Billy Idol – “Eyes Without A Face” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)- (The Billy Idol Series)

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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.

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Queen – ‘The Works’ (1984) – Album Review (The Studio Album Series)

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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.

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The LeBrain Train with Special Guest – Ryan Williams

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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.

Great show all around and thank you for watching.

My Sunday Song – “Lay It Down” by Ratt

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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.

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REMINDER: ENGINEER AND MIXER RYAN WILLIAMS ON THE SATURDAY LEBRAIN TRAIN

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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!

Saturday July 3, 1:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook:  MikeLeBrain and YouTube:  Mike LeBrain.

ENGINEER AND MIXER RYAN WILLIAMS ON THE SATURDAY LEBRAIN TRAIN

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic11 Comments

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!

Saturday July 3, 1:00 PM E.S.T. on Facebook:  MikeLeBrain and YouTube:  Mike LeBrain.

Friday New Releases – July 2, 2021

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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!!

  • A1Jh8q8ByvS._SX522_  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.
  • 71plcED7X0S._SX522_  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.
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Kiss – ‘Kiss Rocks Vegas’ (2016) – DVD Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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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.

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June 2021 Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

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We are now half way through the year, man, that is so hard to believe. Before we know it, the year will be over 2022 will be upon us, but for that, let us see what June had in store for 2 Loud 2 Old Music. The month started off with my youngest daughter and I doing some thrift store shopping. I didn’t expect to be buying any music there, but lo and behold, they actually had some CDs for $1 a piece so I grabbed a few (or more). I got Seal, Jonny Lang, Eric Clapton and David Lanz…

I also picked up a couple of Cheap Trick albums. I had a gift card to Amazon from MyPoints.com and so I picked up Special One on CD and then their latest album finally arrived a month after it was released…it must have been lost In Another World for a little while…

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Judas Priest – ‘Defenders of The Faith’ (1984) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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In May of 1983, Judas Priest played one of their biggest shows at the US Festival in California. They played on what was called Metal Night with bands like Motley Crue, Scorpions, Quiet Riot, Van Halen and Ozzy. It was a very memorable event. Then three short months later, the band was back at in the studio in Ibiza, Spain where they had recorded their prior album ‘Screaming For Vengeance’.

They recorded the album from September to November 1983 with Tom Allom again at the helm. Well, they weren’t recording the whole time because when they arrived all the studio equipment was gone. Apparently the owner of the studio had some money issues. They had to get all new equipment shipped in and had to get it in to the studio. Rob tells in his book, ‘Confess’, they had to put a bunch of logs together and put the giant console on it to help roll it in to the studio. That had to be a sight to see. They definitely worked hard to get that album made…when they weren’t partying in town.

The album was done and the sound was very much like ‘Screaming for Vengeance’. The band felt that had tapped in to something special with that album so they basically repeated it on ‘Defenders of Faith’. Now they didn’t repeat really, but they wanted a similar vibe and sonic feeling. Which they achieved. And they achieved it with the band in tack from the last album with Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill and Dave Holland. The album was released on January 4, 1984 and went all the way to #18 on the Billboard charts and went Platinum in the US with over 1 million in sales.

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