Carl Begai

It seems that every interview I do includes a couple stories or anecdotes from the artist in question that don’t fit into the context of the “official” interview. After getting three such gems thrown at me in two days I figured it might be kinda cool to showcase them in a separate column. No drama, no controversial tabloid fodder, just the fun shit. With that in mind, I give you round one from On The Inside:

By Carl Begai

Fraze Gang / Brighton Rock guitarist Greg Fraser looks back on a moment in the ‘80s fast lane, which was clearly faster for some than others …

Fraser: “Brighton Rock did a show in Edmonton, and the next night Poison was playing in town with Tesla opening. They arrived the day before their gig so they all came out to see us play. So, we’re partying upstairs at the club and somebody asked ‘Where’s C.C.?’ because we knew he was there but he never came upstairs. It turned out that while the crew was tearing down the equipment – and the bar had pretty much emptied out by this point – C.C. got on stage and grabbed a mic yelling ‘Heeeeeeeyyyy! How you doin’ tonight!’ to an imaginary crowd. The mic wasn’t even going through the P.A. anymore, the guy was loaded out of his face (laughs).”
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By Carl Begai

Ten years ago Sonata Arctica wanted to be Stratovarius. They’ve grown up since then, but first generation diehard fans haven’t necessarily grown with them.

The band’s last album, Unia from 2007, is the dividing line. It was unlike anything Sonata Arctica had done up to that point, leaning well away from the band’s power metal roots in favour of a hit-and-miss prog metal vibe. For every fan that disliked the new direction, however, there was another to take his or her place, ultimately making Unia a success. Giving credit where it’s due, Unia also helped the band to break out of the coffin they had all but nailed shut with their 2004 album, Reckoning Night, kissing their neo-classical predictability goodbye in the space of single record. Seemingly for good judging by The Days Of Grays.

“Unia was a huge shock for some people, but it was something we really needed to do,” states Kakko. “We gained a lot of new fans with that album and we won’t be going back to our old direction, as you can hear on the new album. There are actually one or two songs that could have appeared on the Reckoning Night album, though. I think this new album is much easier to get into than Unia.”
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Being as I’m a proud Canadian with ridiculously excellent taste in music , I thought I’d offer a brief update on several hoser-related activities with regards to new releases, tour dates and general ass kickings. Lots going on with my Canuck brethren, as you’ll see…

(For those of you that don’t know what a “hoser” is, it’s used here as a term of endearment to describe my fellow Canucks. The official scientific explanation, assembled after several hours of watching Bob & Doug McKenzie, can be found here).
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By Carl Begai

Ayreon founder Arjen Lucassen’s new project, Guilt Machine, is as Pink Floydian dark as one can get. It amounts to a soundtrack for the inevitable soul search, deep and introspective to the point that calling the debut On This Perfect Day almost seems like tongue-in-cheek irony. Musically it’s something of a return to form for Lucassen following the plodding Ayreon record 01011001 from 2008, but it enters unfamiliar and unexpectedly dark lyrical territory at the hands of former Stream Of Passion guitarist Lori Linstruth. What makes this particularly noteworthy is that Linstruth doesn’t suffer from a This Sucks outlook on life. On the contrary, she tackles subjects like having the best hair in metal – “I don’t do anything special; it’s all genetic” – her career thus far, and being roped into writing for a high profile release all with a good natured “Pretty cool, huh?” approach.
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Launched two years before his return Loudness in 2001, vocalist Minoru Niihara’s XYZ-A is his hammer-and-nails outlet for material not exactly suited for Akira Takasaki and the boys. Known for a sound that flirts generously with classic Deep Purple and UFO while keeping things on the metal side, XYZ-A has rebounded from two consecutive uninspired records (I.V. and Wings) with an album very similar to their stellar second outing, Metalization (2001). Lead-off song ‘Z To A’ and the title track, ‘Learn From Yesterday! Live For Today! Hope For Tomorrow!’, are signature up-tempo scorchers in the spirit of the band’s previous album opening crowd pleasers ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Miracle’, drummer Funky Sueyoshi leading the charge with his Alex Van Halen skinbashing and guitarist Fumihiko Kitsutaka laying down his much needed pissed off Michael Schenker shred. (continue reading…)

Twenty years in the making, Karma is the follow-up to Winger’s cock rock out-of-nowhere classic self-titled debut. It took a major wrong turn (synthetic second album In The Heart Of The Young), the resulting heaps of MTV abuse (Beavis & Butthead), the grunge era, and a directionless comeback album in 2007 (IV) to get the band back to what they did best. Simple yet ballsy, Karma is one of those records where fans don’t have to dig for adjectives to convince themselves it doesn’t suck. It helps that expectations were nil going in beyond hearing a sappy ballad or two, but no one predicted a stripped down rock-the-metal record. Guitar riffs dominate thanks to Reb Beach not having to fight his way through a cluttered mix, starting things off at a run with ‘Deal With The Devil’ and ‘Stone Cold Killer’ falling somewhere between Winger’s Pull record, and Danko Jones’ highest octane moments. (continue reading…)

Rammstein’s latest platter of tongue-in-cheek violence, Liebe Is Für Alle Da (translated: Love Is For Everyone), proves that so long as you have a singer that should be in theatre and a killer producer it’s possible to write the same songs over and over again and still be successful. The band continues along their tried and true crunching industrial demolition path, relying on their traditional “big, bigger, biggest, Rammstein” execution to grab you by the throat and drag you in. Indeed it does, with an iron fist. First three songs ‘Rammlied’, ‘Ich Tu Dir Weh’ (I’ll Hurt You’) and ‘Waidmanns Heil’ (‘Hunter’s Salute’) are predictable Rammstein anthems that succeed through larger-than-life production / engineering; nothing mindblowing but mean and intense when listened at a proper unhealthy volume. Fourth track in, however, things start to become twisted. ‘Haifisch’ (‘Shark’) sounds like it was yanked off a mid-‘80s Depeche Mode album for kids, followed by the eyebrow-raisingly brutal ‘B********’ complete with a death-vocal chorus courtesy of frontman Til Lindemann. And with each trip through the record it become increasingly apparent that this is Lindemann’s show. As heard-it-all-before as the music may seem at times, he’s able to give each song serious depth, dark or humourous or up-yours brazen. Make no mistake, unlike 10 years ago the man can sing. (continue reading…)

I’m one of those know-it-all people that believes no matter what your favourite type of music might be, embracing other genres is a good thing rather than a sign of weakness. I figure the vast majority of people think the same way, even if many will never admit it for fear of being humiliated in front of or by their peers for liking something no one imagined they would. Everybody knows a Lord Tuffguy Doodness III; the bad-ass music cop who will scream about the glories of _____ metal to the ends of the earth and denounce anything other than his choice of noise as baby food for toothless wimps, yet he owns the entire Beatles catalogue, listens to Michael Jackson when he thinks nobody’s around, and would give his left testicle to see Christina Aguilera in concert. If only he wasn’t so bad-ass. Folks that hide this other side of their quite obviously healthy musical taste are doing themselves a disservice.

I was recently reminded of just how valuable and rewarding having an open musical mind can be.
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By Carl Begai

George Lynch will always be known first and foremost as the guitarist for Dokken.

A simple point of fact, taking nothing away from his ongoing work with Lynch Mob, a catalogue of solo albums, and his latest project Souls Of We. Nor is it a shot at the guitarists that have taken Lynch’s place in Dokken’s ranks since his final departure in 1997. Rather than whine about how his post-Dokken work may not receive the recognition it deserves, however, Lynch continues to move forward at a steady pace without disrespecting the fans and the band that gave him a name. The new Lynch Mob record, Smoke And Mirrors, picks up where he and vocalist Oni Logan left off 17 years ago, while Souls Of We explores the more off-the-cuff hippie side of Lynch’s songwriting, and within it all there are hints of the the old shredhead George coming full circle.

“Well, maybe not a circle; I would say the trajectory would be more in line with an obtuse triangle or a dodecahedron (laughs). So many things affect that the way your creativity evolves, or devolves. That’s the reason I love doing this. It’s really an adventure and every time I sit down to write or form a band I’m not sure what’s going to happen. To just try and recreate a past event or state of mind is an exercise in re-animation. I have no interest in bringing back the dead unless I’m getting paid a butt-load of cash to do so.”
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