October 31st Comes Early This Year

In a much anticipated event for The Meister, October 31st comes early this year.  Sorry kids, I'm not talking about Halloween, but rather German power metal pioneers, Helloween with their performance at The Opera House in Toronto on September 28th, 2013.  I've long been a fan of the German metal veterans and I was ready for my first foray into their live performance, thanks to Inertia Entertainment for bringing them to Toronto.

Helloween began life in 1984 in Hamburg, Germany when I was a mere ten years old with guitarist Michael Weikath, bassist Markus Grosskopf, drummer Ingo Schwichtenberg and Kai Hansen handling vocals as well as guitar.  Soon after the release of an EP (1985) and then Walls of Jericho (1985) they acquired singer Michael Kiske, leaving Hansen wielding only the guitar and expelled their classic masterpieces, Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 1 (1987) & Pt. 2 (1988).  With Hansen leaving the fold, Roland Grapow stepped in to fill his shoes for the next two releases of the absurdly named Pink Bubbles Go Ape (1991) and Chameleon (1993).  More line-up changes ensued and Uli Kusch replaced Schwichtenberg while Andi Deris took over the mic from Kiske creating the longest standing incarnation of Helloween and put forth the albums, Master of the Rings (1994), The Time of the Oath (1996), Better Than Raw (1998) and The Dark Ride (2000), but that would be the end for Grapow and Kusch.  Sascha Gerstner took up the guitar, but finding a drummer proved elusive and the next effort, Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2003) was released without an official band member.  Daniel Loble was recruited in 2005 and with a complete complement once again Helloween released Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy (2005), Gambling With The Devil (2007), 7 Sinners (2010) and the latest, Straight Out of Hell in January of 2013.

Arriving at The Opera House on Queen St. East, Toronto I was greeted by a line of concert goers stretched around the building, waiting to get in.  I have never seen anyone wearing a Helloween concert shirt at any other event or out around town, so I, mistakenly it seems, assumed that they did not have  a lot of merch sales.  But tonight I would say that better than half of the crowd awaiting entrance were adorned in Helloween t-shirts of many styles.  As I shuffled along, past the obviously Helloween's tour bus that was parked on the side street, moving closer to the doors, glimpses of the band could be caught through the windows of the bus as we ambled past.  Once past the bus and near to rounding the corner, Sascha Gerstner appeared and worked his way up the line, offering beer to the waiting Helloween fans.  No sooner had he worked his way down the line when Markus Grosskopf passed by with same offer, a can of beer in his out stretched hands.  There did not seem to be too many takers on the beers and I can only assume that few of the folks waiting outside actually knew who these two were.

Once inside the doors, I checked out the merchandise table, wanting to join in the crowd and sport a colourful Helloween shirt of my very own, but the line was already horrendously long and I forewent the wait for the option of securing a front row seat (standing area) instead, planning to return to the booth later on.

Battlesoul from London, Ontario was the first band on the roster this evening taking the stage, shirtless and adorned in only kilts.  With some quick deadpan banter to the audience the singer quipped that "many a man would be jealous of physiques such as theirs", they were under way.  While they seem to have some fans here it was quickly apparent that their brand of Celtic thrash was not my style.  I'm sure that I would have preferred it if the vocals had been more clear and less screamy as the music itself was not unenjoyable.  At one point the vocalist (screamist) posed of the audience "Do we have any Battlesoul fans out here tonight?" to which  yells and shouts of acknowledgement were received.  "Then why don't you have your shirts off?" he responded in the deadpan delivery, causing
 me to chuckle.  As a lead in to the third song (I think, hard to tell, they all sound the same) it was dedicated to their guitarist as this would be his last show with Battlesoul.  Other than that there is not much to report on their set as their stage presence was absolutely non-existent, just standing there in the "legs spread" stance wailing on their guitars.

After the obligatory set changes, the lights dimmed slightly and a recorded intro announced the readiness of New York's Coldsteel, including a short snippet of "Oh Canada" towards the end, prompting the singer to enter the stage waving a large Canadian flag.  I was impressed with their first cut and my head began to bob along with their melody.  "You Lose" was the next selection and also sounded good as I noticed that there was much more stage movement from these New Yorkers than Battlesoul had provided, creating a stronger stage presence.  It was time for the vocalist to address the audience and he quipped "You have good food here, but your women are even better!" as they rolled into "Blood Secrets".  "We may be from New York, but we're not bad guys." he stated before their favourite track off of their new America Idle EP, "Ashes to Ashes" and I made a point to purchase the CD when I made my way back over
to acquire my coveted Helloween shirt.  Not wanting to abandon my excellent vantage point, I glanced back at the merch area to see how the line was doing......absolute horror at what I saw!  The shirts were all stripped down from the display board, signifying their sell out and it wasn't yet even 9pm!  What the hell?  Is this the last night of the tour or something?  Merchandisers need to stop underestimating the demand up here in Canada as we have a vibrant metal scene in Toronto and Montreal.  It was the same thing at Saxon two weeks ago, but they had been sold out before the show even started!!  The very first Coldsteel song ever written assaulted our ears next, based on Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movie and called "Dead By Dawn".  My hopes of hearing "Dead by Dawn" on the soon to be purchased CD were quickly dashed as he announced that their closing song would require some audience participation and had been written
about 22 years ago.  If they'd been around that long these last two songs would surely not appear on the latest CD.  "Crack Down" did indeed prove to be a great song with the audience chanting the gang vocal chorus of "Crack Down".  Coldsteel closed on this high note and did a great job of warming up the crowd and making new fans, myself included.

As the last whisps of AC/DC's classic "For Those About To Rock" faded away and Helloween's recorded intro "Walls Of Jericho" began to ebb through the speakers the house lights dimmed, enveloping us in darkness.  Blinding stage floodlights abruptly sliced through the din with a background soundtrack of "Helloween, Helloween" chants ringing out in unison from the audience.  The Germans stormed the stage erupting into the epic "Eagle Fly Free" from their 1988 genre defining masterpiece Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt. 2.  Helloween were already blowing me away, playing as if they were possessed, the music a mere extension of themselves as Andi Deris, adorned in a Gene Simmons KISS shirt sang note for note throughout.  The second choice was the seven minute long opus "Nabataea" from their latest output unleashed at the start of the year entitled Straight Out Of Hell.  Bassist Markus Grosskopf was
sporting a goofy smile as he bounced around the stage, looking deliriously happy (perhaps he had indulged in some of his wears from his line-up excursion earlier), while original guitarist and founder Michael Weikath looked much more serious, almost as if he was in pain as he screwed up his face in an expression, obviously feeling the music.  The title track off of the new record, "Straight Out of Hell" brought us to "Where the Sinners Go", a selection from the previous recording, 2010's 7 Sinners.  Back to the new album for "Waiting For the Thunder" before "Steel Tormentor" off 1996's The Time of the Oath, the album dedicated to original drummer, Ingo Schwichtenberg who had committed suicide the year prior to it's release.  Not being one for instrument solos as I don't have the ear to know if they are playing
well or not, I studied my surroundings during Daniel Loble's skin bashing session, seeing how captivated most of the audience was.  Helloween had (and continued) to do an excellent job of drawing the crowd into their world as they ripped through their material.  "I'm Alive" brought more showmanship on stage as Deris pretended to be slapping or punching Markus in a mock play fight as a backdrop to Weikath and Sascha's guitar duet in the forefront.  Andi told us now that he wanted to play a "stupid game called left vs. right", a concert standard that mostly wastes time in my opinion, but tonight something was different.  Perhaps it was the conviction and charisma of vocalist Andi Deris or the energy and exuberance that the rest of the band exuded, but even an old cynic like me was drawn into the chant as the left side belted out "Live Now" on cue, while we got the "whoooooaaaaaaahhhh" portions.  Then roles were switched giving us (the
right and best side) the "Live Now" portion, surprising me to find that I had been yelling at the top of my lungs right along with everyone else without even being particularly concious of it!  Was total fun all the way!  Sascha Gerstner brought out the acoustic guitar for Straight Out of Hell's ballad "Hold Me In Your Arms".  2000's Dark Ride album, the last to feature guitarist Roland Grapow supplied "If I Could Fly", while "Hell Was Made in Heaven" was selected to represent Rabbit Don't Come Easy from 2003.  "Power" closed out the regular set and saw more play acting from Markus and Andi as Deris shot the bassist with both "finger" barrels.  But Markus can't be killed and continued the playful fun stage persona as Sascha would toss a guitar pick at him.  He would catch the pick in his mouth and then blow it back to Sascha, who in turn caught it and continued playing or tossed it into the crowd.

The lights remained dull as Helloween exited the stage and the resounding "Helloween" chant rose in volume from the milling throng that filled The Opera House.  "Are You Metal?" greeted our chanting after several minutes as the band invaded the stage once again, Deris adorned in a black top hat.  "Dr. Stein" followed, bringing a ton more play acting and general fun that washed over the audience infecting us with the stellar stage presence.  Again the stage was deserted as the audience remained rooted to the spot, unsure if we would get another encore or not.  We were indeed treated to the rarity at concerts these days of a second encore which included "Future World" and "I Want Out", with the crowd singing "out" on Deris's cue to us.  Michael Weikath's animated hand motions that had been waving through the air
all show seemed to take on a persona of their own as the entire band clearly were enjoying themselves on stage.  With that they collected at centre stage for a couple of group bows and to toss a selection of picks into the crowd.  Loble also tossed out his sticks and "frisbeed" a drum head to the audience.  The lights went up, a sure signal that the show was completed and we began to file out towards the rear of the club and the exit doors.  As I turned, I was stopped by a gentleman who simply asked, "Are you The Meister?"  Taken aback slightly, I responded with "Yes, I am.  What did I do?".  Chuckling, he replied that he was a fellow reviewer and "enjoys my column", introducing himself.  Cool, I read his reviews as well, nice to meet, maybe we'll take in the next show together!

After just having seen Saxon, at which I partied relentlessly (Sacrifice & Sin-Eagles Over Toronto), and with Killer Dwarfs/Diemonds coming up it'll be hard to choose  the concert of the year out of these stellar events, but for certain Toronto is alive and well with great metal shows.......it's about time!  For now I'll leave you with a fan made video for "Live Now!" from The Opera House in Toronto on September 28th, 2013.

Cheers,
The Meister

Episode 104 - Buried Treasure

The average music fan these days tends to enjoy a band while they are "in fashion" and on the charts. Unfortunately, that's a passing thing and what goes up, must come down. It seems that the instant that a band falls out of favor with the general crowd, it becomes the majority's modus operandi to mock said artist for a short while and then, worse, ignore them completely. This usually leads to the artist working twice as hard to put out quality material (sometimes too hard in the case of trend following) and typically continued to be ignored by the mainstream listening audience. It's a sad state of affairs where nobody wins. The artist doesn't win due to their hard work not getting recognized and the music fans don't win due to not being aware of the material being released by the artist due to flavor-of-the-week favoritism.

This week, Aaron and Chris set out to introduce your ears to some gems that were lost on overlooked and ignored albums by bands/artists that had already seen their "better days." Tracks by artists such as David Lee Roth, Enuff Z'nuff, Hanoi Rocks, The Doors, Alice Cooper, Hanoi Rocks and more highlight this episode as we unearth "Buried Treasures."

Enuff Z'Nuff - Tweaked, "Life is Strange" (1995)

Poison – Crack a Smile – “Shut Up, Make Love” (2000)

The Doors - L.A. Woman, "The Changeling" (1971)

Badlands – Voodoo Highway – “The Last Time” (1991)

Black Label Society - 1919 Eternal, "Demise of Sanity" (2002)

Hanoi Rocks – Street Poetry – “This One’s for Rock and Roll” (2007)

Pearl Jam - Riot Act, "Get Right" (2002)

David Lee Roth – Your Filthy Little Mouth – “She’s My Machine” (1994)

Warrant - Ultraphobic - "Undertow" (1995)

Alice Cooper – DaDa – “Pass the Gun Around” (1983)

Buy Music!

Enuff Z'nuff - Tweaked
Poison - Crack A Smile...And More
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Badlands - Voodoo Highway
Black Label Society - 1919 Eternal
Hanoi Rocks - Street Poetry
Pearl Jam - Riot Act
David Lee Roth - Your Filthy Little Mouth
Warrant - Ultraphobic
Alice Cooper - Dada

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Slash Kills Axl Dead - Album Review (2010 Solo Release)

Summary:  Highlights of the greatness of Slash's 2010 release and the lackluster followup Apocalyptic Love.  Written with a questionable sense of humor. 

I put Slash's most recent Slash album last week on my commute featuring Myles Kennedy, Apocalyptic Love,  and reconfirmed it's failure.  

Street Value:  $4 

Top Hat Worthy:  Standing in the Sun, You're a Lie, Shots Fired, Anastasia.

Flush Twice:  The Rest

 The rest of the album is packed with completely forgettable songs.   This was a huge disappointment after seeing Slash with Myles kill it live twice prior to album playing a setlist of Slash solo and choice GNR.  For evidence, check out the great 2011 double album Slash Live. 



This inspired me to revisit Slash's superior 2010 album, Slash, and make the decision of spending my valuable time writing this review. 

What do you call a rock album that starts with the lyrics "Kill the ghost, that hides in your soul" and ends with the lyrics "I'm gonna pee on the ground, then I'm gonna jump around." You call that album Slash.

The song "Out Ta Get Me" was about Axl's fear of plastic surgeons and hair implants. His paranoia was justified.

Since 1994, after Guns N' Roses disbanded acrimoniously, Slash has released several solo albums, two Velvet Revolver albums, and guested on multiple artist's albums. During that same time, Axl built an underground lair, played hopscotch with imaginary circus midgets, invested in ginger colored dreadlocks, spent $15 million on Chinese Democracy and has started every concert at 3am.

While none of Slash's efforts have matched up to the songwriting genius of Appetite and Illusion, they have all had some great jams, riffs, and solos. Bands are always the sum of their parts, and Slash was always the soul of G'nR. That being said, Slash's 2010 self titled collaboration with 12 different singers Kills Axl Dead.

At first look, setting up this guest singer extravaganza seems like an evil idea from a label executive to duplicate the sales success of Santana. And you know what? It probably was. This helps explains why Fergie is on the album. Is it Guns N' Roses? Hell no. But by Slash co-writing with various artists, he has made his most consistent post-G'nR album with just as much focus put into the actual songwriting as the guitars and the production is nearly identical to Appetite and Illusion.

Here's the highlights:  

Ghost- Ian Astbury: The lead singer of the Cult sings, as previously mentioned, -"Kill the ghost, that hides in your soul - Rock and Roll." I can understand why you would kill the ghosts in Poltergeist - and Casper for just being fucking annoying- but a ghost named Rock and Roll? That just sounds like a dude I would sit down with and share a pint. Regardless of Ian's misplaced aggression, the songs riff is instantly memorable and it's a great opening track.  

Crucify the Dead - Ozzy: The first couple times I heard this slow burner, I thought that Ozzy was mumbling about corpses, trains, black magic, etc. You know, the usual topics. Then I heard the line "a loaded gun jammed by a rose." I pulled up the lyrics online and discovered that this is Slash's love letter to Axl delivered by non other than the godfather of metal.  

The thorns are not around your head 
Your ego cursed you till you bled 
You cannot crucify the dead. 
To me your dead.

Slash is rock's Tony Soprano. "Axl? He's dead to me.

   

Back From Cali- Myles Kennedy: When I first glanced at this title I thought this was going to be a cover of LL Cool J's "Goin' Back To Cali" and I imagined what Slash would look like wearing a Kangol. It's actually an original song, one of the best on the album with Myles Kennedy on vocals.  Unfortunately they couldn't pull off a whole album together with Apocalyptic Love. 

Promise- Chris Cornell: It wasn't too long ago that Mr. Soundgarden thought it would be a splendid idea to collaborate with hip-hop producer Timbaland and released the worst CD in the history of recorded music .... or the greatest comedy album of all time. It sold 17 copies, all used as gag gifts.





The album was called Scream which was exactly what everyone did when they listened to samples on iTunes. While the song "Promise" is a return to form, I would still like a legal document from Mr. Cornell with a promise to stay at least 300 yards away from Timbaland.  

By The Sword-Andrew Stockdale: This was the first single, features one of Slash's best solos, the lyrics are nonsensical babble ( about swords, I think), and sounds like everything on Wolfmother's latest solid release Cosmic Egg. In other words it sounds exactly like White Stripes, Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath.

Doctor Alibi - Lemmy: If anyone needs medical attention it's Lemmy. This is a man whose face looks like the surface of the moon and has conducted a 40 year case study on what smoking 17 packs of Marlboro Reds and having a quart of Jim Beam for breakfast on a daily basis does to a man.




He is told by a doctor - that apparently enjoys malpractice lawsuits- "You'll be alright, just keep doing what you love, every single night." What's more shocking than this advice is that it's one of my favorite tracks.  

We're all going to die-Iggy Pop: I don't know that much about Iggy except that he really enjoys starvation, leather pants, and doesn't own a shirt. "Hey, I really like you're tits, I'll say anything that fits." This poetry, rivaling the work of Henry David Thoreau, leads to Iggy singing about pissing on the lawn, dancing a jig, and opting to not pay his bills. This and Lemmy's track are the sleaziest and most G'nR-sounding on the album.

Bottom line is this is a great rock album.

 Pick it up and be very happy with some straight up Rock and Fucking Roll. 

The Devil Made Me Do It

In my ongoing quest to discover great new hard rock and heavy metal music a regular practice of mine is trying new things.  Sometimes chosen by the cover art, the name of the band, the band members, the producer or any other variety of criteria that strike my interest.  Sometimes the album you've just chosen to bring forth out of obscurity is mediocre or even bloody awful, but every once and a while you come across a hidden gem with an album that rocks from start to finish.  This was the case with Brand New Machine and The Devil Made Me Do It.

Brand New Machine began in 2009 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but the departure of two members prompted a re-location to Dallas, Texas.  Founder and vocalist Brantly Thompson has been joined by Seven Antonopoulos on drums, Wiley E Oliver IV (anyone else immediately think of the coyote from Roadrunner?) on bass and Michael Thomas on guitar to form the current incarnation of this gritty rock band.  Brand New Machine began to make a name for themselves playing shows with Lynch Mob and Faster Pussycat and appearing on Rockin' The Red Carpet with Vince Neil and The War of Rock reality TV show with Slaughter.  They also appeared with Guns and Roses opening shows for them in India.  Following up on the self titled EP from 2011, thier first full length record, The Devil Made Me Do It, dropped in July of 2013.

The album opens up with "Here I Am", a fist pumping high energy rocker, setting the tone of the album.  I was hooked already, but the next track blew me away!  "Girls Like You" is an anthem, dripping with sleaze, check out the video below.  From there we get the album's title track in "The Devil Made Me Do It", keeping the tempo and pace of the record flowing along nicely.  "Dust The Sky" delivers an infectious, radio friendly, catchy chorus and would not surprise me to see it released as a single.  "Here and Gone Today" tapers back on the fist pumping anthems with a little softer sound, but still rocking all through.  The softer pace is maintained through "Living For Another Day", but the gritty rock ramps up again with "Always On The Run" leading us into the stellar "Blackout Overdose".  Another stand-out, fist pumping, anthem track is served up next with "Lettin It Roll" followed by "What Do I Gotta Do".  Closing out the 35 minute roller coaster ride of rock thrills is "Let Me Go" leaving the listener on a high note, feeling a little like you just got your ass kicked!

Self described as straight up American hard rock, Brand New Machine's dirty, rough, gritty kind of gutter rock is just my style.  I may have discovered this release a bit late, but "Here I Am" joining the party now!  The Devil Made Me Do It is a "must-have" for all rock fans, trust me, you won't be disappointed here.

BRAND NEW MACHINE'S WEBSITE     BRAND NEW MACHINE on FACEBOOK

Cheers,
The Meister

AC/DC GETS TOO TOO TOUCHY

A couple week's back the Decibel Geek Podcast was reliving the "BEST OF BONN SCOTT", lead singer of Aussie Rock Gods AC/DC, and the 'Original' BAD BOY!! During Bonn's short, but hit filled stint with the Aussie Lads, he recorded several songs that would later become future 'blue prints' for how to construct timeless, bad-ass rock and roll. During this week of tribute, we focused on favorite songs, and songs that well, just rocked and ROCKED HARD.

'Touch Too Much' is on the last AC/DC with Bonn Scott 'Highway To Hell', which was released in 1979. This was the album that featured the vocal styling a of Scott, who died the following year. But it was this album, that set the guys on the way to further fame and triple size worldwide fan base.

This not your average AC/DC song. This song has POWER!  From the first guitar strum, and first set of lyrics, you know this song is going to be one WILD RIDE. Let me explain. In the lyrics you pretty much figure Bonn's out being a typical male, and he's trying to scratch on somethin. From the strum of the guitars and bass, you can also tell, this chick is not any ordinary chick.

Well, Angus Young has always been a power charge for the guys, but on this song, it seems to be an "all out effort!" The song starts out strong, with Angus and Malcolm Young and bass player Cliff Williams getting the dirty vibe started. These three together are like three seasoned generals going to war, they're prepared for anything and everything. The rhythm section on this song is so strong, you feel it pulsate thru your veins as it mixes within the bloodstream. It should be illegal how the guys mixed everything together. Soon, you hear the snarl of Bonn's Scottish voice as he begins to make his plea for the affection and touch he longs for from the woman of his affections.

When you listen to it, it sounds like Bonn is making a plea for this woman and her...well sexiness to hurry up and "touch" him. But it sounds like after a few bars in that Bonn has decided that he can't handle her or her sex appeal...I'M GUESSING...but knowing who is singing this song, it's probably a safe bet to say, but again, I'm only guessing on this.

Bonn's raspy vocals with the Young brothers guitar work definitely make the song not only enjoyable, but as always ,they add a extra grit and grime to the song. This was, and still is one of AC/DC's many hidden gems. It really didn't catch on when the album came out, but now, because of next generation fans and the joy of the internet music stations (such as Decibel Geek Podcasts), this song, like 80% of AC/DC musical catalog has new life. One thing can be said about AC/DC and Bonn Scott that still holds true today...THE GUYS CAME TO ROCK AND THEY ROCKED BALLS OUT, GO HARD, NO SURVIVORS!!!

Bonn Scott's death was way too soon. He created a legacy for not just AC/DC, but those that came after him. There's no telling what else Bonn was capable of, what other records would the guys have shattered with Scott's styling? One thing is for sure, BONN SCOTT helped take AC/DC TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF ROCK. HELL HE WAS HARD ROCK, AND TAUGHT ALOT OF US JUST HOW LONG OF A WAY IT IS, IF WE WANNA ROCK N ROLL.

RIP BONN SCOTT, AND THANK U FOR ROCKIN FUTURE GENERATIONS!!!!!

Heavy Metal Music

Attention all old school metal fans!  Last month Chris and Aaron devoted an episode to thrash metal posing the question who would be a part of the "Big 5" if there were such a thing.  This prompted me to re-visit some of my musical collection and directed me to Metallica's former bass player Jason Newsted and his latest effort released in early August.  I already had the album in my collection, but somehow it became rather overlooked until this prompted my re-visit.  Since then Newsted's Heavy Metal Music has been in regular rotation on my mp3 player.

Like a sucker punch to the gut, robbing you of the ability to intake a breath, Newsted’s Heavy Metal Music serves up exactly what the title suggests.  Jason Newsted has nothing to hide and is keeping things plain and simple this time around.  His new band is called Newsted, the original EP was called Metal, the full length début is entitled Heavy Metal Music and all are as advertised, delivering a “Heroic Dose” of old school metal music.

Becoming interested in music in his youth at around the age of fourteen, Jason Newsted soon discovered Metallica who quickly rose through the ranks and became one of his favourite bands.  Four years later saw the Battle Creek, Michigan born bassist strike out from then home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan bound for California, loaded with dreams of starting a band.  Landing in Phoenix, Arizona he formed Flotsam & Jetsam, taking on the creative role of songwriter for the début album, Doomsday for the Deceiver, as well as the bass guitar.  With the tragedy of Cliff Burton’s death creating a vacant spot in Metallica in 1986, Newsted left the promising Flotsam & Jetsam behind to join his music heroes.  Jason went on to spend some fifteen years with the “Big 4” band, appearing on some of the best selling albums of their career, before departing in 2001.

Post Metallica saw him concentrating on his own project, Echobrain.  Arising out of a Superbowl party at Newsted’s where they met in 1995, the trio of Newsted, Brian Sagrafina and Dylan Donkin finally came to fruition as a band in 2000.  After one Echobrain record Newsted went on to join Canadian thrash metal outfit Voivod, recording three albums with the Canucks, 2003's Voivod, Katorz in 2006 and 2009's Infini.  You may have also seen Newsted on the reality television program Rock Star’s second season where he joined forces with Gilby Clarke and Tommy Lee in the search for a lead singer.  With Lukas Rossi being chosen as the new front man for the super group they recorded one album, released in 2006 entitled Rock Star Supernova.

By late 2012, Jason Newsted had formed a new band simply going under the moniker Newsted.  The band, comprised of Newsted on bass and vocals, drummer Jesus Mendez Jr. and guitarist Jessie Farnsworth, recorded an EP entitled Metal in early January 2013.  The compositions were written and produced by Newsted and the EP was released on his own Chophouse Records label.  With the addition of Staind guitarist Mike Mushok in March they were set to record the full length album.  Heavy Metal Music was unleashed in early August 2013 featuring two tracks from the Metal EP and nine new compositions.  "Soldierhead" and “King of the Underdogs” are the two EP tracks, the former getting the video treatment prior to the release of the Heavy Metal Music album.  The video for "Above All" also preceded the album's release and links to both videos appear below.

Blasting off with “Heroic Dose”, a straightforward old school rocker, the record gets its hooks into you early hitting full steam right away and never easing up on the throttle!  Some stand out cuts include the aforementioned “Heroic Dose”, “…As The Crow Flies” (probably my favourite on the CD), “Above All” and “Kindevillusion”, but there’s not a bad track found here.  Jason Newsted and company are a band to watch out for in the future.

Photo by The Meister @ Sweden Rock

The 'Ole Meister even had the chance to catch Newsted live back in June.  I was fortunate enough to be able to trek from the Great White North of Toronto Canada and head out to Sweden to take part in the Sweden Rock Festival in June featuring 83 bands.  Yep, that’s what I said…..83 bands!  At the time I had only spun Metal once or twice, acquiring it only a few days before my departure to Scandinavia, so I was not overly familiar with the Newsted tunes, but I assumed that there would be some Metallica in the mix and planned to catch their set on Friday June 7^th.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it I suppose) I was absolutely smacked-in-the-face overloaded with rock at June’s Sweden Rock Festival and let’s face it, rather well lubricated with beverages.  As a result I only caught a short portion of the Newsted set taking in the two songs "Long Time Dead" and "King of the Underdogs".  I now wish I’d paid more attention to Newsted’s show, especially after hearing the new full length album, Heavy Metal Music and will make it a point to take in their live show at my earliest opportunity.

SOLDIERHEAD VIDEO          ABOVE ALL VIDEO     NEWSTED'S WEBSITE

Cheers,
The Meister

Kiss 2.0? - I AM A KISS FAN!

 

all photos by Wally Norton

I love being a KISS fan! That's really the point here, quite honestly there really isn't much use in reading any further. I love KISS, always have, always will. From the moment I walked into my cousin's room and laid eyes on the ultra-cool KISS poster above his bed, I was mesmerized. I would spend hours looking at his KISS trading card collection while I listened to Dressed to Kill and Destroyer over and over again on my orange Fisher Price record player. They were larger than life super heroes that played guitars and to my impressionable six year old mind, there was nothing cooler. The makeup and image grabbed me by the imagination, it was truly genius.

Throughout my teenage years KISS remained strong and true. The fact that they washed off the face paint and continued on with other members was really of no consequence to me. They were still putting out great albums, still putting out great live shows and they were still KISS. I supported every genre and member and welcomed them to the family and truly there isn't a KISS record I dislike.


As an adult, I am able to remove myself from the situation and look at things from other perspectives. I understand to some KISS is contrived and calculated and that goes against the true "artist" mindset. I understand that KISS is a business as much as it's a band. That said, I remember an interview picture disk I had back in the day where Gene and Paul said "if you take away all the extras, the bombs and the fire and the costumes and the like than what you are left with is songs" and they are right. I am the first to admit that it was the makeup that grabbed me, it was the image that drew me in, but, it was the music that kept me a KISS fan for the years that followed.

What has always annoyed people about KISS is their honesty about this business. Suffering for their "Art" was never part of their plan and using makeup and effects was dismissed as gimmicky and even silly. The music they create is meat and potatoes rock n roll, this is not a five star dining experience, it's a Big Mac with large fries but you know what? McDonald's has done alright with that recipe. I laugh when I hear people denouncing their music as basic pop rock songs, that's exactly what they were going for and to be honest it's also what the Beatles (insert collective gasp) were going for when they got together too. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to compare KISS to the Beatles, but on second thought, yeah I am! Beyond the surface they are both simply successful rock and roll bands whose music made some people very happy and infuriated others.

Let's be honest here, the lyrics for "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was just as much about "gettin" with the opposite sex as the more blatant "Uh! All Night" just a different era people. The Cleaver parents slept in single beds yet Wally and Theodore were still conceived and "Gee Ward, you were kinda rough on the Beaver last night" was still the most erotic thing spoken in TV at the time, but I digress. No pop song has ever or will ever change the world, it's entertainment people. Maybe to be taken seriously KISS should have broken up the day Peter Criss left the band, personally I disagree. Anyone remember Peter Best?

A number of years ago the topic of KISS 2.0 came up. A possibility of KISS continuing on without Gene and Paul in the band and at first I laughed but then I stopped and though about it. From a business "lets keep the paychecks coming in for Paul and Gene" standpoint I certainly wouldn't be surprised if something like this were to happen.

This of course brings us to the now, and I must apprehensively open the nasty can of worms that plagues Kiss fans today. The whole Tommy Thayer/Eric Singer "FAKE" Ace/Peter war that continues to polarize Kiss fans. I would have loved the original lineup riding into the sunset together, but it didn't happen that way for a million reasons. I don't want to get into this battle again, from what I understand, the fact is Peter sold his makeup design back to KISS and Ace has licensed his back to KISS. So Paul and Gene are calling the shots, if it wasn't Eric and Tommy it would be someone else and I do feel Eric and Tommy bring great energy to the band.

This dilemma of separating the player from the character or should I say not being able to separate the is really quite amusing to me. Ace Frehley is the guitar player in KISS, Ace Frehley is also the "Spaceman" from the planet Jendell. Kiss is the only band that has created such a thing and it's only because of the makeup that we are talking about this. I have made this analogy before but nobody has ever accused Ronnie Wood about being the "FAKE" Brian Jones, its simply because Tommy has been given Ace's character that has everyone in an uproar.

If that's what it takes to still have KISS around than I for one am going to accept and enjoy it for what it is. If Journey tours through my town and I catch the show I wont be there to slag Arnel Pineda as the "fake" Steve Perry, I am going to enjoy the music and the show that they can still deliver with Arnell at the helm. Recently I was lucky enough to see Quiet Riot and they put on an amazing show. Honestly, in the year 2013 to have these bands still around and making music is a blessing and I will continue to support and enjoy the music they created because I love it, its that simple.


So on to KISS 2.0, when I first heard the idea it sounded ridiculous, who would pay for that? Paul and Gene kept the band alive but, the uniqueness of this band opens up the possibility. Like no other band, the makeup and characters they have created would allow for "others" to jump in and deliver a worthy spectacle. How this would be delivered to the fans is the real question. I do not see it as a recording, touring entity as Kiss exists now but there are certainly ways in which a KISS 2.0 could be marketed successfully. Maybe a Broadway type of experience? It certainly worked for Rock of Ages and Tommy and it would be a way to keep the music alive.

I love being a KISS fan and all that it entails, through all the eras and styles and twists and turns, I am all in. Their music has always been a positive influence for me and their live shows have always been amazing to behold. If it comes down to a KISS 2.0 vs. a world without KISS, I am probably going to check out KISS 2.0 and enjoy the music probably while eating a Big Mac and large fries :)

Cheers, KISS Army!

From the Mouths of Madness Comes a Heavy Slab of Traditional Doom Metal With a Classic 70's Feel

Having never heard of the band Orchid before, I picked them to review on a whim. What made me pick them, was their name, Orchid. There has to some sort of Black Sabbath influence there, so how could I go wrong? I have to say I nailed it on that one! These guys not only sound like Sabbath but they really embody 70's heavy classic rock not only in sound, but style as well.

Now this version of Orchid hails from San Francisco, but not to be confused with the screamo band from Massachusetts with the same name. They are all about traditional doom metal with a heavy, and I mean heavy, influence from Black Sabbath.  They were formed in 2007 and so far have released 2 EPs and 2 LPs. Due to the popularity of their first EP, The Devil's Doorway and Capricorn, their first full length effort, they were picked up by the much bigger distributed record label, Nuclear Blast. Their first release for Nuclear Blast was the EP Heretic in 2012, which was a taster for this year's full length release, The Mouths of Madness. The band is comprised of Theo Mindell on vocals, Carter Kennedy drums, Mark Thomas Baker guitar, and Keith Nickel on bass.

As for the album, if you are looking for originality you are going to be hard pressed to find it here. When I said they were heavily influenced by Sabbath, I meant it. "Marching Dogs of War" think "Behind the Wall of Sleep", "Silent One" think "Lord of This World", "Leaving It All Behind" think "After Forever"so forth and so on. Hey, you know what you are going to get with these guys, and since Black Sabbath is one of the greatest bands of all time, who can blame them for wanting to sound like that? With that being said, some of these sounds are really similar. To me, the best song on the album is "Mouths of Madness". I like the opening chord progression and this song has one of the album's best solos. Another cool thing about this album is that the band uses a lot of different instruments. There's piano on "Mountains of Steel", you get harmonica on "Marching Dogs of War", and I do believe I hear cowbell on "Mouths of Madness". The band also does a good job with time changes. This is especially true of the album's epic closer "See You On the Other Side".

Overall, if you are in a 70's metal mood, Orchid's Mouths of Madness is for you. If you are looking for ground breaking, inventive traditional doom metal you need to look elsewhere.