Re-discovering bands you used to like.

[Blazer]

I guess we all have had it, really big on a band, then you get side-tracked for a couple of years and then suddenly you hear something new from that band you used to like and went "WHOA!"

In my case it was Iron Maiden, as a twelve year old with my very first electric guitar I really was into them and "Somewhere in time" and "Seventh son of the seventh son" were my most played albums in my tiny collection of LP records. But then Guns N roses released "Appitite for destruction" and I found that heavy rock could be easy to play. And a few years after that Alt Rock broke and I was loving it. My mediocre skills on guitar didn't really matter anymore.

But that changed when I was watching MTV Europe's "Most wanted" as hosted by Ray Cokes in the mid nineties one evening. (This show was not a request show like the MTV USA show with the same name, "Most wanted" was a live show where Cokes would do silly stuff and have cool bands performing.) And Maiden was there with two faces I didn't recognise, Janeck Gers and Blaze Bailey. And then they started playing THIS song.


At first I went wide eyed and then I got up from my chair and started headbanging. And after the song was done I went "DUUUUDE! I need to check that album out." After that evening I was a born again metal man. "X-factor" is one of those albums that brought me back where I belong and although Blaze Bailey could never replace Dickingson, nobody can deny that this song still is a kick ass rocker.

and for those who wonder how it would've sounded with Bruce singing...


I hope they'll put it back in their setlist again.

[gweimer]

My old high school band mates and I got together in Madison, WI about 8 years ago to see Mountain (they both lived there, I was in Cincinnati).  We jammed for the first time in over 20 years that afternoon, and went to the show that night.  We had a great time, and our drummer gushed over Leslie West like a 16-year-old.  I talked to Richie Scarlett, who got his start with the same managers that I had used in the mid '70S.

[uwe]

To me Blaze's pitch with Iron Maiden always sounded a little flat. While that can have its charm - Paul Weller is another flat singer and so is Lucinda Williams - in some music, with Heavy Metal if you don't have perfect pitch, you'd better be a little high than a little low (a quality Dickinson excels in!  ).

I like Maiden for what they stand: that blue-collarish working men's heavy metal with slight prog influences. They are an organic band, but their songwriting lacks finesse and sounds samey to me. Two types of songs: Ones that start fast and slow down and ones that start slow and speed up for the "Maiden gallop". I thought the New Musical Express' review of one of their mid-eighties albums brilliant which consisted of just one sentence. "One of the more remarkable albums of 1973 no doubt." 

I still like them. They give their fans what they want and work hard at it. But their twin or even triple lead guitar work will never reach the heights of Wishbone Ash (one of their cited influences) and Judas Priest have more class and elegance in their sound to my ears. Steve Harris is more nimble as a bass player than most metal four stringers (certainly more than Priest's Ian Hill!), but his choice of notes and rhythms never ever surprises me.

Uwe

[PhilT]

It doesn't really work like that for me. I've enjoyed the current Deep Purple lineup live, but it wasn't the kind of revelation that would make me go out and look for their latest albums. It was just a welcome change from some of the disappointments (Genesis, Canned Heat, The Yardbirds, Robin Trower). Somehow I didn't take much notice of Mountain first time round, so seeing them last year was more like discovering a new band (and they were great). And then there's Dr Feelgood, which I really didn't like at all originally, but the current lineup is one of my favourites to see live.

[SKATE RAT]

i would like to see the "Killers" era maiden with Paul Dianno.i think the last record i bought from these dudes was "Seventh son of a seventh son" i still think of Dickinson as the "new guy" and Blaze who?

[Barklessdog]

Seeing "Love" in Las Vegas, was a re-awakening to the brilliant bass work of Paul McCartney and the magic of the Beatles music that still is as hard hitting (in that show) , more so than anything today.

If your a Beatles fan I would really try to go there to see the show.

[Freuds_Cat]

I'm currently revisiting Uriah Heep. I have about 7 LP's which I have converted to CD recently.
Gary Thain and Trevor Bolder....just great bassists IMHO 

[uwe]

Oh, you should give their new album "Wake the sleeper" a listen then. Very powerful, Bernie Shaw echoes David Byron's vocal style credibly

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=uriahhe

,Phil Lanzon comes across like a mix between Jon Lord and Ken Hensley, they have a new powerful drummer (Kerslake had to stop for health reasons) and Mick Box and Trevor Bolder are still on board. That new album is widely regarded as a return to form after decades.

I still think they are a bit "poor man's Deep Purple" + lush harmonies. Their influence on bands such as Styx is probably underestimated though.

Uwe

[Freuds_Cat]

Thanks Uwe, Vocals are certainly good enough and just enough the same as Byrons without being guilty of the clone label.

They are the loudest band I have ever seen/heard. Insane volume in our home venue (The Bridgeway). Even louder than Motorhead in the same venue. Held about 1200 people back then.
Once I had the ear plugs in I could enjoy them.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

They keep puttin' out more great Hendrix stuff:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZMEqntt3DzQ

Horns! Verry Coool

I'm readin' his bio called Roomful of Mirrors & it says he recorded a lot of stuff with acoustic guitar & Juma Sultan on congas.
I'd LOVE to hear that!
Glad to hear he went to Morocco with wealthy friends & got away from it all for awhile. There's a Moroccan flavor to the acoustic stuff with Sultan.

Evidently Jimi WAS like a SULTAN himself with the exotic rugs & tapestries & so forth he bought in Morocco...& the bevy of beauties he bedded....including Brigitte Bardot!!!!

I'm readin' books about Zep, the Doors & Harrison...I've read several books about each of them & keep learning more....

Been listenin' to these Classic Rockers a lot lately tooo

[uwe]

There's an unreleased album with Stephen Stills coming out. Stills recorded it with him in the late sixties or even shortly before Hendrix' death. Tapes were believed to be lost, but now Stills found them again at his home and plans to release them. Which - after they have worked out the legal side with the Hendrix estate - can't be much longer than in 10 years from now ... 

[Barklessdog]

David Crosby with David Gilmour - looks like he lost some weight.

[Barklessdog]

Anyone remember Audience?

Kind of a poor man's Jethro Tull

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

There's an unreleased album with Stephen Stills coming out. Stills recorded it with him in the late sixties or even shortly before Hendrix' death. Tapes were believed to be lost, but now Stills found them again at his home and plans to release them. Which - after they have worked out the legal side with the Hendrix estate - can't be much longer than in 10 years from now ... 

You can get a taste of them together on Stills first solo disc, this song:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=P0Kr6Ywqxxo

Shame it takes so long to get it all out. I LOVE HENDRIX!

I'm lovin' Joan Baez again, just heard this for the FIRST TIME today!:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7eCNLY7ezJo

This is Classic too:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2lk-GiNQFTU

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Just found an AWESOME McLaughlin cd at the local Brand Art & Music Library called The Promise.

My fav track is called The Wish. AMAZING synchronized runs with guitar, drums & tablas.
There's sitar on it too but it's kind of low in the mix which is lame.
Wondering who's on Bass....

amazon has it.