1183. W.A.S.P. / Live... in the Raw! [Live]. 1987. 4.5/5

It had been a wild ride for the band W.A.S.P. over the course of their five year existence at the point of time that this live album was released. Three landmark albums, chart selling singles, and increasing controversy over their stage antics, as well as having been targeted by the movement dubbed the PMRC, had given the band great publicity and a growing legion of fans.
It was on the tour to promote their third album “Inside the Electric Circus” that the idea came up to record the shows and release a live album from them. An initial recording in London at Hammersmith encouraged the band to do a serious run through once they arrived back in the US. Two nights were recorded in California in March 1987 at the end of the tour, when the band should have been at its best and the songs at their tightest. Which in many ways was the case, but there were also the other touring problems that crept into the recordings.
Tensions within the band were rife as they came to the conclusion of the tour, and throughout the time when this album was recorded. At times drummer Steve Riley and bass guitarist Johnny Rod had to be dragged apart, and fisticuffs ensued on a regular basis. It is interesting that in the linear notes for the remastered version of this album, Blackie Lawless actually suggests that Steve Riley was the one who was under pressure, because he had always had to try and live up to the band’s original drummer, Tony Richards, and that he couldn’t do that. Now, I’ve always thought Riley was a great drummer, which he also proved when he either quit or was sacked by Blackie following this tour, and he went on to join L.A Guns as they released their debut album. To be honest, there always appeared to be tension in W.A.S.P. whether they were on a successful roll or not, but it is interesting that there should have been problems within the band at this time, a time when change did seem to be coming, both in the band and in the style of music they had produced prior to this point in time.

As a representative live tribute to their first three albums, this album covers most of the bases. To be fair it would have been a difficult job in which to whittle down the songs choices available for a touring setlist, let alone then choosing which songs to use on the live album produced from it. In the end the band left out four songs from the shows that were recorded - “Sex Drive”, “Animal - Fuck Like a Beast”, “Widowmaker”, and “Shoot it from the Hip”, although all but “Animal” eventually made their way on to the remastered CD version of the album some years later as bonus tracks.
The coverage of the albums was fairly evenly spread, and contained most of the great hits from the band. “L.O.V.E Machine” and “I Wanna Be Somebody” were the big singles from their eponymous debut and are still live favourites to this day. “Sleeping in the Fire is still an underrated track, and one that also plays out beautifully live. “Wild Child” was the big single from the second album “The Last Command” and is another that still sits in the live set in the present day, and is joined by the other great single from that album “Blind in Texas”. And the best of the “Inside the Electric Circus” album on which the band was touring at the time is featured here too, with the opening title track, “9.5.N.A.S.T.Y” and the wonderful cover version of “I Don’t Need No Doctor”.
What makes this live album unique is that it has two songs specially written for this tour, songs that had not been recorded on a studio release before the tour, and in fact never received the studio treatment. Which means that the only place you can hear the songs “The Manimal” and “Harder Faster” is on this live album. And some people might find that to be unfortunate, but I’ve always enjoyed this fact. Both are your atypical W.A.S.P. songs of the era, and are good fun in the bargain. And, on top of that, make it essential to buy this album if you want to have the entire W.A.S.P. collection of songs, so that probably doesn’t hurt either. Topping it off is the addition of the song “Scream Until You Like It”, the theme songs for the movie “Ghoulies II”. The band didn’t write the song, it was written by those involved in the soundtrack for the movie, but the boys certainly make it their own in the recording process.

In my first year of University in 1988, I used to spend my five hour break between lectures on a Wednesday in town, strolling through the record stores. My favourite was Illawarra Books & Records, where there was plenty of used vinyl on offer at a price that a poor student could almost afford. On one magical day during the first semester, I walked into this shop, and found all three of WA.S.P’s first albums, along with this album, all sitting there, waiting for me to purchase them. And I did. 20 bucks for the lot, worth more back then than it is now, but still so much cheaper than they should have been. And I played them all to death, blunting the needle on my stereo in my bedroom several times. And they all got the same amount of listening, often back to back to back.
I always loved this back in the day, and I still do now in the present. It has a great vibe around it, and it still gives off the energy that I imagine the band did in those live shows of the day. More importantly, there is no backtracking or dubs to be heard, what you hear is what you get, which is not quite true of the band in the modern day. And it is still an interesting piece, because it is surprising how much work goes in to those early W.A.S.P. studio albums, and in some ways how difficult it is to represent them well in the live environment – especially in the vocals. But everything here is good, and it is an enjoyable album to listen to. And as a historical record of the first phase of the W.A.S.P. story it acts as a suitable conclusion. W.A.S.P’s sound began to mature in a different direction following this album, and the band itself blurred in many realities following this. But that’s a story for another day.

1182. Ozzy Osbourne / Speak of the Devil [Live]. 1982. 4.5/5

The fall and rise of Ozzy Osbourne during the years collating the late 1970’s and early 1980’s is one that we have covered a little already on this podcast. There are amazing accounts out there from former bandmates who have documented not only how difficult Ozzy could be to work with due to his vices, and how difficult his management team could be to work with.
Following on from the “Diary of a Madman” album and subsequent tour, the decision had been made by Ozzy and his management (ok, Sharon) that they would do an album focused purely on the songs of Ozzy’s first band, Black Sabbath. There were reasons stated for wanting to do it, which included that the previous publishing deal had now come to an end, which meant that by recording Sabbath songs all of the writers of those songs (which of course included Ozzy) would then reap the profits. It would also serve as a way of getting out of their current record deal in an easier fashion than writing another one or two albums to do so. What to me has always seemed to be the main reason, however, was that the current lineup of Black Sabbath had announced that they were putting together a live album themselves – without Ozzy on it – and there seems little doubt that this had created some angst for the previous lead singer of that band. And it always felt to me that in deciding to go down this path, especially when the band had just released two critically acclaimed albums that they could build upon, that the ONLY reason for it could be ego, and that Ozzy wanted to prove that he was the original and best.
Whichever way you want to look at the reasoning behind it, the tour and album almost didn’t eventuate anyway. When Ozzy announced to his then bandmates about the idea of playing a tour and releasing a live album of completely Black Sabbath material, the band as one revolted. Guitarist Randy Rhoads and drummer Tommy Aldridge both out and out refused to play on it. Both had already expressed their reluctance to play the Sabbath songs that were in their Ozzy sets, as neither felt as though they had anything in common with the style of music those songs sat in. Bass guitarist Rudy Sarzo, though not so adamant about it all, still stuck with his fellow bandmates. This caused Ozzy to go off in a drunken rage, apparently firing all three, but then the next day not remembering that he had done it. Eventually the three agreed to participate, though it is reported that this contributed heavily to Randy making the decision that he would leave the band once it was completed. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, Randy was killed in the accident of the light plane and the bus he was sleeping in, so we will never know what would have happened in that respect.
In order to move forward, Bernie Torme initially took on the guitaring role, but it was Brad Gillis, who was then working on the debut album for his band Night Ranger – an episode posted just recently on this podcast – who came in to take on the role for this live album, one that was still full of problems as they reached the recording phase.

Just to further complicate just how this album came about, imagine being the band – Sarzo, Aldridge and Gillis – and being asked to get together for rehearsals for the upcoming concerts, but being told that the lead singer wouldn’t be attending. I mean, how would you go about processing that? This is what the band was told, that Ozzy wouldn’t be attending rehearsals. They had five days to learn the songs and get them up to speed for a live recording. Which, they then did, apart from three – Iron Man, Children of the Grave and Paranoid – because they were told that earlier recordings of those songs with Randy on guitar would be used on the album. Ozzy didn’t show up until the soundcheck for the first of two shows being recorded, at The Ritz in New York, a club that held up to 1000 people. And, much like Ozzy, even at this point of his career, he had trouble remembering the lyrics. So, for both sold out performances, Ozzy had a chair at the front of the stage, with a book full of lyrics propped up on it, where he planted himself for most of the gigs, reading the lyrics off the pages. The guitarists also had to locate themselves closer to the drum riser to hear the drums as the monitors usually used were not available. And THEN, when they finally reached the time to play the three songs that were not going to be used for the actual album, the band loosened up and showed less care and precision, because they knew that these songs at least would not appear. That was, of course, until the decision was made to retain the Randy live versions for a possible release down the track (the afore-published episode on the “Tribute” album can be heard in season 2 of this podcast) and the band management indeed decided to use these versions, something that displeased Sarzo, Aldridge and Gillis. It was at this time that both Sarzo, who had been recording the Quiet Riot album “Metal Health” in secret at the time, and Gillis, who had been recording “Dawn Patrol” with Night Ranger, left the Osbourne camp to return to their other bands. The band had also recorded an extra day with no audience, to cover all bases in case of any audio trouble form the two gigs done live. All in all, apart from being quite the ordeal, the story seems almost Spinal Tap-ish in retelling. There is even more expansion of these stories, and to know it all it is worth checking out Rudy Sarzo’s autobiography “Off the Rails”, which really lifts the lid on an epic period of music history.

One of the really amazing parts of the Black Sabbath history was the lack of a truly representative live album. Sure, “Live at Last” was released in 1980, but without the band’s input or real knowledge. This was somewhat rectified with the “Past Lives” release in 2002 that utilised that material and other historical live recordings. There was “Cross Purposes Live” in 1995 with Tony Martin. And the “Reunion” live album in 1998 had all but Bill ward back in the saddle, but it was way beyond their prime.
And then we had “Live Evil” which was released a month after this album, with Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice, doing songs of both Mark I and II of the band. And that is a great live album – look out for that episode a very episodes after this one.
What I guess I’m getting around to is that, at the time, this album was your best bet to hear Ozzy singing all these classic Sabbath songs live on an album, and so even despite the torment behind getting it up and running, I always enjoyed it. I enjoyed the addition of Brad Gillis’s iconic guitar sound on these songs, and both Tommy and Rudy are terrific players. These versions sound great, and Ozzy sounds great if not a little unhinged between songs with his banter.
It wasn’t until four years after this was released that I came across it, and ironically also “Live Evil”, so I did the same thing as fans would have done on its release – compared it to each other. And I don’t really favour one against the other. They both have their charms, they both have their very slight downturns. It may have been a strange move at the time given the burgeoning success of his new material after leaving Black Sabbath, but it didn’t seem to upset the fans. To be honest, the retrospective look back of live material in recent years on the Deluxe Edition re-releases of some of Sabbath’s greatest albums, which have entire live gigs from that time, is a much better showcasing of Black Sabbath the band in their live days. But this album showcases Ozzy and his bandmates at their time, in 1982, and in that respect this album is still a fun listen, and worthy of many singalong moments of these great songs.

1181. Whitesnake / Saints & Sinners. 1982. 3.5/5

Whitesnake’s existence in its earliest form, as a blues-based hard rock band that combined half of the end pieces of Deep Purple and the recruitment of other excellent musicians and writers had become better and more popular with each year and album that passed. The core of David Coverdale on vocals with former bandmates Jon Lord on keyboards and Ian Paice on drums, along with Micky Moody and Bernie Marsden on guitars and Neil Murray on bass, formed what became the initial essential group, mixing blues based rhythm with the harder centre that had come from Purple. Each album, even going back now and listening to them in order of their release, shows an improvement in the music and the way the band gels with its writing and performing.
The band’s 4th album “Come an’ Get It” had produced the best reviews the band had received, and the band’s highest album position in the UK, and yet according to the band members they were still making relatively little money from albums and sell-out concerts. This was causing growing dissent within the ranks, such that when the band reconvened to write and record the follow up, tensions within the band was clear. Coverdale had already written much of what eventually became the “Saints & Sinners” album, something that was also a step out of the ordinary from previous band collaborations. The recording began, but before it could be completed, Moody quit the band at the end of 1981. This set off a chain reaction of events, including Coverdale deciding to put the band on hiatus while his daughter was sick. During this hiatus, Coverdale sacked the band’s manager, bought out many of the contracts he was tied to, and eventually decided to let go almost off of the remaining members in Marsden, Paice and Murray, claiming they lacked the enthusiasm needed to keep the band going.
Towards the end of 1982, Coverdale had contacted Moody, and asked him to come back and help him finish the album, which Moody agreed to. In the end most of it had been done, so it just required a few guitar pieces and backing vocals added to have it done, and producer Martin Birch then spent a few weeks putting it all together to complete the procedures. It had been a long hard road, and one where Coverdale was obviously angling to try and get a breakthrough in the US. And while some of the songs here seem skewed with that in mind, the progression from blues rock to hard rock is not as noticeable here as was perhaps thought to be the case when the album was initially released.

In many ways this is a conduit between the way the band had begun, and the way it ended up by the late 1980’s. Given that this was the final album to feature those main six players, the real change towards cracking the US hard rock market probably came on the follow up to this album, “Slide it In”. But this album does progress further down the path on the back of “Come an’ Get It” without totally giving up that blues and in places almost rockabilly style that early Whitesnake had garnered its support. “Rock an’ Roll Angels” is an upbeat blues trip with piano bar keyboards from Lord being a centrepiece. “Bloody Luxury” is in the same vein, it sounds like it is coming straight from an old blues bar, again with two great solo guitar pieces from Moody and Marsden with Lord’s own blues piano set between them. “Dancing Girls” is another catchy song that has Lord dominate the middle of the song in great style, while Moody and Marsden have their moments. There are also atypical Whitesnake songs in the mix, including the opening track “Young Blood” and then the mid-tempo “Victim of Love”. And you can’t go past those titles when it comes to a Whitesnake album, with “Rough an’ Ready” and “Love an’ Affection” and “Rock an’ Roll Angels”. And “Saints an’ Sinners”. All very good songs, don’t get me wrong, with typical Whitesnake hooks in the guitar riffs and Coverdale’s smooth yet biting vocals throughout. “Love an’ Affection” has a call back to Deep Purple days, while the closing title track is a get hard rock song to finish off proceedings in style. But what is it with dropping the ‘d’ in all of the ‘ands’ on the song titles? It’s a bit wanky isn’t it. It does date the album back to that period.
The two obvious standout songs on this album are ones that fans of any generation would know - “Crying in the Rain” and “Here I Go Again”. When the album was released back in 1982, they were the best of what comes here. What makes them unique here is that both were eventually re-recorded for Whitesnake’s 1987 album, with a more updated style that better reflected the style Coverdale wanted at that time in his efforts to break the American market. Comparatively, both versions of both songs hold up, and both versions reflect the time and audience they were written for.

1982 was some time before I began to find bands like Whitesnake. Indeed, like I guess most of my generation, I fell head over heels in love with the band with the 1987 album, it being one of the albums of playlist of that year. From there it was the “Slip of the Tongue” album, and more fanboying over that. Beyond that, I didn’t go back to find and appreciate this album until the 2000’s had arrived. And it’s a shame it took me that long, because the wonderful connections of Moody and Marsden and Murray on guitars in this era is quite spectacular, and I probably would say that it culminates at their best on this album. Which, given the history of the making of the album, ends up being rather strange. Apart from that small concession that all was not harmonious within the group, I have a great affection for the album. Each member plays their part. The guitarists as mentioned sound great. Lord and Paice are as noteworthy as always, and Coverdale’s vocals are sublime. I may not have gotten this album until quite late in the piece, but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying it thoroughly, and the last couple of weeks have only helped me to appreciate it even more.
Whitesnake the band had more rough waters to navigate following this album and its tour, and the maturing of the band’s sound and the morphing of the band’s direction all contributed to that. Which continues to make this album a litmus test of the band’s discography, one that is generally well received by fans of all eras of the band.