A pretty heavy lineup this week, though we do at least hit five different subgenres ...
Alice in Chains, “Frogs.” From the album Alice in Chains (1995). For some reason, Alice in Chains’ 1995 self-titled album never seems to really get its due. It produced its hits, but wasn’t quite as straightforward, perhaps, as Dirt or Facelift. This dark, moody number is a perfect example of that with a quirky melody and Layne Staley delivering the end of each verse line in a lilting, high tone. Not my favorite song from the record, but good stuff nonetheless.
A few bona fide classics and one big bust make up this week's edition of the Shuffle ...
Alice in Chains, “Grind.” From the album Alice in Chains (1995). Alice in Chains’ self-titled record seems to get overlooked a little, but it’s a great album. The grooving, grinding riff of “Grind” is a great example of what you can find. Layne Staley’s dark and angry vocal on the verse gives way to a rare, almost hopeful chorus from the band.
This week, we start out with some new stuff and end with a couple of old favorites, including one all-time favorite ...
Ashes of Ares, “Move the Chains.” From the album Ashes of
Ares (2013). Made up of fomer members of Iced Earth (vocalist Matt Barlow and
guitarist Freddie Vidales) and Nevermore (drummer Van Williams), Ashes of Ares
sounds pretty much like what you’d expect. That’s not a bad thing at all,
though. “Move the Chains” is one of the better tracks on a very good album, very
reminiscent of Barlow’s early work with Iced Earth.
I’ve been reading fantastic things about The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, the follow-up to the new lineup of Alice in Chains’ very good Black Gives Way to Blue. But I’ve got to say that I’m just not feeling it.
Black Gives Way to Blue came as a great surprise to me. I always knew that Jerry Cantrell drove the direction of Alice in Chains, but I felt like it just wouldn’t be the same without Layne Staley’s voice and intensity. In that, I was absolutely right. It was most certainly different, but it was good in its own way.
The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here just doesn’t have the same kind of renewed energy that record had. I find the album to be very monotonous. The darkness, menace and unease that I love about Alice in Chains is largely missing, and many of the songs just blend together for me.
From Amon Amarth to Charlie Daniels in two songs. That path creator
thingie online has nothing on me.
Amon Amarth, “A Beast Am I.” From the album Surtur Rising
(2011). The day always goes better with a little Amon Amarth. I’ve always loved
the blend of death metal and very catchy melodies and hooks that Amon Amarth
delivers, and “A Beast Am I” has those. It’s like death metal for non-death
metal fans.
“Fire it Up,” Black Label
Society. From the album Mafia
(2005). Talk box. That’s what I’m talking about. The song opens with one of my
favorite uses of the thing, right up there with Alice in Chains’ “Man in the
Box.” Listen to it a couple of times and try to get that melody out of your
head.
I still remember the first time I heard Alice in Chains. It was the video for “Man in the Box” on “Headbanger’s Ball.” I was in the throes of one of those “more notes=better music” phases that most young guitar players go through, and I absolutely hated it. The one-note main guitar riff was far too simplistic and the moaning vocal style of Layne Staley was so foreign to the things I was listening to at the time.
Fast forward about six months. I’ve got tickets to see Van Hagar, and Alice in Chains is the opening band. If it hadn’t been a general admission show, I might have showed up late. I’m glad I didn’t.
Since my XM subscription expired, I’ve been listening to regular radio in my truck off and on, and after hearing many of the same songs over and over, I started thinking about songs by bands I like that I’d probably be perfectly happy if I never had to hear again. In many cases, these are songs that I really enjoyed at one time or another, but I’ve heard them so often they bring a groan every time I hear the opening notes. So, while I realize no one will listen to me, I nominate these songs for a long break. Feel free to argue the point.
From time to time I catch a little grief in metal circles because I like some of the more commercial hard rock acts like Godsmack and Disturbed. Quite frankly, though, I’m way too old to play the “who’s more metal” game. I like what I like, even if it is commercial.
On their last record, “IV,” Godsmack experimented with some new flavors and sounds. I thought there was some good stuff on the record, but I didn’t love it. For their latest, “The Oracle,” they’ve returned to the sound that got people’s attention in the first place.
1. Heaven and Hell, The Devil You Know.Call this a fanboy pick if you want, but I’ve continued to return to this record time and time again over the course of the year. I really think the songs here blow away much of the stuff being done by musicians who could be their great-grandchildren.
2. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Night Castle. Fans waited a long time for this one, and it was worth it. It’s got a good blend of rock and classical, with some of the most metallic moments on any of their records. There are also a couple of Savatage covers thrown in for good measure.
4. Amorphis, Skyforger. I find myself firmly back in the Amorphis fan fold after this record. To me, it’s easily the best thing they’ve done since “Elegy.”
5. Saint Deamon, Pandeamonium. This was my introduction to Saint Deamon, and I was immediately impressed. It’s got a great blend of heaviness and melody.
6. Megadeth, Endgame. No, it wasn’t “Rust In Peace” part 2, like Mustaine promised, but I didn’t expect it to be. It’s a rock solid record that’s among the best, if not the best they’ve done since the 1980s.
7. Luna Mortis, The Absence. I’d reviewed a record from this band under their former name, Ottoman Empire, but couldn’t remember much about it. The first album as Luna Mortis, though, pretty much blew me away early in the year.
8. Machines of Grace, Machines of Grace. The band features two former Savatage members, and it’s no secret that I’m a Savatage fanboy, but the music has little to do with that band. This is old-fashioned 1970s-style hard rock with a few progressive leanings.
9. Black Water Rising, Black Water Rising. I’m not sure if this record has officially been released yet, but I’ve been digging the promo since April. It’s some of the best straight-up hard rock I’ve heard in a while.
I'll be honest off the top in this review. I didn't want to like an Alice in Chains record without late vocalist Layne Staley.
Staley is, perhaps, one of the most underrated singers to come out of his era. While Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is celebrated by the press and fans of Seattle's grunge sound of the early 1990s, Staley seemed to fade slowly away, his death in 2002 barely a footnote in comparison. Yet, you'd be hard-pressed to listen to just about anything on rock radio these days without hearing the influence of Staley's wounded moan. His was a distinctive and powerful voice, perfect for the music of the band which could go from an acoustic whisper to a heavy metal roar in an instant. In the eyes of fans, a replacement singer is sure to be a hard sell.
So, it comes as a bit of a surprise to me that "Black Gives Way to Blue" has spent the last week in my CD player without a break, and I'm enjoying it more with each listen. Just so things are straight, no, this record is not as good as Alice in Chains' 1990 debut "Facelift" or its landmark 1992 album "Dirt." It's not even as good as the self-titled 1995 record made as Staley was spiraling down into the drug-induced depression that eventually led to his death. But it's a far better album than I expected and certainly a worthy addition to the catalog.
New singer William DuVall does his best, often sounding eerily like the original, though his voice lacks much of the darkness and intensity of Staley's wails. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell also takes on a heavy share of the vocal duties, as he always has, to help create those classic Alice in Chains harmonies. Musically, the record is as solid as fans would expect, and quite melancholy as many of the songs revolve around Staley's life.
"Black Gives Way to Blue" starts a bit slowly with "All Secrets Known," which seems to be an attempt to prove early on that this record will still sound like Alice in Chains. Unfortunately, the song is a bit boring, constantly building to a peak that it never reaches. Second track, the single "Check My Brain," is the closest the record gets to an upbeat song, and it sounds a bit too much like it was written with radio in mind.
Things begin to pick up with third number, "Last of My Kind." It opens with a dark verse that puts me in mind of some of the tunes toward the end of "Facelift," then explodes with a big, driving hard rock chorus that's probably one of the least Alice in Chains-sounding pieces on the record, but also one of the most memorable moments. They follow up with the acoustic number "Your Decision" that would not have been at all out of place on the band's incredible 1994 EP "Jar of Flies." It's territory they'll explore successfully again later in the record with "When the Sun Rose Again."
The vibe gets heavy again with the droning opening riffs of "A Looking In View," an epic, cascading wall of sound with the trademark warbling harmonies from the band's early work and also some nice vocal moments for DuVall scattered throughout. Then we get the melancholy, haunting harmonies of "Acid Bubble," interrupted a couple of times with a heavier, rawer guitar riff that jars the listener, but in a good way. "Lesson Learned" offers up a nice heavy groove with a memorable melody that strikes a good balance between the gloomier material and mainstream rock.
The end of "Black Gives Way to Blue" offers up another mixed bag. "Take Her Out" opens with an interesting, exotic-sounding guitar lick, but doesn't elevate itself to the level of the really good songs here. "Private Hell" features some of the best harmonies on the record, but just seems to be missing something. The album-closing title track is the one that most directly addresses the loss of Staley, and it also pulls out some big-time firepower with piano work from Elton John. By its very nature, the song has to be very morose, and it is. I'm really undecided about the tune. I like it, but it's a big downer to end a very good record on.
Alice in Chains has served up a bit of a curve ball for me. Having heard DuVall's voice with his previous band Comes with the Fall (of which I'm not a fan), I didn't think he was at all the right person for the job. And I'll admit, my feelings are mixed in praising this record. Even in its strongest moments -- and there are many -- I have to wonder how much better "Black Gives Way to Blue" might have been were we able to hear it with the original lineup. Regrettably, that's not possible, and it's not really fair to this lineup.
So, yes, DuVall succeeds and "Black Gives Way to Blue" is a very good record, possibly even a top 10 choice for the year. But fans with strong ties to the original lineup should also expect a twinge of regret and sadness to come along with the enjoyment of the album. Perhaps that's as it was intended and as it should be.
I've been strumming my acoustic guitar a bit more than usual the last few days, and it's gotten me thinking about some of the really good acoustic records by normally hard-rocking artists. When people decide to unplug, it's not always great. If you're a child of the 1980s like me, you probably remember MTV's "Unplugged," which featured a lot of bands that should have stayed plugged in. For every brilliant performance like Aerosmith's, there were plenty of painful performances, like, say, Poison. But some bands can do both just as well. Read on for my five favorite (mostly) acoustic records by otherwise hard-rocking bands.
1. Alice in Chains, "Jar of Flies." This, to me, is the epitome of a great acoustic hard rock record. It's not some phony, staged unplugging for a TV show. The seven tracks here are all raw and honest. It's an emotional, often dark journey from start to finish, and despite being perhaps the band's softest moment, it's just as heavy as anything they did plugged in. Jerry Cantrell's sometimes simple and sometimes intricate guitar work provides the base, and the moody drone of the late Layne Staley brings it all home. My only complaint is that it's far too short. An acoustic metal masterpiece.
2. Tesla, "Five Man Acoustical Jam." Laugh if you want, but I think Tesla got a bad rap in the 1980s by being lumped in with the Poisons, Warrants and Wingers. They were a great blue jean, roots hard rock band, and they prove it with this set that mixes acoustic versions of their own songs, a number of covers and some just for fun stuff. It's one of those rare live albums that makes you feel as though you were there and having a great time, and the performances are top notch as well. You know their cover of "Signs," of course, but also check out the acoustic version of "Gettin' Better" and their cover of CCR's "Lodi."
3. Black Label Society, "Hangover Music, Vol. 6." Like Alice in Chains' "Jar of Flies," there's an honesty here that doesn't often come across in acoustic records by hard rockers. Admittedly, there are a few snoozers here, but it's hard to deny the power of songs like "Once More" and "No Other." Zakk Wylde's gravelly voice is perfect for these moody acoustic numbers, and this record is a powerful testament to what he can do when he turns the Les Paul down a little. (I don't want him to do that often, mind you.)
(Sorry, for some crazy reason, there's no widget available for "Hangover Music.")
4. Nirvana, "Unplugged in New York." It's no secret that I think Nirvana is the most overrated band in the history of recorded music. Sure, they ushered in a new style of music, but there were far superior bands in that style -- Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, even Pearl Jam. Still, I agree with the Nirvana worshippers on one point: this record is brilliant. From the gritty opener "About a Girl" to a cool cover of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" to a rocking cover of the Meat Puppets' "Lake of Fire," there aren't many skips on this record. It showed an artistry that I didn't believe Nirvana capable of prior to this record.
5. Opeth, "Damnation." Perhaps it's a daring move for a progressive death metal band to take a break from the distortion and growls, but I'm glad they did. The result is a very haunting set of 1970s-influenced rock that continues to set the band apart from their contemporaries in the metal genre. While I certainly wouldn't want Opeth to turn to this full time, it's a welcome diversion.
Godsmack, "The Other Side." I was actually quite surprised with this record. I couldn't really see Godsmack as an acoustic act, until I saw them do their live acoustic set. The performance really put me in mind of Alice in Chains, as does this record. It's perhaps not a comparison that the band would want, seeing as it's one they've gotten their whole career, but in this case it's a high compliment.
Alice in Chains, "Unplugged." Not as strong as "Jar of Flies," but a solid set of songs and a very powerful performance just the same.
Zakk Wylde, "Book of Shadows." This record was very jarring for me when it came out, and I still haven't come fully around to it, but I do have a great appreciation for it. And "Sold My Soul" is just an incredible song, maybe one of his best.
Disagree with me, or think I missed one? Let me know about it.
It's been about five years since Shreveport native Kenny Wayne Shepherd released his last album, and when he takes the stage at the Strand Theatre on Friday night to launch his latest album "The Place You're In," fans may be in for a surprise. Shepherd's sporting a new look and a new sound.
The guitarist who made his name by peddling the blues to a younger audience, puts the focus on rock for this outing.
"It's definitely a breath of fresh air," Shepherd said. "After not having a record out for almost five years, to come out with a new sense of musical style, it's probably a good thing."
Shepherd has spent the last few years recharging. He hit the scene with his 1995 debut "Ledbetter Heights" as a 16-year-old phenom, steeped in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughan. The follow-up, 1997's "Trouble Is ..." propelled him to stardom on the strength of the ballad "Blue on Black." The album went multi-platinum and kept him on the road. After touring for his third album "Live On," Shepherd decided it was time to step away for a while.
"I've been working nonstop since I graduated from high school - year after year, 250 shows a year, three albums," he said. "I think it was just time to take a break, sit back, relax and live life at home for a while."
One thing he worked on during the break was honing his vocal chops. On "The Place You're In," Shepherd steps up to the mic for the first time in his career.
"It's something that I think all my fans have been anticipating and that I've been looking forward to doing," he said. "It was just a matter of when I felt comfortable enough to step up and do it."
Shepherd thinks the move also adds even more depth and passion to his music.
"This is a very personal album as far as the lyrics go," he said. "It has a different effect when you're actually the one singing and translating the message to people."
He's not planning to take on the old songs himself, though. Noah Hunt is still part of the band (and sings a couple of songs on the new album).
Another guy who handles vocals on the album is Kid Rock. Shepherd first worked with the rap-rocker on Kid Rock's self-titled 2003 album. Now, Rock returns the favor on the track "Spank."
"It's always a pleasure to work with him," Shepherd said. "We've just kind of run into each other on the road over the years and developed a really good friendship. He called me to play on his record, and I had this song that I thought was well-suited for him. It turned out great."
Shepherd will also have some special guests for Friday's performance, including Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. He's also working on a few other surprises, but can't say anything about them yet.
Even with all this rock talk, Shepherd's not worried about alienating his old fans. He's always had a strong rock influence in his music, and though a few may not like it, he thinks most of the fans will follow him.
"I couldn't make everybody happy with any of my other records, either," he said. "There were still some blues purists out there who criticized me and said I wasn't a blues player. With anything, you're going to anticipate some of that.
"But I expect to gain some new fans as well. That's a good thing because they'll listen to my previous albums and maybe get turned on to the blues in the process."
If there's one man in the world of heavy rock that seems able to do no wrong, it's Zakk Wylde.
From the heavier sound he brought to Ozzy Osbourne's band in the late 1980s to Southern rock with Pride and Glory to his acoustic solo debut to the bone-crunching Sabbath-inspired riffs he lays down with Black Label Society, Wylde has rarely made a misstep. Now comes his sixth outing with BLS, the aptly titled "Hangover Music." If the first five Black Label albums have been the wildest, loudest and craziest party you've ever attended, then this album is definitely the morning after.
On "Hangover Music," Wylde revisits the acoustic stylings of his 1996 album "Book of Shadows." And why not? Over the years, his slow songs have been some of his best. They seem to fit his vocal style well.
"Hangover Music" is a bit grungier and uses more electricity than "Shadows," which was almost completely acoustic. But the trick to this album is in how he uses the electric guitars, not as a crutch, but sparingly to create mood and atmosphere - and of course, to kick out some blistering solos.
Even in a semi-acoustic setting, though, Wylde is still served better by the more upbeat numbers. The CCR-meets-Sabbath stomp of "House of Doom" is a perfect example of Wylde in his element and at the top of his game, and the album-opener, "Crazy or High," is simply one of the best songs the band has written.
Wylde and Co. hit rough waters when they slip into Elton John mode on "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow," but fare better when they slide into an Alice in Chains groove on "Layne." Wylde shows off his piano skills on "Damage is Done" and the jazzy chords on "No Other" are a nice surprise.
Overall, the album shows that you don't have to plug in to be heavy. But as much as I like the more laid back side of Zakk, I still think he needs to plug back in as soon as possible. The metal world needs him at full intensity.
Acoustic sets are a tricky thing for hard rock bands. For every Alice in Chains or Tesla that gets it right, there are a dozen bands that take the stage with an acoustic and bang out the same power chords they use with an electric. Without the wailing wall of distortion, all of the weaknesses are exposed.
Luckily, Godsmack is one of the bands that gets it right. On "The Other Side," the band offers up acoustic versions of several of their songs, along with three new tracks.
Godsmack shows an impressive side on this album, that they've hinted at before on songs like "Voodoo" and "Serenity." The most impressive and surprising moment on the album is a reworking of their heavy hit "Awake." They've renamed it "Asleep" for this version and changed it from a pounding headbanger to a melancholy ballad. It gives a whole new signifigance to the song's subject.
I was also a bit surprised by how well other heavy tunes like "Re-Align" and "Keep Away" translated into acoustic numbers. They perhaps hovers a bit close to the "same three chords" approach, but the songs take on a warm, rootsy feel that works well.
Godsmack roared onto the nu-metal scene with their self-titled 1998 album, one of the most impressive debuts in recent memory. Their second effort "Awake" was a solid album, but lacked the individuality of the first. But with "Faceless," the band finally gives its fans a worthy follow-up to their debut.
Sound-wise, there's not much that's changed with Godsmack since 1998. They still blend the moody grind of Alice in Chains with the commercial crunch of Metallica's "Black Album," then throw in a little extra flavor of their own with singer Sully Erna's distinctive vocals. What makes "Faceless" superior to their last offering is the catchiness of the tunes.
"Faceless" is filled with solid rock grooves that will have listeners bobbing their heads and singing along. There are a number of strong performances, from "Releasing the Demons," with its funky bridge delivery, to the catchy riff of "Dead and Broken." Even though it got a little old last summer, "I Stand Alone" - originally from the "Scorpion King" soundtrack - is still a great song.
The vitriol-filled rant "I Fucking Hate You" will probably be soundly thrashed by critics, but it's a beautiful song to crank up after a rough day at work - and one of my favorites on the album.
The only disappointment on "Faceless" is the melancholy "Serenity," this album's answer to the band's hit "Voodoo." While "Serenity" is a good song, it lacks the mystique of the former.
Of all of the hard rockers to hit the scene in the late 1990s, very few have staying power for the long haul. "Faceless" proves that Godsmack is one of those.
