(Special thanks to Legionnaire Kurt Duncan for asking a store clerk at a music store in Germany, "What's the best German metal album to buy for my friend?" and to that unknown store clerk for being absolutely right.)
1984 was a significant year for power metal. Bands such as Manowar, Brocas Helm, Cirith Ungol, Iced Earth, and Fates Warning already fused thrash and speed metal with melodic sensibilities and fantasy themes to create American power metal. Iron Maiden and Dio, two of the inspirations of the power metal movement, continued their success with Powerslave and Last in Line, respectively. Most importantly, 1984 was the year that saw the birth of European power metal. While bands from other countries, such as Finland's Stratovarius, were also power metal pioneers, Germany is the focus of this new movement, with the forming of bands such as Helloween, Rage, and, of course, Blind Guardian.
Now some people may ask, "Kaiser, where the fuck have you been for the past two months?" Such questions are irrelevant, so shut up.
In the beginning of their career, they called themselves Lucifer's Heritage and released demos that had more of a speed metal sound. After getting a record deal, they changed their name, as they were constantly mistaken for a black metal group and put in that section of record stores (To an uninitiated dumbass, this may not seem like a big discrepancy, but it is.). Their first two albums, Battalions of Fear and Follow the Blind kept the speed/thrash metal influences. It wasn't until Tales from the Twilight World, their third album, that they went for a more complex, epic sound. Nightfall on Middle Earth, their sixth album, saw them delve into symphonic metal. Unlike some groups who tend to gravitate to symphonic metal or another sub-genre (I might talk about that some other time), Blind Guardian seem to enjoy variety in their music, which I appreciate. At the Edge of Time, their recent new release, is a good example of this. The songs range the gamut from epic, orchestral pieces, medeival type folk ballads, and traditional thrash based power metal, such as in this video for "A Voice in the Dark."
As is evident in their album titles, Blind Guardian is heavily influenced by fantasy literature, with songs inspired by The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion saga, the Death Gate Cycle, The Dark Tower series, the Dragonlance saga, the Wheel of Time series, A Song of Ice and Fire series, Arthurian legend, Greek and Norse mythology, and even biblical stories. Literature is not the only fantasy based avenue they've explored. One of their songs was featured, along with songs from Threshold and Hammerfall, on the soundtrack of the Uwe Boll movie In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Which was the only good thing about that piece of shit film. Fuck you, Boll!). The band also recorded a song for the video game Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, which, from what I've heard, is an action-rpg guilty pleasure. A music video for the song, which the band remixed and released as the lead track, "Sacred Worlds," on the new album, used the game's engine to have a digital version of the band play a concert for a horde of monsters.
If you want to see or hear more of these founding fathers of Euro power metal, go to their website, look for their albums at your local music store (I mean a real music store, not Best Buy. You may have to special order it, though.), or order their cds online. If they've been around for almost 30 years, they must be doing something awesome.
This is just a short, quick note. Manowar is giving us a taste of the Dio tribute album they're compiling, "Magic - A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio," on their website. Basically, it's just a few seconds of their cover of Heaven and Hell, but it's not bad. The blurb also says that the album should be available for download soon, so I'm keeping my eyes open for it.
Ronnie James Dio's memorial service was held yesterday. Over 1200 people were at the Liberty Hall in Forest Lawn Memorial Park with hundreds more outside, watching the event on giant screens. The event was hosted by Eddie Trunk, who, on top of being a famous rock radio deejay, is a host on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show (he was the one who hugged Dio during the black carpet interview at the Golden Gods). The city of Los Angeles even declared that May 30 shall be known as "Ronnie James Dio Day." There are a couple of articles about the event already released. Roadrunner Records' metal news site, Blabbermouth, posted some videos of speeches and performances from the service. They're not the best quality, but they were the first videos posted. Check them out here. The Associated Press also wrote a very nice article about the event (I love the headline they used).
(Sigh...) Of course, a few worthless pieces of shit, who are aligned with the Westboro Baptist Church, or the "Redneck Nazi Party," as I like to call them, showed up to be completely ignored by the scores of metal fans, chanting "Dio, Dio, Dio..."
...only long enough to kick Satan's ass, fuckface.
Nice bib, BTW, for sucking your own cock.
Basically, the WBC just proved they're a bunch of dickweeds that no one should even pay attention to. Fuck them.
The memorial service isn't the only place where the Metal community paid tribute to Dio. Manowar, being as fucking awesome as they are, announced a new album, Magic - A Tribute to Ronnie James Dio, which will feature groups from Manowar's Magic Circle label, as well as others. No release date has been announced, yet, but you can keep up to date with the album on their website.
Oh, one more thing. At the memorial service, people were crowding in line to score one of these beautiful RJD memorial t-shirts, which were available to those who donated to the "Stand Up and Shout" cancer fund. If you couldn't make it to the service, don't worry. Later on this week, they'll be available when you make a donation to the cancer fund online. More details can be found on Dio's website, so go there, make a difference, and show your support for Dio's legacy.
(Update: It seems that SPIN magazine has somewhat atoned for the derogatory and, overall, shitty article that David Dickcheese fucked up. Chirs Martins wrote an appropriate article for RJD's memorial service, which reflected Dio's impact in music and the emotions felt by those who loved him. Plus, there's a photo of that fucking WBC cocksucker shown above that's pretty funny.)
Here we are, at the destination of a long, despondent journey. My wish is to honor Dio's life and music, but I can't help but express my sorrow. I do not cry for him. I know he is beyond all Earthly concern. He travels the breadth of creation at the speed of thought. He has ascended. Instead, I cry for us, for life will not be the same without his magnificent presence in our world. Every fan who attended his shows, every person who bought his albums, every human being he touched with his music and his genuine heart feels the emptiness that has been left behind in his absence. It will not be a void quickly filled, nor a heart easily mended.
His last public appearance was at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which was broadcast last night on VH1 Classic (why is it that all the repulsive shows that VH1 does - the reality shows, the constant retread of the top one-hit wonders, etc., are on their basic channel, but all the awesome stuff that really matters, that's on the premium channel that you have to pay extra for? Fucking bullshit!). I'm sure that those who watched Dio accept his award for "Best Vocalist" on the showing feel like they witnessed a ghost. It must be heartbreaking to see that, mostly because Dio had expressed so much hope for the future. He remained strong and let his fans know that they were loved. Well, I happen to have some footage of Dio accepting his award and talking with people at the award show. So if you missed it, just like I did, worry no more.
Someone was kind enough to put up their "inside footage" of Ronnie James Dio accepting his award. Hearing the fans chanting his name, it seemed like he was poised for victory; not just for the award, but for the fact that he was getting the recognition he deserved. David Marchese from SPIN may be a douche for writing his mocking article, but it brings up a point that Dio remained true to himself, instead of selling out, like so many people in the music industry, even in Metal. He didn't appeal to those who listen to shitty music to try to be cool - as the guys in Manowar would say, the False Metal. Dio was well liked because of his dedication to his fans and to his music and it's about fucking time that other people started to realize that.
This next video has the guys from VH1 Classic's That Metal Show talking to Dio again on the "Black" Carpet. The guys were, obviously, concerned with Dio's health and were genuinely worried about him, to which Dio assures them it's okay. Despite it being his last appearance before his death, he didn't want everyone to give up hope. He fought his illness valiantly and let us know that he would beat it or die trying. Though it claimed his life, it did not claim his will. When Dio hugged the one guy, I could see the love, admiration, and camaraderie that was between these guys. It was very touching.
One last video... Ronnie James Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen did a cover of "Dream On" for an Aerosmith tribute album. Somehow, I find it appropriate as a final parting moment.
And so, my painful tribute concludes. I still wish I didn't have to acknowledge the death of a man who still had so much to give to his fans. Everyone he came into contact with were made greater, thanks to his presence. Though we have never met, he has given me purpose and changed my life.
Okay, let's get to know Dio through some of his interviews. Many people have said Ronnie James Dio was a great guy to talk to. He was honest, humble, laid back, and very welcoming. Of course, I've said this all before, so let's take a look at Dio's rapport firsthand.
First, here's a short summary of Dio's music carreer, up to his eponymous band, from the mouths of those involved, including Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and, obviously, Dio, himself.
Next, an interview from the Dutch Arrow Rock Festival in 2006, where he talks about getting back together with Black Sabbath, how America never really considered Metal part of the mainstream, why popularity is nothing more than a marketing ploy, and the loyalty of fans abroad.
If you thought that was controversial, check out Top Secret magazine's interview with him, where he airs his beliefs that there is other intelligent life out in the universe and his own experience with the unexplained.
When Heaven and Hell released their final album, The Devil You Know, Dio and Geezer did a round of interviews with many Metal outlets. This is part of a great interview on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show.
You know what's great? Watching Dio and Lemmy Kilmister shoot the shit. Lemmy's just so damn funny.
You know what's even better? Throwing Manowar's Joey DeMaio in the mix. Man, Joey seems like a great guy, too. I would love to hang out with these guys.
BTW, what the fuck happened to Lemmy's 'stache? Did it just fall off?
Anyway, tune back in, tomorrow, for one last heartfelt goodbye to such a great guy.
Okay, a lot of people have paid tribute to Ronnie James Dio. There's a pretty good list of musicians who commemorated his passing. The website of the local rock station here, KSHE 95, posted an article summarizing the comments made on various websites. Even Ozzy, who never seemed to get along with Dio, posted something (though I'm not entirely sure how sincere the sentiment is). Check out the article here.
Other musicians have paid tribute than were mentioned on the article. Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater mourned his passing on Twitter, as I'm sure the rest of the band did, too. At SeattleWeekly.com, Duff McKagan, formerly of Guns 'n' Roses and presently in Velvet Revolver and Jane's Addiction, and Nirvana's Krist Novoselic paid tribute. Even Marc Storace of Krokus reminisced about meeting Dio every time he came to Switzerland. The list of tributes goes on for miles. Most touching is the one done by Vinny Appice, a drummer that played in both Dio and Sabbath/Heaven and Hell for many years. Vinny recalled Dio taking him under his wing and being a great inspiration.
If you have VH1 Classic, they will be doing a special tribute, featuring music videos and rare interviews, this Saturday after That Metal Show (which would put it at 11:30 eastern time).
On top of that, the Angry Video Game Nerd expressed his sorrow of Dio's passing on his website.
But that's not what I really want to talk about. I want to talk about the other people. You know, the ones who are too fucking stupid to live, yet they still manage, somehow. I'm referring to those rancid assholes who either, A) think Dio is for dorks who are too busy playing Dungeons & Dragons to get laid, or B) mistake retardation for righteousness and think that everything that isn't considered part of their homogenous, white bullshit values is evil. Of course, these people looked at the news articles, proclaiming the ascension of a master, and said, "Woo, boy, let's have ourselves a big douchebag hoedown on his grave."
In column A, we have Spin magazine, which published a "tribute" article to Dio on their website (go ahead, read it.) A so-called journalist named David Marchese (more like David Dickcheese) thought it would be appropriate to basically pretend to laud Dio's legacy, when, in reality, he resorted to mocking him. I, of course, felt it was my duty to give these people and their propaganda shit mag a piece of my mind. What follows is my comment, which I submitted, anonymously, on the article:
David, you are an insult, not only to fans of metal music, but to journalism as a whole. If this is your idea of a joke, then none of Dio's real fans, a community you seem to be estranged from, are laughing. Ronnie James Dio was a fantastic gentleman. He was kind, honest, and down to earth. He connected with his fans, not because he was, as you might try to characterize, some loser who couldn't get laid. He loved them and they love him.
This is not even to speak of his undeniably astounding voice and his talent for penning inspiring, imaginative songs, which didn't stop at "Holy Diver". Many of his later albums beautifully captured the soul of metal music. Legions of metal fans still get chills listening to his soaring vocals and uplifting lyrics. For some reason, all you can seem to say, between your mocking remarks, is that he, vaguely, "kicks ass." Your tribute is nothing short of profanity.
Oh, and just because you throw in some high brow language (there are far better synonyms for "really loud" than Stentorian) that you got from your English 201 class, that doesn't make you a writer of quality. Any person with half a brain can go to Thesaurus.com, it doesn't mean they deserve a job writing for a magazine.
By the way, did you seriously refer to Mick Jagger as "good looking?" Not only are you a hack journalist, you're goddamn blind, too.
Next time, SPIN, let a real Ronnie James Dio fan do the tribute.
I decided to take the high road, this time. Sure, I could have told the pretentious douche that he will soon find himself afflicted by hemorrhoids that will sprout ravenous fire beetles, but I figure I'd let that be a pleasant surprise.
Then, there's column B. Any fan of metal knows exactly who I'm talking about, here. These are the people who like to say they "follow the teachings of Jesus", except for the fact that they gloat their supposed righteousness over others and falsely condemn people to damnation. Um, I may not be a Christian, but isn't there a quote in the Bible pertaining to this? Oh, let me think, around John 8:7 - "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Oh, wait, I guess you don't think that applies to you guys, because you're way too righteous to be considered impure.
Fucking retards.
Let me get one thing straight, before I continue. While I am not a Christian, I do ascribe that every living being is free to find their own spirituality, regardless of what that creed is. You into Jesus? I'm down with that. Buddha more your speed? That's cool. Going skyclad in the woods tickles your fancy? More power to you, just don't let me see your "fancy," if you catch my drift. I'm not bashing Christianity, as a whole...
I'm bashing all the stupid people in Christianity.
And you should too, even if you are a Christian. Hell, be upfront about it. If some guy comes up to you and asks you, "Are you a Christian?" You say, "Yes." Then he asks, "Are you a real Christian?" or, "Are you sure you're going to Heaven?" Tell them, "If going to Heaven means I have to be as big of an asshole as you, then forget it."
Of course, they'll launch into their favorite taunt, "You're going to Hell! I'm going to watch and laugh, from Heaven, as Satan burns your flesh in the pits of flame." They do this every time you don't conform to their bullshit ways. "Metal music will devour your soul. Dungeons & Dragons teaches you to sacrifice babies. Only the damned eat 'deviled' eggs."
You know what I say to that? "Good. I hope I do go to Hell. You want to know why? Because I figure that Lucifer is way less powerful than your God, considering Lucifer was defeated when he tried to overthrow Heaven. So, my chances of defeating Lucifer and taking over Hell are significantly better than usurping Heaven."
Actually, I don't even believe in that kind of afterlife, so it makes no difference where people think I'm going.
Why is this relevant? Because that's what a few people are saying about Ronnie James Dio. I've read comments on heavy metal websites, HEAVY... METAL... WEBSITES, where people have plastered this self-righteous fuckspeak. "Ha, ha, Dio's going to Hell! Burn in Hell, Dio! He's walking, hand-in-hand, with Satan!" Of course, other people have said similar things, except that Hell is not the torment of the eternally damned, but a place with all the cool stuff. "Keep on rocking out in Hell! I heard Astaroth has a bitchin' sound system! Kick Satan's ass for me, Dio!" It's their way of saying that, wherever Dio is, he's kicking ass and taking names. That's okay. But when you think that you have the authority to proclaim that someone, anyone, who just died, is going to Hell, you're a special kind of fucking evil douchebag. When you say those things about Dio, though, you just earned your inbred ass a spot in Kaiser's "Palace of Pain."
It gets worse. I found out that the abominable cult that calls itself the Westboro Baptist Church are going down to LA to picket... that's right, picket Dio's funeral. What kind of disrespectful piece of shit do you have to be to condemn someone as warm, kind, and honest as Ronnie James Dio at their funeral? If you've never heard of these guys, they are a fringe group in Topeka, KS. Formed by Fred Phelps (mostly from his large family), they go across the US, holding up their picketing signs and, generally, being completely offensive and despicable. They set up protests against soldiers who died in combat, saying they deserved to die for fighting for a country that tolerates gay people. These fucktards want to kill gay people for God! According to Phelps, God hates:
Gay people
Black people
Swedish people
Irish people
Jews (who, by the way, were the first people to worship him)
The United States
US Soldiers
Heavy Metal music
Other Christians
Al Gore (Even though Phelps supported Gore at an earlier point in time)
Anyone who is reasonable
Anyone who is cool
Anyone who is not out of their fucking mind
Anyone who doesn't regularly beat the shit out of their wife, children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren
Anyone who doesn't have an addiction to amphetamines
Pickles
The number 4
John Stamos (Have mercy!)
Kool Aid (unfortunately)
Anything else that doesn't suck
Then, of course, there's the list of all the people who hate the Westboro Baptist Church:
Everyone on the planet who is not a part of the Westboro Baptist Church
Fred Phelps is a hateful God.
Now, I'm not going to tell you fans who are going to RJD's funeral to go beat the fuck out of "God's Nazis." The reason why is because I'm pretty sure someone is going to beat the fuck out of them, and I don't want to get in trouble for encouraging it. Granted, I am a powerful demigod who can wipe out any and all opposition, but the time is not right. I am not ready to play my hand and bring the Earth under my control. Therefore, I will bide my time. However, when the inevitable Mythic Age of Metal descends upon the Earth, these people better pray to their hateful, sick, depraved god that there is a Hell. Because Hell will feel like an exotic vacation in comparison to the unimaginable suffering I have planned for them.
YOU DO NOT PROFANE DIO, EVER!
THE KAISER HAS SPOKEN!
(Wonderfull... another reason for me to obliterate the state of Kansas. The midwest will have a great inland sea in no time.)
Before I get to the Sabbath/Heaven and Hell stuff, I wanted to get some video game things out of the way. Believe it or not, there's a video game called Holy Diver. It was made for the Famicom in Japan and was almost brought to the States for the NES. It's kind of a cross between Castlevania and Mega Man. You play some sort of sorcerer, fighting demons, guys with executioner's hoods... the typical stuff you'd find in your standard horror action game or heavy metal video. Here's a peek at the first stage.
Now you may be wondering if this game is, at all, based on Dio's song or album. To that, I would say not likely. It might have been inspired by the song, but that's probably as far as the similarities go. However, that doesn't stop me from pretending that you play as Ronnie James Dio, fighting demons with your magic. I mean, Holy Diver does have all the trappings of, what could be, a Dio video game. The only thing missing is the music from the album. Well, some people have already made 8-bit versions of Dio's classic songs. Just insert them into the game and, shazam, instant Dio game.
Don't believe me? Take a listen.
This version of "Holy Diver" comes from 8bitsbrothers, which, if you can't tell by the note they left on the video, you can download this song.
This 8-bit version of "Rainbow in the Dark" came from kylerpoo. It's amazing how good these sound.
[Update: I did a little more digging and found some evidence that sheds more light on this video game. Here's some screenshots of the ending of the Famicom Holy Diver.
Notice any references? First off, there's mention of the prog rock band, King Crimson. Then there's the hero's name. It may look like "Ranay," which could be seen as a corruption of Ronnie, but it turns out that it's actually Randy. At first, I wasn't sure what the reference was there (maybe they pronounced it "Ron-dy").
Then I looked at this image and everything became clear. It mentions Zakk W. and Randy R., which points to two famous guitarists who played with Ozzy in his solo career: Zakk Wilde and the late Randy Rhoads. So the game was not only inspired by metal musicians, such as Ronnie James Dio, but is also a tribute to their music. The game depicted a world of heavy metal, something no other video game would do for another 20 years, when Brütal Legend was released. Now, if only the music in the game was more appropriately metal. That's one thing Brütal Legend definitely got right.
By the way, if you're interested in trying out the game, here's a link for it on the flash based NESCafe system. It's kind of tough, but a pretty good Famicom game.]
Now that I've made you want to play a Dio video game, let's talk about Heaven and Hell. In the late '70s, Black Sabbath had lost a lot of their luster. Both Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die! were poorly received, as the albums were handicapped by Sabbath's myriad issues. In between the two albums, Ozzy quit the group. The rest of the band decided to carry on without him, working with different vocalists. Eventually, Ozzy came back, asking to return to Sabbath, but refusing to sing the material that the rest of the band worked on while he was gone. On top of that, rampant drug use had crippled their productivity in the studio. Eventually, Ozzy wasn't contributing any ideas and the band was going nowhere, so they fired him in 1979.
While Ozzy eventually forged his own successful solo career, Sabbath took a suggestion from, what may now seem like, an unlikely source: Ozzy's future wife. Sharon Arden told Tony Iommi to look up Ronnie James Dio as a replacement to Ozzy. Dio joined the group and, in 1980, they released Heaven and Hell, which gave Sabbath a new lease on life. It was around this time that Dio made the "metal horns" gesture a popular trope in the metal community. Dio's creativity and input in Sabbath was a breath of fresh air that brought the band back into the spotlight after nearly crashing and burning.
Of course, both versions of Sabbath have reunited at some point. When Dio got back together with Sabbath in 2007, they decided to differentiate themselves from their tenure with Ozzy and, instead, took the name of their first album together. Heaven and Hell saw a resurgence in interest for the band's music with Dio. Before Dio's death, the band was working on doing a European tour with Iron Maiden, which was cancelled, due to Dio's health issues.
Dio's time with Black Sabbath marked a distinctive era in Dio's career. While Heaven and Hell still carried Dio's dark fantasy undertones that could be found in both Rainbow and Dio, it was the collaboration with Iommi and Butler that gave the music its own identity, just as collaborating with Ritchie Blackmore gave Rainbow its individual sound. It's interesting to look at the major bands that Dio has been in and notice both the individual styles from these different bands and the consistent quality that Dio has infused into them.
But I'm talking too damn much. Let's see some videos.
First, because I know my cousin-in-law would enjoy this, here's some "Neon Knights" from 1980.
Finally, some tour footage from 2007, with the band working some "Voodoo."
Tomorrow, we're going to get some insight from the man behind the microphone with some great interviews.
There have been a couple of announcements on RJD's Facebook. First off, there will be a public memorial service for him on Sunday, May 30th in Los Angeles. If any of you want to make it there, definitely check the Facebook link to find out more details on location, time, and hotel arrangements (some local hotels are giving discounts, but it's first come, first serve, so reserve now). Second, for those of you who cannot make it (I wish I could, but I don't have the cash), but still want to show your support, Wendy Dio has set up the "Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund." You can find the address for sending money to the fund on the Facebook page or you can go to his website (it's back up) and find the PayPal donate button.
Anyway, I thought I would go back to some of his Dio videos. Let's start off with "The Last in Line."
Of course, how can you have a collection of Dio's videos without doing "Holy Diver." Nothing says awesome like RJD stalking a demon haunted wasteland as a barbarian swordsman.
One more video - this time, we'll do some live "Dream Evil" from 1988.
By the way, I finally got Master of the Moon, the very last studio album from Dio (the band). This album's only six years old. It's amazing to see him be so involved in music for over 50 years, even longer, if you count the years before he joined his first band. Even though he wasn't always in the spotlight, he was always making music. You have to respect that.
Ronnie James Dio has been in quite a few bands in his lifetime. He started a group with other musicians from his hometown of Cortland, NY, called the Vegas Kings. At first, he was just the bassist, but, eventually, he took up a singing role as well. The band did undergo a few name changes: Ronnie and the Rumblers, Ronnie and the Redcaps, and finally Ronnie Dio and The Prophets. When that band split up, Dio formed the Electric Elves, which, eventually, just became Elf.
However, the first band that Dio would really make an impression with in the music world was Rainbow. Back when Ritchie Blackmore was still in Deep Purple, Elf was one of the bands that opened for them. Blackmore was so impressed with Dio's vocal talent that, when he quit Deep Purple, he took Dio and other members of Elf to form Rainbow. Blackmore, being very much a stickler for how his music should be, fired the entire band after their first album except for Dio, who remained for two more studio albums and one live album while the rest of the band constantly changed. Eventually, Dio left because Blackmore became interested in a more commercial sound for the band, something Dio didn't want to be a part of.
During the band's time with Dio, Rainbow's sound combined the mystique of Ritchie Blackmore's guitar with Dio's esoteric, sword & sorcery flavored lyrics, making for awe inspiring music that sent shivers down your spine. After Dio's departure (and maybe even before that), their songs started being polarized. In Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, a definite schism formed between Dio's songs and Blackmore's, as Blackmore pulled himself away from the mystical themes for something more radio friendly. While Rainbow did produce some pretty good songs after Dio's departure, they didn't have the same hypnotic power that came from their previous albums and, in turn, weren't as successful.
Nonetheless, Dio's tenure with Rainbow was a time rife with great music. These videos of my favorite Rainbow songs are evidence of that.
Of course, when most people think of songs by Rainbow, the classic "Man on the Silver Mountain" comes to mind. This was their first song I heard from the group, even before I knew who they were, and what a great introduction to the band.
Then, there's my second favorite song, "Stargazer," a a piece of music that's highly evocative of the sword & sorcery that Dio would be known for after he left the band.
"So, Kaiser," you may ask, "what's your favorite Rainbow song?" That would be "Gates of Babylon," with its shadow haunted melodies, arcane guitar solo, and foreboding lyrics. In the video, it looks like Blackmore is in a trance, as if possessed by his own music. Just listen to how great Dio's voice sounds. Despite what you may think, he is actually singing in this video - no lip synching, ever. That's why Dio is a fucking god.
If you've never picked up a Rainbow album, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Remember, though, to stick with the first three albums. While post-Dio Rainbow is okay, it can never match the power of the original.
Between the years of 1984-1985, musicians all over the world were reaching out to bring relief to the famine in Ethiopia. Bob Geldof, who some people in the States may know from his role as Pink in Pink Floyd's movie, The Wall, formed Band Aid, uniting musicians from the UK and creating the way too depressing "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Seeing the success of Band Aid, a couple of activists in the US got some musicians together to form USA for Africa, who sang "We Are the World," which was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie.
Seeing the success of these two groups, the guys in Dio noticed something: All the musicians in those groups were strictly pop music. There was no support from the rock/heavy metal genres. So they got together their own group of musicians, Hear 'n Aid, and wrote a new song for the cause, "Stars."
Unfortunately, "Stars" did not become as successful as "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and was dwarfed by sales for "We Are the World," partially because contractual issues between the different artists' record labels delayed the release of the album almost a year after the fact. Still, it's a good song and a significant part of Dio history.
This song is actually interesting because it features a pretty long guitar solo done by nine different guitarists while the two guys in Iron Maiden lay down the rhythm guitars. In the video, you'll recognize quite a few people. Obviously, Dio is in there, but there's also guys from Blue Öyster Cult, Quiet Riot (including the late Kevin DuBrow), Rob Halford, Geoff Tate from Queensrÿche (I'm glad he got rid of that hairstyle), and, if you pay attention, you'll even see David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls of Spın̈al Tap. That's a lot of extraneous umlauts.
Man, Ronnie James Dio's death still weighs heavy on me. This has hit me harder than I can ever imagine. While I felt my last post let me get out what I'm feeling right now, I don't find it enough to be a proper tribute to Dio's legacy.
That's why I'm devoting every day, every goddamn, motherfucking day this week, to the life and music of Ronnie James Dio by finding videos of his songs, interviews, whatever I can find; starting today, ending Sunday. If you didn't know Dio before, you sure fucking will. His genius must be shared with the world.
Today, I offer you a music video from Dio's Dream Evil album. The video is pure vintage 80s and I love this song. I'm not allowed to embed the video, but I'll put the link up. Break out "the horns" and enjoy "I Could Have Been A Dreamer."
The news I'm about to give you shook every fiber of my being to the core, especially since I expressed such high hopes yesterday. The unthinkable has happened. Ronnie James Dio passed away this morning.
I first caught wind of this on his official Facebook page. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. But the update was written by his own wife. How could I refute that?
The thing that pissed me off was the disrespectful handling of this information. Some websites were already reporting his death before it even happened, which Wendy responded by stating, on his Twitter, that he wasn't dead, but was not doing good. Of course, when she did announce his passing, a lot of people were still calling it a hoax. Even "news" websites said that the announcements of his death were fake. I spent about two hours wondering if it was true or not. It wasn't until I went back to his website, which, for a while, was down, that I saw the same announcement that was on his Facebook page. It seems that most sites have finally caught up with what happened, but the way these rumors muddled the truth is just fucking pathetic.
But enough about that bullshit. I want to honor the man, his music, and what it meant to me. Out of all the metal groups I listen to, his singing and lyrics were the most inspiring. When I heard his songs, I connected with them, as if he understood what I was going through. From the interviews I've seen him in, he seemed like an honest, down to earth person, someone you could relate to. I said to myself, "When he gets better, I would love to meet the guy, just hang out with him, even for only a few minutes." I wanted to experience his presence. Sadly, that day will never come.
Putting this into perspective, I feel that my previous post was so cruelly timed. I was riding high on the hopes of him making a triumphant return. Everything seemed to be pointing to a bright future with Heaven and Hell still going strong and Dio's own band making a return to the studio - a future that was cut unfairly short.
First, it was Frank Frazetta, and now this. This has got to be the worst fucking week I've had in a long time. Though I didn't post anything about Frazetta's death (I felt that some of my fellow brothers in blogging, especially CROM!, said it better than I ever could), I felt as if a legend had passed from this mortal realm. Now, another legend leaves to join him. I would like to believe that, even if they've never met before, they share a table in the hallowed halls of the immortals. For their work and inspiration, I feel that there is no one who does not lift them, with their steelclad hearts, to the heavens. Therein, lies their true immortality.
Death may claim life, but it cannot conquer the true soul of men.
Rest in peace and know that your life made the world richer.
A lot has been going on with the Holy One that is Ronnie James Dio; some good, some bad. If you haven't already heard, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, but has been fighting, tooth and nail, to purge the offending aberration from his being. From what I've read, the chemotherapy he's been undergoing seems to be very effective, but all the treatments have made it to where he cannot tour with Heaven and Hell this summer in Europe.
Despite the cancer and treatments, Dio is still nigh unstoppable. He won "Best Vocalist of the Year" at the Revolver Golden Gods awards for his work on Heaven and Hell's The Devil You Know and is working on a new Dio album, Magica II & III. Not only that, but before he went into his treatments, his band already recorded their first song for the album. Of course, I found a video done by a YouTuber, so allow me to present you the future of Dio. This is "Electra."
Hell, I'm feeling generous. How about I throw in Heaven and Hell doing "Time Machine" from 2009 absolutely free? Now, how much would you pay?
By the way, check out Dio's website and Facebook page for more updates on upcoming releases, including a new online store to get all the Dio shirts and accessories you need, and the status of his well being. I hope to see Dio back to making the music I love. Until then, get better, brother.
It's time for another Metal Moment, motherfuckers.
It seems that one of my last Metal Moments, Beauty and the Beast, is extremely popular with people who don't look at the rest of my blog. Of course, it's not because they want an in depth look at the subgenre or a taste of the musical quality of these women of metal. Hell no. Almost all of them have been led here by one source: Google image search. They just want to look at all the hot metal women for a faptastic good time.
Why do you bastards make me regret putting hot chicks on my site? I like sexy women just as much as the next guy, but it's a pain in the ass when a bunch of turdsuckers just come over to gawk at the sexy pictures and check out nothing else. If I was having a party and some guy I didn't know came in, grabbed a few beers, and left, I'd tear him a fifth asshole (and if he's missing assholes two through four, I'd work those in, too).
It's a sad balancing act I have to do. I like having hot women on this blog, but I don't want a bunch of guys just going to the site looking for something to inspire their cockmongling. Screw that bullshit. You know what, if you happen to be one of those people, chances are you're not even reading this, so fuck off.
Needless to say, this Metal Moment has nothing to do with hot chicks. If that doesn't turn you away, if you're really interested in metal, then read on, my friend.
When you think of progressive metal supergroups, what name comes to mind? If it's not the one that's featured on the title of this post, then let me tell you this: Arjen Lucassen is certainly one of the more prolific individuals when it comes to getting a bunch of great metal musicians together for a project.
If you've never heard of him, that's okay. To be honest, I didn't know who he was until my cousin-in-law introduced me to Lucassen's most productive project, Ayreon. Ayreon would, mostly, be considered progressive metal, though the songs range from ethereal prog rock, to heavier metal assaults, to folk and classical styled songs. Following a classic prog rock trope, all of their studio albums are concept albums, but most of them are also rock operas that tell a story. In reality, there's only one permanent member of Ayreon: Lucassen, though he does use the same session drummer, Ed Warby, making him an unofficial member. The rest of the group is filled with musicians from various metal bands, especially the vocalists. Each character in Ayreon's rock operas is portrayed by a different singer and has included the likes of James LaBrie (of Dream Theater, who also did their own rock opera album, Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory, but LaBrie played all the characters in that one), Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Russell Allen (Symphony X), Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia), and the lovely ladies Sharon den Adel (Within Temptation), Simone Simons (Epica), and Floor Jansen (ex-After Forever - okay, so there's mention of hot chicks in this post, but you're not getting any pictures).
Thematically, Ayreon's albums have gone from science fiction and fantasy to more psychological concepts and the rotating selection of singers and musicians (Lucassen plays a lot of the instruments while recording, but he does have musicians from other metal bands, such as the ones mentioned above, play on the album as well) make for an eclectic mix of music, though keeping to the progressive root.
If that doesn't sound like Lucassen has his hands full with that project, he's also worked on others, such as the heavily sci-fi influenced Star One, which released one studio album, Space Metal, as well as a live album. Unlike Ayreon, Star One was more focused on heavier progressive metal infused with space rock. Originally, the project was conceived by Lucassen and Maiden's Dickinson, but Dickinson's agent called off negotiations when Lucassen mentioned the project online. Lucassen took what material he had, wrote his own lyrics and set to getting a bunch of his famous collaborators together. Again, Lucassen and Warby were on the album. Russel Allen, Floor Jansen, Dan Swanö (ex-Edge of Sanity and another influential force in progressive metal), and Damian Wilson (Headspace) lent their voices. This time, not so much as individual characters as Space Metal was not a rock opera. Instead, each of the songs were inspired by different science fiction movies and TV shows, such as The Empire Strikes Back, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Blake's 7 (which the name of the group comes from).
In his free time, when he has any, Lucassen likes to etch his face on every moon in the galaxy with his laser hands.
Of course, there are other projects that Lucassen has worked on. If you want to know more about his expansive body of work, check out his website.
Just to give you a taste of his work, here's a couple of songs from Ayreon as well as one from Star One. As I said before, the Star One song was inspired by a sci-fi movie. Guess which one. If the title doesn't give it away, which it should, just listen to the lyrics. I'll give you a hint, the movie came out in 1994 and spawned a series of TV spin-offs that seems to have a greater following than the original movie.
Okay, so this isn't part one of the barbarian video game special. Deal with it. I just wanted to get one more metal moment before I talk about video games for a week or so without interruption.
Anyway, I woke up this morning with one thought in my head, "I haven't listened to Sabaton in a while." Sabaton is a Swedish power metal band whose songs focus on historical military conflicts. That is to say they like war.
I discovered these guys a few years ago, which, at that time, was a time of pure discovery for me in the genre of metal. When I went to work, every night, I'd fire up Pandora on my computer, put on my headphones, and blow my damn ears off. Anyway, these guys stood out from the first time I heard them. Their music was like a blitzkreig: fast, hard, and leaving you in a ruin of awe.
Then I heard Joakim Brodén's voice and immediately said to myself, "I want to hang out with that guy." He has this throaty, "clean" growl in his voice that just sounds awesome. It's definitely not your usual growl. I even gave Joakim the nickname "Uncle Sabaton," because he sounds like that cool uncle whose been through so many damn wars and every time the family gets together, you can't help but get the man a beer as you listen to his war stories.
"Uncle Sabaton" is the one with the marine mohawk.
When I first heard them, I tried to find out more about these guys, but, for some reason, no one really knew that much about them. There wasn't even an entry for them in Wikipedia (you could only find an entry for an actual sabaton, which was the part of full plate armor that covered the foot, that the band was named after). Fortunately, they released an album almost every year since 2005 and signed a deal with Nuclear Blast, one of the premier metal labels in Europe. Since then, they've been getting much more attention, and rightly so.
Of course, I'm not going to tell you about these guys without giving you a taste of the firefight intensity that is their music. This song, "Into the Fire," was the first song of theirs that blew my mind back in those days. Put your flak jacket on. This is going to get violent.
Thanks to Steel Legionnaire Akari Hoshi for the idea.
In the metal scene, "Beauty and the Beast" refers to the musical aesthetic of a female vocalist singing in an angelic voice over metal backdrop and has become extremely popular in recent years. The sound had its start in the late 90s with the goth metal scene. Wanting to take some of the elements of death metal while taking out some of the brutality of the music, goth metal bands started experimenting with operatic singing and orchestral music to develop a new sound that kept in line with gothic themes.
Eventually, many of the groups who started out in goth metal expanded their musical horizons. The most natural evolution was into symphonic metal, as the two mutually arose from the same sources, and, to a lesser extent, progressive metal. Today, with the height in popularity, "Beauty and the Beast" groups run the gamut of musical styles - even going so far as to have commercial based rock bands, such as Evanescence.
Which can be a problem. The thing is, most people caught wind of this sound when Evanescence came onto the scene. The issue is that there are other bands who have been around longer that have been labeled copycats. Evanescence Amy Lee is talented, as she's the only reason why the band has done well, but she is not even the tip of the iceberg.
So today, I'm going to take a look at some of the bands behind the "Beauty and the Beast" sound, as well as show you some of the lovely ladies that lend their voices (it doesn't seem to be any coincidence that a lot of these women are attractive). I'm also adding a playlist of songs at the bottom of the post to kind of give an idea of how each of the bands utilize female vocals to create their own sound.
First off, let's start with Nightwish. Considered to be one of the premier "Beauty and the Beast" groups, they created moody, atmospheric songs that still retain a biting edge. Actually, their bassist, Marco Hietala, is my favorite "Beast" vocalist out of these groups.
Nightwish began with Tarja Turunen, who brought a rich, operatic voice and classic beauty to the metal scene since 1997. She was dismissed from the band in 2005 due to her husband and commercial interests creating a schizm between her and the band. The song I picked for her tenure in Nightwish is the fantastic "Wishmaster."
After Tarja's dismissal, the band hired Swedish singer Anette Olzon, who was originally in a radio friendly classic rock group, Alyson Avenue, before joining Nightwish. She has a more playful beauty, like some dark, mischievous pixie, which is also evident in her voice. Her voice is not operatic, like Tarja's, but is much more versatile, which is why I prefer her (though I do like Tarja). The best way to describe her singing would be to say it's like a "Dark Lullaby." Most alluring is her swedish accent. I love swedish female vocalists. Though she is only featured on one album, Dark Passion Play, I found it hard to pick a song that really captured everything about Nightwish's new direction with Anette. There are so many good songs I could have picked, but I chose "Sahara" because I felt it encompassed the range of sound for both the band and Anette.
Next up is Epica, who have a similar sound to Nightwish. Even though they have explored the avenues of symphonic, progressive, and power metal, I feel their sound has been kept truer to their goth roots.
The singer for Epica, Simone Simons, is a lovely, fiery haired siren. She joined the band in a typical fashion: her boyfriend at the time was the guitarist (nowadays, she's dating the keyboardist of power metal band Kamelot). While Simone has that mezzo-soprano voice you hear so often in these bands, she does use it effectively to create a signature sound for Epica, which is evident in "Another Me 'In Lack'ech'."
Since we're on the subject of Epica, Mark Jansen, their guitarist, created the band after leaving another group, After Forever. These guys are one of the most divergent of all the bands as their sound is firmly grounded in symphonic, progressive, and power metal. They are also very fond of doing cover songs, most notably Iron Maiden's "The Evil that Men Do," but I've seen them also do Heart's "Alone" and a rousing version of Europe's "The Final Countdown." Sadly, the group disbanded at the beginning of 2009. It was an amiable break-up, since they all just decided that they didn't want the group to get stale. Nowadays, they're all working on their own projects and I wish them all the best of luck.
The woman behind the driving lyrics is the sultry Floor Jansen. I like her voice a lot. She can passionately belt out lyrics like a rock singer or soar with an ethereal soprano. I loved her stage presence in the videos I've seen and the way she moves is hot. I've never seen headbanging look so sexy. I chose their song "Discord" as it nicely showcased their symphonic and power metal chops as well as Floor's vocal range.
An adventuring party enters the village. They seem to be weary from their flight from Dragon Plume Mountain. This is Battlelore. To be honest, I discovered these guys while I was doing research for this post. They combine elements of goth metal with power metal, folk metal, and melodic death metal. They are sometimes labeled as "Fantasy Metal," as most of their songs are inspired by The Lord of the Rings. Not only that but, well...
They dress like they just got back from their SCA meeting (that's the Society for Creative Anachronism). Despite the fantasy kitsch, I actually like these guys. They're unique in a few ways.
As you can see, there are two women in the group. Kaisa Jouhki, the one to the left, is one of the singers, while Maria Honkanen, on the right, plays keyboards and the flute. Also, the vocals are more equally shared between Kaisa and the guttural "Beast" voice of Tomi Mykkänen. "Sword's Song" showcases their penchant for melodic death metal and the vocal tag team of Kaisa and Tomi.
Sirenia, which takes it's name from (duh) the Sirens of greek myth, but also shares that name with the order of animals that the manatee belongs to, are another one of those bands that keep to their gothic and symphonic metal roots. They do, however, infuse their goth stylings with healthy doses of death metal. There have been four women in Sirenia that took up the microphone. Now that I think about it, Sirenia has only put out four albums, which means each one had a new singer, which means the present singer better find another band soon. On their first album, At Sixes and Sevens, Fabienne Gondamin lent her voice. Though it looked like she was nothing more than a session singer. I couldn't even find a single picture of her. Oh well.
Singing on An Elixir for Existence was Henriette Bordvik. She had a very wispy, innocent voice that went well with the goth aesthetic.
On Nine Destinies and a Downfall, Monika Pedersen presented her voice and her set of... lungs to the group. She did the creepy little girl voice well, but also had a rich, womanly voice. It also didn't hurt that the photos and music videos she was in showcased her breasts... I'm sorry, did I say her breasts? I meant to say her tits - her big tits.
Tits.
Finally, on their new album, The 13th Floor, they recruited Spainiard Ailyn as their new singer. Again, the vocals are light, airy, and innocent. They keep the sound, just change who's making it. Enjoy your fame while you can, Ailyn. You'll be gone before the next album. Since I didn't want to bother with all four singers, I picked "The Mind Maelstrom" from the latest album, due to it's death metal flavor.
Earlier, I mentioned Evanescence. Despite having a talented predominant female singer, the music is, by no means, metal. If Amy Lee were to ever join a metal group, then that would be fine, but Evanescence is strictly rock music. This next group would also say that they have broken free from both the "metal" and "goth" brands, as well. Pretty much forming around the same time as Evanescence, Within Temptation started out as a more goth metal group, but have moved away from that and became what they call "symphonic rock," which sounds about right.
Their singer, the lovely Sharon den Adel, has gone from somber arias to soulful rock ballads and her voice has more than adapted through the changes. I've included two songs from this band. "Deceiver of Fools" gives a taste of their old goth days, while "Frozen" shows the direction they have taken. While it does sound similar to Evanescence, I feel that the band, as a whole, make the song, unlike Evanescence, who are riding on Amy's coattails.
Finally, I bring you Lacuna Coil. This group has already made a name for themselves using the contrasting vocals of Andrea Ferro and the gorgeous Cristina Scabbia. Early in their career, they dabbled in goth metal sensibilities. Nowadays, they are gravitating toward a more alternative hard rock sound, but still keep the dark themes at its core.
As for the fairer half of the vocalist team, Cristina is smoldering. Her vocals are sultry, yet fierce. And, holy crap, is she ever hot. I chose "Devoted" because, while it has a more modern sound than most metal offerings, it does have that gloomy atmosphere that Lacuna Coil have proven to consistently evoke.
After looking at these bands, you may notice I'm not giving much notice to other members in these bands. I'm focusing mostly on the ladies, whose pretty faces grace magazine covers, articles, and promotional posters. This is exactly my point, as this is how a lot of the music industry, especially in the States, see things. During my research, I have checked out quite a few bands that follow this exact formula. Not all of them are good. I watched some videos where a beautiful or sexy young woman was dancing in front of the band, holding a microphone. But when they opened their mouths, nothing but crap came out. There have been quite a few copycats out there and the "Beauty and the Beast" method has become a bit crowded. I do enjoy most of the bands that I featured in this post, but one of these bands on here I don't really care for (I'm not going to tell you which one).
What I'm trying to say is that it takes more than a beautiful woman, even if she is a great singer, to make a band. A lot of these bands are great beyond that pretty face and lovely voice. I didn't get into this type of music just because of the ladies. Despite the "Beauty," you still need the "Beast."
Anyway, I want you guys to check out the playlist below and enrich your appreciation for this kind of music.
Why?
Because I am fucking awesome, so, vicariously, everything I enjoy is also fucking awesome.
I thought you guys would have figured that out by now.
When I ride my fire breathing metal six legged horse into battle, I listen to Manowar. When I bury my battle axe deep into the skull of a demon to save the captive beautiful maidens who were to be his blood sacrifice, I listen to Manowar. When I survey the massacre before me as plumes of blood mist spray from my dying enemies into the stormy sky, I listen to Manowar. When I'm bowling with the Titans of the Cosmos and I annihilate pin after pin with my sphere of bowling doom, I listen to Manowar.
Manowar has been kicking ass and blowing speakers since 1980 with music that invokes epic battles and remaining true to metal. Being true to metal has always been important to the guys, as they have refused to compromise their ways. Record executives and critics in the US have always criticized them, but such people are False Ones and must be destroyed by steel.
Regardless of how mainstream music views them, Manowar is still going strong, thanks to a loyal following in Europe, Japan, South America, and, to a lesser extent, the United States, where most people would rather listen to shitty music instead.
Not only is Manowar the purest of metal music, they have some of the most epic album covers. Epic warriors standing over the field of battle, surrounded by beautiful, scantily clad women and the iconic Manowar sword in hand is a sight to behold.
The music is always hard and loud. They've been known to break their own records for loudest concert numerous times. They even performed for 5 hours straight at one time. Truly, they are the kings of metal.
But do not take my word for it. Listen to the thunderous sounds that will bring out the warrior in you. Their songs are a war march and their chorus a battle cry. Warriors of the World Unite!
Don't be terribly surprised that I like Metalocalypse, because, ding-dong, I do. How fucking awesome is that show? Anyway, I picked up Dethalbum II today. Holy shit, my ears were blown away.
If you liked the first Dethalbum, the second one will fucking kick your ass. I actually believe it's harder than the first, which is saying something. I also get the feeling they re-recorded the tracks that were featured in some of the episodes, as they don't exactly sound the same to me. I actually like what Brendon Small did with Nathan Explosion's voice. It's starting to have a more versatile range, not just the constant deep guttural voice. This one actually sounds more polished than the first.
Anyway, if you don't have it, get it, blah, blah, blah, or I kill you.
I liked this line in the dedications: "Dethklok would like to thank blood, tits, fire, and guitars."
...Especially the tits.
Kaiser out
Yes, so I purchased the new Dream Theater album and gave it a listen. Is it awesome? Should you get it? Um, yes. There really is no question that you should. This isn't exactly a review. In a nutshell, this album kicks ass. The real question is whether you should get the regular version or the special edition of the album. Actually, I'm lying, because that's pretty much an easy question, too. I mean, do you have five extra bucks? Would you like two extra CDs? Then get the damn special edition. Let's face it. The album is good - really good, but those other two CDs are definitely worth the difference between $20 and $25 (or if you get it at Best Buy soon, like I did, $10 and $15). Disc one, the actual album, starts out with the dark, ominous"A Nightmare to Remember," which plunges into the minds of the survivors (or what's left of them) of a crippling car crash. "A Rite of Passage," which I showed in that previous video, follows up. Progressively, the songs get lighter, as if a door slowly opened, letting light into a dark room. Of course, this is reflected in the album cover, done by the fantastic Hugh Syme (best known for his extensive work with Rush). "Wither" is about creativity and the art of "letting go." "The Shattered Fortress" is this album's chapter of Mike Portnoy's Alcoholics Anonymous suite (note the the broken bottles in the background on the lyrics page) of songs started by "The Glass Prison" in Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. "The Best of Times," is Portnoy's touching tribute to his father, who passed away this year. Rounding out the album, "The Count of Tuscany" is a fantastical song about a demented member of royalty that seems right at home with some of the early songs in Rush's career. Disc two showcases another of the band's talents, making Dream Theater flavored cover songs from bands that inspired them, including songs by Queen and King Crimson. The two that really got me excited bookend the album. It begins with Rainbow's "Stargazer," a fantastic song, and ends with Iron Maiden's "To Tame A Land." Just. Fucking. Awesome. The third disc is the actual album from disc one, done instrumental style - no vocals. Now, this does give you an opportunity to listen closer to the instrumentation of the band, but there's another purpose to this disc that fans should know... DREAM THEATER KARAOKE! That's right, now you can amaze your friends and impress the ladies with your finest James LaBrie impression. Think you can do better than him? Well, you're full of shit, but at least you can try. Who knows, maybe some band might hear your singing and make you their lead singer. And maybe your girlfriend's nipples will turn to gold! Yeah, right. As if you had a girlfriend. Anyway, get the special edition album. It's more than worth the extra five bucks. Kaiser out
