For My Sunday Song #290, we are talking through the song “Humanimal” off the Talisman album ‘Humanimal’. The song is one of those songs that grabbed hold of me instantly and I was totally in love with this song and that feeling has never changed. I found the song because of Jeff Scott Soto and my quest to get everything he sang on and the song, along with album, are one of my favorites. The song was written by the late Marcel Jacob of the band. It is one of the few times it is just him and not both he and Jeff.
The song seems to be about the fact that no matter what we try and do, our inner instincts are to be predator and an outright animal. Underneath are facade is a little savagery, a little cruelty, a little greed. No matter how good we might be on the outside, this animal instinct is always lying underneath the surface, ready to strike, ready to emerge and be set free. And you know, he isn’t wrong as humans can be the cruelest animal to walk the face of the Earth.
Musically, the song sounds just as savage as the lyrics suggest. It is hard and heavy with pounding of the drums by Jamie Borger, the incredible bass work by Marcel Jacobs and the blistering guitar riffs and shredding by Fredrik Akesson. The attack the song with such brutal force that you are overwhelmed by the aggressive nature of the sounds, but you are engrossed by them as well. They grab hold and drive through every inch of your soul. Jeff Scott Soto’s vocals are equally aggressive, but so smooth and melodic that you find it familiar and satisfying. It is catchy and you can’t but join in and singalong. It drives that animal in you out in to the open.
As you know if you follow this site, I am a huge fan of Needtobreathe. I have all their albums on vinyl and now I am going after the cool and unusual stuff on CDs. The first thing I found was a promotional single for the song “The Heart” off their upcoming 2014 album ‘Rivers in the Wasteland’. There is a sticker on the front of the plastic wrapper that gives you all the promotional information that is upcoming for the band including the “Impact Date” or release date of the single on April 21, 2014. it mentions the producer who was Joe Chiccarelli who had worked with The Raconteurs, The Killers and U2. It even goes through the bands upcoming performances on TV and BBC Radio. Check it out below.
The Promo CD is out of the UK and I bought it from someone in the UK. The single was presented with a paper sleeve (black and white text only) and in a PVC wallet. Very simple presentation, no artwork or anything special like that. Plain and simple, but still really cool. The only song on it is “The Heart”, nothing else.
Happy Friday!! We have a lot of releases this week for you and a bunch I want this week which hasn’t been the case lately. All my choices are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you are interested in hearing this weekend and let me know what I may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend.
Kiss – Off The Soundboard: Live In Virginia Beach 2004 – (Universal Music / Simstan Music): Kiss is now on their second in the Off the Soundboard Series and rumor has it we might be getting 2 more this year and I am excited about that. I hope they start going back further like with the Ace & Peter years or even Eric & Bruce would be great. But I will take this for now.
Ghost – Impera – (Loma Vista Recordings / Concord): It is hard to believe that it has been 4 years since Ghost last album, I hadn’t heard of them prior to that one, but I loved ‘Prequelle’ so I am excited to see what Tobias Forge has in store for us this time around.
Welcome back. For this Bonus post in the Jeff Scott Soto Series, we are going to talk about a 7″ Single from the album ‘Talisman’ for the song “I’ll Be Waiting”. The single was released in Sweden and didn’t take off at first. There was a radio station in Sweden that normally played Kylie Minogue and that type of music, played the single and the response was tremendous. They played it again and the same thing happened. The song went all the way to #2 on the their charts and the album ended up selling over 50,000 albums. Not bad at all. Amazingly enough this was supposed to be a one-off project, but the response was so big Talisman went on for another 19 years and released 7 albums plus numerous live recordings.
The single I have is the 7″ vinyl single from Sweden. It is on the Airplay Recordings label and was released in 1990. The B-Side was the song “Dangerous” off the same album and was written solely by Marcel Jacob. “I’ll Be Waiting” was written by both Marcel and Jeff Scott Soto. The two songs are actually right next to each other on the album and a great 1-2 punch.
‘Permanent Vacation’ was the band’s comeback album selling over 5 millions copies so the next album was critical…well critical in the fact that was the last album a real comeback or did the band get lucky. Bruce Fairbairn was back on the boys and they flew up to Vancouver, Canada to Bruce’s Little Mountain Sound Studio from January to June of 1988. The band had 19 songs written and whittled them down to 10 for the album. And was the album successful? Yes, you know it was. The album sold over 7 million copies, had 4 singles with a Grammy for their song, “Janie’s Got a Gun” and if that wasn’t enough, their song “Love in an Elevator” went to #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart which was their first #1 ever.
When making the album, Bruce was focused on adding as many hooks as possible and they wanted to become more free with their sound. As a result, they ended up having numerous musical interludes between songs or should I say to start songs. It added a whole a new dimension to their sound and made things a little more interesting. One thing that didn’t change was their lyrics. The boys from Boston still rule the world with their double entendre lyrics and as a result, the lyrics were left out of the release as they were afraid what the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center). It turns out this caused an issue with some people so to remedy that, the bands tour book included the lyrics.
The album finally came out on September 12, 1989 and went all the way to #5 on the charts. The comeback was real and Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton and Joey Kramer were back on top. Aerosmith had solidified their comeback and they had done something few bands get a second chance to do. They were now sober and they were bigger than ever…coincidence? I think not!!
The opening track is “Young Lust” written by Steven, Joe and Bryan Adam’s writing partner Jim Vallance. The sexually charged song comes roaring out of the gate and gives you and idea of what the rest of the album is probably like as it is going to be full of melodic, hook-laden songs about sex, sex and I think more sex. The song is so produced and commercialized as that was the goal for this album to make the band as commercial as possible and it worked. The song doesn’t set the world on fire with originality, but it is a ball-buster of an opening track that gets the juices flowing with Steven giving his all, Joey laying down the beat and Joe ripping through the guitar riffs. What more could you want.
Next up is “F.I.N.E.” or I like to say, “Fucked-Up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional”. Ok, I don’t really like to say that as F.I.N.E. is so much easier. This time around Tyler and Perry get help from the famous Desmond Child and as a result you get a more melodic song than the opener, a little more toned down and it sounds a little more like early era Aerosmith. The band sounds fresh, focused and so not-fucked up. Another song that reeks of sexual innuendos so much you might catch VD just listening to it.
“Going Down / Love in an Elevator” is up next and the little spoken word opener with the sexy elevator operator, Catherine Epp, oozing sexuality with her voice and her innuendos is enough to drive you crazy. The song kicks in with a blues-infused rocker that is catchy as hell with a Def Leppard style anthem that gets stuck in your head and that is what they were going for I suppose. Perry’sguitar work is sensational, Tyler’s vocal delivery is perfect and then the Bruce Fairbairn horns at the end give it that little extra flair and it all works so well. The song did really well as a single going to #5 on the Billboard Top 40.
Finally a song that isn’t about sex, sex and more sex. Nope, it is about drug use and the impact it can have on you. “Monkey On My Back” is another bluesy track and more Perry slide guitar. Kramer lays down an almost tribal drum beat before the song really kicks in and goes full throttle. Hamilton’s bass is thumping a nasty groove and overall musically it is a good song. Vocally and lyrically it was a little boring to me as the music was a little overpowering. Not to say it is a bad song, but compared the first three it isn’t up to snuff.
“Water Song / Janie’s Got a Gun” is another track with an opening little piece before you get to the song. “Water Song” has a glass harmonica played by Randy Raine-Reusch before the bass-riffs come in by Hamilton (who co-wrote the song with Tyler) and those percussive drum hits by Kramer the song lets lose and is an overly dramatic, masterpiece that takes you on what feels like an incredible journey and when it gets to that incredibly distorted guitar solo you are so engrossed in the song. The song is about child abuse and they tackled with such respect and crafted a song around it that is both beautiful and sad at the same time. The song went to #4 on the Top 40 Charts.
The second half of the album kicks off with “Dulcimer Stomp” which is a down home, swampy instrumental thanks to the Appalachian dulcimer played by Randy Raine-Resuch before kicking in to the main song “The Other Side” which was written by Tyler and Vallance before they had to add Holland-Dozier-Holland as song writers as they were sued for stealing the song from their hit “Standing in the Shadows of Love” and this was the settlement. The song is full of horns arranged perfectly, full of harmonies and full of hooks that will snag the biggest fish even if just swimming by with a quick listen. The song is a romping stomping good time track that rocks it out from beginning to end. A little over-produced and commercial, it still went to #22 on the Top 40 which was their goal to make any way.
“My Girl” is a very generic, old school good time rocker. It is a quick tempo-ed track and will get your foot stomping and head bobbing, but there is little heart behind it. It is a soulless song that is probably more filler than hit. It is catchy and you will get sucked it as that is its sole purpose.
Next up is “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even” which is another bluesy, swamp-filled song with an Australian flair thanks to the didgeridoo played by Randy Raine-Reusch. When the song kicks in it gets a little boring despite the cool opening. Tyler speaks more than sings and then screams and I do like the whole “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even” line, but the song falls flat and leaves me a little empty inside.
We do get saved with “Hoodoo / Voodoo Medicine Man” and this one is written by Tyler and Brad Whitford who doesn’t get many songwriting credits. “Hoodoo” opens with a khean performed by Randy Raine-Reusch who has handled all the weird instruments used on this album. After this little interlude, “Voodoo Medicine Man” kicks in and seems to be going for dramatic and epic like “Janie’s Got a Gun” and I think they succeed. Kramers drum barrage is awesome, Hamilton’s bass groove is killer and Tyler’s vocal deliver of the chorus all just gels and totally kicks some ass. After a couple duds, it is nice to the back half being saved by this one.
The final track is another single “What it Takes” and is the only ballad on the whole album. It is written by Tyler, Perry and of course, Desmond Child. The song is pure cheese with its emotionally filled lyrics sung perfectly by Tyler. The accordion gives it a little something different than most ballads. And ballads were so played out, but this one is too good not to love. It is easy to see why the song went all the way to #9 which helped propel this album to the 7 million sold figure.
Then there is a hidden track that is so completely unnecessary. It is an instrumental by Randy Raine-Reusch who plays the naw (gourd mouth organ of the Lahu people of Northern Thailand) starting at 5:19 in the hidden track contained in “What It Takes”. It sounds like a hillbilly stomp so doesn’t really fit with this song. It must’ve been something they were toying around with in the studio and decided to throw it on here at the last minute. Are we sure they were done with the drugs? Kidding.
Track Listing:
Young Lust – Keeper
F.I.N.E. – Keeper
Going Down / Love In An Elevator – Keeper
Monkey on My Back – Keeper (1/2 Point)
Water Song / Janie’s Got A Gun – Keeper
Dulcimer Stomp / The Other Side – Keeper
My Girl – Delete
Don’t Get Mad, Get Even – Delete
Hoodoo / Voodoo Medicine Man – Keeper
What It Takes – Keeper
The Track Score is 7.5 out of 10 Tracks or 75%. It is another solid album by the band and that is two in row on the comeback trail. With four singles, four Top 40 hits and 7 million sold, I think they found their way back to the top. Yes, the album is over-produced, too commercialized and yet, it works on so many levels. There is still some old Aerosmith in their, but this is the late 80’s and they have evolved with the times without completely losing their identity. Do I like it as much as the 70’s stuff, no, but that doesn’t make it any less good. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars as they are killing it with this one, but still not my favorite work by the band. However, I can’t deny the impact the had on the music scene and how excited everyone was that Aerosmith still had some life left in those old bones.
The 2nd 7″ Single I found was for the band Cinderella for the song “Shelter Me” which was the first single off their 1990 album ‘Heartbreak Station’. The song was written by Tom Keifer and actually broke the Top 40 in the U.S. going to #36 and #5 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock stations. The B-Side of the single is also from the album and is the deep cut “Long Gone Bad”.
My version is pretty cool…at least I think it is. It is a French Promo but it wasn’t just promoting the album, it was promoting the upcoming show in Paris on February 11, 1991 at the La Cagila which ia a theater at 120, boulevard de Rochechouart near Place Pigalle, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. That is what the (Le 11 Février 1991 A La Cigale) was referencing on the front of the single. The place was built back in 1887 so it has lots of history. Like I said, I think this is a cool piece.
A-SIDE:
“Shelter Me” took the band back to their roots pulling influence from both the Stones and Aerosmith with the bluesy rock. Just listen to that Stones Boogie in the song and you will know what I mean. Keifer’s raspy vocals add so much grit and then throw in Tom and Jeff Labar’s steel guitar work and you have a great track. There is even some honky tonk piano, some saxophone and I swear I hear a mouth harp (or whatever that twangy sound is). You get both a guitar solo and a saxophone solo, what more could you want. It is a down home good time song.
B-SIDE:
The B-Side is “Love Gone Bad” and is a very deep cut on the ‘Heartbreak Station’ album. It was also written solely by Tom Keifer but that is to be expected. This song leads more to the rock then the blues even though there is still a lot of blues in it. Fred Coury is slamming the skins and Tom’s vocals are on the harder edge of things as he screams a lot more on this one and with the raspy vocals you get that rock side to his vocals. The guitar work by him and Labar is stellar as usual. You get more saxophone and piano from Jay Davidson, organ work by Ken Hensley and some background vocals from Eric Troyer. Another stellar track from the band.
And that is it for this single, the last of the 3 from the Charlotte Record Show is up next week. Thanks for stopping by and hanging with us.
By 1994, Cheap Trick was no longer with Epic Records, they had jumped ship to Warner Bros. Epic was going to take that lying down, no they weren’t. They still had the rights to all the bands material up to ‘Busted’, so they were going to still capitalize on the Cheap Trick name. They released a compilation of Cheap Trick’s biggest hits. However, this was just an ordinary greatest hits set, no sir. Epic did what their name implies…they made an epic box set that had four CDs of hits, album tracks, b-sides, live songs, alternate takes and a ton of previously unreleased tracks. In fact, 17 previously unreleased tracks. A super fan’s wet dream, if you will.
There are 64 tracks on the album, plus 4 hidden little bits of weirdness at the end of each disc. It comes housed in a hard cover book type case that feels pretty solid. Inside, attached to the case, which I don’t like at all, is a booklet filled with pictures, stories and other Cheap Trick goodness. It would’ve been nice if the booklet wasn’t attached and you could take it out and enjoy it on its own. Minor flaw though. I liked the fact that the front cover of the book was actually Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos and the back was Robin Zander and Tom Petersson because most of their albums was the reverse with Robin and Tom on front and Rick & Bun relegated to the back cover. Nice little twist that did not go unnoticed.
For My Sunday Song #289, we are going deep with a cut called “Memories of You” from a band Jeff Scott Soto was in back in 1988 called Kuni. Soto was able to land a gig with the Japanese guitar virtuoso, Kuni, after his stint with Yngwie Malmsteen. The rest of the band included Mike Terrana on Drums, who played with Yngwie and Beau Nasty, as well as Douglas Taylor Baker on Bass, who also wound up playing with Beau Nasty. The album was called “Lookin’ For Action’ and that album had plenty of action on it.
The song is sad as our singer sits with a picture in his hand of a love gone wrong. They loved so deeply and he doesn’t understand what went wrong and why their love died. But it did and all he is stuck with is his memories. He is wondering if she feels the same way. Is she feeling the pain he is feeling. Is she missing him as much as he misses her. We don’t ever get the answer, just a beautiful song.
This is one of my favorite songs on the record (and there are a lot on this album), “Memories of You”, was written by Cary Sharef. It also might be Jeff’s best performance on the album. It is a power ballad or as close as you can get with Kuni, maybe a little heavier than what you’d expect for one, but works like one as the chorus is hooky and layered with tons of backing vocals. Soto shows off his range here and hits notes that will shatter glass. And don’t worry, every power ballad has a killer guitar solo and this one is no different. It starts off slow and then Kuni rips you a new one. He is a brilliant player and could shred with the best of them. This is also a big part of why I like this song.
This version of The Original vs. The Cover is going to be 3 songs. The song is the classic “Without You” and we will kick it off with the original by the band Badfinger. Now, I have to admit, I thought the original was by Harry Nilsson and didn’t realize his was a cover. So, Harry is up next. Lastly, we will throw in one of the most successful covers by the great Mariah Carey. The song was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans from the band Badfinger.
Pete Ham was originally writing a song called “If It’s Love”, but the song didn’t have a good chorus. When he was getting ready to leave the studio one day, Tom Evans stopped him and said he had an idea for a song. Peter was supposed to go out with his girlfriend, well his girlfriend knew him well and knew he would not be able to focus so she made him stay behind. Tom was working on a song with the chorus “Can’t live if living is without you”. The two parts were like chocolate and peanut butter. Apart they are good, but together they are perfect. The two didn’t think much of the song but apparently it has now been covered by over 180 artist.
On a side note and after effect of the song, Both Ham and Evans later committed suicide due to legal and financial reasons. Evans reason for the suicide seemed to be related to the royalties on this song which makes it a pretty sad tale.
BADFINGER
The Badfinger song came out on November 9, 1970 and was on their album ‘No Dice’. It is was a guitar ballad and had some heavy bass and both electric and acoustical accompaniment. Ham and Evans both take on lead vocal duties. It has that classic 60’s/70’s rock vibe to it and there is a punch to as the song progresses. There is a yearning to the vocals and you can feel the pain of that broken heart. It is a rather effective song and why I wasn’t overly familiar with it before I have no idea.
HARRY NILSSON
Harry Nilsson covered the song a year later on his 1971 album ‘Nilsson Schmilsson’. The song was released on October 11, 1971 and the song went all the way to #1 on Billboard Charts. Harry’s version turns the song in to a piano ballad giving it it an airy atmostpheric feel. The bass groove that lies just behind the lyrics is impactful and soulful. And when the chorus explodes it is so much more dramatic and he owns the pain and sorrow in those vocals. It is almost cathartic and you know he feels better after singing it. The song might be even more effective than the original and he even shaved a minute off the song. Harry truly owns this one and has probably the most recognizable version…at least for 20+ years.
MARIAH CAREY
Then on January 24, 1994, Mariah Carey releases her version of the song from her 1994 album ‘Music Box’. A whole new generation would now be introduced to the song which only went to #3 on the Billboard Charts. Mariah’s version is based off Harry’s as it is mostly a biting piano song with some heavy, heavy bass added to it. Almost too much bass. Her vocals soar and hit notes that Harry would only dream of, however, her vocals, though beautiful, don’t capture the emotion of the song. I feel she is singing it, but not feeling it.
THE VERDICT
Based on the above, I am torn between Badfinger’s version and Harry Nilsson’s version. As I said Mariah, she sings it beautifully but she doesn’t feel the song. And if I am basing on who “feels” the song and makes it believable, I guess I would go with Harry Nilsson’s version. He truly owned it and made it his own. Changing it to a piano based song really turned up the feels and you believed he felt the pain and sorrow of those lyrics. Badfinger is a very close second as I do love the guitar and bass work on the original. I hate they didn’t get the recognition they truly deserved for creating such a beautiful and powerful song.
I am really interested in hearing what everyone else thinks of these two songs. Let me know which version you like the best and why. Feel free to leave a comment and talk about the song and tell me how right or wrong I am on this one. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
LYRICS:
“Without You”
Well, I can’t forget this evening And your face when you were leaving But I guess that’s just the way the story goes You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows Yes, it shows
Well, I can’t forget tomorrow When I think of all my sorrow I had you there, but then I let you go And now it’s only fair that I should let you know What you should know
[CHORUS:] I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore
Well, I can’t forget this evening And your face when you were leaving But I guess that’s just the way the story goes You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows Yes, it shows
Happy Friday! Welcome to a huge list of New Releases just for you. There is so much on here that I believe there is something for everyone even if there is nothing I am running out and buying. I will listen to a few when I have a chance and maybe I’ll end up getting later. Take a look and let me know what you’d like to hear or what I may have missed as it does happen. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Band of Horses – Things Are Great – (Huger Lewis & the Dudes / BMG)
Stereophonics – Oochya – (Stylus Records / Ignition Records)
Kiss – Off The Soundboard: Live In Virginia Beach 2004 – (Universal Music / Simstan Music): Kiss is now on their second in the Off the Soundboard Series and rumor has it we might be getting 2 more this year and I am excited about that. I hope they start going back further like with the Ace & Peter years or even Eric & Bruce would be great. But I will take this for now.
Ghost – Impera – (Loma Vista Recordings / Concord): It is hard to believe that it has been 4 years since Ghost last album, I hadn’t heard of them prior to that one, but I loved ‘Prequelle’ so I am excited to see what Tobias Forge has in store for us this time around.
Band of Horses – Things Are Great – (Huger Lewis & the Dudes / BMG)
Stereophonics – Oochya – (Stylus Records / Ignition Records)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 