Nirvana – Nevermind

As I’ve written this blog over the last couple years, I’ve managed to open myself up to a few bands that I once hated, disliked or expressed great disdain for. So, in that spirit(yet again) let’s explore another band(and album) that I really didn’t want to like. I’m talking about the 1991 culturally proclaimed, game changing, landmark album of the 90’s….Nirvana’s Nevermind

In the fall of 1991, my life faced a major change. I had been working at the Dustys Records store in Grand Island, NE for a year since my college graduation the summer before. Dusty announced that he was closing the GI Location and that meant I needed to seek out new employment. I found a job with the TransWorld Music Corporation as an assistant manager of Music Avenue which was a “lease operated” store inside the Montgomery Wards store at the Westroads Mall in Omaha. 

In the summer of 1991, I was enjoying Van Halen’s For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Metallica’s self titled “Black” Album, Mr. Big’s Lean into It and lots of Blues/Rock type stuff with a big emphasis on guitar heroics like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton.  By the time I had moved into an apartment(in Omaha) and got hooked up with some basic cable(in late October/early November) and some MTV to watch, I was bombarded with a distinct buzz about the band Nirvana. Now, it wasn’t like I hadn’t heard of Nirvana. We had a copy of the album Bleach for in-store play in the GI store. I was a fan of searing high guitar leads executed by technically proficient musicians. So, Nirvana didn’t seem that way to me. It was a bunch of distortion and bashing. It wasn’t long that the video for Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit was in HEAVY ROTATION on MTV. I remember sitting back in my apartment and watching (then MTV VJ) Steve Isaacs in a big chair with very expressive hands talking about new acts and I think he said something like “You Gotta like Nirvana!”  If you’ve read my blog on the debut album from Boston, you’ll recall my attitude when someone tells me “You gotta get/like…..”

All of a sudden, it seemed that the loud and angry bashing music (like Nirvana and Metallica among others) that I had enjoyed in the late 80’s (and had been criticized for)was now being accepted and embraced. What was once considered “alternative” was now becoming the “mainstream”.  Corporate Music stores in shopping malls are much different than independent record stores to me. In the fall of 1991, trendy people who shop in Malls were buying bands liked Nirvana. This was very odd to me. I was now working in a corporate store where I wore a dress shirt and tie to work. When I worked for Dustys, we wore T-Shirts and jeans. The Mall music store felt out of place and I felt like I wasn’t keeping up-to-date with what was going on musically and it was changing into something else that I didn’t really like and couldn’t control the change.

We were encouraged by TransWorld to play the promo cassettes that were sent by the company. It seemed that they rarely sent new stuff and we really couldn’t open new material for in-store play. Occasionally, we’d break a couple of rules and open a couple out of inventory. In my early days of employment, I do remember a spotlight for “new acts” that included Blues Traveler’s Travelers and Thieves (Which I loved) and Nirvana’s Nevermind.  Since this was a Mall store, It just didn’t feel like the right environment to be playing the aggressive sound of Nirvana.  It didn’t feel like something guys in dress shirts and ties with smooth sterile counter tops would listen to.

Eventually, we were allowed to open a cassette copy of Nevermind to have for in-store play.  I popped the cassette in with the part-time kid (who liked everything). Of course, he loved it. I think he even pushed to have a copy opened for in-store play. Obviously, I had heard Smells Like Teen Spirit many times on MTV. This was the first track on the album. Next up was In Bloom and my initial reaction was that Kurt Cobain’s vocals reminded me of Paul Westerberg of the Replacements.  As an employee of a music store, I had become quite the musical snob. I had the attitude that I knew more about popular music than anyone else. An attitude like “These trendy music buyers have no idea who the Replacements are and so they don’t deserve to buy something from Nirvana.”  I was like Jack Black in the movie High Fidelity.  I wouldn’t say I hated Nevermind.  It just didn’t light me on fire and I didn’t relate to the whole “Angry Young Man living in a world of Hate” attitude either. 

(I realize this video is a backwards/mirrored image. It’s a copyrighted thing)

On January 11th, 1992 (20 years ago), Nirvana appeared on Saturday Night Live the same day that Nevermind went to Number 1 on the US Album Sales chart.  The media, the record companies and the tastemakers noticed this and Nirvana was then categorized as “Grunge”. There were other bands out of Seattle along with Nirvana making it big like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. So, these bands were thrown into the “Grunge” category which also became a “look” too. Bands that dressed in jeans and t-shirts and flannel shirts were unconsciously making a fashion statement too.  This category was touted as THE NEW Sound and the new look too.  I wore flannel shirts in the early 80’s during the winters in Nebraska. When this kind of success and hype hits the mainstream media, the record companies start seeing dollar signs and jump on a bandwagon to sign every kind of band that sounds like this and they abandon the bands they had been promoting if those bands don’t fit into the mold of the NEW sound.  I still had great fondness for a lot of the bands that had started in the late 80’s.  Don’t get me wrong. Some of the supposed “Hair” bands of the 80’s were a little ridiculous. I know that many music fans were sick of them too. There were good bands from that era too. But, they soon got overshadowed by these new “Grunge” style bands and completely written off as something from the 80’s.

As a music fan, you have a tendency to blame an artist for the overexposure they get or if your favorite band is suddenly unpopular and out of the national spotlight, you have a tendency to blame that “new” band for everything.  I know I did. Nirvana was selling and the bands I liked and felt that had more talent on their instruments were being pushed to the side.  Looking back, it’s not the Kurt Cobain or Nirvana’s fault. For years, there have been scores of tales that musicians, songwriters and bands have told of the overpowering RECORD COMPANY that tells the artist what they should do with their look, their sound, their songs just to sell more records. Most musicians just want to play music and write music to satisfy their own musical expression.  It’s those other factors that oversaturate the public consciousness with those songs. The record company comes across something successful, they see dollar signs and it gets played incessantly and it’s also imitated ad nauseum too.

It’s that pressure and the skyrocketing popularity that probably led to the suicide of Kurt Cobain.  The rise of Nevermind to heights of popularity soon turned everyone in the band to bigger than life celebrities and “Rock” stars. Not in their own eyes, but in the eyes of the public that watched their every movement.  I remained skeptical of the “greatness” of Nirvana. I didn’t like the way Dave Grohl played drums. I had a love of drummers who play with a certain “groove”. To me, Grohl was all about bashing plain and simple. Soon, he was heralded as being “groundbreaking” and “influential”.  I knew drummers in college who could thrash and bash too. I didn’t find them to be influential.  Even one of my favorite drummers Chad Smith proclaimed in a 1993 issue of Modern Drummer that Grohl was the best drummer out there.  The band followed up with the album In Utero in 1993. Of course, there was great expectations for this album. They even recorded an episode of MTV’s Unplugged. By this time, I was tired of the greatness that had been bestowed on Nirvana. 

Then, in April 1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide and killed himself. There were all kinds of news stories leading up to this about his heroin addiction, his marriage to Courtney Love and their daughter Frances Bean. I was so tired of hearing about Nirvana. On that day in 1994, I was actually in a store called CD Warehouse that specialized in used CD’s when I heard the news that Kurt Cobain had killed himself. My initial thought was “Oh Great! Now, this will make him an even bigger icon in death than he was in life”   Sure enough, MTV News director Kurt Loder made the announcement and made the comment that Kurt Cobain was the “John Lennon of his generation”.  As a giant Beatles fan, I hated that assessment! I was born the same year as Cobain. He was the same age as me. I didn’t see it.  Cobain was then featured as the cover story on Rolling Stone magazine.  This enraged me because (4 years before) when Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed in a helicopter accident, he didn’t get a Rolling Stone cover.  Stevie’s death seemed much more tragic than Cobain’s. Stevie had overcome drug and alcohol addiction and was riding high in his career when he died. John Lennon was killed by a crazed stalking fan. Kurt Cobain killed himself.

In June 1994, I moved back to Kearney and back to work at Dustys Records.  But, my experiences in Omaha had changed me and the music I listened was different too. The early 90’s seemed to filled with the alternative scene and (as my friend Mick said) “young toughs living in a world of hate”.  The clientele of Dustys were now college students that grew up on the grunge movement of the 90’s. They loved it. I didn’t.  So, now I felt like some kind of old fogie that was preaching about how the acts I loved were so much better than what was coming out. I was into blues artists and jam bands like Blues Traveler and classic rock artists putting out new material.  But, what I didn’t see is that I was angry about the music that was now popular and I wore that distaste on my sleeve.  I had always been so passionate about the music I like.  I’m a fan that becomes so passionate that I become almost possessive about it too.  Like a selfish 4-year old, I don’t want to share. If you don’t share the passion for what I like(or dislike), I can be rather difficult to deal with.  Just ask my old friend Bob about the hour and a half drunken rant I pointed at a girl in my college days for not liking the Who. I’m not proud of this.  As I write this, I am beginning to see how “unlikable” I could be.

Now, it’s 2012.  It’s been 20 years since Nirvana’s rise to “greatness”.  So, I figured it’s time to drop any kind of childish jealousy or dislike I had for this band. I have been watching YouTube videos on the making of Nevermind.  I’ve watched documentaries on the band and interviews with surviving members Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic.

I look back at those younger days of the band and I’m reminded how smug and sarcastic Kurt, Krist and Dave were in those days. In the 70’s and 80’s, I grew up with bands that championed the “Rock Star” hero. These guys were definite “anti” heroes. That may have been one of the things I didn’t like about them. As a drummer, I wanted to be in the spotlight. I wanted to be on a stage playing even if it meant doing interviews etc. These guys seemed like some of biggest jerks when it came to public appearances and interview segments. I’m sure it was part of their love of the punk scene and attitude. But, when I think back to how I was at the time, I was the same. I was a sarcastic smart-ass too.  I was working in a record store and I was a giant music snob. Like many of the fans of rock music, I was tired of the Guns N’ Roses look alike bands with the whole “Bad boy” image with tattoos and bandanas look too. But, I wanted musicians with great technical proficiency on their instruments to be the new music of the 90’s. So, here was Nirvana that were minimalists on their instruments and the public was buying this stuff up. 

As I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve consciously tried to drop any pretenses I had for this music 20 years ago. I have continued to listen to the music. Sirius XM radio did a “Town Hall” discussion with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and producer Butch Vig on the 20th Anniversary of the Nevermind album. They were interviewed by comedian John Stewart along with fans asking the guys questions about the songs and the album. Of course, the idolism questions are asked like “Did you know when you recorded this album that it would change the face of popular music and rock n’ roll?” The band inevitably answers almost in unison “NO!”  They all seem so humble about what they did.  Dave Grohl is very humorous about his drumming and his inability to keep the tempos in check. As a drummer myself, I used to hate the thought of a “click track” to keep my timekeeping contained. But, as I’ve grown as a drummer, I’ve realized the need to control the tempo when the other band members have a tendency to rush their bass lines or guitar riffs. The guys also discussed the timeline from when the album was released to the heights of hysteria that followed. As they conveyed the timeline of events, I reflected to where I was at that time in my own personal history.

The album was released in late September 1991. The Dustys store in Grand Island closed in early September. I started my new job in Omaha on September 30th. I lived with my older sister and her family for the month of October until I found an apartment to live. My nephew and niece were 6 and 5 years old at the time. So, I didn’t listen to a lot of my music with a heavier edge around the youngsters. By the time I moved into my own apartment in November, the album was entering the Billboard Top 40 albums. I was dealing with my own stuff.  For a guy like me who would pay attention to the new releases of the day and what was going on, I was completely sideswiped by this new musical movement.  Looking back, I think that was one of the reasons why I was so against this album. The other reason may have been that because I was from the same age group as Kurt, Dave, and Krist, I was dealing with my life and working in a store and wasn’t really complaining about life. These guys just seemed angry at everyone and everything.  I wasn’t that angry…or was I?

So, I finally downloaded the album and have been listening to it.  Considering how negative I had become about the album over the past 20 years, I was able to take a positive look at the whole album. I’m still tired of hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit. In 2011, The Muppets did a comedic take on SLTS for the movie The Muppets and did a barbershop version of this song. Since I never had some sort reverential take on this song, I found it very entertaining. The fact that Dave Grohl is in the movie as a drummer in a Muppet tribute band known as “the Moopets” shows that he had a sense of humor about it too.

As I listened to the band reminisce about the recording of the album and track listing for the album, I’m reminded how the album tracks seem to flow from one track to another. From SLTS to In Bloom to Come As You Are to Breed and then Lithium, I find myself really enjoying the songs as I sing along with an album I had never owned before this.  Kurt Cobain may have been portrayed as an angry, troubled disillusioned icon. But, he really had a good ear for melodies.  Krist Novoselic may have become known as being the band member that stepped out of the spotlight. But, he had some memorable bass lines too. I may not laud Dave Grohl as a great drummer. But, as I dive into the playing on this album, it’s a sign of a good drummer to let the songs ebb and flow and breathe.  He plays with subtleties to bring down the tone of the song and then winds himself up to a flurry of flailing sticks and hair behind that simple drumkit.  As I have criticized Dave for being nothing special, I’m reminded how much I absolutely revere Ringo Starr of the Beatles. Ringo also played with a simplicity that was ultimately what led to his signature fills and licks on the drumkit. So, in the tradition of great drummers who know when NOT to play, Dave Grohl could be praised for his work. Butch Vig should be praised as a producer. He took a very ragtag band and augmented their instrumentation and their vocals and crafted something that(in the end) has very catchy songs, choruses. In my Music and Memories blog about the Clash’s London Calling, I talked about the raspiness of Joe Strummer’s voice. For me, there some kind of musicality to it. It’s individualistic and gives the singer some character. I could say the same about Kurt Cobain’s voice. He has a distinct rasp to his voice. But, yet it’s a signature vocal for him.

In the book 1001 Albums,  writer Robert Dimery writes:

The warped pop songs bit with the belligerence of punk, but hit with the cranked-up power chords of metal. The album instantly established Kurt Cobain as one of rock’s most distinctive singers, capable of delivering extraordinary throat-shredding vocals, but also a songwriter of genuine sensitivity and originality

Was this album filled with “warped” songs that had a pop tinge to them? Yes they did. Were the chords passed down from the Metal bands of the 70’s?  Producer Butch Vig has been quoted that Kurt Cobain wanted Nevermind to sound like a Black Sabbath album.  Was this one of the influential albums of the past 20 years? Could be. I grew up playing in garage bands and the first song we would “jam” to would be Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water.  I’ve talked to people who grew up in the 90’s and when they picked up their instruments they “jammed” to Smells Like Teen Spirit.  As for the people in my age group who loved the “bad boy” bands of the 80’s that were pushed to the side by Nirvana and the other Seattle bands, don’t blame them. The record companies and the marketing people backed this band well.  Nirvana was just a 3-piece band of regular guys that wanted to make an album that they thought sounded good to themselves. From an artistic point of view, when you are happy with what you’ve done, that is the first part in satisfying yourself.  The fact that the general public jumped on it. That is another bizarre occurrence and simply a matter of good timing.

There are my musician friends that scoff at the lack of musical proficiency that Nirvana had and the level of fame they achieved with that. There are my peers from the 80’s that loved the GnR copycats and the Motley Crue wannabes and are still mad at Nirvana for pushing “their” bands out of the limelight. But, the guys in these bands have gone on to say what fans they were of many different styles and genres of music….including heavy metal and pop. I’ve quoted Willie Nelson many times when he talks about music. “Music is a spiritual thing. It means different things to everyone.”  Nirvana’s Nevermind meant something different to a lot of people. At the time, I wasn’t one of those people. But, after 20 years, I can definitely respect where they were coming from.

Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth

Today (as I’m writing this) is Tuesday February 7th 2012.  For longtime fans of Van Halen, this is BIG day. This is the first new album by Eddie and Alex Van Halen since the 1998 Van Halen album Van Halen III.  The band (at that point) featured singer Gary Cherone of the band Extreme and original bassist Michael Anthony. That was 14 years ago.  In 2012, the band now features original vocalist David Lee Roth and Eddie’s son 20 year old Wolfgang Van Halen.  The drama that has surrounded this band for the past 27 years is legendary.  From the exit of original lead singer David Lee Roth in 1985 through the Sammy Hagar years, this band has been on the musical radar of many fans.  If there is one word for Van Halen fans, that would be “Passionate”…oh and “discerning” and “hypercritical”  Seriously, when Van Halen puts out a new album, it’s a big event for musicians and VH fans everywhere.  Speaking for myself and many of my musician friends from the 80’s, this band is one of the reasons I play the instrument I do.

The band toured with Dave and Wolfie back in 2007-2008. There’s been talk of a new album since then.  This past July 4th weekend, David Lee Roth had posted on his website to “GET READY”. That was all it said.  So, after 7 months of “getting ready” ….finally the new album (titled A Different Kind of Truth) hit stores this week.  There are the fans that will praise it just because they’re fans of the Dave years and hate the Sammy years. My friends know me as a longtime VH fan of all “eras” of the band.   So, I will try to give my first impressions on this new album.

When the buzz about this album started, there were stories that the songs on this album were demos and unreleased songs that the band had written back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  I, myself, found that odd because I had been reading interviews wtih Eddie Van Halen since 1996 and he said that he’d been writing non-stop since Sammy left and there was all kinds of music that he’d written.  So, when it was reported that the music for this album was composed way back in the 70’s and 80’s, I didn’t see a lot of promise.  Another factor that’s been talked about is the fact that original bassist-Michael Anthony was no longer in the band. Michael was THE unsung factor to the overall VH sound. He has some of the greatest high backing vocals ever.  I don’t like to judge an album by comparing to their past albums etc. So, I’ll try and be objective about this whole thing. Here we go…

1. Tattoo
This is the first single off the album. The band released a video for this a few weeks back. It really didn’t seem that great. It didn’t light me on fire. But, as I listened to the album through today, I found myself singing along to it….hmmmm?

2. She’s the Woman
A few weeks back, the band did a small gig at New York’s Cafe Wha? and this was the only new song on that setlist. I saw some of the amateur video from that night. The core band of Alex, Eddie and Wolfgang all seem to chug along as an unstoppable unit. Dave handles the high notes of this song well on the album. But, if you’ve followed Dave’s career over the past 27 years, he might be struggling to hit those notes in concert. He may have been able to hit those notes back in his twenties. But, he’s creeping towards his sixties now.  It’s a 3 minute song and it seems to end a little short.

3.You and Your Blues
….uh….um…..uh….. next
I was going to comment about the chorus sounding similiar to a DLR solo track. But, I won’t….Oh Wait…I just did…

4. China Town
Now this what I always loved about Van Halen. This powerful freight train rhythm section with Alex Van Halen just slamming those double bass drums.  The brothers Van Halen always had a great sense of rhythm and working off each other.  I’m a sucker for that driving double bass boogie and then a fantastic screaming Eddie Van Halen guitar solo.  AAaaggggHHHH! Love this track.

5. Blood and Fire
This Rock and Roll boulder is picking up momentum. I’m nodding my head to the music on this one. I have found myself singing along to the opening line of the song with Dave.  I get to this song and I’m really starting to like it.

6. Bullethead
”NO I”M NOT! YOU Are!!”
“I’m rubber, You’re Glue….Whatever you say bounces off me and goes back to you!”
I’m reminded of Steve Martin’s bit called Rubberhead from his album Comedy is Not Pretty. 
“Oh I know what you’re saying. He’s funny…but…He’s a Rubberhead.”
“You probably think all Rubberheads throw fish!”
”you want to call me….a Rubberhead. Well go ahead call me a Rubberhead”
…back to the review..
Slammin song….Nice change ups in the song after the eerie guitar solo.  But, kind of a throw away song. 

7. As Is
I hate to compare this song to things I’ve heard before but I can’t help it. The opening drums on this song sounds like the drum intro sounds like Pat Benatar’s LIttle Too Late.  The band goes into a double bass drum guitar hyper-boogie(as Joe Satriani calls it) much like their 1984 song Hot For Teacher.  I even felt myself singing
“I think of all the education that I’ve missed. But, then my homework was never like this!"

8. Honeybabysweetiedoll
I love when Eddie gets weird and makes just odd noises to lead into a song. Dave sounds like he’s channeling some irreverent Frank Zappa in his talk-speak-sing-low voice on this. I love the slamming drums that Alex is playing on this. This is what I liked about Eddie’s love of doing something bizarre and different from what has worked for him before. I always felt he did a lot of experimentation in the “Sammy” years. I was pleased to hear this. I like this a lot.

9. The Trouble with Never
This sound of Eddie’s guitar with Wolfie’s bass(I hope) on the intro just puts a smile on my face. The chorus is very sing-along-able. I really like the rhythms on this song. The band takes the tempo down and Dave starts a low-talking bit for the bridge.  It’s a good song and I’m starting to like this.

10. Outta Space
This definitely sounds like “old-school” Van Halen.  Like a song on the tail end of an album maybe 78-80.  Oh wait….it’s the 2012 version of On Fire from the debut album.

11. Stay Frosty
Wow…sounds likes “Son of Ice Cream Man”  or “Could This Be Magic-Part II”  In the words of Ted Templeman on the Fair Warning,  “C’mon Dave, Gimme a break!”  Don’t get me wrong. That irreverent goofy vaudevillian aspect of the classic Van Halen sound was always something I kinda liked. It shows the band’s versatility for different styles.  A friend of mine commented that he thought this might have been an idea for Van Halen to provide a jingle for a beer company.

12. Big River
I like it. Every one of these songs has the signature sounds of Van Halen. Eddie’s guitar and Alex’s solid drumming. This is no exception. This has a great four-on-the-floor bass drum with a little funkiness on top.

13. Beats Workin’
The last track…starts with some feedback…lots of drum fills with some nods to that heavy guitar and bass interaction that Edward and Wolfie are connected beyond their DNA. 

To sum up the whole album, I really wanted to not like it and be hypercritical and skeptical about it. But, it’s rather satisfying all in all. I was waiting to hear Dave Roth croaking out songs that he wrote 30+ years ago and struggling. He does a little.  Does it seem like Dave might have tried to carry some of these song ideas into his solo career in the 80’s and 90’s?  Could be.  Would Mikey Anthony’s high backing vocals help out some of Dave’s adventures in the higher register?  Absolutely.

I listened to this album on Friday afternoon and then switched back to 1982’s  Diver Down album. Diver Down may be the band’s (and some fans) least favorite album. But, that album was really my first taste of VH when my friend Mick played it for me one Saturday morning.  Back then, I knew nothing about Van Halen except that there was a lead singer named Dave and that the guitar player was married to actress Valerie Bertinelli.  What kind of expectations did I have for that album back then? None really! That was the album that had me hooked and I was quick to buy up every album after that.  Van Halen quickly became one of my favorite all time bands. The reason I liked this band was the guitar tone and style of Eddie and the signature sound of Alex Van Halen and his one-of-a-kind snare drum ‘crack’. After the passing of Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, Alex really was the only hard rock drummer in the 80’s that had his own sound that you could easily identify as Alex Van Halen.  Those two elements are on this album. It puts a smile on my face. I feel my head nodding along.

As for the live element, much has been said about the “Dave Years”.  When the conversation comes about David Lee Roth and his vocal abilities, the remark is always made about “Dave is one of the greatest frontmen/showmen in rock”  Well, back in 1984, I would have agreed with that. Dave had a quick wit and tongue when came to great quotes and interview soundbytes.  But, that has been his style for the past 26-27 years. His schtick just got old for me. Thanks to the internet and YouTube, I’ve gone back and looked at live video of the “early Dave year's'”, the “Sammy years” and the “Dave-reunion” years.  For me, I find it annoying that Dave can’t seem to sing the songs in a live sense like they are in the recording sense. He waits to come in on his vocals, comes in late and tries to syncopate it a little.  The band seem to chug together better as a unit in the Sammy years. Sammy always seemed to be one of the guys while Dave is always having to stop on stage to do some little spin or leg-kick or stop to position his body right to sing the right notes. Then, he smiles that giant chesire cat style grin as if to say “Look at me…aren’t I wonderful”  So, I wonder how some of these songs will go over in a live set. There is already video for the “Friends and Family” gig that the band did this past week and Dave “forgot the f***ing words” while performing the song China Town.

But, does that really matter at this point? My other concern for this band is that they are now considered a “Classic” rock band. They have a catalog of 6 (now 7) albums. Do the fans really want to hear the “new” material. I saw Paul McCartney in 1993 and when he would announce “This is a song off of our new album”, there would inevitably be lines up and down the stands of people heading to the concession stands or the restroom. Will Van Halen fans eat up the new stuff or not? Are the fans of the Dave years just praising this because they blindly think that everything good about the band could be attributed to Dave? Where were these fans when Dave did A Little Ain’t Enough and Your Filthy Little Mouth?

The songs contain some solid playing from Eddie, Alex and Wolfie.  That alone is a reason to like this. Hopefully, Eddie is sober and is taking his playing seriously. By all press accounts, he is.  Do I like the Dave Roth vocals? Yes I do. It has some of that character that Dave brought to the band all those years ago.  I still long for the Michael Anthony backing vocals.  My friend Mark made the comment that there really isn’t any memorable songs or melodies with these songs.  I can only sarcastically respond to that with “Well, if you give the fans a sing along melody, they’ll accuse the band of being ‘too poppy’ like they did with the Sammy years”

The truth is I keep putting this album on again and again. Not only to blog about it as I am now. But, to soak it all it in. I find more and more things I like about it. It has strong points and weak points. It has nods to the past and to the formulas that have always worked for this band. I wanted to be skeptical about it. I wanted to hate it. I wanted to pick it apart. But, ultimately, I’ve chosen to really like it.

Music Listening Habits (and Favorites) for 2011

It's the beginning of another year and there has been an outpouring of "Best of" lists that have come out. For the past couple of years, I really haven't had any favorite from that year. This year has been different. Thanks to the internet and social media outlets like Facebook. I have been able to keep up with the bands and artists that I like. Gone is the day of MTV and the radio keeping you updated on music(at least for me). So, for 2011, here is my favorite releases of the year. I don’t like numbering or single out one album or another as to which is better than the other or I liked one better than the other. I realize some of these bands have been around for years. But, this is my list and these were just MY favorites releases of 2011.
Mr. Big – What If?

One of my favorite bands of the late 80’s and early 90’s was the band Mr. Big featuring instrumental virtuosos Paul Gilbert on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass, Eric Martin on vocals and Pat Torpey on drums.  Of course, many associate Mr. Big with the “hair” bands of the late 80’s and their hit acoustic single To Be With You. I always felt they were more than that. I saw them in concert a couple times in the 90’s and was blown away both times. I actually met singer Eric Martin in the Crossroads Mall in Omaha and he seemed very personable too. I continued to follow the band as their fame waned in the states while they reached Beatlemania sized fame in Japan.  They broke up in the early 2000’s but reunited with a Japanese tour in 2009.  The reunion went well. So, they returned in 2011 with a new studio album on Frontiers Records(where 80’s rock bands go to get record deals) called What if?  Many could say that these virtuosos can play practically anything on their respective instruments. But, can they write a catchy song with a good melody?  I believe they could and I still they do. This album was a fine return to form for these guys. They can chug out a locomotive groove on tracks like the album opener Undertow

…and They rock out on a Van Halen type double bass drum boogie on American Beauty.  Of course, there is a couple of ballads too. Since their original release, I’ve been a big fan of drummer Pat Torpey and the groove he establishes on all of the songs. This album is no exception.  I know this album made Radio and VH1 personality Eddie Trunk’s 2011 list and he claims it’s the band’s best album since their debut album back in 1989.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You

Speaking of drummers who know how to make a band groove, 2011 saw at least two high profile recordings of drummer Chad Smith. First was a new release from his day job and regular band – The Red Hot Chili Peppers and their newest release in 5 years called I’m With You.  I honestly believe what makes the Chili Peppers as good as they are is the solid rhythm section that Smith and bassist Flea have established since Smith joined for the 1989 album Mother’s Milk.  Chad Smith has the style of playing that I love in rock. To me, Chad Smith is the perfect cross between Hendrix’s Mitch Mitchell and Zeppelin’s John Bonham. After a 3-4 year band hiatus, the band came back together with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. Of course, my ear is naturally tuned into the drums and bass.  So, I didn’t notice much difference in song structure with the new guitarist.  Chad keeps it funky throughout the album. I actually prefer listening to this album as opposed to watching videos and live footage from the album. I love the sound of this band. But, I find lead singer Anthony Keidis’s new “look” very disturbing.  He has a cheesy mustache that looks like something from a…uh…Oh well…you figure it out. His hair is long in front and is flopped over his eyes which downright bugs me. Here’s the video for the lead off single and video for The Adventures of Raindance Maggie. Obviously, if you know your Rock n’ Roll History, this is reminiscent of the Beatles in their movie/documentary Let it Be and also U2’s video for Where the Streets Have No Name.

Speaking of Rock&Roll History, 2012 marks the year where the Red Hot Chili Peppers are to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  This band has been going since the early 80’s. They definitely deserve it. So, that’s something for them to mark in their history of accomplishments.
The other high profile recording gig that Chad Smith had this year was the release of the second album by rock supergroup Chickenfoot called Chickenfoot III.  Yes, you read that correctly. The band has made the statement in the press that they had matured so much as a band since their first release it was like they skipped right over the second album and went straight to the third. How’s that for an explanation?
This album is a very strong album that stretches out with better song structure, more mature lyrical content, and some exploratory bass playing from the often overlooked Michael Anthony. As I’ve stated before, my ear is naturally drawn towards the sound of Chad Smith’s drums. But, on this album, I was drawn to the stories that are told through Sammy’s lyrics. The band did some great pre-release “behind the album” press via podcasts and YouTube Videos. I actually reviewed this on another blog website. This album was just a more mature album. Sammy’s lyrics dealt with more than his usual partying/ tequila drinking/driving really fast subject matter. Although, the first single – Bigfoot is about “my big foot on the gas”. Other than that, Sammy touches on relationships. Whether it’s dealing with the death of his longtime manager(Up Next) or the relationship with his wife(and the intense complications that make up a marriage) to the plight of the unemployed in America(Three and a Half Letters), this album struck a chord in me more than just the funky rhythmic timekeeping of Chad Smith.

Another “Supergroup” album that had a giant leap forward in songwriting and band synergy was Black Country Communion and the album Black Country Communion 2. 

This band is made of vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes(Deep Purple), drummer Jason Bonham(son of Zep’s John Bonham, UFO, Foreigner, Paul Rodgers), Former Dream Theater keyboards Derek Sherinian and blues-rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa.  I actually enjoyed the first album(which came out in late 2010). It was a nice taste to whet the appetite for the classic rock sound of the 70’s(a’la Zeppelin & Deep Purple) Joe Bonamassa had become a favorite guitarist in the blues genre(and guitarists worldwide). But, He also has a deep love for the era of 70’s Rock. The first album seemed to be more of a showcase for Glenn Hughes with his exceptional howling vocals and a welcome comeback it was. But, It felt like a lot of highs and locomotive driving rock with little to no time to (hypothetically) catch your breath. There was no valleys to the mountainous rock heaviness. Bonamassa is a decent vocalist and I think using his talents along with Glenn’s in harmony might have helped the first album too. That being said, they still represent what artist development was like in the 70’s when a band could grow with each album. This second outing has a great sense of continuity. The drumming is solid (as always) from Jason Bonham.  Jason is the son of Zeppelin’s John Bonham. But, he’s 45 years old now.  At times, he can be at a disadvantage because his father has become THE most iconic dead rock drummer of all time.  With that, he is inevitably being compared to his father.  Sometimes (as fans) we have a tendency to exalt dead musicians to something greater than they really were….and I’ve been guilty of it too.  But, this definitely showcases the entire band.  The first album seemed to keep Derek’s keyboards buried in the mix. One thing that excited me about this band when it was originally announced (with Sherinian on keyboards) is that I would get a taste of some Hammond organ (a la Jon Lord of Deep Purple). It’s definitely on this one. The first two songs chug along nicely with the Outsider and Man in the Middle.

Then, the band slows it down with The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall. I don’t know who Hadrian is or what his wall has anything to do with this rock band. But, it is probably one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s starts with acoustic guitar and precedes to rock much like a classic rock mythological tale.


…continuing on is a song called Save Me which according to Jason Bonham was a song he had presented to Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones when the plans for a full blown Led Zeppelin reunion was seriously talked about that ultimately didn’t happen. This song has the epic mid-tempo grind of an old Zeppelin with thundering bass drum holding everything together.  The rest of the album switches from absolute barn buster rockers to bluesy heartfelt ballads to acoustic folksy heavy rock. Obviously, the bedrock of this is the heavy drum sound because of Jason and his father’s influence on him and the band too. This was just one album of many that came out this year that I really liked. There was so much and I spent so much of the time listening to these late at night that I would then being lulled to sleep in the comfort of the great music only to be woken mid album by an absolute rocker.
When Glenn Hughes was recruited to replace bassist Roger Glover of Deep Purple in 1973, he was introduced to Ian Gillan’s replacement who was an unknown singer named David Coverdale.  After Deep Purple disbanded in 1976, Coverdale started his own heavy bluesy dual guitar band known as Whitesnake.  This band has seen many lineup changes with musicans ranging from classic bands of the 70’s and metal bands of the 80’s. Most people know Whitesnake from their heyday in the late 80’s where they were more hair and videos with Tawny Kitaen than anything bluesy and hard rock.  In the early 2000’s, Coverdale reformed the band with guitarists Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach. The bassists and drummers have changed since then. In 2011, the band was solidified with the drumming of Brian Tichy and the album Forevermore. 

I had followed Brian Tichy’s career since he first appeared on singer Sass Jordan’s album Rats and Zakk Wylde’s band Pride & Glory.  Brian’s career has slowly been building to this point. In 2007, Brian replaced Jason Bonham in Foreigner and I was honored to see him play with Foreigner in October 2009. I was seriously impressed with his playing. His drum solo was very well executed and entertaining and I was lucky enough to catch his drumstick that night too.
Once again, this is an album that has the Zep-like guitar riffs and heavy rock drums that I love to hear.  The riffs are very meaty and the production is so full that the guitar parts just fill the mix. Coverdale’s voice has aged a bit. He never really could reach those high notes in the 80’s. He’s always had a more natural smoky baritone to his vocals in my opinion. So, let’s stop with the Robert Plant comparisons then. From the opening chords of Steal Your Heart Away to Love Will Set You Free, the first 3 tracks are solid rockers showcasing a tight band with a love for this music.

Track 4 is Easier Said Than Done and it’s really a sweet mid-tempo love song. But, I don’t feel like it’s a cheesy type power ballad like we heard in the 80’s.
It’s also filled with acoustic numbers reminiscent of 80’s MTV Unplugged with One of These Days. In fact, I can almost imagine the band sitting on soundstage on stools strumming along to this one.  There are some bluesy stuff too with Whipping Boy Blues.  But, the showcase for new drummer Brian Tichy is the title track Forevermore.  It’s even included at the end of the album with an extended drum solo. The lyrics on this one seem a little cliche’. But, it rocks with a revved up boogie feel. And when that’s done right, I have nothing to complain about. 
Another band from the 80’s that made a huge comeback in the world of Heavy Metal was New York Thrash icons – Anthrax! They hadn’t released an album in years and there had  been all kinds of shake-ups and questions concerning the lead vocalist duties these past 5-6 years. Then, it was announced that they had been recording with Joey Belladonna from the classic 80’s lineup.  The result was the release of Worship Music
 
Once again, radio and VH1’s That Metal Show host Eddie Trunk trumpeted this as one of the best Metal albums of the year. I would have to agree. I haven’t bought a thrash metal album in years. I haven’t had any real interest in this band since the early 90’s. I was elated with this album. This one is just phenomenal! It slams! It rocks! It melts the flesh from your face. There’s a reason these guys were on the forefront of the thrash movement in the 80’s. They’ve even played a few shows with the “Big 4” forefathers of thrash… Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax this past year. With the interest in the air about this band, I was excited to hear this one as well. In my circle of friends, I know guys that like the lineup with Joey Belladonna and some that don’t. I never had that strong of an opinion on the whole thing. For me, Belladonna gave this band a vocal identity different from the rest of the pack.
In the years between albums, the band (and the Heavy Metal community) lost a couple of iconic figures with the 2005 murder of Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell and Ronnie James Dio’s death in 2010. So, Anthrax has a song on this album called In the End that is dedicated to those two. But, once again, this band has true diversity in this album but still being very “METAL” in their delivery. In all honesty, I’m still giving this album a full listen. It’s so full of great heavy riffs and it’s so epic. I just haven’t had a chance to digest it all. But, I really really like it.

In the early 90’s, I was one of those music fans that didn’t really embrace the musical movement out of Seattle. When the “powers that be” tell me this is what’s popular and I have to like it, I usually resist.  I wasn’t a big fan of Nirvana. I’ve always said that I like (Nirvana drummer) Dave Grohl more as a frontman for his band Foo Fighters than as a drummer. Even in recent years, the Foo Fighters has become the go-to band for TV broadcasts that are looking for a token “ROCK” band.  So, I feel like the Foo Fighters have been oversaturated in the media. But, when I started to hear the buzz on the new Foo Fighters’ album Wasting Light, my curiosity got the best of me.

I picked up a copy of the CD and listened to it. The amazing story about this album is that it was all recorded on analog tape…no computers involved in the production process. The band even released the CD with a little strip of tape within the CD. As simple as this sounds, recording in analog is a process that is practically foreign now in the 21st Century. The result is a very warm album with a great attetion to the sonic details when making this album.
Foo Fighters’ drummer Taylor Hawkins did a really cool interview with Modern Drummer magazine about the album. He talked about how he and Dave write music together from the drummer’s perspective. I love albums written from the perspective of the drummer. Some may just write this album off as some kind of “post-grunge” music. It’s so much more than any genre can categorize. It has the reckless abandon of Grohl’s punk influence. But, it incorporates so many different sounds and influences of the other band members. Taylor Hawkins has a love for music of the 70’s like Queen and prog-era Genesis along with 80’s icons the Police and Jane’s Addiction. There are many examples in his playing of the influence of Stewart Copeland’s hi-hat work. The band now incorporates 3 guitars along with bass and drums which makes them sound so huge.

I’m a big fan of the second track Rope. The song even includes a small drum solo showcase by Hawkins.  This video is from a series of live performances that the band did at the Ed Sullivan Theatre called “Live on Letterman”.  Obviously, they are going for the iconic Beatles look from the Fab Four’s debut on Ed Sullivan back in 1964. Bottom line is that I love this album, the production and the fact that I’m actually starting to look outside my regular listening “comfort” zone again.

Black Stone Cherry - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

I first came to know about these guys from a small write up in Modern Drummer magazine that highlighted drummer John Fred Young  who is the son of the Kentucky Headhunters rhythm guitarist Richard Young and nephew of drummer Fred Young.  I was a big fan of Kentucky Headhunters in the early 90’s. So, I was interested in what this band would sound like. At first, they seemed a little abrasive and didn’t really light me on fire.  I had downloaded a couple of songs. Then, this past spring, my friend Mark posted that he saw them open for Alter Bridge and was rather impressed. So, I decided to give them another chance. 
I found the first single White Trash Millionaire amusing. When you grow up in Central Nebraska, you tend to meet many guys who are quite the gear heads and absolutely love their souped up muscle cars etc.

I’ve got a Trans Am in primered paint
Nobody taught me I was born this way
No Silver Spoon to feed a 401K
On Bourbon Street the girls they scream
They’re calling out my name

Another song I really found memorable is In My Blood which is the third track. It seems to convey the loss of being in a band and being on the road and being away from friends and family for long periods of time. At least that’s the way I perceived it.

The album has such a diverse series of songs. From pounding rockers like Such a Shame to the heartfelt lyrics of Won’t Let Go.  Then there’s the innuendo laden lyrics of Blame it on the Boom Boom.  The band shows their southern rock influence by doing of heavy rocking cover of Marshall Tucker’s Can’t You See.  I’ve seen a lot of lists for 2011 and I’m surprised this one wasn’t on many.
John Fred Young is the nephew of the Kentucky Headhunters drummer Fred Young and the guitarist(and co-leader) of this next band is the nephew of Allman Brothers Band drummer – Butch Trucks. Of course, I’m talking about guitarist Derek Trucks. This past year, he decided to combine a band with his wife Susan Tedeschi and form the Tedeschi Trucks Band. I wasn’t sure what to think about this band until I heard the new album Revelator.

I loved Derek Trucks Band albums Songlines and Already Free.  The band dynamic is so incredible. I wanted to hear more. On the album Already Free, Derek had used guest vocalists including Doyle Bramhall II and his wife Susan. Of course, as a married musical couple, they had been touring together too. So, it was only natural that they would combine their musical talents in a band. They retained DTB vocalist Mike Mattison(for background vox) and on keyboards Kofi Burbridge. This new band includes Kofi’s brother Oteil on bass (who Derek plays with in the Allman Brothers Band) along with two drummers and a horn section.  Where the Derek Trucks Band had been very funky and bluesy, the Tedeschi Trucks Band is funky, soulful, and earthy.

They had issued a free download before the album’s release called Bound for Glory.  As I played it back on my MP3 player, it began to grow on me.  When I first started getting into Derek Trucks and his playing, I had likened his slide playing as a nice big comfortable recliner or a blanket. I felt soothed by his slide-guitar playing.  Thanks to the internet in today’s culture, you’re able to sample or even listen to an entire album before making a purchase. So, I believe I found a website that was streaming the album a couple days before release. As I listened to it, I was won over on this one too. His guitar truly sings. With the added horn section, it seemed more like a 70’s R&B band. Then, I got to the third track called Midnight in Harlem.

It wasn’t overly funky or instrumentally dazzling. It was the emotion that Susan Tedeschi was conveying through her bluesy vocals.  When I feel touched emotionally through a song, I will usually post that video via my Facebook page. So, I started started searching for a video of this song. What I found was this band performing songs at Eric Clapton’s 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival.  I have the 2007 Festival on DVD and I really like the version Susan and Mike Mattison do of the Derek and the Dominoes song Anyway. So, I wasn’t surprised by the outstanding performances. But, I found a performance of the band playing and old Delaney and Bonnie song Comin’ Home.  That’s when it hit me. This band was what I liked about both the Derek and Dominoes album and Delaney & Bonnie. It was very earthy, swampy, feel-good music with a foot in the blues that just sets “my worried soul” at rest.  So often, after a day of work and stress, everyone needs a way to decompress. Listening to this album is what worked for me.
Since Derek Trucks is also a member of the Allman Brothers Band, I couldn’t go without mentioning an early favorite of mine in 2011. That would be the very bluesy solo album by Gregg Allman Low Country Blues.
 
Back in January, I posted my review for this album. I believed then it was one of the best albums of 2011 and since I’m including it in my favorites of 2011 blog, I still do. It has that unmistakable T-Bone Burnett production that he’s become known for over the past 10 years with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s Raising Sand and the soundtrack for O Brother Where Art Thou?.  I honestly think that a great project for Gregg Allman and T-Bone Burnett would be to include Eric Clapton. This album and the production has the “grit” that Clapton needs if he decides to do another straight “Blues” album.
Coincidentally, both Gregg’s album and the Tedeschi Trucks album were nominated for best blues album along with their fellow Allman Brother bandmate Warren Haynes and his solo album Man in Motion.  As I look through my picks for favorites of this past year, I see that both the Foo Fighters album and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are nominated for best Rock Album. So, it’ll be interesting to see how much air time these acts will get for the network broadcast in February.
Other albums that piqued my interest this past year were Dream Theater’s A Dramatic Turn of Events (with new drummer Mike Mangini), Warren Haynes’ Man in Motion, Megadeth’s Th1rt3en, and Leslie West’s Unusual Suspects. I heard bits and pieces of these albums. But, not enough to make a solid opinion of them or include them in my “Top 10” of this past year.
As I grow older, I tend to dip back into the well of music that’s come from the past. In that search, I find bands that I was A) too stubborn to admit I liked or B) had a passing fondness for a really great band. In that, I find great bands I’ve been depriving myself from.   This past year, I rediscovered how great Pearl Jam’s debut really was. I fell in love with the awesome riffs and songs that Leslie West and Mountain came up with. My favorite anniversary/remastered (besides Pink Floyd) was the 40th anniversary edition of Jethro Tull’s Aqualung…..and (as their opening announcement states) Cheap Trick really is “the best f**king rock band you’ve ever seen”.  At least they were for me in 2011.
Looking forward to 2012….that 17 year old mullet headed kid is hoping not to be disappointed by Van Halen’s new album A Different Kind of Truth.  I’m hoping Aerosmith can be bring back some of their classic rock glory to overshadow singer Steven Tyler’s stint as a judge on American Karaoke…er uh Idol!  As always, I can never get enough of those boys from the Great White North…Rush. So, I look forward to the 2012 release of Clockwork Angels.  2012 could be an exciting year for some new music from some of my favorite artists.  I look forward to writing more music memory blogs and (of course) listening to more music.

KISS – Destroyer (1976)

This past month, the annual list of inductees for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame was released. Every year, there is a wave of hope by rock fans that their favorite band will be on that list. For me, there is definitely a list of bands that I feel should be in the Hall of Fame.  The top four on my list would be the bands Deep Purple, Rush, Cheap Trick and the rock phenomenon known as KISS. The album (by this band) that I’ll be highlighting is the band’s 1976 33 minute opus Destroyer.

I know KISS doesn’t ever really get the respect of more “serious” artists like Springsteen, Bob Dylan or Neil Young. It is hard considering they rose to fame as four guys in platform shoes and black and white face paint.  They also became one of the biggest Rock n’ Roll marketing franchises ever. But, when you go back to 1976 and look at the musical landscape of the day, it’s easy for me to feel a little nostalgic. The bottom-line about KISS is they looked like comic book characters come to life and they were just plain fun.
In 1976, I was 9 years old. I was still being influenced musically by what my older sisters had been listening to. Looking back at the charts in 1976, it’s was probably songs like KC & the Sunshine Band’s (Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty, Barry Manilow’s I Write the Songs, and the Bay City Rollers’ Saturday Night.  But, I still went to public school where there were other boys(with older male siblings) who listened to more masculine rock n’ roll acts.  I remember Jeff J. and Mark W. bringing the (I assume) was the inner booklet to the KISS Alive double album. It had pictures of the band as they performed. Paul Stanley was the “Starchild” who was shirtless and pranced around on stage as a definite presence. Ace Frehley was the “Space Ace” guitarist that had silver makeup and a “spacey” looking costume. In some of the pictures, his guitar looked like it was on fire. Peter Criss was the “Catman” and seemed to have a huge set of drums. There were tom-toms all around him.  Lastly, the one band member that everyone talked about, was Gene Simmons. He was the “Demon” and spit blood and breathed fire! I’m sure (looking back) Gene Simmons’ demon character that scared most parents.  But, this was hard rock and it was exciting and daring compared to the safeness of John Denver and his wholesome image.
I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos and “Behind the Music” type stories on the history of KISS. I don’t remember where I was when Destroyer came out. But, I do remember hearing bits and pieces of it and the furor that surrounded it.  The band had made a big splash on the music scene with the release of KISS Alive.  This was to be the studio follow-up to the live album. They enlisted the help of producer Bob Ezrin. In 1976, Ezrin was known for producing albums by Aerosmith, Alice Cooper and Lou Reed. Over the years, he’s gone on to produce for more artists including Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel and two of my favorite albums Bonham’s A Disregard for Timekeeping and Trevor Rabin’s Can’t Look Away.
The album starts out with Detroit Rock City.  But, it’s a little different. Ezrin has used this on different projects he’s worked on.  He uses ambient sounds like car doors slamming and engines revving and the sounds of radios blaring to let the listener use their imaginations to construct a story behind the song. This song starts with the sound of a news story on the radio(or TV) about a car accident involving a head-on collision. Then, we hear someone driving their car with the Rock and Roll All Nite on the radio. At 1:33, The initial song seemingly transitions from the sound of the car revving into the actual song with Gene’s rumbling bass. The song is steamrolled with Peter Criss drumming away. Paul wails away on vocals and the simplistic riff carries through the song. Then the twin guitar lead of Ace and Paul harmonizing. I’ve always been a sucker for a twin guitar lead. From the Allman Brothers to Thin Lizzy, I’ve always loved that sound.

We hear the car skid into something and the eventual crash and the song segues right into the second track King of the Night Time World.  The continuity of these two songs fading into each other really packs a mighty punch. As I was researching this album, I found that the infamous Kim Fowley (who went on to manage the all-girl group the Runaways) was a co-writer on this song.
As I’m writing this album memory, I didn’t want to just wade through all the different songs as I’ve done before. My exposure to this album was one of a couple KISS albums my sister Kathy owned.  As I look back, it’s funny to think my sister owned this album on vinyl and a copy of KISS’s Rock and Roll Over on 8-Track. My sister was a teenager during this time and the main artists she would listen to would be Shaun Cassidy, the Bay City Rollers and Andy Gibb. But, because of the many “Record clubs” that were available in those days, she would often order a few of these albums too. So, I was rather excited for myself and for her when this album arrived at the house. 
This was a bit of  new turn for KISS. The band had been riding a wave after the success of the Alive album. The first single off this album was supposed to be Detroit Rock City. The B-Side of the single was a lush piano and strings laced ballad written by drummer Peter Criss and producer Ezrin called Beth. According to “KISStory”, a DJ in Georgia flipped the Detroit Rock City single over and started playing the single Beth.  All of a sudden, KISS was being played on the radio in Central Nebraska. My pop loving sister had that “dangerous” stuff in her record club. Even if my small-town parents that were frightened by the outlandish look of KISS, I could show them that KISS had a “nice” song that was performed by the drummer. He wasn’t weird and scary looking like the “Demon” guy and the “Star” guy were.  KISS was everywhere at that point.  They even made it on a primetime Halloween special with Hollywood Squares mainstay Paul Lynde.  The band performed (or lip synched)  King of the Night Time World, Detroit Rock City and (of course) Beth.

They had definitely cracked the mainstream. The song Beth even tied for the People Choice Award for Favorite song with Rick Dees’ Disco Duck that year. I remember following the various awards shows in those days. I was a sucker for a novelty song too. So, it was funny that both Beth and Disco Duck tied for the award.  For a boy like myself, they were the embodiment of HARD ROCK and that was the best kind of rock to be a fan of.  I’ve always said there is something about the sound of the electric guitar that definitely strikes a chord in teenage and prepubescent boys. I was 9 and almost 10 when this all started happening. I wasn’t athletically inclined. I was an avid comic book reader. This would later be the traits of a geek or nerd. Oh well, that’s where I was at the time. But, this hard rock music was something that most of the boys in my age group were into.  As we grew older, we would make comments that “Oh, KISS is stupid” and the stereotypical ignorant “They’re rock stars and they’re all on drugs.”  But, deep down, the band became somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me. Who am I kidding? They still are.

Much has been said by critics and musicians over the years of the talent that KISS did or didn’t possess.  Rolling Stone magazine referred to Destroyer as “bloated ballads, pedestrian drumming and lackluster performances” in their initial review.  The album was only to receive recognition in much later years. In 1989, Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 36 among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". In 2003, it was ranked number 496 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, it was placed No. 60 on Guitar World magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time. In the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,  Bruno McDonald writes,

“Fans have debated Destroyer’s merits since its release….But the band have spent their career trying to match it.”

Of course, they were not virtuosos on their instruments. They put on some of the most elaborate stage shows of the 70’s.  They wore makeup and high platform shoes. But, their act was visual and (after 1976) they were everywhere. There was also the secret of how they looked without the makeup. It was a bit of mystery to what they really looked like and they were never to be seen in public without their makeup on.
When I was 10 years old, I decided to take part in the school band program, I picked the snare drum(singular..at first). It was the summer between my 5th and 6th grade year. Many kids were given the choice to start in band in the 5th grade. I hesitated. But one night I realized I really wanted to pursue the drums and the ole intangible spell of the drums hit me. A few of my friends had parents that bought them the standard beginner snare drum kit from Ludwig. My parents found a friend of the family that had a used snare drum(with no stand).  I remember showing it to my friend Tom T.  He asked me what the brand was. We looked at the snare strainer and the word “Pearl” was etched on the snares. I told him I thought it was the Pearl brand.  He immediately replied,  “That’s the best! That’s the kind of drums Peter Criss plays”  Sure enough, I looked on the back of the Destroyer album cover and it read:

“KISS proudly endorses Gibson guitars and Pearl Drums. Because when KISS wants the best, they get the best!”

That summer, we would have some kind of summer band program at the High School band room.  I remember there was a bunch of guys there who had already decided to decorate their drumsticks like Peter Criss. It seems like there may have been a picture of Peter with some black tape displayed in stripes at the top of his sticks. So, there were a couple of those guys with sticks decorated that way.
Time went by and so did the tastes of my peers as we grew older. Peter Criss left the band in 1980. He was replaced with a new drummer named Eric Carr. The band appeared in 1983 on MTV to finally present themselves without the makeup. By this time, original guitarist Ace Frehley had left the band too. So, Paul and Gene were the only original members that many fans really cared about what they really looked like. They toured without makeup for the remainder of the 80’s and into the 90’s.
By the mid-80’s, I was in college and I was taking in all kinds of music. But, KISS was still a guilty pleasure for me. While living in the dorms, I was always curious to look at some of the record collections of the other guys on my floor. By the mid 80’s, many guys didn’t even use a turntable and listened to most of their music on a cassette. I befriended a guy across the hall from me and he had a copy of Destroyer on cassette. This was probably the first time I had actually listened to the album in its entirety. When I was younger, I would listen to the songs on my sister’s LP that I knew.  I loved the ambient sounds that producer Bob Ezrin employed to open the album.  To this day, when I hear the album start, I have flashes of walking to the parking lot behind Mantor Hall on the UNK campus. It makes me think of driving into the parking lot there in my freshman year of college.  I would talk to many of my classmates and fellow music students and it seemed we all had a guilt to “Rock and Roll All Nite”  On a road trip to a concert in Omaha, one of my friends put in a cassette copy of KISS Alive.  The car was filled with a bunch of us that were college music majors.  We laughed as we enjoyed it. We agreed that they were a “really good bad band”.  I’ve always said that the song structure and the playing was simple. But, there were some definite moments of greatness. I found that Ace’s guitar solos were very tasteful and not overbearing and flashy.  As my record collection grew, I had owned both the Alive albums from the makeup years.  That was about it. I was always tempted to own a copy of Destroyer again.  
In 1996, the original band of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley reunited in full costume and makeup and set out on a grand tour. 

By this time, I was unashamed of my guilty pleasure. So, my friends and I ordered our tickets and we were on our way to see the reunited KISS play at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.  I know people have said it before. But, it was like 1976 all over again.  I was too young to see them in 1976.  Now, I was twenty years older and I absolutely loved the concert. It was such a fun time.  Interestingly enough, the opening band that night was the Swing revival band Royal Crown Revue. It seemed rather mismatched at the time. But, It showed how diverse the guys in KISS were willing to be for their reunion tour. I’ve recently been in contact with RCR drummer Daniel Glass about this blog. He’s a great drummer, writer and historian of jazz and rock drumming of the 20th Century.
As I write this and continue to listen to the Destroyer album, I’m reminded of some great lesser known songs that became staples of the KISS catalog too.  Do You Love Me, Flaming Youth and Shout it Out Loud are all songs that really fill out the album. The coincidental song of the album is God of Thunder.  Paul Stanley actually wrote this song. But, he eventually gave the song to Gene Simmons because it fit his vocal style better. Now this song has become Gene’s signature piece that goes into his solo spectacle of spitting blood and being lifted to the rafters of the stage to sing the song. It was exciting to see this live in concert. We had heard stories of Gene’s fear of heights. So, when he was raised to the rafters, we could see a little bit of hesitance in his demeanor.
I’m sure many will continue to argue the influence of KISS on today’s music and the way concerts are presented. Garth Brooks said in the early 90’s that his stage show was inspired by KISS’s concerts in th 70’s. Garth became one of the first country artists to have a big “rockin” country show. It’s also amusing to me that orignial members Peter and Ace are the ones that were fired, booted, forced out(whatever) in the early 2000’s. Peter was replaced by Eric Singer who replaced Eric Carr when he got sick in the early 90’s and Ace was replaced by guitarist/road manager/KISS fanatic Tommy Thayer. Instead of giving these guys new “makeup” characters, they have taken over the costumes of the Catman and the Spaceman. This has become an issue of contempt for longtime fans. I find it ironic though that musicians who grew up on KISS in the 70’s have stated that both Ace and Peter were influential in picking up their respective instruments. I’ve read that Pantera’s “Dimebag” Darrell, Skid Row’s ‘Snake’ Sabo and Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil all praise the playing of Ace as one of the guys they looked to as influence on guitar. In VH1’s Behind the Music, Tommy Lee of Motley Crue that he was inspired by Peter Criss and his huge onstage drumset. So, the two guys that are no longer in the band are probably the two that are singled out as the most influential as musicians. I’m not saying they were virtuosos by any means. But, an argument could be made that KISS was as influential to kids in the 70’s as the Beatles were to kids in the 60’s. Not that Paul and Gene can hold a candle to the songwriting of Lennon/McCartney. I’m saying that both bands were made up of four distinct personalities from two very ubiquitous bands.
In 1978, While KISS’s popularity was rising, they made a TV movie called KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.  I was so excited to see this movie at the time. The movie debuted on NBC-TV only a few nights before Halloween that year. So, I have distinct memories of my friends changing their minds regarding what they were going to dress up as for the costumed holiday. I was a huge Star Wars fan and I fashioned my own Luke Skywalker costume. But, I couldn’t take my toy lightsaber or blaster trick-or-treating. So, the costume fell kinda flat that year.  But, I had friends that went as Gene’s demon, Ace’s Spaceman and Peter’s Catman. As I grew into adulthood and dressing up for Halloween became cool for adults, I decided that I wanted to go as Peter Criss in the Catman outfit. My ex-wife was always willing to put the makeup on for me. So, in 2002, I dressed up as Peter Criss for my job at a TV station and the annual employee Halloween costume contest.  The problem was that no one was familiar with all the classic KISS members as I was. So, the only one anybody ever knew was Gene Simmons. I only got 2nd place in the competition. But, the boy who grew to like KISS in the mid 70’s was able to fulfill a childhood dream and dress up like a member of KISS.
Now KISS is everywhere. Gene has his own "reality" show that is obviously scripted. They are seen in Wal-Mart commercials, Pepsi and Dr Pepper commercials and even KISS themed lottery scratch tickets. But, I still find a great pleasure in listening to those classic KISS albums from the 70’s. There is just something fun, cool and very escapist for me to put these on and just revel in the music and memories of this undeniable band and this album.