"With Threshing Oar": Burning Wood's WEEKEND METAL MIX

 

 

"Okay, thank you. Bye now. Bye. Thanks. Take care. Buh-bye. Nice seeing you. Been awhile. Thanks so much. Tell Phil I said hello. See you soon. Bye. Bye now. Goodbye. Toodle-oo. Thanks for coming. Oops, wrong door. Exit to the left. Ha, that's the one. Okay now. Thanks. Bye. Bye now. Bye. Oh stop it! The pleasure was all mine. Drive safe. See you again. Remember, pinochle next Thursday. Take care. Okay. Thanks."

Well, that's done. I want to thank the remaining six of you for sticking around and being open to this heavy metal Weekend Mix. I guarantee, it will not be a total bust if you just give some of these amazing tracks a drive around the compound.

For the record, I don't really know anything about heavy metal. If you look at my song choices, the most recent selection is 30 years old. I stopped listening to new heavy metal around the time of the first Mastodon album, a band I respect, but could never quite get into. I dislike more heavy metal artists than I like. I am not a fan of the cartoon bands, the hair spray, the misogyny, the juvenile lyrics or the posing, though I find it hard to believe that only heavy metal acts spend more time in front of a mirror than practicing. Mick Jagger didn't come out of the womb doing the chicken dance. (Though I guess I can't prove that.)

The songs selected for this mix are all favorites of mine for one reason or another. I make no apologies that none of the songs are about Hattie Carroll, or feature one man, an acoustic guitar, a few chords and a sad, mopey story. Don't get me wrong. I love those mopey sad songs as much as the next guy. But it's time to break out. Or let loose. Or go batshit. Pick your poison. (Now, that's a band I never liked. There are no Poison tracks on this mix.) You don't need to get so drunk that you pass out in an Uber and wake up the next morning with an Opeth tattoo. Just allow yourself one night, where no one is paying attention. Bend your knees. Untuck your shirt. Crack open a Schlitz. Say out loud, "THAT WAS A GREAT FUCKING GUITAR SOLO!" Maybe even play a little air guitar in front of a mirror. No one will care and I promise, your Townes Van Zandt records will be there when it's all over.

These songs are riff heavy and full of energy. The musicianship is often mind-boggling. Occasionally, the choruses rival some of the best pop songs of the last 60 years. Do I love every song by every artist represented? Absolutely not. But I do love enough not to dismiss an entire genre based on the bad apples and bad hairdos.

The few metal fans who are reading this might notice the conspicuous absence of Iron Maiden, often cited as the greatest heavy metal band of all. Well, I just never got them. I am not a fan. Look at it this way. When Uncle Tupelo broke up, some went with Son Volt while others went with Wilco.

"Some of them his friends, some of them her friends. Some of them understand."

I prefer Wilco. And in this case, I prefer Judas Priest, not Maiden. Understand?

TRACKLIST
Fireball- Deep Purple
Black Shapes Of Doom- Trouble
Ace Of Spades- Motorhead
Hammered- Motley Crue
Uncle Tom's Cabin- Warrant
Skin O'My Teeth- Megadeth
Fall To Pieces- Velvet Revolver
Jack The Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots- Black Sabbath
Perry Mason- Ozzy Osbourne
Don't De-Rock Me- Tesla
Green-Tinted Sixties Mind- Mr. Big
Cowboys From Hell- Pantera
Bringin' On The Heartbreak- Def Leppard
Only- Anthrax
Stargazer- Rainbow
Steeler- Judas Priest

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The Notes:

FIREBALL- DEEP PURPLE:
Some, myself included, would argue that Deep Purple isn't heavy metal. A lot of the time that would be true. But if I was making a weekend mix of 40's pop crooners, I'd still want to open it up with "Fireball." Ian Paice's opening drum pattern is a wonder of the world. 

BLACK SHAPES OF DOOM- TROUBLE:
Trouble are one of the pioneers of doom metal, you know, down tuned riffs and spiritual lyrics. That stuff. This wasn't the appeal for me and I could basically care less about their first few records. But then they met Rick Rubin, and their 1990 self-titled release on DefJam really knocked me out. I don't see much of a difference between this song and a number of MC5 songs, but that's me.

ACE OF SPADES- MOTORHEAD:
This is rock and roll. It's Chuck Berry. It's Dave Edmunds, who once produced Motorhead. The difference is, it's louder, harder and faster. What's wrong with that every now and then?

HAMMERED-MOTLEY CRUE:
Before you roll your eyes right back into the depths of your skull, this is NOT Vince Neil. I'll admit, I fell for "Live Wire" and "Looks That Kill" back in the 80's, mostly because I loved the way Tommy Lee played the drums. But Motley Crue overstayed their welcome and they are most likely the poster boys for all of the reasons people hate the genre. Then, John Corabi took over lead vocal duties from Neil and in 1994, Motley Crue released their best record. It's a proper heavy metal album with riffs to die for and a monster sound. It's full of hooks but without the clown front man.

UNCLE TOM'S CABIN-WARRANT:
The first song I heard by Warrant was "Cherry Pie." I hated it. I hated the video. But this track is brilliant. It was a huge hit for good reason. Maybe more hard rock than heavy metal, but I wanted to include it.

SKIN O'MY TEETH-MEGADETH:
A few of you felt violated when I posted "Bad Omen" last month. Sorry about that. You're probably not here now, so here's another from Megadeth. This is a band where I dislike more than I like. But they are really good at what they do, and when they hit, they hit big...even if Dave Mustaine is a putz.

FALL TO PIECES-VELVET REVOLVER:
As good as a power ballad gets.

JACK THE STRIPPER/FAIRIES WEAR BOOTS-BLACK SABBATH:
Sabbath started it all, no? This is probably the least metal sounding of all their songs, but it's my favorite Sabbath song, so it had to be here.

PERRY MASON-OZZY OSBOURNE:
45 years after "Paranoid," Ozzy meets Zakk Wylde on 1995's "Ozzmosis" album. This intro is an all timer of heaviosity. The Dr. Phibes organ into that first power chord at 0:30 and that riff that just won't quit that begins at 0:58 make this an absolute monster of a record. And Ozzy sounds great!

DON'T DE-ROCK ME-TESLA:
Tesla hit the big time with power ballad, Bic lighter waving, MTV hit "Love Song." Eh, it was okay. Overall, I think Tesla is just okay. But this song kills me. It's relentless. Just listen to the energy. And surely you can appreciate the instrumental jam that happens between 2:20-4:30, even if you can't appreciate the genre.

GREEN-TINTED SIXTIES MIND-MR.BIG:
I love Mr. Big. I love that guitarist Paul Gilbert is the ultimate shredder while absolutely loving the Beatles and Todd Rundgren. And while I will NOT defend the schmaltz that was "To Be With You," I will fight to the death that this track is as good as any of your favorite power pop songs. Check out those harmonies on the chorus.

COWBOYS FROM HELL-PANTERA:
I can only listen to Pantera in small doses. True story: I literally became physically ill one afternoon while listening to "Vulgar Display Of Power" at a painful volume while working at Smash CDs on St. Mark's Place. It was an onslaught of sound that caused nausea and a panic attack that lasted an hour. As Jack Paar would say, "I kid you not." But a few Pantera songs here and there really work for me. This is one nasty groove.

BRINGIN' ON THE HEARTBREAK-DEF LEPPARD:
I don't know anyone who doesn't like this song. I'm sure you'll tell me otherwise. But this is excellent record-making.

ONLY-ANTHRAX:
Funny, like Motley Crue, I mostly had little use for Anthrax until they got a new singer. Though seeing Anthrax, Public Enemy, Primus and the Young Black Teenagers from a V.I.P. section at The Ritz in 1991 was a concert highlight of my life. This track is from 1993's "Sound Of White Noise" which was the first album with singer John Bush. This sounds more like Alice In Chains than what you'd expect from Anthrax. Key stretch: 2:40-3:40.

STARGAZER- RAINBOW:
This is the template. It's epic! It's got wizards, chains, whips, towers, rainbows and stars, as well as one of the greatest voices of all time, Ronnie James Dio.

STEELER- JUDAS PRIEST:
We finish where it all began for me. One afternoon, while listening to all of my favorite records- Beatles, Bowie, Todd, Queen, Roxy, Mott, etc., I put on WNEW in time for Scott Muni's "Things From England" and heard "Beyond The Realms Of Death" from Judas Priest's then new record, "Stained Class." From that moment on, I was all in. They are not just my favorite metal band, but one of my favorite bands of all time. There have been missteps along the way, but then 50 years after the fact, they throw "Firepower" at us, a record I think is their best since 1980's "British Steel," my pick for Best Metal Record of All Time. "Steeler" closes out "British Steel" and closes out this mix. There are few stretches of music that can transport me to an otherworldly level as often as the second half of this track does. It begins at around 2:30 and only lets up when it's over. This is heavy metal thunder.