Tune Tag #35 with Alexander Hellene of A. Hellene Author: Rush, Faith No More, Genesis, King Crimson, Sting, Frank Zappa
A Tune Tag with a decided prog lean? Yes, please! With wicked guitar solo, extended drum passage, and epic story-telling on the side!
Yo, Alexander!
TAG! YOU’RE IT!
Tune Tag welcomes
, creator of A. Hellene Author Substack!He’s an accomplished published author, as well, and his books can be found on Amazon, here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Alexander-Hellene/author/B07L9DKVPC.
Alexander is a Renaissance man or a dilettante, depending on who you ask. A New York Times-quoted writer (for what it’s worth), Alexander is also a musician and a law school graduate (for what it’s worth), author of the sci-fi/sword-and-planet trilogy The Swordbringer, the urban fantasy A Traitor to Dreams, and several short stories he posts on his Substack.
On the non-fiction front, Dreamers & Misfits: The Definitive Book about Rush Fans, where he got to interview, among other luminaries, Donna Halper, who helped break Rush in the U.S. Other interests include history, poetry, fitness, religion, old video games, sports, and general mischief. He lives in New England with his family.
📅Last week’s Tune Tag:
📣Next week, enjoy the unique Tune Tag stylings of Tales & Rants content creator,
, a self-described crooner and curator!Alexander’s Song #1 sent to Brad: Rush, “Bravado,” 1991
Alexander’s rationale: This song showcases that, for all of their instrumental prowess and long, conceptual pieces, Rush could write great songs as well. The lyrics here are universal enough to resonate with any listener who feels they have reached for the stars and fallen far short, for every daredevil who rues what they might have lost in pursuing their vision, but also mine a familiar Neil Peart territory as this concept relates to his personal life (see “Presto,” “Mission,” “The Color of Right,” and “Time Stand Still” for other examples).
Lastly, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson has a wonderful knack of writing music that perfectly fit Peart’s lyrics as though they wrote together, which they didn’t. And that guitar solo . . .
Brad’s Song #1 sent to Alexander: Spin 1ne 2wo, “Reelin’ in the Years,” 1993
Alexander’s response: This features, among others, the late, great Rupert Hine (1947-2020) on keyboards, backing vocals, and production. Hine, of course, produced the album from which my song #1 came, Rush’s 1991 Roll the Bones. Hine also produced (with the band) Rush’s 1989 “return to rock,” Presto.
I’ve always liked “Reelin’ In the Years,” being a medium-sized Steely Dan fan, though the verse lyrics to the song always came off to me as “douchey,” for lack of a better word. Still, I like this version! It’s well played, the drums definitely remind me of how Hine mic’d up Rush’s Neil Peart’s kit, and Phil Palmer’s guitar tone is great.
For “medium-sized” (and above) fans, FR&B recently drilled deep into the pre-Dan ‘60s Bard College and staff-songwriting career of Becker and Fagen, here:
Brad’s rationale: Rupert Hine produced the Rush album, Roll the Bones in 1991. He also produced his own group’s Spin 1ne 2wo’s 1993 self-titled album on Columbia (worldwide, but curiously, not in America). The great Paul Carrack is on lead vocals.
Alexander’s song #2: King Crimson, “Elephant Talk,” 1981 (Discipline album)
Brad’s response: Tony Levin! Levin played bass (and Chapman Stick; Tony and Stick shown above) for Spin 1ne 2wo and for King Crimson. Boston native, Levin, was a member of the 1981-1984 and 1994-1996 iterations of King Crimson, and has rejoined the band following the departure of Trey Gunn.
Alexander’s rationale: Sending back a Steely Dan song would be too obvious, so I was thinking about something from one of Donald Fagen’s solo albums; the song “I.G.Y.” came to mind because I really like those lyrics. But Spin 1ne 2wo also featured Tony Levin on bass!
As a fellow New Englander, and fellow bass player, I used this as an excuse to share some King Crimson from my favorite era of theirs, featuring former Zappa and Bowie alum, Adrian Belew, on guitars, along with KC maestro Robert Fripp, and the mighty Bill Bruford on drums!
Brad’s Song #2: Genesis, “Los Endos,” 1976 Lamb tour
Alexander’s response: What a great song by a great band! People forget how fantastic Genesis was back in the day, even after Peter Gabriel left…and, how great a drummer Phil Collins was. And speaking of drummers, who is this I see? Bill Bruford? Nice!
“Los Endos” is an epic instrumental that definitely has a “movie credits” feeling. I love Tony Banks’ keyboard sounds, and Steve Hackett makes the guitar do cool things. I also always appreciated tall guy Mike Rutherford’s bass playing, but here he’s rocking the double-neck 6- and 12-string guitar. I like how the song bounces between the linear main theme and some more spacious, almost Pink Floyd-esque sections, before a smashing ending stomp that would make ‘70s Rush proud!
Brad’s rationale: Genesis, with former King Crimson drummer, Bruford, the first to rescue Phil out from behind the kit, so he could come out front to sing, following Gabriel’s recent exit to go solo. The band would later hire another Zappa alum, Chester Thompson, as their eventual decades-long touring drummer. To see Phil get behind his kit to do occasional drum duets with Thompson during shows was nothing short of breathtaking and exhilarating.
Genesis is proudly featured prominently on FR&B pages:
Alexander’s Song #3: "Pristina," Faith No More, 1997
Brad’s response: Well, this might be forcing a square peg into a round hole, but lacking any other obviously logical link, I’m gonna resort to the actual biographical text on the FNM Discogs page, to wit: “The genesis of Faith No More was formed in 1979 in a band called Sharp Young Men, which then turned into Faith. No Man., but split up 1983.” Aha…..they said “Genesis”!! I’ll take it! Now, I wonder what Alexander meant to link?
Alexander’s rationale: “Los Endos” gives me ending vibes, and few songs give me similar vibes as much as the closer to Faith No More’s 1997 Album of the Year, which would be the band’s last until a surprise reunion in the 2010s led to 2015’s excellent Sol Invictus. It’s similarly spacious and definitely gives the listener a sense of closure.
Brad’s Song #3: Sting, “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” 1993
Alexander’s response: I remember this song being huge when it came out. My mom had the CD. Brad sent it obviously due to the similarity in title and theme to the band Faith No More’s name. I liked the intro (is that a harmonica?), [Brad: Yes. Sting is listed on the song as singing, playing bass and harmonica] as well as the use of the tritone in the opening chord progression (contrary to popular belief, the church did not ban the tritone because it “sounded evil.” In fact, the tritone was never banned by any church. But, why let facts get in the way of a good story?). Typically good Sting lyrics like “You could say I lost my belief in our politicians/They all seem like game show hosts to me.” Just perfect.
Brad’s rationale: Definitely matching the two “Faith” references of band name and song title. I’m sure I heard this song in passing in the mid-’90s, but only became infatuated with it a decade ago during my 5-year “karaoke phase,” where I had a working list of, literally, several hundred songs I had curated on a hand-written sheet! My tiny-lettered, two-sided sheet was a thing of wonder to fellow singers, many of whom took photos of it on their phones!
I had become captivated by Sting’s chord progressions, and his musically vocal moves from key to key during the 3rd minute. I was also curious to see if this song was within my range. It was…and, without mechanical manipulation (on the KJ’s machine), which I had enjoyed using from time to time (I would sing Streisand’s “A Piece of Sky” from Yentl by having the KJ raise the song’s pitch a couple steps; because I was singing an octave lower in the first place, this would place her “money notes” in my higher-register sweet spot, but well within my range, as well)! And, you thought I was musically obsessed!
The notes Sting hits here were right at the comfortable top of my range, and it felt good to master the tricky modulations toward the song’s last third….and, yes, show ‘em off! By the way, Hugh Padgham co-produced this with Sting. Padgham has produced several albums by both The Police and Genesis.
Alexander’s song #4: “Peaches III” by Frank Zappa (this specific live version of “Peaches En Regalia” from the Tinseltown Rebellion album), 1986:
Brad’s response: Bingo! The drummer, Vinnie Colaiuta, was the drummer on both the Sting “If I Ever…” song and this live Zappa turn, seven years apart.
Alexander’s rationale: I was thinking of sending back a Police or a Klark Kent song, but that’d have been too obvious. Instead, some research revealed that none other than drum legend Vinnie Colaiuta played on this song! Mr. Colaiuta also had a memorable stint with one of my personal favorites, Frank Zappa, but most of his stuff with Zappa is in an era that is almost uniformly vulgar. So, I took a live version of Zappa standard, “Peaches En Regalia,” from 1980’s live Tinseltown Rebellion album, featuring Vinnie himself.
Brad’s song #4: Dweezil Zappa, “Stayin’ Alive,” 1991 (Donny Osmond, lead vocals)
Alexander’s response: “Stayin’ Alive” by Dweezil Zappa, featuring Donny Osmond on vocals?! Amazing! A metal version of a Bee Gees disco hit with frequent Frank Zappa punching bag, Donny Osmond, on vocals (Frank name-checks both Donny and Marie in “No Not Now,” from Zappa’s Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch):
Deliver string beans
To Utah tonight
(Yum yum)
Donny ‘n Marie
Can both take a bite.—Frank Zappa, 1982
I always thought this song had a cool riff, and it’s fun hearing a metal take on it, slowed down and glammed up. It’s funny hearing Donny rip some metal vocals like this, and YouTube tells me that guitar-god and another New Englander, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme fame, does backing vocals (and co-produced with Dweezil).
Also, Dweezil is a hell of a guitarist with a style very different than his father’s, but he can play his father’s stuff pretty damn well, too: Great crunchy tones mixed with more modern-sounding techniques. I’ve seen Dweezil playing Frank’s stuff twice, and he is fantastic. Fun song to close on.
Brad’s rationale: Dweezil, of course, is Frank’s kid, with Donny Osmond on lead vocals, here. For his 1991 album Confessions, Dweezil recorded a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” which featured vocals by former Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne.
According to the March 29, 1991 L.A. Times, “when Osbourne’s record label stalled in granting permission for Dweezil to release it, he turned the vocal spotlight over to the next logical choice, Irvine’s [in California’s Orange County] own Donny Osmond. Says Zappa, ‘He gets so much flak for being Donny Osmond, you know?’ But, “there’s no denying he’s a great singer.”
However, due to Osbourne’s label refusing to allow the feature, the vocals were re-recorded by Osmond, who, as it happens, was signed to the same label as Dweezil. The version with Osbourne’s vocals later appeared on Ozzy’s 2005 box set, Prince of Darkness, but, with reader convenience top-of-mind, it also appears here:
I loved how this one was the perfect combination between links in terms of vibe/words/message, and links in terms of the “liner notes” kind of stuff, the masterminds/musicians behind the tunes. It goes to show that the versatily of this game, even within one session, is limitless. Great job!
The King Crimson video is fun; whatever sense I had of them, I didn't know that they had that much stage presence. They really look like they're having fun.
Alexander's description of "Los Endos" as having a "movie credits" feeling is spot on.
For both "Los Endos" and the Faith No More, I don't have a specific sense of what the song is about, but they both have a strong mood and dramatic feel.
I love Brad's stories about Karaoke. I will definitely be curious to know when other songs from that list pop up (in a different comment Brad mentioned one other karaoke song -- David Bowies's "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud", clearly he trusts his ability to hold the room's attention).
I had that Sting album; I've listened to it a lot, but not for a while. I admit, at this point, it makes me think of the Onion article about Sting: https://www.theonion.com/you-know-i-used-to-be-kind-of-cool-once-1819583601
"Looking at it now, who would think that the composer of 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You' used to be cool? Sounds crazy, huh? It seems ridiculous, but it’s true. I was kind of hip, in a way, if you think about it."
I hadn't seen the music video before; I don't think it's intended ironically. . .
The Frank Zappa song is fun and, it probably isn't surprising that the one Zappa album I've listened to regularly is _Freak Out_; I like him most when he's going back and forth between experimental pieces and lovely little pop tunes.
The cover of "Stayin' Alive" is good. I would never have listened to it without the prompt, but it really well done. It takes advantage of the fact that "Stayin' Alive" is familiar and people enjoy it, but it's not a song that makes people think, "why I am I listening to this cover when I could just put on the original?"