Great Metal Albums of 1989: Protect the Innocent- Side 2, The Second Reign

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2024 by 80smetalman

Now that you’ve heard the first side of “Protect the Innocent,” I hope it’s left you hungry for more. Here’s side two, titled “The Second Reign.”

Rush- Prime Mover
Cinderella- Gypsy Road
Scorpions- Rhythm of Love
Dio- Dream Evil
Kingdom Come- Get It On
Dogs D’Amour- How Come It Never Rains?
Anthrax- Metal Thrashing Mad
Mammoth- Fat Man

I hope you’ve enjoyed, that’s only half of this magnificent compilation albums so far.

Next post: Protect the Innocent- Side 3, The Wild and the Willing

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Great Metal Albums of 1989: Protect the Innocent- Part 1, The First Chapter

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2024 by 80smetalman

Like I said, I’ve been snowed under with everyone wanting me to do Continuing Professional Development courses, (CPD), that I’m not able to give albums my full attention. In some of my most recent posts, I have made reference to a compilation album which came out in 1989. The album is called, “Protect the Innocent” and you will see what a magnificent album this really is. Because there are 30 blockbuster metal tunes on it, I’m going break it down like it’s done on the record. Therefore, you get side 1 called, “The First Chapter.”

Steppenwolf- Born to Be Wild
Black Sabbath- Paranoid
Deep Purple- Fireball
Motorhead- Ace of Spades
Judas Priest- Breaking the Law
Ted Nugent- Scream Dream
Ozzy Osbourne- The Ultimate Sin
Blue Oyster Cult- Don’t Fear the Reaper

There you have it, enjoy!

Next post: Part 2- The Second Reign

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition giving Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Spoiler- Unfortunately there are no Iron Maiden songs on the album.

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Mass- Voices in the Night

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2024 by 80smetalman

It’s rather amazing, at least to me, how much difference production on an album can make. On Mass’s album, “Voices in the Night,” the production is much better than their 1986 debut, “New Birth.” Then again, “Voices in the Night” was produced by one Michael Sweet. You might have heard of him, he’s with some band called Stryper. The difference in production between the two albums is like chalk and cheese and we get full appreciation of Mass’s potential, which I knew they always had because I had seen them live on the debut tour.

Thanks to my sister, I already knew the opening title track and it does give an indication of great things to come. That is followed by a straight forward “Nine Tonight,” which is no doubt about meeting someone at nine o’clock. I don’t know if the date goes well but the harmonizing on the song is done very well, almost like Stryper. The better production does allow you to hear what a good singer Louie St August really is.

“Voices in the Night” takes a more metal direction on “Reach for the Sky” as we get some real power chords. It’s the rest of the band’s turn to shine here. Kevin Varrio and Joey Vadala prove what a great rhythm section they are together and Gene D’Itria hammers out the first of many great guitar solos. After that, things slow down as we get the first of two power ballads. In this case, it’s “Chance for Love.” We get more cool harmonizing and Louie doesn’t break a sweat with the change in vocals and Gene hammers out a great solo. It’s a good song but as far as Mass power ballads go, “Do You Love Me?” from the debut is by far their best one.

After that little lull, things go back to some more serious hard rocking on “Turn It All Around” and “Carry Your Heart.” Both are those fist pumping anthem type vibes with some more great harmonizing. They’re those songs you would want to hear played live, especially with the guitar solo as it fades out on “Carry Your Heart.” They go more melodic metal on “Miles Away.” Don’t be fooled by the melody here as it is backed up by some serious power chords. This one could be the hidden gem.

“Call Out Your Name” is the second power ballad on the album and at the beginning, while Louie is singing tenderly, it lures you in with the expectation of a power chord which doesn’t happen until the chorus. When the chords come, they really come and Gene nails the appropriate guitar solo and by now, the harmonizing is without question.

“Follow Me” gets you to do exactly that as it’s the first three songs of the hard rocking exit to the album. It’s nothing spectacular but it does the job, a good straight up rocker. “Staying Alive,” and no it’s not a Bee Gees cover, carries the torch as it’s a great metal tune. It too is a candidate for hidden gem. As for the closer, “Still of the Night,” I get the feeling that I’ve heard this one before but can’t find it. It doesn’t appear on the debut nor the 1988 EP, “Take You Home.” Then again, it doesn’t matter because it rocks the album out to the end.

Track Listing:

  1. Voices in the Night
  2. Nine Tonight
  3. Reach for the Sky
  4. Chance to Love
  5. Turn It All Around
  6. Carry Your Heart
  7. Miles Away
  8. Call Out Your Name
  9. Follow Me
  10. Staying Alive
  11. Still of the Night

Louie St. August- lead vocals

Gene D’Itria- guitar

Kevin Varrio- bass

Joey Vadala- drums

Michael Sweet- backing vocals

True, we could go for days listing great metal bands which escaped with little notice. Mass was certainly one of those bands who had the potential to go farther than they did. “Voices in the Night” showcased this band’s true potential.

Next post: I’m finally going to post about this compilation album which has contributed to some of the albums I’ve visited recently. Now is a good time because everyone from my employers to the supply teaching agencies I also work for to even the British American Football Referees, which is my hobby I get paid for, all want me to do courses and exams at the moment. So, now is the perfect time to post a compilation album and because the album has 30 songs and on vinyl has seven or eight on one side which are chapters, you will have:

Protect The Innocent: Part 1- The First Chapter

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Great Metal Albums of 1989: Vow Wow- Helter Skelter

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2024 by 80smetalman

Let’s start with the obvious, yes, Vow Wow’s album is named after a famous Beatles song and the one which can be said was the Fab Four’s contribution to heavy metal. Saying that, Vow Wow’s cover of the song is very good and it does appear on that compilation album I keep going on about. It also gives me another idea which I’ll talk more about at the end of the post.

Another point about Vow Wow, which I’m sure I stated when I posted about their previous album, “V.” They were to England what Loudness was to America, a great Japanese metal band which everyone thought kicked ass. It’s a bit of a shame that either band didn’t seem to get traction in the other country. I guess it proves that the US and the UK are two peoples separated by the same language.

The first two tracks of “Helter Skelter” are decent tracks but I also think they were more oriented for commercial radio. For me, the album doesn’t really kick into gear till the third track, “Spellbound” and no it’s not a cover of the Triumph classic. This is a great tune, my favourite on the album and I guess you could call it the hidden gem. From the kick ass guitar intro you get a good steady rocking with some great vocals and backing vocals and you get a cool keyboard/guitar solo tradeoff between Kyoji Yamamoto and Rei Astumi.

After the title track comes the first of two power ballads, “The Boy.” Genki Hitomi does pour his heart into it but I must say, I think he and Minoru Nihara are cut from the same mold in regards to their vocal styles. This is no way a bad thing. One ever so slight disappointment comes in the form of “Rock Me Now.” This track would have rocked me more if the keyboards had been turned down and the guitars turned up! Fortunately, the next track, “Turn on the Night” does rock out and rocks out totally although it does sound a little Kiss-ish. Kyoji’s guitar solo is top notch.

“Never Let You Go” is the second power ballad and Genki sings it with the same conviction as he does “The Boy.” There is some good drumming from Toshihiro Niimi. Then we get back to some rocking with “Night By Night.” However, the album ends as it began with two more commercial friendly tracks although there is a bit of swagger to the penultimate track and the closer is the perfect choice for the job.

Track Listing:

  1. Feel the Power
  2. Talking ‘Bout You
  3. Spellbound
  4. Helter Skelter
  5. The Boy
  6. Rock Me Now
  7. Turn on the Night
  8. Never Let You Go
  9. Night By Night
  10. You’re the One For Me
  11. Sign of the Times
Vow Wow

Genki Hitomi- vocals

Kyoji Yamamoto- guitars

Rei Astumi- keyboards

Neil Murray- bass

Toshihiro- Niimi- drums

“Helter Skelter” is a solid offering from Vow Wow. Somebody should have suggested a joint tour between them and Loudness, this way we would have had a double whammy of great Japanese metal.

On the subject of the song “Helter Skelter,” there have been so many covers of this classic Beatles song that I propose a post of deciding which one we like most or the original. I formally invite all of you to contribute to a massive joint post on the subject.

Next post: MASS- Voices in the Night

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Some Historical Points I Missed

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , on April 12, 2024 by 80smetalman
Tipper Gore

Part of me thinks I should be shot. After all, it was the second biggest musical event if 1985, Live Aid being the biggest. I mean, in my recent post of historical events mentioned in “Rock and Roll Children,” I missed this out. In fact, back during the tour of 1985, I wrote an entire post about it. I’m talking about the dreaded Parents Music Resource Center, (PMRC), who wanted to stick warning labels on all the records. It resulted in a Congressional hearing where Dee Snider, John Denver and Frank Zappa testified. It was big news back then. To read the post:

The perceived censorship of music was a big fear for the main characters in “Rock and Roll Children.” One character stated that America was heading towards a Nazi police state. On the other hand, when a DJ stated what he thought of the PMRC hearing, the answer was a load of bodily functions coming through the radio.

On the subject of radio, back in the 1980s, and almost every Saturday night at midnight, the characters would all gather around the radio to listen to a programme called “Metal Shop.” Living in the Philadelphia area at the time, the show was on WYSP and was hosted by Mean Ed Green. I have since discovered that many stations around the country had their own metal shops.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

By 1985, except for a few stations, commercial radio totally sucked. The Atlantic City station was called Rock 104 but it should have been renamed Top 40-104. The best stations were in Philadelphia. Anyway, when there was no decent music on the radio, we could tune in an listen to Dr. Ruth. She was a top therapist on sex and was full of great advice, although the Jeff character makes the wise crack that his sister won’t be calling Dr. Ruth saying she doesn’t orgasm.

Hopefully, you now have the full version of historical events mentioned in “Rock and Roll Children.” Knowing me, I probably will be back with more I missed.

Next post: Vow Wow- Helter Skelter

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition giving Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Satan’s Plan to Take Over Rock Heaven

Posted in Death, Heavy Metal, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2024 by 80smetalman

In case you missed it over at Mike Ladano’s blog, I am putting on my latest story. Satan plans to take over Rock Heaven and sets his plan in motion. Will he succeed? Read on and find out.

Takeover of Rock Heaven

Part 1- The Plan

Somewhere in Hell:

Satan walked into the room waiting to address the assembled gathering, when he was distracted by a commotion. His security was holding back Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein, who were demanding to be let into the meeting. Calmly, he walked over to where the commotion was coming from. “Look,” he said sternly, “I said clearly that you two aren’t coming in here.”

“You need us,” Hitler argued.

“No we don’t ,” Satan returned. “This isn’t a military operation, otherwise Julius Caesar would be here. Even it if it was I still wouldn’t have you two in here. You both demonstrated your military incompetence while you were on Earth.”

“But you have Vlad the Impaler here,” Hitler protested.

“He’s here for a different reason,” Satan explained. “Besides, if we have to kill any prisoners, we have your man Werner Poetsche. Now go before I go back to shoving pineapples up both your asses. “

With that, Hitler and Saddam were marched away and the door was closed. Satan let out an exasperated sigh before sitting at the head of the long table. As he sat down, Vlad questioned, “Why is he here?” pointing to Dave Holland.

“Because I should be in Rock Heaven,” Dave snarled back. “I’m only in Hell because of a bollocks conviction. Fucking Elvis used that to not allow me in, damn him.”

“Enough!” Satan boomed, his thunderous voice shaking the room. It achieved its goal in silencing all. “Mr. Holland is here at my request. He will help us in rounding up all the key members of Rock Heaven and he can get some revenge.”

That’s right,” Dave affirmed. “They’re all a bunch of assholes. They wouldn’t let me in but I bet when that woman beater Tony Iommi dies , they’ll let him in.”

Satan sighed again. “They probably will. Some religions look favourably on men hitting women. That’s another reason why I plan to take over and have summoned all of you here. There should be no Rock Heaven, most of those rock stars should be with us here in Hell. You are all going to help plan my takeover. I have had a mole there since 2003 and he’s been feeding me information whenever he can.”

“A mole, that’s a brilliant idea!” Al Capone complented. “Who is he?”

“You’d be very surprised,” was Satan’s reply. “My mole did get me into Rock Heaven when some mortal went back in time to try to wipe out heavy metal. So, now it’s the perfect time to act.”

“Couldn’t we take our legions and just storm the place?” Vlad suggested.

“It’s not that simple,” Satan explained. “The other side has a fail safe. If we simply invade, we risk all out war with Heaven, I mean the real Heaven. We don’t need that, so we have to be more cunning.”

“Is that why Julius isn’t here?” Caligula inquired.

“Exacty why!” Satan affirmed. “And why we can’t risk an all out war with Heaven. The last time that happened, Heaven’s forces were commanded by George S. Patton who studied Caesar’s strategies and thwarted him at every turn. We got our asses kicked.”

“So tell me exactly how we are going to take over Rock Heaven?” Charles Manson probed.

“Yeah, you know once we act, those two Canadian super-heroes and their companions will try to stop you,” Dave Holland pointed out.

“I know,” Satan conceded. “But I have a plan. Those two super-heroes will be on a wild goose chase and while they’re distracted elsewhere, we will make our move. Besides, once we take over Rock Heaven, I think the town of Thunder Bay will thank us. They’re not happy with those super-heroes or the musicians in Rock Heaven for putting on that concert which nearly destroyed their town.”

Somewhere in Rock Heaven:

Martin Suplee’s head was pounding once again. He hoped he might have had a reprieve this time around. After all, Rory Gallagher and Jeff Beck were more blues guitarists, likewise with Dusty Hill on bass. Even with Razzle on drums, he thought it might not have been the metal he was constantly being bombared with. However, he couldn’t have been more wrong. They turned up the amp and bombarded him with power chords and blistering guitar solos. His head was throbbing by the time the session finished.

The throbbing began to ease as he was escorted back to his cell. In one way, he was lucky. Most of the time, he was subjected to sessions involving Lemmy, Jeff Hannemann and Cliff Burton. Those sessions left him with the feeling his head was going to explode in scanners fashion. “I guess I should be grateful,” he thought to himself as he entered his cell.

He needed no force to go into the cell, it gave him respite from the constant jamming of decesased musicians from the genre he tried to erase from history. Had it not been for this time alone, he would have gone mad ages ago. Several of his hench-persons who had travelled back in time with him urged him to admit that he was wrong in trying to erase metal from history. He stubbornly refused. If anything, constantly being bombarded with heavy metal from dead metal musicians only strenghtened his belief that his cause was right.

Suplee was still thinking this over, at least when he could because even in his cell, he was still able to hear those musicans playing. At that moment, it was Warrell Dane, Eddie Van Halen, Lorne Black and A.J. Pero who were assaulting his eardrums. Suddenly, he was distracted by shuffling at his cell door. Suplee turned and saw a singer, who didn’t sing heavy metal and he admired somewhat, standing at his cell’s entrance.

Before he could say anything, the singer put his finger to his lips and whispered, “I’ve come to get you out.” With that, the singer beckoned and Martin Suplee followed. Stealthily, the pair tiptoed through Rock Heaven and somehow, nobody noticed them. They carried on until they came to a huge door.

“This is the way out,” the singer directed.

“Where will I go?” asked a rather perplexed Mr. Suplee.

“Why, to Hell of course,” the singer responded, trying to keep down the volume of his voice. “Why, if anyone leaves Rock Heaven, the only place they can go is Hell. My boss is expecting you. He will assist you in ridding the world of heavy metal.”

Suplee opened his mouth to ask for more details but the singer had mysteriously vanished from sight, leaving him on his own. Not knowing what else to do, he thought to himself, “It’s worth a try” and pushed the door open and stepped through. As he entered a strange void, all he could think was “Maybe there was still a chance that he could wipe heavy metal from ever existing.”

Back in Hell

Satan waited along with those he assembled as the figure materialised before them. “When it did, he addressed the confused new arrival, “Welcome to Hell, Mr. Suplee.”

Bewildered, Mr. Suplee looked around the room. Why he actually was in Hell! He recognized Satan as he was responsible for him being in Rock Heaven. If that wasn’t enough, he recognized some of those with him, chiefly Al Capone and Charles Manson. Plus the were two other men and a woman, who he assumed was Lizzy Borden, due to her clothing. One man was in medieval dress, the other in a Roman toga. However, the remaining man bothered him. He was dressed in heavy metal attire. Therefore, he sensed a trap.

“Who’s he?” Suplee asked pointing to the metal clad Dave Holland.

“Why, he’s part of my plan to take over Rock Heaven!” Satan laughed louldy sending vibrations around the room. “All those metal musicians should be suffering here in Hell. Don’t you agree?”

Mr. Suplee nodded, “What do you want me to do?”

Satan explained, “What you didn’t know when you went back in time to destroy heavy metal from existence is that when those in Rock Heaven created heavy metal, one of the blueprints they used was Nazereth’s “Hair of the Dog” album. What you need to do is go to this Metalman’s house and steal his copy. You can get your revenge on him as well for his assistance in Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes defeating you. When you steal that album, Metalman will call for the super-heroes and they will come to stop you and you can defeat them.

“How can I defeat them? Last time, I had a special device but they neutralized it. Now I’m just an ordinary human.”

“That’s where I come in!” Satan boomed. “I can give you powers that will help you defeat them.

“Then give me those powers,” Suplee demanded. “And I shall defeat those meddlesome super-heroes and wipe heavy metal from history!” His laughed resembled those from cartoon villians.

“Very well,” Satan chortled. He pointed his trident at Mr. Suplee and the transformation began taking place. Suplee let out a long blood-curtling scream as large black wings began growing from the middle of his back. However, he took the pain as a new aura overcame him. When the wings had fully grown out, his clothing mysteriously changed to black robes. A few seconds later, the transformation was complete and Suplee felt different.

“Arise,” Satan commanded.

Mr. Suplee stood tall. He spread out his new wings fully, nearly knocking into Al Capone.

“Your transformation is now complete,” Satan informed. “You can know go and destroy Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes.

“Yes, I will have my vengeance on those two,” Suplee snarled before he mysteriously vanished.

Once Suplee had gone, Caligula asked, “Do you think he’ll succeed?”

Satan mischievously replied, “He doesn’t need to. All we need is for him to keep the super-heroes busy long enough so we can make our move on Rock Heaven.”

I hope you enjoyed. Once again, I’ve been covering a lot of colleague sickness at work so I haven’t been able to post as usual. Hopefully, that will change soon.

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Pretty Boy Floyd- Leather Boyz With Electronic Toyz

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2024 by 80smetalman

Pretty Boy Floyd did not appear on the compilation album I will be posting about in the near future. My introduction to them came from a tape sent to me from my sister in 1990 and it featured the closer from the album, “I Wanna Be With You.” The song did come in at number 19 on my list of Top 30 Power Ballads, so it must be a good song. However, as good as it is, “I Wanna Be With You” is not typical of the rest of “Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz.”

The rest of the tracks on the album scream Motley Crue and Poison as it seems that the band want to sound like both. Judging by their appearance, it could be argued that they wanted to look like them as well. Lead singer Steve ‘Sex’ Summers, cool middle name by the way, sounds like both Vince Neil and Brett Michaels on various tracks on the album. He definitely sounds like Vince on “Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the World on Fire)” but the backing vocals sound more Poison. It could confuse one’s mind. To make matters worse, they cover Motley’s “Toast of the Town” and its not a bad cover. However, I’m making a note to listen to the MC original and compare. It could be worth an “Original vs. Cover” post.

We get another power ballad with “Wild Angels.” While I prefer “I Wanna Be With You,” this one is not without its charm. True, they still sound a lot like their influences but they do put some heart into the song. Here comes another comparison. Guitarist Kristy ‘Krash’ Majors rips a cool solo on “Wild Angels” and he shows himself to be a decent guitarist throughout the album. My verdict is that Krash is not quite Mick Mars but I would say he’s better than CC DeVille.

Hidden gem time, although some might call “48 Hours to Rock” hidden because it did find its way onto the soundtrack of “Karate Kid III.” Since I haven’t seen that film in a couple of decades and it has escaped unnoticed for so long, I will call it a hidden gem. PBF really rock this one out and no matter who might have influenced them, this song showed that they were capable of making it on their own merit. This one is a pure cooker. Speaking of cooking, the track “Rock and Roll Outlaws” brings the power chords and could be a second gem, although the chorus sounds too ‘done before.’

Poison’s influence comes through loud and clear on “Only the Young.” This could have easily been a Poison song but Floyd, no not Pink, do a decent job on their own. After two same-sounding but not bad tracks, we get to the already mentioned closer. Listening to the song over the years, if I was the girl Steve was singing to, I might get a bit creeped out. She’s the new girl in school and I guess it’s okay that this one guy is asking her out. Then he gets her number from a friend and calls her up and at the end, declares that she’s the girl he’s been looking for. Ladies, please answer, listen to the song and tell me if such a guy would creep you out.

Track Listing:

  1. Leather Boyz With Electronic Toyz
  2. Rock and Roll (Is Gonna Set the World on Fire)
  3. Wild Angels
  4. 48 Hours to Rock
  5. Toast of the Town
  6. Rock and Roll Outlaws
  7. Only the Young
  8. The Last Kiss
  9. Your Mamma Won’t Know
  10. I Wanna Be With You
Pretty Boy Floyd

Steve ‘Sex’ Summers- lead vocals

Kristy ‘Krash’ Majors- guitar, backing vocals

Vinnie Chas- bass, backing vocals

Kari Kane- drums, backing vocals

Additional Musicians:

Howard Benson- keyboards

Matt Bradley, Phil Balvano, Jennifer ‘Miss Frosty’ Hoopes, Paris Hampton, Maura Eagan, Candace Gartland, Elizabeth Goldner, Katharine Lundy- backing vocals

Pretty Boy Floyd were another band which came and went. It could be down to the fact that glam and hair metal were on their way out but who knows? If they could have shaken free from the glam metal influences, they might have gone places.

Next post: A Piece of 80s History I Should Be Shot for Missing

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition giving Bruce Dickinson a knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Great Metal Albums of 1989: Dream Theater- When Dreams and Day Unite

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 4, 2024 by 80smetalman

Three bands immediately spring to mind whenever the term ‘progressive metal’ is mentioned. One is Dio as they could be called one of prog metal’s founders, the second is Savatage, especially after the “Gutter Ballet” album and the third band is the one I’m posting about today, Dream Theater. They are another band I discovered on the compilation album I’ll be visiting in the near future and like Mammoth, they impressed me. Therefore, it’s only logical that I explored their debut album, “When Dreams and Day Unite.”

Oh yes, to clarify, I can already hear some of you screaming at the top of your lungs, “What about Rush?” I don’t consider them metal and neither do they. Maybe progressive hard rock at best but not metal. In any case, I still enjoy a good Rush album so this whole argument is pointless.

Now back to Dream Theater and their debut. “When Dreams and Day Unite” starts off with three good tracks, the third one an instrumental and while I say good as they keep me interested, track two, “Status Seeker,” being the best of the three, the throat grabbing track comes fourth, “The Killing Hand.” For me, this is the best track on the album and I can see why it was the one which appears on that compilation album. It’s an eight minute long progressive metal master piece with all the elements required for such a track. What I had forgotten is that it was broken down into five parts. It tells a story of time travel and murder although the writer, John Petrucci, isn’t totally sure himself. Great keyboard work, some nice guitar work, a steady rhythm section and good vocals all combine to make it the best song on the album.

What critics have said, not that I pay attention to them, although there is some truth in the fact that the band were finding themselves as a band and individual musicians. This is not a criticism of the band but it’s something a lot of bands experience with their debut albums. I could have said the same about Mammoth in my previous post. However, what they have done on “When Dreams and Day Unite” is build the foundation for their more successful follow up album, “Images and Words.” Listening to the album, I remember why I was excited about Mike Portnoy filling in as drummer for Twisted Sister and I can add John Petrucci to my list of underrated guitarists. Some have slated Charlie Dominici’s vocals on the album but I find nothing wrong with them and of course, you can’t have good progressive metal without keyboards and Kevin Moore shows he’s the one for the job. While I don’t hear much of John Myung’s bass on the album, I know he lays down a good line.

Not wanting to leave out the rest of the album, I can say that the second half of the album, with the exception of “The Killing Hand,” is better than the first. The standout track of the four is “Light Fuse and Get Away.” It’s another cool track which neatly combines all the elements. Saying that, there seems to be a Rush-Styx influence throughout most of these songs.

Track Listing:

  1. A Fortune In Lies
  2. Status Seeker
  3. The Ytse Jam
  4. The Killing Hand- i. The Observance, ii. Ancient Renewal, iii. The Stray Seed, iv. Thorns, v. Exodus
  5. Light and Fuse Get Away
  6. Afterlife
  7. The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
  8. Only a Matter of Time
Dream Theater

Charlie Dominici- vocals

John Petrucci- guitar

Kevin Moore- keyboards

John Myung- bass

Mike Portnoy- drums, percussion

While “When Dreams and Day Unite” is the only Dream Theater album which failed to break into the top 200, it did set the foundation of greater things to come for the band. Still, if you fancy some great progressive metal, then check this album out.

Next post: Pretty Boy Floyd- Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

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Great Metal Albums of 1989: Mammoth

Posted in 1980s, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on March 31, 2024 by 80smetalman

British band, Mammoth, first came to my attention via a compilation album which I’m going to cover in the very near future. The song represented on that album from this debut is “Fatman” and it was a good choice as for me, it’s the best song on the debut. It’s a good heads up rocker and I get the impression that the band are laughing at themselves with it, in a good way of course.

Of course, we got to ask about the rest of the album. If they were looking for Top of the Pops chart success, then the opener “All the Days” would be a prime candidate. It does open with a pop oriented intro but never gets too heavy for the delicate ears of the top 40 brigade. However, there is a cool guitar solo in the middle. Mac Baker is a decent guitarist.

Like with so many bands on their debut albums, some might say that Mammoth were trying to discover what they were. True, on the album songs go in a variety of directions but they mostly stay with the hard rock formula. “Can’t Take the Hurt” is another mid tempo rocker which also could have been released as a single. With the video, maybe it was as it’s the closest they come to a true ballad. The history behind the band is vague at best.

They prove they can rock on tracks like “Bet You Wish,” “Long Time Coming” and “30 Pieces of Silver.” These are good hard rocking tracks and “Bad Times” is a steady melodic one. However, they venture into more progressive metal territory on “Dark Star” and the closer, “Home From the Storm,” and they sound pretty good. I put forward the argument that Mammoth weren’t necessarily trying to find their sound as opposed to the belief that they just wanted to make music.

Track Listing:

  1. All the Days
  2. Fatman
  3. Can’t Take the Hurt
  4. 30 Pieces of Silver
  5. Dark Star
  6. Bet You Wish
  7. Long Time Coming
  8. Bad Times
  9. Home From the Storm
Mammoth

Nicky Moore- vocals, keyboards

Mac Baker- guitar

John McCoy- bass, guitar, synth guitar

Vinnie Reed- drums, percussion

Additional Musicians:

Bernie Torme- guitar

Kenny Cox- guitar

Rob Fisher- keyboards

David Lloyd, Mark Williamson- backing vocals

Steve Sidelynk- percussion

Mammoth was one of those bands who came and went without getting much notice. According to sources, they wouldn’t release another record until 1997. Shame, because with this debut, they were certainly heading in the right direction.

Next post: Dream Theater- When Dream and Day Unite

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

To sign the petition to have Bruce Dickinson knighted, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson

Historical Events in Rock and Roll Children

Posted in 1980s, Books, Concerts, Death, films, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal and the 1980s, Music, Rock, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2024 by 80smetalman

Main objective behind writing “Rock and Roll Children” was to remind people, especially metalheads, of heavy metal history. At the time I began writing, there seemed to be a push by mainstream media to downplay the role heavy metal played in during its golden decade, the 1980s and that decade, contrary to what the media was pushing was not all Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Like it or not, heavy metal was a dominant force in the 1980s. True, it got little radio play and minimal play on MTV but the most successful bands sold millions of albums and played to packed out arenas. So, we can safely say that the 1980s was the golden age of heavy metal and I wrote “Rock and Roll Children” to bring home that point.

With all that said, the 80s for me was a busy decade and there were a lot of events, both music related and not, which took place in the time period in the book, 1984-7. That is the purpose of today’s post, to give you a history refresher of the events, (sorry, it’s the teacher in me) and by some weird hope, more of you will buy the book.

Non- Musical Events

U.S. Marines in Lebanon- In the story, Bob’s older brother, Mitch, served with the US Marines in their ‘peacekeeping’ mission in Lebanon. Although, he wasn’t there when the big tragedy happened in October 1983, some of his friends were. He is clearly effected by his experiences there, getting wounded when a grenade went off near him.

McDonald’s Mass Shooting- In the summer of 1984, a man went into a McDonald’s in California and shot and killed 22 people. Before he left, the shooter declared he was going to hunt humans. In “Rock and Roll Children,” the main characters joke that if they go to McDonald’s, they’re going to get shot.

Famine in Africa- I make reference to this in the book because it led to one of the greatest musical events of the decade, which I will mention more further down.

Ronald Reagan’s Re-election: This is briefly mentioned because Mitch is upset that the country re-elected the man who sent him to Lebanon where he was wounded.

Super Bowls XIX, XX and XXI- All three of these super bowls get mentioned.

The Bombing of Libya- When the US bombed Libya in 1986, there was concerns for the safety of Americans travelling in Europe. Jeff had been accepted to the University of London and while he wasn’t worried, some others were.

Reagan’s Contra War in Nicaragua- Bob becomes an anti- Contra Aid protester in light of events. He saw what Lebanon had done to his brother and this is what drives him here.

Arthur Fowler’s Imprisonment- When I got to England, I became engrossed in the very popular soap opera, “East Enders.” (Today it holds no interest for me.) In one episode, the character Arthur Fowler gets sent to prison for stealing money from a Christmas Club. A couple of nights later, I saw stickers at one underground station saying, “Free Arthur Fowler.”

Herald of Free Enterprise Disaster- In March, 1987, a British ferry called The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized in Zeebrugge, Belgium, killing 193 crew and passengers. This was a huge tragedy. One month after the event, Jeff and his roommate, Henry, take a ferry to France and this does worry them a little.

Music Related Events

Concerts- Every concert which takes place in the story actually happened and at the time they actually occurred.

Vince Neil’s Accident- This rocked the heavy metal community hard and gave plenty of ammunition to the anti-metal establishment. In case anyone has been living on Jupiter, Vince was more than twice over the drink-drive limit and crashed his car, injuring two people and killing Hanoi Rocks drummer, Razzle. It had an effect on the major characters in the story as after that, they made sure that they didn’t overdo it if they had to drive.

Rick Allen’s Accident- Rick’s accident happened about three weeks after Vince’s. While Rick and his girlfriend survived, Rick lost his arm as a result of the accident and the entire heavy metal world held their breath as to whether he would play the drums ever again.

Aerosmith’s Bottle Incident- The actual event happened seven years before it gets mentioned in the book, therefore, it’s told retrospectively. The character Tammy was at the concert in Philadelphia in 1979 when some moron threw a bottle on stage hitting Steve Tyler. She gives her full account of the incident and alludes to why Aerosmith seemed to holding back their best efforts when they played Philadelphia in 1986.

Live Aid- This was the musical event of the 80s I mentioned earlier. The concert was put on to raise money to help those in famine stricken Africa. Two concerts took place simultaneously, one in London, the other in Philadelphia. In “Rock and Roll Children,” I focused more on the two metal acts which performed that day, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

Farm Aid- This was a concert to raise money to help American farmers who were losing their farms. The main takeaway from that concert was Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar playing together for the first time. The rest of the story is history.

Jesus Freaks at Concerts- I wrote a post about this. Starting in 1986, whenever people went to a metal concert in America, there were the Jesus freaks all there telling people they were going to hell for seeing that band. It was a great source of entertainment.

Bon Jovi and Europe Being in the top 10 in the UK Charts- In November, 1986, Bon Jovi was at number nine in the UK charts with “Living on a Prayer” and Europe at number two with “The Final Countdown.” For many of us metalheads, it was a slap in the face to the mainstream music industry.

Prosecution of Jello Biafra- This made the news in England. Former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, was prosecuted and fortunately acquitted on the charge of distributing pornographic material to minors on the DK album, “Frankenchrist.” While Jeff was reading about it on the train to the airport to return home, it gave him a wake up call about the society he was heading back to.

See, you do learn about history if you read “Rock and Roll Children.” One thing I was criticized for but make no apologies was how metalheads were discriminated against in the 1980s. Not that we let that stop us. Maybe I did over-pound the point but it was real. There were a lot of great and tragic events both musically and not throughout the 80s. I tried to bring history to life and maybe that was the problem, I wrote it too much like a history book.

To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com

Next post: Mammoth

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