Ah, Lita Ford. Reflecting on the 1980’s would not be quite the same without her being in the Heavy Metal world. Lita Ford proved back in those glorious ’80’s that she was more than just eye candy, she really did shred on the guitar for her albums. Plus, Lita Ford’s vocals always had the harmonic, Heavy Metal diva flare happening. Lita Ford even did a very sappy duet with Ozzy Osbourne, Close My Eyes Forever, that I honestly could never stomach back in 1989 and my opinion has not wavered since. Well, it is 2009 and Lita Ford is back, uh, yeah. Wicked Wonderland is her new album, the title really sums it all up quite well. The lyrics throughout this entire album are wicked indeed… with nuances, imagery and flat out references to sex and lust galore. I want to taste your goddess flesh and I penetrate you are two lines taken from the song Indulge… pretty hot stuff if you are a young dude that can’t buy a date for Saturday night. Lita Ford should have known that the majority of her audience buying Wicked Wonderland are the Old School Heavy Metal crowd and we are no longer eighteen and pissed off at our parents anymore.
In the very recent issue of Revolver Magazine, (December 2009), Lita Ford states that “There’s no law that says just because you grow up, you have to stop being naughty”. Oh, it gets better… “The album is pretty much based on our home life”. Lita, Lita, oh, Lita Ford. I will interject here by saying – and this is my quote here – there is a Metal law that says just because you grow up, YOU HAVE TO STOP making annoying music. Plus, it is NOT a turn on for me, to know what goes on in your bedroom. Ew. Now, this is coming from a middle aged Metalhead who is extremely open minded to all Metal Music that has ever existed, plus I kinda like to keep the intimacy that occurs in my home, with my wife, a secret. That is the REAL turn on for me. Sure, there will be a crowd out there that wants to know what Lita Ford does in her, um, spare time, I am not one of them.
To actually listen to all fifteen songs on Wicked Wonderland was like listening to a once glorified Heavy Metal star just pushing out tunes because she’s famous and she can. It appears that Lita Ford’s husband Jim Gillette lends his background vocals throughout Wicked Wonderland. Man, this guy sounds not just creepy, he is a major league part of the ANNOYING FACTOR that this album illuminates. Ugh. I guess Jim Gillette used to be the lead vocalist for some band called… Nitro. Nitro? Does not ring a Metal bell for me. Let me put this in perspective here… Bed is the worst song I have ever listened to in my life. Wicked Wonderland is without question, the worst “Heavy Metal” album that I have bought since, well, since ever. “Tie me to the bed”… these lyrics alongside some of the most bothersome guitar you will ever listen to, throw in the constant ANNOYING keyboards and you have the epitome of BAD.
Is there at least one song on Wicked Wonderland that is at least… tolerable? Uh, let’s see… maybe Scream 4 Me is a bit groovy. Metal truth be told, if Lita Ford created more songs like Scream 4 Me on this album, it would have been a more credible project in the end. It is extremely rare for me to put any album or band through the Metal wringer on Metal Odyssey. Really, it has to be a monumental bad listening experience in Heavy Metal for me to bark this fierce. After listening to Wicked Wonderland twice, I felt an obligation to the Metal world to give my fair warning regarding this Lita Ford album, uh, disaster. In the end, Wicked Wonderland makes for a decent comedy album, the ending song is Push. Uh, yeah, there is sexual innuendo stacked up to the ceiling on Push. Weeeeeeeeeee! I’m selling my Wicked Sensation CD first thing Thursday morning to the used CD dealer, (I hope he buys it). Sometimes immaturity is best expressed through song, yet to combine it with lack of integrity as Lita Ford did with Wicked Wonderland is simply astonishing.
To my best Metal buddy Scott… I should have heeded your warning about this album, Metal lesson learned.
I am listening to Rancid today, all day. In my house, in my car, it does not matter. Rancid is my band of choice due to the slick and groove saturated Punk Rock style they bestow. They are Street Punk at many turns, yet they are so much from the Old School Punk Rock mold of the Ramones too. Kickin’ and fun, (gasp), did I just use the F word there? In my area today, the weather is miserable – rainy, semi-cold, of course cloudy and dank. What better band for me, than Rancid… to get my energy level back on high and to kick start my day and attitude. I am actually going to settle on one Rancid CD to crank today – …And Out Come The Wolves. The richness and foundation of Rock and Roll 101 is so evident in the Punk Rock of Rancid, especially on this album. My adoration for Rancid grows each and every time I listen to their Punk Rock. Out of the nineteen songs on this album, there is not one to skip over. I apologize to no one for being a rabid Rancid fan. Life is too short, I love the music I listen to – end of Metal story. Uh, not really… Rancid rules.
I just can’t explain it though, there are those certain bands that just make you feel like everything is cool and alright. Rancid is just that band for me. Over the weekend, I just hung up the very large Rancid poster that comes inside their new CD – let the dominoes fall. The front of the poster is the front cover group photo on that CD, (pictured to the left of this paragraph). On the back of the poster are all of the songs lyrics – real cool. I put this poster inside a very large, thick plastic sleeve for protection too. It is hanging up in my Rocked out basement. It serves me right. Plus, my daughters dig Rancid like there is no tomorrow and this poster being hung makes the basement that much more homey for us all. Rancid is a Punk Rock Band that you should give a try, especially those who are sitting on the fence about wanting some Punk Music in their life. The social commentary and relevance of Rancid’s lyrics are entertaining as they are legitimate. In my most honest of Metal opinions, I just cannot resist the damn credibility of Rancid. The overall realness of …And Out Come The Wolves and any of the other Rancid albums overflows. I can’t ever jump onto that dreaded word – Pop, and attach it to this band… never. Rancid is not Pop Punk – period.
My unreal great and undeniably loving Mother passed away on July 10, 2009. She just turned seventy years old this past April of 2009. To look at her, you would never know she was seventy, really. My Mom is a true hero and inspiration to me, always will be. She suffered a series of strokes in the Fall of 1990, therefore my Mom was a courageous survivor for nearly twenty years. Not being able to speak and having paralysis on the right side of her body were the two biggest obstacles that my Mom endured for two decades. That did not stop her from enjoying life, seeing her children get married and enjoying four grandchildren. Thanks to my heroic Father who became my Mom’s full time caregiver, many people and family members were given the gift of my Mom’s presence, thoughts and love for much longer than was initially predicted by doctors. Being born from my Mom was a gift and she was a gift to me for forty three years of my life. I now am convinced, that my Mom can speak and walk again up in heaven, where she has been reunited with her parents and without any doubt… my incredible sister too. I am at peace knowing my Mom is healthy again in heaven, no more suffering… my Mom has earned her place with the angels.
Alright, as my Mom would probably say right about now… enough with all of the sad stuff, let’s have a good time. I cannot resist reflecting on good times, heck, that is why they are called that in the first place. You see, my Mom was in her own special right… a fan of Heavy Metal. She was without question, one of the biggest advocates for Heavy Metal amongst any other Mom I knew, while growing up as a teenager back in the 1980’s. Her knowledge of the past and current bands back in the late 1970’s and through the 1980’s was admirable. There was a hiccup, however, when I was in sixth grade, in regards to my being allowed to have a KISS album in the house. My Mom took one look at the cover of KISS Alive ll and she said – no way. The blood spewing from the mouth of Gene Simmons was over the top for her. She specifically said that no son of hers would have that in her house. Well, to make a long story short, after she heard the song I was Made For Lovin’ You by KISS, the decision to allow KISS and any of their albums into our house was cleared to go. KISS was in… the world of Heavy Metal had a new fan… my Mom.
Yes, my Mom would go out of her way to drive me and my buddies thirty minutes – out of town, to Strawberries Records and Tapes. These Heavy Metal excursions, (as we called them back then), would happen at the drop of a dime! After school, on the weekends, on days off from school and during the Summer… with my Mom it was no problem. She loved those trips to Strawberries. We sometimes would have four dudes in the back seat, with me up front and my Mom leading the way behind the wheel – those Heavy Metal journeys, (we called them that too), are memories that no money can buy. At least half of my Heavy Metal collection of albums and tapes, were courtesy of what my Mom would pick out on her own back then. We would storm into Strawberries and my Mom would seek out albums like a bobcat seeking out it’s prey. She is responsible for my having every Rainbow album ever made at the time. Iron Maiden too. Honestly, I never would have listened to Scorpions World Wide Live if not for my Mom, she would find and buy some prime albums for me back then.
Badlands was a Heavy Metal band that I caught onto the instant they released their debut/self titled album – Badlands
Ozzy Osbourne, the Heavy Metal Prince of Darkness. Ozzy Osbourne – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Black Sabbath. Honestly, I revere the living hell out of this Heavy Metal legend. I did get to see Ozzy Osbourne live in concert twice during my lifetime. For me, those two concerts were unbelievable, with Metallica opening up for Ozzy in New Haven Connecticut, (at the spooky New Haven Coliseum) – it was The Ultimate Sin Tour for Ozzy and Metallica was promoting their legendary Master of Puppets album. The other Ozzy concert I saw had Queensryche open for Ozzy in Springfield, Massachusetts, (at the Springfield Civic Center), on this same Ultimate Sin Tour. Alright, so it is obvious I think the Metal world of Ozzy Osbourne… fine. However, by process of elimination, there has to be my least favorite Ozzy Osbourne song out there and there is one. I do not think much of the song, uh, ballad So Tired from Ozzy’s Bark At The Moon album. This song, ugh, ballad is responsible for my distaste of most Heavy Metal ballads ever released since, by any band. This album was released on December 10, 1983. Don’t get me wrong here, the Bark At The Moon album as a whole, is unreal good. Three songs on this album are incredible for me… Rock ‘n’ Roll Rebel, You’re No Different and of course – Bark At The Moon. These three Ozzy songs I can hold up on a Metal pedestal forever. Plus, Jake E. Lee on guitar is a Metal bonus to listen to.
Exodus… a Thrash Metal originator. Exodus… Old School Thrash Metal. Exodus… Bonded By Blood, was the first album released by this very important Thrash Metal Band, (back in 1985). Why I feel Exodus is a very important Thrash Metal Band is due to their being one of the first Metal Bands to introduce this genre to the world. Back in 1985, there were not the hundreds of thousands of Thrash Metal Bands there are now… you can thank Exodus for influencing countless musicians and bands alike for embarking on their careers in Metal… Thrash Metal. Just seek out and read some interviews of past and current Thrash Metal musicians, you discover after awhile, that Exodus and especially their initial album Bonded By Blood is ultra revered. Yes, I am an Exodus fan, since 1985 until this very day. Lineup changes within Exodus has not made me wince one Metal bit. Guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Tom Hunting have held the Thrash Metal fort for Exodus over the past three decades, serving Exodus and their fans well… extremely well. (Note: Paul Bostaph has stepped in on drums for Exodus, he is an unreal great Metal drummer at large).
Listening to the late and unreal great – Paul Baloff on lead vocals is as inspiring to me as all damn hell. His vocals were not your stereotypical Thrash Metal type… he resonated with the influence of early Rob Halford of Judas Priest… in my Metal opinion, still exuding his very own style that to this day is untouched. I reached for my CD jewel case of Bonded By Blood, (my copy is the reissue by Combat Records, it also has the alternate cover that is shown at the left and bottom of this post). The original front cover artwork is damn more cool than the alternate version, just look at it at the top of this post for proof. On the back cover of Bonded By Blood, it has a group photo of Exodus… Paul Baloff is shown wearing a Pipers Pit sleeveless t-shirt. Rowdy Roddy Piper… Paul Baloff… man, that is as fitting a shirt as any for him to wear back then. I used to be the f’n biggest Rowdy Roddy Piper fan around, imitating his wrestling moves and voice too… silly and cool memories, all courtesy of one photo of Exodus.
Reign Fall lyrically expresses the ghastly imagery of what happens to those who cannot think for themselves, wasting away at the mercy of ones very own doing. Reign Fall, as well as every song on The End Of Tomorrow, is a throwback Metal feast of melodic speed crashing into riffs that are beyond run of the mill. Al Ravage reminds me thoroughly of a young Rob Halford, (Judas Priest), intertwined with a young Paul Dianno, (of early Iron Maiden). Hey, I am by no means putting Al Ravage in this heroic class of Heavy Metal vocalists… (not yet anyways), what I am pointing out is Al Ravage can sing Heavy Metal with marked influences and originality combined. Ravage knows they are Old School, using this phrase so much doing a review may sound very redundant, yet for any veteran fan of Heavy Metal from yesteryear, you know just how juicy it can get when a new album excretes all things good about the glory days of Metal… The End Of Tomorrow is an unleashed monster of what I am talking about here.
Motorhead is and always will be a core favorite Heavy Metal Band of mine, (a top 3 band without a doubt). I was first introduced to this prolific band back around 1983, a friend of mine in high school gave me an 8-track of a live Motorhead bootleg. (This dudes name was Rich, I am glad we had crossed paths back then). The sound was enormously awful, (the actual 8-track didn’t help), the lead vocals were beyond raspy and unclear and the Heavy Metal Music being played was raw, uncommercial and unlike anything I had ever heard before in my young life. I loved it. I was beyond thrilled at listening to this Motorhead 8-track. I was enamored by every unpolished intricacy that my rookie Metalhead ears heard. Here is this band, on a beat up 8-track, recorded as a live bootleg somewhere far away in the world, that only a dozen or so dudes in my high school even knew about at that time in 1983. All that was written on the blank white sticker on this 8-track was a barely legible – Motorhead Live. I’ll never forget that… an Old School Metal memory at it’s most innocent. I was awe struck by the unnatural vocals of Lemmy Kilmister and his bass was over powering to boot. Gimme some more Motorhead is what I said.
When I listen to 
I found IOMMI With Glenn Hughes – the 1996 Dep Sessions on the Century Media Records online store CM Distro.com. This CD set me back 3 bucks plus shipping. (I bought a few CD’s so the total shipping cost of 5 bucks was reasonable to me). This CD was in the clearance section at CM Distro.com, proving to be a cool Metal find for me. Tony Iommi is the lead guitarist for the ultra legendary/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – Black Sabbath. Glenn Hughes has had a stellar career of his own, most notably being a vocalist and bass guitarist for Deep Purple on their Burn and Stormbringer 
I picked up my copy of Charm City Devils – Let’s Rock-N-Roll this past Summer, it was towards the end of July. On July 10, my mother passed away, she was as splendid, caring, giving and loving as a mother could possibly be for me. I received the news of her passing from my father… over the cell phone. We, (my wife and I with our twin daughters), were on our way to Connecticut by car with my courageous wife driving when this tragic news was conveyed to me by my father. We live in Pennsylvania, a solid three and a half hours away from our parents and relatives. The shock and sadness we all felt in the car at that moment can not be expressed in words here. Why I am telling this story is due to the Charm City Devils song Almost Home. You see, upon my first listen to Almost Home, I felt instant sadness, goose bumps formed all over my body and my thoughts instantly were directed to that awful moment in time – of receiving my fathers phone call about my own mothers passing away. It was only a couple of weeks after losing my mother that I first listened to this song.
Crowbar was my Metal band of choice today. Sludge Metal with a healthy slice of Doom Metal at it’s very best is Crowbar. I gave another listen to Sonic Excess In It’s Purest Form and have walked away with the same Metal satisfaction as always – ultra Sludge Metal satisfaction that is. The slow trudging and heavy duty guitar riffs combined with the slow paced rhythm section, makes me scream in Metal glee that Crowbar has taken Old School Heavy Metal to a more dark and doom ridden place. The lyrics heard in the songs on Sonic Excess In It’s Purest Form are gloomy, mournful and visits the realms of self suffering, doubt and infliction. Well, that is what Doom Metal delves into, topics too touchy for the faint at heart mainstream. These lyrics explore what it must feel like when one is truly suffering from extreme mental anguish. Now, if you are to look past the psychologically driven lyrics, the Metal Music is an ear crushing experience and/or escape that seems to come at me from all sides. Crowbar plays their Sludge Metal like it surrounds me, repeatedly encircling my space like a slow marching invasion of Metal giants from a far away and spooky place. Cool.
There are those select few bands, select few albums throughout my life that I have listened to, that I can say – resonates with me. Drivin N Cryin is one of those bands and their 1993 album – Smoke
There is no hiding from the fact that I uphold Metal Music and I am a Metalhead, with that said, I also uphold quality Rock and Hard Rock Music as well. Drivin N Cryin enables me to embrace their songs through their vivid musicianship and clarity of their lyrics. With Smoke, there are no illusions going on, no flamboyant and over the ropes attitudes to be heard, just straight -up Rock Music that hits home for me. The first three songs, Back Against The Wall, She Doesn’t Wanna Go and Smoke on Smoke are a 1-2-3 Hard Rock can of whoop ass. 1000 Swings and 1988 are by far cool Rockers as well. Whiskey Soul Woman is just one incredible Rock song to cruise to, it has a Classic Rock vibe swirling all around. When You Come Back is a laid back, Blues Rockin’ song that shows just how diverse Drivin N Cryin can be with Rock. Patron Lady Beautiful can be justified as an epic Rock song for Drivin N Cryin, at 7:36 it plays out with the Rock mellowness that I need to hear every so often and takes it’s twists and turns with Hard Rock heaviness – in real Classic Rock style. What’s The Difference 
SKELETONWITCH released their second full studio album with Prosthetic Records, Breathing the Fire, on October 13, 2009. I could not resist the Metal temptation and need of picking up this new CD on my visit to f.y.e. today. As I stood there staring at the hellish and downright evil artwork on the front cover of Breathing the Fire, it dawned on me… the Metal wait is over for this new Skeletonwitch. Yeah, very often enough I want my Metal pretty damned fast and extreme in every musical facet. All twelve songs on this album are extremely worthy, I can’t point out any skip overs whatsoever. Skeletonwitch does not fall short of Extreme Metal – every song on Breathing the Fire is blended with the very best of several Metal genres.
Today I found myself in another one of those funks, where the melancholy feelings just won’t subside. So, earlier tonight, I turned to music, Metal Music, to settle my thoughts, nerves and soul. I chose to listen to Entombed, Wolverine Blues. Released back in 1993, on Earache/Columbia Records, I find it startling that this album is around seventeen years old already. An excellent listening choice I made, Entombed was the Metal elixir and their album Wolverine Blues was the Metal prescription that served me right tonight. Entombed delivers their original style of Death Metal or Death N’ Roll with Wolverine Blues, it is as groove charged as it is sinister. With each listen, I can still hear some Thrash Metal being fused within Entombed’s songs on this album. In a Metal nutshell, Entombed covers some ground with Extreme Metal genres. This is one hell of a heavy and hard album, the righteous Metal remedy for curing my blues – let me tell you. Lyrically, there is no bashfulness to be found when it comes to topics and imagery on Wolverine Blues. The combination of the aggressive lyrics and Death N’ Roll charge makes this album sound like it belongs on top of the Metal heap in 2009.
Here I go again… pulling out another great and scary Rock song that is just eerily perfect for the Halloween season. In 1986, the ever legendary John Fogerty released his solo album – Eye of the Zombie
I have owned the vinyl album of No Mean City by Nazareth since 1983. No, I could never part with this album at all over the years, never. For years I could never find No Mean City on CD, it most likely had been out of print for some time. To this day, No Mean City does not seem to be that readily available anywhere, on CD and especially on vinyl. Who knows, maybe there is an independent record store somewhere that has dozens of copies in their inventory… I just never come across this Nazareth classic myself. With the brilliant, Old School, Classic Hard Rock heard on this album, combined with the album cover artwork, makes for a keeper. I actually bought this album as a cut-out, back when Strawberries Records & Tapes was around. Back in the early 1980’s, cut-out bins found in any record store was Rock and Roll Heaven! You could always find cool albums in these cut-out bins at real discounted prices, many times there were hidden heavy gems in them. My copy of No Mean City has a cut in the top right corner of the album jacket – this never bothered me one bit. The enjoyment this album’s music has given me all these years more than makes up for any cosmetic defect on it’s exterior.
ANVIL. Blue collar Heavy Metal personified. No pretentious attitude or pompousness with this band, just a working man’s ethic and never say die mantra that has led them up to 2009, with VH1 Classic Records picking up and reissuing their self funded album This Is Thirteen. (Good Metal move there, VH1 Classic Records). Unless you have been living underneath the remnants of a crashed UFO for the last six months, Anvil is back. Well, they never really went away for any real measurable length of time. Unlike a throng of prima donna Heavy Metal Bands out there who have taken the sabbatical and returned, expecting rose petals to be thrown everywhere they walk, Anvil is just doing what they always have done… play damn good Heavy Metal Music for anyone who will listen. I am listening, I listened to Anvil in the early ’80’s, their Metal has never left my collection since. Hell, I still have Anvil’s first three – Hard N’ Heavy, Metal On Metal and Forged In Fire on cassette – I could never bring myself to part with them. Anvil has stayed true to themselves and cool Metal things come to those Metal bands who wait. Without getting too deep into this bands history… the best way for anyone unfamiliar with Anvil is to watch or buy their newly released DVD – ANVIL – The Story of ANVIL.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.