820. Iron Maiden / Maiden Japan [EP]. 1981. 4.5/5

After two albums and a world tour, Iron Maiden put together a live EP from songs they had recorded in Japan, and released such under the amusing title of Maiden Japan. When it was slated for release, one wonders if the band was happy with the decision, and whether they knew that it would also signal the end of that first recording era of the band.

The original album has four songs on it, though my original Australian vinyl edition had five. The band sounds fantastic on it, and Paul Di'anno's vocals come across strong and proud. The songs are not in order on the album as they were performed on the night in Nagoya. The first side of the album has "Running Free" rattling along at pace, and is followed by a great version of "Remember Tomorrow". The second side on my edition starts with "Wrathchild" which was also the concert opening song, and is followed by a furious version of "Killers" and a great rendition of "Innocent Exile", which followed each other in the original set list.
Everything sounds great here, despite the fact that Di'anno was apparently beginning to suffer the effects of his drug use. By the time this was released, he had already been replaced in the band by Bruce Dickinson, so this acts as his farewell, and it is a worthy one. There is little doubt that he could sing, he just couldn't do it live on a consistent basis.

The only disappointing thing about this is that it is only an EP. For anyone who likes to track down bootlegs, the one called The Big Heat: Sun Plaza Tokyo, 1981 is a beauty, recorded the night before these recordings took place, and it contains the entire concert. It is well worth finding a copy of. That being said, this is still an excellent EP that showcases a band on the rise.

Rating:  Never had no trouble, before this all began.  4.5/5.

819. Dio / Magica. 2000. 5/5

More than most would have imagined, Ronnie James Dio suffered hugely on the back of the movement of music through the 1990’s decade, the shift that went from metal in 1990 to grunge 12 months later and then the rise of industrial and alternative through the second half of the decade. His band Dio had been one of the leading purveyors of the craft between 1983-1987 with four albums that were as highly rated by fellow musicians as they were by the fan base. The change in tone and tempo of his music, starting with “Lock Up the Wolves” was in hindsight a precursor as to what would happen in the middle of the 90’s decade. Indeed, if "Lock Up the Wolves” had been released at that time it may well have been better received than it was in 1990. After the 12-month sojourn with his old bandmates to record and tour the “Dehumanizer” album, he returned to Dio with “Strange Highways”, an album that merged the two directions those previous two albums had been heading.
From here, the fork in the road appeared – to perhaps return to a sound of the era where he had the most success and see if that would suit his fan base, or continue down the road that music was heading and find an alternative or even industrial path to follow. He chose that latter, and “Angry Machines” was the result, an album that divided and in many cases put a sword through the fan base, an album whose sound was so divergent from what the man had produced over the previous 20 years that some people were unable to comprehend or engage in what it contained. It failed to reverse a trend for the band. In the excellent documentary “Dio: Dreamers Never Die”, it showed Dio the band at the depths of this decline, playing 200 seat clubs where in the past they had sold out arenas, while the industrial and nu-metal bands had their period of dominance in record sales and concert ticket sales.
This time, there was no fork in the road, it was a crossroads that Dio arrived at. Despite some in the media having praised Dio for stretching their boundaries and going outside of the box they had created with their music from the glorious 1980’s heavy metal scene, and despite the hard work put in by the current lineup on those two albums from the 1990’s, something had to change if the ship was going to be righted. The management had been pushing for a return, at least in some way, to the music that had made the band who they were. At some point in time, clearer heads prevailed. Following on from the tour to promote “Angry Machines”, which had produced the live album “Inferno: Last in Live”, the entire band was moved on. Tracey G, the guitarist and co-writer of those two albums, seemed to bear the brunt of what had occurred which even today seems unfair given the knowledge that Ronnie is always the ringmaster when it comes to writing the songs for his albums. He was replaced by the return of Craig Goldy who had left the band after the “Dream Evil” album and tour. Jeff Pilson who had been on bass moved on to his next project and was also replaced by a familiar face in Jimmy Bain whose last appearance had also been the “Dream Evil” album, while Vinny Appice, who had been replaced by Simon Wright on the “Lock Up the Wolves” album but had returned following rejoining Ronnie for the Black Sabbath “Dehumanizer” album, also was once again replaced, this time once again by Simon Wright. The first step to reverting the band’s sound to their 1980’s heyday had been completed by recruiting a band that had that familiar look to it.
There was of course no guarantee that all of this change would in fact help Dio return to the popularity that you can be sure their management and record company were hoping for. Changes only work if the fans enjoy the direction that has been taken, and that would require promotion of the album in a way that would help to bring back disaffected fans to give the new album a chance. What then happened was probably beyond the imagination of what everyone concerned would have hoped for.

The decision to make what for all intents and purposes could be described as a ‘comeback album’ as a concept album was a bold move. The great concept albums in the history of music, especially those in the metal genre, are legendary but there are also those that have flopped. But Ronnie James Dio has always been a storyteller, and here he chose to do so over the course of an album. One that had a great deal riding on it. And the best concept albums generally have songs that are so good on it that it isn’t necessary to know what the story being played out is to enjoy the album. That was the challenge that awaited Dio on this album. At the end of the album Dio actually tells us the story of the album, which in short is this: "Magica is the saga of Blessing, a netherworld invaded by dark forces that vaporise people into pure, evil energy. The planet's saviours are master and apprentice heroes Eriel and Challis, who must recite a spell from the sacred book of Magica to defeat their foe, Shadowcast”.
The album starts with the arrival of robots from another planet, who discover the desolate planet whose suns dies a thousand years before, and begin to read the manuscript to understand what has occurred, and they appear between tracks to continue their investigation of the circumstances surrounding what is being played out in each track of the album.
After the opening banter of “Discovery” and “Magica Theme” the album opens into the first song proper of “Lord of the Last Day”. Though the tempo is reminiscent of the past two albums, the energy being pushed out from the guitars of Goldy and Bain, and the wonderful hard beats of Simon Wright on drums – something that is a star of this album – leads into the powerful middle section of the song, when Dio’s vocals carry the lines with intent: “I don't feel pain or sorrow, The child's a man tomorrow, Crossing the line, then he's mine, Don't care which god you follow, Whose promises you swallow, Time and again, we must meet at the end”. It is a great opening track, setting the platform for the songs and story to come.
“Fever Dreams” has a great chugging riff from Goldy that sets up the song beautifully, and tells us of Shadowcast’s effort to cloud Blessing’s Grand Wizard Eriel’s mind so as to avoid a confrontation as he begins his takeover of Blessing, as emphasised in the lyrics; “I have seen some evil as I've walked upon the earth, But this is way beyond what eyes can see, Wicked is as wicked does and if I lose control, Is this the way that hell is gonna be?”. “Turn to Stone” follows, describing how the bodies of the inhabitants of Blessing turn to stone as their spirits are transited to Otherworld. The song settles into a mid-tempo again led by a great guitar riff from Goldy and that leading and defining back beat from Wright with the bass line from Jimmy Bain holding everything together. Dio’s lyrics are perfectly emphasised again by the master as he sings of the terror that has come to Blessing with wonderfully horrific lyrics; “Welcome to sundown, Welcome to the dark, Could it be that evil has heroes?” and “Words have control, To take away your heart and then your soul”. Sometimes you wonder if these lyrics portray our own world as it is in the current day.
Then we have the closing song of act one, “Feed My Head”, when the captives of Otherworld are assimilated into the collective evil. The opening of the song, from Goldy’s riff backed by Wright’s heavy-handed drum beat, into Dio’s spitting diatribe of Eriel’s fears of what is to come, and the loss of his people to the machine that deprives them of their life and the assimilation of their spirit into Shadowcast. HIs despair and need for action comes through the music, hard handed and powerful to start, to the quiet and reflective of the middle of the track and into the inevitable build back to the heavy and loaded end of the track, which closes out side one and act one of the album.
“Eriel” is the longest track on the album, and coming as it does off a sequence of songs that build in tempo and intensity, reaching a crescendo of the story, this one plays as the epic opening to the second act of the story, of the master of the Book of Magica Eriel finds himself in the middle of a crisis he feels partly responsible for, and how he must try to limit the damage and save his people against the evil being unleashed. This song stretches out to almost 7.5 minutes, unchanging in its plodding tempo and without the saving grace of a true change of vocals from Dio or drum beat from Wright, and the play out of the song travels longer than necessary. “Eriel” segues straight into “Challis”, the tempo moves to a slightly faster time and Wright’s drums again take on the hard-hitting rhythm that drives through the song in the same way he has throughout the album. Dio’s vocals take on the role of the hero, powering through the opening lines “I am a rock and you are glass, never broken, never last, and if you’re in my way I’ll knock you down, If it's a joke, I’ll never laugh, here’s exactly how I see you in the light”. This gives the album the impetus that it had lost during the previous track, showcasing the anger that the character must release if he is to be a hero of the story.
“As Long as It’s Not About Love” acts as the power ballad of sorts of the album. Ronnie has shown in the past that he can master these songs as well as anyone, and this one being such an important piece of the album leaves him in the position of having to deliver again. The song talks of how Eriel had to spurn the love of his soul mate Annica as he needed to keep his mind free of all emotion in order to be the spiritual leader of his people, with him reminiscing of how he had to do so. While the song is sung beautifully softly and emotionally by Dio throughout, it still has the powerful interlude of the guitars and drums to lift the drama of the track into the back half of the song. Dio serenades us as Eriel with the words: “From the first time we touched with our eyes, Only magic could take away my heart, I am always afraid for my heart, So lay beside me now and tell me lies, sweet lies, As long as it's not about love, Shall we sail off the edge of the world, Fall forever and never look behind, But I must keep my heart from my mind, Lay beside me now and tell me lies, As long as it's not about love”.
From here the album builds up again with “Losing My Insanity”, as Challis tries to come to terms with the burden he has been left with, as the only person who can save the people of Blessing from oblivion.
“Someone said You'll light up the universe, It's there in your head then Crazy comes to call, Break me down, I'm only an everyone, Running from free, Running for me, And though it's not of my choosing, I'm losing my insanity, Again”. The folk music opening and conclusion reminds you of the dance being held at the start of the story, as old in “Lord of the Last Day”, before breaking into the harder riff from Goldy that then drives through the rest of the song. Just another great song. Moving into the conclusion of the album, it starts with the song of the same name that tells us of the horrors of “Otherworld” and into “Magica Reprise”, both of which share a similarity with the song “Eriel”, in that they are a bit too long and musically a bit too dreary. As a part of the story they comprise the end of the tale, and overall hold true to the music of the album, but perhaps doesn’t quite finish everything off in the way it deserves.

After the enormously difficult and downtrodden “Angry Machines” album, and the “Inferno: Last in Live” album that followed it, I began to think that all was lost in the Dio music machine. It had been a great ride, almost 25 years of great albums from the likes of Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, for the most part all legendary. But was the well at last seeping dry? There had been question marks over “Lock Up the Wolves" back in 1990, and then “Strange Highways” had also seemed more on the average side of great than you would like to have your music. I was concerned that this was an end point.
Despite this, I still bought “Magica” when it was first released. The fact that it was a concept album, with a story written by Ronnie, tweaked my interest a little, and though I put the CD on and listened to it a couple of times, while reading the CD insert in regards to the story, I really didn't pay too much attention to it immediately. It wasn't until a mate of mine, who I was spending a lot of time with playing cricket and socialising with afterwards, started constantly singing, "I love the night, so many shadows" at almost every pause in conversation, that it started to get into my head as well, and I began to invest myself in the album. And once that door had opened, the world beyond changed for me.
Why did this album take its time to get its hooks in me, and then what dragged me in so deep? I don't really know. It took awhile because I had been burned by the previous album, and also the tempo of the songs was still settled in that very mid-range of the previous three albums. I really prefer the faster pace, but as the hooks sunk in, I found that this didn't matter to me anymore, that the songs themselves were so good that it eradicated from me any rhetoric involved in such ventures. So, once I got past those issues, I discovered the power of the music, and the power of the lyrics, and thus the power of the vocals. Each improves the other throughout this album. The story intertwines and connects the album as well, along with the discoverers of the Magica story's comments throughout which link some of the songs. And while this plays some importance, I soon found that I enjoyed the album and the individual songs as themselves, and not necessarily as a greater part of the whole. The strength of any concept album is that it can be listened to in its entirety as the story, and that individual songs can indeed be listened to and enjoyed on their own without having to be a part of that story. “Magica” ticks all those boxes.
Musically this album brings back some familiar faces, whose style and connection with the band's great era help to focus the music in a much better atmosphere. Craig Goldy returns on guitar and also in co-writing duties. Jimmy Bain returns on bass guitar, and lends his friendly and familiar rumbling throughout the album. Simon Wright returns on drums, adding a different style on the drumming than long-time cohabitant Vinny Appice does. Scott Warren remains on keyboards, and again fulfills his role with aplomb. He is the sole survivor of the disappointment of the previous two albums. Without wishing to lay the blame for the problems associated with those albums with the musicians who were involved with them, there is no doubt that the return of these members to the band makes it feel a lot more like the real Dio, and that is a real bonus for the album.
Despite the story concept, it is now the furthest thing from my mind when I listen to this album - which is still often. I think the songs all flow beautifully to each other, playing off each other. The music is fantastic. I love Simon's drumming on this album. It can feel or sound like he is playing very simply, not extending himself, but when you really listen to what he's playing it is just terrific, especially his emphasis when it is needed most. It really makes a difference, and along with Jimmy's bass it gives the rhythm section a real presence throughout. Craig guitaring is also great, again it may not be overstated and may not be flashy but it makes its presence felt when necessary. And then we have Ronnie James Dio, who rises back to his seat of power on the throne of exalted legendary vocalist. The power through the middle section of "Lord of the Last Day" is the first sign that the band and its leader is back. "As Long as It's Not About Love" is the game changer on the album, removed from the mood of upbeat into the moody and introspective. Ronnie again proves his mastery on this song, as his vocals soar in a way that only the most brilliant can achieve. It may not be as hauntingly beautiful as "Rainbow Eyes" from his days in Rainbow, but as a power ballad it is up at the top of the tree. Like I said, this was a real creeper for me, but it soon grabbed my heart and has never let go. It isn’t the story that really found me, it was the music and the passion that is felt throughout the album that made this. A great band and a legendary singer had fought back from the brink, returned to their roots, and found themselves again. And I love it for that.
I have spent the last week and a half listening to this album all over again. At work, at home. Singing at the top of my voice, hammering along to those wonderful drum beats from Simon Wright, and generally getting all emotional about an album that has driven its stake through my heart and never left. And then listened to it all over again. 25 years after its release, and 15 years after the great man’s passing, it is still as wonderful to listen to as it ever has been.
Dio the band released ten studio albums over its career. This ranks for me at #4 of those ten, though there isn’t much that separates all but one of those albums.
Following the success this album had in revitalising the band and the lead singer’s career, it was floated at different points of the next decade that Dio and Goldy had a plan to release “Magica Parts 2 and 3” to complete the story that they had come up with when preparing for this album. Two tracks, the instrumental “Annica” and sister track “Electra” finally came to be released following Dio’s passing in 2010, a death that halted any chance of sequel story albums coming to fruition. Thankfully, Dio’s resurgence carried on strong from this point, giving us all more music to enjoy from one of the greatest vocalists of all time.

818. Yngwie Malmsteen / Magnum Opus. 1995. 3.5/5

The 1990’s is a decade where Yngwie J. Malmsteen and whatever band he had acting as his support crew in those days should have both met its demise and flourished beyond recognition. With grunge and then alt metal and groove and industrial metal making its moves to inhabit the musical dynamic of the decade, Malmsteen form of power metal and guitar hero antics was never going to thrive in the areas where they have formed solid roots. And, for the most part, this is exactly what had happened. North America in particular turned against him, his attempt to crack the lucrative commercial radio market in the US in particular came to a crashing halt with the onset of the Seattle invasion, and the extending forms of musical genres away from that. 1988’s “Odyssey” had reached #40 on the US Billboard charts, 1990’s “Eclipse” could only manage #112, and #121 with “Fire and Ice” was his final appearance in 1992. But over in Europe, there was still a market for his music. Indeed, the burgeoning power metal scene throughout that continent had Yngwie Malmsteen to thank for its existence in the first place, and his albums still saw reasonable sales as a result. Sweden, Finland and the Nordic areas of his own youth still offered him the love for his music.
All of this must have led to a decision making process in Yngwie’s thoughts coming into a new album. While the world around him was changing its musical patterns, the foothold he had in Nordic countries and Japan must have given him the impetus to continue on his main music focus, and believe he could find a way to make a break in the market if he stuck to his guns. And so came the album titled “Magnum Opus”, one where he kept his gunpowder dry and kept charging at the front lines with his guitar driven songs in the hope that the opposition would fold in his wake.

The album explodes with exactly the kind of opening track you expect from an Yngwie Malmsteen album. The flowery flourishing guitar with all the trademark twiddles and tweaks, great vocals from the front man, on this occasion Michael Vescera once again, and the solid bass and drums underneath which form the base of the track. “Vengeance” does all of these things, following the template that has been well grooved by this stage of Malmsteen’s career. It is just as enjoyable and fun to listen to as most opening tracks on his albums are. “No Love Lost” is perhaps the most commercially pleasing song Yngwie has performed since the halcyon days of the “Odyssey” album some 7 years earlier. The chorus riff and vocal is perfectly written and performed for the commercial market. Unfortunately, by 1995 this had disappeared completely from most places on earth, instead buried in alt rock and industrial metal. For European audiences, while they would still have eaten this up, even they were moving to a faster paced double kick style of power metal, a bit more aggressive and a bit more ballady. This is a great hard rock song, a really exceptional one in fact. If it had come years earlier, it could well have done great things for the band. Instead, it makes a great second up song for this album. “Tomorrow’s Gone” follows and has an eastern almost Egyptian feel about the music and by association the vocals as well. A drop back in tempo and a harder stop start feel about the guitar and vocal brings a moodier aspect to the song. This does however tone down the contribution of Malmsteen’s guitar work for the most part, and when it does come in it is made to work harder and grittier rather than the floury procession it most often attains. As a counter point to the songs to this point of the album it actually works quite well, and Vescera's vocals are perhaps the best part of the song.
“The Only One”, in much the same way as “No Love Lost”, is a very commercially structured track, everything about it looking for the radio and singles charts. And, in exactly the same way as the flaws are exposed in the reasons behind that particular track, they come in to play here as well. This just isn’t the right time. It feels, when listening to this song on this album, that the moment has passed, and that this has been dreadfully misdiagnosed as a song for the time. Is it okay? Yeah, I guess so, especially if you like the 90’s albums “Eclipse” and “Fire and Ice”, because that is what is sounds like it is from. It... just doesn’t fit. And, further on to that is “I’d Die Without You”, the dreaded ballad. Apart from Yngwie’s classically toned acoustic clear guitar doodle to open the song, this really does tread down a path that has been worn away to almost nothing in the years passed. The most shuddering thing about this song however is the similarity of the chorus in music (and vocally) to the Tom Waits song “Downtown Train”. Listen to the chorus of that song, and then the chorus of this song. I think you will be suitably staggered and will never be able to listen to this song again without thinking of that other track.
“Overture 1622” is the atypical Yngwie Instrumental piece, and one he still composes and plays brilliantly. You certainly can’t knock what he does when he decides to go down this path. And yes, for some it may sound the same as the other instrumental pieces he has done over the years. But I still love them, and this one is no exception. It is then followed by “Voodoo”, which delves into areas that sound both familiar and yet distant. It has similarities to it as already discussed from the albums that came out with Goran Edman on vocals, the style of the track structure is similar and the vocals are as well. There is a lot to like about this style of Yngwie song, and the fact it is incorporated here is still a pleasing aspect of the album. Yngwie’s soloing in the middle of the track also helps to anchor the track to that era.
“Cross the Line” is... well... NOT an Yngwie Malmsteen song. This riff and bassline are more like late 1980’s LA glam metal than anything that Yngwie usually offers us. And – once again – it's at least half a decade too late for this kind of material. Hey, it’s fine to listen to now, but at the time this album was released, it was waaaaay too late for this. Yngwie’s guitaring too is so unlike him it is almost disturbing. This is almost LA Guns or Ratt like in composition and performance. On many listens to the album, I can enjoy it now for what it is. But it is such a change up, many fans might just pass this over as a result. I couldn’t blame them if they did.
“Time Will Tell” moves back into the mystical themes musically, Yngwie utilising eastern classical acoustic and clear guitar again, before powering into the opening riffs. It is an interesting musical style to go to again, but he has shown he is not afraid to visit several different styles on this album, none of which actually should work in that era of music. What they DO happen to do is appeal to his fan base. Vescera’s vocals are a star attraction again here. “Fire in the Sky” treads a typical post 1990 path with its musical track, the basic fast paced rhythm of the song with Vescera singing along the riff, leading into the instrumental solo break with playoff between the keys and Malmsteen’s guitar, and then back into the end of the song with the vocals into the chorus and the conclusion. It’s all fine to listen to – all Malmsteen lovers will enjoy it - but it certainly isn’t breaking any new ground when it comes to either his music or the genre in general.
The album then concludes, as per most of Yngwie’s album, with an instrumental which showcases his amazing guitar skills to ensure that this is the final memory you have of the album when it finishes. “Amberdawn”, named after his then wife, is a classic Yngwie instrumental track, beautiful in its composition and easy to listen to in awe, while again not bringing anything jaw dropping to the conclusion of the album.

It is fair to say that I have had my ups and downs with Yngwie Malmsteen and his albums over the years. From the very beginning, his first four albums and first live album, all released between 1984 and 1989, all grabbed me to my heart, and I still love them as much today as I did when I first heard them. From that point there was a difficulty. HIs 1990 album “Eclipse” and following tour of Australia failed to really live up to my demanding expectations, and along with other factors in life and with music, I then missed his releases from the 1990’s, including this album. It wasn’t until the release of his 2005 album “Unleash the Fury” that I rediscovered him as an artist, and wondered if I’d missed a trick in having ignored his material for almost 15 years. So I began to go backwards and chase up those albums he had released while I had been on hiatus, to see just what may have occurred. And overall, even though I have enjoyed bits and pieces of those albums, none of them really grabbed me as being top shelf albums. Until this one. Because when I first heard this album, I WAS transported back in time to better days.
As with other recent releases just prior to “Magnum Opus” this is a very commercial sounding release. There is no doubting the quality of Yngwie's guitaring, it is spectacular throughout. In fact, in many places it is the equal of anything he had produced up until this time. Michael Vescera, formerly of Loudness and many other projects, once again lends his vocals to this album and he sounds terrific. The rhythm section and keyboards are also all great. So what’s not to like?
Back off the shelves and back in the CD player this week, and I have heard all of the things as described in the previous section of this episode. And the great thing about the differences and changes and styles of the songs on this album when listening to it 30 years later is that it doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the album. On its release, it must have been weird though. Grunge and alt rock ruled the world, and here was an album that contained some songs that were looking to utilised the style and genre from 5-7 years prior, styles that for all intents and purposes in 1995 were dead! I do wonder how I would have felt about that if I had listened to it then instead of not for another decade after its release.
The majority of the songs here seem to be structured that way. Yngwie's solo's in the middle of the songs that require vocals are great. The places where a tough sounding start comes in, such as with "Vengeance" the opening track. When it wants to be a bit harder and a bit faster, it sounds great. But when the sensibilities change - sometime in the middle of a song - it just sounds a little out of place. Songs like "Vengeance" and "Voodoo" are really good songs. Even the very Eclipse-era sounding "No Love Lost" sounds fine here. But they are dragged down by songs such as "The Only One" and "I'd Die Without You" and "Cross the Line" that can't cut the mustard.
Despite this, I have really enjoyed hearing this album again over the last week or so. I’ve given it 10 really good listens, and I would not be averse to continuing to listen to it a bit more. It isn’t a perfect album, but as a showcase to Malmsteen skills and Vescera's voice, it is well worth any fan of their work checking it out.

817. Various Artists / Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden. 2008. 2.5/5

A tribute album, especially to a band that is so highly respected and loved through out the world, is a very touchy/feely subject to go into. It's a great thing that so many bands have been influenced over the years by another band. Especially bands from so wide a sphere of music. But when you have a band that is as huge as Iron Maiden is, and a band whose musicians are all thought of as some of the best in the world in what they do, can you honestly do a tribute album that will actually be worthy of the material that band has produced? And, to be honest, if you can't why would you do it?! OK sure, this was done by Kerrang! magazine, and they wanted to sell magazines, but there are at least a number of bands here who should have thought twice before accepting the invitation to contribute to this album.

Black Tide's cover of "Prowler", which starts the album, is fine. A good copy. Almost a perfect copy. Which somewhat defeats the purpose of doing it in the first place. But that would be unfair, given some of what follows. It may not be spectacular, but it doesn't do any damage to the legacy of the original. Metallica's cover of "Remember Tomorrow" is mixed with reverence to the original while still putting enough of Metallica into it to cast it away from the Maiden version. James sings this really well too, whilst the musicianship is top class. Quite probably the best version on this album. Avenged Sevenfold's version of "Flash of the Blade" is much like Black Tide's cover song. Musically it follows the original song almost perfectly. But in doing so, it doesn't have any individuality attached to it, and vocally it does come across a little flat. It's not a tragedy, but it is rather dull. Glamour of the Kill do their version of "2 Minutes to Midnight", which gives us a different mix with a psuedo-electronica undertone and singing in a different register as well. Kudos for changing up the song to make it a little individualistic, but again it comes across as a little dull. Coheed & Cambria took on the tough task to cover "The Trooper", and again, it follows the basic path of the original song, but just can't match it for intensity and excitement and drive.
DevilDriver's cover of "Wasted Years" is a travesty. Seriously, as much as everything is important in a song, "Wasted Years" is pretty much carried by Bruce Dickinson's vocals, and if you can't generate those kind of vocals, you shouldn't be attempting this song. Sorry to DevilDriver fans, but this doesn't work at all well. The version of "Run to the Hills" by Sign most certainly changes up the original, almost becoming a pop song than the charging metal leader it has always been. Again, personal taste will decide how much you enjoy it. Dream Theater's choice of covering the legendary "To Tame a Land" is to be applauded, but the fact that the keyboards replace one of the guitars throughout the song means that some of the power of the song is lost through the declining grunt the dual guitars give the song. The piano driven, softer and slower treatment of "Caught Somewhere in Time" by Medina Lake isn't really in my style of things, but I enjoyed the fact that they at least made an effort to impose their own imprint on the song. Gallows make a decent effort of turning "Wrathchild" into a punk song, which by definition isn't such a long bow to draw. Fightstar then drag out a fairly standard version of "Fear of the Dark" that fails to excite on any level (but that may also be because of my boredom with the song itself).
Machine Head take on the legendary "Hallowed Be Thy Name", and do not disappoint, and while they do not stray too far from the template they still bring the energy that the song emits and carry it throughout. Terrific. Trivium take on "Iron Maiden" with gusto. Year Long Disaster do a note-for-note translation of "Running Free" before Ghostlines do an interesting version of "Brave New World" to finish off the album.

So where does the real problem lie? Well, how do you improve on perfection? In most cases, if you can't make your guitars grunt and squeal, and you can't sing to a certain level, then you will never make these songs sound anywhere near as good as Maiden does. That's why "Remember Tomorrow" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" are the best songs here, and the others are either just reasonable covers, or less than average covers. As with all covers/tribute albums, you will be able to get a few listens out of this albums, and some reasonable moments. In the long run though, all it will do is reinforce the fact that Iron Maiden can't be fought, and Iron Maiden can't be sought.

Rating:  Unchain the colours before my eyes.  2.5/5

816. Iron Maiden / Maiden England '88. 2013. 5/5

Back in 1989, Iron Maiden released a live video of the concert from Birmingham on their 'Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour' entitled Maiden England, and for those of us lucky enough to find the right package, it also came with a CD which contained an abbreviated version of the set list, also entitled Maiden England. For years though, it was not available to the general mug punter, unless you recorded the audio from your VHS copy onto cassette to take around with you. Yes, that was an option in those days of the early 1990's. Eventually though, whether it be from the wish that all mug punters should be able to listen to and view this great material, or a way of squeezing more money out of the Maiden promotion machine, it came to pass that not only was the footage remastered and released on DVD for all the kids who had been born since it was recorded to view, it was also re-released on CD and vinyl in remastered form.

All of this was good news for those of us who are still living in the 1980's in our middle age. Better yet was the fact that the audio version was remastered and released in its entirety, meaning that five songs that had been left off the original CD version in order to keep that release to a single CD were now being reinstated, and the release becoming a double album.
Restored to this release that were missing from that original album were "Can I Play With Madness?" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name". "Can I Play With Madness?" was the sixth song from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album in the set list, and is just as terrific as ever. As the first single taken from the album it is great to hear it here again. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" has been in the set list ever since it was first recorded, and having it restored here helps to complete that set. Also restored is the complete encore trio of "Run to the Hills", "Running Free" and "Sanctuary", all Maiden favourites and all as iconic as the band itself.

As I stated in my review for Maiden England, there was always a possibility that this would forever be compared to the brilliant Live After Death album, and be seen as the inferior younger brother. Certainly it did not, in fact it eventually complemented that album perfectly, bookending the best part s of all Iron Maiden releases during that decade. Now here with the full concert reinstated and remastered to its full beauty, we truly have two great live albums worthy of each other, showcasing the greatness that is Iron Maiden.

Rating:  Now I've got to look for sanctuary from the law.  5/5

815. Iron Maiden / Maiden England. 1989. 5/5

The live album can be a wonderful thing. It can also be a bore-fest. It's a fine line to tread. The ability to capture the magnificence of the live gig without inhibiting the enjoyment of the setting. There will always be mistakes, and with so few gigs actually recorded in order to put out a live album (sometimes just the one!) it means the band has to be aware of this while playing that night, for fear of having any slip immortalised forever on vinyl (cassette, CD, etc). Even more important, it has to show that the band can transfer live what it has taken weeks or months to do in the studio.

In 1985, Iron Maiden released what is arguably one of the finest live albums of all time, Live After Death. Packed full of brilliant songs, including magnificent versions of songs from their then new release Powerslave, it captured the band at their zenith, and even today is a highlight in music. In 1989 when it was announced that this album, Maiden England, was being released (albeit only in a package with the live video) it had to be a daunting occasion. Could the band reproduce the brilliance that was that previous live album? Would the set list, comprising many songs from the album of the tour, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, hold up a candle to the flame of the previous release? The answer of course is that while no one would ever consider this to be as intrinsically wonderful as Live After Death, it is still a top shelf live album that again proved Iron Maiden's status as one of the biggest and best bands in the world.
The first terrific part of this album is that only three songs from the thirteen here are repeated from Live After Death - "Die With Your Boots On", "The Number of the Beast" and "Iron Maiden". They are still great songs, and they still sound great here. But it is also much better to have a whole swag of other songs that we do not already have copies of. The songs that have come from the latest album sound as good - if not better - than they do on the studio album. When I first bought the album, I could never have imagined that songs such as "Moonchild", "The Evil That Men Do", the brilliant "Infinite Dreams", "The Clairvoyant" and the magnificent "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" would sound as good live as they did on the album. But to be honest, I think every single one of them was enhanced on this live album. Most especially "Infinite Dreams" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son". Just fantastic. The keyboards and synth, which became prevalent on the last two studio albums and therefore required it in the live setting as well, comes through wonderfully, and doesn't detract from the rest of the band, something which had been a small and insignificant concern in regards to 'selling out' a couple of years earlier. This is also true of the two songs that came from Somewhere in Time, "Wasted Years" and "Heaven Can Wait", which had by this time become a marvellous live song in incorporating the crowd. The three other songs here lose nothing on all of the previous tracks. They are quite conceivably the most surprising but best tracks on the album. "The Prisoner" cranks up the album with its great sing-along lyrics and brilliant guitar solo break, "Still Life", with its moody and seductive beginning exploding into the heart of the song sounds divine, while "Killers' is fast and menacing.

The CD of this gig does not have the whole performance on it, as songs had to be left off due to the time restraints that a single CD can hold. This was rectified on the re-release many years later on the two-CD version Maiden England '88. Despite this, this album contains so many highlights it is impossible not to love. Played back-to-back with Live After Death and you have an absolutely barnstorming collection of the greatest that Iron Maiden had to offer during the 1980's, and is perhaps the perfect way to sign off from a decade in which they dominated the heavy metal landscape, and helped to change it forever.

Rating:  You walk through the subway, his eyes burn a hole in your back.  5/5

814. Deep Purple / Made in Japan. 1972. 5/5

When it comes to nominating what the greatest live albums of all time are, this one generally comes close to the top of the list. In an era when bootlegging was beginning to take a stranglehold on the record market, allowing fans to hear their heroes in their live element whenever they wanted rather than having to wait for them to tour, this live release was almost in response to this occurring. In trying to capture a moment in time that was from all reports only ever to be released in Japan, it became a worldwide phenomenon, and sent Deep Purple's fandom racing to the stars.

The best part about live recordings is that they aren't perfect. There are mistakes, there are flips and flails and other such occurrences. the songs are played faster, or slower, or harder, or softer. The vocals are not pristine like they are after any number of takes in the studio, they are the real thing. You can't hide live if you can't sing. A live album is not supposed to be a carbon copy of songs as they are performed on studio albums, it is supposed to be expressive and entertaining, because when you go to see a band live, that's what you expect to see. And so it is here on Made in Japan.
The setlist is just terrific. "Highway Star" kicks it all off at great pace, before settling into the amazing mood swings of "Child in Time". If you've ever heard this song on the studio release, you will appreciate how good the song is, and how well Ian Gillan sings it. Until you hear this version, where Gillan's vocals are just amazing, reaching heights that are almost unobtainable, before the brilliance of Jon Lord's Hammond organ and Ritchie Blackmore's guitar turn this song into a live monster. This version is so much bigger and brilliant than the original version. The middle section where the keyboards and the guitars rumble through is a magnificent sequence. Then it's in to "Smoke on the Water', when it was still new and fresh and exciting for the band to play. This is followed by "The Mule" which, for all intents and purposes can be seen as a lost section. "Strange Kind of Woman" starts off the second piece of vinyl, before the two long and extensive versions of "Lazy" and "Space Truckin'" complete the album in style.
OK, so you can't always have everything your own way, and the fact that there are only seven songs on this release ha always been disappointing. Now, there could have been a lot more songs, covering their back catalogue to this point of their career, but the 1970's was rife with bands who performed free-form musical extensions of their songs. Now this isn't something that should be frowned upon in a live setting. In fact it is the perfect opportunity to do this kind of thing. The play off between Gillan's vocals and Blackmore's guitar is entertaining, as is the same play off between Blackmore's guitar and Lord's keyboards. That's a great element of the live performance. However... is there a need to stretch songs sooooooooo long that it becomes a drag? That the song itself is forgotten because the musical interlude has moved so long and so far away from what it began that you can forget about what song was actually being played? It's a bugbear of mine. Do we need a drum solo on a live album? In the modern day these songs get the skip button automatically, but it was more difficult on vinyl. as a record of the live gig played, yes, you do need to record it. When you are actually listening to the album though, do you want to listen to an eight minute drum solo? And as a case in point in taking the freeform too far, the conclusion to "Space Truckin'" is the best example. The original version of this song goes for four and a half minutes. Perfect. Brilliant. The version here stretches to almost 20 minutes. Again, as I have already stated, being alive album there is no problem with that situation coming about. But I'd have preferred to have heard another two or three songs played rather than fifteen minutes of expansive movement. I'm not trying to suggest it spoils my enjoyment of this album - it doesn't. I do love to hear Ritchie and Jon and Ian doing all of this stuff, showcasing what they can do. It's just that sometimes there is too much of a good thing, and some things can at times appear to go on just a little too long.

The great thing about this album is that you can hear how much the band is enjoying itself, and how innovative the musicianship is when these songs were still new to them and they could enjoy playing them without feeling as though they HAD to. It is a great live release. But the greatest live album ever? Well, straight off the top of my head I can think of Iron Maiden's Live After Death, Slayer's Decade of Aggression: Live and Ozzy Osbourne's Tribute which would rank higher with me, but it is certainly a classic, and a wonderful reminder of this band's golden era.

Rating:  Wait for the ricochet.  5/5

813. Dream Theater / Official Bootleg: Covers Series: Made in Japan. 2007. 4/5

When this idea was originally floated in the Dream Theater ideas room, is there anyone who doesn't believe that James LaBrie was thinking, "Are you fucking kidding? You want me to trying and sing "Child in Time" live the way Ian Gillan does on the original release of Made in Japan? What the fuck are you thinking?!?" Because there is just no way he was going to be able to do it (and that's not meant to be a criticism, it's just a fact). Great job boys lining up your lead vocalist for a very big fall.

This is the fourth in the live covers series that Dream Theater has produced. Having already done Metallica's Official Bootleg: Covers Series: Master of Puppets, Iron Maiden's Official Bootleg: Covers Series - The Number of the Beast and Pink Floyd's Official Bootleg: Covers Series: Dark Side of the Moon, the band here has decided to do a live cover album... on a live album. A slightly off-kilter idea, one would have thought. Sure, Deep Purple's original release of MADE IN JAPAN is a classic and inspirational release, showcasing this amazing band full of amazing performers in their live element. But does it need to be redone as an album cover, almost note for note and word for word in crowd interaction all these years later? It is novel that the band went out of their way to play every piece of the original album note for note, but it seems a bit... of a wank... if you are also trying to get those same inflections that would have been done 'on the spot' in a live performance. Or perhaps that's just me. No doubt the band had a lot of fun with the improvisations necessary to do this to the degree they were trying. However, how many times to do you want to hear a guitarist and a keyboardist and a drummer doing 5+ solos and improvs? Or the moments between lead singer and guitarist? It really is so 1970's isn't it? Given the time of the recording of over 70 minutes, they band could have chosen any album and played that in less time, or for that matter play TWO albums rather than just the one. Imagine if Dream Theater had played Deep Purple in Rock and Machine Head back to back?! Now THAT would have been something.

Still, has the band done a good job on this? Yes, there's no denying that. The musicianship is second to none, and the songs sound terrific. But that doesn't deter from the fact that if you play this, and then listen to Deep Purple's original recording, it is like chalk and cheese. There's only one Ian Gillan, one Ritchie Blackmore, one Ian Paice, one Jon Lord and one Roger Glover. And their way of playing these songs will always be the best. And the five most vehement supporters of that fact will be the members of Dream Theater. This is great for an occasional listen, but it is the original that is still the star of the show.

Rating:  James, never sing "Child in Time" ever again.  4/5

812. Black Label Society / Mafia. 2005. 3/5

Given the output on the previous two albums, I was beginning to ask myself where it was all heading for Black Label Society, and whether or not I was going to continue on the ride. While I wasn't looking for a clone of Ozzy Osbourne or Black Sabbath music, I certainly wasn't looking for a lot of the stuff that had been prevalent in recent times either. Still, I was never going to find out for myself unless I went out and bought the album, and so I did, and prepared myself for what was to come.

You can't criticise people when they look at performing in a different style or genre of music than you would prefer to hear from them. Sometimes people change, or sometimes their preferences change. Some people are just so talented on more than one instrument that they want to be able to showcase that on their albums. And there's no doubt that Zakk, apart from being a wonderful and innovative guitarist, is also a talented piano player. So when you start having piano based tracks coming onto Black Label Society albums, it's not something you can be particularly surprised about. And it's not as if I despise them either, because Zakk plays them well. But it is difficult to put on an album that mixes the style of songs so much that there is no cohesion. It messes with the mood you are in when you are listening to it. I need to have a solid base around what music I'm listening to depending on the mood I am in. That is practically impossible when you listen to Mafia.
There is a bit of everything here, and while the hardcore fans of the band will most probably love it, I find it too mixed to be completely in love with it. The first half of the album (for the most part) restores my faith a little in the capability of Black Label Society to put out a great album. "Fire It Up" goes for the slow grind that is reminiscent of some early BLS songs, and is followed by "Who's In You" which retains the same mid-level tempo but removes the grunge from the guitars and allows the song to play freer and with more space. "Suicide Messiah" is an atypical BLS song, featuring Zakk's grating vocals over a slowish tempo rhythm with his solo dominating over the top. "Forever Down" works well in a similar way. "You Must Be Blind" fades into the song that has already started, a great way to get going, but then it stops and starts in tempo too much (as is Zakk's way in a lot of his songs) when to just continue along would have improved it to no end. "Say What You Will" is the shining light of the album. If the whole album had been more in this direction it could have been a classic.
The other songs are all okay without showing anything outstanding. However, when the piano creeps in it changes the whole mood of the album. "In This River" is nothing but piano and a little guitar thrown in for good measure. And let's repeat most of the lyrics over and over again. "Dirt on the Grave" is more of the same, piano driven muzak. Like I have said, the songs themselves aren't terribly bad, and if you listened to them as part of an album of similarly performed songs you would no doubt enjoy them immensely. But when you hear them in the context of an album that is for the most part supposed to be guitar driven riff filled hard and heavy songs, it just isn't a good fit.

This isn't meant to be a negative review in regards to the quality of the content of the album, but I certainly question the variety of the content that is found here. On an individual song basis, the songs here are the best that Black Label Society has put forward since 1919 Eternal. The musicianship across the board is fabulous, with everyone performing fantastically. But when you want to mix the band's well-known brand of heavy material with the complete change of spectrum of piano driven retrospective songs, then it's more a case of not pleasing everyone, but dividing those that you are trying to please. The end result may have trouble in gaining a majority verdict for either party.

Rating:  I'll give you everything beyond the truth.  3/5

811. Halford / Halford IV: Made of Metal. 2010. 3.5/5

Given that Rob Halford had returned to Judas Priest some years earlier, and that two albums had been released since the reformation, is it unusual that Halford himself still felt the need to go out and release another album on his own? Was he not getting enough fulfilment from his band, or was it that he enjoyed being able to express himself away from that writing partnership? Or was it just that he enjoyed being busy and releasing music, while the output of bands as they get older always tends to wind back. Whatever the reason, here is the fourth album under the Halford banner with the message plainly stated in the title - Made of Metal.

The fact that this is a return to his successful partnership with the influential Roy Z as producer and co-writer is also significant, and it is also a delight to have him playing on the album as well. Roy Z's influence in the solo careers of both Halford and Bruce Dickinson is beyond significant, and his ideas are always worth hearing in a musical sense. I particularly love his guitar solos, there is just something about them that appeals to me. Metal Mike Chlasciak returns on the second guitar and blends in beautifully with Roy. Mike Davis on bass guitar and Bobby Jarzombek on drums provide the perfect platform in the rhythm section.
To the album itself, and to be honest it is a mismatch of styles here, and all of it seems to be either fighting to set itself aside from his work with Judas Priest, or then on the other hand deliberately trying to align it self with that work. The songs blend from the faster and heavier songs, to the mid-tempo chorus sing-along songs, to the slower and more reflective tunes that, depending on your own tastes either work amazingly well or just slow down the progress of the album. I guess you know my feelings on this by now. "Twenty Five Years" would be the case in point. This song is molasses-slow and long, stretching out beyond seven minutes with barely any respite or excitement. Judas Priest made this mistake with "Loch Ness". I know there are fans out there who will love this, but it just doesn't fit the profile at all. Why have a song like this, and then follow it up with "Matador", which rattles along at a faster pace with a solid riff, double kick drums and attitude in Halford's vocals. I admit I don't get it, but it isn't the only instance on the album. Having started off at a cracking pace with songs like "Undisputed", "Fire and Ice", "Made of Metal" and "Speed of Sound" there is a bit of a change in a song like "Twenty Five Years".  Still, it is his album, and Rob should certainly be free to explore all his options when it his own release. It is still amusing that his first album under the Halford moniker, Resurrection sounded more like Judas Priest than Judas Priest did at the time. Now however, a decade onwards, and both sides have slipped into this slightly more comfortable arena.
Ignoring my moaning over one particular song, this is a solid release once again. He doesn't over extend his vocal range apart from in "The Mower" but the attitude and strength is still there in spades. "Heartless" is a good example of this, its not a racy song but Halford's vocals followed by the ripping guitar solos make it worth listening to. "Hell Razor" is similar, with the guitars starring in a repetitive lyrical conglomerate. Roy Z's influence is easily heard in most of the songs that he co-wrote here, especially in "Made of Metal", "Speed of Sound" and "Thunder and Lightning", the harmonic guitars and layered vocals give these songs their own style.

The positives far outweigh any negatives I might have come up with here on this album. Certainly, in my opinion, this is better than the two reunited Priest albums that came before this was released. It allows the band to showcase their own skills with their iconic frontman on centre stage, and while it may not be as furious as one may have preferred, there are still highlights to listen to and enjoy.

Rating:   Reeling you in to a climax crescendo of sound.  3.5/5