1111. Dream Theater / Distance Over Time. 2019. 4.5/5

While many would disagree with me, my love of Dream Theater has run along two quite distinctive sections. Apart from one or two exceptions I love the era up to and including Train of Thought. These are the albums that I discovered in a short space of time and devoured them. Since then, I have found the albums a bit hit and miss in regards to my love of the music despite the still high level of musicianship. I still look forward to each album being released hoping for something that will reignite that true love of what the band can do. I think I’ve found that with Distance Over Time.

There are certainly two ways to take this album, and I guess in the long run I can only go with the way I have listened to it. From the very first time I put the CD on my stereo I was hooked. It had songs that were just songs, not pieces of a larger conglomerate of story interspersed with talky moments and interconnecting interludes. I could put this album on and just get ten songs coming at me that I either loved or didn’t - and loved them I did. Is it an attempt to reconnect with those fans who, like me, loved those albums from a different age? If indeed this was part of their package this time around, they succeeded with me from the outset.
While The Astonishing was a production and for me often a struggle to get through the whole double album in one sitting, Distance Over Time is a wonderful collection of the duelling keyboards of Jordan Rudess and the guitar of John Petrucci, the amazing bass lines of John Myung, the metronomic drumming of Mike Mangini and the silky vocals of James LaBrie. The combination here of the heavier guitar sound in many songs and the soaring vocalising of LaBrie is perhaps the winning direction. It differentiates itself from other recent releases by doing so. I love each member’s contribution to this album again. Mangini may not be Mike Portnoy but he does his job well. Petrucci’s guitaring is superb and continues to defy belief in sections. So too Johnny Myung’s bass playing, which is still so integral to Dream Theater’s sound.
Does it hold up though? Well, it has been a month now since its release and I still have it on my daily playlist, and that probably says that it has held up well. Having said that, I am not as ecstatic about it now as I was for the first couple of weeks. As the songs have become more familiar, I have found myself picking up on the similarities to other Dream Theater songs, just riff progressions or keyboard fills or even rhythm pieces that blend into other parts of the catalogue. That’s not meant to be a criticism as such, just that as with some other Dream Theater productions, some of it becomes a bit samey as the album progresses, and it is noticeable where the break out pieces that grab your attention more fully are placed on the album.
What will strike most old school fans is that the whole vibe of the album is more favourably directed towards the way those great early albums were written. None of the songs are as deliberately complicated or have 72 time changes every minute of every song however. In that way there is a more manageable way that they songs have been written to suit the course that sets this album apart from recent releases. What these songs do have are the perfect combination of having each member have their moment within each song. There are still those brilliant solo breaks where the musicians have their way and enhance the track, while when the vocals come in it is left to LaBrie to carry the song with his wonderful voice. No one person dominates on this album, every member contributes equally to each song, and this is what creates the best Dream Theater material.

I haven’t felt this way about a Dream Theater album since Train of Thought, and perhaps that comes from both albums having been focused on being heavier albums that the band’s usual output. It’s not all smash and bash, it is still Dream Theater doing what they do best, and revitalising that prog sound that they were such a big part of emphasising during the 1990’s. If you have quietly moved away from the band in recent years, then this would be a good album to come back into. It is a return to form.

Best songs: “Untethered Angel”, “Paralyzed”, “S2N”, “At Wit’s End”, “Pale Blue Dot”, “Viper King”

Rating:  “The world keeps turning as we latch on to the wheel”.  4.5/5

1110. Blaze Bayley / Live in France. 2019. 4/5

Having completed his Infinite Entanglement trilogy with the release of The Redemption of William Black: Infinite Entanglement Part III I guess it was only fitting that Blaze Bayley and his band released a live album to showcase the work they have been doing over those three albums, and how those songs would hold up in a live environment. As a result we have Blaze belting out two discs worth of songs on this release Live in France.

I was certainly hesitant going into this album, not only for what I was going to hear but how it would be presented. Blaze has shown he loves playing live, and he carries just about everything he does well on stage, and his band has been pieced together for some time. I enjoyed the fact that the song list more or less covered the extent of the three albums that make up the trilogy as it fit with Blaze’s two previous live album releases, the first covering his first two solo albums and the second covering the albums in-between times. But this also concerned me because I wouldn’t get to hear those great songs from the first half of his solo career, the ones that had been so impressive to me at the time. I can always go back to those other live albums for that, but the fear for me was that if this album didn’t stand up it would be a relic if all it contained was songs from those three albums. Fortunately, I needn't have worried as despite the lack of older material this album is a beauty.
As mentioned, there are no less than six songs from Infinite Entanglement, four from Endure and Survive (Infinite Entanglement Part II) and five from The Redemption of William Black: Infinite Entanglement Part III. That’s fifteen of the total twenty tracks on the album from the Infinite Entanglement trilogy, and for the majority they sound better live than on the album. That in itself is not unusual as Blaze tends to be a dynamo on stage and brings out the best in everything he performs. The band sounds great and Blaze’s vocals are supreme. Of the other five songs, four are from his Iron Maiden days. The always brilliant “Futureal” is cracking once again, and comes in brilliantly after the opening of “Redeemer” segues beautifully into “Are You Here”. The always surprisingly good “Virus” closes out the first disc of this double set, while there is an absolutely scintillating version of “Man on the Edge” which almost steals the album by itself. The only downside is the choosing of “The Angel and the Gambler” as his fourth Maiden track. It really is one of the most average songs Maiden has ever done, and Blaze wasn’t even a co-writer of the song! There are so many other better songs he could have chosen to do, and this is a shame. Rounding this out is the title track from his first solo album, “Silicon Messiah” which always sounds great, but oh for just a few more tracks like “Ghost in the Machine”, “Kill and Destroy”, “Ten Seconds” and “The Man Who Would Not Die”. Next time perhaps.

Fans of Blaze Bayley will find this to be an excellent addition to their collection. In giving all of his trilogy songs a live atmosphere to be found in, Blaze has satisfactorily concluded this part of his career. What he moves onto now is anyone’s guess, though no doubt an extended tour with his Iron Maiden material (given his tenure in that band ended precisely 20 years ago this year) is likely. Those that have not heard any of Blaze’s solo material will still find this worthy of listening, but should then move back to his first few solo albums to discover his best stuff. As a live recording of this portion of his musical career, this does a more than adequate job.

Best songs: “Reedemer”, “Futureal”, “Are You Here”, “Man on the Edge”, “Endure and Survive”.

Rating:  “Do you think you deserve all the freedom you have?”  4/5

1109. Skid Row / Subhuman Race. 1995. 3/5

The first half of the 1990’s decade took such a significant turn from the way it started until the time it bloated that it is no surprise that so many bands who had begun their internship in the 1980’s had been either destroyed or dissolved or had had complete facelifts by the time 1995 came around. The intense change in the genre that flooded the music world, and the speed that occurred at, meant that so many bands were left floundering in its wake. And, even while living through that time, it was hard to accept what occurred to so many bands that you loved. Some of them broke up through the pressure of trying to compete with the new wave of grunge and then what followed, destroyed by a phenomenon where record companies suddenly wanted bands to ‘write an album like that Nirvana band, they seem to be popular!’ And when they found that they couldn’t, that they were unable to break out of their hair metal glam roots, they were dropped by those record companies like a stone. Those that gave it a crack found themselves being accused by their fans of selling out and were dropped by them like a stone. And there were those bands that made some necessary adjustments to their music tone and found themselves in purgatory.
Skid Row had been riding the crest of a wave since their arrival around 1988, jumping on the coattails of Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Ratt and Motley Crue, and finding an audience that was all about their hair metal sound with a bit of attitude. Their debut album brought them to prominence, before their sophomore effort blew people away with a heavier sound, songs that covered the gamut of emotions of heavy metal and drew in an even wider fan base. Their five track EP “B-Side Ourselves” kept that wave going as their touring schedule extended throughout the early years of the decade. All around them during this, the music world turned on a screw in a six month period, and by the time Skid Row’s touring schedule was over, heavy metal and hair metal and hard rock had suddenly transformed into a whole new beast. Indeed, with the tour to support the “Slave to the Grind” album finishing in Australia in February 1993, the manager Doc McGhee actually suggested to the band that they take an extended break, to wait for the grunge movement to fade away. While that suggestion wasn’t such a bad move, for Skid Row the problem was that following on from grunge came the alternative wave and the industrial wave, neither of which suited Skid Row’s sound either.
In retrospect, the band’s response to this when looking to write and record a new album perhaps had merit but, in many ways, backfired spectacularly. The band parted ways with Michael Wagener who had produced the band’s first two multi-million selling albums, and someone who was familiar with the band and their style and their eccentricities. In his place, they hired Bob Rock, who had a list as long as your arm of albums he had produced or engineering for big bands including Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, The Cult and of course Metallica. Here was someone who knew the industry and knew music trends. He had just come off producing the self-titled 1994 grunge-alt era albums of both The Cult and Motley Crue, and would soon begin on Metallica’s next album, which would be released in 1996 and titled “Load”. So if anyone could keep Skid Row on their current crest of a wave, it HAD to be Bob Rock. Right?

Skid Row’s debut self-titled album had opened with bright and breezy tracks, great riffs and excellent vocals which entertained you from the outset. Their sophomore album “Slave to the Grind” had begun with tuned down heavy riffing and hard drumming and spitting vocals that had your head banging from the start and dragged you delightedly into the album. In both cases, the opening tracks to the album were instrumental in getting you hooked. “Subhuman Race” did neither of these things, and it is perhaps the most damning judgement on the album from the very beginning.
Many may argue that this simply isn’t true. Many reviews at the time suggested that this was Skid Row’s heaviest offering to that point in time. I believe it is fair to say they were confusing heavy for what it was being compared to in the music scene at the time. “My Enemy” opens with a riff and drum beat that plays as though it is in that heavy range and perhaps it is, just in a slightly Pantera way. This is designed straight for the fan base of 1995, the sound is designed to reel in those changes in music of the time and channelling it straight into their quad boxes. The guitar solo is the dead giveaway, immediately heralding the arrival of Skid Row the alt-metal group, a transformation that has been brought to bear by the times and perhaps even the direction of the new producer. “Firesign” follows, and sounds similar to a Queensryche-written and performed song of the era. Given that that band was also in the throes of abandoning all of their ties to their 80’s metal roots it probably isn’t too much of a surprise that it sounds that way. It’s a washed-out alt-rock song offering very little to grab a hold of. No identifiable riffs with a hook, whining vocals and a squalling solo that doesn’t improve the song in any way. “Bonehead” finds a far better tempo, faster throughout and Snake’s solo is back to its best here, more in keeping of the band’s history that its present place in time. The opportunity does seem there for Seb to really unload on his vocals here and really give the song a kick, but he chooses not to. The pace of that song seems more natural for the band, which is surprising given the immediate fallback position of slow mid tempo for “Beat Yourself Blind”, where Seb does actually employ some of those high scream vocals he can provide but in a seemingly less helpful or enjoyable way. Definitely could have been utilised in the previous song and improved both songs.
“Eileen” channels the alt-rock grunge dreary vocal-pulling over a flavourless guitar melody backed by Affuso’s wilting drum beat. This is as difficult a song to listen to as there is on this album. It is completely and utterly anchored to this era of music and not in a good way. Five and a half minutes of Seb’s agonising vocals over an unenjoyable music base. If you had put a little more oomph in the guitar riff, you might almost have heard similarities to Bob Rock’s next album, Metallica’s “Load”. As it fades off to die somewhere in extreme agony, the album moves into “Remains to be Seen” where the same vocal technique is being used again, an agonising stretching out along the plane of the track. And then, somewhere about halfway into the track, the guitars kick in and give us a half decent solo section that helps to raise the profile of the song, which gives it a better conclusion than its beginning.
BUT THEN FINALLY! The band rediscovers its mojo. Not lyrically particularly, but at least musically we have a bit of a rise in tempo, and bit more power in the music, and Bach is almost singing normally rather than whining through the track. The title track “Subhuman Race” mightn’t be classic Skid Row but in the context of this album this is almost genius level music.
How much more can be said about this album at this point of the episode? Trying to find any positive aspects about “Subhuman Race” has been problematic for all of the thirty years since its release, and that isn’t proving to be any easier here. “Frozen” wants to be a Soundgarden song with the opening riff mimicking any number of their songs. Overall, the song sounds great, but it is the vague similarities across the songs here that are looking to replicate the era’s sound that can be a little difficult to come to terms with. Also, write more lyrics and don’t just repeat the same lines over and over again! “Into Another” suddenly reverts back to clear guitars and clean harmony vocals to express its lyrics in the most appealing way to attract that section of the audience that enjoy heartfelt songs such as this. “I Remember You” this isn’t, but it sounds like it wants to be 1995’s version of it. “Face Against My Soul” comes across as one of the heaviest tracks on the album, driven by Affuso’s frenetic drumbeat and again far better guitar solos to feast on, while Bach’s vocals are at their least annoying, at least until the last minute of the song when he ramps that up in overdrive. And “Medicine Jar” sits in the same areas musically which gives the album a little run of reasonable material.
“Breakin’ Down” acts as not the power ballad here as such, but the alt-metal ballad. It has all of the usual hallmarks that the power metal ballad has, but in an alternative music fashion. Bach’s soaring vocal range is more muted than would have been the case in a previous era, the guitar solo is less flowery and whiney while still leaving you in no doubt as to the style of the song, and it just brings no emotion except a touch of boredom to the table for the listener. Then comes the album closer, “Iron Will”. This is co-written by all members of the band except for Bach, and depending on how you want to read them, it could almost be about the dissention that surrounded the group at the time, Bach against the band. It most definitely isn’t, by the way, but as the last song the band did together with these five in the band, it could easily have been their epitaph.

It’s amazing how many metal bands released albums in or around the years 1990 and 1991 to high acclaim and praise, and then didn’t release another until 1994 or 1995 with an almost completely revamped sound that met wide panning and criticism. That period killed a lot of bands and changed others forever. Most of you listening to this podcast would have examples of your own. For me, Skid Row is at the top of that list. In 1992 they looked like a band that only had a future that was blazing bright and true, to carry the torch that came from those first two albums into their next and following albums on a never-ending rise. How wrong some thoughts can be.
While there can never be just one person to blame for such a fall from grace or a change in musical direction, to me one of the people heavily involved is producer Bob Rock. This is not a direct criticism of his work and his abilities, there are far too many great albums out there that have his name attached to them to do that. But in this era of 1994 to 1996, Rock was the producer of albums such as Motley Crue’s self-titled album with John Corabi on vocals, The Cult’s self-titled album, Metallica’s “Load” and then “Reload”, and of course this album. What do they have in common? An almost 270 degrees turn in genre and style of the music written and recorded on the album. And I’m sure there are people out there that will back themselves and say that they LOVE those albums. That’s a personal choice, one which I choose to simply smile sadly and knowingly at, and move on. My point here is simply that Rock was at the helm of albums by four bands who had had mega stardom in 1990, and then saw a career change in their very next album, of which he was producer. Coincidence? You be the judge.
The band themselves probably tell the real story. In an interview in 2004, Rachel Bolan said "That record was a nightmare. Internally the band had fallen apart but we were forced to go in and do another record and it was a nightmare with the recording, writing and producing. We worked with someone we had not worked with before after being so successful with Michael and we were used to the way he did things. I am not slighting Bob at all, he is a genius producer but it was bad timing. I did not have the greatest time, it was nobody's fault, it was just the way things were. Also the record absolutely sucks." Seb Bach even went as far as to call “Subhuman Race” Skid Row’s “St Anger”. That is a damning assessment indeed. Since the tour to promote the album, Skid Row, in their many forms, have never played any songs live again from this album, while Bach in his solo tours has occasionally brought one or two out for memory sake.
I bought this album soon after its release, one of few that I did purchase in the black hole year of 1995. And it didn’t help my mood in any shape or form. I was excited. I love those first two albums, and adored the EP as well. At a time when I was looking for something amazing to grab a hold onto, this is what I thought would be that life preserver. And I got shit. Absolute abomination rubbish. I hated every part of this album when I listened to it. Where was LITERALLY EVERYTHING that I loved about the “Slave to the Grind” album?! None of it appears here, not a single skerrick. I could not believe this was the same band that had released that album. This was generic boring crap, like someone had decided to take the ‘most popular’ parts of every big selling album from the past two years, and then tried to write an album out of it. This is like a rubbish AI version of a grunge slash alt-rock album of the era, and it fails on every level. I remember being so disappointed, so angry, that this is what they had produced. And it very quickly found itself on the CD shelves with almost no possibility of parole.
Flash forward thirty freaking years, and here I am again, putting myself through the torture of listening to this album. I have had the displeasure of doing this since those fateful days explained here. I reviewed this for my blog about ten years ago, and was convinced at one point about 15 years ago that I should give this another go because an acquaintance couldn’t believe I didn’t like the album. They were proven wrong at that time too. So I have done my due diligence here people. I have now listened to this album eight times over the last four days, mostly through gritted teeth. And no matter how many times I listen to it, I just cannot take anything positive out of it. It is a travesty of music, and a massive down point in the band’s career. And seriously – I can’t be wrong, because even the BAND THEMSELVES can’t listen to the album! That to me is final nail in the coffin.
While the writing appeared to be on the wall while this album was in the process of being created, Skid Row finally parted with lead singer Sebastian Bach at the end of 1996, reputedly after Bach had organised the band to support Kiss on their Makeup Reunion tour, which the rest of the band then cancelled because they felt they were too big to support any band. Bach left an expletive ridden message on Dave Sabo’s answering machine suggesting the opposite, and he was fired soon afterwards. While this was obviously the final straw for the band and their lead singer, and something that had been building for some time, it is ridiculous to note that in 1999, On Kiss’s ‘first’ Final World Tour, they were supported by... yep, you guessed it... Skid Row. Since then, while both Skid Row and Seb Bach have worked consistently, neither has gotten close to the success they had together prior to this album being released. In the long run, that is perhaps the saddest indictment on “Subhuman Race” than anything else I may have mentioned here.

1108. Queensrÿche / The Verdict. 2019. 4.5/5

Most of the world’s Queensrÿche fans have been waiting patiently for the walls to come down, for pigs to fly, and for the band to deliver us an album that isn’t a carbon copy of their great albums from the 1980’s and early 1990’s, but contains that passion, contains that intensity and replicates the brilliance that the band showed in those great days. No one wanted another Operation: Mindcrime (which we got a poor man’s copy of back in 2005), but what we wanted was another album that had the same energy and drive that we could put on and love all over again. So here we are in 2019, seven years after the great split between the band and their lead singer, and almost thirty years after their last true great album, and we have finally reached the day that that album has arrived in the form of The Verdict.

In many ways this is the polished completion of the two albums released since the introduction of Todd La Torre to the band. While both Queensrÿche and Condition Hüman had good moments and several songs that had promise, it felt as though they both fell short in some way of finding the right ground. While The Verdict is by no means a perfect album it does sound as though many of those loose strings have been attached and brought this back closer to a well-rounded project.
In bringing back a sound closer to their glory days than they have been at any time in the past 25 years there is sure to be some division over what they have brought to the table. Is it reminiscing on what once was, and thus backing their old ground base of support to rush back to the fold, or is it living in the past and not looking to produce an album that looks forward rather than back? To me it doesn’t matter. I think Queensrÿche fans have been waiting for an album that reignites their great love of the band, rather than ones that gain tacit support and keep the fandom trickling along rather than booming in spirit and joy, and this is the closest we have come to a whole package in doing that since those early days of the 1990’s.
You cannot help but marvel over the similarity in voice between La Torre and Geoff Tate, and while it is different enough that you know they are two different singers it still produced enough melancholy that you are reminded of those early Queensrÿche albums.
It’s the power of the tracks that makes this more than what has come in recent years. Everything is out the front of the mix, and it is interesting how much a central piece the drums are, given it is not Scott Rockenfield on the kit this time around by Todd La Torre doing double duty by playing drums as well. There is no loss in the finesse department either, La Torre can really play the damn things, and the drum sound elicited here along with the deep rumbling bass track laid down by Eddie Jackson is just fantastic. Add to this the twin guitars of Michael Wilton and the somewhat underrated Parker Lundgren, who both sound like they are freeing their arms and letting loose with more abandon than has been the case over the years, and you have an album full of songs that are a joy to listen to.
The album opens as a rousing reception, starting off wonderfully with “Blood of the Levant”, which combines the best of Todd’s vocal range and pleasingly the faster pace and hard-hitting drums that were hallmarks of the great Queensrÿche songs. “Man the Machine” and “Light-years” are also both glorious renditions in this way. Like all of the great Queensrÿche albums there is a mix in the emotional state of songs throughout, but unlike during the ‘dark years’ the album is not dominated by a morbid atmosphere or a slow drawn out series of songs. The mix here works perfectly, but most importantly the power behind the tracks never diminishes which keeps it in your face all the way through. Well...
The major sticking point here for me is the closing track “Portrait”, which is the one track that halts this being elevated into the realms of recent great albums from dinosaur metal bands. I will never understand why bands have to end an album with the slower, ‘thought provoking’ type of song when so much great material has come before it. This is no “Anybody Listening” from Empire, this is a really dreary kind of conclusion to an album that had set so many benchmarks before it. Whoever decided on this track being on the album and indeed closing it out made a huge error in judgement.

Ignoring this, The Verdict is an absolute winner in the same way that Judas Priest’s Firepower was a winner last year on its release. Here we have a band that has taken the roots of what gave them their most success as a band, and used those elements to produce an album that doesn’t replicate those earlier albums but molds it in a way that it has a presence in the modern day and has recaptured the best that the band can do. No matter what Queensrÿche go onto do after this, they can be proud of what they have put down here, once and for all proving they are a band that still has what it takes.

Best songs: “Blood of the Levant”, “Man the Machine”, “Light-years”, “Propaganda Fashion”, “Bent”.

Rating:  “Why do we face the same thing if change is a constant?”   4.5/5

1107. W.A.S.P. / The Last Command. 1985. 5/5

Their debut album is right up there with one of my favourites of all time, and when I was really becoming obsessed with the band at the end of high school and into university, it was that album and this one that I had on high rotation. The release of The Headless Children pushed this into the stratosphere but until that time these first two albums were what took up a lot of my listening hours. And while on the surface it is easy to say that W.A.S.P. has better albums out there than The Last Command that would be to ignore the time when it was released and how it fit into the metal scene as it was at the time.

I absolutely loved this album when I first got it, and for a while rated it as better than the debut album such was the constant rotation I gave it. Eventually I came to realise that the genuine anthemic qualities of the previous album on songs such as “I Wanna Be Somebody”, “Hellion”, “On Your Knees” and “L.O.V.E Machine” outrank those on this album, but if you judge the songs on consistency over both albums then The Last Command could possibly still win by a nose.

You aren’t coming into these early W.A.S.P. albums for the lyrics, though Blackie eventually became more intense when it came to this part of the artform. The lyrics all through are fun and still fun to sing even for those of us now well entrenched in middle age. The chanting choruses that encourage you to sing along are the winners here, especially when tooling around town in the car. None of it is highbrow stuff but as a teenager it was all fun and games.
“Wild Child” is the out-and-out hit of the album, and opens it up in style. More melodic than headbusting it still carries itself well after all these years. It could have signalled a much different direction for the album as a whole if the lads had carried on in the same vein, but the follow up of “Ballcrusher”, “Fistful of Diamonds” and “Jack Action” all restore the general vibe of loud and violent themes and music to the fore.
“Widowmaker” is one of the best on the album, mostly because it is still a heavy song but has a different atmosphere from the other tracks. It is not melodic musically like “Wild Child” but has a chorus of melody vocal lines throughout that introduce a variation in theme on the album, much like “Sleeping in the Fire” did on the first album. As the change up song on the album it is particularly effective. “Cried in the Night” tries to do a similar thing but although it is still a great song it isn’t as effective as “Widowmaker” is in this instance.
“Blind in Texas” was one of the singles from the album, and is very much the quintessential W.A.S.P. track form this era. Belligerent, loud and lyrically simple and to the point, this drunken anthem leaves nothing to the imagination. It’s hard and heavy with a great guitar riff and is everything that W.A.S.P stood for in the mid-1980's.
The title track “The Last Command” stood for me as my own anthem for a number of years during this time, the at-times angry and confused teenager trying to find his place in the world, and happy to use this song as my flagbearer. Even today I can put it on and remember how I felt when I would play this over and over again, and how it lifted me up, in the same way as “Department of Youth” and “Youth Gone Wild” used to. “Running Wild in the Streets” used to speak to my youth at the time as well and is still a favourite, while the album closer “Sex Drive” is again so typical of the W.A.S.P standard that even though it might sound laughable almost 35 years later it is still one I can – and do – sing all the words to.

Looking at this album in 2019 – a year that I could not even conceive of when I first bought this album – it has certain flaws that are easy to hear and point out. One even wonders how many of these songs Blackie would now deem to play live in concert given his born again Christian status (answer – very very few). It is an album of its time, filled with sexual and violent innuendo that was frowned upon at the time, and would probably just be tut-tutted now by parents for its childishness than its themes. But beyond all of that, when I put it on my stereo and turn the volume up to eleven, this is still for me a brilliant album. I probably don’t love it as much as I did back in my youth, but it still helps me remember how I felt about the album back then. W.A.S.P. was a juggernaut, and this line up of Blackie Lawless, Chris Holmes, Steve Riley and Randy Piper is arguably their greatest. Maybe kids coming into it today would not find as much in it to enjoy, but with so much emotional baggage tied up in it for me it is one I will always love.

Best songs: “Wild Child”, “Widowmaker”, “Blind in Texas”, “The Last Command”, “Jack Action”.

Rating:  “Hear the call we are the Last Command”.  5/5

1106. Beast in Black / Berserker. 2017. 3/5

Power metal has never been more pop metal than what Battle Beast has released since their inception, and while too much of a good thing can be too much, it has been a solid career for that band in that genre. As such, the departure of Anton Kabanen from Battle Beast over that old chestnut of ‘musical direction’ is an interesting one, as the subsequent albums released by both don’t really reveal too much difference, because they both still have the same musical quality as those original Battle Beast albums. What it does reveal is that Anton has a singular style of music running through his head, and it continues on that path here on his new band’s debut release Berserker.

So, there’s no real surprise that this sounds like a Battle Beast album, and it is all the better for it. It starts off with a bang, showing off all of those qualities that those who enjoy his previous band were in it for. It is fast paced with that pop tinge, great drums dictating the flow, solid base rhythms undertowing each song, hard guitar riffs and soling mixed in with the inevitable synths and keyboards, and soaring vocals that keep their anthemic qualities throughout.
More than anything else, it’s fun! The music is heavily borrowing from the 1980’s new wave pop genre, with foot-tapping and head-nodding uplifting tracks that would fit in perfectly in a retro dance club. In fact some of the songs would hardly skip a beat if they were thrown on in just such clubs. It’s the synths and keyboards that give it this era-defining quality and while that won’t suit all people’s tastes it does separate Beats in Black’s debut from other power metal albums that are being released. On some tracks it gets a bit much - “Crazy, Mad, Insane” for one just goes too far in that direction with its almost techno-like influences, moving too far beyond the blurred line to enjoy as a metal song and not just a retro track. This has all the sampling and other tricks of the trade from the worst pop songs of the 1980’s and kills off most of the enjoyment for me at least – I don’t mind 80’s pop as I grew up in that era, but it doesn’t make the bad stuff any more likeable. “Ghost in the Rain”, the closing track on the album, is another piece of deadwood, draining all of the energy from the album in a limp and disappointing finish to an album that deserved a better fate this this.
Within this framework are some really fun and energetic songs. The title song “Berzerker” opens the album up nicely, and is followed by “Blind and Frozen” and “Blood of a Lion” where vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos really fires up and shows off his pipes, and a real metal riff blazes throughout. “Born Again” does the same, while “Zodd the Immortal” brings a nice tangent to these tracks with a deeper vocal and a change in riffage along the way.

Is this the greatest form of metal music? No, that’s not what I’m able to say. Is it enjoyable and a mood changer when you put it on? My word yes, it certainly is. There are some really good songs here and then there are others that just vary too much to hold the interest all the way through. The first half of the album is high quality in my opinion, but it doesn’t finish off with the same flourish.

Best songs: “Blind and Frozen” “Blood of a Lion”, “Born Again”, “Zodd the Immortal”.

Rating:  “I will wait for tomorrow, that may never come.”   3/5

1105. Last in Line / II. 2019. 3.5/5

For a band that started out a few years ago as a reunion of sorts of the original Dio band, sans their iconic lead singer, to play the songs of that Dio era for a few gigs, this has progressed into an interesting and impressive combination. There has been some shuffling in personnel, but this has become more than just a side project for those involved. The band has grown solid together, and following the release of their debut album Heavy Crown full of original music, it was actually gratifying to hear that we would be treated to a second round and would get a follow up album. And that is what we have here in II.

For those that are wondering – no, this does not sound like those early Dio albums, nor does it sound like any Dio music. Well, actually, there is one exception to that. The song “Sword from the Stone” sounds a lot like the Dio song “Blood from a Stone” off the Strange Highways album in both tempo and vocal character, but only Vinny Appice had anything to do with that 1994 album, and without doubt this is more a coincidence than anything else.
“Blackout the Sun” is a slow beginning, going for the old fashioned (new return?) slow hard beginning – and mirrors some 1990’s Soundgarden in the music and vocals. This could also be said of “Give up the Ghost” and quite possibly “The Unknown”. Peculiar to say the least. “Landslide” has a better tempo throughout until we reach the chorus, but that can be forgiven. Vivian’s solo is a delight however. “Gods and Tyrants” is another song where the tempo is rather tepid until we get to Viv’s guitar solo, where it then gets up to where all of these songs should be sitting. His solo again on this song is just terrific. Herein lies the tale of this album.

I enjoyed the first album. It has some terrific songs on it, mixed with some that don’t work as well. I absolutely came into this album with the hope and desire that we would hear more speed in the tempo of the songs, in the way that the early Dio material had. I didn’t expect it, but I hoped for it, mainly because I knew the four members of the band could do it, and it would stretch them back to a time when they played that kind of stuff on a regular basis.
What we have instead is four very powerful performances. Andrew Freeman’s vocals are fantastic, strong and full of energy, a terrific combination throughout. He is truly wonderful and there is no doubting his quality. Phil Soussan’s bass and Vinny Appice’s drums form the solid base that holds the songs together. Both are veterans and professionals with a rugged and immovable style that dominates the structure of most of the songs. The sound of both on this album is enormous, there is nothing being hidden, they are all up in the mix which provides a huge sound.
If I’m going to be hyper-critical of this, then in many ways what creates the slight ambivalence I feel for this album comes down to Vinny’s drumming. It could very well be the way he has been asked to play these songs (something he had from Dio on many occasions from all accounts), but his staid, staccato style of drumming does tend to emphasise the slower tempo of the songs, and this makes some of the tracks harder to enjoy. That’s an easy thing to say when you are a fan of faster songs and albums like I am, but I do believe in this case it just drags back the album overall. If that’s a writer's call, then the band has obviously gone down this route and they are all in this boat.
But really, why the change of tempo even within songs themselves? “False Flag” is the absolute standout on this album, and I’m not afraid to say that if they had written songs like this for the entire album it would have become a modern-day classic. Freeman’s vocals soar in the way that showcases his greatest attributes, and Viv’s guitar riffs are brilliant, and his solo is a gem. But even here they muck around with the change within the song that just gets to me. I just want them to let go off the reins and let this song (and others) have its head and career off it the distance. For me II lacks that punch that would make it a stellar release. I have no doubt others will find it perfect for their tastes for the reasons I have trouble with it.

We all came to this band for one reason only. Vivian Campbell. He is the one that we all follow, in the hope that we get just a little glimpse of the guitarist we all fell in love with back in 1983. There is little doubt that this album contains his finest work since he left Dio. That is not to have a go at the way he plays in Def Leppard, Riverdogs and other projects. It is just that here we really hear how he can play without the confinements those other bands may have on his guitaring style. Every single solo on this album is brilliant, without fail. If you could just cut out the rest of this album and have Viv’s solos back to back, it is a five-star album. There are other brilliant riffs on the album, and there are a majority of songs here that are great – but it is Viv’s guitar work that is the top-notch highlight over everything here.

When all is said and done I may appear to be putting down this whole album, and that’s not the truth. It’s not all my style of hard rock or metal, and that frustrates me a little. Everything I hear on the album is fantastic, all I want is a faster pace of song to really get into, rather than the slightly clunky tempo most of these songs sit at. That being said, I am still listening to the album five times a day and have no thoughts of replacing it anytime soon, so it can’t be all bad, can it?

Best songs: “False Flag”, “Electrified”, “Landslide”, “Year of the Gun”

Rating:  “Break our backs, break our hearts, but you're never gonna break me.”  3.5/5