Boys Brigade - Toronto Band

They first formed in 1981 and were part of the Canadian New Wave scene. The first exposure they received was via their first single "Mannequin" which appeared on Q107 s annual compilation album Homegrown, back when the mighty "Q" actually cared about new talent. Produced by Geddy Lee ( lead singer for Rush ) the self-titled debut album release in 1983 yielded two singles "Melody" and "The Passion of Love" both of which fared well on the Canadian charts. This band was truly talented but never reached their full potential. Infighting and internal tensions led the band to break up before releasing another album, one can only speculate on what might have been...

The Spitfires - Indy Rock Band - Australia

Based out of Adelaide, South Australia they formed in 1981, an Indy rock band with a hard edge that could best be described as a mixture of punk and rockabilly somewhere along the lines of the Cramps with regards to their style and sound. Their debut mini album was released in 1983 if I'm not mistakes and was called "I Was A Teenage Teenager" under the independent Rivet label, there is not alot of info available on this band so I could be mistaken with my facts. They enjoyed moderate success within Australia releasing a number of singles that charted locally. If anyone has any additional info or pictures please e-mail me, it would be greatly appreciated. The group was comprised of the following members ...Ted Keely (lead vocals), Jeff Stephens (guitar/vocals), Andrew Travers (drums), Greg Ryan (guitar), Rick Gac (bass), Jeff Karutz (sax). Sadly Greg (Slim) Ryan passed away on September 4, 2006, my sincere condolences to his family and friends.

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I Was A Teenage Teenager - Track List

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Side 1

Rumble In The Jungle

Bad Luck Bop

I'm In Love With A Vampire

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Side 2

I'm In Love With A Vampire

Brand New Cadillac

One Way Train
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There may be other tracks from this album that I have missed...

Hunting High and Low - A-ha

This phenomenal band from Norway released "Hunting High and Low" as their debut album back in 1985 and it is in my opinion one of the truly great albums from the 1980's. The first single "Take On Me" hit number one all over the world, 36 countries to be exact selling 9 million copies and earning the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist in 1986. In addition to the songs success I think the video to Take On Me is perhaps the best ever produced, and I don't just mean in the 80's either. The video is absolutely astounding, it used a pencil-sketch animation/ live action combination called Rotoscoping (where individual frames of live video are drawn over or colored). The video would become one of the most instantly recognizable and most enduringly popular videos of all time and it still received regular play even today. The rest of the album is equally impressive, there is no fill on this record at all, it is pretty much perfect. There were no less than 5 singles that charted both in North America and in Europe, in addition to Take On me, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." , "Love Is Reason", "Train of Thought" and "Hunting High and Low" also fared very well. With regards to financial success I for the most part believed that sales don't always tell the full story ( sometimes they don't mean shit ) but on some occassions they can be an indication as to the merits of a particular work. In end Hunting High and Low went on to sell 10 million units worldwide.

Journey / Heart / Cheap Trick Concert

On Friday night I saw an absolutley astounding concert at the Molson Amphitheater, Headlined by Journey who have recently been reconstituted by Arnel Pineda, the band's new leadman who delivered a performance that perhaps even rival that of original singer Steve Perry. Heart and Cheap Trick were also on the bill delivering solid performances as a sold out crowd of 16 thousand rocked to four hours of great tunes. I have to say I was positively amazed: What your ears hear doesn't quite connect to what your eyes see. How is it possible that this tireless Filipino spitfire with stringy black hair, who guitarist Neal Schon discovered last summer via YouTube clips of him singing covers in his former band the Zoo, could sound so eerily like Steve Perry, that rarely rivaled voice of every Journey smash? I couldn't believe how great he sounded, this show I'll remember for a long time. It's fitting that the band titled its 13th album (and first with Pineda) "Revelation," for not only does the term apply to the wonder vocalist, it speaks to the rebirth of the group itself. Pineda was hardly the only standout I also have to acknowledge how spectacular Cheap Trick and Heart sounded, both bands sound every bit as great now as they did back in the 80's. I was blown away by Heart's Ann Wilson characteristically robust form during the group's hour-long set, navigating the roaring passages of the Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" as adeptly as she did the dramatic pleas of "Magic Man" and "Alone," the latter smartly scaled back to just piano and guitar.Likewise, sister Nancy's spotlight, "These Dreams," was tempered by a mellower, mandolin arrangement. Note some of what I have written here was taken direct from Ben Weners article in Orange county news, he's alot better at writing this kinda shit than I am, thanks Ben...below I've included a few low quality shots I took at the show, when I get a chance I'll link the entire album, the quality should be better and I'll also try to post some video as well...

Cheap Trick Started the night at around 7:00 pm they played a fantastic set that lasted approximatly 45 minutes.

The second band to take the stage was Heart the set lasted just over an hour and it was an impressive performance to say the least. Journey certainly had their work cut out for them to compete with it...

Journey put on an amazing show, lasting about an hour and a half , the set included most of the classics and some of their new material as well. A great time was had by all, hopefully this won't be the last time these bands play Toronto.

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Here's a link to the entire albumn...

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http://picasaweb.google.com/Lunatic.Entrails/JourneyHeartAndCheapTrickTorontoSept5th2008#

Boy - U2

Just picked up the double CD remaster of this album last week, at some point I lost interest in this band and I'm not sure why, that said I still absolutley love this record, U2's first album and still their best in my opinion... I owned it on vinyl twice, CD twice and cassette. From beginning to end this is a perfect album, every song is excellent. It has a very energetic, raw edged rock sound with a little bit of the punk thrown in for good measure. It's a simpler sounding band to the one we hear today but also more creative and rebellious. I must have listened to it at least a thousand times over the years and it is tough to choose what I would consider my favorite tracks since they are all so well written. Of course there is "I Will Follow" which for many of us was our introduction to the Irish phenomenon. "An Cat Dubh" and "Into the Heart" which I kind of consider one long song and is by far my favorite song ever written by U2. "Twilight" and "Out Of Control" are also among their best as well. If you don't know this band, which of course is unlikely, then this is a great place to start. Right at the beginning.

There and Then - Oasis

I wasn't actually into Oasis until I discovered this live concert, it is an absolutely amazing performance and I now watch it regularly. Recorded during the What's the Story Morning Glory? tour, Oasis were at the peak of their success,and without a doubt one of the biggest bands in the world at the time. The shows is actually filmed in two locations part of the footage was recorded at Earls Court in London November 1995 and the remainder was filmed in Manchester April 1996. Mixed in with the concerts footage are a number of interesting interviews with various members of the band, normally I prefer not to have interviews during the concert as I feel it breaks the continuity of the performance but for this show it seemed work. The thing that really stands out about this concert is the fan footage, I don't think I've ever seen as packed stadium go quite as crazy as they did during this show. Thirty thousand people screaming at the top of there lungs for pretty much the entire performance, and the camera's captures it perfectly, I almost felt like I was there. I highly recommend There and Then, one of the best live performance ever caught on film.

Ink - The Fixx

I actually just picked up this CD recently so I was totally unfamiliar with it. A relatively unknown album that The Fixx released in February 1991 after a 3 year hiatus. This was the sixth studio album by the band and although it was a commercial failure it was still a well written album, not perfect mind you but still good. Their sound remains relatively unchanged from their 80's material which I'm happy about, if it works don't f--k with it that's what I say. The tracks that stand out are All is Fair, How Much is Enough, No one Has to Cry and my personal favorite, Still Around. If you get a chance it's well worth a listen, not their strongest album to date but certainly worth a listen...Cheers

Metal Masters

Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto - August 13, 2008 Everything old is new again... I was transported back in time last night to 1985 when I saw the Metal Masters show in Toronto. It was so cool I almost shit myself, it included a four band bill in what turned out to be an almost 6 hour head bangin extravaganza. The line up included ( in order ) Testament, Motorhead, Heaven & Hell (aka Black Sabbath) and Judas Priest.
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The first band to take the stage was Testament a hard rockin thrash metal band based out of San Francisco, they took the stage at 5:30 and played a set that lasted approximately an hour. Although not entirely familiar with there music they put on a good performance for a appreciative crowd that was still making there way in to the amphitheater. The next band to play was Motorhead fronted by Lemmy Kilmister they set the bar high with Killed By Death, the trademark Ace Of Spades. The hard edged head thrashin set really got the crowd going as they put on a spectacular set. I've never seen Motorhead before so it was a real treat to watch them perform for the first time. The next band was Heaven and Hell, featuring Black Sabbath members in guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler vocalist Ronnie James Dio put on an absolutely astounding set playing classics like Children Of The Sea, Sign Of The Southern Cross and ending the their set with Neon Nights. I thought the final act of the night Judas Priest might in be a bit over their heads trying to follow Heaven and Hell, they certainly had their work cut out for them but they did not disappoint. Led by singer Rob Halford, Judas Priest kept the new songs to a minimum and relying on classics to win over the fist-pumping, head-banging crowd filling most of the venue. Songs like Hellbent for Leather, You've Got Another Thing Coming, Breaking The Law and finally Living after Midnight kept the crowd hoppin til the very end. My ears are now bleeding hopefully it will stop within a few day, a fantastic night, rock on dude.

Unexpected Guest At A Cancelled Party.

This album was released last summer and it is absolutely spectacular. To the left is a copy of the CD cover and a statement below by Gordon Depp - The lead singer and Guitarist for the Spoons...

"Searching for and finding these songs was like uncovering lost memories in some ancient, overgrown garden. Some had to be carefully restored from their neglected, corrupted state, not unlike faded photographs or cracked, moss covered statues. For some, it seemed, it was merely a matter of time before any hope of a second life would slip away all together. But with a bit of care, they were brought back to life and, as they did, the memories that surrounded the songs also came back into focus. Of innocent days in the early 1980s when we were at our creative best and songs came without effort, when they just happened out of the sheer pleasure of making music. If you push back the vines a little, you might see bits and pieces of songs that would make their way into other recordings. Unpremeditated Love and In The Hands Of Money show you their origins and, I think, are still more pure and musical. See if you can pick out the references to the Arias & Symphonies album, scattered all through 2,000 Years. The earliest compositions on this collection are Bending and the instrumental Young English Gentleman, the latter a tribute to our good friend and producer John Punter. Given the chance, I think newer songs like Love Drum and Love Can Be A Stranger could have had their day in the sun. But more than any, Spaces was probably buried the deepest, so much so that I didn't recognize it as our own when I first found it. So long had it been sleeping under the dead leaves. The instrumental section near the end is my favourite moment on the whole album.Most of these songs were recorded after Romantic Traffic and Tell No Lies, in a tiny, hidden away studio in Oakville, Ontario. We were about to embark on a whole new chapter in our musical lives that would leave these old ideas forgotten, to slowly weather over time and eventually fade into the earth. So, in a way, this album truly was almost never made. Fortunately, never is just a word." Gord Deppe May 2007

In the Winter of 1982 The Spoons hit the air waves with their first commercially successful single the song was Nova Heart. This would be the first of many singles to rush up the charts by this talented foursome...The single would be followed quickly by the album Arias & Symphonies which would help establish the Spoons as one of Canada premier New Wave bands. I don't know how many are old enough to remember but in 1982 Arias & Symphonies charted at number four in the CFNY top 100 album of that year...the top 5 were as follows...

1. Simple Minds - New Gold Dream

2. Duran Duran - Rio

3. Roxy Music - Avalon

4. The Spoons - Arias And Symphonies

5. ABC - Lexicon Of Love

For those who are interested in the entire list the link is here...http://www.spiritofradio.ca/Charts/CFNY-1982.pdf

"Spoons" were and still are Canada's greatest contribution to the New Wave movement. Under Ready Records, a small independent record label that sprung up in Toronto in the early 1980s. They cut a record, Stick Figure Neighbourhood followed by Arias & Symphonies, and started climbing the charts. Spoons were at one point courted by three major American record labels who wanted to distribute the band's music.

Most of the promises made to the group were broken by Ready and the record company soon lost interest, the promotional budget was scrapped also. In Sandy's words... "It was like we were in a straight line heading one way, and someone took the motor out and yanked us out. And then we're going 'and now what?' "

UnExpected Guest is a collection of previously un-released material. Some might think that because it was unreleased it's probably shit, but this is not the case. It is a fantastic album and a number of songs would likely of charted very well if the had been released. Three songs in particular "Unpremeditated Love", "2,000 Years", and "In The Hands Of Money" should be released as singles immediately as they are exceptionally well written.

The Entire album is as follows...

1. Love Drum 4:16

2. Show & Tell 3:33

3. Unpremeditated Love 3:47

4. 2,000 Years 4:21

5. World In Motion 4:16

6. Bending 3:32

7. Young English Gentleman 3:35

8. In The Hands Of Money 3:34

9. No Promises 4:39

10. Spaces 3:12

11. Love Can Be A Stranger 3:31

12. Ciao 1:34

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Humanity Hour 1- The Scorpions

Last year the Scorpions released a new album and I meant to comment on it but I just never found the time, but now I have, so here it is...It's been a long time since the Scorpion released a new album but it was well worth the wait. It's easy to see why many consider Klaus Meine to be one of the greatest Heavy Metal singers of all time. After more that thirty years he is still at the top of his game, and Humanity - Hour 1 is nothing short of spectacular. It's a slightly updated sound to what we're used to hearing but make no mistake, this is 100% pure Scorpions, no holds barred hard rockin roll. Like most of their earlier albums some power Ballads have been thrown in along with the Heavy stuff... The three songs that stand out are "Hour 1" which is on par with the classic heavy Scorpion material of the past and should easily top the charts all over the world, "321" which is my favorite song, easily makes my personal list of best Scorpions songs ever written, and "Humanity" which is a great power ballad that sounds more along the lines of traditional Scorpions style. Metal fans are going to love this album, it will satisfy the die hard older crowd and should also draw the younger fans as well because of updated modern metal sound that's prevalent throughout the album, especially noticeable in the guitar riffs. ...I don't think it has charted well in North America but that's primarily due to lack of record company support. In Europe it has done very well and even charted at number one in some countries. This is an excellent album and I strongly recommend it.