Friday, February 16: AC/DC, "Squealer"

R.I.P. Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (1946-1980), Malcolm Young (1953-2017)

Before they blew the doors off with Let There Be Rock, AC/DC was a much slinkier and gnarlier affair.  Yes, they had a way with hooks and groove from the beginning, but there was also a seediness that, while never totally disappearing, did seem to get sanded away a bit and replaced with more mischievous good cheer.  But “Squealer” gave off real menace, beginning with its lurching backbeat and ominous chords and extending to Bon Scott’s threatening whisper and a chorus that wasn’t so much chanted as coughed and belched.  This sounded especially unwashed, even for AC/DC, and actually lent some credence to the perception that these guys really were hooligans that quite possibly worshiped Satan.  It was unkempt and shaggy, and not inconsequentially one of the last times they would sound quite this squalid, since just one year later they would tighten up considerably and begin a remarkable hot streak.

Steel Panther pics! I love these dudes!💕❤️🤘🏻✨️🎸

Sept 27th 2019 Steel Panther released the album “Heavy Metal Rules”

Did you know…

The video for “All I Wanna Do Is F**k (Myself Tonight)” is inspired by “The Hangover”.

Rare picture Cliff and James at backstage with John Marshall who replaced James on guitar when he had broken his arm in a skateboard accident, circa 1986.

jerma when you tell him that you don’t listen to korn.

two ends of heavy metal spectrum:

vampire -> somber, atmospheric, drawn out sounds, slower, quiet dissonance, makes you wanna brood

werewolf -> raging, quick and hurried notes, loud, makes you wanna scream and destroy

quirks an eyebrow at all the fanfics writers present

never drinking black coffee again. now im pacing and doing some weird moves around my office like a fucking dumbass at least i have my pearls on and headphones blasting lady gaga

Friday, April 12: Dio, "Breathless"

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio (1942-2010), Jimmy Bain (1947-2016)

Ronnie James Dio sang with two major acts before striking out on his own, but the success of Holy Diver gave him license to fully unleash his id on The Last in Line.  And while the second Dio album was mostly a logical continuation of its predecessor, there was enough randomness generated by the man going all-in on his preoccupations and tics that something like “Breathless”, which began with a simultaneously bluesy and gnarled Vivian Campbell riff before Ronnie barged in with “No No No No No!!!”, stood out in all sorts of ways, not all of them good.  The track was a rocker driven by Vinny Appice’s blocky percussion and Jimmy Bain’s bass, with Campbell’s guitar more like window dressing (certainly a point of contention for the increasingly malcontent future Whitesnake and Def Leppard axeman), though of course there was no suppressing the power and passion of Ronnie’s growl, even if one was rarely sure about what he was really going on about.  “Breathless” was awesome and ridiculous in equal measure, and nobody would expect anything less from prime Dio.

i could be your girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl

but would you love me if i was a worm, worm, worm

Ozzy Osbourne - Tattooed Dancer

white knuckling it through breakfast in the commons trying not to scream the lyrics to heavy metal lover while it reverberates on repeat in my walnut brain

Jerry Cantrell at Alice in Chains concert.

May i offer you a break time Barbatos? Chillin’ in their weird stair room, like the cryptid they are?

I have a love-hate relationship with this boi, but it’s his birfday or whatever so I’ll focus on em for a bit.