Crank It Up To Eleven! 05.19.09: Once Bitten...
Posted by Sandeep Murali on 05.19.2009
A hint of irony lingers in the title of the finest album from a very talented band. A very talented band that unfortunately is remembered these days for things other than their music.
Hello there boys 'n girls and welcome back. Yours truly has been enjoying some well deserved time off work and thankfully, that bad neck I mentioned last week is holding up real nice. In case you didn't know, the best Sundays in the world are the ones where you know you have a day off on Monday.
Oh, and lest you forget, bookmarking 411mania has been proven to enable one to make love like a Greek god.
Talk dirty to me:
Ahem.. "Bitch Michaels" had this to say: "If you would lower your banner a few notches, it would look better and NOT be overlapping the cheesy advertisement to the side of the column.
Good column about a great band and album but pretty brief - could stand more detail and depth on all subject matter.
"
I do not disagree, sir. As I went back and re-examined the column, I felt that there were tonnes more I could have added about the subject at hand. Well, blame it on the (quite literal) pain in the neck, if you will.
About the banner, I notice that the issue is there ony with Internet Explorer and not Firefox. I'll see what I can do to fix the formatting.
The Great Travesty:
One interesting bit of news that I came across this week was the debut performance of the supergroup Chickenfoot. Well, that, and the bit about the fire dept. Shutting down the show half way through. This reminded me of another band who had their fair share of dealings with the men in the red truck. Unlike Chickenfoot though, these guys had to suffer through far more serious consequences as a result of the incident. Consequences such as the death of a band member and 99; yes, NINETY NINE fans. You might have guessed it by now, we are talking about Great White here. A crying shame, because a catalog full of great music has been tarnished by an avoidable, unnecessary tragedy. Forever. Today, we shall take a look back at one of their finest records and appreciate the music in it without getting distracted by other factors. Ladies and gentlemen: Presenting, "Once Bitten..."
The third studio album by Great white, Once Bitten... featured the lineup of Jack Russell on vocals, Mark Kendall on lead guitar, Mike Lardie on rhythm guitar and Keyboards, Audie Desbrow on drums and Lorne Black on bass. Jack Russell, in case you didn't know had one of the most versatile set of vocal chords from that era and Kendall matched him toe to toe with the six string. Once Bitten... Was arguably the pinnacle of the band's achievements and contained tracks that went on to be the most recognizable tunes from them.
The album starts of with the raunchy, fast paced "Lady Red Light" that was lyrically provocative just like all good hair-anthems were. Extremely catchy riffs, excellent pacing and a melodious keyboard interlude are the hallmarks of this track. The solo is one of the finest ever by Kendall and features just the right mix of shredding and melody. Haters may dismiss it as yet another hair song with no soul, but it is one of the few songs that I never skip past. Big guitars, killer solo, upbeat tempo, a singalong chorus and a GODDAMN SHARK SHAPED GUITAR! What more could you possibly want?
"Gonna getcha" is the second track of the album and dual guitars start things off in a style surprisingly reminiscent of early Def Leppard. In fact, this track wouldn't be out of place in a Def Leppard album at all. The problem with the song is that it has the unfortunate job of serving as "Filler" between two killer anthems. What would the second one be? Why of course, it's the bands most famous track: "Rock me". The sparse notes that start the track leads the listener into thinking that this would be soft number. They'd be right – for a couple of minutes, that is. Because that's when the distorted riffs first hit you. From there on, the track picks it's pace in steady fashion with each chorus. The first solo is extremely melodic and Kendall shows off that ridiculously amazing vibrato technique he possesses. The second solo is an all out assault on one's ear drums and I mean that in a good way. Good ol' 80's shredding at it's best, it picks things up from where the first one left off and in impressive manner with some tapping thrown in. Another favorite anthem of mine and another track that I'm sure I'll never get tired of listening to.
"All over now" is the quintessential "I don't need you anymore" track. t's quite clear that the mission of this track is to please most and offend none. "Mistreater" follows it and catches one's attention immediately with a sparse, clean arpeggio. Some nice work in the studio makes a nice blend out of the rhythm riff, the intro lead and lardie's keyboard work. A bit too cheesy by today's standards, but Russellat his crooning best somehow makes it work. In my opinion, the album could have used a "Mista bone" right about now. That would have been a nice change of pace and would have introduced some variety into the mix with the driving bass line that underlines the track. Alas, we'd have to wait a couple more years and "...Twice shy for that.
"Never change your heart" has a memorable opening with clean chords followed by some nifty work form the rhythm side. Lyrically, the track is one of the weakest in the album, but let's face it: One does not listen to this brand of music with lyrical excellence as their top priority. Great white is one of those bands that manage to pack in really unique sounding solos track after track and this one is no exception. Each and every bar from almost any Great White solo is instantly recognizable and nothing better exemplifies this better than the one in "Never change your heart". Some decent double bass work from Desbow marks the end of the track.
Well, Desbrow wasn't done there, it seems because "Fast road", which follows features a full blown drum solo in the beginning. The fastest, most upbeat track in the album, this track has each member bringing his absolute best to the table. Thrumming rhythm lines, wailing licks and of course, Russel's unique voice are all over the place and that certainly is no bad thing. For technique alone, the track demonstrates how Great white is underestimated as musicians. "On the edge" has Russell screaming at the top of his lungs at an octave that modern day frontmen have not even heard of. Black is most visible in this track where the basswork finally gets some breathing space and gets to cut through while the guitars tone things down. Down; but not out as enough dive bombs still float around to scare a Patrick Stump or two away.
"Save your love", the hauntingly melodic ballad that marks the end of the album is THE track of "Once Bitten..." and perhaps, THE track of Great White's entire catalog. One of my top 5 ballads from the entire 80's, this song has everything going right for it and then some. Russell's voice is tailor made for such songs (More so than the anthems, I may say) and this time, the lyrics actually match up to his formidable vocal chords. The solo is one of the finest to have ever come out of a single coil pickup and somehow leaves the listener wanting for more. All in all, a perfect end to a near-perfect record.
Great white was a hair band in the purest sense of the word. The thing is, they were darn good at it and had their own sound. Be it fast paced anthems or slow, melodic ballads, the "Great White sound" was unmistakably there. Keep in mind, this is the band that covered Led Zeppelin well enough to be praised by none other than Robert Plant! "Once Bitten..." is one of those albums that have truly aged well despite the stigma associated with the genre and I can safely say, I'll be listening to it in the next decade or further. In a perfect world, we'd be remembering this band for their good music rather than the nightclub fire. But then again, this isn't a perfect world.
Great White in 2008. Jesus, Jack Russell still sounds like he did all those years ago!
Never say goodbye:
Any Great White fans out there? Does any of you enjoy their music just as much as I do? Or are you of the opinion that they're all a bunch of wankers that can go to hell? Either way, do let me know in the usual place.
I'm a huge Great White fan, and it's a real shame that they'll be known primarily for the tragic fire, as they were among the top of the "hair metal" heap of the 80's. (Tesla being the other major act). Kendall's guitar work was phenomenal, as was Jack Russell's vocals. More than many other successors (Whitesnake and Kingdom Come being at the top of the list), Great White managed to capture the essence of Led Zepplin, so much that they did a pretty damned good live album of only Zepplin tunes.
While Once Bitten may have been their breakthrough album, I'd argue that their 92 release Psycho City was actually their best overall, with their best song of all--Old Rose Motel, along with some great rockers (Step on You, Big Goodbye) and classic ballads (Maybe Someday). That was a very polished effort, and pretty much marked the last time we saw Great White as a major outfit, as they would be pretty much relegated to bars and clubs from then on.
Posted By: Michael L (Guest) on May 19, 2009 at 12:25 AM
They got boring after "Shot In The Dark." The only good thing they did after that point was sending all those royalty checks to Angels/Angel City who were a far superior band than GW.
Posted By: Trashy (Guest) on May 19, 2009 at 06:15 PM
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