My Writings on HubPages ...

Yeah, just went and read it, excellent write-up as usual.

S.D. wrote:

Yeah, just went and read it, excellent write-up as usual.

Thanx. Usually I take more time to tweak my articles before posting them but I wanted to get that one up as soon as possible so I banged it out late last night while drinking a few 24 oz. beers. Reading it back this AM, I think the Metal Love shows through most admirably

Fat Freddy wrote:

Two new entries in as many days! I must be inspired this week (or I'm just really bored, haha).

Anywhoo, last night I was mostly unimpressed by SyFy's new zombie show "Z Nation" so I figured I'd post some thoughts on it...


http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/SyFys-Z-Nation-Lacks-Bite

Well after reading this I think I'll pass on ZNation, I had been seen commercials for it lately and was curios as to how it was but nah... Great read, FF.

^^ Thanx Akel...someone must be watching "Z Nation," cuz SyFy just renewed it for a second season, but I never went back after that first episode. Now that "The Walking Dead" is back there's just no point. Haha.

Anywhoo, Here's my first new one in a while: a long overdue new installment of my "Forgotten Hard Rock Albums" series, focusing on the Die Happy discography. (the Christian metal band, not the German alternative band by the same name. Though if Google sends some of their fans to my page, I won't mind the confusion. Haha)



http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/Forgotten-Hard-Rock-Albums-The-DIE-HAPPY-Discography

Ok, I will read this post on Die Happy ASAP cuz that's one band I haven't heard yet but I am gonna go hide from the neighbor kids in a bit

Great read, FF... I never knew Die Happy consisted of former VR members. If the debut album is like TBA then I'll pass but the second one sounds like something I'd totally dig. I am a fan of the Red Sea album so if it's similar to that that'll be a good thing. If I get one album I'll have to get the rest if I can find them. I never knew why Ult was on the DVD but not on the Once Dead album that came out a couple of years later.

I actually like the Red Sea album a little better than Die Happy's 2nd album. They're very similar but Red Sea just sounds so much more polished and badass.

If memory serves, the main reason that Once Dead replaced Scott for the album was cuz they needed somebody more "local" for rehearsals/etc. Scott is in New Mexico and the rest of the band were in Cali, so I would imagine that getting together to do anything would have been a big hassle.

New one! The awesome news about the mighty KILLEN reissue inspired this entry. Tr00! Grimm! Kvlt! Ehehehehehehehe!!!


http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/Forgotten-Hard-Rock-Albums-KILLEN-1987

My kids loved this silly made-for-Lifetime-TV flick starring the sour-faced Internet feline. They told me I should review it on my blog, which sounded like a good idea to me, so I did:



http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/Grumpy-Cats-Worst-Christmas-Ever-Movie-Review

After a month or so of geeking out on the gallery of playable, vintage video games at www.archive.org, I wrote a HubPage about my ten favorites (so far)...

http://hub.me/aj1ax

My first new column of 2015 is another installment of "Forgotten Hard Rock Albums" ....



http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/Forgotten-Hard-Rock-Albums-Warrant-DOG-EAT-DOG-1992

^^Good informative write-up. That was their best album, even though it's rather unfocused/uneven. You could tell they were in a mess of things listening to it.

My sole memory of Warrant was seeing them play an outdoor festival a couple weeks after Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich was released. One of the worst live bands I've ever seen, seriously. They must have used some session musicians for the album, cause they couldn't play worth a shit live.

Quote :

They must have used some session musicians for the album, cause they couldn't play worth a shit live.

Haha, it wouldn't surprise me. There is indeed a long standing rumor that uncredited studio guys cut most of the guitars on the first two records. I believe Rick Steier (Kingdom Come), who was a member of Warrant for a while in the late 90s, was one of the supposed "ghost" guitar players.

As a matter of fact there's a message in the liner notes of Dog Eat Dog from Michael Wagener (producer) that sez something to the effect of "The band members are the only musicians who played on this record," as an apparent response to those rumors.

Session guitarists were brought in on Kix's Blow My Fuse album as well, but that was because Ronnie Younkins was so strung out on heroine he was too unreliable at the time.

I never knew about the Kix deal but I've always been curious to know if the Warrant rumor is true and who they might have been. There are some smokin' leads on Cherry Pie and, if it's not the two original dudes, then the ghosts need some acknowledgement.

Session drummers were also brought in for Kix on a couple occasions, including Midnight Dynamite and part of Blow My Fuse. There must have been some substance abuse issues going on there as well because he's not a bad drummer, I saw Kix live at least a dozen times during the 80s and first couple years of the 90s and they always put on a tight, professional show.

Anton Fig is the guy that plays on part of Midnight Dynamite, not sure about Blow My Fuse.

I remember hearing/reading about other players on the the first two Warrant albums and it had a lot to do with Mike Slamer (City Boy / Streets) being listed as playing guitar on those albums. I looked it up and just read that Slamer played some of the solos on the Cherry Pie album.


On a side note, Slamer is a killer player! He really let it rip when he was in Streets(he seemed kind of held back in City Boy).

I remember buying Dog Eat Dog as a new release on tape and hating it. I only picked up the cd 2 or 3 years ago, to fill in some gaps in my collection. I wouldn't say it's their best, but it's far more enjoyable than I remembered.

As for outside players, wasn't CC DeVille credited with some playing on the Cherry Pie album? I seem to recall him being involved somehow.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I remember buying Dog Eat Dog as a new release on tape and hating it. I only picked up the cd 2 or 3 years ago, to fill in some gaps in my collection. I wouldn't say it's their best, but it's far more enjoyable than I remembered.

As for outside players, wasn't CC DeVille credited with some playing on the Cherry Pie album? I seem to recall him being involved somehow.

Yea, he played the solo on the song CP.

And that solo was just as terrible as every other tone-deaf note he played. Can't stand that guy.

Cherry Pie was one of those albums I was a sponge to as a kid yet hated it later on in life. There are some well-written tunes in there--Uncle Tom's Cabin is pretty heavy--but for the most part it's just too poppy. And that's saying a lot for a guy who still enjoys Winger.

I will say, though, that I Saw Red is lyrically the ultimate ballad. Not only is it written well, the whole twist of irony between the verses and chorus just kind of makes your head spin. Ultimately their best song.

corplhicks wrote:

And that solo was just as terrible as every other tone-deaf note he played. Can't stand that guy.

Cherry Pie was one of those albums I was a sponge to as a kid yet hated it later on in life. There are some well-written tunes in there--Uncle Tom's Cabin is pretty heavy--but for the most part it's just too poppy. And that's saying a lot for a guy who still enjoys Winger.

I will say, though, that I Saw Red is lyrically the ultimate ballad. Not only is it written well, the whole twist of irony between the verses and chorus just kind of makes your head spin. Ultimately their best song.

I've always dug the song Uncle Tom's Cabin. When I saw them live with St. James singing that song just ROCKED! As for I Saw Red, I guess when you write from the heart, it shows. I'm not much of a ballad guy unless Marty Balin is singing(something about that guys voice).

chewie wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

And that solo was just as terrible as every other tone-deaf note he played. Can't stand that guy.

Cherry Pie was one of those albums I was a sponge to as a kid yet hated it later on in life. There are some well-written tunes in there--Uncle Tom's Cabin is pretty heavy--but for the most part it's just too poppy. And that's saying a lot for a guy who still enjoys Winger.

I will say, though, that I Saw Red is lyrically the ultimate ballad. Not only is it written well, the whole twist of irony between the verses and chorus just kind of makes your head spin. Ultimately their best song.

I've always dug the song Uncle Tom's Cabin. When I saw them live with St. James singing that song just ROCKED! As for I Saw Red, I guess when you write from the heart, it shows. I'm not much of a ballad guy unless Marty Balin is singing(something about that guys voice).

It's interesting; when I first heard Red, knowing that a lot of break up songs were written as radio fludd (I didn't learn about Every Rose Has Its Thorn until way later), I thought, "this is REAL. This really happened to him." And I was surprised to find out I was right. That's what made that song so different than all the other copycats.

And for whatever fucking reason, they're known today for HEAVEN more than I Saw Red. HEAVEN. The song with that lyric, "as long as I'm the hero of this little girl." What the holy fuck, man.

New entry... I was in a retro mood this week so I dug into my bag of age-old cassette tapes (!!) for the first time in dog years...

"Memories of a Tape Head: Hooray for Obsolete Media!"



http://fatfreddyscat.hubpages.com/hub/My-Retro-Cassette-Festival-Hooray-For-Obsolete-Media

Hiring C.C. Deville as a session guitarist would be like hiring Andrew Dice Clay as an astrophysicist.