The Black, in spite of being so diverse and multifarious, is one unabashed BLS smokin' record. It's evident that as much as I hate doing track by track account of songs, it was to be a necessary evil in this case. As well, I had to point out that however liberal and wide-encompassing my usage of the word metal goes, this for me is wickedly heavy rock n roll. One so heavy that it borders to the extreme its almost heavy metal.

So celebrate all you Berserkers old and new, for this one great record that can make us proud to waive the flag high once again: Strength, Determination, Merciless Forever!

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.

Clutch's Blast Tyrant Blasts Big Time!

Here's one band I dig so much but one that's been left unnoticed for decades.

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?

The best Aerosmith Tribute Record - Not The Same Old Song and Dance.

Before I got to finishing this piece here, my good guitarist friend TJ had me stirred up with some Aerosmith news. From reliable sources, he said the band might be considering to pay us a visit here in Manila. And while I've been recently seeing nothing more than news of internal strife from Blabbermouth, I can't help but hope that there isn't going to be any resurrection of The Joe Perry Project!

Never really cared for tribute albums that much, but I knew I had to score this one the moment I saw the outside back sleeve- an all-star ensemble of my heroes paying homage to one of the greatest hard rock acts ever! 

01 Back In The Saddle (Mark Slaughter, Albert Lee, Rudy Sarzo, Frankie Banali)

02 Rag Doll (Ted Nugent, Tony Frankin, Vinnie Colaiuta, Derek Sherinian)

03 Chip Away At The Stone (Vince Neil, Blues Saraceno, Ricky Philips, Pat Torpey, Paul Taylor)

04 Last Child (Mickey Thomas, Earl Slick, Nathan East, Stephen Ferrone)

05 Sweet Emotion (Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, Mike Inez, Randy Castillo)

06 Dream On (Ronnie James Dio, Yngwie Malmsteen, Stu Hamm, Greg Bisonette, Paul Taylor)

07 Walk This Way (Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather, Tim Bogert, Tommy Aldridge)

08 Draw The Line (Jeff Keith, Tommy Skeoch, Tony Levin, Eric Singer)

09 Same Old Song and Dance (Jack Russel, Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, Jeff Pilson, Bobby Blotzer, Edgar Winter)

10 No Surprize (Jani Lane, Chris Holmes, Adrian Perry, Stephen Riley)

11 Toys In The Attic (Stephen Pearcy, Tracii Guns, Phil Soussan, Aynsley Dunbar)

Besides, it was '99, and everything else in the cd rack at the time represented the über nonsensical nü metal that was at its pinnacle. Conservative heavy music was in really low supply back then and I couldn't put to words  how much I wanted to wolf down anything seriously rock n' roll.

Bitchin' aside, my prior grasp of tribute albums entailed different bands doing their versions of songs assigned to each of them, and then later having the tracks compiled to make the record. The formula remains virtually the same up to the present, with some veering in the way of having a single house band type of session musicians all throughout the entire record with only the guest singers varying. This record though will be the first in my collection to host a multiple collaboration-type of cover tunes.

I'll be hard-pressed to find out who pulled the strings to make this happen, no matter how much I despise the business side of music. That's because the contributing artists here are such big names in rock that I failed to resist to do a little background check on Bob Kulick, the man who defied the corporate odds.

Fact 1, he's related to Bruce, and  Fact 2, he had his share of KISStory. 

An outstanding resume of some of the greatest productions in rock and metal doesn't solely define the man who nearly made it to becoming THE Kiss guitarist. With Ace Frehley beating him to the punch in the audition, Bob would later redeem his glory by befriending Paul Stanley and later contributing uncredited guitar tracks in many KISS records. Subsequently, he would also usher in his younger brother Bruce to the Kiss fold. 'Nuff Said.

Going back to the record.. It was a great find for such a dark phase in rock history. Not The Same Old Song & Dance remains to be one of my most played cd's, and its scratched to the innards from frequent playing. It was so great that it inspired me and my erstwhile bandmates and childhood buddies to pick up our cobwebbed instruments and get back to playing in spite of the trends. Not that the trends really mattered to us, it's just that there was no new music to fuel the inspiration.


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!

Avenged Sevenfold's Nightmare - the initial album review and the Metallica resemblance.

I'm aware I'm not ahead by a damn sight in doing this review even if I got this record on it's first day of release. And as seasoned readers most of you may well be, you know for a fact there's really nothing proverbial to say if you have only been listening to tracks you just got a few days ago. Not even if you had looped the songs non-stop. So at this point, it's only initial impressions. And I bet those are what you may be wanting for if you're reading this right now. Unless you enjoy that 'song-opens-with-a-thunderous-explosive-stick-count-ends-in-an-apocalyptic-bassdrum' kind of bullcrap, I'm not doing that. It's a waste of time, that kind of literal horseshit account. Hear the tracks in Amazon preview for fuck's sake rather than have somebody describe them to you in words.

Believed to be the heaviest record to date from these Huntington Beach rockers, Nightmare for me stands in a laterally different category with their past releases. Heavy is relative. Arguably I can't label this effort as such. If it's one thing, Nightmare is their saddest record so far. Even If I had not known the passing of The Rev, I could and probably would have stated that there's the sad signature in this record. Still not convinced? Give me one song, just one song from Nightmare where we can unanimously concur that they just went out there and played for the fun of it. Something like they did with Bat Country from City Of Evil or Scream from the self-titled one. Quite noticeably, there is not one 'fun' song in this record. Predictable to an extent, of course, losing Jimmy just recently. And let me just add, having been a huge follower of their behind-the-scenes videos, that I'm pretty much sure The Rev was the happiest camper in the pack. So abandon all hopes of fresh radio-friendly hooks and stripper tunes, there are just none in this new output.

Yet in the same light, there's no mistaking that this is unashamedly and unabashedly an Afuckin7X record.

It's no big task backtracking some to shed light on how they came up with the sound in Nightmare. With Mike Portnoy filling in on The Rev's shoes, a kind gesture I must say, there's really no reason for Dream Theater fans to be checking this one out for his drumming. There's almost no difference- even The Rev's trademark 'double ride' was effortlessly executed by his icon, as heard in 'Natural Born Killer'. As you may have noticed, everything was on 'template' already, with Mike suggesting a few tweaks here and there. Thus that leaves us no basis as well to gauge how much creative output expired with the Rev as he was a part of the laying of the groundwork as everyone was. But the recording is another matter, and his screaming is sure missed. At least he had graced us with his 'let it burn..' part in the song 'Fiction'.

The loudest buzz going on with respect to initial reviews is how much of a resemblance this record is to the early Metallica sound. And that is what I want to objectively tackle. Too many haters seem to disagree but cannot prove that there's nothing Metallica-esque here. True, it may be, that it all sums up to one's perception. But I'll give it a try. 

No painstaking scrutiny needed here, but it should be made clear whether we refer to the 'rig' or the 'riff'. Some tracks do, on occasion, sound like it used the same rig or set-up with the ones used in Master of Puppets, though I doubt there were any ESP's but there's no mistaking in the depth of distortions. The amps, the environment, lots of other factors may be the same. Even the clean guitar employed on the song 'Victim' is evidently Hetfield-reminiscent. 


As with regard to the 'riff', well that's a different subject. As much as I hate to stride on these grounds, I will have to name a few. The song 'Buried Alive' embarked on to its heavy part with something that sounded like the 'Orion' main riff, and by the outro I seriously thought they were flagrantly quoting 'Ride The Lightning'. I hear also, 'My Apocalypse' via the same Death Magnetic style palm-muted chugs in the rhythm filler of the solo to 'Welcome To The Family'. One thing that is not Metallica thrash here is the song 'God Hates Us'. Albeit with a familiar title, conversely it doesn't translate to that Slayer song. The main riff rings to me like another thrash song that has even got something synonymously resonant of the title -Death Angel's 'Lord Of Hate'. If you have noticed anything even remotely Pantera about this song, or any other track for that matter, name it. Otherwise you're just another Wiki junkie who happens to have taken M.Shadows' word for it.

Moving on, I'm on the high road to being a dog with two dicks, thanks to this new record. I honestly do not care one bit if it sounds like something else. Before being the legends they are, Metallica took several strikes for sounding like Diamond Head, or whatever the critics thought close to them at the time. Yet the records they made are our anchors to everything that is great in this whole metal lineage.  Initial impressions are far easily transcended the more you play this record, as there are more than just the sound to consider. On top of everything else, Synyster Gates is as unfailing as ever in writing his guitar parts. Nothing too flashy, technique wise, but hell those licks sure make their mark. Had he lived through the eighties he would have blasted away many other pop metal axemen. Double that up with Zacky's guitar and you got a pyro of a duo that's sure to light up the sky. And we do not have that much of a tandem recently. 


With their efforts altogether, they have given us once again a full-on barrage of dark, fuck-this-world, furious songs and sad ballads that conjure up images of a funeral pyre, slow processions and a stormy weather farewell rites to a friend. Not wishing tragedy to befall anyone, but this sure is a great record to carry anyone through his darkest days.


That's how this record falls into the great halls of awesomeness. Its an album that's not a repetition of past ones yet it still maintains that hallmark sound. 2007's Avenged Sevenfold may have been well-received by the big-ass critics in the industry, in the same way that City Of Evil was taken back in '05, but evidently those two albums never sounded thematically the same. And here we got a new one that is no way inferior to the previous two. And one that just might knock-off Eminem at the Billboard top spot.


In summary, Nightmare had all the workings of a classic. It may be disparaged by your usual A7X hater, possibly not in the same degree that hair metal was criticized back then, but surely this will be one revered album now, and even 20 years after.

Just two tracks from Burn Fucking Halo..

Here's one guilty pleasure: Burn Halo 

Just two fuckin tracks then move on to heavier stuff.. I'm on the rueful mood right now for not deliverin' the 'can listen to from start to finish'  label on this record. But if you want some adolescent rage rock n roll, you're in for a ride with 'Dirty Little Girl' and 'Save Me'. 

I really don't find these folks heavy, but those two tracks actually do rock, albeit in a fun childish way.  There's some cheesy sexual innuendos in 'Dirty' that seasoned rockers have dropped lyrically when making music late in life (for obvious reasons), but the main riff is just fine. 


And it's got Synyster Gates guesting on the solo. Nothing to get too excited about that, shred-wise, but you must expect he'll come out shootin' with a handsome Shecter. 

'Save Me', steering them to the public eye via some wrestling entertainment soundtrack deal, sounds something like from the Creed genre. Whatever you call that nonsense. But still-  good melodies, hooks and loud guitars sure pulled it off. 

That's some crazy album cover though. That got me checkin' them out in the first place. I imagined dry country, cactus, a double scatter gun, muscle car and what kind of music that scene would make. You see some album artwork like that after watching Kevin Bacon go after them rapshit gangbangers in the movie Death Sentence.. you sure would be expecting more than just two good tracks. 




In any case, I'm glad there are two new rock songs that have been in constant rotation in my playlist.

Player for Save Me

Official video for Dirty Little Girl.


Warning: The lead singer's overexposure and nasty attempts at being sleazy can get to you at times.

Hell N' Diesel - high velocity hard rock in a sea of Glam.

Blogging about Hell N' Diesel makes up for lengthy content. It gives me one fine reason to add another post in less than a week without writing a great deal.

That's because there's really nothing much to write about them, and I mean no sarcasm in that. Quite literally, there's virtually nothing to be found significant after almost two months of searchin' the web. Official site is on 'htm-test', their MySpace account is nothing more than a plain media player.. the only thing you find in Wiki is their line-up, written in, well maybe, Swedish. The album I downloaded did not even have the proper title, Passion for Flower was how I  grabbed it. Hardly even my Glam guru  friend Harry knows anything about this band, and he knows them all- from the least important foxy posers during the Sunset Strip heydays up to the most legit musicians from this recent uprising in Sweden. Yes, there are more than a just a couple of 'glam revivalists' from Sweden. There's a revolution going on, and I'll write about that one soon.

I'm glad that on this note, there's something new I can hand on to Harry that he doesn't know yet. It's another matter if he'll dig this or not. Consider yourself lucky, I will not be writing about this band if this shit ain't worth your time. This record has been playing from start to finish on all my long road trips as of late.  Hell N' Diesel, as I would put it, is the flipside to this whole Swedish Sleaze stew that's been emerging. Somewhat like Guns N Roses was to the whole L.A. scene. Not because they don't sport the whole shitty fashion sense that these new bands from Sweden seem to still replicate (in point of fact, save for the pop metal lead singer, it's Crazy Town I do observe in them), but for the sole reason that Hell N' Diesel is the most aggressive-sounding from the lot. It may be a phenomenon, or some observable fact for them to be an antithesis to the scene in which they came from. But then again it may be strategy if the chronicles of GnR history were to be the basis.

There's one official clip from You Tube that fortunately they were able to put some budget into. Not the best one from their record I guarantee you that. First time I heard this, Motley Crue's Power to the Music instantly came to my mind. I hope this doesn't deter you from getting your hands on their powerful record, and as well I'm giving you the heads-up that the guitar solos you'll find here are so Slash-like, and the singing voice you may take  for Jani Lane's any time of the day. 

Just think of Hell N' Diesel this way: a street gang carrying with them a whole arsenal of everything that is heavy, raunchy and dirty about the eighties.  Now blast away!

New Ozzy album Scream - nothing more than an inescapable Gus G vs Zakk Wylde spotlight?

Congratulations to me, I have now ceased giving you heads-ups on upcoming albums that totally stoke me out. I reckon its better that I keep my mouth shut til I get to listen to new stuff. Only then I suppose it is apt to speak to you about how my metal guts are responding to such record, rather than not get back to you after saying my hear ye's!   Apologies for that..

I've come victorious now, you may be clued-up there's a whole lotta new stuff that's gonna rain down on our metal asses- and I'm holdin my horses. That is not to say though that I have reserved my keenness on Ozzy's new album Scream, in all honesty I wasn't really mighty stirred up about that. For one, I was quite disappointed with Ozzy's recent record Black Rain. I found almost all tracks dull, save for I Don't Wanna Stop, even if that song too is too much of a 'template' in the Ozzy/Zakk sense. Next, I knew this new record was going to be a stand-off between Zakk Wylde and Gus G. And I hate measurin' up guitarists from a technical standpoint. Nevertheless, any 'review' of this album renders the impossibility of not pitting those two guitarists against each other. So I'll stick to their styles, not the techniques, if that is where this leads to.

I like Zakk, you may have noticed that before. But the reason I got tired of Ozzy was Zakk as well. I love Pride & Glory, BLS and Live in Budokan, but succeeding Ozzy albums started sounding like BLS. It has gotten a little too old with Zakk's redundancy of vibratos and pinch harmonics on almost every single goddamn riff. In the end, it would be the reason of Ozzy's letting go of Zakk (which he would later recant in his Guitar World interview that Zakk's alcoholism was the main concern).


One more reason why I could not give a further fuck about this new record, (besides having the most lame album title any established heavy musician can come up with),  was how the Prince of Darkness himself constantly barked of callin' it quits.

But everything happened so fast. All of a sudden they're flying Gus G in and eventually putting this material out. So I got the album, and listened..

Funny thing is, unexcited as I am, I'm actually liking this record. I can't walk you through track after track this early, but I have a few points to mention. And the most surprising of all is that I'm still hearing Zakk on this record! His slow  fee-fie-foe-fum riffs on the song Soul Sucker, his descending pick tapping/scratching, double stops and scales on the solo of Let Me Hear You Scream.. there's always something reminiscent about the Old Berserker in almost every track! Did Zakk make it to the laying of the groundwork of this record before he got fired? I don't think so. Not if his style shows mostly on Gus G's solo rather than on the whole song structure. Was it some conscious effort on the part of the production team. Maybe. For what purpose I have no idea.


An outstanding remark I have for this record is Ozzy's singing. Man, it's hard to put your trust on something knowing the industry has truly raised the bar technology-wise, but live footage tells me it's legit. Check the one from Jimmy Kimmel below then compare it to the subsequent official video. I must say that with his singing alone on this record, my respect for Ozzy has increased tenfold. I no longer have this contempt for his vise grip, clamp-through-the-throat  and linear style of singing. And considering that he's old for a singer already- he had every friggin' right  to name this album as he damn pleased. Scream. Indeed.

I think it's becoming evident by now that I'm a reborn Ozzy fan. 


I can't even sing all the tracks in this record yet, so I guess it's just that initial gut feel about something that's genuine that made me admire this recent offering. And there's not even a killer First Track to strap me on an Acme warhead through the entirety of the album. Let It Die, which is clearly an attempt to be accessible to the younger fans, just don't get me off. I skip it, as a matter of fact. It's not modern but just rap metal. And a plain one at that. The rest I can say modern though, with very much prudent use of synths and keyboards without getting too Reznor-ish. 


Lyrics? nothing too weighty. I didn't expect that from Ozzy. I bet he still clings on the angry teenager poetry as it has always been his sig from the very first Sabbath record up to Black Rain. It may be Sharon's pre-approved marketing standard for all we know. 


All things considered, I think this is a great record nonetheless. And even if all other maniacs are coming up with positive reviews I must come clean and state that I loved this record first before I had browsed on them. But it sure adds a little more gratification hearing them put this up in the same league as Bark At The Moon. Others have even declared that there's nothing inferior about the singles here even if played next to big classics such as Crazy Train or No More Tears. 


In the end I would gladly like to drop the perception that Scream is nothing but a gladiator arena of past and present guitarists. Much more than that, it is a celebration of Ozzy's ever vibrant career. Though he may be old enough to bite heads of bats and pigeons, he proved us through this record that he's here to stay and not bore us along the way. 


Now I had just realized I don't think I can go on handing Tony Iommi all the heavy metal credit. It ain't a good way to present historical facts, massaging details to tailor-fit for listeners. I blame Sam Dunn for this attitude, Ozzy was as much a part of Sabbath as Iommy is. Period. 

The Last Vegas - Whatever Gets You Off !

The Last Vegas - it's been forever trying to write about this band and their record Whatever Gets You Off. It has taken so long because I can't embed the fucking video of their single! Goddamn ElevenSevenMusic for that.

This is THE post, if you will. I'm finally admitting, not without a trickle of courage, that I SO dig  Glam Rock. Or Glam Metal, Hollywood Rock, 80's metal, Sleaze Rock, Spandex Rock. Choose how you label this genre of unforgivable looks, there's some good music involved, that's for damn sure.

I've always bantered on myself that I'm a half-thrash metal, half-hard rock type of person. That's because I really can't seem to slice up where the boundaries lie. Thrash represents the dark side in me- I hold on to this music in times of angst and dejection, headbangin' in my man-cave or swaying back and forth in such ominous cacophony as I manhandle my demons. 


Call it psycho but I ain't slashin' my wrists in such an emo-esque manner! 

Hard Rock, on the other hand, stands for the badass in me. The debauchery, the cowboy boots and my love for alcohol!


I'd say if it were to be based on personality and just that alone, I'm one notch more of a hard rock guy.

Notwithstanding the abovementioned split personality psycho babble, blastin my speakers with tracks from Whatever Gets You Off made me think how much of a Glam fan I am. And I figured that's because it's the one sub-genre of this very wonderful umbrella of heavy music that makes me such a teen forever. Whether I'm thrash or hard rock doesn't seem to matter anymore. I will always be this kid who will never outgrow, despite the silly looks and moves, my love for Poison, Ratt and Bang Tango. There's just so much fun to miss!

       

That's it, Whatever Gets You Off is a fun record in general. Though I can't say the 'fun' part is still stuck in the eighties. The Last Vegas, in spite of being a Nikki Sixx 'gem' has kind of re-modeled themselves into this one big dirty ball of sleaze rockers playing some serious abrasive type of rock n roll. Yes it's still rock n roll to my ears, and I believe to yours too, if you listen more seriously. The one thing that drags them to the metal category, in my opinion, is their use of heavy and modern distortion. But then if you briefly shove those effects aside, you'll be cleared to an underside of boogie-based rhythm chords and lots and lots of Rolling Stones type of swagger.

Get this album now whether you relate to all my sentiments or not. As for how I manage playing this record, I have given two stars for each and every song since I can play the album in its entirety. There's not one lifeless piece in here, and the first track of the same title sure gets me off I just might crown it my five stars. 

In Whatever Gets You Off, the way in which the end of the chorus jumps right back at (yes, at, not to..just like a cat) the next verse is so insane in its execution! It's like hitting someone with a baseball bat and just totally forgetting about it as you resume playing guitar! 

Now since there's just no embedding that official vid, and I can't even download the badmother and upload it back here in blogger's crappy player, do check out HELL!. Trust me, you will surely bookmark that one.

Guns N' Roses Family Tree Double CD

I'm a big GnR crackhead always at the ready for my fix, but I called in sick on the last fanclub hieros gamos and entirely missed this piece of news here.

Guns N' Roses Family Tree

released on the Argentina record label Music Brokers Arg., May 2010.

If you are all too familiar with long-standing bands which have become somewhat like 'revolving doors' for different members, you might have ended up going to forums and sites trying to see who's the bassist, guitarist, or even singer for a particular point in a band's career. Say you've got numerous Whitesnake albums, and you have been impressed with the second lead guitar solo of this one song, but dunno of it's Doug Aldrich or Vivian Campbell who's playing (Doug has become some sort of replacement for every band Vivian has ever been to that he almost kind of replicated the 'delivery' of the latter), then you end up tracing the band's 'Family Tree'.

They're scattered all over the internet, those Family Trees. Whitesnake, DiO, Def Leppard and even to some degree, yes, Guns N' Roses. Not that they have really been a 'revolving door' band for the better part of their career, but some crazy-ass fans just kept on documenting its members and session musicians off of their Sunset Strip days up to the present Entropy of a line-up. You might not all be willing to agree that the current line-up is still GnR, but great band they may be, I, as well, belong to the camp which prefer them better left as "Axl & Friends". 


As I have originally intended to write this online resource for friends who have stopped researching on new material, I found the urge to write this and inform them of this 'must-download' stuff. Problem though, is that if you're probably one of them GnR die-hard fans with too much time on your hands, you must have amassed enough mp3's of your heroes that you may find nothing new in here.. 


Save for, maybe, the original studio version of Nice Boys. 


Nonetheless, I reluctantly loaded my iPod with this double album and duplicated some of my other files in the process. I noticed I already have some of the tracks from my Roots of Guns N Roses - Gilby Clarke and Fred Coury re-mastered, L.A. Guns studio recordings, Tribute to Aerosmith..etc..


But I'm having mighty grand time comparing the quality of those same tracks. My eardrums may be  all too hammered but I figured right off the bat that the ones from this Family Tree compilation seem to have been quality mastered before distribution. I may just as well end up saving the tracks from this record instead.


Tracklist: 

CD1

1  Anything Goes  -  Hollywood Rose
2  Welcome To The Jungle  -  Gilby Clarke, Tracii Guns & Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot)
3  No More Mr.Nice Guy  -  Slash & Roger Daltrey (The Who)
4  Sex Action  -  L.A. Guns
5  Sweet Child O Mine  -  Gilby Clarke
6  Killing Time  -  Hollywood Rose
7  Elected  -  Duff Mckagan, Matt Sorum, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) & Billy Duffy (The Cult)
8  My Michelle  -  L.A. Guns
9  It’s So Easy  -  Tracii Guns, Gilby Clarke & Fred Coury (Cinderella)
10 Last Cigarette  -  Hollywood Rose Feat. Teddy Zigzag

11 You’re Crazy  -  Gilby Clarke, Tracii Guns & Stevie Ranchelle (Tuff)
12 Nice Boys  -  Guns N’ Roses (Rare Track – Original GnR Lineup)


CD2
13 Pour Some Sugar On Me  -  L.A.Guns
14 Rocker  -  Hollywood Rose
15 Mr. Brownstone  -  Bang Tango Feat Tracii Guns & Gilby Clarke
16 Toys In The Attic  -  Tracii Guns & Stephen Pearcy (Ratt)
17 Jailbreak  -  Hollywood Rose Feat Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones)
18 Used To Love Her  -  Gilby Clarke, Tracii Guns & John Corabi (Motley Crue)
19 Gypsy  -  Slash & Tommy Shaw (Styx)
20 Wanted Dead Or Alive  -  L.A.Guns
21 Patience  -  Gilby Clarke, Tracii Guns & John Corabi (Motley Crue)
22 Don’t Cry  -  Spike (Quireboys), Tracii Guns & Gilby Clarke
23 Shadow Of Your Love  -  Hollywood Rose
24 Lay It Down  -  Stephen Pearcy (Ratt) & Tracii Guns




Now if only you can show me that one golden link to a fine copy of those Rumbo Tapes...