- Artist: The Music Machine
- Title: Best Of The Music Machine (Featuring Sean Bonniwell)
- Year: 1984
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Tracy
- Acquired: 1984 – Probably mail order from some place like Midnight Records in NYC.
- Keeper: Yes
Since I mentioned The Music Machine in my last post I thought I would post this Best Of The Music Machine (Featuring Sean Bonniwell) record next. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it and it’s more rocking than I remembered.
This album was released by Rhino in 1984. That’s like some label today re-releasing music that was popular, or at least existed, in the late 1980s, for a new audience. I was in high school when I bought this re-issue, so it’s not like I was being nostalgic. I suppose there may be some teenagers out there who would be excited to discover music from 1988, but it seems weird to me.
Most people think the seeds of heavy metal were sewn in the late 1960s, but I think The Music Machine got there a few years earlier. They have some heavy riffs, tricky song structures, dark lyrics, and –best of all– they wore all black clothing, dyed their hair black, and wore a black glove on one hand only. The notes on the back cover describe them as being “in the vanguard of the punk rock boom.” Maybe, but after another round of listening I’m convinced The Music Machine was proto-metal. And that’s what I’m talking about.
More about The Music Machine at Wikipedia.
- Artist: Metallica
- Title: Master of Puppets
- Year: 1986
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 10
- Owner: Tracy
- Acquired: 1986 – Probably when I worked at Mother’s Records
- Keeper: Yes
The great one from the great ones. Some, people smarter than me that is, consider this the greatest heavy metal album of all time. I wouldn’t argue with that.
I was listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela‘s version of Metallica’s “Orion” this Saturday and decided I should play the original, which ended up turning into a Metallica history lesson for my son Mars. Then, coincidentally on Sunday I got another, and unexpected, dose of Master of Puppets. We were at our kids’ music recital where most of the tunes were seasonally-correct holiday stuff. But then this one middle-school-age-looking youngster came up to play the title track, “Master of Puppets.” He was even wearing the t-shirt. He has the same cool teacher as my kids, and his teacher accompanied him on bass. There is nothing simple about this music. It’s intense in every way, but the kid did a solid job getting pretty far through the song then stopped somewhat abruptly before the pretty bridge and solos.
I was looking around the room at the faces of the parents and relatives wondering if anyone else in the room was getting it. As great as this music is, it’s not for everyone. And even for metal aficionados it takes some adaptation just to digest what’s going on. I’ve played “Master” more than you can imagine and I was still surprised how fast, intense and sophisticated it is when I spun it again this week. I was talking to the kids’ teacher yesterday and as he put it, “it still holds up.” Indeed. Side one alone qualifies it as a “10″ in my book.
Check it out:
“Battery”
“Master of Puppets”
“The Thing That Should Not Be” (for you fans of H.P. Lovecraft)
“Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
Also worth mentioning about “Master” is that it was the last album with bassist Cliff Burton. He would die in a bus accident while on tour. OK, everybody knows that. But do you know this? Tipper Gore’s PMRC had it in for the title tack, which they apparently said was about “getting kids hooked on drugs.” Any moron could read the lyric sheet and see that the song was about the nightmare of drug addiction. I remember reading an interview with James Hetfield some time after the flare up. He might have even had to testify at a Senate hearing, can’t remember for sure. When he was asked about the whole thing he just said “people are going to believe what they want.” He didn’t need to explain anything.
Smashing through boundaries
Lunacy has found me
Cannot stop the Battery!
Lemme see those horns people!
More at Wikipedia:
Metallica
Master of Puppets
- Artist: Fastway
- Title: Fastway
- Year: 1983
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 7
- Owner: Tracy and Bob
- Acquired: 2005 – Another one I got from Bob Bobala
- Keeper: Yes
Fastway was a hard rock/metal super group with members from Motörhead, Humble Pie, and UFO. Believe it or not, the then-unknown singer Dave King went on to found Flogging Molly. Believe it.
I have always loved the song “Say What You Will” but I never got around to getting the album. Bob Bob’s record collection to the rescue again. (I guess it’s just the luck of the draw but it seems like his old records are popping up more than my own lately.) Some of the songs are highly mediocre, but when they’re good they’re great. Another favorite is “Another Day.” Included with Bob’s copy of Fastway is a one-sided 7 inch with a Zeppelin-style dirge titled “Far Far From Home.” I don’t know what the story is with that song, but I dig it.
You can listen to “Say What You Will” at YouTube.
The Fastway story at Wikipedia.
- Artist: Scatterbrain
- Title: Here Comes Trouble
- Year: 1990
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 5
- Owner: Tracy
- Acquired: 1990 – Promo at a store I owned with my brother.
- Keeper: No
I love metal and comedy, just not combined. At least that’s true when the comedy is not so subtle, which is the case here. Scatterbrain are a group of tremendous musicians, and I’m sure their live shows were pretty fun. Here Comes Trouble is full of intricately arranged songs that no lazy bunch of slackers could ever produce, but the over-the-top jokes end up making it all seem trivial. Take a look at the liner pic below of the guys in Groucho Marx glasses. That pretty much sums up this album.
Possibly the most noteworthy thing here is the Robert Williams painting as cover art.
More about Scatterbrain.
- Artist: Ozzy Osbourne
- Title: Diary of a Madman
- Year: 1981
- Format: Vinyl 12 in.
- Rating (1-10): 6
- Owner: Tracy and Bob
- Acquired: 2005 – Inherited from Bob Bobala when he moved to California
- Keeper: Yes
Usually, I only post a concert ticket stub if it’s from a tour that supported the album I’m discussing. That’s not the case here, but there are some connections to my Ozzfest 2001 ticket stub and this copy of Ozzy Osbourne’s Diary of a Madman. Both were given to me by my friend Bob Bobala.
Bob scored some killer tickets for the show at Nissan Pavilion. They were really close to the stage, in the shade, and not cheap. I bought Bob a shirt at the show, a lot cheaper. It was a long day of metal chaos and social observing. Black Sabbath with all the original members was, of course, the highlight; they blew everyone else away. By the end of the show we were getting pelted with ketchup packs and drink bottles by the jealous riffraff sitting on the grass, but it was worth it to see Sabbath up close.
Then, when Bob moved away he gave me quite a few records. This was one of them. I’ve always been a big fan of Sabbath but I never really followed Osbourne’s solo work. I have to admit I was kind of disappointed with the album as a whole. The big hit “Flying High Again” is excellent, but there is little else that comes close.
This was the last album Randy Rhoads recorded before he died. There’s also some interesting controversy about the credits for bass and drums. Sarzo and Aldridge pictured on the liner below didn’t play on the record.
I’m still a little surprised Bob didn’t keep this record when he moved. I’m going to take good care of it for him.
