Rebel Priest
When I’m in a bad mood, nothing snaps me out of it better than some kick-ass, screaming rock n’ roll. Yesterday, my good buddy John Kereiff wrote a review of an EP by a Vancouver three-piece called Rebel Priest. He gushed about their brand of balls-to-the-wall, take no prisoners rock and, as he has great…
KK’s Priest
KK’s Priest rocks! I can’t say it any more succinctly than that. The band former Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing put together, featuring former Priest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, guitarist A.J. Mills, bassist Tony Newton and drummer Sean Elg (former Priest drummer Les Binks will make sporadic live appearances), is a far cry from a…
Open Letter to Rob Halford
Dear Rob, I just want to say thank-you. On this, the day of your 70th birthday, I was reflecting back on how much you and your band, Judas Priest, have meant to me over the years. I first heard you sing 37 years ago, when I was 13 years old. I remember it like it…
Songs I Love – American Heavy Metal Weekend
I hope all my American friends are having a great heavy metal weekend as they celebrate their country’s 245th year of independence. Today is the 4th of July, the day the rest of the world rolls their eyes and bites their tongues as the Americans celebrate themselves. There’s lots of good about the USA, I…
Songs I Love – Heterosexual Man
With tongues planted firmly in cheek, Odds came blasting into the Canadian rock mainstream in 1993 with their second album, Bedbugs. The lead single from the album was the brilliant, funny and ahead of it’s time (especially considering the Me Too Movement in the late 20-teens), Heterosexual Man. Anyone who takes this song literally is…
Songs I Love – Black Velvet
I’m a sucker for a good bassline and 1989 mega-hit Black Velvet by Canadian artist Alannah Myles certainly has one of those. It’s a slippery line that winds its way through Myles’s sultry vocal delivery. The song is about Elvis and it was everywhere in the summer of 1989. In fact, I HATED this song…
Songs I Love – Locked in the Trunk of a Car
So it’s Canada Day. The 154th birthday of our great country. But this Canada Day I, along with many of my fellow citizens, are feeling a little – OK a lot – ashamed of our country’s past. The way we have treated our Indigenous people is shameful. The residential school system we as a nation…
Songs I Love – Prairie Town
Randy Bachman is a musical legend. He burst onto the scene as the guitarist for the Guess Who and solidified his reputation as a rock god as guitarist and vocalist for 70s hard rock juggernaut BTO. Since then he’s dabbled in jazz, written books and hosted a popular radio show on the CBC in Canada. …
Songs I Love – Working Man
In the run up to the 154th Canada Day on Thursday, I’m going to feature some Canadian songs I love in this essay series. Today it’s going to be one of my favourite songs from Canada’s most famous international rock band, Rush. For this song we’re going to go way back to a time when…
Songs I Love – Saints in Hell
Stained Class is my second-favourite Judas Priest album, behind only the mighty British Steel. This 1978 classic features some of the Priest’s most revered and loved songs; Beyond The Realms of Death and Exciter are often cited as fan favourites. While I love those songs, and every track on this 1978 masterpiece of an album,…
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Chris Simnett 