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Showing posts with label Metallica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metallica. Show all posts
Thursday, April 6, 2017
notmovingpictures Episode 054: Aaron Part 3
Part three of my conversation with my friend Aaron finds us continuing to talk about Metallica and selling out, the line you can choose to not cross when a band changes their sound too much, cover songs, gaming and how it can bring family and friends a bit closer when separated by time and distance and movies like Star Wars: Rogue One, the Bladerunner sequel and Highlander. I mean the first one not the crappy second one. Probably some other stuff I missed too.
Opening music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing music: Local H - Shock The Monkey
Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Older episodes of the podcast can be found by going to archive.org and searching for notmovingpictures.
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Ten For Tuesday Episode 110
There are a few concerts I hope to attend in the coming months, the first of which is Prong, Sepultura and Testament, none of which I have ever seen before. That was enough to be the impetus for this episode. There's a lot of thrash going on in this one, hope you can stomach it. I can.
Metal Church - Needle And Suture
Metallica - Atlas, Rise!
Anthrax - For All Kings
Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake
Sepultura - Resistant Parasites
Prong - Ice Runs Through My Veins
Sinner - Battle Hill
KXM - Breakout
Thunder - Rip It Up
Last In Line - Starmaker
Email - notmovingpictures@gmail.com
Twitter - @notmovingpics
Older episodes can be found by going to archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday.
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.
Metal Church - Needle And Suture
Metallica - Atlas, Rise!
Anthrax - For All Kings
Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake
Sepultura - Resistant Parasites
Prong - Ice Runs Through My Veins
Sinner - Battle Hill
KXM - Breakout
Thunder - Rip It Up
Last In Line - Starmaker
Email - notmovingpictures@gmail.com
Twitter - @notmovingpics
Older episodes can be found by going to archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday.
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
notmovingpictures Episode 052: Aaron Hlusko part 2
Part two of my conversation with Aaron is all about music. First we talk about the songs we have done then venture into the reality of how some bands can change their songs as time goes by and have their fans be perfectly okay with it while others cannot. As well, some bands can experiment with different ideas and sounds while others remain trapped in what they have created. Strange how this happens. Rush, Iron Maiden, Smashing Pumpkins, Twisted Sister and more get discussed. I also offer up my definition of what hair metal really is/was. Finally, we delve into the idea of selling out and the episode ends in mid thought of Metallica. Do not fear, it will continue on in part three.
Opening music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing music - Smashing Pumpkins - One And All
Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Older episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for notmovingpictures.
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.
Opening music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing music - Smashing Pumpkins - One And All
Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Older episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for notmovingpictures.
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Metallica: The Untold Story or My Version of the Story
The time has finally come to talk about the megaforce that is Metallica. This is a topic that I’ve thought a great deal about and now am ready to share with the world, okay my friends, okay really nobody is reading this but it’s alright. Let’s just say I’m sharing it with myself and call it even okay? Last year Metallica released their album “Death Magnetic” and to be honest I was skeptic about it before even hearing it. For a very long period of time I was unable to listen to any of their songs which was tough when you consider that the local “rock” station where I was living had a Mandatory Metallica bit on Tuesdays and generally played them about every 15 minutes.
I won’t pretend that I was a super fan from the very beginning, quite the opposite actually. I didn’t have anything against them but when they were young (and at their best) I just didn’t have much interest in thrash metal. No, my musical interests lay elsewhere although an occasional thrash song by the likes of Anthrax or Testament found its way into my music collection but that was the exception rather than the norm. However I was aware of them and their music and understood that their music was changing slightly as each album went by. Most people will note that on 1988 when “And Justice For All” came out that there was a larger shift in Metallica’s music mainly due to the song “One.” Three years later came the so called “Black Album” which shifted things even farther into the mainstream by going extremely radio friendly. The big sellout however didn’t come about until 1996 when they cut off their hair, started wearing designer clothes and released the album “Load.”
Don’t get me wrong, it was and is their right to do whatever they wish and to go into any musical direction that they deem to be appropriate and the last thing I would expect them to do is to still be playing the same style of music and wearing their black t-shirts and jeans when they were 50. But the honest truth is that the Metallica from 10 years previous would have beaten the crap out of this version of the band. “Load” was a total commercial sellout and the band responded with vigor by doing things they never would have done in the past. Their videos were constantly played on TRL and the band appeared on as many talk shows as they could. When that new attitude is coupled with the haircuts and designer clothes how can anyone say it wasn’t a conscious effort to soften the music and reach as many people as possible? The sad truth is that if they had just continued on with their gradual changes I think they still would have reached unbelievable levels of success without having had to resort to making the music suffer.
After this I think as they continued to try to write in this more commercial vein it became harder and harder for them to write relevant lyrics. They had already changed their lyrical style once which was an attempt to compensate for the fact that James Hetfield could no longer write from the same place anymore as the band had reached a comfort level professionally. Gone were the songs with political opinions and social observations and now the writing became more personal and fueled by anger. By the time the dreadful “Reload” album came out it was clear that writing was becoming exceedingly difficult. The songs on the album were written during the “Load” sessions but were deemed to be average by the band so instead they worked on them and polished them up as much as possible before releasing the album. After that they re-released previous music and did a cover album and their symphonic release which was older material performed with an orchestra.
To me this points towards the fact that they were having difficulty coming up with songs period. If you were a young and hungry band (both physically and musically) and now you’re in a situation where you have some success and things are comfortable you just can’t write from the same place anymore. Most fans wouldn’t believe you when you try to write the same things when they know you don’t have it rough anymore. So they changed their style. Then when you have the commercial sellout that occurred and you have so much money that you’ll never have to worry about anything in your life ever again how do you write with anger? How do you make your fans believe the words you write come truly from your emotions once you have everything you want? How can you still be angry?
It is my contention that they no longer could write music that way and were left wondering how could they move forward and continue as performers and still remain viable. I think they struggled with that and treaded water for as long as they could by re-hashing their old stuff. Finally in 2003 they released the huge steaming dump that was “St Anger” and billed it as a return to their old ways. A return of course that featured no guitar solos and horrible production sound which only proved that they were still struggling for a gimmick. It wasn’t until they released “Death Magnetic” in 2008 that the band really did return to their old ways by having a musical resurgence and put out music that not only sounded good but also sounded true. Coincidentally for this album they had switched from their long time producer Bob Rock and gone with Rick Rubin who injected some fresh blood into their sound.
It’s true that you can’t please everybody and there are still people griping about “Death Magnetic” most likely because some people want to complain no matter what. They complained because the band sold out and when they returned to what they loved and enjoyed these so called critics complained about that too. Truthfully you can never please those people and honestly you should never try. Metallica only needs to try to please themselves with their music and the rest will come automatically. At this point in their careers they don’t need to do anything else if they don’t feel like it. They’ve got the money and the awards and now I hope they have some happiness as well. As for me, I own a copy of “Death Magnetic” and look forward to their continued return to good music.
I won’t pretend that I was a super fan from the very beginning, quite the opposite actually. I didn’t have anything against them but when they were young (and at their best) I just didn’t have much interest in thrash metal. No, my musical interests lay elsewhere although an occasional thrash song by the likes of Anthrax or Testament found its way into my music collection but that was the exception rather than the norm. However I was aware of them and their music and understood that their music was changing slightly as each album went by. Most people will note that on 1988 when “And Justice For All” came out that there was a larger shift in Metallica’s music mainly due to the song “One.” Three years later came the so called “Black Album” which shifted things even farther into the mainstream by going extremely radio friendly. The big sellout however didn’t come about until 1996 when they cut off their hair, started wearing designer clothes and released the album “Load.”
Don’t get me wrong, it was and is their right to do whatever they wish and to go into any musical direction that they deem to be appropriate and the last thing I would expect them to do is to still be playing the same style of music and wearing their black t-shirts and jeans when they were 50. But the honest truth is that the Metallica from 10 years previous would have beaten the crap out of this version of the band. “Load” was a total commercial sellout and the band responded with vigor by doing things they never would have done in the past. Their videos were constantly played on TRL and the band appeared on as many talk shows as they could. When that new attitude is coupled with the haircuts and designer clothes how can anyone say it wasn’t a conscious effort to soften the music and reach as many people as possible? The sad truth is that if they had just continued on with their gradual changes I think they still would have reached unbelievable levels of success without having had to resort to making the music suffer.
After this I think as they continued to try to write in this more commercial vein it became harder and harder for them to write relevant lyrics. They had already changed their lyrical style once which was an attempt to compensate for the fact that James Hetfield could no longer write from the same place anymore as the band had reached a comfort level professionally. Gone were the songs with political opinions and social observations and now the writing became more personal and fueled by anger. By the time the dreadful “Reload” album came out it was clear that writing was becoming exceedingly difficult. The songs on the album were written during the “Load” sessions but were deemed to be average by the band so instead they worked on them and polished them up as much as possible before releasing the album. After that they re-released previous music and did a cover album and their symphonic release which was older material performed with an orchestra.
To me this points towards the fact that they were having difficulty coming up with songs period. If you were a young and hungry band (both physically and musically) and now you’re in a situation where you have some success and things are comfortable you just can’t write from the same place anymore. Most fans wouldn’t believe you when you try to write the same things when they know you don’t have it rough anymore. So they changed their style. Then when you have the commercial sellout that occurred and you have so much money that you’ll never have to worry about anything in your life ever again how do you write with anger? How do you make your fans believe the words you write come truly from your emotions once you have everything you want? How can you still be angry?
It is my contention that they no longer could write music that way and were left wondering how could they move forward and continue as performers and still remain viable. I think they struggled with that and treaded water for as long as they could by re-hashing their old stuff. Finally in 2003 they released the huge steaming dump that was “St Anger” and billed it as a return to their old ways. A return of course that featured no guitar solos and horrible production sound which only proved that they were still struggling for a gimmick. It wasn’t until they released “Death Magnetic” in 2008 that the band really did return to their old ways by having a musical resurgence and put out music that not only sounded good but also sounded true. Coincidentally for this album they had switched from their long time producer Bob Rock and gone with Rick Rubin who injected some fresh blood into their sound.
It’s true that you can’t please everybody and there are still people griping about “Death Magnetic” most likely because some people want to complain no matter what. They complained because the band sold out and when they returned to what they loved and enjoyed these so called critics complained about that too. Truthfully you can never please those people and honestly you should never try. Metallica only needs to try to please themselves with their music and the rest will come automatically. At this point in their careers they don’t need to do anything else if they don’t feel like it. They’ve got the money and the awards and now I hope they have some happiness as well. As for me, I own a copy of “Death Magnetic” and look forward to their continued return to good music.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Best and Worst of Music 2008
This is just a quick list and I know that I'm forgetting some good and not so good music. If I remember something worthy I'll update the list. To be on this list means that it has to be something that I might have interest in so people like Brittney Spears and her ilk aren't even considered. They are by definition bad music already and not worth my effort to review. Time has not been on my side what with taking care of my 20 month old son so please be kind and remember that this is only my opinion. You don't have to agree with me and if you notice any mistakes well.........get over it. Let's get started shall we?
Best of 2008
Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal – I absolutely love Alejandro’s music so it was a bit unusual for me to find that I couldn’t get past the first few songs. It was only after several repeated listenings that I began to really appreciate this entire cd. It is simply wonderful.
Tesla – Forever More – Tesla comes back with great music and even greater lyrics. Their song ideas are extremely good and always make me think. The music is as always out of sight.
AC/DC – Black Ice – Also back (from down under) is this great rock band with a great rock record. They are a timeless band and it shows on this release. Easily their best release in the last 15 years or so.
D.A.D. – Monster Philosophy – This one is under constant rotation in my cd player. It has great lyrics and a nice variety of song styles and is solid from track 1 to track 13. Everybody I have played this for really likes it. These are just very good rock songs. Enough said.
Grupo Fantasma – Sonidas Gold – This band has received a Grammy nomination in the category of ‘Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album’ which doesn’t even fully define what their sound is all about. You could call it cumbia/salsa/jazz/funk/rock and still not quite get it right. I just call it good music.
Kings of Leon – Only by the Night – It’s nice to hear a singer have some real passion in his voice instead of simply running scales. It starts off very slow and I almost couldn’t get past that. Luckily I did and the moody presence had a way of growing on me.
Metallica – Death Magnetic – Look for a post on Metallica soon and my thoughts on them. They’ve managed to finally return to their roots and do it well. That means a lot coming from me.
Los Fabulocos – Los Fabulocos – Take some cali-mex roots music and mix it with blues, zydeco, conjunto, norteno, blues, rockabilly and rock n roll and this is what Los Fabulocos sounds like. Kid Ramos is well known in the roots and blues music community and his guitar drives the music. Plus my 19 month old absolutely loves them, what better plug could you give them?
Journey – Revelation – Arnel Pineda does a fantastic job of sounding close to Steve Perry while keeping his own identity. Journey is back in a big way but unfortunately I couldn’t see them live this year. Hopefully they’ll come back around next year.
Kings X – XV - This is another one has slowly grown on me. It took several listenings before I came to really appreciate the quality that Kings X brings out.
Night Ranger – Hole In The Sun – Very solid effort from this long running group. They manage to branch out and try some different things musically while still building on their trademark sound.
Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad - Although some songs sound extremely familiar David Coverdale still sounds great as do the songs. Sounds like popular Whitesnake mixed with Slide It In era Whitesnake. Doug Aldrich brings a bit of a harder edge with his guitar mastery.
Dokken – Lightning Strikes Again – Don Dokken can’t hit the high notes he used to but that’s okay, not many vocalists can. This is vintage Dokken sounding music and it’s quite good.
White Lion – Return of the Pride – Although only singer Mike Tramp is back they still manage to turn in a solid effort after being away for a long time. One of the many bands that I “could” have seen this year but never did. You can read about that in an earlier post as well.
Rick Springfield – Venus In Overdrive – For at least one song (What’s Victoria’s Secret) Rick’s vintage power pop sound from the early 80s is back and for me that makes it worth it. When you add in all the other good songs this is a no-brainer.
Worst of 2008
Def Leppard – Songs From The Sparkle Lounge – Joe Elliott just can’t do it anymore without having his vocals heavily synthesized. It comes off without any real emotion.
Sammy Hagar – Cosmic Universal Fashion - See my previous posts about my views on Sammy’s latest.
Guns N Roses – Chinese Democracy – Ditto.
Motley Crue – Saints of Los Angeles – This just didn’t go over for me. They tried too hard to show that they were still relevant and the lyrics especially suffer drastically.
Extreme – Saudades de Rock – To be honest I have only heard a few songs off of this travesty but it was enough to put me off. They were absolutely dreadful.
Bret Michaels – Rock My World – Let’s see, a couple of lame new songs added to a bunch of songs from previous solo releases adds up to crap. That about sums it up.
Best of 2008
Alejandro Escovedo – Real Animal – I absolutely love Alejandro’s music so it was a bit unusual for me to find that I couldn’t get past the first few songs. It was only after several repeated listenings that I began to really appreciate this entire cd. It is simply wonderful.
Tesla – Forever More – Tesla comes back with great music and even greater lyrics. Their song ideas are extremely good and always make me think. The music is as always out of sight.
AC/DC – Black Ice – Also back (from down under) is this great rock band with a great rock record. They are a timeless band and it shows on this release. Easily their best release in the last 15 years or so.
D.A.D. – Monster Philosophy – This one is under constant rotation in my cd player. It has great lyrics and a nice variety of song styles and is solid from track 1 to track 13. Everybody I have played this for really likes it. These are just very good rock songs. Enough said.
Grupo Fantasma – Sonidas Gold – This band has received a Grammy nomination in the category of ‘Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album’ which doesn’t even fully define what their sound is all about. You could call it cumbia/salsa/jazz/funk/rock and still not quite get it right. I just call it good music.
Kings of Leon – Only by the Night – It’s nice to hear a singer have some real passion in his voice instead of simply running scales. It starts off very slow and I almost couldn’t get past that. Luckily I did and the moody presence had a way of growing on me.
Metallica – Death Magnetic – Look for a post on Metallica soon and my thoughts on them. They’ve managed to finally return to their roots and do it well. That means a lot coming from me.
Los Fabulocos – Los Fabulocos – Take some cali-mex roots music and mix it with blues, zydeco, conjunto, norteno, blues, rockabilly and rock n roll and this is what Los Fabulocos sounds like. Kid Ramos is well known in the roots and blues music community and his guitar drives the music. Plus my 19 month old absolutely loves them, what better plug could you give them?
Journey – Revelation – Arnel Pineda does a fantastic job of sounding close to Steve Perry while keeping his own identity. Journey is back in a big way but unfortunately I couldn’t see them live this year. Hopefully they’ll come back around next year.
Kings X – XV - This is another one has slowly grown on me. It took several listenings before I came to really appreciate the quality that Kings X brings out.
Night Ranger – Hole In The Sun – Very solid effort from this long running group. They manage to branch out and try some different things musically while still building on their trademark sound.
Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad - Although some songs sound extremely familiar David Coverdale still sounds great as do the songs. Sounds like popular Whitesnake mixed with Slide It In era Whitesnake. Doug Aldrich brings a bit of a harder edge with his guitar mastery.
Dokken – Lightning Strikes Again – Don Dokken can’t hit the high notes he used to but that’s okay, not many vocalists can. This is vintage Dokken sounding music and it’s quite good.
White Lion – Return of the Pride – Although only singer Mike Tramp is back they still manage to turn in a solid effort after being away for a long time. One of the many bands that I “could” have seen this year but never did. You can read about that in an earlier post as well.
Rick Springfield – Venus In Overdrive – For at least one song (What’s Victoria’s Secret) Rick’s vintage power pop sound from the early 80s is back and for me that makes it worth it. When you add in all the other good songs this is a no-brainer.
Worst of 2008
Def Leppard – Songs From The Sparkle Lounge – Joe Elliott just can’t do it anymore without having his vocals heavily synthesized. It comes off without any real emotion.
Sammy Hagar – Cosmic Universal Fashion - See my previous posts about my views on Sammy’s latest.
Guns N Roses – Chinese Democracy – Ditto.
Motley Crue – Saints of Los Angeles – This just didn’t go over for me. They tried too hard to show that they were still relevant and the lyrics especially suffer drastically.
Extreme – Saudades de Rock – To be honest I have only heard a few songs off of this travesty but it was enough to put me off. They were absolutely dreadful.
Bret Michaels – Rock My World – Let’s see, a couple of lame new songs added to a bunch of songs from previous solo releases adds up to crap. That about sums it up.
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