Back to Back Albums: Violet Cold - Desperate Dreams

Euphoric black metal from Azerbaijan?

Seriously, what kind of a fucked up description is that? Black metal shouldn't be euphoric, should it? It should be grim and cold. Which is the opposite of what Azerbaijan is like.

And you know what's even more fucked up? The fact that Desperate Dreams is actually a really good album. This type of thing should not work, not on paper and not in practice, but somehow the whole “euphoric” element of this album not only succeeds, but establishes Violet Cold as a unique musical entity that can get international acclaim, a metallic entity which Azerbaijan has hitherto failed to produce.

I'm not the biggest fan of jolly music; I typically like mine with loads of aggression or dripping with despair. But the thing is, I don't always feel like running through the streets, shoulder checking the slow moving people who block the metro entrance, nor do I always want to sink into the bowels of an introspective nightmare. And that's where Violet Cold comes into play.

Black Sheep Albums: Neil Young's Trans

"Where did you get it?

"From some guy."

"How much did you pay for it?"

"Just a few dollars."

"Why did you ever decide you wanted it?"

"It sounded interesting!"

The kava was flowing in my veins. The camp fire danced before my eyes. Robots barked and chirped from some puny sound system to the beat of programmed drums. And that series of indignant, accusative questions and honest, yet inadequete replies continued.

This exchange was not between a mother and her wayward teenage child, chiding him/her for purchasing the newest, hippest street drug. This was my friend being grilled by his girlfriend about purchasing Neil Young's Trans. I had seen few albums evoke such a visceral response from anyone. It reminded me a lot of when I'd visit the Exclusive Company as a 6th grader and try to keep such offenisve items as Megadeth's So Far, So Good...So What! from my parents' prying eyes, until I could get past the register.

How could the humble Canadian folk/rock/country musician cause such disharmony? It could have had something to do with the cyborgs trying to speak through the iPhone. The display said it was a Neil Young album, but there was precious little evidence to confirm this.

Nate JacobsAugust 7, 2015black sheep albums, nate jacobs, neil young, tunes, robots, transComment

Back to Back Albums: The Outfield's Play Deep

Summer songs are to be despised. This is my position and I'm sticking to it.

Now, summer albums are a different matter. Play Deep is, for me and many like me, a testament to all that is good and wholesome about the hot months of the year. Each song is an ode to beaches, sun, and fleeting romance. In fact, if you're feeling cold in the bitch months of a freezing Wisconsin winter, Play Deep will raise the relative temperature of your domicile by at least 5 degrees Farenheit.

Nate JacobsJuly 3, 2015back to back albums, nate jacobs, the outfield, play deep, summer, matingComment

Black Sheep Albums: Kiss' The Elder

Kiss mildly scared me as a child. Their evil Kabuki warrior make-up and devil music was a recipe for disaster, as I already hated clowns. By chance I saw their film, Kiss Meets the Phantom, which is a modern remake of The Phantom of the Opera, with a bunch of changes, most importantly Kiss running around an amusement park which is being terrorized by an evil scientist. That was another thing that scared me: amusement parks, and fairs. From a very early age, I had an innate, visceral hatred of carnies and circus people, always imagining that behind the facade of sawdust and elephant piss there were dirty miscreants spiraling down to new depths of decadence, like that "Rectum" bar at the end of the French movie Irreversible.

Nate JacobsApril 5, 2015KISS, black sheep albums, nate jacobs, the elderComment

Black Sheep Albums: Judas Priest's Turbo

ay, way back in the day, before I really started to get into Judas Priest, Turbo was probably the most infamous metal album I had ever heard of. Various scary words were tossed about to describe it:

DRUM MACHINES

SYNTHESIZERS

POP MELODIES

DISCO BEATS

Shit, any metal band throwing those things on an album was pretty much suicide, I thought.

Nate JacobsMarch 30, 2015black sheep albums, judas priest, turbo, nate jacobs, metalComment

Black Sleep Albums: Black Sabbath's Never Say Die

Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine once said that Never Say Die was his favourite Black Sabbath album. Dave's pretty nutty, and Never Say Die! is arguably the weakest of the seminal Black Sabbath output (with Ozzy, that is), but that's not to say this album is without merit.

I remember hearing the title track on an Ozzy's Speak of the Devil live album. My high school bud, Sam, had sold it to me for $5, and I just remember thinking, "this doesn't sound like Sabbath at all." Apart from the compelling chorus, the rest of the track sounds like an upbeat Thin Lizzy song, most particularly "the Boys are Back in Town," which never did much for me. So I bought almost all the other Sabbath albums but this, leaving my other friend, Max, to buy every single goddamn Sabbath album. I asked him about this one, and he said it wasn't too good. I stayed away. Let sleeping dogs lie, right?

Nate JacobsMarch 28, 2015black sheep albums, black sabbath, never say die, nate jacobs, metalComment

Back to Back Records: Afterburner by ZZ Top

I've got very strong feelings about ZZ Top's Eliminator. Along with Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms, I heard it played constantly at Digger's and the Bayside way back in the day. Just opening bars of "Legs" or "Sharp Dressed Man" can bring back the taste of those kick ass turkey sandwiches, or the seafood chowder. Eliminator is also bar none the perfect music for getting jiggy with it: it's never too fast, heavy, or sappy. The ladies can really shake it to the computerized beats, and the guys aren't forced to embrace their feminine side as the riffs reek of stale beer and exhaust. It is my firm conviction that Eliminator has been responsible for many, many pregnancies, and I'm absolutely sure that one of my friends back home was conceived to it.

Having said that, I prefer the 1985 follow-up album, Afterburner. While it is true that the Texan trio stepped further away from their blues roots and incorporated more drum machines and synthesizers into their formula, I find Afterburner to be the superior album. As a child of the 80's, I'm always going to be drawn to cheesy, overproduced music, as long as it's got big drums, vintage 80's space age technology, and at least one mandatory slow song, so this should come as no surprise.

This album is like a gritty Texas strip club dropped into Mad Max and Maximum Overdrive. Machines are threatening to take over, and humanity hangs in the balance, but then along comes the bearded posse that is ZZ Top to impregnate as many remaining females as possible. Not surprisingly, you'll find a lot of not-so-thinly-veiled sexual innuendos and a song that would have been perfect for a middle school dance all mixed with driving beats and killer riffs.

Nate JacobsJanuary 18, 2015nate jacobs, zz top, back to back records, rock, afterburner Comment

Back to Back Records: Heartbeat City by The Cars

Recently reading another article on this site which mentioned the Cars, I knew I had to write about this great album. The Cars were, and are, a pretty weird band. Just look at frontman Ric Ocasek's gaunt, goofy image, the simple album covers, or the super cheesey synth provided by Greg Hawkes. While they are probably known best as a New Wave band and their eponymous debut, The Cars' 1984 album, Heartbeat City, is easily my favourite, and a quintessential 80's album.

On previous albums, the Cars' sound was rooted in simple rock and roll structures, sometimes borrowing from 50's and 60s bubblegum pop, and given a unique spin with Ocasek's trademark stuttering delivery and Hawke's goofy keyboards. Here, the Cars enter the pseudo-space age of the 80's, with a massive production courtesy of Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who also produced Def Leppard's smash album, Hysteria. You will find a lot of similiarities between the two albums, particularily in the programmed drums and synth.

Heartbeat City really shines with this seemingly bizarre combination. It's like I Love Lucy drinking milkshakes on a space station imagined by Andy Warhol--exactly what the future sounded like in 1984. Music videos from this masterpiece feature freaks, 1980's cutting edge technology and even input from Warhol himself. And let's not forget Ocasek's bizarre lyrics, which he never explained. Unlike output by fellow 80's groups like the Talking Heads and the Police, the Cars always knew how to balance the poetic and artistic with accessibility.

Nate JacobsJanuary 2, 2015back to back, back to back albums, nate jacobs, the cars, heartbeat cityComment

Back to Back Records: Elizium by Fields of Nephilim

Though being morbidly attracted to nearly anything bizarre and even creepy, I cannot call myself a goth by any stretch of the imagination. Nor can I say that I'm a big fan of "gothic" culture. It was for this very reason that I missed out on quite a bit of good music for a long time, and the two excellent bands which are Sisters of Mercy and the truely amazing Fields of the Nephilim. It took two of my favourite bands, Behemoth and Watain, to convince me to check out their work, namely their 1990 album, Elizium.

Enjoying the same production team and a similar to sound to Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse of Reason (an unusual, but wonderful Floyd album in its own right), Fields of the Nephilim's third album brings their atmospheric approach to rock to new heights, and I dare say to the heavens themselves. To call this "goth rock" would be a real misnomer; though there are echoey vocals and murky atmosphere's everywhere, there's more than enough light to go around. It's the equivalent of a foggy day where the sun is always just on the verge of breaking through. It really makes me yearn for the day when I can get a good turntable, nice speakers, and a free night all to myself (and possibly likeminded individuals) to properly savour this masterpiece.

Nate JacobsDecember 14, 2014elizium, fields of nephilim, goth, rock, tunes, nate jacobs, back to back recordsComment

5 Awesome Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Autumn Albums

There's this whole concept of the "summer song," to which I was introduced while performing my first tour of duty as a line cook. Basically, it's some douchey, happy go-lucky song, accompanied with lyrics about summer, parties, and swimming in the lake. While almost everyone can and should enjoy the fruits of summer, summer songs are decidely not my cup of tea. And I'm not alone, if to judge by the reactions of my other fellow cooks of yore. Maybe, I've just got a bunch of negative jackass friends, but summer songs can really grate on one's nerves after about first few measures.

And you can always hear those things coming a mile away. Even in the beginning of May, we'd have the summer song pegged, before the temperature had even breached 70. I can remember working frantically while some of those tunes played over and over that first summer. Luckily, we soon had iPods and Pandora to replace the rickety old stereo and summer songs were soon gone from our lives.

But there's a counterpoint to those saccharine sweet jingles: the fall album. It's the antithesis of a summer song: it's meant for slow enjoyment, relaxation, and reflection. You listen to an autumn album all the way through. There must be a slight touch of melancholy to it, but not hopelessness. No, that's better for winter. And if it features lyrics about autumn or fall themed artwork, then it's a winner.

I can't speak for all genres, and I'm not going to go into extreme metal, so here are my top 5 in the hard rock/heavy metal category.

Nate JacobsNovember 3, 2014autumn, albums, fall, metal, rock, nate, jacobs, nate jacobsComment

Taste testing the forbidden fruit.