Archive for the ‘loudness’ Category
I’ll throw the ashes to the sky…
I was getting roughly $70-$75 a week. Not too shabby for a 16 year old. Gas was about $0.90/gallon and cassettes were generally $7.99.
So, after picking up my paycheck one morning I went to the A&N shoe store in the same shopping center and bought a pair of hi-top Chuck Taylor’s in the beige/off-white color. I went home, put em on and went about my day. Later that same day my older brother and I went out to bum around town and ended up back at the same shopping center to go to Roses department store. I’m not sure what he was looking for but I went straight to the tapes.
Just browsing through I saw Loudness’ Lightning Strikes. I read a review of it a few weeks earlier and it got a good rating. I didn’t really know anything about them except that they were Japanese. So I bought it. $7.99+tax. After being rung up, my brother and I were walking out (he was a few steps in front of me) and a woman grabs my arm and says “Come with me.” I said, “Say what? Robert! Check this out!” So my brother turns around and we’re both arguing with the lady, a plain clothes police officer. I’m getting pretty belligerent at this point saying “What the fuck is this about? Let me go bitch” etc etc. We go to some back room and the first thing she asks me is “Where did you get those shoes?” So I belligerently tell her that I bought them that morning from A&N. “I don’t believe you.” This is where it gets fun. “Oh yeah? The receipt is on my bed at home. Call my mom and she’ll read it to you.” Before she called my mom the cop was asking me where I got the money to buy the cassette and was accusing me of stealing those shoes from their store. “Look bitch, I work right next store. I don’t bust my ass bagging groceries and stocking eggs for nothing. I work for money so I can buy shoes and tapes and whatever else I want. I don’t need to steal. And if I did, do you think that I’d be stupid enough to wear them back to the store?” What was really funny looking back at all this is that I think my brother had stolen something and had it in his pants. What a doofus. Typical.
So anyway, the cop proceeds to finally call my mom. “Ms. W., we have your son Sean here and we think he stole some shoes from our store. He said the receipt was on his bed. Can you check for it?” A few seconds lapse and I hear mom say, “Yes, I have it. He bought them this morning.” Then the conversation changed. Most of you don’t know my mom but she’s not one to mince words. She ripped that cop a new one. My brother and I could hear it and we were laughing out loud. Mom demanded to know her boss’ name and phone number at the police station. That dude got an earful too. The cop tried telling my mom that I had a foul mouth and I heard mom tell her “Wouldn’t you be raising hell too? Now let him go.”
So they hang up. The cop apologized to me about a dozen times. I told her to piss off. I was pretty upset and shaken up about the whole thing. I don’t steal. period. I saw her around town for several years after that and she even apologized to me again a few years after the non-incident. All was forgiven.
So what does all this have to do with Loudness’ Lightning Strikes? Because of the happenings of that day, this album always held a special memory to me. While it’s not their heaviest or best album, it is certainly my favorite. 1000 eyes, Ashes to the Sky, Dark Desire and Street Life Dream are my favorites but the whole thing is good.
Akira is a shredder and Higuchi’s drumming is insane. He never needed double bass to get a full sound out of his kit. He had the chops.
There is another version of this album called Shadows of War which was the original Japanese pressing. It has a different mix in production and much of the vocals and guitar solos are different. I heard it for the first time a few years ago and was blown away by the differences. I love both versions.
A few years ago, Kelz and I got to see them live in Fayetteville, NC with about 40 other people. Pathetic turnout but it was a cool show. Not enough old stuff and only one half of one song from Lightning Strikes. They were really nice guys and Akira was phenomenal.
Dig the video for let It Go:
So bang ’em…
Take the context of that any way you want. :)
If you read the Megadeth post below then you saw me mention Obsession’s “Scarred For Life”. This was a very unique band and another one that I found via a former friend from high school. They had such a unique sound and style. Total fist banging type stuff, mostly upbeat and a lot of cymbal catch type stuff. I don’t know a better way to put it.
Anyhoo, it was 1986 and there was a small group of us in our area that were really into these guys. Kelz and I were all about them but I don’t remember Danile really being into them so much. My other crew of friends loved Obsession.
“Scarred for Life” was just one of those albums for me. I spun it incessantly. Practiced drums to it as much as possible and tried to get all the cymbal catches in the right spots. Easier said than done, they had a lot!
When their second full length album came out, they were starting to get some MTV exposure and a few of their videos were getting played which gave them the opportunity to tour the USA with Paul Dianno’s Battlezone and this tour rolled through Norfolk at The Boathouse.
Now realize that were we all under 21 and for some shows at the Boathouse, they’d put up a barricade that kept us kids from being able to get right in front of the stage. This show was set up like that. My old friend and I made some banners on cardboard and were freaking out during every song. I think we were the only people there who even knew who Obsession was. His banner had “Bang Them Till They Bleed!” written on it and halfway through the set, the singer told the crowd that they were going to play it even though it wasn’t on the setlist just because he had it on his banner. How freaking cool was that? I have my original autographed copy of that setlist and that song was definitely not listed.
Before their set ended, a few of the guys ran backstage really quickly and came out with cameras in their hands. They took a few pictures of the 4 of us, their true fans. We flipped out. I’ve never seen a band do that. After their set, they came out into the crowd and found us and we ended up hanging out with them the whole time Battlezone was on the stage. They were the nicest guys and very grateful that they had some fans. It was an awesome night all the way around and one of my fondest concert memories.
A few years later, Obsession’s singer Mike Vescera ended up singing for Yngwie on 2 albums. When that tour rolled through, I got to the venue early and saw the tour bus. It was mid afternoon at the oceanfront and no one was hanging around…I think it was early winter/late fall. I knocked on the tour bus door and johnny toolbag opens the door and says in an assholish manner, “Yngwie’s not seeing anyone today!” I told the guy I was there to see Vescera. “He’s not seeing anyone either, now go away.” I started yelling out “Obsession! Loudness!” as Mike sang for both bands. Next thing I know Mike pushes the dude out of the way saying, “Get the fuck out of here, I’ll talk to this guy.”
So Mikey comes off of the bus and we chit chat for a bit. He signs my Obsession records (yes, records) and my Loudness stuff and I tell him I saw Obsession back in the day at the Boathouse and how me and my group of friends made banners for them. He started getting all excited and said, “Dude, we took pictures of you guys! That was our favorite stop on the whole tour because someone actually knew who we were!” You could really see and hear his sincerity. It was awesome and he was thankful for my fanboyness. They rocked that night too.
I was in touch with Obsessions drummer, Jay Mezias, for a while but haven’t spoken to him in about a year. Not sure what happened to the rest of them. I think one was in jail in the late 80s for drugs. No matter, those Obsession albums stand the test of time. The latest one is pretty good too, but without the original 2 guitarists, it just didn’t sound like Obsession to me.
Good times.
The Metal Files 