Great Metal Albums of 1988: Cinderella- Long Cold Winter

“Long Cold Winter” is Cinderella’s second album, following on from their noteworthy debut, “Night Songs.” With this album, they moved away from the glam metal and produced a more bluesy rock album. That comes through straight away on the opener, “Bad Seamstress Blues/Falling Apart at the Seems.” I really dig the bayou sounding intro to the track before it goes into more harder rock waters, although there’s a cool blues type riff in the middle. However, you can still tell it’s Cinderella.

With “Night Songs,” the band was constantly compared to Bon Jovi although it was Jon who helped Cinderella with that album, which led to their success. While I don’t think “Long Cold Winter” is like “New Jersey,” what it does have in common with that album is that it also produced four big singles. After the opener, you get three on the trot. The cool rocker which is “Gypsy Road,” the mega successful ballad, “Don’t Know What You Got, (Till It’s Gone)” and “The Last Mile.” Of the three, it’s the last one I was least familiar with, (I don’t have it on any compilation albums). But I do like the guitar intro before it goes into rock mode. Of the four singles, this is the one I like best. It’s a more straight up rocker, maybe except for the harmonizing at the chorus but the guitar riffs and Tom Keifer’s guitar solo make up for it.

After the singles, we get into lesser known songs territory. While “Second Wind” is not filler, it’s not the hidden gem on the album. It does it’s job in keeping the album ticking over and in this case, that’s not a bad thing because the title track is a real burner. This is a blues based cooker. The guitars are just awesome, starting with the very blues lead guitar intro. That alone makes it the hidden gem, although Tom’s fits his vocals to the song very well. See, on their first hit, “Shake Me,” from the debut album, Tom was accused by some of trying to sound too much like AC/DC. He definitely silences his critics here. However, I still enjoy the guitar work more.

In spite of my gushing over the title track, it did have some competition from the tracks, “If You Don’t Like It” and penultimate track, “Fire and Ice.” Need I say that the latter isn’t a cover of the Pat Benatar classic? Oh, I just did. It’s a great track in it’s own right and “If You Don’t Like It” shows that Cinderella are still a metal band. I can hear a bit of influence from the Aerosmith classic, “Walk This Way” in places and it sounds as if Tom and Jeff LaBar do a bit of a guitar solo trade off.

Sandwiched between the hidden gem contenders is the fourth single, “Coming Home.” It’s a ballad and a decent one. I like the melodic feel to the song, though Tom could have toned down his vocals a little. “Take Me Back” takes the album out very well as an upbeat rocker.

Track Listing:

1. Bad Seamstress Blues/Fallin’ Apart at the Seems
2. Gypsy Road
3. You Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)
4. The Last Mile
5. Second Wind
6. Long Cold Winter
7. If You Don’t Like It
8. Coming Home
9. Fire and Ice
10. Take Me Back

Cinderella

Tom Keifer- vocals, guitars, steel guitar, harmonica

Jeff LaBar- guitar, lead guitar on tracks 1 and 8

Eric Brittingham- bass, backing vocals

Fred Coury- drums (credited but does not play on the album)

Additional Musicians:

Jay Levin- steel guitar

Cozy Powell- drums, except track 5

Denny Carmassi- drums on track 5

Rick Cirinti- piano, organ, synthesizer

Kurt Shore, John Webster- keyboards

Paulinho Da Costa- percussion

With this album, Cinderella proved they could succeed in their own right. It’s unfortunate that they would fall away a few years down the line while the other band would continue to achieve great glories. Still, this is a really good album.

Next post: Guns ‘N’ Roses- EP

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

To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson his knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson?redirect=false

Last week in the UK, Iron Maiden postage stamps went on sale. Here’s some I bought and I won’t be posting any letters with them.

Great Rock/Metal Albums of 1988: Aerosmith- Gems

Special thanks goes out to 2loud for this album. If he hadn’t written a post on “Gems,” I most likely still wouldn’t have heard of it. I blame it on the fact that by November, 1988, I was settling into family life in the UK, with my first born very much on the way. Therefore, I couldn’t give music my full or even half full attention. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. Of course, the other reason why it passed me by was that “Gems” is a compilation album put forward by Aerosmith’s old label, Columbia Records who still could make a few bucks out of the band and my trips to record stores by then were almost non existent, so unless it was a big album, it most certainly passed me by.

The saying ‘better late than never’ applies to this as I am glad that, inspired by 2loud’s post, I sat down and listened to it and boy was I impressed! As you know, I always site hidden gems on any album I write about and here we have an entire album full of them. What is more, I can’t help thinking that the tracks were cleaned up a bit before being put on the album. Take “No Surprise” for instance. It comes from the “Night in the Ruts” album which I have always considered to be a total dirge. However, on “Gems,” it sounds really clear and now I fully appreciate the track much more than on the original album. Even the two tracks from my all time favourite ‘Smith album, “Toys in the Attic,” seem to sound better and that’s a feat in itself. Here’s another paradox which is me, “Round and Round” is the penultimate track on my favourite album but I don’t mind the fact that it’s not picked for the job on “Gems.”

I think what “Gems” achieves is showcase how great Aerosmith’s songs can be once you get past the hits. None of the songs from the 1980 “Greatest Hits” album are on this album and that’s a good thing. In addition, you get a lot of the songs from the earlier albums, when the band was still hungry and they hadn’t made the transition from musicians dabbling in drugs to druggies dabbling in music. “Mama Kin” is the best example of this. I forgot how great those opening riffs are. However, even the songs from the albums after the transition sound really great. “No Surprise” has already been mentioned but there seems to be a different swagger to “Jailbait” off “Rock in a Hard Place.”

One song, “Chip Away the Stone” from the “Live Bootleg” album is included in the tracks, so Columbia Records didn’t leave any stone unturned when looking for the gems. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, they chose all the right tracks for “Gems.” While this album was most likely meant for the hardcore Aerosmith fans, I think casual fans would appreciate it too.

Track Listing:

1. Rats in the Cellar
2. Lick and a Promise
3. Chip Away the Stone
4. No Surprise
5. Mama Kin
6. Adam’s Apple
7. Nobody’s Fault
8. Round and Round
9. Critical Mass
10. Lord of the Thighs
11. Jailbait
12. Train Kept a Rollin’

Aerosmith

Steve Tyler- vocals, harmonica, piano

Joe Perry- lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Brad Whitford- rhythm and lead guitar

Tom Hamilton- bass

Joey Kramer- drums, percussion

Additional Musicians:

Jimmy Crespo- lead guitar on “Jailbait”

Rick Dufay- rhythm guitar on “Jailbait”

David Woodford- saxophone

Richard Supa- piano

Mark Radice- piano on “Chip Away the Stone”

My thanks once again goes out to 2loud for turning me on to a great album. “Gems” is definitely that, full of great but not overplayed Aerosmith classics. I can’t recall them playing any of these at Download 2017 but no matter, I got this great album.

Next post: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- Up Your Alley

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

To sign the petition to give Bruce Dickinson a much deserved knighthood, click the link: https://www.change.org/p/special-honours-committees-for-knighthoods-a-knighthood-for-bruce-dickinson?redirect=false

Great Metal Albums of 1987: Alice Cooper- Raise Your Fist and Yell

You know what? The more I reflect back on the music of the 1980s, the more I am convinced of the similarities in the careers of Aerosmith and Alice Cooper. Both were 1970s icons with great albums. Then by the end of the decade and into the early 1980s, they were both nearly destroyed by the excesses enjoyed by many great rock and roll musicians. Aerosmith had become druggies dabbling in music Alice describes the early 1980s as his ‘drunk period.’ Then in the middle of the decade both dried up enough to cut albums which got them back on the rock map. Aerosmith released “Done With Mirrors” and Alice gave us “Constrictor.” But in 1987, both came out with defining albums which stamped their comeback as the real deal. I have already covered Aerosmith’s “Permanent Vacation” and Alice hit us all with this album, “Raise Your Fist and Yell.”

Alice tells us all to “raise our fists and yell” with the opening track and my favourite on the album, “Freedom.” The song is a totally undisguised dig at the PMRC when Alice says, “You want to rule us with an iron hand, change the lyrics and become big brother. This ain’t Russia! You’re not my dad or mother.” Whenever I hear the song, I want to raise my fist and yell. It also helps that with the exception of a new drummer, Alice keeps the same band he had from the last album.

New drummer Ken K. Mary introduces himself with a thundering drumroll on the second track, “Lock Me Up.” That’s followed by spoken word from Freddy Kruger actor Robert Englund accusing Alice of mass mental cruelty. As always with Alice, his sense of humour comes through here when he sings that he’s a criminal and if you don’t like it you can lock him up. Not me, Alice, not me. Guitarist Kane Roberts takes his turn to shine on “Give the Radio Back” as he solos his way all throughout the song. The lyrics have me thinking here. Did someone take Alice’s radio and he wants it back or is he singing out against how crap commercial radio had become by then? Yes, commercial radio did suck back then.

Was Alice at a thrash gig when he came up with “Step on You?” He does sing about sharpening his spikes and strapping up his boots. Anyway, on this track, it’s bassist Kip Winger’s turn to shine as the bass line here is just outstanding. The drumming and guitar get an assist though. More Alice humour closes out side one with “Not That Kind of Love.” He doesn’t favour romantic love on this one but wants to get down and dirty. If there is any song that would have riled the PMRC on this album, it would have definitely been this one. Once again, the band is really tight here.

Side two of the album has a death related theme starting out with my vote for hidden gem, “Prince of Darkness.” This is a song which takes me back to his shock, horror rock days of the 1970s. This is a great metal track with some great changes and no one can make this sound this good like Alice does. The eerie acoustic part at the tail end says it all.

Some great guitar work backs up Alice telling us that it’s time to kill. He’s going to take his fist and make them understand is augmented with some more magnificent guitar work from Kane, possibly his best solo on the album. Once he realizes he only has time to kill, Alice tells us how he’s going to do it with “Chop Chop Chop.” There is some great musicianship all around on this one. I love the intro. Afterwards, we get to know who his victim is, it’s “Gail.” The knife wound on her chest and her blood served time in its skeletal jail lets us know in this slow acoustic ballad. At the end of the album, we learn that Alice loves what he has done because he tells us that blood drops look like roses on white lace. It’s a great closer and with more great metal musicianship, (it’s almost a speed metal song), you definitely don’t forget this album.

Track Listing:

1. Freedom
2. Lock Me Up
3. Give the Radio Back
4. Step On You
5. Not That Kind of Love
6. Prince of Darkness
7. Time to Kill
8. Chop Chop Chop
9. Gail
10. Roses on White Lace

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper- lead vocals

Kane Roberts- guitar, backing vocals

Kip Winger- bass, backing vocals, keyboards on “Gail”

Paul Taylor- keyboards

Ken K. Mary- drums

Robert Englund- Freddy Kruger on “Lock Me Up”

For all the similarities between Alice Cooper and Aerosmith, there will be one difference. Aerosmith will go onto make a greater album in 1989 with “Pump.” As for Alice and I have already put up the screen to defend against all the rotten vegetables about to be thrown at me, I prefer “Raise Your Fist and Yell” to his next album, “Trash.” Nothing wrong with “Trash,” I know I’ll sing its praises when I get to1989, but “Raise Your Fist and Yell” will be my favourite 80s Alice Cooper album. It could be down to the fact that I finally got to see him live on tour for the album but who’s to say? I just love this album.

Next post: Helix- Wild in the Streets

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

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Happy 30th Birthday Wayne’s World

Wayne and with him always is Garth

Another reason to feel really old. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of one of the greatest heavy metal party films of all time, “Wayne’s World.” I really can’t believe the movie has been out that long! When it came out here in Britain way back in 1992, I saw it twice in the cinema and the moment it became available on VHS a few months later, of course I grabbed a copy!

This film embraced everything I loved about heavy metal and the lifestyle associated with it. I could identify with most of the characters and those I couldn’t identify with personally, I knew of someone who could. Being a married man with two small children when the film came out, it took me back to a few years earlier when my friends and I would cruise down the road with the car stereo playing. Although in our case, it was usually the Stormtroopers of Death. I could even identify with Phil because there were some occasions where I was ‘partied out.’ I was also a bit jealous because we didn’t have a rock club as cool as The Gasworks where I lived.

For those not familiar with the history behind the movie, the concept was born out of a television segment on the US comedy series, “Saturday Night Live.” “Wayne’s World” was a ten minute spot on the show where Wayne, played by Mike Meyers and his friend Garth, played by Dana Carvey are two metalheads who have their own cable access show of the same name. They would get up to all sorts of metal related antics. Often times, they would have guests actors on as well including and my favourite episode was when Aerosmith appeared on it.

Aerosmith on Wayne’s World. I tried pasting this from Youtube but it wasn’t having it.

Obviously, the movie is taken from the TV show. The quick synopsis of the film is that Wayne’s cable access show is bought by a seedy TV executive, Benjamin, played by Rob Lowe who intends to exploit it. At the same time, Wayne’s love interest, Cassandra, (Tia Carrere) who is also lead singer and bassist in a band also catches Benjamin’s eye and plans to make a video for her band. Let’s just say, everything unravels in a hilarious way with three endings. First the tragic ending, then the Scooby-Doo ending and finally the mega-happy ending. There are appearances by Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper and Robert Patrick, who played the T-1000 robot in “Terminator 2.”

Wayne and Cassandra

Have you seen this boy?

“Wayne’s World” not only appealed to metalheads, many people who wouldn’t normally associate themselves with heavy metal said they enjoyed the film. Back in 2003, I found that a colleague at the school I was teaching at was also a big “Wayne’s World” fan and on the last day of school, agreed to show it to our classes. Other teachers scoffed calling the film dated. However, we went ahead and the students were glued to the screen. They all said they loved it.

So, happy 30th birthday “Wayne’s World!” I hope everyone will watch it again or even for the first time. I know it will be as funny now as it was then. Party on!

Next post: Overkill- Taking Over

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

My Experience of Desmond Child

Desmond Child, 2019

Reading many of your blogs out there, Mike Ledano and 2Loud’s especially, I have learned a lot about one Desmond Child. I never knew that he wrote songs, many of them hits, or produced albums for the likes of KISS, Aerosmith, Cher, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Tyler and many many more. My association with Desmond came about through a totally different manner. Not through his producing, my introduction to him came via the soundtrack of my all time favourite film, “The Warriors.” FFI- I’ve included my post on said soundtrack should you wish to read it.

Great Rock Albums of 1979: The Warriors Soundtrack

Desmond not only writes my favourite track on the soundtrack, the closer, “Last of an Ancient Breed,” he sings it as well and I must say that Desmond is a decent singer and could have made it as one if he had gotten the breaks. Note: There were a couple of other talented singers on the soundtrack who vanished after. So, enough of me prattling on, here’s the song.

Yes, they do use excerpts from the 1983 film, “The Outsiders” in this video as well.

Hope you enjoyed!

Next post: Malice- License to Kill

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

Download 2017: Sunday

I wonder if anyone obliged them.

Sunday, the final day of Download., we all thought we better make the best of it. Most of the bands I wanted to see this day were playing on the main stage so I didn’t have to travel very far, especially with the headache of packing and loading the car. Everyone in my group all wanted to catch the day’s opener on the main stage, Fozzy. I had seen them at Bloodstock in 2013 and was very eager to see them again and when they came out on stage, they were determined to impress. Lead singer Chris Jerico, now with darker hair, still was the main attraction to this band. Like when I saw him at Bloodstock, he has a stage presence that singers with greater vocal talent don’t. However, he did give his band a little more of the limelight this time around. After all, he does have a good band behind him and I have to say that they seemed to have better material this time around. Check out the new song, “Judas.” A great start to the final day.

Fozzy begin

Jerico goes to the front

With the rest of the band behind him

Chris came my way

The rest of my group returned to camp but I stayed because I very much wanted to see the second band of the day, Orange Goblin. I have some of you bloggers to thank for that, I’m looking at Stone and HMO specifically, because what I have read about them made that decision for me. I have been told that while their music was good, they lacked stage presence, however, I saw no evidence of that when they hit the stage. True, singer Ben Ward is not the showman that Chris Jerico is but he sings well and can get the audience motivated behind the band. I thought they had some good stuff with their combination of doom metal and stoner rock. Will definitely be listening to these guys more and I’m serious about that.

Orange Goblin do have the presence

Ben Ward serenading the Sunday morning crowd

After being wowed by Fozzy and Orange Goblin, it was time to head back to camp, finish packing and load up the car. We managed to do this but because one of the assistants sent us to the wrong car park, we were late in getting back so when only caught the last twenty minutes of Devil Driver on the Zippo Stage. Still, twenty minutes of hard core thrash from Devil Driver is miles better than none at all.

The closest I could get to Devil Driver

After Devil Driver, I headed back to the main stage to see the remaining four bands on the night. The first of these were Australian hard rock band, Airbourne. Remember what I said about Northlane are evidence that not all Australian bands are influenced by AC/DC?  Well, forget about that in this case because the AC/DC influence came through the minute Airbourne was out on stage. The other thing I noticed straight away was that lead singer/lead guitarist, Joel O’Keeffe was the main attraction in the band. Like, Devin Townsend and another artist I would see later on in the day, O’Keeffe was good at both. However, he wouldn’t be so great without the rest of the band behind him. Most of the songs they played were from the “Breaking Out of Hell” album but that’s not a bad thing. I did like the song “It’s All For Rock and Roll, so it’s another album on my to get list. Airbourne warmed things up nicely in preparation for the rest of the evening.

Joel O’Keeffe going straight to the front

O’Keeffe belts out a guitar solo with rhythm section in support

The album cover alone is worth getting the album.

O’Keeffe leading the finish

After Airbourne, I was totally pumped for the next band, Steel Panther, and my feelings were justified. Steel Panther were the unsung heroes on the day. I loved them start to finish and let me put to rest any doubts about their ability, these guys can play, they proved that the second they stepped out on stage with “Eyes of the Panther.” Sure, there is a lot of humour in their songs and I was quite surprised they played, “Thar She Blows” live but whoever said that there can’t be humour in metal? I laughed and rocked out at the same time to the Tiger Woods song. In addition to the great metal, there was some great banter with the crowd and between the band themselves. Bassist Lexxi was the butt of most of the jokes, with constant insinuations he was gay but it was also said that lead singer Mike Starr was 72 years old. If that’s true, then all the power to him I say. Besides I believe them when they say the reason all the other bands hate them was because they sleep with all their girlfriends. I only had to wait halfway through the set to hear the famous “Death to All But Metal” and they played “Fuck All Night, Party All Day” straight after. The biggest surprise was when they played “17 Girls in a Row.” While playing it, they invited ladies up from the crowd on stage and before you knew it, there was a wall of young women across the entire stage and four deep. Most of the ladies seemed content with taking selfies with the band and giving them kisses, not that they minded. Once the girls were back off stage, they ended with what’s for me, the best song possible, “Community Property.” You bet people sang along to that one. So, after seeing them, anyone who insists Steel Panther are a joke band can come see me and I’ll show them my US Marine Corps training.

Feel the Steel

Michael Starr sings while Satchel hammers a solo

Starr and Lexxi come my way

The ladies answer the invite to come on stage

Ladies on stage

I only became familiar with Alter Bridge a week before I went to Download but after hearing their mix on Youtube, I made up my mind to go and see them. Myles Kennedy was already known to me on account of his work with Slash so that made me more determined to see them. He is a great singer but what I never knew was that he can play a guitar a bit as well. He really wailed away on quite a few of the songs so I was doubly impressed. While I can remember specific song titles, I can say that the songs I heard were absolutely brilliant. I think that after seeing them onstage, they are quickly becoming a favourite with me.

Welcome Alter Bridge

Myles came my way to play a solo

Don’t forget, there are three other great musicians in Alter Bridge

We all know Myles is a great singer too

More great guitar work

They played on til the end

Now common sense says that I should have stayed put after Alter Bridge so I would have a spot for headliners, Aerosmith. However, who says I have any sense? What did I do? I went over to the Zippo Stage to catch twenty minutes of headliners Slayer. Sure, I have seen them twice recently but who in their right mind would pass up any chance to see Slayer? I didn’t and don’t regret it.

Slaaaayyyeeeerrrrrr!

I did manage to get back well before the main event and managed to jockey into the best place possible to see the band that helped me through high school. Aerosmith came out to all the royal fanfare a band of their magnitude deserved. While I knew that their set would be a ‘greatest hits’ one, neither I or any of the tens of thousands there to see them cared. The hits came straight away, their was “Crying,” “Love in an Elevator,” “Living on the Edge” and “Jaime’s Got a Gun” for starters. It was common knowledge that the last song was about domestic abuse but I was a little surprised at Steve’s revelation that he got the idea for it while he was in rehab. Sometime in the middle of the set, guitarist Joe Perry was allowed to sing lead on a couple of songs, the first one was a blues number and the second one, Brad Whitford played a guitar solo. I always suspected Brad was capable of such things. After all, he’s been a brilliant rhythm guitarist for over forty years! After Joe’s spot, Aerosmith went back to the hits starting with the film classic, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” It was here that Steve Tyler introduced guest keyboards player Buck Johnson. Believe me, he went well with the band. Tom Hamilton played a bass solo but there was no surprise which song was to come after when Steve introduced him as Mr Sweet Emotion. This was the icebreaker for more of their 70s and 80s stuff. There was “Dude Looks Like a Lady” and of course “Dream On,” which the band left the stage. No fooling they would come out for encores and the audience was treated to a song I can’t remember before “Walk This Way.” The night ended with confetti and great fanfare. Now, there are rumours that this would be Aerosmith’s last tour. If so, they went out on an absolute high.

Aerosmith ended a night and a weekend of great metal! I went home feeling very satisfied and fulfilled. Download was great but I will not enter into any debate as to which is better between Download and Bloodstock. Both offer me everything I look for in metal. One thing, I must do in the future is to save my pennies so I can go to both festivals in the same year.

Steve and Joe in the front

Aerosmith rocks!

They rock some more

Cool lights

Tom’s bass solo

More Steve and Joe

A great end to the night!

Rock and Roll Children is still available on Amazon.

Next post: Honeymoon Suite

Your Opinion: Would It Have Been Cool if HSAS Continued After One Album?

HSAS

Thinking more about my previous post on the only album from HSAS, I continue to speculate what would it have been like if they didn’t stop at one album. In the last post, I put forward the historical evidence that Journey went completely downhill and that Sammy went onto join Van Halen and received a lot of unfair criticism for it. My feelings are that they would have gone on to make at least two more killer albums before any super group egos began to get in the way. Hopefully, I might be wrong there. So, what I’m doing is putting the question out there to the cosmos. Would any of you liked to have heard more albums from HSAS and gone to see them live? Let me know your opinions and don’t be shy! I will look at both sides of the argument with equal eyes.

Now, in two days I’ll be off to Download and have come to an interesting situation. It was my intention that on the Sunday, I was going to see the top four bands on the main stage so I can get a good position for Aerosmith. Having not seen them since 1990, I was prepared to give Slayer who are headlining on the second stage a miss. Particularly because I have seen them at Bloodstock twice in the past three years. However, Slayer will be on before Aerosmith so I do have the chance to see them. To throw a further spanner in the works, I really want to see Airbourne and Steel Panther who are on the main stage before Slayer but had not heard of the band between Steel Panther and Aerosmith, Alter Bridge, who are on when Slayer goes on. I know that I can easily move stages but I fear I won’t get a good place for Aerosmith if I do. Furthermore, I have familiarized myself with Alter Bridge and am very impressed with what I heard. So, I’m tempted to stay and see them. What would you do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Rock/Metal Albums of 1984: HSAS- Through the Fire

Late in 1983, Sammy Hagar and Journey guitarist Neil Schon did a project together along with bassist Kenny Aaronson and drummer Michael Shrieve. Together, they formed a band called HSAS which was short for Hagar, Schon, Aaronson and Shrieve and the result was their one and only album, “Through the Fire.” Was it a success? Maybe not according to the charts but it made my spring in 1984 and continued to do so for years after.

Confession, I never bought the “Through the Fire” album, I cheated. Instead, I recorded their full performance from an MTV concert. Besides, they played every song on the album plus a few songs that didn’t get on it. Having finally listened to the album, I feel no shame as it simply brings back all the great memories of that taped concert.

While most trendy types might not remember HSAS, I’m sure that a lot of metalheads and a few non ones do. When Sammy Hagar toured solo at the end of the year and even during his first tour with Van Halen, there were signs around many a concert venue that read, “Sammy Hagar, Top of the rock.” That’s because it’s the best known song from the album. He played it that night I saw him and it is a brilliant song. However, it’s only my second favourite. The top slot goes to the very next track, “Missing You.” That song really cooks and Neil belts out great guitar solo on it.

Hearing the next three tracks, I am now convinced that when the band played live, they played all three together as one song. Each track quickly goes from one to the next so you don’t really get a break. Furthermore, all three are in the way out space rock mode and they fit very well together. In the MTV concert, only the title of the first song, “Animation” was introduced but it went on for far longer than the four minutes it says the song lasts on the label. Actually, I am pretty sure that the song lasted for the duration indicated by the three songs.

There is one blip in comparing the album with the concert and that comes in the form of the band’s cover of the classic, “Whiter Shade of Pale.” The song closes the concert and I think it was a great song to close the show with. However, it’s not the closer on the album and now I wonder if it should have. It’s still done very well and I think that Procol Harum would have been impressed. After that comes the hard rocker, “Hot and Dirty,” which Sammy stated in the concert that it was about Kenny the bass player’s girlfriend. Can’t fault the song, it’s really good and Neil Schon shows his talent up and down all of it. While not a ballad, “He’ll Understand” is, to quote Sammy, on the tender side. It starts out as a ballad but that changes not far into it and has a smoking guitar solo. The irony is the closer because I am fairly certain that it was the opener for the concert. However, it works both ways.

HSAS in concert

The reason why all nine songs are so good is down to the talents of the four men who comprised HSAS. Sammy’s vocals and Neil’s guitar work were always going to be a lethal cocktail, no doubt about that. But we should raise a glass to the rhythm section of Aaronson and Shrieve because together, they make a fine one.

Track Listing:

1. Top of the Rock
2. Missing You
3. Animation
4. Valley of the Kings
5. Giza
6. Whiter Shade of Pale
7. Hot and Dirty
8. He’ll Understand
9. My Home Town

HSAS

Sammy Hagar- vocals

Neil Schon- guitars

Kenny Aaronson- bass

Michael Shrive- drums

For the last 33 years, I have been asking myself “What if?” What if HSAS went beyond this one project and put out more albums? I think that they would have made a huge impact on the music of metal’s golden decade. History does sort of support me. When Neil went back to Journey, they didn’t make any impact after, at least not on me. Then there’s the case of Van Hagar, although I’ve always said that Sammy can’t be blamed for that. What we are left with is one fantastic album and three decades of me wondering, what if.

Next post: There will be no post at the end of the week because I am off to the Download Festival this week. I’m going to rock to Aerosmith, Steel Panther, Rob Zombie, Suicidal Tendencies and many more. Of course I will give you a day by day report once I return.

Still no new link for buying Rock and Roll Children direct but it’s still available on Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Albums That Were Lost in the Cassette Player

For those who have been following me for awhile, you will know that back in the early 198os, I owned a lot of cassettes due to my very limited living space when I was in the marines. Even after I got out, while I began buying vinyl again, I still bought a good amount of cassettes. My logic at the time was you couldn’t play records in the car and I need my travelling music. While cassettes had the advantage of being very compact, you could fit one in your shirt pocket, they had the disadvantage of being susceptible of destructing. They could easily get mangled in the player and often times brake. I found this extremely frustrating. While the percentage of cassettes lost was small compared to the number I owned, it still upset me when I lost one to the machine. So, as an in between the years post, I will play homage to all the great albums that were mangled by a tape player.

The famous ammo cans . I thought this would be a good excuse to put this picture in the post.

Others that succumbed but I don’t have pictures for

Slayer- South of Heaven

The Dreggs- Unsung Heroes

The Who- recorded from the radio

Copperhead

There could be more but these are the ones I definitely remember. However, other cassettes weren’t mangled in the machine but wore out another way. When played they began to have a hiss sound on them. Eventually, this hiss got louder and present on more of the tape until it was unplayable. There was the odd tape where that started but it stopped and played normal again. Unfortunately, others didn’t so here is a tribute to those cassettes that were lost in this manner.

As you can see, many a great album fell victim to the dreaded tape player one way or the other. Thank God for CDs and more modern means of listening to music as I don’t have that problem anymore.

Next post: 1984

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

My Top 15 Albums

Typical me of my school days. I was always forgetting to do assignments which often got me in trouble with teachers. I almost missed the one set by a fellow blogger to list my 15 favourite albums. Looks like I’m just going to make the deadline here so don’t give me a detention. Well here they are:

1. Stormtroopers of Death- Speak English or Die

2. Suicidal Tendencies

 

3. Killer Dwarfs- Big Deal

4. Dio- Holy Diver

5. Jefferson Starship- Freedom at Point Zero

 

6. Lynyrd Skynyrd- One More From the Road

 

7. Iron Maiden- Live After Death

 

8. Black Sabbath- Paranoid

9. Aerosmith- Toys in the Attic

10. Twisted Sister- You Can’t Stop Rock And Roll

11. Vaughn- Soldiers and Sailors on Riverside

12. Hair of the Dog- Rise

13. Molly Hatchet- Flirtin’ With Disaster

14. Nazereth- Hair of the Dog

15. REO Speedwagon- Nine Lives

Honourable Mentions

38 Special- Rockin’ Into the Night

Jefferson Starship- Winds of Change

Kreator- Pleasure to Kill

Van Halen- II

Dio- The Last in Line

Twisted Sister- Under the Blade

AC/DC- Back in Black

AC/DC- Highway to Hell

Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon

Blackfoot- Highway Song

Damned Nation- Grand Designs

This is my list respectfully submitted on 15 September, 2015.