Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

It’s time now to turn attention to this year and one of the more anticipated releases from a few months back. It had been a very long time since Bruce Dickinson had dropped a solo album and buzz was high for it. Did it deliver?

Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project

Released March 1, 2024 via BMG Records

This marked Bruce’s first solo album since 2005’s excellent Tyranny Of Souls. The planning for this record dates back to at least 2015, when Bruce and Roy Z recorded an early version of a song that wound up on an Iron Maiden album and then repurposed for inclusion here.

Bruce was joined by Roy Z, who produced and also played guitar and bass. Dave Moreno was the drummer and Maestro Mistheria provided keyboards. A few guests dropped by for cameos, including Gus G on a solo for Eternity Has Failed.

The Mandrake Project is a concept record, though the full story is not really available in the songs. A series of graphic novels are being released that detail the story. There isn’t a ton to go on other than someone has learned the secret to raising the dead. There has been speculation that not all songs on the album tie into the story and I personally can’t make much sense of it so I won’t drag the point out further.

Today we have 10 songs with a 58:44 runtime. There are several editions of the album around but the differences revolve around covers and booklets, the music is the same across formats and versions.

Afterglow Of Ragnarok

The album opens with the lead single and thus the song we’re most familiar with. It’s a pretty big track with a fat main riff and the song shifts up its focus a few times throughout. Some contrasting light and dark stuff going on.

It is really nice to hear Bruce sing over a Roy Z riff again, it does stand out in contrast to Bruce’s main gig. This song is good but it is also very all over the place. The lyrical fare is dense and hard to get into without knowing the full story and the song jumps around a bit too much for my liking. It’s one I don’t mind hearing but it’s a bit jumpy for me. Grade: C+

Many Doors To Hell

Up next is a pretty bright and powerful tune. It’s a more standard offering than the prior track and is a signature Roy Z rocker. Here Bruce opines about a vampire who actually wishes to feel what’s it like to be human again. It’s a pretty cool song. Grade: B+

Rain On The Graves

This one kicks off with a pretty sly and playful riff, which accents the premise that someone is meeting the devil in a graveyard. The chorus is more straight-up and powerful so it creates a nice contrast. An awesome song and the standout track of the record. Grade: A

Resurrection Men

It’s now on to a song with a spaghetti western motif to it. The intro riff establishes the unconventional theme, then the song moves into a more typical presentation. It’s a very interesting presentation through the first part of the song, then there is a weird breakdown kind of section that is very jarring on first listen. I was able to get more into it on later listens but it really threw me off at first. Grade: B+

Finger In The Wounds

This one starts up ballad-like but gains a lot of power into the first chorus. Bruce said in an interview with Apple Music that this one is about the stigmata of Christ. There is also a Roy Z “off in la-la land” interlude here which, honestly, fits the song very well. Grade: B

Eternity Has Failed

Now we’re on to a song that was in process a decade ago, then Steve Harris heard it and the song got included on Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls album. That song was called If Eternity Should Fail, so Bruce and Roy Z reworked some lyrics to freshen things up for the song’s intended purpose here.

For me I can’t separate the two entities. It’s tough to listen to this one in the shadow of the Maiden track. I feel like the Maiden song is better sounding and better executed. I don’t think this is awful, but it really does pale knowing what else is out there, this doesn’t have the same feel. Grade: C-

Mistress Of Mercy

This is a pretty standard, fast-paced rocker. Bruce said this one is about music and how it is a mistress, in the sense of a dominatrix. I don’t get it but the song is still pretty fun to hear. Grade: B-

Face In The Mirror

Now we get a ballad and it’s a very somber one about both addicts and the people who judge addicts. I’d say it’s pretty well done, it is very much on rails and the same all the way through and might get a bit dull toward the end, but I can appreciate the song’s concept and overall presentation. Grade: B-

Shadow Of The Gods

This one goes way back to Bruce’s prior solo album Tyranny Of Souls. It was written with intent to use for the Three Tremors project, which originally was to include Rob Halford and Ronnie James Dio alongside Bruce. There were attempts to insert Geoff Tate in place of Dio and the whole story behind it is a mess that is another story for another time. In the end this never got off the ground, so Bruce included the song here.

The song opens as a ballad but kicks into a heavy mother later on. It’s fairly evident where the part Halford was supposed to sing is at. But the song is very good and offers up plenty of worth even without the intended collaborators. Grade: A-

Sonata (Immortal Beloved)

The closing track is a ten minute ballad that I guess they forgot to put on Senjutsu. In seriousness, the song is the oldest track on the album and was something Roy Z put together based on the 1994 film Immortal Beloved, which covers an aspect of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life.

This one is more ballad-like with a fair bit of atmosphere and layering behind it. While the song has been around forever, Bruce winged the lyrics off the cuff. The song is interesting and after I’ve played it several times I find more to like about it then not. Maybe it could use a bit in the way of variety in the arrangement, but it’s still a nice song to hear. Grade: B

The Mandrake Project was a hotly anticipated release after 19 years without a Bruce Dickinson solo album. It charted number one in three countries and top ten in many others. It had a soft US performance, landing at 176 on the Billboard 200 but claiming spots on the Independent Album and Hard Rock Album charts. It did land at number three in the UK, where the album had stiff competition from Rod Stewart as well as Liam Gallagher. It’s too early for any sales or certification info.

This album was a challenge for me in the beginning. It isn’t easy and accessible right off the bat, there are some layers and more dense portions. I mean, I have no real clue what The Chemical Wedding is about and I hail it as a masterpiece, but this one didn’t hit with that kind of immediacy. The album’s reception was also impacted a week later by the Judas Priest album Invincible Shield, which is widely hailed as an instant classic and drew a lot of attention away from this one.

But over time I gave this one more spins and a fair few of my concerns were lifted. I could appreciate more of what was going on and some stuff that put me off at first, like Resurrection Men, I came around on. This album isn’t a masterpiece or a career record but it still offers up plenty to enjoy.

Album Grade: B

In the end I can appreciate what is on offer here. I sort of assume Bruce will work on another solo record someday, though I also believe his main gig will be taking up his time in the foreseeable future. But The Mandrake Project is a serviceable album to end a very long solo layoff.

The Show Doesn’t Always Go On

On By bigbadburchIn live music6 Comments

I was talking with a buddy awhile back about canceled shows. It’s the hidden scourge of attending concerts – you show up to the venue ready to have a good time and someone’s back is out or they have the flu or a new divorce to navigate, and they aren’t playing that night. Usually these things come around in time enough to absorb, but there are times people have found out in front of the venue or even in their seats.

I’ve never personally had the worse scenario happen – I haven’t even traveled some distance only to find last-minute that the show is off. A few friends of mine have been in that predicament before, I recall many years ago texting a good friend to let him know that the band he was driving up to Kansas City to see was buried under snow in Denver. And my friend was just outside of KC, a three hour drive from here, when he found out.

But I have had a few cancellations in various circumstances. I figured I’d run through them today just for something different to do.

Megadeth

The first one is also the most recent one. Megadeth planned a huge tour with Lamb Of God, In Flames and Trivium and included little ol’ Springfield on the original routing. Well, this was early 2020 when the shows were announced, and we all know that COVID hit not long after. The tour was pushed to 2021 and Springfield was dropped entirely.

I wasn’t surprised, the show was being held in our 10,000 seat college arena and I was very skeptical that Megadeth was going to even come close to filling that. And they didn’t – tickets weren’t moving much at all, so they quietly threw our show into the bin when re-routing the tour.

And one person really made out like a bandit over it – me. I excitedly hopped on to buy tickets as soon as I could dig up a pre-sale code and I used the seat map to buy two awesome seats right on the aisle. Only problem was the seat map was oriented weird and I bought seats in the upper most row of the section instead of closest to the stage. I bought the two tickets I intended to buy so I was on the hook for four tickets at $125 a pop. When the show canceled and I got all my money back I felt a lot less stupid, I wasn’t gonna have to try and sell expensive tickets to a show people weren’t lining up to attend.

Oh, and that wasn’t all – I had bought the two closer seats under some kind of package deal involving Lamb Of God. A few months later when they released a new album, that record showed up to my doorstep, signed by the band. I can only assume that was part of the deal I bought as I didn’t order a signed record on my own. Or maybe it was a quiet kind of make-good thing after the tour got postponed and later canned. Either way, thanks.

Deicide

This goes back to 2004 and doesn’t involve a whole show cancellation but rather just one band. The tour package was Superjoint Ritual, the post-Pantera outfit of Phil Anselmo. Deicide were opening the show along with someone else. I wasn’t ever into Superjoint but I was happy for the chance to see Deicide, I do love my old school death metal.

Well, Deicide did what they often did in those years and didn’t show. I got to the front of the venue and there was a sign saying that they canceled. I hadn’t bought a ticket so I turned around and left. Deicide would jettison their troublesome members not long after and go on a run of more stability. This one didn’t really bother me too much, Deicide canceling shows was not out of the blue back then and they were the only reason I was going so it was a free evening for me.

Merle Haggard

This next one goes back to early 2016 and, if you know Merle’s life story at all, you already know the tragic reason for this one.

Merle had booked a tour with Willie Nelson, with Jamey Johnson opening. You talk about a chance to see two legends under one roof, this was it on a silver platter. And Jamey was no slouch either, he was running high around this time.

Well, sadly Merle wouldn’t make it. He came down with pneumonia and wasn’t able to shake it. He canceled his participation on the tour fairly early, and then died on April 6. This was only two days before the show was set to hit my town.

Willie and Jamey went on with their sets, both paying homage to Merle. It was a fantastic show but it’s sad that Merle passed away and couldn’t be a part of it as well. But it’s one cancellation I’d have a hard time complaining about. Totally understandable.

Slayer

These last two are inter-related. At some point in 2004, Slayer announced a tour for later in the year that was to include our humble little village. I had never seen Slayer live so I was very much looking forward to it.

Well, fast forward 20 years, and I’ve never seen Slayer live.

This one was pretty simple – just as the tour started, Tom Araya was having some kind of issues, I think with his throat but I’m not sure. The band postponed the first few shows, of which ours was one. A bit later they announced the rescheduled dates, and our show was not among the new dates. No official word was given but the rumor mill indicated that soft ticket sales were the reason.

I was disappointed by this one but not much I can really do about it. The saddest part of all is that it might have played a role in a gig we never got.

Cradle Of Filth

This final one is not an officially canceled gig. Nothing was ever booked and no tickets were sold. And all of the info I’m about to give is all second-hand information that I can’t confirm, and also it was 20 years ago so my own memory might not be the best on it all.

But the premise was this – Cradle Of Filth were looking to book US shows and somehow got in touch with a booker here. The band’s fee was huge, which is understandable as they were the most successful extreme metal band going back then. But I guess our booker was willing to play ball and everyone exchanged dates. The kink in the hose that killed the show was this – the only available date was the same night as the Slayer gig.

So we didn’t get a Cradle Of Filth show because Slayer were running town the same night. That much is understandable, as the crossover in audiences is pretty big. But, as we’ve just seen above, that Slayer gig wound up canceled. So that’s a possible double bummer, if this story is true.

I really don’t know if CoF were actually close to playing here. It’s possible that there was a low-level inquiry that didn’t pan out and then someone in the scene added a bunch of layers to the story that weren’t really there. Or it’s possible that it is all true – it’s one of life’s dumb series of coincidences that is just strange and stupid enough to happen. I kind of don’t buy it because CoF’s tour routing for the fall of ’04 doesn’t line up with Slayer’s that much but something still could have been brewing.

That about does it for the canceled shows, at least the ones I can recall. I consider myself fortunate – I never had to drive a great distance to find a show canceled at the last minute. But I’m sure many of you who read here have your own canceled gig stories, feel free to share them below. And may any future gigs go on without a hitch.

For questions, comments or concerns, either use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

Uriah Heep – Stealin’

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The WeekLeave a comment

I’m using the gig I saw just a few weeks back for a bit of further inspiration today as I look at one of the standout songs Uriah Heep played that night. Stealin’ comes from Heep’s sixth album Sweet Freedom, which hit way back in 1973. Today’s song was the lead single from the album. The song had a few low chart positions through Europe. The album did score US gold and UK silver certifications and a handful of desirable chart placements.

This was a period of transition for Uriah Heep. While they remained on independent label Bronze for their native UK affairs, the band were now distributed in the US by major Warner Bros. It also saw the band move away from prog elements and implement more conventional hard rock passages, though the guitar and organ nucleus of the band’s sound was still in tact, as it always has been.

The band’s line-up was unchanged from their prior effort. David Byron handled singing duties, Ken Hensley did keyboards and guitar, Gary Thain was the bassist and Lee Kerslake was on drums. Mick Box played lead guitar and is the only surviving member of this line-up, as well as a present-day member of Heep.

Stealin’ opens with a quiet organ while David Byron spins a tale of a guy who started more crap that what he bargained for. He hooked up with the rancher’s daughter and got chased across the land by the vengeful father. He has to run and only has his life left to save. The lyrics reach their point quite nicely with the line “I was stealing when I should have been buying,” which can be taken literally and also figuratively in the case of the girl he could have courted properly instead of seducing.

The story remains open-ended, we never find out if the guy got away from his predicament or if the pursuers caught up to him. But the song does go into a hefty jam to round everything out. It’s definitely more of an FM radio hard rock thing than the prog-minded fare UH offered up earlier in their career but it’s still a nice, groovy jam.

Stealin’ has been a staple of Uriah Heep setlists since its introduction 51 years ago. It has been played 789 times live, according to setlist.fm, and the band have a summer tour coming up with no signs of slowing down. It was a treat when they broke this one out early in the set when I saw them recently on their just-concluded tour with Saxon. I’ve included a clip from another show on the same tour below.

That’s all for today, hopefully everyone is having a fruitful life of buyin’ rather than stealin’. But it did make for one hell of a song.

For questions, comments or concerns either use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

Once again I’m going back to 1984. This time it’s to explore a debut album that would prove massively influential to the coming extreme metal movement.

Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales

Released November 1984 via Enigma and Metal Blade Records (US)

Celtic Frost was formed in Switzerland in 1984, out of the ashes of Hellhammer. That band had been intentionally lo-fi in sound and had generated some nasty reviews from parts of the heavy metal press, to a degree that the negative reputation would follow Celtic Frost through their first few albums.

Celtic Frost was formed by guitarist and vocalist Thomas Gabriel Fischer, credited to the stage name Tom G. Warrior; and bassist Martin Erich Stricker, who went by the stage name Martin Eric Ain. While Tom Warrior would go by his real name and pseudonym interchangeably, Ain used his stage name strictly through the course of his life. Drums for this recording were provided by Stephen Priestly, who would later join the group fully during the ill-fated Cold Lake period.

Morbid Tales was initially released as a six song EP in the European market by Noise Records, who financed and helped produce the recording. In the US two songs were added and the album was licensed to Enigma and Metal Blade Records. I will be covering the US version today. A few reissue versions with bonus tracks and the Emperor’s Return EP are available.

Note that on streaming and on certain reissues, the intro to the first song is a separate track called Human. This was originally part of the first proper song Into The Crypts Of Rays.

Into The Crypts Of Rays

The opener is a straightforward, pummeling thrash tune that sounds suitably primitive but also a fair bit developed. This isn’t the woeful noise of Hellhammer, there is clearly something more here right from the drop. While CF were significantly influential on black metal, there’s also something here as an early template for death metal.

The song is a bio piece on Gilles de Rais, a French baron who was an ally of Joan of Arc. The baron was also implicated in and convicted of murdering 140 people, mainly children. The truth of de Rais’ guilt has been in question since his execution in 1440, but his supposed bloody deeds have been fodder for metal songs for the past few decades. This may have been the first one but I am not able to say that with certainty.

Whatever the case, this song introduces Celtic Frost to the world with a swift kick in the ass. Grade: A+

Visions Of Mortality

This one opens as a mid-paced effort, showing off the true haunting and sinister atmosphere Celtic Frost would conjure up throughout their career. It jumps into a thrash movement at one point and bears early indications that this band would offer up more in the way of song arrangement than simply playing loud riffs. A nice musical setting for a dark tale of someone seeking to become immortal through whatever means necessary. Grade: A

Dethroned Emperor

A very sick and twisted riff for this one, total caveman stuff here as CF run down the tale of a ruler who is removed from his throne by force. Even with the primitive feel, there are bits of arrangement and atmosphere thrown in. Grade: A-

Morbid Tales

This one kind of rocks out a bit in the intro before the song proper offers up a very early slice of what could be called black metal. The morbid tale in question is a battle between sorcerers or demons or something, it’s like a Dungeons and Dragons adventure laid out in lyrics. But yes, the foundation upon which one of the world’s most controversial subgenres was built can be found right here. Grade: A

Procreation (Of The Wicked)

Nothing too complicated here, but this riff is just impossibly savage and also catchy. The tale offered up here is one of how people are basically cruel and evil and there isn’t much to be done about it. There’s also a brief demonic utterance at the end to drive it all home. This song is just impossibly brutal and hypnotic. Grade: S

Return To The Eve

This is a fanciful tale of someone who longs to be in a recurring dream they have but the person is often rudely interrupted by reality, which becomes its own nightmare. A pretty simple tune but there are bits of atmosphere building in here with a spoken word passage and other small embellishments. Grade: B+

Danse Macabre

This goes off the beaten path and conjures up an eerie interlude. It is a creepy, horror movie passage vibe with no true discernible lyrics, just a few phrases echoed out in distorted fashion. The bit is well done but I do think it overstays its welcome at 3:52. But the album isn’t that long anyway so it’s not eating a ton of time either way. Grade: C+

Nocturnal Fear

The album closes with a balls-out thrasher that screams Venom. It’s another twisted tale with demon’s names and stuff like that in it, I don’t know what it’s talking about any more than Tom G. Warrior did when he wrote it. But it’s a total burner of a song. Grade: A

Morbid Tales was not just a debut offering from Celtic Frost, it was an album upon which the future of extreme metal would be based on. No need to offer up chart information here because there isn’t any – CF doesn’t seem to have any chart placements at all until their final album in 2006.

But rest assured this album got around on to the turntables of willing subjects the world over, and within five years there was both a death metal scene and the early strains of the infamous black metal movement were taking shape. Scores of artists from the extreme metal pantheon credit Celtic Frost and this album with being the first early guide into the true depths of sound. This band would join Bathory and Mercyful Fate as the 1984 pioneers of extreme metal, coupled of course with the earlier influence of Venom.

When I ranked the Celtic Frost albums some time ago, I had this slotted in at number three. As my grades here indicate, I am very high on this one so just imagine what I think of the other two above it. There is no doubt that this is an essential piece of heavy metal history.

Album Grade: A

Celtic Frost would have many peaks and valleys over their winding, on and off again career. But this album helped kick off a revolution within heavy metal that has kept generations of headbangers in business.

For an explanation of my grading scale, head here.

For questions, comments or concerns, use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

Saxon and Uriah Heep – Live at the Gillioz Theatre 5/24

On By bigbadburchIn live music13 Comments

Last Friday was the big show, one that I would have never expected to book in my town. But it happened against any expectations and it was quite a night.

The venue was the Gillioz Theatre. This is a historic spot that was originally opened in 1926, then closed in 1980 and re-opened after restoration in 2006. The spot holds roughly 1,000 people. It has been an occasional hotspot for shows and I’ve seen a handful there. It is a seated venue with not a ton of room to stand around in, a point that will come up in a bit.

The show was Saxon and Uriah Heep, two long-running British rock and metal acts who are still going strong after decades. Uriah Heep started in 1970 and have been running since, and Saxon got off the ground in 1975 and released their first album in 1979.

While Saxon was the first act to play, this was a co-headliner tour where each band got equal stage time, roughly an hour and twenty minutes. No openers or anything like that, just long sets for the featured acts and straight to the point. I’m getting to enjoy this kind of show without openers who I forget about before they’re sometimes even off stage. Opening a show like this would be a killer opportunity for an emerging band, though I do also appreciate the extra spare time from not having one.

Saxon were up first and got right into it, they played the intro and then the title track from their newest album Hell, Fire and Damnation, which I conveniently reviewed the other day. In all, five songs from the new disc got into the setlist so Saxon are clearly high on this new material.

Another thing Saxon do a lot of are title tracks – including the new album, a total of seven title tracks got stage time. This ran the string from early Saxon releases like Denim And Leather and Wheels Of Steel, to the more recent Sacrifice and also stuff like Power And The Glory being somewhere inbetween it all.

Saxon celebrating after their set

The band were totally on point all night, these guys are seasoned pros and there wasn’t going to be any let down. It could be said that their intensity was greater than that of the seated crowd, who to be honest were a bit tame. This did seem to capture Biff Byford’s attention as he brought it up more than once and a fair portion of the crowd got up and put in some energy in response. I have nothing bad to say about the venue, but an open standing sort of place would have been a much more appealing venue for this show. Sadly we don’t have much of anything like that in town, at least for a show this size.

Even with the contrast between a heavy metal band on stage and a crowd all stuffed in theater seats, the show went off without a hitch. I was very happy to see Saxon as it was my first time. I don’t know why I hadn’t caught them before, they aren’t exactly shy about touring, but whatever the case I finally got another band off my bucket list.

In a bit of trivia – I have no clue if Saxon had ever played Springfield in the past, this town did get some shows in the ’80’s long before I lived here. But I do know that their most recent member, guitarist Brian Tatler, had played town just seven years prior with his main outfit Diamond Head. There’s a story or more in that show that I will tell in a post sometime down the road.

After Saxon left the stage there was a pretty quick stage turnover to get ready for Uriah Heep. Saxon were actually only occupying the front part of the stage in fairly cramped conditions, as UH already had their gear set up behind Saxon so the changeover was pretty seamless. I’ve noticed that set turnover is a very quick process these days – back in the ’90’s when I started attending shows, the change from one band to next could take an eternity.

Uriah Heep is a band I have been familiar with but haven’t spent a ton of time listening to. They’ve had a few songs in rotation on classic rock radio but I hadn’t played an album of theirs or anything. I did put together a playlist of sets they’d done at shows prior to my stop in order to familiarize myself more with their stuff, another nice convenience of the modern age.

Uriah Heep does have one remaining original member, guitarist Mick Box. In fact, Mick is the only surviving original member so it’s not like anyone else would have the opportunity to join him. Mick was joined by singer Bernie Shaw, who has been with the group since 1986. Bassist Dave Rimmer has been around since 2013, and Drummer Russell Gilbrook has been on board since 2007. Regular keyboardist Phil Lanzon was unable to join Heep for the tour, so the band landed one hell of a special guest in his place – Adam Wakeman, the son of legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, helmed the organ keys for this show.

The Heep are also touring behind a recent album, 2023’s Chaos and Colour. Three songs from that album made the set, as well as one from their 2018 effort Living The Dream. The rest of the set was culled from the band’s classic early 1970’s work. I will say that the newer songs were all really good and have me eager to visit these more recent albums. It’s a tough task to catch up with the group as they have 25 total studio albums.

Uriah Heep in action

The band were in fine form as they delivered their goods. Most of the stuff was performed faithful to the original, while UH took a few liberties here and there. After shouting out Saxon, Shaw made a remark that today’s music is pigeonholed into genres, while when Uriah Heep were starting out music was mostly either good or not. Then UH showed off their own metal chops with a heavy rendition of Free n’ Easy. Russell Gilbrook especially got down hard and heavy on the song, an illustration that sometimes drums are honestly the line between rock and metal.

There were a few treats in store for those, like me, who enjoy extended live jams and departures from the original recordings. UH again struck up a heavier tone on Look At Yourself and also drew the jam out for a pretty long time. They also aired out their long ballad July Morning, a gentle reminder that ten-minute long songs existed long, long before Taylor Swift. We then got the encore, which was capped off with the band’s obvious hit Easy Livin’.

That was all for the show, it was off into the night for us afterward. It was a true honor to finally see Saxon live, a true stalwart of the NWOBHM. And it was a real privilege to see Uriah Heep and I will be working their albums into my rotation as I move along, they are far too good to not listen to. I was surprised that this show got booked here and I’m damn glad it did, my gigs these days are very few and far between and this was a true highlight of my concert going.

Photography by Susan Cummins

For questions, comments or concerns, use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

Saxon – Hell, Fire And Damnation (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week3 Comments

After seeing them live last week, it’s finally time to sit down and go over the 24th album from the long-running legends of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

Saxon – Hell, Fire And Damnation

Released January 19, 2024 via Silver Lining Music

For Saxon it has been business as usual throughout the 2000’s, as they have landed album after album of consistent material. Some might wonder when the group will call it a day, but nothing indicates that day will be anytime soon.

There was one major departure from Saxon’s line-up before recording, but the rest of the band remained as it had for a long time. Biff Byford helms the group from the vocal spot. Doug Scarratt is on guitar, Nibbs Carter on bass and Nigel Glockler is on drums. All have been with the band for a great deal of time, with Byford being an original member, Glockler and Carter on board since the ’80’s, and Scarratt having come on in 1995.

One original member did leave the band – guitarist Paul Quinn retired in 2023 after having been with Saxon since 1975. He did contribute to two songs on this album, keeping a streak of appearances going from the band’s start. Quinn was replaced by Brian Tatler, the long-running bandleader of Diamond Head. Tatler was first brought on to be a touring guitarist but later become a permanent member of Saxon.

This album was produced by Andy Sneap. Sneap has been producing for Saxon since 2011 and has been at the forefront of heavy metal production for quite some time now. It’s been a busy year for Sneap as he’s also a member of Judas Priest, who have lit the metal world on fire with their latest release.

Today’s album has 10 songs at a 42:20 runtime. The first track is an intro so I’ll set it aside and discuss the other 9.

Hell, Fire and Damnation

The title track gets things going after an intro. This is a pretty epic depiction of the eternal struggle between good and evil, Heaven and Hell. The song runs mid-paced and quite heavy to paint the battle in sound. Saxon don’t really pick sides here – rather they illustrate the ongoing war. And there is a bit of something extra in this title track, something Saxon often do. Grade: A

Madame Guillotine

It’s on to a song that pretty well gives away its theme in the title. The topic at hand is the French Revolution and the fate of Marie Antoinette and many others at the hands of the vengeful populace. The song keeps it simple and direct, letting the instrument of beheading take the lead over the instruments in the band. Nicely done song with a sly and funny chorus. Grade: A

Fire And Steel

This one goes quick and hard. It is not just figuratively about “heavy metal,” it is literally about making heavy metal. Well, sort of – steel is not actually classified as a heavy metal in the scientific sense. But steel is heavy so let’s just go with it. Grade: B

There’s Something In Roswell

Over the course of nearly 50 years and 24 albums, Saxon have covered a lot of topics, ranging from the JFK assassination, to an out of service steam train, to an airliner crashing. Now Biff and company take a peek under the blanket of a huge conspiracy, the aliens of Roswell, New Mexico.

We don’t get anything concrete about the truth of Roswell here, but Saxon do believe something is up. It’s set to another nice mid-paced stroll through government secrets. Grade: B+

Kubla Khan And The Merchant Of Venice

This song covers a lot of ground and I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here. Kubla Khan was a poem by Samuel Coleridge set in China’s Yuan Dynasty, which is referenced in the song. The Merchant of Venice was a Shakespeare play with no bearing on the Yuan Dynasty, that I know of. But here are presented the two concepts. It’s a nice, fast song with a bit of an adventure feel to it. Grade: B

Pirates Of The Airwaves

This is a fantastic track that goes back to the history of pirate radio in the 1960’s. That’s all before my time but apparently there were some rogue stations out there that got away from payola and other shady record label practices and simply played the music people wanted to hear. It even mentions a radio station out of St. Louis despite being an England-centric song, or at least I assume the song is referencing that station. Very cool stuff to hear, we’re so far removed from “pirate radio” that many people would have no clue what it was. Grade: A-

1066

Pretty simple concept here – Saxon are returning to the days of their namesake, when the Saxons were defeated by William the Conqueror in 1066. Maybe it makes Saxon the band feel less old to look back on something almost a thousand years ago, I don’t know. Pretty cool song. Grade: B

Witches Of Salem

One more history lesson from this album, the topic is evident in the title. The Salem Witch Trials were a horrific display of inhumanity but has also been fodder for heavy metal and horror stories forever now. Another fine Saxon song that also made the setlist on the current tour. Grade: B+

Super Charger

We wrap the album up with a old-school heavy metal tale of engines, racing and speeding. Pretty standard fare for sure but that’s probably why most people listen to Saxon in the first place, we want the meat and potatoes of metal without all the bells and whistles, and Saxon deliver just that. Grade: B

Hell, Fire And Damnation was another in a long line of Saxon albums that pleased fans and gained notice as the band performs beyond the confines of their age. The album charted at 19 in the UK and landed top 10 positions in Austria, Germany, Scotland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Saxon would tour Europe alongside Uriah Heep, opening for Judas Priest. Saxon and Uriah Heep would then bring the tour to the US, a show I saw this past Friday. A recap of that show is coming Wednesday.

As for this album? It’s another in a very long line of solid and consistent Saxon releases. The band had a run of aiming for commercial airplay through the late ’80’s, then began righting the ship through the ’90’s. Their modern run of consistent ass-kicking might begin with 1999’s Metalhead, or might even go back to an earlier 1990’s album. Whatever the case, Saxon continue to deliver quality music each time they press the record button in the studio.

Album Grade: B+

This was another, uh, solid ball of rock from Saxon that did not disappoint. The band shows zero signs of slowing down, on record or on stage. Nothing is slowing down this beast of Britain as it heads forward into metal immortality.

For an explanation of my grading system, head here.

For questions, comments or concerns, use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

A Quick Site Update

On By bigbadburchIn Uncategorized6 Comments

This post is just a quick update sort of thing for what’s going on and what’s to come in the summer and so on.

I will say this – life has been a bit nuts. It was last year and it’s had its moments so far this year. Nothing is bad or horrible or anything like that – but there are things going on that require attention and time and it detracts from time spent on this site and other stuff. I do think things might calm down by this fall but it’s gonna still be a bit of a bouncy house between now and then.

I haven’t been posting as frequently as I want to, but since this is just my own hobby blog I don’t guess it’s any huge deal. I would rather have a consistent schedule but it’s too tough to commit to right now. I don’t have to pause or quit or anything, but I do need to reel back my ambitions and just post the things I know I can get out with not a ton of time to do it in.

I am going to press forward with doing an album, a song and another kind of post each week. Something else may trickle in a bit later that is actually kind of easy to work on but even that will require a bit more time for me to set up, that might not hit till July or so. But I think I can pull off three posts a week if I limit my scope a bit and just stick to that.

I will be shelving any kind of long review series I’ve had planned and have been working on to some degree. I was going to do a deep dive through the Nevermore albums but I honestly just don’t have time for it. It’s something I can pick up later once time becomes more available. I had massive plans to actually sit and review every Neil Young album – it is something I want to do one day but that shit isn’t happening anytime soon. And I was going to rank every Iron Maiden song – I have bits and pieces of this going but it’s too big of a project right now and I’m going to set it to the side for the year.

Instead I will focus on my usual posts and my continued celebration of 1984. I can keep with that pretty well and offer up stuff on a consistent basis. My reach is often further than my grasp, just as a demon, and my plans are often more lofty than my realistic ability to execute them. Peeling back a bit should keep things on the level and let me get through the next few months.

I do want to thank everyone who drops by and spends a minute reading. I know many of you who comment and engage have your own sites and have had your own challenges with engagement and such the past year or two. I appreciate you all who comment here or discuss stuff from here with me in person, probably wouldn’t be much point in doing this without some level of feedback. I hope to keep seeing you around and I’ll also make more effort to keep up with your own works as well.

I’ll wrap it up here – though tonight I do have a special evening in store. I’ll see Uriah Heep and Saxon in concert. I was shocked earlier this year when the show was announced for my town, the venue is literally two miles away from my house. I’m not massively familiar with Uriah Heep but I’ve been jamming them a lot lately in prep for the show and they are fantastic, I’m looking forward to seeing them. Saxon I am a big fan of and this is a bucket list band that I finally get to see, it’s still crazy to me that they’re playing right down the road. I’ll take that in tonight and give you all a full report next week. Until then, enjoy the weekend (holiday for the US), and see you down the line.

Dio – The Last In Line

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

The celebration of 1984 continues. Today it’s the album that helped cement a bona fide god of heavy metal.

Dio – The Last In Line

Released July 2, 1984 via Warner Bros. Records

Ronnie James Dio went for broke, and went broke, to launch what wound up being his solo venture the year prior. Holy Diver was a critical success and after touring behind it, the band were quickly back in the studio to do a follow-up. The band had a great deal of cohesion and momentum behind them and were able to pull of a quick turnaround for the next year.

Dio, ever present on vocals, was rejoined by the same line-up from the album prior – Vivian Campbell on guitar, Jimmy Bain on bass and Vinny Appice on drums. In addition, Claude Schnell had been brought in on the prior tour for keyboards and was now a full-fledged band member for this album. The record was produced by Ronnie James, just as the first effort had been.

The cover again features the band’s mascot, a devil-like figure named Murray. This time Murray presides over a group of people who are brought back from the dead. Thought maybe not a striking as the Holy Diver cover, this one is still a fine piece of heavy metal art and let the album buyer know they were in for a headbanging good time.

I’ll cover the original album today, which comprises 9 songs at 41:07 in runtime. There are reissues with a wealth of bonus tracks of this album that are certainly worth investigating.

We Rock

The opener gets things going in the most straightforward manner possible – it’s a fast, hard riff brought with lyrics that are literally about going to a Dio concert. It makes a great album opener, though Dio did often use it to close concerts. It can’t get a whole lot better than this to kick off the record. Grade: A+

The Last In Line

The title track is next and it handles a quiet build until exploding into the rest of the song. This one tackles a “final quest” of people who are gripping with the ultimate battle of good versus evil. It could be a sword and sorcery adventure or it could apply to real life, it is a universal thing. And Vivian Campbell gets all day to play a wicked solo. This song is a triumph of the Dio machine and stands head and shoulders above other recorded material. Grade: S

Breathless

This one keeps a nice hard rock pace while exploring the fear of the night and “going for it” regardless of fear. A nice song by any measure though Campbell’s solo does run away as the highlight here. Grade: A-

I Speed At Night

Up next is a total burner of a song. Easy premise – guy likes driving fast at night. Everyone sang like driving like a psychopath in 1984 and everyone does it 40 years later. Anyway, fantastic song that picks up the pace and again, Vivian Campbell goes ham on the solo. Grade: A+

One Night In The City

A great riff opens this tale of two young people who appear to have run off from their typecast lives for the adventure and uncertainty found in the city at night. While the story is a bit mysterious, it is another epic telling of light and dark and two people up against it, as Dio became famous for. Grade: A

Evil Eyes

This track was originally issued as the B-side to the single Holy Diver a year prior, it was then re-recorded for this album session. It’s another high-flying adventure of two people, this time the narrator is the one with “evil eyes,” the deeper meaning of that isn’t revealed. But the adventure soars just fine in this song, it is in and out while making its point in nice fashion. Grade: A

Mystery

While the song’s theme is how things are often mysterious with no ready answers, there is no mystery to the song itself – it’s a bright offering that doesn’t lament the mystery, but rather embraces it. That was the way of Ronnie, ever the dreamer. Grade: A-

Eat Your Heart Out

A nice rocker that looks over someone leaving his woman for being bad. Bad isn’t elaborated on, but this guy is very happy to be free of his prison. This is the least heralded song on the album but that doesn’t damage its own score at all – 99% of albums would be thrilled to have this as its “weakest” track. Grade: B+

Egypt (The Chains Are On)

The closing track heads back to the infamous Bible story of the Hebrews being enslaved in Egypt. Not the only time in 1984 we’d get a song about that, go figure. Dio wasn’t only speaking about the events as told – he was also using the chains as a symbol for the types of chains that entrap people in modern society.

The song builds in epic fashion, telling the story in a way that would likely bear influence on epic and power metal to come, as well as foreshadowing the latter part of Dio’s career. A magnificent way to wrap up the album. Grade: A+

The Last In Line continued the momentum Dio established a year before and built upon it. The album charted at 23 in the US, 4 in the UK and brought 3 other European Top 10 positions. It was also Dio’s first US platinum, hitting the mark a few years before Holy Diver garnered its first plat. It was also certified silver in the UK.

It’s kind of a perpetual argument whether this or Holy Diver is the better album. Both are fantastic and have their moments. I honestly won’t go out on that limb today as it is a very, very close race for me between the two. I will say that it’s very, very easy to grade this one, it’s pretty well written across the song grades.

Grade: A+

This album is a remarkable piece of heavy metal history. It would help push trends in heavy metal that would carry on through the ’80’s and beyond, and it would solidify Dio’s presence as an immortal figure of the metal scene. While the band would not maintain its form for too long after this, there is no doubt the music of these early Dio albums was spectacular and timeless.

For an explanation of my grading scale, head here.

For questions, comments or concerns, use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

The Weirdest Thing

On By bigbadburchIn collecting6 Comments

There are always things to consider about having a physical collection of music – what’s your favorite piece? What’s the most expensive thing you have? What act’s works are complete in your collection? What rare or out of the way pieces do you own that are cool to have? And the most important question that we ask all of the time and plagues our bank accounts – what’s next?

Today I’m not going to ask or answer any of those questions. The one I’m going to work with is this – what is the weirdest thing in my collection?

Being weird isn’t a matter of the music itself – I have a bunch of stuff on my shelves that would be considered weird. Death metal and jazz is a hell of a combo and I’m not sure why I own several examples of it. But that’s not the issue at hand today.

What I’m concerned with is weird, as in format or presentation. I have a few oddball things that do stick out, like a few albums on DVD audio that are in bigger cases, oddly-sized box sets and things of that nature. But none of those really qualify as the most weird thing in my collection.

I considered the question for a moment but then I quickly remembered something I’ve owned for a long time that easily qualifies to answer this question. I proudly present the 2007 album from British doom merchants Paradise Lost, In Requiem.

There’s nothing odd about the album itself – Paradise Lost are a great band and I really enjoyed their material in the 00’s. But if you notice the box in the picture, this presentation is a box set. And it’s a box set of 7-inch vinyl. Yes, this is the full album presented on four small records, as opposed to a standard 12-inch record. And yes, the album is available in that standard format as well.

This box set did come with a few extras – it has the CD version of the album as well as a poster. The CD was important at the time, as we were in the “digital collection” age and it was super cool to get a CD along with vinyl so we could import the album into our collections with ease. Those days are long gone, as streaming has rendered a digital collection unneeded for many.

This edition also comes with a few bonus tracks – the vinyl has a bonus called Missing, while the CD includes that as well as Silent In Heart. These two songs were also available on a few deluxe CD versions of the album but those and this seem to be the only sources of the material. So I guess this can qualify as weird but not necessarily useless.

I honestly can’t say why I even bought this. I don’t specifically recall wanting it. I did used to order from Century Media records on occasion back then and I probably just thought it was a neat thing to have so I put it in with my usual order. It’s possible they also had it on clearance, but again I don’t remember. All I know is I bought it and here it is 17 years later.

And, all else being equal, it will remain in my collection. The box has a tiny premium online, not enough to really bother with unloading – it’s just a hair more “valuable” than its retail price. I would also figure that the box is not a high demand item – there aren’t lines of people queued up to score a 7-inch box set copy of a doom metal album from 2007.

So I will speculate that this oddball box set will remain in my collection until I’m not around to have a collection anymore. The only practical way this gets unseated as the weirdest thing in my collection is if I buy something weirder than it. I don’t go out of my way to find weird music stuff but it is out there, so that is certainly a possibility.

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Feel free to use the comment form below, or head to my contact page.

Hall and Oates – Out Of Touch

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week15 Comments

It’s time to continue the 40th anniversary celebration for 1984. And today I’ll have a look at one of the big pop and dance hits of the year. If there’s anything my site is known for, pop and dance are not it, but there is no denying the song-crafting genius of Hall and Oates.

Out Of Touch hails from the duo’s twelfth album Big Bam Boom, which arrived in October of 1994. The album would hit Billboard top 5 and go double platinum and was carried mainly on the success of today’s single. Out Of Touch would be the duo’s sixth and final number 1 single. It was also their 14th consecutive Top 40 single, they would go on to have 29 total Top 40 placements.

With this song Hall and Oates were exploring new wave and dance territory. The group had worked with many different music styles over their long tenure, and by 1984 they were riding a wave of huge pop hits and were working with the sounds of the day. It was a synthesizer where the track was born, and John Oates came up with the chorus on the synth while not really knowing how to use the instrument and while also enjoying herbal supplements. He intended the song to go to Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics but a producer told him to keep it for Hall and Oates, which he did. Oates and Daryl Hall finished the track and yet another number one hit was born. Oates tells this story in pretty funny fashion during a performance for Ditty TV, I have embedded that video below.

Today’s song is not overly loud or obtrusive by any means but it is still a banger. It does the dreamy synth thing pretty well through the chorus while the verses are honestly standard pop rock. It is, just like the duo’s other hits, insanely catchy and this one hooks in right off the bat. Hall and Oates were able to maintain their precision songwriting while using a host of new music tech. It was exactly the kind of ear-pleasing pop that would turn heads in 1984 and the song has been one of a handful from the group to still hook in listeners many years later.

If the standard version of Out Of Touch is a bit pedestrian for you, well, you’re in luck. There is an extended club mix of the song too, which the music video uses a few parts of. If you like your songs harder and probably also your drugs harder, then the Out Of Touch club mix is just up your alley. I’ll toss that one down below, it’s totally worth a listen.

And speaking of the music video – it’s another total ’80’s offering. The beginning is a funny sequence that sees Hall and Oates trapped in a drum, then steamrolled and pinned on a wall. The video then goes into a more conventional performance bit after that, but the giant drum set does get some more screen time.

Not much more to say about this one – Out Of Touch is a quintessential ’80’s hit and another jewel in the Hall and Oates crown. I doubt anyone made it through the early ’80’s without hearing Hall and Oates and if they did they are much poorer for it.

For questions, comments or concerns, use the comment form below or head to my contact page.