Scott Walker - Scott

How do you describe an icon? To be perfectly honest I don’t think anything I can say about this individual truly gives him justice. He’s an amazing, brilliant, creative, diligent, excellent, and fantastic genius. I am talking about the 30 Century Man himself, Scott Walker.

For those not familiar with Scott Walker don’t feel embarrassed at all if you don’t consider yourself a music fan. However, if you’re a music aficionado you should know who Scott Walker is and the impact he has left on music. To be perfectly honest I had no clue who he was until three years ago when I saw a documentary called Scott Walker: 30 Century Man. If you haven’t seen the film already go out and see it immediately!

Scott Walker is a remarkable renaissance man that has been practically unnoticed in the United States as a solo artist. Walker was in the pop band The Walker Brothers from 1964 to 1967, until the band broke up because of artistic differences and pop stardom.  During that time, the band produced “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” both #1 UK Singles and Top 20 hits in the United States. The band was particularly popular in Europe and the UK during this time.

The Walker Brother’s last album, Images, was a foreshadowing for Walker’ solo albums and gave fans a small glimpse of the direction he wanted his effective, emotional vocal range to go towards.  Walker has influenced musical artists like Marc Almond, David Sylvian, David Bowie, Radiohead, Sting, Gavin Friday and The Divine Comedy to name a few. When I discovered David Bowie and Sting were huge fans I knew right then and there I needed to listen to Scott Walker.

Scott Walker released Scott six months after Images was released. Scott was successful in the UK, but practically unnoticed in the US. The album is a unique mixture of covers and original songs that established Walker as a serious, solemn and sophisticated musician. The soulful “boy band” image was long gone.

The album begins with one of my favorite cover songs ever, “Mathilde,” one of three English-translated covers of Belgian musician and songwriter Jacques Brel’s songs. Immediately listeners are hit with loud trumpets and Walker’s sweet, somber voice. More opening tracks should be as attention grabbing as this, but sadly very few actually are.

"Montague Terrace (In Blue)" is the second track and one Walker’s original songs. Although I am not a huge fan of this song, it does seamlessly blend in with everything else. That’s what so remarkable about this album. Even though it’s an album mostly composed of covers, nothing seems out of place and as a matter of fact is pitch perfect.

The songs “Angelica” and “When Joanna Loved Me” are two phenomenal covers. Even though the majority of the songs are covers, Brel’s "My Death" and "Amsterdam" are arguably two of the best found on the album. Walker’s other original songs are "Such a Small Love" and "Always Coming Back to You." It’s such a wide variety, yet balance work of current contemporary covers, English translated songs and original songs that you lose yourself in the music.

Scott Walker was and still remains a pioneer in the music industry. He still continues making music today, but it’s always under the radar. Walker once famously said, “"I've become the Orson Welles of the record industry. People want to take me to lunch, but nobody wants to finance the picture... it's a tough way to work."

If you enjoy Scott Walker, John Cale and Tim Buckley are two other experimental and avant-garde artists that are worth checking out as well.

--Mr. Brownstone

Buy here: Scott

Ripple News - Free Music Giveaway from The Little Comets

Little Comets new single ‘Joanna’ is set be released on the 17th January 2011 and they’ve released the video along with an incredible alternative version they’ve called ‘Joannacapella’ which we’d love to give away as a free download to all waveriders out there.

Here’s the brand new video:




And here’s the free download - http://soundcloud.com/mud-hut-digital/little-comets-joannacapella

Joanna can also be streamed here - http://soundcloud.com/mud-hut-digital/little-comets-joanna

Free (legal) music from the Ripple Effect.  It's a beautiful world.

REVOLTING STUDENTS

I have a few friends who are definitely in the left camp and one of them asked me what I thought of the student demos yesterday.

The only thing I could say to him was: "Well who's going to pay if not students?"

I also challenged him about whether he would be willing to pay more tax so students could get a so-called higher education - he declined.

At the end of the day, this is what it boils down to - who exactly is paying?

It is not government money, it is ours, the taxpayers.

Feel free to volunteer to pay for hairdresser degrees if you agree with the student protests but with a family to look after, tax demands and bills, don't come knocking on door!

YOU'RE THOR?

OK been away for a bit

here's the official trailer for Thor

Attack of the Ripple Bursts - Featuring The Cold Beat, Cancer Killing Gemini, Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts, Shades of Rhythm, Dragontears, and Shuteye Unison

So much music to catch up with:

Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s spinning in the Ripple CD player.

The Cold Beat  - Get Safe

Hailing from Allston, MA, The Cold Beat could be defined as a sleeves-rolled up, working class, roots-level indy rock band with an arm full of punk tattoos.  Having delved deeply into their recently released split 7”, I eagerly anticipated Get Safe, the trio’s first long player, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Think of the Replacements as your starting point, throw them into a beat up 1957 Mercury driving through the heartland of the USA, toss in some punk spittle and snot and a touch of emo energy and what arrives at its destination is a rousing album full of urgent modern anthems.   Melodies are never overlooked amongst the clashing guitars and wild-eyed bass and drums.  Never is this more clear than on the album stunner, “Copper Green,” with it’s clear Replacements-spawned verses and sing-along chorus.  There’s even a chunk of the Gin Blossoms here, if they’d grown up with a love of punk.   Nothing safe here, just good rock and roll.


Buy here mp3: Get Safe

Cancer Killing Gemini – It Only Hurts When We Breathe

In this post-Nine Inch Nails world, it’s hard to be an industrial band without falling upon the common comparisons.  Trent Reznor cast such a long shadow.  But Cancer Killing Gemini are just the band to crawl out from underneath that shadow, forge ahead, and create shadows all their own.  Sure we got the requisite percolating synths, the synthetic throbbing bass, and walls-upon-walls of distorted guitars.  But CKG don’t stop there.  Mix in some truly captivating melodies, a sense of drama and cinematic scope, a willingness to experiment with tempo, and a dirty grunge edge, and you’ll get a feeling for It Only Hurts When We Breathe.  I can think of no logical reason that lead track “Christcontrol,” shouldn’t lead-off every Industrial compilation or radio station for years to come.  The song is absolutely addictive.    The rest of the album follows suit, with gems like “Prescription Drugs.”  Industrial fans, check it.

Buy here mp3: It only hurts when we breathe
Buy here: It only hurts when we breathe

Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts – Risk

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Japan, particularly their later period stuff, which coincidentally put me into a perfect frame of mind to enjoy Risk.  Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts delve into moody, lush, atmospheric pop with the same aplomb as Japan or Blue Nile, never sacrificing listenability or becoming too full of themselves.  This is serious music, not because it dwells in its own self-importance but serious in the intent, the rigor and the craftsmanship.  Ambient passages collide with noisepop, breathy vocals bleed into delicate piano chords.  Crashing guitars explode and disappear at a moments notice.  Moody, atmospheric drone,art pop at it’s finest.  Japan’s been gone for far too long now.  Nice to have Daniel Harmann & the Trouble Starts here to fill the void.

Buy here: Risk
Buy here mp3: Risk

Shades of Rhythm – Shades of Rhythm (Extacy Edition)

Another killer reissue from the vaults of ZTT, sure to please even the most hardened dance/club fan.  Right around the late 80’s and early ‘90’s, the dance, club, warehouse rave scene exploded in London.  I was there, living near King’s Cross for a spell in 1989, and it was impossible not to get caught up in the frenzy created by some of these dynamite dance-music collectives like Soul II Soul.  Shades of Rhythm jumped into that fray releasing platter after platter of rave-inducing, dancefloor madness.  Hyperkinetic rhythms, inspired piano, and a generous helping of joy fueled Shades’ rise up the charts.  Here, you’ll relive those heady days when a happy face, a thumping bass really were the sign of a loving race.  “Sweet Sensation is here as are some true dance, proto-lounge masterpieces like “Shakers,” and “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights.”  If you’re a dance fan, this two-disc deluxe edition is sure to put a smile on your face.

Buy here: Shades of Rhythm (Extacy Edition)



Dragontears – Turn On, Tune In, Fuck Off!!

Another demented masterpiece from the heavily fuzzed mind of Lorenzo Woodrose, mastermind behind Baby Woodrose.  Here, the THC’d-one cranks the fuzz quotient up to ‘11’ and unleashes 6 masterful garage-psych fuzz sunbursts.  Both hands dip deep into the candybowl of multi-colored pills as Dragontears unleash this 40-minute headtrip, the band’s farewell statement.  If you find that guitars simply can not swirl enough to satisfy your tastes, if garage rock can’t crunch enough to fill your belly, have we got a treat for you.  Huge looping bass runs, crunchy guitars, crackling percussion and enough left over, second hand smoke to light up the nation.  Turn on, tune in, fuck off!!

Buy here mp3: Turn On Tune In Fuck Off [Explicit]



Shuteye Unison – Our Future Selves


It’s fitting that Shuteye Unison’s killer new disc arrived on my desk as the autumn rains began their torrential attack.  Two years ago, I included Shuteye’s amazing self-titled debut in my Autumn Listening Guide.  Then, the delicate, dreamy, indy pop reminded me of a pensive walking through a changing colorful landscape.  But this autumn is different.  Winds are blowing, rain is pounding.  And seeming to match that, Our Future Selves finds Shuteye Unison taking a far more aggressive stance.  Crunchy guitars kick off  “Be Kimball,” with a violent sense of foreboding, bringing in a charging post-punk, post-Fugazi groove far and away from the introspective self-titled debut.  But rest assured, Shuteye Unison aren't content to leave it there.  Our Future Selves acts like a reconnaissance mission though the badlands of indy pop.  At times lush and atmospheric, at times dense and mean, and at times sprawling and droning, Our Future Selves is and album for listening.  Don’t think about putting this one on by the fire and ignoring it while you play monopoly.  Our Future Selves demands your attention.  It grabs your inner ear, your brain, and your imagination and insists you go on the journey with them.  What waits around the next corner is a mystery until you actually approach it, and still, it seems to change with each listen.  A remarkable album.

Buy here mp3: Our Future Selves

Ripple Library - Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy's Tale: From the Front Lines of Punk Roc

The fact that this book even exists should motivate you to buy a copy. If you know who Cheetah Chrome is, then you know that he’s a true rock & roll wildman who’s lived a lot harder than you ever will. He’s survived drugs, alcohol, Stiv Bators, Cleveland, New York City and then some. The dude deserves the happy life and family he’s created for himself in Nashville.

Cheetah was born Eugene O’Connor in Cleveland, 1955 and became a rock & roll fan, guitarist and pot smoker at an early age. His musical course was forever changed when his mother bought him the first Stooges album by accident. Young Cheetah’s mind was blown and it put him on a path that eventually led to meeting up with other weirdos in the mythical proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs. Once that band splintered into Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys, Cheetah and his blood brother Stiv Bators went on to create one of the most full-on high energy punk rock bands of all time.

Cheetah pulls no punches in his autobiography. He’s very forthcoming about all the horrible things he’s done to himself and to others. The chapters on his years as a junkie are harrowing and an excellent deterrent for anyone considering dabbling in that area. So many of his friends and collaborators are dead and gone – Stiv, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Dee Dee Ramone, John Belushi, Nico, etc and there’s no real reason why Cheetah’s still around other than being a tough mother fucker.

But the best parts of the book are the hilarious situations he’s gotten into over the years. Even as a kid in the audience he managed to make an impact. For instance, he once gave his hero Iggy Pop a bunch of free downers before a Stooges show only for Iggy to turn into an incoherent mess onstage. There are plenty of sex, drugs and rock & roll stories from the 1977 ground zero days at CBGB and tours with fellow mental patients The Damned. As debauched as some of the tales are, you definitely get the feeling that a lot of the gory details have been left out.

Even if you’re not a fan of the Dead Boys or punk rock in general, this book is a must read for any music fanatic. I was lucky enough to witness most of the Dead Boys reunion shows at the Ritz in NYC and his band the Ghetto Dogs a few times. Cheetah was always a completely inspiring lunatic on the stage. On a more personal note, as a young dipshit coming into NYC on the weekends to see shows and buy records I used to see the street walking Cheetah all the time in the early to mid-80’s. He was usually nice enough to stop and talk to me and answer all my moronic questions about the Dead Boys or which MC5 albums I should track down (“all of them” he told me). Some days Cheetah didn’t look so good and I knew to stay the fuck away. Long live Cheetah!

 --Woody

Buy here: Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy's Tale: From the Front Lines of Punk Rock

The Rakehells - Please Yourself or the Devil in the Flesh

Alas, pity the life of a rake.

“And so Lord Penfold, I simply must tell you…”
“Apologies my lady, but there is someone I absolutely have to speak to this very minute.”
“But you promised that you would listen to my story.”
“And so I shall my dear, so I shall.  But for now I must beg your forgiveness, for we must part ways though it rends my heart to be away from you for a mere moment.”
“Alright Lord Penfold.  If you must go I understa…”

The last bit of dialogue was lost to me as I had already begun my hasty retreat from the young lady whom up until quite recently had been particularly engaging.  Unfortunately, she had transitioned into what I commonly refer to as a ‘clingy’ state.  Not that I blame her at all.  I know how tremendously attractive I am to women and how quickly they become enamored with me.  At least I did not have to resort to a lie to extricate myself from this latest conversation.  I really did need to speak with King Charles about my recent run of bad luck at the tables and track.  Surely he would understand that my luck could only get better, and my mounting debt would shortly be reduced if not eliminated.  But before I could walk over to King Charles I spotted someone else I wished to speak with even more at the bar.  Standing with a drink in his hand and wearing an obscene getup was the Earl of Rochester.

“Lord Rochester, what on earth happened to your clothes?”
“Ah, Lord Penfold.  Good to see you.  This is the latest fashion.  Do you like it?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure what to make of it.  You appear to have cut off all of the hair from your wig except for a single line down the middle which you have spiked with some sort of gel.  And your normally fine clothing has been torn in several areas and is only held together with numerous safety pins.  Has some devil possessed you sir?”
“No, no Penfold.  A new band called The Rakehells has come under my patronage.  They inspired this change in my appearance.  Come, they’re playing in the auditorium down the hall.  You must hear them play!”
“Fine, but I’m bringing a bottle to keep us company.”

To put it simply, this is punk rock how I often want punk rock to sound.  Pay homage to the greats that came before you, but go about your business with an undeniable swagger and style you can claim as your own.  The Rakehells never let up from the first note of their debut album, Please Yourself or the Devil in the Flesh, all the way through to the moment you hear the laser eye of your CD player readjusting itself after reaching the end of the disc.  Let’s put this bad boy under the microscope to better learn its ways.

As stated before The Rakehells play what I would refer to as punk rock.  I realize that that is quite the blanket statement considering the extraordinarily varied acts which all describe themselves with the same moniker.  Perhaps it will be simpler to describe the band’s sound by explaining what they are not.  Although I would definitely describe the guitar tones as muscular, the band is certainly not a hardcore group.  Yes the vocals are all sung, not screamed or yelled, but the band fails to show any sign of the sappiness found in a lot of commercial pop punk.  While the song tempos do fluctuate, they typically reside in the realm of fast and never fall into slow territory a la a lot of post punk.  Okay, I’m tired of this exercise.  In the end I ask myself who needs labels when the music is great?  Answer: nobody.

“Ready, Fire, Aim” begins the album and acts a foretelling of things to come.  Remember I spoke earlier about the band having a swagger about them.  Well rest assured it’s on full display from the word go, and it oozes out of your speakers in an untamable flow.  The band reeks of confidence in the music they are producing, and it is infectious.  Personal highlights for me are “Souls for Sale”, “Mode of the Moment”, and “Meat on a Stick”.  I find that I draw more enjoyment from these songs thanks solely to their rip-snorting, monolithic guitar riffs and insanely propulsive energy.  But limiting yourself to just these three songs would be worse than criminal in light of the rest of the album.  If you’re a fan of The Clash then you will fall head over heels for songs like “Charles Marlay”, “Sexton Blake”, and “Capital”.  I’m not suggesting that these are duplicates of Clash songs, just that sonically many obvious parallels can be drawn between the two bands while listening.  Also if like me you are a fan of X, then you definitely need to hear the song “Lost Weekend”.  On this song especially the listener can hear the clear influence of John Doe’s singing style and tone on the lead singer from The Rakehells.  Besides that, the musical dissonance throughout much of that song is endlessly intriguing!

Fellow Waveriders, if you are looking for something new and interesting in the world of punk or just rock n’ roll in general you need look no further than The Rakehells.  I’ve been listening to this album for a little while now and I personally vouch for its authentic entertainment value.  The fact that this is the very first release from this band is somewhat frightening.  I don’t want to think about what will happen to my listening habits down the line if this band refines its formula and releases more killer albums.  Apology letters will have to be sent to my other favorite acts since The Rakehells will occupy all of my listening time.  Scary!

“So Lord Penfold, what do you think of the band?”
“Lord Rochester, I’m stunned!  They’re fantastic!”
“I’m glad you feel that way Penfold.  If you had not liked them, I might not have told you that the young lady you were wooing earlier appears to be looking for you.  She seems rather smitten with you, you villain.”
“Ah hah, that is most unfortunate.  For now I must leave this fine ball, and all because of my animal magnetism.  I tell you John, I’m cursed.”

-- Penfold

Buy here mp3: Please Yourself; Or the Devil in the Flesh 

Heavy Glow - The Filth and The Fury”EP

Electronic distortion - to reproduce or amplify (a signal) inaccurately by changing the frequencies or unequally changing the delay or amplitude of the components of the output wave. (The “Filth.”)

Audio feedback - when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output. The frequency of the resulting sound is determined by resonance frequencies in the microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker, the acoustics of the room, the directional pick-up and emission patterns of the microphone and loudspeaker, and the distance between them. (The “Fury”)

Add the two together and you have The Filth and The Fury.  Use it skillfully and surround it with expert guitar playing, world class rock drums, driving bass, catchy lyrics, and soulful vocals, and you have Heavy Glow’s The Filth and The Fury EP.

Although the EP’s name is the same as a 1999 video rock documentary on the Sex Pistols by Julien Temple, Heavy Glow’s performances are more akin to the 1969 psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix.  Guitarist and vocalist Jared Mullins displays his axe virtuosity like a circus ringmaster. He tames feedback and turns it into melodious waves of sound in much of the same way Hendrix did during his performance of “Can You See Me?” at the Monterey Pop Festival.  He adds various distortions - from Hendrix’s and Clapton’s fuzzboxes to Link Wray’s dislodged amplifier tube sputter.  Mullins’ guitar playing is a master class in tone. Mullins’ vocals fit beautifully and provide an expressive and accessible foundation for the power trio.

Joe Brooks provides the bottom. He thumps and bumps crunch in a way Dickie Peterson of Blue Cheer fame would fully appreciate.  Dan Kurtz is a madman.  He is a power drummer, with exacting rhythm, that would have Buddy Miles and Ian Paice on their feet waiving flicked Bic lighters.

Now here’s the kicker.  The EP was cut live in one room over a period of six hours.  Let me say that one more time - the EP was cut live in one room over a period of six hours.  Incredible!

How did they do it?  Well, talent helps - so does the steady hand of guitarist and producer Stevie Salas.  Salas has worked with Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, George Clinton - even Justin Timberlake.  He just seems to know how to get the best out of these boys.

The EP contains five songs - all of them gems.  The most radio ready are "I Almost Prayed" and "Bourgeois Baby" which share a certain drive and complexity that have you up and rockin’.  Then there is "Hot Mess" with a riff that descends directly from Hendrix’s "Manic Depression"  "Love Ghost" does things with feedback and fuzz that make you know the band was reared on a steady diet of hard rock.  To finish the EP Heavy Glow performs "Red July," an early 1970’s power rock ballad of Bootsy Collin-esque bass combined with Clapton’s Cream-era guitar tones, accented by Stewart Copeland-like drumming, over which Mullins croons about “hot summer, red July” with mantra-like repetition.

Don’t know where the band name Heavy Glow came from.  At first I thought it might have originated from the lyrics of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song "By The Way."  After listening to the EP I’m not so sure.  It might just be taken from the light at the end of a burning medical marijuana cigarette.  Now, that’s more like Heavy Glow.


- Old School

Buy here mp3: The Filth & The Fury [Explicit]

Running Wild – Branded and Exiled

During one of our recent phone conversations, Racer made mention that he played Armored Saint’s Delirious Nomad and was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t steer him wrong with said recommendation. As the conversation progressed, he asked me about Running Wild and all the jolly pirate shenanigans that were encapsulated within their swarthy and swaggering tunes, to which I had to plead the fifth . . . for, I hadn’t spent much time aboard that musical sailing vessel bearing plundered goods from across the Seven Seas. However, I was aware of Running Wild just prior to them embarking on this journey through the ruffled shirt realms of metaldom. So, with the little reminder from my writing mate, I practically fell over myself to dig Branded and Exiled out of my collection for a long deserved spinning.

Running Wild through Branded and Exiled was a power metal/thrash group from Germany that played a darker version of Accept-styled metal or Destruction. This album came along just before Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, et al made thrash metal the popular movement that it became. Once again, we have a fringe band that really didn’t achieve any success away from the underground during that pivotal mid to late 80’s time period. The production on this album is great in that the recording captured sounds raw and aggressive, maybe on par with the early Venom recordings. The mix is a little crazy . . . the guitars are way up front, the drums sound huge and the echo is turned heavily to the right, and the vocals have been baked in a casserole of reverb and garnished with distortion, which gives them a heavier, more menacing tone to them. It’s like Running Wild was flirting with the demonic spectrum of heavy metal, kinda’ like they were peering into the abyss of early death metal, intrigued long enough to put their thoughts to tape, and then ran away screaming in the opposite direction. It was all of these great little elements that made Branded and Exiled one of my cherished childhood memories.

Branded and Exiled opens with a monstrous guitar riff akin to Judas Priest and then with the sound of a gong, the whole band drops in and rolls into a classic anthemic metal, quasi-thrash, headbanging beast. The speed of the tune is mid tempo by today’s standards, but back in the day, this had an immediacy to it that definitely got the listeners attention. The little double bass drum flourishes are nice pieces of added texture, and the heaviness of the guitars, the palm muted chug-a-lug of power chords, creates a welcome sense of brutality to an otherwise potentially cheesy riff. The lyrics are all about the hordes of metalheads banded together, unified by their cause and alienated from society’s norms. Yeah, the kind of lyrics that the teenage kids at that time ate up like those special brownies passed around that one dude’s party.

“Realm of Shades” is actually a proto-thrash tune that stands up remarkably well twenty five years later. Remember, in 1985, thrash hadn’t quite become what it would, and the power chord was the most powerful chord of them all. Running Wild captured a great sense of dark and dastardly emotion on this one. As the song opens, that guitar riff is accented nicely by the cymbal crashes and short burst of distorted guitars. The song has a good flow to it, from verse to bridge to chorus and back again, the band did a great job of keeping the song moving. It has that terrific emotional build up in the music and the tension breaks at the perfect moments, getting a physical reaction from the listener to start rocking out with flailed arms and upraised knees. It has a mosh-able quality to it though there is no drastic tempo shift or disconnected riff to power the song in that way.

The second side of the album gets really anthemic with songs like “Fight the Oppression” and “Chains & Leather.” The former is straight up speed metal made popular by Motorhead. In fact, listen real close and you’ll hear the influence of “Ace of Spades” littered throughout this track. The speed of the tempo, for certain, harkens back to the godfathers, but the guitar riff sounds like it came from the hands of Fast Eddie himself. Despite these similar characteristics, the song has a great palm muted, hyper picked break before dropping into the guitar solo, and the guitar harmonies with the double bass flourishes coming out of the solo are an excellent NWOBHM touch. Throw in the high pitched vocal screams and you’ve got a heavy metal classic!

“Evil Spirit” is a slow, chugging, doom laden beast that may have been an early catalyst to Running Wild becoming the champions of buccaneers young and old. The riff has that early metal galloping quality, and oddly enough, it sounds detuned to embrace the darker, heavier tones and the guitar solo isn’t flashy or all that technically brilliant, but the tones and string bends are tasteful and make the piece shine. The lyrics have something to do with a gnome riding a sailing ship or something, though the subject matter may be lost in translation. In all the song is freaking awesome!

The final track, “Chains & Leather” is . . . really silly, but I can’t help but love this track! Running Wild is just singing the praises of metal garb and there’s nothing wrong with that. Good for them! The blue ribbon winning line from this track is, “Even Satan wears leather, our souls to it forever!”  C’mon! How good is that!?!?!?! The song is a pretty steady mid-tempo number and doesn’t deviate its pace . . . it just cruises along as the ode to all metalheads around the world. Chains and leather forever, indeed!

After Branded and Exiled, Running Wild simply got too campy for me, not that all of the music was bad . . . I just wasn’t interested in hearing about pirates buried booty in my metal. Branded and Exiled was one of those albums that I stumbled on and picked up without ever hearing a note, a completely blind purchase, and remarkably, the album has remained in my collection for all of this time. I like this album because of its darkened qualities and overall unpolished and rough sound . . . any cleaner sounding and there’s no way that it could be taken serious, any rougher and it becomes unlistenable. I would never call this a perfect album, but it’s a good example of the fringe, proto-thrash underground that was clamoring for fresh ears to assail. Now, I gotta’ dig through my collection and see what other mid-80’s gems are lingering around here . . .

Pope

Buy here: Branded & Exiled
Buy here mp3: Branded and Exiled
Buy here vinyl: Branded and Exiled

Ripple Theater – The Rolling Stones – Ladies and Gentlemen The Rolling Stones

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