This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Queens Of The Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 43 features comments from Charlie Benante, Gene Hoglan, Mark Strigl and Alan Tecchio. As we established with the previous podcast we also discuss why this album was selected. You will find the podcast at the bottom of this post.

Click here to go to an index page that gives you details on everyone involved in the column.

Here are comments that have been contributed to us by others regarding this album. Remember to check out the index page if you’re not sure who someone is, or to check out their sites to find out more about what they do. Again, these comments are in the order we’ve received them.

Greg Prato – This was probably the last true CLASSIC hard rock album in my mind (meaning it held its own against such albums as Superunknown, Nevermind, etc.). I was lucky to see the Dave Grohl QOTSA line-up play a small venue shortly before this album came out. WOW! Great stuff. Such a shame that Nick Oliveri left the band after this album, as I feel he was a major reason why QOTSA was so powerful and special during this era. Hopefully one day he will return…

Jon Leon – Solid record. Very unique riffing. Dave Grohl showed his diversity on drums and gained more of my respect. Everyone should own, though not a top 25 of metal.

Erik Kluiber – A few songs are ripping, some are very meh.

Phil Rind – Their greatest record. Great songs and Chris Goss, Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan to boot.

James J. LaRue – I don’t know much about Kyuss, or Screaming Trees. All of this dusty desert rock seems related when you dig beneath the surface. My introduction to QOTSA was, like with Metallica, a music video. Go with the Flow, by Shynola. At the time, an amazing and ground breaking video. But the rest of the album doesn’t live up to the colorful, digital razzle-dazzle of the video. It’s more of a darker, “stonery” grunge type sound. Similar to what Grohl did on the Probot album. I like Dave though, even though I don’t like Nirvana. I’m fond of the area and geology where QOTSA found their inspiration. I love the deserts of the American southwest. Still I find myself wishing there would be less slop and buzz to their sound.

Scott Middleton – Certainly the pop record Kyuss never made. Josh Homme and co had hinted at this kind of greatness with their first two records, but with SFTD it was as if they had thought “let’s make the catchiest stoner rock ever” and “Why not get Dave Grohl and Mark Lanegan to play on it too?”. Joe Baresi nailed the production on what would essentially be Queens’ last true Stoner Rock album and it fuckin’ rules!

Jaye Schwarzer – This is in my opinion still one of the best sounding records I think I’ve ever heard. Huge, raw guitars. Massive drums. Mark Lanegans eerie baritone smoked out voice and Dave Fucking Grohl on drums. It’s a stone cold groove!

Chris Tsangarides – Of most post Grunge bands these guys really did it for me, I was a fan of Kyuss but I really do prefer QOTSA. I love the power of this band and also the great quirky grooves which are very reminiscent of old Captain Beefheart. If anyone knows me they would tell you what that the good captain and the magic band have had a huge impact on my musical tastes. Watching the band play at Milton Keynes Bowl was a great moment in time.

Jim Florentine – Very overrated band

JL – Having Dave Grohl on the drums is like having life insurance. I’m surprised that you can practically hear the chain on his bass drum pedal at the beginning of “A song for the dead”. Mark Lanegan is brilliant on “The hangin’ tree”. It is obvious that Josh Homme always has the perfect riff in mind, like on “Millionaire” or ”First it giveth”, as well as the intricate tuning of “No one Knows”.

Fer Fukyea – The third album by these ex-members of Kyuss, band that pioneered “stoner” rock/metal. The album is in my opinion the best by the group; it is an unbelievable explosion of creativity. It is a very diverse rock album, with loads of influences, yet sounds uniquely like them. The álbum is filled with hard rocking tracks, although it does have an assortment of mellow tracks, and some others that are somewhat odd. An interesting tidbit surrounding this album is that Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Probot, etc.) recorded all of the drum tracks after the band’s drummer, Gene Trautmann decided to focus on other projects. I have a special admiration for Dave Grohl, and to tell you the truth he did an excellent job with the album.

David Lozano – I never thought that I would enjoy the style of music on this album so much. But, they sucked me in, and so many others. Without a doubt this is a classic, I love this album.

Sean Bryant – Songs for the Deaf brought me back into heavy music. For a few years I was away doing some other fancy electronic shit, but, once I heard the tone, melody, and general badassery of their new album, I knew instantly that the Heavy was going to re appear within my brain!

The podcast portion can be streamed or downloaded from here:

Download MP3

Download From iTunes

During this episode of we bring you three interviews. The episode starts off with Erik Kluiber and Eric Harris of the band Gypsyhawk. While the last half of the episode consists of an interview with Alan Tecchio of Hades / Non-Fiction / Autumn Hour / Watchtower. Alan explains why he was thrown out of Watchtower, the current state of Autumn Hour, and what the future holds in store for Hades and Non-Fiction.

During this episode you’ll hear tracks from Autumn Hour, Gypsyhawk, Huntress and Scattered Hamlet.

The podcast can be streamed or downloaded from here:

Download MP3

Download From iTunes

Our good friend Dan Lorenzo sent this along:

You may have already heard of MARRA’S DRUG frontman, Steve Zing. Member of Danzig, and formerly a member of both heavy rock legends Samhain, Son of Sam and punk legends Mourning Noise.
That said, Zing is not the type to put any sort of musical limitations on himself. Influenced by everything from heavy punk rock to metal to progressive rock – even ‘50s music! — Marra’s Drug debut CD is heavy, yet at the same time listener-friendly. “Marra’s Drug music is indescribable,” Zing explains. “It’s very intense – it’s not pop punk, and we’re not whining.”

Perhaps New Jersey-based Marra’s Drug music is diverse because all four bandmembers (Zing, Guitarist Steve Falco, John Caton drums, and Danno on bass) did not cut their teeth on the same musical fare. “We didn’t all grow up on punk rock,” Zing reveals. “I grew up on punk and ‘50s music, like early Elvis, Bill Hailey and Buddy Holly. Falco and Caton dig hard-core metal, Danno is into progressive rock…our music has each of our signatures, and we put our own spins into it.

The tunes are aggressive, in-your-face and honest. Of course there’s anger in there, which is at the core of any good heavy rock music. Yet, there is also a very subtle underlying melancholy if you listen closely enough. Zing continues, “We don’t try to write songs. We do what is best for the song, whatever it takes to make the best tune possible.”
You can hear/view Marra’s Drug on ITUNES at this location.

For more on MARRA’S DRUG visit their official web site.

Opeth – The Devil’s Orchard
Mastodon – The Curl Of The Burl
Jane’s Addiction – Irresistible Force
Adrenaline Mob – Believe Me
Dream Theater – On The Backs Of Angels
Trivium – Dusk Dismantled
Anthrax – The Devil You Know
Evanescence – What You Want
The Chariot – Music Of A Grateful Heart
Kittie – Empires (Part 2)
Chickenfoot – Big Foot
Five Finger Death Punch – Under And Over It
Chimaira – Losing My Mind

Tonight’s Mars Attacks Radio Show features a mixed bag of new music. You’ll hear new tracks from Anthrax, Dream Theater, Evanescence, Mastodon, and Opeth, among others. To hear the show tune in to Stream A of MarkStriglRadio.com at 8PM EST/5PM PST. Or you can simply stream the show from the home page of this very site.

During the latest episode of the Mars Attacks Podcast we have three special interviews, two with Jerry Garcia, and one with Jeff Paulick from Lazarus A.D. Interestingly enough I spoke to both Jerry and Jeff while Lazarus A.D. and Bonded By Blood where on tour in Europe. Shortly after speaking to Jerry, I found out that he was out of the band. So the second interview deals with his departure from Bonded By Blood, and his new band Wormhole, which also features former Bonded By Blood lead singer Jose Barrales. During the Jeff Paulick portion of the episode he discusses what it’s like to come out of a place like Kenosha, and make it to a label like Metal Blade, the recording process behind Black Rivers Flow, and an issue that took place in England earlier this year which involved the band.

The episode is full of tracks by Lazarus A.D., Bonded By Blood, and Megadeth!

The podcast can be streamed or downloaded from here:

Download MP3

Download From iTunes

White Wizzard – High Speed GTO
Vindicator – Raze The Dead
White Wizzard – Over The Top
White Wizzard – Night Train To Tokyo
Overloaded – Feeling Overloaded
Gypsyhawk – Gypsyhawk
White Wizzard – West L.A. Nights
White Wizzard – Out Of Control
Holy Grail – Fast As A Shark
Holy Grail – Crisis In Utopia
Monument – Rock The Night (Demo)
The More I See – The Unholy Feast
White Wizzard – Fight To The Death
White Wizzard – Starchild
White Wizzard – Megalodon
White Wizzard – 40 Deuces
White Wizzard – Celestina
White Wizzard – We Rock

Dream Theater
On The Backs Of Angels

As mentioned early this week, this single was conspicuously released the same day as Mike Portnoy’s Adrenaline Mob made their EP available. Now I’m not here to take sides, with anything that took place, and I want to mention that as a drummer I loved the audition footage that the band made available a few months back. I also thoroughly enjoyed Black Clouds and Silver linings and so I have attentively been waited to hear what the band does next.

If you’ve seen the aforementioned audition footage, you’ll have heard part of this track. My first impression is for as much as there was made out of these auditions, and as much as Mike Mangini’s incorporation has been talked up, his playing is buried in the mix. This to me a complete shame, especially after seeing his emotions pour out in his playing during the audition footage, and in his comments after being given the spot in the band.

Aside from that the track is very generic. It isn’t a bad track, but their last leadoff single Rite Of Passage had a certain energy about it, the mix, the various transitions, it got you pumped for the album, it made you want to hear the rest of the album. On The Backs Of Angels isn’t bad, the issue is we’ve heard all of this before by the band. The track really makes you conjure up all types of questions regarding the album, and band. Some people may ask why I gave Adrenaline Mob a “pass”, but to me it offers something different, something that at least to me is entertaining. This track is just ok, again, we’ve heard most of this already from the band, and you expect something big out of the box. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how the album shapes up, hopefully the full length has been mixed differently to make Mangini’s playing feel less contained.

Rated: C+

With regards to the Dream Theater versus Mike Portnoy issue, I understand what both parties have been trying to get across. Dream Theater has a core audience that the band wants to continue to satisfy. But be careful of you wish for. Will the band’s treatment of their audience be the same? Will they provide fans with a varying setlist as they have in the past? This made things very personal between the band and their fans, this made being a fan of the band “special”. Early indications are they that they will not, as their setlist has not varied all that much from one show to another on their current tour. Will this back fire on the band?

Dream Theater and their audience might have benefitted from the band talking a few years off. You can look at all of the bands Mike Portnoy mentioned (Motley Crue, Rage Against The Machine, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, etc.) but take a look at one specifically, as I feel they match up closest to DT’s audience. The band is Rush, after several years away the band is now bigger than ever, constantly doing well in a live environment, and even venturing over to Europe, something they haven’t done in ages. Saturation is not a good thing, and Dream Theater has been able to saturate the market, and their fans, with their presence. Their fans have allowed for this, due to the personal aspect I mention above, but this can all get shot to hell real fast if they are no longer going to go out of their way to give their fans what they want. Although some may see it as a detriment, not having any radio hits per say may actually benefit the band in the long haul. These are all just a bunch of hypothetical questions/points, we’ll have to see how it all plays out.

Tyr
The Lay Of Thrym

Every time I am provided material by a “Viking Metal” band, I can’t help but think of how hokey these sub-genres actually are. How does this vary from “Folk Metal”? What about “Pagan Metal”? “Celtic Metal”? The line is so blurred between a lot of these sub-genres that it further proves how dumb the need to put a label on something actually is. To boot, a lot of this doesn’t vary all that much from “Power Metal”!

This is the Austrian band’s 6th studio album. The musicianship on this album is outstanding, and is very much in line with what you’ve come to expect from any band that fits any of the sub-genres mentioned above. The album has everything you’d hope, anthemic choruses, battle inspired lyrics, polka like beats at times, plenty of double bass on other occasions, a plethora of arpeggios, some shredding, riffs any festival crowd will more than likely chant along to, etc.

Stand out tracks on the album include Flames of The Free, Shadow Of The Swastika, Take Your Tyrant, Fields Of Fallen and the closer/title track The Lay Of Thrym.

Although a lot bands have come out these past few years that offer this type of metal, Tyr is definitely ahead of the curb, and one of the only bands of this ilk that is worth more than a quick listen.

Rating: B

Let the music do the talking! As promised earlier this week, tonight’s Mars Attacks Radio Episode features an hour and a half of nothing but White Wizzard, and other bands that are remotely associated to the band. Such as Vindicator, Holy Grail, Gypsyhawk, Overloaded, Monument, and The More I See.

Tonight’s episode debuts at 8PM EST / 5PM PST only on Stream A of MarkStriglRadio.com