Iron Maiden – The Songs Unplayed Live (Part Two)

On By bigbadburchIn live music7 Comments

Update 5/30/2023 – These posts are being updated to reflect new songs played live as part of The Future Past tour

Yesterday I ran through the first handful of albums of Iron Maiden’s career, and specifically discussed the songs they haven’t played live. The basis of this info comes from this recent Loudwire article. Today I’ll finish the exercise, picking up with the reunion era records.

Brave New World

2 songs unplayed – The Nomad and The Thin Line Between Love And Hate

Maiden did not mess around when Brave New World came out – they toured this album all over the place and made sure everyone heard most of it live. They played a bit over half of it when I saw them on the tour, and all told we’re left with only two unplayed tracks.

Way back when I first started this blog I did a post where I talked a bunch about a lot of my “firsts” with Iron Maiden, that post is here.

I like both of these songs, but I’m not betting on them getting played live in the future. I don’t think there’s any big push for them to get in a set list. Now I do think, of any album the band might choose to play live in its entirety, that Brave New World would be very high in consideration. It was a massive rush when Iron Maiden returned to glory and conquered a new decade, and the album still stands as a reunion era favorite. I don’t really think it will happen, but the possibility is there.

Brave New World was my Album of the Week pick back in June, have a gander at that here.

Dance Of Death

5 songs unplayed

Montsegur

Gates Of Tomorrow

New Frontier

Face In The Sand

Age Of Innocence

We have another list full of songs and, for the most part, a fairly non-shocking collection. I think Montsegur is a cool song but I can understand it not being aired out live. Gates, Frontier and Innocence are all kind of second-tier songs, if not perhaps even lower. I know they have their fans and none of the songs bother me by any means, but man, they ain’t playing any of that.

But then we have the case of Face In The Sand. I will die on this hill – this is Iron Maiden’s most underrated song. It outshines even the excellent Judas Be My Guide, which I discussed yesterday. The quiet intro lifts into this slamming epic that condemns humanity of its own sins. I was shocked that it wasn’t included in the Dance Of Death tour cycle and sadly, it sits unplayed to this day. And it will never be played, I fear, unless I win a huge jackpot and hire Maiden to play my birthday party or something.

We can skip the 2006 A Matter Of Life And Death, as Maiden played the entire album live in its tour cycle. Sadly, no official live album came of it, and I guess the band learned that fan interest only goes so far – plenty of paying customers at shows weren’t all that into it. I think it’s cool they did it, and they still put a major emphasis on a new album when they tour it, but this one kind of bit them in the ass. But that’s not relevant here, so it’s on to 2010.

The Final Frontier

Five songs unplayed

Mother Of Mercy

The Alchemist

Isle Of Avalon

Starblind

The Man Who Would Be King

We have half of an album here, an album that sits very under the radar in terms of Maiden records but gets some quiet accolades for a handful of tracks. And actually, a few of them are here. Isle Of Avalon is a bit of a Maiden departure where they seem to fully embrace some Rush influences and is a very excellent tune, but sadly it didn’t hit the stage. Starblind is another one that’s maybe just behind the album’s two big epics The Talisman and Where The Wild Wind Blows, but is very good in its own right. The others aren’t quite as good, though I’ll cop to personally being one of the apparent very few fans of Mother Of Mercy. I’m very, very alone in that regard. Very low odds of any of these seeing play in the future.

The Book Of Souls

Four songs unplayed – Where The River Runs Deep, Shadows Of The Valley, The Man Of Sorrows and Empire Of The Clouds

These are all pretty logical omissions. I do like Where The River Runs Deep but it’s outshined by other songs. Shadows and Sorrows are very much secondary tracks from the album that a fair few consider to be bloated anyway. And Empire Of The Clouds is 18 freaking minutes long. So, of anything, it’ll probably be the one to get played sometime.

Senjutsu

Seven songs unplayed – songs 4 through 10

Updated list as of 5/30/3023

Lost In A Lost World, Darkest Hour, The Parchment

To date, Iron Maiden have just now been touring after releasing Senjutsu and in fairness the band is completing a long-delayed tour so they put the first 3 songs on the set list and called it good.

The odds that more songs get live time later on are very good. Fan reception was especially solid for the last few tracks and while the album has a fair share of detractors, it seems to have favorable traction among the fanbase at large.

And the odds get even better when Bruce has outlined the group’s desire to play the album in its entirety. Perhaps having learned their lessons from the AMOLAD tour, Bruce said any Senjutsu full airing would be in small venues and for the true die-hards. If that happens, than the album’s entry in this list will be entirely obsolete.

Update May 2023 – The Future Past tour leaves this section nearly useless, I have put up a list of the now three songs unplayed from Senjutsu. Of the three remaining, I hope The Parchment gets stage time someday.

Senjutsu was one of the only times I’ve done a new release album as an Album of the Week and it was in the first month of my blog. In fact, the imminent arrival of the album was one of the reasons I got off my ass and started this blog in the first place. The original post is here.

That does it for the unplayed Iron Maiden live songs. My wishlist would include Alexander The Great, Judas Be My Guide, Face In The Sand and Hell On Earth.

Iron Maiden – The Songs Unplayed Live (Part One)

On By bigbadburchIn live music7 Comments

Notes as of 5/30/2023 – These posts are being updated to reflect newly played songs on the band’s Future Past tour.

Today and tomorrow I’m going to run through an interesting list. A few weeks back, Loudwire published a list of all the songs Iron Maiden have not played live. It’s an interesting look at what songs didn’t quite make the cut for a band who is a prolific touring act and I wanted to run through the list and offer some thoughts.

By my very quick and unofficial count (which may not be entirely accurate), Iron Maiden have a total of 175 studio tracks – 174 on albums and one non-album single that is included here. The various B-sides of singles are not included on this and don’t include a ton of legitimate original songs anyway. The total of unplayed songs live on the list is 51 (46 as of May 2023), so just a hair under a third of their output.

Maiden have aired every track from 2 of their 17 albums – the 1980 debut, which makes sense as they didn’t have a ton of songs then, and the 2006 record A Matter Of Life And Death, which was played in its entirety on tour. All other albums have at least one track that didn’t get time under the stage lights.

I’ll go through the list as it’s presented, album by album. I’ll leave off after the two Blaze albums today and pick up with the reunion era stuff tomorrow. It’ll likely make this post longer than the second one but it seems like a good place to split the proceedings.

The self-titled debut is not in consideration for this effort, so it’s off to 1981 to start the list.

Killers

One song unplayed – Prodigal Son

The only track from the second album not to see the light of day is Prodigal Son. It’s a logical exclusion from live sets, the song is very, very different from anything else the band have done. I do like the song but yeah, they’re never playing that one, no one would know what the hell was going on.

Since we’re talking about these, here is my post from awhile back when Killers was Album of the Week.

Number Of The Beast

Two songs unplayed – Invaders and Gangland

No real surprises here, neither song is considered terribly strong and I doubt too many people pine for a live airing of either. I don’t mind Invaders but it’s nothing to write home about, while Gangland is honestly kind of weak and a song the band even wishes they hadn’t put on the record. I don’t expect either tune to get the time of day on stage.

Piece Of Mind

Two songs unplayed – Quest For Fire and Sun And Steel

Nothing really shocking here, either. I do like Sun And Steel quite a bit but at this point I don’t ever expect it to be played live. Quest For Fire isn’t really anyone’s favorite track, I don’t personally mind it much but I’m sure it will remain on this list for all time.

Powerslave

Three songs unplayed – The Duellists, Flash Of The Blade and Back In The Village

Maiden truly made hay on the Powerslave album cycle and massive tour, but three of the album’s cuts haven’t been played out. The two sword-fighting songs and the the quasi-sequel to The Prisoner have been omitted from set lists. I wouldn’t mind hearing any of them live, especially Back In The Village, but I’m not really banking on it.

Powerslave was Album of the Week not all that long ago, here’s the post.

Somewhere In Time

Two songs unplayed – Deja Vu and Alexander The Great

Only two songs haven’t made the live cut from this well-regarded album. Deja Vu is a fine song but one I kinda doubt will ever see live play.

But we have a whole other story with Alexander The Great. The album’s closer is an awesome, epic track and this is probably the song that most fans would say they want to hear live. I can only speak from the anecdotal stuff I see in the wild but I think this is the holy grail of unplayed live cuts. I can’t speak as to whether or not it’ll ever make the cut but it’s the first one on the list that I hope does.

Update 5/30/23 – Alexander The Great has now been played live, it is a part of the Future Past setlist, as fully expected

Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son

Two songs unplayed – The Prophecy and Only The Good Die Young

I guess no real surprises here, The Prophecy is widely considered the weakest track from this beloved album. I do enjoy Only The Good Die Young but at this point there is little hope of it getting stage time.

No Prayer For The Dying

Three songs unplayed – Fates Warning, Run Silent Run Deep, Mother Russia

Now we’re into the 90’s era, often considered the band’s weakest. This album, which just had its 32nd anniversary on October 1, doesn’t contain the same epic quality of classic Maiden but is still pretty welcoming in its consistency.

And honestly, the three unplayed tracks are some of the better tunes on the record. I always enjoyed Fates Warning, and it’s possible the Run Silent Run Deep would be my number one selection of the album. Mother Russia is a bit different and I can see why they wouldn’t play it live, but it’s a tune I still enjoy. There is no prayer for any of these songs being on a future set list.

Fear Of The Dark

Seven (!) songs unplayed:

Fear Is The Key

Childhood’s End

The Fugitive

Chains Of Misery

The Apparition

Judas Be My Guide

Weekend Warrior

Now that is quite the list. Less than half of this album has gone unplayed in a live setting. A lot of that probably has to do with the turmoil in the band, which would see Bruce Dickinson leave the band just over a year after the album’s release. And only two songs from the album, the title track and Afraid To Shoot Strangers, have been played since the album’s tour cycle.

Looking at the list, I wouldn’t play most of these live either. Honestly there are some of the worst songs the band have recorded on the list. Weekend Warrior is almost celebrated for how bad it is, and The Apparition is never invited to any of my parties. I don’t necessarily mind The Fugitive but it’s not strong enough for a live set. The other songs are goofy thought perhaps inoffensive, I don’t know.

Well, there is one song on this list that is not at all like the others. Judas Be My Guide is an amazing tune, arguably the album’s best and considered by many to be the band’s most underrated song. (My personal pick for that will come up tomorrow, though Judas is an easy number 2). It is a damn shame that the song hasn’t been presented live and, while I don’t expect it, it is a short tune and could be easily accommodated.

The X Factor

Four songs unplayed – Judgment Of Heaven, Look For The Truth, 2 AM, The Unbeliever

We’re now to the Blaze Bayley era of Maiden, while loved by some it was widely considered a disaster for the group, who saw their fortunes sink in the late 1990’s. I have mixed feelings about it which I’ll save for later blog content.

I can’t say I really care if any of these songs were played out or not. Judgment Of Heaven is one I liked, the others kind of sounded a bit samey to me, one of my gripes about this album overall. Bruce has had no problem doing Blaze-era tunes but none of these will likely pass muster.

Virus – single

We now have the curious case of the only non-album, non B-side track Iron Maiden ever did. The song was a new offering for the band’s first greatest hits compilation and then got released as its own single.

And it was never played live, despite being one of the strongest cuts from the Blaze era. The song is different and does throw some people, but I absolutely love it. It, along with a few of the B-sides from The X Factor are honestly the best songs the group did in this time frame.

That said, I doubt Virus ever gets played live by Maiden. It is very much a Blaze Bayley song and I can’t picture Bruce tackling this one. This is one that absolutely should have been played when Blaze was still with the group.

Virtual XI

One song unplayed – Como Estais Amigos

I’ll finish up part one with the second and final Blaze album. Easy enough – only one song wasn’t played and it’s never getting played. Hell, I don’t even mind the song, but yeah, it won’t see stage time.

That wraps up part one of the songs Iron Maiden haven’t played live. I’ll be back tomorrow with part two and the tunes unplayed from the reunion era.

Album Of The Week – October 3, 2022

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week4 Comments

I’m back to my normal posting schedule and I’m back to the album of the week with a no-doubter and an all-timer. It is the album that truly sucked me into heavy metal. It is one of my favorite albums of all-time, it is often considered the band’s magnum opus and it is hailed as one of the best offerings of the thrash genre. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest pieces of recorded music in history.

Megadeth – Rust In Peace

Released September 24, 1990 via Capitol Records

My Favorite Tracks – Tornado Of Souls, Rust In Peace … Polaris, Hangar 18

Megadeth made waves on the up and coming thrash scene through the 1980’s. Dave Mustaine formed the band after being dismissed from Metallica and, well, all that’s had volumes written about it so on to the album.

Rust In Peace marked the dawn of Megadeth’s most stable line-up – Dave Mustaine on guitars and vocals, Marty Friedman made his Megadeth debut on lead guitar, then-trusty sidekick Dave Ellefson remained on bass and Nick Menza made his recording debut after joining the band a year prior.

All credit to Ellefson and Menza for holding down the backline with precision, but this album is known for one thing and it’s guitars. What Friedman and Mustaine got up to here is a master class in guitar performance. Even in the guitar-centric realm of thrash, this is unparalleled stuff.

There is one note to make before anyone goes running to Spotify to listen to this masterpiece – the album was remastered in 2004 and Mustaine made the curious choice to re-record some vocal tracks. The result was pretty awful and the 2004 remaster lives in infamy among Megadeth fans. The original version of this album is the one to seek out.

There are nine tracks with a time of 40 minutes to get to and there’s a fair bit to discuss, so off to it.

Holy Wars/The Punishment Due

Two singles were released and they are conveniently located as the first two tracks of the album. This dual-titled beast begins with some all-out thrash and sets the tone for the record to come. The topic here is conflict, the song was inspired by Mustaine seeing bootleg Megadeth merch that supported the IRA.

The song slows down for The Punishment Due, an interlude that was apparently inspired by The Punisher of Marvel comics. The song winds back up into a frenzy, featuring a great many guitars, before concluding.

Hangar 18

Here the band offer a massive thrash tune about the alien crash landing theories surrounding Hangar 18 in Ohio and Area 51 in Nevada. A few brief verses roll off, followed by the very brief chorus and then – guitars. A whole hell of a lot of guitars as Mustaine and Friedman go off with something like 11 solos in the space of a few minutes. Even on an album full of guitar heroics, Hangar 18 stands out for them.

The song became iconic for the band and was a central focus of the imagery surrounding the record. Megadeth would go skydiving near Area 51 for an episode of Headbanger’s Ball on MTV and a sequel to the song would surface in 2001.

Take No Prisoners

This cut discusses the horrors of war by way of accounting its brutality. It is yet another fantastic slab of thrash. It was also the central focus of re-recording on the 2004 remaster and in my opinion it was totally botched.

Five Magics

Here Megadeth play Dungeons and Dragons on a tale of a wizard’s adventure to obtain the necessary magic to defeat a monster. While the song’s protagonist practices magic, Megadeth’s weapon of choice is – you probably guessed it – the guitar. Friedman uses the song’s first several minutes to just play solo after solo. Whatever monster that wizard is facing has no idea what’s coming for him.

Poison Was The Cure

A song about Mustaine’s long struggles with heroin. Ellefson’s bass opens the brief tune and then the band slams through the proceedings in a bit of groovy fashion. While still certainly thrash, there’s a good bit of rock and roll feel here.

Lucretia

Here we have a song composed about a ghost that Mustaine thought was in his attic. It’s a fittingly creepy tune that still keeps the thrash and guitar attack going full steam ahead.

Tornado Of Souls

Exiting the realms of war and fantasy for a moment, this song is simply about ending a relationship and getting back into the world with a winning attitude. It’s also, in my estimation, the ultimate expression of everything that works about this album. It’s a fantastic composition, with the guitars, lyrics and everything coming together to kick the ass of anyone listening.

Tornado Of Souls has become one of Megadeth’s most popular cuts, having been played live extensively and often hailed as one of their best overall tracks.

Dawn Patrol

This very creepy, short song has Mustaine snarl through an Ellefson bass line to illustrate people living underground after an environmental disaster, such as the nuclear holocaust about to come in the next song. In a way it’s more of an interlude or intro piece, but it took on its own life as a curiosity from the album.

Rust In Peace … Polaris

The album closes with the title track and the song is inevitably about the subject the title confers – nuclear war. The lyrics are sung from what seems to be the perspective of a mad tyrant unleashing nuclear hell but the perspective is apparently that of the missile itself.

This track doesn’t feature any guitar solos in an effort to let the song communicate its own excellence. Still plenty of nice and nasty riffs to be had and the lyrics basking in the world-ending nuclear conflict make their points well.

Rust In Peace was hailed upon release as one of the finest moments in thrash metal. Megadeth would see their profile raise considerably during the album’s cycle. The album went platinum in the US and its legacy as a masterpiece has been cemented over the ensuing decades. People love making lists of “best of” thrash and metal, and people love putting Rust In Peace on those lists.

For me this was the album that truly hooked me on the heavier side of metal. I was already into Iron Maiden and I’d heard other thrash albums before, but this one just grabbed me and took my soul. From then on it was a race to find the heaviest stuff out there, and in many respects that race is still going 32 years later.

While Megadeth would go on with a lot of ups and downs over the years since 1990, there is no denying the place Rust In Peace holds in the band’s legacy. A whole new generation of musicians influenced by the album would revive thrash in the 2000’s and bring new life to the genre thought dead. It is a legacy secure in the riffs and plentiful solos.

A Look At Some Recent Videos

On By bigbadburchIn Uncategorized5 Comments

This is the first of two posts I’ll do this week. As I said last Friday, I’m just gonna go over some songs so I can get ahead on my writing and be ready to get back in full swing in October. Today I’m gonna have a look at a handful of videos that have hit more recently. This isn’t my usual “upcoming releases” sort of thing, this is more just looking at stuff that hit the YouTube radar. On Friday I’ll have a go at some older videos I’ve been wanting to write about for awhile now.

Iron Maiden – Stratego Live

This one grabbed my interest right away, being Maiden and all. They filmed a video for one of the Senjutsu songs they’ve been playing live lately. Maiden were just in the general area a few weeks ago but I was unable to go due to way too much other stuff going on.

Stratego is an interesting choice for me as it’s not a song I necessarily took to a lot when Senjutsu first came out. I thought it was buried a bit under itself, though the Spotify pre-release version was murkier than the album cut. But hearing it live, the song does shine out in the open. There have been some curious production choices in reunion-era Maiden and, while Senjutsu as a whole came out fine, there was some stuff buried on a handful of tracks.

The band have made it no secret that they wish to play the entire album live in select, smaller venues, knowing that the wider audience probably wouldn’t be into it. Should it come to pass I might venture out for it.

Also, a note since we’re talking about them – in a week or two I’ll have a post (maybe two) talking about all of the songs Iron Maiden have not played live, as relayed by a recent article. Obviously the discussion will not include Stratego.

Courting – Loaded

This is an interesting bit that I just ran into when I was checking out one site or another (it was NME, apparently). This British group has been around since 2018 but just released their debut album Guitar Music last week. It’s been generating a bit of buzz so I thought I’d give the song a go.

Man is this weird. On one hand I like it, it’s very noisy and I’m cool with that. But on the other, wow there is a lot of stuff going on here and it might be missing me a bit. The genre tags being thrown around include post-punk and hyperpop, meaning I don’t know what the hell this is. It’s like Britrock on LSD and steroids, I guess.

I’m not sure if I’m sharing this because I want to say “hey, check this out” or if I’m saying “if I had to hear it, so do you.” I’ll give the album a spin later on and see what I think of them. This did at least catch my attention, no doubt about that.

Liam Gallagher and Foo Fighters – Rock N’ Roll Star and Live Forever

I wanted to talk about this for a minute, this being the first tribute concert for Taylor Hawkins held early September in London. A lot of wonderful performances came from the event and there’s honestly almost too much to talk about. In order to keep it concise I decided to hone in on the opening two songs, featuring the one and only Liam Gallagher fronting as the Foo Fighters run through two Oasis classics. Rock N’ Roll Star, often an Oasis opener and usually Liam’s opening song, fittingly opens this tribute show as well. It could be said that the Foo’s performance is a bit clean compared to the usual snarl of the Oasis version, but it’s nothing to fuss over and is a fine rendition.

Live Forever was an almost mandatory cut, it being the perfect song to honor Taylor. I’m sure Taylor would be honored, having been a huge Oasis and Liam fan. And the remaining Fighters all seem pretty psyched to be sharing a stage with Liam.

The show would go on to produce some heartfelt and also insane moments, not the least of which was Wolfgang Van Halen breaking his usual rule and playing his father’s music. Another show is slated to take place tonight, September 27, in Los Angeles.

Lorna Shore – Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames

I’ll wrap this post up with another single from one of the most hotly anticipated extreme metal releases of the year, due out now in just a few weeks’ time. Lorna Shore conquered the Internet, and therefore the world, with their song To The Hellfire last year, and now it’s almost time to see if their new full-length can maintain the buzz of last year’s EP.

So far with the singles released, it appears Lorna Shore are happy to expand their lexicon rather than try to capture lightning in a bottle again with To The Hellfire Part II. A wise choice too, as that almost never works out. Pain Remains seems to offer an expanded pallet and a strong focus on composition and arrangement, moving out of the typical confines of “deathcore” and incorporating many other elements.

This song is clearly the first part of a trilogy and, given the song’s abrupt cut-off at the end, seems to indicate that it’s one long song with three movements. Given the loss illustrated in the video, I’d wager the other two parts are going to get pretty damn heavy.

That’s about all for today’s post. I’ll run through some other videos on Friday, again they’ll be older ones I just want to talk about. Next week I’ll be back at my usual posting frequency. See you all later.

A Quick Programming Note

On By bigbadburchIn Uncategorized4 Comments

I’ve been very spotty with my posts lately and I need a minute to reset and recharge a bit. Work has been especially brutal lately and my now middle-age body isn’t responding to it well, I’m very far behind on stuff I need to get done, and September is always a super busy month with a million things going on. It’s all added up to beating me down pretty good. I’ve barely had the time or desire to even listen to much music lately, much less write about it.

This won’t last very long though, thankfully. I am taking a new position at my job in the next week or two that will be far less strenuous and also grant me more time to get things taken care of and also focus on the site. And the September blitz of life and events is almost over and I’ll have a far more quiet fall season lined up.

My goal over the summer was to consistently post four days a week but I’ve missed the mark on that. And getting posts lined up at all has been a chore in this super busy time – if I don’t get a post started and finished in one go, it winds up sitting and collecting dust.

In order to get caught up and build a true queue of posts to be able to meet my own posting goals, I’m going to scrap my usual format next week. Instead of an album of the week and my other usual posts, I’m just going to make two or three quick posts of a handful of songs. They’ll be short and sweet and I’ll probably talk some trash to spice it up a bit. I want to make sure I post something but I need to step back for a second and recharge a bit. It’s also stuff I can just whip up off the cuff and not have to plan out, that will give me time to get October’s content lined out and be able to step into the consistency that I want.

That is really about all there is to say – I’ll be posting light next week in order to get caught up on other stuff and start rolling out more consistent stuff next month. In the meantime, here’s one of the greatest heavy metal videos in history that not that many people have seen.

Album Of The Week – September 19, 2022

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week5 Comments

This week’s pick is a notable album from 1993 that marked a major lineup change for a long-running group as well as a shift in sound from their standard thrash to a more fit for the times alternative metal approach.

Anthrax – Sound Of White Noise

Released May 25, 1993 via Elektra Records

My Favorite Tracks – Only, This Is Not An Exit, Black Lodge

Anthrax had parted ways with longtime singer Joey Belladonna and replaced him with renowned Armored Saint singer John Bush. Bush’s visceral style fit the new songs well and put the band in prime position to remain afloat as thrash metal was falling out of public attention.

Anthrax did not sacrifice heaviness on this record but they did set the standard thrash formula aside for a more straightforward attack. While “grunge” influence is often spoke of when discussing the album, it seems more like just a very heavy metal album to me. I don’t really hear grunge on this. It fit the times but there was a lot more going on in metal than just people aping grunge back then.

This set runs at just under an hour with 11 tracks, so let’s jump right in to this beefy offering.

Potter’s Field

The blistering opener presents the view of a person mad at his mother for having been born, the troubled guy would have rather been aborted than left to live his crappy life. The song is a harsh, straightforward pummeling through the angry rant towards the mother. John Bush’s raspy and powerful delivery enhances the sharp sting of the lyrical content.

Only

The album’s lead single also serves as its most-known track and one of the highlights of the Bush Anthrax era. The song gets into dealing with someone who is clearly batshit crazy.

Only was a calling card for the new era of Anthrax right out of the gate. It saw consistent MTV play and has gone on to be widely considered the top track from this period of the band. It is also the only “Bushthrax” song that Joey Belladonna has performed after returning to the group.

Room For One More

This is something about a person seeking to use someone with a checkered past for something probably not good. The subject matter of these songs is far beyond the typical thrash offerings and suits the higher intellectual period of the early ’90’s very well.

Packaged Rebellion

A look at how the concept of rebellion was commercialized and put on display as a scene rather than an actual revolutionary movement. A very fitting song that strikes at the heart of music and culture of the time period. Rebellion was sold to the alternative crowd and was bought up just like food on a buffet line.

Hy Pro Glo

This is some kind of “callout” song that doesn’t specifically offer what or who it’s getting into. Many of the songs on the album have lyrical fare that keeps a certain distance and fits the music well yet doesn’t offer an open, literal interpretation that’s easy to digest.

Invisible

Another sort of “you suck” song, this one deals with the friend who is never around in times of need. This one’s meaning is easier to pick up on than some of the others.

1000 Points Of Hate

A title twisted from the famous “1000 points of light” phrase that George Bush the Elder uttered as president. The album’s most aggressive track, this one spells its points out clearly and is a true beating of a song.

Black Lodge

A dark, plodding “ballad” of sorts that was inspired by the Twin Peaks TV show, this was issued as a single and stands apart from the pounding that the rest of the album delivers. It deals with a person living with some kind of demons that aren’t spelled out – it could be mental illness, drug addiction, perhaps even terminal illness. The song is a well-crafted and creepy tune that uses John Bush’s voice to highlight the plight at hand.

Sodium Pentothal

The track listing spells out the actual chemical formula for this compound, I am not attempting to type that out or even copy and paste it into my document and declare war on my formatting. The drug has been used in lethal injection executions but also saw some limited use as a “truth serum,” and that is its application in the song.

Burst

Another pounding of a song that gets into how opinions are just that and really don’t hold much meaning when put up against each other. Sadly a lesson unlearned as the years have gone on.

This Is Not An Exit

The album closes with this extended number that gets back into the creepy vibe explored on Black Lodge. The song deals with the idea of immorality and the mental toll that living forever would actually have on a mortal being.

Sound Of White Noise would be a highlight album for Anthrax. It charted at 7 on Billboard, the band’s highest position. It went gold in the US and Canada and the singles Only and Black Lodge landed in the Top 40. The album received well among critics and it is often featured toward the top of lists of fan rankings.

It was a gamble to reinvent musically and also part with the groups signature singer in Joey Belladonna, but the gamble paid off as Anthrax entered the revamped ’90’s metal scene with a relevant sound and approach. Future albums with Bush would not see the same fanfare, though some highlights are around.

Anthrax would go through some silliness with vocalists for awhile before eventually reuniting with Belladonna and joining the Big 4 of Thrash tours. And while the signature Anthrax era will always be Joey and records like Spreading The Disease and Among The Living, there is no doubt that Sound Of White Noise and John Bush left a huge mark on the band’s career.

Incantation – Deliverance Of Horrific Prophecies

On By bigbadburchIn collecting1 Comment

Today’s single is a relic, both of my collection of the death metal renaissance of the early 1990’s. I originally purchased this record via mail order in 1992 or ’93, not sure exactly. And it’s in my collection today, though it spent a very long time not in the collection. It’s a story I’ll tell after getting into the songs.

Incantation are a US East Coast death metal band, having been at it since 1989. While never a chart-topping act with radio play, they have had a huge influence across the extreme metal scene with their blend of death and doom elements. Their 1992 debut Onward To Golgotha is hailed 30 years later as a classic of death metal and it’s the album from which the songs on this 7 inch single are drawn.

There’s no need for me to get to long-winded about the songs. I’ll post them both here. The A-side is the title track and the B-side is Profanation, both songs are from Onward To Golgotha. The single was released in 1991 before the full length came along in 1992. Both of these are prime cuts of what’s known as “cavernous” death metal, like the kind of shit you’d hear if you were locked in a medieval dungeon.

I originally came into this record in 1992 (I think…), it was a part of my very first mail order of underground metal stuff. I got the record and the full-length album on tape, as well as the first album and another 7 inch single of Amorphis. I was pretty stoked to have this kind of stuff in my collection, there was only one other person in my pissant little hometown who was into this kind of music.

Fast forward a few years and I shipped off to the Navy. In fact I was in Europe for a bit over three years. My music collection, including all of this, sat at my mom’s house and survived a move (thankfully just a few miles away). I got back from the Navy and reintegrated my old crap, including this single, into my existence.

A few years after that in what I think was 2002, I met a friend who was very, very into metal in all its forms. He and I are very good friends to this day, in fact. I mentioned having this single as well as the Amorphis record and he was interested in buying them. Given that I didn’t really care about them at the time and was also pretty hard up for money, I cut the deal.

Now on to late 2006 – we went a few hours away to an Incantation show on Black Friday (the day after US Thanksgiving for those unfamiliar). My buddy took this record with him and Incantation mainstay John McEntee signed the cover for him. There was also a newer 7 inch single running around at that time that John also signed for my friend and which is now also in my collection, we’ll get to that in a few weeks.

Fast forward to, uh, 2019 or maybe even 2020, or hell 2021, I don’t recall exactly. I think it was 2020 but I don’t know, the hell with remembering stuff. Anyway – my buddy and I were doing as we often do on Friday nights, drinking beer and listening to metal. We were shooting the shit about the price of records and we wound up going through his 7 inch singles collection to see what the prices of things were. Well, it turns out the Discogs median on this Incantation record was pushing $50, as was the 2006 single he’d bought at the show.

So, after slamming a few more beers and discussing a price that was fair and saw my pal rake in a tidy little profit but also kept me from having to shell out median prices, I am once again the owner of my old single as well as the other one. The stuff you’ll do after a few beers, that could be a blog all its own.

And that is the story of this single, which is kind of beat to hell but still playable and very nice to have, as I honestly don’t have much stuff now that I did in my childhood.

Tales From The Stage – White Zombie

On By bigbadburchIn Memories6 Comments

Today I’m going into a now distant memory from a show I saw in 1995. It was the “great summer” between the time I graduated high school and went into the US Navy. It was a case of the openers outshining the headliner, and one opener being an act who’d stick with me for many years since.

I had to Google a bit to find the specific date, but the show was on July 7, 1995 at what was then known as the Riverport Amphitheater in St. Louis, Missouri. To my memory, it was the first show I saw at this infamous venue, this was the location of the 1991 Guns N Roses riot show (which was almost my first concert, more info here) I’d see several other shows here over the years but I’m fairly certain this was the first time I set foot on the grounds tainted in the blood of Axl Rose’s tantrum on that fateful 1991 day.

The show in question today was a three-band bill ,headlined by a group who’d toiled in the underground for a long time but finally found themselves strapped to a rocket and riding mainstream highs. It would also be the last year of their existence before the frontman made the (likely wise) decision to go solo.

Being that this show is now 27 years old in the lexicon, I won’t bother trying to recount setlists and tiny details. I remember it, but I don’t recall a ton of very specific stuff. I’ll discuss each band and their set, and how it impacted me on that month in July just before I shipped off for the military.

Babes In Toyland

The show opened with the all-women’s Minnesota-based outfit. This band was a curiosity to me at the time, as they’d had a share of success and moved a few hundred thousand copies of their albums in the grunge prime. They were “grunge,” but not really. They were “punk,” but not outright. They were a name on MTV and on radio if you were on to the more alternative channels, which I was at the time.

I knew who they were, but didn’t really “know” them, if that makes sense. They put on an impressive set, with their own take on the sound of the time. In a hindsight sense the band probably deserves more credit for their contributions to the early 90’s scene than they get. I can’t say volumes about their set from then but I took it in and liked it, I’m sure part of that being a dumb 17 year old not having been within a six-foot radius of a woman watching these badass women crank out stellar tunes on stage.

Today I have their 3 albums in my collection and recall that they were a very underrated part of the early 90’s scene. I’m probably far more lucky to have seen them than I can know or express.

The Reverend Horton Heat

The second act is the one who blew the headliner off the stage and still resonates with me today. I had barely heard of the group when we went to the show, but goddamn did they leave an impression.

If you would have told me what rockabilly was in 1994, I would have told you to go on your way. I was entirely into metal, from the deepest depths of the underground. I didn’t listen to country, I didn’t listen to surf rock, hell, I didn’t listen to a lot of hard rock at that time beyond maybe the Scorpions. But the early evening set in the open July Missouri sun would resonate with me.

There is no arguing with the sheer power of Reverend Horton Heat. Even back in 1995, earlier into their career, they were a force that set a 20,000 seat amphitheater on fire. I was absolutely picking up what they were putting down, and they had the entire crowd engaged in a good time.

I’ve seen the band many times since this show, if I sat and counted it’s possible that I’ve seen Reverend Horton Heat more times than any other band. And if they come to town tomorrow, rest assured I’ll be there. I didn’t entirely comprehend it at the time, but I was watching sheer magnificence that day and I’ve been a faithful disciple since.

A more recent cut from the good reverend

White Zombie

The headliners of the day were of another world by this time. White Zombie had long been an underground act, with Rob Zombie making occasional appearances on the set of Headbanger’s Ball as a visual artist. We all knew he had a band but we weren’t paying that much attention.

Then a couple of cartoon idiots came along – the infamous Beavis and Butthead, for all the music they shit on or exalted, no band made hay out of it more than White Zombie. There was no more underground – White Zombie and Thunder Kiss ’65 were now a household name.

This isn’t the whole story, of course – the group was out on tour relentlessly in the early 90’s, getting their name out more with each pass through town. The Beavis and Butthead connection launched them into the stratosphere, but it shouldn’t be said that this band didn’t pay their dues and also weren’t the right band with the right sound for those weird early 90’s times.

The group did not waste time with their newfound fame – they cranked out their double-platinum opus Astro-Creep 2000 and hit the road in what was my most formative summer, the year I got out of school and shipped off to boot camp.

And, just to be brief and get to the point – their show wasn’t that great. The band executed well enough, as far as playing that kind of industrial-tinged sludge goes, I guess. But Rob Zombie was totally not in form that day. I don’t know if he smoked a few too many Luck Strikes before the show or what, but it was “More human than (COUGH) human” on that day in St. Louis. Dude had COVID 25 years before it was really a thing.

Now, when I look back on everything I’ve seen in terms of concerts over time, I won’t call it the worst set I’ve ever seen. To call back to one I wrote about in the beginning days of the blog, somewhere buried in my recounting of Iron Maiden memories is the one and only time I saw Queensryche, who truly stunk up the stage that night. I don’t think White Zombie sucked or anything, but they were not in good form, and they were outshined by their opening acts.

I’ll say it was still a decent show from the headliner, but certainly I recall the openers more from that evening. And especially the Reverend Horton Heat, a band I’ve come to love and follow to dive bars across the land to this day. I had a good run of concerts in the summer before I left for the military, and, well, this was one of them.

Album Of The Week – September 12, 2022

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week4 Comments

This week it’s a look at a 52 year old concert but one only released in full 2 years prior. It was an odd concert for a bad film and was also the second-to-last US performance of rock and roll’s preeminent guitar legend.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Live In Maui

Material originally recorded July 30, 1970

Set released November 20, 2020 via Experience Hendrix/Legacy Records

The Hendrix Maui sets have occupied a bit of lore and some scorn, not for Hendrix’s playing but for the reason he was in Maui filming. It was a full 50 years after the shows that a full, official live document was unveiled. And that document is audio only, though some snippets of video also exist (we’ll get to that).

Hendrix and a reformed Experience, with bassist Billy Cox in place of Noel Redding, were booked for Maui by manager Michael Jeffery. Jeffery had secured a film deal and had a bright idea to do a freeform visual exploration of the hippie/counterculture community of Hawaii. In order to actually try to convince anyone to watch the drivel, Jeffery got Hendrix to play two sets on the island for the purpose of anchoring the film.

The eventual film was called Rainbow Bridge and was a total failure in the marketplace. Any interest in it has been for the 17 minutes of live Hendrix footage. While the complete concert recordings existed and saw the light of day as bootlegs, it took a literal half a century to salvage the full recordings and present an official live package.

Instead of having bit performances in a film made by Jeffery, who at best can be called a shady motherfucker, we now have a full accounting of the Maui sets offered by Experience Hendrix, overseen by Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s sister. Hendrix studio collaborator Eddie Kramer also joined in on the restoration process.

Live In Maui presents a few difficult technical challenges for modern presentation – one, the concerts were recorded on an open field with wind blowing. It led to some re-recording for music used in Rainbow Bridge and some of the drum edits are found on this newer live set.

The official set does mostly triumph over the sound issues and present a worthwhile listening package. It’s by no means the best representation of live Hendrix, but it does a good job of capturing a long sought-after concert. It is evident on listening that sound wasn’t captured at its best but this isn’t a flimsy, barley audible bootleg offering – this is still full on live Jimi Hendrix.

I won’t bother going over all 20 songs in my usual AOTW format. Several of the standard Hendrix tunes are present here – Purple Haze, Foxey Lady, Fire, Red House, and a spirited finale of Stone Free at the finale, with a snippet of Hey Joe thrown in. I found Voodoo Child to be an early favorite on first listen, something about that song worked and stood out from the rest. Of course that might apply to the song in general, but that’s an argument for another time.

This live set is full of what would be unreleased songs at the time of Hendrix’s death a few months later. Cuts like Dolly Dagger and Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) were meant for the next album, to be called The Cry Of Love. The history of posthumous Hendrix releases before the family takeover of the catalog is too much of a task to get into here (or ever) so I’ll spare that but mention that many of these songs have been released in a variety of compilations and other live performances.

It’s nice to have some less familiar stuff aired out live along with the standards. The performance does seem to bog down a bit in the second set, as if maybe playing two shows in front a few hundred hippies out in an open field isn’t the greatest idea or something, I don’t know. But things turn around towards the second set’s conclusion.

Live In Maui is a nice live set to have in the collection. It’s been a pretty eagerly-sought after set in the more die-hard Hendrix circles. While we’re spoiled to have so many of his concerts available, the Maui sets were always lurking on the shelf in the back corner.

There is a video component to the release, as well. A well-done documentary gets into the nuts and bolts of why Hendrix was on Maui in the first place. There is also a video presentation of the concert – but, and this is a huge BUT – cameras weren’t rolling for the entire show. Many songs are only visually available in snippets, or not at all. A few do have full or mostly intact videos and a time or two more than one song runs, but this is not an optimal viewing experience. It is a “cool to have” thing as opposed to having no video at all, but it is weird and not fleshed out with enough video to be recommending viewing on its own.

In the end, Live In Maui fills a hole in official Hendrix collections that some thought would never see the light of day. It’s not something I’d necessarily recommend as a purchase for people who don’t have a ton of live Hendrix, there are far more worthwhile volumes out there. But for a more completionist approach, this fills a massive void and lets people skip the bootleg market. It’s a set with a lot of the unreleased in his lifetime songs on it and the story of why it even exists sets it apart from most concert releases.

The Singles Series – Bad Brains

On By bigbadburchIn collecting8 Comments

Today’s single is a massive force from one of the most innovative and pioneering bands in the punk and hardcore scenes. Bad Brains wrote the book on fast, ferocious music and one of their signature songs is the feature of this single.

Also I chose not to air the title of the song out in my post title, I figured I’d use an ounce of discretion and leave it out. But in the post anything goes, so here we are with Pay To Cum!

My version is a 2021 reissue of the landmark single, which was the debut release from Bad Brains. The original pressing goes for an amount of money I’m not paying, it’s at least several hundred dollars and has sold in the thousands before. This very easy to obtain reissue sits on my record shelf just fine.

While this is a huge song in the canon of several music subgenres, there actually isn’t a hell of a lot to talk about as the title song is whopping 1:33 and the B-side gets a hefty 2:25 to flex its muscles.

Pay To Cum

The feature song is a monster flex of speed and energy. It is a musical lightning attack, in and out before the inattentive even know something happened. Yet it is a juggernaut that commands that attention by being one of the damnedest things ever heard. No point in searching for layers of meaning or subtle flourishes – just jam it out and get crazy.

Stay Close To Me

The B-side does offer a contrast to the heavy hitter on the other side. It’s a track that offers a bit of reggae, another style Bad Brains would work with extensively over the years. This isn’t an all-out reggae song but does hint at the style. This song could easily be taken as an early template for ska (not that I know much of anything about the history of ska, but this song gives off that vibe in places).

That’s about all for this single. Bad Brains would go on to ignite several 1980’s scenes with their distinct blend of styles and their blistering live sets. While not a global best-seller, they are easily one of the most influential bands to ever pick up instruments. I could spend the rest of my life simply typing the names of bands and acts who honor Bad Brains as an influence. I won’t, but I could.