REVIEWS….. The ticket to a secret identity?

When you write a review, whether it’s a CD- or a concert-review, you can be sure that there’s going to be lots of people having opinions about it. They don’t always realize that it’s all part of the game.

Reviews are nothing but one person’s simple opinion, written for the sake of entertainment and, to a degree, guidance. But there are always going to be fans out there who think that a review is a scientific essay. They want it to be “objective”.  You can’t be objective in a review, that’s the whole point! :-)

When I got my first job writing for Swedish newspaper Kvällsposten, I received tons of records from all the major record companies. I didn’t have my own post-box at the editorial office cause I was working from home. I just went there about twice a week to pick up my mail and submit the material of the week.

Every time I got there, there was a sack full of LP’s waiting for me on the floor behind the film-editor. Back in 1988, vinyl was still the main material that people wanted their music on. :-) The CD’s had been introduced but it took a few years before the music that we got went from vinyl to CD altogether.

Vinyl Lp

Anyway, as I was the rookie up there, the other music reporters taught me that as far as reviews…. I was not allowed to like too many records – which means I was not allowed to rate something 10 out of 10 too often. I don’t remember the exact quota, but it was strictly limited.

I was told that I would not be taken seriously if I liked everything, especially not if I wrote positive reviews too often. They wanted me to write negative, nasty reviews as much as I could, because not only did it trigger people to react – it was also good publicity for the band/artist. If people get upset, they tell their friends, or they write letters to the editor, they simply do unintentional PR for the publication!

And as weird as it sounds – when you write something really nasty about a band or an artist, people will get curious to hear it. “Is it REALLY that bad? CAN it be that bad?”

So, they try to get a listen if they can, or they talk to other people about it. EIther way – everybody wins.

A bad review doesn’t necessarily ruin sales, if done right. It can do the exact opposite.

I think that a band like W.A.S.P is the perfect example of that. There was not one “serious” music journalist out there that wrote anything good about “Fuck like a beast“, but all the bad publicity got people running to the stores and the record just flew off the shelves!

As I grew older and started to see music more objectively – not just in black and white, like when I was younger – it got harder to write strict “good” or “bad” reviews.

The review-editor at Sweden Rock asked me what I REALLY thought about one album that I had written about, because he couldn’t figure out if I liked it or hated it, I was beeing too diplomatic about it.

I told him that personally, I didn’t like it. No reason, it just wasn’t my taste. It was well played and for those who like that kind of music, I’m sure they would love it. It’s just that I didn’t and I didn’t want to be unfair and rate something low, when I knew it wasn’t really BAD…… It was a tough situation.

He told me it wasn’t about being fair. It was about having a personal opinion. If I didn’t like it, I should just say so, straight out, no excuses, no “buts” or “ifs”. That helped me get over the “objectivity-barrier”. Thank god. But he has actually been great with constructive feedback on my writing, I’ve learned a thing or two just by small details he’s mentioned from time to time. I like working with people like that.

One of the most memorable reviews I’ve written through the years was for “Hot In The Shade” by Kiss.
That, I will never, ever forget. 

I wasn’t particularly impressed by the album, and wrote somewhere that Paul Stanley couldn’t sing…. And used some pretty undiplomatic expression to illustrate exactly HOW much I thought he sucked.

Mind you, this was before the internet – back in those days, people wrote regular letters. When I got to the office a few days later, there were TWO FULL POST BAGS there with my name on them.

It took me FOREVER to open all those letters! I had pissed off the whole RAGING Kiss Army! I think every Kiss-fan from north to south had a thing or two that they wanted to…uhh, “share”… :)

I got the message – loud and clear – oh boy, it couldn’t have been ANY clearer!
Lesson learned: There are some bands that can not be criticised unless you want to get a secret identity and move to Vladivostok! Don’t ever say that Paul Stanley can’t sing and don’t ever say anything bad about Metallica or Slayer if you want to live. :)

Another time, I wrote a review about a GWAR-concert at club Stadt Hamburg in Malmo, Sweden… That review led to local authorities CLOSING DOWN THE PLACE! I was not popular by some people after that. Like I had any idea what a simple review could cause!

[I actually found a video where that whole thing was mentioned…. only, there were no “local authorities” at that show that could be spat on… they based it solely on my review. Ouch..
See it mentioned in the info text to this video. ]

I don’t know, it’s as if some people have their whole life hung up on their favorite bands. So when you criticise the band, they take it dead serious and dead personal – as if you’re criticising them.

I still think it’s fun to write reviews though. It can be diffucult after more than 20 years, finding different ways to describe something GOOD or something BAD, because you don’t want to keep repeating yourself. Yet, there are only so many superlatives you can use. It requires creativity. Sometimes you have a good day, sometimes you don’t. But in the end – it’s all just entertainment.

Or… is it? :-D

Why I love 80’s rock

Swedish rockers Dynazty are releasing their 3rd album “Sultans of Sin” tomorrow. I got the album about three weeks ago for review. As you know, if you’re reading this blog regularly, I loved it – no, I mean…. LOVEDDDD it!

So, the review I sent to the magazine will be accompanied by angel-choirs and harps!  
I also know that there will be metalheads out there who consider themselves “real” rockers, that are going to puke – cause 80’s melodic rock has just never quite been accepted. It’s always been ridiculed in one way or another. 

Don’t get me wrong – I love the stripped-down aggession that’s coming out of Dave Mustaine’s mouth just as much, and I can get my kicks from being in a fist-throwing, brutal, sweaty crowd as well.

But I love 80’s rock, it just lifts my spirits and charges my batteries every single time!

The 80’s started with the “ugly British bands”, such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Accept, Dio… all those bands that no chicks would EVER go see because there was a hot dude in the band. There just were no hot dudes in those bands. I guess it was Glenn Tipton from Priest or Peter Baltes from Accept that could even remotely be called chick-magnets. Sort of. 

But the 80’s that I think most of us automatically think of when we hear the term, is the carefree joyful attitude that came with the glitter and the hairspray. But the image is secondary as far as I’m concerned.

I always loved great singers, and especially those with perfect pitch – those that could sound clear as silver-bells and lift mountains with their voices at the same time.
Guys like Sebastian Bach, like most AOR-singers, whether it was Journey or Firehouse or whatever else. They made it sound so easy, but after years of vocal training I know what it takes to get a voice like that. Some of them might have been born with it – even MORE reason to admire and envy their talents.

The young dude from Dynazty is amazing. If he sounds like this at the age of 23, what will he sound like when he’s 30?! 

I always loved the 80’s music for its escapism and the positive attitude. Just do whatever makes you happy. If it makes you happy to wear crazy clothes and hair, go the fuck ahead and DO IT! :))

I love the party-vibe and the positive energy, the over-the-top stage shows that made it feel like it was New Year’s Eve every time – the pyrotechnics, the confetti, the lasers and lights, the coreography, crazy clothes and hair, just the whole production made it worth every buck to go and see it.

This is the PERFECT example of 80’s stage production extraordinaire!

I get “high” every time I hear and see this particular song, it’s pure, unleashed energy!

And that’s what the 80’s were all about.

I kind of think of it like this…. If you think of rock as the 4 seasons, then the eighties is like spring and summer. 

It’s about the beach and pool parties, driving with the top down, half naked guys and chicks, all the colors are like when everything starts to blossom in the spring – green trees, flowers, blue skies…. It’s just as positive time of year, just like the music.

For somebody like me, death- and black metal doesn’t work the same way. I’m definitely not criticising those who love the rougher side of the metal spectrum, just saying it’s not me. To me it’s more gloomy, it’s like winter – cold and dark. The lyrics are about everything BUT having a good time. 

When we had our “nerd-evening” here a while ago, the guys looked up this video and laughed their butts off. Why are these painted guys always running around in the woods in their videos? :)

It’s just a travesty of the genre. There are most definitely plenty of these for eighties-bands/music too. I guess Steel Panther are doing just that, full time! :)
But just for the sake of comparing:

In short, I feel more comfortable with the glitter, lights and positive outlook on life. I suppose it has a lot to do with your personality. Maybe bands like Dynazty aren’t macho enough for some people out there, but I love that album – because there’s nothing to dislike about it! :)

Here they are from the Swedish semi-finals of the Eurovision song contest, and regardless the cheesy competition – I love seeing bands like this getting this kind of exposure to the general public. And…just for the record – this song is the weakest of the ones on their album, which should give you a hint… ;) 
No more being ashamed of loving this style, it deserves a lot more credit than it gets. :-) 

 

 

Tuned into some country music

I took a deep breath of relief when I closed the door to the office and headed home today. It was just one of those days – very stressful where I only wished I could have cloned myself to keep up with everything. My heart was racing from the stress, so I picked up my phone and tapped on the 104,9 The Cat radio-app.

It’s a country station from Albany, NY, that my friend Bianca and I tuned into the last time we were there – we used to listen to that station in our rental car. It’s just something about country music that makes it feel even MORE like you’re cruising in the USA. :-)

It didn’t take long until that soothing music made my heart rate go down. I could just breathe normally again. It’s amazing what music can do. You just need to know what to choose for every particular situation.

It’s fun with something new. Like discovering a type of music that I’m not familiar with. My dad was a big fan of Johnny Cash. I remember he had some well-played LP’s at home, that was traditional country music. I wasn’t that into it back then. The only country-record that I DID like, that was my parents’, was a LP by Nancy&Lee (Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood).

Lee had this super-cool deep “Marlboro-man”-kind of voice that I loved even back then, as a kid.

This song has been covered a million times – one that resembles the original the most, is this one –  featuring HIM’s Ville Valo : CHECK OUT THE VIDEO).

What I discovered, and liked, about country, is that many of the songs that I was listening to on my way home, had great lyrics. They were like personal letters, put to music. Topics that many people can relate to. I liked that. Here’s that one singer whose song I really liked, that got my stressed heart to go back to normal, Tim McGraw:

But every single song presented on the country radio was interesting or fun to listen to – like Kid Rock for instance. I can feel the summer vibe in this song so much – and also smile at the life he describes “when his hair was longer” – when we were all young and wild. Now when it’s still winter in Sweden (though heading for spring) I love seeing vids like this one and hear songs that celebrate summer and pool parties!

Then there is the HUMOR in country. There were plenty of those actually. But this I remember from out last visit to Albany… the guy who is good at nothing…. but he’s pretty good at drinking beer. :-) How can you not love a song like that?? :-))))

Last but not least – Hank III.
I was introduced to Hank III by my friend Kevin. I still remember him singing this particular song backstage in Oslo before a show, with his iPod on, looking very amused. We were all laughing.

When I visisted my friend Blackie in Nashville a few years ago, we heard that Hank was playing at this RIDICULOUSLY small, teeny-tiny BAR, and I absolutely wanted to see him.
Yeah. So did the rest of Nashville, we discovered…. Some people had been standing in line since early morning – and this was in the winter.

At first I was optimistic, thinking people had to leave sooner or later, so maybe the rest of us would get in…. but those that got IN were of course not going OUT so…. I just saw his BACK, cause the stage was right at the window, and heard a little bit before we walked to the next bar that had a less famous rockabilly-band playing. :-)

Crazy Hank performing one of his not-so-radio-friendly songs (go Google the lyrics!):

Some things in country music have similarities to rock/hard rock, I noticed. In some cases it’s the attitude, in other cases it’s the groove, the melodies and lyrics that could have made a great metal song if arranged differently.

There’s just so much music out there, and at times it feels great to just take a little break and step out from the usual music-frame that many of us are stuck in sometimes.

The apps are fun, I’m listening to something new every day, and it’s just so refreshing! :-)

What triggers sexism in some rockers?

So Lita Ford is about to release a new album soon, and it was, as usual, on Blabbermouth yesterday.

Another thing that’s “as usual” are all those strange individuals on Blabbermouth who are filling the newspages with the weirdest comments…

The article was 100% about Lita’s music, yet the very first comment on there was: “Gonna do some MILF porn Lita?”

Another brainiac continued with another ever so intelligent comment that included, among other things “she s***ed Chris Holmes nasty alcoholic c**k for a few years in the 80’s“

It’s an interesting phenomenon, because I’m pretty sure that the pimplefaced teenage boys (I hope to god that these stupidass comments were NOT written by any ADULT….) got a heartattack just SEEING a picture of a WOMAN on their macho metal pages. All those sexually frustrated, morons turned into Beavis & Butthead in about two seconds by the mere sight of a woman among their male heroes.

Oh horror – I mean, really?! How DARE she exist in their little narrow macho-metal world?! Only LEMMY is allowed to rule that world of theirs, definitely no chick. They forget that this particular chick has even recorded a song she wrote with said legend….

[Lemmy and Lita = Can’t Catch Me]

But it’s always, always the same shit when a woman enters the world of metal. It’s all that sexist bullshit she has to listen to from a bunch of insecure dweebs who are convinced that they are exerting an imaginary power by acting as if sexuality is something that they are entitled to by nature, whereas women should be grateful if they “GET” some. You know, kind of what they were thinking back in the 50’s.

Especially in this case, when we’re talking about Lita Ford – THAT kind of behavior becomes nothing but BRAINDEAD and embarrassing. Why? Because she is not the kind of chick who gets offended by rough talk. First of all, she’s more vulgar than most of those little teenage nerds. If you think that the usual sexist talk is intimitading to someone like her – think again.

Back in the late 80’s, early 90’s, she was interviewed by RIP or Metal Edge, I forget which one it was – and stated that if she hadn’t made it as a musician, she would have pursued a “career” as a callgirl. Because she liked the idea of ​​unbridled, unconditional sex.
That was a pretty “shocking” statement back in those days. She was very “SO FUCKIN’ WHAT??”

Her songs have always been about sex in all forms, I guess her last one, Wicked Wonderland, was no exception. And her stories and pics from her and her ex-husband Jim’s “sex-room” and their endorsement of a site that sells sex-toys and what have you….
The whole thing with the nervous teenage boy who’s trying to be cool in the safety and security of his anonymity, just becomes even more stupid. He chose the wrong chick to try his amateur, clumsy version of classic master suppression techniques on.

That crap is just such old news, and I don’t know how it still manages to survive among some retarded groups out there, in 2012.

It’s always the same. I saw some pretty nasty shit being said about Elize Ryd of Amaranthe for instance.

What is a guy thinking when he writes a comment to a music video, saying “She can sit on my face!”? And then there will be OTHER Beavis and Buttheads out there cheering it along.

I heard all that stuff back when I was singing in a band too. I’m not easily offended either. I mean, I joined my first band when I was a teenager, and trust me – I heard more intimate stories than I bargained for. The guys forgot I was a chick when they acted like boys do – so, yeah, every exaggerated sexual conquest was reviewed in the rehearsal studio.

After a lifetime of that, you get jaded, to a degree. But sometimes, in some situations, I still can’t help thinking “when is this shit gonna be OLD NEWS, it’s just getting so… old“.

Every time I got up on stage, there was some dude, whose pals he was trying to impress, that yelled: “Show your tits!!”

In the end, I got so sick of hearing it, that I decided to address it with a sense of humor instead of bitching about it.
So, one evening I put on a whole bunch of t-shirts, tried my best to make it look like it was only one, and then did a bit of a “striptease” – taking off one t-shirt after the other, layer after layer.

I thought they would get the irony of it, but when I got to the last top, there was still some idiot who yelled, with a beer in his hand, “show your tits!”. I gave up. Some just don’t have a sense of humor or the IQ to understand irony and when they are being mocked.

I just hoped and wished that things would be different in 2012. I’ve been a rocker since I was 13 years old. When I started, there were very few female role models, and Lita was my first real source of inspiration – just because she did things her own way.

“Better sexy than ugly” is what she used to say with a laugh. She made being feminine something cool, something fun – not something political or aggressive. It was just the way she was. I admired her for it.

And after all the work she’s done her whole life, there are still caveman-people out there making the same stupid remarks now that they did back in 1983.

It’s not all just negative, that’s not where I’m going with this. Things HAVE changed a lot. We see more and more women at festivals – both in the crowd and on stage.

Last year, at Sweden Rock Festival, people worshipped Joan Jett and they got up early, dispite their hangovers, to see Lee Aaron.

Doro has always had extremely loyal fans who absolutely adore her and Girlschool have most certainly earned their legend-status just as much as their male colleagues.

It’s definitely better than it was in 1983, but I just wish that some of these “developmentally disabled”, to put it nicely, would become a thing of the past, altogether.

Maybe another…20 years from now…? Who knows.

 

Who the f*** is PANTERA??

That was my first thought when I “had to” schedule an interview with Pantera in February 1991. 

Judas Priest were coming to Sweden, kicked off their Europan tour in Scandinavia, and they were bringing two opening acts: Annihilator and Pantera. At the time, I was preoccupied with getting an interview with Rob Halford. I just wanted to get the interview with Pantera over with.

It’s funny when I listen to the interview with Rex now, and some of the things he says. “Cowboys From Hell“, which is pretty much considered a classic metal album now – especially after the re-release in 2012, had only been out ONE WEEK in Sweden when this interview was made. And as there was no internet in 1991, people didn’t know who the hell Pantera were.
It’s hard to imagine that now – 14 million albums sold…

It was one of the few tours at the time that didn’t get cancelled – many bands did because it was risky to fly overseas when the Gulf War was still being fought. It actually ended officially 26 days after this conversation.

But several bands from the States chose to cancel their scheduled tours and promotion-visits to Europe.

This interview was conducted in a small, boring, dirty little room backstage at the Ice hall in Stockholm, shortly before the show.

I’m yet to find the interview with Dimebag, it’s here somewhere….

I just thought it might be appropriate to dig this one out now that Rex is about to write his autobiography. Should be interesting reading:

http://fanoegerm.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/rex-brown-to-write-official-truth101-proof-the-inside-story-of-pantera-memoir/