Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album) Remastered Review

 

Album: Metallica

Artist: Metallica

Year: 1991 (original) 2021 (remastered)

This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the biggest albums of all time. One of the biggest rock albums ever and perhaps the biggest pure metal album in terms of mainstream success. That is Metallica's self-titled 5th album known more commonly as "The Black Album".  It's hard to believe this album is 30 years old since my entire life Metallica fans and broader metal fans have always considered this album to be both the end of "classic Metallica" and the beginning of "New Metallica".

Personally, I consider this album part of their "classic" period. It ain't thrash. They aren't the young, pimply faced metal heads they once were (neither were they on 1988's .,,And Justice For All, but many still consider that their classic period) but this is the band reaching what seemed to be a collective prime.  James Hetfield, becoming a more mature singer and songwriter. Lars Ulrich, a more solid drummer recognizing his own style and making the most of it to compliment James' riffs. Kirk Hammett, focusing less on flashy, technical guitar solos and more on writing solos, while sprinkling in his bag of tricks. Also, Jason Newsted, who on Justice was basically just there to make Lars' coffee and use his bass as a paperweight, was now presented as a key part in Metallica's rhythm section.

While Metallica matured as people and musicians who have now seen and heard the world, enter seasoned producer Bob Rock into the mix.  A lot can be said about Metallica's relationship about Bob Rock. How they started off hazing him to see if he could handle it. Then when he didn't back down he earned their respect. The process of The Black Album was so harsh and argumentative at times that when it was over Lars swore they'd never talk to Rock again... but they did and continued working together for another 13 years and he became very close with the band.  So close he was almost a part of the band, acting as a session bass player famously on their 2003 album St. Anger and to a lesser-known extent, he played bass on the "I Disappear" single for Mission: Impossible 2.

Bob was the tough coach Metallica needed.  James and Lars always handled everything prior. Suggestions were heard, but not always listened to. They, themselves would admit this is why Justice sounds the way it does.

"All you can hear on the album is guitar and drums so it's pretty obvious who produced it... Me and Lars." - James Hetfield

 In 2003 during the MTV Icon broadcast where Metallica's then 20 year career was being honored James stated the stars aligned for them during this period. Whether it was a throw-away line or not, he's 100% accurate.  They all matured musically at the right time, and having already put out 4 albums and going gold on what was mostly a grass-roots following they also got the attention of a legit producer in Bob Rock. The Black Album is a culmination of all these pieces falling perfectly into place. Keep in mind, if you think The Black Album is mainstream, a year before this release "Cherry Pie" by Warrant was a big radio hit.  A month after The Black Album, Nirvana's 'Nevermind' was released and turned everything on it's head. Through all that The Black Album stood on its own and survived a rapidly changing decade to launch Metallica from being a fairly big band in metal music, to being household names and one of the biggest bands in the world.

So, when people say Metallica "went mainstream" with this album, I think that's incorrect. The mainstream just changed and accepted Metallica.  Compare this album to anything else that was a hit between 1990 and 1992. There was nothing like this getting heavy radio play. For that, this album is without a doubt one of the most important in metal's history, but for that reason metal fans, who inheritly claim to despise anything 'mainstream' tend to brush off this release and not give it its due. 

Just a bit of a side-note. I personally find that sort of metalhead purist attitude baffling. I know those circles. I know how those fans are. They want the world to understand and recognize that their music is real music... Well, guess what. They did en masse with The Black Album and then suddenly those same fans were hating this album for having too much mainstream appeal. You can't have it both ways. Either you keep your little bands in your back pocket and not care what people think about your taste in music or stop crying for the world to accept your music only to cry more when they finally do.

Now, that the lengthy introduction is out of the way, let's discuss the songs... 

Enter Sandman

I know. What can be said that hasn't already been said about this song? It's Metallica's biggest hit. Their bridge that connects metal to the mainstream. One of the most recognizable riffs and songs ever. It's their Smoke on the Water, Iron Man, Walk This Way. It's that song. That song you hear on the radio every day. That song you hear at sporting events today. That song every beginner headbanger on guitar tries to learn because Master of Puppets is too fucking hard. 

That song.

One of the most iconic songs ever. Call it played out, but it's played out for a reason. The same reason Stairway to Heaven, Free Bird and More Than a Feeling are played out. They're incredible songs that still resonate with people today.  I'm not saying I personally think Sandman is the band's best song, but at one time you, too were a young rock fan or metalhead who heard this song for the first time and played it over and over on repeat before you discovered the other great songs by this band.  All the all-time greats have that song.  That Hotel California that allows you to discover Victim of Love or Outlaw Man. This is that song for Metallica.  Jason Newsted has been calling Nothing Else Matters the "barrier breaker" (which I'll get to) Enter Sandman is the bridge that connects us all around the world with this band.

Kirk Hammett is credited with writing the main riff in which the entire song is based around. That's a hell of a thing to have to your credit. Ed King will always have Sweet Home Alabama. Joe Walsh has Live in the Fast Lane. Kirk will always have Enter Sandman.

Sad but True

Sad but True is a nice change of pace for Metallica.  In the past, they mostly relied on speed to be heavy, here they tune down and bring down the tempo as well. Kind of like a more radio accessible Thing That Should Not Be, which is the only prior song you could really compare this to in Metallica's catalogue. Sad but True is tuned a whole step down to D. The song is seemingly about James' battle with alcohol addiction before he really recognized or even cared that he had a problem. SBT was the 5th and also the final single off The Black Album and one of the band's biggest hits.

The break in the intro where you wait for the snare to come in is probably one of the more recognizable characteristics from this album. Fan of the band or not, I didn't know anyone in high school that didn't try and time that snare hit every time. 

Lars Ulrich has said this is one of his favorite songs to play live.  While I like this song, I wouldn't call it an all-time favorite of mine. However, as a musician, I love playing this song. I don't know why. It could just be because its a simple, catchy tune while also being pretty heavy.

Holier Than Thou

Holier was producer Bob Rock's suggestion for the lead single of the album but Lars Ulrich fought hard for Enter Sandman to be the lead single... Good thing they listened to him.  I like this song, but it was a grower for me. Look at it. It's Sandwiched between Sandman and SBT on one side and on the other, two other massive tracks with The Unforgiven and Wherever I May Roam. Holier Than Thou, while a fine song on any album seems like it is cornered between some massive hits.

Holier clocks in at 3:48. This is very short by Metallica's standards. Before this song, the only Metallica song to clock in at less than 4 minutes was Motorbreath from their first album, Kill 'em All, which clocks in at 3:09. Even after this album you're not going to find too many Metallica songs in the 3-minute range, so Holier still stands out as one of their few quick punch songs.

Back in the day, I used to hear some fans say that this was Metallica's last thrash song (before Death Magnetic and Hardwired to Self-Destruct) I don't think it's really a thrash song, but I just thought I would mention that since it was once a fairly popular opinion.... also I'm looking for more things to say about this song. There's that. It's fine.

The Unforgiven

Another Metallica classic, here.  This is also a personal favorite of mine as it's one of the songs that really inspired me to start playing guitar.  I wouldn't change a thing about this song. I love the melody. The guitar solo. James' vocal delivery. Everything about this ballad is powerful. 

If I did a list of my top 25 favorite guitar solos, this song's would be somewhere on that list. Bob Rock pushed Kirk Hammett hard and got the perfect solo out of him for this song after previous takes were not well received by the rest of the band.

The Unforgiven was the 2nd single off the Black Album and remains one of the band's more popular songs. Despite this, the song was only played on the Black Album's tour and not played again for another 10 years until they toured supporting St. Anger.  When I saw Metallica in 2004, I remember them playing this, not being very surprised, but then being surprised when James said "hard to believe it's been 10 years since we've played that song".  It's been played on every tour since. 

Wherever I May Roam

Another live set staple and another signature Metallica tune. The first half of this album is heavy on the Metallica trademarks. I really like this song, but I'm somewhat surprised it became a hit. The intro is pretty long for your average radio listener.  The song itself is almost 7 minutes long, has two guitar solos and a bridge.   

It's always interesting to me to try and hear what song I think has the closest connection to the album prior to it. I feel Wherever I May Roam is that song that sounds closest to something that could have been on Justice. It's long. It's built around a phrygian dominant structure like much of Justice. Has a harmony guitar break, like every song on Justice. The only thing really missing is the wild complexity in time signature, but that's what makes it fit well on The Black Album.  If it was some random prog thrasher in the middle of this album it would really seem out of place.

Roam features, again, one of my favorite guitar solos by Kirk Hammett. Some of Kirk's best work is all over this album. I heard on a recent interview that Kirk approached his solos differently here than he does today where he goes mostly on feel.  To each their own and the musician should do what they want and what seems right in the moment, but you can't really deny this album has some of Kirk's best work as a composing soloist even if the solos lack room for the improv he truly enjoys doing. Wherever I May Roam's closing solo was largely improv, though and it turned out great so even in improv you can often stumble on majic that you could never create by sitting down and writing for hours, days or weeks on end. There's room for both approaches, though.

Don't Tread On Me

Don't Tread on Me and Escape (from Ride The Lightning) were often said to be the band's least favorite Metallica songs. The rumor is that Escape was too much of their young attempt at a radio friendly hit and sounds too light to be on a thrashy album like RTL. As for Tread, I'm not sure what they don't like about it.

When I first got this album, my friends and I loved jamming this song. The riff is great, the solo is cool. It's a nice quick rockin' tune. I don't get it. This song isn't really disliked by the fans, either. I wouldn't call it some deep-cut fan favorite, but it's not really a hated song. Ya know, like Purify or Slither. (Actually, I like Slither, but it's an unpopular track).

It was finally played live 10 years ago when Metallica played TBA in its entirety. When it came time to play Ride The Lightning in its entirety James even joked around saying "do I have to???" before playing Escape. 

Obviously, it's a patriotic song. The title from the gadsden flag used during the American Revolution.  While much of Justice was politically angry in tone and anti-establishment. This song was written in a more positive tone. The message being that despite our issues, America is still a great place to call home.

Hetfield would say, 

"This is the other side of that [what was said on ...And Justice For All]. America is a fucking good place. I definitely think that. And that feeling came about from touring a lot. You find out what you like about certain places and you find out why you live in America, even with all the bad fucked-up shit. It's still the most happening place to hang out."

 The song is not pro (or anti) war. James would describe it as a "don't fuck with us" song. I think that's better than I could ever word it.

Through The Never

The song, not the feature film.  Come to think of it, I find it weird that Metallica named their film after this song. This is what I would call a popular deep-cut, but it's not a very well known song. Why name your film after a deep cut from 1991?

Even though Never is somewhat a deep cut, it hasn't been forgotten about by the band. It's been played live on multiple tours. Again, it's a catchy, quick rocker. A trademark with this album. I've spoken a lot about the guitar solos on this album. There's not one that I don't think is incredible.  Through The Never may be my 2nd-favorite guitar solo on this album. My favorite? Well, I didn't mention what my favorite was earlier, so you know it's coming after this song.  Oh, the suspense.   This solo is great, though. 

Nothing Else Matters

Elton John recently said on The Howard Stern Show, that Nothing Else Matters is one of the greatest songs ever written. It sounds like hyperbole, but I ain't going to disagree with him. Along with The Unforgiven, this was the song that made me personally want to pick up a guitar and there are probably hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of other people who could say the same goes for them.

Earlier I called Enter Sandman the bridge, Jason Newsted called this song a barrier breaker. This soft love ballad was and is huge for metal. This song that everyone around the world wanted to hear, got to hear it... along with Creeping Death, Blackened, Battery, One, Whiplash and Sanitarium. Jason had a great point that can't go unnoticed. This one song opened doors to new countries and had this band play for new ears who got to hear this song for 6 minutes and then proceeded to hear songs like the aforementioned hard hitters for another hour and a half.

Many of you have heard the story. James Hetfield was sitting in a hotel, missing his then girlfriend, fiddling on his guitar while on the phone, heard the potential of this song, hung up the phone, and began writing. The song was a love song to his girlfriend that he hid from the band and never intended on it being on a Metallica record. To James, this wasn't a "Metallica song" it was just something he wrote. Once Lars heard the song, he was convinced to include it for the album.

The song is credited to Lars Ulrich as well, but I think it's a bit of a "Lennon/McCartney" type deal when it comes to this song. James wrote the whole thing, plays all the guitars and even the guitar solo on this song. It is very much a solo Hetfield effort with Lars maybe adding some direction. If it weren't for Lars, there's a strong chance this song wouldn't have been released so I suppose he deserves some credit for the track.

One of the best songs ever? That's hard to say. Rolling Stone recently updated their list of the 500 best songs ever written. I don't know if this song is on there because I don't give a shit about what those elitist, out of touch, old snobs have to say about music or anything else for that matter, but if I were to make such a list it would be there. Where? Who knows. Considering all the songs written in the history of this planet, being anywhere in the top 500 is pretty good.  Also, considering Elton himself has written some songs that would be on that list as well, I'll take his word for it. Why not. Nothing Else Matters, one of the best songs ever written. 

Of Wolf and Man

Any wolves out there? For this song, I could almost copy and paste what I said about Through The Never.  It's a popular deep cut that has seen a lot of action on the road as well. Wolf  has been played on multiple tours since The Black Album tour. On the 1999 album, S&M in which Metallica played a live performance along with the San Fransisco Symphony Orcestera, this song was included on the set list along side what was largely a "greatest hits" set.

The God That Failed 

This is Metallica's first song in which they tuned the guitars down to Eb, which makes it one of two songs on the album that are not in standard tuning. The Black Album is the last Metallica album, until Death Magnetic, to be predominatly in standard tuning.  Eb would actually be their main tuning from Load until St. Anger and remains to this day their tuning live for all standard tuned songs.

Musical theory babble out of the way, this song is one of my personal favorite Metallica songs of any era on any album. Remember I said my favorite guitar solo on this album was to come? Here it is. This song is just great. Love the intro with the bass highlighted. The riff is great. Its heavy. Its powerful. Everything down to the ending where they repeat that lick played before the verse and end with a clean E minor chord.

When I saw Metallica in Boston in 2004, they played this song live which was a total shock to me. I can't praise the song enough. My favorite on the album. One of my personal favorites to play on the guitar as well and one I even used to play with my first band. Myself and the other guitarist would do a dual-solo type deal where he played the first half and I played the 2nd half. It was pretty cool.

My Friend of Misery

To me this song has Joan Crawford syndrome from Blue Oyster Cult's "Fire of Unknown Origin". If I could change one thing about this album, it would be the placement of this track. It should have been the closer. It would have been a perfect closer for Black. It's so perfect as a closer that ever since I first heard this album, my brain always thinks the next track is some sort of bonus track.

Misery features a bass intro written by Jason Newsted and this song acts as his 2nd writing credit with Metallica. The song was originally intended... actually, "intended" in too strong a word... Jason Newsted wanted this song to be an instrumental track and the song would kind of act as his "Orion" type moment.  The band was not interested in doing an instrumental song on this album. Honestly, I don't mind. I love this song. It's always been one of my favorites by the band.  So, no complaints here with how it came out. My one complaint is that it should have closed the album, but hey, it's the digital age. I can always just track it last on my computer with a simple click. 

The Struggle Within

The actual closer on The Black Abum. The Struggle Within isn't bad. It has a cool intro with a harmony guitar riff and a rolling snare. The solo is kind of wild. Its a fun track, its just miscast as a closer in my opinion. Unless the band was going for a sort of encore type feel, where they do a big epic song second-to-last and then close with an upbeat, quick punch. 

That theory makes a little sense when you consider Bob Rock's approach to this album was to recreate the power that the band had live. 

Struggle caps of The Black Album well enough, though. Again, its not a bad tune at all on its own, but placement does matter to me as someone who likes to take in albums the old school way and listen to them from start to finish as the journey the artist intended. Kirk Hammett sure finishes this album the way he started. Ripping another great solo to bless this track.

Has Record Store Day Lost Its Charm?

 

Ahh... The record store. A music lover's paradise. Especially in this digital age of streaming and free content at our fingertips and stores closing left and right as a result it's nice to visit our local record stores and search for good deals that you can't find anywhere else and also help out your local economy in the process. Everyone wins.  

As a bit of a collector myself, nothing beats the experience of searching through stacks of various album formats to find something rare and for a good price. There has always been something shallow about plucking records and CD's off eBay. I've done it as a last resort, but as nice as it was to finally hold a Black Sabbath "Headless Cross" in my hand or Days of the New "Red", it would have been a thousand times more thrilling if I discovered those at a local record store or flea market. 

So, how about a holiday to celebrate record stores? It's no secret they're struggling right now and while one consumer-driven holiday won't save them all, it sure doesn't hurt. Record Store Day started in 2007, but admittedly I didn't know about it until 2008 when Metallica became ambassadors for the holiday and their goal to promote the spirit of going to record stores and finding new music, and taking home a physical copy. Since then, I marked the day on my calendar and made sure to go out and at least buy one thing from a local record store.

2017 was my peak year for RSD.  A couple friends and I scoured southern New England. Starting up at Newbury Comics in Norwood before ending down in Providence, Rhode Island, and everything in between. The Time Capsule in Seekonk, MA. Sunset Records in Somerset, MA. In Your Ear in Warren, RI.  Armageddon Shop and What Cheer Records in Providence, RI. Those are just the stores I remember off memory.  It was a blast, with some of these places even having live bands playing in the store.  It was a lot of fun and I even scored an exclusive Alice in Chains 7" vinyl. A successful outing as a collector and a lot of fun. 

Over the years, though, it seems like RSD has lost its charm for me. What started out as a fun way to hang on to something that was becoming a part of the past, and fast, that was enjoyable for young and old music lovers alike, I fear has now become a bit too corporate. Cluttered up with rare exclusives that are scalped and put on eBay. Long lines akin to Black Friday door-busters at Walmart or Old Navy.  Every year you see the list of these "exclusives" and what are they? Something new? Something with rare b-sides and demos? Hardly. It's usually the same old stuff put out over and over again just to trick the consumer and super-fans into buying the same records over and over.  Like how Wayland Smithers trampled over kids because Malibu Stacey had a new hat, people gobble of a $30 record because now it's being printed in blue. On top of that people are going crazy spending ridiculous amounts of money of modern records that are all printed from digital masters, which defeats the entire purpose of having it on vinyl in the first place... Unless you're just buying it just to have the big cover art and frame on your wall or something.  Hell, if that's the case, just order a hi-res shot and go to Staples. 

Sure, we are still going to independent stores to get these exclusives, but this bombardment of exclusives and limited runs also means the record companies found one more way to get you to pay money over and over again for the same releases.  Hey, you got that fancy "20 Year Anniversary Collector's" edition with extra photos in the gatefold? Well, you're gonna love the fancy 25 year edition in silver with two bonus live songs.  Sure, there's a lot of new music you could be exploring, but who wants to spend $30 on that when you can slip into one these various reissues of classic records like and old shoe. I mean, screw buying the actual original release used from the same store for $8. We need that one with the RSD sticker on it.


To me, RSD wasn't about waiting in a long line to run to various displays and pick them apart before everyone else did. It was about getting back that feeling of the record store and being around music lovers. Not just collectors and eBay resellers. Not just a bunch of parents doing all the actual footwork to make sure their hipster brat get some exclusive record to take a selfie with on Instagram with her tits out and have a bunch of creepy old guys tell them how badass they are.

Much like Black Friday, you hear about all these "deals" but they're always hidden. The "deals" aren't the new exclusives everyone wants. The deals are usually a bin of old 45's or comic books no one ever wants or a stack of dusty old 8 Track tapes that no one can play. One of the stores I went to had EVERYTHING 50% off at a certain time of day and I was lucky enough to be there at that time. That's was RSD is about. That's what makes it worth it. 

Record stores to me aren't about waking up at 4AM to beat a line to maybe be one of the first 100 people in the store and pick up a limited print. Its not about a bunch of hectic customers frantically looking around relatively small spaces and hanging over your shoulder while you look for something. It's not about waiting in lines for 20 minutes to pay for the one thing you came in for and be shipped like cattle in and out of the store with no actual interaction with the people working there already stressed out themselves the first thing in the morning.

My best record store memories are going there and finding things like my Waylon Jennings compilation on vinyl. Now, sure, I love Waylon, but what made it special was it still had the "Ames" price tag on the cellophane wrap. That may not mean anything to many of you reading this, but Ames was an old department store in New England, and other parts of the Northeast United States like New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, that closed for good in 2002. So, more than just having an old record, I had an additional connection to the past recorded right there on the cover. On top of that, the Ames logo was red. They changed their logo to teal in 1990.  It was a great find and only cost me $3.99 and even if the record was released in my favorite color with bonus tracks it would never replace the bit of local history on it that I own by having that Ames price tag on it still. 

Memories like being there on non-sale days, the quiet times of the year (where you find the real deals, by the way) and talking with actual music fans who are there for the same reason you are. Also striking up conversations with the owners. Just looking around without feeling like there's a constant timer over your head to snatch up a limited exclusive or check out before some flash sale runs up. Some of my best memories and finds are after just spending 45 minutes looking through everything. Combing the entire store and maybe only buying one thing. One thing that is used and I know all of my money is supporting the shop, as well. Memories like after many years and avoiding eBay actually finding "Fused" by Iommi and only spending $4 on it instead of $45. 

All these memories are just on normal days like today. You want to support these stores? Do it now. That's the true record store experience. RSD is nice to get people in these independent stores. Also, I'm glad it is reserved for indy stores, but you can't stop progress. You know that someday Walmart will be in on this, too. They already have their own versions of exclusive records. I'm not even sure how they define "independent" either since mall shops like FYE even take part in RSD and they are hardly what I'd call some independent record store. Hell, they probably sell more Funko Pops and Anime tee's than actual music these days.  I guess it's alright for one day out of the year they remind people that they actually still sell records and CD's.

----------------------------

Thank you for reading, everyone. The point of this piece was not to bury RSD and call for it to end. Like I said, there is still some good. RSD brings out a lot of casual buyers into stores they perhaps would not have gone to without mass marketing and promotion giving them a reason to. Also, in bringing in all these people, they may see something outside of the corporate re-releases that catches their eye.  Maybe this casual music consumer becomes a new collector. Maybe this casual consumer discovers a new (or old) band that becomes a big part of their life all because of the massive RSD advertising campaigns every year. Those are all good things and if RSD went away forever, I would not be happy about it at all. I just feel in some ways RSD has jumped the shark and once you open up the corporate box, you can't close it. This is just what it is now. Another Black Friday, this time for music fans. 

As for your remaining record stores, I hope RSD continues to be a success for you, but more importantly, I hope the days and weeks after RSD are successful, too. 

For CMM, thanks for reading, everyone. God bless.

Review of Angry Video Game Nerd's new Rex Viper music project

 

Thoughts on Rex Viper

Hello everyone and welcome back to my music blog. It has been a while. No, I didn't give up on this. I very much enjoy writing.  Last summer I moved and it wasn't until December where I settled in and was able to get a computer and find time to write again. 

While I do a lot of retro reviews, I also very much like talking about what's new out there. So... The Grammy's? No. I won't be talking about that and no it isn't a sort of boycott over anything that happened on the show this year. The Grammy's has been garbage for decades. This year they may have been more apparent in their filth and ineptitude, but it has been that way for as long as I can remember. Maybe at one time it was some great night of celebrating the year in music, but I'm 33 and I can never think of a time in my life, and certainly never in my adult life, where I felt the best music of the day was accurately and appropriately being celebrated and awarded.  It's like any award show now. No one really watches, so they need gimmicks to get Twitter buzzing to hang on to some ruptured remains of relevance. The less attention you give them -- the better. If you're reading this, I assume you are a music lover and you already know institutions like the Recording Academy and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are just a pointless elitist circle jerk of nonsense where a bunch of out of touch suits, executives and bitter old songwriters that no one has ever heard of deciding what is good.

Anyway, instead of talking about any particular album that has come out this year, I want to talk about Rex Viper, since I'm not sure I will ever get the chance to again. Rex Viper is a band seemingly lead by James Rolfe of Cinemassacre, best known for going viral as a YouTube star in the late 2000's as the "Angry Video Game Nerd".   There was a boom in retro gaming going on at the time and the AVGN character certainly helped that boom become even larger and exposing video games that either the mainstream had long forgotten about or had completely never heard of. 

The Angry Video Game Nerd started out on old VHS tapes in 2004 and was uploaded to YouTube in 2006 where he would become an internet hit. In 2021 James Rolfe, now 40 years of age, is still uploading videos to YouTube as the AVGN along with occasional "let's plays" and commentaries on film as himself and various other uploads.

In July of 2020 Cinemassacre subscribers were surprised to see a music video dropped on this channel showing Rolfe, as himself, playing a guitar in the thumbnail with the songtitle being "Mighty Wings & Hadoukens" The song itself being a crossover cover of Might Wings by Cheap Trick and Ken's Theme from the video game Streetfighter 2.  The description of the video said this was "just for fun" which to me implies that the other musicians hooked up with James, they had this idea for a music video and song with a video game tie-in and James was on board with the project.  I believe it was after this post, the project became more serious, and later in the year in a channel update video, James announced the new band was being called "Rex Viper" and even displayed a logo.

The band consists of James Rolfe on guitar, James Harding on vocals, "Epic Game Music" on lead guitar, "Squarepainter" on bass and rounded out with Jeff Worton on Drums. Screenwave employees Keiran Fallon and Justin Silverman who play keytar and backing vocals respectively are also listed as part of the band, but I'm unsure how "official" they are since in the video Keiran is playing a toy instrument and Justin does a bit of comedic lip sync and other gestures when he is shown.  These two help with modern AVGN episodes, so I'm not sure if their involvement in Rex Viper is truly significant or if they are just there because this band is features on the Cinemassacre channel and the decision was made to include these guys as well.

As far as this first song goes, I thought it was fine. The mix of the two songs was well done. The band is going for an 80s power metal type vibe and I believe they achieved that. While James is the face of the band, I think the true talent lies in this band's singer, James Harding. He belts out a strong vocal and holds nothing back.  If anything, this project might even expose him to more big-time bands looking for a quality singer. Also, he also looks the part the most of anyone else in the band. Harding doesn't exactly look like your typical rock star with his short hair and thick, black glasses, but he doesn't look out of place as the true frontman in a rock band and also doesn't look like a fat slob wearing old Hot Topic clothes like many current bar bands look.

James would also post a video of him playing guitar by himself jamming some Black Sabbath riffs. More on that later.

"Nintendo Power of Love" was the next song and music video released by Rex Viper. Despite a thousand comments saying the title should have been "Nintendo Power of Glove", I'm fine with this title. The song is a cover of Huey Lewis & The News' "Power of Love" from Back to the Future which also utilizes the NES Back to the Future theme, which is basically a sped up version of Power of Love.

This I was not as much of a fan of. The cover itself was fine. Again, the vocalist was great and my favorite part of the whole thing, so he gets a pass here. To me, the "Rex Viper" project already jumped the shark and lost any sense of charm the project had going for it,

Let me explain.

Instead of letting this new band grow and stand on its own feet, what does James do? All of a sudden there's a hype video starring "Mr. Rigs" a one-off character from AVGN's Big Rigs episode back in 2014 is now named "Rex Viper Rigs" hyping up the next music video by Rex Viper.  That alone may seem somewhat harmless, but the video was a bit corny. I don't know if it hurt, but it really didn't help matters in my opinion. The actual shark jump for me came when I saw the thumbnail (above) of Rolfe, in his AVGN glasses, making his AVGN face in the thumbnail. I mean, look at that thumbnail. It doesn't even say "Rex Viper" on it.  If you were scrolling your subscriptions quickly you'd think that this is a new AVGN episode, not a music video like the previous thumbnail that featured James Rolfe, as himself, playing guitar. 

The reason I have such a problem with this is because we are two --TWO! songs into this whole thing and it already seems like instead of focusing on finding their sound and just pumping out good songs, they are more worried about being a YouTube hit by using James' AVGN character to artificially inflate the view count and perceived popularity of the band.  Especially with that thumbnail that looks like it was cleverly designed to trick fans and gamers into thinking this was going to be an AVGN episode so even if they clicked on accident at least it still counted and pleased whatever algorithm tricks they're trying to pull.

While the first video claimed it was "just for fun", I came into this one with a different mindset since now they are a serious band with a name and are publishing their music on other platforms. This brings up my issue with James Rolfe. Now, I know James out of character comes off as a nice guy and I may come off as a huge jerk for saying anything bad about him, but I just have to be honest... Rolfe is no musician. I'm aware that many of you may have a more liberal definition of what a musician is, but to me James is more of a hobbyist.  Remember that video of James playing Black Sabbath riffs? It was cool and all, but you could tell he just kind of dabbles with the instrument in his spare time. He's not a serious player. It's a hard thing to describe unless you play an instrument yourself, and I'm not saying you need to be some shred crazy virtuoso to be considered a musician, but James lacks the form, basic vibrato, palm muting and rhythm of a matured guitarist.

This wouldn't be that big of a deal if it weren't for one major detail, that being that James is the face of this band. Not only is this seen as "James Rolfe's new band" its him as Rex Viper Rigs as the band's "hype man" and roadie and it's James as the AVGN in the thumbnail of the latest song and the main theme of the song's music video. The whole thing comes off as "AVGN: The band" even though he is the least experienced musician of the group.

It kind of reminds me of the band Fozzy. The band fronted by pro-wrestler Chris Jericho.  The band's popularity has largely been pushed by being associated with a pretty big time wrestler during a time where wrestling was incredibly popular. All this despite the fact that Chris Jericho can't really sing (out of the studio) and is not a songwriter.  Guitarist Rich Ward is pretty much the backbone of Fozzy and everyone in the band knows how to sing so Jericho can be carried through a live performance without sounding like a total drunk karaoke singer.  

Nevertheless, Fozzy is "Chris Jericho's band" and the rest are along for the ride despite being the actual drivers. The same way James, now 40 years old, woke up one day and said he wanted to be in a band and instead of just being in a band and jamming, its more important to use what celebrity he has left in a completely different genre to try and push this project. 

It took one song and one video for this whole thing to go from cool/fun little thing James is doing these days to a straight-up vanity project for himself. That's all it comes off as now with James being little more than a glorified mascot to push the band forward while the actual musicians do the real work. Also, James prides himself as a filmmaker, and the music video for "Nintendo Power of Love" was not great either. It came off cheap, probably because it was, but it wasn't good, campy cheap. It just looked lazy cheap, but whatever. I'm no film reviewer. I just know I've seen a lot better music videos done by people with a lot less experience and money than James Rolfe has.

----------------------

I know I cut into that last release pretty hard, but that's my review and my honest thoughts. It's too soon to say this whole Rex Viper thing can't be saved, though. I just think James needs to lay off the AVGN themes and imagery and also take a bit of a back seat in the band. The thumbnails should feature the band. Not just James Rolfe and certainly not Rolfe as the AVGN.  It's already on his channel that boasts over 3 million subscribers. He doesn't need to be the ONLY ONE featured. We don't know anything about the band and unless you read the descriptions and search their social media, you wouldn't know the names of the others in the band as well. 

The material needs some work, too. If you're gonna be a parody band, then you better have good comedy to back it up in a world with Weird Al Yankovich or Steel Panther. The first song got away with mixing the two songs well and basically sticking the word "Hadoukens" in the lyrics to be the vocal tie in with the game. Nintendo Power of Love was pretty much just a hard rock cover of Power of Love.  Yes, there was a final verse added that shoehorned aspects of the NES Back to the Future game into the lyrics, but its not like they were cleverly inserted in a witty or satirical way.  So, with that said, if this band plans on releasing an actual full-length album, they have to put some work into making some funny, memorable lines instead of just taking a song from a movie that was also made into a video game that James reviewed as the AVGN and turning it into a power metal song. That was good enough the first time when it was "just for fun", but now that they are a band with a name, logo, hype man and on various music streaming platforms, then they have to up their game. Also, I'm not even sure with great material if a project like this even has a chance in 2021. We are well past the boom in 80s nostalgia where James made his name.  So, who is this project going to appeal to since its being pushed so hard? Appeal to 80s rock loving 40 year olds who are into retro gaming still? Yeah. This is going to need a little more work, unless they want to revert back to it being "just for fun".

Thanks again for reading, everyone.