Rainbow Fans Are Rising

You guys may have figured out that I'm a bit of a Tumblr nut and a massive Rainbow fan. Well, my Rainbow love inspired a new Tumblr blog which I'm trying to use to help the band gain some recognition. There isn't enough about them on the web so the blog is here to just bring more Rainbow into your lives and to help introduce some new people to their music, which is so underrated. The blog URL is http://rainbowfansrising.tumblr.com. Even if you don't use Tumblr I recommend you go check it out because it's got lots of cool stuff on it.
It's also an interactive blog, at least that's what I'm calling it because I want people who visit the blog to help it roll. We ask a lot of questions, we give surveys and links to surveys, we answer all Rainbow related questions and we love submissions. Most of all, the blog has multiple authors. We're looking for as many people as we can to sign up as authors and to help make posts, to make this blog as big and versatile as possible. So if this sounds like it might interest you, get on Tumblr and contact me,cause I'd be honored to sign you up! Or if you want more info more directly feel free to kik ilovesnakesabo.

The possible true meaning of Led Zeppelin's Carouselambra

     For legal reasons I have to say the possible true meaning, as I have no certified proof that this is the actual meaning of the song. I am absolutely dead sure, however, that I have finally came across the song's meaning.

     It just hit me one night when I was listening to the In Through The Out Door album. Prior to recording the album, Robert Plant's five year old son Karac died from a mystery virus, and many of the songs on the album deal with the way Robert was feeling during the aftermath of the tragedy, and all the things that happened because of it, including a change in the way Robert felt towards those close to him. In The Evening was about the stress of being a musician, and it also served as a reminder that self pity is never the answer. I'm Gonna Crawl and All My Love were both Robert's tributes to Karac. (Another song Robert wrote for him was called I Believe, and it can be found on his solo album Fate of Nations, possibly his best post-Zeppelin album.)

     Caroselambra seems to be the enigma of Led Zeppelin's career. At ten and a half minutes long, it is their second longest song (In My Time Of Dying being their longest) and musically, John Paul Jones dominates with a danceable bass line and a childlike, catchy synthethizer riff. The song is anything but lighthearted though. Carouselambra tells the story of Led Zeppelin's demise: first, it talks about the glory days. Led Zeppelin were the kings of the world, with everything working in their favor, loving all and loved by all.

"In times of brightness no intruder dared come on
To jeopardize the course, upset the run,
And all was joy and hands were raised toward the Sun 
And love in the halls of plenty overrun."

     But then, just out of the blue, in a second, everything changed for the band forever. Robert received the news of his son's death, and his whole life was turned upside down. Grief stricken, he returned home, to spend the next couple of years out of the limelight, with his wife and daughter.

"How keen the storied hunter's eye prevails upon the land 
To seek the unsuspecting and the weak; 
And powerless the fabled sat, too smug to lift a hand 
Toward the foe that threatened from the deep. 
Who cares to dry the cheeks of those who saddened stand 
Adrift upon a sea of futile speech? 
And to fall to fate and make the 'status plan' 
Where was your word, where did you go? 
Where was your helping, where was your bow? Bow. 
Dull is the armor, cold is the day. 
Hard was the journey, dark was the way. Way. 
I heard the word; I couldn't stay."

     This serves as the set up for the main theme of the song, which was Robert's shaky relationship with Jimmy Page and Peter Grant at the time. When Karac died, the band had been taking a brief break from touring in the States. Richard Cole, their road manager, John Bonham, and Robert had went to New Orleans, where they received the news. They both went back to England with Robert, and were there to support him the whole time. They showed up to Karac's funeral, which is more that can be said for John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Peter Grant, who all stayed behind in the States. I cannot offer any excuses for their actions. They truly let Robert down when he needed them the most, which only added to his devastation. I don't know how much heroin Jimmy must have been doing to make him not think that he would hurt Robert even more.

Robert's feelings are shown most plainly and simply in the one line:

"Where was your word, where did you go?"

I cannot imagine the kind of pain all this put Robert through. I know his relationship with those three band members has improved since then, but you can never really forget it when your closest friends do something like that you to you. I know I wouldn't.

From all this, I suppose there are some lessons to be learnt about friendship (and about good songwriting) and you really got to hand it to them- they turned a tragedy into a masterpiece. They just don't make bands like that anymore.

Why Hair Metal is Better than Thrash Metal

Don't get me wrong, not all hair metal is good music and not all thrash is bad music. I'm a fan of both genres, thrash metal is still newer to me but I love it. And what this article means to say is not really to express a personal opinion stating that hair metal is better than thrash metal, because I do not feel that way, I just wanted to supply some counter-arguments to the belief that hair metal sucks and that thrash should be acclaimed. Cause I hear that too much, hair metal gets too much unnecessary hate, and some thrash metal gets inexplicably high amounts of love in comparison, so I wanted to offer some points that would even out the score a little bit.

     First of all, hair metal songs are much more song oriented and individual songs do a better job of maintaining song individuality and recognizability. For example, if you hear a hair metal song on the radio, most likely the name of the song and band will come to mind instantly if it is a song you are even somewhat familiar with. Thrash metal songs individually are much less distinctive. Listening to a thrash metal album, you may not even be aware when a song ends and when a new one beings. You hear a thrash song on the radio and you may be able to identify the genre or maybe the band if their musicianship is distinctive enough, but the songs don't have a particular sense of individual identity. With the low growling vocals and long guitar solos and lack of any catchy choruses or vocal melodies, it can be hard for any people, music experts to amateurs, to tell the difference. 

     Hair metal generally is also a lot more positive. It tends to focus on the happy, good things in life, it says that life is a nice big fun party and you should go enjoy it to it's maximum. Maybe it preaches some irresponsibility as we'll, but overall it is a kind of music which celebrates the fun and joy of life. It brings out better moods and more optimistic feelings than thrash metal does. Let's face it- thrash metal is not something you would play at a wedding or at a good natured party. Its main themes include death, violence, and pure negativity. That definitely has it's time and place, as anything does, but good feelings are generally a lot healthier than bad ones and that is a major difference between the two bands.

     And now let's get superficial. Visually, hair metal was maybe the greatest genre of music that ever lived. Taking influences from Shock Rock and the early 70s glam rock, hair metal produced a look that was fun, colorful, and exciting. I'm not the only person out there who could watch hair metal videos all day long and not get tired! The musicians were mostly pretty gorgeous and I love the hair- admit it, you do too. The image of these long haired and happy looking musicians making videos that make you laugh and entertain you and being out such positive vibes, the idea of these lucky Californian boys living the dream life, it really is great. It's a great music scene visually, the visual aspect is probably greater than the music, and let's face it, the image does take a large role in a band's success and fan appeal. The whole image of thrash metal was much darker and less inviting. Hair metal said "Come party with us, we'll have a great time," while thrash metal said "Get out of here, we don't care about you." Which reception do you prefer?

      I shall remind you again that in this argument I am neutral and take no side, I love thrash and hair metal, but hearing so much about how hair metal bands are garbage and so much praise for thrash is starting to bug me and I wanted to make sure some good counter arguments on the topic were made. But both genres were great and should be loved. And really, I still don't understand how music as positive as hair metal can be so hated, and as negative as thrash can be so loved. So ironic...     

      

Hair Metal Is Not (Necessarily) A Derogatory Term

     Hair metal was a term originally coined as a sort of derogatory reference to the American rock bands of the 80s. While many fans of bands like Motley Crue, Bon Jovi or Dokken vehemently hate the term and call it insulting, I, biggest hair metal maniac out there, have got to take a second to say that it really isn't a rude thing at all.
     Hair metal means hair, as in the look of these bands, and metal, as in the music of these bands. The two are mentioned in equal importance in the monicker because in this genre, the look was every bit as important as the music. Don't deny that. Hair metal was about being hot, and singing about being hot. It's a central value of the genre of music, so it only makes sense that the title of this brand of music relates to the appearance as well as the music of these groups.
     Hair metal was a term coined by thrash bands which was meant originally as a way to write off these bands as rubbish. That much is true. However, it's still simply just a word. The word itself is not rude or derogatory, it is the intention with which the word is used. I say hair metal in a positive manner and to me it is a simple and correct term which applies well to so many of my favorite groups. Others may say hair metal in the context of "just another crappy hair metal band" and that to me is wrong and derogatory, but it is not the word hair metal which is insulting here. It is the way people use it to generalize and write off all those bands. The same goes for all other categories of music too. You can say "just another crappy hair metal band" just as easily as "just another crappy grunge band" or "just another crappy thrash band." Anything can be made to be an insult. We call redheads gingers, don't we?
     And plus, hair metal is just the normal, current term for this brand of music. If classic rock from the 80s is John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen heavy metal is Iron Maiden and Motorhead, and pop music is Madonna and Michael Jackson, well, what we call hair metal cannot really be associated with any of those bands. Hair metal is too pop to be rock, too heavy to be pop and too commercial to be rock. It is a separate entity, its own kind of music. That's not to say it isn't versatile though. Within hair metal you find many other divisions. There are "pretty" or "glam" bands like Poison, there are "sleazy" bands like Guns N' Roses or Faster Pussycat. Some of these bands even have a direct blues influence like Cinderella or Whitesnake. The term hair metal designates such a wide range of music that to use it as a write off is ignorant as well as pointless. Hair metal is a term, a word, simply to help distinguish a very awesome kind of music. Anybody who finds it derogatory has just got to get over themselves by now, or simply change their perspective.

I Don't Think Janis Joplin Was A Suicide

...Title says it all. I don't. I've been reading about Janis and the state she was in before her death lately, and the more I read, the more I feel that it wasn't suicide. It may have been an accidental overdose, or it may have been foul play... I have a strong feeling it was foul play.
Janis Joplin wasn't always a very happy person, buy everybody who was around her in the time shortly before she passed away said they had never seen her happier. She was working on Pearl and planning on getting married. It was believed that she was really picking herself up and moving along after the demise of Big Brother and the Holding Company.
That makes it seem to me that she herself didn't want to do herself in; the circumstances under which her body was found also suggest foul play. She had track marks up her arm, a bloody broken nose, and her body was found in her hotel room wedged in between the bed and nightstand. It's possible she OD'd, fell down, broke her nose and was stuck there. It's a long shot though. I can't help but feel that somebody else was involved, something else happened which the world may never know about... But until more concrete evidence is found, we can only speculate that it was an overdose.

The Censorship of Motley Crue's "You're All I Need".

I'm an honest person, and I can say quite honestly that while hair metal kicked a lot of ass, a lot of those ballads really SUCKED ass. The late 80s turned out a lot of sap. But a couple really, really good songs also came out of that era. Guns N' Roses had Estranged, Bon Jovi had Wanted Dead or Alive. Motley Crue had You're All I Need.
While most ballads traditionally have been about things such as love, or about loved ones passed on, You're All I Need is about both, but it puts a very different twist on things. It's a chilling story of obsession, about a derranged teenager who falls head over heels with a girl who just doesn't love him back the way he thinks he loves her, so he murders her so nobody else can have her.
It's a fascinating song and story. Not only are the lyrics and the story based on an interesting, poignant subject matter,the poetry of them and the style they're written in is genius. Beautiful lyrics accompanied by a haunting guitar solo, a great piano intro, and Vince's dramatic and emotional vocals, with Nikki's creepy lyrics. It's an utterly perfect song. The black and white video suits it supremely well, following the story of the song. It was a well casted, non cheesy video. The whole act screamed of classiness, and I consider the video to be one of the most important ever made: a sad, true reminder that sometimes, obsession can be mistaken for love, and that sometimes love can just go too far.
So of course the video gets banned. Wow. Figures. Motley would go and create such a masterpiece and then MTV would repay them by refusing to play their video. Why? Because the video's depiction of murder was "too violent" for television.
Okay honestly, come on and give me a break. It's not a violent video. It shows the cops cleaning up, it shows the aftermath of the murder, but not a drop of blood is shed over the course of the video. On top of that, back in the eighties even, there was Madonna. MTV absolutely ate her up, playing her shocking videos in heavy roatation. MTV would play Madonna's videos featuring shocking sexuality, which is far more damaging to our society with a video featuring traces of violence off screen. This was all a perfect case of the media overreacting. Motley Crue were a metal band with a bad boy image. Forget the fact that they were louay fighters and sweethearts. MTV saw them as street trash, so their most beautiful video was labelled as street trash.
To me, my friends, this is the ultimate in senseless prejudice. People just want to associate garbage with trash. Motley weren't trash and this video sure wasn't. When it was censored from MTV, a lot of kids didn't see an important cultural landmark and there's a good chance society suffered more from the video's lack of airplay than they would have had the "graphic" video been aired.

The Death of Steve Marriott and a Very Scary Coincedence

When Steve Marriott, frontman and guitarist of Humble Pie and the Small Faces, died at age 44 back in 1991, nobody was really surprised to hear that he was gone. He had a strong cocaine habit, and he was also a heavy smoker and drinker. The cause of his death was the shocker: house fire. Steve was alone when he died, so we can never know exactly what happened, but it is speculated that Marriott, exhausted and jet lagged, lit a cigarette, fell asleep and dropped it, which caught the house on fire. Firefighters found his body next to his bed as if he was trying to escape.
It's a sad, strange story, but thanks to an obscure old article, it's about to get stranger. It doesn't matter if this is true or not, point is, Steve Marriott stated in an interview in a 1975 CREEM magazine that when he was fourteen, he was smoking cigarettes in the school washroom, dropped one, and burnt down part of the school.
Wow. What a coincedence. Either there was some crazy karma going on here or Stevie really was the victim of a vengeful fate...

Alice Cooper's Best Moments

"Leslie West and Rick Allen should form their own group and call it The Stubs."

"When I form my own supergroup, we're gonna call ourselves Groupersoup."

"We're becoming politically correct to the point where we're all robots."

"I am very proud to say that my life and two daughters are all accomplished ballerinas. I am also very proud to say that my son is not an accomplished ballerina."

"The album cover for the Scorpions' Love At First Sting was censored because it featured a nearly naked woman... As long as it didn't feature a nearly naked Klaus Meine..."

"I love videos of cats doing funny things... Like urinating on copies of the Eagles' Greatest Hits album..."

The 5 Worst Hair Metal Songs

I had so much fun writing The Hair Metal Hierarchy last week that I decided I wanted to write some kind of a follow-up to it. A lot of people found my article by typing "worst hair metal bands" into Google, so, I was inspired to create this little list.
5.Once Bitten Twice Shy by Great White
Don't get me wrong, I love this band. But it was a rather lousy cover of what already wasn't a very good song (original was by Ian Hunter, a favorite musician of mine) and I especially don't like that it became their most well-known song, when they had many others which were far superior, like House of Broken Love, Save Your Love, or Rock Me.
4. When the Children Cry by White Lion
White Lion had the perfect foundation for a great hair metal band: a gorgeous singer and a very.talented guitarist. However, the songwriting wasn't always up to speed, and they tended to be on the wimpy side. This song, for example, is way on the wimpy side. I mean honestly, When the Children Cry?
3. We Only Come Out At Night by Lizzy Borden
I still feel sorry for these guys. I know they tried hard, but they simply weren't very good. Their songs were like Iron Maiden meets Los Angeles, and it just didn't quite work. Sorry.
2.Dreams by Van Hagar
Look, I really could have put any Van Hagar garbage in here, to the exception maybe of Love Comes Walking In, which isn't so bad. In the post David Lee Roth era, with Sammy Hagar singing, Sammy began to dominate the band, and even began playing guitar sometimes. Considering that Eddie Van Halen is one of the greatest guitarists who ever lived, this was completely unnecessary, and Van Halen fans like myself were pained to see Eddie playing keyboards more and more often. Dreams is probably the cheesiest and most irritating of the lot.
1.More Than Words by Extreme
Look, sorry to rip on Extreme again, they also made the bottom of my last hair metal countdown, but then again, I'm not so sorry, because Nuno Bettencourt was an asshole, Gary Cherone made Van Halen reach new lows, and their music sucks. More Than Words, albeit immense popularity, is boring, predictable, and forgettable.

The Hair Metal Hierarchy: 80s Bands From Best To Worst

Hair metal is most certainly a genre of music which arouses some very mixed emotions from people. It is both a very well-loved.and very well hated category, called everything from fun to cheesy and plastic and irrelevant. Overall, I really did like it... Some of it. It's definite though, that not all hair metal bands were created equally, and so, in my humble opinion, I rank them as follows, from great to... Not so much.
1. Def Leppard
Besides being pretty boys, these guys made great albums, awesome songs, and a great live act. It wasn't just hair metal. It was good. Gods Of War one of the most underrated rock songs ever in my opinion.
2. Guns N' Roses
They didn't last long or do many albums, but what they gave us was goldwn, high energy, and very substantial. I'd say it really is a toss-up between them and Def Leppard for first, but I gave Lep the nod because they lasted longer and survived some of the worst hardships to ever hit a rock band.
3. Whitesnake
Whitesnake only really went Hair Metal after 1987. In 1978 they were formed as a blues rock band, and although they never lost their blues roots entirely, they drifted farther and farther away from them as each album grew poppier.and poppier. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing though. In the late 80s, they gave us songs like Now You're Gone, Is This Love, Still of the Night, and, of course, Here I Go Again.
4. Motley Crue
I don't know where to begin here. Motley Crue, in my opinion, were quite an amazing band in many ways. They wrote really, really good songs and put out five of the best albums. They were gritty and real, (Dr. Feelgood) but happy and fun (Girls, Girls, Girls) and sometimes even terribly sad and insightful (You're All I Need.) It's been said that they were incompetent musicians (not true), that they were all wasted (true) assholes (not true) and that everybody who knows Vince Neil has a problem with him, but I can't find anything in my heart for these guys except for love, respect, and absolute admiration.
5. Cinderella
Don't laugh because I put them so high. Cinderella were good. Really, really good. Tom Keifer had an awesome voice, and their music always stayed original.
6.Dokken
My top 5 are the bands who I say are "more than just hair metal" as a general thing. After that, there is a decline in quality and more cheesiness associated to the bands here, but there are still quite a few very good bands here. Dokken had lots and lots of good songs, very talented members, and some of the greatest, most colorful videos I've ever seen. I love It's Not Love, In My Dreams, Burning Like A Flame and Alone Again especially.
7. Tesla
Band featuring two of the most underrated guitarists ever, Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch, this group  from Sacramento made music which really wasn't hair metal so much as it was rock and roll. Modern Day Cowboy is one of the sickest rock tunes from the 80s, as Love Song was one of, if not the, greatest ballads.
8. Poison
The Kings of the Sunset Strip had a sound that was very reminiscent of the early 70s glam rock scene. The songwriting ability wasn't always all there, but the sound and the spirit sure was.
9. Skid Row
Fronted by one of rock and roll's most exciting characters, Sebastian Bach, Skid Row could be a bit noisy at times, and a bit sappy at others, but always kept a great attitude and sense of humour about life and about themselves.
10. Hanoi Rocks
Bad boys from Finland who started it all... And never got the credit. Favorite band of Guns N' Roses, particularly Izzy Stradlin'.
11. Bon Jovi
Most people would rank them higher than I did, probably, I put them here because they just did so many bad songs and too many ballads.
12. RATT
Sense of humor for miles, these guys had. Attitude and swagger to the 11 level and their tough-but-fun image made them well-loved stars. Very distinguishable sound and some terrific anthems like "I Want a Woman" and "Round and Round."
13.Quiet Riot
A good example of a "launching-pad" kind of band (QR produced Rudy Sarzo and Randy Rhoads), QR were sometimes flawed and didn't see the spotlight long (one huge album, Metal Health, and then completely forgotten about) but they were definitely one of the founding fathers of their genre. Fabulous guitar work from Randy Rhoads and, in turn, Carlos Cavazo, and some great songs, like the classic Bang Your Head.
14.Warrant
Possibly the cheesiest of the bands of their time, Warrant did seem to be in it, more or less, for the money. However, they were very talented musicians and performers, and some of their songs, like Down Boys, are ACTUALLY pretty good.
15.Great White
Another good example of a hair metal band with a strong blues influence, Great White had to work very hard for a long time to make some recognition, and from there it didn't last long. A shame that they're now best known for a crappy cover of Ian Hunter's Once Bitten Twice Shy and the bar fire incident, when they were quite talented. House of Broken Love is.easily one of the best guitar songs ever.
16.Danger Danger
One of the only two  hair metal bands from New York City (White Lion being the other) and possibly the five most gorgeous guys to ever.make music together, Danger Danger lost a lot of respect from critics by calling their first two singles "Bang Bang" and "Naughty.Naughty." Those were good songa though, and the band's premature split due to legal issues was a crying shame. Singer Ted Poley went on to record music for Sega video games, and guitarist Andy Timmons is still very active in the music industry to this day.
17.W.A.S.P.
More of a farce than anything else, W.A.S.P. were never meant to be taken seriously. Neither was everything Chris Holmes did in hid whole life, ever. One of the best stage acts ever.
18.Autograph
"Turn Up The Radio" is definitely a contender for Best Hair Metal Song, and their two records were very good. I'd put them higher if they were around longer.
19. Lizzy Borden
Their music is pretty sick and outrageous. Met Lizzy at a bar in LA a while ago too, he's a fantastic guy. Personal favourite is "Love You To Pieces."
20. Kix
One thing I really like about Kix is that they are extremely non pretentious. They were simply a very good band with a lot of original songs and pretty solid albums. Don't Close Your Eyes is a killer anti-suicide song.
21.LA Guns
Tracii Guns gets some credit from me for being able to look so sexy with such a goofy hairstyle. The band most often known for being the launching pad for Guns N' Roses (Steven Adler, Duff McKagan and Slash were all former members) never became known for much more than the ballad "The Ballad of Jayne," but if you dig a little deeper into their music you'll find some excellent rock tunes. I love the end solo in "Rip and Tear."
22. Faster Pussycat
These guys were a lot of fun, above all else, they were fun. House of Pain is a contended for one of the best hair metal ballads, a touching song about having a poor relationship with your father. Killer chorus in that one.
23.Slaughter
Personally I thought that Mark Slaughter had a very cool voice, a little bit like Jon Bon Jovi and a little bit like Tom Keifer. I remember hearing "Fly to the Angels" for the first time and just thinking to myself, Man, who is that guy singing? "Angels" was a very well-written song and I'm glad for them that they had a shining moment, but sadly they didn't really have much else going for them. Some of the opening tracks on "The Wild Life" had a good bite to them though.
24. Stryper
I won't start going on about Stryper now cause I have been talking about them a lot lately, so if you want to read something about them, scroll down and find my article "God Bless Stryper."
25.Mr. Big
All the songs you probably know by Mr. Big- "To Be With You," "Just Take My Heart," and a cover of "Wild World," suck pretty hard. I'm sorry. So why are they occupying a decent spot still on this list? Because they were really quite good, again, underneath the surface. "Daddy, Lover, Brother, Little Boy" and "The Whole World Is Gonna Know" were half decent. Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert were undeniable masters of their instruments, and although Eric Martin's voice is not to everyone's liking, it does justice to their style.
26. Vinny Vincent Invasion
What I have to say about VVI is a little bit like my opinion on Autograph, they were good, they just didn't last long and have many good songs. Bassist Dana Strum and Mark Slaughter went on to form, of course, Slaughter, and guitarist Vinny played for KISS for a while.
27.White Lion
White Lion weren't all bad... Mike Tramp wasn't bad at all... But they just wasted a lot of time being sappy to new levels. "Lights and Thunder" and "Little Fighter" were cool enough, and Vito Bratta was an exceptionally talented guitarist, but "When the Children Cry" and "Till Death Do Us Part" are the kind of thing that make me run from the room screaming.
28.Wildside
Wildside weren't bad at all, but they blew what would have been success with bad timing. Their first album came out in 1992, when hair metal was practically dead, and they never really saw the limelight despite working with Andy Johns and Jim Valance. Singer Drew Hanna was slightly reminiscent of Sebastian Bach, and came up with some decent hooks, but overall his voice had a bit of an annoying quality.
29.Van Hagar
I didn't include Van Halen in this list because although they definitely helped define the sound of hair metal, they really are a straightforward rock band to me. When David Lee Roth quit and wad replaced by *choke, gag* Sammy Hagar, they became an entirely different band. I can't call the music they made Van Halen because it was so far removed from their classic sound. So this new band I call Van Hagar, who were, ultimately, forgettable enough to make them the second lowest-ranking band on this list. So who's at the bottom then?...
30.Extreme
The fact that there is a hair metal band ranked below Van Hagar is cause for great alarm. As a musician and lover of musicians, I strongly dislike it when musicians trash-talk other musicians. So it is with no regret that I trash-talk Extreme, because I do not consider these rude, boring bozos to be musicians so much as they are disgraces. Get The Funk Out is rude and annoying, Hole Hearted gives lame a whole new meaning, and More Than Words can put Keith Richards and Ron Woods to sleep in the middle of a joking session while snorting exceptionnally large amounts of coke.

God Bless Stryper

Now, maybe, just maybe, you read my post about religion and politics in rock music, and maybe you recall that I used Stryper as an example about religion being used in music just a little too blatantly. Now that I've spent more time.listening to them and their music, I'm gonna just retract any previous statements I made about them and start anew.
It took guts to get on stage, play rock music, and sing about Jesus Christ and Christianity. In a time when everybody was singing about getting drunk, getting high, getting shot and getting laid, Stryper stuck to their morals and what they believed in to make more inspiring and motivating (albeit sometimes cheesier) music. There was more money the other way, but they stuck to it. And there were people who hated them because they sang about the Lord. That, to me, is horrible. If you choose not to be  Christian, that is your right and decision. But Christianity, no matter how you look at it, is a thing of love and kindness. Hating Christianity is hating love and kindness. To me, hating Stryper because of what they stand for is hating Christianity. I'm saying this all as a doubtful agnostic. I've never been able to make Christianity a part of my own life, but I have so much respect and admiration for those who have.
Whether you liked Stryper's music or not is irrelevant really. They were amazingly good people, who had strong morale, a lot of courage, and who tried very, very hard to provide an alternative to their day's mainstream rock. Next time you plan on calling them lame or gay, please pause midway through your sentence and say, "Oops. I meant to say Lizzy Borden, not Stryper."
Stryper really were alright...

A Little Bit of Rock And Roll Irony

Randy Rhoads, Pete Ham, Chris Woods, Keith Relf, Jim Capaldi, Marc Bolan, Mickey Finn, Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker are all, tragically, dead.

However, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, most of the Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, and Megadeth are still alive and well. Nikki Sixx, who has died multiple times, looks like a 30-year old still.

Don't get me wrong, I am very, very happy that these guys are all still with us, and I don't think some people "deserve" to be alive more than some other people. But I find this to be a rather strange and ironic trend...

The 10 Best Songs by Tesla

I'm a shameless hair metal maniac, and am very familiar with all the bands of that late-80s era, and when I say Tesla really were different from the other bands of their day, I mean that very seriously and earnestly. Tesla weren't just good fun and flashy videos like some of their competition, they were a very good band, made up of very good musicians who wrote lots of great, versatile songs.
10) Signs
This cover of the old hippie anthem by the Five Man Electric Band is pretty much the only Tesla song you'll hear up in Canada, which I find to be a bit of a radio disgrace. Or should I say a Great Radio Controversy?
9) Lady Luck
A decent, straightforward rock numbe. Tesla prove to us that rock n' roll was not dead by the glam metal era.
8) Paradise
While not as substantial as some of Tesla's rockers, Paradise is still a rather pretty tune, and one of their most successful numbers to date.
7) Edison's Medicine
Definitely a good high energy rocker, and definitely one of the more unusual song titles I've ever heard.
6) Hang Tough
Jeff Keith dominates this one for me, with his awesome screaming and sweet dance moves in the video. Tesla doing what they do best.
5) Little Suzi
Excellent up tempo acoustic rocker by our Sacramento boys. A humorous tale of wasted prostitutes a la Mott The Hoople's Alice, if not quite as witty.
4) What You Give
This other acoustic number by Tesla is a clear influence on the Black Crowes' sound. The acoustic guitar intro has swagger and attitide for miles, and the chorus is just brilliant.
3) Song And Emotion
My personal favorite Tesla song, from their 1991 album Psychotic Supper, is a touching, beautiful anf soulful tribute to Def Leppard's Steve Clark, who died that year from a drug-and-alcohol overdose. Tesla opened for Def Leppard during their monster 1987 Hysteria tour, which gave them their big break, and I couldn't imagine a nicer hommage to a real guitar god and legend.
2) Love Song
Tesla's most famous song and ballad manages to escape the hair metal ballad mold to create something fresh, original and unique, and still stands as possibly the best of all the power ballads. Guitarists Tommy Skeotch and Frank Hannon show off their classical skills in the song's intro, and Jeff Keith's vocals were never before so controlled and melodic.
1) Modern Day Cowboy
But as good as Love Song is, I'll have to give Modern Day Cowboy the nod as their very best song. It was their first hit, and still stands out to me as the best rock song they ever did. I believe it's about the Cold War... Not sure, but I believe so...

The Origins of the Name Ariel Bender

For a while now I've been searching for the original source.of the name Ariel Bender... I mean, I think it's just one of the coolest rock star names I've ever heard. However, my research has brought me to two different but similar stories as to who came up with the name.
The first one comes from The Man Himself, Ian Hunter. Ian says that the name is linked to an incident following a gig in Germany, when Mick Ralphs was pissed off and decided to bend the aerial on every car on the street. He told this story in the excellent Mott the Hoople documentary, The Ballad Of Mott The Hoople.
Lynsey de Paul, a friend of Mott the Hoople, and the female voice in the bridge in Roll Away the Stone, claims the incident was related to a time when the band was staying in Frankfurt while doing television appearances. The whole band and Lynsey were in a hotel which forced them to all use the same washroom. Luther Grosvenor, as he was known as back in those days, was pissed off, so he went and bent the aerial on their manager's car. Lynsey says that she began calling Luther Ariel Bender, and the name stuck. The story comes from a recent copy of Classic Rock Magazine.
Well, personally I'm more inclined to believe Ian's side of things... But there are two sides to every story, so there you have both of them, and you can believe whichever one you prefer.

Steven Tyler's Autobiography, "Is The Noise In My Head Bothering You?" Reviewed

     Aerosmith is one of the best rock bands who have ever lived, and considering who's in the band, it's no surprise- Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford, Tom Hamilton, and, of course, Joe Perry and Steve Tyler. They put out some highly original high energy rock music and unlike most band, even their new albums are still being enjoyed by the fans.

     Recently I picked up a copy of Steve Tyler's autobiography, Does The Noise In My Head Bother You. I was sure it would be an interesting read, and fairly enjoyable- I've always enjoyed the way Tyler spoke and write lyrics. He certainly is a most fascinating character, and so, excited, I picked up the book and began to read. I had a bit of a headache after trying to read the first page.

     It's not that what Steven was saying was wrong. I liked the points he was making and the things he was saying. The photos were good too. But the way he was saying them, his writing style, was absolutely unreadable. After five pages, I really couldn't take anymore and for my own sanity's sake, I was forced to put the book down. On several other occasions, I tried reading it, but I could never make it more than half a dozen pages. I was quite disappointed really, cause I love Steven Tyler so much and his book should have been the best thing in the world. I'm really not sure why it wasn't... I am going to.continue trying to read it, of course. For Steven's sake, I have to. And maybe, hopefully, I'll get used to it and enjoy it. If not, I'll just be content to read his Wikipedia page, again and again and again...

Underrated Musician #9: Michael Anthony

     One had to be a pretty darn good musician to hold their own alongside Eddie Van Halen. Nobody will doubt that he was a brilliant, innovative, and exciting musician, and his place in rock and roll history is right at the top, with the likes of Clapton, Page and Beck. A real musician like Eddie also knew that if he wanted to make it far in music, you needed a good band of highly skilled musicians, to take you as far as you could make it. Eddie knew his rhythm section was an important decision, and he chose well: brother Alex Van Halen on drums (and what a drummer he was!) and bassist Michael Anthony, who, so far, is being remembered (if he is remembered) as the forgotten member of Van Halen.

     First of all, from what I hear of the band members' personalities, Michael wasn't one of those shy guys who everybody ignored. Van Halen fans know that Eddie was the quiet one. I guess Michael got left behind because he wasn't as colorful and dynamic as David Lee Roth, and he wasn't as flashy a musician as Eddie or Alex Van Halen. Alex also had the name Van Halen on his side, I hate to say it, but I know it helped. Maybe also because Michael is currently the only original member of Van Halen who isn't touring right now which pushes him even furher into the background.

     But all this aside, let's talk about what Michael Anthony meant to the band. Mike was an excellent bassist, and a lot of Van Halen's catchy, infectuous sound was owed to his melodic and memorable bass lines. He was never necessarily extremely technical skilled, but what was much more important was that he always had goos ideas and made good music. He helped write a fair amount of Van Halen's music too. But what Mike contributed to Van Halen's overrall sound most importantly was the backing vocals. All those catchy vocal hooks, which were probably the most important part of the classic Van Halen sound, were more of Mike's doing than anybody else's. Songs like Dance the Night Away and Running With the Devil especially could never have been the same thing if it wasn't for his high-pitched vocal harmonies.

     Mike's not being in the band nowadays still seems to be for reasons not quite clear, but I know it was something related to a personality conflict with the other band members. Oh well. Maybe he was right. Maybe they were. Ultimately it doesn't really matter, because what's done is done and sometimes people just can't get along anymore, like Don Dokken and George Lynch. It is too bad for the fans that he isn't there anymore, but Eddie's son Wolfgang is doing an excellent job filling his shoes, and the sound isn't suffering.

     So you can say what you want about Mike, and his involvement with Van Halen, but you really can never deny that he made the band what they were, and they might still be touring the LA club circuit if it wasn't for him.

Nice bass, Mike

Native American Mainstream Musicians

     Just out of sheer curiosity, I did a little research the other day to find out whether or not metal music had any noted Native American musicians. I was actually surprised to find out just how many musicians that we're all familiar with are fully or part Native- here's a quick list:

     I had never guessed that George Lynch was Native until I heard about his Shadowtrain project-  a documentary he's making about Native Americans. Learn more about this at http://shadowtrainmovie.com/

     Mark Slaughter is either full or half Native. Vince Neil's mom was half Native, and his dad was half Mexican. Just in case you never noticed, his blond hair came from a bottle.

    Besides being French, English and Irish as well, Alice Cooper is part Sioux. Blackie Lawless's mom was either half or full native.. For those of you who thought that W.A.S.P. stood for White Anglo Saxon Protestants, well, most likely, you were wrong. I'm still pretty sure it stood for We Are Sexual Perverts. Testament lead singer Chuck Billy was Cherokee, I believe. 
      Tommy Bolin, the one musician almost everybody is positive is Native, is actually half Swedish and half Syrian. 

    And besides that, the following artists are all part First Nations- Carrie Underwood, Cher, Crystal Gayle, Link Wray, Mandy Moore, Billy Ray Cyrus. Will add more names to this list if I come across them. 

Liam and Noel Gallagher should knock off the stupid bickering and reunite Oasis already!

     Since the mid 1990s, during which they were arguably the best band around, Oasis founding members, brothers Grimm or Gallagher (whichever you prefer) did little more than reinforce negative Irish stereotypes when they weren't making music. It was quite a funny scenario actually. Liam sang, Noel wrote songs and played guitar. Noel was jealous of Liam because he could sing. Liam was jealous of Noel's ability to write songs and play guitar. The two would go to bars, get drunk, and start fighting until they got kicked out. Oasis eventually split up when the situation reached a point where they just couldn't work together anymore.

     Maybe you're rolling your eyes as you read this. I hope you are, because it really is a dumb scenario. Liam and Noel, you two are brothers, for Christ's sake, and talented ones. You can't just do something like that to your family, and you really left the fans hanging. It's not that the music you've made since Oasis isn't good, it's just that Oasis should still be making music and touring. You're definitely young enough still to have the ideas left, and there is a market for the kind of music you make to attract a young audience. You two should be happy with the abilities you do have instead of wanting to be like the other one, because Oasis was the combined talents of both of you, and neither one of you was more important than the other. Do the whole world a favor and reform Oasis. Get over yourselves. Jealousy is never worth it.

Find me on Tumblr!

     Am now getting more used to using social media and stuff! Just launched my Tumblr account. You can find me on there, at  http://alixroxie.tumblr.com/. I do pretty much the same stuff there as I do here, or on my Twitter, lots of fun things about rock and roll, articles and stuff. Lots of fun photos, quotes and facts. Please check it out and follow me! And for those who missed it, I'm also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AlixRoxie. More social media to come soon... maybe I'll even conquer Facebook...

Do Religion and Politics Have A Place in Rock and Roll?

     Do religion, politics, personal opinions and other such concepts have a place in rock music? Well, considering the number of songs with these undertones and references, obviously it has a place, but should it? While some people enjoy rock music spreading Christian ideals instead of supporting our buddy  the devil, others find it simply preachy and irritating. A political viewpoint expressed by John Lennon might enlighten some, and apall others who just don't agree with him. Rock and roll, should it be escapist, or should it have a message?

     Let's start with one end of the spectrum. Def Leppard and Whitesnake considered themselves to be the ultimate escapist bands. Joe Elliott himself has said that a lot of bad stuff happens in the world, you know, you turn on the news and you hear about some disaster, and so people turn to music to escape from these things. When Joe listens to music, he doesn't like to hear people whining about politics or the state of the world. He just likes good, fun music that he can enjoy without an ulterior motive. 

     There is only a very slight note of hypocrisy here. Def Leppard themselves had their political stuff. It was in smaller quantities then the sex, drugs and rock and roll oriented music they were best known for, like Pour Some Sugar On Me, but it was there, and mostly it dealt with anti-violence; Gods Of War, a shot at war-mongering governments, Die Hard The Hunter, the story of a violent soldier who cannot refind a tranquil life after coming home from battle, Billy's Got A Gun, a violent street kid lashing out against his environment, Paper Sun, about a mid-90s bombing in Ireland. But while Def Leppard had a specific set of opinions, they never became pushy or annoyingly political. (If you're not a diehard Lep fan like me, you might think otherwise, but hey, to each his own opinion.) Funny though, all this coming from the band that describes their music as AOR: Arson Oriented Rock.

      Robert Sweet, of Stryper, feels that rock music should have an opinion and a message, and a positive one at that. Rock music is what inspires and motivates legions of young people, and when it conveys dark messages, it had a negative impact on society. Sweet, of Guns N' Roses, said that they made very good music, but everything was linked to death, which ultimately is "wrong." And well, I can see the truth in his point, but I think this old theory of rock and roll being devil's music is jaded and senseless. And Sweet and his band maybe went a little too fast in that direction. Stryper was a shameless Christian band, whose songs were quite obvious and all about Jesus. I like their music, but I find the references tiring after a while. I prefer Triumph, who were also definitely a Christian band but who were more subtle. Their references were there, if you wanted to hear them, but you weren't constantly being reminded that you were listening to religious music. It was just good.

     But on the subject of Stryper, I really respect their Christian roots, and I admire that they had the guts to be the band they were in the age they were in, but to me, tossing copies of the Bible into the audience is going a little too far. (By the way, were there every any Jewish rock bands? Haven't heard one yet!)

     When one thinks of political singers, I guess John Lennon is the number one guy that pops into everybody's minds. John had some pretty strong beliefs, and he want afraid to share them. Fans of his music usually tend tobe people who agree with him on most matters, and the people who disagree tend to despise him. And while I believe that you have the right to your own opinion, like you can hate somebody if you want to, I think it's unfair to hate somebody personally just because you disagree with what they have to say. Ultimately, politics are shallow, and can't be used to judge one's true character. Some of Lennon's music pisses me off... In fact, probably everybody disagrees with a few of his songs. But if you look a little closer, you might find that some of his views are perfectly compatible with your own. So like or  dislike Lennon, but respect him for having hits say. Don't hate him because guys thoughts weren't yours.

     My final opinion will conclude my main statements about John Lennon, Def Leppard and Stryper, and is that I believe in freedom to speech, freedom to say whatever you want, and if you have an opinion you want to share and you want to share out through music, go ahead. And I always admire people who speak their minds and make their statement without worrying aboutwhat others will think of them. As a listener, you can just choose to listen to more light hearted music, for there is plentyof it out there. (Long live Cinderella!) As long a the morals don't get too pushy (sorry, Seals and Crofts) and the religious references aren't too blatantly obvious and irritating (sorry, Stryper) then go ahead and say whatever you want to. It is your God intended right to.

Axl Rose: Arrogant Asshole, or Misunderstood?

     MISUNDERSTOOD.

     Go ahead and say, Nah, asshole, and this chick is wasting her time looking for nice things to say about him. 

You read some of my previous stuff and you'll see that I am inclined to back up unpopular rock stars, like Ritchie Blackmore. I'm not spending my time defending these guys for argument's sake, or just because they made good music. I know there are jerks in the music industry, don't think that I'll get mad at anybody who calls a rock star an asshole. I'm writing this because Axl Rose really, really needs somebody out there supporting him, and telling the world that he really was an amazing person, because he's not getting enough of that and honestly, it's sick.

The general perception most people have of Axl was that he was crazily egotistical and would treat others around him like dirt, and that he was completely heartless. Now, I'm not going to say that Axl was the sweetest guy out there. He definetly wasn't. But a lot of the things Axl was known for really weren't the way they seemed, and I would like to step back and look at some moments from Axl's career.

     Like the incident in which he attacked an audience member and broke his camera. Come on, that guy was asking for it. He was distracting Axl while he was on stage, and being rude to him. He provoked Axl very deliberately and he only got what was coming to him.

     How about the way he would keep the audience waiting for hours before a show? Steven Adler said it himself in his book: Axl wanted an emotionally charged atmosphere. He was such of passive fans who didn't seem to care much about seeing the band, he wanted to make sure everybody was good and ready. And remember the timeslot too. The early 90s were all about non caring. Axl was an extremely sensitive and emotional guy, and he hated that.

      The way Axl would make his band wait for him in Chicago, or the way he would have them play songs they weren't familiar with, well, no excuses so far for that. Like I said, he was no saint, and the main purpose of this article is not to make him seem like one, but just to let you know he was all right. 

     Here's a perfect example of this. In 1989, GNR made guest appearances in the Clint Eastwood movie The Dead Pool. All the band members were featured, except Axl. Most people assumed he had snubbed the movie. You know what really happened? While his scene was going to be filmed, he was in the hospital, keeping Steven Adler company. Steven wound up there after a stripper snuck some heroin in his tea, and he overdosed. There you have it- Axl really was human. He missed a big chance to be there for a bandmate who really needed his help.

     A lot of Axl's erratic behavior can really be described- not necessarily justified, but explained, by one simple fact: Axl was manic-depressive. Or so I read in Steven's book. That explains the moodiness and the unpredictability for sure. Manic depression is a severe, clinical mental case and is not something to be shrugged off and ignored. 

     Axl Rose was an extremely smart guy, easily one of the smartest guys the music industry ever saw. He also had a very unique perception of the world, and a poor home life. All those things can have a profound impact on how you live your life and treat others. I really understand this in Axl, cause I am the same way myself. He saw things in a way others didn't, and he sometimes became frustrated because others couldn't understand what he was seeing, and couldn't understand him.

     If some of this isn't convincing you, well, I have one major argument left, and that is a song called Estranged. That is Axl's work through and through, and it is one of the most epic, haunting, emotional and soulful songs ever written. There is so much feeling in the vocal performance and only a supremely intelligent, perceptive, real human being could have written it. To me, that song expresses so perfectly what human emotions go through during the loss of a relationship and a large, painful change in your life. Axl wrote it personally about his marriage to Erin Everly, and the pain and struggle it put him through. No mere arrogant jerk could have created such a powerful, important, and heartfelt song. It took a beautiful person and deep genius to create it, and it showed the world the side of Axl which is just that. To all GNR fans or just good-hearted people out there, I want you to see that person when you look at Axl. Not the guy who started riots and held people up, but the soulful small town boy who found himself coping with a situation he couldn't handle, that of fame, and went over the top a couple times, but who always had a big heart and left a legacy behind him that no artist has done since. And I say, God bless Axl Rose.

A most touching tribute to Steve Clark

     I can hardly think of a rock and roll death that chokes me up more than that of the beautiful, talented Steve Clark of Def Leppard, and I certainly am a sucker for any kinds of Steve Clark tributes or kind words said about him. If he was still with us, he would be 54 as of yesterday... (Happy birthday Steve.) Of all the videos I've watched on YouTube in his memory, I've got to say I was the most satisfied with this one... A lovely slide show dedicated to him with a song which is, in my opinion, one of the best tributes ever to a person deceased: Song And Emotion by Tesla, one of the best bands of their era, written just for Steamin' Steve. Enjoy the video and Long Live one of the true Guitar Gods. He went so far before his time...

Tesla- Song and Emotion-Steve Clark

Who does David Coverdale think he is?

Any rock and roll fan will tell you that Whitesnake and Deep Purple were two of the most important, influential and downright awesome bands that have ever lived. A certain Mr David Coverdale was lucky enough to be a member of both of those bands: he replaced Ian Gillan in Deep Purple in 1973, and then launched Whitesnake in 1978. Over the years, Coverdale has had the opportunity to work with many of the most amazing musicians who have ever lived, between the two groups: Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, John Sykes, Don Airey, Adrian Vandenburg, Tommy Bolin, Glenn Hughes, Steve Vai, Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge. Not a bad list, and I'm probably missing some. But Coverdale never really had anything nice to say about all these greats, especially the guitarists he worked with.

     Before I go any farther, I've got to emphasize that one of my pet peeves are musicians who badmouth other musicians. I find it trashy and low-class to the extreme, because being a musician is not easy, and the people who should understand that better than anybody else should be other musicians. They're like members of an extensive family to me, and when I hear one musician saying another one is no good, or just an asshole, I really resent that. Maybe they're completely right in what they're saying, but still, it's just a very rude thing for one musician to go around trashing other ones.
     My incriminating piece of information was the February 1990 edition of Guitar For The Practicing Musician magazine, in which David Coverdale talks about all the guitarists he had worked with to date. All he did was bitch and whine and bitch and whine some more: all in all, it was an infuriating article. First he talked about how much he hated working with Ritchie Blackmore, and while it's known that people have conflicting opinions of Blackmore (view my previous post, Ritchie Blackmore: The Great Debate) it cannot be denied that if nothing else, he was a fabulous musician. Not once did Coverdale say anything resembling that. He just talked about how if Blackmore wasn't such a perfectionist, he would have been a better musician. I disagree strongly- Blackmore's constant search to be the best musician he could possibly be was what made him so great. And for Coverdale to be so outright rude to the man who gave him his chance in the rock and roll industry and made him what he was... I lost a lot of respect for Coverdale when I read this.
     But what he said next was even worse. He started going after Tommy Bolin too. I for one, am a huge fan of Tommy Bolin. I don't think he was right for Deep Purple, but I love his playing. Coverdale says he did too, but then started talking about how he could have been better if it wasn't for the drugs. Coverdale had no  business making that comment- the drugs were Bolin's own business, and they cost him his life far too soon. And for all we know, without the drugs, it's possible that his music skills wouldn't have been what they were. A lot of musicians make their best music under the influence of drugs, and it was sheer ignorance and rudeness, for Coverdale to say that.
     He said fairly nice things personality wise about the early guitarists from Whitesnake, but never once did he say they were good musicians or made any statements about their musical fortes. Just talked about what great guys they were.
     Then it got really bad... Dave started talking about John Sykes like he was some dumb, immature kid who was selfish and hung up on himself, who wasted money in the studio and ultimately just wasn't a good enough guitar player for Whitesnake. I understand that personality clashes do happen sometimes, and that it's possible for two great guys to just not get along very well, like Don Dokken and George Lynch for example. But here I'm inclined to say that Coverdale was the one at wrong here, especially considering the relationships he had with his previous guitarists. Again, Coverdale had not much to say about what kind of a musician John was, and makes it sound like Sykes only gained skill once he had taken him under his wing. As a professional musician in a professional musician's magazine, Coverdale should have stuck to the facts about the music instead of letting his opinions be prejudiced by his bad personal experiences with his musicians.
     Vivian Campbell and Adrian Vandenberg were the next two in Whitesnake. Viv left early cause, according to Coverdale, he "brought bad vibes into the band". Yeah, leave it to Coverdale to go saying that Campbell was the one who made the atmosphere more tense. Again, I'm willing to believe that sometimes two good people just don't get along, but we've been seeing quite a bit about that lately and really, how many personality clashes can you have? At press time, Vandenberg was still  member of Whitesnake, so what Coverdale had to say about him was mainly positive. Not very encouraging, but positive. There was a little more gushing going on over Steve Vai, which I did appreciate, because it was nice to see Coverdale being a little bit more enthusiastic about one of the many great musicians he worked with.
     Vandenberg continued to work with Coverdale and Whitesnake on and off during the 90s, but basically, after the great Slip of the Tongue album in 1989, Coverdale fired the band while on one of his massive ego trips. I guess he couldn't stand not being the best looking member of the group any longer... Since then, he has hired mainly groups of faceless- very talented, but faceless- musicians, and hasn't really produced anything really worth listening to. Maybe if Coverdale had treated his guitarists a little more respectfully, and was a little more secure in his own skin, he wouldn't have reacted the way he did to his group's fame, but sadly, that was the way it went, and can't be changed now. If he hadn't been such a prick, Whitesnake might even still have been making really great music into the 90s and maybe up until today. But no- he just couldn't work with the greats anymore the day it all became about him...
     Normally I would put a picture of David Coverdale at the bottom of the page here, which is standard of my writings, but I'm a little tired of hearing about him right now, so here's a picture of the gorgeous Adrian Vandenberg instead. Ha. Enjoy!
(And for the record, I still absolutely love Coverdale for his music.)

Andy Johns remembered

Andy Johns is a name that may not be known to all listeners of music, but all listeners of music have certainly heard some of the music he produced. In his career, which lasted from the late 1960s until just a couple days ago, as a producer and engineer, he worked with artists including Led Zeppelin , the Rolling Stones, Free, Rod Stewart, Wildside, Van Halen, Humble Pie, Television, Mott The Hoople, Joni Mitchell, Ron Woods, Cinderella, Autograph, Joe Satriani, LA Guns, Doug Aldrich, Bon Jovi and Steve Miller. (Pretty sweet repertoire!) Just a few days ago... on April 7th... Andy passed away from a stomach ulcer at his home in California, at age 62. RIP, bro... There weren't many guys like you out there, and as long as "rock and roll lives and breathes in the hearts of the young" (to quote Triumph) you will be remembered and missed by all.

Alvin Lee Remembered

     And so the first great rock and roller to pass away during 2013 happened today, when the great Alvin Lee lost his life due to complications following surgery. You can't imagine the shock I felt when I logged on to my Twitter account today to find Peter Frampton's comment on Alvin's death- maybe it's the same shock you're feeling now, if this site is the first one to tell you of this? It was a real blow to me. I was just thinking of Ronnie Montrose's death... the epic guitarist of Montrose fame shot himself a year and three days ago from today. I haven't gotten over that yet... and here comes this.

     Alvin was 68 years old. We've lost great rock stars at younger ages but still, any age is too young for the greats, and Alvin was great if anybody was. As well as a handful of other peculiar hair-colored musicians, I call Alvin my red-haired brother... He was a genuinely great guy, an amazing guitar player, a terrific songwriter, and an exciting stage performer. Ten Years After put out the best music of the psychedelic era and some of the very finest British blues, and beyond that, just some very good music in general. Alvin will truly be missed by his many fans- music was never quite the same after him and his legacy will make an impact forever. 

Ten Years After- Woodstock- I'm Going Home

The Possible True Meaning of Hymn For The Dudes

     Describe Mott The Hoople's lyrics in one word. Brilliant, enigmatic, interesting, insightful, confusing, may be some words that come to mind. I for one, will mainly use the first one: Mott The Hoople were brilliant, and Ian Hunter was one of the geniuses of the industry. But of course, with lyrics like these, you will always have people trying to interpret what he was really singing about, and a lot of people will wind up being wrong. I'm gonna tackle one of the greatest Mott songs ever, Hymn for the Dudes, and I'm gonna hope I'm a little closer to the truth than most people get.

     The song in its entirety is pro-Christian: it opens with some really pleasant lyrics:

God ain't jive
For I can see his love as it runs alive

     But the band also express contempt over the false Christians, those who only give a damn about their religion when they're facing tough times and need help, in my personal favorite lyrics from the song.

Oh my sweet instant Christian, you are such a sly clown
Too many questions, no replies now

     So Christianity seems to be a true message of the song. Another, to me, seems to be the life of adolescents, gangs, trouble; common topics in Hunter's writing (AKA, Crash Street Kidds, or even All The Young Dudes, although of course they did not write that themselves.)

Over the fields of barbed wire, the war has just begun

     Reminds me of the Outsiders each and every time.

     But what I feel is the main theme of the song is the glam rock movement. Hunter takes several shots at the stars of the day, who were glitter and glam and no substance. It is commonly believed that these were references to David Bowie, the man who made Mott famous, but I don't think such would be the case, because Ian and Bowie were good friends, and Mott may have just quit the business had Bowie not given them what would become their best and most celebrated song. I believe the lyrics lend themselves more to say, Marc Bolan, or even Mick Jagger. But evidently, they talk about how those stars though they would be the top of the world forever, and Ian warns them that they will lose their identities in fame, and soon they're gonna burn out and nobody's gonna remember them anyway.

I got an idea
Go and tell the superstar all his hairs are turning gray...

     And all the lyrics that follow this emphasize this point, up to:

You ain't the nazz 
You're just a buzz
Some kind of temporary

    While this seems like a direct shot at Bowie, for he uses the word "nazz" in good old Ziggy Stardust, I believe it is more likely to be a shot at Todd Rundgren, who of course, was in the awesome band The Nazz before finding fame as a producer, member of Utopia, and solo artist.
     I believe that the repeated line,

 N' rejoice for the king ain't lost his throne
He's still here. You are not alone

     ...is really a reference to the King himself, Elvis Presley: I think what he is saying is with the glam and the flash groups, a lot of the music coming out had no substance; but don't worry, because Elvis is still Elvis, he's still the king and that won't be changed; and as long as good music exists, there is still hope. Elvis didn't stop being the king throughout the glam rock movement: Ian is saying that real talent stays talent forever and what's great will not change. Quite a reassuring message, when you think about it!

     But Ian Hunter himself, about the song, simply said that it is a song of friendship and support, to the kids who feel alone, and as he wrote it, its true meaning is really his say and his say only. I believe that's the most important message to take out of the song, and so maybe we should just leave it as that.

Underrated Musician #8: Steven Adler

    Somebody who has seen my earlier posts may know I have a certain soft spot for Steven Adler, Guns N' Roses drummer. Now this gives me a chance to talk a little more about why he is one of my absolute favorite musicians ever.

     First and foremost, Steven Adler was a really fantastic musician. I don't think many people ever got how good a drummer he was. His style wasn't loud, boomy and heavy like most metal drummers; instead, he was light, happy, danceable. He brought the swing, the rhythm, the glam and the fun into GNR's signature brand of rock music, which was somewhere between glam, metal, and punk. His personal taste in music centered on KISS, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Mott The Hoople, 60s vocal groups like Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons, even funk and soul along the lines of Sly and the Family Stone. He incorporated all these aspects into his own style of music.

    People tend not to realize what kind of an impact a drummer has on a band, but a good drummer is everything. They lay down the foundation of the music, they decide what the best and the rhythm will be, they create the groove and the feel of the music. GNR bassist Duff McKagan considers Adler's sense of grove to be his strong point, and describes the band as having great chemistry during those days, where everybody needed each other and relied on the unity of their musicianship to make the band what it was. When Adler was fired from the band a couple years later, (for reasons I could go on about for quite a while, so I'll save it for a future post) the band lost its last shreds of comradeship, and ultimately sparked the band's downfall.

     Steven was also responsible for the band's songs. He wasn't just involved in the sound, he collaborated immensely to the writing process of their music. Slash now speaks of what Steven's contributions meant to the band, stating that he always had brilliant, creative ideas, and deserved more credit than he got.

     And now, well, this doesn't really impact how good a musician one is, but in Steven's case, is definety worth mentioning, and that piece of information is that Steven was a really, really wonderful guy. He came from a disastrous home life and saw a good share of shit in his time, but he always remained a great guy, talkative and friendly, and to quote Duff again, he was the best friend a guy could every ask for. To me, being such a great guy only makes you enjoy and respect a brilliant musician even more, and Steven Adler epitomizes that in my eyes. Steven is still active in the music business, with his own band like Adler's Appetite, and is still turning out good rock music. (For the record, they're really the only new band whose music is on my iPod.)

The Most Important Bands In Rock History (An Alternate Version)

     Who are the most important bands in rock history is a commonly asked question which usually generates the same few answers: The Beatles, the Stones, etc. And while it cannot be denied that band like those are rock's founding fathers, there are others out there too who made a big impact.

     For example, Slade-not T. Rex- founded the glam movement. While Marc was still strumming his acoustic guitar and singing folk nonsense, Slade were defining the look and the sound of what would become the next generation of Anglo-rock.

     David Bowie and others picked up where those guys left off, but glam didn't last forever, and by 1975, most glam bands were a thing of the past. When glam saw its renaissance in the early 80s, in the LA club scene, it was the doings of a Mr Randy Rhoads, who emulated his hero, Mick Ronson, in hairstyle and dress. The look caught on and we have him to thank for Poison, RATT, and the rest.

     How about that good old British power  metal? I believe we have Rainbow to thank for that. I'm not talking about Stone Cold Rainbow, Can't Let You Go Rainbow, I mean the original Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio. They must have been the first British power metal band: Dio is considered to be the king of the genre, and his early recordings with the band were an obvious influence on the rock bands to come. 

     The roots of punk rock are very commonly debated, but I'm gonna have to give the nod to the Stooges, the MC5, that Detroit stuff, and to Led Zeppelin. Calling me a desperate Zep fan? Maybe I am, but listen closely to Communication Breakdown again and tell me if I'm that wrong.

     There you have it, folks: A slightly different take on an often heard question. I hope my opinion was somewhat justified and that you can take something new out of my unorthodox theories.

Underrated Musician #7: Mick Mars

     Motley Crue are a band best known for a look: larger than life party boys, who were addicted to everything but who lived through it all. They were dangerous, crazy, vile, self-abusive, and dirty. MTV wouldn't play their videos and sometimes, for good reason. They had a wild image, which attracted plenty of bad attention, but it worked, and very well. They became superstars.

     But like I said, the Crue were mostly known for the look. People tend to overlook the fact that they weren't just some Los Angeles partiers, they were actually musicians, and rather good ones too, who wrote a lot of good songs and put out excellent albums.

     I could put any of the musicians of this band in this feature, but I decided to write foremost about Mick Mars because he seems to be the least well known of the band members. It's unusual for a guitarist to be in such a position; a band's unsung hero is usually a bassist or drummer. This is not the case in the Crue because Mars was the most private member of the band- the other three were more known than he, but mostly for their antics, arrests, and romances. 

     While he did not write the songs or direct the videos, Mick was there at the root of all of them. His signature guitar riffs and licks are what begin nearly all Motley Crue songs, they give them their backbone and make them easily identifiable as the work of LA's most infamous group. Maybe music wasn't all the band was about, but it was the band's foundation, and like many similar bands, it takes an unfair backseat to other factors. The band was always about the music to Mick, their shyest member, and it was truly him which made it great all along.

My Complaint About People Who Hate Mainstream Music In Favor Of Crap People Have Never Heard Of

     This message is aimed first and foremost at those pretentious farts who think that commercial music is bullshit, and that it's only worth listening to if 99% of all people have never heard of it before. Music is music is music is music. What makes you happy is your own business, but don't go around telling the world that your taste in music is better than theirs because you choose to listen to less well-known music. Because there are a lot of people out there who do, and to these people...just knock it off. 

     When I'm hanging out, the music I chose to play for myself tends to be the stuff you don't hear on the radio, because if I wanted to hear that stuff, I could just listen to the radio, and I've gotten toured of a good deal of that stuff. I do not consider my taste in music to be superior to the person whose favorite Beatles song is Hey Jude, while mine is The Night Before. It just is, and it doesn't mean anything. (However, I do consider my taste in music to be better than that of the person who listens to Jay-Z and Katy Perry. Understandable...)

     When I'm on my own, I might listen to Tommy Bolin, or Suzanne Vega, or Alcatrazz, or Yngwie Malmsteen. All this stuff I like, and find interesting. But when I throw a party, or when I'm playing music for others to enjoy, I play music that's commercial, fun, and recognizable, because that's the kind of stuff that most people like best, and it's the stuff that reaches the most people. In these cases, I'm inclined to choose Whitesnake, or Cheap Trick, Quiet Riot, KISS, Billy Squier, Bon Jovi. Poison gets a great reaction, people go nuts for Fallen Angel or Cry Tough especially sometimes. People like that stuff and because it's good. Sure, having a taste in music which compromises solely of bands like that is not particularly original, but that is good music, and there's no shame in favoring them.

      So for the handful of people pusher there who are convinced that the best Rolling Stones song is Have You Ever Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadows, well, it's your opinion. But don't cram out down our throats in the name of taste. Music isn't a competition or a religion, it's a matter of taste.

Some more senseless ramblings about Joe Lynn Turner

     Today I realized that by far and away, my post titled "Joe Lynn Turner Wore A Wig And So What?" had the most hits. Now, I appreciate it when people go on my blog and read my articles, but honestly. These things take me a lot of time to compose and some of them took a lot of thought and research. That little thing I wrote about how Joe's wig is none of our business was just some little thing I wrote in about five minutes and posted to express my disapproval over things searched concerning Joe Lynn Turner. The fact that that one article has so many hits only continues to prove my point- We shouldn't care about his hair- but everybody does! And all you people are even taking the time to read my article stating that you shouldn't care. Wow. Talk about ironic. I won't be removing the article from my site, of course, considering how much attention it brings to me and my OTHER posts, but it is irritating. Now I know how Supertramp feel when people tell them that Breakfast In America is their best song.