Rolling Past Expiry Hard Rock 2010

This interview with Jesse James Dupree of Jackyl is pretty great.

i am a huge jj cale fan! that is all.

Favorite songs on that new Jackyl album so far are the slowest (countrified Cinderella-style post-Southern rock power ballad "When Moonshine And Dynamite Collide" a/k/a the title track) and fastest (biker boogie-metal closer "Full Throttle.") "My Moonshine Kicks Your Cocaine's Ass" and "Freight Train" also reasonably speedy; "Just Like A Negro" ridiculous -- "you know the brothers are the ones who started rock'n'roll, yeah" -- but maybe in an entertaining way and sorta funky (are the backup grunts supposed to represent jungle noises or something??); "Mercedes Benz" cover pointless and rather off-key. And I wish Dupree had more way with a tune. So basically, I'm on the fence.

aw, i like the rods.

I like 'em okay I guess. Had never listened to them before I got '82's Wild Dogs (their best, according to Popoff, because "there was still hope") for a buck last month; wish they went totally crazed (especially tempo-wise) like they do in the title track more often, but the rest is halfway fun in a totally dumbass way. (Jasper and Oliver: "Rumoured to heavily into sexism!!!," ha ha, their exclamation points not mine.) First two songs "Too Hot To Stop" and "Waiting For Tomorrow" maybe halfway catchy, and slightly pompy midtempo almost-ballad almost-anthem "End Of The Line" puts me in mind of early Def Leppard. I guess slowly covering the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On" means they were Vanilla Fudge fans. But they still have that kind of cold, ploddy, blues-drained brainlessness that really starts to bug me about bands like Priest in that era; saving grace is that they also seem a lot trashier than Priest. Was not aware that (possibly Jewish?) David "Rock" Feinstein was a cousin of Dio and a former Electric Elf until I read Jasper/Oliver. So were they considered NWOBHMers, or not?

Uh, I guess not, since they were apparently...American. Duh. (Wild Dogs was recorded and mixed in the U.K., but the bands's management was in Rochester, NY.) Other early LP covers on line look more street-dog punkish and Boyzz-like, and Popoff calls '81's self-titled "poverty metal", though he only gives it a 4; maybe I'd like that more? And they used to get compared to Motorhead?? Not really hearing that on this one.

Well, Wild Dogs has an actual (albeit three-headed, one more than the Roxy Erikson song!) street dog on the cover. But I meant some other LPs make the Rods look like greaser hoods. (Not sure why that makes me think I might like them more; just does.) (Also, learning that they were from in or around New York -- still haven't pinpointed where, exactly -- gives both my Jewish and Vanilla Fudge theories more credence, especially since the drummer went on to produce Anthrax. Though probably who I should really be associating with is Riot, right?)

(Roky Erickson I meant. Though Roxy Erickson might've been a cool idea --especially if Roky had joined when Eno was still in.)

Meanwhile, I've pretty much conclusively decided that Yesterday & Today' self-titled debut is one of my favorite metal albums of all time -- or at very least, with Riot's Rock City, one of the mid/late '70s metal albums that I most cluelessly left out of my metal book even though I don't think anybody who's ever whined about what's included and not in that book has ever mentioned them. Curious what people think Yesterday & Today's heavy sonic predecessors are -- near as I can tell, there's no Sabbath or Zeppelin in their sound here at all. Maybe a perfect meeting of Deep Purple's British precision with Grand Funk's manly mid-American groove? I swear, the drumming and singing, especially, just kill on this record, and it is relentless in its power, its rhythm, its tunefulness, you name it. George is right about "Alcohol"; totally should have been the frat-rock drunkalong hit of '76. But that's an anomaly, and so is the totally fucking gorgeous psychedelic blues ballad, "My Heart Plays Too," at the end of Side One. Popoff calls them "spiritual Grandpa" to Van Halen, and yeah, I was definitely thinking the same thing, although the first couple VH albums had a certain Top 40 pop sense that these guys didn't seem to have to bother with. (Not saying one's better than the other; the philosophies are just different. But there are definite sonic similarities, maybe even more to VH's third and fourth albums.) But like I said, I'm more interested in where Y&T's sound came from. And also how a band that started this mature apparently just wound up backpeddling from there (judging from what people say about their later albums, anyway.)

Better late than never. I thought the record was great. Bought it because it was reviewed in a Billbaord with a little pic of the album cover originally.

Leonard Haze, drummer, was one secret weapon. He was always fireballing and with groove. Meniketti is pretty much a blues rock guitar player, no gimmicks, but right on top of a the high energy tone you could get from a Les Paul straight into a Marshall. "Ima mean earthshakuh, baby; A cold cold heartbreakuh, yeah." The lyrics aren't spectacular but when you throw the execution on top of the drums and riff on that tune, it's pretty great stuff.

There's a trio of albums - Earthshaker, Black Tiger and Meanstreak which are pretty consistant.
So with Struck Down and the debut, that makes five albums which are never less than above average to vry good.

They didn't have much of an image and when they tried for one it was always not quite right. They didn't really get a single until "Summertime Girls" and that wasn't representative of their best material.

And they certainly didn't have any colorful personality like David Lee Roth.

None of these are sins. But they didn't get quite the mileage they deserved for being so expert and out their by themselves on the first album. Like Riot. Like about half a dozen others from the period.

Curious who you'd think the other half dozen or so are, actually. (Though maybe I could figure it out myself if I gave it some thought -- or pull out the list of recommended albums you sent me a couple decades ago, when I was mapping out my metal book. Still have it somewhere, I think.) Anyway, "one of my favorite metal albums of all time" probably overstates the case; just mean it'd place high somewhere in Stairway, if I had to do the book over again. And right, I don't pay attention to the lyrics much, give or take "Alcohol"; it's the overall command of the band's playing and metalcraft that blows me away. And yeah, also occurred to me a few hours after posting that Y&T lacked a Roth, or an Eddie for that matter, to ensure pop-culture visibility.

Been wanting to defend Babe Ruth's Kids Stuff, from 1976 -- after Janita Haan and Alan Shacklock had left -- but I'd be pushing my luck. Funk ("Oh! Dear What A Shame") and disco ("Sweet, Sweet Surrender," "Oh! Doctor") moves toward the starts of sides don't have much rock in them, and are tentative even for their adopted genres (plus, Babe Ruth had way more groove early on, when they were heavier.) Too many ballads, too. But toward the end, things finally kick in, with Ellie Hope doing a tough Joplin in the hard funky rocker "Keep Your Distance," which builds to an really cool extended breakbeat. And then LP closer "Living A Lie" is a fairly explosive guitar ballad. So, maybe worth a buck for "Keep Your Distance" alone, but not worth much more.

was gonna post something last night but i fell asleep. was also gonna point out that Y&T had no diamond dave. or great songs, really. always thought of the 70's stuff as good to sometimes great, but also somewhat faceless. they were the new breed though, like van halen. and they, like vh and and scorps and ufo and priest, would inspire the modern metal warriors to come.

Yeah, supposedly Metallica (or at least Lars?) were big Y&T fans. Pretty sure I read that someplace once, anyway.

their second album is even more metal.

speaking of 1977, do you even own a copy of sin after sin by judas priest, chuck? just wondering.

Yes! I have it on CD, a Columbia/Legacy pressing from 1981 with bonus tracks "Race With the Eveil" and "Jawbreaker (Live)". It is the one Priest album I actually like. (Which isn't to say I might not like more of their earlier ones, if I explored them more. Though then again, I might not. I have no use for most Judas Priest I've heard, obviously.)

("Race With The Devil," duh.)

Almost bought a vinyl copy of Rocka Rolla at a garage sale a couple weeks ago, actually. Probably I should have. (Was thinking it was 1984 not 1974, unfortunately -- maybe it was a reissue too? Robot monster cover, not the one with the bottlecap. Assume I'm more likely to like what those guys were doing in the '70s. I should've bought it.)

(And obviously the CD Sin After Sin pressing is 2001, not 1981.)

you should own a copy of hell bent for leather too.

HEY CHECK THIS OUT! trailer for the barry richards t.v. show collection on dvd. BOB SEGER SYSTEM footage about five minutes in but there is a ton of awesome stuff on this thing. i gotta get one.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WDCAfan#p/a/u/0/xv9dBcTlQa8

want the entire humble pie segment they filmed!!!!! ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Btw, should mention that I definitely over-estimated the rock quotient of Sparks' Propaganda upthread -- loud-ish guitars in "Who Don't Like Kids," maybe "Don't Leave Me Alone With Her" and the rather Queen-pomped "At Home, At Work, At Play," but that's about it; guessing that's less than on Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing, maybe Kimono My House, though I'll go back and check those eventually. Still like the album's arch weirdo energy -- especially "Achoo," best anthem for hay-fever season I know -- but I understand if other people cringe at it. (I stop caring about them after the '70s, basically.)

I used to wear a Yesterday and Today logo T-shirt back in the day, promo for their '76 debut -- although I'm not entirely sure I ever had or heard the LP. Can't recall a note of it, and funnily enough I had no idea they were the same band as Y&T (but I never paid any attention to Y&T.)

And yeah, I only keep Babe Ruth's "Kid Stuff" LP because I collected all the previous stuff. After Haan and Shacklock left they really blanded out.

Woofer In Tweeter's Clothing, maybe Kimono My House

Hint: Check Big Beat, when the Maels raided the Tuff Darts for guitarist Jeff Salen. "Fill 'Er Up," "Throw Her Away & Get a New One," "Everybody's Stupid," "I Like Girls" (hilariously unconvincing), and "I Bought the Mississippi River."

Re xhuxk's query about bands/artists way out in front, as per one example, similar to Y&T:

Pat Travers.

His first four solo albums, particularly the debut and Putting it Straight and Heat In the Street from 77 and 78 were special. You really ought to hear "Life in London," "It Ain't What It Seems" and "Speakeasy," all from Putting It Straight, and "Makes No Difference" from the debut.

Travers first had Nicko McBrain in his band, then Tommy Aldridge. It wasn't until '80 that he had his hit with "Snortin' Whiskey" and by that time his best work was behind him, although Radioactive from the next year had an excellent first side.

He's also known for his cover of Little Walter's "Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)" which was on the debut.
Along with a fine version of "Hot Rod Lincoln."

live version of boom boom is still my go-to song for when i want to, i dunno, pillage a neighboring town? steal some sheep? it never fails to invigorate from head to toe.

Hi. The new Meat Loaf album is fabulous. That is all.

Went and saw Iron Man 2 today. More than decent movie, best when Robert Downey is being Tony Stark around his cast of supporting actors and actresses, rather than the superhero stuff. Was my favorite comic as a kid and Downey plays Stark as having way more of a funnybone than he ever did, but less the bruised alcoholic.

The AC/DC record accompanying it is not really a best of. But the programming is cool. As a paste-up/fix-up AC/DC record, it doesn't have a bad moment. Plus it includes a lot of live video from a variety of concert dates, much less than Family Jewels, but much easier to absorb in one sit with a few beers,

While AC/DC are becoming ugly but entertaining looking old men, Mickey Rourke is working at being the best physical ogre in acting. He gets more vile looking with every movie -- the tattoos, fake gold teeth and diseased hair, working hard at being a Gorgon.

Stormy Davis on the I Love Vinyl board. I don't even own my Silverhead LP (the one in Starway) anymore, but maybe George knows the answer...

I picked up the Detective after reading you guys on the Expiry thread. I was always somewhat curious about them because of the Swan Song connection, but always passed it over even though it's a perennial dollar record. Well, this time I decided to pay the dollar and I'm really glad I did! pretty top-heavy -- the first two tunes are probably my favorite. But a keeper nonetheless. Des Barres's blatant adoption of Robert Plant's style is pretty funny -- he didn't sound that way on the Silverhead records, did he?? It's been a while since I played mine

On the first Silverhead record he sounded like Steve Marriott. Quite a bit on 16 & Savaged, too.

Half the first Detective record was produced by Jimmy Page using a pseudonym, so maybe Pagey was egging him on. The drums on some of those tunes certainly have a Bonham-like feel.

Been very much enjoying quasi-superpowertrio St. Paradise's self-titled '79 LP -- their first and only, I believe -- for the past couple weeks as slickly boogiefied turn of '80s post-Foreigner corporate hard rock. Band is singer Derek St. Holmes ex of Nugent's band (also on guitar); Rob Grange who played bass for the Nuge; and Montrose/Hagar/ Heart drummer Denny Carmassi. At least one track got played on Detroit AOR that year (I remember the band showing up in weekly countdowns), though damned if I can be sure which one -- best guess is "Live It Up," a dumbbell but Diddley-beated weekend party rocker that Nugent gets co-songwriting credit for, though maybe that just sounds familiar because he'd done it himself on Cat Scratch Fever. That starts Side Two; both sides advance from basic catchy medium-weight butt-rock to heavier and tricker cuts -- namely "Miami Slide" (funkiest track, about viceful sleazeballs with spoons under their noses and gold chains) and "Hades" (not as frightening its name suggests, but then neither were Styx) at the end of Side One and the incrementally proggier "Tighten the Knot" then "Beside The Sea" (only two cuts over five minutes) at album's end. Attempts at mythic songwriting don't exactly stick, yet do manage to add some melodrama somehow. A minor album, but extremely listenable.

Oh yeah, also worth mentioning that second song on the album, "Gamblin' Man," sounds more like Bob Seger's "Travelin' Man" than "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man." And St. Paradise also do a song called "Jesse James," though not the Woody Guthrie one Bob did on Smokin' O.P.'s.

Given the album covers w/his art on 'em (Molly Hatchet, Nazareth, Dust, Wolfmother), it bears mentioning in this thread that painter Frank Frazetta died today. I put a selection of his album art on my MSN metal blog.

One of his family homes is in Monroe County, Pennsyltucky.

Interestingly, on the St. Paradise record St. Holmes does "Live It Up" as a Bo Diddley tune with a couple gospel-like singers on the chorus. Plus he drops a bit of a reggae break into the bridge. It's a hard rock tune but I can see Tedly forbidding him to play it that way for a Nugent album.

Post Ted Nugent I thought this album was a bit lightweight, squandering an opportunity. However, it's certainly aged better than most of the Nuge's sans-St. Holmes LPs from the same period.

So, speaking of Styx (well, I mentioned them in passing here earlier today), is the learned consensus that they never did anything else that rocked harder than "Earl Of Roseland" and "I'm Gonna Make You Feel It" at the end of Styx II? (As much Who as Heep to my ears, and the use of fancy pants Limey words like "yesteryear" and "sport" instead of "sports" as well as the title itself in "Earl Of Roseland" are kinda hilarious for a bunch of Chicago boys; makes it sort of the '70s pomp-rock answer to "Duke Of Earl" or something.) "You Need Love" at album's start is pretty rocking too. So, what else they did sounded that tough? (Have never heard the three other Wooden Nickel LPs, shamefully enough.)

Also, I'm sure I could find this if I wasn't too lazy to poke around online, but I'm guessing "Lady" must've hit locally in Chicago then got picked up nationally later? Went #6 pop in early '75, though the album had come out in 1973; album itself debuted on the national chart January '75. They didn't have another Top 10 until "Come Sail Away" in late '77. ("Lorelei" reached #26 in between.) My copy of II seems to suggest it was distributed by RCA, but I'm not sure if that was a one-off deal where the album got major distribution after the single finally started taking off, or if Wooden Nickel was a fake indie imprint, or what. (II peaked at #20 nationally; no other Wooden Nickel Styx LP got higher than #154, so one-off seems likely to me.)

I have all four Wooden Nickel albums in my iPod; that's all the Styx I own. They're weird, shifting from thud-rock to proggy stuff to weird, pompous pop. Not bad at all, and occasionally quite rockin'.

list of recommended albums (George) sent me a couple decades ago, when I was mapping out my metal book. Still have it somewhere

I just found it! Still don't think I've ever heard a note of music by Axis (It's A Circus World RCA 1978 - "intense power trio blast ala Dust. Really!"), Taste (Polydor 1969), More (Warhead, Blood & Thunder Atlantic 1981-82 "Smokin stuff"), Harvey Mandel (Cristo Redentor), or Terry Brooks & Strange (No Exit). George also recommends Man's "very early stuff"; still clueless about that. Used to own a Tucky Buzzard LP once; not sure why they didn't make the book.

Taste was Rory Gallagher's band before he went solo. I've never heard them but they're probably worth checking out.

The first Taste album is great. Outstanding tunes like "Blister on the Moon" and "Born on the Wrong Side of Time." Gallagher about had a nervous breakdown when they broke up, he thought the band was so good. The live Taste albums sound just like live Rory Gallagher solo except without Lou Martin on piano, I think.

"Warhead" is the best More album, although not the heaviest produced. Great tune, "I Have No Answers" and the
title track -- produced by Brownsville Station's management, Al Nalli of Michigan.

"It's a Circus World" is still a good hard rock trio album, was reissued in Canada a number of years ago. There's also some modern psychedelic ooze to it, particularly on "Ray's Electric Farm."

The Styx Wooden Nickel albums all have their moments, as does the one after, Equinox. When Tommy Shaw showed up I went the other way.

I definitely hear the same Who bits in esrly Styx. It was there. The guy wanted to write his own rock opera. Eventually it burned him, with Killroy was Here and Mr.Roboto." I still think it's hilarious to hear one of the Stux guys, probably Dennis DeYoung, ruefully describing how they had to follow Sammy Hagar who was selling his Standing Hampton album and single, "There's Only One Way to Rock." He mighta also been playing "I Can't Drive 55". One imagines the arena crowd was about ready to rip a new hole
in Styx on those shows.

Okay, so next, what do people here think about Focus, assuming anybody thinks about them at all? Was listening for the first time in a while to this 1977 LP called Ship Of Memories, and definitely thought "Can't Believe My Eyes" and "Out Of Vesuvius" had the twisted galvanic loud guitar churn prog energy of good early Crimson or heavy fusion, and "Glider" was maybe even better, funky like they'd been listening early '70s Miles Davis. Rest of the album, especially when they let Moogs and organs dominate, was mostly just okay. Thing is, I get the idea from producer Mike Vernon's really long and not exactly conclusive liner notes that this record was sort of a hodgepodge; apparently recorded at a bunch of different sessions around the world, spread out through the '70s. Here's what Wiki says, though it seems to at least slightly contradict the notes: "In 1976, frustrated with group's lack of direction and the constraints of working with its commercial ambitions, Jan Akkerman left on the eve of a sell-out UK tour. His last minute replacement was Belgian jazz-fusion guitarist Philip Catherine. The group's US label Sire Records released Ship of Memories, an album of largely unfinished Focus tracks from the aborted 1973-1974 rehearsal sessions to produce a follow-up album to Focus 3... Ship of Memories was released largely due to the effort of Mike Vernon and without the active involvement of the band." So okay, maybe that also explains why the songs are almost entirely instrumental, beyond maybe a couple seconds of "Hocus Pocus"-type opera gurgling in "Glider"? Or were their other albums mostly instro, too?

Uh, think I meant "Mellotrons" there, not "Moogs." (Also at least occasional clavinets, flutes, and piccolos, according to the notes.)

Vernon's appraisal is right. It was a hodgepodge and isn't there best although it's better than later stuff they did after he was no longer producing.

The best was a double LP, the cited Focus 3. That has a lot of berserk instrumental jamming, prog and even Vernon's beloved blues rock on it. It has the great Vernon production tone -- the special sauce he put on all the Savoy Brown and Blue Horizon Brit blues boom sessions. Moving Waves is the one everyone knows because of the "Hocus Pocus" single. The live album, also with Vernon, is pretty good although there was really not much difference between Focus in person and in the studio. I may have to drag that stuff out tonight.

You should scan those notes of mine and send them over as attached pic images. It was so long ago, I'd be interested to see what I actually said and if I still hold to it. I'm astonished they're still
around as it was so pre-computer and Internet.

And, yes, the Focus albums were primarily if not exclusively instrumental with Mike Vernon. I think "Moving Waves" only had vocals, if you want to call it that, on "Hocus Pocus" and the title track --which was mostly just a bit of a chant.

The first album, I forget its title, had a tune that was a dead ringer for Jethro Tull. After Akkerman left, they stank. His solo albums weren't that great, either.

Harvey Mandel (Cristo Redentor)

As a kid I had a promo 45 (nabbed from a radio station trash basket) of "Wade In The Water" from this LP and played it to death. It's a lengthy album cut, so it was divided into Part 1 and Part 2. Still have never heard the rest of the LP, but Mandel's tone on this is awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRcv_RREGC0

always liked this album a bunch

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000011PO.jpg

i never thought i was a fan of focus until i heard the third album. that one is a keeper.

"Wade in the Water" does have riveting psychedelic blues sound. It was Mandel's best moment. Wound up replacing Henry Vestine in Canned Heat and was tabbed to replace Mick Taylor in the Stones, winding up on some of the cuts from "Black 'n' Blue."

From over on the old thread I started on Harvey Milk, a blurb that their new album is being streamed by NPR. Haw. From pigfuck bludgeon to pinnacle of nerd rock appreciation in five years of work.

You should scan those notes of mine and send them over...astonished they're still around as it was so pre-computer and Internet.

Will do, though my graphic designer wife has the scanner in the family, so I'll have to wait for her. (I'd kept the list in a manilla envelope of old metal articles, in a box in the closet; I'm not exactly a pack rat, but did hang onto some potentially useful pre-Internet-era things.)

And in the latest hard rock news from Lehigh Valley, David Lee Roth never married a woman from Allentown, the Morning Call reports:

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-van-halen-david-lee-roth-allentown-0509,0,53161.story

Jesus wept.

Have to thank Gorge for allerting me to the Jeffrey Salen's cranked guitars on the Sparks' Big Beat, about which he is OTM; in fact, I'd maybe add the album's first couple cuts, "Big Boy" and "I Want To Be Like Everybody Else," which are pretty hilarious no matter what, to his list. Also love how the implausible "I Like Girls" at album's end follows "White Women" ("They walk with a swagger/Their power's on the wane...To me it doesn't matter if their skin's passe...The places that I'm cruising/The places that I stay/Are filled with Anglo-Saxons.")

Speaking of big boys, I've also been liking Big Boy by Mark Andrews And the Gents from 1980, on A&M, Joe Jackson's label, which makes sense because Andrews had apparently played keyboard in a pre-new-wave band with Jackson called Arms & Legs, and this is probably the best surrogate version I've heard of those very punchy (if more bass-based than guitar-based -- but rocking enough that Anthrax covered one of the faster songs once) first two Jackson LPs from the year before, especially in "Laid On A Plate," "Let Yourself Go," and speedy album closer "In A Jam." Loudest song on the album is probably the fast- talked opener "West One," which almost sounds like the Screaming Blue Messiahs several years before the fact. "Big Boy" itself is the deepest reggae groove (there's not a lot of that, but this a good one, though the ganjafied "Born to Be Wild" cover is horrible, and Andrews is apparently scared to plug "heavy metal" so he says "every little thunder" instead.) "Don't Let Go" is a good jangly powerpop track. He can't write songs like Jackson could back then, not even close, so the words barely stick at all, but when the energy gets pogo-ing I don't mind. Also weird: Andrews' greased down pre-Misfits forelock, or whatever it's called. Was that a thing for proto-goth rockabilly bands back then? Can't think of who else had one, but I doubt he invented it.