(Re)Maiden England '88

     Everyone has a special place in their heart for the album that introduced them to a band. For example, while Led Zeppelin’s fourth album is widely considered their best, someone that first heard, say, “Houses of the Holy” may have a preference for that album. From Iron Maiden’s catalog, the general consensus is that “The Number of the Beast” is their masterpiece, while “Powerslave” and “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” (my personal favorite) are typically in that conversation.  However, my introduction to Maiden came in VHS form.
    The “Maiden England” concert video was shot over two nights, on November 27th and 28th, 1988, during their “Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour” (try to guess what album this tour supported). When I was 12 years old, I had a friend whose older brothers were diehard into Maiden. There were posters of a cybernetic Eddie the ‘Ead (Maiden’s mascot) hanging on his bedroom walls. These images were mind-blowing to me, and I thought they bordered between really cool and really dark. Around the time I started getting into music, I found a copy of “Maiden England” at Blockbuster and decided to rent it, based on my friend’s admiration for them. By the way, I realize how much I’m dating myself by writing that I rented a VHS video from Blockbuster! Old school. It gives me street cred, showing how far Maiden and I go back. Street cred! So, I got home with the video and threw it into the VCR. Over the next few days, I got most of the way through it, before my 12 year old attention span decided to concentrate on the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past instead (I’m not hating: Zelda rules). What I did recall from the video was that one of the guitarists smiled a lot (Dave Murray, about whom my friend claimed “That guy is crazy!”, apparently based on that smile), one of the songs had a cowbell, and the stage and lights were really cool.

"That guy is crazy!" "Dude, he's a rock star." Banter between 12-year olds.

   
     My teen years were when I established my absolute love of rock music, and I began my collection of cassette tapes through Columbia House’s 12-for-a-penny deal. Doesn’t just reading that take you back to those ads, scattered throughout music magazines and whatever else? Kids today won’t appreciate, because they can just download everything. Remembering “Maiden England”, one of the tapes I ordered was “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”. I figured: why not? Once I started listening to the tape I was completely hooked. I became a Maiden fanatic at this time, and started acquiring everything by them that I could. I rented the video again, and felt as if I had seen it before without having actually seen it before. Knowing the music as well as I now did, I loved the live interpretations, the energy, and the amount of detail they put into making their stage look like their album cover. Eventually, I found a copy for sale and bought it (which sounds easy now, but finding Maiden videos for sale was hard around the advent of grunge music).

 12 cassettes for a penny? What a deal! What could go wrong?

    Speaking of buying it, I recently bought it again. Earlier this April, the video was released onto DVD for the first time. Packaged under the name “Maiden England ‘88”, it includes the original concert, plus three previously unreleased songs from the show, a 40 minute documentary called “The History of Iron Maiden Part 3”, chronicling the band from 1986 through 1988, the 1987 home video “12 Wasted Years”, and five music videos from that era. Just to own a copy of the show itself in DVD quality was enough for me, but I was blown away by the sheer amount of extras Maiden included in this release. They are a band that does everything right, both music and business-wise. They give us, the fans, a lot of bang for our buck, and go the extra mile to ensure top-notch quality. Between the quality and the quantity, this is a must-buy.

    Opening track “Moonchild” is a darker, harder edged Maiden song that lyrically borrows from the Aleister Crowley book of the same name. Crowley’s ideas and influence have been apparent in rock before, notably in Zeppelin (Jimmy Page once lived in Crowley’s former house), but the song’s narrative loosely follows the book’s, and instead sets up the concept of the “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” album. “The Evil That Men Do”, also from that album, follows up nicely; it’s one of my favorite Maiden songs, is very melodic, and features an excellent solo from my guitar hero, Adrian Smith. The dates Maiden recorded for the concert were from of an extended part of the tour, billed as a “thank you” to fans. With that in mind, several songs not regularly part of their setlists are played here, such as “The Prisoner”, “Still Life”, “Die With Your Boots On”, and “Killers”, alongside classics “The Number of the Beast”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Wasted Years”, and “Iron Maiden”. Being part of the tour for “Seventh Son…”, most of the album is performed, including the title track, “Infinite Dreams”, “The Clairvoyant”, and “Can I Play With Madness?” (which boasts a great vocal harmony intro). Included for the first time are performances of the classic “Run to the Hills”, “Running Free”, and “Sanctuary” from the show. I refrain from going into a track-by-track review only because I could easily spend a page on each song.

My guitar hero, in full 80's mullet glory.

    On this video, Maiden displayed all the traits that made me a fan. Bruce Dickinson has a powerful voice and range, and is matched only by James Hetfield in how to interact with fans during songs. Steve Harris, the band’s founder and bassist, is very high in the mix, which is refreshing in a genre that usually buries the bass in the mix. He drives the songs, which is appropriate, as he is the band’s chief songwriter. Drummer Nicko McBrain pushes the tempos of the music, resulting in some songs being performed much faster than their studio-recorded counterparts. The energy is great, and he never once loses the beat. The guitar duo of Murray and Smith stands as, in my opinion, the greatest guitar duo of all time. Murray is a smooth, fluidly legato player, the kind of guy who can brilliantly improvise, while Smith is a songwriter-type of guitarist, whose guitar solos are meticulously planned and veer into unexpected directions. One of Maiden’s trademarks is to have them harmonize, and it’s the mix of rock, melody, and intelligent songwriting that make Maiden so unique and special. There is also, and maybe most importantly, an intangible element to Maiden that this show captures, and I suggest checking it out. Whether it’s a catchy rock song about missing home while tour (“Wasted Years”), an epic about mysticism that involves several sections and dueling guitar solos (“Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”), or a burst of punk-tinged rock (“Running Free”), Maiden do it all well, with a sense of originality and class - but not too much class. It’s still rock n roll.
    The “12 Wasted Years” video was a documentary filmed a year before the show, and “The History of Iron Maiden Part 3” was created especially for this release. Both show a lot of behind-the-scenes moments with the band, and give insight into the creation of the albums and tours of this area. The promo videos are a nice addition, even for folks like me who have them in multiple formats. Fanboy supreme, I am here.
    “Maiden England ‘88” was released to coincide with the “Maiden England” tour that Maiden is undertaking. The shows on this tour reproduce a large part of the video’s setlist, but they manage to throw in several surprises. If you have the chance, I advise you go see it. If not, the “Maiden England ‘88” DVD is waiting for you.

House of Blues, Gold, and Bones

           When was the last time the anticipation for a show had you counting down the days on your desk calendar at work? Every now and then, we’ll hear of a band that we’d enjoy seeing playing at a club or a bar, and think to ourselves that it would be good to finally catch them live. Other times, a friend or a significant other will really want to see a band, so we’ll go along for the ride, purchase a (usually overpriced) beer and chalk the experience to having spent an evening well. Every now and than, however, we hear about a band we really want to see coming around, and the news makes our day. We’ve always wanted to see them, but they haven’t been around lately, or we were too busy last time they were (how dare real life get in the way!), but now that we have the chance, we’re going! 

 Not today, bub.

            Hearing that Stone Sour was performing at the House of Blues on April 3^rd encapsulated that latter feeling for me. Having been a fan of the band since their 2006 release, “Come What(ever) May”, I had missed the last few chances to see them (how dare real life get in the way!). Seeing as their last two albums, 2010’s “Audio Secrecy” and 2012’s “House of Gold and Bones - Part 1” have been in heavy rotation on my iPod, there was no way I was going to pass the opportunity up again. Not hurting the decision to go is the fact they were playing at the House of Blues. The club is large, the décor looks great (I dig the “Unity in Diversity” theme, with different religious symbols displayed above the stage), and the sound system is excellent. Just for those reasons the venue is worth checking out, but I have to mention that it is right across the street from Fenway Park. How great is that?

 "Unity in Diversity."

            Thus I went. I enjoyed opening acts Hell or Highwater and In This Moment well enough. Hell or Highwater’s style reminded me of upbeat stoner rock, with low-tuned guitars sludging against the lead singer’s hooky vocal lines. With my beer in hand, I was happy enough to sing along. The cabaret-meets-metal of In This Moment was uniquely entertaining, as the music was heavy and yet melodic, and the show even featured costume changes by lead singer Maria Brink between songs. Yes, I did write “cabaret-meets-metal”, and if you’re anything like me, you’re making a mental note to check YouTube in order to see what that sounds like. Note: the contraption Brink stands on during the show could give the illusion of her racing down a snowy slope on skis skewered with skulls, but the aesthetic works. If this doesn’t pique your interest, then it cannot be piqued. 

 "Cabaret metal." "Skiing."

            Right up until 10pm, the anticipation for Stone Sour was building. Roadies were removing the equipment of the opening acts and setting up for the headliners. A large banner was unfurled behind the drums, displaying the artwork for “House of Gold and Bones”. An extra lighting rig was set into place, and a separate sound board for the band was being prepped. This was going to be a show! Then, almost right on the hour, the house lights dimmed, and the cheers went up from the crowd. The pre-recorded guitar riff from “Gone Sovereign”, the first track from the new album, swelled to a crescendo through the speakers. It was met by the melodically gritty (or gritty melodic?) vocals of Corey Taylor, who initiated us to his lyrical plot (“House of Gold and Bones” is a concept album) by proclaiming “No one’s laughing now”. The drums and bass jumped in a few bars later, and the song’s intro built, as those familiar with the track know, to a climatic pause. Shadows on the stage settled into place as a lone heart beat through the speakers for a few sustained seconds. Then, the pre-recorded gave way to the live as drummer Ray Mayorga kicked off a drum fill, joined by his band mates as Taylor proclaimed, in his pitch-perfect growl, “This is mine!”

 Pictured: guitarist Josh Rand's head apparently exploding.

            Corey Taylor is also lead vocalist for nu-metal band Slipknot. For that band’s decidedly darker music, he has said that he recorded music naked, while cutting himself with broken glass, in order to get him to that dark place. Taylor is nothing if not the musician’s equivalent of a method actor. The sincerity and the passion are undeniable, and for seventy-plus minutes, the transference between him and the crowd was palpable. For the first two-thirds of the set he led the band through some of their hardest songs, such as “Absolute Zero”, “Mission Statement”, and “Hell & Consequences”. Stone Sour’s music has been described as “post grunge”, and being a fan of both grunge and metal I love the way they combine the two. If you imagine Alice in Chains crossed with Metallica, you’ll have an idea of what they sound like; the songs are heavy without losing groove and melodic without losing grit. The band does a great job of reproducing their material in a live environment, and with Taylor’s stage presence, they were putting on a killer show. The crowd was lively and energetic, and Taylor apparently has an affinity for our little ole’ Beantown, too, declaring “That’s why I love … coming here. Every time we’re here, you … make us feel like we’re from here.” A feel-good cheer rose from us, cheap pop or not (yeah, me too), but street cred was attained when he acknowledged the old Avalon by name. Street cred! It’s cool that he loves Boston so much, but really, who doesn’t? But I digress.

 

            Nine songs worth of hard/heavy rock and great frontman banter passed quickly. Taylor next dedicated the excellent “Say You’ll Haunt Me” to those who have been with the band since their inception, and the entire venue sung in unison. The lights dimmed as the song ended, and if the show was over, it would have been a great cap to the night. Shortly after, though, Taylor reappeared with a Les Paul in his hands, strumming the chords to the legendary Alice in Chains track “Nutshell”, which led into Stone Sour’s quieter catalog, with the hits “Bother” and “Through Glass” (I imagined several people there said “Oh, THESE guys do THIS song?” in unison). A particularly stand-out part of the night came during “Bother”, when the crowd sang a lyric back to Taylor, which apparently moved him to the point where he stopped the song and holy expletive’d into the mic, applauding thereafter. Again, how can anyone not love Boston? These laid back tracks led into a few heavier ones and culminated with the Grammy-nominated “30/30-150.” There were no encores, but who cares? The setlist was quality.

 During "Through Glass".

            It’d be a shame if I didn’t mention the rest of the band, as they are all outstanding players. Jim Root and Josh Rand are a complimentary guitar duo and they balance each other well. Root also performs in Slipknot in Taylor, and it is in that band where he deposits much of his heavier material, leaving Stone Sour as the outlet for his more acoustic, laid back music. By contrast, Rand grew up a big fan of metal bands such as Slayer and brings that element to the sound. Where Root is more of a play-it-by-ear guy, improvising solos and changing things on the spot, Rand is the guy that works out each note before hitting the recording studio or stage. The dichotomy works well, as both have a unique voice within the mix. Drums are what drive a band, and Roy Mayorga runs a tight ship behind the kit. Often times throughout the show, I was impressed with how intense he played while never sacrificing accuracy. He knew when to push the beat, and he knew when to pull it back. “Feel” is something that cannot be taught, and he has it. Lastly, touring bassist Johny Chow tied the instruments together well. The curse of the bass is that it is more often felt than heard, but during the spots where the four-string stood out, Chow was on point. The five members clicked in unison, that much was for sure.

            I left the House of Blues telling my bud that this was a Top 5 show, as in that it was among the five best I’ve been to. I’ve been to a lot of shows, and I’ve seen good bands, great bands, and awful bands. Stone Sour set a high expectation, delivered a great performance, provided a strong set list, and thoroughly entertained all of us gathered there. As an unexpected bonus, the entire show was recorded in HD, and is out there on the internet to be seen. Check it out; it’s the next best thing to having actually being there. Now I turn to my calendar, and wait for the next band I’ll count the days down to see.

            Stone Sour is touring in support of their House of Gold and Bones double album. Part 1 was released on October 22^nd, and Part 2 dropped on April 9^th.