Music from a Lifetime

"This album, unlike most of the albums up to this point in time in the Malmsteen catalogue, does have what I consider to be three clearly defined sections when it comes to the type of songs produced. Michael Vescera, the new vocalist on this album following the release of Edman, has contributed lyrics to three songs on the album, and they strike out at you immediately. All three tracks have a different structure and are sung in a very different way. For instance, “I Don’t Know” has the sort of lyrics and vocals that are aimed at the audience the band is trying to attract. The fast double kick drum has gone and is replaced with a much harder rock hammering 4/4 timing, and the vocals are the hard rock standard as well, not soaring or screaming, but just at you in an almost conversational way".

On this episode we are going to talk about “The Seventh Sign” by Yngwie Malmsteen, his 7th studio album released 30 years ago this week, on today’s ‘the earth is crumbling and the end is near’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"The debut album for Black Label Society is a real melting pot of just about everything you could possibly imagine - southern blues rock, hard core metal, brilliant guitar riffs from one of the modern masters, slow doom metal in an almost Black Sabbath setting, average pass-mark songs, acoustically driven riffs and the grinding and sometimes hypnotic vocals from the lead man himself. If you can't at least find something interesting amongst all of that lot then you are in the wrong place.

Zakk Wylde breaks away from his father figure Ozzy Osbourne here to produce something that is completely different from what he was playing and writing for the previous decade. In a refreshing attitude, he hasn't tried to reproduce that kind of music, instead blending his own roots to what he enjoys playing and bringing it all together in a package that is hard to define in a genre sense".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Sonic Brew” by Black Label Society, the band’s debut studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s ‘to finally reach the beginning... at last’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"I vividly remember when this album was released. Well, what I remember is how the band was being pumped up as the next Whitesnake, because John Sykes was as involved in the Blue Murder album as he had been on the Whitesnake 1987 album. In fact, as he is singing here as well, he is involved more! And I remember the video for “Valley of the Kings” being on Rage on ABCTV every single Saturday night, and it being... okaaaay... but was it Whitesnake without David Coverdale? Well. Maybe.

I think my main motivation behind eventually buying the album is that I bought my first ever stereo for my room around the same time, and it had my first ever CD player, so I was going out and hunting for albums I could buy on CD to begin my collection. And as it turns out, this was being prominently displayed in Wilson’s Records in Wollongong on one day when I walked in, and so I decided to fork out the $28 it was marked at and give it a go.

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On this episode we are going to talk about “Blue Murder” by Blue Murder, the band’s debut studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘All he wants is his dream fulfilled’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"A few cursory listens had me thinking “yeah, this is okay” before it went onto the shelves. Then covid hit, and suddenly the world is looking for ways to keep itself amused when locked away. One of the things I do is start ranking bands albums from worst to best (in my humble opinion of course), and so I choose Black Sabbath as my second band to do this (after AC/DC). That means pulling out all the albums, and giving them enough of a listen to determine where they should fall. And out comes “Headless Cross” ... and for probably the first time in my life, I actually give the album a good, hard listen. And then I do it again. And again. And before I know it... I find I really like this album! I mean, it is actually heavy in places, more so than you might expect. And the more I listened, the more the album grabbed me, and I found myself listening to the other Sabbath albums for the ranking list I was doing, and then come back and play this again. And believe me, I was more surprised than anyone".

On this episode we are going to talk about “Headless Cross” by Black Sabbath, the band’s 14th studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘look through the people and on through the mist’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"From the very start of the album, most Black Sabbath fans will be comforted by the way the band sounds. Because it IS Iommi and Butler after all, and they are the very basis of Black Sabbath’s sound. The opening track “I Witness” starts exactly like you would expect a Dio-fronted Sabbath song to sound, so following on the heels of exactly that with their previous album, it is great to hear. Tony Martin returns on vocals without missing a beat, awesome from the outset, on top of a wonderful Geezer Butler bass line and the ever-present Tony Iommi riff, and that always solid beat of Bobby Rondinelli drums. The song has a great groove and gives the album the start it needs to have the fans know that Black Sabbath is still alive. It’s a great track, and certainly ranks as one of the band’s best post- “Mob Rules”."

On this episode we are going to talk about “Cross Purposes” by Black Sabbath, the band’s 17th studio album released 30 years ago this week, on today’s ‘eyewitness’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

Since their reformation back in 1983, Deep Purple had continued to release interesting and exciting albums, even through the constant turmoil that seemed to beset the band. After a decade of this, Ritchie Blackmore finally moved on forever, and the recruitment of Steve Morse as his replacement seemed to settle the band down, and the recording of the album “Purpendicular” seemed to go off without a hitch.

The follow up to this album was released 25 years ago this week. Titled “ABandOn”, it signalled a change in direction for the once frantic and ground breaking group, and you can hear all about how Deep Purple approached the new millennium on today’s episode.

Welcome to Season 4 of the podcast that continues to offer you new thoughts on old albums, and an old person’s thoughts on new albums, where won’t it be nice when everything falls into place, on Music from a Lifetime.

After a tumultuous four years, that had seen him fired from one band and then had the good fortune to have another band formed around him, only for that to also been torn apart – firstly by jealousy and micro management, and then with the tragic death of the young virtuoso guitarist – you could be forgiven for wondering if Ozzy Osbourne could ever pick up the pieces again and forge his way back to the top of the music business. It would not be an easy task.

The interim brought about a plan to keep his name in the spotlight, and that involved a short tour on which he and his band would play a setlist of songs from his previous band, Black Sabbath, and then release it as a live album. This plan came about for several reasons, and you can discover all of the stories behind “Speak of the Devil” on today’s episode of the podcast that also will never say die, Music from a Lifetime.