Feb 20
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Monday, December 20: Alice Cooper, “Sanctuary”
Alice Cooper would eventually return to the MC5-ish hard rock of his early ‘70s classics, but before doing so he delivered a couple records with Bob Marlette that were far and away the heaviest of his career. “Sanctuary” was a crushing riffer that did away with any feints towards commercial success, and the man born Vincent Furnier spitted and snarled with an intensity that was arguably even more venomous than his days when Alice Cooper was a band. The song straight up attacked, and came as a shock to those who either onboarded or endured the previous 15 years of Alice’s attempts at hair metal- for that matter, even the original diehards were taken aback by the processed grime and force of Eric Singer’s drumming. Of course there was no way Brutal Planet was going to garner much attention, let alone sell in large volumes, but after roughly 25 years of drift, compromise and questionable decisions it was nice to hear the Coop try something new for the sake of being creative and really go for it, especially with something as forceful as “Sanctuary”.
Friday, May 24: Danzig, “Without Light, I Am”
It had been a solid 8 years since anyone took Danzig remotely seriously by the time Glenn put out the ridiculously titled 777 I Luciferi in 2002, with each post-4p record sounding more low-rent and inconsequential than the last. Some of this turgidness was a natural result of shifting to smaller and smaller labels, some of it was a misguided attempt at keeping up with current metal trends, and some of it was a production choice designed to hide Glenn’s declining vocal range. But even with all of this, the songs actually weren’t all bad: “Without Light, I Am” was an effective closer despite its ludicrous Yoda title. Yes, it was a somewhat plodding lurcher that obscured Joey Castillo’s considerable drumming skills, but the tune also recaptured the foreboding sense of doom that defined a lot of Danzig’s best material. Glenn sounded like a cantankerous old man, which felt both natural and welcome since that’s exactly what he was, and both his vocals and music wisely reflected exactly where he was at that point while at the same time at least making an attempt to engage with the outside world. As a result, “Without Light, I Am” was arguably the last time Danzig felt like a viable concern.
Tuesday, April 25: Crimson Glory, “Astronomica”
Astronomica was the comeback that wasn’t quite: Crimson Glory’s first album in 8 years was reasonably well-received, but the band subsequently went on multiple hiatuses and essentially only existed for the occasional festival appearance. It’s strange- sure, songs like “Astronomica” were woefully out of fashion in 1999, but if the goal was to reactivate the band and reestablish them in the metal community, then the tune was an excellent calling card: the addition of killer ex-Savatage sticksman Steve Wacholz on drums made the musicianship arguably stronger than ever, and even if new singer Wade Black didn’t quite have Midnight’s distinctive presence, his vocals packed a mean punch, growling and howling with fury and fire. This was a more aggressive sound not only for Crimson Glory, but for progressive metal in general, and really prophesized what was to come for the subgenre. “Astronomica” had the best of both worlds: it was purely metal in the classic tradition, but added new textures and amped up the intensity. The song boded well for Crimson Glory’s future, if only they’d committed to having one.
