Three bands immediately spring to mind whenever the term ‘progressive metal’ is mentioned. One is Dio as they could be called one of prog metal’s founders, the second is Savatage, especially after the “Gutter Ballet” album and the third band is the one I’m posting about today, Dream Theater. They are another band I discovered on the compilation album I’ll be visiting in the near future and like Mammoth, they impressed me. Therefore, it’s only logical that I explored their debut album, “When Dreams and Day Unite.”
Oh yes, to clarify, I can already hear some of you screaming at the top of your lungs, “What about Rush?” I don’t consider them metal and neither do they. Maybe progressive hard rock at best but not metal. In any case, I still enjoy a good Rush album so this whole argument is pointless.
Now back to Dream Theater and their debut. “When Dreams and Day Unite” starts off with three good tracks, the third one an instrumental and while I say good as they keep me interested, track two, “Status Seeker,” being the best of the three, the throat grabbing track comes fourth, “The Killing Hand.” For me, this is the best track on the album and I can see why it was the one which appears on that compilation album. It’s an eight minute long progressive metal master piece with all the elements required for such a track. What I had forgotten is that it was broken down into five parts. It tells a story of time travel and murder although the writer, John Petrucci, isn’t totally sure himself. Great keyboard work, some nice guitar work, a steady rhythm section and good vocals all combine to make it the best song on the album.
What critics have said, not that I pay attention to them, although there is some truth in the fact that the band were finding themselves as a band and individual musicians. This is not a criticism of the band but it’s something a lot of bands experience with their debut albums. I could have said the same about Mammoth in my previous post. However, what they have done on “When Dreams and Day Unite” is build the foundation for their more successful follow up album, “Images and Words.” Listening to the album, I remember why I was excited about Mike Portnoy filling in as drummer for Twisted Sister and I can add John Petrucci to my list of underrated guitarists. Some have slated Charlie Dominici’s vocals on the album but I find nothing wrong with them and of course, you can’t have good progressive metal without keyboards and Kevin Moore shows he’s the one for the job. While I don’t hear much of John Myung’s bass on the album, I know he lays down a good line.
Not wanting to leave out the rest of the album, I can say that the second half of the album, with the exception of “The Killing Hand,” is better than the first. The standout track of the four is “Light Fuse and Get Away.” It’s another cool track which neatly combines all the elements. Saying that, there seems to be a Rush-Styx influence throughout most of these songs.
Track Listing:
A Fortune In Lies
Status Seeker
The Ytse Jam
The Killing Hand- i. The Observance, ii. Ancient Renewal, iii. The Stray Seed, iv. Thorns, v. Exodus
Light and Fuse Get Away
Afterlife
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
Only a Matter of Time
Dream Theater
Charlie Dominici- vocals
John Petrucci- guitar
Kevin Moore- keyboards
John Myung- bass
Mike Portnoy- drums, percussion
While “When Dreams and Day Unite” is the only Dream Theater album which failed to break into the top 200, it did set the foundation of greater things to come for the band. Still, if you fancy some great progressive metal, then check this album out.
Next post: Pretty Boy Floyd- Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
A little over a year ago, man how time flies, Mike Ladano and I wrote a joint post ranking Savatage albums from worst to first. In regards to this 1989 album, “Gutter Ballet,” both Mike and I put it near the bottom of our rankings, although my sister Dawn ranked it a number four and my son Jake at five. There are valid arguments for both. What both Mike and I agreed about the album is that the second side does not measure up to the first and is predominantly filler. With that, since I like starting with the ‘not so positive,’ I will begin with the second half of the album.
On another point, do you have an idea stuck in your head that no matter how much you hear to the contrary, there’s no shifting it? Well for me, for over 30 years, I thought the title of the album was “Guitar Ballet” and not “Gutter Ballet.” Silly me. Then again, listening to the album and how it marks Savatage’s shift from mainstream metal to more progressive metal, they carried on what Dio had started, you could say the album actually was a guitar ballet.
“Gutter Ballet’s” descent into mediocrity starts with the track, “She’s in Love.” It’s not a bad track to say the least as another point I will make about the entire album right now is that Criss Oliva’s guitar work is top notch and actually saves songs like this one. It’s a hard and fast song and if it was on the “Fight For the Rock” album, would be one of the best songs on it but unfortunately, it’s not the case here and wouldn’t stand up to songs on albums I view in higher regards.
“Hounds” comes out as if the album is going to get back on track and it does for the beginning and then again at the end. I love the impending doom on the intro combining acoustic guitar notes from Criss and Jon’s vocals before the song explodes in the fashion which typifies Savatage. However, somewhere in the middle of the song, it loses focus, going off into some weird form of tangent which if cut out, would make the track better, especially the way Criss hammers out the guitar solos. He almost singlehandedly saves the second half of the album.
“The Unholy” is a track that sort of comes and goes with little notice. It’s okay to listen to at the time but right after, it fades from memory. It could be the fact that it is followed by the best track on this part of the album, “Mentally Yours.” This is Savatage doing what Savatage do best. A good slow intro before exploding but unlike “Hounds,” it stays on a steady course. On a personal note, reflecting back to my childhood, I can identify with, Jimmy, the protagonist in the song.
Jimmy went out to play with the friends he made
Why did they send him away?
It made his mommy mad, drove his daddy bad
They didn’t understand.
At the end, I find another minor criticism about the album and that’s because I originally got it on cassette. On vinyl, the closer is “Summer’s Rain” and as a closer it is very good. It’s melody guides the album out in the right way. However, on cassette and CD, the track, “Thorazine Shuffle” is added but a good closer it does not make. Now, I know that these two tracks along with “Mentally Yours,” were part of a three song conceptual suite but I still think “Summer’s Rain” should have closed out the album on vinyl, cassette and CD.
Now onto the very positive! The album opens with “Of Rage and War” and it great opener it DOES make! I love how Jon’s shrieks of terror bring in the song with some great riffs from Criss and credit more credit should be given to the rhythm section of Johnny Lee Middleton and Steve Wacholz. Like a good opener, it gets the blood pumping and the listener ready for the rest of the album. Criss’s solos shape what is to come in regards to his guitar playing for the entire album.
“Of Rage and War” is immediately followed by the title track and that is such an awesome song, period. It came in at number five in my rankings of top ten favourite Savatage songs and it came in at number two on Mike’s list. There is so much to like about this song that I would only be repeating myself if I were to put it down here. Just such a fantastic song.
Another thing Savatage do very well is instrumentals and you get two on the album. The first one, “Temptation Revelation,” really showcases what Criss Oliva can do on the guitar aided some good progressive bits thrown in and how they join together at the end. The other instrumental, “Silk and Steel,” is just as good. You get a little acoustic guitar tinkling from Criss but he does such a great job on it. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if Criss’s life hadn’t been so tragically cut short, he would have been counted along with the many guitar gods. That’s why he joined Ronnie James Dio up in Rock Heaven. In any case, both instrumentals are less than three minutes a piece but you definitely remember them.
Saving the best for last, “When the Crowds Are Gone” is not only the best song on the album, it’s my favourite Savatage song of all time! In fact, when I do depart the mortal realm, it is in my will to be played at my funeral. Hopefully that won’t be for quite a few more years. This song is simply magnificent. Starting with Jon on the piano with his vocals bringing the song in perfectly before Criss comes in with that guitar and we get a total party. It just gets the adrenaline rushing through my body.
Track Listing:
Of Rage and War
Gutter Ballet
Temptation Revelation
When the Crowds Are Gone
Silk and Steel
She’s in Love
Hounds
The Unholy
Mentally Yours
Summer’s Rain
Thorazine Shuffle
Jon Oliva- vocals, piano, keyboards, bass and drums on “Gutter Ballet”
Criss Oliva- guitars
Johnny Lee Middleton- bass
Steve Wacholz- drums
Chris Caffery does not appear on the album but is credited in the liner notes for guitar and keyboards
“Gutter Ballet” may not be Savatage’s best album but it does help them make the transition to more progressive metal and does so very well. There are some amazing tracks on the album and with Criss, you can call it a guitar ballet.
Next post: Danger Danger
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
Originally, “Force Majeure” was going to be a Warlock album but since Doro Pesch was the only original member left in the band and after some legal wrangling, she decided to use her own name and has done so ever since. Still, some call this album Warlock’s last album, which is a bit strange because Warlock were a German band and the musicians she uses here are all American, although former Dio keyboardist, Claude Schnell, although born in America, was raised in France. Anyway, enough of the history, now onto the album.
“Force Majeure” starts off with an interesting cover of the classic, “Whiter Shade of Pale.” The original and subsequent covers are more on the mellow side, Doro puts a bit of hard guitar into it and it sounds brilliant. I didn’t expect this song to sound so good metalized. However, that sets the stage for the rest of the album because you get one great metal tune after another. I mean you could substitute “World Gone Wild” with “Doro Gone Wild” and it would be the truth. She proves that she can shape her voice to fit any song and it helps that you get a blazing guitar solo from guitarist Jon Levin who is currently in Dokken.
For me, the two best tracks on the album are “Mission of Mercy” and “Angels With Dirty Faces.” On the former, Doro and her band are really tight with her vocals, a good rhythm section and some more great guitar work. The latter goes more back to Doro’s days with Warlock, which is not a bad thing at all. Man, I could go on for this entire post gushing about how great Doro’s voice is and the guitar work of Jon as both are present on the album but those talents are best highlighted on these two tracks.
While I never had any doubts as to Doro’s ability to sing a ballad, if anyone else needs proof, then the short but sweet “Beyond the Trees” silences anyone else’s doubts. One track I did know of because my sister sent it to me when she used to send me cuts from the different albums she had was “Hard Times.” Because my cassettes are stored up in my attic, I haven’t heard this in ages but it’s just as good as I remember.
Going back to Doro’s versatility, she goes near thrash on “I Am What I Am” and the power does not lessen with “Cry Wolf” and “Under the Gun.” The ballad like “River of Tears” would make a great closer if Doro hadn’t thrown in the brief “Bis aus Blut” in at the end. Still, it makes for a dynamite album.
Track Listing:
Whiter Shade of Pale
Save My Soul
World Gone Wild
Mission of Mercy
Angels With Dirty Faces
Beyond the Trees
Hard Times
Hellraiser
I Am What I Am
Cry Wolf
Under the Gun
River of Tears
Bis aus Blut (Till It Bleeds)
Doro Pesch
Doro Pesch- vocals
Jon Levin- guitar
Tommy Heindriksen- bass, backing vocals
Bobby Rondinelli- drums
Claude Schnell- keyboards
No need for anyone to say that for Doro, life after Warlock was grand. “Force Majeure” was the album which started it all off and she continues on to this day. I know, I’ve seen her twice at Bloodstock and both times she was phenomenal.
Next post: Loudness- Soldier of Fortune
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.
I’ve never seen the movie “Shocker.” From what I’ve read and what I remember, it received mixed reviews everywhere. I came to be in possession of the soundtrack via my sister, Dawn, who sent it to me as a Christmas present in 1989. It turned out to be a great present because no matter what is said about the film, this is an amazing soundtrack.
The first and last songs on it are from a super-group calling themselves The Dudes of Wrath. It consisted of Desmond Child and Paul Stanley on vocals, Vivian Campbell and Guy Mann-Dude on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Lee on drums. Also, Michael Anthony and Kane Roberts provide backing vocals. No argument from me about this being a super-group. They open the soundtrack with the title track and I have to say, it’s a pretty good way to open things. Paul’s vocals are quite obvious and he and all the dudes do a good job on it.
Second up is “Love Transfusion” from Iggy Pop. After the harpsichord sounding intro, the track goes proper metal. It has a strong, commanding beat and I regret to say but this was my first experience of Iggy. Let me say it was a great introduction. T
That is followed by what I guess you can call the single from the soundtrack, Megadeth’s cover of the Alice Cooper classic, “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” I remember this song getting pretty far up the UK charts in 1990 and even the metal hating UK newspaper, “The Sun,” ran a small article on the band and didn’t say anything negative about them. Still, while this is a cool cover, it wouldn’t win an “Original vs. Cover” competition, at least not in my view.
Up and coming German band, Bonfire, are up next with their song, “Sword & Stone.” Like stereotypical Germans, Bonfire get straight down to business with a cool, straightforward metal jam. This one ticks all the boxes, cool vocals, a strong rhythm section and some excellent guitar solos. Side one ends with a very haunting but hard hitting power ballad from Saraya. Some called this band the next Heart and we will explore that more when I get to their self-titled debut album but for now, I just want to sit back and thoroughly enjoy this power ballad. That piano intro and Sandi Saraya’s vocals are just mesmerizing.
Side two opens with the return of The Dudes of Wrath, only this time, Desmond and Paul are relegated to backing vocals. “Shockdance” is a rap duet between the movie’s villain, Horace Pinker, played my Mitch Pillegi and one Alice Cooper. The track is very amusing, especially the line “And I never do the dishes.” The backing music from The Dudes make sure the rap isn’t a joke.
Like Saraya, another metal band which got some notoriety on this soundtrack is Dangerous Toys and I will be posting their 1989 album in due time. Here, they give us “Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)” and for me, it has 1980s hair metal all over it. Still, it’s a nice track and there was great potential with Dangerous Toys here.
The following two tracks are from bands I have only heard of on this soundtrack. First up is Voodoo X with “The Awakening.” Since, I had never heard of this band I heard this song, I can award it the hidden gem of the soundtrack. It’s a good metal song, sort of Whitesnake before they went into more ballads. It did prompt me to research them more and I can say their one and only album has been added to the list for 1989.
Maybe, like many soundtracks from the 1980s, who try to incorporate all forms of music, the people who put the “Shocker” soundtrack tried it with all forms of metal. Penultimate track, “Different Breed” from Dead On is a nice thrash/speed metal track. While there is nothing ultra spectacular about it, it is good enough for me to add their debut album to the list. The soundtrack ends with a reprise as The Dudes of Wrath takes it out singing, “We will have the power, we will have the glory.” It’s a nice way to end things.
Track Listing:
Dudes of Wrath
The Dudes of Wrath- Shocker
Iggy Pop
2. Iggy Pop- Love Transfusion
Megadeth
3. Megadeth- No More Mr. Nice Guy
4. Bonfire- Sword & Stone
Saraya
5. Saraya- Timeless Love
6. The Dudes of Wrath featuring Alice Cooper and Horace Pinker- Shockdance
Dangerous Toys
7. Dangerous Toys- Demon Bell (The Ballad of Horace Pinker)
Voodoo X
8. Voodoo X- The Awakening
Dead On
9. Dead On- Different Breed
10. The Dudes of Wrath- Shocker (Reprise)
Who cares about the film? I ask. This is a great forgotten soundtrack with some excellent heavy metal. Now, I know some of you will come back with “I haven’t forgotten this soundtrack” and that’s cool. In fact, pull it out and listen to it again as it’s that great.
Next post: A joint post with Mike Ladano- Our Top Ten Savatage songs.
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.”
After what many people thought was the flop of Dio’s third album, “Sacred Heart,” (I never thought it was), all eyes were on the band for their fourth album, “Dream Evil.” The question on everyone’s minds was to whether they could return to the level of their first two fantastic albums. For most people, “Dream Evil” was an improvement on “Sacred Heart,” me included. That left the next question as to how it compared to “Holy Diver” and “The Last in Line.”
In short, I have to agree with what most people and critics thought, “Dream Evil” was a better than “Sacred Heart” but did not quite reach the bar set by those first two albums. While I don’t normally score albums, I leave that to some of you, on a scale of 1-10, I would have given “Holy Diver an 11, “The Last in Line” a 10 and “Sacred Heart” and 8. Therefore, I have to give “Dream Evil” a 9 and now I will explain why.
First, let me focus on the not positive. All three of the previous albums have really throat grabbing opening songs but while “Night People” is a decent opener, it is not as throat grabbing. However, it does the job of keeping my attention. Then we come to the title track and that is also a decent song which keeps me listening but still it doesn’t totally ‘WOW’ me either. Since, I am focusing on the not positive first, I have to skip to the closing songs. “Faces in the Window” is a good penultimate track so I shouldn’t call it not positive, silly me. I won’t say that “When a Woman Cries” isn’t a good closer, it is probably the best choice for the role on this album, it doesn’t reach the bar set by one of the best album closing songs of all times, “Egypt, The Chains Are On” from “The Last in Line” album. I realize that was a very hard standard to measure up to.
Let’s move onto the very positive. Coming after the title track are my two favourite songs on the album, “Sunset Superman” and “All the Fools Sailed Away.” While I don’t want to engage in a debate with Lana on her review of this album as she didn’t quite fancy either song, I really like them. However, I can understand her point on “Sunset Superman” as Ronnie seems to spend the last two minutes of the song repeating the title. For a lot of singers, that would become boring after a minute but Ronnie was one of those singers who could have spent three minutes singing: “I’m going to decapitate your hamster with a spoon” and his voice still would have had me hooked. As for “All the Fools Sailed Away,” I had the experience of hearing it performed live at Donnington 1987 and it was mind blowing. The recorded version almost lives up to the live version and it’s one of those songs which just moves me into belting out the chorus. Plus, the keyboard’/guitar solo tradeoff in the middle of the song is very nicely done.
Like with “All the Fools Sailed Away,” they played “Naked in the Rain” and though hearing live was brilliant, the studio version, while not as dynamic is still a good listen. “Overlove” is a good fast paced song which further demonstrates the band’s versatility. Furthermore, I love how Craig Goldy’s guitar work brings in the song. Then we come to the second single, “I Could Have Been a Dreamer.” This is another great song to sing along to and it sticks in you mind long after it finishes. That could be why the last two songs aren’t as memorable for me.
Track Listing:
Night People
Dream Evil
Sunset Superman
All the Fools Sailed Away
Naked in the Rain
Overlove
I Could Have Been a Dreamer
Faces in the Window
When a Woman Cries
Dio
Ronnie James Dio- lead vocals
Craig Goldy- guitar
Jimmy Bain- bass
Claude Schnell- keyboards
Vinnie Appice- drums
What I hated about the MTV video version of this song was they cut the solos out of it.
One comparison I didn’t make, which a lot of people were talking about in 1987 was comparing and contrasting the guitar work of Craig Goldy on “Dream Evil” vs that of Vivian Campbell on the previous albums. I never did because I thought both were very good guitarists on Dio albums. So, like I said earlier, “Dream Evil” was an improvement on “Sacred Heart” but not to the standard of the first two. Then again, that was a hard bar to clear. It is still a very good solid album from Ronnie and the boys.
Next post: Manowar- Fighting the World
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
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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Ever since the days of Elvis, there has always been a backlash against rock music and the backlash against heavy metal in particular has always been many folds greater. Whether it be religious fanatics, parents or just trendy top forty followers who just didn’t like the genre, there have been people dead set against heavy metal music. This backlash had been slowly building up throughout the early 1980s but the fact that heavy metal had gotten mainstream attention in 1984 was enough to blow the powder keg in 1985.
The first instance that turned my attention to this backlash was reading letters to MTV citing that they were either playing too much heavy metal or not enough. It would appear that in or around March of 1985, the anti heavy metal brigade won out as MTV made a statement that it would be playing less metal on the air. Now, it’s easy to think that there were that many more anti than pro metal people writing to MTV and if anyone says that it was because metalheads are too stupid to write, me and many of my followers here will be over to your house to kick the crap out of you! Once again I digress but my theory was that by the end of the previous year, MTV was already becoming nothing more than a glorified commercial radio station. Some Dead Kennedys lyrics come to mind here and I’ll reveal those when I visit their “Frankenchrist” album which came out in said year. Oops, digressing again but less and less metal was being played on MTV or the radio.
Dead Kennedys
As 1985 progressed, I began to notice it in more ways. There wasn’t just a backlash against heavy metal but persecution of metalheads as well. One thing I was criticized for in “Rock And Roll Children,” though I don’t regret it one bit, was over pounding the point of how metalheads were discriminated against back then. Truth was they were! I simply pointed this out. Example, based on my own experiences: in 1984, I went to a McDonald’s after the Dio/Twisted Sister concert and had no problems, nor did the many other metalheads who hit up the place after the show. One year later, my friends and I hit the same McDonald’s after the Motley Crue/Loudness concert and upon entry, were greeted by all sorts of negative comments. Also, like in the story, there was an off duty cop in the store pontificating how no one did anything like that in his day and how he busts punks like us for drugs all the time. While, there were no arrests that night, one month later, after seeing Dio, we hit the same McDonald’s and this time, it was like a policeman’s convention. This brings me to another point, while I never saw it happen, there were tales in 1985 of police getting warrants and going into pre-concert parties and busting metalheads. However, they didn’t do that at the Wham concert where I heard eyewitness accounts of 12 year old kids getting falling down, sickly drunk. It was definitely war on metalheads in 1985.
Of course, the more astute of you will recall that in the closing months of the year, the backlash against rock music and especially heavy metal became the subject of a congressional hearing and lead to the formation of the Parents Music Resource Center, (PMRC). Even after more than thirty years, I tend to laugh at this if it wasn’t so pathetic and there will be a post dedicated to that.
In spite of all the doom and gloom, the backlash achieved very little. Great albums were still being made and you’ll get to read about a lot of them. There were other great events and concerts including the most famous one, Live Aid. So, sit back and get ready for another roller coaster year in the golden decade of metal.
Next post: Glenn Frey- The Allnighter
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