Yes, this is actually yesterday’s post, It’s a day late because, well, yesterday sucked, and I was in no mood to try and craft a cheerful music blog.
Of course, the upside to this is that you get a double dose today! First, we will finish the “Live” section of our trip, and then we’ll make a brief foray back into the more “standard” albums. Why brief? Read Day Seventy Two and find out!

Cradle of Filth - Live Bait for the Dead

This 2-disc set is actually more than just a live album. Disc 1 is the concert, while disc 2 is stuffed with extras: remixes, soundcheck recordings, and two entirely new songs, Deleted Scenes of a Snuff Princess and a cover of Twisted Sister’s The Fire Still Burns.
The concert itself is a blast to listen to. Cradle of Filth appears to have taken a “warts and all” approach here, as this is nowhere near the best performance that they’re capable of (I’ve seen them twice; they really are great live). Of sourse, with the myriad mistakes, failed jokes, etc, Dani Filt was inspired to utter some truly insane things between dongs. For example:
“Let me just re-ingest my vocal tract.” (after a song with a particularly harsh ending)
“Remember, drink bleach.” (after screwing up)
There were others, but they simply don’t work out of context.

Sumphony X - Live On The Edge Of Forever

I seem to have mis-labeled this album. My iPod thinks that its title is “Live in Europe.” I’ll have to fix that.
Symphony X is an excellent progressive rock band, and they really do live up to their name. Their songs have a very symphonic feel to them. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t come across on this live album.
The instruments all sound muted - only the vocals are really clear. The only time that the instruments have the opportunity to shine is during passages with no singing. Not to knock Russell Allen’s vocals, but I don’t think that the mix was handled very well.
If you really want to get a good Symphony X experience, your best bet is to pick up one of their many studio albums.

The Tiger Lillies - Live in Russia 2001-2002

I only have one track from this album, (it’s currently my only Tiger Lillies track, an oversight that I intend to correct post-haste). That song is Gin, and it’s the song that made me pay attention to the Tiger Lillies in the first place.
Rather than so on and on about how great the song is, I’ll just let it speak for itself.

Queen - Live Killers

Queen - Live Magic

I’m grouping these two albums together for two reasons. First, they happened to play back-to-back, and second, I’m rather disappointed with both.
Both of these albums are cobbled together from multiple concerts on the same tour, which leads to fade out/fade in pauses that take one out of the concert mindset. Combine this with the fact that some of the songs on “Live Magic” are actually truncated (Worst. Bohemian Rhapsody. Ever.), you can see why I’m disappointed with the overall quality of these albums. The performances themselves were good, don’t get me wrong. However, if you really want a good Queen live album, you need “Live at Wembely ‘86.” There is none better.

Hammerfall - Glory to the Brave

As I recall, we’ve discussed Hammerfall once or twice before. I remember scrambling to find just the right way to describe why I like listening to Hammerfall. Yes, they’re an epic power metal band, but there are hundreds of bands like that scattered across Europe (where metal lives!). I think I’ve figured it out.
Have you ever seen Rock Star? You know, the movie that (somewhat ironically) featured Mark Wahlberg as the singer for a heavy metal cover band who ends up singing for the band that he idolizes? Well, I’ve come to realize that Hammerfall reminds me of Steel Dragon, the band from Rock Star. This, in turn, means that Hammerfall really represents the NWOBHM bands from the 1980s that are (apparently) their inspiration.
By the by…if you didn’t know, NWOBHM was the “New Wave Of British Heavy Metal” that took place in the 70s and 80s; bands like Iron Maiden, Judas priest, Diamond Head…you get the idea.

Guns N’ Roses - GN’R Lies

You know, I’m not entirely sure why this album is on my iPod. As I listen to it, I’m remembering that I never really cared for it. “Chinese Democracy” aside, this is easily GN’R’s weakest album. Particularly ludicrous is Patience. Think about that for a moment - Axl Rose…singing that “all we need is just a little patience.” To quote Robin Williams, “That’s like Idi Amin looking at Gandhi and going, ‘You are too intense.’”
Wow, this one is just…bad. I’ll be removing it from iTunes tonight. Ugh.

Go Simpsonic With The Simpsons (Soundtrack)

What better way to rinse the foul taste of “GN’R Lies” from my mouth than The Simpsons? Ahhhhhhh….. From the moment Danny Elfman’s theme starts playing, I feel better.
This is actually the second Simpson’s soundtrack album, the first being “Songs in the Key of Springfield.” The Simpsons soundtracks always make me chuckle, and the songs get themselves stuck in my brain all the time. Whimsical satire, thy master be Alf Clausen.
Notable tracks on this CD (there are a total of 53 tracks) include:

Slayer - God Hates Us All

From whimsical satire, we progress directly to in-your-face spite. Slayer was the group that really brought the rage into thrash metal, and on “God Hates Us All,” they continue to do so.
The title of this album isn’t an anti-religious statement (I was as surprised as you are), it’s more an expression of frustration. Watch the news for an hour, and the true meaning of “God Hates Us All” will reveal itself.
Interesting fact: the original cover for this album was deemed “too graphic” for mere mortals, so a slip cover was created for in-store display. The slip cover featured a pattern of crosses, the band’s name, and the album title in gold on a plain white background. The “actual” cover featured a bible with nails driven into it, blood spattered on it, and “Slayer” burned into the cover.

God Lives Underwater - God Lives Underwater

This is the debut EP from God Lives Underwater. It features the song No More Love, which was also featured on their first full-length album, “Empty.”
God Lives Underwater’s music is interesting. It sounds like a combination of the synth-pop of the 80s (think Depeche Mode) and the grunge rock of the 90s. The combination produces something that sounds like an oddball cousin to industrial. Future albums would better incorporate the electronics - on most of these songs, it sounds like the band was still struggling to pull it all together.

Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet

At last, we get to the Crash Test Dummies album that most people are at least aware of. This is the album that gave the world Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, the song that reached #2 on the American charts in its time.
After hearing the song a few times, I decided that I liked it enough to buy the album…see what these Dummies were all about. I was impressed. This is a very good album, and directly responsible for my acquisition of the remainder of the Dummies’ catalog. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm is, in my opinion, one of the weakest tracks on this album. It’s good, but the rest of the album is even better. The overall tone of this album is rather playful, even a bit whimsical on songs like How Does a Duck Know.
My favorite song on this album is When I Go Out With Artists. Why? Well, let’s just let the lyrics speak for themselves:

If I could see
If I could see
If I could see all the symbols, unlock what they mean
Maybe I could
Maybe I could
Maybe I could meet the artists, get to know them personally

Godsmack - Godsmack

I remember getting this one for Xmas. It was good then, and it remains good now.
There are a few moments on this album that really stand out for me, even a decade later. The “radio” intro on Moon Baby reminds me of White Zombie - it created a fun “Orson Welles” feeling to get the ball rolling. There’s also the intro to Keep Away. Every time I hear it, I’m reminded of Filter’s Hey Man, Nice Shot. The main riff in Time Bomb reminds me of Nine Inch Nails’ Last…except the bass line, which echoes White Zombie’s More human Than Human.
Hm. I never thought of all these things all together like that…maybe Godsmack was wearing their inspiration on their sleeve on this one. Regardless, I like this album. It helped to resurrect interest in metal after the grunge era (you may have noticed that I’m something of a metalhead).

Cradle of Filth - Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder

When light no longer rose to kiss me
I swore to tear Heaven asunder
As flights of fallen angels wished me
Godspeed on the Devil’s thunder

With this verse, Doug Bradley (You know him as Pinhead from Hellraiser) introduces us to Cradle of Filth’s newest (as of this writing) album.
“Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder” is a concept album, telling (in Cradle’s inimitable style) a story of Gilles de Rais, a 15th century Breton knight, companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, and alleged serial killer. Fertile ground for a Cradle album, no?
Recently, I was talking to a friend of mine about excellence in drumming (I pay a lot of attention to drumming, because I’m so horrible at it), and he suggested that I pay close attention to the drummer on this record. Funny how soon the opportunity presented itself. Remember the name Martin Skaroupka. This man really knows his way around a drum kit, and he doesn’t settle for just being a timekeeper. This makes him an excellent addition to Cradle of Filth’s ever-evolving take on heavy metal.