1017. Misfits / Walk Among Us. 1982. 4/5

There are people out there that believe that punk was born in 1976 and died in 1977. It’s a fallacy of course, though what form of music you believe punk takes on is probably also open to question. If you want the crazy drama-filled remains of the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks. If you want the reggae-infused stuff that comes out in different eras of bands such as The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers. Or do you come to a band such as the Misfits, who could be either punk or could be hard core or could be a mixture, depending on whether you really want to try and box them into a stereotype. Whatever the genre or reason or cause, what is essentially labelled as the ‘debut album’ of the Misfits is a combination that does justice to the massed variety that punk can claim to be.

There’s plenty of evidence hear to suggest that the songs were all written in the midst of their touring schedule or in a live atmosphere, if for no other reason than there is a tremendous amount of crowds surfing in the lyrics. By that, I am talking about the “Woahhh-wooooaahh woah-oooooohhh” that permeates several of the songs throughout the album. It’s there for everyone to hear in songs such as “I Turned into a Martian”, “Hatebreeders”, “Night of the Living Dead” and “Astro Zombies”. On first impressions it would be easy to see why some people could find that this gets on their nerves, and pretty quickly, because it does get to be a constant. Despite this, if you are not able to accept it and let it ride, not only will you not enjoy this album, but you will also miss out on some extremely enjoyable moments.
This is a great collection of songs. With just thirteen of them smashed into 25 minutes you know what you are getting from the outset. It’s hard, fast and scintillating. Packed into the fast basic drumming from Arthur Googy comes the bass and guitar riffs of Jerry Only and Doyle that fly along, and all topped by Glenn Danzig’s wonderfully cultured vocal chords that can move between high range tenor screams and jack-knifes to his low range baritone of his ‘Evil Elvis’ persona. The energy of the band comes across in every song, and despite the very short album span there is a great mixture of tunes within. The opening track “20 Eyes” bashes its way straight through the speakers, the perfect riposte to the punk sound, coming fast and hard with little room for discourse. “I Turned into a Martian” moves along at the same speed, before “All Hell Breaks Loose” picks it up a notch, improving on everything that has come before it. You can hear the influence of 1950’s and 1960’s rock n’ roll in the music, something not lost on the punk and hard core style that this derives from. “Vampira”, “Hatebreeders” and “Braineaters” all make the most of their short length by packing in as much as they can.
Even with the star attractions you can’t miss the excitement. “Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight” is summed up in the title, and after the pregnant pause to chant the title of the song, the band ignites again while Glenn gives you no chance to keep up as he spits out his lyrics. On top of this, “Skulls” remains one of my favourite all time Misfits songs. Simple drums, rhythm and riff, basic vocals on the top, and up tempo melody and chanting singalong lyrics. Both songs have questionable – nay, zero – morals in their lyrics, but they are meant to be in fun and should be taken that way (please note all insistent idiots who read the lyrics and believe they have been written with literal intent).

This is a terrific recording of a band that succeeded in getting the absolute most of out their peak years, before being retired before repetition could set in. That wasn’t to last, but it is these initial years that you can listen to and enjoy just how unique their sound was. It’s not highbrow material, either lyrical or musically. What it is though is a fun way to spend twenty five minutes with easy to sing songs with a bit of crowd support thrown in.

Rating:  “And the blood drains down like devil's rain, we'll bathe tonight”.  4/5

1016. Linkin Park / Hybrid Theory. 2000. 3.5/5

It is amazing, over the course of reviewing hundreds of albums and dozens of bands over the course of the past five years, that you discover how many of these bands who went on to do huge things in the music industry had their beginnings in high school, where friends would come together to play music at its basic core, and then follow their dreams to become enormous influences in the industry. Yet another of those bands is the one who went on to eventually record and release this particular album. The band came together through three high school friends in Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson. They attended Agoura High School in Agoura Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It wasn’t until after they graduated high school that they began to take their music pursuits more seriously. Co-lead vocals and keyboardist Shinoda, drummer Bourdon and lead guitarist Delson brought three further members into the band – Joe Hahn on synths and turntables, Dave “Phoenix” Farrell on bass guitar and Mark Wakefield on lead vocals – and called the band Xero. In Shinoda’s makeshift bedroom studio they recorded a self-titled four track demo that was released in November 1997.
Delson introduced the band to Jeff Blue, the vice president of A&R for Zomba Music, whom he had interned for in college, who offered the band constructive criticism to catch the attention of record labels, though he privately believed the band needed a different vocalist. As the band failed to land a record deal, Wakefield and Farrel both left to pursue other opportunities. The band spent some time searching for Wakefield's replacement, eventually recruiting a vocalist from Arizona on Blue’s recommendation by the name of Chester Bennington. At this point, the band changed their name from Xero to Hybrid Theory, and the resulting vocal chemistry between Bennington and Shinoda gave the band a new drive and purpose.
Finding a record company continued to be the band’s biggest problem. After constant rejections, Jeff Blue, by now VP of Warner Bros. Records, helped to sign the band to a development deal in 1999. Their first demand was that the band changed their name – again – to avoid confusion with another band called Hybrid. After much discussion, they came up with the name of Linkin Park. Despite much scepticism from the record label of the band’s initial recording, and the hip-hop slash rock style of their music, the band stuck to their guns, eventually pulling together the material they had put written and recorded over several months to produce their debut album, one that no one could possibly have believed would become the monster that it became, the monster named “Hybrid Theory”.

Coming back into this album now has been an interesting experience. And I say that because, as I will also mention later, this type of metal isn’t one that I delve too much into. And I am definitely reviewing this album as a layman, as a lackey, because I don’t follow this band religiously nor have a great deal of their music or follow their music in great detail. This is the kind of album I could have missed for this podcast, because there will be far more fans out there who are far better qualified to give a great review of this album. I just thought I would offer that qualification up front, in case we have hard core Linkin Park fans tuning in for the first time to Music from a Lifetime expecting a glowingly glorious review of this album. Because you probably are not going to get that.
The opening stanza of “Papercut” opens the album excellently, though with a lot less power and aggression than you would think when you have listened to the album a few times over. There are a couple of nice guitar riffs through the beginning of the song, much this concentrates more on the clever rapping and synth and drums settling into their groove. The combined vocals offer a nice melody through the chorus and post chorus parts of the song. This is followed by the heavier first single “One Step Closer”, and for me this is where the band is best showcased, the better parts of the bands anatomy. The heavy riff guitar, the more energetic and harsher vocals, combining together to create the backbone of the track. Not so much rapping but riffing together. And yes, it is the music on this tracks that attracts me more. Next up is “With You” gives it a red hot go, programming and samples and turntable effects coming to the fore, more of the rap here and is enjoyable without being in my wheelhouse. It doesn’t have the heavy thump I need to get involved with.
“Points of Authority” has good moments, but honestly feels like it sits in the same gear musically for the whole three and a half minutes which is somewhat detrimental to its effect. The drums hold the same beat throughout, the riff settles int the same periphery and vocally it is in the other quadrant from what really drags me in. Then, the mournful aspect of “Crawling” no doubts serves its purpose both lyrically and musically, pushing that angst hard at you, but perhaps just wallows too much in it, much in the same way Andy Cairns from Therapy? made mistakes with their “Infernal Love” album. The massive change from quiet clear introspective vocals to the over-the-top harsh vocal is obviously a big part of the bands appeal to its fans, but for me the switch is too dramatic and doesn’t really make for a great song. This was the second single released from the album, one that never did much for me and I always thought was a strange choice. “Runaway” works better in this regard because at least it has a better tempo to break through that overloaded angst without losing the conveyance of the lyrics.
The industrial-styled mode of “By Myself” brings comparisons to Fear Factory in places, chugged along by various rap and scream combinations as well. You can hear how Linkin Park’s earlier sound grew out of bands and sounds such as this, and morphed into the styles that they combine to create the songs on this album. Following this assorted section of tracks we have the big single “In the End”, strangely the fourth released from the album more than a year after its release, which is still just as catchy now as it was when it was released. For me, and I do stand to be incorrect on this point, this is the best example of the rap/soaring vocals combination working at its best. All of the band’s elements pull together here in the one song to showcase exactly what they could do. Whether it is the album’s best song is open to question, but it is the one where those elements all blend together perfectly.
“A Place for My Head” bursts out with an energy not quite utilised by this point of the album. It jumps out at you as a faster paced rap song at the beginning, but then builds in with the guitar riff to create a more centralised metal rap combination, before the scream vocals take us to its conclusion. The blazing beginning of “Forgotten” almost segues out of the previous track, especially busting into the heaviest guitar from within. Again, the duelling rap vocals aren’t particularly enticing for me, but the switch between rap to harder core does recycle the energy of the album here.
“Cure for the Itch” seems like filler. Not just that – it IS filler! Two and a half minutes that you can’t get back as you approach the end of the album. Which, as it turns out, comes with the next song “Pushing Me Away”. This has the basic elements to be a really strong and hard closing track, but in the end (no pun intended) it doesn’t quite fulfil the brief in this regard. I think it leaves far too much waiting to happen to finish the album on a huge note, and while I still like the song I just get the feeling the finish needed a bigger ending than it has.

Back in 2001 I was being driven home by one of my mates from having seen KISS in concert on their final world tour. Yes, their first final world tour. As you do, you are reliving the night and listening to music at a thousand decibels in the car. This particular mate is very good at being up with the latest music trends, and he pulls out a CD and says, “Have you heard this album? It’s insane!” He throws it into his car’s CD player, and for the first time I hear what had become a particular obsession of his over recent months, Linkin Park’s debut album “Hybrid Theory”. So, as I mentioned from the very start, I can admit that this wasn't my preferred style of metal at the time the album was released. Still isn’t. And even on that first night listening to the album, with my mate Dale extolling its virtues constantly, I found myself pushing against it. Mind you, I had just seen KISS, so it’s a big change to go from KISS to Linkin Park. I recognised a couple of the songs, as they had begun to leak through to radio airplay even in Australia at that time, but I wasn’t jumping out of my skin about it. Over the coming weeks though, as I began to notice the radio singles each time they were played I felt more comfortable with the style, and with Dale’s constant pushing I eventually got a copy of the album to give it a fairer hearing.
The album switches between a heavier harder element and a softer less aggressive approach. Rapping through songs doesn’t do it for me in general. I find that as a rule for me it is like power metal ballads, for the most part I just can’t abide by it, but there are the odd occasions when I feels it works well. The same goes for sampling and other such effects. That stuff doesn’t fit in my picture of what metal is, but on occasions when it is done well, I can get along with it. Pieces of this album are the best examples of that in regards to the rapping and sampling.
So I had the album at the time, and though I persisted with it long after I normally would on the insistence of Dale – and maybe also to feel like I was cool around the 16 year olds I was playing cricket with at the time – the album moved back to the shelves. At times over the years I have put it on for a spin, but it is only ever one. The last time that I had pulled this album out prior to this week was back in 2017 on the passing of Chester Bennington. I brought this album out of storage to review it for my blog Music from a Lifetime, which still exists out there in the blog verse, and was surprised to find how well it had held up in my estimation after all of these years. Perhaps it was just that as it was the forerunner of this kind of material that those that had come after this album and done their own versions of the standard only made me realise just how impressive this album actually was.
And thus, it has come out again this week, and I have been listening to it all over again. And again, I have been surprised how enjoyable it has been. A couple of times in the Metal Cavern I have wondered, ‘why don’t I listen to this album more?’ And yet, after another couple of listens, I was wondering the opposite. So this week has at least shown that I can listen to and appreciate this album, but in short bursts and not long and lengthy replaying's back-to-back. Good to know! It still isn’t my preferred style of metal, but the appreciation for the skills of the band is still there, and it is still remarkable how catchy some of the songs remain. Will this ever become more to me than it is? I highly doubt it. I do regret not having seen them live while Bennington was alive, because it sounds to me that this material would be far better in the live environment. But beyond that, it’s an album I have enjoyed reliving. And that’s what this podcast is all about for me. And hopefully, for you as well! But in the end, it really even matter.

1015. Edguy / Monuments. 2017. 4/5

Given the enormous amount of jumping between his two major projects that goes on, one wonders when Tobi Sammet has time to sit back and take a collective look at life itself. To be honest, does he start to spread himself a little thin? My argument for some time is that it is almost impossible to push yourself so hard between your day band – Edguy – and your guilty pleasure – Avantasia – and not spread yourself or your material a little thin. Thus, and I may be alone in this thinking, I believe that the past couple of Edguy albums have suffered from the fact that the best of Tobi’s creative juices have been flowing into Avantasia material rather than Edguy songs. Whether or not that is the case, when it came time to put together this album together to celebrate 25 years of Edguy’s existence, I think maybe it could be held as a reminder as to the power of some the earlier material of the band compared to the latter day songs.

So here is Monuments, the five disc and 160 page book collated from their entire career, consisting of two CDs which constitutes a greatest hits package, a DVD of a live performance from the Hellfire Club tour as well as other video clips, and two CDs of that live performance. It is a ripping collection, one that all fans of the band will love. As a true standing of ‘greatest hits’… well, everyone will have a different opinion on what that consists of.
The five new songs start off the collection, and I think they are great. In fact, comparing those five songs - “Ravenback”, “Wrestle the Devil”, “Open Sesame”, “Landmarks” and “The Mountaineer” – to the next three songs on the album, “9-2-9” from Tinnitus Sanctus, “Defenders of the Crown” from Space Police: Defenders of the Crown and “Save Me” from Rocket Ride, and I think you have a fair comparison to what I was saying earlier about the Edguy/Avantasia conundrum. The new songs have that sparkle back, whereas the three songs from those three albums (albums which I wholly admit didn’t tickle my fancy) seems to be missing vital elements. Good news for the new songs, and perhaps some justification for my feelings otherwise.
The other choices for the remainder of the first CD though are top shelf. Anything from Hellfire Club gets top votes from me, and the addition of “Ministry of Saints” and the masterful “Tears of a Mandrake” makes for fantastic listening. The second CD opens with the wonderful “Mysteria” and “Vain Glory Opera”, and then mixes in some older stuff, some less well known stuff and a bit more of the latter day material as well. That they managed to find a place for one song off Age of the Joker, the average “Rock of Cashel”, was surely more for appearances than for being a truly ‘great’ hit. Honestly, how a song like “We Don’t Need a Hero” doesn’t make the collection in front of at least half of these tracks is beyond me. But that comes back again to an individual’s taste.

Fans like me already have all of the albums, so buying this comes down to the five new unreleased songs (worth it), and the live CDs and DVD (worth it). 25 years is a fair journey for this band to have gone on. It has been a fun journey at that. The good news is that I don’t think the journey is over yet.

Rating:  "Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the freak show!"  4/5

1014. Killers / Murder One. 1992. 3.5/5

Having worked through a decade after his release from Iron Maiden, Paul Di’anno had produced a number of albums from a number of different projects. From the soft rock project under his own banner Di’anno, to an almost-superband experiment in Gogmagog, to several good reviews for his work with Battlezone, into a one-off tour with Praying Mantis, Paul had shown that he could still come up with material that was catchy and relevant, though mixed in with some less than exciting songs. His next port of call was in forming the band called Killers, and their debut release was this album, Murder One

Much like the other projects as mentioned above, and indeed of those that were to follow, there is enough good stuff here to suggest that Paul and his new comrades had a viable concern with their band. Opening track “Impaler” jumps straight out at you at a galloping speed with Paul’s vocals riding on a wave of hard hitting drums and pleasing riff variation. “The Beast Arises” doesn’t come as fast but is hard and heavy throughout, while Di’anno reaches for the screams of youth at different times of the song. The cover version of T-Rex’s “Children of the Revolution” had the potential to be a real stomping effort, full of power and individuality, and while this version is fine it didn’t really do anything that could have set it apart from other versions of the song. It’s not disappointing but it just isn’t fabulous either. “S&M” and “Takin’ No Prisoners” are reasonable variables of the previous songs, though the intensity is dialled back, and to be honest they drag on too long with not enough to keep them above the water line in regards to interest.
On the brighter side, “Marshall Lokjaw” is for me the best song Di’anno wrote in his post-Maiden collection of bands and projects. It has the high energy from both the band and vocalist that you would expect. This is where his vocals excel, the kind of song he has always been meant to sing. A rollicking backing track, setting the platform for Di’anno to give us the performance that he can, singing the storyline that the lyrics provide and allowing him to be centre stage for the entirety of the song, interspersed with the dual guitar solos in the middle. Terrific stuff. If only he could have based more of his music around this track.
“Protector” continues in the hard rock arena, with a simplistic riff line and drum set. “Dream Keeper” changes the tempo and style up completely, going for the mix between slower AOR 70’s sound and a Whitesnake or UFO like whining guitar. I can get the ideas of what they tried with this track, I just don’t think they quite got it. “Awakening” sticks to the standard tempo and 2/4 drum beat with Di’anno almost chanting his lyrics throughout.
Whether it was necessary to tack on the cover of “Remember Tomorrow” is open to question. The version is a good one, and Paul still sings it well, but surely by now it was time to take away the focus from the music that brought him his fame, and live or die by his own material. Or perhaps that is just it, he cannot sever himself from that period of his life. Looking back from 2017, that’s still accurate.

There is enough good material here to make you think this band could make a real go of it, and start producing some even better material. The album’s major problem was its conception date, smack bang in the middle of the grunge era, which for a short time was influencing everything in music. As such, albums like this were buried and forgotten. More is the pity. Five years earlier this may have made a mark. Perhaps even five years later. Instead, in retrospect it is a more than listenable album, and perhaps the closest Paul ever came being able to forge a band and career away from that other one he was in once.

Rating:  “Marshall Lokjaw, all guns blazing!”  3.5/5

1013. Mötley Crüe / Shout at the Devil. 1983. 5/5

Motley Crue is a band that has either been loved or despised over the years, both for their contribution to the music world, and their antics away from the writing and recording process. In many instances, people are unable to separate the two, and should they disapprove of the behaviour of members of the band then they also disapprove of the music they create. It was around the time this album was being created that the behaviour patterns were set in stone. Coming off their debut album, “Too Fast for Love”, an episode of which you can find in Season 1 of this podcast, the band were on significant tours with high profile artists such as Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, and eventually the 1984 Monsters of Rock with Van Halen and AC/DC. Each of these bands had major problems with the way Motley Crue conducted themselves. Gene Simmons had them replaced after just five shows of the “Creatures of the Night” tour. Bob Daisley counselled them not to change their guitarist when they spoke on the tour bus of replacing Mick Mars. And Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Malcolm Young were left furious at some of things that the band perpetrated. For their part, Motley Crue just didn’t care. They were high on life and doing it their own way. They trashed every motel room thy stayed in, and Nikki Sixx got into an accident in a friend’s Porsche he had stolen, the consequences with pain killer addiction were not fully realised until a few years later.
In and around all of this, the band had to write and record the follow up their first album. While it had some excellent tracks and had been well received, following that up to the point that they could back up their over the top behaviour on tour was going to be another thing entirely. "Too Fast for Love” had been a good album that showed promise, but not on a scale that this album produced. The jump in quality and energy between it and this is quite remarkable. Some fans disagree and think that this album waters down the punkish edge that the debut had and thus made it less alternative and more mainstream. I can see where that argument could be made, but the extra ‘polish’ that may appear to be here does actually help to tie in the whole album rather than expose any lesser tracks such as could be argued appear on “Too Fast for Love”.

Here on “Shout at the Devil” there is a nice mixture of tempo on the songs without ever losing the energy and power of the album, and each member of the band can be thanked for that. Tommy Lee’s hard hitting drums are a constant metronome. He doesn’t always sound like he is doing anything special outside of a regular drum beat, until you realise that the nuances he uses are so much more than average, they are extraordinary. His drum sound on this album is perfect, it doesn’t take centre stage nor is it hidden in the background, it rides along with the other four in harmony. Nikki Sixx’s bass lines rumble along in much the same way, not appearing to be out of the ordinary but in fact are driving the songs, supplying the energy in the tracks throughout. An interesting thought, given the recent developments that suggest Sixx did not play any of the bass guitar on this album, that it had been re-recorded by an unnamed session player. Mick Mars and his guitar shine along the way, not only matching the riff of his bass partner but making the perfect punctuations when his solo slot comes up in each song. He really is a very underrated player. Topping this off is the marvellous vocals from Vince Neil whose falsetto voice pierces through in places that are sometime unexpected, supported by the chanting back up voices of his three band mates to allow him to be the star out front. Whatever problems he may be faced with in the modern day in the live environment, his vocals sound great here on this album.
As to the songs themselves, I love every one of them on this album. That could be put down to having had this album imprinted in my brain back in those early days rather than the songs being spectacularly good, but that is the advantage of listening to the album and not just having heard a couple of singles off the album. For instance, most people would know “Looks That Kill” as it is a well aired video and song, but how many of those people would know of songs such as “Bastard” and “Red Hot”, or the album closer “Danger”? A very low percentage I would suspect, and these songs to me are just as enjoyable and important as “Looks That Kill” is. “Bastard” and “Red Hot” are the two fastest tempo songs on the album, and help to raise the action and adrenaline of the song list. They’re not singles by a long shot, but they are terrific songs that make up the core of the album itself. “Knock ‘em Dead Kid” and “Ten Seconds to Love” settle in that same range that every great album needs, the songs that may not be the stars of the show, but are terrific supporting cast. And you can’t have a great album if the bulk of the tracks, the ones that don’t get a single release of played at the live shows, aren’t great in their own way. Then you can add in the excellent cover of The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter”, which to me is the best version of this song, by any band. Again, the key word is ‘energy’ and this version has plenty of that in order to get the most out of it.
“Shout at the Devil” and “Too Young to Fall in Love” are the two real foot stompers on the album, based around the great Mick Mars riffs and leading drums from Tommy Lee. They both have that heavy mid-tempo riff with the drum pattern that encourages not only hard foot tapping in time but a solid head banging rhythm as well. And that is one of the key characteristics of this album. Perhaps the song structure isn’t complex or difficult, but it is enjoyable and entertaining, and that’s all you can ask of an album.

Back in my teenage years, in the middle of the Age of Discovery where new music and new bands were hopping out of the ground by the dozen, I gained my first exposure to the band Mötley Crüe. Initially it was through the video clip for the song “Looks That Kill” that had popped up on music video programs at specified times, and eventually metal music dealer picked up the album “Shout at the Devil” and taped it for me. Thus began my love affair with this band in general, but on a wider scale the hair metal genre as a whole. The album is a product of its time. The carefree ‘we are indestructible’ quartet looking to make their way in a music world that was finding success in several different quarters, and Motley Crue were able to knock down a couple of doors with their antics, their stage persona and the music itself.
I came into the band just beyond the halfway mark of the 1980’s decade, and when I did I came in hard. I had this on one side of a cassette with “Girls Girls Girls” on the other, which made for a riotous 90 minutes whenever I put it on. Driving around town with the drivers side window wound down and this blasting out of the car stereo was not an unusual sight in those days. And it was this album in particular that solidified my love of the band. Critics like to suggest that there is nothing outstanding about the song writing or the performance, but to me that’s what makes this such a great album. Lee’s drumming sounds simple but is so intricate, it makes it more special. Mars’s riffing is superb, and his solo’s his every spot perfectly. And Vince’s vocals don’t go for extremes, they are exuberant and enticing. And the fact Nikki Sixx almost single handedly wrote the album makes it what it is.
Plenty have suggested this is Mötley Crüe’s finest hour. There is enough evidence here to suggest that’s a fair comment. I believe they at least equalled this with “Dr. Feelgood” a few years down the track, but as much as I like their other surrounding albums I don’t think they get close to this one in terms of greatness. The formula comes up as a winner on this album, and when I put this on again over recent days to listen to it for this podcast review, it has now been on constant playback for a couple of weeks, and there is every chance it will continue to stay on my playlist now for a while to come. Surely that alone is enough to indicate just how highly I rate it.

1012. Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force / Odyssey. 1988. 4/5

Yngwie Malmsteen’s fight for commercial recognition and success had continued to build throughout the 1980’s. He had a tough fight on his hands. Not only did he want to showcase his amazing guitaring, but he wanted to do it in a fashion that would also find itself commercially viable in the world of rock radio around the globe. No easy feat. The recruiting of the Johannsen brothers, keyboardist Jens and drummer Anders helped to settle the band, especially the keyboard and synth skills of Jens, but what was perhaps the best commercial move was the obtaining of former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner as front man for the album. The result was this album, and in that commercial sense Odyssey became the most successful of Yngwie’s career.

When this was released back in 1988, I just loved it. It was one of four or five albums that year that I wore to death, furrowing deeper grooves in the vinyl and stretching the tape on the cassette copy by the number of times I played it. Even those songs that were of the slower, verging on ballad-like qualities, the ones that in the not-too-distant future I would be decrying as a menace to heavy metal, I still loved and sang along to. Some people around me would write this album off as trash, as just a narcissist on guitar surrounded by musical fluff and patsy lyrics by a narcissist on vocals. In those days I was mostly blind to any of that. I loved the tempo and the atmosphere of the tracks, and the honeyed vocals of Turner allowed me to generally wash over the lyrics and just enjoy the songs as they came out at me. Any arguments to the contrary were for me shut down by the massive disappointment of the following album Eclipse which really did head down a complete commercial path. Again, I was mostly blinded against any criticism.
Listening to this album today, you can hear that it has dated quite massively. It is very much tied to the era, with the keyboard and synth highly involved despite the master craftsman on guitar being the showcase piece. And without appearing to bow to those naysayers of the past, Turner’s vocals and some of his lyrics are just a little too stonewashed and gratified to be completely comfortable with. It would be an easy thing to dismiss this as a stereotypical 80’s overhyped synth guitar album with little or no substance, and place it back in the racks.
But there is still more to this album than that.
It has those moments that are obvious attempts to crack into that radio market, songs that have been crafted by both the writer of the music (Malmsteen) and the writer of the lyrics (Turner) to find their way into the popular market. The single released from the album, “Heaven Tonight”, had that kind of business trade, the music video also helping to raise its profile. It may not have made the grade in Australia, but overseas the single saw good sales and promotion of the album itself. It is a genuine single, written to be so, and yet it is still enjoyable from a purist Yngwie fan to love. “Hold On” and “Dreaming (Tell Me)” are both in the power ballad category, though with that distinctive Yngwie guitar sound that puts it at a bit above that level, giving you something to enjoy that doesn’t always come with a power ballad. “Now is the Time” is not in this class of song, but it is quite a sugary rock song that suits the radio metaphor. If someone were to say to me that these were rubbish songs that made the album unenjoyable to them, I could understand where they were coming from. Not agree, but understand.
Because then you have the songs on here that make the ride well worthwhile. The opening track “Rising Force” is a cracker, starting the album off on the right foot and at the right tempo. After the somewhat powder puff remainder of the first side of the album it concludes with the rollicking “Riot in the Dungeons” which increases the tempo nicely. The second side of the album has the two star attractions, those being “Déjà Vu” and “Crystal Ball”. Either or both of these should have been singles if Yngwie was really serious about hitting that commercial market, and not because they are commercial songs in the same way that “Heaven Tonight” is. Both have those characteristics but they are not purposely written in that way. Both are great sounding hard rock track backed by trademark Malmsteen riffs and terrific vocals from Turner that make them stand out from the crowd. “Crystal Ball” especially is a terrific track that is still one of my favourite Yngwie songs. “Faster Than the Speed of Light” is also a fun faster track on the back half of the album. To top it all off, the three instrumental tracks – “Bite the Bullet”, “Krakatau” and “Memories” – all showcase Yngwie’s wonderful skills to their utmost.

I have no doubt that if I was rating this back in 1990 I would have been throwing full marks at this album. As I said, I loved this back in the day. With years for both the album and my music tastes to mellow somewhat, I accept that there are a few flaws on the album that I may well have ignored when it was released. None of that wipes away my enjoyment of this album to this day however. It may not be perfect and it may come across as overblown, but I still love it for all its cracks.

Rating:  “Through the doorways of the heart, step inside, the magic starts.”   4/5

1011. Dokken / Under Lock and Key. 1985. 3.5/5

Dokken was fortunate to be able to get to produce their sophomore album, let alone the trauma that it took to get the thing recorded and released. After the lacklustre effort of their first album their record label was ready to dump them, and it was only through the enormous efforts of the band’s management that they were able to secure a deal for a second album. After this effort to get to the starting line, the album was then plagued by problems within the band and also within the production. Don Dokken had wanted Michael Wagener to return, but the rest of the band wanted someone else, which led to the record label hiring Tom Werman. Werman then had to find a way to have Dokken and Lynch work together, which he did by having Lynch work the day shift and Dokken the night shift, He eventually quit the project, which led to Dokken pushing once again for Wagener to be reinstated which the other three still pushed back against. In the end, two producers were hired – Wagener to work with Dokken in the evenings, and Roy Thomas Baker to work with the rest of the band during the day. Somehow, it worked, and the album “Tooth and Nail” was completed and released, and signals the true beginning of the rise of the band.
Moving into the follow up album, and once again there are two producers names listed on the cover – Wagener returns, no doubt on the back of the triumph that was achieved with “Tooth and Nail”, but also Neil Kemon whose production and mixing record to this point was the resume of someone who knew what they were doing. The appearance of two producers again heavily suggests that Wagener was in charge of getting the most out of Don Doken and his vocals while Kemon handled the recording side with the band itself.
It was to be a pivotal moment for the band. The rise in stature that they had been able to garner with the success of “Tooth and Nail” had pulled them into the cyclonic rise of the glam and hair metal scene that was beginning to dominate the commercial side of metal music in the mid-1980's. The presence of a guitarist like Geroge Lynch, whose skills and abilities on his instrument were far greater than that of many of his contemporaries, gave the band a focal point that could gain them an audience beyond the soft metal side that many bands were aiming for. It just needed to have Lynch in a central role to do so. And the album that came from these efforts became the one titled “Under Lock and Key”.

In an era where hair metal was beginning to gain a greater hold of the airwaves especially with the soft rock ballads that were seeping through along with the advent of music videos, it’s interesting to find that while those kind of sounds do find a way onto this album it is not dominated by them as much as could possibly have been the case. And perhaps the separating of the recording played into that.
The opening song “Unchain the Night” has that hard hitting mid-range tempo that Dokken liked to settle into in their prime, with the solid rhythm of Mick Brown and Jeff Pilson allowing Don Dokken to showcase his great voice, backed by the harmony of Jeff and Mick, and then opens up for the smooth flowing George Lynch guitar solo that highlighted the best tracks. It is a solid opening to the album. “The Hunter” is similarly structured and is again another wholly enjoyable song without it ever stepping out and announcing itself as an outstanding track. This is the style that the band offer, but it can be frustrating to know that there is a terrific guitarist in the band who is capable of producing something more than what he offers. This was released as the opening single to the album, so it does meet all of the requirement of a hard rock track that is searching for that commercial success. “In My Dreams” moves down a different track, not being the full blown ballad track that is yet to come, but with a somewhat gentler and higher vocal range being used it engenders a different feel from the opening two tracks, despite retaining that hard rhythm throughout. The harmony vocals are especially prevalent here rather than Don being distinctly on his own, which adds to the sweet symphony of the song. It became the second single released from the album, but could only reach #77 on the US charts. Perhaps a hard track would have done better? Or am I just showing off my music bias here?
“Slippin’ Away” is far too much in the soft rock ballad area, at least in my humble opinion. Part of the problem is that this album is already less hard rock motivated than the previous album, it has dropped a notch into a more commercial sound, and that brings these kinds of tracks further into focus. As always, I understand the need for bands of this genre to indulge themselves in these types of songs in order to draw in that part of their supporter base, but to me it just acts as a distraction to the other great material on the album. There’s very little exciting here. “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” picks the tempo up again nicely, with the energy in the music driven by Don’s great vocals supported by the chorus of Jeff and Mick. This leads into George’s solo punctuation which is the centrepiece, before we come to the conclusion of the song where Mick’s drumming adds to Don’s piercing high octane vocal into the finish. It’s a terrific song to finish the first side of the album. Why on earth did they not just make the whole first side of the album with songs like this?!
Side Two opens with “It’s Not Love”, the tougher side of Dokken’s drawing power. The lyrics may well be about the kind of subject that rock ballads could be crafted around, but the music and attitude here ensures that this is nothing like that. A great rhythm seconded by the George Lynch guitar riff and solo, along with Don talking tough throughout makes for a song that is at the heart of Dokken’s success. “Jaded Heart” finds its way somewhere between this kind of song and the power ballad, so although we get the tough sounding vocal in the middle of the chorus of the song, we have the ‘cry for passion-like’ vocal as well, while the music is drawn right back much slower and looking more for the ballad effect than the previous song did. You know the drill if you listen to my episodes often enough. From here we dive back in to “Don’t Lie to Me” which reverts back to the classic Dokken sound, with the hard riffing guitar and harmony vocals through the bridge and chorus. This is their standard go-to song, one that is not the out and out power ballad, but also not the heavier material they can produce either. A similar course is run with “Will the Sun Rise”, once again settling finding the range of music and vocals that look to draw a certain emotion from the track. The album concludes with the upbeat and jaunty “Til the Livin’ End” which has that faster pace and Don reaching for the limit of his range. As with the closing track of side A, “Lightning Strikes Again”, this is a great track that utilises that faster tempo that suits this band better. There is an urgency in Don’s vocals, pushed along by Mick’s harder drumming and Jeff’s great bassline. This gives George the opportunity to put down a solo of substance that brings the whole song together, a showcase of the best this four piece has to offer. If only they had pushed harder from the outset.

If you have been following this podcast for a while, you will know that I missed a trick with Dokken back in the day. No one within my friend community had any Dokken, so it was a band where you would see the occasional music video of and think ‘gee, I wonder what they’re like?’ and then forget as I moved on to the next listening of Maiden or Metallica or whatever else I had just discovered in that time of the mid-to-late 1980’s. It wasn’t until the late 1990’s when my heavy metal music dealer (who I will always claim dropped the ball when it came to this band) came to me and said ‘you know, I’ve just started listening to Dokken. They’re really good!’ Yeah thanks Kearo, where was this a decade ago? And so I went back and listened to Dokken, and those two emotions drove me – yes, I really like most of this, and far out why wasn’t I listening to this in high school?! If I had been listening to this album then, I would be far less harsh on my judgement of it now than I probably am.
This is an album that for me showcases the hard-working and durable side of Dokken. No song on this album will come out at you and suggest it is an ‘all-time classic’, but the album as a whole tends to work well. As the middle release of what I would consider Dokken’s highlighted triumvirate of albums, bookended by “Tooth and Nail” and “Back for the Attack”, this album mightn’t be spectacular, but it is still very enjoyable. But, perhaps it is just overshadowed by what I believe to be the superiority of those two albums? I ended up getting all of Dokken’s first four albums at the same time, as I reached the age of 30, and so I listened to them all at the same time, and as my favourites emerged, they became the ones I spent more time indulging in. Perhaps more to the point, because I mostly enjoy my music a little harder, this gets judged harsher because they are three tracks here that I think are the best on the album, that showcase exactly what I believe Dokken can do with all of their music that, for me at least, would make it even better than it is, and that is have a faster tempo and allow George Lynch to let loose more often. Still, he is one of the main songwriters here, so he is involved in creating the songs as they are.
My CD has been on again for the last few days, and the two sides of the tale for this album remains true for me. When I put it on and play the album in full without thinking about anything except that I want to listen to this album, it is still terrific. I still enjoy it all. When I sit here and listen to it and try to put down my thoughts on the album as a whole and the tracks on their own, then that becomes a different story. There are three songs here I would probably ignore if it came to that. And those that just listen to songs rather than albums would indeed do that. But again, I need to emphasise, as an album this is still very good, and one I have again enjoyed revisiting this week. Yes, the previous album was better, and the one that came next was as well. But as this part of the best years of the band, “Under Lock and Key” is worthwhile of your attention.

1010. Blind Guardian / Live Beyond the Spheres [Live]. 2017. 4.5/5

Sometimes you can forget how long Blind Guardian have been around. And it stretches into decades now, which is quite remarkable. Not only is it almost 30 years since the release of Battalions of Fear, they have also previously released two live compilations in Tokyo Tales and Live. So when you come in to deciding on a new live album, you know you have to bring your A game to the table.
Anyone who has listened to Blind Guardian knows how much works goes into their studio albums, and the way the songs are layered over each other with amazing and complex vocal harmonies supported by brilliant musicianship.

Like most of Blind Guardian’s stuff does, this album blew me away. It all sounds amazing. You can appreciate how good the older material still stands up today and how well the band plays it and how much the crowds appreciate it. But it’s the material off the last two studio albums that stands out here. Those albums have gone even further in complexity when it comes to instrumentation and the mixture of layers throughout, which sounds magnificent on the studio versions, but how on earth could you transfer that to the live setting? In this band’s case, with magnificent ease. The live versions are not just note perfect copies of the studio versions, they are fantastically produced versions where the band just hammers away at you, while Hansi melds and morphs the vocals into a form which he and his fellow vocalists can pull off live without affecting the magnificence of each track. It’s quite a feat, and one that I think they pull off spectacularly. The brilliance of songs such as “The Ninth Wave”, “Sacred Worlds”, “Wheel of Time” and “Tanelorn” loses nothing here in the live setting. Hansi’s vocal line in the chorus of “Sacred Worlds” is still as powerful, as different as it is without the choir of voices behind him that drives the studio version. Just brilliant.
This is a real package, with three discs stretching to almost 160 minutes, so very little is missed (though that is open to opinion). You have the faster, energetic favourites such as “Banish From Sanctuary”, “Lost in the Twilight Hall”, “Into the Storm”, “Majesty” and the ever ready encore of “Mirror Mirror” mixed in with “The Last Candle”, “A Past and Future Secret” and “The Bard’s Song (In the Forest)” all without compromising the flow of the album. Mostly of course this is because Blind guardian has always been able to do this. And yes, if I had been insisting on a song list it would have included favourites of mine such as “Welcome to Dying” and “Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill)”, but those have appeared on the previous live albums so I guess you can’t have everything.
The band as ever is just bloody brilliant. Mi Schüren’s keyboards are vital in the mix and they are terrific here. As always, Frederik Ehmke’s drumming is superb, and is locked in wonderfully with Barend Courbois’ bass guitar. That rhythm is rock solid and driving throughout. The twin guitars of Marcus Siepen and André Olbrich are wonderful, creating an atmosphere that is the basis of a great live album, flowing freely and with energy, while the magic vocals of Hansi Kürsch continue to amaze, such is their strength and power.

Into their fourth decade, and Blind Guardian continue to show not only that they are still relevant in the metal world, but are still one of the leaders of the power metal genre. This live album is perhaps not the place I would start if I was looking to find my way into the musicology of this band, but it would definitely be on the path.

Rating:  “Let’s get crazy for the last time…”.  4.5/5

1009. Riverdogs / California. 2017. 2.5/5

The band Riverdogs’ debut album of the same name was one that I only sought out because of Vivian Campbell. It was his influence in any band at the time that had me searching for their music. As I wrote in my review of that album, although it wasn’t the style of music that I was most enamoured with, it did have its moments and the album as a whole became an important one to me. Flash forward to 2017, and once again the only reason I have sought this album out is to hear what the four piece can do some 27 years later, and whether that lightning could strike twice.

When an album is marketed at the AOR scene, then surprisingly enough this is exactly what it is going to sound like. In interviews to promote the album both Vivian and lead vocalist Rob Lamothe said that they had been charged by the record company of creating an album that came from the same spirit as that debut album all those years ago. Fair enough too, as there was enough support around for that album when it was released to try and revisit it, especially with the higher profile and workload of Vivian, who now mixes his work with Def Leppard with his other band Last in Line, where he revisited another of his old bands with some success.
In the long run I guess what you need to ask yourself is whether or not the music is still relevant. With every conceivable extension of music genres being represented out there, is there still a niche for what equates to an almost easy listening AOR sound that resides, mainly in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Because this is where this album is heavily anchored. And I can’t hide from the fact that I would prefer to hear more grunt in the music, and a bit more energy in the songs. Give me more solos from Vivian such as he plays in “American Dream” and “Catalina” and let’s extend the songs from those! Instead, we get the much more reflective type of song that allows Rob to serenade you rather than rock you, and there is no doubt if you enjoy these types of songs you find plenty here to like.
What cannot be faulted is the musicianship of the band. Rob Lamothe’s vocals are as honeyed as ever, and smoothly run their way through each song as though being poured from a spoon. The rhythm section of
Nick Brophy on bass guitar along with drummer Marc Danzeisen hold everything together in a comfortable and pleasing atmosphere. My bias is obvious, and when Vivian breaks out in a solo, this is when the album really soars, giving California the kick in the pants it needs. I still never get tired of hearing him play his guitar.

What probably nags me most about this is that I have a very real feeling of having heard all of this before. In many ways the band has done too good a job of trying to reproduce the atmosphere of that first album. In many ways, they have done so unerringly accurately, and that is what irks me slightly. After 27 years – and that really is an inordinately long length of time – you would hope to hear a progression, something that is an extension even. But what I hear is more a modernisation than a progression. I find myself willing the band to break out, to really get this train moving and hear what they can do when they unshackle the carriages and just let the engine fire up. But that doesn’t happen. They stick to their groove, and they do it well. They sound fantastic. But a bit more rock than AOR would have made this a much more superior album and a more listenable experience.

Rating:   If only to hear Vivian on guitar more.  2.5/5

1008. Halford / Resurrection. 2000. 5/5

After the separation of Rob Halford and the rest of Judas Priest following the tour to promote the “Painkiller” album, I suffer from a feeling that the decade of the 1990’s was lost for all sides of the equation. There was not a lot of standing still mind you, that they were inactive, but the sum of all of the parts still probably didn’t add up to the whole that had come before it. While Judas Priest eventually moved on, employing a new lead vocalist and releasing a new album in the form of “Jugulator” and resumed their touring duties, Halford himself had put together and performed in two new projects. The first had been Fight, a metal driven band that had a surprising hit with their debut album “War of Words” that was followed up with a slightly less enthusiastic air by “A Small Deadly Space”. Once this project had dissolved he had formed a duo with the guitarist John 5 which they called 2wo, which also included Bob Marlette on bass and Trent Reznor as producer. The album, “Voyeurs” tanked, and although Halford had already been planning demos for a purported second album, the project folded. Those demos were held onto, as Halford then began to plan his next moves. This time also corresponded to Halford doing an interview on MTV, in which he inadvertently and without planning, came out as gay, something that he claimed later filled him with elation and dread, and eventually empowering, able to now live his life with the cupboard door having been banged open.
Meanwhile, guitarist/composer/producer Roy Z had been involved in the resurrection (no pun intended) of Bruce Dickinson’s solo career, having performed all three of those roles for Dickinson’s “Accident of Birth” and “The Chemical Wedding” albums, each of which had been critically acclaimed and had seen his popularity rise to Iron Maiden-like levels amongst the fan base. No doubt sensing an opportunity of his own, Halford and Z came together to meet, and on the back of this agreed to work together on Rob’s next project. Halford had brought together a whole new band for this, his third attempt to create for himself a project that would satisfy all of his requirements. Patrick Lachman and Mike Chlasciak came on board as the two guitarists, and both contributed heavily to the writing process for the album as well, which gave this project the band feeling that was obviously important to Rob, that it was not just seen as a solo project. And thus became the basis of the debut album for the new band that took Rob’s name, Halford, and with a title that was more a statement than a prophecy, one that stood strong and bold for the beginning of the new era, the name of “Resurrection”.

While there were deliberate differences in the music produced by Rob Halford in his other projects prior to this one, a necessity borne from Rob wanting to do a solo album away from Judas Priest in the first place, “Resurrection” immediately feels like it is a return to the traditional heavy metal that Halford was renowned for in Judas Priest. In the main it feels as though this can be attributed to the presence of Roy Z, who not only produced the album but co-wrote the majority of the material that was recorded. Z had previously performed a similar ‘second coming’ for Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, had written the initial songs and riffs that had gotten Dickinson out of his funk and interested in pushing forward with his career after the disappointment he had felt with the reception for the “Skunkworks” album. It had propelled him not only to being back at the top of the metal music scene that he deserved to be with his talents, but eventually also back into the Iron Maiden fold. Here on “Resurrection”, Z does a similar thing, taking a man of unquestioned talent and a vocal range that was considered one of the best in all of the metal genre, and putting together a package that returned him to the top of his profession by writing songs that appealed to his main market. Along with Halford and Z, the contribution of both Lachman and Chlasciak to the writing of the songs and their performance on the album should not be overlooked.
Having everyone on the same page, in order to produce an album that best summed up the times in heavy metal and giving their leader the platform to sell it was massively important. This is an album that helps to slam the door on the previous decade, figuratively for Halford himself and on the slumber and increasing variety of music under the ‘metal’ banner. What “Resurrection” does is show that traditional heavy metal music was not dead, it had just been on hiatus, waiting for men such as these to bring it back to the surface once again. Z and Bruce Dickinson had proved that, and now Z and Halford were going to do the same thing.
This album has all of that, and more. The opening tracks are full of autobiographical lyrics brought forth with the energy that they deserve. Halford’s scream to introduce the opening title track is what punters had been waiting for, along with the squealing guitars, flying drums and fast paced track. Song lyrics such as “Son of Judas bring the saints to my revenge” that reference his roots in Judas Priest, and “I walked alone into a fight” referencing his first band post-Priest are strong moments, and the whole song speaks of his return, that ten years on from his final album with his previous band, this album is where he is taking his stand and making it on his on. “Made in Hell” follows this up with the same amazing energy pumping out of the speakers, and Rob’s music story attached lyrically for everyone to sing along to. And, it’s just such a powerful and catchy chorus, the energy dragging you in to charge along with Rob as he sings “HELL! We're gonna raise some hell!”. Also nice to have Sydney name checked in the song, nice touch Rob. Now dan well tour here more often! Anyway... moving on... It’s a great way to start the album, the opening two tracks have already brought metal and joy through the speakers.
What comes across as one of the major pillars of this album is the lovely contrast there is between many of the songs. Those opening two tracks are fast, belligerent in their way, and do a terrific job of setting the album up by having you know that ‘Rob Halford is back’... and now, here’s some stuff that is a bit different from that for you to enjoy. We crash straight into “Locked and Locked”, bang into the guitar groove and Rob staring you down from the outset and telling you straight how this is going to go. Very simple lyrics for this track, straight and to the point, but the guitar groove is wonderful and smoothly adapts to the way the track is going to play out. And then into the ripping guitar riff of “Night Fall”, as Rob’s brooding vocals crawl along the lower spectrum through the verse until we reach the chorus and he climbs back into the higher spectrum. The guitaring alone here shines, it sets the mood wonderfully from the outset, and holds it through to its conclusion.
“Silent Screams” is an incredible track, a song that showcases the majesty of Rob Halford’s amazing vocals without compromising anything in the music. The opening minute where we have the clear guitar and keys and Rob almost reciting a hymn, no power just beautifully sweet vocalising, that brings forth the duelled harmony into the first electric charge of the track. This then drops back again for a second burst of the opening sequence vocally, and the ever increasing power coming into the song but here the rise of Rob’s vocals is succinct but noticeable. And then, drop the hammer people as we crash into the back half of the song, as the guitars rev up, the drums hit down, and we are off, and Rob drives this song with the full force of his metal voice. The hard emphatic voice, the speed, and the absolute delight of the screams. It is spine tingling stuff here. An amazing song. And then, as it fades out gently, we have the bursting opening guitar of “The One You Love to Hate”, the duet of Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson, the two men most affected by the influence of Roy Z in their lives at that time. It’s a great heavy riff, one that befits both men and their careers, and the traded and dual vocals of two of metal greatest front men combine and offset each other beautifully. It’s a great track to follow up the epic qualities of the previous song.
Things are ramped up even further with the arrival of “Cyberworld” which switches into a higher gear immediately, and the guitars really carry this song and highlight the best that this band can offer. Trading riffs and solo pieces all the way through the song, even given Rob’s great higher snatches throughout, is the best part of this song. And then... the drop into the amazingly brilliant groove of the guitar riff on “Slow Down” is a surprisingly perfect segue between tracks. My word, the groove of the guitar, but also Rob’s vocals on this song, are just incredible. This is another tingle down the spine track, everything about the composition and structure of this song is perfect. Rob’s vocals that move from those high pitches to the low moody expressions, and the whole tone of the song, is amazing. “Silent Screams” and “Slow Down” are the two songs on this album co-written by Ron and Bob Marlette, and the fact that they are the two tracks that starkly stand out on this album as the two whose sound is slowed in tempo but heightened with mood and glory, is plainly obvious. Both are amazing tracks within the framework of everything else that has been set up on the other songs that had Lachman and Z as the major contributors.
“Twist” is another song that has a different flavour about it, and this is no doubt because it is solely written by former occasional Judas Priest contributor Bob Halligan Jr. It sounds great and Rob does a good job. But on an album of some spectacular songs this one just holds its head above water. “Temptation” channels the emotional aspects of “Silent Screams” and “Slow Down” but with the three guitar composers of Lachman, Chlasciak and Z it has a terrific fuller sound of the guitars as a result, a riff drive that hits harder, before Rob’s beautifully melodic vocals take over on the chorus and through the bridge when they are reminiscent of those Judas Priest days. Yet another amazing track on this album.
“Drive” has a similar riff progression as “The One You Love to Hate”. This song is composed by the trio who made up Halford's second band 2wo – yes, I know that seems like an error, but it is not – of Rob, Bob Marlette again and John 5. And much like that aforementioned track, there is nothing spectacular about the structure or riff progression about this song. It is a solid track that excellent albums need to be rated as such, because they provide the backbone that the great songs are built around. The album then closes with the charging speed engineered metal fest of “Savior”, and the lyrics here to finish the album can be judged to be quite pointed: “I'm set to paralyse, I'm older so I'm wise, I have been crucified, with words personified - Here I am now, I'm your saviour, There can be only one, I'm the master, past and future, Now the end has begun - I've always stood alone, Your time got overgrown, Those words shot way too wide, No hate can take my pride”. There are several ways to interpret what is being sung here, but to me at least it feels as though Rob has his cannons loaded at a wide spread of critics and he’s happy to unload without prejudice.

It may be too simplistic to suggest that THIS is the album that Judas Priest should have followed up “Painkiller” with. It is a decade on. Heavy metal had been through some tough times during those years, including having been stretched and morphed and reshaped into many different sub genres. The band itself and Rob obviously parted ways after that 1990 epic album, and had both ventured on different highways in the years since. But this album is a statement. This is Rob Halford, with a lot of help from his bandmates and his co-collaborators, saying ‘I don’t think traditional heavy metal is dead, and I’m going to prove it to you’. Rob has visited and experimented with other types of metal over the past decade, but here has come back to what he has always known, what he has always been great at. The Z Effect, if you will, who had already performed the same exorcism with Bruce Dickinson. Judas Priest had made their return almost three years earlier with their “Jugulator” album with Ripper Owens on vocals. And while my intention here is not to denigrate that album in any way, it has to be said that comparing this album to “Jugulator” is like comparing chalk and cheese. There is such a major difference in tempo and energy and actual joy in the music. “Jugulator” is for all intents and purposes a groove metal album, it is Judas Priest deciding, like so many of their contemporaries did in the 1990’s decade, to try and record an album for the times. And the result is something totally different sounding from anything they had ever released before it. Rob had, in essence, already been down the path of conformity, and was now out the other side, and the result is that this album is joyous, and “Jugulator” does not really exude any of that. It’s a groove or industrial metal influenced album. “Resurrection” is a heavy fucking metal album. Every part of it has been lovingly crafted to gain the reaction and attention that it eventually received, and it is a triumph for all involved.
This album was released a little over two months after Iron Maiden’s “Brave New World” album, which had dominated my listening since then. But once this album arrived in my hands, it had some hefty competition. From the first time I put this in my CD player and turned up the volume in my downstairs hideaway bedroom at my parents' place, this had me won over. In almost the same way that “Painkiller” had a decade earlier, the opening tracks here dragged me in willingly, and the entire album for me was ecstatically received. Even today, I still relate these two albums together, such was the amount of time I spent listening to them together, with the link of the one track that had both bands leads singers acting together. I rarely think of one without the other, “Brave New World” and “Resurrection”. Even today, I feel like listening to one if I have just heard the other.
For this episode, I have had “Resurrection” out for a touch over a week, a bit longer than I might usually do so. But this one has been so good, that I just keep playing it over and over. It is an absolute gem, one I have never gotten tired of listening to. And it is song like this one that still brings me back for its ingrained awesomeness.