Tag: metal

Y&T – In Rock We Trust

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week10 Comments

It’s time today to look at one of the pioneering acts of the 1980’s sound, and also one of the more overlooked acts of the 1980’s sound.

Y&T – In Rock We Trust

Released July 1984 via A&M Records

By 1984, Y&T were on to their sixth album. They had formed in the ’70’s and got their ball rolling in earnest just before the ’80’s hit. The band were making some buzz for themselves alongside the emerging Sunset Strip scene. Y&T were both opening for a who’s who of rock and metal acts like Kiss, AC/DC and Iron Maiden, while also serving as the headliner for fresh new acts like Mötley Crüe.

The band’s lineup was Dave Meniketti on guitar and vocals, Joey Alves on guitar, Phil Kennemore on bass and Leonard Haze on drums. Y&T also brought in outside help for this record – Geoffrey Leib, who is more popularly known as Jeff Paris, was in as a co-writer. The album was produced by Tom Allom, most known for his long tenure with Judas Priest.

Pretty standard issue album today – 10 tracks at 43:20. There is at least one version of a re-issue out there with a bonus track but I’ll be handling the original copy today. Also – this isn’t on streaming services that I know of, at least not on Spotify or Amazon. I have it on record but I had to use an unofficial YouTube source to review it, stopping and starting a record all the time to collect a thought isn’t a lot of fun. That’s probably why old school music critics were often full of shit.

Rock & Roll’s Gonna Save The World

We open with a nice, big track that brings nice riffs and a huge chorus that handles just what the song’s title says. Fitting that this came out just as a newer version of rock was taking over the airwaves, a version that Y&T were quite responsible for. Grade: A+

Life, Life, Life

This one is pretty melodic and bright rock-wise, though it’s a really dark topic on hand. This is a lament against what was the modern war machine, which in the 1980’s was a machine-filled monster. We were in the final years of the Soviet Union and Cold War then, though we didn’t totally know it was about to end. But we kept rocking and railing against it, and eventually it all fell apart. Grade: A

Masters And Slaves

Another bit of a social and political commentary here, wrapped up again in a prototypical 1980’s hard rock shell. This one’s about how a few have the power and everyone else is left out, something that didn’t get much better 40 years on. Grade: B+

I’ll Keep On Believin’ (Do You Know)

It’s on to a bit of a ballad now, though like many other 1984 ballads, this one packs quite the punch. It’s kind of funny to track the progression of ’80’s power ballads from ’84 to, say, ’89, when they were loaded with saccharine and sap. But these guys in ’84 were doing them right, having at the melody and softer edge while still rocking out. This song wasn’t a “hit” for Y&T per se but did get them a bit of traction in airplay. Grade: A-

Break Out Tonight!

This is a strong and powerful rock track that is just the perfect example of the ’80’s rock scene. The quiet build into the loud chorus works just great and we’re left with another fantastic song. Grade: A

Lipstick And Leather

Another uptempo rocker here, as a badass woman takes over the thoughts of the narrator. Nothing out of place here, it’s another straight and simple rock song that keeps the head banging. Grade: B+

Don’t Stop Runnin’

Nothing deviates from the formula here. It’s another solid rock song that’s both powerful and melodic. Y&T did a great job of blending the heavier edge of things with the more bright sounds that would please people not necessarily into all-out heavy metal. This is also one you can really hear the ’80’s creeping into the song, not that the rest of the album doesn’t totally scream 1984. Grade: B+

(Your Love Is) Driving Me Crazy

Not to be confused with the Sammy Hagar song of the same name (note taken for a future post), Y&T are again hard and heavy in this “on the prowl” song. This one does step over the edge a bit and retain a heavy metal feel throughout. Grade: A-

She’s A Liar

This one brings the heavy and plenty of boogie, with the band belting this one out at a breakneck pace. Very nicely done song, again combining the heavy with the melodic. This one got picked up for use in a Dr. Pepper commercial, too, so a bit more cash for the band. Grade: A-

This Time

The album ends with another ballad, and this one is a more stereotypical ’80’s ballad. The song is fine for what it is, though it honestly never won me over. I’ve heard far worse, but Y&T has also done far better. Grade: C

In Rock We Trust would not be a massive, multi-platinum release for Y&T, but just the same it did become the band’s biggest record. It charted at number 46 on the Billboard 200 and has sold around 450,000 copies. The band would be on a huge series of tours through this time, including Rush, Dio, Ratt, Dokken and Night Ranger, among others. Y&T saw their profile go from the regional Los Angeles scene to a national and international hard rock act. And while the band never “got their due” in a way, they have remained a staple of rock and metal for the 40 years since, even with Dave Meniketti being the lone surviving member from this album.

Grading this album is pretty easy – it’s a bunch of high quality hard rock. It’s done “in the vein” of the 1980’s scene at the time, but that’s primarily because Y&T were a band who helped shape that scene. This was the case of a band meeting their time more than anything, even if they didn’t benefit as much as others did from the new strain of rock going around.

Album Grade: A-

1984 contained a handful of the most essential albums in 1980’s rock – Out Of The Cellar, Tooth And Nail, W.A.S.P. And Slide It In just to name a few, much less 1984 itself. But just under the surface of the new movement in rock was Y&T, now six album veterans who offered up their own slab of high quality rock and metal. This album and band aren’t just “another good, somewhat out of the way” thing that also happened in the ’80’s, these guys were just as essential to the sound of that era as the other bands and albums mentioned in this post.

Anthrax – Fistful Of Metal

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week6 Comments

Two of thrash’s “Big Four” had already debuted before 1984. Right at the start of ’84, the third would make their presence known and also help give this newer genre its name.

Anthrax – Fistful Of Metal

Released January 6, 1984 via Megaforce Records

Anthrax had started off in 1981 in New York, with Scott Ian and Dan Lilker forming the group. I’ll skip the Spinal Tap-worthy list of members who came and went through the first few years. The lineup for this album would feature Scott Ian on guitar along with Dan Spitz, Dan Lilker on bass, Neil Turbin on vocals and Charlie Benante on drums.

Fistful Of Metal was recorded in Ithica, New York; with Carl Canedy producing. Songwriting was credited based on member contributions, with Turbin having a huge role in shaping the material. Former Anthrax guitarist Greg Walls has said he contributed parts to various songs and was left uncredited – this was just one piece of the Anthrax band drama file folder, which needs its own warehouse to store at this point.

The album artwork was done by Kent Joshpe, a friend of Spitz’s. Joshpe had already designed the band’s logo so he was also commissioned for the interesting cover art, featuring a guy being smacked with a fistful of metal. The album art was actually banned in Germany for a time, though that ban is no longer in effect.

This album features ten songs at a thrash-tastic 35 minute runtime. There are various editions and reissues from over the years, I’m sticking with the original because tracking all the various incarnations of this album is a fool’s errand.

Deathrider

First song from the first album and jump straight into one of the best songs Anthrax have recorded in their 40+ year long career. If I had to suggest one song to someone to explain what thrash sounded like, it would probably be this one. This is all pounding and speed, straight ahead with zero bullshit. There’s probably a reason Neil Turbin named his later band after this song. Grade: S

Metal Thrashing Mad

Up next is another pounding, as relentless as the first. It’s a song about racing that sits in the standard thrash template, though Turbin executes some vocals not typically associated with thrash. That would be par for the course on this album.

This song is also where the term “thrash metal” came from, the phrase was sprung by legendary journalist Malcom Dome in the pages of Kerrang! Magazine while discussing this song. Grade: A+

I’m Eighteen

Easy enough here – Anthrax covered the classic Alice Cooper song. It’s fine, they did a good job on it. I don’t consider it essential or anything but there’s nothing wrong with it. Grade: B-

Panic

This one kicks up the speed a notch and lays an all out assault. This is Anthrax’s version of a “being on the road” song, which is a fair bit different from those of Bob Seger and Bon Jovi. The road was a long grind for those others, the road is literally beating your ass in this song. Grade: A+

Subjugator

It’s another amped up thrash track about fighting. It seems as though whoever is in the way is who is getting the beating. Also it seems Anthrax’s weapon of choice in the fight is Dan Spitz’s guitar, as he wields it here for plenty of solo action. Grade: A

Soldiers Of Metal

We’re fighting again, this time we are banded together to fight for metal. Can’t get through an ’80’s metal album without fighting for metal at some point. This is a pretty standard song but solid. Grade: B

Death From Above

Another straightforward song, this time about planes and bombing and all that. Grade: B+

Anthrax

I had sorta forgot that Anthrax had their own self-named song. It’s a pretty ripping one too, though it’s hard to tell if this actually about contracting the disease anthrax or just general mayhem. Cool stuff though. Grade: A-

Across The River

A quick instrumental here, but this one absolutely shreds and could have been fleshed out into a full song. No harm, though – still totally worthwhile. Grade: A-

Howling Furies

The last track is a bit of a horror story, being caught by some pretty nasty people or things that want to cut you up. I do wonder if this isn’t, at least in part, based off of The Warriors movie as both the Furies and “come out and play” are part of the song. I’m not sure but I’d wager a guess that it’s so. Grade: A-

Fistful Of Metal hit the streets on release – though it did not chart it was a big mover in the emerging metal scene. Anthrax themselves would tour behind the release, then endure several lineup changes before prepping the next album. Dan Lilker was fired and Neil Turbin quit, as Scott Ian and Charlie Benante became the driving forces behind Anthrax’s songwriting. The new incarnation of Anthrax would go on to a handful of gold-selling records and buzz throughout the scene, solidifying their place among thrash’s “Big Four” and somewhat leaving the first album behind.

But this album is more than deserving of its own praise. While it might not sound “original” among the decades of thrash offerings in this day and age, it had very little to be compared against in 1984. This was a nice, curbstomping record more than worth the time to visit with, even if other Anthrax albums overshadow this one.

Album Grade: A

At the end of the day, nothing to do but crank this up, start some shit and recall the good times of 40 years past.

Picking Five Songs From 1973

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year4 Comments

Time marches on and it’s now 1973 on my songs and years thing. I honestly don’t have much to say about the year – I was not around for it and nothing really jumped out at me when I was looking through stuff. I had no problem picking five songs, it does get to be a problem a few years down the line as a lot more acts started up and things get really crowded. But for today, no problem.

Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Sabbath had issues recording their fifth album but when it came down to it they were able to belt stuff out, including this masterpiece of a title track. The song is somewhat bright and melodic (but still plenty heavy) for most of the way, then descends into one of the heaviest pieces of music ever recorded in the song’s final moments. This is truly the stuff of legend.

Pink Floyd – Time

One of the cuts from Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon album that took over the world and never let go. Time is a remarkable song with both atmospheric elements and also some flat out rocking all contained within. Time is the thing that rules over all our lives and also may very well not really exist outside our perceptions, but I don’t have time for all of that today. A marvelous song.

Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way
Splendid stuff here as Joe was struck by songwriting inspiration while mowing his lawn in Colorado. It was the boost Walsh needed to get over his depression from leaving The James Gang and get his solo career kickstarted. Find a dive bar, get a cheap beer and enjoy this slice of rock n roll greatness.

Alice Cooper – Elected

Here lies one of the last vestiges of the Alice Cooper band, as after ’73 Coop would rebrand as a solo artist. Alice has actually run for President in most elections since this song, though obviously he hasn’t broke the threshold and been elected. But he put out this fun staple of his live set.

Montrose – Rock Candy

Montrose wound up billed as “the US’s answer to Led Zeppelin” when their debut album dropped in ’73. And this song was one huge reason why – it’s sleazy, groovy and balls out rocking. Montrose never got their commercial due, but this song was massively influential to legions of rockers who would come along later. This early version of Montrose was short-lived but they cranked out some badass music.

That does it for 1973. Nothing much else to go over, have a good weekend and we’ll get back to the grind next week.

Chat Pile – Masc

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This week let’s have a look at a preview track from an upcoming album. Chat Pile generated a fair bit of buzz on the back of 2022’s God’s Country full-length. Their new effort is titled Cool World and will be available on October 11 via The Flenser Records. If anyone is interested in getting their hands on a vinyl copy of the new album, it would be very wise to pre-order. The label has already sold out of all the first pressings and are into a second run, something that also happened to God’s Country.

I have talked about Chat Pile a time or two in the past but I figure it’s worth it to give a refresher on them. The band hails from Oklahoma and drew inspiration from the sometimes bleak surroundings to craft a crazy version of noise rock, sometimes venturing into various kinds of very noisy metal. It’s not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure.

Masc is the second song we’ve had as a preview from the new album. And Masc is a bit of a departure for Chat Pile in that it is two things – melodic and conventional. The words are sung rather than screamed and the more mellow tone is kept throughout, no sudden breaking into a shouting frenzy here. And the music is more reminiscent of some ’90’s alternative metal than anything else – a bit quirky, sure, but it’s honestly a fairly straightforward song with the usual verse-chorus structure. Chat Pile offered up the expected with the first single I Am Dog Now, here on Masc they showcase another side.

And this new take is very welcome. It doesn’t diverge greatly from the band’s sound, the underpinning is still there in the rhythm and instruments. But this is a very cool change of pace. Music under the “noise” genre is often considered to be just what the descriptor says, but here the band flex out a bit and showcase the ability to explore other waters.

Also of note is the video. It was directed by short film creator Stephen Mondics and it is very, very visually striking. Now, I can’t tell exactly what the hell is going on in there, but I can say that I like looking at it very much.

Masc is a great track from Chat Pile, and it will be interesting to hear the new album next month. This will be one of the more hotly anticipated records of the indie/underground scene this year.

Iron Maiden – Powerslave 40th Anniversary

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week9 Comments

Forty years ago today, Iron Maiden unleashed their fifth album upon the world. Nothing would be the same after this all-consuming affair.

Iron Maiden – Powerslave

Released September 3, 1984 via EMI Records

This is a re-review for me, I did cover this album about two years ago, long before I started doing song and album grades. I’ll leave the old one up as I have no problem with that post but I’ll be referencing this new one as I go forward.

Iron Maiden convened in the Bahamas to record this effort. That must have been tough. The band was the classic line-up of the 1980’s – Steve Harris playing bass, Bruce Dickinson on the mic, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith on guitar, and Nicko McBrain on drums. Martin Birch was the producer, in the middle of his immortal run of Maiden albums. The massively iconic cover art was courtesy of Derek Riggs, also in the middle of his legendary run depicting Eddie.

Simple stuff today – eight songs with a total runtime of 51:12. Nothing exists in the way of bonus tracks besides the rare Castle Records reissue, that stuff is B-side material and is available on the singles and elsewhere.

A bit of context before I start – Powerslave came in at number 2 when I did the Iron Maiden album ranking awhile back. And for additional reference, the album cover also came in at number 2 when I ranked album covers a long time ago. So clearly we’re dealing with an album I hold in very high regard.

Aces High

The opener is one of Maiden’s most beloved songs. It is an intense, soaring tune that captures the essence of airplane combat, which is nice since the song is about the legendary Battle of Britain during World War II. While Maiden’s guitar work is often widely celebrated, this song features some of the best-known riffing around. This song is flawless and one of the best songs the band have recorded. Grade: S

2 Minutes To Midnight

Another energetic track, this time about the modern state of warmongering and arms dealing. I’m always a sucker for world-ending type stuff and this reference to the Atomic Clock and impending doom of nuclear destruction is spot on. As I’ve said several times in the past, this is my favorite Iron Maiden song so I think I can wrap this one up. Grade: S

Losfer Words (Big ‘Orra)

Up next is an instrumental – it was the fourth Maiden had done to that point and to date it is still the last one they’ve done. It’s a pretty brilliant song and it fits perfectly among the other tunes on the album. This wasn’t some experimental piece, it was Maiden being Maiden from opening note to close. Grade: A+

Flash Of The Blade

We have two songs back-to-back about sword-fighting. This first one features a young kid who plays with a wooden sword but then grows up and has to take up the real thing to avenge his family. And the music on this one is fantastic as well – with climbing riffs and Bruce especially soaring over even himself at points. Grade: A

The Duellists

This next sword-fighting piece was inspired by the movie of the same name, which was Ridley Scott’s first film as a director. It was set during Napoleon’s reign, which is a great backdrop for a story about people who want to kill each other. This song lets the music do most of the talking and is a bit more low-key than other stuff here, but it’s still a wonderful song and very much easily recognizable as Iron Maiden. Grade: A

Back In The Village

This one is a sequel to the song The Prisoner from The Number Of The Beast. It plays again in the land of the old TV show, The Village being the area where the prisoners were kept. This one sounds like the main character of the show is attacking the village or something, I’m not entirely sure. But again it all wraps itself up nicely as another great Maiden tune. Grade: A

Powerslave

The title track makes full use of the Egyptian theme on the cover art to weave the desperate tale of a pharaoh who is dying and cannot accept his mortality. The pharaoh is supposed to be a god and yet is dying just the same as any other person, it is quite the existential struggle for this soon to be corpse.

The song is absolutely magnificent and marks an evolution of the band’s running rhythms and approach to storytelling in songs. It would be hailed as a magnum opus epic – if it wasn’t for the very next track. Grade: S

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

The final song on the album makes its presence felt both musically and time-wise – this one song takes up over 10% of the album’s runtime. At 13:45 it is was a ridiculously long track for 1984 and would stand as Iron Maiden’s longest song until 2015.

The song is obviously inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous poem and in fact follows the grim story pretty closely. A sailor is cursed for killing a bird, it’s the genesis of the idea of “an albatross around one’s neck.”

Musically, Maiden did not mess around here. The song features several distinct movements that capture the mood of the story as it goes along. It was a feat of arrangement uncommon in heavy metal at that time but a whole generation of younger musicians were paying attention and the power metal subgenre would become a playground for more classical arrangements later on.

In the end this stands as one of the top few songs in the Maiden catalog. It was a masterpiece of arrangement and execution, its lofty ambitions matched by what was presented. Grade: S

Powerslave was an absolute masterpiece from Iron Maiden. The album charted all over the world, reaching a high of number 2 in their native UK. It has been certified platinum in the US and Canada, as well as gold in the UK and several other territories.

Maiden would embark on the World Slavery tour in support of the album – the tour was the band’s longest to date, playing 189 shows in 331 days. While the tour was grueling, it also established Maiden as a prime player in heavy metal all across the world. The tour was also immortalized in the band’s first live album Live After Death a year later.

As for the album grade, well, it’s honestly a little tricky. I’ve only been using grades for a little while now and it does seem as if I’m about to do something I haven’t done yet, and honestly have very little intention to do outside of a select few albums. But this is one of those albums.

Album Grade: S

There is no doubt that Powerslave was what cemented Iron Maiden as metal legends. They’ve only expanded on their legacy since, quite the story in and of itself. But this album and tour reached the world over and developed the kind of die-hard fans that would follow the band anywhere, regardless of what the music industry thought of it. When people ask why Iron Maiden are so beloved, this album is honestly the best possible answer one could give.

For more details about my song and album grading, head here.

Questions, comments or concerns? Use the comment form below or head to my contact page.

For more of my ever-running coverage on Iron Maiden, check out the Band Index.

Picking Five Songs From 1971

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year8 Comments

The “Five Songs a Year” series rolls on into 1971. As always, these are five of my favorite songs from a year as opposed to “my five favorites,” nothing here is too definitive.

This year was really easy for me to throw together, I saw a few things that got released that year and had my list together real quick. I’m sure I could have done a more exhaustive review of the music from ’71 but this is supposed to be a quick and easy thing so I’ll leave it at that. Things start getting really crowded in a few years’ time so I’ll enjoy these easier ones.

Alice Cooper – Under My Wheels

The Coop has arrived on this list, for the first and likely not last time. This was the classic band formation of Alice Cooper on their fourth album Killer. This one is a fun old-school boogie that also gets into a bit of sensory overload at points. They are going completely off here and it’s a crazy experience.

T. Rex – Get It On

A song and album so influential that just about everyone who’s made music since has a copy of the record. The song is a very simple jam but adds enough to stand out from the other happenings in rock at the time. Even 53 years later the song lives on in rock immortality.

Black Sabbath – Children Of The Grave

And here is another signature track from the masters of metal. This one has some crazy bass and percussion on it, and is even a bit bright musically. But the song is a dire warning yet again about the ills of war and its possible apocalyptic consequences. Another one of Sabbath’s finest songs.

The James Gang – Walk Away

While this group never got the traction they might have been after, this song would become a fairly solid hit for them over the years. It was another Joe Walsh composition and performance, and the amount Walsh had to put into writing for the group led him to do just what the song’s title states not long after release. The James Gang would go on for several more years before sputtering out. Never heard how it panned out for Joe Walsh…

Led Zeppelin – The Battle Of Evermore

All of the other songs here are uncomplicated, there’s nothing to get in a fuss over about them. But this one? We have a guest singer! Mandolin! Lord of the Rings AND King Arthur! The song’s overall structure is not complex but man there’s a lot going on here. I’ve heard this practically my whole life and I still can’t wrap my head around it. Not sure what that says more about – the song or me.

That does it for 1971. Things stop getting quick and easy real soon as more of rock and metal’s immortal acts show up on the scene through the next several years.

Danzig – Dirty Black Summer

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Summer does not officially end in this hemisphere until September 22, still a hair over a month to go. But the unofficial summer season does end in the latter part of August when kids go back to school. I don’t have any kids so school time isn’t some massive issue to me, but it is a bit depressing when “true summer” is over as I live in a city with a ton of schools in it. Summer time is fairly peaceful around here with less traffic and snarls of people, but now we’re back into massive traffic and people being idiots about where they drive, park and everything else.

But summer isn’t actually over yet, so let’s pull out this Danzig single from 1992. This was the lead single from the album III: How The Gods Kill. The album did decently well in its time, hitting 24 on the Billboard 200. While Danzig had a bit of a run with success, that actually came a year later with the re-release of Mother. This year prior was not obscure by any means, Danzig was a fixture on MTV by this point and his stuff fit right in with the alternative metal thing going on at the time. But true sales success was another year off.

The first defining feature of the song is actually near silence for 40 seconds. If this comes up on a playlist set to shuffle, you might think the playback died or something, especially if you’re only half paying attention or listening on a more lo-fi bluetooth device. There is a bit of atmospheric noise going on but it’s totally minimal and not always detectable. But then John Christ comes in with a divebomb note on the guitar and the song proper kicks off.

And it’s clear that the song lives up to the title – this is hot, dark and dirty. The song does have a slower pace to it, which is perfect to let the winding riff conjure up demons and dust devils and shit like that, and the drums and bass hit with extra results. And it’s all brought together by the familiar bellow of Glenn Danzig, the “evil Elvis” of heavy metal.

There isn’t much to dissect here lyrically, this song is all vibes. In this 2022 interview with Revolver, Danzig recounts how the song was simply about his memories of summer as a teenager – running around, getting into trouble, not having anything noteworthy to do. I love a good concept album as much as the next nerd, but sometimes keeping it simple is the more effective approach and it works splendidly here.

The song was a huge part of the soundtrack to my own dirty black summers in 1992 and beyond, I was 15 at the time and I enjoyed the same vibes through my vacations from school. And even all these years later, 32 of them in fact, I still dial this song up when I want to feel some good (evil) vibes during the small, hot and far too short quieter time of year.

Picking Five Songs From 1970

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year7 Comments

I’m moving on through the years and now I’m picking songs from 1970. As always, this is me picking five of my favorites of a year rather than me picking an absolute top five.

We’re still in years before I was born, it’ll be seven more posts before I “show up.” While I wasn’t around for 1970, this is the year stuff I’m into really got going, as we’re just about to see. Not all of the songs I pick every year are going to revolve around heavy metal, but this year it’s an almost constant theme given the acts and songs involved.

Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath

And here we are – heavy metal is in full force now. The Birmingham foursome mucked their way into a record deal and mutated the blues into an assault on the ears. This song is totally down in the dumps, being the herald of a subgenre of metal that would be known as doom years later.

And what a song this is. Just so morose, creepy and excellent. And while Sabbath were often accused of Satanism, here they don’t depict Satan and Hell as some kind of party – rather it’s a horrifying experience to be cast down below. Heavy metal is here, and damn is it wicked.

Mountain – Mississippi Queen

A fun, heavy cut that became the biggest hit for the US group who were also responsible for the rise of heavy metal. This had guitar loaded with purpose and was a curb-stomping song about a riverboat and of course a woman on said boat. This song still gets airtime 54 years later, a pretty wicked accomplishment.

Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song

Here the titans of rock went about also contributing to heavy metal – this brief blast of music would combine loud, brash music and Viking themes, something that runs amok through metal to this day. Also Robert Plant’s wail on here is just ungodly, good luck finding anyone else on the planet to replicate that. While tales of Viking raids are fantasy in the modern age, the song’s origin is mundane – Zep were booked to play in Iceland and put on a crazy show at a last-minute venue after their original booking got axed by striking workers. And this is what they came up with out of that. Just crazy.

Santana – Oye Cómo Va

Fun fact – decades before Carlos Santana conquered the world with his accomplice Rob Thomas, his band was quite successful already. This was a cover of a cha-cha-chá song by Tito Puente from 1962. Puente was not originally happy that a rock band was doing his song, he changed his mind when the first royalty check came in.

The song is really fun with a nice groove and simple yet crazy organ from Gregg Rolie. It’s easy to see why this one caught on so well, including with me who wouldn’t have heard it until years after it was released.

Black Sabbath – War Pigs

There won’t be very many instances of one act getting two songs on the same year. But this is a rare instance since it marks the first works of heavy metal’s fathers and they happened to put out two albums in 1970.

This was an anti-war song, getting more into the evil nature behind the powers that be sending the poor off to die for a nebulous cause. It’s often discussed as one of Sabbath’s best songs and with good reason, it’s an intense jam and the speed up at the end just slides everything off the rails and into a total frenzy.

That covers it for 1970. Heavy metal is here now and it does inform a large part of my listening. But there is plenty beyond metal to go over as well as these years wind on. Until then.

Bruce Dickinson – Resurrection Men

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This week’s song is a bonus feature as it includes a few more tracks. Bruce Dickinson just released a single for another song from The Mandrake Project. For my full review of that album, look no further than here.

Resurrection Men is a curious choice for a single release. We got a vinyl release with the lead single Afterglow Of Ragnarok, and the excellent Rain On The Graves was a digital-only offering. Now we have another physical product, this time a CD only issue of this song. It does seem a bit odd to see a CD single in 2024 but hey, it’s not expensive so I’m not complaining. This release did come with a big poster that I’m not hanging up or folding out so no pics of it, sorry.

The main serving here is Resurrection Men. As I said when I reviewed the album, I was a bit thrown off by this song at first. It does feature a bit of a spaghetti western riff with it, which is fine and isn’t the part that throws me off. It’s a weird sort of a slow-tempo breakdown or interlude a bit into the song that I think doesn’t fit all that well and detracts from the power Bruce showcases on the song’s chorus. I have warmed up to it on repeated listens but I’ll still be honest and say I would have done the song differently and let it ring solid throughout. But I’ve grown to be ok with it so I’m not going to rip it apart or anything.

I have zero clue what this song is about. There is a story through some of the album’s songs that discuss being able to resurrect people and this is certainly one of those songs. It mentions Lazarus, who is both a Biblical figure of resurrection and also a character in the story so I’m not really going out on a limb to figure this is a “story song.” I don’t know the story beyond Lazarus, Necropolis and dead bodies being brought back to life so there’s that.

A new music video came with the single release. It is a standard live performance clip that doesn’t tie in to the story at all. Cool video but nothing to help dig further into the concept that is mostly presented in graphic novel form.

As B-sides there are two songs performed live in Sao Paulo, Brazil earlier in 2024. Bruce performed on this tour with his House Band From Hell, which curiously did not include Roy Z. There is fan speculation on there being untidy reasons for that but nothing has really been said by anyone so I’ll leave it at that. To my knowledge these B-sides are only available on the CD right now, I’m sure in the future they’ll find their way to a streaming platform.

The first song is Afterglow Of Ragnarok, already mentioned as the lead single from this current album. The crowd kicks off the recording and is in full form as South American crowds are. If you aren’t aware, they are the most boisterous crowds on the planet. Things then kick in to a bit of an introduction from Bruce and the song proper, which sounds very heavy and honestly quite good on here. On first listen I remember telling Deke that these B-sides might not be up to snuff for a full live album, but my ears might have been wrong about that. This one is sounding pretty damn good after repeated listens.

The second B-side goes back in time to Bruce’s prior solo album which was Tyranny Of Souls from 19 years ago in 2005. Abduction was the lead and only single from that effort. It is really cool to hear this live after not having Bruce solo material for so long. It’s a good performance for a song that’s shockingly about alien abduction, then the single fades out as Bruce gives a “how the fuck are you?” to Brazil.

Overall this is a pretty cool package. The poster isn’t my thing but it’s a cool bonus for those who would want it, and two live B-sides are worth the price of admission. This does tip us off that live material is being recorded and we can draw lines and speculate that a full live offering might be on the horizon, so if you’re a Bruce and Maiden fan it might be best to keep a few bucks handy, especially since Maiden themselves will most certainly have a new live album in the next year.

Exciter – Violence & Force

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week8 Comments

And we’re off – to the Great White North to revisit a glorious dose of speed metal.

Exciter – Violence & Force

Released February 1984 via Megaforce Records

Exciter formed in 1978 under the name Hell Razor, the same year Judas Priest released the song Exciter. The song would, not coincidentally, offer a template for a faster, more aggressive sound that would come to be known as speed metal. Exciter the band would rechristen themselves in 1980 and pursue the noisy, thrash-like aggressive metal.

Exciter’s debut album Heavy Metal Maniac came in 1983 after the band signed to Shrapnel Records. Not long after, Jonny Z of Megaforce would get Exciter’s contract and the band was set to offer their second album on that label.

Exciter rode as a three piece – Dan Beehler on drums and vocals, John Ricci on bass and Allan James Johnson on guitar. The album was produced by Carl Canedy, who was a member of The Rods and who also produced the Anthrax debut Fistful Of Metal. Jonny Z was along for a production credit as well.

The cover picture offers up a scene both sinister and goofy. A person decked out in leather and spikes is attempting to break through a door and presumably do bad things to a victim who is trying to keep the door shut. This same figure was on the debut album cover but this second album marked his final appearance. Some have tried linking

Violence & Force offers ten tracks at a 41:34 runtime. It has been reissued by different record labels over the years. Curiously, a 2004 reissue from Megaforce removed a song – Evil Sinner was struck from the record and this is what is found on streaming services. I have no information as to why the song was plucked from the album, though it did turn up as a bonus track on the reissue of the prior album. Also of some note – the reissues were made possible by fellow Canadian metal luminary Jeff Waters of Annihilator, who bought the rights to the Exciter catalog so Beehler and company could get new issues into circulation.

Oblivion

Up first is a noisy and very brief guitar intro. It’s not much of anything but it doesn’t really waste any time either so it isn’t a detraction of any real sort. Grade: B-

Violence & Force

The first song in earnest is the title track. This one is a ripping affair, slamming along at a breakneck pace through its run. The lyrics bring exactly what one would expect from a song with this title, while Beehler offers up a few ear-piercing screams in the chorus and there’s a wild, dissonant guitar solo as well. Great way to kick off the album. Grade: A

Scream In The Night

Another blast of speed and aggression here about the classic metal topic of stuff in the dark coming to get you. It’s intense and pounding all the way through, with the gang choruses used throughout the record coming in full effect. Grade: B

Pounding Metal

This one eases off the gas pedal just a bit but remains slamming and intense. It is a very basic metal track, as evidenced by the title being repeated about a million times. It does stick out but the song is still pretty good even with the psychotic repetition. Grade: C+

Evil Sinner

Here is the deleted track, again present on original versions but gone from reissues. This does maybe sound like it was recorded somewhere else, perhaps why it was pulled later on. There’s nothing maliciously blasphemous here, it’s just a song about some sort of evil tyrant ruining stuff as they do. Grade: B+

Destructor

This one goes all out on the speed and does show off how closely related speed and thrash metal are. A very solid offering. Grade: B+

Swords Of Darkness

Exciter lay off the pace by a literal hair here and throw in another dark fantasy tale of battle, death and destruction. None of these battles go well for people who aren’t dark and evil, by the way. Grade: B

Delivering To the Master

A fairly long one here at six minutes and it comes with a quiet, moody intro passage. This marches at a slower pace with pretty sick riffs as it relays someone presumably about to sell his soul. A nice change of pace here. Grade: B+

Saxons Of The Fire

This goes all out for sure. It’s a blistering track that venerates the ancient Saxons in battle. The limits of the albums’ production only enhance the atmosphere on this one, it is a barnburner that goes straight for the throat. Grade: A

War Is Hell

We close up shop with a song that goes back to a mid-pace setting and is also the longest track on the record. The punk and NWOBHM influences come straight through on the vocals while the main riff is a straight razor throughout. Grade: A-

Violence & Force was a landmark album for heavy metal, its cacophony of sound would inform thrash metal and later the extreme metal movement. Exciter would not become a “huge” band in the grand scheme of things but they would enjoy a bit of sales success for these early albums and also be cited as an influence from people all over the metal spectrum. The production was a bit lacking due to financial limitations but that would become an album highlight as opposed to a detriment.

Exciter would go on to tours with Anthrax, Mercyful Fate and Motörhead. They would subsequently begin shifting band members and pursuing a more melodic sound. Exciter broke up a few times over the years but have reformed under various line-ups, no one original member had a constant presence through the band’s full run.

This album offers up a fine slab of nasty, aggressive heavy metal. While it’s not technically challenging or “innovative” I suppose, it is a significant point in metal history. It is also, while sounding heavy like other offerings of the day, very much its own thing. Exciter didn’t sound like Metallica or Slayer nor did the reverse happen. Violence & Force is its own experience that won’t be found in anyone else’s recording catalog.

Album Grade: B+

Understanding the full scope of heavy metal requires getting under the hood. No doubt that Ride The Lightning was influential in 1984. But Exciter lie as a central cog in the development of heavy metal in the early 1980’s. It was ok to be fast and nasty, and also listenable alongside that.