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What Ever
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Over the past while, I have been systematically acquiring some of those hard-to-find albums by bands that were great before fate, fads, circumstance, or internal strife turned against them. This made me think things like “What ever happened to these guys?” Obviously, I could just look this up on the Internet, but then I would not have a great idea for a column, would I? Accept. The first time I heard this band I was 15-years old, and I listened to my copied tape of four songs (“Balls to the Wall”, “London Leather Boys”, “Fight it Back”, and “Head Over Heels”) so much that it snapped. About two months ago, I went hunting for CDs, and much to my surprise, I found a digitally re-mastered copy of Accept’s ‘Balls to the Wall’ album. The liner notes told me quite a lot about this group, way too much to write here. But suffice to say they were a German old-school metal group with a general feel similar to that of the faster and heavier Judas Priest Albums. At the time when glam became big (and the hair and make-up bigger) in the States, this 5-piece took on topics like politics and human rights – from a female point of view. After much speculation that they were gay (a big no-no in the metal community until metal god Rob Halford stepped out), the truth surfaced: their female manager wrote most of their lyrics. For me, the greatest part of Accept is the glass-shattering vocals of Udo Dirkschneider, an odd trollish-looking figure with short blonde hair who always wore camouflage, and the great blend of early thrash metal with seriously solid rock. Cinderella. Cinderella was one of the bands I “grew up on” during my birth stages as a rock/metal fan, and I have been a fan ever since. Their splendid mesh of rock and blues made for great easy listening, and Tom Kiefer (a great guitarist with very idiosyncratic vocals) and his band delivered a number of great rock songs and ballads. Their albums include the great ‘Long Cold Winter’ and the even greater ‘Heartbreak Station’. Cinderella was also part of the band of merry men who brought rock to Russia in ‘89 at the Moscow Peace Festival (see my review in an earlier edition), and a few years later, their song “Hot and Bothered” (from ‘Still Climbing’) featured in the first Wayne’s World movie (oh, come on, you remember, the movie that made Mike Myers, a.k.a. Austin Powers, Tia Carerra, a.k.a. The Relic Hunter, and the word “dude”, famous…). I have not been able to find out anything more about them, and just a little tip, do not try and go to www.Cinderella.com, especially from work, as it is not the band’s homepage… Extreme. I am sure close to everyone in the Western World has heard Extreme’s “More Than Words”, a really great ballad that got many daytime radio listeners to buy their awesome ‘Pornograffitti’ album, expecting to hear more songs like this. Truth is, Extreme’s albums always had great ballads on, but the vast majority of their music was pure nasty rock with a seriously funky twist. Most songs have great bass riffs (see “Get the Funk Out”, “Hip Today”, Decadence Dance”, etc.) by Pat Badger to support the superb guitar exploits of fretdemon Nuno Bettencourt – one of the fastest guitarists I have witnessed. If you don’t believe me, listen to “The Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee” on ‘Pornograffitti’… Extreme released about four albums and a greatest hits before disbanding. Their popularity is somewhat reflected in singer Gary Cherone’s presence at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert – he performed “Hammer to Fall” with Master Tony Iommi and Queen (Watch this space for a full DVD review coming soon!). Last I heard, Mr. Cherone was seconded by the Van Halen brothers – whether Extreme had broken up already at that stage, I don’t know. But the Van Halen stint could not have lasted long, as they toured with both Lee Roth and Hagar quite recently (can you imagine the Ego Clashes that went down there?). Skid Row. In my “Must Have Albums from the UT Collection” column, I mentioned that the Skids were one of those bands that “showed just exactly how loud L.A. rock can be”. Kicking off with their great self-titled debut, which contained the splendid “Youth Gone Wild”, followed by the truly awesome ‘Slave to the Grind’ (10/10 from me!), and, as far as I know, finishing up with the very heavy ‘Subhuman Race’ (and a “Greatest Hits” later), Sebastian Bach’s great voice never failed to rip through anything his band of grinding rockers could dish up. I recently found out the Skids have since replaced Mr. Bach. I promptly downloaded a song, but I was not impressed. Mr. Voice, in turn, was apparently booted of some big-time production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” (hmmm…), and is rumoured to be joining something called “the project”, started by Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Matt Sorum, and Duff McKagan (do these names mean anything to anyone?). And with all due respect to Mr. William Axl Rose, I would LOVE to hear this combination… The Sisters of Mercy. If you have ever been to the Doors, or pretty much any other rock/ metal/goth/industrial nightclub, you have heard “The Temple of Love”. Mr. Andrew Eldritch and his various band members, one of which included the founding father of The Mission (and his name is…? Wayne Hussey perhaps?), and another being a drum machine called “Dr. Avalanche”, was rather revolutionary in their day, greatly popularised the more poppy kind of goth music, and inspired a number of bands, including The Dark Count Mr. Dani Filth himself. The Sisters of Mercy were also hugely popular here, until one day someone somewhere decided that they are not cool, dark, or evil enough anymore. But I am very sure almost every goth on the planet still has something like ‘Vision Thing’, ‘Floodlands’, or ‘Some Girls Wonder by Mistake’ stashed away under their beds, together with their mascara and eyeliner (no, I am not projecting!). Where the Sisters are lurking right now, I don’t know. Therapy? This Irish three-piece popped onto the scene in 1994 with the truly spectacular piece of solid rock called ‘Troublegum’ – a 14-track, 45-minute album that starts and finishes without one dull moment. From this album, the tracks “Going Nowhere” and “Trigger Inside” enjoyed substantial airplay on what used to be a great SA rock radio station (no names shall be mentioned, as my lawyer friends aren’t talking to me anymore!). Therapy? also had the honour of supporting Ozzy for a viciously rocking rendition of “Iron Man” on the splendid ‘Nativity in Black Volume I’ (see my review elsewhere). After ‘Troublegum’, they released two other albums: The second was a disappointment, and I haven’t heard the third, but apparently it is almost on par with ‘Troublegum’. I have no idea whether this band is still in existence – I remember hearing a rumour that their bass player either died or joined another band (I don’t know how I can confuse the two either), but that was a long time ago. Twisted Sister. This is another band that was much bigger than I ever realised and that inspired many great bands. This is evident from their Tribute Album, which contains great covers by big bands like Anthrax and Cradle of Filth. I will not say too much about them, as this is more a bit of information on them than an inquiry into their whereabouts - Dee Snider and the boys recently reunited and are touring the States as we speak. Clearly “Stay Hungry” is more than a song or an album – it’s a way of life. Ugly Kid Joe. This band started off as an antithesis to bands like Pretty Boy Floyd (see the connection?) and did the whole “shorts and caps” thing long before Freddie Durst and his Bizkit boys were around. I was never a huge fan, but I rather enjoyed some of their songs – solid riffs with hilarious lyrics. They did a rather nice cover of the old song “Cats in the Cradle”, as well as of the great “N.I.B” on ‘Nativity in Black Vol. I’, but I think their biggest boost to fame was their song “(I Hate) Everything About You”, which also appeared in the first Wayne’s World movie. As far as I know, they released approximately four albums (including ‘America’s Least Wanted’ and ‘Menace to Sobriety’), but what has happened since is a great mystery to me. And there, a bit of trivia and mystery around a few bands that contributed to the thing we call rock n’ roll (in whatever form it might be). If you had the time and the (unrestricted) Internet access to look up the whereabouts of some of these long-haired, tattooed nutcases, let me know. Otherwise, join me in lying awake at night wondering what happened to the bassist in The Sisters of Mercy’s second cousin’s boyfriend’s grandmother’s studded collar… |
