"Cursed Female" / Porno for Pyros / Porno for Pyros

One of my unofficial rules here at RTB is that I'm not going to post songs from artists I've previously covered (unless they are B. Mo pantheon artists). Of course, PfP skits close to that line, as they were Perry Farrell's post Jane's Addiction band.

I bought this CD upon its release back in 1992, and because I loved Jane's so, so much and was extremely upset with their demise, I somehow convinced myslef that this CD really was good. Not so much, though. I think it was a CD that I played for a few months, put back in its case and rarely took out again. I finally sold it to a used CD store, but I bought this song on itunes one day because it was far and away the best song on the CD. It still holds up pretty well, and to me it sounds the closest to a Jane's Addiction song as anything that was done after their breakup (that is, until thier short lived reunion.

Overall, I feel really let down by the guys from Jane's Addiction. Dave Navarro had that brief stint with the Chilli Peppers (and did some pretty cool, underrated songs with them) before becoming a complete media whore, marrying Carmen Electra and appearing on MTV reality shows and second-rate band competition shows. I had always thought Perry Farrell was at least above all that, until my brother ("Big D" in the comments) called me one night and told me to turn on ABC to watch their college football intro song. He had taken issue with a post I made chiding Hank Williams II for selling out, and wanted to rub in my face what one of my "boys" was up to now with his new best friends Kelly Rowland and Fitty Cent:

"Cash in now, baby"


Back to the song though - as I said, it's really close to a classic Jane's sound - Stephen Perkins (the JA drummer that was in this band too) begins with that patented tribal beat. Well, it actually begins with a harmonica(?!), which was, inexplicably, all over this CD. It sounds really ominous combined with that rumbling bass part too. The mood of the song recalls those dingy, grimy, underground-of-LA type JA songs like "Whores" and "Pigs in Zen"; it's completely, awesomely sleazy. When Farrell hits those high notes, like on my favorite part, "Two girls in two nights got caught in the back of the alleyway / Fresh as strawberries"(2:13), I could almost believe that this band could have made something of themselves. Alas, it wasn't to be. Maybe 'ol Perry is on the comeback trail, though, after recently seeing him in Jimmy Kimmel's "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" (3:41 in). He's still a bit of a whore, but at least he still has a a since of humor!

Oh, yeah, the video is pretty badass, too.

"Slave to the Grind" / Skid Row / Slave to the Grind

The itunes has been digging the metal here lately, and who am I to argue?

Although, I have to admit a bit of sheepishness at this selection. I bought Slave to the Grind when it came out in 1991, when metal (as I mentioned in the Slayer post) was at its commerical peak. If I recall correctly, this album debuted at number one and took everyone by surprise, as it was the first metal album to do so. Sebastian Bach was on the cover of Rolling Stone. Nirvana was still a topic you learned about in your high school world history class. Life was pretty good for metal.

I was happy to buy this CD back then based on the strength of Skid Row's eponymous debut in 1988. They really weren't all that terrible of a band, and like Def Leppard, I hesitate to include them in the "Hair Metal" genre, despite Bach having srguably the most beautiful mane ever before seen on stage.

Skid Row always seemed to have a little bit beter chops than your average hair metal group. I believe bassist Dave "Snake" Sabo wrote the songs (which could be one reason I liked them), and while obviously never reaching the credibility of your Metallica or Slayer, they were tougher and more metal than shit like Warrant, Winger or Firehouse. I mean, this song is a fraction of a time signature from speed metal, but it got heavy play on mainstram radio and MTV back in the day.

One thing about them I always found interesting as well was their lyrics. Sure, there were the chick songs ("I Remember You"), the tough dude songs ("Piece of Me", "Slave to the Grind") and the "let's bang some skank songs" ("Get the Fuck Out", "Sweet Little Sister"), but I appreciate them for at least trying to rise above that. Although, if anyone can explain "They swallow their daggers by turning thier tricks / They tore my intentions apart brick by brick / I'm sick of the jive, talk verbal insecticide" (the bridge in this song), have at it.

Spring Break!!!! Whooooo!!!

Taking a break this week - be back next Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the meantime, there is a new CD I got last Friday that I have been listening to nonstop since and have been talking up to anyone I've seen lately.

The group is Band of Horses , and the CD is "Cease to Begin".

Here's a song called "Is There a Ghost"


And "No One's Going to Love You" (check out some textbook hipster concert head nodding going on here, too)

"Dissident Aggressor" / Slayer / South of Heaven

MF'n Slayer, ya'll. Fantastic.

Let me go on record as saying that "South of Heaven" is easily one of the top five metal albums of all time. Ten tracks of soul crushing, leather studded, pseudo demonic speed metal.

I respect the hell out of Slayer. They have stayed the course through the years, never changing their approach or sound, even during the early ninties when metal was scoffed at and derided. One of my co-workers, a likewise unreformed metal fan, made me a copy of one of their most recent CDs and they still pack the same punch. They also have one of my top underrated musicians, drummer Dave Lombardo. Check out the insane double bass work :21 seconds in here on "Silent Scream" (off the same CD, by the way)

Insanity



I've had the good fortune to see Slayer in concert, too. Back in 1991, when metal was at its absolute commerical zenith, I went to see the Clash of the Titans tour at the old Omni. Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer laid waste to the arena, and it was full on wild. Each band took turns closing the show, and that night was Slayer's. Growing up a good Baptist boy, I have to say that the evil energy and demonic roar when the lights went down and Slayer began their show bathed in an eerie green light was frighteningly intoxicating. One of my all time favorite concernt moments came from that show - getting in an old fashioned circle pit with lots of scary, SCARY looking dudes during "Angel of Death".

Wow - learn something new every day. While looking for this song on YouTube, it seems that this is a cover of an old Judas Priest song. That makes sense now, as I always thought it sounded just a bit different from the normal Slayer fare. That's cool. Mainly, I'm thinking about my favorite part, and the part that from time to time pops up in my head during stressful or sticky moments - the "Stab!.....Fight!" refrain throughout the song. It also makes one of the lyrics immediately after, "I know what I am" MUCH more interesting when you know that it came from (at the time) closeted homosexual Rob Halford. Huh. Other than that part, it's pretty much a dirgelike, slow burn of a song. I have many more favorites by Slayer ("Ghosts of War", off of this same CD, is actually my favorite), but that chorus always gets me. Check out the guitar solo too. I alwys find Slayer's guitar solos funny. You could take the solo from every song and switch it with another, and I don't think anyone would notice. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's strengths are definitely to be found in the riffs - not the solos (but don't tell them I said that).

Here's a quick listening version (complete with requisite demonic imagery). Hotlink after will get you the song.


http://www.mediafire.com/?beg4nenymjm

"Eggman" / Beastie Boys / Paul's Boutique

Has there ever been a bigger creative leap between a debut and follow up album than what the Beasties pulled off in 1989?

It's unbelieveable that these dudes were the same group that put out "Fight for Your Right" and "Girls" on "Licensed to Ill" (although you could hear hints of something a little bit better in "Hold it Now"

We call this foreshadowing in the English biz

One thing that always bugged me, though, was that as soon as the Beasties started to get some true cred with this CD and more mainstream popularity with "Check Your Head" ("Paul's Boutique" tanked upon release, but became well respected later. We call that the "Pinkerton" effect, for what it's worth), they wanted to distance themseves from their fratty, party boy past, dismissing it and calling it an obvious joke, which apparently no one was in on except them.

Come on, guys. No one with any sense was buying that. Just because you're all Buddhist and shit now doesn't mean you were a bratty little Brooklyn kid once. The Dali Llama won't think any worse of you. Embrace it!

Anyway, back to "Paul's Boutique" and "Eggman"...I'll admit that I didn't get where they were going at first. I remember seeing the video for "Hey Ladies" and thinking, "Now hold on..."

Not that I didn't like it, because I did (and they were on the 70's retro tip way back before everyone else was , to their credit), but it did take some getting used to. And with this CD, it's so dense with samples and great production that you always are getting something new from it.

For example, "Eggman" starts with a Curtis Mayfield sample. Now, I'm not gonna lie and say I knew who he was back when I was 17, but this is what I mean by appreciating this CD more over time. The structure of this song (like many of their songs)is a traditional verse / chorus / verse, which I suspect had a lot to do with thier success among white audiences who unconsciously find that pleasing. The chorus would be the parts with the siren sound in the background with one of the Boys talking over it. (By the way, if anyone has a clue as to the lyrics or meaning of this song, please feel free to fill us in).

One part I love is the last time they sart the verse at 1:55 : "We - all - dressed in black". Something about how they are all rapping the same part pretty emphatically is cool (check it out in the live version below). They still have that same Beasties meter, though. It's in almost every damn song (One says a line and they all hit the last word / Over and over it gets quite ab-surd).

I also like the couple of Public Enemy shout outs (and given that this CD was in the late 80s, the golden years of rap, it would make sense) the "Boyeeee" at :50, a Flava Flav trademark and a clip from PE's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" at 1:34 ("Now they got me in a cell"). It would take more room than I've already used to unearth all the other great samples in, so I'll just finish by saying that I like thier ending - the "Jaws"attack music. Go figure. Scary Eggman!


http://www.mediafire.com/?zhbgztuyl2n

"Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) / Def Leppard / Pyromania

Exclamation points and parenthesis all in the same title? Awesome! Let's go ahead and get this on the table now, and you can debate this in the comments if you wish: Is Def Leppard Hair Metal? I say, vehemently, no.

Consider that their first record came out in 1979 and that they are from Britain, which technically puts them in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal category. Now, I know they aren't as heavy as your Priest, Maiden or Motorhead (and they went really whimpy once they started in with Mutt freaking Lange producing), but back in the day they were a pretty great group, and you can't deny "Pyromania" is a flat out classic.

The first time I remember hearing about Def Leppard was in the early MTV days. Before we had the glorious cable hookup, I had to see glimpses of MTV here and there. One day at a friend's house, I caught the "Rock of Ages" video off the same album. I recall Joe Elliot walking through a dungeon with a big ass sword (which I think was the basic plot of every heavy metal video in the early 80's) and thinking..."Intriguing".

Joe Elliot gaining hit points (2:10 in)


Not long after, in middle school, when I would spend the night with my buddies, we would watch MTV's "Friday Night Video Fights", in which you called up and voted for your favotite video beteen a champion video and challenger. Let me tell you. Leppard's "Photograph" was an all timer, the Muhammad Ali of MTV's salad days. It won untold weekly "fights" until they finally had to put it into retirement. That was only a glimpse of what was to come for the band.

It only got bigger for them. As popular as "Pyromania" was, it was stll more or less a niche album. But when "Hysteria" came out in high school, it was a full blown phenomenon. Once the chicks with the big hair saw a cute singer in ripped jeans and "Awwwwed" at the one-armed drummer in the "Pour Some Sugar on Me" video, it was all over. And don't get me wrong, I was caught up in it too. I even went with some buddies to see them (with Queensryche!) on that HUGE Hysetria tour when it came to Atlanta. In high school, I can't remember a bigger mainstream rock band than Def Leppard, or a bigger album than "Hysteria". Then they took a long, long break and put out shit like "Let's Get Rocked", and that was it for them.

Back to this song - it's a great opener to "Pyromania" with it's invitation to "rock" until one "drops" (which they repeat close to 346 times in one way or another in the song). It really starts out with a slow little picked riff until someone (Steve Clark? Phil Collen?) rips in with a killer riff. Joe Elliot has a great growl to his voice in this song that mixes well with that riff that goes on throughout. There's also the patented multitracked Def Leppard harmonies in there, an absolute signature sound. Apparently these guys were supposed to be studio perfectionists and would record track after track and a million overdubs ubtil they got that thick sound. Nice breakdown on the bridge at 2:38. I've never noticed all the times I've heard this, but right at the end there, (at about 3:48) you can hear someone say "Too loud man, too loud" and it sounds just like Otto, the stoned bus driver from the Simpsons. Heh. And finally, I can't hear the end of this song without hearing the opening chords of "Photograph" in my head right after, because that's the song that follows it on the album.

I actually found a pretty great live verion of this from 1983. Seriously, solid ass band back then.


Here's the song, if you want it:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5izp21wmgzj

"Poison" / Bell Biv Devoe / The Millenium Collection

Anyone see this one coming? I didn't. I must have had a late night drunken nostalgia trip one night.

For a change, I'm going to try to approximate the style of Chuck Klosterman for this review, since I'm currently reading his latest book. If you get it, have fun with it. If not, well, this will make probably no sense. At all. (And , for the record, I love reading Klosterman, but his style is so easily satirized that I can't help but give it a shot)

"You never trust a big butt and a smile"

Have truer words ever been spoken in the history of post-neo classical hip hop? If you recall, Bell Biv Devoe came from the remnants of early 80's teenybopper supergroup and NKOTB precursor New Edition (minus Johnny Gill, who was, at the time, rubbing women the right way and Bobby Brown(1), who with every little step was using his perrogative to find tender ronis. But I digress).

The thing about this song is that it is malleable enough that your perception of it informs not only your relationship with women, but also your inclination to appreciate Alice Cooper and hair metal.

You see, around the same time as this slice of R & B (2) came around, Alice Cooper was blazing a comeback with his own song called "Poison". Not to mention a few short years previous we had tthe debut album of uber hair metal band Poison, which continues to give so generously to pop culture through Brett Michaels "Rock of Love" today. How, one may ask, did the cultural Zeitgeist of late 80's early 90's pop music come to this? More than likely, it's the result of the complete dilillusionment of Reganomics and the sudden appearance of Fargo's own most desireable bacheorette, Gina Covington.(3)

ANYWAY, as most things do, it eventually comes back to KISS. The "Poison" of late 80's pop music has its direct antecedent to the "poison" that KISS was supposed to implant in the minds of us born between 1965 and 1980. In one sense, it means everything, and in another, it means nothing. You can see Ronnie Bivins as a "Rapper", or as a rapper, and either way, he'll never be as great a "rapper" as Steven Tyler was at one point.

So, indeed, never trust a big butt and a smile, gentlemen...

Just ask Kirby Puckett.

(1) owner and possible originator of the greatest black hairstyle ever, the Fade, or, as we called it in Minnesota, where there were no black people, "The Gumby"

(2) or, to be exact, "Hip Hop smoothed out on the R & B tip with a pop appeal"

(3) Gina Covington was the girlfrind of my nemesis Chris Fallows at Black Hills High School, our crosstown rival. Chris had not only the beginnings of what would be known as a "pornstache" (and this was way before ideas like "meta" and "ironic" ever reached North Dakota - if they ever have), but also a hell of a first step of the dribble and the hand of Gina, the Fargo girl who what the nost desireable in the uppermidwest in the glory years of 1983-1986.