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Friday, June 16, 2006

271. Hoodoo Gurus / Electric Soup: The Singles Collection. 1992. 4/5.

All metal fans have some sort of 'compromise' CDs in their collection, whether it be for their partner, parents, children, a combination, or just because they like them!
Australian rock is one of my 'weaknesses'

The Hoodoo Gurus were a great band that put out plenty of great singles, and this CD drags them altogether onto one compilation. You can't argue with the quality of the tracks here, unless you just aren't a fan.

Australian rock bands of the 80's generally grew out of the same swamp as those of the 70's, and all hold their place in music history. The Hoodoo's are one of the best of them, and this album showcases why.

Rating : A favourite from the 80's before metal took over. 4/5.

270. Stratovarius / Dreamspace. 1994. 3/5.

This is one of the guys' early albums, and I quite like the way their music was in the early days.

You can notice a distinct difference between the way this album was written and recorded to, say the two Elements albums sound. Whereas their latter albums are undeniably power metal, this would be a very early version of that genre at best. You know what they are aiming for, but this is perhaps a little more 80's heavy than 00's heavy.
Does anyone understand what I'm saying here? I'm not sure I do...

Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I can equate with this album better than, say, Destiny, as the sound is a little closer to my heart than some of their other stuff.

Best for me on the album include Chasing Shadows, Eyes Of The World, Magic Carpet Ride, Dreamspace and Reign Of Terror.

Rating : Not bad for the era. 3/5.

269. Stratovarius / Destiny. 1998. 2.5/5.

Let's get this straight from the start. The rating for this album is a bit harsh, and it doesn't really deserve to be ranked as low as this, but it just doesn't quite slip into the ranking above this, which sustains all of those albums that I could put on at a pinch and enjoy it thoroughly.

Stratovarius are another of the plethora of power metal bands that have sprung up out of Europe in the past two decades. A lot of them are on a very similar footing, whereas their music is quite similar, and their direction is quite similar. And unless you absolutely LOVE one of these particular bands, you may not appreciate their efforts.

Destiny is a good album in this genre. Their power metal songs are excellent, the list including Destiny, No Turning Back and Rebel. Their power ballads are also in this category – if it is something you love.

No, I do not.

I appreciate their quality, but do not like them. Too slow, too ballady. Mind you, the singer really pulls off a great Michael Kiske impersonation during Years Go By and 4000 Rainy Nights, the two songs of which I speak of here.

This is probably a better quality album than I have given, but this is my opinion of music, no one else's.

Rating : I thought it showed a lot of promise, and could have been better. 2.5/5.

268. Eddie Ojeda / Axes 2 Axes. 2005. 3.5/5

This was a really interesting find one day on a music trawl, and an impulse acquisition that has not disappointed since.

This is a solo album by Eddie, better known as the guitarist for Twisted Sister. He has recruited some all-star vocalists to guest for him here, and it is interesting to note how they perform around the material. I'm not sure whether Eddie wrote each song with the vocalist in mind, or whether it was a coincidence, but each songs mood suit the music and vocals almost perfectly.
Ronnie James Dio is his usual brilliant self on Tonight. Cohort Dee Snider has a crack at Eleanor Rigby. Joe Lynn Turner on Livin' Free is great as usual, while Eddie himself sings on the other tracks, where he is a perfect match for Evil Does (What Evil Knows).

Eddie's instrumentals are also worth the price of admission. They lose nothing in comparison to the other songs on the album.

Overall, this is a pretty slick effort. Very much in the Twisted Sister type mainstream of hard rock and heavy metal, this showcases Eddie's guitaring extremely well, and is well worth grabbing a hold of and having a listen to.

Rating : Eddie Ojeda in his own forum to display his skills. 3.5/5.

267. Godsmack / Awake. 2000. 3.5/5

I have only just recently acquired the Godsmack catalogue, but god-damn it is impressive! Awake is just one of those.

This is an instantly enjoyable album. Awake is full of the trademark Godsmack riffage, the kind of growl you want in the guitaring if you are a metal fan. While this drives the album, Sully Erna's vocals are just sensational. These are the two aspects of their music that drew me to investigate them, and they are in fine form here.

OK, so maybe it isn't a perfect album. I find metal of this genre rarely do have the 'perfect' album, if only because the songs can get a little bit similar all through the list. But that does not take anything away from the artist or this album. I think both are great.

Best here in my opinion are Sick Of Life, Awake, Goin' Down and Trippin'

Rating : Lots to like about this album. 3.5/5.

266. Tool / 10,000 Days. 2006. 1.5/5.

Gawd this is a frustrating album to listen to. I wish these guys could make up their mind what they wanted to do with their music!
I got this when it was their brand newie, hot off the presses, and though I am not a huge Tool fan I was quite interested to see what they had produced this time around. The lead-up on Blabbermouth and other such sites was very positive.

So the result? Well, for me as I said, it is frustrating. There is some really good rhythm to some of the songs, and even in the middle of some songs. "10,000 Days" and "The Pot", which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, are two of the best examples of this. But the mood of many of the songs is just not my style. Sure, maybe the hardcore Tool fans love it, but as a bit of a Johnny-come-lately to their music, and just an average Joe in the fan stakes, I am not overawed at it. It is hardly what I would class as metal these days either. Perhaps they don't want to be labelled that way, and fair enough if that is the case.
This is very eclectic stuff. I can't fault the music itself, but can only express my disinterest in it on a personal level. If you are a fan of Tool, you should love this. I must admit to having trouble.

Friday, June 09, 2006

265. Iron Maiden / Edward The Great. 2002. 5/5.

Another of the increasingly common greatest hits packages that Maiden's record company are throwing at us. How they expect to have a single disc containing 15 songs possibly coming close to compressing their 12 (to that date) albums is beyond me.
You can't argue with the song selection, simply because they are all great songs. You have to give it top marks, because it is an album full of brilliant songs. But really – no one in the known universe needs this album. Haven't you all got every one of their albums anyway?!?

Rating : I just said it! 5/5.

264. Iron Maiden / Ed Hunter. 1999. 4/5.

This was a 3-disc collection released in 1999, which basically incorporated the PC game Ed Hunter, which had Eddie The 'Ead running around killing things in very Iron Maiden type locations, with the band members getting involved along the way.

It also had what proclaimed to be the fan's Top 20 favourite Iron Maiden songs of all time, in order, as voted by the fan's on websites and stuff. Now, if this is true, there are some weird fans out there. You cannot convince me of ANY Iron Maiden fans who think Iron Maiden the song is their best song ever! Anyway, I guess it is good for an argument.
And for argument's sake, here is a list of what I consider to be Maiden's Top 20 songs of all time, not in any particular order, and only up to the release of this compilation:

Remember Tomorrow
Phantom Of The Opera
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Killers
Children Of The Damned
The Prisoner
Where Eagles Dare
Revelations
The Trooper
To Tame A Land
Aces High
2 Minutes To Midnight
Powerslave
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Wasted Years
Heaven Can Wait
Alexander The Great
Infinite Dreams
Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter
The Clansman

Rating:  Reasonable game and reasonable song selection.  4/5.

263. Sonata Arctica / Ecliptica. 1999. 3.5/5.

The band that came to be known as Sonata Arctica was established by drummer Tommy Portimo and guitarists Jani Liimatainen and Marko Paasikoski in 1995, who were soon followed by the addition of lead vocalist Tony Kakko and bassist Pentti Peura to the lineup in early 1996. Initially named Tricky Beans, their musical style was hard rock rather than the power metal for which they later gained fame. Kakko explained that upon his invitation to join the band, Paasikoski mentioned that the group's sound would be "a mixture of Megadeth and Spin Doctors". An interesting combination. In those early days the band recorded three demos’, titled “Friend 'til the End”, “Agre Pamppers”, and “PeaceMaker”. None of these were sent to a record company, whether that was from the fact the band were unhappy with their output or the sound.
In 1997, the band rebranded, and changed their name to Tricky Means, and began to change their sound. This occurred over a period of two years, as they took that ‘Megadeth-slash-Spin Doctors’ sound and moved in a different direction. Tony Kakko in interviews since has cited the influence of fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius on their evolving sound. By the late 1990’s Stratovarius had already released seven studio albums, and their success in their metal genre obviously framed the way the band began to look at their own output. As a result, they began developing a distinct style that emphasized keyboard melodies and a recognizable rhythm line maintained by both the bass and guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko cultivated a clean singing style incorporating both falsetto and tenor ranges.
In 1997, they recorded a demo titled “FullMoon” at Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, marking their first authentic metal recording. During this period, bassist Pentti Peura was dismissed, and Marko Paasikoski departed due to limited gig opportunities. This demo was submitted to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band. On the back of this, two months later, the band secured a three-album contract, much to Paasikoski's displeasure. Following Spinefarm's recommendation to change their previous name for better marketability, the band ultimately adopted the name Sonata Arctica at the suggestion of a friend, combining "sonata" for their music and "arctica" for their northern Finnish home in Kemi. And from this, the band entered the studio to write and record what would become their debut album titled “Ecliptica”.

"Blank File” opens the album perfectly, straight into the fast paced tempo that creates the best tracks on the album. As an Album 1 Side 1 Track 1 for a band, this is pretty spectacular, and straight away showcases all of the great aspects of the band from the outset, especially the terrific lead vocals of Tony Kakko and the playoff soloing between guitar and keyboards. This is followed by “My Land”, not quite at the same tempo but follows the more defined characteristics of the power metal genre. The double kick drums and bass rhythm sets the platform again, raised in spirit by the choral keyboards and wonderful blend in vocals. The melodies throughout the openig two tracks set the platform for the rest of the album to come. “8th Commandment” cranks up the speed again, with the amazing finger speed of both Jani Liimatainen on guitars and Tony Kakko on keys hard to process at times. Anyone who enjoys this genre of music will get a kick out of the opening of the album.
As with all albums of this genre, you will have to accept that the power ballad will come into the mix. There are two on this album, the first bring “Replica” which breaks the usual mould in many respects. Tony’s vocals don’t whine, they soar powerfully and don't try to create false emotion, and the faster paced guitar and keyboard solo through the middle of the song aren’t trying to be heart-wrenchingly soppy. More than anything, it harks back to the hard rock roots of the band with a touch of emotional foreplay added into the mix.
Back into the swing of things, and “Kingdom for a Heart” tracks back into the keyboard driven pace of the album and provides further singalong lyrics that add enjoyment to the track. It is true that the lyrical content throughout might be classified as a little cheesy which isn’t unusual for albums of this genre, but the music itself helps you overlook anything that may on first inspection may sound a little out there. The initial single recorded by the band “FullMoon” follows, and the difference in style compared to the rest of the album is somewhat noticeable, lacking the overall speed and power that comes from the songs that were written during the sessions for this album. It has that more hard rock structure of the band's earlier days as well, and less of the style they performed for the most part on this album. The second power ballad in “Letter to Dana” comes next, opening with flute before Tony’s slowly rising vocals take over. The lovers of power ballads will find what they are looking for here. For me, it resides in that category which is difficult for me to enjoy. I’ll take a track like “Replica” over this any day of the week. “UnOpened” returns to a more pleasant sounding song in the track list, while an increase in tempo and energy comes with “Picturing the Past”.
The album is then closed out by "Destruction Preventer”, a perfect example of an epic album concluding song. Clocking in at 7 mins 40 secs, the atmospheric keyboard opening explodes into the song proper, and we are treated to the several changes in song structure and pace throughout, right up to the conclusion where Tony unleashes his final vocal assault on us, and we finish where we started, concluding an album that, as a band’s debut release, ticks a lot of boxes.

In 2001 I had reached a point where I was beginning to look for new music, to expand my musical horizons that had probably laid stagnant for a few years through the 1990’s decade. The only new bands I had really discovered at that time had been the alt-rock and metal bands that had ridden the wave over that time, such as The Offspring and Foo Fighters and Therapy? Beyond that, most of my music listening had stuck true to the bands I already knew. And the place I began searching was the European power metal scene, mainly on the back of my love of Helloween’s recent release “The Dark Ride” and Blind Guardian’s “Nightfall in Middle Earth”. And so over a period of 12 months, I began to find and immerse myself in the music of such bands as Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Edguy, Rhapsody and Sonata Arctica.
The first song I heard by Sonata Arctica was their amazingly brilliant cover version of Scorpions “Still Loving You”, taking a perfect power ballad, and turning it into an amazing speed metal song. If you haven’t heard it, you can check it out of the episode dedicated to that song on my “Which Version?” episode on this podcast. They also did a terrific version of Iron Maiden’s “Die with Your Boots On” on another tribute album. These two songs were enough to convince me that I needed to listen to this band and see what they could do with their own music. And so, I did, getting both this album and its follow up “Silence”, and playing the hell out of them. And of course, as you would expect, I found this album absolutely... average. I mean, it was okay, but I had overhyped it on the basis of those two cover songs. I was expecting something truly amazing, and what I got was an album of a genre that I was still coming to grips with, and as a result I was underwhelmed.
That did change over time. As I listened to more bands of the genre and more of this band, I began to understand their music, and instead grew to love it rather than looking for something that was going to blow me away. And it is funny how with all of those bands I mentioned – Stratovarius, Hammerfall, Edguy, and Sonata Arctica, it took me awhile to appreciate the music, and as I did, then all of those bands fell into my radar, and I found several albums from each of them that I truly love. And “Ecliptica” is one that I do enjoy every time I put it on.
For the past three weeks, I have given this a lot of listens. It helps that it comes after two solid months of albums that required reviewing on a daily basis, so I have actually been able to give this more of my attention. And from the outset I was reminded once again of what I love about this band. Tony’s vocals, the great drumming from Tommy, the running bass lines of Janne, and the trade-off guitar and keyboard solo pieces from Jani and Tony. It still reminds me of that time almost 25 years ago when I began to discover this genre and this band, and I am still thankful that I finally decided to spread my wings and give it a go.

262. Yngwie J. Malmsteen / Eclipse. 1990. 2/5.

Yngwie Malmsteen’s popularity and commerciality had grown considerably over the previous five years on the back of his debut studio album “Rising Force”, followed by the excellent “Marching Out” and “Trilogy”. The recruitment of Joe Lynn Turner as lead vocalist following these releases had brought with it the album “Odyssey” n 1988 which had also involved bass guitarist and composer Bob Daisley. The world tour to promote it had taken the band around the world and filled concert venues. “Odyssey” reach #40 on the US charts, #27 in the UK and #75 in Australia, on the back of the single “Heaven Tonight” which had also done well on the charts. Everything seemed on an upward trend, and the long battle for commercial recognition seemed but a fingertip away.
And then - the Yngwie thing happened. The Rising Force band dissolved, or imploded, or just plain fell apart following that tour. Jens and Anders Johannsen who had been long time band mates and collaborators with Yngwie, were moved on. Bob Daisley moved onto his next project. And Joe Lynn Turner, whose honeyed vocals had given the band the commercial sound that Yngwie had craved, was also gone, the two main focal points in the band unable to find a compromise where they shared the spotlight rather than crave it for themselves. On the verge of the true success that he had been searching for, Yngwie was back at square one.
Though he could well have played almost all of the instruments himself for any new album, if he was to play live, he was going to require a band, and so he went about rebuilding from the ground up. His first port of call was to find a new lead vocalist, someone who could not only try and provide the kind of vocals that he was looking for but could hopefully also be the final link in reaching that gold chalice of commercial success. His choice was to recruit Goran Edman for the role. Edman had sung on Europe guitarist John Norum’s solo album in 1987 and thus had the pedigree that could be what Yngwie was hoping for. Now all that had to occur was to write an album that could hold a candle to the success that “Odyssey” had provided, and also of course see if the band could remain together for any length of time before invoking the wrath of Yngwie Malmsteen.

The opening track on an album should always be one that is making a statement, that sets you up for what is to follow. And, obviously, in a good way, because that’s what you want from an album. “Making Love” is the opening song here for yet another new era in the Yngwie Malmsteen story, and it is... an extremely generic way of fishing for the commercial influence. It was also the lead single from the album, so you know where it is heading from the start. And if you are looking for a soft rock type of type of anthem, then you’ve come to the right place. Even Yngwie’s solo break through the middle of the song is especially designed for the soft rock scene, not the hard rock to metal neo-classical style that he had favoured in the past. It isn’t a terrible song, but it is a very different song from almost everything that had been produced before this. “Bedroom Eyes” is also the third single released from the album but has a much better feel to it immediately. There is more attitude, there is a harder riff throughout, and Edman gives us a vocal with a bit of push behind it, not a croon like the opening track. The lyrics are of the same style, and Yngwie’s solo is much more enjoyable than the opening track. To the point that when you first listen to the album, you believe that there may be some hope for it after all.
The comes “Save Our Love”, which was the second single from the album, and yes in a way you should be concerned that all three singles that were released are the first three listed tracks on the album. “Save Our Love” is a soft rock ballad of the worst kind. Now Yngwie has done these before. “Dreaming (Tell Me)” from the previous album is the best example. But Turner made it listenable. And while that’s not a criticism of Edman here, he just can’t make what is essentially a really average song any better than really average, whereas as Joe would have made it tolerable. Barely. Whereas the opening two tracks are written by Yngwie and Goran, this is solely on Yngwie’s back, and someone should have tried to talk him out of it. Maybe they did, I don’t know. “Motherless Child” bounces back in the same way that “Bedroom Eyes” did, Edman’s vocals finding the high range for the first time on the album, the music finding a far better upbeat tempo, and everything just sounds better and more like a true Yngwie track. “Devil in Disguise” drops back into a slow and moody tempo and has touches of earlier work from Yngwie in the guitaring. It’s a song that moves away from the style that has come before on this album, sets itself apart and as a result is one that keeps the interest retained throughout.
“Judas” stays in a monotone rhythm throughout, such that it could probably have just been programmed into a drum machine and synth. Nothing changes throughout the song, apart from the two Yngwie solo breaks that provide something slightly out of the box. Even Edman’s vocals barely show any change in tone or feeling. And then the same occurs again in “What Do You Want”, that same autonomous drum and bass rhythm that sticks its course over the almost four minutes of the song length. Did Yngwie just run out of ideas here for the middle of the album, and sit at home with a metronome and just find a riff that went with it? As much as the opening to the album might have caused some indecision about the album, the middle does nothing to improve it.
“Demon Driver” finally adds a bit of colour and flavour back into the album, the rise in tempo and run of keys to play off against Yngwie’s guitar bringing back the best aspects of the band’s music. Edman nails his vocals playfully, and the combination of keys and guitar gives this song the ability to bring the album back to life. Then we crash into “Faultline” which despite its descendance back to the slower groove tempo does manage to inject some great energy from Edman’s vocals, taking on the role to push through the doomier parts of the track to provide a little light to mix in with it. I didn’t ever expect Yngwie Malmsteen to be providing a track that may not be exactly doom metal but certainly has an influence of it incorporated into his neo classical state, but it is actually done reasonably well. “See You in Hell (Don’t Be Late)” once again brings back the best values of the Malmsteen sound, that faster tempo with bright vocals over the top and the keys vs guitar attack on once again. It really is a mystery that even though this must surely be the ultimate style of songs that the majority of his fans want from him, that we only get a bare few examples of it on this album. “Eclipse” closes out the album with a fairly typical Yngwie Malmsteen instrumental to finish with, and in the end the back third of this album rescues what was a quite ordinary middle section in comparison.

I have been a fan of Yngwie Malmsteen since 1986, when my heavy metal music dealer furnished me with a copy of the debut album “Rising Force” on a C60 cassette. That album was reviewed on episode 3 of this podcast back in December of 2024. Check it out, it's a cracker! The album... and the episode.
And like most other fans of the man, I adored “Odyssey” when it was released, and I listened to it for months and months. It felt like he had finally cracked the code, of heavy songs, guitar songs, commercial tracks. Perfect! Then came the dissolution, and the new band. No matter! I was really excited when this album was released. I was looking forward to what the new band was going to offer, and given the four great albums that had already been released, this one would have to be at least their equal.
Well, no. And it would be too simple an answer to just say ‘it’s the new singer’s fault!!’, which I think was actually one of the things I said at the time the album was released. Because Goran isn’t the problem here. He co-wrote four songs on this album, two of which are the better tracks here and two of which are fine. No, when it comes to an Yngwie Malmsteen album, there can generally be only one person who can take the credit when it is due and the blame when it is not. And that is the case here.
There are some reasonable songs here, but not one of them matches up to the great songs from albums of the past. None. And given his desire for success that must have been a bitter pill to swallow. The single releases were obviously designed to be exactly that, and hope that they drew new listeners into the album. But perhaps he should have been more concerned about keeping the fans he had. Because for me, the style of this album, and the initial huge disappointment I felt in it, convinced me to not buy nor listen to another Yngwie Malmsteen album for over a decade. I just gave up on him. If this was what he was going to produce, I had no interest in putting my hard earned money into buying it.
My friends and I also saw Yngwie Malmsteen live touring on this album later that year. Now Yngwie was amazing, don’t get me wrong. But they played five songs off this album, only one of which I was remotely interested in hearing. Goran Edman was extremely interested in himself, to the point that it looked as though he'd have been happier being in a menage-a'one. And although overall that concert was amazing, it was the last time that I thought I would see him play or hear other music from. That didn’t end up being the case, but it was a long time between drinks for both.
I’ve had this album out again over recent days, for one of the few times since then to be honest. I did initially have the vinyl that I bought on this album’s release, but it was lost in the flood of 2001, and I have only just recently bought the CD version to replace it. And I will say this – the album sounds terrific when you put the CD into your stereo. The songs styles may not be to my liking, but it does sound terrific. And I can tolerate this better than I could as a 20 year old who wanted something different from what was offered. Listening to it without an agenda has been fun again. But it is hard not to notice the holes, and while Yngwie will always be an amazing guitarist, sometimes his songwriting isn’t up to that task. “Eclipse” is one of those times.

261. Echobrain / Echobrain. 2002. 0/5.

Oh. My. God.
Where do I start with this piece of shite?

Jason Newsted created a major stir in music circles when he quit Metallica back in 2000, essentially so that he could find an outlet for his own creative juices, which he was apparently being denied in Metallica. At the time, there was a groundswell of support for him,that he should be allowed to create his own music aside from his duties in Metallica where, let's face it, he barely got a look in when it came to writing and creating the music. At the time, there was also the appearance that the once-great Metallica was self-destructing. This band, and album, was Jason's first port of call once the dust had settled on his severance from Metallica.

It is a stink-fest.

Seriously – if this is what is the result of Jason's creative juices, he really should have stayed with Metallica and kept getting paid a billion dollars to play their hits, because this is vile. It is boring. It is unoriginal. It is liking chewing on cow manure while bathing in diarrhea. It is almost impossible to believe that Jason could believe that this is a good thing. I know it is a band effort, but these guys were always going to have the weight of expectation upon them given the circumstances of their formation. They failed.
It was torture making myself listen to this album again in order to write this review. I shouldn't have bothered. I knew what I was going to say. But I promised myself I was going to do this properly, and that meant ensuring that what I initially felt about this album was still the case. It is.

If you ever watch Metallica's "Some Kind Of Monster" documentary, you will see when Lars, Kirk and Bob go to see Echobrain live. At the end Lars utters his famous quote, “Metallica are the past, Jason is the future!” Despite Metallica not having done much for me over the past decade or so, I still laugh at this comment.

This is one of the greatest disservices to music ever recorded. I refuse to ever listen to it again.

260. David Lee Roth / Eat 'Em And Smile. 1986. 3/5.

This was DLR's first solo album after his split with Van Halen, having already tested the waters with his single releases of I Ain't Got Nobody and California Girls.

While the album itself is not a disappointment, I know that at the time of its release I was expecting something completely different, and as we know that is a dangerous thing to do NEVER go into a new album expecting ANYTHING!!!

So it is true, this wasn't the style of album that I was expecting. But it grows on you, and soon enough I found that I enjoyed it without ever becoming a huge fan of it like others that were listening to it in high school. The songs are enjoyable, and Dave always has a bright mood about his music which is transferred here.

Rating : As long as you aren't expecting Van Halen here, you will get off on the right foot. 3/5.

259. Alice Cooper / Easy Action. 1970. 2/5

There was no such thing as an overnight success when it came to the Alice Cooper Band. They had done their time over a period of years during the late 1960’s, coming together originally under the name Nazz before finally morphing into the Alice Cooper Band, being championed by Frank Zappa, and releasing their debut album “Pretties for You” in 1969. It was an album of the times. There was a lot of psychedelia. There was a lot of experimentation. And it felt freeform and often like it was just a studio jam that was considered good enough to make the final cut. The production and direction in the studio seemed unkempt, which from all reports was an accurate description.
The band at this time was still trying to find its feet and was still developing not only its own style musically, but also what kind of stage presence they wanted. They toured behind the release of “Pretties for You”, but the response and sales of the album were slow and not groundbreaking. The decision was made to come back off the road in November and December of 1969 and return to the studio to write and record a follow up album. After the difficulties in production of the first album, this time David Briggs was brought in to do the job. Brigs had already produced Neil Young’s first two solo albums “Neil Young” and “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere” and his reputation had grown immeasurably on the back of this, and it was thought it would be a good move for the band. Hindsight tells us otherwise, with drummer Neal Smith later being quoted as saying of Briggs, "David hated our music and us. I recall the term that he used, referring to our music, was 'Psychedelic Shit'. I think “Easy Action” sounded too dry, more like a TV or radio commercial and he did not help with song arrangement or positive input in any way." Nothing like a positive atmosphere in the studio to produce a good album.
It had been 12 months since they had been in the studio to record their debut album, and while the producers behind the glass had changed it seemed that the musical direction was still holding true to what the band had written for the first album. The end result was the album “Easy Action”, one that divided opinions at the time of its release and still does today.

“Mr. & Misdemeanor” opens up the album in an almost vaudevillian rock style. It name checks the band’s first album in the lyrics, and as an opening it doesn’t really set the album up in a way that showcases what is to come. Lyrically and vocally it is a bit all over the shop, and musically it seems to miss the target. “Shoe Salesman” follows and is a completely different style altogether. Alice draws his vocals back to his beautiful soaring capabilities, and with backing from Michael Bruce and Dennis Dunaway, the vocals have a Beatles-like quality about them, not the last time that would occur on this album. The lyrics are pointed and yet short and sweet. “I know a shoe salesman, He's an acquaintance of mine, One day he showed me some, Marks on his arm in a line, I did not know what to say, Do you think those freckles will stay?". Then comes “Still No Air”, the third change up in style of song on the album. It harks back to the psychedelic in style, and off the wall craziness that in some ways is a forerunner to a punk intervention. There are quotes throughout from the musical “West Side Story”, such as “Got a rocket in your pocket” and “when you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way”, as well as “easy action”.
“Below Your Means” has the lead vocal performed by Michael Bruce, an interesting change with Alice partnering up on backing vocals. It does change the tone of the song. The song stretches out to almost seven minutes in length courtesy of a longform instrumental which showcases the excellence of the band itself – Michael and Glen Buxton’s terrific guitaring, wonderful bass lines of Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith’s superb drumming. This song gives them their moment to shine and does highlight the skills that they showcased going forward.
Opening up the second side of the album is “Return of the Spiders”, a song that carries on in a standard that we were to see and hear going forward from the band. Lyrically it's a bit vague (I really have no idea what the song is about) but musically and vocally it sounds like a bridge from the band’s early work and what they would bring forth on their following albums. Neal Smith’s drumming in particular is excellent on this song, as it is through the whole album. “Laughing At Me” sounds like the perfect song to have been released as a single and to promote the band on the radio. Alice’s vocals on this track are sublime, really hitting the tones that would eventually become famous and renown, and his backing from Michael on this track gives it an enjoyable musical combination, almost Beatles-esque in composition. For a mellow flower-power type track this is performed terrifically well. “Refrigerator Heaven” is a classic track, again another track that musically and vocally is channelling the best parts of what would become the great era of this band down the track. It lasts under two minutes, with Alice commenting on those people who decide upon being cryogenically frozen when sick until a cure can be found for what ails them. It’s a short sharp fling and easy enough to listen to and sing along with.
“Beautiful Flyaway” is the second song on the album on which Michael Bruce provides lead vocals, and again to me has Beatles tones about it, which really isn’t that unusual as this was the time when the Beatles ruled the music world but were also on the doorstep to implosion. The album concludes with “Lay Down and Die, Goodbye”, the longest song on the album, and one that dives back into the psychedelic roots of the band and its era. This was originally written and recorded as a B-side by the band when they were still known as Nazz, opening with a sample of the Smothers Brothers quoting “You are the only censor, if you don’t like what I’m saying, you have a choice, you can turn me off” and then careering off into an instrumental jam of the freeform experimental type that was popular at the time, and then finishes with the chorus from the demo. It is arguably a strange choice to finish off an album, but the Alice Cooper Band were not one to do things by the book.

When you are brought up with Alice Cooper’s albums of the mid to late 1980’s, and the sound they have, going back in time to listen to “Easy Action” is a really REALLY tough thing to do. I mean, it's like listening to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” and then “St Anger”. Actually, nothing is that bad. But it’s a real mind bender. And this is what I did with all of Alice’s albums prior to 1985. I knew “Constrictor”, “Raise Your Fist and Yell” and “Trash” long before I knew any of those earlier albums, and the era was so different let alone the music being written and released.
When you listen to the album in the context of the era, alongside the band’s first album “Pretties for You” and their third album “Love it to Death”, you get a clear picture of the progression the band was making from their earliest incarnation to their perceived glory years once Bob Ezrin came on board to produce. The production of “Easy Action” seems better than for their debut album, but if, as Neal Smith suggests that David Briggs was uninterested and unhelpful it can be heard in some of the decisions left on the album that perhaps an engaged producer would have done differently.
So. Listening to the album in the modern age. I first got a copy of this album in a release that was made of all of the first five albums about ten years ago. I had heard the album before that and dismissed it pretty quickly. It was nothing like what I had been hoping for and nothing like what I wanted to listen to. I’ve had the CD on again for the last few days, and also on at work, hoping something would jump out and grab my attention, and give me a way into the album in 2025. And when listening to it in isolation there are some good moments on this album. But it is very tied to the era it was recorded and the band that the Alice Cooper Band was in that day and age, There is little of the hard rock and attitude that this lineup eventually became famous for, and suggesting any track off this album as a highlight or to use as an example of this albums’ style is an almost impossible task.
There are seven albums that came from the original Alice Cooper Band, and probably unsurprisingly I would rank this as #6 of those seven releases. Even more than that, when considering all 29 studio albums that comes from this band and then the solo career of Vincent Furnier himself, this does rank at #28 of those 29. It isn’t so much that it is a bad album, because musically there is some very good work done by the band. But the songs are unable to strike a chord or find an audience. Even when it was released, the album bombed, as had their debut album, and there had to have been questions asked as to how much life this band had in them. But their stage show was catching on and drawing fans to their gigs, and the resulting change in style of their music to become this ‘shock rock’ genre rather than the psychedelic form it resided in on “Easy Action”, the stripping down of the sound and songwriting, was partly what was to kickstart the real beginning of their career.

258. Y&T / Earthshaker. 1981. 3/5

More of the same from one of the bands in the 1980's who knew how to do it well.

This is one of their earliest releases, and while it is a good solid album, it resembles so many of this band's albums in that it has some good songs on it, but overall it can't quite climb out of the 'good' album rating to the 'great' album category.

I've said it all before about these guys, and it all remains the same. Great songs, like Hurricane, Squeeze, Young And Tough and Knock You Out just can't pull this album out of the normal, average and everyday. And there is nothing wrong with that. This is still a good album and a joy to put on and listen to. But when you compare it to other albums throughout history, it can't be considered above them.

Rating : Good and solid. 3/5.

257. Dokken / Dysfunctional. 1995. 3/5.

You know that a band, or certain members in a band, are not getting on, when at the peak of their powers and popularity, with the music world at their feet, they disband. This was definitely the case for Dokken, who in the late 1980’s on the back of albums such as “Tooth and Nail”, “Under Lock and Key” and “Back for the Attack” had built up a huge following based around the excellent rhythm section of drummer Mick Brown and bass guitarist Jeff Pilson, vocalist Don Dokken and guitar hero George Lynch. After the huge tour to promote ”Back for the Attack” which then spawned the excellent live album “Beast from the East”, the build-up of tension within the band must have come to a point of no return. There had always been a simmering tension between Dokken and Lynch, both of whom had their own ideas on the direction the band should be heading, and many always guessed it would only be a matter of time before the two found a way to part terms. In March 1989, this is exactly what happened, and all four members went their separate ways.
Over the next five years each had their own successes. Lynch and Brown peeled off together and formed Lynch Mob, releasing two albums, “Wicked Sensation” and the self-titled “Lynch Mob” to solid reviews. Pilson plied his trade in several bands including Flesh & Blood, appearing on the McAuley Schenker Group’s third album “M.S.G.” before joining Dio for the “Strange Highways” album. The first signs of a melting in tension came from Lynch’s solo album, “Sacred Groove”. Pilson made contributions to two tracks on the album, co-writing the lyrics to the song “Flesh and Blood” and playing bass on the track “We Don’t Own This World”. Perhaps more importantly, Don himself co-wrote “We Don’t Own the World” and at one point was going to sing lead vocals on it as well. If nothing else, it showed that the friendships still existed there in part at least.
Dokken had written and recorded a solo album in 1990 called “Up from the Ashes” by a group that included Europe’s John Norum on guitar, Accept’s Peter Baltes on bass and Mikkey Dee on drums, which had been well received, and now in 1993 he began to put together his second. Mick Brown had come on board having left Lynch Mob, and they then convinced Pilson to come on board as well, and the three began composing songs for a new album. It was suggested that it might make good commercial sense to see if Lynch would be interested in playing on the album, and so the three sent him the material they had been composing. Lynch was sufficiently impressed that he agreed to return, and thus saw the return of the band under the name Dokken. With no big name label to distribute it was initially released in Japan simply under the name Dokken, but once they were picked up by Columbia the album was remixed and a couple of extra tracks recorded and added. And thus came the return of Dokken the band, and the first album to be released in their new era was perhaps fittingly titled “Dysfunctional”.

The first thing that must be said about this album is this – don't come into listening to this thinking it is a Dokken album that sounds like their 1980’s releases, because it is not. This is 1995, it is the very back end of the grunge movement and the beginning of the morphing into the alternative rock and metal movement. And that is what you are going to get here. An album that is atypical of the era, featuring four excellent individual musicians who are very good at their job. The question that remains is, does it work? Well... it is an interesting proposition.
The return of producer Michael Wagener is of obvious benefit. He and Don had been friends for over 15 years at this point in time, and his help in mixing and or producing the first three Dokken albums had proven a positive influence. And given the time this was released, he was going to have to be at his best in order to get the best from the band in an era when most of their contemporaries had moved on to other careers.
“Inside Looking Out” gets a little repetitive in both rhythm and vocal, But Lynch’s solo breaks bring a different energy to the track that gives it a kick at the appropriate time. “Hole in My Head” has a dual vocal between Don and Jeff that almost sounds like it wants to be like Alice in Chains without the harmony. It’s an interesting style, one that I am never sure as to whether I like it or abhor it. Once again though George arrives to change things up in the middle of the track and kick some energy back in when it is needed. I’m not sure that it is a good thing that both opening tracks only seem to come alive when his distinctive soloing arrives, but its a good thing it does. “Hole in My Head” segues straight into “The Maze”, and we are stuck in a very basic yet solid rhythm that lays the base for the duelled vocals throughout again. Here the pace drops back to a slow mid tempo, and the clockwork chug of the rhythm riff sets itself for the five minutes duration of the song.
Stick that tempo on repeat people, as we move into the lengthy “Too High to Fly”. If you listen to the album you’ll know the story by now, the alternative rock grunge riff holds court through the song, fading in and out at times to highlight the solid 2/4 drum beat that barely changes throughout. Don’s vocals offer varied varieties of energy dependent on the mood of the piece. It seems like a strange song, length wise at least, to release as a promo single, but its musical style probably best suits the age of the album and perhaps was a fair reflection of what they wanted to highlight from this album.
It wouldn’t be Dokken without a ballad or two, and the first on this album follows with “Nothing Left to Say”, a Don and Jeff special with acoustic guitars and orchestral pieces added in, and their dual vocals showcasing their best qualities here. Acoustic ballads are for the most part far better than power ballads, and here there is a lot to enjoy with George’s guitar and the vocals. “Shadows of Life” proves to be the most aggressive song musically on the album, with Mick hitting his drums harder, George riffing harder, and Don’s vocals... well... he’s trying to be heavier, but with his voice that isn’t an easy proposition. This is followed by a great opening riff from George to start off “Long Way Home”, one that sets this off in the right direction. This has characteristics of Queensryche of the same era, another band that was struggling to rediscover its identity in the mid-1990's. Then comes the second acoustic based ballad of the album “Sweet Chains”, which follows the same formula as the first on the album did, though without quite the same result. They should have stuck to just the one. “Lesser of Two Evils” though brings the album back onto the tracks, with what really sounds like an 80’s track played in a 90’s theme, substituting the hair metal enthusiasm for the grunge seriousness, toning back the outward joy to portray the grown up band talking about grown up things.
“What Price” is the heaviest song on the album, a much ramped up song in every respect from anything else that appears on the album. The vocals finally have a bit of grunt behind them, Mick gives a great performance on the drums, and George’s two solo breaks, which simply not long enough on either occasion, are reminiscent of what he used to unleash in the 80’s. If you listen to the sound closely though, strangely enough there is a real similarity to stuff done by The Doors back in the day. It’s a stretch as a tangent. The song is barely structured, and perhaps that is part of it, but the mix of styles here certainly make it interesting. All of which is then brought back to earth by the cover of the Emerson, Lake and Palmer song “From the Beginning” to close out the album. You can tell this is a tack on, because it doesn’t really fit the album the way it has been written and recorded. It’s a strange decision, either by the band or label, and I guess in some ways does sum up what has gone on here.
There is a mix of influences on this album from my perspective, and I’m sure the band may well not agree. But I hear the band trying to incorporate sounds from bands such as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains in the same way Queensryche was on its album “Promised Land”, and that is where the conflict within me begins.

Missing Dokken at their height of their career, at a time at the end of my high school years when they would have ranked as one of my favourite bands had I heard those first four albums at the time they were released, is a regret that I cannot change. It is such a shame, especially for Past Bill who would have enjoyed them so much, and would have air guitared and sung all of those songs all the way through my final year of high school. So it wasn’t until over a decade later that I began to listen to them in earnest, and went about getting those albums and discovering that regret that I now have.
What that meant was that I got this album at pretty much the same time as I got those great 80’s releases, and so my initial listens to the album were at a massive disadvantage. How could this album, with its revamped sound to deal with the changed landscape of the mid-1990's, ever hope to compete with “Tooth and Nail” and “Back for the Attack”? The answer is, it couldn’t. And that answer hasn’t changed. And that comment is not meant to slag off this album. It’s just a simple fact that Dokken was a very good 1980’s band that played great music of that era, and what they play here isn’t as good.
When I brought this album out to do this episode, it was with an open mind. Over the years since when I have listened to the album it a has been with a slow and building enjoyment. Because what the band has put together here is perhaps one of the better albums by an 80’s band released in the mid-1990's. The fact that it was also a reunion album, their first SINCE those heady glory days, is also quite a fillip. Now it isn’t a top shelf grunge album, or a top shelf alternative album. It isn’t a top shelf Dokken album. If you come in looking for a Dokken album you will possibly leave disappointed. If you are coming in for a grunge or alternative album, you will possibly leave disappointed.
BUT – if you come in with a love for what these four bandmates have done in the past, and you are willing to accept that the change on this album was a necessity of the times, and you want to hear what they can do with that genre of music... then I think you may find something worthwhile listening to. It isn’t all brilliant. A lot of it is formula driven, taking a colour-by-numbers look at the genre and trying to fit their styles and attributes around it. And some of it is more boring than it is diversified. For many it might be a bridge too far.
For my own part, I’ve enjoyed this again. It won’t rank on any lists of great albums or cutting edge albums or album produced in the 90’s. It reached #47 on the US charts on release, probably only for the fact that this foursome had reunited, and it quickly slid back into oblivion. But it gives an intriguing snapshot of the 80’s metal band still making a go of it in the mid-1990's and getting to a certain level of success.

256. KISS / Dynasty. 1979. 3/5.

Riding on the crest of the wave of enormous popularity, Kiss had spent the 12 months prior to this album’s production moving in different directions, looking to find a way to continue the cash train that had been barrelling them along over recent years. After the release of the “Alive II” album, all four members of the band had gone off on their own and recorded their own solo projects, all of which were released on the same day in September 1978. The episodes for all four of those albums can be found in Season 5 of this podcast for your listening pleasure. Kiss's commercial popularity was at its peak by 1978, and the band’s manager Bill Aucoin felt that the cycle of album releases and touring had taken Kiss as far as they could go, and that it was time to elevate the group's image to the next level. He came up with a plan to make a movie starring the band as themselves but superheroes, a process that began with the 1977 release of a Kiss comic book. The band agreed, no doubt seeing further fame and dollars as a result. It culminated in “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”, a film that ultimately the band hated as they felt that it made them look like ‘buffoons’ in their own words. What had begun as the band’s next step toward total domination had turned into a setback, despite the cult following the film has found in the years since.
The release of the band’s first best-of compilation album “Double Platinum” became a smash hit, and so all that was left for the band to do from this point, was to come together, and write and record a new album. Was there pressure on the band at this point of their career? The six studio albums they had released up to this point in time were continuing to sell around the world, and the popularity of the group was unquestioned. And although the music world was beginning to swing on its axis, with equal parts of disco and punk revolving into a surge in heavy metal, was the Kiss sound one that could be retained, or was it time for it to be tweaked?

For anyone of my generation, everyone knows the opening bassline to the album, the song that, in Australia at least, caught the imagination of everyone aged 6-26. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, whether you are a Kiss fan or not, is a song that is burned into everyone’s psyche of that generation. That running bass riff, the middle of the track drum solo into Paul’s guitar riff, the joining of Gene on bass again and then Ace’s short sharp fired solo. The lyrics that you can’t help singing along with. All of it is iconic. Sure, the segueing with the disco era had become more of a problematic talking point with the hard core fans at the time, but as a kid, I just loved it.
The cover of the Rolling Stones song “2000 Man” – not something I realised until long after I had enjoyed this album over and over – is a great exhibition of Ace Frehley’s vocal range. No doubt invigorated after his solo album, Ace sounds great ere, and the song for me is a favourite. I love his guitaring on this song as well. Like I said, I just assumed this was a Kiss song for some years.
The second single on the album is “Sure Know Something”, another long time crowd favourite that still sounds great on this album but is definitely in its element when played live, and just ramped up slightly in tempo and energy. “Dirty Livin’” is the Peter Criss contribution to the album, and when I say that I mean ‘contribution’. Peter wrote the song, and sang the lead vocals, but it is also the only song on the album that Peter actually played drums on. Criss was hindered by injuries to his hands that he had suffered in a 1978 car accident, although there were also rumoured to be other problems with drugs and alcohol that may have contributed to a decline in his skills. Anton Fig, who had played on the Ace Frehley solo album, was brought in, and played drums on all other tracks on the album apart from this one.
The second side of the album doesn’t have quite the same magic as the first, but still has its moments. Gene’s “Charisma” is what you expect from a Simmons penned track, with a solid rhythm and sordid vocal line throughout. “Magic Touch” is written by Paul alone, and comparing it to the two singles on the first side of the album which he had co-writers in Desmond Child and disco producer Vini Poncia, it lacks something that makes both of those songs memorable. “Hard Times” is the second Ace song, and again I really enjoy this. It has the hard rock edge that make his contributions so enjoyable. Once again, his vocals are great, and his riff and solo are both great. Gene returns with “X-Ray Eyes”, another atypical Simmons song with his charismatic vocals and lurid lyrics, but with a nice mix of the guitars and some keyboards. The album concludes with Ace’s “Save Your Love”, which does not touch the heights of his previous contributions. His almost-talking vocal lines during the verses don’t do it for me, it feels weak, and there is a too dominant vocal backing from Paul and Gene that just doesn’t mix as well. It’s a slightly disappointing end.
It is interesting how this became Kiss’s ‘disco’ album. Peter’s song had been updated to a modern sound, which then tended to affect some of the direction this album took. Apparently Paul and Gene had spoken to producer Giorgio Moroder leading up to this album, before deciding to call in Vini Poncia to produce “Dynasty”. Poncia had produced Peter’s solo album, and also helped compose “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, all of which created the disco album hype that “Dynasty” has since resided in.

Remember how I first heard Kiss? C’mon. Surely you have all heard the previous episodes on this podcast of all of the Kiss albums that I have done? If you haven't, well go back now and listen to them immediately! So, as you all know I first discovered Kiss through my eldest cousin, who had taken up residency at my grandmother’s house and had plastered his walls with Kiss memorabilia as well as playing Kiss albums at the highest volumes possible. It was the early 1980’s, and he was obsessed.
My greatest memory of this album is of course the lead single “I Was Made For Loving You”, and back in the day in 5th and 6th class in primary school we used to have a school dance at the end of the year in the last week of school for all the Year 5 and Year 6 students. At the end of that particular dance the teachers would… enforce… a dance contest where you and your partner, who you had been corralled into asking to BE your partner, usually against her will, would dance to particular songs and you would be marked as to how good you were. At this dance, my partner, who will never ever listen to this podcast so I can safely say that she was MOST disappointed that I always chose her, whose name is Stephanie Hill and I eventually came to be the Champions of that dance contest. And the song that we danced to was “I Was Made For Loving You”, and for that win I won a cheese stick and a packet of Toobs chips. And since that day I have used the Jerry Seinfeld-ism… “I choose not to dance!”
I didn't actually get this album until after I left high school, when I was going back to chase all of those old Kiss releases, and it was one of those albums that was difficult to get into at the time, mainly because I was listening to thrash metal rather than just Hard Rock, and because in the long run how many great songs are there on this album? Some would say just two and some would say none. But apart from the opening track and of course the big single “Sure Know Something”, sometimes it's difficult to imagine that this album was a great one. It is often held up as Kiss’s disco album, which in the long run is only accurate for a couple of the songs.
Flash forward to the current day and I have been listening to this album for a number of weeks leading up to this podcast episode, mainly to get my own facts straight in my head because as to how I feel about it in 2024. Because over the years when I’ve pulled this off the shelves to have another listen, I’ve always enjoyed it. It's easy to just go with the flow and say that “Dynasty” is only an average album, but for the most part I've always found this album to be very listenable and enjoyable. Whether that is because there is more of Ace Frehley being utilised on this album which makes it a change up for the band in that respect, or whether it's because at the time it was released I was coming to the end of my primary school years and this kind of album was one that was starting to attract my attention, I don't know what the answer is. If I was going to rate or rank Kiss albums then I know this probably wouldn't rank in my top 10, but I still believe this is a very listenable album for me and one that I can and have easily put on and enjoy without any qualms.
Did this album signal the end of the great first era of Kiss? In the long run that probably came on the album before, and this along with the next couple are perhaps the state of limbo as the band tried to work out exactly what it was going to do going forward. This was the end of Peter Criss's time as drummer with this album, and with Ace Frehley going by the wayside not long after there are certainly arguments made that this album along with the next couple of Kiss albums are being in that state of flux. However, while “Dynasty” may well be different from the remainder of the 1970’s Kiss albums and for some might not be considered as enjoyable, it certainly showed that Kiss was able to adapt to the situation that music was in at the time, and release an album that could still be popular and still draw in the masses at concerts. Sometimes it is hard to remember when Kiss WASN’T able to do this.

Friday, June 02, 2006

255. W.A.S.P. / Dying For The World. 2002. 4/5.

W.A.S.P.’s previous album “Unholy Terror” had been an exercise in balancing the song writing and the styles they had been composed in over their previous three or four albums, in order to regain a perspective of what the band was hoping to achieve. You can hear the episode dedicated to that album on Season 1 of this podcast. Blackie has been quoted in several arenas as saying that each album is a snapshot of what he was feeling emotionally and in his life at the time it was written, which he used to explain the differences in each album since the band’s early releases. It also helps to try and explain how “Dying for the World” came to be created, and the emotions that lay behind it.
September 11, 2001 needs little explanation, nor to explain why people's emotions sometimes ran off the rails following the event. W.A.S.P. was on tour in the United States when the events of the day occurred, and so close enough to have the full horror play out in front of them. For Blackie Lawless, a native of New York City, seeing the planes fly into the World Trade Centers became a life-defining event. There were plenty of triggers there, but it seems as though the most prevalent was rage. And he used that to his advantage when it came to his song writing. In the linear notes on the album, Blackie tells the story of how during the first Gulf War, he received thousands of letters (remember those?) from men and women in the armed forces, who related how they would blast heavy metal songs at their enemy when they were about to launch an assault, so that they would know they were coming. Early WA.S.P. songs were a part of that. And so, his thoughts as transcribed in those linear notes in regards to this album were as follows:
“...why not give our guys a fresh batch of new songs to go into battle with. Something that will inspire us and scare the fuck out of them. Think of this album largely as a collection of songs to ‘go kill people with’. Fuck political correctness. That went down with the Trade Centers. As the line says in the song “Stone Cold Killers” “my god will kill your god”.
Whether or not that is the kind of thing he should be spouting on the inner sleeve of an album is open to question, but it gives you a firm view of exactly what was running through his mind when he was composing the songs for this album.

This sounds like a W.A.S.P. album from the moment you put it on, which allays any fears that it may have diverged again as other albums have. And as has already been established, there is a lot of emotion in the lyrics on the album which then directs the way the music is written for each track. The tracks that are inspired or driven by the events of 9/11 are where the majority of the album comes from, and thus are the impetus of “Dying for the World”. The opening track “Shadow Man” becomes the first song that references black hearts within its lyrics, a recurring theme for Blackie in describing those who would perpetrate such an act, but does it also describe himself and his anger at those people? Blackie says that “My Wicked Heart” is sort of a prayer asking for forgiveness for his anger, before he goes ahead and expels it. “Hell for Eternity” is a spraying of anger and hatred, that is actually quite restrained in its recording. I can imagine Blackie writing this and screaming it at the walls. Ditto for “Revengeance” and “Stone Cold Killers”. These are simply just songs about releasing the pure vitriol that built up in Blackie’s heart.
However, is has to be said that this album for what it is worth also must have been therapeutic, and outlet for Blackie to get out all of his anger and frustration. The song “Hallowed Ground” resulted from Blackie visiting Ground Zero at the World Trade Centers a few weeks after the incident. The emotions he felt on that day were then transferred to this song once he returned home, composing it that evening. And the song respects those feelings he had after that visit. It is interesting however, that in the linear notes Blackie goes on to say - “After that song my emotions of reverence soon turned to full blown anger. “Shadow Man”, “Hell for Eternity”, “Stone Cold Killers” are the reflections of that. If “Hallowed Ground” was my wake, then the big payback was “Revengence”. I think that one title says it all”.
Interestingly enough, not all of the anger or songs on “Dying for the World” centre on 9/11, which actually gives the album more relevance than if they had. The song “Trail of Tears” was inspired by Blackie listening to The Beatles album “Revolver” over and over, but lyrically was inspired by the enslaving of the native American Indian nations by the US. Because of his Native American heritage, here was the second part of his life that he drew inspiration from to compose for this album, and his anger over the senseless loss of life over the displacement of these people something he was still reflecting on at the time. And “Black Bone Torso” touches on the continuing revelations about who he calls the child molesters (priests) in the Catholic Church. Given his religious upbringing, something he had strayed from but was on the way towards re-embracing, this was the third part of the life that contributed to the conflict on this album and in Blackie Lawless himself.

This was a rite of passage for Blackie, who wrote all of the album in his own words. And the songs are strong because of the conviction behind them. The band sounds great, Darrell Roberts on guitar, Mike Duda on bass and Frankie Banali on drums all doing their job well.
I bought this not long after its release date, as I had with all W.A.S.P. albums since the 1980’s. As a band they grabbed me from the start, but the albums had begun to swing wildly with each release. Whereas I enjoyed the tone of this album from the start, there was a distinct difference, in that there was none of the tongue-in-cheek humour on any of the songs here that W.A.S.P. had generally incorporated into parts of their albums in the past. The subject matter here was straight up serious, no puns, no relief, just for the most part anger and aggression, and no relief from it. As an album, that made it great to put on if you were really pissed off after a long day, but made it difficult to put on if you were just looking for an album to listen to in any other company. For me that didn’t really phase me, I’m happy to listen to it anytime, but the sheer belligerence of the material here must have pigeon-holed it for some fans. It was a different feel, one that did take some getting used to. The other part of the album that stuck out to me was the similarity to parts of some songs here to those from other albums, and in particular from The Crimson Idol. Two instances stick out immediately, the bridge in “Stone Cold Killers” especially, and then the several similar parts of “Hallowed Ground” that correspond to “The Idol” form that album. It’s only a small thing overall, but in being drawn to those similar riffs and harmonies it still grates with me a little to this day.
I still enjoy this album. It needs to be played in a closed environment to get the full effect in my opinion. Playing it in open air without volume does not give the full effect of the songs as they are written and performed. Headphone, or sitting in front of your stereo and letting them hit you rather than waft around you will allow you to feel Blackie’s anger, and after all that’s what drives this album, so you should be in a position to receive it.

254. KISS / Dressed To Kill. 1975. 4.5/5

The early career of Kiss, from the coming together of the band, their initial gigs and the releasing of their first two albums, “Kiss” and “Hotter Than Hell”, in retrospect all appears to be a more exciting and profitable time than it actually was. There is also an apparent discrepancy over the quality of songs from the band and the audience they were beginning to attract through the turnstiles. The first two albums from the band contains some of their best-known songs, even today 50 years later, but it was in the live environment where they truly came to life rather than the staid versions they had laid down in the studio. Their previous album “Hotter Than Hell” had fail to light up the charts, stalling at #100 in the US and then began to slip away quickly. This was partly due to the fact that Casablanca Records distribution deal with Warner Bros had ended, and the publicity behind the album was far less than had been the case for their debut album. Once the band’s management saw this occurring, they once again as they had done with that previous album dragged the band off the road where they were performing well, and insisted that they get back in the studio and record a follow up album, one that would be their third album in just 13 months. For ten days in February of 1975, Kiss was back in Electric Lady studios in New York City, coming up with the next round of songs to be tried out on their market. The album was produced by their record company Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart because of their financial position at that time, meaning they couldn’t afford to fire a professional for the job. With Paul and Gene looking over his shoulder, Kiss probably felt they didn’t need one anyway. Peter Criss wrote in his book “Makeup to Breakup” that Bogart’s first decision as producer was to bring in a bag of marijuana, no doubt because he thought that was how all albums were made. Paul Stanley in later interviews said that Bogart was less interested in keeping the album fresh than he was in saving money. He recalled that at one stage he had done a take that he knew from the outset was not good enough, and yet the producer said “well, that should do it!”, to which Stanley answered “no, it won’t”. Through the money saving traction of the producer/label president, it fell on the band to be more vigilant when it came to the production of the album.
Having originally gone into the studio with the working title of “Kiss at Midnight”, once completed and ready for publication the album was adorned with the far more alluring title of “Dressed to Kill”, along with the band dressed outstandingly in suits while in their makeup on the front cover. For the third album in just over a year, the record company was hoping for a bigger impact on the band’s third album attempt.

From the get go, this album is immediately on a better footing than the previous two albums on sound alone. Despite the absence of a full time producer, this album has a far better and crisper sharper sound than was prevalent on “Hotter Than Hell”. And that clarity helps to make this an enjoyable listen. The ten tracks here in total barely passes the half an hour mark in time though, which gives the impression that the band was under time pressure to get this album out on to the shelves. The lyrics composition also settles into the atypical Kiss topics, so sometimes it is just better to ignore the content and just sing along in blissful ignorance.
“Room Service” opens up with a bright and breezy guitar riff and Paul’s vocals bouncing along in rhythm, almost channelling a 1960’s pop rock anthem. The lyrics don’t take too much to interpret given the title of the song, yet it is a high energy opening to the album. Gene’s “Two Timer” follows and settles into that typical tempo that Gene written songs careers along at. He also doesn’t put a lot into the lyric writing here, drawing on a standard theme that seems to have the girl in the wrong, which is a little amusing given Gene’s proclamation about himself and groupies. Nevertheless, a solid song to follow the opener. Gene then follows with another of his songs, “Ladies in Waiting”. Now, just what could Gene be singing about on this song... “Their selection is inviting, they sure look hot tonight, and the ladies in waiting, will show you what it’s all about”. Gene actually plays rhythm on this song as well, while Ace Frehley’s solo does increase the interest in the track. Ace’s song “Getaway” is next, one on which he plays all guitars and bass guitar on, and as is almost always the case it ups the tempo and it sounds more like a hard rock song. The lyrics again aren’t Shakespearian, with “Some people, they tell me, I’ve been here too long, It don’t compel me, they tell me I just don’t belong”. But for Ace Frehley songs, that can be forgiven. In most cases. It’s the songs themselves that are the reason we come. Peter Criss has the job of lead vocals on this track, and he does a great track. Indeed, it is great to hear him singing a song that is this up-tempo rather than of the slower more introspective style he often does. He follows this up with “Rock Bottom”, co-written with Paul, which he also plays all guitars and bass on. The opening half of the song is all Ace on acoustic guitar, before it breaks into song proper and returns us to the harder edge of the album that we expect from Ace Frehley songs. It ends the first side of the album on a upward note.
Side two opens with the all-time classic, Paul’s “C’mon and Love Me”. Though written by Paul, it is Gene’s rumbling bassline that is the star attraction of this song, holding the track together and providing the wonderful rhythm underneath throughout that makes this such a wonderful song. Not for the first time however, it would be a cover version of this song that became its definitive version, some 17 years later by Skid Row on their “B-Sides Themselves” EP. That is where the full beauty of this song comes to full bloom. “Anything for My Baby” follows and is a harmless track. It’s a solid fill track, one that doesn’t have anything outstanding about it at all but is played at the right tempo and energy to keep the album flowing through. “She” is a reworking of another old Wicked Lester track, revamped enough to have that typical Gene slower tempo about it and the stop/go guitar riffs that occasionally proliferate his songs. It is the longest song on the album at a tad over four minutes, which fits the profile of “Dressed to Kill” if not the boppy style as it was not written during these sessions where obviously short and sharp was the key. “Love Her All I Can” is another standard Paul track with the upbeat tempo and almost joyful vocals, sprouting “I love her all I can and try to understand , The things that make her glad , The things that make her sad , I'm a lucky guy, I hardly ever cry , And when the world looks bad , She's never ever sad”.
The album then closes out with the song that probably made Kiss the band they are today, “Rock and Roll All Nite”. No party from the age of 16 to 35 can occur without this song being played. It was the party anthem that everyone in the 1970’s had to have been looking for, and it was Kiss who provided it. This studio version contains no guitar solo and is over in less than three minutes. However when they played it live Ace got his chance to shine, along with the extended by play of just chanting the chorus with handclapping and just Peter Criss backing on drums. This was the version that eventually found itself onto the band’s next album, “Alive!”, and which was again released as a live single, and which caught the attention and imagination of people everywhere and is today considered the definitive version of the song. And also righted a wrong by not having an Ace solo in the song in the first place!

I’m still somewhat surprised how much I love this album. The way that I enjoy the majority of Kiss albums is in the way you have a ‘guilty pleasure’ album or artists, one you probably shouldn’t enjoy for several reasons but you do anyway. Kiss has often felt that way to me, perhaps mainly for the lyrical content of many of their songs, to either being far too lurid or too close to crossing a line of good taste, or of just being a little too childish. And yet, I still listen to and love the majority of their catalogue. And perhaps that explains why I enjoy this album so much. In many ways it is the short sharp bites of this album that gives it its appeal. The songs mightn’t be masterpieces, but they are here and gone quickly, not dragging themselves out to 4 and 5 minutes when they may well have overstayed their welcome. With the quick turnover of songs and topics, there’s no time to really roll over in your mind what the song is about. I just enjoy the retorts, enjoy the fact that the music itself is fun and upbeat, and then move onto the next one. It explains for me why I have always enjoyed this album so much. A few lyrics, good music, nice Ace solo, end song, move to the next. Perfect!
“She” is one of the exceptions, and I think because it was obviously not written with all of these other songs and it being the longest track probably has something to do with it. I do love both of Ace’s contributions on this album too. But for the most part this is Paul’s album, his contributions are the ones that really give this album the lift it needs and keeps it floating above water.
Thanks to my eldest cousin David I was introduced to Kiss prior to my teenage years, and several school encounters leading into high school meant I knew who Kiss were, but without a familiarity of albums and releases. “Crazy Nights” was my true reintroduction to the band as an album releaser, and from there I went back into the catalogue. And while “Hotter Than Hell” had its moments, “Dressed to Kill” for me was always a better album, one that grabbed me with more enthusiasm than its predecessor had. It is an album that would not be familiar to the casual listener. Apart from the closing track, the majority of music listening people would not have a clue about any of the other tracks on this album. And that is a shame, because although few are heavy hitters in the regard that you MUST listen to and like these songs, there are some - “Room Service”, “Getaway”, “Rock Bottom”, “C’mon and Love Me” - that are well worth knowing and listening to. I’ve had it on permanent rotation for the week leading up to recording this episode, and from the first note the burst out of the speaker, I felt a surge of joy rush through me.
On a ranking list of the 20 Kiss studio albums, I rank this at #8 of my favourites. On a side note, when I reviewed this album for my then fledgling blog 20 years ago, I noted that if I was Kiss at that point of their career, I would have gone back into the studio with their current lineup (although preferably with either Ace of Bruce Kulick) and re-recorded this album in the modern day, added some oomph and given it a bit more spark, and it could have been a real belter. Great idea past-Bill! You should really have gone through with that suggestion!

253. Michael Schenker Group / Dreams And Expressions. 2001. 4/5.

Another completely instrumental album from one of the best guitarists going around.
Though on the album, each song has been designated a letter of the album title rather than a name, you wouldn't know when you are listening to the album. Each 'song' ranges from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and as they all flow into the other, it just sounds like a 43 minute instrumental piece.

It is all very rocky and guitary, and extremely listenable. My description will not be able to express to you how enjoyable this album is. Think of Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien, but with Michael Schenker.

Rating : A surprisingly terrific instrumental album from one of the masters. 4/5.

252. Dio / Dream Evil. 1987. 4.5/5.

For four years, more or less, Dio had been storming the world, with band leader Ronnie James Dio finally in the drivers seat and doing things his way. On the back of three massive albums - “Holy Diver”, “The Last in Line” and “Sacred Heart”, the band had had albums that reached top 10 in various countries and even had singles charting as well. As the bands that Ronnie had fronted in the past, Rainbow and Black Sabbath, had begun to slide in popularity after he had left them, his own band was ascending to its own platform of immortality.
As was discussed in the review for Dio’s “Intermission” EP, the falling out of guitarist and founding member Vivian Campbell with the band’s management had seen him leave the group, and in his place had been recruited Rough Cutt guitarist Craig Goldy. The one studio song that came on that EP had featured him on guitar, but the real test was yet to come, and it was something that fans around the world were focused on. Yes, we had heard him on “Time to Burn”. Yes, we had seen him perform live and been impressed. But now we were waiting to see what the band with Goldy involved would produce for the follow up album. Having been amazed and spoiled by the riffs and solos of Vivian Campbell on those first three albums, as well as his contributions to the writing of the songs, Goldy changed up that dynamic completely. But what was being felt at the time was not a sense of foreboding but a sense of expectation, of excitement to see what the band would produce with their new guitarist.
It was the age of releasing an album every year, where bands were still earning good dollars from producing more material, and Dio was no different in this respect. An album a year for the previous four years, including “Intermission”, for the fans meant a new album and a new tour for that year of 1987. But having moved from the dark and heavy “Holy Diver” to the more mystical thought provoking on “Sacred Heart”, the question posed was would the band continue on the course they had become the standard bearer of with their new album, or would they sail into a slightly different direction than their previous albums had taken.

From the first time you listen through the album, it is noticeable that the keyboards are more prominent here than they have been on the earlier albums. Claude Schnell had been a member of the group and features on this album as a co-writer on many songs, and although there are certainly keyboards used on “Sacred Heart”, in particular the title track as well as “Rock n Roll Children” and “Hungry for Heaven”, most of it is understated and only really brought to the fore when the songs are performed live. Most of the songs on “Dream Evil” though have that keyboard presence, once again though not as addition to the guitar but in complementing it in pieces of the songs. Indeed, it opens the album with the first chords of the first track “Night People”, a song that is yet another terrific opening to a Dio album.
The imagery of Ronnie’s lyrics continue to be a driving force in how wonderful these opening songs are. “Night People” asking ‘do you like the dark, do you like the way it moves’, based on those people who only come out at night and who are gone by dawn. “Dream Evil” having you fight around in the dark again, this time trying to ward off evil that is always surrounding you - ‘don’t think about the darkness, or the rumbling in the sky’. “Sunset Superman” again going with the night theme, ‘The night has a thousand eyes...before... the night tells a thousand lies’, and then ‘when you wake up in the morning, were you dreaming, screaming, trying to hide your broken heart, before somebody cuts it all away...’ again harking on dreams or nightmares, the terrors of sleep, or the hero of the dream as it ends. As always with his lyrics, Ronnie gives you both sides and in many ways allows you to interpret them in the way you want to. Is “Dream Evil” a horror movie or is it just the mind skirting around that idea? Is “Sunset Superman” a nightmare or a dream of the individual seeing themselves as the hero? Take it as you like it. But all three songs musically are just brilliant; the fast pace of “Night People”, the wonderful heavy riff of “Dream Evil”, and the sway between the two in “Sunset Superman”. And then there is the side one closing track, “All the Fools Sailed Away”, a track misinterpreted as a power ballad by some so called expert. This ain’t no ballad sweetheart, this is a fantastically developed song where the mood flows like the tide, telling its tale and having the song build to its crescendo through the use of Ronnie’s amazing vocals, the power of the guitars and drums, and then utilising the boys choir in the chorus to help bring the power to the lyrics. This is an epic song, as much of a ballad as “Egypt (the Chains are On)” is. It’s a tale with terrific emotion that is supported by the players. It is a triumph.
Given how amazing the opening side of the album is, if you were to be critical, the second half of the album doesn’t reach the same brilliant standard. They are perhaps what you would call good solid songs rather than awesome ones. Somebody with an unbiased ear may perhaps lay the claim that the band threw all their eggs into one basket and got those first four songs to start the album, and then had the leftovers to piece together in the second half. That is perhaps overly harsh, and as someone who adores this album I can still see the sheen that isn't quite chrome on these tracks. “Naked in the Rain” is credited solely to Ronnie as a writer, and the tempo as such does show the direction his future albums began sliding to. “Overlove” picks it up again, while the subject matter of both of these tracks differs 180 degrees from those on side one, as does the final track “When a Woman Cries”. It’s almost a dark and light side of each album. “I Could Have Been a Dreamer” was actually released as the first single from the album, which strikes me as very peculiar, because it does feel like one of the weaker tracks here. For me, the best song of the second side of the album is “Face in the Window”, one which feels much more like a Dio song both lyrically and musically.

When “Dream Evil” was released, it was a day of celebration in my school group. We had devoured those first albums of the band, some of us had been fortunate enough to see the band in concert the previous year, and we were desperate for all new music to be released. This came to us just a little later than this date in Australia, but I remember the day I walked into my record store and purchased it, before taking it home and putting it on for the first time. And it really was magical. It was like the previous year when I first got Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere in Time” and listening to it for the first time. Those first four songs in particular just boomed out of the speakers, that opening to “Night People”, the change in voice at the end of “Dream Evil”, the joy of almost flying along with the bridge in “Sunset Superman”, and the chorus with the boys choir of “All the Fools Sailed Away”. All of those dominate my memories of the back half of 1987, things like standing in the school hall on our Year 12 graduation muck-up day, playing this album at full volume at midnight and singing along with half a dozen other like-minded mates, and my 18th birthday, spent listening to this over and over while on a family holiday at the time.
I listened to this album a LOT. And it would be difficult to express just how much I listened to it. Every time I put it on to listen to now, it sends me back to those final school days and the hijinks we got up to, and the great memories of that time. They are all tied up with this album, so it is hard to extricate those emotional memories from the album itself. Yes, I do believe in retrospect that the second half of the album is a different tone from the first half, and that a couple of the songs here – perhaps for the first time in the bands history, don’t quite cut it to the same brilliance as all of the others written to this point in time. No doubt other individuals will feel this is a lesser album as a result. But for me, it takes nothing away from how this album ingrained itself to me, and how my love of it 35 years ago has never gone away.


This album signalled the last of the stability of the band and could be labelled as the end of the glory days of Dio. Personnel changes, directional changes and other projects coming along meant that the true brightness of Dio’s music probably ends with “Dream Evil”. There was still great songs and some excellent albums yet to come down the track, but this first and greatest phase of the band pretty much sailed away at this time.

251. Alice Cooper / Dragontown. 2001. 3/5.

Following on from Brutal Planet, Alice continues his journey along the new musical style he has built for himself in the new decade. This is also a continuation of the story that Brutal Planet forged.

Once again, this took some getting used to, but not as much as I found with Brutal Planet. Alice's voice continues to be the driving force behind his albums, taking centre stage and changing the mood of each song with his subtle vocal changes.

It's Much Too Late is supposed to be for John Lennon. "I'm sending you all to hell / I'm tired and I'm wired here”. The Sentinel is some creature of the devil out there harvesting souls - possibly the souls of dead rock & rollers. The ode to Elvis Presley is a bit closer to the mark - Disgraceland is metal rockabilly with blazing guitars - "Went to the pearly gates / Said I'm uh here to sing / And Peter said, 'Well son, you see we already got ourselves a king'”.

The more you listen to the album, and get the most out of Alice's lyrics, the more you enjoy the album. Alice always did try to make you think when it came to his music, and he does so again here.

Rating : More Alice Cooper stuff to digest. 3/5.

250. Motley Crue / Dr Feelgood. 1989. 4.5/5.

Despite their growing success throughout the 1980’s, with albums that led the glam metal genre and songs that caught the attention of fans around the world, Motley Crue as a band was doing a fantastic job of attempting to implode from their own excesses. Adopting a party attitude that included alcohol, drugs and women to overload proportions, by the time they had reached 1988 the writing appeared on the wall. In late 1984 Vince Neil had been involved in a fatal car crash when driving under the influence, which had left Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle dead. Two years later Nikki Sixx suffered an almost fatal heroin overdose while in London, and another year later he succeeded in overdosing on heroin again, this time he was legally dead for two minutes before being revived. Mix all of this in with the usual debauchery the band went through night after night, and the band’s management had begun to seriously wonder how much longer it could go on before someone actually died.
As a result of this, the management cancelled Motley Crue’s tour of Europe in 1988. In fact, they held what was basically an intervention to tell the band this news, and that they would have to change their ways if they were going to change the course of their lives. Following this, all four members of the band entered drug rehabilitation in order to kick their habits and move forward as a band.
Once they all came out having completed their time, Motley Crue faced a clear vision of the immediate future, certainly clearer of mind. And the writing and recording of their new album to follow up “Girls Girls Girls” became their main prerogative. Along with clear minds, the band also brought in Bob Rock to produce the album. Rock of course was currently on an upward trajectory having been involved in engineering the recent blockbuster albums by Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, and in producing the albums by Blue Murder and The Cult. He made two decisions when it came to recording this album that were to be direct factors on its success. Firstly, the band relocated to a studio in Vancouver in Canada, in order to get the band away from the influences that were obvious in their hometown. Secondly, each of the members performances on the album were recorded individually without the other members in the studio. This came about firstly to reduce the infighting that was a regular occurrence with the band in the studio, but also in order to focus on each individual’s performance and allow them to do so without the usual distractions.
What came from the culmination of this 18 month period was the album “Dr. Feelgood”, one that showcased just what the band could offer free from their addictions and ready to fight the world. It was an album that became the peak of hair metal genre at a time when it appeared its popularity could go on forever.

This is very much an album that probably needs to be looked at in the two eras – the one it was released in, and the one we are in now. And in the same conversation, the album can be seen to be a carefully structured mixture of songs that are hard rock icons and the Motley Crue speciality of teasing lyrics and catchy tones. Each of these are spaced evenly through the track list of the album, giving fans of all musical tastes the chance to find something they like, and then hopefully become entertained by those songs that surround them.
Take a listen to those songs that are best described as Motley Crue’s ‘girl anthems’, the ones that have an obvious lyrical bent which Nikki Sixx believes best serves what he is trying to say directly to his female fans. “Slice of Your Pie” makes no secret of what he is hoping to portray, with lyrics such as “So young, ever get caught they’d arrest me, School girl, studied up well on hoochie coochie, lick lips, kitten with a whip so undress me, undress me”. Nikki is just looking for a slice of her pie, and while back in 1989 that kind of lyric would pass over your head, 35 years later and it is probably a little bit questionable. The rest of the song moves on a similar line, while musically the slide guitar start does come good with a nice Mick Mars riff. “Rattlesnake Shake” is less questionable lyrically and further up vibe and up tempo, creating a pleasing and fun discord leading into the almost unquestioned star attraction of the album.
The album’s big power ballad single “Without You” serves up exactly what you would expect, delivering the kind of lyrics and music that made “Home Sweet Home” such an enormous hit for the band. It’s a love ballad served up with the usual Motley Crue signature honeyed vocals from Vince Neil and harmless music style that radio was still looking for during the era, and that the female fans of the era lapped up. Following this we have the less cultured tones of “Sticky Sweet” and “She Goes Down”. In “Sticky Sweet” we are treated to lyrics such as “When she calls me up my voice starts to shake, she says come right over, over right away. Oh good God there's a fire in my pants, then lightning strikes and she laughs that evil laugh. She's so sticky so sticky so sticky. She's so sticky so sticky. She's so sticky sweet. Now when I've done good she slaps me on the ass, it takes more than ten seconds to satisfy this lass”. And then for the very classy “She Goes Down”, we have “All of the day, all of the night, lick those lips, do you up right. Up and down, 'Round and 'round, 'Round the world, Spit it out. You know she makes me feel good, See you out in Hollywood. Flat on my back, she goes down, For backstage pass, she goes down, With all of my friends, she goes down, She gives heart attack, she goes down”.
Motley Crue aren’t on their lonesome when it comes to these kinds of lyrics in their songs, with dozens of 80’s bands of the same ilk preaching from the same hymn book. And to all intents and purposes, in many ways modern pop is still on a similar scale.
Away from these tracks, the songs not written about hooking up with girls all stand up pretty well. Nikki Sixx did spend time writing about other things over his song writing career. The opening title track “Dr. Feelgood” is still a beauty to this day, with that awesome hard riffing from Mick Mars and hard hitting drums from Tommy Lee along with Vince Neil’s spitting lyrics, it opens the album with the kind of fire and intensity that it needs. “Kickstart My Heart” is still played at sports events and stadiums to this day, another perfect example of the Crue’s best songs with a fast tempo and the energy just exploding out of the speakers. It remains one of the bands best songs. “Same Ol’ Situation” pulls out all the stops after the power ballad “Without You” and restores the best of the album, once again intensifying the fun and tempo that makes the very best Motley Crue tracks. And the finale of “Don't Go Away Mad Just Go Away” and the thought provoking “Time for Change” give the album the conclusion it deserves on a satisfyingly high note.

As I have already mentioned in this episode, “Dr. Feelgood” is not only an album of two halves but also two eras. I bought this on vinyl within days of its release back in 1989, at a time I had just begun my first job (though only on a part time basis) and had an actual income coming in so I could buy albums that I wanted once again. And at that time, and for the following 12 months I had an undying love for it in its entirety. It was a part of my soundtrack for this period of my life and was never far from the stereo at whatever event or party I was at. Not only that, but I also got to see the band for the first time live on this tour in May 1990, where they were at their theoretical peak. The album for me had no weaknesses, it was just a perfect album. For my 19 and soon to be 20-year-old self, “Dr Feelgood” was an amazing album.
OK, so let’s flash forward to the present day, where music has changed, bands have changed, and I’ve gotten a lot older from those golden years of youth. This album is one I have still played during those years. It has never sat on the shelf unlistened for any long length of time. It has always been a mood lifter, it has always reminded me of those heady days of youth, and I’ve always enjoyed it. And in the lead up to this episode, it has again frequented by CD player and playlists as I listen with a more discerning ear in order to offer up my thoughts for this podcast. And what has become apparent to me in this process is that, for me at least, a part of the veneer of this album has worn away. There are still the outstanding tracks on the album, such as the title track and “Kickstart My Heart” and “Same Old Situation” which continue to be great to hear, as well as the solid songs like “Rattlesnake Shake” and “Don’t Go Away Mad” and “Time for Change” which build the strong spine to the album. But there are other songs that 35 years ago I had no problem with, that were a part of the gloriousness that was this album, that I sang along with without question… that now I see and hear as… slightly less worthy of that accolade. “Sticky Sweet” – I mean, lyrically and musically, not brilliant. “Slice of Your Pie”? Yeah… ok, I guess. “She Goes Down”? That’s a bit questionable. And “Without You”? The power ballad of the album that does not fit in with my musical tastes in any way, shape or form.
So, while the album hasn’t changed over those 35 years, my tastes have matured and some of the songs here have aged out of their era, at least lyrically. Do I still sing along to ALL these songs when I listen to the album? Absolutely, those lyrics are burned into my brain, and once those melodies start, I just join in. And I don’t want to claim I have had a revelation and now refuse to like this album, because that isn’t true. Do I realise that some of these songs are terribly dated, either musically or lyrically or both? Yes, I do. But this album has been a part of my musical lifeblood for 35 years, and that won’t change. There are still some amazing songs on this album that are as brilliant today as when this album was released. And at that time, it was a must listen. I still love listening to it today. I will happily skip “Without You” forever though.