10-16-06

This Won't Be "Left Unsaid"

Killing some time between classes this week, I took a listen to one of my favorite, understated and rarely heard metal albums of the 1990's - Whiplash's Sit Stand Kneel Prey - Now a part of the offical Metal Archives, this review is the precursor to an upcoming interview with Warren Conditi (ex-Whiplash).

To be blunt - I never get tired of this album. I will put this out there before I go any further into this review that I became friends with Warren Conditi during the middle of last year, before I knew he was in the band Whiplash at one point. He recorded a few songs for a Megadeth Forums tribute and I was impressed with his playing and recording and we began talking and have been friends online since. So, you can say I'm biased towards this album but in all honesty if someone slapped the My Chemical Romance logo on this I would feel the same way about it.

I've been a fan of Metallica, GNR and bands of their ilk for years and basically stayed behind that shield of music I knew I liked... In fact, I hated bands like Megadeth and the Beatles for years, simply because I'd never heard their music... And that was the case here - at first the name gives the impression that "we're a Metallica tribute band! whooHOO!" but after hearing "Sit, Stand, Kneel, Prey" I'm forever a fan of this great band (but most particularly Conditi’s vocal style).

I find SSKP to be somewhat of a concept album - if you are unconvinced of this I submit the following for your approval:
• The entire album has somewhat of a rebellion against religion concept, from the beginning radio broadcasts to the album cover - this album most definitely deals with religion in some context, although not on all songs.
• After speaking to Warren at length on some of the aspects of the album, one of the most interesting things I found is that the radio broadcasts that appear in front of some of the songs weren't planned to be that way originally, but, like Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" album was the product of some (higher or lower?) divine intervention - During the recording sessions they began to pick up radio transmissions and left the tape running to pick it up - oddly enough, the things it picked up dealt with some of the subject matter of the album
• The title, although possibly tongue-in-cheek, is most definitely a condemnation of how religion governs some people's lives and allows them to become prey for the church itself

I'm not a proponent of anti-religion, nor am I a religious zealot, but I am a fan of whenever someone can talk about religion in music without it distracting from said music - The fact the music speaks about religion yet it's not ruled by that fact is one of the main reasons I gave this a perfect score. It's also why I hate Slayer (note to Slayer: you can only say Jesus was a cunt-rag so many times before it becomes repetitive...)

Musicially, this album isn't pigeon-holed like many of the early Whiplash albums - the addition of Conditi allowed the band to broaden their sound and do such songs as "Catharsis" and "Strangeface" (which any metal fan will tell you is "UNTR00!!!") but as a fan of all music I find that this fits well here and allows an interlude between heavy and heavier, sort of like cleansing the palate between courses in a meal.

As for the solos, it's refreshing to hear solos that aren't just a bunch of wankery - A professional will tell you that 2 notes in the right spot is more important than 27 notes in that same spot, if used properly.

In total, I feel Whiplash reached their peak with this album and the fact that it is still here to be listened to is a living testament to their greatness.

10-7-06

Holy Shit.

After this summer’s GNR fiasco (I’ll explain later), I’ve refrained from putting up any Guns’ material for fear of legal action but I think I should explain myself and maybe provide some insight to WTF happened…

The long and short of it is that my host received a cease and desist order from Greg Gabriel (representing GNR front man Axl Rose) regarding a DMCA violation. After having the new GNR songs up on my site for many months, I assumed I was doing the fans a favor by allowing them to hear the songs without being able to download them (the songs were not even at CD quality, just a pitiful 64 KB/S, for those wondering). But, alas, I was in the wrong and after the order was received my host did the necessary deed of removing the files from the site (as well as others, prompting a site-wide revamping).

So, here we are, how did it come to Axl Rose’s attorney’s attention that these songs were on a very, very, VERY small online entertainment website? I do all my own promotion (which isn’t much more than a few posts on the Megadeth forums and one other online forum) so I would only expect friends and family to visit – right? “Ex-obably” not…

I took a risk and “googled” my user name “LinkTGF” and came up with about 10 responses (which I figure is about normal, considering that a few of them were from my own site, a few from uncyclopedia, and a few from the small forums I visit… But I caught with my eyes the link to my site on a few forums… then I yahoo searched and got my website name on Blabbermouth.net, in an article about Axl Rose (actually, in one of the very first replies to the article – not bad at all for publicity…)

Well, in all fairness I suppose they caught me fair and square – well done Mr. Gabriel, and Mr. Rose… Well done… You took down an immediate threat to the completion of Chinese Democracy… *raises eyebrow*

- Adrian Ramirez

If you want to respond to this article, send an email to LinkTGF@yahoo.com with “LinkTGF” in the subject line

9-11-06

Beatallica - Yesterday and Today

Coming off their recent lineup change, the band Beatallica is just as furious as the day Jaymz made 'em. In my interview with the guys, they tell me how the past 5 years have been and what's keeping new Beatallica material from coming out.

Since hearing the first Beatallica "album", "A Garage Dayz Night", in 2001, I and many others have been diehard fans of this great band, and I've had the honor of asking the Beatallica boys a few burning questions (and a few silly, nonsensical ones too), so let's get to something I like to call:

15 Questions with Jaymz Lennfield and Ringo Larz of Beatallica

Which band were you a fan of first – The Beatles or Metallica?
Ringo - For me it was Metallica. and thats just more of a " when i was born'' type of thing. In my formative years it was mostly metal and "prog" stuff. It wasn't until around maybe 20 or 21 that The Beatles became a huge influence on me.
Jaymz - I'd say a bit of both. though i grew up listening to hard rock and heavy metal, my mom bought me the white album when i was like 11 or so. and she was a Johnny Mathis fan! what gives?!

So, w here did the idea to mash Metallica and Beatles come from?
Jaymz - Sort of from a happy accident and a warm 12 pack. seems like a lot of accidents happen that way... but really Krk and I never went into any sort of songwriting circle with the Beatallica concept in mind. it was simply developed from a few buds having fun with music. we're both fans of both bands and we also do plenty of songwriting, arranging, collaborating, etc. we found a challenge and found it fun. hopefully the tunes come off like that!

Did you start out playing live doing the standard Beatles songs and then one day decide to hear what it would sound like if Hetfield sung them or did it come about another way?
Jaymz - Oh no. it was always Beatallica, the mash-up band, from the start. characters and characterizations developed over time. i'd say they still are....

Has Lars or anyone else from either the Metallica or Beatles camp contacted you since then? (or Winger for that matter…)
Ringo - Lars has been in contact with us ( Jaymz in particular) and has been a very helpful hand for us regarding some issues that i really can't be too detailed with right now. Lets just say he is partly responsible for us still even being around, and partly responsible for some things that may be happening in the near future. As far as the Beatles camp, no calls from Paul, Ringo, or Yoko. Not yet anyway.

Has anything ever come of the Sony "lawsuit"?
Ringo - Just to clarify, it wasn't an actual lawsuit ( although the potential for that was there) it was a cease and desist order sent to our webmaster and our ISP. As of this point we have sort of friendly truce worked out to exist as a band but to be respectful to all parties involved. We dont want to wear out our welcome, so to speak.

But, is the threat of a lawsuit what is keeping any new Beatallica material from coming out?
Ringo - As of now, yes, that has been sort of reason why we have not been able to do certain things we would have liked to have been doing at this point. We dont want to upset the "powers that be" and ruin things for the future of the band, wether it be recording new material or performing live.
Jaymz - But as ringo mentioned earlier, we never had a lawsuit. fortunately, everyone involved was mature enough to hash things out in a decent way. but yes, we are minding our actions to continue to forge a good relationship with all parties involved. everyone, even us, has to show an effort, ya know?...

If any new material does come out, what songs will you likely tackle?
Jaymz - We do new tunes live and we'd expect some of those to make any future release. some more popular new ones are "i saw her thrashing there", "helvester of skelter", "revol-OOH-tion"....

McCartney-sung songs seem to have been the basis for many Beatallica songs, any plans to do more Lennon-sung, or even Ringo-sung songs?
Ringo - I dont think any Beatles song is untouchable in that regard for us. If the song lends itself to be modified and it works musically, then we will go with it. Can anyone say, "run for your life"
Jaymz - If ringo did a tune, the chicks would think he's so damn dreamy....

How do you normally choose songs to do? Do you look at lyrics first or do you look at the music first?
Jaymz - I'm a lyric guy first, i guess. always have been. but since the grooves and rhythms are so important in this band, there are songs that have developed based on music first. we have plenty "on the stove" just waiting to be served up. but you just can't throw anything together and call it dinner. if you don't have a reason, seamless transitions, and a seemingly effortless presentation, then the song isn't ready. things definately shouldn't sound forced.
Ringo - There is no formula or ''one way '' we put the songs together. Some songs have titles or words that are begging to be defiled by us. Like " blackened the ussr '' for example. Other songs have parts of riffs or whatever that are just so well written that they work well even when played in a totally different context. An example of that would be our version of the Beatles ''for no one" which is "for horseman" It really comes done to what works well musically.

Has the idea to mix one full Beatles album with one full Metallica album ever come up?
Jaymz - Not at all. to complete a concept like that and instantly create boundaries would be completely falling into traps as we talked about earlier. a songwriter needs to let a song develop itself to some extent. in the end, the songs are the masters and the writers are the puppets anyway. we would never put Beatallica into a box like that as we feel it would limit the creative process.

When did Jaymz first realize he could do a very convincing Hetfield impression?
Jaymz - Don't know, really. i guess that's a question for the listeners of Beatallica more than me. to be honest, i feel my performance on "Garage Dayz Nite" is average. one of my personal goals is to better any song we re-record some day, hopefully, by giving much better and more consistent vocal parts. a voice grows with time. it also changes with time. just look at Hetfield himself. the vocals are always something i'm working at, let alone my guitar playing....

Just curious, what was the inspiration for the “Black is my Misfits shirt” line in “And I’m Evil”?
Jaymz - It's in my closet...a "wolf's blood" shirt in tatters but still treasured.

Stupid question: Who is the female voice at the end of “Leper Madonna”?
Ringo - Well, the song is called ''leper MADONNA" [ed note: NOW it all makes sense!]. Its amazing what a good producer can do with a little digital editing.
Jaymz - Our engineer, Flemball Rasmartin, came up with that one. we didn't know it was coming til we heard the final mix!

At your concerts, is the audience mostly Metallica fans, Beatles fans or somewhere in between?
Ringo - It seems to be weighing towards the metallica side, although we do have our fair share of beatles fans. I think in general, ours fans seem to be people who just love music, no matter what genre. those are the people that really get it.

For fun, do you guys ever play unaltered Metallica or Beatles songs live?
Ringo - No we don't do that live. we definitely stick to the mash-ups. to play straight covers would be going against the point of the project. i think the mash-ups provide enough fun for us anyway.
Jaymz - Wouldn't you just rather go see Metallica? i would. now if we could get Lars Ulrich to bust out "...And Justice for All My Loving" some night, then you'd really have something to talk about....!

Mega-thanks to Larz and Jaymz from Beatallica for being such wonderful human beings and answering such stupid questions - Maybe one day in the future they can grant me the privilege of interviewing them again and I promise I won't make as much of an ass of myself again :-)

To hear Beatallica's music, download the torrents for "A Garage Dayz Night" and "Beatallica" here or check out their download page to find more free goodies. Don't forget to shoot the guys an email if you enjoyed this interview!