This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Suicidal Tendencies‘ self-titled debut. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 64 features comments from Charlie Benante, Gene Hoglan, Alan Tecchio, author Martin Popoff, Mark Strigl from Talking Metal, and Aaron from Iron City Rocks. 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.
This month we kick the comments off in a special way, Keith “Keefy” Chachkes of Metal Army America was nice enough to send us some regarding the album from ST frontman Mike Muir. This actually is part of a series Keefy has started over at Metal Army America called Conversations from the Crypt. Here are the excerpts that were sent along:
Asked about the DIY history of the band and carving out success
MM: “When we put out our first record. We had two labels call us about signing to a major. They both said ‘you have to change your name to sign with us’. They said ‘most of the stores won’t carry your albums because of your name.’ We said ‘forget that, we’re not changing our name!’ Then we put out our second record and we had eight labels call up. When we signed to CBS at the time, which became SONY, we were the first band ever in the history of that label to have it written in our contract that we had complete artistic control of the music, lyrics and artwork and if the label didn’t put our records out, we could leave the contract and still own everything. That’s how we were able to put out a record like (Controlled by Hatred)Feel Like Shit…Déjà Vu at the same time the PMRC was trying to whine and this and that. So we never had to submit any songs (to the label) or do anything like that.”
When asked about the legacy of the band after 30 years since the first record
MM: “When we first started off the punk magazines said ‘first record sucked, it was metal’. The metal magazines said ‘it sucked, it was punk’. Other than the skaters who were the first kind of people to get into us, nobody really like us. We didn’t have a built in audience to cater to, we built our own audience. We were able to get people that were really open minded. Consequently this really helped us out years later being able to play to really diverse crowds. We’re able to do a lot of things that other people haven’t, and it’s because we refused to kind of fit into to other people’s ideas of what success is. That is the most important thing. We did the right things and didn’t listen to the people who ‘knew what was going on.’ We were more concerned about the music than what other people wanted us to do. “
You can find the entire interview with Mike Muir here.
Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.
Greg Prato – I love punk rock (I’m talking real punk rock from the 1970′s and early 1980′s though – not the crap that MTV played after the fact), and some could say that ST’s debut was the last true classic punk rock release. It’s amazing how many of the melodies in these songs stick in your head INSTANTLY, while it’s still pretty darn vicious. And the video for ‘Institutionalized’ remains one of the best!
Jon Leon – Classic anthems all over this record. I hold it in high regard. Everytime I see them and Mike live-they really bring it. How can you not like ST-like Motorhead they just kill you with anthems and character. First ST like Ace of Spades is as essential as it gets.
Erik Kluiber – Favorite album by far is how can I laugh tomorrow.
Ricky Armellino – I seriously spent a week learning a few of their bass parts. I love Tendencies.
Mitts – Classic debut record from a highly underrated band. This came out during the peak of the “speed race” years. Metallica, D.R.I., S.O.D., and tons of other bands, in a competition to see who can play the fastest.
Scott Middleton – Suicidal Tendencies A Crossover classic that still holds up to this day. Mike Muir and Rocky George produced a record that actually bridged the gap between metal and punk, not to mention skate boarding and street gangs. No band has ever sounded anything like these guys, yet everything about this band has had huge influence on my own band and music.
Jaye Schwarzer – This record rules!! I used to listen to this a lot while my cousin was teaching me to skateboard. Shred!!
Scott LePage – DRI and Suicidal were my two favorite bands at the time this came out. This is my favorite Suicidal album still. Very powerful album with damn good production compared to the first albums of other bands around the same time.
JL – I found out about the band thanks to the skater videos I used to watch, every time I hear them I remember all of the good times I spent skating. Back then it was infinitely more difficult to get your hands on certain albums, when you’d get a hold of an album like this you’d play it like there is no tomorrow.
Jandro Storm – A friend gave me a tape that had Metallica’s 91 performance at Donnington. To “fill out” the tape he added side one of the first ST album. The first thing that came to mind was “this album is perfect to skate to”, I wasn’t all that off. Since then Suicidal Tendencies has become one of my all-time favorite bands. Not only because of their music, but because of what they represent.
Chris Shrum – Some of the best and funniest punk rock ever!
Sean Bryant – God damn this reminds me of skating so much. Getting rad, breaking shit, throwing skateboards through windows and pissing off the cops. We used to wear our tattered clothing and destroy our Chuck Taylors shoes every week. sorry mom. it truly was the music. you did a wonderful job, I swear!!
Will Carroll – This is an album which seems to me if you listen to thrash than you HAVE to like it. Well I’m not one of those people. Its OK but I have a copy of it (which a friend GAVE me) and I NEVER listen to it.
Steve Smyth – Total classic album by the masters of LA hardcore punk/crossover thrash, or whatever “genre” you want to call them. I had friends that were deep into the band at the time, and they got me into them. Institutionalized is of course is a classic, but what about Two Sided Politics, Subliminal, the ever borrowed from I Saw Your Mommy?
Domonic Rini – All I can say about ST in 1983 was: Mike Muir and crew was a genius at putting out the classic hit “Institutionalized”. The punk scene was in high gear and ST was trying to capture both the punk and the metal scene and their debut was able to get them into the mainstream punk scene and movement into the metal world. ST was very well known for their gear. The inverted cap lids with the scribed Suicidal Tendencies were everywhere. A great record for a wondrous period of time.
The podcast portion can be streamed or downloaded from here:
This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Pantera‘s Far Beyond Driven. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 60 features comments from Rex Brown formerly of Pantera, and currently in Kill Devil Hill, Gene Hoglan, Alan Tecchio, Dave Reffett, author Martin Popoff, Mitch Lafon from Bravewords, and Aaron from Iron City Rocks. 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.
Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – This is the album that made me a total Pantera fan, this, Vulgar, Cowboys, Trendkill, Steel… another band that inspired a thousand more…
Dan Lorenzo – Before I tell you my thoughts on this album I have to interject with one of my highlights of my musical career involving Pantera. Right after ‘Cowboy’s came out, my band NON-FICTION opened up for Pantera in NYC. I don’t even think I even met any of the members of Pantera that night. In all honesty I thought ‘CFH’ was a bit too derivative of Metallica when I first heard it. I fell in love with Pantera when ‘Vulgar’ was released. By that time NON-FICTION had gotten signed and I was in L.A. with Alan Tecchio doing press for the first NON-FICTION cd. At one point I went back to my hotel room and I found myself alone in the hallway. Phil Anselmo was walking towards me. I said, “Phil..I don’t know if you know who I am, I’m Dan from Non-Fiction.” Phil said, “Of course I know who you are.” Then he started singing “The My Way” (the first song off the first NON-FICTION cd ‘Preface’) at the top of his lungs. How cool is that? Anyway, Far Beyond Driven contains the songs, “I’m Broken” and “5 Minutes Alone”. Monstrous riffing. Incredible vocals. Barreling drumming. And they just ripped it up live. ‘Vulgar” is still my favorite Pantera cd, but Far Beyond Driven is “Far Beyond” anything new coming out today for sure.
Peter Ellis – By the time Far Beyond Driven came out Pantera was a beast of a band! Each member had found their place and was comfortable within the spectrum of the band and were comfortable taking their music to uncharted territories. Also this album features one of my all-time favourite covers, Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath. I honestly don’t think any other band on the planet could have done a better job than Pantera did covering this song. Phil Anselmo will always be the best extreme Metal singer in history and the reason no other hardcore singer can sound like him is the fact that HE COULD ACTUALLY SING!!! He didn’t get into screaming because he couldn’t sing well like 99.9% of screamers. One of my favourite albums by one of my favourite bands.
Jon Leon – Dimebag was a hero of 90′s metal guitar. That said….Pantera put out 3 albums that helped save metal in the 90′s, this one being the best of them. RIP Dimebag and Pantera will always be one of the all-time great heavier bands.
Erik Kluiber – must have seen Pantera 10 times between 93 and 95. They hit Detroit every few months. Their scene kinda turned less cool as time went on due to skin heads and jocks.
Phil Rind – Vulgar Display of Power is my favorite. I love the song “Rise”.
Mitts – Pantera’s best album. They were one of a few bands who kept metal alive through the 90′s era of grunge rock.
James J. LaRue – I got into Pantera with Vulgar Display. But I can’t stand phil’s voice or MMA/bro-down attitude. He ushered in a whole bunch of angry bros with thick necks shouting over stuff (“bro-cals”) and trying to be tough instead of learning proper vocal technique, but Dime was so great, and I suffered through the alpha male vocals because of that ultra-heavy guitar tone and wild leads. Once in a while I’ll throw this one on if I’m really really pissed. Anyways, I love Dime and his whole personality on the guitar and as a person. He had a huge effect on how I approach getting heavy tones. Pre-distortion EQ and solid state amps, later the tube Krank heads. He was friends and jam-buddies with another favorite player of mine, Blues Saraceno. I wish there was more recordings of Dime outside of Pantera. He was awesome.
Scott Middleton – Essentially Far Beyond Driven is the bench mark for modern heaviness and true attitude. Anything since has copied, borrowed, or stole something from this band. Straight up, this record is where 90% of metal and hardcore bands have stolen their tones from, whether they realize it or not! This band changed the way things were done, and no one since has put out a true metal record that really eclipses what this band accomplished. For christ’s sake it debuted at number one in ’94 when most metal bands couldn’t give away their records.
Jaye Schwarzer – The song ‘The Badge’ is a shredder of a tune that uses sound clips from the movie Taxi Driver. This record rips!! Dimebag Forever!
Seth Thacker – I personally think Pantera is the greatest metal band ever, always have and always will feel that way. I remember Far Beyond Driven being the first real metal record that I heard. It was so powerful, and it had so much attitude. It really opened me up to metal because up until then I really never cared for music of any kind. Once I discovered Pantera it was no holds barred on looking for other metal bands. Naturally I went backwards and discovered the previous records Pantera released. But Far Beyond Driven is probably one of my favorite records of all time. You just and beat it, the groove, the guitars, and Phil’s vocals just make for the perfect sound.
Scott LePage – Good Lord. This album is far beyond brutal. Especially for 1994 when most of the popular stuff was mid tempo grunge. I think I blew the tweeters in my car to this cassette. The riffs! And that clicky kick drum! My ears are still ringing….. Hold on, I’m gonna go put this on now!
Chris Biermann – Total fucking destruction in every note.
Jim Florentine – The heaviest album I ever heard at the time!
Raul L.R. – This sonic temple was released in ’94, it made clear to me that I would choose Pantera for life, instead of the metal gods like Metallica or Sepultura. I am no ashamed to say this. Phil Anselmo stands out, and is Darrell my favorite guitarist, I love the way his development of riffs and solos, the perfect balance, just perfect, just great, the whole album stands out, but to me tracks like 3 and 4 just shatter my brain, 5 Minutes Alone and I’m Broken, possibly because seeing the videos for this song really resonated and help form how I play guitar.
JL – With the “Vulgar Display of Power” Pantera were gaining considerable notoriety, which made many of us imagine that the next album would take advantage of the notoriety the band was having (with Vulgar Display). What happened was that none of us saw what was coming. As a result, the album is heavier, less polished, sharp as a razor, and powerful as a wrecking ball across the face.
Fer Fukyea – To begin I must say that Pantera is one of the best metal bands of all time, pioneers in this genre (abstain from mentioning Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth and these sort of groups that do not belong to this style) and that have influenced probably 99% of the groups of metal today. What to say about “Far Beyond Driven,” well it is a very impressing, great album, the heaviest album they recorded up until then. It did not shake things up like when “Cowboys From Hell” was release, and won’t be remembered like “Vulgar Display Of Power”, but it is a tremendous album from start to finish. The Abbott brothers put together one hell of a set of song, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (guitar) and Vinnie Paul Abbott (drums), they demonstrate strength and incredible skill of the instrument on this album. Vinnie Paul does not need to play hundreds of notes per minute to back up a strong and brutal riff, and Dimebag … How original is the fucking man! Each song is different. I must say, while I am critical of James Hetfield (lead singer/guitarist of Metallica), and Phil Anselmo, lead singer of Pantera, I must say that in the studio he has a voice that varies between lower and higher registries, gravely and melodic, with impressive ease, but live, well, I do not know if he would have performed better sober, but he was drunk, almost always, and left much to be desired.
Jandro Storm – It was the album that we were all anxiously looking forward to hearing, after Vulgar Display Of Power. The truth is that nothing I was not disappointed and definitely put Pantera on my top 5 metal bands of the moment. I have the vinyl edition of this album, which has a different more explicit cover.
David Lozano – With Far Beyond Driven I discovered an energy in music that I had previously never experienced. They are definitely one of my favorite bands, and one that has influenced me a great deal as a musician.
Mikey Pannone – I honestly didn’t believe it was possible for any band to be THIS heavy. This album is the very definition of metal. Every song on this thing is like a natural disaster…tornado, hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption…all the above. R.I.P. Dimebag.
Owain Williams – One of the heaviest albums ever! Everything just sounds brutal. Except the bass drums. They sound like a typewriter! Haha. Throes of Rejection has to have one of the best Dime solos ever. I miss Dime.
Steve Smyth – Standout album from the legendary Pantera! You had the amazing chops of Dime and Vinnie, Rex holding it down, and Phil getting across all kinds of crazy sh*t vocally and lyrically! Awesome power on this album, in tracks like Strength Beyond Strength, Becoming, Five Minutes Alone, Shedding Skin, and their cover of Planet Caravan? A hard album to beat by a band on fire at the time, and in my opinion, I think they found it hard to follow as well…
Bat – I loved Vulgar display of Power and it has such great riffs and grooves and hooks. I found this album difficult to get into but I loved the version of “Planet Caravan” I was very lucky to meet and smoke spliff with Dimebag and Phil Anselmo in Dublin 93 just before this album came out
Clay Withrow – When Far Beyond Driven first came out it put Pantera on the map for a lot of metalheads. At a time when Korn and Limp Bizket were mainstream radio acts, most critics had given up on heavy metal thinking the audience had moved on. Thank god Pantera wasn’t led astray and continued to fly that heavy metal flag high. I honestly can’t think of many albums that top this, aside from the band’s later effort The Great Southern Trendkill. It’s a perfect mix of abrasive vocals, groovy rhythms, infectious guitar riffs and precision drumming. My favorite songs on that album would have to be “Hard Lines Sunken Cheeks” for its breathtaking solo and “Shedding Skin” for that insanely awesome opening verse. There’s no doubt in my mind Pantera is the most important metal band to come out of the 90s and one of the most influential heavy bands in history.
Kenny Pierce – Oddly enough by the time that “FBD” was released my interest was waning in Pantera. Having owned and loved “Cowboys From Hell” and “Vulgar Display Of Power” when they were released I was not prepared for the changes in the bands groove as this slightly new sound and direction were not my cup of tea. Back in the day this shift of interest was thanks to my switching over to more melodic Power Metal and believe it or not I sort of embraced the earliest providers of the Grunge Movement who were manifesting on that side of the USA. I felt that the strongest of the Hard Rock and Metal bands would survive that wave of “newness” that many felt was killing Metal, so while the USA moved to the plaid shirts my musical head turned to Europe where Power Metal continued to proliferate and dominate for many years. Looking back on “Far Beyond Driven” I can say that it was a solid album but not one of my favorites. I did enjoy the bands take on Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” of course and was shocked to see that one pulled out of the idea bank and delivered to fans.
Etan Rosenbloom – Far Beyond Driven was the first Pantera album I bought, and one of the first albums to spark my interest in the more extreme forms of metal. The album meant the world to me when I was a teenager and it still holds up. It’s got some of the band’s all-time grooviest riffs (“5 Minutes Alone,” “I’m Broken,” “Slaughtered,” “Shedding Skin”), and just as important, this was where Pantera embraced the swampy blues vibe that made them unique – “Hard Lines Sunken Cheeks,” “25 Years” and, especially, their cover of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” all pointed to a more nuanced, subtle approach to aggression than we’d heard from Pantera before, but also a nastier one – no wonder it was also the first Pantera record where our dear departed Mr. Abbott changed from “Diamond Darrell” to “Dimebag Darrell.” This must count as the heaviest album ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts. Man…times have changed!
Grover XIII – When it comes to Pantera, Far Beyond Driven is a distant third behind Cowboys From Hell and Vulgar Display Of Power, but this album has some great tunes. The drumming on ‘Becoming’ is fantastic, and it took serious balls for these guys to cover a song like ‘Planet Caravan’, just because it’s so different from what they normally played.
Wayne Findlay – Far Beyond Driven is EPIC… Love that album.
Doug Gibson – Far Beyond Driven marked a noisier sound than the previous albums and it took me a while to warm up to it. “Becoming,” “Five Minutes Alone,” and “Becoming” were instant winners, and worth the purchase price alone. The latter half of the album pushed the boundaries a little more into noisier and more extreme sounds. Eventually, the entire album grew on me and is one of my all-time favorites, right behind Vulgar Display Of Power.
Jason Bittner – Great fuxking record by a great band- Becoming has one of the greatest double kick grooves ever by VP- the Bonham of groove metal!! Actually were in Australia now doing a lot of hanging together once again!! I met the Abbott brothers for the first time way back in 2004 when we toured with Damageplan- always straight up good dudes and never rock stars towards us!! Vinnie is the man, my bro-and we all still miss Dime every day! LITE ‘EM UP!!!
Jose Izquierdo – That’s the first album I heard by the band. A friend’s sister bought it for him on vinyl with the original cover. The first time I heard a song by the band was on the show El Pirata (famous metal show in Spain), I was sitting there with my brother, and my other brother and we all looked at one another and sort of said “What is this?” Getting back to my friend, his album is completely scratched, due to all of the times that we listened to the album. It was also the typical what is this reaction where the music just punches you in the face, and you’re trying to figure out exactly what you’re listening to. Planet Caravan winds things up perfectly, you really enjoy all of the other crushing tracks on the album, and then this track winds it all down perfectly.
Davish G. Alvarez I remember listening to Becoming for the first time and things, my god how is doing that. To this day, I don’t think I know exactly what he’s playing during that solo, I can’t play it exactly the same. You also have to look back and realize that with all of the Grunge that was being played at the time, they came out with a crushing album, heavy as anything, and it was the number one album. In reality I probably prefer Vulgar Display of Power, but this album was an evolution of the band, great, strong tracks throughout, even their cover of Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan was incredible. It worked perfectly with the album, perhaps they put this cover on another album, and you sort of thing to yourself, what have you done? But it works on this album, it’s perfect.
Jorge Salan – Great album, Dimebag Darrell definitely had his own style, the way he played his solos, and in my opinion they created a style that so many others have followed. They have fans everywhere. I was actually invited to a Dimebag Darrell tribute in Madrid where I got to play Shattered, which is my all-time favorite track by the band.
Erun Dagoth – Crystal Moors lead singer Uruksoth brought this album to my attention, he’s a big thrash metal fan. He bought the album, and loved it, so I asked him to let me borrow it, since I was curious to hear what the band was all about. I also found it odd that a lot of people here in Santander (Spain) wore Pantera t-shirts. I listened to the album, and didn’t like it. Years later I asked to borrow the album again, and the same thing, I tried, and tried, but I just can’t get into them. They have songs that I think are really cool, and they’re all great players, but there is something about their style that I just can’t fully get into. They created their own style, which is very admirable, but they unfortunately don’t do anything for me.
The podcast portion can be streamed or downloaded from here:
This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Van Halen’s second album Van Halen II. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 46 features comments from Charlie Benante, Gene Hoglan, Glen Drover, Chris Poland, Alan Tecchio, Dave Reffett, Martin Popoff, Mark Strigl, and John from Iron City Rocks. 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.
Here are comments that have been contributed to us via e-mail regarding Van Halen II. 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.
Bumblefoot – Some really cool songs on this album – Doctor, Bottoms Up, Outta Love, Light Up the Sky, DOA… great guitar moments in every song, that incredible guitar sound that I WISH I could get – and a great acoustic instrumental to break things up – it’s a killer follow up to a groundbreaking debut album.
Greg Prato – Not sure what my favorite VH album is (perhaps either ‘Van Halen’ or ‘Fair Warning’), but ‘VH II’ is a classic as well. Raw and rocking, that DLR era VH line-up was – to borrow a quote from the movie ‘The Blues Brothers’ – powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline. “Dance the Night Away,” “Outta Love Again,” “Light Up the Sky,” “DOA” – VH was unquestionably THE KINGS of US rock n’ roll in the early 1980′s…until Mr. Roth exited.
Dave Starr – I think the debut CD was better, but this record is still pretty cool. EVH re-wrote the book on rock/metal guitar.
Dan Lorenzo – While I fully understand Eddie Van Halen is one of the most important guitarists of all time, I never got in to Van Halen too much. Obviously they have a dozen or so phenomenal songs. Here’s what I didn’t like. I don’t like guys in overalls. I’m not a fan of guitarists smiling onstage. Diamond Dave? Too Hollywood for me. To lead off your 2nd cd with a fucking cover song? You’re kidding me, right? HADES did cover “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” in the early 80s back when we were a cover band, but only because our drummer at the time was an enormous VH fan. “Dance The Night Away” is a nice enough song..if you’re a girl. I DID love songs off other VH albums like “Atomic Punk”, “Everybody Wants Some”. Jamie’s Crying”…..but I never felt the desire to see VH live. Too California. Too happy. Not heavy in any way shape or form. I know most people would disagree with me…but I would have been fine if Van Halen never existed.
Jon Leon – Along with GNR Appetite for Destruction the most important LA sunset strip rocker metal album ever recorded. Dead or Alive is the greatest LA rebel teenage anthem ever. Never was Van Halen so full of killer riffing. David Lee Roth has never been better and I would kill to go back in time to a backyard party in Pasadena when this album was released and see this band live. I would do kegstands all night.
Erik Kluiber – One of the greatest bands of all time. Anything from the Roth era is pure gold
Ricky Armellino – I think Jack likes that record. I don’t know, I never owned a Sunbird or anything like that so it never rotated in my car. No one wants to hear Van Halen coming out of a jeep. They just want that all wheel drive muscle roaring. What up ladies.
Chris Tsangarides – Another of my all time faves! Although it took me a long time to come to terms with Alex’s “donk” sound of his snare. Just by using one guitar through most of the album demonstrates how awesome they would have sounded in the live concert! Eddie’s guitar is like nothing we had heard back then and started a whole new trend for guitar players….
Kevin Estrada – This album has to be one of, if not THE, most anticipated albums in my life. Van Halen was my band. I will never forget the day I discovered the band – I was 11 years old, walking through a department store with my mother and brother. I flipped through the new releases in their tiny record department. The sight of Edward Van Halen’s black and white striped Frankenstrat changed my life. My brother and I put our money together and purchased the LP. That piece of vinyl never left our turntable! I had never been so moved and changed by music in my life. This is what I was looking for, I had finally found it – Van Halen. I counted down the months, weeks, days until the release of Van Halen II. I was not disappointed! From the opening notes of “You’re No Good” to Dave’s farewell kiss on “Beautiful Girls” – it was perfection! The songs, the solos, the vocals, the tone, the attitude – it was all there.
Jim Florentine – No sophomore jinx here. DOA is my fav Van Halen song
JL – The typical thing would be to just focus on Eddie Van Halen, but I was never a fan of the guitar heroes and all of their pyrotechnics. With this album David Lee Roth’s vocal excesses really stand out. You have to really listen to the vocal tracks to realize how over the top he really was. There are times when it seems as if there are two notes coming out of his mouth at the same time. Listening to him leaves me speachless!
Chris Shrum – A trend setting classic album and a piece of music history
Mikey Pannone – Very underrated album! Heavier than the first one. You can tell they had such a great time recording it. “Light up the Sky” is probably my favorite track from this one.
John Nymann – It’s tough to follow Van Halen’s epic first release, even for VH. This second album does have some classic moments, though, to solidify them as the world’s premier party rock band. Starting off with a cover tune “Your No Good” was just No Good! Especially, when they have the perfect song “Dance the Night Away” (Pure Power Pop) this should have started the record, IMO. “Doctor” and “Bottoms Up” are typical VH tunes and work good to fill out the album. The highlights for me are Eddie’s “Spanish Fly”…his amazing dancing fingers, so clean and pure of a performance on a nylon string. The cool groove tune “Women In Love”…Michael Anthony’s vocals sound great on this tune. And the classic David Lee Roth moment “Beautiful Girls.” Also, I’d give “Light Up The Sky” an honorable mention for an inventive tune and arrangement for the time.
Will Carroll – A classic. Maybe the greatest summertime rock album ever made. Even the muddy production can’t stop the vibe and brilliance.
Steve Smyth – Love this album, as this was one of the first albums I learned in it’s entirety. Eddie’s tone on this album is amazing, the harmonies of Michael, Eddie and David Lee are awesome and hard to beat! My favorite songs are: Somebody Get Me A Doctor, DOA, Spanish Fly, jesus, the entire album rocks!
Chad Bowar – I wasn’t very old when Van Halen II was released, and discovered it a few years later along with the rest of Van Halen’s early material. I prefer their debut album, but II has some great songs as well. “Dance The Night Away” and “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” are classics. Sammy Hagar is a better singer, but David Lee Roth is the consumate frontman, and the Roth-era albums are great. I actually don’t want them to make a new record, because there’s no way the Van Halen of today can hold a candle to the Van Halen of the late ’70s/early ’80s.
Karl “Inski” Szulik – ‘Beautiful Girls’ was one of the first rock/metal songs I attempted to learn when I got my first electric guitar. I had already had a few years practice on acoustic, but totally wanted to rock it with overdriven guitar! That day I came home and spent hours practicing that song. All my mates dropped by that night and were like “play some Offspring dude!” But instead I ripped out ‘Beautiful Girls’ and kicked arse! Eventually I bought a Peavey Wolfgang so I could be just like Eddie. He is incredibly talented and someone I still look up to as a guitarist.
Domonic R – I understand that most of the tracks of the VH2 was done prior to the first one. This one had to be a nice addition to the VH collection. And actually did a great job in keeping the power and the guitar shredding to a max. One of the greatest follow up releases to date.
Ken Pierce – “Van Halen II” was a strong successor to the self-titled debut for sure. I always felt that VHII was a tad more playful in its song composition with tunes like “Bottom’s Up”, “Beautiful Girls” and the blockbuster single “Dance The Night Away”. “Light Up The Sky” felt like an anthem of living an energetic life to me and I just loved the drum solo as a player myself around that time. The grand presentation of the bands logo on the album cover spoke volumes to the bands power and the material still holds up thirty years later.
Remember that you can go here index page to find out further details on everyone involved in the column.
The podcast portion can be streamed or downloaded from here:
Posted in News on September 12th, 2011 by marsaries
We’re working hard to get as many comments as we can on all of the featured albums. Little by little we’re adding people as we go, and although there are stumbling blocks here and there, it’s astonishing how many of the people involved mention how much fun it is to revisit these albums. We receive all types of comments, everything from being on tour with a certain band, to others letting us know how an album made them pick up an instrument, etc. What we’re going to do from now on is post who has just come along and lent their comments to the column.
Now, we have plenty of people that agree to provide us with their comments, but due to the fact that they’re too busy, or aren’t permitted by someone in their camp, they aren’t unable to participate. We aren’t listing them on the site because we feel it would be a big let down to mention someone has sent us their comments, and things don’t end up panning out. If you want your favorite band or artist to lend their comments to the column, let them know, tell them to contact us at input[@]marsattacksradio.com (without the brackets).
With regards to some of the newest additions. The first is a guitarist, he’s played in Nevermore, Testament and a slew of other bands, including his current band Forbidden, his name is Steve Smyth. Members of the legendary thrash band Death Angel are also involved, their guitarist Ted Aguilar and drummer Will Carroll have provided us with their thoughts. Staying in the Bay Area, you have John Nymann from legendary hard rock band Y&T. Hailing from NYC by the way of Salt Lake City you have Sean Bryant of the band Hull. Pest, the vocalist for Norwegian death metal band Gorgoroth is on board. So is Owain, guitarist of the British band Xerath. One of the most prolific hard rock and metal authors, Martin Popoff we gracious enough to lend his comments to the podcast portion of the column, as has guitar virtuoso Dave Reffett. If you don’t know who Dave is check out Shredding The Envelope’s The Call Of The Flame. It is chalked full of great guests like Joe Stump, Michael Angelo Batio, Glen Drover, Chris Poland, George Lynch, and Mike Mangini (would be cool to get all of those folks involved as well!).
Keep checking back for updates, and thanks to all of you that listen/read the Classic Albums Column here on Mars Attacks.
These are the top 30 hard rock / metal albums of 2010 as per the audience.
1 Deftones – Diamond Eyes
2 High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine
3 The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis
4 Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini
5 Periphery – Periphery
6 Agalloch – Marrow Of The Spirit
7 Triptykon – Eparistera Daimones
8 Alcest – Ecailles De Lune
9 Ihsahn – After
10 Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier
11 Kvelertak – Kvelertak
12 Decrepit Birth – Polarity
13 Watain – Lawless Darkness
14 Intronaut – Valley Of Smoke
15 Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
16 Blind Guardian – At The Age Of Time
17 Nachtmystium – Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2
18 The Ocean – Heliocentric
19 Nevermore – The Obsidian Conspiracy
20 Cephalic Carnage – Misled By Certainty
21 Overkill – Ironbound
22 Electric Wizard – Black Masses
23 Soilwork – The Panic Broadcast
24 Fear Factory – Mechanize
25 Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare
26 Grand Magus – Hammer Of The North
27 Torche – Songs For Singles
28 Immolation – Majesty And Decay
29 Misery Index – Heirs To Thievery
30 Accept – Blood Of Nations
During this episode we have interview with Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, and James Luna, lead singer of Holy Grail, and former lead singer of White Wizzard. Holy Grail have just released a great new album called Crisis In Utopia. During Luna’s portion of the interview we discuss the making of said album, his influences, playing Waken, and his time in White Wizzard, where he goes into detail to discuss the issues he and former member of the band (James LaRue, and Tyler Meahl both in Holy Grail) had with Jon Leon. Now before anyone jumps to conclusions I did try and contact Jon to get his side of things so that people can determine for themselves what really happened. One of the things that I love about doing interviews for my podcast is that listeners can directly from an artist. It isn’t like playing telephone where things are sensationalized just to put another notch in someone’s proverbial gun. Had I of been able to interview Jon people would have been able to (again) choose for themselves whether what all of these former members are saying is true, or not. Maybe Jon has a good reason that isn’t coming across? Or maybe things are cut and dry, exactly like all of the former members are saying, and is why the label, and Jon himself has decided to not come on the show.
Ripper’s interview was conducted late last year, it is one of a handful of interviews that were conducted for MarkStrigleRadio.com and has yet to be released as a podcast. During this episode we discuss Hail!, his solo album Play My Game, Yngwie Malmsteen, Beyond Fear, Charred Walls Of The Damned, and the abrupt end to his tenure in Iced Earth. Tim is very forth coming, and honest when talking about John Schaffer, and what was promised to him when joining IE, and how it differs to how Judas Priest and Yngwie Malmsteen approached him.
I recommend both interviews to anyone that has been following the dysfunctional history of Iced Earth or White Wizzard, or are fans of either one of these two great lead singers.
During the episode you’ll hear the following tracks:
Holy Grail – Nocturne in D Minor
White Wizzard Shooting Star
Holy Grail – My Last Attack
Holy Grail – Requiem
Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens – Death Race
Beyond Fear – Save Me
Judas Priest – Blood Suckers
Overall we touch on the following topics:
Hail!, David Ellefson, NAMM, Samson Wireless, Andreas Kisser, Jimmy Degrasso, Mike Portnoy, Paul Bostaph, Ray Mayorga, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Spinal Tap, Sepultura, Alice Cooper, Testament, Simon Wright, Motorhead, Pantera, Judas Priest, Accept, Wendy Dio, Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery, John Comprix, Steve Stevens, Jeff Loomis, Michael Wilton, George Lynch, John 5, Scott Ian, Vinnie Paul, Rudy Sarzo, Billy Sheehan, Bobby Jarzombek, Road Runner Records, Road Runner United, Jeff Waters, Cory Taylor, The Grammys, Beyond Fear, SPV Records, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Schaffer, Matt Barlow, Judas Priest, Ian Hill, K.K. Downing, Rob Halford, Charred Walls Of The Damned, Richard Christy, Play My Game, Heaven & Hell, Hannah Montana, Pink,Amon Amarth, Exodus, Mahevilant Creation, Deep Purple, Klaus Meine, Scorpions, Manowar, Merciful Fate, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Slayer, Witchfinder General, Racer X, Testament, Lamb Of God, Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, Danny Lohner, Nine Inch Nails, Metal Blade Records, Angkor Wat, Waken Festival, Matt Hyde, Steve Evetts, Nuclear Blast, Side One Dummy, Prosthetic Records, Exodus, Kiss, Erik Kluibert, Jon Leon, Sleaze Roxx, Metal Sucks, Metal Sludge
Posted in News, Radio Show on June 12th, 2010 by marsaries
The playlist for episode 35 looks like this:
Iron Maiden – El Dorado
Accept – The Abyss
Danzig – On A Wicked Night
Stone Sour – Mission Statement
Nevermore – The Day You Built The Wall
Nonpoint – 5 Minutes Alone
Hell Yeah – Hell Of A Time
Rush – BU2B
Hail The Villain – Runaway
Black Robot – Girls Kissing Girls
The Gracious Few – Honest Man
Anew Revolution – Head Against The Wall
