Revisiting: Kane Roberts' "S/T"

Welcome to the third installment in my brand new kind of review series. Damn, that headline doesn't look good no matter what I do with it. Oh well. Since I started off this series with Alice Cooper's excellent "Raise Your Fist And Yell" album, I thought it would be fitting to revisit and do a breakdown of this album as well. Let's go!

Band/artist: Kane Roberts
Album: Kane Roberts (S/T)
Release year: 1987
Style: Glam Metal

Quick introduction: I'm guessing most of you who read this are probably here because you were actively Googling for Kane Roberts. If not, then let me introduce the man. Kane Roberts was a promising guitar player who's mostly known for his work with Alice Cooper. He helped the Coop in relaunching his career during the mid 80's after years of alcohol abuse and some album flops. It was a successful collaboration. Alice's career took off once again, now playing more of an 80's heavy metal style compared to his earlier classic (shock/hard) rock sound.

Kane Roberts himself was also known for playing a guitar designed as a machine gun, as well as for being a body builder. This made him something of a "metal Rambo" in media and MCA (Alice's record company at the time) tried to capitalize on his looks and guitar talents, launching a solo career for the man. It seems, however, that it was more or less a flop as it's fairly hard to find his solo music or any information about him. Not even his time with Alice Cooper, despite being quite successful, seems to have much substantial information to find these days.

1. Rock Doll

This was an MTV video back in the day. For being a single it's ironically a track I kind of like the least on the entire album. It's not bad but I've heard it a thousand times before. It's just your typical run-of-the-mill party track, 80's glam style. Nothing too memorable.

2. Women On The Edge Of Love

This is better. It's not as rocking as the album's opener but it's a lot more melodic, which I prefer in this case. It's obvious you're in for a typical 80's album as it's got your trademark cheese keys, almost bordering on an AOR-ish sound. It doesn't matter, the song is catchy as hell. I like it.

3. Triple X

"Triple X! It's only sex 'til it crosses the line!" The lyrics might not be something worth remembering but then again, whenever were glam lyrics that memorable anyway? This song is great, though. Kane also does a great solo on this one. Now the chorus is stuck on my mind. It's super catchy!

4. Gorilla

Just another case of "your typical", this time in form of a short guitar instrumental. If you ever bought an album in the 80's with some kind of guitar monster featured, it always had a "wank track" like this. This is just not that exciting, though.

5. Outlaw

This is the heaviest track so far. Short and straight to the point. The guitar(s) sound great here, riffs as solo. It's also got some of those lovely 80's style gang vocals in the chorus. OUTLAW! Cool song.

6. If This Is Heaven

The album's most upbeat-sounding track to my ears. It's not overly upbeat but more so than the others. It's pretty much another 80's anthemic song. Not superb but good enough. The chorus is once again a catchy thing.

7. Out For Blood

Like you can probably guess from the title it's going for a heavier route again. This is definitely the album's heaviest and most uptempo track. Speedy riff and pounding drums all complete with a gang vox chorus and a long blistering solo. One of the best tracks on here.

8. Full Pull

This is the only track on the album to feature a collaboration with the Coop himself, who did some or all lyrical work. The song itself, however, is amongst the album's weaker ones. It definitely lacks the same kind of memorability in chorus and solo compared to the other tracks.

9. Too Much (For Anyone To Touch)

...And the cheese-keys are back. To put it very simply: this is as 80's as it gets. Imagine the most 80's-sounding metal song you can think of and this is right up that alley. But I'm not dissing, I think this track is great. It's extremely catchy and I used to strongly associate it with Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate) from Married With Children, whom I had a mad crush on during my late teens.

10. Tears of Fire

"She had a hand in my sex education, took me down right by the river." These lyrics sure are something special. All accompanied by one of those extremely soppy 80's metal ballads, musically speaking. This song and its lyrics have been a standing joke between me and my buddy for a decade, even though we haven't heard it for years. "But I still remember baby when she came..." Yeah I remember it too, Kane.

11. Strong Arm Needs A Stronger Heart

At this point I'm really out of ideas how to describe it without repeating myself. It's just more of the same, but since it's catchy and super 80's sounding I guess it's a good thing, right?

Overall impression:

So this was Kane Roberts' first solo album. I think it's pretty safe to say it didn't left much of a mark in metal history, despite sounding like basically any other successful guitar-shreddy 80's glam album. Musically it's a very cheesy album most of the time, but it's also an extremely catchy and memorable album. Despite not having listened to it for a decade or so, I find myself remembering these songs very clearly. Most of all I find it a fun album to listen to. Isn't that what truly matters?

If I compare this to what Kane did with the Coop I've gotta say I prefer the Coop stuff. Well, maybe not the "Constrictor" album but definitely "Raise Your Fist And Yell". This album, however, has better guitar solos from Kane in my opinion. He really gets to show more of his musical abilities on here, while with Alice he did more odd stuff during solos. I suppose you can call Kane another 80's guitar virtuoso, but he's also not that over the top. Guys like George Lynch or Warren DeMartini would beat him any day, in my opinion.

Sadly Kane Roberts' never truly took off. He got a fair amount of spotlight while playing with Alice, but in retrospect it's perhaps not a generally favored era in Alice's career either. Say what you will about Kane Roberts - the man could certainly play guitar really well and he seemed to be quite a showman as well. It's also pretty safe to say that he was rather productive at the time, releasing three albums over two years time. Personally I really enjoy his stuff with Alice as well as his solo stuff.

10 Hard Rock & Metal Bands: With great energy

Starting off this year will be a list of ten (10) bands which I believe to have great energy in their playing style. So, what do I mean by "energy"? I mean it as in feeling, delivery and dynamic style. To see what bands I chose, simply scroll down below.

Note: This isn't a top-list as in rate 1-10. It's just a list of ten bands fitting the description.

• Van Halen

Everybody knows Van Halen, right? They're something of a "love 'em or hate 'em" kinda band. You're also either a David Lee Roth-era fan or a Sammy Hagar-era fan. Personally I'm the DLR-era fan. Now, what I like in Van Halen's sound is their playful style. Eddie VH is a fantastic guitarist and his style is very unique and innovative, especially for its time. They're like one huge party thrown into a musical package. Just listen to the power of the drums accompanied by the playful guitar and driving bass, while Mr. Roth delivers his characteristic vocals.

• Motörhead

There is no other band that will rock 'n' roll harder than Motörhead ever did. They were pure, raw, intense and hard. Call it hard rock, heavy metal, punk rock or whatever. Lemmy always said that they play rock 'n' roll. My father also once told me that I was conceived to Motörhead's music. How could I him for that? It's great shagging music.

• Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy has had a great many musicians coming and going throughout the years. Some have been great while others have been somewhat more forgettable. The man has had a serious talent for finding great guitarists in particular, however, as he played with the late legendary Randy Rhoads as well as Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde among others. While not all of his line-ups and albums were particularly energized, a few of them was. Both albums with Randy Rhoads have great energy from all musical departments.

The nowadays greatly (and sadly) overlooked "The Ultimate Sin" also had some really great playing by guitarist Jake E. Lee and the late drummer Randy Castillo. After that, Ozzy's had a few more high-octane albums featuring Zakk Wylde as well. Unfortunately though, quite a few of his more recent albums have been lacking that good ol' pure rock 'n' roll energy from his 80's heyday.

• Dio

Ronnie James Dio played with some of the best musicians of the genres throughout his career. Many legendary names as well as just-as-good lesser known names. For me personally, however, I always prefered the man in his solo band the most. Every Dio album up until and including the massively underrated "Strange Highways" (1993) all have great energy to them. Well, "Lock Up The Wolves" (1990) kinda lacked that a bit here and there I'll admit, particularly in the drum department.

With musicians like Vinny Appice behind the drum kit on all releases up till 1996, it's hard to not get a great energy going. Add guitar players such as Vivian Campbell, Rowan Robertson and Tracey G. along with bassists Jimmy Bain and Jeff Pilson and you've got a great fockin' band. The only thing that saddens me about Dio's solo career is how his last few efforts got very stale. It's like the fire turned into a struggling spark. Anything from the band's first ten years is great, though.

• Manilla Road

Another classic example of a three-piece managing to make something sounding epic as fuck, despite the lack of more players in the band. Manilla Road's got some massively underrated guitar, bass and drum work. Every department is just on fire! Well, the vocals maybe not so much, but they're what keeps them down to earth in what is otherwise God-like. Seriously, some of the best heavy metal guitars you'll ever hear are available from this band.

• AC/DC

For being a relatively mid-paced and straight-forward king of hard rock band, they've got an awful lot of energy to their sound. Is there any other band in the genre (hard rock) which you can headbang to like you can with AC/DC? I think not. A solid proof less can be more.

• Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy was such an amazing and unique band which could really do music any way they liked, and still it would sound great. Hard rock, soul, blues, funk or heavy metal - all the same: awesome! Just listen to this clip above here. It's like all hell's breakin' loose, and that's exactly what I want in a band.

• Entombed

Entombed was the first death metal band I ever got into and perhaps still the most intense one. Their first two albums are fockin' legendary and the pure energy of riffs, crushing drums and deathly grunts are just as metal as it gets. The Stockholm death metal scene in general really knew their shit back in the day.

• Cro-Mags

My favorite band within the hardcore scene. They were heavy, raw, intense and overall very genuine. Their first three records never get old in my world. They kicked some major ass back in the day and they still kick the asses of all new-comers out there.

• W.A.S.P.

I've always loved this band for Blackie Lawless' great sound and style, vocally as musically. They always were somewhat in between being glam metal and heavy metal, but it's like they fused the two together and became a dynamite. In my book, when a band manages to make you imagine one thousand roaring motorcycles come ridin' on Route 66, it's something done real right.


And that was ten bands, folks! I hope you enjoyed my list and maybe you even found a new band or two in the process? Later!

Top-10 Best Metal Records By Each Year 1980-1995

I decided to put together a list of my favorite ten metal records of each year for every year between 1980-1995. Well, I tried anyway. It was easier said than done, but I managed and I think it turned out somewhat accurately presentable. I simply chose the years 1980-1995 because those are the years from which most of my music has come from.

To do an extended list beyond 1995 would be a rather difficult task as I found the 2000's in particular to provide little metal of interest, with Chimaira, Lamb of God and DevilDriver a few worthy of mention. Even for the 1970's it would be quite hard to find ten albums for each year, because I simply never really fell that much in love with the 70's sound, and it would only be the obvious bands like AC/DC, Sabbath, Priest, and so on.

Anyway, here is my list of my favorite 10 records of each year between the years 1980 to 1995. It will be an overall collection of metal - heavy, NWoBHM, thrash, death, black, etc. Anything that I simply love and regard as something extraordinary from those individual years will be listed by their release years down below.

I hope you enjoy my personal favorites-list, even if some of the choices are nothing unique or surprising, though I hope you'll find some surprises at least and perhaps even introduce some new bands to y'all.

Later //J.

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This list is presented in a somewhat correct order. The top-listed records for each year is my favorite album of that year, but after that there's not necessarily a certain order. To be honest - it's way too hard to actually rank them in a certain order.

1980:

Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell

Saxon – Wheels Of Steel

Motörhead – Ace of Spades

Ozzy Osbourne – Blizzard of Ozz

Iron Maiden – S/T

Diamond Head – Lightning To The Nations

Judas Priest – British Steel

AC/DC – Back In Black

Angel Witch – S/T

Tygers Of Pan Tang – Wild Cat


Comment: The start of the almighty 80's. Musically this was a very important year for music (overall), but especially for us metal fans - it was gonna change and expand the metal scene forever. However, apart from a few albums on this list that I will forever regard as some of the very best metal records of all time, the best was yet to come in later years.
 

1981:

Ozzy Osbourne – Diary Of A Madman

Black Sabbath – Mob Rules

Tygers Of Pan Tang – Spellbound

Iron Maiden – Killers

Mötley Crüe – Too Fast For Love

Accept – Breaker

Venom – Welcome To Hell

Van Halen – Fair Warning

Def Leppard – High ‘n’ Dry

Thin Lizzy – Renegade


Comment: An improvement from the previous year, which still was a damn good one. Ozzy makes his best album ever (imo), Sab release their best one with Dio, and Tygers release their best album as well. I'll let this top-10 speak for itself.

1982:

Judas Priest – Screaming For Vengeance

Accept – Restless And Wild

Plasmatics – Coup d’Etat

Iron Maiden – The Number Of The Beast

Diamond Head – Borrowed Time

Venom – Black Metal

Scorpions – Blackout

Motörhead – Iron Fist

MSG – Assault Attack

Kiss – Creatures Of The Night


Comment: Not much change here, around the same quality as '81. Some bands (Motörhead) do, however, release some less-good albums than before. Overall this year maybe wasn't as strong as the previous two anyway. This list kind of marks the finest moments of the year, and I think that was pretty much "it". NWoBHM was already on a downfall and American heavy metal was slowly starting to arise.

1983:

Accept – Balls To The Wall

Dio – Holy Diver

Def Leppard – Pyromania

Mercyful Fate – Melissa

Ozzy Osbourne – Bark At The Moon

Thin Lizzy – Thunder And Lightning

Mötley Crüe – Shout At The Devil

Slayer – Show No Mercy

Iron Maiden – Peace Of Mind

Exciter – Heavy Metal Maniac


Comment: Wow! This was quite a year! A very rich year musically. Many bands release their finest albums this year (Accept, Mötley Crüe, Dio...) while there are a lot of interesting newcomers (Exciter, Slayer, Mercyful Fate...). A good year, a very good year indeed.
 

1984:

Mercyful Fate – Don’t Break The Oath

W.A.S.P. – S/T

Judas Priest – Defenders Of The Faith

Dio – The Last In Line

Madison – Diamond Mistress

Warlock – Burning The Witches

Metallica – Ride The Lightning

Queensrÿche – The Warning

Iron Maiden – Powerslave

Ratt – Out Of The Cellar


Comment: Wow!, pt. 2. Not much changes quality-wise from the previous year. Bands like Dio, Priest and Maiden continue to put out really strong records, while newcomers W.A.S.P., Warlock, Queensrÿche and Ratt releases great debut (full-length) albums. Metallica keeps on changing the metal industry and Mercyful Fate releases their very best record, as well as one of the most sinister metal records of all time.

1985:

Saxon – Innocence Is No Excuse

Anthrax – Spreading The Disease

Slayer – Hell Awaits

Twisted Sister – Come Out And Play

Dio – Sacred Heart

Fate – S/T

Treat – Scratch And Bite

Ratt – Invasion Of Your Privacy

Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion

Warlock - Hellbound


Comment: After the excellent '83 and '84, or simply after a great half-decade of metal bands/records, I always felt that 1985 was kind of a "sabbatical year" for metal. Yes, the quality dropped quite a bit I have to admit, with some bands (Dio, Ratt, Warlock...) releasing not-as-strong albums as previously. But the biggest thing is that it just felt like a like a poor year, if counting actual records released during the year. I guess most bands just were getting really big and toured throughout, or that they needed their first lengthier break in many years. Not a bad year, but perhaps the weakest year of the decade.

1986:

Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time

Dark Angel – Darkness Descends

Ozzy Osbourne – The Ultimate Sin

Crimson Glory – S/T

Metallica – Master Of Puppets

Megadeth – Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?

Queensrÿche – Rage For Order

Cinderella – Night Songs

Onslaught – The Force

Kreator – Pleasure To Kill


Comment: Wow!, pt. 3. After the kind of "pause" year of '85, the musical quality returned this year with a lot of awesome records. Not only just that either, but now the latter half of the 80's will be a change from the previous half. Almost gone is the NWoBHM scene, at least as far as any releases worth of mention go (only Maiden pretty much continue to be relevant or good/appreciated). Thrash metal makes an official entry and this also marks the strongest year in thrash metal records. Opposite thrash we now also start to see an increase of glam metal bands, with only a few like Cinderella that are of any greater (musical) interest to me personally.

1987:

King Diamond – Abigail

Dio – Dream Evil

Testament – The Legacy

Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction

Bathory – Under The Sign Of The Black Mark

Coroner – R.I.P.

Overkill – Taking Over

Savatage – Hall Of The Mountain King

Anthrax – Among The Living

Death Angel – The Ultra-Violence


Comment: Another really strong and interesting year, although not quite as strong as '86. The thrash vs. glam battle is still a bit on the rise, although it's already quite big. You know, it's just metalheads in a fucking nutshell - you can't like everything, like I do, but you must choose sides. If not, then you're either a poser (glam) or a fucking hobo (thrash). Fuck that. I rage and fight to thrash, and I fuck and party to glam.

1988:

Ozzy Osbourne – No Rest For The Wicked

Danzig – S/T

Testament – The New Order

Bathory – Blood Fire Death

Vicious Rumors – Digital Dictator

Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking

Metallica - …And Justice For All

Overkill – Under The Influence

Anthrax – State Of Euphoria

Crimson Glory – Transcendence


Comment: For many years I thought of this year to be somewhat of an "odd" year, I couldn't quite wrap my mind around what I thought of it. I guess I did in fact not like the music released this year that much, but in latter years I've really discovered or rethought my feelings of what was actually released in '88. These days I really think it was a good year in metal music, although not the best year of the decade. Some new favorite bands of mine like Danzig and Jane's Addiciton really came through this year, and Bathory semi-started a new era.

1989:

W.A.S.P. – The Headless Children

Faith No More – The Real Thing

Cro-Mags – Best Wishes

Coroner – No More Color

Sepultura – Beneath The Remains

Overkill – The Years Of Decay

The Almighty – Blood, Fire & Love

Babylon A.D. – S/T

Black Sabbath – Headless Cross

Blue Murder – S/T


Comment: Last year of the great 80's. Not the decade's strongest year, but an improvement from the previous year, perhaps over '87 as well. The thrash vs. glam battle is at its largest at this point and I would probably think that few was expecting what was lying around the corner, waiting... Anyway, while there were simply too many bands in (particularly) the thrash and glam scenes to count, some of the more unnoticed bands (The Almighty, Babylon A.D., Coroner...) of both sub-genres released some of the best albums of the year. Bands like Faith No More, W.A.S.P. and Sepultura release their strongest works (imo), while Black Sabbath makes their best record in many years.

1990:

Alice in Chains – Facelift

Spread Eagle – S/T

Danzig – II: Lucifuge

Anthrax – Persistence Of Time

Entombed – Left Hand Path

Nocturnus – The Key

Sleeze Beez – Screwed Blued & Tattooed

Warrior Soul – Last Decade Dead Century

Jane’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual

Pantera – Cowboys From Hell


Comment: With the 80's officially over and the 90's started, I figure many people were expecting some huge changes to all kinds of media. In metal, there were some larger changes indeed, but I would say that they had already been developed in the last years of the 80's, and just kind of broke out of the underground during this year. Of course I'm talkin' about death metal. Thrash metal is pretty much a thing of the passed 80's now, and death metal is its successor - freshly so. I would also argue, I think, that this year was the best year in death metal? Anyway, death metal and alternative music (Faith No More, Jane's Addiciton, etc.) are at large as the 90's kick off, but soon there will be another uprising as we all know.

1991:

Dismember – Like An Ever Flowing Stream

Mordred – In This Life

Entombed – Clandestine

Overkill – Horrorscope

Type O Negative – Slow, Deep & Hard

Skid Row – Slave To The Grind

Ozzy Osbourne – No More Tears

Coroner – Mental Vortex

Mr. Bungle – S/T

Sepultura - Arise


Comment: Grunge. Well, fuck that. I never were a big fan of grunge. It just felt like a shittier style of...everything. You know, the grunge bands just never appealed to me (apart from the heavy and awesome Alice in Chains...and earlier Soundgarden). Grunge just exploded in '91 thanks to fucking Nirvana. While it actually was a strong year in the metal music department, all that was pretty much overshadowed by Nirvana, Soundgarden and some others. They were like shittier versions of punk bands, of rock bands, of metal bands. Just fucking...shit.

This year was like the final nail in the coffin for most glam and thrash bands still lurking around, and death metal was largely held back because of this musical change as well, and don't even get me started on fucking Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and what they did to the scene during this year.

1992:

Faith No More – Angel Dust

Danzig – III: How The Gods Kill

Alice in Chains – Dirt

Cro-Mags – Alpha Omega

Fear Factory – Soul Of A New Machine

W.A.S.P. – The Crimson Idol

Saigon Kick – The Lizard
Malevolent Creation - Retribution
Pantera – Vulgar Display Of Power

Rage Against The Machine – S/T

Comment: Grunge is still at large, unfortunately. Most of the last few (notable) traces of glam and thrash bands are to be found in this year - many of them released their final albums (at the time) and broke-up. If not, they changed to adapt to the style that Metallica had made famous the previous year (Testament, Megadeth, etc.). Fortunately for me, a few bands managed to actually held back grunge a bit and showed 'em how it's done. Faith No More and newcomers RATM and Fear Factory were all modern, but were not grunge bands but instead mixes of several other styles that would prove to be very, if not more so than grunge, influential to future bands of the 90's.

1993:

Life of Agony – River Runs Red

Carcass – Heartwork

Dismember – Indecent & Obscene

Coroner – Grin

Benediction – Transcend The Rubicon

Dio – Strange Highways

Dissection – The Somberlain

Saigon Kick – Water

Death – Individual Thought Patterns

Type O Negative – Bloody Kisses


Comment: While grunge was still the biggest thing at this point, together with Metallica and RHCP of course, there actually were opportunities for other styles to shine again. Many of the greatest death metal records were released in this year, many of which were rather successful. Some other bands such as the crossover-groovy Life of Agony and the gothic Type O Negative really came on and put in new influences for future groove and alternative bands respectively. Not an exceptional year, but a very good one nonetheless. Oh, and fuck grunge.

1994:

Septic Flesh – Mystic Places Of Dawn

Machine Head – Burn My Eyes

Megadeth – Youthanasia

Danzig – 4p

Bolt Thrower - …For Victory

Running Wild – Black Hand Inn

Testament – Low

Darkthrone – Transilvanian Hunger

Pantera – Far Beyond Driven

Body Count – Born Dead


Comment: R.I.P. Kurt Cobain, and pretty much the whole grunge scene with you. While I never were a big fan of Nirvana, or most other grunge bands, I did not have anything against people like Kurt Cobain personally. But with his tragic death, so went grunge with him, kind of. I guess that is just the sad reality of people - they fanboy/girl one person rather than the actual legacy of his/her. I really do believe so was the case with Kurt as well. I mean, what are the odds?  He died - grunge died. There were lots of better grunge bands than Nirvana, but he was like the God of it, and when he was gone, so was the whole musical genre basically.

Besides grunge's last breaths, death metal was not really prevailing this year either. Instead the year was rather filled with new styles such as rap/nu metal, groove metal and some more underground black metal stuff that was slowly rising up.

1995:

Face Down - Mindfield

Fear Factory – Demanufacture

Dissection – Storm Of The Light’s Bain

The Gathering - Mandylion
Death – Symbolic

Hate Squad – I.Q. Zero

Dismember – Massive Killing Capacity

White Zombie – Astro-Creep 2000

Grip Inc. – Power Of Inner Strength

Suffocation - Pierced From Within


Comment: The last awesome year of the 90's, to me. After this year, I honestly have a rather hard time finding more than ten albums a year that appealed to me, at least until 2003. I know I could find it for 1996 and 1997 as well, but it's just, literally, scraping the good out of the pile of shit.

1995 showed us as well as set the bars for what the remainder of the 90's would pretty much come to be like. We get more groove metal as well as industrial metal, which at this point had become a popular (and rather commercial) style of metal. Death metal is pretty much over, at least as far as records worthy of listening to goes. Death, the band that pretty much started the whole sub-genre, are the last to be really good at it, so at least that was a fitting touch. 

Otherwise there not really overly much of interest during this year in my opinion. I really do like the massively overlooked bands like Face Down, Hate Squad and Grip Inc. - all of who played groove/post-thrash metal. The Gathering's "Mandylion" was also a rather simplistic but just wonderful and beautiful album that expanded the goth scene.

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I hope you enjoyed my lists and thoughts about the years. Check out my new list that covers the years 2003-2015, if you did enjoy this one. Peace!