Anvil

Posted by Playlisted on May 6, 2009 in movie celebrities, music artists |

Anvil’s Robb Reiner and Steve Ludlow open up their iTunes playlists and give us an exclusive look inside…

A Taste:

Montrose, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Budgie

What do Slash, Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian and Lemmy Kilmister have in common?

They’re all Anvil fans!

They announce their allegiance the Canadian thrash in the fantastic new documentary, Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

Drummer Robb Reiner breaks it down simply. “We’re Anvil! We’ve been fuckin’ kickin’ ass for years, man,” he bellows with a hearty laugh. The simplicity of the drummer’s statement resounds louder than a Black Sabbath riff. Anvil have rewritten the thrash book on kicking ass, and they’re never going to stop as evinced in the documentary.

Robb continues, “Even if the movie didn’t come about we’d still be rocking. The movie has changed things in a big way, but we’ve worked damn hard. We’re dedicated to one thing only: the music. It’s fantastic people are discovering it through the movie. I love it.”

You’ll love Robb and singer Steve “Lips” Ludlow’s playlist selections below. Check them out!

Robb Reiner’s Playlist:

1. Montrose — Montrose

“This is the almighty blueprint for hard rock power metal. The production is unbelievable.”

2. Cactus — One Way…Or Another

“Carmine Appice’s best drumming was in Cactus, and this album proves it.”

3. Grandfunk Railroad — E Pluribus Funk

“This is probably the most raw and heavy album Grand Funk ever made, and that’s why I love it.”

4. Black Sabbath — Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

“I love all of the Black Sabbath albums, but Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is hard to top. It inspired all metal, and the riffs stay with you forever.”

5. Deep Purple — Burn

“These are all great hard rock records than any rocker should rock out to [Laughs]. I love Burn because Ritchie Blackmore came to play finally. He felt like he was saving himself on the previous albums, but this one rips. Ian Paice plays drums like the motherfucker he always has been here. It’s a smoking album.”

6. Cream — Disraeli Gears

“This album has some of my favorite songs on it—‘Sunshine of Your Love’ included. It was right in the middle of the psychedelic period.”

7. Captain Beyond — Captain Beyond

“It’s an amazing progressive hard rock album.”

8. Foghat — Energized

“They’re probably my favorite boogie rock n’ roll band on the planet.”

9. Budgie — In for the Kill!

10. Thundermug

“Of course, you haven’t heard of them [Laughs]. They’re a Canadian band, and they’re fucking awesome.”

11. A Foot In Cold Water

“They’re another amazing obscure band. Their first album was mindblowing.”

12. Troyka

“They’re totally hardcore underground psychedelic metal. They were like a really really bad Led Zeppelin [Laughs].”

Steve “Lips” Ludlow’s Playlist:

1. Black Sabbath — Master of Reality

“‘Into the Void’ is probably the heaviest song ever! There are particular parts that are amazing like the beginning of ‘After Forever.’ I remember the first time I smoked a joint and listened to that—it was like walking through walls of tissue paper [Laughs]. The backwards symbols really freaked me out. I loved how bizarre how it was. Of course I can’t forget the opening of ‘Sweet Leaf.’ The coughing is great. I can really relate to what that song’s about [Laughs].”

“I was 15-years-old when I saw Black Sabbath for the first time in 1970. Nothing has ever surpassed that. There were certain moments that happened during that concert I’ll never forget. It was called The Beggar’s Banquet. They were opening for Three Dog Night. The lineup was Humble Pie, Black Sabbath and then Three Dog Night. When Three Dog Night came out, people were throwing tomatoes and watermelon at them. In those days, it was like five bucks to get in and they gave free fruit and vegetables to eat. After the crowd heard ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Wicked World,’ Three Dog did ‘Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog’ and they were covered in tomatoes. It’s as if every moment was tape-recorded in my mind—really unbelievable. Sabbath played for just about an hour, but it was probably the most incredible hour of my life.”

2. Montrose — Montrose

“This album was very influential. It was Van Halen years before Van Halen. You can even hear the similarities to The Doobie Brothers because of Ted Templeman’s production. It’s a very interesting sound particularly on the beginning of ‘Space Station #5.”

3. Grand Funk Railroad — Grand Funk

“This is one of my all-time favorite albums. I love ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Inside Looking Out.’ They’re such amazing songs. ‘Winter & My Soul’ is probably my favorite song on this album. The chords and the bass guitar are extraordinarily influential on everything that came after.”

4. Cactus — Restrictions

“This album has ‘Evil’ on it, and that’s one of my favorite songs on the record. It’s actually a blues cover song, but it’s really heavy. I was so influenced by the song that I wrote a track called ‘Safe Sex’ that used some of the same ideas.”

5. Deep Purple — Deep Purple In Rock

“This is my favorite Deep Purple album. There isn’t one lame song on this record. It is completely crushing and killer heavy from ‘Speed King’ at the beginning to ‘Hard Lovin’ Man’ at the end. ‘Child In Time’ is obviously the almighty classic. I love ‘Bloodsucker.’ Every song on this record is crushing. It’s probably one of my favorites of all-time.”

6. Cream — Fresh Cream

“My favorite song is ‘Toad.’ Ginger Baker’s drum solo is amazing. It doesn’t get any better.”

7. Captain Beyond — Captain Beyond

“My favorite song is either ‘Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)’ or ‘Raging River of Fear.’ They’re really heavy. The guitar playing is absolutely stellar. It was very ahead of its time in a lot of ways. It captured a lot of Hendrix’s overtones in a much more controlled and melodic fashion.”

8. Budgie — In for the Kill

“I love the song ‘In for the Kill.’”

9. Jethro Tull — Thick As a Brick

“I can’t listen to this enough. You can’t pick a song because it’s all one song.”

10. Uriah Heep — Very ‘eavy… Very ‘umble…

“‘Gypsy’ is great. This was the first horror or high screaming I heard on a record. Bands like Mercyful Fate and King Diamond were completely inspired by this. They were the originators. Uriah Heep was like a hybrid of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. You can’t help but love that. They’re amazing guys too.”

11. Jimi Hendrix

“Before Black Sabbath and Grand Funk, there was Hendrix.”

—Rick Florino
05.06.09