Bad English ~ Bad English (aka debut) (album review) ... Crafting AOR is the name of the smile!

Style: pop rock, hard rock, AOR
Label: Epic
Year: 1989
Home: Los Angeles, California

Members: John Waite ~ lead vocals
Neal Schon ~ guitars/b. vocals
Jonathan Cain ~ keyboards/rhythm guitar/b. vocals
Ricky Phillips ~ bass/b. vocals
Deen Castronovo ~ drums/b. vocals

Bad English's self-titled debut opens with a soaring guitar that lets you know this is not going to be anything but top notch playing & of the same quality that folks have come to expect from the involved players. The players being a reunion of three members of the Babys, or more particularly the keyboardist of the recently disbanded Journey who had composed "Don't Stop Believin'"; his bandmate guitarist, whose resume also included Santana; the vocalist who had the number one solo hit "Missing You"; the bassist of the Babys, who would find more name recognition post-Bad English with Styx & Coverdale/Page; & finally the drummer of Jason Becker & Marty Friedman's Cacophony, who would go on to join the reunited Journey, Geezer Butler's GZR & appear on Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzmosis. Supergroup is a legit description for Bad English considering its past & future. The album would smash the Hot 100 charts with the number one hit "When I See You Smile", giving a legacy to Bad English that would last to this day. Its such a great song decades later its likely there's many listeners who don't know they've heard all the members in other outings. Yet, for all the skills of the players, this was not a hard rock fest or fist waver, but a collection of AOR ultra power ballads & some well crafted groin shaking hair metal. Crafting radio friendly songs is the name of the game. The melody out front. The guitars in the back, though when allowed to come forward they soar like a bird. The vocals don't try to break glass with impossible notes. The keyboards are a strong element. The rhythms get you moving & might best be experienced in the bedroom, not on the dance floor. In some ways, Bad English was typical of the era. The sound of this album can be heard elsewhere, from Firehouse's "Every Time I Look At You", & most of their debut album actually, to the Damn Yankees who upped the ante for a more bombastic approach. Yet, the songs also feel somewhat timeless, as good today as when they debuted. They don't make music like this anymore. Bad English did power ballads the way so many of us dearly miss. The songs hit fast & in the right place. They didn't break any molds & are full of musical & lyrical cliches, while this is no masterpiece, but it hits you in just the right place so you walk away feeling good. Of the 13 songs here, there's a couple that could be left off. "Ready When You Are" is absolute uncreative filler next to its brothers. "Best Of What I Got" has some cringy lines that could have been left on the cutting room floor saving this track. Robert Palmer came to mind listening to this, but not in a good way. "Like a locomotive burning down the track / you're my destination ... Put my key inside your door / feels so good. / When I come home at night gonna rock in the neighborhood" Neal Schon's guitar sorta saves the day, who really doesn't play anything bad on the album & is one of strengths making this worth a visit. "Heaven Is A 4 Letter Word" actually sounds so much like what Damn Yankees were trying to do that you're waiting for Uncle Ted to appear to send it over the top. He obviously doesn't, but its hard to say if that's a good or bad thing. Aside from those bumps there's "Price Of Love" which sounds so much like all the overly dramatic power ballads of the era, but its hard not to enjoy it just the same. "Forget Me Not" has ironically been forgotten, but is a standout due to its slow sly opening, sounding a bit like early Phil Collins era Genesis. The song rolls out with a lot of attitude over a hypnotic groove, though the lyrics almost feel like they're talking about stalking instead of romance. "Rockin' Horse" lives up to its name with a rollicking rhythm. "The Restless Ones" you'll immediately recognize, but is one of those songs you might have forgotten about. Just as good as "When I See You Smile". Speaking of which, if you don't start singing when "When I See You Smile" starts playing, please post in the comments below. I want to know what ails you.

Geezer ~ Black Science (album review) ... Oh Elvis do you love me?

Style: heavy metal
Label: TVT Music
Year: 1997
Home: Britain

Members: Geezer Butler ~ bass/keyboards
Pedro Howse ~ guitar
Clark Brown ~ vocals
Deen Castronovo ~ drums

In the metal world & maybe rock in general, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath is as iconic as you can get when it comes to bass players. There's players who are faster, fancier & funkier but Butler was setting a standard & rhythmic feeling while those who would prove to be potentially better were still in their britches. I personally call him my number one bass mentor. It's a lesser known fact that he wrote many of the lyrics to the Ozzy era hits, every one a much beloved metal classic & inspiration to metal musicians eternal. But, this doesn't mean a solo album is going to be good. Many musicians have gone out on their own with poor showings, if nothing else showing their limitations, though just as many have gone out to nothing but overwhelming praise, while some get faces filled with curiosity. Black Sabbath set the bar for metal & nobody, not even later line-ups or the reunion of the original, has been able to duplicate the early Black Sabbath feeling & albums. There's variations & competition but no duplication. Thankfully, maybe surprisingly or maybe not, Butler doesn't even try to duplicate his past successes with the second album from his solo band Geezer. 1997's Black Science with Geezer was two years following Plastic Planet, under the name G/Z/R with the same band but different vocalist. Ohmwork would be the, so far, final Butler solo album coming much later in 2005 with the same line-up as Black Science but now with Red Hot Chili Peppers/Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith & going by the name GZR. None of the albums got gloriously overwhelming reviews but listening years later they've all held up extremely well with a timeless quality, something that can't be said for a lot of metal albums, with middle child Black Science probably being the best overall representation of the Butler solo efforts. They may not be heralded as legendary albums but they are better than a lot of what Butler's old band was producing around the same time in his absence & with rotating vocalists. Speaking of Sabbath ... Geezer follows the same moody & dark feeling, but it's not the drugged out dark of the Ozzy years. Some might call the arrangement style closer to the Dio years, but without Dio's fantasy lyrics. At the same time the band sounds more influenced by metal that was on the scene in 1997 than 1977. Kicking off with "Man In The Suitcase" one might think of Soundgarden with the sludgy detuned guitars. Sabbath was detuned but not sludgy. While "Justified" could be pulled from Metallica's repertoire. It's as if Butler inspired a generation & now is letting his students inspire him. It's an interesting approach that won't disappoint. But, there's two weaknesses to the album. The first is the layered guitars that drown out Butler's bass playing. Further, Butler has a particularly identifiable rhythmic quality, the bass players reading will understand, but the sludgy almost atmospheric guitars don't give themselves to galloping rhythms without a bit of tension & de-emphasizing of the bass. I can't help but think of the solo work of John Entwistle of the Who in comparison who aimed for dark sounds but wasn't drowned out in his own creation. The other downfall is that Clark Brown is a competent but not overly amazing vocalist. He doesn't have any particularly unique vocal tone or phrasing to bring to the album, which on some songs (i.e. "Area Code 51") becomes more obvious than at other times with a habit of quasi-growling. He sounds too much like too many of his contemporaries, which brings the album in line with the metal scene at the time but also doesn't help to distinguish Geezer. There's also some interesting inclusions in that Geezer includes a electronic element in the drums occasionally, so there's no doubt Butler is trying stay on top of current trends. The resulting industrial experiments aren't bad but Marilyn Manson so set the standard for this approach that it's hard not to compare, though Manson is far more dense. It's easy to forget that there's lots of experimental songs on the early Ozzy-era Black Sabbath albums ... which tend to be forgotten. Butler is no stranger to experimenting but we've become strangers to his experiments. Two interesting lyrical inclusions that merit mention are the songs "Among the Cybermen", a reference to evil cybernetic aliens on BBC TV's Doctor Who, & "Unspeakable Elvis" with its odd chorus "oh Elvis do you love me/oh evil Elvis Aaron Presley" ... supposedly, the album was inspired by Butler's childhood, though its not so obvious until these creepy yet playful un-Black Sabbath moments.

Black Sabbath ~ Heaven & Hell (album review) ... 2 sides of the same coin!

Style: heavy metal, hard rock
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1980
Home: England

Members: Geezer Butler ~ bass
Ronnie James Dio ~ vocals
Tony Iommi ~ guitar
Geoff Nicholls ~ keyboards
Bill Ward ~ drums, backing vocals

Few bands have replaced a key member, changed songwriters, updated their sound & found just as much success, particularly bands as musically influential in creating a genre, as Black Sabbath did in 1981 when they brought in horn waving elf Ronnie James Dio fresh out of Richie Blackmore's Rainbow. Dio took not just the vocal spot from iconic Ozzy Osbourne but also the writing spot from bassist Geezer Butler & helped moved the band away from being a gloomy blues based drug band to heavy 80's rockers reaching out to a new generation of fans as hair metal hit the airwaves. Many decried the plethora of changes, though in hindsight many may have forgotten that this reinvention came after Sabbath was on the decline. Heaven & Hell, the first of four outings from the new line-up, isn't strung with classic song after classic song like the 1970 legacy-making Paranoid, but it did contribute fan favorites "Neon Knights", "Children Of The Sea" the title track ... that are just as good as anything that came before & working hard to disprove the fans that said there was no Sabbath without Ozzy. The experimental nature of the later Ozzy albums, a weak point of contention for many fans, was largely retired for a more commercialized sound, while the drug & mysticism lyrics gave way to medieval imagery. It's easy to ignore the albums between Paranoid & Heaven & Hell & forget that this is actually a predictable steady progression of the band, it just came to fruition earlier than expected with Dio's arrival. It's really not a surprising change, nor by far a negative one & definitely reads more drastic than it really is. Tony Iommi's trademark de-tuned guitar lines remain slow & heavy with Geezer Butler's bass still slogging away ... a simplicity that would be lost in future heavy metal that came to believe guitars had to be fast & distorted to be heavy. Iommi plays like a big slow gorilla not a fast colorful tiger. While the lyrical move isn't really that big of a change as its more like two sides of the same coin. Decrying social ills remains a regular theme, with the step from witchcraft to medieval mysticism beyond distant cousins & both lending themselves to visual lyrics. The band couldn't have found a better writer without hurting the band, as would be shown by the weak material that followed after the departure of Dio & Geezer. Further, honestly, Dio is probably the better singer than Ozzy ever was or is. Ozzy has an instantly recognizable voice & style but he essentially just shouts, grunts & vocalizes with none of the range or control of Dio & if it wasn't for some great songs, both with Sabbath & in his solo career, one can only wonder if he'd be so popular as his vocals often sound sloppy. Dio & the boys proved to be a rocky partnership that produced The Mob Rules before collapsing & Dio forming his own band with replacement Sabbath drummer Appice, while successive Sabbath singers found the band at its lowest point, but a shadow of itself with only Iommi as a constant presence. The Dio era, as its called, was the light before the dark. Dio returned to the fold a decade later to produce Dehumanizer, again to see things crumble & eventually lead to a Ozzy reunion that produced only a live album & two weak studio tracks. Dio united again with the band under the moniker Heaven & Hell, making a strong case for the skeptics that still preferred Ozzy let alone that Sabbath was dead, with the powerfully dark The Devil You Know before his unexpected death in 2010. Of the four Dio era Sabbath albums, two are great, two are okay. But, the great ones are good enough to have divided the Sabbath camp into Dio fans vs. Ozzy fans. It's really two different bands. I saw Heaven & Hell/Black Sabbath in concert & didn't mind in the least that not a single Ozzy song was played. They weren't missed.

Ozzy Osbourne ~ The Ozzman Cometh (hits comp) (album review) ... Open the door & let the Prince of Darkness in!

Style: compilation, greatest hits, heavy metal
Label: Epic
Year: 1997
Home: England

Musicians: Ozzy Osbourne ~ vocals
Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee ~ guitar
Rudy Sarzo, Bob Daisley, Phil Soussan, Mike Inez, Geezer Butler, Robert Trujillo ~ bass
Lee Kerslake, Tommy Aldridge, Randy Castillo, Deen Castronovo, Mike Bordin ~ drums
Johnny Cook, Don Airey, Mike Moran, John Sinclair, Kevin Jones, Rick Wakeman ~ keyboards

The demos of "Black Sabbath" & "War Pigs," followed by: "Goodbye To Romance," "Crazy Train," "Mr. Crowley," "Over The Mountain," a live version of "Paranoid," "Bark At The Moon," "Shot In The Dark," "Crazy Babies," "No More Tears," "Mama, I'm Coming Home," a live version of "I Don't Want To Change The World," "I Just Want You" & "Back On Earth" with a bonus disc that includes an artist interview & basement tape recordings of "Fairies Wear Boots" & "Behind The Wall Of Sleep." Need I say more? If you know these songs you know how good this greatest hits album is. If you don't know the songs then you're obviously not a metalhead & here's the CD to start your metal path on. & if you only know Ozzy from his clown role on tv then you don't know Ozzy. These are the songs that have made him the Prince of Darkness. There's a few hits that aren't on this compilation, such as "Flying High Again," "Close Your Eyes Forever" with Lita Ford & "Miracle Man," but that would almost be splitting hairs & just complaining for the sake of it because what here is the best of the best for the casual fan wanting a taste of a musical god not a hard-core collector. If you don't like Ozzy after listening to this ... give up now cause you're never going to like him. Further, you're not worthy to be called a metalhead. Ozzy has more certifiable hits, dare I say metal classics even, than most of his solo musician contemporaries who have been around just as long & that's excluding his Black Sabbath catalog. I dare anyone to challenge this assertion. What's more amazing is that this package starts with his solo debut Blizzard Of Ozz from 1980 & ends in 1995 with Ozzmosis, thus excluding the great albums he's made since is chock full of more amazing metal. Most musicians would die just to have half of this collection to their name. Actually, the fact that this album includes 4 Black Sabbath songs, probably the idea of the sales department knowing that many of us would already have all these songs on their original releases, are sprinkle on an already perfect tasting cake & I'm saying this as a Black Sabbath fan too whose eyes pop out at the words demo version. Actually, honestly, the demo tracks with their poor production actually hurt the album as they are not reflective either of the other songs or Ozzy's solo career, particularly since they open it & take nearly 18 minutes to get through. But, But, what I particularly like about this collection is that it goes in chronological order so you clearly hear the progression of the Ozzy sound which is interesting in itself. Though, note, this album was reissued in 2002 as a single disc with "Shot In The Dark" replaced by "Miracle Man" & the 1980-81 songs have their rhythm section re-recorded by Ozzy's 2002 line-up due to unpaid royalties legal action. A sad footnote. But, anyways, I'm looking forward to Vol. II in another 20 years. Ozzy forever!

Ozzy Osbourne ~ Just Say Ozzy (live) (EP) (album review) ... A strange affair for the Prince of Darkness!

(Click on heading to visit official website.)
Style: heavy metal, live
Label: Epic
Year: 1990
Home: England

Members: Ozzy Osbourne ~ vocals
Zakk Wylde ~ guitar
Geezer Butler ~ bass
Randy Castillo ~ drums
John Sinclair ~ keyboards

 

I've always found Ozzy live a bit of a messy affair compared to the perfection of the studio, something particularly encouraged by the blistering guitar of Wylde who to me always overplayed what to me are often simple riffs. The best part of this EP are the Black Sabbath tracks 'War Pigs' & 'Sweet Leaf' - featuring Sabbath bassist Geezer, no less, who I frequently tout as my bass playing idol - but both come at the end of 2 hits ('Miracle Man', 'Shot In The Dark') & 2 fillers ('Bloodbath in Paradise,' 'Tatooed Dancer') from No Rest For The Wicked album. This is a strange collection as it seems to have many roles it plays. At the time, according to the liner notes by Ozzy, it was the idea of the record company ... so, obviously the album was about taking further economic advantage of the current tour, which advertised the fact that it featured 1/2 of Black Sabbath. In hindsight, this concert is more a historical record featuring the last time Ozzy & Geezer would play together on tour before the Sabbath reunions while featuring the first of many tours with Zakk Wylde, who brought new life to Ozzy's dotted post-Randy Rhoads career. Also according to the linear notes this live version of 'Shot In The Dark' Ozzy prefers over the original studio version. Does he still believe that? Also, like many famous live albums, it should be noted that some parts were re-recorded in the studio afterwards. At one point in the first track Ozzy yells "Go crazy tonight." That's pretty much what they do on this show. So, this might be a great concert or it might be a historical piece depending on your point of view. The band drives ahead full-force & everyone is in prime form, though a 1/3 of the material may not be everyone's choice & the album too short by many fans standards