The Best of Queensryche

Queensryche knocked my socks off at Rocklahoma. The Seattle band is proving they are back for the attack. Earlier this summer, they released Mindcrime at the Moore which is a live recording of the theatrical production of both Mindcrime and Operation Mindcrime II. Later this month the band will release Sign of the Times - The Best Of Queensryche (Deluxe Edition). Both summer releases are available on Capitol Records.

The greatest hits package is comprised of 17 of the band’s best known tracks. There is a special deluxe collector’s edition which features 15 rare and previously unreleased tracks. The special edition disc also features television performance audio and a brand new song.

The track listing looks like this:

Queen of the Reich
Warning
Walk in the Shadows
Take Hold of the Flame
The Lady Wore Black
I Don’t Believe in Love
Eyes of a Stranger
Silent Lucidity
Bridge
Jet City Woman
Another Rainy Night
Sign of the Times
I Am I
Real World
Some People Fly
Until There Was You
All The Promises

A quick glance at the track list gives you an idea of the quality of this disc. No, Queensryche isn’t reinventing the wheel here, but they were smart enough to put all their “hits” in one easy to digest package. Still, there is at least one glaring exception: “Empire” isn’t on the greatest hits disc. It’s possible this song is included on the collector’s edition disc, but my advance copy only included the hits package, so I’m not sure. I think it is ironic “Empire” isn’t included here. After all, it’s the title track from Queensryche’s most successful release.

Geoff Tate’s voice sounds just fantastic on Sign of the Times. For my ear, it seems that many of the tracks are remastered. The entire CD provides the listener with a phenomenal sonic experience. This disc reminds me why I love “Eyes of a Stranger,” “Jet City Woman” and “Another Rainy Night.”

You can pre-order the collector’s edition (packaged in a double-disc digipack) via www.amazon.com for less than 25 bucks. The CD hits store shelves on August 28, 2007.

Here's the video from "Silent Lucidity" originally released on the Empire album.

(She's) Malaria

Time for an update on my mission to get an interview with Paul Mars Black of L.A. Guns.

I sent dear Paul a Myspace message, but received no response. This didn't phase me and I went about my business. Earlier today, I emailed L.A. Guns management. Also, no response.

Tomorrow is a new day and I'll work on more connections in my "downtime" at work. The glam mistress will not fail!

In the meantime, watch this video: L.A. Guns "Malaria." Yes, I know it features Phil Lewis on lead vocals and not Paul Black, but that's not my fault. Plus, "Malaria" may be one of the BEST glam songs ever recorded. I can listen to it on repeat for hours.

No lie.

Update on Monday, August 6, 2007 at 10:46PM by Allyson B. Crawford

Ok, so I might be a little nuts. Or a lot crazy. Life is bizarre, because as I was typing this note, Paul Black was typing ME a message, agreeing to the interview. Success!

That is all.

Fear Thy Name

In the past I've written about great glam band names (see "What's in a Name?"). In general, I think glam Metal bands have some of the best names in rock. Just consider Faster Pussycat, Motley Crue and Hanoi Rocks.

With the good comes the bad, and it seems alternative or emo bands have some of the worst names in rock.

While doing a little research for this post, I came across a website with a list of horrible band names. You may view that list at www.sam.hochberg.com/bandname.html.

I thought my friend Bob_Vinyl of Rock and Roll Meandering Nonsense found the worst band name of all time with the "Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start."

I was wrong.

On the list I mentioned above, some of the bad band names are "Baby Shit Brown," "Big Fat Pet Clams from Outerspace," "Crappy the Clown and the Punch Drunk Monkeys," and "Go Nad Go."

My favorite bad name on the entire list is (drum roll, please) "Gee That's a Large Beetle I Wonder If It's Poisonous."

I don't think my beetle band (not your mother's Beatles!) have a Myspace page. I would totally put them in my top friends list.

Do you have a favorite bad band name?

In the meantime, here's a video from Twisted Sister. They knew how to pick a great name!

One More Reason

It's nice and overcast here in Ohio and the thunder is rolling, and that means nap potential is at a premium. I slept in longer than normal today, but I've been flat exhausted and I never catch much rest during the week.

I have big plans to clean my house today and Eric will continue to work on our (never-ending!) basement renovation. The renovation is getting close...the paint is on the walls, but the carpet needs ordered. Speaking of paint, I selected some bold colors, as the theme of the basement is a glam nightclub. Accent walls are Poison green, with the other walls a lighter shade of lime. The bathroom is deep purple (get it?) with the green accents, and the bar is also Poison green. We have big support beams and those are black. When I picked the colors at the store, Eric balked but it looks awesome. I know you probably don't believe me. Trust me, it works.

I have a lot coming up this week, including more interviews. One from the lead singer of Hericane Alice and another from a band manager and rock journalist who has some crazy stories!

I've decided it is now my personal mission to land an interview with Paul Black of L.A. Guns. As most of you know, there are two versions of the band, and Black fronts the version with Tracii Guns on guitar. This version also played Rocklahoma.

I'll admit I like both versions of the band, but I think Tracii = L.A. Guns. Plus, I might be a little in love with Paul Black. I was too busy covering Rocklahoma for this website and the Hairball John Radio Show to even catch a few seconds of L.A. Guns during Rocklahoma. My husband watched the entire set and he loved them. He's been to their Myspace a few times, looking for tour dates near Ohio. Sadly, there are none. So now, I want to talk to Paul Black. I want to ask him what it's like, constantly being compared to Phil Lewis. It's not like Tracii found Paul along the side of the road. Nope, Paul recorded demos for the band and helped them land a deal with Vertigo Records. Today, I will begin working on that interview quest. For some reason, I'm terrified of contacting anyone in the L.A. Guns camp. Probably because things have been so nasty between the two bands for so long. Wish me luck, dear readers. I don't want to end up on some glam blacklist.

Watch this video: L.A. Guns with Gilby Clarke performing "You Can't Always Get What You Want"

www.myspace.com/losangelesguns

Untamed Spirit

Back in the late 1980s, Blue Tiger made a name for themselves touring the eastern seaboard. They opened for national acts and were offered recording contracts. Then the bottom fell out of the music industry, and Blue Tiger disbanded. Almost two decades later, the power of the Internet has helped Blue Tiger land a record deal. Bring Back Glam! recently spoke with Blue Tiger guitarist Vince Ciampi about the band's new CD Untamed Spirit and the glam hey-day of the 1980s. Transcription follows.

Bring Back Glam! Blue Tiger has a new album named Untamed Spirit due any second.

Vince Ciampi: Any day now!

BBG: Why a new Blue Tiger album now?

Vince: This is what happened. From 1987 to 1991, Blue Tiger backed up Warrant, Kix and Extreme (before they toured with Aerosmith). We headlined every club in New England from Boston, Massachusetts to New York to Rhode Island, Connecticut, everywhere. We were pretty big. Pretty popular. Great White was trying to get us a record deal through Capitol Records. It was a very bad deal. They wanted to own all our songs! We should have turned them down in a very abrupt manner, but we were coy about and we thanked Great White for all their help. Atlantic Records almost immediately jumped on our bandwagon…but we were recording so much and playing with Warrant and stuff that we never followed through. Then 1991, and we all know what happened in ’91 with the death of Metal as we know it, so it was the death of Blue Tiger too. That was the beginning. Then fast forward to November of last year. Someone decides they want to build a tribute website to Blue Tiger (a Myspace tribute). Then they invite all of us. Next thing you know, we were putting up music. I had thousands of pictures from live shows to put up. Then people started getting interested in us. Next thing, I know friends of ours, MASS, were re-issuing their album New Birth on Retrospect Records. The owner of Retrospect went to the MASS website and he saw Blue Tiger there. He visited the website, and liked the music. Sam McKinney of Retrospect contacted us and asked how many songs we had recorded and ready to go. We had 14. So, Retrospect Records offered us a worldwide record deal to distribute our new CD.

BBG: Why do you think there’s a burgeoning interest in 80s glam rock these days?

Vince: That’s easy. Let’s face it, the 90s were depressing. When you haven’t had any party rock in a long time…people want fun. People of our generation…anyone between the ages of 35 and 50 miss what they had. They had a good time. The younger generation like listening to this music, and enjoying it. They like people having a good time.

BBG: Who are some of your influences?

Vince: The Babys big time. I saw them when I was a little kid and I knew I wanted to be a musician. One of my biggest influences, for real, is like Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow and Alice Cooper for his stage show. All of us come from different influences. If you would ask Sean ( Ciasiera, bassist) his influences are Iron Maiden and stuff like that. If you ask Arthur (Dauwer, vocalist) his influences are punk rock. Pat (Moynihan, original bassist) was more into “glam glam.”

BBG: You are working on new music now. What’s the sound like?

Vince: It’s all based on the past. The 80s sound. Even the record company even said we’re glamish, but we have an individual sound. It’s something that seems like it could be toward today’s music. It’s not really a throwback. It’s just Blue Tiger.

BBG: Are you planning a little tour to support your album?

Vince: Actually, we’ve been invited to tour Italy, Germany, England, Las Vegas…tours except New England. No one offers us to tour our hometown! A tour is secondary to finishing another CD…we want to go back in the studio and finish that first. We also have an animated video where a Hanna Barbera artist and a few other Internet celebrity artists are actually working on a full animation that is supposed to be something like a cross between Cool World and Scooby-Doo and that would be a video for our first song “Stop Playing Games.” It’s supposed to be done soon. We’re going to submit to VH1...and see if they play it on any of their We Are the 80s shows. We’ll see what happens. If the album gets out there, it gets out there. If all those beautiful Metal friends and fans appreciate it and like it…that’s even better.

Listen to Blue Tiger at www.myspace.com/bluetiger1

Rock Me!

It's finally Friday, glam fans. This has been a very long week for a myriad of reasons. So many bad things have happened...from funerals to nasty comments on this website, that I decided what I - what WE - needed was a video of a phenomenal live performance by an awesome glam band.

So far this week, I've been accused of not being a music fan and not knowing anything about glam. That's fine, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Still I beg to differ, and will point to the 40 plus hours each week I spend writing about new (and old) glam bands.

While I was at the Rocklahoma music festival, I was exceptionally lucky to meet the members of Great White. Even more exciting than our meeting was their electric performance on stage. Jack Russell's voice still amazes me, even after all these years.

Late last night I was clicking around YouTube. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but I came across a clip of Great White performing live back in 1988. It's an extended version of "Rock Me" and Russell's voice is just as clean as a recording. Watch for yourself. Let me know what you think.

Videos from the Cellar

I recently pre-ordered the new RATT DVD, Ratt - Videos From the Cellar: The Atlantic Years. My package arrived Tuesday and I watched the DVD last night while fighting a massive migraine.

The DVD is pretty good, but didn't meet my (overtly) high expectations. Still, watching Warren DeMartini shred his guitar made me smile - and as sick as I was - this was definitely a major accomplishment.

I guess I was expecting some *new* footage, but what I found was interviews from 1985. I like these old interviews, but I was hoping for a little juxtaposition from the old RATT to the new incarnation of the band.

The DVD includes all the video hits: "Round and Round," "Lay It Down" and "Wanted Man."

The package then shifts into Detonator mode, showing clips from a mini-RATT movie interspersed with videos to support singles. I'm not sure why "I Want a Woman" is included in this segment because that song is from Reach for the Sky (as is "Way Cool, Jr." and these songs are back to back on the DVD package. I would lump "Way Cool, Jr." in with the video hits portion of the release).

Some of the classic interviews are endearing, some are painful. There are times when it is evident that Robbin Crosby is clearly high as a kite. At one point, Robbin says "Well, Warren plays all the lead guitars...I mainly do the heavy, rhythm riffs." His eyes look so sad, it was pretty clear that his feeling of failure urged his addiction.

I really got a kick of seeing Juan Croucier's eye make-up. Good night, the man speaks with intelligence but his make-up makes him look like a television anchor!

There is also a section of so-called unreleased videos on the new DVD package. "Dance" is included as an unreleased video, but I've watched this on VH1 Metal Mania, so I'm not sure what the band means by "never before seen." Maybe the RATT gang mean never before on DVD...but I know the sticker on the shrink wrap said never released.

Another clip in this section of the DVD is "Slip of the Lip." A very cool video, this one was actually new for me. From the Dancing Undercover days, this video features a spy reporter! She takes photos of the band...and then is seduced by Stephen Pearcy.He then ruins all her spy shots. Classic!

If you're a die-hard RATT fan, spend the ten bucks and buy this new DVD. It's nice to have an entire video collection at hand, and the price makes the collection affordable to just about everyone.