The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Analysis

Many folks have talked about the lamb as if it is denser than concrete laced oatmeal.  It took some work but I think I have an understand or at least my own understanding.  The general idea behind the work as stated by Gabriel is "Something like El Topo."  Which puts us on the track we should be looking, as El Topo is a Masculine spiritual tale.  I think its pretty safe to assume this is also true for The Lamb and should be our focus.  Rael being a street thug as our subject and the record being a journey of spiritual change.

My interpretation of the record is that of Death and the assimilation of  two or more aspects of  personality.  Specifically one aspect, Rael, appears to not accept death while Brother John appears to be embracing of it.  I tend to look at the first five songs relating to actual life and some event that takes Rael's life or leaves him comatose.  The Lamb being a picture of his life, with Fly being the seeing of the white light.  Broadway Melody is some sort of picture of his life or the wants in his life.  Finally Cocoon and Cage talking of the divide between the physical and spiritual.

The Grand Parade is strange but seems to be taking place in a spiritual limbo that is not life or death.  He is walking past the ready bodies of the unborn which seem to be awaiting spirits and sees that they are sometimes people he knows, as if there is a limited supply of variation.  That may also be a reference to reincarnation but I have not though long enough on that issue to come to any conclusion.  Back in New York City is Rael trying to live struggling to hang onto the life, as I see it.

Hairless Heart has seems to have two currents going through it.  The connections of his life holding him and sexuality.  The shaving part seems to refer to cutting the connections to his heart and moving on a bit.   The sexuality comes back with the next song Counting out time.  It seems to be almost a lament of death as he never got this part right in life.  This subject comes back later.

Carpet Crawlers and Chamber are hard to dig through but I feel they are talking about his confusion of spirit and not understanding.  There are aspects of life and its confusion here too, who you take advice from and how you life.  Lily white Lilith appears to be part of this spiritual second as well, she may represent some aspect of Rael as well a stunted intuition or spiritual aspect he finds that guides him to the next part. 

Anyway and Anaesthetist pretty clearly have to deal with Death.  I think this is death finally taking him from his physical death that happened in Fly.  That is why the "Sorry to keep you waiting" line seems to be there.  This meeting with Death dives him onto the next section the afterlife it appears as he starts resolving aspects of himself in the last few sections.

In Lamia and Slippermen the concept of sexuality returns.  It seems to be some sort of negative and destroying force within Rael his sexuality and youthful drives.  The Slippermen shows the negativity of it and he removes or resolves it.  You will note John is there in this part seeming to be something that is shared across both of the two aspects of Rael/John.  But later you see Rael trying to reclaim this component of himself chasing after the tube.  John is uninterested in this idea and moves on.

We finally are left with the Rapids and It.  Water is often linked with emotion in dreams, the water seems to be emotion of death and want fighting with Rael he finally catches John and the two are joined in It.  With Johns face being his own.  It finally tells of the movement of spirit between the two and the final assimilation and ascension of spirit to the greater states.  I personally would say moving on to heaven but I am unsure of Gabriele's relationship with Christianity.

One last area of debate is the narrator.  In my opinion there are three narrators, at least, who lend their voices to the story.  Those are Rael, Brother John, and a omnipresent third who I assume is God.  The Lamb Lies down and It both appear to have this third voice.

Music Review: Tytan, Rough Justice

I found a song called the watcher on youtube a couple of days ago.  I have since become totally raving mad for this long dead new wave of british heavy metal band.  These guys are great!  Very D&D metal just the way I like it.

Ok lets be straight up this is going to be a touch lighter than most of the other bands of the era.  Sort of like Def Leppard there is a glam element hidden down in the rifts.  But that is small, coming out as being a more slick than some of the other recorded of the early 80's.  I think this was put down in 83 and finally released in 85.  It does not have the gritty sound of something like Burning the Cross. 

Many of the other songs have the similar fantasy feel you hear in The watcher.  Blindmen and fools has a pretty quiet beginning and then gets chugging along finally.   I think you are going to enjoy this if you are a Maiden fan, Saxon Fan or Manowar fan.  It has the high clean vocal of all of those, mildly aggressive riff based guitars and a driven but by no means speed metal rhythm section.

Iron Maiden at Shoreline Amphitheater , Mountain View California 2012 review

So some weeks back my wife and I went to see Iron Maiden.  The experience had some real highs and lows.  Basically these can be boiled down to Iron Maiden Good, Shoreline Amphitheater bad.  Well also our local radio station The Bone 107.7 Also bad with their employee named Baby Huey being told to fuck off and leave by Steve Harris.

Let me go into the good because a lot of it was fantastic.  My wife, friend and I were able to get our tickets through the Iron Maiden Fan Club early ticket sale.  We were able to grab seats in the DDD row and our seats were fantastic.  We were right there better than any concert I have ever been too.  The seats were not outrageously expensive as you may have expected only around 100 dollars.  That is expensive but inline with concerts these days.  Iron Maiden does this for their fans which is fantastic.  Also the show was just great as always.  I even started liking Coheed and Cambria a bit after their set.  I had never heard them but they did a good job at winning me over. Iron Maiden proved yet again they are the world's best live band.  Also they are class acts 100%.  I say this because there was a girl with a sign saying she was going to her first concert, with her dad, and Iron Maiden was her favorite band.  They took time at the end of the show to present her with picks and wrist bands and showered her with love.  Basically they did everything they could to make a real fan feel special. Iron Maiden are great!

Ah now we get to the Shoreline Amphitheater.  I really don't have a problem with your staff for the most part, though you are often draconian with the no bottle policy and you flat our lie when you say its the bands fault.  But two of your staff members really crossed the line.  Both were security in the bottom middle of the show.  One a tall guy with pretty bad hair was letting his friend down to the front but was letting no one from even a row up visit.  As a fan club member I looked on in disgust as a group of hipsters danced in the front, noting angrily that none knew the lyrics or even tried to sing on fear of the dark.  Those are the people we and in the metal community hate they have no business at the show let alone up front.  Facilitated by some trumped up little shit who failed out of police academy and now has a God complex. 

The next and worse offense we from an black guy who had a red version of the Shoreline security jacket.  He was very concerned with anyone being in the aisle often coming up to me when I was waiting for people to come in and out of our row.  Yes I am fat and I am sitting at the end of the row I need to get up to let people out.  At the end of the concert the band tossed out picks and sticks to folks my wife reached out to grab something reaching into the aisle he diligently protected.  I guess she was an evil doer as he pushed her back into the row.  Luckily for us all she did not relay this to me until later.  You don't put hands on my wife.  Personally I would like to see this guy fired and his family exterminated. Humor aside I would have smashed his head into the concrete steps of the shoreline if I had know what he did.

The Bone 107.7 while once a station that played Iron Maiden now is a joke.  I guess maybe you hear them on the Nikki Black metal show but seldom else where. Originally their format included Iron Maiden but the station has taken a change for the suck over the years.  Its funny as the crowd at Megadeth's last also called out the Bone as a bunch of dicks.  Dave Mustaine comment "Fuck them if they don't play our music" and renamed the guitar give away His own.  Apparently their morning zoo includes someone named Baby Huey who is a large fat fellow such as myself.  He was up in the front row and was seated a large portion of the show.  At first I thought he was too fat to stand the whole show and pitied him, as I was sick myself and was forced to my seat anytime the smoke machines were used.  Also I could see myself being too fat to rock out the whole show.  I felt a little bad for him when Mr. Harris called him a wanker and told him to piss off, pointing to the exit.  It was after the show my friend said that was Baby Huey, showing me a picture on his ipod.  This pissed me off and my pity was gone.  The man boy is a dedicated fan of Green Day and pop punk.  You have no business in the front row of an Iron Maiden show.  All of us who say up the Irons know Harris hate punk and sitting at his show is just an insult.  Sitting front row is a slap in the face of every single fan.

Again Iron Maiden were great.  You need to thing about doing a show of just you guys no opener like Rush next time in the states.

Music Review: The Darkness - Hot Cakes

The hot cakes record has grown on me a bit.  At first i really was only into the "nothings gonna stop us" single but I find more and more on the record that is good. I really find myself enjoying the guitar tones as there are a number of tone you haven't heard well represented since the seventies and eighties.  I find a large number of metal guitar tone sounding the same and this seems like they took efforts to get older tone going, sort of like guitar archaeologists.

The record is good if a bit jumpy, which i guess is consistent with the rest of The Darkness records.  You hear some stuff like Keep me hangin on and with a woman that seem less influenced by hard rock and an more Brit rock which is new.  I find myself gravitating to the harder tracks.

Every Inch of you sort of fits its video, sort of strut and strip.  I don't know this is not my favorite on the record.  It does keep the rock sound going which is good.

Nothin's Gonna Stop Us is the first single so I guess its the one people will know.  I like the Hawk the slayer quote and video, feels nice and dungeons and dragonsly lame.  It's funny how lyrically American this one comes off.

Living Each day blind is sort of a nice lets get out of here song.  It's almost a bit of a ballad but not quit.  Good song one of the ones I find myself listening to again and again.

Everybody have a good time is funny as it starts with a riff almost reminiscent of Heaven and Hell and goes out like Nazareth's Holiday.  I like the song its fun and again you almost get an idea if the dungeons and dragons is your idea of having a good time that The Darkness have the books set up at the kitchen table for you.

Street Spirit is a rocker.  This along with the Stone Gods record show that The Darkness could flirt more with metal.  It has great punctuating metal shouts.  Great for a radio song to be turned so aggressive.

All and all a good record.  It is less slick and manicured their their previous outing, but good.  There are a lot of riffs and tones that hint at older rock and glam metal acts.  Everybody have a good time has hints of Sweet.  There are bits of LA Glam metal here and there in the riffs. 

Record review: Nick Drake, Pink Moon

Pink Moon is a record I have really avoided reviewing for some time.  Its a tough nut to crack!  This is going to be a record that just isn't for everyone and only is right for the chosen few at certain times.  The album just bleeds sadness, it's hurt down through the bones.  Really this in a lot of ways is how the indie or alternative gets its start.  It is the prototype for something like Ian Curtis and Joy Division. 

I mean that in that it forges the path of a serious yet sensitive musical expression that rejects the mainstream.  If you take Metal which I am a fan of while not mainstream it is not always serious and very seldom sensitive.  It would take grunge to find any introversion in metal.  Drakes music, especially here, works for that disenfranchised soul who does not embrace machismo as his outward face.

From the start this outsider voice begins, in Pink Moon.  It's a warning that times will change and realign.  The name Pink Moon I am not sure about it is the name used for the April Full Moon in the Farmers Almanac but I am not sure if this is a US or UK term.  It is hard to get a solid feel as lyrically it is a short piece.  When you get into songs like place to be and road you almost get this feeling that Drake feels rejected from the music business as a whole.  Perhaps even life, yes we know what happens to Drake soon after this record.  You feel rejected yourself when listening.

Parasite and Things behind the sun wow seem very heart broken indeed.  They are hard to decipher with their sing song rhyming and imagery that hides obscure but yearning to be cracked.

Harvest Breed is like a short breath before the long fall of From the morning.  Harvest almost asks if you understand are in and then From the Morning offers the cup of Koolaid to join.

Music Review: BareNaked Ladies, Gordon

It seems odd talking about a band that became so big and has faded from view and focusing on a record that occurred before all of that.  I would like to take a look at the Bare Naked Ladies Gordon for awhile now.   This is their first record and occurs well before their hits phase.  I think the best know track is going to be "If I had a 1,000,000 dollars."  But lets take this record and run with it for a bit.

The album was released in 1992, the early nineties were a weird time.  It seems like change was in the air but besides grunge no one knew what this change meant. This record feels like that, its so weird being heartfelt and goofy often in the same song.  I think that is perhaps the best deception for the record as a whole, Canadianly Goofy.  That's not an insult its more saying it seems weird to us in the U.S. but may feel normal in the Great White North.

Hello City and Enid are very much what i am getting at here.  They are silly but animates.  They don't really rock but they have a good vibe to them like they polka and roll rather than rocking.  When you get into Stuff like Grade 9 and Yoko Ono the band has gone full on dork this is goofy fun stuff.  Rush bits are hidden in the music and It feels like they have gone from serious but fun into comedy.

Then you have songs like Wrap your arms around me, what a good boy and the flag that have no hint of comedy or irony.  These are just great songs.  Sometimes beautiful actually. But then there are Bedside Manor, box set and New Kid on the block.  These are as silly as you can get. 

So you are left with a mixed bag.  This is basically a fun light hearted offering with much bounding into full blown comedy.  But there are a couple of serious song.  These are not you later day hit makers they had no shame and a ready to have some fun.  Expect something much more playful than you have seen in other records. 

Top 5 Sax Songs from the 80's

I have seen several of these top five lists that talk about Saxophone in 80's music.  So far all of them are just plain wrong.  I know most people have this idea that music is subjective but actually no, my taste is just far better than yours.   So in order to help here are the actual best 80's Sax songs.

5. Save it for Later by the English Beat.  Tu Tone ska was all the rage in the early part of the decade.   I think this is supposed to be  the Cavern club or something, seems my sort of place I am the annoyed book reading loner only morbidly obese.  I think the skeleton ad the end is making a cameo as it originally appeared in the Roger Palmer Looking for clues video.







4.   This one is pretty good another fun video.  Everyone else includes who can it be now.  but not me I'm original (yeah this post is real original) I am mentioning their other song.

3. Rick Springfield Human touch now we are fucking talking bady!  A mutant alien playing the sax in a video break down inside a video.   I can not wait for Arcade fire to rip off this song, its a face melter.

2. Kantner Balin Someone with C as their last name KBC Bank.  Song for America.  Sax and America that is pretty much 80's in a nutshell.  Its from hippies so its not totally America Fuck yeah but its cool.

1. Two Suns in the Sunset by Pink Floyd.  Now a bunch of people out there think the Final Cut sucks or don't even know of its existence.  But those people are wrong dead wrong.  No joke this is a bad ass record that take The Wall to a middle aged persons doubts and fears.  The Sax is a beautiful rise that comes in at the end of the song.

Some easy steps into the land of progressive rock

With dungeons and dragons online down last night, I was listening to a few progressive rock bands over youtube.  I know this sort of music is not for everyone but I wanted to extend an olive branch to folks you may be interested in giving it a try.   Really there isn't much more underground music than prog, anyone who listens to alternative and Indie rock basically you are mainly listening to top forty pop.  Music is pretty fragmented these days but the stuff is the most generic you can find.

Prog is weird and it intents to be.  You will often be challenged hearing stuff you haven't.  Be that instruments, rhythm or song structure.  Its just meant to be goofy and over the top.  I don't want to dismiss all modern progressive rock out of hand but much of it is trying to sound like styles within the style of 70's era progressive rock.  There are bands like Porcupine Tree and Opeth that do their own thing progressively but there are many that sound like copies of the older bands.

I really recommend you go back to the source for this, its the cleanest at the original.  I am always going to recommend Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd and Gabriel era Genesis.  But I recently heard wind and the wuthering, that isn't that bad, its not a rocker but its alright.  Blood on the Rooftops is nice.    I think that is worth a listen as its still in the progressive era of Genesis.  But stuff like Watcher of the Skies and The lamb lies down are probably the first you should give a listen.

Yes you are not going to go wrong with I recommend the Close to the Edge record first.  But Even the very early stuff is fantastic.  I do like the going for the one record.  You can try the Trevor Rabin stuff if you are into 80's pop.  The songs are not terrible for what they are, they just are not really progressive like the longer format stuff they did in the 70's

For Pink floyd I want to get Meddle.  Not Dark Side, Not the Wall, Meddle.  This is a great start that is nothing like what you have heard on the radio.  This is quiet and folky but prog.  It doesn't have the weight of the music machine behind it either.  This is a band able to do what they want and forging something new.  There is a large amount of what is to come hidden there to find for the careful listener.

Just get Rush's 2112, it will give you some progressive rock cache and its a hell of a record.  This is a rocker it's not hard to like.   The music is great and it flies its flag high in hand.  You will need to listen to what is being said here as its a strangely conservative message for a rock record.  I sort of image Ron Paul has a copy of this record hidden away somewhere.

You next steps will be Saga, Gentle Giant and Camel.  Avoid the Krautrock stuff for now.  It's great but too much of that too early on and you may end up an evil scientist.

Record Review Bruce Springsteen Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.

I first picked up Greetings from Ashbury Park, N.J. on tape some years ago, wondering just what the hell was being said in Blinded by the light.  Well on that front this is little use as Manferd Mann seem to have completely reordered and worded the song.  But in giving the record a listen it is actually quit good.  There is a lot that isn't what you would expect having heard Springsteen on radio all your life. 

Blinded by the light is a completely different song with Bruce doing it.  It's actually good!  Taking in the lyrics I have little idea what its about other than thinking its full of personal jokes and is secretly filthy.  Its also a good upbeat rock and roll song that doesn't have any hint of what it would become in other hands.

Growing up is pretty standard fare for the time time.  Its post the hippy shit rock and feels of the seventies.  Rebellious and semi fast paced its OK.  I like that you get a more Macho feel of rebellion coming out at this time.  There is something about the music a few years before that is manipulative and slimy.  Springsteen seem upfront about his misdeeds and intentions.

Mary Queen of Arkansas feels weird and a little wrong.  Its an OK song but it comes off a little ill fitting.  Its like the jersey boy is out of his depth a touch.  The guys from the band would probably been able to better realise this song.  Its just a little too chrome where it should be wood.

Does this bus stop at 82nd street is my favorite song on the record.  Its just happy to the point of being joyous.  It's a city songs that feels really connected to who Springsteen is.  Its like he is just flowing out stuff that makes him happy.  It's uptempo and happy but takes a turn at the end that flows into Lost in the flood a decidedly down song.  Its full of suburban melancholy and the night time freedom of youth.  The ending is almost like a movie massacre that blurs into even brightening light.

For you is another good rock and roll song. Sort of a fretting rush of a song that builds over its course finally in a panic at the end.  I think a lot of people may think of this as a Greg Kihn song but its actually originally from this record.

Spirit in the Night is almost Doo-Wopy.  Again nigh time tales of youth on the outskirts of town is the subject.  Its a picture song you are almost left sad knowing so little of what happens after the picture ends.

I am not such a fan of Saint in the City and The Angel.  The later is sort of out of place and not Springsteens strongest work on the record.  The former is OK i don't know it's just not my cup o' tea.

All in all a good record that is probably better than the 80's stuff that bores me these days.

Rush vs Wallflowers Deathmatch

I am not sure anyone but me hears this but I want to talk Rush.  OK here is Marcel Conte playing Rush.  You know the best band out of Canada, kicking ass since day one.  Here is a part of the song called "The Necromancer".  The specific name is " The Return of the Prince."  If you don't know this is from Rush's Caress of Steel which is better than 99.99 percent of records and it is a shame on your house if you don't own it.  I could go on but basically Rush rules and kicks all sorts of butt.  You need to buy their records and you will be happier than you are now.

Now that I have cleared that all up lets bring in the competition.  Back in the 90's Jason Dylan and the Wallflowers were heating up the radio waves with their particular blend of I don't know what.  I wasn't really a fan, of anything, at the time but I became aware their song The Three Marlena's.  For me it was like hey what the fuck this is Rush but in like a bad way.  I hear the music as the underlying guitar riff of "The Return of the Prince" being appropriated.  Here have a listen for yourself.  You can tell me if I am wrong.  JamesLRickel@gmail.com is my email address or you can use comments to tell me I am wrong.

I like Marcel's version of the song as you get a bit of the acoustic guitar playing the riff in question on its own.  I don't really know how to pull out just a part of a song so this is the best I can do.  Now if only The Wallflowers don't come and try and kick my ass I will be doing pretty good.  Anyway that is my though for the day.  Hope you have a good holiday America.

The Grand Designs of Rush

Rush is one of my favorite bands that should be pretty plain to see from the titles of so many of my posts.  I have been pretty vocal of my love for progressive rock and metal.  The common ground between the two genres is somewhere that Rush has made home.  I listened to them so much in my younger days that the music feels a part of me.  Combining this love and my personal INTP deep thinking on often mundane subjects I have developed what I will call My Grand Design of Rush.

Generally it is a concept of how Rush work and evolve their sound over a course of records.  While it is clear that Rush have changed their sound over the years it is not always clear how this happens.  I personally see the movement occurring over four albums that move in an arch.  The arch generally proceeds in an order that builds upon itself.  The first album of the arch posits a sound that includes both the past and holds the seed of what will eventually become.  The next album is experimental unsure of how it is to arrive at its destination.  Personally I love the experimental records Rush have done, but these are often weak on sales.  The third record represents the sound perfected, and is often the best seller of the arch.  Finally that sound is usually repeated on the fourth album of the arch.

I am sure you are saying well wait, there are more Rush records than fall neatly into this idea of four record arcs.  Well you are correct There are three studio records that I leave out for various reasons.  They are Rush, Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows.  I will explain my reasons as I walk through this arch concept.

The first of these arcs can be thought of as early Rush.  This would start naturally with Rush but I don't like to include this as John Rutsey is the drummer at this point.  While it is safe to say the first Rush record is a statement of Rush's sound to come, I feel the change to Neil on drums basically resets the sound.  Fly By Night isn't so much of a sophomore effort as it is a new start.  Because of this I think of Fly By Night as the first record in the early Rush block.  In the record you hear the sound the band will be going to in songs like Bytor but you also hear some of the individual members past influences.  With Caress of Steel you have the first of the very experimental records.  It is also of note that there was a decrease in sales with this record.  Next we hit the point that the early Rush sound is perfected, 2112!  This is regarded as a classic record and the band become multi platinum artists with this record.  This perfected sound remains more or less intact with the fourth part of the arch A Farewell to Kings.

Moving into the second arch which one could think of as the popular Rush block you see the sound changing.  It would be easy to say Hemispheres belongs with A Farewell to Kings as it does include the conclusion of the Cygnus piece.  But this record beings a tonal change that would characterize Rush in this Popular block.  You start to hear real use of the Keyboard and the guitar sound brightens a bit.  By the time you Get to Permanent Waves the tonal change is marked.  The sound has brightened and we are seeing more songs which stand on their own.  This would be the more experimental record in my theory one note it that sales were actually quite strong for the record.  That would be compared to past performance but nothing in comparison to Moving Pictures.  We all know this was a great record, instant classic and a multi platinum seller.  You don't do tours that feature a band performing a shitty record in its entirety.  Following it up was Signals which retains a similar sound though seems to also explore other ground.

Signals exploration is interesting to note.  In many respects the record fits well in with my fourth repeated part of the arch.  In may others it could serve as the first for a new arch.  It's sort of both as I consider the next two records the aborted arch.  Grace under Pressure and Power Windows while decent sellers really represent something that does not find full expression.  Sonically they feel a bit like orphans of the time.  They are almost so in line with early 80's sound that they don't gain the timeless Rush-ness other records have.  I think in some respect this was a result of the times.  The austere computer driven future stopped feeling scary and with communism faltering thoughts of mutually assured destruction were lesson the mind.

Picking up on Hold Your Fire we have something that again posits the sound that Rush is going for.  It also includes a bit of the abandoned arch sonically and structurally.  The difference is an infusion of a more organic sound.  Guitars get a touch jangley which we hear in full force on Presto.  The songs are a little more intra personal in this block.   Roll the bones is the perfection of the sound here, you will see it is also a record that wins back the Platinum status in the US market.  Our repeat of the prefected sound album is the much maligned Counterparts.  Please keep in mind that I am not saying these are prefect records I am just saying the seem to have achieved a sonic voice and presented it in the best possible form.

Our Final Arch I guess I would call the Jam block.  Here we have Test for echoes representing the previous arch combined with a bit of driven harder jam music.  This is probably best heard in well Driven.  Our experimental record in this block is going to be Vapor trails.  It takes the jam sound further and plays with it a bit.  Snakes and Arrows seems to be the perfection of this version of Rush's voice.  I have to admit I have not hear enough of Clockwork Angel to say it fits in the repeat of the perfected sound slot.  It sounds similar to Snakes and Arrows but has some other stuff going as well. 

Well there it is.  Crazy and over thought out but finally committed to paper and boldly posted for ridicule.

Hair Metal I've Done You Wrong

As a bit of a follow up to my post to my post commenting on Metal an Evolution I want to talk about Hair Metal.  As some of you have guessed my own metal roots are in NWOBHM, Bay Area Thrash and Prog Metal.  In the 80's I wasn't a fan of glam / Hair Metal but at least it was rock.  I think the LA Bands were really not given fair treatment and should not be revived as they currently are.  I really think this music is due for a come back and I would be excited to see a modern take on the genre.

Looking back there are only a few genres of music that have had as strong a backlash as Hair Metal.  At least to the extend that groups or individuals take credit and delight killing off a particular genre.  In recent memory the three that have garnered this level of hate are Prog, Disco and Hair Metal.  Looking at Prog the punk bands and music luminaries like that piece of shit Ed Bicknell delight in the fall of Yes and ELP.  That's said these bands were able to stage something of a resurgence in the early 80's and have a way of maintaining life long fans that just don't seem to care what people say.  Disco hand an obvious end, that really never seemed to be an end.  Dance music just changed and has always remained popular.  House and techno seem very much like different sounds of the same idea.  For Glam this has not been the case.

For the Glam seen the eighties seem to have been the end.  Yes there are some nostalgia concerts but generally these guys are not getting work.  There are a few individuals that have turned to different styles such as country or a few individuals who have found their way into Nu and traditional metal bands.  Shannon Larkin, Dave King and James Lomenzo come to mind here.

Personally I don't hate Glam, it wasn't my favorite music but it was better than a lot of other stuff on the radio at the time.  Compared to something like UB40 or Level 42, glam was favorable for me. It was rock and had guitars with a few nice solos.  Some of you know I hate Metallica and have since I first heard them.  Even though I love Testament which is often compared to Metallica, i just don't dig em.  I like Def Leppard way more than "Tallica".  So I really don't understand the lasting hate that glam has engendered.

One aspect that all of the genres I have mentioned have in common is a look strongly rooted in the time period they came out.  Prog was very spacey with tassels and jumpsuits.  Disco had its look and Glam certainly had a specific style.  I think any new take on the music would have to focus less on the look and just emulate the music to be taken seriously.  Even something like Gun's n Rose, which was Glam or the same as Glam for me, had too much of a look to be taken very seriously today. The punk and thrash aesthetic of wearing your normal day to day clothing would need to be used.  We at least until the genre could gain some footing then it could revel in excess a bit.

I think we in the metal and rock community should rethink the Hair Bands.  I question the presumption that there was nothing of substance there.  I think there was a bit, and in the age where Skrillex is voted in the top 100 guitarists these guys at least could play.  I am pretty sure there are fans that would love to hear this music again and many of them are girls and how many chicks show up to a Rush concert?  I dare you to go out and find a new record by one of these Glam bands and give it a listen.  Europe has something called Bag of Bones out this year and Winger has a record called Karma from 2009.  I personally have heard neither but I will give em a shot.

Record Review: Allan Holdsworth Metal Fatigue

Let me start off by saying Metal Fatigue sounds like the 80's.  It makes me think of playing pitfall! and going for an original new york seltzer.  Some will say it sounds dated to me it sounds like a musical time capsule.  This could be a deal breaker for some, I am just warning you up front.

OK we are dealing with jazz fusion here, this music is a little weird and not every ones cup of tea.  The guitar sound is not in your face shredding, instead its harmonic and tonal.  You have some traditional rocking, but for the most part its not, those sounds you hear are not keyboard but rather synth guitar.

Lets talk about the vocal pieces first.  There are three on the record.  Two are sung by Paul Williams and Mystery is sung by Paul Kourda.  Metal Fatigue is pretty solid, though the name may be a bit tricky there is no metal here.  There are some dissonant off kilter chords but not metal.  The lyrics are a bit grandiose but everything was in the eighties.  Its a solid song that works.  Panic Stations is awesome, great song with a BADASS Jimmy Johnson bass solo!  It's when you get to Mystery that I start to have a problem.  The vocal isn't bad the lyrics are fucking hoaky.  I have written better and I suck.  Its a good song it just is a bit goofy.  That sort of eighties mystery in the briefcase sort of pseudo sci fi stuff. 

I think most fans of Holdsworth are familiar with Devil Take the Hindmost.  Its pretty terrific, sick guitar work and solid composition.  I think Holdsworth has said he doesn't know what he was doing when listening to the original recording. 

I do have a bit of an issue with The Unmerry go round.  The bits of the song are good but they don't flow or fit well.  The beginning is very staccato the middle is passive and tonal.  The end does wrap up some of the themes but not as well as I would have liked.  It's just a little jumpy for me.

Record Review: The Thorn's self titled album

The Thorns was a project that combined the talents of Shaun Mullins, Pete Droge and Matthew Sweet.  They only released this self titled record which is a bit of a shame as they had something there.  The harmony on the record is nothing short of amazing.  It's safe to say they were going for a Crosby, Stills and Nash sound as that is what they have captured here.  Three guys, guitars and some very full vocal harmonies.

For me the record was a bit up and and down.  There are songs I really like and others that left me flat.  It feels like there could have been more writing done that better showcased what they had here.  Most of the music you will find here is folk rock or country rock; again very much like CSN or perhaps CSN & Y.  Really even their album cover looks like it could have been something from CSN's back catalog when they were skinny and had all their hair.  Not sure if that ever was the case for David Crosby.

I can't remember or blue was the first song I heard of the record, I am not sure which.  I remember surfing internet radio stations and landing on this when I had listened through the metal, prog and hair metal stations.  The song was strong enough for me to buy the record.  Both are relationship type songs a bit melancholy and disappointed; Perhaps something like the Low Millions song statue.  Blue Skies is another stand out the strong harmonies they have going her seem to work on these more sad folky songs.  When they get into more up beat or driven songs I am not sure it worked for me.  The songs that come to mind are runaway feeling which was just a little goofy for me and dragonfly which seemed to have two competing ideas.

Generally I feel the album works more than it doesn't and is something worth your time.  If you are more into the folk sound or vocal harmonies this should right up your alley.   I think you are going to need to be someone enjoys this more sensitive music to really get the most of it though.   Full on metal heads probably should look for something else.

Music Review of Abra Moore's Everything Changed

Abra Moore's work on Everything Changed is a bit of an oddity.  It has some light almost poppy stuff but the core of the record is searching and introspective.  Much of the music has a dusky country rock sound that is a bit in line with the lighter side of the early seventies movement.  In places it delves into darkness with more hollow less processed sound.  Family Affair almost reminds me of Drake's Pink Moon in its starkness of instrumentation. 

As I have said the record starts out lighter and more traditionally produced with tracks like I do an Big Sky.  These are easy to listen to songs that don't really fell searching or torments.  The more contemplative tracks come with Family Affair, Everything Changed and Paint on Your Wings.  These feel almost Garbrielesq in their wounded honesty.  Apparently they relate to the death of her father, and family dynamics afterward.  They certainly feel like someone revealing an uncomfortable truth. 

The music is strong on the record Its a little sad that Abra has not release further music since the 2007 follow up record.   It's something that is going to be small market but usually anything that turns from populist to honest isn't most people's cup of tea.

Record Review: The Outer Limits by Voivod

Many of you know my love of both progressive rock and metal and of course their combination.  I have mentioned Voivod in the past but I wanted to give a focus to their outer limits record here.  Voivod are sort of the velvet underground of metal, not very well know but with many fans that are musicians.  God even Ryan Adams has expressed being a fan of theirs.  It's really funny as bands like Dream Theater, Queensryche and to a lesser extend Fates Warning all had success with the prog metal sound.  Voivod was always an outsider, though their sound was actually far nearer to traditional prog rock than the others, well at least in the progressive arch of Nothingface, Angel Rat and The outer limits.

Perhaps the biggest difference her was Voivod kept an edge that was often lost in other prog metal bands.  In a word dissonance! Where prog metal often flows naturally into power metal this was never true for Voivod.  They weir raw, weird and something else all together.

The Other limits was the last of Voivod's progressive arch and the last record to feature Snake.  Blacky had left the band prior to this recording, and while I love his bass and miss it here, there is good bass work on the record.  Away and Piggy are here of course adding what no one else could.  Again Away has taken the art duties here, with the inner art being all 3D.  Even my tape came with wee little red and blue glasses so it was pretty fun.  Away has a unique and spooky style, I think the only cover art like his is Skinny Puppy's Too Dark Park.

This record is dissonant but a lot less distorted than their other work.  Some have said its not has metal but I disagree.  I think Angel Rat is not near as hard as The Outer Limits.  In any event these are not the Rockers of Nothingface and Dimension Hatross.  The songs are often long and it wouldn't be Voivod if they were not spacey.

I will not be covering all the songs one the record but i will call out three.  I really love their Pink Floyd covers they really get the feel right.  They took on Astronomy Dominae in Nothingface and here they tackle The Nile Song.  They rock it hard! The song goes from Pink Floyd's airy buzz to an absolute murk.  I always think of a camera going through swamp water when I hear the song the sound is so raw and sludgy.  When piggy's solo cuts through its almost like a golden glowing thread distinct and pure in the murk but there in it too.

Voivod often hits upon this sad and dark french cabaret sound, almost like the Bone Daddy band in The nightmare before Christmas.  They do again in Le Pont Noir they paint a picture here that almost feels like you have walked through the scream and gone to lunch in the city behind. 

Finally there is the one song that I am not so fond of, Moonbeam Rider.  This was a little too pop and goofy for me.  It is just a pretty regular song, not really proggy not really metal.  It almost seems like they are singing about the silver surfer and comic books have never been my thing.  It doesn't ruin the record just not my taste.  I would write about Jack Luminous but I think many people have covered it on the web and I don't know if I really need to.

Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind record review

Piece of Mind is one of those records you know is great but if you don't give it a listen from time to time you forget just how great.  When you come back to it you get this damn that's good, feeling.  It just rocks hard and face melting but in an eerie intelligent sort of way.  for me this has always been Maidens high water mark.  This is such a solid record but it also has an contemplative nature.  You can hear the band looking for the next sound. 

While the record is perfect from track one to end, its Revelations that has always floored me.  Its very mystical and Dungeons and Dragonsey.  You don't get this English fantasy feel until you hit Bruce's Chemical Wedding. 

Everyone knows the trooper rocks and its hard as anything.  But, its also inspired by The charge of the light brigade. It's this kid of stuff that made me get into the writing and reading business.  Rush and Maiden both doing songs about Coleridge's poem's made me say OK I'll check this guy out.  Metal saved my life!

Another personal favorite is Still life.  Its dark and powerful and overlooked.  I love this song.  There is a bit Nico does with the drums that is just great.  I never get excited by drums he has me up in my seat cheering at this bit.

Most of the remaining songs on the record are rockers but similarly on dreamy subjects.  The flight of Icarus is mythological.  Die with your boots on take prophecy into hand and Where eagles dare is based off the movie. 

Finishing off the record is to tame a land.  Who sings about Dune?  Iron Maiden does!  You are going to be hard pressed to find something nerdier than this, perhaps Blackamoor's Knight playing at a ren faire.  But its a real deal metal song that sounds good. 



All in all its the best.  It even has a great pun title that is always fun in metal.   And I have 6th row seats for their show here in August.

Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway

Lets start this off by saying I am not OK, and I am going through and emotional battle daily.  My recent posts probably make this apparent but if someone reads this without that context they need to know.  Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts of the great highway is how I feel.  Its subtle tones open up wounds and sweet pains with each listening.  Some of the depths I don't want to explore as they resonate in uncomfortable ways.  This is a great record.

It is a record of the road the title promises, dust choked and somber at times.  Often as if riding into a storm while on the plains.  For me it conjures images of old Fords on elementary roads traveling from a farm that is being boarded up. There are deep roots that tap into something past and somehow deeply American.

The is a whimsy in tracks like Glenn Tipton that is also twinned with something black humored.  This song debates the two Judas Priest guitarists while telling of a murder spree, which may have lasted two generations.  Things become dark and weird from there.

Carry Me Ohio i guess you could call the single from the album though it is long and almost indecipherable without lyrics.  Its certainly beautiful.  You can feel anguish and loss burrowed down in every note of the song.  Love and Regret is definitely a theme.

Salvador Sanchez is one of the more straight ahead rockers of the record.  It almost has a Screaming Trees feel to it, I could imagine Mark Lanegan singing.  This song is also repeated as Pancho Villa at the end of the record.  I am OK with songs slowed now and reworked but it seemed odd for both to be on the main record.  Steam and Quiet Steam by Peter Gabriel are two totally different songs but they also appear in different locations.

The other rocker Lily and Parrots reminds me a bit of Smog's cold blooded old times.  It has that set repeating riff that sets the beat for the song.

The rest of the songs are generally folksy and guitar based as you would probably expect.  They are solid and with depth, there is plenty to sink your teeth into here.  There is even some almost genesis proggy bits in the outro of Duk Koo Kim.

Recovering the Satellites

Recovering the satellites shows a more mature whining rasp over The counting Crows freshman work.  It is very similar in tone and approach but the songs come from a different angle.  Here the works are not flowing from a desiring need but rather the outcome of attainment. 

Long December is probably the best example of what I am getting at, the song is almost a sequel to the August and Everything after record.  It still folk and country rock infused but seems to have gone to a different place.  August and everything after almost has a sunset feel with anticipation and excitement.  Satellites is almost a depiction of the night at the carnival.

Previous works seemed to take on a Smiths like wonder in the youthful now.  Here is a future that sees outcomes and longs to get back to itself.  Another horsedreamer is perhaps the strongest track and the most delving into the success.  This doesn't really have any dead songs even mercury and walkaways are great.  Some of the later tracks on august have left me flat.

Millers Angels and Children in Bloom get to the sadness of Anna Begins and Perfect blue buildings.  There are actually some up beat rocky tracks too that the Crows set list needed .

Worlds Apart

Someone in my car asked if this "was the music they play in the background of 80's movies?"  This being Saga's Worlds Apart.  I like it it sounds like prog Lover Boy to my ears.  I wouldn't mind listening to some of there newer works.  I think the songs people know from this record are On the Loose and Wind him up.  If you like those you are going to like the rest of the record it is pretty much in that vein. 

The record isn't the deepest work but what do you expect.  This is early 80's pop prog much like the work that came from Yes and Asia.  Its catchy and keyboardy and a little bit cheesy.  I can forgive it those things.  The 80's were a bombastically hairsprayed time.  The prog bands were the masters of the synth before there was synth pop.  Also they were making a come back after punk main them utterly disdained by all but the geeky of us. 

The guitar is very quick with a lot of Keyboard doubling.  This is something that is not at all metal.  The tones are all very happy and vibrant.  It sort of feels of its age, which is dating, but also comforting.  There was something of the time that seems unconcerned and hopeful of whats ahead.  That is what these record feels for me.




Here is a link for someone who apparently loves Saga and has been through all their records Banophernalia