A Guitarist In the Making - Part II

Things didn’t really go any better with my guitar playing once I got back to college. There were a couple of people that I knew from my freshman year who played, so I looked them up to see what I could learn.

One of them, Andrew (who lived in the wacky dorm for the students who considered themselves to be more “unique” than the rest of the student body), had a few musical interests that were similar to mine, so I dragged my equipment over to his place one night to see what would happen. I vividly remember him attempting to teach me “She Sells Sanctuary” by The Cult, but it seemed completely wrong to me. He was showing me some chord progression, which sounded fine, but it didn’t sound anything like the song. Where was its cool main riff? The part that, when heard on the radio, made you say, “Turn that shit up!” The answer: Andrew simply wasn’t good enough to learn or play anything cool on the guitar.

A week later Andrew played a solo composition, “Dead Dogs Don’t Bark,” at a gala for the entering freshman. I’ll never forget the goofy stance and weird foot motions he made while playing that song. It was anything but cool. It was not what I was aspiring towards. The answer to what I sought was, in fact, much closer than the fruity dorm where Andrew resided.

The solution lay with Flynn, a guitar playing freshman who was one of the five other people that lived in my nerdy engineering suite. He owned pretty crappy equipment as well (an Epiphone Stratocaster copy, dubbed “Satan”, and an Epiphone amp that, while sucky, was definitely better than mine). The difference between Flynn and Andy was that that when Flynn played, people sat up and took notice. Flynn’s playing, simply put, had soul.

Part of it was undoubtedly due to his long hair – it makes one instantly play better (well, at least look the part of a guitarist, since Flynn had to cut his hair almost immediately for his military based scholorship, and it didn’t affect his playing). Part of it was due to his DOD American Metal pedal, which gave him a crunch that I was sorely lacking with my Overdrive Plus. But 99% of it was because Flynn was, in fact, the real deal. Every day after class, he would come home, plug in, and jam away. When he played, it was so recognizable that you instantly knew what tune he was playing. He had the ability to deconstruct a song to its core elements, and then figure out the easiest way to play those elements with feeling and style.

And style he had in droves. Flynn knew all the tricks that made a metal song a metal song. Slides down the string, pick slides, note bending, tremolo dive bombing, muted power chord chugging, low string riffing – it was all in his repertoire. He could do it all in perfect time as the original song played on the stereo, methodically tapping his foot to the beat. He would take the "metal stance" after striking a particularly meaty low E power chord. He could make his guitar sound like a motorcycle, switching gears as it sped down the highway. Flynn could play the cool hammer-tap portion of Van Halen’s “Eruption” (yep, you know the part I speak of). Hell, he could even swing the guitar in a full circle around his neck, then play it behind his head. He was so much the real deal that I remember experiencing the spectacle of another freshman, Dean, mouth held agape, kneeling in front of Flynn as he played, offering sacrificial tribute to his metal god.

And perhaps most stupefying, Flynn, in the most laid back manner imaginable, assured me that he was no good, and that I too could learn it all.

He was, of course, dead wrong with regards to the fact that he wasn’t any good, but thankfully, dead on with regards to teaching me. Back then I didn’t really know if I should believe him, but for the first time since getting my guitar, I was truly inspired. I made it a mission to digest as much as I could from Flynn before the school year ended.

A Guitarist In the Making – Part I

It was the Summer of ’89 (perhaps a song should be written about it). A young lad at the age of 19 (yep, me) was working part-time at a prestigious university to make some cash for the upcoming sophomore year in college. It was there where I was convinced to buy an electric guitar.

I had been seriously into listening to music for quite a few years, and had dreamed of what it would be like to play my favorite songs, but never dared to figure out how I might do such a thing. But that summer a graduate student by the name of Bill somehow convinced me to do it. Perhaps he saw my love of music and thought it should be encouraged. Perhaps he simply had nothing better to do than convince an impressionable kid (who he assumed was gay because said kid had no experience with women, but that’s another story) to spend a few hundred bucks. Whatever the reason, he sold me on the idea, much to the chagrin of my parents.

I wasn’t willing to spend too much money, so we went to this dopey music store, which didn’t even specialize in guitars, to try some stuff out. Since I had no clue regarding musical instruments (playing the clarinet for a week in 4th grade hardly counts), Bill was in command. After messing around with the two models they had, he settled on a black Applause (Ovation’s cheap-o line) Stratocaster knock-off for about $250. The guitar was later dubbed "Applesauce" by my friend Scott, who humorously derided its non-brand nameness.

But that was just the beginning. I also got a really terrible Dean Markley 10 watt amp (the K-15, in “coffee and cream” color) and a bright yellow DOD Overdrive Plus effects pedal. I actually balked at the pedal due to cash concerns, so Bill took it upon himself to buy the pedal for me, insisting that I needed distortion if I was to have any hope of sounding like a rock guitarist (he bought a new compression pedal that day, so he also gave me his old Ibanez one, which I still use). I also picked up a hard case, picks, strings, and instrument cables. Now, with Applesauce and accessories in hand, I was ready to rock!

I soon discovered, however, that I did not rock. I had no ear at all for determining if the guitar was in tune. Even though I learned and understood the tuning process, I broke strings regularly. I was always schlepping the thing into work so Bill could tune it for me. To add insult to injury, the sound I was getting out of the amp and distortion pedal was terrible. He was right that I needed distortion so I sounded like a rocker, but he could’ve recommended a good distortion pedal (I guess I shouldn't complain, since I didn't even buy the thing)! It also didn’t help that Bill, who was already a talented player, was playing a Gibson Les Paul through a Boss Heavy Metal pedal and a sweet amp. I sounded like ass comparatively. Luckily, I was too inexperienced to realize just how bad I sounded.

I will, however, always be thankful to Bill for convincing me to buy a guitar, regardless of the fact that he didn’t have much patience teaching me. To this day I can’t think of one song he may have tried to get me to learn. He did, however, teach me:

• Learning on an electric is critical to sustained interest.
  
• Having a "bag of tricks" (his words, which I still use today), i.e., a stockpile of effects one uses to help shape the sound of a song, also goes a long way towards helping one stay with the program.
  
• The glory of the power chord.
  

This last bit alone is probably the only thing that kept me going, for if there was any second while playing that I happened to get lucky and sound cool, it was because of my knowledge of how to play power chords.

Inexplicably, all the issues I’ve spoken of didn’t slow me down. I hadn’t learned much, and couldn’t play well at all, but I hadn’t given up on the thing. I packed the guitar up that August and threw it in the baggage compartment of a plane for my trip back to college. It was there where good things would be set in motion.

Not Blue Velvet

Word is circulating that Velvet Revolver has been confirmed as the replacement band for Iron Maiden (due to scheduling conflicts) at Ozzfest on its last seven dates. Thankfully, I'll be catching Maiden.

I honestly don't understand the excitement over Revolver. Even Zakk Wylde recently talked about how great they are. In my opinion, this band is barely a shell of what Guns 'N' Roses used to be. Hell, Guns 'N' Roses were barely a shell of themselves soon after Appetite For Destruction came out.

Sure I can instantly recognize Slash's guitar playing (which is akin to an old friend coming home), but the songs themselves don't seem to be too amazing, and Scott Weiland is simply a pathetic frontman. Feel otherwise? Tell us all why in the comments.

Metal Mayhem Minutes

Random snippets from Blabbermouth.net:

• Tony Iommi's second solo album, Fused, has a release date of July 12. It's his third if you feel like counting the demo stylings of The 1996 DEP Sessions, and his billionth if you count everything he did after Dio left Sabbath.
  
• Two full songs from Bruce Dickinson's yet to be released solo effort have surfaced. Grab 'em before they're gone.
  
• In Flames has moved to the main stage at Ozzfest. Congrats to the Swedish supergroup (no, not ABBA).
  
• Tom Morello claims the new Audioslave album "rocks more furiously". We can hope.

PRS L33t-ness

It's only fitting to talk about my main guitar since I've already spoken of my amp. I bought my PRS CE 24 (their "Classic Electric" series, with 24 frets) in the Spring of 1994 after tiring of my low-end Applause (Ovation's cheap line) Stratocaster knock-off. I think I settled on this guitar because it was a lot cheaper than a good Fender or Gibson guitar, Alex Lifeson (and now Dave Navarro, and just about everyone else on the planet) plays one, and PRS was starting to get a lot of good word spread around regarding their handiwork.

This guitar was a worthy purchase because it had all the main features of their $2,000+ range of instruments for half the price. The key differences in a CE of this era vs. their more expensive guitars were: 1) its bolt-on neck, and 2) a body made of alder instead of mahogany. But it has all the other components that PRS was known for: 5-way rotary pickup selector, locking peg tuners, a bridge with tremolo that does not go out of tune, abalone dot inlays, and a finely crafted body and neck with excellent finish (mine doesn't have a fancy maple top, gold hardware, or bird inlays behind the frets. These mostly cosmetic options can tend to up the price quite a bit on the more expensive models).

In 1995, PRS started making the CE with a mahogany body. This was cost-cutting for them, but upped the price much closer to all their other expensive guitars. To this day PRS does not sell anything in the $900-1200 range, so I feel I ended up with a steal. Even more perplexing, to my knowledge PRS no longer makes any guitar with a body other than mahogany, making the pre-1995 CE a much sought after item. The alder body gives my guitar a brighter tone when played - a unique sound that many PRS lovers love. Ed Roman Guitars are staunch devotees of the alder CE due to their "high end snap", and feel that PRS's change to mahogany in the CE line robbed the instrument of its tone. Furthermore, they say that the change was dishonest, since visually it's almost impossible to tell which CEs are made of alder and which are not.

Regardless, any PRS is a fantastic instrument (except perhaps the sub-$500 ones, like the ugly Billy Martin signature line), and mine sounds particularly awesome plugged into my Twin Reverb. Here's a reminder of what the dynamic duo look like side-by-side.

Out of Exile

The album art for Audioslave's hotly anticipated release, Out of Exile, can now be viewed at Amazon. Dig the cool waves.

I wish I could say as such for the new CD's music, but I'm not hopeful considering I got burned with ther first record. Some good stuff was on it ("Cochese", "Show Me How to Live", and "Gasoline"), but overall it should've been better considering their lineup. Their new song, "Be Yourself", is too just much like "Like A Stone", which I found pretty weak. Oh, and "Be Yourself" is, surprise surprise, mastered way beyond loud. Hear for yourself.

The Priest Beckons

Got my tickets for the Defenders of the Faith at Mohegan Sun in June! Decent seats even though they're not floor.

And it should be extra cool to finally catch Queensryche as well. They're supposedly going to be concentrating on their catalog pre-Operation: Mindcrime. Might we hear "Queen of the Reich" live? Too cool.

Next tiks for me to be purchasing: Revenge of the Sith (I will accept nothing less than midnight on first day [edit: done!]), then Ozzfest.

The Heavy Metal Titans

For the past few months I've been contemplating, "What is it about some heavy metal that sucks?" (besides the fact that the word "heavy" is rarely used when referring to this genre). I think I've come up with the answer. I feel that lame-o heavy metal is not in any way closely derived from whom I shall now dub "The Three Heavy Metal Titans": Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden. Nu Metal, Metalcore, Emo Metal, Mall Metal, and any faction thereof all fall too far from this tree to be any good.

Black Sabbath is the band that started it all. Forget what anyone else may have told you - neither Led Zeppelin nor Aerosmith are heavy metal. Hard rock, yes; heavy metal, no. Why? One reason: they don't have the riffs. Sabbath's tight, sludgy riffage with a crunch is the standard from which all true heavy metal is based. The three guys (Iommi, Butler, Ward) writing and playing the music, plus Ozzy singing, do heavy metal better and more efficiently than everybody because they invented it. Listening to a Sabbath song is listening to the core elements that makes metal heavy. It began with their self-titled song off their (get ready) self-titled album, and continues to this day as they headline Ozzfest (again).

Judas Priest took it up a notch by adding speed to the mix. Most heavy metal these days prefers to play (at least) at the tempo that Priest pioneered. This is undoubtedly where the speed and thrash metal genres sprang forth from. Priest also worked harder on their guitar solos: Tipton's and Downing's dueling axes have become a staple of the genre. Last, but definitely not least, Priest put a strong emphasis on singing via the astounding vocal talents of Rob Halford. Many, including Halford himself, point to Judas Priest as the originators of heavy metal. I wouldn't doubt it if both Sabbath and Priest stumbled upon the basics of heavy metal independently (they both come from a blues background). But I still feel Sabbath are the first for one basic reason: they existed at least four years before Priest.

Finally we come to Iron Maiden. They are one of the Heavy Metal Titans due to the musical complexity brought to the table. The riffs are still there, but the number of them increased, the difficulty of the song arrangements went up, and the strength of the musicianship skyrocketed (their intricate guitar harmonies alone are critical to modern heavy metal). Lyrical content changed as well. Were they content to offer sacrifices to Lucifer, wax poetic about sex, and extol the virtues of heavy metal? Nope, Maiden influenced legions that would follow by penning epics about historic battles, war heroes, and great works of literature. Add to that operatic singing by Bruce Dickinson (which influenced the Power Metal genre), and album covers graced with their mascot Eddie (every freakin' one), and you've got heavy metal personified.

If it isn't derived from the Three Heavy Metal Titans, it isn't heavy metal.

Crimson Kings

Be sure to take a closer look at Touched By The Crimson King, by Demons & Wizards, when released in late June. This band is the brain child of Blind Guardian's Hansi Kürsch and Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer (I'll leave it to the listener to figure out which one of them is the demon and which is the wizard). What we get is a thrash-y/power metal hybrid, that, oh so surprisingly, sounds like what we shall call "Iced Guardian" or "Blind Earth". Check out a sound sample of their yet to be released CD to see what I mean.

I have their self-titled release, which is a pretty decent ride. A couple of songs tread too dangerously in the waters of what the founder of Snakenet Metal Radio "lovingly" likes to call "Gay Hobbit Metal". Would we expect anything less from such gems as "Fiddler On the Green"? But even those tunes are a guilty pleasure. Recommended.

Twin Reverb Sweetness

One of the prizes in my guitar collection is my 1976 Silverface Fender Twin Reverb. I bought this sucker in the mid 90s for around $350 from a dude in PA. This 100 watt powerhouse uses vacuum tubes rather than transistors for power, which results in high quality sound that musicians and audiophiles go nuts for.

It's referred to as a "Silverface" due to the silver color of the panel where the control knobs reside. "Blackface" Twin Reverbs of the late 60s have slightly different innards and are considered by purists to have better tone. But you won't hear me complaining about the sound of my Silverface - its clean tone (sound when not using distortion) has the warmth that Fender is famous for. If I add a little bit of chorus, plus reverb or delay, it'll bring a tear to the eye. Cranking up the distortion results in a unique growl that has weight and power.

I recently discovered Paul Marossy's most excellent Twin Reverb page, which has a ton of information on how to tweak this titan of guitar amplifiers. I plan on putting his discoveries to great use.

I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours

Flynn's fantabulous pictures of LePik (for more info, see the comments) inspired me to post a pic of my own. I know it's not quite good enough to impress The Tone Ranger, but it r0x0rz my s0x0rz off plenty.

Enjoy HM's PRS and Fender coolness.

The Ripper Moves Beyond Fear

Tim Owens, formerly hated by Judas Priest fans and currently hated by Iced Earth fans, will be interviewed on WRUW today regarding his solo project, Beyond Fear. Let's hope the music that will sully forth will be a lot better than the name of his band. At least by not stepping into someone else's shoes again he's less likely to tick people off this time 'round. But I imagine it'll happen anyway - folks do love to hate this guy. Thanks Blabbermouth.net.

Tyranny of Souls - First Review

Blabbermouth.net has the first review I've seen of Bruce Dickinson's new solo effort, Tyranny of Souls. Suffice it to say, they liked it, and I'm very much looking forward to this release by Iron Maiden's frontman on May 24, regardless of the insanely silly album art. If you can't wait that long to hear some of it, check out sound clips on Bruce Dickinson's official home page.

Of Guitar Picks and Men

I thought I'd vary from the traditional formula today and talk about something guitar specific rather than the usual band related goodness.

I've been a guitar player for 16 years now, so it stands to reason that I may have learned a thing or two about playing the bloody thing. One thing I've learned is that all guitar picks (it's plectra, if you're nasty) are not the same. Another revelation is that there are a hell of a lot more variety of picks out there than any sane human being might expect - at least fifty to suit each one kind of playing style. And, most importantly, the type of pick one uses can actually make a fairly noticible difference in guitar tone.

Early on in my playing "career" (at my most sucky) I started with medium thickness, but quickly gravitated towards light in a variety of flavors. Light picks tend to be easy to manipulate, especially when playing fast notes in rapid succession on the high strings. I used "tortoise shell" ones (they're actually celluloid) by Fender until I got sick of the wear pattern, because they tended to get very sharp, pointy, and jagged with time. I then went to nylon picks by Jim Dunlop since they had a nice gripping surface. But I didn't like the way those wore out too fast.

So after more searching (strangely enough, never considering delrin, which is a favorite among many), I finally settled on Dunlop's Tortex picks. These suckers wear really evenly, last longer than the cheaper types listed above, and have a nice grippy surface (which, unfortunately, wears off immediately). Somewhere in here I also started using heavy picks almost exclusively as well. They provide a harder attack, which makes heavy metal power chords sound more authoritative. I then found their line of Gator Grip picks, which have a non-slip surface that tends to last longer than the one on the Tortex picks. All was good.

Then at some point a number of years ago my parents, on a trip to Arizona, bought for me a sterling silver pick fron someone selling Native American jewelry. This thing was too cool - gleaming metal, heavy mass, 100% inflexible, and it was engraved with a bear claw (actually, the design around the claw is engraved. The claw itself is cut out, so it's easier to hold onto the pick). When I played with it, the attack was much softer than the hardness of a plastic pick. And the sound: bell-like tones from the guitar. Plastic based picks tend to snap, click, and thwack as they hit metal strings, but the sound of silver on steel is like the soft notes of wind chimes. There's a smoothness as one plays that, once one gets used to the insane hardness of the material, allows one to pick bit faster.

I've never used anything since. And at the time I got the thing, no normal manufacturer was making anything similar on a large scale. So I firmly clutched my own personal "precious", hoping no Dark Lord would ever come to take it from me.

It does seem as of late, however, that companies are making picks out of metal en masse. So last week I ordered four different styles to see how they compare to my sterling silver pick. Three were from Musician's Friend:

• Ice Pix stainless steel pick
• Dava Control's Master Control, Nickel Silver tip
• Wirething's steel wire pick

And one really exotic number: a Big West Creation titanium pick, imported from Japan by Guitar Pick Central. This one should be a big change for me since it was only available in "jazz" shape, which I never use.

Pick shape lesson: "jazz" picks are smaller and pointier than the traditional pick shape, which is commonly referred to as "the Fender pick", "the Fender 351", or having "the 351 shape". As near as I can tell, this is due to Fender, undoubtedly responsible for making this shape popular, embedding "351" in the part number of all their picks with this shape.

I received my Musican's Friend package today and have played with them for a bit. When I've had time to thoroughly work them over I'll post a review. Hopefully I'll get the titanium plectrum soon as well.

With Teeth DualDisc Contains Hi-Res Audio

You can now order preorder With Teeth from the official nin web site in a variety of packages to suit your style (CD, DVD, t-shirt, vinyl picture disc). Most notable is that the DualDisc appears to contain DVD-Audio on the flip side, not simply regular DVD video content. Thus, contrary to my 04/09 post, it will contain actual high resolution audio (playable only in DVD-A players).

While I hate the idea of DualDiscs due to them not playing in some CD players, the fact that this one actually contains high resolution stereo and hi-res 5.1 surround audio and not simply the "enhanced stereo" 48 KHz/16-bit audio that is on most DualDiscs means that I'll have to suck it up and buy. The quality of the hi-res The Downward Spiral paved the way (even though Trent was nice on that one by making both an SACD and DualDisc available).

The Burning Oasis

Iced Earth's Burnt Offerings is a masterpiece born from the anger Jon Schaffer (Reznor:nin::Schaffer:IE) had over money issues with his record label, Century Media. What was personal hell for him gave birth to the literal Hell that's spoken about in almost every song on Burnt Offerings.

Saying the record is dark is an understatement. It screams eternal damnation, in both lyrics and instrumental sonic fury, straight from the title track (which refers to said business troubles) until its monumental finale, the 16:30 minute behemoth "Dante's Inferno" (which describes in lurid detail the journey through the nine planes of Hell).

Like the harmonies and grand scale epics of Iron Maiden? Old school thrash of Metallica and Slayer? A splash of progressive Rush? Then Iced Earth is your band, and Burnt Offerings is the album that heaps all of these ingredients in by the pound. New (at the time) to the fold, lead singer Matt Barlow has range that goes deep or can scream as high as Rob Halford. Schaffer is from the Metallica School of Rhythm Riffology: his playing is as tight, precise, chunky, and fast as James Hetfield's (Schaffer's control of a guitar pick is incredible). He even pleasantly colors outside the lines at times, like when he takes a page from Soundgarden's "Jesus Christ Pose" (check the riff in the middle of "Creator Failure"). The leads by Randy Shawver are inspiring (the end of "Burning Oasis" is a highlight), and the whole package is made complete by a production that feels spacious, open, dynamic, and bold. The slight reverb that's been applied to the instruments makes one believe the band is actually playing in the caverns of Hades.

Iced Earth's next record, The Dark Saga, is a more cohesive concept album (and contains the must hear one-two punch of "Dark Saga" and "I Died For You"), but Burnt Offerings is the stereotypical "if you can only have one album by IE, this is the one to have." Just be sure to seek out an older copy. The current pressing, in addition to sporting different cover art, has been remixed and remastered. Schaffer, a perfectionist surpassed only by George Lucas, has taken off the reverb, intensified the treble, and mucked with the volume levels of various instruments and vocals. Stay away - listening to this version of Burnt Offerings is like watching Greedo shoot first in Star Wars.

The Bice Man Almost Gets his Walking Papers

Last night's Idol was an almost disaster for my favorite contestent, Bo Bice. Shamefully, I missed Tuesday's performance, where he apparently belted out "Freebird" (the upside is that I also missed Ovaltine doing "Bohemium Rhapsody", which was no doubt worse than hearing some Vogon Poetry). I'm not quite sure what he was thinking - "Freebird" isn't very interesting vocally, and there's no way the lame-o house band could do it justice, so what the hell's the point?

Wise up Bo-Boy; you can win this thing, but you've got to be more intelligent with your song choices. At least his peformance of "Remedy" by the Black Crowes was a lot better than when he sang it last.

Matzoh and Metal

I can't possibly explain this VH1 Classic special any better than this Blabbermouth.net article already has. Be sure to honor the Passover holiday by cranking up the "Creeping Death", then r0cking out with your Haggadah out. I wonder what Jewish Rock God will come in through the open door to join the seder. Joey Ramone, perhaps?

New Sabbath Album Rumors, Again

Thunderground Radio is reporting, straight from Bill Ward's mouth, that a new Black Sabbath album may come about (in addition to news of a solo Ward effort).

I'm not holding my breath on this; it's been promised too many times already. I'm still recovering from the fact that Sab's Rick Rubin produced project never made it to completion. That would've been something worth hearing.

Can't A Man Buy Some Tickets?

I've been increasingly frustrated these days trying to buy concert tickets. I've attempted twice to buy for nin, and once for U2, to no avail. They're sold out after less than 5 minutes via the Internet.

How the hell are people getting tickets to these shows? Are most given to radio stations, and only ten are actually available for the public? These shows tend to go on sale during the week, so the tried and (sometimes) true method of waiting on line isn't an option for those of us who actually work for a living.

I'll be damned if they're going to keep me from Ozzfest/Maiden and Priest though.

Navarro News

I just caught word from Blabbermouth.net that PRS totin' axe-man Dave Navarro is working on a project with his new band, The Panic Channel. The line-up is Strays-era Jane's Addiction, replacing Perry with former Skycycle vocalist Steve Isaacs. Here's to hoping it r0x0rz.

A Fondness For Faith No More

I was listening to Faith No More's Introduce Yourself yesterday and realizing how much I do dig it, even though it's undeniably the beginnings of the lameness that is nu metal. It's a bit tough to get into at first since singer Chuck Mosely has such a different style than Mike Patton. But the meat from Jim Martin's guitar and Billy Gould's bass is still present, making the songs explode in the way one expects from FNM. Put on "We Care A Lot" and groove.

3 Inches of Blood and Thunder

While awaiting the new Mastodon video for "Blood and Thunder" (which was rather weak, unfortunately) on The Ball last night, I caught a video by a band called 3 Inches of Blood. Song entitled "Deadly Sinners".

They seem to be coming from the right place - a singer trying to emulate Rob Halford, decent riff-y guitars, and a solo. They do have a second singer who puts me off because his job appears to be shouting, and their album cover implies they sing about Orcs and other Middle Earth silliness, but let's all try to overlook it. Points go to them for being directly influenced from the right school.

With Teeth Oversights

Apparently Trent Reznor's new album, With Teeth, will (only) be available in regular CD and DualDisc formats. His description of the contents at the official nin web page does not make me believe that the DualDisc will contain high resolution tracks - only 48 KHz stereo and DD5.1 surround mixes. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement.

Mastodon Pens Deal With Warner

One of my favorite new bands, Mastodon, has signed to Warner Brothers and plan to release a new record in early 2006. Congrats guys. Catch them on their current headlining tour or when they're on the second stage at Ozzfest this summer.

Although the death metal utterances/shouting vocal style on their debut EP and first full release can be initially tough to digest, their unique approach to progressive metal (think of a less structured Rush/Tool/Floyd hybrid mixed in a blender with sludgy Sabbath riffs) will reward the faithful listener. Their drummer, Brann Dailor, whose style is more about constant fills than typical boom/crash rhythm, has to be heard to be believed. These guys, from the high concept music, straight down to the art on their CDs and inserts, are the real deal.

Check out their latest, Leviathan, since its slightly larger emphasis on singing, plus the lofty Moby Dick concept, make it the true gem of their small body of work. Be sure to get the 2-disc version, which contains a DVD with 5.1 remixes of three album cuts, plus four previously unreleased live tracks.

Moody Music Melodies

From the "Forgotten Pieces In HM's Collection" department comes a particularly strange endeavor by Luciferi himself.

I vote it "CD most likely to play Doom 3 to," but it's probably equally appropriate for inspriring as one slays minions of evil hoardes on the battlefield. It's quite a departure from Glenn Danzig's punk/hardcore sound during his Misfits years or the metal stomp that he continues to churn out solo. But if you're yearning for somber atmosphere every so often, give it a listen.

Edited 04/09/05 for additional content.

Get to Know Your Metal Gods - Part I

Meet the Elf man, Ronnie James Dio. Ozzy may joke about being the Prince of Darkness, but I truly believe Dio is the one who made a pact with Satan. How else can you explain the length of his career, his ageless appearance, and a voice that's just about as good now as it was in 1980?

Starting out with the Vegas Kings, people first started paying attention when he dominated the hard rock scene in Rainbow with Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore. Sporting a fascination for singing about all things related to:

• whips and chains
• circles and rings
• dragons and kings
• dark and light, and of course,
• rainbows

...there's no denying the early metal influence on songs like "Man On the Silver Mountain" and "Kill the King". He gave Black Sabbath a kick they sorely needed when he replaced Ozzy, cranking out some of their best material in years ("Neon Nights", "Heaven and Hell", "Voodoo", and "The Mob Rules" ). Arguments with guitarist Tony Iommi over the production of Live Evil led to Dio going solo. With great freedom now before him, Dio often colored outside of the lines, combining many of his favorite topics into one song title, as he did with the ever popular "Rainbow In the Dark" (I kid because I love!), and played to many a packed house. He continues to spit out records (thankfully, about the aforementioned circles and rings) and tour to this day.

Though at times we have no idea exactly what you're trying to say ("Riders in the night can lift you out of sight when they call"?), the power behind that voice, plus strategic use of rhyme and melody, always make us believe. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll...and Dio!

Iced Earth Goodness...Cheap!

Century Media, Iced Earth's old record label, has CDs of the non-remixed/ non-remastered/ discontinued Iced Earth and Night of the Stormrider for $5 and $3, respectively (Burnt Offerings is out of stock even though it says otherwise). Get Some IE Love!

Thurston Moore On Mix Tapes

Sonic Youth's frontman states in this article that digital music is harsh and compressed (especially mp3s). Also that sharing it can't, and shouldn't, be stopped. Amen on both counts.

Linky!

Misty Water Colored Band Chat Memories

Look at what was unearthed from the Band Chat Time Capsule. Dig deep and ye shall be rewarded twenty-fold:

7 Seconds 1, 7 Seconds 2, 7 Seconds 3, 7 Seconds 4

The Cult

Faith No More 1, Faith No More 2, Faith No More 3

Fugazi 1, Fugazi 2, Fugazi 3, Fugazi 4, Fugazi 5, Fugazi 6, Fugazi 7

The Godfathers

Jane's Addiction

Nine Inch Nails 1, Nine Inch Nails 2

Nirvana

Oasis

Sonic Youth

The Wonder Stuff

A Tale of Wonky Independent Record Stores

Last week, via that foul temptress we hip types call "The Internet", I managed to locate a rare, non-remixed/remastered CD of Iced Earth's Burnt Offerings. Spoke to the dude who owned the store on the phone, and he confirmed my find. Was quite cool and sent it out at the end of last week. It arrived yesterday.

I gleefully opened the case and found...nothing. Yep, nothing. "Oh the humanity!" They forgot to put the CD in. Can you imagine the look I had on my face? All that research to find the damned thing, and then, zero. I guess I should be happy since they did include the booklet, so I get to read the lyrics. It's practically a Special Edition!

Thankfully they do have it and are sending it out el pronto.

Money Grubbing Atlantic Records

I was going through my old site to see, out of curiosity, which links worked. I found myself on Rush's Atlantic web site. There I learned that in August they released remasters of all their studio albums since they jumped from Mercury to Atlantic (Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, Test For Echo).

Before I learned how remasters could be bad, I bought all of the remasters of their earlier records. They're a bit loud, but not too awful. These, however, I suspect to hit new depths of lameness. Albums this modern have very little to gain by going through the process. What there is to gain, however, is cash. Atlantic wants some of that green that Mercury got by re-relasing Rush's older titles.

They have to be bad - the remasters were done by "renowned" engineer Adam Ayan, whose illustrious career apparently includes producing the stellar acts Phish, Linkin Park, and Pearl "Where Would We Be Without Nirvana" Jam.

There aren't even any extra songs on these discs (how could there be? Rush never has leftovers, and nobody really wants a copy of "Battlescar"), so forget them if you want the newer Rush titles. Hunt out the older versions in your favorite used record store.

I Am the God of Fuck

Album of the Day:

Band Chat Classic

You asked for it. You got it:

Band Chat Classic

Head-Llama's Ball

I caught this damned show for the first time in a while Saturday night. Oof.

First, that fool Jamie from Hatebreed was such a suck-up to Anthrax that it made everyone ill. Second (this is more of an aside), are we supposed to believe that the members of Anthrax who have been "temporarily" displaced are actually happy that the original line-up is back and touring? Although Anthrax claims this isn't permanent, here's a news flash: Tim Owens isn't coming back to Judas Priest. Connect the (god damned) dots.

Finally, if this is what is popular in metal, we're all doomed. Most of it is a bunch of wanna-be punks. They've taken the worst side of punk/hardcore, mixed it with the worst of metal (the non-technical, lame riffing metal) , and what we have is this show. Thankfully, there are some artists, like Slayer, who created a new genre by taking the best parts of hardcore and mixing it with the best parts of metal.

And what's with the singing? They don't know whether they should be doing death metal grumbling and/or shouting, or girly-man singing. So they do both in the same song. One damned band actually changes style in the middle of a damn lyric!

It almost makes me want Adam Curry back.

W00t For American Idol

So sue me - I dig the show. Must be the musician in me that makes me fall to the Dark Side and endure it. Yeah, you'd think that would make me run far away from it, but there's nothing that makes my day like my Tuesday night ritual of yelling at those boobs (contestants and judges) on the screen.

The last two weeks have been crazy. I was rooting for Bo Bice all the way because he's the only one that rocks from time to time (Constantine - not. Please stop butchering Police songs). But doing a Black Crowes song dropped him more than a few notches in my book. The biggest problem, besides poor song choice, was the fact that the band simply couldn't play the song well. So it just made Bo look worse than he is.

And what the hell was up with the prior week when everyone praised Carrie Underwood for her cover of Heart's "Alone"? The only answer I have is that Randy and Paula were on crack, and Simon just wants to screw her. I never liked that song, but hearing it butchered in that way made me realize that Nancy Wilson does have actual singing talent.

Besides, "Barracuda" is proto-metal all the way.

Drivel of the Month - Korn

There's no better band to receive the inaugural award upon Band Chat's return than Korn: those who made teh suck that is Nu Metal what it is today. Yes, Faith No More probably started it with their rap-type lyrics on "Epic" and the alternating between singing and shouting on King For a Day, Fool For a Lifetime. Rage Against the Machine no doubt popularized the genre with their blending of hip-hop and metal.

But those bands had something that Korn doesn't have - cool guitar riffs. Jim Martin and Tom Morello r0ck. What we have in Korn's guitar lines has become a staple of the feeble genre - low tuned guitars that rumble so far below the Richter Scale that that you don't know what the guitarist is doing. In most cases, he's probably doing nothing, thus, the big cover-up by playing crappy "riffs". Metal rhythms should have defintion. He sucks so much that I've never bothered to learn who he is (and I pride myself on knowing this sort of crap).

Want final proof? It's so lame that even Korn's guitarist acknowledged it: he's thrown it all away to devote his life to religion. No big loss; he couldn't play anything that rocked anyway.

About the only thing Korn did right was hire Todd McFarlane (of comic book Spawn fame) to do some cover art and make some videos. But even Iced Earth beat them on that one by cutting to the chase and making a concept album, The Dark Saga, about Spawn.

Old Punks Who Still Rock