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Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: “A Beginner’s Guide to the World’s Best Black Sabbath Tribute Band” by Hand Of Doom

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Hand of Doom CD Cover

Artist: Hand of Doom
Album: A Beginner’s Guide to the World’s Best Black Sabbath Tribute Band
Release Date: 2002
Label: Idaho/Retrophonic

Inspired by her visceral rock sensibilities amid MTV-spawned Osbourne’s-mania, former Hole/Smashing Pumpkins bassist, Melissa Auf Der Mauer formed Hand of Doom, a just-for-fun Black Sabbath tribute band, with friends Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age) and Pedro Yanowitz (ex-Wallflowers). Hand of Doom played three sold-out LA club gigs and captured the live magic of those shows for A Beginner’s Guide to the World’s Best Black Sabbath Tribute Band — your eight-song souvenir of these three enchanted evenings. This disc includes awesome, note-for-note renditions of “Paranoid,” “Fairies Wear Boots” and “War Pigs” — where Ozzy really went for the lyrical stretch, rhyming “Masses” with “Masses.” Auf Der Mauer’s vocals are especially beguiling on a mesmerizing version of “Changes,” which provides space to clear the sonic palette. Hand of Doom perfectly captures Sabbath’s dark majesty and this recording just sounds amazing. A fitting way to observe the Sabbath.

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: More B.S. by Bree Sharp

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Bree Sharp More BS CD Cover

Artist: Bree Sharp
Album: More B.S.
Release Date: August 13, 2002
Label: Ahimsa/Union

NYC singer/songwriter, Bree Sharp’s promising 1999 debut, A Cheap and Evil Girl scored a minor hit with an aural mash note to X-Files hunk, “David Duchovny.” On Sharp’s cleverly entitled follow-up, More B.S., there’s more folk than rock going on in this mixed bag of exceptional pop tunes, with the maturity of her songwriting suggesting a 20-something Joan Jett disciple exploring her Fiona Apple side. Among many stand-out tracks are the thoughtful new-age lullabye, “Galaxy Song”; the understated hilarity of “Dirty Magazine; and an engaging “Bonnie & Clyde” style tale of two doomed outlaws — “The Ballad of Grim & Lilly” — which mixes woozy trip-hop beats with lyrical fatalism, revealing Sharp’s flair for storytelling that’s a cornerstone of great songwriting. It’s on “The Last of Me,” a hauntingly direct tune about the promise of revenge in the aftermath of a failed relationship, however, that she really hits her stride.

Official Website: http://www.breesharp.com

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence by Dream Theater

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Dream Theater Six Degrees CD Cover

Artist: Dream Theater
Album: Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
Release Date: January 29, 2002
Label: Elektra

The music of Dream Theater — a prog-metal blend of Styx drama and ELP grandeur — generates little gray area when it comes to appeal. Listeners either love the band passionately or hate them. (God knows I’ve had my issues with them, having walked out on one of their shows three years ago when the Siegfried & Roy aspects of the Las Vegas-style Rock Extravaganza got out of hand. That is to say, I was bored). The band’s sixth album, an ambitious double CD entitled Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is unlikely to alter that dichotomy. But here’s the thing, with Dream Theater, you know what you’re getting when you sign on: musical virtuosity and technical perfection. Here’s an example of what I mean: You’ve got Vocalist James LaBries’ narrative command of each song; Drummer Mike Portnoy’s effortless ability to demonstrate as many double-bass-triplet-rudiment-fills as possible from the top of a song to the bottom; Guitarist John Petrucci’s astoundingly fluid, classically influenced playing; Jordan Ruddess’ swelling layers of Rick Wakeman-esque keyboards; and bassist John Myung, who, like John Entwistle, lays down a solid groove and says out of everyone’s way. One can hardly fail to be impressed with any of that.
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Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Sounds Like Christmas by December People

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December People Sounds Like Christmas

Artist: December People
Album: Sounds Like Christmas
Release Date: October 30, 2001
Label: Magna Carta Records

A studio side-project of various renowned rockers (who, in this scenario, record under pseudonyms), The December People gather every few years to release Christmas-themed novelty music. With Sounds Like Christmas, the group boldly goes where no Christmas album has gone before. Using classic rock tunes by Led Zeppelin, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Queen as a starting point, December People craft a unique voice, working ubiquitous holiday standards into the rock mainframe, with sublime results. “Silent Night” flowing seamlessly from Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them”; “Stairway to Heaven” begetting “T’Was the Night Before Christmas”; and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” arranged as “Bohemian Rhapsody” are all both brilliant and heart-felt in their flawless execution. (Incorporating a few bars of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony during that song’s fade is the kind of detail work that makes this an engaging listen). Far from producing a laser-show-flashback of pretentious, Moog-laden space-outs, the various homages are fun to spot. Those weaned on the pomp and ceremony of progressive rock will find that Sounds Like Christmas generates extraordinary enthusiasm for the season.

Official Website: http://decemberpeople.com/
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/decemberpeople/

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and have been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Music, Pop Culture

CD Review: Beautiful Creatures by Beautiful Creatures

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Beautiful_Creatures_Album_Cover

Artist: Beautiful Creatures
Album: Beautiful Creatures
Release Date: August 16, 2001
Label: Warner Music Group

Like Vikings on a rampage, Beautiful Creatures’ vocalist, Joe LeSte (late of LA glam rockers, Bang Tango), leads his pack of hard rock revivalists on a quest to reclaim rock’s Holy Grail; a feat now unlikely to be accomplished by Axl Rose and his hired Guns. Both “Wasted” and “Stepback” recall vintage G’N’R, with scattered nods elsewhere to strip metal posterboys, Faster Pussycat, and “I Got It All” gets all AC/DC on your ass before the whole thing slides back into the garage. Despite the blues/metal pastiche of their material, the band’s relentless groove gives these songs the feel of a heavy rock rave. Those still jonesing for the glory days of Headbangers Ball would do well to mix a dose of Beautiful Creatures in with their regular diet of Appetite for Destruction, Slash’s Snakepit and Buckcherry.

This article was originally written for Rolling Stone’s Online Magazine. Though Rolling Stone remains in print and online, this article is no longer a part of their archive and has been added to the content base of The Worley Gig for our readers’ enjoyment.

Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/BeautifulCreaturesMusic/