1308. Edguy / The Savage Poetry. 2000. 3.5/5

There have been many stories over the course of this podcast of friends who come together at school and form a band, and that band either sprouts offshoots that go on to become one of the biggest bands of their age, or the actual band stays together and does that of its own accord. All of these individuals in the band would have had dreams of fame and success. One of those was Tobias Sammet, who at the age of just 14 got together with fellow school friends Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch, and Dirk Sauer in 1992 and formed a band called Edguy, named after their Maths teacher. Jens and Dirk played guitar and Dominik played drums, while Tobi took on the singing role. Initially the band played without a bass player, until Tobi took it upon himself to take up the instrument along with retaining lead vocalist duties. By his own admission, the band was not very good to start with, covering songs from their favourite artists. In 1994 the band wrote and recorded two demos, which they sent out to various record companies, all of which rejected them. So far, this story heads in the same direction as most when it comes to school friend band groups.
In 1995, the band went a step further, recording a full-length demo album, containing nine tracks, and even self-released it to garner some publicity. It was this release, which they called “Savage Poetry” that finally got the ball rolling for the band. Shortly thereafter, they signed with AFM Records who wanted to re-release “Savage Poetry” with more widespread distribution. Edguy however decided against this. It has been reported that they were unhappy with the way the album sounded by this stage, and they didn’t want it to be the first thing released by them on a major label. Instead, they headed into the studio to record their official debut album titled “Kingdom of Madness”, which was released in 1997.
Flash forward to 2000, and on the back of three studio albums Edguy has found its niche in the power metal world. At this time though, Tobi Sammet is deep into writing and preparing for a supergroup project that has been his passion, of writing an opera based around power metal music. That project would eventually come to be called Avantasia and the album would be “The Metal Opera”. With Sammet’s creative flow being consumed by this project, Edguy decided that for their next album, they would completely re-record their demo album from 1995 and release it as their fourth studio album. This they could do as it kept the band busy without requiring the time necessary to creatively compose a new album while their main songwriter was otherwise engaged. And thus came about the album with the slightly adjusted title and slightly adjusted track list called “The Savage Poetry”.

When you listen to this album having already heard the original demo of this album, you immediately notice the light years of difference between the two, in just a five year period. The first improvement noticeable is how far Tobi’s vocals have come in that time period. It is chalk and cheese between his vocals on the demo, and where they are on this release. Even when this was recorded, the band’s fourth album, these guys were only 22 years old, so the natural improvement not only in Tobi’s vocals but in the playing overall is stark as they grew into manhood. The music is tighter, and Tobi sings with more attitude and vigour, while they have also included keyboard arrangement that fill out the songs in a much better way, without trying to compete with Edguy’s proven assets of the twin guitars. New drummer Felix Bohnke, who joined the band for their previous album “Theatre of Salvation”, also adds a more powerful and fast double kick style to the songs that didn’t exist on the originals.
The opening track “Hallowed” is a great way to get into the album, an anthemic-like beginning both musically and with the combined choiring vocals through most of the song. The middle of the track with the traded guitar solos and melodic combining of the two is definitely the best part of the song, with the over-repeating of the same lyrics in the back half of the song a little over the top. This is followed by “Misguiding Your Life” which has a great thrashier start to the track along with requisite scream from Tobi get the song off to its solid beginning. There is a terrific mix of thrash tones and power metal highs through the course of the song, and the speed of the song balances everything nicely. The melodic guitar solos through their assigned slot also accent the best parts of the band's methodology, and the bass line beneath fills everything out to perfection. From here the album segues perfectly into “Key to My Fate”, a song that frames this era of Edguy as well as showcasing the influences that started the band and then got them to this point. The great opening heavy riff starts this off terrifically as an entry to Tobi’s vocals. Then the guitar solos, which act as a perfect homage to Helloween, who were an obvious heavy influence on the band from a young age, and that is brought to bear here. This section is the highlight of the song, wonderfully supported by Felix’s drumming and Eggi’s bass line. This was the song on the demo that showcased the talent the band had at that time, but here in its re-recorded and reformed version it is one of the band’s best ever instalments.
Power metal bands by decree must have power ballads on their albums. And the time has come for that to occur here, with the song “Sands of Time”. Over the course of their history, Edguy have actually written and performed some quite excellent power ballads – and this is not one of them. I understand the mentality to have to provide a section of the fan base with these types of tracks, but they just do nothing for me. Here Tobi offers us his keyboard laden version of this, which is more ballad than power ballad. It’s a skip song. And what is more the pity is that it is sandwiched between two great songs, as it is followed by “Sacred Hell”, which charges out of the blocks in the best Edguy fashion, double kick and guitars keeping up, while Tobi’s chorused vocals take up the baton and cry from the hilt. It is a typically structured Edguy song, indeed it also has similarities to the songs that appeared on Avantasia’s “The Metal Opera” and is another of those great solid tracks good albums need to back up the most popular and well-known songs.
The other thing that power metal is known for is the epic tracks, and Edguy’s first (only chronologically from the demo) is “Eyes of the Tyrant”, that rifles through the gears and covers every extravagance that the genre demands of such songs. It opens and closes with the moody keyboard and Tobi’s quietly building vocal, before bursting to life with the true opening riff of the song. Led by the double kick rolling drum beat and bass line, this ten minute extravaganza has everything you would expect, including a wonderful sweeping guitar break into the solo spots and then the melodic harmony transition back into the verse and chorus. It showcases every peak of the band in the one song and is one of the main attractions of the album. This is followed by “Frozen Candle”, the second longest track on the album which doesn’t scream epic as much as it does heavy standard. The start and end of the track comes across like material on the band’s true heavy metal album “Hellfire Club” down the track a few years, but it has an almost acoustic break within the middle of the song that negates that. It is still a good song, though perhaps the changes do end up making it a tad long.
Moving from the two long form songs of the album back into the second power ballad “Roses to No One” is, again, a pained one. This is a guitar-based power ballad rather than the keyboard-based ballad earlier on the album, which fits more closely with what you might expect from a power metal standard ballad. If you are a fan of these songs there is certainly something here for you with the choir backing vocals and upraising spirit singing, and the power ballad guitar solo. For me, I reach for the skip button extremely quickly. The album closes out in much better style with “Power and Majesty”. Lyrically, it is a bit like it was written by a 17 year old, which by perchance it was! But musically it takes off from the start and barely pauses to catch breath. There's a great galloping beat about the song that it reminiscent of Iron Maiden in its execution, and the solo from Jens is excellent. This powers along to the end of the song and is an effective and enjoyable way to complete the album.

Though I had been a fan from early on in my heavy metal upbringing of bands that would dominate the genre that became power metal, Helloween and Gamma Ray, it wasn’t until the turn of the century that I began to truly investigate and wrap myself in the bands of the genre that I now truly adore, such as Blind Guardian and HammerFall, Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica, and in particular Edguy. So these initial albums had already been released before I began to come on board the band. It was 2001’s “Mandrake” that first caught my attention and made me think that I needed to not only drown in what this album offered, but also to go back and find their first four albums and check them out as well. And that journey actually had me coming across a copy of the original demo version of “Savage Poetry” before I came across this 2000 version of “The Savage Poetry”. And in many ways that was a good thing, because I got to hear what the band sounded like at that very early stage of their career, and then got to hear this version of the album, re-recorded and improved immensely by five years of solid recording and touring and maturing, both musically and in the ages from 17 to 22.
In the quest for totally laying all my cards on the table, it is the albums after this by the band that are my favourites, ones that are conceivably heavier and with greater attitude and better songwriting musically and lyrically that I enjoy most. But what I like about this album is the unbridled joy you can hear in the music as you listen to the album. “Misguiding Your Life” and “Key to My Fate” especially showcase all of this, the speed of the former and the heaviness of the latter being guides to the way the band was heading at that time. And yes, it is true that listening to this album now does give you an insight into just how Tobi was progressing with his Avantasia project at the time because musically there are similarities along the way.
I’ve had this out again for the past few days and listened to it half a dozen times, and I have enjoyed it just as much as I have in the past. In the long run it was a savvy move to re-record their original demo to give it the polish it needed, and it filled a hole while Tobi was otherwise engaged. And if you like power metal in any way, you will find something at least here to enjoy. If you don’t, then you won’t.

1307. UFO / Covenant. 2000. 2.5/5

UFO as a band (some would say in name only) had a rough time in the lost years between 1987 and 1995 following the loss of members of the best known era of the band. With the changing music landscape around them the band found it difficult to retain its position as one of the heavy influencers in the industry. The late 1980’s surge of thrash metal and glam metal had taken away their position as a trailblazing hard rock act, while the arrival of grunge in the early 1990’s had further eroded their fan base. In 1995 though, the band at least had some forces on their side with the recording and release of their 14th album “Walk on Water”. The reformation of the band’s best known lineup of Mogg/Way/Schenker/Parker/Raymond at least gave that album a shot of nostalgia, and the hope that this reformation could produce something that would capture the imagination of the old fan base once again, and perhaps draw in some new fans. And to a certain point it did. While the album did not chart, it saw a rise in album sales and concert sales. Even in the tough days of the alternative rock and metal scene there was hope for the band on the back of this album. And then, as seemed to be a given when he was in any band ever, Michael Schenker pulled a Michael Schenker and left just weeks into the tour to support the album, and one of the drawcards was gone again. Drummer Andy Parker was on the outer again too, and finally Paul Raymond also moved on, and the band was almost back to square one again.
But things seem to move fairly quickly around the band, and they did again here. In 1998, Schenker returned to help the band complete the tour when Raymond had left, and on the back of this the trio of Mogg, Schenker and Way, along with new drummer in Aynsley Dunbar, returned to the studio to put together the band’s first new album in five years, the longest period between albums in the band’s career, which was to be called (apparently not ironically in the slightest) “Covenant”.

When 2000 arrived, music fans were getting a little nostalgic. They were beginning to look back on the days of their youth, and think about all of the great bands and music they had grown up with, and that wouldn’t it be great to hear some of that kind of music being written and recorded again. It brought about several bands of the era looking to return to their roots of a kind, and not write albums that tried to channel what was popular at the time but write an album that brought back memories of the days of their prime. This was the age that UFO found themselves in, and indeed appears to be the direction that this album heads in from the outset. Everything about it holds true to the way the band adorned their albums through the 1970’s. The majority of the album is composed by Phil Mogg and Michael Schenker and in the main they are looking to create songs that have that structure that transformed the band into one of the leaders of the hard rock era of the mid-to-late 1970’s. Here though it emphasises the main components of the style of tracks they are producing. In this way, the hard rock songs have a bit more punch to them vocally and on guitar than perhaps they would have back in the day, and the quieter ballad based tracks seemed just a bit more drawn back within themselves as well. That may seem like a simplified way of explaining how this album sounds, and you are correct. Mainly because the sound of the album is hard to define. The keyboards have more of an organ tone about them rather than what Paul Raymond would have played had he been in the band on this album. That organ sound does tend to dominate itself out of the background and more into middle ground on “Covenant” and in the process draws comparisons to the sound that Deep Purple had in their heyday when Jon Lord’s organ was a dominant component of the music.
“Love is Forever” starts the album off on the right foot. It is a heavier version of a song that UFO are renown for, perhaps the best example here on the album of a song that has its roots in earlier times but incorporates the way music had evolved, and the true hard rock coming through in the guitar riff and especially solo from Schenker. It blasts the album out of the blocks and is a formidable beginning to the album. This is followed by “Unraveled” that continues with the same themes, a typical Mogg/Way composition that puts the rock in hard rock. Schenker’s solid riff is catchy, giving off Kiss-like vibes along the way, and Mogg’s toughened up vocals with support from Way and the back up vocalists here makes for a fun and foot tapping song. “Miss the Lights” goes with a more contemporary sound, the rhythm riff sliding along as Mogg croons his vocals over the top in a style reminiscent of Bad Company or Free. And as it turns out, this along with the next couple of songs on the album do line up with that same sound from those same bands. “Midnight Train” most definitely does that, as does “Fools Gold”. There is a very similar style of rhythm pattern through “Midnight Train” and “Fools Gold” as well, which does give the songs the feel of a sister duo.
Mind you, this might be a controversial view, but “In the Middle of Madness” sounds like it could have come from a John Cougar Mellencamp album, if Mellencamp had utilised on organ sound on his albums. Even Schenker’s riff and solo sound like they could have been off Mellencamp’s 1985 album “Scarecrow”. The whole song could almost have been lifted off that. Now that is an interesting comparison I know, but if you ever happen to listen to THIS album and you hear this song, and you know THAT album, then you may well agree with me. Though to be honest, finsing anyone out there besides myself who knows (and owns) both of those albums seems like a longshot. “The Smell of Money” and “Rise Again” are both musically more similar to the opening tracks on the album, though stripped back in tempo and somewhat slightly disturbingly Phil Mogg seems to be channelling the vocal chords of Scott Strapp, the lead vocalist from the band Creed. This was the time when they were at thier most prominent, so perhaps utilising that vocal style was thought to have been a good move. I’m not as certain of that as perhaps Mogg was if that WAS the case.
“Serenade” has a very modern Deep Purple sound about it, perhaps through the forward mixing of the keyboard organ which does tend to move in a Jon Lord kind of circle throughout, as does Schenker’s guitar with the Ritchie Blackmore tones about it. The move between softer tones and the harder grind, with Schenker’s guitar going from clear to harder, and a solo that could very easily have been out of the Blackmore playbook. It is a song that finds a number of influences. “Cowboy Joe” on the other hand channels everything that makes the band great. Mogg’s vocals are terrific here, back to their very best, and Dunbar’s drumming is far closer to the powerful style that Andy Parker used to play. It may be an imperfect copy of the great UFO template but it does the job here. Closing out the album is “The World and His Dog” which incorporates classic and wonderful Schenker guitar solos into the mix of the song. The rhythm of bass and drums again has the powerful feel that creates the best UFO songs

As most of the regular listeners to this podcast will know by now, my favourite and mostly only period of UFO is the 1970’s albums, where the big five made five great albums and a live album beyond compare. Everything that they did during that period to me is untouchable by every other era of the band, which doesn’t mean there weren’t some good pieces of albums that came after that, it's just that they never really managed to make another album that came close to those original ones. And, in the main, that is the downfall of the release of this particular album. Because “Covenant” has a lot of very likeable tracks on it, even if for the most part I spend my whole time when I listen to this album trying to work out what each song reminds me of – which band and era to me that it sounds like UFO are trying to mimic here. But when they released this album, it came with a second CD, which contained live performances of the tour to promote the previous album, but they are all songs that are from their best known albums. I fact, the majority of the 7 live tracks come from two of those albums. And what this live album does, when comparing it to the studio album it is attached to, is remind you of HOW BRILLIANT those songs were from 25 years in the past are, and that they stand head and shoulders above every song released on this album. It feels like an own goal to have put this with this album. No doubt it was as an incentive to the long term fans to go out and buy the album, and that probably worked well. But it sure hurt the comparison to the new material.
As a result of what I have said earlier, I don’t listen to this album very often. To be honest, I have probably listened to this album more in the past seven days than I have in the previous 15 years. I only came to it initially because Michael Schenker had returned to the band to record the album, much as he had for the pervious album “Walk on Water”, soon to receive its own episode on this podcast. And what this week has reminded me is that this is an average album, one that I might be willing to raise to a rating of a better than average album if I was of the mind to want to listen to it on a more regular basis. And therein lies the problem when you have far too much music in your collection to give everything a fair hearing. Like all bands, when I decide that I want to listen to something from a particular band, I have my usual half a dozen go-to choices. And this isn’t one of them for UFO. While I think they made an effort to return to a more familiar sound on this album and compete against what was happening in the music world 25 years ago, there are a few clunks along the way. I wouldn’t even say the clunks are bad because those songs are still fine to listen to, or have been for me this week at least. But I’m not jumping out of my skin to listen to John Cougar Mellencamp and Creed and Deep Purple knock offs. I’d rather hear songs that emphasised the great points of this band rather than mutations of others. That to me is the only real downfall of this album. It’s the same old story in the long – it isn’t a bad album at all... it just isn’t a great one either. It doesn’t compete with “Lights Out” or “Force It”. And neither should it. You should be able to enjoy albums of a band from different eras without making a judgement on them in that way. But, I just want to listen to “Lights Out” and “Force It”. So, I do.

1306. Black Sabbath / Sabotage. 1975. 4.5/5

Five albums into their career, and while Black Sabbath the band seemed to be going from strength to strength musically, off the stage they had come across some problems. They had played at the California Jam in January 1974 in front of 200,000 people, but had received barely a pittance as payment for the gig. Eventually they realised that the band, through manager Patrick Meehan, had been paid $US250,000 for their performance, but had only received $1,000 each as their share of the proceeds. This then led to more outrageous discoveries for the four bandmates, including that all of their property including their houses and cars were all owned by Meehan, and that they literally owned nothing themselves. This revelation saw the band decide to sack Meehan and hire Don Arden as their new manager, something that created a two year battle through the courts to not only try and sever their previous arrangement but also try and recoup lost royalties and payments. This album was written and recorded in the midst of this legal battle, with Meehan suing the band for unlawful dismissal. It was during this period that the band began to question if there was any point to recording albums and touring endlessly "just to pay the lawyers". All of this was obviously putting enormous strain and pressure on the band, and eventually inspired the title of the album “Sabotage” as they felt that these issues were creating a detrimental effect on trying to put together the album and tour.
In regards to the production of the album itself, it was co-produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and Mike Butcher. Iommi wrote in his autobiography about the time: “We produced “Sabotage” ourselves. The band disappeared most of the time so it was sort of left to me and the engineer. I got more and more involved with the production side of things, but it wasn’t like I would sit there and tell the other guys what to do, because they knew what to play, they put their parts to it. I just spent a lot more time in the studio because, when it came to doing the guitar bits or mixing, it would take longer and I’d be more into it than they were. I didn’t mind so much. I’d be there to the death”.
In the book “The Story of Black Sabbath: Wheels of Confusion”, Iommi again reflected, "We could've continued and gone on and on, getting more technical, using orchestras and everything else, which we didn't particularly want to. We took a look at ourselves, and we wanted to do a rock album – “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” wasn't a rock album, really”. And while both Iommi and drummer Bill Ward appeared to enjoy the recording sessions for the album, Ozzy Osbourne was obviously growing frustrated with how long Black Sabbath albums were taking to record, as quoted in his autobiography, "Sabotage took about four thousand years”.
Under all of this stress and strain, the band managed to find a way to get the album together, and to release their sixth album, the aforementioned “Sabotage”.

From the opening bars of the opening track, you can tell something is going on here with Black Sabbath. Because although they have had dozens of great songs up to this point of their career when they recorded “Sabotage”, and they had had songs with attitude and heavy riffs and amazing stylistic bass riffs through them – nothing quite prepares you for the opening of “Hole in the Sky”. Yes, that opening riff is a beauty, great tones from Iommi once again, and Geezer’s bassline immediately bounds to the front of the mix to hammer home that initial heavy interaction. But my word Bill Ward is hitting those drums and cymbals BLOODY HARD! He has done some remarkable things on previous albums, but this is a John Bonham styled attack on his instrument early on. The brilliance of the ‘go your own way’ style of guitar and bass during the chorus is amazingly composed and played. How do you come up with those two different riffing's and yet make it sound so awesome? The tempo holds together throughout the track, and Ward’s drum skin and cymbals must have had to have been replaced following the recording of the song. Anyone who doubted the direction this album was heading in knows full well at the conclusion of the first song.
And yet, even after all of these years, I question the decision to insert the 49 seconds of “Don’t Start (Too Late)” between the opening track and the one that is listed at number three on Side A of the album. The instrumental interlude, in the context of what has come and what is to follow, just doesn’t make any sense. Sure, let’s listen to Tony twiddle away on his guitar in a quite interlude that is nothing more than an interruption to the magnificence that is coming forth out of the speakers. It is not the first time the band has offered us these little nooks between tracks. Some work OK though the albums would be better off without them. Here on “Sabotage”, “Don’t Start (Too Late)” actually does sabotage what should have been a great abrupt ending to the opening track that then hit straight into what should have been the follow up track. That song, is “Symptom of the Universe”. And if they had done that, this album may well have been untouchable.
I still get the same feeling listening to the start of “Symptom of the Universe” as I did when I first heard it, all those years ago. That opening riff from Tony is so simple and yet so incredible. From the outset, it is what you expect that heavy metal is. And then the bass and drums join in to drive the power even further. But come on – that rolling drum solo from Bill Ward that comes in... have you ever tried to play that the same way Bill does? I suspect Bill was never able to play it the same way twice when it came to recording it either, but when you listen carefully to it, it is so incredibly unobtainable it just makes this song unique. It almost sounds out of time, and yet he pulls it back at the right moment to kick back into that hard hitting 2/4 time where, like he did on the opening track, he is hitting those damn things so hard. The drumming on this song once again highlights how important Bill Ward was on these early Black Sabbath albums. And then Ozzy chimes in, in that higher than high tone that sadly disqualified him from singing it in later years when he couldn’t reach those heights. In his autobiography, Iommi has this to say: “Sabotage has a couple of unusual tracks, like ‘Symptom of the Universe’. That has been described as the first progressive metal song, and I won’t disagree with that. It starts with an acoustic bit, then it goes into the up-tempo stuff to give it that dynamic, and it does have a lot of changes to it, including the jam at the end. That last bit was made up in the studio. We did the track and after that finished, we just started jamming. I started playing this riff, the others joined in, we kept it going and we ended up keeping it. Then I overdubbed it with acoustic guitar. A few things we’ve recorded came from jams like that. We’d just keep going on the thing and so the end of the song sometimes became longer than the song itself”. This is one of the great songs, to me one of five that I would suggest a person unfamiliar with this era of Sabbath has to listen to if they want to know what the band was like.
(War Pigs, Children of the Grave, After Forever, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Symptom of the Universe)
And then, to complete side one of the album we have “Megalomania”, perhaps and underrated song or a slightly forgotten song of this era of Sabbath. It doesn’t often get brought up in conversation, it rarely appears in best-of compilations, and it is a mystery as to why this occurs. The sprawling almost-ten minute journey is the true beginning of the journey to progressive metal. The 3 minute slow burn to open the track, with Ozzy’s sinister vocals along with piano and synth adding in underneath, then bursts forth with Iommi’s great riff and Ozzy’s vocals shattering into the highest echelons of his range, chanting and pontificating as the song grows into the powerful beast it becomes, with Geezer’s bass riffing under the chorus running up and down the fretboard, and Tony’s solo offering as surprising as it is brilliant. It is a wonderful track which really does showcase Ozzy’s vocals at their best. Iommi's final thoughts on the song in his autobiography were: “A lot of our songs tended to be long anyway. Like ‘Megalomania’: we carried on and on with that until we just faded it out. Some of those tracks were probably twice as long as you hear on the album, but we had to fade them out”.
Side 2 opens with “The Thrill of it All”, and Geezer lyrics are really throwing curveballs during this track. “Inclination of direction, walk the turned and twisted drift,
with the children of creation, futuristic dreams we sift
Clutching violently we whisper with a liquefying cry
Any identify the answers that are surely doomed to die”
One of the things that has always struck me about some of Ozzy’s vocals in this song is that they have a real Lennon/McCartney vibe about them, especially in the ‘oh yeah... OH YEAH!” part of the song. Ozzy has always professed to have loved The Beatles and while it was unlikely to be his intention that familiarity always strikes me here. This is followed by the mostly instrumental track “Supertzar”, that has the backing of an English choir to create the atmosphere that the band was looking for. Iommi commented in his autobiography: “I wrote ‘Supertzar’ at home with a Mellotron, to create choir sounds. I put heavy guitar to that and it really blended well. I thought, I’d love to try this in the studio, it would be great if we could use a real choir”.
The album’s only single release was “Am I Going Insane (Radio)”, probably the only track here that had any chance of getting airplay given the wonderful heaviness of the rest of the collected tracks. It’s a simple song with some synth thrown in that may help it sound a bit more commercial from what has come before it on the album. There is no outstanding drum fills of bass line, and Tony’s guitar for the most part is quite muted. Reportedly Ozzy was disappointed with both of these songs, and there is a certain amount of truth to the fact that they are completely different to the rest of the songs on the album.
The album concludes with “The Writ”, one of only a handful of Black Sabbath songs to feature lyrics composed by Ozzy, who typically relied on Geezer for lyrics. As will be obvious to those that knew of what was happening around the band at the time, the song was inspired by the frustrations Ozzy felt at the time over their court problems with their former manager. Ozzy noted in his autobiography: "I wrote most of the lyrics myself, which felt a bit like seeing a shrink. All the anger I felt towards Meehan came pouring out”. Thematically, "The Writ" and "Megalomania" are intertwined, according to Bill Ward, as they both deal with the same tensions arising from these ongoing legal troubles. “The Writ” is long tome venting the bands feelings about how their ordeal had been affecting them during this whole time, and interesting change from topics that the band had usually focused on in their songwriting. It is an openly sore wound that finishes off this album in the style that you would hope for an album that deserves its status as one of the band’s best.

For anyone who has not already done so, the podcast titled And Volume for All, hosted by the outrageously talented Quinn, did several episodes on the original iteration of Black Sabbath in season one of said podcast back at the end of 2022, including talking about the album “Sabotage”. I highly recommend that you listen to those if you love amazing podcasts and especially on heavy metal. It is the best music podcast on the planet, and if you aren’t listening, then start now. You can thank me later.
I actually came to Black Sabbath AFTER I had first discovered both Ozzy Osbourne and Dio, and worked my way backwards through the Dio helmed albums “Heaven and Hell” and “Mob Rules”. It wasn’t a deliberate thing, just all a part of my own journey in discovering heavy metal music, which if you are interested, I outline on bonus Patreon only episodes available on that platform. You can find the link in the show notes.
On that journey, “Sabotage” arrived. I don’t really remember in what order I originally heard the eight albums of the band's original formation, but they were all within several months of each other. And as most of you listening to this album would know, there is a wonderful mixture and changes of style and substance about the songs on each album. The way that this foursome continued to try and change the wheel as they moved from album to album, adding and subtracting to the pieces they composed, is what made them the innovators they were during the 1970’s. They weren’t afraid of composing in jam sessions and changing course within a song or a slew of songs. And that is no different here on “Sabotage”. You can feel the aggression that comes on songs such as “Hole in the Sky” and “Symptom of the Universe” and “The Writ”. You can sense the desire to try new things on songs such as “Supertzar”, and the freeforming way they came up with ideas such as on “Megalomania”. In what must have been the most difficult circumstances to try and get in a headspace to write and record an album with everything swirling around them – they came up with this album. The first side of the album in particular for me is immense, amazing, incredible. Those songs – ignoring the 49 seconds between the opening tracks – contains everything wonderful about this band, and for me certainly some of Bill Ward’s finest work.
I have had the album out for the past couple of weeks – indeed, as we have just seen a few weeks ago the final concert appearance of the original Black Sabbath, I have had all eight of those original albums out over the course of the past few weeks again. And they are all amazing. But listening more closely to “Sabotage” because of this podcast episode, it again has struck me just what an amazing album this is.
Changes of substance came over the next two releases, ones that sometimes create conversations over their content, and it remains obvious that tensions created over the issues that were faced here eventually contributed to the parting of this foursome. But on this particular album, everything was running at full steam, and creating some of their best material of all.

1305. Mötley Crüe / New Tattoo. 2000. 2/5

The 1990’s had not been kind to bands of Motley Crue’s ilk. Having spent the previous decade at the top of their game, living the life of excess in every imaginable way, while being at the forefront of the hair and glam metal movement, and at times setting the template for other bands to follow and replicate their success, the change in the rules in the 1990’s was the first keystone that loosened on the path. This was followed by the volatile working relationships between certain members of the band finally falling into ruin, requiring changes to both the way the band approached their music, and also who would be involved in their music going forward. Five years had stretched between the high point of their career with “Dr Feelgood” and the follow up, the self-titled “Motley Crue”. This album had seen the departure of lead vocalist Vince Neil and the recruitment of John Corabi as his replacement, and the bluesier sound envisioned on the album was critically acclaimed and yet mostly rejected by the fan base, or of that which remained. The same line up began to write songs for the follow up to that album, but their record label, who feared another hit to the album sales and therefore their own profits, engineered a reunion with Vince Neil coming back to the fold, and Corabi being moved aside. The resulting album, “Generation Swine”, saw what was described as a ‘return to form’ by the record label, though the songs mostly had Corabi’s stamp over them, and were obviously composed for his vocals and not Neil’s.
The reunion was not universally loved, and drummer Tommy Lee was the main hold out. The ill feeling between Lee and Neil had not dissipated, and it was also during this time that Lee had many domestic disputes with his then wife Pamela Anderson, which led to him serving jail time for domestic violence. While in jail, Lee had decided that he wanted out, and following his release from prison, and completing a greatest hits tour the band had booked, Lee left the band.
In his place, Motley Crue recruited former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo to take his place. Castillo was a proven performer, a professional, and bringing him into the band at this time seemed like an excellent proposition.
The band spent three months in early 2000 writing and recording the new album. In recent interviews, following the acrimonious split between the band and guitarist Mick Mars, Mars was quoted in an article for Rolling Stone magazine as saying that he didn’t write any of the material on “New Tattoo” nor barely played on the album, and that he was being held accountable by the band because of the poor performance of the previous album “Generation Swine”. "I didn't write any of those songs, since I wasn't invited," said Mars. "I think I played one lick on that album”. Nikki Sixx, interviewed for the same article, dismisses that claim, saying Mick played all lead and rhythm guitars, and whatever else he wanted to. Mars also has three co-writing credits on the album, so it is hard to know exactly what the real truth to the matter is. In any case, the album was released in July 2000, at a time that fans were looking for music from their favourite 80’s artists that more reflected the music of that time. This was Motley Crue’s chance to deliver on that statement.

The opening track “Hell on High Heels’ hits the brief immediately when it comes to providing a song that gives the listener the feeling that they are back in the heyday of the band. No, it isn’t spot on, because the band is older now and it doesn't have that same intensity and energy that those original songs did, but it does provide exactly what the fans and record label would have been hoping for, a song with some similarities to that era.
From here, the lyrical content of the songs of the album begins to take shape, and for the most part it comes across as... unseemly. “Treat Me Like the Dog I Am” just immediately makes you think ‘what the hell are these guys up to here?!’ It is also the start of the writing partnership between Nikki Sixx and James Michael, a musician and producer who would be tied closely to future projects that involved the two of them, including Brides of Destruction and Sixx AM. Here the music is of the right attitude, but it is hard to sing along with the lyrics without either laughing or cringing. In most cases, both. Then they offer us a country acoustic based ballad, the title track “New Tattoo”. Now somewhere along the line this became something that Motley Crue wanted to do, and they are all the worse for it. The band’s point of demise can almost be pinpointed to the success of “Home Sweet Home” from “Theatre of Pain” that was reviewed here on a recent episode, because that led the band down the path to chase that success and it has ruined so many of their songs in the process. This is rubbish, with no redeeming features. It should be played to kids in school in detention to punish them, because it would certainly stop them from ever doing anything to be sent back there again. Even then, it is better lyrically than what is served up on “Dragstrip Superstar”. The music is fine, sounds good even, but lyrically this is another Nikki Sixx clanger. “Jailbait playmate, freakshow masturbate, fuel inject carburette, underage penetrate”. Jesus Nikki how old are you? Actually, don’t answer that. If it wasn’t for the good riff and great solo on this song is would be at the bottom of the barrel. In many ways, it still is. But then you come to the next great instalment on the album, “1st Band on the Moon”, a straight Nikki Sixx song, but you wouldn’t need to take long before you came to that conclusion. Seriously, once again the music is good enough. It isn’t ground breaking, but it is good. Vince sounds great. But the lyrics are puerile trash. Great sounding guitar Mick, I like the solo in the middle of the song. Just... c’mon... it can’t be that hard to come up with something else to sing about. Well... apparently not, because there is more of this to come on “She Needs Rock N Roll”. On the surface it’s just a typical teenager needs to listen to rock and roll music, but the connotations – well, not connotations because the lyrics are straight to the point – just seem like they should have been locked in a box in the past and forgotten. Sure, maybe I’m just old and don’t need to hear this stuff anymore, or feel like I WANT to sing along to it anymore. That part is true, but goodness me there must be a way to be more inventive in songwriting.
Yes, all of this will continue for the remainder of the episode. You have been warned.
The generic side of the band’s music comes to the fore with “Punched in the Teeth by Love”. Firstly, musically. There isn’t a great effort here to create something that is different from anything that hasn’t been done before. Before we even get to the lyrical content, if the music had been more inspiring – you know, offering a great riff or bass line or scintillating solo – then this song may have been better than just generic fluff. But it doesn’t. But then the lyrics: “Flash a smile like an alligator, move her hips like a generator, all over town like an oil spill, if there’s meat on the bone she’ll wag her tail”. This song is credited to all four members of the band, which truly makes it worse. And the repeated concourse of the song title through the last few minutes of the song is overbearing. Not that the follow up is any better, as “Hollywood Ending” is the power ballad that desperately tries to recreate the success and depth of feeling that their ballad hits of the past have provided. In this case though, it is a pretty half hearted effort to do so. Even the quick fade at the end of the track seems like it is an afterthought, a way to stop the pain from going on any longer. It is almost a country acoustic ballad much like the earlier one on the album, that’s the depths that this song falls to, replete with the background singers in the chorus. The band’s writers are trying to pull out all the tricks to create the illusion that this album is bringing back the best of the band from its greatest era, but it is a poor facade that they hare building on. This is a god-awful song.
I can’t work out if “Fake” is an autobiographical song, or if it is actually trying to proclaim that the band is different from the people that they discuss within the lyrical content of the track. They are obviously having a crack at record labels and critics alike, but are they owning their own excesses or blaming them on others? Are they trying the accept that they haven’t always done the right thing, or are they just trying to drag everyone else into the mire with them? There are two ways of interpreting the lyrics. What IS true is that musically, again, this is fairly average fair, unexciting, stuck in a rut and stuck in a rhythm, without the great music that drives the best Motley Crue songs. It may be a statement but as a song it doesn’t do much to advertise that fact. Still, lyrically it is like Shakespeare compared to Nikki Sixx’s offering on “Porno Star”, which is exactly as you would expect a Crue song with this title to be about. Listen to this marvellous composition: “Dot com, dot cum, web cam super scam triple x cyber sex, shoot my rocks on the box, peeping tom on the net, down I’m going down going down, I’m a cyber junkie what a freak”. Welcome to the new millennium everyone. The album then concludes with the cover of The Tubes song “White Punks on Dope”, a song title that is probably very appropriate for some members of this band.

As I related very recently on the episode dedicated to the “Theatre of Pain” album, my introduction to Motley Crue came reasonably early on in my conversion to the heavier side of music. I had asked my heavy metal music dealer to record me an album that had become the next in my line of requirements. He asked me what I wanted him to put on the other side of the cassette, to which I said to him to choose something he thought I might like. The cassette came back with “Shout at the Devil” as the chosen second side album, and I never looked back.
I got a copy of this album reasonably soon after it was released. At the time I hadn’t heard the “Generation Swine” album, and though I was disappointed that Tommy Lee had left the band I was also pleased to hear Randy Castillo had joined in his place, and was looking forward to what he would add to the album. I still had an overall positive mindset when it came to the band and was hoping that what they produced would be worth the wait. And as it turned out, when I did get the album, I wasn’t disappointed in it terribly. It wasn’t “Dr Feelgood” or “Shout at the Devil”, but it was mostly upbeat and sounded as good as I had thought it might without any outlandish expectations. The band hadn’t turned to nu-metal or industrial metal, so most of it seemed above board. After the requisite number of listens, it moved into the usual pile to be found some time in the future.
This has had the very occasional play since. It isn’t something that I go to when I am in the mood for Motley Crue. A couple of times in the years since I have worked my way through the catalogue and this has come up again, and I listen to it and move to the next album. And mostly through that time I have avoided the obvious question that arises from my podcast episode today. And that is - how did Vince Neil bring himself to sing some of this crap? Because overall, I don’t mind the music. The two country ballads are complete and utter rubbish, don’t get me wrong. Whenever I have listened to this album since, I always wonder if Nikki Sixx had a desire to go down the route Def Leppard did at one stage and collaborate with country and western artists and make that kind of music. Because that is what those songs remind me of. But apart from those, and though some of the songwriting is slightly generic in the way it comes across, the music is mostly good, and I can listen to it without any qualms whatsoever. But the lyrics... my goodness, there is some utter crap there. Though the band has only released one album since this, they have still done a lot of touring, at least up until the aborted Final Tour status that they must have stolen from Kiss. And apart from the tour to promote this album, they have never played ANY of these songs live again. And it is no surprise, because even though in this day and age it is difficult to understand anything Vince Neil actually sings anyway, I’m sure he just drew a line under these songs and said “Nikki, the lyrics are shit, I refuse to sing them”.
So yes. Music is fine, lyrics are crap. That is the best way to sum up “New Tattoo”. Even when listening to it this week, I find myself enjoying about half of the album, and groaning loudly about the other half.
Motley Crue were booked to tour Australia on this album, but unfortunately firstly Randy Castillo got sick, a duodenal ulcer requiring surgery that then discovered cancer, which killed him less than two years after this albums release. Then his replacement Samantha Mahoney from Hole also had problems and the tour never happened. Perhaps that was for the best. The album still resides in my collection, but it is one of the ones that will remain in ‘near mint’ condition as the years pass.

1304. Killswitch Engage / Killswitch Engage. 2000. 3.5/5

The morphing and movement within the broad channels of heavy metal as the calendar approached the new millennium has brought about a true divergence in the music that was being written and the bands that were creating these new segues from the Metal movement. Some of these new tangents being created included the well versed and repeated options of industrial metal, alternative metal, metalcore and nu-metal, each of which had their supporters and detractors, and also the bands that had championed each wave as it came through. Within all of this, there were bands who became the leaders of each new metal stream that came into being, bands who without even knowing what they were doing were at the forefront of a musical style that was on the verge of becoming something more popular and groundbreaking.
Killswitch Engage formed following the disbandment of metalcore bands Overcast and Aftershock in the late 1990’s. Following Overcast’s breakup in 1998, bass guitarist Mike D'Antonio came together with the guitarist from Aftershock, Adam Dutkiewicz. These decided to collaborate together, and with Dutkiewicz deciding he was now going to play drums, they recruited Aftershock band mate guitarist Joel Stroetzel to come on board. This trio began to collate and demo material. Numerous songs were written without a lead vocalist - indeed, all of the songs that made the debut album had been written before a lead vocalist had been found. Adam’s brother, who had also been the lead vocalist for Aftershock, also owned a record label, and signed to that label was a band called Nothing Stays Gold. Their lead singer was a guy by the name of Jesse Leach, and after some cajoling from Adam he came on board to perform the same role for the new band, which took on the name Killswitch Engage. Apparently, the band's name is derived from an episode from Season 5 of The X-Files entitled "Kill Switch".
In 1999, Killswitch Engage recorded a demo containing four tracks, including "Soilborn", the first song written by the band. The demo was first released at the band's first show, opening for melodic death metal act In Flames, in November 1999. While writing the album, D'Antonio asked Ferret Music if they would sign Killswitch Engage as a favour to him, as he had done the illustrations for the covers for some of the albums released through the label. As metal was becoming less popular at the time, at least in terms of album sales, the label’s representatives felt that they might be the last metal band they would ever sign. And thus, it came to pass that the band released their debut album in July 2000, carrying the name “Killswitch Engage”.

There is little doubt that this is a very different band than what you'll hear on the albums going forward. And judging debut albums on what then followed is a difficult thing to do at the best of times. But perhaps that is more so here. Like most debut albums, the band’s sound on this release is very raw and unrefined. Some suggest it is the band’s heaviest output, but that argument can be also bleached out a little by suggesting it was just a natural progression from the two bands that this band came together from, and that it was after this that they developed their own version of the sound they wanted to produce.
Jesse Leach's vocals are certainly a central figure to the album, and for the time and what was being recorded they are up and about. They offer mostly the scream rather than the melodic but for the time this was the norm. The lyrics offer some change within that structure. On the album opener “Temple from the Within: “So easy to look back on life, and question what I want - You teach me to inscribe these words upon my heart, you cover me with the shadow of your hate”. The album’s lyrics follow along the lines of believing in yourself, and making a difference in society. Sometimes that isn’t always easy to pick up through the vocalisation that it rendered on the album. “Vide Infra” picks up the pace, and at times comes close to being in a death metal tone, while also invoking slightly more melodic pieces, and this is followed on by “Irreversal”, where Jesse unleashes the full complement and range of his growls and screams into his clear lines as well. The switch from stand still slowness of riff back into the high energy double kick driven faster tempo brings several different ranges to the track.
“Rusted Embrace” follows the same basic song structure: intro, first verse, chorus, second verse, and so on. Guitar solos are basically non-existent, which does seem a shame and something that has been overlooked, a piece of the puzzle that would have improved these tracks with something out of the box to offset a little of the sameness that does creep in after a time. The instrumental “Prelude” kicks off the second side of the album, and showcases the excellent musical talents of the three musicians. It is interesting that just this two minutes offers a different side to the band that isn’t really heard throughout the rest of this album. It isn’t groundbreaking, but it is something that was incorporated more going forward. It segues nicely into “Soilborn”, the first song the band ever wrote, before Jesse came on board as well, so hearing the more melodic guitar on this track as well, combined with Jesse’s growl, actually combines terrifically well. The opening five minutes of side two is well worth the wait. This is followed by “Numb Sickened Eyes”, which combines a great guitar riff which is almost melodic but doesn’t quite reach that level, which then moves into a heavier rebuttal as the song progresses. The tempo and timing changes through the song are difficult to take, even when you are totally familiar with the song. They seem unnecessary and only to provide a point of difference rather than as an accentuation of the song itself.
Better is to come with the galloping guitar and drums as we enter into “In the Unblind”, kicking this song into a different level, suggesting tones of things to come down the track a little. With the tempo at its best, Jesse’s vocals are also given the chance to showcase the growl and not just the scream, and this song is one of the album’s best because of all of these factors. If any song on this album truly represents the best of this young and raw version of Killswitch Engage, it is this track. The album then concludes with the instrumental track “One Last Sunset”. The quietly contemplative build in the track, from the piano beginnings and into the slowly increasing domination of the guitar, brings a suggestion that this is about to break out into something truly special, a song with shuddering guitars and drums that will create an epic conclusion... and then it just doesn’t get going. Indeed, it is almost just a piano piece to bring the album to its finish. It never ceases to be a surprising disappointment, given what has been showcased on the album prior to this. You expect power and domination to complete the album. Instead, we get unrevealed puzzlement.
So this is where it all started or the band, and yes it is more metalcore here than what they became on later albums, but what this album does is introduce the main players to the fans, and showcase what they had to offer going forward. And sure, Jesse Leach disappeared for a decade when it felt that they were on the verge of that breakthrough. And given that, perhaps it was the best thing that happened for the band in the long runs. Fans have differing views when it comes to that discussion. The vocals aren’t quite as prevalent on this first album as they would become, and we get more of the guitar and bass here in a natural element.

It was through sheer good fortune that we came across Killswitch Engage the band, though it was four years after this initial album had been released. We went to the Metro Theatre in Sydney to see Anthrax on their “We’ve Come for You All” tour, and they had two support acts that night. One I was familiar with, by name and reputation at least, which was Soilwork. But the opening act I didn’t know anything about. But by the time they were halfway through their third song, we all knew that we were going to have to track down this band immediately. At the time of course, Howard Jones was the frontman, but the band and their music was just so incredible, it was impossible not to see that these guys had something special about them. That concert was on April 26, 2004, and they told us that night that their brand new album “The End of Heartache” was coming out in two weeks. And thus, the arrival of Killswitch Engage into our music realm was enacted.
As for this album? I didn’t hear any of the Jesse material until after “As Daylight Dies” had been released and I had been saturated in it, and was starting to look for their other material. And, it is fair to say that it was different enough that it took some time to get my head around it. Not just Jesse’s vocals, but also the music itself. As may fans of the band would agree with, the band’s sound is far more refined once Howard came along and released those two amazing albums that I have just mentioned. They are of a different era, built on the lessons learned from both this album and its follow up “Alive or Just Breathing”, and incorporating the differing styles of their new lead singer. So yes this album was different, so it wasn’t something I jumped on board with immediately or with any great enthusiasm. In the long run, it wasn’t until Jess rejoined the band in 2012 that I came back to this album, mostly in preparation for what he was going to bring back to the band. And I won’t lie – I am a Howard enthusiast, and I still have trouble with parts of this album that could be attributed to my favouring of Howard’s vocals.
Still, I’ve had this album on again over the past couple of days, and it hasn’t been unwelcome. It will never rate as one of my favourite pieces from the band, but I enjoy it more now than I did when I first discovered it back in 2008 or so. Perhaps that is old age creeping in, or a more localised element of being more used to Jesse’s vocals now than I was when I first had the album. Having seen the band a number of times now with Jesse on lead vocals has probably helped with that. There are still good moments on this album that are worth following up if you haven't been down this path before, but it is fair to say that of the Killswitch Engage catalogue, this would rank down at the bottom of the list for me. And as always, that isn’t necessarily a reflection on THIS album, it is more a reflection on what came after it.

1303. Black Sabbath / Live at Last. 1980. 5/5

Black Sabbath the band had been stuck in murky waters for a couple of years by the time that this album came to light. Everyone knows the story of the eventual dismissal of Ozzy Osbourne from the band, the health problems being faced by Bill Ward, and the difficulty in the band really knowing what they were going to do from that point. Then there was the entrance of Ronnie James Dio, whose wonderful vocals and writing appeared to revitalise the band with the release of their ninth album “Heaven and Hell” in April of 1980. Prior to this though, the band had parted ways with their previous management led by Patrick Meehan, and had been embroiled in a long running dispute. The culmination of this saw Meehan through a different record label re-release all of the Black Sabbath back catalogue without the band’s consent. As well as this, he also owned the rights to live recordings that had been made of the band in 1973 on the tour to support the album “Volume 4”. These recordings were made with the view to releasing a live album following the tour, but this idea was abandoned when the band felt they were unhappy with the way they had come out. Six years later however, a disgruntled Meehan decided that as he had the rights to the recordings, and on the back of not only the split in the band’s fanbase in regards to Ozzy Osbourne or Ronnie James Dio being the lead singer of the band, and the fact that the new album “Heaven and Hell” had already sold very well, that he would release an album consisting of those live recordings. And so, once again, without the permission of the band, Black Sabbath had its first live album publicly released under the name of “Live at Last”.

If you are looking for a stunningly incisive review of this album, one that is full of interesting insights and dramatic revelations, then I’m afraid you are in the wrong place. That’s the difficulty with live albums, because the majority of them are very good. And this is no exception. Because the songs selected to be played on this tour that appear on this album are all very good. And the musician's performance of the band on these recorded songs is very very good. So there isn’t anything particularly enlightening that I can offer.
The songs here off “Volume 4” sound as fresh as they were on this tour. “Tomorrow’s Dream” opens up the album in a great way, even though I would love to have heard “Wheels of Confusion” as that opening. “Sweet Leaf” follows, and is particularly crushing through the middle of the song and into Tony Iommi’s guitar solo, backed by that ridiculous bass line underneath and Bill Ward’s hammering drums. Fabulous stuff, oh yeah baby! “Killing Yourself to Live” is one of the great classic Black Sabbath songs that still seems so underrated despite its obvious brilliance. It again is highlighted by Tony’s guitar with Geezer’s booming bassline running underneath, and Ozzy’s wonderful vocal lines over the top. What a great song this is, and this is a great version of it.
The “Volume 4” double up comes next though in reverse order from how they appear on that album, with the barnstorming “Cornucopia” charging through the middle of the album, and flowing into the utter brilliance of “Snowblind”, that opening solo show into the main riff – just magnificence. And Ozzy proclaiming ‘my eyes are blind but I can see’... Geezer’s lyrics are just so amazing in this song and Ozzy sings them so well. Then we have the heavy hitters from the big early albums, “Children of the Grave” and “War Pigs” either side of the album turnover. Both sound as huge, heavy and magnificent as they always have.
The medley of various pieces thrown together as a part of the wild and winding version of “Wicked World” here is surprisingly good. “Wicked World” sounds so much better here in the live environment than it does on the debut album, and the middle of the track has lots of great surprises thrown in such as “Into the Void” and “Supernaut”, and a drum solo from Bill Ward in the mix. At almost 19 minutes this alone is worth listening to the album for. Perhaps the only slightly disappointing ting about the album is that “Paranoid” is the closing track. It sounds so... simple and ineffective... compared to the wonderful and brilliant things the band has played before this. Yes, I get that they have to play it, even back then in 1973, but surely something else would have been a better set closer.

You’ve heard me say it before, and no doubt you will hear me say it again. Live albums should almost always be automatic 5/5 albums, because they contain the bands best songs in their best environment. Now, whether this is the case here given the complexities of how this release occurred is open to question. And I will once again raise another point about live albums, where I would prefer to hear the setlist as it was performed, and not chopped and changed. And that is not the case here. This album is a slightly rearranged selection of the songs performed over those two nights in 1973. Whatever the reason is for that, it doesn’t actually harm the flow of the album. Though, I guess this is mostly because I didn’t KNOW the order had been changed until four years ago, when the band released the Super Deluxe version of “Volume 4”, which contain the entire concert remastered for release. And it sounds fantastic.
None of that actually takes away from this release. As a snapshot of the band in this era it is fantastic. The band sounds terrific. Ozzy’s vocals are surprisingly good throughout, the fabulous basslines of Geezer Butler hold everything together, Tony Iommi's guitar breezes through the speakers and Bill Ward’s drumming is brutally proficient. The song selection is top shelf, and with just songs from the first four albums to choose from it just works.
I’ve had a couple of copies of this over the years, but in the last 12 months I managed to find a second-hand vinyl copy at my local record store Music Farmers in Wollongong, and that has been the version I have revisited over the last couple of days. And it is still as good as the first time I heard it. Prior to the Super Deluxe editions of albums coming out with the bonus live material, this was all we had of the original foursome recorded live, so it was always a special release. And, to be fair, it still is. If you want to hear Sabbath with Ozzy, this is still your best bet. “Reunion” is okay. The live albums from the last tour are okay. This has the lifeblood still running through it.

1302. Mötley Crüe / Theatre of Pain. 1985. 2.5/5

Motley Crue’s sophomore album, the heavy yet accessible “Shout at the Devil”, had catapulted the band to national and international recognition, on the back of songs such as “Too Young to Fall in Love”, “Helter Skelter”, “Looks That Kill” and the title track “Shout at the Devil”. It was this song, and its perceived imagery of Satanism that was exacerbated by the album cover, that had many religious and political groups claiming that they had nefarious thoughts and plans. It was the time of the PMRC in the United States and their growing influence upon the media. In the long run this did not harm the sales of the album and even provided further promotion for it. During the recording of that album bass guitarist Nikki Sixx had crashed a friend’s Porsche which he had stolen while drunk, and the resulting shoulder injury found him develop a Percocet addiction that transitioned quickly to a $3,500 a day heroin addiction. They then found even greater popularity and airplay – and infamy - on tour when they supported Ozzy Osborne, before going on the Monsters of Rock tour in 1984 with Van Halen and AC/DC. On each of these occasions the band were a huge hit, but their backstage antics caused friction wherever they went. The band’s debauchery had shocked even Ozzy himself on that tour, and on the Monsters of Rock tour the band was eventually restricted to only leaving their trailer to play their slot, and having to leave the venue immediately afterwards, following incidents where Vince Neil had bitten Eddie Van Halen, Tommy Lee had bitten Malcolm Young and had also gotten into a fistfight with David Lee Roth. Popular with fans they may have been, but not with touring bands. There was even a discussion at one stage by the band of firing guitarist Mick Mars, which was only saved by then Ozzy bass guitarist, Bob Daisley, reminding them that they should not change something that wasn’t broken.
On December 8, 1984, in a car driven by Vince Neil while severely under the influence of alcohol, Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle was killed when Neil crashed the car that he was a passenger in. With the threat of serious jail time a possibility, Neil found a way to escape this threat by writing a very large cheque and doing 30 days jail time, of which he only completed 20. Never a dull moment in the Motley Crue camp.
With all of this going on, the band finally entered the studio in January 1985 to finally write and record their follow up to their sophomore album. At the time, given the lengthy period between releases, there must have been some concern that they had failed to strike while the iron was hot. The end result offered a mixed response to those thoughts.

Taking in everything that I’ve mentioned in the opening monologue to this episode, one can only wonder what the mood and headspace of the band was as they wrote and recorded this album, and in many ways that seems obvious when you listen to the finished product. The lyrics are not groundbreaking or particularly outstanding, and as they came from a mostly overly influenced lyrics writer that isn’t much of a stretch, though Nikki did seem to stick to a central theme. “City Boy Blues” is basically just a revved-up blues riff throughout as Vince moans about being unable to break the shackles of the city boy blues. It’s mostly a repetitive uninspired opening track that hardly sets the world on fire like the opening tracks on just about every other Motley Crue album does. “Louder Than Hell” mirrors the sound and style of track from “Shout at the Devil” with the guitar riff and Neil’s vocal stylings and squeals, but without the attitude that album possesses. It was actually a leftover track from that album, which explains why it sounds similar to that album, and also why it didn’t make the cut for that album. “Keep Your Eye on the Money” has some good lyrics early on, switching between the gambling and drug metaphors, but eventually becomes a song where the title of the song is repeated over and over in the back half to completely sink whatever credence it may have begun with. It isn’t a new technique for the band, and one that gets the same treatment on the second side of the album, beginning with “Tonight (We Need a Lover)”, “Use It or Lose It”, “Raise Your Hands to Rock” and even “Fight for Your Rights”. And yes, it is a very rock and roll formula to have repeated choruses or verses to encourage pop lyrical memory from the fans, and maybe it is just me, but this album does have it in overkill mode.
So lyrically the album does fall a little short on the band’s opening two albums. Musically... well there is a similar problem really. Tommy Lee’s drumming is solid on this album, but he isn’t really pushing himself to new heights, trying to be innovative or at the very least energetic in a way that has your head bobbing along in time with him. Mick Mars guitar work is as clean as always; he lets loose with a couple of bursts of soloing and with a riff that makes its mark but none of it is as spectacular as the previous two albums. Vince Neil’s vocals are serviceable but don’t inspire much enthusiasm. And Nikki Sixx’s bass work – well I guess that’s another story as well. In recent times it has been claimed from several sources that Nikki has not recorded the bass guitar in several instances during the band’s history. Now this isn’t unusual in the history of music, where other musicians have recorded instruments on an album uncredited, so it isn’t really a shock or surprise, but it has been made to be so. In the instance of this album, former Motley Crue guitarist Greg Leon recently said in an interview that Sixx did not play any bass on “Theatre of Pain”.
The two songs that stand out on this album, and the ones that have proven to be the most popular through the years are the two single releases, “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” and “Home Sweet Home”. “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” is a cover of the Brownsville Station song, and is immediately a standout on this album because it suddenly revives the fun and energetic part of the band that for the most part of this album lies dormant. And it sounds like they are having fun playing it. Vince sounds up and at his best, Mick’s guitaring is suddenly inspired, and Tommy’s drumming is far more upbeat. It stands out like sore thumb on this album. “Home Sweet Home” of course is the power ballad, the piano driven song that concludes side one of the album, and became the band’s signature song. It is a step further along from what they had tried before, and its style grabbed the attention of the target audience. As a leading light and forerunner to the singles oriented glam metal future of bands such as Poison, Cinderella and others, “Theatre of Pain” can lay claim to the one they all used as a template. Not only with the cover song they turned into a teenage anthem, but the power ballad that seduced the hopeless romantics of the world, or those just hoping that it would end up in sex. “Home Sweet Home” became that template that drove many bands that followed Motley Crue into the charts on the back of the sickly-sweet ballad, and with that cemented the bands reputation, and arguably also their conversion from the heavier side of metal to the glam styled version that exploded in the mid-1980's.

My introduction to Motley Crue came reasonably early on in my conversion to the heavier side of music. I had asked my heavy metal music dealer to record me an album that had become the next in my line of requirements. He asked me what I wanted him to put on the other side of the cassette, to which I said to him to choose something he thought I might like. The cassette came back with “Shout at the Devil” as the chosen second side album, and I never looked back.
As it turned out, “Theatre of Pain” is not an album I actually got until the start of the 1990’s decade, well after I had acquired the other albums of the band’s discography. I knew of course the two singles – very well as it turns out, as one was the overplayed ballad on TV and at parties, and the other was covered a band that my heavy metal music dealer played in around the local pubs. So, having been very familiar with Motley Crue’s four other albums, I eventually came around to buying my own copy of this album. And it is fair to say that I was underwhelmed by it. But I’m guessing you all had already guessed that by now. I don’t think it would have mattered what order I got these albums though, this for me would always have been the least likely to succeed. It doesn’t have the raw aggression of “Too Fast for Love” or the heavy tones of “Shout at the Devil”, the energetic exaltations of “Girls, Girls, Girls” or the anthemic “Dr Feelgood”. I’ve always found this to be the ugly duckling of the band’s iconic era. Much of the album is uninspiring in the ways you look for Motley Crue albums and songs. If I was to choose a best of track list between those five albums I wouldn’t choose one song from this album. And initially that may well have been because I heard it last of all those five albums, all of which I found at least half of their tracks appealing. Here though, it doesn't grab me.
The CD came back off the shelves this week for its habitual listen in the Metal Cavern. I’ve had it on at work also. And at no stage did I ever really grasp anything new from it. In fact, the only time my head popped up at work because of an energetic burst of a song was when “Theatre of Pain” had concluded, and the next album started in rotation. I think for me that sums up exactly how I feel about this album.
In the Crue catalogue, “Theatre of Pain” for me ranks at #9 of their 9 studio album releases. I’m sure there are fans out there who have thrown their listening devices out the window upon this revelation. Sorry to disappoint you. Just think about the fact though that this album has always disappointed me more than you are disappointed with me. Or, something like that.

1301. Original Soundtrack / The Blues Brothers. 1980. 4/5.

Living in Australia and not being exposed to the show Saturday Night Live like those on the American continent were, most of us had little idea of the Blues Brothers before the movie hit our shores. And for those of us who were reasonably young when that happened, we didn’t see it until it came on television or on video. But as to the history of how the band came into being, and became something beyond the two-dimensional cell of the TV and movie screens, I knew none of that at the time.
The inspiration for the band came from an early sketch on Saturday Night Live, and the love of blues music of two castmates, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Aykroyd had grown up in Ottowa, Canada, and had been exposed to many of the greats of the blues genre during his youth. One night he even got up and played drums for Muddy Waters when his regular drummer decided to take a break. He also performed on occasions with the Toronto-based Downchild Blues Band, co-founded in 1969 by two brothers, Donnie and Richard "Hock" Walsh, who served as an inspiration for the two Blues Brothers characters. Aykroyd modelled Elwood Blues in part on Donnie Walsh, a harmonica player and guitarist, while Belushi's Jake Blues character was modelled after Hock Walsh, Downchild's lead singer.
During the Saturday Night Live years, Aykroyd rented a blues bar where the cast would go after recordings. Aykroyd filled a jukebox with songs, and Belushi bought an amplifier and they kept some musical instruments there for anyone who wanted to jam. It was at the bar that Aykroyd and Ron Gwynne wrote and developed the story which Aykroyd turned into the draft screenplay for the Blues Brothers movie. It was also at the bar that Aykroyd introduced Belushi to the blues, which became a fascination, and it was not long before the two began singing with local blues bands. Jokingly, SNL band leader Howard Shore suggested that they call themselves "The Blues Brothers".
Eventually both Aykroyd and Belushi started to get serious about the band idea, and with the help of Paul Shaffer who was the leader of the SNL band, they began to look for the right people SNL band members saxophonist "Blue" Lou Marini and trombonist-saxophonist Tom Malone, who had previously played in Blood, Sweat & Tears, were the first. Shaffer's suggested guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, who had played with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and who both agreed to come on board. To fulfill Belushi’s desire for a trumpet player and guitarist, they found Alan Rubin and Matt "Guitar" Murphy, who had performed with many blues legends. With the band together, the final touch came for the two leads themselves, who donned hats and sunglasses in the tradition of John Lee Hooker to complete their look. And this was born the Blues Brothers Band – and not too long after, the movie that carried their name, “The Blues Brothers”.

The soundtracks album has a couple of things that are left off that are a very slight disappointment, but not earth shatteringly so. It doesn’t have the version of “Stand by Your Man” that the band does at Bob’s Country Bunker, that brings the crowd there to tears. It is one of the many great moments in the film, and although it is not included on the soundtrack it is perhaps best viewed in the film anyway. There are also some great songs that appear in the background in several scenes, a couple by Sam & Dave when the boys are driving around in the Bluesmobile, and another couple by John Lee Hooker, one of which he appears in the film performing, in the Maxwell Street scene outside the cafe owned by Aretha Franklin’s character. These songs would have rounded out the soundtrack album but in the end, they don’t make it any less of an album.
The other thing is that these versions of the songs were all recorded in the studio, and that means that the ones that were performed live for the movie have less of a feel and energy as those versions in the movie has. For example, the two songs played at the Palace Hotel Ballroom, “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” and “Sweet Home Chicago”, sound less energetic and less in the moment than the versions in the film. The same goes for “Gimme Some Lovin’”, the song halted at Bob’s Country Bunker when they realise that it isn’t either of the two types of music, ‘country OR western’, or even the “Theme from Rawhide”. These versions are fine, believe me, and if you are listening to this soundtrack you probably won’t care in the slightest about what I’m explaining here, it's just that as a hard core fan of this film, I notice the slight changes here from the versions I know so well from the movie.
Beyond that, there are the other musical moments that made this such a terrific film. “She Caught the Katy”, the song played when Jake is being released from prison and being picked up by Elwood is great, and the Peter Gunn Theme that follows them around from most of the film fits perfectly as well. Ray Charles’s version with the band of “Shake a Tail Feather” was played over Australian radio for some time after the release of the soundtrack and I got to know it well before I’d even seen the film itself. “The Old Landmark” as performed in the church scene with James Brown has its charm, as does Aretha Franklin and her own great hit “Think”, but again it is not as energetic and fabulous as it is in the film itself. On the other hand, Cab Calloway singing his own terrific song “Minnie the Moocher” comes across fabulously here, and the final ensemble of “Jailhouse Rock” finishes off the soundtrack in the same way as the film itself, in a flurry of energy and dance.

What is there to say about this film that hasn’t already been said somewhere else? As with everything in life, there will be those of you out there that either do not like this film at all, or find it is only average. And no doubt will feel the same way about the music that makes this movie so entertaining. As those of you who follow this podcast will know, the blues is not one of the genres of music that I follow. But from the first time I saw this movie, the music that is such a major part of the movie also grabbed me. But what I enjoy most about the soundtrack is the mix of artists. The terrific music that the actual Blues Brothers band produces here for a start. I mean, the bringing together of these wonderful artists to become that band itself. There is only one song on this soundtrack that they are not the backing band to, and that is the James Brown gospel song in the church scene. Every other song has the Blues Brothers Band as the mainstay, and they sound terrific. It is remarkable that such a talented bunch of musicians were brought together to be the backing to two comedians who thought it would be a fun idea to start their own band to play the music they loved. That it would never have happened without their shared love of blues music is a somewhat amazing thing.
So this soundtrack showcases their abilities, along with the very special guests they talked into not only contributing to the soundtrack but also appearing in the movie. Dan Aykroyd apparently demanded that they be able to appear in the film to support the songs that were built around them. The studio wanted more current artists who had had hits around that time in order to help the profile of the movie, but Aykroyd and director John Landis would not budge, and the movie is all the better for it.
And of course, the amazing talents of Aykroyd himself alongside John Belushi. Comedically they were proven performers, but musically could they actually hold this film together? The answer of course is yes, and this soundtrack proves it.
I’ve had the soundtrack going around now for a week, and whenever I do listen to it, all it makes me think about is watching the film all over again. The performances here are terrific, and it covers the very best pieces of the movie. But you can’t see any car chases and pile up listening to a soundtrack.
If I could only choose ten movies to watch for the rest of my life, The Blues Brothers would be one of them. The music is a huge part of that. It is well worth your time checking it out.

1300. Scorpions / World Wide Live. 1985. 5/5

By the time the Scorpions had reached the middle of the 1980’s decade, their popularity had reached a peak that they could only have ever imagined that they would ever achieve. While they had had big selling albums through the 1970’s, their surge on the back of their 1980’s album such as “Animal Magnetism”, “Blackout” and “Love at First Sting” had been on another level entirely, and their tour around the world on the back of “Love at First Sting” had seen record crowds and sales especially from the singles “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Still Loving You”.
In 1978, with the news that guitarist Uli Jon Roth had decided to leave the band, Scorpions released their first double live album titled “Tokyo Tapes”, one that highlighted the very best songs the band had recorded over the first five albums of their career. It acted as a nice way to conclude that era of the band. The arrival of Matthias Jabs as his replacement brought about a change in style for the band, one that saw a slightly heavier direction taken, one that not only reflected the changing tide of music early in the 1980’s decade but also to suit the arrival of the new guitarist and his style.
With the band riding the crest of that wave, the decision was made to record several shows on their tour to release their second live album. At some point, the decision was made that the album would include only songs from the albums since “Tokyo Tapes” had been released, that being the three albums released in the 1980’s, along with Jabs’ first album with the band, 1979’s “Lovedrive”. In hindsight this was a savvy move. It meant that, when listening to both of the live albums back to back, it not only gives a wonderful anthology of the band’s great songs from their first release right through to their ninth studio album, there are no repeat tracks. It gives more of the 1980’s hits a chance to get their live rendition recorded for posterity, and though at the time there was some blowback from older fans saying that the band had abandoned their earlier material, the way it was been constructed has indeed turned out to be the best format the band could have achieved.
This the band released their second live album “World Wide Live”, an album that not only showcased the greatness of the band in the live setting, but proved to be my introduction to their amazing music.

My usual spiel about live albums remains the same as I talk you through this album – that a live album should be an automatic 5/5 album, because you get the band’s best material in its best environment, the stage that it has been written to be performed on. And I can say that without question that this is the case for “World Wide Live”. It has the band’s best tracks from their previous four albums all represented, and they all sound brilliant here, in some cases maybe even better than their studio versions.
“Coming Home” is the perfect opening track for the album, with lyrics that relate the band’s feelings about its fan base, while also doubling as an allternative story as well. But simply saying that “I know for me it is like... coming home”, that brings the crowd into the show from the outset, and sets up what is to come. It’s a great song, jumping and jivy, one that brings the crowd to its feet. This crashes straight into the brilliant “Blackout”, one of the band’s best, a song that should never be out of its setlist. Klaus Meine’s vocals here set the scene along with Rudolph Schenker’s excellent rhythm guitar riff. This then enters the crawling guitar riff that opens “Bad Boys Running Wild”, another great anthemic track with a super guitar riff and singalong lyrics that offers the best of the band. These opening three tracks on the album find a great chord from the outset.
The version here of “Loving You Sunday Morning” is one of the best proof in points of live tracks that can make studio versions pop. This song, that opens the “Lovedrive” album is a terrific track in its own right, but perhaps is a slight plodder on the album itself. Here, it sparkles, with all of the great spots on the song brought to life and made all sparkly. The riff is a bit heavier, the pace is a bit faster, and it all seems to fit better in the live setting. A great track. The same can be said for the next two tracks as well. Both songs are good on their particular studio albums, but they sound better in this environment. “Make it Real” from “Animal Magnetism” and “Big City Nights” from “Love at First Sting” have more potency and a better feel all round on this album, and make the middle of the first album worthy of its content. It is topped off by the always brilliant instrumental track “Coast to Coast”, with Rudolph’s riffing throughout backed by the excellent rhythm section of Herman Rarebell’s titanic drum beat and Francis Buchholz’s metronomic bass line setting the base that makes this song so special.
The band then puts together their two enormous power ballads back to back, something that would always seem to be a dangerous thing in the live setting, chancing bringing the nights momentum to a standstill. But these are no ordinary power ballads, and Scorpions are no ordinary band. They pull this off perfectly, playing just the first half of “Holiday”, which then segues perfectly into “Still Loving You”. The way the band emotes during these tracks, musically and vocally, not only makes these a highlight, but showcases the side of the band that actually attracted a lot of fans to the band in the first place.
Not me though, because what attracted me to the band was their hard rock classics, and that is where the album heads now. “Rock You Like a Hurricane” crashes in to restore heavy loud order to the album, as anthemic as ever and a great live version. Following up is the brilliant “Can’t Live Without You”, perfectly introduced through the beginning of the song, and that bursts with energy throughout. Even when just listening to this section of the album, you can see the fun the band is having on stage while playing these songs, it is infectious. From here the drive through the back half of the album continues with Lovedrive’s “Another Piece of Meat” and on to the closing track of the gig, “Dynamite”, another song with such power and energy it takes you along for the ride. Everything the band had kept in reserve while performing their power ballad duo has been expended by the conclusion of these four tracks.
The encore starts with the quite magnificent “The Zoo”, one of the band’s best, and another where Rudolph’s rhythm riff dominates the track with its groove and perfect setting. They then bust into “No One Like You”, another song that has its highlights from the dual guitars, the delightful squeals from Matthias’s guitar complemented by Schenker pure riffing underneath holding the song together. The album and gig then conclude with “Can’t Get Enough”, including a solo spot from Matthias Jabs to remind everyone that he is still the gunslinger in the band alongside the band leader Schenker. All in all, 16 songs that remain almost unmatched in the band’s career, collected here to sit in posterity forever.

Back in the first half of 1986, I was beginning my heavy metal journey, one that mostly involved my heavy metal music dealer being asked to record me albums that he had brought up in conversation that he thought were excellent. I would find a blank cassette at home that had something on it that I didn’t want (or on rare occasions when I had some cash, I would buy new ones), and would bring them to school, and he would take them home overnight and bring them back the next day with new offerings for me to dine out on. On occasions when I had requested an album and he asked ‘what do you want on the other side of the cassette?’ I would suggest that he could put on something that he thought I might like. This occurred for me sometime during the first half of 1986, when on the back side of an album he recorded for me was the album “World Wide Live” by Scorpions – or at least, however much would fit on the space available. It was my first real meeting with the band, and I was immediately smitten. The great songs keep rolling into each other, they are upbeat and pacey with great riffs and those amazing unique vocals. Everything came together, and I caught the bug.
It would be a couple of years before I started to get the studio albums of the band, not until I began university and sought out a particular second hand record shop in Wollongong, but this album was enough in the meantime. The riffs from Rudolph Schenker, that became the mainstay of each song, were just superb. Matthias Jabs soloing and squeals and intricate pieces he kept throwing in – case in point the opening scrawling guitar to “Bad Boys Running Wild” - are wonderful, and his trademark to the band on those four albums to that point in time he had played on. And Klaus Meine’s vocals are out of this world.
For the past week my CD copy of this album has been back in my stereo, and I have relived it over and over, and it has brought back so many great memories of those school days when I was first introduced to it. It will always do that, because it is very much tied to that time of my life. And now having done that, I just want to go back and listen to the four albums that these songs were taken from and relive them as well. It is a difficult thing to rank live albums in the scheme of things. My heart tells me this is one of the best lives albums I own of any band. I am more certain that it is the best live album that the Scorpions have released. But as a vehicle to discovering the band, for me it was the perfect introduction.