Tag Archives: cd review

Music, Pop Culture

Rad CD of The Week: Hawkwind’s Blood of The Earth

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I was first introduced to the British metal band Hawkwind way back in the eighties when I was in College, and you were probably just an egg. The song I like best from that era of the band is called “Psychedelic Warlords Disappear in Smoke,” because I love song titles that are complete sentences on their own. “Psychedelic Warlords” – besides having one of the best titles ever – is also like the most mind-blowing acid trip to listen to. If you haven’t already heard the song, you will just have to take my word for it.

A lot of metalheads know about Hawkwind only because Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead was in the band at one point in the group’s 41-year history. In order to be a true, self-respecting headbanger you do really need to have that fact in your hipster cache of useless knowledge. But not everyone knows that the band is actually still recording. In fact, Hawkwind has a new CD due for release on August 10, 2010 (on Plastic Head Music) called Blood of The Earth, and it is just insane.

Blood of the Earth is the band’s first new album in five years, contains eleven songs and features special appearances from violinist Jon Sevink (The Levellers), BBC personality Matthew Wright and a posthumous performance from the band’s late keyboardist Jason Stuart. I cannot stop listening to this album.

Confirmed track listing for Blood of the Earth is as follows:

1. “Seahawks”

2. “Blood Of The Earth”

3. “Wraith”

4. “Green Machine”

5. “Inner Visions”

6. “Sweet Obsession”

7.  “Comfey Chair” (note: I am hoping this title relates to the punch line from that great Monty Python Skit)

8. “Prometheus”

9. “You’d Better Believe It”

10.  “Sentinel”

11. “Starshine”

I am not fronting when I say that the songs on Blood of The Earth will appeal to all genres of metal, prog and hard rock fans of bands as varied as Zodiac Mindwarp, Hendrix, The Pretty Things, Yes and Nine Inch Nails. Blood of the Earth will be available for North American fans on compact disc and limited-edition 180-gram, clear, double vinyl that includes a vinyl-only bonus track.  Hawkwind are planning to tour later this year in support of Blood of the Earth. You know you gotta be there!

For rocking hard enough to crack a skull, The Worley Gig Gives Blood of the Earth Five out of Five Stars!

Music, Pop Culture

Rad CD of the Week: The Grip Weeds, Strange Change Machine

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As the past is reinvented to serve present needs, modern pop music continues to suffer from an absence of historical revisionism dating back farther than last Tuesday. It’s not such a mystery why anyone over the age of 17 (wait, make that ‘anyone with taste,’ which is not always a given) would probably rather listen to music from 20, 30 or even 40 years ago than anything currently stagnating on “the charts” – which haven’t been interesting or relevant since you were an egg.

That’s why it’s so refreshing to be able to moderate my regular listening sessions of Love’s Forever Changes and Mania, the lone album by Australia’s The Lucy Show (remember them?) with liberal doses of New Jersey’s best, not-well-known-enough band, The Grip Weeds.

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Music, Pop Culture

Radiohead Triumphantly Return to Not Sucking

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My very favorite story about the band Radiohead concerns the time (a few years ago, now) that I emailed their publicist to request a review copy of the band’s new CD (it was OK Computer at the time). This is a common practice between writers and publicists which shouldn’t have met with any reaction other than, “Sure, what address do we send it to?” But that’s not what happened.
Continue reading Radiohead Triumphantly Return to Not Sucking →

Music, Pop Culture

In a Metal Mood

Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich Fat and Bloated
“I Want To Go Where The Down Boys Go”

Despite my busy and very ass-kicking social life, it’s not unusual for me to spend full weekends holed up in the Chick Pad working on my book or writing an article for Modern Drummer magazine. Because that’s just the kind of dedication to The Rock that I possess. Today I spent most of the afternoon listening to Quiet Riot’s Metal Health and Warrant’s Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich over and over (at a volume that I can only hope completely annoyed the shit out of my upstairs neighbors) while composing 100-word reviews of each album for an upcoming issue of Metal Edge magazine featuring a section on “The 25 Essential Hair Metal Albums.” Honestly, I’m all over it. Continue reading In a Metal Mood →

Music, Pop Culture

Quiet Riot Singer Kevin Dubrow, Dead at 52

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Kevin, Gail Franky, Donnie
Another One Bites The Dust: Me with Kevin Dubrow, Frankie Banali and Donnie Vie, Summer 2001

Okay, seriously, I’m wondering if it is some kind of cosmic ’80s Metal joke that both Ricky Parent of ENuff Z’Nuff and Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot have passed away within one month of each other. As a tribute to Kevin, who died on November 25th, 2007 of a drug overdose, I’ve decided to re-run my review of the re-release of Quiet Riot’s immortal, genre-defining 1983 album, Metal Health. Read on and be enlightened.

“Bang Your Head…”

(Originally published on Ink19.com, Fall 2001)

Quiet Riot
Metal Health (Portrait/Epic/Legacy)

I’ve got a story for you about Quiet Riot.

On a gorgeous summer day this past July, I spent about eight hours hanging out at this big outdoor 80’s metal revival arena rock concert where Poison, Warrant, Quiet Riot and Enuff Z’Nuff were the featured bands. Now, everybody knows I’m a total idiot for that kind of music and, being a journalist, I’ve become pretty good pals with Poison’s drummer Rikki Rockett, and Warrant’s drummer, Mike Fasano. Thus I found myself, Ms. Headbanger’s Ball of 2001, back stage with an All Access Pass. There was no question that having the run of an arena’s back stage area would prove to be a curious thing, but I digress. When I was walking around unsupervised, I met Quiet Riot’s front man, the infamous Kevin Dubrow, when he accidentally caught me checking out his ass. Kevin is amazing-looking up close and has transformed himself from the scrawny, balding speed freak you remember from those 80s Quiet Riot videos into this full-on rock Adonis with a killer six pack and arms to die for. He smells really good too. I felt a little giddy meeting him because – I mean, I’m a fan and everything – but I didn’t expect him to be so handsome. Hair weave or no hair weave, the guy looks 100% better than he did when he was in his 20’s. I’d do it.

Anyway, Portrait Records re-released Quiet Riot’s best album, the multi-platinum selling Metal Health, last fall, but it took me awhile to get around to reviewing it. Sorry.

When I think of Quiet Riot, their venerated cover of Slade’s “Cum On Feel the Noize” leaps to mind immediately. I just can’t help but sing along.

“Cum on feel the noize/Girls rock your boys/We’ll get wild wild wild/Wild wild wild…” lather, rinse, repeat.

Talk about inspired lyrics! How can anyone who was ever young and in love not worship that song? Carlos Cavazo’s guitar solo on the bridge has got to be right up there with anything Eddie Van Halen ever laid down on tape and I’d even put it up against the solo from “Wait” by White Lion!

But Quiet Riot was always about so much more than just big guitar noise and epic macho posturing. I mean, Metal Health, was the first metal album to reach #1 on the Billboard charts! And this was back in the 80’s when the charts were actually an indication of music being any good. Quiet Riot rocked, and they still do.

My favorite Quiet Riot song is “Slick Black Cadillac,” which is from way back when Randy Rhodes (RIP) was in the band. This song was originally recorded for an album that was only released in Japan, but the band loved it so much that they re-recorded it for Metal Health – and thank God for that, because the song just rocks hard enough to crack skulls wide open. I love the lyrics, which are so simple, but paint such a rich picture: “Driving in a slick, black Cadillac/It’s got solid gold hubcaps/It makes me feel like a King/I only need one thing/and that’s a Slick Black Cadillac.” It’s great use of language, where Kevin is as involved in the physical sound of the words as he is in telling the story. No shit — here’s a song about a big black car that sticks with you. A live version of “Slick Black Cadillac” is included here as a bonus track. I could listen to it again and again.

Hearing Quiet Riot’s hard-driving, melodic, anthemic, life-affirming, joyous, crazy party rock amid all the shitty false metal and mind-numbing idiot rock that passes for pop music these days is like oxygen in a vacuum. Metal Health is a sentimental journey connecting the attributes of commercial rock with the sonic muscle of heavy metal, which is what catapulted LA Sunset Strip glam metal to the top of the charts in the first place. This album is perfect. Go out and buy a copy right now.

— Gail Worley