790. Judas Priest / Redeemer of Souls. 2014. 4/5

To say that I was a little hesitant when it came to approaching the new album from Judas Priest would be an understatement. I tried hard to like Angel of Retribution and I failed to get much out of the rock opera that was Nostradamus. Both albums for the most part were a huge disappointment, given the initial excitement of Rob Halford returning to the fold. Then we had the retirement of K.K. Downing and the 'last tour' stories, which as with most of these kinds of stories has instead extended itself to further tours and a new album. Throw it all together like that, and there was a lot of pointers to the possibility of further disappointment.

Right from the get-go, this album allays most of those fears. Here is that famous Judas Priest dual-guitar attack, here is Scott Travis and his more renown double kick, here is Ian Hill and that solid-as-a-rock bass sound, and here is Halford sounding loud and strong. "Dragonaught" comes at you with the cannons firing, and continues with "Redeemer of Souls" and the excellent "Halls of Valhalla", which races along at a satisfying speed and heavy ratio. "Sword of Damocles" is a ripper, tearing it up and showcasing the best that the Priest can perform.
"Hell & Back" is a more moody offering, sitting in a placating lounge chair with Rob serving up molten chocolate vocals as Glenn and Richie play their comforting fireside solos. It is a strong song despite not accessing any speed or screams. This follows up with "Cold Blooded" which follows a similar path, a slower side to the Priest beast without forgoing any of the power.
"Metalizer" indicates a rise in the tempo by the name alone, though it is probably only Scott's double kick that indicates a rise in speed as such. "Battle Cry" is a beauty, charging along with that typical guitar riffing solidly backed by the double kick drum and rising vocals. it can't all be golden I guess, and I have problems with the album closer, "Beginning of the End". Is this trying to be another "Beyond the Realms of Death"? Or "Loch Ness"? Because I hated "Loch Ness". Why end an album with such a slow, reflective, mournful-like song? It just sucks out all of the great feelings that have been built up beforehand. This song is a mistake, perhaps the only one made on the album, but a mistake nonetheless.

Say what you like about Judas Priest in the modern age, but you have to admire their stamina. Richie Faulkner has injected some youth into the line-up, and perhaps even influenced the song writing to the positive, given the improvement overall in this album over other recent releases. The band themselves still has it, and sound fantastic. Any discussion will as a matter of course refer to Halford's vocal capacity in the modern age, and certainly age has caught up with him. Long gone now are the days when he could reach those notes that defined the first two-thirds of his career as a vocalist, and punctuated Judas Priest's greatest songs. He literally cannot do that anymore - but that does not mean he has lost his capability to sing. Everyone who listens to this album can pick the places where a young Halford would have unleashed an ear-splitting scream, where now he substitutes it for a different line and pitch. Anyone who didn't know Rob Halford's singing abilities would not even notice the change, because now he is singing in the range that he is capable of doing, and it sounds great. Every great singer has had to make sacrifices and changes as they get older. Rob's singing here is terrific. Those that mourn the lack of his historic abilities should just get over it.

"The Priest is back!!" can be shouted on stage for this album's tour with gusto, because it rings as true now as for anytime over the past twenty-five years. If this is to be their final album then it is a fitting way to conclude their magnificent career. If there is still more to come, it is a positive indicator that while their greatest albums may be in the past, it doesn't mean that there cannot be more great albums to come.

Rating:  There's no holding him back, the ransom announces his deeds.  4/5

Listen to full album here

789. DragonForce / Sonic Firestorm. 2004. 3/5.

I was expanding my mind by trawling the internet one Friday evening while listening to music and drinking scotch when I came across a link that invited me to listen to the brand new song by a band called DragonForce. As it turns out, I had never heard of them, and for interests sake duly followed the link to be greeted by song that began with fury and barely stopped for breath for the next eight minutes. It could have been the alcohol, but I was entranced, and duly played it four or five more times, each time finding more I liked about it. The song was "My Spirit Will Go On", and it was my first introduction to the band. Within a couple of weeks I had purchased not only the debut Valley of the Damned, but this release as well.

If memory serves, I was excited about Sonic Firestorm over the first days of listening to it. It was new and pristine, full of ridiculous flying guitars and keyboards, double kick drums and high pitched vocals and melodies. And it was fast, like good old fashioned European speed power metal, the kind that could easily bring a smile to your face. And it did. For a while. Because then as I moved into the many multiples of listenings, rather than becoming like the company of a best friend it became like company of a person who once seemed like a nice guy, but you've now learned is a hanger-on and becomes increasingly annoying to be around.
Let's face it, as much as there is great merit in the music on this album, it does tend to sound the same all the way through the album. There is a tendency for the double kick and guitar to blend into similarity from one song to the next, and for the vocals to begin to stay in that same register wherever you are in the song or album. And while that all works while it is new, as you move further into the relationship, you begin to think it would be nice to have something that doesn't just sound similar, no matter what point of a song or the album it is that you move to.
Despite the bawling out, I still enjoy putting this album on. "My Spirit Will Go On" is followed by the equally good "Fury of the Storm". "Soldiers of the Wasteland" and "Prepare For War" are my other favourites. There are no radio-friendly length songs on this album, with nothing under five minutes. "Dawn Over a New World" is the album power ballad, which does little to redeem anything in my eyes. Yep, this style of music must have its power ballad. It surely on day will be a crime to do so.

There is no doubt that my ratings for this album diminished over a period of time from when I first got it. I'd be willing to lay odds that during that first week of purchase I could well have had it as high as four and a half stars. As that initial joy slowly wore off, and the weight of the album brought it back from the stratosphere, I learned that although I enjoyed the album a great deal, it had a few slight flaws that brought it back to the better-than-average class. Which is where it still lies today, better than average.

Rating:  You know that sanity is not as it was meant to be.  3/5

Listen to full album here

788. Tygers of Pan Tang / Wild Cat. 1980. 2.5/5

In recent times I have spent a lot of my energy into delving back into finding albums of bands tied up (some very loosely) in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. For the most part this has been an interesting and enjoyable experience. One of the more recent bands I have been able to track down is Tygers of Pan Tang, and this is their debut album, Wild Cat.

From the very beginning, I can hear patches of bands like ZZ Top and Motorhead in their music. There's nothing too technical about the songs on this album. For the most part they are straight up hard rocking songs with a fast 4/4 drum beat from Brian Dick which is mirrored by the bass guitar of Richard "Rocky" Laws. The guitar riffs from Robb Weir are all catchy enough, while Jess Cox's vocals are serviceable without providing any real energy which may have helped to lift these songs. To be honest, this whole album is average - it isn't bad but it doesn't have anything memorable that lifts it into the really good range. Whether that was going to be something more distinctive from the rhythm section than just the timekeeping element, or some breakout riffs and/or solos from the guitars, or some change in tone from the vocals that helped to lift these songs, it didn't really matter. To me there just had to be something to make these songs stand out from each other, rather than feel they are all mostly very similar. This isn't meant to be a huge criticism of what is presented here, and given that it was 35 years ago this album in these circumstances has held up quite well. But there is a quality lacking which would make it stand out from the other heavy albums of the day.
Quite simply, there are ten tracks on this album that feel and sound extraordinarily similarly structured. If you did not know the album well, and were listening to it for the first time, you could be forgiven for thinking that the same songs often get repeated throughout the length of the album. This isn't helped by the very monotone vocal performance of Jess Cox, which fails to help in trying to perceive the differences of each track. There are good songs here that you feel could have been much more spectacular if they had been managed better. "Euthanasia" and "Slave to Freedom" both start the album off as well as they are allowed, but by the time we reach "Don't Touch Me There" you can already feel the sameness creeping in. With "Money" we have the slight case of boredom seeping into the music. A more upbeat tempo number like "Killers" can get away with this lethargy, and along with "Fireclown" at least help to raise the profile a certain degree, but the guitar riffs are still too similar for comfort, and the vocals too singularly toned as well.

On the whole, this is an average album, perhaps one that at the time of its release was thought of more highly than I do today. That can always be the case, and it is not meant to be a harsh assessment - though it probably comes across that way. For true believers of the movement I'm sure they find a lot more in this than I do.

Rating:  The heart of the future will soon oppress.  2.5/5

Listen to full album here

787. Brides of Destruction / Runaway Brides. 2005. 1/5

Having been drawn in to buying the first album, Here Come the Brides, by the lure of a project containing Nikki Sixx, John Corabi and Traci Guns, and having been unsatisfied completely by the results of said album, I approached this follow up release, Runaway Brides, with a positivity I probably didn’t completely believe. Nikki had moved on, and whilst the debut had its moments, could the sophomore release build on that? Or would it fail dismally to live up to any type of expectation? Sadly, in the long run, it is the second thought that dominates this release.

My greatest problem with this album is the lack of vitality in the music. At least there were songs on the debut that were up tempo numbers, ones you could drum along to on the table or air guitar along to. For the most part, Runaway Brides plods along at an interminable tempo with little to be joyous about I any form. If the band was looking for a latter day grunge of morbidity, then they have succeeded. But why would you head in this direction? Like so many ‘project’ bands, I guess you generally only do them to indulge in music that is different from what your main focus is. So, if you come looking for a Motley Crue/L.A. Guns knock off here you aren’t going to find it. What we do have here is some slow, grinding, passionless drivel, from the somewhat pointless intro of “Aunt Biente” which then moves straight into “Lord of the Mind” with its moaning monologue and motionless music, all the way through to “Dimes in Heaven” which with its grunge guitar riff that a thousand bands have played in the 90’s and lacklustre vocal performance isn’t sure whether it should be a punk or hardcore extravagance. Between these two extremities of the album there is some rather more ordinary material, with a couple of songs that break the mould and could be classed as ‘not as bad as the other tripe’. “Criminal” is awful. Truly, some of these songs sound like garage band demos, ones that have just been thrown together and then put on a disc. “White Trash” and “Brothers” especially sound like this.

There’s no a lot of doubt why this was the Brides’ last album. Sure, Traci went on to re-form one version of L.A. Guns, but this album and the material within just isn’t very good at all. Some may say it is vile crap. More is the pity after the promise of some songs on the first album. None of that promise appears here.

Rating:  And I’ll never say never again. Well, something like that.  1/5

Listen to full album here

786. Megadeth / Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! 1985. 4.5/5

Of all of the albums that introduced me to new bands in my teenage years, this one made the biggest impact on me at the time. That may seem a little far fetched, when you compare it to my first taste of bands such as Iron Maiden (Powerslave), Metallica (Master of Puppets) and Dio (Holy Diver), but it comes to be the truth. I still remember my first time, going to my mate's house during our school lunch break. He pulled out the vinyl - the big heavy 180g stuff too this album came on - and as I scanned over the cover and in the insert I got my first listen to Megadeth and the raw magic that was contained within.
I knew nothing of Megadeth, and while my mate knew only a little more he filled in my blanks as we listened to the album that day. All of that still floods back to me whenever I put on the album today, and having been playing it pretty much non stop for the last three days at work, it has brought on a wonderfully nostalgic feeling.

The album begins with the somewhat unusual piano tinkling of "Last Rites" before crashing into the opening riff of "Loved to Death". It's raw, it's furious. The solos sometimes sound like they had been worked out on the spot, but it's good old fashioned thrash metal from the outset. The title track keeps this up, with "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" not only being written about a hired killer, but showcasing what Megadeth is going to be from the start - interesting subject matter in the lyrics, layered with a great drum beat and bass track, scintillating guitars and Dave's distinctive vocals over the top of everything. It mightn't be a classical voice, but it isn't the screams that were heard in his early days with another band. It has definitely 'matured' for this album release. "Skull Beneath the Skin" is another great song with all of these characteristics.
When I first heard "These Boots" I thought it was a Megadeth original, which was fine but with something that made me wonder where it had evolved from. Little did I know that it was a cover version of a song sung by Nancy Sinatra, called "These Boots Are Made For Walking". The lyrics here have been... twisted... but it did explain why even back at the beginning I felt as though this songs was different from the others on the album.
You just have to love "Rattlehead", and if it isn't Dave's answer to Metallica's "Whiplash" then it would a huge coincidence. Same subject matter, same furious pace throughout the song, and the same mentioning of the band's name as a part of the song. Terrific. A great song that is just amazingly fast and performed brutally.
When I first heard "Chosen Ones", my mate implored me to listen to the lyrics, and tell him what they were and what they referred to. We were (and still are) both huge fans of Monty Python, and it didn't take long for me to recognise the first verse of the song, and where it had come from:

You doubt your strength or courage, don't come to join with me
For death surely wants you, with sharp and pointy teeth
An animal so vicious, no others fought and won
So on the fields of battle, we are the chosen ones

They are (liberally) the words spoken by Tim the Enchanter during Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and the whole song is about that scene in the movie. Brilliant. Genius. Hilarious. And perhaps, as much as I had enjoyed everything that had been played to me previously that day, it was this song that tied me to this album, that gave me a connection that enticed me to listen to this album again and again. An album always needs a hook. this one for me has more than one, but this was probably the one that first caught me.
The song that has become one of my all time favourite Megadeth songs however is "Looking Down the Cross". It is still somewhat of a mystery to me as to why this has not become an all time classic, one that is permanently in the live set list and played with venom at every gig. It really has everything - a 'plot', it starts off in a menacingly slow style with the piano and Dave's vocals, before exploding into the heart of the song with a great riff and Dave again spitting out his lyrics. It builds up all the way through, into the solo bridge, before crashing into the finale aggressively both vocally and musically. As I said, I love this song, and it should be more popularly known.
When my mate played me the final song on the album, I immediately recognised it, and said so. The music was from another song, though it missed a bit in the middle, but the lyrics were different. When I looked questioningly at him, he told me that Dave Mustaine, the leader of Megadeth, had actually been an original member of Metallica, and this song was the one Metallica had originally played until Mustaine had been fired from the band. They had then revamped it and recorded it as "The Four Horsemen". This, however, was the original - "Mechanix" - and thus duly recorded here in all its glory, at an amplified speed as well. It's great. I love it. No doubt the whole album is directed as a middle finger to his former band, but this song in particular has that historical reference.

And so this is Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!. Ever since that first lunchtime back in 1986, this album has guided me through some interesting times. It is surprising how well it holds up today. It may not be as slick as some future releases, but as a starting point in a quite brilliant career for this band, it shows where the passion and fire burned. Speed and thrash thrown together on vinyl, and while it may not be completely perfect, it is only slightly flawed in its greatness.

Rating:  Crushing the bones of the hundred folds, swinging the judgement hammer.  4.5/5

Listen to full album here

785. Scatterbrain / Scamboogery. 1991. 2/5

After the somewhat phenomenal success of their debut and previous album Here Comes Trouble, it was a fait accompli that I was going to buy their follow up, with the absolute expectation that it would be as good, if not better, than that album.

Error.

This isn't a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn't any different either. Well, it is different in a couple of ways. There is no song here that grabs you like "Here Comes Trouble" or "Down With the Ship" or "I'm With Stupid". They are all performed well, they all fit together like an album should, but there is no hook, nothing to grab you and insist that you MUST listen to this album again and again and again. And perhaps the best indication of this is that it was their second and final release.
Perhaps the gravest error they have made is that the songs SOUND like the songs from the first album, and in some cases, such as "Tastes Just Like Chicken" and "Scamboogery" they even have the same song format as some of those from the first album. Now, is this just because this is what the band's style is, and so the songs are similar? Or were they looking for a similar sound so as to link to the first album and hopefully have fans of that album love this one just as much? Or (and possibly closer to the truth) did they just not have any huge ideas for a follow up, and stuck to the same game plan in the hope it would sound original and a progression from the first album?

Overall, you would think this would be as much fun as their previous album, and it just isn't. It's probably a pretty good indication that Scatterbrain was a one trick pony, and that lightning couldn't strike twice. In the end it is a shame more than a disappointment.

Rating:  Odds stacked against you, tough odds to beat.  2/5

784. Battle Beast / Steel. 2011. 3/5

Someone - whose name and identity has slipped my mind in the time since - recommended to me that I should check this band out, given that I have an affinity for European power metal bands. This album was forwarded to me to gauge my reaction. I'm still not sure what my reaction is.

Musically it has all of the elements that makes successful power metal bands. With two guitarists in the band, the keyboards do not dominate as much as other bands of the genre have, which initially helps to sell this album to me. As much as I can appreciate the keyboard being a heavy player in this style of metal, sometimes it can be overpowering and just take over a bit too much. For the most part here though, it is present and noticeable in the songs, but it is the twin guitars that enjoy the majority of riffing and soloing. Add to this the solid rhythm section of double kick drums along with the effective if simplified bass work and the basis of some great songs appears set.
So, what is it that stops me from fully embracing this album? In the main, it is the lead singing of Nitte Valo. The vocals are just too way over the top for my liking. We all know what power metal is supposed to be like and we know that the vocals have got to be high, and they need to be able to reach the limits of the human voice when it comes to hitting those high notes. Unfortunately, the vocals chords of Nitte come as close to a screech as is possible without actually breaking into one - or maybe they do, and it has been cleverly hidden. In the long run, they feel and sound uncomfortable. It just doesn't sound like singing, it sounds like wailing, and that just isn't the same. Even her normal level singing doesn't quite fit what I was expected or wished to hear. You can check out "Iron Hand" as an example. It's just too much vocally, which somewhat overshadows what otherwise could be a quite effective song. She does sometimes sound like she wants to be a female version of Accept's Udo Dirkschneider. Scary. However, having harped on this far too long, it comes across slightly hypocritical in that I listen to death metal bands whose vocals are uninterpretable because of their grunt gruff screaming, and accept it.

Putting this aside for the moment, this is an otherwise serviceable debut album. Opening with "Enter the Metal World" we get a solid based song that certainly imitates an Accept song, with some attempted Yngwie Malmsteen solos thrown in as well. "Cyberspace" has a very Gamma Ray-like sound to it, both musically and the harmony of the vocals. "Show Me How to Die" goes on far too much with this exclamation during the chorus, extending out beyond what is feasible or even vaguely interesting. "Savage and Saint" as a power ballad is neither enough of a ballad to satisfy those fans, nor enough of a melody to pull in those without a love of this kind of song.

As much as this tries to pull at the heart strings of a metal lover, for me this ends up being just an average release. There would certainly be an audience for this out there, but given everything else that is being recorded in the world at the moment this doesn't quite reach the necessary heights. Despite the criticism I have directed here, there is certainly a platform for launching off in the future.

Rating:  Enter the metal world.  3/5.

783. Vixen / Vixen. 1988. 3.5/5

If you lived through the times, it was hard to believe that the band Vixen had been around for as long as it had before they finally made their breakthrough and recorded their debut album. Lots of other things were a little unbelievable as well. For instance, on watching those initial music videos from the songs released from this album, it was hard to believe that lead guitarist and band founder Jan Kuehnemund was 35 years old when this album was released, and that she had been in bands for almost 20 years by the time this came out. The band Vixen was first formed in 1980, and went through a rotational doorway of band member changes through the years. By 1987, the band had settled on the four piece that would take their music forward – Kuehnemund on lead guitar, Janet Gardner on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Share Pederson on bass and Roxy Petrucci on drums. All three of the other girls were almost a decade younger than the vastly more experienced band leader.
In 1988, with glam metal at the height of its popularity, Vixen was signed by EMI, and brought in to record their debut album. Coming on board to champion their career, among others, was Richard Marx, who had already had success as a songwriter and whose own singing career was about to take off. Not only did he co-produce the album, but he co-wrote the lead off track and first single from the album “Edge of a Broken Heart”.
The look of the band was exactly what was being flaunted at the time – high and long teased hair, sparkly outfits and flashy videos. The template set by bands such as Poison in particular was followed to the letter, and all the band needed now was one hit single to get the album noticed and gain the following they were looking for.

It was true back in 1988 as much as it is true now all of these years later - you can't come into Vixen with expectations of grandeur, of songs that will change your life with their deep meaning and ground breaking music. If you approach this album from the outset as an enjoyer of hard rock songs with a basis on the subject of relationships and their many ups and downs, then you will find enough here to make you happy. You won’t find Iron Maiden or Metallica, you won’t even find Motley Crue or Bon Jovi, and it is possible you may think this is very formula driven hair metal music that sounds just like the dozens of other bands of that era. But it is also true that what they do have is solid rhythms, catchy guitar riffs and lyrics sung by Janet Gardner that will stick in your head and become those kind of songs that pop up at the strangest times without you even realising it.
The band, no doubt with a lot of pushing by the record company and management, have a lot of help when it comes to writing material for the album. Once you read the linear notes to see the number of people involved, it becomes obvious that despite the skill of the four members of the band, they had a lot of backing from the record company in employing people to write songs that would be immediate hits for the group. Of the four best and most recognisable songs from the album, only Janet Gardner on "I Want You to Rock Me" has a co-writing credit. The rest are shared amongst others who were obviously specifically brought in to write some hit-makers. There's nothing wrong with that. Bands have been doing that since year one, but it can give the impression that the band has just been put together to be the front for others and look pretty to sell the songs. In my opinion that certainly isn't the case here.
As mentioned earlier, "Edge of a Broken Heart" is the Richard Marx co-written and produced single that was designed to get them on the air, and for all intents and purposes it did that, reaching #26 on the US charts. The following two tracks "I Want You to Rock Me" and "Cryin'" come from a similar basket but with different writers, and all have that catchy riff that keep your feet tapping. “Cryin’” was the second single released from the album and it went as high as #22 in the US, as much for the music video as the song itself. And it’s no real surprise, because Janet's vocals in particular are just awesome, and I’ve always thought she was fantastic on this album. I don't even feel embarrassed singing along to them. Well, less embarrassed now than I probably was at the age of 18. “Cryin’” is the quintessential power ballad just dripping in radio airplay desire, and it did its job. It is so sugar coated it is still hard to take on multiple plays.
The tracks beyond the opening three songs aren’t all quite of the same standard. "Love Made Me" though is one of top two favourite Vixen tracks, and I still sing along with this whenever I put it on, and even play a little air guitar and drums with it. I’m happy to admit that I love the song, and have since this album fell into my hands. "Hell Raisers”, "Cruisin'" and "Charmed Life" are other songs on this album that I particularly enjoy, that have a bit more about them than just being the average glam metal song.
Each member handles their instrument with aplomb. Roxy Petrucci is great on the drums, playing hard throughout and being especially proactive. Share Pedersen on the bass is great, with some exceptional bass lines that also defy the genre that the album sits in. Jan Kuehnemund's guitaring throughout is terrific and leads are great to listen to, while Janet Gardner provides the lead vocals that soar in conjunction with the backups provided by her bandmates. While the band is very good, despite what some may believe, it is Gardner’s vocals that are the highlight of the album.

I picked up on Vixen through those first few singles and video clips, which turned up often on MTV especially in the late 1980’s, and while I thought they were OK they just weren’t the style of music that I was wanting to listen to, so I didn’t go any further into finding their albums. Flash forward to 1991 and I made my first trip to Bali, and with cheap cassettes throwing themselves at me, I bought everything I could find that I didn’t already own to sample once I got home. Two of those cassettes included this album and its follow up “Rev it Up”. On my return to Australia I started going through all of these cassettes, and when I did get around to picking up this album, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I couldn’t even tell you what it was that I enjoyed. In the long run, it was just the whole package of the catchy songs and great vocals that were a counterpoint to the much heavier stuff I was listening to that perhaps made the difference. And it was two songs in particular – one from the following album, and “Love Made Me” from this album – that became the songs that drew me in to appreciate the rest.
In the years since, I continue to enjoy both of their first two albums. I eventually picked this up on CD, and it still comes out when the mood is right to listen to. As with all of these albums, this one has been going around for a couple of weeks again now as I prepared this episode, and I still really love most of the album. Some of it is a bit too sugar sticky sweet, and some of it is a bit dated. But I can still sing every word to “Love Made Me”, and I have done so often over that period of time.
“Vixen” will not be to everyone’s taste. Most may believe that it is tied to its era, and most will still think it is not worthy of their attention. I get that. I often still am amazed that I found a love for it, and that that love still exists. Perhaps, in the long run, “Love made me blind to the truth, Love made me crawl, I should have stood up to you!”

782. Witchfinder General / Death Penalty. 1982. 4/5

If you were to only hear the music on this album, you could probably be persuaded that it was from some long lost Black Sabbath songs that have been in a closet for 40 years. A closer listen would then leave you with some doubts, as the guitar isn't perfectly like Tony, and the bass is certainly not as intricate as Geezer. Of course, then you hear the vocals, and you know it isn't Ozzy. Despite all of this, you know where the roots of this music comes from, and it is deep in the heart of 1970's Black Sabbath. So, can the music survive on its own feet, without the obvious comparisons? Initially no, but the more you listen to the album the more it becomes its own entity, and you can judge it on its own merits.

Having only found this album in the past couple of years during a hunt for all music of the period, it is a difficult thing to listen to it with a view to the fact that it is almost 35 years since its release. Albums from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that I have listen to for 30+ years generally hold a place close to my heart, but they are a known entity both then and now. With an album such as Death Penalty I am coming in very late in the day, and need to be able to put in to perspective the place it came from. In doing so, here is yet another band with an excellent debut album that it is hard to imagine they were unable to go on and make a career - at least a longer career - out of the music industry. They may well have a sound that imitates a certain other band, but they have taken that and managed to create an album around it that does not copy what came before, but honours that by utilising that and moving forward with their own music.
"Invisible Hate" could well be about everything in the band's lives at the time they wrote the song. Lyrically it appears they are getting stuck into record companies, girlfriends and drugs, but really there's a bit too much there to interpret well. The mention of beer towards the end of the song does make me feel better about not knowing though.

I've fought my hate now here comes joy
How I fought it I don't know oh boy
Some say God, some say faith
I say sex, drugs, rock and beer
My my my my my my, my beer

"Free Country" kicks in faster and starts into a drug anthem, no doubt the title of the song proclaiming that they feel you should be able to imbibe whatever it is you feel like. "Death Penalty" chugs along, invoking death for murderers and the such rather than a life in prison. Touchy subject, but one they were not afraid to confront.
"No Stayer" starts off with instrumental piece dominated by the guitar, and just when you think that it is only going to be an instrumental, and fade out, it kicks into the vocals and moves onward. Well played! This is also their 'girl' song, their contribution to the sex part of the music industry. At least lyrically they were trying to cover all the bases when it came to topics that typically bands were writing about, before they moved onto the darker side of things.
The band title track "Witchfinder General" is probably their best known song, and one that I knew well before coming into the album. The guitar riff, playing off against the driving drum beat, keeps the pace of the song going, and the catchy easy singing lyrics and excellent solo break make this song the highlight of the album for me. Then we move into "Burning a Sinner" and "R.I.P." which all move with the same subject matter, as well as musically continuing the excellent blend of guitar, bass and drums in that doom metal gloom that they hold throughout the album.

Overall I really enjoy this album. It is another of those albums that I wish I had found in my teenage years, because it has that chemistry that I really believe I would have loved at that time, and would have taken on board in a big way. I cannot help but feel differently about an album tat I have loved and played to death for 30 odd years, compared to one of the same era that I have only recently discovered and have heard in a different era from that which it was recorded in. I think it would change my rating of it quite a bit. It would be fair to say however, that this album has/had a lot going for it. I especially like "No Stayer" and "Witchfinder General", these are the two songs that showcase to me just how well this band could operate. The remainder of the album is above average as well. Perhaps it is a relic, but it is one well worth visiting, or revisiting.

Rating:  No stayer 'cos it's Saturday night tonight  4/5

Listen to full album here

781. Symphony X / Twilight in Olympus. 1998. 3.5/5

By the time that Twilight in Olympus came to be released, Symphony X had built up their reputation as a progressive metal outfit that did all of the essentials well. Musically and instrumentally everything was up to speed and performed to a T, while lyrically and vocally they were also well served. There was no reason why this would not continue on their latest album.
There is always a risk with progressive bands that the songs can become, well, predictable and monotonous, especially given that many songs can be of a longer length, filled with sometimes long winded instrumental breaks with various time changes that can appear to overdo what they are trying to achieve. In some ways I feel this a little about this album.

"Smoke and Mirrors" starts the album off on a good note, showcasing everything that make the band as good as it is. It has a very Yngwie Malmsteen feel about the opening, with the guitar being well supported by the keyboards, and vocals that follow that lead in the same way, before breaking back to Symphony X's typical style after the first couple of minutes of the song. Russell Allen sounds like he is having a lot of fun in this song. "Church of the Machine" uses a great heavy riff along with Russell's more passionate vocals, and helps to drive this song along.
"In the Dragon's Den" is one of my favourites on the album, starting off with an up tempo along with a slightly heavier guitar riff. It holds this throughout the whole length of the ride, somewhat unusually. "Through the Looking Glass" moves through three parts in a movement that was popular in this period. Each has their own style that still melds together to include the whole song without being overtly obvious. I think as a progressive movement it is fine, but it is dominated by the keyboards and slower rhythms, but my goodness Russell's voice just soars here. OK - it's not quite metal enough for me. That should make it clearer.
"Orion - The Hunter" has a very strange arrangement, which rather than being progressive appears to be haphazard. Moments of blazing guitar or harder vocals are then pieced together around the lower softer keys and crying vocals. Cut this song in half and I think I would find more to enjoy about it.
Having said this, the closer of the album, "Lady of the Snow", moves too far to that centre pole, incorporating the gentler aspect of the genre with clean guitar and white keyboard, moving towards a power ballad-like progression that doesn't come close to what I like of music. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great, and the band does a great job on the song, but it's a mood sapper, and does not do justice to what has come before. In my opinion.
Most of the songs here have the guitar and keyboard duels through the middle of the songs, with each playing off the other, and usually trying to up the ante on each other. Some duels work better than others, such as in "In the Dragon's Den" where it is great, and "Through the Looking Glass" where it probably does not.

Overall, while the album sounds great and has many great aspects, I find it just a bit too uneven, and not quite to my style. Perhaps it was a transitional period for the band, as there were from this point on beginning to move towards a more traditional metal sound. Whatever the reasons, This is still an enjoyable album to listen to, despite whatever faults I may find in some of the material.

Rating:  Merciless judgement in the Church of the Machine.  3.5/5

Listen to full album here

780. Sonata Arctica / Winterheart's Guild. 2003. 2.5/5

Sonata Arctica are a band I struggle with constantly. I love the band, yet have trouble loving their albums. This is no exception to that rule. What I certainly do love about this album is that it starts by smashing you in the face with power metal's heart, keyboards and guitars blazing against that double kick drums. There's no knocking on the door and waiting for it to be answered, they just bash the door down and blast you from second one. If only that lasted for more than the first sixty seconds I would be a happier man.

As it turns out, "Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited" doesn't quite live up to its introduction. The same could be said for "Gravenimage" which like the opening song has moments where you think 'yeah, this is terrific!' blended with moments when you think 'wow, this is very average' - something you might expect to find over the course of an entire album, but finding it within the context of one song really is something, and not a positive either. Better is "The Cage", which starts off with one of those blinding keyboard extrapolations, and double kick which doesn't dissipate for the whole four and a half minutes of the song, combined with great vocals and a couple of melodies. "Silver Tongue" isn't as fast or blinding, but still combines the excellent guitar to keyboard solo in the middle.
You know what to expect with Sonata Arctica, and that includes the power ballad, the bane of my existence. These ones are heavy hitters, so maudlin and slow and... well... awful!... that it gives me a headache just thinking about them. "The Misery"  holds up to its title well, it makes me completely miserable to even have to listen to it again. Once again, as I must have said a hundred times in reviews, I know there are people out there who love these kind of songs, and no I am not one of them, and yes I should know what to expect from these albums, and yes I should either not listen to them or skip those songs or stop listening to this band. I agree with all those things. As I have no doubt already said with this band, I feel there is so much potential in Sonata Arctica, its just that they choose to make their music in a different direction from what I would like to hear. Which is where my conflict arises.
"Victoria's Secret" and "Broken" were both singles from the album, and both are the better songs to be found here. Faster, great double kick, good solos from both guitars and keyboards, and wonderful vocals from Tony Kakko highlight why these are where my love of Sonata Arctica lies. I love the melding from "Victoria's Secret" straight into "Champagne Bath" as well, another of the good songs found here with all of the right elements. The solo duel between keyboards and guitars here is something that should happen a lot more. The unusual high tinkling keyboards in the middle of the song though are something that should not happen more. This then jumps into "Broken", and thus completes the triumvirate that is the best part of the album for me.
"The Ruins of My Life" falls into a similar category as the first half of the album. Parts of the song are tremendous, but start and end are confusing, completely the opposite to the heart of the song that feels so much more like it should be. The album closes with "Draw Me", which is, to be honest, terrible. Why finish an album with a soppy, weak song like this? It simply destroys the good work done earlier.

This album could easily have ranked much higher with me if only a couple of things had been changed or just left out completely. The awful songs - "The Misery" and "Draw Me" - completely overshadow the good songs - "The Cage" and "Silver Tongue". It is such a shame to have this come down to rating an album. If those two songs are not hear, I think this rates a full star, or perhaps even a start and a half, higher than what I have given it. That is how much I think those two songs affect this album. On the other side of the coin, this rating is probably very harsh because of this, and the fact that there is some very strong material here, stuff that is well worth listening to.

Rating:  You will remember the day you crossed my path.  2.5/5

Listen to full album here

779. Ratt / Reach for the Sky. 1988. 3/5

On the back of two stellar albums to start their recording career, both based in the growing glam/hair metal market that was coming out of the west coast of the USA, Ratt had captured the imagination of the music listening public, through great albums, catchy singles and watchable music videos that gained traction on MTV and other music programs. Following on from this had come the band’s third album, 1986’s “Dancing Undercover”, an album that had produced a heavier sound overall and an almost complete lack of the ballad-type songs that many bands of their era formulated in order to gain commercial success. It was an unexpected move but one that was met by a solid reaction from the fans. On the other hand, the critics were less enamoured and felt that Ratt had moved away from the sound that had made them such a terrific band. Thus, moving into the preparation phase for their fourth studio album, this is something that could well have proven a catalyst for what was to come on “Reach for the Sky”. It's a long way to fall when you start off your music career with a bang, and release not just an album that makes people stand up and notice, but follow it up with another one. The challenge is always to maintain that level of excellence, and continue to find a way to keep the fans interest in wat you are producing, while also retaining your own ideas of what that creative output should sound like. Not an easy thing to do. In fact, sometimes what you come up with sounds just a little bit routine, lacking in the hooks or inspiration that have come before, and leaves the fans feeling a little bit blasé about it all. And with the increasing interest in bands of this genre in the back half of the 1980’s decade, pulling the right rein would also have been a difficult task. In many people’s ears, this is the challenge that “Reach for the Sky” faced, and its success in this regard has a mixed opinion.

This is Ratt's fourth album, and while the band was one of the frontrunners of the glam metal explosion during the early to mid-1980's, much of this feels tired and lacking in what made their early releases so great. Where has the energy and motivation gone? There's a real sameness about the material here, and not in a good way. On previous albums the songs may well have retained a similar tempo all the way through, but there was still a furiousness about them, fired by the guitars and their solos or the harder hitting drums or simply the vocals taking centre stage and finding that intensity that made you listen and love them. Here on “Reach for the Sky” a lot of that seems to have washed away, leaving just that interior core of the same drum beat through each song, the guitar riffs that can seem to just drift from song to song, and Pearcy's vocals that try to exude some toughness but eventually move very little from the same register throughout most of the album.
Take the two singles that came from this album. "Way Cool Jr." was the first released, and garnered heavy airplay (in the places that played this kind of music) and was well received generally. For me though it was always just irritating, one of the songs that seems formula written for the commercial market, and given its head to do just that. It was an obvious single I guess, and for me at the time I was rebelling against that kind of track from any artist. But even now it just doesn’t grab me. The second single was "I Want a Woman", which apart from a heavier feel and some good guitars from both Warren de Martini and Robbin Crosby, again seems purpose written for a single release. It feels as though they just put a few clichés together in both lyrics and music and thought 'number one single!' Which wasn’t quite the outcome, but it still did reasonably well in the US.
Beyond these two songs though there is a bit more attitude and desire to create a heavier song selection. The opening track “City to City” is a solid hard rock song, “Chain Reaction” comes out of the blocks hard and fast and brings a great attitude to the second half of the album, while “No Surprise” and “Bite the Hand That Feeds” both have great vocals from Stephen Pearcy as well as excellent guitar lead breaks pieced into the song. “Bottom Line” draws from that early Ratt era in style and substance, and this bleeds into both “What’s it Gonna Be” and “What I’m After”, making the second half of the album a better balanced series of tracks than perhaps the first half offers.
The mix of styles – between a commercial bent of the two singles and then the rest of the album – is perhaps what does pull the album between a fan’s love and a critical assessment of its qualities. This album doesn't work at all in that kind of way that perhaps some wanted it to. It feels more like that it is caught in a trap, a conveyor belt of songs where the similarities far outweigh any individuality in the music. In many ways there is an unfair comparison of this album to others of the era. Bon Jovi's “New Jersey”, L.A. Guns' eponymously titled debut album, Poison's “Open Up and Say... Ahh!”. All of them saw terrific commercial success, where this didn’t gain that same attention.
This ignores the great aspects of the band and its individuals on this album. Stephen Pearcy on vocals is still terrific, Bobby Blotzer on drums and Juan Croucier on bass continue to provide a wonderful rhythm section throughout, and Robbin Crosby and especially Warren de Martini on guitars are still the highlights. The quality of the musicians is not in question here, just perhaps the writing.

When I first got around to reviewing this album for my blog – which still exists for anyone who is interested in reading it – I gave this album a fair panning. I was quite critical of its content, something that offended one of my oldest friends who felt that my criticism was unfair, though considering he loved the album that was probably always going to be the case. That reaction was actually uppermost in my mind when it came to this album’s anniversary popping up again, and requiring me to revisit this album, probably for the first time since I had written that scathing review a decade or so ago.
On this occasion, I made sure that I gave this album a thorough chance to prove itself, and allow it the chance to find its redemption. That previous review had been some time after I had first gotten this album, around about the time of its release. And it is fair to say that the differentiation between this album and those first two brilliant albums should have AGREED with me rather than pushed me away, as this is realistically a heavier album than those first two albums and should have gelled with what I was listening to at the time.
In retrospect, and having listened to this album a lot over the last few weeks again, my belief is that I was always listening to “Reach for the Sky” and wanting it to be a copy of both “Out of the Cellar” and “Invasion of your Privacy”, and that was what was stopping me from getting the most from this album. I never considered it to be a terrible album, but I also gave it short shrift most of the time. The past couple of weeks have had me enjoying the album for what it is, which to me is a reasonable collection of songs that makes a reasonable album. It is interesting that this ended up being a speed hump for the band, with the tour to promote the album stalling after a short period. It was perhaps a wake up call to the band that they couldn't release an album such as this and just expect their fans to embrace it without question. And as a fan I was as guilty of that as anyone else. To me, it still stands in limbo from a true glam metal album to a real modern metal album, much like they did with the quite amazing “Infestation” album a lot further down the track. But that is certainly a story for another day.

778. W.A.S.P. / W.A.S.P. 1984. 5/5

The story of the formation of W.A.S.P. is a long and winding one that mirrors many bands of the era. The four members who came to form the first recording formation of the band and this debut eponymous album had weaved around in different bands for years before finally coming together to create this original foursome that recorded the album. Drummer Tony Richards had played in various bands through the 1970’s, and eventually found his way onto the drumstool of a band called Dante Fox. For two years alongside bass guitarist Don Costa, Mark Kendall and Jack Russell, Dante Fox played all of the big clubs in the Hollywood and LA scene. In 1982, Richards left the band, and along with Costa joined another fledgling band being put together called W.A.S.P., while Dante Fox with Kendall and Russell would eventually morph into the more widely known Great White.
Guitarist Chris Holmes had played with Los Angeles bands Buster Savage, LAX, and Slave, and even had a short stint in a band called Sister. It was his connection with this band that eventually saw him come to hear about a new band called W.A.S.P. and be invited to join. Randy Piper was also a guitarist, and he also played for a time in the band Sister, where he became one of the revolving in and out players of the band. A couple of years later, he got a call from former Sister bandmate, Blackie Lawless, who said he was putting together a new band called Circus Circus, and asked him to join him on guitar. It proved to be another short lived project, leaving Piper out in the cold once again. But he too then came to hear about a band called W.A.S.P. which would be a turning point once again.
And so we come to Steven Duren, better known to all as Blackie Lawless. He too played in a dozen bands through the 1970’s and into the new decade. Black Rabbit. Orfax Rainbow. New York Dolls. Killer Kane. Just some of those short term gigs he took on. Then came the band Sister, that not had Nikki Sixx in its ranks but Randy Piper, and a connection was made. Then a guitarist named Chris Holmes appeared for a short time before leaving due to differences in opinion. Sister didn't last, and Blackie formed a new band called Circus Circus, and called upon Randy Piper again to be a part of the group. Again, as with most of the bands mentioned so far in this episode, the band fell apart. Blackie then was a part of the band London, formed by Nikki Sixx after the demise of Sister, but who had now moved on to form Motley Crue. Blackie played bass in London, but soon moved on once again.
Now – FINALLY some of you may be thinking – came the formation of the band that was to be called W.A.S.P. Blackie had himself and his frequent bandmate Randy Piper as guitarists. He then recruited Tony Richards on drums and Rik Fox on bass. Fix however didn’t last too long, and so Richards suggested his former bandmate in Dante Fox, Don Costa for the role. Costa joined but was soon also out the door. It was then than Blackie remembered another former bandmate and made a phone call to Chris Holmes. In interviews since, Holmes has said that he refused at first, because he didn’t want to be in a glam rock band like they had played together in with Sister. Blackie assured him it would not be that kind of band, and that he would be able to dress and play exactly how he wanted. Holmes eventually agreed to join, and to accommodate him, Blackie again went back to play bass guitar as well as sing lead vocals. Thus was created the first true line up of the band W.A.S.P., and it was time for the legend to be born with the self-titled eponymous debut album, “W.A.S.P.”

Debut albums can sometimes be difficult, especially when it comes to ‘discussions’ between the band and the record company. Initially the band wanted to have the album named “Winged Assassins”, something that some fans still refer to it as today and was printed on the spine of original release vinyl albums in Europe. Beyond this, the real controversy prior to the album coming out was the song “Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)”. This song was due to appear on the album as the lead off track, and as the first single from the album. However, there were a lot of problems getting that off the ground. Under enormous pressure from groups such as the infamous PMRC, and the threat that the album would not be made available for sale in the big US department store, which was a huge thing in those days, Capitol Records withdrew the song from the album and refused to release it as a single. It did get a release in the UK through Music for Nations, and, surprisingly enough, was hugely sought after as an import in the US. Eventually in 1998 when the back catalogue was remastered, “Animal” was returned to the album as the opening track. However, for us traditionalists, in our minds it does not appear on the debut album.
Instead, the album opens with the excellent “I Wanna Be Somebody”, crashing out of the speakers with drums and guitar and Blackie’s vocals in your face from the start. It is a terrifically raucous opening song, no preamble, just straight into the album and showcasing the great elements of the band from the outset. This is followed by the song that surely gained further popularity through its music video when it was released, “L.O.V.E Machine”. What immediately sets it and this album apart is Blackie sticking with his hard-core vocals, but wonderful swatches of him singing over just the bass and drums which creates a different atmosphere from the swashbuckling opening song. On top of that is Chris Holmes terrific guitar solo, but the singalong lyrics also make this song a beauty.
Into the hum of the album, and the next three songs lay the solid foundations that the rest of the album can build on. "The Flame" speaks of living life to the full, "B.A.D." Deals with Blackie’s parent issues and "School Daze" reveals the teen’s torture of those days in the concrete jungle of youth. Musically they are all enjoyable, they all still enjoy the same flow on from the opening tracks while creating the musical structure and melding into the style that the album is generating.
The next trio of songs, right in the heart of the album, are the ones that hold the key to the success of the album and confirm the successful elements of why this band found the success that came beyond this, and the multitude of bands these four had been in prior to this did not.
"Hellion" is just a sensational song, so full of energy and passion, it explodes through any lag time you may have begun to feel, and sweeps you back into the energy and passion of the album. Again it is the drums and guitar intro that drags you in, Blackie’s vocal scream, and bang, straight into the song once again. Awesome singalong lyrics again, anthemic in style, and an absolute classic. Will never have to die.
This is followed by the biggest surprise on the album, the still magnificent "Sleeping (in the Fire)". Here is a song that shouldn't work. It's basically a power ballad, moving somewhat slightly left of centre of the rest of the album... and yet... it just works brilliantly. It soars along with Blackie's great emoting vocals and Chris's electrifying guitar solo. If it hadn't been done well it could have been a laughing stock, something that sucked away the excellence of the album to this point. But as it turns out, it only enhances it, and not only showcases the ability of this band to diversify but to stay true to their core music direction at the same time. One of the great W.A.S.P. songs. Then comes the fired up "On Your Knees", another of those great high energy songs that blazes through the speakers, enticing you to sing along as it drives along. Repetitive? Perhaps. But the music overturns that.
"Tormentor" and "The Torture Never Stops" are both solid tracks that tend to express Blackie’s frustrations lyrically with parts of his life, and are good songs without reaching the quality of those that have preceded them, and close out the album in style.

The success of this album is driven by many factors. The brilliant sing-along choruses for a start, they are terrifically written in order to bring the fans into the songs. The excellent driving drumwork from Tony Richards, which I think is completely underrated - it doesn't just complement the songs here, it actually enhances them and helps to bring them to life. The magnificent twin guitar attack of Chris Holmes and Randy Piper, playing off each other and creating a ripping guitar album. And of course Blackie Lawless, whose crazy energetic vocal performance tops off all of these factors to bring home a scintillating first release.
W.A.S.P. was a band I quickly became infatuated with when I first discovered them, and this album had a lot to do with that. I was a bit of a late comer to the band given my delayed entry into the world of heavy metal music. In mid-1986, that wonderful weekend of the Channel 10 late night music video show called... “Music Video” where they dedicated the weekend to just metal videos - an unheard of event - saw me watch and record the majority of those two nights, I came to discover a lot of bands that it may have taken me years to find out about. On those nights I got my first look and listen to songs such as "I Wanna Be Somebody" and "L.O.V.E. Machine", and something clicked in me, and I knew I needed to seek out this band and their music. The big hair, the razorblades, all four just looking like they were having the time of their lives. I loved both of those songs and the videos.
I still remember the day I first got this on vinyl, at one of my favourite second hand record haunts, the oft-named Illawarra Books and Records in Wollongong. In fact, on that day I picked up all of the band’s first three albums along with the “Live... In the Raw” album. It was an exciting day. I remember getting home and putting it on my parents' stereo for the first time, the crackling of needle on vinyl, before those drums came hammering out of the speakers at 200 decibels, launching into "I Wanna Be Somebody" for the first time. Time to get that Blackie Lawless head wobble on while playing air-bass! Then it faded in to more drums starting us off into "L.O.V.E. Machine", along with another great chorus to sing along to. Two terrific songs to start the album off on the right note. I was hooked. To all four albums. My W.A.S.P. obsession began for real on that day, one that remains to this day.
For this podcast, I have had this album in my rotation for a month. Over and over. Not so loud at work, very loud at home. I have table drummed, air guitared, and sung all of this album all the way through. It still sounds amazing after all these years. Fine, some of the lyrics are questionable, but the passion and attitude of the music in particular cannot be questioned. It transcended the era it was made, because while the band was more or less cast in with the glam metal genre, mostly because of where they had come from, W.A.S.P. is a true heavy metal band, and proved why as many other bands fell by the wayside over the years as they continue to fight their way through the obstacles.
For their first five albums, up until the first 'break-up" of the band, W.A.S.P. was one of my all time favourite bands. Their sound and songs dominated the end of my teenage years and into my twenties, and this album still resonates with me 40 years after its release.

777. Slayer / Reign in Blood. 1986. 5/5

Given the prestige in which this album is held, it becomes a difficult thing to write a review that can live up to that reputation. A review that can adequately convey just how amazing this album is, and how defining it was, and how inspiring it was to so many fans and bands. To be honest there is no way I could do it justice, and so you will have to take my words on face value or simply just listen to the album yourself and come to your own conclusions.

The first thing that is noticeable is the production of Reign in Blood. Both of Slayer's first two albums, Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits are terrific albums, but both suffer on the side of production, and sometimes the guitars can feel as though they blend or blur into each other. Here though, every note played is crisp and clear, and can be determined apart from every other note. As well as showcasing each brilliant song, it also shows just how precise and magnificent both Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King are in their guitar playing, especially in those scintillating solos, because you can hear each note played, and can only listen in awe at how perfect their playing is, at that incredible speed. Then you only have to try and keep up with Dave Lombardo's drumming, which is just ludicrous. He is quite magnificent here, his timing is immaculate and every snare, tom, kick, cymbal and hi-hat motion is caught perfectly here. Tom Araya's vocals are clear, concise and above all understandable, even at the speed he has to sing at to keep up with his bandmates. This is magnificently put together.

I love the way that the album is constructed, book-ended by two of their all-time classic songs, and with barely a pause for breath throughout the whole album.
"Piece By Piece" is two minutes of mayhem, that has a half-second pause of silence before motoring straight into "Necrophobic", which careers along at a barely believable speed for half the song, before a five second respite at normal double time before we're back off at lightning speed for the rest of the song, a whole minute and 38 seconds in total. Pause for a (short) breath, and off we go again with "Altar of Sacrifice". There is no time for rest, no time to catch your breath. Sure, "Altar of Sacrifice" does actually slow down as we approach the end of the song, as it flows almost undetected into the awesome heavy riff of "Jesus Saves", which for the first sixty seconds allows you to resume normal headbanging duties, before the accelerator is pushed to the floor again. Awesome stuff.
"Criminally Insane" is the slowest start to a song on the album, but soon builds back to that double time drumming and riffing that binds this album together. "Reborn" may well be the simplest song here, but again at that devastating speed, which is followed by "Epidemic" which is highlighted by magnificent drum work from Dave, whose ability to throw in little rolls and fills between the frightful speed of his normal drumming is remarkable. "Postmortem" concludes things here at an amazingly sublime pace considering everything that has gone on before it.
Bookending all of this are the timeless "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood". "Angel of Death" starts the album, at a breakneck speed. It is a sensational way to start this album, with fire and fury. "Raining Blood" is perhaps still my favourite Slayer song. I love the first 60 seconds of the song too, that rarely gets a mention in the live set - not that that concerns me. When you get to the break with the rain and thunder, that is where anticipation is in its element, before we break back into the song and the elemental riff and the drums, and Tom's vocals, before the two solo breaks... oooohhhh it is just awesome. In almost thirty years I have never gotten sick of hearing this song. Genius. Immortality. Brilliance.

At a tick under 29 minutes in length, this is a half hour that never gets boring, never gets stale, and ticks every box in heavy metal greatness. All four members of the band are on song, it sounds brilliant, and it is just fast and freaking heavy. It is at the top of the tree for thrash albums, and whether it is universally loved or not, it cannot be denied that its influence goes beyond the heavy metal community. This is a beacon.

Rating:  Raining blood, from a lacerated sky, bleeding its horror, creating my structure, now I shall reign in blood!  5/5

Listen to full album here

776. Metallica / 11-6-2003 3rd Show Le Trabendo [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the third and final gig, played at Le Trabendo. Again, as with the La Boule Noire gig, the recording is good and surprisingly clear for an audience recording, though the tape and microphone do seem to pick up a bit of squelching or feedback, which would bring it back to be a B recording.

The set list again incorporates a mix of songs, which perhaps harps closer to the popular 'modern' era than the previous two gigs. Having started off with "Blackened" they crash into "Fuel" for the first time on the day, which is also probably their hardest song in recent aeons. This is then followed by two further songs from ...And Justice for All, being the brilliant "Harvester of Sorrow" and then "One". Was it a deliberate ploy to have three of the first four songs from that album?
The chosen piece from St. Anger for this gig is the title track, which again shows it's positives and negatives. The song still starts off terrifically, led by James' trademark intro of "Riff!" But once you get to the clear guitar, the high vocals overlaying that, and the weak-arse backing vocals of Rob and Kirk, the song is destroyed. Yikes.
So how do you recover from that? Well, you bring out the big guns, with "Enter Sandman" for the first time on the day, and that old staple of brilliance, "Master of Puppets". After a short drink, the band returns to complete their day with thrash, that being "Creeping Death" and "Hit the Lights".

This is another good bootleg, and together with the first two boots, it covers an interesting day in the history of Metallica. They are all worth a listen, if only to hear where the band was at the beginning of the Rob Trujillo era, and how they have progressed or fallen in your own eyes since.

Rating:  With all our screaming, we are gonna rip right through your brain  4/5

775. Metallica / 11-6-2003 2nd Show Bataclan [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St. Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the second gig, played at Paris Bataclan. However, the audience bootleg sound is not as good as on the first gig, certainly it is a bit muddier and could probably be best rated as B- in this regard.

This second gig has a brilliant set list, and the high energy set is appreciated by the crowd in attendance. Once again, it is great to hear a bootleg that not only has a good recording of the band and each instrument, but also takes in the crowd's involvement, making you feel as though you are a part of it. Having started off with "The Four Horsemen", there is a brilliant performance of "Leper Messiah", driven along by the crowd's raucous singing. "Leper Messiah" is one of my favourite Metallica songs, and this version here is a cracker. This is followed by another of the band's thrash level songs, "No Remorse", with more brilliant crowd involvement, and the band appears to be enjoying it too. Too fast for you? Well, next comes "Fade to Black", which doesn't allow the crowd to let up for much more than a few seconds.

James then asks the crowd if they have St. Anger. General agreement ensues. Then he asks "who likes it?", and the crowd gets even louder. I wonder how many of those in that crowd that day would still say the same about that album now? Anyway, here they play the title track from the album, which much like most of the songs they played live from that album never really seem to come across as easily and enjoyable as the other songs in the set list. Only early days for those songs being played live I guess, and no doubt they improved a great deal, but "St. Anger" feels forced here. James introduces the band following this, with a huge reaction from the crowd on Rob Trujillo's introduction, as these were some of his first gigs having joined the band. They then charge back up again with a rollicking version of "Ride the Lightning", followed by a fingers-flying "Blackened", before an 'encore' of old favourite "Seek & Destroy" and "Damage Inc."

Once again, this is a brilliant bootleg, with a brilliant set list and a great balance between the band and the crowd.

Rating:  Honesty is my only excuse  4/5.

"Leper Messiah" at Bataclan

774. Metallica / 11-6-2003 1st Show La Boule Noire [Bootleg]. 4/5

A week after the worldwide release of their album St. Anger, Metallica embarked on an inventive promotion ploy, playing three gigs on the same day in three separate locations in Paris, France at well known venues. Each gig lasted an hour before packing up and heading for the next gig.
This bootleg is from the first gig, played at La Boule Noire. The recording is quite good for an audience recording, best rated as B+ in this regard. And the crowd really gets into it, which always makes a bootleg sound better when you can hear their enthusiasm, and cheering, and their singing along with the words.

The set list and performance is excellent. Mixing up a selection of great early hits, the only song to come from the new album is "Frantic", which frankly still comes across rather tinny here. It is also noticeable that Lars is using a very skinny kit, because there are a lot of things in these songs sound less full than they should be. No doubt the moving of gear quickly would have been behind it, but that's not to say it couldn't have been improved.
Rousing versions of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Master of Puppets" are followed by the crowd favourites "Harvester of Sorrow" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", with the crowd being led enthusiastically in chorus by James. St. Anger's "Frantic" follows along with "Sad But True", before a trio of old school heavy hitters in "Battery", "Creeping Death" and "Motorbreath" round out the set in style.

The winners here are the generally pre-1988 set list as well as the crowd involvement. It lifts your enthusiasm while you listen along, and is the hallmark of all of the best bootlegs - hearing the crowd, but not having the two or three near where it is being recorded from dominating in conversation through the gig. Well done recorder!

Rating:  It is... going to... take your breath away!  4/5

Full bootleg

773. Yngwie J. Malmsteen / Spellbound: Live in Tampa. 2014. 2.5/5

You would think that a live album - correction, a double live album - featuring Yngwie Malmsteen, arguably the most celebrated guitarist of our time, should be a no brainer. We already know he pretty much plays live what he does in the studio because he is such a stickler for his instrument, so you know that they guitaring will be superb. Then we know he has an extensive catalogue of songs, both with vocals, and just instrumentals, so that he will surely choose a set list that will have everyone jumping. And even though he played almost every instrument on his last album Spellbound, including the sparse vocals that were required, we know he has had a brilliant array of vocalists through the years, so no matter who he employed to sing on this would be terrific.
Well, most of that doesn't really come to pass at all on this live album, Spellbound: Live in Tampa.

The majority of this double album is made up of instrumental numbers. Now, that's not such a big deal when Yngwie is involved, but no matter how far you want to go with this argument, this many instrumentals can only engender boredom and repetition whether you are watching it, or just listening to it. As brilliant as Yngwie is, his guitaring can only hold your complete attention in an instrumental for a certain length of time. So count them up. There are 30 songs on this release, and of those 30, there are 19 instrumentals, of varying lengths. Once again, don't get me wrong, Yngwie is a genius and brilliant to listen to, but when it's all guitar for too much of the time, well it just becomes too much. Even when you throw in stuff like "Far Beyond the Sun" and "Black Star" that are still as brilliant today as they were 30 years ago.
So, with a majority of instrumental tracks, no doubt Yngwie decided that forking out for a lead vocalist was a bit of a waste of time, given that he would be rendered superfluous for at least half of the set. So, what do you do? Well, you get your keyboardist Nick Marino to do a double shift, and sing lead vocals when necessary as well as fill out the keys necessary for the night. Great money saving idea. Except that Marino's vocals are despicable. Not terrible, but just not right. They don't fit the songs at all, and when he has to do any amount of vocal chord stretching (and given that he's trying to sing songs done by Jeff Scott Soto, Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White and Tim Owens, that is a LOT!) he is found out noticeably. And it would be a false statement to say that it doesn't detract from the songs at all, because it really does. Overall the current band line up is good. Everyone does their job well, and leaves it to Yngwie to be the show. It does get very tiresome as Marino keeps telling the crowd "Let's hear it for the maestro!!" You know how good he is, we know how good he is, and Yngwie knows how good he is. Surely neither party needs to be encouraged to give praise.

This actually turns out to be a rather depressing release. The vocals on the songs that require them are just dreadful, and suck any enjoyment out of them immediately. The songs that don't require vocals are either brilliant (see above mentioned two songs as examples) or just a little overplayed to enjoy. No one can doubt Yngwie still has it, he plays like a demon. If he had taken Ripper out on vocals for this, it probably rates a 4 or 4.5 out of five, even despite the average song list. Put the average song list and the average vocals together, and you have a rather unhappy result.

Rating:  I can see the moment of some kind of truth.  2.5/5