RIP Kevin DuBrow

Even though I'm a little late on it, due to a busy week, I feel like I should still say something about the passing of Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow earlier this week.

To a lot of folks, Quiet Riot will be remembered only for their hit cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize" or, perhaps, as the first metal band to log a No. 1 record. After that, they slid quickly into obscurity. But the band will always hold a special place in my heart.

I was 11-years-old in 1983 and just reaching a place where I was beginning to discover my own music and move away from the music that my parents were listening to. One of the first bands that I discovered was Quiet Riot, and it was due, in no small part, to that memorable cover of "Metal Health" -- the guy in the leather straightjacket with the metal mask. It played right into the sensibilities of an 11-year-old kid, and even to this day, I believe there are few "more metal" album covers than that one.

So, while the world remembers "Cum on Feel the Noize" and maybe the title track from that record. I remember other songs. I remember the fun "Slick Black Cadillac." I remember the semi-ballad "Love's a Bitch," which seems a bit juvenile today, but at the time, I sang along with feeling, over and over. I remember "Thunderbird," their tribute to Randy Rhoads. I also still enjoy the cheesiness of their second record, full of would-be party anthems, and even the mainstream but catchy "The Wild and the Young" from the otherwise pretty dreadful "QRIII." (Though you certainly wouldn't have told me it was bad at the time.) In fact, they didn't lose me until they released the truly awful self-titled record in the late 1980s without DuBrow.

Quiet Riot was the first band that I ever labeled as "my favorite band," and they held that distinction for quite a while despite their fade. DuBrow will never be mistaken for one of the greatest voices in metal, but it fit the music. If you don't believe that, just try listening to that aforementioned self-titled record.

Though I never caught them live at the peak of my fandom, I was fortunate enough to see them at an ampitheatre show opening for Ted Nugent shortly after they reformed in the late 1990s and again in a local club a few years later. Though I no longer followed their recordings, I enjoyed hearing the old songs played, and both times they put on a high energy show. DuBrow, despite the obviously bad wig he wore both times, was just as flashy and flamboyant on stage as he had ever been and I enjoyed both shows immensely. I was also lucky enough to have the chance to interview DuBrow, who came across as just a normal, friendly guy, and meet the entire band after that club show. Though it didn't mean as much to me as it would have in 1983, it was still a great experience.

Perhaps in the larger metal landscape, where Quiet Riot never quite made the impact that they should have, DuBrow and the band may be viewed as just a footnote -- the band that scored the first No. 1 metal record. But for those of us who, at one time or another, sang along to Quiet Riot songs with great gusto, he will be missed.

Review: Prong - "Power of the Damager"

The latest release from Prong is in some ways refreshing. They’ve dropped most of the industrial, mechanical influence they adopted on Cleansing and have gone for a return to the sound of Beg to Differ or Prove You Wrong. In other ways it’s disappointing – mainly that it’s not as interesting as any of those records.

If there’s one thing that Tommy Victor has always been able to produce, it’s big, heavy riffs. Power of the Damager has those in abundance, but once you get beyond those riffs, there’s really not much left. When you hear the big riff of a song like “Looking for Them” or “No Justice,” which open the record, it’s hard to dislike it. Once the song is over, though, it’s difficult to remember much about it. Certainly, there aren’t any really infectious hooks like “Prove You Wrong” or “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” to be found here. The songwriting is lacking and leaves some really good riffs trying to fight through a muddle of mediocrity to be heard.

Though Victor’s vocals range from melodic, hard rock-style offerings to hardcore shouts, they’re basically the equivalent of musical wallpaper. I never get that gut-punch feeling from his delivery and never really get the feeling that he believes in what he’s singing. To be fair, that’s often been a problem I’ve had with Prong in the past.

There are some interesting moments here and there. “The Banishment” reminds me a lot of “Prove You Wrong” and delivers one of the better riffs on the record and an almost funky verse melody that hangs around longer than most here, but it’s hardly a sticks-in-your-head moment. The clean guitar backed by big distorted notes at the beginning of “Spirit Guide” is nice, but the rest of the song just blends into the background.

I guess that’s what could be said of most of the album. It’s not awful, but it just blends into the background. Hardcore fans of the band may or may not laud this as a comeback record, but I just don’t find anything exciting or invigorating about it at all. The casual fan will be better served by digging out a copy of Beg to Differ.

Get "Power of the Damager."

Review: M.O.D. - "Red, White and Screwed"

Though they were never one of my favorite bands, I grew up listening to M.O.D. in the 1980s, and I got a good chuckle out of their last record, 2003’s The Rebel You Love to Hate. You see, that’s the M.O.D. that I like – the tongue in cheek, bordering on goofy band that made fun of the 1980s obsession with image, that makes fun of white kids who think they’re from the ’hood, that makes fun of bands that take themselves too seriously. Here, though, on a few occasions it seems to me that Billy Milano is taking himself a little too seriously.

There's still some fun to be had with the name-dropping “Alphabet City Stomp” and “The Greatest Lie Ever Told,” which opens with a Tenacious D-like intro then takes shots at Metallica and King Diamond (and features Milano doing a pretty funny almost spot-on King Diamond impression.) Other humor numbers, like “Jose Can You See?,” a tirade against illegal immigrants, don’t work quite so well. There are also plenty of nods to other bands scattered around the record, most notably a tip of the hat to early Suicidal Tendencies on “Bullshit Politics.” It makes me want to go back and pull out that first ST record.

M.O.D. has always brought a good mix of thrash and hardcore. For this record, though, Milano leans more on the hardcore side, and it has the same problem that I’ve always had with hardcore: To me, it all sounds the same. I readily admit that I’ve never really gotten hardcore, and I don’t understand it. To me, it’s all a chuggy riff and a guy yelling. Maybe what’s here is good, maybe it’s not, (though I do suspect real hardcore fans would find it a little too derivative) but there’s not much for a thrash guy like me to grab onto.

Red, White and Screwed isn’t a bad record, but I’m not likely to revisit it very often. I miss the fun of the band’s previous records, and the songs, for the most part are just mediocre. Still, you have to admire the fact that Milano speaks his mind, even when what he’s saying may turn off potential listeners. There’s something to be said for that.

Read my review of M.O.D.'s "Rebel You Love to Hate."

Get "Red, White and Screwed."

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: Down -- "Over the Under"

I'll admit it took me a little longer to come around to New Orleans supergroup Down's latest record than it did for their first two. Initially, I missed those big hooks from their second record (the ones that some fans thought were a little too commercial.) Then, there was the mix on this record, which at times is as muddy as the bottom of the southern Louisiana bayous the music crawled out of. After a week or so of listening, though, I couldn't help but like it.

At its best "Over the Under" delivers exactly what fans have come to expect since the band's 1995 debut "NOLA" - a very organic record that's part stoner rock, part doom and heavy as hell. The sound here is equal parts Southern-fried groove, ominous Black Sabbath slab riffs and psychedelic Jimi Hendrix fuzz. Blues influence crops up throughout the record in the grooves and lead guitar licks, and you'll even hear a touch of country twang on the song "Never Try" - where Phil Anselmo paraphrases Yoda in the lyrics with his "Never try, never try/ you either do it or don't waste your time."

The heart of this record, as with the first two Down offerings, are the monster riffs and head-bobbing grooves of guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein layered over the solid rhythm section of Rex Brown and Jimmy Bower. Anselmo brings a world-weary, often agonized delivery that reflects the darkness of much of the subject matter. His lyrics are very personal on this record, if on occasion a bit incoherent - take, for example, the line "Partake no tangible out in tomorrow" from "On March the Saints." Huh?

Despite the occasional head-scratcher line, though, the album delivers lyrically perhaps a little more than the previous two records. There's a more real and gritty feeling to Anselmo's approach to the lyrics, and truth rings through, particularly on the song"Mourn," which seems to address his feelings at being blocked from former bandmate "Dimebag" Darrell Abbot's funeral due to a feud with the guitarist and his brother Vinnie Paul. "Hotel room of doom/ I can't find a clue/ confusion, broken hearted woe/ sheets and pillows soaked/ telephone seems broken/ I'm calling crucified/ blacklisted, no reply..."

It's also a record that tracks both the misery and resilience of the city of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Most notably "On March the Saints" and "Beneath the Tides," two of the stronger offerings on the record.

There are misses here and there on the record. The "Planet Caravan"-sounding "His Majesty the Desert," which serves as more of an intro to "Pillamyd" than an actual song just doesn't quite capture the same atmosphere of the Sabbath classic, despite some spacey guitar work. And "Pillamyd" itself, despite being the fastest track on the record, sounds kind of out of place among the other work here. Still, the bouncing, undeniable grooves of songs like "The Path" and "N.O.D." more than make up for the few misses.

Despite my initial misgivings, after a few weeks of listens, I can say Over the Under easily ranks as one of, if not the best record of the year, and it also ranks as Down's most honest and frank offering to date. Perhaps with the upheaval and challenges of the band's previous years in the past, we'll start to see more frequent offerings from the band. I, for one, would welcome it.

Hear a clip of "On March the Saints."

Hear a clip of "Mourn."

Read my review of Down "II."

Get "Over the Under."

Review: Ride the Sky, "New Protection"

Ordinarily, I’m not a big fan of the “supergroup” concept. No matter how good the musicians are, I don’t think a month in the studio together can bring the tightness and spirit to a band that playing together for years, busting your ass to make it and living together in a van down by the river does. That said, occasionally one of those “supergroups” manages to make a pretty good record. That’s the case with Ride the Sky.

The band is a project of drummer Uli Kusch – a veteran of bands like Masterplan, Helloween and Gamma Ray – vocalist Bjorn Jansson of Beyond Twilight and Tears of Anger, and studio guitarist Benny Jannson. Later they added keyboard player Kaspar Dahlqvist who has played with Stormwind and Circle II Circle and bass player Mathias Garnas of XsavioR. The result is a pretty solid set of melodic metal.

Admittedly this record is a little heavier on the keyboards than I would prefer, but there are enough nice biting guitar lines from Benny Jannson on tunes like “Silent War” – one of the best tracks here – to hold my interest and make me overlook it. The songs on the album cover a wide range of styles and emotions. There are shiny, happy tunes like “A Smile from Heaven’s Eye,” which reminds me a little of Lillian Axe, then there’s the driving power-prog blend of “The Prince of Darkness” and the spacey synth lines on “The End of Days.” Of course, they do deliver up the prototypical power metal song that I was expecting with “Far Beyond the Stars,” but that’s really the only one here.

The soaring melodic songs like “Corroded Dreams” and “A Crack in the Wall” are really good, but Ride the Sky is at its best when they depend on Jannson’s guitar work. The best tunes here all have that in common. “Break the Chain” offers up a nice, chunky, almost thrash-like riff, and “Black Cloud” delivers up the heaviest number on the record with some very aggressive riffing at the opening.

If there’s one complaint it’s that they overuse the vocal-bass combination where the rest of the band drops out for the verse and there’s usually some effect on the vocals. They use that at least four or five times, and it occasionally gives the songs a feeling of sameness.

Overall, this is really solid stuff, though. It’s great melodic metal with occasional hits of symphonic, prog and power. I highly recommend it for people who like music that’s melodic, but not wimpy.

Get "New Protection."

Review: Iced Earth, "Framing Armageddon"

Albums with expectations are always interesting, and this one has plenty. First, fans have been waiting for it since 1998 when the original trilogy of songs appeared on "Something Wicked This Way Comes," regarded by many as the band’s best record. The expectations were boosted over the summer when the band released the first single “Ten Thousand Strong,” packaged with a stripped down, heavier re-recording of the original trilogy. So does this project meet expectations? I’m going to reserve judgment on that for the time being.

I’ll admit that my initial reaction to "Framing Armageddon" was a slight disappointment. It doesn’t have those big stand-alone songs that a record like "Something Wicked This Way Comes" or "The Glorious Burden" had. Sure, “Ten Thousand Strong,” “Order of the Rose” and some of the other songs can stand on their own, but this record is a different kind of beast. It took a few listens through for me to come around. This isn’t a record that can be carved into bite-sized pieces for mass consumption. It’s one that, to really appreciate, you have to listen to from beginning to end. Even the weaker moments on the record, like “Infiltrate and Assimilate,” add to the work as a whole.

"Framing Armageddon" is a rock opera in the truest sense of the phrase, meaning not only that it tells a musical story, but also that the sound of the work is, well, operatic. Many of the vocal harmonies and melodies on the song choruses owe more to musical theater than to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. It’s particularly true on songs like “When Stars Collide (Born is He)” and “A Charge to Keep,” with their choir-like choruses. The album covers a lot of ground from tribal percussion to plodding hard rock riffs to the 1970s-style organ on “The Domino Decree.”

Though there are moments that don’t sound like Iced Earth, the basic feel of the band is there in the galloping riffing of songs like “Ten Thousand Strong.” As with most things that Jon Schaffer does, there’s a great attention to detail and a show of respect for fans that have followed them. There are some nice Egyptian/middle eastern themes that run throughout the record, and fans will pick up on quite a few links to the past. Most appropriate are the melodic elements that recall songs from "Something Wicked," particularly in the instrumental “Cataclysm.”

I continue to be impressed by the way that Tim Owens’ voice meshes with the music, and as much as I like the older records, I really think this is what the band was always meant to sound like. Here, Owens gets to stretch his vocals and be a little more expressive, from angry snarls to soaring, exultant high notes. Though the Halford-like screams are still there, on this record he finally manages to break away from his image as a clone of the legendary singer he replaced in Judas Priest and emerge as a dynamic vocalist in his own right.

In these days of disposable single-song downloads, it’s always refreshing when a band releases a record that demands to be taken as a whole. "Framing Armageddon" certainly does that. If you take the pieces apart, you lose the thread that makes the whole a great album. It’s easily one of the best releases of the year. So why am I reserving judgment? Because I haven’t heard the work as a whole yet. I look forward to hearing the second half, so that I can experience the story as it was meant to be heard.

Get "Framing Armageddon."

Review: Annihilator, "Metal"

The name of this album pretty much says all it needs to say, right?

I still remember the first time I heard Annihilator. I was a senior in high school when a friend of mine popped "Alice in Hell" into the tape deck of my truck. When the soft, classical strains of "Crystal Ann" came out of my speakers, I was impressed. When the schizophrenic riffing of "Alison Hell" started, I was sold. It was some of the craziest stuff I'd ever heard, manic time and melody changes, but it all seemed to work. By the end of the day, I owned the album and I still consider it one of the greatest (and most underrated) thrash records of all time.

The band followed with "Never, Neverland," which was still a solid record despite being slightly less aggressive and having a new vocalist. Things began to unravel with the third record, "Set the World on Fire," which featured yet a third vocalist (who was not particularly appealing) and the band's least aggressive songs. Some were practically radio-friendly.

Since then, Waters and the revolving door of musicians have been hit and miss, but certainly he's hit more than he's missed. With this record, he goes for the Santana approach, bringing in guest stars from some of the biggest metal acts out there today. Including Jeff Loomis from Nevermore, Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, Anders Bjorler from The Haunted, Michael Amott and Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy, Jesper Stormblad of In Flames, Corey Beaulieu from Trivium, Willie Adler from Lamb of God.

To me, it's kind of strange that Waters brings in guest guitarists when he's one of the best out there. But after hearing the album, I think he probably should have stuck with guitarists. Make no mistake. This is an Annihilator record. Waters wrote all of the songs, and none of the guest musicians really make an impact on the sound. The guest singers on the other hand have a big impact.

In the early going of the record, the vocals are just not aggressive enough for an Annihilator album. As much as I like Nevermore, Loomis just doesn't do it for me on "Clown Parade," and Danko Jones is almost enough to ruin a good tune on "Couple Suicide." Then there's the kind of cheesy "Army of One," with its name-dropping and a chorus I just can't bring myself to sing along with: "We are an army of one." Ummm... OK.

But from the fourth track on, this record is pure Annihilator. It starts with "Downright Dominate," featuring Laiho. Dave Padden, who has provided vocals for the past few Annihilator records, moves back to a more aggressive sound and we start to get those snarled choruses I expect from the band. Waters himself takes a turn on vocals for "Operation Annihilation," which recalls the band's early work, and there are also some nods here and there that fans will appreciate, particularly little snippets reminiscent of "The Fun Palace" from "Never, Neverland" and "Criteria for a Black Widow" from the record of the same name. Waters is still one of the greatest technical thrash guitarists to ever strap up, and he proves it again with these riffs.

While it gets off to a rough start, over the second half, "Metal" transforms into a serious contender for my end of the year Top 10 list. It's the second killer album from Waters in a row. Maybe he's finally getting back on track. Now, how about getting this thing released in the U.S. so we don't have to shell out for the import?

Get "Metal."

Read my review of Annihilator's "10 Years in Hell" DVD.

Review: Ted Nugent, "Love Grenade"

When it comes to Ted Nugent, there's not a lot of middle ground. People generally love him or hate him, and he wouldn't have it any other way. It's why he brags about graduating "magna cum loudmouth" in "Funk U."

On his last record "Craveman," Nugent really got back to what he does best. He skipped the boys choir vocals of Derek St. Holmes and gave us a blast of full-on, rowdy Uncle Nuge. The result was a raucous and raunchy rock record that rivaled his best work. True, I like a few of the songs that St. Holmes sang, but what I really want from Ted Nugent is "Free for All," "Cat Scratch Fever," "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang." With the exception of "Dog Eat Dog" and "Stranglehold," all of my favorite songs are ones that Nuge sang himself. It's sort of like the David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar situation in Van Halen. Sure St. Holmes and Hagar are better singers than Nugent or Roth, but they lack the character and charisma. And which one would you rather pay to see live?

Nugent also handles all the vocals on this record, and as you'd expect, it's huge, raw and bombastic. Nugent cranks out riff after riff in a celebration of sex, hunting and political incorrectness with few snoozers. The title track is a fairly generic 1980s-sounding Nugent tune. The softer, more reflective tune here, "Spirit of the Buffalo," also misses the magic he achieved with the similar "Fred Bear," despite some nice bluesy guitar runs. Beyond that it's full on, goofy Spinal Tap goodness.

Nugent hits his stride on the loud, out of control "Funk U." He cranks up his classic "Journey to the Center of the Mind," originally recorded with the Amboy Dukes, for the 40th anniversary of the song. He takes potshots at political figures in "Stand," and he breaks out the funk on the chorus of "Bridge Over Troubled Daughters." One of the strongest performances here, though, is also one of the more subdued, "Broadside." (That's right, I used the words subdued and Ted Nugent in the same review.) The song opens with a soaring riff that's not quite as raw and in your face as the rest here, and the Motown-style harmony vocals on the chorus are a nice touch. Of course, Nuge can't resist a bout of screaming insanity at the end of the song - it really wouldn't be a Nugent song without it, would it?

The Motor City Madman even manages to make the listener feel icky for singing along with a song in the special way that only he can on "Girl Scout Cookies." The song itself is just plain wrong, but damn that's a sweet groove.

If you go into this record thinking Nugent is an arrogant, loudmouth, sexist pig (and who doesn't?), "Love Grenade" definitely does nothing to change your mind. If you're looking for some greasy, rough around the edges rock 'n' roll that shoots from the hip, to borrow a line from a classic Nuge tune, this is just what the doctor ordered.
Read my review of the "Full Bluntal Nugity" DVD from a couple of years back.

Get "Love Grenade."