Sleeper show and AC/DC crawls up from the dirt

One would think that after all the years, all the albums, and the Napster debacle, Metallica would have called it quits. Apparently the opposite holds true for Milwaukee fans. The show is sold out in the lower level, and people are still looking for good Bradley Center tickets for that show.










AC/DC came out with their album this week. It hit the charts at number one in thirty countries. Walmart reported sales topping 750,000 in the first week that Black Ice filled the store shelves. This is album number 15 for the old men of rock and roll. It beat out High School Musical 3 in sales. That makes this music fan very happy. Spin Magazine gives this one two devil horns up. Other reviews compliment the production. Musicradar.com calls this one a "Rock and Roll masterpiece."



Other words that I hear on the street is that this cd came out at just the right time. I guess that waiting eight years works for this aged group of legends. It works for me.

Even though this album was leaked out prior to release, it still blew through the charts, and that is just another testament to the quality of the songs. Some reviews have pointed out that there are three songs with the words "rock and roll" in the title. So what? That's what this band is all about.

Metallica, I want 2.5 hours of my life back.

As I write this, I’m listening to Devo. Auto Modown to be exact. This is classic house cleaning music. Even though I’m listening to classic New Wave, my thoughts are all about the DVD I saw last night. It was Metallica’s Some Kind Of Monster. It took the band over seven hundred days to make the album St. Anger, and the cameras rolled through the entire torturous, tedious event.

My wife left the room at day 388. About that time, I started to wonder if the stupid album would ever be finished. As a musician, I cannot fathom taking that much time, spending that much money, and swinging around all that baggage in front of a camera crew. James left for rehab in the middle of making the album. He came back a year later, and when he did, there were new rules. The band could only "create" from noon to four pm. Nobody was to listen to tracks after he left for the day.

The forty-thousand dollar per month performance enhancement therapist got so involved in the band that he didn’t want to leave after the band decided to give this guy the boot. In my opinion, he crossed the patient-doctor boundary.

Who wouldn’t want to live the rock and roll life vicariously though one of the biggest metal bands to ever grace the stage? After all, he was pulling in nearly half a million dollars a year to coddle these worn out buggers.

Highlights of the DVD would include the art auction Lars so bravely put himself through.
Poor guy had to rake in millions for his paintings. Most of it resembled cookie cutter college art, or mock ups of worn out themes from previous decades. None the less, he got drunk to numb the pain of watching his bank account grow even bigger. He justified the auction by stating that “others park their money in the bank, I put it on the wall.” Whatever makes you feel better in front of the cameras Lars.

Another intensely annoying aspect of this marathon of a documentary was having to listen to Lars’ snare drum. As a drummer, I couldn’t help myself. His snare sounded like the pinging of a 1950’s submarine radar that you hear in those old B-movies. Ping, Ping, Ping, make it stop!! Apparently nobody had the guts to tell Lars that his Tama Signature snare sounded like complete garbage. Thank the earth for Pro Tools. That was the only thing saving that horrid snare tuning.

As I mentioned, James took some time to dry out, and that’s a fine thing to do. He came out of rehab with all the tools that one would expect. He blamed his callous manner on abandonment issues. He found his old life of being smashed most of the time to be boring. Good point. Anything can get old after a while. It was still hard to watch him cast away Jason without a thought, and then never ask him back when sober.

Ok, back to highlights. I loved the scene where the therapist handed James lyrics on a post it note. This old fart (my opinion) decided it was perfectly acceptable to join in the task of writing for Metallica. I loved it when Lars’ dad rejected some of the songs with honestly. I loved the bass player auditions.

Lastly, I’m still blown away at how these guys don’t seem grateful after all the years. They have millions upon millions of dollars, and they want for nothing. They do the typical “get away from it all” crap on their ranches, or their land, or while driving in their monster hot rods, or on jet skis. Get over yourselves guys and just make a freaking album! Other bands would have made four or five albums in that same time span. I did feel a bit robbed at the end of the DVD. I wanted 2.5 hours of my life back.

Metallica to play at the Bradley Center

Staying power. That's what Metallica has. Respect. That's what you get when you tell a Metal-Head that you like Metallica. They are a cornerstone band that continues to impress the fans. On January 12th, the stallwarts come to the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. This show is in the round. I wonder if the stage will slowly spin counter-clockwise throughout the night.

My buddy had a Ride The Lightning key chain. He blasted Master Of Puppets on his car stereo as we cruised the north woods of Wisconsin.

I can't say that I love the later works, but that does not diminish the quality music that the band put out in the early years. They didn't switch to disco. They didn't write music for a Broadway play. They stayed in the genre that made them famous.

As for line-up changes, yes a few came and went, but the band didn't lose it all with the transitions.

Another friend suggested that I rent the movie Some Kind Of Monster. I received the disk via NetFlix, only to find that I rented the "bonus" disk. Argh! I sent it back, and I'm ready to view the real DVD this week. It will get me fired up to buy the Bradley Center tickets for when they come to Milwaukee in January.

Rumors, tours, and folklore

Grapevine Milwaukee: Rumors of possible tours featuring Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, and Van Halen all float by. If Bruce Springsteen came to Milwaukee, it would have to be a Bradley Center show. Same rule applies for Metallica and Van Halen. Where else but the Bradley Center for those headliners? Alas, these are just rumors. None of the bands listed here have committed to anything. Heck, Metallica isn't even on tour. We shall see.

Head On Collision, apply directly to the forehead

I just spent three long days with the band Head On Collision. These metal upstarts from St. Louis just got signed to Beer City Records. Head On Collision is not one of your falsetto crooning, drum trigger using, mush pile of sound bands. They are not your cookie monster growling, bass-guitar-follows-the-lead-guitar, let's all pose with our serious face and shiny long hair type of band either. So what are they? True metal would best describe Head On Collision. From the ashes of the band Very Metal came only one, and that would be Pat McCauley (guitar and vocals). Jason Brooks on drums, Dave Carr on Bass and John Hancock on lead guitar bring the right stuff to this band. I realize that this is not a Wisconsin band, but they just got signed to a Wisconsin based record label, and you will be seeing them play in this state many times in the coming three years. I am not the biggest metal fan. You would find the usual Motorhead, Slayer, and Metallica disks in my collection, but not much more. Three days in Head On Collision's lair certainly educated me. I spent the day observing the drum track sessions, and at night I watched one Youtube video after another of who's good, bad, and bad-ass in the metal world. Why would you care? You have to hear this band to understand why I think that they are worth your time. Their punk roots keep them honest and the band has a desire to lay waste to the posers of metal. When the disk comes out, I'm going to be first in line to pony up the cash.

Beatallica on the road

A local band is making great strides in Europe. Beatallica, a combination of Metallica melodies and Beatles lyrics make for some interesting interpretations of two classical, but diametrically opposed styles. The bass player, Kliff McBurtney is a personal friend who deserves all the accolades that come with European tours, CD sales, and extra loving from his one-and-only groupie Emily. I have witnessed this melting of The Beatles and Metallica at Vnuk's. If they get back to Milwaukee, get your arses down there and check out Beatallica.