Thursday, August 30, 2018

15 Times Led Zeppelin Went Metal Heavy Metal On Your Ass

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I know what you are thinking... Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, have both denied that Led Zeppelin was heavy metal. When you mention metal in the same sentence as Zeppelin in front of Page or Plant they get this look on their faces like you just cut the rudest fart ever. 




Riddle me this; If it's true that Led Zeppelin in not metal, then why is it that SO many metal bands, especially those from the 1980's not only site them as a major influence but out right were trying to BE Led Zeppelin. 

So much has happened in music since Zeppelin retired in 1980. Heavy metal grew into multiple sub-genres but when most people talk about the beginings of metal there are usually 3 bands Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.  

Zeppelin does seem like the odd man here. They are the most "hippie" of the three and the most overtly blues based of the three, yet they definitely had their metal moments. As much as they sang about squeezing the lemon they also sang about vikings and wizards...which is very metal and while they always seemed to keep one foot in the blues, they laid serious metal ground work with tracks like Achillies Last Stand and The Immigrant Song. 

This week on The Loudini Hard Rock and Metal Circus we uncover Zeppelin's most metal moments. Let us know if we missed any... what are your favorite Zeppelin metal moments?

What Makes Heavy Metal and Heavy Rock ...Heavy?

What makes music actually sound HEAVY? Pounding Drums? De-tuned Guitars? Screaming Vocals? What makes something sound heavy TO YOU? Find out once and for all on this episode of The Loudini Hard Rock and Metal Circus!  Featured Loudini Artists:    Cane Hill  Voodoo Six  Butcher Babies




Is Ten Years Gone Led Zeppelin’s Greatest Riff?

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Voted number 9 in a Rolling Stone readers poll of the best Led Zeppelin songs, "Ten Years Gone" is definitely one of the band's most epic tracks from it's most epic album, Physical Graffitti. Clocking in at 6 minutes and 55 seconds and comprised of 14 layered guitar tracks, the song was a beast for the band to play live. It required bass player and multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones to play a 3 necked guitar while covering the bass parts with bass pedals.
Jimmy Page had written the different sections of the song and put it together thinking that it would be an instrumental but Robert Plant came up thoughtful lyrics about a relationship that ended before Led Zeppelin began
From SongFacts.com:
Robert Plant wrote the lyrics about a girlfriend who made him choose between her and his music 10 years earlier. She got the boot. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine (March 13, 1975) the interviewer, Cameron Crowe, asked Robert Plant what gambles he had taken. Plant replied: "Let me tell you a little story behind the song 'Ten Years Gone' on our new album. I was working my ass off before joining Zeppelin. A lady I really dearly loved said, 'Right. It's me or your fans.' Not that I had fans, but I said, 'I can't stop, I've got to keep going.' She's quite content these days, I imagine. She's got a washing machine that works by itself and a little sports-car. We wouldn't have anything to say anymore. I could probably relate to her, but she couldn't relate to me. I'd be smiling too much. Ten years gone, I'm afraid. Anyway, there's a gamble for you."
Since it was such a chore to perform live the band dropped it from it's set list in 1977 but revisited it for the Knebworth Festival in 1979.
On this week's Wicked Riff Wednesday we pay homage to one of Led Zeppelin's most amazing compositions and fan favorite "Ten Years Gone".

Zakk Wylde Closet blues man! Bluesy Tuesday Episode 7

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Zakk Wylde is a legendary hard rock and metal guitarist. From his work with Ozzy and Black Label Society to his current band, "Zakk Sabbath" he's worshiped as a metal god by many.

But did you know that Zakk is also hugely influenced by the blues. He sites Hendrix as one of his earliest influences and you can hear it in his playing. Lurking just below the high gain and high speed licks. there is a deeply soulful, blues loving guitar player behind it all.

Here's how much the blues have influenced Zakk; in 1995 he was invited to audition for one of the hardes rocking  blues based bands of all time... Guns 'n Roses. Axel and company knew that Zakk had the soul of a blues man back then!




Listen closely to tracks like, "No More Tears", "Fire it Up" and "Losin' Your Mind" and you will hear some of the HEAVIEST blues playing ...EVER!

This week we dig a little deeper and discover the heart and soul of one of metal's greatest legends

What Are The Top 10 Greatest Album Covers in Rock and Metal

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Album covers are as iconic as the great artists who's music they represent. In the history of rock the visual aspect has always been very important and depending on the era and genre, the visual has been even more important than the music. But that's a subject for another podcast.

A great album cover will make you feel like you are taking home your very own piece of art. In the case of cover art from 70's era Molly Hatchet, and Yes, the artwork could completely stand alone. Some covers are very simple like The Beatles "White Album" and Metallica's "Black Album".  They leave a lot to the imagination and get out of the way and let the music speak. There are sexy album covers, political album covers, funny album covers and even interactive album covers. Sticky Fingers, is an interactive album cover, with a working zipper!




Some covers are so iconic that even when people don't know the artist or the music they know the cover. The Clash's London Calling and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon are examples of cover art that even kids recognize whether or not they know the music.

This week on the Loudini Hard Rock and Metal Circus, Lou and Keith discuss the greatest album covers of all time and do their best to pick the top ten.  Featured Loudini Artists:   
Dark Entries

Wicked Riff Wednesday Episode 6: Back in Black and why AC/DC ISN'T Heavy Metal

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There is something infectious about AC/DC's music. Songs like You Shook Me All Night Long, Girl's Got Rhythm, T-N-T and Back in Black, make the young and the old alike want to get up and rock out. Their  music is heavy enough to be confused with heavy metal but fun enough that wedding bands cover it.

While the guitars, bass, drums and vocals (and some lyrics too) are definitely heavy enough to be metal, AC/DC's swaggering rhythm's, bluesy guitar playing and penchant for "American thighs" puts them firmly in the hard rock realm.  Sorry metal heads. I know that you love AC/DC too. It's nothing to be ashamed of. 






In many ways AC/DC like their predecessors Black Sabbath, are a bit of a conundrum in the heavy rock world. They are embraced by music fans with allegiances too various styles, including punk and classic rock but claim no official affiliation. They simply play the music that comes naturally to them.

In 1981 they changed the rock world when they released Back in Black. It became an almost instant classic. Every track is great, and you can still hear most of them today on any classic rock station.

The title track is an homage to their fallen front man Bon Scott and is as powerful today as it was almost when it was released nearly 40 years ago!

BluesyTuesday Episode 6: Celebrating Led Zeppelin's Black Dog

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In this week's episode of Bluesy Tuesday we discuss and disect Led Zeppelin's Black Dog.

The main riff was composed by Led Zeppelin Bassist John Paul Jones and is organized around a call and response pattern. The song begins with Robert Plant singing accapella followed by the band "answering" him with Jones' riff. The song got it's name from a black labradore retreiver that the band found wandering around their Headley Grange studio.




The main riff is derived directly out of the blues scale and is often mistakenly thought to be "polyrhythmic". The confusion comes in because the way that Jones phrases the riff. Instead of hard resolutions on the predicatable downbeat, Jones creates a looping feel with the phrases that circle back on themselves in less predictable places giving Black Dog it's signature feel.

Surprisingly, Black Dog wasn't always a staple of Zepplen's live show. They played it off and on through out the 1970's. By contrast, it's become a signature song of Robert Plant's solo bands and he has performed many wildly different versions of the classic over the years, including a blue grass flavored version with country singer Alison Krauss.

Ride the Bullsh*t Train with God Hates Unicorns

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Josh H. Unicorn formally of Debutante and and Skull Death Gut Corpse on Lead vocals and some programming.
Jeff (the Snowman) Unicorn on Bass guitar.
Nick J Unicorn formally of Pretty and the River Rats on guitar and additional programming. 




God Hates Unicorns formed in 2015..or maybe 2014. I don't remember.I got an invite from Josh to go see their show. I knew of Josh from his earlier bands Skull Death Gut Corpse and Debutante. Josh and I traded shows with each other during the Pittsburgh music scene golden age (the early 2000's when everyone was on Myspace.com the greatest tool for musicians to ever have existed).    
I remember seeing their very first "performance" at the Squirrel Hill Sports bar. It was a bit cold that night maybe early Spring or late Fall. The band was a classic 3 piece. By classic 3 piece band I mean a singer, a bass player, and some one on stage only to press play on a drum machine.  The tracks were created on Josh's familiar Roland 505  (the same one he used to make tracks for Debutante). The tracks sounded pretty good from where I was sitting. If you like depressing dark wave dance tracks then what's not to love here? The songs had enough thumping kick drums and melodic keyboard sounds to pass most peoples standards for a song on there own. Unfortunately, something about the sound that night was off to the band as Joshua operating as the lead singer wondered on and off the stage seeming to try to find an area of the room where he could hear the track properly. Leaving the rest of the band that remained on stage looking confused and frightened as Josh careened through the crowd and then back to the stage again screaming into a bullhorn; finally he stopped on the stage for the last time and laid down in defeat. The bands first outing did not appear to be going well. They played about 3 songs from what I recall and none of them correctly based on the displeased expressions from the band members.

After the show I jokingly asked Josh if he still wanted me to join the band (he asked a few months earlier) and he said yes. He said they could use a guitar player. I told him I didn't currently own an electric guitar only an acoustic-electric. Then he said I could use the electric guitar that a previous musician left in his basement. I asked him what kind of guitar it was and he said it was a Fender Stratcaster. That was enough to get me into the idea of joining a band even though I didn't really feel like joining a band at the time. That and Josh made it sound like we would only play paying gigs and get fucking rich! BABY!
Anyway I'm still in the band today and I'm being held against my will,come save me!

-Nick J Unicorn 

Getting a job as a lawyer, leads to songwriting and music press accolades for Paulo Franco

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Paulo Franco is a Richmond, Virginia based singer/ songwriter. In terms of recording, it may seem that Franco has come to the game later in life than some, but his musical journey has been a lifelong story. Born to Colombian immigrants and raised in Washington D.C., Paulo embraces his heritage as a first generation American and his songs and style reflect that. As a child, his father turned him on to the country music of the United States via the Johnny Cash Variety show and on his own he discovered a love for rock n roll through the Stones and the Beatles. At the age of nine, he picked up a classical guitar and a musician was born. After years of playing in various cover bands and honing his chops, Franco began writing his own material in earnest in 2010.



Paulo's songs are steeped in storytelling, often drawing from his own life and those around him. The sound is a seamless blend of the myriad of influences that have shaped both his everyday life and his musical tastes. Listeners will find glimpses of Robert Earl Keen's storytelling, John Prine's wit, The Stones' rock n roll heart, and the fluidity of The Grateful Dead often times infused with the rhythms of traditional Latin and Colombian music. He has recently included original Spanish songs into his songwriting, bringing a depth and a love of two cultures seldom seen during the same show or album.  Paulo switches his voice from country twang, to rock anthem, to Spanish troubadour.  His vocals are so authentically Spanish that it’s easy to forget you just heard him effortlessly sing a country tune in English.

In 2012, Paulo released his debut record, By The Light Of A Paper Moon regionally and began playing more and more shows around the Richmond area as well as other markets across the country. In the last few years he has the honor of sharing the stage with the likes of Robert Earl Keen, Eli Young Band, Chris Knight, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Walter Salas Humara (The Silos), Dan Baird and Homemade Sin, Adam Carroll, Cris Jacobs, Cory Branan and many others. 2016 saw the release of Franco's latest work, The Last Card, an album No Depression calls “a phenomenal sophomore record.” No Depression's Emily Hinde listed The Last Card at No. 2 of the year's best, behind only Avett Brothers.  Paste Magazine hails Franco's effort as possibly the most sincere album of the year. The Last Card, produced by Bob Rupe (The Silos, Cracker, Gutterball and Sparklehorse) and featuring a virtual who's who of Richmond musicians, shows that Paulo wears his heart on his sleeve musically and can hang with any songwriter working today. 

Paulo closed out 2017 with a Tour of Colombia that included stops in Medellín, Cali, Roldanillo, Cartagena and Santa Marta.


In 2018 Paulo plans to release two brand new songs on July 14, Richmond's Just Fine and El Rey y Su Cadillac. The Freightliners plan on heading back to the studio soon to record a brand new record.
Paulo Franco is a Richmond, Virginia based singer/ songwriter. In terms of recording, it may seem that Franco has come to the game later in life than some, but his musical journey has been a lifelong story. Born to Colombian immigrants and raised in Washington D.C., Paulo embraces his heritage as a first generation American and his songs and style reflect that. As a child, his father turned him on to the country music of the United States via the Johnny Cash Variety show and on his own he discovered a love for rock n roll through the Stones and the Beatles. At the age of nine, he picked up a classical guitar and a musician was born. After years of playing in various cover bands and honing his chops, Franco began writing his own material in earnest in 2010.

Paulo's songs are steeped in storytelling, often drawing from his own life and those around him. The sound is a seamless blend of the myriad of influences that have shaped both his everyday life and his musical tastes. Listeners will find glimpses of Robert Earl Keen's storytelling, John Prine's wit, The Stones' rock n roll heart, and the fluidity of The Grateful Dead often times infused with the rhythms of traditional Latin and Colombian music. He has recently included original Spanish songs into his songwriting, bringing a depth and a love of two cultures seldom seen during the same show or album.  Paulo switches his voice from country twang, to rock anthem, to Spanish troubadour.  His vocals are so authentically Spanish that it’s easy to forget you just heard him effortlessly sing a country tune in English.

In 2012, Paulo released his debut record, By The Light Of A Paper Moon regionally and began playing more and more shows around the Richmond area as well as other markets across the country. In the last few years he has the honor of sharing the stage with the likes of Robert Earl Keen, Eli Young Band, Chris Knight, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Walter Salas Humara (The Silos), Dan Baird and Homemade Sin, Adam Carroll, Cris Jacobs, Cory Branan and many others. 2016 saw the release of Franco's latest work, The Last Card, an album No Depression calls “a phenomenal sophomore record.” No Depression's Emily Hinde listed The Last Card at No. 2 of the year's best, behind only Avett Brothers.  Paste Magazine hails Franco's effort as possibly the most sincere album of the year. The Last Card, produced by Bob Rupe (The Silos, Cracker, Gutterball and Sparklehorse) and featuring a virtual who's who of Richmond musicians, shows that Paulo wears his heart on his sleeve musically and can hang with any songwriter working today. 

Paulo closed out 2017 with a Tour of Colombia that included stops in Medellín, Cali, Roldanillo, Cartagena and Santa Marta.

Rockin' Rant #2: Peter Frampton wants to punish you for streaming his songs

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This week 70's icon Peter Frampton Tweeted that he had over 55 million downloads of his song "Baby I Love Your Way" for which he only received $1700. The tweet was part of a series of tweet where he told about testifiying to congress on the behalf of ASCAP. You can read it for yourself here:https://twitter.com/peterframpton/status/1025584924609400832 .  




These older artists cannot seem to come to terms with the fact that the world has moved on. We no longer have the same music industry that we did in the 70's, 80's and 90's where a handful of acts dominated the industry because radio and MTV were really the only places to get heard by a significant number of people. The industry today is much more friendly to the indie artist. For a fraction of the money that it would take to produce and promote a band in the 80's, indie acts can produce totally professional sounding recordings and promote themselves by themselves or with the help of some very affordable outsource partners. 

The industry is also much more friendly to the music fan. Heard about a great band from a friend or magzine? Just do a YouTube search and you can check them out immediately. Instead of buying albums of filler to get one or two good songs you can buy the good tracks on iTunes or listen on Spotify. For true music fans, this is nothing short of a miracle.

So... recorded music, for the most part is now free. That's the price of all of the democatization and simplication of producing and listening to music. That sucks for artists like Peter Frampton who enjoyed big royalty checks but it does not mean that people do not value music, nor does it mean that there isn't a lot of money to be made in the new music industry. There have been some great books and articles written on this subject. For a primer I would recommend "Free" by Chris Anderson. you can check that out here: https://www.amazon.com/Free-Future-Radical-Chris-Anderson/dp/1401322905

This democatization is not the end of recorded music, just like radio was not the end of live concerts and sound recording was not the end of sheet music; although many people in the industry thought that it was! These older artists want things to go back to the way that they used to be... "Let's make music great again!" is their motto. Does that sound familiar? 

Sorry Peter, but this is the new music industry. It's the wild wild west and this new generation has set out to tame it in their own way. There is more music than ever in EVERY genre for fans to enjoy and it's easier for bands to connect with fans who love what they do. Wether you are a fan or an artist, this is the greatest time in history for music and potentially very profitable for those with vision.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Bluesy Tuesday Episode 5: KIX Celebrates 30 Years of Blow My Fuse

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In the history of blues based hard rock there is a tradition of bands playing great heavy rhythm riffs with catchy singable chorues. Bands like AC/DC and KISS come to mind but there are many others including this week's Bluesy Tuesday featured band; KIX.
Originally calling themselves Shooze and eventually changing their name to the Generators and ultimately, the hard rocking boys from Balitmore, KIX, garnered quite a reputation for themselves as one of Maryland's most exciting live bands, covering influences in the blues based hard rock format.
This year marks the thirtith aniversary of their smash album, Blow My Fuse and the band is celebrating by releasing a two disc special edition of their late eighties classic featuring a remixed and remaseterd version of the album by Beau Hill as well as an entire disc of demos that will give a fans a peek under the hood at how the songs evolved. Featured Loudini Artists: KIX

Rockin’ Rant #1: Dumbass Artists That Block Me

YouTube is the number one source for people to find music. If you want someone to hear your music, you have a better chance of catching their ear on YouTube than you do on Spotify, Soundcloud, Pandora, or Bandcamp. Those are just the facts, as of the writing of this blog post.
Since we have established this as a fact, why in the hell would an artist block a video who's sole intention was to promote their music? That sounds like madness... right? Let me tell you kids, it happens ALL THE TIME!
We actually stopped posting our podcast on YouTube for a couple of years for this reason. We would put a lot of time and effort and even financial expense into producing a great podcast, converting it to video, promoting it, only to have the artist, or their label block it. I even had labels block videos of artist that THEY had me interview for them. WTF???
And it's not just me... Rick Beato also did a great video about this. Rick is awesome and you should definitely check out his YouTube Channel. You can check out Rick's rant on "the blockers" here: https://youtu.be/nnp2VS2cBwA
This music (guitar driven rock music) isn't exactly setting the world on fire. It's really guys like me, Electric Monkey Radio, Rock Rage Radio, Metal Devastation, Loudwire and a few others that are truly passionate enough about it who are beating the drum for rock and roll. People find us on YouTube and discover new bands and younger folks (almost none of them listen to corporate radio these days) find out about great classic bands. I wanted to let you know that this was happening for you to tell your favorite bands and their labels to knock this crap off.
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Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Wicked Riff Wednesday Episode 4: What Was The First Heavy Metal Riff

When we speak of the beginnings of heavy metal, we may mention acts like Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience or Blue Cheer and while all of these bands played heavy music for their time, there is one track by one band that predates them all.

In 1964 when everyone was trying to sound like The Beatles, frustrated Kinks guitarist Dave Davies took a razor blade to the speaker cone of his amp affectionally known as "little greeney" and changed the course of rock and roll forever.

The song "You Really Got Me" sounded nothing like anything of it's time. It was heavy and sleazy and the first track in history who's hook was based around a distorted guitar riff. This was a year before Keef Riff-hard rocked our socks off with the fuzztone riff of Satisfaction and four years before The Beatles would cut Helter Skelter.




The track was a complete stand out in it's day and has become one of the most recognized riffs in all of classic rock-dome. So this week we celebrate Dave Davies, The Kinks and the birth of heavy metal!


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