The 1982 Listening Post - Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance

 Reviewed by Rob Haneisen

Released: July 17 1982 Judas Priest Screaming For Vengeance Genre: Classic Heavy Metal Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Rob’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Highlights: The Hellion / Electric Eye Riding On The Wind Bloodstone You’ve Got Another Thing Coming Fever (honestly, the whole album, for the record) Let’s get something out of the way: “Screaming For Vengeance” released by Judas Priest in mid-1982 is the greatest heavy metal album of all time. As a huge Iron Maiden fan and someone who ranks Maiden as the greatest metal band of all time it pains me slightly to say that but “Screaming For Vengeance” just barely rises above Maiden’s “Number of the Beast.” “Screaming For Vengeance” is Priest at the height of its power, really the mid-point of its career if you look at the band’s founding and growth in the 1970s, explosion in the 1980s, and slow fall from the throne in the 1990s. The band already had a string of good to excellent albums by 1982. They were already doing stadium tours and big hits like “Hell Bent for Leather” , “Heading out to the Highway” and “Breakin’ the Law” made them no strangers to success. Yet, they sound hungry on “Screaming For Vengeance” – 10 songs that come in just over 38 minutes. They sound like a young band looking to tear the world apart, take no prisoners and make no concessions with their sound and fury. The previous album “Point of Entry” did nothing to indicate they were poised for this mammoth effort. If anything, that album, save for a couple excellent songs including the mid-tempo masterpiece “Desert Plains”, was a drop-off in musicianship and energy. Any low expectations for 1982 from Priest are immediately dispelled with the opening double-track of “The Hellion/Electric Eye”. The first instrumental section has an epic set-up of dual lead guitar and comes crashing to end with a huge percussive explosion to lead into the riff of “Electric Eye”, a sci-fi tinged ripper one could say is a cautionary tale on government surveillance. It’s not the first time vocalist Rob Halford delved into this theme (see “Metal Gods” on “British Steel”) and he admits to being a bit of a science fiction geek in his excellent autobiography “Confess.” There’s nary a moment to catch your breath when “Electric Eye” ends and we dive straight into the drum solo opening of “Riding on the Wind.” It’s a song that could have inspired thrash bands a few years later with its speed and viciousness. Halford’s voice reaches high and pure and holds the notes with strength while the maelstrom of the song swirls around him. Next up is “Bloodstone”, one of several songs here that has an iconic Glen Tipton guitar lead riff to kick off a song that takes the beat down a bit from the opening salvo. There are some great lyrics here from Halford as well that may take the listener by surprise: “How much longer will it take For the world to see? We should learn to live, And simply let it be” The next two songs “(Take These) Chains” and “Pain and Pleasure” are not ballads by any stretch but they do slow matters down. Given the Priest stage get-up of leather and studs, one might assume these are songs with an S&M theme but they are songs about unrequited love, longing, and heartache. “Pain and Pleasure” opens up with an absolutely groovy guitar line. Where did this come from? Priest and Halford knock you off expectations on these two songs and also on the closer-to-traditional heavy metal ballad “Fever.” Halford’s book provides plenty of insight on where this sincerity, pain, and loneliness comes from. For years he had been hiding his sexuality, terrified that his exposures as a gay man in the heavy metal world would ruin his career and more importantly the path of Judas Priest. As a result, the poor guy was horribly lonely, wounded, and in anguish. I highly recommend Halford’s book as not only an examination inside the band’s rise but also Halford’s torment and eventual salvation. Track seven is “Screaming For Vengeance” which gets right back to a blistering pace. There is pure anger and resilience on display here. The music and lyrics mesh perfectly and deliver a knockout blow: “I don't talk about it but that's alright Table's turned now there's a revenge in sight. If it takes forever babe I tell ya I can wait Send them screaming back through their hell's own gate” And the song fittingly ends with a stunningly powerful, explosive, prolonged scream from Halford. Honestly, there is an emotive art in screaming like Halford on some of these songs. The next song may be the biggest hit from this album, “You’ve Got another Thing Coming” but it’s one I sometimes skip over. Its power and maybe its weakness is its simplicity. Maybe it goes on a bit too long just repeating the chorus, but it’s still a great song and a huge part of the live show where everybody yells along to the chorus. The lyrics here also hit on the albums main theme of resilience: “In this world we're livin' in we have our share of sorrow Answer now is don't give in aim for a new tomorrow.” “Fever” follows the big commercial hit and shows the versatility of Priest. Like I said earlier, it’s in the metal ballad category but features a fantastic mid-song break and tempo shift accented by more soaring vocals from Halford as he sings: “So destiny has brought us Oh so close together We were like angels in the night Living the dream At last I'll be with you forever. And all at once it feels so right.” The guitar sound on this track is just so different from the rest of the album. It has a melody or harmony that shows the band can do so much more than pummel you. The album closer of “Devil’s Child” is – surprisingly – not about the son of Satan. It’s about a controlling lover, or maybe it’s about addiction. Either way, it’s about what happens to someone and what it feels like when the last of your willpower is ripped away. Despite its catchy guitar lick opening from Tipton and thudding rhythm from KK Downing and bassist Ian Hill, it’s a little bit of an odd choice of an album closer and the song has an abrupt ending. No album in metal is as complete of a masterpiece as “Screaming For Vengeance.” Every song here works immensely and there is some versatility in the craftsmanship, especially when listening to “Riding on the Wind” and then “Fever.” You can tell it’s the same band but man, you can see how well they can pull off different styles. Maiden’s “Number of the Beast” I would argue is #2 on the all-time list if only for the mediocre “Gangland” and good-but-not-great opening in “Invaders.” To be clear, in heavy metal hierarchy, Maiden reigns supreme but Priest holds the title for best album with “Screaming For Vengeance.” It’s a powerful, concise, surprisingly intimate, emotive, and introspective bit of classic metal that summons and delivers strength.

The 1981 Listening Post - Rampage - Victims of Rock

 Reviewed by Rob Haneisen

Released: 1981 Rampage Victims Of Rock Genre: Early European Metal Rating: 2 out of 5 Highlights: He's A Dancer Tonight Rampage’s “Victims of Rock” is early 1980s European heavy metal with a heavy dose 1970s rock-radio vocal melody harmony. And I don’t think it blends well at all. The band is from Germany and after a couple albums, they disbanded and the members went on to form Helloween and Gamma Ray. From the opening song and throughout the 10 tracks I kept trying to figure which bands they were copying. Not emulating, copying. They were practicality stealing riffs and styles from such a weird mish-mash of styles. The opening song “I Wanna Be Free” had a guitar riff that immediately sounded liked Accept, but then the singer kicks in with a style straight out of Night Ranger and the guitar solo sounded like bad Ace Frehley. There are plenty more hit or miss moments and you could have a fun game of guess that artist and song. “He’s A Dancer” is their version of Judas Priest’s “Tyrant.” And the title track “Victims Of Rock” is another Priest homage. Other songs have Ted Nugent moments and the aforementioned Kiss (but not good Kiss). And let’s talk briefly about the song title: Why would you want to be a victim of rock? Nobody wants to be a victim. You can be addicted to rock (so maybe you are a victim there) but it’s just poorly written lyrics. I’ll give them a slight pass because I don’t think English is their first language. I generally cringe at vocal harmonies in hard rock and heavy metal. It often sounds cheesy and cringe-worthy. Some bands pull it off because they are talented, such as Van Halen, Queen, and Def Leppard. Rampage just doesn’t have the chops to make it palatable. I seriously thought they sounded like bad ELO, or Crosby, Stills and Nash (and I really don’t like them). There are a few times when the singer almost dips into a Brad Delp from Boston groove and that works best. But then the backing vocals try to add layers and it just collapses under the weight. The closing song “Tonight” has some excellent guitar effects and riffage and a very Priest-like, thudding bass line. Put that song in Rob Halford’s mouth and he’d make a meal worth eating. OK, that’s mixing a lot of metaphors poorly, but that’s Rampage for ya.

The 1980 Listening Post - Mass (GR) - Angel Power

 Reviewed by Rob Haneisen

Released: 1980 Mass (GR) Angel Power Genre: Germans Who Wished They Lived In NYC And Hung Out With The Ramones Rating: 3 out of 5 Highlights: Angle Power Too Much Business Call it If Mass came out in the 2000-2010 era when throwback hip and raw rock bands like The White Stripes, The Strokes, and The Hives were all the rage they would have been hailed in the alterna-music press as the next big thing. The problem was, they came out in 1980 when their kind of counter-culture unrefined hard rock was most definitely a niche audience without the glam and fanfare attached to later scenes. It’s too bad, because Mass’s 1980 album “Angel Power” is a blend of Iggy Pop meets Motorhead. It’s got that rough, snotty rock sound you could hear in similar bands from the New York CBGB scene (think the Ramones with less doo-wop) but maybe these guys were a bit fond of speeding things up either through influence or design. And you could certainly put them in the same league as the Jim Carroll Band (remember “People Who Died” from his 1980 “Catholic Boy” album that resurfaced in 1995 as part of the Basketball Diaries movie soundtrack?). Not bad for four guys from Germany. There’s certainly a punk element too but honestly the guitarist Dave Schreiber is too good for punk. While many of the riffs and beats get repetitive and formulaic after 5 or 6 songs, when the lead guitar kicks in for a solo it seems bonzo-good for this genre. It’s not that it’s super clean, a la Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck, it still holds its raw, authentic energy but the level of shredding on many songs is the equivalent of marrying-up. The opening guitar pyrotechnics on “Bad Times” is straight up Angus Young from AC/DC “Powerage” heyday. Lyrically, there are some simplistic chuckles delivered by Jack E. Burnside (who died in 2022). On “Good Times” we get “Gonna have a good time tonight/ Rock n Roll music gonna play all night/ Don’t worry baby it won’t take long/ Only takes a minute just to sing my song.” And he’s right, the songs are certainly efficient, or maybe this is a nod to his bedroom endurance. We get more succinct wisdom on “Too Much Business” where the singer laments “Living life takes too much money.” Ain’t that the truth.

The 1981 Listening Post - Venom - Welcome to Hell

 Venom - Welcome to Hell

#641

By Rob Haneisen

Dec. 1, 1981

Venom

Welcome to Hell

Genre: Black metal

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Rob’s rating: 3 out of 5 

Highlights: 

Welcome to Hell

Poison
In League with Satan

Venom doesn’t mess around.

If you are looking for metal or rock that dabbles in the occult or hints at violent imagery, this is not the band for you.

If you want a band that showcases its musical talent, this is not the band for you.

Venom is to subtlety what a sledgehammer is to one of those little tiny rock hammers that geologists use to delicately separate gem stones.

“Welcome to Hell” is the first album from this British metal band that really opened the gates (of Hell?) to the black metal scene. This is fast, evil-sounding music with real evil backbone. It’s sludgy and sloppy at times – although that may have more to do with the recording quality and not the actual playing – and the songs follow a similar formula: Mix some Judas Priest guitar in with some Motorhead speed and rapid-rhythm and vocals screamed and yelled more than sung and you have Venom.

Oh yeah, and Satan. Lots and lots of Satan.

The opening line of the song “In League with Satan” kind of sums it up: “I’m in league with Satan/I was raised in hell.” And later in that song, “I bear the devil’s mark/I kill the new born baby/ Tear the infant’s flesh.”

Whereas Black Sabbath would have songs with occult themes, they were never outright adulation of the Dark One. Venom goes there and brings along plenty of misogyny and violence for good measure.

To me, the album really seems like it springs more from the hardcore punk scene than hard rock. It’s so fast and repetitive, and the vocal delivery is pure punk snarl.

“Welcome to Hell” is easily the best song on the album with its Priest-riffy opening. It hits the zone right away and just stays there.

“Poison” honestly reminded a bit of Motely Crue’s first album, especially “Live Wire” without Vince Neil’s voice.

“Witching Hour” goes a bit on the spooky side with a more haunted opening before galloping straight into the gale of drums and guitar. But as much as it aims to sound evil it kind of blows all that currency when the singer actually yells, “Boo!” in the middle of the song. I died laughing at that point and actually rewound the song several times just to make sure I was hearing it correctly. Yep, he says “Boo!”

When I saw the song title, “Angel Dust” I wondered if the song was going to be about the drug or about the cremated remains of holy entities. It’s the former and not without any regret.

“In League with Satan” is a marching orders song – it tromps along with a sing-along chorus of “’Cos I’m Evil, in league with Satan” that must have scared the crap out of some people. And the backward-masking opening is probably not intentionally funny, but it kind of is. 

“Red Light Fever” and “Poison” are songs that simply verify that Satanists get horny too.  

A few years later, Venom would attract the attention of bored Christian housewives masquerading as crusaders for the safety of children. The PMRC labeled a Venom song as one of its “Filthy 15” and thus ensured increased album sales. What a joke.

Venom’s importance is this: the more extreme branch of metal embraced by many Scandinavian countries in the next several years traces its roots directly to Venom. So too can Metallica, Megadeth, and especially Slayer.

I honestly thought I would like this album more, especially since I think Behemoth is amazing, but this album comes up a few devil horns short of awesome.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5oxowPycWCoLyE5nf0ZGmX?si=a3BxsCizRiiz_7R4oCvv2Q

The 1981 Listening Post - Motley Crue - Too Fast for Love

 Motley Crue - Too Fast for Love

#629

by Rob Haneisen

November 10 1981

Motley Crue

Too Fast for Love

Genre: Sleazy hard rock

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Rob’s Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Highlights: 

Live Wire

Take me to the Top

For starters, this album gets in the 1981 category on a bit of a technicality. Yes, it was recorded in 1981 and 900 copies were independently distributed in 1981. But it wasn’t until the band landed a deal with a record label that this album was remixed and released in 1982.

Timing technicality aside, this album really is a watershed moment in 1980s rock and metal. I’ve seen Motely Crue referred to as the godfathers of glam metal but honestly, this album is not glam metal by any means. Sure, the guys dressed in platform heels, wore make-up and emptied cans of hairspray every night, but the music defines the genre, not the fashion. This is sleazy hard rock, the kind of LA scene sleaze rock that really has more of a straight line to bands like Guns N Roses, LA Guns and Faster Pussycat than bands like Poison, Warrant or Bon Jovi. Why? One reason: Mick Mars.

Mars on guitar is really the best part of Motely Crue and he is in fine form on this album. He has a raw, dirty, rude style to his playing. It’s not flashy but the riffs are catchy, kind of bluesy and just fast enough to walk the line between metal and hard rock. His solos are guitar screams and drawn out notes but nothing over-the-top. Tommy Lee is a fantastic rock drummer on this album and Vince Neil’s voice is pure rock stardom, all high, and clear and sharp. Nikki Sixx on bass is kind of thudding in the background but he wrote all the songs so he’s leading everything in some way.

The two best songs on this album are the blistering opener “Live Wire” which is just pure metal speed and grit but it’s somewhat of an anomaly on the album. No other song really approaches its energy. “Take Me to the Top” is a fine showcase for Mars. “On With the Show” is a great song but really does feel out of place (unless your one familiar Motley Crue song is “Home Sweet Home” in which case you’ll think this song sounds like a prequel). “On with the Show” actually sounds very much like Queen or even Cheap Trick.

But the rest of the album suffers from the inconsistency you’ll see from young bands just starting out. A song as a whole doesn’t live up to its best parts. The opening guitar riff from Mars and the first notes from Neil on “Too Fast for Love” are great but then the song just kind of doesn’t go anywhere. The result is songs sound familiar but ultimately forgettable.

That said, you can see where this band was headed and they really cemented their sound with their next album “Shout at the Devil.”

I wanted to read “The Dirt” (the Motely Crue autobiography) for some time now and doing research for this review seemed like an appropriate time. It is a fascinating and disturbing read. These guys should all be dead from the volume of drugs and booze consumed and the fact that they even had successful careers as musicians is a testament to their talent and luck.

I’ve seen Motely Crue live once. It was 1989 on the Dr. Feelgood tour, which according to the book is during one of their brief moments of group sobriety but also the high mark of their musical career. I remember the show as being great, especially Tommy Lee’s flying drum solo. I also remember being significantly less than sober at the show to the point that I damaged the limo my friends and I rented (that’s pretty much what every 18-year-old going to a metal/rock show did in 1989). Luckily, the grille to a Lincoln Town Car easily bends back in place.

https://open.spotify.com/album/6fhebW3x8DvrwbdL2aXCbo?si=bC5rQ2PpTAapsw2wCHFHmg%60

The 1981 Listening Post - Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

 Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

#559

By Rob Haneisen

November 7 1981

Ozzy Osbourne

Diary of a Madman

Genre: Classic metal 

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Rob’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Highlights: Randy Rhoads

By 1981, the branches of the heavy metal and hard rock tree were already sprouting new niches – some of which bore bountiful fruit and others ultimate became a bit stunted.

And so we have the coincidence of Ozzy Osbourne’s second solo studio album coming out within days of Black Sabbath’s second studio album fronted by his replacement, Ronnie James Dio. “Mob Rules” and “Diary of a Madman” are equally great (I prefer Sabbath’s album) but represent two bands headed in different stylistic directions, and for different levels of popularity.

“Diary of a Madman” was coming hot of the success of his first effort “Blizzard of Oz” and Ozzy again put the ridiculously talented guitarist Randy Rhoads front and center. Rhoads’s unfortunate death in a plane crash while touring for this album in Florida was tragic but his volume of work on Ozzy’s two albums is something to behold. Music afficionados and guitar geeks will marvel at his infusion of neo-classical style with rock and metal. They will rave about his technical wizardry and technique, but let’s be frank: the kid just plain shreds the guitar with the kind of melody, speed and creativity that blows away his contemporaries. Ozzy owes his career to Rhoads because frankly Osbourne’s singing on this album is the only weak link in the armor.

It’s not that it is bad. I just think he sounds on some songs like he is really pushing the upper limits of his range and it’s a bit of a strain. Ozzy’s voice is a high-pitched iconic sound and distinctive. It works damn fine on so many songs. But I kind of grew tired of hearing it by the end of this album.

And Ozzy’s songs don’t really fit the personae on display. Look at the gory, crazed album cover. Look at Ozzy’s moniker as the “Prince of Darkness” or his antics like biting the head off a bat, or a bird or whatever. All of that hoopla doesn’t really match the songs or the content. These are poppy, hard rock songs infused with just enough metal muscle to be called mainstream metal. It’s not hair metal but it’s a style that led to that genre. 

It’s also pretty damn radio-friendly. Big hits on this album included “Over the Mountain” “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” and “Flying High Again”, the latter song I first heard as a kid on a K-Tel cassette called “Nu-Rock” that also included such edgy material as Loverboy and 38 Special.

Just listen to the song “Tonight” from this Ozzy album and imagine Elton John singing it. Very little would change, just add more piano.

The song “S.A.T.O.” has a nice sinister vibe to it, and “Believer” and the title track pack a bit more punch and emotional depth. But the rest of this album doesn’t exactly match the devil-horned reputation all those worrisome parents of impressionable kids were screaming mad about. 

So those two paths? Well, Sabbath kind of faded into its own murk whereas Ozzy rode waves of popularity, the rise of metal on MTV, hair metal, pop metal, and continued radio play. His ear for pop music helped inspire a rotating cadre of musicians that played with him to write some awesome songs. 

Listen this album to hear Rhoads and see the pop star behind Ozzy’s mask. There’s really no madman lurking here.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4xiRrFE0Gq4Si9mAfPB3hZ?si=QKMdErR4S6Wi78BICiXZpg

The 1981 Listening Post - Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

 Black Sabbath - Mob Rules

#538

November 4 1981

By Rob Haneisen

Black Sabbath

Mob Rules

Genre: Classic metal

Allen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Rob’s rating 4.5 out of 5

Highlights: 

Voodoo

The Mob Rules

Sign of the Southern Cross

Falling off the Edge of the World

This is gonna run a little long but seriously, this might be the best album of 1981, at least in terms of metal or hard rock. 

“Mob Rules” is the second album Black Sabbath made with Ronnie James Dio as the lead singer (with Heaven and Hell” in 1980 being one of the greatest metal albums) and it’s also the last great studio album the metal icons made. And it should be said that Sabbath is a superior band with Dio singing rather than Ozzy Osbourne. 

Seriously, I’ll fight you over this point regarding Dio’s superiority. You can say that Ozzy was more of a performer and persona but the band sounds better, tighter with Dio and his voice is rightly heralded as one the top three in metal and rock. The only thing Ozzy has over Dio is about a foot in height and probably a hundred pounds during his bloated, boozy shamble-stalk singing and wailing. I like Ozzy. He has a keen pop sensibility for a metal or hard rock singer and his distinctive high-pitched delivery works so well. But Dio musters such a huge sound with incredible range. There is power in that voice that meshes perfectly with and sometimes acts as a counterbalance to the sludge, doom, and heavy blues bombast of Sabbath.

OK, onto the actual album. “Mob Rules” is Sabbath’s album that focuses on the breakdown of society. Evil forces are afoot, and there’s really nothing to stop them. There’s chaos, discord. We have precise and then sometimes-frenetic solos of Tony Iommi and the galloping and pronounced basslines of Geezer Butler. Honestly, after listening to this album about 10 times in the past two weeks I gained a whole new appreciation for Butler’s bass presence in Sabbath. He propels so many songs.

If you have even a passing ear for 80s rock radio then you already know the two big songs from this album “The Mob Rules” and “Voodoo.” Both open with an instantly recognizable Sabbath guitar riff, and while “The Mob Rules” is distinctly up-tempo, “Voodoo” is a mid-tempo foreboding piece. On both tracks, Dio’s voice as absolutely mammoth. It’s a controlled scream, that shakes into blues or into a rapid delivery of lyrics. Just try singing along to it with the intensity and sheer volume he puts out and you’ll be winded in 10 seconds. He is a freak of nature.

Beyond those two hits, there are two more excellent songs here with “Sign of the Southern Cross” and “Falling off the Edge of the World.” Both are the same style of slow-building Sabbath epic. Both are marked by blistering Iommi solos and pace changes as if the song was designed with the formula of “prime the pump and then blast off.”

So why the hell did I not give this album 5 stars? Simple, it’s flawed. Some of the songs don’t work either in entirely or by pieces. Sabbath was also a bit of a victim of their own success trying to follow up “Heaven and Hell”, which is a 5-star album by miles. 

I also quibble with producer Martin Birch’s ordering of the songs and some editing here. More on that later.

For the songs, the album opens with “Turn up the Night” which is a good song but it is basically trying to be “Neon Nights” and it falls a bit short there. Next up is the sinister and heavy-blues influence of “Voodoo.” Then it transitions well into the building power of “Sign of the Southern Cross” which startles a bit with Dio’s gentleness of voice at the beginning before crashing like a wave of distortion and giant riffage.

Things get weird and psychedelic with the ambient doom of the instrumental track “E5150,” which has an ending that clumsily falls into “The Mob Rules.” The title track is just sheer power, speed, and probably the most iconic song on the album. 

The next two songs are head-scratchers for their mediocrity and the fact that they just don’t fit with this album. “Country Girl” sounds like a leftover from the Ozzy era and “Slipping Away” honestly sounds like something Foreigner would put out. It’s practically poppy.

Tracks 8 and 9 close out the album in doom-sludge, symphonic style with “Falling off the Edge of the World” and “Over and Over”. The album closer is a slower-paced piece until Iommi goes absolutely batshit crazy with a mega guitar solo that just keeps going until the album fades to black.

If I was producing this album, I would change the track ordering to give a bit more of a journey for the listener and do a bit of slice-editing to at least one track.

Here’s my “Mob Rules” track listing:

1.        “E5150” (If you listen to “Live Evil” you know how perfectly this works as an opening song.)

2.        “Falling off the Edge of the World” (However, I would cut the song’s length by hacking off the first 1:20 which is kind of a weak and sensitive sounding bit and go right for the heaviest part of the song and very dark guitar before breaking into a much quicker paced song. In my opinion, it cuts the fat off the meat of the song.)

3.        “The Mob Rules” – We’ve set up chaos with the first two tracks, now let’s really go after it.

4.        “Sign of the Southern Cross” – It’s a good catch-your-breath-moment after those last two songs.

5.        “Turn up the Night” – Pick up the pace again.

6.        “Slipping Away” – I would honestly be happy with either this song or the next track not being on this album, but I think it works OK here if it is set up by the radio-friendly “Turn up the Night.”

7.        “Country Girl” - Ehh, it’s got to go somewhere, and it does sound like a good Sabbath song, just a bit dated.

8.        “Voodoo” – Building up the evil undertones again with some wicked heavy blues.

9.        “Over and Over” – This is really the perfect album closer. 

“Mob Rules” and the subsequent tour that became the “Live Evil” album shows you what Sabbath could have done if they stayed with Dio. It’s a shame he left or was kicked out or whatever. His solo stuff was phenomenal so at least we have that. Sabbath never really returned to greatness. This truly was their last hurrah, but it’s a fantastic trip.

https://open.spotify.com/album/2hGCBR6Xd1RuoYvwcfUhWq?si=eQmCE4XnQiGiPejmWP4Jag

The 1981 Listening Post - Tom Verlain - Dreamtime

 Tom Verlaine - Dreamtime

#376

By Rob Haneisen

July 1, 1981

Tom Verlaine

Dreamtime

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Rob’s rating: 3.5 out of 5

Genre: Post-NYC punk

Highlights: 

There’s a Reason

Without a Word

Fragile

Founding Television guitarist Tom Verlaine shows what the Talking Heads would have sounded like if they employed a more muscular-sounding and versatile guitarist on his second solo album “Dreamtime.”

My first reaction halfway through the opening track of “There’s a Reason” was that this was such a David Byrne rip-off in terms of vocal style. It’s that falsetto, catchy throat delivery that almost sounds like the singer is a bit short of breath and he’s just kind of squeaking out the words. It was high style in the 80s and I honestly did not like it. I just kind of reeked of artsy pretension or maybe a confession of the singer’s vocal shortcomings.

But the more this album progressed the more I grew to appreciate and really like Verlaine’s guitar playing. Yes, it has the hallmark jangly sound of so many early 80s bands but there are some muscular chords worked in, some serious riffing and some solo work that made me pause what I was doing and just listen. His style has a swanky, skanky groove infused with serious rock edge.

By the time I was deep into the third track “Always” I was oddly hooked and nodding my head and looking forward to the guitar solo or some unconventional rhythm break.

There’s a haunting quality to “Without a Word” but the song is honestly over too quickly.

Lyrically, there are some gems here.

From “There’s a Reason”, the opening lines: “Walking slowing into romance/Lions roaring by the entrance”

From “Without a Word”, we have “There comes coolness/to the palm of her hand/as she watches the lilies/blooming in the sand”

And from “Fragile” there’s this: “They've stolen my secret longings for you/Please can't you tell me/is that the worst they can do?”

As formulaic as some of the songs start to seem, you have “Down on the Farm” that sports a great rock guitar riff and beefy beat. The closing track “Mary Marie” almost sounds like some ‘50s blues-rock torch song until it dives into a guitar solo that just wows with its delicacy and energy.

Tom Verlaine was definitely a discovery for me here. I’d heard Television before but “Dreamtime” was a bit of a gem. As talented as Verlaine is on the guitar, you have to admire his restraint. No solo is too long, each song is tight and economic, and there’s purpose to his playing. Unexpectedly, I dig it.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3ZffEglreyT9o7ZJf9splN?si=IZ_0h8p7SNGQNOP4L8bYZA

The 1981 Listening Post - Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers of Romance

 Public Image Ltd. - The Flowers of Romance

#169

By Rob Haneisen

April 10 1981

Public Image Ltd.

The Flowers of Romance

Genre: Torture techno pseudo art

Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5

Rob’s rating: 1 out of 5

I saw Public Image Ltd in 1994 at Brandeis College outside Boston (I was not a student at the artsy school, I was a public college kid from Fitchburg who liked the Sex Pistols). I remember liking PIL’s performance, although that affection may have been influenced by how horrible the opening act (Big Audio Dynamite II) was. 

John Lydon as a performer that night was comical. At one point he reached into the rear of his trousers, pulled out some kind of white object and yelled into the microphone, “Who wants my sanitary napkin?” He then threw it into the crowd.

He also later tried to goad the Boston college kids into revulsion by saying, “You’re such an L.A. crowd.”

Nonsense aside, I thought PIL that night was pretty good – I went in knowing the songs from their latest album and some of their older hits. 

Now I know why they did not play one song from “The Flowers of Romance.” 

Here’s some quick reactions to what I thought while listening to all nine tracks.  

“If they gave a Dalek from Dr. Who a drum machine and said you have 40-odd minutes to record an album, this is what it would sound like.”

“I should at least give them 1 star because to sound this bad you actually have to try hard.”

“Maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to understand that even shit has redeeming qualities beyond smelling, sounding and likely tasting god-awful. Flies. Flies need shit. So this is an album made for flies. Very hungry flies.”

“I would love to have been in the room when the record company was delivered this album. How the hell could they market it? Come listen to 40-minutes of a former punk star lose his damn mind. Oh, and there are drum machines too!”

“Drugs are bad, OK?”

There is not one actual song on this album. Each track is just Lydon wailing in his nasal tone lyrics meant to sound profound when delivered alongside the tortuous throb and beat of a drum machine. Occasionally a synth or bass guitar is thrown in to spread the blame around.  

This must be deliberately bad. I mean, the second song on the album is titled, “Track 8.”

In general, I do not like artsy college rock from the 80s because many of those bands forgot they were writing songs, not statements with musical instrument accompaniment. That said, I really like some PIL songs. “Rise” is great. “Public Image Limited” is fantastic. At their best, PIL is kind of the poppier version of the Sex Pistols. This is not PIL at their best. I’m really not sure what this is.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3yCaex5R09GXgwnsOCotg3?si=tPpTq7b1RLux7XCM5jJEWA

The 1981 Listening Post - Judas Priest - Point of Entry

 Judas Priest - Point of Entry

#86

By Rob Haneisen

Judas Priest

Point of Entry

Genre: Classic Metal…Mostly

Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Rob’s Rating: 3 out of 5 

Highlights:

Heading out to the Highway

Desert Plains

Solar Angels

If there’s one thing about albums that I have discovered I abhor, it’s filler.

Every song does not have to be great, or even good. But filler songs are an unforgivable sin of a professional musician, especially if you are in a band with as big of a following and as much talent as Judas Priest.

“Point of Entry” is an album half-filled with filler. Good guitar riffs get spoiled by slapdash lyrics, go-nowhere songwriting, and ill-conceived changes of style and pace. Some songs are embarrassingly bad and cringeworthy in subject matter and lyrical laziness. “Hot Rocking” has the just dumb chorus of “I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go, hot rockin!” Or maybe take a gander at the lyrics in “Troubleshooter” – “You're givin' I'm gettin'. I'm gettin' satisfaction.
You're makin' I'm takin'. I want some heavy action.”

Mishits aside, there are three truly great songs on here, including one of my favorite Priest tunes in “Desert Plains” that boasts fantastic, poetic lyrics, some great guitar licks and riffage from K.K. Downing and Glen Tipton and a thudding bass and drumbeat from Ian Hill and Dave Holland, who joined the band two years earlier. “Point of Entry” also features the big hit in “Heading out to the Highway” and a slower paced by muscular rocker in “Solar Angels.” 

Rob Halford’s voice is at its prime on “Point of Entry” with precise, crisp resonance, piercing high notes and lots of attitude. 

But there are songs on this album that veer into realms that Priest should not dwell – bluesy-influenced, AC/DC wannabe tracks that just don’t work at all. I found myself shaking my head at several songs and looking at how much time was left on the track so I would not have to listen to it anymore. I’m talking about “Don’t go”,  “You say Yes”,  “Turning Circles” and “All the Way.”

As uneven and at times incredibly disappointing as this album was, the highlights show that Priest can still lay claim to be a force in classic 80s metal. It seemed like they figured it all for their next album “Screaming for Vengeance” that absolutely blew the doors off any doubts of their metal cred. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/02mDd1vg3xHPOxpNYkZIGP?si=7draRo_jRCCzBXO39pusCQ

The 1981 Listening Post - Iron Maiden - Killers

 Iron Maiden - Killers 

#77

By Rob Haneisen

February 2 1981

Iron Maiden

Killers

Genre:

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Rob’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Highlights: 

Murders in the Rue Morgue

Killers

Prodigal Son

Drifter

Wrathchild

If you think you don’t like metal or Iron Maiden, listen to “Prodigal Son” on the album “Killers” and then shut the hell up. 

“Prodigal Son” breaks a lot of preconceived notions about the band and metal and hints at some of the song-writing greatness in store for the band in the years ahead. It’s not the best song on the album but it is one that breaks out of a comfortable space and lets the band expand its horizons. Yes, it sounds very much like Deep Purple, maybe with some elements of Rush, and it’s not the full-bore attack that other songs on “Killers” employ, but it shows that the band is no one-trick pony. And it features some downright elegant guitar solo-ing.

Full disclosure: I am a huge Iron Maiden fan, but I much prefer Bruce Dickinson as the lead singer instead the original Paul Di’Anno who appears on this record as well as Maiden’s first album.

That said, this whole album sees the band embracing the horror-themed New Wave of British Heavy Metal and moving away from the vaguely punkish-roots of the first album and veering more toward Deep Purple-ish territory.

The consistent link in this album and every other Maiden album is the insane, galloping bass from Steve Harris. His driving bass propels every song, even on “Prodigal Son” when the pace slows for a change.

Nearly 50 years later and the band still plays “Wrathchild” live and Dickinson’s rendition shows how much better the band is with him singing. It’s not that Di’Anno is bad. His voice is more of a raw, raspy snarl. Dickinson’s voice is dynamic, precise and rightly hailed as one of the best in all of rock and metal. Knowing his range and sheer vocal strength exposes Di’Anno’s limitations.

But let’s look closer at what’s on this album and try to evaluate it in its own right. First, two instrumental tracks – “The Ides of March” and “Genghis Khan” seem unnecessary other than showing off some fantastic guitar riffing. “Ides of March” basically serves as a short intro for “Wrathchild” as the next track. You get some great guitar work from Dave Murray and Adrian Smith here. “Murders in the Rue Morgue” sets into a frenetic beat and pace only beaten by the ridiculously fast “Purgatory.”

We get into Deep Purple territory with the extended drum intro for “Another Life” and more fantastic guitar riffing. “Innocent Exile” and the title track both open with a bass guitar intros, the later song – “Killers” - is the strongest on the album.

“Drifter” is great, rocking album closer.

As good as this album is, it’s somewhat shocking to listen to this and then the band’s next album (and some would argue their best and maybe the best metal album of all-time) “The Number of the Beast.” If ever a band exploded, it is on that album. 

But taking “Killers” at face value, it sounds quite unlike any other metal from 1981. Maiden’s two-guitar attack, Harris’s bass virtuosity, and Clive Burr’s fantastic drumming lay the foundations for what Maiden will become. It’s Di’Anno that holds them back here and prevents this very good album from being great.

That’s OK, greatness was waiting for Maiden next year.

https://open.spotify.com/album/0ICtvzBaaupE4LifaYbFAj?si=Bt3D1MQBQsqOcA4O3sE2mQ