CD Review: Operation: Mindcrime – The Key Frontiers Music srl All Access Rating: C+
Operation: Mindcrime - The Key 2015
The sprawling concept album Operation: Mindcrime was indeed Queensryche's finest hour, a grand puzzle of progressive metal full of grandiose arrangements, sweeping drama and intelligent, socio-political storytelling. Queensryche's former singer is hoping some of the magic of his old band's most iconic work rubs off on his latest mission, which bears the same name.
Not so much a band as a collection of hired guns gathered together to help Tate realize his vision, Operation: Mindcrime borrows the talents of Megadeth's Dave Ellefson, John Moyer (Disturbed, Adrenaline Mob), drummers Simon Wright (AC/DC) and Brian Tichy (Billy Idol, Ozzy Osbourne) and seemingly a cast of thousands on the elegant mess called The Key, said to be part one of an epic musical trilogy from Tate and released by Frontiers Music srl.
An enormous undertaking, The Key is ambitious, thought-provoking and cinematic in scope, and the chord progressions, strings and deep bass grooves establish a dark and stylish environment for a series of scenes addressing the question: What would happen if a key was found that could completely alter our perception of the world? The crunching, surging riffs and building drama of "Burn" and "Re-inventing the Future" that follow in the wake of the soaring, orchestral opener "Choice" all suggest the high expectations for The Key were warranted. This is where the engine stalls.
Quickly losing focus, its jumble of interesting ideas never quite pulling off the jaw-dropping tricks its set of musical magicians promise, The Key devolves and flatlines. "Ready to Fly" meanders about without any real sense of purpose or direction, as if sleepwalking through an empty park in the wee hours of the morning. Just as rudderless, the proggy indulgences of "On Queue" and "An Ambush of Sadness" are set adrift instrumentally without any hope of rescue. And choruses destined for greatness end up ineffectual and formless, as is the case with "Hearing Voices," a chunky, heavy riot of Rage Against The Machine-like stomp that ends up stammering like a petulant child.
Still possessing a powerful, expressive voice and a gift for bold theatrics, Tate has time to fix this, with two more acts yet to play out. Getting all these disparate pieces to fit together logically, allowing for greater flow and fewer stumbles, might be his biggest challenge.
– Peter Lindblad
German power/speed metal outfit has something to say By Peter Lindblad
The German power/speed metal
group Scanner
Nobody can accuse Scanner of shying away from controversy. Serious subjects are addressed on The Judgement, the blazing new thrill ride of a record from the veteran German power/speed metal juggernaut that raises heart rates to dangerous levels.
From ecological devastation to genocide, corruption and greed in the financial markets and political arenas and the continued erosion of ethics and morality, Scanner has much to say about the deteriorating state of the world and they do it without sermonizing.
Opting instead for rich, imaginative storytelling, Scanner – its love of science fiction imagery splashed all over the record's attention-grabbing cover art – couches its political passions in intelligently designed, fast-paced, charging metal that's incredibly taut, sleek and arranged with ever-evolving complexity and interesting dynamics. And yet, it feels like a return to Scanner's intense late '80s and early '90s work, its explosive, overdriven guitars and punishing rhythms creating a wildly exciting and aggressive listen.
Once known as Lions Breed, releasing a 1985 album under that banner called Damn The Night on the Earthshaker label, the group soon took the name Scanner and released Hypertrace in 1988, followed by 1991's Terminal Earth, 1995's Mental Reservation, 1997's adventurous Ball of the Damned and 2002's experimental Scrantopolis. Despite having toured with the likes of Fates Warning and Omen and a show-stopping performance at Wacken Open Air Festival in 1997, label problems and personnel turnover at various points in the band's history undoubtedly slowed their momentum, but with The Judgement – out on Massacre Records – and some stability at lead vocalist with Efthimios Ioannidis, Scanner sounds more powerful than ever.
Guitarist Axel A.J. Julius took some time recently to talk about the making of the band's new LP.
If you were to compare The Judgement to any past Scanner albums, which one would it most closely resemble and why?
Axel A.J. Julius: I think The Judgement definitely is the next door neighbor of our first four albums. That is what we intended also. After the experiment of Scantropolis we wanted to make clear again where our roots lie. We attempted to receive and revive the sound and the spirit of our '80s and '90s releases and we were guided by our old stuff from this time. And therefore the album sounds old school metal by default. If somebody likes Hypertrace he won’t hate The Judgement, that’s for sure. But you should never expect a copy of another Scanner album from us; I mean we would be bored by doing that.
Scanner - The Judgement 2015
Describe the creative process that led to the birth of The Judgement. Were there more difficulties than usual? Did obstacles crop up? Or did it go smoothly?
AJ: After a few years playing live primarily and having fun on the road, the record industry could not get us into the mood to record a new album. But we wanted to write new songs and build our own sound studio. Then when everything felt good for us it was the first time that we could pre-produce, record and mix the entire album in our brand new studio and you can say this was a more direct approach than with the other albums. You can determine all the schedules by yourself and you are independent. This has advantages. However, it can also tempt you to stretch the periods, which you must counteract with discipline then. So the process itself was smooth. Let's put it this way: For The Judgement we have cut off from the outside world and did exactly our thing. And we did not mind what was modern today. This was our main intention for this album: 100 percent Scanner. And I tried to let the album breath and sound more direct and raw by using again our own drum sound, for example, instead of using triggered samples for the album as done and heard on thousands of productions nowadays. It did not take us 12 years to make the album, but the motivation to do it just rose initially in 2012.
The riffs on this album are striking, especially on the title track and “Warlord,” a song that’s really heavy in parts and thrashing, but the mood and pace changes so frequently it’s dizzying. Talk about the writing and recording of that song in particular. Was it a complicated process?
AJ: Oh dizzying? Ok, but for me it is not dizzying. It’s exactly my style of composing and I like the counterparts in a song, like fast and slow, loud and quit, etc.. Since Heavy Metal is hardly compressed music you often miss the dynamic expression a classical orchestra always has, for example. That’s one reason why rhythm changes are a part of my expression I use in a song. And "Warlord" is special because of its idea behind it. The song is about Africa and especially the genocides in Rwanda and Nigeria, Boko Haram and the Warlords and our ignorance about the coherences of our western governments and their world trade partners and beneficiaries in this area. So the theme does not really fit to a steady groovy, and sing-along track, I thought. So "Warlord" is a more sophisticated song. But the recording process of this song was not complicated because I’ve had a plan.
Listening to “Eutopia,” the first thing I think of is Queensryche. It’s another multi-part song with melodic shifts and thought-provoking lyrics. Tell us what the song is about, what inspired it and how it came together.
AJ: Actually this song was planned to be our first video of the album, but because of our small budget we had to scrap this idea. The song is about a time-traveling guy with visions of a land called Eutopia. The idea came up after the financial crisis brought major problems to some countries here in Europe and the idea of a United Europe has threatened to fail more and more. So a United Europe is kind of a Utopia. This brought me to EUTOPIA. This dude in the song is not a time voyager really; finally, the story reveals he is on drugs. So his stories were a flight of fancy, like some ideas of our politicians here in Europe are as well.
What song on The Judgement affects you the most from a lyrical perspective? Is it the title track?
AJ: Yes, it is the title track. Somehow it is the most emotional and summing track. It is about our moral values; our personal ones and those of our whole society. And it provokes questions about where we are heading to when we have blown off all the “angels.” I think our ethical and moral orientation should not follow the dictation of Wall Street. I'm not a fan of religion either, but I think that our society should come to an anthroposophical approach beside all religions and adjust our ethic values right again. There is something wrong with us when we allow for example the Kyoto Protocol to be ignored by important states, although it is dealing with our air we are breathing. Meanwhile multinational companies are increasing their profit and ruining our environment. My guitar used to be from mahogany, but that was never the reason for the cleared woodland and for the diminishing rainforest, if you know what I mean.
After all this time, what drives you to keep Scanner going?
AJ: Well, for sure our fans all over the world and their feedback and faith and my resulting deep feeling of owing them something since our first releases. Honestly spoken the band was a bit unlucky from that moment on when we signed with the wrong company at the beginning of our career. This company made us lose two singers in a row in principle. And it was the reason we lost so much time researching for new vocalists. But our fans did not forget us even when there were longer breaks, nor when the bigger magazines did not give a dime on us anymore. The business is hard, but I do not want to complain. I’d rather have fun against all odds with people who adhere to us on our long time journey. And now we are back again… although we had never gone in objectivity. Let’s have some fun, mates.
NOLA band's debut LP was produced by Crosby By Peter Lindblad
Steve Blaze and his band Lillian Axe in 2014
Knocking around the Louisiana club circuit in the 1980s, the somewhat dark and deeply spiritual New Orleans metal and hard-rock combo Lillian Axe had established itself locally and regionally as a band on the rise.
Steve Blaze, Lillian Axe's leader and the only remaining original member, remembers that time fondly.
"People were going out and supporting the bands that were
playing, and we had a huge following."
said Blaze.
Lillian Axe - One Night in
the Temple 2014
Perhaps it was only a matter of time then until Lillian Axe, who recently released the career-spanning, acoustic live CD/DVD set One Night in the Temple, caught a big break, and crunchy Los Angeles glam-metal guttersnipes Ratt had a lot to do with it.
"We were asked to open up for
Ratt, Queensryche and Poison … and then after the second show, the security guy
or our tour manager or whatever, stage manager, for Ratt came up to me and
said, 'I need to get your phone number. Marshall Berle wants to talk to you,'" recalled Blaze, who talked to the All Access blog some weeks ago about the band's history and its current work (we'll post the entire interview with Blaze in the coming days).
The nephew of beloved funny man Milton Berle, Marshall Berle was at one time the manager of L.A.-based bands like Van Halen and, of course, Ratt, the group he was representing back then. Berle had pull in the industry, and he was somebody Lillian Axe wanted to get to know.
"That was like one of those moments you talk about and just realize that, holy
cow, this is really happening," said Blaze. "You know, those were the two biggest rock bands
at the time and everybody knew who their manager was. But I got a call two days
later, and it’s Marshall. He said, 'Steve, it’s Marshall Berle. Do you want a
record deal?' Of course, at that time, when you’re in your early 20s, we’re not
thinking about the possibility you could ever get screwed over by record
companies. We were willing to take it, so we said, 'Absolutely.'"
Continuing on with a series of shows booked for that jaunt, Blaze recounted that Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby had taken a shine to the band, which did encounter label troubles down the line, and that he wanted to produce them. Not long after, Berle met with record-industry mogul Irving Azoff, and Lillian Axe was signed to MCA.
"The rest is just a roller coaster ride," said Blaze.
It's been 12 years since the Crosby died from a heroin overdose, his battles with addiction and AIDS well-documented. Blaze misses him dearly.
"He was a wonderful guy," said Blaze. "I just wish I’d gotten to know him more, and I wish he was still around."
When Lillian Axe recorded its self-titled debut, released in 1988, it was Crosby who helped the band refine its sound and define who they were musically. And yet, for all that Crosby had accomplished with Ratt, one of the biggest bands of the '80s with mega-hits like "Lay It Down," "Wanted Man" and "Round and Round" – a song co-written by Crosby – he was, as Blaze relates, insecure about a lot of things. (Watch the video for "Round and Round" below)
"Robbin was great," said Blaze. "I always tell people, Robbin was
really … I call him kind of a fork in the road, because … just the whole fame and rock ‘n’ roll part of success, I don’t think he
really adjusted to it or really embraced it."
In his heart of hearts, Blaze thought Crosby was not only a wonderful person, but also a talented musician, even if Crosby didn't always believe it himself.
"He was always such a good man, and
he’d say, 'I’m going to give you a call later,' and he’d call and say, 'I’m not a
good guitar player,'" said Blaze. "I’d be like, 'Robbin, you’re with one of the biggest bands
in the world, buddy. Just relax. Quit worrying.' He was
one of the nicest people in the world. I wanted him to be happy, you know. Great guy, very generous, we had fun working on the album, but I always
felt that he didn’t quite really know how to accept the situation that he was
in. And I don’t know if that’s what led to his problems, his addictions and
whatnot, and it was really too bad, because of anybody I’ve ever met in this
industry, he didn’t deserve to have that happen to him."
Blaze wasn't around Crosby or Ratt when Crosby's life spiraled downward.
"We never really ever saw that side of
Robbin," said Blaze. "I don’t know what went on with him there."
What does bring a smile to Blaze's face when thinking about Crosby is a story he has from the time they worked on that first Lillian Axe album.
"The last day of our pre-production, he came down to Jackson, Miss.,
and we had this room that was a rehearsal room that we rented out, and it was
in a bad, bad part of town," said Blaze. "I don’t know who set this up for us, but we were rehearsing and during the day, he and I went and ate
Mexican food. And so, that night, after it was finished, he goes, 'All right
guys, we’ll do the video next week,' and he broke out the Crown Royal. Well, I
was the only one that didn’t drink. For the other guys, Crown Royal was like
orange juice. Robbin broke it open and just swigged and guzzled at least half the bottle of Crown, but Robbin was a big guy. And he just
completely guzzled that sucker, and all the other guys are taking hits and
whatnot."
Lillian Axe 2014
Blaze describes what happened afterward. It's not for the squeamish.
"Next thing you know, Robbin went into the back room and throws up all
over the place, and he comes down and wipes his mouth off, like everything is
okay," said Blaze. "And I’m like, 'Holy crap, man. Are you okay?' He said, 'Yeah, man. I
think my nachos must have had some meat in it, today, and I’m a vegetarian.' It
wasn’t the half a bottle of Crown he just swigged. It was that he got a little
piece of meat in his nachos that made him throw up. And I was like, 'Okay,
buddy (laughs).'"
Blaze will have much more to say about what Lillian Axe is up to these days, as well as the recordings and trials and tribulations of a band that was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010, in our complete interview with him. Look for it to be posted here soon.
Most rock
drummers are already a notch or two above 'the rest' as the average metal
anthem is dictated by pace and complexity. Closer to the peak, you'll find
those who distinguish themselves by mathematically near improbable rhythmic
complexities that create visions of a mad scientist behind the kit.
But once
you're at the summit, you'll find the likes of Scott Rockenfield - (Queensryche), who not only
possesses the required skills but also translates those in uniquely designed drum
kits that in and by themselves become true rock relics.
Tour
after tour, Rockenfield treats his audience to breath-taking kit designs
that would leave you with that "If I Only Could" feeling. Well, now
you can!
Backstage Auctions is excited to be able to offer three of Rockenfield's classic kits,
straight from his design table and offered up by Scott himself.
QUEENSRYCHE SCOTT ROCKENFIELD 2008 FAMOUS "CHAIN" DRUM KIT
You have to go back all the way to the 1980s to first see Scott Rockenfield using his famous and trademark "chain" drum kit. At the time this was a revolutionary design but it eventually became Scott's true signature kit, admired and desired by fans and drum aficionados around the world. And as they say "back by popular demand", Scott re-introduced his updated and improved version of the "chain" kit on the 2008 Queensryche world tour.
Featured here is a brand new, limited edition full and complete "chain" kit, which is an exact reproduction of the original tour kit, as designed and built by Scott himself.
Scott Rockenfield's Chain Kit
Birds eye view of the Chain Kit - Scott Rockenfield not included.
QUEENSRYCHE SCOTT ROCKENFIELD 2007 OPERATION MINDCRIME' DRUM KIT
More of
an 'Operation Mindcrime' fan? This release is arguably Queensryche's signature album from their already impressive discography. This platinum status rock opera concept album from 1988 can often been found in any random 'Top 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time' - and deservedly so!
Rockenfield is offering up his limited edition full and complete kit, which is an exact reproduction of the original tour kit, as designed and built by Scott himself and used for the 2007 'Operation Mindcrime' world tour.
Scott Rockenfield's 2007 Operation Mindcrime Drum Kit
QUEENSRYCHE SCOTT ROCKENFIELD 2009 "AMERICAN SOLDIER" DRUM KIT
Featured here is a brand new, limited edition 9-piece Queensryche drum kit, exclusively designed and built by Scott Rockenfield. The kit is made from 100% all maple drum shells and is exactly the same kit as used by Scott during the Queensryche "American Soldier" world tour in 2009.
Scott Rockenfield's American Soldier 2009 Drum Kit
Scott Rockenfield doing what he does best on the American Soldier drum kit.
These and
other fine Queensryche collectibles will be part of an over-the-top celebration
of rock and metal collectibles that you don't want to miss out on!
The online auction,
starts April 21, 2012 and will run through April 29, 2012. A special VIP All
Access preview of the entire auction catalog will be available beginning
Saturday, April 14th.
Metal Evolution - "Pre-Metal" Sam Dunn VH1 Classic
All Access Review: A-
Pinning down that exact moment of conception when heavy metal
became a living, breathing entity is next to impossible, as most observers know
all too well. There was no “big bang” that, in the blink of an eye, brought
this screaming, bloody musical anti-Christ – something akin to that evil baby
with the fangs and devil horns that graces the cover of Black Sabbath’s Born Again album – into existence.
Although some will argue that heavy metal’s arrival was heralded by Steppenwolf
when John Kay uttered the words “heavy metal thunder” in “Born to be Wild” or
that its birth occurred the moment Blue Cheer dropped that sonic atom bomb of
psychedelic blues that was their cover of “Summertime Blues,” others might
point to the first Black Sabbath album or the tragic industrial accident that
claimed the tips of Tony Iommi’s fingers as the origin of this particular
species. No doubt, all of these events played a role in giving life to the
genre, but heavy metal’s creation story is a far more complex tale than even
filmmaker Sam Dunn imagined when he undertook his “Metal Evolution” documentary
series, an extension of his highly acclaimed “A Headbanger’s Journey” film. And
it’s no accident that he included the word “evolution” in the title.
With the probing mind of an anthropologist and a fan’s
heart, Dunn, ably assisted by partner Scot McFayden, examine in great detail
the roots of heavy metal in the inaugural episode of VH1 Classic’s “MetalEvolution,” “Pre-Metal.” Immersing himself in the Wacken Open Air experience,
Dunn launches into what is quite possibly the most academic installment of
“Metal Evolution” with a fairly scientific approach, expounding on the
neuroscience behind the fatal attraction people have to metal. Scientist Laurel
Trainor of McMaster University studies this kind of thing, and on “Pre-Metal,”
she talks in-depth about the effect of aggressive music on the body and mind,
while measuring Dunn’s head and exposing him to various musical genres during a
staged experiment with him. Over the course of “Pre-Metal,” Dunn journeys back
in time to study, somewhat predictably, the influence of classical music, blues
and jazz on metal’s development, while also taking detours to Sun Studios in
Memphis to investigate the accidental discovery of distortion and to Britain’s
Marshall Amplification factory to see how founder Jim Marshall, through trial
and error, tried and ultimately succeeded in building an amp that would satiate
Pete Townshend’s desire for overpowering volume.
That, in and of itself, is a fascinating piece of
history, as the story of how the famed Marshall stacks grew into these
monstrous delivery systems for explosive sound is inextricably tied to heavy
metal’s rise from music’s primordial ooze. No less an innovator than Marshall,
Sun Studios’ Sam Phillips had an ear for fresh, exciting sonic possibilities,
as the story of “Rocket 88” and the damaged amplifier that wrapped what is
considered by many as the first rock ‘n’ roll recording in hot, fuzzy
distortion indicates. And Dunn and company link indirectly that historic moment
with Dave Davies’ “You Really Got Me” riff – one that many metal musicians cite
as having aroused their hard-rock sensibilities – in a subtle way that speaks
to their ability to combine all these diverse elements into a cohesive and
entertaining package.
Not at all surprisingly, the non-scientific portion of
“Pre-Metal” starts with Black Sabbath and explains how those doom-laden chords
that sprung from Iommi’s imagination – their genesis found in classical music –
filled their first album with horrifying menace and supernatural uneasiness.
From there, Dunn segues into a discussion of classical influences, exploring how
Niccolo Paganini’s frantic violin technique put Yngwie Malmsteen on an endless
quest to conquer increasingly complex and virtuoso passages and the impact of
opera on the vocal theatrics and dramatic stagecraft of the likes of Iron
Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford and Queensryche’s Geoff
Tate. Going deeper, with great enthusiasm, producer Bob Ezrin reanimates the
unbridled bombast of composer Richard Wagner’s grandest epics and transplants
it into the body of arena-shaking heavy metal – the connection a logical one
and not at all earth-shattering, although it’s hard not be moved by Ezrin’s
explanation.
If nothing else, “Pre-Metal” establishes, yet again, that
winning documentary style of Dunn’s that meshes his relaxed, albeit exuberant
and intense, dedication to the cause with the amazing cross-section of
interviews with heavy metal icons, lesser-known players, music-industry
insiders, journalists and any other contributors who would talk to him with relevant
and interesting historical treatises, rare, insightful anecdotes, a combination
of incredible vintage and contemporary footage of some of rock and metal’s
finest performers. Scott Ian, Kirk Hammett, the MC5’s Wayne Kramer and others
talk about the salvation metal brought them, as Dunn and his collaborators seek
to broaden the perspectives of “Metal Evolution” as far as they can. Then, they
take it one step further, as they do in the segment on the blues’ influence on
metal. With Hammett and former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes adding
their own two cents worth, they take great pains to get to the heart of that
hellish, animalistic quality the blues has – especially apparent in the works
of Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf – that made the vocals and starkly minimalist
instrumentation of its greatest architects so chilling. Meeting with the man
who was the last living member of Howlin’ Wolf’s band, Hubert Sumlin (who actually
died in December), Dunn – doing what every great interviewer does in that he divorces
himself from the conversation and lets the subject tell his or her story the
way they want – describes the scary power and roiling emotions inherent in the
music and lyrics of a man who was uneducated in the classic sense, but who knew
all too well the trials and tribulations that torture human beings.
While there is a structure to Dunn’s storytelling that is
well thought out, the “Metal Evolution” series, and “Pre-Metal” in particular,
reveal a tendency to step off the reservation when the spirit moves him. And it
moves him in ways that are sometimes mysterious but are mostly rewarding and
vital to his dissertation, which is what “Metal Evolution” is. The editing is
superb on “Pre-Metal,” as almost every quote packs a punch and the appearance
of concert and candid footage from long ago or today quickens the pace and adds
visual interest to the piece. As those who have been watching from Day One will
undoubtedly realize, Dunn and his crew were only getting started with
“Pre-Metal.”
Backstage Auctions is betting on the universal appeal of metal music and memorabilia among fans worldwide for its next auction. The Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction preview runs Oct. 24-30; the auction runs Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. “Heavy metal is a lifestyle, and it shows in everything; it shows in the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the haircut you have, the concerts you go to, the music you listen to, the friends that you have,” Jacques van Gool of Backstage Auctions said. When it comes to business, make no mistake. Van Gool has done his homework. Just because metal music has never really seen the light of day in the mainstream media doesn’t mean it lacks a following. Van Gool cited the massive number of Web sites and magazines dedicated to heavy metal worldwide, as well as a plethora of heavy-metal festivals and legions of incredibly loyal fans who follow their favorite acts on social media platforms such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. “You have to go a little bit underground for this. I don’t see Fox News or CNN wasting their time saying Al Jourgensen of Ministry is going to put 100 items in a heavy metal auction, because they wouldn’t know what to do with that kind of news. But at the same time, the official Ministry database has 250,000 registered users, so, I’m going to forget about the Foxes and CNNs of the world. All that matters is that 250,000 Ministry fans know about it.” The market for heavy metal memorabilia is probably healthier than that of any other musical genre, he added. “Metal just doesn’t go away. It doesn’t die. Fans won’t allow it,” van Gool said. “The market for memorabilia from bands that are considered part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Motorhead, remains strong worldwide, van Gool said. In the past five years, van Gool has noticed younger metal fans expressing interest in the second- and third-tier bands of the NWOBHM that may sound obscure to non-metal fans. “From a collectible point of view, the original vinyl of these bands demands incredible, incredible amounts of dollars,” van Gool said. He cited original 7-inch records from Neat Records as being particularly hot with collectors. Records issued on Shrapnel or the original Metal Blade label also are popular in the U.S. “The very first Shrapnel album was called Metal Massacre, and Metallica is on that album, which was their first vinyl appearance before they got a record deal,” van Gool said. “In the early years, the Metal Massacre albums featured bands that were on their way to the next big thing, and everybody wants to have that.” The uniquely American hair metal phenomenon, which included acts like Cinderella, Poison, Motley Crue, Winger and Ratt, dominated mainstream music in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and those acts still have a strong fanbase here. However, overseas, hair metal isn’t as big of a draw as speed or thrash metal, which boasts bands like Metallica, Slayer, Testament, Exodus and Megadeth, van Gool said. One of the biggest “holy grail” items that collectors seek is Iron Maiden’s first 7-inch record a three-song EP called “The Soundhouse Tapes.” “That little 7-inch single can sell for $600, $700, which is an amazing amount of money for a single for a band that made it 30 years ago,” van Gool said. Autographs are another great collectible, although they are not always extremely valuable, van Gool said. “The great thing about most heavy metal bands is that they are, in my opinion, more approachable than most other artists you can think of,” van Gool said. “The moment you start to act like a superstar, you’re gonna lose fans. Your fans need to feel like they can associate themselves with you.” That means the desire to bootleg signatures isn’t as high in the metal realm as in other genres of music, he said. When it comes to stage-worn clothing, pristine isn’t always the most desirable state, he added. “The more an item shows wear and tear, the better, because the more use a piece of attire has, the more it will tell you that the artist really enjoyed wearing that piece,” van Gool said. “When you get something that has makeup on it or smudges on it or hairspray on it, or, even better, bloodstains on it, that, in my opinion, definitely adds value.”
The focus of The Rock Gods and Metal Monsters Auction is near and dear to van Gool, who grew up listening to and collecting memorabilia from bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon. The sense of history associated with the memorabilia featured in this auction is staggering, Van Gool said. “You have to look at an individual piece, and you’ve gotta think about on how many stages this microphone stand has been, or what songs were recorded through this particular guitar, or how many photos have been made of this individual wearing this shirt or boots or whatever,” van Gool said. “It’s not just a shirt that’s on a mannequin that you photograph. There’s a little bit of history in front of you.” The auction lots are continuing to evolve, as many of the bands are first getting off the road from the hectic summer touring season. Confirmed headliners including the Al Jourgensen collection, which features everything from amps and road cases for guitars to microphone stands, pins, jackets, rings, sunglasses, gloves, hats and boots from the early 1980s until 2008. “You name it, it’s in there. He even included original master recordings from the early Ministry days,” van Gool said. When Ministry officially retired in 2008, it played its final farewell show in Ireland. A concert poster from that last show, signed by Jourgensen, also is in the auction. Whether you dig autographed records, signed posters or stage-worn attire from your favorite artists, the one thing that really matters at the end of the day is a piece’s provenance, van Gool said. Pantera, White Zombie, Metal Church, Exodus, Mercyful Fate/King Diamond, Whitesnake, Dio, Quiet Riot, Mr. Big, Winger, Nelson, Queensryche, Alice Cooper and Rainbow also are represented, he said. The final auction lineup will boast about 400 lots that range from concert photos sold with negatives and full rights, to vinyl, stage-worn clothing, backstage passes, concert posters and instruments.
For more details on The Rock Gods and Metal Monsters auction visit Backstage Auctions. The auction goes live on Halloween.
