If Hollywood had any balls , they would make the next Terminator movie with Eddie Furlong. Yes THAT Eddie Furlong. Bloated, burned out, in and out of rehab Eddie Furlong. Maybe even find a way to work Michael Biehn , and Lance Henriksen in the mix. Shit! I’d even throw in the gals from Dark Fate. Go all Leone in this bitch and have the same actors play different characters in the sequel. And since I’m feeling brave, how about having Arnold back BUT NOT play a Terminator. Granted, dealing with Furlong’s history of domestic violence accusations would be a PR challenge but hear me out….
Imagine that after the events of T2…NOTHING HAPPENS. No random Terminators popping up in secluded resorts or any of that silly shit. The world goes on blissfully unaware of how close everything came to going to shit. Without a world to save, John Connor has a hard time finding his place in the world. He becomes estranged from his mother, who is out in some secluded compound doing guerilla shit, develops some bad habits and hits rock bottom. His life is so shitty that he makes the choices Nicolas Cage made on leaving Las Vegas seem sensible. While looking up from rock bottom, John Connor stumbles into something (don’t even have to skynet it could be something else) that could potentially destroy the world. So Connor decides to man up and once again, with the help of Mom and other people, try like hell to stop another Judgment Day.
The thing is that the ‘future’ in the first Terminator took place in 2029. So you could realistically ditch the time travel bit. Do the movie on a lower budget. Focus less on spectacle and convoluted science and more on suspense and character development. You know…LIKE THE FIRST TWO TERMINATOR MOVIES. This could be a way for the franchise to do something other than recycle T2. It could also be a redemption story of sorts. Not just for Furlong who could probably use a break, but for the character of John Connor itself after how dirty he was treated on Geneshit and Dark Fate. What do you have to lose hollywood?
Flotsam and Jetsam are best known as the band where former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted got his start. Which is a shame since they’re a damn good Metal band with a decent size discography. One that has survived numerous lineup changes and the usual bullshit attached to keeping a band going for over thirty years.
Like most thrash bands that stayed active throught the 90’s, Flotsam attempted to go the route that Metallica took on the black album on the albums Cuatro and Drift. Empazising on hooks over speed and dramatic tempo changes in an effort to get some of that Metallica money. Whatever their intentions where, those records (Cuatro and Drift) are excellent. I’d argue Cuatro is one of the best records in their ENTIRE diecography. The fact that Swatting at Flies didn’t do for Flotsam what “Symphony Of Destruction” did for Megadeth is fucking bullshit.
I did lose track of the band for a few years after the My God record and their near break up. There are a few records in that period that I need to be aquainted with…But in 2016, Flotsam and Jetsam sort of came full circle with their self titled release. The band returned to their trash metal origins but with mature professionalism in place of youthful enthusiam. Vocalist Eric AK doesn’t quite have the ear piercing scream he used to but like Anthrax’s Joey Belladona, has managed to make the most out of his lower, grittier register while retaining a melodic sensibility. Nowadays, he kind of sounds like Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson fronting a thrash band. Which to me is not a bad thing AT ALL. The band has remained on this musical path on the two albums since: 2019 The End Of Chaos and the recently released Blood in The Water.
On the surface, Blood on The Water, comes off as a solid thrash album by a veteran band. But as I was casually listened to this record for the first time, the motherfucker started to dig its claws into me. By the second song, “Burn The Sky” I noticed there was an extra amount of aggression to the record. A pleasant surprise that did not prepare me for what came next.
A few songs later “A Place To Die” comes on and these motherfuckers GET DARK. Not just in the music but THE LYRICS. It sounds like A.K. isn’t just singing the usual metal kind stuff but digging into some REAL EMOTIONAL SHIT. That intensity is there throught the rest of the record. Even on their slower songs like “The Walls” and “Cry For the Dead.”
To some degree, I got the new Flotsam record out of fan loyalty. Also, I liked the trashier direction of the previous two records so I figured Blood on the Water would be a safe bet. But after all these years, it’s gratifying to have a band not only meet your expectations but exceed them. To anybody who is still paying attention, Blood on The Water is one of the best new thrash records you will hear in 2021.
In these trying and divisive times, very few things seem to bring together people among different racial and socio political lines quite like bitching about the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame. Personally, I can overlook them having a hard time differentiating between ‘Pop’ and ‘Rock’ music, the myseterious induction process and snobish vibe to their ceremonies. I’m even cool with them inducting Hip Hop Acts. My big beef with the Hall Of Fame is that I feel that the kind of rock music I love the most (Heavy Metal, Punk) has been underrepresented.
People are often quick to criticize but slow to give credit is due. Although progress has been (very) slow within the last 15 years or so the Hall Of Fame has made a point to induct more Punk and Metal acts. I have to say I was even impressed with some of the nominees they’ve had in the last few years. Unfortunately most of those nominees got snubbed when push comes to shove. WHICH IS REALLY FUCKING FRUSTRATING. This year the ‘hardest’ rock band that got inducted was the fucking Foo Fighters which is all kinds of lame. I suspect the reason why the Foo Fighters got bumped ahead of the line was due to the popularity of leader Dave Grohl and his band. The Hall Of Fame is probably hoping Grohl’s popularity could pay off in ratings. But before I forget, props for throwing a bone at Randy Rhoads.
But in the world of Rock n Roll popularity does not automatically equal influence. Throught its history there have been quite a few Rock bands who were not commercially successful (Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, The Stooges) yet influenced a legion of new bands while others are simply content with making music for the masses. There have been some bands that have been able to be both influential and commercially successful such as Grhol’s old band Nirvana.
I know people who still hate Nirvana for ‘killing’ their precious Glam Metal scene. I don’t entirely agree with this but seeing the “Teen Spirit” video on MTV for the first time WAS a game changer. Their success put the Seattle scene on the map and paved the way for similar minded bands to storm the mainstream. As much as I hate 3rd rate Nirvana imitators like Seether, their existance is still a testament to Nirvana’s ongoing influence. Dave Grohl’s drumming was a big part of what made Nirvana iconic. He brought A LOT of energy into those songs and instinctly knew how to punch up its dynamics. As a drummer I think he’s up there with the likes of John Bonham and Keith Moon in terms of influence.
Although the Foo Fighters have been as commercially successful as Nirvana I don’t think they have been as influencial. Sure their ongoing popularity counts for something and they have had a few big hits. Sure “Everlong” is one of the go to songs for mediocre Open Mic Singer Songwriters, but have the Foo Fighters done anything is all that original or interesting? Anything that could qualify as a Foo Fighters sound? To me they’re to Nirvana what Van Hagar is to Van Halen. The 90’s Alternative equivalent of Dad Rock.
Now I’m not against the Foo Fighters having their day in the sun, and Dave Grohl seems like a nice guy. One who is always fighting the good fight in the name of Rock n Roll. But there have been plenty of other bands (Motorhead) that have been neglected for far too long (Motorhead) by the Hall Of Fame (Motorhead). Personally , I can EASILY come up with twenty bands I would have picked before even considering to give Foo Fighters a nomination.
1.FUCKING Motorhead
2.New York Dolls
3.MC5
4.Bad Brains
5.Motley Crue
6.Black Flag
The Replacements
8.The Runaways
9.The Damned
10.Joy Division
11.Bahaus
12.Public Image (even if Lydon is a douche)
13.Ministry
14.Fucking SLAAAAYEEER
15.Anthrax
16.X
17.The Misfits
18.Husker Du
The Misfits
20.Faith no More
Did I say 20? Look at me go all the way to thirty…
Posted in Uncategorized on July 29, 2020 by A handfull of napalm
Testament has more or less been on the same musical path since 1999’s The Gathering. That was the record in which Testament struck a balance between the heavy groove of Low, the Death Metal flirtations of Demonic and the more traditional trash from their late 80’s/early 90’s era.
They have stayed on this path despite lineup changes, cancer scares and other life related drama. Throught it all Testament has managed to retain a certain level of quality on their records. There are songs on the newer records like “More than Meets The Eye” and “Dark Roots of The Earth” that are as good as anything Testament did on their golden era. The latest Testament record, Titans Of Creation doesn’t deviate from the established path but as they say, the devil is in the details.
There are parts of Titans that remind me of Low, with its crunchy guitars and heavy grooves. In fact, the opening riffs to Dream Deceiver (no relation to the Judas Priest song)…
Remind me a lot of “All I Could Bleed” from the record Low.
To be fair, once the verse kicks in, Dream goes on a different direction. And it’s an excellent song in its own right. It’s got a mean heavy groove but also a tasteful, catchy chorus. In an ideal parallel universe where bands like Testament were get played on mainstream rock radio, “Dream Deceiver” would be a hit.
“Symptoms” is another solid song with a dark heavy groove. “Ishtar’s Gate” has a middle eastern feel along the lines of Iron Maiden’s “Powerslave.” A song the band covered a few records back. “Curse Of Osiris” has a little bit of a Black Metal flavor. Along the lines of Guitarist Eric Peterson’s symphonic black Metal/thrash project Dragonlord.
I was not happy when Testament decided (once again) to drop original bassist Grag Christian and replace him with Steve (it’s not Delivery It’s) DiGiorgio on bass….But I can’t stay mad at Testament forever. I also have to admit that the bass into for “Code Of Hammurabi” is pretty cool.
In case you were wondering, there is still plenty of thrash metal goodness on Titans Of Creation. Like WW3, “Night Of The Witch” and lead track/single/video “Children Of The Next Level.”
Maniac Cop is the 1988 movie about a serial killer cop in New York City. It’s a great premise, even if you dismiss any social political context. To think that NYC in the 80’s was so rough you even had to worry about the cops trying to kill you. The cop in this case goes by the name of Cordell. A kick ass and ask questions later kind of cop. Things were going well for Cordell until he decides to do something about Police Corruption. And THAT’S when he got his ass thrown in jail.
While in jail, Cordell gets shanked while taking a shower and left for dead. But he doesn’t die and decides to roam the streets in his old po-lice uniform and starts killing people. Not sure why he takes the shit that ‘the system’ and criminals did to him on random innocent people but the people who made this aren’t big on explaining things. Come to think of it, the biggest problem with the Maniac Cop franchise is that it wants to have it both ways. They want Cordell to be an unstoppable killing machine they can kill and resurrect at will but they also want a sympathetic tragic character.
But the things that did work about Maniac Cop worked well enough to make it a cult film and start a franchise. The bulk of the movie was filmed in New York City which helped lay down the creepy gritty vibe. The first half of the movie is pretty effective as a slasher movie. That half is more of a gritty crime horror bit in which Luitenant McCrae is going after the Maniac Cop. The second half of the movie involves beat cop Jack Forrest played by Bruce ‘Ash’ Campbell. Forrest is being wrongfully accused of being the Maniac Cop and killing his wife. So it’s up to him and side girl/vice cop Theresa Mallory to clear his name and catch Cordell.
Bruce Campbell is best known for playing likeable asshole Ash Williams on the Evil Dead franchise. His character on Maniac Cop is still an asshole but not very likeable. So in essencence, as he tries to clear his name he also has to win the audience over. The movie loses a lot of its suspense once Cordell’s identity is revealed and back story is established but Maniac Cop manages to bounce back and turn into a pretty effective action movie.
In order to enjoy Maniac Cop 2, you can’t put too much thought into the plot. Whoever wrote this sure as shit didn’t. They offer no explenation as to how a guy could survive being impaled in the heart and survive. Or go from a scary cop with a fucked up face to looking like an Universal Monster. On this movie Cordell befriends some other local psycho who looks like the older brother of Alan from the hangover movies minus the ‘dope sense of humor brah.’ It seemed that the only purpose for this union was to set up the big action pieces at the end.
Speaking of questionable moves, Maniac Cop decides to kill off the two survivors from the first movie asap. Bruce is killed in unceremonious fashion but at least his lady partner goes out swinging.They are replaced by Robert Davi who the filmakers thought could be a bigger draw since he was on a James Bond film (a personal favorite Lisence To Kill) the year before and Claudia Christian who plays shrink/lady cop but surprinsgly not love interest Susan Riley. Davi plays his role as a Sam Spade wannabe which is slightly amusing.
Maniac Cop 2 is lacking on the horror department but the filmakers manage to retain the gritty look of the original. Where Maniac Cop 2 excels is in the action. The filmakers got a few extra million to play with this time around and they made good use of that money. Like the scene where Cordell tears up a police station Terminator style. There is also a blink and you miss appearance from Danny ‘Machete’ Trejo as an inmate.
In the interest of things I decided to rewatch Maniac Cop 3: Badge Of Silence. I HATED this movie when it came out, so I was curious if I was gonna hate it as much as I did the first two times I saw it.Well…Like all the other movies in the Franchise, Maniac Cop 3 has its good and bad elements.
This time around, the Maniac Cop is revived by Voodoo magic. Yeah, FUCKING VOODOO. But the Voodoo priest was played by Julius Harris. Harris is best remembered for playing Scatter on Superfly and Tee Hee (he was the henchman with the metal arm) on Live and Let Die. Maniac Cop 3 does take a stab (no pun intended) at Social Commentary. Portraying cops as violent but just public servants who are victims of tabloid journalism. One particular cop is even referred to as Kate ‘Maniac Kate’ Sullivan who appears to favor the kind of tough justice Cordell was all about.
Ms Sullivan is involved in a store shootout that leaves her in intensive care. This incident is exploited on tv to make her look like the aggressor. So Cordell is off to clear her name, kill the people responsible and turn Ms. Sullivan into THE BRIDE OF MANIAC COP. Did I mention Robert Davi is back as the lead? This time he looks more like a Mobster than Sam Spade.
Of the three movies part 3 is the more conventional Horror movie. Which is kind of cool but also mostly takes place in a hospital which isn’t as interesting of a location as the streets of New York. It also drags a bit but it has some interesting kills. Like the one were Cordell throws a guy and shoots him in mid air. I might have gone from hating to tolerating Maniac Cop but there’s not getting around the fact that the car chase at the end IS FUCKING STUPID.
According to wikipedia there had been talk of a remake for years. Although that didn’t happen, a Maniac Cop tv series is being developed right now. Normally I’m weary of remakes but this one has potential. Especially with all the controversies sarrounding the use of excessive force, systematic racism and what have you.
Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2020 by A handfull of napalm
I ain’t going to lie, what initially attracted me to Mathew Sweet’s Girlfriend was the video. Since it included footage of the anime Space Adventure Cobra. When I was a kid living in Puerto Rico, I used to watch the spinoff tv show Space Cobra. So seeing Cobra on a music video in the early 90’s was very much a HOLY SHIT moment. Especially, if you consider that this was years before Pokemon and Dragonball Z. Anime was not as popular on the U.S. as it is nowadays.
The video might have been what drewn me in, but it did not take much for the song to win me over. “Girlfriend” is an uptempo Blues Rock song with a 90’s Alternative sensibility. It’s got everything you would want in a lead single, a strong chorus, catchy riffs and a memorable guitar solo by the late Robert Quine best known for his work with pioneer punk Richard Hell. I also love how hard the drums sound in this song, especially during the breakdown at the end of the song. I liked the song so much I decided to check the tape (back when tapes were the thing) out from the library and give the full lenght a chance.
But I wasn’t crazy about the full album. I don’t remember if I even listen to the thing all the way through.I found it so boring that I didn’t even give Sweet’s post Girlfriend material a fair chace. Including “Sick Of Myself” which was a modest hit from his 100% fun album a few years later. Many many many years later, I stumbled upon a cd copy of Girlfriend so I decided to give the record a second chance. While revisiting the album, it dawned on me that the problem with the album Girlfriend was one that was common back in those days. Cramming as much music as you can cd. Thus taking what could have been a solid 10-12 song Alternativbe Blues rock record into a 15 song album that spreads itself thin.
The record opens strong with “Divine Intervention.” A song that has a dirty Rolling Stones kind of groove with the pop sensibility of a Beatles song. The next song is “I’ve Been Waiting” a pretty pop song which was also the second single off the record. Song number three is “Girlfriend” which I still consider the best song on the record. I’m kind of surprised yet relieved that Girlfriend hasn’t been ruined by the local Rock Station for the last twentysomething years. The way they ruined them three songs from the first Pearl Jam record and that one decent Cadnlebox song the band rewrote like eight times.
If I was going to trim any fact it would be during the middle section of the record. I don’t think there is a bad song on the record per say but they do tend to blend into each other after a while. “Evangeline” is a decent song, equal parts pop and rock and “Winona” is a pretty country rock ballad. But if you would have taken a song like “Day Folr Night”, “You Don’t Love Me” or “Your Sweet Voice” out of the equation, they wouldn’t have been missed. Despite being decent songs.
There is a hidden gem hidden towards the end of the record. One that only revealed itself to me after repeated listens. The song is called “Does She Talk?” The song is driven by a a sexually charged almost sleazy kind of groove. Mr. Sweet stops just shy of cock rock territory on this one which picks up the pace of the record as it hits the home stretch. Once again. Mr. Quine gets to cut lose on the lead guitar department.
The next “Holy War” keeps things going in a more uptempo rock before finishing on a quiet note with “Nothing Lasts.” I might have taken almost thirty years (!) but I like the record now.
When Motley Crue released their book The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band in 2001 a little bit of the band died with it. For this was the moment in which The Crue decided to spend the rest of their careers sucking dry the sweet tit of nostalgia. This sort of thing is bound to happed to Bands of a certain age. Especially when records don’t sell like they used to; but Motley Crue has been laying this shit especially thick.
Nowadays Motley Crue be like : Hey Guys remember how COOL we used to be? Why don’t you spend a hundred dollars watching us phone in another performance? You can even make bets as to how many words Vince Neil will sing per song. WOULDN’T THAT BE FUN?!!!! If you close your eyes and concentrate hard enough you can pretend that 1987 never ended. Did we mention that we have pyro? LOTS OF FUCKING PYRO! Or that Tommy Lee plays on a rollercoaster drum kit?
I even read some recent interview where bassist Nikki Sixx laments that Motley Crue is now best know for their antics than their music. When I read that shit, I wished that I could cross the space time continum and fucking smack Nikki (who part of me still considers an inspiration as a songwriter/bassist, real talk) in the back of the head. He would turn around and say to me : Dude! What The Fuck? To which I would reply: You got NOBODY but yourself to blame for THAT motherfucker. It’s your own damn fault Son!
Things were not always this way. Motley Crue sold a good chunk of records and had a decent amount of hits back in the day. They were also were one of the most influential Heavy Metal bands of the 80’s. Which is no small accomplishment when you take into account that the 80’s is considered by many as The Golden Age for Heavy Metal. One of the things I liked the most about Motley Crue was that they would noticably tweek their sound with every record. Every record had its own look, sound and even logo. Yet you knew you were gonna got a Motley Crue album in spirit sound and attitude. They gave the people some of what they wanted but also a bit of what they needed. As a result, Motley Crue managed to stay a step ahead of their peers throught the 80’s.
Their debut record Too Fast For Love had good balance of raw youthful energy, Heavy Metal Riffs and Power Pop sensibilities but the record that broke them through the mainstream was their sophmore release Shout At The Devil. In which they dialed up the Heavy Metal side of the equation with a 70’s Kiss meets The Road Warrior meets inverted Pentagrams look to match. To this day, many Metalheads consider the one two punch of Too Fast For Love and Shout At The Devil to be the bands finest musical moments. Even a lot of Metal people who are into the ‘heavier shit’ and hate glam bands, will give props to those two records. Currently, I’m in the middle of (finally) reading the infamous Lords of Chaos book and I stumbled into something on page 25 that was relevant, amusing and worth sharing: “Even Motley Crue, later to devolve into Glam Rock Sissies, began with a punkified debut and followed it up with Shout At The Devil, bringing a watered-down taste of the demonic to hundreds of thousands of impressionable suburban kids.”
Motley Crue took some shit from older fans for getting a full glam metal makeover on Theater of Pain but it did not stop the band’s upward momentum. Their cover of Brownsville Station’s “Smoking in The Boy’s Room” became their first top twenty pop hit. The band’s other single did not chart as high on billboard (to my surprise) but became a HUGE hit on the network formerly known as Music Television. You may have heard of this song…”Home Sweet Home.” The song directly responsible for ushering the Power Ballad trend of the late 80’s . Complete with its often immitated video concept of how life of the road can be cool yet exasusting.
Motley’s next record, Girls, Girls,Girls was an interesting one. Although they toned down Theater of Pain’s colorful Glam look, it wasn’t the ‘back to basics’ effort fans were hoping for. Girls,Girls Girls was the work of a band sort of trying to rebel against its own success. According to some stuff I read (including a September 99 cover story on Guitar World Magazine), the band wanted to experiment with stuff like sequencing and samples. Longtime band producer Tom Werman tried to talk the band out of it but they did incorporate some of that stuff on songs like “Wild Side” and “Dancing on Glass.”
This time around, Motley Crue took what could have potentially been a big hit for them. A power ballad called “Rodeo” and left it off the record.
Instead they gave us “You’re All I need” a deceptively pretty sounding power ballad about a guy who kills his girlfriend in a fit of rage. Of course, Motley Crue released a video for this song challenging MTV to play it. They didn’t. But as much as Nikki Sixx likes to nible on the hand that feeds him, he loves to make money too. So Sixx made sure to include two big hit songs in the form of “Wild Side” and the title track that would propel the record into quadruple platinum status.
Motley Crue wasn’t done with their crazy ideas. I have a few issues of hit parader magazine from the late 80’s in which the working title for what became Dr. Feelgood was Monsterous. If the song Monsterous (which was later released on a b-sides compliation Super Sonics and Demonic Relics) was any indication, we could have ended up with a MUCH different record had Bob Rock not intervined.
Dr. Feelgood was not only Motley Crue’s most commercially successful record. According to legend, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich was so impressed with the polished yet heavy sound of the song DR. Feelgood that he hired Rock to produce what became the known as Metallica’s Black Album. Which led to Rock being Metallica’s go to producer for the next decade. To the dismay of many die hard fans.
On 1991 Motley Crue released Decade of Decadence 81-91. A career retropesctive/greatest hits record that included three old songs being remixed (livewire, piece of your action , Home Sweet Home), two songs that were originally included in compilations/soundtracks (teaser, and Rock n roll Junkie) and three new songs. The three new songs included “Angela” a heavy power pop song in the vein of “Don’t Go Away Mad (just go away)” and a cover of the Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the UK” but the real gem of the bunch was “Primal Scream.”
“Primal Scream” had a mean groove, the polished heaviness of the Dr. Feelgood record but with a darker vibe. Lyrically, the song dealt with childhood trauma, a topic that wasn’t very common among glam metal bands. A good four years before Nu Metal bands like Korn beat that horse dead. At this time, Motley Crue was still at the peak of their powers. Thanks to “Primal Scream” and Motley Crue’s intuative ability to roll with the times, Motley Crue seemed poised to have continued success in the new decade. But then they fucked it all up.
Depending on who you ask, vocalist Vince Neil was either fired or quit the band in the middle of working on new material. The timing for this was pretty shitty since it was right around the time when when some scrappy new bands from Seattle were challenging the dominance of bands like Motley Crue. To his credit , Vince Neil wasted no time assembling a new band and releasing his first solo record Exposed. In which he essentially hired a bunch of guys (including Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens) to essentially do Dr. Feelgood on steroids. The record became a moderate success.
When it came to the John Corabi/Motley Crue 94 record the band took too fucking long to release it. It had been five years since their last full lenght studio record DR. Feelgood and three since their last batch of new material on Decade of Decadence. It also didn’t help that they chose the wrong five years to take their sweet time. By the time the Corabi album came out ‘Alternative Rock’ was the hip new thing and bands like Motley Crue were considered old news. Had they released the record in 92 or 93 the name Motley Crue might have carried enough weight for the album to become a hit. At that time Guns and Roses was STILL running around stadiums like they were the second coming of The Rolling Stones . Bon Jovi’s new record at the time, Keep the faith record went double platinum. Despite the fact that Bon Jovi was the posterboy for the kind of ‘souless corporate rock’ bands like Nirvana supposedly ‘killed.’ Even current tourmates Def Leppard were killing it on MTV and the road with their record Adrenalize.
But by 94 Motley Crue had to more or less start over. Especially with a new singer fronting the band. Motley Crue also fucked up by pissing off MTV when they walked out during an interview. Immediately the network went from moderatelly supporting their lead single “Hooligan’s Holiday” to essentially telling them to get fucked.
Although the 94/John Corabi record did not live up to commercial expectations; the passage of time has been kind to it. There are many now who even go as far as saying it’s Motley Crue’s best record. I’ve always loved this fucking record. Even when it wasn’t cool to admit it. I think it has Tommy Lee’s best drumming. I remember a review of the record back in the day where it said something along the lines of: Tommy Lee plays the drums as if it had pictures of Vince Neil plastered on the drumheads. Musically it picks up where the song “Primal Scream” left. The material is darker, heavier but still grooves the way it should.
Vocally John Corabi gives up more of a Steven Tyler in solitary confinment vibe as oppossed to whatever it is that Vince Neil does. It’s a little different but still works within the context of Motley Crue. For the life of me I don’t understand why they left Babykills off the record and put it on the Quaternary ep instead. Not only would I have put Babykills on the record but I would have used it as the lead single. Since it’s essentially an old fashioned cock rock song in the key of 1994 Motley Crue.
Motley Crue did start working on a second album with John Corabi under the tentative title Personality #9. But the record label people had other plans. They essentially told Motley Crue to get back with Vince or we ain’t releasing dick. So the band took a good chunk of the material they were working on and slapped Vince Neil’s voice on top. The end result of this shotgun reunion being the Generation Swine record.
To this day, Generation Swine still gets a mixed reaction from fans. Many fans were hoping to get something along the lines of DR. Feelgood. Instead they got something that was continuation of what the band been doing all those years the old fans were not paying attention. I like the record a lot. In fact, the first Motley Crue shirt I got has Swine’s album cover. Artistically, I think Generation Swine was Motley Crue’s last stand. The last time they made a serious attempt to do something different. To give the people some of what they but also some of what they need.
One thing that doesn’t get mentioned often is that Motley Crue took the name Generation Swine from a book the late Hunter S Thompson wrote about the 80’s. This was a year before Johnny Depp introduced Hunter S to a new generation of fans with the movie adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Generation Swine was Motley Crue’s attempt to say: Yea we are a bunch of pigs from the 80’s but we can still make rock music just as good as any of you young motherfuckers. Songs like “Find Myself,” Generation Swine,” and “Let us Prey” where attempts by Motley Crue to give people new sounds with the same ol Fuck You We’re Motley Crue attitude. And then there’s the band’s re-arranging of Shout at the Devil “Shout 97.”
Generation Swine does have some weak spots. I always found the song “Confessions” to be boring and that song Tommy Lee sang about his kid “Brandon” is simply embarassing. Whenever I listen to the record I make a point to skip that track. Been doing that for at least a decade. But it also has some inspired moments. “Beauty” a song about Hugh Grant’s mid 90’s ‘incident’ was an interesting mix of Goth Rock and Sleaze Metal. “Glitter” is a pretty new wave/power ballad hybrid. “Flush” is much gloomier than what you expect Motler Crue to sound like but I love that song. It agreed with me since it came out around the time I was discovering Joy Division. One thing I always loved about Generation Swine was that this one the once record where Motley Crue pushed Vince Neil vocally and do something other than sound like you’d expect Vince Neil to sound.
I will admit I wasn’t crazy about their lead single “Afraid” but it grew on me. That song was meant to be a single and given a chance it could have been huge. But it was a mistake to have it as the lead single. The first single should have been the song Generation Swine. Something that sounded closer to what fans expected but still hinted at all the other shit that was on the record. Although the label put pressure on getting Vince back they didn’t do much to promote the record once it came out. Despite extra media attention the band got from the reunion and Tommy Lee’s relationship with Pamela Anderson, Generation Swine sold below expectations. Still, Motley Crue decided if they were gonna go down that they would go down swinging. They named their tour Motley Crue v/s the earth and tried to raise as much hell as possible.
Shortly after touring obligations were done for Generation Swine the band parted ways with their label Elektra Records. But the band was able to leave owning all their master recordings which was a big win for the band. Around the same time, Tommy Lee ended up in jail over a domestic incident where he spent a good chunk of 1998. As soon as Lee was out, the band wasted no time going on another tour and releasing the second (of an ongoing series of) greatest hits package with two new songs: “Bitter Pill” and “Enslaved.” I really like those two songs. The songs were pretty heavy in a (then) contemporary sort of way but closer in spirit to ‘classic Motley Crue’ than the Generation Swine record. The also had a certain pop sensibility that was different for them yet made sense for Motley Crue. I really wished they had released a full lenght record in the style of those two songs. Shortly after that tour Tommy Lee left the band.I guess all the media attention he got from his sex video and courting marrying breaking up making up and finally divorcing Pamela ‘Lee’ Anderson made him think he was big enough to strike on his own. Unfortunately the music he’s done outside of motley crue hasn’t been very good.
After Tommy Lee left, Motley hired ex Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo and recorded New Tattoo. New Tattoo was an obvious attempt to give the fans the ‘sequel to DR. Feelgood’ that some fans were wanting throught the 90’s. They even got Guns N Roses’ old producer, Mike Clink on board. Musically, New Tattoo sort of delived but the whole thing felt forced. Mike Clink did a decent enough job producing but was unable to capture the lightning on the bottle he did with Appetite for Destruction or on Megadeth’s Rust in Peace.
There were some Motley Crue creative low points on this record. Especially, “She Needs Rock n Roll” and the two ballads: “New Tattoo” and “Hollywood Ending” which FUCKING SUCK. But the record has some salvegable material. “First Band on The Moon” is silly, self aware but also a solid hard rock song. “Punched in the Teeth by Love” is decent enough even if it is a blatant rip off of The Four Hoursemen’s “Rockin is Ma Buisiness” (a song that stole its m,ain riff from Ac/dc’s Down payment blues, but then again if you’re gonna steal, steal from the best). For some reason they left “Timebomb” as an import bonus track despite being better than the bulk of what ended up on the regular record.
My favorite song on the record by a mile is “Fake” which oddly enough felt as the most real jam of the bunch. I also got to give Crue props for their decent cover of The Tubes’ “White Punks on Dope.” Since that song was my introduction to the music of The Tubes. Outside of “She’s A Beauty” of course which I’ve never been a fan of but The Tubes’ second album Young and Rich is a fun record.
When Motley Crue released The Dirt in 2001 the future of the band seemed uncertain. Tommy Lee was still trying everything to get his solo career going. Vince Neil was a making a drunk ass of himself in stages accross America. Mick Mars was laying low while Nikki Sixx was keeping busy with his metal punk side band Brides of Destruction. But then sometime around the end of 2004 the word on the stret was that motley crue was on the verge of another shotgun reunion. At the time, I was not very optimistic about this whole thing. The only one who seemed gung ho about it was Vince Neil who had recently gotten a makeover (on VH1’s dime) that included healthier eating, cosmetic surgery and writing and recording a song with song assistant to the stars Desmond Child. Tommy Lee did not appear to have much interest in the whole mess while Mick Mars was going through some SERIOUS medical shit.
So serious that there was doubt that Mars could be able to play on the new songs Motley Crue were recording. Songs for YET ANOTHER greatest hits compilation. Of the new stuff, the lead single was a song Motley took and rewrote from this really shitty pop punk band called Simple Plan. The song in question “If I died Tomorrow” had a video that (in a now predictable fashion) alluded to the near death experiences of the individual bandmembers and Tommy Lee’s time in the can. The remaing songs included a respectable cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” and a decent new song called “Sick Love Song.”
Despite or perhaps because of lower expectations I was pleasantly surprised with their comeback Carnival of Sins reunion tour. They brought their A game. An evening with show where the band played all the hits and then some. Even the red white and crue compilation turned out ok. If you only want one motley crue greatest hits record this one is the one to have. It includes the mandatory hits plus the three new songs, the two new ones from 98 and an unreleased jam from back in the day “Black Widow.”
in 2008 while the effort to adapt the dirt into a movie sat in development hell, Motley Crue decided to make a ‘concept album’ based on the book. Essentially a record where they boast about the shit they used to do. yay! I was not very exited about this. Especially when I found out that the bulk of the record was written by sixx with the guys from his modern rock side band sixxam with some assistance from mick mars and tommy lee. But the record called Saints of Los Angeles was actually decent. A step up from New Tattoo. The whole thing was a bit derrivative lyrically but the music somehow found a good balance between the polished hard rock of dr feelgood and the scrappy power pop of too fast for love. As far as concept records go it’s nowhere near the quality of say The Wall or Operation Mindcrime but the individual songs are enjoyable and the whole thing together does have a loose narrative. SOLA is nowhere near my favorite Crue record but it was the best we were gonna get at them at that point in their career. I was even more surprised that the title track from the record became Motley Crue’s biggest hit IN YEARS. It got heavy rotation on rock radio and the video even got decent airplay on (what was left back then) of VH1’s music programming.
Motley Crue dropped the ball by releasing “Motherfucker of the year” as the next single. A decent enough song but…it says MOTHERFUCKER ON THE FUCKING TITLE. If you want your song to be played on commercial radio THIS IS NOT the way to do it. By the time they released what should have been their second single “White Trash Circus” the momentum was lost.
Motley Crue spent the next seven years touring on the regular but only released two songs. Both of which were terribly shitty. “Sex” in 2012 and “All bad things must end” to conmemorate their 2013-14 first farewell tour. A song that also serves a cationary tale: that which sounds as a good name for a tour might not necessarily work as a song. At the time Crue seemed pretty adamant about this being their last tour. They even signed a ‘legal binding contract’ to prove how ‘serious’ they were about this. A sensible move by a band not know for making too many of these. Then the movie adaptation of The Dirt came out…
The dirt had some entertaining moments but it STILL SUCKED. It was little more than a cheesy tv movie but with titties and swearing. I would have been more inclined to give Motley a pass had they (mainly Nikki) not talked SO MUCH SHIT about how they weren’t going to make the movie unless it was done right, on their terms and yada yada yada. Yet the finished product was slightly better than that Marky Mark Rock Star movie. I assume that the development period wore them down to the point where they settled with Netflix. Still, that was a missed opportunity. There was enough material on the book to stretch The Dirt into a decent miniseries if they wanted to. It could have given a better rounded portrait of the band. Instead we got as much 80’s stuff crammed as possible while breesing through the less fun adult stuff of 90’s Motley Crue.
To add insult to insult Motley Crue recorded some new songs for the movie soundtrack. Saints of Los Angeles worked because there is some artistic merit in reevaluating the shit you did when you were younger through an adult perspective. Even if the intent was less about introspection and more about selling cheap nostalgia. But going back to that well for inspiration some ten years lately feels lame and lazy. As if Motley Crue has become that aging high school jock who won’t shut the fuck up about how he used to be captain of the varsity footbal team; because he can’t stand how his life turned out. The kind of people The Boss describes on his hit song glory days.
I can honestly say new material is the worst shit Motley Crue has ever released. You’d figure a group of people who have been writing and performing for forty years could easily phone in something in better than this bullshit. It baffels me that they insisted on shohorning ‘the dirt’ into the chorus of every new song. Was there NOBODY in the recvording sessions there to talk them out of such a shitty idea? GIVE ME THE DIRT? ARE YOU FUCKING FIVE YEARS OLD? YOU WANNA GET BACK TO PLAYING IN THE SANDBOX? The only salvagable thing about the new songs was the hook Machine Gun Kelly did on “The Dirt.” The less is said about their cover of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” the better. The Lords of The New Church did a better version btw.
The members of Motley Crue claimed they rekindled their friendship when they went in the studio to record those shitty new songs. They also claim that the success of the movie gave way to a HUGE demand for a new Motley Crue tour. A demand so huge that it prompted them to wipe their ass with that one contract. I’m sure their is truth to those statements. Being loyal to a band for a few decades tends to go hand in hand with being forgiving. There might be old fans who are pisssed about them breaking their word but odds are they will still pay to see them on tour. And there’s always gonna be some younger fans who missed the boat and would like to have their chance to see the band. But I do find it curious that as soon as Motley Crue was annoucing touring plans that people on my Facebook feed where posting the fuck out of this video:
In true Motley Crue fashion, when it comes to fucking up: go big or go home. For Motley Crue decided to go on a fucking summer STADIUM TOUR. Despite the fact that Motley Crue was NEVER a stadium band. Not even when they were in their commercial peak. To offset any potential disaster they are going out with two bands who normaly headline arenas on their own: Poison and Def Leppard. As well as Joan Jett who is also a respectable draw. On the promotional materials I’ve seen for the tour they seem to play down the whole Motley Crue reuniting bit. They also seem to give Def Leppard (who to be fair, HAVE sold more records and had more hits)equal level of importance.
Even putting their name top billing in some cases. This sort of thing tends to suggest that Motley Crue’s big ‘comeback tour’ is actually a co-headline package tour with def leppard. Where both bands get to play for an equal amount of time (my guess being 90 minutes each) and probably take turns closing out the night.
As much as I like these bands I don’t know if I’ll go see them when they come to Orlando. I guess it all depends on how much money I want to pay to see Vince Neil only sing every other word as the band plays on autopilot. I like my old time rock n roll and I’m loyal to a fault but I also like it when them old farts still have enough fire in them to give us something new. Like The Cult who will gladly play “Fire Woman” and “She Sells Sanctuary” live but have also been making new music on the regular since reforming in 1999. I saw an interview where guitarist Billy Duffy refers to their modus operandi as: “nostalgia with a lower case N.” Motley Crue used to be that kind of band and I loved them for it. But that all changed when they released The Dirt. Now they’re just living off the past.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 10, 2020 by A handfull of napalm
It had been a few years since I’d set foor in St Petersburg Florida. I simply hadn’t had a good reason to go. That is until somebody had the decency to book Electric Wizard and Midnight at Janus Landing in St Pete. But let me tell ya, driving to St Pete after work WAS A FIGHT.
In the interest of time, I will spare you the details but when I say a fight I nean A FUCKING FIGH. Like Them Spartans in 300 or Bruce Lee going up against a dojo of kung fu fighting motherfuckers. It got to the point where I SERIOUSLY considered abandoning the mission and not leaving Orlando. Which in hindsight would have been the sensible thing to do,but what’s an adventure without a little bit of adversity right?
Things started to look up once the Fury road shit was done. For once, the weather in Florida was ideal for people to rock out longsleeve shirts and or denim/leather jackets without the risk of heat exaustion. And the people present that night took full advantage of the weather conditions. There were jackets and patches as far as the eye could see. I want to give major kudos to the people who booked the show and the ones who put the tour together . There was no clutter of mediocre opening acts just two bands: Midnight and Electric Wizard. Two bands who are at opposite ends of the Metal underground yet share a decent chunk of the same fanbase.
Midnight might have been the first band on the bill but they weren’t burdened with some of the bullshit supporting acts sometmies deal with. They were treated more or less like a co-headliner. They worked that stage like the original Venom when they could afford a bargain bin version of Kiss’ 77 stage. The band was in constant motion and had energy and attitude to spare. Their brand of old school thrash meets punk meets black metal is great and they write solid songs on top of that. Songs that can hold their own next to the best of that genre.
If you are unfamiliar with the Miserable (I say affectionatley of course) World Of Doom/Stoner Metal , all you need to know about Electric Wizard is that their music is Really Loud, Really Slow and FUCKING HEAVY. These guys didn’t move the way Midnight did. The Wizards dressed the part and headbanged with the proper amount of enthusiasm but they stayed in their particular corners of the stage. There also wasn’t much in the way of musical variations. The songs all sort of crashed into each other. Electric Wizard is about THE VIBE above everything.
To capture The Vibe, Electric Wizard had an army of vintage amps at their disposal that built a literal wall of sound. Electric Wizard also had a giant projection screen that played clips from 70’s exploitation movies and satanic masses and other forms of freaky shit.
One of the highlights that night was watching people moshing to Electric Wizard. As stated before, Electric Wizard’s music is heavy and lends itself to headbanging but moshing not so much. It’s too slow for that sort of thing but there are some determined motherfuckers out there.
Initially, the pit consisted of ‘that guy’ and a few like minded idiots but once the pit got started it refused to stop. Eventually it grew to a decent size pit but due to the slowness of Electric Wizard’s music the pit was moving at half speed. It reminded me them six million dollar man/bionic woman shows from the 70’s. Electric Wizard did pick up the pace slightly as they were building up to the shows climactic conclusion. So for a brief moment the pit moved at regular speed.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 16, 2019 by A handfull of napalm
Adam “Nergal” Darski is an interesting guy. Not only is he the frontman/guitarist/leader of the biggest Death/Black Metal band from Poland: Behemoth, he also beat cancer and owns his own fucking Barber Shop. Nergal also has a side band Me And That Man that Blabbermouth.net refers to as a “Blackened blues project.” Me and that Man just released a new single called “Run With The Devil” and a music video that owes a sizable debt to Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. The song is alright but that guitar riff sounded VERY FAMILIAR to me. Yet I couldn’t quite point out where the fuck it came from. That shit was bugging me.
At first I thought Nergal might have ripped off the song “House of a Thousand Corpses” by Rob Zombie.
Or maybe even “Elect Dead For President” by Wednesday 13
But neither song held up to scrutiny. They sound closer to a Marilyn Manson slow jam. It took a while but I think I fucking figured it out.
Me and That Man’s “Run with The Devil” sounds pretty close to what you would get if Tom Waits
As far as remakes go, the current Child’s Play one seemed unneccesary. Usually, Horror Franchises go for the Reboot/Remake option when they’re on the ropes. When it comes down to either: rehash the first movie in order to sucker a wider audience or do another low budget sequel destined to go straight to redbox/dvd/streaming purgatory.
But the Child’s Play movies didn’t need to go there. The franchise got a bit of a second wind with the last two sequels: Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky. As I write this, the producers/creators of the original franchise (who had nothing to do with this remake)are working on a new sequel and a possible tv series. When I found out about the remake, I wasn’t to thrilled about it. I thought the new Chucky Doll looked FUCKING HIDEOUS (and not in a good way) but having Aubrey ‘April Ludgate’ Plaza as one of the leads and Mark ‘The Skywalker Joker’ Hamil as the voice of Chucky picked my interest.
The new Child’s Play starts by committing the cardinal many contemporary remakes make: Assuming that doing everything on a bigger scale will automatically make a better film while ignoring the actual shit that made the original movie memorable. The new Chucky isn’t some ordinary doll…noooo we just couldn’t let that shit be. This new Chucky is some kind of smart robot doll that can link up to any product associated with the company that makes the doll. And them motherfuckers conveniently make A LOT of different products.
So instead of a regular ole Doll (through the magic of voodoo) possessed by the soul of a serial killer, we get a Robot Doll with mad attachment issues that goes ‘evil’ due to some random act of sweatshop sabotage. Shit!, If they were going to go full robot on us, why didn’t they just remake Wes Craven’s Deadly Friend? I take it they chose Child’s Play since it was the more marketable brand. The thing is, they didn’t need to go full robot on us. Dolls, like Clowns are SCARY ENOUGH ON THEIR OWN!! That’s kind of the point about dolls and clowns, they’re supposed to be innocent toys and shit for children but carry an underlined sinister vibe. They should have saved the sci fi shit for some other movie, all you had to do is make me think that fucking doll was going to kill me in my sleep.
The first half hour or so of the movie was a fucking chore to sit through. I love Ms. Plaza’s work on Parks and Recreation, Ingrid Goes West and Mike and Dave but on Child’s Play she looks like she’s phoning it in for the paycheck. The first half of the movie consist of a surprisingly decent cast being forced to do pointless improv exercises. The film spends way too much time trying to get us to sort of like Chucky before he goes stabby stabby.
As stupid as the new Chucky Doll looks, I do appreciate the fact that filmmakers stuck mostly to animatronics and practical effects when it came to the Doll. The movie does have some amusing though improvable death scenes. When I saw the trailers I thought these people were going to go for the darker tone of the original film but they chose spectacle over horror instead.
The new Child’s Play had some amusing moments but overall, the movie pissed me off. It got too ridiculous for its own good and not in a funny way like Bride of Chucky. I enjoyed the claymation short on the DVD’s bonus features more than the actual film.
The movie’s theme was also pretty cool.
It sounds like a kiddie version of the theme from the original Suspiria movie.
ahandfullofnapalm 