Never Saw AIC in Concert

I'm pretty sure I've wrote about how idiotic I was in July 1991. There was a tour that came to Cedar Rapids, IA, and on the bill were the following bands:

1. Alice in Chains
2. Anthrax
3. Slayer
4. Megadeth

Because I wasn't there, I don't remember if that was the order that they played in. While I can say that I've seen Anthrax (once), Slayer (twice), and Megadeth (three times), I never had the opportunity to see Alice in Chains after that concert. I don't remember if they ever came back to the area to play a concert and then, like Thanos snapping his fingers, Layne Staley was dead, which also ended any hope of seeing their original lineup play in front of my eyes. In fact, I'm not even sure if the band with their replacement singer have ever come to the area.

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Metallica Would

Metallica Would

Some Tunes

My Newborn Son's Name is . . .

In an alternate reality, I didn't go to Mount Mercy College in the fall of 1988. Instead, I went to the University of Iowa. I would still be Catholic and go to the Newman Center. I would live in an apartment above Gabes and immerse myself into the Iowa City music scene. I would learn to love Slayer almost immediately so that when Megadeth / Slayer / Anthrax / Alice in Chains played the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids in summer 1991, I would be there, thrashing around in the mosh pit. I would have hair down to my ass because playing drums in countless bands would barely cover my rent. Then, someday, I would find a woman and have a son. We would name him Slayer because in that alternate reality, I would be the idiot described in the following tweet:

Try not to giggle when imagining the wedding vows for that alternate reality son because you know with a name like Slayer he would have to be the most-Christian man alive to combat the blatant non-Christian values proclaimed by the band. Hearing "I Slayer take you ... to be my wife..." in a Catholic church? Awesome sauce!

Jerry & Lars

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I like these

First the "not new" tune that I rediscovered, thanks to Rock 108:

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Second the "new" tune that I rediscovered, thanks to Rock 108:

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My Perspective

From http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ozzy-osbourne-slayer-judas-priest-alice-in-chains-ghost-set-for-australias-download-festival/:

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As he approaches 70 later this year, Osbourne said he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren after five decades on the road. "I love my work, it's amazing ... Jack's three little girls," he said. "They are wonderful, except when they come over to the house, wreck it and leave."

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Meanwhile, this is the lineup for Download in Austrailia and, well, 1 - 6, 8, 9, 12 are good... so that's 9 out of 23 - 39% won't get me to buy a plane ticket to go see it.

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1. OZZY OSBOURNE
2. SLAYER
3. JUDAS PRIEST
4. ALICE IN CHAINS
5. GHOST
6. RISE AGAINST
7. THE AMITY AFFLICTION
8. ANTHRAX
9. HALESTORM
10. BEHEMOTH
11. ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES
12. I PREVAIL
13. CONVERGE
14. FRENZAL RHOMB
15. LUCA BRASI
16. CODE ORANGE
17. ANDY BLACK
18. THE FEVER 333
19. WAR ON WOMEN
20. HIGH TENSION
21. OUTRIGHT
22. RUINS
23. ALIEN WEAPONRY

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If AIC Wrote MoP

The Grunge Gold Rush Followed the Hair Metal Gold Rush Part I

I had to smirk when I read this article about how once Nirvana exploded with tons of sales, the record labels went scouring for similar bands. At the time, many people seemed to treat that action like it had never been done before, but it had. I lived through the record companies doing it the previous time - I call it "the Los Angeles hair metal explosion" that followed the success of Quiet Riot's "Cum On Feel the Noize" in 1983ish. Soon after that, Dokken, Ratt, Poison, LA Guns, BulletBoys, and other CA bands emerged. Not to be outdone, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, and Britny Fox emerged from the East coast.

Nowadays, there is an authentic disdain for many of those bands. What irks me is when people grumble about how those bands were not talented. I never agree with those statements. Granted, Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me" is not Chopin, but neither is AC/DC's "Back in Black" or Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love." The point is that those aforementioned bands that grew to popularity in the 80s metal movement were musicians. White Lion's Vito Bratta constructed awesome guitar riffs; Ratt's Warren DeMartini did as well.

Usually what happens is that fans who make generalized statements about an entire genre of music didn't grow up listening to it. That's why I think I have more patience with those bands than with the 90s Alternative / Grunge movement. In 1991, I was a senior in college and by spring 1992, Nirvana was a 'thing' that was followed by Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. I can wholeheartedly deny ever spending as many hours with Soundgarden's "Louder than Love" as I spent with Ratt's "Out of the Cellar" and that's really okay. Alternative / Grunge bands were just too trippy for me - too out there. I wanted Pearl Jam to make tunes like "Even Flow" and "Alive" instead of "Jeremy" (which I still consider to be an awful tune) because that was what I was used to hearing from bands. Smashing Pumpkins didn't do anything for me until they released the tune with the "Today is the greatest day" lyrics; I'd deny I ever purchased "Siamese Dream" but it came with the CDs I purchased in Indy from the fireman - can't say his name.

Continued in Part II

Someone's Being a Jerk

Over the last year, maybe even back two years, I've wrote about how ex-bandmates need to shut up when asked about their ex-bandmates. Specifically, I remember how Dave Mustaine (ex-Metallica) is always asked what his opinion of Metallica is and Kirk Hammett was asked what his opinion of Megadeth is. Instead of saying, "they are a great band" and ending it, Hammett had some weird / odd opinion that ignited a conflict that was carried forward through the press. I remember writing that there needed to be a canned response so that all these things ex-bandmates say in interviews are not blown up. It's not just Metallica & Megadeth that have fallen into this trap. Off the top of my head, current & former members of Dream Theater, Slayer, Black Sabbath, and Sepultura have fallen into this rut.

Add White Lion to the list as Blabbermouth posted this article just under a week ago - 9/20/17 - about how the former lead singer would not play with the band's guitarist for anything in the world. Vocalist Mike Tramp comes across as a guy who desperately WANTS to play with Vito Bratta, despite his words. Why would I say that? It seems as though he's trying to distance himself from the material he created with Bratta in White Lion as a means to heal himself. I think the best way to heal himself would be to play with Vito Bratta.

As I wrote about the other aforementioned bands, Mike Tramp needs to be quiet and say that he hasn't spoken to Vito Bratta in a long time and doesn't know where his head is at as far as playing together, which would be a much nicer way of respecting the past. Read the article here: Ex-WHITE LION Singer MIKE TRAMP: 'I Would Not Wanna Play With VITO BRATTA For Anything In The World'.

While I'm on this subject of bands that flirt with the idea of reuniting, I have this to say. There will come a day when a band's "classic" lineup cannot reunite. I'm thinking about

1. Slayer, due to Jeff Hanneman's death
2. Pantera, due to Dimebag's death
3. Audioslave / Soundgarden, due to Chris Cornell's death*
4. Alice in Chains, due to Layne Staley's death
5. Linkin Park, due to Chester Bennington's death
6. Quiet Riot, due to Kevin DuBrow's death
7. Stone Temple Pilots, due to Scott Weiland's death
8. Led Zeppelin, due to John Bonham's death
9. The Who, due to Keith Moon's death
10. Ratt, due to Robin Crosby's death

Right there are 10 bands that I like who cannot reunite, due to death. Then I think about these 10 bands:

1. Black Sabbath
2. Sepultura
3. White Lion
4. Dream Theater
5. Queensryche

who COULD reunite, but have not or will not, for various reasons which all can be boiled down to being human. The members are alive, today, unlike the first list of 10 bands. What I wish would happen is for the members of the second list of bands to realize that they are unlike the first 10 and that someday, they will join that list. Thus, wouldn't it be great to reconcile whatever issues separate them now, before they have to do it at a grave?

* After publishing this post, came across this article: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/tom-morello-reveals-abandoned-audioslave-reunion-plans/

Ozzy's List

From  http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/News/en-us/Ozzy-Osbourne-Favorite-Metal-Albums.aspx

Ozzy Osbourne's 10 favorite metal albums, in alphabetical order, via Rolling Stone:

1. AC/DC -- Highway to Hell
2. Alice in Chains -- Facelift
3. Guns N' Roses -- Appetite for Destruction
4. Judas Priest -- British Steel
5. Led Zeppelin -- Led Zeppelin IV
6. Megadeth -- Rust in Peace
7. Metallica -- Master of Puppets
8. Motorhead -- Ace of Spades
9. Pantera -- Cowboys from Hell
10. Rob Zombie -- Hellbilly Deluxe

I own all but the Motorhead Ace of Spades album.

17 Slabs of Music

When I was listening to tunes on youtube.com, I came across these bands / albums. Listing them here does not imply endorsement.

1. 32 Leaves - Welcome To The Fall - Full Album https://youtu.be/sVEhs9ySQsg 
2. Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here - Full Album https://youtu.be/QBbCol3Rn54
3. Allele - Point Of Origin - Full Album https://youtu.be/sF54nSnnyBY
4. Black Out The Sun - Sevendust - Full Album https://youtu.be/GFIYbJz2ZQk
5. Damage INC. - And Justice for All (Metallica cover) https://youtu.be/_zWHPmvRqfI
6. Days Of Jupiter - Only Ashes Remain - Full Album https://youtu.be/-PJ1p1Mzbxw
7. Dead By April - Incomparable - Full Album https://youtu.be/f1QB5ZrI-Xk
8. Dead By April - Let The World Know - Full Album https://youtu.be/Sw8dmny9qAc
9. Emphatic - Another Life - Full Album https://youtu.be/pRQGfGHa7BQ
10. Evans Blue - Graveyard of Empires - Full Album https://youtu.be/eyqYHYZB-ao
11. I-Exist - Humanity - Full Album https://youtu.be/wlxUpfxPLVw
12. Pillar - Fireproof - Full Album https://youtu.be/IBztULYIYxE
13. Ra - Black Sun - Full Album https://youtu.be/FxQuJR-4Mq4
14. Ra - Critical Mass - Full Album https://youtu.be/BwrkKvj0usQ
15. Skillet – Unleashed - Full Album https://youtu.be/_8zDVnuZrt8
16. Tesla - Forever More Full Album https://youtu.be/WlcyhmqbMbc
17. Theory of a Deadman - Theory of a Deadman - Full Album https://youtu.be/oztggk9OL3g

Where I Was 25 Years Ago is Not Where I am 25 Years Later

Editor's note: It's rare that I add a new label when I write a post. Today, I added the "Alice in Chains" label. It surprised me that I had never done that before.
 
It's beyond my comprehension that Facelift, the debut album from Alice in Chains, was released 25 years ago. This article - http://www.loudwire.com/alice-in-chains-facelift-album-anniversary/ - goes through the story of how that album was initially received.

Twenty-five years ago, on Tuesday, August 21, 1990, I was not ready for Alice in Chains. I was still not ready for them when they were the opening band during the Clash of the Titans tour (Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth were the other bands on that tour) when it stopped in Cedar Rapids in summer 1991. It was about a month after that concert that I began to understand that "Man in a Box" is a really good tune!

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I talked to Stephanie, Megan's roommate's mom, as we were moving Megan in to her dorm room. As it often does, music came up in conversation. She said that Alice in Chains was her favorite band and that she didn't like the current lead singer.

Per Loudwire.com, these are the top 10 Alice in Chains tunes over the last 25 years.

1.      Listen to 'No Excuses'

2.      Listen to 'Check My Brain'

3.      Listen to 'Down in a Hole'

4.      Listen to 'Hollow'

5.      Listen to 'Them Bones'

6.      Listen to 'Nutshell'

7.      Listen to 'Rooster'

8.      Listen to 'I Stay Away'

9.      Listen to 'Would?'

10.  Listen to 'Man in the Box'