Musical Ramblings: Heaven and Hell a disappointment

Before I begin this week's column, I have to comment on the Heaven and Hell concert that I attended two weeks ago. I have to say that I'm disappointed that Down didn't play a longer set and went on way too early. After waiting in line at 6:15 p.m.(and not even grabbing a beer), by the time I got in there, I got to see two-and-a-half songs by the band. I wanted more Phil Anselmo goodness (mind you, he did talk a lot between the songs).

Next up, Megadeth kicked my ass. I was at the JLC for Slayer, but Megadeth's performance and set list blew me away even more than the almighty Slayer. The songs spanned the entire catalogue and I almost lost it when they came back with “Holy Wars” as their encore. The band played like it was the mid-80s and nailed every single song.

When Heaven and Hell hit the stage, I was bored out of my skull. I was never into Dio-era Sabbath and me and my crew of six friends jetted after the second song. We paid our dough to see Megadeth and we sure got our money's worth.

The great thing about the wait time in between the bands is that they were actually quite short. You had time for a beer, a wizz and letting your ears rest a bit before the next onslaught.

Mini Review of the week:

Machine Head - The Blackening

When Machine Head's Burn My Eyes came out in the early nineties, I was hooked. The onslaught of sheer metal that that CD provided was enough to satisfy the hungriest metal fan. Their follow-up, The More Things Change, was decent as well. Then the drought happened. One mediocre release followed and then “Supercharger” made me want to break a Machine Head CD in disgust - so much that I didn't even buy their last disc.

Now, a few years later, Machine Head have returned to try and reclaim their glory days with The Blackening. After a few spins, I have to say that the boys do have their crown back, but it's still Machine Head. There aren't many surprises on this disc but the band seems to think that longer songs (10-12 minutes) means that the quality of a metal song rises and their songwriting skills have improved. While there are some killer riffs on the disc, the longer songs seems drawn out and too repetitive.

This release will have more spins than many of the band's other discs, but I don't think the band will ever top their debut. At least we know that Machine Head is heading back in the right direction. Shorter songs and more of them on the next release may be the best direction for the band.