Monthly Archives: December 2009
WHITESNAKE – Slip of the Tongue
Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (1989, Geffen Records)
1. “Slip of the Tongue” … 5:20
2. “Cheap an’ Nasty” … 3:28
3. “Fool for Your Loving” … 4:11
4. “Now You’re Gone” … 4:12
5. “Kittens Got Claws” … 5:02
6. “Wings of the Storm” … 5:01
7. “The Deeper the Love” … 4:22
8. “Judgment Day” … 5:16
9. “Slow Poke Music” … 3:59
10. “Sailing Ships” … 6:02
Band:
David Coverdale – Vocals
Steve Vai – Guitar
Adrian Vandenberg – Guitar
Rudy Sarzo – Bass
Tommy Aldridge – Drums
Producer: Mike Clink & Keith Olsen
Holy cow, what a line-up David gathered for this release! Guitar virtuoso Steve Vai (David Lee Roth), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot) and Tommy Aldridge (Ozzy, Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band). I left out guitarist Adrian Vandenberg because while he was still technically a member of the band, a wrist injury prevented him from taking part in the recording sessions (the liner notes mention this while still crediting him and Vai). Vai had replaced Vivian Campbell, who was fired in 1988 for a “negative attitude”, but I think Vivian made out okay finding a home with Def Leppard in 1992.
I’m not sure how much touring Vandenberg was able to for this album, but I was thinking Vai and Vandenberg would’ve made for an awesome guitar duo… Until while doing research for this album I read Vandenberg didn’t appreciate Steve’s flashy style, which he feels damaged this album.
I’ve wanted this one on CD for years, but kept putting it off because I know it by heart as I had the cassette for a long time. I know there’s remastered/20th Anniversary/DVD edition but why pay $20 for that when I can just get the original for $6? I don’t need any fancy fixin’s! The album isn’t that good.
But I will say this, I’m probably a bit more positive on this one than most people. It’s the culmination of the band’s pop metal years with the bluesy hard rock now totally stripped away but there’s still some good songs here. Tongue-in-cheek numbers like “Slip of the Tongue”, “Cheap An’ Nasty” and “Slow Poke Music” are classic Coverdale, in my opinion. It is really the ballads like “Now You’re Gone” and “Sailing Ships” that hike up the pop-metallic cheese level. Guilty pleasures for sure.
“Fool For Your Loving” is yet another old Whitesnake song David dusted off. The original song appeared on 1980′s Ready an’ Willing.
Not the first Whitesnake one should own, but I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of Slide It In and their 1987 self-titled release.
Highlights: “Slip of the Tongue”, “Cheap an’ Nasty”, “Fool for Your Loving”, “Now You’re Gone”, “The Deeper the Love”, “Judgment Day”
MEGADETH – Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!
Megadeth – Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! [Remastered] (2002, Loud Records)
Original Release: 1985, Combat Records
1. “Last Rites/Loved to Deth” … 4:40
2. “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!” … 3:06
3. “The Skull Beneath the Skin” … 3:47
4. “Rattlehead” … 3:43
5. “Chosen Ones” … 2:55
6. “Looking Down the Cross” … 5:04
7. “Mechanix” … 4:22
8. “These Boots” … 4:42
BONUS TRACKS
9. “Last Rites/Loved to Deth” (demo) … 4:18
10. “Mechanix” (demo) …. 4:01
11. “The Skull Beneath the Skin” (demo) … 3:11
Band:
Dave Mustaine – Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Piano
Chris Poland – Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar
David Ellefson – Bass, Backing Vocals
Gar Samuelson – Drums, Timpani
Producer: Dave Mustaine & Karat Faye
Ah, now my Megadeth collection is complete! I had been wanting this one since the reissue… It only took me 7 years to finally pick it up! This is Megadeth’s debut and the album was known for having an incredibly bad production (Dave says he blew half the album budget on drugs & food). To right a wrong, for this reissue Mustaine himself remixed and remastered every song. We also get a few bonus track demos from 1984 along with a reshuffled track listing.
The album is a lot better than I was expecting it to be. I’m not the biggest fan of Megadeth’s early years but this probably my favorite of their three ’80s releases. Just seems more consistent and interesting overall even if there’s nothing here that can stand up to “Wake Up Dead”, “Peace Sells” or “In My Darkest Hour”.
What really surprised me was the beginning of the opening track. A PIANO ?!?!? Wow, I was not expecting that. It’s a pretty brave way to start off a debut in the macho world of ’80s thrash/speed metal.
“These Boots” is the band’s cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” with altered lyrics. After 1995, it was left off any future pressings of the album due to complaints by the author of the original song over the lyrics (who I should point out had been accepting the royalties for 10 years by this point). The song was included for the reissue because the altered lyrics are now beeped out. Kinda stupid and annoying. And by that, I’m talking about the song’s original writer and all the beeps in this new censored version.
The original version of this album features one of the ugliest covers known to man. Combat had lost the original artwork and they substituted the thrown-together plastic skull ‘n’ hooks photo that looks extremely low-budget and cheesy. Luckily, this was another wrong Dave sought to make right and the reissue cover is basically an updated version of the lost artwork.
Strangely, Loud Records was a hip hop label. As far as I know, this was their only rock/metal release. I guess they were considering branching out before they went out of business in 2002.
Highlights: “Last Rites/Loved to Deth”, “Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!”, “The Skull Beneath the Skin”, “Rattlehead”, “Looking Down the Cross”
IOMMI – The 1996 DEP Sessions
Iommi with Glenn Hughes - The 1996 DEP Sessions (2004, Sanctuary Records)
1. “Gone” … 4:29
2. “From Another World” … 5:56
3. “Don’t You Tell Me” … 4:14
4. “Don’t Drag the River” … 4:34
5. “Fine” … 5:05
6. “Time Is the Healer” … 4:16
7. “I’m Not the Same Man” … 4:21
8. “It Falls Through Me” … 4:46
Musicians:
Glenn Hughes – Vocals, Bass
Tony Iommi – Lead Guitar
Jimmy Copley – Drums
Don Airey – Keyboards
Geoff Nicholls – Keyboards
Mike Exeter – Keyboards
Producer: Tony Iommi
Being a huge fan of the previous Iommi/Hughes collaboration (Black Sabbath’s Seventh Star way back in 1986), I was pretty excited once I got around to ordering this album. I wasn’t expecting anything similar to that release (even though this album features three-fifths of the players on that album) because Seventh Star was a very ’80s sounding release, but I was hoping for something with a similar AOR quality.
Instead, The 1996 DEP Sessions gives us a slow burning, heavier and sometimes melancholy blues vibe. I had to listen to this album a number of times before I could even pick out a few songs I liked. I didn’t hate it when I first heard it, but nothing grabbed my attention. I would’ve preferred a few faster songs as most of this album seems to stomp and plod around.
The riffs are heavier, getting this Iommi/Hughes album closer to what people would expect from Black Sabbath and “Time Is the Healer” is about as close as you can get. On the other side of the coin, “It Falls Through Me” comes closest to Seventh Sign.
A little back story, as you could probably tell by the title this was not new music when released in 2004. The songs were recorded back in ’96 but the project was shelved once the Ozzy Sabbath reunion took off. The drums were re-recorded in 2004 by Jimmy Copley because original drummer Dave Holland (ex-Judas Priest) was convicted of attempted rape and several indecent acts with a mentally challenged teenage boy in that same year. Rightfully, Iommi and Hughes wanted to disassociate themselves from that piece of garbage. Before this release, bootlegs were available featuring Holland on the drums. The name of the bootleg? Eighth Star!
Overall, this is good album, but there’s nothing essential here so I would recommend it only to Sabbath and Hughes diehards.
Highlights: “From Another World”, “Don’t You Tell Me”, “Fine”, “Time Is the Healer”, “It Falls Through Me”
www.iommi.com
www.myspace.com/iommiofficial
www.glennhughes.com
www.myspace.com/glennhughesonline
METALLICA – Kill ‘Em All
Metallica – Kill ‘Em All (1988, Elektra Records)
Original Release: 1983, Megaforce Records
1. “Hit the Lights” … 4:17
2. “The Four Horsemen” … 7:08
3. “Motorbreath” … 3:03
4. “Jump in the Fire” … 4:50
5. “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth” … 4:27
6. “Whiplash” … 4:06
7. “Phantom Lord” … 4:52
8. “No Remorse” … 6:24
9. “Seek & Destroy” … 6:50
10. “Metal Militia” … 5:05
Band:
James Hetfield — Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Kirk Hammett — Lead Guitar
Cliff Burton — Bass, Backing Vocals
Lars Ulrich — Drums, Percussion
Producer: Paul Curcio & Johnny Zazula
My first impression when I heard this album was that I found it pretty funny how young James sounds. He’s practically a baby! No one can dispute this is a heavy metal classic and it’s a very important album for the world of metal just for the fact that it is Metallica’s debut album. That said, they did far better releases throughout the rest of the ’80s as their songwriting became more complex and mature.
There’s an innocent charm and a great sense of purity to Kill ‘Em All though. Metallica was just another metal band at this point, not greedy whiny billionaires meticulously over-analyzing and calculating every album they wrote. Anyway, this album is speed and thrash metal for the sake of speed and thrash metal!
Of course, I can’t say egos weren’t they yet because they were and that is part of what led to Dave Mustaine being kicked out before even getting to record this album with the band. His raging alcohol problem was the major reason for the band giving him the abrupt boot, but Dave himself and others have speculated that given Dave’s natural-born leadership qualities, it just didn’t mesh with the equally headstrong Lars & James. Apparently, Ulrich and Hetfield were willing to co-captain the Good Ship Metallica, but didn’t want a third guy his hands on the steering wheel too. Enter Kirk “Go With the Flow” Hammett as the new lead guitarist just in time to record.
Mustaine’s hand prints are still all over this album with him getting four song credits and original bassist Ron McGovney (who was let go by the band for being too passive) gets one credit. “The Four Horsemen” was based on a Mustaine song called “The Mechanix” with a little altering from Hetfield and Hammett. Dave released a more faithful version simply called “Mechanix” for Megadeth’s debut. Dave says he asked James and Lars to not use ANY of his music for the album, but they deny that claim. Such drama, it’ll never end!
The album was originally released on CD in ’83 by Megaforce, but the band’s longtime label Elektra did a reissue in ’88, which is the version I own. I don’t even have the jewel case or insert for it. I was supposed to be borrowing this album from a friend and in exchange I let him borrow the Black Album. Well, he ended scratching up that album pretty bad and told me I could keep this one as compensation. That was 9 years ago and I still have never replaced that Black Album!
Okay, finally getting back to the music, there are some really great songs on this album but for me some of the weaker songs just kind of blend together. Very good release, but Metallica has done better (and a LOT worse) so it’s not near the top of my grab list when I want to hear some Metallica.
Highlights: “Hit the Lights”, “Motorbreath”, “Jump in the Fire”, “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth”, “Whiplash”, Seek & Destroy”
