Scorpions – Tokyo Tapes

Tokyo Tapes is the first live album by German Rock band SCORPIONS and includes songs from all SCORPIONSs albums released before 1978, which were recorded at Nakano Sun Plaza (Tokyo's Nakano Ward, Japan) on April 24 and 27, during the band's Japanese tour in 1978. These shows were guitarist Uli Jon Roth's last performances with the band, who had announced his departure after the release of the studio album "Taken by Force".

The songs "Hell-Cat", "Catch Your Train" and the Japanese national anthem ("Kimi ga yo") were also performed during these shows but were not included in the official album. On the 2001 EMI re-mastered CD, "Polar Nights" was omitted so as to fit a single CD, although it was included on the re-mastered version of "Taken by Force". The earlier two-CD release, however, is the original album in its entirety. The original release was in August 1978 in Japan only with cover artwork of an embossed platinum Scorpion on a rose as opposed to a live shot of the band when it was eventually released in Europe in late 1978. It was released in January 1979 in the U.S.A..

Uli Jon Roth commented about the recording of the album:

"Tokyo Tapes was a peak time, we have played together for all these years and it all came together at that time. Particularly on the first show, which unfortunately wasn't recorded. There were three shows in Tokyo, the first one was by far the best, but the second one was good too. Those are the ones on the album, the second and the third that were used. The first one I thought was a lot better and I was disappointed that it wasn't recorded."

In 2015, as part of SCORPIONS 50th Anniversary, Tokyo Tapes was remastered and re-released, with all omitted songs restored ("Polar Nights" and the three songs excluded) and alternate version of several songs originally found on the album. Due to time constraints, "Robot Man", the last track of the original release, was shifted to the beginning of Disc 2 which otherwise contains bonus tracks).

Tokyo Tapes is one terrific slab of rock history, just before the band hit big time in USA with it's more straightforward hard rock sound, tailored for the American market. The album do not have any weak moments and shows the band at their peak form.

It was a strange idea – cutting a live album with a guitar player who was leaving the band. But that’s what the SCORPIONS did with "Tokyo Tapes", and it provided a glorious swan song for Uli Jon Roth. But with Roth, they had a broader style and his trippy vibe to songs such as "Polar Nights" and "Dark Lady". He also played beautifully on the ballads "In Trance" and "In Search Of The Peace Of Mind". Other early SCORPIONS classic is present: "We’ll Burn The Sky", "Steamrock Fever", "Robot Man", "Pictured Life", and the politically incorrect "He’s A Woman, She’s A Man". And there is fun to be had with the two party pieces: a version of the Japanese song "Kōjō no Tsuki", and a medley of rock’n’roll standards "Hound Dog" and "Long Tall Sally" in which Klaus Meine’s accent brings a touch of unintentional comedy as he sings: “Whar garnar harv sarm farn tonart!”

Sum: Tokyo Tapes should be in every single rockers collection.

Todays tune "We'll Burn the Sky" is a great piece on Tokyo Tapes. The lyrics to "We'll Burn the Sky" were initially a poem written by Monika Dannemann, the last girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix, as a tribute to him after he died. Later, she became involved with Scorpions' guitarist Uli Jon Roth (himself an admirer of Jimi Hendrix) and they worked together on some songs. The music for We'll Burn the Sky was written by the Scorpions founder and rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenker.



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The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Winterland

Monday, new week, time to introduce "Record Of The Week", well I got some appetite for Live recordings and I can't stop my self, save your breath and let's continue the "Live Recording" for one more week (:

So this week's "Record Of The Week" is the posthumous release "Live at Winterland" ("Winterland"), a live album by English-American rock band THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE. It capturing the legendary guitarist and the original Experience at the height of their powers across three concerts at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, where they played two shows each night on October 10, 11 and 12, 1968. The album was released posthumously by Rykodisc in 1987.

"Live at Winterland" is clearly the centerpiece of the most recent wave of JIMI HENDRIX re-issues. The long out of print, single-disc 1987 edition of this record has been expanded to a eight LP (or four CD) set that is smartly sequenced so as to both replicate the highlights of every show and still make sense in a single, if extended, listening session.

JIMI HENDRIXs sonic assaults and attacks hypnotized, frightened and amazed audiences in the late '60s. That's the case on the 13 (36 in the box) songs from a 1968 Winterland concert where he turned the guitar into a battering ram, forcing everyone to notice and making every solo and note a memorable one.

On the box release "Winterland" are most of the songs performed twice, and staples such as "Purple Haze’ are performed up to four times each. But the great thing about it is how the guys constantly emphasizing different aspects of these songs, so all tunes are pretty unique.

Sum: If there is one "Live" recording you would like to obtain with JIMI HENDRIX, the you should get "Winterland"

Today's tune "Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Critics have described the track as revolutionary in its combination of different musical elements, the youthful, cynical sound of Dylan's voice, and the directness of the question "How does it feel?" "Like a Rolling Stone" transformed Dylan's image from folk singer to rock star, and is considered one of the most influential compositions in postwar popular music. Rolling Stone magazine listed the song at number one in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. The song has been covered by numerous artists, from THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE and THE ROLLING STONES to THE WAILERS and GREEN DAY.



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Cheap Trick - at Budokan

Sunday, time for a classic! "Live" is this weeks thingie so why not end this week with a real classic Live recording.

CHEAP TRICK "at Budokan" is a live album released by CHEAP TRICK in 1978 and their best-selling recording.

CHEAP TRICK found early success in Japan, and capitalized on this popularity by recording CHEAP TRICK "at Budokan" in Tokyo on April 28 and 30, 1978, with an audience of 12,000 screaming Japanese fans nearly drowning out the band at times. The album was intended for release only in Japan but with strong airplay of the promotional album From Tokyo to You, an estimated 30,000 import copies were sold in the United States and the album was released domestically in February 1979. The album also introduced two previously unreleased original songs, "Lookout" and "Need Your Love".

An unusual aspect of the album release in the UK was the use of coloured vinyl, then primarily restricted to singles and EP's, and soon replaced as a marketing gimmick by so-called "picture discs". A prominently displayed sticker on the sleeve of "Live at Budokan" announced that it had been released on "kamikaze yellow vinyl", and, unlike most coloured discs, which were usually as opaque as the conventional black vinyl records, the disc in the album is translucent.

When CHEAP TRICK "at Budokan" was first released on compact disc in the U.S., first pressing contained a slightly different, possibly unpolished mix of the concert. Notably the guitar trade offs of "Ain't That A Shame" were obviously different from the vinyl release.

"at Budokan" served not only to document the raw power and songcraft that was CHEAP TRICK live, but also to display that songs from a "live album" can sound as good as from their original studio form and sometimes even better, "at Budokan" is one of those that in my mind sounds better live than studio. Many of these tunes, like "I Want You to Want Me" and "Big Eyes," were pleasant in their original form, but seemed more like sketches compared to the roaring versions on this album.

During the time of "at Budokan's" recording, the band already released "Cheap Trick" and "In Color", as most of their setlists back then had tunes from those respective albums, but a few songs from their upcoming smash "Heaven Tonight" also appeared.

And now nearly 30 years later, we are left with this great piece of live music and rock history.

Sum: If there is one CHEAP TRICK album that you need then it's this!

Today's tune "I Want You to Want Me" is a tune from their second album "In Color", released in September 1977. It was the first single released from that album, but it did not chart in the United States.

"I Want You to Want Me" was a number-one single in Japan. Its success in Japan, as well as the success of its preceding single "Clock Strikes Ten" paved the way for CHEAP TRICKs concerts at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo in April 1978 that were recorded for the group's most popular album, CHEAP TRICK at Budokan. A live version of "I Want You to Want Me" from the album CHEAP TRICK at Budokan was released in 1979 and became their biggest selling single, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing sales of one million records. In Canada, it reached #2 in on the RPM national singles chart, remaining there for two weeks and was certified Gold for the sale of 5,000 singles in September 1979. It was also the band's highest charting single in Britain, where it reached #29.

CHEAP TRICK bass player Tom Petersson told Classic Rock magazine:

"My recollection is that [songwriter Rick Nielsen] did that song as a bit of a joke, because at the time when we had done that song there was a lot of pop music on the radio—ABBA, and all sorts of things, disco, [Rick thought] 'I'm just going to do an over-the-top pop song. I just want to do one that's so silly—total pop—and then we'll do a heavy version of it.' He didn't know what was going to happen with it. The idea was to have it like a heavy metal pop song. CHEAP TRICK doing ABBA—except a very heavy version."

Rick Nielsen explains his perspective behind the song:

"I just pictured myself in a big, overstuffed chair, and my dad turned on the TV; there were like three stations. I wanted to watch Gabby Hayes – he was a cowboy. I always wanted what wasn’t there, so I think that’s what made me inquisitive throughout my whole life. When you wanted Gabby, Gabby’s not there; when you want your dad, your dad is not there. It was the easiest lyric I could think of. And I wish I were that stupid more often. It’s like Van Morrison – with some of his old songs it didn’t matter what the lyrics meant, it’s how they sounded."

Years later, Nielsen and Petersson criticized the lightweight production of "I Want You to Want Me" as it originally appeared on their second album, "In Color". CHEAP TRICK went as far as to mostly re-record that album in 1998. Producer Tom Werman explains:

"'I Want You To Want Me' was a fabulous dancehall type of song, and a perfect pop tune, and it was meant to be a little campy. I put the piano on—a guy named Jai Winding played it. I remember asking the band what they thought of it, and Rick Nielsen kind of shrugged and said, 'You’re the producer.'" Further: "It was a burlesque song, like a 30’s number. That is what they wrote it as."



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Ten Years After - Hobbit

Recorded Live is the third live album by British blues rock musicians TEN YEARS AFTER, which was released as a double LP in 1973.

This album, containing no overdubs or additives, was recorded over four nights in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Frankfurt and Paris with the ROLLING STONES mobile recording truck and later mixed from sixteen tracks to stereo at Olympic Studios in London. The album was rereleased as a CD in 2014, with seven previously unreleased tracks.

Once TEN YEARS AFTERs performance in the Woodstock film cemented their command of the concert stage, it was only a matter of time before Chrysalis would want a full live album from the band. Undead from 1968 doesn't do them justice; five years later with over a half-dozen studio albums under their belt to choose from, 1973's double Recorded Live set is really the definitive document of TYA at their absolute best. For 2013, Chrysalis and Rhino have taken the original set, remastered it and expanded it with seven previously unreleased tracks that cast light on a four-piece powerhouse that took ownership of a concert stage from the first note on.

Taken from the band's January 1973 in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Paris, Recorded Live lifts off elegantly enough with three steady and strong rockers — "One Of These Days" "You Give Me Loving," and "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," each offering bursts here and there of Alvin Lee's amazing speed and dexterity on the guitar, along with some pumping bass from Leo Lyons. Drummer Ric Lee takes flight on "Hobbit," but then keyboardist Chick Churchill assumes a lead role on two of the bonus "Time Is Flying" and "Standing At The Station" that make you wonder why he never gets the credit he deserves. The interplay on the latter with Alvin Lee is almost too astonishingly mind-blowing to describe.

"Help Me Babe," "I Woke Up This Morning" "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Jam," four more bonus tracks, begin the second CD. This "Jam" and the other one that ends the first CD aptly convey the band's collective strength at improvisation and more or less reading each other's minds. "Scat Thing," "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes," "Silly Thing" and "Slow Blues In C" all get to the core of the band's blues roots before 'Extension On One Chord" and 'Slow Blues in C" fire off all cylinders and "I'm Going Home" finishes them off. The version is as hyper-active and astonishing as ever, although the immortal Woodstock version remains singular in its spontaneous brilliance and moment in time. "Choo Choo Mama" boogies the set to its conclusion, and you're strongly advised to take a long break before moving on.

Extraordinary blues/rock guitarist Alvin Lee had already begun pursuing his solo career in earnest by the time he returned for the 28th and final U.S. tour of the original TEN YEARS AFTER. Upon completion of the 1975 tour, TYA would split up and not return until a reunion was staged in 1989. 

Although a cult fave, the band burst onto the world music scene after it appeared in the documentary film, Woodstock, one of whose highlights was the performance of "I'm Goin' Home" by Lee and the band. This show, recorded at Bill Graham's Winterland ballroom, opens with a rockin' (but incomplete) version of the band's radio hit, "Rock & Roll Music To The World." They follow it with one their classics, "Love Like A Man." Muddy Water's "Good Morning Little School Girl," is next, and leads to long and tasty slow blues.

A 20-minute version of "I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes" is followed by a 12- minute but incomplete "I'm Going Home." After a souped-up version of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen," Lee and the band close with two of their own hits: "Choo Choo Mama" and "Baby, Won't You Let Me Rock 'n' Roll You."

One of the biggest blues/rock acts on the planet between 1969 and 1974, TEN YEARS AFTER could attribute their far reaching success to two things: Promoter Bill Graham and their appearance in the landmark music documentary Woodstock. Graham was among the earliest U.S. promoters to book the band, and he made them a staple act at both the Fillmore East and West, and of course, Winterland.

By the time this show was recorded. TYA had become primarily a vehicle for Alvin Lee's blistering guitar work, its songs comprised of equal parts rock, blues, and jazz. In 1972, the band would leave Decca Records (the label that signed them in 1967), and move to Columbia's corporate home. Columbia would take the band in a more radio friendly/pop driven direction (hence, the hit single "I'd Love To Change The World"). Frustrated with the popular music trend, Alvin Lee left the band, which disbanded soon after the second Columbia release in 1975.

The original lineup made one reunion LP and did one more tour in 1988/89 before disbanding again. In 2003, Ric Lee assembled the group again, although Alvin would not participate. He was replaced by guitarist Joe Gooch, and the band is still recording and touring today.

Today's tune "Hobbit" live in ( Frankfurt 1973) - The Ric Lee's Drum Solo.



Recorded Live: 8/4/1975 - Winterland - San Francisco, CA



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Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld

Weld is a live album and concert video by Neil Young & Crazy Horse released in 1991, comprising performances recorded on the tour to promote the "Ragged Glory" album. It was initially released as a limited edition three-disc set entitled Arc-Weld, with the Arc portion being a single disc consisting in its entirety of a sound collage of guitar noise and feedback. Arc has since been released as a separate title.

Weld consists of rock and roll songs by Young and Crazy Horse, duplicating seven that had appeared on either Rust Never Sleeps or Live Rust from twelve years earlier. It also echoes those albums as Young, in both cases having spent most of a previous decade pursuing different musical avenues, returned to straightforward rock and roll via the acclaimed Ragged Glory album with Crazy Horse, then celebrating that return with an accompanying multi-disc live document and concert film. An interesting cut on this album is Young's "Gulf War" version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind", which had air raid sound effects, check out today's tune.

Weld was recorded by David Hewitt on Remote Recording Services' Silver Truck. Neil Young claims that, while mixing this album, he permanently damaged his hearing.

There was a brief release of the concert featuring video footage on VHS, but there was no DVD release. The VHS tape is now an out-of-print collector's item. The mix on the video is by longtime Young collaborator David Briggs and is considered by some fans to be a harder-edged, superior mix, according to the book "Shakey."

The album contains warhorses as "Like a Hurricane" and "Cortez the Killer" along with a'lot of wonderful 14 other tracks, the album's songs averaged over seven and a half minutes in length, and that length was given over to extended guitar improvisations, which often were filled with feedback and distortion.

If you compare this Live recording to the previous double live album "Live Rust" there are some similarities to this one, first it's a career retrospective that includes some acoustic numbers, but "Weld" is more of a rockier album, it's harder, more distortion, an excellent expression of Young.

On this album you will get tunes like "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)", "Blowin' in the Wind"and almost a 10 minutes version of "Love to Burn", "Cinnamon Girl", "Powderfinger", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Tonight's the Night"

Today's tune "Blowin' in the Wind", enjoy this masterpiece cover, live! This is an angry, gunshot-laced version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind", it's also the closest thing here to an acoustic reverie; the rest of the album offers up staggeringly intense electric versions of Neil songs.



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Kiss - Alive!

Alive! is the first live album, and fourth overall, by American heavy metal band KISS. It is considered to be their breakthrough and a landmark for live albums. Released on September 10, 1975, the double-lp set contains live versions of selected tracks from their first three studio albums, "Kiss", "Hotter Than Hell" and "Dressed to Kill". It was recorded from concerts in Detroit, Michigan; Cleveland, Ohio; Wildwood, New Jersey; and Davenport, Iowa.

Despite their reputation and success as a live act, which emphasized theatrics as much as it did music, their notoriety did not translate to increased record sales. Fans told the band that their albums were not capturing how the band sounded live, so the band decided to release a live album. KISS was essentially surviving on then-manager Bill Aucoin's American Express card. Complicating matters was the fact that their label, Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records, was having financial difficulties of its own stemming from a major misstep. The label had released a double album of Johnny Carson monologues earlier in the year. However, the album was a flop, but Casablanca had pressed millions of copies in anticipation of it being a strong seller.

Casablanca, however, did think a KISS live album would be a respectable seller. The album outperformed expectations as it was certified gold, becoming both KISS and Casablanca's first top 10 album. Years later, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons recounted that in the weeks after the release, they saw a significant increase in concert attendance. In the documentary KISS: X-treme Close Up, Stanley remembers that at one particular show in Dayton, Ohio, "the place was packed; I mean you couldn't have gotten another person in with a shoehorn".

The album's title was an homage to the 1972 live album Slade Alive! from the English rock group SLADE, a band that heavily influenced KISS.

There has been considerable debate as to how much use was made of studio overdubs. In his autobiography KISS and Make-Up, Simmons stated that very little corrective work was done in the studio and that most of the studio time was devoted strictly to mixing down the multi-track recordings. He also emphasized that KISS could not have done extensive overdubbing even if they had wanted to; thanks in no small part to the Johnny Carson album fiasco, the extremely meager budget allotted to the band simply would not allow it. 

According to Dale Sherman's book Black Diamond and Goldmine magazine, in the early 1990s, Eddie Kramer stated there were a few overdubs to correct the most obvious mistakes: strings breaking or off-key notes, for instance. However, in recent years, Kramer has stated that the only original live recording on the album is Peter Criss' drum tracks. Stanley has noted that there is a bass mistake in the choruses of "C'mon and Love Me". He has also made comments that even though there have been live albums recorded later that make Alive! sound like it was recorded in a washroom, he has no qualms about it. Criss has also claimed, in his 2012 autobiography Makeup to Breakup, that the only original live recordings on the album were his drum tracks.

During the program Classic Albums, the band members all stated that while many changes had been made, such as overdubbing vocals and mixing together various crowd sounds to get a more amplified sense of the "live" sound, they considered the changes minor. In particular, they stated that they only altered the noise of the crowd to better capture the feel of the actual performances, since the raw recordings only dimly picked up the audience. They also stated that they had difficulties capturing vocals due to the natural jumps, dancing, and other stage activities.

Alive! was actually the first Hard rock "Live" album that I bought when I was a kid long time ago. Ace was my star icon and I remember when I was playing air guitar to Ace riffs, magic times :)

Alive! have been played more than I could ever count, the copy is still in my collection, but it's so worn out that I couln't get a dollar for it. "Alive! remains KISS' greatest Live album ever" even if I do like Alive II aswell, but there is so much innocent, rawer sound on this one, and not forget all the memories that this Live recording have even if it seem like a joke, mainly because it contains every arena rock cliche in the book it's still one of the biggest highlights in my youth concerning the band KISS.

Alive! contains all the biggest tune from the first 3 records like "Rock and Roll All Nite", "Deuce", "Strutter", "Firehouse", "Parasite", "She", "100,000 Years", "Black Diamond" and "Cold Gin"

Sum: An essential addition to any rock collection.

Today's tune "Black Diamond", one of my favorites on the album is a song written by rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley. "Black Diamond" was written almost exactly as it is, he said, "except that the riff wasn't there; Gene Simmons brought that part in… It's all about arrangement and embellishment. That's what you're supposed to do in a band: come in and add something. But that doesn't mean you wrote the song."

The song is the closing track on the band's eponymous first album, KISS, released in 1974. It begins with an acoustic opening sung by Stanley before a furious riff enters, accompanied by Peter Criss on lead vocals. It fades out with Ace Frehley's solo, in a sort of studio trick. The song is also characterized by its noticeable use of chorus, and its ending. The taped studio version was slowed down almost to a standstill. The live version is usually sped up in tempo, combined with stage pyrotechnics and a rising drum platform.

The band would often play "Black Diamond" to close their concerts. Even after Criss left the band, the song was still performed, featuring his replacements Eric Carr and Eric Singer on lead vocals during their respective tenures with the band.

Todays tune i a live tape from Midnight Special, 1975



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Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East

"Unleashed in the East" is a real oldie along Hard Rock/Heavy Metal live albums.

JUDAS PRIEST is the gods behind this live recording where they performed in Japan during the Hell Bent for Leather Tour in 1979. It was released in September 1979 and became the band's best-selling album up to that point and this was before "British Steel," so don't be disappointed because they didn't play "Painkiller" or "Freewheel Burning." Just nothing but the classics from the old time.

"Unleashed in the East" includes tunes like "The Green Manalishi", "Victim Of Changes", "Tyrant", "Hell Bent For Leather", "The Ripper" and "Running Wild".

To what extent the album was really live remains a matter of contention, with the album sometimes being called Unleashed in the Studio. Years later, after he had left Priest, Rob Halford noted in various interviews that the music was indeed live, but that his vocals had been ruined in the original recording and were later dubbed in a concert-like studio setting.

This live-record contains some of the best-ever-released versions of Judas Priest's 70's songs. The quality, especially of the remastered version, is very good, specially if you compare it to other live recordings from the same time period.

Released in Japan as "Priest in the East", where it featured four bonus tracks, these recordings included thrilling early speed-metal templates like “Exciter” and “Running Wild” (which forecasted the imminent New Wave of British Heavy Metal), reinvigorated romps through early career warhorses such as the serpentine “Sinner,” the morbid “Genocide” and their signature anthem “Victim of Changes.” The band’s covers FLEETWOOD MACs “Green Manalishi” and Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust” were wisely chosen and reminded fans of the JUDAS PRIESTs eclectic influences.

Unleashed in the East’s Judas Priest was:
Robert John Arthur Halford ~ Vocals
Kenneth Downing Jr. ~ Lead Guitar
Glenn Raymond Tipton ~ Lead Guitar
Ian Frank Hill ~ Bass Guitar
James Leslie Binks ~ Drums

Sum: If you dig JUDAS PRIEST you should definitely add this to your collection! This album is a true proof that the 70's rock!

Today's tune "Victim of Changes" is featured on their 1976 studio album "Sad Wings of Destiny". The song was composed by fusing two earlier songs. The main part of the song, including the riffs, came from "Whisky Woman," which was written in 1972 while original Priest singer Al Atkins was still in the band. The softer passage, building up tension for the climaxing ending of the song, came from a song singer Rob Halford had written called "Red Light Lady." K.K. Downing, Glenn Tipton, Rob Halford and Al Atkins are all credited for writing the song.

The song is known for its unusual intro, with Tipton and Downing playing a twin guitar harmony which slowly fades in, then ends in the main riff. In early writing stages, the intro was different, and similar to the intro that would be used for an unreleased Priest song called "Mother Sun."

The song opens with a fade-in dual guitar passage that flows into the song's main riffs. A linear pattern is followed until the staccato section in the bridge. The song's first main guitar solo follows afterward, played by K. K. Downing. The bridge section finishes and goes into a lighter, more mellow section that soon intensifies. The second solo, played by Glenn Tipton, comes during the heavy section. The song returns to the main riff and finishes with Rob Halford's banshee-like screams. The lyrics are about a failing relationship due to a woman's alcoholism. The song is written in the key of E Minor.

The song's lyrics have been debated by Priest fans. The song seems to focus on a woman who is past her prime, which leads her to drown her sorrows in alcohol when she can't find a man anymore. At first glance, she might seem like the "Victim of Changes," but later in the song, the "I" of the lyrics (a man speaking to the woman) reveals a certain affection for her, and a dissatisfaction because he's lost her and he can't have her back, making him the victim. This has never been cleared up.

This song strongly added to Rob Halford's reputation as the "Metal God," as his singing and especially screaming has become legendary and largely influential. When Tim "Ripper" Owens auditioned to be Rob's replacement in 1996, they had him sing over a live version of the song with the vocals taken out. Said Owens: "I sang the very first line of 'Victim of Changes,' and Glenn (Tipton) said, 'Alright Owens, you've got the gig!" (Thanks to Michael Toney, who interviewed Owens for the book Tales From The Stage.) Various bands have covered this song, including the German Power Metal band Gamma Ray. (thanks, Jon - Sweden, for all above)

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Rainbow - Live In Munich 1977

"Live in Munich 1977" is a live album and DVD released by the British hard rock band RAINBOW in 2006.

The concert was recorded in Munich on October 20, 1977, originally filmed to air on the German Rockpalast TV show. Repeated airings have led to numerous bootleg video and audio tapes of the show being available through the 80's and 90's. The set is not from the same tour that produced the previously released live album "On Stage" (which was mostly culled from their 1976 Japanese tour), but from their 1977 European tour, a few months prior to the release of "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll", with a different bass player and keyboardist.

The DVD release also features the three promotional videos for RAINBOWs "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" album, and interviews with Bob Daisley and former tour manager Colin Hart.

On April 26, 2010 a double 180 gram limited edition gatefold vinyl reissue of the album was released through Just For Kicks Music (Germany).

On May 6, 2013, the CD and DVD were reissued by Eagle Rock and Eagle Vision respectively. The only difference being the addition of "RAINBOW Over Texas '76", a short 13-minute feature, to the DVD, and revised track timings to the CD tracks. Many of the titles on the original 2006 issue CD were edited, cutting almost 15 minutes from the total length of the concert; the 2013 issue restores these edits, making the total running time closer to that of the concert film.

On "Live In Munich 1977" you get the classic tunes that were 3-5 minutes long in the studio, but live it's something totally different, the tunes are stretched out exponentially with solos, jams and the occasional foray into another song, exactly what I want as a listener, I want to feel it, Live with it and sense it. "Live In Munich 1977" is pure "Live" rock, a complete live concert without any real production. It's simply the band playing their asses off in October 1977. The line up during this evening consist of man with the big voice Ronnie James Dio along with the string bender Ritchie Blackmore, the drummer and percussionist Cozy Powell, bass and backing vocals by Bob Daisley and David Stone on keyboards.

"Live In Munich 1977" reminds of the RAINBOW live recording "On Stage" but there are some differences, first the order of the tracks. Like today's tune "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" that is almost a minute longer here and it's shreds the "On Stage" version, as does the thrashing opener "Kill the King". "Man on the Silver Mountain" is a beast on this live recording, 3 and half minute longer that the "On Stage" version, is it better, well yes!. "Catch the Rainbow" is a real beauty on this recording, Ronnie James Dio sings with a such a feeling that is this might be his prime time on stage. Then we also have the 25 minute "Still I'm Sad" and the closing killer "Do You Close Your Eyes" where we hear Blackmore's skill at his highest peak when he plays the hell of the whole band.

This a really mindblowing recording, the sound is really good and it's freaking tight and raw, a record that you need in your collection if you are a RAINBOW, DIO fan!

Today's tune "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"

When performing this song with RAINBOW, lead guitarist Ritchie Blackmore would lead into it with the original "Greensleeves". Running to 3 minutes 21 seconds, it was co-written with lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio who said "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" is Blackmore's idea of a castle where the black knight lives. The black knight of course being Ritchie and the black knight periodically comes out of his castle and captures a young peasant maiden from the village.

Blackmore appears to have lived out this fantasy in his personal life; after lengthy spells with DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE again, he formed Blackmore's Night and began writing, playing and recording traditional Olde Englishe music. The other half of the duo, the former Candice Isralow, met Blackmore when she was still a teenager. In October 2008, after working together for more than a decade, the two married. On stage, the stunningly attractive American blonde - Blackmore's fourth wife - has the appearance of a true Mediaeval damsel, and in spite of their age difference, this appears to be a marriage made in heaven.


More info @

Official Rainbow Web

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Accept - Staying a Life

Monday, New Week, time to introduce "Record Of The Week"!

"Staying a Life" from 1990, with the German heavy metal band ACCEPT, a classic that got re released during the "Record Store Day". A classic around "Live" recordings, a bit forgotten and the underrated album that should be lifted up. A record that is a perfect start of this "Live" album week that we are going to have, a big spread around good "Live" albums that you should have in your collection, or I atleast do (:

"Staying a Life" is a double live album, released in 1990. It was recorded in Osaka, Japan, in 1985. It was released in 1990, shortly after the band's first breakup. It was mixed by Uli Baronowsky at Dierks Studios, Stommeln. Live footage from the 1985–1986 world tour was released in VHS also in 1990, with the same title and cover art.

"Staying a Life" is capturing ACCEPT at the peak of their arena metal time around their Metal Heart era. "Staying a Life" is a pure proof why the German band was handed opening slots on quite a few popular mid-'80s tours (KISS, IRON MAIDEN, etc.) The album is a great "Best Of" of all their hits during their long career. I mean songs like "Metal Heart," "Screaming for a Love Bite," "Restless and Wild,", "Breaker", "London Leatherboys", "Fast as a Shark" and "Balls to the Wall" are all included on this double Vinyl record, a album that should be in every ACCEPT collection.

Just slide it out from the record sleeve, slowly put on the needle on the spinning record on side A and you will hear the Japanese crowd clapping their hands when the tunes from "Metal Heart" just flows out from your speakers, whoaa! I'm sitting in the sofa headbanging!

"Staying a Life" gives you all the greatest, the dual-guitar line up is in full force and UDO sounds as good as UDO ever did. The production is pretty as every 80's metal albums sounds like, but somehow more exciting than the others.

Sum: You need this!

Today's tune "Breaker" is taken from the live album "Staying Alive", originally released on the third album "Breaker", Released March 16, 1981


More info @

Official Accept Web

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Nazareth - Love Hurts

Sunday, time for a classic!

Today's tune "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriting duo Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by THE EVERLY BROTHERS in July 1960, the song is also well known from a 1975 international hit version by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth and in the UK by a top five hit in 1975 by the English singer Jim Capaldi.

The song was introduced in December 1960 as an album track on A Date with THE EVERLY BROTHERS, but was never released as a single (A-side or B-side) by the Everlys. The first hit version of the song was by Roy Orbison, who earned Australian radio play, hitting the Top Five of that country's singles charts in 1961. A recording by Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons was included on Parsons' posthumously released Grievous Angel album. After Parsons' 1973 death, Harris made the song a staple of her repertoire, and has included it in her concert set lists from the 1970s to the present. Harris has since re-recorded the song twice.

The most successful recording of the song was by hard rock band NAZARETH, who took the song to the U.S. Top 10 in 1975 and hit number one in Norway and the Netherlands. In the UK the most successful version of the song was by former TRAFFIC member Jim Capaldi, who took it to number four in the charts in November 1975 during an 11-week run. The song was also covered by Cher in 1975 for her album Stars. Cher re-recorded the song in 1991 for her album of the same name. Rod Stewart recorded the song in 2006 for his album Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time which was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Performed as a power ballad, the NAZARETH version was the most popular version of the song and the only rendition of "Love Hurts" to become a hit single in the United States, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976.

The lyrics of the song remained unchanged on all versions up until NAZARETHs 1975 recording, where the original line "love is like a stove/it burns you when it's hot" was changed to "love is like a flame/it burns you when it's hot". The NAZARETH track has been featured in the movies "Dazed and Confused", "Detroit Rock City", "Together", "Click", and "Halloween" among others. It was edited for use in a late-'90s Gatorade TV commercial. Other companies to have used the song in advertising include Southwest Airlines, Molson, Nissan (for the Altima), Zurich (worldwide 'True Love' advertising), and Toyota in Australia.

Cher used this NAZARETH version for her 1991 re-recording of the song for her album of the same name. In other media

The NAZARETH version was sung by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, lead singer of The Dandy Warhols, in "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang", a second season episode of Veronica Mars. A cover version of the NAZARETH version was sung by Nan Vernon for the film Halloween II.

The song was sung similar to the NAZARETH version in the "That 70's Musical" episode of That 70's Show.

Todays' tune is taken from the sixth studio album "Hair of the Dog" by the Scottish hard rock band NAZARETH, released in 1975. The album was recorded at Escape Studios, Kent, with additional recording and mixing at AIR Studios, London, and is the band's biggest selling album, having sold two million copies worldwide.

After three albums with DEEP PURPLEs Roger Glover producing, Manny Charlton stepped into that position, one he filled for several subsequent albums.

It was NAZARETHs first big hit album (aside from the minor success of Razamanaz), including classics such as the title track, "Love Hurts" (on the US version, but not the Canadian/European, it replaced the original "Guilty"), "Beggars Day" and "Please Don't Judas Me".

The album title is often considered to be a shortened form of the phrase describing a folk hangover cure, "the hair of the dog that bit you". However, according to Dan McCafferty, the title is a play on "heir of the dog", i.e. a "son of a bitch". This was the title the band had intended for the album, but the label did not approve and had the name changed.

The album was first reissued on CD in 1990. There are also remastered editions released since 1997 with different sets of bonus tracks.



More info @

Official Nazareth Web

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Everything In Slow Motion - Coma

EVERYTHING IN SLOW MOTION (EISM) is an American music project by former HANDS frontman and Christian metal musician Shane Ochsner from Fargo, North Dakota. The project began in February 2012, and he signed with Facedown Records soon thereafter. EISM first released a studio EP entitled Red in late 2012, and his first studio album entitled Phoenix that released in late 2013.

Away I go. This season’s taking control.
Away I go. I give up, you grow cold.
Maybe I’m too blind, to see the other side.

Take your time. I’ll be here when you arrive.
Lose your pride, and leave it all behind.

Away I go. Through a door you’ve never closed.
Maybe I’m convinced, it was you that asked for this.


I hope you find what you’re looking for.

David Craft states, "While every song on Laid Low is very good, things somehow never quite come together in a cohesive manner. This EP more or less seems to be a random collection of experimental songs rather than a consolidated project. Regardless, the album's softer elements in no way detract from Laid Low's excellence, instead revealing EISM's potential to break into other genres should they continue on this path."

Today's tune "Coma" is taken from the EP "Laid Low"



More info @

Official Everything In Slow Motion Web

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The Order Of Israfel - Swords To The Sky

"Red Robes" is the upcoming follow up album after the success debut "Wisdom" form 2014. "Red Robes" is set to release on May 27th. A release party is set to be at Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg on the release date.

Judges and cardinals don red robes. Edgar Allen Poe enshrouded death in deepest red. And now doom metal itself proudly wears the most sinful color of them all when Swedes THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL unleash their second longplayer Red Robes! The band`s first steps might have been heavily influenced by genre icons such as CATHEDRAL, PENTAGRAM and WITCHCRAFT, but the fourpiece has firmly established its very own brand of slow-motion goodness in 2016: folk and the NWOBHM play a big role in THE ORDER OF ISRAFEL cosmos, but these guys also have a knack for THIN LIZZY-isms. The result is a wondrous, mystical piece of art featuring unforgettable vocals and ten-ton riffing that will haunt you for aeons!

Strictly Limited Napalm Records Mailorder Edition to 100 Gatefold Copies in GOLDEN 180g 2-Vinyl incl. Bonus Track + Bonus DVD (Live At Sweden Rock Festival 2015)

Strictly Limited Napalm Records Mailorder Edition to 100 Gatefold Copies in RED 180g 2-Vinyl incl. Bonus Track + Bonus DVD (Live At Sweden Rock Festival 2015)

Pre-order "Red Robes" now! http://smarturl.it/RedRobes-NPR iTunes: http://smarturl.it/RedRobes-DL

Today's tune "Swords To The Sky" is the first single taken from the upcoming second album "Red Robes", enjoy!



More info @

Official The Order Of Israfel Web

Sorry no Spotify yet, will update up on release!

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