RIP Justin Lowe and Other Ancedotes

Justin Lowe – a founding member of the Twin Cities heavy metal band After the Burial – has been found dead, weeks after his former bandmates expressed concern about his mental health.

The New Richmond News reports hikers discovered Lowe’s body Tuesday in Somerset, Wisconsin, beneath a bridge that spans the St. Croix River.

The St. Croix County sheriff’s department’s chief deputy, Scott Knudson, told the newspaper Lowe’s cause of death was consistent with a fall and no foul play is suspected. Knudson says Lowe had been reported missing on Saturday.

Justin Lowe

Lowe, 32, announced in a Facebook post last month that he was leaving After the Burial. The metal site Loudwire published Lowe’s lengthy announcement, in which the guitarist asserted there were various conspiracies against him.

The other members of After the Burial responded with a Facebook post of their own, in which they wrote: “Our dear friend, our brother onstage and off, has fallen into a very broken state of mind …. Justin is ill, and right now he needs more than ever to be shown that the world is not against him.”

Condolences and tributes from other metal bands quickly appeared on social media after Lowe’s death was announced Wednesday.

On a further positive note, my Bloodstock tickets arrive yesterday and I'm getting pumped. 

Great Rock Albums of 19980: Pink Floyd- The Wall

For many people, this was the album of 1980. It was one of those albums I got to listen to extensively without ever having to buy it because everyone I knew had it. Of course, in the realms of top 40 singles, the album is best known for the number one single, "Another Brick In the Wall Part 2." That single crossed a huge section of listeners as I remember both country music lovers and soul music lovers all listening to the song. Even my then disco loving little sister liked it and an ex girl friend said this was their school's rallying song when her school walked out of class in protest. I can't remember what they were protesting about.

As anyone who wasn't blinkered by the singles charts could tell you, that song didn't define the album. There were some other great songs on it and for me these included, "Mother," "Goodbye Blue Sky" and "Comfortably Numb." "The Wall" continued Pink Floyd's tendency to want to listen to them when you needed to lay back and mellow out, especially after you have been puffing the magic dragon. That is what defines this album the most. For me and many others I knew, it was THE party album of 1980. This album was listened to over and over again to while consuming many beers and other substances and in that year, there was no other album where I could enjoy so much while catching a buzz.

It wasn't just the fact that "The Wall" carried on the Pink Floyd tradition of making music conducive to the party atmosphere. Like some of their earlier albums, I was very much amused by the some of the talking parts between and during the songs. I still smile when I hear "Look mummy, there's any airplane in the sky" before "Goodbye Blue Sky" and of course the teacher at the end of "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" who bellows, "If you don't eat your meat, you can have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" Back then, there was an X- rated version to that as well.

Track Listing:

1. In the Flesh?

2. The Thin Ice

3. Another Brick in the Wall Part 1

4. The Happiest Days of Our Lives

5. Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

6. Mother

7. Goodbye Blue Sky

8. Empty Spaces

9. Young Lust

10. One of My Turns

11. Don't Leave Me Now

12. Another Brick in the Wall Part 3

13. Goodbye Cruel World

14. Hey You

15. Is Anybody Out There

16. Nobody Home

17. Vera

18. Bring the Boys Back Home

19. Comfortably Numb

20. The Show Must Go On

21. In the Flesh

22. Run Like Hell

23. Waiting for the Worms

24. Stop

25. The Trial

26. Outside the Wall

Pink Floyd

Dave Gilmour- guitars, vocals, clavinet, sound effects

Roger Waters- vocals, bass, synthesisers, sound effects

Nick Mason- drums, percussion

Richard Wright- organ, piano, electric piano, bass pedals

If you want to either mellow out at the weekend or take a trip back in history, you can kill two birds with one stone with this iconic album from Pink Floyd. This is an ultimate party album, not just for 1980 but for all time.

Next Post: Rush- Permanent Waves

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London 

Great Rock Albums of 1980: Styx- Cornerstone

Like I did with 1978 and 79, I am starting off 1980 with albums that were released in the previous year but didn't come to my attention until the year I'm posting about. "Head Games" by Foreigner was one and so was "Cornerstone" by Styx. The album first came to my attention in the February courtesy of what is probably their best known single, "Babe." During that month, it seemed every time I would return to base via the back gate, that song was blasting out of the juke box in the bar across the street. I know for a fact that the bar in question was called The Zodiac because the bar next door to it, Dale's, had mostly country music on their box, although they did serve a delicious bowl of chilli. As a result, I got to hear the song quite a bit and while on the subject, I promise that I won't link every album between 1980 and 83 with my military experiences.

No band, with the possible exception of Kansas, was able to equal Styx in the art of fusing progressive rock and hard rock. Their previous two albums, "The Grand Illusion" and "Pieces of Eight" plus much of their earlier records bare witness to this. "Cornerstone" is more a lurch to the progressive side of their sound. Most of the album seems to follow the flow of the march behind "Babe" and their other single "Why Me" with the progressive sound. The one track that tends to be more harder rock is "Borrowed Time." This is not to say that it's not a good album, in no way is it bad and the guitar solo by Tommy Shaw on "First Time" reminded me of that great times of the previous albums.

Track Listing:

1. Lights

2. Why Me

3. Babe

4. Never Say Never

5. Boat on a River

6. Borrowed Time

7. First Time

8. Eddie

9. Love in the Midnight

Styx

Dennis DeYoung- keyboards, vocals, accordion

Chuck Panozzo- bass, vocals

John Panozzo- drums, percussion, vocals

Tommy Shaw- guitars, vocals, mandolin

James Young- guitars, vocals

When the album came out, many hard rockers were disappointed by "Cornerstone" for it's more progressive sound. Some  rock historians say that this album began their slide into commericaldom. I don't think so and I'll argue the case in 1981. For me, it's still a good album with a well known song that brings back memories. I wonder if The Zodiac is still there.

Next post: Pink Floyd- The Wall

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublshinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Froogle and Barnes & Noble and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London