Satan’s Plan to Take Over Rock Heaven

In case you missed it over at Mike Ladano’s blog, I am putting on my latest story. Satan plans to take over Rock Heaven and sets his plan in motion. Will he succeed? Read on and find out.

Takeover of Rock Heaven

Part 1- The Plan

Somewhere in Hell:

Satan walked into the room waiting to address the assembled gathering, when he was distracted by a commotion. His security was holding back Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein, who were demanding to be let into the meeting. Calmly, he walked over to where the commotion was coming from. “Look,” he said sternly, “I said clearly that you two aren’t coming in here.”

“You need us,” Hitler argued.

“No we don’t ,” Satan returned. “This isn’t a military operation, otherwise Julius Caesar would be here. Even it if it was I still wouldn’t have you two in here. You both demonstrated your military incompetence while you were on Earth.”

“But you have Vlad the Impaler here,” Hitler protested.

“He’s here for a different reason,” Satan explained. “Besides, if we have to kill any prisoners, we have your man Werner Poetsche. Now go before I go back to shoving pineapples up both your asses. “

With that, Hitler and Saddam were marched away and the door was closed. Satan let out an exasperated sigh before sitting at the head of the long table. As he sat down, Vlad questioned, “Why is he here?” pointing to Dave Holland.

“Because I should be in Rock Heaven,” Dave snarled back. “I’m only in Hell because of a bollocks conviction. Fucking Elvis used that to not allow me in, damn him.”

“Enough!” Satan boomed, his thunderous voice shaking the room. It achieved its goal in silencing all. “Mr. Holland is here at my request. He will help us in rounding up all the key members of Rock Heaven and he can get some revenge.”

That’s right,” Dave affirmed. “They’re all a bunch of assholes. They wouldn’t let me in but I bet when that woman beater Tony Iommi dies , they’ll let him in.”

Satan sighed again. “They probably will. Some religions look favourably on men hitting women. That’s another reason why I plan to take over and have summoned all of you here. There should be no Rock Heaven, most of those rock stars should be with us here in Hell. You are all going to help plan my takeover. I have had a mole there since 2003 and he’s been feeding me information whenever he can.”

“A mole, that’s a brilliant idea!” Al Capone complented. “Who is he?”

“You’d be very surprised,” was Satan’s reply. “My mole did get me into Rock Heaven when some mortal went back in time to try to wipe out heavy metal. So, now it’s the perfect time to act.”

“Couldn’t we take our legions and just storm the place?” Vlad suggested.

“It’s not that simple,” Satan explained. “The other side has a fail safe. If we simply invade, we risk all out war with Heaven, I mean the real Heaven. We don’t need that, so we have to be more cunning.”

“Is that why Julius isn’t here?” Caligula inquired.

“Exacty why!” Satan affirmed. “And why we can’t risk an all out war with Heaven. The last time that happened, Heaven’s forces were commanded by George S. Patton who studied Caesar’s strategies and thwarted him at every turn. We got our asses kicked.”

“So tell me exactly how we are going to take over Rock Heaven?” Charles Manson probed.

“Yeah, you know once we act, those two Canadian super-heroes and their companions will try to stop you,” Dave Holland pointed out.

“I know,” Satan conceded. “But I have a plan. Those two super-heroes will be on a wild goose chase and while they’re distracted elsewhere, we will make our move. Besides, once we take over Rock Heaven, I think the town of Thunder Bay will thank us. They’re not happy with those super-heroes or the musicians in Rock Heaven for putting on that concert which nearly destroyed their town.”

Somewhere in Rock Heaven:

Martin Suplee’s head was pounding once again. He hoped he might have had a reprieve this time around. After all, Rory Gallagher and Jeff Beck were more blues guitarists, likewise with Dusty Hill on bass. Even with Razzle on drums, he thought it might not have been the metal he was constantly being bombared with. However, he couldn’t have been more wrong. They turned up the amp and bombarded him with power chords and blistering guitar solos. His head was throbbing by the time the session finished.

The throbbing began to ease as he was escorted back to his cell. In one way, he was lucky. Most of the time, he was subjected to sessions involving Lemmy, Jeff Hannemann and Cliff Burton. Those sessions left him with the feeling his head was going to explode in scanners fashion. “I guess I should be grateful,” he thought to himself as he entered his cell.

He needed no force to go into the cell, it gave him respite from the constant jamming of decesased musicians from the genre he tried to erase from history. Had it not been for this time alone, he would have gone mad ages ago. Several of his hench-persons who had travelled back in time with him urged him to admit that he was wrong in trying to erase metal from history. He stubbornly refused. If anything, constantly being bombarded with heavy metal from dead metal musicians only strenghtened his belief that his cause was right.

Suplee was still thinking this over, at least when he could because even in his cell, he was still able to hear those musicans playing. At that moment, it was Warrell Dane, Eddie Van Halen, Lorne Black and A.J. Pero who were assaulting his eardrums. Suddenly, he was distracted by shuffling at his cell door. Suplee turned and saw a singer, who didn’t sing heavy metal and he admired somewhat, standing at his cell’s entrance.

Before he could say anything, the singer put his finger to his lips and whispered, “I’ve come to get you out.” With that, the singer beckoned and Martin Suplee followed. Stealthily, the pair tiptoed through Rock Heaven and somehow, nobody noticed them. They carried on until they came to a huge door.

“This is the way out,” the singer directed.

“Where will I go?” asked a rather perplexed Mr. Suplee.

“Why, to Hell of course,” the singer responded, trying to keep down the volume of his voice. “Why, if anyone leaves Rock Heaven, the only place they can go is Hell. My boss is expecting you. He will assist you in ridding the world of heavy metal.”

Suplee opened his mouth to ask for more details but the singer had mysteriously vanished from sight, leaving him on his own. Not knowing what else to do, he thought to himself, “It’s worth a try” and pushed the door open and stepped through. As he entered a strange void, all he could think was “Maybe there was still a chance that he could wipe heavy metal from ever existing.”

Back in Hell

Satan waited along with those he assembled as the figure materialised before them. “When it did, he addressed the confused new arrival, “Welcome to Hell, Mr. Suplee.”

Bewildered, Mr. Suplee looked around the room. Why he actually was in Hell! He recognized Satan as he was responsible for him being in Rock Heaven. If that wasn’t enough, he recognized some of those with him, chiefly Al Capone and Charles Manson. Plus the were two other men and a woman, who he assumed was Lizzy Borden, due to her clothing. One man was in medieval dress, the other in a Roman toga. However, the remaining man bothered him. He was dressed in heavy metal attire. Therefore, he sensed a trap.

“Who’s he?” Suplee asked pointing to the metal clad Dave Holland.

“Why, he’s part of my plan to take over Rock Heaven!” Satan laughed louldy sending vibrations around the room. “All those metal musicians should be suffering here in Hell. Don’t you agree?”

Mr. Suplee nodded, “What do you want me to do?”

Satan explained, “What you didn’t know when you went back in time to destroy heavy metal from existence is that when those in Rock Heaven created heavy metal, one of the blueprints they used was Nazereth’s “Hair of the Dog” album. What you need to do is go to this Metalman’s house and steal his copy. You can get your revenge on him as well for his assistance in Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes defeating you. When you steal that album, Metalman will call for the super-heroes and they will come to stop you and you can defeat them.

“How can I defeat them? Last time, I had a special device but they neutralized it. Now I’m just an ordinary human.”

“That’s where I come in!” Satan boomed. “I can give you powers that will help you defeat them.

“Then give me those powers,” Suplee demanded. “And I shall defeat those meddlesome super-heroes and wipe heavy metal from history!” His laughed resembled those from cartoon villians.

“Very well,” Satan chortled. He pointed his trident at Mr. Suplee and the transformation began taking place. Suplee let out a long blood-curtling scream as large black wings began growing from the middle of his back. However, he took the pain as a new aura overcame him. When the wings had fully grown out, his clothing mysteriously changed to black robes. A few seconds later, the transformation was complete and Suplee felt different.

“Arise,” Satan commanded.

Mr. Suplee stood tall. He spread out his new wings fully, nearly knocking into Al Capone.

“Your transformation is now complete,” Satan informed. “You can know go and destroy Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes.

“Yes, I will have my vengeance on those two,” Suplee snarled before he mysteriously vanished.

Once Suplee had gone, Caligula asked, “Do you think he’ll succeed?”

Satan mischievously replied, “He doesn’t need to. All we need is for him to keep the super-heroes busy long enough so we can make our move on Rock Heaven.”

I hope you enjoyed. Once again, I’ve been covering a lot of colleague sickness at work so I haven’t been able to post as usual. Hopefully, that will change soon.

Historical Events in Rock and Roll Children

Main objective behind writing “Rock and Roll Children” was to remind people, especially metalheads, of heavy metal history. At the time I began writing, there seemed to be a push by mainstream media to downplay the role heavy metal played in during its golden decade, the 1980s and that decade, contrary to what the media was pushing was not all Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Like it or not, heavy metal was a dominant force in the 1980s. True, it got little radio play and minimal play on MTV but the most successful bands sold millions of albums and played to packed out arenas. So, we can safely say that the 1980s was the golden age of heavy metal and I wrote “Rock and Roll Children” to bring home that point.

With all that said, the 80s for me was a busy decade and there were a lot of events, both music related and not, which took place in the time period in the book, 1984-7. That is the purpose of today’s post, to give you a history refresher of the events, (sorry, it’s the teacher in me) and by some weird hope, more of you will buy the book.

Non- Musical Events

U.S. Marines in Lebanon- In the story, Bob’s older brother, Mitch, served with the US Marines in their ‘peacekeeping’ mission in Lebanon. Although, he wasn’t there when the big tragedy happened in October 1983, some of his friends were. He is clearly effected by his experiences there, getting wounded when a grenade went off near him.

McDonald’s Mass Shooting- In the summer of 1984, a man went into a McDonald’s in California and shot and killed 22 people. Before he left, the shooter declared he was going to hunt humans. In “Rock and Roll Children,” the main characters joke that if they go to McDonald’s, they’re going to get shot.

Famine in Africa- I make reference to this in the book because it led to one of the greatest musical events of the decade, which I will mention more further down.

Ronald Reagan’s Re-election: This is briefly mentioned because Mitch is upset that the country re-elected the man who sent him to Lebanon where he was wounded.

Super Bowls XIX, XX and XXI- All three of these super bowls get mentioned.

The Bombing of Libya- When the US bombed Libya in 1986, there was concerns for the safety of Americans travelling in Europe. Jeff had been accepted to the University of London and while he wasn’t worried, some others were.

Reagan’s Contra War in Nicaragua- Bob becomes an anti- Contra Aid protester in light of events. He saw what Lebanon had done to his brother and this is what drives him here.

Arthur Fowler’s Imprisonment- When I got to England, I became engrossed in the very popular soap opera, “East Enders.” (Today it holds no interest for me.) In one episode, the character Arthur Fowler gets sent to prison for stealing money from a Christmas Club. A couple of nights later, I saw stickers at one underground station saying, “Free Arthur Fowler.”

Herald of Free Enterprise Disaster- In March, 1987, a British ferry called The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized in Zeebrugge, Belgium, killing 193 crew and passengers. This was a huge tragedy. One month after the event, Jeff and his roommate, Henry, take a ferry to France and this does worry them a little.

Music Related Events

Concerts- Every concert which takes place in the story actually happened and at the time they actually occurred.

Vince Neil’s Accident- This rocked the heavy metal community hard and gave plenty of ammunition to the anti-metal establishment. In case anyone has been living on Jupiter, Vince was more than twice over the drink-drive limit and crashed his car, injuring two people and killing Hanoi Rocks drummer, Razzle. It had an effect on the major characters in the story as after that, they made sure that they didn’t overdo it if they had to drive.

Rick Allen’s Accident- Rick’s accident happened about three weeks after Vince’s. While Rick and his girlfriend survived, Rick lost his arm as a result of the accident and the entire heavy metal world held their breath as to whether he would play the drums ever again.

Aerosmith’s Bottle Incident- The actual event happened seven years before it gets mentioned in the book, therefore, it’s told retrospectively. The character Tammy was at the concert in Philadelphia in 1979 when some moron threw a bottle on stage hitting Steve Tyler. She gives her full account of the incident and alludes to why Aerosmith seemed to holding back their best efforts when they played Philadelphia in 1986.

Live Aid- This was the musical event of the 80s I mentioned earlier. The concert was put on to raise money to help those in famine stricken Africa. Two concerts took place simultaneously, one in London, the other in Philadelphia. In “Rock and Roll Children,” I focused more on the two metal acts which performed that day, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest.

Farm Aid- This was a concert to raise money to help American farmers who were losing their farms. The main takeaway from that concert was Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar playing together for the first time. The rest of the story is history.

Jesus Freaks at Concerts- I wrote a post about this. Starting in 1986, whenever people went to a metal concert in America, there were the Jesus freaks all there telling people they were going to hell for seeing that band. It was a great source of entertainment.

Religions War on Rock Music in 1986

Bon Jovi and Europe Being in the top 10 in the UK Charts- In November, 1986, Bon Jovi was at number nine in the UK charts with “Living on a Prayer” and Europe at number two with “The Final Countdown.” For many of us metalheads, it was a slap in the face to the mainstream music industry.

Prosecution of Jello Biafra- This made the news in England. Former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, was prosecuted and fortunately acquitted on the charge of distributing pornographic material to minors on the DK album, “Frankenchrist.” While Jeff was reading about it on the train to the airport to return home, it gave him a wake up call about the society he was heading back to.

See, you do learn about history if you read “Rock and Roll Children.” One thing I was criticized for but make no apologies was how metalheads were discriminated against in the 1980s. Not that we let that stop us. Maybe I did over-pound the point but it was real. There were a lot of great and tragic events both musically and not throughout the 80s. I tried to bring history to life and maybe that was the problem, I wrote it too much like a history book.

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

Next post: Mammoth

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80sMetalman’s Top 30 Power Ballads: 21-30

I’ve said on many a post that I’m a sucker for a good power ballad and there have been many on the hundreds of albums I have posted about so far. Therefore, I thought it would be nice, before I take the tour into 1985, that I share my top 30 power ballads, ten at a time. Originally, there was only going to be 20 but there are so many good ones out there that I had to extend it by another ten.

Google defines a power ballad by being an emotional rock song, generally focused on love with strong vocals. That is only half of my definition of the term. For me, a power ballad consists of either good power chords on the electric guitar or a blistering guitar solo, preferably both. That is why I get annoyed at supposed power ballad compilation albums. Sorry, as much as I love, “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner, it doesn’t match my definition.

The problem many people have with them is the fact that they cross over into forbidden territories. Many metalheads consider them too soft for metal, while more trendy music listeners are put off by the power chords. I can’t see why we can’t have both, especially when they’re done well. Besides, while they won’t admit, many male metalheads keep power ballads on hand when they want to show their ladies their more ‘intimate’ side.

Okay, I’ll stop rambling now and give you 80smetalman’s top power ballads, 21-30.

30. Hanoi Rocks- Million Miles Away

29. Gotthard- Still I Belong to You

28. Jefferson Starship- Fading Lady Light

Note: This was the first power ballad fitting my definition that I ever heard

27. LA Guns- Ballad of Jane

26. Motley Crue- Home Sweet Home

25. Nazereth- Love Hurts

This was the second power ballad I heard. I didn’t hear it until 1981, otherwise it would have been the first.

24. The Scorpions- Winds of Change

23. Anthrax- Nice F*ckin’ Ballad

I know Anthrax were taking to piss here but it still a cool power ballad.

22. Crystal Ball- Silence of the Night

21. Guns N Roses- November Rain

There you have it! The first ten power ballads on the list. Have a listen, sit back, mellow out and enjoy the guitar solos.

Next post: 11-20

To get Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: https://crreadac.cf/current/ebooks-free-download-rock-and-roll-children-fb2-by-michael-d-lefevre.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1984 Ends in Metal Tragedy

Hanoi Rocks

Motley Crue

History can never debate that 1984 was the golden year of heavy metal. So many great albums from so many great bands and they even played metal on the radio and MTV. Never again would the genre get so much commercial exposure. However, even with all the great metal, the year would end in a very tragic anti- climax and mean the death of a drummer and his band and another similar tragedy would nearly claim the life of another drummer.

On December 8, members of the bands Hanoi Rocks and Motley Crue had been engaged in a massive drinking binge that had been going on, according to reports, for four days. More booze was being called for so Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, eager to show off his new 1972 Ford Pantera, volunteered to make the run even though he was well over the legal drink drive limit and took Hanoi Rocks drummer, Razzle, with him. At 6:38, Neil lost control of his car, (driving 65 in a 25mph zone might have had something to do with it) while swerving around a stationary fire truck and careered into oncoming traffic hitting two other cars. The driver and a passenger in one of the cars was seriously injured and taken to hospital while the driver of the second was miraculously uninjured. Vince himself only suffered cracked ribs and cuts to his face. Things weren’t so fortunate for Razzle, he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The loss of Razzle would spell the end for Hanoi Rocks, the band would break up shortly after. Vince Neil’s troubles were only beginning as he would have to pay $2.6 million in compensation to the victims, do 200 hours of community service and serve time in prison, albeit a mere 30 days! People are still talking about the leniency of that sentence still. Like I said when I posted about Hanoi Rock’s last studio album, I got the chance to see this band about three weeks before the tragedy happened at a small New Jersey night club. That’s why this tragedy continues to weigh heavy on me.

If the loss of Razzle compliments of Vince Neil wasn’t bad enough, further tragedy would happen on the final day of the year. Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen would lose his arm in car accident. While trying to overtake another car at high speed, Rick lost control of his car, hit a dry stone wall and entered a field where he was thrown from his car because he didn’t have his seat belt properly fastened. His left arm was severed and though doctors reattached it, had to re-amputate it on account of infection. Rick’s girlfriend also suffered head and neck injuries as well as a concussion. Although this was a tragedy at the time, Rick would be one of the greatest ‘overcoming of adversity’ stories in all of music.

When 1984 proceeded to 85, a few misguided individuals used these tragedies as some sort of symbol that heavy metal was on its way out. Fools! Yes, heavy metal would never again enjoy the commercial airplay it had in that year, but it would never go away. The lack of radio and MTV play would do nothing to halt record sales and sold out concert attendances.

Next post: My 20 Favourite Power Ballads- 11-20

To get Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: https://crreadac.cf/current/ebooks-free-download-rock-and-roll-children-fb2-by-michael-d-lefevre.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Metal Albums of 1984: Hanoi Rocks- Two Steps From the Move

Coming to the final month in 1984, just when I thought that the year of metal might be coming to end, I get news of a band shown on MTV coming to a local club. That band just happend to be, yes you guessed it, Hanoi Rocks. Previous to their appearance, I did happen to catch the video to their single, a cover of the CCR classic, “Up Around the Bend.” The video impressed me enough to go to the club and to make a long story short, I was rather impressed. In fact, I sometimes wonder if I should have included that gig in “Rock and Roll Children.” My reason for not doing so was because KISS came to Philadelphia that evening and I concluded that the main characters would have gone to see KISS instead. However, I do mention in the story that Bob’s older brother Mitch goes to see Hanoi Rocks.

Hanoi Rocks’s performance on that memorable evening further motivated me to get their then latest release, “Two Steps From the Move.” Another decision I have never regretted because this album is very good. I would be lying if I didn’t say that “Up Around the Bend” is my favourite track on it. I had always liked the original version and what Hanoi Rocks did was take a great classic and totally metalize it. However, the album is full of great metal jams. The ones which stick out especially are: “I Can’t Get It,” “Underwater World, which has a good guitar solo and “Million Miles Away” is as good a power ballad as any. The hidden gem on the album has to be “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” The energy on that song is simply phenomenal! Definitely one to blast driving with the window down and “Boiler” is quite amusing. On the other hand and as cliche as this sounds, all the songs really kick ass. If I were to nit pick, it would be that “Don’t You Ever Leave Me” should have been the closer of the album but that’s a tiny technicality.

Track Listing:

1. Up Around the Bend
2. High School
3. I Can’t Get It
4. Underwater World
5. Don’t You Ever Leave Me
6. Million Miles Away
7. Boulevard of Broken Dreams
8. Boiler (Me Boiler ‘n’ Me)
9. Futurama
10. Cutting Corners

Hanoi Rocks

Michael Monroe- lead vocals and saxophone

Andy McCoy- lead guitar, vocals

Nasty Suicide- guitar, vocals

Sam Yaffa- bass, vocals

Razzle- drums, vocals

In 1984, Hanoi Rocks were on the threshold of international stardom. Unfortunately, just a few short weeks after I saw them obliterate a small club in New Jersey, tragedy would strike the band which would lead to their eventual break up. While it’s no secret what that tragedy was, I thought it would be better to go into more detail next post. Right now, focus on the band’s happier times with this great album.

Next post: 1984 Ends in Metal Tragedy

To get Rock and Roll Children for free, go to: https://crreadac.cf/current/ebooks-free-download-rock-and-roll-children-fb2-by-michael-d-lefevre.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Metal Albums of 1983: Hanoi Rocks- Back to Mystery City

It took me a couple of listens before I finally was able to get into Hanoi Rocks’ 1983 release, “Back to Mystery City.” At the time, I hadn’t heard of them and it would be another year before I actually did when they played a small club in New Jersey. On the other hand, it’s been fun delving into their backlog of albums, even this one. It might have taken a couple of listens but I can say now, “I like it.”

The weird thing was that Youtube has this album backwards. The actual first track on the album is the last one on Youtube and vice versa. So, I ask myself, would my listening experience have been different if I had listened to the album in the correct order? My answer: I don’t think so. The order doesn’t matter here. The short instrumental opening, “Strange Boys Play Weird Openings” could have been called “Strange Boys Play Weird Closings.” it’s inter-changeable.

Before I get further obsessed with the order of the songs, let’s look at the songs themselves. There are a number of good ones so I’ll start with the one I’m least impressed with, “Lick Summer Love.” It’s not a terrible song, nor even a bad one but it doesn’t move me either. Hanoi Rocks tries to introduce a calypso feel to the song but it doesn’t quite work. Again, I don’t hate the song but it is at a level below the others on “Back to Mystery City.” Then again, Michael Monroe wrote the song when he was seventeen and has since said that he hated the lyrics.

Now let’s go to the positives and there are many. I can’t say a bad thing about the rest of the album and it has been difficult for me to pick a favourite track. Each one seems as good as the last one. For example, after riding the mid tempo “Until I Get You” which has been said to typify the band’s seventies glam rock style, I get pounded with “Sailing Down the Tears.” Now that I have had a moment to think, if I have to pick a favourite, it’s going to be “Tooting Bec Wreck.” This is more up tempo for me and works on so many levels. Maybe it’s me but I do hear a slight influence of the famous Sweet song, “Ballroom Blitz” on it. Plus it’s the best song for appreciating Sam Yaffa’s bass skills. Then there’s the one single from the album, “Malibu Beach Nightmare,” which Andy McCoy wrote while smoking hashish. Maybe certain drugs can influence creativity, lol. It was originally recorded in calypso fashion as a joke but the band decided to record it as a rock song, good decision in retrospect. “Mental Beat” is quite a cool song too.

Track Listing:

1. Strange Boys Play Weird Openings
2. Malibu Beach Nightmare
3. Mental Beat
4. Tooting Bec Wreck
5. Until I Get You
6. Sailing Down the Tears
7. Lick Summer Love
8. Beating Gets Faster
9. Ice Cream Summer
10. Back to Mystery City

Hanoi Rocks

Michael Monroe- lead vocals, saxophone, harmonica

Andy McCoy- lead guitar

Nasty Suicide- rhythm guitar

Sam Yaffa- bass

Razzle- drums

Hanoi Rocks were putting out solid albums in rapid succession and beginning to find more commercial success in 1983. “Back to Mystery City” was a good stepping stone in that direction.

Next post: Riot- Born in America

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80smetalman’s Choices for National Anthems

National Anthems inspire love for one’s country. Every one I’ve heard definitely does that. Some are hard driving like the US, UK or Canada while others are more somber like Japan or Wales. Even Italy’s which reminded me of a parade or Spain’s which sounds like a sixteenth century dance still can inspire love for the country. However, most national anthems are over a century old and while there’s nothing wrong with that, since they still inspire nationalistic feelings, I wonder if more modern ones could be used. See, I have come to associate certain songs by certain bands with the country they come from and that has me thinking. Maybe these songs should be national anthems for their country.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

USA: Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd (I’m talking the full fifteen minute live version)

Led Zeppelin

UK: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

Rush

Canada: Tom Sawyer by Rush

Bonfire

Germany: Proud of My Country by Bonfire

TNT

Norway- Seven Seas by TNT

Yngwie Malmsteen

Sweden- As Above, So Below by Yngwie Malmsteen

Hanoi Rocks

Finland- Tragedy by Hanoi Rocks

Golden Earring

The Netherlands: Radar Love by Golden Earring

U2

Ireland- Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2

Loudness

Japan- Crazy Nights by Loudness

AC/DC

Australia- Highway to Hell by AC/DC

Note: For Brazil, it would definitely be something by Seputura and France would be a suitable song by Gojira.

While this is meant to be a little bit of fun, I’m sure some of you are cracking your knuckles and limbering your typing fingers to contribute some of your own suggestions. Well, I’m waiting.

Next post: The Scorpions- Blackout

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

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

Great Metal Albums of 1982: Hanoi Rocks- Self Destruction Blues

First of all, no one spotted the mistake in my last post. Boppinsblog came close as he pointed out that “Live At Budokan” was a Cheap Trick album, so one 80smetalman gold star awarded there. But that wasn’t the mistake I was referring to. Boppinsblog was close though because the mistake had to do with the quote from Wayne’s World. See, the quote I used on the last post was from Wayne’s World 1 while the photo below it was from Wayne’s World 2. I’m afraid that no one gets the grand prize this time.

Now onto the second album in 1982 from Finnish glam metallers, Hanoi Rocks. When I visited the predecessor, “Oriental Beat,” I commented on what a great feel good, party album it was and I stick by that. I won’t be so flowery about the second album, “Self Destruction Blues.” The album just simply bloody rocks!

Just about every track on this album is an absolute corker and one thing that it has in common with its predecessor is that each songs seems to improve as the album progresses. Except for maybe “Whispers in the Dark,” that’s not quite as good as the others. However, putting it first wouldn’t be a good idea because “Love’s an Injection” is such a great opener. If you think that “Problem Child” was a cover of the AC/DC classic, it is nothing of the sort. It’s still a cool song.

What I find about most of the songs on this album is that the titles of the songs hardly appear in their song. “Desperado,” my favourite track, is only sung once. If I didn’t have the title in front of me, I would have thought it was called “Ten Thousand Heartaches.” Nevertheless, the song is just brilliant so full marks to the band for that little twist. The same can be said for such other cool tracks like “Beer and a Cigarette” and “Kill City Kills.” Again both are great tracks. The title track is actually done in a blues fashion and it’s good to hear Michael Monroe’s voice stretching out a bit. Full marks to the band again. The closer, “Dead by Xmas,” in my mind is a case of Bon Jovi meets The Clash. I mean the piano sounds very similar to that on the first Bon Jovi single “Runaway.” Then when the song kicks in, it sounds very much like The Clash but it’s well done. In fact, I think the humour that went into the album, along with some fine songs, make “Self Destruction Blues” a fantastic album.

Track Listing:

1. Love’s an Injection
2. I Want You
3. Cafe Avenue
4. Nothing New
5. Kill City Kills
6. Self Destruction Blues
7. Beer and a Cigarette
8. Whispers in the Dark
9. Taxi Driver
10. Desperado
11. Problem Child
12. Dead by Xmas

Hanoi Rocks

Michael Monroe- lead vocals

Andy McCoy- guitar

Nasty Suicide- guitar

Sam Yaffa- bass

Gyp Casino- drums

After the recording of the album, Gyp Casino would leave the band and be replaced by Razzle

Another fun hard rocking album from Hanoi Rocks in 1982. Had I been more aware of this band in the year, I would have concluded that Finland must be a place to rock because albums like this one certainly give that impression.

Next Post: Saxon- The Eagle Has Landed

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

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

 

 

Great Metal Albums of 1982: Motorhead- Iron Fist

While Hanoi Rocks may be great to play at a party to kick it up a gear, Motorhead has always gone the more direct attack your eardrums approach. Their 1982 album “Iron Fist” is no different. From the very first song, it is determined to assault your ears and leave you shaking so much that some may think your are having some sort of episode. At least it does that for me. Each time I listened to it over the past few days, I strangely found myself headbanging frantically and looking for a mosh pit.

Unlike “Ace of Spades,” there is no signature track on the album. Each time I thought I found one, the next tracks sounds just as good if not better. Every song is determined to pound you into submission with that typical Motorhead sound. I even tried to put forward the view in my own head that possibly the songs are all too similar. No, there are differences in them, it’s just that fearsome musicianship of Clarke, Lemmy and Taylor that make the songs what they are. If I had to pick the best tracks on “Iron Fist,” I would have to go with “America,” “Shut It Down” and “(Don’t Need) Religion.” The middle of these contains Fast Eddie’s best guitar solo. However, pick any track off this album and I wouldn’t disagree with you that it’s a good one.

Track Listing:

1. Iron Fist
2. Heart of Stone
3. I’m the Doctor
4. Go to Hell
5. Loser
6. Sex Change
7. America
8. Shut It Down
9. Speedfreak
10. (Don’t Let’em) Grind Ya Down
11. (Don’t Need) Religion
12. Bang to Rights

Motorhead

Lemmy Kilmister- bass, lead vocals

Fast Eddie Clarke- guitars

Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor- drums

Lemmy has stated in interviews that “Iron Fist” was bad and inferior to other Motorhead material. Frankly, I don’t see it. To me this just another fine Motorhead album that makes me want to get up and smash a large object through a wall.

Next post: Ted Nugent- Intensity in 10 Cities

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

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

Great Metal Albums of 1982: Hanoi Rocks- Oriental Beat

Hanoi Rocks didn’t come to my knowledge until 1984 and there is a story behind that which I will tell when I get to the year, but as far as 1982, they were a complete non entity. Even though I was travelling around Southern Europe at the time the album, “Oriental Beat” was released, it still escaped my attention. I don’t ever recall seeing it in that record store in Toulon, France. It became another album I had to trawl back through Hanoi Rocks’s backlog for. Upon hearing it, I definitely don’t regret it.

Now I don’t want to brandish the term “party album” around too liberally, since I have used the term to talk about other albums but I have to say that it definitely applies to “Oriental Beat.” This an album that would get everyone at a party just pumping their fists high in the air and singing along to all of the catchy choruses. It’s easy to say that the band doesn’t take itself too seriously, especially when I hear the lyrics of “Lightning Bar Blues” but there seems to be a vibe in the music that says that they do want to be taken seriously, at least a little bit. I get it most when I hear the closer, the ballad “Fallen Star.” Plus, there are some good intros, like the opener, “No Law, No Order” and “MC Baby.” Maybe that’s what is so good about “Oriental Beat.”

I have only met two people from Hanoi Rocks’s native Finland and they were both ladies. I did think that with one, our meeting might lead to better things but, sadly, it wasn’t to be. They both told me that all types of music are popular there and they both heard of the band. Though they didn’t venture forth an opinion on them. As I listen again to the albums of Hanoi Rocks, I’m getting the impression that maybe Finnish people do like to have fun and maybe music like this helps them to do that. BTW, I do remember meeting another Finn but he was only eleven. Still, he was one hell of an ice hockey player.

1. Motorvatin’
2. Don’t Follow Me
3. Visitor
4. Teenage Outsiders
5. Sweet Home Suburbia
6. MC Baby
7. No Law No Order
8. Oriental Beat
9. Devil Woman
10. Lightning Bar Blues
11. Fallen Star

Hanoi Rocks

Michael Monroe- vocals

Andy McCoy- lead guitar

Nasty Suicide- rhythm guitar

Sam Yaffa- bass

Gyp Casino- drums

Next time you host a party, put this album on. I’m sure that if your guests are like minded about their music as you are, the party mood will be greatly enhanced. While, this might have been a retro album for me, I still enjoyed it quite a lot.

Next post: Motorhead- Iron Fist

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

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