All American Bands

Today is Independence Day in America. What better way to celebrate than choosing the best solo acts and bands from all across the U.S.A.? The Phoenix Boston recently ranked the best band from every state in the union.

I'll admit, I have never heard the winners for Ohio - and the choice for best solo artist in California left my stunned. Click here for the list. Happy July 4th!

Spiders & Snakes on Motley Crue Tribute

There's a new Motley Crue tribute album in the works. Crue Believers is currently in production and will ship under the Deadline/Cleopatra Records imprint.  

Just who is slated to appear on Crue Believers? It looks like L.A. Guns (I'm not sure which version), Bulletboys, Enuff Z' Nuff, Gilby Clarke, Jack Russell, Stevie Rachelle, Spiders & Snakes and more.  

Spiders & Snakes provide their version of "Public Enemy #1" for Crue Believers. The album is slated for a fall release.

Spiders & Snakes will play both Rocklahoma and the South Texas Rock Fest next week before heading back to Hollywood to play a string of Sunset Strip shows. Lizzie Grey is probably the most famous member of Spiders & Snakes...and perhaps the most knowledgeable person to be included on a Motley tribute album. After all, Lizzie Grey and Nikki Sixx performed in the band London together before Nikki hit it big.  Plus, there's the small detail of Lizzie helping Nikki write "Public Enemy #1."

I never understood why London failed to land a record deal. Throughout the late 70s and early 80s there were a slew of musicians in and out of the band. Most of those members went on to stardom, hitting the big time in Motley Crue,
Guns n' Roses and Cinderella.  

I'm not sure if this is a new recording of "Public Enemy #1" for Spiders & Snakes. If memory serves, the band provided the song for a Motley tribute album a few years back.

Here's Spiders & Snakes in a very odd recycling commercial.

More music at Spiders & Snakes on Myspace.

Want a Billy Idol CD?

Do you have the new Billy Idol greatest hits CD/DVD Idolize Yourself (EMI)? A career-spanning retrospective, all the best songs are here including my favorites "Rebel Yell," White Wedding" and "Don't Need A Gun."

Idolize Yourself also includes two new tracks "John Wayne" and "New Future Weapon." Both are pretty cool and definitely have that signature Steve Stevens sound. That's no surprise considering Mr. Stevens wrote the songs!

I'm giving away a copy of Idolize Yourself along with a litho of the album artwork created by Frank Shepard Fairey. 

Want the prize? Simply send me an email explaining why you think Billy Idol and/or Steve Stevens are Glam. Keep your message limited to 50 words, and write "Billy Idol" in the subject line. Send the email to allyson@bringbackglam.com. The contest ends tonight (July 3, 2008) at 11:59 p.m. E.S.T.

Here's Billy Idol and Steve Stevens recently performing "John Wayne."

Crue Fest Set

Last night, Motley Crue kicked off Crue Fest in West Palm Beach, Florida. Here's the set (which I'm sure will be the same at each tour stop):

Kickstart My Heart
Wild Side
Shout at the Devil
Saints of Los Angeles
Live Wire
Mutherfucker of the Year
Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Same Ol' Situation
Primal Scream
Looks that Kill
Girls, Girls, Girls
Dr. Feelgood
Home Sweet Home

This isn't an ideal set, but it's pretty standard and not surprising in the least. The set is also painfully short, but that's what you get with festival shows. I guess I'll never hear "Danger" live. Sigh.

I Miss My Youth

Sitting on the couch, watching some music videos I had a bit of an epiphany: I miss my youth.

Disclaimer: I am 28. I am not old. I am not young. I am stuck.

During this moment of heightened lucidity, I realized I miss my youth so much right now because the last six months have been the most creatively frustrating time of my entire life. The soundtrack to my epiphany? Def Leppard's Hysteria of course. Yeah, I listen to all sorts of music - I own way too many albums. I am blessed to earn enough money to purchase plenty of music to engage my soul, but every time I miss my youth, I go right back to Hysteria.

Put on Hysteria and I'm eight again.  

Why eight and why Hysteria? Simple: Def Leppard were the soundtrack to my life when I was that young. Sure, I was big into Poison, but when I want to feel young...it's Hysteria or bust.

I'm been feeling like sleep won't hold me anymore. It's like whatever I do...there's a nagging feeling that I should be doing more. That more is writing. That I should be writing all the time. All the  damn time.

Here's a complex emotion that words probably can't describe, but if you're a writer, an artist, a musician then you'll know what I mean: at points in your life your body starts to ache because you need to create. You must become your art. The rest of the world stops because you need to create. Only problem is, real life and human emotion are rarely in sync. Sadly, real life wins out.

Let me explain further. I was "listening" to satellite radio yesterday while driving to work. I had zero recollection of the trip or the songs on the dial. I was terrified when I sat down at my desk and realized that I couldn't remember stopping at lights or even walking from my car to the building. The entire commute I was in a completely other world, creating. There's a recurring theme that keeps running through my mind. This tells me I have a story inside me - perhaps a novel - that needs written. Lately, my mind has been consumed with this story. I find myself obsessing about it everywhere: at work, in the car, at the store. Now here's the rub: when I sit at my computer to write, I can't. I'm rendered impotent by the fear. I'm not sure what I'm afraid of exactly...but the fear is real, palpable and very painful.

So why do I miss my youth? There was no other time in my life when I so free creatively. From the ages of eight to 18, I wrote freely. Sure, I didn't have to worry about working 40+ hours a week, but I don't think that's the issue here. There's something deeper going on...and I can't quite place it and at the end of the day, I'm freaked out. 

So I listen to Hysteria and flip through music videos and remember being a kid. There are all sorts of songs that take me to a different time in my life, and no, they are not all Glam. I guess Hysteria is the permanent in the ever-changing soundtrack of my life.

I suppose all roads lead back to Glam, don't they? The majority of us love Glam because the music makes us feel young, full of life, excitable. Yep, I went there.

Are King's X Glam?

Last night I found myself sitting in my office, staring at the pink walls. You see, I was near zombie state I was so tired...instead of writing and doing a ton of work that needs tackled, I just sort of randomly listened to music and enjoyed sitting in my own private space.

I (naturally) listened to the new Motley Crue, random Def Leppard, Sammy Hagar's The Essential Red Collection and King's X Ear Candy. Then it dawned on me that I didn't know how to classify King's X. Of course that doesn't matter as I listen to all sorts of music across many genres, but I've often heard people refer to King's X as a Glam band...and I'm not so sure that's an accurate distinction.

iTunes defines King's X as a Metal act, and I think that is fair. No matter what the classification, it's pretty clear that King's X rock. The band are often compared to Faith No More and Living Colour but I actually prefer King's X. 

Please believe, King's X have been around for a long time, yo. We're talking at least as long as Motley Crue in at least some form. Of course, the band didn't really get going until 1985 in Houston and they've been going strong every since. Doug Pinnick, Ty Tabor and Jerry Gaskill are a true power trio and now I am obsessed with this band.

Obsessed.

I literally listened to King's X - both on CD, iTunes and YouTube for three solid hours last night. I'm always fascinated by bands that share vocal duties, not to mention switch instruments on occasion. 

When I went poking around the band's official website , I was happy to discover that King's X (with Extreme) are playing a free show in Cincinnati August 10.  I know I have a scheduling conflict that day and I don't care. I'm going to this show!

Here's King's X performing the Jimi Hendrix tune "Manic Depression" at Woodstock '94. Back then MTV still covered major music events. Go figure.

Here's the clip supporting the song "Over My Head."

So, what are your thoughts on King's X? Are they Glam, Metal or a combination of the two - or something totally different? Whatever the case, I'd define their sound as definitely special and nearly impossible to replicate.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

To say Baghdad is a depressed city is a gross understatement. For those of us who have never visited the war torn region, it's hard to envision just how bad living conditions are these days for the Iraqi people. Over the weekend I watched Heavy Metal in Baghdad, a documentary directed by Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi.

The film makers follow the band Acrassicauda (Faisal Talal ((vocals)), Tony Aziz ((guitar)), Firas Al-Lateef ((bass)) and Marwan Riyak ((drums))). The name is Latin for a deadly insect, so that's pretty Metal I suppose. From the documentary, it's hard to say if Acrassicauda possess above average talent or if the quartet is just comprised of men with big dreams. At any rate, Heavy Metal in Baghdad gives the rest of the world a glimpse into the other side of war. At some level, I think we all know it's incredibly dangerous to live in Baghdad, but this film shows that just practicing the guitar can put a giant target on your back. So many parts of this documentary are utterly tragic, but the silver lining is these four men are absurdly committed to Metal - and so are their fans!

At one point in the film, all the members of  Acrassicauda flee Iraq for a bigger shot at making a career in music. While it's not clear if Acrassicauda will gain musical success -- as none of us are ever guaranteed success -- the film does give the four men an admirable level of exposure. If you haven't watched the film, I won't ruin the ending for you -- but let's just say I was a little surprised with the initial outcome.

Brass tacks? If you are a true Metal fan - regardless of where you stand on American involvement in Iraq - you need to see this movie. A true documentary, Heavy Metal in Baghdad paints the bigger picture of a humanitarian crisis bestowed on the Iraqi people. The soundtrack just happens to have wailing guitars and heavy drum beats.  

Like every band on the planet, Acrassicauda has a Myspace page. The film documents the band professionally recording three tracks, which serve as a demo. Click the link to hear those tracks.

You can see the movie trailer below: