Queen was never one to do things the standard, normal way. Nope, they thought outside the box constantly. Who am I kidding, they threw the freaking box into the recycle bin never to be seen or heard from again. In secret, Queen worked on an album that no one would expect from them. They did a movie soundtrack. Yes, Queen did the music for the movie Flash Gordon. They jumped in to right after finishing up the album, ‘The Game’ and before that tour sometime around February-March 1980. And after the tour, they quickly went back in and finished up the soundtrack around October-November 1980. The album would come out on December 8, 1980 to everyone’s surprise. Why did they keep it a secret? Because they didn’t want the news to overshadow the movie because let’s be honest, Queen doing a movie soundtrack would make some news for sure.
The movie Flash Gordon is a cult classic. Mainly because it is so bad, it is actually a little good. The acting is horrible, the sets are cheap, I mean it screams B-Movie. And like the movie, the soundtrack is just as campy. It is quirky at times, it rocks out at times and it is a little bit awful at times…just like the movie. Freddie had the bright idea of including some of the film’s dialogue in with the songs to help give the songs some context considering most of the songs were strictly instrumental pieces. That is right. Freddie only sings on 2 songs with minor vocals on 3 others. This is not your typical Queen album. You expect to hear Freddie…well..you don’t get many opportunities for that. Back to the dialogue. As hokey as it sounds, it actually does help having the dialogue. It helps make the album pure campy fun. Doesn’t mean I like it, but it has its moments.
The album kicks of with “Flash’s Theme” which is the only single off the album…however, this isn’t really the single version as that seems to be pieces from a couple songs on the album blended together. This is one of the few songs to include Freddie’s vocals and it has Brian May also doing vocals. John Deacon’s bass and Roger Taylor’s drumming are the driving beat to the song. It is one of the few songs that sounds like Queen especially when May’s guitar comes in. It is anthemic and over-the-top and bizarre. Next up is “In the Space Capsule (The Love Them)” which was written by Roger Taylor. It is feels like outerspace and atmospheric with the synths. There is some great drum beats by Taylor to give it a tribal feel. And the song sounds grand and regal. Overall, not bad for a movie score, but doesn’t sound anything like Queen.
I had signed up for the Amazon Prime Unlimited for Kindle books as I figured I would give it a try to see if I would read enough to make it worthwhile and I found this book was eligible so I gave it a shot as who doesn’t love Aerosmith. Ok, don’t tell me if you don’t as I don’t want to lose respect for you. The book is “Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith”. It was written by Stephen Davis with the help of the band including Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer. And let me tell you they are all brutally honest and they go in to some massive detail and lay it out all for the world to see.
The book starts at the beginning, I mean beginning of their music career not the band…way before that. They go through the details of how each got in to music and how the band got to meet. The beginning of the book does spend a ton of time about young Steven Tyler and eventually leads to the meeting of Joe Perry and the rest of the band. Let me tell you these boys were doing drugs before they met, while they met and every second of the day. This wasn’t a gradual decline after the band hit success, this was a problem long before that. They were heading down that spiral pretty damn early in life. They were broke, they struggled but it was always about the music. Music was their brotherly bond and they were brothers. They lived together and they fought just like brothers fight, but there was always that undeniable attraction that together they were unstoppable.
Last week was the 250th Post of My Sunday Song which is amazing for me to think that I have been doing it for that long. that is almost 5 years of My Sunday Songs. To celebrate, I thought we would go through the Top 5 My Sunday Songs of All Time. That’s right, the Top 5 most viewed My Sunday Song Posts. And let me tell you, these are some great, great songs. No need to wait, let’s jump right in to it.
#5 – “Lips On You” by Maroon 5 – with over 1,180 views
My Sunday Song #88 is going to get downright sexy. The song of choice this week is “Lips on You” by Maroon 5. The song is off their most recent album ‘Red Pill Blues’ which was released back on November 3, 2017.
The song was co-written by Adam Levine with a slew of people including Kasher Hindlin, Jason Evigan and two people that are all over the charts right now, Julia Michaels and Charlie Puth. With that many people involved, I would hope a good song would come out of that collaboration and let me tell you…it sure as hell did!!
This is probably my favorite song on the album. The deep bass, the slower groove and the lyrics are all so damn hot. When you throw in Adam’s voice, you have pure magic. This is one song that should be played when you want to get busy and it will make your partner swoon and turn them in to jelly. The lyrics will guide you through what you should do. If this doesn’t do it, let me know and we will file a complaint with Maroon 5 and Charlie Puth.
Nowadays you don’t make mixtapes for anyone, you do a playlist and I actually did one for the wife that were songs that made me think of her and yes, this one was included. That is all you need to know!!!
If you missed the show last night, you can watch us as we Deliver The Goods on the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Judas Priest albums. Some of the picks were Diamonds and some Rust, but all were Priest. Oh yeah, if you like graphs…you will not be disappointed as Geoff, the Graphing God…not to be confused with the Metal God, brought us all the graphing fun we could handle. Go check it out.
Three brilliant lists tonight, and a new level of graphic majesty from Geoff Stephen! Am I ever glad we decided to “remaster” our Judas Priest top albums list from last year! With the addition of John Snow and Geoff on graphs, we took it to the next level. Geoff also took his graphs to record […]
Come join the fun tonight on The LeBrain Train as we walk through the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Judas Priest albums. Tonight at 7pm…details below. It will be a fun evening had by all!!
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and Friends Friday – Episode 68 – Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Judas Priest…Remastered “Judas Priest,” you ask? “Didn’t you do Judas Priest last year already?” Yes we did, hence the “Remastered” Nigel Tufnel Top Ten. The old show was on Facebook Live with just Harrison the […]
How are we already in June. This is crazy. Where does the time go? Thankfully, however, we have a bunch of new releases to help us enjoy the flying time ever more. There are bunch of releases this week covering many different genres so there should a little something for everyone. There are a bunch I want to hear, but nothing I am running out and buying because all my money is going in to next week’s new releases. As my close friend Barney says, “It will be LEGENDARY!!!” My choices are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear and what I may have missed so everyone can know. Thanks, as always, for stopping by and I hope you have an amazing weekend!
Crowded House – Dreamers Are Waiting – (Lester Records / BMG): The boys are back. Neil Finn and gang are back with their first album in 11 years. I guess Neil’s short sting with Fleetwood Mac got his creative juices flowing. They have already been playing to huge sold out shows in New Zealand so hopefully sometime over the next year, they will make to the States. I didn’t Dream it Was Over and I’m glad it really isn’t…yes that was cheesy.
Billy F. Gibbons – Hardware – (Concord Records): The ZZ Top frontman is back with another solo album. He has been pumping them out and I for one am glad he is. As much as new Top music would be great, this is the next best thing. It is exactly what you would expect from Billy. And Matt Sorum on drums
We are now 10 years past the last studio album, ‘Psycho Circus’, and Kiss has still yet to do another studio album. Instead, we basically get yet another greatest hits package. This one is different of course because it was actually a re-recording of Kiss Klassics, but this time the players are not just Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, but we now have those old hits recorded by Eric Singer on drums and Tommy Thayer on guitar. My first question is…WHY?? Do we really need to have studio versions of these great, amazing Kiss songs done by the new members. (rhetorical question)
I guess the people of Japan did because that is the only place this album was released. The title of the album is Jigoku-Retsuden which means something like “Legends from Hell” or “Hell’s Legends” in Japanese. Okay, that is pretty cool, but that is the only thing cool about this release. Okay, maybe the OBI strip is pretty cool as well. But that is it, I promise…alright, the cover is a little cool too…no more…stop!!
Another 12″ Single I picked up from Noble Records on that big Metal Collection he was selling was from Aldo Nova. You remember Aldo from his early 80’s song “Fantasy”. This was a Promotional 12″ Single for his fourth album ‘Blood on the Bricks’ that came out in 1991. It was for the first single, the title track “Blood on the Bricks”.
This particular single was the “Metal Radio Exclusive” red vinyl 12″ (in gatefold clear PVC sleeve with color insert) with three songs from the “Blood On The Bricks” album. It was promotional only and not for sale at the time..but now it is fair game because Noble had it for sale almost 30 years later. This was the album and Tour that I saw and got to meet Mr. Aldo Nova and his band and get autographs. They were all super nice.
The cool thing about this album for Aldo Nova is that it was produced and all of the songs were co-written with some guy named Jon Bon Jovi. You see, Jon and Aldo go way back as Aldo worked with Jon on his debut album that became the debut Bon Jovi album before Richie and the gang were a full band. Jon was returning the favor in what they hoped would be Aldo’s big comeback album…which didn’t really work out. Jon had signed Aldo to his Jambco record label.
The A-Side of this LP was “Blood on the Bricks” which was a straight-up rocker. It was uptempo with a hard driving, very catchy chorus. Even though Jon put his stamp on these songs, the guitar still sounds like Aldo’s tone and feel so he didn’t completely strip away that thank goodness. The song was all street tough and had that Jon Bon Jovi storytelling vibe. Like most of the album, it is a little overproduced, but hey, it still isn’t half bad.
The B-Side of this disc had 2 songs. First up was “Young Love” which was written by Aldo and Jon but also had the help of Bryan Adams writing partner Jim Vallance. This song was a little cheesy that was leaning between power ballad and pop song and seemed to be a leftover track that wasn’t good enough for a Bon Jovi album.
The last track is called “Modern World” which was soley written by Aldo and Jon. This is a tough, street fighting type song. It has a lot of edge and balls and has a really cool riff and groove to it with a whole tribal flair. You even get a shout out to Donald Trump, but this was way before his time as president. This was around the time he cheated on his then wife with Marla Maples. There are a lot of cultural references from the time which actually dates the song a little…okay a lot. But Aldo’s playing is sensational and he lays down a great solo in only the way Aldo can.
And there you have it. The 12″ Promotional Single for “Blood on the Bricks” by Aldo Nova. It is a nice piece to add to my ever growing Aldo Nova collection. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by.
After the tour supporting the band’s last album, ‘British Steel’, the band went right back in the studio to do the follow-up, ‘Point of Entry’, which would be the band’s eighth studio album. The last album did so well, the band didn’t want to change things up so we basically got the same album as before, except maybe not quite as heavy or as good. The hauled all their equipment to Ibiza Studios in Spain to record this one and not a bad place to be I can imagine, but did it bring any fresh inspiration? I think not. I think a big problem was the band had a real substance abuse problem, especially Rob as he
The band, believe it or not, stayed in tack with the same drummer as last time, David Holland. That alone is a massive achievement for the band. The remaining cast of characters were still Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill. The main core of the band. They recorded the album from October-November of 1980 and released the album on February 26, 1981. I won’t say the reception was lukewarm, as the album did go gold and produce a few singles. It only went to #39 in the US and #14 in the UK which isn’t a whole lot worse then the prior album, but the prior one did go platinum.
I think a big problem was the band had a real substance abuse problem, especially Rob as he tried to cope with his every growing loneliness being a gay metal rocker. But I think another problem was this resort like atmosphere of the Spanish island, gave the band way too many distractions. They would some time working and some time riding motorcross and partying. Hard to get proper work done when you are focusing on other things. I think these distractions led to a slightly disjointed album.
The album though does kick off with a great, classic Priest tune “Heading Out to the Highway”. It opened with a great dual guitar riff from Downing & Tipton and then great rhythm section from Hill & Holland and then Halford bad ass guy vocals sounding all tough and mean. It is a great driving song as its speedy tempo makes you want to crank it up and push the foot on the pedal a little harder. I remember seeing the song and MTV and cranking the TV as loud as it would go which wasn’t that loud as it was such a crappy TV.
“Don’t Go” comes up next and thumps along and slow yet heavy beat and is quite seductive and sexy. The song then explodes at the chorus which is very catchy. The guitar solo is the highlight as it really screams to be heard. It is almost the climax of this seductive dance.
“Hot Rockin'” brings it back to a more uptempo metal pace. It is a straight up rocker and one of my favorites on the album. It is full of energy and Halford attacks it with gusto and another guitar solo that is just as brutal as Rob’s vocals. By the time the song ends you are exhausted yet dying for more.
Next we get “Turning Circles” that opens with a non-sounding Priest guitar riff. It isn’t as gritty and powerful. The song feels like it is going in circles and unable to find any place to go. The music is repetitive sounding and leaves you wanting more. Rob sounds great vocally, but I found it dull overall.
But don’t fret, as the next song, “Desert Plains”, gets right back on track. It opens with a loud, heavy drum peat from Holland and if full of duel guitar work from Tipton and Downing and thumping bass line from Hill. Halford comes on and gives a serious tone which almost feels a little ominous in presentation. It is another song that feels like you are driving fast down the road weaving in and out of cars and that there is a dangerous element you can’t escape from and is following you about to catch you. Overall, this is a killer track and might be my favorite track on the album. A great way to close out the first half of the album.
The second half of the album kicks off with “Solar Angels” and a some great dual guitar work. Plus you get a Tipton solo and then a dual solo at the end. I think the highlight of the song is the musicianship as it seems to be more music and less vocals. There are some wild space sounding effects thrown in to go with the song title and add some flair. It is a decent track and might be the better song on the back half. The album starts to lose me from here.
“You Say Yes” is a song with a pretty awful chorus. The rest isn’t much better, but this song screams filler even if there is some cool bass by Ian Hill, though not cool enough to save the song. It is quite dreary and I am ready to move on to the next track.
Next up is “All The Way” and I’m not sure this is a metal song. It seems so contrived and the band seems to be reaching for a radio hit or commercial friendly sound. It seems like they are trying to write a party song as it is too chipper and is that supposed to be a handclap sound…oh goodness, spare me.
“Troubleshooter” is a little better as it is a little darker and has a great groove to it. The guitar work is sensational with Tipton starting the solo and Downing finishing it up. I do love when they share the solo, that is always worth a listen. I think it helps save the song…a little.
The final track, “On the Run”, actually has a strong opening and Halford’s vocals are soaring. He sounds smooth and the high notes are sensational and what I love from him. Give me this Priest any day of the week. Another hard, driving beat and some great drumming by Holland as well. They saved Side 2 from being a dismal failure with this track. This is more like what I want to hear from the band.
The Bonus Tracks on this one consist of “Thunder Road” which was recorded during the “Ram It Down” sessions from 1988 which makes no sense for it to be the bonus track on an album from 1981. It is a solid, heavy ass rocking song though. Production wise, it doesn’t sound clean and fully finished, but song wise, it is great and better than a lot of songs on this album. I like Hill’s bass as it is the Thunder on this Road (see what I did there!!).
The next bonus song is “Desert Plains” which was recorded live at Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri; 23 May 1986. The song feels like it is sped up a little from the studio track. There is a lot of double bass from Holland how was still with the band in 1986 believe it or not. The studio version is still better, but this shows how the band can tweak a song live and turn it in to something a little different. Now it is faster and heavier and still pretty good.
Track Listing:
Heading Out to the Highway – Keeper
Don’t Go – Keeper
Hot Rockin’ – Keeper
Turning Circles – Delete
Desert Plains – Keeper
Solar Angels – Keeper
You Say Yes – Delete
All The Way – Delete
Troubleshooter – Keeper(1/2 Point)
On The Run – Keeper
Bonus Tracks:
Thunder Road
Desert Plains (Live)
The Track Score is 6.5 out of 10 or 65%. This is the first album so far I have actually been a little disappointed in. Don’t get me wrong, it has its moments, but overall it was the first album I didn’t see growth of some kind. It was ‘British Steel’ light or 2.0…but not as good. They tried to copy the success of ‘British Steel’ to no avail. They had too many distractions and the band was in a bad place with this one and you can tell from the sound of these songs. Overall, I will only give it a 3.0 out of 5.0 Stars as I still liked more than half the tracks, the rest was just weak.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 