CD Odyssey Disc 1885: Triumph

Welcome back. This week features the triumphant return of a band from my youth. Triumphant – get it? Get it? Man, I crack myself up…

Disc 1885 is… Never Surrender

Artist: Triumph

Year of Release: 1982

What’s up with the Cover? Triumph’s signature logo, if it were a helmet crest. Based on the notches under his left eye, this soldier’s had some close calls while in the business of ‘never surrendering’.

Or maybe he just takes very poor care of his helmet, and it’s gotten dinged up through neglect.

How I Came To Know It: I knew Triumph fairly well as a kid, although my limited purchasing power meant I had to rely on whichever records my brother bought at the time. In 2022 my love for the band was rekindled after watching an excellent documentary about them.

How It Stacks Up: Triumph has released ten studio albums and while the super fans depicted in the documentary likely have them all, I am just a “regular” fan and own four, with no current plans for expansion.

Of those four, one had to be last and “Never Surrender” is that album. Don’t feel bad for it, though; if you’re following along closely, you’ll know that this places it fourth out of 10. You just won’t be reading about numbers 5 – 10 here.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

Early eighties hard rock was its own beast. Stadium shows were the gold standard and to get there bands had to be bigger and more grandiose in their approach to music to fit the intended venues. By 1982, Triumph was a fairly big deal (at least in Canada) and “Never Surrender” feels like a record recorded with the ability to recreate its majesty on very big live stages. This generates some generic bombast, but also a few gems.

As always, the secret weapon that elevates Triumph is their exceptional musicianship, most notably co-lead singer and guitarist Rik Emmett. The record’s two best songs (“A World of Fantasy” and “Never Surrender”) are both sung by Emmett. Emmett’s vocals are very high and anthemic, which was a common sound at the time, but few can elevate to the kind of power he hits, even when singing at the very top of his head voice. Nary a whisper in there as he belts out notes sure to set the crystal in your house ringing.

“A World of Fantasy” is the kind of song that would have appealed to me very differently as a lad compared to now. Back then I was very into fantasy games and books, and lines like…

“You were drawin' me in to your spider's web
With your hungry eyes
I was under your power, I was in your spell
I was hypnotized”

…would have had me thinking of the last session of D&D I’d played and then carefully hid from my school mates (unlike now, back in the day playing those kind of games was social kryptonite and not talked about the next day outside of hushed whispers).

As an adult I now realize the song is about sex, which is also pretty great, and detracts from the song’s enjoyment not a whit.

The album’s title track is the reason this record will never leave the collection. “Never Surrender” is one of rock and roll’s great anthems. As a kid I found it empowering, and a reminder that no matter what life throws at you, you’ll feel better standing in the gales of fortune, and holding fast.

As an adult, nothing about this song has changed, and it is still great advice.

Rik Emmett is equally gifted on the guitar. Classically trained, he once again converts his exceptional skills on the axe into a rock and roll juggernaut. Songs like “Never Surrender” showcase tasty licks, power chords, groove and crunch all in just the right mix.

Every Triumph album features Emmett getting his classical skills on with short instrumentals as well, and on this record we have the pastoral “A Minor Prelude” and the atmospheric “Epilogue (Resolution)”. The latter is one of my favourite songs on the album if for no other reason than the tone Emmett evokes from his instrument. It lifts and melts you at the same time, letting you know the record is over in the same way a fine glass of port lets your palate know dinner is over.

My only quibble about the record is that there is a lot of “the same” going on. There aren’t bad songs per se, but there are more than a couple that are just “oh yeah, stadium rock” without distinguishing features that call your attention. The driving rock guitar on these tracks is fun, but sometimes it can have a “bar band makes it big” feeling. Fortunately, even on the more boring tracks, Emmett wisely throws in a “holy shit!” solo or two to remind you that even when they’re giving the people what they want, Triumph can take it to another level.

Before I depart, a kind word for the band’s other vocalist, drummer Gil Moore. While Gil doesn’t have the anthemic power of Emmett, he is a bit more bluesy in his approach – the Rob Halford to Emmett’s Bruce Dickinson. Moore also has some pretty impressive chops and is solid on the drums as well. His work on “Battle Cry” is him at his best.

Overall, this is a good record that is just shy of being great that over forty years later continues to remind me to never surrender. Thanks, lads.

Best tracks: A World of Fantasy, Battle Cry, Never Surrender, Epilogue (Resolution)

CD Odyssey Disc 1884: Jake Vaadeland

I was asked last night about my top 10 albums of 2025. The year isn’t over yet, but this next record will be in contention to make the list.

Disc 1884 is… One More Dollar to Go

Artist: Jake Vaadeland

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? Jake Vaadeland kicks it old school. For Jake “kickin’ it” is putting on a suit and posing respectfully with your guitar.

How I Came To Know It: Whenever a festival comes to town, I make a point of listening to every artist ahead of time, so I know when to show up and when to leave each day. Often it is the early acts that catch my ear over the headliners. Frankly, by the time the headliners come on the audience is typically less engaged with the music, not more. Many would decry such claims later when showing the snippets they filmed on their i-Phones, but we who were there for the music saw what we saw.

But I digress…

Jake Vaadeland was one of the acts at this year’s Rifflandia, so I checked him out ahead of time. I loved it so much I made sure to show up early. Once I was at the show I bought both his LPs (and a t-shirt to boot) from the merch booth. And here we are…

How It Stacks Up: I have two Jake Vaadeland albums. They are both excellent, but “One More Dollar to Go” is #1.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

Jake Vaadeland is unapologetically traditional. He is so traditional you will swear these are songs your mom used to play when you were a kid, maybe even your grandpa. You’d be wrong though, Vaadeland just writes tunes that are so timeless you think they’ve been around forever.

Writing original songs with a style and genre dating back anywhere from fifty to ninety years ago that are not derivative is damn hard. About as hard as writing a great pop hook, and way less appreciated. Vaadeland rises again and again to this challenge. In the process he has created a record that has potential to have the same staying power of the artists he honours.

That style sits somewhere in a golden nexus of heart-worn Hank Williams Sr. honky tonk, the bluegrass mastery of Bill Monroe, and the high-floating quaver of Johnny Horton. If that sounds like some impressive company, you’d be right. Vaadeland’s style floats in and out and around all three of these greats and in the process finds his own space to hunker down and do right.

Vaadeland’s vocals are sneaky good. So sneaky you don’t notice on any individual song, but across the full record you realize just how much range he has from the top of his head voice down into the almost Elvis growl of his lower register. He isn’t a show-off about it either, letting his vocal performance sit down easy into the song as one of many complementary parts.

The other parts come courtesy of his backing band, the Sturgeon River Boys. These fellas are a fine match indeed. Sometimes they mosey through a song, and sometimes they play a furious torrent of notes, but slow or fast they are always clean and precise.

With this kind of music that precision is critical, or you’ve got one hell of a mess on your hands. There is no room for being off the beat on this music, which is often front-end loaded and leaning dangerously forward through every chord shift.

Even played well, this style can veer off and become technical and emotionally empty, but that never happens. The record is warm and engaging throughout. If anything you feel like you’ve been invited over to the Vaadeland family home and an impromptu concert has broken out in the living room. Move the chairs, push the couches against the wall, and dance with your partner.

Much like the musical backdrop, the lyrics are very old school without ever feeling fake or forced. “One More Dollar to Go” is a modern classic about being broke. Being broke is never fun, but this song sure gives you reason to celebrate anyway. Never was being down to your last dollar so joyfully delivered.

“Hot Headed Woman” is about a woman who is hard to love and hard not to, and equal parts uncomfortable and sly in its character study. It’s not a healthy relationship, but the song’s restless energy is a case study in how some folks are just drawn to things that aren’t good for them.

“One More Dollar” and “Hot Headed Woman” are both up-tempo tunes which belie their sad subject matter. Elsewhere, Vaadeland shows his range with the slow and tragic tunes like “Old White Home” and “Neath the Shade of the Tree.”

Despite his old-school style, Vaadeland is fresh and energetic throughout. His love for this music is not a mere mask he puts on, but resides in his bones. This joy flows out of his songwriting and delivery alike, creating a record that gets better and better on every listen.

Best tracks: One More Dollar to Go, Hot Headed Woman, Old White Home, Don’t Go to the Valley, Lonesome Motor Inn, Neath the Shade of the Tree, A Glass of Wine Will Fix It Every Time

The Concert: December 7, 2025 at the Capital Ballroom, Victoria BC

Having seen Vaadeland earlier this year at Rifflandia (read more about that weekend immediately following the Sleater-Kinney review here) I was excited for what I knew was going to be a good show.

We were also cagey about getting there early. The Capital Ballroom is a lovely space but seating with good sightlines is limited and to score any, you gotta get there before the crowd does.

With this in mind we arrived 45 minutes before curtain but as ill-luck would have it there was a collection of fellow “olds” that had already secured all the prime balcony spots. I settled for a floor table that I knew from past experience was both awesome (near the soundboard/mixer) but fraught with peril (subject to random tall dudes standing in front of you.

As it happened, things broke in the likely fashion, with both great sound AND a part of the show starting partly at the back of some dude’s head. So it goes…

The set was richly decorated with old-time furniture and a lit Christmas tree, and put you into a mood that was both festive and comfortable. Into this scene landed Vaadeland and his Sturgeon River Boys, striking up the music and immediately dialing up the energy to 10.

Album play is one thing, but playing these kinds of furiously quick tunes live without a hitch is another level, and yet the boys were flawless – or at least so near flawless my amateur ear never caught the error. The bass player (not the one from the record) particularly enraptured me, with tasty low-end licks that both kept the time (the band has no drummer) and then made that time jump and bounce.

This being Christmas time, Vaadeland did a couple of carols, including a medley of tunes sung in tight harmony. This could’ve been a bit stuffy, but it was far from it, and I found myself enjoying old Christmas songs in a way I hadn’t done in years.

Vaadeland’s originals are what I had really come to see, however, and I was not disappointed. The set featured a good range of his many old-timey styles, all played with grace and energy.

From time to time, Vaadeland would hold his guitar up alongside his ear. I imagined it was whispering secrets to him, but it could’ve just been him checking the tuning. Whatever it was, he never missed a cue regardless of where he swung his axe.

The show was highly scripted, with the exact same banter I’d heard at the Rifflandia set, albeit expanded with the bigger set-list. This stuff is pretty great the first time you hear it but lacks the organic feel on multiple run-throughs. A minor quibble, in an otherwise thoroughly uplifting and entertaining show. That banter includes mid-set “advertisements for our sponsors,” where Vaadeland shills for Pepsi and a vintage clothing store in Saskatoon called “Better Off Duds” in true old school fairground style. I looked “Better Off Duds” up later and can confirm that, just like Diet Pepsi, it’s real.

The audience was…average. For the most part well-behaved and appreciative, but there were a small minority that talked loudly through portions of the set. I’m not sure why people come to a music show to talk through it, but there are plenty of sports bars that can accommodate that behaviour. I wish they’d gone there instead.

At the end of the concert, Vaadeland thanked both the technical team that ran the sound, but also the venue staff. It was a nice touch from a class act.

If you get a chance to see Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys live I encourage you to go. You’re in for a good time, although you may leave with a strange desire to drink a Diet Pepsi and shop vintage.

CD Odyssey Disc 1883: Blue Oyster Cult

With my car in the shop, this week will feature much longer music listening opportunities courtesy of…the bus! Here’s the first offering courtesy of my triumphant (?) return to public transit.

Disc 1883 is… Ghost Stories

Artist: Blue Oyster Cult

Year of Release: 2024 (original recordings from 1978 – 1983)

What’s up with the Cover? A ritualistic BOC logo inscribed on the floor, framed by four candles, has summoned three ghosts. I like to think they are the ghosts of Allen Lanier, Joe Bouchard and Albert Bouchard for reasons that I will reveal later.

Whoever they are, it is a good thing ghosts don’t get tired of standing, because there’s just the one chair.

How I Came To Know It: Blue Oyster Cult is my favourite band, and I’ve known them all my life. Of course I was going to check out their latest record.

How It Stacks Up: I have 12 of Blue Oyster Cult’s studio albums. Of the twelve, Ghost Stories comes in at…#11. Since this is my first BOC review in four years, and is also the final studio album awaiting review, here’s a full accounting:

1. Secret Treaties: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 866)
2. Fire of Unknown Origin: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 751)
3. Spectres.: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 514)
4. Self-Titled: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1505)
5. Agents of Fortune: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 463)
6. Cultosaurus Erectus: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 206)
7. Tyranny and Mutation: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1273)
8. Mirrors: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 685)
9. Imaginos: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 838)
10. The Revolution by Night: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1159)
11. Ghost Stories: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
12. Club Ninja: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 780)

If you want to read more Blue Oyster Cult reviews (who wouldn’t) all the records above and also four live albums can be found here.

Ratings: 3 stars

I’ve loved Blue Oyster Cult since I was a star-eyed child searching for their hidden symbol in every album cover.

It is this abiding love that has made most of their recent studio albums such a letdown. From 1998 to 2020, BOC released only three albums and I liked exactly none of them. Having never experienced this before (just check out the fanboy ratings of the records above) my reaction went from an initial no-this-cannot-be! horror that morphed over the years into a despondent resignation as the final notes ended on 2020’s disappointing “The Symbol Remains”.

Was there never to be another worthy studio album from my childhood heroes? Well, cancel the pity party, because “Ghost Stories” announces the boys (all five of them) as back. After twenty plus years of waiting, we’ve got a keeper.

The record has an unfair advantage, in that it is actually a collection of studio recordings made from 1978 to 1983, remixed in 2024 and dubbed “the final studio album” upon its release.

This era of BOC music features two critically lauded classic records (1980’s “Cultasaurus Erectus” and “1981’s Fire of Unknown Origin”) which are bookended by two records of lesser acclaim (“Mirrors” (1979) and “The Revolution by Night” (1983). I happen to love them all.

Stylistically, “Ghost Stories” feels like it spans these records yet belongs to none of them. Every tune is a facet of Blue Oyster Cult, making the whole feel more like a collection of singles and B-sides. Despite this, there is a weird cohesion on multiple listens, akin to an ‘island of lost toys’ kind of vibe.

Blue Oyster Cult has always been blessed with the ability to try on a lot of different aspects of rock and roll. They prog out, they do stadium, they do doo wop and barroom blues. It’s all here on “Ghost Stories”.

The band was always blessed by multiple songwriters and singers, all contributing to something greater. What’s missing on those later studio records I couldn’t tolerate is the absence of key contributors like Joe and Albert Bouchard and (as of 2020) Allen Lanier. On “Ghost Stories” they are reunited with lifelong members Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma and the alchemy of the five of them sharing space and ideas returns from beyond the grave.

The opening track is “Late Night Street Fight”. It’s a Bloom/Joe Bouchard collaboration that ends up sounding like something off a late seventies Alice Cooper record. It’s not my favourite, but I love the way the band embraces that lascivious acid inspired sound all the same.

This is followed by Buck Dharma sixties crooner inspired “Cherry” which is pop schmaltz, with just the right amount of strange added. It’s a song about a girl, but somehow the band explores the dawn of creation at the same time. BOC is here to challenge you, even when wearing the skinsuits of sixties teen idols.

The third song is “So Supernatural” an atmospheric number from Joe Bouchard that sways its way into a room like a curtain blown by an unseen wind.

Rounding out the songwriter round, we have “Soul Jive” cowritten by Albert Bouchard and Patti Smith (a collaborator with the band at this time, as well as lover of Allen Lanier). This one has a mix of barroom guitar groove and a sublime bit of guitar work from Buck Dharma. Lanier adds some tasty touches of organ. All these sounds shouldn’t work together, but they do, and that’s the fearless magic of Blue Oyster Cult.

“Ghost Stories” also features the studio versions of “Kick Out the Jams” (MC5 cover) and “We Gotta Get Outta This Place” (Animals cover), both of which appear live on 1978’s “Some Enchanted Evening.” I prefer those live versions, but the studio versions are no joke.

Despite my fawning, the record is not perfect. There are moments where it felt like the band was trying too hard to play empty stadium rock anthems, and while they are OK, you can see why they didn’t make the cut on the albums at the time. The production feels a bit too clean in places as well, which I blame on the band’s decision to use AI to help master the original tapes.

That’s the only blame in me, though, and most of all I am thankful the band dusted off these old gems, polished them up, and reminded us one more time what this band was capable of when firing on all cylinders.

Best tracks: Cherry, So Supernatural, We Gotta Get Outta This Place, The Only Thing, Kick Out the Jams

CD Odyssey Disc 1882: Celtic Frost

Apologies for my lengthy absence, Dear Readers. I took a short vacation and music listening time required to bring you my always-scintillating insights never quite aligned. That sad state of affairs has now ended, and…I’m back.

Disc 1882 is… Vanity/Nemesis

Artist: Celtic Frost

Year of Release: 1990

What’s up with the Cover? The band have their “cool” faces on as they look out at us sternly from shards of broken glass.

Why the fragmented approach to the photo shoot? Well, you can’t tell from this photo, but all these dudes have Very Big Hair. I don’t think they would have fit on the cover otherwise.

How I Came To Know It: I knew Celtic Frost as a teenager. I loved the band name, but never got into them, so my knowledge was mostly second-hand by reputation (neither my brother nor I owned any). I was on an ill-advised (and since cured) break from metal in 1990 when this record came out.

I recently picked up their 1985 album “To Mega Therion” and liked it, so I decided to take a chance on this later offering.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Celtic Frost albums, and if you’ve been paying attention you already know which two. Of those, “Vanity/Nemesis” comes in at #2.

Ratings: 2 stars

Being trapped with this record for over a week means I got to hear it a lot. Often this plays to an album’s advantage, but not this time.

“Vanity/Nemesis” is a thrash metal record along the lines of early Metallica and Pantera, which are both bands I like. When I first put the record on I settled in quickly to the familiar sounds. The heavy chugging guitar is crunchy and deep, and the drumming is insistent to the point of being almost frantic. There are a lot of ingredients that should make for a solid record, and it had the particular advantage of being good driving music that I mostly experienced in my car.

There is even an early gem, in the form of “Wine in Hand (Third from the Sun)” that offers to pull you in. This song has some great Motorhead-style energy and an industrial underpinning that is part of what I appreciate about 1985’s “To Mega Therion”. The crunch of guitar comes in and out in the arrangement in just the right amount to leave you wanting more.

Unfortunately, this formula is not consistently delivered for much of the record. They don’t just double down on the crunchy guitar, they triple down, to the point of where it starts to feel forced. It is akin to moshing a bit too hard for a bit too long and throwing out your neck. All that crunch needs a bit of structure around it to make it work.

Celtic Frost gamely tries to provide this, but the changes of pace feel draggy and unfocused – like placeholders while the band impatiently waits to return to the crunch. The guitar solos also didn’t have the artistry to lift things up. They’re well played, but don’t add a lot to most of the songs.

All of this can be overcome with some grade A vocals, but apart from a couple tracks I list below, lead singer Thomas Gabriel Warrior did not do it for me. Warrior has a very distinctive style that is somewhere between the strangled rasp of Cirith Ungol frontman Tim Baker and the lascivious coo of ACDC’s Bon Scott. I love both those guys, and when Warrior is a bit “reeled in” I don’t mind him either.

Unfortunately, he is rarely reeled in on Vanity/Nemesis and his creative phrasing – which I think is supposed to sound dangerous and otherworldly just sounds…whiny.

The worst case of this is “Wings of Solitude” which is at its core a pretty creative tune, with a cool idea (what young metalhead hasn’t wished for “wings of solitude” at some point?). But Warrior’s delivery wrecks the fun, feeling overwrought and devoid of emotional resonance. Less cool Dungeon Master and more awkward kid tugging at your sleeve to tell you a disjointed version of the fantasy novel he’s reading. I acknowledge the line between these two is thin, but it is important.

The songs have weird and nerdy subject matter that is hard to follow, but as a longtime metal fan I know this is as likely to be a feature as a bug. I am more than happy to hear weird interdimensional, cosmic comic book stuff, but the weird also has to be cool, and often on “Vanity/Nemesis” it just ain’t.

Because of all of this, you want to sink into the basic chunking of the thrash guitar sound, but instead of that being a respite, its insistent presence feels more like it’s cornering you. Akin to that headache when you are still drinking late at a party and realize you should just go home.

As for this album, I am sure it will go to a lovely home one day as well. It just won’t be mine.

Best tracks: Wine in Hand (Third from the Sun), Vanity

PS: My version of the record is the 1999 re-release which has a couple bonus tracks, one of which is a pretty crazy cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes”. Intriguing, but still not enough to recommend the record.