Black Sabbath - "War Pigs" (1970)
Not my favorite song of theirs, but it is on the same side. ;-)
Oh, I had forgotten how slow and dramatic this starts. This is a great song, don't mistake the opening line of this review. Hell, the entire album Paranoid might very well be the definitive blueprint for Heavy Metal. The first side of the album alone has three of the trademark songs of the era. Of course it also has a dreamy hippie-friendly psychedelic track about floating through the universe with your lover while accompanied by bongos. But let's cut them some slack, it was 1970 and no one really knew what direction music was going in. They get to have that one. Back to the music.
This is the lead off track to the album, and they really set a tone of despair and wasteland at the beginning. The WWII era air raid sirens really drive home the war/destruction feel. After the intro, the song is very separated. I mean that each of the instruments takes focus for a second, but not too much overlapping until they break into the jam portion with the two shorter verses in the middle. Then we get what many outlets have ranked as one of the greatest guitar solos in Heavy Metal. Tony Iommi is the only guitarist on the track, he layers himself to create the dense multi-part solo that helped define him as the most influential and greatest metal guitarist of all time. Then, we get the quiet high hat that has segued us before and we are back to vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and his wail telling us that the only way the War Pigs lose their power is when the hand of God calls us all to judgement at the end times. His last lines in the song evoke Satan, not to praise him, but to show where the merciless sinners will find themselves. The song however has more than two minutes left. The first half of that is a typical metal ending, working on the same chords and themes, and heading towards a fade out. But then we get "Luke's Wall"
American releases of Paranoid originally had this track titled "War Pigs/Luke's Wall". Well, Luke's Wall was the name of the section of the song at the end, starting around 6:30 that sounds hopeful, like a hero might be lifting himself out of the ashes. It was named after two members of the band's road crew named Luke and Wall. It gives us some hope that we may not be at the end of the story just yet. Then of course there's the weird sped up few seconds at the end that sound like someone wound the tape up too fast. I don't know what that's supposed to symbolize. Possibly the destruction of the hopeful hero in a bomb blast?
You want to hear some great covers? Of course you do. First we have a band named Elf, that is until they became Rainbow. This cover is live in 1972, just two years after the original. It sounds a lot like the original as well. so why include it? Well, lead singer of Elf, and then Rainbow Ronnie James Dio, eventually became the lead singer of Black Sabbath from 1979 to 1982 before going solo as Dio. So this vocalist eventually played the song live with the original band members at least for a short time. Also the guitar solo is pretty sweet. Most original sound is kind of a tie. We've got Hayseed Dixie with a bluegrass inspired cover that is great, and I love a mandolin, but the Alice Donut jazz band meets metal band sound is so creative. I just think it sounds like they needed a little more practice. But it is hard to hate a band with a trombone in it. I have found a favorite however. This version of War Pigs by The Dresden Dolls has more energy in it than the original, and that's saying something.
Showing posts with label Heavy Metal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heavy Metal. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
"Elected"
Alice Cooper - "Elected" (1972)
The single immediately following "School's Out".
The opening contains crunchy electric guitar riffs, feedback that sounds like it belongs to Jimi Hendrix, and a boing sound like a toddler's spring toy would make. The aggressive sounds continue as the drums and bass drive the sound into your eardrums and Cooper's rough and throaty vocals sit on the edge between exciting and annoying. As the song continues though, a full brass and woodwind section comes out, working with the election theme and meant to sound like a high-school marching band was playing along, the song actually elevates above the mass of repetitive guitar riffs and shouted vocals and becomes a really fun track. The band overdub was added by producer Bob Ezrin, who worked with Alice Cooper before, as well as later as a solo artist. He also produced Destroyer, the biggest selling album for KISS, and three of the last four studio albums for Pink Floyd, including The Wall.
The single immediately following "School's Out".
The opening contains crunchy electric guitar riffs, feedback that sounds like it belongs to Jimi Hendrix, and a boing sound like a toddler's spring toy would make. The aggressive sounds continue as the drums and bass drive the sound into your eardrums and Cooper's rough and throaty vocals sit on the edge between exciting and annoying. As the song continues though, a full brass and woodwind section comes out, working with the election theme and meant to sound like a high-school marching band was playing along, the song actually elevates above the mass of repetitive guitar riffs and shouted vocals and becomes a really fun track. The band overdub was added by producer Bob Ezrin, who worked with Alice Cooper before, as well as later as a solo artist. He also produced Destroyer, the biggest selling album for KISS, and three of the last four studio albums for Pink Floyd, including The Wall.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
"Rock You Like a Hurricane"
Scorpions - "Rock You Like a Hurricane" (1984)
This song is now mainly used in the background of video compilations of hot women tossing their hair. Or at sports arenas.
Oh 80s hair bands, only you could be so cheesy and yet have such amazing guitar solos at the same time. The rhythm guitar drums and bass have some of the easiest parts in rock. There are a couple of licks, each about two or four bars long, and you are playing one of those simple parts over and over again. Lyrically the song has about as much going for it as a poem assignment written on the bus on the way to school because you forgot to do it the night before. Now vocally, that's something else, lead singer Klaus Meine has got some range going on, and his pronunciation of Hurricane to rhyme with /Here I am/ is not to be forgotten. He's got a strained whisper like opening like a man who really needs release, and by the end he's screaming into the stratosphere.
The guitar solo work kinda deserves special mention here. Rudolf Schenker plays creative, fast, loud stuff, but it never seams like it's showy just to be showy. All of his licks are in time with, and in tune with the rest of the band. He doesn't just tap the fretboard as fast as he can, he's actually playing real notes and crafting a piece of music.
This song is now mainly used in the background of video compilations of hot women tossing their hair. Or at sports arenas.
Oh 80s hair bands, only you could be so cheesy and yet have such amazing guitar solos at the same time. The rhythm guitar drums and bass have some of the easiest parts in rock. There are a couple of licks, each about two or four bars long, and you are playing one of those simple parts over and over again. Lyrically the song has about as much going for it as a poem assignment written on the bus on the way to school because you forgot to do it the night before. Now vocally, that's something else, lead singer Klaus Meine has got some range going on, and his pronunciation of Hurricane to rhyme with /Here I am/ is not to be forgotten. He's got a strained whisper like opening like a man who really needs release, and by the end he's screaming into the stratosphere.
The guitar solo work kinda deserves special mention here. Rudolf Schenker plays creative, fast, loud stuff, but it never seams like it's showy just to be showy. All of his licks are in time with, and in tune with the rest of the band. He doesn't just tap the fretboard as fast as he can, he's actually playing real notes and crafting a piece of music.
Friday, January 13, 2012
"Walk"
Pantera - Walk (1992)
/Are you talking to me?/
A really simple riff fuels this song. Guitarist Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott starting playing the riff during a warm up and drummer Vinnie Paul added his part on the wall while someone recorded it so that the band could remember it later for recording. The bass and guitar parts are just doubling each other for most of the song, and it's the same riff over and over. It kind of sounds like walking if you listen to it. The song is in 12/8 time which means you can hear the triplets over the standard rock 4/4 time signature. The drums do a lot of doubling as well, just adding layers of sound and noise to the mix. Vocalist Anselmo's vicious attack on posers, back-stabbers, false friends and others with no self respect is so aggressive and violent it leaps over the almost calm-by-comparison band riff. It also reminds me of De Niro in Taxi Driver.
The guitar solo is a bolt of lightning from out of nowhere. "Dimebag" was known as a great guitar player, but this song seemed like it was set to me. We had the riff, we had the vocals, the whole band is just churning it out, and I was expecting an almost punk-short 3 minute anger session. But the guitar had other plans. In fact, right at three minutes the lead guitar just starts going off. Fast, high, less distorted (but still distorted) and very melodic, this thirty second guitar solo is not as blistering as other guitar solos, but taken with the rest of the song it can be viewed as the fight, the confrontation, and eventual victory over the posers the song is talking to.
/Are you talking to me?/
A really simple riff fuels this song. Guitarist Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott starting playing the riff during a warm up and drummer Vinnie Paul added his part on the wall while someone recorded it so that the band could remember it later for recording. The bass and guitar parts are just doubling each other for most of the song, and it's the same riff over and over. It kind of sounds like walking if you listen to it. The song is in 12/8 time which means you can hear the triplets over the standard rock 4/4 time signature. The drums do a lot of doubling as well, just adding layers of sound and noise to the mix. Vocalist Anselmo's vicious attack on posers, back-stabbers, false friends and others with no self respect is so aggressive and violent it leaps over the almost calm-by-comparison band riff. It also reminds me of De Niro in Taxi Driver.
The guitar solo is a bolt of lightning from out of nowhere. "Dimebag" was known as a great guitar player, but this song seemed like it was set to me. We had the riff, we had the vocals, the whole band is just churning it out, and I was expecting an almost punk-short 3 minute anger session. But the guitar had other plans. In fact, right at three minutes the lead guitar just starts going off. Fast, high, less distorted (but still distorted) and very melodic, this thirty second guitar solo is not as blistering as other guitar solos, but taken with the rest of the song it can be viewed as the fight, the confrontation, and eventual victory over the posers the song is talking to.
Friday, December 23, 2011
"Runnin' with the Devil"
Van Halen - Runnin' with the Devil (1978)
Perfect example of 80s heavy metal. Except that it's from 1978.
Rising and falling synth, like a train passing you by. Then a repetitive menacing bass, followed by a light tinkling piano, giving way to a clean loud guitar riff, backed by a tom and high hat heavy drum set. Then David Lee Roth swaggers to the microphone. This was the opening track to the debut album of Van Halen. Before they were a video game, before their long term bassist was replaced by the fifteen year old son of the guitarist, before the multiple reunion tours, before III, before Van Hagar, before the love affair with MTV made them bigger than anything; they were four hungry guys playing music in LA that were hard to book, because club owners said they were "too loud".
By today's standards this isn't loud, fast, or heavy enough to be heavy metal, but at the time this was raucous. Eddie Van Halen introduced the world to the finger-tapping style he used to blistering effect in so many later songs. Here it is slower than it will be, but it's so distinct and clean. The backing vocals are perfectly harmonized, which just isn't done in Metal anymore, but sounds great here. The opening sound is actually the band's car horns played backwards.
Perfect example of 80s heavy metal. Except that it's from 1978.
Rising and falling synth, like a train passing you by. Then a repetitive menacing bass, followed by a light tinkling piano, giving way to a clean loud guitar riff, backed by a tom and high hat heavy drum set. Then David Lee Roth swaggers to the microphone. This was the opening track to the debut album of Van Halen. Before they were a video game, before their long term bassist was replaced by the fifteen year old son of the guitarist, before the multiple reunion tours, before III, before Van Hagar, before the love affair with MTV made them bigger than anything; they were four hungry guys playing music in LA that were hard to book, because club owners said they were "too loud".
By today's standards this isn't loud, fast, or heavy enough to be heavy metal, but at the time this was raucous. Eddie Van Halen introduced the world to the finger-tapping style he used to blistering effect in so many later songs. Here it is slower than it will be, but it's so distinct and clean. The backing vocals are perfectly harmonized, which just isn't done in Metal anymore, but sounds great here. The opening sound is actually the band's car horns played backwards.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
"Paradise City"
Guns N' Roses - Paradise City (1987)
Instantly recognizable.
The guitar lick that opens this track exemplifies the song. Sounds simple and upbeat but when you listen it's actually far more complex than you first thought. The drum beat that kicks in forces you to clap along. It actually reaches into your ears and grabs your pecs and your delts and your biceps and makes your clap your hands together.
There is a synthesizer running through the song. It's really easy to hear at 0:42-1:01 before the first guitar solo. Axl and Slash fought bitterly over the inclusion, but ultimately Axl won. It's the only song on the album with a synth, but the rift between the two only got bigger. Slash gets even on the track by ripping up some incredible solos and dominating the double time section at the end of the song.
Lyrically the song is heavy. Sure the chorus is fun for the whole family (Slash did try to introduce the line "where the girls are fat and they've got big titties, but the rest of the group shouted him down) , but the verses are serious business. A juvenile delinquent abandoned by everyone ends up with the death penalty after undisclosed crimes, and the nation is all heading down the same path. Pretty heavy stuff for a metal band out of L.A.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
"One"
Metallica - One (1988)
First Metallica song to hit the Top 40, and to have a music video. I'm not using the music video because it includes a lot of audio from the movie Johnny Got His Gun (which the song is based on).
I have listened to this song so many times I can't count. Trying to hear it new again today. That war movie opening isn't as long as I remember. The dual guitar intro remains as powerful as when I was a teen. Kirk is a great guitarist of many styles. When Lars' drums come in the first thing I noticed was how much he used his bass drum, and how little it rings. The seamless switch back and forth between the almost Spanish style clean guitar verses and heavy riff portions of the song are really impressive. Producer Flemming Rasmussen had worked with Metallica on two previous albums, helping to create their classic 80s sound.
There is almost no bass guitar to speak of on this track. On the entire album either. This is a widely known issue among fans of the band. ...And Justice for All was the first full studio album featuring new bass player Jason Newsted after the death of Cliff Burton. Some claim that James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich intentionally left Jason's bass low in the mix, others claimed his sound was no good and hard to hear no matter what. Regardless, you can't really make out specific bass lines throughout the album.
As the song progresses it not only gets louder, and faster, but more complex as well. The song switches back and forth between 3/4 time and 4/4 time. Just before 4:00 it even switches to 6/4 for about half a minute. The guitar solo over the fast paced final section of the song is blisteringly fast. Kirk's finger tapping style in that solo is often imitated. There are a few duets between the two guitarists, Kirk and James, that are really great. I'm actually more impressed by the rare, at least in Metal, vocal duets that show up early in the song with Jason singing harmony to James' lead vocals.
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Monday, October 10, 2011
"Painkiller"
Judas Priest - Painkiller (1990)
This song wrecked me every time in Rock Band. Crazy Drum Intro.
We've got two guitar solos, one from each guitarist, the drums are ridiculously fast and Rob Halford's vocals are so high and loud it is an absolute shock that anyone else could sing like him. I don't want to forget the bass playing. When you've got a vocalist that sings in the stratosphere, and dueling lead guitar solos, the only thing holding the song together is the rhythm section. The drums are tight, but the bass is what makes it stick. Nothing too fancy, Ian Hill plays simple steady and melodic bass lines.
This was the first album to feature new drummer Scott Travis, and the last album (until the 2005 reunion) to feature Rob Halford. It was also the first single and album to follow the Subliminal Message trial. I first heard of Judas Priest because of the trial and then Beavis & Butt-head. This song is later Judas Priest and is clearly their attempt to update their sound to compete with Megadeath and Metallica. The song is faster, the lyrics are louder, and it just sounds more urgent. I think it works for them.
This song wrecked me every time in Rock Band. Crazy Drum Intro.
We've got two guitar solos, one from each guitarist, the drums are ridiculously fast and Rob Halford's vocals are so high and loud it is an absolute shock that anyone else could sing like him. I don't want to forget the bass playing. When you've got a vocalist that sings in the stratosphere, and dueling lead guitar solos, the only thing holding the song together is the rhythm section. The drums are tight, but the bass is what makes it stick. Nothing too fancy, Ian Hill plays simple steady and melodic bass lines.
This was the first album to feature new drummer Scott Travis, and the last album (until the 2005 reunion) to feature Rob Halford. It was also the first single and album to follow the Subliminal Message trial. I first heard of Judas Priest because of the trial and then Beavis & Butt-head. This song is later Judas Priest and is clearly their attempt to update their sound to compete with Megadeath and Metallica. The song is faster, the lyrics are louder, and it just sounds more urgent. I think it works for them.
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