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
Unfortunately for Blue Oyster Cult, they will be most remembered in the UK for “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and not for some of the great albums they put out. A quick sidetrack, the B.O.C. classic hit appears on just about rock compilation album I was given as a birthday or Father’s Day present. Anyway, the band’s 1988 album failed to gain any attention in the UK and not much in the US from what I’ve read, so it’s no surprise that it passed me by. Therefore, the task for me when listening to it was to determine is this a good B.O.C. album which slipped under the radar like “The Revolution By Night” or like “Club Ninja,” a decent album, I liked it, but was a commercial dud.
Another point of controversy in regards to “Imaginos,” was that many consider it not to be a proper Blue Oyster Cult album. After the iconic “Fire of Unknown Origin” the band went through a number of personnel changes. Originally, this album was meant to be a solo album from Albert Bouchard after he was fired from the band in 1981. He had started to make the album with the help of producer Sandy Pearlman but they ran out of money. To make a long story short, Pearlman went to the band’s label, Columbia Records, with the idea of making it a Blue Oyster Cult album, which is sort of what happened. With that said, the actual band had little playing time on it as many musicians were brought in, see below. Another reason why it’s discounted as a Blue Oyster Cult album.
Sandy Pearlman
After my mandatory three listens plus I’m listening to it as I write this, my verdict that it is an improvement from “Club Ninja.” What is striking is that the band goes full hard rock with the first three tracks. While the gainsayers accused them of trying to cash in on the heavy metal furor, I liked the power they brought to these tracks, especially “In the Presence of Another World.” I like the opening riffs and how the guitars kick in full metal right after culminating in a cool guitar solo. The song ends with the chanting “You’re master” behind some more guitar chords and a solid bass line.
Here’s another personal shock about “Imaginos.” “Astronomy” was released as a single and I’ll get to that one in a minute but when listening, I thought that “Del Rio’s Song” would have been the track released as a single. It sounds like the love child between “Dancing in the Ruins” and one of my all time favourite B.O.C. songs, “Joan Crawford.” It does have a cool guitar solo and I think the credits below reveal why.
Now we can come to the actual single. “Astronomy” is a good track, the second best on the album. It’s more in traditional Blue Oyster Cult waters where they combine the power of metal and progressive rock and make that sound which made them famous. However, like I said, it’s only the second best track on the album, the track before it, “The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein’s Castle at Weisseria,” (say that title after a few drinks) takes the top spot in my view. The song just rocks and here’s a kicker, the vocals are done by one Joey Cerisano and he does a tremendous job on it. I’m surprised no metal band ever scooped him up after hearing this. The backing vocals are just as magnificent in support of Joey and the piano/guitar combination just make the song mind blowing. Please note who plays the guitar solo on the song as well. This isn’t a hidden gem, more of hidden diamond!
The remaining three songs are definitely more progressive rock but done in the traditional Blue Oyster Cult way. “Magna of Illusion” is the best of the three. Another interesting point behind the album is that Sandy meant it to be a concept album as the songs were based on a series of poems he had written. The story is on the Wikipedia page for the album and is an interesting read but the story doesn’t line up with the tracks, so I can’t call it a concept album. You just have to enjoy it for the music.
Track Listing:
I’m the One You Warned Me Of
Les Invisibles
In the Presence of Another World
Del Rios
The Siege and Investiture of Castle Frankenstein’s Castle at Weisseria
Astronomy
Magna of Illusion
Blue Oyster Cult
Imaginos
Eric Bloom- vocals
Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roesser- guitar, vocals
Joe Bouchard- bass, keyboards, backing vocals
Alan Lanier- keyboards
Albert Bouchard- drums
Additional Musicians:
Phil Grande- guitars
Tommy Zvoncheck- keyboards
Kenny Aaronson- bass
Thommy Price- drums
Joey Cerisano- vocals
Jon Rogers- vocals
Jack Secret aka (Tony Geranios)- backing vocals
Shocking U- vocals on track 3
Guitar Orchestra of the State of Imaginos
Mark Beiderman- lead guitar on tracks 1 and 3
Kevin Carlson
Robbie Kreiger- lead guitar on tracks 7 and 8
Tommy Morrongiello
Aldo Nova
Jack Rigg
Joe Satriani- lead guitar on track 5
Note: The money Joe Satriani made from playing on the album allowed him to finance a great album which will be posted about in the not too distant future.
Should “Imaginos” be counted as a proper Blue Oyster Cult album? I’ll leave that to everyone else to decide while I just sit back and enjoy the album, especially as so many great guitarists play on it.
Next post: Chastain- The Voice of the Cult
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
Due to reasons beyond my control, I am unable to post the next album, “Imaginos” by Blue Oyster Cult, on the tour through the golden decade of heavy metal. I was in a car accident the other night. Don’t worry, I’m fine although Mrs 80smetalman is still quite shaken up. Actually, what happened is one of those believe or not occurrences. See, our car was hit by a mobility scooter. The scooter actually hit us! I saw the scooter about to go on the road so I stopped but the scooter kept going straight into us. It hit us at some speed because the driver fell off immediately. He was taken to hospital and was also arrested for drunk driving. So, it was totally not our fault.
A side result of this is that I haven’t been able to properly listen to the album. So what I will do is put two songs which would have gone great on my “Downfall of the Holy Man” post where Jimmy Swaggart gets his comeuppance. Both of these songs rip on television evangelists, Metallica’s “Leper Messiah” came out two years before Swaggart’s downfall and Iron Maiden’s “Holy Smoke” came two years after. Still, both songs are correct in their message. Furthermore, I consider both of these songs hidden gems from each band. So, sit back, have a listen and laugh and I’ll be back with B.O.C. soon.
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
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.
Before I get lynched for stating that the 1983, “Breaking the Chains” album was Dokken’s debut album, I will be the first to point out that this album was released in Europe two years earlier. I didn’t discover this fact until 1986 when I went over to the Continent. Therefore, like many Americans, I assumed that the 1983 effort was their debut. However, for parity, I will make it a point to listen to the earlier version and take notes on any differences.
Even when this album did come to my attention, I didn’t go out and buy it straight away. Reason being was that my friend and heavy metal officianado, Frank Formica, had seen them live supporting Aldo Nova and Blue Oyster Cult and fed back that he wasn’t impressed. He stated that it was like watching a puppet show in regards to how they moved on stage and that only about thirty people were getting into them. This meant that I gave “Breaking a Chains” a miss and didn’t actually listen to it until after their third album.
Now I would like to say that the debut album was a blinder of an album and I was a fool for not picking it up in 1983. I’m afraid I am cemented in the belief that their next two albums after were strides better. However, you have to start somewhere and “Breaking the Chains” was a good a springboard as any. There are some decent songs on here, my favourite being the title cut, which would still be a strong track if it had appeared on one of the later albums. Other stand out tracks for me are “Felony,” “Live to Rock, (Rock to Live),” “Nightrider” and “Stick to Your Guns.” In addition, “In the Middle” has been growing on me recently. But one thing I can say about most of the tracks here is that guitarist George Lynch is already showing his magic on the six string and this, like the later albums, would continue to improve with age.
Track Listing:
Breaking the Chains
In the Middle
Felony
I Can’t See You
Live to Rock, (Rock to Live)
Nightrider
Seven Thunders
Young Girls
Stick to Your Guns
Paris is Burning
Dokken
I couldn’t find a picture of the band with Juan Crocier in it so I’ve included a solo shot.
Don Dokken- lead vocals, rhythm guitar
George Lynch- lead guitar
Juan Crocier- bass, backing vocals
Wild Mick Brown- drums
As any metal historian worth his salt can tell you, Juan Crocier would leave the band and go to newer pastures. No prizes for guessing which band he would end up with. While I like the album, the lack of commercial success of “Breaking the Chains” had the band Elektra label considering dropping them. While history would go on to prove that the decision to give them another chance was the right one, we nearly lost them after one album and we would have been denied the better ones.
Recently on Twitter, I commented that with all the great musical stars who passed on in 2016, that I wouldn’t put it past some morbid record producer to make a compilation album featuring all of them. One of my friends replied that with so many, it would have to be a box set and he’s probably right. Normally, I ‘m not a morbid person but I then thought, “Why don’t I come out with my own ideas for such an album?” Besides, if it was in the hands of some corporate record executive, their idea for the album would be totally different than mine, especially if the metal hating UK newspaper, The Sun, had anything to do with it.
In compiling such an album, I fear that had things been left to record execs, Jimmy Bain and Sandy Pearlman would have been left out totally. Jimmy would have been because he was only a bass player despite the fact that he played on all the greatest Dio albums. Sandy was simply a producer but without him, we would not have had some of the great albums delivered by both Blue Oyster Cult and The Clash. Use of semantics, the fact that Lemmy actually died in 2015, would have been used as an excuse to keep him off the album. I don’t do that because Lemmy’s death was the snowball at the top of the mountain which started the avalanche. Paul Kantner would have definitely been left out if the record producer was British but might have been included if they were American. After all, he did have a minor song writing credit on Jefferson Starship’s best known single, “Jane.”
Of course, I am tempted to exclude some too. I was never a big Prince fan. However, I didn’t hate his music. Whenever his songs came on the radio, I didn’t turn the volume up or down, nor did I change the channel. But credit where due, on the song I really like, he does shred a guitar fairly well and I remember in 1984, I fully endorsed his desire to play the role of Jimi Hendrix in a film about the guitar god.
George Michael is another problem. See, The Sun and other media have already been blubbering over how great an 80s icon he was. I can’t refute that. However, he wasn’t entirely the 1980s and the whole point of writing “Rock and Roll Children” and this blog was to rebut the belief that 80s music was entirely Wham, Michael Jackson and Boy George. We all know it wasn’t but George Michael stands as a symbol of my antagonism towards this warped view of the Golden Decade of Heavy Metal. So, I hope one can understand why I would be tempted to exclude him from my album. However, I am a better person than those at The Sun and not a corporate record executive, so I will allow one GM song onto my album. This song came out after his 1998 arrest in Los Angeles and was the springboard for a rather rude but funny joke.
Tribute Album to Musician’s Who Died in 2016
Lemmy
Motorhead
Ace of Spades
Killed By Death
Iron Fist
David Bowie
Space Oddity
Ziggy Stardust
Mott the Hoople- All the Young Dudes
The Eagles
Glen Frey- The Eagles
Take it Easy
Heartache Tonight
New Kid in Town
From Glenn Frey’s solo stuff:
Smuggler’s Blues
Sexy Girl
Jimmy Bain
Dio
Rainbow in the Dark
The Last in Line
Mystery
Sacred Heart
Sunset Superman
Paul Kantner- Jefferson Starship
Ride the Tiger
Dance With the Dragon
Stairway to Cleveland
Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (Paul Kantner solo)
I never saw them but Emerson Lake and Palmer were said to be amazing live!
Lucky Man
Fanfare for the Common Man
Sandy Pearlman
Blue Oyster Cult
Don’t Fear the Reaper
Dancing in the Ruins
The Clash
English Civil War
Prince
Let’s Go Crazy
George Michael
Outside
Leonard Cohen
Hallelujah
(I thought Leonard’s song would be the best closer)
True, my list would definitely be more metal oriented. That’s because most metal and rock acts would be passed over by a corporate record producer. Opinions will vary here and I know other songs would be chosen in place of the ones I have here, but if I had my choice. This is what it would be.
When my household finally caught up with the times in 1983 and got MTV, the video for the big single, “Fantasy,” from Canadian rocker Aldo Nova’s debut album received a fair amount of airplay. Okay, it may not have been played as much as Big Country’s “In a Big Country” or the full twenty minute video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” but I saw it a good few times. Naturally, I assumed that the song was current. It was only later that I discovered that the song and the album were actually released over a year earlier. Therefore, this was another great album that came out in 1982, which I missed on account of my commitments to the military back then. It is also the reason why I am still posting it for 1983. I guess I should be grateful to MTV or else I might have missed it all together.
Even before I first saw the video for “Fantasy,” Aldo Nova was making a name for himself in metal circles back then. He supported giants Rainbow and Blue Oyster Cult on two different tours and the reports I received from my friend and my sister was that he was pretty good. That, along with the single I heard, was enough grounds to explore the debut album and what a wise decision that turned out to be.
In typical 1982 fashion, the album opens with the big single but like so many other great rock and metal albums from that year, the rest of the album carries on very well. In the case of Aldo, the tracks “Hot Love” and “It’s Too Late” keep me headbanging away. Both are great rocking gems. Then comes the power ballad, “Ball and Chain” and it is this track that has forced me to put Aldo Nova into the category of deeply under appreciated guitarists. He really rips his solo here. “Ball and Chain” also has me pondering something else. This song, along with April Wine’s “Just Between You and Me” and the Killer Dwarfs’ “Fire In Your Eyes,” has me thinking that maybe Canadian bands are the best at power ballads. Something to debate anyway.
It would have been wrong of me to say that the album picks up after the power ballad because it never really slowed down. Still, “Heart to Heart” is a great song and in metal power, I put it between the power ballad and first three tracks. Following it is what sounds for me was a definitely intended AOR single, “Fooling Yourself.” However, the chorus is quite catchy so I don’t blame him for this one. Even more so because the next track, “Under the Gun” is the best rocking track on the album complete with another great guitar solo.
The album seems to slow down a great deal after that. I wouldn’t call “You’re My Love” and “Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” power ballads, just ballads although the latter has a cool guitar solo reminding me of why I added Aldo to my ever growing list of underrated guitarists. I would like to say that the album closes with a blinder but I really can’t say that about “See the Light.” The song reminds me of something you would hear from a nightclub band. It is done very well and sounds good despite being keyboard dominated but with all the harder tracks, I found myself straining in anticipation for a power chord that never comes. It’s only Aldo’s guitar solo that saves it for me and that gets me into the song at the end. While the last three songs may not measure up to the rest of the album in my view, those other seven songs are more than enough to make this album a great one.
Thank God for MTV is all I can say. While their playing of the video for “Fantasy” may have misled me as to when Aldo Nova’s first album came out, it did give me the opportunity to actually discover Aldo and listen to the album. Something I will always be glad about.
After reading about the passing of former Blue Oyster Cult producer, Sandy Pearlman, I thought it would be a fitting tribute to the man if I posted about Blue Oyster Cult’s 1983 album, “The Revolution by Night.” Unfortunately, when I did a little research for the post, I discovered that Sandy did not produce the album. He did produce the band’s previous two albums, “Fire of Unknown Origin” and “Extra- Terrestrial Live” and that could be a reason why it doesn’t quite measure up to those two. That’s not just my opinion, it seems to be the opinion of many now and then. It has been widely felt that “The Revolution by Night” began a decade long era of mediocrity for BOC.
Sandy Pearlman
I remember seeing the video for the single “Shooting Shark” and not being very impressed. I admit, I expected something more along the lines of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” or “Godzilla” or even “Veteran of 1000 Psychic Wars.” “Shooting Shark” is definitely not anything like those classics. It’s possibly the closest Blue Oyster Cult has ever come to a ballad. In any case, the song was way to commercial for me back then. However, it did get quite a lot of airplay in 1983, something not common for a Blue Oyster Cult song. Having listened to it again, I find that it’s not as bad as I remember. Possibly owing to the fact that I am listening to the full seven minute version that appears on the album and not the shortened MTV version.
Technically, the rest of “The Revolution by Night” is pretty sound. There is nothing bad about the album at all. In fact, the musicianship is as done well and that includes newly acquired drummer Rick Downey who replaced the fired Albert Bouchard. The opener, “Take Me Away” does remind me of the Blue Oyster Cult I grew up loving. It is a good rock song. A better rock song, probably the hardest on the album is “Shadow of California.” It is my favourite track here. It also proves that the band didn’t abandon the formula that made them so great. “Feel the Thunder is a very good track as well.
Track Listing:
Take Me Away
Eyes of Fire
Shooting Shark
Veins
Shadow of California
Feel the Thunder
Let Go
Dragon Lady
Light Years of Love
Blue Oyster Cult
Eric Bloom- guitar, vocals
Donald ‘Buck Dharma’ Roeser- lead guitar, vocals, keyboards
Alan Lanier- piano, keyboards
Joe Bouchard- bass, guitars, vocoder, vocals
Rick Downey- drums
Additional Musicians:
Aldo Nova- guitar and synthesizers on “Take Me Away”
Randy Jackson- bass on “Shooting Shark”
Gregg Winter- backing vocal on “Eyes on Fire”
Marc Baum- saxophone on “Shooting Shark”
“The Revolution by Night” might have been a mediocre album for Blue Oyster Cult but there are so many bands out there who couldn’t sound as good as this album, even at their best. Maybe we should lay off BOC for this one because it’s not in any way a bad album.
This year 2016 continues to suck as another tragic rock and roll passing has come to light. This time it is former punk and metal producer Sandy Pearlman. Pearlman was responsible for producing such punk great as The Clash and rock/metal giants Blue Oyster Cult. His passing will be felt hard across both the punk and metal worlds. For more information about Sandy Pearlman click the link:
One of the things I should have realised, but didn’t, is that there were some killer live albums in 1982. Three of them, Black Sabbath- “Live Evil,” Michael Schenker Group- “One Night at Budokan” and Blue Oyster Cult- “Extra Terrestrial Live,” I bought not long after they had come out. The fourth, Ted Nugent- “Intensity in 10 Cities” would escape my knowledge for a long while. That’s the problem when you are in the military and spend most of the year deployed overseas. It creates a Swiss cheese effect on things like musical releases from bands you might follow. This caused me to completely miss a fifth great live album and one that definitely stands shoulder to shoulder with the ones I’ve already listed. That is Saxon- “The Eagle Has Landed.”
Having seen Saxon live before I got to listen to “The Eagle Has Landed,” I had a very strong inclination that this was going to be an excellent live album. I was right. It has all of the classic Saxon songs at the time with the bonus touch of being played so well live. I thought it was only natural that they used the great song “Wheels of Steel” for the audience participation part of the show. After all, that song is one of their best known songs.
The added bonus for me was that the album was recorded while Saxon were on tour for my favourite album of theirs, “Denim and Leather.” “Princess of the Night” has its much deserved place on the album and is played brilliantly on it. Here is my personal slight disappointment about that. Other than “Princess,” the other two songs, “Never Surrender” and “Fire In the Sky” wouldn’t have been my first choices from “Denim and Leather” to use on the live album. Don’t get me wrong, they are both cool songs but why the hell wasn’t the title track on it? After all, “Denim and Leather” is a metal anthem that rings true throughout the metal generations! I thought it was only right that it be on the live album. Another song I would have used would have been “Play it Loud,” almost for the same reason. Saying that, “And the Band Played On” and “Midnight Rider” appear on the 2005 remaster. But enough of me nit picking, there are so many great songs on “The Eagle Has Landed” that it makes it a guaranteed good listen.
Track Listing:
Motorcycle Man
747 Strangers in the Night
Princess of the Night
Strong Arm of the Law
Heavy Metal Thunder
20,000 Feet
Wheels of Steel
Never Surrender
Fire in the Sky
Machine Gun
Saxon
Biff Byford- vocals
Graham Oliver- guitar
Paul Quinn- guitar
Steve Dawson- bass
Nigel Glockler- drums
Like I said, there were many great live albums in 1982. Saxon’s contribution “The Eagle Has Landed” definitely belongs along side of the other great ones from that year.
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