1235. Alice in Chains / Jar of Flies [EP]. 1994. 4/5

Ever wondered just how you would approach the time immediately following two super successful albums, and the tours that followed them? Any of a number of different ways I guess. For Alice in Chains, coming off the tour that completed the amazing “Dirt” album, and the replacing of bass guitarist Mike Starr due to his prolific drug use with Mike Inez, the band could probably have done anything. What they did do initially was get themselves evicted from their residence back in Seattle after failing to pay the rent. Only an oversight, of course.
Instead, the band booked ten days at the London Bridge Studio in Seattle. Jerry Cantrell had apparently made sone assurances that the band would have planned out some tracks before they entered the studio, but this was not the case. What they did have was a desire to do something different from what they had been doing, and also find out what their new bandmate had to offer. Drummer Sean Kinney was quoted as saying, "After playing loud music for a year, we'd come home and the last thing we wanted to do was crank up the amps right away. That stuff was written on buses and whenever we had downtime. We did “Jar of Flies” to see how it was to record with Mike Inez. We just went into the studio with no songs written, to check out the chemistry. It all fell into place. The sounds and the tones were really good. We thought it would be a waste not to put that material out."
Lead vocalist Layne Staley was quoted "we just wanted to go into the studio for a few days with our acoustic guitars and see what happened. We never really planned on the music we made at that time to be released. But the record label heard it and they really liked it. For us, it was just the experience of four guys getting together in the studio and making some music."
According to the band, they decided to record in analogue rather than using Pro Tools as Layne felt that it suited the band’s sound better, especially with the acoustic feel of the songs being written, and that the tracks were generally recorded in just one or two takes. While the album’s sessions sometimes stretched to 18 hours per day, the actual recording was completed within seven days, compiling seven tracks that are often considered a continuation of the sound the band had followed for their previous EP, 1992’s “Sap”.

“Rotting Apple” is a lengthy drawn out track that is both intriguing and slightly overdrawn, depending on your mood. It has that wonderful combining of the harmony vocals throughout, Jerry’s bluesy solo that closes out the song, and a slow slightly slowed tempo through the course of the song. To me it has always been at odds at what the rest of the EP offers, a different shade from the rest of the songs that are compiled here. It is followed by the far superior “Nutshell”, highlighted by Layne’s amazing solo vocal that still sends shudders down the spine. Sean’s terrific timekeeping drumming sits perfectly with the wonderful acoustic bass tone Mike Inez plays in this song, the bass that showcases for the first time his beautiful feel for the instrument. I love how it sounds in this song, it is mixed in sensationally. Then you have Jerry’s perfect guitaring over the top, including the solo piece in the middle. This is where the mood of the album sits best.
Having said that, the mix of both styles of the first two tracks comes next in the super song “I Stay Away”, a combination of the calm and cooling acoustic and the more electric, with Layne’s vocals coming in more demanding and circumspect. Then comes the chorus, with Layne’s just brilliant vocal line, fleshed out by the violins which are so unexpected when you first hear the song, but are such a vital element of what makes this song so heartfelt, combined with Jerry’s sensational guitar riff as well. If you are looking for the kind of song that you would think would be unexpectedly so un-Alice in Chains and yet combine all of their best elements at the same time, it would be this one.
Perhaps the piece-de resistance is “No Excuses”, one of the bands finest songs. Sean Kinney’s drumming on this track is so perfectly formed. It is Stewart Copeland-like in its intricacy and perfection within the track itself. Above everything else in this song that is also so fantastic, Sean’s drums for me are still what steals the limelight. Here again though is the perfect example of Mike’s bassline, that is mixed so wonderfully high into the mix because it is so important as a part of the song. Glorious in its perceived simplicity it makes the song so terrific. Then, leaving aside even Jerry’s guitar that is so important here, the harmony vocals of he and Layne are just majestic, soaring throughout the roof of the song and reminding us all of just how amazing they were together. Of everything Alice in Chains has done over the course of their career, and of all the heavy and fast and emotional tracks they have written and performed, this song remains at the very top of the tree for me. Magnificent.
The instrumental of “Whale & Wasp” follows, and is then surpassed by “Don’t Follow”, opening with those harmony vocals together again accompanied by the harmonica, another surprising turn on an album full of them. The interchange of lead vocals also brings a different feel to the song. The EP then concludes with “Swing on This”, which starts out in a blues and swing style before combining the more typical Alice in Chains style in the chorus section.

I remember when this came out, and there was a big push behind it. It was after the tour to promote the “Dirt” album, an album I absolutely adored. I didn’t get it immediately, as at that time I was unemployed and had zero disposable income, but I was told by friends who had it how awesome it was. And when they played it to me, I remember being quite disappointed. I didn’t want acoustic based tracks and slower introspective material. I wanted “Facelift” and “Dirt” and all the power and energy and rage that they had offered me. So “Jar of Flies” didn’t stack up for me, and as it turned out I didn’t get this EP until after the following full length album, which had also been a disappointment to me.
So I got this at a time when my life had been in full turmoil but was returning to some sort of normality and happiness, and was pretty much at the same point that the band’s “MTV Unplugged” video had been on rotation on MTV. And I noticed a couple of songs that were a bit familiar but that I didn’t have on CD, and they of course were on “Jar of Flies”. So I went out and bought it, and began playing it. And it was then, more that two years after its initial release, that I ‘got’ the album and the music it contained. That I played it over and over, and it fit in with my mood.
Since that time, there hasn’t ever been a question about how good this EP is. Yes, it does offer a different perspectives to each of the four members abilities on their instruments, and all of them showcase how good they are. To be able to make their less raucous outbursts sound just as good as their high energy tunes is a remarkable achievement, and here on “Jar of Flies” they do that in the best possible way. Listening to this over the past week both in the car and here in the Metal Cavern has been an amazing experience. The vocals from Layne and Jerry, Jerry’s brilliant guitaring, the beautiful bass lines from Mike, and Sean’s syncopated amazing drum patterns are all framed for all time on this EP. Just freaking brilliant.
This arguably closed out the greatest era of Alice in Chains. One more album came with Layne before his untimely passing, and they have done admirable work upon their reformation with Willam DuVall, but for pure unadulterated ferocity combined with the sublime, “Jar of Flies” is where the story concludes. And there is no better way to prove it that with this song.

1234. Bon Jovi / Bon Jovi. 1984. 2/5

The band Bon Jovi, like all bands throughout time, came together over a period of time and through the coming together of like minded people who were looking for the same thing – fame and fortune. Jon Bon Jovi, who started life as Jon Bongiovi, was no different, growing up and playing music as a teenager and being in several different school type bands along the way. Eventually by mid-1982 he was out of school and working part-time, and he also got a job at the Power Station Studios, a Manhattan recording facility where his cousin Tony Bongiovi was co-owner. Jon made several demos and sent them to record companies, without success. In 1983, Jon was convinced to allow his local radio station include the song "Runaway" on their compilation album of local homegrown talent. Though reluctant he eventually gave them the song, which he had re-recorded in 1982 (following a rough early recording in 1981) with local studio musicians. With airplay occurring it was picked up by other stations in major cities.
In March 1983, Bon Jovi called David Bryan, who had quit the band that they had founded together in high school in order to study medicine. While in college, he realized that he wanted to pursue music full-time, and was accepted to Juilliard School instead. When Jon called his friend and said that he was putting together a band, and that a record deal looked likely, Bryan followed Bon Jovi's lead and gave up his studies.
Bryan in turn called bassist Alec John Such and an experienced drummer named Tico Torres, both formerly of the band Phantom's Opera. Tapped to play lead guitar for a short tour supporting "Runaway" was Bon Jovi's friend and neighbour, Dave “The Snake” Sabo though he never officially joined the band. He and Jon promised each other that whoever made it first, would help out the other. Sabo later went on to form the group Skid Row. Instead Jon saw and was impressed with hometown guitarist Richie Sambora who was recommended by Such and Torres. And so the group came together, were signed to Mercury Records, and went in to the studio to write and record their debut album.

The album opens with “Runaway”, the song Jon had written some four years earlier and had been the reason that he had gotten his name out on the radio, and forged the way for the band to come into being. The version here is the one originally recorded in 1982 with only Jon himself from the now formed band actually playing. That seems to be an oversight, but there must have been a reason for this. “Roulette” can be considered the true start to the album, the one where Bon Jovi the band actually begins. It has the choruses backing vocals, and Richie Sambora’s guitar making its presence felt for the first time. Sure, it has the commercial attitude in there as well but it is a more solidly hard rock core to the track than the opener, whose key synth riff was its major musical base. This is followed by the god awful soft rock ballad “She Don’t Know Me” and is a big a disappointment as you would expect. I mean, it’s not even written by the band, it comes from Mark Avsec, and is the only song in the band’s catalogue that doesn’t have one of the band members as a writer. This is the song of a band who is looking for commercial airplay, not writing an album to give its new fan base an anthem to grab a hold of. Horrid, junky rubbish. A skip song if ever there was one.
“Shot Through the Heart” is the next song, and yes, there’s that keyboard riff again, almost the same one note for note that was used for the opening of “Runaway”. It follows a similar life span, though for me at least Richie’s solo saves the song. Then comes “Love Lies”. And ‘oh dear’ is very much the vogue saying here. It starts off just as you would expect, with the solo keyboard and Jon telling us his sad love story over the top. And it doesn’t get any better. Honestly, where’s that bloody skip button? This is another of that era’s radio click bait songs to draw in that small section of music listeners that they wanted. The end of the song is a relief. Oohhhh, there’s that keyboard synth start again in “Breakout”. You sometimes forget how important and overused this instrument was in 1983 and 1984, and it is very clear on listening to this album again. I’m only now remembering how little I have actually listened to this album, and the reasons why that is the case.
“Burning for Love” is next. The song titles are a dead giveaway for how this debut album is progressing really. This is stock standard for the album, following the same lines and lyrical content that has come before it. “Come Back” is, on the other hand, one of the better songs here, mostly for the tempo being in the right range, the vocals and lyrics in singalong mode and a little of that Sambora magic, but mostly the synth being the dominant ruler of the song again where more guitar would have been a better angle. “Get Ready” might just be the best song on the album. Faster paced, good beat, good vocals. The same downside exists with too much keys and not enough guitar, but at least the album concludes on the front foot.

Most of us in my age bracket had heard the single “Runaway” sometime around this time, as well as the main single from the follow up album. As to knowing this album existed, most of us, myself very much included, had no idea of its existence until the band’s third album came along and changed the world forever. It was the explosion of “Slippery When Wet” that eventually led to the question, “Wow, I wonder if Bon Jovi has any other albums?”, and then, at some time, the exploration of the answer to that question.
For me, I found both this album and “7800 Degrees Fahrenheit” at the same time, and had both recorded either side of a C90 cassette that occasionally got a listen. However, as I am sure most listeners would have worked out for themselves by now, the lack of love for just about everything done on this album pretty much always led me back to that aforementioned third studio album rather than messing around trying to find something laudable on this debut album. It really is a punish for the most part, unless you are a massive fan of this kind of song writing. Yes, it is tied to the music of its era, and it does merge into the music of that time – but it is missing some big pieces of what eventually turned the band into a super power. This is an album that is lifted by the vocals of Jon Bon Jovi, that are unarguably in fine fettle at this point of his career. They aren’t tested in their range like they are on future albums, but they still ring out fine. Richie Sambora on guitar shows glimpses of what he can do and when he does he lifts the songs that it occurs on. But there is not enough of it though, with the keys and synth being relied upon heavily to interact the songs, as was the way for the hair metal bands who utilised this instrument in their music. The development of Jon’s vocals, the greater influence of the bass and drums, and the arrival of Sambora’s guitar dominating songs, is what this first album lacks that makes their later albums great.
While I can say that having listened to this album a dozen times or more over the last couple of weeks it is what I would class as ‘listenable’, I rediscovered just why I don’t revisit this album very often, if at all. While I am of the opinion that it is probably more interesting than most of the recent releases of the band, you are best to ignore this if you want to listen to a Bon Jovi album and gain enjoyment from it.

1233. Iron Savior / Unification. 1999. 4/5

Iron Savior from the outset was created as a band that, rather than to produce a concept album singularly, as was their debut album, but was to become a concept band, a somewhat unique thing in the history of metal music. The success of their self titled debut album led the band to continue on their journey with their second album which was titled “Unification”.
Following the release of that debut album, the band had gone on tour to support it, but the difficulty that the band found in preparing for a follow up release was having to work in with the schedule of guitarist Kai Hansen, whose number one priority was his own band Gamma Ray. Band leader Piet Sielck once again was the almost sole contributor to the writing and composing of the songs, apart from two tracks submitted by Hansen, on which he also contributed lead vocals in the process. The obvious problem of involving anyone else was that because this album continued the story that was begun on the debut album, one would have to know how that story was to progress, and given it came from Sielck’s mind he was left with the writing himself.
With the first album mostly recorded by Sielck and Hansen alongside drummer Thomas Stauch, this album brought on board the touring band to continue into the studio. This included Andreas Kuck on keyboards, Jan-Soren Eckert on bass, a position he has filled right to the current day, and Dan Zimmermann on drums, which only lasted this album before moving on to fill the same role for Gamma Ray. The recording was pieced together during Hansen’s availability both with Gamma Ray’s touring commitments and their own writing for their follow up to their “Somewhere Out in Space” album. These conflicts in time did eventually lead to Kai having to move on from Iron Savior, but at this point he was still actively involved in keeping the band on the rise in the European power metal community.

The album picks up the story where it was left off at the conclusion of the debut album. The Iron Savior, a gigantic machine built to defend Atlantis, has through the course of the story now come to believe that humans are the destroyer of Atlantis, and as such has set itself to wipe them off the face of the planet. The story moves on from this point, drawing in new heroes and another fleet of aliens from outer space, and by the time you reach the end of the album another cliffhanger is composed, such that the story will continue into the next album.
Now, I do have to say here, just like I did in my review of the debut album back in Season 2 of this podcast, it really isn’t necessary to know, to follow or to care about the story the album is telling. Yes, the concept story is there throughout all of the tracks and can be followed and enjoyed if you like, but it is not necessary to know it to enjoy the album. Indeed, a simple enjoyment of typical power metal music is more than enough to gain something from this album.
The opening tracks are a great start to the album as a whole. “Coming Home” opens at a good pace, with Piet soaring in vocals and encouraging you to sing along with him. Most of these charging songs have a choral backing with Kai, Andreas and Jan all contributing in this fashion. “Starborn” moves in the same direction, the great vocals backed by the humming guitars and Dan’s excellent drumwork driving the songs along. “Deadly Sleep” has always been a favourite, most probably because it is not only written by Kai Hansen but features him on lead vocals as well as guitar. It does still have that Gamma Ray feel about it but is differed enough to not make it sound like it was written for his primary band. “Forces of Rage” returns to the Piet Sielck style of song for the band, more frantic and less melodic in both guitars and vocals, and segues into the spoken word of “Captain’s Log”. This blasts straight back into the fire and brimstone of the album with “Brothers (of the Past), which showcases the exuberance of the best songs by this band, always at a faster pace with lots of fast riffing and great double kick drumming. “Eye to Eye” follows in a more melodic and anthemic way, with great vocals from Piet bringing the best out of the song. This jumps right in to “Mind Over Matter” which has a wonderful dual melodic guitar solo section through the middle of the song that equals all of those from the other songs on this album.
The only disappointment on the album turns out to be the final track, “Forevermore”, written by Kai and also with lead vocals by him. While not a genuine power ballad, this song acts in that way, the anthemic ‘feel-good’ wrap up of the story to this point, and while it is performed well, the keyboard and synth based track just falls out of place from the genuine metal feel of the rest of the album. The only saving grace in this is that the CD has two bonus tracks, with the band covering ai’s own “Gorgar” from Helloween’s “Walls of Jericho” album, and also Black Sabbath’s “Neon Knights”, which releases that slightly bitter taste from the mouth by the end.
Like the best European metal bands, Iron Savior are served wonderfully well by their twin guitar attack, and it is the star attraction of this album. Kai is a legend of the genre, one of the best guitarist/vocalists in a genre of music he was a proponent of inventing. Piet follows suit, and given these two were playing together in school you can hear how well their partnership in playing and collaborating works. “Prisoner of the Void” is another belter, and along with “The Battle” and “Unchained” not only outline the escalation of the story being told but also drive the album to its final conclusion in style.

The debut album, the self titled “Iron Savior” was a good album, a nice way to enter into the marketplace. This album is much better, both in song quality, production, writing and playing. It steps everything up a notch and it is noticeable from the outset. All of this is a reason why this is an improvement, but the fact that the band that toured together prior to this album being written and recorded must act as a major part of this. They were a solid unit entering the studio, and in particular the addition of Dan Zimmermann on drums, who had previously been in Freedom Call and from this album transferred his marvellous skills to Gamma Ray. Jan-Soren Eckert on bass is also fantastic and does a terrific job. But obviously, the star attractions and heavy lifting comes from Piet Sielck, the band leader, guitarist and vocalist and his long time mate Kai Hansen, in the same roles.
I have had this album since it was released, and it has had a couple of stages in the years since when it has been in the CD player for some time going over and over. Of my friend group, and of most people who I know who listen to heavy metal music, I am the only one who has found and loved Iron Savior, and for them, that is most unfortunate. The more I listen to the band, especially in this era of their first five albums, the more I enjoy them. This album especially, having had it running again for over three weeks in preparation for this episode, has given me more than I expected once again. I find more in the relationship on guitar between Kai and Piet, I find more in the rhythm of Jan-Soren and Dan, and I find more in the songs as well. Even in the Iron Savior fan base, this album seems to be unfairly underrated in my opinion. Musically it is at the top of the tree for its genre at the time it was released. And unlike many of the bands it was up against, the fact that it is a twin guitar set up and not a guitar and keyboard band always gives their songs more oomph, more power, more guitar driving throughout.
This is still a terrific album. And what’s more, the albums that follow are arguably better, at least for a time. For a band that no one in Australia at least seems to know, I still think this album holds up after 25 years. The only thing that scares me is that it is 25 years since this was released. It seems frighteningly much less years ago than that.