256. KISS / Dynasty. 1979. 3/5.

Riding on the crest of the wave of enormous popularity, Kiss had spent the 12 months prior to this album’s production moving in different directions, looking to find a way to continue the cash train that had been barrelling them along over recent years. After the release of the “Alive II” album, all four members of the band had gone off on their own and recorded their own solo projects, all of which were released on the same day in September 1978. The episodes for all four of those albums can be found in Season 5 of this podcast for your listening pleasure. Kiss's commercial popularity was at its peak by 1978, and the band’s manager Bill Aucoin felt that the cycle of album releases and touring had taken Kiss as far as they could go, and that it was time to elevate the group's image to the next level. He came up with a plan to make a movie starring the band as themselves but superheroes, a process that began with the 1977 release of a Kiss comic book. The band agreed, no doubt seeing further fame and dollars as a result. It culminated in “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”, a film that ultimately the band hated as they felt that it made them look like ‘buffoons’ in their own words. What had begun as the band’s next step toward total domination had turned into a setback, despite the cult following the film has found in the years since.
The release of the band’s first best-of compilation album “Double Platinum” became a smash hit, and so all that was left for the band to do from this point, was to come together, and write and record a new album. Was there pressure on the band at this point of their career? The six studio albums they had released up to this point in time were continuing to sell around the world, and the popularity of the group was unquestioned. And although the music world was beginning to swing on its axis, with equal parts of disco and punk revolving into a surge in heavy metal, was the Kiss sound one that could be retained, or was it time for it to be tweaked?

For anyone of my generation, everyone knows the opening bassline to the album, the song that, in Australia at least, caught the imagination of everyone aged 6-26. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, whether you are a Kiss fan or not, is a song that is burned into everyone’s psyche of that generation. That running bass riff, the middle of the track drum solo into Paul’s guitar riff, the joining of Gene on bass again and then Ace’s short sharp fired solo. The lyrics that you can’t help singing along with. All of it is iconic. Sure, the segueing with the disco era had become more of a problematic talking point with the hard core fans at the time, but as a kid, I just loved it.
The cover of the Rolling Stones song “2000 Man” – not something I realised until long after I had enjoyed this album over and over – is a great exhibition of Ace Frehley’s vocal range. No doubt invigorated after his solo album, Ace sounds great ere, and the song for me is a favourite. I love his guitaring on this song as well. Like I said, I just assumed this was a Kiss song for some years.
The second single on the album is “Sure Know Something”, another long time crowd favourite that still sounds great on this album but is definitely in its element when played live, and just ramped up slightly in tempo and energy. “Dirty Livin’” is the Peter Criss contribution to the album, and when I say that I mean ‘contribution’. Peter wrote the song, and sang the lead vocals, but it is also the only song on the album that Peter actually played drums on. Criss was hindered by injuries to his hands that he had suffered in a 1978 car accident, although there were also rumoured to be other problems with drugs and alcohol that may have contributed to a decline in his skills. Anton Fig, who had played on the Ace Frehley solo album, was brought in, and played drums on all other tracks on the album apart from this one.
The second side of the album doesn’t have quite the same magic as the first, but still has its moments. Gene’s “Charisma” is what you expect from a Simmons penned track, with a solid rhythm and sordid vocal line throughout. “Magic Touch” is written by Paul alone, and comparing it to the two singles on the first side of the album which he had co-writers in Desmond Child and disco producer Vini Poncia, it lacks something that makes both of those songs memorable. “Hard Times” is the second Ace song, and again I really enjoy this. It has the hard rock edge that make his contributions so enjoyable. Once again, his vocals are great, and his riff and solo are both great. Gene returns with “X-Ray Eyes”, another atypical Simmons song with his charismatic vocals and lurid lyrics, but with a nice mix of the guitars and some keyboards. The album concludes with Ace’s “Save Your Love”, which does not touch the heights of his previous contributions. His almost-talking vocal lines during the verses don’t do it for me, it feels weak, and there is a too dominant vocal backing from Paul and Gene that just doesn’t mix as well. It’s a slightly disappointing end.
It is interesting how this became Kiss’s ‘disco’ album. Peter’s song had been updated to a modern sound, which then tended to affect some of the direction this album took. Apparently Paul and Gene had spoken to producer Giorgio Moroder leading up to this album, before deciding to call in Vini Poncia to produce “Dynasty”. Poncia had produced Peter’s solo album, and also helped compose “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, all of which created the disco album hype that “Dynasty” has since resided in.

Remember how I first heard Kiss? C’mon. Surely you have all heard the previous episodes on this podcast of all of the Kiss albums that I have done? If you haven't, well go back now and listen to them immediately! So, as you all know I first discovered Kiss through my eldest cousin, who had taken up residency at my grandmother’s house and had plastered his walls with Kiss memorabilia as well as playing Kiss albums at the highest volumes possible. It was the early 1980’s, and he was obsessed.
My greatest memory of this album is of course the lead single “I Was Made For Loving You”, and back in the day in 5th and 6th class in primary school we used to have a school dance at the end of the year in the last week of school for all the Year 5 and Year 6 students. At the end of that particular dance the teachers would… enforce… a dance contest where you and your partner, who you had been corralled into asking to BE your partner, usually against her will, would dance to particular songs and you would be marked as to how good you were. At this dance, my partner, who will never ever listen to this podcast so I can safely say that she was MOST disappointed that I always chose her, whose name is Stephanie Hill and I eventually came to be the Champions of that dance contest. And the song that we danced to was “I Was Made For Loving You”, and for that win I won a cheese stick and a packet of Toobs chips. And since that day I have used the Jerry Seinfeld-ism… “I choose not to dance!”
I didn't actually get this album until after I left high school, when I was going back to chase all of those old Kiss releases, and it was one of those albums that was difficult to get into at the time, mainly because I was listening to thrash metal rather than just Hard Rock, and because in the long run how many great songs are there on this album? Some would say just two and some would say none. But apart from the opening track and of course the big single “Sure Know Something”, sometimes it's difficult to imagine that this album was a great one. It is often held up as Kiss’s disco album, which in the long run is only accurate for a couple of the songs.
Flash forward to the current day and I have been listening to this album for a number of weeks leading up to this podcast episode, mainly to get my own facts straight in my head because as to how I feel about it in 2024. Because over the years when I’ve pulled this off the shelves to have another listen, I’ve always enjoyed it. It's easy to just go with the flow and say that “Dynasty” is only an average album, but for the most part I've always found this album to be very listenable and enjoyable. Whether that is because there is more of Ace Frehley being utilised on this album which makes it a change up for the band in that respect, or whether it's because at the time it was released I was coming to the end of my primary school years and this kind of album was one that was starting to attract my attention, I don't know what the answer is. If I was going to rate or rank Kiss albums then I know this probably wouldn't rank in my top 10, but I still believe this is a very listenable album for me and one that I can and have easily put on and enjoy without any qualms.
Did this album signal the end of the great first era of Kiss? In the long run that probably came on the album before, and this along with the next couple are perhaps the state of limbo as the band tried to work out exactly what it was going to do going forward. This was the end of Peter Criss's time as drummer with this album, and with Ace Frehley going by the wayside not long after there are certainly arguments made that this album along with the next couple of Kiss albums are being in that state of flux. However, while “Dynasty” may well be different from the remainder of the 1970’s Kiss albums and for some might not be considered as enjoyable, it certainly showed that Kiss was able to adapt to the situation that music was in at the time, and release an album that could still be popular and still draw in the masses at concerts. Sometimes it is hard to remember when Kiss WASN’T able to do this.

255. W.A.S.P. / Dying For The World. 2002. 4/5.

W.A.S.P.’s previous album “Unholy Terror” had been an exercise in balancing the song writing and the styles they had been composed in over their previous three or four albums, in order to regain a perspective of what the band was hoping to achieve. You can hear the episode dedicated to that album on Season 1 of this podcast. Blackie has been quoted in several arenas as saying that each album is a snapshot of what he was feeling emotionally and in his life at the time it was written, which he used to explain the differences in each album since the band’s early releases. It also helps to try and explain how “Dying for the World” came to be created, and the emotions that lay behind it.
September 11, 2001 needs little explanation, nor to explain why people's emotions sometimes ran off the rails following the event. W.A.S.P. was on tour in the United States when the events of the day occurred, and so close enough to have the full horror play out in front of them. For Blackie Lawless, a native of New York City, seeing the planes fly into the World Trade Centers became a life-defining event. There were plenty of triggers there, but it seems as though the most prevalent was rage. And he used that to his advantage when it came to his song writing. In the linear notes on the album, Blackie tells the story of how during the first Gulf War, he received thousands of letters (remember those?) from men and women in the armed forces, who related how they would blast heavy metal songs at their enemy when they were about to launch an assault, so that they would know they were coming. Early WA.S.P. songs were a part of that. And so, his thoughts as transcribed in those linear notes in regards to this album were as follows:
“...why not give our guys a fresh batch of new songs to go into battle with. Something that will inspire us and scare the fuck out of them. Think of this album largely as a collection of songs to ‘go kill people with’. Fuck political correctness. That went down with the Trade Centers. As the line says in the song “Stone Cold Killers” “my god will kill your god”.
Whether or not that is the kind of thing he should be spouting on the inner sleeve of an album is open to question, but it gives you a firm view of exactly what was running through his mind when he was composing the songs for this album.

This sounds like a W.A.S.P. album from the moment you put it on, which allays any fears that it may have diverged again as other albums have. And as has already been established, there is a lot of emotion in the lyrics on the album which then directs the way the music is written for each track. The tracks that are inspired or driven by the events of 9/11 are where the majority of the album comes from, and thus are the impetus of “Dying for the World”. The opening track “Shadow Man” becomes the first song that references black hearts within its lyrics, a recurring theme for Blackie in describing those who would perpetrate such an act, but does it also describe himself and his anger at those people? Blackie says that “My Wicked Heart” is sort of a prayer asking for forgiveness for his anger, before he goes ahead and expels it. “Hell for Eternity” is a spraying of anger and hatred, that is actually quite restrained in its recording. I can imagine Blackie writing this and screaming it at the walls. Ditto for “Revengeance” and “Stone Cold Killers”. These are simply just songs about releasing the pure vitriol that built up in Blackie’s heart.
However, is has to be said that this album for what it is worth also must have been therapeutic, and outlet for Blackie to get out all of his anger and frustration. The song “Hallowed Ground” resulted from Blackie visiting Ground Zero at the World Trade Centers a few weeks after the incident. The emotions he felt on that day were then transferred to this song once he returned home, composing it that evening. And the song respects those feelings he had after that visit. It is interesting however, that in the linear notes Blackie goes on to say - “After that song my emotions of reverence soon turned to full blown anger. “Shadow Man”, “Hell for Eternity”, “Stone Cold Killers” are the reflections of that. If “Hallowed Ground” was my wake, then the big payback was “Revengence”. I think that one title says it all”.
Interestingly enough, not all of the anger or songs on “Dying for the World” centre on 9/11, which actually gives the album more relevance than if they had. The song “Trail of Tears” was inspired by Blackie listening to The Beatles album “Revolver” over and over, but lyrically was inspired by the enslaving of the native American Indian nations by the US. Because of his Native American heritage, here was the second part of his life that he drew inspiration from to compose for this album, and his anger over the senseless loss of life over the displacement of these people something he was still reflecting on at the time. And “Black Bone Torso” touches on the continuing revelations about who he calls the child molesters (priests) in the Catholic Church. Given his religious upbringing, something he had strayed from but was on the way towards re-embracing, this was the third part of the life that contributed to the conflict on this album and in Blackie Lawless himself.

This was a rite of passage for Blackie, who wrote all of the album in his own words. And the songs are strong because of the conviction behind them. The band sounds great, Darrell Roberts on guitar, Mike Duda on bass and Frankie Banali on drums all doing their job well.
I bought this not long after its release date, as I had with all W.A.S.P. albums since the 1980’s. As a band they grabbed me from the start, but the albums had begun to swing wildly with each release. Whereas I enjoyed the tone of this album from the start, there was a distinct difference, in that there was none of the tongue-in-cheek humour on any of the songs here that W.A.S.P. had generally incorporated into parts of their albums in the past. The subject matter here was straight up serious, no puns, no relief, just for the most part anger and aggression, and no relief from it. As an album, that made it great to put on if you were really pissed off after a long day, but made it difficult to put on if you were just looking for an album to listen to in any other company. For me that didn’t really phase me, I’m happy to listen to it anytime, but the sheer belligerence of the material here must have pigeon-holed it for some fans. It was a different feel, one that did take some getting used to. The other part of the album that stuck out to me was the similarity to parts of some songs here to those from other albums, and in particular from The Crimson Idol. Two instances stick out immediately, the bridge in “Stone Cold Killers” especially, and then the several similar parts of “Hallowed Ground” that correspond to “The Idol” form that album. It’s only a small thing overall, but in being drawn to those similar riffs and harmonies it still grates with me a little to this day.
I still enjoy this album. It needs to be played in a closed environment to get the full effect in my opinion. Playing it in open air without volume does not give the full effect of the songs as they are written and performed. Headphone, or sitting in front of your stereo and letting them hit you rather than waft around you will allow you to feel Blackie’s anger, and after all that’s what drives this album, so you should be in a position to receive it.

254. KISS / Dressed To Kill. 1975. 4.5/5

The early career of Kiss, from the coming together of the band, their initial gigs and the releasing of their first two albums, “Kiss” and “Hotter Than Hell”, in retrospect all appears to be a more exciting and profitable time than it actually was. There is also an apparent discrepancy over the quality of songs from the band and the audience they were beginning to attract through the turnstiles. The first two albums from the band contains some of their best-known songs, even today 50 years later, but it was in the live environment where they truly came to life rather than the staid versions they had laid down in the studio. Their previous album “Hotter Than Hell” had fail to light up the charts, stalling at #100 in the US and then began to slip away quickly. This was partly due to the fact that Casablanca Records distribution deal with Warner Bros had ended, and the publicity behind the album was far less than had been the case for their debut album. Once the band’s management saw this occurring, they once again as they had done with that previous album dragged the band off the road where they were performing well, and insisted that they get back in the studio and record a follow up album, one that would be their third album in just 13 months. For ten days in February of 1975, Kiss was back in Electric Lady studios in New York City, coming up with the next round of songs to be tried out on their market. The album was produced by their record company Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart because of their financial position at that time, meaning they couldn’t afford to fire a professional for the job. With Paul and Gene looking over his shoulder, Kiss probably felt they didn’t need one anyway. Peter Criss wrote in his book “Makeup to Breakup” that Bogart’s first decision as producer was to bring in a bag of marijuana, no doubt because he thought that was how all albums were made. Paul Stanley in later interviews said that Bogart was less interested in keeping the album fresh than he was in saving money. He recalled that at one stage he had done a take that he knew from the outset was not good enough, and yet the producer said “well, that should do it!”, to which Stanley answered “no, it won’t”. Through the money saving traction of the producer/label president, it fell on the band to be more vigilant when it came to the production of the album.
Having originally gone into the studio with the working title of “Kiss at Midnight”, once completed and ready for publication the album was adorned with the far more alluring title of “Dressed to Kill”, along with the band dressed outstandingly in suits while in their makeup on the front cover. For the third album in just over a year, the record company was hoping for a bigger impact on the band’s third album attempt.

From the get go, this album is immediately on a better footing than the previous two albums on sound alone. Despite the absence of a full time producer, this album has a far better and crisper sharper sound than was prevalent on “Hotter Than Hell”. And that clarity helps to make this an enjoyable listen. The ten tracks here in total barely passes the half an hour mark in time though, which gives the impression that the band was under time pressure to get this album out on to the shelves. The lyrics composition also settles into the atypical Kiss topics, so sometimes it is just better to ignore the content and just sing along in blissful ignorance.
“Room Service” opens up with a bright and breezy guitar riff and Paul’s vocals bouncing along in rhythm, almost channelling a 1960’s pop rock anthem. The lyrics don’t take too much to interpret given the title of the song, yet it is a high energy opening to the album. Gene’s “Two Timer” follows and settles into that typical tempo that Gene written songs careers along at. He also doesn’t put a lot into the lyric writing here, drawing on a standard theme that seems to have the girl in the wrong, which is a little amusing given Gene’s proclamation about himself and groupies. Nevertheless, a solid song to follow the opener. Gene then follows with another of his songs, “Ladies in Waiting”. Now, just what could Gene be singing about on this song... “Their selection is inviting, they sure look hot tonight, and the ladies in waiting, will show you what it’s all about”. Gene actually plays rhythm on this song as well, while Ace Frehley’s solo does increase the interest in the track. Ace’s song “Getaway” is next, one on which he plays all guitars and bass guitar on, and as is almost always the case it ups the tempo and it sounds more like a hard rock song. The lyrics again aren’t Shakespearian, with “Some people, they tell me, I’ve been here too long, It don’t compel me, they tell me I just don’t belong”. But for Ace Frehley songs, that can be forgiven. In most cases. It’s the songs themselves that are the reason we come. Peter Criss has the job of lead vocals on this track, and he does a great track. Indeed, it is great to hear him singing a song that is this up-tempo rather than of the slower more introspective style he often does. He follows this up with “Rock Bottom”, co-written with Paul, which he also plays all guitars and bass on. The opening half of the song is all Ace on acoustic guitar, before it breaks into song proper and returns us to the harder edge of the album that we expect from Ace Frehley songs. It ends the first side of the album on a upward note.
Side two opens with the all-time classic, Paul’s “C’mon and Love Me”. Though written by Paul, it is Gene’s rumbling bassline that is the star attraction of this song, holding the track together and providing the wonderful rhythm underneath throughout that makes this such a wonderful song. Not for the first time however, it would be a cover version of this song that became its definitive version, some 17 years later by Skid Row on their “B-Sides Themselves” EP. That is where the full beauty of this song comes to full bloom. “Anything for My Baby” follows and is a harmless track. It’s a solid fill track, one that doesn’t have anything outstanding about it at all but is played at the right tempo and energy to keep the album flowing through. “She” is a reworking of another old Wicked Lester track, revamped enough to have that typical Gene slower tempo about it and the stop/go guitar riffs that occasionally proliferate his songs. It is the longest song on the album at a tad over four minutes, which fits the profile of “Dressed to Kill” if not the boppy style as it was not written during these sessions where obviously short and sharp was the key. “Love Her All I Can” is another standard Paul track with the upbeat tempo and almost joyful vocals, sprouting “I love her all I can and try to understand , The things that make her glad , The things that make her sad , I'm a lucky guy, I hardly ever cry , And when the world looks bad , She's never ever sad”.
The album then closes out with the song that probably made Kiss the band they are today, “Rock and Roll All Nite”. No party from the age of 16 to 35 can occur without this song being played. It was the party anthem that everyone in the 1970’s had to have been looking for, and it was Kiss who provided it. This studio version contains no guitar solo and is over in less than three minutes. However when they played it live Ace got his chance to shine, along with the extended by play of just chanting the chorus with handclapping and just Peter Criss backing on drums. This was the version that eventually found itself onto the band’s next album, “Alive!”, and which was again released as a live single, and which caught the attention and imagination of people everywhere and is today considered the definitive version of the song. And also righted a wrong by not having an Ace solo in the song in the first place!

I’m still somewhat surprised how much I love this album. The way that I enjoy the majority of Kiss albums is in the way you have a ‘guilty pleasure’ album or artists, one you probably shouldn’t enjoy for several reasons but you do anyway. Kiss has often felt that way to me, perhaps mainly for the lyrical content of many of their songs, to either being far too lurid or too close to crossing a line of good taste, or of just being a little too childish. And yet, I still listen to and love the majority of their catalogue. And perhaps that explains why I enjoy this album so much. In many ways it is the short sharp bites of this album that gives it its appeal. The songs mightn’t be masterpieces, but they are here and gone quickly, not dragging themselves out to 4 and 5 minutes when they may well have overstayed their welcome. With the quick turnover of songs and topics, there’s no time to really roll over in your mind what the song is about. I just enjoy the retorts, enjoy the fact that the music itself is fun and upbeat, and then move onto the next one. It explains for me why I have always enjoyed this album so much. A few lyrics, good music, nice Ace solo, end song, move to the next. Perfect!
“She” is one of the exceptions, and I think because it was obviously not written with all of these other songs and it being the longest track probably has something to do with it. I do love both of Ace’s contributions on this album too. But for the most part this is Paul’s album, his contributions are the ones that really give this album the lift it needs and keeps it floating above water.
Thanks to my eldest cousin David I was introduced to Kiss prior to my teenage years, and several school encounters leading into high school meant I knew who Kiss were, but without a familiarity of albums and releases. “Crazy Nights” was my true reintroduction to the band as an album releaser, and from there I went back into the catalogue. And while “Hotter Than Hell” had its moments, “Dressed to Kill” for me was always a better album, one that grabbed me with more enthusiasm than its predecessor had. It is an album that would not be familiar to the casual listener. Apart from the closing track, the majority of music listening people would not have a clue about any of the other tracks on this album. And that is a shame, because although few are heavy hitters in the regard that you MUST listen to and like these songs, there are some - “Room Service”, “Getaway”, “Rock Bottom”, “C’mon and Love Me” - that are well worth knowing and listening to. I’ve had it on permanent rotation for the week leading up to recording this episode, and from the first note the burst out of the speaker, I felt a surge of joy rush through me.
On a ranking list of the 20 Kiss studio albums, I rank this at #8 of my favourites. On a side note, when I reviewed this album for my then fledgling blog 20 years ago, I noted that if I was Kiss at that point of their career, I would have gone back into the studio with their current lineup (although preferably with either Ace of Bruce Kulick) and re-recorded this album in the modern day, added some oomph and given it a bit more spark, and it could have been a real belter. Great idea past-Bill! You should really have gone through with that suggestion!

253. Michael Schenker Group / Dreams And Expressions. 2001. 4/5.

Another completely instrumental album from one of the best guitarists going around.
Though on the album, each song has been designated a letter of the album title rather than a name, you wouldn't know when you are listening to the album. Each 'song' ranges from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and as they all flow into the other, it just sounds like a 43 minute instrumental piece.

It is all very rocky and guitary, and extremely listenable. My description will not be able to express to you how enjoyable this album is. Think of Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien, but with Michael Schenker.

Rating : A surprisingly terrific instrumental album from one of the masters. 4/5.

252. Dio / Dream Evil. 1987. 4.5/5.

For four years, more or less, Dio had been storming the world, with band leader Ronnie James Dio finally in the drivers seat and doing things his way. On the back of three massive albums - “Holy Diver”, “The Last in Line” and “Sacred Heart”, the band had had albums that reached top 10 in various countries and even had singles charting as well. As the bands that Ronnie had fronted in the past, Rainbow and Black Sabbath, had begun to slide in popularity after he had left them, his own band was ascending to its own platform of immortality.
As was discussed in the review for Dio’s “Intermission” EP, the falling out of guitarist and founding member Vivian Campbell with the band’s management had seen him leave the group, and in his place had been recruited Rough Cutt guitarist Craig Goldy. The one studio song that came on that EP had featured him on guitar, but the real test was yet to come, and it was something that fans around the world were focused on. Yes, we had heard him on “Time to Burn”. Yes, we had seen him perform live and been impressed. But now we were waiting to see what the band with Goldy involved would produce for the follow up album. Having been amazed and spoiled by the riffs and solos of Vivian Campbell on those first three albums, as well as his contributions to the writing of the songs, Goldy changed up that dynamic completely. But what was being felt at the time was not a sense of foreboding but a sense of expectation, of excitement to see what the band would produce with their new guitarist.
It was the age of releasing an album every year, where bands were still earning good dollars from producing more material, and Dio was no different in this respect. An album a year for the previous four years, including “Intermission”, for the fans meant a new album and a new tour for that year of 1987. But having moved from the dark and heavy “Holy Diver” to the more mystical thought provoking on “Sacred Heart”, the question posed was would the band continue on the course they had become the standard bearer of with their new album, or would they sail into a slightly different direction than their previous albums had taken.

From the first time you listen through the album, it is noticeable that the keyboards are more prominent here than they have been on the earlier albums. Claude Schnell had been a member of the group and features on this album as a co-writer on many songs, and although there are certainly keyboards used on “Sacred Heart”, in particular the title track as well as “Rock n Roll Children” and “Hungry for Heaven”, most of it is understated and only really brought to the fore when the songs are performed live. Most of the songs on “Dream Evil” though have that keyboard presence, once again though not as addition to the guitar but in complementing it in pieces of the songs. Indeed, it opens the album with the first chords of the first track “Night People”, a song that is yet another terrific opening to a Dio album.
The imagery of Ronnie’s lyrics continue to be a driving force in how wonderful these opening songs are. “Night People” asking ‘do you like the dark, do you like the way it moves’, based on those people who only come out at night and who are gone by dawn. “Dream Evil” having you fight around in the dark again, this time trying to ward off evil that is always surrounding you - ‘don’t think about the darkness, or the rumbling in the sky’. “Sunset Superman” again going with the night theme, ‘The night has a thousand eyes...before... the night tells a thousand lies’, and then ‘when you wake up in the morning, were you dreaming, screaming, trying to hide your broken heart, before somebody cuts it all away...’ again harking on dreams or nightmares, the terrors of sleep, or the hero of the dream as it ends. As always with his lyrics, Ronnie gives you both sides and in many ways allows you to interpret them in the way you want to. Is “Dream Evil” a horror movie or is it just the mind skirting around that idea? Is “Sunset Superman” a nightmare or a dream of the individual seeing themselves as the hero? Take it as you like it. But all three songs musically are just brilliant; the fast pace of “Night People”, the wonderful heavy riff of “Dream Evil”, and the sway between the two in “Sunset Superman”. And then there is the side one closing track, “All the Fools Sailed Away”, a track misinterpreted as a power ballad by some so called expert. This ain’t no ballad sweetheart, this is a fantastically developed song where the mood flows like the tide, telling its tale and having the song build to its crescendo through the use of Ronnie’s amazing vocals, the power of the guitars and drums, and then utilising the boys choir in the chorus to help bring the power to the lyrics. This is an epic song, as much of a ballad as “Egypt (the Chains are On)” is. It’s a tale with terrific emotion that is supported by the players. It is a triumph.
Given how amazing the opening side of the album is, if you were to be critical, the second half of the album doesn’t reach the same brilliant standard. They are perhaps what you would call good solid songs rather than awesome ones. Somebody with an unbiased ear may perhaps lay the claim that the band threw all their eggs into one basket and got those first four songs to start the album, and then had the leftovers to piece together in the second half. That is perhaps overly harsh, and as someone who adores this album I can still see the sheen that isn't quite chrome on these tracks. “Naked in the Rain” is credited solely to Ronnie as a writer, and the tempo as such does show the direction his future albums began sliding to. “Overlove” picks it up again, while the subject matter of both of these tracks differs 180 degrees from those on side one, as does the final track “When a Woman Cries”. It’s almost a dark and light side of each album. “I Could Have Been a Dreamer” was actually released as the first single from the album, which strikes me as very peculiar, because it does feel like one of the weaker tracks here. For me, the best song of the second side of the album is “Face in the Window”, one which feels much more like a Dio song both lyrically and musically.

When “Dream Evil” was released, it was a day of celebration in my school group. We had devoured those first albums of the band, some of us had been fortunate enough to see the band in concert the previous year, and we were desperate for all new music to be released. This came to us just a little later than this date in Australia, but I remember the day I walked into my record store and purchased it, before taking it home and putting it on for the first time. And it really was magical. It was like the previous year when I first got Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere in Time” and listening to it for the first time. Those first four songs in particular just boomed out of the speakers, that opening to “Night People”, the change in voice at the end of “Dream Evil”, the joy of almost flying along with the bridge in “Sunset Superman”, and the chorus with the boys choir of “All the Fools Sailed Away”. All of those dominate my memories of the back half of 1987, things like standing in the school hall on our Year 12 graduation muck-up day, playing this album at full volume at midnight and singing along with half a dozen other like-minded mates, and my 18th birthday, spent listening to this over and over while on a family holiday at the time.
I listened to this album a LOT. And it would be difficult to express just how much I listened to it. Every time I put it on to listen to now, it sends me back to those final school days and the hijinks we got up to, and the great memories of that time. They are all tied up with this album, so it is hard to extricate those emotional memories from the album itself. Yes, I do believe in retrospect that the second half of the album is a different tone from the first half, and that a couple of the songs here – perhaps for the first time in the bands history, don’t quite cut it to the same brilliance as all of the others written to this point in time. No doubt other individuals will feel this is a lesser album as a result. But for me, it takes nothing away from how this album ingrained itself to me, and how my love of it 35 years ago has never gone away.


This album signalled the last of the stability of the band and could be labelled as the end of the glory days of Dio. Personnel changes, directional changes and other projects coming along meant that the true brightness of Dio’s music probably ends with “Dream Evil”. There was still great songs and some excellent albums yet to come down the track, but this first and greatest phase of the band pretty much sailed away at this time.

251. Alice Cooper / Dragontown. 2001. 3/5.

Following on from Brutal Planet, Alice continues his journey along the new musical style he has built for himself in the new decade. This is also a continuation of the story that Brutal Planet forged.

Once again, this took some getting used to, but not as much as I found with Brutal Planet. Alice's voice continues to be the driving force behind his albums, taking centre stage and changing the mood of each song with his subtle vocal changes.

It's Much Too Late is supposed to be for John Lennon. "I'm sending you all to hell / I'm tired and I'm wired here”. The Sentinel is some creature of the devil out there harvesting souls - possibly the souls of dead rock & rollers. The ode to Elvis Presley is a bit closer to the mark - Disgraceland is metal rockabilly with blazing guitars - "Went to the pearly gates / Said I'm uh here to sing / And Peter said, 'Well son, you see we already got ourselves a king'”.

The more you listen to the album, and get the most out of Alice's lyrics, the more you enjoy the album. Alice always did try to make you think when it came to his music, and he does so again here.

Rating : More Alice Cooper stuff to digest. 3/5.

250. Motley Crue / Dr Feelgood. 1989. 4.5/5.

Despite their growing success throughout the 1980’s, with albums that led the glam metal genre and songs that caught the attention of fans around the world, Motley Crue as a band was doing a fantastic job of attempting to implode from their own excesses. Adopting a party attitude that included alcohol, drugs and women to overload proportions, by the time they had reached 1988 the writing appeared on the wall. In late 1984 Vince Neil had been involved in a fatal car crash when driving under the influence, which had left Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle dead. Two years later Nikki Sixx suffered an almost fatal heroin overdose while in London, and another year later he succeeded in overdosing on heroin again, this time he was legally dead for two minutes before being revived. Mix all of this in with the usual debauchery the band went through night after night, and the band’s management had begun to seriously wonder how much longer it could go on before someone actually died.
As a result of this, the management cancelled Motley Crue’s tour of Europe in 1988. In fact, they held what was basically an intervention to tell the band this news, and that they would have to change their ways if they were going to change the course of their lives. Following this, all four members of the band entered drug rehabilitation in order to kick their habits and move forward as a band.
Once they all came out having completed their time, Motley Crue faced a clear vision of the immediate future, certainly clearer of mind. And the writing and recording of their new album to follow up “Girls Girls Girls” became their main prerogative. Along with clear minds, the band also brought in Bob Rock to produce the album. Rock of course was currently on an upward trajectory having been involved in engineering the recent blockbuster albums by Bon Jovi and Aerosmith, and in producing the albums by Blue Murder and The Cult. He made two decisions when it came to recording this album that were to be direct factors on its success. Firstly, the band relocated to a studio in Vancouver in Canada, in order to get the band away from the influences that were obvious in their hometown. Secondly, each of the members performances on the album were recorded individually without the other members in the studio. This came about firstly to reduce the infighting that was a regular occurrence with the band in the studio, but also in order to focus on each individual’s performance and allow them to do so without the usual distractions.
What came from the culmination of this 18 month period was the album “Dr. Feelgood”, one that showcased just what the band could offer free from their addictions and ready to fight the world. It was an album that became the peak of hair metal genre at a time when it appeared its popularity could go on forever.

This is very much an album that probably needs to be looked at in the two eras – the one it was released in, and the one we are in now. And in the same conversation, the album can be seen to be a carefully structured mixture of songs that are hard rock icons and the Motley Crue speciality of teasing lyrics and catchy tones. Each of these are spaced evenly through the track list of the album, giving fans of all musical tastes the chance to find something they like, and then hopefully become entertained by those songs that surround them.
Take a listen to those songs that are best described as Motley Crue’s ‘girl anthems’, the ones that have an obvious lyrical bent which Nikki Sixx believes best serves what he is trying to say directly to his female fans. “Slice of Your Pie” makes no secret of what he is hoping to portray, with lyrics such as “So young, ever get caught they’d arrest me, School girl, studied up well on hoochie coochie, lick lips, kitten with a whip so undress me, undress me”. Nikki is just looking for a slice of her pie, and while back in 1989 that kind of lyric would pass over your head, 35 years later and it is probably a little bit questionable. The rest of the song moves on a similar line, while musically the slide guitar start does come good with a nice Mick Mars riff. “Rattlesnake Shake” is less questionable lyrically and further up vibe and up tempo, creating a pleasing and fun discord leading into the almost unquestioned star attraction of the album.
The album’s big power ballad single “Without You” serves up exactly what you would expect, delivering the kind of lyrics and music that made “Home Sweet Home” such an enormous hit for the band. It’s a love ballad served up with the usual Motley Crue signature honeyed vocals from Vince Neil and harmless music style that radio was still looking for during the era, and that the female fans of the era lapped up. Following this we have the less cultured tones of “Sticky Sweet” and “She Goes Down”. In “Sticky Sweet” we are treated to lyrics such as “When she calls me up my voice starts to shake, she says come right over, over right away. Oh good God there's a fire in my pants, then lightning strikes and she laughs that evil laugh. She's so sticky so sticky so sticky. She's so sticky so sticky. She's so sticky sweet. Now when I've done good she slaps me on the ass, it takes more than ten seconds to satisfy this lass”. And then for the very classy “She Goes Down”, we have “All of the day, all of the night, lick those lips, do you up right. Up and down, 'Round and 'round, 'Round the world, Spit it out. You know she makes me feel good, See you out in Hollywood. Flat on my back, she goes down, For backstage pass, she goes down, With all of my friends, she goes down, She gives heart attack, she goes down”.
Motley Crue aren’t on their lonesome when it comes to these kinds of lyrics in their songs, with dozens of 80’s bands of the same ilk preaching from the same hymn book. And to all intents and purposes, in many ways modern pop is still on a similar scale.
Away from these tracks, the songs not written about hooking up with girls all stand up pretty well. Nikki Sixx did spend time writing about other things over his song writing career. The opening title track “Dr. Feelgood” is still a beauty to this day, with that awesome hard riffing from Mick Mars and hard hitting drums from Tommy Lee along with Vince Neil’s spitting lyrics, it opens the album with the kind of fire and intensity that it needs. “Kickstart My Heart” is still played at sports events and stadiums to this day, another perfect example of the Crue’s best songs with a fast tempo and the energy just exploding out of the speakers. It remains one of the bands best songs. “Same Ol’ Situation” pulls out all the stops after the power ballad “Without You” and restores the best of the album, once again intensifying the fun and tempo that makes the very best Motley Crue tracks. And the finale of “Don't Go Away Mad Just Go Away” and the thought provoking “Time for Change” give the album the conclusion it deserves on a satisfyingly high note.

As I have already mentioned in this episode, “Dr. Feelgood” is not only an album of two halves but also two eras. I bought this on vinyl within days of its release back in 1989, at a time I had just begun my first job (though only on a part time basis) and had an actual income coming in so I could buy albums that I wanted once again. And at that time, and for the following 12 months I had an undying love for it in its entirety. It was a part of my soundtrack for this period of my life and was never far from the stereo at whatever event or party I was at. Not only that, but I also got to see the band for the first time live on this tour in May 1990, where they were at their theoretical peak. The album for me had no weaknesses, it was just a perfect album. For my 19 and soon to be 20-year-old self, “Dr Feelgood” was an amazing album.
OK, so let’s flash forward to the present day, where music has changed, bands have changed, and I’ve gotten a lot older from those golden years of youth. This album is one I have still played during those years. It has never sat on the shelf unlistened for any long length of time. It has always been a mood lifter, it has always reminded me of those heady days of youth, and I’ve always enjoyed it. And in the lead up to this episode, it has again frequented by CD player and playlists as I listen with a more discerning ear in order to offer up my thoughts for this podcast. And what has become apparent to me in this process is that, for me at least, a part of the veneer of this album has worn away. There are still the outstanding tracks on the album, such as the title track and “Kickstart My Heart” and “Same Old Situation” which continue to be great to hear, as well as the solid songs like “Rattlesnake Shake” and “Don’t Go Away Mad” and “Time for Change” which build the strong spine to the album. But there are other songs that 35 years ago I had no problem with, that were a part of the gloriousness that was this album, that I sang along with without question… that now I see and hear as… slightly less worthy of that accolade. “Sticky Sweet” – I mean, lyrically and musically, not brilliant. “Slice of Your Pie”? Yeah… ok, I guess. “She Goes Down”? That’s a bit questionable. And “Without You”? The power ballad of the album that does not fit in with my musical tastes in any way, shape or form.
So, while the album hasn’t changed over those 35 years, my tastes have matured and some of the songs here have aged out of their era, at least lyrically. Do I still sing along to ALL these songs when I listen to the album? Absolutely, those lyrics are burned into my brain, and once those melodies start, I just join in. And I don’t want to claim I have had a revelation and now refuse to like this album, because that isn’t true. Do I realise that some of these songs are terribly dated, either musically or lyrically or both? Yes, I do. But this album has been a part of my musical lifeblood for 35 years, and that won’t change. There are still some amazing songs on this album that are as brilliant today as when this album was released. And at that time, it was a must listen. I still love listening to it today. I will happily skip “Without You” forever though.

249. Rainbow / Down To Earth. 1979. 4.5/5.

Through the mid to late 1970’s, Rainbow, the band formed by Ritchie Blackmore on his departure from Deep Purple, and featuring the iconic vocals of Ronnie James Dio, had released three powerhouse albums, each building on the previous one, and stacking up against all releases in the hard rock to the burgeoning heavy metal albums of the period. From the self-titled debut album, to the amazing “Rising” album and into “Long Live Rock and Roll”, Rainbow had found their marketplace and were on a domineering run as they concluded the tour to promote that third album in late 1978.
Following this however, Blackmore did as he always seemed to do – went about reshaping the band, personnel wise and also musically. Bob Daisley and David Stone were both moved on, and the gulf between Dio and Blackmore musically widened intensely. Roger Glover, who had been hired to produce the new album and would eventually play bass on it as well, spent a couple of weeks taking cassettes back and forth between the two men with their separate ideas for tracks on the new album. No talk between them, just cassettes, and with widely different paths. After following this strategy for that time, Dio finally quit, something that was a shock at the time, but which Blackmore basically shrugged his shoulders at. From having two egos pulling at each other in order to keep the music ideas balanced, now there was only one ego, who was going to get what he wanted.
And what exactly was that? Well Ritchie had never really hidden from the fact that he wanted commercial success, with songs that stormed the singles chart and made him the kind of icon he wanted to be. And it was obvious that Rainbow was not going to attain that level of commercial success if they continued to sing about mythology and fantasy such as was the lyrics and style that Dio had brought to the band. And so, Ritchie had started to turn towards simpler song structures, and song lengths that were around that four-minute mark that would get picked up by commercial radio, rather than the complex and lengthy tomes that the band had given us prior to this.
The band, now with just Blackmore and drummer Cozy Powell, wrote and recorded the songs for the album without a vocalist, with Glover playing bass and writing the lyrics, no doubt along a path pushed for by Ritchie. Along the way they picked up Don Airey to play keyboards, and Glover was eventually asked to join the band as a full-time member. Ian Gillan was approached to come on board as vocalist, an interesting development given the love-hate relationship he shared with Blackmore over the years, but eventually declined. It was Glover who turned to Graham Bonnet, formerly of The Marbles, and with commercial success in Australia as a resume, who auditioned and was offered the role, which he accepted. Given the songs had already been recorded, his vocals were the final piece added to the album, and so came about the Rainbow album that was to steer their destiny in another direction, “Down to Earth”

On your first listen to the album, the change in direction of the band from their earlier albums is distinctly noticeable. There is far less of the fantasy in the lyrics and far more about... well... the pursuits of young men. And the overall style of the songs trends to the more commercial sound of American radio than soaring heavy metal anthems. And it is true that the Blackmore/Dio partnership did have songs that moved in that kind of direction - “Snake Charmer”, “Do You Close Your Eyes” and “L.A. Connection” for instance – they were few and far between. But once you have heard the entirety of “Down to Earth”, you can hear exactly why Dio moved on from the band, and what Blackmore was hoping to produce as his overall direction for the band to take. And then you have the titles of the majority of the songs on this album, and it doesn’t take too much imagination to guess just what market Blackmore and his band were targeting. “All Night Long”, “No Time to Lose”, “Makin’ Love”, “Since You Been Gone”, “Love’s No Friend”, “Danger Zone”. There’s a bit of difference from these songs to titles such as “Stargazer”, “Tarot Woman”, “A Light in the Black”, “Gates of Babylon”, “Kill the King”, “Man on the Silver Mountain”. So yes, a big change in output, and a big change in direction lyrically and musically.
For instance. “No Time to Lose” is an upbeat song, almost rockabilly in basis, and showcases Bonnet’s vocals at their best. The pace of the song is driven along as a result, and also has an almost Deep Purple like keyboard solo from Don Airey through the middle of the track. There is a bit of the template fro future albums in this track. There is a drop in tempo for the follow up track “Makin’ Love”, along with a melodic backing of vocals to emphasise the heartfelt attempt of the lyrics, while Ritchie plays a generic power ballad solo through the middle section. And then from side two we have an even furthering of the changing tempo and more emphasis put on the soft rock ballad type track with “Love’s No Friend”. The pace plods along and relies on Bonnet’s charisma to push the song along, something he does very well despite the material he has been handed. Once again, this song is almost the blueprint for a lot of the tracks that came on the Joe Lynn Turner era of the band down the track. The result here is that it’s a bit colour-by-numbers songwriting, albeit carried off in a way that draws on the integrity that Glover and Blackmore pull from their Deep Purple days. Which is an interesting thought, because Ritchie left Deep Purple because of the direction the music was taking.
Elsewhere, there are the more highly promoted tracks, and the ones that have gained prominence for the right reasons. The album opens with “All Night Long”, the second single released from the album, and is designed precisely to be a single – short, sharp, showcasing the vocals of Bonnet and the guitar of Blackmore, and lyrically is positioned right at their new target audience. “Since You Been Gone” opens up side two of the album in the same sort of energy, and given it was the first single released from the album it is not surprising. This track was a cover of a Russ Ballard song, not the last time they would lift one of his tracks for an album. Both singles are cast from the same mould
“Danger Zone” has a more epic feel about the track itself, Airey’s keys combining perfectly with Blackmore’s more engaging guitar riff and solo through the middle, much more like the Ritchie Blackmore you pay your dollars for. Bonnet’s vocals soar here as well, making a pleasant experience for all on board. And the album closer “Lost in Hollywood” retains the great vibe of the two singles, and ends the album on a great note with plenty of energy, enough to almost convince you to flip it over and start it all again.
The album highlight however is the second track on the album, “Eyes of the World”. It is the only song on the album that retains the mysticism and epic tones from the Dio-era of the band. It has that same atmosphere that is evoked by those songs I mentioned at the top of this section, and it is a song that you can believe you hear Dio singing. It is the one song on the album that isn't dedicated to love or chasing love or acting on love. Instead, it deals with the evil within man and the consequences thereof and is the antithesis of everything else this album portrays. And perhaps because it is so different, that’s what makes it stand out on this album, and makes it so wonderfully brilliant.

While Rainbow was a band that seeped into my listening by way of my regular heavy metal music dealer at high school, the actual push towards listening to the band came from another high school friend, colloquially referred to as ‘Meat Wagon’ (please don’t ask). It was his insistence that Rainbow was the greatest band on earth, and that (and I quote) “Ritchie Blackmore is the one who invented guitar playing, and every other guitarist just copied him” and that “Rainbow are the only original band in the world”, that eventually led me to getting albums of the band. Those albums initially were the later ones, with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, and the Dio and Bonnet eras didn’t come until later.
The first songs I heard from this album were on the double vinyl “The Best of Rainbow” album that I picked up at Illawarra Books and Records, which had four songs from this album on it. And I loved every song on that best of, but I was interested in Bonnet’s vocals immediately, and wondered how many albums he had done with the band, and what they sounded like. It was still some years later when I actually got a copy of this album, and was able to enjoy it for all of its glory. Well, that was the idea.
The first thing I discovered was that the four songs that had been on that best of album were most certainly the best four songs on “Down to Earth”. So much so that their quality hung much higher than the remaining four tracks. That bothered me for awhile. But by this time I knew the three JLT era albums very well, and once I had come to the conclusion that really those other tracks were a precursor to those albums, I relaxed and just enjoyed the whole album for what it is. It isn’t a Dio-helmed album (apart from one track) and the direction taken here is followed up by the next few albums, just with a different vocalist. It is interesting that Bonnet apparently left Rainbow following this album due to the direction the music was heading as well.
So just to quantify – I have enjoyed this album since I first got it. And I have now had it running around on various devices and stereos for the past month. It is a short album, and I’ve listened to it in excess of 30 times, and I am still enjoying it. For me it is mostly about Graham Bonnet’s vocals, they are still supreme here, and when he really lets fly he is amazing. As was the case as the band moved on, Ritchie’s guitar became less prevalent and more into the mix of the song, much like commercial rock songs. That’s a shame, but there is the odd moment on this album when it crops up, and I still say ‘oh THERE he is!’
Bonnet and Cozy Powell moved on to other projects after this album, and Joe Lynn Turner arrived to become the focus of the band’s drive to tap into American commercialism. It is a shame that this is the only Rainbow album with this lineup, because I feel they could have produced a really excellent heavy album, especially if those two had been able to contribute to the song writing. However, it was not to be, and so we are left with this only outing to showcase that. Overall, it’s a worthwhile experience.

248. Ozzy Osbourne / Down To Earth. 2001. 3/5.

Six years after Ozzmosis was released, and ten years after what was supposed to be Ozzy’s ‘farewell tour’ took place after the release of No More Tears, from out of nowhere and with almost no promotion and fanfare came a new album titled Down to Earth. And given Ozzy’s statement upon its release, something along the lines of he was happy to keep promoting his own brand by his music festival Ozzfest, but the record company wanted a new album, it just seems strange that I and most people I know had zero idea it was in the works. Record companies must be strange beasts.

Anyway, the album arrived, I put it on, and after those first few listens I become aware of a few little things that have changed in the Osbourne music empire. The first was that Zakk Wylde was not involved in the writing of the album due to being away on tour with his other band Black Label Society. That immediately felt like a loss. Secondly, there was a vast array of co-writers of all the tracks, something that always makes me feel that the album itself will not meld together because of the difference of styles and thoughts on songs to write. That isn’t always the way (Alice Cooper’s Hey Stoopid) is a perfect example of this working to perfection) and Ozzy had done this before with success... but I didn’t really know these writers, so I went in with trepidation. And thirdly, well... did Ozzy still have what he needed to produce a great album?
The start of the album comes at you with “Gets Me Through” which while it has a similar energy in the song as other opening tracks on Ozzy albums, it does not have the same speed or momentum as those. It is a sign of things to come, but probably wasn’t unexpected given the way that has begun to be wound back in plenty of American metal music of this vintage. Settling in alongside Mike Bordin’s drumbeat rather than flying over the top of it, it creates the kind of heavy slog paced song that has become the norm for metal bands. It isn’t unpleasant and indeed works well in songs like “Gets Me Through” and “Facing Hell” and “That I Never Had” and “Junkie”, but while giving us a heavy sound it has traded off the faster tempo of earlier albums. Which again, is great when the song works, such as the three I’ve just mentioned, but it makes it harder to enjoy if that combination doesn’t come good. Picky much? Yes, I can admit it certainly is.

Now there are areas where some of the songs don’t work – for me. “Dreamer” is the album’s attempt to find Ozzy’s perfect ballad, and Ozzy can definitely perform them as he has on most of his albums through his career. As per my other reviews, they rarely win me over just because they are not my preferred kind of song. Ozzy sounds great on this song but it isn’t my cup of tea. “No Easy Way Out” is on a similar plane, and is another of the songs that has gone for a keyboard/synth base rather than the guitar strength. Whether this is by the design of the song collaborators or the fact that Zakk wasn’t involved in the writing process, I don’t know. Add in “You Know... (Part 1)” which is really just a filler between two other songs for me. “Running Out of Time” dips into ballad territory again, and finishes with the keys and backing sighs dominating again, in a very 1970’s progressive style. “Black Illusion” doesn’t do anything for me at all, and with the chorused vocals and sludgy tempo and guitar it actually feels as though it would have been a better Black Label Society song if Zakk had taken over the writing of it. “Alive” is very similar, just too darn nu-metal in pace if not musically. And as a closer, “Can You Hear Them?” doesn’t inspire much except some relief that the album has in fact come to an end.

When this came out I was sitting with a couple of friends listening to the whole album a couple of times, drinking beer under the clear skies. All of us came to the same conclusion, which was “What the hell is Ozzy coming to?” It wasn’t as if we hated the album, but it was so very different from what we had loved from him and his various bands in the past that this album was difficult to collate. That feeling hasn’t changed over the years, and I doubt it ever will. There are some very listenable songs on this album but some other pieces that are from another planet, another Ozzy. I have no doubt that the writing of the album was influenced by the kind of bands Ozzy had been playing with at Ozzfest, and that he was trying to incorporate that into his own music. There’s no problem with trying to do that, and maybe the younger fans enjoyed the change. But for those of us who have been around a while, I guess what we wanted was to hear what he usually gave us, and we didn’t get that. Ozzy released his Live at Budokan album from this tour, and to be fair the three songs off this album that he performed live on that all sounded better live.

But overall, I feel as though this was turning point for Ozzy. The past was in the rearview mirror and it felt much different from what the present held, and maybe what the future had in store. Ozzy sounds great here, as do Zakk, Mike and Rob Trujillo. But the songs... well... there is a conflict there.

Best Songs: “Gets Me Through”, “Facing Hell”, “That I Never Had”, “Junkie”.

Rating: “Is it god that sits there waiting or will the darkness suck me in.” 3/5

247. Soundgarden / Down On The Upside. 1996. 3.5/5.

This was unfortunately the final album for Soundgarden, who split following this tour. Their break-up signalled the beginning of the end for the Seattle scene as it had been for the past six or seven years.

Their final album is a mixture of brilliant and average. I've always thought that the first seven songs of this album represent the band's greatest work, while most of their hardcore fans see it as too commercialised and a sell-out.
I think Pretty Noose, Blow Up The Outside World, Burden In My Hand and Ty Cobb are just great songs, and the equal of anything else they released.

Take that with the second half of the album, which fails to excite me at any point. They are average songs without any fire. Did they run out of inspiration? Maybe. Perhaps that's why they went their separate ways. It is as if they only had enough for seven songs, so they put those at the front of the album, and put all the filler in the back half.

No matter. Though we were not to know that it was their final opus, the door certainly closed on a great band.

Rating : 1st half of the album 4.5/5. 2nd half of the album 3/5. Total 3.5/5.