Saturday Shuffle: Soilwork, Tesla, Anthrax, Scatterbrain, Alestorm

Pretty heavy lineup this week -- some new stuff, some old stuff and ending with some fun ...


Soilwork, “Memories Confined.” From the album The Living Infinite (2013). One of the tracks from the mellower, more melodic side of last year’s Soilwork double album. It’s not really one of the more memorable, but it’s not bad, either.

Saturday Shuffle: Tesla, Iommi, Warrant, Van Halen, Rev. Horton Heat

A little '80s rock, newer material from a couple of classics and something a little different ...

Tesla, “Change in the Weather.” From the album Psychotic Supper (1991). This big, driving blues rocker was a great way to kick off Tesla’s third record, one that I think is a bit underrated from their catalog. The song has a real 1970s rock vibe, with some influence from the 1980s hard rock scene.

Saturday Shuffle: Tesla, Dash Rip Rock, Slayer, Mojo Nixon, Prince

Wonder if the last selection this week will throw anyone?

Tesla, “Government Personnel.” From the album Psychotic Supper (1991). Here’s a short, fun acoustic number that’s Tesla’s send up of the classic acoustic rock protest song. It’s a bit of a throw-away track to lighten the mood of the record, but try to get Jeff Keith’s drawl out of your head. “Go straight to Hell, all you government personnel…”

Saturday Shuffle: Jamey Johnson, Guns 'n' Roses, Tesla, Nine Inch Nails, Soilwork

Quite a variety this week, from country to industrial to melodic death.

Jamey Johnson feat. Lee Ann Womack, “This Ain’t My First Rodeo.” From the album Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran (2012). One of the best current country songwriters Jamey Johnson singing songs of one of country’s most prolific songwriters. How could you go wrong? The songs on the album, including this one, are very faithful to the originals and usually pretty good.

15 Years, 15 Records: 2004, Iced Earth makes history ... sort of

In the wake of Sept. 11, Iced Earth singer Matt Barlow decided that he wanted to do something for his country and joined the Department of Homeland Security. Jon Schaffer regrouped by picking up former Judas Priest singer Tim Owens, and the pairing turned out to be a potent combination on The Glorious Burden.

It’s a concept record of sorts, featuring songs based on historical events and figures. It’s a topic that Schaffer is passionate about, and it shows in the music. While the first disc of the two-disc set is outstanding, it’s the second disc that really shines. “Gettysburg (1863)” is a 32-minute epic in three parts, telling the story of the Battle of Gettysburg from the American Civil War. It’s bombastic, symphonic and quite possibly the best work of Schaffer’s career.

Heavy inspiration

Hopefully, you’ll forgive me for a little sappiness on Christmas. Since I’ve done the metal Christmas song bit a couple of times, I thought I’d try something a little different this year. Instead, I’m going for inspirational hard rock and metal tunes. I’m not talking about religious tunes (as some of the choices will clearly show) or, necessarily, songs that will inspire others. These are simply songs that have inspired or moved me for some particular reason over the years. Feel free to discuss your own in the comments section, if you wish.

“Believe,” Savatage. In my mind, this is one of the finest rock songs ever written – period. It’s amazing. It’s moving. And no matter my mood, it’s a song that always makes me feel better and more hopeful. It’s far from the only Savatage song that I find inspiring (at least half this list could have been from the band), but it’s far and away the most inspiring.

April Fools: Songs on the goofy side of rock and metal

In honor of April Fool's Day, I thought I'd take a look at some of those goofy songs that bands often throw on a CD just for giggles. Maybe you love them, maybe you hate them or maybe they're a guilty pleasure that you really don't want people to know you like. Here's a look at a few of my favorites. This list is by no stretch of the imagination comprehensive. It's done completely off the top of my head, and I'm sure I've missed even a few that I enjoy. Please feel free to add your own.

AC/DC, "Big Balls" (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, 1976). This one's become such a classic that it hardly belongs on this list. I've never known anyone who didn't laugh at this (barely) double entendre goof.

Aerosmith, "Big Ten-Inch Record" (Toys in the Attic, 1975). As with the first one on the list, this tune that draws its humor from the pregnant pause is a classic. But I still love it, and I've got to get Aerosmith on here.

Annihilator, "Kraf Dinners" (Never, Neverland, 1990). Sandwiched between heavy subject matter like environmental responsibility and dark tunes about insanity is this fun ode to mac and cheese. Somehow, it works.

Anthrax, "Startin' Up a Posse" (Attack of the Killer Bs, 1991). Anthrax has a few tunes that could fit on this list, but none quite as good as this ditty about Tipper Gore and the PMRC that manages to work in a thrash version of the "Bonanza" theme.

Body Count, "KKK Bitch" (Body Count, 1992). Body Count often used humor to make serious points, but this tune poking fun at racists is way over the top.

Bruce Dickinson, "Dive, Dive, Dive" (Tattooed Millionaire, 1990). I'd always thought of Bruce Dickinson as very proper and dignified until this song, filled with bad maritime sex puns, and it's companion piece "Zulu Lulu" arrived on his first solo record.

Guns 'n' Roses, "I Used to Love Her" (G'n'R Lies, 1990). You can't go wrong with Guns 'n' Roses' three-chord tongue-in-cheek ballad about a relationship gone wrong.

Infectious Grooves, "You Lie and Yo Breath Stank" (The Plague that Makes Your Booty Move, 1991). I'm not sure that Infectious Grooves belongs here because so many of their songs were tongue-in-cheek. Lyrically, this one is pretty bad, but for some reason I still love it.

Nuclear Assault, "Poetic Justice" (Something Wicked, 1993). While the killer title track was the centerpiece of this record, the band's take on a famous song from "The Sound of Music" has certainly given me my share of snickers over the years.

Pride & Glory, "I Hate Your Guts" (Pride & Glory, 1994). Basically Zakk Wylde's answer to GnR's "I Used to Love You," it covers similar ground with a southern twang.

Scatterbrain, "Don't Call Me Dude" (Here Comes Trouble, 1990). Like Infectious Grooves, I'm not sure if Scatterbrain belongs here because humor was their norm. But I can't resist this ode to a guy down on his luck with some serious thrash licks to back up the humor.

Suicidal Tendencies, "Institutionalized" (Suicidal Tendencies, 1983). "All I wanted was a Pepsi."

Tesla, "Tommy's Down Home" (Five Man Acoustical Jam, 1990). Having grown up around people like the one portrayed in the song, this tune always brings a smile to my face.

Van Halen, "Happy Trails" (Diver Down, 1982). Van Halen has a few tunes to choose from as well, including "Big Bad Bill" from this same record, but for some reason I've always had a special connection with their cover of "Happy Trails." ... bombadida, bombadida ...

Wrathchild America, "I Ain't Drunk" (3-D, 1991). I spent many nights tipping a glass to this cover of Albert Collins' classic drinking song.

Dweezil Zappa, "I Want a Yacht" (Havin' a Bad Day, 1986). While I love his cover of his dad's "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," this tune featuring the screams of comedian Bobcat Godthwait is just too bizarre to not make the list.

Unplugged: Five (mostly) acoustic records you should own

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.

Get "Jar of Flies."




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."

Get "Five Man Acoustical Jam."





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.)

Get "Hangover Music."

(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.

Get "Unplugged in New York."




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.

Get "Damnation."




A few more worth checking out:

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.

Review: Tesla, "Real to Reel, Vol. 2"

Tesla turns in a second round of cover tunes in less than six months. Being a Tesla fan from their early days, I took a look at the first volume and passed. There just weren't enough songs there that I cared about. This one interested me more -- at least until I heard it.

The band offers up pretty much note-for-note copies of the original songs that are usually not bad, but not at all exciting either. For the most part, the band makes it sound like the original, but there are some stretches here that singer Jeff Keith's voice just isn't right for, most notably ZZ Top's "Beer Drinkers and Hell-Raisers" and Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." Though I love Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes," I just can't get into this cover. It's not as bad as the Ozzy cover a few years back, but definitely not as good as the Bruce Dickinson cover, which for me is the best version of the song.

Keith is more in his element on Aerosmith's "Seasons of Wither," the best performance here. The band also handles Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Saturday Night Special," Montrose's "Make It Last" and Bad Company's "Shooting Star" well, if not excitingly.

Ultimately, this record is what it is -- a karaoke exercise with no real fire behind it. Like the first volume, this one's for hardcore fans only.

Read my review of Tesla's "Into the Now."

Get "Real to Reel Vol. 2."

Review: Godsmack, "The Other Side"

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.

Of the three new songs, the most interesting is "Touché," which features members of Dropbox, the first signing to Godsmack singer Sully Erna's label. It's got a twangy, almost country feel that's a bit out of character for the band. All in all, "The Other Side" reminds me a lot of Alice in Chains' "Jar of Flies," and that's a very good thing. This album shows that Godsmack isn't a one-trick pony and further reinforces their position as one of the top hard rock acts out there.

Get "The Other Side."

Interview: Jesse James Dupree

Hard rockers Jackyl are probably known just as much for their on-stage antics as for their music, but for frontman Jesse James Dupree, it's all in a day's work.

"If you don't (give the fans a show), they might as well sit home and listen to the record," Dupree says in his no-nonsense Southern drawl. "I've got to have the whole ball of wax. I want to see a man shot out of a cannon."

The self-proclaimed "Redneck Punk" from Kennesaw, Ga., has done his share of crazy things on stage. He regularly destroys stools with a chainsaw, sings from the back of a mechanical bull and fires off his shotgun microphone stand. He's even been known to take the stage clad in his cowboy boots, guitar and little else. But one performance stands out in his mind.

"We played an awards show in Atlanta, and they tried to tell us what we could and couldn't do," he says, his grin coming through the phone line. "We snuck about 40 chickens and roosters in and let them out on stage. They're flopping and flapping around everywhere at this black tie event. The Indigo Girls were there, and they were going crazy. I thought I was going to have to bare-knuckle fistfight one of them. That was messy."

Stunts like that aside, the band is also one of the hardest working when they're on the road. In 1999, they entered the "Guinness Book of World Records" by playing 100 shows in 50 days. After that, the band took a brief hiatus to focus on solo projects, but they reformed in 2001 and started writing new music. This summer they're out on the road as part of the Rock Never Stops tour with Tesla, Motley Crue singer Vince Neil and Skid Row.

Though Jackyl didn't release their first album until 1992, they're often grouped with the "hair bands" of the 1980s. Dupree describes Jackyl's music as "blue jean, blue collar" hard rock and doesn't understand why they're grouped with the glitzy '80s rockers.

"I spent the '80s playing in club bands, and I was playing '70s rock," he says. "I never connected with all the bands that had their heyday in the '80s."

Despite his reluctance to be grouped with those bands, he thinks the new tour is a good fit.

"We've always steered clear of packaging with anybody; we stayed out in left field and did our own thing," Dupree says. "It's kind of cool being in the middle of it, though. We're playing with Vince Neil - the guy sold 30 million records in Motley Crue, you've got to respect him. And Tesla is as far from a hair band as you can get. They're a straight up blue jean heavy rock band; they never wore eyeliner or puffed-up hair and neither did we."

Jackyl is probably best known for their 1992 hit "The Lumberjack," in which Dupree first broke out his signature instrument - the chainsaw.

"It's just a very definitive instrument," Dupree says. "It's loud, aggressive, abrasive, destructive, stanky - everything rock 'n' roll should be when it's done right. It's really a perfect fit."

Since then, every Jackyl album has featured a prominent chainsaw solo. But does he get tired of being known as the "chainsaw guy?" Not at all. It's just part of the package.

"If it was just that, it probably would bother me," Dupree says. "But there's another whole group of people who know me for going to jail about 10 times for getting naked, or the guy who has a goose gun for a mic stand or the guy that set the stage on fire at Woodstock '94 … I'm the guy that's in the band that doesn't mind showing their asses to entertain."

In late 2001, Jackyl racked up hits of another kind, when they posted the song "Open Invitation" to their Web site (www.jackyl.w1.com). The song, with its "I hate you, bin Laden" chant and blunt expression of the anger many people were feeling at the time, was downloaded 80,000 times in the first two weeks, causing the server to crash and costing the band about $10,000, says Dupree. But it's something Jackyl felt they had to do.

"We were in the middle of recording, and we wanted it to be a fun environment where we could crunch out some straight-up rock," Dupree says. "Then Sept. 11 happened. The only way we could vent was to record a song and put it out there."

That new album, which includes a song co-written by AC/DC's Brian Johnson, should be released later this year. AC/DC has been a big influence on Jackyl, and working with Johnson is like a dream come true for Dupree, who also traded vocals with the legendary screecher on the track "Locked and Loaded" from Jackyl's 1997 album "Cut the Crap."

"If you're a NASCAR fan, it'd be like Dale Earnhardt Jr. letting you take his car around the track for a couple of spins," Dupree says. "Brian Johnson is a perfect example of someone who has been very successful, but is still just a real guy. My friends will come over to the house, and he'll be there reading car magazines and having a beer. He's just a real, personable, down-to-earth guy."

Jackyl completed its obligation to Geffen Records with a "best of" album called "Choice Cuts" a few years ago, which leaves them free to shop their latest album to other labels. Dupree says they're looking for a company that really believes in the band.

The flamboyant frontman believes the future is bright for Jackyl. He thinks the world is ready for their brand of brash and cocky hard rock again. And if it's not, the band still has its hardcore fan base.

"We just want do what we do, and luckily, we've got such a supportive base - they've been incredible," he says. "I think the only thing that would end that is if I was to start rapping."