Anthrax Discussion part 1 - Ep143

Chris and Aaron tend to differ on many of the bands that they like. The dichotomy of those tastes have helped broaden their own musical palette over the course of doing this show. But one band that they both agree on is Anthrax.

This week Chris and Aaron are joined by Mars Attacks and Talking Metal host Victor M. Ruiz for a discussion of the first decade of Anthrax (1981-1992). In this discussion Chris, Aaron, and Victor go through the anthrax discography from their Neil Turbin-fronted debut, Fistful of Metal, through the final release of the Joey Belladonna era; Attack of the Killer B's.

Also included in this in-depth discussion are clips from the hosts favorite songs from albums of this era including Spreading the Disease, Persistence of Time, and the genre-bending I'm the Man EP among others.

Other topics covered in part 1 of this Anthrax discussion include rumors that Eddie Trunk was a key player in the removal of Neil Turbin as lead vocalist, touring troubles brought on by numerous problems including the death of Metallica's Cliff Burton, and the strange shared touring bill that had Anthrax opening up arena shows for KISS at their poppiest.

From the straight-ahead sound of Metal Thrashing Mad to their adventures into rap and hip hop with their cover of 'Bring the Noise,' Anthrax made a lot of movement during this first decade and we do our best to cover it all.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, we know that KISSMAS in July is starting next week. Never fear, part 2 of this discussion will be released during the first week of August.

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Anthrax

More Victor!

Mars Attacks
Talking Metal

Geeks of the Week:

Wayne Newburn, Robert Foster, Jason Thomas Broadrick, Joe Lascon, Wally Norton, Ben Mitchell, Andrew Jacobs, Scott Yeager, Heavy Rock, Jimmy Mercer, Kal Hinz, Paul Korn, Robert De Pasqua, Billy Hardaway, Brad Kalmanson, I am Hoops, PJ Brown, Chuck Speer, Lee Maslin (Audio Junkies Podcast), Justin Hayes, Brent Walter, Matt Syverson (Paperback Rocker Podcast), Mike Stewart, Joe Royland (Sit and Spin with Joe), George Savastano, PodofThunder, Darryl Alber, Derik Novak, Helix the Band, Hard Rock Dad, MusicMagsAndWax,

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The Meister in Sweden 2014: The Meister Parties With New Friends!

This is it!  This is the end!  So sad isn't it?  I wish I was still there and I can't wait for next year's pilgrimage to Sweden Rock Festival but until then here's my final day of the 2014 excursion.

Saturday's band schedule-another full day!

Roxy Petrucci-by Meister

As I walked by the stage prior to the show I was able to grab a little of the soundcheck, eluding me to what was in store.  Madam X began the day perfectly with one of the best shows that I saw in Sweden.  Drummer, Roxy Petrucci (Vixen) tossed a couple of drumsticks into the crowd before the rest of the band had even made it on stage.  Roxy and Maxine Petrucci make up half of the all original band membership, the stunning sisters being joined by vocalist Bret Kaiser and Chris "Godzilla" Doliber with his bass guitar.  By the end of the third song selection there were pin on buttons and guitar pics heading into the audience, around song number six it was one of "Godzilla's" broken bass guitars making its way into the crowd (passed down into the front row, not

Maxine Petrucci-by Meister

thrown out).  Wow, the budget for Madam X must be quite high I thought as shortly afterwards "Godzilla" began smashing his bass guitar off his head, drawing blood.  One can only presume his anger towards the bass for drawing blood was the cause of bits and pieces of guitar flying all over the stage as he destroyed it with great overhead swings, smashing it against the stage!  More buttons, pics and stick souvenirs were tossed out throughout the remainder of an awesome and exciting performance, sporting the best guitar sound I've heard yet on The Sweden Stage.  Songs included: "Dirty Girls", "She's Hot Tonight", "Come One, Come All", "Cat's Got Your Tongue", "Reserve the Right to Rock", "Stand Up and Fight", "Good With Figures", "Metal in My Veins", "Another 80's Rock Song" and "High in High School".  Madam X does "deserve" the right!

Chris "Godzilla" Doliber & Maxine Petrucci of Madam X-photo by The Meister

Ted Poley-photo by Meister

Danger Danger was the next of my targets due to take stage fifteen minutes after Madam X was over and I hustled to Festival Stage.  I've seen Ted Poley many times, but this would be the first seeing the full Danger Danger band.  It was a little odd seeing Ted without his awesome guitarist Maz Mazza, but the Danger Danger show was another great performance by the whole band including Swedish guitarist Rob Marcello.  Ted displayed all the charisma that I'd come to know him for including dropping to his knees quite a bit, his crowd interaction and also leaving the stage to sing in the crowd once on each side of the stage.  Their set included: "Rock America", "Boys Will Be Boys", "Under the Gun", "Hearts on the Highway", "Don't Walk Away", "Don't Blame It on Love", "Bang Bang", "I Still Think About You", "Crazy Nites", "Monkey Business" and "Naughty Naughty".

Ted Poley on his knees for Sweden Rock crowd-photo by The Meister

The Rods-photo by Meister

Somewhere during Danger Danger I slipped away for a few minutes to check out The Rods over on 4 Sound Stage as they were recommended by a friend back home.  They had a great energy and quite a sizable audience as well.  I lingered for two songs, "I Just Wanna Rock" and "Burned by Love" before being driven back to Danger Danger by the drum solo.  I wish I'd been able to catch the whole thing, but I'm not a fan of instrument solos, especially in shortened sets.  I'd never heard of The Rods previously and if it wasn't for my friend I never would have!  They sounded great and I'll definitely be looking into their catalog.

....and now is just about when the day started to get away from me.  The harsh Swedish sun had now been beating down on me, essentially cooking the ole Meiste
for about five hours now and mixed with a few Sofiero's (beers) it was time to take shelter in the VIP/Press area and charge my equipment at the same time, skipping Foghat.  The thought process in my mind was to head back out in about an hour or so to catch one of my all time favorite bands, Y&T, who I'd had the true pleasure of seeing several times.  I ran into one of my "new Swedish friends" that I'd met on Wednesday and had been seeing several times throughout the past few days.  As we got into a great conversation, the music crossing the bridges between our different countries, several more beverages were consumed.  I opted to stay longer chatting with my new friend as I'd seen Y&T many times in recent years, but I was able to hear "Mean Streak", "Don't Stop Runnin'", "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", "Hang 'Em High", "Dirty Girl" and "Midnight in Tokyo" before I lost track of the setlist.

Within Temptation-photo by Meister

My friend really wanted to see Within Temptation, who I was basically unfamiliar with, but I decided it was time to get out of the VIP and get back to the live music, so I tagged along.  They sounded great and the singer possessed an awesome vocal capacity.  Billy Idol was due up next on the Festival Stage and we made our way over there for a few songs like "Cradle of Love", "Dancing With Myself" and "Flesh For Fantasy".  From here things get even more fuzzy as I was having a great time with my new friends, but I moved from Billy Idol to 4 Sound Stage to catch a little of Avatarium.  They

Ted Nugent-photo by Meister

sounded good, but were not particularly my cup of tea musically, Ted Nugent however was "Just What the Doctor Ordered" and I caught a good portion of his set on the Rock Stage.  All the Ted classics sounded great to me and I loved hearing cuts like "Wango Tango", "Stormtroopin'", "Free-For-All", "Stranglehold" and "Cat Scratch Fever".  I had become separated from my new friends before Ted Nugent and I tried to hang on for Volbeat, who I had been told "not to miss", but I just couldn't do it and I decided it was time to retreat to DBHQ.

Even though the notes and memory is a bit sketchy during the latter parts of this day the whole Sweden Rock experience was once again indescribably incredible and I'm soooo looking forward to 2015's event!  I finished the last two days of my vacation in Copenhagen, a wonderful city, meeting many more new friends.

Cheers from Sweden,
The Meister

(Sweden Rock Website) (Sweden Rock Facebook) (Sweden Rock Twitter)

(The Meister on Facebook) (Meister on Twitter)

Links to 2013's "A Canadian Decibel Geek in Sweden" series.

(Prelude to Departure) (Days #1 & 2) (Day #3) (Day #4) (The Final Day)

1984 Year in Review Part 2 - Ep142

We're back this week to tackle the second half of a great year of pop culture and rock and roll. Tons of news stories including Madonna's controversial MTV awards appearance, Ted Turner's ill-fated Cable Music Channel and the horrible death of Hanoi Rocks member Razzle. All that, and more, underscored with music from Icon, Dio, Grim Reaper, Y&T, Helix, WASP, Metallica and many, many more!

July:

July 1 - The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA

A: DIO - Mystery - The Last in Line (7/2)

C: Icon - On Your Feet - Icon (7/7)

A: Grim Reaper - See You in Hell - See You in Hell (7/13)

July 14 - Eddie Van Halen makes a special guest appearance at a concert by The Jacksons in Dallas, Texas, playing the guitar solo for "Beat It" live.

July 20 - Vanessa Williams is asked to resign as Miss America

C: Quiet Riot - Condition Critical - Condition Critical  (7/27)

A: Metallica - Creeping Death - Ride the Lightning (7/27)

BREAK 1

Break Return Song:

Queensryche - Warning - The Warning

Groups Formed:

Dinosaur Jr., Frehley’s Comet, GWAR, Half Man Half Biscuit, Helloween, Living Colour, Nuclear Assault, The Offspring, Primus, Sepultura, Soundgarden, Warrant

Bands Disbanded:

Hagar, Schon, Aaronson, Shrieve (HSAS), Hollywood Rose, Kansas, Missouri, Vanilla Fudge

C: Y&T - Rock & Roll’s Gonna Save the World - In Rock We Trust(7/84)

C: Helix - When the Hammer Falls - Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge (7/7)

August:

A: Fastway - Station - All Fired Up (8/1)

August 9 – Iron Maiden kicks off the World Slavery Tour in Warsaw, Poland, with shows in Hungary and Yugoslavia soon to follow. This marks the first time a Western band has ever brought a full concert production behind the Iron Curtain.

August 10 - Red Hot Chili Peppers release their debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

August 11 - During a radio voice test Pres Reagan joked he "signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes"

C: Krokus - Midnight Maniac - The Blitz (8/22)

A: W.A.S.P. - Animal (Fuck Like a Best) - W.A.S.P. (8/17)

August 31 – Canadian music video channel MuchMusic begins broadcasting. The first video played is Rush's "The Enemy Within".

Break 2

Break Return Song:

Stryper - From Wrong to Right - The Yellow & Black Attack

Movies Released:

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Gremlins
• Karate Kid
• Footloose
• Ghostbusters
• Red Dawn
• Terminator (“I’ll be back.”)
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Police Academy
• The NeverEnding Story
• Sixteen Candles
• Romancing the Stone

September:

September 2 – Van Halen concludes its 1984 world tour with a show in Nuremberg, Germany as part of the Monsters of Rock festival tour. This would be the band's last concert with David Lee Roth as lead singer until 2007.

A: Iron Maiden - Back in the Village - Powerslave (9/3)

A: The Cult - Spiritwalker - Dreamtime (9/10)

September 12 - Cyndi Lauper sings "She-Bop" on Tonight Show

C: KISS - I’ve Had Enough (Into the Fire) - Animalize (9/13)

C: Dokken - Just Got Lucky - Tooth & Nail (9/13)

BREAK 3

Break Return Song:

Armored Saint - Can U Deliver - March of the Saint

Born:

Mark Zuckerberg, Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Kelly Osbourne, Ashlee Simpson

Died:

Andy Kaufman, Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Count Basie, Ernest Tubb, Razzle

September 14 – The first annual MTV Video Music Awards are held in New York City. Herbie Hancock wins the most awards with five, andThe Cars take the highest prize of Video Of The Year for "You Might Think". Much attention is garnered by Madonna's controversial performance of her hit single "Like a Virgin" in which she rolls around on the stage, revealing lacy stockings and garters, and grinds her crotch against her veil.

A:  Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers - Perfect Strangers (9/16)

September 21 – The first compact disc manufacturing plant in North America opens in Terre Haute, Indiana. CDs have previously had to be expensively imported from Japan or West Germany. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. is designated as the first CD ever made in the United States.

October:

C: Ramones - I’m Not Afraid of Life - Too Tough to Die (10/1)

October 26 – Turner Broadcasting System launches Cable Music Channel, a music video channel intended to compete directly with MTV. The first video played is "I Love L.A." by Randy Newman. The channel would only last 34 days.

November 6 - Reagan beats Mondale; winning 49 states.

November 20 – Michael Jackson receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame directly in front of Mann's Chinese Theater. Jackson leaves after only three minutes at the request of security, as the crush of 5,000 onlookers becomes a safety concern.

December

December – Tipper Gore forms the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) in response to the "filth" she hears on her daughter's Prince album Purple Rain.

December 8 – Mötley Crüe member Vince Neil is involved in a serious car accident. He is drunk at the time, and Razzle (Nicholas Dingley) of Hanoi Rocks is killed in the accident.

December 31 - Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen loses his left arm in a car wreck.

Playout:

C: Hanoi Rocks - Underwater World - Two Steps from the Move (8/84)

Geeks of the Week:

Facebook:

Joseph Ciambelli, Todd Cunningham, Shane Hebert, Chris Karam, Joel Hebensperger, Devin Fox, Joe Lascon, Wayne Cross, Wally Norton, Derik Novak, I-am Hoops, Holland Exciter, Lee Maslin (Audio Junkies Podcast), Matt Syverson (Paperback Rocker Podcast), Jason Thomas Broadrick, JTB’s Groovy Record Room, James Brendon Dunn, Brent Walter, Billy Hardaway, Mike Stewart, Darren Parkin, Scot Yeager, Sit and Spin with Joe, Rodney Dickson, Andrew Jacobs

Twitter:

Van Halen Rising, Derik Novak, Hard Rock Dad, Alisa W, Darryl Alber, Jack Russell, Nonsensicast Radio, MusicMagsAndWax, Don Nitschke, BillyHaleHardaway, Matt Syverson

***ITUNES REVIEW****

Super Show! *****

By Joel Hebensperger

These guys rock! If you love hard rock and/or heavy metal these are the guys to listen to. They have a heavy KISS slant but it’s not all about KISS. They cover rock and metal from all kinds of angles and it’s really interesting. Both have all kinds of odd knowledge about the music and artists they love. I especially love the KISSMAS in July episodes and can’t wait for the 2014 version. You like Vinnie Vincent? They’ve done FIVE episodes dedicated to the man. Subscribe and ENJOY!!!

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A DOZEN ALBUMS FROM 1984 THAT YOU SHOULD HEAR

My purpose with this list is to potentially turn the average hard rockin' decibel geek on to some quality albums from 1984 that perhaps they may have not considered investigating previously, so this is not a list of my favorite albums from 1984 but rather a list of some albums from that year that I like quite a bit and feel perhaps you might like as well if (in some instances) you give them a chance. Enjoy.

12. Zebra - No Tellin' Lies

Hard rockers from New Orleans Zebra would really hit their stride on their third album 3V in 1986 but the band's second album No Tellin' Lies, produced by Jack Douglas, is quite good, definitely maintaining the quality of the band's debut.

11. Minor Threat - Minor Threat

Minor Threat were an early Washington D.C. hardcore band and the precursor to one of the coolest bands of the nineties, Fugazi. Led by the inimitable Ian MacKaye they were an aggressively independent band with their own record label and a clear agenda.

10. Trouble - Psalm 9

Trouble were a very cool heavy metal band out of Chicago. They would reinvent themselves later in their career making some very cool "doom metal" albums for Def American but on this, their first release, they were playing a more traditional brand of heavy metal, and doing it quite well.

9. Savatage - The Dungeons Are Calling

Savatage were an innovative metal band out of Florida. Their first two albums Sirens and The Dungeons Are Calling feature a highly original take on heavy metal. They streamlined the sound when they signed with a major label but their Atlantic debut Power of the Night is still a killer album. After that they made a couple of weak attempts at finding mainstream acceptance before wisely reverting back to their classic sound on Hall of the Mountain King.

8. Husker Du - Zen Arcade

Husker Du were a Minneapolis hardcore band that morphed into a pop punk band. I've always had mixed feelings about the guitar tone and overall production on the records, not to mention Bob Mould's voice, but the quality of the songwriting is undeniable. Their best albums were yet to come but Zen Arcade set the table for their personal renaissance.

7. R.E.M. - Reckoning

R.E.M.'s debut album Murmur is very highly regarded and rightfully so but I would argue that their sophomore release Reckoning is just as good, probably better, and the album's opening track "Harborcoat" is probably my favorite R.E.M. song. I know a lot of metal and hard rock fans regard R.E.M. as lightweight but they were a different band on these first two albums, cutting edge and very cool with a strong post-punk ethos.

6. The Alarm - Declaration

The Alarm were a killer new wave band from North Wales with hair as high as their aspirations. Declaration is their debut full length record and it features a highly energetic and original take on rootsy rock and roll for the eighties. Great stuff.

5. Big Country - Steeltown

Previous band The Alarm were doing something very similar to Big Country whose second album Steeltown, while not nearly as good as their brilliant debut The Crossing from the previous year, is still very, very good.

4. Queen - The Works

While it may be hard to top the Queen of the seventies Queen wrote some great songs in the eighties as well. They might have taken some misguided detours along the way but all of their albums (except maybe Hot Space) are worth checking out, and 1984's The Works might be one of the most overlooked. The singles "Radio Ga Ga" "I Want to Break Free" are great and "Hammer To Fall" is an absolutely fantastic hard rocker.

3. The Go-Go's - Talk Show

I love the Go-Go's and you should too. They started out as a punk band you know. They were very talented songwriters and musicians. Not a gimmick, they were great. Talk Show is their third and last album (of the eighties at least) and it's a good record but the real gem here is the opening track and first single, an amazing driving rock song called "Head Over Heels." I freakin' love that song, it's probably their best.

2. Slade - Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply

This was the American version of Slade's 1983 UK release called The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome and this album included Slade's biggest hit in America (not counting those Quiet Riot covers), a bouncy new wave song called "Run Runaway." I love that song but it's important to note that a lot of this record is hooky hard rock, not to be missed. It's a great album by a GREAT band.

1. The Replacements - Let It Be

I am not sure how many Decibel Geek listeners are Replacements fans but I am guessing not enough. The Replacements were a quintessential rock and roll band. This is my favorite album by the band, it's a classic album deserving of a spot in the rock and roll pantheon. And they cover "Black Diamond."