Influence

Last night I posted an article about tribute bands on my blog at the online home of the Hairball John Radio Show. If you haven’t checked it out, be sure to give it a read.

Here at Bring Back Glam, a look at tribute albums to the glam bands we all love.

Some tributes are performed by one band, often; many musicians record a band’s biggest hits.

Great White released Great Zeppelin: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin back in 1999. The entire album is from a live show in 1996. I’m a big Led Zeppelin fan, but not fanatic. Let me just say Great White does an amazing job with their tribute. Jack Russell can blow, and you can really tell he’s downright serious about doing some of rock’s best known songs justice.

The album includes these tracks:

In the Light
Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman)
Ramble On
Since I’ve Been Loving You
No Quarter
Tangerine
Going to California
Thank You
D’yer Mak’er
All My Love
Immigrant Song
When the Levee Breaks
The Rover

I swear, sometimes you can’t even tell it’s Great White instead of Led Zeppelin. Now I know some die hard Zep head is going to comment that I just made a sacrilegious statement but it’s true. The way Jack Russell bends his voice on this album is so impressive I just can’t rave enough about this disc. The quality of this album makes me feel like Great White is a greatly underrated glam band, especially when you factor in that this album was recorded during a live show meaning little to no studio correction. If you don't own this album, pick it up. It's only ten bucks on iTunes, or click Great Zeppelin-Tribute to Led and add it to your Amazon cart. Now I'm really excited to see Great White at Rocklahoma... and I hope they perform some Led Zep tunes.

Another great tribute album I just picked up is Shaw/Blades Influence. You might recall I wanted this album last month, but I just got around to putting the disc in my shopping cart over the weekend. I'm a big Damn Yankees fan because I love the harmonies of Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades. I think they make a great team and Influence is a phenomenal album. The track listing looks like this:

Summer Breeze
Time of the Season
Your Move
I Am A Rock
Lucky  Man
The Sound of Silence
California Deamin'
On a Carousel
Dirty Work
For What It's Worth
Dance with Me

"Summer Breeze," "Time of the Season," and California Dreamin'" are three of my all-time favorite songs. The great thing about this album is that Shaw and Blades actually pay tribute to their influences. Instead of messing with the arrangement of songs, they perform the classic tracks pretty close to form with a modern twist. The guitar solos sound great, but they don't overpower the song lyrics. If you watch VH1 Classic, you've probably seen a commercial for Influence. The advertisement features a snippet of "Your Move" which is a true highlight of the disc. The album seems to be doing fairly well and is currently a top seller on Amazon.com.

What about tribute albums with a kick, such as Strummin' With The Devil: Bluegrass Tribute to Van Halen or one of my personal favorites Kashmir: The Symphonic Led Zeppelin? Are these albums meant to honor a great artist or a way for less famous musicians to make a buck? Do you have a favorite tribute album?

Listen to your Heart

I had an eleventh hour change of heart...and now I'm going to Rocklahoma 2007.

Eric, the glam rock husband and Heather, the co-conspirator in bringing back glam, agreed to the sojourn.

I'm still trying to figure out in what life I would be driving to Oklahoma...in July. The three of us are looking at more than a 700 mile road trip (each way).

I first learned of the massive glam fest about two weeks ago, but I balked at the ticket prices and the festival location. Yesterday I logged on to http://www.rockfeverfest.com/ and saw ticket prices would increase at midnight.

I immediately panicked and decided I had to be at this festival. I mean...how could the glam mistress not be in the middle of the largest 80s fest this side of 1989? Here's the band list:

Poison
Ratt
Vince Neil
Warrant
Slaughter
LA Guns
Quiet Riot
Winger
Dokken
Jackyl
Faster Pussycat
Enuff Znuff
Y&T
Bullet Boys
Bang Tango
Great White
Steel Heart
FireHouse
W.A.S.P.

...And a few more bands to be announced, including another headliner according to my calculations ( Heather and I are pushing for Def Leppard)!

So I whipped out the Visa and purchased three reserve tickets and a hotel after Eric convinced me that the drive won't be so bad. I hate road trips, then again, there's never been a prize this big at the end.

If you're going to the show leave me a comment. This is, after all, our Mecca.

Cross Me Off Your List

Happy Easter, glam fans.

As if the world needs one more list, www.rateyourmusic.com has just posted the 5000 worst albums of all time.

Insert eye roll here.

Agreed, there are some really bad albums on the list, but there's also some really good stuff as well. Tons of glam is considered the worst music of all time. Apparently "fans" vote, therefore creating an album rank.

Let's take a look at the list:

Coming in at #5000 is Sports by Huey Lewis and the News. Close behind is RATT's Invasion of Your Privacy at #4990. Great White Sail Away is number #4695 and Cinderella's Night Songs is #4958.

And this is the good news of the list!

Further on down, we find L.A. Guns Cocked and Loaded at #4722 and at #4605 Motley Crue's Live Entertainment or Death.

As I click page by page trolling for glam, I can't help but notice some really great non-glam albums are on the list like Alicia Keys Songs in A Minor and  Pantera Reinventing the Steel.

But back to the glam.  At #4580, Jon Bovi's Destination Anywhere  is followed closely by Bon Jovi's Keep the Faith at #4517.  A little later Whipped! by Faster Pussycat makes the list at #4477. The recently released Quiet Riot Rehab comes in at #4469.  Not far behind is Slaughter with Eternal Life  at #4466. Stryper's Against the Law hits the list at #4408 and glam revivalists Hardcore Superstar make the list at #4398 with Thank You (For Letting us be Ourself).

Continually clicking through the list, I come across Danger Danger Screw It at #4052 and Lita's Ford Lita at #4010. Voters think In Rock We Trust by Y&T deserves to be at #3999 and W.A.S.P. The Neon God Part 2 comes in at #3991. Bulletboys Za Za ranks #3913 and later Aerosmith's Permanent Vacation at #3443. Even Helix made the list with Walkin' the Razor's Edge at #3308.

Motley Crue's Supersonic and Demonic Relics is listed at #337. Give me a break. It's an album full of B-sides, outtakes and previously unreleased tracks. A disc like this is not intended for anyone but a die-hard fan, so I'm surprised so many people would cast negative votes for this album.

There's tons more on the list, but I'll jump ahead. KISS Hot in the Shade comes in at #97 and Animalize is #87. The  KISS solo albums didn't fare too well, either. Gene Simmons self-titled release comes in at #80 and Peter Criss' self-titled effort at #17. Van Halen III comes in at #10, making this Gary Cherone-fronted released the worst glam album on the list. In case you're wondering, Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits by Crazy Frog is considered the worst album ever released.

I suppose it could be worse. When I first heard about the list, I assumed it would be all Metal releases, but there seems to be an equal distribution of pop, rock and Metal. The voters seem to hate Britney Spears and her ex-husband Kevin Federline. Bob Dylan was panned as was the Wallflowers.

I think there's some criminal errors on the list, and in no world is Night Songs a horrible album. Then again neither is Invasion of Your Privacy or Permanent Vacation.

View the entire list at http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/bottom/album/all-time/

La Vie Boheme

A few days ago, Heather won two tickets to the touring production of RENT. Since Wednesday's show, I've been looking for a way to work the production into the blog...and now I've found it, thanks to some inventive high school music teachers.

See, I don't really like musical theatre and I never have. I believe theatre is theatre and music is music. Still, I must admit the song "Season's of Love" is basically awesome. Many people consider RENT the rock opera because of the controversial themes of AIDS,  drug addiction and multi-racial relationships, not to mention that the characters are all basically starving artists including a musician. The RENT Orchestra does employ a whole lot of electric guitars, but that's about as Metal as things get.

Enter Craig High School of Janesville, Wisconsin.

Apparently, someone affiliated with the show choir is a little bit glam because the students recently performed Def Leppard's "Rock Brigade." This isn't a well known Lep song, so I assume the choral director must be a big fan. Watch the video at YouTube.

Of course we all know Tommy is the first rock opera, but what about a Metal opera? The music of Queensryche and Dream Theater could easily be adapted to the stage, but would the public pay money to see such an event?

I think someone needs to write a Metal opera based on glam bands of the 80s. There's plenty of material to work with, and if we want to base the opera on a love triangle (is there any other option?) we can use songs like Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool" and Def Leppard's "Women" leading up to the climax . The song "November Rain" can easily serve as the dénouement. For the falling action, something fun (but still West Side Story-esque)  like Motley Crue's "Wild Side."

Just think of the box office sales.

Run a Mile for the Cause

April is National Autism Awareness month. According to recent statistics, nearly 1 in 150 children will be diagnosed with the potentially debilitating disease. Now VH1 Classic is joining in the fight, airing a special public service announcements.

The 30 second spot features Tommy Lee and Vince Neil (Motley Crue), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (KISS), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Joe Perry and Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Rob Halford (Judas Priest), and Ronnie James Dio (Dio & Black Sabbath) speaking about the disease. Watch the PSA at 
 http://www.vh1.com/partners/vh1classic_rock_autism/

VH1 Classic will also hold several fund raisers, including a "Pay to Play" event where viewers can go online to www.vh1.com  and make a donation to see their favorite video. Proceeds will benefit The Cure Autism Now Foundation.

This isn't the first time rock stars have used celebrity for worthy causes. In 1985, some of the world's largest rock stars convened for Hear n' Aid, a heavier version of Band Aid for famine relief in Africa. Ronnie James Dio, Vivian Campbell (Whitesnake and Def Leppard), and Jimmy Bain (Rainbow & Dio) formed Hear n' Aid for a special one-off recording. Hear n' Aid released the single "Stars" featuring members of Dio, Quiet Riot, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Queensryche, Blue Oyster Cult, Dokken, Night Ranger, Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Journey, Y &T, Vanilla Fudge and Spinal Tap.

The project raised more than a million dollars and VH1 Classic considers the project the most metal moment in rock history!

Of course, several rock starts participated in "America - A Tribute to Heroes," benefiting victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Bon Jovi performed "Livin' on a Prayer" and U2 performed "Walk On."

Just today, officials announced that Aerosmith will lend their support to the Bulgarian "I Don't Drive Drunk" road safety campaign. Elton John, Rod Stewart and R.E.M. are also joining the campaign. Check out www.sofiaecho.com for more information.

Do you have a favorite rock celebrity charity moment?

Heaven's on Fire

Sad news to report, glam fans. Former KISS guitarist Mark St. John died today from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 51.

St. John didn't have a long stint with KISS, but he did play on Animalize, which is my favorite album by the band.

He appears in the video from "Heaven' s On Fire," my favorite KISS song.

After leaving KISS St. John formed the band White Tiger. That band released one album in 1986.

Here's the video of "Heaven's on Fire" from the 1984 Mercury Records release Animalize.

Good to be Bad

Clicking around YouTube last night, I came across a Badlands video. What a great and grossly underrated band.

Guitarist Jake E. Lee formed Badlands in 1988, after leaving the Ozzy Osbourne band. Lee teamed up with singer Ray Gillen and drummer Eric Singer both of Black Sabbath. The line-up was set when bassist Greg Chaisson joined the group. Badlands earned some critical acclaim, but sales were never huge (according to Wikipedia, the album reached number 57 on the Billboard charts). The band made some music videos in support of their first effort, including support for the single "Winter's Call."

After a tour, Badlands entered the studio to record Voodoo Highway. It was during this time that Eric Singer was replaced by Jeff Martin. Unfortunately, this album didn't fare as well as the debut, and Badlands launched a quick fall into obscurity, thanks in part to weak support from Atlantic Records.

Singer Ray Gillen died of AIDS related complications at the end of 1993. Five years later, the remaining members of Badlands released Dusk.

Today, it's very hard to find the self-titled Badlands debut. The album is out of print, and eBay stores list the disc for upwards of 30 bucks! The price alone illustrates the musical chemistry the boys in Badlands enjoyed. Voodoo Highway and Dusk are also out of print, and also sell for a mint.

It's criminal that great albums go out of print but complete trash stays stocked on store shelves for perpetuity. Today, you can't even purchase a Bandlands single on iTunes.

I should have bought the debut disc back in 1989 when I had the chance. The lessons we learn.