I'm in the process of re-listening and re-evaluating my record collection, in no particular order. I'll be sharing the results of my evaluation and thoughts on the music in this blog.
I recently came across an unknown vinyl reissue of this classic prog monsterpiece. The record store clerk told me that it's a limited edition that appeared around 2017 in Greece, and is now out of print (he had only that one record left). It is the only remaster of the original Greek edition of the album, which apparently came out in 1975, a good three years after the international version. It contains many alternative mixes, some lasting 10 seconds longer, others a whole minute. I've already had the normal version on CD for a long time, and didn't expect this vinyl to sound markedly different, but the situation woke up the collector in me, so I dug deep into my pocket and bought it. Well, not too deep. Slightly more than any contemporary new double LP, which would make this a bargain given the circumstances. Haven't unsealed it yet, but I've downloaded it and tried to focus on the differences. Most people would consider them quite subtle, but that's enough for prog cultists to enthuse about. Here is an exhaustive analysis by blogger Vangeliscollector. I'm sure that ardent fans who already know the album inside-out will salivate at the thought of these alternative mixes, but what about the rest of us? Be forewarned, there's a reason this was nr.15 on Uncut's Weirdest Albums Of All Time list. It's not an album one plays often: You must try to immerse yourself in it, and follow the narrative - up to a point. Some parts won't make sense to you; just shrug them off, take in the melodies and experimental freakouts, and advance further. The album starts off with the chant "We got the system to fuck the System" getting progressively louder; now my second favorite album opening after MC5's "Kick out the jams motherfuckers"; so "revolutionary", so Sixties! "Babylon" is a great slice of psych-pop featuring strong power pop chords, trumpet, and sitar. "Loud, Loud, Loud" is an atmospheric piece with narration, followed by "The Four Horsemen" a fantastic track featuring bell chimes, Demis Roussos' unmistakable love-it-or-hate-it voice, a catchy chorus, and a great wah wah guitar solo by Koulouris. "The Lamb" is an instrumental where the guitar and keys emulate the sound of bagpipes and clarinet of Epirotan demotic music. "The Seventh Seal" progresses the story of the apocalypse with narration and atmospheric synths. "Aegean Sea" features more of those familiar Vangelis synthscapes, sounding even better when combined with Koulouris' Floydian guitar solos. The rest of side 2 is mostly jazzy instrumentals and narration; wild rockers "The Battle of the Locusts" and "Do It" stand out. "Lament" features Byzantine chanting, while "The Beast" (sung by drummer Loukas Sideras) sounds like Zappa in funk rock mode.
CD Booklet
LP One concludes with "Ofis" a short spoken piece which will be obvious to most Greeks but confound everyone else. It's famous painter Yannis Tsarouchis performing a line from Karagiozis (Greek shadow puppet theater) - a bit of zany humor on the part of the band to offset the heavy apocalyptic vibe that preceded it. By the way, "ofis" is Greek for "snake", as in the Devil's disguise in paradise. The album gets progressively weirder; a circus-style introduction is followed by "Altamont" an upbeat piece with a funky groove, horns, narration and wordless vocalizing, then another demotic instrumental ("The Wedding Of The Lamb"). This is followed by their craziest yet, "∞" (aka Infinity) featuring actress Irene Pappa in a frenzied vocal performance that includes a simulated orgasm. On "Hic et Nunc" the band returns to 60's psych pop with jazz overtones. "All the Seats Were Occupied" is a 20-minute prog behemoth incorporating various themes previously heard in this album. The last track is a Sideras-sung ballad called "Break". It's melancholic but hopeful, and the perfect way to close this ambitious concept album. It reminded me a lot of the way Pink Floyd closed The Wall with "Outside The Wall". Left me with the same, bittersweet but satisfied, feeling. Now, this album is really the brainchild of two people: Vangelis, who wrote the music, and film director Costas Ferris who wrote the libretto. Which is not to undermine the input of the other musicians; indeed the contributions of Loukas Sideras (drums, vocals), Harris Halkitis (bass, sax) and -especially- Argyris "Silver" Koulouris on guitar are fantastic. Although a famous synth wizard, Vangelis avoids the temptation to let his instrument dominate, and highlights his bandmates' spirited performances. Except for that of Demis Roussos, who is curiously underused: only 6 of the 24 tracks feature singing, and on two of them the drummer takes over lead vocals. I can only imagine how that went with the band's lead singer and resident pop star. By the time 666 got released (the record company were less than impressed by what they heard, and sat on the recordings for more than a year) he had embarked on a hugely successful career as a MOR pop singer, while Vangelis went the opposite direction, abandoning pop for New Age instrumental music. What can I say? This is not the easiest album in the world to like. The band could have removed some of the more eccentric parts and produce a more straight rendition of The Book Of Revelation with a linear narrative, but that wouldn't fit their mindset of the time. Vangelis was deeply immersed in the May of 1968 Paris rebellion, and was bent on exercising his artistic freedom to the max as well as on incorporating his left-wing counter cultural ideas in his work. These ideas were already considered outdated by the time of its release, but they are what made this a one-of-a-kind cult album worshipped by a few, rather than the commercial smash it could have been. Weird, but rightfully cherished; if you're interested in prog rock this album is an essential addition to your collection.
***** for Babylon, The Four Horsemen, Aegean Sea, Break
**** for Loud Loud Loud, The Lamb, The Marching Beast, The Battle of the Locusts, Do It, The Beast, Altamont, The Wedding of the Lamb, Hic et Nunc, All the Seats Were Occupied
*** for The System, The Seventh Seal, Seven Bowls, The Wakening Beast, Lament, Tribulation, Ofis, Seven Trumpets, The Capture of the Beast, ∞ (Infinity)
In my latest visit to the neighborhood record shop, I came across a large batch of 2nd hand Neil Young CDs, one of each title. Most of them I already had; of the rest, I chose a compilation of tracks from his most maligned period on Geffen Records (mid 80's) and one of the live "archive" recordings, Songs for Judy. One reason for choosing the latter was the expansive tracklist (22 songs, 80 minutes). Another was the positive reviews (85 on metacritic, an unusually high rating). For once, I'll put the cart before the horse, and say right away that I don't completely agree with the critics: these solo acoustic numbers don't impress me that much. They're not bad or anything; Young has certainly proved he's as adept in solo acoustic mode as he is in leading a rock-'n'-roll band, and never sounds bored or uninvested in the proceedings. And the immediacy and looseness one expects from this kind of one-man-show affair is present here. The singer is also in a talkative mood, sharing with his audience some stories, including the one about Judy Garland that gave this album its cover and title. All the above are valid reasons to acquire this CD, but the recording quality, and often the performances, lag behind those contained in other acoustic live LP's of his (e.g. Unplugged, the acoustic part of Live Rust). And now, here comes the horse, i.e. a few words about the provenance ofthese recordings: they come from Neil Young's fall 1976 tour with Crazy Horse. Before each night's band performance, he would act as his own support act and play a short solo set. These were recorded by guitar tech Joel Bernstein and journalist Cameron Crowe. As the songs Neil chose for this acoustic treatment changed every time, they were able to find a total of 22 different tracks. Bernstein and Crowe chose the best available performance of each song, and compiled them into a bootleg which became known asThe Bernstein Tapes. Songs For Judy is the official, chronologically re-sequenced, version of that bootleg. It contains the exact same performances; only, wherever possible, superior mixes were used. The main reason that caused the critic's excitement for this release is probably that a lot of these songs were unreleased at the time: “Campaigner” was released in 1977 (on the Decade compilation), "Pocahontas" in '79 (on Rust Never Sleeps), "Too Far Gone" in '89 (Freedom), "White Line" in 1990 (Ragged Glory) etc. A beautiful piano ballad called "No One Seems To Know" had remained officially unreleased for 40+ years, until its inclusion here. It's interesting to note how Young presents those as-yet-unknown tracks, and how the audience reacts to them. Other than that, there are some of his best-loved songs (e.g. "After the Gold Rush", a surprising acoustic take on Buffalo Springfield's "Mr. Soul", "Heart Of Gold" and a few more tracks from his best selling Harvest LP), as well as some lesser known tracks not included in a live album ever before. My personal favorite is "A Man Needs a Maid”; here without the orchestral arrangements of the studio version but incorporating the melody of -then still unreleased- “Like a Hurricane”. One of those moments only significant in retrospect, of which this album has quite a few. To summarize, this is a decent enough collection of -admittedly mostly great- tunes, featuring Young accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica and keyboards. It captures an important time in the artist's evolution, it gives fans a peak at the early form of songs that were still officially unreleased, and even contains some great moments of acoustic balladry. But most of the songs are available in better performances elsewhere, and the lone troubadour thing starts to grate after a while. If you listen to the entire CD and aren't bored in the least by the time 6-minute closer "Sugar Mountain" finishes, you' must be a much bigger Neil Young fan than I am - and I've bought more than 30 of his albums.
**** for No One Seems to Know, Heart of Gold, After the Gold Rush, Mr. Soul, A Man Needs a Maid, Pocahontas
*** for Too Far Gone, White Line, Love Is a Rose, Human Highway, Tell Me Why, Mellow My Mind, Give Me Strength, Roll Another Number (for the Road), Journey Through the Past, Harvest, Campaigner, Old Laughing Lady/Guilty Train, The Losing End (When You're on), Here We Are in the Years, The Needle and the Damage Done
** for Songs for Judy Intro (spoken word), Sugar Mountain
Now this is a curiosity I had vaguely heard about but not actually heard until the day I came across a reissue at a Barcelona record shop. I knew they were supposedly the first occult rock band, resorting to "satanic" lyrics and imagery a few months ahead of Black Sabbath and Black Widow. But the more one reads about them, the more you get impressed by how far ahead Coven were; everything they did in the 60's was copied by all kinds of metal bands who passed it as novelty in the 70's and 80's, yet very few have heard of them. Take for example the sign of the horns 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘that's ever present in heavy metal: most people credit Ronnie James Dio for inventing it; KISS' Gene Simmons tried to copyright it, but what is that sign that the male Coven members do on this album's back cover? And what else do we see in the same photo? A table set for some kind of satanic ritual, with paraphernalia including an inverted cross... and I thought Black Sabbath (BS) were the first who used inverted crosses in rock! But wait, that's not all! You know how BS opened their first album with a song called "Black Sabbath"? Well, guess what's the first song here is called! Yep, it's "Black Sabbath"! Now were BS copying Coven? That's possible, though not very probable. American import records were notoriously hard to come by in the UK, and Coven didn't even get radio play in their native US, much less in England. As for using "Black Sabbath" for a song title: maybe it's a likely coincidence for two completely unrelated bands with interest in the occult (is itthough?) but how about this one? Coven's bassist and founding member is called... Oz Osbourne! WTF? Not only he has the same last name with BS's singer, but almost the same nickname as well? And we know that Ozzy has had that nickname since grammar school! One starts to think that this is an elaborate prank, that somebody made up this band no-one had ever heard about, designed a kitschy retro-goth cover, and posted it online as a "lost" LP. I mean, I did something similar on April Fool's Day last year. But that's not the case here. Rare as original copies of Witchcraft... are, they can easily be procured online; this is a bona fide Mercury Records release, with catalogue number SR-61239. And, despite their relative obscurity, Coven struggled on for a few more years, and released two more albums before quitting in '76. Encouraged by her band's growing cult status, singer Jinx Dawson resurfaced a few years ago, to play some gigs and record a (self-released) album with a new version of Coven. She also presented photographic evidence of her doing the "devil's horns" sign onstage all the way back in '67 when Gene Simmons tried to trademark the gesture for himself. Contrary to most other female-fronted rock bands of the time, Dawson was more than just the lead vocalist. Even though the music was mostly written by others, she wrote the lyrics and created the band's image. The Satanic thing? That's all Jinx.
Apparently she grew up in an old and wealthy midwestern family many generations of which were involved with secret societies of the so-called Left Hand Path. Unlike bands like BS, Venom etc. who only used some Satanic trappings for atmosphere and shock value, Coven sound sincere enough - especially Jinx, whose passionate and powerful delivery is the band's greatest selling point. Probably influenced by Grace Slick and Janis Joplin but not as talented as them, she nevertheless indeed sings like a woman possessed 😂😂. The music is a, typical for its time, mix of hard rock and psychedelia - heavy guitar and traces of Alice Cooper, Mountain, Iron Butterfly, and Jefferson Airplane; especially in the vocal department, with very powerful female lead vocals but also good use of male/female harmonies. Some times (e.g. "Wicked Woman" ) there's a funky streak, others (e.g. "Black Sabbath") are in a more theatrical style which I would compare favorably with Rock Operas of the time like Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. The occasional chanting of black magic incantations is less typical, and so are the lyrics: where other groups dabbling in the occult (e.g. Led Zeppelin) inserted cryptic images and hidden messages, Coven are explicitly raw. Every song here deals openly with subjects like Satanist rituals, human sacrifice, demon summoning, and black magic. For one moment I thought that "The White Witch Of Rose Hall" was about a "good" witch practicing "white" magic but no, it's about the regular dark voodoo kind; it's only the witch's skin that's white, rather unexpectedly for 19th Century Jamaica. In the end she was murdered by the father of one of her victims. Based on a true story, no less. "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" (get the acronym?) is about a witch burned to death for seducing a lord using her magic powers. With the exception of these two songs, Lucifer triumphs everywhere else. The album closes with a 13-minute "Black Mass" concerning the initiation of a young woman into Satanism. It's laugh-out-loud ridiculous but executed in all seriousness. I'm inclined to think that it's as authentic as it gets because how can such a ceremony be anything other than ridiculous? Possibly the image of the inner gatefold with the singer spread naked on a ceremonial altar is supposed to recreate such an event. Purely musically this album is pleasant enough for classic rock fans without being anything special. But as a concept, it was way out there and way before its time. Coinciding with the Manson murders didn't help its commercial chances, but I can't imagine it being very successful in any time period. Decades later, a few metal bands acknowledged Coven's influence in the metal scene, leading to their rediscovery and the reissue of this LP, a unique and collectible artifact to say the least.
**** for Black Sabbath, The White Witch Of Rose Hall, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Wicked Woman, Dignitaries Of Hell
*** for Coven in Charing Cross, Pact With Lucifer, Choke Thirst Die, Portrait
In 1992 I was studying dentistry in Athens University. Having long hair, I stood out there somehow. That wouldn't be the case in other departments, but Dental School was different: most students dressed and acted as the future petit-bourgeois they were; many were already preparing to take over their parents' dental practices. So I naturally would hang around with the other longhair in my year. We found out we had a lot in common: left-wing political ideology, similar tastes in literature (including a lotofSF), and music. Mine were much wider, all kinds of rock music and beyond that, he was more into metal. Like me, he bought a lot of records, both vinyl and CD, and I'd often go to his place, we'd listen to music, and I would tape anything I liked. One day he asked me whether I'd heard of Ice T. I said Sure, he's a famous rapper. Not your kind of thing, how come you ask? He said You have to listen to this record he made, it's un-fucking-believable! So, after the lesson, we went back to his place and listened to this LP, playing air drums/guitar, rapping along with the naughty lyrics trying to stifle our giggles - not easy when one's listening to "Evil Dick" and "KKK Bitch". I taped it, of course, and listened to the cassette from time to time that year. I had decided to buy the LP, too, some time - on vinyl of course, because at the time it was cheaper than CD, almost by half. I should have snatched it immediately, but how was I to know that it would soon get pulled from the shops, and replaced with a censored version? I kept looking for the original "copkiller" album, but no such luck; the few times I came across it, it cost way more than I was ready to pay, certainly over €100. One reasonably-priced CD I bought from Ebay turned out to be the censored version inside the original's case: normally, they're easy to tell apart, since the tattoo on the gangsta's chest reads "cop killer" whereas on the new version it reads "body count". But the CD itself is identical, so someone mixed them up. Disappointed, I tried to return it, but the seller said they'd refund me but didn't want the CD back. I still have it, as you see in the photo here. Recently, I came across a shiny new vinyl copy for €20. Sure, I knew it was a bootleg, but what about it? It still looks and sounds like the original, at 1/10th of the price.
Today, rap metal is an established genre - and a very commercial one, at that. But there was a time when such a combination was unthinkable. The two genres, and their audiences above all, were worlds apart. During the late 60's and 70's, black and white music had begun conversing, with artists like Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone bridging the gap. Disco, created mostly by black artists, was the music of choice across the race spectrum. But rap was a different beast altogether. It looked at the hard reality of urban ghettos face on, and unapologetically. Gangsta's, pimps, and ho's on the one side, wizards, warriors, and booze on the other. Musically, one used samples of pre-existing recorded music, the other relied on instrumental prowess. Rampant sexism was the only common thread joining rap and metal. Was the creation of Bodycount a conscious effort by Ice T to sell more records by tapping into a different audience, or was he seeking a different form of expression? I think it was a little bit of the former, but mostly the latter. With this band, he was aiming at white teenagers, selling them his cartoonish gangsta image. At the same time, I believe he tried to open their eyes to social injustices, in his own, politically incorrect, manner. One should also keep in mind that Bodycount weren't a made-up band formed to support Ice T in his rock dalliances; they were a bunch of homies, all of whom graduated from the same South Central high school. Ernie C (lead guitar), D-Roc (rhythm guitar), Mooseman (bass), and Beatmaster V (drums) just happened to be black kids who loved rock and metal music, it's only natural that they'd get together and jam at some point with their famous rapper friend. Ice T wrote the lyrics and rapped, while the others wrote and performed the music. The result didn't fit in any of the already known subgenres, and still doesn't sound much like modern rap metal: there are the familiar choppy riffs, but not as much funk as one would expect. Thrash and hardcore punk seem to be the main influences, especially in the fastest tracks e.g. "Bowels of the Devil", "KKK Bitch", "Voodoo", and -above all- the album's best and most controversial track "Cop Killer". Lead single "There Goes the Neighborhood"'s Sabbath-y riff is the closest it gets to conventional Heavy Metal, while there's even a power ballad with an anti-drug message called "The Winner Loses", and a mellow instrumental called "C Note" which is a better testament to Ernie C's guitar talent than the shredding he sometimes does in the faster tracks. "Body Count's in the House" and "Body Count Anthem" employ some great thrash metal riffs and feature countless repeats of the band's name - on the former, Ice T also introduces us to the rest of the group. The third(!) eponymous track "Body Count" is different: starting off with an acoustic intro, it evolves into hard rock dynamite replete with call-and-response vocals and drum and guitar solos. Most importantly, it is an address to white America, trying to open its eyes to the hopelessness, anger, and violence brewing in urban ghettos.
"Cop Killer" goes further in that direction, fantasizing about killing a cop. Album lyrics in general alternate between the angry/political and the humorous; sometimes -as in "Momma's Gotta Die Tonight"- the humor is very dark, others -as in "Evil Dick"- just naughty and puerile. Overall, Ice T is doing his best to shock and enrage Middle America by inhabiting the cartoonish gangsta "nigger" boogeyman character they've learned to hate and fear. It worked only too well: "Cop Killer" especially created a huge backlash from politicians, police unions of course, and members of the public. Record company executives started getting death threats, etc. Faced with this reactionary avalanche, Ice T agreed to pull all the records from the shops and replace them with a new version, the one still available: the tattoo on the cover is different, and "Cop Killer" is replaced by another track called "Freedom Of Speech", a rap piece featuring a Hendrix sample and a guest vocal by Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra. Cue the rarity of the original LP, mentioned in my introduction. But, really, what people should have done was listen. "Cop Killer" wasn't provocative in the same way that "KKK Bitch" was. It was an earnest expression of the anger brewing in the ghetto: the last years had seen an escalation of police oppression; while the Crips and Bloods gang war continued unencumbered, the LAPD conducted themselves like an occupation army, dispensing violence and humiliation, and harassing citizens based on their appearance or skin colour. Shortly before the recording of this album, there was the Rodney King incident; an everyday event of police brutality, only this one was captured on camera and endlessly replayed on TV, igniting passions further. When Ice T sings "Cop Killer - Better You Than Me" and "But Tonight We Get Even" he voices the feelings of ghetto youth. Had people taken the song as a warning, the L.A. Riots which cost 63 lives and $1 billion in damages, could have been avoided. Instead, the result was nationwide indignation for the "troublemaker rap star". White metalheads did listen though, and what could have been a one-off experiment sparked a parallel career for Ice T, and paved the way for other bands to combine rap and metal. Subsequent Bodycount albums all had their moments, but none came close to their debut. For its innovation and influence, I couldn't possibly give it less than 5*. The fact that I always have fun listening to it is, of course, an added bonus. Bodycount still perform at festivals, although Ice-T and Ernie C are the only original members still standing; D-Roc and Beatmaster V succumbed to cancer, while Mooseman was killed in a driveby shooting, one more innocent bystander senselessly mowed down in the ghetto. Just like in a Bodycount song. As they say in this album "This weekend, 17 youths killed in gang homicides. And now, sports".
***** for Body Count's in the House, Body Count, Cop Killer
**** for Bowels of the Devil, KKK Bitch, The Winner Loses, There Goes the Neighborhood, Evil Dick
*** for C Note, Voodoo, Body Count Anthem, Momma's Gotta Die Tonight
spoken word= Smoked Pork, Now Sports, A Statistic, The Real Problem, Oprah, Out in the Parking Lot
