Chapter 4
More Mayhem
California was very foreign to us. People were different. They dressed and acted
different. We met a Christian band out there that claimed to have the tallest
hair in the world. Seemed like most of these people were very materialistic. We
had an incident with a group of witches who tried to disrupt one of the shows.
They were out in front of the opening band dancing in a circle and chanting.
They were escorted from the building.
A lot of the Christian California bands were feeling threatened by the presence
of Bride. Many of them thought that California was the only place to have a
band, and that an east coast band had no business out there. I felt like most of
these bands had members who were in a band just to be in a band, and that they
did not have a real ministry. We were always waiting for confrontation, and the
big night came when in a parking lot of a Denny's restaurant when I was
approached by what I call two hairballs.
A male and female, I think, stopped me and accused me of not having a legitimate
ministry, not bearing any fruit and not being a Christian. If it was not for the
fact that Denny's was full and my party came out, I would have lost my religion
long enough to pound these two beehives. I had worked really hard getting the
band focused and trying to establish the ministry, and to have two people that
did not even know me verbally attack me was too much. They walked away feeling
as though they had seen the last of me. I am sure they thought that Bride would
fade away, but we would endure far longer than our critics.
We made some good friends in California, and most of the fans were supportive.
The Press
We were getting a lot of mixed press, and we were not taking it well. I
personally wrote letters directed at the writers of these bad articles and
reviews, and, before long, it escalated into war. We took a pounding, and the
press won in the eyes of the industry, but we had established a great
relationship with the fans, and they came to our rescue in the form of letters.
We were spiritually worn and battered after playing right into the hands of
Satan's trap. At the end of all the diverse press, we were quite disoriented
with Refuge Music Group because of their dishonest business practices and poor
accounting.
Chris Yambar was still around writing reviews, and his review of Live to Die was
favorable. His only complaint was that the band had not yet learned to handle
criticism, citing, "... This has proven to be a hot button with Thompson." Chris
called the record nearly perfect, but described my vocals as a "blast of banshee
nastiness." I was tired of feuding, and instead of reading into the statement
and creating a mountain out of a molehill, I decided to take it as a compliment.
Foreign press from mags like Mortal Sin, Kerrang, Light Attack and other smaller
mags were reviewing the record. However, we could not read the foreign print, so
we had no idea if the reviews were good or bad. White Metal Alternatives said
this was our "latest and greatest record." We were being compared to every
secular metal act that was on top. I was overjoyed to read in Rizzen Roxx
magazine that they felt my vocals blew Ronnie James Dio away. Heavens Metal
praised the record.
David Lowman of Note Board magazine wrote: " ... Bride's second release for Pure
Metal Records creates quite a love/hate relationship with the listener. The
songs are either creatively crafted metal monsters or silly, redundant metal
mistakes." My vocals were slammed as he wrote: "... the lyrics fall into the
cavern of the forgettable, cliche-filled metal norm." He called the chorus to
Hell No "so silly it is almost offensive." YET it would remain one of Bride's
top requested songs.
We tried to overlook such criticisms. However, the band was going through many
crazy emotional ups and downs. Personally it was hard to take anything negative
lightly. White Throne magazine readers chart had Live to Die at the #1 spot. I
was voted #4 as the readers' pick, we were voted #4 favorite band. I remember at
one of our few live shows after our performance that the promoter approached me
and asked if I would do an interview. I said 'of course, let us do it.'
There were actually a couple of reporters there wanting to do interviews, but
were intimidated by the way I had feuded with the press in the past. They were
afraid to approach me, thinking that I may be a dangerous sort of fellow. In
addition, they had just experienced a Bride show that I am sure was a bit
shocking to them. They were impressed that I was really a nice person and easy
to talk with. I guess they were geared for confrontation and found that I was
nothing of the sort.
Silence is Madness
Steve Osborne had grown completely impossible to work with, and after a show in
California we got the news that Osborne was taking a walk. He wanted no more of
the Christian market. I would see Steve a few years later working at a booth in
the middle of a mall around the Christmas season selling some type of Christmas
decor. I did not see the need to stay in touch with him, and we lost touch with
the occasional report that he was working in a cover band in Louisville.
We felt it necessary to rehearse even more because we lost what we thought was a
trump card. With all of Osborne's quirks, he had been a monster guitarist. Troy
by this time had established himself as a lead player, and the only thing
lacking was his confidence to pull it off live. We did know that with the loss
of Steve that song writing would become easier since Steve had been so hard to
please.
We worked very hard writing on the next album, but the songs came with what
seemed to be great ease. Again, John Petri was brought in to take on the task of
producer. We had auditioned many guitarists, to try to add that second guitar to
the band, but no one really fit. We were not so interested in the talent aspect,
rather, we needed that right combination. We found a special guest guitarist by
the name of Rob Johnson to add more of that 80's metal sound. Rob would not join
the band, but had no problems in recording and even showing Troy the licks.
We decided to record some demos to get a better look-see of how the songs would
sound on tape. Rob's lead playing was much more distinctive than Steve's, and at
the time, having a heavy guitar sound was essential. We felt we had wrote some
of the best tunes we had ever put together, and now the question of which one's
would make the record was at hand.
Troy and I decided not to record what we thought were the better songs for
Refuge Music Group "Pure Metal" since our relationship with them had
disintegrated. They had been so dishonest that we had no confidence in their
ability to promote an album nor give us accurate sales reports. Even if we had a
great song, we could not see it doing anything but sitting on the shelf. This
proved to be a very wise move. The time came for the actual recording of the
album, which we would title "Silence is Madness," and we gave Pure Metal what we
considered the B songs. They were still good songs, but we felt them to be
inferior to the tunes we held for future use, hopefully with a new label.
The basic tracks and most of the overdubs were cut in Nashville. Everyday of
recording was a real laugh. Frank, our bass player, would say things like, "I
was right on the money with that bass part." The funny thing is that he would
say this after recording a part that did not lock in with the drums. It was a
tall order to play close to the unorthodox style of Steve Gilbert's drum
playing. Steve was a super fast double bass player, yet I put so many demands on
him that his time-keeping suffered.
I went with Petri to Buffalo, NY to record my vocals and to mix the record. I
got the chance to hang out with an up and coming band called the Goo Goo Dolls.
Petri had been doing some pre-production with them, and how was I to know that
they would soon be the next big thing? They ask me to do some back up vocals on
their first record, but, after they sat and listened, they thought the vocals
were too smooth for their sound.
SILENCE IS MADNESS WAS FINISHED.
With Silence is Madness we showed the critics and our fans a little different
side of the band. Heaven's Metal magazine's readers poll results came in, and
here were the results. Bride #4 live band, Dale Thompson #2 favorite singer,
just under the legendary Mike Lee of Barren Cross. Heaviest band #5, and #4 was
favorite album cover. That year we had some great shows to remember.
Our first year at Cornerstone was extremely intense. As we were waiting back
stage in the huge metal building where we were to perform, we could hear the
crowd outside chanting the band's name. I had no idea of how many people might
be out there, but I could feel it was going to be a fantastic show. When the
doors opened the band was standing behind the stage looking around the drum
riser.
The crowd charged the stage like a stampede. There were chairs being knocked
over and everyone was fighting to get up front. Frank said, "man, I did not know
if they were going to stop at the edge of the stage or run over us." When the
building had finally filled it was filled to capacity, and there were even
people in the rafters. It would be our biggest show that we had ever played, and
that record would hold true until the next Cornerstone.
We did have a problem at the concessions where we were selling t-shirts. We
thought we would have a table for the day after we played. However, we were told
there was no way we were going to get a table. We had sold merchandise for one
day and were now being asked to leave. Other bands were there for their second
day, so I did not think was fair. After a bitter argument we were asked to leave
the festival all together and were banned from the festival the next year. I had
vowed to never play Cornerstone again.
When young, one often does things and says things that they regret. We would
return more mature and with a better set than ever.
"The record company meeting."
Gavin Markel, Kevin and Ceasar Kalinowski met Troy and I at GMA in Nashville to
discuss the possibilities of resigning with Pure Metal. We were told at the
meeting, as well as shown on statements supplied by Kevin, that they owed us
back royalties. We were given the option that they could either pay us with a
check or with product. We chose the check, which was promised to be mailed to
us. However, that turned out to be the wrong option ... we never got a dime! We
had made it plain at the meeting that we were not interested in resigning with
Pure Metal unless honesty was made a priority, and that Pure Metal honor the
contract which they had breached several times. All parties passed on any new
contract.
Although we were writing good tunes, we were not playing well as a band. With
the lackluster performances of the band and little enthusiasm, I decided to
begin the reconstruction of Bride. After pleading with Steve Gilbert to learn
the basic fundamentals of drumming, and to dismantle his double bass kit to no
avail, I was forced for the good of the band to let him go. I had worked with
him for three years and considered him a friend. This was not a easy decision to
make.
Silence is Madness would be our last record under Refuge Music Group. Now
without a drummer and no record deal, we had fallen into the barrel of thousands
of other bands trying to stay afloat. (We had been witness to the breakups of
other Christian Heavy Metal Bands like MESSIAH PROPHET, LEVITICUS, SAINT AND
BARREN CROSS.) Bride seemed to be finished, and we had lost our steam.
We began auditioning drummers, but none really clicked. We were not having any
success finding anyone with the style that we wanted to pursue. One day, Troy
and I were shopping around at a local music store. An old friend of ours, "Jerry
McBroom," was working behind the counter of the drum department. I asked Jerry
if he knew of any drummers, and he began to think, running the possibilities of
everyone he knew through his head.
Then it hit me! Jerry was one of the finest drummers I had ever heard and, even
though he really did not play our style, I thought, 'what do I have to loose?' I
asked him if he would be interested in "giving it a go." Jerry said that he was
not playing with anyone seriously at the time, and would not mind giving it a
shot. We began rehearsals soon after, and we concentrated on new material. Jerry
brought a tightness to the band that we had never known before.
Song writing got more serious, and songs like "Everybody knows my name" were
written. (This song would win the DOVE AWARD for Metal Song of the Year two
years later.) We also wrote songs like "KISS THE TRAIN" and "YOUNG LOVE," which
became songs that would later appear on future records. We recorded a couple of
demo tapes and sent them out the underground press and to the hand full of
pirate radio stations that we were familiar with. Bride fans were very hopeful,
but the press was now divided, and most did not believe that it would be
possible for Bride to rise from the ashes.
Frank was becoming less creative, and at rehearsals he seemed to zone in and out
musically sometimes, as if he were playing by instinct rather than from the
heart. I took it upon myself to ask Frank to take a few lessons. If he were to
remain, he would have to learn to lock in with Jerry and tighten up our songs.
Frank ignored my request, and I was forced to let him go. Once again this was a
hard move on my part because I considered Frank a good friend. Frank was a good
ol' country boy and I did not want to hurt his feelings. He took the dismissal
very well. I believe he was expecting it.
I already had a back up bassist in the wings. A long time friend of Jerry's,
Billy Jones (who had a very conservative look and did not really fit the band)
was brought in. He was a monster bassist. We worked with Billy writing songs and
welcoming his writing and input. He changed our style a bit because of his jazz
background. We played our first gig with him at a friend's birthday party, and
we all agreed that it felt very awkward. We had turned into a funk metal band
within two months, and I was still trying to make the adjustment when I received
a call from Jerry. Billy had phoned Jerry and said that he just did not feel
good about the band, and really felt the Lord calling him to church ministry. He
was not comfortable playing rock and had no desire to go on the road.