April 2015 Capsule

Reading – The Burning Blue by James Holland

The Burning Blue is party a love story and partly a frighteningly real account of Royal Air Force fighter pilots during World War Two, and particularly during the desperate months where the German Luftwaffe were pressing hard against British targets.

Holland’s narrative actually begins a few years after the Battle of Britain, and finds the main character, Joss Lambert, a fighter pilot with the RAF, injured in a Cairo hospital after sustaining a nasty wound supporting British infantry in the fight against Rommel’s Afrika Corps. The story switches back and forth from Cairo to during and before the Battle of Britain.

Joss is something of a loner. His mother lives in London after divorcing her second husband, and Joss’ father is also dead. Furthermore, he’s burdened by a secret that is becoming increasingly difficult to carry about: his father was not only German, but also a German deserter from the First World War.

Joss has long been friends with Guy Liddell, whose family owns the idyllic Alvesdon farm, which has become a sanctuary for Joss. Guy is amongst a very select few who know the truth about Joss’s father. Guy’s twin sister and his parents are closer to family than Joss’s own. His relationship with his mother is a difficult one.

War is brewing, and it seems inevitable that the Germans will once again need to be stopped. Joss and Guy leave for university, but that experience is soon put on hold due to the outbreak of war, and when Guy returns to run the farm after the unexpected death of his father, Joss heads in a different direction: he joins the RAF and trains to become a fighter pilot as the British army reels from one disaster after another. The aerial dogfight scenes are excellent.

During visits back to Alvesdon, Joss falls in love with Stella, Guy’s sister, and it isn’t long before the feeling is mutual. That lengthens the divide between Joss and Guy and leads to conflict. Holland handles this well explaining some of Guy’s guilt over working his father’s farm whilst his friends are fighting and dying.

Just when you think that the final chapters are leading to a disappointing conclusion, there’s a stunning revelation…and then the book just ends. You don’t find out what happened to Joss or Stella, and Guy’s backstory leads nicely into the Jack Tanner books. It was kind of a letdown to reach the end and find it wasn't really the end. Here’s hoping the open-ended finish means a sequel!

Listening – Into The Wild Life by Halestorm

Halestorm’s third studio album, Into the Wild Life iis the much-anticipated follow up to the band’s hit The Strange Case Of… [which featured the Grammy Award-winning single ‘Love Bites (And So Do I)’] and despite fears that, because Halestorm had moved to Nashville and toured with Eric Church last year, the new release would be a country album, the familiar Halestorm sound is there.

Lzzy Hale has to be one of the best vocalists in rock music today, and her signature voice is the undisputed driving force behind what is a really terrific album, full of the same chunky riffs, heavy drums, searing solos and soon-to-be rock anthems that Halestorm fans new and old have come to expect. Rumours of their demise or shift to country music have been greatly exaggerated.

Mixed in with the heavy rock anthems – for example ‘Mayhem’ and ‘Apocalyptic’ (the first and second singles released) are both tracks that grab you by the scruff of the neck and don’t let go – are more introspective songs, like ‘Dear Daughter’, ‘The Reckoning’ and ‘What Sober Couldn’t Say’ and Hale’s voice is adept in both situations.

Vocally, there’s little that Lzzy Hale can’t do. Actually, ‘Mayhem’ but be Hale’s personal anthem. ‘Apologetic’ might be another, come to think of it. She does things her way, and doesn’t seem to care what outsiders think. No wonder she got on so well with Eric Church!

My personal favourite, after a few listens, is ‘I Like It Heavy’ an ode to some of the great heavy rock bands and songs of the past, and to the band’s love of rock. It’s kinda like something KISS might’ve done back in the day, just with upgraded vocals. The riff-friendly song name-checks Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, amongst others and Hale likens going to a giant rock show to worshiping at a church, and that’s exactly how I feel! Lzzy Hale’s vocal performance is as good on this song as on any other.

I’ll be honest, there isn’t a bad song on this album, although some could have done with a little less production from Jay Joyce – some rough edges are good, from time to time – and, ultimately, that’s what sees this album fall short of a perfect ten. Take it from me: Halestorm is the future of arena rock.

Watching – Deadline Gallipoli

Yes, I know, it was very much a case of Gallipoli overload in the weeks and months leading up to the centenary of the Anzac landings on the Turkish coast, and ratings for Channel Nine’s Gallipoli miniseries weren’t great, but what I loved about Deadline Gallipoli was the new slant it put on old events.

Focusing on four men – Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, Charles Bean, Keith Murdoch and Phillip Schuler – who were reporters or photographers rather than soldiers and their time spent covering the campaign, each in their own fashion, Deadline Gallipoli sheds more light than ever before on the machinations of Murdoch, ostensibly on the peninsula as an unofficial spy for the Australian government, and the charismatic Ashmead-Bartlett, who combine to bring about the end of the Gallipoli campaign by placing great political pressure on the likes of General Sir Ian Hamilton. In many ways, this was the beginning of the media holding military commanders accountable for their actions.

Directed by Sam Worthington (who also players Schuler), the show is obviously a labour of love. The script benefitted from Foxtel’s ability to attach a big budget to such an important program. It shows, particularly in the scenes on the battlefield. This is a lavish production, telling an important story.

Yes, some of it is the same as what we’ve seen in previous shows about the fateful campaign, but it’s interesting nonetheless – especially Schuler, the most unknown of the group. Newcomer Joel Jackson impresses as Charles Bean as does Charles Dance as Sir Ian Hamilton. The great shame is that it didn’t draw huge numbers on Foxtel and didn’t get a look-in on free-to-air, either. This show deserved better.

March 2015 Capsule

Reading – To Try Men’s Souls by Newt Gingrich

Former politician Newt Gingrich has teamed and long-time author William R. Forstchen have combined to produce a sprawling historical fiction epic that tells the story famous Battle of Trenton, which was the brainchild of General George Washington.

I thought the book was particularly good when focused on Washington himself – a man gripped by the very real possibility of failure – and the mammoth task he had in trying to keep everything and everyone together. The authors have done a great job of getting into the man’s mind as he worked through so many problems. His relief at the end is palpable, and his concern for those who march under his command cannot be questioned. He’s been brilliantly characterised here.

The other two major characters are the liberty-loving Englishman Thomas Paine, from whose pro-American paper the title of the novel was derived, and Jonathan Van Dorn, a private in the Continental Army, who also happens to be a native of Trenton, New Jersey. His family still lives there, including one brother who deserted from the Army earlier in the war, and another who, it is later revealed is a British loyalist.

Overall, a good read, but the use of flashbacks to bring Thomas Paine into the story was trying a little too hard. Yes, I know the title of the entire novel was named for one of his more famous lines, but it seemed like Gingrich and Forstchen had included him for that reason alone. At times, their portrayal of Paine bordered on being comical.

Listening – The Spirit of the Anzacs by Lee Kernaghan

After attending the Australian War Memorial a few years back, country artist and former Australian of the Year Lee Kernaghan was significantly moved by what he saw and read in Canberra that he set about creating a tribute album to Australia’s rich and varied military history.

Working alongside long-time collaborators Garth Porter and Colin Buchanan, Spirit of the Anzacs is the end result of Kernaghan’s moving visit to the War Memorial: a vivid and far-reaching musical history of the Anzac from April 25, 1915 through to today, where, as is often forgotten by most of us in the course of our lives, Australians are still in harm’s way in the Middle East.

Whilst Kernaghan is most notable for his country music leanings, anyone who considers shunning this album because they think it’ll be straight-up country music would be doing the work a great disservice. Kernaghan is as varied here as he’s ever been. Yes, there’s the occasional country-driven tune, but they are few and far between. There’s something for everyone here, particularly the stirring, anthemic title track which features, amongst others, Shannon Noll, Guy Sebastian, members of Sheppard, Jessica Mauboy and Noiseworks front-man Jon Stevens.

What sets this album apart is the content. Each one of the songs has been crafted either by drawing experiences from letters and diaries from servicemen and women. Kernaghan and his team were given extraordinarily and access to the vast archives at the Australian War Memorial and have used it to good effect. These are brilliant songs, ones that will take you on what is at times a stirring journey (and, at other times, a bleak and stark one) through our country’s military history.

Every conflict that Australia has been involved in over the last century is represented here. Of course there are songs about Gallipoli, Beersheba and the Western Front, the Darwin bombings, the Kokoda Trail and Vietnam – a faithful cover of ‘I was Only Nineteen’ – and but Kernaghan pays great respect to the Korean War and the current-day fighting in Afghanistan, too. He doesn’t mind yielding the microphone to guests like Lisa McCune, John Schumann (of Redgum fame) and rising country singer Sara Storer. There’s even a guest vocal appearance by Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith. It's brilliant!

Watching – The History of The Eagles

 

Not the documentary of the ‘Hotel California’ hit-makers (although, I hear it's very good), but the live concert! I’m happy to say I can tick listening to ‘Hotel California’ live off my Bucket List.  I caught the Sydney leg of their latest Australian tour at Allphones Arena in March, and they were nothing short of sensational!

I realised about forty-five minutes into the three-hour-plus set just how many really good songs these guys have! More than I really considered until the words of classic rock anthems were bouncing off the walls of a sold-out Allphones Arena at Sydney Olympic Park, and being sung back to the Californian country-rock outfit with great gusto by upwards of fifteen thousand people. At the end, no one wanted to leave.

The format was something like a live documentary. You know those shows where band members talk about a song or an important before switching to a film-clip of the song they’d just discussed? Well, on stage, the core of the band – Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh – would talk about a song or a moment, either live or on taped video for the big screens, and launch into the songs.

Early on, it was just Frey and Henley, undoubtedly the driving forces behind The Eagles. They were joined later by founding guitarist Bernie Leadon, and Joe Walsh wandered out onto the stage without any fanfare. The band included a percussionist, multiple keyboard players and Don Felder’s replacement, Steuart Smith, who is an extraordinarily good guitarist.

Man, did the hits roll out, one after the other, and then another, and the vocals of Henley and Frey and even Schmidt have stood the test of time. Pretty much every song I wanted to hear, the band played, with the exception of Don Henley’s ‘Boys of Summer'. That song is one of my all-time favourites. Disappointed it wasn’t there, and it’s the only reason I didn’t give this gig a complete 10/10!

February 2015 Capsule

Reading: Boy on Ice – The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard by John Branch

The tragic tale of National Hockey League enforcer Derek Boogaard, as written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, John Branch, is a warts and all story of how the culture of fighting in the NHL can lead to many things, including pain killer addiction. Branch’s narrative, supported heavily by the Boogaard family, paints a dark picture of what life is like for a guy who’s sole job on the team is to use his fists to either turn momentum or exact revenge for a dirty play on a teammate.

It’s a tough job to fill, and Branch’s story relates how a guy like Boogaard, who would never have made it to the NHL as a skilled player, lost his life thanks, in part, to a pain killer addiction that he contracted by swallowing pills like they were Skittles so he could get back and not lose his tenuous roster spot. In particular, he was taking the potent Percocet tablet, doing absolutely anything to dull the aches in his hands, his knuckles, his legs, his head…everywhere. Anything to get back onto the ice. Anything to shape up for that next fight.

Before starting Boy on Ice, I thought fighting had a place in the game. Now that I’ve read what it can do to a man – depression, addiction, brain injury, death – I’ve completely changed my mind. I urge all hockey fans to pick up this book. It’s confronting, ugly, tragic and sad, and it should be a wake-up call for the NHL.

Read my Boy on Ice review here.

Watching: Gallipoli

I think the Channel Nine miniseries is excellent, but apparently I’m in the minority. Channel Nine’s ratings have gone from reasonable ratings – around the 1.1 million mark – to disappointing in it’s second week – under 600,000 – to the point now where the network has scheduled double episodes because no one is watching.

I’ve always been fascinated by Gallipoli, and I was one of those greatly anticipating the series premiere. I’ve read Les Carlyon’s epic non-fiction book, Gallipoli, which I believe is the definitive account of the fateful campaign. It’s Carlyon’s epic that formed the basis for the writing team, whose work, it must be said, is top-notch. As is the direction and the acting. Kodi Smit-McPhee, as the wide-eyed seventeen-year-old Tolly Johnson, does a wonderful job. You can sense his fear in pretty

We see parts of the Gallipoli campaign that have never been on screen before, poignant moments like the truce after an early counter attack (which was detailed in episode two), the great storm that convinced British commanders that a winter campaign was untenable, and the deliberations between senior officers on General Hamilton’s staff, to name just a few.

Yes, I benefitted from watching the entire series on Stan.com.au, taking advantage of a free trial to binge-watch in two nights, without advertisements that’ve murdered the flow and continuity of the series. That’s probably why the show is failing on television. It would’ve been better on the ABC, but the real shame is that a well-acted and crafted show isn’t being seen by the amount of people it should be.

I wrote a piece about Gallipoli’s ratings failure here.

Listening: First Kiss by Kid Rock

I’m an unashamed Kid Rock fan – and I cop a lot of grief for that.

The man otherwise known as Robert Ritchie has been my guilty pleasure eer since 1998’s Devil Without a Cause, and his tenth studio album was released late in February. You bet I’d pre-ordered the deluxe version. The lead single (also the title track) is classic second-generation Kid. It’s heavy guitars, mixed with tales of days gone by. Yes, it’s all been done before, but there’s enough new twists to make it seem like it’s brand new. Kid loves his nostalgic songs – remember his giant hit All Summer Long – as much as he loves songs that double as social commentary. The Detroit-based artist has never been afraid to say what he thinks. I don’t always agree with what he says, but I appreciate that he won’t back down from who he really is. It’s refreshing.

First Kiss benefits from a healthy dose of classic rock/country-rock riffs and lyrics. It isn’t deep and meaningful, but the music is fun and it sounds good. Importantly, he wrote or co-wrote all the tracks, which is increasingly becoming rare in music. His band, the Twisted Brown Trucker, is incredibly talented. There’s some very country-leaning tracks, and some great rock stuff, too. The bonus track on the clean version of the album ‘Say Goodbye’, was written by the great Bob Seger (another one of my absolutely favourites; how can you not love ‘Night Moves’?), and Kid’s vocal delivery is fantastic.

Go ahead and mock Kid Rock if you wish, but the fact is, he’s still going, still selling albums, and he has a rusted-on fan base – myself definitely included – who buy anything he releases. Most people will immediately dismiss the album as being crap, but those are Kid Rock haters. If you loved Rebel Soul, Born Free and Rock n Roll Jesus, you’ll love First Kiss. I can’t get the title track out of my head!