Bullet Boys, Elefante

It never ceases to amaze me that the rock bands I knew of in the late 80s/early 90s are back and have new CDs.  They include but certainly are not limited to Autograph, Faster Pussycat, W. A. S. P., and Enuff Z 'Nuff.

Then, in spite of many changes in band members in that same span of time, we still have the Bullet Boys.

One thing is for sure:  Marq Torien nails it in showing the rock music world he still has it. His voice maintains the steadiness and strength in all of the eleven songs of Elefante.



The first thing I had to do is not think--and I am relaying this message to you--about the Bullet Boys we knew back in the day.  Expect a different sound.

The CD starts off with a great rocker called "Rollover."  I can wallow around all day in that old school-style rock.  What a great start to the CD!

Where I really felt the Bullet Boys vibe was in "The Villain."  The bass especially kept the song going.  So a big kudos to Chad MacDonald for that.

There is a bit of humility and sentimentality in their music--right in the middle, to be exact.  Where is it found?  In "Kin Folk."  What makes it great?  The soulful backup vocals.

"Symphony" starts off with a pop sound that is too strong for my taste. With the alternating pop and rock sounds, it left me confused.  It wasn't its own symphony to my ears.  However, the backup vocals saved the song.

Where I felt like they were gravitating toward the pop end of things was in "As Dumb As." Aside from the title possessing the same cadence as Was Not Was, the tone of the song made it sound like today's Top 40 music.

The Bullet Boys sound has always been compared to AC/DC and Van Halen.  I will add another one to that list:  Slaughter.  When I heard the end of "Tsunami" and "Drop Your Weapon," I couldn't help thinking of such hits as "Eye to Eye," "Up All Night" and "Out for Love."  Guys,please consider this a compliment, because when I hear their albums, I hear new things each time in those absolutely wild intros and outros.

How I would describe Elefante, in a nutshell:  Some great rock moments, some great pop moments. It's more or less hit and miss.  In time, I know this CD will grow on me.  If it happened to me when I first heard Heart's Little Queen, from hearing Bad Animals back around 1987, I know the same will happen when it comes to Elefante.

Scent of Remains

Yesterday was the first of February.  Scent of Remains had other firsts, themselves, last night.  It was their first show of the year--and with their new lead guitarist, Brian Roark (formerly of Reign Like Rain).

And to boot, they were the first band to play for the band many loyal thrash fans love to see: Battlecross.  Scent of Remains never let up in giving the audience strong melodics, not the least of which the vocals, the guitars...and the drums.  As for the latter, he contributed so much energy was so strong, someone in the audience shouted, "Killer drums!".

To that end, I say:  Killer band for a killer show.

Reckless: My Life as a Pretender

Sometimes, I wonder why I bother reading biographies of celebrities, in the midst of the variety of books I like to satisfy my literary palate with.  It pretty much has the same pattern:  discovering the talent at a young age; humble, frugal beginnings; a quick rise to stardom, with drugs and alcohol to accompany that part of the journey--and then a quick fall.  Then, for the rest of the book, the biographer, or the celebrity if it's an autobiography, makes every attempt possible to redeem themselves, hoping they can redeem themselves.

That, however, is not how Reckless: My Life as a Pretender is formatted.  

Lead singer Chrissie Hynde tells about her journey in how she became the lead singer of the Pretenders.  She never considered singing, only listening for hours on end to her favorite records, the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground--her list is endless.  You would have to have been around that time to know the names of some of these bands.  Therefore, most of the ones she listed are those I had never heard of and couldn't even come close to listening.  Of course, she couldn't write about this without going into great detail about how she used drugs and alcohol excessively.  That, and not having the least amount of direction in her life back then, would set her on an unstable course in her life, one living arrangement and one job to another.  The devil in the details at its best.

Nonetheless, I gave Hynde the benefit of the doubt and kept reading.  That she was well into her 20s before she ever considered being in a band, it held promise for something different, therefore something inspiring.  Based on what little I knew about the Pretenders--just a few songs I have passively listened to since about 1983--I thought this book would somehow turn around.  I thought that when she met Pete (drummer), Jimmy (guitarist), and Martin (bassist), her life would actually have direction.  I hate to say this, but it didn't.

What I gathered from the text was Chrissy's instability continued, moving from one place to another, meeting people, both male and female alike, most of whom hurt her in some way, and even living with them, only for her to have to move for various reasons.  By this time, I am past page 200 of the 310-page book.  Her text is inconsistent with the subject at hand.  The book was closing in on 100 pages left before Hynde mentioned anything about the Pretenders.

Like a few biographies I have read, like Slash's or one of KISS', there are lots of times when they talk about how they came up with hit songs.  If any of you are looking for how the Pretenders came up with timeless hits like "Middle of the Road," "Brass in Pockets," and "Don't Get Me Wrong," you will not find that.  In fact, there were times when those phrases came up in dialogue or circumstances. It only had me, the reader, in the dark.  "Brass in Pockets" happens to be my favorite by them.  I would have liked to have known how she came up with the title, the lyrics, how the guitarist came up with the melody, or how they shot the video.

The last several pages end on a depressing note.  Jimmy's and Pete's deaths, both within a year of each other.  She even spoke of her wedding day and her subsequent entrance into motherhood with such morbidity.

For the first time ever in my life, I read a biography of someone I didn't specifically dislike, just never considered being really into.  Therefore, the impact the content in this book made on me was not that great.  And it will stay that way.  Furthermore, I am glad I never went to a Pretenders concert.  Based on how Hynde described their shows, she didn't like fans very much.  Hello?  If it hadn't been for the fans, they would not have the shows they wanted so badly to have.

The arrangement for this autobiography is much like the one for the movie Walk the Line.  All it is is about Johnny Cash when he was on drugs and married to Vivian.  When I saw it, I thought:  why not have some part where he and June were married and appeared regularly on the Billy Graham show? Or his time with the Highway Men?  With this in mind, I wanted to know what things were like after Hynde had her two children, what the Pretenders were like from 1983 on, what she's doing now, etc.

If anything good can come out of reading this book, and writing this review, it is that I have taken the liberty of concisely expressing what I thought about this book.  I can do so.  According to Hynde, she never reads reviews.  Therefore, I assume her eyes will not happen upon this post.  But if she does, please know that I want only the best for her in her life.

I think I've written enough about this.  If you'll excuse me, I will crank up some KISS--a band who, without a doubt, appreciates their fans.

Michael Sweet sings "Honestly"

30th Anniversary of To Hell With the Devil

It was the fall of 1987.  I was watching DIAL MTV.  A video was featured for the first time of a glam rock band--one of many I was to have a lifetime love for.  The name of the band was Stryper, their video for a power ballad called "Honestly."  This was one of many beautiful songs written by the young hard rock superstars at the time.  The credits at the beginning and end of the video listed To Hell With the Devil as the name of the album it was on.  

In my naivete at thirteen years old, I had no idea what this album would mean to me and many I would meet.  

This past Saturday, I went to the to the Forum in Hazard, KY, to support the tour of the 30th Anniversary of that album.  The band, and Michael Sweet, himself, had recently rocked this town, maybe even put it on the map as a destination concert venue for hard rockers from the South and Midwest.

I consider it almost funny the timing of the 30th anniversary tour for that album.  In addition to my 29 years since the night I "met" Stryper via television, the weather had finally changed to real fall temperatures, daylight savings time was going to end, and the biggest and most important Presidential election was only days away,

Opening up for Stryper was Forsaken Hero, from Marion, Virginia.  They had opened up for Stryper back in June for their Fallen tour, and were honored to do the same for this one. Though I regret not paying much attention to them then, I did this time.  My friends and I will agree they sounded better the other night.  Just a handful of songs into their set, and I could tell they were heavily influenced by Stryper's heavenly heavy music:  no hindrances in the lyrics, or their sound--I heard some grunge from time to time--and most of all, their great attempts to rock as hard and loud as Michael, Oz, Tim, and Robert, combined.  They were a six-person band with a Stryper attitude...dressed in red and black.

What I appreciate about this band was their shamelessness in covering 80s anthems "I Love Rock and Roll" and Genesis' "Land of Confusion."  I'm sure Stryper was backstage applauding them for this.  Backup vocalist Emily Price took the lead in the former.  The latter was about the "confusion" about this election, that will take place at this writing in just a matter of hours.

I can't remember the last time I heard a fully instrumental rock or pop song; that is rare these days, maybe even a lost art, worse yet, obsolete.  To prove me wrong on that extinction was Alan Robinson .  He and his band had no words; neither do I except....WOW!  This is something all music lovers, even guitarists of all skill levels, should check out.  Great for all occasions, including but not limited to birthday parties, weddings, and any venue known to man.

Then...to set the stage (literally) for what was ahead:

What followed was a great video of the band, how they got started, as Roxx Regime, and how they were the trailblazers of Christian hard rock.  Through all the ups and downs they have experienced as a band, they are still together...and still rockin' for the Rock.  And that they did...in two sets.  The first set was To Hell With the Devil, song by song from the album and in order.  

Never in my life had I been so excited about and gotten goosebumps as a result of hearing "Abyss," knowing what song would follow.  I don't need to mention it; it is eternally synonymous with the name of the band.  The same goes for all of the other hit songs on it, not the least of which is "Honestly," "Free," "The Way," and "Calling on You."

By the way, I should let you know this is all in the context of someone who didn't see them back in the day.  Hence, my above-mentioned reaction to "Abyss."

The second set was even better.  It had the same kind of start, with "Yahweh."  Like Forsaken Hero, they covered songs like KISS' "Shout it Out Loud." That was an awesome tribute:  If it hadn't been for KISS, we wouldn't have Stryper.  To that end, I say, "Stryper, continue rocking on for the Rock."

Styx at Tennessee Valley Fair September 2016

Styx at the Tennessee Valley Fair

The third time is always the charm!

Such is the case in my attempts to see Styx for the past fifteen years.  I tried once in the fall of 2010, when they were on tour with REO Speedwagon, Survivor, and Journey.  The show got cancelled.  I tried again about a year ago when they were with Tesla and Def Leppard. But some other plans I had made a few months beforehand took priority.

Then, I heard Styx would be in my neck of the woods...at the Tennessee Valley Fair. I needed to go, that's all there was to it.



And I went.

I don't consider it an accident that this show was outside on a night before a full moon.



Was the full moon the reason this legendary band was graced with a sold-out show that only dedicated lifetime classic rockers from Tennessee could give? If so, I was glad to be a part of this. 




The band expressed their gratitude by giving us a show that took us back to the 70s, when things were simpler, and hard rock music was king.  Timeless classics like "Sail Away," "Blue-Collared Man," "Grand Illusion," "Crystal Ball," and "Renegade" were just a few songs that made the crowd go wild.  

That is only mildly describing what the band was like, not for one moment letting up.  It was as if they showed us the past few decade hadn't done them in.  The same could be said about the ever-brilliant light show!  The designs seemed to change by the song.









In addition to them playing some of the best songs ever, at one point, they left the stage for a long few minutes.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought the show was over, with no chance of an encore. 

And they came back to give us some more!

They can do that again in Knoxville.