Anniversary Series - 1989!

Another month, another Anniversary Article!  1989 is an interesting year, as rock was in the middle of a lot of transition.  Grunge and alternative rock was slowly growing, pop metal was as big as ever, thrash and death metal were finding their audiences, and other genres were bubbling up.  Here's how this year went!

The year starts of with a number of big hits, as Skid Row and Warrant release their debut albums.  The former provided "18 to Life," "Youth Gone Wild," and the big ballad "I Remember You," while Warrant was about the "Down Boys" and "Heaven."  Great White would soon follow with ...Twice Shy, and the sort of title track cover song "Once Bitten Twice Shy."

However, the beginning of the year, saw other iconic releases, such as Doro's Force Majeure, her first album on her own, Metal Church picking up Mike Howe for Blessing in Disguise, and Dream Theater released their debut with When Dream and Day Unite, carving a small niche for progressive metal that they would widen later.  Meanwhile, Seattle was getting a taste of the future with Nirvana's debut Bleach and Soundgarden's Louder than Love.  In the midst of all this, Jon Anderson would leave Yes and form a group with former Yes members called Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe.  Their self-titled album would be a unique prog rock highlight for the year.

As the year goes on, we get more epic hits, with Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood being a massive single factory, including the title track, "Kickstart My Heart," and "Same Ol' Situation."  Alice Cooper would comeback with his own take on the genre with "Poison," John Sykes would form Blue Murder and record their debut album, while his former bandmates Whitesnake would carry on with Slip of the Tongue, featuring "Judgment Day."  

However, in my opinion, the winner of the year is Candlemass.  Their fourth album Tales of Creation is peak doom metal, in my opinion.  I know I don't talk much about the genre on the blog, but this album is my standard for what a good doom metal album sounds like.  From the epic riff on "Under the Oak," to the atmospheric plodding on "Dark Revelations" and "The Edge of Heaven," and even the sudden high-speed instrumental "In the Unfathomed Tower" are all highlights.  A favorite album of mine, from any year.

Wrapping things up, we see Blind Guardian's follow up Follow the Blind, featuring their classic closer "Valhalla" with Kai Hansen showing up with some vocals of his own.  Stratovarius released their debut Fright Night, being more of a speed metal group before they became power metal titans.  Guitar legend Michael Schenker teamed up with Robin McAuley and release Save Yourself, a unique team up that probably should have lasted longer.  Finally, Savatage would really lean into a Queen-like theatrical style with Gutter Ballet, definitely showing signs of where they would end up, to say nothing of their Christmas-themed spin-off.

So that's another year wrapped up again.  Once again, check out the playlist below for more, and let me know in the comments what else stands out to you from this year.  In the meantime, I've got some more albums to listen to, so keep an eye out for more reviews.  Until then, rock on!  \m/

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Retrospective!

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is pretty unique band in the pantheon of metal.  Starting as a side project for music producer Paul O'Neill, he worked with Savatage members Jon Oliva, Al Pitrelli, and Robert Kinkel on what was likely just going to be a one-off project.  However, when the "Carol of the Bells" inspired track "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" became a surprise hit from Savatage's Dead Winter Dead, they reused the track for their side project, making the album soar on the pop charts.

Now, after a handful of other albums, TSO is known for their epic arena rock shows and bombastic symphonic metal style.  I can't help but wonder if they didn't help to galvanize the symphonic metal explosion of the late 90s into the 2000s.  In any case, I was in the mood this holiday season to jam some of these albums, and I figured I might as well do a Retrospective article for them, reminiscing on the classics, and checking out on some of their newer releases that I hadn't gotten around to until now.

Christmas Eve and Other Stories (1995)

I don't know if it's possible for me to review this album objectively.  I don't remember exactly when my dad brought this CD home (I was in middle-school, at least), but I know we played it constantly after we got it.  Every Christmas this album came out; we played it home, we played in the car, and I never really got sick of it.  It's one of the first metal albums that really came to love, thinking retroactively.

I think what has helped this album feel so timeless is it's excellent use of dynamics, giving the album a very cinematic quality.  It's not afraid to drift from soft, almost sentimental, guitar pieces to outright heavy metal menace, and everything in between.  It is a concept album, following a story about an angel tasked with finding some proper Christmas spirit in the world.  However, it mostly sits in the background as the band reimagine many Christmas classics.  Obvious stand outs include the "A Mad Russian's Christmas" which provides a metal spin on Tchaikovsky, "A Star to Follow" with the overlapping male voices singing in a round, the original track "First Snow," and of course "Sarajevo 12/24."  The album is bookended by some excellent 80s anthemic cheese with "An Angel Came Down" and "An Angel Returned," and there some decent, if simple, acoustic guitar renditions of carols.  However, the album has it's thematic core with the acoustic ballad "Old City Bar," where the angel finally finds that Christmas spirit he has been looking for.

I doubt my review of this album will change anyone's mind.  You probably already know whether or not you like this kind of music, but I can't deny that it still holds a special place in my heart as one of the best Christmas albums ever recorded (and that's some stiff competition!).  Thinking on it today, I do wonder if this album didn't help prepare me for the power metal I would later discover in college, as it is quite an epic album with great symphonic elements, genuine guitar shredding, and melodramatic vocals.  At the very least, it's an album that still holds up to this day, and probably the band's best effort.

The Christmas Attic (1998)

So after that resounding success, they naturally followed up with another Christmas album.  This time, the concept mostly revolves around a girl finding some old letters in the attic that talk about Christmases past, and by exploring these memories comes to learn more about the holiday and what it can mean for her.  While it's a solid follow up, I will say that it's not quite as strong as the debut.

All of the elements are back, of course.  There's plenty of anthemic riffs and melodies, backed by a bombastic orchestra, ensuring all the emotional peaks and valleys.  "Christmas Canon" was the big single this time, focusing on the children's choir style again.  There is a stronger presence of blues and gospel, but the classical music still shows up to allow the guitarists to show off their fretwork.  However, the real outlier is the very strange "The Three Kings and I," which tells the story of how someone's ancestor saved the Three Wise Men from the Nativity story from the evil King Herod.  The song dips into more of a jazz groove, and includes a gospel-styled bridge.  While the guitars are there, it is very different from the rest of the album, though still quite fun.  

If there is one thing that this album does that the first doesn't, it's that The Christmas Attic is a much more emotional album, but I suppose that's to be expected with themes of memories and nostalgia.  My favorite tracks include "The World That She Sees," "Found Our Way Home," "Appalachian Snowfall," and "Christmas in the Air."  With power ballads are full of sentimentality, rearranged carols drawing upon an old Christmas spirit, and anthemic rockers to pick up the pace, this album does well to match the previous album, maintaining the qualities that the first one established.

Beethoven's Last Night (2000)

After the success of the two Christmas albums, the band decided to branch out with a completely different topic for their third album, this time telling a bit of a new fable regarding Beethoven and his theoretical 10th symphony.  While the music obviously shifts from Christmas carols to pieces of classical music for it's inspiration, it remains as theatrical as ever.

The story focuses on a fateful night when Beethoven is composing, when Fate and Twist show up to inform him of his looming death.  Then Mephistopheles arrives, trying to trick Beethoven into handing over his life's work for the salvation of his soul.  This leads him to review of his life to determine how things ended up this way, creating all kinds of opportunities to remake many of Beethoven's works as well as some of his contemporaries.  It's a pretty typical Faustian legend, taking a few creative liberties with the composer's history to explore its subject, but the result is a solid rock opera, full of the melodramatic elements that TSO has now mastered at this point.  The bombast starts right off with the "Overture," an carries through most of the rest of the album.  Jon Oliva is definitely reveling his vocal performance of Mephistopheles, and Jody Ashworth makes for a perfectly curmudgeonly Beethoven, as he's wracked with his doubts and anxieties.

I will say that this album is probably not as strong as the first two.  There are a few power ballads that drag things down a little, and some of the more narrative segments don't always make for great individual songs, but that's part of the rock opera style.  However, there certainly some highlights, such as "Mephistopheles" where the tempter first shows up, "Mozart/Figaro," "Requiem (The Fifth)" and "A Last Illusion" with their fun interpretations of classics, and finally "Mephistopheles' Return" being my personal favorite as Beethoven starts feeling the pressure of his situation.  Overall, it does a solid job of broaden the band beyond being just "that Christmas Metal band," while retaining their symphonic metal prowess.

The Lost Christmas Eve (2004)

Of course, they would go right back to the Christmas themes with their next album, completing what is now known as the Christmas Trilogy.  I will admit that, outside of the excellent "Wizards in Winter," I haven't listened to this one as much as the other two, as I do think it is a little weaker than them.  Still, it provides another hefty dose of Christmas charm and classical music interpretations.

Once again, it's a concept album.  Featuring the angel from the other two holiday journeys, he is tasked once again to find some Christmas spirit in the world.  While he does see many different examples (including a jazz club), the album then focuses on a single man who, when his wife died in pregnancy and the child suffered brain damage as a result, he gets angry with God, abandoning his faith in Christmas and putting the child up for adoption instead.  Decades later, he is reminded of his son and decides to follow up on what became of him.  He discovers that his son is working at that same hospital, taking care of newborn babies born to drug-afflicted mothers.  This inspires the man to reconnect with his son and with Christmas as a whole.  Satisfied, the angel observing all of this returns to heaven, successful in his mission.  As usual, this is all just operatic drama for the music to hang on, which is pretty typical for the band at this point, at the risk of even becoming formulaic.  All the trappings are here, and while it does capture the same sense of nostalgia the other albums do, it just doesn't feel as fresh this time around.

Still, this is by no means a bad album.  There's plenty of anthemic rocking to be had as it meanders its way through the story.  "Faith Noel" and "The Lost Christmas Eve" do a great job of bringing the listener back into its iconic atmosphere, the jazzy section in the middle breaks things up well, the melodramatic Broadway-style moments are as big and anthemic as they need to be, there's plenty of high quality fretwork on all those guitars, both electric and acoustic, and of course who can deny the excellence that is "Wizards in Winter," which has cemented itself into the pop culture canon for the holiday.  It's just hard to follow up what were two already great albums, so this one not being quite on the same level is not a deal breaker as it wraps up the trilogy well enough.

Night Castle (2009)

So this will be the first of the albums that I had not listened to before starting this retrospective.  I remember some folks making a big deal when it came out, but then it seemed to drop off right away.  As for myself, I simply hadn't gotten around to it until this year.  Unfortunately, despite some good music, I discovered that the album is mostly bloated, and narratively kind of a mess.

The concept this time really meanders about.  Starting with a little girl discovering a strange but kind man building a sand castle on the beach, he tells a story that focuses on the man's friend and how, before he goes to fight in the Vietnam war, this friend stumbled across a strange castle with Erasmus inside, who gives the soldier some advice.  Then the soldier goes to Cambodia and fights, only to be captured by the Khmer Rouge.  As a prisoner, he is visited by a communist general, and as they talk, the general has an internal struggle about what he is doing, eventually deciding to help the solider, only to see him die of his wounds.  So he goes on a quest to find the soldier's wife and child to beg for their forgiveness.  He succeeds on meeting the child, as the stranger building the sand castle ends up being that general, and the child who discovers him is the soldier's daughter.  It's definitely very convoluted, and a lot of comes from the liner notes in the album.  With the other albums, one could piece together the story from just the music alone, but here, I can't imagine making sense of the thing without the pages of prose that accompany the music.

As for the music, it's a lot of the standard TSO tropes: plenty of classical music references, shredding guitar solos, and anthemic ballads featuring voices bellowing their messages in dramatic fashions.  The album starts well with "Night Enchanted" making me think of Handel's Messiah, and "The Mountain" being a solid interpretation of Grieg's work.  "Sparks" ends up being a curious little rocker, and the bonus track "Nutrocker" is just as fun.  The classical music tracks are definitely the best part of the album, providing some fun, theatrical metal.  The biggest problem are the anthems, as they tend to lean quite hard into power ballad territory, with two of them being over 9 minutes long!  I understand that they're trying to provide these big, narrative moments, but I think in the desire to create a more fulfilling rock opera and fill out two CDs, they spread themselves too thin, and the album just feels padded.  Despite a valiant effort in trying to expand their style and storytelling, the album ends up being a bit of a mixed bag for me.

Dreams of Fireflies (on a Christmas Night) (2012)

While TSO have a lot of EPs and other releases, most of them end up being compilations or samplers of stuff from their Christmas Trilogy.  As far as I can tell, this is the only EP that has original material on it.  Once again, I had not heard this before I started this retrospective, and it seems this time it's just a handful of winter-themed songs without any kind of concept to tie them together beyond that.

It starts with a great pair of epic metal tracks, the title track being an adaptation of "Winter" by Vivaldi.  Both are well done and will certainly find themselves in my playlists.  However, the rest of the EP provides a handful of soft ballads, with "Someday" being very reminiscent of "Old City Bar."  They're okay, but don't really quite have the heart that makes their classic ballads so strong.  Still, it's a nice little collection of songs that feels like a post-script to their trio of Christmas epics.

Letters from the Labyrinth (2015)

And now we come to the end.  As far as I can tell, despite being a full-length album, there isn't any kind of story or concept to this one.  I think it's just meant to be a collection of shorter stories, with the idea that they are some of the letters Erasmus from Night Castle was sending out.  Unfortunately, this means the songs need to stand on their own, and not many of them do.

Again, the TSO staples are here, with a handful of metal interpretations of classic music and a number of anthemic ballads, but it's starting to feel very by-the-numbers for the most part.  If anything, it feels like the album is kind of incomplete, as if they came up with the songs, but then had to hurry through the production and didn't take the time to expand on them as one would expect.  Even the lush symphonics are reduced to some very obvious synthesizer-based strings, making the songs seem cheap compared to the epicness that previous albums provided.  Considering the tracks themselves, "Mountain Labyrinth," "King Rurik," and "Lullaby Night" are rather lifeless instrumentals, while "Stay," "Not the Same," and "Forget About the Blame" are some rather forgettable ballads (though they include a second version of that last track with Lzzy Hale from Halestorm singing, and it's probably the better of the two).

There are a few interesting sections, though, such as the interesting mood and tempo shifts in songs like "Prometheus," "Prince Igor" with the hammond organs, the strange "Not Dead Yet" that has Russell Allen of Symphony X fame not singing but doing more of a scat-singing thing, and the choir-driven "Who I Am."  Other tracks of note are "The Night Conceives," which is a pretty standard rock song that's helped with an aggressive vocal performance from Kayla Reeves, and "Past Tomorrow," which has this haunting atmosphere that's pretty unique for the band, with Jennifer Cella's vocals being multi-tracked, giving it almost an Enya vibe.  However, considering the album as a whole and comparing it to previous efforts, Letters from the Labyrinth definitely feels lackluster and underwhelming.  I guess when a band sets the bar so high from the start, it makes the weaker efforts stand out all the more.

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Well, that was a fun retrospective, even if the albums fizzled towards the end.  The Trans-Siberian Orchestra have certainly established a legacy of excellent works and made themselves a staple of the growing symphonic metal genre (if not an innovator).  While their later albums do lose a good chunk of the magic, the band still carries on, often doing tours focused on their Christmas material.

However, the brainchild of the project Paul O'Neill passed away in 2017, and it makes me wonder if there will ever be any new material from the band.  Of course, his frequent co-writer Jon Oliva is still very much involved, as well as other regular contributors like Al Pitrelli and Chris Caffery, so it's certainly possible they could make a new album.  If they do, I guarantee that I will review it!

In any case, I hope that was a nice Christmas surprise for folks.  It's been a while since I did my last retrospective.  I had forgotten how time-consuming they could be!  There are others that I have been slowly working on, but they still seem quite a ways off.  I need to be catching up on new releases anyway, so keep an eye out for those articles coming soon!  Until then, rock on! \m/

Anniversary Series - 1987!

Moving right along with these Anniversary articles it's time for 1987!  To be honest, this year is pretty dominated by glam metal, but that's not a bad thing, as it hadn't quite worn out its welcome yet.  Sure, there were rumblings in the underground, with more extreme metal and college rock getting momentum, but those are outside the scope of this blog.  For now, let's focus on the melodic rock and metal of the year!

Like I said, it was a big year for glam metal.  Whitesnake released their massive self-titled album, featuring a re-recording of "Here I Go Again" and the big ballad "Is This Love?"  Mötley Crüe took things to the "Wild Side" with Girls, Girls, Girls, Great White put out Once Bitten, with the big hit "Rock Me," Dokken came Back for the Attack, and Guns 'n' Roses had their historic debut album.  Would classic rock be the same without "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Sweet Child o' Mine"?

However, in my opinion, the biggest album in the pop metal world is Def Leppard's Hysteria.  After having such a rough hiatus, with their drummer losing an arm, they came back with a titanic record that featured seven hit singles, and even some of the deeper tracks like "Run Riot" and "Excitable" are solid.  The story goes that the album wasn't as big at first, but when "Pour Some Sugar On Me" hit the radio waves, it became one of the best selling albums of the decade, and when I listen to it, I can't deny that it deserves it.  Just massive stadium-ready hooks from front-to-back.

Of course, the decade wasn't all metal.  Rock still had a presence here and there.  The Alan Parsons Project would release their last album, Gaudi, early in this year.  One would expect a concept album about a Spanish architect, but it's a solid release.  Other former prog rockers would put out some decent melodic rock as well.  Rush had the synth-heavy Hold Your Fire, Yes tried for, but largely failed to get big success with Big Generator, and Pink Floyd had their peculiar comeback with A Momentary Lapse of Reason, which as become one of my favorites of theirs in recent years.  Marillion also had a decent year with Clutching at Straws, a concept album about a man who missed out on success and brags about it while drinking in a bar.

Speaking of progressive music, Savatage would finally ditch any attempt at MTV success and rediscover themselves with Hall of the Mountain King, which saw them teaming up with Paul O'Neill and starting their shift into the symphonic, concept-driven metal that would take them to Trans-Siberian Orchestra in the 90s.  Other notable metal release include Manowar's Fighting the World, Dio's Dream Evil, doom metal legends Candlemass's Nightfall, and Running Wild finally finding success with the piratey Under Jolly Roger. 

Finally, I want to bring up Helloween's massive Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I.  While the band had released an album before this one, I feel like Keeper is when they finally found their sound, and as a consequence, established the sound of power metal for many bands to follow.  Between the upbeat "I'm Alive" and the epic "Halloween," it was really the first time melodic leads and aggressive riffing really came together, establishing the genre that wouldn't quite take off until a decade later.

That wraps up this year, clearly one for throwing up fists for some great rock and metal.  As always, my playlist is below with even more great tracks, and if you think I've missed something, let me know in the comments.  I hope you're enjoying these articles as much as I enjoy making them!  Until then, rock on! \m/

Anniversary Series - 1995!

Well, I'm making some serious progress on these, now that we're in July!  As we move further in time, rock music really begins to separate out into its genres and communities, making it difficult to really say anything conclusive about the time period as a whole.  As such, these articles are going to focus more on what I've listened to, and therefore be less comprehensive and historical in nature.  Still, there's plenty to talk about for the year of 1995!

Let's start things off with some power metal, as the genre was really starting to come alive by now.  Blind Guardian released Imaginations from the Other Side, Gamma Ray finally got things together for Land of the Free (which I reviewed here), and Stratovarius would find their voice in Timo Kotipelto and give us Fourth Dimension, the first in a long string of great albums.

1995 would be a big year for prog rock.  Pink Floyd's big final tour would result in the Pulse live album, with the iconic blinking light on the spine.  King Crimson continued their unique complexity with Thrak, and Roine Stolt, after the success of The Flower King, would bring together the band The Flower Kings and produce their debut album, which I reviewed earlier this year.

Prog metal would be no slouch either, with Ayreon releasing their debut, Symphony X following up on their debut by introducing the great Russell Allen to the world with The Damnation Game, and Dream Theater expanding their songwriting with the epic "A Change of Seasons," released as an EP.  However, the big surprise was Savatage suddenly coming back with Dead Winter Dead and the hit single "Sarajevo 12/24," the song that inspired the Trans-Siberian Orchestra project.

Of course, atlernative rock was still a big deal at this time, but grunge was making its shift into post-grunge.  Dave Grohl would bounce back with the debut of the Foo Fighters, Candlebox released Lucy, and Alice in Chains had their self-titled third album.

Just to round things out, Van Halen would carry on with Sammy Hagar with the successful Balance, Iron Maiden had The X Factor with their new singer Blaze Bayley, and AC/DC released Ballbreaker, proving that the older styles of rock and metal hadn't gone anywhere.

So that's 1995.  As usual, there's a playlist below, and I'm sure I've missed some good stuff, so don't hesitate to give me recommendations!  Until then, rock on! \m/

Last Played - December 2018

Well, it's time for another one of these! Once again, these are just gonna be mini-reviews for what I've been listening to lately. Now that we're getting into December, the holidays are starting to creep into my playlists, but that doesn't mean we can't still rock out!

Kamelot - Dominion

Ahhhh, pre-Khan Kamelot. Their first two albums are a pair of peculiar albums, straddling the line between progressive metal and early power metal. While not bad material on its own (I quite like “We Are Not Separate”), and vocalist Mark Vanderbilt gives a passionate performance, it's hard not to see this as merely foreshadowing to the material Kamelot would produce later when Khan joined them. Again, only recommendable to Kamelot completionists.

Savatage - Fight For the Rock

Before orchestral arrangements and internationally successful Christmas albums, Savatage was another metal band just trying to break out. While they had gotten a bit of a following with their first few albums, this is the one that saw them really trying to get that MTV attention, mostly at the direction of their record label. As such, most members of the band don't have anything good to say about it.

Which is a shame because I think this stuff still has some decent tunes. Chris Oliva always had a slick riff and his brother Jon's voice remains powerful and dramatic. While the songs might be shallow, they're played well, proving that talent can shine through, even when they might not be giving 100%.

Judas Priest - Sin After Sin 

Early Judas Priest is always a peculiar listen. With their third album, we get more of their transition away from progressive blues rock into the heavy metal sound that would make them famous. It’s still a little rough and loose, but there are a few gems here. While their cover of “Diamonds and Rust” remains an old classic, I was particularly impressed with “Sinner” and “Call For The Priest” this time around.

However, there are a couple of ballads that feel kinda tepid and bring the album down for me, and while “Dissident Aggressor” is an inspiration for the thrashers to come later, I think I prefer Slayer’s version more. Still, it’s not a bad album, and you really get to hear most (if not all) of Rob Halford’s range as a singer.

Disturbed - Evolution

Disturbed has turned into an interesting band. After riding on the nu metal bandwagon, they morphed themselves into something more of a groove-laden alternative metal. While some critics argue that they haven’t changed much since Ten Thousand Fists, but there’s something to be said for sticking to a style that works, and I’m not ashamed to admit that they’ve turned into a pretty good rock band.

However, with this, their latest release, it does feel like more of the same (despite what the title may imply). There are some solid Disturbed-style rockers with “Are You Ready” and “The Best Ones Lie,” but the real surprise is three acoustic ballads. Perhaps they’re trying to expand on the softer side they showed with their last album’s sleeper hit cover of “Sound of Silence,” but it does feel weird to have things slow down so often on a Disturbed record. I’ll probably need to spin them a few more times to really decide how I feel about them.

Twisted Sister - A Twisted Christmas

I don’t care what anyone says, this is a Christmas classic! I can’t believe this album is over 10 years old now! I remember heard about it, I couldn’t quite believe what they had done. Now that it’s been so long, I can’t imagine a Christmas without it! I love the tongue-in-cheek humor about it, while still providing solid rock music! (Of course, it helps that they lifted some pretty good riffs!)

My favorites from this album are “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” mostly because of the fake intro, and “Silver Bells,” which has a really great bass solo! While Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s material is also a staple for this time of year, it’s Twisted Sister’s album that really lights me up and makes the season feel fun again!