Great Metal Albums of 1981: April Wine, The Nature of the Beast

It was about this time of my life that I began to wonder if Canadian music was largely ignored by US and UK markets, especially metal bands from the Great White North. Rush and Triumph being the two exceptions of course.  Two of my very earliest posts asked this question and certainly feel free to go back through the archives and read those posts. I ask myself the same question because while searching through my local record store, I discovered "The Nature of the Beast" by Canadian band April Wine. There will be some debate as to whether or not to label April Wine a metal band and I will attempt to put forward the case for yes as I examine their most commercially successful album.

If one were to listen to the first four songs only, they would be more inclined to put April Wine into the hard rock or power pop category. The opening song "All Over Town" starts hard enough with the opening riffs. However, I get the sneaking suspicion that it could have been played even harder. It's still a good song though and the second song, "Telling Me Lies" sort of goes on in the same vein. It's another song that borders on power pop. Then comes "Sign of the Gypsy Queen." This is the first song that really shows off some impressive guitar work. I have "The Nature of the Beast" on cassette, which is gathering dust in my attic so I heard the version on YouTube. It was a live version and it is totally mind blowing. The guitar solos go on for much longer and my thought to this was "Why couldn't have recorded it like that on the album?" It would have made a great song even greater. Following "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" is my second favourite power ballad of all time, "Just Between You and Me." Yes, it's a soppy love song lyrically, but the guitar breaks between the verses and the solo itself totally launch it to a new level. I will go out on the limb here and say that "Just Between You and Me" set the bar for how metal ballads should sound. It totally kicks the ass of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

After the ballad, the album goes heavier kicking in straight away with "Wanna Rock." I agree with the lyrics "Disco music has a social disease, if it ain't gonna rock me then it ain't gonna please." "Wanna Rock" sets the stage for the hard rocking rest of the album and is the exhibit A, B and C for my case of April Wine being a metal band. It follows on with the anti-nuclear weapons song "Caught in the Crossfire" that starts with a very cool lead guitar intro. On the cassette it would start the second side but "Future Tense" starts with an almost thrash sound before slowing down a little while still maintaining metal integrity. It continues with the third best known song on the album and definitely more metal sounding than either "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" and "Just Between You and Me." Big City Girls" is a true cooker of a song even if it is about prostitutes. "Crash and Burn" doesn't do what it suggests in the title but continues the party. "Bad Boys" may not be as hard as the ones mentioned but it carries things on nicely to its excellent closer "One More Time" which ends the album very nicely. So, I hope I have convinced some of you that April Wine should be a metal band but don't take my word for it, listen for yourself.

Track Listing:

1. All Over Town

2. Telling Me Lies

3. Sign of the Gypsy Queen

4. Just Between You and Me

5. Wanna Rock

6. Caught in the Crossfire

7. Future Tense

8. Big City Girls

9. Crash and Burn

10. Bad Boys

11. One More Time

[caption id="attachment_2349" align="aligncenter" width="285"] April Wine[/caption]

Myles Goodwyn- vocals, guitars, keyboards

Brian Greenway- vocals, guitars

Gary Moffet- guitars, backing vocals

Steve Lang- bass, backing vocals

Jerry Mercer- drums

I have a confession to make, when I bought "The Nature of the Beast" I never knew that they had put out so many albums before hand. It was always in my mind to listen to these albums but I never got around to it, that's going to change. I would love to hear how they stack up to this monster of a classic.

Next post: Judas Priest- Point of Entry

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 Metal Albums of 1981: Ozzy Osbourne- Blizzard of Ozz

"Heaven and Hell" proved for Black Sabbath that there was life after Ozzy, however, in 1981, Ozzy's debut solo album "Blizzard of Oz" proved for him there was life after Sabbath. Since his departure from the band in 1978, the Oz had been battling with booze and drugs but he managed to clean himself up enough to put out an album that would forever be a major rock in the foundation of heavy metal. "Blizzard of Oz" changed the way many people, me too, at the time thought about hard rock music. It was in this year that I acknowledged heavy metal as its own genre of rock music and this album was one of the reasons why.

There is preciously very little about "Blizzard of Oz" that I could say that hasn't been already said. The only thing I can do is to share how it has influenced me over the many years and I still worry if I will be able to do it justice. What I like most about it is the fact that Ozzy didn't go out and recreate an album that sounded like his former band. His brand of metal here is totally unique but you still know that it is Ozzy at the mike. That comes through clearly with the opener "I Don't Know," a good opening song as any. It leads the listener onto to want to listen to the rest of the album while letting you know, (if this was 1981), that Ozzy was back. But there are so many great classic songs on the album that are still popular among metalheads today. "Suicide Solution," "Mr Crowley" and the single "Crazy Train" will forever go down in the annals of metal history as classic all time great metal songs. Even the ballads "Goodbye to Romance" and the powerful "Mother Earth" play their part in making "Blizzard of Oz" the iconic album that is still is.

I don't want to take anything away from the great Ozzy here because his vocals on here can't be duplicated and prove his abilities. Still, what catapults this album from being good to being great is the guitar work from the late Randy Rhodes. He is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time and he definitely shows why on "Blizzard of Oz." The solo on "Crazy Train" is one of my favourite and what he does on the other tracks is completely out of this world. So the math teacher in me concludes that Ozzy+ Randy = some memorable heavy metal.

Track Listing:

1. I Don't Know

2. Crazy Train

3. Goodbye to Romance

4. Dee

5. Suicide Solution

6.Mr Crowely

7. No Bones Movies

8. Mother Earth

9. Steal Away (The Night)

[caption id="attachment_2343" align="aligncenter" width="199"] Ozzy Osbourne[/caption]

Ozzy Osbourne- vocals

Randy Rhodes- guitar

 Bob Daisley -bass

Lee Kerslake - drums

Don Airey- keyboards

A few months ago, I shared a petition that Ozzy should receive a knighthood for his services to music. I was informed that the petition has nearly reached its quota for signatures and may have fully done so since then. "Blizzard of Oz" is a rock solid reason why he should get a gong. To sign the petition, go to: https://www.causes.com/campaigns/39911-knight-ozzy-osbourne

Next post: April Wine- The Nature of the Beast

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/Metal Albums of 1981: KISS- Music From the Elder

Of the four albums I have visited in this rock/metal segment, this 1981 offering from the legendary KISS totally passed me by in the year. I can't even blame it on being in the marines. The reason this album not only passed me by but many others as well was due to the fact it disappeared almost as soon as it was released. According to history, it was reviled by many fans and although it did receive some positive feedback from the critics, "Music From The Elder" was voted the 44th worst album of all time by Q Magazine and 6th in the category "When great rock bands lost the plot." Nevertheless, being a fair minded bloke, I thought I would give the album a listen and decide for myself. Still, I would welcome any comments, especially from fellow metal blogger and self confessed KISS-a-holic, Stone from Metal Odyssey fame.

Let me be totally frank, "Music From the Elder" is nowhere near a patch on great KISS albums like "Destroyer," "Love Gun," "Alive" or even some of the albums they made following this one like "Creatures of the Night." However, the album isn't as terrible as I feared it was going to be. The opener, "The Oath" was an attempt to create the earlier KISS sound at least as far back as "Dynasty" anyway and it is a notable effort on their part. Then came the instrumental "Fanfare" which had me thinking "WTF?" Fortunately, things return to normal, well sort of. I am sure that with "Just a Boy," that KISS are trying to sound like The Who here and while not a bad song, it doesn't leave me thinking, "Okay, cool." Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons manage to rescue things a bit with the tracks "Dark Light," "Only You" and "Under the Rose" but then comes the ballad "A World Without Heroes" and I am left saying to myself "No" and that if I was listening this back in 1981, I would say, "Leave the ballads to Peter Criss." "Dr Blackwell" does go a good long way to redeem things and I do like the guitar solo on this song. Then after another instrumental which isn't too bad, they try to be creative with "Odyssey." Not sure if it works though. At the end, barring a very short instrumental which perhaps shouldn't be on there was a pleasant surprise for me. I have heard the the track "I" before. It wasn't recorded by KISS but covered in 2000 by the band Hair of the Dog on their album "Rise." For them, "I" was a great closer for a great metal album and there is little comparison to it and the version done by KISS on this album. I think that the song was good enough for Hair of the Dog to record it just like the way it is done here. That song should have been the closer.

I guess I should mention that "Music From the Elder" was the first KISS album to fully feature new drummer Eric Carr who replaced Peter Criss when he left the band a year earlier. Most of you probably already knew that.

Track Listing:

1. The Oath

2. Fanfare

3. Just a Boy

4. Dark Light

5. Only You

6. Under the Rose

7. A World Without Heroes

8. Dr Blackwell

9. Escape From the Island

10. Odyssey

11. I

12. Finale

[caption id="attachment_2338" align="aligncenter" width="260"] KISS[/caption]

Paul Stanley- rhythm guitar,vocals

Gene Simmons- bass, vocals

Ace Frehley- lead guitar, vocals

Eric Carr- drums, percussion, backing vocals

My final verdict here is that if KISS had remained more true to their hard rocking roots, I think "Music From the Elder" would have been a much better album. I have no problem with an album telling a story through its songs, King Diamond''s "Abigail" does that beautifully. It doesn't mean a band has to go all progressive to do so and that's where this album falls down. The other thing I can see with the album, with the aid of hindsight, that KISS were beginning to move away from Gene Simmons' 1980 boast that KISS were four guys equally covering for each other towards simply becoming Paul and Gene's band.

Next post: Ozzy Osbourne- The Blizzard of Oz

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