CATCHING UP: IRON MAIDEN/ALICE COOPER CONCERT REVIEW

photo credit: Maria Ives

Here's another really fun show that I reviewed over the summer: Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper at Jones Beach. It had been years since I've seen Maiden in concert.  On this tour, they seemed to concentrate on the first Bruce Dickinson era: from 1982's Number Of The Beast through 1992's Fear Of The Dark, and there was definitely an emphasis on 1988's Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.  

They were awesome. As I mention in my review, Dickinson does not seem to have aged.  And the other guys look a bit more like old metal guys, but they play with serious ferocity.  Guitarist Jannick Gers doesn't seem to fit in with the band at all.  Dickinson brought him into the band in the '90s after he'd played on Bruce's solo debut. Adrian Smith quit and Gers replaced him. Years later, Bruce quit, and a few years later, Smith joined his solo band. Then they both rejoined Maiden, and the band opted to keep Gers, giving them three guitarists.  Not totally necessary, but I guess it's cool that they didn't just ditch the guy. Still, he really looks more like he's in Poison or something. But the sound is what's important, and Maiden still sound brutal. If you love Maiden and go to see them, you definitely won't be disappointed.  Steve Harris is still one of the best bass players in metal. 

photo credit: Maria Ives

Also, as mentioned in the review, we didn't get there early enough to catch Alice Cooper, which was a huge bummer.  When you have a photo pass, you have to get to the show early so they can escort you to the front of the stage.  Our ride from my office in midtown to Long Island took more than 2 1/2 hours.  Hence, no Alice photos.  We hung out outside during his performance, but he sounded incredible, and I hope to go see him soon. 

GUITAR WORLD'S 100 GREATEST (MY ADJUSTMENTS) (part 2)

This is part 2 of my "adjustments" to Guitar World's list of 100 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Songs. Part 1 is here.

26. The Stooges - "1969" I just inserted it here. The Stooges kick the shit out of most bands that "classic rock" radio plays.  I could have chosen lots of Stooges songs, but "1969," leading off their self-titled debut from that same year, was a roaring counterpoint to lots of the hippie Woodstock stuff going on at the time. More people need to check out The Stooges.  I'm glad they finally got into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  R.I.P guitarist Ron Asheton.

27. KISS - "Detroit Rock City (live)" I moved this up a few notches, GW had it at 33. And I replaced the studio version with the one from Alive II. "You wanted the best, you GOT the best! The hottest band in the world..."

28. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Cinnamon Girl" Neil and the late Danny Whitten were a great team. This song is really simple, but if it was easy, everyone would write songs like this. Incredible riff. GW had this at 31, I bumped it up.

29. Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love" which shows off Jimmy Page's godly power, not just as a guitarist but as a producer. Moved up from 35.

30. Yes - "Starship Trooper" Well, I may come off as a bit of a snob sometimes, but on the other hand I am a huge Yes fan. I'm glad GW choose this song instead of one of the more obvious ones. From their third LP, but their first with guitarist Steve Howe, The Yes Album. I never get tired of this song.

31. Derek & The Dominoes - "I Looked Away." Of course GW went with "Layla," but "classic rock" radio has kind of driven that one into the ground for me also. It's a great riff, a great anthem (and a great piano song as well as a great guitar song). To me, Derek is Eric Clapton's best period ever. Putting Eric and Duane Allman on the same record, it's still incredible to hear them together. I think "I Looked Away" is one of the most underrated songs in the Clapton cannon.

32. Bill Haley & The Comets - "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" It sounds quaint now, but in 1954, I'm sure it was pretty radical.  And the guitar is tasty as hell, props to Danny Cedrone who played guitar on the track.

33. Iron Maiden - "Iron Maiden" GW had "Run To The Hills" at #37, but I replaced it with this song, because I prefer the Paul Di'Anno era to the Bruce Dickinson era. Iron Maiden is creepy and evil sounding.  At the same time, "Run To The Hills" was the first Maiden song I'd ever heard, and really turned me on to them, so lets call it a tie, OK? I knew Maiden's imagery was very horror-film-like, and I was surprised to hear them do such a political song. Anyway, guitarist Dave Murray rocks on both songs.  On "Iron Maiden," he plays with co-guitarist Dennis Stratton, and on "Run..." with Adrian Smith.

34. The MC5 - "Kick Out The Jams" in the place of "Carry On Wayward Son." It's just a matter of opinion, but I think "classic rock" radio would actually rock more with more Stooges and MC5.

35. Cheap Trick - "Surrender" They always seem a bit underrated. GW had it at 39, I moved it up four spots.

36. Alice Cooper - "School's Out" Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce were a great guitar team, and Alice Cooper was a great BAND. This song is also a bit overdone, but it's timeless (at least as long as there are schools and summer break).

37.  Michael Jackson - "Beat It" I was glad to see GW include this song, even though no rock stations would ever play a Michael Jackson song.  The fact that he used Eddie Van Halen on this song was pretty radical at the time.  Michael often choose cool guitarists to work with, including Steve Stevens and Slash, but this was his best rock moment.  The fact that you couldn't hear this song on rock radio made rock radio, to me, seem old and out of touch (their very limited playlists didn't help either).

38. The New York Dolls - "Personality Crisis" I used this song to replace a Motley Crue song that was included by GW.  I don't like GW, but I respect that Nikki Sixx has always given a lot of credit to the Dolls for their influence, and even gave them the opening slot on their summer tour (which I think is still going on). But the Dolls are another great, underrated band. They deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they deserve to be on the radio also. Sylvain Sylvain and the late Johnny Thunders: great guitar team.

39. Bob Dylan - "Subterranean Homesick Blues" I'm not sure who the guitar players were on this song, but it's got great playing. Also, it marks one of the most radical artistic departures from a major popular music artist.  Going from folk to rock (or funk) like this... these days, everyone plays electric and acoustic music, but it was a radical idea back then.

40. The Rolling Stones - "Jumpin' Jack Flash" I moved this up from #46. Yes, it's a bit overplayed, but what a classic.  Undeniable riff. Keith Richards and Brian Jones on guitars.

41. AC/DC - "Hells Bells" Obviously "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Back In Black" are bigger songs from the Back In Black album, but I love how this song opens the album. It's their sendoff to Bon Scott, and the first time we hear his replacement, Brian Johnson. As always, Angus and Malcolm Young are devastating.

42. Dick Dale & The Del-Tones "Miserlou" I moved this up from 50.  It's truly an iconic piece of music, and bless Quentin Tarantino (one of the greatest soundtrack curators) for putting it in Pulp Fiction.

43. Crosby Stills Nash & Young "Carry On" I used this to replace CSN's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." I think this is better, and, plus, Neil Young is on it (I think: I know all four guys were on every song together on Deja Vu). When you see it live, it's cool to watch Stephen Stills and Neil go back and forth on lead guitars. David Crosby is a good rhythm guitarist, and Graham Nash is just a great musician. It's a great song to open a concert with.

44. The Grateful Dead - "Bertha (live)" I replaced "Truckin'" with this, I don't need to hear "Truckin'" anymore. This live version opens the "Skull Fuck" album, and they opened with this the first time I ever saw them. I'm not always into the hippie/jam band thing, but Jerry Garcia was a cool guitar player.

45. Link Wray & His Wray Men - "Rumble" Another badass instrumental used in Pulp Fiction, but not included on the soundtrack. I moved this up from 62.

46. The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Another great George Harrison composition, and in this one, the Fab Four gets an assist from Eric Clapton. I moved this up from 63.

47. Heart - "Barracuda" Yes, also driven into the ground by radio, but what the hell, it's  great riff.  Nancy Wilson is an underrated guitarist, and in the interest of fairness, it's worth mentioning that Roger Fisher was the other guitarist in the band at this point. I moved this up from 64.

48. Pearl Jam - "Corduroy" GW choose "Evenflow," which is a great (and has a monster riff that I think Stone Gossard came up with), but "Corduroy" is probably my favorite Pearl Jam song. When they play it live, it just raises the entire arena. People don't talk about Mike McCready enough when they talk about the best lead guitarists around today, but he is one of the best.

49. Van Halen - "Hot For Teacher" You just can't deny how huge Van Halen were in their day, and how great they were. I used to sort of "blame"them for hair metal, but I realized that was ridiculous.  This song is one of Eddie Van Halen's coolest moments.

50. The Yardbirds - "Over Under Sideways Down" This is from the Jeff Beck era, which is my favorite.

PAUL DI'ANNO AT B.B. KING'S IN TIMES SQUARE

Well.  If you transported me to B.B. King's in Times Square tonight in the middle of this show, it would have taken me a minute to figure out what I was watching.  A few minutes.  Original Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno looks a bit different these days, and he sounds different too.  By the way, thank you to my friend Neil for the photo.

Of course, who doesn't look different and sound different than they did a quarter century ago! But Di'Anno wasn't trying to cover anything up.  He admitted throughout the show that he's "too old for this shit" but he gave a spirited performance, backed by opening band Icarus Witch (which kind of gave the gig a heavy metal Crazy Heart vibe, if you get the reference). The band were more Queensryche than Iron Maiden in my opinion, but they did a good job backing Paul, who gave 110% - he even came back after a stage diver crashed into his leg, causing him a lot of obvious pain (and forcing him to stop "Phantom Of The Opera" - luckily, he started over when he stopped seeing stars). He reminded the audience that he's been making lots of music since leaving Maiden in '81 - he played a number of songs from his post-Maiden career.  And the crowd were with him.

But what everyone was there to hear, mostly, were the songs from the first album, 1980's classic Iron Maiden. The show was advertised as focusing on that album, and it did (as well as a few songs from the follow-up, 1981's also classic Killers). Paul's voice isn't as preserved as well as, say, Rob Halford's; he's more like Ozzy Osbourne: it's not about being technically perfect, it's about having a lot of heart, and Paul does. What struck me during the show was that he could have just as easily been in a punk band as a metal band: he seems as influenced by Johnny Rotten as by any hard rock singer. Some fans looked annoyed when he spit out the lyrics to "Murderers in The Rue Morgue" hardcore punk style. It's hard to imagine him staying with Maiden much longer than he did. I could maybe picture him singing the songs on Number Of The Beast, but after that, no way.  Powerslave?  No way.  This dude would sooner kick your ass than sing "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner."

So, anyway, the show: was it as great as Maiden were in the early '80s? I doubt it. But it was probably more satisfying to the fans of the old stuff than Maiden's recent tour, where they focused on material from their last decade. And much cheaper: tickets tonight were $15 and $20. And hearing "Running Free," "Remember Tomorrow," "Killers," "Murderers In The Rue Morgue" sung by the guy who first did the vocals for them all those years ago, it was worth the price.

A bittersweet moment of the show came when Paul dedicated a song to original Maiden drummer Clive Burr, who now suffers from MS (Maiden have done fundraisers to raise money for him to help pay his medical bills). Apparently Clive isn't doing very well, but Paul talked fondly about always getting into trouble with with him and founding guitarist Dave Murray (who is still in the band).  Perhaps more surprisingly, he talked about Maiden's bassist and boss, Steve Harris, saying that he doesn't hate Steve, and in fact they are still great friends. Although he did mention that this tour was to say thanks to the fans  "because my old band aren't doing anything for the 30th anniversary."

He also mentioned that next year, he's doing one last album and one last tour (where he'll play his solo material, not Maiden music) and then retire to his home in Brazil and run his tattoo shop.  I can see why he'd do that - it can't be easy to do these kinds of tours, it probably isn't super luxurious and he was tired by the end of the night. But I was glad to have had the chance to see one of my favorite metal singers doing some of my favorite songs ever, so thanks Paul for making this last go-round.

IRON MAIDEN'S "FINAL" TOUR?

Iron Maiden announced that they have a new album coming out this year, The Final Frontier, and they are going on "Final Frontier" world tour as well. Dream Theater will be opening. I wonder if this will be their last album and tour. If so: what a great run. They are one of the best metal bands of all time.

TONIGHT ON LIQUID METAL: NO EXPIRATION

Tonight on SIRIUS|XM's Liquid Metal, I am taking over the "Listener Domination" show, playing three of my favorite metal tunes, by my three favorite metal bands: Metallica, Iron Maiden and the almighty Black Sabbath. Tune in at 7 pm ET, it's only three songs long.

IRON MAIDEN'S FLIGHT 666

Anvil isn't the only metal band with a documentary coming out. Iron Maiden's Flight 666 comes out this week (it will be in theaters for one day thanks to digital distribution) and will be out on DVD soon after. It's a doc from their most recent tour, and I know they interviewed famous and non famous fans. Should be pretty cool. 

IRON MAIDEN'S SOHO HOTEL

Maybe they should call it Motel Hell? Iron Maiden has funded a hotel for rock stars in Soho, England according to the UK's Times Online. The Sanctum Soho! Pretty funny. They'll probably do well with it, but then again you never know. Maiden's management did pretty well with Sanctuary Records, until they started hiring insane record label people (including Beyonce's dad to start an R&B division) and that eventually went south. I'd love to read about what the hotel is like once it opens. I think it's going to be more like a rock and roll version of the W than like a Hard Rock Cafe.

R.E.M. VS. IRON MAIDEN

This weekend, I listened to a lot of R.E.M. and a lot of Iron Maiden.  Weird combination, I know. But I was thinking about what each band meant to me throughout my life. More practically, both bands were playing outdoor concerts on Saturday night and I was thinking about going to one. 

While I was deciding what to do with myself that night, I had the cartoon-like experience of one imaginary friend telling me to go to one show, and another imaginary friend telling me to do the opposite thing. Well, they're not imaginary friends, they're guys I know in real life, and both of them have read No Expiration on occasion. One guy is like the quintessential R.E.M. fan, and the other is the most hard core metal dude I've ever met. I guess to over-simplify the issue, the Maiden dude would be the devil, and the R.E.M. fan... well, I don't know if you could call R.E.M. angelic, they did force Around The Sun and Reveal onto their fans. 

Maiden were one of the first bands I ever got into. I got into them around the time of Number Of The Beast, their third album, so they weren't one of these groups where you had to find all of their old stuff and spend tons of money. But they did always release cool singles with b-sides, and they always had the cool Derek Riggs artwork. They had nothing to do with the goofy hair metal of the era, they seemed serious as hell, but with a sense of humor. They seemed like the heaviest band in the world for a few years, and yet they were ambitious. Some of their songs, like "Run To The Hills," "The Trooper" and "2 Minutes To Midnight" showed a sort of social conscience that I could get with. 

R.E.M. I discovered in college, around the time of Document. It took me a while to really get into them, but once I got into them, I really got into them. They always just seemed so unusual, yet they wrote great songs. I remember being surprised whenever I heard them on rock (or pop) radio. And yet, eventually, they became a huge band, and totally on their own terms. And (like Maiden), they often released singles with cool b-sides. (I've always appreciated bands that do b-sides: it's like giving a little bit extra to the hard core fans). After Bill Berry left, I just didn't like the band as much; I wanted to, but their albums didn't really move me. I loved a few songs - notably "The Great Beyond" and "Bad Day" - but their albums left me cold. Until Accelerate. It's easily their best post-Berry album, and one of the best albums of the year. I'm actually moved whenever I listen to it. 

I guess R.E.M. is more like wine, and Maiden like beer. I love both, for different reasons. I run to R.E.M. and lift weights to Maiden. So, which show did I go to? Well, the answer is very un-rock and roll, but as I've mentioned, I haven't been able to buy all the concert tickets I'd like to, and I don't get freebies like I used to. Plus, it was raining that night (I would have hated to be at Jones Beach for R.E.M.'s show) and I'm training for a mini-triathlon, which takes a lot of time and keeps me away from my wife for a few hours a day.

So, I decided to stay home. R.E.M. is playing MSG on Thursday though, so I'll have another shot at catching them. But I'm pretty sure I'll be listening to both for as long as I'm listening to music.  

COPING VIA MIXTAPE: IRON MAIDEN

Over the weekend, I listened to a lot of Iron Maiden. They played a sold-out arena show on Friday night, and I couldn't go. So, yes, it's time for Coping Via Mixtape.

Maiden is on a tour that is adopting, for the most part, the setlist from thier 1985 tour for Powerslave, and even the stage set. I saw them on that tour at Radio City Music Hall, it was the third concert I ever attended and my mind was blown.

Iron Maiden was one of the first bands that I considered to be "mine." I got into them around the time of 1982's The Number Of The Beast, which was their third album, meaning I didn't have to do a ton of going back to find their old music (as I did with, say, Rush , who had been around for a long time when I first got into them). In fact, I was aware that Number was their first album with singer Bruce Dickinson, and I somehow wasn't interested in hearing the stuff with the original singer, who I was told wasn't as good.

Of course, later on, I ended up getting all of their albums (and I actually prefer original singer Paul Di'Anno, with no disrespect to Bruce). They were also the first band I knew of who had cool B-sides to thier singles, so after getting all of thier albums, there was more stuff to discover. Plus, they had super cool imagery, courtesy of the great Derek Riggs, and of course, they never seemed to "sell out." Even when they started using synthesizers on 1986's Somewhere In Time, they never seemed to be pandering to get a hit single.

Bruce Dickinson quit in the early '90s, and by then I had lost interest in their new music. But around '99, he rejoined (as did guitarist Adrian Smith) and I saw the band's reunion tour at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom (I think it was renamed the "Hammersmith" for the night). It was one of the best shows I've ever seen. People were just so happy to see them back together. I've seen them a few times since then, but that show kind of took the cake. So, I missed them this week at MSG, but they're coming back to the area, so hopefully I'll catch them in a few months. Now, for my mixtape:

From their 1980 self titled debut: "Prowler," "Remember Tomorrow," "Transylvania," "Strange World," "Sanctuary," "Charlotte The Harlot" and "Iron Maiden." For b-sides from the era, the live version of "Drifter," and their cover of the Montrose song, "I've Got The Fire."

From 1981's Killers: "The Ides Of March," "Murderers In The Rue Morgue," "Another Life," "Genghis Khan," "Innocent Exile," "Prodigal Son," "Purgatory" and "Twilight Zone." And the b-side "Invasion," not to be confused with the Number Of The Beast track, "Invaders."

From the live Maiden Japan EP: "Phantom Of The Opera," "Wrathchild" and "Running Free."

From The Number Of The Beast: "Children Of The Damned," "The Prisioner," "22 Acacia Avenue," "The Number Of The Beast," "Run To The Hills" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name."

From 1983's Piece Of Mind: "Revelations," "Flight Of Icarus," "The Trooper," "Still Life," "Sun And Steel." And the b-side cover of Jethro Tull's "Cross Eyed Mary."

From 1984's Powerslave: "2 Minutes To Midnight," "Aces High" and "Powerslave."

From the live 1985 album Life After Death: "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" and "Los'fer Words (Big 'Orra)."

From 1986's Somewhere In Time: "Wasted Years"

From 1988's Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son: "The Evil That Men Do"

From 1992's Fear Of The Dark: "Fear Of The Dark" (I didn't really like any of the songs on the previous album, 1990's No Prayer For The Dying)

From the 2000 reunion album Brave New World: "The Wicker Man" (I didn't really like any of their albums with Dickinson's replacement Blaze Bayley)

From 2003's Dance Of Death: "Dance of Death"

From 2006's A Matter Of Life And Death: "These Colors Don't Run" and "The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg"

Well, if it were a "mixtape," it would be a few 90s: all these songs together add up to nearly four hours. So it's a few workouts in a row. But back in my high school days, these songs (through Somewhere In Time) were my boombox tracks of choice on many a Friday and Saturday night. Long live Iron Maiden. Up The Irons!