Classic albums revisited 1: Iron Maiden – Killers

Sometimes one has such great memories of albums. Due to possibly a relationship one is in (or just been dumped out of) or a group of friends one is hanging out with or even doing something else that one really enjoys (like work !!@@&&??? – I’ve heard that it happens????). Certain albums take on a special significance and become beacons in your past that highlight certain episodes of your life. So far in my life, there are many. Iron Maiden’s ‘Killers’ is one of them. In revisiting these albums I hope to test them for durability and determine whether they really were as good as I thought that they were at the time.

I stumbled across the Iron Maiden website recently (http://www.ironmaiden.com/) while following a news item relating to the fact that they will soon be releasing a Greatest (early) Hits album, and it instantly got the memories going. By the way the Greatest Hits album will be free for three listens or something like that…. I still have a few of their albums in their original vinyl format, I was a big fan in my teens, and when I saw the digital download section on the website, with digitally remastered versions of their early albums – I could not resist. I also saw them live in Johannesburg once with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals, it was pretty good.

My copy of ‘Killers’ is shot and, being my favourite Maiden album in those days, it was my immediate first choice for a download.

Listening to it now, I think my copy back in those days was probably shot right from the beginning. These remasters are crystal clear and have detail that I’ve never noticed before. That is rather a good start to revisiting the album, I would say.

Tracks
The Ides of March
A terrific instrumental opener to the album. Searing guitar soloing screams out, beware a killer set of tracks coming up, beware, beware (sorry William S)! Drums roll on from on high and the portends are there, get ready for some uplifting rock music that will transport to the grimy underworld of serial killers, madmen and bad thing worshippers.

This moves straight into Wrathchild. What a great name for a song. Paul Dianno kicks in on the vocals and Steve Harris seems out to bludgeon the wrathchild with his bass guitar. The great thing about this album is that the songs are carried on a platform of drumming and very melodic bass with the guitarists peeling off solo after solo. Throughout the songs the power chords are incidental. Wow what a formula!

Next is Murders in the Rue Morgue. Poor misunderstood Paul gets into a frenzied case of mistaken identity while in Paris. The whole situation is exacerbated due to the fact that he can’t speak French. Please don’t arrest him gendarmes, he has 8 more tracks to sing, and what about the real killer who has gone free. Oh, I got carried away again, this happened in my teens too. These songs have always done that to me, whisking me away in a fury of duelling screaming axe work, rampant drumming and a galloping bass-line.

Three tracks in and I can’t believe that I have deprived myself of this for so long. What’s next: Another Life. I love the guitar work jumping from structure to structure in the song, and the tone is really cool.

Another life is followed by Genghis Khan another stormer of a tune. This is Genghis with his mind set on mayhem. On his horse storming through the steppes looking for people to slash, slash and slash (he would probably kill me for spelling his name wrong, let me check….). By the way this one is an instrumental – pretty evocative though….

Up next is Innocent Exile starting with Harris on bass causing everyone to question why he didn’t just get a normal guitar and deal out the punishment like we know he can. Ah, I know the bass is more punishing! This is a really cool song to headbang along to, not to mention annoying poser air-guitaring.

The title track Killers brings on some of the most unremorseful killer lyrics I have heard, it’s really fun stuff like ‘oh my God, what have I done? Ooh yea, I’ve done it again’. Starting off ominously, Harris bass foundation is slashed and stabbed at in violent intervals by Dianno yelping and the guitars cutting. I love this stuff. Dianno’s voice is great and the twin guitar attack will kill you if you let it.

After Killers come The Prodigal Son which is one of the slower mellower tracks on the album. I’ve heard that if you play it backwards you can hear Dianno sing ‘the Devils got hold of my soul and he won’t let me be’. Oh, wait a minute, you don’t even have to play it backward to hear him say that.

Purgatory is up next, and that’s probably where I will end up when I’m punished for my corny jokes. The bass echoes the rabid riffing of the guitar attack and rock classics don’t get much better than this, ‘please take me away, take me away, so far way’ go the lyrics, with all the instruments chiming along.

I’m exhausted from moshing in the lounge while trying not to crack my darling’s latest pottery creation, and there are two more songs to go starting with Twilight Zone. Dare I say the weakest track on the album, in my opinion.

Finally shattered, sweating and slightly embarrassed (the kids just don’t understand) we hit Drifter. One guitar starts, the bass joins in the next guitar starts, Dianno and the drums kick in and we have another killer track (OK I waited long enough to use that as a pun, so let me). This has some of my favourite guitar work ever, and the bass is just as good. Dianno exhorting everyone to sing along. Where has he been the last ten tracks, why does he think I’m so hoarse?

OK, I loved this album then, and I still do! It is a real classic. In addition who can deny the brilliance of the album artwork? It is possible that this album was over-shadowed by the ‘Number of the Beast’ album, the arrival of Bruce Dickinson, and the over-whelming momentum gathered due to their spectacular live shows.

Review: My Coke Fest 08 in Johannesburg 21 March 2008

This weekend I was able to get to the My Coke Fest 08 held at the New Market Racetrack near Johannesburg. It is billed as the biggest Rock Festival held in South Africa, with a line-up of:

Local bands -

Lonehill Estate
Crash Car Burn
Wonderboom
Prime Circle

International bands -

30 Seconds to Mars
Kaiser Chiefs
Good Charlotte
Chris Cornell
Muse
Korn

The Venue

The stage looked pretty good, with two video screens on either side and a big one behind the stage. The sound was also actually OK. I have been to quite a few big festivals in South Africa, and often it is the sound that disappoints.

Facilities were also pretty good. Two years ago I attended this same festival at another venue, and I believe that people nearly died from dehydration. This time, apart from being allowed to bring in 1 litre of water each, it was very easy to buy drinks too. Parking was fine and everything very well organised.

The Shows
I arrived in time for the last few songs in Wonderboom's set. They are one of my all time favourite SA bands, and I was disappointed to have missed most of their set (my GPS had issues with the exact location of the venue). Regardless - what I heard was great, with them finishing off with their excellent cover of Rabbitt's 'Charlie'.

Next up was Prime Circle - I have seen them several times and they definitely improve every time. Live their blend of AOR and MOR comes across heavier, rockier and fun. On stage with them was an additional guitarist from the Nudies. It was a quick set of 5 songs only and then the wait for the International bands was over!

30 Seconds to Mars came on amidst a huge girlie scream. Jared Leto looked the picture perfect emo rocker. They screamed and shrieked through a fairly solid set, with Leto spending quite some time between songs chatting to the crowd. Apparently 4 tracks from their last album were recorded in SA. At one stage Leto moved out into the crowd to try for some more interactive stuff, but this was cut short by what seemed to be a power failure (I thought that maybe he had been mugged - this is Johannesburg after all). After a couple of minutes they were all back on stage and completed their set.

Next came Kaiser Chiefs, to me like a refreshing burst of sunlight after the doom, gloom, shrieking and wailing of 30 Seconds. They kicked off with 'Every day I love you less and less', and contrasted completely with 30 Seconds. Strong, witty and melodic tunes seemed to suddenly turn the party on! The crowd were singing along, and the number of songs they could play that everybody recognised were surprising to me considering that they only have two albums out. Ricky Wilson impressed with some astounding one-legged dancing! One song was introduced as a new one - either called 'History' or 'Memory' which gives an inclination that album number 3 will be just as good as the last two.

Considering the paucity of good international acts venturing into South Africa, it was incredible to witness an act as slick as this laying the party down so effectively - for me, I could not believe it was happening. I'm not sure how things sounded on the stage to the band, but I had a concern that crowd participation was not what they were used to, but looking around me, the crowd were certainly having a good time. The Chiefs finished off their set as the sun set.

After a longish wait, Good Charlotte came on. They went down extremely well with the younger element in the crowd, but I heard quite a few derogatory comments coming from the Korn faithfuls. Their brand of radio friendly pop had the crowd singing along, and it was quite amusing to hear all the guys in the open air latrines singing: 'Girls don't like boys, they...'.

Joel was effusive about the country, and the crowd. He also dedicated The Cures 'Love Song' to his new born baby daughter (I prefer the Cure version).

After GC came Chris Cornell. Another complete contrast when compared to the act before. No funny hats, no twiddly poking at keyboard keys and not much chit chat. What we got was intense guitar riffing, rock solid sounds, extremely strong songs and The Voice. This was good hard rocking with solo songs alongside Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden and Audioslave songs. Cornell is, without a doubt, a rock god. His backing band delivered an immense sound and Cornell was on fine form. In the middle of the set he invited a local guy on stage (called Gareth) to play along on an acoustic track. This set was definitely over too soon, but the sense of anticipation for the next group carried me through with euphoria levels maintained.

After a longish break, and my witnessing some amusing altercations between the Vice Squad and underage drinkers, the next act came on - Muse.

Chris, Dom and Matt came on stage and transformed the evening! I don't believe that they had their full lighting set with them as I saw no lasers, but they had enough. Song after song was delivered with a flourish, and there was no reason to doubt the judges who saw fit to proclaim Muse the best live band in the world. Witness Matt doing knee slides across the stage while peeling off blistering guitar solos. Matt's fingers flying across the piano keyboard, guitar slung across his back - only to leap up and peel off some huge demolishing riffage.

The crowd were stunned. I heard grown men singing along word for word in high keening voices (I cast about for my BB gun as I momentarily thought the cats were on the garden wall again), and just as what I thought must have been the best live performance of a song ended, the next one started and bettered the previous one. I can't remember how many songs were played and how long the set lasted, but I remember thinking as they sang '..time is running out...' that yes indeed it was. We would have to wait a very long time here in South Africa before seeing something as awesome as this again.

After an inordinately long break, Korn came on (I amused myself visualising them in a fluster after a late start to their make-up application routine - maybe there was a bit of a bust up over who stole Munky's mascara). Eventually they made it on stage and looked dressed to kill - literally. Davis in his skirt of course, with me hoping not to catch a glimpse of what was going on under there, as he lept up and down on-stage. The sound was truly mind numbing, and I don't think SA has witnessed anything as formidable as this ever before. Everything was there including the bag-pipes, and the crowd lapped it up.

Overall, Muse came out tops for me, then Chris Cornell, the Kaiser Chiefs and then Korn.

The biggest rock festival in SA, and probably the only one this year - it was all over too soon!

CD Review: The Goo Goo Dolls - Greatest Hits Volume One The Singles

While always a big fan of the ‘Dizzy up the girl’ album, I had never heard anything else from the Goo Goo Dolls, and was not sure on where they stood in my personal ranking of great bands. I think I placed them in that twilight area of mediocre type American rock bands along with Matchbox 20, Collective Soul and Counting Crows i.e. bands that are capable of some very good moments, but also, of far more very average moments.

The Goo Goo Dolls always struck me as a bit different in the sense that they at least had a more distinctive sound, using less traditional open-tuning on their guitars, and the distinctive vocals of John Rzeznik. Tunes like Slide, Broadway and of course Iris came across as very satisfying. Another aspect in the make-up that has impressed me has been the absence of media hype. John Rzeznik keeps a relatively low profile and the Dolls seem to be happy to carry on with their mission, which to me seems to be that of putting out solid ballad type rock.

So then, the question is – how great is a Greatest Hits album from the Goo Goo Dolls? They have stamped it as Volume One (the singles), which must imply that they expect plenty more Hits in the years to come. Of the 14 tracks, 5 are from ‘Dizzy up the girl’ but it must be mentioned that ‘Name’ is in the form of a new version, and 'Feel the Silence' is a remix (and also not from Dizzy...). This does then push the balance over whether to decide to buy the album rather than just stick with ‘Dizzy up the girl’. My question is, however, why not tag on the original versions of both those songs too, for the completists? Sure it’s great to have a new version of ‘Name’ – but it’s not the ‘Name’ that was the single, was it?

OK, I got a bit side-tracked there. How good is the album? It’s got all the best bits of ‘Dizzy up the girl’, and then the best of the rest too, so to me it’s pretty good. This compilation is evidence of a master song crafter and acts as an impressive display of his wares. Great to sing along to as well, who can resist the ‘..there’s a young man sitting in an old man’s bar…’ of ‘Broadway’, or ‘…Oh May, do you wanna get married…’ of ‘Slide’, or even the ‘da na na na da na na na da daa…’ of ‘Iris’ (you know what I mean)?

If you don’t have anything by the Goo Goo Dolls already, this is a good place to start. If you already have all their albums, then maybe don’t bother. Here’s hoping that they can give us another as good as this one at the end of the next decade!

DVD Review: David Gilmour -Remember That Night Live at the Royal Albert Hall (DVD)

Well at face value this DVD looks like it has lot of potential. First of all David Gilmour takes on his new Album 'On an Island' and decides to play it live in it's entirety. Next he assembles most of the musicians who played on 'On an Island': Richard Wright, Phil Manzanera, Jon Carlin, Guy Pratt, Steve DiStanislao, and Dick Parry. Then he even rounds up special guests: David Crosby, Graham Nash, David Bowie and Robert Wyatt. This almost sounds too good to be true, even in danger of becoming overblown and stultified when considering the big names involved. Things can go horribly wrong with so many big egos involved in a project like this...... so do they?

Not at all - the individuals involved gather around Gilmour as true team members and seem to get on with the business of professional entertainment! The DVD pack that I purchased consists of two discs. The first is the concert DVD. This disc include an entire performance of the 'On an Island' Album which is excellent. The band look relaxed and as if they are enjoying themselves - and the sound is excellent. In fact the concert recording audio and visual are of the highest quality. What about the content? Well 'On an Island' is a pretty relaxed album that made it to 1 in the UK charts, so if you liked that, what's not to like. Then in addition Gilmour also performs some tracks by his usual band, maybe you have heard of them 'Pink Floyd'? Here a broad period is covered from early Syd Barret PF era recordings such as 'Arnold Layne' (done with Bowie on vocals) to later classics such as 'High Hopes'. Also included are some relative 'obscurities' such as 'Fat Old Sun' and 'Dark Globe' amongst others.

All in all one could not ask for more - this disc is excellent.

So still not sure whether to buy the DVD package or not? Check out disc 2 'Bonus Features'!

This disc includes several other (non Royal Albert Hall) live performances, and several Documentaries. The quality of these live recordings varies, but the must haves on this disc are the documentaries. You get to join the tour and travel around with the band through Europe and a little on the USA west coast. You get to see the environment in which Gilmour works with intriguing looks at his house-boat based recording studio nestled somewhere on the Thames, and you get a view of Gilmour and some of the band Jamming in a barn in the middle of nowhere (I think). In addition, a reasonable amount is revealed here relating to Gilmour as an individual. My interpretation: someone with a sense of humour, but also very firm on who is right or wrong in any situation. Another key factor: never compromise on quality! This comes through in the entire DVD package - content is strong on both discs, the packaging is great and in my view value for money too.

Overall recommendation: Buy it!