530. Danzig / II: Lucifuge. 1990. 3.5/5

The follow up to the well received debut album continues on in much the same vein. If anything, this gets a bit heavier and a bit faster (I shy from using the term ‘rockier’).

Probably for the first time, Danzig cross into a territory where they can be listened to by a number fans from different genres. The fact that they do this without compromising their own style is a victory for their music.
For me, the album starts off fantastically with “Long Way Back From Hell” into “Snakes of Christ” and then “Killer Wolf”. All three songs blend together excellently, and kick the album off well.
Probably my main gripe with the album is that for me it just slows down at the end too much, when it could continue on an upward spiral (that given that it does actually click back into gear for the final 60 seconds of “Pain in the World”).

This was another step up for Danzig, who proved here you can appeal to the masses without tinkering too much with the furniture.

Rating: Moody musical madness. 3.5/5

529. The Offspring / Ignition. 1992. 2/5

When I saw this in the local record store I got very excited and bought it immediately. It wasn’t until I was perusing the cover when I got home that I realised that it wasn’t the new album from The Offspring, it was in fact an earlier album that I wasn’t aware even existed. This was back in 1995, after I had devoured Smash to its limit, and was looking from more from the band.
OK, I thought, let’s give it a whirl. I put it on, played it a few times, and lost interest in it. To me, it wasn’t what I had come to love from the band, and I wasn’t taking to it. It went back into the CD cupboard, and fell into a dark recess.

Fast forward to 2008, and it makes its reappearance for this long winded review process. Ignoring the thoughts of thirteen years ago, I put it on with an open mind and an interest in the outcome.

Now there is no doubt who the band is. It is very much the musical and vocal style of The Offspring. However, even after half a dozen listens to the album, it still isn’t grabbing me. I can’t even really pin point what it is that doesn’t do it for me. Is it that there just isn’t enough ‘oomph’ in the songs, or is it just that because I came into the band (like so many others) on Smash that I can’t quite make the transition back to the earlier material? Really, I’m not sure. The one thing I do know is that I find this to be only average, and not the above-average stuff they did for the next three or four albums.

Rating: Still unable to like it much after all these years. 2/5.

528. AC/DC / If You Want Blood, You've Got It. 1978. 4/5

The long awaited AC/DC live album, and it doesn’t disappoint. Recorded on the Powerage tour, it contains material from the best that the lads had concocted to that point in time.

This was a long way before my time of being able to attend concerts, and as such it is terrific to hear just how good the band was in those days in a live setting. It comes as no surprise, because they had cut their teeth on live performances long before they made their way onto studio recordings, but the legendary AC/DC rhythm section proves here that it has always been this good. Live albums from the 1970's often included long winded freeform guitar or drum or keyboard solos, which to be honest can be extremely boring on these kind of albums. Nothing like that here from AC/DC, who deliver exactly what you want and the way you want it. The one extravagance is Angus playing up to the crowd during "Bad Boy Boogie".
Hearing all of these songs live just proves the greatness of this band. The rhythm section of the band is so tight that it sounds as though it could have been taken straight off the studio versions of each song. Add in the crispness of Angus Young’s lead guitar work and the dominance of Bon Scott’s vocals, and you have an extremely impressive live album.
Could I have come up with a better set list? Quite possibly, but you can't knock what you find here. Bon is terrific on the opening squadron of "Riff Raff" and "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be". The great songs of the era can be found here too, such as "The Jack", "Whole Lotta Rosie", "High Voltage" and "Let There Be Rock".

It is great to have a solid live album with Bon Scott on vocals. While I prefer the later release of Live From the Atlantic Studios this is still a great album.

Rating:  Let there be sound, and there was sound.  4/5.

527. Billy Idol / Idol Songs: 11 of the Best. 1988. 3/5

Sometimes - not always, but sometimes - it is just far easier to go out and buy an artists' Greatest Hits album than to get all of their albums, because in the long run all you want are two or three songs. Of course, in this day and age, you can just go to iTunes and buy only the songs you want! However, in a previous age that wasn't possible.

Thus the reason I own this CD. Because in the long run, there was only two songs of Billy Idol that I HAD to have in my collection. One is “White Wedding”. The other is “Rebel Yell”. Sure, they now appear more as 80’s cliches and the kind of radio fare that could be found in the day. But to a middle-aged 1980's teenager they are both still great songs, no matter what you think of the rest of his career. They still bring out the fist whenever they come on the radio, or someone's stereo, or more disturbingly at club karaoke.

As to the remainder of the album, all of his ‘hits’ are here, and the majority of it is still quite listenable. Songs such as “Flesh For Fantasy” and “Hot in the City” and “To Be A Lover” are still catchy enough that I can find myself singing along to them, and not always when I am alcohol-induced. For me however, he was always hard pressed to beat the success of the first two tracks I mentioned, and in many ways that has always coloured my perception of his later work. In the long run, the average rating of a greatest hits album can only reflect somewhat poorly on the majority of available material.

526. Judas Priest / Idaho Bootleg [Bootleg]. 2004. 4/5

After an absence of more than a decade, Rob Halford reunited with Judas Priest in the new century, and to celebrate the band went out and played a semi-world tour. This bootleg comes from that tour.
Containing a setlist comprising as many great Priest tunes as you can fit into a couple of hours, this was the reintroduction of Judas Priest reformed. Now, as good as this setlist is, it really is disappointing that everything in-between – i.e. the two albums the band recorded with Ripper Owens – looks as though it will now be confined to the “never to be played again” file. And that is a shame. I mean, wouldn’t you like to hear Halford singing some of Ripper’s songs?

Anyway – there is nothing out of the ordinary here, apart from the fact Rob doesn’t try to hit all those notes that he did twenty years ago. He is content to modify his vocals to almost-human levels.

Rating: An A grade bootleg recording of a band looking to reclaim the past. 4/5.

525. Doug Anthony All Stars / Icon. 1990. 4/5

Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the ABC (Australia) TV show “The Big Gig” brought to prominence a number of comedy teams and individuals. One of those was the Doug Anthony All Stars, a trio whose comedy songs were a hit. The biggest plus was that they could all sing, and they complemented each other perfectly.

From this came this album, Icon, which is a brilliant mixture of acidic commentary, flashy comedy and general pisstaking on anyone and anything. There is an obvious highlighting on religion with songs such as “Commies for Christ”, “Krshna”, “Little Gospel Song” and “Go To Church”, but their range doesn’t just stop there.
While the music is perfect for each song, it is the lyrics which are the star of the show, and must be taken in to get the most out of this album.

My own favourites include “Dead Elvis”, “I Want to Spill The Blood of A Hippy” and “Broad Lic Nic”

If you can still find a copy of this floating around in the universe (my guess is that it would have to be pretty rare) I heartily recommend grabbing it. This was the boys at their very best.

Rating: Still as funny today as it was on its release. 4/5.

524. Iced Earth / Iced Earth. 1990. 3.5/5

This is the initial foray into the world of Iced Earth, and for a debut it is a pretty fair effort. Improvements were to be made, but the basics are all here from which the building blocks could make their foundation.

I guess it is a common discussion point amongst fans of Iced Earth, but here we go again. While the music itself is terrific, with some great riffs and excellent drum and bass lines, the vocals let it down a little. That’s not to load vocalist Gene Adam with any blame for some shortcomings, but there is little doubt that future vocalists (and I guess here you immediately think of Matt Barlow) were betted suited to the material. This argument becomes almost gospel when you consider that many of these songs were later performed by Matt Barlow on other Iced Earth releases, and there is no argument that he performed them better.

Concentrating on this release however, the vocals are adequate and the music is great. “Iced Earth” and “Colors” rank as my favourite songs on the album, and though it probably does tail off toward the end, it is still a good listen, and worth it if only to see how they started out.

Rating: A better than average debut. 3.5/5

523. Iced Earth / I Walk Among You [Single]. 2008. 3.5/5

First taste of Iced Earth reunited with Matt Barlow as lead vocalist from the forthcoming album The Crucible of Man (Something Wicked Part 2).
The new song sounds good. Barlow’s vocals suit it nicely, and there is some power to the song. If this is an indication of the new album then bring it on.
Also here are two songs from Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part 1) which have been redone with Barlow singing instead of Ripper Owens. Probably not the songs I would have chosen, if they were trying to prove anything. I still think Ripper’s versions sound better.

Rating: Is there better to come? 3.5/5

522. The Offspring / I Choose [Single]. 1997. 3.5/5

This was the final single from the Ixnay on the Hombre album.
Containing the title song, it also mixes another song from the album, “Mota”, along with a live version of “All I Want”.

Rating: Average enough for the time. 3.5/5

521. Yngwie Malmsteen / I Can't Wait [EP]. 1994. 3/5

I Can’t Wait indeed. At a time when Yngwie continued his push for commercial success, this EP found its way into the record stores.
In almost all respects, this is the same old average stuff that Yngwie produced during the 1990’s – harmless fluff with the odd blistering solo thrown in to remind everyone that he can play guitar a bit.

It is the two live tracks which show up the difference. “Rising Force” sounds fine, but the vocals prove just how important it is to Yngwie’s work that, if he must have a singer on his tracks, he needs to be a good one. Vescara is shown up here – badly. On the other hand, the live version of “Far Beyond The Sun” is just brilliant, and a full reminder of the magnificent material he did release in the 1980’s. If only he had realised that there was no reason to change and chase commercial glory.

Rating: Nothing overly special to be found here. 3/5.

520. Iron Savior / I've Been To Hell [Single]. 2000. 4/5

This single comes from the Dark Assault album, and apart from the excellent single itself, it also has another track from the album, “Never Say Die”.
As also found here is a great cover of Judas Priest’s “The Hellion” and “Electric Eye” and Krokus' “Headhunter”.

Rating: Excellent single package. 4/5.

519. Anthrax / I'm The Man [EP]. 1987. 4/5

Here’s another album that certain friends of mine got tremendously excited with when we first came across it not too long after its release. I never really understood why they got so worked up over it, because although the title track – a humorous heavy metal rap performed by the band – is funny enough, its novelty value wears off fairly quickly.

Anyway, here we have three versions of “I’m The Man” – a censored version, and uncensored version, and a live very uncensored version. Believe me, after you listen to this three or four times over, you are quite happy not to have to hear it again for awhile…
The bonus material here is the clincher though. A great cover of Black Sabbath’s “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”, and live version’s of “Caught in a Mosh” and “I Am The Law” are superb, and well worth the price of the EP alone.

Rating: A little overkill on the single, but otherwise great. 4/5.

518. Def Leppard / Hysteria. 1987. 4/5

On the back of the excellent “Pyromania”, Def Leppard’s third studio album, there’s no doubting that the band felt that they had a real opportunity to springboard off that success, and parlay that into a bigger and more conclusive success with their next album. No doubt the idea was to get it written and recorded, and out among the masses, to funnel back into the next big world tour. Of course that wasn’t to be.
The album process was marred by several different incidents that caused the lengthy delay between albums. Firstly the band’s successful producer and collaborator, Mutt Lange, pulled out of the album early on, citing exhaustion from a never ending schedule he had been keeping. This meant a change that the band hadn’t been expecting, and they went through several producers in a short space of time – Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf’s ‘Bat Out of Hell’ fame), Neil Dorfsman (of Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers in Arms’ fame) and Nigel Green (a future co-producer of Iron Maiden albums) were all brought in, and all three were found not to be conducive. All of the initial recording sessions were eventually scrapped.
Secondly, drummer Rick Allen flipped his Corvette on a country road on NYE 1984, and eventually had to have his left arm amputated as a result. This was a massive trauma for Allen and his bandmates, but from the outset he was adamant that he would return to his drumkit and continue with the band, and the band was fully supportive of this. Along with the time it would have taken for his convalescence, it meant coming up with a combination acoustic and electronic kit that he would be able to play to trigger snare and tom beats that he would normally have played with his left arm. All of this took time and tweaking, which slowed up the actual writing process as well. In some ways this was fortunate, as because of the length of time taken to get the album underway, Mutt Lange reappeared on the scene and agreed to produce the album again. Of course, this couldn’t be the end of it, and Lange then was away for a period of time due to his own car accident, and then singer Joe Elliott contracted mumps which put him out of action for another period as well. This might all seem like a normal time period of albums in the modern age, where bands can go 3-5 years between releases. But in the 1980’s, record companies were pushing bands to release albums every 12-18 months in order to get their vial of blood from their contractors. So for a band to go four and a half years between albums was almost unheard of. And the hype for the release of the album was real, and the first single “Animal”, that came out the week before “Hysteria's” release, was pushed on music video shows heavily to promote it. Now it came time to wait for the fans response to what they had been waiting so very long for.

One of the most interesting quotes from the band in regards to how they wrote “Hysteria” came from Mutt Lange, who was quoted as saying that the band wrote every song as though it was going to be a potential hit single. So not just writing songs and riffs and lyrics, but the actual aim for each song to a chart topping single. In the end, seven of the 12 songs on the album WERE released as singles, so I guess they succeeded in their plan. But it does actually explain a lot about the album and the songs it holds, when you listen to them both collectively and on their own. Because there are similar qualities in each of the songs that bind them together to this album and this era of the band, and then if you throw them into a playlist and press random, you can actually here them as individual songs that have those qualities to be released as singles.
The album can be divided up into three sections, in my opinion at least. You have the pop songs, the ones that are specifically designed to be attractive to the radio-listening public, and in the majority the female fans. Because they are the pop ballads, or soft rock songs that are inoffensive to those kinds of fans. And you know what those songs are - “Love Bites”, the full on soft rock ballad, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, the more rock variant of the genre, and the final song written for the album, the title track “Hysteria” and the closing track “Love and Affection”. All but “Love and Affection” were released as singles for that radio-friendly market. They are evenly spaced throughout the album so that they don’t dominate it but are obvious in their appearance. Then you have the middle ground songs, the ones that stretch that ground between the soft rock tracks to the hard rock tracks. And again, know which ones they are – the opening track “Women”, the follow up “Rocket”, the last track on side one “Armageddon It”, and the side two track “Excitable”. All but “Excitable” were released as singles, no doubt to counteract the soft rock singles to show their older fans that they still had the ability to write the kind of songs they had in the past. And then there is the final group of songs, the ones that for the fans of “High N Dry” and “Pyromania” are probably still their favourite songs from this album – the first single “Animal” that hinted at the album being as rocking as the first three albums, the brilliant “Gods of War” that combined the brilliant atmosphere of the bass and drum beginning into the guitars riffing in and Joe’s vocals combining to create such as great song, “Don’t Shoot Shotgun” that picks up the energy immediately following it, and then “Run Riot”, the fastest, heaviest song on the album that truly proves that def Leppard still had plenty to offer that side of music. Is it a coincidence that these final three songs start off Side 2 of this album, picking everything up and driving you through the middle of the album? I don’t know, but as I said, the track list does have a hot and cool kind of vibe throughout, with high octane thrills followed by cool down vibes, and then back again. Perhaps this is part of the reason that it has held its charm for all of these years.

I guess in some ways I’ve been fortunate in that I was involved in the great Def Leppard love-fest that occurred with the release of this album back in 1987, and was one of the people that pushed my non-heavy metal loving friends into enjoying it too. And I am also the older, slightly more cynical listener of the album today, having experienced what has followed this album in the past 35 years. Time and insight can certainly provide different perspectives, or at least allow those perspectives to change through that passage of time.
From the perspective of the 17 and 18 year old back when this was released, I thought it was just brilliant. It wasn’t as heavy as the other bands I was infatuated with at the time, and it was certainly different from their earlier releases, but hey, they’d had a few dramas in recording the album, and their drummer had lost an arm, so give ‘em a break! Still, even then it was the heav(ier) tracks that grabbed my attention, and the softer ones I tolerated because I loved the album so much. Again, perhaps because they had made that track list so well that it managed to cover up any real qualms that I may have had with a couple of the songs, I eventually owned all three formats of this album – cassette, vinyl and CD, and it was played on rotation for probably a good 12 months before it finally found other material replacing it. It was a gem.
That is the retrospective.
Swing back to the present, and the two dozen or more times I have again listened to it over the last few weeks, coincidently along with their brand new album that I reviewed a few episodes ago, and one from 20 years ago that will have its own episode coming up shortly on this podcast. And there are a few things that still stand out for me now, 35 years later. There is no denying that the album is still catchy, and that a few of the songs still hold their own after all these years. “Rocket”, “Animal”, “Gods of War”, “Run Riot” and “Don’t Shoot Shotgun” are still my favourite songs from the album, which was the case back in the day as well, and given they are what I have classified earlier as the hard rock tracks on the album I guess that is no surprise.
If one was to try and pinpoint when the slide for this band began, perhaps it was the super success they had with the slower and sugary songs that came from this album – “Pour Some Sugar On Me”, “Love Bites”, “Hysteria” and “Love and Affection”. Sure, they are fine in their place, but they certainly don’t rate in the higher bracket on this album for those that enjoy their music hard and heavy. But their success must surely have directed the band down the path that their music has taken in the past 35 years, and in many ways that is a real shame, but that direction can be seen occurring here on “Hysteria”, and if that’s what the band wants... well... you can only admire them for sticking to their guns, so to speak.
Back to Hysteria however. I know I now rate this album slightly lower than I did all those years ago – partly through a change in the style of metal I prefer, and partly through my disappointment in the direction the band has taken since. Would Steve Clark’s head be spinning? I don’t know. "Hysteria” still brings back great memories of the band and the time for me, especially as yet another album from the year of 1987, where every listen brings back great memories of that time of my life. And having seen them play this entire album live prior to covid in Sydney, with my then 11 year old son singing every word beside me... well, you can’t argue with that, can you...

517. System of a Down / Hypnotize. 2005. 2/5

Whatever these guys are on, I think I need to either avoid at all costs, or get me some at all costs…

I can alternately (no pun intended) enjoy or hate this. It really does depend on what mood I’m in. Actually, it probably depends on how much alcohol I’ve had, because I seem to enjoy it more after half a dozen beers. It really isn’t an album I can enjoy sober, or while driving in the car, or while at my desk at work, or while sitting back on the lounge at home listening on the stereo. So, seeing as most of my time is spent in one of these positions, it is difficult to give it a positive rating.

There is no doubting the uniqueness of the music and the band. The similarity in some songs to the Dead Kennedys (or, in particular, the vocals of Jello Biafra) is startling, and does throw you off.
Then again, take a song like “Holy Mountains”, which is probably my favourite on the album. It is unique in its own way, and as close to an SoAD epic as they are likely to compose, which is immediately followed by the completely off-beat “Vicinity of Obscenity”, which is just complete madness. How on earth can you write songs like this?!

In the long run, it is just a little bit too far out there for me to absolutely be able to take to heart.

Rating: Send in the crazed, hepped-up loonys. 2/5.

516. Scorpions / Hurricane Rock. 1990. 5/5

Another of the 40 000 greatest hits packages that seem to have been released of the Scorpions material, but at least this one is a pretty good one.

Covering most of the hits the band had between the start of their career and the mid-1980’s, this has everything that any fan could want to hear. As an album to put on at a party night to hear the best hits this band can offer, or as a starting point for someone who wants to experience one of the best bands out there, this wins on all counts.

Rating: Close to outstanding as a greatest hits package. 5/5.

515. Scorpions / Humanity: Hour 1. 2007. 5/5

It's a Saturday afternoon. I'm at home at the computer, and it's time to put on a new album. I take the disc, put it on and press play. What comes out in the first 30 seconds blows me away. Have I made a mistake? Is this really the new Scorpions album? OK, there's Klaus Meine's vocals - it must be Scorpions!

But what the hell?!? So here's the deal - I expected much the same that the band has released in recent years, okay stuff without being exceptional. Well bugger me, instead they've come out and rocked the house down!

This is what I wrote when I first heard this album when it was released last year, and to be quite honest my opinion has only strengthened in the time that has passed since. The arrival of this album, and the astonishing return to form of this band is quite magnificent. Following a number of disappointing efforts where there were obvious attempts to change their musical formula, Humanity: Hour 1 effectively returns the band to their solid roots of melodic heavy metal, and the result is stunning.
There is a definite heavier feel to the songs than has been present for some time, as is shown during “Hour 1” and “The Game of Life”, “You’re Lovin’ Me To Death” and the excellent “321”. Each show the best of the faster side of Scorpions.
Backing these up are the amazing Scorpions ballads, as only they can do, “The Future Never Dies” and “Your Last Song”. Just terrific examples of how to do a power ballad with power, and not weakness. Then to finish it all off are the brilliant “The Cross” which features Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins, and “Humanity” which tops the album off on a great note.

Concept albums are tricky things to get right. Not only does the story have to be relevant, and the songs able to recreate the mood of the piece, they need to retain their individuality as well. No qualms here about all that, this is superbly done. The guitaring of Rudolph Schenker and the brilliant Matthias Jabs is magnificent, as is the drumming of James Kottak. Magnificent stuff.

What impresses me most about this album is that I feel more strongly about it now than I did in the first months after its release. To me, that indicates its strengths and appeal. At the time I rated it very highly, about 4 or 4.5. I truly believe it now belongs in the top echelon of Scorpions albums.

Rating: One of the best albums of this decade. 5/5.

514. Various Artists / Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper. 1998. 4.5/5

Tribute albums can be done well, and be a fitting tribute to the person or band that is being honoured. This would rank as one of the finest I have heard, mainly for the fact that there are great musicians taking part, and all of them have an obvious affection for the man to whom they are paying tribute to – Alice Cooper.

While it is always good to hear your favourite artists doing cover versions of another of your favourite artists songs, the truth is that most of the time they don’t match up to the original. Here though there is a strong argument for a couple of these versions being the equal, if not better, than the originals! Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith’s version of “Black Widow” is terrific, and Ronnie James Dio just tears apart “Welcome To My Nightmare”. Dave Mustaine sounds like he’s enjoying himself on “School’s Out”, and even Vince Neil on “Cold Ethyl” is worthy of note here.
Sure, they could never replace the originals, but the versions here have an updated feel, and sound great. Glenn Hughes probably takes it a little far in “Only Women Bleed”, but not everyone has the kind of voice that he does!

This is a fitting album to pay homage to one of the innovators and great showmen of music. It’s so much more enjoyable because you can feel the enjoyment the artists involved are having in recording it, and it comes through in the music.

Rating: Worth a listen, whether you know any Alice Cooper material or not. 4.5/5

513. Hughes Turner Project / Hughes Turner Project. 2002. 2.5/5

I guess it was always going to be a given with these two singers, and their past history, that this album wasn’t going to be quite as good as I was hoping. There is no doubting the vocal chords of Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner, and their combined work in previous bands such as Deep Purple and Rainbow also proves they have what it takes. What it also proved is that both singers like to write their music a little on the softer side of hard rock, which creates a problem for me and my musical taste.

The songs here are caught somewhere between a pure rock ‘n’ roll and what I guess you’d call soft metal. They aren’t the kind of songs that are going to get radio airplay in most countries, and yet they would alienate most heavy metal fans for being just a bit too wussy. And in the long run, that’s how I feel listening to the album. I just wish they’d put some grunt in the instruments and really let fly with some heavier stuff. Instead, they have an album full of almost pop songs that don’t do a lot more than make me cringe.

There are a couple of songs on the album that are OK – and that’s the best I can give them too. Even those you are just waiting for the burst of real energy and grunt to take them to the level that would make them real catchy. I guess for those of us who knew JLT from Rainbow, and how their music softened considerably with his introduction to the band shouldn’t be so surprised. But I was hoping for more. If you are looking for something akin to what Rainbow had become by the end of JLT's reign, then you will probably enjoy this more than I did. In the end my expectations probably got the better of me, which has harmed the way I feel about the album.

Rating: A tad disappointing. 2.5/5.

512. Suicidal Tendencies / How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today. 1988. 4/5

It isn’t unusual for a band to change its thematic sound over a period of time, whether through a desire to ‘keep up with the times’ or by a gradual build of the band’s members to move in that direction. Any number of bands for instance made changes to their core sound as they moved from the 1980’s into the 1990’s and made a change to remain hip and relevant, most without success. The band Suicidal Tendencies definitely changed the way they were making music by the time they reached the point of making their third studio album during 1988. Their debut album five years earlier had been a hardcore punk release, utilising all of the core elements of that genre of music and making a mark as a result. Their follow up album didn’t appear for four more years, and with the addition of Rocky George on guitar. This album, “Join the Army”, had begun the change in the band’s sound, dialling back the outright hardcore punk sound to include a more crossover theme beginning to involved a metal sound, something that had a lot of their long term fans less than happy with the results. There was less of the punk antics and screaming from vocalist Mike Muir and a more songwriting-centric feel about the songs, something that began to find new fans as the older fans found disillusionment.
Despite this, more changes were afoot as the band came off the road and began to prepare for their new album, “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today”. Muir had joined the speed metal band No Mercy as well, who released one album before the other members apart from band leader Mike Clark departed. Rather than continue on, Muir, who was becoming more excited about heading down a more metal path than the band’s previous punk ideals, recruited Clark to join Suicidal Tendencies as the guitar partner for Rocky George, who had already shown his metal influences in his writing on the “Join the Army” album. This then resulted in original bass guitarist Louiche Mayorga being moved on, as he was trying to keep the band’s original punk influences in the songs against the flow of the torrent that was coming against him. Clark took on the majority of the band’s songwriting for the new album, with his speed metal leanings becoming the dominating factor along with Rocky George’s electrifying solos. The term ‘crossover thrash’ probably wasn’t coined solely for Suicidal Tendencies in this era of the band, but it certainly tied in nicely to the sound that was about to be released on their 3rd album.

Even for the era that this was released, it was a pretty impressive upgrade in the music that the band had produced on their previous two releases. It isn’t a genuine thrash metal album, and there is very little of the band’s initial punk influences here either. But in a combination of the two styles, Suicidal Tendencies have created an album that meshes two high velocity genres into something that transcends both. The more complex writing and guitaring paths, along with timing changes that create this new collective, are a winner. Mike Clark’s introduction to the band as a co-writer on the majority of the tracks with Mike Muir is superb, and with the writing allowing for a better use of Rocky George and his soling. By creating places within the songs for him to freeform in that way, it highlights the points of difference from the band’s earlier material and allows this to be an album that breaks their mould and begin looking over the horizon to the future.
The album opens with the mind-blowing “Trip at the Brain”, the first single from the album and whose music video was a favourite on all music videos shows. There’s a bit of everything on this track, from the punk to thrash to rapping-like vocals in the middle of the song. It has always been a fan favourite and is still great fun to listen to. “Hearing Voices” follows this and does so in great style, again raging against the warriors and featuring great heavy music at a pleasing pace reminiscent of that speed metal that Mike brings to the album in his writing. Then comes “Pledge Your Allegiance”, which incorporates the chants that crowds would give to the band at their live shows, and encapsulates them in a song that gives the crowd their opportunity to be a part of the band.
The title track progresses from the serene-like beginning of the song to the hard core lyrical crowd chanting of the chorus, and then highlighted by the amazing solo section in the middle of the song that screams all of the best aspects of the thrash metal template. That middle section is one of my favourite parts of the album, as both Rocky and Mike left fly in a cacophony of guitars that has even well-past-middle-age fans jumping around. “The Miracle” again melds the past and present, a song that has a real thrash metal edge to it but is sung and played in a hardcore punk style of yore, before expanding itself into a progressive thrash-type middle section, and then crashing back into the high speed hard core back third of the song. Just awesome. “Suicyco Mania” repeats the thrash crossover style, at a faster and harder pace that is summed up in the title of the song.
“Surf and Slam” is an amazing revival from the 60’s surfing sound, a song that perfectly encapsulates the surf rock sound that bands like The Atlantics used in their music, and upgrades it markedly to the present day. Without the use or need of lyrics apart from a couple of chanted lines, this song is engaging to the skate/punk tribalism that the band first attracted, and puts the foot down to increase that feeling. It’s a great song that nicely merges the past and present of Suicidal Tendencies.
The closing four songs on the album don’t let up in intensity. “If I Don’t Wake Up” is a great song dominated by Rocky’s lead through the middle of the song and a great riff-and-drum based rhythm through most of the track, with Mike Muir wonderfully on song with his vocals. “Sorry” is one of the best, fast paced apology songs ever written. Power metal bands would make a cock up of this kind of track and make it into a power ballad, but here Rocky and Mike just go faster and harder and allow the apology of the track to be utilised as a headbanging song. Perfect if you ever need to express your regret at some time in life. “One Too Many Times” is more of the same, with Muir’s vocals again expressing regret in the lyrics but escalates it to an emotionally charged upbeat song. And the album concludes with another ripping song “The Feeling’s Back” that takes those same kind of emotions and then unleashes them in a positive thrashing song, letting out all pent up feelings and delivering a sensational conclusion to an amazing album.

I came into Suicidal Tendencies a bit later than others, and indeed didn’t really know of them at all until the guys in the band I was in during the late 80’s and early 90’s told me – not asked, told – that we were going to play “Trip at the Brain” by Suicidal Tendencies, to which I replied... I don’t know any of their songs. The tape duly arrived, and we did end up playing that song, and it was fun and raucous. Good times. About a year later I was visiting my grandmother neat Maitland and I popped into a nondescript record store there, and the first CD on the shelf under “S” was this album, which I purchased immediately. And thus, a love affair began.
It’s funny how this album comes out to be played. It can be a few years between it coming out, but when it does, I remember all over again what a terrific album it is, and it then invariably stays in the CD player for more than a few listens before it goes back to the shelf, waiting for the next time it comes into my peripheral vision. And despite the fact I think the band is great, this is still the only Suicidal Tendencies album that I own. I have had this playing over and over once again for the past month as I go through these albums to review, and not once has it failed to lift my spirits or make me think “wow, that is still a great song!”.
This album proved to be a catalyst for the band, and they continued in this direction over the next couple of albums, which introduced the frenzied funk of Rob Trujillo on bass guitar. I saw the band live for the first time on their first tour of Australia, as support for Alice in Chains, and they were amazingly awesome, proving they could do the job live just as well as they laid it down in the studio. But surely there should never have been any doubt that they could do that.

511. Midnight Oil / 20,000 Watt R.S.L. 1997. 4.5/5

Given that the band has an enormous following not only in Australia but around the world, and a whole bunch of album packed full of great songs, it makes it difficult to try and put together a greatest hits album that truly brings together the best the band has done. And, as always, the final song selection will find individuals decrying the leaving out of this song or that song. Personal opinion can only be sated so often.

In my opinion, that fact does raise its head here, but it is not an overwhelming demand. The song selection here finds the majority of their biggest hits on board, covering the majority of their albums. It would be a harsh critic to suggest that any of the songs here don't deserve their place. Of course, I am a harsh critic, and I don't think songs such as "What Goes On", "White Skin Black Heart" and "Surf's Up Tonight" could possibly be regarded as better songs than "No Time for Games", "Short Memory" and "Read About It".

Despite this, 20,000 Watt R.S.L. is a wonderful collection from the career of a terrific band. For the Johnny-come-lately, this is a pretty good place to start if you want to learn about Midnight Oil. For the fan, it's a great trip down memory lane.

510. Kiss / Hotter Than Hell. 1974. 2/5

The second album for Kiss following their self-titled debut, and while it does have a couple of good moments, overall it is fairly average stuff.

Probably the greatest problem that this album has for me is the plodding pace. It really needed to be revved up at the time it was recorded, at it could probably have been a lot better. For instance, two of the main tracks here, “Parasite” and “Hotter Than Hell”, almost send you to sleep when you listen to them. However, when you hear them played live on future releases, you can realise the full potential of the songs.
Then again, is it just me being picky over the era that it was recorded in? Possibly. But it doesn’t change the fact that it could have been improved by that one tweak. “Let Me Go Rock ‘N’ Roll” is a much more satisfactory pace for a Kiss song, and is the reason it stands out as one of the best here.

For me this album falls short of the potential some of the tracks here have. Given that it was never going to be a classic it is still disappointing.

Rating: Fortunately the best was still to come. 2/5

509. Queen / Hot Space. 1982. 3/5

Even though I wasn’t old enough or interested enough in the history and the rolling development of bands through the 1970’s and the early 1980’s, it is pretty easy to trace just how the burgeoning career of Queen moved throughout that period. Their popularity grew with each album, and singles such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions” gained plenty of airplay. But it was the single from their album “The Game”, John Deacon’s “Another One Bites the Dust” that outsold them all, and is seen as the reason that the band went down the path that eventually led to “Hot Space”. The popularity of that single, especially in dance clubs and as a dance track, directed much of the writing for the band’s next album after “The Game” and “Flash Gordon”. In many ways, the album just heads in the same direction music around the world was going at that time. The emergence of both disco and new wave following the rise and fall of the punk movement dictated a popularity phase that you can only imagine band front man Freddie Mercury found very much to his liking, and John Deacon’s preference for music that was not as heavy as that preferred by the other members of the band, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May, gave that momentum towards that sound.
In recent years, it has also been postulated that Freddie’s ‘personal manager’ Paul Prenter had been encouraging Freddie every step of the way to go down this path, which helped to convince the singer to move in that direction. Roger Taylor is hilariously quoted as saying “Prenter wanted our music to sound like you'd just walked in a gay bar...and I didn't".
The use and experimentation with new devices though helped to bring that sound to the album as well. There was a greater emphasis on synthesizers, as well using a drum machine for the first time. The style of music is a definite change in direction from the general rock and hard rock that had been their staple, now introducing and concentrating on the disco and dance new wave genre that was so prevalent in that age. I mean, for goodness sake, even Kiss dabbled in it with their “Dynasty” album. So they weren’t on their own in mixing up their sound for this album, but it was at the risk of alienating everything they had done up until this point of their careers.

OK, so let’s get this out of the way from the get go. This is a Queen album, so if you like Queen, then you have a reasonable idea as to what you are walking into. Now, think about Queen, but heading more towards a disco angle than a rock angle. Got it? Well now you have a better idea of what awaits you. It’s quite the eclectic mix of tracks,
“Staying Power” and “Dancer” start the album off with plenty of energy, but it takes some getting used to. “Staying Power” has synth bass played by Freddie rather than John’s bass (he actually plays guitar on the track) and with horns dominating the track with the drum machine. On “Dancer” the bassline is actually just Brian on synth, so it’s quite a change from that rock base the band had utilised on previous albums. “Back Chat” is one of John’s tracks and he plays bass rhythm and synth on it. It has a very R&B sound to it, utilising that groove to manoeuvre its way through the track, before Brian’s solo provides the best part of the song, almost as a retaliation to it. “Body Language” cuts even further back, helmed by a bass synth and Freddie’s vocals and little else. This was released as the second single from the album, and I literally have no idea how it managed to have the reasonable sales that it did... oh wait... there are some gay overtones in the lyrics aren’t there... and the video for it was quite... provocative... so I guess that’s your answer. All of these songs have a sound that to me reminds me of the dancing troupe “Hot Gossip” who appeared on the various Kenny Everett TV shows of the time. Hot Gossip could only have improved them, I feel. “Action this Day” closes out the first side of the album and is very tied to the era, with the drum machine and the saxophone, drawing in those new wave elements.
The second side starts off with Brian’s “Put Out the Fire”, the one song on the album that resembles the band’s earlier work. Great vocals, great beat, great guitar. Yep, still like this song. This is followed by “Life is Real (Song For Lennon)”, written by Freddie and sounds remarkably like a John Lennon song, even the vocal in places is sung to resemble him. A nice touch. “Calling All Girls” is a straight forward rock track that was the fourth single, while “Las Palabris De Amour (The Words of Love)” is a Queen rock ballad that was also released as a single and was regarded much more favourably than the first single. “Cool Cat” has all instruments almost completely performed by John. This is a lounge act song, I can imagine the stage and the piano as the singe on stage croons along. It is about as far away from Queen as I could imagine.
The album concludes with the Queen and David Bowie song “Under Pressure”, a song that doesn’t fit in with the style of this album at all. In fact, it was recorded well before the writing for this album really took place, and it is noticeable. Was it a cynical inclusion here in order to increase the sales of the album, with a song that had already proven popular and would draw people in – or was it always going to be a part of this collection? I don’t know the answer, but it feels more like the first answer than the second.

This review was always going to test me. Just about every band that you love has that one skeleton hiding in the closet, the closet you rarely frequent, and when you do it is with a deal of trepidation. And for me “Hot Space” was definitely that moment in the Queen discography. Because when I first heard the album, I wasn’t even sure it was a Queen album. I’m pretty sure my first reaction to it was that it had to be a joke, a bunch of demos collated together of tracks the band had dabbled with and then rejected for better material. But no, it was the real deal, and it really was released. And even when I went through and eventually bought all of the albums on CD so I had copies of my own, I did think twice or three times as to whether I would buy “Hot Space”, because I just couldn’t imagine when I was ever going to go to my shelves and take it off to put on and listen to it.
That being said, I’ve never enjoyed this album more than I have over the last four weeks. And that would no doubt come from the fact that I listened to it at least once or twice every day at work during that period, the whole album through. In the past when I have listened to it, whether it was at home or at a friends house, it would be on in the background, and I mostly would not have been in the mood for its quirky tones, and probably thinking I should be listening to just about any other Queen album instead. But for this month that has not been the case. I have had it going around on my playlist with up to six other albums, such that it becomes a part of the mix. And it certainly is plain when it comes on because its style is so very different from the other albums I have been listening to at during this time – check out the recent podcast episodes to see what those albums were, and you'll see what I mean.
So I can honestly say that I appreciate “Hot Space” a lot more now than I did up until a month ago. Which does prove why I do this podcast and that for some albums it has the desired effect. Does that mean it will come back off the shelf again any time soon? Well... perhaps for its 50th anniversary...

508. Kiss / Hot in the Shade. 1989. 3/5

Kiss in the 80’s – they certainly got better as the decade progressed. OK, so they weren’t the ground-breaking band they had been during the mid-to-late 70’s, and some of their stuff had drifted into the average fluff stage. Sometimes you just have to admit the best years have gone, and not judge new material on past performances.

Hot in the Shade is very much in the mold of their previous release, Crazy Nights – these are good party songs, and should be taken that way. Certainly, the songs Paul Stanley sings always seem to have that feel about them anyway. This album isn’t as good as its predecessor, but if you taken it in a similar vein then you will get the most out of it.
Don’t be scared off by songs like “Forever”, just because it is co-written by Michael Bolton (even though that is good grounds to be scared!). Most of the songs here have that soft rock feel to it, and aren’t really in the same category as early Kiss material. Even the country twang at the start of “Rise To It” might be a turn-off, but get into the song and take it for what it is, and you’ll see it ain’t all bad.

In summary – not a classic, but not a bad listen either. Some good tunes here that become habit to sing along to. When I first bought it back when it was released in 1989 I was looking for something it was not, and didn’t give it a chance. In my advancing years – and it may just be in searching for my lost youth – I have come to appreciate it better.

Rating: Don’t write it off without a decent hearing. 3/5.

507. Primal Fear / Horrorscope [EP]. 2002. 5/5

Released in 2002, this is an excellent five track EP which is worth picking up if you can still find it.
I just love “Under Your Spell, if only for the fact that it is (apparently) the entrance theme music for a German handball, according to their website the Frisch Auf Göppingen. That is magnificent. I’d watch more handball just for that reason.
There is also an unreleased bonus track from the Japanese version of Jaws of Death called (of course) “Horrorscope”.
Mixed with these are three cover songs – Gary Moore and Phil Lynott’s “Out in the Fields”, Accept’s “Breaker” and Rainbow’s “Kill the King”. All are superb renditions of these classic songs.

All in all, for an EP, you can’t do much better.

Rating: A great slice of music. 5/5.

506. Iced Earth / Horror Show. 2001. 3/5

This was the first Iced Earth album I ever bought and listened to, and while there have probably been better albums in their discography, it was a gentle introduction to the band for me.

I enjoy the concept of the album, taking on the monsters of history, both real and fictional, and doing songs on them. In the main, it works quite well.
The album begins strongly, with both “Wolf” and “Damien” showcasing Matt Barlow’s distinctive vocals and the double click drumming of Richard Christy. Like many bands of this generation, their best songs are when the drums are driving the pace, through double-kick and flying on the high-hats. Here the guitars aren’t being forced to go ‘fast’, but the feel is that anyway.

From here on though, the album is a bit mixed, neither one thing nor the other. In the main the songs are fine, but they are not outstanding, and in a funny way they are not memorable, in that they begin to blend into each other and it becomes difficult to differentiate. I can see why trying to set different moods in different songs is necessary to the theme of the album, but I don’t think it works overly well. “Ghost of Freedom” to me just halts the whole momentum of the album, whether you like the song or not.
The cover of Iron Maiden’s “Transylvania” is probably the highlight of the album – a bit of a giveaway really…

Rating: Just rises above average. 3/5.

505. Sevendust / Home. 1999. 2.5/5

Having only gotten the Sevendust albums because two friends, one old and withered like myself, and another young and boyish, told me I had to listen to this band. And so I did for a very small space of time, before the albums lost themselves in the wilds of the back of the CD cupboard. Home was dragged from the depths this week for its review and rating, and I can say that after one listen, I had major reservations about it. By the second listen, I found I had probably misjudged it, and the third convinced me that there was certainly something to this.

While it will never become a favourite – the style of music here is not quite to my appeal – I can appreciate it for what it is, and I did enjoy most parts of the album. Nu-metal doesn’t quite make it for me, and while some of the songs here work really well, there are others that seemed trapped in their own attempted cleverness.

Rating: While not targeting people of my taste, there is unrealised potential here. 2.5/5.

504. Dio / Holy Diver Live. 2006. 5/5.

The new century has seen an interesting innovation come to light – firstly some bands (Dream Theater) began paying tribute to the albums that influenced their music by playing those entire albums live in concert. Secondly, bands realized this was a popular thing, and began dedicating parts of their own concerts to playing an entire album of their own!

Here then is Holy Diver Live which contains amongst other tunes the entire Holy Diver album.
The DVD of this concert has the gig in its running order. For the double disc version, they have wisely split in into two. The first disc contains Holy Diver in its entirety, including Simon Wright’s drum solo (which surely is becoming increasingly unnecessary in this day and age) and Doug Aldrich's guitar solo (less unnecessary, but still a time-filler). The second disc contains the remainder of the concert, including songs from the range of Dio’s career as a singer.

Anyone expecting Dio to sing this exactly as it was recorded 20+ years previously are expecting too much. Interesting to note is an interview with Doug Aldrich some time after this release, in which he states he was unhappy with his own performance, due to the lack of actual rehearsal leading up to the night. While his guitaring is actually pretty spot on to the original versions put down by Vivian Campbell (one of Aldrich’s finest assets), it does sound like Dio is unsure as to how to approach singing songs he hasn’t performed for two decades, or at all. If I was to be picky, I’d say that he could have done better – but how do you say that to the man with the greatest voice in metal? It is unrealistic to expect ‘studio’ vocals sung live, especially after so many years.

All in all this is a great live album. It is great to hear the entire album done live, with so many wonderful songs. The second disc is also just brilliant, combining such Rainbow classics as “Tarot Woman” and “Gates of Babylon” with “One Night in the City” and “We Rock”.
Originally, Craig Goldy was playing on this tour, but was injured not long before this was to be recorded, and Doug Aldrich came on board to help out. It is one of the redeeming features of this album.

Rating: Chock fun of greatness. 5/5

503. Killswitch Engage / Holy Diver [Single]. 2007. 4/5

Cover of the great Dio song, released as a single and included on the special re-release of As Daylight Dies. This is an excellent version of this song, and the video that is its companion is equally good, and amusing.

Rating: Well worth a listen or four. 4/5.

502. Dio / Holy Diver. 1983. 5/5

It is amazing sometimes just how much used to occur in music in such a relatively short space of time. For instance, the career of Ronnie James Dio had been in so much turmoil in the three year period between 1979 and 1982 that for many artists, it would have defined their career.
After three amazing album’s with Rainbow, Dio and Ritchie Blackmore decided to part ways. Dio was concerned with the direction that Blackmore wanted to go, turning to a more commercial sound than Dio was happy with. Given the three albums the band had produced, and the final one being “Long Live Rock and Roll”, an episode on which appears in this season of this podcast, it is hard to imagine that that could occur. Ronnie then met up with Tony Iommi, and became the replacement for Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, producing two amazing albums and a double live album. It was during the mixing of that live album that tensions began to flare between Tony and Geezer Butler, who had been with the band since its inception, and Ronnie, who was looking to become more influential in what was being done. Disagreements over the mixing levels of that album, and the possibility of Dio producing a solo album, led to tensions boiling over, and a parting of the ways. At this time Ronnie asked current Sabbath drummer Vinnie Appice if he would like to join him in forming a new band, something he readily agreed to.

Having come to a decision to move on by themselves, Ronnie and Vinny needed to flesh out the rest of the band. Due mainly to the influence of the two guitarists with which he had recently shared the stage, Ronnie had decided that he wanted to have a British guitar player in his band. Looking for advice in this direction, he came into contact with bass guitarist Jimmy Bain, with whom he had been in Rainbow with, and asked if he had any suggestions. Together, they came across a brash young Irish guitarist in a band called Sweet Savage who were just beginning to make a name for themselves. The guitarist had everything the fledgling band was looking for – style, flamboyance and an ability to write songs. Thus it came to pass that Vivian Campbell was recruited for the new band. With Jimmy now pretty much assuming that he was a part of the group, the four piece was complete, and became a band under the banner of Dio. Now it was time to see if they could produce lightning that would strike for a third time.
The album cover was the first striking moment of the new band, and did cause some controversy at the time of its release. Ronnie was quoted in Metal Mammer as saying “I seem to remember a little bit of, ‘Are you sure you wanna do this?’ from the record company. But the idea was to reverse the question of, ‘How come you’ve got a monster drowning a priest?’ We wanted to be able to say, ‘How do you know it’s not a priest drowning a monster?’ And I think that’s kind of been proven out in the last few years with all the problems we’ve had in the Catholic Church. In hindsight, I like to think we were right about who we put in the water.”
One of the most important moments in a band’s career is how they kick off the first song of Side One of their debut album. Perhaps with the experience that the band members had had over the years in other bands, this had already erased any possibility that this album would not have a great start. Maybe so, but for the fans, heading into this new project, it would have been important to hear a song that provided a statement for what the new band was going to offer, what direction they would be heading in, and whether they could immediately provide a song whose impact would not only be instantaneous, but would remain that way for eternity. With the opening track of “Holy Diver”, Dio positively nailed it.

After the charging start to the album, Ronnie has delved back into his previous bands with the opening to the title track “Holy Diver”. The mood of the opening 60 seconds is pure Rainbow, or Sabbath’s “Children of the Sea”. The keys and synth slowly draw you into the track before crunching into the opening riff, and off we go. One of my favourite quotes about Dio after he had passed in 2010 came from Susan Olsen, the actress who had played Cindy in The Brady Bunch. She said “I remember Dio from Rainbow and his amazing voice, and I always wanted to ask him what the hell was a holy diver?” Well, that question is answered by a quote from Ronnie himself that appeared in several interviews, this one from Metal Hammer - “The song Holy Diver is really about a Christ figure, who on another place, not Earth, has done exactly the same as we’ve apparently experienced or were supposed to have experienced on Earth: dying for the sins of man so that man can start again and be cleansed and do it properly.”
“Gypsy” starts with that almost primal scream from Ronnie and defies its somewhat midtempo rhythm by being an amazingly hard core song thanks to the way Ronnie sings the song, which is quite out of character for his usual singing style. This is one of the most underrated Dio songs in their catalogue, one that that has always been an awesome song but is often overlooked when it comes to people reviewing it.
One of the riffs that Vivian brought with him from his previous band, Sweet Savage, is amazingly distinct, and not something I discovered until many years after this album was released. The Sweet Savage song “Straight Through the Heart” was not released until after Vivian had left the band, but the riff of the song is unmistakable. Funnily enough though, it is not the riff to the Dio song “Straight Through the Heart” which opens side two of this album. It is the riff that opens the song “Caught in the Middle”, that distinctive wonderful kick off riff that immediately has you dragging out the air guitar to play along to, before bursting into singing along with the vocals as they start as well.

Side One of the album closes with one of the greatest metal songs of all time, and not because of its amazing ferocity or speed or heaviness. It is because of all of the elements Dio brought to their songs. Starting out in the quiet almost acoustic frame with Ronnie’s vocals in a quietly stated higher register, before crashing into the pounding metal riff and drums and the hard core change of Ronnie’s vocals, with the energy and lung capacity belting out the song with intensity... this is an amazing song. Ronnie lyrics again are masterful at painting a picture and telling a story, all with the skills of the craftsman he is.
Flip the album over, and off we go again. The aforementioned “Straight Through the Heart” kicks it off in style with Vinny’s drum entrance into the major riff. Great song. This is followed by another underrated classic, “Invisible”, which remains one of my favourite Dio songs ever. Another of Ronnie’s story telling songs, speaking of the woman alone, the man in confusion, and of Ronnie himself, is wonderfully put together surrounded by Vivian’s wonderful soloing in the middle.
The story of “Rainbow in the Dark”, Dio’s best known single, is an interesting look into the way the band and Dio himself were combining at the time. The story from all members of the band goes that when “Rainbow in the Dark” was being recorded, Ronnie himself wanted to cut it up and throw it away, such was his dislike for the track. However, both Vinny and Jimmy vehemently would not allow that to happen, saying it was brilliant and it would be adored by the fans. Jimmy then came up with the keyboard riff over the top of the chorus, and Ronnie relented and it remained on the album. And, as he has said in interviews following this, “they were right and I was wrong”.
The album then ends with the brilliant “Shame on the Night”, which truly brings the mood back to the dark and mysterious. Again this delves into those beautiful moods set from Ronnie’s two previous bands, and it acts as a wonderful and brilliant conclusion to the album. An album that still stands the test of time 40 years on.

Back in early 1986, as I had begun my conversion to heavy metal, we had an exchange student from the US turn up at our school for a few short weeks. Steve was his name, and along with him he had brought a collection of cassettes of bands that were new to my knowledge, among them being Night Ranger, Ratt - and Dio. And thus began a love affair that remains to today, as I record this episode. Something about the music grabbed me, in the same way that Iron Maiden and Metallica had just prior to this event occurring. What it was in particular I can’t really explain, but it most definitely was a combination of all four members of the band, and the way they not only performed the songs but the way they wrote them. And this was true of all of those first three albums that the band released with these four gentlemen as the original quartet.
“Holy Diver” is an amazing album. It is driven by the ridiculous and awe-inspiring vocals from the man himself, Ronnie James Dio. Arguably, “Holy Diver” provides the most diverse vocal performances of his career, from the opening of “Stand Up and Shout” and the lulls of the title track, to the more energetic screams of “Gypsy” and passion of “Invisible”, to the magnificent mood-changing lines of “Don’t Talk to Strangers” and “Shame on the Night”, he provides a full range of differing styles that help to make this album as brilliant as it is. His lyrics are a major part as well, covering the gamut of emotions and responses. Whenever I listen to this album, the vocals especially on “Caught in the Middle”, “Don’t Talk to Strangers” and “Invisible” send me careering back in time to those late high school years, bringing back the same emotions I was feeling then about both this album and the experiences I was going through at that time. The joys and the disappointments. Emotional is the right word to use when I listen to this album.
But how good are the contributions of both Vinny Appice and Jimmy Bain? The greatness of this album is set up by their synchronisation, the thumping toms of Vinny and perfect use of snare, hi-hats and cymbals that hold together each song and emphasise each section in the style that is needed. And Jimmy’s bass lines are just magnificent, rumbling like a freight train when they are needed, such as in “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, and up and down the frets to play the perfect accompaniment to the guitar, such as in “Caught in the Middle”. Sometimes, the part that these two played on these Dio album is overlooked, and it absolutely cannot be done so. Not only was their input on the writing side so invaluable, but the way they PLAYED the songs is integral to why they are so good.
For me though, it was my first experience of Vivian Campbell, and an obsession began that still remains to this day. Everything that he contributes to this album, and the next two, to me is beyond brilliant. Each guitar riff, each amazing solo. Vivian became my guitar hero, the one I placed on a pedestal above all others. I know Ronnie is the star, but Vivian for me is the genius behind it all on that guitar. No split in music history has hurt me more than when Vivian left Dio. History also shows that, for both entities, neither was able to rediscover the magic that they had been able to produce together. More is the pity.


In the past few episode of this podcast, I have managed to bring to you three albums that rank in the top ten of MY favourite albums of all time. We had Queensryche with “Operation: Mindcrime”. We had Iron Maiden with “Piece of Mind”. And you can now add Dio with “Holy Diver” on to that list. The album has lost nothing since its release 40 years ago, and the fact that it has captured in a bottle these four musicians arguably at the peak of their collective powers, only proves that even more. Many rank this as the band’s finest album. I sometimes wonder though that they didn’t do an even better job with their follow up. But that is for another episode sometime in the future.

501. Various Artists / Holy Dio: A Tribute to the Voice of Metal: Ronnie James Dio. 1999. 4.5/5

Well, you would have to say that this is a great idea, in principle. Over his long and illustrious career, Dio has been involved in so many great songs, that a tribute to that is a terrific plan. However, the one major drawback is this – how many people can sing like the great man, and do justice to these songs? As it turns out, most of the versions here are worthy of the name ‘tribute’.

As with many tribute albums, this is a bit uneven, with the very good mixed with the rather ordinary. The version of “Country Girl” by Dan Swanö & Peter Tägtgren is surprisingly well executed and done with a difference that doesn’t detract from the original. On the other hand, the version of “We Rock” by Grave Digger is OK musically, but the vocals are just not what you want on an album like this (refer to my initial comments in this review).
Then there is the unusual – two versions of “Kill The King” by two different bands – a great version by Primal Fear, and a good version by Stratovarius. Also a magnificent version of “Gates of Babylon” by Yngwie Malmsteen with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals – but on the linear notes Yngwie spends his whole spiel talking up Ritchie Blackmore (his hero) and not mentioning Ronnie once.

As a double disc, this album does contain some great tracks, and nowhere near the full complement of great songs from the Dio era. The two things I got from this are as follows:
One, it was great to hear some terrific bands putting out these great versions of great songs.
Two, no one could ever do these songs better than the originals, if only for the fact that the originals have RJD on vocals.

Rating: A better than average effort to celebrate a great man. 4.5/5

500. L.A. Guns / Hollywood Vampires. 1991. 3/5

Coming on the heels of their excellent first two albums, the L.A. Guns had the chance to propel themselves to super-stardom with their third LP, Hollywood Vampires. As it turns out, the ingredients are all here, but they don’t seem to have been mixed in the right quantities.

What is it about this album that doesn’t quite allow it to reach its potential? Certainly, following on from their initial successes they should have been ready to conquer the world. However, in general the songs here don’t have the same spark about them, the same buzz that catches your attention and makes you want to listen.
Is it the obvious attempt to recapture the success that came with “The Ballad of Jayne”? Is that where my problem lies? Because I HATE that song, believing it is a blight on their otherwise excellent record to this stage of their career. It does feel that they are looking for that ballad hit again, and it affects the remainder of the album in my view.

Now it’s not all bad, so don’t take it that way. Songs like "Kiss My Love Goodbye", "Some Lie 4 Love" and "My Koo Ka Choo" still carry a punch that reminds you of who you are listening to. But in the end, it just didn’t quite carry over. And that is a real shame.

Rating: Not the step forward I was expecting. 3/5

499. L.A. Guns / Hollywood Rehearsal. 1998. 2/5

This is a Japanese compilation, comprising tracks which had previously been unreleased. It includes demo's and outtakes, alternate versions, and a number of cover songs ranging from bands such as Led Zeppelin, Sammy Hagar and The Clash.

As with most albums of this type, it holds a certain amount of interest for the first two or three listens. After that, it is something that only hard-core fans will ever take a great interest in. Unless you are a fan of the songs covered (I am not) then it is more likely to collect dust at the back of your CD cabinet. I know my copy was, and will now do so again having done the right thing and reviewed it.

Rating: Not for me, but others may disagree. 2/5

498. Gamma Ray / Holland 23-9-1990 [Bootleg]. 1990. 3/5

This is a B quality bootleg from Gamma Ray’s initial tour, following the release of their debut album Heading For Tomorrow. While the recording is not the highest quality, you can certainly feel the vibe of the crowd and the band throughout the performance.
Probably the best part of the gig and the album is hearing so many songs from that first album give a live treatment. “Free Time” and “Money” are both great live, along with the ‘bonus’ track from that album (from the CD version, not the vinyl I’m afraid…) “Look At Yourself”.

While my rating of it does appear low, that is only because of the sound quality alone, not for the songs nor the band’s performance. Bootleg-listening is an art form, and to enjoy this to the maximum you have to be in the right mood, and the right place. Doing invoicing in your work environment is not the best place to experience it…

Rating: Early prehistoric Gamma Ray. 3/5.

497. Split Enz / The Best Of: History Never Repeats. 1989. 4/5

Split Enz was a band that was on the cutting edge in the last 70’s and early 80’s, able to mix their quirky style and sense of fun with thoughtful lyrics and wonderful vocal melodies. This is the greatest hits package, and as such contains pretty much their best tracks.

That of course is open to question, and I guess I thought there would be a few better selections than some of those found on here. Despite that, all their biggest and best-known hits are here – “I See Red”, “I Got You”, “Six Months in a Leaky Boat”, “I Hope I Never”, “Dirty Creature”, “One Step Ahead” and “Message to My Girl” – and they are all still as good today as they were in the day.
Like I said, I would have substituted a couple of different tunes in, but most of the tracks hold their own.

Given the success of Neil Finn (and to some extent Tim Finn) with Crowded House since the demise of Split Enz, it’s always nice to go back and reminisce as to how good this band was in its day.

Rating: A more than adequate greatest hits album. 4/5.

496. AC/DC / Highway to Hell. 1979. 4.5/5

When a band is on fire, and consistently releases high quality albums, I guess you can only wonder when the dry spell is going to come. Well, it certainly isn’t here, with the lads putting the seal on yet another fine moment in their history. In fact, it could almost be the pinnacle of an ever evolving and growing giant.

Leading off with the great title track, there are once again few weak holes to be found in this package. "Highway to Hell" is a great song, one that still stands the test of time, and is rightly considered one of the band's best. It's funny though that when you listen to it in the context of the album it starts, it feels almost like a plodder when you crash into "Girls Got Rhythm", which takes off at a great pace and Bon's ecstatic vocals. It's an interesting comparison, and "Girls Got Rhythm" has always been a favourite of mine because of the way it jumpstarts the album. Then you dive headlong into "Walk All Over You", which starts off at a mellowing pace before exploding with Bon's blinding vocals and Angus letting rip on lead guitar. Just fantastic stuff. No time to rest, we're straight into "Touch Too Much", a song that rises because of Bon's great vocal performance, pushing up the energy levels of the song, before "Beating Around the Bush" completes the A side of the album.
"Shot Down in Flames" and "Get it Hot" start of the second half of the album, which is then followed by one of my top five AC/DC songs, the awesome "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)". This is a brilliant song to drum to, along with the great riff from Angus and Bon's blood-curdling vocals it makes almost the perfect song. In contrast, "Love Hungry Man" appears quite lacklustre and underwhelming, though it does pick up a bit by the middle of the song. the album closes off with "Night Prowler", which probably received more attention from the serial killer Richard Ramirez, who was nicknamed "Night Stalker" and was supposedly a big fan of the band. Again, this song goes against the grain of the majority of the album, plodding along to its conclusion whereas the high energy of most of the previous songs seems almost lost because of it. To me this has always been a real shame. It's not a bad song, but perhaps just a bad place for it.
As with a lot AC/DC's work, the unheralded star once again is the rhythm section of the band. They do not miss a beat, they provide the bulk of the song, as well as the backing vocals. Phil Rudd on drums is immaculate, while Cliff Williams on bass and Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar lock in on his groove and hold together each and every song. It is their great work that allows the extroverts in vocalist Bon Scott and lead guitar Angus Young to strut their stuff and be so outward in their roles. Bon’s vocals as always are just brilliant, uniquely his, and driving each song. As his epitaph you could ask for little more. The guitaring of Angus here is once more an inspiration to those youngsters growing up in the era.

This is another superb production from a great band. Though turmoil followed them following this release, and they still had great albums to come, this marked the end of the first great era of the band. It was a fine way to mark it.

Rating:  Animal, living in a human zoo.  4.5/5.

495. AC/DC / High Voltage [Australian Release]. 1975. 4/5

This album was AC/DC's debut effort, High Voltage, released in Australia in 1975. It is not the album that was released to most of the rest of the world as High Voltage, which was a compilation of the two original Australian releases, and thus a different package, which was a common occurrence during the 1970’s for early AC/DC albums. Unlike the international version, this has none of the great anthemic releases that are still known around the world today. While that may make it a less revered edition, it doesn’t detract from the album itself.

The band and thus their song writing was still in its infancy with this release. The album leads off with the cover version of "Baby, Please Don't Go", a song whose performance on the show Countdown with Bon dressed up in drag is still a hit today. It was the first real coverage of the band on national TV and it began to lift their profile from that point on. "She's Got Balls" became the first song that showed what kind of material this band could produce. It was a steady rock song, highlighted by Bon Scott's lyrics. This is followed by "Little Lover", a good repose of the previous song, showcasing the versatility that has been a hallmark of AC/DC over the past 40 years. The two songs which end Side A and Side B of the album, "Stick Around" and "Show Business", are average kick-around tracks, neither highlighting nor diminishing those songs around them.
"Soul Stripper" is the best indication as to the path the band was to take in future releases. Its more up-tempo beat combined with traded lead licks from Angus and Malcolm Young and Bon's high energy vocals was the forerunner of their great songs that were to come. "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" is so unlike what you would class as an AC/DC song, but it works. It has a mellower guitar riff, while Bon's vocals are also much more sedate than normal, and yet because it is not a slow tempo it works just as well. It's a real slow burner, a song that grows on you over time. "Love Song" however doesn't quite hit the same buttons. In many ways it is closer to an Alice Cooper song, while I really think "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" hits the spot, I'm not as sold on "Love Song". It's not a bad song, but it doesn't fit the style you would expect.

As a debut it is not only a solid showing from a band on the prowl, it is an excellent collection of mid-1970's tracks that may not be remembered when it comes to listing the best (or your favourite) AC/DC tracks of all time, but hold an important place in the history of the band.

Rating:  Then she made me play games I didn't want to play  3.5/5.

494. AC/DC / High Voltage. 1976. 5/5

Having their first album to be released internationally, the decision was made to take the best of the first two albums released to the Australian public, High Voltage and T.N.T., combine them, and release them under the title of the original first album. Then there was a change of cover art to distinguish it from the original Australian release - and probably to highlight Angus Young as the front of the band - and what you have is one of the best albums to have originated on Australian shores.

Unlike the original Australian version, High Voltage contains a majority of its songs from the highly successful follow up T.N.T., and the result is that it became a worldwide smash. it is arguably AC/DC's finest hour. It contains a collection of songs, many of which are known by everyone throughout the world regardless of their music taste, complemented by the other solid songs surrounding them.
To be honest there simply isn’t a weak song on this album. Each is followed by another of equal quality. Few albums exist where you could, when trying to compile a greatest hits collection for a band, lift every song from the one album. This is one.
There are just so many anthems here – “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll”, “Rock n Roll Singer”, “The Jack”, “Live Wire”, “High Voltage”, “TNT” – it’s probably a crime not to just list the entire tracklist. And these are real anthems too, not your pretend pop tunes that some people think are fun to sing along to. These are the real thing, where everyone knows what to sing and when. By taking what would probably be considered as the best two songs off of the Australian release of High Voltage, "She's Got Balls" and "Little Lover", and putting that with the majority of the songs off of T.N.T., the record company has produced a monster.

As an Australian, I prefer to refer to the two Australian record releases when it comes to ranking and rating AC/DC's albums. This will always be somewhat of a compilation. If forced to do so, it ranks above T.N.T. because of the extra tracks from the original release. A true rock masterpiece.

Rating:  High voltage rock and roll.  5/5.

493. Helloween / High Live. 1996. 4/5

At a time when Helloween’s fortunes were back on the rise after the turmoil in the late 80’s and early 90’s, this was probably a good time to bring out a live album to showcase what the band had become. It is an interesting selection of songs, comprised mainly from the two albums which immediately precede it, Master of the Rings and The Time of the Oath.
The live environment will generally catch out lesser performers, and raise the profiles of those that can cut it. By concentrating on the material written and performed with vocalist Andi Deris, there is some safety here. That’s not a bad thing. When this was released, I was still deciding for myself how much I enjoyed the new Helloween material, and the chance to hear a lot of it live helped with forming a positive opinion on it.
Of the sparse material here that comes from the Hansen/Kiske era, it is difficult not to judge it harshly. Expecting Andi to sing songs like “Eagle Fly Free” and “Future World” like Michael Kiske is unreasonable, but it is nonetheless a regular occurrence. The versions here are fine, but not as spectacular.

As for the rest of this double album, it is good stuff. Some of the songs come up better live than they do in the studio (“The Time of the Oath” is a perfect example), others fall a little flat (“Soul Survivor” for me is in this category). The live versions here of “Perfect Gentleman” and “Steel Tormentor” are excellent, and also fully exhibit the benefits of the excellent backing vocals of everyone in the band, but especially Roland Grapow. The solo version of “In The Middle Of A Heartbeat” by Andi is also well done.

Overall this is a very good live album package. For the time it was released, and for what the band no doubt wanted to achieve – publicising their ‘new’ era and the songs associated with it – it is an excellent advertisement. In doing so, and effectively ignoring everything before the release of Master of the Rings they have left themselves open to some criticism. Despite that, in considering the product as released, you can’t argue that it works.

Rating: Good live album capturing the rebirth of a once great band. 4/5.