SAMPLE 10: Black Tide's Light From Above

Them Magic City kids can absolutely deliver.

I must say, it ain't that frustrating after all, quittin' on the bood tube..etc etc.

But it was cool 'accidentally' seeing the final American Idol episode, with Bret Michaels finally back and rockin hard!

But look at what dwellin' in my man-cave tablet has gotten me into. I discovered Black Tide! A tad too late for some metalhead who's been out hunting for some real music as of late, I know. But pardon me, I've been lookin' at the other direction, re-exploring the Hard Rock side of the word 'heavy'. That's what I do whenever I feel jaded about evil stuff, the Devil's Third, camo shorts and unkempt hair- i switch back to fun rock n roll! 

These past few weeks got me takin' a crack at the few hard rock items I had been waiting for, and it has been a long wait since the last output from Airbourne. Yet I still have this yearning to dig up quite some more after one spinning of No Guts, No Glory. True I can't go anywhere near as'judging' it, and I won't. It's just that everything sounded too simple and basic from start to finish..

 

So forward I went on to catch up on some of the more complex rock that's been out there for a while but I haven't checked out yet. I can give this self-titled one from Black Water Rising additional stars, maybe, after a couple more times I sit around with it. But I guess it's my longing for raw energy, power or chi..or whatever you wanna call it, that seems to never dwindle down.





Thank heaven for the parents who created Black Tide.

More than a million hits on You Tube and I might still be playing John Corabi-era Motley Crue when all of these are happening! 

My ultimate memory of kids playing real heavy music was that of Death Angel's video from way before when they were just starting out. Andy Galeon was14 years old at the time and he ripped skins not thinking that his arm may only be as thick as those Vic Firths that we have today. I was blown away. Completely.


Had I seen that before the upper echelons of the music business decided they would cash in on Silverchair ( and eventually Hanson, Moffats..  apologies all you alternagrunge lovers but I see no difference in them all ), it might have been a less boring time for me during the early 90's. I could imagine just how many people I would have debated that those kids aren't the be-all and end-all of teenage musicianship.

Well, we got a new breed here. 

Totally stoked. From first to the last track, Light From Above is full-on high velocity old school metal! It's been a long time since I had last gotten my hands on one album where I just kept on clicking 5 star ratings,  track after track, in my iTunes Library.

Sure enough everything is so ProTools these days, and I see where the skeptics are coming from. But we can always check with live footage. Try that one onJimmy Kimmel Live. Man, do they deliver! Only complain on them live was the singing, which seemed to be low-pitched already. But I can't whine any much further about someone who's not even old enough to buy liquor and play really technical stuff!  

Also, don't crucify this author for branding them heavy metal, I must admit I was thinking sleaze rock when I first heard them. Some had even gone as far as '..sounds like Guns N Roses' in their reviews. But I'll pass on that. It's the riff-driven definition of 80's metal (virtually forgotten these days) that really grabs the music of this band if you listen more closely. Not so textbook on their part however, which means it can also be dubbed... FRESH. Heck, I don't even know how to explain the possibility of that. All I know is I fear maybe someday they will 'mature' musically, and experiment too far. But that's stating ahead of everything, might as well have fun with what they have to offer at the moment. 

This album is killer. I can't even find the words. I may be old school, but I have always believed that this same formula of heavy music is what we all true fans battle to push forth to the next century. If this can't be labeled as carrying the torch, I don't know what else can.

etc etc.. insert tracklist

SAMPLE 9: GnR Family Tree

I'm a big GnR nut always at the ready for my fix, but I called in sick on the last fanclub circle and entirely missed this piece of news here.

Guns N' Roses Family Tree

released on the Argentina record label Music Brokers Arg., May 2010.

If you are all too familiar with long-standing bands which have become somewhat like 'revolving doors' for different members, you might have ended up going to forums and sites trying to see who's the bassist, guitarist, or even singer for a particular point in a band's career. Say you've got numerous Whitesnake albums, and you have been impressed with the second lead guitar solo of this one song, but dunno of it's Doug Aldrich or Vivian Campbell who's playing (Doug has become some sort of replacement for every band Vivian has ever been to that he almost kind of replicated the 'delivery' of the latter), then you end up tracing the band's 'Family Tree'.

They're scattered all over the internet, those Family Trees. Whitesnake, DiO, Def Leppard and even to some degree, yes, Guns N' Roses. Not that they have really been a 'revolving door' band for the better part of their career, but some crazy fans just kept on documenting its members and session musicians off of their Sunset Strip days up to the present Entropy of a line-up. You might not all be willing to agree that the current line-up is still GnR, but great band they may be, I, as well, belong to the camp which prefer them better left as "Axl & Friends". 


As I have originally intended to write this online resource for friends who have stopped researching on new material, I found the urge to write this and inform them of this 'must-download' stuff. Problem though, is that if you're probably one of them GnR die-hard fans with too much time on your hands, you must have amassed enough mp3's of your heroes that you may find nothing new in here.. 


Save for, maybe, the original studio version of Nice Boys. 


Nonetheless, I reluctantly loaded my iPod with this double album and duplicated some of my other files in the process. I noticed I already have some of the tracks from my Roots of Guns N Roses - Gilby Clarke and Fred Coury re-mastered, L.A. Guns studio recordings, Tribute to Aerosmith..etc..


But I'm having mighty grand time comparing the quality of those same tracks. My eardrums may be  all too hammered but I figured right off the bat that the ones from this Family Tree compilation seem to have been quality mastered before distribution. I may just as well end up saving the tracks from this record instead.


Tracklist follows: 

SAMPLE 9: The Last Vegas

The Last Vegas - it's been forever trying to write about this band and their record Whatever Gets You Off. It has taken so long because I can't embed the video of their single! Blame ElevenSevenMusic for that.

This is THE post, if you will. I'm finally admitting, not without a trickle of courage, that I SO dig  Glam Rock. Or Glam Metal, Hollywood Rock, 80's metal, Sleaze Rock, Spandex Rock. Choose how you label this genre of unforgivable looks, there's some good music involved, that's for sure.

I've always bantered on myself that I'm a half-thrash metal, half-hard rock type of person. That's because I really can't seem to slice up where the boundaries lie...

I'd say if it were to be based on personality and just that alone, I'm one notch more of a hard rock guy.

Notwithstanding the abovementioned split personality psycho babble, blastin my speakers with tracks from Whatever Gets You Off made me think how much of a Glam fan I am. And I figured that's because it's the one sub-genre of this very wonderful umbrella of heavy music that makes me such a teen forever. Whether I'm thrash or hard rock doesn't seem to matter anymore. I will always be this kid who will never outgrow, despite the silly looks and moves, my love for Poison, Ratt and Bang Tango. There's just so much fun to miss!

       

That's it, Whatever Gets You Off is a fun record in general. Though I can't say the 'fun' part is still stuck in the eighties. The Last Vegas, in spite of being a Nikki Sixx 'gem' has kind of re-modeled themselves into this one big dirty ball of sleaze rockers playing some serious abrasive type of rock n roll. Yes it's still rock n roll to my ears, and I believe to yours too, if you listen more seriously. The one thing that drags them to the metal category, in my opinion, is their use of heavy and modern distortion. But then if you briefly shove those effects aside, you'll be cleared to an underside of boogie-based rhythm chords and lots and lots of Rolling Stones type of swagger.

Get this album now whether you relate to all my sentiments or not. As for how I manage playing this record, I have given two stars for each and every song since I can play the album in its entirety. There's not one lifeless piece in here, and the first track of the same title sure gets me off I just might crown it my five stars. 

In Whatever Gets You Off, the way in which the end of the chorus jumps right back at (yes, at, not to..just like a cat) the next verse is so insane in its execution! It's like hitting something with a baseball bat and just totally forgetting about it as you resume playing guitar! 

Now since there's just no embedding that official vid, and I can't even download it to upload back here in blogger's crappy player, do check out HERE!. Trust me, you will surely bookmark that one.

SAMPLE 8: Ozzy Osbourne's Scream

Congratulations to me, I have now ceased giving you heads-ups on upcoming albums that totally stoke me out. I reckon its better that I keep my mouth shut til I get to listen to new stuff. Only then I suppose it is apt to speak to you about how my metal guts are responding to such record, rather than not get back to you after saying my hear ye's!   Apologies for that..

I've come victorious now, you may be clued-up there's a whole lotta new stuff that's gonna rain down on us- and I'm holdin my horses. That is not to say though that I have reserved my keenness on Ozzy's new album Scream, in all honesty I wasn't really mighty stirred up about that. For one, I was quite disappointed with Ozzy's recent record Black Rain. I found almost all tracks dull, save for I Don't Wanna Stop, even if that song too is too much of a 'template' in the Ozzy/Zakk sense. Next, I knew this new record was going to be a stand-off between Zakk Wylde and Gus G. And I hate measurin' up guitarists from a technical standpoint. Nevertheless, any 'review' of this album renders the impossibility of not pitting those two guitarists against each other. So I'll stick to their styles, not the techniques, if that is where this leads to.

I like Zakk, you may have noticed that before. But the reason I got tired of Ozzy was Zakk as well. I love Pride & Glory, BLS and Live in Budokan, but succeeding Ozzy albums started sounding like BLS. It has gotten a little too old with Zakk's redundancy of vibratos and pinch harmonics on almost every single riff. In the end, it would be the reason of Ozzy's letting go of Zakk (which he would later recant in his Guitar World interview that Zakk's alcoholism was the main concern).


One more reason why I could not care more about this new record, (besides having the most lame album title any established heavy musician can come up with),  was how the Prince of Darkness himself constantly barked of callin' it quits.

But everything happened so fast. All of a sudden they're flying Gus G in and eventually putting this material out. So I got the album, and listened..

Funny thing is, unexcited as I am, I'm actually liking this record. I can't walk you through track after track this early, but I have a few points to mention. And the most surprising of all is that I'm still hearing Zakk on this record! His slow  fee-fie-foe-fum riffs on the song Soul Sucker, his descending pick tapping/scratching, double stops and scales on the solo of Let Me Hear You Scream.. there's always something reminiscent about the Old Berserker in almost every track! Did Zakk make it to the laying of the groundwork of this record before he got fired? I don't think so. Not if his style shows mostly on Gus G's solo rather than on the whole song structure. Was it some conscious effort on the part of the production team. Maybe. For what purpose I have no idea.


An outstanding remark I have for this record is Ozzy's singing. Man, it's hard to put your trust on something knowing the industry has truly raised the bar technology-wise, but live footage tells me it's legit. Check the one from Jimmy Kimmel below then compare it to the subsequent official video. I must say that with his singing alone on this record, my respect for Ozzy has increased tenfold. I no longer have this contempt for his vise grip, clamp-through-the-throat  and linear style of singing. And considering that he's old for a singer already- he had every  right  to name this album as he damn pleased. Scream. Indeed.

I think it's becoming evident by now that I'm a reborn Ozzy fan. 


I can't even sing all the tracks in this record yet, so I guess it's just that initial gut feel about something that's genuine that made me admire this recent offering. And there's not even a killer First Track to strap me on an Acme warhead through the entirety of the album. Let It Die, which is clearly an attempt to be accessible to the younger fans, just don't get me off. I skip it, as a matter of fact. It's not modern but just rap metal. And a plain one at that. The rest I can say modern though, with very much prudent use of synths and keyboards without getting too Reznor-ish. 


Lyrics? nothing too weighty. I didn't expect that from Ozzy. I bet he still clings on the angry teenager poetry as it has always been his signature from the very first Sabbath record up to Black Rain. It may be Sharon's pre-approved marketing standard for all we know. 


All things considered, I think this is a great record nonetheless. And even if all other maniacs are coming up with positive reviews I must come clean and state that I loved this record first before I had browsed on them. But it sure adds a little more gratification hearing them put this up in the same league as Bark At The Moon. Others have even declared that there's nothing inferior about the singles here even if played next to big classics such as Crazy Train or No More Tears. 


In the end I would gladly like to drop the perception that Scream is nothing but a gladiator arena of past and present guitarists. Much more than that, it is a celebration of Ozzy's ever vibrant career. Though he may be old enough to bite heads of bats and pigeons, he proved us through this record that he's here to stay and not bore us along the way. 


Now I had just realized I don't think I can go on handing Tony Iommi all the heavy metal credit. It ain't a good way to present historical facts, massaging details to tailor-fit for listeners. Ozzy was as much a part of Sabbath as Iommy is. Period. 

SAMPLE 7: Hell N' Diesel

Writing about Hell N' Diesel makes up for lengthy content. It gives me one fine reason to add another article in less than a week without writing a great deal.

That's because there's really nothing much to write about them, and I mean no sarcasm in that. Quite literally, there's virtually nothing to be found significant after almost two months of searchin' the web. Official site is on 'htm-test', their MySpace account is nothing more than a plain media player.. the only thing you find in Wiki is their line-up, written in, well maybe, Swedish. The album I downloaded did not even have the proper title, Passion for Flower was how I  grabbed it. Hardly even my Glam guru  friend Harry knows anything about this band, and he knows them all- from the least important foxy posers during the Sunset Strip heydays up to the most legit musicians from this recent uprising in Sweden. Yes, there are more than a just a couple of 'glam revivalists' from Sweden. There's a revolution going on, and I'll write about that one soon.

I'm glad that on this note, there's something new I can hand on to Harry that he doesn't know yet. It's another matter if he'll dig this or not. Consider yourself lucky, I will not be writing about this band if this ain't worth your time. This record has been playing from start to finish on all my long road trips as of late.  Hell N' Diesel, as I would put it, is the flipside to this whole Swedish Sleaze stew that's been emerging. Somewhat like Guns N Roses was to the whole L.A. scene. Not because they don't sport the whole ridiculous fashion sense that these new bands from Sweden seem to still replicate (in point of fact, save for the pop metal lead singer, it's Crazy Town I do observe in them), but for the sole reason that Hell N' Diesel is the most aggressive-sounding from the lot. It may be a phenomenon, or some observable fact for them to be an antithesis to the scene in which they came from. But then again it may be strategy if the chronicles of GnR history were to be the basis.

There's one official clip from You Tube that fortunately they were able to put some budget into. Not the best one from their record I guarantee you that. First time I heard this, Motley Crue's Power to the Music instantly came to my mind. I hope this doesn't deter you from getting your hands on their powerful record, and as well I'm giving you the heads-up that the guitar solos you'll find here are so Slash-like, and the singing voice you may take  for Jani Lane's any time of the day. 

(insert video clip)

Just think of Hell N' Diesel this way: a street gang carrying with them a whole arsenal of everything that is heavy, raunchy and dirty about the eighties.  Now blast away!

SAMPLE 6: Avenged Sevenfold's Eponymous Record

I'm aware I'm not ahead by a damn sight in doing this review even if I got this record on it's first day of release. And as seasoned readers most of you may well be, you know for a fact there's really nothing proverbial to say if you have only been listening to tracks you just got a few days ago. Not even if you had looped the songs non-stop. So at this point, it's only initial impressions. And I bet those are what you may be wanting for if you're reading this right now. Unless you enjoy that 'song-opens-with-a-thunderous-explosive-stick-count-ends-in-an-apocalyptic-bassdrum' kind of review, I'm not doing that. It's a waste of time, that kind of literal account. Hear the tracks in Amazon preview rather than have somebody describe them to you in words.

Believed to be the heaviest record to date from these Huntington Beach rockers,Nightmare for me stands in a laterally different category with their past releases. Heavy is relative. Arguably I can't label this effort as such. If it's one thing,Nightmare is their saddest record so far. Even If I had not known the passing of The Rev, I could and probably would have stated that there's the sad signature in this record. Still not convinced? Give me one song, just one song from Nightmarewhere we can unanimously concur that they just went out there and played for the fun of it. Something like they did with Bat Country from City Of Evil or Scream from the self-titled one. Quite noticeably, there is not one 'fun' song in this record. Predictable to an extent, of course, losing Jimmy just recently. And let me just add, having been a huge follower of their behind-the-scenes videos, that I'm pretty much sure The Rev was the happiest camper in the pack. So abandon all hopes of fresh radio-friendly hooks and stripper tunes, there are just none in this new output.

Yet in the same light, there's no mistaking that this is unashamedly and unabashedly an A7X record.

It's no big task backtracking some to shed light on how they came up with the sound in Nightmare. With Mike Portnoy filling in on The Rev's shoes, a kind gesture I must say, there's really no reason for Dream Theater fans to be checking this one out for his drumming. There's almost no difference- even The Rev's trademark 'double ride' was effortlessly executed by his icon, as heard in 'Natural Born Killer'. As you may have noticed, everything was on 'template' already, with Mike suggesting a few tweaks here and there. Thus that leaves us no basis as well to gauge how much creative output expired with the Rev as he was a part of the laying of the groundwork as everyone was. But the recording is another matter, and his screaming is sure missed. At least he had graced us with his 'let it burn..' part in the song 'Fiction'.

The loudest buzz going on with respect to initial reviews is how much of a resemblance this record is to the early Metallica sound. And that is what I want to objectively tackle. Too many haters seem to disagree but cannot prove that there's nothing Metallica-esque here. True, it may be, that it all sums up to one's perception. But I'll give it a try. 

No painstaking scrutiny needed here, but it should be made clear whether we refer to the 'rig' or the 'riff'. Some tracks do, on occasion, sound like it used the same rig or set-up with the ones used in Master of Puppets, though I doubt there were any ESP's but there's no mistaking in the depth of distortions. The amps, the environment, lots of other factors may be the same. Even the clean guitar employed on the song 'Victim' is evidently Hetfield-reminiscent. 


As with regard to the 'riff', well that's a different subject. As much as I hate to stride on these grounds, I will have to name a few. The song 'Buried Alive' embarked on to its heavy part with something that sounded like the 'Orion' main riff, and by the outro I seriously thought they were flagrantly quoting 'Ride The Lightning'. I hear also, 'My Apocalypse' via the same Death Magnetic style palm-muted chugs in the rhythm filler of the solo to 'Welcome To The Family'. One thing that is not Metallica thrash here is the song 'God Hates Us'. Albeit with a familiar title, conversely it doesn't translate to that Slayer song. The main riff rings to me like another thrash song that has even got something synonymously resonant of the title -Death Angel's 'Lord Of Hate'. If you have noticed anything even remotely Pantera about this song, or any other track for that matter, name it. Otherwise you're just another Wiki junkie who happens to have taken M.Shadows' word for it.

Moving on, I'm on the high road to being.. thanks to this new record. I honestly do not care one bit if it sounds like something else. Before being the legends they are, Metallica took several strikes for sounding like Diamond Head, or whatever the critics thought close to them at the time. Yet the records they made are our anchors to everything that is great in this whole metal lineage.  Initial impressions are far easily transcended the more you play this record, as there are more than just the sound to consider. On top of everything else, Synyster Gates is as unfailing as ever in writing his guitar parts. Nothing too flashy, technique wise, but those licks sure make their mark. Had he lived through the eighties he would have blasted away many other pop metal axemen. Double that up with Zacky's guitar and you got a pyro of a duo that's sure to light up the sky. And we do not have that much of a tandem recently. 


With their efforts altogether, they have given us once again a full-on barrage of dark, hate-this-world, furious songs and sad ballads that conjure up images of a funeral pyre, slow processions and a stormy weather farewell rites to a friend. Not wishing tragedy to befall anyone, but this sure is a great record to carry anyone through his darkest days.


That's how this record falls into genre of greatness. Its an album that's not a repetition of past ones yet it still maintains that hallmark sound. 2007's Avenged Sevenfold may have been well-received by the big critics in the industry, in the same way that City Of Evil was taken back in '05, but evidently those two albums never sounded thematically the same. And here we got a new one that is no way inferior to the previous two. And one that just might knock-off Eminem at the Billboard top spot.


In summary, Nightmare had all the workings of a classic. It may be disparaged by your usual A7X hater, possibly not in the same degree that hair metal was criticized back then, but surely this will be one revered album now, and even 20 years after.

SAMPLE 5: Tribute to Aerosmith - Not The Same Old Song & Dance

Before I got to finishing this piece here, my good guitarist friend TJ had me stirred up with some Aerosmith news. From reliable sources, he said the band might be considering to pay us a visit here in Manila. And while I've been recently seeing nothing more than news of internal strife from Blabbermouth, I can't help but hope that there isn't going to be any resurrection of The Joe Perry Project!

Never really cared for tribute albums that much, but I knew I had to score this one the moment I saw the outside back sleeve- an all-star ensemble of my heroes paying homage to one of the greatest hard rock acts ever! 

(insert tracklist)

Besides, it was '99, and everything else in the cd rack at the time represented the über nonsensical nü metal that was at its pinnacle. Conservative heavy music was in really low supply back then and I couldn't put to words  how much I wanted to wolf down anything seriously rock n' roll.

Bitchin' aside, my prior grasp of tribute albums entailed different bands doing their versions of songs assigned to each of them, and then later having the tracks compiled to make the record. The formula remains virtually the same up to the present, with some veering in the way of having a single house band type of session musicians all throughout the entire record with only the guest singers varying. This record though will be the first in my collection to host a multiple collaboration-type of cover tunes.

I'll be hard-pressed to find out who pulled the strings to make this happen, no matter how much I despise the business side of music. That's because the contributing artists here are such big names in rock that I failed to resist to do a little background check on Bob Kulick, the man who defied the corporate odds.

Fact 1, he's related to Bruce, and  Fact 2, he had his share of KISStory. 

An outstanding resume of some of the greatest productions in rock and metal doesn't solely define the man who nearly made it to becoming THE Kiss guitarist. With Ace Frehley beating him to the punch in the audition, Bob would later redeem his glory by befriending Paul Stanley and later contributing uncredited guitar tracks in many KISS records. Subsequently, he would also usher in his younger brother Bruce to the Kiss fold. 'Nuff Said.

Going back to the record.. It was a great find for such a dark phase in rock history. Not The Same Old Song & Dance remains to be one of my most played cd's, and its scratched to the innards from frequent playing. It was so great that it inspired me and my erstwhile bandmates and childhood buddies to pick up our cobwebbed instruments and get back to playing in spite of the trends. Not that the trends really mattered to us, it's just that there was no new music to fuel the inspiration.


It must be that we truly did not live the early days of Aerosmith to have that nostalgic fit and not accept any new take on their classics. No disrespect to the band but I can no longer get back to hearing the originals after being used to these new versions of heavier guitars and more complex licks. Kind of like playing Mama Kin after quite some time of imbibing the Gn'R cover. Most of the tracks covered here are from the early days, which means both Joe Perry and Brad Whitford weren't using that much of delicious, crunchy distortion effects. And it's really a break to hear those songs again with a much 'thicker' take.


Only the singing is another matter.. A bit of rearrangement gives a different flavor, but the voice from the second most famous rubber lips in rock can never be duplicated. 

Back in The Saddle remains to be my favorite here. Contrary to what I said above with regard to more distortion, Albert Lee delivered right on spot with only simply overdriven guitars. In fact, you'd mistake it for just being plain clean tone. And to be honest I really don't find Mark Slaughter's singing to be that good either. But this version, I will never trade for any other out there, most especially that one from Bas Bach and Axl Rose! 

Rag Doll kicks ass too, you'll notice Ted Nugent doing both the vocals and guitar parts. For such a stubborn rocker I think it's pretty cool of him to pay tribute to the band coz as you may well know, he's not some junior fan. The Old Nuge actually thrived in hard rock glory in the same era that early Aerosmith did. And his playing seems to just get heavy as he grows old, maybe that's why many regard him as a great guitarist despite sticking to basic I-IV-V blues. Other players in his same age bracket are getting the stiff finger syndrome, but he still shoots those licks like a twenty-year old! 

And Ronnie James Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen on Dream On? Such fantastic soul-searing voice and majestic licks to add up to an already regal tune. Outstanding. Chip Away at The Stone introduced me to Blues Saraceno and I've been a fan ever since. We used to break this song apart to find out what's so special about his playing though in the end, his 'expressionism' was what we could only make different. I've got more to say about him but that again, is a tale for another day. 


Steve Lukather doing Walk This Way, Tommy Skeoch, before being kicked out of Tesla is with Jeff Keith on Draw The Line..an almost Damn Yankees take on the song Sweet Emotion with the late, great Randy Castillo.. 


Damn, better grab yourself a copy of this one and get ultimately hard rock on yourself! There's just so much cold beer waiting for me outside to be writing reviews, so I'll be spinning this instead!


Cheers!

SAMPLE 4: Metallica's Français Pour Une Nuit ("French For One Night")

I seldom talk about Metallica. I reckon they really don't need that much of an attention considering how LARGE an act they are. If I had any urge in the past, it was to write about Death Magnetic. But it came at a very low point in my life. Needless to say, I missed my chance. Also if I were to say anything Metallica-related, chances are it would be whinin' about how they had failed me in this or that aspect. 

Whatever, I need not do that really, for that would be a total waste of time. Off Metal Hammer TV: Guilty Pleasures - Just Don't Get It, Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed already said it: "anything you say about Metallica bad, it's like pissing in the ocean, it doesn't [expletive] matter!". 

So clear yourself of any inhibitions, I'm not here to take potshots at them!

An overload of Metallica live videos clearly can't get me stoked enough to have a few more. Cunning Stunts, in hindsight is something to remember with fondness. Even if it has been ridiculed to the max, it was a huge affirmation of a big turning point in the band's history. I have it in my rack, along with their set in the Monsters of Rock in Moscow, Woodstock '99 and some other live clips from the hillbilly-where's-the-handlebar-moustache James Hetfield era. I have none from the present line-up, and I dig Robert Trujillo. Problem is, I already got Ozzy's Live in Budokan, and he's already more than amazing there.

But it's just too hard to ignore the fact that Metallica: Français Pour Une Nuit(French For One Night, is that it?) is one badass almost-medieval metal live dvd. I found it impossible not to get my hands on this one, evidently everything about it tells me it falls into great halls of awesomeness. True enough as it actually took place in the literally awesome halls of a Roman amphitheater! 

Aaah, Metallica. It's no question you disappoint at times but you sure know how to win your fans back! 

Shot in the Arena of Nîmes in France with a completely French crew, it's remarkable seeing this almost 2,000 year-old Roman structure ooze with so much electricity as if recreating what took place eons ago. Take note that it's impossible to deliver Creeping Death live, without the 'DIE! DIE! DIE! chant. Come to think of it, centuries ago it must have been that same feel with Gladiators and a huge crowd raising fists and yelling DIE! in whatever Romance language form used at the time. And have I said these Four Horsemen actually entered the arena via the coliseum's gladiator tunnel?

I can cite a hundred reasons but I'm not sure really, as to why I was completely blown away by this live disc. Maybe I was expectin' less, and they came out 'round prepared for this one. Multiple cams, combined with good mixing, well that's a given. Maybe a decent audio set-up got me surprised how tight they played as a four-piece. Close scrutiny tells me how perfect their parts were, how well-executed the thrashing of both guitars was done. Especially in the song Dyer's Eve, which I must say, stands above the rest of their other performances for that night.  Hell, maybe it was the old Roman coliseum and my insatiable thirst for anything and everything bloody in European History that got me into this dvd! 

But the location shot can only get one so far. If I were to single out one factor why I was so snagged by this that it finally got me writing, it would have to be that they played so much from ..And Justice. Which by the way, is my favorite Metallica record. And merits more space and time for me to brag about. But I'm just too damn glad the ..And Justice songs were played in full length, not like the medleys they used to do!! The tracklist below shows it, they launched forth with Blackened, and they even played Harvester Of Sorrow! I'm sure there's just four tracks from it, but better that than any other post Black Album stuff. But then I realize there's no better theme for such a location other than what the cover of ..And Justice speaks of. 

You all know the drill. You must have seen a lot of Metallica's live performances, and quite tellingly, you might place them as predictable in a way. Well set this one aside, for it's an entirely different ride. There's just no better way to appreciate the Arena of Nîmes in a rockin' show, unless maybe, you dig Rammstein or Dire Straits.

(TRACKLIST follows)