Black Sabbath

Black Friday: A picture is worth a thousand metal lyrics

Friday, March 13th, 2009 | musiX | 3 Comments

Metal can be summed up in one simple sentence: Dungeons and Dragons meets smut mag meets horror flick meets Marvel Comics. Of course, the music touched on most of these manly topics, but it was the album covers that drew pubescent boys into the seedy underbelly of heavy metal. And back when records ruled, you could get lost staring at the cover image.

It’s a topic that’s no doubt been endlessly written about. Since it’s Black Friday here at The Days of Lore as well as Friday the 13th, I’ve decided to make my own list of worthy heavy metal album covers. Click the covers to see a larger image, at your own risk, of course.

Vulgar Display of Power - Pantera (1992) According to metal lore, it took some 30 takes to capture this photo of Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo socking a fan in the face. The volunteer was apparently paid $10 per punch. Well. One fan’s stupidity led to one of the best metal album covers ever … and a far cry from Pantera’s early years. I’m very happy to say I’ve only been on the receiving end of a Phil Anselmo hug.

Kill ‘Em All - Metallica (1983) The stark and eerie image is still one of my favorites. The cover of Metallica’s debut leaves a lot to the imagination, unlike the original concept for the original title, Metal Up Your Ass, which had this cover. About as subtle as … well, a large dagger up your ass. The idea for the Kill ‘Em All cover came from late bassist Cliff Burton—sort of sums up the fact that when he died, so did a lot of Metallica’s coolness.

Destroyer - KISS (1976) It would be silly not to include a KISS album. The band was ready-made for the visual aspect of metal. The Destroyer cover was painted by fantasy artist Ken Kelly, who studied under another well-known fantasy artist Frank Frazetta. Kelly also did covers for Conan the Barbarian comics as well as album covers for Manowar, Rainbow and later on Coheed and Cambria. He also painted KISS’ Love Gun album cover. Yes, with this cover the members of KISS remain forever young, even as they continue to tour as old farts in makeup and Spandex.

The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden (1982) I remember seeing a poster of this and staring as long as I could without people thinking I was weird. I was 10. It scared me. And I wanted to own it. Derek Riggs created the famous Eddie mascot, who has appeared in one form or another on every Maiden album. The Number of the Beast was the band’s third album and first with vocalist Bruce Dickinson. The recording process was filled with bizarre occurrences, including a car accident involving producer Martin Birch and a “religious nutter.” Total damage to his car: £666.66.

Anthology - Manowar (1997) Umm … it’s Manowar. My guess is that the members didn’t have a lot of money for clothing at this juncture in their career. No? They were really proud of their workout routines? Wait, I got it. According to Norse mythology, real Vikings used baby oil.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath (1973) This is a bit creepy. Consider it came out in 1973, and it’s fucking frightening. Artist Drew Struzan, a Portland, Ore. native, also did album covers for some other noteworthy satanic musicians including the Beach Boys, Liberace and Glenn Miller. He’s also done hundreds of movie posters, and became a favorite of Spielberg and Lucas as he created the images for E.T., Back to the Future and all of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. Wholesome family entertainment, just like Satan and Black Sabbath.

The Wretched Spawn - Cannibal Corpse (2004) I worked at a record store when Cannibal Corpse got its start with savory albums like Tomb of the Mutilated and Eaten Back to Life. I remember thinking they were pretty ridiculous. Well, those crazy kids really outdid themselves with The Wretched Spawn—little demonic things crawling out of other things all in the name of good ol’-fashioned heavy metal shock value. Comic book artist Vince Locke water-colored the cover, and actually had his tattoo-artist bro ink another CC album cover called Butchered at Birth on to his skin. Cannibal Corpse: Bringing families closer.

Lovehunter - Whitesnake (1979) Really? So ridiculous that it’s actually great. So great, in fact, that I’m going to have my non-tattoo artist brother ink this on to my face.

Overkill - Motörhead (1979) Just a classic. Joe Petagno created Snaggletooth B. Motörhead, the fanged menace that appeared on all but two of the band’s 19 albums. Petagno said he researched a number of skull types and ended up with some sort of gorilla-wolf-dog combination with over-sized boar horns. It’s as metal as Lemmy … and Lemmy is pretty fucking metal.

Betty - Helmet (1994) I’ve always loved the contrast between the sludgy riffs contained within and the squeaky-clean cover. It looks like a scene from a Leave It to Beaver episode. The cover was no doubt the ’90s’ answer to the excesses of ’70s and ’80s metal. Yes, it’s unlikely we will ever see another album cover dipicting a naked woman writhing in ecstasy atop a giant demonic serpent again. And that’s just sad.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Black Friday: Ace is God … still

Friday, December 19th, 2008 | musiX, pdX | 2 Comments

I just finished up a year-end list for another publication, which included not only albums, but shows, books, movies–anything music-related. I had to check the archive to jog my memory, since I can barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday. Maybe the paint fumes coming from the apartment below are melting my brain … but it smells so good.

I stumbled upon a column I wrote about going to see original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley at a club in San Francisco back in March. I remember being reluctant to attend the show at first, but I eventually caved at the behest of my friend who is such a KISS freak, I think he actually sleeps in his Peter Criss boots. Adding to the fun was the fact that my friend and I would be meeting up with a guy who was known to find out where the rockers stay so that he could have them autograph photos and records with silver Sharpies.

Sure enough, he discovered that Ace was staying at The Prescott Hotel. We hung out in the lobby and the bar all afternoon, and when all was said and done, ended up with a few illegible Sharpied signatures. But, to hell with all that. The actual show was great. Ace played songs from his 1978 solo record, a few from his Frehley’s Comet days (for better or worse) and a handful of his KISS ditties including “Hard Times” and “Shock Me.” It sure shocked me.

But that’s not the only reason I’ve got Ace on my mind. I recently read the Portland Mercury music blog, where they’ve been running a series of posts under the heading of “Arctic Death: A Salute to the Winter Weather,” an homage to the recent snowfall here in the Pacific Northwest. The first entry was dedicated to Black Sabbath’s ode to frigidity, “Snowblind.” A great song, I thought, but my mind immediately went to Ace Frehley’s “Snow Blind” (two words), a rocking rock song that rocks, and includes Ace’s penchant for penning ridiculous lyrics: “I’m snow blind, I can’t see a thing / I’m snow blind, I don’t wanna sing.”

I don’t wanna sing? How about, “Don’t know what to bring.” Or “My hands start to sting.” No? Ah well, maybe if I inhale enough paint fumes I’ll come up with something better. The Space Ace is still working on new material, which should see the light of day around the same time KISS is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“Snow Blind” - Ace Frehley

“Ozone” - Ace Frehley

Tags: , , , , ,

Dearest Mother

Saturday, November 15th, 2008 | musiX | No Comments

What a difference 492 miles makes. I’ve traveled to my former stomping ground of Chico for some pre-Thanksgiving festivities. The crystal-blue sky and sun-glazed trees in California always makes me think of backyard get-togethers with friends and road trips—windows down, stereo up. The perfect soundtrack? The Mother Hips.

The band got its start here in the dorms of Chico State, flirted with commercial success in the ’90s, relocated to San Francisco, battled the dreaded (and lazy and erroneous) jam-band label, battled personal demons, took an indefinite hiatus, and made some of the finest rock albums of the past 15 years.

The Hips came out at a time when Chico was divided by hippie-dippy Dead followers (influenced by the town’s longest-running band Spark ‘n’ Cinder) and bands like The Downsiders and Trench, who were revolting against anything that reeked of patchouli. Looking back on that time, Mother Hips singer and guitarist Tim Bluhm explained that he never thought the Hips fit in either camp, and that they built their sound on their own random tastes.

“We mostly just had the records in our house: Leonard Cohen, Black Sabbath, Gene Clark, Led Zeppelin, Merle Haggard, the Bee Gees. It came out kind of weird, but we liked it.”

Those influences tell it all. Distorted guitars were tempered by Bluhm and fellow guitarist/vocalist Greg Loiacono’s sweet harmonies. Early songs had multiple parts with out-of-left-field dynamic shifts. Later they would adopt more simple, pop arrangements, and in 1998 the band released a stripped-down country gem called Later Days, one of their best.

The Mother Hips recently performed at San Francisco’s Cafe Du Nord, playing three and a half hours of music from one fan’s ultimate setlist which was chosen weeks before. The marathon performance is available for 10 bucks (three discs’ worth) exclusively at the band’s Web site. Bluhm told me recently the Hips are currently in the studio working on the follow-up to 2007’s excellent Kiss the Crystal Flake. I was glad to hear it. At this point I don’t think I can imagine not having The Mother Hips around. Take them along with you on your next road trip, windows down, stereo up.

“Been Lost Once” - The Mother Hips (Live at Cafe Du Nord)

“TGIM” - The Mother Hips (Kiss the Crystal Flake)

“Stunt Double” - The Mother Hips (Later Days)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Search

Topics of Destruction