"Guilty pleasure" albums?

[mad rhetorik]

Funny that you've got Dream Theater & Licensed To Ill in the same post...I went to high school with both Rick Rubin (who I didn't know), & Mike Portnoy (who I did). Kinda funny that these two guys went on put out music that was for the most part complete opposites (notwithstanding Rubin's production of bands like Slayer & other metal bands). Friends of mine, including a longtime bandmate, played in a hardcore punk band with Rubin in the early 80s--the Pricks. I've never seen Rubin take a guitar credit, but I think most of the playing on Licensed To Ill is actually him. Pretty sure of that, actually--not the Kerry King solo, of course, but I'm sure he played that riff on 'No Sleep To Brooklyn'--and those guitar parts were definitely not sampled, at least not most of 'em (Custard Pie & Down On The Corner, at the end of Time To Get Ill, might've been, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head that sounded sampled). Did the riff on 'Brooklyn' come from another tune? It was one of the few on the rec I wouldn't be able to identify..

Were you friends with Mr. Portnoy by any chance? Or did your conflicting musical philosophies rule that out? ; P

Anyway, now that you mention it, I'm not sure who did the riff on "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." It sounds like it was recorded live in a studio, not sampled. The solo, as you mentioned, is definitely Kerry--his bullsh-t trem bar-riding style gives him away immediately. However the rhythm riff is probably one of three things--a Kerry overdub, Rubin himself, or maybe Slayer's rhythm guitarist Jeff Hanneman. If it is Rubin, than I complement him on his mean axework. His experience with the Pricks must've paid off.

If I'm totally wrong (which I doubt) and it did in fact come from another tune, it most likely came from a Slayer song. Since I'm not a Slayer fan at all (metalhead heresy, I know : P) I wouldn't know exactly where it came from.

Oh yeah, and those are definitely samples at the end of "Time To Get Ill."

Oh, and give Sublime another chance. I had a couple of collections that were pretty marginal, but I'm with Slosh on this one--their self-titled album is very, very good. Before I heard their stuff I was suspicious, because their fan base seemed to be criminally trendy, but unlike a lot of the 'alternative' music of the day that was extremely popular, when I actually heard the album I thought it was a damn good piece of work, still do. The sampling of 'Summertime' is a masterstroke; the raps on 'Garden Grove' & April 29, 1992 (Miami) are both great, & 'What I Got' is just a great pop song. Anything else I'd steer clear of, but that's a mighty fine rec.

Funny, you named most of the songs I liked on there. I also liked "Wrong Way" and "Santeria," but both of those got plenty of radio time (on my local stations at least) and I soon got tired of them. The rest of the album was filler. Moreover I was also sick of every backwards-cap Abercrombie-wearing beefhead fratboy saying "SUBLIME ROOLZ!!!" especially when most of the chuckfu-ks are stoned out of their gourds or watching football games while the album is playing anyway.

[MindGoneHaywire]

Were you friends with Mr. Portnoy by any chance? Or did your conflicting musical philosophies rule that out? ; P

Not really friends, though we got along fine. I was two grades ahead of him if I remember correctly. But we were classmates in Hebrew School (yes), and played in the school band in Jr. High & HS also. At the time I actually didn't know much beyond the Beatles & Rolling Stones, Who & Led Zeppelin. He & his friends were into stuff like Rush & Van Halen (who I eventually discovered also). It strikes me now that while I got into AC/DC around that time, I don't think those guys were into them--though they were 'heavy,' they liked busier stuff, I guess. On a school band trip in Jr. High Mike had a Zappa tape--Sheik Yerbouti. Ever hear 'Broken Hearts Are For @$$holes?' I thought it was hilarious. I thought about it recently & wondered which was odder, that kids our age (they were 12/13, I was 14) were listening to stuff like that, or that songs like that (which do seem like they're meant to appeal to 14-year-old boys so they can giggle about it) were being recorded by a guy who was near 40 years old at the time.

Anyway, now that you mention it, I'm not sure who did the riff on "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." It sounds like it was recorded live in a studio, not sampled.

Like I said, I'm pretty sure that most of the guitar playing on the record is. I think that the part that's lifted from War's 'Low Rider' for 'Slow Ride' was played live also.

The solo, as you mentioned, is definitely Kerry--his bullsh-t trem bar-riding style gives him away immediately.

Ha! I wouldn't know. If you'd told me at the time that it was the guy from Voivod or Venom or Metallica or Megadeth or any of those sorts of bands I would never have been able to tell the difference. I still wouldn't be able to tell. The thing is, he was credited prominently on the album, & it was known at the time that RR was producing a Slayer record. The guy was in the video, also, playing the solo.

However the rhythm riff is probably one of three things--a Kerry overdub, Rubin himself, or maybe Slayer's rhythm guitarist Jeff Hanneman. If it is Rubin, than I complement him on his mean axework. His experience with the Pricks must've paid off.

Unless I'm horribly off, RR played most of the guitar on the album, so I don't see why he'd have someone else play a part that sounds like most of the rest of the guitar work on the album...with the same exact guitar sound as the rest of the album. Mean axework? Surely you jest. I'm told he was a good player--but if I were judging strictly by the playing on that record, which was done strictly to inject a white-boy guitar rock sensibility to rap music, I'd say it makes Johnny Ramone sound like Django Reinhardt.

If I'm totally wrong (which I doubt) and it did in fact come from another tune, it most likely came from a Slayer song. Since I'm not a Slayer fan at all (metalhead heresy, I know : P) I wouldn't know exactly where it came from.

It sounds like something simple, not like a Slayer song. It's just a simple riff, using 5 chords in a 3-chord figure. Barre chords. Like 'Fight For Your Right,' I'm sure it was written specifically for that record.

Oh yeah, and those are definitely samples at the end of "Time To Get Ill."

Yeah...thought so. I think that 'Slow & Low' features a sample, also. That had been a B-side previously--the She's On It single. Have you ever heard the older 45s? I picked up a bootleg copy of 'Rock Hard' a few years ago. I'd been looking for that for YEARS. It was IMPOSSIBLE to find. It's the Beasties--when RR was their DJ--rapping over AC/DC's Back In Black. It kinda stinks, except it's great.