Tag Archives: Columbia Records

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Posts

Aerosmith – Make It

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“What have you got to lose?”

I remember buying Aerosmith’s Columbia years compilation Box Of Fire back in the mid 90s. I didn’t know a lot of the band’s 70s stuff and I was worried I’d risked too much cash on 13 CDs worth of albums I might not like that much. But the moment I heard the first riff of Make It, the opening song on their 1973 debut album, I knew it was going to be ok. Make It is a great, gutsy opener and a decent song but it’s the guitars that really umm… make it. It’s chock full of dirty drop-D riffing and colourfully wonky soloing. And that intro riff, with its goosebump-inducing suspended chord and mini-gallop, still knocks me out as much today as it did back in 1994. Money well spent.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Posts

Judas Priest – The Sentinel

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“The figure stands expressionless”

Over the years, Judas Priest have had a growing penchant for lyrics that basically just describe some sort of apocalyptic cartoon character. A lot of their album covers depict similar creations too – check out the Metalli-Tarkus or whatever it is on the cover of their 1984 album Defenders Of The Faith. And that same album also has one of the best songs of this particular type: The Sentinel. Just that title alone is metal as fuck. And so is the song. The guitar intro is imposing and dramatic, the pacey riffing builds to a typically phenomenal display of guitar jousting from the Tipton/Downing dream team and Boaby Halford totally delivers the goods: singing phrases like “sworn to avenge” with utter conviction. Recorded following the band’s big US breakthrough, The Sentinel brims with confidence while also retaining the cutting edge of their earlier material, closing a faultless side of vinyl on an epic sci-fi high.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Progressive Rock, Song Posts

Blue Öyster Cult – Monsters

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“New worlds waiting in the sky”

In Blue Öyster Cult’s Monsters, one woman and three men form a crew to steal a spaceship and head out into the cosmos in order to escape a laughter-free Earth. Unfortunately they don’t reckon on the monsters of their minds and the trip ends in sex, jealousy and murder. On BÖC’s 1980 album Cultösaurus Erectus, the band were keen to focus on their enigmatic, heavier side and Monsters‘ dark sci-fi yarn definitely delivers on that front. It’s also a ton of fun: a demented mix of sex and sax where huge stadium rock mixes with schizoid King Crimson riffs and swinging jazz interludes. And while the story ends badly for the crew, Monsters takes off in a climax that is Blue Öyster Cult at their euphoric best.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Posts

Love/Hate – She’s An Angel

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“They’ll lock you away”

They think she’s insane but Love/Hate, experts in all different types of ladies (from the cuddly wuddly wuddly ones to the nymphomaniacs… in black), know better: She’s An Angel. Taken from the band’s thumping and debauched 1990 debut album Blackout In The Red Room, She’s An Angel stands out as a refreshingly romantic, windswept change of pace from the rest of the album’s party-hearty race to the bottom. But there’s still plenty of that going on in She’s An Angel too, with its drug-taking protaganist, relentless yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahs, and its breathless, driving intensity. I always get a total charge from this exhilarating sleaze metal gem. It’s a guaranteed good time, even during the bad times.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Song Posts

Journey – Wheel In The Sky

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“The mornin’ sun is risin'”

You never know what the new day will bring. I’ve been listening pretty solidly to death metal this week (Akercocke, Bloodbath, Gorguts) then I woke up this morning and my brain was playing Wheel In The Sky by Journey. Bit of a change of pace, but a fine suggestion, brain! Taken from my favourite Journey album Infinity, Wheel In The Sky is a standout song from the album and from the band’s whole career. It’s in D-minor, the saddest of all keys, but its bouncy rhythm, suvvern twang and Steve Perry’s blissful singing give it a strident, hopeful quality. Throw in an iconic guitar intro and a rich, warm production and you’ve got an absolute rock classic that never fails to put a spring in my step. Now let’s see what my brain’s got lined up for tomorrow… back to the good old zombie infernos I’ll bet.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Song Posts

Alice In Chains – God Smack

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“What in God’s name have you done?”

Alice In Chains’ 1992 album Dirt is widely associated with heroin addiction and features many great songs ridden with anguish, turmoil and death. But there are actually only three songs on it that specifically reference drug use. And you’re not getting any points for guessing that God Smack is one of them. It’s got the woozy, sick Layne Staley vocals and an upbeat wah-drenched chorus but musically it’s one of the album’s least remarkable tracks. However, the title and its unflinching portrayal of someone for whom heroin has become everything, gives it a thematic and lyrical importance that makes it a key deep cut on the album even if it’s no great shakes when listened to in isolation.

Classic Rock, Genre, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal

Blue Öyster Cult – Secret Treaties (Review)

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Blue Öyster Cult – Secret Treaties (1974)

Secret Treaties is the last and best of the so-called “black-and-white” trilogy of albums that kicked off Blue Öyster Cult’s career: a trio of mysterious, monochrome-covered rock albums that peaked with this 1974 release. It’s dark, esoteric and also a bit of a hoot. It’s an album of parodic garage-rock horror reminiscent of Alice Cooper’s Killer, full of psychedelic monster mashes like Career Of Evil, the oddly cute Cagey Cretins and the seismic, psychotic Harvester Of Eyes. And those aren’t even the best tracks. Overdriven boogie rocker ME262 puts you in the pilot’s seat of a Junkers Jumo 004 (“Hitler’s on the phone from Berlin, he’s gonna make you a star”) and Dominance And Submission has a superb, swinging groove, an unforgettable climax (“radios appear”) and some creepy interjections from Charles The Grinning Boy… “it will be time”. But the album truly peaks with its closing tracks, Flaming Telepaths and Astronomy. Both are grand, magnificent masterpieces with affecting muscianship and beautifully cryptic imagery. Astronomy in particular is a complete head-scratcher. I’d love to know what “the nexus of the crisis, the origin of storms” really means but then… I feel like not knowing is kind of the point. And the reason Secret Treaties remains so eternally fascinating and alluring.