Month: May 2011

Ozzy Osbourne – Diary Of A Madman (Legacy Edition)

This sounds more like it! ‘Legacy Edition’ – much better than ‘remastered 30yrs anniversary version’ (which should have been last year by the way!). As stated on my ‘Blizzard’ review, Ozzy had gotten fired and had been given the much needed kick up the arse his career deserved. Sharon Arden had stated her intentions to manage Ozzy, and how it worked out. Sharon was THE driving force behind Ozzy who would have probably faded into oblivion given his own personal issues. I could be writing a 30 year commemorative piece instead of an album review.
Before Ozzy took the’ Blizzard Of Ozz’ tour out to the American audiences in April 81, the band went back to Ridge Farm to record the follow up album,’ Diary Of A Madman’, and recorded the thing in under three weeks! 1981 was the beginning of the end for Mk1 with Ozzy getting fed up with Daisley and Kerslake’s continuing demands. 
What we have here is another fitting testament to the Mk 1 line up. Hot on the heels of Blizzard Of Ozz, ‘Diary Of A Madman’ picks straight up from where ’Blizzard’ left off – only this one is even better. ‘Over The Mountain’ is an amalgamation of Qzzy’s wailing vocals, Rhodes riffs bitch-slap you from here to eternity, and a pounding rhythm result in one great sophomore album. ‘Flying High Again’ ticks all the right boxes, Rhodes extended soloing and riffwork is excellent, the chorus gets under your skin like a parasite ( a good parasite!). ‘You Can’t Kill Rock And Roll’ is one of the stand out songs on ‘DOAM’. ‘Believer’ comes across as something that would be welcome on any previous Sabbath album, a dark and brooding riff opens up to Ozzy’s ™ vocals.  Damn him, and his desire for ballads – The Prince of Darkness™ shouldn’t be seen (or heard) singing ballads. ‘Tonight’ is pretty much a filler for me. ‘S.A.T.O.s’ anacronym has been a puzzle to many fans over the years – it certainly kicks ass, so I don’t give a shit what it stands for. The album finishes with the title track. The intro was initially Rhodes messing around copying Mozart, but by the time it was laid down it bears little resemblance to his composition. The riff is certainly one of Rhodes best, and one of Ozzy’s best tracks, ever!
 One thing is for certain, the flow of songs is much better than on the debut. But because of second album syndrome it has to live to the hype of the debut, which will never be matched. All in all ‘DOAM’ is a contender for being as solid as ‘Blizzard’, if not better in my opinion.
This Legacy Edition comes with an extra CD of live tracks recorded on the ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ tour, with Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo replacing Kerslake and Daisley respectively
As with the debut, DOAM was also rerecorded in 2002, I strongly advise everone to stay away from these recordings. Like BOO buy this only if you’re not flushed at the moment. I would suggest saving for the mother of all remasters, for all serious fans and collectors, the limited edition 30th Anniversary deluxe boxed set which houses the restored and re-mastered vinyl and CD editions of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, the “Ozzy Live” compact disc.  Beyond the music, the box set is highlighted by a variety of exclusives including an expansive 100-page coffee table book, a two-sided wall-size poster, a precise and detailed full-size replica of Ozzy’s iconic gold cross that he has worn for 30 years, and “Thirty Years After The Blizzard” DVD.    
This new “Thirty Years After The Blizzard” DVD chronicles Ozzy‘s years with Randy Rhoads features previously unseen footage of Ozzy and Randy filmed in 1981 & 1982; it incorporates rare archival photos and films; along with new and revelatory interviews with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Lemmy (Motörhead), Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx, Rob Halford, Zakk Wylde, Bill Ward and more. The DVD also contains over 70 minutes of additional rare live performances and interviews; included is the premiere of more than 30 minutes of newly-discovered never-bootlegged footage of Ozzy and Randy from the Blizzard of Ozz tour shot from the front of the stage at New York’s fabled Palladium on May 2, 1981.  This new feature is a must-see for aficionados of Ozzy‘s epic release, Blizzard of Ozz and its pivotal effect on rock & roll history.   
Theres a couple of ‘if only’s’ – ‘if only’ Rhodes hadn’t have died in a freak accident, ‘if only’ Daisley and Kerslake hadn’t become unworkable, the 3rd Ozzy album would have been a doozy. This band was in the process of re-writing rock music in general. There aren’t many bands that have that on their CV
96/100 

Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition)

April 27th, 1979 – Friday afternoon. A date Ozzy would never forget. The date he got the news from fellow band member Bill Ward, that his services were no longer required in Black Sabbath. Ozzy’s drinking and drug taking had gotten out of control to the other members. An incident the day before where he’d missed a gig thru lack of sleep (drug induced), but when he did get some kip, it was the mother of all sleeps, 24hrs of sleep. Only one thing was wrong, he fell asleep in the right hotel, but in the wrong room. When he did finally awaken he got the biggest bollocking ever, and his tenure was over.
 But in Ozzy’s own words, the phrase, ‘Pot-Kettle-Black’ came to mind. He was probably just more fucked up than the rest of them. They all had substance issues. It hurt Ozzy, as the 4 of them were brothers in arms, from the same town, similar age, growing up just a few streets apart. Thankfully Ozzy didn’t give a flying fuck anymore, and this sacking gave him the major kick up the arse he needed.
It wasn’t long before a friend (Dana Strum) told him to check out a 22yr old guitarist in Quite Riot, Randy Rhodes, and the rest, they say, is history!
Bob Daisley came in on bass, and after auditioning half of Britain for a new drummer, Ozzy settled on Lee Kerslake (Tommy Aldridge was his original choice but was unavailable). Such was the profligacy of their writing, they had the album in the can with enough songs left over for a second. Sept ‘80 saw the release of ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ in the UK (obviously the 30yr anniversary is for our American friends – released March ‘81)
Enough of the history and background, onto the music. The songs are restored and remastered from the original analogue sources by George Marino which is great news. Another version was recorded after the litigation between Kerslake/Daisley and Ozzy. I cannot comment too much on the remastered quality as I have the downloaded 192 kbps version to listen to.
 But as albums go, this is one of many in 1980, that make it the best year EVER for a rock fan. Ozzy struck gold when he found Rhodes, his guitar playing took rock music to another level entirely. From the opening bars of ‘I Don’t Know’ you know you’re in for a treat. It gets even better with Ozzy wailing ‘All Aboard’ for ‘Crazy Train’which is undoubtedly Ozzy’s signature piece. This is where I probably get death threats as I’ve never really liked ‘Goodbye To Romance’ probably because I don’t feel that Ozzy’s voice suits ballads. This was the first song that Ozzy and Rhodes wrote together. ‘Dee’ shows off Rhoads’ talents, a student to the end, he always wanted to learn, and this subtle piece is the ‘light to the dark’ before ‘Suicide Solution’ a beast of a song. The ‘classic’ songs don’t end there with the unmistakable church organ intro into Mr Crowley. ‘No Bone Movies’ is ok, but is a filler to me, and ‘BOO’ finishes up nicely with the faster paced rocker, ‘Steal Away (The Night)’.
Also included for good measure are three bonus tracks, ‘You Looking At Me, Looking At You’ a non LP ‘B’ side, and rightly so. A guitar and vocal mix of ‘Goodbye To Romance’ is also included for good measure. Despite my reticence towards this track, the stripped down version is more suited than the original and I almost take back what I said earlier about Ozzy singing ballads, its a refreshing version. Last up is ‘RR’ a previously unreleased Rhodes guitar solo. The extras on this could have been a bit more expansive but the ones included don’t really add anything to the original release. As a remaster, I’m guessing it will sound great
After recent remasters from Sabbath, Rainbow and Rush, the Ozzy version as a welcome addition to a remastered and expanded series, and its great being a fan and getting all these new expansive versions I bought as a teenager.  I would pretty much stay away from this version and save your well earned cash for the mother of all versions, the limited edition 30th Anniversary deluxe boxed set houses the restored and re-mastered vinyl and CD editions of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, the “Ozzy Live” compact disc.  Beyond the music, the box set is highlighted by a variety of exclusives including an expansive 100-page coffee table book, a two-sided wall-size poster, a precise and detailed full-size replica of Ozzy’s iconic gold cross that he has worn for 30 years, and “Thirty Years After The Blizzard” DVD.    
This new “Thirty Years After The Blizzard” DVD chronicles Ozzy‘s years with Randy Rhoads features previously unseen footage of Ozzy and Randy filmed in 1981 & 1982; it incorporates rare archival photos and films; along with new and revelatory interviews with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Lemmy (Motörhead), Steve Vai, Nikki Sixx, Rob Halford, Zakk Wylde, Bill Ward and more. The DVD also contains over 70 minutes of additional rare live performances and interviews; included is the premiere of more than 30 minutes of newly-discovered never-bootlegged footage of Ozzy and Randy from the Blizzard of Ozz tour shot from the front of the stage at New York’s fabled Palladium on May 2, 1981.  This new feature is a must-see for aficionados of Ozzy‘s epic release, Blizzard of Ozz and its pivotal effect on rock & roll history.   
If anyone deserves the staus of ‘Living Legend’ its Ozzy, as he shouldn’t be with us today. Lets enjoy the bloke while we still can. In all of his years with Sabbath and his own band it never got better than this 1980/81 period
95/100

Highlight of my day! James Durbin rocks with Judas Priest

James Durbin, 4th placed on American Idol and set for mega-stardom, perfoms with the current God Of Metal, Rob Halford and Judas Priest

PS
PS. A 17 yrs old lad with a voice that has the depth of Jordans clunge won the comp overall, Scotty McCreery (a bona fide one-trick-pony if ever I heard one!!) He definitely put the C*nt into Country

Rush – Moving Pictures (Deluxe Edition)

Rush, the biggest cult band in the World! Discuss.
Well lets face it, they are. Ignored by many, loved by many a middle aged bloke, and are probably THE marmite band of the last 30-odd years. Prior to 1980 Rush were on a fast train to oblivion. Well, if the record company had anything to do with it anyway. They had bought some time with the futuristic (and stunning) 2112, and tried to replicate this with Hemispheres, but after two themed albums, and Permanent Waves, it was time for a new chapter to be written. And how it was written….
My guess is that this could be the 5th or 6th version of Moving Pictures if you’re a Rush nut and bought different versions as they came available – Vinvl, CD, Cassette, Jap Version, 90s remaster, now this beauty which every Rush fan must own.
This was the album that got Rush noticed everywhere. Gone were the 20 minute epics, in came the explosive riffs, and combined with Peart’s lyricism, there was no holding them back. You can catalogue the Rush releases into 3 categories – everything up to and including Moving Pictures, the synth laden 80s, everything since 1990 – which thankfully saw the return of the guitar driven Rush.
There are subtle differences to the original cd I own, tracks are a few secs longer, but nothing I can actually detect is different. However sonically its a completely different album to the original. The mix is sweet as a nut, every guitar part, bass line, hi-hat hitting you firmly in the chest. Every little tap/beat on the kit, every note is audible, with no muddy sounds present. You can tell that this was a work of beauty with Richard Chycki (and with supervision from Alex Lifeson) giving it the loving touch it deserves. 
Now the great part. If you have the capable tech of a decent dvd player and separate amp/speaker set-up, the DVD 5.1 or DTS version is nothing short of outstanding. Set the menu to ‘lyrics’ and you can play your own version of air ‘Rock Band’ to your heart’s content. The remaster should have come with a set of Rush walnut crackers just so we can all hit the Geddy Lee in us for just a few lines. Short of the nut crackers, get out your best silk kimono for added effect. Also included is a nice set of expanded notes, pictures from the MP era, three studio videos and a stereo version of the album.
Without overdoing an analysis of a 30 year old album, the DTS tracks are something else – Tom Sawyer just flows around you, and I can say that this is probably as close as you would get to actually hear them recording it in the studio. Red Barchetta comes at you with headlights gleaming and horn a-blazing, Vital Signs give more than a passing nod to The Police with its reggae beats, and YYZ is just fan-bleedin-tastic!
Classic Rock is a term used quite loosely nowadays, but in the case of ‘Moving Pictures’, it certainly hits the mark. Albums don’t get much better than this.
100/100 – Classic in every sense

AC/DC – Live At River Plate (DVD)

Spoiler Alert! The following review contains clichés! Snipe as long as you like, but AC/DC are firmly planted in the school of ‘if it aint broke, don’t fucking fix it’. With a combined overall age of 294,
combined sales of over 200m, and faces that only a mum could love, a guitarist who at 56 still dresses in school uniform, a singer who has worn the same hat since 1980, a rhythm guitarist who is the best in the business at his art, a bassist and drummer who both keep it simple but brilliant, play good ‘ol fashioned rock n roll, and who deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as the Presley’s, Beatles, Stones, Berry’s of the World and deserve to be treated like the Rock Gods that they are

They’ve outlived more than a few fashion trends over the last 5 decades. They stick hard and fast to the AC/DC  formula, playing pretty much the same song for the last 38years – but what a fucking song it is!!!

Filmed on the absolutely massive Black Ice tour, and shot almost 18 months ago, on 9th Dec 2009, it marks DC’s triumphant return to Argentina, playing to nearly 200,000 fans over three nights, (wearing the same school uniform and flat cap, hugely assist the continuity of splicing 3 days of filming into one seamless DVD). It was filmed by AC/DC video director David Mallet and produced by Rocky Oldham on 32 cameras entirely in HD and the quality is nothing short of spectacular. If you have the audio equipment other than a TV, the sound quality in 5.1 is HUGE. ‘Live at River Plate’ features 19 songs (110 mins) as well as an interesting, funny ‘behind the scenes’ footage entitled ‘The Fan, The Roadie, The Guitar Tech and The Meat’, ‘The Meat’, uncovers the real reason why AC/DC returned to Argentina. It also has band, crew and more importantly fan interviews and the trouble that some of them went to to get to these shows – incredible stories indeed!  This tour took them on a 20 month tour playing to over 5 million fans in 108 cities in over 28 countries, and probably earned them a shitload of money from ticket sales, t-shirts and flashy devil horn merchandise!
The DVD captures the intensity and power of AC/DCs performance as much as possible, but nothing beats the smell, feel and spirituality of a live DC gig. All of your favourites are here, from the opening and brilliant animated intro into ‘Rock and Roll Train’, ’Back In Black’, the hugely entertaining ‘The Jack’ only this version contains no boobies whatsoever, unless you count Angus’, ‘Hells Bells’, ‘T.N.T.’, ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’,’ Let There Be Rock’, ‘Highway To Hell’, and finally the mega finale that is ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)’.
Nobody does rock n roll better than AC/DC and show their contemporaries as to how it should be done. Despite their increasing age, there nothing quite like a DC concert, no one holds back – especially Angus Young, and the bigger the gig, the better performance they seem to give. How couldn’t you when playing in front of a sea of 66,000 manic Argentineans a night, who give a stellar performance in their own right. To see them all jumping in unison for the best part of 2 hours is remarkable, and they sing every word, note and chord. 
If you couldn’t get to see them over the past couple of years this DVD is the next best thing, or if you caught them like me at Donington, it’s a great reminder of an even greater gig. I just hope that we haven’t seen the last of them. There is definitely only ONE AC/DC
95/100

Killer Power Ballads

Just a few of my favourite, killer, ultimet, greatest power ballads that never get tireless, and a few that make me want to hurl!
Think POWERPLAYS off 80’s TV show ‘ No Limits!’

Nightranger – Goodbye / Reason To Be
Giuffria – Call To Your Heart
FM – Frozen Heart / Face To Face
Aerosmith – Dont Wanna Miss A Thing
Cheap Trick – The Flame
DSS – If This Is Love
Foreigner – Cold As Ice
Giant – I’ll See You In My Dreams
Kansas  – More Than A Feeling
The Storm – Ive Got a Lot to Learn About Love
House of Lords – Remember My Name
Hugo – Walk Away
Issa – Im Alive
Journey – Mother, Father / Faithfully
Kiss – Forever
Kane Roberts – Does Anybody Really Fall In Love Anymore
Khymera – Beautiful Life
Los Angeles – I Must Be Blind
Loud And Clear –  Doesent Anybody Fall In Love Anymore
Mark Free – Someday
Michael Bolton – Save Our Love
Mitch Malloy – Anything At All
MTB – Cant Miss
Eddie Money – Walk On Water
Mr.Big – Big Love
Jeff Paris / MTB – Never Stop Falling
Malmsteen –  Heaven Tonight
Nelson – (Cant Live Without Your) Love and Affection
On The Rise – Beat Of Your Heart
Only Child – Always
Phil Cristian Big Mouth – Where Were You
Rainbow – Street Of Dreams
Red Dawn – I’ll Be There
Rick Springfield – Jessies Girl
Romeos Daughter – I Cry Myself To Sleep At Night / Nothing But Love
Sam Harris – Id Do It All Again
Paul Sabu – Call Of The Wild
Saraya – Love Has Taken Its Toll
Shout – Never Stop
Signal – Wake Up You Little Fool
Stan Bush – The Power / Love Dont Lie
Steve Perry – Oh Sherrie
Strangeways – Dance With Somebody
Styx – Babe / Lady
Survivor – High On You / Cant Hold Back / Is This Love
Jefferson Starship – Jane
Tommy Shaw – Girls With Guns
Tony Macalpine – The World We Live In
Tyketto – Standing Alone
Unruly Child – To Be Your Everything
Valentine – Tears In The Night
Walk On Fire – Blind Faith
White Lion – Wait /  Broken Heart
White Sister – Save Me Tonight
Winger – Miles Away

And a few I wouldnt care if I never heard them again…..
Scorpions – Winds Of Change
Poison – Every Rose Has its Thorn
GNR – November Rain
Stryper – All of their ballads!
And almost anything put on a ‘Power Ballads’ album for the mass market

Dream Theater Drummer – And the winner is……..(if you can’t wait to watch an hours worth of Youtube footage)

…..former Extreme drummer Mike Mangini has replaced Mike Portnoy in Dream Theater following a three-day audition process in New York.

Portnoy quit the band last summer, but guitarist John Petrucci is thrilled with the new addition.
He states, “The departure of our lifelong bandmate and friend was an unexpected and truly heartbreaking blow… but when we played with the infectiously positive powerhouse of a drummer that is Mike Mangini, we knew we had found a silver lining to what has been, by far, the most challenging episode in our musical lives.”
Singer James LaBrie adds, “I had the privilege of working with Mike on three of my solo albums, so I knew he would be a huge contender. He is without a doubt one of the most intelligent, intuitive, interpretive and virtuosic musicians I have ever played with.”

Mangini has joined the band in the studio to work on a new album and the group will head off on a world tour in July

If you have wathched with interest (like me) you’ll all have had your favourites. I myself called this one correct after watching episode 1, such was the response from the DT guys. However as the try-outs progressed, I would have been really happy if Peter Wildoer would have landed the drum seat. He looked like a guy who could take DT onto a different level. Marco Minnemann also excelled and either would have been a great choice for the band. In saying that, all of the drummers who tried out, were excellent. All brought their own bit of magic to the band, and were unlucky not to get the position

Portnoy is a big pair of shoes to fill. It seems that Mangini will fit in well. Last time I saw DT on the Prog tour with Opeth and Bigelf, they really looked like 5 guys who couldnt wait to see the back of each other. I look forward to seeing them on their return to the UK in the Summer to witness the new line up. I hope it works out well and doesnt fall apart at the seams anytime soon

Mangini gets the news he’s been waiting for !!!!

Rainbow – Down To Earth (Expanded Edition)

For some unknown reason the powers that be have skipped past ‘LLRNR’ and produced an expanded version of ‘Down To Earth’. Not so sure why, when there is info out on the www that suggests that there is an extra set of rough mixes and outtakes from ‘LLRNR’
At the time of coming into the recording for ‘Down To Earth’, Rainbow was basically a two piece (I make no allegations towards Blackmore’s hair stylings). It was just Blackmore and Powell (and Powell wouldn’t last much longer anyway). Gone were Daisley and Stone, and the majestic Dio had simply had enough. Blackmore wanted Dio to drop the fantasy orientated lyrics, the reply was NO! Blackmore was chasing a much wider audience ‘’we’re not giving up until America gives up and surrenders to us’’
In came Don Airey, suggested by Powell. A couple of bass players were tried out, Clive Chaiman was one, who didn’t last five minutes, the other being Jack Green formerly of The Pretty Things. Chaiman lasted a little longer but the chemistry just wasn’t there. The main though issue was getting a singer. Blackmore was funding Rainbow out of his own pocket and the mobile studio was costing him $2,000 a day! They needed someone – quickly. By chance Powell played the others snippets from cassettes called ‘guess the single’, and its here where he played a track by The Marbles ‘Only One Woman’ and they wondered where this singer had gone to – that singer being Graham Bonnet
In auditioning singers the trial was ‘Mistreated’. Bonnet allegedly got the job just three syllables in! ‘’I’ve been Mis…’’ Strangely enough it was Bonnet who recommended Roger Glover for the still vacant bass role. This was the final missing piece as Glover’s writing and production was geared more towards a more commercial sound that Blackmore desperately wanted out of Rainbow.
All Night Long is a great opener, and shows off the full blown talent of Bonnets range. Even 30 yrs later he still has it! ‘Eyes of The World’ is one of Rainbows better songs – from any era of the band. Opening up with a synth intro of Holts Mars taken from The Planets, before exploding into life. ‘Both No Time To Lose’ and ‘Making love’ are both essentially fillers. I’ve heard the Russ Ballard penned ‘Since You Been Gone’ on that many compilation cd’s ( I hate record execs who think that this is the only Rainbow track worthy of a compilation ) I now cannot really listen to it anymore. Typically its one of the biggest hits Rainbow had, and Blackmore didn’t write the bugger! The second half is fairly strong with the decent ‘Loves’No Friend’, and the tour-de-force that is ‘Lost In Hollywood’
One thing that is proven with these expanded and deluxe versions, is that Blackmore either wrote with a minimum amount of tracks in mind before going to the studio, or any additional outtakes were wiped from the records – literally. As with ‘Rising’ I think they went into the studio with very few other alternate song choices. The extra disc contains B sides in the excellent ‘Weiss Heim’ (which to all intents and purposes deserved to be on ‘Down To Earth’), and ‘Bad Girl’ which is an OK song, but doesn’t set the world alight. Beside these 2 songs, you would have to be very new to Rainbow, never to have heard them before. Also there are mainly instrumental outtakes of most of the ‘Down To Earth’ tracks. The only real items of note being alternate version to ‘No Time To Lose’ (Spark Dont Mean A Fire) and ‘Loves No Friend’ (Ain’t A Lot Of Love In The Heart Of Me) which does give the listener an insight into the recording and development process that some songs go thru before coming to the finished article. The originals were rightly replaced. The final track is labelled as a Cozy Powell mix of ‘All Night Long’ and is a selfish drums mix with Bonnet barely audible. However, it provides evidence of just how good (and underrated) a drummer Powell was
Despite existing fans reservations about the direction, ‘Down To Earth’ became their best selling album. It introduced Rainbow to a much wider audience and it spurned two hit singles, and Blackmore’s desire to have his songs played on jukeboxes and radio was for all to see. 
Less than 12 months after its release Powell had left, and in came a new era for Rainbow fans. Despite that, this is a fitting testament to the Bonnet fronted version of the band. After the first 3 studio albums of the Dio era, ‘Down to Earth’ still holds up well against all the others in the Rainbow catalogue.
88/100