549. Foo Fighters / In Your Honor. 2005. 1.5/5

Having just praised the coming of Foo Fighters in my previous review (for Nirvana's In Utero) I now have to backtrack a little and try to understand how this album came together, and the purpose it serves.
OK, so we have a double disc release here, and the early reports did inform (warn) me that the first disc would be the 'rock' album, while the second disc would be a quieter reflection on things. No problem. It's the Foo Fighters, right? How bad could it really be?

Well, 'Album 1' has some reasonably worthwhile tunes on it. Not a solid album overall, but enough there to make you think there is something worth salvaging from the slight wreck.
...and then comes 'Album 2'. Why? What?! Really?!? Look, I'm sure this does cater to some people's tastes, and to those people go my sympathies. Perhaps a more important question is probably - did this band really have this inside them? Was it just a means to release this stuff from their systems? It's not as if they can't write decent ballad-type songs - "February Stars" is probably the finest example of this - but this is just boring, dreary and uninteresting.
Is this by the same man who came up with his concept for the Probot album? Did that album drain all sense of hard rock and metal from his veins? Seriously!!?! I cannot begin to conceive just what was going on here.

Unfortunately this was, and is, a huuuuuuge disappointment. Putting myself through the agony o listening to it all once again over the last couple of days should be penance enough for any wrongs I've done over the past 12 months.

Rating: Completely illogical. 1.5/5

548. Nirvana / In Utero. 1993. 3.5/5

Every person listening to this episode know who Nirvana were, and probably own or have owned a copy of their second album “Nevermind” and know the songs and perhaps even the story behind it. If not, you should check out the episode of this podcast dedicated to it in Season 1.
By the time the tour behind that album had finished, several question marks had begun to be raised. Cobain sought to have the royalty's distribution, which to that point in time had been divided equally, changed to reflect that he composed almost all of the band’s material. Though both Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl did not argue this, it came to a head when Cobain tried to make it retroactive to include the royalties for “Nevermind”. Depending on whose opinion you listen to, there was either little chance of this affecting the band morale, or in fact the band was close to ending at that point. Though an agreement was made where Cobain did receive 75% of those earlier recording's royalties, it did seem that this angst was present for the remaining time the band was together.
Cobain’s health at this time also led to rumours of the band’s demise, before they put together two of their most memorable performances, firstly at the 1992 Reading Festival, and then a few days later at the MTV Video Music Awards.
While the band’s record company had been hoping for a new album to release towards the end of 1992, they had instead released a compilation album contain rare live performances, B-sides and bootleg songs to appease the fans who were all looking for more material. From this point the band looked forward to the next album. Armed with a new producer in Steve Albini, some songs already written and others in an unfinished form, the band went into the studio in February 1993, and recorded their new album, “In Utero”, in just two weeks. Despite this, it took almost another seven months for the album to be released. Despite initially liking how the album sounded, the band and their record company soon had reservations about it, and then spent a number of months arguing about whether it needed to be remixed or re-recorded, while Albini adamantly refused to budge on what he felt was an iron-clad agreement not to change anything about the album’s recording. There was also concerns about whether the large American markets would put the album on their shelves, over the song “Rape Me” and what they felt it was portraying to the public. It seems almost ludicrous in this modern world that an album took two weeks to produce, but seven months for it to be released. Especially given that it profited all parties involved to get it out into the public's hands as soon as possible.

The whole vibe of “In Utero” is a different breed form both of the two preceding albums. There is a real divide between the way the songs are recorded and played here on this album that the others, something that both producer and writer was looking for. There is a true raw vocal sound from Cobain on many songs on the album, including the opening tracks “Serve the Servants” and "Scentless Apprentice". Unlike most Nirvana songs, the guitar riff on “Scentless Apprentice” was written by Dave Grohl, and though Cobain professed not to like it he wrote the song to accommodate it, while Krist Novoselic helped compose the song's second section. It is the only song on In Utero on which all three band members received songwriting credits. For some reason, this gets high praise in fan circles, and supposedly Cobain wanted to release this as the second single from the album. I admit I don’t get it. The track seems off, the screams are over wrought, and to me it just isn’t a very accessible track. Perhaps that’s why he was so keen to get it out there.
In polar opposite from those tracks, the next two have Cobain at his crooning best. “Heart Shaped Box” came from a riff that Courtney Love claims was the only riff she ever asked if Kurt wanted, because she wanted to use it for her band. After the previous song, this is much more back in the NIrvana groove, with the brooding vocals and loaded drum work from Dave. “Rape Me” was actually written before the release of “Nevermind” and was literally written lyrically as an anti-rape song, but the addition of lyrics in the middle of the song months later also gave it a twist of being against the litany of fame and the increased desire of the media and public to want every part of the artist and his family. “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” continued down the path of those drawbacks to fame and the mental fatigue it caused especially Cobain at this time.
The remainder of the album continues in this vein of coarse vocalled tracks and the most recognisable Cobain croon, while the music morphs as is necessary. The hasher verdicts of songs such as “Milk It” are measured out by the less frantic and less audible tones of songs like “Dumb” and “Pennyroyal Tea” and “All Apologies”
Nevermind’s success was built off the opening single, a song that captured the imagination of the listening public around the globe and blew up all over the world. There’s no doubt that many fans came into “In Utero” and were looking for another “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to light the fire again, and that the album would follow down the same path as “Nevermind” did. The fact that it didn’t, and that the opening single to this album “Heart Shaped Box” was perhaps more of a brooder and a creeper than the raw energy of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” always felt from my perspective that it threw a massive curveball at the fans of the time.

My view of “In Utero” has always been in a comparison, much the same way as Faith No More’s album “Angel Dust“ was on a completely different level from their multi-million selling commercial breakthrough “The Real Thing“. Just like “Angel Dust” this is the ugly duckling of the discography. “In Utero” is a different beast, which is the way that Kurt Cobain wanted it. He didn’t want an album that was as slickly produced as the previous album was, which was why he changed producer from the acclaimed Butch Vig to using Steve Albini. He wanted a more raw and abrasive sound for the album, one that harked back to their debut album “Bleach”, while still being able to have those other more subtle sounding songs where he could use the quiet emotion of the band to express that side of their sound as well.
The end result was “In Utero”, an album that Cobain was quoted as saying was “impersonal” in interviews on its release, but surely nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the songs here lyrically are dealing with depression, and dealing with the trappings of fame, and dealing with life itself. There are people – overly obsessed people to be sure – who have spent years dissecting the words of the songs here, and trying to interpret just what Kurt was trying to say – what he was REALLY trying to say, and looking for doble meanings and hidden truths amongst what he wrote and sang. Which, really, is madness. Everything Kurt Cobain was feeling is right there in his lyrics, at the surface. He’s not trying to be clever or make songs difficult to derive meaning from.
When I first bought this album, I was no different from the other hordes of people who climbed aboard. I was not necessarily looking for, but probably expected, another “Nevermind”. And that definitely is NOT what this album is. And it definitely took some getting used to, because it isn’t as easily accessible as that album was. But once you wade in past the change in mood, the change in vocal sound and the change in expectation, what I found was a really interesting album. It is , probably surprisingly, not as aggressive an album musically as its predecessor, something that I had been anticipated and even looking forward to. Instead, it is an album that draws a lot of introspection instead. It was an album I expected was going to be great to play at parties loud and sing along to loud. And instead it is an album that seems better utilised by sitting in a lounge chair and considering the lyrics and admiring the musical work. And that’s where my enjoyment of this album comes from. It’s a different piece of art, that’s for sure, but one worth admiring nonetheless.
Kurt Cobain has been called a genius in the years since his demise for the way he wrote songs and lyrics and the way he sang to exhort the maximum amount of emotion from each track. To me, that really is overdoing it and making his work more than it actually is. Kurt Cobain was obviously a person who had trouble dealing with a lot of things in his life, but most especially the fame that came with his band’s amazing popularity, and the things he had to deal with as a result of this explosion in fame. He suffered from depression, and as a result drug dependency. And he wrote about these things in his music. And his music and words, on this album and the only other two albums the band produced, is amazing and ground breaking and iconic. Whether that makes him a genius or someone to be pitied is a completely different conversation.

547. Scorpions / In Trance. 1975. 3/5

This is the album where Scorpions really begin to hit their straps, and find the sound and style that brought them fame and fortune.
Combining the wonderful vocals of Klaus Meine and the guitar work of Rudolph Schenker and Uli Jon Roth, this is a step up again from their previous release.
Having said that, it is the first half of the album that is the star attraction. Songs like “Dark Lady”, “In Trance” and “Top of the Bill” are top shelf tunes that still translate well today. They successfully move the album along at the right pace. While the second side of the album is good, I don’t think it holds up after the introductory five songs.

Uli Jon Roth on this album is fantastic. A lot of Scorpions successful build-u to the band they became can be attributed to his work during these albums in the mid-1970’s while he may not have been around for the mega-success later on, his influence was critical.

I don’t think this album ‘sounds’ as good now as it did 20-odd years ago, but the elements that made it great then are still apparent today.

Rating: Still a good listen today. 3/5

546. Led Zeppelin / In Through the Out Door. 1979. 3/5

Led Zeppelin’s amazing run through the end of the 1960’s and through the 1970’s saw fans elevate them to legendary status, both through record sales and concert tickets sales, both of which had reached extraordinary heights by the time their 7th studio album “Presence” had been released in 1976. The band had toured extensively behind it as well and appeared to be on a constant rise in the eyes of their fans. In some ways however, there were doubts beginning to crop up as to how long this could all be sustained. In some quarters “Presence” received a mixed reaction, with the band changing their output to exclude acoustic ballads and intricate arrangements, and instead look for a more straight forward rock guitar sound. They were also unable to tour their home UK at this time for tax exile reasons, and then vocalist Robert Plant and his wife Maureen were involved in a serious car crash while on holiday in Greece. Plant suffered a broken ankle and Maureen was badly injured. This meant the band was losing the hearts of those fans. On top of this, both guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer John Bonham were facing their own addictions, Page to heroin and Bonham to... everything.
To cover for not being able to tour in 1976 the band released the concert film “The Song Remains the Same” along with the live album to accompany it, but the reception was lukewarm at best. A 1977 tour of the US saw big crowds in attendance, but it was then cut short by the news of the death of Plant's five-year-old son due to a stomach virus. It put the band on an indefinite hiatus.
It wasn’t until another 15 months had passed that the band reconvened and began to write and record their next album, and even that was made difficult through events. The album was named to describe its struggles after the death of Plant's son and the taxation exile the band took from the UK which resulted in the band being unable to tour on British soil for more than two years, and trying to get back into the public mind was therefore like "trying to get in through the 'out' door." And thus became the start of Led Zeppelin’s determined course to lift its profile once again, one that ultimately came to signal the end of more things than was expected.

The songs composed for this album again show a different style to what the band had produced early in their career. This could be attributed to the fact that both Page and Bonham were still very much in the throes of their own addictions, and this resulted in them being less involved in the process from the rehearsing and writing stage. Both often failed to show up on time at the recording studio, which left bass guitarist and keyboardist John Paul Jones and Robert Plant to their own devices, and as a result the music written for the album saw their greater influence. This skewed the direction eventually taken, with Page for the first time not being credited on every song on a Led Zeppelin album. It also got to the point that Jones and Plant would arrange the songs during the day, and Page and Bonham would come in at night to put down their parts. It seemed like something that would not be sustainable down the track, but that was a problem for another day. There is also in increase in the front and centre position of the keyboards being utilised by Jones on this album. In the past the keys have been there, but act as a secondary styled instrument behind Page’s guitar and Jones’s bass. In a lot of ways the music on the album acts as a transition from what the band had achieved in its early years... to what could have been for the future. The rise of the synth and keys with the rise of new wave in the early 1980’s does tend to cultivate this thought.
Of the seven tracks created and recorded for the album, there is more atmosphere from the keys than the stomp of the guitar and drums. And the changing face of the songs does make for some rearranging when it comes to fans of the band. The opening track “In the Evening” tends to process this, with the quiet opening and then serene melodic guitar in the middle bookended by a harder beat and Plant’s vocals that come across in a very un-Plant way. “South Bound Saurez” follows with a very southern blues rock piano dominating the song, and the low mixing of everything else. This is one of two songs on the album credited to Plant and Jones without Page, and the music of the song does play this out. Then comes “Fool in the Rain”, which combines differing rhythms in a basic rock sound, and ends up coming across as a repeatable tempo plod through the first half of the track, and then a faster beat into the second half. It almost has a reggae feel at different times which was not unusual for music at the time but surely was unusual for a band such as Led Zeppelin. “Hot Dog” then goes in a different direction once again, incorporating rockabilly ragtime piano again with almost Elvis-like vocals throughout. It’s short and sweet, and draws on very US country themes as well. It’s a strange song, one that takes some time to get used to.
“Carouselambra” is a 10 minute monster, dominated throughout by Jones’s keyboards. And this is something that I mentioned earlier, that the keyboards and synth sounds on this album, and in this song in particular, showcase the way that new wave was impacting the music work at the time, and how it then began to be so prominent especially in the UK music scene. So while this may not be what many would classify as a typical Led Zeppelin track, it did come across as a glimpse of the future. Even if Led Zeppelin was not to be a part of that. And it is interesting to ponder whether the band would have explored that further after this, or if they were to return to their hard rock roots as the members suggested in interviews after this album’s release. “All My Love” is the second Plant/Jones composition, which is about Plant’s son. Jones plays a keys and synth solo throughout the middle section of the song inspired and flavoured by classical music, offset by Page’s quietly sombre guitar leading out the song. The album the concludes with “I’m Gonna Crawl”, a blues/soul track with the extra addition of Jones’s synth again proving a dominating factor. Once you have listened to the whole album, it is amazing that that instrument has had such a heavy influence on the album, but by this point it is the easily held conclusion.

As I have probably mentioned somewhere here before, I have never been the biggest Led Zeppelin fan. My appreciation of their work has only really come as I have gotten older, but when I was growing up it was a little like ‘old people’s music’. I had acquaintances at school who kept telling me I HAD to listen to albums like “Houses of the Holy” and” Led Zeppelin III” because they are the BUILDING BLOCKS of rock music!... but I generally didn’t find that to be the case. The only Led Zeppelin I owned for a very long time was the Remasters double CD released in 1990, which I really enjoyed, as the songs chosen by Jimmy Page to remaster on that album were terrific. But for a long time that was enough for me.
Eventually I found a time where I began to go back in time and try and collect albums and bands that I knew I should probably listen to but had never done so, and Led Zeppelin was one of those bands. And through that, I eventually got around to “In Through the Out Door”.
When it came to doing this episode however, I had no recollection of what I thought of it at the time. I had to delve back to my old reviews that I had done over 20 years ago, and find the couple of paragraphs I had written when I was first listening to this album. And what I had written is this. “Compared to the ground breaking efforts that Led Zeppelin made early in their recording career, this is just average. Not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, but just a run-of-the-mill one that suffers more for the name of the band that recorded it than the material it contains. Certainly, listening to the album again today, none of the songs jumped out at me as memorable in any fashion. Probably its most damning critique”.
Listening to it over the past couple of weeks, and it is quite probable that I have listened to it more in that time than for the rest of my life combined, I again fall back on that old word to describe my feelings for it. “Appreciation”. Because I appreciate the music here, but I don’t love it. It is an interesting listen but now that the episode is completed, I don’t know how often it is going to come off the shelves again.
This proved to be the band’s final offering, with drummer John Bonham’s passing just over a year after its release, and the band’s unwillingness to continue without him. This was the only album that did not have a song credited to him, the reason behind that the same as for his eventual demise. This album therefore concludes the career of one of the most influential bands of their age.

545. UFO / In Session & Live in Concert. 1999. 4.5/5

This live release is a gem, bringing together a number of studio and live performances by the band recorded by the BBC over the course of the golden years of UFO. Not only does it showcase the great music this band produced throughout most of the 1970’s, it is also a testament to the great musicians that formed this superior line-up. As always, Michael Schenker’s brilliant guitaring is the standout, lighting up each song with his own mark of genius.

Rating: A great reflection on a great band in their element. 4.5/5

544. Winger / In The Heart Of The Young. 1990. 2.5/5

The second release from Winger doesn’t bring anything new to the table, so it’s a ‘either love it or hate it’ album.

Listening to it a number of times over the past few days, there’s no doubt it is anchored to the hair metal era. Most of the songs are syrupy-sugar-sweet, very much in the same genre as Def Leppard and even Cinderella. The album itself comes together well, all the songs complementing each other. These days I have to be in the right mood to put in on and listen to it – no use being in an angry mood and looking to bleed that off with angry music! This is in the ‘easy listening’ category of hard rock/metal music.

Kip Winger’s vocals, layered as they are at times, still do the job, while Reb Beach can still cut a riff or two. As an album it doesn’t jump out into the brilliant category, but that doesn’t make it a bad album. Just an average one.
Best for me include the typical Winger anthems of “You Are The Saint, I Am The Sinner”, “In The Heart Of The Young” and “Can’t Get Enuff”.

Rating: Still worth a listen if you are a fan. 2.5/5

543. Y&T / In Rock We Trust. 1984. 2.5/5

By the time 1984 had rolled around, Y&T had been around the music scene for over a decade, making a consistent presence on the hard rock scene through the 1970’s in the US, though somewhat hampered by the lack of push from their record company over their first two albums. The signing with A&M Records gave the band the creative push they required, and their solid albums such as “Earthshaker”, “Black Tiger” and “Mean Streak” had seen their stock on the rise. “Mean Streak” in particular, on the back of the video for the title track, had been a deal breaker. You can listen to the episode dedicated to that album in Season 5 of this podcast. Up until this point, on the back of touring with bands such as AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Dio, Iron Maiden, Marillion, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Twisted Sister, and ZZ Top, Y&T’s popularity was on the rise throughout Europe and the UK, far more so in their native US. “Mean Streak” at least had seen their profile finally rise in their home country, despite what they felt was a less than spectacular effort by their record company to promote the album or the band. Indeed, given the style of music the band played it is hard to believe that their record company refused to give them the push they surely deserved in the United States at this time.
Less than a year later, and the band had already headed back into the studio to write and record the follow up, no doubt hoping to strike while the iron was hot. And in the age where bands consistently rolled out an album every 12-18 months, because in those days selling albums was still a reasonable way of earning money, you can see why it happened. In the case of this album, as we discuss its pros and cons beyond the next break, it is worth considering that perhaps sometimes it would be a better option to take the time to really come up with great follow up tracks to make a superior album, rather than having another album out simply for the sake of having new material out there for the fans to lap up.

In many ways, at the time of its release and even looking back on it from this position so far in the future, this album was always at a disadvantage, given that it immediately follows the excellent and well received “Mean Streak”. The solid outing and enjoyment of the singles and music videos that accompanied them, and which received a lot of airplay on MTV and other music video programs around the world, did make it feel as though "In Rock We Trust” was always on a hiding to nothing.
None of that forgives what feels at times like an unimaginative writing process for the album. The opening track “Rock & Roll’s Gonna Save the World” should have been a barnstormer. Yes, it is a simple-based riff and catchy lyric singalong song, but get some real drive and energy and passion into the song, and it would have lifted it and the album immensely. Perhaps they needed to leave the "Rock & Roll's Gonna Save The World"-type songs to KISS, because they could always find a way to make these kinds of songs work. Instead, it is a slightly bland opening.
Unfortunately, it sets up the whole tone for the album, from which it never really recovers. Formulaic rock should really be beneath a band with so much talent in its ranks, and who at various times of their journey have produced some fantastic songs. Instead, at different times during parts of the album I feel like I'm listening to Hall & Oates ("Break Out Tonight"), KISS (the afore-mentioned "Rock & Roll's Gonna Save The World") and even Huey Lewis & The News ("(Your Love Is) Drivin' Me Crazy"). Good bands who write great songs, but these should be Y&T songs and have a trademark sound of their band rather than other bands of a similar ilk. And I will point out that these aren’t bad songs as such, but just... uninspired, compared to what they have produced in the past. It does sound like they have got the song generator out and gone with a join-the-dots write a song textbook. “Life, Life, Life” plods along like the opener, just begging to be injected with some real power to become a song closer to what this band can perform. “Masters and Slaves” ups the tempo enough to make it a more enjoyable song, or at least one you can bob your head along to. Meniketti’s guitar solo in the middle of the song does provide the highlight. “I’ll Keep on Believin’ (Do You Know)” then switches to the other side of the Yesterday & Today story, the romantic story telling with the sweeter vocal line and inoffensive soft rock melodies that try to reach the hearts of that part of their fan base. The mix of styles throughout is no doubt enjoyable for some.
Some face is saved by the time you reach Side 2 of the album. "Lipstick and Leather" has the attitude that does provide the best Y&T songs with solid vocals and a sharp drum beat and bass line to keep the song progressing. This is followed by the much better Y&T feel of "Don't Stop Runnin'". Great riff, terrific rhythm throughout, Meniketti soaring on lead vocals and great support from the rest of the band on backing vocals, a better tempo and overall just a far better track.
“She’s a Liar” is just about the best song on the album, because it finally sounds like a true Y&T song with energy in the music and the vocals in a similar way to “Don’t Stop Runnin”. The album closes out with “This Time”, a rock ballad that not only traverses the depths of this style of song, but once again concludes the album in a less than satisfying way. It isn’t particularly surprising given the nature of the way the album has progressed from opening to close, but it still could have been saved slightly with a great hard rock track to take the album out. But, for those of you who are frequent listeners to this podcast, you’ve heard all of this before.

&T is a band that I decided to investigate after one music video, the aforementioned “Mean Streak” from the band’s previous album to this. That video had appeared on a two-night heavy metal special of the Channel 10 Australia show Music Video, which was hosted by Basia Bonkowski on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the 1980’s. My friends and I stayed up both nights and taped as much as we could onto VHS tapes that we then wore out watching. The video for that song put me on a path to chase down the band and their albums, a task that came to pass that included picking up this album second hand at Illawarra Books and Records.
It is interesting that this album became the band’s highest charting album in the US, which to me was more through the general build of the three very good albums before it. It feels as though that peaked here with “In Rock We Trust”, and that people bought the album because of the albums that preceded it. Because to me, this album does not rate above those.
The positives here is that Dave Meniketti’s vocals are terrific on this album. I have always enjoyed his voice and the way he sings his songs, and that is no different here. And the core group all sound good as well. But the songs... well, they just don’t cut it overall. To me this isn’t a bad album as such, it’s just an average album. And more than that, in places it is just dull. This album, and the band overall, is trapped in an era where hard rock had transitioned to becoming glam metal for the attention and grandiose spectacle that was necessary to gain an audience, and where the new wave of heavy metal was moving at full throttle towards thrash metal, and this doesn’t touch either of those elements. Are there good songs? Yeeeeeessss. Are there more unremarkable songs? Yes. It’s interesting that they skewed more towards the glam rock side with their 1987 album “Contagious”, which perhaps was the right step but a little too late.
When I do reach for a Y&T album to listen to, I can’t say that it is this one very often. Or perhaps at all. That falls to the previous albums or the aforementioned “Contagious”. And having listened to this again over the last two weeks, nothing much has changed in my opinion of it. This was in the middle of the classic era of this band, one that I still enjoy, but I still always have that nagging feeling that they were far more than they ever really showed. This album is endemic of my feelings in every regard.

542. Stryper / In God We Trust. 1988. 2.5/5

In the preceding four years, Stryper had not only managed to find a way to make Christian rock accessible to more people, but had well and truly infiltrated the glam metal and heavy metal scene with the success of their bombastic yet harmonising songs that found a way to be attractive to a wider and more varied audience imaginable. Having started with their debut album “The Yellow and Black Attack”, they had followed it with two albums that truly managed to cross codes in “Soldiers Under Command” and “To Hell with the Devil”, which combined not only their Christian themes and beliefs into songs, but did so in a way that made some of those songs heavy metal anthems, something that seemed to be completely out of step with how the religious community looked at the heavy metal scene.
The success of the “To Hell with the Devil” album, which you can hear all about in an episode of Season 1 of this podcast, would have put a significant amount of pressure on the band leading into the writing and recording of their fourth studio album. Not only that, but the composition of the songs is also something that must have been crucial. The band had had commercial success with their singles and the music videos that they comprised, especially through the MTV market in the US. On the whole it was their sugar laced ballads that had brought this commercial success and what still drove that point of sales. But the other market they had cracked had been through their heavy metal anthems, songs such as “Loud N Clear”, “Soldiers Under Command”, “The Rock That Makes Me Roll”, “To Hell with the Devil” and “The Way” that had been just as important in increasing their fan base. Metallica and Megadeth fans taking on Stryper as well was a massive thing for the band, and in moving forward this had to be an integral part of the songs they produced in order to retain that part of their fan base. Or so one would have thought.

Whatever the eventual reason may have been, most critics and fans alike would agree that there is a drop in the overall quality in the songs here on “In God We Trust” compared to their earlier efforts. And perhaps it is unfair to compare it to “Soldiers Under Command” and “To Hell with the Devil”, but from early on in the piece it is obvious that this doesn’t stack up against them. The stronger tracks on the album can hold their own, but there is far too much wimping out here in regard to the strength of the tracks.
The album starts off strong with the title track, which at least echoes those great anthemic tracks mentioned earlier, and in particular gives centre stage to those great guitars and Michael Sweet’s amazing vocal chords. However, one of my major gripes with this album is that, in essence, it starts to sound like a poor rip-off of their previous album. Take a close listen to the second track on the album "Always There for You" and tell me you can't hear the song "Calling on You" from the previous album. Beyond this, there is little doubt that the rather disappointing "It's Up 2 U" is a very ordinary re-hash of the infinitely better "Sing Along Song" from the previous album. And then when you get to the tremendously awful ballad “Lonely”, you can positively hear the same melody and feeling that came with the same tremendously awful ballad “Honestly” from that previous album. Now one can only imagine in the writing process that it was decided that they needed to retain the same successful formula for this album as for the “To Hell with the Devil” album, and that is to be commended... but at least try and make it sound a LITTLE different! And better! Or had the band simply run out of ideas?
Elsewhere there is still much to enjoy on the album, in particular the harder hitting tracks such as “The Writings on the Wall” and the closing song “The Reign” tap into that enthusiasm that marks the best of Stryper’s work, while songs such as “Keep the Fire Burning” and “Come to the Everlife” are average harmless songs. On the other end of the scale, the ballads of “I Believe in You” and “The World of You and I” are right alongside “Lonely” as ones I would like to avoid for eternity.
Kudos once again though to Michael Sweet, whose vocals again soar to hitherto unnatural heights. I am constantly amazed at his ability to not only sing how he does, but to play guitar at the same time as well. Oz Fox again is supreme on guitar, while Robert Sweet’s drumming is efficient without showing the star quality of earlier albums.

Coming off the joy of their earlier albums and the stunning concert on the ‘To Hell with the Devil’ tour in Sydney the previous year, I jumped at this when it was released in the belief it would be another step further on from those other albums. So it is possible I went into this in a state of over excitement which doesn’t always allow an album to be heard in its best setting. And while I did enjoy the album and many of the tracks, I guess I was still let down by the number of ballads that were present and that soured the whole experience. And to be fair, it does with every Stryper album ever released. But getting beyond that there is lot here to still enjoy, and that is what I hold onto when it comes to listening to this album, and I have done that about thirty times over the past three weeks leading up to doing this podcast episode.
To me this album had the potential to be as good as their previous works, but in the end it falls down in the final direction they allowed the music to go. Because there isn’t a real metal feel about the harder songs here, they are more of a hard rock genre, a softening of what they could have been if the band had wanted them to be. And that is where this album is led, by where the band wanted to go. A shame when you actually listen to the album, and can hear for yourself where they really should have taken this material. At least, that’s what I would have done.

541. Deep Purple / In Concert With the London Symphony Orchestra. 1999. 4/5

Having written and performed their Concerto for Group and Orchestra back in 1970, I guess it was only a matter of time before they decided to revive it in a live setting, especially given the spate of albums by bands that were recording with orchestras in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
What sets this apart from most other efforts is the unique idea of having work from each individual’s careers woven into the performance as well, along with songs from the band’s recent past also given the orchestral treatment.

There is a lot to like here, though Steve Morse doing his old Dixie Dregs tune is a highlight, along with the appearance of Ronnie James Dio to do his two tunes from Roger Glover’s Butterfly Ball album. The ‘Concerto’ itself sounds much better than its original performance from 30 years previous. And not forgetting the Deep Purple songs that are performed – though I’m not sure that the orchestra actually adds anything to them.
Interesting to note is Dio obviously forgetting the lyrics to “Smoke on the Water” when he is singing it with Ian Gillan. Guess that is forgivable given that he probably had never sung it in his life before these performances.

Thus, for the fan this is a great listen. A bit of everything from Deep Purple. Not something you will take out and listen to time and time again, but it is worth the effort on occasions.

Rating: Great musicianship and songs, but not one you'll play a lot. 4/5

540. Deep Purple / In Concert. 1980. 4.5/5

When it comes to live albums from the seminal era of Deep Purple, this one rates in the top echelon. It does in fact cover two separate concerts in two eras of the Mark II line-up, both with their positives and negatives.

The first disc is from 1970, with the second from 1972. The recordings are just wonderful, capturing the full array of musicians in full flight and at their theoretical peak. Ian Paice’s drum work along with Roger Glover’s bass lines work magically together. As per usual, the duelling between Jon Lord’s keyboards and Ritchie Blackmore’s guitaring is the driving force behind the show, while Ian Gillan’s vocals soar just as magnificently live as they do in the studio.

As with all of their live shows in this era though, there is a lot of freeform instrumental breaks within the framework of most of the songs. While this was a popularist thing to do in the era, it does tend to get tedious after a while when you are listening to live albums. I can appreciate the cleverness of it all, but I’d much rather just hear the songs being played as they were written!
Outside of that issue, this is a joy to put on and listen to. The songs are some of the band’s best and the performances are outstanding.

Rating: Purps in their element. 4.5/5

539. Exodus / Impact is Imminent. 1990. 3.5/5

When it comes to legitimate thrash albums of the late 1980’s, this one ranks as one of the last. With most of their contemporaries allowing their style of metal to move away from straight out thrash, Exodus stick with what they know and deliver it with venom.

Listening to the album again today, it’s amazing how similar some riffs of some of the songs are to other bands of their era. It’s not surprising to hear pieces that remind me of Slayer and Anthrax – and the song “A.W.O.L” is just unmistakably Metallica of that era – given the shared history these bands have, but sometimes I had to check what I was listening to just to be certain is was Exodus.
In retrospect this album still holds up after 20 years. It doesn’t command the respect that other albums of the era do, such as …And Justice For All and South of Heaven and State of Euphoria and Rust in Peace, but it is still a solid entry in the Exodus production line. While the entry to the next decade did not bring the same sort of joy, Impact is Imminent keeps alive the thrash name for another release.

Favourites for me include “Impact is Imminent”, “A.W.O.L.”, “The Lunatic Parade” and “Within The Walls Of Chaos”.

Rating: Still plenty to enjoy after two decades. 3.5/5

538. Blind Guardian / Imaginations From the Other Side. 1995. 3.5/5

The progression of Blind Guardian’s career throughout the 1990’s decade is one that highlighted the difference in how the progression of heavy music in general transited the decade in North America and Europe. While grunge and alternative metal and the other variations as a result made their mark through America, it was power metal that made a significant move on the European continent. Blind Guardian was one of the leaders of this wave, though despite this their own sound through this period also had changes from one album to the next that showed a redefining of their core sound as the decade progressed. To this point in time, there had been a gradual development of Blind Guardian’s sound over the course of their first four albums, and this would continue through their couple as well. The band had begun life closer to a speed metal band than anything else, though gradually that had been infused with power metal tracings into “Tales from the Twilight World”, a course that their contemporaries in Helloween had done, and thus not surprisingly incorporated by the guest appearance of Kai Hansen on three of their albums in that time period. Then came “Somewhere Far Beyond” an album that made a step further in that progression of power metal and a lesser infatuation with speed metal. The success of this moving of the goalposts continued, until such time as they released their album “Nightfall in Middle-Earth", a concept album where almost every trace of their original speed metal had been enveloped in their more maturing and orchestral direction. The album that straddled those two albums, and therefore acting as a bridge from one to the next, was this one, “Imaginations from the Other Side”.
How much of this came from a new producer? The band has admitted in interviews that the writing for this album had some difficulties, more from the fact that the band was looking to lift their game and raise the standard of what they wanted to use, which led to more ideas that they felt were not up to this new standard being cast aside. It was not until the first two songs were laid down as demo’s, containing the song that would become the title track of the album and also “The Script for my Requiem”, that they felt they were heading in the right direction. They also wanted to look for a new producer as they were unsatisfied with how both “Somewhere Far Beyond” and their live album “Tokyo Tales” had sounded. Hansi Kursch and Andre Olbrich, the two main songwriters of the band, apparently toured studios over their summer, and eventually came back to the one they visited first, Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen. The producer involved? Flemming Rasmussen, best known as the producer of Metallica’s most influential albums. He had been impressed with their demo tape, and once they began working together, despite the band feeling that he expected much more of them than their previous producer especially in rhythm guitar and vocal performances, the chemistry seemed to work, and allowed the band to ascend to that higher plane that they had been aiming for.

From the outset, Blind Guardian show that while they are once again maturing their own style into something they can carry forward with, they have not abandoned completely their complex songwriting which has been a hallmark of their work, and that they are not skimping on any of their finest attributes. The title track opens the album in a typically epic way, again showcasing how they are ramping up the operatic storytelling they are famous for and giving their music a bigger and more grandiose sound. “Imaginations from the Other Side” is like the opening of a metal musical, the depth and gravity of the track both musically and vocally is what hits you from the outset. It is a statement from the start. Blistering guitars, harmonising choir vocals and perfectly formatted drumming that brings the whole package together.
Fear not though for those who are already looking back on the past with melancholy, because there is still plenty of ripping sections coming up, none more so than on "I'm Alive", which retains its structure from the earlier albums with that speed metal pace throughout and driven by the drums and guitars. “A Past and Future Secret” is the acoustically middle-earthian tome that Blind Guardian had shown on their previous album with “The Bard’s Song – In the Forest” and would again going forward. Power ballad?Not really, given the acoustic nature of the track, and the fact that there is far more Tolkien feel about these slower acoustic tracks than the desire of crying about love and lost love that power ballads regularly describe. It is a trait of Blind Guardian to include tracks like this, and in doing so here they retain that part of themselves that they quirkily hold onto.
“The Script for my Requiem” bounces back into the traditional Blind Guardian tune, the slightly faster song with great guitars and vocals. While the music here begins to trend towards the power metal side of their music, it is still quintessentially Blind Guardian, and this is what distinguishes it from the majority of the bands in that genre of music. The drumming isn’t all fast double kick, Thomas Stauch retains his own style which is a long step away from what would typically be found in power metal albums from the drummer, and that helps to retain the uniqueness of a track such as “The Script for My Requiem”. This is followed by “Mordred’s Song”, the tale of which comes from Arthurian legend and explores his story from his own eyes, with lines such as “I've gone beyond the truth, It's just another lie, Wash away the blood on my hands, My father's blood, In agony we're unified”. “Mordred’s Song” sits back in a mid-tempo not usual for the band, but ties together many of the traits that will seep forward from this album, the continued telling of tales from novels, mixing in acoustic and electric guitars, almost floating along through the song to give the tale its tragedy within the music. It's a haunting song, which indeed the story itself is as well.
Not time for rest though, as "Born in a Mourning Hall" blasts into its beginning immediately, charging out of the speakers and bound to keep the album forceful and heavy. The faster pace here and the great drumming drives the song. Lyrically it is an unusual one for the band, as Hansi and Andre usually source their material from books and fantasy, whereas this song seems to be referencing modern issues such as television and technology and being trapped within their spell that they cast upon you. Of course, the overreaching story that twists through the album is based on this idea. The album explores the journey of a child who escapes reality through a mirror, entering a fantastical world filled with Arthurian legends, swords, and dragons. It draws inspiration from classic tales like The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and The Chronicles of Narnia and the Arthurian legend, which is why all of these images appear in the songs. “Bright Eyes” follows that trend, combining this merging of Blind Guardian’s two musical convergences to produce a song that musically is caught in the middle of its past and future.
“Another Holy War” ramps us back to a more familiar song speed, and drums and guitars combine on this track to push the album into overdrive. Hansi's vocals, on their own and then their choired masses that support over the top, are wonderful here again, making this one of the best tracks on the album.
And then comes that epic closing track “And the Story Ends”, and it really is an epic conclusion to the album. Steeped in the tones that would come in various forms on the albums that followed this one, Blind Guardian throw the kitchen sink at this song, led from the front by Hansi’s formidable and powerful vocal cries that drive the song into the stratosphere. The marching drums and guitars start off everything, followed by the choir vocals before breaking into the heart of the song. The tempo of this song is the best example of the bridge between the past and future, but the dialling down of tempo loses nothing in intensity and power and sheer energy throughout. Everything combines here in an enthralling six-minute conclusion that stamps its mark on the ascent of this band in an era that they are charging out at the front of.

It seems absolutely ludicrous as I sit here today talking to you about this album that I did not discover Blind Guardian until 2002. Well, that’s partly true. I knew the band existed because every time I walked into Utopia Records in Sydney and passed the ‘B’ section, there were these elaborately designed album covers of a band called Blind Guardian, and I always wondered what they might sound like. You know, I probably could have walked up to the counter and asked if they would play me one of their albums so I could have a listen and decide if I wanted to give them a go. But I never did, and the 1990’s was a strange time to be checking out bands I wasn’t aware of. So it wasn’t until 2002 that I decided to take a punt. And on that day I actually took a punt on two bands that I had heard nothing of and knew nothing of. And I bought Iced Earth’s newest album “Horror Show”, and I bought Blind Guardian’s newest album “A Night at the Opera”. Error. “A Night at the Opera” is, still, my least favourite Blind Guardian album. And based on what I thought of it when I got home, it could have been the LAST Blind Guardian album I ever bought. But it wasn’t. And we’ll get to that story down the trail on another episode.
But back to this album, “Imaginations from the Other Side”. Because my acquirement of the Blind Guardian catalogue was so haphazard, I didn’t hear this album until I had listened to others of other generations. And for this band in particular, that is a difficult thing to do. As I have mentioned here, there is a subtle change and maturing of the band’s key sounds from album to album, such that if you heard them out of order it makes for a difficult listening experience first up. Imagine listening to “Powerslave” and “No Prayer for the Dying” out of sequence, or “Reload” and “Ride the Lightning”. That’s a difficult transition. Much is the same with Blind Guardian.
My immediate love of the band came from their second and third albums, steeped as they are in the German speed metal they came up with. And I had also found “Nightfall in Middle-Earth", a very different styled album. Taking all of that into account, my initial exposure to this album was not as extreme as with “A Night at the Opera” but it was not completely compliant with what I was expecting. It wasn’t as overall blistering as the first albums I loved, nor was it as well crafted and rounded as the album that followed it. In fact, in my blog “Music from a Lifetime” in my review of this album in 2009, I wrote fairly simply “I must admit that I had trouble with this for a long time”. Over time however I stopped trying to look for what was obviously not there and listen to what was being offered instead. And that was my gateway into the album. I actually paid attention to songs such as the title track, “I’m Alive”, “The Script for My Requiem” and espefially the closing of “Another Holy War” and “And the Story Ends”. The power of the guitars, the fabulous drumming throughout, and the way Hansi changes his vocals to suit the mood of the track, and how powerful he was on this album when it was necessary.
Over the past week I have revisited this CD from my collection, and it has been terrific. I know there are albums I probably enjoy more, but this is one that has certainly risen in my estimation from what I thought of it when I first got it. On reflection this week, of Blind Guardian’s 12 studio albums, I rank this at #5... or #6... it’s real close.
Blind Guardian had fought the fight against the changing musical world in 1995 and won. What they came up with next not only put them in esteemed company but rewrote the book when it came to power metal and their place in the world order. It was an album worth waiting for.

537. Dream Theater / Stargazer [Digital Single]. 2009. 4/5

A pretty good update of the brilliant Rainbow song. A tough gig trying to take on this task. For the most part they remain faithful to the original, which is no mean feat, especially in trying to recreate the aura and magnificent feel that the 1975 version has.

As much as I respect this band and the individual musicianship of each of them, what comes to pass here is this - John Petrucci is no Ritchie Blackmore, Mike Portnoy is no Cozy Powell, and James LaBrie is a million miles away from being Ronnie James Dio.

Rating: Well worth a listen, but cannot approach the original. 4/5.

536. Dream Theater / Images And Words. 1992. 4/5

Dream Theater was another of those bands that began in high school, and then progressed to a higher plane through sheer force of will after their school years. Their debut album was filled with songs that they had written in those years, and it is said that based on the glowing reports of their demo album, where most of those songs originated from, they had expected a similar reaction to their first album. This wasn’t the case, and along with the clashes with lead singer Charlie Dominici the band made some changes, with James LaBrie coming in on vocals to join John Petrucci on guitar, Mike Portnoy on drums, John Myung on bass and Kevin Moore on keyboards.
The progressiveness of the band’s material seemed to have been an obstruction to the success of their first album, which seemed a little strange given what was being produced in 1989. But here in 1992 they were up against greater odds, the influence and dominating factor of grunge. Their style wasn’t unique, but it did incorporate different styles from bands such as Rush and Yes through to Queensryche and Metallica, and on that debut album it hadn’t quite caught the imagination.
The band initially wanted to record “Images and Words” as a double album, but their new record company was against the idea, meaning that some of the songs recorded for the album missed out. One of those was “A Change of Seasons” that was eventually re-recorded and released as an EP.
When you first listen to this album, there is quite a lot to take in, and yet comparatively to their first album it feels a lot simpler and more engaging. The opening track is brilliant, still one of the band’s best. “Pull Me Under” really acts as a great introduction point to new fans, presenting everything that is so fantastic about the band. The moody opening of guitar bass and keys with the drums kicking in to provide the impetus, followed by the amazing vocals swimming in kicks the song and album off in perfect fashion. It is the song I play to anyone who wants to know what Dream Theater is like. It is also the band’s only top ten single on the US charts, albeit a shortened version, and became the joke of the band’s eventual greatest hits album in the title “Greatest Hit... and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)”.
The band’s ability to switch from heavy progressive to light progressive is highlighted on this album throughout, sometime within a song itself, and at other times between the tracks. “Another Day” is a more serene track compared to the opener, but though it dials back in intensity it doesn’t lose any of its flavour or joy as a result. Indeed, it fits the template of the album that a song like this doesn’t on heavier bands albums. Then we are back into the much harder tempo of “Take the Time” where LaBrie’s ability to infuse attitude into those high range vocals is perfectly positioned along with Portnoy’s ridiculous off timing drum fills and cymbal touches is still amazing.

“Surrounded” delves back to the quiet and reserved, dominated through the beginning of the song by Moore keys and LaBrie vocals before rising towards the end. It is complemented towards the end of the album with the short serve of “Wait For Sleep” which was the only song on the album written exclusively by one member, this one by Kevin Moore. Both of these songs showcase what the band does well in its lighter moments, and though they aren’t my cup of tea when it comes to music genres they both fit the way the album has been constructed in the best way.
“Metropolis - Part 1: “The Miracle and the Sleeper” has a natural build through the lengthy time span of the song, riding the wave once again of Moore’s keyboards through to the hardening of the drums and guitars, and concluding with LaBrie’s wonderful vocals delivering the final lines. It is a terrific track, one that must have led the listeners back in those days to wonder why it was Metropolis Part 1” and if that meant there was a Part 2 coming somewhere down the line. That of course came to fruition in an amazing way. “Under a Glass Moon” comes at you in the same way, dominated a bit more with Portnoy’s relentless drumming that never ceases to amaze. The closing track “Learning to Live” covers all of the equations of the Dream Theater repertoire, a smashing of heavy from Petrucci and Portnoy to the sallow of Myung and Moore, while LaBrie changes his inflection as the mood of the song comes and goes in waves. It’s 11 minutes plus runtime is a pretty usual thing for the band, and it acts as an excellent closer to the album.

Dream Theater was another band that I was slow to cottoning onto, so my first discovery of this album didn’t come until the turn of the century. And, perhaps like most who have found this band or this album, it is the opening stanza of the opening track that drags you in. That amazing strength of “Pull Me Under” is what got me, that sensation that you will get with the very best albums or tracks where you think “bloody hell, what the hell is THIS?!” And the album, like the majority of Dream Theater albums, has its share of the heavy and light, the sings where Portnoy and Petrucci dominate and star, and those where Moore and LaBrie take centre stage, and all the while Johnny Myung does his amazing stuff up and down his bass guitar, no matter what kind of song is being played. And while my preference of their material has always been the guitar heavy tracks that have the drive along with the bass and drums and the harder attitude in James LaBrie’s vocals, the complementing songs here are amenable to the track list.
What still amazes me about this album is that it was able to find a successful window in a year that had such a different space in regards to the music that was being released. To have successfully produced the music that the band loved, without amending their style to follow the path that music at the time was trending, is a credit to the band and their belief in what they were doing. Listening to it 30 years later since its release, and a tick over 20 years since I first heard it myself, those influences I mentioned earlier, from bands such as Yes and Rush and Queensryche and even contemporaries like Fates Warning are so solid in the music here. And for me, this album lay the platform for Dream Theater to construct from, to develop their own style further. Some of those future albums are better than others, but Images and Words still truly holds its own in the Dream Theater catalogue.