Bob Lefsetz: Welcome To My World - "Tangled In The Web"

When you're really depressed, you don't want to hear anything, no music will work. I learned that in William Styron's account of his fall off the edge, into a mental hospital, "Darkness Visible." And that's true. It's like you can't handle the noise. And you don't want to be lifted back up, you need to wallow in the pits.

And that's just how I felt after my father died. I couldn't write, I couldn't listen. And then one day I discovered "Tangled In The Web."

Oh, I knew of George Lynch. I'd like to tell you the rest of this Lynch Mob album is as good. But I was going through all the CDs sent to my house and discovered this song and it lifted my spirits and got me back on track, it was the first thing I wrote about when I put my fingers back to the keyboard.

On my Mac Plus.

That was a long time ago. 1992. My ex had moved out three years before. I'd run out of money the following summer. I was holding on by a thread, and the 1994 earthquake pushed me over, but after my dad died I was teetering, because he was always in my corner, and now he was gone.

It's the guitar sound. The way it bends hallucinogenically, it draws you in, you can't resist it, it gumbifies your body.

And then come the horns. The whole track starts to swing.

"If you leave me lonely
And you take away the things that I love"

That's our greatest fear. Get old enough and you're reluctant to play at all. That's the worst thing about divorce, you stand up in front of friends and family, you believe it's forever and when you discover it's not it makes you question everybody's motive, every commitment, can you count on anybody?

I'm not sure.

But you can count on these records.

Despite the song having a thread of frustration, there's such swagger, such attitude, that it's emboldening. "Tangled In The Web" is the kind of track you play before you go on a date, to psyche yourself up. And just like the classics on "Back In Black," it never goes stale, it never loses its power. Sure, it veers towards power ballad land, but really "Tangled In The Web" is hard rock. And nothing kicks out the mental jams like loud, pounding rock and roll.

And the way it bends again at the end, just makes you want to play "Tangled In The Web" all over again.

Credit Keith Olsen, who both cowrote and produced it. Imagine if Fleetwood Mac veered just a bit heavier, this track doesn't sound so disconnected from the white album. It's clear. It goes straight to the heart.

"If you see me comin'
Better run and find a place to hide"

"Tangled In The Web" gave me back my gumption.
And when I've got that, WATCH OUT!