Rainbow - "On Stage" (LP Review)

So I've been wondering how to commemorate the passing of Ronnie James Dio... Anyone who knew me in high school remembers that I was a huge fan. I believe it was Chris Miller that gave me a tape of "Holy Diver" right after it came out in 1983, and from there I slowly worked my way backwards through Dio's canon: Black Sabbath, Rainbow, then Elf. That was back in the pre-Web days when working out a discography took a lot of research (time and $) in the record store. I was proud that I had eventually collected all of his LPs on vinyl, including the Elf LPs which, truth be told, aren't very good.

By college I had mostly outgrown my fascination with the D&D / fantasy / metal genre, of which RJD was a central figure, but he'll always be nostalgically significant and I was saddened by his passing. But which LP to review for F-Measure? "Holy Diver" and "Heaven and Hell" are obvious choices -- too obvious, IMO. The same argument could also be made for "Mob Rules", which is at least as good as the latter two but often overlooked.

But perhaps the most important to me was "On Stage", the mostly forgotten 1977 live double LP from Rainbow. For one, I really love Ritchie Blackmore's guitar playing: fluid, effortless, expressive. I'm a Deep Purple fan as well, but Blackmore seems more comfortable here than any of his previous or later LPs. The rest of the lineup features Rainbow at the their finest: Cozy Powell (drums), Tony Carey (keyboards), and Jimmy Bain (bass). Dio would work with most of these people again in later lineups (Dio/Sabbath/Rainbow/Purple/Whitesnake all regularly swapped members from LP to LP), but this lineup, the same as on "Rainbow Rising", is Rainbow's strongest.

The second reason this is a good LP to revisit is that Dio's latter fantasy themes are only partially developed here. Sure, songs like "Kill the King", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and "Man On the Silver Mountain" hint at the thematic direction for the rest of his career, but imagery is not quite as over the top here. Granted, I liked the fantasy themes 25+ years ago (cf. my review of "Queensryche"), but they seem silly now. At the time, I thought Blackmore's presence reined in some of the fantasy imagery, but ironically Blackmore's project of the last 10+ years, Blackmore's Night, is 100 times worse in its Spinal Tap cliches.

The LP itself features some of the excesses of 1970's live LPs: lots of patter with audience, long songs featuring extended solos of every kind, etc. Blame Frampton, the Grateful Dead, or maybe even Deep Purple: there was a template for live LPs at the time, and extended fusion jams is what you got. For some songs, it doesn't work: the medley of "Man on the Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck" would be stronger as two separate songs and without the "Blues" interlude.

On the other hand, the extended jams work in the case of "Mistreated" (a cover from "Burn" by Deep Purple, Mk. III), "Still I'm Sad" (a cover off the "Having a Rave Up" LP by The Yardbirds) and "Catch The Rainbow". The latter song is really the jewel of the entire LP; a 15:36 long workout of soft-loud-soft-loud-soft. Dio, Blackmore and Powell are all in exceptional form on this song. Occupying the entire side two of the vinyl, I used to listen to this song on maximum volume more times than I can remember. The soft->loud transition from ~8:15-9:40 remains one of my favorite musical passages. Listening to this version of "Catch the Rainbow" is an investment for me and is something that can't be done casually.

I've recently discovered that in 1990 Polydor reissued "Live in Germany" which appears to be recorded from the same tour as "On Stage", but perhaps without some of the editing required to fit "On Stage" to vinyl. I haven't brought myself to purchase this LP yet -- revisiting new/old RJD recordings isn't something I've been especially eager to do, "The Last in Line" was the last LP of his I really enjoyed even though I bought a few after that. Perhaps "Live In Germany" is actually a better LP, but I'm choosing to remember RJD with "On Stage" and in particular "Catch the Rainbow".

Standout songs: "Catch the Rainbow", "Mistreated", "Kill the King", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", "Still I'm Sad".

Skip 'em songs: "Man on the Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck" (or at least the "Blues" portion of this track; the link here is nicely just MOTSM).

Final score: 9/10. I've tried to adjust for the nostalgia factor, but it should be apparent from the above that is not easily done.

Johnny Cash - "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (the song remains the same)

Both Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin had Hall of Fame careers even if they had never hooked up for Cash's American Recordings series. But they did, and the result was nothing short of amazing...

On the surface, Cash & Rubin would seem to be an unlikely pairing: Cash is a born-again Christian from Arkansas and Tennessee who is best known for singing gospel, folk and country; and Rubin is a Jew from Long Island who is best known for producing hip hop and metal bands and founding the seminal record label Def Jam Recordings (with Russell Simmons in 1984).

On further inspection, it is a perfect match: Sun Records was the Def Jam / Def American of its time and Cash certainly lived (invented?) the rock and roll lifestyle. Furthermore, Rubin is renowned for his powerful, stripped-down, spare production style that gets the most out of the artist; and Cash's career had been foundering, in part because the major labels were overproducing his records and trying to make him into something he was not. Cash and Rubin released their first record in 1994, American Recordings, and that was the beginning of a critically and commercially successful string of LPs each of which consisted of originals, re-recording of Cash's early songs, covers and standards.

Released as a single from 2006's posthumously released "American V: A Hundred Highways", "God's Gonna Cut You Down" is Cash's version of the traditional song generally credited as "Run On". The song has been recorded by many different artists and although it is a homily about abandoning sinful ways, it is generally presented as an up-tempo and joyful song -- a New Testament reading, if you will.

Not so with Cash and Rubin -- you could say they give an Old Testament presentation: dark, booming and vengeful. Changing the title from "Run On" captures the shift of emphasis -- "God's Gonna Cut You Down" was always in the lyrics, but it never seemed to be the main point of the song. Now it is, and the song sounds like the wrath of God.

You might (barely) recognize the song from Moby's 1999 LP "Play", where it was titled "Run On" and sampled a 1947 recording by Bill Landford & The Landfordaires (then titled "Run On for a Long Time"). I must have heard this song dozens of times before I even realized they were singing the lyrics "God will cut you down". This song is a typical example of Moby's gift for recontextualizing early recordings (folk, blues, etc.) in an electronica format.

Another notable version is from the Blind Boys of Alabama, from their 2001 LP "Spirit of the Century". This is a more conventional gospel arrangement, probably closer to Moby's source recording from Landford.

There are countless other recordings of this song but this should give a good sampling of the various versions. And as good as these other versions are, Cash and Rubin have pretty much closed the book on this song -- no one else is going to come close.

Johnny Cash: "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

Moby: "Run On", "Run On" (live acoustic version)

Bill Landford & The Landfordaires: "Run On for a Long Time"

Blind Boys of Alabama: "Run On"

Kate Bush - "Hounds of Love" (the song remains the same)

Let's do one more Kate Bush cover song...

"Hounds of Love" is the third single released from Kate's 1985 LP "Hounds of Love" (the single came out in 1986). An ode to the fear of commitment, it is a great song but it took me a while to discover this in part because of the mid-1980s production techniques that worked well enough on "Running Up That Hill" don't really make the song "Hounds of Love" stand out.

It wasn't until a few years ago when Johan turned me onto The Futureheads and their 2004 self-titled LP where they do an excellent cover of "Hounds of Love" that I really appreciated the original. The Futureheads transform it from an art/prog rock song and strip it down to just a simple, new wave rock song. While busy channeling The Knack, The Futureheads speed up the tempo, replace the keyboards with guitars, and completely embrace the background vocals that otherwise sound a little awkward on Kate's version. And if that's not a solid formula for how to improve a rock song, then I don't know what is...

Kate Bush: studio version, TOTP version

The Futureheads: studio version, official video, live version, unplugged/live version

Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill" (the song remains the same)

Part two of my "please do more Kate Bush covers" series...

"Running Up That Hill" is probably my favorite Kate Bush song, at least as performed by Kate herself. This is probably in part due to the song coming out in 1985 (on the "Hounds of Love" LP) and trading in the production excesses of the late 70s for, well... the production excesses of the mid-80s, but at least those are more palatable to my GenX sensibilities.

People seem to have different ideas about what the song is actually about; Kate herself is quoted as saying it is simply about swapping roles (Male <-> Female) in order to understand the other. I tend to think there is more to it than that: despite the upbeat feel, the song seems to be a jumbled mess of sexuality ("do you want to know how it feels?"), codependency ("tell me, we both matter, don't we?") and possession ("let me steal this moment from you now"). Basically, Heathcliff and Catherine again.

I'm pretty sure Placebo agrees with my darker, more sinister interpretation. Available on some versions of 2003's "Sleeping With Ghosts" as well as 2006's "Meds", their cover of "Running Up That Hill" is sparse, menacing, desolate and desperate. Given that Placebo has made a career out of mining the androgynous / ambiguous sexuality thing (cf. 1996's "Nancy Boy" -- thanks to Johan for originally pointing me to this version), they were obviously destined to cover this song.

Placebo's video is edited together from the submissions of various fans lip synching; it adds an additional disturbing fanboy element to an already claustrophobic song. Kate's version features more interpretive dancing ("hooray!"), but at least it makes the meaning of the song that much more obvious as the couple are alternatively intertwined and then tackling each other when they separate.

In my review of "Wuthering Heights", I admitted that I like the Pat Benatar version better than the original Kate Bush version. That's not the case here: I like Placebo's version as a sinister, 20 year update to the original, but Kate's version remains my favorite.

Kate Bush: YouTube.

Kate Bush & David Gilmour (from The Secret Policeman's Third Ball): YouTube. (Obligatory "David helped `discover' Kate" reference).

Placebo: Official version. Fan video version. Live version.

2017-01-31 edit: This cover by Wye Oak is too good to ignore (2021-01-22 edit: alternative link for this version).

2019-07-18 edit: Drew let me know about this great version recently released by Meg Myers.  

2020-02-24 edit: I just discovered two remixes.  The first is the 1985 12" remix, which differs from the LP version by featuring a guitar more prominently and clocking in at about 1 minute longer (12" version). 

I also discovered this nearly 11 minute "Ultratraxx rare mix", which is especially engaging via a more substantial production sound.  I couldn't find a good link for the provenance of this remix, and the coverage of "Ultratraxx" in discogs.com is spotty.  I did find this Youtube playlist, so I'm guessing Ultratraxx (aka Gustavo Mario Rodriguez) is a DJ and these are bootleg remixes.  Regardless, it's excellent. 

2023-05-24 edit: This 2007 cover by Chromatics.  

Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights" (the song remains the same)

Simply put, Kate Bush is an amazing song writer and more artists should cover her songs. To make this point, my next few entries will cover Kate Bush songs and exemplary covers by various artists. We'll begin with "Wuthering Heights", the first single from her 1978 debut LP "The Kick Inside".

The song is from the point of view of Catherine Earnshaw from the novel "Wuthering Heights", covering her tempestuous relationship with Heathcliff. Using Emily Bronte's novel as a song topic might seem unusual, even pretentious, but for late 1970s British progressive rock that was par for the course.

In 1980, Pat Benatar would cover "Wuthering Heights" on her second LP "Crimes of Passion". And as much as I like Kate Bush, I have to confess that I like Pat's version better: it is less modish and more conventional. As far as I know, Pat never released this as a single or made a video for it. The Kate Bush videos on the other hand... well, remember it was 1978 and interpretive dance was considered good. Regardless, the song is excellent.

Kate Bush: YouTube (red dress version); YouTube (white dress version); YouTube (live 1978).

Pat Benatar: studio version, live 2005

And just for fun, Monty Python's semaphore version: YouTube (about 1:20 in).

Explosions in the Sky - "The Rescue" (LP Review)

First, let's get this out of the way: "The Rescue" is nowhere near the tour de force that is "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever". But it is still a fine EP and one that deserves to be in your collection. Clocking in at 32 minutes, it is more like an LP than EP, but that's what they call it. And since it is free, there is no reason for you to not download a copy. But we'll get back to that in a bit.

"The Rescue" is volume 21 in the "Travels in Constants" EP series released on Explosion in the Sky's label Temporary Residence Limited. Yeah, I hadn't heard of the series either, but some of the other artists in the series include Low and Mogwai, so that should give you an idea.

"The Rescue" was recorded in eight days (one song per day) and represents a slight departure for them. There are more instruments, a looser approach and even some singing. Well, background vocals only -- nobody sings a lead. The EP was recorded in the Michael James's (bass & guitar) house and has a decidedly more lo-fi, less produced feel. There are no bad songs on this EP, but some of the experiments are more successful than others (e.g., Day Five, in which their original goal was to make the "saddest dance record in the world"). There is a tentative sound to some of these songs that 1) reminds me of Dif Juz (e.g., "Day Eight" vs. Dif Juz's "No Motion"), and 2) is in stark contrast to the ferocity of TWTTTSD.

I could try to describe the tracks, but EITS has extensive notes on their web site about the recording of each song. Suffice to say that the entire EP is an homage to their early experience of being stuck in Syracuse NY for eight days while they awaited a transmission repair on their van. The story is made more explicit on the song "Day 3" through samples from videotapes the band recorded while awaiting the repair.

Originally only available via mail order or at concerts, the EP is now out of print. But EITS has all eight songs available for download from their web site, so there is absolutely no excuse why you don't have this in your collection.

Standout songs: Day Two, Day Three, Day Seven, Day Eight

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 7/10.

2019-08-22 update: The page and MP3s are no longer on the EITS home page, but they have been archived.  

DJ Shadow - "Dark Days" (LP Review)

"Dark Days" is an often overlooked single in the lengthy DJ Shadow discography. Released in 2000 while DJ Shadow was still enjoying the peak of his popularity with 1996's "Endtroducing....." and 1998's "Psyence Fiction", it is arguably the last recording he made in his "original style" and could easily be at home on any of his releases on the Mo' Wax label. After this point, he made a concerted effort to evolve his style: sometimes it worked (2002's "Private Press" and 2003's "Private Repress") and sometimes it did not (2006's "The Outsider").

"Dark Days" also serves as the soundtrack for the Marc Singer documentary of the same name. Technically, the movie featured previously released DJ Shadow music as well, but the "Dark Days" song was recorded especially for this film. The single has two versions of the song: one as an instrumental, and one with sampled dialogue from the film. The latter is especially chilling; it begins with:

When I first came down the tunnel, it lookin' dangerous man,
real dangerous.
Like, I'm scared.
You're on your own down here.

The film is a documentary about the homeless people that lived below ground in the "Freedom Tunnel" in Manhattan. The film is a moving, non-exploitative profile of the people that lived there and the resulting society of the tunnel, as well as their journey out when evicted. A mild spoiler: the film ends at a positive point, even if you suspect the longer story arc eventually won't.

The main sample for the song is Bill Osborn's single "Bamboo and Rice". I've scoured the web and I can't find the original source recording. Almost any thing you find about the artist and song derives from it appearing in "Dark Days". I don't even know when the single was released -- I would guess early to mid 60s given the surf-rock guitar sound. A nice pull from the king of crate digging. The DJ Shadow single itself is out of print and $20 and up is the going price.

Standout tracks: "Main Theme", "Spoken for Mix"

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 10/10

Bonus links: Dark Days trailer; Interview with Marc Singer, DJ Shadow (special feature from the DVD); first 10 minutes of the film.