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Made In Japan
15.Sep.08

Oyster was at the land of the rising sun Tokyo - Japan in August 08 for 1 week with just enough flyer’s miles to get me there on the new SIA A380. To be honest, I wouldn’t fly the super jumbo if I have to pay for the regular ticket but given that this was a freebie well almost - S$278 for security/airport tax, I just couldn’t ask for less.

There were two things I found on this (shopping) trip. Firstly, unlike common wisdom that Tokyo is pricey food wise, I didn’t find it so. Perhaps it is our own rising standard of living closing the gap or maybe I didn’t eat at the regular touristy places. The following are some examples why I said so - enjoy. Yum yum.

Japanese love their noodles but noodles cooked and served by hunks? This one is for the ladies.

Meal ticket given a whole meaning in Japan. Fancy a bowl of hot or cold noodle for breakfast? At 390 yen (about S$5) with complimentary Japanese green tea. That’s comparable to our hawker centers prices.

Western breakfast is not dear too. Complete set with coffee or tea served in an air-conditioned environment.

This yummy sashimi lunch set was below S$25 but look at the serving and quality.

This is downtown Shinjuku. Probably one of the most crowded, most exciting and most high-end shopping places you can find in Asia or the world. Choice galore, quality and quantity beyond reproach. Prices are just as reasonable. The Tempura Set advertised here is just 1100 yen (about S$14). Tell me where can you find such deal at Orchard Road?

This place is probably one of the expensive places I dined in Shinjuku. You can find heaps of young people and the service like most places in Tokyo is just impeccable. For a non-speaking Japanese tourist, this very user-friendly touch-screen ordering system works like a charm. Still, look at the prices. 

Last but not least, I was at Asagaya (a few train stops from downtown) and did lunch at this small but neat eatery. The Beijing Olympics were on TV and there was much interest among the patrons on the swimming heats. I was more interested in the food and from the menu (left), the affordability would appeal and surprise just about any tourist. 

Tokyo surprise #2 will be in my next instalment so until then... sayonara

Cover Me
19.May.08

Here are some of the best cover versions ever recorded and voted by Classic Rock readers in issue #8 back in 1999. I reckon if this poll is repeated every year, you would get about the same result.

Ten of the Best...Cover Versions Ever!

1. Rosalie (Cowgirl Song) - Thin Lizzy
2. All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cooker
4. Hard To Handle - The Black Crowes
5. Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City - Whitesnake
6. Come Together - Aerosmith
7. Hush - Deep Purple
8. You Really Got Me - Van Halen
9. Louie Louie - Motorhead
10. Whiskey In The Jar - Metallica

Here is Oyster’s list of Top 10 and some of my personal favourites that are frequently found on my play list and some may never end up in anybody’s else Top 20 best cover songs. I shall start from the top and go down the list.

#1 Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recorded several hits out of songs by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Spirits In The Night from Nightingales & Bombers (1975) became an absolute gem of a track after an absolute makeover transforming it into a totally different listening experience. Imaginative prog rock laid out concisely with spooky story to tell. One of the best 70s classic rock moments.

#2 I found Like A Rolling Stone in John Cougar’s 12 inch B-side single of Pop Singer. Recorded live and in my opinion the best cover version of this song I’ve heard by far. Seek this out even if you dislike the 12” format. It is what cover songs should be - done with a purpose and sometimes better than the original. 

#3 This is the 2nd Metallica LP that I bought after the Black lp introduction. This all cover material recording (3 lp set) was played casually from songs of their rock mentors. Turn The Page by Bob Seger gets my vote here. It is intimate, touching and Metallica-lly heavy. Follow this route as your 2nd Metallica LP - you won’t go wrong.

#4 Originally from the Blue lp, even Joni Mitchell has heard of this one. This Flight Tonight has “become” a Nazareth song and they’re surely proud of it. 

#5 Like Nazareth, Judas Priest turned this Joan Baez song into their own. Almost unrecognizable from the original Diamonds and Rust was performed Live in Japan with Halford’s vocals in top form. If you’re new to Priest, you can start from here. 

#6 I’ve to say that Manfred Mann’s Earth Band did so many other good covers that somehow obscured their very own compositions. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue sang in-tune felt so right. But I’m not sure if Bob feels the same.

#7 Everyone covers Bob Dylan better than Bob Dylan - naturally. In this 30th Anniversary Concert to celebrate Bob’s career you got plenty of good examples. I single out Eddie Vedder’s (Pearl Jam) Masters Of War with Mike McCready on acoustic guitars. This sullen track is worth this pricey triple set LP. 

#8 You Really Got Me from Van Halen was my introduction to this band in 1979. I still recalled I bought this in cassette form (pirated) at S$1.50 at Bugis Street. Years later, I heard the original but lame version from the Kinks (sorry!). Eddie’s intro riff is just unforgettable. 

#9 The last two on this list gave me another perspective of cover versions - it has to have the element of fun. Ride Like The Wind (now isn’t that a great heavy metal song name?) by Christopher Cross given the NWOBHM Saxon treatment. And I like it because it was fun. I think Saxon enjoyed it enough to put this track into their later “The Best of Saxon” release.

#10 Last but not least Cum On Feel The Noize from Quiet Riot which went all the way to #1 when big hair bands were running riot on the charts. Everytime I listen to this I’ve to listen back-to-back We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister. Both a big hit (but latter is an original), similar simple pop-metal styling, catchy chorus and - fun.

Metallica Death Magnetic 45rpm
20 Oct.08

This new LP purchase could be one of my most anticipated and/or most expensive. I pre-ordered it shortly after reading this limited 5 x 45rpm LP box-set for vinylphiles. Wow, the can’t-go-wrong 45rpm format.

You see after reading so many reviews of how loud (in a negative way) it was recorded, the “most anticipated” quickly diminishing. But still it IS THE MOST pricey new single LP title in my collection. Like many vinylphiles, I have in my collection some most-wanted LP costing well over US$100 but never for something I haven’t heard before or for a new release. So when I received this heavy box-set, I wasn’t jumping up and down.

I have not heard the CD version or any other format. Judging from this deluxe version that I have playback in my not low-end hi-fi stereo system comprising of Kharma speakers, Goldmund Telos power amp, Shindo pre-amp, Basis Audio turntable and Furutech cables, the loudness complaint is SAD BUT TRUE. If you’ve ever tape music via a cassette deck (Technics anyone?) you will know what I mean. This is like pushing the recording volume one notch too many. The output meter indicator would breach the maximum or crossing to the red side which the user manual tells you to avoid.

The result is distortion even at normal volume.

Metallica has made some of the most sort after vinyl. Just look at eBay’s asking prices for a clean, well kept copy of their Black (1991) or their 1987 Garage Days Re-visited EP. In fact Metallica is the band that showed me that you can enjoy high quality playback of Heavy Metal music. Clean clear weighty rhythm section, distinctive vocals, screeching guitars with distortion that you can play LOUD and enjoy.

I think these older Metallica LPs were done very well by design and not by accident. I wish Death Magnetic did not mean the other way around. The issuance of this deluxe 5LP 45rpm box-set speaks volume of the band’s intention to want to sound good even in modest playback system.

The hope is the Metallica camp realizing it and correcting it. Hey Lars, I read that you are a seasoned vinylphile and know what the noise is about - please do something. Don’t let this overshadow your group’s return to form.

Hi InFidelity 30th Anniversary
15 Nov.09

The LP title that inspired the name of this website is now 30 years old.

What makes a great record? The LP cover art; the punned in title; the guy on the left playing his LP record (after finishing business) and the 6 hit songs that made the Billboard charts. How do you top that? This record also brought me back to my Secondary School days when I was waiting for its full-length record release because at that time, 7” singles were just not viable to a schooling teenager.

This website name also drew some interesting comments when I first shared it (with friends).

What? You write about infidelity? Do you know what that is...?

Robert Palmer’s 1975 release - Pressure Drop. Nice cover art with a similar theme

Classicrock magazine has it that REO Speedwagon’s will be reissuing this LP in deluxe form with loads of unreleased demo material in January 2011. That’s good news. As for me, I just want hi infidelity (the record) to sound High in Fidelity. As far as I can remember, the original sounded thin, flat and edgy especially in the cymbals. Hope they can fix that.

Art For Art Sake
8 Dec.09

Was album art killed by CD? I was digging the Internet trying to find one of my lost books on album covers. As I was searching, this idea struck me to pen this down and share with you some of the interesting album covers I like from the LPs I owned.

Many vinyl addicts (I’m no hardcore yet, I don’t own 25 versions of Dark Side of the Moon) are also into album covers. There are just so many things you can admire about the LP cover.

Shown here is an out-of-print album cover art book that I used to have in the late 70s (I’ve since found it) but has since lost it. Anyone seen another copy?

Yes - Going For The One (1977)

A triple gatefold and a panorama view of some firm and solid structures.

Inside the gatefolds... sorry to disappoint the ladies, no sight of the beefy model’s front.

Alice Cooper - School’s Out (1972)

The original LP cover photographed in the book “Classic Album Covers of the 70s“ had a ladies under garment that come with the LP.

A very creative cover. Notice the LP is inserted into this ‘drawing board’ (see opening).

My pre-owned copy did not come with the underwear. It must have been used :-)

ELP - Brain Salad Surgery (1973)

A very 3D design befitting the sci-fi rock theme of the LP. Say Open Sesame...

“Your wish is my command master”. Gate opens (notice the left and right ‘door’). This LP cover alone is worth the price of the whole package. Some owners complained about the difficulty in extracting and inserting the vinyl to the sleeve. For me, this LP is to be framed, not played!

Cheech & Chong - Sleeping Beauty (1976)

A gate fold cover that opens up like a...

The sticking wet tongue picture insert is the inner sleeve that holds the record. Picture was very vividly captured and would make Mick Jagger proud

ELO - Out of the Blue (1977)

A spare no expenses double LP in terms of packaging and detail. The gatefold ELO space ship, cardboard jacket inner sleeves with full lyrics, a poster (lower right), a full color cardboard origami and blue vinyl to boot (first issue?) if you can find it. Note: My copy is the standard black vinyl.

Alice Cooper - Billion Dollars Babies (1973)

The picture taken from the same book (mentioned previously) didn’t do justice to the original LP cover. The snake skin was so real and lifelike even though my photography was just as bad. From far, the lp cover looked so 3D - like a cash filled snake skin wallet

Montrose - Jump on It (1976)

Montrose was Sammy Hagar’s earlier employer before he went solo and then joined Van Halen (Dec 09: now Chickenfoot). Nude and body shots were quite a feature in many classic rock acts’ album cover in the 70s e.g. Roxy Music, Supertramp, Santana etc

If you’re not heard of Montrose, check out their highly regarded self-titled debut album from 1973.

Dave Greenslade - The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony (1979)

Wrapped in a lavish hardbound book with futuristic artwork courtesy of Patrick Woodroffe and some dungeon and dragon story telling, I wondered how much it would cost to release this 2LP set (book form). This is the maddest LP cover and packaging I’ve seen so far. Almost impossible to reissue and meaningless to replicate via CD. If you’re wondering about the music content, it’s progressive rock in synthesizer (think Rick Wakeman) with Phil Collins guest on 2 tracks.

More Resources

Can’t get enough? Checkout these useful hardcopy resources if interested:



Compare these elaborate artwork to the current thin, downsized digipak CD sleeves and digital downloads (without artwork), the business of selling music today is way more profitable than the LP yesteryears.

Digital killed the album cover artform? I have to think so.

Classic Rock (Lost) Art
9 Dec.09

I sketched a lot during my teen years and no subject is more inspiring to me than rock stars. Unfortunately, I didn’t treasure them and after one or two house moves, I lost all the originals. #Sigh.

All that is left are these scans from the photographs I took of my drawings. These scanned images were shrunk and the quality quite lousy. More #sigh. Painful lesson and now I teach my kids to keep their drawings - they may thank you when they grow up.

Diamond Dave - one of my favourite drawings

I actually sent this Phil Lynott picture (photograph) to the late Tommy Vance (BBC, Bush House, London) hoping he would mention it in his Rock-Salad radio shows.

Inspiration for the above two were from Thin Lizzy’s Bad Reputation record.

Made ln Japan III (Hokkaido)
26 Dec.09

Good frosty morning Hokkaido! View from my hotel room at Chitose. Ready to “Chiong”!

Jigokudani or Hell Valley. This is Winter colour so not much of a color. I was told in autumn these smoky mountains are painted very beautifully.

Shiraoi Ainu Museum. This beautiful lake is not the main attraction. What’s missing is a nice cuppa of hot coffee to go along this serene place, feeding swans and enjoying the spaces

Tea time with mountain view at the top floor of Sapporo’s fame Chocolate Factory.

Heaven and earth. When you’re on holiday, good weather plays a big part. Hokkaido’s weather was extremely kind to us. There was no rain, skies was clear, gentle snow at the right places - super!

Unreal scenery. Everything grows well on these black volcanic soil.

Tuna belly as appetizer. 2850 yen (about $44.50) is some premium fish.

View outside my hotel room window. Sunrise at Lake Akan.

At 8,500 yen per pop (S$133), this has to be the most expensive meat I’ve tasted. It comes with certification.

Spectacular view from outside my hotel room window

Second last stop of my 7-day tour - romantic Otaru. Light snow was falling at that time and temperature was a moderate 2 degrees. Only regret is time, it passes too quickly when you’re having fun.

Breakfast at a Narita Port hotel before heading home - back to reality.