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
I think this is great news, especially as heavy metal music and its followers are often snubbed by the so-called mainstream of society. So, I take my hat off to Birmingham City Council for this wise decision.
It has been said by many a metal fan that “Tales of Creation” was the final offering in the trilogy of Candlemass’s greatest albums. I’ve already written great things about the other two alums, “Nightfall” and “Ancient Dreams” but I was even more excited about this one because “Tales of Creation” was responsible for my introduction to the band. Not the entire album, but back then, my sister, Dawn, was making me compilation tapes from all of her metal albums and the offering from this particular album was the track, “Dark Reflections.” That track was enough to get me to explore the album more and while in no way I would criticize my sister and there is nothing wrong with that track as it demonstrates the doom metal Candlemass was famous for, there are better tracks on the album.
Actually, the album really kicks into high gear in the middle of the album starting with the fourth track, “Under the Oak.” I call this particular track, “Doom metal with a bit of pep in it.” The lead guitar of Lars Johansen and rhythm guitar of Mats Bjorkman work in perfect guitar harmony here. The track sets up the best track on the album, “Tears,” but if you’re not careful, you may miss where the preceding track ends and this one begins. “Tears” is straight up doom metal but there are some interesting change ups but Messiah Marcolin handles those particularly well on the vocals. When that track ends, Lars shows that he can shred like his famous countryman on the instrumental, “Into the Unfathomed Tower.” Of course he gets great support from his rhythm section, so unlike his countryman, Lars doesn’t need to showboat.
While the middle of the album might be the strongest part, it doesn’t deteriorate after. Messiah proves he is capable of singing a ballad on “The Edge of Heaven,” if the song had continued in that direction. Well, maybe we could call this track a doom power ballad. It is slower paced but the guitars are powerful enough to knock your socks off. More doom metal comes on the next two tracks with “Somewhere in Nowhere” ending with a cool guitar solo. After the final of three brief narrations, the title track ends the album curing any hangover the listener might have.
Track Listing:
The Prophecy
Dark Reflections
Voices in the Wind
Under the Oak
Tears
Into the Unfathomed Tower
The Edge of Heaven
Somewhere in Nowhere
Through the Infinitive Halls of Death
Dawn
A Tale of Creation
Candlemass
Messiah Marcolin- vocals
Lars ‘Lasse’ Johansen- lead guitar
Mats ‘Mappe’ Bjorkman- rhythm guitar
Leif Edling- bass
Jan Lindh- drums
Narration provided by Jim Bachman and Jay Larsen
At the great risk of repeating myself, “Tales of Creation” proves that Candlemass carried the torch of doom metal which had been lit by Black Sabbath all those years earlier. You can’t get much more doomier than albums like this one.
Next post: Helix- Over 60 Minutes With
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
Ronnie James Dio was doing a marvellous job as master of ceremonies for the New Year’s Eve festival but now he had to prepare for his own band’s performance. Therefore, after introducing Metal-Head, which consistied of Mike Howe on vocals, Jeff LaBar on guitar, Lemmy on bass and Joey Jordison on drums, he left to get ready. Fortunately, Elvis was more than happy to step in temporarily.
Bright spotlights shone down on the King as he walked to the centre of the stage. “Are we having a good time?” he asked the audience. The response was a raucous cheer. He continued, “Now, with Cozy Powell on drums, Jon Lord on keyboards, Jimmy Bain on bass, Criss Oliva on guitar and Ronnie James Dio on vocals, I’m delighted to give you, Deep Black Rainbow!”
Red lights slowly illuminated the front of the stage. As they rolled back, a mediaeval setting began to reveal itself. Two black knights holding two-handed swords stood as sentinels at either side of the stage. The lights continued to roll back further spotlighting Jon Lord’s keyboards and Cozy Powell’s drum kit before finally showing a painted castle at the very back of the stage. A foreboding thumping beat came over the intercom whetting the audience’s collective appetite.
Suddenly, riffs of a familiar song crackled through the air and in a flash, Ronnie James Dio appeared at front centre stage with Criss Oliva on his left and Jimmy Bain to his right. Jon and Cozy were in their respective places. Like all the bands who had played before them, the members of Deep Black Rainbow all looked las they did in their prime. Ronnie and Jimmy looked as if they had just recorded the “Holy Diver” album. Likewise, Jon looked like he did when Deep Purple made “Machine Head” and Cozy could have been in Rainbow in the late 1970s. The second Ronnie put his lips to the mic and let out the first words, the crowd went wild. The fervor carried on as he continued to sing:
“You got desire, so let it out.
You got the power, stand up and shout”
The instant Ronnie sang “shout,” floodlights lit up the stage and cast its beams out into the audience. A few might have had some apprehension when it came to the guitar solo as to how Criss Oliva would handle it. They weren’t disappointed. He didn’t stray from the original solo while at the same time, putting in his own style. It carried the song to the final chorus when Ronnie pointed the microphone out to the crowd who screamed back in unison, “Shout!” One song in and the band had the audience eating out of their hands.
The crowd had not time to catch their breath as Ronnie started singing:
“I’m a wheel, I’m a wheel
I can roll I can feel
But you can’t stop me turning.”
Ronnie’s voice and power chords brought the crowd back to life and when the time came, they roared back, “The man on the silver mountain.” The song illustrated how tight this band was as they were wowed by the Rainbow classic.
At the conclusion, Ronnie finally addressed the audience. “”How are we? Are we rocking out tonight?” I feel particularly priviledged to be on stage with these guys. It’s like old times with Jimmy and Cozy and I’m glad Criss and Jon were able to join us. Speaking of Jon, I think he should start the next song.”
Jon Lord needed no further encouragement as he immediately went to work dazzling the crowd with his keyboard wizardry. The audience showed their appreciation and then the rest of the band joined in treating everyone to “Black Knight.” That was followed by another Rainbow classic, “Tarot Woman” with Jon still doing on the keyboards what he did so well in the mortal realm.
“Thank you, thank you,” Ronnie showing his appreciation on behalf of the band. “This is a song Jimmy and I did when we were in our own band, it’s called ‘The Last in Line!”
Multicoloured lights flickered as Criss Oliva began on the guitar. Ronnie came in with:
“We’re a ship without a storm
The cold inside the warm
Light inside the darkness that it needs, yeah
We’re the laugh without the tear
Cold without the fear
We are coming,”
The entire stage lit up as he sang, “Home!” Once again, it sent the crowd into an hysterical frenzy. Criss’s power chords and Jon’s keyboards were supported by the rhythm section of Jimmy and Cozy and reminded all as to what a great song they were playing. Ronnie’s vocals spearheaded the fabulous song and when it came to its too soon conclusion, Ronnie sang, “We’re the last in, we’re the last in..” and then pointed his microphone out to the audience who screamed back, “Line!” He put the final stamp on the song with a very melodic, “We’re the last in line.”
Waiting for the thunderous cheers to die down a little. Ronnie addressed the audience. “As you know, I worked with Jimmy and Cozy while we were alive on Earth and I know Jon from when my first band, Elf, toured with Deep Purple, but none of us have ever worked with Criss here before and we are very fortunate that he agreed to join us. So, our next song is from the band you all know Criss from, Savatage, and the song is, ‘Hall of the Moutain King.’”
Criss responded by playing the opening notes with a renewed gusto and when the rest of the band joined in, it sounded just like it was meant to. Ronnie’s vocals when he sang the title sounded beautifully melodic. Furthermore, Criss’s guitar solo had everyone screaming in appreciation. At the very end, Ronnie put his own stamp on it when his unique voice sang out, “Madness reigns, in the hall of the mountain king!” before Cozy concluded with a spectacular drum roll.
Four members of the band abruptly walked off the stage leaving Criss on his own. He needcd no prompting as to what to do as the guitarist immediately began playing his guitar and overawing the crowd with his six string magic. Criss frantically moved his fingers up and down the neck of the instrument, pausing now and then so the audience could roar their approval. Those four minutes in the spotlight seemed like mere seconds as before anyone realised, the rest of the band came back ready to continue.
“Criss Oliva on the guitar!” Ronnie declared. His guitarist responded with some light acoustic notes. No one could be sure if the audience was expecting it but they still showed their delight at “Temple of the King.” The dimmed lighting and spotlight on Ronnie illustrated the somber mood of the song. When it finished, the next chords Criss struck set the entire venue into near madness as the next song just happened to be “Children of the Sea.”
After the final “look out” at the conclusion of the epic Black Sabbath number, Ronnie again had to wait for the crowd to finish voicing their approval. When it died down enough, Ronnie gave a cheerful, “thank you” before announcing, “This next song is a new one, written by all of us and you’re hearing it for the first time. It’s called ‘Decieve the Devil!’”
The intro was a subtle guitar backed up by the organ. Ronnie began singing in a ballad mode to this slow accompaniment. Suddenly, a power chord was struck along with a note from the bass and a brisk drum roll from Cozy and things suddenly began to speed up three tempos. The harder rock got the audience clapping along as Ronnie shifted his vocal style. For those listening closely, “Deceive the Devil” could have been the offspring between “The Last in Line” and the Savatage monster, “This is the Time,” but no one really cared, they just enjoyed the song. Two verses and chorus sung, Criss stepped into the spotlight and cranked out yet another killer guitar solo.
When one could have thought the song was winding down to its end, the stage suddenly came to life. The two knights on either side of the stage moved about ten feet into the middle. Lasers shot back and forth across the stage with small explosions when they hit. The warring knights caused such a spectacle that the audience hardly knew the song ended as the battle continued on for a few minutes more, delighting all. When the battle ceased, the two knights returned to their posts at the sides of the stage with the crowd still shouting their delight and American fans breaking out their cigarette lighters.
Four members of the band exited the stage leaving Jon Lord alone at his keyboards. Several spotlights shone down on him as he demonstrated his keyboard wizardry and those in the stands demonstrated their delight. Jon produced sounds that had many who were watching and listening scratching their heads wondering how he did it. However, it wasn’t just the sounds he was making which captivated the audience. Bright lights shot out of the keyboards and a florescent display on the back wall treated all to a marvellous light show. It was a wonder that Jon’s solo only lasted four minutes.
“Jon Lord on keyboards!” Ronnie called out when the rest of the band returned. Jon continued on his keyboard, but now he was playing more familiar notes. Jimmy joined in on bass and guitar and drums followed on and before anyone realized, Ronnie was singing “Woman From Tokyo.” When that Deep Purple classic ended, it was Cozy’s turn to show what he could do on the drums. He needed no encouragement as he hammered away on the skins with some amazing drum rolls. After wowing the crowd for five minutes, Jimmy came back on stage and joined him playing bass along with Cozy’s drumming. Again, the audience showed their appreciation.
When Ronnie, Criss and Jon joined the other two on stage, they unleashed their second original. “Fear in the City” was a slow, bluesy number done in a stoner rock style, much reminiscent of the band Ronnie was in before he left the mortal world, Heaven and Hell. Nevertheless, the audience ate it up, Criss’s blistering guitar solo might have helped.
“The next song describes of all us,” Ronnie declared. “We are all rock and roll children!” While the audience screamed their approval, the band launched into the song. The energy was felt all around. At the chorus, Ronnie again pointed his mic out to the crowd who shouted back, “Rock and roll children!”
Ronnie melodically responded, “Alone again.” He pointed the microphone back out the the crowd who again shouted back, “Rock and roll children!” To which he sang back, “Without a friend, but they got rock and roll.”
The back and forth happened again when the second chorus came around and then again after the guitar and keyboards solos, went back and forth with the audience until the song’s conclusion. However, Ronnie didn’t give the audience any time to recover, “Here’s an old one, ‘Rainbow in the Dark.’”
They didn’t need a breather as the audience bellowed their appreciation for the Dio classic. When it finished to raucous cheers, Ronnie addressed the crowd. “We might not be in the mortal plane any longer but rock and roll lives on! So, help us go out on a high, long live rock and roll!”
Both band and auidence were so full of energy there was no indication both had been fully engrossed in the show for an hour and a quarter. The Rainbow classic got the place jumping and Ronnie got the fans to sing along one more time. He would sing, “Long live,” and the audience screamed back “Rock and roll!” If the sing along, the light show and the efforts of the band wasn’t enough, Deep Black Rainbow had one more trick up their sleeves. Right after Criss’s guitar solo and while Ronnie repeatedly sang the title of the song, a mechanical dragon, much like the one from Dio’s “Sacred Heart” tour rose up from behind the drums and greeted the crowd, blowing smoke from its nose. Furthermore, it appeared to acknowledge everyone sitting in the audience. It remained with the band and even took the final bows with them before they left the stage.
There was absolutely no way the audience was going to let Deep Black Rainbow get away that easily. In one loud voice, everyone roared and screamed for the band’s return. This went on until throats began to get sore and even that didn’t stop many. It was only then the band triumphantly returned to the stage.
“You all rock!” Ronnie saluted as his bandmates got to their instruments. A few familiar keyboard notes from Jon and the band was all in. Then, Dio, beckoned to the side of the stage. “Come on!” he motioned. Then Elvis appeared, waved to the crowd, and grabbed a microphone. Chuck Berry returned to the stage, duck-walking to center stage as the crowd screamed in approval. Criss Oliva followed, plugging in his electric guitar so familiar from the Gutter Ballet album cover. He was followed by Randy Rhoads who plugged into another stack of amps. The final guitarist, Tee Bone Man himself, had the honour of standing between the two legendary axemen. His face was humble and his eyes were made of joy.
Eric Carr and Clive Burr emerged, carrying tambourines and shakers. Brian Connolly and Kelly Groucutt were behind them with microphones in their hands. Cliff Burton just had a beer, while the two Charlies weren’t quite sure how they fit in, but were just glad to be there. Paul MacLeod had returned, and simply grinned at all the rock majesty from the side of the stage.
A few familiar keyboard notes from Jon and the band was all in. The crowd roared as Ronnie sang, “Nobody’s gonna take my car, I’m gonna race it to the ground,” and when the appointed time came, the audience sang back, “I’m a highway star!”
Keyboard solo followed guitar solo behind floodlights which shone down on the audience. Each time the line would come up, the crowd continued to shout back, “I’m a highway star!” to the very end.
Nothing moved as Jon continued on the keyboards which played more notes which seemed very strangely familiar. With baited breath, everyone listened in anticipation for the guitar to kick in and then every head bobbed in unison to the rhythm and joined Ronnie in singing, “Holy diver, you been down to long in the midnight sea, what’s becoming of me?” Heads continued to bob and the crowd sang along even more as the Dio classic entirely lit the place up.
“We have time for one more,” Ronnie announced. The familiar guitar riffs of an all time classic sent all into mass hysterical frenzy. Criss and Ronnie led the procession as everyone joined in the party that was “Smoke On the Water.” An amazing light show accompanied the iconic hit and if Ritchie Blackmore had been there, he would have taken out a court injunction against Criss forbidding him to play it again, as he totally nailed the guitar solo. Jon followed on with one more amazing keyboard solo and then a brief drum solo from Cozy. Charlie Parker’s saxophone joined in for “Smoke”, while everyone sang along to the indelible chorus. The end came too soon as the audience screamed their heads off and cigarette lighters lit up the seating area. Ronnie graciously thanked everyone for coming and enjoying the show and being so wonderful. All of Deep Black Rainbow came together, took their final bows and exited the stage.
All of Deep Black Rainbow came together, took their final bows and a few heavenly hugs. The band glimmered bright, and faded away in a giant cascade of stars. Tee Bone remained alone on stage. Speechless, the man stood before them for an achingly long silence.
“Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, friends from near and far…I don’t know what to say!” He paused, unsure how to finish. Ultimately, he went with his guts. “People…let’s see the Kiss Avatars top that! You just witnessed the greatest rock show of all time! Let’s hear it!” The crowd screamed in eternal gratitude, for there would never be a show like this one. “Now let’s count, because it’s almost midnight!” A massive clock was projected on a screen behind him.
“10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…wooo!” screamed the rapturous attendees.
“Happy New Year!” screamed Tee Bone at the top of his lungs. “Welcome to 2024!”
* * *
80smetalman Note: For those of you who have read “Rock and Roll Children,” you may be wondering why the concerts in the story weren’t so intense as this one. After all, one critic slated the book calling the concert account ‘bare bones stuff.’ The answer is quite simple, when I wrote “Rock and Roll Children” I attended all but three of the concerts mentioned in the story and went strictly from memory from concerts I had seen 25 years prior. Furthermore, unlike Hollywood, I wanted historical accuracy. Therefore, everything that happened in those concerts, I actually witnessed. For the NYE, concert above, I had no such restrictions and therefore let my imagination go wild. I would like to thank Mike and everyone else for allowing me to contribute to this great story.
My mind is in debate as to whether or not “No Rest for the Wicked” is the most underrated album in Ozzy’s discography. Although there is a strong argument for “Osmosis” but we’re not here to talk about that album today. As for “No Rest for the Wicked,” it’s an album that I had taken little notice of over the years, so I forgot how good this one is.
One reason why the album is good as it’s the first album to feature guitarist Zak Wylde, who got the job after sending Ozzy a demo tape and then passing the audition. He shows his guitar talent throughout the album, I’m particularly impressed with his riffs and solo on “Devil’s Daughter (Holy Wars).” Saying that, the song also has an impressive bassline from Bob Daisley, who rejoined for the recording of the album, although Bob would be out again after recording was completed. Ozzy took Black Sabbath bandmate, Geezer Butler, for the subsequent tour.
It could be said that another reason why the album is so good as that Ozzy continues the path away from the horror, death related themes of the earlier albums. He started down the road with his previous album, “The Ultimate Sin.” One song which amuses me in particular is “Miracle Man.” Like so many other metal artists in 1988, the song takes a rip at television evangelists, Jimmy Swaggart in particular. Jimmy had always been a fierce critic of Ozzy, so this song was for him. It must have amused Ozzy to high heaven when Jimmy met his downfall in 1988. He addresses his demons on the hidden gem on the album, “Demon Alcohol,” so full marks should be given to him there. Besides, he does it to a good metal backing.
While “No Rest for the Wicked,” might have had Ozzy heading in a new direction in some ways, there are definite reminders of the traditional Ozzy. “Breakin’ All the Rules” is a straight forward metal jam which Ozzy was famous for and on “Bloodbath in Paradise” he proves that he was still able to do the theatrics with some great music. This is another notable guitar effort from Zak. “Fire in the Sky” is another good example with noteworthy drumming from Randy Castillo.
Track Listing:
Miracle Man
Devil’s Daughter (Holy War)
Crazy Babies
Breakin’ All the Rules
Bloodbath in Paradise
Fire in the Sky
Tattooed Dancer
Demon Alcohol
Hero
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne- vocals
Zak Wylde- guitar
Bob Daisley- bass
Randy Castillo- drums
John Sinclair- keyboards
Now it’s time to say what I’ve been holding back, I think “No Rest for the Wicked” was an improvement from the previous album, “The Ultimate Sin” and I’m not as critical of that album as some others are. However, listening to “No Rest for the Wicked,” I’m rather mad at myself for ignoring it for so long.
Next post: Sanctuary- Refuge Denied
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
Swedish doom metal band, Candlemass’s album, “Ancient Dreams” confirms what I have always believed about doom metal. That it’s a great cure for a hangover. Tempted though I was, I didn’t get drunk so I could listen to the album with a hangover the next morning, maybe next time. Actually, first proof of my theory came back at Bloodstock 2016 when still a bit unsteady from the night before, doom metal band Ghost Bath soothed my head and provided a great cure from the festivities of the night before. When I listen to “Ancient Dreams,” I see it in the same light.
Ghost Bath soothing the afflicted, Bloodstock 2016
Another point about the album and this is not a bad point, is the fact that there are no tracks which jump out and make me declare it my favourite one. Okay, maybe “Bearer of Pain” might be that track but not by much. Each track goes from one to the next in gloomy succession, never to have you stop swaying your head or body along to the hypnotic vibe that it produces. Saying that, there are songs which has some unique feature about them. The reason why I site “Bearer of Pain” as my favourite is that it hosts the best guitar solo. On the other hand, “Darkness in Paradise” boast the best bassline. However, these are just small points as the songs just seem to lift me up and carry me away with them.
Stating the obvious, only the most disconnected can’t help but notice the obvious Black Sabbath influence on Candlemass and I’m not just talking about the Black Sabbath medley on the closing track. That influence is heard throughout the entire album. By the way, they do Sabbath proud. While they don’t seem to touch some of the classics like “Paranoid” or “Iron Man,” they do good justice to other Black Sabbath classics such as “Electric Funeral” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.” Full marks to the band.
Track Listing:
Mirror Mirror
A Cry From the Crypt
Darkness in Paradise
Incarnation of Evil
Bearer of Pain
Ancient Dreams
The Bell of Acheron
Epistle No. 81
Black Sabbath Medley
Candlemass
Messiah Marcolin- vocals
Lars Johanssn- lead guitar
Mats Bjorkman- rhythm guitar
Leif Edling- bass
Jan Lindh- drums
I think I said this when I posted about the previous album, “Nightfall.” Candlemass was a band I got into retrospectively after hearing some tracks from their next album. In any case, I never mind going back and listening to albums which passed me by originally. This trip back was an absolute pleasure and no, I’m not going to get drunk tonight and listen to “Ancient Dreams” with a hangover. Though, I’m confident that this album would soothe an aching head.
Next post: Bullet Boys
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
When I wrote “Tee-Bone Man and Superdeke’s Time Travelling Adventure” for Mike Ladano’s blog, the biggest challenge in discipline for me was not to get totally carried away with all the possible collaborations between musicians who have left us. It doesn’t take too much smarts to realize that the possibilities are endless and I could have filled many pages with them and that’s just the ones I would like to see!
Lemmy
First, I am quite convinced that every deceased musician would love to sing or play with the King, Elvis and that includes Lemmy. It would be an interesting song, that part’s for sure. Of course Lemmy wouldn’t be left out as many would like to get him to play bass on their song or sing with them and I’m not just talking about metal musicians. Why couldn’t he lay down a bass line for Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin? Then we can take it to the complete other extreme and have Lemmy do a song with Whitney Houston. Why not?
One combination I mention in the story would almost certainly happen. I firmly believe that Ronnie James Dio would have hooked up with former bandmates from Rainbow and the connection of that band to Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and formed a band with Jimmy Bain on bass, Jon Lord on keyboards and Cozy Powell on drums. Furthermore, I stand by my choice for guitar in the group as I strongly feel that Criss Oliva of Savatage fame would be the best fit for the above combo. Of course, you are all welcome to put forward alternatives.
The Fab Four
The Who
One combination which I thought of putting into the story but didn’t was a collaboration of the two deceased Beatles and two deceased members of The Who. John Lennon and George Harrison on guitars, John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums might be something to hear. We can even make it more interesting by throwing in the two deceased members of The Rolling Stones. Then again, we can get Brian Jones and Charlie Watts to play along with the two dead Doors! Like I said, the possibilities are endless!
The teacher in me has now taken over and so, here’s your assignment. Put together your own bands, duets or collaborations of deceased musicians and post them here! There are no right or wrong answers. Maybe the Righteous Brothers song I featured last week can motivate. After all, they have a point: “If there’s a rock and roll heaven, you know they’ve got a hell of a band.”
My stepson, Teal, recommended the film, “Metal Lords,” to me and in the past few weeks, I’ve seen it twice and now I’m going to plug how good the film is here. Without spoiling the entire plot, “Metal Lords” is about two socially displaced high school kids, Hunter and Kevin. Hunter is a total metalhead who dreams of hitting the big time as a great metal guitarist. Kevin, the drummer, although not a metalhead in the traditional sense, follows Hunter’s lead because Hunter saved him from a bully in third grade. Together, they form the band, Skullfucker.
All the heavy metal cliches are in the film but the thing was, I don’t care because they are all the truth. There’s the being picked on by the jocks, singled out by teachers and late in the film, Hunter’s father has him committed to a clinic because as we all know, only insane people listen to heavy metal. In addition, Kevin gets a girlfriend, Emily, who plays the cello. With the band still not able to find a bass player, Kevin tries to pitch Emily but Hunter rejects it saying that the cello is not a metal instrument. This eventually leads to a falling out between the two friends and Kevin joining the bubble gum pop band, Mollycoddle. It all leads to what some will call a predictable ending but it’s all done a great metal form.
My strange ability to pick out the small details in films, I found it amusing that when Kevin is in Mollycoddle, he finds playing the drums to their songs a lot easier than being a metal drummer. Even if he does nail, “War Pigs.” Then there’s my favourite scene when Kevin is in the pool and about to cheat on Emily, he is visited by Scott Ian, Tom Morello, Kirk Hammett and Rob Halford who all (Rob even more so) remind Kevin what a great girl Emily is and he shouldn’t cheat on her. Then again, if those four Gods visited me, I would do anything they said. One last point, “War Pigs” sounds excellent played on the cello.
Kevin being visited by Scott, Tom, Kirk and Rob
Of course no metal film would be worth its weight if it didn’t have a killer soundtrack.
Skullflower- Machinery of Torment
Judas Priest- Metal Gods
Iron Maiden- The Trooper
Avenged Sevenfold- Hail to the King
Judas Priest- Painkiller
Metallica- For Whom the Bell Tolls
Black Sabbath- War Pigs
Mastodon- Blood and Thunder
Judas Priest- Grinder
Ozzy Osbourne- Dee
Motorhead- Ace of Spades
Metallica- One
Pantera- Cowboys From Hell
Metallica- Master of Puppets
Zeal & Ardor- Trust No One
Guns ‘N’ Roses- Since I Don’t Have You
Metallica- Whiplash
Pantera- I’m Broken
Performance of the song in the film
I urge everyone to watch “Metal Lords.” It may be a little predictable but with all of that metal, who the hell cares?
Next post: Original vs. Cover
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
Here’s another album my sister passed onto me, probably because she wasn’t impressed with it. After my Wrath post, she stated on Facebook that the album was given to her to review for her college newspaper and she disliked it so much that she said the band should have paid her to listen to it. Dawn was never into thrash so that is enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that she didn’t like Dream Death’s “Journey Into Mystery” album.
What I found was cool about the record when I took it out to play was that it was blue. I never saw a record coloured other than black before then so I really liked the light blue see through record. If it wasn’t so much trouble, I would go up into my attic and get it for all to see. In addition, when reading the credits on the album, it has the usual ‘Special Thanks’ part but it also has a ‘No Thanks’ section. Making that list was the band’s high school in Pennsylvania, trends and trendy people, conformists and other wankers. I could agree with the band on all of those. Now onto the album.
Doom metal wasn’t a term back in 1987 so Dream Death could be credited as being a pioneer of the sub-genre. “Journey Into Mystery” is a unique blend of doom and thrash. The album comes rocking out with the more thrash, “Back From the Dead” and then goes more doom with “The Elder Race.” The slower power chords are almost hypnotic in some places on that track.
Track three, “Bitterness and Hatred,” has a Suicidal Tendencies feel to it. It starts out doom metal and going mid tempo metal and then back to doom for the chorus but thrash speed in the middle before slowing down to the doom metal conclusion. This was something Suicidal Tendencies did with their first two albums and Dream Death do a good job on this track. The changes keep one interested. However, “Black Edifice” sounds like it wants to go off at 800 mph but the band manage to keep it reigned in and give you a more doom metal track. It does follow the formula set down by its predecessor where they speed it up in the middle. It’s the first song to have a really cool guitar solo.
Side two does start off with some powerful thrash only slowing down to catch its breath between verses and taking off again. “Divine In Agony” is a good way to kick off the second half of the album as the three remaining tracks are all strong tracks. “Hear My Screams” has a horror movie type intro before going more thrash. They go more thrash with this one but the doom metal returns on “Sealed in Blood.” This has a Black Sabbath type intro and then when it kicks up, it doesn’t go thrash. This track could be a blueprint for future doom metal merchants to take from. It has a cool guitar solo backed up by a cool rhythm section.
The album closes out with my favourite track on the album, “Dream Death.” This is a great thrash song and because I wasn’t sure about the record after the first few listens, it was this track that kept me coming back to it. It starts mid-paced but quickly increases its speed. The steady rhythm between the first and second verses and before the guitar solo make a good headbang. However, it does slow down to give a cool doom metal bridge. The track punctuates what the band was attempting to do throughout the rest of the album.
Track Listing:
Back From the Dead
The Elder Race
Bitterness and Hatred
Black Edifice
Divine in Agony
Hear My Screams
Sealed in Blood
Dream Death
Dream Death
Brian Lawrence- lead and backing vocals, guitar
Terry Weston- guitar, backing vocals
Ted Williams- bass, backing vocals
Mike Smail- drums, backing vocals
My sister might not have liked “Journey Into Mystery” but I do. The album demonstrates how a hungry band will just pull out all stops and go for it. These days, I will hold it up as a blueprint for doom metal.
Next post: Guns and Roses- Appetite for Destruction
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
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
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