Drivin’ N Cryin’ – Fly Me Courageous

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   1991 Island Records

This album turned off a lot of Drivin’ N Cryin’s core fans, as it was a deliberate step in a harder rocking direction…a far cry from the likes of 1989’s ‘Mystery Road,’ the album containing what is probably DNC’s most well known track “Straight To Hell.”  It didn’t help matters when the long-delayed follow-up, 1993’s ‘Smoke’ turned out to be woefully inferior…easily their weakest album.

Truth be told, though, ‘Fly Me Courageous’ is in my opinion a perfect blend of their more personable and introspective past and a more in-your-face and hard rocking sound that could have made them stars if they would have been able to match the quality of the songs here on subsequent releases.  For there’s not a bad track to be found really, as this stands with The Cult’s mighty ‘Electric’ as prime examples of the pure power and appeal of heads-down no-B.S. guitar/bass/drums rock and roll.

I have to admit, though, that Drivin’ N Cryin’ show more depth than The Cult as the acoustic tracks here – most notably the Dylan-esque “Let’s Go Dancin'” – are just as powerful in their own way as the rockers.  And there’s plenty of rock to sink your teeth into, “Around The Block Again” kicking things off in fine fashion and then immediately going into the comfortably familiar “Chain Reaction” before giving way to the almost-classic title track.

“The Innocent” is powerful and almost prophetic, drawing attention to what is perhaps Drivin’ N Cryin’s unassuming trump card – the almost little-boyish introspective innocence of Kevn Kinney’s vocals.  “Build A Fire” got some deserved video airplay on MTV and “Rush Hour” closes out the disc with a playful riff that showcases Kevn Kinney as a guitarist not without chops.

While this album was a minor hit (mostly regional in the southeast), they were never able to make that next leap into the big time as so many people had predicted they would.  ‘Fly Me Courageous’ is a wonderful rock album very deserving of some serious air guitar action that you know you’re guilty of…but will never admit to.  Guilty as charged.

Rating:  4 out of 5

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Dead End – Shambara

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   1988 Metal Blade

Let’s face it, this album (and indeed this band) never stood a chance stateside what with the fact that they were a Japanese heavy metal band whose singer sang in Japanese, although there are two tracks here sung in English with the lyrics to those tracks proudly printed on the inner sleeve.

The odds were firmly stacked against them, as any mainstream pseudo-fascination with Japanese metal was cursed with the memory of the only band of that genre to get any real exposure in the US…Loudness.  Loudness was actually a good band, although you would never know it from their major-label US releases and their almost hysterically funny lyrics…embarrassingly magnifying the fact that English was undoubtedly their second language.

This proved to be an unshakable albatross around the neck of any Japanese metal band looking to make it stateside, relegating them sadly to an almost novelty status (i.e. Bow Wow, EZO, et al).   If ever there was one of these bands who deserved to make it, Dead End is that band.

Until Dead End, I couldn’t really get into any band whose singer sang in another language.  Oh, I tried with Spanish hard rockers Baron Rojo and some others in the 80’s, but usually the singers were merely average so the language barrier was just another strike against them.  Not so with Dead End. 

Lead throat Morrie (Motoyuki Ohtsuka) has an incredibly engaging and dramatic style that spills melody and passion so effortlessly you just don’t care that you can’t understand the words.  Crazy as it sounds, his performance is so strong on this and prior release ‘Ghost Of Romance’ that you almost feel that you understand the songs without understanding a word…underscoring the fact that music itself is a universal language.

Their image was very showman-like at the time, the darkly street-glam look almost contrasting with the decidedly classical and gothic overtones of the music itself, but upon a closer look totally making sense.   Leadoff track “Embryo Burning” still gives me goosebumps 20 years later as the sense of cold mystery just permeates your airspace and demands ever-higher volume.

“Night Song,” “Serpent Silver,” “Luna Madness” and “Blind Boy Project” don’t sound the least bit hackneyed or cliched even today, as it’s obvious that these guys had the chops to more than match their songwriting talent.  Guitarist You (Yuji Adachi) is just brilliant, bringing passion and razor-sharp brilliance to riffs and solos alike.  Only the second track, “Junk” is a real clunker here, the rest being of a much higher quality.

Album closer “I Can Hear The Rain” and the aforementioned “Night Song” are the two tracks sung in English and quite frankly, I wish Morrie had sung those in his native Japanese, as his dark sense of style makes his native tongue sound cryptic rather than merely foreign.

With guitars for miles, this is very much a hard-rocking disc with “metal” being too limiting of a term here.  If you have a sense of adventure and want to hear a disc that will truly take you somewhere you’ve never been before, search the web for this one.  It’s there awaiting your discovery.

Rating:  4 out of 5

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Masters of Reality – Masters of Reality

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         1988 Def American

Yet another gem created with master producer Rick Rubin at the helm, Masters of Reality is an album cherished by the few of us who bought it and, alas, even know it exists.  It stands today as one of the greatest tributes ever to 70’s classic rock.

Let’s get this out of the way:  this album is very much what Cream would probably sound like if they were together today, if maybe a little harder rocking.  The comparison is inevitable, given the classic rock feel of the thing, thanks to another great no-frills Rubin production job hot on the heels of the Cult’s mighty ‘Electric.’  And oh yes, Chris Goss’ vocals are a dead ringer for Jack Bruce’s fragile yet emotive voice.   Cream drummer/percussionist Ginger Baker must have thought so, too, as he was the drummer on MOR’s follow-up disc ‘Sunrise On The Sufferbus.’

The hooks are all over this disc, as well as a sense of fun tribute to their obvious classic rock influences.   Some of the lyrics are indeed delightfully silly, obviously on purpose given the intelligence of the band members themselves (“…seems that I can’t chew on whipped cream”…what?!).   Songs that really rock here are stoked and kickin’ opener “Domino,” “The Blue Garden” and the nostalgically goofy “Candy Song.”

“Magical Spell” just makes me crack a smile every time I hear it and you can even hear Chris Goss cracking a smile while he sings it, the song taking a kinda hokey and almost waltzy swing groove and making it almost impossible not to raise a cold one and sing along.  My copy of the album has the blue cover you see above, while the copies most commonly found on the internet have the other cover and contain an extra track…the wonderfully hypnotic “Doraldina’s Prophecies.”

A playful joyful rock album, the chorus chant of “John Brown” says it all:  “Holiday, holiday.  I declare a holiday.”  I mean, come on…who in their right mind can argue with THAT?!

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

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Savoy – Mary Is Coming

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   1996 Warner Bros.

Gotta give my ex-wife credit for introducing me to this gem, she being the eternal a-Ha fan.  Yes, a-Ha…forever remembered for the at-the-time groundbreaking video for “Take On Me.”  Truth be told, the guys in a-Ha were quite the talented lot though their albums tend to be very uneven.

I have to think that this at-the-time uncool 80’s connection is part of the reason Warner Bros. didn’t give this album the promotional push it deserved to become a massive hit in the wide-open alternative climate of the mid-90’s.  For the music itself is not at all what you would expect, given that this is the work of a-Ha member Pal Waaktaar.

The overall mood of the disc is brooding and melancholy, even the more light-hearted moments saturated with Waaktaar’s wistful, longing vocals.  Don’t even look for poppy keyboards (or, really, ANY keyboards) as this is very much a guitar album.  Simply put, it’s great.

“Daylight’s Wasting” is probably my favorite track here, but even though it’s the leadoff track there’s no real letdown as the disc plays on.  “Tears From A Stone,” “Velvet,” “Underground” and the title track salt the disc with memorable high points and there’s a real intimacy to all of the songs brought to the fore by the clear, yet just-garagey-enough production.

I’m not normally drawn into this kind of music that seems to live and breathe melancholy, but the dominance of guitar really caught my attention and the songs here are just so good!  It really sounds like the work of a really good songwriter who had time to play around in his basement studio in between doses of Prozac.

Rating:  4 out of 5

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Uriah Heep – Abominog

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   1982 Bronze/Mercury

Why this album wasn’t a massive hit upon its release in 1982 will forever be a mystery to me.  However, one must think that the absolutely godawful cover graphic might have something to do with it.  Never before or since in the history of rock has there been an album cover more belying of the actual sound of the music itself, surely an attempt to attract the attention of early 80’s headbangers.

It’s a shame, because this is really an AOR classic, its sound shamelessly commercial in the best possible way…without giving up an ounce of integrity, given the band’s prog-doodling past as a forerunner of the heavy metal genre.  This disc sits sonically with the best music Foreigner or Journey ever made, though with loads more integrity and honest emotion and drama.

Peter Goalby’s husky and tuneful vocals lift these songs to higher ground, while the hooks in the music are plentiful.  This is a commercial rock album saturated with a real ‘classic’ feel, probably testimony to the respective histories of the band members themselves.

“Too Scared To Run” kicks things off with a gallop similar to Heep’s classic “Easy Livin’,” though the similarities end there.  “On The Rebound” is a song I always thought should have been a major, major hit with its cool synth noises, pulsing (gulp) dance beat, rousing melodies and Goalby’s passionate vocals.

They actually did manage a minor hit with “That’s The Way That It Is” (top 40), though it absolutely should have been a chart topper as it crushes the best commercial rock hits of the time.  The guitar and keyboard textures smack of a commerciality that screams “honest hit” rather than “sell out.”

Elsewhere “Chasing Shadows,” “Prisoner,” “Hot Persuasion” and “Think It Over” provide exclamation points on a disc overflowing with melodic hooks and AOR prowess.  Even old Heep fans had to admit this was really good stuff.

This album is everything that was GOOD about AOR.  If you’ve never heard it, now’s as good of a time as any to check it out for yourself.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

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6-23-09:  I just found the video for “That’s The Way That It Is”  on YouTube.   Man is is painful to watch whatwith all the typical early MTV video trappings (motorcycles, et al) but just close your eyes and listen to a hit that never quite was.

Barkmarket – Vegas Throat

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1992 Def American

Barkmarket is an amazingly original band and yet another one that got lost in the shuffle during the 90’s alternative boom, though they caught the attention of the ultimate rock producer Rick Rubin and were the first band he signed to his Def American label.  Really, theirs is a sound that is as alternative as you can get…distorted guitars and power-trio arrangements being very much the hardcore/rock hybrid, while song structures (or lack thereof) are very free-flowing and jazzy in their openness.  Closest comparison I can come up with is The Jesus Lizard, but with more melody and the occasional chorus you can sink your teeth into.

Check out my fave track from this CD, “Pencil,” and you’ll have a really good idea of what to expect from this band.   There are two cover tracks here, as well, though you’d never recognize them given the thorough psychotic Barkmarket treatment they receive:  “Back Stabbers” by the O’Jays and “I Don’t Live Today” by Jimi Hendrix.   I remember Blackie Lawless of 80’s shock rockers WASP once saying “Cover songs are pointless unless you make the song better or at least change it.”  Barkmarket has certainly changed the songs and made them their own.

“Grinder,” “Ditty” and “Hydrox God” are some other choice tracks on this CD, but the truth is you should listen to “Pencil” in its entirety first.   There is no middle ground here…you’re either going to be on board or totally turned off, thinking “What the hell is THAT?!”   “Pencil” is a 5-minute tune that is like 3 mini-songs mashed together seemlessly.

As testimony to the talent of guitarist/vocalist/band leader Dave Sardy, he’s gone on to produce some fine albums for the likes of System of a Down, Bush, Jet, Marilyn Manson, OK GO, Wolfmother and a host of others.  In 2006 he won 3 Grammys (Wolfmother, OK GO, Marilyn Manson), 6 ARIA awards (Jet) and Brit awards for his work with Oasis, Marilyn Manson and Wolfmother.

His production prowess is on display here with his deft manipulation of cool sounds and sheer noise.  Like other bands in the abyss with multiple reviews, you can pretty much take this CD and the follow-ups ‘Gimmick’ and ‘L. Ron’ and stick ’em in your media player on shuffle play.  You either buy into the sound or you don’t.  I’m sold.

Rating:  4 out of 5

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Update:  There’s not much I can find online from this album, but check these songs out and you’ll very much get the idea:  Whipping Boy & Dumbjaw (both from the Gimmick CD) & Feed Me (from the L Ron CD and containing some cool skateboarding in the vid).

Clutch – From Beale Street To Oblivion

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   2007 DRT

This is the second modern Clutch album that didn’t absolutely blow me away, simply because I’ve now accepted the fact that they’ve found their thang and each new release is going to deliver the goods just like a fresh bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.   You’ve tasted the Colonel’s eleven secret herbs and spices a million times over already, and you always come back for more…and it always tastes great.

Clutch’s “thang” is a sound that takes all the best elements of the classic rock guitar vibe (courtesy of Mr. Tim Sult), batters it with the impossibly perfect groove of bassist Dan Maines and drummer Jean-Paul Gaster, then dunks it in the deep-fryer that is surreal headspace of lead vocalist/master lyricist Neil Fallon.  Here, they also throw in just the right touches of old-school keys and harmonica.  Really, the band’s ace-in-the-hole has always been Fallon…a genius wordsmith whose lyrics are always worth reading and will always make you crack a smile.

It’s hard to really pick out specific high points, this being yet another Clutch album that simply belongs on your media player on shuffle play.   Lead single “Electric Worry” pays super homage to legend John Lee Hooker, while “You Can’t Stop Progress” starts things off with a resounding kick in the pants and a great example of Fallon’s lyrical genius (“I understand there are no victimless crimes.  That being said I’m feeling rather victimized.”).  WOW!  “Power Player,” “The Devil and Me,” “Opossum Minister” and the hilarious “When Vegans Attack” are more highlights on this fun and imaginative disc.

My only complaint is that Tim Sult’s guitar sound isn’t quite as edgy and punchy as on the last 3 albums.  Rather than cutting through the mix, it kind of floats within it.   Maybe that was the point.  I dunno, but I’ll just give these guys the benefit of the doubt because it’s just another fine batch of songs from the greatest American rock band of the 21st century.

As the title rightfully suggests, this is the Clutch album most fully steeped in the spirit of the blues.   Blues made all the more appetizing by Clutch’s uncanny knack for adding the perfect amount of southern fried chicken grease.  Hey, I think I already said that about another Clutch album.  Oh well…just buy it.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

UFO – The Wild, The Willing and The Innocent

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   1981 Chrysalis

Many argue that UFO’s best days were over once guitarist Michael Schenker left the band in 1979 after their cult-classic live LP ‘Strangers In The Night,’ just about as fine of a live document as any band has ever produced.  While the Schenker era included some good music such as 1975’s ‘Lights Out’ and 1978’s ‘Obsession,’ I would argue that their best music came after the temperamental guitarist left the fold, most notably this amazing unsung classic.

I’ve always felt that Michael Schenker was quite overrated.  Sure he can rip up the fretboard with the best of them, but he lacks the songwriting prowess of his brother, Rudolf Schenker of Scorpions.   This album serves as proof positive that the heart of UFO’s best moments was the songwriting duo of bassist Pete Way and lead vocalist Phil Mogg.  While Mogg’s lyrics can be a bit cringeworthy at times, ‘The Wild, The Willing and The Innocent’ shows the planets in alignment for what is UFO’s finest hour as far as I’m concerned.

Of the 8 solid songs that comprise this disc, highlights have to be my personal UFO fave “Long Gone,” the dramatic and atmospheric title track, and moody rocker “It’s Killing Me.”  The latter track should have been a huge FM radio hit for them, as it buries most rock hits of the time that got better promotion and, therefore, more attention and popularity.  Kudos have to go to guitarist Paul Chapman, who co-wrote 6 of the 8 tracks here…most notably the aforementioned “Long Gone.”

While UFO gets lumped into the “heavy metal” category almost by default (and is highly regarded by metal bands from Metallica to Anthrax), they are much more of a melodic hard-rock entity with probably the best use of keyboards by any true rock band ever.  I’m usually not a fan of keyboards in hard rock, as they tend to wimpify the songs, but UFO creates mood and atmosphere with them.   My only complaint with the album is the blocky production job by the band themselves, which at times hurts the groove of the songs (as on the lumbering – but still very cool – opener “Chains Chains”).  But this is really a minor complaint, with the overall sound being very crisp and at times pleasantly raw.

If you love melody with just the right amount of power, you really can’t go wrong here.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Amorphis – Tales From The Thousand Lakes

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   1994 Relapse

Amorphis is, quite simply, one of my favorite bands.  Their evolution from the pure death metal overtures of their first full length ‘The Karelian Isthmus’ to the amazing grandeur of 2007’s ‘Silent Water’ has been breathtaking.   ‘Tales From The Thousand Lakes’ was the turning point in the development of the Amorphis sound and was the first album I ever heard with a near perfect mix of guttoral vocals and clean melodic vocals.   I don’t know if they were the first to try it, but they were the first to get it right.

Amorphis bases their music on their native Finnish folklore, here basing it on the epic Kalevala.  This album is recognized by fans of the genre as a cornerstone of melodic death metal…some even credit the disc as the true genesis of the genre.  All I know is that it was unlike anything I’d ever heard at the time and it’s an easy inclusion on the 10 Best of the Abyss.

From the first notes of opener “Thousand Lakes” you can just feel that you’re about to be taken somewhere you’ve never been before.  The heaviness of the guitars and the power of the music is actually elevated by the tasteful use of keyboard textures, which often weave counter-melodies in and out of the main song riffs and bring both warmth and a sense of coldness at the same time.

My favorite track here has to be “Black Winter Day,” where the keyboards bring a very distinct fantasy-feel to the music.  I’m just drawn in by those keyboard melodies to this day, and I have to chuckle remembering my ex-wife hearing it for the first time and saying it sounded like irritating Nintendo music.   The world of Amorphis is one of longing, and one of fantasy and grandeur. 

Other favorite moments on this seemless disc are the amazing “Forgotten Sunrise” and album closer “Magic and Mayhem.”  Showing that these Fins have quite the sense of humor, the CD contains a bonus track – a remake of The Doors’ classic “Light My Fire” replete with those guttoral growls.  Death never sounded so sexy! hahahahahaha

Rating:  5 out of 5

The Cult – Electric

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   1987 Sire Records

An album that I hold dear to my heart (and indeed I know it by heart through hundreds of repeated listens), ‘Electric’ shares time with Tricky Woo’s ‘Sometimes I Cry’ as my consistent favorites of all time.

Producer Rick Rubin’s massive repertoire consists of, in most cases, the very best work by each individual band and this is no exception.  ‘Electric’ possesses what I think is the greatest no-frills mix in the history of rock, spilling forth like the best cheap wine from your speakers.  No kidding, it’s both accomplished and delightfully reckless at the same time, saturated liberally with what I think is the sexiest rock guitar sound ever achieved on record.

Opener “Wild Flower” is one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time, and a song I used to play on my morning show on KLSU (Louisiana State University’s college radio station) to piss off all the alternative music know-it-alls who hated ‘Electric’ because it wasn’t ‘Love – Part II.’  I never understood that sorry lot’s “either/or” attitude.  I liked both albums!

“Peace Dog” was a staple of the local rock bands in Baton Rouge in the early-mid 90’s and is just a powerhouse, while “Little Devil,” “Bad Fun,” “Love Removal Machine” and “Outlaw” are my other personal favorites.   The only drawback on this album is the most powerless and anemic cover of Steppenwolf’s classic “Born To Be Wild” that I’ve ever heard.  How it made the final cut I’ll never know.

This is pure guitar, bass, drums and vocals in all its rock and roll glory.   Riffs and the classic rock vibe of the 70’s are all shamelessly rehashed in the ultimate tribute to the grandeur of rock, with spirited performances and the best pure rock mixing job ever winning the day.

Rating:   5 out of 5

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