Episode 11: Cinderella

Cinderella was one of those bands who certainly looked like some of the other glam rock acts of the '80s, but had a sound that never totally fit that mold.

Cinderella's first album Night Songs was the most "metal" of all of their albums. It can certainly be categorized in the hair metal/glam metal category. But starting with their second album Long Cold Winter, the bluesier side of the band started progressively shining through, and by the time they got to 1990's Heartbreak Station, they were more of a blues rock band than anything else. I wasn't particularly a fan of those later efforts, but Night Songs is still one of the best albums to come out of the 1980s.

Looking back at my concert ticket stubs, I have two Cinderella tickets. The first is from the 1989 Long Cold Winter tour, which also featured Winger and Bulletboys. The second is from Poison's 2002 Hollywierd tour, whcih Feratured Cinderella, Faster Pussaycat and Winger. Both shows were amazing, and Cinderella is still one of the best live bands I've seen.

Tonight we look back at six videos, two from each of cinderella's first three albums, dating from 1986-1990.

Save Me


Nobody's Fool


Gypsy Road


Coming Home


Heartbreak Station


The More Things Change


BONUS: Here is an interview conducted last year with singer Tom Keifer, in which he talks a bit about his background, as well as the new solo album he put out, called The Way Life Goes. NOTE: There are some f-bombs in this interview, so you might want to watch it without the kiddies.



Tune in next Sunday night at 8PM EST on Twitter (twitter.com/seebrianwrite) for another episode of Sunday Night Videos, and right here on the blog for the episode notes, which will go up shortly after 9PM EST. You can tweet me recommendations or get in on the discussion every Sunday night by using the hashtag #SundayNightVideos. Rock on!

Episode 10: Queensryche

I was two months shy of my fourteenth birthday when Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime album exploded on the mainstream metal scene and made them a household name. And like a lot of metal fans, I went digging into their back catalog to find out more about this well-oiled amchine of a abnd band with a singer who could shatter glass. What I found was a band that was truly unique, who defied being put into any one label, be it hard rock, prog, or straight up metal.

From their 1983 demo EP up through their fourth full studio album Empire (which sold over 3 million copies in the U.S. alone), it seemed almost impossible for Queensryche to put our a bad song. But while some of their subsequent albums were successful (some extremely so), in my mind the quality of their music steadily declined after Empire, and Queesnryche fell of my radar. Until 2012, that is.

When I read in 2012 that Queensryche and singer Geoff Tate had split, and the bulk of the old band was continuing with a new singer, I was at least interested enough to investigate further. Like everyone else, I just assumed Queensryche would be nothing without Geoff Tate, and no vocalist would ever be able to fill his shoes. And like everyone else, I was dead wrong.

New frontman Todd La Torre is not only an adequate replacement for Tate, at this stage of his career he may even be a better vocalist. This new version of Queensryche released a self-titled album in 2013 that proved a return to The Warning and Rage for Order era sound, and hit #23 on the Billboard 200 chart. Despite the messy legal situation that currently sees two versions of Queensryche fighting over the band's name, the future for the La Torre-fronted version seems very bright.

Tonight, we look back at some of the best songs off of Queensryche's debut EP and first four albums.

Queen of the Reich


Take Hold of the flams (Live)


Walk in the Shadows (Live)


Revolution Calling


Speak


Empire



BONUS #1: For those who have yet to hear Todd La Torre and don't think he can hit the notes from the early Queensryche songs, I give you a 2012 video of La Torre singing "Queen of the Reich."



BONUS #2: And here is a song off of the 2013 self-titled album that the Todd La Torre-fronted version of Queensryche put out.

Tune in next Sunday night at 8PM EST on Twitter (twitter.com/seebrianwrite) for another episode of Sunday Night Videos, and right here on the blog for the episode notes, which will go up shortly after 9PM EST. You can tweet me recommendations or get in on the discussion every Sunday night by using the hashtag #SundayNightVideos. Rock on!

Episode 9: W.A.S.P.

One of the original acts on the PMRC's "Filthy Fifteen," few bands captured the shock, glam, sex and booze aspects of '80s rock like W.A.S.P. The band started in 1982, and  infamous frontman Blackie Lawless is the only founding member who's still a there today. W.A.S.P. was mainly known for their outrageous live stage shows and their sex-infused lyrics, but Blackie Lawless is an amazing musician, which I always felt got overlooked because of their act.

My first W.A.S.P. album was 1987's Live...In the Raw. I'd sought it out after seeing the video for "Scream Until You Like It," which was featured in the B-horror movie Ghoulies II. The cover of that album, and the prominent Parental Advisory sticker on the front were an instant draw for me. I'd seen W.A.S.P.'s early videos so I knew who they were, but Live...In the Raw made me a huge fan.

W.A.S.P. was a band that covered a lot of songs from other artists as well, from Ray Charles to The Who. They usually did a great job of it too, as evidenced by their hits "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "The Real Me." Lawless had a knack for putting his own spin on those songs to the point where they sounded like they could be proper W.A.S.P. songs.

W.A.S.P.'s sound really started to evolve with 1989's The Headless Children, and my interest in them started to wane, until I jumped back in with 2002's Dying for the World. W.A.S.P.'s first four albums, as well as the fantastic Live...In the Raw still hold up today as great rock/metal albums.

Of course, no discussion of W.A.S.P. would be complete without asking what the letters in their name stand for. Blackie Lawless has always been evasive around the question, preferring the element of mystery that the band's name evokes. The prevailing theory is "We Are Sexual Perverts," and the original US release of the album allegedly had those words around the logo on the cover.

In tonight's Sunday Night Videos, we're looking back at five of W.A.S.P.'s video from those early albums.

I Wanna Be Somebody


L.O.V.E. Machine


Wild Child


Blind in Texas


The Real Me



BONUS #1:
In 1987, W.A.S.P. released Live...In the Raw. In addition to the live songs, the band recorded a new studio single for the horror movie Ghoulies II, called Scream Until You Like It. The video actually features the titular creatures from the movie. If you've never seen the Ghoulies movies, they are worth watching if you're a fan of Puppet Master or Critters. After the video, you can see a trailer for Ghoulies II.

Scream Until You Like It


Ghoulies II Trailer



BONUS #2:
This is a fascinating interview with Blackie Lawless from 1986, right after the release of W.A.S.P.'s second album, The Last Command. Blackie actually says some pretty prophetic things about the rise and fall of metal, and he also explains the origins of their crazy stage show in their early days. Great stuff.




BONUS #3:
Sadly, one of the things W.A.S.P is most famous for is the interview with guitarist Chris Holmes that was featured in Penelope Spheeris' The Decline of Western civilization Part II: The Metal Years. Holmes is completely obliterated and is floating, fully clothed, in a pool lounger. The worst part is that his mom is present during the interview. Spheeris tries to get at what some of the issues behind his drinking might be, but Holmes is so incoherent, she doesn't really get anywhere. You can watch the scene from the movie below.



Tune in next Sunday night at 8PM EST on Twitter (twitter.com/seebrianwrite) for another episode of Sunday Night Videos, and right here on the blog for the episode notes, which will go up shortly after 9PM EST. You can tweet me recommendations or get in on the discussion every Sunday night by using the hashtag #SundayNightVideos. Rock on!