Tag: album

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Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell – Meat Loaf

This was the return of Meat Loaf. I’m pretty sure that after having one of the all time greatest selling albums he ended up skint, although I would imagine that Jim Steinbeck who actually wrote the songs is rather well off. I could be wrong on this matter and I can’t be bothered to check.

“I’d do anything . . . . “ was the main single released from this album and it’s a good song but it was over played in the 90s. I can’t remember another song from this album. It probably plays well though. I imagine 50 year old men driving their Rovers listening to this, or the presenters of Top Gear.

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Bat Out Of Hell – Meat Loaf

In the fourth year at school I used to quiz Michael Francis about a band I knew called Bachman-Turner Overdrive. He did seem aware of them and their one main hit which is also one of their worst songs! The reason I would quiz him is that he was the music guru. Every class must have one and he was ours. He regularly bought NME and we would look at the charts and wonder at the music. I hadn’t really reached my musical maturity. Anyway, I can remember seeing an album in the charts that had been in the charts for nearly 10 years! This always struck me as an administrative error. What sort of music would stay popular for that long? The answer is, of course, Bat Out Of Hell.

I can’t remember when I bought this, but I did get it on music cassette. After 1995 I lost the cassette and I think I have finally figured out that I left it with RC. I didn’t mind too much but every now and then you need some operatic rock. The riff of the title song would play in my head and eventually I bought the CD version when digitising my collection.

Bat Out Of Hell – a song that is 9:50 long. It was always a good song to play at Imperial College Radio to give you some time to make a coffee and visit the gents! Not only that but it is a great song. I

really like the 70s sound of rock and this takes it to a whole new level. Operatic themes and ear crunching riffs. “Paradise” and “You took the words” are a couple of my favourites. The CD version I have includes the song “Dead Ringer For Love” which I am pretty sure isn’t on the original release. But every song here is a stunner. It’s retro and fantastic. Well worth listening to. Very much a summer album. Just had a closer look at my iPhone and I can see that I have the wrong artwork associated with this album. That’s something to change this evening!

I bet you say that to all the boys!

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Ballbreaker – AC/DC

There are some excellent and classic AC/DC but this album is not one of them. I could probably count the number of times I have played this using my thumbs! Hey, it’s still AC/DC and just what they always write. The video for “Cover You In Oil” is rather amusing.

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Back For The Attack – Dokken

I bought this on music cassette from the Our Price in Harlow, the one by the bus station as there used to be two of these stores in Harlow. At the time I was working for a company called Cossors Electronics which then became part of Raytheon Marine. The company made monopulse secondary surveilence radar equipment and other military stuff. Mr Cossor was one of the pioneers of cathode ray tubes! [Harlow is the home of fibre optics] I used to either cycle in to work or take the bus. This explains why I would have been near the bus station in Harlow. I would regularly by albums on tape because I could then listen to them on my rather excellent Aiwa walkman [because you care about these things it was an AIWA HS-PX410, there’s a page on these lovely machines here].

Now, I’d had the Dokken album Beast From The East for a couple of years and so I knew I liked their music. The Beast album was a live album recorded in Japan and full of classics. When I first put Back For The Attack into my walkman I was blown away by the guitar sound George Lynch had created for the opening “Kiss of Death”. It was loud, heavy and just really powerful. Don Dokken’s vocals smooth this out to produce a wonderfully mellow rock sound. Many of the songs do have a ballad feel to them but they are still great. My favourites are:

  • Kiss of Death
  • Heaven Sent
  • Mr Scary
  • Sleepless Nights

“Mr Scary” is a brilliant instrumental. It has a great main riff with a perfect introduction and build up of the main tune. The double bass drum fits perfectly and the bass playing is good. I really like it as a song and it’s one of those that pops into my head quite regularly.

“Sleepless Nights” includes the brilliant moment of the live album where Lynch makes an excellent sound with his guitar. For a few years I couldn’t tell what he was doing but after hearing this studio version I have concluded that he was playing two or three notes at the same time. In this recording he plays a sustain high note and starts the main riff below that, the live screech is him emulating this. It’s my favourite Dokken moment but on a different album.

Also on this album is the song Dream Warriors which was written for one of the Nightmare on Elm Street films. I don’t know which as I’ve never seen any of them [I could Google it but why?].

News just in:

@CornishPom: @iparish Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. A return to form after the disappointing NOES 2: Freddy’s Revenge.

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Axis Of Evil – Suicide Commando

Axis of Evil – Suicide Commando

Those crazy Belgians have a lot to answer for. I found this artist while looking for more aggrotech and hellectro. I’m pretty sure I looked on Wikipedia for associated acts and probably looked through iTunes to see related acts from Combichrist. Axis of Evil is full of dance beats, samples and club style synth sounds with some lovely disturbing lyrics over the top.

To start an album with the worldwide statistics on suicide is a brave move and one that works. Just a glance at the song titles will inform you of the style and mood of the music. Strangely I find this stuff quite upbeat and happy. It’s definitely my kind of stuff.

  • Consume Your Vengeance
  • Face of Death
  • Evildoer
  • Plastic Christ

These pretty much sum up this album!

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Audioslave – Audioslave

Audioslave – Audioslave

This is the first album by Seattle supergroup Audioslave or Rage Garden / Sound Machine as they possibly should be known. I don’t remember why I bought this on CD or when but I have a feeling I saw the video on TV at some point and thought it would be worth a punt. It turned out to be a good purchase and I went on to buy all the Audioslave albums.

The opener “Cochise” is a superb rock song, great guitars wonderful vocals and the video is pretty good too. Every song on this album is good. Some of the guitar solos don’t fit the songs and this bothered me until I found out that the guitarist was Tom Morello and then it all made sense. He’s such an experimental guitarist that his sounds really don’t fit the mainstream rock.

This is an album I’d have on in the car if there were non-rock fans in the car. I think it’s an album that everyone can enjoy and not just the hardcore metal fans. It’s about as easy listening as I get, even with the “out there” solos.

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Asylum – Disturbed

This is a very good heavy metal album. I got it after a recommendation from Andy Smith. It’s very good to run to and has some cracking riffs. I’d be tempted to get some more stuff by Disturbed but I think it may be a bit the same. I’m currently seeking new sounds and experiences. As this is a newer album and discovery by me the standard “not sinking in” argument applies to my knowledge of this band. I know it’s good, I know I like it and I know I like playing it. Can I remember any of the songs or how they go? No.

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Asylum – Senser

I’ve been a big fan of Senser since my third year at university and Andy gave me some tapes with their songs. The album Stacked Up is still one of my favourites but this is about the album Asylum.

I have bought all the Senser albums, although there is one coming out soon which I think they are funding through an innovative route. This album is pretty good. However, Kerstin Haigh does all the singing / rapping as the main lead singer / rapper was off doing some solo projects and things with other bands.

Ah, the long song. This album has a long special song at the end. It’s 24:58 long. It that necessary? I like how bands mess around with these things but I don’t always think the results prove it worthwhile.

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Astro-Creep: 2000 – White Zombie

There are two versions of this album. This one and the remix. The remix has a far more interesting cover but let’s move on.

This is a really good album and the start of me heading into a more industrial sound rather than the clean produced stuff that I had previously liked. I don’t think there are any bad songs, although I don’t listen to it enough to know the names of all the songs. One of the issues with playing music on the iPhone is that I generally don’t know what the song is called. Back in the days of proper records I would read the dust cover from top to toe and make sure I knew the name of every song.

Highlights are:

  • More Human Than Human
  • Electric Head
  • Real Solution #9

“Real Solution #9” has a sample of one of the Charles Manson killers giving an interview about her victim on TV in the 80s. Interesting use of counter culture.

Rob Zombie and Marylin Manson toured together recently and I considered going but £60 for seeing two bands I’m not that fussed about seemed a lot of money. I didn’t go.

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