Archive for April 2009
Hey Doro! Nice ass!
Yes, I said that to her, to her face even. What a schmuck! I was 18 and one of the first 5 people in line to 
see Megadeth, Warlock and Sanctuary(!). We got there early because we wanted to be on the barricade at the Boathouse for the whole show. We were so excited to see Sanctuary…getting to see Warlock and Megadeth was just icing on the cake. But…this whole story is about Warlock.
So there we were in line when a van pulls up and Doro gets out with a few big body guard looking dudes flanking her. She walks right by us and I was trying to think of something to say. Being 18, my groin was doing most of my thinking at the time so I said, “Hey Doro!” to which she politely replied, “Jah?!” in her thick german accent. I pulled the total Butthead moment and said, “uhhhhh…nice ass!” Instantly in my head I said ‘d’oh!’ A big smile crossed her face and she said, “Oh, tank you!” Man, I felt like such a dumbass. I was such a dumbass.
But Warlock kicked total ass that night. Now if you have known me for longer than a minute, you probably know that I am not a fan of metal bands fronted by women, save a few exceptions. Warlock is one of those exceptions.
I remember it was right after meeting a former friend from high school in 1986, he introduced me to CK at the Triumph/Yngwie show. Years later I ended up in a band with CK. Good times, bad times…but back to Warlock. So we were at CK’s place and I was flipping through his records and saw Warlock’s first 2 albums, Hellbound and Burning the Witches. So he put on Burning the Witches and I was digging it. Instant fan! I proceeded to go out and buy those 2 on cassette as well as True as Steel a little later.
I remember reading in Circus magazine that they had a new one coming out called Triumph and Agony. I picked it up the week it came out and loved it. I still do. It’s not as raw as the previous 3 albums, but it’s great. Getting to see that tour was such a treat. I think there were only a few people there who actually knew anything about Warlock (or Sanctuary for that matter) and we let them know that we were fans. We were raising holy hell for them and they appreciated it. Doro made several comments about “this group of guys over here who know what the hell is going on! All of you should learn how to rock like these guys!” Sure, cheesey stage banter but to a bunch of 17 and 18 year old fans, it was pretty cool.
I was pretty disappointed when they broke up after that tour. Doro’s solo albums never did a lot for me but her debut, Force Majeur, was good enough to stay in my collection.
In order from best to worst:
- Triumph and Agony
- True As Steel
- Burning the Witches
- Hellbound
They played a good cross section of all of the albums in their set. I was super excited when they went into “I Rule the Ruins”.
Doro has played San Antonio at least twice since I moved here and I should go the next time she plays. Everyone says she still kicks ass live.
If you can find the Warlock: Live in London DVD, I highly recommend it.
The torture never stops!
This album can do no wrong. Seriously. This was another one that I first heard through a former friend from high school. I was 16 (1986) and drove my ’66 Nova 4dr to his house to hang out. I believe this was the first time that we hung out and I was in awe of his record collection and his bedroom walls filled with cool metal posters.
I’m flipping through his crate of records and see the WASP S/T album and asked him to play it. I’d seena nd read about them in the ‘zines but hadn’t put ears to it yet.
WOW.
WOW!
Being blown away doesn’t really even mildly describe how hard this album hit me upon my first listen. WASP was different, especially coming from the LA scene where lipstick and hairspray was ruling the scene. I never really got into that look or sound that came along with it except for the early Crue stuff.
Sure WASP had hairspray and makeup, but it wasn’t the same. There’s not a bad song on this album at all. Sure, School Daze had some goofy lyrics, but it is still a great jam.
Blackie Lawless has a very haunting quality to his voice. It’s vicious at times. These guys were the perfect combination of power, dark tones and tasteful metal.
When I put this CD in my car, it generally stays in there for a few weeks. I never grow tired of listening to it. If I have to pick my favorite cuts on this they would have to be Hellion, Sleeping in the Fire, Tormentor and L.O.V.E. Machine.
11/10…easily.
And let’s not forget what W.A.S.P. stands for. If you look on the inner ring of the actual album, it’s spelled out as “We are sexual perverts”.
That rules.
My current guitarist saw their first 2 shows in LA…@ the Troubador I believe. There’s some footage of these shows on YouTube I believe.
The Metal Years
I simply love this movie. I watched it again yesterday for the billionth time. It’s interesting seeing many of the people in the movie that I’ve met a time or 2 over the years and seeing how much they’ve changed.
I’ll always love the section on ODIN. Sure, Randy O. was pretty wasted and said a few outlandish things, but at least the guy believed in the dream. And he had guys with him who believed it as well…his bandmates and Gazzari (RIP).
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with Shawn and Jeff Duncan of ODIN. Those guys are legends to me. And to no surprise, they are very cool dudes. They latest band, DC4, was here in Austin for the SxSW festival and I got to help them around town a bit. They completely kick ass. It was a pleasure for me to assist in every way that I could. Especially since I’ve been a fan of their debut since it came out. After watching the Metal Years again yesterday, it was cool to see them back then and compare them to the now. They seemed so familiar to me when I finally got to meet them.
The Chris Holmes section of the movie was always a bit weird to watch for me with him being completely tanked in the pool with his mom sitting there. I recently read on the Wikipedia page about the movie that the bottles of vodka that he was drinking and pouring all over himself were full of water.
I love the section on London as well. I had the cassette of their 2nd album way back when and liked it a lot. Would love to see this stuff come out on separate CDs…official or not.
One of the best bands featured on there was Detroit’s Seduce. A former friend from high school and I used to listen to them all the time back in the olden days. They looked glammy but were pretty damn metal IMHO.
The Faster Pussycat stuff was cool. One of my bands opened for them about 6 years ago and it was almost scary to see how much taime had changed. That dude’s a freak.
All in all it’s a fun movie to watch, even if it did focus more on the glammier side of LA. At least Lemmy and Alice Cooper got some good footage in there. It seems that this is coming out in an official DVD version sometime as well according the the Decline Movies website.
The Metal Files 
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