Doghouse Reilly

This is for MetalllianStallion. The rest of y'al can feel free to ignore.

FIrst off, dude, I guess I'm flattered to be "deputized" (Deputy Doghouse) by somebody who's done his own fair share of policing the comments section of HH through the years. That you would see fit to pin your tin star on me is a real honor.

Reckless Love: I'm aware that 'gay" is often slang for "lame" or "stupid." I've even done it myself (see Maestro Alex Gregory, Priscilla, Michael Bolton). Why not? I was a teenager once too. There is actually a scholarly tome about the patterns of communication in adolescent boys called "Dude, You're A Fag." But you often to amplify it with references to gerbils and Bruce Jenner, which would seem to take things beyond mere lameness and stupidity. So it's somehow become this noble thing to be "politically incorrect," which itself is too often used as a euphemism for ignorant and unthinking. But then when it comes to religion ...

Satanic Rites: I understood what you meant in your first comment on that CD, that the band's name was ludicrously out of step with its music. I said so at the time, and even joked back (keyboards as the instruments of the devil). Next thing you know, you're proselytizing at me about the connections between musical performance and demonic possession. I was waiting fo rthe part about backward-masking. There was even that time you wagged the finger at some guy with 777 in his handle, and how his language wasn't befitting somebody sporting J.C.'s jersey number. But yes, I was using the more general definition of "theology" (in fact, this is the first I've heard of the word being strictly limited to Christian belief systems--does this make the phrase "Christian theology" redundant?) You don't have to justify your faith to me; frankly, I'm not really interested. As for my "blood and semen" comment on BrutalMetal, I think the post you're referring to was specifically related to a concept album based on the Jack The Ripper murders--again, as I said in the very same comment. Nothing religious about it, other than Jack's speculated desire to punish prostitutes for their evil ways. In fact, I don't believe I've posted on very many truly satanic bands on BM, much less in praise of their ideology. I frequent that site because I'm increasingly bored with the desperate '80's revivalism and treacly pop-rock on HH, rather than an affinity for any kind of "lifestyle" of any of the bands.

Does this clear anything up?

No shit, I'd go for that in a big way! You see where Cowboy Bret is opening for Skynyrd this summer? I was almost hoping he would be on teh bill when Skynyrd play the state fair in my area, just so I could sped his entire set howling abuse at the stage ... but he's not. Oh well!

In addition to being a talentless clown, the guy is blissfully free of any self-awareness.

Well, there's Geoff and about a million aging floozies, and kids who don't know any better and think because he's everywhere, he must've been good.

I must've liked Poison at least a little bit as a kid, but never owned any of their albums. But as time goes by, I've grown to hate the band, and particularly Bret, more and more.

And he's already milking it for all the sympathy he can. Just saw a quote on Bravewords: "If I had gone out onstage like I wanted to, I could have died!" Drama queen!

Too bad it wasn't to get his voice-box removed. Maybe they could surgically remove the bandana/wig/hat combo, too.

Here's what i would've done, and which several bands have done lately. Rather than make a separate disc, make it a bonus in the next Dokken album. Since the songs were re-recorded for one reason (which has nothing to do with "the fans"), it would seem less of a cash-grab than having the thing be a separate, full-priced release.

Of course, they could also make a "special edition" of Lightning Strikes Again with Greatest Hits 2 as a bonus disc, which would still be a little grabby, but you know only super-fans buy those things anyway.

This is what happens when your lawyer also plays guitar. GOod on 'em, I guess.

True. And I'm sure Don knows that, and doesn't really care if people buy it, the intended goal of the record being what we said above.

To me, the only time when re-recorded versions have actually surpassed the originals have been Testament (First Strike Still Deadly) and Iced Earth (Days Of Purgatory). And I guess you could make the case for some of the drastically-remixed Megadeth stuff. It just never seems to work welll for more melodic bands.

If it weren't a money-grab, why tack on a few new songs to entice fans to buy it? I bet it goes for full-price, too.

So we've established that whether we, the fans, actually buy this crap is irrelevant, and that it's basically a money-grab. Beside the point or not, it's hard to imagine anyone saying any of these new versions are better than the originals. I realize the guy's getting into his late fifties, but I can't think of anybody whose voice is in worse shape than Don's. Yeah man, good luck selling these versions. Metal classics with some old guy croaking hopelessly over them.

You goddamn right, I'll be getting this! Nuclear Blast actually has a pre-order package available for North America. You get the CD with a bonus track and a slipcase with different artwork, and your choice of two shirts (or both shirts for an extra twelve bucks).

I'm totally onboard with the second coming of Exodus, as each of their three post-millennium albums absolutely slays. I love Overkill, and Ironbound is a great disc, but I thought they stumbled a bit on ReliXIV and Immortalis. And i sing the praises of Testament like everybody else, but just don't find myself listening to them as often as you might think. So Exodus have pretty much assumed the throne as the kings of thrash for me. My only gripe with Exhibit A was that it seemed a lot of the songs were needlessly long, like they were trying to shoe-horn in as many riffs as possible into each one. And as much as I love Steve Souza's voice, Rob Dukes, though kinda generic-sounding, isn't nearly the deterrent I thought he might be.

So yeah ... I'm on it!

So one day the guys in Dirty Penny were sitting around giving each other home perms, and Spanky says, "Hey, Binge, I got an idea. We should go up to Minnesota and Wisconsin. I hear that's, like, ground-zero for cheese, bro!" And Binge says, "Hells yeah, dude-man, I'm stoked! Let's go!" And when they got up there, all they found were a bunch of dairies. And Binge turned to Spanky and said, "Uh, Spank, brah, I didn't know you meant actual cheese. Like, to eat?"

First time I heard "Calling To You," or "Calling On You," or whatever that Stryper song is, I thought it WAS Firehouse.

But anyway, I read a quote from Michael Sweet a few weeks ago, where he said something like, "We've never been concerned with what other people think, and have always followed our own hearts and gone our own direction, according to how we feel led." Apparently, the conflict between the first part and the last six words never occurred to him. Or the way they made a "secular" album when the novelty of a born-again metal band was starting to wear off. Or the whole "Reborn," down-tuned, trendy nu-metal sound. Just another hypocrite.

Well, I've heard a couple of the re-recorded versions, and I'm sorry to report, they suck. Sure, the sound quality is better. But Don's voice is nearly gone. "Just Got Lucky" doesn't seem like too challenging a song, right? Yet he couldn't even managte that, and basically monotoned it. The only reason they're even doing this record is so they (meaning Don) can own the rights to the songs, even shitty new versions, so he can then sell them to be used in TV commercials, movies, video games or whatever.

Poor Reb, still cryin' the blues over the damn dartboard. The way the guys in Winger, particularly Reb, still harp on the injustice of that incident, and the Beavis and Butt-Head thing, is embarrassing. To hear Reb tell it, those two events single-handedly derailed the band's career, overnight. But look at all the other bands who WEREN'T made into dartboards in popular videos or held up for ridicule on cartoon shows, bands from the same era, who were just as successful as Winger, whose careers started to fizzle around the same time. Times were changing. Anyway, Reb and the others conveniently neglect their own cheesy videos that helped make them such an object of sport. Yeah, yeah, everybody was doing it, the label insisted, etc. Whatever.

For that matter, Reb still sour-graping about the dartboard is a lot like some Metallica fans still pissing and moaning because "they made a video after they swore they never would!"

Disclaimer: I like both Winger and Metallica.

It's no more similar than how the chorus riff in "Heart and Soul" by Huey Lewis and the News copies "You Give Me All I Need" by the Scorps.

Given the choice between Joan and Nashville Pussy, I'd take the Pussy. I bet she would too. HAR!

Hey, hey, hey! It is I, Doghouse Reilly! I've actually been an observer on Heavy Harmonies (the main site) for quite a few years, but never ventured onto the boards, just stuck with the CD-comment pages (used to post under a different name years ago, in the don't-have-to-register days). But my old favorite spot for bullshitting about music and anything else seems to be loaded up with some nasty malware, so I had to bail on it, and so here I am!

Me? I'm 29, from the East Coast (U.S.), and been into hard rock and metal since third grade, when I discovered Guns n' Roses and Def Leppard. I'm into a wide variety of music, from classic southern rock to hair metal (a term I hate, but one that has passed into the lexicon--everybody knows what it means), to thrash metal and even some death and black metal.

For anything else, I'm sure it'll come out as we converse. I'm not here to cause trouble, but have strong opinions, and, to quote Blackfoot, "if I get the call, you know I'm not afraid to fight."

So there! Hello to you all!