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highandlowculture · 8 years

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A (Sort of) Reappraisal of Metallica’s Load & Re-Load

The much-maligned second disc of Metallica’s Hardwired... To Self-Destruct has grown on me.

A bit.

As such, I thought it only fair to give Load and Re-Load a reappraisal. After all, like many fans, I’ve criticized Hardwired’s second disc for being too sluggish, meatheaded and overall Load-ish (whereas the first disc is Grade A thrash and classic metal). My relationship with Load and Re-Load has been shaky at best. Sometimes I think they’re underrated, but oftentimes I think they’re bloated and drag. When Load was dropped in 1996 I was over Metallica and most mainstream rock music. MTV and the airwaves were glutted with corporate grunge and ska (all of which could be labeled “Alternative” by kids shopping at Hot Topic). It was a shit time for rock music. I had turned to hip-hop and old funk albums. Most of my beloved metal bands from my teen years had turned into trend-followers rather than trend-setters. And even if some of these albums I’ve grown to love in recent years, let’s face it: Megadeth, Testament and even Overkill slowed down their music. Thrash was dead. Metal, for the most part, was dead. Mötley Crüe and Anthrax not only drastically changed their sound, they made it a point to replace their lead vocalists with dudes who didn’t shout “1980s” so much. And, course, Metallica cut their hair and released Load: An album so slow and filled with wah-wah guitar solos, the band was quickly dubbed "Alternallica". Most people blame Nirvana and the Seattle grunge scene on metal’s identity crises in the mid 1990s, but it kind of started with, guess who?

Metallica.

Released months before Nirvana’s Nevermind and Soundgarden’s Bad Motorfinger, Metallica’s eponymous 1991 album (a.k.a. “The Black Album”) was ahead of the curve. The only breakthrough grunge album that predated The Black Album was Alice in Chains’ Facelift. There was a handful of bona fide grunge albums released by underground acts (Mudhoney, The Melvins and Sub-Pop era Nirvana), but the general public didn’t know they existed. To most people, it was Alice In Chains’ first big hit, “Man In The Box”, that lead to rumblings about the Seattle grunge scene (even though the song had more in common with Ozzy Osbourne than Buzz Osborne). Of course the first wave of grunge was initially considered an annex of metal; all of the Seattle bands’ videos had heavy rotation on Headbanger’s Ball right alongside thrash and hair metal bands. Thrash and grunge bands were more in alliance against the popular hair metal of the late 80s than they were against one another; both music scenes incorporated punk and classic metal elements; both were anti-image and strived for authenticity. But whereas grunge was simpler and ultimately more accessible, thrash was complex and sometimes progressive music.

Commercially, and perhaps creatively, Metallica took thrash to its utmost limits with 1989’s ...And Justice For All. Their subsequent decision to embrace slower tempos and more traditional song structures resulted in their biggest commercial success and a watershed moment in popular music. Not only was The Black Album chock-full of MTV hits, it introduced mainstream listeners to music far heavier than anything they had listened to before. The Black Album had set up Nevermind’s success, not the other way around. And you want to talk about grunge? “Sad But True” and “The God That Failed” are almost categorically grunge (the former essentially being a reworking of their 1988 song “Harvester of Sorrow”). So to suggest Metallica was jumping onto any kind of band wagon in 1996 is erroneous at best. They helped construct the wagon. I’d also argue that bands like Megadeth, Testament and Overkill were thinking “Black Album” with their subsequent, less thrashy albums moreso than Nevermind (Overkill’s I Hear Black being the strongest of these post Black Album releases IMO).

So The Black Album helped change popular music and possibly destroyed the burgeoning thrash movement.

Metallica weren’t following trends, they were setting them.

But does this make Load and Re-Load not suck?

At very least, you might think they suck for different reasons.

Keep in mind, by 1996 grunge had peaked. Kurt Cobain had been dead for a couple years. The first wave of Seattle bands were now being outsold by the likes of No Doubt and Alanis Morissette. If any of those flannel-wearing motherfuckers had a dream, it was over. This was the musical climate in which the Metallicats dropped their big Load on music listeners. It was an album recorded by rich men who had already made the myths (both creatively and commercially) and now could release any damn thing they pleased. Was anyone not going to buy Metallica’s long-awaited follow-up to The Black Album?

I didn’t at the time, but, y’know... most people did.

If Metallica was in any position, it was Guns N’ Roses’ position in 1991: When they released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

And this is just one way Load and Re-Load are similar to the Use Your Illusion albums. I think the UYI albums are better than the Load albums. There are enough good songs on UYI I & II to justify two albums IMO. Load and Re-Load: Not so much. Still, there’s no denying the similarities: They’re both essentially a double album that was released in two parts (in Metallica’s case they simply waited a year to release the second part). The UYI and Load albums show both bands echoing 1970s classic rock (I’ll expand on this in a bit). UYI I and Load are both more accessible and hard-rock driven; UYI II and Re-Load are both darker and more experimental. Both set of albums divided fans upon release and they still do. The one area, however, where the UYI and Load eras differ is image. Whereas Guns N’ Roses essentially still looked like Guns N’ Roses, Metallica introduced an entirely new look with Load’s release. No doubt, this was one of the reasons hardcore fans felt betrayed in 1996. Metallica had short haircuts and dressed like the rich rock stars they now were! Obviously this had nothing to do with grunge; if anything it was more metal to dress flashy than it was to wear a flannel. No, the band didn’t look grungy.

They looked positively slick!

Yes, they were abandoning their anti-image ethos of the thrash era, but hadn’t that ethos already been co-opted by the grunge and subsequent “alternative rock” movement? By 1996, it was more rebellious to dress sharp and smoke cubans than it was to just wear jeans and a muscle shirt. That being said, Lars and Kirk’s decision to wear eyeliner was perhaps a bit much. At very least, it didn’t ring with sincerity, which I suspect is one of the main reasons it rubbed fans the wrong way. Maybe Lars thought it was cool to play Bowie and go theatrical, but James sure as hell didn’t like it (take note he didn’t put on the makeup at the time, only Lars and Kirk did). I’d argue that if the band had reintroduced themselves with “The Memory Remains” video rather than the “Until It Sleeps” video, they wouldn’t have polarized as many fans. Black dress shirts and sunglasses just say slick rocker dudes. They might be rich, but they still drink beer. Eyeliner and Hieronymus Bosch references say art snobs.

So their new image was half cool / half uncool.

And the music followed suit.

Out of the gate “Ain’t My Bitch” is a different Metallica, but rather than “Alternallica” I’d label them “Hard Rockallica”. This is just straight-up, down & dirty, rock ‘n’ roll. The type of music you can imagine playing in a biker bar. There’s a bluesy element, with even a slide guitar solo, that wasn’t present in their music before. It’s rootsy, but it’s not exactly their roots. James, like a lot of children of the 1970s, listened to Aerosmith, but by the time he was interacting with Lars in the early 80s it was all about the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Even Black Sabbath wasn’t a huge influence on Metallica in these early days; their influences were N.W.O.B.H.M. bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Venom and especially Diamond Head. That’s until Cliff Burton joined the group. I always find it funny when metalheads declare that Metallica wouldn’t have gone in the musical direction that they did in the 1990s if Cliff had lived. I guess they don’t know much about Cliff and his musical role in the band. In addition to being an innovative bassist who introduced the brash young band to classical music, Cliff also opened their minds to a lot of 1970s bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Blue Öyster Cult. Thus, I find it hard to imagine Cliff would take issue with the band diving deeper into southern rock and gonzo biker rock. Maybe the songs would’ve been stronger with him around, but the general direction wouldn’t have changed.

Anyway, “Aint‘ My Bitch” is a catchy enough rocker. Not the strongest track to ever open an album, that’s for sure! It sounds like a better Side Two or Side Three opener. “2 X 4” is my favorite song off Load. This is a song that could easily be mistaken for grunge because it’s slow and sludgy, but I’d argue it’s got too much of a bluesy swing to be grunge. It struts with attitude. Grunge seldom struts. Most of Load is simply 70s influenced hard rock; Metallica’s N.W.O.B.H.M. influences being traded-in completely for the type of music Cliff Burton loved: Skynyrd, Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, and especially Blue Öyster Cult (all of whom were covered on 1998’s Garage Inc.). While most people are familiar with “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, it’s the first three Blue Öyster Cult albums that Metallica draws the most from: 1972’s Blue Öyster Cult, 1973’s Tyranny & Mutation and 1974’s Secret Treaties. Bluesy in a strange, deconstructed manner; hard-rocking yet moody; experimental but still grounded enough for that biker bar; these early BOC albums laid much of the groundwork for Load and Re-Load. They’re also damn fine albums. You should go out and buy ‘em!

Back to Metallica…

“2 X 4” is the kind of menacing deep track that should be loved by both metal and hard rock fans. Between that tough-as-nails guitar riff and James shouting “I can’t hear ya, are ya talkin’ ta me!”, it’s a definite throw down song. But it’s also a lousy choice for a second track. Load doesn’t begin with a strong one-two punch like “Enter Sandman” and “Sad But True” on The Black Album. Load’s first two songs are almost, dare I say, subtle?

Well, as subtle as you can get with “Bitch” in the title.

“The House That Jack Built” is a solid Alice In Chains ripoff. Does this give credence to the whole Alternallica thing? Not if you don’t fall for marketing and know Alice In Chains was always a metal band. Regardless, there’s a bigger issue. The first three songs on Load are all accessible, but none of them scream “Hit Song” (and “The House That Jack Built” is way too long for a third track). What’s going on here? Doesn’t Metallica want to rule MTV anymore?

Then “Until It Sleeps” creeps in and it’s Hitsville, USA! A great, brooding, pop dirge (who’d ever believe there was such a thing). Similar to “The Unforgiven”, it manages to be really depressing yet catchy at the same time. In fact, I think it would’ve worked better as a second single (a’la “The Unforgiven”). It doesn’t announce ’96 Metallica the way, say, “Enter Sandman” announced them to the MTV crowd. It shouldn’t come to a surprise by now that I think Load and Re-Load should've been condensed to a single album or at least a tight double album. And like I wrote earlier, I think “The Memory Remains” would’ve been a stronger lead-off single. As a song it just makes much more of a statement. Between the creepy Marianne Faithful nursery-rhyme and its total embrace of classic rock groove, it definitely announces itself. And although Load is the more accessible of the two albums, Re-Load is the one that opens with a one-two punch: “Fuel” and “The Memory Remains”. There’s a reason why they’re the only two songs from this era the band still play in concert. They’re both catchy as hell. And “Fuel” kicks things off like a big, heavy metal party.

But back to Load…

“King Nothing” is decent-enough, but Metallica-By-Numbers (it’s the track that’s most reminiscent of The Black Album). “Hero of the Day” sounds designed for Modern Rock Radio and as such, it’s the song that most warrants the Alternallica stigma. It’s a well-written and catchy tune, even if it doesn’t do much for me personally. I think it would’ve worked better as a stand-alone single, released like a year or two after the album. Y’know, like on a soundtrack or charity album. “Bleeding Me” is a cool, art rock tune in the BOC vein. “Cure”, “Poor Twisted Me” and “Wasting My Hate” are all B-Side material. “Mama Said” is a pretty country song, but since this is a Metallica album, it might not be the best place for it. In my proposed alternate reality, James saves “Mama Said” for a country side project: Dead Bear In My Pickup Truck. I can never remember what “Thorn Within” sounds like, even while I’m listening to it, so it can’t be very good, right? I actually like “Ronnie”. The riff reminds me of AC/DC’s “Gone Shootin’”. A groovy, southern rocker that’s obviously filler, but good filler to these ears. With the album’s closer, “The Outlaw Torn”, they’re again on BOC mode: A gonzo biker rock epic! Apparently they kept jamming at the end, so the over nine minute album version is the short version!

Overall, I do think Re-Load is more metal than Load. It’s less bluesy and there’s also less wah-wah. Now I like myself a little wah-wah, but what Kirk did on Load could be considered wah-wah abuse. The man is lucky he didn’t get arrested. Right out of the gate with “Fuel”, Re-Load puts some of the metal back into Hard Rockallica. I guess a lot of metalheads take issue with the song because it’s fun. Like Motörhead and Judas Priest were always gloomy or something. Funny, because a lot of metalheads also love AC/DC and God knows they know how to party! Why can’t a band that was once lovingly nicknamed “Alcohollica” write a NASCAR friendly party song? Loosen up, people. I think “Fuel” makes for a better Motörhead tribute than Hardwired’s “Murder One”. Lemmy wrote a few dirges, but he was primarily about speed and “burning hard”. Re-Load’s second track, “The Memory Remains”, is my favorite track and it has to be one of the weirdest hit singles ever. It reminds me, conceptually at least, of BOC’s “Joan Crawford”. See what I did there? I brought it back to BOC. But let’s return to Re-Load and its third track: “Devil’s Dance”. Another great tune. Dark and sludgy metal with the word “Devil” in the title. So that’s three great songs in a row, does this album own Load or what!?

Hold it. I should’t whip out my dick yet.

There’s a drop-off.

And it starts with the fourth track, “The Unforgiven II”. A woefully unnecessary and inferior sequel. It’s essentially “The Unforgiven” in reverse: The heavy guitar verses become clean guitar verses, the clean guitar chorus becomes a heavy guitar chorus. So the most interesting thing about “The Unforgiven”, the way it subverted the clean verse to heavy chorus structure, is replaced with a more formulaic and traditional metal ballad structure. Whose idea was this? “Hey, guys!” Lars walks into the studio, after buying a Picasso, and addresses the band. “Why don’t we do “The Unforgiven” again, but this time around we make it more ordinary!” There’s some nice guitar work, but it’d be better served on a new Skynyrd-esque ballad than an uninspired “Unforgiven” sequel. And to think it was a single!?

“Better Than You” is another dud. A mundane track that makes way too much of a mundane lyric. “Slither” is a lesser “King Nothing”; maybe a good B-side. I can’t believe I like a Metallica song entitled “Carpe Diem Baby”, but I do. The song begins with a thick bluesy riff (they didn’t entirely jettison Load’s bluesyness), then slowly marches to a brilliant curveball of a chorus: It’s bittersweet yet infectious. The kind of tonal shift BOC often pulled-off on their earlier albums (even the song’s title is BOC-ish). I don’t hate “Bad Seed”, but if you’re referencing Sabbath’s mighty “Sweet Leaf” you damn well need a better song than this! “Where The Wild Things Are” is a creepy, experimental ditty. It’s weird enough to charm me, but it’s best tucked towards the end of an album. “Prince Charming” is stupid and wouldn’t even make a good B-side. I love “Low Man’s Lyric”. That’s right: I LOVE IT! A world-weary ballad that wouldn’t have sounded out-of-place on a Led Zeppelin or Thin Lizzy album. I don’t know why 70s hard rock and metal bands are allowed to have ballads, but Metallica are cocksuckers if they show their sensitive side.

“Attitude” might be a generic rocker, but it’s better than “Better Than You” and “Prince Charming”. At least it helps pick up the tempo. And like Load ended with “The Outlaw Torn”, Re-Load ends with a gonzo biker rock epic: “Fixxxer”. Again, like BOC, hard-rocking but vaguely psychedelic. Hippie music for people who don’t like hippies.

So the ratio of good songs versus subpar songs is roughly the same on Load and Re-Load.

It probably should’ve been a single disc, but in 1996 Metallica fans had been waiting five years for a new studio album! Therefore, in my alternate reality, I’ll be generous and make it a tight double album: Eight songs per disc. Overall, I think this version works better:

Disc One

1.) Fuel 2.) The Memory Remains 3.) Devil’s Dance 4.) Until It Sleeps 5.) King Nothing 6.) The House That Jack Built 7.) Bleeding Me 8.) Fixxxer

Disc Two

1.) Ain’t My Bitch 2.) 2 X 4 3.) Ronnie 4.) Low Man’s Lyric 5.) Carpe Diem Baby 6.) Attitude 7.) Where The Wild Things Are 8.) The Outlaw Torn

It’s still called Load, which is a good name for a double album, but the band retain their classic logo.

And this is the album cover…!!

#metallica #load #re-load #heavy metal #grunge #blue oyster cult

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cynthiajayusa · 6 years

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Hear Me Out: Nine Albums to Hear in 2019

There’s something for every color of the rainbow included in this year’s music-release roster. The list is long, but here’s a taste: debuts from Pitch Perfect star Ben Platt and hair-toss kween Lizzo, songwriter showcases from Patty Griffin and Lana Del Rey, a gay icon (Madonna), emerging gay icons (Ariana Grande, Carly Rae Jepsen), and much more. Look for this diverse pack in the coming months:

Ben Platt, Sing to Me Instead (March 29)

You know Ben Platt as a Pitch Perfect acca-nerd – he played Benji Applebaum, the acapella-obsessed outcast crazy for magic – and as the eponymous lead in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen. But the magic of his first solo album, where he’ll peel back the layers of the gay man under the wizard’s cape, is purely Ben Platt being Ben Platt. Already, he’s captured the greatest love of all – the saving grace of self-love – on “Bad Habit,” a tender, aching piano number with gorgeous vocal riffs on gorgeous vocal riffs. Surely Platt has a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Madonna (TBA)

Will Madonna reel it in? Drain the pool of zeitgeist, hotshot producers she’s been known to enlist for recent projects? Ditch trends? Blaze trails? Much remains to be seen (and heard), but because women are ardently reclaiming their rightful power – and because Madonna is Madonna – she’s bound to come down hard on the patriarchy on her 14th studio album. Suitably, she had a session with an all-female Portuguese orchestra for the release, which she told Women’s Wear Daily was being made “in between rose mist spray and serums.” So just maybe this one’ll be sweet and fresh and like a Sephora after all.

Carly Rae Jepsen (TBA)

In October 2018, Carly Rae Jepsen announced her pop career’s next chapter by Instagramming a snap of a (her?) cat nipping at a Twizzler she held in one hand, a droopy slice of pizza dangling from her other. Full pizza at her feet, the pic – hilarious, empowering – captured the buoyant breakup anthem that would follow, “Party For One,” a bop that makes a strong argument for singlehood and self-pleasure. E*MO*TION* was fire. The best pop album of 2015. Maybe not a Hot-N-Ready, but whatever Jepsen delivers, piece by piece, we’ll eat it right up.

Patty Griffin, Patty Griffin (March 8)

A first-ever self-titled album after nearly 25 years in the music business has to mean something. For Patty Griffin, one of the best character songwriters this world has to offer (just ask gay power-songwriter Justin Tranter, who stands PG), it means deep, pensive dives into her own life. Battling cancer, as Griffin did, will tend to beget self-reflection, and so her 10th studio album, “Patty Griffin,” traces her steps, from memories with her late mom to growing up in Maine, when she thought “maybe who I am wasn’t right.” “Luminous Places” – a could-be swan song – is otherworldly, casting a mystic dreaminess amid a delicate dance of strings, guitar and pillowy piano; it’s as if the song was composed in the clouds, then fell from the sky and floated to us on a single moon-lit snowflake.

Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next (Out now)

Ariana Grande moves on fast – from donut controversy, from exes, from albums. Sweetener descended upon us just half a year ago, in August 2018, but Grande had more to say, dammit, and so she’s gone and said it with an army of 12 bad-bitch-and-beyond songs conceived for this new project led by the power-asserting “thank u, next” and the “My Favorite Things”-sampled “7 rings,” a piercing, winking satire of millennial entitlement. A confessional chronicling a trying year in the spotlight, it’s her best, boldest album yet.

Ryan Adams, Big Colors (April 19, plus two more albums TBA)

It seems Ryan Adams may be playing against his brooding type on Big Colors, one of three albums he’s releasing this year because Adams, you should know, is wildly prolific and mercifully insane. On the sweet title track, Mandy Moore’s ex-husband takes delight in life’s natural radiance, buzzing about “flowers for brains, permanent sunshine” with an uncharacteristically joyful disposition that’s refreshing and infectious.

Dido, Still on My Mind (March 8)

Dido seems to not mind being forgotten, only to be remembered every four to six years, when she floats back to earth like the mystic fairy she is, reminding us that her dainty voice may be that of an actual pixie. Her first album since 2013’s Girl Who Got Away, Still on My Mind was recorded with her brother, Rollo, at home, on a couch. It’s that chill living room sound both you and your mom can agree on; the real thrill, though, is hearing the English performer infuse electro and hip-hop life into her delicate sofa songs. A remix album can’t be far off.

Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell (March 29)

Lana Del Rey’s persona is the subject of much debate and confusion: how much is truly authentic, and how much is the record label’s doing to produce a pop icon for These Sad, Dark Times. Del Rey seems to have leaned into the conversation, and she’s responded accordingly – and very, very personally – with her forthcoming album’s maximalist-titled first single, called “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman to have – but I have it.” Produced and co-written with Taylor Swift and Lorde producer Jack Antonoff, the song is a songwriter’s song, hauntingly simple, intimate. Her authenticity is her defiance.

Lizzo, CUZ I LOVE YOU (April 19)

On “Juice,” rapper-singer-flutist and “America’s Next Bop Star” Lizzo does not, will not, even let that mirror, mirror on the wall chime in on the fairest one of all. Because, honey, she is. And you are. And we all are. There for you and all the blighted characters in Blockers and A Bad Moms Christmas and I Feel Pretty, the Detroit-born, Minneapolis-raised performer’s breakthrough single, “Good as Hell,” similarly empowered you to write your own damn fairy tale and parade that princess crown around and let it shine. All signs for this one, Lizzo’s much-anticipated major-label debut, point to more hair-toss, “you go geeeerl” swagger.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2019/02/28/hear-me-out-nine-albums-to-hear-in-2019/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2019/02/hear-me-out-nine-albums-to-hear-in-2019.html

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demitgibbs · 6 years

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Hear Me Out: Nine Albums to Hear in 2019

Ben Platt, Sing to Me Instead (March 29)

Madonna (TBA)

Carly Rae Jepsen (TBA)

Patty Griffin, Patty Griffin (March 8)

Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next (Out now)

Ryan Adams, Big Colors (April 19, plus two more albums TBA)

Dido, Still on My Mind (March 8)

Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell (March 29)

Lizzo, CUZ I LOVE YOU (April 19)

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2019/02/28/hear-me-out-nine-albums-to-hear-in-2019/ from Hot Spots Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.tumblr.com/post/183118849880

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hotspotsmagazine · 6 years

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Hear Me Out: Nine Albums to Hear in 2019

Ben Platt, Sing to Me Instead (March 29)

Madonna (TBA)

Carly Rae Jepsen (TBA)

Patty Griffin, Patty Griffin (March 8)

Ariana Grande, Thank U, Next (Out now)

Ryan Adams, Big Colors (April 19, plus two more albums TBA)

Dido, Still on My Mind (March 8)

Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell (March 29)

Lizzo, CUZ I LOVE YOU (April 19)

from Hotspots! Magazine https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2019/02/28/hear-me-out-nine-albums-to-hear-in-2019/

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anthonybialy · 7 years

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Saying, Doing, Nothing

Words guarantee actions. They better, or we're in bigger trouble than the Trump sons after commandeering Marine One to moon Chelsea Clinton's apartment. Running off one's mouth is unfortunate at any level. The president selling poppycock sets a questionable example, as well. Oh: it also makes our country vulnerable. But empty words only hurt us economically, defensively, and psychologically, so America's robust otherwise.

Your government says the amazing insurance you have is such a deal that there's no need to shop around. It's not that you have a choice. They love you so much that they won't let you harm yourself by declining. Republicans have preserved this ever so kind intention. It's thus a relief that saying something will occur, as needing some sort of physical treatment would mean our health is critical. Thank every preener who thinks insurance was invented in 2010 and couldn't be bought more affordably without the command to do so.

Take the man who healed our wounds without ever having a real job. Mundane life would have distracted Barack Obama from his bigger goals, such as ensuing his eponymous health contraption conformed with human nature. Being this bent out of shape can't be cured with surgery, or even chiropractic quackery. But at least he was nice enough to cover everyone affordably. Presume that’s what happened, as maybe that will provide a smidgen of good health.

Convincing ourselves we're healing is the ultimate placebo. Until the odious mandate is genuinely repealed, Washington hopes a bill's thickness will heal us enough to drive down premiums, as nothing else they've tried has worked. Letting us buy from companies desperate for business that isn't guaranteed failed to cross their minds. Perhaps telling prices that they're expected to drop will work, although inanimate concepts are notoriously unwilling to obey laws.

The converse works just as well, although that's not a compliment. Announce catastrophes are forthcoming whenever it's suggested our brutish and doltish government should mind its own damn business.

The proclamation that bloodthirsty Republicans are eager to confiscate health care from millions is a popular modern example. Sure, those affected don't have the option to decline, might not want to participate, and would have an easier time. But it won't matter once they die like the previous generation of innocents did back when George Warmonger Bush was tyrant.

I've thought about what it says that freaking socialism polls well in 2017 America. I have decided that the results are what I'd deem negative. Everything we have is due to ironically greedy lunatics being banished to Ivy League fringes. With our material needs largely met, we can bitch about phantom missing items and pretend they could be more easily acquired if we shared one giant wallet. Keep your change in a different pocket.

Socialism is the dangerous new fad hip youngsters indulge in to risk everyone else's lives. Whether unabashed Vermont-style or the insidious approach preferred by coastal twerps, contemporary pinkos never learn that a book might not be correct. I know it should be illegal to publish things that are wrong, but our racist cracker junk-waving Founders didn't include a mean speech clause in their precious First Amendment. Central control was an evil idea before it was tried countless times over a century. It's good to check if there are examples before endorsement.

Even the words assigned to a politician are presumed to be gospel. That saves the savior's voice. Donald Trump didn't even bother to utter the words his most zealous disciples claim he uttered in that mellifluous golden tone which is his specialty. The most dedicated Trumpologists just presumed their dreamboat would be the anti-Obama because they really thought that would be cool. I agree, but the whole problem here is that actions may not correspond to imaginations. Trump helped them, which hurts us. The mouthy mime played along like he's done since adulthood technically began.

The bipartisan desire to never let you decide anything shows cooperation's downside. Ignoring evidence works as well politically as it does personally. Take a president who claims he’s achieved every dream he's ever had, which double as yours. The boasting's volume is to compensate for the thin results. He's been doing so for as long as he's gotten New York Post headlines, so why stop now? Trump has indeed achieved the unbelievable if winning despite his work history and preserving Obama'a legacy count.

Wariness upon hearing a promise is the first thing humans should learn. We need a guidebook. The United States Constitution used to suffice. But the obsolete crinkly paper can't compete with the fast pace here in Futureworld. Our glowing pocket screens tell us that not being forced to buy something crummy means a necessity is being wrested away. Verification is presumably as advanced as technology. And humans endowed with such neat items can't be full of it. There's no reason to check.

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devils-gatemedia · 8 years

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Twenty years is a long time in any business, even longer in the cut-throat business of music. Twenty years ago, record companies were mammoth beasts, MTV could make or break a band (whereas now it’s Z-list wannabes that they concentrate on), and if you were Scottish then YouTube was merely what your teacher called you. Twenty years have passed since Candlebox last toured the UK. Vocalist, Kevin Martin offers the best explanation for the delay in getting back over here…”We were a bunch of fucking idiots…”. There you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. Thankfully, the multi-platinum band came to their senses, and dragged their sorry arses back across the Atlantic for ten dates that had many in the audience wiping away tears of joy.

It’s an all American affair tonight, as LA based singer/songwriter Pete RG and his band open the show before handing over the reigns to the northerners from Seattle. At times RG (short for Argy, an abbreviation of his surname Argyropoulos) has me scratching my head thinking of who he reminds me of, but then photographer Dave hits the nail on the head with a comparison to Neil Diamond. The same lush, deep, soulful voice that makes you stop and pay attention. Musically, in places (‘Divine’ and ‘Reload’), I catch an almost Springsteen vibe, or maybe even Don Henley? ‘Heaven Knows’ has a great guitar tone to it… simple, effective, and catchy as hell. It’s a short set, but the band do more than enough to gain some new fans, and more importantly, have those new fans turning around and dropping some money at the merch table.

The first part of tonight’s Seattle one-two is provided by Jeff Angell’s Staticland. Music fans might recognise both Angell, and keyboardist Ben Anderson, from their time with The Walking Papers. With fellow Walking Paper, Duff McKagan, rejoining GNR, guitarist/vocalist Angell created Staticland, along with Anderson and drummer Josh Fant. The debut album was released in May 2016, and began to turn some heads. Ask me who they sound like, and I’m dumbstruck, blues-rock based, but without sounding like any blues-rock band that I’ve ever come across. Modern, imaginative, and highly charged, Staticland are impossible to take your eyes off, largely due to Angell’s commanding presence, but also down to Fant’s powerhouse drumming and the atmospheric sound from Anderson. No traditional bass guitarist, just Anderson playing all the parts on his keyboards. It’s quite a dark set, with not much spoken communication from Angell, instead beckoning the crowd to come closer with his hands. He goes for a wander through the crowd, staring out some poor sod (me) without saying a word, just staring blankly ahead. For the good of Anglo-American relationships, let’s call it a draw, but I’m fairly certain he blinked first! ‘Freak’ is a slow-burning gem, with some passionate playing from Angell, but the highlight is the poignant ‘Let The Healing Begin’, an emotional and spiritual few minutes that lives on some time after. Another short set, but again, another one that saw money being exchanged for CDs at the stand. Dig deep folks, it’s the money dropped at the merch stand that keeps the wheels turning.

So, the moment that’s been over twenty years in the making finally arrives, and Kevin Martin leads Candlebox onto the stage, and straight into something new. ‘Vexatious’ from the ‘Disappearing In Airports’ album is a fantastic way to open the show. It’s one of many highlights on the album, and it sounds way heavier on the live stage, thanks mainly to the twin guitar fireworks. There is a guy at the front of the stage (who has also brought his kid along), and his reaction justifies every mile that Candlebox travelled to be here tonight. No matter how long a band has been around, I bet that they still get jitters when they step on to a stage. Having someone in front of them clearly having such a great time must have given Candlebox such a boost. The joy on the guy’s face would bring a tear to a glass eye, and once again, shows the effect that music has on so many of us.

Of course everyone wants to hear the hits… the tracks that perhaps everyone thought that they would never see Candlebox perform in the UK again. ‘Bitches Brewin’ is the first flashback, but it’s when ‘Change’ kicks in that people are high fiving each other and beaming… simply beaming. Martin introduces the song by saying that 1993 was “A fucked up year… actually it wasn’t that bad… unlike last week in the US…”. The song might be over 20 years old, but damn, it still has the effect of a jab to the gut, mainly due to the guitar work of Brian Quinn and the gloriously named Island Styles. This gives way to another cut from the four times platinum debut album. ‘Blossom’ is dedicated to “all the beautiful ladies who listen to Candlebox because your boyfriends told you to…”. A slow-building gem that smoulders, until the band crash in with a wall of noise, and Quinn just totally nails his solos. The debut is well represented with ‘Arrow’, ‘Cover Me’, and ‘You’… all received like returning heroes. Standout moment was arguably ‘Far Behind’, again from the eponymous debut. A heartfelt tribute to Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood, which followed a few words from Martin describing how much Wood meant to him and how missed he is. Check out any of Wood’s body of work, and you’ll see how much of a tragedy his death was.

The latest album ‘Disappearing In Airports’ is a welcome return, and the set ends like it started, with a new one. ‘The Bridge’ is one of the heavier moments on the album, and this transfers to the live stage. It has real bite to it, thanks to the stellar work from the engine room team of Robin Diaz on drums and Adam Kury on bass. Again, the guitar work from Styles and Quinn is stupendous, as they unleash solo after solo, riff upon riff. Martin soaks up the applause and beats a hasty retreat, only to reappear a few moments later at the merch stand. After such a lengthy wait, we can only hope that the band don’t leave it too long for a return trip. Classic rock Sunday at Download Festival? Why not? These guys know how to work a crowd, and are no strangers to the bigger stages. If they do come back, then get yourselves down to a gig. You won’t regret it.

Review: Dave Stott

Images: Dave Jamieson

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Review: Candlebox – G2, Glasgow Twenty years is a long time in any business, even longer in the cut-throat business of music.

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