Whoa!!!

Well I have been busy and updating our website http://www.bleachbangs.com/ and now I am also writing album reviews at http://www.heavymetalreview.com/.

I will try to update more as I can.  Trying to find new bands listen to, check out live, and get on our show.  Again check us out at http://www.bleachbangs.com/

taking a break

Now I will listen to the heaviest of the the heavy metal music. My Ipod has Slayer, Prong, Shadows Fall, Slipknot, and Hail the Villain. I have even dowloaded Cannibal Corpse and Obituary just to enjoy the music, however the growling isn't something I can get used to.

So tonight I am going to go see Kristie Stremel and the 159ers playing in a bar here in Topeka. It's not really the music I might known for, but I have a couple of Kristie's albums and really enjoy her singing and musical style so this should be good night of music.

She is playing a benefit at the College Hill Tavern at 8:00.

Pulling the "what if" card

Now I like to think what if??? In a meeting, what if I jump on the table and air guitar "Panama" or what if I hop in my car and drive for three days, where would I end up? Stuff like that is great to do.

Now, what if applies to rock-n-roll. What if Joe Satriani never taught guitar lessons? Ummm, big f'ing what if!!!!

Not only is Satch one of the greatest guitar players ever but he is also the teacher of the follow individuals: Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, David Bryson of Counting Crows, Kevin Cadogan from Third Eye Blind, Larry LaLonde of Primus, Alex Skolnick of Testament, and many many more. Think of how he has changed music. If any of these guitarists had not taken instructions from Satch would they even be in these bands and would these bands be where they are today. I would have to say especially on Kirk Hammett and Larry LaLonde, Kirk is one of the greatest heavy metal guitarists alive. Larry has such a unique playing style it's helped Primus become what it is today, regardless what you Les fanatics say.

I remember only wanting to buy Joe Satriani's "Surfing with the Alien" album years back because the Silver Surfer was on the cover and to be honest was a little let down when I found out it was only instrumental and no lyrics. Then I heard the songs and was blown away, go check it out.

Thanks Joe.

weekly reminder

Tonite on the show we have the Amy's from www.RetroActive.com so listen in. I am really excited about this and I have not had a chance to talk with the Amy's before so it will be great to talk with them and get to know more about them.

Also check out out the home website at www.bleachbangs.com as it has been updated with a calendar on the home page as well as the upcoming shows section showing who will be on our show in the near future. If you check out my page I have added a new section about new bands that I have come across that are kick ass and really enjoy their music.

Oh to be young again

So I was reading the Ozzy autobiography and I came to the part in his life where he was taken to court after a teenager had commited suicide and "Suicide Solution" was playing on the stereo when he did it. It must be horrible to have to be a musician and write lyrics that are about honest, sincere, important moments in your life and then it's interpreted by someone else the wrong way with tragic results.



That's probably why I get so upset about the shit that heavy metal takes about how the music is played, but no one listens to what the music is about. Granted lately I haven't been focusing on the lyrics but more the music, but I remember back in the day as a teenager and living out in the country and music was all I had. I would read the liner notes, the lyrics, read up on the music in every magazine I could find, so I could "understand" the music and what the band was trying to convey.



Here is a few of the lyrics over time that have been really influential and even today are talked about:



Black Sabbath- Paranoid- "I tell you to enjoy life, I wish I could but it's to late." (which this is one of the lyrics that was used against Ozzy in court as they claimed he said "I tell you to END your life")



Ozzy - Suicide Solution- "Wine is fine, but whiskey's quicker."



Jimi Hendrix- Purple Haze- "Excuse me while I kiss the sky" (not excuse my while I kiss this guy, as Ozzy stated he thought was being said)

Real American Hero

No it's not GI Joe, it is Chuck Norris. I figured it was only a matter of time before I would do a blog about Mr. Norris and the time is now.....enjoy.


-Chuck Norris can play the violin with a piano.

-Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

-Chuck Norris won a staring contest against his reflection.

-Chuck Norris once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.

-Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.

-Chuck Norris can squeeze orange juice out of a lemon.

-Chuck Norris once won a game of Connect Four in 3 moves.

-Chuck Norris once had a heart attack....his heart lost.

-Chuck Norris can have both feet on the ground and kick ass at the same time.

-Giraffes were created when Chuck Norris uppercutted a horse.

-It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 minutes.

-When Chuck Norris falls in water, Chuck Norris doesn't get wet. Water gets Chuck Norris.

-When God said, "Let there be light," Chuck Norris said, "say please."

-MC Hammer learned the hard way that Chuck Norris can touch this.

-The president has Chuck Norris on speed dial...on the red phone.

-Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one.

-Nobody does it like Sara Lee, except Chuck Norris.

-Chuck Norris can slam revolving doors.

Tonight's show!!

Whoops almost missed it!!! Tonight on the show we have a returning guest the outstanding drummer, Tyler Reiner. He will be discussing his new band and what is going on with him right now.

Check us out tonight on bleachBANGS radio!!!. www.bleachbangs.com

How to buy off instinct

I was looking around a record store recently at buying a new cd. I rarely do this as I have fallen prey to the electronic world and prefer to buy songs/albums off Itunes or (ahem) getting songs in other means, but honestly I feel I have gone straight and I do buy them off Itunes now so that I help out the bands.

Anyway, I was having a hard time choosing a cd to buy and couldn't see why. Then I started remembering when I was in high school my friends and I used to play a game where we took turns buying a cd off of the cover only. We couldn't pick a cd on a band we knew anything about and couldn't go off the song titles either. Needless to say I acquired some really interesting albums that now I couldn't even tell you what their names were. I pretty much would listen to the cd's on the drive home and then never again. I believe I got my first taste of death-metal from this game.

It's interesting to think about how much we focus on visual stimulation rather on the bands music. Just think about how many kids purchased the Black Crowes album "Amorica" because of the album cover only. (For those that don't know the cover just look it up) Also look at how much trouble Cannible Corpse has gotten for all their album covers.

Here is just a few of the albums covers that are considered "classic":

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Went back and got old school recently, I downloaded all the Black Sabbath albums. Man it is so awesome to be able to relive these records. What is really cool is my father has the 1st Black Sabbath album on vinyl!! I remember finding it when I had bought my first Ozzy cassette, but at the time I really didn't think much of the record and how important it was to rock-n-roll history. This is the first metal album, I know there has been much debate about it and I won't go into that whole thing. All I remember when I was listening to that album when I was a teenager was, this is really old. What a moron I was.

These albums are beyond perfect, I extremely love "Evil Woman" on the first album. Ozzy sounds incredible and Toni riff is legendary. I can't believe I didn't discover this song back in the day. Who knows how I could have changed me or my outlook on music.






Alright on tonite's show we have the man who has been fighting the establishment to bring great music back into the mainstream. The one and only Sam McCaslin. Sam is the CEO of Retrospect Records. He is responsible for helping many up and coming bands such as Wildstreet, The Glitter Boys, Black Tora and many more.

So check us out tonite on BleachBANGS radio 8:30 cst, http://www.bleachbangs.com/.

what is your priority

Ok so I planned on not during much personal blogs, but this one is still bothering me this morning.

On my way driving to work this morning I experienced something I never have before, I almost hit a person. I have unfortunately, have hit animals before and was upset about it, but never a human being. Luckily it was in no way my fault, but that still doesn't change how it has affected me. Here is what happened:

I was coming up to a major intersection with a stop light, I was in the left hand lane with a car behind me and there was a truck in the right hand lane with a car behind it. We all were approaching the intersection and the light was green for us, so none of us even hesitated to slow down. Just as we all were reaching the intersection, we could see a woman on the other side of the intersection running into the cross walk and she wasn't stopping. I thought to myself, is she really going to keep going with all of us coming towards her?? And she did. She ran right across the road right in front of us all and I couldn't believe it. We all had to slam on our brakes, luckily i believe we all saw she was doing this and we all reacted the same. I checked my mirror to see if everyone else did what I did and they all were staring at this woman still running through the intersection and onto the sidewalk. Then we all saw what she was running for, her bus.

The bus had been stopped in the westbound lane and she was running for that. Was that really worth almost dying for and causing a major automobile accident?!??!! I didn't get mad as I kept wondering why would she do this to herself. Was catching that bus so important? If she missed it would that jeopardize something major in her life? Would she be late work and then be fired? It could have been everything.

I just keep wondering what was going through her head and why she would risk ending her life just to make a bus.

MegaMetallicadeth

So Dave Mustaine has a new book out, in it he states that "Without my songs and my solos — without my energy — I don't know that METALLICA ever would have become the band that it was." I to an extend would agree, to no disrespect to any of the members of Metallica, but Dave is a hell of a guitar player and obviously has shown that he is capable of writing great songs and creating music for the decades he has been doing it.



I think that because of the popularity that Metallica got in the beginning they were able to overshadow the music that Dave was creating. He had to be different than Metallica or be known as a copycat artist and that difference is what held him back during the metal movement in the 90's.



Of course add that all on top of the negative press Dave would get about being a difficult person caused him to take a back seat to Metallica, but I really love Megadeth's albums and remember growing up with them and love revisiting them at this time in my life. I recently purchased "Peace Sells, But Who's Buying" earlier this year and it took me right back to my teenage years hanging out in my friend Shane's room smokin' weed and headbangin'.



Add when you also include that Megadeth has some of the most bad ass album covers ever, and Vic is one of the best mascots next to Eddie of Iron Maiden. Here are some examples.

returning to nothing

Yeah I did it again, no posts, no updates, no nothing. Big surprise. So another attempt to return to nothing starting again.

Just read about Methods of Mayhem new album coming out and what Tommy Lee did on the album.

Now I really think the Tommy is a cool dude. Regardless of the media problems, the marriage, the video, or whatever you want to throw into the pot, Tommy comes across as someone that just likes to hang out and party.

There are other members of Motley Crue that have seemed to be opinionated or can't get their lives in order, but Tommy seems to have his sh#t together. I've red "The Dirt" and of all the Crue members he seems the most down to earth. He loves his kids a lot, loves to make music, and he is a bad ass drummer hands-down.

So here's to you Tommy!!!!

Salvation Stipulation

Alright boys and girls next up is Chevelle. Now I discovered Chevelle when I read a review of their Wonder What's Next album was coming out. To be honest I only wanted to read about them as my bubby drove a chevelle for awhile and I thought to myself, really?? They named themselves after a car? Then I started listening to them and have been hooked ever since.

I was really impressed that they were just a threepiece band, then I was impressed they were all brothers, and finally I was impressed how heavy they sound. I could relate them to how heavy Soundgarden sounds on their Outshined track. These guy never really get fast, just fucking heavy.

From then I lost track of them for a little while, they put out some albums and I would download a song here or there from them, but never was hooked until........Vena Sera.

I don't know what the hell Vena Sera means, but the album has some kick ass tracks on it and I really recommend getting this album. Especially if you haven't really listened to Chevelle before, tracks such as: Well Enough Alone and I Get It, will grab you by the balls (and for you ladies, as I don't want to leave you out, the nipples) and blow your fucking mind. However it was track #6 - The Fad, that really knocked me on my ass. The opening bass line catches you in and they never let go, definitely my favorite track.

Recently they came out with the Sci-Fi Crimes album and it didn't disappoint me as I hoped, I have purchased many of their songs from I-Tunes, which I hate to do. I'm sorry I still like to download illegally, but for bands I really like I will pay for the songs or an album.

So boys and girls that is another one down for the count I leave you with the video for The Fad so enjoy and only 27 days until the Debauchery begins.

The trials and tribulations havew begun

I'm going to make it easy on myself, I just have one word-------Sully!!!!

Countdown to Extinction

The title is a little extreme, but appropriate to the cause. Starting a new venture tonight, the countdown to Rocklahoma.

Now I have only been to one, but feel like I've been to them all as much as the Hendog talked about them. Last year was a great time and for those that have been to one you can relate, but for those that attend a "single" day rock festival you have truly missed out. Last year was 4 count them 4 days of non-stop rock and roll!!! 3 side stages, 1 main stage all running one after the other so no lapse in music, it was volume overload!!! Free booze, free food, uumm did I say free booze!! Yes it was 100+ degrees everyday, but you got used to it and the constant beer to water ratio was always appropriate.

But the music, aahh the music. Never had I seen before a multitude of music like this. I do give the organizers credit that they did the perfect arrangement by having the side stages start the moment the main stage ended. I do hate to wait for my music so this was in a sense a wet dream for me, but I was awake so I really got to enjoy it. All in all the music was more of the hair metal genre, which is great as those rockers have always been here, just lost in the clutter crap that's on the airwaves today. So it was great for them all to show the world how they can still kick ass with their music.

So now is the arrival of Rocklahoma 2010! The format has changed as people are stupid and there was a huge decline in attendance since the festival started. Now there is a more modern lineup, but we will get the that at a later blog.

Enjoy the upcoming days as I countdown the days to final day that is coming. We will call it, The DEBAUCHERY!!!!

Holy F#ck!!!!

It has been a month since I posted anything on this. Damn a month since I have a chance to express my wisdom, my opinion, my sexual experience. So I guess I need to start shaping up and getting my shit together.

Things have changed, no opinions matter, what the fuck is this all about.

More to come,......

Welcome Back!!!!

Started thinking about the bands I used to enjoy growing up and what they are doing now. Bands such as Faith No More, Biohazard, Pro-Pain, plus more and more. Now a lot of these were unknown bands that I just came across their cd in the music store one day and liked the cover. (Which is one of the best ways to buy a CD, try it next time)

So it got me thinking, what are these bands doing now? Are they still together? Are they still playing? WHERE ARE THEY!!!!!!

Luckily the internet can provide me all that. I found that Faith No More has been touring most of 2009 and will tour some of 2010. Biohazard just finished their reunion tour. Another band I enjoyed Pro-Pain was touring this whole time.

What is the problem??? All of these tours are NOT in the United States!!!! All of the tour are over in Europe or Australia or South America. What the hell is going on here???

What is wrong with touring here in America?? Are the bands just not able to get venues to pay enough or are they just not willing to book them?? I don't get it, a Biohazard reunion tour would have to make money. They had two platinum albums!!!! So what no one wants to see them or something????

We got to do something so we can get the bands that we loved growing up to continue to play in venues here in the U.S. So contact your congressman or city council members or something!!!! I know it's all about the money and if you don't have a single on the Billboard top 100 or whatever it is, then no one wants to sponsor your tour. I got to tell you though, some of the best shows are played in the smallest places. Once you eliminate all of the stage bullshit, extra light shows, special effects, and giant screen backgrounds. You get back to what it is all about my friend: the music.

I will see you at the bar so we can check out the show, I'll buy you a cold one..

Arrival of INVERMIER

This Tuesday on Bleach Bangs we will be talking with Tyler Reiner the drummer of INVERMIER.

John and I met Tyler at the ANVIL show in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago he was selling the merchandise at the show as you see he is the son of Robb Reiner, the drummer of ANVIL. In talking with him we discovered he was in his own band and got a sample CD. I listened to it and I was really impressed. So much so that it's amazing that this is their first album. Many of the songs are very complex, but flow very nicely together.

In particular the one I liked the best is, "This is who we are". It is available on their Myspace page, so go check it out. Right now go, I will wait here for you.

Did you listen to it?? Good now you know why you have to listen to Tuesday's show. Don't be a douche and listen to the show.

The vexatious sound of being

Wow 4 days without a blog and I got nothing!! Well let's see what we can get rolling in the old noggin.

Apparently at an event honoring Neil Young, the Red Hot Chili Peppers did a cover of Neil Young's "A Man Needs a Maid" with their new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. Klinghoffer also has comfirmed that he is the Red Hot Chili Peppers new guitarist after John Frusciante stated he left the band over a month ago. This really sucks!!!

I know this is more of a hair metal/early heavy metal blog, but I do love all rock n roll, so bare with me.

John Frusciante is an astonishing guitarist. I would have to say the RHCP were at their best when he was with them. I don't know if his style of music influenced them or what, but they made mind-blowing music when with him. So Klinghoffer good luck following in some colossal shoes my man.

According to John's website http://www.johnfrusciante.com/, he has no hard feelings towards anyone in the band and they support his decision. John has decided to go on his own and make music by himself so he can have total control of it. I really feel divided about the whole situation, I have loved RHCP for many years. Each member is really different but essential in the band. Flea is one of the greatest bass players alive, Anthony is wondrous front man, and Chad bangs the shit out of the skins. But I also worship John's solo albums, particularly To Record Only Water For Ten Days. It is mostly him, his guitar and a drum machine. I would have to say it is an acquired taste, but I thoroughly enjoy it. Here is a video of one of John's songs, The Past Recedes, off his Curtains album.

When credit is due

Last night my friend John (fellow bleach banger) and I had the chance to see one of, if not the most, underrated bands in history, ANVIL.

For those that don't know, ANVIL started in the mid 70's and their first album was released in 1981 titled Hard and Heavy. As should have been expected they toured with the best bands in the world and then unfortunately went nowhere. I don't want to spend this blog talking about what happened and how wrong it was, as that is to fucking boring. Everyone can see all of that on their movie, Anvil the story of Anvil. I have seen it and it really is a great movie about the band.

The movie is also how I came to know the band. I would have to admit that I didn't know who they were before I saw the movie, but as with other people that now like Anvil that is the whole point. Now that I know about the band, I can enjoy their music and it does kick ass. Especially their latest album, This is Thirteen, which incidentally in also their thirteen album of their career, nice touch guys.

Anyway, back to the performance. They really kicked ass as I said, what is also impression is these guys (except for the bass player) are in their fifties and they would have put guys half their age to shame. Especially the drummer Robb Reiner, he did a drum solo that was close to epic. God how I miss the old days of drum solos, they are a lost art form. Going through close to a 10 song set, they never let up the entire time. And they are really down to earth type guys.

John and I both had the opportunity for a meet and greet before the show and got pictures taken with each member. Mostly a little small talk here and there, which was nice, but when we got to the singer Steve "Lips" Kudlow, it was a little humbling. I asked him how it felt to be a rock star now, and he said "Man I'm not a rock star, a rock star is someone with their head in the clouds and my feet are on the ground." And I really believed him, during the set he kept coming into the crowd and would play songs, he was stating that he loved to perform on stage, and as they were about to start their last song he said for everyone to give him about 5 minutes to clean up after the show and he would come up and shake everyone's hand. Truly a perform who lives to play music and expects nothing else. Many of the performers out there right now could really take some notes from these guys.

I want to give these three guys the respect and gratification that they deserve. They have stuck with their passion and desire for the love of their music and never gave up. That is something I believe we can all agree on that we don't see anymore.

Keep on rockin' Anvil, I look forward to enjoying your career from here on, I wish I had known you sooner.

\m/

Sportin' A Woody, Fantastico

Another great show tonight on Bleach Bangs. We had the great frontman Jason McMaster on the show. He was nice enough to honor us with his presence. Man this guy is a monster, he stated that he is in several different bands. Most of you should know him as the frontman for the great metal band, Dangerous Toys. He is also a member of another great band, Broken Teeth. They just released a new CD called Viva La Rock, Fantastico this tuesday.

McMaster is also involved in the following bands: Watchtower, SSIK (KISS Tribute), Ignitor, and Killa Maul (Metallica Tribute).

I gotta tell you, the man is awesome. We all on the show agreed that just being able to keep a few bands straight would be a task, but he is truly a "master." He was actually on the road to a Killa Maul show and acted like it was nothing for him.

Another fantastic thing is I have listened to several of the bands on their MySpace pages and each of them sounds completely different. Ignitor has more of a speed metal sound, Watchtower slapping your face with a thrash sound. To be honest I hadn't really had a chance to listen to Broken Teeth, but when I did HOLY SHIT!!!! I am waiting to be able to download some songs digitally and then buying the record, because the new record is f#ckin awesome. Songs such as Exploder, Break the Spell, and Blackheart are phenomenal sounding songs I extremely recommend checking it out and buying the damn thing as soon as you possibly can.

That's all for now...

The availability of my music

I don't listen to the radio, never really have. I do have the availabilty of a station that has always played my music, but with that I have times when they play the same songs to often and it begins to bore me. I do have the opportunity for an ipod but my "older" car isn't equip with the functions for my ipod to play in my car. Also since I don't know how long I will have my car I don't want to spend the cash to have the hardware installed so I can use my ipod.

So I still go old school with a compilation cd of different songs. That's right my friends a "Super Tape" (or cd whatever you want to call it.) This way I can enjoy the opportunity to download different songs and enjoy them on one cd while I drive.

Anyway, I'm off track a little. I wanted to extend my thanks and appreciation of VH1 CLASSIC. Usually every Saturday night for sure and occasionally a day or two in the week, they will play a show called, Metal Mania. This is the wholly grail for metal music, it's like saturday morning cartoons when you were a kid. Most of the shows will run 2.5-3 hours long. If you have the chance TiVo them or DVR them, whatever you have. For those that are tired of wanting MTV for videos (which never happens now), these are the shows to watch. I am watching one now and I have already seen the best of bands. Slayer, Overkill, Tesla, Anthrax, Bon Jovi, and many more.

So raise your devil horns and salute VH1 Classic for the balls to play the videos of the bands that paved the way for the so called "metal" bands of today.

\m/

The Beginning Of The End

It's the first post so gotta get it right, I'll tell you right now were not geniuses (sorry everybody but I gotta set the records straight.) We are just regular joes, the guys and gal of the norm. But the one thing we excel at is METAL. You will not find much more on this blog, but the talking of metal. This is an addition to our radio show, Bleach Bangs. Also check out our website, www.bleachbangs.com for more information. I gotta give credit to Randy and Becca for the creation of the web page. They are the bomb!!!

We started slow with weekly broadcasts talking about music and how it affects us. Also we would do our favorite top tens, such as bands, concerts, guitarists and many others. Now we have moved on to doing what I believe Randy, Charlie, and John started out to do. Bringing the metal to the masses. Since then we have had bands such as, KrashKarma, Wildstreet, Revengeance, and Dirty Penny to name a few on the show. Plus many many more to come so listen in and ROCK ON!!!

Metal is in our blood. Whether hair metal, heavy metal, alternative metal or glam metal. Call it what you will but we all live and breathe it. We all grew up on the "Hair Metal" craze and now are doing our best to keep it alive and help out the up and coming bands that will keep this genre alive when we are pushing up daisies. These bands mean more to us than the music. It's part of our past and what helped make us what we are today.

SO BE READY WORLD AS HERE COMES THE-----BLEACH BANGS!!!!!!