For Those About to Pod, We Salute You - Episode 61

[00:00:23] Speaker A: Well, hello there and welcome to episode 61 of the rock podcast. For those about pod, we salute you. In this episode, we've reached the letter n in the a to z of Rock. There's new rock on the block, there's hidden gems. And of course, the latest rock news in what's caught your eye, Briar. And talking of, talking of Briar, here he is, the man himself, elf. The man who occasionally wears a angus young schoolboy outfit. But don't tell anyone, it's Brian. How you doing, my friend? [00:00:58] Speaker B: I'm doing very well. I see you've got back safely from Leicestershire. [00:01:04] Speaker A: Yes, indeed. Yeah, I was there at the weekend last weekend. Went to see thieves of liberty. Open for the karma effect. Yeah, a bit of a road trip. It's quite nice, actually, a weekend away and all that. My wife and I went with our friend Richard and a few friends there, so, yeah, it's good. [00:01:27] Speaker B: And how were the karma effect? Were they good? [00:01:28] Speaker A: They were great. They were sounding great. Songs off the new album sounds good. Promised Land, which is out in May. Looking forward to that, no doubt. We'll review that when it comes out. And, yeah, good gig, all in all. Everyone enjoyed it. Caught up with the lads afterwards and they're in good form. So, yeah, we're good. He enjoyed that. And week before that, I saw dirty honey. They were good. So it's been a busy couple of weeks. And then I saw Jack J Hutchinson on his album launch, his new album, battles. Yeah, we'll come on to that later in new rock on the Block. But, yeah, it's been a busy and slightly tiring couple of weeks. [00:02:11] Speaker B: And if you'd added up all of the cost of all of those three gigs, it will come nowhere near the price of the tickets for the band that we thought that we would never see again. AC DC have announced the 21 date tour of Europe, which, of course, Matthew, the tour of the UK is two nights in London. [00:02:37] Speaker A: Yeah, lovely. It's more like a german tour with a few dates around the rest of Italy. Around the rest of Europe. Kind of tacked on. Yeah, it's very stressful getting tickets for ACDC, of course, and we managed it. My Wife came up trumps, actually, which is pretty good. I was online with a few friends. You as well were online, weren't you? Of course, trying to get tickets for Dublin. Did you get them or not? [00:03:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I refreshed my phone once, Matthew. I think I was 26,000 in the queue. And then I refreshed my phone and then I went to, like, 52,000 in the list. So by the time I got there, it's a classic case of no standing left. But you can get the vip tickets for, like, €400 or wherever it was. [00:03:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, astronomical prices. I don't know where the. I'm going to say blame, because it is really unbelievable prices. I know they're a hugely popular. Badness is probably their last tour. I'm sure they'll put some dates in the US and maybe South America. And so, I mean, just astronomical prices, as you touched upon, essentially, you got Brian Johnson and Angus, you've got Stevie Young, you got Matt Lauce, Blaine drums, and Chris Cheney has been formerly of Jane's addiction and many others has been drafted in on bass because Cliff Williams has decided, well, stuck to his guns. Actually, he did the one off gig in the. What was that called, that festival? Was that called power up festival? [00:04:27] Speaker B: Power trip. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Power trip. Bit confusing, isn't it? All this power floating around. Yeah, he stuck to his guns, did that one gig, and he's called it a day, which I think is fair enough. But, yeah, I've got a tip for everyone listening, by the way. My wife, as I say, came up trumps for the AC DC tickets. And if you recall, they went on sale at 10:00 on whatever date it was, February the 16th or something, and 10:00 UK time. And we're all poised at 10:00 a.m.. Right. Bang. Let's get on. And there was a lobby, waiting room, whatever it was. Then you got let in, then you showed, like, number 50,000 in the queue. But my wife Kate, she was in the lobby, according to the hour, which I think was good. So she kind of got ahead of the. Ahead of the curve, as it were. So, anyway, yeah, we're going to see them in Wembley. I won't tell you how much, but, yeah, as you say, I have to say, I am more of an advocate of paying a relatively small amount of money to see up and coming bads. I've said this before, the karma effect and these of Liberty were, I don't know, 2020 pounds, something like that. Really good value. And as you say, you can see lots of up and coming bands. And to be fair, AC DC don't need my, let's say, 100 pounds. They don't need, to be fair, with all due respect. Whereas that sort of money would support a band, petrol money, hotel, Airbnb, whatever it is. Anyway, enough of my soapbox. [00:06:05] Speaker B: It's. It's. It's tough. And we don't know the machinations or how the algorithms work for dynamic pricing, but it's exactly the same. Know another behemoth band that's announced a new album, which Eddie Vetter says is the best album that he's done. So Pearl Jam have announced a world tour and they're going to be playing a few shows in the UK, but again, with the dynamic pricing, and I know that if you, Pearl Jam, have got. I've bought tickets before through the ten club, so if you're a member of the ten club, you can get presale links and codes and all that kind of stuff. But again, tickets for the Pearl Jam shows are way beyond 100 pounds. And they've been staunch advocates of fair pricing, fair pricing over the years. So it's kind of, like, interesting that the band have with their fans and a lot of them on social media have been saying, I ain't paying 150 quid to go and see Pearl Jam. No, but I think it's just a sign of the times. [00:07:31] Speaker A: Could be, yeah. It's a lot of money, isn't it? Especially this day and age when people are finding it tough. And I was thinking that actually, I mean, Alice Cooper has just announced a UK tour and I'm thinking, to be fair, in London, he's playing Hammersmith Odion, as we always refer to it, the event him Apollo, which would be quite a good gig, I think, quite in a strange way, quite intimate, because normally he plays the two in London and large sort of indoor arenas. But I think that might be a tour too far, because, as I say, people are struggling these days. And as I say, you've been asked to pay 60 7100 plus pounds to watch a gig. It's a lot of money to fork out. Anyway. I'm sure someone will pay. I'm sure it'll be a sellout, but certainly Pearl. Gem. Well, I'm sure they're going to put on, as we said before, put on a great show. In other news, this one caught my eye. I think you'd like this, bry. You certainly would like. Will like it. So there's a football team, a soccer team, for our american listeners who have called Bohemian FC. It's a good name, actually. Bohemian football club from Dublin in Ireland. So they have just announced a one off football jersey. I think it's their away kit that pays homage. Is it homage or homage? Anyway, I think both are okay. Pays homage to thin Lizzie's landmark outdoor concert in Daly Mount park in Dublin. [00:09:17] Speaker B: Daily mind. [00:09:19] Speaker A: Is it daily Mount? [00:09:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:21] Speaker A: Okay. Apologies, Brian. Thank you. Corrected me in Daily Mount park in Dublin in August 1977. Did you go to that, by the way? [00:09:30] Speaker B: No, I didn't. I was a little bit too young. Young man. [00:09:36] Speaker A: It's quite a nice top, actually. It's got the thin lizard, the iconic logo, which has been sort of perpetuated by Dan Hawkins of the darkness, of course, and then stitched into the neck of the jersey. You might look into getting one of these, actually. They've got some of the boys are back in town lyrics and. Yes. Good. I like it. It looks good, actually. I could see you wearing that. I'm looking at it now. It's kind of purple neck and cuffs and essentially a white football shirt. It was good. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Would you be surprised? Matthew, have you got one? [00:10:17] Speaker A: Have you ordered one? Come on. [00:10:21] Speaker B: Yes, I have. [00:10:22] Speaker A: Have you? Brilliant. I look forward to seeing that next time. Brilliant. [00:10:29] Speaker B: Yes. It's like, hey, Finn, Lizie have put out a new 15 CD box set. Oh, I've got Albert. [00:10:38] Speaker A: I know, yeah. It looks pretty good, actually. Yeah. [00:10:44] Speaker B: Why does it caught. That was in the. Caught my eyebrow. [00:10:51] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, it's put Bohemian FC. Are they the old Bohemians? Was another band, another football club, wasn't it? I think. But it's certainly put bohemian FC of Dublin on the map very much. Yeah. Which is good. Which is good. Rock and roll hall of fame, bry, you like this time of year? It's kind of like a seasonal landmark time for you, isn't it? You love the build up to the rock and roll. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Eddie Trunk, the well known american radio host. He's brilliant because I think he has a ballot and I love it. Iron Maiden haven't made the ballot this year, so I'm sure that Eddie's done an hour long show going. This is preposterous. Why blah amount of bands aren't in the Rock and Roll hall of. Yeah. Iron Maiden snubbed once again. I think it's going to be interesting. One band that I think is going to be kneeled on getting into the Rock and Hall of Fame will be know. I'm a massive fan of. I think we both are massive fans of the Lou Graham era in terms of the recorded material. Kelly's done an amazing job. Mick Jones this week as well, with. With the diagnosis of his Parkinson's and now backing away from playing live. Mark Ronson, who's his stepson, has been. He's been out, sort of know a play on the lyrics of I want to know what love is. Do you know what love is? Getting foreigner into the Rock and Roll hall of. See, I can see foreigner being they probably won that potentially could win the people's vote. [00:13:06] Speaker A: Yeah, possibly. Possibly. Yeah. I'd love to see the bin other nominees. Quite a good representation in the rock world. Ozzy Osborne, who's already been inducted with Sabbath, of course, Black Sabbath, Peter Frampton, great Peter Frampton, of course. Dave Matthews band. You probably like a bit of Dave Matthews bands. [00:13:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I do like James addiction and. [00:13:31] Speaker A: Lenny Kravitz and we wish them all well. It does beg the question about Iron Maiden, though. I mean, they have been going since, I think it's Christmas. Was it New Year's Eve, 1975? So coming up 50 odd years. Obviously they weren't quite the band they are now back in 1975, of course. But do you know what? In a way, I think they probably quite like the fact they haven't been nominated. And I've got a feeling if they ever are, they'll say, no, thanks. You waited so long. We've lost interest. And in fact, we weren't even interested in the first place. So thanks, but no thanks. Which fair enough. [00:14:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And as you say, there's some great bands that are nominated. You mentioned Peter Frumpton and I'm kind of astounded he hasn't been nominated before. When you think of know, Frampton comes alive is probably one of the most iconic albums and certainly it know truckloads in America. But I look at the other nominees and they're all great artists in their own right. But come on. Matt Shade. [00:14:43] Speaker A: Sade. You mean Shadi Sade. [00:14:47] Speaker B: Sade. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Smooth operator. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:51] Speaker A: And all that. Your love is king. Yes. [00:14:54] Speaker B: You know too many Sharde songs, matthew. [00:14:57] Speaker A: Well, as we'll find out later, I did grow up in the was in my formative years in the course. That was a very eclectic era. And I do remember Diamond Life by Charday. It's quite a good album, actually for like a bit of kind of laid back Sunday morning jazz. [00:15:13] Speaker B: She played live. She played that, yeah. And she also stick this on the playlist for this episode. She's actually covered thin. Lizzie's still in love with you. [00:15:27] Speaker A: Really? Yeah. Well, I'll dig that out. That sounds like could be good, actually. [00:15:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:32] Speaker A: Beautiful voice, Chardet, but we are getting slightly off track. Let's save that for one of our many sister podcasts. For those about to listen to Sunday morning jazz, we salute you. [00:15:45] Speaker B: Yes. [00:15:46] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Another band. Yeah. Another band that's announced. This is quite a bit of a shock to the rock and thrash world is Slayer have reunited. And it was funny, Matthew, how I found out about it. Didn't find out about it on Planet Rock. Didn't find out about it in Lloydwire anything. I found out about it on the friends of Stone Dead festival when said Slayer has reunited and yes, they will be the headliners. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Well, I would take that. I do have this lovely thought that there'll be a kind of middle aged mosh pit in front of the stage, which I won't be participating in. But that sounds good, actually. I would love to see Slay out there. Can you imagine? Yeah, no, it'd be fun. It'd be great. Sub Ryan, do you remember many episodes ago. This is 61, episode 61, by the way. It is indeed so many episodes ago. Do you remember we had a very heated debate on who is the most iconic bass player ever? And you went for Lemmy and I went for Paul McCartney. And I think that was an interesting discussion. [00:17:12] Speaker B: And we're both wrong, because it's Getty Lee. [00:17:15] Speaker A: That's right. Or Tom Araya if Slayer are coming back. Possibly. But it's an interesting one. This caught my eye because we've talked about Paul McCartney's base in the context he sold one, do you remember, for $400,000 or something. But recently he has been reunited with his famous Hofner base, which I think is synonymous with Paul McCartney in that era. It went missing in 1972 and it's only just been returned. It was stolen from the back of a van, obviously not very secure van in Nottinghill in London, let's just say 50 od years ago and no one knew where it was until there was a lost base project looking for it. Anyway, it's turned up amazingly and it's in pretty good nick, apparently. It's worth in the region of 10 million pounds, which I think is a possible underestimation based on some of the guitars or the value of some of the guitars that we've talked about on this podcast. But I'm quite pleased for Sir Paul, for Macca to get in his famous Hoffter bass. And there's some pictures of it actually online. If you take a look. It does look like an antique. I mean, it's pretty battered, but it's good to see that iconic. I think it is an iconic instrument. Oh, very much is back with Paul McCartney after all these years. [00:18:57] Speaker B: He probably forgot about is you're right to call out the bass project because it's been one of those. I wonder where it is now. And he's long lamented the loss of that bass guitar. So it's. Yeah, it's fabulous. There is one, see, in the next episode, when we talk about auctions, something which will be going for less than 10 million pounds will be Peter Grant. So Peter Grant's estate, they're auctioning off all his classic cars, and I think he's got. It's like a Ferrari of Peter Grant's is going to be sold, and it's the classic case map where they're going. And the estimated sale is going to between 250 and 350 grand. And you're kind of going. The fact that it's Peter Grant and it's Led Zeppelin, that's going to be stratospheric. [00:20:08] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:20:09] Speaker B: For a Ferrari owned by the legendary manager of Led Zeppelin. So let's see next episode. If it hits a million quid for a. [00:20:23] Speaker A: Going to. You're going to bid for it. Brad tucked away. [00:20:28] Speaker B: If it was a matchbox for Ari Matt, maybe, but yes. [00:20:34] Speaker A: Interesting. So, moving on. Documentaries. [00:20:39] Speaker B: Yes. [00:20:40] Speaker A: There's a couple in the pipeline, aren't there? [00:20:44] Speaker B: There is indeed. I'm a big fan of this band and the fact that the band's document, the documentary, they've entitled it hit to love. So it's nickelback. So Nickelback, they've been going for 30 years now. So at the end of March, nickelback for two nights only on, I think it's the 27th and the 30 March worldwide are going to be showing a movie of their 30 year career. And never has there been a band who gets pillared and mocked as much as Nickelback do. I think they're great. I'm going to mention them later on in the. So Nickelback have got their documentary coming out, but the one I'm really excited about is the Bon Jovi docu series, which will be coming out on Disney in April. It's got all of the band involved, and it's going to be to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the debut album from Bon Jovi, which will be warts and all. So that's going to be interesting to see how John tells the story. And I'm really interested in how all the rest of the band talk about the journey they've had in Bon Jovi. So, yeah, some great documentaries coming out over the next couple of months. [00:22:32] Speaker A: The Bon Jovi documentary be quite good. I'm sure Richie Samboro been there and John himself. And so, in fact, talking to John Bon Jovi, he's come out recently and explained why he. We talked about this again many episodes ago when he was struggling his singing style was very strange a couple of years ago when they were on tour, and he got quite a lot of criticism for it because he wasn't on top form. Anyway, it's transpired that he has been having treatment for an atrophied vocal cord. He was interviewed and someone came out and said, look, what's up with your voice? And he basically said, yeah, I've had problems with it. One of his vocal cords is completely wasted away, he said of a plastic implant in its place. And he won't go back on tours until he sounds great. So that's good, I suppose. Yeah, he was really struggling. Do you remember? [00:23:36] Speaker B: It was very strange the way he. [00:23:38] Speaker A: Was singing, wasn't it? [00:23:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And the rest of the band are all great. Phil X is in the band, everybody in Bon Jovi. It's not just the five guys from New Jersey now. They're augmented with keyboard players and lots of good singers. But I remember Justin Hawkins had just started his podcast. [00:24:00] Speaker A: That's right. [00:24:01] Speaker B: And Justin's in a great singer himself. And he was watching it as a signed up member of the lead singers union, going, I think he actually said, john needs to go and see somebody about his vocal cords. I think, as you quite rightly say, the plastic implant in his vocal cords. He's actually been in rehab with it for nearly two years now, so it sounds promising that it's going well. I know he's done a few little acoustic things vocally, but it's still not 100%. But it would be nice because I think he came under a lot of criticism about his vocal performance. But, yeah, if you're having major constructive surgery in your voice and that's how you make your, you know. Good luck, Tim. [00:24:57] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Keep an eye on that story. Yep. [00:25:04] Speaker B: So, Matt, first up, a new rock on the block. We have Revolution Saints, which is an album from a project from Frontier Records. [00:25:19] Speaker A: That's another pound in the pot then, obviously for you, kaching first of the. [00:25:23] Speaker B: Year, first Frontiers album, we should run like a bingo thing. Matt says, how many Frontiers albums is Brian going to discuss in 2024? [00:25:33] Speaker A: Well, you've said the word frontiers three times now, so that's three pounds in the pot already. You're saving up for that Peter Grant car, aren't you? I can tell. Yeah, you're going to get frontiers to pay for it. [00:25:44] Speaker B: Frontiers. Frontiers. Frontiers. Frontiers. There's been so many great bands of late that I've signed to that record label based in Italy and a project which it's largely based around Dean Castronova. From Journey. He's the drummer, actually, in journey, but he's an amazing singer. So Revolution Saints is a project that was kicked off with Dean, Jack blades from Night Ranger and Doug Aldridge from White Snake and Dio. It was your standard eighty s. It sounded very much like journey. Bad English, that aor. And then when the ballads came through in the album, you're sort of going, where does Dean stop and Steve Perry start? So they've done four albums with that lineup, and now they've got a fifth album which has come out, which is called against the Winds. A little bit of a change in the lineup. So Dean is still there carrying all of the vocals. But joining Dean on this project is Jeff Pilson, laterally of Dawkin, now in Foreigner as the bass player, and Joel Hoxtra, who has been in Snake, and he's also touring with accept. So you'll see him at Steelhouse. He'll be playing guitar. That's going to look really funny. Joel, with his big, nice shiny teeth and blonde hair, playing accept's music. [00:27:26] Speaker A: That's right. And he was also in night rage, wasn't he? We're coming to night rage. [00:27:29] Speaker B: He wasn't he? So Revolution Saints have got their fifth album out called against the Winds. It's back to mid 80s journey. That sort of aor of the. Have to say, I'm a massive fan of all three of the main players, but I think we've come to the end. Matthew of. For me, anyway, the mashing together of artists, when the material all sounds so dated, I really struggled. I love Dean's vocals, but all of the material, it just sounded very. There's a couple of good tracks on it, like lost in damnation is a really good. There's some upbeat, up tempo tracks. The opening track, title track, against the winds, changing my mind. There's upbeat rockers on there, but it just all sounds the really. I have to say, I was really disappointed. I thought having Jeff and Jewel in the band might make it a bit more edgier, maybe a little bit more rockier, like, jewel's a fabulous guitar player. But I was really disappointed with this fifth album, and I just think maybe if they're never going to play it live, Matt, if they're not going to do anything, vaguely know something unplugged or acoustic, I'm struggling to see where these projects are going to go. So I was very disappointed in Revolution seeds. Where were you at this as an album when you were listening to it? [00:29:26] Speaker A: Well, yeah, I tend to agree with a lot what you said. Actually, it does sound very mid 80s. It's got that kind of classic AOR field about it. And the production is, as you say, it's sort of straight from kind of escape era. Dean Castnovi is a really good singer, but he does sound like a mid range Steve Perry. And to be fair, we've said this in the context of Greta Van fleet for mean to be compared to Steve Perry is pretty good. Yes, he's very much like him. Steve Perry of journey. He's an amazing singer. We've said that many times. I thought the songs are very similar, as you say, all kind of mid tempo rockers. There was very little light and shade. Joel Hawkster's guitar playing stood out. I mean, he's an amazing guitarist and I thought he sounded great. So yeah, thanks for recommending it. Revolution saints against the winds have a listen, boys and girls. See what you know. Journey and that whole sound has got many, many fans, of course. But yeah, I found it very derivative and very dated and in every way Deca. He must write and write and write because the amount of lyrics. Check out the lyrics for each of these songs. It's just pages and pages of stuff. Just word after word and amazing. That was against the winds by revolution saints. We shall see how that goes for them in future. [00:31:04] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:31:05] Speaker A: Frontiers Records. You haven't mentioned Frontiers records for a couple of minutes, Brian. [00:31:08] Speaker B: Okay, that's very true. And somebody who isn't signed to Frontiers Records, a little bit closer to home now is. I think he's actually from Leicestershire, is Jack J. Hutchinson, who has just released his latest album Battles. And I know you were at the launch show, weren't you? [00:31:30] Speaker A: I was. I was at the album. One of the album launch gigs, yeah. And I met Jack. He's a lovely guy, actually. I bumped into him at a maiden gig last year. I think it was. Just chatted him in the bar and he's a lovely guy. And Battles is the new album and I think it's great. I really enjoy it. It's one of those albums that does take a few listens. Brian. Brian's shaking his head. He's shaking your head in agreement, obviously. But I liked it. I liked it. He's a good guitarist at times. There was shades of. He's a really good guitarist. There were shades of Gary Moore in there. And I have to say he's got two sides to his singing style. In the lower range. He sounds great. There's a song called road to Hell on here, which is quite a slow kind of sort of almost ballad, I guess you could say. [00:32:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:32:37] Speaker A: And that kind of shows off his mid range voice. His high range does sound a little bit sort of the top of his range, let's say, on some of these songs. But at times those shades are going more. There's some light and shade here. I liked it. I get the impression, Brian, that you weren't quite so enthusiastic about it. But it's one of those albums that I think you have to give it a few listens before it sort of sinks in. I think he benefits. He benefits on record with the ability to multi track. There's multi track guitars, and I think there's also multi track vocals or double track vocals. But live is just him playing guitar, singing and bass and drums. There's a three piece, obviously. So there's a, if I'm honest, and Jack follows this podcast. If you're listening, Jack, you might benefit from a rhythm guitarist because there's a little bit of an empty feel, which I suppose is always the case when you've got a three piece. I mean, bass and drums kind of filling in the space. But no, I liked it. Battles by Jack J. Hutchinson I think I know where you're going to go with this, Brian. What do you think? [00:33:52] Speaker B: Or maybe not. [00:33:54] Speaker A: So it changed his mind. [00:33:56] Speaker B: No shaking his here's the things that I agree with you on. He's a fantastic guitarist. The actual songs themselves and the riffs. When you think of constellations, days are gone. Two good opening tracks. For me, the standout tracks on the album are actually road to hell running on empty. It just reminded me of when I was listening to the Green Day album. Do you remember in the last episode where I went, there was a couple of tracks? The tracks that opened the albums weren't as good as the middle of the album. And I feel the same way with Jack's album. Whereas road to Hell running an empty has got an AC DC swagger to it. It's that real mid tempo, earthy feel to it and rip it up, which is a great tack. And then there's an Aerosmith swagger to that well known title, don't let the bleep get you that. The back end of the album is really strong, where Jack is singing a song without any effects. If you take the song road to Hell, which is quite acoustic, there's a bad company feel to it. His singing mid range, matt is lovely. There's no effects on it. Whereas the opening couple of tracks, the best way I can describe what Jack's sound was in my head was Liam Gallagher singing with nickelback backing it. That was in my head. I've listened to album two or three. Yeah, there's that snarly, nasally Liam Gallagher. It's that sound to me. But there was lots of processes and lots of production on his vocal and for me, I didn't think his vocal was high enough on the mix for me. And I think he's a brilliant guitarist. I just think the production of his vocal was just a little bit overproduced for me and that just let down the overall mix. Now, who am I to say? I'm just a listener and a punter. But the non processed songs were amazing and his voice sounded great. I actually watched on YouTube the show in his LinkedIn at one of the launches and the three piece band and how he sounded live was great. And I think you're right. If he had a rhythm guitarist, just fill out the sound for him. But he's a great singer live and the balance between his vocals and guitar live is brilliant. I just think on the album I would have pushed his vocal a little bit higher in the mix. It just seemed to be mixed in with all of the rhythm section stuff, but great songs, great riffs. I just think vocally just push it up on the mix and less processing on the vocal. For me, a good seven out of ten. And he's getting a lot of play in Planet Rock. And he's been getting play on radio too. [00:37:36] Speaker A: And Scotland rocks radio, of course. Don't forget them. [00:37:38] Speaker B: Exactly. So, yeah, good album. [00:37:41] Speaker A: Which brings us to the latest album by BlackBerry Smoke called be right here. This is their 8th studio album. They've released two live albums and five eps. However, considering they were formed in 2000, I suppose that's moderately productive. But new album all the same. What did you think, bry? Like a bit of BlackBerry Snow, don't you? [00:38:08] Speaker B: We saw them at Ramblerman. [00:38:12] Speaker A: That's right, yeah. They're regular visitors to these shores, aren't I? [00:38:18] Speaker B: Before listening to this album, I would have to say I've seen them live a couple of times and yeah, they're good. Southern rock, this album. And maybe Jack didn't stand a chance in this episode because be right here is probably one of the best albums I've listened to in such a long time. [00:38:44] Speaker A: Wow. [00:38:44] Speaker B: Yeah. BlackBerry Smokes album. It just hit the right spot for me of. And maybe with the Black Crows, with a new promise of a new black cruise album coming out. But BlackBerry smoke have that wonderful mix and it's just that lovely mix of Black crows Almond brothers, early Leonard Skinnerd. And it just was listening to it in the car. And I've been listening to it for a couple of days now. It's just swampy, greasy, good old rock and roll, bourbon soaked. It was like, you're in Georgia, you're listening to them, Matt. You could be in a bar and they'd be sitting there. And whether they're playing the two in London or a bar in Georgia, that's how they would sound. And the songs, the standout tracks for me in this album, hammering the neil, is the second track album, which is really good. Azalea, which is an acoustic ballad. Shades of going to California in it. Don't mind if I do, if you picture the period where the stones are getting into country music and hanging out with Graham Parsons and the whole Laurel Canyon type feel to it. But the gem of the album, Matt, for me, is, and I'll be surprised at the end of the year, this isn't in. One of my songs of the year is. Other side of the Light is the standout track for me. It's acoustic. Great singing. Charlie's never going to be singing still of the night or screaming up there like Rob Halford, but he knows his voice and he just emotes very well. Yeah, to me it's the perfect. When I was listening to it, I was kind of going. When I heard the southern harmony and musical companion, which was the second album of the Black Crows. This album just sits as a nice companion to that. Afterwards, I loved it. It's not raw and edgy. It's not like dirty honey or whatever. But yeah, I loved it, Matt. It's solid. Nine out of ten for me. [00:41:27] Speaker A: Very good. [00:41:28] Speaker B: How about you? [00:41:28] Speaker A: Very good. Yeah, well, I enjoyed it. Yeah, it's a good album. Not quite as bold over as you were, but I'm not the biggest fan of that sort of southern rock sort of style of music. But it's quite a nice kind of. You could dance to it. That's the good thing about southern rock, particularly BlackBerry smoke. It's good time music on the whole, as you say. You could dance to it in a bar. You could dance to it wherever. And there are some clever songs. The hammer and the nail. Check out the lyrics to that. It's very clever. Azalea is probably my favorite song on the album, but you're right, the other side of the light is good. Little bit crazy is a good old boogie infused rocker, sort of twelve bar blues sort of vibe to it. But yeah, check it out. It's a really good album. And, yeah, I think it will take them to another level and good on them. But yes, it's well worth checking out. The new album from BlackBerry Smoke. Be right here. So, Brian, we have arrived at the letter n in the a to z of Ra. So n, I think no better place to start than Nirvana. Formed in 1987, and I think they must be one of the last 30, 40 years. One of the most influential bands that there has been. I mean, they were instrumental, is in the rise of grunge, turned the tables and pretty much killed off, single handedly killed off hair metal with smells like teen spirit, which even now sounds great if you stick that on nice and loud. Dave Grohl's battering of the drums. He wasn't the original drummer, actually, of Nirvana. Chad Channing or something, wasn't he? Well, I think Chad Channing played on the first album by Nirvana. But then, of course, essentially, David Grohl is synonymous with Nirvana. But, yeah, they were on sub Pop, which is, again, one of those kind of classic grunge labels. Butch Vig produced their album, and if you ever see the classic album tv series where they focused on Nevermind, it's fascinating the way that Butch Vigg produced Kurt Cobain through the album, using references to John and to kind of coax performances out of him and so on. But yeah, and never mind. Of course, one of the kind of classic albums, as I said in the letter n and just a turning point, really, for rock music. And, yeah, still, it's a great album. And the MTV Unplugged album is good. In Utro, I quite like in Utro, it's not quite as lauded as. Never mind. But, wow, what a legacy. What a band. And sadly, of course, 1994, it all ended when Kurt Cobain sadly killed himself. But, yeah, brilliant. What a legacy. And iconic, really, the image of Kurt Cobain, as we know. So that was Nirvana. You remember them. Were you at university, I presume? I was through the 90s into the 15 years you were there, of course. Let's remind everyone. [00:45:05] Speaker B: I went through. I went through the grunge, Brit pop. [00:45:09] Speaker A: And probably you went through Nuabam, you went through hair metal, you went through grunge, you went through brit rock, you. [00:45:15] Speaker B: Went through them all the millennium as well, Mark. [00:45:18] Speaker A: Absolutely. A whole lot. Yes, indeed. And equally as influential was Nuabhum, the new wave of british heavy metal, which I remember well, fondly. I was in my sort of formative years at the kind of peak of. What are your formative years? I was 1516 around the Nawabam, sort of 1979 80 era. And I always think it was sort of, in a way, spawned by punk. In that there were a lot of bands. And punk had largely kind of collapsed by 1979. There was the kind of post punk, new wave type stuff. But the idea that you could basically kind of do it yourself. Put your own tapes together. Demo tapes or singles or whatever. Famously Iron Maiden did one. Def Leppard did one. Diamond Head did a whole album, demo album. The legendary White Album. The kind of do it yourself thing was spawned by. I think my own personal view was spawned by punk. And also the fact that there was a kind of a sense that the dinosaurs, as they were sort of classified as the genesis Led Zep, Pink Floyd. That kind of run their course. I mean, poor Robert Ply was only about 30 when Ledzet broke out. And he was being called an old man of rock, as it were. But yeah, it was a term actually that was coined by Alan Lewis, the editor of Sounds magazine. Which again was an iconic magazine. We used to read back in the late seventy s and eighty s. We talked about sounds. It was relating to a gig in 1979. I remember it vaguely being the headline. Unless I kind of remember sort of subsequently. But I think it was Angel Witch. I think it was Angel Witch. Iron Maiden and Samson. I think were the three bands on this bill. Possibly at the music machine in London. And yeah, they just coined the term. The new way of British ever met. And it kind of springboarded from there. Malcolm McMillan, in his book the Nuab Encyclopedia. Suggests at the peak there were 400 Newabham bands in existence. And only a handful really made it. Saxon. I'm Maiden def Leopard. Who probably would deny the fact that we're part of it. And they were formed in the mid 70s anyway. Certainly maiden distance themselves. And so did def Leppard. But still an amazing phenomenon. And of course, it's been the springboard for Megadeth, Metallica. And many other bands subsequently. So the great Nuabam era. I remember it fondly, of course. Remember that, bro? [00:48:03] Speaker B: Not really for me. I was a little bit younger for that. But. [00:48:08] Speaker A: You were packing for university, though. [00:48:09] Speaker B: I was packing for university at that point. In my nappies. [00:48:18] Speaker A: You'D have been about ten. [00:48:20] Speaker B: I was ten years old. I was ten years less. But when you devour the magazines that I did in the early eighty s. And then the encyclopedias, you think of bands. I know about the Tigers of Pantang. But I know about Tigers of Pantang. Because that's where John Sykes came from. Before he joined thin Lizzie. I know about white spirit because white spirit was the band that I think Yannick Geres was in before he joined Gillan. I am completely in agreement with you that it really was the hard rock, the heavy metal guys sort of reaction to punk. Because you listen to that first Iron Maiden album, there's punk elements to it's shorter songs, it's not tales of topic, graphic oceans, fourth side. It's quite aggressive. But then you think of venom. Some of the bands that maybe started in the early eighty s, for a lot of people, venom created thrash metal, black metal. So it was such an influential period of time. No album absolutely deserves to be spoken about. [00:49:47] Speaker A: Indeed. Well, we just did, and very eloquently I'd like to. So what else we got? You mentioned Nickelback earlier, the band that people love to hate. I've never really worked out why they're hated. I thought it was triggered by the song Rockstar, which I don't think it was particularly autobiographical. It was essentially just kind of tongue in cheek song. But I think since then they've got pelters. As you said earlier, they're great. Certainly they have props as well as pelters. But yeah, a lot of people love them and apparently I've never seen them, but apparently they're brilliant live. [00:50:24] Speaker B: I've seen them a couple of times I've been to see. They put on a great show. Whenever you see them live, Matt, they can compete with the altar bridges of this world. That sort of great stadium rock level. How you remind me, is just an absolutely fantastic song. Photograph yeah, great, great. [00:50:53] Speaker A: I've done some good songs. As I say, we'll get to the bottom of why they're hated, but not by everyone. As I say. Another good band and I've seen a couple of times night Ranger. I love Night Ranger. As you mentioned earlier, Joel Hookstra has been in night Ranger and then he joined White Snake and David Coverdell said to no, no, take those songs away. They sound a bit too much like night Ranger when they were trying to work out whatever album would have been. But I remember the Brad Gillis era still with them. Brad Gillis, of course, Jetblades, Kelly Kegelle. Kege, of course, synonymous with those kind of classic american style big rock numbers. I love. You can still rock in America. I mean, that's an anthem. And of course, Sister Christian, which is about Kelly Keegan'sister, Christina, I think her name is. I didn't know. Yeah, he wrote it about hers. Again, sort of autobiographical. When they were growing up but he obviously changed it from Christina to Christian because it scans better. Slightly more mysterious than Sister Christina. Yeah. Night Ranger. If you get a chance to see them, they're excellent. Brad Gillis, I mean, he's an amazing guitarist, isn't he? [00:52:02] Speaker B: Well, let me come to you then. Point out, if you get a chance to see them. Go and see them. Yes. Because we always know what the UK tour of night Ranger. [00:52:13] Speaker A: Yes, that's true. Well, what can I say? There's a lot of people living in the London area. It's a big market. Come on. [00:52:22] Speaker B: Oh, goodness. Yeah, I love it. I love it. Go and see night Ranger on their UK tour in the Shepherd Bush empire in London. [00:52:31] Speaker A: That's right. [00:52:32] Speaker B: On a Tuesday Rainy night. [00:52:35] Speaker A: Indeed. Someone who hasn't toured here for a long, long time is Mr. Theodore Anthony Nugent, aka Ted Nugent. Mad as a box of frogs, of course, but did some great stuff in the peak was probably the 70s after he left the Amboy Dukes. Yeah, and Cat Scratch fever is a great album. I've got that summer, actually. Could have. Could have put that down as a hidden gem. Free for all. Good stuff. Weekend warriors, that kind of late seventy s, I think, into the 80s was his purple patch. Like a bit of Ted. Uncle Ted. Right. [00:53:18] Speaker B: Ted's brilliant. His live band, I think he did one of his live albums that he did, his back end band, he had Marco Mendoza, and I think he's also had Tommy Aldridge playing on drums of them as well, too. [00:53:36] Speaker A: More than likely. Yeah. Well, we mustn't forget that he's done some brilliant live albums. And of course, one of the greatest live album titles, intensities in ten cities. We love that one. And double live Gonzo was his earlier album, but, yeah, check out intensities in ten cities. I love that. That's one of my favorite rock albums ever. Who else you got? John Noram, your man. [00:54:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I have to call. It's just an excuse for me to talk about John Noram, who was the original guitarist in Europe, famously, still with them. Well, he is still with them, but famously, whenever the final countdown took off all around the world, John decided to step back. So key Markello came in and famously all of the tv that whenever they played Top of the Pops Christmas edition, you had key Markello on the guitar playing away. So John just backed away from all of that. But John, in his own right after leaving Europe, he got a solo contract, put a great solo debut album together called Total Control. He worked with Glenn Hughes and he also joined Dawkin for a while and Dawkin were quite a heavy band. And one of the things that I love about John is massive thin Lizzie fan. Played with various members of Lizzie. Personally, I would have loved him to have joined one of the later incarnations of just. He's such a great guitar player and he is the current owner of one of Gary Moore's famous white Stratocasters. So big, big fan. And he's got one of Gary's strats. So John Noram, fabulous and still playing amazing as well. [00:55:44] Speaker A: So we got to mention the great Stevie Nicks. Synonymous. One of the voices of Fleetwood Mac, of course. And of course had a resurgence, I think with the age of 17 when it was in score of rock, which we've mentioned many times. It's a classic scene in score of rock when they're singing age of 17. Graham Nash, of course, Crosby, Stills and Nash. And young, amazing singer. And as you touched on earlier, part of that Laurel Canyon kind of group, although I think he was from Manchester. [00:56:16] Speaker B: Originally sang in the Hollies. [00:56:19] Speaker A: I know, yeah. A hugely underrated band, as far as I'm concerned. And we have to put some hollies on the playlist because some of their stuff is just amazing. That sort of kind of paved the way, in a way for the harmonies that were crosby, stills and Nash albums. Wise night of the opera by Queen. I think that's, for a lot of people, one of the greatest albums ever. I mean, you look down the track listing there. Love of my life, bohemian Rhapsody. I mean, love of my car. One of your particular favorites. Brian, you are in love with your little car, aren't you? [00:56:49] Speaker B: I am indeed I am. My little hairdresser car. Thank you very much. [00:56:52] Speaker A: Absolutely, yes. Cool little car there. No sleep till Hammersmith by the mighty motorhead. We touched upon them last time. We'll stick a bunch of songs from no sleep. One of the greatest live albums ever. Not the greatest, of course, we know what that is, but one of the greatest live albums ever. Number of the Beast by the mighty Iron Maiden. So I'm ratling through these, Bryf, feel free to chip in. Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. The first album to feature Bruce Dickinson and one of the greatest maiden albums, I think. Some amazing songs on there. Prisoners on there, children of the Damned. And of course, the title track, run to the Hills is on there and so on. What you got for us, Brian? Any others in the letter n? [00:57:41] Speaker B: No. [00:57:44] Speaker A: Covered it, have we've done really? [00:57:47] Speaker B: Yeah, you've done really well. [00:57:48] Speaker A: In n's well let's mention, finally, nothing else matters by Metallica. That's a great song. It is. And night games by Graham Bonnet. Graham Bonnet. Love that song. Just after he left. I think he left Rainbow by then, but cozy powers on it. Don Airy's on it. Essentially a rainbow song, but without Richard Blatmore. But there you go. That was the letter n. It's fabulous. Next time. Oh, that'll be fun. We'll have to start working on that now. [00:58:21] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:58:22] Speaker A: So that brings us, Brian, to hidden Ginger. What have you got for us this time, Brian? [00:58:31] Speaker B: I have got for this time, one of the hot tickets or hot guitarists. That was about around 1989 and 90, was a guitarist called Stevie Salas. Right, so Stevie Salas. Mick Jagger had him in his solo band. Rod Stewart famously hired the Stevie Salas band to go out on tour to support his out of order tour. His first soul album is called Color Code. And it's that perfect sort of fusion of funk metal, soul, better prints. And when I was reading the karang book that you bought me for Christmas, and I was just going through, karang really championed Stevie and a great, great guitar player. And I just went back and listened to the album and I thought it was a commercial disaster in America. He supported Joe Satriani when Joe was just breaking on his sort of first solo tour. And there was record company got behind Stevie and it just didn't work out for him. But go and listen to the album itself. Color code, some great tracks on it. Blind the lead off track, which was the singles, the harder they come. It's just a great, great album, Matt. So my hidden gem for this episode is Stevie Salas Color Code, what have you. [01:00:11] Speaker A: Well, I've got a book, actually, and I have it right here, as if by magic. So it's a book called Uncommon People. And it's written by David Hepworth. Now, David Hepworth is a very well respected rock journalist in the UK. He was involved in the presentation of, I remember, of Live Aid back in 1985. He's working for the BBC then. Remember that? [01:00:42] Speaker B: He was famously. He was the one where whenever Bob Geldoff lost the plot, it was when David Hepworth was saying, why don't we give out the telephone? And why don't we give out the addresses now to write into? And that's where Bob went, get on. [01:01:07] Speaker A: The phone, send us your bleeping money. Yes, indeed. Yes. You'd probably be well remembered for that little episode. But this book is called, as there's uncommon people, the rise and fall of rock stars and basically charts, essentially, rock stars, music stars, pop stars through the ages, Jerry D. Lewis, Hank Marvin, the Beatles, of course, the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Stones, Bruce Berry and so on. It's a fascinating read. Talks about it's kind of behind the scenes read, and it's a chapter on each of the rock stars and well worth a read. He's a really good writer. Got a really good style about him. I read his book 1971, which is all about the year 1971. Surprise, surprise. But, yeah, really good book. So check out uncommon people by David Herpworth. You read a few books. You like, read one book a year, don't you, Brian? You should read this one. I'm coming up to see you soon. I'll bring this with me. You can have this. It's very copy. So that's it. We're at the end of episode 61, bry. [01:02:17] Speaker B: We are. [01:02:17] Speaker A: Nice. [01:02:18] Speaker B: Boom. [01:02:18] Speaker A: Well done. What do you think? Enjoy that. [01:02:20] Speaker B: I did indeed. [01:02:22] Speaker A: Yeah, it's good. Should we do it again next time? [01:02:24] Speaker B: Well, we have to, because we've got to finish the rest of the Alphabet. [01:02:28] Speaker A: That's true, of course. Yeah. Yes, indeed. Yes. How can I forget? Well, thanks for listening, everyone, as always. We appreciate it. Check us out online at Facebook. Listen to us on Scotland rocks radio every third Tuesday. Of course. Thanks them for having us on. Please subscribe on YouTube. I think, as Brian said, if we get, like, a billion listeners, we get about 37 pence each, so that'd be good. So we're well on the way to our first 37 pence global domination. Indeed, indeed. But, yeah, just take care of yourselves and we'll see you for episode 62, won't we, Brian? [01:03:09] Speaker B: We will indeed. Thanks, everybody. Rock on. [01:03:14] Speaker A: Rosemary pod, we salute you. Is a man in Rogers production.