For Those About to Pod, We Salute You - Episode 49

Speaker 1 00:00:22 Well, hello everyone and welcome to episode 49 of the Rock Podcast. For those about the pod. We you, on this episode, we get to f in the eighties head of Rock. We have a new book for the book Club of Rock, and we have latest news and three albums to review in New Rock In the Block, we have some hidden gems, and here he is fearless and fast talking. My co-presenter, Mr. Matt Rogers. How are you mayor? Speaker 2 00:00:52 Hello, Brian? Yes, I'm neither of those. As you know, I'm a, I'm a softie and I'd speak very slowly. Um, how you doing? I'm doing good. Long time. No long time. No speak Speaker 1 00:01:06 Indeed. We've been busy. We've been going to gigs. Speaker 2 00:01:10 That's true. Speaker 1 00:01:10 And watching gig gigs on television. Speaker 2 00:01:14 Yes. Well, so we were riot, weren't we? About the churn up? I mean, it wasn't that much of a stretch to, uh, work it out, and I think probably the whole world did. But what a show they did amazing Hour or so, obviously the Foos Fighters at Glastonbury. Um, I watched it live and it was fantastic. Um, and a good introduction for Josh Freeze to about 70,000 people stretching to the horizon. But yeah, it looked, uh, it looked great. I could never go to Glastonbury by the way. I was thinking as I was watching it. I mean, it's, it's probably a lot fun when there and people who go, who go, you know, say, oh, it's great, great experience, but I just couldn't, I couldn't put up with the flags and the, and the, and the people on each other's shoulders and the big hats. Speaker 1 00:01:59 Yeah. Speaker 2 00:02:00 And the, and the lack of, you know, personal space and all that. I mean, flags isn't there for you. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's, I'm sure it's a great experience. But I mean, you know, we go to a lot of festivals. We do. Speaker 1 00:02:12 I Speaker 2 00:02:12 Don't, I don't see anyone, I mean, there's flags in the, in, in the camper band, you know, park, as it were. So you can navigate to where you, where, Speaker 1 00:02:20 Where, where you're sting <laugh>, Speaker 2 00:02:22 Which is always, you know, it could be very useful when it's dark, of course. Um, and flags in the, in similarly in the, in the camping site and all that. But I just, oh, just, oh, those flags. I just get on my, get my nerves and the shoulders and everything. Anyway, enough of my moaning. I, yeah, I enjoyed the bury footage. Uh, food fighters were great. I watched a bit of mankin. Speaker 1 00:02:42 Oh yeah, pretty good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 00:02:43 Um, bit sweary. Um, obviously, you know, they, even though they're Italian, they've worked out all the English swear words, which is, which is fair enough, I suppose. Um, they were good. Check them out, and they're not just a one hit kind of eurovision wonder clearly. Um, and then of course, guns N Roses were headlining the Saturday night, and they've had kind of mixed reviews, but I thought on the whole, they were pretty good. Um, and I was talking to someone who went to see, uh, guns N Roses last weekend in London, and they were saying, well, the TV mix was possibly, you know, slightly, um, not in Axel's, uh, favor as it were. Cause his voice sounded great when they saw him in London, uh, last weekend. So, um, yeah, it was a good show. And, um, yeah, it was good production. I enjoyed it. Um, but you've been to, you, you've been to a gig in person, of course, prior or couple of gigs since I spoke. Speaker 1 00:03:31 I have, yeah. Yeah. I, I, I'm just on Glastonbury. Um, I really felt for the Arctic Monkeys on Friday night. Can you imagine knowing that you're the headliner on Friday night and guessing that the Foo Fighters are gonna be too down on the bill from you? Uh, so I, I know there's a massive following for the Arctic Monkeys, but, uh, to me, Glastonbury was bookended by the Turnups and the Fs, and then Elton John. And in Axel's defense, I, Axel wasn't the only lead singer who, uh, was having Mike problems during Glastonbury. There was a few bands that were, were, were having issues with that. But, uh, the band said amazing slash was on it slash was Faab. It was absolutely fabulous. But yeah, getting back to live gigs, um, I was lucky enough to, uh, uh, a couple of weeks ago, uh, I got to see finally one of the, one of my bucket list performers. Speaker 1 00:04:29 I got to see Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel's been, uh, he's just started his, his world tour, the IO tour. Um, and he's pretty much got most of his band that's been with him for the last 40 years. You know, session musicians, Tony Levin, who's played with King Crimson, um, yes. You know, remember that Anderson Bruford Wickman, everybody that Yes. That wasn't allowed to call themselves. Yes, Tony Levin was a bass player. Manny Cache, who's played drums with everybody. And, and Peter Gabriel for a 73 year old man played a lot of his new album. And then he peppered his set, Matt, with, uh, sledgehammer, don't Give Up In Your Eyes, Salisbury Hill, finished it off of Beko. Um, I was blown away by, uh, by how great, um, Peter Gabriel just captivated his audience. And then, Speaker 1 00:05:30 Um, thinking that I'd seen a, a great singer performing Iron Maiden recently. Um, and now I know you'll be going to see them soon. So, iron Iron Maiden, uh, played Glasgow on the, uh, future past Bruce Dickinson. It's the best all I can say, Matt. I've seen Iron Maiden four times, and this, by far is the best that I've ever seen. Iron Maiden, um, Bruce's vocals were, uh, phenomenal. I know you saw him at Download last year. Um, but he was singing even better. Um, uh, the, the set list for me was focusing on Jitsu, which is the new album, which, which we've reviewed in the past, which is a great album. But then the 1986 album Somewhere in Time, which is one of my, it's, it's one of my favorite albums, features a lot of Adrian Smith. Yeah. Tracks on a, like, uh, stranger in a Strange Land. The title track itself. Somewhere in Time Heaven Can Wait. Oh my goodness. I was in seventh Heaven. It was just phenomenal. The best I've ever seen Iron Maiden and Wow. They could have sold it out. It it, the Hydro was sold out, Matt, and they probably could have sold out another night. But to see Iron Maiden indoors, wow. It, it's, it's my rock gig of the year so far. Speaker 1 00:07:00 Brist Dickenson was just, wow. He was off the chart. Off the Chart Speaker 2 00:07:06 Is, uh, yeah, he's had quite a resurgence since he had his, uh, his cancer issues. Uh, well, probably about 10 years ago now. Yeah. Um, and he's, you, you're right. He, I, he seems to be singing better than Ever. Um, yeah. I'm, I'm looking forward to seeing them, um, in a few days time. So, um, yeah. Oh, if they're as good as they were in Glasgow, wow. It's gonna be quite, quite a show, Speaker 1 00:07:26 But, mm. The material very much, uh, for the, for the older material that they played, which was, they did, can I play With Madness, uh, which I know is off. It's that seventh Son of a Seven Son. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. Which, which is always an album. You like all that era very, it, it, it features Adrian a lot. So Adrian Smith was carrying a lot of the league guitar duties, um, at the gig, but I couldn't take my eyes off Yannick Garris. Yannick Garris seems to throw a guitar, jump in a guitar, sit in a guitar. He seems to do everything but play the guitar. And then at the moment where you need him to play solos, he impeccably just plays like Gui Stein. But he's, he's the most energetic guitarist, not playing guitar on a show. He's, he's, I hope when you just watch him, he's, he's in a wee world of his own man on the on stage left. Yanick Cares is on his own. He's, he's, he's effectively doing a yoga, uh, workout. Yeah. His, his legs are up on the, the stage and his, and he's stretching out on his, you know, stretching out over the monitors and stuff. He's, he's having a ball if he's plugged in. Brilliant. But he's, he's an As, everything is good in Yannick Garres world, cuz he's just having an absolute ball running around the stage. So. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:08:52 Yeah, you're right. Maybe, maybe he should get together with Tony Riot of television and bring out like a workout that e BD or something, you know, Jane Ponder style. Cause they're both, as you said, they both jump around and run around and Yeah. Yeah. As you said, for Guide, he is, what, six late sixties? Yeah, Speaker 2 00:09:09 Yeah. He's, uh, he's very, he is very bendy and very, uh, obviously, you know, in good shape. Um, I, I went to, uh, a gig, uh, last weekend, actually, we should mention that. Um, the, uh, the, the, the, the stop off in London of the Def Leopard Motley Crue, mammoth, W v h I think it's a World tour. I think they've been gone for about a year now on this tour. And, um, it was at Wembley Stadium, which is a very big stadium. Um, and it was, um, I dunno how many people were there, but it wasn't full by any means. It was a very strange kind of setup and, and it felt the sound was bouncing around a little bit, a bit too much. Um, we got there early to see, um, Wolfgang Van Halen Ma with Mammoth obviously came on at five 15. Speaker 1 00:09:57 Really? Gosh, that early. Yeah, Speaker 2 00:09:59 It was really early. And, and let's say there were 50,000 people there at, at the peak, there's probably 5,000 to see Wolfgang in, in Wembley Stadium. Um, at least I was there. I mean, I, you know, I did my bit. But he was great. He did a lot of songs off of the, obviously a lot of songs off the, the past album, uh, first album I should say. And a lot of songs off his forthcoming album. Um, which I think it's true for a release later this year. Yeah. So it's coming on Speaker 1 00:10:26 August. Speaker 2 00:10:27 Yeah, indeed. Um, Motley Crue, uh, did pretty much their hits Speaker 1 00:10:34 <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:10:35 Um, and I've to say I've never seen Motley Crue before. And I, and I, I enjoyed seeing them. Vince, Vince Neil has got a lot of stick for his, um, vocal style, um, which he, which he is quite surreal at times. He doesn't really sing the full word anymore. He kind of just hints at the, at the words. And there is no song. Thankfully, most people there knew the song, knew the words to girls, girls, girls and Primal Scream and, and, uh, Dr. Feelgood and so on. But he's got a very strange kind of singing style these days. I'm gonna leave it at that <laugh>. Um, but it's been a funny, yeah, we talked about Axel earlier, but I mean, we've said many times as singers get older men, not, not necessarily women, but certainly men, they're, there's, there's an actual medical condition. I think it's where their vocal chords shrink mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, you know, they're, they're less able. And, you know, it happens to the best of us, let alone singers who were hitting the, you know, the high notes back in the eighties. So you can have some sympathy for them. But yeah, very interesting vocal style by Mr. Mr. Neil. Um, but it was fun. Yeah. Speaker 1 00:11:41 And how was, how was Sir Vivian and his, his, his main, main employers? Speaker 2 00:11:48 Well, they were great. I mean, they were fantastic dev developer. They did a, again, essentially a greatest hit set. You're always gonna get, pour some sugar on me and Rocket Ages and Animal and so on. But they peppered it with songs off the Diamond Star Halos, which was good. Yeah. Um, did little acoustic, uh, set? I, we were miles back. I mean, you know, I was, uh, my friends I was with that turned to me and said, um, Matt, they look like ants on the stage. I said, they are ants. They haven't come on yet. But they, they were that far back <laugh>, and we were that far back. It was, we were for, I don't like relying on the big screens, but we had to in this case. But sound was okay, uh, for Dele and good to see them. I think I've seen 'em on most tours since about 1983. Speaker 2 00:12:30 So, um, good to see them again. And they, and they, they, I mean, they're just so polished, so professional. And, um, if you get a chance to see them, uh, boys and girls, um, wherever you are in the world, they seem to be on tour constantly. Then, uh, then, then check them out. They're, they're excellent. Um, so yeah, all in all, um, a good gig and value for value for your either 150 pounds or 65 pounds depending on which ticket you decide to buy, but, um, such as the nature of those, uh, those giant gigs these days. Speaker 1 00:13:04 So it, it was interesting, um, earlier this week, Matt, that, um, Wolfgang has been talking about, um, putting the second album together, which will be coming out late later this year. And their latest single, which is, uh, uh, ticket bow clocks in at sort of like nearly seven minutes. But, um, Wolfgang has, uh, he said that he's actually, he actually recorded that track with his dad's legendary. Another F is Frankenstein, um, electric guitar, you know, the one with all of the stripes. And Eddie was always concert work and he pared it all through his dad's original Marshall Head. So kind of nice that, you know, um, he's, uh, his dad's tone and his dad's equipment still being used to this day, which I thought was quite nice. And I'll really looking forward to a second album. Hopefully it'll be as, as good as the debut. Speaker 2 00:14:01 Absolutely. Absolutely. So we go from, uh, Frankenstein to Mechanical Bulls, A strange link, but, um, uh, there was a, as you recall, the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Um, the, the centerpiece was a, um, was a, was a giant mechanical bull, uh, 10 meters higher, um, that was used as I say, in the opening ceremony of, uh, the Commonwealth Games last year in Birmingham. And this bull I love this story. I love these quirky stories. Um, there's been a, there's been a, a, a pole to, uh, to work out what it should be called. And it was gonna go to the scrap yard. To the scrap Speaker 1 00:14:43 Tree. Yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 00:14:45 The great bull ring in the sky, I guess. And, um, but it's been saved from the, from the abattoir <laugh>, which is kind of appropriate. Um, and it's because when, when you find out what it's been called, um, 28,000 people voted and it's gonna be called Aussie. Speaker 1 00:15:00 Yeah. Speaker 2 00:15:01 Aussie's pretty good. Aussie the board, 28,000 people voted. Um, and, uh, they decided it was gonna be called, it's a very impressive thing. This, this mechanical ball. It's gonna be at New Street Railway Stra Station in Birmingham. And, um, I, however, I do know one person who would be very disappointed cause I was happy to be called Tony after me, cuz I was, uh, I was part of that Commonwealth Games geek as well. But it, uh, it went Aussie. So, yeah. So Aussie Aussie the bull. I love that. I, I I, if I get to bow, I'm gonna see it. I can't wait. And of course, it's made appropriate by the fact that there's a bull ring sort of shopping center area in, in the center. Speaker 1 00:15:42 That's Speaker 2 00:15:43 True. Yes. It kind of, that was real, all stemmed from originally, so, but that's great. I love that story and I'm pleased it was, um, called Aussie in the end, despite everything, Speaker 1 00:15:53 <laugh> Speaker 2 00:15:55 Huge. This thing. Speaker 1 00:15:57 Huge. Yeah. Yeah. Well, well let's remember, for, for for kids our age, there's only one Tony and he's a tiger. Speaker 2 00:16:05 That's true, actually. Yeah. I can't do a Tony the Tiger impersonation. Yes. I, I'll work on that first. Speaker 1 00:16:11 It's great <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:16:13 That's right. That's pretty much it, isn't it? The Frosties, I think Frost, Speaker 1 00:16:17 Yes. Yeah. But other, but other, uh, breakfast cereal brands are out there, <laugh> Speaker 2 00:16:23 Indeed. Yes. Speaker 1 00:16:25 So my final bit of news last week, black Country Communion completed the recording of their fifth album. So Joe Bonamassa, Glen Hughes, the Voice of Rock mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Derek Sian and Jason Bonham, I think went into studio and, and their, in their normal fashion matter, I think they go into the studio for five days and just knock out an album. So, uh, should do. So that, so that'll be, uh, that'll be winging its way probably, if not the latter part of this year, but early next year, which I'm looking forward to. I have no doubt there will be no gigs. Cuz I think Glen and Joe is every, everybody's so busy. But I'll be looking forward to hearing what, uh, black Country community will be putting out as their fifth album. Speaker 2 00:17:08 Yes. Yeah. Indeed. Yeah. And that, that therefore kind of completes the loop as to why Glen Hughes left, uh, their days, of course, to, um, to rejoin black country community as well as doing the, the deep purple stuff. So, um, yeah, it should be good. The first few albums are pretty good, weren't they? Speaker 1 00:17:25 Fabulous. Um, Speaker 2 00:17:26 So, um, and we saw them a couple of times, I think, and, um, did put on a good show. Yeah. It'd be good to see them again if they do, as you say, they get their schedules together. Um, and then one final piece of news, this is quite interesting as something to look forward to. Um, Brian May, sir Brian May of Queen, um, is, uh, is talking up, uh, potential Bohemian Rhapsody two really a follow yeah. A follow up to the 2000 and, uh, 19 mega film. But when you hear the numbers that that film made, you think, well, yeah, of course you've gotta think about, uh, a, um, a sequel. So at the box office, it made 720 million pounds, uh, from a 40 million pound budget. So, um, yeah, why wouldn't you think about doing a, a follow up? It just depends on whether the script's any good. Um, of course. And bear in mind, it took 12 years to put together the first film. I'm not, um, I'm not buying a ticket just in case, but, uh, that'd be good. I did enjoy that first film. It was a good Speaker 1 00:18:30 Film. It was great. It was Speaker 2 00:18:31 Slightly a bit of poetic license in there, but, um, and of course the cameo from Mike Myers was particularly memorable. It was, Speaker 1 00:18:40 It Speaker 2 00:18:40 Was. That's it. That's the news, Brian. Speaker 1 00:18:42 There you go. So Matt, we come to the part of the show where we talk about New Rock on the Block, and we have three good albums to review for this episode, um mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and now, I must be honest with you, when you gave me this album to review, I did absolutely no checking on Wikipedia or any websites to see who this band was. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So this is the, this is the, uh, first album debut album from a band called The Elegant Weapons. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And the title of the album is Horns for a Hero. So I stuck it on in the car You and thought, I'm gonna give this a good listen. And it sounded very classic seventies hard rock. There's a brilliant nod to U F O on the album mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And as I'm listening to it, Matthew, I'm going, the guitars are very reminiscent of Mr. Michael Schenker and the vocals sounded very familiar and reminded me of the, the, uh, singer for Hire Mr. Ronnie Romero. And I thought, no more of it. And I thought, oh, it sounds like Ronnie Romero. And then I listened to the drums and I thought, gosh, the drums sound reminiscent of Judas Priest. Latter Day Judas Priest was Scott Travis. Speaker 2 00:20:04 You're quite the detective, aren't you, Bri? Speaker 1 00:20:06 Yes. And then by the time all this out, <laugh>. And then, then when I, when I listened to the album and, and I, and I finished my journey, I went onto the internet and I thought, I must see who the elegant weapons are, and then I'll find out they're a super group <laugh> that, that started off with Richie Faulkner from Judas Priest, Ronnie Romer, Ronnie Romero, um, from Michael Shanker and Rainbow Scott Travis, um, from Judas Priest. And, and who recorded the album was, which was Rex Brown. And I have to say, I you're, I think you're, this is gonna be an album that you will love. Yeah. It's just laden with riffs. Um, the production's amazing. I think Andy Sni, who's recorded as well, is really, really good. Um, the, yeah, it's, it's got hints of Purple Uriah Heap. They, one of the standout tracks for me is Downfall Rising, which is reminiscent of Robin Troyer and Bridges Size. It's just, it's ex an expansive album. So I, I loved it. I just thought it was great. And it's, maybe it's signposting what Richie will do whenever Judas Priest, you know, finally hangs up, hangs up all of their leather and motorbikes. Speaker 2 00:21:23 That's true. Yeah. I thought that as well. Um, a bit like the guys from Whitesnake have kind of started to expand their careers. Um, I'm sure this is likely to be his long-term project, but Yeah, you're right. I did, I did really enjoy it. It is, it's, uh, it's, it's quite Judas Priest, like, as you saying, it's feel, um, but not, not overly so it's not like a, you know, trip yet album, as it were. But yeah, it's a nice slice of modern, heavy metal and, um, as you say, good production. I'm not the biggest fan of R Romero to be honest with you, but he's pretty good on this album. He, you know, you, you kind of get used to his singing style, but as you say, he's the kind of go-to singer these days. But you're right. Dead Man, walking's a good song Blind Needing the Blind Lights out. Uh, is, uh, the cover of the, obviously the UFO Classic, which I've done a good job with. Speaker 1 00:22:07 I agree. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 2 00:22:09 And, uh, yeah, so yeah, check it out. Yeah, horns for a Halo. Uh, and they're on at, uh, SteelHouse, we'll see them in a few weeks. Speaker 1 00:22:16 Um, I'm looking forward to that. I think. Me Too, too. I think it'll be, um, it, it'll, it'll be interesting to, to see the longevity of, uh, elegant weapons, but a great start with, uh, with a Debbie album. Speaker 2 00:22:30 So where do we go next, Bri? Speaker 1 00:22:31 Uh, let's go to Queens of the Stone Age, Matthew, with their eighth Studio album in Times New Roman. What did you think? Speaker 2 00:22:43 Well, I have to have, to be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of Queens of The Stone Age. I think they're one of those bands that, that their fans probably absolutely worship them because they are quite kind of, they've got a certain style and Josh Ho's vocals are, are, are, are quite unique. Um, and, and they've had a few members over the years. Famously, of course, Dave Grow was with them early on. Um, but the album's pretty good. It's, it's one of those albums that you really need to kind of immerse yourself in. Um, it's got very complex lyrics, um, and, uh, very interesting lyrics, um, obviously from the Pen of Josh Holmes. So it kind of, it's quite thought provoking some of the, some of the song themes. It won't be my favorite album of the year, but I think if you want something to kind of really kind of bore into and try to kind of come to terms with and, and understand the kind of sense of the lyrics and the, the, the tones of the songs, then, and check it out in Times New Roman. Interesting. Um, title of course. What did you think Bry, Speaker 1 00:23:48 I'm probably even less of a fan of Queens Tonys than You are. They're apart from, you know, the big, the big single, the big singles in the early two thousands. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't really know that much about them. So I came into this album kind of just, I'll, I'll take it on its own merits. Um, and, and it was some of the, the, the opening track obs scenery. Mm. It, it was, I was trying to think what's the right words to describe this album? It's snarly Mm, riff laden really tight arrangements. Josh Holmes's vocals. I was really impressed with him at the Taylor Hawkins tribute when they did the mm-hmm. <affirmative>, when they did the Bowie Tracks. And I, and I, yeah, I had never heard him live before, and I just thought, wow, this guy can do his vocals can go anywhere. And the, the standout tracks for me and the album are Time and Peace. Speaker 1 00:24:44 And then there's a track called Made to Parade. And it sounds this is the kind of where he wears his influences and the don't, don't forget the other collaborators in the band as well, too. Or there, it's, it felt at times Josh's is, is calling on heavy talking heads with musical mashups between David Bowie. There's even hints of Mark Bolen. I was, I was hearing Metal Guru in some of the track, and then when John Lennon was going through his plastic Ono, you know, sort of avant, uh, sort of era. So I, I listened to the album a couple of times and it's just, I think you've, you've nailed it. It's an interesting album. And I think the more that you listen to it, the more you'll get more out of it. So I, it could be a real grower for me. And I, I didn't expect to like it, but I, I, I, I came away going, I'm going to continue to listen to this. The production's fabulous, but it's so seventies here. I was just hearing as I say, the Sweet Bowie, mark, Bo and t-Rex. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. It was just really, really interesting. I, I, I, uh, I thoroughly, it was, it was enjoyable. It was, every track was just, oh, that's a bit different. That's, but, but so well produced. So, um, could be a, could be a bit of a slow burner for me this album map. Speaker 2 00:26:07 Yeah. Interesting. I like that. Yeah. I think it's one you do need to invest in, you know, you do need to kind of spend some time with. Um, but yeah, it's, um, it's well worth, well worth checking out Boys and Girls, Speaker 1 00:26:18 And the final album for this episode's New Rock on the Block. Let's move back to more familiar territory for Brian. So this is Bridges, um, this is the ninth Studio album from Steve Looker. The, uh, I suppose you could call him the, the, the band leader of, of Toto Singer and guitarist. Um, uh, I think most of the press junkets have been out, as Steve's been saying, this is the closest thing that you'll get to a total album. Um, um, I think the, the reason why we're not getting any total albums, um, going forward is there's an ongoing law suit between the Ccao Estate and the Total Corporation, which is David PEs and Steve Looker. So I think whilst that's, whilst that's either resolved or unresolved, Steve's said that there'll be no more total albums. But when you look at who's peppered throughout the album, you've got Joseph Williams, who's the current lead singer of Toto who purchases the album, David PEs, who's been Steve Luthor's partner in Toto for years. Alumni like Leland Sklar, who's played Bass, Simon Phillips, who's played Drum, Shannon Forrest, who's played drums as well too. So it seems to be all of the latter day total musicians have kind of, uh, contributed to this album. I love it, Matt, but you'd expect me to say Speaker 2 00:27:49 That. Well, exactly. You're a big fan of Toto. I, I, ID like it too, actually. Um, it's, it's obviously a far cry from the, the other two albums that we've been talking about. Um, but yeah, it's got a, it's got a very, I was listening to it this morning, and I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but it's got a very kind of Sunday morning rock feel to it. It's, it's quite mellow. Yeah. A guitar playings, exemplary, um, Steven Lu. Cause is a, an amazingly underrated guitarist I would suggest. Um, songs are pretty good. It's got a kind of, um, it's got a kind of a coffee table sort of vibe to it, uh, as a, as an album. It's sort of very non-threatening apart from the song, not My kind of People by the way, which is a little bit, uh, cheeky Speaker 1 00:28:35 Fairy Speaker 2 00:28:36 <laugh> Far From o Far From Over is, uh, is a good song. It's got a good sentiment behind it. Uh, talking about the frenzy he's lost and the fact that he's still going strong Yeah. Even though he's only a BF 65. Steve Luc at that. Yeah. But a very long, illustrious career, and he's still relatively young. Um, I liked it. There's, there's a lot of double track vocals. Um, there's a lot of reverb on the vocals. You know, there's a lot of kind of cliched sort of, you know, it, it could almost be, you know, a a of an album from the early eighties or late seventies. Um, it's got that kind of classic American sort of very polished production to it. But it doesn't make it a bad album, as I say. I, I, I enjoyed it. And it's the first What'd you say is, is that nine solo albums? Yeah, yeah. As well as the to, as well as the Toto work. Clearly very prolific. And it's the first Luke of the album that I've listened to. And yeah, I, I'd probably go back and listen to one or two others. Um, yeah. Yeah. Good. We enjoyed it. Speaker 1 00:29:33 Yeah. And, and for total fans, um, if you're wondering where, where this sits in the discography, this, this picks up where the, when the band recorded the album, um, falling In Between, which is quite a heavy album. There's some Led Zeppelin, you know, it's, it was a heavier album. Mm-hmm. When you, when you've got, when you've got that track, you know, the, not the naughty track as you call it, Matt's you know, not my kind of people with Swear, he w Words, words. Um, it's still got a, still got a good groove to it. It's good groove, it's got really nice tasty riffs. Um, I, I, I really liked it. And, and there always is going to be the, uh, the sumptuous ballads on the album. And there's a great track, which is called, um, I'll Never Know Which, which, when you're in that, you, you're back in the mid eighties, so you're in Survivor, probably Mr. Speaker 1 00:30:26 Mr. Land with a lot of this. So it's quite, it's a very, very modern production. Joseph Williams does a brilliant job, but it just takes you back to that mid eighties r you know, r e speed wagon. Boston, you, you're, you're back in the mid eighties, but Oh yeah. A, a good release. One of, one of Steve's better solo albums. I've listened to a few mm-hmm. <affirmative>, this one's quite strong, but when you look at all of the contributors to it that you know, it is, Steve said, it's pretty much a total album under his name. Speaker 2 00:30:59 So Brian, this brings us to the book Club of Rock. Mm. I've been rummaging in the, in the library. Um, and you very kindly allowed me to take this book out to have a read off <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:31:12 Um, you need to bring it back soon, you know. Speaker 2 00:31:15 Yes. I don't wanna get fined. Speaker 1 00:31:16 Exactly. Course you'll be fined cuz we've got no budgets. Speaker 2 00:31:19 <laugh>. It's true. <laugh> no budget for library fines. Uh, yeah. So anyway, this book is, um, it's, uh, rainbow in the Dark. The, uh, Ronnie James Dio, uh, autobiography. We touched upon it last time, I think with that, um, story of how he got his name from the New York gangster, Johnny Dio. Um, and this basically is a, it's a classic kind of autobiography. It, it's, it was essentially finished up after his death by his wife, Wendy Dio and Mick Wall, who's a very prolific and a very good, um, uh, music writer. And, uh, BEC it charts his, um, early years, um, growing up in New Jersey, uh, where he was, uh, his dad thought it would be a good idea for him to learn an instrument. So he learned the trumpet and Dio decided he was gonna be exemplary at the tr trumpet. So he turned out to be almost a virtuoso and joined various bands and essentially then joined other bands, became a bass player, and then for different reasons, ended up singing. Speaker 2 00:32:16 And then of course, the rest largely is history. So it charts his, uh, his early years. Um, it's very well written and you, you know, you, you, you kind of, you can hear it, you can hear Ronnie Dio in the, in the, in the Words. It's not one of those ghostwritten books. He, it certainly appears to come straight from his kind of memory as it were. Um, and with Say, uh, things added in by his wife after his death in 2010. So, um, and it, and it ends up with him, uh, a headlining Madison Square Garden in New York in 1986 with dio. So, as I say, it's a, it's a, it's an all biography, but it, it stops short and there might be a follow up. I think there's, there's talk about a potential kind of follow up book charting the, um, from 86 onwards. Speaker 2 00:32:59 Um, obviously that'd be a, you know, obviously posthumously written by probably Mick Wall, I imagine. Yeah, yeah. Um, but it's, yeah, if you're a rock fan, um, it's well worth to read. There's some interesting stories, some sad stories, some, some quite uplifting stories, um, and really just shows you, you know, what, what if you've got some talent, how far you can go with it. Because, you know, he realized that he was a good singer and he thought, right, I'm gonna take this to the top. And as we've said, Billy Times was, uh, singer in Rainbow, singer in Black Sabbath, uh, fell out with both those particular parties. And there was, uh, obviously, uh, lead singer on his own band dio. Um, but yeah, an amazing legacy. Um, and, uh, and a really good book. So yeah, check out, uh, rainbow in the Dark, the, uh, Ronnie James Dio story. I'll put them back in the library now. I've actually finished it so I can check, check it back in, Brian. Speaker 1 00:33:50 Excellent. Well done. No fines for you this month. Ah, Speaker 2 00:33:52 Thank you. That's very cut. Speaker 1 00:33:54 <laugh>. So Matt, we come to my favorite part of the show, which is our walkthrough, the alphabet of rock. It's our A to Z of rock, and we come to the letter F. Speaker 2 00:34:11 Yeah. Already we're at F Speaker 1 00:34:12 We're at f Speaker 2 00:34:13 It's gone quick, isn't it? Yeah. Hmm. Speaker 1 00:34:15 F we can, we can, we can kill some off quite easily, can't we? You know, there's, there's bands and stuff, bands that we talk about quite a lot. Two fighters. Speaker 2 00:34:25 Yes. Well, yeah, they're the obvious f aren't they? Amazing band. Yeah. That is 1994. Huge. Try to get a ticket for their British tour. Speaker 1 00:34:33 Oh, oh, <laugh>. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Man. Sorry, I've got one Speaker 2 00:34:38 <laugh>. Oh yeah, you did. Yeah, yeah. You you you're on the ball. I didn't manage it. Yeah. Amazing. Selling out stadiums. Um, yeah. Brilliant. Fantastic. And we talked about their, their, their their late latest album last time. Yeah. It was an absolute, absolute classic. Yes. The Mighty Foo Fighters. However, brown really should have started with The Mighty Free. Speaker 1 00:34:58 Yes. Speaker 2 00:35:00 What a band they were, um, formed in 1968, only lasted five years. Um, did several albums in that period, all beginning with f mainly, which is quite handy for us. <laugh> Tons of sobs free at last of course, or tons of sobs clearly begins with t We should have saved that for the teases. Yes. But anyway, great band. Great band, and some, some classic anthems. Of course. All right. Now, and Speaker 1 00:35:27 When you think about Free and their legacy, I would defy any band, cover band in the world who somewhere down the line in their career, whenever they're picking out their set list, you've got All right now, <laugh>. Yeah. Wishing well. Yeah. Steeler. Oh my goodness. You know, it's, it, it's up there with, uh, yeah. It's up there with Sweet, sweet Paul, Alabama and paranoid and Smoke on the water. You everybody's gonna play all right now. Speaker 2 00:36:01 Absolutely. Absolutely. But yeah, what legacy, what I mean, of course, the, the great Paul Rogers, um, and they were only kids. Paul Roger's think was 18, Andy Fra was 15, um, and Paul Kosoff and, and Simon Kirk were, I think 19. Yeah. Um, a amazing, uh, formed in 1968. First album came out in 1969, and as I say, they were finished by 1973. Yeah. And then, uh, as we know, Simon Kirk and, and Paul Rogers, um, put together Bear Crap Company. And sadly, Paul Kosoff died in 1976. Um, and, uh, and Andy Fraser lost, we lost Andy Fraser a few years ago. But yeah, I mean, it What an amazing band. A fantastic legacy. So, um, yeah, plenty of free songs, and if there wasn't, it wasn't for free, there'd be No Reef, of course, <laugh>. Speaker 1 00:36:45 That's true. <laugh> Speaker 2 00:36:47 Famously, big fans of Free. And they, and they decided to use the, uh, the word free as a, essentially an agram of their name Reef. Um, which is quite clever, very difficult to do it with many other bands, of course. And a acd DC I suppose you could mix up their letters. But, uh, anyway, we digress. What else you got for Spry? Speaker 1 00:37:07 Um, well, I know Foreigner, that Brits American, oh my goodness. Juggernaut of a band in the late seventies and early eighties who just sold bucket loads, truckloads of albums. Um, their masterpiece would've been for me, foreigner for You had, oh my goodness. Lou Graham, who just had the voice of a dirty white boy. Did I See, see what I did there? Um, Speaker 2 00:37:39 I did. That's a song of theirs, by the way, everyone, just in case you wondering where Brian's going with that. Speaker 1 00:37:44 Yeah. It, when you talk about, uh, a producer songwriter and Mick Jones who, you know, foreigner his with, was his vision. But when you just top it off with a, a lead singer to die for, and Lou Graham, those early, early albums, you know, double Vision Head Games for they, there was a point in the early eighties where they were just filling out stadiums across across America, they could do no wrong. And then, then probably came to everybody, the rest of the world when we had the big, the Powered Ballad of All Powered Ballads. I want to know what Love is <laugh>. That's right. Speaker 2 00:38:23 And it was, waiting for a Girl Like You is a similar kind of, you know, classic power battle, isn't it? Um, we saw them, um, first time I saw them was, uh, high Voltage back in 2010, but Kelly Hanson up front, yes, he's a great singer. Yes. And of course, they're, they're calling a day, uh, foreigner, sadly, after a, you know, a very long career. But yeah, what an amazing band against some fantastic anthemic songs. Um, you won't get too many pub coc cover bands trying to sing Jukebox Hero, of course. Cuz that is a, that's a toughie <laugh>. Um, Kelly Hanson himself is an amazing singer. The the current singer with Foreigner, um, said that's the song that he doesn't really look forward to in the set, because it does go through the gears for a singer. Yeah. So, um, the, uh, amazing, amazing band I've gotta mention, um, I've gotta mention The Friday Rock Show. Speaker 2 00:39:08 Bri, I, we talked about that on a, on a, on an episode many, many weeks ago. But, uh, as we said at the time, uh, for any or any person who grew up between, it was 1978 and 1993, it ran, um, the Dulcet tones of Tommy Vance, of course were part of the, part of the tapestry, part of our lifestyle back in the, as I say, the seventies and eighties and early nineties. And, um, and, uh, you know, introduced us to, to many, many bands with their sessions, of course. And, and, um, Friday Night Connection and, and so on. But, uh, yeah, sadly, sadly, I suppose no more, but of course been replaced by, you know, the lights of Planet Rock and Kerang Radio and so on, which are 24 7. So, you know, we go, went from two hours on a Friday night to, you know, rock music whenever you want it, essentially. But, uh, yeah, I mean, again, just a, an iconic show that iconic presenter, the Late great Tommy Vance, of course. Speaker 1 00:40:04 That's a great, that's, that's a great chat. And talking about iconic, uh, another f for me would be, would be The Space is Himself, the original Spaceman. Mr. Ace freely 72 years old now. Um, ACE was one of the, uh, he was the original guitarist and kiss. He, he was in KISS from 1973 to 1982. Um, you'll remember, remember in the late eighties, Matt, whenever KISS decided that they'll put out four solo albums, um, and you would've expected maybe, you know, Paul or Gene to be the, the, the best selling of the four of them, the biggest selling, um, artist. Out of the four of them was, was Ace. Cuz Ace had the, the single New York groove, which, uh, wait. And I think that actually irked <laugh> Speaker 2 00:40:58 Mm. Whos it worked with? They, Speaker 1 00:40:59 I think that irked, uh, the, the, uh, the, the, the two main guys in kiss. Um, but, uh, yeah, ACE, uh, yeah, I love some of the Earl, the, the early classic lineup of, of Kiss. And, and, and I suppose Ace is one of those guitarists where he, you know, he started the whole, you know, smoke coming out of guitars, you know, let, let's, let's do lots and lots of stuff. And there's so much mystery and, uh, stories and mythology about, you know, there's, what's the album Creatures of the Night, which he's, which he's all on the album, you know, he's featured on the pictures and he doesn't play any guitar. Speaker 2 00:41:40 No, that's right. Famously, yeah, I think that was probably the end of his beginning of the end of his career with Kiss. It was, but he didn't really, didn't really feel like participating anymore, um, for, for lots of other kind of, let's say extracurricular reasons. Yeah. Um, I'm gonna stick with the f uh, surnames and John Fogarty. Speaker 1 00:41:57 Yes. Speaker 2 00:41:58 Many people say, who's that? Well, of course that's the, he was the voice of Credence, Clearwater Revival and, and, um, for a while, one of the biggest bands of the, of the late sixties and seventies, uh, in the world. Um, and again, loads of anthems. We talked about them many times in the context of suing themselves for plagiarism or whatever that, uh, court case was all about. But, uh, uh, my old account's still going strong. Uh, did a, a recent UK tour and it's sounding and looking and playing really well. So yeah, good on him. But yeah, the great John Fogarty Speaker 1 00:42:32 Fantastic. 70, fantastic eight years of age, and he still sounds, as you say, he's sounding great on his last UK tours, the reviews. So yeah. Fabulous. Speaker 2 00:42:42 Mm indeed. Um, we mentioned flags earlier. Yeah, but dwell on them. Not my favorite thing, but of course, festivals. And we talked many times about the various festivals, uh, and not everyone's cup tea, though, of course. I Oh, and I mean, some people just don't like festivals. I saw a friend of mine, um, and I think he's went to one festival and he was young, and that was it. And we tend to let them up because they're not everyone's cup of tea. And, and as I say, if his first festival was a very crowded Glastonbury, I can understand why. Um, but, uh, yeah, who doesn't, who doesn't enjoy the festivals? They've come a lot. They've come a long way since when I first started going in the early eighties, as I said many times. Um, but my hair was, uh, several rows behind me. Of course, Speaker 1 00:43:30 <laugh>, I'm a late comer, I'm a late, as you know, I'm a, I'm very much a late comer to festivals, and I love them now. And I like the fact that you can, you know, you go and watch the headlines, but it's really nice when you can walk away from a festival and you go, wow, there's a new band for me. I'll, oh yeah, I'll follow those. So it's nice to have a surprise. You can get a surprise and, uh, for festivals. Speaker 2 00:43:52 Absolutely. And Speaker 1 00:43:53 This, this is the, I have put a little bit of thought into this one, Matt, have you? Yes, this is, that's a change. I'm, I'm gonna try <laugh>. I'm I'm gonna cover three Fs. Oh, really? Wow. I'm gonna cover three F's in one go. So we were talking about, um, van Helen earlier on, and we've got Wolfgang and Eddie and it mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you've got family. So, you know, you think about, and we, we've covered in earlier shows, siblings and cetera. But, um, so for families, one of the biggest family families of Rock would be the Farris brothers and the Farris brothers who were the majority th three fifths of, uh, or three sixths of, uh, an excess. So in Excess who are sadly no longer, um, a going entity. Um, they recorded an album in 1997 with a fabulous producer called Bruce Fairburn, another f indeed. Now, bris Fairburn isn't one of, we've talked about producers in the past, Matt, you know, we've talked about obviously Molana, Martin Birch. Oh my goodness. You know, we Roger even Speaker 2 00:45:05 Glover last time, wasn't Speaker 1 00:45:06 It, Fred? We talked about the last time and we never seemed to talk about Bruce Fairburn. We'll talk about Bob Rock, you know, cuz Bob's done lots of work with Metallic. Uh, and so when I was looking back, uh, when I was looking back at Bruce's discography, I couldn't believe in the mid eighties the albums that, that Bruce had produced. I didn't know that he was the producer of Slippery Boom, wet Speaker 2 00:45:31 Wow. Speaker 1 00:45:32 He also produced, um, New Jersey as well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then in that period, in the mid eighties when Aerosmith came back on the back of the Run DMC single Bri produced permanent Vacation and Pump, and an album that I absolutely love, Matt is, you know, the live at Donnington in 1991 with ac dc which I think is just, that was produced by Bris Fairburn. And he, and he produced Oh, really? Yeah. And another album that, that I that is a favorite of mine is the mid nineties 1990 Fives Van Halen's Balance, which I know that Sammy Hagar has been on record saying that that's one of the, the best produced Van Halen, um, uh, albums, uh, in the latter days. So I couldn't not lift leave Bris Fairburn off the Last Speaker 2 00:46:25 No, no, indeed. What a what a what a catalog of albums he's been involved in. Amazing. Yeah, I'd heard of him and, and, um, I couldn't connect him to, uh, to the bands, but yeah. Speaker 2 00:46:36 What a what a what A guy. Couple of final mentions, Brian, um, one of the Great Rock songs, um, probably in my top 10. Uh, and when it comes to guitar solos, it's certainly up in the top five is, is Free Bird by Leonard Skidder. Take Always Whatever, hear, whenever I hear it takes me back to the school discos of the early eighties kneeling on the floor head bagging great stuff. And finally, a great album for, a great band. For those about to rock, we Salute You the 1981 album by ac dc and what a song, what a title song to that album. You mentioned AC dc a few minutes ago. Yeah, I Speaker 1 00:47:13 Couldn't, Speaker 2 00:47:13 I couldn't leave that for, that's about to rock. We Salute You. Sounds vaguely familiar though, isn't It? Isn't does Speaker 1 00:47:18 Good title? Mm, Speaker 2 00:47:19 Yeah. Indeed. Yeah. Yeah. So that was the f next time it's g Speaker 1 00:47:25 Yes. Speaker 2 00:47:27 Look forward to that. Yep. So finally, that brings us to most people's, clearly not yours, but most people's favorite feature Speaker 3 00:47:42 Hidden. And June. Speaker 2 00:47:45 Thanks, Lola. Sounded great as always. So what's your hidden gem for episode 49, Bri? Speaker 1 00:47:53 So my, my hidden gem for this episode is, um, I was listening to, um, Boston, uh, a couple of weeks ago. It was, uh, came up on social media that it would've been Brad DELP's birthday. So Brad's the, uh, original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in Boston. Um, so it would've been Matt, it would've been Brad's birthday on the 12th of June. So I got a message up on Facebook and, uh, it just got me back into listen to Boston. And then I, I was thinking, my goodness, when Boston got back together, um, who was the g who was the singer that stepped into the breach to replace Brad? And it was none other than Michael Sweet, who was the lead singer and guitarist and, and striper, you know, blacken yellow and, you know, Christian Rock as they were. Um, but Michael has worked with George Lynch, um, through Frontier Records for the last few years. And Speaker 2 00:48:53 Another f Speaker 1 00:48:54 Hmm, another F another f of course, exactly another F mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, uh, Speaker 2 00:48:58 And another pound in the pot for you, Bryce. Of Speaker 1 00:48:59 Course. Exactly. Another pound Pee, me and Me and Frontier Records. Um, so, so the latest release from, uh, sweet and Lynch is an album called Heart and Sacrifice. It is great, great album. Now, for those of you who love, uh, George Lynch's guitar playing and docking, and he can do all these amazing skills, he's, he's going back to a much more ritzier, um, bluesier feel on this album. And it's just the mix between Michael's, Bostons, Boston s vocals, and this really bluesy drop d Riffy guitar in from, uh, from George Lynch. It's fabulous. Matt, uh, standout tracks on it are, uh, you'll Never Be Alone, where I have to go and Leaving It all Behind three standout tracks from a great, great album. Again, one of these project albums, but they still, you know, I think this is their fourth album that the guys have done. So, um, yeah, my head and gem for this episode. Sweet and Lynch, heart and Sacrifice. What about you? Speaker 2 00:50:10 Hmm, well, I have got an album by the White Buffalo. Now, we haven't went to the White Buffalo on this, uh, this podcast. Nope. What The White Buffalo is essentially, um, the stage name list, the pseudonym, if you will, of, uh, an American singer song article called Jake Smith. And, um, he, uh, it, it's quite prolific. I think this is his seventh album I'm gonna talk about. Uh, it's the album called On the Widow's Walk from 2020. Um, and it's great if you want, as I say, what a nice slice of modern Americana, check out the White Buffalo. And, um, I first came across him, um, I was in a record store and, and I've only done this a couple of times in my life. I was in a record store and, um, there was a record playing or music playing in the background, and I thought, I like this. Speaker 2 00:51:04 And I asked the, the person behind a counter who it was, and they said, it's the white buffalo, blah, blah, blah, and end up buying the album, which is quite rare for me to do something impulsive like that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> mm-hmm. <affirmative> or Indeed to spend Money Full Stop <laugh>. But, uh, but this is a good album. This is from 2020, um, and it's, uh, uh, it's all, it's produced by Shooter Jennings. Okay. Yeah. And it, and it's, uh, and it's on Snake Farm Records, so none, none Your Frontiers with this guy Snake Farm Records. And it features one of my favorite songs of the last few years is a song called No History. Uh, absolutely love that song. So that's gonna be on the, um, on the players of course. Um, but it's, it's, it's, it's short and sweet songs, um, really well written. It's a great singer. He's, he's a baritone, so I obviously like him. Um, but, uh, yeah, great stuff. Check, check out on the Widow's Walk by the White Buffalo from 2020. There you go. That's my hidden gem for this episode, Bri. Good old. Thank Speaker 0 00:52:02 You. Speaker 2 00:52:05 So that's it, Bri, another episode in the bag, episode 49. A nice pink bow on the top, I think. Lovely. Yes. So next time we episode 50, we look forward to that. We'll do a bit of reminiscing. And also to mention we've been listened to over 5,000 times, which is amazing. Thank you all for listening. Yes, thank you. Um, if the first time you've heard us, of course, go back through all the episodes we're available on Spotify, on, uh, apple Podcast. We're of course now on Scotland Rocks Radio every third Tuesday. Um, so check us out there and, uh, we'll be back for the next episode in a few weeks, episode 50. But for now, thank you for listening. See you all soon. Keep on rocking. Bye. Speaker 4 00:52:54 That's about five weeks. Alute, you is Rogers production.