I know what you are thinking. Why do we need another Kiss Greatest Hits compilation? Honestly, we really don’t. We have tons already and there is nothing new on here that the real fan doesn’t already have. So Why? Well, easy. Kiss was touring their End of the Road tour and they wanted product out there that the casual fan or new fan that they get from all the press can run out and grab. Simple!
But is this something worth getting? As a casual fan…Maybe, but maybe not as well as there are better compilations out there. As the Hard Core Fan….Well, I did buy it if that tells you anything. I had to buy it because I didn’t have it in my ever growing collection. Plus, it is so pretty. Yes, pretty. I bought the Special Edition double LP with Yellow/Red Splatter vinyl.
The packaging is a gatefold with the Group photo on the front and the track listing on the back such as below…
My favorite era of music is the so called, 80’s Hair Metal scene. Of course, back then it was just rock and didn’t yet have a label, but that was the music for me. I know a lot about that era and the bands so any time I can get my hands on a book about that time, I am all over it. I took a chance on this one called ‘The Spectacular Rise, Fall and Rebirth of Hair Metal by Christopher Hilton. The book had a 4.4 rating so I thought I would give it a shot.
The book goes chronologically through each year of the scene and goes all the way up to 2019/20. When it gets to the 90’s and 2000’s, the chapters start to cover more than one year as it would be too much. I was expecting some great stories and maybe interviews from people of that era and from those involved in the scene, but that is not what I got at all. The author went through and talked mostly about the biggest bands of the era including Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Poison, L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat and the like and he went through each album and the best songs on the album. At the end of each year he ranked the best album. Honestly, it felt like I was either reading wikipedia or maybe even something I would have written with my limited knowledge of these bands. It was rather pedestrian.
The stories about the bands were the same old stories we’ve heard all the time, there was really nothing new at all. No interviews, no real thought provoking insight, no real meat at all. He always focused on the biggest bands and seldom if ever brought up bands that were lesser known that were completely overlooked. The only good thing is he did follow the music in to the 90’s (and he mentioned Paul Laine of Danger Danger) and how the bands changed their sound and style and then went in to the 2000’s where the 80’s Rock scene saw a major resurgence. He even went as far a talking about the new bands in the 21st Century that have taken up the 80’s glam scene and how a lot of them come from Europe, especially Scandinavia. A good list of bands to check out. Most of them I already knew about, but for newbie’s that part is worth checking out.
When I am out digging through rows and rows of vinyl, I love it when I can find things I don’t have that are little out of the ordinary. For me I love to find 12″ Picture Discs as they are usually beautiful and this one was no exception. While at a record show here in Charlotte, I came across this Billy Idol Picture Disc which was released in the U.S. back in 1984. The packing was strictly a clear plastic covering with a little white sticker in the upper right hand corner. That is exactly what I found except my little white sticker was now a more faded tan to yellowish colored sticker as it has faded a little with time. Even the clear plastic covering was starting to tint a little as well.
Musically, the single has only three songs and they are “Eyes Without a Face”, “Blue Highway” and “(Do Not Stand in the Shadows”. All are album cuts and not special remixes or anything like that. So the only reason to own this is because it is pretty and it is. But if you are looking for only rare mixes or demos, this isn’t for you. This is for the completist in you that has to have everything. Let’s go through the songs a little then.
THIS SIDE: (Picture is up top)
“Eyes Without A Face” is one of my favorite Idol songs. The hand clap, the groove, the slow ballady feel all worked gloriously against a darker feel from the lyrics. The song builds up in tempo and you get a fantastic little riff from Stevens and then some beautiful backing vocals by Billy’s girlfriend, at the time, Perri Lister. She is singing in french “Les yeux sans visage” which means eyes with a face. The phrase was also the title of a movie directed by Georges Franju which was the inspiration for the song.
For 1983, the band decided they weren’t playing any live shows and they took a little break. Roger Taylor released his second solo album called ‘Strange Frontier’ and Brian May released an E.P. titled ‘Star Fleet Project’ and in that project was some little known guitarist by the name of Eddie Van Halen…maybe you’ve heard of him. Freddie even worked on his solo album ‘Mr. Bad Guy’, but his didn’t get released until a couple years later. John did whatever he wanted as I don’t know if he worked on a project. And in August of that year, they started working on their 11th Studio album, ‘The Works’. The band recorded at the Record Plant in L.A. and Musicland studio in Munich. It was a global affair.
The band still held on to the electro-pop stylings of ‘Jazz’, but did bring back some of the rock sound they are known for and thank the Heavens for that. But I don’t think it was enough to save this album. As you will see, the songs are good…but they aren’t great. For me, Queen seemed like a lost ship at sea and no one could read the stars to help them find their way and you would think with an astrophysicist on board, that would help, but nope. The band finished up the album around January 1984 and then released the album on February 24, 1984 to little success. It did go to #2 in the UK, but only #23 in the US which was disappointing for them.
First up is “Radio Ga Ga” which was written by Roger Taylor and he thought it would work great on his solo. The band heard and thought this could be a hit and suddenly it became a Queen song. Roger’s inspiration came from his son and hearing him say “Radio Ca Ca”. He took that and turned it in to a commentary on how TV and Music Videos were changing the way we listened to music and the radio. Radio was becoming less important, but he wanted to wax poetic about its greatness. The song actually makes reference to a couple of major radio events such as Winston Churchill’s “This is their finest hour” speech to the House of Commons in 1940 and to Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” in 1938.
Great show Yesterday if you missed! Mike Ladano and I brought on my brother-in-law and engineer/mixer/musician/songwriter Ryan Williams for storytime. Though his credits range from pop to metal, we tended to focus our discussion on rock and roll. If you’re a fan of Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Slayer, Staind, U2, Phil Collen of Def Leppard, Limp Bizkit, Velvet Revolver, Dave Navarro, or Kelly Clarkson then you’ll want to check this show out.
From starting out in Atlanta, to travelling the world recording epic performances, Ryan Williams has seemingly seen it all and done it all. Recording music on a Tascam 4-track home studio, graduating to two synced 24-tracks machines, to the modern tools of today, Ryan has kept learning. We talked about his beginnings, and working with Brendan O’Brien, all the way to the present day and the imminent release of a Stone Temple Pilots box set for Tiny Music. Ryan even had a little bit of show and tell with some hand-written original Eddie Vedder lyrics. He had stories about working with some guy from a not well known band called U2 and even going to a private party with I am sure people you’ve never heard of or maybe you have. It is all worth checking out.
For My Sunday Song #254, we are going to explore the song “Lay It Down” by Ratt off the band’s 1985 album ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’. The song broke the Top 40 and landed at #40 on the Hot 100. This helped the album sell over 2,000,000 copies and push the band to super stardom after they massively successful debut album. The song is one of the few that is credited to every member of the band except for Bobby Blotzer. He doesn’t have any writing credits on this album.
The song is not very deep lyrically. It basically sums up to trying to getting some female action. It does talk about how she doesn’t really know him and that she might not even care. They play the game of romance but she won’t get to see the real him until they are in the sheets having some fun and letting themselves go completely. I’m sorry there isn’t much more to it than that, but Ratt never claimed to be Bob Dylan now did they.
Musically though, it is a fantastic song. That opening guitar riff from Warren DeMartini is one of the best they’ve ever done. Bobby Blotzer’s drums are hard and heavy and he lays down a cool groove along with Juan Croucier on bass. The song is typical 80’s rock, but Ratt has a way of putting a blues edge to it with both Robbin Crosby and Warren’s playing. It helped set Ratt apart from some of the other bands. The song is also a little on the sleazy side which fits well with the lyrics. Stephen Pearcy’s gritty vocals bring the sleaze to the forefront, but when he whispers that last verse, he shows a softer, sexier side that helps catapult the song to the next level.
A friendly reminder that Ryan Williams will be joining us on a Special Saturday Edition of the LeBrain Train…
Mike LeBrain and I will be interviewing a well-respected engineer and mixer in the music business who started out working with one of the biggest producers of all time Brendan O’Brien. Not a bad way to learn the business. Join us why we walk through Ryan’s career and all the great bands he has worked with and some interesting stories about some things that happened along the way. By the way, Ryan is my brother-in-law so I know the deep dark secrets…kidding…or am I?????
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and John Snow
Saturday July 3 – Episode 74 – Ryan Williams
Have you ever had anything with your name on it nominated for a Grammy award? Ryan Williams has — for his work on Train’s Drops of Jupiter, Velvet Revolver’s Contraband, and Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger. And we’ll be talking to him about it on Saturday’s LeBrain Train.
Join John Snow and I for this special Saturday episode with a very in-demand engineer. How much demand? Well, besides Stone Temple Pilots, he’s either engineered or mixed for Matt Nathanson, 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Pearl Jam, Outkast, Staind, Michelle Branch, The Panic Channel, Phil Collen’s Delta Deep, Korn, Static-X, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Biffy Clyro, 10 Years, Atreyu, Mastodon, Billy Idol, P!nk, Sugar Ray, Deftones, Adam Lambert, Coheed & Cambria, The Black Dahlia Murder, Bush, Neon Trees, and Beck. He even has a co-write on a Kelly Clarkson song. Is that enough demand for ya?
This is going to be a great chance for us to pick the brain of a guy who has literally worked with the biggest names in modern music. You do not want to miss this one — catch it live so we can ask Ryan your questions!
Mike LeBrain and I will be interviewing a well-respected engineer and mixer in the music business who started out working with one of the biggest producers of all time Brendan O’Brien. Not a bad way to learn the business. Join us why we walk through Ryan’s career and all the great bands he has worked with and some interesting stories about some things that happened along the way. By the way, Ryan is my brother-in-law so I know the deep dark secrets…kidding…or am I?????
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike and John Snow
Saturday July 3 – Episode 74 – Ryan Williams
Have you ever had anything with your name on it nominated for a Grammy award? Ryan Williams has — for his work on Train’s Drops of Jupiter, Velvet Revolver’s Contraband, and Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger. And we’ll be talking to him about it on Saturday’s LeBrain Train.
Join John Snow and I for this special Saturday episode with a very in-demand engineer. How much demand? Well, besides Stone Temple Pilots, he’s either engineered or mixed for Matt Nathanson, 3 Doors Down, Lifehouse, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Pearl Jam, Outkast, Staind, Michelle Branch, The Panic Channel, Phil Collen’s Delta Deep, Korn, Static-X, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Biffy Clyro, 10 Years, Atreyu, Mastodon, Billy Idol, P!nk, Sugar Ray, Deftones, Adam Lambert, Coheed & Cambria, The Black Dahlia Murder, Bush, Neon Trees, and Beck. He even has a co-write on a Kelly Clarkson song. Is that enough demand for ya?
This is going to be a great chance for us to pick the brain of a guy who has literally worked with the biggest names in modern music. You do not want to miss this one — catch it live so we can ask Ryan your questions!
Happy Friday. We have a long weekend here in the States as we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th. Which is why I am guessing this is not a strong week of new releases. Where I had 45 albums last week, there are only 14 listed this week. There are two I am interested in and they are highlighted in Blue. I hope there is something here for you! Let me know what you want to hear and what I may have missed. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great Holiday Weekend!!
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Angel Dream (Songs and Music from the Motion Picture “She’s the One”) – (Petty Legacy / Warner): To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of She’s The One, the album has been re-imagined as Angel Dream – and is the final chapter of the audio releases relating to Petty’s masterpiece Wildflowers.
Richard Marx – Stories to Tell: Greatest Hits and More – (BMG Rights Mgt): Richard Marx is releasing a book called ‘Stories to Tell’ and this is the greatest hits package to accompany that book. It also has includes never before released demos of his hits, live tracks & brand new recordings and since I am fan of Mr. Marx, especially his Twitter page, this is a perfect piece to add to the collection.
Believe it or not, Kiss released yet another live album and not a studio album. It is a sad commentary on the Kiss World at this time. And to this day, it still doesn’t look like a studio album is coming. But this is no ordinary live album…or is it? Kiss took a break from their killer 40th Anniversary World Tour and spent some time at a residency in Las Vegas…I mean who doesn’t nowadays. From November 5-23 of 2014, Kiss held up shop at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer gave us the Kiss spectacle night after night in all its glory. The DVD set was released on August 26, 2016 almost two years later and not sure why the delay in getting it out.
And this package is a beautiful set and gives you everything you want. You get a DVD of the show in Full Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you get a bonus acoustic set and then you get the show on CD of the same songs (less the acoustic). If you want the acoustic on CD you need to get the Japanese version…of course…and of course Ladano has that one if you want to here his take on it. You also get a booklet with tons of pictures from the band.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 