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
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.
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.”
Not long ago, I heard an English friend of mine refer to Joe Lynn Turner as ‘that American pretty boy who replaced Graham Bonnet in Rainbow.’ True, Joe Lynn Turner is American and back in 1985, many ladies found him very fanciable, my sister was ga ga over him. However, the man also possesses a very good singing voice and it was only natural that after Ritchie Blackmore dissolved Rainbow to rejoin Deep Purple that Joe would put out a solo album. The result was his debut album, “Rescue You.”
Joe Lynn Turner was a victim of the 1985 belief that synthesizers were the way forward for music back then. Many of the songs on the album seem to be over dominated by it and on some of those things, I have always thought that they should have been turned down and the guitar turned up. Then the album would have been a real rocker. Don’t get me wrong, “Rescue You” is in no way an 80s synth pop album, there are some good rocking moments and on some tracks like the title track and the opener, “Losing You” you can definitely hear a bit of the old Rainbow on it. While the guitar on the title track is present, it is often obscured by the keyboard and for that song, I can’t help thinking how much I would be head banging away to it if the keyboards weren’t so dominant.
Being a typical wishy-washy Gemini, (I don’t really believe that zodiac stuff), I think there are some tracks where the keyboards do work. The prime example here is the big single from the album, “Endlessly,” which was good enough to get to 19 in the singles charts while at the same time having metalheads shaking their heads and accusing Joe of going too commercial. The keyboard intro also works on “Feel the Fire” but as the song progresses, I again think they should have taken a back seat because this is another song that could have been great if the guitars had been turned up more.
In spite of all my ramblings of too much keyboard, there are some tracks where Joe hasn’t lost touch with his hard rock roots. While the keyboards still exist on “Get Tough,” the song does rock and he also demonstrates that he has the pipes for such songs. This is another song that takes me back to his Rainbow days. In fact, the second half of the album is definitely more rock than the first. “Eyes of Love” is a fine example of this, it has a great guitar solo, but if you want concrete proof, the best track is the closer, “The Race is On.” This is the hidden gem because it just rocks with little interference from keyboards. With all my contradictions about guitars and keyboards on “Rescue You,” the one constant throughout the entire album is Joe Lynn Turner’s voice. Pretty boy or not, he has always had a great singing voice and deserves credit for it.
Track Listing:
Losing You
You Hearts
Prelude
Endlessly
Rescue You
Feel the Fire
Get Tough
Eyes of Love
On the Run
Soul Searcher
The Race Is On
Joe Lynn Turner- vocals
Alan Greenwood- keyboards
Chuck Burgi- drums
Bobby Messano- guitar, bass, backing vocals
The problem in 1985 was that the music industry was convinced that music had to have synthesizers to be any good. This belief had an effect on “Rescue You” for Joe Lynn Turner. Despite his great singing voice and the good quality of the tracks on the album, I can’t help thinking how much better some of the tracks would have been if there was less keyboard and more guitar.
A band that caught mine and many other people’s attention was Giuffria with their self titled debut album. The band was originally formed as a side project by keyboards player Greg Giuffria after he left his former band Angel. A band I had heard great things about back in the day but never got around to listening to. Back to Giuffria, their first single, “Call to the Heart” did get a lot of airplay and according to recorded history, number fifteen in the charts. It was one of those ballads that the ladies seemed to really like but it had some good progressive rock hooks as well as a guitar solo to grab the attention of men. If I’m honest, I liked the song but it really wasn’t heavy enough for me.
Everything that Giuffria was capable of doing can be found in the opening track of the album, “Do Me Right.” It starts with some classic 1970s sounding progressive rock via a great keyboard intro. Then the song carries on with some great vocals backed up by a more than capable rhythm section before guitarist Craig Goldy hammers out his best solo on the album. It’s definitely my favourite track.
The two hardest tracks on the album are “Don’t Tear Me Down” and “Dance” and it is probably a good thing that those two songs were back to back after the forementioned ballad. It proved to doubters that they could rock as much as anyone. Things go slightly softer and more melodic, bordering on commercial after that with the remainder of the songs, “Turn Me On” being the harder rocking exception. Goldy and Giuffria really cook with guitar and keyboard on that one. “The Awakening” is rather amusing, with the children’s choir and keyboards giving it that Saturday horror film feel. Saying that, the talent of this band pulls up the quality of each song making them more enjoyable.
No matter what you think of the songs, you can’t deny that this was one talented band. David Glen Eisley had a voice that was as good as many lead singers in that day. The keyboard skills of Greg Giuffria show themselves in every song. Chuck Wright and Alan Krigger are very good rhythm section and as for the guitarist, Craig Goldy, his playing on the album leaves me to conclude that it was no wonder why he was head hunted to join Dio a year later.
Track Listing:
Do Me Right
Call to the Heart
Don’t Tear Me Down
Dance
Lonely in Love
Trouble Again
Turn Me On
Line of Fire
The Awakening
Out of the Blue
Giuffira
David Glen Eisley- lead vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Greg Giuffria- keyboards, backing vocals
Craig Goldy- guitar
Chuck Wright- bass, backing vocals
Alan Krigger- drums, percussion
While doing a bit of research for the post, I had one rumour from 1985 quashed. In said year, Giuffria went on tour supporting legends Deep Purple. The rumour was that Purple kicked them off the tour because Giuffria was blowing them away every night. I have always found that hard to believe, especially as I saw Deep Purple in this year and they were superb. From what I’ve read, Ritchie Blackmore was a bit of an a””hole towards the band. He cut their stage time from 45 minutes nearly in half to 25, forbade them to play any guitar solos and they had to play with the arena lights on. Therefore, they left the tour on their own accord and I don’t blame them. While I missed my chance to see them live, this album is a good fall back.
Next post: Don Henley- Building the Perfect Beast
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Destiny brought them back together again. At least that was the big advertising plug for the “Perfect Strangers” album from the newly reformed Deep Purple. Back in the day, this album split opinion among many metalheads. Older ones like me, (I was 23 then), embraced this album immediately. However, there was some dissent from many teen metalheads at the time. Some even said that Deep Purple never should have reformed. To them, “Perfect Strangers” was a disappointment.
Let me add my theory to why teen metalheads might have been disappointed with the album. See, all these youngsters ever heard about in regards to Deep Purple was the classic “Smoke on the Water.” For many, this was their only experience with the legends. Therefore, they expected the entire album to be like that classic and when Deep Purple showed their more progressive rock side, which they do on the album, these youngsters were put off.
My experience with Deep Purple, although late, was full on. Of course, I knew of “Smoke on the Water” but I also enjoyed their more progressive songs like, “Wring That Neck” and there’s my favourite, “Woman From Tokyo” which incorporates both the prog and hard rock they were famous for. While none of the songs on “Perfect Strangers” quite match up to my fave, they do a rather good job of fusing their progressive and hard rock sounds. I think what these young people didn’t understand was that the band couldn’t help but add a little prog rock into their music when they had one of the best keyboard players of all time.
Deep Purple try to explain to their listeners that they had progressed from the days of “Smoke on the Water.” The closing track and my pick for hidden gem, “Hungry Daze,” states this clearly with the lyrics:
“We all came out to Montreax, but that’s another song.”
The opening track, “Knocking At Your Back Door” pretty much shapes the entire album. You have some killer guitar work from Blackmore, great keyboard wizardry from Lord, Ian Gillan’s vocals were as sharp as they had been ten years earlier and the bombarding rhythm section of Glover and Paice holding all together. It’ s a great song to begin the album with. Things just go on from there with the slightly harder “Under the Gun,” then the more progressive “Nobody’s Home” which shows off Jon Lord’s best keyboard work and the more bluesy sounding “Mean Streak.
One of my biggest regrets after writing “Rock and Roll Children” comes with the title track. When I saw Deep Purple live in early 1985, there was a phenomenal light show accompanying the song. I loved how the lasers shot across the length of the Philadelphia Spectrum making different patters with the notes. I don’t think I did it justice in the story. It was the first single and an okay song. “A Gypsy’s Kiss” remind me of the old DP classic, “Burn” with Ritchie belting out a blinder of a solo as well as the trade-off with Jon Lord where guitar and keyboards go back and forth. Okay, there are two hidden gems on this album.
In regards to the other gem, I don’t think “Hungry Daze” should have been the closer on the album. It’s a good track but everything about the penultimate track, “Wasted Sunsets” screams closer! Just listen to the opening guitar solo and the way Gillan’s voice just takes over before relinquishing again to another blazing Blackmore solo. The slower blues beat with it bears even more witness that it should be a closer. Hell, even the title suggests it! Other than this track misappropriation, “Perfect Strangers” was a good album for them to come back on.
Track Listing:
Knocking At Your Back Door
Under the Gun
Nobody’s Home
Mean Streak
Perfect Strangers
A Gypsy’s Kiss
Wasted Sunsets
Hungry Daze
Deep Purple
Ian Gillan- lead vocals
Ritchie Blackmore- guitar
Roger Glover- bass
Jon Lord- keyboards
Ian Paice- drums
Was 1984 the right time for Deep Purple to return? I’ve always thought so. I admit, “Perfect Strangers” isn’t exactly “Machine Head” but it’s a good album. The musicianship of the five members is outstanding, proving that there’s more to them than “Smoke on the Water.”
Next post: Venom- At War With Satan
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Constant vigilance in perusing the heavy metal and imports sections at the local record shops as well as word of mouth from like minded friends played a major role in severing my reliance on commercial radio and MTV for all of my musical needs. Besides, by my calculations, it was in the Autumn of 1984 that both started down that slippery slope into totally sucking. If I had totally relied on that, I might not have ever discovered the debut album from Metal Church. Fortunately, I had a friend, the late ‘Wild Swinging’ Stacy Kroger, (may she rest in peace), who introduced me to the album.
For a young metalhead in the 1980s, Metal Church is a brilliant album to listen to. This is a pure metal album to say the least. In fact, I think there are some features that would influence other metal artists, some of whom would be more successful than Metal Church. King Diamond, you’re one of the ones I’m looking at here. Take the opening track, “Beyond the Black.” It starts with a soft intro where a hoarse whispering introduces things. You know, after all these times, I still can’t fully grasp what the voice is saying. However, you can’t contemplate it more because before you know it, some great guitar work comes in and the song then proceeds to pulverize the crap out of you. Just when you think, you’ve got it under control, there comes a tempo change or two. The fact that the song is over six minutes long has one wondering if it’s the same song, but it is.
Things evolve nicely into the title track which is another metalhead’s dream song. Then comes an instrumental where guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof gets to show off what he can do with a guitar and it’s quite good. However, he’s even more impressive on “Gods of Wrath,” which is in similar style to the opener. A slow start before going into a mad frenzy. Only this time, he shares the spotlight with the versatile vocals of David Wayne. On this album, Wayne can do it all. Sing almost ballad like and then screams the house down without straining his voice.
The second half of the album carries things over very well while at the same time, surprising you a little. All of the next four songs are why some future fans would call Metal Church thrash or speed metal. They are all very fast songs but the band shows they’re truly up to the task. Then, keeping with unpredictability, the albums ends with a cover of the Deep Purple classic, “Highway Star,” which is done very well at a blistering speed metal pace, or so I thought back in 1984.
Track Listing:
Beyond the Black
Metal Church
Merciless Onslaught
Gods of Wrath
Hitman
In the Blood
(My Favourite) Nightmare
Battalions
Highway Star
Metal Church
David Wayne- vocals
Kurdt Vanderhoof- guitar
Craig Wells- guitar
Duke Erickson- bass
Kirk Arrington- drums
With the success of this debut album from Metal Church, they would be signed by the larger Electra Records and the rest would be history. Still, if you want to hear a band when they were at there lean, mean and hungriest, then I recommend this one.
Next post: Billy Squier- Signs of Life
To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://book-fm.cf/print/free-download-rock-and-roll-children-by-michael-d-lefevre-pdf.html
Gary Moore as a solo artist didn’t enter my radar until 1986 when I went over to England. Before that and I am ashamed of my naivety at the time, I only knew Gary as the guitarist who used to be in Thin Lizzy. Fortunately, I got a full course in the music of Gary Moore when I did get there thanks to a friend who was a big fan. As a result I got to hear lots of his albums including this one, “Victims of the Future” and I can say that my education in this subject has been top notch. Thirty years on, I have to say a special thanks to Kieran Devlin for being my teacher.
My first impressions of “Victims of the Future” as with many Gary Moore albums, now as it was then, was “He can really play a guitar.” His trademark solos permeate this album and now I am tempted to go into a rant as to how underrated he has been. That might be true in North American terms but he has always been considered one of the greats here in Britain and of course his native Ireland. Just listen to “Shapes of Things” because that is in my opinion, his best guitar work on the album.
Many of the songs here are straight forward rock anthems. My personal favourite is “Teenage Idol” because that one comes out and hits me in the face the most. “Murder in the Skies” has a very cool guitar intro where he rips up the chords before the meat of the song comes pounding through. A look at history reveals that Gary wrote the song in protest of the Soviets shooting down Korean airline 007 in 1983. The same can be said for “The Devil in Her Heart” which is only on the US release. This is a good rocking song so I don’t know why it’s omitted from the UK version. “Law of the Jungle” is another exemplary rocker and the way it fades out makes it a great closer but he does go a little mellow with “Empty Rooms.” You can call it a ballad but he lays down some good guitar work on it.
Not only does Gary shine on “Victims of the Future,” he enlists some great musicians. Ian Paice of Deep Purple fame plays drums on half the tracks and Bob Daisley who played with Ozzy provides the bass work on two. Noddy Holder of Slade steps in to provide backing vocals on one song. The others who support may not be as recognized but they still do a magnificent job. Therefore, the album has all one needs to be great, good vocals, a steady rhythm section and of course, Gary’s guitar solos.
Track Listing (UK)
Victims of the Future
Teenage Idol
Shapes of Things
Empty Rooms
Murder in the Skies
Hold Onto Love
All I Want
Law of the Jungle
Track Listing (US)
Victims of the Future
Teenage Idol
Devil in Her Heart
Empty Rooms
All I Want (cassette only)
Shapes of Things
Murder in the Skies
Hold Onto Love
Law of the Jungle
Gary Moore
Gary Moore- guitars, vocals
Neil Murray- bass on tracks 1,3,7 & 8
Mo Foster- bass on tracks 4 & 6
Bob Daisley- bas on tracks 2 & 5
Ian Paice- drums on tracks 1,3,4 & 8
Bobby ‘Prime Time’ Chouinard- drums on tracks 2,5,6 & 7
Neil Carter- keyboards
Noddy Holder- backing vocals on “Shapes of Things”
So thirty-one years on, I have to say “thank you Kieran” for introducing me to Gary Moore and playing his albums for me, “Victims of the Future” included among them.
Other news: A band I have been promoting on 80smetalman, Black Emerald, has invited me to their album launch party in Reading, UK on February 10. Needless to say, I am excited and you will get a full report of the night’s festivities.
Next Post: Since I’m in a Gary Moore mood, it will be his 1984 live album, “We Want Moore.”
To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1511084083&sr=8-3&keywords=michael+d+lefevre
The first concert I saw at the Philadelphia Spectrum after getting out of the marines was Black Sabbath. Having heard the album they were promoting on the tour, “Born Again,” I already knew that former Deep Purple lead singer, Ian Gillan, would be fronting them. However, I still thought it was a bit strange that when they came out for the second encore, they played “Smoke on the Water.” Actually, that strange feeling lasted only for a few seconds because the song worked as did Gillan singing some of the more classic Sabbath songs. I thought he did a particularly good job on “Heaven and Hell.”
This begs the question, if Ian Gillan sounded so good for Sabbath, then why did so many of the so-called rock critics slate it and why isn’t this album considered one of their best? Let me address the second point. When I hear “Born Again,” I don’t immediately start pining for the more classic Sabbath albums like “Paranoid” or “Heaven and Hell” but I won’t put it on the same level as those more memorable albums either. It’s a great album but not a classic. As for the critics, well, what do they know?
Ian Gillan’s Deep Purple influence comes out immediately on the album. “Trashed” could have been a Purple song. At least until Tony Iommi goes into one of his trademark guitar solos in the middle of the song. Plus, I can say the same thing for “Disturbing the Priest,” although the instrumental track in between those two, “Stonehenge” tries too hard to copy “E5150.” My hypothesis here is that Tony and Geezer let Ian sing according to his style and bent their guitar and bass playing styles around the vocals. Personally, I think they do a damned fine job of it as well. This really shows through on the track “Zero the Hero.” Unlike some critic, I don’t find the song embarrassing, I quite like it, especially how Tony Iommi nails the guitar solo on it.
My favourite track on the album has to be “Digital Bitch.” I love the way, they take Gillan’s shrieks and Tony’s guitar and fuse them together. The title track is a more slower bluesier number. Black Sabbath have been doing these for years except in the past, they did it with a much heavier guitar. They don’t do that so much with this one except for the chorus. At the time, it was believed that this would be the closest Black Sabbath would come to a power ballad. Ian Gillan’s voice suits the song well but then he is definitely if not the best, one of the best vocalists in rock or metal.
Now I haven’t forgotten to mention the interesting album cover. After all, I had it on a t-shirt. I always thought it very amusing even if the American religious community didn’t. Now, I wish I still had that shirt.
Track Listing:
Trashed
Stonehenge
Disturbing the Priest
The Dark
Zero the Hero
Digital Bitch
Born Again
Hot Line
Keep it Warm
Black Sabbath
Tony Iommi- guitar
Ian Gillan- vocals
Geezer Butler- bass
Bill Ward- drums
Note: Bill Ward would not tour with the band for this album. Replacing him for the tour was former ELO drummer Bev Bevan
I wonder what would have happened if Ian Gillan had stuck around with Sabbath for a few more albums. Would musical history as we know it been changed? Hard to say. As we know, Ian would leave Sabbath after this and rejoin his mates Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover from Rainbow and reform that band they were in together during the early 1970s. Ian Gillan might have only recorded one album with Black Sabbath but it is definitely one to remember.
Next post: Because they supported Black Sabbath when I saw them, I thought it right that it be Quiet Riot- Mental Health
Funny old world isn’t it? Even though I was in their native country in late 1982, I never heard anything of Loudness. On the other hand, the rock bar I frequented quite a bit on Okinawa introduced me to an English heavy metal band called Whitesnake. For the life of me, I can’t remember which Whitesnake songs got played but I do know that I liked them. Hell, I can’t even say if any of the songs were from the album I’m about to post on here.
As much as I like what I heard from Whitesnake, I never got around to exploring them more, silly me. I even had the chance to see them live in the summer of 83 but that’s another story. It wouldn’t be until another year after that I would finally listen to them in earnest. Furthermore, it was only when I got to England two years after that, that I made any attempt to listen to their earlier stuff, was I a fool? Judging from the album, “Saints and Sinners,” most definitely so.
“Saints and Sinners” is a much harder offering than the more commercial oriented material from later on in the 80s, which many people are more familiar with. What I found amusing about this album was the early recordings of songs that would be stripped down to sound more commercial in the years on. There is an innocence with the version of “Here I Go Again” on the album, that while I won’t go onto say it’s better than the commercialized version, (it’s certainly not worse), it does sound more genuine. Sort of the same can be said of “Crying in the Rain.” The version I have on the “Greatest Hits” album doesn’t sound like this one. I don’t remember hearing such a killer guitar solo on the hits album nor does it make me rock along to it as much.
Many of the other songs are cool rockers as well. “Youngblood,” “Victim of Love,” “Rock and Roll Angels” and the closing title track all fit the bill in my book. Then again, should I have expected anything less with former Deep Purple members Jon Lord and Ian Paice in the band. Furthermore, I have finally come to appreciate the guitar talents of Moody and Marsden. Of course, I won’t take anything away from David Coverdale as I have always rated him an extremely talented vocalist and should have put him in the same club with the other names I suggested Minoru Nihara join.
Track Listing:
Youngblood
Rough and Ready
Bloody Luxury
Victim of Love
Crying in the Rain
Here I Go Again
Love and Affection
Rock and Roll Angels
Dancing Girls
Saints and Sinners
Whitesnake (line up for Saints and Sinners)
David Coverdale- vocals
Mick Moody- guitar, vocals
Bernie Marsden- guitar
Jon Lord- keyboards
Neil Murray- bass
Ian Paice- drums
Maybe when I began posting about the year 1982, I should have called it “The Year So Many Albums Passed Me By.” Yes, I can blame it on being overseas in the military but I had no excuse with this one. As a result, I missed what turns out to be a Whitesnake album from the days they really rocked.
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