Tag: Unchained

Elias Hulk – ‘Unchained’ (1970/2023) – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic14 Comments

One thing I’ve been having fun with is collecting the Exclusive vinyls offered at my local Record Store, Noble Records. Each month he generally has one or two releases that are exclusive to his store. Usually that means a colored variant of archival release. It has allowed me to branch out and listen to things I would normally never ever hear or get the chance to hear. And I will say, 90% of his releases I have found to be quite enjoyable and made me really appreciate a lot of these cult bands that seemed to fall by the wayside or discarded from this rock & roll business. I have reviewed two of these before and I thought, it is time to start diving in to more of this and do a review. So, here we are with one of those exclusives.

For this review, we are going to look at a band that had one album and was done. A One And Done band called Elias Hulk. The album was released in the UK sometime back in 1970. The band was originally called Alias the Hulk due to their love for Marvel Comics and The Incredible Hulk. Eventually the name was shorted to Elias Hulk. The band consisted of members James Haines (Bass), Bernard James (Drums), Neil Tatum (Lead Guitar), Granville Frazer (Rhythm Guitar) and Peter Thorpe (Lead Singer). And as far as sound, they are a cross between a heavy bluesy rock with some psychedelic hard rock mixed and some Eastern elements that add a cool uniqueness to their sound. And if that wasn’t enough, it is a little proggy as well. I would say that it is a pretty accurate as we definitely have some heavy moments and then some not quite so heavy, but all sounds are still rock and still kick ass.

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Van Halen – ‘Destruction in Dallas: Reunion Arena, Dallas, Tx – November 18, 1982’ (Bootleg) – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic23 Comments

There is no better feeling than out vinyl digging and find something unexpected like a bootleg. Make that bootleg Van Halen and make there be two different ones there by Van Halen and that is why I love collecting. Those little surprises and the first one I already reviewed.. It is a soundboard recording from April 3, 1978 and recorded at the Pogo’s Night Club and Discotheque in Wichita, Kansas. The other bootleg I found was Van Halen’s Destruction in Dallas. Recorded on November 18, 1982 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, TX in front of a sold out show of over 19,000 screaming fans. This recording is a soundboard recording, although not a great one. The sound is really low, you can hear everything, but you really have to turn it up and it never gets loud enough for me which does detract from the show a little.

But Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen due to all out and I am sure the fans had a great time at the show. This was the Diver Down/Hide Your Sheep 1982 Tour. Now, the copy I have of this bootleg is on 2 LPs and both colored. We get a beautiful red one for Sides A/B and a white on for Sides C/D. The track list appears to be accurate from what I’ve seen and the last three songs on Side D are actually demos of songs that have not seen the light of day on any release.

The album opens up with an enthusiastic introduction from the announcer and the band goes in to “Romeo’s Delight” with Eddie’s guitar throwing riffs out like they were candy. Dave “woahing” and screaming as he forgot the fucking words (as he tells the crowd). Someone might be a little hammered already and we are only at the first song. Not a good sign of things to come. Sound quality wise, the sound is a little hollow for the instruments. And I have it cranked and still hard to hear the instruments. Dave is clear, Eddie’s guitar is clear, but the rest not so much. Oh, and the backing vocals are pretty loud too.

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My Sunday Song – “Unchained” by Van Halen

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic19 Comments

For My Sunday Song #141, we are now going to tackle 10 songs from Van Halen.  They could be with David Lee Roth, Sammy Hager or even Gary Cherone on lead vocals.  We will cover all the bases.  First up will be “Unchained” off the band’s fourth album, ‘Fair Warning’.  ‘Fair Warning’ came out in April 1981 and “Unchained” was the second single off the album released in July 1981, but I had also heard no singles were ever officially released so not sure what to believe.  Either way, the song reached #13 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.

The album suffered from poor sales, but the album was received very well by the critics.  In fact, “Unchained” is often named as one of the best Van Halen songs of all time.  I can’t say I disagree with that.

The song is noted for its use of the MXR M-117 Flanger which for us non-guitar people is a pedal used that can change the sound of the guitar.  For the guitar people, It uses a Drop Db tuning with suspended fourth chords interspersed (thanks Wikipedia).  Eddie made this effect very popular and helped increase the sales of such equipment. (Picture not actual EVH pedal).

mxr_flanger_002

The song also features producer Ted Templeman on vocals.  During a point in the song, Dave is pontificating on and on and Ted jumps in and says “Come On Dave, Give Me a Break” and Dave replies, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, one break coming up!”.  It is an awesome moment in the song.

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