The other day Ozzy celebrated his 70th birthday. Funny enough, while I was on my way home that day, I had my iPod on random and the Rob Zombie song “Iron Head” came on and there was Ozzy singing on it. I had totally forgotten about Ozzy guesting on that song, so of course when I got home I looked up all the songs he’s guested on over the years. So, here’s a bunch of those songs.
Rob Zombie- Iron Head (from The Sinister Urge):
Black Label Society- Stillborn (from The Blessed Hellride):
Coal Chamber- Shock The Monkey (from Chamber Music):
Slash- Crucify The Dead (from Slash):
Tony Iommi- Who’s Fooling Who (from Iommi):
Alice Cooper- Wake The Dead (from Along Came A Spider):
Ringo Starr- Vertical Man (from Vertical Man):
Busta Rhymes- This Means War (from E.L.E.- The Final World Front):
One of the albums I’m anticipating for 2019 is the debut by the band Fact Pattern. They have already released the single/video for the song “My Guard Down.” Now they have unleashed another gem called “A Form To Be” from their upcoming album. This three piece band led by singer/guitarist Ian Flux along with drummer Rannen Bozzio and bassist Jack Lowd have really done the industrial sound justice and gave it an interesting electronic twist. This new song reminds me a bit of Orgy’s Candyass album and Deadsy’s debut album. Check out the track and video, you’ll quite enjoy it!
Fact Pattern- A Form To Be:
Back in the year 2000, there was an album that was released that left a mark on heavy music at the time. We all know about the albums by Korn, Deftones, Slipknot and more. Those bands really left a lasting impression with their debuts and helped steer the course of the heavy music genre. The album and the band that I’d like to delve into is Mudvayne and the album I’m speaking about is their debut album L.D. 50.
After releasing their Kill, I Oughtta EP, Mudvyane signed to No-Name Records/Epic Records. Their debut for the label would be produced by Garth “GGGarth” Richardson (Rage Against The Machine, The Melvins). Recording took place up in Vancouver, Canada. The recording process for the album was excutively produced by Steve Richards (No-Name Records/Management) and Shawn Crahan aka Clown aka #6 of Slipknot. The sessions for L.D. 50 would prove to be very intensive. The band would be working around the clock as Garth Richardson ran a very tight ship. There were a couple songs that weren’t completed till the 11th hour like “Nothing To Gein” and “Pharmaecopia.” Stylistically, L.D. 50 was much more than just your run of the mill heavy record. Mudvayne incorporated a lot of different styles including death metal, hardcore punk, speed metal, prog rock and bits of jazz. Critics began referring to the bands as “Math Metal” due to their intricate time signatures.
L.D. 50 is one of those albums that still holds up to this day and is still praised by fans of the band and genre. For example the song “Dig” is still one of those songs when you hear it today, you can’t help but get excited. Plus the scream of vocalist Chad Gray in the beginning has become a sort of legendary scream. The video for “Dig” also won the MTV2 Awards for best video. Other songs that have always stood out to me on this record include “Internal Primates Forever,” “-1” “Death Blooms,” (which is my favorite song on the album. And when I saw them live many moons ago, this song was so damn good live), “Cradle,” Nothing to Gein,” “Severed,” “Pharmaecopia,” and “(K)now F(orever).” The album itself feels like an album. The songs are separated by interludes that pull all the songs together. These interludes also provide an extra amount of atmosphere that is needed to break up the pummeling of riffs and rhythms.
L.D. 50 was more than just a “metal” record. It was also a showcase of how talented each individual in the band is and how well they worked together. Drummer Matt McDonough and bassist Ryan Martinie are an absolute force of a rhythm section. Guitarist Greg Tribbett had a knack for writing interesting riffs to compliment the off time of Matt and Ryan. The three of them working together created something that has stood the test of time. Then when you add vocalist Chad Gray into the mix it all comes together. Chad’s lyrics and vocal delivery on this album were superb. His ability to go all out guttural with his screams and then quickly deliver genuine melodic vocals was stunning, especially on “Death Blooms.”
This album is a classic among the albums released since the turn of the century. If you ever read the comments section on any music news site that Mudvayne is mentioned in, you’ll most definitely read a slew of comments of fans of L.D. 50. It’s one of those albums that people pine for due to the rawness and aggression. Just like fans of bands like Metallica pine for the sound of their first 4 albums. It’s a shame that Mudvayne isn’t around at the moment. They were always a top notch live band. Their follow up albums seem to be hit or miss with a lot of their fans but, there are still some very excellent songs among those. I personally really dig on the follow up to L.D. 50, The End Of All Things To Come as well as their “final” album which is technically untitled. I genuinely hope that the four of them can put away any ill will and get back to making great tunes again as Mudvayne. Until then, at least we still have the music and the great debut album in L.D. 50.
I find it quite fascinating when side projects become the full time project. Sometimes the music and feelings you get from working on something outside of what you’ve been doing for many years is just what you need to rediscover your love and passion for it all. There is a band called Greek Fire that has morphed into quite the band. Formed in 2008 by Philip “Moon” Sneed, Ryan Phillips (both formerly of Story Of The Year, though Ryan is no longer part of Greek Fire), Mark Joseph Roth, and Johnny Venus, Greek Fire have built a reputation for delivering enigmatic live performances and cinematic rock with soaring melodies. Since their inception, Greek Fire have been making a name for themselves with their Lost/Found EP, the full length Deus Ex Machina as well as their new albums Orientation and upcoming release, Broken. Greek Fire reminds me a bit of Muse before their transition during The Resistance album. There’s definitely a balance to the rock element to go along with the electronic aspect.
The A to Z list finally comes and end. Z is upon us and needs help to complete the list. This has been fun to comb through the alphabet and decide who should be in the top ten for each letter. I will put them all together in a giant list of about 260 bands that make up this list.
As usual your suggestions are wanted in completing this list.
These are in no particular order as well.
01) ZZ Top
02) Zozobra
03) Zwan
04) Frank Zappa
05) Zao
06) Warren Zevon
07) Rob Zombie
08) The Zombies
09)
10)
Back in 1992, Ministry released their highly influential and successful album Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed and The Way To Suck Eggs. The album produced three singles that have become classics, “N.W.O.,” “Jesus Built My Hotrod,” and “Just One Fix.” Videos were made for each of those songs with the latter “Just One Fix,” being one of the most intriguing of the three. The video was directed by Peter Christopherson of the band Coil and it features author William S. Burroughs. A few interesting samples can be heard in the song. There is an audio clip of Burroughs saying “Bring it all down” along with a clip from the film Sid and Nancy, in which Chloe Webb (who played Nancy) says “Never Trust A Junkie.” One of the other samples “Gimme the thorazine. You don’t need the thorazine” is a slowed down excerpt from the movie The Trip which starred Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern. The video itself is disturbing yet extremely realistic which makes the song come to life even more. Something else that you might find cool is that the single artwork for “Just One Fix” was created by William S. Burroughs as well.
I went to bed last night with Motley Crue’s song “Live Wire” stuck in my head. Whenever something like that tends to happen, I feel compelled to follow it up with some sort of article for Audioeclectica. So, with that in mind, I thought what better thing to do than to rank all of Motley Crue’s albums from not their best to THE best.
This past Saturday, Every Time I Die rolled through Los Angeles and absolutely destroyed part of downtown. Riding high on their 20 Years Of Bullshit tour, Every Time I Die left their mark in Los Angeles, not just as band thats been killing it for 20 years but, as a band that has truly cemented their place among the legends of their genre. As a fan of the band for nearly 20 years, I have to say that, these gents seriously get better as time goes on. Before I get into just how good their live set was, let me begin with the other bands on the bill.
The first band up was Vein. This band has been blowing up as of late and the hype is real. Their 25 minute set all be it brief was intense and chock full of energy that you would expect to see at a show like this. Performing songs from their debut album Errorzone, Vein ripped through their set with precision, passion and unrelenting force. I’ve been curious to check this band out since I heard them earlier this year and they did not disappoint. I could see them seriously becoming a band that will steal the show from many bands in the near future. They have the ability to really become a force of nature if they keep on the path they are on. Vein have a sound rooted in hardcore but with shades of metal, industrial, and a slice of nu-metal (a la the first 2 Korn and Slipknot records). Watch out for Vein when they come through your town!
The other two bands on the bill Angel Dust and Turnstile brought with them a ton of energy and a good amount of the kids in the crowd were eating it up. My friend I was with and I both looked at each other countless times throughout both sets wondering what the hell we were watching. Maybe it’s our age showing through and we just didn’t “get it” or it was really that bad. I will say though that they riled up the crowd in a good way before Every Time I Die took the stage and showed these kids how it’s done.
Every Time I Die are legends. Lets just put that out there. For 20 years now, they truly have done things the way they wanted to and have continuously put out quality music. This evening was one for the books. Around 10:45 pm, Every Time I Die took the stage and for the next hour and twenty minutes, Los Angeles was owned by ETID. Their set was stunning. Compiling songs from all their 8 albums into an anthology set, was special. The amount of singing along all night from the crowd was something for the books. The diverse crowd of youngsters to the older ones made this night really represent 20 years of greatness. Songs like “Floater,” “Ebolarama,” “Apocalypse Now and Then,” “No Son Of Mine,” “Roman Holiday,” “Moor” “The Coin Has A Say” and “Map Change” were among the standouts of the set. The entire set as I mentioned was special, and I’m sure it wasn’t easy to just pick a couple songs from each album but, each choice perfectly represented each record and showed just how much the band has developed over the years. I will say this too, “Map Change” is one of the best songs of new millennium. Not only was it a great song to end the night on but it really is one of the best songs Every Time I Die has ever written.
I can’t say enough about how truly great Every Time I Die is. Not just as a band and songwriters but how they truly bleed and believe in what they do. They are one of “those bands” that no matter what, when they come through your town, you go see them. As I mentioned too, they are legends and rightfully so. They have ushered in a new wave of heavy music and fans. Their discography stands up among the greats, and they still have so much more in them. Their latest album, 2016’s Low Teens, has been in constant rotation from the day I bought it. I personally can’t wait to see and hear what Every Time I Die does next. Thank you Every Time I Die for 20 years of greatness.
Every Time I Die Set List:
01) Emergency Broadcast Syndrome
02) Floater
03) I Been Gone A Long Time
04) Ebolarama
05) Apocalypse Now And Then
06) Bored Stiff
07) The New Black
08) No Son Of Mine
09) We’rewolf
10) INRIhab
11) Roman Holiday
12) The Marvelous Slut
13) Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space
14) Holy Book Of Dilemma
15) Decayin’ With The Boys
16) Moor
17) Thirst
18) Glitches
19) It Remembers
20) The Coin Has A Say
21) Map Change
Back in 2004 when Slipknot released their album Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses, they were guests on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Rather than play outside on the big stage, Slipknot opted to play inside on the tiny stage instead. I was one of the lucky few that got to go to this mini concert and it was intense. Slipknot ripped through “Duality” and “The Blister Exists” this evening and the crowd ate it up. I remember the people that worked on the show being rather scared of what might happen with Slipknot playing inside and all the fans going nuts, especially when they began playing “The Blister Exists.” This was one of those TV performances that will always be memorable to me for obvious reasons but also because getting to see Slipknot on a small stage again was badass
Ever since Failure announced their return in late 2013, it’s been a wonderful welcoming sight to have them back. Their first show back was one for the books. It was one of those nights where the stars aligned and everything that was meant to be, happened. Then, they announced The Heart Is A Monster, the long awaited follow up to the highly influential and perfect album Fantastic Plant. The tour that followed that up was something special as well. Now, fast forward a bit and Failure are back yet again with a new album, In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind. This 16 song collection, follows in the footsteps of the two albums before and comes across as inspired and chock full of everything you’ve ever loved about Failure.
The release of the album began with a series of E.P.’s, slowly wetting the appetite of their fans. Each release would give you just a taste of what’s to come. Failure has never been a band that repeats itself and it shows on each album. They have honed and perfected a style that is truly theirs. This album is a perfect example of how maturity and life intersect to create true art. In a recent interview, Ken Andrews said that this album is probably the most personal album they’ve ever written and it shows. That’s not to say their previous works weren’t personal, this one really does seem to have an extra bit of pouring out of the soul. Musically this album is stunning. The styles vary from space rock, shoe gaze, and very alternative to some of the heaviest riffs and rhythms they have ever put together. Songs like “Dark Speed,” “Paralytic Flow,” “No One Left,” “Found A Way,” “Distorted Fields,” “Heavy and Blind,” “Apocalypse Blooms,” and “Force Fed Rainbows” are among the songs that really stood out to me. The entire album including the segues (what’s a Failure album without segues), is masterful. It’s an true album through and through. The sequence of the songs and how the ebb and flow goes really creates a visceral experience while listening.
Failure are the type of band that other bands want to be. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion of who Failure reminds me of and that band is The Velvet Underground. Both bands were ahead of their time, often misunderstood and they both released an album that changed the landscape of music for years and bands to come. Failure’s Fantastic Planet is the 90’s equivalent of The Velvet Underground’s debut album. These two records are beyond responsible for so many bands forming and creating. There is something else about this new Failure album that really stands out to me and that is how truly in sync Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards and Kellii Scott are. The amount of power that rips through these songs is astounding. There’s a sense of urgency about the material and the performances without losing sight of what’s best for the song. It’s remarkable that Failure can continuously put out new music that is this good. Most bands would just choose the safe thing at this point in their career but, Failure takes chances and pushes the envelope. In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind is an album not just for today but one that will be talked about for many years to come. If Fantastic Planet cemented the bands legacy, this album is definitely one that will further compliment that legacy.
Overall Rating- 9/10
Failure- In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind:
