Author: Vaughan

A Nineties Deep Dive on Kanopy

Vaughan

Among the abundance of great content available on the film streaming site Kanopy (available through our eLibrary) are a number of gems from the Nineties. Spanning a wide variety of genres, here is a sampling of what is available.

Glengarry Glen Ross
1992
1hr 40min
Adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Glengarry Glen Ross shows David Mamet at his searing, profane best. A group of Chicago real-estate salesmen-cum-con artists live on the edge. Life is good for the one on a roll. For the rest, life hangs in the balance. There is no room for losers. A-B-C: Always Be Closing, sell or go under, is the salesman’s mantra. With the pressure on, so begins a rainy night of cutthroat business and shattered lives. (Adapted from Kanopy).

Night On Earth
1993
2hr 08min
In one night, across the world, five taxi drivers experience five very different rides. In LA, a flustered agent recognises star quality in her driver, while New York in all its glory defeats a new American. A Parisian taxi driver learns the real meaning of discrimination, and a rollicking ride through Rome has repercussions for the clergy. And finally, a trio of drunken Finns make a typically humorous end to their night. (Adapted from Kanopy).

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The history of heavy metal

Vaughan

As well as the metal albums highlighted in my recent blog post, Wellington City Libraries also has a selection of books covering the fascinating history of metal and the larger-than-life figures who drove it.

The rough guide to heavy metal / Berelian, Essi
“With more than 300 artist biographies and band stories, this is the essential heavy metal companion. Additional features include dozens of boxouts and sidebars on topics as diverse and disturbing as Weird Hobbies, Christian Metal, the Japanese Scene, Weird Day Jobs, the Eastern European Scene, Hardcore Crossover and Drummer Jokes.  If you love metal, this is the book for you.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

I am Ozzy / Osbourne, Ozzy
“The incredible, frank and moving autobiography by the Prince of F***ing Darkness!” (Catalogue)

 

 

 

Denim and leather : the rise and fall of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal / Hann, Michael
“Between 1978 and 1983, Great Britain spawned a DIY uprising of over 500 heavy metal bands. Many soon became the household names of the 1980s metal invasion…many others did not. For the first time, author Michael Hann captures the whole snout-to-tail story of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in all its power and glory in over 100 interviews with members of Venom, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Angel Witch, Samson, UFO, Tygers of Pan Tang, Vardis, Judas Priest, Saxon, Whitesnake, Girlschool, Witchfynde, Demon, Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, Gillan, Led Zeppelin, and more. ” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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I Was a Teenage Metalhead

Vaughan

As an impressionable teenager, circa 1988, I became a huge metal and hard rock fan. Eventually I broadened my musical horizons, but you never forget your first musical love. Several records I discovered during that phase are in the Wellington collection, waiting to be discovered by any budding metalhead who might happen to be reading!

Operation Mindcrime / Queensrÿche
Queensryche hit paydirt both critically and commercially with a concept album about an addict named Nikki who is brainwashed into committing assassinations by a shadowy underground movement. Refreshingly, the story actually makes sense, and the bands anthemic pomp metal sounds great, especially on the 11-minute epic “Suite Sister Mary” and the dramatic closer “Eyes of a Stranger”.

Powerslave / Iron Maiden
Heavy, melodramatic and just the right side of silly, Powerslave is arguably the high point of Maidens great eighties run. The record begins with the awesome one-two punch of “Aces High” and “2 Minutes to Midnight” and doesn’t let up for a second till the end. Other highlights include the title track and “The Duellists”, and it all comes to a climax with a 14-minute adaption of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”  Also, one of the all-time great album covers.

Hysteria / Def Leppard
You couldn’t escape this record in 1988, and with good reason. Its making was plagued with delays and almost derailed when drummer Rick Allen lost an arm in a car accident. But with the help of legendary producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, the Leps persevered and created a pop-metal masterpiece. This is a record strategically designed to be a hit, overflowing with irresistible hooks and choruses punched up to maximum effectiveness by Langes grandiose, layered production. The hits (most notably “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, “Love Bites”, “Armageddon It”, and “Hysteria”) still hold up but album tracks such as “Gods of War” and “Don’t Shoot Shot Gun” should absolutely not be overlooked!

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Tina Turner 1939-2023

Vaughan

The legendary Tina Turner has passed away at the age of 83. The following titles from her illustrious career are available in Wellington Libraries.

Private dancer / Turner, Tina
Still arguably the greatest comeback in pop music history. Assembled quickly with a variety of producers, Private Dancer is a slick pop confection, decidedly different from the gutsy RnB that she initially became famous for with the husband Ike. Turner is in fantastic voice, bringing a survivor’s maturity and grit to the material. The Grammy winning “What’s Love Got to do With It” and the Mark Knopfler penned title track were the big hits, but sparkling covers of David Bowies “1984”, The Beatles “Help”, and Al Greens “Let’s Stay Together” round out a fantastic pop album that still sounds great today.

Break every rule / Turner, Tina
Sticking with the successful format, this again featured the song-writing of Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, the team behind “What’s Love Got to do With It”. Their contributions, “Typical Male” and “What you Get is What You See” kept Turner riding high in the charts. Less well-known highlights include the power ballad “I’ll Be Thunder” and the Bowie cover “Girls.”

Foreign affair / Turner, Tina
Tina would return to her blues roots on this 1989 set with a couple of scorching Tony Joe White covers, “Steamy Windows” and “Undercover Agent for the Blues”. The former would prove a sizeable hit, as would adult contemporary ballad “I Don’t Wanna Lose You” and one of her best-known recordings “The Best”, since immortalised by its use as a promotional tune for the Australian National Rugby League.

The collected recordings : sixties to nineties / Turner, Tina
All the best / Turner, Tina
Both fine compilations. The Collected Recordings, released in 1994, offers a superb introduction to Turners Sixties work with Ike Turner, from early hits like “A Fool in Love” and “Proud Mary” to the Phil Spector collaboration “River Deep, Mountain High”, which Spector considered his greatest recording. It also includes often

overlooked period between her split from Ike and her spectacular comeback in 1984. All the Best focusses solely on her post-1984 period but includes several quality tracks from the mid-to-late nineties not represented on the earlier compilation, most notably one of the all-time great Bond themes “Goldeneye”.

Warren Zevon on the 20th anniversary of his death

Vaughan

In 2003 singer-songwriter Warren Zevon died of lung cancer aged 56. Part of the 70’s LA rock scene alongside acts like Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac, Zevon distinguished himself with the mordant wit and twisted romanticism of his songs. Here is a sampling from our catalogue.

Excitable boy / Zevon, Warren
Zevon’s best-selling album, this 1978 effort includes the ubiquitous “Werewolves of London”. But even if you’re tired of that overplayed song, that still leaves several of his classics such as the title track, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner”, “Accidentally Like a Martyr” and “Lawyers, Guns and Money”.

 

Life’ll kill ya / Zevon, Warren
Fast forward all the way to 2000, this largely acoustic affair represented a strong comeback on record for Zevon after a couple of disappointing efforts. Almost predicting the grim news that would arrive just a couple of years later, themes of mortality pervade the record on songs like “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” and “Porcelain Monkey”. Rounding things out is a mournful cover of Steve Winwoods “Back in the High Life”.

The wind / Zevon, Warren
Given just months to live, Zevon headed into the studio to finish one more record. The Wind, however, is not a mournful record. Assisted by guest appearances from Bruce Springsteen, Ry Cooder, Don Henley, Jackson Browne and Billy Bob Thornton (illustrating the respect he was held in), Zevon goes out in defiant, rocking fashion. However, it’s impossible not be most moved by songs like “Keep Me in Your Heart” and the cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heavens Door”.

Genius : the best of Warren Zevon / Zevon, Warren
Collecting 22 tracks from between 1976 and 2002, this is an excellent introduction to Zevon, that will hopefully whet listeners appetite for a deeper dive into his albums.

 

 

Enjoy every sandwich : the songs of Warren Zevon
Tribute albums are generally pretty hit and miss, but the quality of Zevon’s song writing and committed performances from all concerned make this one a success. Bruce Springsteen actually improves on “My Ride’s Here” while other highlights include renditions by Pete Yorn (“Splendid Isolation”), The Pixies (“Ain’t That Pretty At All”) and, of all people, Adam Sandler (“Werewolves of London”, they couldn’t leave it off….)

I’ll sleep when I’m dead : the dirty life and times of Warren Zevon / Zevon, Crystal
Warren Zevon was, to put it mildly, a complicated character. When he gave ex-wife Crystal carte blanche to be as forthright as possible in recounting his life (via interviews), the results were bound to be interesting. The accounts of alcoholism, womanizing and general misbehaviour that fill this book make for an uncomfortable read in places, to say nothing of its account of his last months. Nevertheless, an engrossing account of a unique and enduring talent.

An Ozzy retrospective through our collection

Vaughan

The heavy metal icon recently announced his retirement from touring. It’s not the first such announcement he’s made but given his age and worsening health issues it looks as though he really does mean it this time. To mark the occasion, here’s a look back at his solo career via our music collection.

Amazon.co.ukBlizzard of Ozz [bonus track] / Osbourne, Ozzy
After being booted from Black Sabbath in 1979, a despondent Osbourne assumed his career was over. Waiting in the wings, however, was Sabbath manager Don Arden, who signed him to a solo deal and dispatched his daughter Sharon (the future Mrs. Osbourne) to supervise the process. Featuring the guitar of the late, great Randy Rhoads and a batch of great songs co-written with Rhoads and bassist Bob Daisley (‘Crazy Train”, “Suicide Solution”, “Mr. Crowley” and “Goodbye to Romance” to name just four), Blizzard of Ozz is a bona fide metal classic.

Diary of a madman ; Ozzy live / Osbourne, Ozzy
“Retaining the same line-up from Blizzard, Osbourne avoided the sophomore slump. This delivers another clutch of rocking tunes, including the epic, classically tinged title track and perennial live favourites “Believer” and “Flying High Again”. The edition held in Wellington Libraries includes a bonus live disc, illustrating what a great live band Ozzy and Co. were at this time.

Bark at the moon / Osbourne, Ozzy
Tragedy struck for both Osbourne and lovers of metal in 1982 when Randy Rhoads was killed in a plane crash, aged only 25. After a brief period where Brad Gillis (formerly of Night Ranger) filled in Osbourne regrouped with new guitarist and co-writer Jake E. Lee for the more pop-orientated Bark at the Moon. The title track is one of Ozzy’s most iconic songs (and videos), while “So Tired” and “You’re No Different” demonstrate his underrated knack for ballads.

The ultimate sin / Osbourne, Ozzy
Fresh off one of his many stints in rehab and retaining Jake E. Lee, Osbourne eschewed the keyboards and pop sensibility of Bark at the Moon in favour of a straight-ahead metal sound. He was unhappy with the production and in later years would all but disown The Ultimate Sin. Whatever one might think of the production, the song writing demonstrated a new lyrical maturity, and the album would become his highest charting effort of the 1980s and spawn a bona fide hit single, “Shot in the Dark”.

Ozzmosis / Osbourne, Ozzy
Fittingly, given his reputation for indestructability, Osbourne was one of the few major metal acts of the 80s to thrive during the alternative rock and hip-hop dominated 90s. In part this was due to the Ozzfest festival launched in 1996 after the organizers of Lollapalooza rebuffed an effort to get Ozzy on the bill. Prior to that came 1995’s Ozzmosis, which featured long-time guitarist Zakk Wylde as well as former Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and legendary prog-rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Ozzmosis is a slick, radio-friendly affair which nonetheless finds Ozzy in fine form with highlights being the bone-crunching opener “Perry Mason” and nostalgic ballad “Old LA Tonight.”

Ordinary man / Osbourne, Ozzy
The new millennium would bring Osbourne both reality TV stardom via MTV’s The Osbournes (2002-05) and a reunion with Black Sabbath in 2011 for a farewell album (13) and tour. Surprisingly there was also, after a couple of forgettable efforts, a genuine comeback on record with Ordinary Man. With a band that includes Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Guns ‘N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagen, Osbourne invokes the classic Black Sabbath sound while looking back in a reflective mood lyrically, particularly on the title duet with Elton John.

Patient number 9 / Osbourne, Ozzy

The late career renaissance continues with this latest effort, featuring not only Zakk Wylde, but also guest guitarists Eric Clapton, Tony Iommi and the late Jeff Beck (a particular highlight on power ballad “A Thousand Shades”). Osbourne leans all in on his larger-than-life public image and is clearly having tremendous fun on a set of hook-filled metal anthems.

The essential Ozzy Osbourne / Osbourne, Ozzy
One of the advantages for a recording artist of being part of the Sony corporation is that you get a handy “Essential” compilation! Covering the period from Blizzard of Ozz to 2001’s Down to Earth, this two-cd set does the job nicely for those casual fans who just want the hits.