| Thursday
31st January
The debut album by Cavalera Conspiracy has just blown me
away. As one of the diehards that witnessed Sepultura's first UK gig,
destroying Sodom at the Marquee, I've followed the myriad twists and
turns of guitarist/vocalist Max and drummer Igor Cavalera's careers
with much interest. Max's acrimonious split with Sepultura deeply
saddened me, as the Brazilians were on the verge of becoming enormous.
Due for release on March 24, 'Inflikted' is a timely reminder of the
chemistry between these two siblings. As Max puts it: "You bottle
a monster for 10 years and then let it out, it's explosive."
Let's have some live dates in the UK very soon please.
P.S. Listening to this album fondly reminded me of how Max - who took
pride in his matted dreadlocks - gave Jason Arnopp of Kerrang! - notorious
for a more layered, bouffant look - the affectionate nickname of "Ladies'
Hair" when Sepultura first made an impact. Great days indeed.
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Wednesday
30th January
In the latest issue of Classic Rock, Stone
Gods - the band formed by three ex-members of The Darkness; lead
guitarist Dan Hawkins, drummer Ed Graham and bassist-turned vocalist/guitarist
Richie Edwards (the line-up is completed by bassist Toby Macfarlaine)
- are asked whether they have plans to perform any of their ex-band's
songs during a low-key headline tour that began in Bristol on the
17th. The reply of "emphatically not" was enough to entice
me along to last night's London gig at the Underworld. To make my
feelings plain on this matter, I **loved** the music of The Darkness,
but hated the flamboyant comedy falsetto of Justin Hawkins with equal
fervour.
Make no mistake, Stone Gods are very different beast indeed. From
the first chords of 'Burn The Witch', a statement of intent to be
proud of, their heaviness is unmistakable. Edwards is an engaging,
likable and talkative frontman with none of Justin's showbiz flash;
the band just get their heads down and blast out the songs. 60 minutes
later I walked back out into Camden High Street smiling like a loon
and proclaiming the words: "Justin Who?" Stone Gods offer
something for pretty much everyone, the only blot on their copybook
arriving when Richie straps on a 12-string for an insincere and turgid
ballad called 'Lazy Bones'. Nevertheless, I await their debut album
with an unusual sense of excitement. I've no idea
how many of the following songs will make it onto that disc, but here's
what the band performed: 'Burn The Witch', 'Gunfight', 'Makin' It
Hard', 'Where U Comin' From', 'Living Dead', 'Don't Drink The Water',
'Lazy Bones', 'Start Of Something', 'I'm With The Band' and 'Defend
Or Die', coming back again for 'Magdalene Street' and 'Beero'.
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Tuesday 29th January
Christ, how I dislike Leicester City. The Foxes once accidentally
beat Palace in the dying seconds of a play-off final at Wembley Stadium,
the ball rebounding into Nigel Martyn's net off Steve Claridge's shin,
and pretty much the same thing happened in last night's televised
league fixture. The Walkers Stadium erupted in the 89th minute, Julian
Speroni looking on in horror as Barry Hayles' hapless attempt to control
a cross looped in at the far post. It was an ugly way to end the eight
hours since Palace last conceded an away goal. Following a succession
of brutish challenges, Hayles should have been taking an early shower
("Some of their tackles were almost manslaughter," observed
Eagles boss Neil Warnock) and not celebrating an undeserved winning
goal, but that's football. In truth it was a shockingly scrappy affair,
contested on a soggy quagmire of a pitch. Our 15-game undefeated run
had to end sometime, and I'd rather have lost this match than the
imminent six-pointer against Clowntown Pathetic. Now it's about how
the team responds against Southampton on Saturday...
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Sunday 27th January
Last night Alter Bridge played a sold-out gig at London's
Astoria. For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a big fan
of this oustanding US combo, who are doing a sterling job of satisfying
young and old rock fans alike. But surely with two full-length albums
to their name they should be playing for longer than 85 minutes, and
employing a sound technician who doesn't make them sound like a bass-drenched
mess? Don't get me wrong, I'm more than content with where Alter Bridge
are headed musically. Material such as 'White Knuckles' and 'One By
One' from the current 'Blackbird' album is a notch heavier than 2004's
debut 'One Day Remains', but with singer Myles Kennedy doubling up
on guitar the beefed-up effect remained enjoyably consistent. UK pop-rockers
Enjoy Destroy had done a fine job of warming up the fans, who it must
be said went absolutely mental throughout the headliners' performance.
Thankfully, the latter's ill-advised cover of AC/DC's 'Whole Lotta
Rosie' (which apparently featured at earlier UK dates) was nowhere
to be heard. Here's what the Alter boys played: 'Come To Life', 'Find
The Real', 'Brand New Start', 'Buried Alive', 'White Knuckles', 'One
By One', 'One Day Remains', 'Before Tomorrow Comes', 'Ties That Bind',
'Blackbird', 'Watch Over You', 'Metalingus' and 'Open Your Eyes',
with encores of 'Broken Wings', 'Mudbone' and 'Rise Today'.
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Saturday
26th January
Well, it took a while but 2008's finally gathering pace.
Next week is chocka with gigs, and yesterday's interviews included
Black Sabbath/Heaven And Hell's moustachioed maestro, guitarist Tony
Iommi, and Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks.
Hmmmmm... Iron Maiden have confirmed the first of two support acts
for their hotly-anticipated open-air bash at London's Twickenhan Stadium
on July 5. Judging by comments at the Classic Rock website, I'm not
the only person to be hugely disappointed the 'special guest' slot
has gone to Avenged Sevenfold. Though extremely popular with the younger
crowd, the feisty Orange County quintet's fourth and current self-titled
disc is a sometimes horrifying example of a band's grandiose ambitions
being outstripped by moderate talent. And with the best will in the
world ('cos I actually believe she has something to offer), what's
the betting that Steve's daughter Lauren Harris gets to open the show?
What a marvellous selection of new stuff arrived this morning. The
double-gatefold, white vinyl edition of Tarja Turunen's 'My Winter
Storm' is a thing to treasure. Also received the three latest re-issues
from Rock
Candy Records; 'Reckless' by the female fronted Canadian quartet
of the same name, 'Mother's Finest' from funk-rock icons Mother's
Finest and, best of all, Money's 'First Investment'. The latter is
an obscure yet irresistible slice of pomp-infused pop-rock that dates
back to 1979 - I saw them opening for Praying Mantis at the Marquee,
then Samson at the Music Machine, the following year - the Birmingham
four-piece's sense of eccentric drama sometimes reminding me of The
Darkness, only without those Godawful high-pitched vocals.
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Friday 25th January
I just had a bit of a shock. Almost dropped the receiver
when I heard the words: "Hello Dave, this is Dennis DeYoung".
A day or two ago I emailed Lori Lousararian, the California-based
publicist of the former Styx keyboard player/vocalist, enquiring how
to obtain a review copy of DeYoung's solo CD, 'A Hundred Years From
Now'. Lori replied by saying she no longer represented Dennis but
had passed on the message... and then the phone rang! I certainly
didn't expect to hear back from DeYoung himself. He informed me that
he is currently preparing some extra material for a revised edition
of 'A Hundred Years From Now' for Rounder Records, the new edition
of which will be despatched in a month or two's time. The album was
well-received by those that wrote about it so far - hence my keenness
to track down a copy. DDY made me laugh by signing off with the wry
comment: "There's a very good reason that the reviewers were
so kind. I have polaroids of them all with farm animals. I knew that
camera would come in handy some day."
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Tuesday 22nd January
Just received finished copies of 'Rock 'N' Roll Gypsies'
and 'Rough Justice', the first two albums from long-defunct Mersey
boogie-rock combo Spider. Neither had been released on CD before,
so it's a thrill to own them on that particular format at long last
(they were originally released in 1982 and 1984), accompanied by various
extra tracks. Hats off to Krescendo Records for caring enough to exume
them.
Great footie news - with Palace already having secured terrier-like
defender Clint Hill's services for a modest fee of £200,000,
fellow loanee Sean Derry has also signed on permanent deal, the midfielder's
signature costing around £50,000 more. This represents an inspired
bit of business. We've also picked up 25-year-old midfielder Neil
Danns from Birmingham for £600,000. I know nothing whatever
about this fella, but Neil Warnock hasn't put a foot wrong so far,
so here's hoping...
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Monday
21st January
Only just had a chance to address the fact that Canadian
trio Triumph are reuniting for this summer's Sweden
Rock festival. Their quintessential party anthem 'I Live For The
Weekend' has been blasted at Ling Towers on many a Friday night, though
I only ever saw Triumph once - in 1981 at Motörhead's now legendary
Heavy Metal Holocaust gig at Port Vale FC. Guitarist/singer Rik Emmett,
bassist Mike Levine and drummer/vocalist Gil Moore last worked together
on 1987's 'Surveillance' album, and like most fans I'd given up hope
that they would ever bury the hatchet to do so again. Triumph join
a stellar bill that already includes Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Whitesnake,
Saxon, Blue Öyster Cult, Tesla, Fastway, the reunited Shakin'
Street and At The Gates, Uli Jon Roth and the Hensley-Lawton Band.
Gonna have to get my ass out there in June!
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Sunday
20th January
Following yet another triumphant Saturday afternoon, it's
lovely to sit down and wade through the Sunday papers. Yesterday's
well-earned 2-0 stuffing of second placed Bristol City enabled Palace
climb to fifth in the table. According to the News Of The World, our
run of 15 unbeaten league matches suggests we are "genuine contenders
to make it back to the Premier League". I'm not sure I'd concur
with The Mail On Sunday's assessment of "unattractive yet effective
- a depressing triumph of pragmatism over flair", but the team's
football is certainly convincing, and though we were kept on tenterhooks
before the second goal, the day out at Selhurst was a joyous affair.
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Saturday
19th January
Yesterday's phone interview with Ace Frehley represented
the realisation of another lifetime ambition. I've always been fascinated
by the enigmatic former Kiss guitarist, who admitted during our conversation:
"On some days I wake up and feel like I can ponder the inner
workings of quantum mechanics. On others I'm lucky if I can find my
ass with both hands. With me, every day is a crapshoot". I was
hooked up with Frehley to promote his gig at London's Astoria on April
11. Ace was suffering for a 101 degree fever and had a disconcerting
habit of braying with laughter at the most serious questions, but
was pretty candid in a throughly enjoyable encounter. He casually
mentioned the times his well-publicised excesses brought brushes with
death, but now claims to be 16 months sober. Even so, I was susprised
when he stated that he can no longer be around drunk or drugged-up
people. So did Frehley now realise why Gene Simmons has been so scathingly
critical of him in the past? "Sure, to an extent", he replied,
perhaps unexpectedly. Read the rest of the story in the next of Classic
Rock.
The evening passed surreally at central London hell-hole The Fly,
as My Ruin previewed their new album 'Throat Full Of Heart' before
a gathering of fawning, oddball acolytes. Never before have so many
grossly overweight people worn so much make-up or squeezed themselves
into such ill-fitting outfits - men or women. Former rapper/Tura Satana
singer Tairrie B's work isn't really my cup of tea, but I was pleasantly
surprised by what I heard... and it wasn't all due to the reservoir
of white wine that ended up in my gullet.
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Friday
18th January
Fair
play to Michael Schenker, who seems to have (at least temporarily)
cleaned up his act, and has been wowing fans during an ongoing UK
club tour billed as Michael Schenker & Friends. Echoing other
upbeat reports, Pete Feenstra, the promoter of last night's sold-out
date at Sutton's Boom Boom Club emailed me overnight, playfully lambasting
me for having advised him against booking Michael after the shame
of last summer. Feenstra even dared to call Schenker "the Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge of rock". Though cynical of how long it might last
- can so brief a trip to rehab **really** generate such a radical
about-turn? - I'm happy that Schenker appears to be proving me wrong.
My 'in' box also contained two heart-warming messages; one from White
Lion singer Sir Michael Of Tramp, re-establishing contact after way
too many years. The sound-clips of 'Return Of The Pride', WL's first
new studio album in 16 years, are just what I'd hoped to hear, boding
well for a soon-to-be-announced UK tour in early June. The second
message was from Peter Andrew, my best pal from secondary school daze,
and the chap with whom I shared my first experience of live rock music
- Status Quo at Wembley Arena in May 1979. You've gotta love the interweb,
doncha?
During the afternoon I chatted with Steven Wilson, who revealed that
he is using downtime with Porcupine Tree to prepare his first ever
solo album. Ever the workaholic, Wilson is also just about to release
another record from his ambient-prog project, No-Man, and weighing
up the possibility of doing some more Blackfield gigs with Aviv Geffen.
Does the man never sleep?
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Thursday
17th January
Mr
Postie, I bloody well love you. Today's little haul brought an under-the-counter
DVD recording of Led Zeppelin's show at the O2 Arena (thanks Tony!),
and, at last, a finished copy of The Eagles' comeback double-disc,
'The Long Road Out Of Eden'. I've been spinning the latter throughout
the day and must reluctantly agree with the of the reviewers; at 21
tracks (including the UK exclusive 'Hole In The World') it's way too
long for its own good, but contains some truly classic songs. The
Eagles have made an art form of writing about good love gone bad,
and with its delicious opening couplet of 'I came home to an empty
home/And I found your little note', Don Henley and Glenn Frey's 'Busy
Being Fabulous' shows that the masters haven't lost their touch. Better
still, each time I play the bloody thing I come away with a new favourite
song.
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Tuesday
15th January
Sitting here writing the Classic Rock news pages, accompanied
by the annoying drip-drip-drip of a leaky wall in my office, I'm having
a bit of a ZZ Top day. It all began this morning when Planet
Rock Radio happened to be playing 'Got Me Under Pressure' when
I visited the house to make a cup of tea. Four hours later I've spun
1973's 'Tres Hombres', 1975's half-live 'Fandango!' and the utterly
brilliant 'Degüello' from 1979. Also hauled out a cherished live
recording from London's Marquee Club in October 1983, which brought
back some amazing memories. Here's hoping for more action from these
much-missed (mainly) facially hairy honchos... and soon.
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Monday
14th January
It's a big thumbs-up for the Scorpions DVD from Wacken (see
Saturday's entry). The camera work and sound are as immaculate as
the choice of song selection. Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker and Herman
Rarebell all make guest appearances, along with Michael's son Tyson
and a less than lifelike robotic scorpion. Aside from Rudolf Schenker
standing on his head, which takes place during an encore rendition
of Ravel's 'Bolero', there's a marvellously mirthsome moment when
Uli makes a grand entrance by walking through a door in James Kottak's
drum riser - yes, it's that big - to join his former bandmates onstage.
As the partition swishes aside to reveal him to the crowd, Roth peels
off a Hendrix-stye florry of notes that leave you thinking 'Tonight,
Matthew, I'm going to be...'. But if you're a Scorps fan, this is
a DVD you simply won't want to be without.
_
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Sunday
13th January
Excuse me for purring contentedly like some over-stuffed
tabby cat. I've always disliked Wolverhampton Wanderers for a number
of reasons, including their over-inflated sense of importance and
stature, the violence that's been dished out by their fans during
past trips to Molineux, the unsporting antics of former striker Steve
'England Reject' Bull and now the club's current choice of manager
(ex-Scumwall boss Mick McCarthy - what an inconsequential tosser).
If only I'd been able to make the trip to the Black Country for yesterday's
3-0 victory, instead of merely listening to it on the radio. James
Scowcroft's long distance volley for the third was an absolute peach,
the 14th consecutive unbeaten league game representing Crystal Palace's
best sequence of results for 29 years. We are now in the play-off
places and, as the division's form side, beginning to believe the
possibility of an automatic promotion spot. Robert Plant, Glenn Hughes,
Noddy Holder, Bev Bevan, Reef's Gary Stringer, Peter Powell, Eric
Idle, Suzi Perry - your boys took a hell of a beating.
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Saturday
12th January
Ah, deep joy! Classic Rock want me to review the new Scorpions
DVD, 'A Night To Remember, A Journey Through Time: Live At Wacken
Open Air 2006'. The track listing, the special guests (Uli John Roth,
Michael Schenker, Herman 'Ze German' Rarebell), the packaging (Rudolf
Schenker standing on his head, presumably during 'Fly To The Rainbow')...
this looks like something very special. Speaking of which, a little
later than usual, here are the latest Playlist
and YouTube.
P.S. Def Leppard and Whitesnake are touring together in June, with
Black Stone Cherry as openers - that's one not to miss. And Spock's
Beard have announced a trek that brings them to London on my birthday,
July 2. Result!
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Friday
11th January
I've just finished Ian Christe's hardback book on Van Halen,
Everybody Wants Some (John Wiley & Sons). It's a good, thorough
and entertaining read. One thing made made laugh about it, though.
Christe reveals that before sitting down at the computer, he felt
compelled to learn how to play Edward Van Halen's signature solo,
'Eruption', in order to acquire "at least a tourist's understanding
of life in the land of big rock". Dunno why but that tickled
me immensely. It also made me feel pangs of guilt for not having taught
myself how to play 'Salisbury' on the kazoo, or at very least 'Easy
Livin'' on the paper and comb, before beginning work on my Uriah Heep
book, Wizards & Demons. Mark Blake's humongous tome, Pigs
Might Fly: The Inside Story Of Pink Floyd (Aurum Press) is up
next, followed by Martin Popoff's Judas Priest tribute, Heavy Metal
Painkillers: An Illustrated History (ECW Press).
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Thursday
10th January
Aaaaaarrrggggh!
A writer's worst nightmare struck last night whilst I was conducting
a phone interview with Wishbone Ash guitarist Andy Powell. I changed
cassettes - I've yet to succumb to digital technology in that regard
- and we continued with our conversation. A few minutes later I looked
down at the recorder only to see, too my intense horror, that the
wheels had stopped turning. Removing the cassette, the tape was completely
mangled in the heads. Luckily, Mr Powell was sympathetic to my moment
of amateur indiscretion and after inserting a replacement tape we
revised the affected moments of the conversation and continued like
nothing had happened, but... grrrrr... I felt so stupid. A nice way
to start the new year (not).
_ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Wednesday
9th January
2008 is kicking into gear at last. Yesterday brought my first
real interview of the year, conducted over lunch with Martin Turner
of Wishbone Ash fame in a pleasant Italian restaurant, followed by
a trip to Shepherds Bush Empire for a stirring dose of Teutonic metal
from Helloween and Gamma Ray. Fellow Germans Axxis opened the show.
I enjoyed the songs from their current disc 'Doom Of Destiny', which
see frontman Bernhard Weiss mixing his distinctive voice with that
of a female singer (in this instance, Ana Mladinovici of Magica),
but the band's earlier material was pretty woeful, and Weiss is even
more of an embarrassing dad-dancer than Thunder's Danny Bowes.
Special guests Gamma Ray were outstanding, a final run-in of 'Heavy
Metal Universe', 'Ride The Sky' and 'Somewhere Out In Space' deserving,
and receiving, an encore in the shape of 'Send Me A Sign'. The last
time I saw Helloween, the sound at the Koko in Camden was so Godawful
that I ended up walking out halfway through. Last night's events more
than compensated, though what on earth the band were thinking of when
vocalist Andi Deris, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and bassist Markus
Grosskopf materialised in a Punch & Judy-style puppet kiosk during
Dani Löble's drum solo is beyond me.
Sporting silly hats and fluffy white beards the trio began playing
'Smoke On The Water', Deris joining in with an annoying chipmunk-style
voice, before guitarist Michael Weikath proceeded to blow them all
away with a toy Uzi so the solo could continue. Um, yeah... right!
However, when the Weenies were actually playing music, all such sins
were quickly forgiven. Given the 'history' between the two bands,
it was pretty cool to see the members of Gamma Ray join the headliners
for a two-song encore jam, with all four guitarists taking turns to
blast out the solos. Here's what they played: 'Halloween', 'Sole Survivor',
'March Of Time', 'As Long As I Fall', 'A Tale That Wasn't Right',
Drum Solo, 'King For A Thousand Years', 'Eagle Fly Free', 'The Bells
Of The 7 Hells', 'Dr Stein', Medley - 'I Can'/'Where The Rain Grows
/'Perfect Gentleman'/'Power'/'Keeper Of The Seven Keys', 'Future World'
and 'I Want Out'.
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Monday
7th January
Metal Hammer have given me a real corker of an album to review...
I just can't stop playing the darned thing. Benedictum
are a female-fronted, devoutly old-school hard rock band from San
Diego whose 2006 debut, 'Uncreation', rightly received rave notices
from around the globe. Imagine a deliciously detuned version of Heaven
And Hell fronted by every schooboy (and rock journalist)'s top-heavy
S&M pin-up fantasy, the divine Veronica Freeman. Chocka with quality
songs, 'Seasons Of Tragedy' is an extremely strong follow-up. I just
wish that I'd been sent the digpipack edition which includes an acoustic
re-make of the Rainbow classic 'Catch The Rainbow'.
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Sunday
6th January
Crystal Palace are out of the FA Cup, once again failing
to negotiate the Third Round. I fully backed Neil Warnock's decision
to blood a few of the club's youngsters against Watford, but the experiment
failed badly. Reserve goalie Scott Flinders seemed superglued to his
line for both of the home side's extremely soft goals, the only real
ray of sunshine in a dour performance being England Under-21 starlet
Victor Moses coming off the bench for an explosive second half run-out.
Moses walks on water: official. Let's see more of him in the coming
months please...
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Friday 4th January
Hard to believe that Philip Lynott died 22 years ago. How
times flies. Must play my favourite Thin Lizzy album, 1979's 'Black
Rose: A Rock Legend', today. Well, when I say my favourite, I mean
of the less well-thumbed ones. 'Jailbreak', 'Johnny The Fox', 'Bad
Reputation' and 'Thunder And Lightning' were all absolutely seminal
studio releases that still make the turntable from time to time -
that was the genius of the man.
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Wednesday 2nd January
You couldn't argue against the outcome of yesterday's home
clash between Palace and Norwich - a goal apiece was a fair result.
As a result of sharing the points, the Eagles dropped a place to eighth
in the table yet extended their unbeaten run to 13 games. It's still
too early to sing Neil Warnock's
name, but I'm fast warming to the man.
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