--Born in the garage, the largely instrumental Mad 3 rock with impressive technical prowess--
Eddie Legend--guitar & vocal
Haruto--bass
Kyo Mad--drums
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We Are The Mad Crew -- (40:10) -- (1998) -- Loft Records -- LFCA-4 | |
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The intro is an excerpt from ‘The Flight of the Valkyries’ which plays as the band sets up. Yes, it’s a live show, badly recorded on April 4, 1997, at Shimokitazawa Shelter. It’s one of those seemingly unedited things, though someone’s played with the mix a bit. The results are better sometimes than others. The sound is rough, in your face, but when you listen to what this trio is doing, you’ve got to admire their chops. Occasionally, you swear you’re hearing two guitarists. It’s all Eddie! It’s a hard rockin’ band, playin’ a rockin’ set. It’s a shame the recording equipment is so outmatched. |
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Napalm In The Morning -- (22:00) -- (1998) -- Time Bomb -- BOMB
CD-57
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| ‘Napalm In The Morning’ starts off with the quote from Apocalypse Now, and then the explosions begin. THE KINKS’ ‘I Need You’ has vocals. Otherwise things stay instrumental. The rockabilly approach has subsided. The power has not. They’ve become a rockin’, late-‘60s, punk/psych band for this one. Continuing the Nam theme, imagine a small group of troopers cut off from their unit, scared, angry, and trying to find their way back. Yes, that’s a five-minute version of ‘Louie, Louie’ and it burns this little village down in a crossfire of duelling guitars. Watch out for the tiger! | |
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Teenage Delinquent! -- (35:42) -- (1998) -- Time Bomb -- BOMB
CD-58
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| The rockabilly has definitely returned here, but it seems to be fighting (in a rather psychotic manner) against psych and punk personalities for possesion of the band’s soul. The division of the thing into the “Teenage Side” and the “Delinquent Side” only begins to hint at the multiple personalities. This would be an interesting development, unfortunately the low-fi recording muddies everything. The band is as powerful and furious as previously, but its in a cage. JOHNNY KIDD & THE PIRATES’ ‘Please Don’t Touch’; ‘Teenage Delinquent’; and THE VIBRATORS’ ‘Baby Baby’ feature vocals. | |
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God Fuzzer -- (44:45) -- (1999) -- Time Bomb -- BOMB CD-66 | |
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| This is a collection of four singles and three EPs released ‘94 through ‘99. Included are pics of the original covers (front and back). Don’t you wish all bands would do this? Only five of these songs have been previously released on CD. It expands my view of MAD 3, emphasizing the more humorous, and rougher sounds of their early days. The recording quality is generally good, and the songs work well together. It’s a good overview of a fine rockin’ band, and for those of us who can’t be bothered to hunt down every release, in every format, this is a dream realized. | ||
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Rock ‘N’ Roll Kingdom -- (31:40) -- (2000) -- Midi Inc. -- MDCL 1394
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| Not misnamed, this CD is straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll from start to finish. It’s a good, strong production, too. There are five covers, including a great version of MOTORHEAD’s ‘Ace Of Spades’, and five of the cuts (including that one) have vocals. The band rocks, and the fold-out cover has a fun montage of crowds, marching military, cops, comic-book characters, and celebrities, all acknowledging MAD 3 as kings of the kingdom. The flipside contains pictures of the band live. Police sirens and motorcycles join in, but the rockin’ never stops. You’ll be ready to join the crowds before it’s over! | |
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Forever Teenage -- (32:41) -- (2001) -- Midi Inc. -- MDCL-1416
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| Eddie has a new look, and most of these songs have vocals, though some are little more than tribal chants. The sound overall is clean, mean, and full of steam. They seem to have traded in some of their danger vibe for a higher slickness ratio and some laughs, but no complaints here. The band is as strong as ever, and Eddie’s leads cut like a switchblade in experienced hands. The pop masterstrokes in ‘Hurt You’ were a nice surprise, but don’t worry. It rocks, as does every track here, even ‘Shining’ where Eddie shows off his Spanish guitar chops. It’s a very strong CD, with a nice range! | |
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Black Leather Blitz -- (38:59) -- (2003) -- Midi Inc. -- MDCL-1446
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| This is easily MAD 3’s most diverse record yet! The instrumentals that open (‘Black Leather Blitz’ & ‘Nosferatu’) and close (‘London Dungeon’) are dark, dramatic soundtracks for a movie in the mind. Other highlights include ‘In The Shadow’, a brilliant pop song; ‘Ramones’, a cover of a faithful tribute by MOTORHEAD; and ‘Tight Suit’, a clever remold of ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS’ ‘Tighten Up’. All the other songs (and most of those) rock hard and prove just what an amazing band this is. I suspect the depth and variety shown here are only just beginning to bloom. Yes, and the darkness is definitely back. | |
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Lost Tokyo -- (50:17) -- (2006) -- Rock ‘n’ Roll Kingdom -- RNR002 | |
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| Lost Tokyo is a completely instrumental release, excepting a few grunts and a strangled gasp. It features a wide variety of rock, a touch of horror soundtrack, some Spanish guitar, percussion on wooden frogs and rubber dolls, a whistle, what sounds like a duck call, and a genre-defining raga/rock opus to top it all off. Kyo gets credit for three songs, and Haruto for one. It sounds like the trio went into the studio and did everything they hadn’t tried yet, but had always wanted to do. It’s an impressive collection of styles that achieves a magnificence in its exploration of MAD 3’s aural world. | ||
The Litter/Barry & The Remains/The Raunch Hands/The Conquerors/Mad
3--Cavestomp at Coney Island High--11/21/98
I called up Coney Island
High to discover that MAD 3 should have already been on stage, but weren’t
yet. By the time I got there they were, but I don’t believe I missed much
of their set. They rock! They’re a trio, and (being Japanese) GUITAR WOLF
is the best comparison for them. It’s more like a contrast, though, in
two big ways. One is that MAD 3 are quite the technicians, and they care about
it, so the wild abandon which GUITAR WOLF are able to muster is not obtainable
for MAD 3. They make up for this quite well with less posing and more energy.
They do pose a fair amount as they crank out the music, but tellingly, most
of their poses feature their instruments, as opposed to combs and such. The
other main difference is that no one in the trio is featured over the others.
They share the title and they share the glory. The biggest let-down for me was
the number of instrumentals, but I certainly won’t begrudge them that.
I picked up two of their CDs at the show and the CDs seem to have a bit more
vocals, or at least vocal sound affects. When they did sing, they sounded great,
when they just played, they never stopped rocking. What’s to complain?
I got a special thrill from the fact that the bass guitarist plays an EB-3,
the only kind of bass guitar I ever owned. Oh yes, as technicians, they’re
way up there. Perhaps the guitarist is half a step down from THE STRAY CATS’,
but I believe the other two surpass their STRAY CATS counterparts.
THE RAUNCH HANDS took the stage.
They did a wonderful version of ‘I’d Rather Go To Jail’, and
THE 5,6,7,8’S were over on the side of the stage, rocking and enraptured
by the guitarist..
| VARIOUS ARTISTS | ||
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Valley Of The Tokyo Dolls (Tribute To Johnny Thunders) -- (40:18) -- (2004) -- Discus Co. Ltd. -- DLCP-2030 | |
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| If you think you’ll dig this one, you probably will. If you’re afraid it’ll be a bunch of Japanese rockers aping at Johnny Thunders’ inimitable guitar style, you’d be partially right, too. There are some great bands here. Most of the songs are handled pretty well, and even the bands that only manage to trip over their nugget, invest the thing with enough rockin’ spirit to justify a listen. There are a couple surprises, but mostly it’s the bands you expect to shine that do, and there’s a reason MAD 3 are saved for last. Their rendition of ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory’ is the highest tribute! | ||
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