May 15, 2008

Now Playing - The Great Divide

Welcome to a very special edition of Now Playing. This will be the first installment of a 4-part miniseries written by antiMusic Editor and all around bad mamma jamma - Keavin Wiggins. Now Playing was just an opportunity to highlight important songs, whether it be for emotional, musical or purely booty-shakin' reasons. Keavin's is an ambitious entry that could act as a "History of Metal: The '80s years" for all the faithful, yet uninitiated Lloyd Zeffler readers. I hope you enjoy it, as whenever Keavin takes the time to write, you know it is going to be good. Without further ado...here is Keavin.


Zane has a great feature on his blog called "Now Playing". So he innocently asked me if I wanted to write a little something for it and I agreed. So I grabbed my iPod, hit shuffle and Metallica's "Fade to Black" came on. I started thinking about what I could write about the song and as always happens, a torrent of thoughts and reflections came rushing out. So the little blurb turned into 18 and half thousand words. What can I say? It's like I told Zane, it was sort of like that line from 'Almost Famous' and I was writing pages and pages of dribble just to write. I guess subconsciously this topic's been in the back of my head for a while, waiting for the chance to come out. I'm sure it's nothing like what Zane expected, but it is what it is. Here is how I witnessed the great divide and the conclusions I drew from it. - Keavin

Home Sweet Home

The memory is still fresh in my mind like it was just yesterday. It was right before summer break of my 7th grade year. I walked into my history class and saw my friend Rob with a look on his face like someone had died. I asked him what was wrong and he sneered and tossed a metal magazine at me and exclaimed, "They look like pansies!"

I looked down at the full color photo spread in the mag (Circus or Hit Parader) and there was Motley Crue in pink, white and black outfits and make-up that made them look like skinny bikers in drag. It was a bit shocking to see. My initial thought was that it was some kind of gag. I tried to reassure Rob that it had to be a joke and he looked desperate enough to believe that since Motley Crue was his absolute favorite band. I was proven wrong a short time later when the video for "Smoking in the Boys Room" came out and they had those silly drag queen outfits on.

Music isn't all about image, so I told Rob to hang tight. Surely Motley Crue wouldn't change their music drastically on their new album. Sure, "Boys Room" was a far cry from "Looks That Kill," but it still kinda rocked, in a song to try and win your girlfriend over to a band you like, kind of way.

Soon the other shoe dropped when Theater of Pain came out. Poor Rob was devastated. Not only had the band gone with a pansy image, but the music pretty much matched the look. Mick Mars may have tried, in vain, to add some blues licks here and there to at least give it some rock feel, but it was the sound of a band selling out in a huge way.

Then the ultimate insult to Rob's past devotion came, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back for him. He was thru with the Crue! That insult was the second single from the album and the video that accompanied it, "Home Sweet Home". The pink and white was back, but with a ballad, complete with Vince running around in assless pants with a pink bandana covering up only enough to make the video safe for viewing on MTV. And did MTV ever play it. It was on ad nausem and helped take Motley Crue from being a popular band in the metal scene to a mainstream pop band. They had gone from the power chords of "Shout at the Devil" to Tommy playing a piano on "Home Sweet Home." A short time later I remember watching an interview with Vince where he claimed they were always more glam then metal, because metal was too punk. He still hasn't gained back my respect.

The success of Motley's sellout was a large mark on the wall of what was soon to happen to metal. It was in the midst of a seismic shift that would send the genre off into two totally different directions. Pretty soon the heavy weights of the metal mainstream, at the time, were going soft in sound and dressing like drag queens. Even Ozzy got into the glammed up image with the release of The Ultimate Sin in early 1996. It was complete with a MTV friendly video for the radio friendly song "Shot in the Dark," which gave us the Prince of Darkness decked out in sequins with a Tammy Faye Bakker perm and makeup.

Even Judas Priest was pulled down this dark path. For their album Turbo, they replaced most of the guitars with guitar synthesizers, and ended up sounding like a little heavier edged Duran Duran. Rob Halford's mullet from the period is still pretty comical. Then Poison appeared on the scene and it was all over. Metal had gone pop in a big way.

Fade to Black

When I started back to school the next fall, Rob was over the Crue sell out. A new band had caught his attention over the summer. In fact, the band had caught the attention of a lot of the older metalheads in our town, which is where Rob heard about them. It was a band of thrashy upstarts from San Francisco that didn't give a damn about image or dressing up, and played a bit faster and a bit heavier then the metal we were used to at the time. The heaviness of the music made "Shout at the Devil" sound like "Home Sweet Home" in comparison. The band even refused to make a video (unheard of in 1985). The band was Metallica and once Elektra re-released their sophomore album Ride the Lightning, they moved out of the deep metal underground (where those of us in Jr. High had yet to travel) and they began slowly getting exposure among a wider metal audience.

Ride The Lightning was new to us, but it wasn't a new album. It had come out in 1984, but by the time it started catching on in wider metal circles, the timing was perfect. With the exception of Iron Maiden, it appeared that all of the big metal bands had gone soft and taken a trip down the slippery slope that Motley help lay out. So metal fans, being fans of metal, wanted some real metal, not Ozzy harping like Jane Fonda about nukes. He was starting to look like a heavier Jane Fonda as well.

Metallica was still a bit too heavy for a lot of my metal friends. While it seems tame now in comparison to today's metal, at the time it was really heavy when heard against the backdrop of the big metal bands of the day. There was one song on Ride The Lightning that was just mellow enough to open the door for those that found Metallica a bit too heavy. It was the track "Fade To Black," and it's easy to see how it became an instant classic. It has the power of Metallica, but was more accessible. Whereas a "Fight Fire With Fire" might send an unsuspecting metalhead (of the time) running off to the hills screaming, "that's too punk!" When they heard "Fade To Black" they were usually sold, and over time songs like "Fight Fire with Fire" would gain a foothold as well. Metalheads absolutely hated punk and punkers at the time. So a band that was thought to be too punk, wasn't given a fair shake. And the punk comparisons were heard loud in clear in my circle of friends during the fall of 1985. That would soon change. Thanks in part to Ozzy and Priest going pop, but also in Southern California where I grew up, it was largely thanks to a little underpowered radio station out of Long Beach.

Part 2 of this 4-part miniseries will be live on Lloyd Zeffler tomorrow!

May 12, 2008

Tallica in color
Sorry for the lack of posts here at Lloyd Zeffler - I have, admittedly, been off my game(i.e. uninspired and lazy) and have a lot of work just sitting on the table. Attribute it to a case of spring cabin fever. I love my job, but these office walls are closing in.

May 9, 2008

Now Playing - U2

“Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own”
from the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

I wrote a review of How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb shortly after its release. I gave it 5 stars, and three years later after rereading I still agree with everything I said in that review. (Check it out here, if you are so inclined.)

Over time my emotional connection to the music has deepened. Songs that I loved, just because they were good songs can become something else when they start to apply to the changes in your life and the growth in who and what you are. You can come back to a song three years later, and suddenly it can kick you right in the gut.

Despite my cranky exterior, having a child has made me vulnerable. Not just in terms of his happiness and welfare, but vulnerable to every relationship in my life. I have come to understand time as a precious commodity – one that is running out far too quickly. With the clock ticking, I am failing to make the most of my relationships.

This song picks right at the scabs of the worries and regrets I have with those closest to me – and how I do not want that same thing to happen with my kids.

Tough, you think you’ve got the stuff

You’re telling me and anyone
You’re hard enough
You don’t have to put up a fight
You don’t have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Communication has always been a struggle – and it has only worsened as time and distance seem to separate everyone more and more. I am always amazed how individuals can misconstrue comments, spread rumors, and enjoy other people’s misfortunes. No wonder friendships and family ties can be strained over the smallest of matters. I avoid confrontation, so small matters can become big matters quickly. Even the album title points to that feeling. “What’s so funny 'bout peace, love and understanding?” says Mr. Costello – nothing is the matter, but anger, resentment and confusion seems to pepper its way in much more frequently. Maybe it is just easier to be insulted that to forgive.

About 1/3 of the way into this song, Bono sings these lyrics:

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don’t have to go it alone

…and that is the point where I start crying. It gets worse after the next three lines:

And it’s you when I look in the mirror
And it’s you when I don’t pick up the phone
Sometimes you can’t make it on your own

What is horribly aching about this song is the loneliness in knowing that your chance is already gone to make things better. Whether you are scared, hurt or prideful now is the time to reach out. Forgive, forget, break the cycle, help, hope, communicate, and appreciate. This is it and all we have is each other.

May 8, 2008

Top 10 Funny Graduation Quotes

There is a reason I don't write much with comedy in mind. I have a strange sense of humour. Not in a "wow, he's creepy" way, but in a "um, I don't get it, and that may be vaguely insulting" way. It specifically does not translate well into emails or online.

One of the reasons I probably come across as shy or reserved when I first meet them is because I don't want to make a stupid joke that will insult them. It will inevitably happen though, if you spend enough time with me. I don't mean to be mean. I just laugh at what I think is funny - and it is usually the stuff nobody else would bother to think is funny. Like bad grammar.

Anyways - here is a Call for Content that I completed for Associated Content. After publishing it and reading it again, I may have missed the mark. See for yourself.

Top Ten Funny Graduation Quotes.

May 5, 2008

Tomasz Adamek ready to tear through cruiserweight division

BoxingHerald.com launched last week, and today my first contribution was posted.

Tomasz Adamek ready to tear through cruiserweight division

Seven rounds into the April 19 fight pitting Poland's Tomasz Adamek versus Jamaican-bred O'Neil Bell, the latter's corner threw in the towel giving Adamek the TKO victory. Adamek, the current IBO cruiserweight champion, took advantage with an early knockdown and skillful counterpunching.

Read my full article at BoxingHerald.com.

May 2, 2008

BoxingHerald.com is now live!

BoxingHerald.com is now up and running with a few stories and a Podcast. Check it out at www.boxingherald.com.

May 1, 2008

Now Playing - The Metal Masters Tour 2008

I would fancy myself as a reasonable person. Relatively well-adjusted. I have a family, a good job and have never killed a woodland creature just to watch it die. Also, I love heavy metal. I think for the most part, it gets an unfair wrap in the public conscious. The same people that line up at the movie theatre for a horror film, or schedule their life around grisly television shows are the same who complain against the ill effects of music. Specifically heavy metal music.

Don't get me wrong, there are a few idiots with guitars out there right now with questionable intentions. Hopefully your parents helped you to be able to spot those idiots. If not, you might be one of those idiots. I personally avoid a lot of music, mostly because it is bad but also because I'm simply not interested in the message or the tone. Heavy metal, at its best, is loud, uplifting and powerful. Any fool with Pro Tools can can complain about his step-dad over tuneless guitar chords. It takes a special kind of fool to write a great - even timeless - song.

Three of my favorite metal bands are hitting the road together this summer in a tour package that is fairly similar to one a few years ago. I was desperate to see the Iron Maiden/Dio/Motorhead tour a few summers back, but I didn't have the chance. This summer another mighty monster of a tour is rearing its ugly head with Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell and Motorhead. Add the Iron Maiden tour and this summer should blow the American Idol out of your brains.

Check out this article from antiMusic about the tour - complete with dates and such. All three bands have products releasing this summer but reports say they will be sticking to the tried and true hits of yesteryear.

"You've got another thing coming"
from the album Screaming for Vengeance

Judas Priest spent nearly a decade slogging away in the English metal scene. Faster than you can say New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the band landed some big hits with a string of classic metal albums. The two-pronged guitar attack of K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton, the searing vocals of Rob Halford and the band's leather biker image influenced just about everyone who formed a metal band in the 1980s.

In the mid '80s the government apparently didn't have much going on, so the establishment attacked music makers with several high-profile court cases - see PMRC. In 1990, Judas Priest was accused of putting subliminal messages in their music that prompted two men to take their own lives. The case was eventually dismissed. Halford commented that if the band wanted to add subliminal messages to their music it would say "Buy more of our records." Even though the case was dismissed, this is the kind of thing that seems to linger around heavy metal bands.

In terms of song topics, Judas Priest covered much of the same ground as other bands of the time - live fast, play loud and rise to the top of the rock and roll heap. Despite being one of the bands more commercial songs - commercial isn't necessarily bad, mind you - "You've got another thing coming" is a perfect example of the the band's rock ethos.

One life I'm gonna live it up
I'm takin' flight I said I'll never get enough
Stand tall I'm young and kinda proud
I'm on top as long as the music's loud

With its insistent riff and Halford's unmistakable growl, "You've got another thing coming" is another perfect '80s youth anthem.

"Neon Knights"
from the album Heaven & Hell

Before Heaven & Hell was Heaven & Hell, they were Black Sabbath version 2.0. Tony Iommi canned Ozzy Osbourne after a few lackluster albums and proceeded to regain his metal crown with the help of a giant voice that emanated from a tiny man. Tony Iommi pretty much invented the heavy metal riff on the first few Sabbath records. One of his less-celebrated, but in no way less exciting, is his awesome riff for the song "Neon Knights."

Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio was leaner, meaner and meant business. Even if Dio's lyrics for "Neon Knights" were odd, his delivery is exhilarating.

Bloodied angels fast descending
Moving on a never-bending light
Phantom figures free forever
Out of shadows, shining ever-bright

Dio-era Sabbath cranked out a duo of classic records before they imploded over the production of Live Evil. A reunion 10 years later didn't go very far, but the most recent incarnation under the name Heaven & Hell seems to be moving along well. Although a new record might be more exciting than a 5-disc remaster of their previous work, whatever keeps them on a stage near you can't be all bad.

"Ace of Spades"
from the album Ace of Spades

I admit that I am cheating by choosing "Ace of Spades" since it is easily the best known Motorhead song. I don't care. This is a prototype of heavy metal. The lyrics court danger, the music feels like you are about to fly off the rails at any moment. Isn't that the exact feeling you want if you crank up a metal record.

If you like to gamble, I tell you I'm your man
you win some, lose some, it's all the same to me
The pleasure is to play, it makes no difference what you say
I don't share your greed, the only card I need
is the Ace of Spades

Lemmy - recently named the "greatest living Englishman" - is the epitome of ugly cool. His music is ugly too. Motorhead is Chuck Berry with the volume turned up until the knob snaps off. Quite a bit of heavy metal traces its roots back to classical music, but Motorhead is just straight forward, four to the floor ROCK AND ROLL. James Blunt can go cry himself to sleep.