Music from a Lifetime Bill Peters

"By 1968, they discovered that the name Nazz was being used by Todd Rundgren, and along with believing that they needed a gimmick to increase the power and marketability of their music, they decided they needed another change. An urban legend suggested that the name the band came up with to change to, Alice Cooper, had come via a seance with a Ouija board. Furnier many years later in an interview suggested this was false. Instead, he said, "What if we sounded like we were somebody's aunt?" It was kind of like the all-American, sweet little old lady name. And I wasn't Alice Cooper. I was just the singer in the band Alice Cooper, like Manfred Mann. Pretty soon everybody called me Alice, they just assumed that the singer's name was Alice. So, at that point, I legally changed my name to Alice Cooper. It was a total outrage at the time. Now it's a household name"."

On this episode we are going to talk about “Pretties for You” by the Alice Cooper Band, the band’s debut studio album released 55 years ago this week, on today’s ‘look upstanding with your head held high’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"A follow up with 1997’s “Shadowlife” saw the band move towards an alternate rock sound that appeared to not be as enjoyable to the band's fanbase, and had seen the tensions between Dokken and Lynch continue to escalate once again. Lynch’s behaviour had already seen the band dropped by their label due to him leaving a live radio broadcast moments before the band was supposed to play, and having pushed the band into the new musical direction he was quoted in an interview as saying "This is the perfect record. This is gonna be the end of Dokken, and that is what I wanted to accomplish”.

Suffice to say, Lynch was fired by the rest of the band after a long dispute, though he then tried to sue the band when they went on tour with a guitar replacement in Europe’s John Norum, an action that failed in court. After the tour, Norum was forced to leave due to other commitments, and so the band brought in former Winger and future Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach as his replacement. Beach suited the band as he had been a prominent guitarist in the same 80’s era where Dokken had thrived, and so the foursome went into the studio to create their new album, aptly titled “Erase the Slate”."




On this episode we are going to talk about “Erase the Slate” by Dokken, the band’s 7th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s ‘two eyes from the east, it’s the angel or the beast’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"To be fair, Queen chose a pretty awesome time to record a live album, as the set list that they played on this tour was second to none. Certainly, the absence of any material from their first two albums is perhaps an oversight, but by this stage of their career, with so many successful singles and songs that were fan favourites, and seven albums worth of material to choose from, making set lists was never going to be an easy thing. Would I like to have had songs from that era represented? Absolutely. But choosing songs to leave out would have been the hard part. And the fact that a song like “Somebody to Love”, which was the third song played on most nights of this tour, was left off the album, is incredible to believe. So yes. Choices to be made. So, let’s just be thankful for the songs and album that we have here to enjoy".



On this episode we are going to talk about “Live Killers” by Queen, the band’s debut live album released 45 years ago this week, on today’s ‘I was told a million times of all the troubles in my way’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"For so many fans, this album was the first that they had experienced the band, and what better way to be introduced to Faith No More than the barnstorming opening track “From Out of Nowhere”, which blazes out of the speakers without warning and trips the album into overdrive from the outset. Energetic and browbeaten from the start, it is a killer opening, and surely impressed the fans who knew the first two albums with the onus on the new lead vocalist.

Everybody on the single’s release knew “Epic”, a song particularly well named for the way it sounded and the way it was treated on release. The video is mayhemic, and indeed created some controversy because of the vision of a fish out of water, flapping madly to breathe. But it was the manic energy of the track both on screen and on vinyl and CD that made it so popular, that drove the sales of the album because it funnelled the popularity of the single into people wanting to dive into the album itself and find out what else they could find. Surely no one left disappointed".



On this episode we are going to talk about “The Real Thing” by Faith No More, the band’s 3rd studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘it’s not over yet, you don’t remember I won’t let you forget’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"While I did pick this up on CD at some point following the demise of the band in the mid-1990's, my best guess is that it was after the demise of Cobain, and a point at which I had played both “Nevermind” and “In Utero” to death and went back to find this album as a stop gap. I was also eventually gifted this on vinyl by a work colleague, who had a still shrink wrapped second edition vinyl on the Sub Pop label, unopened and unplayed, which he claimed he would never listen to because he didn’t have a turntable. So that was an absolute bonus. Cheers Trent.

One of the problems with re-listening to this album over the past couple of weeks has been that at the same time I have been listening to an album that was released just five days after this, one that got a far greater exposure around the world, one which I knew a lot more of on its entry point to the world, and is a far superior release in every way, shape and form".



On this episode we are going to talk about “Bleach” by Nirvana, the band’s debut studio album released 35 years ago this week, on today’s ‘Barney ties me to the chair, I can't see, I'm really scared’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.

"As an album, the songs here can be categorised into two specific areas – the out and out more aggressive death metal tracks, where Chuck’s vocals reach the guttural growl that is one of the major characteristics of that genre of metal along with the groove of the guitars and drums, and the more typical Testament guise of thrash metal, where the vocals are more recognisable from the band’s early days, and the music is less toned down and more acceptable in the fast and bright tones that the early albums resided in. Both categories of songs here are terrific, don’t get me wrong there, but there is a line down the middle in regard to the style, and there is certainly more of the death metal scene here than the band’s original thrash roots.

On the thrash side, the opening track “D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)” is a beauty, kicking the album off in terrific tyle, fast and unabashed, with Chuck crushing hard with his vocals throughout. Ditto for the following track “Down for Life”, a song that could have come straight from those early albums, fast and thrashy guitars, terrific drumming from the master of speed Dave Lombardo, and Chuck’s vocals hitting right in the sweet spot. This is such an awesome song, no holds barred, and no time to rest to take a breath. Perfect Testament in the very best form".



On this episode we are going to talk about “The Gathering” by Testament, the band’s 8th studio album released 25 years ago this week, on today’s ‘no one lives forever, there is no forever’ episode of Music from a Lifetime.