The Best May Blitz post ever

Wanted an easy one for today, and it IS still May, from England ca. 1969-71 come a pair of decent albums from May Blitz. I had to look up the personnel, looks like quite a floating collection of English rocker/journeymen, with the "classic" (sarcasm) lineup seeming to be singer/guitarist Jamie Black, drummer Tony Newman, and Reid Hudson on bass.

The sound is pretty much the heavy power-trio sound of the era, Cream-ish with some prog touches.....I like both of these albums as touchstones to the current era of stoner-metal, both are without a doubt worth a listen, ranking with early-70's slammers like Hard Stuff, Pink Fairies, Edgar Broughton Band and the like.

They evidently enjoyed little commercial success, non-sarcastically saying I think they were a bit ahead of their time. Both discs worth a listen, my investigation turns up that these are pretty much the only recordings they ever offered up.

MAY BLITZ-01 Smoking the Day Away/02 I Don't Know/03 Dreaming/04 Squeet/05 Tomorrow May Come/06 Fire Queen/07 Virgin Waters

2ND OF MAY-01 For Mad Men Only/02 Snakes and Ladders/03 25th of December 1969/04 In Part/05 8 Mad Grim Nits/06 High Beech/07 Honey Coloured Time/08 Just Thinking

With but two links to upload I just may get them up there tonight, the way Mediafire has been operating don't hold your breath......something a little more in-depth and interesting tomorrow maybe. Or maybe not. Just have to check and find out I guess.

Memorial Day

Before we get to the music, lets talk about Memorial Day.....of course it is set aside to honor those AMericans who fought for our country and have fallen. Both of my Granfathers, as well as my Father in Law, fought gloriously for the freedoms that we enjoy in the USA, none of these men died in battler, but to those who did, thank you, and you will never be forgotten

Memorial Day, for me, though, involves "Memorializing" EVERYONE who is no longer with us.....we all lose people from our lives, and the older we get, it seems that more and more of us end our journey and get onto the next part, whatever that may be. I hope that wherever you all are, you can read this and KNOW that BigScott62 is thinking about you, missing you, and at the same time glad for you that you have gone on to a better place.

This is personal, you folks around the world who read my blog are not going to care anything about this, but for me it is theraputic......I want to remember my Dad, Mike Miller, who passed away 3/30/90, and my Mom, Bobbi Dunlap, who left us on 11/14/10....my parents-in law, who were just like a second set of parents to me, are gone too, my father in law in 1990 and my mother in law Marjorie Finney just two short weeks ago. You are missed. Over the years, different friends and acquaintances who affected my life in some way or another have gone on, and at this time I want to remember Rick Meyer, Terry Copeland, Dave Ogden, Jerry Scott, Tim Turner, Jimmy Smith, Joe Decker, John Decker, Cory Atkins, Burly Sigman, Larry SOuthward, Barb Elliston, William Tate, Kim Earles, Donnie Greene, David Thomas, arlen Anderson, Dwight Glover, Melton Gilreath, Pam White, Donnie White, Bob mcWilliams, Dave Edwards, Mark Mack, Brian Leeth, Elsworth Brown, Lynn Brown, Dan Willman, Kevin Arthur, Dave Paaske, Tim Reading, Jean Wilcoxen, Teri Dotson, Denny Williams, Steve Stoltz, Bob Humphrey....I'm sure I'm forgetting many, but all of you had an effect on my life at one point or another, and to one degree or another, and I wouldn't be the person I am today had it not been for meach and every one of you. I am glad you are in a better place.

But most of all, my daughter Victoria.....after ten years of fertility problems, we finally concieved in 1995. The pregnancy was normal, all went well, until eight months...on December 9, 1995, my wife felt funny, we went to the doctor, they performed an ultrasound. There was no heartbeat, our precious little girl was stillborn. Never in my life has anything been so sad, so hurtful, so painful, so crushing......I love that little girl every bit as much as a 16 year old as I did on that day. We were only going to ahve one child, due to the fertility issues, and in 1997 our son Grant was born, so incredibly some good DID come out of the loss of Victoria. Had we not lost her, we would never have had Grant.....I'd prefer, of course to have both, but that wasn't going to happen. Victoria and Grant, I love you and your Mom both, more than anyone in the world. One day we will all be reunited, and Victoria it will be up to you and your grandmas to show us around. It will be a happy day. Until then, remember that you are not forgotten, not even for a second.

Some music, today, from some folks who are no longer with us.....with rock n roll people, obviously it isn't hard to find a ton of them who have passed on, I have selected these few....I thank you for what you did while you were alive and for making my life a tiny bit better. You, neither, are forgotten.

Some "Live" albums from some people I wish were still alive......favorite performers of mine from different eras of my life, for whom I wish things would have gone differently and wish they were still performing live shows.....the world is a lesser place without all of them.

Not too difficult, then to come up with 4 or 5 rock stars who have gone on to a better life.....favorites of mine would include the obvious, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.....so why not? My favorite Hendrix release ever was actually always the posthumous "Jimi Hendrix Concerts", culled from a variety of shows he performed in his short life....I would have loved to have seen him perform, obviously, but this double LP (1 CD) is a fine substitute.

When  Kurt Cobain passed away in 1994 (Good Lord is that close to TWENTY years ago? Not possible), I was going through some things, depression and the like.....obviously my problems were not of a variety as serious as Mr. Cobain's......he and Nirvana made some incredible music, some unbelievably good music for my money, and I have an absolutely gigantic stash of Nirvana material, with damn near every live show they ever performed....pretty much at random I select "Play the Fucking Guitar Man" from Vienna, 11/22/89, two full years before the band "broke", but teh genius and greatness of what was to come was evident (to be accurate, the second half of this disc is culled from recordings from Sacramento California, 2/12/90.

In my 20's or so, maybe my favorite band of them all was the Clash.....so similar to both Hendrix and Nirvana in that they, in thier relatively short "life span" put out a limited amount of material, and yet, today, a mountain of their work exists. I'd guess that along with Nirvana, Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones, I probably have more Clash material than of anyone else. Joe Strummer carried on after the Clash broke up, but lets get real....to no avail. Strummer passed away at about teh age of 50, he left some incredibly powerful stuff (along with the rest of the Clash of course), I select to represent him a show from Berkely CA, 2/7/79, which allegedly was the Clash's first US performance.....the Clash were at the peak of their power, about the time of "Give Em ENough Rope".

Rory Gallagher I also loved, although he wasn't a legend on the level of the other three. I did love his music though, and it sounds to me as if he was an excellent and exciting live performer although I never had the pleasure of seeing him live. A collection of live tunes taken from London's Paris Theater, during the 1971-72 phase of Gallagher's career, includes energetic versions of a lot of his olders tuff, including one of my favorite tracks from anyone, "Landromat".....

Anyway, I am not even beginning to insinuate that "dead rock stars" equate with "dead military warriors", all I am saying is that on this day of Memorial, I remember these guys as well. They made my life a bit more enjoyable, those who fought for freedom made life better, and the friends/associates listed above helped mold and shape the person I am today for better or worse.

Please remember ANYONE who has gone on on this day.....it's your choice to do so. Decorate a memorial site, say a prayer, but mostly, just REMEMBER because that is what a day of memorial should be for. I dedicate today's blog to the memory of my daughter Victoria Amanda Miller......and to anyone else who is gone, and YOU happen to miss.

THE JIMI HENDRIX CONCERTS-01 Fire/02 I Don't Live Today/03 Red House/04 Stone Free/05 Are You Experienced?/06 Little Wing/07 Voodoo Chile (SLight Retrun)/08 Bleeding Heart/09 Hey Joe/10 Wild THing/11 Hear My Train A-Comin'

NIRVANA-PLAY THE FUCKIN' GUITAR, MAN-01 Hairspray Queen/02 Love Buzz/03 Floyd the Barber/04 Dive/05 About a Girl/06 Spank Thru/07 Big Cheese/08 Sappy/09 Breed/10 Been a Son/11 Negative Creep/12 Blew/13 Vendetagainst (Fuck Up)/14 School/15 About a Girl/16 Polly/17 Mollys Lips/18 Sappy/19 Stain

THE CLASH-(1st US SHOW) BERKELY CA 2/7/79-01 Complete COntrol/02 I Fought the Law/03 Jail Guitar Doors/04 Drug Stabbing Time/05 City of the Dead/06 Safe European Home/07 White man In Hammersmith Palais/08 Tommy GUn/09 Clash City ROckers/10 English Civil War

RORY GALLAGHER PARIS THEATER LONDON 1971/72-01 Hands Up/02 For the Last Time/03 In Your Town/04 Just the Smile/05 Laundromat/06 It Takes Time/07 John Peel Introduction/08 Used TO Be/09 I Should've Learned My Lesson/10 Out of Mind/11 Could've Had Religion/12 Crest of a Wave/13 Messin' With the Kid

Mediafire is EXTREMLY slow uploading today, I won't start these until the Bowie links are all uploaded (9 more of THOSE to go yet)........chances are these may not be up until morning, sorry, blame Mediafire.

Some Random Bowie Rarities

Well, I had said I was going to do a massive rarities post for today....and this is about as massive as I can handle at a time. A true artist, with a long career and a TON of recorded material, both mainstream and obscure, to do a "Random Rarities" post on David Bowie has to be taken as JUST that...RANDOM, because (I counted) my shelves carry over 150 Bowie discs, so many of which are not the mainstream releases, and it was so very hard to narrow it down to the ones I've selected here....it pretty much WAS a random selection. There is some phenominal music here, I'd say about 90% of what I have chosen is from the Ziggy/Aladdin Sane/Diamond Dogs era, which happens to be my favorite, but I could have just as easilly done a good post where 90% of the material was from the Low/Heroes/Station to Station era, just as rare and just as intersting. There are a LOT of things left out from this post that I would like to share, A LOT, and never before have I been so certain that a "Random Rarities Part 2" would be more appropriate. Chances are good I WILL do a "part 2", if there is anything I've omitted from this one, please ask.....I want to show Bowie the respect he deserves and try to offer up a comprehensive collection of his music that is of the rare variety.

So, lets begin with a set entitled "Absolutely Rare", which is a fine collection of tracks from 1972-75.....check some recordings from his stellar appearance on NBC's Midnight Special, duets with Lulu and Marianne Faithful.....I'm not going to go into a LOT of detail about these discs, you either 1) want them all, 2) have them all, or 3) are not interested in vintage Bowie......it'd be hard for me to understand position #3, but we all have our own likes/dislikes.

From 1976 comes a set from Bowie's first "transition", "Resurrection on 84th Street"....heavy on material from "Station to Station" (including a stellar version of the title track, but also an extended version of "Panic In Detroit", and a crackling "Rebel Rebel".

I have not included here the three disc "Bowie at the BEEB (BBC)", it is very good, a must for fans, but it is fairly easy to find and I have to leave out some good material....what is a bit more obscure are some leftovers from that set, ("Bowie on the Beeb #2, the Unreleased Versions), which is fairly difficult to locate and includes a good version of "Andy Warhol" as well as a take on the Velvet Underground's "Waiting For the Man". Also included is a 1969 interview, this is a good and interesting set.

Another unoffical "BBC" collection is the sprawling "Rise and Rise of Ziggy Stardust", FOUR discs of material culled from various BBC appearances from 1967 through 1972, A lot of Ziggy-era material....a version of "Width of a Circle" on disc 2, Some guests vocals from Geoffery Alexander, George Underwood, and Dana Gillespie (on a good "Andy Warhol")....there's a bit of material repeated throughout the set, (TWO versions of the Velvet's "White Light/White Heat"), but for the most part this is a worthwhile set, the "Top Gear" set on Disc 4 is smoking ("White Light/Moonage Daydeam/Hang Onto Yourself/Suffragette City/Ziggy")

We have a set entitled "Outtakes and Rare Singles", which is kind of a hodgepodge of stuff from 1969-73, outtakes of "Rebel Rebel" and "Space Oddity",as well as several lesser-known singles (a couple of which I don't THINK I have on any other comps) make this worthwhile.

Bowie, while a great live performer, relied a lot on visuals in his live shows, which to a degree makes the concert recordings not as excellent as some others might be, here we have a set from Boston, 1974, Bowie runs through a pretty generic set of his (up to then) better known material, the climactic "Suffragette City" and a version of the (rarely performed live, I think) "John I'm Only Dancing" stand out as highlights.

The "Ziggy Stardust Motion Picture Soundtrack" includes live material recorded in 1973, but not released (officially) until 1983....notable, of course, as the "Farewell" performance, prior to the finale "Rock N Roll Suicide", Bowie proclaims "This is not only the last show of the tour, it's the last show we'll ever do....thank you"......I'm assuming he had a change of heart as he has recorded a mountian of stuff since then, supposedly, it was farewell for the "Spiders", anyway, good performance all the way through, hard rocking versions of "Watch That Man" and "Cracked Actor" stand out among others. This is a good set besides being of significance for the "farewell" aspect of it.

From 1976 comes a good double CD set "PNE Live Rehearsals, Vancouver 2/276" includes a good bit of "Station to Station" material, and most of the rest of his better known stuff....I wish I could include EVERYTHING here, this is not even a partial cross-section, I hope you find something of use for yourself, and something you've not had the chance to hear before....

A set that seemed so interesting and disappoints is "1973 Lost Sessions with Mott the Hoople and Lou Reed".....nothing spectacular here, there is a version of Mott performing "All the Young Dudes" with Bowie on vocals and Reed on guitar, rarites I promised, rarities we have.

Now, one more set, perhaps it will alienate some of the other elders in the crowd, such is life.....from 10/1/95, St. Louis, is the legendary "Live Hate" double set joint venture of Bowie with Nine Inch Nails....good stuff by both individually and some good collaborative work too, seemed like a match made in heaven, every bit as much as Bowie/Mott, Bowie/Iggy, or Bowie/Reed seemed twenty years before.

OK, that's about it for now....I hope you enjoy this, I wish I could double it's length. There is SO much more good stuff out there, if you are a serious Bowie fan. I suggest you visit this site, http://worldofbowiebootlegs.blogspot.com/, this guy has more Bowie material than I do, and if you are a true fan/completist check it out, LOTS of quality stuff here.

So enjoy, I promised "rarites", not "best ever", and I hope I delivered. Be back Monday with something for Memorial Day, until then enjoy yourselves, and be good to each other.

ABSOLUTELY RARE-01 My Death/02 Sorrow/03 Time/04 Everything's Alright/05 Space Oddity/06 I Can't Explain/07 Jean Genie/08 1984/Dodo/09 I Got You Babe/10 Rebel Rebel/11 Dodo/12 Can You Hear Me?/13 Right/14 Somebody Up There Likes Me/15 Golden Years

RESURRECTION ON 84TH STREET-01 Station to Station/02 Suffragette City/03 Fame/04 Stay/05 Panic in Detroit/06 Changes/07 TVC15/08 Diamond Dogs/09 Word on a Wing/10 Rebel Rebel/ Jean Genie

BOWIE ON THE BEEB #2 THE UNRELEASED VERSIONS-01 Hang Onto Yourself/02 Ziggy Stardust/03 Space Oddity/04 Andy Warhol/05 Waiting For The Man/06 Interview/07 Let Me Sleep Beside You (Edit)

THE RISE AND RISE OF ZIGGY STARDUST (DISC 1)-01 Love you Til Tuesday/02 When I Live My Dream/03 Little Bombadier/04 Silly Boy Blue/05 In the Heat of the Morning/06 When I'm Five/07 Amsterdam/08 God Knows I'm Good/09 Buzz the Fuzz/10 Marma Man/11 London Bye Ta-Ta/12 An Occasional Dream/13 The Width of a Circle/14 Janine/15 The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/16 Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed/17 Fill Your Heart/18 The Prettiest Star/19 Cygnet Committee

THE RISE AND RISE OF ZIGGY STARDUST (DISC 2)-01 Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dead/02 Let Me Sleep Beside You/03 Janine/04 Waiting For the man/05 Width of a Circle/06 The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/07 The Supermen/08 Queen Bitch/09 Bombers/10 The Supermen/11 Looking For a Friend/12 Almost Grown/13 Kooks/14 Song For Bob Dylan/15 Andy Warhol/16 It Ain't Easy

THE RISE AND RISE OF ZIGGY STARDUST (DISC 3)-01 The Supermen/02 Oh! You Pretty Things/Eight Line Peom/03 Kooks/04 Fill Your Heart/05 Amsterdam/06 Andy Warhol/07 Hang On to Yourself/08 Ziggy Stardust/09 Waiting For The man/10 Queen Bitch/11 Five Years/12 Ziggy Stardust/13 Queen Bitch/14 Waiting For the man/15 Lady Stardust

THE RISE AND RISE OF ZIGGY STARDUST (DISC 4)-01 White Light White Heat/02 Moonage Daydream/03 Hang Onto Yourself/04 Suffragette City/05 Ziggy Stardust/06 Starman/07 Space Oddity/08 Changes/09 Oh! You Pretty Things/10 Andy Warhol/11 Lady Stardust/12 White Light White Heat/Rock N Roll Suicide/14 John I'm Only Dancing/15 Lady Stardust/16 Star

ZIGGY STARDUST MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK-01 Hang Onto Yourself/02 Ziggy Stardust/03 Watch That Man/04 Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/05 All the Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty Things/06 Moonage Daydream/08 Space Oddity/09 My Death/10 Cracked Actor/11 Time/12 Width of a Circle/13 Chagnes/14 Let Spend the night Together/15 Suffragette City/16 White Light White Heat/17 Rock N Roll Suicide

OUTTAKES AND RARE SINGLES-01 Holy Holy/02 Rebel Rebel/03 Take My Tip/04 Sweet Thing Reprise/05 Lady Stardust/06 Littel Toy Soldier/07 Space Oddity/08 The Supermen/09 Right On Mother/10 Rupert/11 Looking For a Friend/12 Shadowman/13 Lightning Frightning/14 Cygnet Committee/15 Unwashed and Somewhat SLightly Dazed/16 The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud/17 The Width of a Circle/18 Fill Your Heart

BOSTON 11/15/74-01 Intro/Memories of a Free Festival/02 Rebel Rebel/03 John I'm Only Dancing/04 Sorrow/05 Changes/06 Young americans/07 1984/08 Foot Stompin/09 Rock and ROll me/10 Love Me Do/Jean Genie/11 Moonage Daydream/12 Can You hear Me/13 Somebody up There Likes Me/14 Suffragette City/15 Rock N Roll Suicide/16 Diamond Dogs

PNE LIVE REHEARSALS VANCOUVER 2/276 DISC 1-01 Station to Station/02 Suffragette City/03 Waiting for the man/04 Word on a Wing/05 Stay/06 TVC15

PNE LIVE REHEARSALS VANCOUVER 2/276 DISC 2-01 Siser Midnight/02 Life on Mars?/03 Five Years/04 Panic In Detroit/05 Fame/06 Changes/07 Jean Genie/08 Queen Bitch/09 Rebel Rebel

1973 LOST SESSIONS WITH MOTT THE HOOPLE AND LOU REED-01 All The Young Dudes/02 It's Alright/03 Henry the H-Bomb/04 Sweet Jane/05 Shakin All Over/06 Please Don't Touch/07 So Sad

BOWIE/NIN LIVE HATE ST LOUIS 10/1/95 DISC 1-01 Terrible Lie/02 March of the Pigs/03 The Becoming/04 Sanctified/05 Piggy/06 Burn/07 Closer/08 Wish/09 Gave Up/10 Down In It/Warm Place/Subteraneans/11 Scary Monsters and Super Creeps/12 Reptile/Hello Spaceboy

BOWIE/NIN LIVE HATE ST LOUIS 10/1/95 DISC 2-01 Hurt/02 Look Back In Anger/03 I'm Deranged/04 The Heart's Filty Lesson/05 The Voyeur of Utter Destruciton/06 I Have Not Been To Oxord Town/07 Outside/08 Andy Warhol/09 Breaking Glass/10 The Man Who Sold the World/11 We Prick You/12 Joe the Lion/13 A Small Plot of Land/14 Night Flights/15 Under Pressure

Lotsa stuff there, start uploading shortly and hopefully the links are up by this evening....as I said I have SO MUCH Bowie material that I could hardly make this comprehensive, leave a comment on what I did/did not include, and should I do a "part 2"? (Thinking about Smashing Pumpkins and some others needing a part 2 for their rarities)....tell me what you want. This is YOUR blog, it's fun for me, but I want to share with you the music that I have that YOU want.

Rock on, BigScott62

The Best Quill post ever

Certainly in contention, along with Queens of the Stone Age and Question mark and the Mysterians as history's top band to begin their moniker with the letter "Q", The Quill are another of those second-division stoner rock bands of the 1990's-2000's of which I have such a fondness. From Sweden, they've cranked out six decent CD's since 1995, their sound falling somewhere along the lines of a poor-man's Monster Magnet or Spiritual Beggars, or something.


Their debut was released in 1995 and for some reason re-released some five years later, evidently there must have been some reason for sudden interest in the band.  None of these albums really stands out, if you like the sound, you'll like the whole collection ("Jet of Water" from the debut is something of a standout).

It would be four years between the debut and the follow up ("Silver Haze"), a similar batch of medium-length stoner/grunge/metal offerings (the vocalist reminds me, at least, to a degree, of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and overall Soundgarden might be another decent comparison).
These guys, for whatever reason, seem to take their time between album releases, which I have no problem with (it would be my preference, in fact, to wait 2-3 years for someone's next release over an inferior, filler-filled release 6 months after the fact). It would be 2002 before the release of album #3, "Voodoo Caravan", again, similar sound, similar results.....titles like "Until Earth is Bitter Gone" and "Travel Without Moving". Next in line would be 2003's somewhat oddly titled "Hooray! It's a Deathtrip", again, nothing too innovative or earth shaking here, this is still good, early 2000's grunge/metal/stoner with I guess Soundgarden after all being the to comparison.....a couple years later (2006) came "In Triumph", the fifth album of which I THINK (don't care enough to be certain) that the original lineup played together, something of a moderate rarity in stoner circles, where the bands often change members at a similar rate to tournament softball teams).I point this out because after "Silver Haze" I guess a couple of them decided to hang it up, replaced by another couple of soundalikes, and released in 2011 "Full Circle", which is a decent album and sounds remarkably like the other five.

There is nothng wrong with a career as a band like this. There is no rule that any musicicans HAVE TO grow and change, make major statements, create impressive works of art. Sometimes, it's perfectly fine to find one's niche, release a series of albums that may be similar yet satisfy the band and their probably small but loyal core of fans...this in interesting contrast, somewhat, to the "genre-hopping" that I have discussed a couple times recently (Husker Du or Corrosion of Conformity, and nothing at all wrong with the way THEY did it , either).......


Hey, I like this stuff.....it's loud, it rocks, and I am a fan of hard-rocking, loud, sloppy rock n roll......The Quill will NOT change your life, I've certailny never met anyone who would refer to them as their "favorite" band, but they have six solid albums to their name, without releasing a real clunker for me to make fun of.....check them out if, like me, you are a fan of somewhat obscure stoner/grunge/metal rock n roll that delivers the goods and sounds ood cranked at full volume.....if you are NOT a fan of such music, whatever are you doing reading my blo anyway?

THE QUILL-01 Jet of Water/02 Dry/03 Lodestar/04 Homespun/05From Where I Am/06 The Flood/07 In My Shed/08 Glea/09 Not a Single Soul/10 In the Sunlight I Drown/11 I Lost a World Today/12 Sweetly

SILVER HAZE-01 Evermore/02 Grand Canyon/03 Freedom Mountain/04Under a Vow/05 Stirring Times Ahead/06 Mercury/07 Into the Volcano (I Fly)/08 Universal Treehouse/09 Who's Crying/10 Aeroplane/11 Rockets Collide

VOODOO CARAVAN-01 Voodoo Caravan/02 Sell No Soul/03 Shapes of Afterlife/04 Until Earth is Bitter Gone/05 The Mighty River/06 Save Me/07 Hale In My Head/08 Overlord/09 Travel Without Moving/10 Brifting/11 Virgo

HOORAY! IT'S A DEATHTRIP!-01 Spinning Around/02 Nothing Ever Changes/03 Come What May/04 Too Close to the Sun/05 Hand Full Of Flies/06 American Powder/07 Hammerhead/08 Giver/09 Man Posed/10 Because I'm God/11 Control

IN TRIUMPH-01 Keep the Circle Whole/02 Yeah/03 Slave/Master/04 Broken Man/05 Man in Mind/06 Merciless Room/07 Trespass/08 Black/09 No light In the Dark Sea/10 Triumph is a Sea of Flames/11 In the Shadows/12 Down

FULL CIRCLE-01 Sleeping With Your Enemy/02 Full Circle/03 Black Star/04 Medecine/05 Bring It On/06 River of Moonchild/07 24/7 Groove/08 White Flag/09 Pace That Kills/10 No Easy Way Out/11 Running/12 More Alive/13 Waiting For the Sun

The links will be up in a little while (hopefully), in the comment section.......it took me a while to select "The Quill" today, I just couldn't arrive at anything that seemed to get the juices flowing so I just selected randomly.....anyone have a band, new or old, that they might like to see profiled? When I started this I wanted it to be a good mixture of old and new, the stuff I listen to today as well as the stuff I listened to when I was 12, I think maybe I've leaned a bit too much to the stoner sounds of the last 10-15 years? Or maybe not......I just want variety. I'll likely do a large "Rarities" post tomorrow or Monday, not sure on whom yet.......when I started this, I figured I'd do it 2 times a week, 3 at most.....I have not missed a day in May, and that is with the death and funeral of my Mother In Law, and a minor surgery for some skin cancer......it's fun for me, and I'll nver run out of material. But I'd like to hear what it is YOU want to hear......I enjoy doing the "Rarities" posts much more than the "Best Ever" posts, but the "Best Ever" posts are MUCH less work........there are a few of my favorite bands, Roxy Music, Sleater Kinney, Television, The Clash whom I haven't touched yet, simply because of the mountains of material I'd have to comb through, but if someone wanted, say, to hear a "Random Clash Rarities" post, I'd probably do a couple of them, I have that much stuff. Until tomorrow, enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, hotter than hell here in Ohio USA, nasty hot where it's "too hot" to do much of anything.....remember those who have falled in service, if you are NOT in USA, the holiday can be used as a "Memorial" for ANYONE who is no longer with, it's not RESTRICTED to servicemen/warriors. I'll likely use this blog on Monday to memorialze some people who are no longer with me, JUST BECAUSE.....life is a bitch sometimes, a lot of people who were close to me and touched my life in various ways have departed this life thus far this year....it's a part of life but it sure as hell make us evaluate our own mortality........"shorter of breathe, and one day closer to death", as Pink Floyd said......anyway, have a good weekend.

The Only (?) Drain Sth post, ever

Gonna keep this short, got a Strat-O-Matic baseball championship to conted for this evening, and after yesterday's mammoth Corrosion of Conformity onslaught, I deserve a break....with that I give you Drain STH. How I wish these albums were REALLY good instead of the true mediocrities that they are, and a glance at the "Freaks of Nature" album cover should give you some insight as to why.....you got it, more tounge-bathe material for yours truly.....AND  a damn good idea, too. 1990's grunge-metal (musically they were VERY similar to Alice in Chains) played by smoking hot babes instead of true, uhh, "grungy" chicks (say L7 or Courtney Love) was an ingenious idea.....shoulda been, coulda been.....
Problem is these albums just aren't all that good. "Horror Wrestling" contains one excellent song ("Crack the Liar's Smile"), and lots of AIC-like dirges (they claimed their name, "Drain" referred to the music having a "draining" effect on one, and it truly does. The "STH" portion of the name refers to Stockholm, their home), and "Freaks of Nature" contains a decent one or two ("Simon Says" is decent) and MORE AIC-like dirges.....just not much really. The songs, and the music, just aren't all that good, and of course you know I would personally cut them all the slack in the world, especially (but not limited to) that one on the far left.

Anyway, I don't think a whole lot of people are familar with them, check them out if you,  are a "sucker" (heh) for hot chicks doing, well, pertty much anything (like, you know, myself), and if you are a fan of Alice in Chains you may well wish to hear them because they REALLY do wear that influence.
Something better for tomorrow, and no offense ladies, any of the four of you are free to wad those tight-fitting dresses up on my bedroom floor anytime you desire.


HORROR WRESTLING-01 I Don't Mind/02Smile/03 Serve the Shame/04 Mirror's Eyes/05 Domeone/06 Crucified/07 Stench/08 Crack the Liar's Smile/09 Klotera/10 Mind Over Body/11 Unforgiving Hours/12 Unreal/13 (So I Will Burn) Alone/14 Serve the Shame (acoustic)/15 Ace of Spades

FREAKS OF NATURE-01 Enter My mind/02 Alive/03 Simon Says/04 I Wish.../05 Black/06 Crave/07 THe Bubble Song/08 Right THrough You/09 Leech/10 GEt Inside/11 I Will Follow

The best Corrosion of Conformity post, ever

Another massive post, I hope you guys appreciate the work involved. Unless you count the Fresco and the Darlings, these guys would have to be the best band to come out of North Carolina. They have a lengthy history, and an interesting evolution/metaorphasis. I've enjoyed their work for (amazing to think about this) 30 (!) years now, and they have rarely failed to deliver the goods, no matter their intention at a given moment. They formed in 1982 (singer/bassist Mike Dean, guitarist Woody Weatherman, and drummer Reed Mullin), and cranked out the decent but not spectacular "Eye For an Eye", 20 short tracks of hard core punk, similar to some of the California bands of the same era (his album has someone called Eric Eyck on vocals. The next 2 releases, "Animosity"and "Technocracy"are not exactly of the hardcore style of the debut, more what we might call "thrash metal" at the time, with less hectic vocals and, looking forward, giving a preview of what was to come down the road. As the band headed to more of a metal direction and away from the thrash/hardcore sounds, Dean left the band and was replaced on vocals by Karl Agell.....Phil Swisher joined as the new bassist, and second guitarist Pepper Keenan was also brought on to heavy up the sound....."Blind", released in 1991, shows a band remade, growing further away from their dated punk sounds and cranking up some good metal (and in the early 1990's, good metal was anything BUT dated, "Blind" is a fine album with the cool track "Vote with a Bullet".

After "Blind", Swisher and Agell left and were replaced by the returning Dean as bassist, with Keenan taking over lead vocals. They perfected their sludgy, southern, stoner groove on the next two releases, "Deliverance" and "Wiseblood", both excellent releases. With little commercial success, however, they were dropped by their label and relocated with Sancuary Records to release "America's Volume Dealer".....they were a band who missed with their timing, ten years later or 20 years earlier their heavy stoner metal would have been marketplace gold, "America's Volume Dealer" is yet another solid album of solid southern metal, but it bombed out as well.

Mullin then left the band to be replaced by a rotating conglomeration of drummers, in 2005 they released argueably their best disc "In the Arms of God"...still, with little commercial success to show for their years of labor, the band seemed to call it a day, as Pepper worked with members of Pantera and Crowbar on the Down albums (see The Best Down Post Ever).  But, you never know, in February of this year, seven years since the release of "In the Arms of God", Mullin, Dean, and Weatherman released "Corrosion of Conformity" (I guess they were stuck for albu titles).....I've listened to it but once, it's not the greatest nor is it awful, certainly they missed their moment but you have to give them props.....they followed the trends and were generally up to date with things, unlike some bands who remake the same album over and over for twenty years.

On stage, they appear to be the real deal, at least from listening to the live albums I have here. The commercially released "Live Volume" is quite good, as the companion DVD (Netflix has it)....it is interesting to listen to their live shows for their various eras and incarnations. We have an old show from the hardcore punk era, when they were cranking out two minute shouters, from Hamtrack MI in 1984...also from the "Eye For an Eye" era is a 1985 show from Washington DC. Contrast these with a show from 1992 when they were near their hard rocking metallic best (Richmond VA), and unbeleivably, a show from Manchester UKfrom 4/28/2011.....what other band would be a paralell, I can't think of one.....from what other band could I post a show from 1985 and another from 2011, and the shows keep up, somewhat, with the trends of the day on each end of the spectrum? Not too many....I could post a Rolling Stones show from 1985 and another from 2005 and there would be no way to tell the difference, I don't think....Corrosion of Conformity sounds like a diffrent band, aiming for a different goal.....

They seemed to miss their timing horribly. They just never seemed to be doing the right thing at the right time....they COULD, though, rock the house from beginning to end, and at the end of the day, what's wrong with that......a damn underappreciated good metal band, certainly considering they have had a 30 year run.

EYE FOR AN EYE-01Tell me/02 Minds Are Controlled/03 Indifferent/04 Broken Will/05Rabid Dogs/06 LS/07 Rednekkk/08 Coexist/09 Excluded/10 Dark Thoughts/11 Poison Planet/12 What/13 Negative Outlook/14 Positive Outlook/15 No Drunk/16 College Town/17 Not Safe/18 Eye For an Eye/19 Nothing's Gonna Change/20 Eye For An Eye/21 Center of The World/22 Citizen/23 Not FOr Me/24 What/25 Negative Outlook

ANIMOSITY-01 Loss For Word/02 Mad World/03Consumed/04 Holier/05 Positive Outlook/06 Prayer/07 Intervention/08 Kiss of Death/09 Hungry Child/10 Animosity

TECHNOCRACY-01 Technocracy/02 Hungry Child/03 Happily Ever After/04 Crawling/05 Ahh Blugh (Milking the Sick Farec)/06 Intervention (deo)/07 Technocracy (demo)/08 Crawling (demo)/09 Happily Ever After (demo)

BLIND-01 These Shrouded Temples/02 Damned For All Time/03 Dance of the Dead/04 Buried/05 Break the Circle/06 Painted Smiling Face/07 Mine are the Eyes of God/08 Shallow Ground/09 Vote With a Bullet/10 Great Purification/11 White Noise/12 Echoes in the Well/13 Remain/14 Condition A, Condition B/15 Future Now/16 Jim Beam and the Coon Ass

DELIVERANCE-01 Heaven's Not Overflowing/02 Albatross/03 Clean My WOunds/04 Without Wings/05 Broken Man/06 Senor Limpio/07 Mano de Mano/08 Seven Days/09 2121313/10 My Grain/11 Deliverance/12 Shake Like You/13 Shelter/14 Pearls Before Swine

AMERICAS VOLUME DEALER-01 Over Me/02 Congratulations Song/03Stare Too Long/04 Diablo Blvd/05 Doublewide/06 Zippo/07 Who's Got the Fire/08 Sleeping Martyr/09 Take What You Want/10 13 Angels/14 Gittin It On

WISEBLOOD-01 King of the Rotten/02 Long Whip/Big America/03 Wiseblood/04 Goodbye WIndows/05 Born Agin For the Last Time/06 Drowning in a Daydream/07 The Snake Has No Head/08 TheDoor/09 Man or Ash/10 Redemption City/11 Wishbone (Some TOmorrow)/12 Fuel/13 Bottom Feeder (El Que Come Abajo)

IN THE ARMS OF GOD-01 Stone Breakers/02 Paranoid Opiod/03 It Is That Way/04 Dirty hands Empty Pockets/Already Gone/05 Rise River Rise/06 Never Turns To more/0 Infinite War/08 So Much left Behid/09 Backslider/10 World On Fire/11 Crown of THorns/12 In the Arms of God

YOUR TOMORRW (EP)-01 Your Tomorrow (Part 1)/02 Your Tomorrow (Part 2)

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY-01 Psychic Vampire/02 River Of Stone/03 Leeches/04 El Lamente De Las Cabras/05 Your Tomorrow/06 The Doom/07 The Moneychangers/08 Weaving Spiders Come Not Here/09 What You Despise/10 Rat City/11 Time of Trials/12 Canyon man/13 The Same Way

LIVE VOLUME-01 7 Days/02 Albatross/03 Clean my WOunds/04 Congratualtions Song/05 Diablo Blvd/06King of the Rotten/07 Long Whip/Big America/08 My Grain/09 Senor Limpio/10 Shelter/11 These Shrouded Temples/12 Vote With a Bullet/13 She's Got the Fire/14 Wiseblood/15 Zippo

HAMTRACK, MI 8/7/84-01 Intro/01 Animosity/03 Indifferent/04 Tell me/05 Prayer/06 Negative Outlook/07 Positive Outlook/08 LS/09 Hungry Child/10 College Town/11 Dark Thoughts/12 Broken Will/13 Eye For an Eye/14 Kiss of Death/15 Intervention/16 Minds are Controlled/17 Poison Planet/18 Green manalishi/19 2nd Set Intro/20 Suzy Is a Headbanger/21 Not Safe/22 Poison Planet/23 Minds Are Controlled/24 Green Manalishi/25 Prayer/26 Negative Outlook27 Positive Outlook/28 Rednekkk/29 Indifferent/30 Too Cool/31 An Eye For  An Eye

WASHINGTON DC 1/5/85-01 Eye For An Eye (cuts in)/02 Kiss (Of Death)/03 Prayer (cuts in)/04 Positive Outlook/05 Intervention/06 Animosity/07 Indifferent/08 Mad World/09 What?/10 Tell Me/11Holier12 The Green Manalshi

RICHMOND VA 2/7/92-01   Intro/02   Dance Of The Dead/03   Mad, Mad World/04   Painted Smiling Face/05   Damned For All Time/06   Prayer/07   Mine Are The Eyes Of God/08   Buried/09   Future/Now/10  Vote With A Bullet/11  Echoes In The Well/12  White Noise/13  Hungry Child
/14  Break The Circle/15  Eye For An Eye encore:16  I'd Rather See The Minor Resistance Beg/Rise Above/17 A National Acrobat

MANCHESTER UK 4/28/11-01 Intro/02 Animosity/03 Loss For Words/04 mad World/05 Consumed/06 Your TOmorrow/07 The Doom/08 Vote With a Bullet/09 The Money Changers/10 Holier/11 Positive Outlook/12 Rat City/13 Band Introductions/14 Prayer/15 Intervention/16 Psychic Vampire/17 Hungry Child/18 Technocracy

THAT, my friends, is a LOT of material.....the chaces of me getting it all uploaded tonight are ZIPPO, I doubt they'll even all be up by morning.....I'll put up the ones I can in the morning and the rest of them after work tomorrow evening. As per usual, they will be in the comment section, where you are free to, and encouraged to, leave your thoughts about these albums, bands, your dislike of my writing style, whatever you wanna talk about......don't know what tomorrow will bring but I guarentee it's gonna be an "easy" 1 (2-3 discs at most)!

The best Wo Fat post, ever

Allow me to make this short and to the point.....this band is some hard core, kick ass stoner rock.....these three albums from these Texas bangers are what I might call "classics of the future" in the genre. Seems to me that they are not as well known as maybe they ought to be, because these albums simply blow me away, all three of them. Take some of the "hard psych" of the early 70's (Captain Beyond maybe?) and update and actually heavy up the sound to something maybe akin to Kyuss or Sleep? About as heavy as it gets, I know I am going overboard with praise for these guys but if you love heavy rock and have not heard these you are doing yourself a disservice.

The Gathering Dark (their debut? as best as I can tell the internet is not exactly awash in information on these guys) dates to 2006, a bit more "song" oriented than what was to come (think maybe Monster Magnet or Fu Manchu).....12 tracks and they are all great, and props for naming one of them "They're Coming For You Barbara" which you of course recognize as a line from "Night of the Living Dead".

They heavy things up with longer tracks and less structure on their second album "Psychodelonaut", hard to choose but it is my favorite of the three. Bookended by two long (12-13 minute) epics, the opening title track and the album closer "The Sphere Beyond" would make this a great album if everything in between were filler, but that is FAR from the case, check out "Analog Man" and "Enter the Riffian". Fantastic album.

Their most recent release (2011) is a great heavy slab also, long tunes (only five, the shortest almost seven minutes long) these guys, while wearing their influences on their sleeves, have become their "own" band with their "own" sound.....the 15 minute title track features some of the most spaced out soloing ever committed to disc, but I'll be honest, I don't think these guys have ever put out a track I found to be totally worthless, and for me that is quite a rarity.

I have nothing else.....can find no live recordings, no demos, no nothing, but these three killer CD's. If any of you, maybe closer to their Texas home or elsewhere, have any boots or ANYTHING else by these guys I would LOVE to hear it, please contact me.

Obviously I think quite highly of this band, please if you are unfamilair let me know whether or not you agree with me......I know many people whom had never heard of them until I introduced them, I know the "stoner rock" genre that I love so much is not exactly the stuff we hear on American Idol or whatever, but I'd expect these dudes to be at least as well known as, say, Orange Goblin or Fu Manchu, ie, giants of an underappreciated genre, but giants nonetheless

THE GATHERING DARK-01 The Wolf/02 Manchurian Syndrome/03 Company man/04 The Gathering Dark/05 Day Of Judgement/06 From beyond/07 Holy War/08 El Brujo/09 Risin' River/10 Dreams of Milk and Honey/11 They're Coming For You Barbara/12 Runnin' the Voodoo Down

PSYCHODELONAUT-01 Psychodelonaut/02 Enter the Riffian/03 Analog Man/04 El Culto De La Avanacia/05 Two the Hard Way/06 Slow Blade/07 Shake Em On Down/08 Not of this Earth/09 The Sphere Beyond

NOCHE DEL CHUPACABRA-01 Bayou Juju/02 Descent Into Maelstrom/03 Common Ground/04 Phantasmagoria/05 Noche Del Chupacabra