1025. Masterplan / PumpKings. 2017. 4/5

The past can be a tough thing to break away from. The good memories are there, but so are the bad. In a music sense, this can be exactly the same path. The good memories of bands that you have been a part of in the past will always stay with you, but the ones that leave a bitter taste in your mouth will often also resurface. In deciding to revisit the majority of the songs that he either wrote outright or co-wrote when he was in Helloween, Roland Grapow has taken the plunge that he can convince everyone that these songs deserve a second outing, perhaps completely as he wanted them to be heard than as the band had done so originally. The fact that it comes at a time that Helloween are going out on a world tour with former members Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske, and he didn’t get an invite to join in, perhaps gives this more presence in that regard.

Roland was a member of Helloween for over a decade, and played on some of their better albums, and some of their most divisive. At least half of the songs here comes from albums that many fans have trouble even listening to any more, such as Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon. That in itself makes this album a brave move, because so many of the songs are not high profile Helloween songs. That in itself doesn’t mean they are bad songs or poor songs, and to be honest in trying to give them a second chance, a new lease of life away from the glaring drudgery of a couple of those original albums, perhaps there was a chance that they could find their own place without that anchor weighing them down. On the other hand, there is a greater danger of doing songs that are well liked and thought of in their original Helloween form, because then these versions are directly competing with those versions, and it would be a very difficult thing to compare the two.
So how does the album go? It is important to put out there from the start that Masterplan the band sounds fantastic once again. New drummer Kevin Kott does a great job, and is well supported by bass guitarist Jari Kainulainen in the rhythm section. Their groundwork is wonderfully solid. All of these songs have a heavier keyboard element in them that the Helloween versions do, which isn’t surprising given the masterplan sound does revolve heavily around founding band member Axel Mackenrott. Roland’s guitaring is as superb as ever, and he really brings it home in the songs off The Dark Ride, as it is where he is at his best both playing and writing. The toughest job falls to vocalist Rick Altzi who not only has to hold together his vocals in these songs, he will inevitably find himself compared against the two original vocalists on these songs, Michael Kiske and Andi Deris. No favours there at all.
The three songs that are drawn from Pink Bubbles Go Ape – “The Chance”, “Someone’s Crying” and “Mankind” – are different in nature. “The Chance” and “Mankind” are two of the better songs on that album, while I never really enjoyed “Someone’s Crying”. Masterplan’s version of “The Chance” here is a good one, and just as jaunty as the original. “Someone’s Crying” still lacks some heart, while “mankind” here suffers a little in the vocals compared to the original. It’s a similar story to the two songs that come from Chameleon – “Step Out of Hell” and “Music”. The version of “Music” actually works better here than the original, but that is perhaps because you couldn’t get much worse than the original version. It is still far too slow and drawn out to gather any momentum. “Step Out of Hell” here equals the original, with Rick getting the right amount of energy into the vocals that the songs deserves.
Into the power songs of the album, and we have three songs from Master of the Rings – “Mr. Ego (Take Me Down)”, “Still We Go” and “Take Me Home” – the title track from The Time of the Oath – “The Time of the Oath” – and two tracks from The Dark Ride – “Escalation 666” and “The Dark Ride”. Each of these versions are wonderful musically, but they all lack what Andi Deris brought to the vocals. There’s no shame in that, as he is fantastic, and Rick actually suits the music that Masterplan writes, but you can notice especially in songs such as “Mr. Ego (Take Me Down)”, “The Time of the Oath” and “The Dark Ride” that they just aren’t the same. Good versions, but just lacking slightly in detail.

So was the motivation for this album purely that Helloween are touring shortly without Roland and he wanted to show that he was also once part of the group, or was it an easy solution to cover the fact that Masterplan has not released a studio album in four years, or was it just a chance to try and put these songs that Roland was a part of in a new light? Whatever the reason was, this album is more than worth the effort for fans of either Masterplan or Helloween to grab and have a listen to. There is still a lot to like about this band, and most of the songs here are still great to listen to, and hearing them in a modern light is not a bad thing at all.

Rating:  “Take a spin on the dark ride, may too far from the other side”.  4/5

1024. AC/DC / Let There Be Rock. 1977. 4/5

Back in 1977, if you are to believe the reports and interviews of people in and around the band, AC/DC had some problems. Because they had been based in the UK for 18 months on tour, their Australian fans had begun to abandon them. There was some tension within the band between some of the members. And their record company was on the verge of dropping them entirely. So, if you are any other band, you probably fight on for a little while and then break up. If you are AC/DC? Well, you say ‘damn the man!’ And you come out and produce an album that, 45 years ago today, was released upon the world for the first time. An album that, in many people’s eyes and ears, could be considered arguably their finest moment and one of the greatest albums in Australian music history.

Looking back now, all of those long years ago, it is hard to believe that AC/DC had a period where they were not revered in all places of the world, and that in Australia they had begun to wane in popularity. For those of us who waited so long to see them live in concert, because they had refused to return to Australia because of the lack of attention they felt they were receiving at the time, the hurt and pain is still real.
The story of the period leading up to the recording in January 1977 still makes for interesting reading. Mick Wall wrote a terrific article on the Classic Rock website in 2016 titled “Let The Be Rock: The album that saved AC/DC’s career”, where he laid out the landscape that the band found themselves in at the time. They had gone to London for most of 1976 on the back of the international version release of “High Voltage”. However, on returning home just prior to Christmas expecting a triumphant reception, they found that the audience they had recruited through appearances on ABC’s ‘Countdown’ had moved on, to bands such as Skyhooks and Sherbet. They played a gig at Sydney’s Hordern Pavillion that was barely half-full, something that had the band seething. And while their album “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” had reached top five in Australia, overseas in the UK it hadn’t made the charts at all, and in the US… well… Atlantic Records there decided they hated the album, and wouldn’t release it, and were going to drop the band completely. With the soft rock sounds of artists such as The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John dominating the American radio stations, Atlantic saw no way that an Australian hard rock band could penetrate that market. Add to this that the band’s antics on and off the stage were causing friction, and that bass guitarist Mark Evans was not on the best terms with the Young brothers, and it can be seen that things did not look great for the still fledgling group.
So how did the band react to all of this? Probably as you’d expect. They were cranky – pissed off actually. And while the head of the UK section of Atlantic Records was able to convince the US parent company to retain the band, AC/DC retreated into the Alberts Sydney recording studio, where they spent two weeks writing, rehearsing and recording a new album with which to set things right. And that album became “Let There Be Rock”.

Certainly in those days, the band never went into the studio with anything written. They never did demo’s of songs. Everything was written and recorded in the studio, and rarely in any more time than two weeks. That’s how long it took this album to appear from start to finish. All of the rhythm and drum tracks were completed in the first week, while the vocals and lead guitar were completed in the second week. Malcolm and Angus came in during that first week and decided to just throw riff after riff after riff into the mix, looking to make “Let There Be Rock” a huge sounding guitar album. As the songs took shape, cassette versions were given to Bon, who then delved through his book of shorthand notes to compose the lyrics for the songs.
The description of how those songs were composed and recorded is absolutely insane. They were angry and fuelled by alcohol and drugs, and that’s how the album sounds from start to finish. As a way to stick it up those who they felt were against them, it was effective. Certainly, if their American record company thought they were going to soften their image in order to make themselves amenable to the US market, they were sorely mistaken.
There is definitely a heavier blues based rock in the rolling rhythm throughout most of the songs, highlighted immediately by the opening track “Go Down”, where the blues beat holds together the basis of the song, and allows Bon Scott initially to hold the reins on vocals, before Angus Young comes in to perpetuate his solo piece in the middle of the track. Bon and Angus trading vocals and guitar tweets through the second half of the song draws in the blues roots as well. It is a terrific opening track, which is followed by a better one in “Dog Eat Dog”. It settles into that hard rocking rhythm that Malcolm, Phil Rudd and Mark Evans play so well on these early albums, and again let Bon and Angus do their thing. And as great as Bon’s vocal is here, for me it is Phil’s drumming that hold this song together and makes it so great. The rhythm he keeps throughout is just magnificent, and by utilising a beat that focuses on the toms and bass drum with little hi hat or cymbal action at all it enhances everything. Just terrific.
And then there is the title track. We all know what a great song it is, how Bon’s lyrics are brilliant, how Malcolm and Mark’s rhythm riffs just dominate the track, and how brilliant Angus onlead is. But for me again Phil Rudd’s contribution gets overlooked. As Mick Wall wrote in the article I mentioned earlier… and I quote:
“Mark Evans said of “Let There Be Rock”, “Phil on that is just absolutely out of this world. We did two takes of it, and at the end of the first one I remember thinking: ‘That’s the end of Phil for a couple of hours’ But Phil said: ‘Let’s go again now.’ I thought the guy was gonna fucking explode. From my memory, I’m pretty sure they used the second take.” End quote. No click tracks, no drum machines. Just Phil Rudd playing the song back-to-back twice, and they get the take. Incredible.
“Bad Boy Boogie” inserts the lengthy and stretched out solo sections for the guitars to make their mark, much like the band would do in a live setting but here in the studio, an example of the ‘riffs and riffs’ idea of this album, and it ends the first side in style.
Depending on what version of the album you have, on the second side of the album you will either be enjoying a shortened version of “Problem Child” on the International version, which initially was released on ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’, or the song “Crabsody in Blue” which came on the initial and Australian release of the album. I personally like “Problem Child” better, despite its original place on Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. “Crabsody in Blue” seems to stifle the momentum of the album at its entry point, and is also drowning in the blues which may also be a bone of contention with me. The exchange of these two songs does make the international version of the album a better listen, but it is ironic given the US refused to release the “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” album, but had this song replace “Crabsody in Blue” because they felt the subject matter was not befitting their label. Please….
“Overdose” and “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” also run along similar lines and patterns. “Overdose” has a similar pattern to “Live Wire” early on, but builds with its own momentum to reach its crescendo. “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” has always been one of those underrated AC/DC songs, one that those that only listen to the singles never get to know. It again builds from a slowish start to find its own pace and strength, and it does all the right things for the fans. It’s another great track here.
So too is “Whole Lotta Rosie” which is still a live favourite today. Focusing on Bon’s meeting with a female ‘acquaintance’ back in the day, this is a rollicking track that is ecstatically explained by Bon, before Angus takes over and gives an extended solo piece to hold the middle of the song together. It is still one of the great AC/DC songs and it closes the album on a high note.

Like most people of my generation, I was aware of AC/DC before I became a fan. The occasional AC/DC song was played on the radio when I was growing up, but nothing like it is now, where you can get one every couple of hours. As a teenage boy growing up in Australia in the early 1980’s, AC/DC was one of those bands that you were expected to listen to and adhere to. But for those early 80’s years the only albums I knew were “TNT” and “Back in Black”.
Once out of high school, and having seen the band live at the start of 1988 on their first Australian tour in seven years, the ability to accumulate more albums came about, and I was able to eventually find my own copies of all of their back catalogue. And, like all of them, it’s terrific.
In the years since 1980, there has been that old story that AC/DC just keep producing the same album year after year, with the same rhythm beat and riff and keep churning out the tracks and albums. Perhaps there is an element of the ‘same’ about them, but that certainly wasn’t the case with “Let There Be Rock”. That rhythm is amazing, but Phil Rudd’s drumming is a star attraction, changing with the tempo of the track as set by the Young brothers, and utilising every piece of his kit in different tracks. And Angus’s solo pieces are electrifying. There is no doubt that the attitude and underlying frustration they all went into the studio with fuelled the way this album was written and played, and it is all the better because of that.


I truly love this album, still pull it out of its cover and throw it on the turntable almost every month of every year and enjoy all forty minutes. It is still as fresh today as it was on the day of its release… or so I assume. And I can assure you I have had it going around a lot over the last few days leading up to this podcast episode… right now as I record this in fact, in the background there. “Go Down”, “Dog Eat Dog”, “Overdose”, “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be”, “Let There Be Rock”, “Whole Lotta Rosie”… I mean really, what is there NOT to love about this album? It is a masterpiece, a slab of the greatest hard rocking genius that has ever been recorded – and I say that even considering that, two years ago when we were sent int our first covid lockdown, I went through the entire AC/DC catalogue, and ranked their albums from 16 to 1 (before their latest album Power Up came to be released), and even though I have fawned over this album… there is still one AC/DC album I ranked ahead of it… now I’m not going to name that, you can all have a bit of a guess between yourselves… because on day’s like today, I really believe that THIS is their best ever…

1023. Alice Cooper / Paranormal. 2017. 3/5

The time between albums may be beginning to stretch outwardly, but there’s little doubt that it still gives you a warm feeling when you hear Alice Cooper is bringing out some new material. And that’s not because you may think it is going to be amazingly groundbreaking or magnificently catchy, but because with Alice you now know what you are getting, and that is fun songs with enough of a kick to keep you entertained throughout. And once again that is what Alice has provided for us with Paranormal.

In recent years – what feels like forever – Alice and his co-writers have concentrated on concepts for his albums, where each song contributes to the story being told, and sometime that can be a bit restrictive. Here on Paranormal they have steered clear of this and just gone out and written songs, of varying genres it must be said, but effectively. How much you enjoy the switch between styles of music in the songs here is probably going to determine exactly how you feel about the album.
“Paranormal” combines the reflective and the faster paced, and I have found is a grower, in that it gets better each time you listen to it. Once you know the nuance of the song it is much more enjoyable. This is followed by “Dead Flies” that seems to reach right back into the past, with the stomping drums and Alice’s chanting vocals bringing back memories of past great moments. “Fireball” has a similar theme where the backbeat drives the song while Alice sings over the top. “Paranoiac Personality” is okay, but to me it’s a bit repetitive and doesn’t really break out of its mould at any time. From here we fall back in to some other realm of music, as though we had moved back in time, with a very ‘rock n’ roll’ feel to the songs. “Fallen in Love’ is the first of this genre, and is followed by “Dynamite Road” which has a very southern sound about it, highlighted by the drum beat throughout. It’s a beauty, but is another one that takes some time to let it grow on you.
The second half of the album doesn’t quite measure up to the first half. “Private Public Breakdown” plods along without any great energy or motivation, perhaps in essence like the title of the song. “Holy Water” is at least more upbeat in style but just seems to lack that real Alice Cooper twist to make it more likeable. “Rats” is okay, but again probably not up to the enjoyable level of earlier songs. “The Sound of A” is far too much in the genre of a Pink Floyd song, and given my reticence of that band it makes it a difficult song to get through. Oh well.
There is some fun on the second disc, where the first two songs are written and composed and played by the remains of the original Alice Cooper band. Both “Genuine American Girl” and “You and All Your Friends” are interesting for the fact that they sound like they are from the era immediately following the group’s break up. For nostalgia they serve their purpose.
The real kicker is the six live songs that are tacked on to the end of the release. Why so? Because for perhaps the first time on the whole album, you feel rejuvenated, you feel up and you feel excited about the music. Because these are the great tracks, the ones from different eras that are the best that Alice can produce. And even after all these years, these are the songs I love to sing – “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “Under My Wheels”, “Billion Dollar Babies”, “Feed My Frankenstein”, “Only Women Bleed” and “School’s Out”.

Are there truly any bad Alice Cooper albums? Well, I guess the answer is yes, but certainly since the mid-1980’s I think that while the quality overall may be different from album to album, overall all of them are eminently listenable. This may well never become a classic album and it will never be as highly regarded as those albums from other eras of his career, but it comes down to how much do you like to sit down and listen to an Alice Cooper album. I enjoy it, quite a bit, and thus can find enough here to like and listen to.

Rating:  “And your phone knows more about you than your daddy or your mother”.   3/5

1022. Unisonic / Live in Wacken. 2017. 5/5

It was a busy little schedule at Wacken 2016 for Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen. Both were involved in the Hansen & Friends project, Kai as the instigator and Miki as guest on a number of songs, which played at the festival and released a live album of their own entitled Thank You Wacken: Live just a couple of weeks before this album was released. As well as that, then there was Unisonic, the band that Miki sings for and Kai guitars for, who also played on that weekend and which was recorded and packaged for this release, Live in Wacken.

It has been quite the journey, most notably for Kiske himself, who had so publicly slagged off heavy metal in the years after his departure from Helloween, and has now come (almost) full circle through the support of his part to play in the Avantasia project and through other friends in Roland Grapow (Masterplan) and Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray). The Unisonic band has progressed from an initial side project for all of the artists to one that has now released two albums and now this live recording, which ultimately goes to prove that the talents of the collective are quite high, and that they can do justice to their material in the live setting.
This is a cracking set list. I could not have chosen better if I had been given the job of choosing it. Every one of the best songs from their two albums makes an appearance here, along with the usual mix of older material from the number one vocalist. Opening up with “For the Kingdom” and “Exceptional” from the Light of Dawn album, the band exudes the energy you would expect from such an experienced and talented group. This is followed by “My Sanctuary” and “King For a Day” from the debut album, and both also have that energy you would expect. The joy that is “Your Time Has Come”, where Michi’s amazing vocals soar as well as they ever have, along with the twin guitar solos throughout the middle of the song between Kai and Mandy, and the double time rhythm from both Ward and Zafiriou makes for a terrific live version of this song.
Even the slower, less emphatic songs such as “When the Deed is Done” and “Star Rider” still have their moments here, even in their more melodic and less aggressive or fast arrangements. “Throne of the Dawn” is also an improvement on the studio version, and allows Kiske in particular to find a groove for the song that improves it in the live setting.
If you ever had any doubts about Miki’s vocal range… well, no… why would you… but my goodness, if you did, then listening to the two Helloween covers here would right that ship immediately. His own “A Little Time” is just perfect here, but it is possibly the interlude in the middle of this song will erase any doubt from your head forever. By incorporating a piece of Judas Priest’s classic “Victim of Changes” in the middle of this song, not only does it fit perfectly musically, but Kiske’s vocals are just magnificent, hitting every note in the lower scale and the upper echelons, as living proof he still has everything in his corner. Then the cover of Kai’s “March of Time”, which still ranks as one of my favourite Helloween songs ever, is just a piercing and harmonic and beautiful throughout. It is a masterpiece. Then album then concludes with “Unisonic” on overdrive, providing the perfect end to what is a sensational live gig and album.

It’s a fine line to tread when you have a project like Unisonic, where all the members have obligations in other projects, in order to make it work. Despite the range in music genres between the members of this band, it is terrific to hear it working so well in the live medium, which after all is where it all matters in the long run.

Rating:  “Chuggin like a monster, buzzing like a hive, everything is set to overdrive”.   5/5

1021. Hansen & Friends / Thank You Wacken: Live. 2017. 5/5

When Kai Hansen announced he was doing this project, obsequiously to memorialise over thirty years in the metal music business, as a fan I was as always interested in what it would produce. The album XXX: Three Decades in Metal I felt was excellent, and allowed him to explore other avenues that he couldn’t do in his other bands. With so much going on in his music life it was not surprising that he wanted to play this new material live, even if it could not be in a long form tour. Performing at Wacken in 2016, this album is the result of recording that gig.

Now, the one major problem this gig faced was this. The album was not released until September of 2016. The Wacken festival took place, as always, in early August, which meant that all of the material off the new album that was played at this gig had never been heard by the fans. In retrospect, as an Australian fan, it hasn’t been a problem for me, as I have had that album since its release, and I have had this recording since its release just a few weeks ago. But is there anything worse than turning up at a concert and not knowing half the songs? As a fan, it is the most difficult thing imaginable. You can’t throw yourself full belt into the gig, because you don’t know half the material. It could be rubbish, and you are left there with your arms folded. Waiting for the good stuff to come on. As I said, that didn’t affect my enjoyment of this album because I know all the songs, but I wonder just how the reaction really went over on the day (it looked positive on the DVD of the gig, don’t get me wrong).
It all sounds fantastic. Kai’s band that recorded the studio album is all here, except for drummer Dan Wilding who was off touring with Carcass, and so Gamma Ray’s custodian Michael Ehre fills in here with aplomb. Eike Freese on guitar and Alex Deitz on bass and backing vocals both show off their excellent skills and confirm why Kai was happy to collaborate with them in the first place. While all of the special guests who were a part of the original recording do not make an appearance here, there are a few who return to make their contributions to the “Hansen & Friends” concept.
If you haven’t listened to the album, then you will no doubt be just as confused as I imagine the crowd at Wacken were with all of the new material, but those who do know it will be happy and impressed with the live versions presented here. As on that album, the starring roles go to “Born Free”, “Contract Song” and “Follow the Sun”, where the rage that they have in the studio is replicated and enhanced here in the live setting. ”Burning Bridges” also sounds great live here. “All or Nothing” and “Fire and Ice” both sound terrific as well, with Clémentine Delauney enjoying her chance to sing these duets with Kai on stage. She has quite the presence.
Of the older Helloween material here, none of it can be faulted. It is kick started by what is still one of the greatest songs ever in “Ride the Sky”, through both the vocals and the duelling guitar solos in the middle. I still get chills listening to the song. Frank Beck, supporting vocalist here and now a member of Gamma Ray, produces a stunning version of “Victim of Fate”. It is always a pleasure to hear this song with full power and aggression. Michael Kiske comes out for his starring role in the Helloween staples “I Want Out” and “Future World”, while the set closer is the very underrated “Save Us”, where the ensemble gives the gig the finish it deserves, with both Frank and Clémentine lending serious support to this terrific song.

As live albums go, you won’t be disappointed with this offering. Even if you don’t know the newer material, the Helloween songs alone are worth the price of the album. Give the newer material a chance and you might be surprised as well. Once again, Kai Hansen seals his destiny as one of the finest and most influential musicians in the history of heavy metal.

Rating:  “In permanent madness we live, no time for life and for love”.   5/5

1020. Europe / The Final Countdown 30th Anniversary Show - Live at the Roundhouse [Live]. 2017. 3.5/5

A live album can only ever be as good as the band who plays on it, and the material they play. There are lots of good reasons why you would record a live album. Generally it is to celebrate a particularly successful tour by having it recorded for posterity, and allowing fans all over the world the opportunity to be a part of it if they haven’t been able to attend, or remember it fondly if they were able to see it. There is also the opportunity to make more money from something that hasn’t required a lot of creative effort. It is quite possible that this album was produced with both of these mindsets in place.

For many people who grew up in the 1980’s, Europe started and finished with the album The Final Countdown. To be honest, those that moved beyond it to the next release, Out of This World sometimes wished they’d stopped at the previous album. It was a perfect moment in time, with not only the title track of the album charting worldwide, but also a couple of the other singles managed to work their way into the psyche. The band of course had released albums before it, and has done so since they reformed after a long break back in 2003. For many though, they only know the one album, and not all of that album either. So when the 30th anniversary of the release of that album came around, no doubt it was in everyone’s best interests to go down that track of bringing it back to the present and performing it in its entirety in a live setting. I get that. And when you perform a concert, you need to have other songs in around this so that it lasts for more than an hour. So what does the band do? Well, as well as performing The Final Countdown in its entirety from start to finish, Europe decide to play their current album, War of Kings also in its entirety. Not quite in order, but the whole album nonetheless.
Is this a good move? That comes back to the original premise behind alive album. Do the punters want to see that whole album played? In reality, do they love that album enough to want to see it all done live? I can’t speak for those that went to the gig itself, but I would have had a few problems with it. First, I’d like to day that War of Kings is a terrific, entertaining album. I’d like to say that, but I’d be lying. There are some fair moments on this album, but overall it is quite drab. For a band that was so outrageous in 80’s fashion and music in their heyday, it just doesn’t feel right that most of the music on that album feels so washed out and lacking in energy. Having said that, you would like to think that this would be different in a live setting. Unfortunately, no. You only have to notice the lack of crowd involvement throughout the live set to understand that there just isn’t the same emotion in the new album as there could be. They band sounds great, of that there is no doubt. But the material just isn’t there.
The mood changes significantly once they move into The Final Countdown. The response from the crowd is immediate, and the music automatically livens up as well. That’s where the change is, and perhaps something Europe should be looking at. That also could be seen to be unfair, as I can freely admit that at this time I haven’t listened to anything they have recorded beyond 1988 apart from their latest album, so perhaps there is more there than I know. But once you hear the band and the crowd in songs such as “The Final Countdown”, ‘Rock the Night”, “Carrie”, “Danger on the Track”, “Ninja” and “On the Loose”, you know where the gold lies. Sure, Joey Tempest doesn’t hit those freakish higher notes anymore, and John Norum doesn’t quite rip it up the same way as he used to, but you can still hear the band circa 1986 trying to rip its way out of its 2016 bodies.

In the end we are left with that age old question, love of material over love of performance. This doesn’t provide you with anything new. It’s a nostalgia trip, one you can probably go on without the live album. It also probably won’t take you long to only play the second disc of the album. And then it probably won’t take you long to put this back in the rack and go back to the studio album itself.

Rating:  “Tell me the story, tell me the legend, tell me the tales of war”.  3.5/5

1019. Kiss / Kiss. 1974. 4/5

There are some things in life that really make you feel your age. The fact that this album is now 43 years old, only five years younger than myself, really does remind myself of my age. It’s a long time to be out there on stage wearing makeup, that’s for sure. And it is on stage that Kiss make the magic happen, not just with the stage show, but with the energy of their performance. This is where their drive is at its best, and for the most part this is what is missing from their debut album. Yes, it was a different age in regards to recording, but first impressions of the songs here should make this a monster. That it wasn’t on its initial release is part of that mystery.

Perhaps the ‘no energy’ phrase is not completely fair, but I think it stands to reason. Listening to this album today, and then listening to the frenzied madness that comes from the same songs on the Alive! album (just 18 months later and after another two studio albums – wow!) and you can hear what they are missing from the recorded studio versions here. Where’s that bottom end? Where’s the blazing guitars? Where’s the high energy vocals? For the most part, that isn’t here. That doesn’t mean that, in retrospect, this isn’t a good album. It just means that it feels like the songs here have had their legs cut off at the knees compared to the live versions as they are played. You could use the same argument with other albums of the era of course, and you would be correct. It just seems a bit more noticeable here because of what Kiss became.
If you are a Kiss fan, you already know where the strength lies. If you aren’t a big fan, you still know the important songs off this album. There’s still the strange moments. I know that the band was brought back into the studio to record the cover version of “Kissin’ Time” after the album was initially released and not doing as well as they all hoped. But seriously, a Bobby Rydell cover? Did they really think this was going to lift their sales? Did they just record it because of the title? I don’t know. I do know that it is a bit of a misnomer on the album. Add to that the instrumental piece “Love Theme From Kiss” which just seems out of place and unnecessary to the whole scheme of the album.
The rest of the album speaks for itself. “Nothin’ to Lose” has that 60’s rockabilly about it that can get a bit annoying depending on your mood and how often you are listening to it. Did Kiss really need piano in a song in the direction they were heading? Anyway. “Firehouse” is a good song that just doesn’t have the energy and fire it should have. The plodding style of this studio recorded version, both musically and vocally from Gene, just holds back its potential. It rarely fails to disappoint me when I hear this version. The same can be said for “Let Me Know”, though there is no live version to compare it to. It sounds better when Paul is singing rather than Gene. These are small and not significant criticisms. Again it comes to the age of the recording rather than the quality. I’d just like to hear more grunt in them. You can’t change time though.
In many ways you could argue the same about the remainder of the songs here too, but they are the classics and it is hard to go past them. The awesome opening song “Strutter” that still holds its brilliance to this day. Also “Deuce”, which could be considered to be the twin of “Strutter” such is their importance to the Kiss lineage of greatness. “Cold Gin” which has become a staple of live cover bands all over the world. Along with “100,000 Years” and the album closer “Black Diamond”, these were the songs that built the palace that Kiss became in a short space of time, and these for me still hold the foundations for my love of the band.

Kiss has not always managed to make great albums. They have had their ups and downs, and in many ways a lot depends on how you take the band as to whether you enjoy their music or not. Some swear by the first four albums as the only ones you need, whereas others, myself included, can find just as much joy in some of the work from the 1980’s as their early material. One thing that is for certain is that if you haven’t heard this album, then you have missed out on something, because here is where it began, and in particular the five ‘foundation’ songs here are the basis of what became the monster.

Rating:  “I know a thing or two about her”.   4/5

1018. Sonata Arctica / Reckoning Night. 2004. 4.5/5

My goodness I have tried hard to love Sonata Arctica unconditionally. From the first time I discovered them, I really wanted this to be a love affairs. Their obvious talents were too great for them to be considered an average band with average albums. With their three previous albums, I had always found great songs and wonderful pieces to take away from each, without ever being completely sold on the album as a whole. Much of that comes with the territory of the power ballad that tend to find their way on such bands’ albums. So I was always searching for more, for that perfect mix of power metal with just a bit of a heavier edge, while being able to combine each members instrument to the highest quality. And then along came Reckoning Night.

From the outset, the band is on fire, and the writing is strong and purposeful. New keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg comes up trumps, and absolutely gives a different flavour on the keys than had been prevalent on the earlier albums. Drummer Tommy Portimo has another cracking album, perfectly synchronised and smack bang on in every way, speed and proficiency. So too Marko Paasikoski on bass guitar, dialling right in to Portimo’s drums and locking in perfectly. Guitarist Jani Liimatainen again showcases the best he has to offer, and his duels throughout with Klingernberg’s keyboard is fantastic. Out the front Tony Kakko again inspires with his vocals, and given he again wrote almost the entire album (Jani wrote “My Selene”) shows he has some major ticker in regards to his music.

“Misplaced” is without a doubt my favourite Sonata Arctica song ever. It has the perfect balance between energy, fast tempo, guitar and keyboard riffs, double kick drum and superb vocals. It is the song that should be this band’s template, simply because it contains everything that is magnificent about this band at the top of their form. This is the killer song of their genre, and it rarely fails to send shivers down my spine whenever I listen to it. “Blinded No More” has those great Tony Kakko vocals and a chugging guitar riff throughout, and while the tempo may have dropped from the opening song once it settles into its groove you can’t help but like what has been produced, and singing along in some semblance of tune (not easy in the slightest). “Ain’t Your Fairytale” kicks straight back in to that up tempo theme with flailing guitar and keys and double kick. What comes through best in this song is that while the power metal theme holds its course, the guitar comes in with a heavier sound, dragging this into a more formidable music ground. The hard core rhythm still keeps the song in motion while all of the parts meld together brilliantly. THIS is what I’ve been waiting for from this band. Power by name but also strength and bottom end in the music.
The gentleness of the instrumental “Reckoning Day, Reckoning Night…” only serves as an interlude to “Don’t Say a Word” which begins in a similar way to “Blinded No More” where the tempo doesn’t start quite so fast but is offset by the strength and power of Tony’ vocals which drive the song to the heights it deserves. Before long the pace of the music itself builds back into that pleasing middle ground. The heavier edge to the guitar and drums through the second half of the song again echoes “Ain’t Your Fairytale”, and it ends on a superior note . Top shelf stuff.
“The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Real Puppet” settles back into the mid-tempo range and is much of a power metal song, slower and softer than what has come before it, with the keyboards dominating more thoroughly than had been the case earlier in the album. There are touches of Symphony X along the way, before finishing with a hard guitar riff. Pleasing. “My Selene” returns to the upmarket uptempo highs of the best on the album, mixing the keys and guitars superbly into the jaws of Tony’s vocals and his supports on backups, combining into the best aspects of the power metal genre, with the fast paced drums being drawn along by the dominant keyboards in a merry music melody.
“Wildfire” cracks out of the starting gates like its name, and rages along in fine style. There is some real extreme vocals that come through on this track as well, giving it a real intensity that, frankly, is so out of character for this band that it is tremendously exhilarating. “White Pearl, Black Oceans...” could best be summed up here as the epic power metal song of the album, combining chorus and choirs along with the quieter periods of keyboards and acoustically driven guitar, building to a that epic that bands look for. At almost nine minutes it is the longest song on the album. Finally, to close out the album we have “Shamandalie”, which, somewhat regrettably, is probably the least enjoyable song on the album. After everything that has come before it, the album deserved a real killer of a finishing track, and to be honest this isn’t it. It’s okay, it’s fine, but it isn’t up to the standard of everything else on this album, and that is a shame.

This is the album I had been waiting for from Sonata Arctica. It is a power metal album with that added grunt that gives it that heavier sound that not only helps to bring out the best in all of the band members’ chosen instrument, but drives each song to those heights that their talent deserved. The one small problem that followed it was that the band then had to write and record a follow up album that could get somewhere near as good as this is. So far, many years on, they haven’t been able to do that.

Rating:  “Taken for granted again, too weak a man to say it is over”.  4.5/5

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

Back in 2001 I was being driven home by one of my mates from having seen KISS in concert. 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 from the very start I can admit that this isn’t my preferred style of metal. And even on that first night listening to the album, with my mate 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 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. The opening stanza of “Papercut”, which opens the album excellently, and followed by the heavier first single “One Step Closer” showcase the better parts of this. “With You” gives it a red hot go, and is enjoyable without being overly catchy.
“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 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. “Runaway” works better in this regard because at least it has a better tempo to break through that overloaded angst without losing the point 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. Following this assorted box of songs we have the big single “In the End”, which is still just as catchy as it was when it was released. 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” and “Forgotten” is where the energy of the album centralises, the blazing beginning of “Forgotten” especially busting into the heaviest guitar from within, and makes for a pleasant interlude. “Cure for the Itch” seems like filler. “Pushing Me Away” 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.

I probably would have gotten around to reviewing this album for this site eventually, but it was pushed to the front of the queue this week with the passing of Chester Bennington. I brought this album out of storage for the first time in years, 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. 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. It’s a pity that it took such tragic circumstances for me to come back to this and realise this in the first place.

Rating:  “In the end, it doesn’t even matter”  3.5/5