Music from a Lifetime

"One of the interesting things about the recording of the album is that all of the music was recorded by each member separate from the others, in different studios around the world. I would think that was interesting because if it is a covers album, it must have been very difficult to organise how the band wanted each cover version to sound. I mean, you couldn’t just ask each member to go in and decide how they wanted to play each song, and then try and piece it all together! That would have been an impossible task. So there had to have been some conversation on the songs and the way they were going to do their ‘Helloween’ versions, in order to make it sound like they weren’t just playing a note for note version of each of the tracks, before they all went to their different locations and physically recorded each bit by themselves. I’d have thought that recording a covers album would have been a fun thing to do AS A BAND rather than singularly and apart".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Metal Jukebox” by Helloween, the band’s studio covers album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “don’t go wasting your emotions lay all your love on me” on Music from a Lifetime.

"Though the demo tape contained four songs, the band decided to only release three, with “Iron Maiden” being the Side A of the EP, and “Invasion” and “Prowler” on the B Side. “Strange World”, which along with the eponymous track and “Prowler” would eventually end up the debut album, was considered ‘not up to quality’ in its current recorded version, and was left off as a result.

When you listen to these three tracks compared to the versions that came later on, there are some noticeable differences. Which of course in the long run makes this EP worthy of owning or at least listening to. They are rawer in both music and vocals, with a different timing throughout. Doug Sampson’s drumming gives them that slightly different feel from the versions that would appear later, but are no less impressive or enjoyable. Di’Anno’s vocals, even though they had been performing all of these songs for some time at their live gigs, are still developing into what they would become. And, when you listen to it, for a demo tape, you have to say that it is amazingly impressive. Think about the demo tapes you have made with your first band. You couldn’t possibly have released it in this format. Iron Maiden, or course, were a different breed even then"

On this episode we are going to talk about “The Soundhouse Tapes” by Iron Maiden, the band’s self released demo EP album released 45 years ago this week, on today’s episode where we're “walking through the city, looking all so pretty” on Music from a Lifetime.

"For this album, partly to do with the long break, longtime drummer Fred Coury had gone on to pursue other interests, with Kenny Aronoff taking on the drum duties in the studio. The remainder of the band, Keifer, bass guitarist Eric Brittingham and lead guitarist Jeff LaBar remained together.

An interesting part of this album was the use of a couple of songs that had been around for years. Both “Talk is Cheap” and “Freewheelin’” had been played by the band live as early as 1985, though both were slightly different from the versions that ended up on this album. Also, "Hot & Bothered" had first appeared on Wayne's World soundtrack in 1992.

Perhaps the most surprising part of this album is that, unlike so many other bands albums that were released in the same era, they have not felt pressured into changing their sound to match what was going on in the music world around them. “Heartbreak Station” had been a subtle change in direction prior to this, and perhaps that helped the band keep that mindset, despite what had happened to delay this album coming out and what music was like swirling around them"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Still Climbing” by Cinderella, the band’s 4th and final studio album released 30 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “the trouble with you is there ain't just a few” on Music from a Lifetime.

"One of the reasons for the break up of the Mark II era of the band was that they had no time off whatsoever. Constantly on tour, they even had to resort to writing and recording albums on two week layovers from tour dates. It all proved too much, and eventually the tensions between certain bandmates created rifts that meant members were moved on. And yet, despite all of those signs, and the obvious need to set out their calendar better in order to have time off, Deep Purple returned to the studio in August 1974 (just 6 months after “Burn” had been released) in order to star writing and recording the follow up album. It was a grinding schedule, and surely it must have been questioned why the band needed to release an album less than nine months after their previous effort, especially one that had done well in sales, and of the further exposure the band had been receiving because of its live schedule. Or, indeed, is this the reason the band was pushed to the studio, to back it up with another album in order to cash in on this all? "

On this episode we are going to talk about “Stormbringer” by Deep Purple, the band’s 3rd studio album released 50 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “you’ve gotta keep running, stormbringer coming” on Music from a Lifetime.

"The opening half of the album showcases this merging perfectly. Brian May’s assault during “Brighton Rock” is spectacular, and he shows off all of his skills within the framework of the song perfectly. Topped off by Freddie’s marvellous vocals, changing as they do from falsetto to mainstream, and the rollicking rhythm section, halted only by Brian’s unaccompanied solo in the middle, makes this a superb opening track, and also the longest on the album. This is followed by the world renowned “Killer Queen”, the kind of radio friendly short sharp heightening of every great part of Queen that made them the band they are. The wonderful combining of Roger Taylor’s crisp drum work and John Deacon’s precision bass playing, Brian May’s scene stealing guitar riffs, combined with the easy tinkling on the piano, and topped off with Freddie’s wonderful vocals and lyrics, backed by the support vocals of the other three members. It seems such an easy task on paper, but the right combination of everything here makes a single that the whole world knows and loves"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Sheer Heart Attack” by Queen, the band’s 3rd studio album released 50 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “your matches still light up the sky, and many a tear lives on in my eye” on Music from a Lifetime.

"Want to know how to polarise opinion? Get together with a bunch of Whitesnake fans, and pose the question, "When did the band release their best material, pre-1983 or post 1983?" That's a debate that will get emotional and passionate, divide the room and create a heated discussion. Nothing will be resolved of course, because the majority of people who grew up with the immediate post-Deep Purple era Whitesnake will insist those first albums are far superior to anything that was released later on. I came along just a little later, and took my Whitesnake apprenticeship on albums such as “Whitesnake [aka 1987]” and “Slip of the Tongue”. I still think those early albums are awesome, but for me, “Slip of the Tongue” is the top of the tree"

On this episode we are going to talk about “Slip of the Tongue” by Whitesnake, the band’s 8th studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “I never realised my love could be so blind” on Music from a Lifetime.

"Following this, the band moved around again, with Jeff Chambers on guest guitars and Josh Lazie on bass guitar coming on board to join Danzig who again contributed guitars to the album and returning drummer Joey Castillo. In regard to the recording of the album, Glenn was quoted in an interview with Metal maniacs in December 1999, "This record is the first time I've ever recorded my vocals digitally. I recorded with a mic and in a booth, but through a computer, and that's how the overdubs were done on this record as well. What I tried to do with this record is take all my favourite elements from Danzig 1 through 5, and the Thrall EP, put it all together and add a couple of new flavours."

Most fans would have been excited about this development. The best of everything that had come before this combined?! It had “winner” written all over it! The end result of course is open to the individual's opinion."

On this episode we are going to talk about “6:66 Satan’s Child” by Danzig, the band’s 6th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “you leave me cold, couldn’t pay the price” on Music from a Lifetime.

"Listening to this album now and it becomes obvious that the straight down the line rock songs punctuated with less aggressive vocals or guitars are what actually dominate the album. The opening tracks drag you in, and the preceding tracks lull you into a sublime state of calm, which is not anything that I would have expected a Foo Fighters album to do to me when I first bought this album. And listening to this again, it really is quite a massive change that the band had made here compared to those opening two albums. It just never seemed so sudden. For a long time I was always of the belief that this change came with the albums of the mid 2000's, but having had this on again for the past 2-3 weeks, I finally myself standing corrected. It was this album that saw the savage directional change occur. Now that may have been from a collaborative writing partnership, or it may just have been the plan, to release the hard to heavy songs at the top of the track list to appease their fans, ad then travel to another part of the music appreciation society with the back two thirds of the album. Away from this, I still love this album. Sure the songs have less aggression, but they are beautifully written and performed by all three members"

On this episode we are going to talk about “There is Nothing Left to Lose” by Foo Fighters, the band’s 3rd studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “I’m impressed, what a beautiful chest, I never meant to make a big scene” on Music from a Lifetime.

"Even more than that, this album proves that Rod Smallwood had to be very canny to protect his number one priority when it came to this situation. Because there is no doubt Bruce was in the ascendancy at this time, and this lie album is the final proof of that. Neither “The Chemical Wedding” nor “Accident of Birth” could have been written of recorded in Iron Maiden. It isn’t their style and has a different set of writers and people in charge that would not have occurred in the other group. “The Chemical Wedding” is a superior album in every respect over Maiden’s “The X Factor”. And if the status quo had remained onto another album cycle... would Maiden have survived? Would Bruce and band have gained further success? This live album asserts that the band was firing on the stage, and that this scenario was more than possible. And while Rod was probably just looking to save his longest investment by insisting that Steve and Bruce meet up and see if their differences could be resolved, he probably also saw the future and knew that the true longevity lay in Bruce, and Adrian, returning to Maiden and getting that ship righted and sailing true once again".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Scream for Me Brazil” by Bruce Dickinson, the band’s 2nd live album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “the road to hell is full of good intentions” on Music from a Lifetime.

"“Youthanasia” is, once you have digested it, the logical next step in the direction Megadeth had travelled over the previous two albums. “Rust in Peace” was the amazingly perfect progression from the out and out thrash metal of the debut albums to the maturing yet aggressive nature that that album took on. “Countdown to Extinction” had, for want of a better word, matured even more, still stinging and heavy but with a slightly lesser focus on the thrash genre than the band had utilised before. And then came “Youthanasia”, an album that almost settles into its own tempo early on and doesn’t move away from that too much, and with heavy riffs that are now closely devoid of what one might consider to be thrash or speed metal, where the roots of this band exist. It’s not a case of the band selling out their sound for the era but is just part of the next step in their evolution.

So, rather than a thrash album, instead here we have a collection of songs that can certainly inspire some hearty singalongs and table banging along the way, in a way that may not satisfy the earliest fans of the band but is worthy of checking out."

On this episode we are going to talk about “Youthanasia” by Megadeth, the band’s 6th studio album released 30 years ago this week, on today’s episode where “don’t want no revenge, ain’t no payback time” on Music from a Lifetime.