Tag: rock music

Top Ten Albums of 2024

On By bigbadburchIn AOTY 20244 Comments

It’s the last day of 2024, so I guess I ought to post my album list for the year.

There is one important thing to keep in mind – I honestly did not have time to check out a whole ton of stuff. I was very busy this year with house hunting that got put off, a job that was going off the rails and an eventual job change, and all of the assorted stress and turmoil along with stuff like that. Things are moving forward but even now I’m still adjusting to a different job, way different hours and stuff like that.

It’s the unfortunate part of this site – I’m a hobby blogger, I’m not a music journalist of any sort so I don’t have near as much time as I would really need to investigate new releases. Week after week went by with albums of interest to me, some of them I got to hear once and others not at all. Given that I spent a good chunk of the year on this site in remembrance of 1984, keeping up with today’s music wasn’t nearly as much on my radar as I would have liked it to be. Add in to that the issue that more new music is released than ever before, and it’s just impossible to keep up.

But even if my evaluation of this year’s music is woefully incomplete, I can still offer up a top ten list. Even if 2024 albums weren’t’ the focal point of my year, there are still ten out there I can nail down to compose the pretty well mandatory year-end list.

Blaze – Circle Of Stone

In a year when every Iron Maiden singer released a solo album of some sort, it’s Blaze that came out on top for me. This album is a great follow-up to his excellent prior album War Within Me. This one brings a few touches of power metal along. Blaze has had a great solo career and this is another wonderful release in the series.

Chat Pile – Cool World

The Oklahoma outfit generated a lot of buzz on their 2022 full-length debut God’s Country. The follow-up also delivers a woeful brand of noise and doom, with just a touch of nu-metal thrown in. This one shapeshifts in places to keep it from sounding like a clone of their prior work and keeps the band on everyone’s radar, much to the chagrin of some. I’m here for it.

illuminati hotties – POWER

In 2021 I happened on this indie/punk/alt act on kind of a whim and the album Let Me Do One More nearly ran off with my album of the year award. Sarah Tudzin has done production and engineering work to everyone from Logic and Slowdive to boygenius, and her own project rivals those. This album is overall pretty chill and satisfying and I look forward to much more to come.

Rotting Christ – Pro Xristou

I did not check out a ton of extreme metal this year, which is a shame as I’m led to believe there was a ton worth a listen. But I will always make time for the veteran Greek outfit and their blend of atmospheric black metal. This is their 14th album and they sound just as great as they did when I first heard them in the early ’90’s.

Waxahatchee – Tiger’s Blood

Katie Crutchfield’s project got notice in 2020 with the critically praised Saint Cloud album and this is the long-awaited follow-up. It’s a fantastic blend of indie rock and country that was pleasing on first listen and then made itself at home with subsequent plays. It’s nice to see Waxahatchee continue to gain notice, including with a Grammy nomination for this record.

Transylvania – Windrider

Up next is something a bit different – this is the debut full-length from an act local to Springfield. We’ve been waiting awhile for this release as it was done sometime a few years ago in the midst of the pandemic and took some time to come to light. Transylvania have been one of the mainstays of the local scene here for years and it’s great to finally have this album in hand. While there’s no doubt the band bears comparisons to Iron Maiden, they have definitely made their own stamp on things here.

I will cover this album in more detail in the coming weeks.

Grand Magus – Sunraven

It’s never a bad year when Grand Magus release an album. This is another fine blend of doom and traditional heavy metal. I’ve been following Grand Magus since pretty much the beginning and it’s hard to believe we’re now over 20 years and 10 albums in.

Saxon – Hell, Fire and Damnation

Saxon showed up right at the start of the year with their 24th album and yet another excellent entry in their catalog, which has been on fire for a few decades now. There’s a bit extra behind this one that lifts it up another level. It didn’t hurt that I got to see them on tour this year in one of the very few shows I was able to attend.

I did previously review this album as an Album of the Week feature.

High On Fire – Cometh The Storm

The heavy as hell noise merchants took over five years off, with founder Matt Pike dealing with some health issues and releasing a solo album in that time. But the band returned better than ever with this slab of metal that combines their trademark Motorhead meets stoner metal vibe with Middle Eastern music influences. As usual, High On Fire transcend all category labels and delivered a quality offering once again.

Album of the Year 2024

Judas Priest – Invincible Shield

Priest arrived earlier in the year with their 19th album and they mopped the floor with everyone from the word go. The band have been in fine form on their past few releases despite line-up turmoil and advanced age. Everyone else had most of the year to top this and were unable to do so. It’s amazing just how great Priest sound in 2024 – it isn’t just that they sound “better than they should for their age,” it’s that they were once again able to conquer the heavy metal realm.

That does it for 2024, at least the stuff I was able to give spins to. I’m sure there’s more great stuff out there that I missed, but sadly that’s how time works, I don’t have near enough of it. Let’s see what 2025 has in store.

Picking Five Songs From 1982

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year5 Comments

As a quick note – next week I’ll have my top ten albums of 2024 list, as well as my write up of Prince’s Purple Rain to cap off my celebration of 1984.

But for today, it’s off to pick five songs from 1982. This one was kind of fun as there seemed to be a bit more variety, I wasn’t necessarily slammed by 10,000 heavy metal songs I love that I had to winnow down. Still plenty of great music but a pretty simple list here.

As always on these and especially for this decade – these are simply five of my favorite songs from the year, not a definitive list of my absolute five favorite songs. I ain’t got time for all that. Let’s have at it.

Iron Maiden – Hallowed Be Thy Name

Pickings are easy when your favorite band offers up what is widely considered the greatest song they ever recorded. This is a haunting tale of a condemned man who is in his final moments. Maiden were able to couple the dread of the story with their trademark harmonizing and rhythm and Bruce Dickinson delivers a performance for the ages. Things really don’t get much better than this heavy metal standard.

Judas Priest – Electric Eye

Choosing just one song from the seminal Screaming For Vengeance album is kind of tough but it’s pretty easy to go with this one. This is a heavy metal smorgasbord with all kinds of quiet and loud, mid-paced and fast stuff. It’s both heavy as hell and quite accessible. The dark theme of overbearing surveillance is on point, even more so now than 42 years ago. I can’t do anything about the hosed state of civilization but I can headbang along to its demise with this.

Michael Jackson – Thriller

This list is shooting fish in a barrel kind of easy. The title track of what is largely held as the best-selling album of all time is an absolute winner – a melodic romp through a zombie horror show. While the song itself is actually a fairly simple premise of picking up a girl by spooking her out with scary movies, the music video was an all-out zombie invasion that wowed audiences the world over. The song remains a Halloween staple to this day and of course Michael was the defining artist of the greatest decade in music.

Prince – 1999

But Michael did have a rival, he was not as alone atop the pop and rock mountain as some would like to believe. Prince would score his first widespread recognition with this apocalyptic hit. The thing to do when facing the end of the world is to party, which The Purple One summed up with a synth-funk track to boogie ’till the end to. It wound up being very fitting when 1999 actually came around, with the ultimately unfounded fears of Y2K. That was some weird shit to live through. But Prince provided the perfect soundtrack for it.

Scorpions – No One Like You

The Scorpions did rock as well as anyone ever. They also made their mark with a series of awesome ballads, but this song did not head into ballad territory – while proclaiming love, it’s a total rocker. It has been a live staple and one of the band’s signature songs since its release on their landmark Blackout album.

The song also holds significant personal meaning for me. I started dating a gal in 2009, still in the age of setting phone ringtones. I set this as her ringtone and it became our song. We were together for nearly 15 years and boyfriend and girlfriend before this past June when we did the deed and got married. And while she is not an ’80’s metal fan of any real sort, she has always appreciated this as our song. So it’s an easy add to close out this list.

That wraps up 1982, which will likely be the easiest by far of any of the ’80’s stuff to do. The next few are absolute hell, let me tell you.

Bon Jovi (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week4 Comments

A young Jersey kid had a dream of making it big on the stage. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Bon Jovi – self-titled

Released January 23, 1984 via Mercury Records

To sum up a long story in a few words – young Jon Bongiovi got his musical start in the ’70’s in a variety of bands. By 1980 he was looking to take the next step and record music. As luck would have it, Jon’s cousin Tony Bongiovi owned the Power Station studio in New York. Tony had worked extensively as producer and engineer on Motown recordings and was also the night engineer on the grueling Electric Ladyland sessions with Jimi Hendrix. Jon worked at the studio and also used it in off-time to work on his own demos.

The album was eventually assembled from a series of demos recorded with a variety of musicians. Jon did put together a band before tracking the actual record – he brought in his old friend David Rashbaum (later to go by David Bryan) on keyboards, Tico Torres on drums and Alec John Such on bass. The guitar spot was initially occupied by Dave Sabo, who wasn’t looking to be a full-time member of the band. He was replaced by Richie Sambora. Sabo would form Skid Row years later, a band Jon helped get going.

This band would comprise the group Bon Jovi for the next several years and through the band’s first wave of massive popularity. But they were not the only musicians involved on this recording. The song Runaway was recorded a few years prior with a different group of players. I won’t run down the whole history of the song because that would take forever, but one person involved was Hugh McDonald, who would eventually wind up as a full-fledged member of Bon Jovi.

But wait, there’s more – there were other people also in on the album recording beyond Runaway. Among those was Aldo Nova, noteworthy for his solo career and continued relationship with Jon Bon Jovi beyond the session work on this debut record.

With all that out of the way, the album was recorded at the Power Station with Tony Bongiovi and Lance Quinn producing. JBJ and various band members have the writing credits, with a few additional people here and there. One song in particular had a totally different writer, which we’ll get to.

The album clocks in with nine songs at a 38:33 runtime. Several deluxe reissues exist, including a 40th anniversary edition released earlier in the year. Bonus tracks abound on those releases and only most of them are different versions of Runaway.

Runaway

Up first is the song that had already been recorded with other musicians and made the rounds through radio stations and promo copies. It wound up as the lead single from the album and cracked the Top 40, the first of many for Bon Jovi.

It’s easy to hear why this one wound up getting some play – it’s a perfectly crafted rock song. The keyboard runs the song and all the other instruments join in to move this sleek vehicle forward. It’s all smooth, polished and on the rails and very few could hook up a song like this. Bon Jovi and this album are off to a kick ass start. Grade: S

Roulette

We get a fairly heavy track here on this one of many co-writes between JBJ and Sambora. Even with the riffing, Bon Jovi retains the very melodic frills that keep their stuff in the pop-rock realm. A pretty nice jam here. Grade: A-

She Don’t Know Me

This is, as I understand it, the only song in the Bon Jovi catalog that is totally attributed to an outside writer. As far as stuff that made an album, anyway. And it’s a bit of a story – the song was composed by Mark Avsec, who was writing for a disco group called LaFlavour. Disco was out, so the band changed their name and Avsec got to work crafting more rock-based stuff for them. Sadly, the band chose the name Fair Warning and the record label got rid of the band when Van Halen released an album of the same name. Bon Jovi was on the same label so they wound up with the song.

This one is a bit too saccharine for my tastes, but it’s not a horrible song or anything. I think it could use a bit more power behind it, but it’s not out of Bon Jovi’s wheelhouse either. Grade: C+

Shot Through The Heart

Here we have the song that gets confused with the band’s later hit You Give Love A Bad Name, as this song bears the first part of that song’s chorus. And while this song isn’t the mega-hit the later one would be, this is a quality rock track by any measure. Very nice tempo and melody here, it indicates that Bon Jovi was perhaps a bit further along in development than the early material gets credit for. Grade: B+

Love Lies

This song is absolute ’80’s here, with some higher register vocals that Bon Jovi didn’t do a ton of. It’s a pretty good song and something a hair outside the Bon Jovi lexicon. Grade: B

Breakout

The keyboard melody might pierce your eardrums in the open, but the song itself is a pretty basic mid-paced rocker. It does have a nice bit of force behind it to push it a bit over the edge. Grade: B-

Burning For Love

Here the keyboard offers up a rhythm that sounds like it came from an old racing video game, though the game would have come long after the song. A fairly heavy guitar riff through this recount of being taken by desire. Nothing leaps out here but still a quality composition. Grade: B

Come Back

This runs right on the rails with a pretty nice tempo and riff. It’s doesn’t venture out of its box but it’s a pretty nice box so the cat will keep playing in it. Grade: B

Get Ready

The closer gets aggressive in a way Bon Jovi wouldn’t do a ton of, though there is a fair bit of melody and boogie thrown in to keep things a bit lighter. The song is all about a gal getting ready for JBJ to take her on a night on the town, but it could just as easily be interpreted as “get ready, this band is on the way.” They most certainly were. Grade: B

For first albums, bands could do a whole lot worse than Bon Jovi. The album hit the Billboard charts at 43 and offered up a handful of decently performing singles, with Runaway being the signature track. This record would earn two US platinum certifications and several international gold records, though in fairness a lot of that may have piled up after the band hit superstardom a few years later.

The album offers up a nice collection of songs, very strong for a debut. While it’s very “on the rails” and perhaps pales in some form to the stuff to come from Bon Jovi, it’s overall a nice listening experience with one song to rule them all and a strong collection of stuff to back that.

Album Grade: B+

Bon Jovi is an album that even Bon Jovi themselves have left behind, but this debut is worth more than dismissal in the wake of music that would follow it. This is a quality offering that showcases more of what would make Bon Jovi than perhaps JBJ would like to admit. And while this album was not a world-conquering beast like the two that would come in the later ’80’s, this one is certainly a worthy entry on the list of 1984 music.

Picking Five Songs From 1980

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year2 Comments

This little series that I’ve half-assed for the past while is now in to 1980. The 1980’s were the most significant decade in my musical development so this whole decade is gonna be loaded with songs I love.

And, as this series has gone, I will only pick five per year. It is more important than ever to remember that this is simply a list of five songs I like a lot from a particular year, this not a definitive list of my five favorite songs from any given year. There are so many awesome songs left off these ’80’s lists that it’s honestly impossible to mess with much – I just go with the vibe and choose five I really like. This stuff does get a hell of a lot easier once I get to the late ’90’s and especially the 2000’s.

But we are in it to win it here, so let’s kick off this look at the best decade the world has ever seen.

Judas Priest – Living After Midnight

In 1980 Priest would finally gain a foothold in the US with their landmark British Steel album, featuring this cut among others. The song is a bit more simple and fun than other things which was a point of debate, but it’s a glorious party anthem and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden

And now we’re on to the debut from my favorite band of all time. Pretty easy auto-include here with their self-named song from their self-titled album. This one is also fun, though much more murdery than the Priest track. Maiden have played this song live more than any other and by quite a margin. While they have a handful of signature songs, it’s pretty clear that this one is the real calling card.

Van Halen – And The Cradle Will Rock

Shocking stuff here, as the band who defined party rock offer up another party anthem. It’s also a rather simple offering, though Eddie makes quite a bit of noise as he often did. Rock on, indeed.

The Police – Don’t Stand So Close To Me

This one was huge business for Sting and company, a dark tale of a teacher wrapped up in lust for a student all set to the signature reggae-rock catchiness The Police had refined by this point. It’s moody and haunting at its core but a very infectious song on the surface, something the band would nail down again in a few years time.

Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell

Sabbath had a bit of drug-fueled turmoil that saw the exit of singer Ozzy Osbourne. The band were able to regroup with Ronnie James Dio and offer up this massive slab of heavy metal. It features a grand battle between good and evil within a person, something that would be a calling card of Dio’s career. Although Sabbath wouldn’t enjoy the full fruits of the decade of metal, they were off to a very hot start.

And that wraps this one up, five songs of about five thousand great ones from the first year of the ’80’s. The tough sledding continues in the weeks after.

Picking Five Songs From 1979

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year4 Comments

It’s time for 1979, though we’ll find no Billy Corgan here, only songs actually from the year. I turned two in ’79 so I obviously have deep and specific memories of all these songs. Next week the 1980’s will kick off and these lists will be batshit for awhile, no two ways about it. But this one was pretty simple to put together so let’s enjoy this pretty easy week.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Refugee

1979 saw Petty and his band break through to true mainstream success, and it’s no wonder with songs like this. This a powerful groove with the organ and guitar working together to blast this freedom anthem into your head. I’ve heard the song all my life and it still gets me going any time it’s on.

The Police – Walking On The Moon

The Police obviously incorporated reggae into their sound, but on this one they just totally went reggae. Very atmospheric stuff here with the guitars accenting things at certain points, but the song as a whole moving on its gravity free march in trippy rhythm.

AC/DC – Highway To Hell

AC/DC have a trove of awesome songs and many were from the Bon Scott era, but I feel like this one really puts it all over the top. This is a seamless blend of great riffing and on-theme delivery that stands as one of rock’s truly great songs. It would also sadly be the bookend of Bon Scott’s time with the band, though the group dusted themselves off and kept on in world-conquering fashion after his death. No matter how much rock radio plays AC/DC, this is one song I never get tired of hearing.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Powderfinger

Rust Never Sleeps is my favorite Neil Young album and this is my favorite song from that album so here we are, pretty simple pick. Tough tale of a young man who shot at a gunboat to defend his family’s property. The gunboat won the battle, if you are keeping score. It’s an anti-war song for sure but one that offers its message in a poignant story rather than being super obvious about it. Grand work from Neil and company.

Judas Priest – Exciter

Heavy metal was about to blow up big in its golden age during the 1980’s. It was Judas Priest who flew the flag for the genre during its relative down period of the late ’70’s, and here they continued to round into form as their own fortunes would explode in just a year’s time. Here Priest laid the groundwork for the entity known as speed metal, lending not only a musical blueprint but also a band name to one of the subgenre’s pioneering acts.

That wraps it up for 1979 and also for the decade of the ’70’s. Great music to be sure, some of the best, but things really get going in the next decade. The absolute explosion of music and the toughest series of picks I’ve had to make kick off next week.

Picking Five Songs From 1978

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year7 Comments

Now I’m up to 1978 on my songs by year lists. I turned one that year so I don’t exactly have memories associated with the time, but these songs were pretty easy for me to pick and are timeless ones I’ll always enjoy.

Times were really changing this year I think – three very significant new acts showed up in ’78 that are on this list and would be central to the sounds to come, which was what shaped my musical fandom in my early years. Let’s head in and see what’s up.

Van Halen – Runnin’ With The Devil

Up first is a great cut from the debut album of one of rock music’s most important bands. Van Halen were central in what would happen in the 1980’s and their ’78 debut was red hot. The way Eddie Van Halen played his guitar here, it was almost talking alongside David Lee Roth’s vocals and insane ranting. It’s an ode to living hard and running free, and a massive song.

Heart – Straight On

Another hard rocker from Heart here, as they’d wrap up their first era before transitioning into the next decade. This one has some dance/disco elements to it but still shines through as a Heart classic. It’s an auto-include on any Heart greatest hits or setlist for sure.

Judas Priest – Delivering The Goods

Priest would get in two albums in ’78, and by this time they were truly rounding the corner as heavy metal’s premier act. They would be in prime shape for the total explosion of metal soon to come. Here Priest show their muscle with a song that was composed about how they feel on stage. This was a great way to truly launch the new era of metal.

The Police – Can’t Stand Losing You

Up next is band new to the scene and one that would light the world on fire for the next several years. This chippy, upbeat music stands in contrast to the dismal lyrics about someone ready to off himself over losing his gal pal. The Police were a rock/reggae/punk/new wave machine that would dance across the ears of millions in their time, and all of us who heard them were lucky to have done so.

The Cars – You’re All I’ve Got Tonight

Speaking of new wave, it turns out it blended nicely with hard rock, and The Cars put that into full effect on their debut album. Pretty heavy, very melodic and insanely catchy, this song wasn’t released as a single but wound up all over radio as The Cars became a popular act. Super fun song to bop to.

1978 is now done and dusted. Just one more post to go from the decade before this turns to the 1980’s and things just go totally insane.

Great White (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week7 Comments

Note – I am back at it now after my “new job” break. As of now I’m good as far as time to post goes, that might change as things go along but I should have enough time to keep up with the site. My post schedule might be irregular but at least for this week it is set.

1984 saw the debut of an act that would go on to reap success through the rest of the decade, remain a constant through the turbulent rock era of the 1990’s, then suffer great tragedy in the early 2000’s. But their start would be plagued by roadblocks.

Great White – self-titled

Released in 1984 via EMI America

Great White had been around for several years, having formed in 1977, just ahead of the newly-emerging rock scene in Los Angeles. Even their early years were rife with turbulence, but by 1983 the band had released a debut EP and secured a recording contract with EMI. The band worked with producer Michael Wagener, who already had his hands all over 1984 with works by Dokken and Accept.

Great White had already undergone a score of line-up and name changes by their debut full-length. Mark Kendall was, and is, the band’s lone constant member at guitar. He was joined by Jack Russell on vocals, Lorne Black on bass and Gary Holland on drums. Only Kendall remains with the band today, and only he and Holland remain alive as of late 2024.

The album features 10 songs at 38:22. Three of the songs are re-recorded versions from the Out Of The Night EP a year prior. Along with the band members having writing credits, manager Alan Niven, producer Wagener and Wagener’s great pal Don Dokken all have various writing credits as well.

This album was reissued in 1999 with bonus tracks and under the name Stick It. The bonus songs are a series of covers.

Out Of The Night

Up first is the title track of the previously released EP. This song jumps out and goes for the throat, it’s a steady and very hard rock track. This metal attack is well worth the listen, Great White came out of the gate sharp here. Grade: A

Stick It

This one comes in at a bit of a slower pace than the opener but remains quite heavy and pounding. It is a relatively basic song, though Kendall gets up to some nice guitar work as the song heads into the close. This song sounds exactly like a 1984 metal song and it’s a wonder that it never got any traction, this fit the scene like a glove. Despite that, this is the song with far and away the most traction on this largely forgotten album. Grade: A-

Substitute

And now we have a cover of the classic track from The Who. Great White perform the song well and make the sound fit to what they’re doing on the album. It’s one of a million covers of the song but it fits with what’s going on here so it comes out as worthwhile. Grade: B

Bad Boys

Time now for the standard ’80’s metal “badass” song. Great White do a good job of it here, this one is again pounding and intense. I don’t have any real criticism of the song or anything that came before it, but in terms of an album experience things are a bit samey. It’s similar, pounding rhythms throughout and it is noticeable. But on their own the songs do hold up. Grade: B+

On Your Knees

This is another song re-recorded from the EP and also the track that Don Dokken contributed to. This one is much alike the prior songs, though there are some more guitar flourishes and Jack Russell goes pretty sinister with his vocals. It’s again simple yet very effective. Grade: B+

Streetkiller

Here things switch up a hair, this one distinguishes itself from other songs with an extra bit of flair. This dark tale of a killer on the prowl has a nice snarl to it and is easy to headbang to. Grade: A

No Better Than Hell

One could wonder here if Great White picked up a bit of Judas Priest through osmosis or something. This song pounds pretty deep, even with a small section of drums that doesn’t entirely come off but overall does add some grim atmosphere to the proceedings. This song might give a moment’s pause to people more familiar with Great White through their signature works. Grade: B

Hold On

This one has the makings of a ballad but isn’t quite there, it’s still pretty heavy and retains the more gritty themes of the album as a whole. It isn’t the album’s most interesting song but it’s a step above filler material. Grade: B-

Nightmares

This one is another standard headbanger on par with the first half of the record. The album is keeping up its momentum throughout, again perhaps too similar in song style but delivering enough to overlook that. Grade: B

Dead End

The album closer injects some speed into this affair. It’s the third song brought over from the EP. It’s a pretty shit hot way to close things out – this one runs full steam ahead and gets the blood flowing. Grade: A

Great White was a nicely constructed debut for a band who’d been grinding away in some form or another for several years already. While the album fit the sound and feel of what was going on in 1984, sadly very few people took notice. The album charted at 144 on the Billboard 200 and quickly faded away. This led EMI to drop Great White, who would retool and come back with a more melodic, blues-based sound that got the band their traction through the 1980’s.

While the story of Great White comes with many twists and turns as well as tragedy, it is a shame this album did not catch on. It might perhaps lack the fully dynamics of the W.A.S.P. debut or the absolute red hot delivery of Out Of The Cellar or Tooth And Nail, but this record absolutely belongs in the pantheon of 1984 rock albums. The band rebounded nicely out of this commercial failure, but it’s a true shame that this one got overlooked.

This one is pretty easy to grade. The album maintains a nice flow and offers up many quality tracks. It’s a step below those albums we consider the greatest of the year, but it’s still a very quality offering that is well worth checking out.

Album Grade: B+

Not everything works like it should in the music industry, and it’s unfortunate that Great White were not able to gain a foothold with their debut. This one shines far above its status as an idle curiosity and should absolutely be in the discussion of the great albums of 1984.

Picking Five Songs From 1977

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year4 Comments

Here is the latest in my songs series, on an unusual day. After the post I’ll have an update on this site over the next few weeks.

And now on this 50 year long musical journey we arrive at 1977. Seems like it was an interesting time in the world, a lot of weird world events and all that. It was a bit of a banner year in entertainment, as the first Star Wars movie hit theaters.

It was a mournful time in music. For one, I’m not sure this was the greatest year in music history. Kind of a whatever vibe with a lot of this stuff. I vaguely recall the 1977 Behind The Music and everyone was just like “fuck that year.” And the King himself Elvis Presley died on a hot August night.

And just three days after Elvis left the building, I was spat into existence. So no more “I wasn’t around for this year” on these posts. I was, in fact, around – though I can’t cop to having any memory of the year, obviously. I think I have one very small, vague memory from ’79 but that’s all I recall of the decade, I was busy filling diapers and crying.

But even if the year was kind of lame, I had no problem selecting five songs from it. Good music is always around.

Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop

This single from one of the biggest albums of all time was one of my earliest musical memories. My mom had a carrying spindle thing that held a bunch of jukebox 45’s and this was one of the singles in that set. I used to play through those 45’s a lot, and I whittled it down to the ones I really liked, this being among those. Honestly a somewhat heavy song, by Fleetwood Mac standards anyway, and a great duet between Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie.

Judas Priest – Dissident Aggressor

A cut from the band’s third album Sin After Sin and another testament to Priest being the glue that held heavy metal together just before metal kicked off big time. This saw Priest really up the ante with the heaviness and include some real divebombing guitars. The song was a thought piece on the city of Berlin, at the time caught in a Cold War split that was stark and honestly insane.

Heart – Barracuda

This was another of the 45’s in my mom’s tote and this would be the one I’d play over and over and over and over again. This was an aggressive song and with good reason – it was written by Ann and Nancy Wilson after the press grossly speculated on them being involved with each other despite being sisters. And that main riff of Nancy’s offers a very short and straight line to the heavy metal I would get into several years later. Definitely one of my favorite songs of all time.

Rush – Closer To The Heart

This is an all-time Rush song for sure. Well written and arranged, it brings out a sentimental flair while still sounding totally Rush. The song really opened up the world to Rush in terms of radio play, landing them a top 40 UK hit and also getting their foot in the door in the US. Always a good time to hear this one.

Kiss – Love Gun

This last slot was a tough choice – it was between this and Aerosmith’s Kings And Queens. The latter is an awesome song but Love Gun won out in the end. The album was one of my first Kiss albums and also one of my earlier music memories overall, so it’s easy to pick this signature Kiss song. It’s easy to hear why it’s one of Paul Stanley’s favorite songs.

That does it for ’77. Inching closer to the 1980’s, where this whole thing gets insane as far as picking only five songs per year.

And with that, here is a brief update – I am starting my new job next week and I’ve had a hell of a time lately with leaving my old job and getting stuff together for the new one. I am going on a two-week hiatus from this blog in order to get adjusted to my new work. I will be working a lot of hours but I think after I get into the new rhythm I should be able to get back into the swing here. I don’t know what my post frequency will be but I should be able to figure something out. See you all then.

HSAS – Through The Fire

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week2 Comments

Time to dust off this old supergroup one-off and see what we have 40 years later.

HSAS – Through The Fire

Released March 1984 via Geffen Records

HSAS was the long-sough collaboration between Sammy Hagar and Neal Schon. The two had time after Journey released Frontiers and Sammy had been touring behind Three Lock Box during 1983. There were a minimum of rehearsals and the album was recorded during live shows in San Francisco in late ’83. The crowd noise was turned down for the recordings and some overdubs were needed on guitar, but otherwise the album is what was recorded on stage. For this project, Schon is handling the guitars and Hagar is confined to vocal duties.

Supergroups are often more about the members and that is certainly the case here, as the entire story of this album is in the lone paragraph above. So let’s have a look at each member of this short-lived group.

Sammy Hagar had finally established himself as a viable force in the early ’80’s after grinding away during the prior decade as a solo artist after his short tenure with Montrose. Hagar had gone platinum with Standing Hampton and then gold with Three Lock Box. In ’84 he was just a few months away from more huge solo success with VOA, and in a year’s time his world would look radically different.

Neal Schon had come up with the Santana band in 1971. After Santana, Schon and bandmate Gregg Rolie would form the band that went on to become Journey. They of course enjoyed massive success in the early ’80’s. Schon is still with Journey to this day and has a list of side projects and guest appearances that would take a book to keep track of.

Kenny Aaronson came up in New York during the 1970’s, starting as a teen with the short-lived band Dust. He’d then go on to play a long stint with Rick Derringer as well as a brief jaunt with a just-formed Hall and Oates. He was with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in 1984 and has gone on to scores of other appearances over the years, including a stint with Bob Dylan.

Michael Shrieve began pounding the drums in earnest as a founding member of Santana, thus linking him to Schon. After leaving that group, Shrieve recorded a wide variety of solo and session projects. He had just been doing Mick Jagger’s ’84 solo album when HSAS came up.

So this is the group of clearly accomplished musicians who would convene to record this effort. There are 9 tracks at a very reasonable 36:39 runtime. Everything was written by Hagar and Schon save for the obvious cover song. Both also produced the album. A few re-issues exist but nothing with any bonus stuff that I know of. If you were to want a copy of this record, $5 and a few minutes in the record store would do the trick, it is not hard to come by.

Top Of The Rock

The opener is a very simple hard rock track that sounds exactly like something you’d expect Sammy Hagar to record in the 1980’s. It would slot in just fine on any of his solo records. There isn’t anything really special or dynamic about this song but it is a quality effort. Grade: B

Missing You

This one is another pretty straightforward track, in some sense it is almost woefully basic. But it does execute well for a song from this time period. It does sound and feel like Neal Schon has his imprint on this song and there are a few guitar flourishes here and there for a bit of excitement. Grade: B-

Animation

This one wastes a few minutes with some weird, echo-ridden intro that does nothing but then it finally gets into a very nice, heavy and groovy song. It’s honestly a bit tough to grade since it’s half really good and half kinda shit. I guess that’s one way of being average. Grade: C

Valley Of The Kings

This one is a very nice, plodding yet pounding song that does feel like it’s going somewhere. It doesn’t necessarily get there but the song is a nice premise and it hits well with its pacing and tone. Grade: B

Giza

This is nothing really more than a small outro from the prior song. It’s fine from that perspective but on its own as a track on the album it’s a total waste of time. I don’t have an issue with musicians doing odd crap like that, but given that this project had several other songs they recorded that didn’t make the album, there was clearly room for something else here. This is a royal waste of time, thankfully it only wastes about a minute and a half. Grade: D

Whiter Shade Of Pale

This is a cover of the beloved Procol Harum classic. The original is such a stunner due to its organ, psychedelic vibes and mournful tone. This rendition is a standard ’80’s guitar rock exercise that turns the song into a rock ballad. It’s not badly performed but it also strips the essence out of the song. And playing an all-time classic like this kind of exposes that the rest of the album was written in a hurry and isn’t fully fleshed out. Grade: C

Hot And Dirty

Here the band really get down and rock out. The song is again pretty basic but this is also really slamming. Schon really gets going with the guitar and this is one you can really raise your fist and yell to. Easily the highlight of the record. It’s also the least-streamed song on Spotfiy, people are missing out here. Grade: A-

He Will Understand

This song starts out as a ballad about being alone, then it starts rocking out in maybe a bit of a rock opera fashion at one point. There are the makings of a decent song here, but this is pretty disjointed and clumsy. It could have been much more than what it became. Grade: D+

My Home Town

The album ends with a banging hard rocker. It’s all about the pounding drums and bass and Schon’s flying guitar here. The crowd noise was not able to be removed here, it’s clear they are in a concert setting. A really nice way to send this album off. Grade: B+

Through The Fire did wind up with the fate of being a side project album. The collective fanbases of Sammy Hagar and Journey did not fall all over themselves to purchase the record. The album did not chart at all. The album’s only single was Whiter Shade Of Pale and it barely charted, hitting 94 on the Hot 100. The album was quickly forgotten as Sammy Hagar went into his VOA era and later into Van Halen, while Neal Schon pressed on with Journey. Hagar and Schon would reconvene decades later with the Planet Us project, though they only did two songs that were released later on a Sammy solo record.

The verdict on Through The Fire is honestly a hair more complicated that it seems on the surface. One aspect that does stand out is the production – they did a great job capturing new songs from live shows. It’s very easy to hear each instrument here and everything sounds great. It does have that live album feel to it but it was captured wonderfully. It is something that needs to be pointed out when discussing the record.

Overall though, this one doesn’t offer a whole lot. There are a handful of quality songs and there are a few missteps. It does stand out that this project had promise and could have benefited from more time in the oven. If they’d taken more time to flesh out some songs and offer up a few more dynamics, we’d be talking about a much different album.

Album Grade: C-

In the end we’re left with a footnote in the careers of Hagar and Schon, as well as Aaronson and Shrieve. That’s often what happens with these side project sort of releases – a bit of hype when it comes together, then the album quickly hits the cut-out bin as the band members go on to their day jobs. It’s a cheap and easy piece to get if you’re a Sammy or Neal completionist. (If you’re a Kenny Aaronson completionist, you need help and a large bank roll) But this album is not essential for any sort of listening beyond that, even in the backdrop of 1984 this one got left in the wake of all the massive music that came around that year.

Picking Five Songs From 1976

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year4 Comments

After a few weeks layoff due to super busy stuff, I’m getting back to this thing again. I’m also working well ahead on these now so the series won’t be interrupted again. It’s not like it takes any massive amount of time to put these posts together.

We’re now to 1976, which is the last time you’ll see me say I wasn’t around for the year. This is also where things start getting tough – this was probably the most difficult five songs I had to pick of all I’ve been through so far. Yes, the 1980’s get insanely crowded but it’s so absurd by that point that it’s actually easier to just grab five songs. This year I had to bump things left and right, and really go over the five I wanted. But I did eventually get a list together so let’s have at it.

The Runaways – Cherry Bomb

Up first is this fantastic cut from the revolutionary all-woman group. It was the start of the illustrious careers of Joan Jett and Lita Ford, but even beyond that it was a massive dose of grit and attitude. And it was seriously heavy – heavier music was about to really take off and The Runaways were definitely a part of that.

Judas Priest – The Ripper

Speaking of heavy, it’s time to welcome Judas Priest to these lists. If you’re thinking this is just the first of many appearances, you’d be right. Heavy metal was kind of in a down period as Black Sabbath were fading during this time, but Priest served as the bridge between Sabbath and the metal golden era of the ’80’s. Here they cut into the gruesome tale of Jack The Ripper, perhaps the most notorious criminal in history. The guitar work that truly set heavy metal apart is center stage here, and while Rob Halford is fairly restrained through most of the song, he lets loose at the end.

Boston – Foreplay/Long Time

Up next is a cut from the world famous Boston debut. This has one of the best instrumental sections around in the Foreplay intro. Then the song breaks into Long Time, a fantastic rocker about having to move on. The lyrics are philosophically heavy, but it’s just as easy to totally rock out to the music too. And in defiance of the “shorter is better” pop song format, this nearly 8 minute long cut still gets airplay 48 years on.

Kiss – God Of Thunder

Kiss had a banner year in 1976, releasing two of their best albums and truly becoming a force in the live market. But for all of their triumphs that year, it’s this plodding heavy metal track that Paul Stanley brought to the table that does it for me. Bob Ezrin slowed the song down and gave it to Gene Simmons to sing, and this is easily one of Gene’s biggest moments on record. Even the most die-hard of extreme metalheads get down to this song.

AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Wrapping up with another list debut, AC/DC crack this one with one of their early signature songs. This snarling, tough tale of a killer for hire is both rocking and pretty funny. It’s easily one of the band’s most recognizable songs today, though it took years for it to get from Australia to the US. But the gritty rock and sing-along chorus are just too good to be passed up.

That does it for 1976. The next few weeks will close out the ’70’s as music really started changing dramatically, then the ’80’s come around and make these lists damn near impossible to do. ‘Till then.