Concert Review: Evil Never Dies

Judas Priest, Saxon, Black Star Riders rock Newark.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The mighty Judas Priest (l.r. Richie Faulkner, Scott Travis, Rob Halford, Andy Sneap, Ian Hill)
sacked New Jersey on Tuesday night. Photo by the author. 

Last week, I excitedly told a colleague who works in PR for Carnegie Hall that I had tickets for Tuesday night's Judas Priest concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. "Really? Judas Priest." I said, "yeah! I get to be 17 again!"

"Why do you like that stuff?" someone asked.

"Because," I answered with a straight face, "they write opera for teenaged boys!"

Concert Review: Naked Crunch

Apocalyptica celebrate 20 years of Metallica covers--on cellos. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The gentlemen of Apocalyptica: (l.r.) Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaasko, Paavo Lötjönen and Antero Manninen
in their video for "Battery." Image © 2017 Apocalyptica.

Twenty years ago, I was in the Record Factory in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn on a Saturday afternoon. The clerk, Fred showed me something "new and weird" that had just come in. It was by a band called Apocalyptica and was titled Plays Metallica for Four Cellos. Skeptical, I flipped it over. And that was when I recognized Eicca Toppinen, the Finnish cellist who is the band's leader and who I had met when he was playing in New York with the new music ensemble Avanti! the year before. Anyway, I bought it.

Obituary Jeff Hanneman (1964-2013)

Slayer guitarist, songwriter died of liver failure.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Guitarist Jeff Hanneman of Slayer, onstage with the band in 2011.
The damage from flesh-eating bacteria is visible on his right arm. Photo: Getty Images.

Guitarist Jeff Hanneman, founding member of the Los Angeles heavy metal band Slayer, died yesterday of liver failure. He was 49.

His death was reported on Slayer's official Facebook page:

Mr. Hanneman was one of the pioneering thrash band's principal songwriters, penning some of the band's signature songs. He was also a ferocious live performer, with a wild, skittering guitar style that reflected the nightmarish content of Slayer's lyrics.

A Soundtrack for Zuccotti Park

Today was going to feature the review of Handel's opera Rodelinda, with Renée Fleming in the title role. But when we came home late last night, it was to a Twitter stream of violence and flagrant violations of Americans' First Amendment rights to peaceably assemble. In fact, it was war in the streets of Manhattan, with Kevlar-vested weapon-wielding thugs (the NYPD) enforcing the will of New York Mayor Michael "I can pay to stay in office as long as I want" Bloomberg.
I'll write the review tonight and it will probably be up tomorrow. In the meantime, I decided to write about heavy metal protest music. Hey, it's my blog, and WNYC already did classical protest music. So...

Top Ten Heavy Metal Protest Songs

People in this business are often surprised when they learn I'm a metal fan in addition to having an ear for classical music and opera. I got into Metallica because I thought "One" sounded like chamber music albeit played really loud. Still do. Anyway here are some songs for Zuccotti, Occupy Wall Street and for the righteous anger of the 99%.
10) "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" by Machine Head.
This ten-minute track kicks off the San Francisco group's The Blackening. Title pretty much says it all along with Robb Flynn's roared vocals and razor-sharp guitar.
"Didn't say I want to lead, I just might let you down."
9) "Broken, Beat and Scarred" by Metallica.
From 2008's comeback bid Death Magnetic, a song about persevering in the face of adversity. Metallica have written a lot of protest songs but this is the most recent.
"What don't kill ya, make ya more strong."
8) "Two Minutes to Midnight" by Iron Maiden.
One of the best anti-war protest songs from the '80s. The lyrics are really about nuclear war, but Maiden were playing this a lot onstage when the war in Iraq broke out.
"We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies."
7) "Resistance" by Queensrÿche.
"Protests in New York, listen to the call of the wild! Brothers, sisters carrying signs."
That's the first line of this classic track featuring Geoff Tate's giant tenor voice. The song is 20 years old, folks. It hasn't aged. Nor has our country grown up.
6) "Open Letter (To a Landlord)" by Living Coloür.
Especially poignant for New Yorkers, a tale of inner-city survival against greedy land developers and landlords who don't care about the human beings living in their buildings.
"This is my neighborhood. This is where I come from."
5) "Fucking Hostile" by Pantera.
From the group's aptly named Vulgar Display of Power. Philip Anselmo breaks down relations of the ordinary man to parents, police, the clergy and other authority figures. Late, great guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott plays the kamikaze solo over a gallop.
"If you crossed me, I'd shake your hand like a man, not a god."
4) "Peace Sells" by Megadeth.
There have been a lot of rage-fuelled Megadeth protest songs from the pen of Dave Mustaine. This was one of the first, and one of the best. Its opening bassline used to announce MTV News and it's still relevant today. From Peace Sells (But Who's Buying?)
"Can you put a price on peace?"
3) "United" by Judas Priest.
From what is arguably Priest's most successful album, the legendary British Steel. Rob Halford was really singing about gay rights here, but this cut (with its memorable chorus) is an underrated anthem.
"Look around, they're moving in.
Hold your ground, when they begin."
2) "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath
From Paranoid. It doesn't get more old-school than Ozzy's howl over Tony Iommi's heavy chords, Terence "Geezer" Butler's agile bass and Bill Ward's powerhouse drumming. And they're back together as of last Friday! "Oz-zy! Oz-zy!" (though Geezer wrote the lyrics.)
"Politicians hide themselves away. They only started the war.
 Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor ."
1) "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine.
Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha pretty much said it all in this cut from their first pipe-bomb of an album.
"Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me."

Got a suggestion for this list? Leave it in the comments below.
Better yet, donate to Occupy Wall Street and support your local occupation today!

Concert Review: The Critic's Day Off

The Big Four (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax) at Yankee Stadium

Metallica play "Seek and Destroy" at the end of a seven-hour concert.
Photo by the author, taken from the Grandstand, Section 420, Seat 17.

Whether it's Metallica or Turandot at the Baths of Caracalla, playing music in a stadium built for football, soccer or baseball is a problematic situation at best. For the Big Four, the occasional festival bringing together '80s speed-metal bands Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, filling Yankee Stadium with the sound of white noise proved a serious technical challenge.

The bands provided speaker stacks on the empty infield, rising up toward the grandstand like siege towers on a battlefield. The audience was in the seats and on the outfield, with the stage at dead center. And the stadium security, convinced of the risks of peace-loving metalheads, made it hard for some audience members to get into the stadium to see their beloved bands.

As a result the venue was half-empty when Anthrax took the stage at 4pm. The New York-based band came on in re-branded Yankees uniforms, celebrating the venue and the declaration of "Official Anthrax Day" in the Bronx. They tore into "Fight 'Em if You Can't," the first single from their new record Worship Music. A too-short set featured two covers: "Antisocial" and Joe Jackson's "Got The Time.  Brisk punk energy boiled and mosh pits started as Scott Ian and Frank Bello did their best to mask the cracks in singer Joey Belladonna's voice. However the singer found his groove with "Indians" and the crowd led the way in a strong "I Am The Law."

Megadeth came on next, playing with their trademark precision, despite singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine's recent recovery from neck surgery. Chris Broderick's laser-like guitar solo over "Hanger 18" set the tone early. "A Tout le Monde" got the stadium singing, and "Sweating Bullets" took the set to a new energy level. Band mascot Vic Rattlehead showed up, "calling his shot" Babe Ruth-style. Their set ended with "Holy Wars/The Punishment Due" with strong double riffs from the two guitarists.

Slayer remain one of the darkest bands in the world. Sure, other groups with lamer names play faster and sing pages out of medical textbooks, but no-one matches the California quartet for sincere observation of the evils of men. Their subject matter ranges from the insanity of war ("War Ensemble", "Mandatory Suicide") to the banality of man: "Dead Skin Mask" chronicles the depradations of serial killer Ed Gein with a guitar line that sounds like a sobbing child.

Fittingly, the band played in total darkness except for the stage lights: eerie and effective. With one hour to squeeze in 14 songs, some (slightly) slower tracks ("South of Heaven," "Dead Skin Mask") were sped up to fit them all in. Bassist/singer Tom Araya can't headbang anymore (he has a steel rod in his neck) but his scream was intact on the closer, "Angel of Death" (about Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.) Kerry King and guest guitarist Gary Holt (subbing for Jeff Hanneman, who is recovering from illness) led the charge with pell-mell soloing and tight riffs.

Metallica solved the problem of having to follow Slayer by breaking out their "A" material. The band tore in to "Creeping Death" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls", never letting up in a 18-song set that featured four songs each from classic records Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets. The surprise: the nine-minute instrumental "Orion" as a tribute to late bassist Cliff Burton. (My eleventh show in 22 years and I've never seen them play it.) Often-grim singer James Hetfield was positively jovial, grinning as the crowd responded and cracking a (rare) onstage joke.

Spectacular visuals: fire-pots for "Fuel", cannon-shots for "One" and a criss-cross of lasers during "Blackened" cemented the band's status as hosts of the evening. The encore started with most of the "Big Four" coming back onstage to jam on the Motörhead classic "Overkill." Then Metallica finished with two more songs: the high-speed "Battery" and the crowd favorite "Seek and Destroy." As the last song played with the lights on and the crowd throwing inflatable black balloons, the message was clear: Metallica had hit one out of the park.

Pandora's Metal Box

Metallica and Lou Reed Create New Lulu.

The boys in the band: Metallica pose with Lou Reed (center)
L.R.: James Hetfield, Rob Trujillo, Reed, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett.
Photo by Anton Corbijn, © 2011 Metallica and Lou Reed from LouReedMetallica.com

New York songwriter Lou Reed has teamed with Bay area thrashers Metallica to create Lulu, the artists' first collaboration together. Reports indicate that the album, Metallica's tenth studio effort, is complete.


Based on information on the project's official website, Lulu is scheduled for an international release on Oct. 31 and an American release on Nov. 1. Song titles listed include "Junior Dad", "Mistress Dread" and "Pumping Blood". The album, completed at the band's Marin County headquarters, could be Metallica's first concept album or rock opera.

Metallica and Lou Reed first played together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in 2008. The quartet backed up performances of "Sweet Jane" and "White Light, White Heat" as part of the marathon show at Madison Square Garden.

Based on the Franz Wiedekind plays Erdgeist and Pandora's Box, Lulu retells the story of a femme fatale who commits murder, adultery and other deadly sins as she leaves a trail of destruction . Ultimately, Lulu becomes a prostitute and meets her fate at the hands of Jack the Ripper.

The two plays inspired Alban Berg to set Lulu as his second opera in 1929. Berg died in 1935, leaving the opera unfinished. In 1976, following the death of the composer's widow Helene Berg, the third act was completed by composer Friedrich Cerha from Berg's sketches.

The band is scheduled to appear in New York on Sept. 14 at Yankee Stadium, as the headlining act in the heavy metal festival known as The Big Four. There is no word as to whether Mr. Reed, a Brooklyn native, will join them onstage again.

Watch Lou Reed perform "Sweet Jane" with Metallica.

The Sheer Weight of Sound

Reflections on Soundgarden and Bruckner Symphonies
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Devastating bass: Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden.
Photo by the Author. © 2011 by me.

"They want me to write differently. Certainly I could, but I must not."
--Anton Bruckner

"We do this basically for ourselves. People appreciate it, which is cool, but I think they appreciate that we're doing it for ourselves. We're doing it our way, and how people like it is not up to us. We like it."
--James Hetfield of Metallica

So last night my friend Rob Pantuliano and I went to Newark, NJ to see the resurrected '90s grunge band Soundgarden play the Prudential Center. For the uninitiated, Soundgarden were the loudest, and one of the heaviest bands to come out of that Seattle scene, combining unusual time signatures, shrieked vocals and a slow, sludgy, heavy sound produced by tuning the guitars and bass down to D or C, and occasionally, all the way down to a low B. They broke up in 1997, but are currently enjoying a renaissance.

Melto Allegro: The Electric Beethoven

Beethoven goes metal. Image © TeeFury.com

Or: Another Article About Metal Meeting Classical Music.
Since the early days of heavy metal, the genre has always been strongly influenced by classical music. Deep Purple recorded Concerto for Group and Orchestra. Iron Maiden appropriated the galloping rhythm of the William Tell Overture for half the songs in their early catalogue.

Guitar playing took influence from classical music as well. Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple) led the charge, incorporating classical-type scales and modes over blues stylings. In Germany, Uli Jon Roth's playing on the first five Scorpions albums influenced a generation of metal guitarists, including Metallica's Kirk Hammett.

In the 1980s, the influence of guitarists Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple) and Uli Jon Roth (the Scorpions) led to an explosion of neo-classical technique among heavy metal guitar players. Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" showed would-be guitarists how to make their fretboards sound like a Bach fugue--in less than two minutes.


Guitarists like Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert and Steve Vai incorporated sweep picking, arpeggios, and Bach-like tapping figures into their styles, often with dazzling results. Below, two versions of the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth, illustrating two different approaches to re-imagining this seminal movement.



Mr. Malmsteen is better known for his high-speed arpeggiated chops than his ability to write good songs or keep a working band together. Note the upper "scalloped" fretboard, with grooves cut between the frets to allow for faster playing. And then there's the bling--which doesn't appear to slow the Swedish speedster down.


Steve Vai's career started when he was just 19, as a transcriber, and then a second lead guitarist for Frank Zappa's working band. Vai then went on to stardom with ex-Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth, introducing listeners to his trademark "laughing guitar" and expanding the instrument's range and depth. He has a different, less reverent approach to the music. I don't know the source of this performance.