The Random Ten #3

Welcome to the third edition of the Random Ten with Matt Steele, where I take you on a journey of my iTunes music library via the magic of the "shuffle" button. As I've said before, you'll probably find a majority of metal within my library, but that's not all I listen to, as you'll see all sorts of things pop up from time to time. I hear some Carcass flowing through my headphones right now, so I'll waste no time...

Carcass "Tools of the Trade" - Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious

One of Carcass's last real grindcore-influenced songs, from the primarily death metal album Necroticism, "Tools of the Trade" featured the more complex riffs found throughout the rest of the album, but also the simplistic speed and intensity of their earlier albums, as well as their then-signature double vocal attack, courtesy of bassist/frontman Jeff Walker and guitarist Bill Steer. Steer would no longer sing on any of the group's releases following Necroticism, but his guttural inflections wouldn't have fit on the more melodic material on Heartwork and Swansong. If you haven't heard Carcass before, this gives you a good glimpse at their earlier death-grind sound, while hinting at the maturity to come on their final two releases. Classic song, from a classic band.

Celtic Frost "Mesmerized" - Into the Pandemonium

From CF's most experimental album at the time, "Mesmerized" was the first CF song completely sung by bassist Martin Ain. One can hear the influence this song had on early 90's British doomsters like Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema, as CF ditched the signature howling of Tom G. Warrior for a more tortured, melodic approach. The juxtaposition of arpeggiated clean guitar over grinding power chords in the verses was used by all 3 aforementioned bands, as well as later goth-metallers like Katatonia and Tiamat. Celtic Frost have influenced pretty much every extreme metal band in one way or another, as well as people like Dave Grohl (who used Tom G. Warrior as a vocalist on his Probot side project) and Kurt Cobain (who famously made a 2-sided tape to listen to in their touring van -- Side A were Beatles songs, side B had all Celtic Frost material). Never afraid to take chances, CF lost a lot of their fan base with glam-influenced Cold Lake, but one can't deny the success of experiments like "Mesmerized."

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals "/Promises/"- Live at The Norva - July 22, 2006

I was in attendance at this show, from Norfolk, VA. It was my first time seeing Ryan Adams, and he put on a 2-set, 3 hour show that showed a lot of rock, country and bluesy sides to Adams's music. The middle of the show got pretty mellow, and that's where this song came in. Sort of a country-ish ballad, "/Promises/" sounds a lot more powerful in the live setting, with more emphasis on the dynamics of the guitars and drums. Also, the harmonies between Adams and his live band are just beautifully executed in this performance. Also, I think I can hear myself yelling "Wooo!" before the very end of the song, so that's a plus. Highly recommended tune by Adams and the Cardinals.

Guns N' Roses "Shotgun Blues" - Use Your Illusion II

This is probably the most old-school-sounding track on UYI II, and features the immortal line, "And you, you can suck my ass!" It almost sounds out of place within the context of the rest of the album, my personal favorite by Guns, but as a standalone track, it rules, and goes well alongside anything on Appetite for Destruction. This was Axl Rose in his total, "I don't give a fuck about you, you fucking pussy" phase, and he literally says so many times throughout the song, taking away from some of the musical power by sounding cheesy and corny in his angst. You can feel that he totally means what he's saying, but that almost makes him sound worse, like a total dickhead that you don't want to listen to any more. Overall, though, it's a good song.

Shadows Fall "Fleshold" - Somber Eyes to the Sky

As I mentioned in a previous Random Ten, I love this debut album from Shadows Fall, and Phil Labonte sounds his most powerful on this sludgy riff-fest. Also re-recorded on their Century Media debut, Of One Blood, "Fleshold" is much better in this original version, as it features a nice vocal intro from guitarist Matt Bachand before erupting into a blood-pumping opening riff. This version also features an extra vocal harmony in the chorus, but does NOT have a guitar solo like the re-record, but that works better in this rawer state. Great, early hardcore-metal from Shadows Fall.

Venom "Disbeliever" - Resurrection

From a much more recent Venom release, Resurrection, "Disbeliever" actually doesn't suck. It's not great, by any means, but it's not awful either. Featuring a pretty catchy main riff, and a shout-along chorus that's up there with the best of cheesy Venom's past, "Disbeliever" features Cronos's signature vocal wail, and a decent production, for once. Halfway through the song, however, it gets weird when there's all of a sudden a bunch of crowd noise, trying to make this seem like a live track. It's stupid moves like that that make me remember that this band is famous for their missteps, and it's no surprise. Not a bad song, probably one of my favorite songs off of that album, but not essential by any means.

Faith No More "I Won't Forget You" - Who Cares a Lot? The Greatest Hits

This song is one of the more heavy, straight-forward rock songs from Faith No More. Patton sings and screams his ass off throughout the song, and the riffing and funky bass are not too zany or out there like on some FNM stuff, but they fit this kind of groovy, heavy song perfectly. Mike Bordin's drumming is top-notch, as always, and Billy Gould's main bass riff is infectious. Great song by an amazing band. Highly recommended.

Iron Maiden "The Number of the Beast" - A Real Dead One

From Iron Maiden's worst live album, this was actually the first version of this song I'd ever heard, and I was still impressed, even though Bruce Dickinson sounds like he's sleeping through the vocals, and Steve Harris's bass is WAY too loud (well, no shit, he mixed and produced the album). Sloppy as all hell, the band still shows a great deal of energy throughout this live cut from 1992's Fear of the Dark tour, coincidentally, also Dickinson's last tour with the band before re-joining in 1999. If you've never heard this song before, listen to the studio version first, but if you're a fan of Maiden and want to hear a different take on it, it's worth investigating, but pales in comparison to the versions on Live After Death and Rock in Rio. Hearing the song sing along with the spoken-word intro is pretty great, however, although Bruce also ruins that by doing some weird/creepy laugh on top of it. Maiden die-hard? Check it out. Casual fan? Skip it.

Katatonia "Passing Bird" - Last Fair Deal Gone Down

Anyone who knows my musical tastes knows that LFDGD (all the cool kids are abbreviating these days) is one of my top 10 favorite albums, of any music genre, ever. Katatonia made a hard rock/dark metal masterpiece that is subdued, musical, melodic and powerful all at once. There is not really a bad song on the album (I actually enjoy "We Must Bury You"), and "Passing Bird" is one of the more somber tunes. This album felt a lot more personal, for me, due to the more natural sounding production on the guitars and drums, and the lyrical subject matter, as well. Katatonia tended to previously sing a lot about death, dying, and the night, but on LFDGD, they wrote about people -- more specifically, women (and death, dying, the night, etc.). This song is a twisted love song of sorts, and I would say it's one of the best songs on the album, but it's hard to say that about a near-perfect album. The bending guitar riff in the song's bridge is one of my favorite riffs on the entire album. Definitely recommended for fans of innovative, dark, hard rock and metal.

U2 "Where the Streets Have No Name" The Best of 1980-1990

The opening track to one of the greatest rock albums ever, The Joshua Tree, "Where the Streets Have No Name" is, by and large, a pretty mellow song, both lyrically and musically. If you were to take this song and just play the guitar and the vocals, it'd practically be a ballad, but the production and build-up throughout the song is absolutely massive, and the pulsing bass and drums really make this one of the most powerful rock songs of all time. Bono absolutely belts it out, and Edge's guitar sounds so clear and precise, it's hard to comprehend. I could go on, but I don't think I know anyone who hasn't heard this song. You either love U2 or you don't, and if you do, you love this song.

Finally, a little bit of diversity on the Random Ten. Okay, it was a decent amount of metal, but every band and song on this week's list is distinct and unique. Keep your eyes on the blog for my upcoming review of Chinese Democracy, the new album by Guns N' Roses.

Matt Steele