The Club That Changed My Life

It is not too much to say that Columbia House changed my life.  The ads for this record and tape club were in the Sunday newspapers and all the music mags back in the day.  In fact, you can find a cool retrospective on the service Columbia House provided millions of music lovers here.

But isn't it a bit extreme to say that such an organization changed my life?  Sure, it offered eleven albums for a penny and the twelfth for free, but why was this different from any other promotional gimmick?

The year was 1987.  I had been part of Columbia House for several years because of my fondness for...wait for it...country music.  Yep.  I was a huge fan of The Oak Ridge Boys, Ronnie Milsap, Johnny Lee, T.G. Sheppard, Eddie Rabbitt, and on and on.  I still am.  Yet one day in 1987 the latest Columbia House mailer arrived and I found in it an album by a band called Whitesnake.  The description listed it as "Zeppelinesque," and while I had heard of Led Zeppelin, I really didn't know that band, so I thought I would dip my toe in the waters of hard rock by getting an album by a band that supposedly sounded similar.

When that cassette arrived a short time later, my life went speeding down the offramp from Nashville straight into the heart of rock and roll.  I was hooked.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  This was like nothing I had heard before, and I played it nonstop.

Eventually a friend told me that Whitesnake had recorded some other albums, and in my search for them in record stores and by doing research in music magazines, I discovered another universe.  Through lead singer David Coverdale, I found Deep Purple, and with Purple I found Led Zeppelin.  I was a kid in a candy store!  I read everything I could find in Hit Parader, Metal Edge, and Circus magazines.  And as I came to know and love the hard rock of the late '60s and '70s, I discovered blues.  At first it was the Delta blues of artists like Robert Johnson and then, just as they had done in actual life, my tastes traveled up the Mississippi to Chicago and the likes of Willie Dixon and so many more.

Now I co-host with my good friend Pastor Wildman a hard rock & metal podcast, The Wildman & Steve Show, on which I have had the pleasure of talking with many of my favorite musicians, truly a dream come true, and to this day the best way for me to unwind from work or even to get my motor runnin' in the morning is to listen to the classic rock sounds that all started...with the Columbia House Record and Tape Club.

Evil Be Damned

The #1 album on Amazon's Hard Rock list is the new release by Stryper, God Damn Evil, and while we may be waiting on certain evils in the world to go away, one thing is clear.  The evil of wimpy music has been condemned and the triumphant flag of hard rock has been planted on its grave with the release of Stryper's twelfth studio album.

Everything about this release is old-school, yet updated for the 21st century.  Back in the day, a band would release singles that we heard on the radio, getting us excited for the full album.  In the '80s we had music videos that told stories and took us into the world of the songs.  With the release of God Damn Evil, Stryper and Frontiers Records went back to this strategy and gave the world "Take It To The Cross," "Sorry," "Lost", and "The Valley" before the album came out today.  Each one had its own video, and the ones for "Sorry" and "The Valley" were true MTV-era works that featured a dramatic story along with shots of the band in action.

To say that this strategy got fans hyped is an understatement, and I know this because of the 21st century part of the formula, social media.  Michael Sweet is one of the savviest users of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.  He knows how to light a fire and stoke it to a blaze with words, pictures, and videos sent at the just the right times to keep conversation about the record at a fever pitch.  And of course, there are all the fans and fan groups that keep the Internet buzzing with retweets and shares of everything that comes out from or about the band.

Early reports said this would be Stryper's heaviest and best album to date, and Michael Sweet confirmed this in numerous interviews.  Guess what?  Those articles were right.  This is an album that is clearly in the Stryper catalogue while making hard rock and metal relevant with fresh, new sounds worthy of being blasted from the best speakers of you've got.

"Take It To The Cross"...Opens with an eerie, moody sound that evokes images of swirling mists in the darkness.  And then the doors blow off with a fierce drum attack and what quickly became the early talking point surrounding this album, the thrash sound of the course and the high vocals screaming, "TAKEITTOTHECROSSTAKEITTOTHECROSSTAKEITTOTHECROSS!"  This song is perhaps the biggest departure from the traditional Stryper sound, but the guys handle it well, and let's be honest.  True musicians aren't just making music for commercial reasons.  They like to experiment, and this experiment produces a great result.

"Sorry"...I commented on the YouTube video that the early riffing is reminiscent of "Ready An' Willing," the title track from Whitesnake's 1980 album.  The vocals would have worked well on a Sweet & Lynch album or a Michael Sweet solo project.  He is very aggressive on this, yet the guitar solo is melodic and simply delicious.

"Lost"...If the first track was the greatest departure from the typical Stryper sound, "Lost" will be the most familiar to longtime fans.  A great guitar attack with impossibly soaring vocals on the chorus make this a number that would have been at home on the No More Hell To Pay or Fallen album.

"God Damn Evil"...This is my early favorite, hands down.  A swaggering opener turns into a scream that demands your attention.  Although it could easily have been a bonus track on Fallen, this one is sure to be stand-alone and concert favorite. The lyrics are in your face as is their delivery, but it is that chorus that, when translated, says, "Get your fists in the air and scream this one back at the band to help take the decibel level in the concert hall to a deafening level."  Oh, and there is a twist starting at 2:56 that just puts a smile on your face.

"You Don't Even Know Me"...This is a slower, thoughtful number, but with a solid, hard rock punch.  The guitar solo takes you back to the glory days of guitar solos in the '80s and has you rocking right along with the band.

"The Valley"...This track opens with Oz Fox reading Psalm 23:4, which, when combined with lyrics about fighting the good fight, makes this song the rightful successor to "Marching Into Battle."  Once again, there is swagger and attitude to spare in the vocals and guitar work.  Hey, if you were looking for the meek and mild, try the easy listening station at the office, because you certainly won't find it on this song.

"Sea Of Thieves"...Michael Sweet said in an interview I did with him that he was always a Deep Purple fan, and that shows in the intro to this song.  It pays homage to "Bloodsucker" from Purple's 1970 In Rock album and then comes back throughout the song.  This one caused me to stop writing this review and break out my own air guitar.

"Beautiful"...Robert Sweet's drum opener will turn your head from whatever it is you're doing while listening.  It is unlike anything on any other Stryper album.  This, my friends, is a rock ballad.  I have to confess that I often fast-forwarded (in the days of cassette tapes) through the obligatory ballads on metal albums, but I won't be skipping this track.  Yes, it is a ballad and, true to its title, is quite beautiful, but there is enough punch and, oh, yeah, a guitar solo, that make it impossible to forget this is a rock record.

"Can't Live Without Your Love"...Let your mind drift back to the '80s.  Can you see your favorite band on MTV in a video?  The scenes cut back and forth from the band on stage to the members standing along a cliff as the sea breezes blow their hair that is long than their girlfriends' and then transitions to a dramatized mini-play of the lead singer and his girl.  That's what you get with this song.  And the guitar solo...good grief, this is fine stuff!  I'm going to have to replace the strings on my air guitar when I listen to this!

"Own Up"...This has another opener that makes you ask, "Is this Stryper?"  This is in no small part because of Robert Sweet's rhythm again.  I may need to break out the thesaurus to find another word for "swagger" in this review, but there it is, making this a hugely fun song to sing along with.

"The Devil Doesn't Live Here"...Fast and hard!  It may just be me, but I had a faint impression of Motorhead.  With a title like this on an album titled God Damn Evil by a band that has regularly told the devil where to go, you have to know that this is going to be a sonic blitz against sappy music and a vocal attack on Satan even as it lifts up Jesus Christ.

Fans of rock and metal, this is as good as it gets.  Buy this thing now and you'll see what I mean.

Stryper faithful, your band has given you an amazing gift, new music that reminds you of why you have listened to them for decades even as it takes you to a whole...notha...level.

Let's Talk '80s Metal

"Say what you want about the 80's but there will never be another era quite like it. Rock & Metal ruled the charts, arenas, magazines, television - the world. We were a part of that moment in music history. Lord willing, maybe we'll be a part of the next big rock movement. Stryper is alive & well!" -- Michael Sweet, Stryper, FB post 24 March 2018

The colors, the light shows, the hair, the outfits, and of course THE MUSIC! While it is true that I love blues, jazz, country, gospel, hymns, classic rock, hard rock, folk, and the pop songs of the '50s through the '80s, it is '80s metal that will always hold a special place in my heart. It is the first music that was truly my own and that I enjoyed in some of the most formative years of my life.

So let's take a look and a listen with some of the bands whose logos are featured here, starting, in no particular order, with Poison.  These guys were just straight up fun.  They had some of the biggest hair in the business, and "Nothin' But A Good Time" could well have been the anthem for the whole decade.

Although there was some bad blood between Poison and Mötley Crüe back in the day, which undoubtedly bumped record sales for both bands, it seems fitting to put them back-to-back here.  There's a lot to choose from in the Mötley catalog, but 1989's "Dr. Feelgood" has it all...the boys at their best and a video full of flames and plot straight out of Miami Vice.

Another anthem for the era could well have been "Cum On  Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot.  It's a song about loud music.  It's a song about noise.  It's a song about cranking those speakers to 11.  What's not to like?

Readers of this blog know how big a Stryper fan I am, and with a new album coming out on April 20, 2018, these guys are not just keeping the great music of the '80s alive but taking to new heights in the 21st century.  Here's the title track to their 1985 album Soldiers Under Command, a favorite for lead singer Michael Sweet and the album that introduced me to the yellow & black army.

I love that in the graphic above Stryper and Whitesnake are next to each other, since Whitesnake was my other favorite band in the '80s.  Their entire body of work, from 1978 onward, is killer blues-rock and metal, but nothing, and I mean nothing, slays quite like "Still of the Night" from their quintuple platinum 1987 album.

Lots of bands have had color words in their names, and White Lion joined the palette in the '80s.  I was fortunate to seem the open for Stryper in Louisville, Kentucky, and remember being blown away the gymnastic performance of bassist James LoMenzo, who went on to play with Michael Sweet on both Sweet & Lynch albums.

'80s metal may have been something of a boys' club, but Vixen proved that the ladies could rock just as hard.  Following the path paved by Heart and Joan Jett, they also showed why relationships were easier in the '80s...guys and girls could share Aqua Net!

Now, I've had a taste for the blues ever since I first started listening to rock, and no one plays blues-rock/metal better than Cinderella.  Once again I was fortunate to see them live when they opened for Bon Jovi in the spring of '87.  "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" from their sophomore album Long Cold Winter showcases Tom Keifer's unique, gravel-filled vocals at their peak.

Is there any song from the metallic '80s that has been played, sampled, used, and even mocked more than Europe's "The Final Countdown?"  Who cares!  It's a classic, and for some reason I will always connect it with a college visit to Indiana University when I was a senior in high school and was planning what classes I would take.  I must have been listening to it a lot then, and it sure takes me back.

I've always been a big Twisted Sister fan, and "We're Not Gonna Take It" is a straight up metal anthem.  It also connects with a special memory for me.  When I was in high school, some guys from the grade ahead of me had a band called Storm Front and they played this during one of our Latin Club meetings!

There are, of course, countless more great metal and rock songs from the '80s.  Share favorites and leave a link to the videos in the comments below.  As for me, if I ever get around to writing a will, I am going to insist that those who attend my funeral listen to a playlist of my favorites!

Winds From The North

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of David Coverdale's second solo album, North Winds.  I discovered it in 1988, along with his debut album from 1977, White Snake, on a double album by Connoisseur Collection.  I soon purchased the Connoisseur double version on CD, and then later both albums individually when they had been remastered with extra tracks.

North Winds is a soulful album and a funky album.  You get the funky side of things on the opening track "Keep On Giving Me Love" and then move into the deeply soulful "Northwinds," a song that demonstrates how well Coverdale's vocals can shape a song.

I don't know what it is about the third track, "Give Me Kindness," that for some reason reminds me of New Orleans, but it does.  Perhaps it's the horn section.  It's a fun, swinging kind of song for those who've been around the block a time or two and as a result know a thing or two about life.

"Time & Again" is the stand out track for me.  I included it on a mix tape back in the day for the girl who would become my wife and to this day remains one of my all-time favorite romantic songs.  This is a soft, gentle number for lovers who are so deep into each other than completely understand what it means when Coverdale sings, "all I want to do is just talk about the woman I love."

"Queen Of Hearts" gives us the first taste of what the early Whitesnake would become, and for good reason.  It appeared on the first Whitesnake album, the Snake Bite EP.

"Only My Soul" is simply exquisite.  It touches that place in a man's soul where all he wants to do is weep, where he needs someone to lead him on "through restless waters" and to walk with him "along the way."  It is hauntingly beautiful number.

The next track, "Say You Love Me," opens with a piano riff that makes you think you are standing with good friends around the upright in someone's living room sharing memories in song.  Another horn selection gives this a good-time groove that leaves you saying, "Ah, yes!"

"Breakdown" concludes the original album and is a number about the breakdown of Deep Purple Mark IV in 1976.  A fast-paced rocker, it documents the end in the only way fitting, with solid rock 'n' roll.

The remastered album includes what to me were two fascinating surprises.  The first is an up-tempo, seriously funky number called "Shame The Devil" that has me reaching for polyester bell-bottoms and platform shoes.  It has the characteristic Coverdale flair in its lyrics with the line "shame the devil, tell the truth," and it makes you wonder with its horns and funk what it would have been like had he gone full tilt in this direction.

The other track is "Sweet Mistreater," that opens with a very surprising layer of synthesizer.  It sounds like nothing else Coverdale ever recorded and is squarely in the pop genre.  Again we see his affection for wink-wink, nudge-nudge lyrics in "you shame the devil when you tell me the truth, just like a dance hall queen."  The lyrics actually tell a rather said, typically blues tale, but that synthesizer takes it straight into pop.

All in all, it is well worth adding to any collection of great '70s music and great rock music, and it is a must for all fans of the unparalleled voice of David Coverdale.

The Purple Tour

On December 12, 2015, Whitesnake played Genting Arena in Birmingham, England, a stop on The Purple Tour that saw them playing songs from David Coverdale's Mark III lineup of Deep Purple as well as classic Whitesnake tunes.  The cameras were rolling, and the result is a live CD and Blu-Ray of that concert.

I had pre-ordered this so I would get it on the day of its release.  As I have written, Coverdale's project to "snake up" classic Purple songs on The Purple Album was a success, so I couldn't wait to see and hear these and other serpentine songs live.  Bottom line...I was well rewarded.

On the Blu-Ray disc you get thirteen songs from the concert.  These are the same as on the CD.  The Blu-Ray also gives you 5.1 Surround versions of "You Keep On Moving," "Stormbringer," "Lay Down Stay Down," and guitar solos from Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra called "Lotsanotes."  Listen carefully, and you will catch Hoekstra tearing his way through a bit of "Amazing Grace."  There is also the new video for "Burn" and a fun interview of Hoekstra and Beach by bassist Michael Devin in which you learn what the guys enjoy on their off days and everything you wanted to know about bacon.  Yes, bacon.

But let's get down to what matters, the concert.  First of all, David Coverdale, who will turn 67 this September, looks and sounds great.  I truly do not understand comments that he has lost his voice.  Has it changed?  Of course it has.  He first sang "Burn" when he was 22.  Yet he still has power and the emotion to carry any song.  Ian Gillan, by contrast, as I noted in a post on Deep Purple's Long Goodbye tour, has lost much of his vocal gift, but Coverdale's is still there.  And don't let anyone tell you he can't hit the high notes anymore, for he digs down deep into the private reserve of his vintage vocals for as powerful and earth shattering a "Here I GOOOOOOOOOOO" as ever.

Whitesnake has always been a twin-guitar band, and axe-slingers like Hoekstra and Beach demonstrate why this works.  Hoekstra simply wails on the six-string, and the solos passing back and forth between him and Beach are electric.  As for Reb Beach, that guy has all the cool of a '70s southern rocker and looks as if he would be just as at home in Lynyrd Skynyrd.   Actually, his look fits in well with the full beards of Michael Devin and guitarist Michele Luppi, and even Coverdale's own extended sideburns are a good look for this '70s-meet-21st century rock extravaganza.

Let's face it, rock is about image almost as much as it is about music, and the visuals of this concert accentuate the songs.  We see the "Coverdale candle" from the cover of the original Burn album on the big screen during some of the Purple-era songs,

pictures from Whitesnake's 1987 tour book behind songs from the '87 album, and the band's original logo during tunes from the earlier years.  And when it comes to image, Hoekstra frequently steals the show for me with too-cool guitars.  He starts with a white Les Paul emblazoned with a stylized snake and the Whitesnake amulet, switches to a purple glitter axe, and then back to a black and gold version of his opening Les Paul.

Don't think that the rhythm section isn't in on the action. Throughout the concert bassist Michael Devin just has fun.  In fact, he seems to be having such a good time that he could just as easily have been standing next to you in the audience, singing along as one of Whitesnake's biggest fans.  Tommy Aldridge's drum solo comes along about halfway through during "You Fool No One," and when he tosses his sticks to the crowd, he begins pounding and flailing away like a madman, only to find another set of sticks for his final percussive attack that ends with the Christian drummer holding them aloft in the shape of a cross.

The concert opens with a sonic tsunami, but by the time you hit the middle, you begin to settle in and realize something.  These are simply incredible songs.  For example, for the longtime Whitesnake fan, there is just nothing like seeing the band play "Ain't No Love (In The Heart of The City)" and joining the world-famous Whitesnake Choir to sing along.  You move from epic to epic as "Mistreated" comes next, and it dawns on you what amazing music Coverdale has created and delivered for more than four decades. And then comes "Soldier Of Fortune," an exquisite song telling a beautiful story that reminds of you how great songs can transport you to another time and place.  By the time you get to "Here I Go Again," you feel as if old friends have gathered to sing the songs of favorite memories, and there is something in the Snakes' performance of this beloved hit that reinforces the comfortable, fun, relaxed feeling.  

The Blu-Ray captures the energy and enthusiasm of this historic concert and ends
with "We Wish You Well," a song the Snakes have never played live but with which they have ended most of their concerts for nearly forty years.  Having the same songs on CD makes it nice to be able to hear the concert anywhere.

Official video of "The Gypsy" from The Purple Tour

Going Solo

Yes, this one of my Christmas gifts. Must have been a good boy this year!

In late 2017 Michael Sweet (Stryper, Boston, Sweet & Lynch) released a DVD called Sole:  Songs and Stories From a Life In Music, and it just that.  I love behind-the-music videos and opportunities to hear the stories behind the songs I love, and this provides all of that.  First and foremost it is a recording of Michael's solo show at the Narrows Center in Massachusetts from June of 2017.  Interspersed are rare video clips of Michael and a new interview in which he reflects on his music, his career, and all that goes into making the sounds that form the soundtrack of our lives.

What do you need to know about this disc to head over to Michael's site to buy it?  It is an incredibly well produced testament to a seriously creative force in rock music.  We get songs from Stryper, from Michael's solo career, and from his work in Sweet & Lynch, and we get them in a form that not everyone can bring off...acoustic solo.

Some of us remember the days of MTV Unplugged, whose undeniable highlight was Eric Clapton's rendition of "Layla."  That show introduced countless rock fans to the genuinely respectable musical chops of their rock heroes.  This is not to say that there is not legitimate musicianship blasting through a Marshall stack, but it is easy to get caught up in the sonic tsunami of a concert and miss the nuances.  When an artist stands alone on a stage with nothing but a mic and a guitar, there is nothing to hide behind.  It is raw and immediate, or "starkers" as David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake) once put it.

So is Michael Sweet someone who can bring this off?  Let's get this straight, folks.  Michael Sweet is a serious musician.  He can write music and lyrics that take songs into the stratosphere and has done so for more than thirty years.  He is a technician who knows his craft incredibly well.  And the guy can flat out play and sing, perhaps better than ever, and that is evidenced clearly on this disc.

What makes this DVD so special is that Michael's true character comes out.  He interacts with his fans and with family members, and the whole thing makes you feel as if you and your friends were hanging out with him at your house.  I have been fortunate to interview Michael and connect with him after shows, and I can tell you that what you see of him on this DVD is the real deal.

One word of warning, though.  Get this one quickly.  It is a limited edition of 1,000, and it can only be purchased through Port Merchandise online.  If you are a Michael Sweet fan, a Stryper fan, or just a fan of the magic behind music, then add this to your collection today.

Sweet & Lynch: Unified

There was a time when I thought there was no more good, new music.  I even used to joke that "the day the music died" did not refer to the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, but December 31, 1989, for once we left the '80s, there was nothing good anymore in the musical world.  That was, of course, an exaggeration, but let's face it.  There comes a time when many of us stop listening to new material and just replay our favorite albums over and over.  The 21st century, however, has seen a rebirth of some great rock music, and the latest testament is the sophomore release from Sweet & Lynch.

Their 2015 debut, Only To Rise, was a solid record, but their new album, Unified, simply blows it and many others out of the water.  Michael Sweet (Stryper, Boston), George Lynch (Lynch Mob, Dokken), James LoMenzo (White Lion, Megadeth), and Brian Tichy (Billy Idol, Whitesnake) have returned tighter than ever.  Their individual efforts mesh on this album, and they simply sound comfortable together, a fact that gives the album its defining characteristic, creativity.  I have never heard an album that experiments as much as this one from track to track, and those experiments pay off, yielding music that is intensely interesting and that makes you want to keep the album on repeat.

The opening track, "Promised Land," forms a clear bridge with the last album.  In fact, it could well have been on Only To Rise and has much in common with that album's title track melodically and rhythmically.  After listening to it, you say, "Okay.  Sounds good.  Pretty much as I expected.  What's next?"  And that's where things get interesting and take off.

Track 2, called "Walk," is unlike anything these guys are known for in their other bands.  It is certainly unlike anything Michael Sweet has ever sung.  It opens with a funky rhythm followed by Michael's rapid fire vocals that recall Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes on "Hard To Handle."  Early comments on this song based on the video likened it to Queen, and that is clearly evident in the chorus. After two verses and twice through the chorus, things change again for a tasty solo from George Lynch that is again evocative of Queen, yet at the 3:14 mark we hear a throwback to "Under The Bridge" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  From there, it is back to a big, Queenesque finish.

At this point, any first-time listener should be wondering what is going on and curious for the next track, for it is clear that this album is not going to sound as if each song were cut from the same mold.  And if curiosity killed the cat, it is probably because the cat tripped and fell as it stumbled into the dark metal of the third song, "Afterlife."  It is dark, heavy, and sludgy.  Oh, and did I say it is dark?  It features a slow rhythm that, when it does accelerate, moves into a swagger and then back into slow...what's the word I'm looking for...darkness.

It is well known that I'm a huge Michael Sweet fan, but these opening three songs display an amazing talent.  The lyrics are wildly different as are his vocal styles, and he pulls each one off with great success.  For someone who has enjoyed his metal screams for years, "Walk" and "Afterlife" are delicious treats.

"Make Your Mark," the fourth track, returns to the familiar Sweet & Lynch of the first album and Michael's aggressive screams, although at the 2:07 mark his vocals call to mind Steven Tyler from "Sweet Emotion."

A slow, country/southern-rock groove opens track 5, "Tried & True," and turns into a melody that would have stood well alongside Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye."  In fact, you could well imagine this playing at the high school dance or in the car as you and your date hung out after the football game.  It takes you back to a simpler time and is quite a lovely tune.

And speaking of taking you back in time, the title track, "Unified" comes up next and does just that.  While Sweet & Lynch is without a doubt a rock outfit built on the solid guitar work of George Lynch, it is the subtle, almost ethereal keyboard floating above the verses that conjures up images of big hair, Aqua Net, and spandex, and for this Roman Rocker, that always fits the bill.

Is it the theme song to a 1970's sci-fi film?  No, that's just the intro to "Find Your Way," the seventh song, but despite prompting us to imagine George and Michael dressing like Space Ace Frehley, this one is again solidly in the vein of Sweet & Lynch's first album with thundering vocals and good, meat-and-potatoes guitar work.

"Heart of Fire," track 8, is a true sing-along song.  Great harmonies on the chorus bring this one home, and by this point in the album, you've pretty much stopped paying attention to whatever else you were doing and have just settled back into the music.  But at the 2:39 mark, you look at your device or record player with a "what is that?" expression on your face as George Lynch takes off on a solo that goes in an unexpected direction.

Track 9, "Bridge of Broken Lies," could have been a Michael Sweet solo number.  In both music and lyrics, it sounds as if it could have come from his 2014 album I'm Not Your Suicide.  A slow number that explores the pain of broken relationships, it is a solid rocker that really opens up with Lynch's solo in a blues-rock groove.

Dark and foreboding that explodes with wailing guitar.  That's what you get with the opening of the tenth song, "Better Man."  And then comes another surprise, for this is a love song.  Again there is the '80s-inspired keyboard and driving, child-of-the-'80s rhythm and guitar wail.

The final number, "Live To Die," opens with a straightforward rock drum and guitar attack, but when the vocals kick in, you would swear you were in 2005 and listening to a lost recording for Stryper's Reborn album for the first two minutes.  The solo that enters at that point gives you the Sweet & Lynch vibe from their first album, and then shifts again at the 3:00 mark to sound like a Michael Sweet trademark guitar assault.

This is an album for music lovers, and by that I mean it is a project that those who are genuinely interested in the making of music will enjoy.  It experiments.  It plays with different sounds from what we are used to from these musicians.  It mixes things up, proudly reveals its roots in other eras and styles of music, and creates something new.  This is what music making is all about, and this what musicians, not merely entertainers, seek to do.

As I said before, I'm a huge Michael Sweet fan, but it is not for that reason that I note this is his project.  Yes, George, James, and Brian brought their tremendous talents to the table, but if you watch any of the behind-the-scenes videos (here, here, and here) you will see just how much Michael was the ringmaster of this musical circus.  These are some of his most interesting and heartfelt lyrics to date, his vocals in even this wide range of styles are spot on, and his ability to arrange and get the sounds he is looking for all add up to one thing.  The guy is a serious musician who has aged better than a fine wine, and when you put musicians the likes of George, James, and Brian in the same studio with him, the result is fantastic music for the serious and discerning listener.

Serpens Albus

I'm not sure if any album was better suited to launch me into a lifetime of enjoying hard rock and metal music than Whitesnake's 1987 release.  I had already been enjoying the sounds of Stryper and Bon Jovi, but in the late spring of my senior year in high school, Whitesnake released their self-titled seventh album, and  the soundtrack of my life would be changed forever.  Described in the Columbia Record and Tape Club's monthly catalogue as being "Zeppelinesque," I had to give it a try.  As soon as it played through my jam box once, I was hooked.

It is a minor point to some, but the Latin phrase serpens albus at the base of the amulet caught my attention.  I was a Latin student back then with plans to become a Latin teacher, so that was, in my mind at least, immediately cool.  Still, it is all about the music, so let's get back to that.

The opening track, "Crying In The Rain," reaches out with a fist of iron, grabs you by the neck, and then passes you on to the next song, with each successive track manhandling you as if you were a rag doll to be left spent at the end of an album that you can't wait to replay from the start.  The whole thing is a tsunami of sonic aggression, and the lyrics have a pure blues-rock pedigree.  It has been said that David Coverdale could not write a song if the word "love" were removed from his vocabulary, and tales of needing love, losing love, and seeking love fill this album.  There are the ballads, of course, such as "Is This Love" and "Looking For Love," which was originally released only on the European version of the album, but what sold the album for me were Coverdale's vocals.  He remains one of my all-time favorite singers, and his vocals here are strong, soaring at times into the hair metal scream zone, but clear and able to carry the emotional freight of the songs.

A few months after purchasing the cassette, I found myself a freshman in college and soon discovered that I only had the tip of the iceberg, for there were six other Whitesnake albums I had never heard of.  I quickly began acquiring those and going absolutely nuts for their blues-rock roots.  Still, it was the granite-fist-in-a-steel-glove-smashing-me-in-the-face sound of the '87 album that made me wish I actually had speakers that could be cranked to eleven, and nothing captures that better than "Still Of The Night."  I remember once walking with a friend past a dorm on campus and hearing the sounds of this album blasting from one of the rooms.  I shouted up, "Hey, Whitesnake dude, is that a CD?"  Compact discs were still new, and I was impressed with the sound making its way down to the sidewalk.  He stuck his head out the window and said that it was, then asked if there were a track I wanted to hear.  I shouted, "Still Of The Night!"  Moments later my buddy and I were rocking out, and I knew that a CD player would be in my near future, and in fact it was this album that was my very first CD to accompany the Sony Discman that I got just a few months later.  Although I never had the album on white vinyl, I did have this poster in my apartment my senior year, and it will always be one of those songs that I turn up to ear-bleeding level whenever it comes on the radio.

I have been fortunate to see Whitesnake in concert three times, twice in the '80s and once in 2016, and through this band I came to know the music of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and the rest of the rock legends, and their 1987 album was the start of it all.

For all these reasons, I had to get the 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition that was just released.  And yes, I tracked its shipment on Amazon, hardly able to wait to get home from work the day it arrived, which was also the day of its release.

When they say "super deluxe," they aren't kidding with this item.  It all comes in a handsome, hefty, well-made box that  feels in the hand as if you are holding a tome of literature. In fact, David Coverdale himself said it felt like holding The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and from a rock perspective it is just as epic.

As you can see from the picture I took moments after taking off the cellophane as eagerly as a kid at Christmas, there are lots of goodies.  There is a handsome poster of the album cover that will soon be framed and hanging with my other favorite rock posters.  Now, working our way counterclockwise from the top left of the photo, we see the exquisite 60-page, hardback book chock full of photos from the era and text detailing everything you could want to know about the meteoric rise of this multi-platinum stunnner.

Next is the disc called "87 Versions," which starts out with four remixes of "Still Of The Night," "Is This Love," "Give Me All Your Love," and "Here I Go Again."  I listened to these alongside the original releases and the 2017 remasters (more on these later), and I can honestly say the remixes bring something fresh.  You can hear individual tracks and instruments more sharply, and often the low-end sounds are clarified, which contrasts them with the high-end vocals.  It is as if the lines of a sculpture have been chiseled anew, not differently, but to make the cuts deeper and to bring the details into sharper relief.  The disc goes on to include "Standing In The Shadows," "Looking For Love," "You're Gonna Break My Heart Again," and "Need Your Love So Bad" from the Japan mini album.  This last track is a true gem, one that may be unknown, criminally and tragically so, to many.

At the bottom left you can see the DVD, which is the first item I played in this treasure box.  It starts off with the four MTV videos restored and remastered in 5.1 of "Still Of The Night," "Here I Go Again," "Is This Love," and "Give Me All Your Love."  For some of us, this is how we want our music videos...lots of shots of the band in action and a bit of the story line dramatized.  Watching these takes you back to that golden age of rock videos and music television.  Next comes  "Video Memories - The Making Of The 1987 Album."  Coverdale narrates in that rich voice of his, and coming in at a full half hour, this is a great look at what took place.  It examines everything from Hugh Syme's design of the now iconic Whitesnake amulet, Tawny Kitaen's replacement of Claudia Schiffer in the videos, and of course the making of the music.  After this is the Purplesnake Video Jam of "Here I Go Again," which for me was simply the most wonderful gift. Backstage and behind-the-scenes clips are interlaced with footage from various concerts on that tour, and the effect is that you are reminded just how much fun rock was in those days.  The hair is big, the costumes are flashy, and taking me back to the days of my youth as it did, it darn near brought a happy tear to my eye.  The DVD concludes with actual tour footage of "Crying In The Rain," intros of the band members, and "Still Of The Night."  It was if it I were back in Louisville, Kentucky's Freedom Hall on February 14, 1988, when I saw Whitesnake for the first time.  The showmanship of David Coverdale, Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, and Tommy Aldridge really shine through in these glimpses from the 213-date tour that tore through the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Puerto Rico.

Next in the picture you see the disc of "Snakeskin Boots," which was the second disc I couldn't wait to open.  It contains twelve tracks recorded live in June of 1988 in Tokyo.  This is the mighty Whitesnake at the height of their hair-metal glory.  Songs are mostly from the '87 album, with "Slide It In," "Slow An' Easy," and "Love Ain't No Stranger" from their preceding album Slide It In.  Listening to the disc in 2017, the track I couldn't wait to hear was "Ain't No Love In The Heart Of The City."  Their cover of the 1974 Bobby Bland song appeared on their debut album Snakebite back in 1978 and became the featured song on all their tours.  I once asked David on the old Whitesnake bulletin board whether he had sung it or Deep Purple's "Mistreated" more often, and he replied that it would be hard to tell.  I love all of the countless versions I have listened to, and it is indeed one for the famous Whitesnake Choir that David loves and appreciates so much to join in on with full-throated abandon.  Of course the track that gets the crowd to blow the roof off the place is Track 10, "Still Of The Night."  There is nothing like this song, and nothing like it played live.

On on the bottom right is the disc "87 Evolutions," filled with demos and rehearsals.  I love this kind of thing.  It's like unearthing an original manuscript of a famous work and seeing how it changed over time.  We hear alternative arrangements and lyrics, and by gaining access to these works in progress, we are taken deep into the creative process.  If you are the kind of person who loves rockumentaries and the nitty-gritty of music development as I do, you will enjoy this disc.

The last disc in the picture is the complete '87 album remastered.  It includes the full eleven tracks from the European edition, but in a different order from either the U.S. or European release.  The sounds are a bit cleaner than the original, and anything that opens with "Still Of The Night" is going to be a scorcher.

In the upper right corner of the picture, you will notice a small, purple booklet.  It includes all the lyrics to the songs along with David Coverdale's own handwriting, including the crossing out of words he decided against.

So there you have it, a look at the 30th anniversary super deluxe edition of an album that truly shattered the darkness in rock and will always have a special place in the discography of this Roman Rocker.

Falling To The Top

On October 16, 2015, Stryper released Fallen, their eleventh studio album.  Before I get to some thoughts on the music, I want to talk about why this album has a particular meaning for me that no other album has.

October 16th was a Friday in 2015, and since I was scheduled to fly out of town that afternoon, I asked my wife to purchase the CD for me and my teenage son to rip it for me so I could put it on my phone for listening on the plane.  At some point in the day, I felt my phone buzzing like mad with incoming text messages, and at my first break I pulled it to see what was going on.  My son had started texting me pictures of the album...CD cover front and back, liner notes, the disc itself, and the interior of the jewel case.

I have told him numerous times how much that meant.  Neither my wife nor daughter are the music nuts that my son and I are, and while Stryper may not be to his taste (he is a for King & Country, One Direction, Toby Mac, Harry Styles kind of guy), he knew that I would want to see what the album looked like.  I will never be able to listen to this album without thinking of the kindness of my son.

So, what does the album sound like?  What follows is the review I wrote of it two years ago on another blog.  As I listened to the album again today on the way to work, I can honestly say I would not change a word.  Oh, and at the end of the review, check out the two videos for the songs "Fallen," "King of Kings," and "Yahweh" that I put together with some classic art.

In October the metal band Stryper released their eleventh studio album since blasting onto the scene in 1984.  I have been a fan the whole time and am writing this review just so I can be part of the historical moment that is the re-birth of classic metal.  Stryper’s album Fallen proves what talented musicians can do who stay true to their roots, care about their fans, and have enough creativity not to live on the glory days but to create new ones in keeping with the times.

The opening track, “Yahweh,” begins like no other Stryper song.  It starts with an acapella choir sound that turns into a thundering, sonic guitar attack as Michael Sweet begins the story of Christ’s crucifixion.  It is an epic story, and the music stands up to it.  The entire album has a ten-foot deep, concrete foundation made out of Robert Sweet’s pounding drums and Tim Gaines’s aggressive bass.  On this track they combine to lend the perfect tone to this tale.  And let’s be serious.  If you are going to open your album with this story and a sound this big, the audience knows it is going to be a killer album in whole.

From there we get the title track, and one cannot help thinking of the epic poem Paradise Lost as we get the story of Satan’s fall from glory told in traditional Stryper guitar attack style.  Michael’s high scream opens the tale and resurfaces in the chorus, which always has me reaching for the volume to turn it up.

“Pride,” for which the band released their first official video, picks up the dark, heavy sound from “Yahweh” for the third track, and again we have the pounding rhythm section to open.  We are treated to a beautiful melody that morphs into a gritty scream during the chorus, and those who have never heard Michael Sweet simply accept his powerful vocals, but those of us who have heard him for three decades stand in awe at how he has continued to grow.

“Big Screen Lies” is a fun tune with another aggressive, rhythmic opening.  It talks of how Christianity is portrayed in popular media, something the boys in Stryper know a little about.  It has that in-your-face, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” it feel of “Loud ‘n’ Clear” off their debut album.  The chorus features thundering guitars, and the song ends with a gritty, greasy, snarling vocal.

The next track, “Heaven,” would have been at home on the Sweet & Lynch album Only To Rise.   This is another song of rebellion against what others think is the way to go.  Michael has strong, soaring vocals without going into the stratosphere.  It is again an in-your-face lyric.

“Love You Like I Do” almost has a Whitesnake feel in the very opening.  It is a call-and-response song that could be seen as a lyric between a man and a woman, but is more likely, and more reasonably, a lyric between God and His creation.  I could not help thinking of Oz Fox’s wife, Annie Lobert, in this one, as she leads the fight against sexual exploitation of women.  No one will ever see us as God sees us, certainly not those who see us only as means to an end.  And speaking of Oz, his guitar work has been killer on ever track, and the guitar solo on this song begs to be seen live in concert.

“All Over Again,” for which the band and their wives have released the album's second official video, is a country-rock ballad and may be the best of their career.  Let’s face it.  A fair portion of their fan base is of a maturing age.  This lyric hits home.  It is not a rose-colored glass view of the past, but one that can honestly say that with the good and the bad, we would not change a thing, but would do it all over again.  It is a big sound, worthy of the cowboy rocker of the ‘80s and perfectly suited for today.

“After Forever” was the track a lot of people were eager to hear.  It is a cover of Black Sabbath and, despite that this may get me negative comments, I will go on record as saying the cover is better.  It is sharp, clean, and aggressive.  It is a perfect fit for Stryper, and the boys carry it off perfectly.

The next song, “Till I Get What I Need,” is a fast, blistering number that seems directly born from Michael’s autobiography Honestly.  It has the classic Stryper guitar sound that would have been at home in the ‘80s, yet sounds in no way dated.

I’m not sure what it is, but I often like the last two or three tracks of an album the best.  Time and again for a variety of artists, these seem the heaviest.  "Let There Be Light" would have gone well on their last album, No More Hell To Pay, and is musically in that vein.  Again we have a strong, epic sound to the epic story of Genesis.

"The Calling" may be my favorite.  It is a chest-beating, bold, head-thrown-back anthem, with a fast and aggressive rhythm.  It has almost a classic rock sound at points.  Matthew Arnold, the famous scholar of Homer, said the Greek poet had a fast-moving, forward-driving feel to his poetry.  The same is true in this song.  It grabs you and drags you along at Mach I.

The final track, “King of Kings,” is another that would have gone well on the last album.  Stryper has always given us anthems, and this is one that calls to mind the expansive chorus of “Passion” from the Reborn album.  We have a sonic race at the beginning that slows and hits a slower, powerful stride in the chorus, forcing us to listen and, if so inclined, to belt out the lyrics, too.

And speaking of lyrics, I have to say these are some of Stryper’s best.  The stories are epic, yet the lyrics have a way of speaking directly to us.

If you did a word count, you would see I used “epic” and “aggressive” more than any other.  This is how I like my music.  In one of hissongs, country singer George Strait sang, “I don’t want you under my roof with your 86 proof watered down ‘til it tastes like tea.  You’re gonna pull my string, make it the real thing for me.”  I couldn’t agree more, and Stryper delivers better than ever.