Poison - Open Up and Say... Ahh! (1988)

How do we to remember Poison?

For me, Poison is the poster child of an era when glamrock or hair metal was at its peak. The music, the appearance, the behavior, the antics, everything. In short, they resemble the good, the bad and the ugly of that period.

Let’s start with the good. When I first listened to Poison, I heard a music that made we wanted to bang my head, at the same time tap my feet and jump around. You know, the type of music that lift up your mood in a relax way. Normally, CC DeVille started a song with light but memorable riff. Then Rikki Rocket entered with his drum, followed by Bobby Dall’s rock-n-roll style bass playing. Brett Michaels’ vocal was not like a typical metal singer of the time who tend to abuse their high pitch. His vocal range was more limited, but almost perfectly fit into Poison’s easy listening, three-chord formula.

Later I got the chance to see some of their video clips. I saw four guys with big hair, tight spandex, jumping around and rolling around the screen. I immediately fell in love with them! The most memorable clip for me was Talk Dirty to Me, from their previous album Look What the Cat Dragged in. Later I knew that Slash was once auditioned for the vacant guitarist position before Michaels and co hired CC DeVille instead. Well, I really can’t imagine Slash wearing those make-ups and hairdo.

I got copy of “Open Up” sometimes in 1988 from my junior high school classmate. I made an own copy of the album using a double cassette-deck recorder. The whole album fit into one side of a C-90 blank cassette. The duration was only around 30 minutes. It was a Malaysian version of the album, as at that time it wasn’t available yet in the local stores. The album cover was the censored version, the one that only showed the eyes, since the full artwork was considered too provocative and indecent. Not long after that, the local version of the album was available.

Now, the bad. They really applied the ‘sex, drugs and rock n’ roll’ philosophy. During their fame, alcohol and substance abuse were regular features of Poison members’ lifestyle. CC DeVille went into rehab in the 1990s, although at that time he’s had left the band (and was still high when they reunited). Brett Michaels struggled with a serious disease in early 2000s, partly due to his lifestyle during the peak years.

The ugly? Posion is a band where the members constantly fighting among themselves. Often, disagreement among them ended up in physical fights, in studio or even on stage. There were stories about Michaels throwing microphone to Dall or DeVille, and the other retaliated using their bass or guitar. And it is a normal thing to see the four members going to the concert hall in separate cars or buses.

Then there were also scandals. Brett Michael’s leaked sex tape with Pamela Anderson. Or a bizzare love triangle between Rikki Rocket, his fiancée, and Ritchie Kotzen (their new guitar player who replaced CC DeVille when CC left the band in the ‘90s – later Kotzen played for Mr. Big for a brief period).

So how do we choose to remember Poison?

I always remember them as a band that brought my youth spirit, a band that was part of my teenage years, a band that made me love music even more. They will never be remembered as musical geniuses. But they did entertain people with the simple music they played.

They played more serious music in the '90s, which showed a glimpse of the wider side of their talent. However, for them as well as to most hair metal band, the '90s was a rather forgettable decade.

But hey, I won't forget you, Poison...

Vixen - Vixen (1988) and Rev it Up (1990)

 I think Vixen is one of the most underrated bands. Not just because they were one all-female heavy metal band who enjoyed a mainstream success. That in itself was a special thing, by the way. But also because the great music they played, which was better than many other bands from the era.

Well, I admit. Their status as an ‘all-female metal band’ was the reason why I was interested on them in the first hand. As we all remember, heavy metal was a predominantly male world (it still is). The likes of Lita Ford or Joan Jett were exceptions. So, when Hai magazine reviewed Vixen’s first and self-titled album, I was curious to hear what kind of sound would they play.

And I liked what I heard. The album began with a track written by Richard Marx (once one of my non-metal favorite singers), Edge of a Broken Heart. Jan Kuhnemund’s riff met Share Pederson’s dynamic bass and Roxy Petrucci’s powerful drum, gave the perfect sound for Janet Gardner’s great vocal. Later I heard Richard Marx’ own version of the song. I should say Vixen’s version was much better than his.

The album enjoyed a commercial success, although it didn’t became quite a landmark album. Perhaps, despite the songs were good, the album lacked radio-friendly tracks except ‘Edge’ and the power ballad ‘Cryin’. But it was enough to bring Vixen into the mainstream music industry. They toured with big metal stars like Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne and Scorpion.

In 2009, VH1 put 'Edge' in the number 87 of the 'Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s'. While I was agree it was a wonder, VH1 just showed their ignorance to consider it as a 'one-hit' because two years later, they released their second album, Rev it Up. They played pretty much the same musical formula as the first album, with extra work in the mixing and arrangements. Personally, the album meant something for me as it was released just around the time I started high school. I joined my school’s student magazine. One of my first works was a review of this album. The second album stamped their existence in the mainstream rock industry when they toured with metal giants KISS and Deep Purple. So much for a one-hit band, uh?

 I really liked how Janet Gardner used the advantage of being a female singer: her vocal range and sex appeal without being or looking ‘cheap’. Yes, being a female frontlady provides a visual distinction. But in the end, what Vixen offered was their music, not their physical appearance.

Unfortunately, the group broke up not long after that due to musical differences. They haven’t been around for long enough to cement their place in most people’s collective memories, sadly. So their attempts to revive Vixen in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, with some personnel changes, were not met with great receptions.

 But Vixen was part of my metal history, as one of the bands listened to as a teenager, and whose music I still enjoy until now. And I believe Vixen deserve much more acknowledgement in the rock history.

Whitesnake - Slip of the Tongue (1989)

Enjoy my piece on this album at Jakartabeat, which I wrote in Indonesian:

Saya merasa sejarah kurang begitu adil bagi album Slip of the Tongue.Buat saya pribadi, album yang dirlis Whitesnake tahun 1989 ini layak tercatat sebagai salah satu album terbaik dalam sejarah musik rock. Tapi pengakuan yang didapat tidak sebanding dengan apa yang album ini berikan. Banyak fans menganggap album ini “kurang Whitesnake”. Bahkan dua punggawa Whitesnake, David Coverdale dan Adrian Vandenberg pun merasa begitu.

Baiklah. Toh sejarah menempatkan album Slip of the Tongue dalam banyak cara. Sebagaimana sejarah juga menempatkan Whitesnake dalam berbagai cara. Kita bisa melihat Whitesnake sebagai “The David Coverdale band“. Tidak salah juga.

Whitesnake berawal dari The White Snake Band, yang dibentuk Coverdale di tahun 1978 untuk menjadi band pengiringnya. Belakangan ia merasa lebih nyaman menjadikan Whitesnake menjadi band sendiri. Meski hingga tiga dekade kemudian caranya mengelola Whitesnake membuat band ini ya sebelas dua belaslah dengan band pengiring vokalis solo.

Whitesnake juga bisa dirujuk sebagai “Deep Purple sempalan” (meski untuk gelar ini mereka harus bersaing dengan Rainbow). Terutama di masa-masa awal ketika musik yang mereka mainkan masih sangat kentara warna Purple-nya. Apalagi ada masa dimana Jon Lord dan Ian Paice pernah memperkuat formasi Whitesnake di awal ‘80an.

Mereka yang menyukai Whitesnake di era ini akan mengatakan bahwa musik mereka bergeser sejak album Whitesnake (1987). Ini menjadi album mereka paling sukses secara komersil. Di album ini Coverdale –yang sangat dibantu oleh John Sykes– membawa sound Whitesnake lama yang lebih blues menjadi hard rock/ heavymetal. Musik mereka terdengar lebih ‘Amerika’. Penampilan mereka pun sedikit banyak mengikuti gaya hairmetal yang sedang trend saat itu.

Saya akui, perkenalan saya dengan Whitesnake baru terjadi setelah album ini. Still of the Night membuat saya terkagum-kagum menyadari kalau ternyata gitar elektrik bisa digesek pakai gesekan biola (meski akhirnya saya menyadari kalau Jimmy Page sudah melakukan itu jauh sebelumnya saat bersama Led Zeppelin). Dan Is This Love punya semua formula untuk menjadi sebuah power ballad. Ah ya, tentunya saya berusaha untuk bisa memainkan gitar lagu ini; trik klasik seorang anak SMP untuk melakukan social climbing.

Slip of the Tongue menandai evolusi lebih jauh dalam musik Whitesnake. Sebagian ini terjadi karena kecelakaan. Dalam arti harafiah, karena memang dalam penggarapan album ini, gitaris dan penulis lagu utama Adrian Vandenberg mengalami cedera tangan. Setelah beberapa lama ia masih belum bisa main gitar, Coverdale memutuskan mencari gitaris lain untuk sesi rekaman. Pilihan jatuh pada Steve Vai yang saat itu baru memperkuat David Lee Roth band.

Coverdale sebenarnya tidak terlalu kenal kiprah Vai selama bergabung dengan Roth maupun sebelumnya bersama Frank Zappa. Ia kenal Vai lewat film Crossroads yang dibintangi oleh Michael J Fox. Penampilan Vai di film itu cukup membuat Coverdale kagum dan yakin untuk mengajaknya main untuk Whitesnake.

Vai memang tinggal mengisi sesi gitar di rekaman yang sudah hampir jadi. Tapi sentuhan Vai membawa sound di album Slip ke dalam dimensi lain. Sulit medeskripsikannya dengan kata-kata. Apalagi kosakata saya tentang teknik gitar sangat minim. Tapi dengarlah permainan solo Vai di lagu Fool for Your Loving, khususnya di bagian two-handed tapping.Atau intro Cheap and Nasty. Atau sesi rhythm di The Deeper the Love serta Now You’re Gone.

Track Sailing Ship bisa dibilang merupakan magnum opus di album ini. Memang karya ini tidak bisa hanya diatribusikan pada Vai. Coverdale dan Vandenberg sudah membangun struktur yang kuat bagi lagu ini. Tapi tetap saja, permainan Vai baik di sesi akustik maupun bagian solo membuat lagu ini menjadi spesial.

Sayangnya Coverdale dan Vandenberg tidak terlalu puas dengan album ini. Menurut Vandenberg, permainan gitar Vai kelewat flamboyan. Ia berharap album ini lebih punya sentuhan blues. Senada, Coverdale juga menganggap ini album yang bergeser terlalu jauh dari warna musik Whitesnake. Meski belakangan ia akhirnya bisa lebih mengapresiasi Slip.

Setelah album ini, Whitesnake melakukan tur dengan Vai dan Vandenberg sebagai duet gitaris. Dalam berbagai klip, duet Vai-Vandenberg sebenarnya sangat menjanjikan. Gaya blues Vandenberg saling mengisi dengan gaya flamboyan Vai. Di lagu-lagu Whitesnake klasik, Vai bisa menempatkan diri sebagai gitaris kedua, memberi ruang bagi Vandenberg.

Tapi Vai memang dilahirkan bukan menjadi seekor ikan di kolam yang sempit. Menjadi gitaris di band orang lain bukanlah jalur hidupnya. Apalagi jika band itu sudah punya matahari sendiri bernama David Coverdale. Vai perlu punya panggung sendiri. Selepas Whitesnake, ia fokus di jalur solo, dan terkadang manggung bersama gurunya, Joe Satriani, bersama G3.

Lalu bagaimana kita menempatkan album Slip of the Tongue?

Sejarah selalu punya multiinterpretasi. Kita bisa melihat album ini “Whitesnake menampilkan Steve Vai”, atau “Steve Vai bersama Whitesnake” –semua sah saja. Yang jelas bagi saya, ini adalah sebuah album yang sangat underrated dalam sejarah musik rock yang terkadang tidak adil.

Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 2 (1988)

My friend Philips Vermonte helped me a bit by writing his piece about this album at Jakartabeat, a website which he co-founded.

I remember buying this album in 1988 or 1999. It was not available at local stores yet. But a music store in Blok M, Duta Audio (a branch of the famous Duta Suara at Jalan Sabang) has two copies of it. They are imported, released by a Malaysian label company. An imported cassette, it costed Rp10,000 (around US$5 at that time), twice as much as the local ones.

Alas, I didn't have enough money at that time. And there was no guarantee that the album will still be available - another metalhead may have bought this. But I got a brilliant trick (well, for me it was brilliant). I hid a copy of the album behind an album in a different category. I forgot what it was. I believed it was a not-so-popular R&B artist.

And yes, about three weeks later when I got enough money, the record was still there. So I bought this album. A few months later I got the "Keeper" part 2 from the same music store. Helloween immediately became my new favorite. Michaek Kiske's vocal range was only second to my older favorite, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. The funny thing is, later Kiske thought that metal is not his music.

So enjoy Philips' article, and the album.