417. Metallica / Fuel [Single] [Disc 3]. 1998. 4.5/5

Third part of the three-disc single set.

Both of the live versions of "Fuel" and "Until It Sleeps" sound great, while the demo version of "Fuel", as with all demo versions, are good to hear once or twice, and then not again.

Rating: Good extras again. 4.5/5

416. Metallica / Fuel [Single] [Disc 2]. 1998. 4.5/5

Disc two of the three disc single release.

The two live versions of "Wherever I May Roam" and "One" are as good as ever, but of course we've heard them before on the Live Shit: Binge and Purge release. Could have given us some newer stuff that's a bit rarer - but of course there are THREE versions of this single!!!

Rating: Still good stuff. 4.5/5

415. Metallica / Fuel [Single] [Disc 1]. 1998. 3/5

First disc of a three-disc single release, to enable some money grabbing, no doubt. The fact is, I wouldn't have bought them except I got all three for less than the price of one cost originally, second hand.

Apart from the actual single here (which is probably the only decent song that they offered on the abysmal Reload), we have live versions of "Sad But True" and "Nothing Else Matters". OK, they are performed well, but we've heard these songs live before. Did they have nothing else they could have put out there?!!

Rating: Quite honestly, a boring release. 3/5

414. Alice Cooper / From The Inside. 1978. 3/5

Alice Cooper’s rise through the 1970’s following his legal change of name and separation from the band of the same name had been immense. “Welcome to My Nightmare” had been followed by “Alice Cooper Goes to Hell” and “Lace and Whiskey” as successful albums. That mainstream success, however, had come from two ballads that had come from those albums, “I’ll Never Cry” from “Alice Cooper Goes to Hell”, and “You & Me” from “Lace and Whiskey”. Both of these songs went across the grain from what Alice Cooper had produced on his stage shows, and while they portrayed a different side to the artist, it was still the shock horror that drew fans to his concerts.
During the US tour that followed to promote the “Lace and Whiskey” album, it became clear that Alice was becoming consumed in his alcoholism, and that something needed to be done in order to rectify the situation. At its peak, it is rumoured that Alice would drink two cases of beer and a bottle of whiskey every day, something that was not sustainable to healthy living. Once the tour was completed, Alice himself decided something had to be done, and he had himself hospitalised at a sanatorium for treatment. This was not a rehab centre, it was an actual hospital where people with severe mental illness were treated, which gives you an indication of how serious Alice felt about his problem. It was during this time that his record label released the live album “The Alice Cooper Show” to keep the fans happy during his time out of action.
Once he had sobered up and was released from his place of improvement, Alice decided to use his experience in the hospital as the inspiration for his next album. Creating characters from people he had observed during his time in the sanitarium, Alice began to piece together a story based on his time away which would become the concept for his next album, titled “From the Inside”, an album that was to be the beginning of the next phase of Alice’s career.

When it came to creating and writing his new album, Alice tracked down a friend who had experience in writing and creating wonderful and inspiring songs and albums. That person was Bernie Taupin, best known as the lyricist for Elton John. Alic said in an article for Ultimate Classic Rock in November 2018:
“Bernie was my best friend before I went into the hospital, so when I came out I said, ‘Bernie, I’ve got a wealth of material. We have to sit down and write this. It was sort of like dueling with each other. And we’d always try to leave the other guy with one unrhymable last word, you know? So Bernie and I would sit there and I’d tell him about characters like Jackknife Johnny, a Vietnam vet and I’d say, ‘Ok, here’s the story – he married a girl, he came home, everybody rejected him and then on top of it they rejected him because he brought home a Vietnamese girl,’ and so it just started right there. And pretty soon we’d written a whole album like that.”
Alice Cooper is one of the masters of writing albums with entire concepts locked into the songs. His track record in this respective is almost unparalleled. And while some people love the story aspect of his music, others find it a hinderance. What they want is great songs, ones they can sing out loud and move around to. That probably isn’t the end game here on “From the Inside”. Because yes, Alice does deal with the characters he has come to know, and while he doesn’t preach or push a message on this album, the whole concept is one that is one that is taken seriously – indeed, more seriously than you would expect from an Alice Cooper album. While there is an element of tongue in cheek here on some of the material, a lot of it is brought to the album as a much more serious concept. And look, perhaps it is only me, but there is a lot of Elton John in the song “Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills”. I mean you can almost hear Elton singing it. And the obvious connection between he and Bernie Taupin may well be the only reason I hear it, but it is there all the same.
So the quiet introspection of songs such as “The Quiet Room” and the ballad “How You Gonna See Me Now” are from this part of Alice Cooper that had found its way into his music, the ballad that was then released as a single in order to gain radio airplay. Then there are the songs that are basically on the characters in this play that Alice and Bernie have created, such as “Nurse Rozetta” and “Millie and Billie” and “Jackknife Johnny”, that really flesh out the story that is based on Alice’s real life experiences.
So, about the music. OK, it's not as cutting edge as some of his previous work. In some ways it is some of his more mainstream stuff. There are elements of funk being interwoven into some tracks, the synth and keys adding in another dimension as well. For the first time, there are a lot of guest musicians coming in and being a part of the recording, instrumentally as well as being a part of the songwriting process. And the album feels a lot less lighter than his usual hard rock shock rock genre. Whether that was the feel he was looking for, or was the natural influence of co-writer Taupin, who can tell. Overall though, the songs don't have quite the hard feel of his best work from the 1970's. The songs skip along well, and their stories are still interesting, and the music still finds a way to essentially be Alice.

Alice Cooper has released an incredible number of albums, so many so that it would be impractical if you loved every single one of them. And there are also several different eras of Alice’s music, which all makes for an interesting time if you ever try to listen to all of his albums in chronological order.
Having discovered Alice Cooper through both his original albums and his late 1980’s albums at around the same time, I always felt I had had a well rounded classroom of his music, so when it came to the time that I began tracking down the albums of his that I didn’t know, which essentially was the albums after “Welcome to My Nightmare” and before “Constrictor”, I felt I was in a good headspace to appreciate them for what they were. Well... that did prove to be a challenge...
“From the Inside” was no different to the other albums of that era from 1976 through to 1983. When I first got the album and listened to it... it just felt like there was something missing. Something that these other Alice albums had that this (and these) didn’t. And in the long run it was simply that the attitude in the music probably wasn’t there like I had expected or wanted it to be. And let’s face it, it had some tough albums to live up to. “Welcome to My Nightmare”, “Billion Dollar Babies” and the like. So my initial reactions were non-plussed. I certainly didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t sure I loved it either. The range in the genre map of the songs for me was a bit too varied, and I just wasn’t endeared to the whole album. This album had two points in time where I gave it a fair hearing, before it found its way back onto the shelves.
Come to the present day, and having dived in once again for this podcast episode, I don’t think much has changed. When I have had it on at work or in the car, the odd song catches my attention, and then the album returns to a type of monotony. On the other hand, when I went home and sat in the Metal Cavern, and played it on my stereo and just let it and the story wash over me, I found it far more enjoyable. Not to the point of those great Alice Cooper album, but I enjoyed the layout of the album much more when I was really listening to it from start to finish, and not just tuning in for individual songs. And there are many Alie albums that I must say I find exactly the same – not renown for individual tracks, but if you take the time to have the album envelop you without distraction, the true feeling of the album comes to the party. For me, it isn’t one of his greats, but it isn’t without its charms either, and it certainly isn’t the worst album you’ll hear today.

413. Death Angel / Frolic Through The Park. 1988. 3/5

Death Angel, pretty much all minors when they recorded and released their first album “The Ultra-Violence", as is recorded for posterity on an episode in Season 3 of this podcast, had enjoyed an enormous and swift rise to the top of the thrash metal tree in regards to fame and popularity. The band had gone on tours supporting bands such as Exodus and Voivod and the exposure brought them greater and more widespread attention than they had ever had before.
The band returned to the studio in March 1988 to record their follow up sophomore album. What has been interesting in retrospect is the band’s thoughts on what they produced, and its part of the band’s legacy. Most of the members of the band, but especially Mark Osegueda and Rob Cavestany have been highly critical of the album, with their problems generally stemming from the sound and production. In the band's documentary A Thrashumentuary, Cavestany referred to Frolic Through the Park as both their "bastard album" and an "odd album". This perhaps explains somewhat why the band has rarely performed the majority of the album's songs live since their initial disbandment in 1991. There is no doubt that it had to have been a rushed 12 months that preceded the writing and recording of the album, especially for a new band on the rise. But these were the days when an album a year was expected by record companies, so the fact that it has been suggested that the album was not properly produced in the studio isn’t that irregular. What also came from these sessions was a tinkering with the sound of the songs from the first album. Whereas that album can be classified as thrash metal from start to finish, that is not generally the case here on “Frolic Through the Park”, where the songs do have a distinct difference throughout, and with other influences coming into their style, there are a couple of surprises to be found.

Released barely a year after their debut, “Frolic Through the Park” is an album that polarises Death Angel fans. To be fair most fans still enjoy it even if the band themselves are less than excited. I’m not sure that the band believes this to be a bad album, but it does have a feeling of being rushed. And yet, despite this, it also shows a great deal of development and maturity in the songs, incorporating elements of funk that would flow through to their next album as well.
“3rd Floor” opens with an interesting sound bite, but then the band arrives with all guitars blazing, and we kick off in great style. So far, so good. From the very beginning, despite the band’s future protestations, the better production is evident from the start compared to their debut album, and with it a few more risks in the music also being taken. “Road Mutants” is powered by a satisfying bass rumble from Denis Pepa and “Why You Do This” continues that theme, though it does feel like it is heading in several directions at once.
Guitarists Rob Cavestany and Gus Pepa cited U2’s The Edge as a major influence when recording this album and you can definitely hear shades of his playing. It’s an interesting decision really for a couple of thrash metal guitarists to suggest this influence on what they were writing and playing for the album, and changing it up, even if ever so slightly, so soon into their recording career is a brave move. ‘Bored’ amps up the funk, a song that was released as a single and had the video that got heavy rotation on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” at the time, but it seems a strange one to have put out. For me, it is one of the less interesting songs on the album. "Devil’s Metal” is a CD only bonus track that is slotted onto what was the first side of the album on vinyl, but it does finds the doing what they do best and sets them back on course.
"Confused” is a whole different brand of metal altogether, almost devolving into death metal rather than thrash, with a brooding piece of music that is a full on genre swap (not a gender swap). Even today it is a difficult song to tie in as a Death Angel song. It soaks up seven and a half minutes while barely getting into second gear before the back end of the song. “Guilty of Innocence" returns us somewhat to a more normal standard of transmission, while “Open Up” in places sounds like 1970’s Black Sabbath, but in other still utilises that guitar sound the band was looking for on this album. “Shores of Sin” has definite elements of the next album, a progressive feel that I like even though it was unusual for the band at the time.
The cover of Kiss’s classic “Cold Gin” just feels like filler material. It’s not a bad cover, but it again is a changing up of the style of music on the album. It plays like a B-side which it would have been perfect for, not a main track on the album. It is more or less a carbon copy of the original, with the band failing to put any of their own mark on the song, which would have made it a much better option. The futility of this is proven by the next track “Mind Rape” where the energy and heaviness returns to overshadow what came before it. At least this closes the album is a better style than would have been the case.

I initially came into Death Angel on their third album “Act III”, so it wasn’t until after I had digested that album that I went back and discovered their first two albums. And it would be fair to say that while I loved “The Ultra-Violence", there was a fair amount of disappointment that went into my thoughts on “Frolic Through the Park”. And I don’t know the full reason why that is. Perhaps I expected too much of it, on the back of the brilliance of “Act II” and the sheer unadulterated thrash joy of “The Ultra-Violence". Perhaps I am unable to reconcile the fact that this is a next stepping stone in the band’s development, and that I am missing something here that others find obvious to them. Whatever the reason is, for me the flow of the album is all wrong, that the songs don’t interconnect as well as they do on those other two albums, and indeed on albums going forward in the next century on the band’s rebirth. It was never something that I could nail down to an absolute reason, it was just the way I felt. The fact that, in retrospect, the band aren’t particularly joyous about the album, or that of the people I have discussed this band with over the years, THEIR opinion of the album has been mixed, does give me thought that perhaps I am just sitting in the majority when it comes to “Frolic Through the Park”.
Having spent the past couple of weeks listening to the album once again, and read over my initial review of this album on my blog from almost 20 years ago, nothing much has changed in my mind. I don’t hate this album, but I don’t have the same animated joy that I have when listening to their debut album, or third follow up album to this, or the albums on their comeback in the 2000’s. Like Black Sabbath’s “Seventh Star”, this is an album by a band that seems to be out of alignment with their other releases, and garners a wide ranging opinion with a gap the size of the Grand Canyon separating them.

412. Silverchair / Frogstomp. 1995. 3.5/5

The band that would eventually become Silverchair was founded by school friends Daniel Johns and Ben Gillies when they were still in primary school at Mereweather Public School, a suburb of Newcastle in New South Wales. Johns was the guitarist and lead singer of the duo with Gillies being the drummer and helper on backing vocals. Starting out under the name of The Silly Me, the two started out rapping over the top of a keyboard’s demo tracks, eventually developing this further to put on shows for their schoolmates. When they moved on to Newcastle High School, they met another student named Chris Joannou, who soon came on board as the bass guitarist for the band.
In 1994, the threesome formed a band called Innocent Criminals with another fellow student Tobin Finnane as a second guitarist, though this didn’t last very long and the band reverted back to a three piece. They played numerous shows around the Hunter Region, and they fleshed out their song list with covers of songs by bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath. In 1994, the band then entered YouthRock, which was a national competition for school-based bands, and placed first ahead of older competition. On the back of this they recorded their first demo which contained the songs "Acid Rain", "Cicada", "Pure Massacre", and "Tomorrow"
In April of that year, the band's mainstream breakthrough came when they won a national competition called Pick Me, using their demo of the song "Tomorrow". The competition was conducted by the SBS TV show Nomad and the alternative radio station Triple J. As part of the prize, Triple J recorded the song and ABC filmed a video, which was aired on 16 June. For the video's broadcast, the three changed the name of the band to Silverchair. In a 1994 interview with Melbourne magazine Buzz, the band claimed the name derived from a radio request for "Sliver" by Nirvana and "Berlin Chair" by You Am I being mixed up as Silver Chair. It was later revealed they were named for the C. S. Lewis–penned novel The Silver Chair from The Chronicles of Narnia series. Johns later said of the fake story in a July 2007 interview: "We can't just say it's the name of a book and [that] we were looking for a name and thought that sounded good, so we thought we'd come up with a story...".
A bidding war saw the band signed a three-album recording contract with Sony Music subsidiary Murmur Records. In September, their Triple J recording of "Tomorrow" was released as a four-track extended play and from late October it spent six weeks at number-one on the ARIA Singles Chart.
All that was left for the band was to write and record their debut studio album. That’s a daunting thing at the best of times for the most experienced bands. But just how daunting could it have been for a band of three mates who were still at school together, and were all just 15 years of age?

The immediate crunching riff and Eddie Vedder-like vocal from the start of “Israel’s Son” gives this album the punch it needs. And it also gives you cause for pause to wonder just how can three 15 year old kids put something like this to vinyl? It is a little bit ridiculous to be honest. And that opening lyric - “Hate is what I feel for you, And I want you to know that I want you dead, your late for the execution, if you're not here soon I'll kill a friend instead”. What in the hell had Daniel Johns gone through to come up with something like that?! It’s not confronting as such, just really surprising from the outset. The Pearl Jam influence that is one of the band’s loves is obvious throughout, as is the great sound the band gets from just the guitar. Bass and drums. The increase in speed as the track comes to its conclusion is a great finish to the song, a burst of energy that pushes the intensity forward. This was one of the band’s earliest songs and acts as a really strong opening to the album. The first single, and song that got the band noticed and signed, “Tomorrow” follows up, an obvious choice to continue the drive into the middle of the album. This is a re-recorded version of that initial single, and is noticeable with a heavier and better produced sound musically along with more depth in Daniel’s vocal delivery. Many still believe this song is one of the band’s most important moments beyond it being the song that got them signed. It still offers everything that the fledging gang of youths had going for them when they first came together as a band, and still showcases the beyond their years maturity that they possessed at this point of their careers.
“Faultline” harks on the loss of a brother and friend, and is a song of three pieces almost faultlessly (no pun intended) put together. The change in tempo and the drumming, from 2/4 to 4/4, from tom and cymbal smashing to clean hi hat and snare work to the final increasing rolling drum battle to the end of the song, dominates the mood of the track throughout. Ben Gillies does a fantastic job on this song of being the star provider. The rolling mood of the song and the channelling of vocals similar to Live’s Ed Kowalczyk from Live by Johns gives this song a great kick throughout. And then back onto this another of the band’s earliest and best-known songs, “Pure Massacre”. Here is where Johns unleashes a couple of monster riffs, and Chris’s bass line throughout the song makes the song as good as it is, rumbling and rambling throughout and given the opportunity to be the main basis of this track, unencumbered nor dominated by the drums or guitar. In structure this is one of the simpler songs on the album, but the bass gives it its definition, and Johns’s solo through to the song's conclusion adds to charm. The best known and arguably best songs of the band have been front loaded here on the album which gives it the heavy hitting sound to draw you in.
“Shade” dials back the tone of the album and draws back the tempo into a clear guitar dominated song that sounds as though it was again inspired by one of the bands heroes in Pearl Jam. Johns ramps up his vocals by the conclusion of the track which pushes it beyond its inner boundaries. “Leave Me Out” too shows that inspiration, more by the Eddie Vedder vocal again from Johns and the heavily distorted guitar and cymbal smashing drum beat that dominate. “Suicidal Dream” changes all of this up, sounding like no other song on the album. Johns’ agonised vocal delivery here portrays the pain felt in the lyrics, ones that go deeper than kids should be staring at. These two songs sound great and are performed and recorded very well, but there is a nagging feeling that they are missing something to deliver the full punch they could deliver. “Madman” however is the most metal song on the album, with a great crunching guitar riff ably supported by the bassline underneath and the drums crashing heavily over the top. It just sounds like the three of them set up and just unleashed all of their anger and metal tendencies into 2 minutes and 43 seconds. This is still one of my favourite Silverchair songs, Johns’s guitar throughout with a multitude of riffs and licks is just fantastic, the time changes work perfectly, and it just barrels down the highway. Great stuff.
“Undecided” is based around another heavy riff and complementing bass riff on top of the crash and bash drum beat, at times mixing Alice in Chains vibes with other Seattle type influences. “Cicada” is another of the songs here that is outside of the box, that doesn’t sound like the template that has been laid down by the majority of the songs here. Johns’s guitar riff isn’t as distorted, the drums aren’t as heavy handed, and the vocals are in a clearer context in a mid-register and more melodic throughout. Because of its point of difference to the other tracks on the album, this stands out as one of the best. And then the album concludes with “Findaway”, an upbeat up-tempo song with lyrics that are uplifting and positive in their demeanour and output. This song is a leader for so many bands who followed, producing this kind of alt-rock that proliferated the airwaves over the next few years. It gives the album an uplifting end, and finishes off a remarkable debut album.

Growing up in Australia in the 1990’s pretty much meant that you would be exposed to the national broadcasters youth radio station, 2JJJ. It was not only radio where you got to hear the music that commercial radio steered clear of (thus by default making it cool), but it was a station that championed the youth of the nation and especially the unheralded and unsigned bands of the age. If you wanted to hear the alternative heroes of that day and age, you found them on Triple J. And as we have already established here, Silverchair came to prominence by way of this path.
So like everyone else in Australia I was given wall to wall coverage of this band of 15-year-olds from Newcastle who were going to be the next Nirvana or the next Pearl Jam or whatever other big band you wanted to name. And “Tomorrow” was played non-stop everywhere for what felt like years. Which did indeed become a little tiresome. And then when this band was released, it was promoted to the hilt. “Pure Massacre” had already been released as the second single from the album and was one I liked more than “Tomorrow”, and “Israel’s Son” would come a few weeks after this release. So there was already three songs out there pummelling Silverchair into your psyche without even owning the album. So there were things driving me away from this album. Firstly, it was 1995, my black hole year where I did little of anything except try to drink myself into oblivion. And secondly, I definitely pulled away a little (or a lot) because of the hype. Everybody was on board with this album and band, so I couldn’t be. It was like being back in high school again. I am not cool so I can’t like what the cool people like. Everyone loves a band, so I just refuse to engage. And I definitely did that with this album. Indeed, I don’t think I actually listened to this album until early 1997, after I had heard the first single drop from their following album. The album was “Freak Show”, the single was “Freak”, and I thought “who the fuck are these guys?!?!” and it was Silverchair. So on that basis I got “Frogstomp” to see if I had actually missed something I shouldn’t have.
Did I? Probably, yes. I mean, were these kids the greatest songwriters in the world at this point? No. They are kids. Not everything was perfect, and a lot of credit probably has to go to producer Kevin Shirley for getting the best out of them and down on tape. But there is a lot of stuff here that is exceptional for their age. Well, that’s not quite right, because ALL of it is exceptional for a band of their age. And the album still sounds as good today as it did back in the day. And when wearing your rose coloured glasses you can happily say ‘how good is this album?’ But for me, as much as I still enjoy listening to the album – and most certainly have over the last few days in preparing this episode – what I get out fo it most is that it is the platform for what came next. Because the amount that this threesome must have learned in all the initial excitement, then writing and recording this album, then the touring behind it, must have been extensive, such that when it came to writing and recording the follow up album, they would not only be more their OWN band, but would have further experiences and skills to utilise to make an album that was even better. And that is exactly what they did.
Of their five studio albums, “Frogstomp” for me comes in at #3. And through all of the trials and tribulations that these three kids from Newcastle went through over the next 30 years – not all bad but not all good – this album still stands as a testament to everyone that age is not a barrier to living the dream of being a band and recording an album and touring as a living. If nothing else, for those of us who lived through the hoopla, it is a standing reminder of those days of youth.

411. Metallica / Fresno 14-3-04 [Bootleg]. 2004. 3.5/5.

An A- quality bootleg from the St Anger tour, which I guess I got purely to hear if the new material sounded better than what came out on the actual album St Anger. As is turns out, it doesn’t really inspire at all.

The return of “Blackened” to the setlist is one of the bonus pieces. However, what this bootleg highlights is that, now that Hetfield does try to ‘sing’ everything, the older songs have lost their grunt. “Blackened” doesn’t sound angry at all – it sounds like a melodic track now. You should be able to hear the growl of ‘Blackened is the end!’, but instead you get a high, almost girlish tone in the voice. Not cool. I understand why James has had to alter his singing, but it really deprives their early material of the emotion that they need when they are being performed live.

Rating: New songs in the setlist for the first time in a long time, but it doesn’t make the heart jump. 3.5/5

410. Dead Kennedys / Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. 1980. 4/5.

This had been out for a number of years before I was first exposed to it, but it made an impression I can tell you. 15 years old and fairly impressionable, Dead Kennedys debut album came at me like a tracer bullet and intrigued me from the start.

The band’s wonderful punk inspired sound, led at the front by Jello Biafra’s unique vocals, and songs that make you laugh and think at the same time, makes for a winning combination.
I know a few people who are friends of mine who like to spend hours discussing the lyrics of the songs, and what the meaning behind the meaning behind the lyrics are. Personally, I like to just listen to the songs and sing along, and generally laugh. Surely they aren’t meant to be taken seriously… :)
From the opening of “Kill The Poor”, followed by the wonderfully sentimental “Forward To Death”, into the thought provoking “Let’s Lynch The Landlord”, you can’t help but enjoy it. Let’s not forget “Chemical Warfare”, and then the album’s star attraction, “Holiday In Cambodia”.

This is an album that brings back a lot of memories, and putting it on again over the past couple of days has been just terrific. It makes me wonder why I haven’t played it for so long.

Rating: An all-time classic. 4/5.

409. Freddie Mercury / The Freddie Mercury Collection. 1992. 3/5

As one of the greatest singer/vocalists of all time, this compilation concentrates on the material he did apart from Queen.
It contains a mixture of styles and tempos, some of which are agreeable and others which are more painful. Some of the songs still sound good, others are inextricably tied to the era that they were recorded. Obviously, this can hamper your judgement – as it does here with me. To listen to “Love Kills” now is to hear the music that will forever be the mid-1980’s, and certainly most of that style of music still grates in my ears. But when this song was released, I simply could not get enough of it, and played it over and over again. Sometimes now I still listen to this song, and wonder how I loved it so much. I still like it, but more in a reminiscing kind of way.

Other favourites for me here include “Foolin’ Around” and “Mr Bad Guy”, while the diversity of his duet of “Barcelona” with Montserrat Cabelle shows off his versatility perfectly.

You wouldn’t say it was his greatest work, but it is worth listening to in order to see what he could do in a different environment.

Rating: If only for his voice… 3/5.

408. Silverchair / Freak Show. 1997. 2.5/5.

You always wonder how a band that has been phenomenally successful with their debut album is going to be able to follow it up when it comes time to release that second album. It is therefore interesting that my first impressions of this album was from the first time I saw/heard the opening riff to the first single from it, “Freak”. Believe me, it caught my attention immediately!

Freak Show has it’s extremes, probably highlighted by the ferocity of “Freak” and the gentle swooning of “Cemetary”. Both were singles, and both are probably the best two songs on the album.
Apart from these two, I find it difficult to really get into the album. The variation between styles is a little disconcerting for me. It’s almost like a compilation of different genres of music. In particular, "Abuse Me", "Lie To Me" and "No Association" take this to another level. Trying to get into an album with so many technical changes isn't so easy. I’m sure that works for some people, but my opinion is that Daniel Johns just isn’t sure at this stage of the band’s career as to which direction they really wanted to head in – punk, hard rock, grunge or metal. While I think most of the songs are on the good side, none apart from those mentioned really grab you the way you want a good album to do.

Rating: Perhaps too much is sometimes not enough. 2.5/5

407. Iced Earth / Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1). 2007. 2/5

OK, so we are going to make a concept album (or in this case albums) based on the story from an earlier album we have already recorded. Interesting ploy. It does raise a number of questions.
1) Will the storyline be interesting within the framework of the lyrical content?
2) Will the musical content capture the mood of the lyrical content?
3) Will all the strings pull together to produce a good album?

I must say I still think the beginning of the album – “Something Wicked Part One” and “Setian Massacre” – is catchy, and I still sing along to it. I also enjoy “Ten Thousand Strong”. All good songs, sung wonderfully well.
But what is it that, for me at least, turns me off the whole album? I guess there are a few things. There a number of musical ‘interludes’ between songs – mood setters, I guess you could call them – and I think there are far too many to retain interest in. Also, as much as I am a fan of Tim Owens, sometimes he just doesn’t come off, and on some of the songs here he just doesn’t come off. Whether that is in the writing or the performance is open to question.

So in the long run, I think this missed its mark. I don’t know what the answer is. Will Matt Barlow make a difference? Are his vocals what were required here? I don’t think so. I just think the guys had a reasonable concept for an album, but just didn’t quite grab me with their interpretation. No doubt millions think differently.

Rating: On a different plane from what I expected. 2/5.

406. Vanishing Point / The Fourth Season. 2007. 2.5/5

I should begin by saying that this is my first impression of Vanishing Point's work, and having never heard them before it is a difficult thing to come out and review and rate from a novice's point of view. However, that is exactly what I am doing.

I must say this is much more 'progressive' than I imagined it would be, and their sound is certainly a step away from what a generation of Australian hard rock/metal bands have done. Now - while this is a good thing, because originality is important, it didn't quite grab me like I was hoping. Sure, wonderful vocals and vocal range, good musicianship as well. But the keys and synths are probably a bit much for me and my tastes, and the songs don't quite have the 'oomph' factor to really grab my attention.

Perhaps I wanted to like this too much. I was hoping for an Australian metal band to blow me out of the water. And I have no doubt this material would sound so much better in a live atmosphere. But for me, I'm just a little disappointed.

Rating: Missing an ingredient or two. 2.5/5

405. Fozzy / Fozzy. 2000. 3.5/5

For many of us who have been amateur musicians who have put together bands with our mates to get together and jam to our favourite songs, this album is a dream scenario. Go into a studio, lay down a handful of songs from the bands' you love to listen to, and then release it on an album. Awesome. What more could you ask for? A couple of your own original songs in there as well, to hopefully create some interest in your own work so you can expand this in the future? Why not?
Fozzy began life when members of the band Stuck Mojo, led by Rich Ward, decided to go out and play as a cover band and play their favourite cover songs. The addition of high profile wrestler Chris Jericho as lead vocalist lifted the band's image, and brought forth this first album.

The two original tracks on the album are average hard rock songs. , "End of Days" and "Feel the Burn" are fine to listen to without being spectacular. The remaining eight songs on the album are all covers of their favourite tracks, and range from the average to impressive. Dio's "Stand Up and Shout" is handled with aplomb, while there is a certain humorous element lent to Krokus' "Eat the Rich". The middle section of the album continues in this vein, with Twister Sister's "Stay Hungry" followed by Iron Maiden's "The Prisoner" and Motley Crue's "Live Wire".
Perhaps the best two songs here are the versions of Ozzy Osbourne's "Over the Mountain", which sizzles with great riff work from Ward, and Scorpions' "Blackout" where Jericho offers his best work. Judas Priest's "Riding on the Wing" is a tough call to finish on, especially vocal-wise. No easy job trying to match Halford's vocals on this song.

As with most cover albums, there is an initial period where this is listenable, until such time that you just refer back to the original artist for the songs. However, as an introduction for this line-up, this is well worth a listen.

404. Stratovarius / Fourth Dimension. 1995. 3/5

Coming out in the mid-90's, Fourth Dimension comes out with some similar sounds and some interesting arrangements. Starting off with the excellent power metal stylings of "Against The Wind" and "Distant Skies", you can't help but be impressed with how the band has progressed since their early albums. Personally I think it is the most solid start of an album for the band.

Similarities between other artists of their genre are prevalent. The instrumental "Stratovarius" and the song that follows, "Lord of the Wasteland", carry a very Yngwie Malmsteen-ish style to them, probably a little bit too much so. Mind you, by the mid-90's Yngwie had lost his magic, so it was up to someone to keep the dream alive... :)

Overall, this is a very solid album, and another great addition to the Stratovarius discography. If only their later stuff was like this earlier stuff... but I say that about sooo many bands.

Rating: Some quite brilliant pieces blended with other above average material. 3/5

403. Blind Guardian / The Forgotten Tales. 1996. 3/5

An interesting compilation of rearranged tracks from previous Blind Guardian releases, and some cover versions of some slightly left-field songs from other bands.

The rearranged and acoustic/orchestral versions of their songs come across surprisingly well. They come across as almost completely new songs, and sound great.
The cover versions range from the bizarre (“Mr Sandman”, “Surfing USA”), to the surprising (“The Wizard”, “Spread Your Wings”). “Surfing USA" has a ridiculously heavy guitar solo, which certainly ‘updates’ it from the Beach Boys original. “Spread Your Wings” is wonderfully well done without compromising Queen’s original version.

Rating: So, not a new album, and not a best of. But an interesting interlude nonetheless. 3/5.

402. Exodus / Force of Habit. 1992. 2.5/5

Just like a pair of pants that are just a little tight, this album doesn’t quite feel right. It feels OK for awhile, but the longer it goes, the more uncomfortable you feel.
The reason for this? I don’t know for sure. I do know that I’ve had a similar feeling with albums before – Metallica’s Load would be a prime example. But the differences are obviously felt by many fans of the band.

So what is it that this Exodus album is missing that other have? To be honest I really can’t put my finger on it. There are songs that don’t live up to what they could be. For instance, take “Good Day To Die”, a reasonable idea for a song. But why is it really just dead average instead of being top shelf? I keep listening to it, and even now think it should go off in one direction and build to a crescendo, when it takes another route, and ends off diving off a cliff. I think the material is there somewhere, but was like a map that has been folded up wrong – it just doesn’t fit or look right.

“Thorn in my Side” is the opening song, and probably my favourite. After that… well… it’s more average fare.

Rating: You expect better from one of the major influences of thrash. 2.5/5

401. UFO / Force It. 1975. 3.5/5

Moving on from their breakthrough with Phenomenon comes UFO's next album Force It, and further evidence that they were bound for greater things. This album is full of what makes UFO such a great band. Certainly, at the time this was released, it must have been one of those albums that appealed to those who were looking for something heavier in their music. Pete Way and Phil Mogg combine their vocals beautifully. Andy Parker's timekeeping is just great. His drum sound is as good on this album as it ever got. And, possibly for the first time, Michael Schenker's guitaring is blasting front and centre, taking the centre stage it deserved at that time.

Force It has a great range of songs, especially for the era. Combining the heartstarting opener "Let It Roll", rocking "Shoot Shoot", classic "Out in the Street" and timeless "Mother Mary", this album has almost everything covered. Add "This Kid's" as the closer, which has Schenker's "Between The Walls" instrumental combined, which ends the album on a high.

All in all, this has all the best bits of UFO tied into one. Whilst they had even better to come, this album showed that the band had the songwriting and musical talent to become one of the best of their era.

Rating: Great stuff from some great artists. 3.5/5

400. Dream Theater / Forbidden Dreams [Bootleg]. 2002. 3/5

This is an excellent A- bootleg from Dream Theater's Japanese tour, containing pretty much their best material to that point in their career (1994 and 1995). As per usual with Dream Theater, there are five or six instances where the band go off and do their 'instrumental' break for 5-10 minutes at a time. A fan will enjoy and tolerate them. Others may not.

I still think their live DVDs are the best way to appreciate this band. This does have its moments however.

Rating: Good quality bootleg that captures the band at an interesting time of their career. 3/5.

399. Black Sabbath / Forbidden. 1995. 2.5/5

Whether or not this is ever considered the official end of Black Sabbath's legacy, it certainly has the feel of it. While the decision to continue on with Tony Martin on vocals was admirable, given what he had contributed on the albums in the late 1980's, one has to wonder what direction they were hoping to head for. Was the addition of Ice T as a guest vocalist and indication that they were heading for a sound more prevalent of Body Count? I don't know.

In the end, although the album still has some semblance of a Sabbath album, there is something missing that can't help it rise above average. In a similar (yet different) way that Technical Ecstacy and Never Say Die had indications that something in Black Sabbath had to change, the indictations are here on Forbidden that it was time for another radical solution. It turned out to be a reunion of the Original Four for Reunion.

It's not all bad, but it is very average. There are no outstanding Iommi riffs, there are no breakthrough Martin vocals, nor any thrilling Powell drum fills. Even if it was sold off as an Iommi solo piece you would be ambivalent, but with Black Sabbath you always expect great things. However, like they did two or three times in their long outstanding career, this one doesn't quite make it.

Rating: The curtain falls gracefully. 2.5/5

398. Van Halen / For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. 1991. 3/5

By the time this was released, I was probably coming to the conclusion that Van Halen were finished. I mean, they had had a pretty fair run, and even following the departure of DLR they had produced a pretty good follow up with Sammy Hagar and 5150. But not much had come since, and to me the magic was sifting away.

Even when this came out, it didn't grab me like other albums had. Probably at the time I had other parts of the genre grabbing my attention. Still, it begins pretty solidly, "Poundcake" and "Judgement Day" are good solid songs that provided a good sart to the album. The problem for me from that point onward is that the rest of the album, while quite listenable and not awful, doesn't bring anything new to the mix. I think they had a chance to go out on a limb and return the band to its peak, if only Eddie was unleashed and allowed to really hammer on those strings again. For whatever reason it is, the thing that made Van Halen great is being restrained.

This is not a bad album, but it is one that is just above average. Putting it on and listening to it is not a chore. Expecting it to get repeat listens is probably expecting a bit too much.

Rating: More of the same from the Van Hagar era. 3/5

397. AC/DC / For Those About To Rock (We Salute You). 1981. 3/5

Trying to follow up the monster that was Back in Black must have been a daunting task, but with a stellar stable in their back catalogue, AC/DC had been producing consistently brilliant albums for six years, and even with the loss of Bon Scott they had hardly skipped a beat thanks to the recruitment of Brian Johnson. There was no reason to believe it wouldn't continue.

They couldn’t have started off better. Track one, the title track, is one of their all time classics and is still in their live set to this day. It is a quintessential AC/DC track, building up beautifully from the quite guitar at the front to the completion with the cannons firing at random. It is a terrific anthem, directed from the band to the fans, and it is still as powerful today as it was on it's release. A real classic. This is then followed by “I Put The Finger On You”, another up tempo track that keeps the album moving in the right direction. With these two songs to start the album you can only think you are in for something special once again.
From this point on, however, the album falls back into what would become the ‘stock-standard’ AC/DC slew of songs that probably found their beginnings on the previous album, but would seep through their releases for the next 30+ years. You know the ones, the mid-tempo songs with standard 2/4 drum timing with the bass and rhythm guitar locked in to make that solid back beat, while Brian sings his lyrics over the top, which generally contain choruses that just repeat one line over and over again so that it becomes a chant, and Angus throws in his pieces when it feels necessary. This isn't meant to be a criticism as such, because they've done it so well for so long. But it can certainly become repetitive, and sometimes it feels as though it just goes on too long. Here on For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), many of the songs have very little spectacular about them. Some are good, some are just average. Stuff like “Let’s Get It Up” and “Inject The Venom” and "Breaking the Rules" I find that I have to be in the right mood to enjoy, otherwise I just think ‘skip to the next song please’. It became a theme for the band's albums throughout the 1980's. They mixed some standout songs with a lot that many people would have difficulty in placing what album they were actually released on.

This album marks the beginning of a number of albums throughout the decade that all had promise, without ever really climbing back to the heights of the albums that had preceded it. There's no problem with that, all bands face it at some stage. There is nothing bad on this album, but there are a couple of tracks that could be described as boring, and when that happens it can test your mettle.

Rating:  We're just a battery for hire with the guitar fire, ready and aimed at you  3/5

396. Foo Fighters / Foo Fighters. 1995. 4.5/5

1995 was an interesting time for albums for me. One of them was this one. With the demise of Nirvana, a band called Foo Fighters was formed by that funny looking dude who used to be the drummer for the aforementioned band. I couldn’t be sure that he would have many musical ideas – I mean, he was just a drummer, right? OK, so the promotion for the album said that he wrote all the songs and played most of the instruments, and even SANG all of the songs. Wow! Better buy it and check it out!

As history now notes, it was a triumph. Dave Grohl WAS more than just the drummer for Nirvana. This debut disc has a bit of something for everyone – faster rocking tracks, slower melodic tracks – and more than anything else begs the question as to what may have happened had Kurt Cobain hung on a little longer? Would Dave’s writing talent been allowed to surface or not?

It did take a while for the album to grow on me. Although it hooked my interest from the outset, it took awhile to actually like all of the songs on the album. I guess because there is some diversity in the tracklist. This soon sorted itself out over the next couple of months as I grew to love the album.
Favourites here for me include “This Is A Call”, “I’ll Stick Around”, “Weenie Beenie” and “Wattershed”

Rating: Great debut from a band we may never have seen. 4.5/5

395. Sonata Arctica / For The Sake Of Revenge. 2006. 3.5/5

When you aren’t overly familiar with a band, the Live Album can be a real test. The songs on the album could entrance you, which then will leave you a little hollow when you discover the studio versions of the same songs are not as spectacular. The songs may leave you unimpressed, if the vocalist doesn’t seem to be able to hit the correct notes, or the guitars sound a little off if they improvise a little in the live environment. In other words, the Live Album of a band you aren’t overly familiar with can Make It or Break It for you.

Here then is Sonata Arctica, a band I am still relatively new at listening to, and here is their live album, For The Sake Of Revenge.
So what’s the verdict?
The verdict is, I think this has a lot to offer. The vocals of singer Tony Kakko are very much at the front of the mix, and this isn’t really a bad thing, because he really can sing, and does it great live as well. As with the power metal genre, the keyboards are also heavily prevalent, while the guitars and drums are just great.

More to the point, most of the songs are terrific. Some are a bit slow and ‘almost’ of the ballad persuasion for my liking, but overall this is a great collection. Songs such as "Misplaced", "8th Commandment" and "Blinded No More" are perfect examples of what makes Sonata Arctica the band they are. They have an anthemic quality that really attracts me. "Broken" is also a song that I have always enjoyed.

I have given this a solid workout over the past few days, and I still find it easy to return for more. That can only be a good thing, can’t it?

Rating: An excellent live album from this band, who are one of the quiet achievers in European Metal. 3.5/5.

394. Blind Guardian / Follow the Blind. 1989. 3.5/5

From the first time you put this album on, you can’t help but like the way it sounds. Starting off with a recognisable Requiem chant (anyone who has seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail will know it immediately), we then burst straight into “Banish From Sanctuary” at a rate of knots, and we are away. It is important to start an album off on the right foot, and Follow the Blind does that beautifully. "Damned for All Time" careers onward at the same speed, with super drumming being followed by the flying riffs of Olbrich and Siepen's guitars. This is undoubtedly speed metal at its finest. You get a real feel for Hansi's vocals on this album, as they are not as multi-layered as they become on later releases.

"Follow the Blind" brings back to more conventional metal, not utilising the speed aspect, and becoming a little repetitive and cliched towards the end of the song both lyrically and musically, and it probably drifts on a tad too long too. "Hall of the King" is another goos song in the vein as those that openeed the album, as is "Fast to Madness". "Beyond the Ice" is just brilliant, and the duelling harmony Iron Maiden-esque guitars that complete the last couple of minutes of the song are just awesome. "Valhalla" is also excellent, along with guest vocalist Kai Hansen who trades with Hansi throughout the song.

The album concludes with two covers. The first is a great version of the classic Demon song "Don't Break the Circle", which is extremely faithful to the original while also bringing a little Blind Guardian to its output. The second is the Regents and Beach Boys song "Barbara Ann", which is almost a comic way to bring this album to its conclusion.

As a later arrival to the Blind Guardian fold than most, I find this to be one of my favourite albums of theirs. Following in the best footsteps of the forefathers, this album skips along at a hefty pace, driven along by a particularly good drum beat. The vocals are almost anthemic on this album. They do not dominate the songs, just help them to progress. Hansi’s vocals sometime get a little too over layed, but on this album I think he is almost at his peak. There is also not an attempt at a domination of guitar licks and solos as there sometimes seems to be – here they also complement the song and the other band members contributions.
This is a terrific follow up to Battalions of Fear and I love the real speed metal edge it has. It's what sets it apart a little from what was to come.

393. Joe Satriani / Flying in a Blue Dream. 1989. 4/5

Joe Satriani already had a huge and impressive body of work behind him by the time he reached the end of the 1980’s decade, and a reputation that made people look up and take notice when his name was mentioned. He had studied music with jazz guitarist Billy Bauer and pianist Lennie Tristano, both of whom had greatly influenced his own playing. He then began teaching guitar while also looking to kickstart his own musical career. But it was the quality of the guitarists that had studied under him that brought him to a more international focus. Amazing guitarists such as Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett, David Bryson, Alex Skolnick, Rick Hunolt and Larry LaLonde all had their start under Satriani's tutelage.
Satriani had released his own debut album “Not of This Earth” in 1986, with the aim of making a guitar album that could be enjoyed by everyone, not just guitar aficionados. This was followed less than a year later by “Surfing with the Alien”, an album that produced three highly rated singles in the title track, “Satch Boogie” and the almost lilting guitar ballad “Always with Me, Always with You”, which achieved the kind of all-encompassing success he had been searching for.
What then could the fan expect from a third album from Joe Satriani? After two successful albums, would more of the same be a detriment to what he was hoping to achieve with his music? And if not that, then what? What Satriani came up with was something that was somewhat unexpected. He decided to produce an album that not only continued with his tradition of instrumental guitar tracks laden with riffs and riffs, but would have songs with vocals. And not only that, HIS vocals!
In a 2014 interview with MusicRadar, Satriani described the writing and recording process for “Flying in a Blue Dream” as a very stressful time and that "It was just so difficult and insane, but there was also this enormous amount of creativity. I was so excited that I had fans! [Laughs]. With 18 tracks in total, his third studio album mixes long instrumental pieces with shorter ones, and then songs that become very much their own beast. Whether or not he was nervous about how it would be received by critics and fans alike, as it turned out, he had nothing to worry about.

Around the world, fans seem to be divided over the greatness of this album compared to the previous album, "Surfing with the Alien". There is a considered opinion that some of the material on this album is lightweight fluff, drawn almost directly from the point that many of the songs that have vocals here water down what fans were coming to this album for - Joe Satriani's guitar. And the fact that Satriani decided to have songs with vocals on this album still tends to drive a wedge between fans of his other work and this album in particular. But, is it a fact that the songs with vocals are lightweight? Of course that is open to an individual's opinion, but an overview of each of them perhaps offers some credence to each sides argument.
The opening two tracks are simply marvellous. The title track is an immediate classic, with beautifully nuanced guitar brilliance played over the simply structured rhythm of the track. Atmospherically it is a perfect opening track, not aggressive in its output but drawing the listener in from the outset. It is still just perfect. "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" follows and sees a more complicated and interesting path taken by both the drums and bass guitar to make a bigger impact on the song. And 'groove' is the word here, Satch's guitar grooves along perfectly through the middle of the song. Satch utilises several different drummers on this album, and they all bring something different to the songs which adds some interesting flavours to the songs. "Can't Slow Down" is the first vocals song of the album, the first chance to hear Joe sing, and he doesn't disappoint. He doesn't try to do anything outwardly extravagant with his vocals and they are perfectly serviceable. The obvious benefit of this however is that we get an awesome solo here in the middle, something that becomes a bonus in a track with vocals, because it isn't all instrumental, so we get that real condensed sharp solo burst, and Joe plays it to perfection. The short jab of "Headless" follows, which is a remake of "The Headless Horseman" from the “Not of This Earth” album (1986), replete with added distorted vocals and harmonica, before "Strange" is the next song with Joe's vocals, and mirrors the title of the track, jaunty with staccato guitar shots throughout.
"I Believe" is a song that Satch wrote when his father was in the process of passing away, and his heartfelt lyrics here showcase why there is a need at times to put words to music to express an emotion through story. Listening to the lyrics of this song you can hear what Satch is feeling about what is happening around him, and his guitar then sews that all together. "One Big Rush" channels his previous album for song similarity, again mirroring the song title for what it puts as pictures in your mind, of surfing that wave or speeding down a hill on your skateboard or charging through the streets in the car. Satch has an amazing ability to do that in his music. And he does it again on one of the album's best track, "Big Bad Moon". His music here fills out the story of the song, creating the soundtrack to the lyrics with his blues based hard rocking guitar and suitably excellent drums and bass. But when he unleashes in his solo pieces here, it is pure Satriani, and this all combines to make it one of the best experiences on the album.
The short banjo strumming of "The Feeling" is followed by the amusing "The Phone Call", with on the phone in a conversation with his partner and discussing the cause and ramifications of the end of their relationship. Guitar, banjo, harmonica... Everything is tossed in here and makes for a lighthearted and fun song.
Into the final third of the album, and there are several beautifully played instrumental tracks such as "Day at the Beach (New Rays from an Ancient Sun)", "The Forgotten, Parts 1 and 2" and the closing track "Into the Light", and heavier full guitar tracks such as "Back to Shalla-Bal" and "The Bells of Lal Parts 1 and 2" mixed in with another vocal song "Ride" that again continues to highlight the fact that Satch can produce songs with lyrics that still have his heavily credentialled guitar skills and not lose anything in comparison to his best material. "Ride" again provides another unique vocal performance for Satch, arguably his strongest on the album, with another great solo piece to keep the traditionalists happy. It's a beauty.
Overall, this is an album that melds the genius that Satriani showcased on his guitar on his first two albums, with further songwriting that took him to the next plane, probably something no one expected him to do. And yet, he succeeded. Brilliantly.

I'm pretty sure everyone in Kiama had a copy of Satch's "Surfing With the Alien" album when it came out. It was attractive to headbangers and musicians and pop fans alike. The symmetry of amazing guitar over great rhythm was a winner for all. I know that we used to play it a lot in the days after high school had finished and never got sick of it. So when it came to this album being released, we were all on board from the outset. I bought this on vinyl within days of its release, and it got heavy rotation. And while there were people out there that I knew who felt as though Satch had sold out simply because he chose to sing on several songs on the album, I never felt that way. Indeed, as already mentioned, I felt that those songs were perfect because we actually go full blown solo slots from Joe on those songs, rather than an extended instrumental piece, and I really believe that enhances this album rather than detracts from it. And the good part was that, in the band I was in at that time with friends from my school days, having spent several months trying to convince our lead guitarist that we had to play songs like "Ice 9" and "Crushing Day" from his previous album, we DID learn and play a song from this album, though much to my disappointment only ever at jams and not live on stage. "Big Bad Moon" was that song, and it was just brilliant to play, though the tapes I have of us playing it would suggest we were very very bad at it. And several months later, on 28th February 1990, we saw Joe live in Sydney, with Stu Hamm on bass and Jonathan Mover on drums, and they were bloody amazing.
So for the past month, I have had this album out again, mostly alongside the album I reviewed yesterday, Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers". And it has been just amazing to listen to again. I don't have a lot of Satriani's albums after this one, not because they aren't great but mainly because I am satisfied with listening to his first three albums when I am in the mood. And "Flying in a Blue Dream" to me is still an incredible album. From the title track and "The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing" and "Can't Slow Down", to "I Believe" and "One Big Rush" and "Big Bad Moon", through to "The Phone Call" and "Back to Shalla-Bal" and "Ride", this is a sensational album still, losing nothing over how it sounded 35 years ago on its release. For me there is not a bad track here, and I'm still happy to play it at any time. If you haven't heard it, my suggestion is that you do so now, and enjoy the platitudes that it still ascends.

392. Scorpions / Fly to the Rainbow. 1974. 3/5

Scorpions had released their debut album in 1972, titled “Lonesome Crow”, having done their time out in the pubs and clubs like all bands of their ilk. On the back of the album, they toured Europe and the UK, and in particular as support to the British hard rock band UFO, who were also trying to find their niche in the music market. So impressed were the band with the Scorpions young guitar prodigy Michael Schenker that they asked him to join their band. Having consulted with older brother Rudolph, who encouraged him to further his career, Michael left Scorpions for UFO, a decision that was to benefit both parties until the end of the 70’s decade. In order to complete the tour, Michael suggested his friend Uli Jon Roth come in and fill in on lead guitar, which he then did. At the end of the tour Uli Jon was asked to remain a part of the band, but he instead decided to remain in his own band, called Dawn Road. This and Michael’s departure led to the Scorpions breaking up at this time.
All was not lost, however. Despite the demise of Scorpions, Rudolph had decided that he wanted to work with Uli Jon, and having attended some of Dawn Road’s rehearsals he decided to join the band, which at that time consisted of Uli Jon Roth on guitar and vocals, bass guitarist Francis Buchholtz, drummer Jurgen Rosenthal and keyboardist Achim Kirschning. Once he was in the mix, Roth and Buchholtz convinced Rudolph to invite Klaus Meine to come on board as lead vocalist, reprising his role from Scorpions, which he eventually agreed to. With two bands figuratively merging into one, the new group decided to forego the Dawn Road name to retake the name of Scorpions, as that name was already well known in the German music community and had of course already released an album, which Dawn Road had not. And thus came the second coming of Scorpions the band.
This was the lineup that entered the studio to record what would now become Scorpions sophomore album. As a part of his agreement to join UFO, Michael Schenker contributed to the writing of three songs on the new album, thus allowing a direct correlation and similarity in the writing partnerships between the first two albums. And with Rudolph and Klaus contributing the majority of the rest of the writing, the band was ready to take the next step in their career.

Creating a tradition that would last for decades, the Scorpions open their album with the hard rocking and fast tempo of "Speedy's Coming", a song that not for the last time references the band's fans and they way they both interact. It is a terrific opening statement from the newly constituted band, composed by Rudolph and Klaus and showing off each aspect of the new band lineup, especially showcasing Klaus Meine's amazing vocals and Uli Jon Roth's wonderful lead guitar work. On this track too you get a real feel for Francis Buchholtz's bass sound, it is very prominent here and adds greatly to the sound of the song. Following this comes the very middle-eastern influenced sound of the Schenker/Meine song "They Need a Million" featuring the lead vocals of rhythm guitarist Rudolph Schenker, one of the very few times he performed this role in the band's career. And, he does an admirable job of it as well. Certainly not well enough to justify doing the role over Klaus, but it is still interesting to hear him do so on this track. Then comes "Drifting Sun", the only song on this album composed by Uli Jon Roth, and also featuring him on lead vocals. It must have been an interesting time for the band, and with three different lead vocalists on the first three songs of the album, perhaps they thought at the time this would be a direction they might head in. Once again, Uli Jon is not in the same race as Klaus Meine when it comes to singing, but here, unlike some of his efforts on future albums, his vocals are quite listenable, and his lead guitar is great once again. It's a long rambling song in the style of the era, and one that is enjoyable as a result. Closing out side one of the album is the first of the tracks co-written by Michael Schenker, this one along with Klaus, "Fly People Fly" with Klaus returning on lead vocals, a song that harps on rising above your struggles and reaching for the sky.
The second side of the album is kickstarted by "This is My Song", Rudolph and Klaus's remonstration with the state of the world, of the negativity that prevails and their hope for a better world. The lacklustre start does brighten towards the end with Uli Jon's solo guitar stretching through the back half. "Far Away" is composed by Rudolph and Klaus along with Michael, follows on from this song, with Klaus's lyrics encouraging of leaving behind any troubles and of searching for positives in your life. Again the song starts off in a quiet melancholy phase before breaking out at the halfway point and coming home in a harder fashion. The album then concludes with the epic title track "Fly to the Rainbow", composed by Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth, the only time they have collaborated together. At almost ten minutes in length, it covers the gamut of music at the time, including psychedelic elements and hard rock themes, with the bass guitar from Francis again booming through as a major player throughout the song, topped by the drums of Jurgen Rosenthal. Uli Jon has a ball on his guitar during the song, breaking out at times of his choosing to penetrate the songs veneer. This song is again perhaps the final great song of that era in regards to its sound. It is born of the 1960's, and by 1974 music had morphed into a different era, and this is the final remnant of the psychedelic period, one which all members of this band originated from, but were well on their way to helping to form what was to come in the music world.

Those who have followed my Scorpions journey will know that it was those albums of the second era of the band, from 1979 through to 1993, that initially grabbed me by the you-know-what's and turned me into a fan. The World Wide Live album was that first stop, and the other albums from that point on are still a major part of my music makeup. Delving back into the albums of the 1970's became a task that followed all of this, and was an interesting period in itself. The Uli Jon Roth years are a different kettle of fish in the Scorpions discography and journey, and having digested the later material first, it is a challenging thing to firstly listen to and then appreciate this era of the band.
This first album of the merged entity does however deliver. It would be hard not to, with Klaus Meine's voclas and Uli Jon Roth's guitar alone. Both are spectacular and are afforded the opportunity to shine. This is not to overlook the excellence of Rudolph Schenker's guitaring as well, always so important in the band's music, and Francis Buchholz on bass guitar is excellent as is Jurgen Rosenthal on drums.
It has been a little over 20 years since I first heard this album in full, and listening to it again in recent weeks it has been noticeable to me how much I still enjoy it. "Lonesome Crow" is almost a standalone album, given the time since it was recorded and released and the change in personnel, and this merged group could easily have gone bust very quickly. But the choice to insist that Michael Schenker contribute to the writing of this album before leaving for UFO, and only one song from Uli Jon, meant that the writing stayed on a similar path that the original Scorpions had done, and allowed the other influences to seep in slowly, and I think that not only works here on "Fly to the Rainbow" but for the basis of the future albums. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recording of the album. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was drafted into the army. He was to become the first of several drummers over the next few years. This album began a run of several albums through to 1978 where the Scorpions built their reputation through Europe and the UK, and eventually into the US, as a band with great songs and great musicianship. It may not be what people who grew up with the band through the 1980's would remember, but with a consideration for the times it was recorded in, this album holds its own for the era.

391. AC/DC / Fly on the Wall. 1985. 2.5/5

Once you get on a roll with all of these AC/DC albums, there are times when you really do have to check to see which album you are listening to, such can be the similarity in songs on occasions. Even for those of us who had all of these albums as they were released during the 1980's and listened to them to death, until the grooves in the vinyl had been worn down even further by the needle, it can sometimes get a little confusing when you go back to the albums today as to which songs appear on which albums. Perhaps that's just the brain cells dying off from too much heavy metal or other substances, but any excuse can sometimes be justified.

So here is Fly on the Wall, another AC/DC album, and like pretty much everything they released in the 1980’s, each song has the same solid core, with only a couple of tracks that really come out with some flair to make them stand out from the rest. As with every other AC/DC album from this decade, this can be both a blessing and a prison sentence, but AC/DC do it so well that you can’t help but love the majority of it.
Following on from Flick of the Switch, which I believe was a step up from For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), this album again has some terrific songs. “Fly on the Wall”, “Danger” and “Back in Business” are enjoyable enough, while
“Sink The Pink” and “Shake Your Foundations” are the two standout tracks on the album. Both were released as singles and did well in Australia in pushing this album. However, in all honesty, the album is still a bit uneven. It lacks something that the previous album had, where the format and style of the songs seemed to emit more energy, and move along with less bumps. Here the flow tends to be up and then down, and a lack of cohesion between songs. I don't believe the band rested on its laurels in producing this album, but apart from the three or four songs that are obviously the better tracks, the remainder is quite average in the long run.

Rating:  No one can stop us cause we're feeling too right  2.5/5.

390. Alice Cooper / Flush the Fashion. 1980. 3.5/5

After the immediate super success of the start of his solo career with the release of the album “Welcome to My Nightmare”, the episode of which you can find just recently on this podcast, Alice Cooper had continued to push the boundaries of his new career, and his old habits. Following the tour to promote the “Lace and Whiskey” album, Alice had committed himself to a sanitarium for treatment of his addictions. Once sober, Alice had used this experience as the inspiration for his follow up album “From the Inside” which he co-wrote with Bernie Taupin. He also appeared in several shows as both himself and as a different character. He made a memorable appearance as himself on The Muppet Show, creating skits to his own hits “Welcome to My Nightmare”, “You and Me” and “School’s Out”. He also appeared in an against-typecasting role as a piano-playing disco waiter in Mae West's final film, Sextette, and as a villain who is a mind-controlling cult leader called Father Sun in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Alice at this time also led celebrities in raising money to remodel the famous Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California. Cooper himself contributed over $27,000 to the project, buying an O in the sign in memory of close friend and comedian Groucho Marx.
Moving into the follow up album to “From the Inside”, Alice moved into a phase of his career that he dubbed his ‘blackout years’ because he has no memory of actually recording the albums of this period. Although he has been quoted as saying that he recall’s moments of the process of writing and recording this follow up album, his new and increasing addiction to cocaine was to seriously affect the three albums that followed this one. Roy Thomas Baker, who was a famed producer who had had great success in that roles for bands such as Queen and The Cars, came on board for this album, and was one of the people instrumental in the direction that this album ended up taking, one that at the time baffled and surprised longtime fans. Davey Johnstone and Fred Mandel, who had played guitars and keyboards respectively on the previous album, remained on board for the new album, and also became co-writers of most of the project. The album was composed and recorded in Hollywood in late 1979 and early 1980, and at just 28 and a half minutes in the shortest album of Alice’s career. Whether a deliberate move or not, Alice Cooper met the start of the new decade with an album that could not have been more different yet perhaps also no more appropriate for the times, and was titled “Flush the Fashion”.

On his radio show in 2020, Alice said that all of the song titles on the “Flush the Fashion” album were taken from actual headlines from the National Enquirer back in the day – all except the final track, which was appropriately titled “Headlines”.
It’s a whole new Alice Cooper that appears here. There is none of the make up that created the Alice Cooper persona here in 1980, and his photo on the back cover of the album is almost in an evil David Bowie fashion, with hair and thin facial features that mirror the Thin White Duke, but in black leather shirt and still holding his whip cane. And the style of the album is a whole new production as well. There had been some changes made over the course of the previous two albums mainly due to the different writers Alice had collaborated with, but no changes as stark as what was to come here on “Flush the Fashion”. And look, if you didn’t know that new wave was hitting the pop and rock scene in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, then one listen to the opening of this album would have you realise it like finding out that a sledgehammer to the foot is extremely painful. And it is an interesting performance on the album with the way the songs all segue into the next without hesitation – it is almost like a musical in itself, moving from one scene straight into the next. Some will find it confronting, and wonder why this has been allowed to occur. The whole new writing partnership has been brought together for this album, and the only reason that that occurs is because the artist is looking to create something completely different from what they have done before, or they have an absolute direction in mind that they have handpicked these new collaborators for because of their expertise.
The album opens with a cover of the song “Talk Talk” by the Music Machine which was released by that band in 1966. Alice’s version here has been updated to the modern age as a punky new wave track with garage rock tendencies, but more in the new wave theme than anything else. It’s an interesting choice to make as an album opener, and to cover a track by a different band from a different era at all. Did it just fall into pace because of the title, and that this title was also a headline in the National Enquirer? I don’t know the answer to that question. “Talk Talk” was also released as the second single from the album, which failed to chart. Following this is the opening single from the album, “Clones (We’re All)”, and this is pure new wave. There is nothing resembling what Alice had brought to his music in the first couple of albums of his solo career. This is wonderfully and amazingly new wave with the synth and keyboard dominating. The song is about forced conformity, and Alice reportedly wanted to record the song because he was looking for a new sound. It barely sounds like Alice singing this song at all, it could have been any other singer. If you didn't know it was on an Alice Cooper album, you’d have trouble identifying the artist. The track is written by David Carron from the group Shenandoah, another cover song to kick off the album. This did chart on the singles chart in the US.
“Pain” follows, and the real Alice is back here, the real voice and the real angst. As this is the first song written by Alice and his co-contributors on the album, this doesn’t come as a real surprise. It is one of only two songs on this album that sounds anything like the Alice Cooper of old, and that isn’t meant as a criticism it is just a statement of fact. “Leather Boots” has its roots in the early rock n roll of the 1960’s, a mixture of pure Elvis styled themes and other rock n roll bands of the era, but highlighted with the more modern heavy guitar riff in the mid pieces. It only goes for a minute and a half, and again is a cover song written by Geoff Westen. Another possible example of a song already written to match the title of the track? Who’s to know. Side A then closes out with “Aspirin Damage”, a song where Alice may well be singing about the problems that come with overusing prescription medicines but perhaps is also a pointer to what he was becoming addicted to at the time this album was being created as well.
The second side of the album opens up with “Nuclear Infected”, a song full of fun lyrics about the protagonist with that infection. The lyrics here are of a style that Alice used later on in the 9180’s on albums such as “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell”, fun songs without taking themselves seriously. Musically it is fine but could have used more energy to go with the vocals. “Grim Facts” tells the story of a girl who is up to a lot more than her parents are aware of, and Alice is offering up the grim facts. Musically again it is fine for the era, but the backing vocals seem to let the song down and even Alice’s vocals don’t have their usual style. It is another song where he seems to be moving away from the Alice Cooper voice into another dimension.
Arguably the best song on the album lifts the quality next with “Model Citizen”, another track that points to albums further down the track. The music is upbeat and fun, and with Alice crooning “I’m a model Citizen, I think I've got them fooled again” he has everyone in the palm of his hands. “Dance Yourself to Death” has Alice seeing off his parents as they go out to party, and to see them dance themselves to death though in a variety of ways. Is it filler or is it clever? Lyrically there are several double meanings to the song, but musically it doesn’t always capture what you imagine the mood of the song should be. The album then concludes with “Headlines”, and for the last time the almost-real Alice Cooper returns vocally, with a hard hitting song lyrically about wanting to be in the headlines to remain in the limelight, and doing whatever it takes to do so. THIS is a more relevant Alice Cooper song and a good one to sign off the album with.

My Alice Cooper story has been described many times before, but for those of you who either AREN’T avid listeners to this podcast and the previous version of Music from a Lifetime, my initial foray into the Alice Cooper legend was through his latter 80’s albums “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell”, before eventually moving back through the catalogue he had amassed prior to those two albums, and then of course forward as new albums were released. The period that this album was released was probably my final port of call in regards to catchig up on the back catalogue. That wasn’t a deliberate thing. It’s just that when you start hearing about and asking about Alice Cooper you are generally sent in the direction of the seven albums of the Alice Cooper Band first, and then “Welcome to My Nightmare”, before being offered the rest of the discography.
First hearing this album a number of years – a lot of years – after it was first released was an interesting experience. To listen to it WITHOUT considering the era in which it was written makes for a real WTF moment. Because it really is very little like ANY Alice Cooper album. In fact, as much as the following three albums are in a different dimension in their own right, this album to me has always been the least Alice Cooper album since “Easy Action”. A number of the songs here just don’t sound anything like Alice’s usual format, his usual style, or even his usual voice! “Clones (We’re All)” is just different, not only charting on the singles chart in the US but also the DISCO chart! I mean, that’s just how unusual this song is. “Talk Talk” and “Leather Boots” are the other obvious ones, and the fact all three are written outside of the band probably makes that an obvious point. The start of the album could easily scare off any long time fans of the band if you haven’t heard this before. So it is very true that this is most unlike any other Alice Cooper album.
However, let’s look on the other side of the equation. I’m not going to try and influence you here because this is a rather divisive album. The thick layers of the new wave era mixed with Alice looking to innovate and go with the times means that this album can be seen to be a hard sell. But as it turns out, I’ve always enjoyed listening to it. Now bear with me for a moment, because I am not saying here that I think it is in the highest echelon of Alice Cooper albums. I’m definitely not saying that. What I am saying is that when I listen to this album, I just enjoy it for what it is. It is very different, and it did take me some time to adjust to the changes made for this album. But I am not averse to the new wave music, especially from the UK around this time. So I can handle that influence on this album. And while the tracks where Alice’s vocals are unpredictably changed, or the overuse of the backing vocals from Fred Mandel and the other players seem to take away the Alice Cooper flavour, make me less enthused, I can and have adapted to those as well. Alice is an innovator, as we have heard many times through his career. Maybe not all of those albums have worked, but I will still listen to them, and enjoy them for what they are.
What does that mean for “Flush the Fashion”? Over the last week I have played the album again many times. I picked up an original battered pressing on vinyl of this album a couple of years ago, and it still sounds great, crackles and all. It feels authentic listening to that copy, rather than the streaming or CD version where that crackling doesn’t exist. I love the way there is no break between tracks, each song segues immediately into the next. The only break comes from turning the album over. And when you get past any of the rough or slightly negative things I may have said about this album on this episode, there is just Alice Cooper, having fun, and sounding like it. And THAT is what makes the best Alice Cooper albums. Of all of the 29 Alice Cooper and Alice Cooper Band studio albums that have been released over the years, I rank this as #20 out of 29. Out of Alice’s 22 solo only albums, I rank this #16 of those 22. Again, that might not seem like a ringing endorsement for this album. But I believe again that it just proves how wonderful Alice Cooper’s discography is overall. This isn’t the greatest, but if you enjoy Alice Cooper, there is more than enough here to have you like this album too.

389. Iron Maiden / Fear of the Dark. 1992. 3.5/5

Iron Maiden’s 1990 album “No Prayer for the Dying” had been a change of course in writing and recording, with a more political and religious lyrical tone and a stripped back version of their music, along with a change in guitarist as Adrian Smith left the band and Jannick Gers came on board. The loss of Adrian’s song writing was noticeable, and Jannick had come along too late to be involved in that way on that album, but for “Fear of the Dark” he became intricately involved in the writing process.
There seemed to be a lot going on in the lead up to recording this album, and then immediately afterwards. The band had recorded their previous album in Steve Harris’s barn with the Rolling Stone Mobile Studio, and following this Steve had instead converted the barn into a studio – Barnyard Studio. Martin Birch returned, and this ended up being the final album he produced in his marvellous career.
Judging whether or not the style of this album is different simply because the band wanted to go in a newish direction, or whether it was influenced by the sound that was popularised in the early 1990’s, is not an easy question to answer. Jannick was a co-writer on five songs on the album, and in some circles was lumbered with the blame of the developing more intense feel of the songs. This always seemed a cop out, because nothing happens in Iron Maiden without Steve Harris’s tacit approval. Later on, with the departure of Bruce Dickinson confirmed, there were stories that it was his ambivalence with the album and writing that led to the way the album became seen. This also seems irrelevant, as those decisions came well after the album was written and recorded. Adrian had left the band because he felt the direction they were going, by stripping back the sound, was not in the band’s best interest, and perhaps he felt vindicated after both “No Prayer for the Dying” and this album’s release. It is all very difficult to nail down. What I do know as a fan of the band now and then is that both of the albums that came after the departure of Adrian from the band had an entirely different appeal than the ones he had participated on.

How then, does one go about judging the album “Fear of the Dark”. On my reaction at the time of its release? Or how I felt 6-12 months after its release? Or on how I feel about it now, 30 years later? Certainly a combination of all three would be a sensible option, but I must confess that my love of this album has stretched peaks and troughs over those 30 years.
When this album was first released, I was just excited to have a new Iron Maiden album out. All of those usual anticipations were there. I was interested to hear how Jannick Gers would contribute to the writing of the album. I was hoping for more of a “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” vibe than a “No Prayer For The Dying” vibe. With changes going on in my life with both work and girlfriend becoming fiancé, I guess I wanted the security that another Maiden album could provide, that warm blanket that new Maiden music would bring.
Looking back now, even on first impressions, I was confused when I first got the album. Sure, the rollicking opening of “Be Quick or Be Dead” and “From Here to Eternity” grabbed me from the start, both terrific tracks made you feel that Maiden was back! Then there was the lull into the moody “Afraid To Shoot Strangers” which while different was also effective, and further enhanced the feeling that the album is on the right track.
However, it was always at this point that I began to wonder what direction we were heading in. “Fear Is The Key” has a very Deep Purple mood to it, and considering that Jannick used to play in Ian Gillan’s band I guess this is understandable. Whether it fits my idea of a Maiden album is another question. “Childhood’s End” has always had what I consider to be a strange musical format, unsure as to whether it wants to be an orchestral piece or a fast paced metal track. The solo section is terrific, by far the best part of the song, but the rest seems completely out of place. And then there is the power ballad – and dear god I never thought I’d have to use that terminology with an Iron Maiden song – “Wasting Love”. Now, I am incredibly biased on this issue, but here it is – this is AWFUL!! To me it denigrates the name of Iron Maiden. I’m sorry, this just can’t be true. It is trash, and is the low point of the album. And it is interesting to me that it is written by Bruce and Jannick, and apparently came from sessions of Bruce’s solo album “Tattooed Millionaire”, which as we know was not a metal album. However, as i said earlier, nothing happens in Iron Maiden without the Guv’nor being in favour of it, so the question of this becoming a recorded Iron Maiden song was the world’s biggest heavy metal mystery until Metallica recorded “Mama Said”.
The second half of the album just doesn’t seem to recover. These are, without putting too fine a point on it, half arsed, B-side material songs, not the quality that you associate with this band and these writers. I guess most of them aren’t really bad songs, but you expect so much more from a band like Iron Maiden. They are just average fare – “The Apparition”, “Chains of Misery”, “The Fugitive”, the rather ordinary “Weekend Warrior” – one has to wonder how they happened to become album-worthy. “Judas Be My Guide” rates slightly above this lot and avoids that list as a result, but it is listenable without being absorbing.
Even the title track, “Fear of the Dark” has been cruelled for me. As much as I loved it when this album first came out, the vast number of times it has now been in the band’s setlist, and therefore on every live release ever since, has dulled that love. I don’t hate it, but I can do without hearing it anymore.

How much did the fact that Bruce was on the verge of leaving the band affect this album? Who can tell. When it was released I still played it as much as any other new album at the time. I would go to my car at lunch from work and listen to it every day for weeks. I knew, and still know, all the words to every song. At that time, it was my most played album every week. How long did that go on for? I’d guess at least three months. It culminated in finally seeing the band live on that tour in October 1992, which had its own problems, including the sound being the worst of any concert I’ve ever been to, and Dave Murray playing while having his leg completely cast in plaster. It actually summed up for me the “Fear of the Dark” album and the resulting lingering doubts that I had about it. There is no doubt that at the time I was blinded by the fact that it WAS Iron Maiden, so it HAD to be great… didn’t it? Once those feelings all wore off, and the album went back on the shelf, I had time to reconsider the album as a whole, and those eventual thoughts came down to what I have already mentioned about the songs. There are some terrific tracks here (but to be honest, I think Blaze Bayley ended up singing “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” better than what Bruce did) and there are average tracks. In the years following this, fans seemed to abandon the band on the back of the two albums they released with Blaze as lead vocalist, and reclaimed the band as their own on the return of Bruce and Adrian in time for the “Brave New World” album. But it was obvious that in that five years, Bruce rediscovered passion and brilliance in music, and Adrian had also managed to find his way back. And for me, the two most troubled albums in the Iron Maiden discography are not those helmed by Blaze, but indeed were the final two albums helmed by Bruce before he moved on to his solo career. And for whatever reason that was, it has been proved since that the break of Maiden from their most decorated lead singer and writer turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for the band.