On October 7, 1986, "Slayer" released one of the biggest and most influential albums in the thrash metal genre - "Reign in Blood". Here are 38 interesting facts about the album: 1. This is the band's third album, whose debut album was released 3 years earlier, in 1983. 2. The album contains 10 songs but runs for only 28:58, according to the band's official website, reflecting the extraordinary speed of the performances. That "achievement" is even more striking because the opening track, "Angel of Death", lasts 4:51. 3. The band said that when they finished the recordings they were shocked by the fact that the ten songs were in total less than half an hour of recording. Producer Rick Rubin, on the other hand, liked the result so much that he did not even ask the band to write and record more songs. 4. Because the album was so short, it fits into one side of a tape cassette. The band made sure that the album was also recorded on the other side of the cassette so that whoever listened to it could turn the cassette over and listen to it again. 5. This is Slayer's first album with legendary producer Rick Rubin, which greatly influenced the band's sound and development. 6. One of the things Rick Rubin persuaded the band to do is to give up the reverb effect altogether to produce a direct and sharp sound, just like the band's music. 7. This was the band's first album recorded during the daytime. They recorded their previous two albums late at night when no one was in the studio, to save money, since these two albums were self-funded. 8. The band intended to produce the fastest album ever. At that time they competed with "Metallica" and intended to produce the fastest and heaviest album. And so they did! (Photo: Steamcommunity.com) 9. The one who influenced the "disturbing" style of the album was mainly Jeff Hanneman who persuaded and encouraged the band members to listen to hardcore punk bands. 10. "Def Jam Recordings", founded by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, was then associated primarily with hip-hop. Working with "Slayer" brought Rubin into metal alongside his productions for "Run DMC" and the "Beastie Boys". His work with "Public Enemy" belongs to a later chapter: their debut album was released in 1987. 11. The same year Rick Rubin produced the album, he was also responsible for producing the "Beastie Boys" debut album "Licensed to Ill". 12. Rubin also asked guitarist Kerry King to play the solo in the "Beastie Boys" song "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", taken from that album. 13. The album faced distribution difficulties because of its opening track "Angel of Death", which describes Josef Mengele and the horrific experiments he performed on prisoners at Auschwitz. Columbia, which distributed "Def Jam" records as part of CBS, refused to distribute the album because of its controversial content. Al Teller was then president of the CBS Records Division, which also oversaw Columbia. According to an article in "Houston Press", his parents died in the Holocaust. Distribution was ultimately arranged through Geffen. 14. The neo-Nazi image of the band following the song was fueled by the fact that the letter "S" in the band's logo is reminiscent of the one used by the Nazis for the "SS" logo. 15. Jeff Hanneman wrote the song after reading books about Mengele. He rejected claims that it endorsed Nazism, explaining that he described the atrocities on the assumption that their evil was self-evident. However, in an interview with "Guitar World", he also made clear that it was not an explicit protest song against Nazism. It is therefore more accurate to describe it as a disturbing account of Mengele's crimes than to label it categorically an anti-Nazi song. 16. The long and chilling scream from the second 0:19 to 0:27 in the song "Angel of Death", was performed by bassist and singer Tom Araya in just two takes. This is one of the most chilling and iconic screams in the metal world. 17. "Angel of Death" closed the final show of the band's farewell tour in Inglewood, California, on November 30, 2019. It marked the end of that chapter, rather than the band's last-ever performance: "Slayer" subsequently returned to the stage. 18. The song appeared in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" and "Jackass: The Movie". 19. The song can also be found in the computer game "Tony Hawk's Project 8". 20. The song "Raining Blood" can also be found in the game soundtracks "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" and Guitar Hero "III: Legends of Rock". 21. The song "Altar of Sacrifice" was written based on an old song by the band called "Ice Titan". The original version can be found in a box from 2003 - "Soundtrack to the Apocalypse". 22. Guitarist Kerry King said he improvised all of his solos on the album, during the recordings. He was overwhelmed by the positive criticism towards him, because he felt that he was just fiddling with unrelated solos. 23. The song "Angel of Death" was sampled in the song "She Watch Channel Zero ?!" "by the rap band "Public Enemy". The song was also sampled by the industrial band - "KMFDM" in the song "Godlike". 24. The song "Raining Blood" from the album was also sampled by Lil 'Jon as part of the single "Stop Fuckin' Wit Me" from 2004. 25. Singer Tori Amos made a cover of the song "Raining Blood" and stretched it to a 6-and-a-half minute version, on the album "Strange Little Girls", released in 2001, after September 11, featuring her interpretation of men's songs from her point of view. 26. "Body Count" recorded a medley of "Raining Blood" and "Postmortem" for "Bloodlust", released on March 31, 2017. 27. Drummer Dave Lombardo left during the album's tour over a financial dispute. Rick Rubin repeatedly urged him to return and offered him a salary. According to Lombardo, his wife finally convinced him, and he returned in 1987. 28. In 2004 "Slayer" played the album from beginning to end, on tour. In the song "Raining Blood", the last on the album, and the show, it was "raining blood" on the band, literally. 29. The drumming section in the opening of the song "Criminally Insane" was written by Jeff Hanneman. 30. The song's b-side included a remix in which drummer Dave Lombardo plays an electronic drum kit that triggered samples with a recording of him playing analog drums. 31. Lawrence "Larry" Carroll created the cover. It initially met resistance within the band: Kerry recalled that they did not want it, while Carroll remembered objections from a band member or management. They warmed to it, and Carroll went on to create further Slayer covers. 32. Although the album was not played on radio stations at all, it is the band's first album to enter the US Billboard 200 and bring them recognition among the mainstream metal community. 33. It is one of the most important albums in metal and is ranked 6th on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 100 greatest metal albums of all time. 34. In 2006 "Metal Hammer" magazine ranked the album at number one on the list of albums released in the last 20 years. 35. 'Kerrang!' Magazine defined the album as the heaviest album of all time. 36. In 2016 "Loudwire" magazine ranked the album in first place out of the band's 12 albums. 37. During the sessions, Jeff Hanneman played a black Jackson Soloist fitted with EMG pickups, while Kerry King played a B.C. Rich Warlock. Both used Marshall JCM800 amplifiers. The guitars on the album were tuned a half-step below standard tuning, to Eb. 38. The famous slower riff in the middle of "Angel of Death" came from a combination of notes Jeff Hanneman liked. King explained in an interview that it was not based on a particular scale, but on an unusual sequence Hanneman put together. Unlike the fast tremolo picking used through much of the song, this riff is played with downstrokes. Listen to the album on: Spotify, Apple Music. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Written by: Moti Kupfer Release date - 06.10.1982 One morning, a man wakes up and decides he would quite like a band of his own. That is exactly what happened to Dutch entrepreneur and millionaire Stanley August Miesegaes. This is the story of "Supertramp", whose seventh studio album, "...Famous Last Words...", was released in October 6, 1982. Miesegaes had been backing a band called "The Joint", which had not quite lived up to his expectations. He singled out their promising keyboardist Rick Davies, who had previously played in a band with Gilbert O'Sullivan, and offered to finance a new group built around him. Davies recruited bassist and singer Roger Hodgson, guitarist Richard Palmer and percussionist Keith Baker for the band, initially called "Daddy". Baker left in early 1970 and was replaced by drummer Robert Millar, who played on their debut album. At Palmer's suggestion, "Daddy" became "Supertramp" to avoid confusion with another band, "Daddy Longlegs". Palmer would later co-write the lyrics to Sandra's 1985 Europop hit "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena". The band took the name "Supertramp" from William Henry Davies' book "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp". The band's two central figures, Davies and Hodgson, came from very different backgrounds. Davies was working class and drawn to blues and jazz. Hodgson, from a more affluent background, gravitated towards pop and rock. "Supertramp" were among the first bands signed to the British branch of A&M Records. Their self-titled debut, "Supertramp", arrived in 1970 and leaned towards progressive rock. Despite receiving praise, it failed to attract a substantial audience. Their second album, "Indelibly Stamped", released a year later in June 1971, also failed to make a commercial breakthrough. The band's lineup changed frequently during those first two albums. In fact, everyone except Davies and Hodgson was eventually replaced. As if that were not enough, their Dutch millionaire benefactor decided he had taken his dream far enough and withdrew his financial support. Davies and Hodgson refused to give up and set about rebuilding the band. They brought in bassist Dougie Thomson, whom they knew from gigs where he had filled in, followed by drummer Bob Siebenberg and saxophonist and keyboardist John Helliwell. By the time their third album, "Crime of the Century", arrived in September 1974, "Supertramp" had assembled a lineup that would last a full decade. From 1973 to 1983, it would carry them through their most successful years. The musical partnership between Davies and Hodgson brought John Lennon and Paul McCartney to mind. Both wrote music and lyrics, and both received joint songwriting credits, even when they wrote separately and led entirely different lives. With their third album putting them on the right track and a tour underway, the record company wanted to strike while the iron was hot. The result was their fourth album, "Crisis? What Crisis?", much of which drew on songs left over from the previous album and even earlier periods. These were new recordings of older material, and the pressure to deliver left members of the band dissatisfied. Conditions for recording the next album were hardly ideal either, with the musicians isolated high in the Colorado mountains. Perhaps that isolation helped their creativity flourish. Their fifth album, "Even in the Quietest Moments...", was well received and offered a preview of what was to come with their sixth, "Breakfast in America", the best-selling album of "Supertramp"'s career. After the move towards pop and the phenomenal success that followed, Hodgson wanted to build on "Breakfast in America", while Davies preferred to look back towards the band's early days and return to prog and rock. The result was a hybrid of their competing ambitions. Unlike before, Davies and Hodgson could no longer agree on a shared musical direction. A roughly ten-minute Davies composition called "Brother Where You Bound" eventually found its way onto the next album, their first recorded without Hodgson. By the time it appeared in 1985, it had grown to around sixteen and a half minutes. Every song on the album officially carries a Davies/Hodgson writing credit. But anyone looking for a more precise answer need only listen to the lead vocals. A song sung by Davies was written by Davies, and the same holds true for Hodgson. Most of the recording for their seventh album, "...Famous Last Words...", took place at Hodgson's home, at "Unicorn" studios in Nevada City, California. Hodgson did not want to leave his wife to care for their two young children alone, a two-year-old daughter and a newborn son. Davies, meanwhile, recorded his vocal and keyboard parts at his own home studio, "The Backyard", in Encino, California. Additional overdubs were recorded at studios in the Los Angeles area. The album's title can certainly be read as a reference to the impending separation of Davies and Hodgson. This was the swan song of their partnership and of the classic "Supertramp" lineup. Hodgson left after the 1983 tour, and the band continued without him, but to my ears they never recaptured the magic of that decade. Mike Doud conceived the album cover and designed it with Norman Moore, with photography credited to Jules Bates and Tom Gibson. It depicts a circus tightrope walker, while a hand holding a pair of scissors threatens to cut the rope. Another hint at the final moments of "Supertramp"'s most successful lineup. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Music Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram and/or subscribe to our website

Following our review of "Blackbird", here comes another one from this wonderful band. On October 7, 2016, the album "The Last Hero", "Alter Bridge" fifth album was released. So let's start with a quote (we like to do this now and then) from Mark Tremonti about the album... "It is similar to Fortress and Blackbird but with a darker sound" After reading a bit about the previous two albums, here is some information about the aforementioned album: 1. This is the fourth consecutive album of the band in which the producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette participates, who has produced all the band's albums since "Blackbird" as well as all "Tremonti" albums. 2. The album was released by "Napalm Records" outside North America and by "Caroline" in the United States and Canada, through the band's own "Alter Bridge Recordings" imprint. It marked another stage in the band's changing record-label relationships. 3. In this album, the band uses 7-string guitars for the first time. 4. The album includes 13 songs, of which 4 singles were released in order: "Show Me a Leader", "My Champion", "Poison In Your Veins" and "Cradle to the Grave". 5. The album was written in 2015 when the two main writers Myles Kennedy and Tremonti were on tour with their projects. Myles with "Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators" as part of the promotion of the album "World On Fire" and Mark with "Tremonti" on a tour to promote his album "Cauterize". 6. The album addresses political and social issues, although Myles said they did not intend to upset anyone with direct statements. Its title reflects the idea of a social hero emerging from the people and offering an alternative to existing leadership. 7. Myles wrote most of the riffs for the theme song. This song, despite its complexity, was written in the studio during the recording process, as opposed to 90% of the album's material that was prepared in advance. 8. Myles wrote the lyrics of "Show Me a Leader" out of frustration with the state of the world and the lack of reliable, effective leadership. Myles brought the intro, Mark brought the chorus, and they built the rest of the song together. Mark developed the verse riff while they were working on the song. 9. The lyrics of the song "My Champion" were written by Myles about his childhood, and about the frustration of a small and underdeveloped boy who he claims had to try very hard to keep up with his friends. Tremonti played the riff to Myles for the first time on an acoustic guitar. Myles said the riff was so good that it didn't change the vibe of the song even though it was played acoustically. 10. The song "Poison In Your Veins" was written by Myles about the desire to break free and rise above the poisonous and paralyzing fear that stops many people from moving forward and achieving things in life. The song comes to encourage people to live courageously, take risks, and believe in themselves. The chorus to this song is one of Tremonti's favorites in terms of melody. Tremonti stated that he likes when the chorus blows up in your face, because a chorus should be something energetic that you always want to come back to, and the chorus in this song was exactly that in his opinion. But what made this song complete and loved by the other members of the band and the producer Baskette according to Tremonti, was the moment when he came up with the riff for the verse. According to him, everyone immediately fell in love with the combination of the riffs of the verses and the chorus. 11. The band's logo in this album changes to a cleaner and simpler look, without additional lines for the letters, especially when the first and last letter change their design without the addition of the circular lines. 12. This is the first album where Myles wrote and prepared his solos in advance, unlike the previous albums where he improvised while rehearsing and recording the album. 13. This is one of the band's heaviest albums that doesn't let the listener rest, not even for a single moment. As in war, the battle continues until the last hero. Some say the album is too long and even exhausting, but we like it that way. 14. There is no song in this album under 4 minutes when the entire album is 66 minutes long. 15. The album cover was designed by Mark's brother, Dan Tremonti, who is also the in-house designer for the band and the band "Tremonti". Dan Tremonti designed the album cover inspired by Marvel superheroes with a Sparta combination. Listen to the album on: Spotify, Apple Music. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Singer and songwriter Thom Yorke is celebrating his birthday today! Here are some interesting facts about him. (Photo: Jim Dyson) 1. He was born in Northamptonshire, England on October 7, 1968. 2. As a child his family lived in Scotland and when he was 7 they moved to Oxfordshire in England. 3. Yorke's father was a nuclear physicist and also an amateur boxer. 4. He was born paralyzed in his left eye. By the age of 5, he had undergone five surgeries, the last of which left him with a drooping eyelid. 5. He got his first guitar at age 7. 6. He was very influenced by Brian May and already at the age of 10 built a guitar for himself, similar to Brian May's "Red Special" guitar. 7. Yorke also mentioned John Lennon and "The Plastic Ono Band" as a musical influence on him. 8. He became a vegetarian following The Smiths' "Meat Is Murder" album. 9. At the age of 11, he formed his first band and wrote his first song. 10. Yorke's first band with Colin Greenwood was called "TNT". 11. He met Colin's brother Jonny Greenwood and the other members of "Radiohead" at the "Abingdon" boys' school. (Photo: bbc.co.uk) 12. He said that the reason he connected with them in the first place, was the fact that everyone had an interest in the same musical styles and among other things loved "Joy Division". 13. In 1985, they formed "On a Friday", named after their usual rehearsal day in the school music room. 14. In a short time the band recorded their first demo and they received an offer for a recording contract from "Island Records". 15. Most of the members later left for university, while Jonny was still at school. They continued to rehearse during holidays and resumed regular activity in 1991. 16. While studying at the University of Exeter, Thom played in "Headless Chickens", also performed with the techno group "Flickernoise", and worked as a DJ. 17. Upon returning to activity, "On a Friday" changed their name to "Radiohead" and signed a recording contract with "Parlophone". 18. In 1992 the band released their first hit, "Creep", which made them very famous. 19. Yorke wrote the hit about an unrequited love he had while in college. 20. The Israeli audience discovered the band in real-time when the song "Creep" was used for a "Castro" commercial that aired on Israeli Channel 2. 21. The person who sang the song in that commercial was Jeremy Kaplan, due to copyright issues and the desire to save costs. 22. Yorke admitted that the huge success of the debut album, "Pablo Honey", caused him unbridled behavior. 23. In 1993, Yorke and "Radiohead" came to Israel for three performances at the mythical "Roxanne" Club. Yorke returned with the band to Israel shortly afterward in 1995, for a performance at the Ramat Gan Stadium, in 2000 for three more performances, and another mythological performance at the Yarkon Park held in 2017. 24. He was quoted saying that the song "High and Dry" from the album "The Bends" is not bad, but a very bad one! 25. The number 1426148550 that appears on the cover of the "EP Airbag" is the pager number of Yorke. 26. Yorke was greatly influenced by Jeff Buckley. After a Buckley concert, the members of "Radiohead" returned to the studio, where Thom performed "Fake Plastic Trees" with an acoustic guitar. According to Colin Greenwood, he played three takes and then burst into tears. 27. He said that the band "PIXIES" is the best band in the world. 28. The song "Exit Music (For A Film)" was written by Yorke after he already knew that the song was going to be part of the soundtrack of the movie "Romeo and Juliet", so he used words that matched the storyline. 29. In addition to being a singer, Yorke plays many instruments. Among others, are electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, bass guitar, piano, and drums. 30. In 1987, Yorke had a car accident with his girlfriend. The incident caused him a kind of phobia of vehicles, following which he wrote the following songs: "Airbag", "Killer Cars", "Stupid Car", and "The Drunkk Machine". This effect can also be seen in the video for the song "Karma Police". (atoms.for.thom Instagram) 31. Thom Yorke was quoted as saying he regrets the inclusion of the song "Electioneering" on the album "Ok Computer". 32. He experienced a nervous breakdown after the release of the album "Ok Computer". 33. Yorke recorded the vocals for most of the songs on the album "Ok Computer" in one take. 34. The vocals of the song "Planet Telex" were recorded by Yorke while lying on the floor, drunk. 35. Yorke does not like the sound of his voice. This is one of the reasons why in the songs "Myxomatosis" and "A Wolf At The Door" you can hear him talking and not singing. 36. Together with his band "Radiohead" he has released to date nine studio albums, six EPs, four compilation albums, and one live album. 37. In 2006 he released his first solo album, "The Eraser" which received positive reviews. Since then he has released two more albums as part of his solo career. The latest, "Anima", came out in 2019. 38. He dedicated the album "The Eraser" to his daughter Agnes and the album "Amnesiac" to his son Noah. 39. Since 2009 he has been the lead singer of the super-band "Atoms For Peace" along with bassist Flea from "Red Hot Chili Peppers" and producer Nigel Godrich who plays keyboards and guitars. 40. Yorke is responsible, along with Stanley Donwood, for designing some of the covers of Radiohead's albums and solo albums. He uses fictitious names for this purpose such as: "The White Chocolate Farm", "Dr. Tchock", "Tchocky" and more. 41. In 2021, Yorke formed "The Smile" with Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner. 42. "The Smile" released their debut, "A Light for Attracting Attention", on May 13, 2022. It was followed by "Wall of Eyes" on January 26, 2024, and "Cutouts" on October 4, 2024. The latter two were recorded during the same period in Oxford and at "Abbey Road" studios. 43. Alongside his solo albums and bands, Yorke continued writing for film: his score for Daniele Luchetti's "Confidenza" was released on April 26, 2024. 44. On May 9, 2025, Yorke and musician-producer Mark Pritchard released their collaborative album "Tall Tales" through "Warp". 45. In 2025, Yorke co-created "Hamlet Hail to the Thief" with directors Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett. He reworked the songs of "Radiohead"'s sixth album for a theatre production performed by musicians and actors, rather than the band itself. Following runs in Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon, a transfer to London's "Barbican" was announced, beginning on October 31, 2026. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 6, 1986, "Metal Church" released their second studio album, "The Dark". In a year when American metal was pushing its speed, weight and ambition to new heights, "The Dark" was easy to overlook. It never attained the stature of "Master Of Puppets", nor did it have the political defiance associated with "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?". But it had something very difficult to fake: the sense that someone was truly afraid. Beneath the riffs and screams are people losing control, searching for a way out and discovering that the door has already closed behind them. Following their 1984 debut, "Metal Church", the band entered the studio with a reputation for bridging traditional heavy metal and the aggression of thrash. Guitarists Kurdt Vanderhoof and Craig Wells, vocalist David Wayne, bassist Duke Erickson and drummer Kirk Arrington had already learned how to play with tremendous force, while building songs that went beyond a display of muscle. The guitars retained their melody and sense of structure even as the rhythm section drove them forward without mercy. The biggest change this time was the working conditions. "Elektra", which had already reissued the debut, gave the band a substantially larger budget and brought in Mark Dodson as producer. Recorded at "Steve Lawson Productions" in Seattle during 1985 and 1986, with Terry Date on the engineering team, the album again relied primarily on the songwriting of Vanderhoof, Wayne and Wells. The result was a more controlled, heavily worked sound that brought the separation between the instruments and the drama of the vocals into sharper focus. That transition was not straightforward. In a 2022 interview, Erickson said that, in retrospect, he would have preferred to retain the simplicity of the debut and continue working with Date. Vanderhoof, speaking in 2026, also described the production as sounding a little strange to him, while recalling that this was where he learned to work in a studio with a proper producer and budget. Both sides of that experience are audible on the record. It gains clarity and careful construction, sometimes at the expense of its predecessor's spontaneous ferocity. The opening, however, leaves no room for hesitation. "Ton of Bricks" attacks with frantic drumming, slashing guitars and a scream that makes it perfectly clear who we are dealing with. Wayne was never a singer who slipped comfortably into a playlist. His voice has an almost abrasive rasp, and even when he reaches for the high notes, the climb sounds physically demanding. Here, that is exactly what the music needs. The lyrics project explosive strength and aggressive confidence, and the band backs them up every step of the way. Next comes "Start the Fire", demonstrating just how much a good riff can accomplish without a complicated arrangement. There is a wonderful rhythmic thrust, a chorus made for joining in and guitars that keep things moving even within the repetition. The call to light the fire feels like an invitation for the audience to release its pent-up energy. It combines the direct appeal of a metal anthem with the bite of a band coming from the genre's tougher fringes. The album's emotional center, though, is "Watch the Children Pray". Its clean guitar opening makes room for a relatively exposed vocal, and when the full band arrives, it does not wash away the sadness. It amplifies it. Wayne sounds less like someone threatening the world than someone who understands that the world is about to collapse and has no way to stop it. The lyrics connect destructive human choices with a prayer for salvation, while the image of children asking God to save them gives the song a vulnerability that is difficult to shake. We can hear the fear of devastation that haunted the Cold War years without reducing it to a single event or explanation. This is an immensely heavy ballad, with a huge chorus and a solo that sustains the distress. Its power comes from the way tenderness and violence remain intertwined. That also reveals a connection between several of the songs. In the title track, "The Dark", fear takes the form of a horror story, with an abandoned house and a sinister presence stalking the narrator. The riff gives the story a nervous momentum, while Wayne's voice makes the terror feel physical, even sweaty. In "Line of Death", the threat leaves the house and enters the political arena, against the backdrop of the confrontation between the United States and Libya in the Gulf of Sidra. In both, the feeling is similar: a person trapped inside a violent situation far beyond their control. One of the strongest moments in the album's second half is "Burial at Sea". Its story of a passenger trying to warn a captain who is steering his ship toward disaster gives the song a genuine narrative. The music leaves room for development and tension, and the melodic guitars reinforce the sense of a journey. As the ship travels farther and the cold intensifies, protest gives way to despair. On an album packed with relatively brief attacks, it reminds us how well the band can tell a story when they give it time. Still, the record does not maintain that level throughout. Some of the faster tracks in its second half rely on familiar momentum rather than an idea that stays with us after the song ends. Wayne's singing, so well suited to the moments of terror and distress, can also become wearing when it remains at the same pitch of intensity for too long. The tightly controlled production highlights the band's power, but it also exposes the gap between an excellent song and an energetic performance of a less interesting one. The album reached No. 92 on the "Billboard 200", and the band broadened their exposure through shows alongside "Metallica". It was also dedicated to Cliff Burton, who died on September 27, 1986. That dedication adds a painful dimension to the listening experience, although the songs had been written and recorded before his death. They were not a response to the tragedy, even if, in hindsight, it is difficult to separate their fear and prayers from the period in which the album appeared. This was also the last album by this five-piece lineup before personnel changes reshaped the band. Wayne later departed, while Vanderhoof stepped away from performing with the group but remained involved in the songwriting. The next chapter, 1989's "Blessing in Disguise", with vocalist Mike Howe, opened a different era. "The Dark" thus remains a fascinating document of a band at full strength, already beginning to confront the cost of moving forward. For us, "The Dark" deserves another listen for the way its aggression meets its anxiety. It is uneven, and at times it works too hard to sustain its intensity, but its finest moments offer a wonderful combination of riffs, melody and vocals that refuse to leave us indifferent. When Wayne sings "Watch the Children Pray", we are left with the feeling that the real fear begins when the scream gives way to a prayer. For listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

ON October 6, 1974 "King Crimson" released its seventh studio album "Red". This is a dark and gloomy album, and at the same time strong and powerful, which is undoubtedly ahead of its time. One of the two peaks of the band's work, whose first incarnation can be described as two formidable mountains located at the beginning and end of the route, with a huge string bridge in the form of Robert Fripp's guitar strings connecting them. The first mountain is the band's Everest, a timeless masterpiece in the fullest sense of the word, in the form of the band's debut album, and one of the greatest albums in music in general - "In The Court Of The Crimson King" from 1969. The other is the band's "Annapurna", the second peak in height, a little lower than the "Everest", but still, mighty, sharp, jagged, rough, and cruel. One you would not want to fall from. How rough and cruel? As jagged as rock blades, in the form of the "Fuzz effect" of John Wetton's bass guitar, as cruel as the distortions of Robert Fripp's electric guitar that blows on you as hard as a 120 mph wind and polish your skin, such as Bill Bruford's rolling drum avalanche, sliding towards you with tremendous speed. So powerful that Kurt Cobain has described this album as one of his most influential. So mighty that "Tool" members have openly stated it made a huge impact on their work. The power of this album is well reflected even in its title. The band members often crossed the allowable volume limit beyond the "red" line, during the album recordings. They realized that during this long stay in the red area of ​​the scale there is something deeper than the volume button of "Spinal Tap" that reaches up to number 11. They realized that this album was going to be more powerful than any other album they had made up to that point, so they named it "Red". In analogy to the "String Bridge" that connects the two peaks of the band's career, this album, too, relies on two formidable works, located at the beginning and end of the record. Works of which the string bridge that holds the entire album is anchored with "metal" pegs. The first is "Red", the pinnacle of "Annapurna" which opens up the album. A crazy and revolutionary instrumental track that was the first to be recorded for the album. Robert Fripp the genius wrote the piece based on the heavy guitar riff recorded in overdubbing with three layers of guitar, to create the metallic sound. The piece was very difficult to record and at one point almost even shelved. Bill Bruford did not understand at first what Fripp wanted from him and what the hell he was supposed to play. He did not find a role for the drums and was very frustrated. Robert Fripp was already thinking of giving up, but John Wetton who really liked the piece insisted, and Bruford asked to be given another chance. Finally, Bruford perfectly grasped the piece and he just plays here ingeniously on drums and percussion. The bridge part is played by a cello that is transmitted through an effect that gives it a rough sound. Even though during the recording "King Crimson" has already become a power trio, as the album cover reveals, the band used Guest musicians, including violinist David Cross who was fired from the band shortly before, and former band members Ian McDonald and Mel Collins, and other hired musicians. The second piece is the "Everest" - the other peak of the album - "Starless". An ingenious work that does not have even one unnecessary moment and in which all the instruments fit together just perfectly. The mellotron played by Robert Fripp wraps all this piece in soft cotton wool, the amazing combination of McDonald's alto saxophone and Collins' soprano saxophone, Bruford's percussions that suddenly surprise you out of nowhere, Fripp's erupting guitar creaks and the mighty dissonance between the psychotic bass playing of Wetton to his soft, caressing singing. The piece was originally supposed to be called "Starless and Bible Black", as the lyrics reveal, but to avoid confusion with the band's previous album which was released earlier that year and answers to the same name, its name was shortened to "Starless". Between these two mighty peaks are two excellent tracks per-se and one good song, whose whole "sin" was that they stood too close to the two mighty peaks we mentioned above. The first, "Fallen Angel", is a kind of ballad that tells the story of a boy who is dragged by his older brother into a gang and eventually finds his death in an unnecessary gang war. A dynamic song that after the cello intro begins soft and quiet, but gradually develops as the plot of the story progresses. Robert Fripp also plays acoustic guitar here, this is one of the few times he has done so and to the best of our memory even to this day. One should also mention Robin Miller's oboe playing and Marc Charig's cornet playing that add pure magic to the song. The second is the song that seals the first side of the vinyl - "One More Red Nightmare" led by Fripp's all-too-typical riff. Bruford's drumming is simply a school for drummers. What dribbles, what crazy transitions between rhythms, just crazy drumming, and without a doubt one of his great moments. And what a sound have the cymbals here, you will surely recognize what we are talking about, a sound that cannot be reproduced at all. And why? Bruford found these cymbals in the studio's trash can, battered and beaten. He fixed them a bit and used them during the recording of this song. Also playing in this song is Ian McDonald who was in the initial lineup of the band and was among its founders playing the saxophone. The song was influenced by the band's difficulty on tours which Wetton described as "another red nightmare." It is not clear if John Wetton wrote the words about a real case, but the character in the story falls asleep during the flight and wakes up during the dive toward the ground ... The third is the track that opens the other side of the album and is possibly the weak song on it. "Providence" is a kind of improvisational segment, recorded at the band's performance that year. It was brought to the album after the editing out the crowd's channel. A piece that might prove the genius and virtuosity of the band during gigs, but it sounds detached from this perfect album. The album was not so successful in real-time, but won much praise from critics over the years. It is ranked in "Rolling Stone" Magazine's 100 Best Albums List of the '70s, with the theme song ranked in that magazine's 100 Best Guitar Songs of All Time. Unfortunately, even before the release of the album, Robert Fripp simply disbanded "King Crimson" to the great astonishment of Bruford and Wetton, who rightly believed that it was the band's best album. For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

On October 5, 2007, the album "Blackbird", "Alter Bridge's" second album, was released and we are very excited to tell you a little bit about this very special album. The US release followed on October 9, 2007. Just as a snake sheds its skin and undergoes a process of rejuvenation, in which it leaves behind the old skin and wears a new and fresh skin, so too do the talented members of Alter have undergone a process of transformation on this album. Although they tried to shake off any influence or connection to the previous band "Creed", they were not so successful in applying it on the first album "One Day Remains". However, on this album, the four members take a significant step toward musical maturity and independence. They shun all the limitations, elements, and influences of "Creed", who were still present on the first album and for the first time manage to form for themselves a pure and unique sound as an independent band detached from the past that haunted it. The "Texas Sawmill" Mark Tremonti quite managed to break free of Scott Stapp's chains on the previous album, but psychological precipitation that limited him could still be heard here and there. Here he completes the release process and together with his co-pilot Myles Kennedy, he switches to take-off mode and ascends to sky-high. Myles who turns out to be a talented guitarist with very high technique allows Mark to fly far away to new places, not only because he takes the place of accompaniment and rhythm but also because he himself brings ideas and creativity that add to Mark’s growth just like fertilizer. This is the first studio album on which Myles joins Tremonti on guitar. Tremonti played all the guitar parts on the debut, while Myles began playing alongside him live afterwards. Myles' addition may seem negligible at first glance because Tremonti is so amazing and worked out so beautifully on his own that Myles doesn't seem to be able to contribute anything. But this is absolutely wrong and much more complex than you think because this little addition makes a very big change. We suddenly get Mark more open and creative with elements and touches we have not heard before, with more relaxed playing, long solos with a more complex composition, and of course a variety of sounds and acoustic guitars. Tremonti goes through a process on this album and changes his position from Scott wingman and his accompaniment player to a lead in his own right, with perfect creative freedom. (Photo: NME.com) But not only is Tremonti going through a process here, Myles who on the first album was already the band's lead vocalist but had a more limited role in songwriting, expands his role here and becomes a full partner in the writing and creative process. Myles' voice is also changing and you can feel it. He knows how to take Mark's strong riffs and combine them with his touches with an amazing range and a lot of power that pushes even further up the band's abilities. Also on the guitar side, Myles goes one step further here as he gets the lead guitar in two songs from the album, "Blackbird" and "Rise Today" along with Tremonti. To be honest, all the band members are expressed here and give their all, but no doubt Myles and Tremonti are leading the oiled machine here called "Alter Bridge" and pushing it forward. The lead in writing and creating may still be Tremonti's, but that will change later and the two will lead the band's next albums together. When we used the image of the snake shedding its skin we also meant the fact that the band members complete the rejuvenation process with a unilateral disengagement from their record label Wind-up Records, which forced the musical direction, and pushed them to keep Creed's elements and even kept pushing them to reunite their mother band and release more of its albums. The members of Alter sign with the Universal Republic, releasing the cables that stopped them and leaving no room for doubt, the release process is complete, and there are four insanely talented friends who are going to metal your ears and go write the album they so longed to create. The album "Blackbird" is the result of the joint creation of all four and you feel the part of each and every one of them, even if it is not expressed in the writing itself. We would like to call it the breakthrough album or even note that this is actually Alter's first album as a "band", but as we mentioned in our previous reviews, this process had to happen for the band to crystallize in the way it crystallized and for this wonderful album to be released. (we also know that some of the band's fans love the first album very much and even think it is the best album by the band). Unlike the first album "One Day Remains", this album just flies on the wings of the metallic and rugged riffs, as you can already hear in the opening song "Ties That Bind". It's not that there weren't any on the first album, just here they are more compressed, sawn, and bitten like in the songs "Come to Life", in the song "Coming Home" after the opening, or in our favorite song "White Knuckles". True, this album is not all strong and mowing riffs, it also has quiet tracks like the song "Watch Over You" written by Tremonti and Myles which is the second single released from the album. This song is among the regular songs in the band's setlist and is played in acoustic version performances by Myles. A whole river of emotions will flood you when you listen to a song so do not be surprised. But the strength of this album lies in the combination of the two. The dynamic (quiet-noisy) sections, in the more complex ones in terms of composition, in those moments when Alter moves between the metal riffs and the melodic chords and returns. For example, in the song "Wayward One" which includes during the verse a melody borrowed from the Bourrée section in E minor by Bach, or in the song "Before Tomorrow Comes" which was the last single released from the album. "Rise Today" which Tremonti wrote about wanting to make the world a better place the huge and immortal theme song "Blackbird". And it really is impossible to end the review without saying a few words about the immortal theme song "Blackbird", which is no less than eight minutes of sheer bliss. The lyrics were written by Myles to his friend Mark Morse who owned a guitar shop, he sold Myles his first guitar and died while writing the song. Myles saw before his eyes Mark Morse tormented by his pain and through the lyrics, he actually wishes he would find comfort and release all the pain "May you never be broken again". Myles writes and simply can not remain indifferent to the amount of emotion that erupts from the notes and lyrics in this song. As for the composition, Myles testified that it did not come easily to them and that he and Tremonti were tormented until they reached the best result mostly in the chorus section, but when things started to connect they immediately knew it was going to be a huge song. He also noted that this song is the highlight for him during the band's performances. In the show version, the band usually opens this song with a segment played by Myles from the Beatles song "Blackbird". We are afraid to talk about the song's solo because for us it is one of the greatest solos in the world, Myles is the one who starts and takes the first part, and in the middle, Mark comes in and continues the second part, a masterpiece, and perfection of a guitar solo !! This album did not reach the number one spot (it truly deserved) and did not break a sales record in the first two weeks. It reached No. 13 on the US Billboard 200 and even less so in other countries mainly due to lack of marketing activity and poor management of the record company, which will be replaced in the next album. This is the main reason why this album did not conquer the top charts!! And after all that, how can you not spend an hour listening to the album? Listen on: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

He will be remembered as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in the history of music. (Photo: Larry Marano) Let's tell you some facts about Eddie Van Halen, the man, and the legend: 1. He was born on January 26, 1955, in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, as Edward Lodewijk Van Halen. His middle name was inspired by the classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven. 2. He entered the world of music with the influence of his father who played the clarinet, saxophone, and piano. 3. He's the younger brother of drummer Alex Van Halen. 4. In 1962 his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Pasadena, California. 5. Eddie and Alex started studying piano at the age of six. 6. Although they were educated on classical music, Eddie never learned to read notes and used to play by listening and improvising. 7. He was so good at playing the piano that he won a Long Beach City College piano competition four consecutive years, from 1964 through 1967. 8. Eventually when the instrument was not challenging enough for him, he started playing drums which he purchased with his own money, while his brother Alex started playing guitar. 9. When Eddie would leave the house Alex would sneak into his room and play the drums. One day Eddie came home and saw Alex playing a drum solo. Out of frustration after realizing he was not as good as his brother, he decided to switch to guitar when Alex switched to drums. 10. He devoted many hours to playing the guitar while shutting himself in his room and practicing, sometimes walking around with the guitar hanging around his neck at home and playing. 11. Eddie and Alex formed their first band "The Broken Combs" when Eddie was in fourth grade. He said that by then he already realized that he wanted to be a musician. 12. The most influential guitarists on Eddie were Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. He noted that he learned all of Clapton's solos on "Cream" by heart. 13. "Genesis", the band that would become "Van Halen", was formed by Eddie and Alex in 1972. Later they changed the name to "Mammoth" and two years later they changed the name to "Van Halen". 14. They began to gain an appreciation and an audience in the Los Angeles pub scene, when in 1976 Gene Simmons (Kiss) discovered them and decided to produce a demo tape for them. 15. Simmons passed the tape with a recommendation to Kiss' record company, but they foolishly replied that the band had no chance of succeeding. 16. By the way, Alex and Eddie played in the demo for the song "Christine Sixteen" from Kiss' "Love Gun" album. 17. Eventually in 1977 "Warner" decided to sign them on a recording contract. 18. The debut album "Van Halen" was released in 1978. Already then Eddie's virtuoso abilities were discovered, including in the solo "Eruption" which featured his amazing playing and especially the great technique with finger tapping, which became very popular thanks to him. 19. The album became one of the most successful debut albums, whose impact on the hard rock and heavy metal scene was substantial. 20. In 1984, Eddie demonstrated his keyboard skills on "MCMLXXXIV (1984)", particularly the keyboard riff in "Jump", the band’s first and only song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 21. "Jump" earned the band a Grammy nomination in 1985 for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The album "MCMLXXXIV (1984)" reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, unable to displace Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" from the top. 22. Eddie played an amazing guitar solo in Michael Jackson's song "Beat It", from the same album. See here: 23. Eddie and his band topped the Billboard 200 with their next album, "5150", their first with singer Sammy Hagar. The number refers both to Eddie’s private studio and to a section of California law concerning involuntary psychiatric detention for assessment and treatment for up to 72 hours. 24. The band won a Grammy in 1992 for its 1991 album "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge", in the Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal category. The album title’s initials spell F.U.C.K. 25. The sound of the guitar whistling in the opening of the song "Poundcake" from the album was achieved by an electric screwdriver that Eddie Van Halen operated very close to the guitar's pickups. See here: 26. In 2001 Eddie announced that he had cancer of the tongue. A year later he announced that he had recovered after part of his tongue was removed. He claimed the cancer was due to him holding metal guitar picks in his mouth for years. The cancer later returned, this time in the throat. 27. After he heard in 2004 how Dimebag Darrell admired him, he made sure that one of his guitars (the famous Bumblebee guitar with the stripes in yellow and black) that Dimebag loved, would be placed in Dimebag’s coffin. Eddie intended to make a copy for Dimebag but after his murder, Eddie noted that Dimebag Darrell's playing was so original, that he only deserves the original guitar. 28. In 2006 Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen joined "Van Halen". He replaced Michael Anthony playing bass. 29. The term "Brown Sound" was coined by him. The term describes Eddie's unique guitar sound which tried to sound like Alex's snare drum, hot and big. Eddie defined it as a brown sound. 30. Three patents in the field of guitar are registered in Eddie's name. "musical instrument support", "stringed instrument with adjustable string tension control" and "guitar peghead". 31. Eddie and Alex co-wrote "Humans Being" with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony for the "Twister" soundtrack. Eddie and Alex also wrote the instrumental "Respect the Wind" for the film. 32. Eddie was a guest on one of the episodes of the series "Two and a Half Men", see here: 33. Eddie also participated in Brian May's "Star Fleet" Project. 34. According to Tony Iommi, Eddie joined "Black Sabbath" during rehearsals and contributed ideas to "Evil Eye" from "Cross Purposes". He also recorded a solo during rehearsals, but that solo did not appear on the released album; Iommi said he tried to recreate some of Eddie’s playing. (Source: Wordpress.com) 35. Eddie released 12 studio albums with "Van Halen". According to Rhino, the band had sold more than 80 million records by 2017, a figure covering its overall record sales rather than studio albums alone. 36. During their career, Eddie and the band took 13 songs to No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. 37. "Van Halen" was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, with Eddie included among the band members inducted. 38. The band is ranked 7th on VH1's 100 Biggest Hard Rock Bands. 39. According to Guinness World Records, "Van Halen" received $1.5 million for its appearance at the "US Festival" on May 29, 1983. 40. In 2012, Eddie was voted the greatest guitarist of all time in a "Guitar World" readers’ poll. 41. His solo piece "Eruption" was voted the greatest guitar solo of all time in a "Guitar World" readers’ poll in 2013. 42. Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6, 2020, after a long battle with cancer, at the age of 65. 43. On November 16, 2020, Wolfgang Van Halen - Eddie's son released the song "Distance" under the name "Mammoth WVH". The song was dedicated to his father and the video clip includes exciting family footage of the two. 44. On September 23, 2022, "Red Hot Chili Peppers" released "Eddie", a tribute to Eddie Van Halen. Guitarist John Frusciante commented on his love for Eddie and the way players like him could make the guitar explode through their playing techniques. 45. On July 14, 2023, an expanded edition of "Star Fleet Project" by Brian May and friends brought out additional recordings from the original April 1983 sessions with Eddie, revealing more performances and solos from their collaboration. 46. In October 2024, Alex Van Halen published his memoir "Brothers", written with Ariel Levy. It revisits their childhood, musical journey and relationship as a personal tribute to Eddie after his death. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Here are some interesting facts about the legendary Ginger Baker, best known as the drummer of "Cream", "Blind Faith", "Ginger Baker's Air Force" and more: (Photo: David Redfern) = He was born on August 19, 1939 in Lewisham, South London, England. His full name is Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker. = Baker initially took up the trumpet, but switched to drums at age 15 after joining a local band. = He was heavily influenced by jazz drummers like Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Phil Seamen, which shaped his unique drumming style. = His first recording was with "The Storyville Jazz Men and the Hugh Rainey Allstars" on the 1958 album "Storyville Re-Visited", which also featured Bob Wallis. = In 1962, Baker joined "Blues Incorporated", led by Alexis Korner, alongside bassist Jack Bruce. Recordings by the group appeared on "Alexis Korner and Friends", among other releases. = In 1963, Baker joined "The Graham Bond Organisation" with Jack Bruce, developing his aggressive drumming style. Their studio albums "The Sound of 65" and "There’s a Bond Between Us" came out in 1965; "Live at Klooks Kleek" documents a 1964 performance and was released separately. = In 1966 he co-founded one of the first supergroups and power trio- "Cream" with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, becoming a pioneer of rock drumming merging rock and blues with his jazz-influenced drumming. = Baker's drumming is regarded for its style, and use of two bass drums instead of the conventional single one. (Source: Fanart.TV) = During their brief three-year career, "Cream" released four albums: "Fresh Cream" (1966), "Disraeli Gears" (1967), "Wheels of Fire" (1968), and "Goodbye" (1969) two of them are listed in "Rolling Stone magazine" "500 greatest albums of all time" and Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums". = Besides playing drums and percussion Baker also sang backing vocals and even lead vocals on some of the band's songs. = In November 1968 "Cream" disbanded due to tensions between Baker and Bruce, despite their massive success. = In 1969 Baker formed another supergroup - "Blind Faith", with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech. The band released one album before disbanding. = In 1970 Baker formed "Ginger Baker’s Air Force", a jazz-rock fusion band blending rock, jazz, and African music. They released two albums the same year. = He moved to Nigeria in 1971 to collaborate with Fela Kuti and address his heroin addiction. Their collaborations can be heard on "Fela’s London Scene" and the live album "Live!", and later on "Stratavarious". = His first solo album, "Stratavarious", was released in 1972. "Ginger Baker at His Best", also released in 1972, was a compilation rather than his solo debut. = In 1973, Baker established the "Batakota ARC" recording studio in Lagos, Nigeria. Paul McCartney and "Wings" recorded "Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me)" from "Band on the Run" there; the album’s other Lagos recordings were made at EMI’s studio. = In 1974, Baker became involved in "Baker Gurvitz Army", releasing their self-titled debut. They released two further studio albums by 1976. = In 1976 Baker moved back to Europe after his Nigerian studio venture failed. = In 1980, Baker played on "Hawkwind"’s "Levitation". Recordings featuring him also appeared on "Zones" in 1983 and "This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic" in 1984. = In 1981, Baker moved to Italy and took up olive farming and olive oil production. According to his accounts, he later had trouble with the local Mafia. = In the next years Baker was featured in albums of other artists such as "Masters of Reality", "Public Image Ltd" Andy Summers, Jens Johansson and more. = In 1993 "Cream" was inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" and reunited for the event. = In 1994, "Around the Next Dream" was released as the only album by the power trio "BBM" ("Baker Bruce Moore"), formed in 1993 by Baker, bassist Jack Bruce and guitarist Gary Moore. = In 1999, Baker moved to South Africa to live a quieter life and breed polo horses. = In 2005 "Cream" reunited for concerts at "Royal Albert Hall" and "Madison Square Garden" recorded and released as a live album and a video. = Already in his early days, Baker performed lengthy drum solos, most notably in the "Cream" song "Toad", one of the earliest recorded examples in rock music. = His autobiography "Hellraiser" was first published in 2009; another edition appeared in 2010. = In 2012, the documentary "Beware of Mr. Baker" was released, exploring Baker’s volatile personality. = He was considered a replacement for Bill Ward in "Black Sabbath's" "13" album released in 2013. Producer Rick Rubin suggested him but guitarist Tony Iommi, declined, since he didn't think this would work out with Ginger in the studio. = In 2014, Baker released "Why?" with "Ginger Baker’s Jazz Confusion", bringing his love of jazz and African rhythms back to the forefront. = In 2016, Baker announced that heart problems meant he had to stop performing, alongside the chronic arthritis he had been living with. = Baker's son, Kofi Streatfield Baker, is also a drummer, notably playing with Uli Jon Roth and Glenn Hughes. = Ginger Baker passed away on October 6, 2019 at the age of 80. = Baker's style influenced many drummers, including John Bonham, Peter Criss, Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, Ian Paice, Terry Bozzio, Dave Lombardo, Tommy Aldridge, Bill Bruford, Alex Van Halen, Nick Mason and more. = "Modern Drummer" magazine described him as "one of classic rock's first influential drumming superstars of the 1960s" and "one of classic rock's true drum gods". = "Drum!" magazine listed Baker among the "50 Most Important Drummers of All Time" and has defined him as "one of the most imitated '60s drummers". = He was voted the third greatest drummer of all time in a Rolling Stone reader poll. = In 2016, he was ranked 3rd on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time". = Neil Peart has said: "His playing was revolutionary - extrovert, primal and inventive. He set the bar for what rock drumming could be... Every rock drummer since has been influenced in some way by Ginger - even if they don't know it". "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Written by: Moti Kupfer Release date - 05.10.1973 "Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of thinking about themselves." "We live in an age with so much negativity, so much violence in the world, so much unrest and people at war, that I wanted to spread the word love, and the color red symbolizes love." David Bowie and Marc Bolan of "T. Rex" are often credited with propelling glam rock forward, and rightly so. But Elton John completed that trio, with "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" playing no small part in his claim to the spotlight. The story of the yellow brick road begins a few years earlier, when the record company decides to send Bernie Taupin and Elton John to the United States for a tour. The two writers, Taupin supplying the words and Elton the music, are only beginning to find success in Britain and feel the trip may be premature. Just before leaving, however, Elton John decides to refresh his wardrobe. When he steps onto an American stage, audiences expecting the figure pictured on his early album sleeves are in for a surprise. Their expectations of a tormented singer-songwriter performing quiet, melancholy songs are swept aside. America gets a restless, newly energized Elton John, channeling the spirit of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis. Elton John completes his transformation from the chubby, introverted Reginald Kenneth Dwight, who grew up under the strict rules of his military father, into a colorful, flamboyant performer, as daring in his delivery as in his clothes. He will later formally adopt the name Elton Hercules John. Within days, the American performances turn Taupin and Elton John into a success story. Musicians and industry insiders shower them with praise. Leon Russell is among those who come to see Elton at the "Troubadour" in Los Angeles in August 1970. Bob Dylan and "The Band" are also important inspirations for the duo, with "Music from Big Pink" helping to shape "Tumbleweed Connection". At parties, the compliments keep coming from every direction. Elton John is living the dream. Sometimes it really does feel like a dream. Can this be the life of the quiet singer whom almost nobody had heard of just three years earlier? Apparently, it can! The record contract demands a dizzying pace of two albums a year, but neither Elton nor Bernie Taupin seems troubled by it. Their output leading up to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is nothing short of astonishing. Six studio albums, a soundtrack and a live album precede this record, which celebrates 53 years since its release on October 5, 1973. Still, a small question mark hangs over the idyll. Elton John's increasingly extravagant appearance puts a little strain on his relationship with Bernie Taupin, who worries that Elton is devoting too much attention to the trappings of stardom. Sooner or later, he fears, the spectacle might come at the expense of what matters most: the music. The double album comes together at a remarkable pace. Some songs are already written in Jamaica, while the main recording sessions take roughly two weeks in May 1973 at the Château d'Hérouville in France, where Elton recorded his two previous albums. Although there is no continuous narrative making this a concept album, it is filled with vivid, fascinating characters, some drawn from show business. It explores enormous success and fame, but also darker territory, including gangsters who emerge as a kind of hero. Running through it all is a nostalgia for childhood and the culture of an earlier time. Elton John is coming to new understandings about his life. He finds the confidence to change his appearance and the self-belief that had eluded him earlier. He is becoming a singer who can inhabit a whole cast of characters within a single album, far beyond the image of a pianist simply recording songs. Work begins in Jamaica in January 1973, but progress is slow and difficult. Problems with the sound system and studio equipment are compounded by the logistical chaos surrounding the George Foreman and Joe Frazier boxing match in Kingston. Meanwhile, political and economic tensions fuel protests. The attempt to record there is abandoned, and in May the team returns to the château in France, this time with recording engineer David Hentschel. Joining Elton are Davey Johnstone on guitar, Dee Murray on bass and Nigel Olsson on drums, with Gus Dudgeon producing. The two-part opening track, "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", begins with music Elton John wrote while imagining what he would want played at his own funeral. From there, it moves into an angry account of a failing relationship. Written separately, the two pieces are joined into a single work, with Hentschel's dramatic synthesizer introduction heightening the transition into the full band. Bernie Taupin described "Love Lies Bleeding" as a statement about what touring and rock and roll do to family life. The second track, "Candle in the Wind", was originally written about Marilyn Monroe. For Taupin, she embodied the celebrity elevated to near-mythical status after a tragic early death. He has spoken in interviews about his enduring fascination with the blind worship of celebrities. The title came from a remark by Clive Davis, who likened Janis Joplin's life to a candle in the wind. On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car accident. Elton John asked Bernie Taupin to revise the lyrics in her memory. At her funeral on September 6, Elton performed the new version in an especially moving moment. "Bennie and the Jets" was written as a tribute to glam rock. Bennie is a female character whom Taupin described as a science-fiction rock goddess, fronting an imaginary futuristic band. Producer Gus Dudgeon added applause and whistles to the recording, turning a studio track into an imagined live performance. The title track, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", is about escaping the glamour of fame and returning to a simpler country life. Taupin was keeping his distance from the spotlight even as he wrote it. With Elton John increasingly immersed in his new persona, his clothes and the glittering world around him, the song also carries a fear of what success might cost, and of losing touch with one's roots. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", first attempted in Jamaica but recorded again in France, is one of Bernie Taupin's most striking efforts to write rock and roll from an English perspective. Setting aside his fascination with American culture, he returns to memories of his youth, the pubs and the violence of Saturday nights. One of the album's standout tracks, and one of its less celebrated treasures, is undoubtedly "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-1934)". It tells the story of a young fictional gangster's life and death, presenting him as something of a folk hero. During the 1930s, many criminals became celebrities and were seen as popular heroes. The song surprises anyone accustomed to Elton John's more innocent material, illustrating just how far Taupin has expanded his gallery of characters. The album elevated Bernie Taupin and Elton John's cultural standing and became Elton's best-selling studio album. It spent eight weeks at the top of the American album chart and also reached number one in Britain, Canada and Australia. The yellow brick road may symbolize a longing to escape the glamour in the song, but for Elton and Taupin it also led to one of the greatest peaks of their partnership. 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In October 5, 1990, "Deep Purple" released their thirteenth studio album, "Slaves and Masters". The akbum was released globaly on October 22, 1990. And this time we need you focused, because today we are going to perform a "guided imagery" exercise, so please be with us ... Yes, yes, we hear the whispers: "Why are they reviewing Deep Purple's worst album?", "What are they thinking?" And more ... True, this album is probably one of the weakest of the band's studio albums. It is so weak that its lineup, numbered as MKV, released only one studio album and was immediately replaced. The songs on the album are almost reminiscent of the good old "Deep Purple", the sound of Jon Lord's deep Hammond organ has been replaced by a thin and uninspired synthesizer, and Ian Paice's drum sound is more reminiscent of American AOR bands than Hard Rock, and Joe Lynn Turner's voice just don't belong to "Deep Purple". Even the song names don't connect with Deep Purple. "King of Dreams",? "Breakfast in Bed",? "Love Conquers All", really??... Where are "Speed ​​King", "Burn", and "Bloodsucker" gone? And now that we've proved our point, let's do it again, but from a different angle. Erase everything we wrote, replace the disc and now let's start again, but this time a little different: In 1990 "Rainbow" released its eighth studio album "Slaves and Masters". This is the band's comeback album after 7 years of silence, since "Bent Out Of Shape" released in 1983. The band returns with 3/5 of the band lineup from the last album: Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Roger Gloverwho also produced the album on bass, and Joe Lynn Turner on vocals. And now for the big surprise of this magnificent comeback. The band is joined by two formidable reinforcement players who are familiar to us from "Deep Purple" and who turn this lineup of "Rainbow" into an "all-star lineup". So if you did not understand who we mean, this is Jon Lord on keyboards and Ian Paice on drums. In terms of musical style, the band continues exactly where they left off 7 years ago. The catchy melodies, accessible sound, and radio-tuned songs run like a second thread throughout the entire album. Ritchie Blackmore's aspiration to resemble the "Foreigner" sound, which began exactly a decade ago and caused the departure of Ronnie James Dio, takes on a new meaning here, when one of the songs on the album - "Too Much Is Not Enough", was written with the help of Al Greenwood who co-founded "Foreigner" and accompanied them on their first three albums. And now, after we finish with the "guided imagery", we have some questions for you. Isn't it true that this album now sounds more logical to you? Isn't it true that suddenly "King Of Dreams" who opens the album goes down your throat better? Doesn't it sound like a direct sequel to "Rainbow" "Street Of Dreams" (they even ring the same). Isn't it true that now the melody and oriental influences in the song do not sound detached from reality, and suddenly they seem to correspond with other materials of "Rainbow" and with the oriental influences that it had here and there? Excellent! So you got the point. If you were told that the person who released this album was an "All-Star" lineup of "Rainbow", not only would you will be less critical, but most of you would run to purchase it and even enjoy it. When you think of this album as a creation of "Rainbow" even the amazing ballad "Love Conquers All" suddenly sounds more logical, right? This is not a bad song at all. It's just not tailored to the "Deep Purple" suit. Suddenly "The Cut Runs Deep" doesn't sound bad at all, it's even melodic and catchy with classic effects, just the way we like it. Suddenly the opening line of the song "Fire in the Basement" sounds like a homage to "Wring That Neck" by the mother band "Deep Purple", the atmosphere in "Truth Hurts" and the violin-like keyboards remind us at times of epic excerpts from the first incarnation of "Rainbow", so is "Fortuneteller" which suddenly sounds like a great song. In short, you got the point. What we came to tell you in this review is that music has no rules or boundaries, it is not an exact science, and what works on your emotion one day can drive you crazy at another time in life, and what sound dissolving to you can feel like sugar poisoning to another. Therefore, what is important is to always come open, without defenses without previous influence or prejudice, otherwise, you may lose, See? you almost missed this excellent album, and as you know: "Without music, life was a mistake" (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)... Have you seen what a beauty? And we did not even say a bad word about Ritchie Blackmore who dragged the rest of his friends on this adventure or a half bad word about the band's shows in Israel immediately after the album was released. So come on let's listen to this beautiful album with us: Spotify, Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website

Today we explore the life and career of guitarist, singer, and songwriter Steve Miller. (Photo: Tim Brown / Space Cowboy Records) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 From a childhood learning guitar from Les Paul, through Chicago's blues clubs and San Francisco's psychedelic scene, to hits that became staples of American rock. Here are 46 facts about Miller and his journey with his band. 1. He was born Steven Haworth Miller on October 5, 1943, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 2. His father, George "Sonny" Miller, was a pathologist and jazz enthusiast who also recorded musicians. His mother, Bertha Miller, was a talented singer, and Miller recalled singing harmonies with her and other relatives from an early age. 3. His first guitar was a small "Gibson" left to him by his uncle. Jazz and blues musicians regularly visited the family home, making music part of his everyday life long before it became his profession. 4. Les Paul and Mary Ford were close friends of his parents. Paul, who was also his godfather, taught him his first chords and introduced him to recording techniques, effects, and layered guitar and vocal parts. 5. As a child, his father recorded him singing and playing at home. When Miller was embarrassed to let Les Paul hear the recording, the guitarist paid him a quarter to listen to it together. Miller jokingly described this as his first paying music job. 6. In 1950, the family moved to Dallas. T-Bone Walker became a regular visitor and an important mentor, teaching Miller blues guitar, lead playing, and stage tricks such as playing behind his back. 7. In 1955, while attending "St. Mark's School", he formed his first band, "The Marksmen". He taught his older brother to play bass and showed his schoolmate Boz Scaggs some chords so he could join as a guitarist. 8. In 1961, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and formed "The Ardells". Scaggs later joined, as did keyboardist Ben Sidran. Playing student parties helped Miller develop his skills as both a musician and a bandleader. 9. During his studies, he also spent a semester at the University of Copenhagen. He left college shortly before completing his literature degree to pursue music. His mother encouraged him to follow his ambition of playing blues in Chicago, even though his father had reservations. 10. In 1964, he moved to Chicago and immersed himself in the local blues scene. He played with musicians including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Buddy Guy, and got to know harmonica player Paul Butterfield. 11. In 1965, he formed the "Goldberg-Miller Blues Band" with keyboardist Barry Goldberg. The group signed with "Epic" and released the single "The Mother Song", before Miller moved to the West Coast. 12. In 1966, he arrived in San Francisco and formed the "Steve Miller Blues Band", which evolved into the "Steve Miller Band". Early members included guitarist James "Curley" Cooke, bassist Lonnie Turner, and drummer Tim Davis. 13. In 1967, the band backed Chuck Berry at the "Fillmore". The recordings were released as the live album "Live at Fillmore Auditorium". Miller recalled agreeing to the shows on the condition that Berry rehearse with the band beforehand. 14. In June 1967, the "Steve Miller Band" performed at the "Monterey Pop Festival", with Scaggs in the lineup. Later that year, the band signed with "Capitol", setting the stage for its psychedelic blues albums. 15. In 1968, the band released its debut album, "Children of the Future", recorded in London with producer Glyn Johns. Combining blues, psychedelia, and interconnected passages, it reached No. 134 on the Billboard 200. 16. In October 1968, the second album, "Sailor", reached No. 24 in the United States. It included "Living in the U.S.A." and the band's version of "Gangster of Love". After the first two albums, Scaggs left to pursue his solo career. 17. In 1969, the third album, "Brave New World", reached No. 22 in the United States. Sidran resumed working with Miller, and the album included "Space Cowboy", which gave him one of his best-known nicknames. "Steve Miller Band", 1969 (Photo: Capitol Records) / Wikimedia Commons 18. Paul McCartney appeared on "My Dark Hour" from "Brave New World", credited as "Paul Ramon". McCartney played bass and drums and sang backing vocals. Miller later reused the track's guitar riff in "Fly Like an Eagle". 19. In November 1969, the fourth album, "Your Saving Grace", reached No. 38 in the United States. In 1970, the fifth album, "Number 5", reached No. 23, expanding the band's sound toward country and roots rock. 20. In 1971, "Rock Love", the sixth album in the band's catalog, combined studio and live recordings and reached No. 82 in the United States. The seventh album, "Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden", followed in 1972 and reached No. 109. 21. In October 1973, the eighth album, "The Joker", made Miller a mainstream star. The album reached No. 2 in the United States, while its title track topped the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1974. 22. Miller produced "The Joker", which was recorded, mixed, and mastered in just 17 days at "Capitol" studios in Los Angeles. He arrived after developing the songs through live performances and four-track recordings made in hotel rooms. 23. At the beginning of "The Joker", Miller revisited personas from his earlier work: "Space Cowboy", "Gangster of Love", and "Maurice". Alongside the chorus, the slide guitar and wolf whistle became defining features of the hit. 24. In 1976, the ninth album, "Fly Like an Eagle", reached No. 3 in the United States and earned quadruple platinum certification. Produced by Miller, it combined blues, funk, rock, and synthesizers. 25. Three major hits from "Fly Like an Eagle" were "Take the Money and Run", which reached No. 11 in the United States, "Rock'n Me", which reached No. 1, and the title track, which reached No. 2. Beneath the title track's spacey sound were lyrics about poverty and the need for social change. 26. In 1977, the tenth album, "Book of Dreams", reached No. 2 in the United States and earned triple platinum certification. Its basic tracks were recorded during the same sessions that produced "Fly Like an Eagle". 27. "Jet Airliner", from "Book of Dreams", was written by Paul Pena rather than Miller. The band's version reached No. 8 in the United States. The album also included "Jungle Love" and "Swingtown". 28. Harmonica player Norton Buffalo appeared on "Book of Dreams" and became Miller's regular musical partner for more than three decades. His harmonica added a blues dimension to the band's sound even when Miller was best known for his radio hits. 29. In 1978, the compilation "Greatest Hits 1974-78" collected the hits of that era. That year, the "Steve Miller Band" also embarked on a stadium tour with the "Eagles". 30. In 1981, the 11th album, "Circle of Love", reached No. 26 in the United States and earned gold certification. Alongside "Heart Like a Wheel", it featured "Macho City", an approximately 18-minute track that occupied almost an entire side of the record. 31. In 1982, the 12th album, "Abracadabra", reached No. 3 in the United States and earned platinum certification. Its title track topped the Billboard Hot 100, and its video became one of the band's most recognizable clips of the 1980s. 32. In 1984, the 13th album, "Italian X Rays", reached No. 106 in the United States. The 14th album, "Living in the 20th Century", followed in 1986, reaching No. 65 and combining original material with a return to blues songs. 33. In 1988, Miller released "Born 2 B Blue", his first solo album, under his own name rather than the band's. It focused mainly on jazz standards, with Sidran on keyboards and guests including Milt Jackson and Phil Woods, and reached No. 108 in the United States. 34. In 1990, "The Joker" returned to the top of the charts, this time in Britain, after being used in a "Levi's" commercial. More than 16 years after reaching No. 1 in the United States, it also topped the UK chart. 35. In 1993, the band's 15th studio album, "Wide River", reached No. 85 in the United States. Another 17 years passed before its next studio album, although the band continued performing. 36. In 2010, the band's 16th album, "Bingo!", reached No. 37 in the United States and topped the Blues Albums chart. Recorded at "Skywalker" studios and produced by Miller and Andy Johns, it was dedicated to Buffalo, who died in 2009. 37. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Miller served as an artist in residence at the "USC Thornton School of Music". He later expanded his work at "Jazz at Lincoln Center", performing and developing programs devoted to the history of blues and its relationship with jazz. 38. In 2011, the band's 17th album, "Let Your Hair Down", drew on the same sessions as "Bingo!". It also focused on blues and rhythm and blues covers. This numbering excludes the solo album "Born 2 B Blue" from the band's studio albums. 39. In 2016, Miller was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with the "The Black Keys" presenting him at the ceremony. During the event, he criticized the Hall's management and the underrepresentation of women. 40. In 2019, he released the archival box set "Welcome to the Vault", featuring rare recordings and previously unreleased material. That year, five of his guitars were displayed in the "Play It Loud" exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. 41. In 2021, the live album "Breaking Ground Live! August 3, 1977" documented the band at the height of its commercial success. In 2022, Miller was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. 42. In 2023, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of "The Joker" with the box set "J50: The Evolution of The Joker". It paired the album with 27 previously unreleased recordings, including demos, rehearsals, and live performances, as well as Miller's commentary on the creative process. 43. In 2024, Eminem used "Abracadabra" in "Houdini". That year, the "Steve Miller Band" also toured with "Journey" and "Def Leppard", bringing its songs to large stadium audiences. 44. In April 2025, "Fly Like an Eagle" was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. That June, Miller received the "Les Paul Spirit Award", named after his mentor and godfather. 45. In July 2025, the band announced the cancellation of its remaining scheduled shows for the year. Its statement cited the risks posed by extreme heat, flooding, and other severe weather to fans, musicians, and crew. 46. In July 2026, the official website announced that "Greatest Hits 1974-78" had earned 16-times platinum certification in the United States. Nearly five decades after its release, the compilation remains one of the biggest commercial achievements of his career. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook / Instagram or Subscribe to our website