Carl Begai » Retro Fit

CRIMSON GLORY – Transcendence (1988)

carl — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:39:16 +0000

I’ve been planning to do a Retro Fit of Transcendence for quite some time, as it’s easily in my Top 5 Metal Albums You Need To Own Or Get Out Of My Yard chart, but with the tragic death of frontman Midnight (real name John Patrick McDonald Jr.) on July 8th , 2009 it’s become a tribute to greatness. This would still read as a gushing letter of fanboyship if Midnight was with us, though, because Transcendence was an album that took everything I thought I knew about guitar / vocal / prog shred at the time and twisted it sideways. The band wasn’t being overly experimental or increasingly off-the-wall compared to their self-titled debut from ’86; there was just more of everything. Big, open air production (it could have done with more bottom-end, but them’s small potatoes), twin guitar leads for miles backed by insane shred-ability that never fell into the future Dream Theater trap of being too damn technically proficient for its own good, ballsy and unique song arrangements, and a vocal performance that remains unmatched within the genre. Second track in, ‘Red Sharks’, was Crimson Glory’s finest moment bar none, a vicious five minute romp of Annihilator-goes-Iron Maiden guitar work with Midnight spewing venom in his full growl to King Diamond-wishes-he-was-that-cool range. Truly a song that has to be heard to be believed, as words don’t do it justice. The songs surrounding ‘Red Sharks’ are no less impressive in that the band never stays in one place too long, moving from bombastic (‘Masque Of The Red Death’, ‘Where Dragons Rule’) to Eastern-influenced atmosphere (‘Painted Skies’, ‘In Dark Places’, ‘Transcendence’) to flat-out commercially accessible (‘Lonely’). And while Transcendence owes a great deal of its magic to Midnight’s performance, ‘Eternal World’ is one of those obscure crushers that begged (begs) for the stage thanks to the jaw-dropping talent of four severely underrated players.

In the space of two albums Crimson Glory managed to create an enduring legacy within metal akin to Led Zeppelin’s (I’ll prove it to you when we’re still talking about them 30 years from now). When they called it quits after the poorly received Strange And Beautiful in 1991 fans pined for a return, to the extent that when Kamelot surfaced in 1995 the media pegged vocalist Mark Vanderbilt as Midnight with a new band (not even close). Additionally, the band’s 1999 comeback Astronomica, featuring the very capable Wade Black behind the microphone, generated a truckload of spite even though the material had a classic Crimson Glory feel and Black came closer than anyone to doing Midnight justice. Midnight’s 2005 solo album, Sakada, likewise failed to win over the majority of Crimson Glory fans because it wasn’t metal. In the end, however, the band’s mystique remains whole to this day, as potent as it was in the ‘80s.

Fave tracks: ‘Red Sharks’, ‘Eternal World’, ‘Where Dragons Rule’, ‘Lonely’, ‘Masque Of The Red Death’, ‘In Dark Places’, ‘Lady Of Winter’.

Go to this location to check out Midnight’s solo material including an acoustic version of ‘Painted Skies’ with Jon Oliva, an updated version of ‘Lost Reflection’, and a cover of Stone Sour’s ‘Through Glass’.

QUEENSRŸCHE – Rage For Order (1986)

carl — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:29:20 +0000

Having established themselves as something pretty damn close to unique with their classic self-titled EP and weirdo cold progressive follow-up, The Warning, Queensrÿche blindsided pretty much everyone with Rage For Order. The goth-glam promo pictures did a decent job of scaring the shit out of the people who cared, first single / video ‘Gonna Get Close To You’ finished the job with its brooding Depeche Mode-metal vibe. Most folks outside Canada didn’t realize the song was a cover, Canuck metalheads (myself especially) couldn’t believe one of their own would cover Lisa Dalbello, but it had the desired effect. I, like so many others that had dismissed Queensrÿche as being too over-the-top for their own good, weighed hype against weirdness and took a chance on the album, and was pleasantly surprised. Rage For Order is loaded with hooks, streamlining several of the songs in the spirit of EP tracks ‘Queen Of The Ryche’ and ‘The Lady Wore Black’ but leaving room for experimentation. Case in point with the infectious up-tempo guitar riff-driven tunes ‘Walk In The Shadows’, ‘The Whisper’, ‘Surgical Strike’ and ‘Chemical Youth’ (all foreshadowing a little masterpiece known as Operation: Mindcrime) spread evenly amongst the darker off-the-wall songs ‘I Dream In Infra Red’, ‘Neue Regel’, ‘The Killing Words’ and ‘Gonna Get Close To You’. And then there’s the apocalyptic little prog metal gem ‘Screaming In Digital’, easily the crowning glory of Rage For Order from where I sit thanks to Tate’s duelling vocal lines, the lush melodies, and drummer Scott Rockenfield’s syncopated “who the hell is Mike Portnoy?” performance (okay, Portnoy wasn’t a name player yet, but you get the idea). It’s fair to say that Mindcrime is Queensrÿche’s best record based on sheer intensity alone, but Rage For Order is a close second thanks to its own unique and unexpected charm.

It’s worth noting that the record label quite obviously bought the band a keyboard before they went into the studio; they really loved that “orchestra” pre-set And Tate’s whistles on ‘I Will Remember’ are much cooler than anything Klaus Meine or Axl “Release Date?” Rose ever put to tape.

As for the Poison Goes Goth “fashion” statement, it was a very, very, very bad sign of the times…

Fave tracks: ‘Screaming In Digital’, ‘The Whisper’, ‘Chemical Youth’, ‘Gonna Get Close To You’, ‘Walk In The Shadows’.

HELIX – Wild In The Streets (1987)

carl — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:41:21 +0000

An integral part of Canuck bar band culture – emphasis on the “cult” part, as in favourite – if there was ever a band that deserved ten times the commercial success they received, it’s Helix. Canada’s long suffering answer to AC/DC has been slugging out since the ‘70s with varying line-ups and musical quality, with Wild In The Streets considered by many fans to be their best record. I remember playing the hell out of this thing, the attraction being that Helix was grittier than the mind-boggling amount of fluff making the rounds at the time and a satisfying break from the daily doses of thrash without feeling like I was wimping out. Listening to it now, nothing’s changed. I can still get my rocks off with the title track, while I’ve gained added appreciation for ‘High Voltage Kicks’ (frickin’ brilliant), ‘Give ‘Em Hell’, ‘Kiss It Goodbye’ and ‘Shot Full Of Love’. Even their cover of Nazareth’s ‘Dream On’ smokes in its own way (there, I said it; sue me). The only complaint to be made is sticking the bobblehead plod of ‘Never Gonna Stop The Rock’ as track #2, thus destroying the momentum created by ‘Wild In The Streets’. The same thing I bitched about 20+ years ago. And while I remember frontman Brian Vollmer storming through this with That Voice (I don’t know if the title belongs to anyone right now, but they should give it back) the axework of guitarists Brent Doerner and Paul Hackman was brutally underrated. They were one of those ultimate guitar duos, up there with Tipton and Downing as far as being able to play off one another to brilliant effect. Wild In The Streets is testament to that brilliance, and it has nothing to do with too many beers consumed or rose coloured glasses on my part.

The crowning glory of the album at this point in time, however, is ‘She’s Too Tough’, a song penned by Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot but recorded by the Leps several years after Wild In The Streets was released. The Def Leppard version appeared on their b-side compilation Retro-Active from 1992, with a footnote stating the history of the song and commentiing on Phil Collen’s “far superior” guitar work. Nothing against Collen, but Helix’s version is the freight train against the Leps’ broken down VW Bug parked on the tracks.

Fave tracks: ‘Wild In The Streets’, ‘High Voltage’ Kicks’, ‘She’s Too Tough’, ‘Dream On’, ‘Kiss It Goodbye’.

Check out the whole album, streaming here.

X – Blue Blood (1989)

carl — Sun, 03 May 2009 22:01:03 +0000

From where I sit one of the more mind-boggling cock-ups in metal is how North American and European labels managed to miss the boat completely on a band that was selling out multi-thousand seaters and large arenas in Japan two albums into their career. Particularly when folks like Mr. Moneybags himself, KISS merch / PR god Gene Simmons, was trolling around Japan in the late ‘80s looking for new talent and scooped up the far less popular metal punks Flatbacker (better known as EZO in the years that followed). Can’t blame the pass on the fact most of X’s songs were executed in Japanese either, given the early ‘80s international success of a little export called Loudness. And it’s not like X were a trendy new thing, having built up a loyal following at home since 1982. Me, I didn’t clue in until ’93, when my best friend handed me a tape of a band he’d discovered out of the blue and suggested I check them out. This was the album, and I couldn’t help but wonder how the hell they slipped beneath my radar and that of my favourite import record stores. In their heyday X were the ultimate glam outfit (no pun intended), sporting bigger hair, flashier clothes and more make-up than any other band playing dress-up, making them rock rag pin-up darlings. Unlike their LA scene Look What The Cat Dragged In counterparts, however, X’s music made it impossible to pigeonhole the band due to their image. Blue Blood is and will remain one of the few damn near perfect albums in my eyes for the simple fact it never lets up and never gets lazy, even when things slow down for a cheeseball ballad or two. Full-on shredders ‘Blue Blood’, ‘X’ and ‘Orgasm’ are reminiscent of Walls Of Jericho-era Helloween, making them my tracks of choice; same old school shred-and-clatter coming within a hair of genuine thrash. Still, I can’t help but admire the audacity of putting those songs side-by-side with melodic rock fare like ‘Weekend’, ‘Easy Fight Rambling’ and ‘Celebration’ or a sappy ballad like ‘Endles Rain’. The biggest ass-kickings come in the form of the 11 minute epic ‘Rose Of Pain’ and the unique everything-including-the-kitchen-sink crusher ‘Kurenai’. I have yet to discover another song that ropes me in time after time the way this one does (watch the clip below… if that isn’t metal at its finest I officially know jack shit). Not a naff track on the record thanks to some brilliant songwriting and five ridiculously talented musicians. Guitarists Pata and the late Hide were two of the most underrated / undiscovered axemen around, and Blue Blood is a testament to their skills.

Sadly, the band never managed to recreate the same energy on the albums that followed. Ten years away and the internet succeeded in turning X (better known as X Japan these days) from a word-of-mouth sensation to an international phenomenon. One that still doesn’t have a record deal outside of Japan, not that they ever needed one.

Fave tracks: ‘X’, ‘Orgasm’, ‘Rose Of Pain’, ‘Kurenai’

WARRANT – Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich (1989)

carl — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:16:14 +0000

Danko Jones once told me that the best way to pick a single for radio is to get a bunch of girls to do it. Sound thinking, and with that in mind it’s very clear that estrogen was on tap the day Sony braintrust decided they would release both suck-ass ballads from Warrant’s debut, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich. People blame the rise of grunge for shoving metal to the back of the bus for most of the ’90s, but it was in fact Warrant and their keepers that did the deed. I seem to recall the crap little ditty ‘Down Boys’ – which sounded like Poison’s chess club geek brother – as the album’s first single, and while it got the band name out there I don’t think the song or video did anything more than burn frontman Jani Lane’s peroxided melon into the collective groupie consciousness. Second single, the cheeseball ballad ‘Heaven’ exploded and it was the beginning of the end of everything hard rocking posers held dear. Couldn’t get away from the damn video, cover bands smart enough to insert the thing into their sets were guaranteed to get some, and the whole idea of hair bands doing anything more than singing flowery high school dance pop crap became taboo. Nope, the labels suddenly wanted ballads, the schmaltzier and panty-removinger the better. Of course, it didn’t help that with the exception of the track ‘Big Talk’ – and we’re talking three quarters into a bottle of red wine with a beer chaser exception – the supposedly heavier songs on DRFSR had no backbone. The arrangements were square, the performances were uneventful to the point of boredom, and the production was so thin you could blow your nose with it. But, the album did it’s job and set Warrant up for the infamous Cherry Pie record… which would have been decent if not for the pop-anthem title track running amok and doing heads in everywhere (listening to it now… good gawdawful). I’ve gotta admit, though, when the guys worked outside the box marked “Top 40″ years later (or better said, when they were allowed to…) they actually had something resembling balls, particularly on their brutally underrated third album from 1992, Dog Eat Dog. My inner poser loves that one. How this one ended up in my collection is anybody’s guess, but it was probably a girl’s fault.

Fave tracks: Not!

WINGER – II: In The Heart Of The Young (1990)

carl — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:58:18 +0000

There are albums in every metalhead’s collection where you just kinda shake your head and wonder how much you’d had to drink prior to hitting the Midnight Madness sale at the local record store. Then there are those albums that you swear no amount of alcohol, drugs and offers of drunken monkey sex combined could ever convince you to listen to let alone spend money on. And yet, there it sits, filed away neatly amongst the pure fucking metal you claim to live your life by, a festering musical zit recalling the glaring lack of taste symptomatic of youth.

With the exception of Warrant’s debut Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich – destined for a smackdown soon enough – In The Heart Of Young is hands down the WORST slab of cheese in my music collection. Even worse than those lousy ballads that turned Stryper’s To Hell With The Devil into a bulimic trigger. Reason being, it’s an entire album of spineless featherlight poofball synthesized cock “rock”, not merely Grade-A sap confined to a few select tracks. Dry lead and backing vocals that sound like they were lifted from the respirator Mutt Lange uses on Def Leppard, canned and ultimately lifeless synth drums (and you’re trying to tell me Rod Morgenstein played on this?!), and polished-to-a-shine arrangements that suck the life out of what shoulda and coulda been Reb Beach shredding up a storm. Loads of potential in tracks like ‘In The Day We’ll Never See’, ‘Little Dirty Blonde’ and ‘Loosen Up’ (hail the Extreme groove), all squelched into a steaming monotonous pile. Seriously, listening to this now, I have to wonder how in the hell this went platinum. People bitch about present day records sounding like phoned-in cut-and-paste synthetic (read: FAKE) productions? This is where it started.

It’s no wonder Lars Ulrich (Metallica) and Mike Judge (Beavis And Butthead) declared war on Winger, because In The Heart Of The Young is downright offensive to even the most lamebrained ‘80s rock torchbearer, then and now. Forget it and go back to the debut instead. For all the abuse heaped on this band, first shot out of the box had some cool moments – the Reb Beach shredfest ‘Time To Surrender’ still kicks my ass – and third record Pull was ballsy, but #2 really was just that and then some.

Fave tracks: not a one, and with good reason. If I have to endure Winger I’d rather hear this. Insane voice, but that future trademark Britney Spears head-mic has gotta go…

Retro Fit: VOIVOD – Negatron (1995)

carl — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:20:36 +0000

I have a vivid memory of driving down Victoria Park Ave. in Toronto with former M.E.A.T Magazine colleagues Drew Masters and Adrian Bromley, with Masters taunting us with a game of “Name That Singer” as he gleefully seared our eardrums with the newest promo CD in his disc-changer. Looking back, I’m embarrassed to admit I couldn’t even figure out who the band was even though the shred and clatter of the music was so obviously Voivodian (read: very Canadian, like beer and hockey). I blame it on the vocals, which were brutally over-the-top both for Voivod and the guy providing them, Eric Forrest, who cut his teeth on the Toronto club scene as a straight-ahead rocker with Thunder Circus and Liquid Indian. Considered something of a return to War And Pain form following the exceedingly brilliant and insanely progressive Outer Limits album (see ‘Jack Luminous’ for proof), Negatron was a controlled burst of cyber-thrash that younger fans found hard to digest, while many old schoolers revelled in it. The album still holds up all these years later, standing loud and proud and well away from the glut of soulless, digitized present day bands that think “heavy” comes out of the can labelled “Pro-Tools”. Sure, it was a studio production, but it’s still kinda hard to believe only three guys could make this much noise. Drummer Away and guitarist Piggy were in fine form, putting many of the familiar Voivod tangents and detours on the backburner in favour of a point blank thrash record without losing that sense of off-kilter musical genius. Forrest, meanwhile, successfully wiped out his prettyboy image with a scathing nigh-on-death metal vocal delivery that became a band trademark, which he inevitably and thankfully carried over to E-Force. Easily one of my favourite Voivod albums to date, and I find that I like it more and more with each spin, just like the first time around.

Fave tracks: ‘Cosmic Conspiracy’, ‘Insect’, ‘Reality?’, ‘Meteor’, ‘Project X’

Retro Fit: STRYPER – To Hell With The Devil (1986)

carl — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:58:39 +0000

Yeah, I confess, I was one of the sheep that helped this album go platinum. Listening to it now, I realize I’ve become a metalhead of discerning taste over the past 23 years, and it boggles the mind to think I used to wade through this record (or the cassette in my car) to get to the good stuff. Probably had something to do with the fact that To Hell With The Devil’s predecessor, Soldiers Under Command, offered up a wealth of crushing guitars and introduced me to oft-overlooked vocalist Michael Sweet. Call it a sign of the times, but with the rise of Poison and related Max Factor-sponsored bands, To Hell With The Devil was a polished God Glam record that alternated between a balls-out metal, prissy melodic rock, and two of the worst, cheesiest, (insert derogatory comment here)-est, pre-Dirty Dancing soundtrack ballads ever written. Ever. The title track was catchy without a doubt in spite of the lyrics being a tad silly, and still has something to it in this day and age if you’re in a retro frame of mind, while ‘Rockin’ The World’ and ‘More Than A Man’ peppered the record with some much needed backbone. The album yielded two cheeseball commercial rockers, ‘Free’ and ‘Calling On You’, which catapulted Stryper to mega-stardom, and listening to them now… wow. Good taste was not on the menu. You can just hear the band saying “Can-an we-e get-et more-ore- reverb-erb on-on this-is?” while they were recording ‘Free’, and the bloody chorus of ‘Calling On You’ does indeed conjure up disturbing images of Ned Flanders’ kids at the mic, as my BW&BK colleague Martin Popoff suggested so many years ago. The saving grace of To Hell With The Devil other than the title track is a scorching kick in the teeth called ‘The Way’, which recalls the best moments of Soldiers Under Command and features the finest vocal recording of Sweet’s career. The final two-octave scream at the end of the track still makes me shake my head in awe, and he’s still able to pull it off live over 20 years later. Not an album I’m able to get through easily – certainly not in good company so long as those damn ballads are on it – so it’d be kinda nice if the band would go back and re-record it minus the fluff. I guess we’d be talking about an EP, five tracks tops.

Oh yeah, the cover art on the left was deemed “controversial” and replaced with an all black cover featuring the band name and album title only. Boy, there were some real prudes in the biz back then…

Fave tracks: ‘The Way’, ‘To Hell With The Devil’, ‘Rockin’ The World’

Retro Fit: BRITNY FOX – Bite Down Hard (1991)

carl — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:31:26 +0000

Their third album, easily the best of the four studio records that have come out under the Britny Fox moniker. It featured new vocalist Tommy Paris in place of Tom Keifer wannabe Dean Davidson, giving the band a huge set of balls… something they had been lacking since day one. Totally underrated in spite of the fact it’s a four chord album – hell, if it works for Maiden, why not here? – this is probably one of the last “anthem” hair band records to come out before Cobain and grunge fucked everyone blind for most of the decade. Gorgeous guitar tones and solos for miles, amazing voice, some very cool riffs (and a guest spot by Zakk Wylde), this is one of those better than average cock rock albums I’m actually not ashamed to admit I like. Great driving music as I recall…

Fave tracks: ‘Louder’, ‘Six Guns Loaded’, ‘Black And White’, ‘Over And Out’, ‘Liar’.