It’s been ten years since Scott Weiland passed away; here’s what I had to say about it:
I used to have a friend called ‘Ewok’, I no longer remember his real name, if I ever actually knew it, but I, and well, pretty much everyone, knew him as such – he really, and I mean really looked like an Ewok! Anyway, I’d dropped round his house one day and he would not shut the fuck up about the new Stone Temple Pilots album, ‘Purple`. I knew about STP but had never given them much love; I’d been into grunge since the ground floor – having seen Alice in Chains back when they supported Megadeth; Pearl Jam‘s first UK appearance; Nirvana at Reading? Yep. I was there. So for me STP were imposters riding the wave, a kinda commercial grunge lite.
Then I heard ‘Purple’.
Damn, what a fine album that was and still is – it stands the test of time, every track a killer. Then I got hold of a twelve inch single of ‘Plush’ one day when I was out hunting vinyl. When I flipped it over to play the b-side – unplugged versions of ‘Plush’ and ‘Sex Type Thing’ – I had one of those beautiful music moments when you uncover a real treasure.
I’d like to say I went on to become a mega Stone Temple Pilots fan and that Velvet Revolver were a dream come true, but I didn’t and they weren’t. I don’t really know why, I guess there was just too much else going on and maybe VR just didn’t have the songs, whatever, it doesn’t really matter.
A man has died. A talented man with rock star charisma and one of the most incredible voices in rock. I cannot and will not pass judgement on the man, just as I won’t put him up as a hero. What I will do is give thanks for the incredible pieces of music that affected me so profoundly all those years ago and that are still a part of my life until today. Now, I guess I’ll go find that MTV Unplugged set in full on YouTube.
When I first heard Dave Mustaine shredding faster than ever on ‘Fatal Illusion’ it was clear something had shifted. Sure, Megadeth and a bunch of other bands have all continued releasing thrashy records over the years, but it had all gone a bit stale. So when Dystopia dropped and suddenly Megadave was sounding fresh and exciting, it meant something was in the air. And sure enough, little by little, thrash bombs kept dropping and exploding through my headphones with a ferociousness and fervour I hadn’t heard in years.
As in 1986, three of the big four have released killer records this year, but as well as the big guns there are a crop of other groups who have also put out some of the finest work of their careers and some of the finest thrash albums ever. The list of quality releases this year is quite literally massive, the genre as a whole sounding vibrant and exciting.
I put this down to the marginalization within the music industry; now that there are so few major labels, all of which concentrate their eggs firmly in the mainstream basket, there is a gaping hole on the alternative side of things, so counter culture is thriving, and it is largely fueled by the internet. This has meant that smaller boutique labels like the fantastic Nuclear Blast have been able to deepen otherwise niche markets like that of thrash. A quick flick through the label’s roster and it’s obvious that much of the current excitement on the thrash scene can be laid at their door. Then there’s Metal Blade and Roadrunner and their enduring dedication to the metal scene.
Also, now that we live in super slick, social media obsessed, internet madness, there seems to be a kind of retro cool about the old school sound, suddenly, it’s OK to go back to the eighties, so the older groups now sound relevant rather than dated. Anyway, this eighties vibe and vibrant alternative scene has translated into some mighty fine records and made 2016 the biggest year in thrash since the glory days. Here’s what it’s all been about…
Suicidal Tendencies went back to their roots to great effect with ‘World Gone Mad’, their most defiant and most hardcore record in years. It was great to hear Mike Muir as passionate as ever, and with Dave Lombardo putting in a titanic drum performance they managed to retain a thrash edge despite the album’s punkiness. Meanwhile, Danish veterans Artillery put together a good old fashioned riff heavy superfly thrasher on Penalty By Perception, which is one seriously riffy record. Of the younger bands kicking up a storm, the standout is undoubtedly Vektor, whose ambitiously conceptual Terminal Redux makes for a technically excellent record and is well worth investing a bit of time in. They put their abilities to good effect, creating a keen sense of drama that resonates between the multiple layers of this highly textured epic. There have also been noteworthy releases from the likes of Voivod, Flotsam and Jetson, Vader and the massive Gojira. However, for my top five it’s strictly old school.
5) Testament – ‘Brotherhood of the Snake’
Of this year’s releases it was ‘Brotherhood of the Snake that was the most pleasantly surprising. I always had a soft spot for Testament and loved their early material, but there was always a feeling of unfulfilled potential with ‘Souls of Black’ failing to deliver on their early promise, despite selling well. Therefore, it was brilliant to hear them produce a record as strong as ‘Brotherhood…’; they sound harder, heavier and faster than in their heyday, but have managed to incorporate their melodic tendencies with some killer hooks; Chuck Billy is sounding incredible, with the kind of performance younger singers could learn a lot from. ‘Black Jack’, ‘The Number Game’, ‘Stronghold’, ‘The Pale King’ are just some of the stand outs on this relentless collection of all killer no filler.
4) Megadeth – Dystopia
There are moments on ‘Dystopia’ that could slip easily into Megadeth‘s impressive cannon of material. The above mentioned ‘Fatal Illusion’, which rocks as hard and fast as anything on ‘Peace Sells…’, being one, the ‘Rust’ish ‘Bullet To The Brain’ another. Then there’s the double punch of the massive ‘Poisonous Shadows’ and instrumental ‘Conquer or Die’, where Kiko Loureiro (Angra) and Lamb of God‘s Chris Adler really earn their salt, proving the catalysts for this reinvigoration. Sure, ‘Dystopia’ has its flaws, but this is without doubt Mustaine’s strongest album in years and with the current line up they actually sound exciting again.
3) Anthrax – ‘For All Kings’
Despite sounding a little overblown on first listen, For All Kings has stood up well and repeated listens have revealed more and more depth to this excellent record, the songs are excellently crafted and there is a surprisingly strong sense of melody to temper their ever present thrashiness. Joey Belladonna is quite simply outstanding throughout and musically speaking there is plenty to get your ears around, from stone cold bangers like Evil Twin to textured epics like the sprawling Blood Eagle Wings, the entire album rocks.
2) Metallica – ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’
At its best ‘Hardwired…to Self-Destruct’ is up there with Metallica‘s finest work. The first half of the album, or disc one of the CD, delivering in spades. However, the second half is found wanting and lends a slight sense of disappointment to what could have been their best record since ‘Puppets’. Once again, the band’s incapacity to self edit has meant that some really good riffs are wasted on some really average songs. Even so, when it works, it nails it in style; ‘Moth Into Flame’ is their finest single since Enter Sandman, ‘Dream No More’ will be massive live and ‘Halo on Fire’ plays like a retrospective of their entire career. There is a welcome ‘Kill ’em All’ vibe underpinning the record, with some serious classic riffing liberally peppered around the album, and all in all it is very, very good, but just misses out on being the modern classic we were hoping for.
1) Death Angel – The Evil Divide
Without doubt the most vibrant thrash release of the year is ‘Evil Divide’; with stacks of sublime riffing from Rob Cavestany and absolutely superb vocals from Mark Osegueda. From the moment opening track ‘The Moth’ starts racing away on the back of some fly riffage, the album hits a pulsating thrash fury that is relentless. The full on attack of each and every track is nothing short of killer, it sounds fresh and exciting, yet has a foot firmly in classic thrash territory, while boasting an energy and groove that is hard to beat. ‘Hatred United, United Hate’ is simply awesome, while the performances on the emotion fueled ‘Lost’ are nothing short of stunning; then there’s the killer guitar work on tracks like ‘Breakaway’ and the excellent arrangements of songs like ‘It Can’t Be This’ and ‘Father of Lies’. Not only is it an immediately likeable album, but it stands up – it doesn’t get tired with repeated listens and at a tight ten tracks there’s no baggage and it never gets indulgent. Great fucking record.
Ah yes, the difficult second album – there’s so much that can go wrong and it so frequently does, more often than not ending up in the shadow of the classic debut and the all important third album. The list of second albums that fall somewhere between the disappointing and the disastrous is immense. Bristol triphoppers Massive Attack are prime example of a band that falls into the former category, 1993’s ‘Protection’, despite being a nice enough album with some quality tracks, is positively lukewarm in comparison to their monumental debut ‘Blue Lines’. Florence and the Machine‘s ‘Ceremonials’ is another culprit; Iron Maiden get beyond the artwork on ‘Killers’, but it’s hardly a tour de force; ‘Van Halen II’ is but a shadow of the first album and despite positive criticism The Strokes sophomore effort, ‘Room on Fire’, was never going to live up to ‘Is This It’. As for categorical failure of a follow-up, look no further than Stone Roses’‘The Second Coming’ – can it get any worse than this?
Yes – Kula Shaker, ‘Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts’ – nailed that band’s coffin closed.
Actually, there’s a whole bunch of other records that were never really what you’d bought into on the debut, the list is endless; Portishead, Finlay Quaye, Terence Trent Darby, Duffy, Elastica and so on and so forth, and as we can see, failing to deliver the goods is irrespective of genre, although it has become a far more common phenomena in the days demanding instant success. It seems that the second album basically runs into trouble because of pressure resulting from the first record. Bands get caught up in the touring and the success and are too busy “making it” to get the next record written. Then there’s the inevitable come down when they find themselves in the studio under pressures of time and money to deliver a new product, but this time, barring a few leftover tracks not quite good enough for album number one, they’re starting from scratch, having spent the last few years playing to death that first batch of songs they so lovingly created. Bands get so focused on establishing themselves with the first album that they don’t have time to really think about there being a next one, let alone what to put on it. They almost need to fuck up the second album a bit to take the pressure off and get the hunger back for album number three – if there is one!
However, despite the all too common let down of a band’s second record, there are also plenty of killers. Once upon a time, artists were given the chance to develop; their record labels actually helped them progress. Bands were often signed to seven album deals, so labels were in it for the long haul – they wanted to see their artists improve and sell progressively more records. Also, it wasn’t unusual to sign a band based on potential rather than one that already had its bangers primed and ready. Blur is a great example of a band that had potential, but had yet to find its songwriting chops on debut album ‘Leisure’, it’s their second album ‘Modern Life is Rubbish’ where things start coming together. Then there’s the thrash metal scene; in the beginning it was all a bit rough and ready, but by their second albums Metallica, Megadeth and the like were coming on in leaps and bounds. So, here’s a bunch of second albums that not only progressed but blew away their predecessors and quite rightly became classics.
The ultimate second album is surely Nirvana‘s ‘Nevermind’, possibly the most game changing record in history. It’s predecessor, ‘Bleach’, had hinted at the band’s potential, but was miles short of what would follow. Cobain had long harboured the desire to harness the aggressive energy of punk and marry it to more accessible melodies and the final pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place whilst writing the songs for Nevermind. Kurt borrowed the Pixies loud – quiet – loud template and suddenly not only his fury, but also his talent had a vehicle; the rest, as they say, is history.
Radiohead‘s debut album, ‘Pablo Honey’ is a fairly unremarkable affair, save for the ubiquitous ‘Creep’, which the band grew to hate; its follow up, The Bends, however, is one of the finest albums of alternative rock ever to see the light of day. The entire album is all killer, ‘High and Dry’, ‘Fake Plastic Trees, ‘Just’, ‘Street Spirit’, I mean, it’s quality track after quality track that propelled the band towards the big time. They may have taken a more arty direction after the fairly conventional songwriting on display, but without The Bends and the bold statement that is ‘OK Computer’, Thom Yorke and co never would’ve gained the leverage to follow their chosen path.
If you go back and listen to the first Lenny Kravitz album, ‘Let Love Rule, you’ll here a soulful young man blending a kinda laid back hippy-like innocence into some funky folky rock n roll toons, and it’s a highly enjoyable record. The world’s one time highest paid session musician was breaking in slowly though, as on his second effort, ‘Mama Said’, he came back pimped up, jazzed up and funked up and knocked it out of the park. Fields of Joy is a ‘Stairway’ for the 90s, ‘Always on the Run with Slash is a sublime rocker; there’s quality rock pop a plenty, funky reverb on ‘Stop Draggin’ Around’; soul fueled crooning on ‘All I Ever Wanted’ and the whole album is peppered with bass groove and jazzy licks. Where did it all go wrong?
Led Zeppelin II. It’s Led Zeppelin, only more so – every song a winner. Nuff said really.
Björk shook off the Sugacubes on ‘Debut’, but it was on ‘Post’ that it all came together. This urban soundtrack remains as one of her finest albums and is jam packed with hard edged indie pop in the Icelander’s own inimitable style; from the sinister opening to ‘Army of Me’ you just know it’s going to be a winner. There’s the manic Hyperballad, the irrepressible ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, ‘Isobel’, ‘The Modern Things’, ‘Enjoy’ and so on and etc not a dull moment to be found.
I will readily admit to not being the biggest Foo Fighters fan in the world, but you gotta love Dave Grohl for just being such a nice bloke, and on his/their second album, ‘The Colour and The Shape’ he delivered the goods. Besides the killer singles ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘My Hero’ and ‘Everlong’, which are without doubt some of the most iconic alternative rock songs of the nineties, the album is imbued with a cathartic quality that runs surprisingly deep. Ok, so there’s plenty of upbeat snippets where Dave and co sound like their having a great time, but it’s the raw emotion on the ballads that really picks the scab on Dave’s then recent divorce. Besides, the emotional moving on, this record really exorcised the whole Nirvana thing and paved the way for Foo Fighters to be respected in its own right – respect. Check out this live version of ‘Hey Johnny Park’, Dave looks so young and it’s got such raw emotion.
With the release of Megadeth’s fifteenth studio album ‘Dystopia’ I was charged with the task of flexing my writing muscles on a “Starter Pack” piece for Already Heard as a kind of introduction for the uninitiated. As such, I spent many a waking hour with Mustaine and Co blasting through my headphones at breakneck speed as I explored their ample back catalogue; I must have listened to pretty much everything they have ever done! Although Dave’s work is consistently high quality, even some of the newer releases boasting hidden gems, Dystopia itself also being pretty damn good, there are a handful of songs which stand head and shoulders above the rest. So here goes my take on a Megadeth top ten, buckle up!
10) Good Mourning/Black Friday
Not really the first song that springs to mind, but recent listens to ‘Peace Sells…’ revealed it to be one of their finest tracks. The atmospheric intro and sinister guitar lines to ‘Good Mourning’ was something nobody else was doing at the time. The song gathers in brooding atmosphere, taking its time, before exploding into life with a blistering solo. ‘Black Friday’ then rocks to a mid paced groove and engine like riffing, before accellerating for a ball busting race to the end. Breathtaking.
9) Hook In Mouth
One of Megadeth’s most underrated tracks from an album many overlook. ‘Hook In Mouth’ deals with the issue of censorship and the moralistic stance of the PMRC (the reason we have those parental advisory stickers). It is a more measured track, but is a prime example of Mustaine’s songwriting prowess with its intelligent lyrics and top drawer arrangement.
8)Rust In Peace…Polaris
Only Megadeth do this – the two part song thing I mean – and ‘Rust’ is one of their finest examples. It puts the icing on the cake of their best album, Mustaine putting in one of his most vicious vocal performances on this politically charged track, whilst also delivering a killer hook. Just when you think it’s done the second part kicks off and basically it’s a guitar frenzy as solos blaze and riffs chop and change, while Nick Menza provides the groove.
7)Countdown to Extinction
As a whole, the ‘Countdown’ album lacks the teeth of earlier releases, yet it showcases the bands highly developed songwriting skills; the title track itself being one of its standout songs. The whole thing is highly accomplished, from the riffing being expressive of the lyrical matter, past the killer chorus and on to the hot rocking solo – it has everything a top rock song needs. Not surprising that it won awards.
6)Tornado of Souls
After the first two killer tracks on the R.I.P album some of the other songs pale in comparison to their monumental attack. However, ‘Tornado of Souls’ is similarly special and is surely one of the most complete Megadeth numbers. This is a guitar player’s song; the wonderfully complex arrangement layering riff upon riff, whilst giving Marty Friedman free reign on a raging solo. The rhythm work is also superb and Dave even manages a hint of melody to the hook; quality.
5)Peace Sells
The first Megadeth track to show off Mustaine’s ability to write a hit. Killer bass line, killer hook, frantic thrash finale. “Can you put a price on peace?”
4)Hangar 18
The partner in crime to Holy Wars; you can’t hear one without the other following. Hangar is the ultimate conspiracy theory and one of the band’s finest moments.
3)Foreclosure of a Dream
Normally when people talk about ‘Countdown to Extinction’ they remember the title track, ‘Symphony of Destruction’ or ‘Sweating Bullets’, but for me Foreclose is untouchable. It’s got everything that epitomizes Megadeth, from the riffing to the solos but also has a killer hook – seriously underrated song.
2)In My Darkest Hour
Famously written in one hour, upon hearing of the death of ex-band mate, Metallica’s Cliff Burton, ‘In My Darkest Hour’ is a monster of a song. It broods intensely on the back of grinding riffs as Mustaine spits his bitter lyrics, before exploding into a thrashing finale, love it.
1)Holy Wars…The Punishment Due
‘Holy Wars’ is without question one of the greatest rock songs in history. It has everything: Powerhouse riffing, scorching solos, sublime time changes, politically charged lyrics and a level of technical excellence beyond compare; thrash metal perfection goddammit.
If you haven’t already done so, check out the new material on ‘Dystopia’, it has some fine moments that stand up in comparison to the tracks on display here; ‘Fatal Illusion’ being particularly special.
It’s kind of weird at this time of year because I’m half on holiday following the Christmas period and as such have much more free time than usual – I have actually been reading books and even watching a little television! Paradoxically though, I am listening to less music than usual and have had the occasional headphone free day, which makes my ears itch uncontrollably. Nevertheless, I have been working a little with private classes and have been putting my bus time to valuable use; here are the aural delights that have been spinning on my wheels of steel.
Patti Smith – Horses
This is one of those albums that basically left me on the island, (to be honest I always found Patti a little scary, can’t think why), so I just never listened to it – it was just one of those records people talked about as being classic – so yeah, ok, whatever. Anyway, whilst reading the fabulous Viv Albertine book, ‘Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys.’, in which the ex The Slits guitarist gives her perspective on punk etc, she waxes lyrical about ‘Horses’ and gives me the push I needed to give it a go. Have to say that I’m pleased I did. A few weak tracks aside, like ‘Redondo Beach’, it pretty much lives up to the hype, considering the context in which it was made, ‘Gloria’ and the monumental ‘Land’ being particularly impressive. I now look forward to reading Patti’s own book ‘Just Kids’, reflecting on her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe – a kindle snip at 99p!
Megadeth
In anticipation of the release of the new Megadeth album, I was the first to shoot my hand up when my editor at Already Heard offered up assignments on upcoming releases. I then had the (un) enviable task of wading my way through their entire back catalogue, so as to be able to produce a bio and comments on three albums; finding someone that cites them as an influence has proved far more difficult however! There were days when I listened exclusively to balls to the wall speed metal ballistics, and although some of the newer material was a little hard to digest, especially ‘Super Collider’, it was a pleasure to dissect earlier work like ‘Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying’ and ‘Rust in Peace’. I wandered down memory lane and was transported back to longer haired days when fast was synonymous with good and was pleased to find that, in thrash metal terms, these albums were labelled classics with good reason. The new album has also proved to be a surprisingly good listen, but nothing they could do today will ever reach the dizzying heights of ‘Holy Wars..The Punishment Due’. Classic.
Conrad Keely – Original Machines
My first review of the new year for AH, (link here:http://alreadyheard.com/post/137154188770/album-review-conrad-keely-original-machines#_=_) was such a pleasant surprise that I can’t stop playing the damn thing. IMHO this will go on to be one of the albums of 2016, I may well be totally wrong but I can always put this down to a series of stupendously good releases to come later in the year that I have no idea about right now. But if I am right, I will appear sage and all knowing with gifted insight into what makes a record good, besides one’s own opinion. Either way, check it out, Conrad is enormously talented with fingers in many musical pies and he has made a wonderfully imperfect record that may well encourage a little pause for thought.
David Bowie – Blackstar
What an achingly tragic week it has been with the loss of such an icon, quickly followed by the death of another much loved Brit, actor Alan Rickman, under frighteningly similar circumstances. The only good thing is that David was gracious enough to release the sublime ‘Blackstar’ as a parting gift to us mere mortals; donating another slice of his remarkable talent, which, along with his enviable back catalogue, we must content ourselves with to fill the Bowie shaped hole in the fabric of modern culture. Had it on repeat most of the week.
I used to have a friend called ‘Ewok’, I no longer remember his real name, if I ever actually knew it, but I, and well, pretty much everyone, knew him as such – he really, and I mean really looked like an Ewok! Anyway, I’d dropped round his house one day and he would not shut the fuck up about the new Stone Temple Pilots album, ‘Purple`. I knew about STP but had never given them much love; I’d been into grunge since the ground floor – having seen Alice in Chains back when they supported Megadeth; Pearl Jam‘s first UK appearance; Nirvana at Reading? Yep. I was there. So for me STP were imposters riding the wave, a kinda commercial grunge lite.
Then I heard ‘Purple’.
Damn, what a fine album that was and still is – it stands the test of time, every track a killer. Then I got hold of a twelve inch single of ‘Plush’ one day when I was out hunting vinyl. When I flipped it over to play the b-side – unplugged versions of ‘Plush’ and ‘Sex Type Thing’ – I had one of those beautiful music moments when you uncover a real treasure.
I’d like to say I went on to become a mega Stone Temple Pilots fan and that Velvet Revolver were a dream come true, but I didn’t and they weren’t. I don’t really know why, I guess there was just too much else going on and maybe VR just didn’t have the songs, whatever, it doesn’t really matter.
A man has died. A talented man with rock star charisma and one of the most incredible voices in rock. I cannot and will not pass judgement on the man, just as I won’t put him up as a hero. What I will do is give thanks for the incredible pieces of music that affected me so profoundly all those years ago and that are still a part of my life until today. Now, I guess I’ll go find that MTV Unplugged set in full on YouTube.
Hard Pressed 