Hard Rock Music Time Machine – 7/13/17

Each Thursday, Hard Rock Music Time Machine takes a journey back in time to feature a variety of songs that date back as far as the ’70s.

In addition to appearing on the embedded YouTube playlist below, all songs featured on Hard Rock Music Time Machine can be listened to individually by clicking on the hyper-linked song titles above each review.
 

 

 

ADAM WALDMAN – (Publisher, Hard Rock Daddy)

TONY CAREY – “A Fine Fine Day (For A Reunion)” (1984)

Tony Carey is a name that you may not be familiar with, unless of course, you are a diehard Rainbow fan.  With a few exceptions, being a member of Rainbow wasn’t necessarily a way to garner name recognition because of Ritchie Blackmore’s revolving door approach.  Although I appreciate Carey’s outstanding keyboard work with Rainbow, it’s his solo material that has really made a lasting impression.

In 1984, the video for “A Fine Fine Day (For A Reunion)” was featured on MTV.  As much as it is a music video, it’s also a piece of cinema that helps to tell the story of the song.  Fans of shows like The Sopranos, and movies like The Godfather, will appreciate the story being told.  Of course, the video wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t accompanied by an outstanding song.  As you might expect, the song is keyboard-driven, but the thing that captures your attention most is Carey’s vocal delivery, and his ability to capture the nostalgia of the lyrics is such a poignant way.
 

 
PLANET P PROJECT – “Why Me” (1983)

In addition to his solo work since his departure from Rainbow, Tony Carey has released material under the moniker Planet P Project.  Like his solo material, this music also features a heavy dose of keyboards.  Carey is adept at using keyboards to set the tone of the song, while also adding nice accents around the guitar parts.

“Why Me” seems to be written from the perspective of an astronaut.  Given the band’s name, this makes sense.  What’s interesting is that the song references the year 2010 as a futuristic period.  In 1983, that seemed like a lifetime away.  The year is now nearly a decade in the rear view mirror.

Once again, the highlight of the song for me is Carey’s unique vocal style, and his ability to tell a story.
 

 

 

 ANDY CHEUNG – HRD Music Scout

CATTLE DECAPITATION – “Manufactured Extinct” (2015)

Nothing like a brutal death metal song to remind us how humans are destroying the world.  This is one of the reasons that I’ve always loved metal.  The brutality of the truth can be shown through the art of music with lyrics like “machines to make machines fabricating the end of all living things” screamed in a death metal growl while the back beat pounds away, blast beats like machine guns, and heavy guitar riffs playing a million miles an hour.  Couple that with the images of humans decomposing in a toxic wasteland with plastic pieces pouring out of their cavities, and you have the death metal brutal truth of Cattle Decapitation.  Be a true environmentalist and check out their album, The Anthropocene Extinction.

 

NILE – “Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame” (2012)

This Egyptian-lore based technical death metal band boasts one of the fastest drummers I have ever seen George Kollias.  Listening to Nile is like taking a math lesson.  It’s complex, fast, and features tons of time changes, all while maintaining their death metal sound and a mythological.  “Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame” is off of the band’s seventh studio album, At the Gate of Sethu.  It’s probably one of the most technical albums in this genre of music.  Trust me, I’ve seen this band live and have been blown away at the complexity of their songs every time.  These guys are the epitome of talent.
 

 

 

ROB DELL’AQUILA – HRD Music Scout

ASIA – “My Own Time” (1983)

In 1983, Asia followed up their self-titled debut album from the year before with Alpha.  The album had several hit songs, but this was a personal favorite that flew under the radar.  What a treat it was to see them start performing it live after the band reunited in 2006.  This amazing live version comes from a 2009 performance at the Cambridge Rock Festival in England. On a sad note, the rock world lost vocalist John Wetton to cancer earlier this year.

 

RAINBOW – “Since You Been Gone” (1979)

In 1978, guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore and vocal superstar Ronnie James Dio parted ways.  Blackmore wanted to take Rainbow in a new, more commercial direction, away from the sword and sorcery themes so prevalent on their first three albums.  Vocalist Graham Bonnett was recruited, and the band put out a very different (more earthbound?) album with 1979’s Down To Earth.  This personal favorite was the album’s biggest hit.