That Metal Show starring hard rock guru Eddie Trunk, comedian Jim Florentine, and Inside The NFL’s Don Jamieson aired its second episode on VH1 Classic last night at 11 p.m.
The first topic of discussion concerned the release of Metallica’s Death Magnetic. Florentine had nothing but praise for the record while Trunk and Jamieson acknowledged its production issues. Trunk went as far to cite the fact that there is no mastering credit on the album because Ted Jensen did not want his name or reputation to suffer. In my opinion, the distorted quality in certain parts provides a refreshing rawness that is no longer heard on hard rock records. Remember, The Ramones and Black Sabbath would record their early albums in just days which gave their work that genuine rock attitude and classic personality.
The special guest this week was legendary heavy metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen. He cracked that his “plane almost crashed” on his way from his Florida home. Trunk cracked back that his death would have been great press for That Metal Show. Malmsteen talked about the making of his latest record, Perpetual Flame, and the replacement of vocalist Doogie White with Tim “Ripper” Owens [Judas Priest/Iced Earth]. He also said that Sept. 18, 1970, the day that Hendrix died really inspired him to play guitar as he watched news segments of Hendrix’s famous showmanship. Malmsteen picked up his signature yellow Fender Stratocaster and played some nasty licks to take the show into the first commercial break.
This week’s comedic skit sent Florentine and Jamieson to the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square where they posed as tour guides. They joked that Lou Reed plays guitar for Velvet Revolver and Wesley Snipes played the saxophone for Bruce Springsteen while pointing to their respective photos. Next, they took the hapless tourists on a “backstage tour” aka the maintenance room where they made up ludicrous facts about Metallica and Slash using a busted old phone and a broken pipe. The segment ended with a Bret Michaels autographed guitar (presumably fake) being dropped by Jamieson and resulting with the removal of the tour from the restaurant. Trunk noticed that Jamieson didn’t make out with any chicks this episode, referring to episode one’s Van Halen concert segment. Florentine commented that Jamieson did get a dude’s number.
On “Stump The Trunk,” Trunk kept his batting average at .500 getting the first two questions wrong from the audience about Marty Friedman’s first solo record and a Creatures of the Night bumble. Trunk salvaged his reputation by correctly answering a Judas Priest production question and an easy Twisted Sister question.
The episode’s “Pick of the Week” was Get Thrashed [2006], a documentary of the history of thrash metal. The DVD consists of stories about legendary acts such as Metallica, Anthrax, Exodus, Megadeth, and Slayer. May I recommend the DVD Riphouse 151: Could’ve Beens and Wanna Be’s by Peter O’Brien when it comes available for future consideration.
This week’s question from a viewer was “What ever happened to those guys in Stryer?” Florentine answered that they broke up and have reunited, but ditched the bumble bee suits. Jamieson cracked that they “look like they were stung by bees” [ha ha ha…fat joke].
“The Throwdown” consisted of the classic question “Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin?” However, the debate focussed on the band’s influence to hard rock music. Malmsteen chose Deep Purple, which was bigger than both Sabbath and Zeppelin in his native Sweden. Trunk went with Zeppelin because the question asked in terms of hard rock influence, but Sabbath would trump Zeppelin if it was influence on Heavy Metal. Trunk also argued that Zeppelin would sell out stadiums all over the world, but Florentine was quick to point out that Zeppelin hasn’t played in 25 years. Malmsteen randomly chimed in with “Sabbath with Dio.” The audience seemed overwhelmingly pro-Sabbath. As the credits rolled, Malmsteen played some more of his signature nasty classical metal guitar licks.
Overall, this episode was an improvement from last week’s pilot. It is safe to say that this show will only get better each week as the hosts work out any little kinks (like everyone getting a Kiss boxed set for Stumping the Trunk) with experience. Malmsteen served as a better guest than Lita Ford and surprisingly wasn’t an arrogant d*ck like he is often portrayed. Prior to episode one, I was skeptical about comedians Florentine and Jamieson serving as co-hosts to the godly Trunk. After this episode, they have proved that they are in fact worthy, bringing up notable mainstream points shared by metalheads, and certainly possess a fine chemistry with the show and Trunk.
Next week’s guests are Dee Snider and Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister!