Pure Rawk - Accept no substitutes.

Mick's Bit

Picking a selection of albums that you need to hear and probably haven`t. Check out Mick Priestley's band Nothin To Lose.

20/01/08

ROB ZOMBIE – The Sinister Urge

Hands up if you’re a Wednesday 13 fan. Well, Rob Zombie was the original and still possibly the best. To be fair, I was never a white zombie fan – I always thought all the songs sounded the same, and after hearing a live recording of ‘More Human Than Human’ I wasn’t that bothered about missing him on tour with Ozzy Osbourne (who, by the way, you should be listening to – check out the Tribute album, as well as ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ and ‘Diary Of A Madman’). That was, however, until I came across this gem for a fiver in the Virgin Megastore. I’d seen the video for ‘Feel So Numb’ on Kerrang! And was shocked to say the least – a song that actually ROCKS on Kerrang?! Perhaps somebody important in the office was having a day off. Usually these days you can watch Kerrang! til you get bored then switch over to Smash Hits for something heavier.Anyway, having skipped the first track which is basically something of a weird intro, the album really kicks in with ‘Demon Speeding’…don’t expect anything new from Mr Zombie here - expect fairly simple drop-tuned riffs to bang your head to, along with plenty of nasty, snarling vocals with a theme based around everyone being dead in a b-movie hammer-horror style. Along with guys like Wednesday 13, I get the impression Rob Zombie has just about every horror movie ever made in his DVD collection.‘Iron Head’ features a vocal appearance by Ozzy Osbourne, and is followed by the surprisingly mellow but very groovy ‘Go To California’. Following that is stand-out track ‘Feel So Numb’ (which ROCKS – I’m sure there’s a video on youtube if you search for it). Something which stands out to me is the sheer simplicity of this track, and yet if you were to change it in any way it would simply make it crappier. The monster of a riff at the beginning is only three chords from start to end – drop-tuned with a monstrous D5, a C5 and a Bb5…maybe I’m blabbering….but that’s kinda the whole point here. Rob Zombie has never been about unbelievable technical ability and stunning musical talent – just no-bullshit heavy metal. Old-skool style. Makes you want to grab onto the rail at the front of the crowd and bang your head manically. And that’s what any good song should make you want to do!Track 9 ‘Bring Her Down (To CrippleTown)’ leads into ‘Scum Of The Earth’…with a super-evil synthesizer over the riff at the beginning and the most evil bass sound I have ever heard in my life in between the first verse and second. This is the one you crank up nice and loud to annoy the neighbours!The last track ‘House Of A Thousand Corpses’ I tend to skip…very moody and kinda weird. If you leave it playing long enough, there’s also a ‘secret track’ at the end, but I don’t particularly bother with that either. You should however, bother going to buy this album!

KISS SYMPHONY / ALIVE 4– Live In Melbourne

Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes. ‘But Mick…this means you’ve reviewed two KISS albums now and not a single Motley Crue one!’ Shut up. There’s a reason for that. It’s because KISS are the coolest band of all time, and if you don’t agree with me, I don’t care! They’re the second-highest grossing band of ALL TIME after The Beatles – a claim to which the Crue et al can’t even come close.Have you ever heard the Metallica S&M album? The one where they performed with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (conducted by the late Michael Kamen)? If you haven’t, there are two things to do. Firstly, find a good doctor so he can examine you and tell you what exactly is wrong with your brain. Secondly, head down to your local music store, hand your cash to invariably spotty, undersexed sales clerk and buy it. It kicks ass. I’m not usually a Metallica fan (Kirk Hammett’s guitar playing gets on my nerves) but this, for me, is their shining hour. Which is probably where some die-hard Metallica addict pops up and tells me I’m talking garbage because ‘Master Of Puppets is THE iconic metal album of all time…blah blah blah’. At which point I shall remind him/her of St. Anger. Anyway, I detract …The KISS symphony album/DVD is essentially a similar idea, just not as heavy. Take a load of KISS classics (Shout It Out Loud, God Of Thunder, Love Gun, I Was Made For Loving You, Rock And Roll All Nite) and add the mighty power of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Genius! Tragically, the Melbourne Children’s Choir also make an appearance during ‘Great Expectations’, at which point even I find it hard to cringe and reach for the fast-forward button, but that is more than made up for when you see Gene flying through the air spitting blood during ‘God Of Thunder’ or Paul flying out over the crowd during ‘Love Gun’.The album/DVD is split into three parts – first, half an hour of KISS rocking out with classics such as ‘Strutter’, ‘Let Me Go Rock N Roll’ and ‘Psycho Circus’. With the exception of Tommy Thayer filling in on guitar for Ace Frehley (which is fine by me), it’s the original KISS lineup too.The next section bring out part of the orchestra as a string orchestra for a tear-jerking half hour of KISS’ very finest and cheesiest power ballads (‘Forever’,’Beth’,’Sure Know Something’), and is followed by KISS playing with the full orchestra for the last, and main, part of the show. On the DVD you get an impression of just how huge the gig was – filling the Telstra Dome in Melbourne is no mean feat. Can’t say I’ve ever been there but it looks huge.My favourite bit has to be during the special features – during the ‘behind the scenes’ bit, where Gene is sitting with the conductor, who is explaining the dynamics of the orchestra to him. ‘At this point, the orchestra will be pianissimo…very, very quiet’. To which Gene replies ‘Well, at that part of the show there are going to be bombs going off so we want you to play as loud as possible’.

25/06/07

Hey hey kids! Uncle Mick is back to broaden your musical tastes – I`ve put the guitar down, kicked the strippers out and dug out another selection of albums you definitely need to hear, but probably haven`t! I`m in a live album mood this month…so check these out ! If you haven`t heard them already, they should definitely be at the top of your shopping list.

KISS – MTV Unplugged (1989)

Unless you`ve been living on Mars for the last couple of years, under a rock, with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears, you`ve probably noticed that I`m a bit of a KISS freak. I have 24 KISS albums in my glorious collection, and this one is by far my favourite. Despite being Gene Simmons` #1 fan, I`ll be the first one to admit that KISS have some freakin` awful songs. `Destroyer` was hailed as their finest hour, but `Great Expectations`?! That`s the track that`s usually met with the `skip` button. Fortunately, `God Of Thunder` was on the album, but I prefer the live version. Come to think of it, I tend to prefer live albums most of the time. It gives you more of an idea of what the band actually sounds like, rather than in the studio where you can do take after take until you get it right, stick autotune on your vocals and fiddle around with the sounds until the sound better than you can actually play yourself (Of course, I would never do any of these things). Rock and Roll Over was a cool album – featuring my all-time favourite KISS song `Calling Dr Love` - which is so cool that it even allowed me to ignore the line in `Take Me` (track two) - `Put your hand in my pocket, grab onto my rocket.` Genius!
Ok … KISS MTV Unplugged …

It`s a 15-track live CD from KISS’ unplugged show for MTV in New York. Ace Frehley was out and Bruce Kulick was in, but Ace makes an appearance anyway from `2,000 man` (which is actually a rolling stones cover) onwards. For what my opinion`s worth, a lot of the tracks actually sound better live and acoustic than they do on the studio record. `Goin` Blind`, `Domino` and `I Still Love You` being examples….that acoustic in `Domino` in particular sounding super-sleazy as soon as that riff kicks in ! Paul Stanley`s voice RULES in `Rock Bottom` (another super-cool dirty acoustic riff) and there`s even an appearance of `See You Tonight` from Gene Simmons` solo record….which sounds very Lennon/McCartney ballad-esque. Very cool. Go buy it NOW from Amazon! You`ll be glad you did. Also check out Aerosmith`s unplugged MTV album…which if you like this record, you`ll probably like that too.

Pantera – Live 101 Proof
Even if you think you haven`t heard this album yet, if you`ve been to any rock bars in London you probably have because it seems to get played everywhere! Come to think of it, between down records and Pantera, Phil Anselmo`s voice seems to haunt me everywhere I go. Listen up kids it`s time to get HEAVY …

Ok first off, this album RULES. If anyone ever tells you otherwise, there are two things you need to do – 1) Punch them in the face. 2) Never speak to them again, and disassociate yourself from them completely. No good could ever come from hanging around with such an obvious moron. From the first track to the very last note, this is headbanging metal at its very best. With Vinnie Paul`s powerful drumming to the undoubted genius of the late Dimebag Darrell on guitar, this shows exactly why Pantera were regarded as the undisputed kings of metal, and indeed why even years after the band broke up, they`re still played in every rock and metal bar the world over.

Track 1 – New Level … I saw Anthrax play this track at The Astoria once with the dude from Shadows Fall on vocals and it was the heaviest thing I`ve ever seen. Dimebag`s chromatic intro riff and a half-time chorus only seem to add to its brutality!
Track 2 – Walk … Everybody knows this song. It`s one of those songs that is played in every rock club I`ve ever been to.
Track 4 – Five Minutes Alone … Try and listen to this without banging your head. I dare you. And the bit after the solo.
Track 6 – Suicide Note Part 2 … This track has THE BEST RIFF IN THE WORLD. Listen out for it. Mega-fast angry verses, before it drops to half-time with the meatiest, most headbang-tastic riff I have ever heard in my life. In my humble opinion, far and away my favourite bit on the entire record.

Just buy the CD, stick it in your CD player and listen to what simply has to be the best live heavy metal CD ever. Further on in the CD we have `This Love/I`m Broken/Cowboys From Hell/Cemetery Gates/Fucking Hostile`…everyone loves a good excuse to scream the `F` word as loud as they can! I`ve heard a lot of people say they prefer Down, and to be fair they kick ass but I think it`s kinda like comparing Guns n Roses to Velvet Revolver. Very nice, but you never would have heard of them if it hadn`t been for their legendary status within another band in the first place.As it happens everyone seems to have their eyes on Down and Damageplan, by comparison, seemed to pass by relatively unnoticed. Which is a shame, because Damageplan kick all levels of ass – go onto youtube and search for `Damageplan Save Me` and try to tell me it doesn`t rock.

Until next time … check out these CDs! I`m gonna call the strippers back in from the hallway.

16/04/07

"Ok kids listen up. It has come to my attention that many of you need educating. The world of good music is not entirely contained within your collection of Nikki Sixx records! There is an endless amount of ass-kicking rock CDs out there, many of which you`ve probably never heard of! So that`s where I come in. I`m gonna give you a rundown of what records I think you should dig out, and why you should hear them! `Why should I listen to that gothic fool?` I hear you say ... because I`m cooler than you could ever possibly wish to be, my dear friend. I get more girls than you do, I have a considerably more educated musical taste .. clearly I`m the man you wish that you could be. So listen up children - school is in session, so let`s begin ...

Richie Kotzen –– Change (2003 Shrapnel Records)

There I was, browsing through the records in Windows in Newcastle when I came across this particular gem. To be fair, I saw Richie Kotzen on the cover and figured it was gonna be a non-stop guitar shredfest much like his `fever dream` album which I borrowed from a guy at college and never returned. I was kinda shocked upon playing it that it isn`t at all. But in the borderline eccentricity of a shred guitarist releasing an album with almost no guitar on it lies its genius. It`s essentially a light rock/rock album, very American and very radio friendly, with some killer tracks. Let me give you a rundown ––

Track 4 –– Don`t Ask

The thing I love about this track is how the music is so beautiful, like a radio-friendly love song almost, but the lyrics are so horrible! `Don`t ask me if I love you coz I don`t, Don`t ask me will I be there coz I won`t`……I kinda like that idea. Some beautiful chord changes and the notable absence of an insane guitar solo also add to its brilliance.

Track 6 –– High

Something, in my mind, which impressed me on this CD is that Kotzen actually has a good singing voice. Most guys in his guitar-based genre either have a bland singing voice with no particular range or a voice which can simply peel the enamel from your teeth. `High` is a particularly passionate rock ballad (the CD also includes an acoustic version, down-tuned a semitone from the original which I think I might prefer) and again, a lack of the usual blitz-fest you`d associate with Vai or Malmsteen. Perhaps this shows his ability as a songwriter as opposed to simply an instrumental guitarist. I like that he can actually write lyrics, albeit not necessarily one fit to go down in `the most amazing lyrics of our time`. Lennon / McCartney it isn`t, but shit it definitely isn`t.

Track 10 –– Fast Money Fast Cars

Who the fuck puts a blingin` rap guy on their rock record? Almost nobody, but there again lies the genius of it. Every track on this album seems to show a different musical leaning, almost like he was writing whatever came out of his head that sounded good to him, and he doesn`t particularly give a crap if you agree with him or not. Whether you like these particular musical changes throughout the album or not is kinda irrelevant, to me it shows a man who is not merely a one-trick pony and has the balls to try something new, and risk getting blasted for it.

There`s also an instrumental jazz track on the CD, showing a return to the Richie Kotzen I was expecting to find on the album in first place, sort of. The guitar playing is insane, and entirely clean……expect a lot of sweep arpeggios at lightning speed and a whole host of other craziness. Not the most incredible track I`ve ever heard, but then again it isn`t the track on the album I tend to listen to. Do yourself a favour and go dig it out. The genius of this column is that because you`ve probably never heard of the CDs I`m blabbering on about, neither have a lot of other people. And therefore you can probably pick them up through amazon for next to nothing."