Can We Stop Treating Concept Albums Like Regular Albums?

Welcome to a new segment where Genghis Runs His Mouth about stuff.I've been listening to rock music for over 30 years now and while I'm no expert on the subject, I've spent a lot of time in my life observing my fellow humans do what they do. And a particular pattern has emerged regarding how long time fans of a band treat that band's occasional concept albums.

There tends to be a reaction of "meh, it's all right," (usually when comparing it to previous works from the band) which I think belies a fundamental misunderstanding of where such an undertaking fits into the scheme of things. Concept albums by their nature - when done right - are cohesive narratives, with each individual song a part of a larger storyline that dictates a dynamic structure. Just as a Hollywood movie has moments of intense drama mixed with thoughtful silence, so does the musical trajectory of the concept album. You might think it exciting, but imagine a movie like Die Hard where every single scene that's not about shooting and fighting are taken out. You don't have an intelligible story, and ultimately aren't engaged in the movie. And in fact, it's the inbetween scenes that give impetus to the actions scenes and make them satisfying.

For example, this scene from The Matrix, while a nice bit of choreography, is made so much cooler by the preceding scene where Neo finally realizes his power within the matrix, that he may actually be The One.

So it goes with music. Radio stations never play Rush's Discovery off the legendary 2112 album as a standalone track; it's not meant to be. Who really wants to hear Alex tuning his guitar and noodling around? But within context it's absolutely essential to the imagery of the story as our hero gains insight into the music of a bygone era.

Take us nearly 40 years hence to Dream Theater's The Astonishing - and ironically a pretty similar story to, albeit more fully realized than, 2112. It's a double album with 34 songs, many of which are punctuated with sound effects and ambient vocalizations/music (e.g. The Hovering Sojourn and Brother, Can You Hear Me?) rather than full-fledged progmetal tunes as enjoyed on the band's preceding self-titled album (e.g. The Looking Glass). What I've heard mostly from critics as well as fans is "wow, what an ambitious album," which sounds suspiciously like "it's kind of boring, but they clearly put a lot of work into it, God bless 'em."

All I'm saying is you can't look at such art and treat it like you're looking at the ingredients on a box of cereal: "Bastards! There's nearly 40% less balls and chunk™ in this than there used to be!" It's not a straight numbers game. And I can't say I've ever overheard someone in a museum looking at the Mona Lisa like "Not bad, but this one's so drab compared to his earlier stuff. Wish he'd done another Last Supper".

- Genghis admits it's taking a little time to fully appreciate The Astonishing...

Inside Metal - Pioneers of L.A. Hard Rock and Metal 2

Inside Metal is a series, of documentaries, put out by MetalRock Films.   These documentaries give you really good insight into the LA music scene.  The first documentary, in this series, is called Inside Metal: Pioneers of the of L.A. Hard Rock and Metal.  The first film, in this series, covers the L.A. rock scene from 1982 - 1986.  I decided to check out the second one first, because it starts from 1975 - 1981.  I'm not sure why they didn't do these in order, other than the fact, that maybe they thought that the 82 -  86 era, would be more popular.  It totally makes sense, if that is why they did it.

Inside Metal 2, is a very informative documentary, covering the rise of the L.A. Hard Rock and Metal scene.  It takes you back to when Van Halen broke, and covers the challenges that many of these bands faced, trying to emerge from the pack.  The DVD is chocked full of interviews, from some of your favorite artists.  I was also impressed that they had representation from some of the more obscure bands, from the era, like Max Havoc.  I have to say, this was a thoroughly entertaining watch, and left me craving more.  I'm definitely putting my order into Amazon, for Part 1.

Bottom Line: An in depth look, into one of the greatest rock scenes, to emerge from the USA.  lots of great interviews and information from the scene that would impact the metal world forever.

-Ragman is glad he decided to go in order. 

Podcast Interview: Ronnie Atkins

Legendary Pretty Maids singer Ronnie Atkins chats with Rags about his latest project: Nordic Union.Singer Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) stops by to talk with Ragman about his collaboration with Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.) known as Nordic Union. So join TRTR for a little tête-à-tête about the new melodic hard rock album as well as his plans for Pretty Maids.

And don't forget to look for Nordic Union's self-titled new album which is available from Frontiers Music. HORNS UP!

Featured Tracks: Pretty Maids - Loveshine; Nordic Union - Hypocrisy, The War Has Begun, Every Heartbeat, Wide Awake; Pretty Maids - Hell on High Heels

Ronnie Atkins Interview

The Mutilator

The Mutilator, is one of those lost films, from the 80's, that didn't receive the accolades that it deserved, but thanks to Arrow Films, it will finally get its due, well maybe.  This film is a cookie cutter 80's slasher movie.  It includes bad acting, and of course the slasher as well as a pretty decent story line.  With the success of films like Halloween and Friday the 13th, films like this came out by the droves.  It is unfortunate that many of these films, have been forgotten, because there are truly some gems out there.

The Mutilator is about a group of teens that go to pack up one of their friends beach house, for the winter.  Little do they know, that there is a predator waiting in the wings to mutilate them.  Like I said, this is something right out of the Friday the 13th play-book, but it still works, without being a rip off.  Once I got passed the bad acting, I really got into the story as well as the special effects.  This movie seemed low budget, but the special effects were phenomenal.  I think at one point, it got so gory, I almost had to look away.  All I'm gonna say is meat hook, in an uncomfortable place.  OUCH!  The realism of some of the kill scenes, sent this one over the top for me.  Great movie.

Bottom Line: A typical slasher film, but with great special effects, especially for 1985.  The transfer to Bluray looks awesome.  Grab some popcorn and turn down the lights, and be prepared to be entertained.

-Ragman had some mini-puke during this one.

Podcast Interview: Torsten Ihlenfeld

Guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld of Brainstorm sits in for a great interview about his band's new album.German power metal stalwarts Brainstorm owe their sound in part to guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld for a great interview about what the band's up to, their latest album, and touring the world. So open a nice German beer (may we humbly suggest a nice Weihenstephaner?) and pull up a chair.

And please be sure to check out Brainstorm's latest album Scary Creatures, available from AMF Records! HORNS UP!

Featured Tracks: Brainstorm -  Entering Solitude, Sky Among the Clouds, How Much Can You Take, How Much Can You Take, We Are, Scary Creatures, and Recall the Real

Torsten Ihlenfeld Interview