Year: 2017

Friday New Releases – March 10th

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Happy Friday!  I hope there are some new releases here that you might like.  There is not a whole lot coming out, but a few will be on my list to listen to during the week.  I will highlight those in Blue.  You will see something from the Jerry Garcia Band for you Deadheads and if you liked Soft Cell from the 80’s there is a greatest hits package from Marc Almond.  There is an album by the great country artist Marty Stuart that actually might be worth a listen, but isn’t first up on my list.  I will eventually get to that one.

  • 170x170bb-16  Chickenfoot – Best + Live – (Chickenfoot LLC & Entertainment One): I am not sure how you have a Best of album after only 2 studio albums, but Chickenfoot seems to think they need one.  I am thinking it is a contractual obligation they have to fulfil.  I will be glad for the Live songs and the one new single “Divine Termination”.  No matter what, when you have Sammy, Joe, Chad & Michael together, you are in for a good time.

  • 170x170bb-43  Bush – Black and White Rainbows – (Zuma Rock Records):  Bush is still going strong.  This is the first album for Gavin Rossdale since his well publicized divorce from Gwen Stefani.  It will be interesting to see how that impacted his song writing for this album.  Can’t wait to hear this one regardless of that fact.

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Maroon 5 – Deep Dive Playlist

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I didn’t know what to listen to the other day, so I hit shuffle on my whole library.  An old Maroon 5 song came up and I really loved that song.  It wasn’t one of their hits, but it was just as good.  It got me thinking about all their songs.

Maroon 5 is more than the songs you hear on the radio.  Their albums are usually great all the way through. I love it when a band’s non-singles are just as good as their radio hits, if not even better.  As a result of this one song randomly popping up on my shuffle, I decided to dive deep into their albums and put together a playlist of the Deep Cuts.  It is what I like to call Deep Dive Playlist.

I have only done two others so far since I started the blog.  One for Def Leppard and one for Bon Jovi.  I hope you enjoy this one as much as people seem to enjoy the other ones.  Here is my Deep Dive Playlist for Maroon 5.  They are not being ranked, they are only a playlist. I love them all.

“How” off the album ‘Hands All  Over Me’: “How” was the song I mentioned that popped up in my shuffle and the inspiration for this deep dive playlist.  It is more of a ballad than a pure dance song and I love Adam’s voice in this song.  Come to think of it, I love Adam’s voice.  How a man can get that high is beyond me, but his voice is so unique and so recognizable the minute you hear it.

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Ed Sheeran – ÷ (Divide) – Album Review

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Ed Sheeran’s album came out on Friday and my oldest daughter couldn’t be happier.  She has been streaming the album almost non-stop since.  I am sure I will have to go out and get her the vinyl real soon which I am okay with because I would listen to it as well.

Sheeran’s new album is called Divide (÷) and is his third album in his young career.  Ed isn’t like all the other pop artist on the radio.  He actually writes his songs and plays his instruments as well.  I would even go as far as saying he is a musician and not just a prop for someone else’s songs.

The album has been breaking Spotify streaming records and is getting a lot of press.  As a result, going into this record I had pretty high expectations.  His first single, “Shape of You” is outstanding and has been blowing up the charts.  It is a pop, dance song about new love and the song currently is still my favorite song on the album, but some others are catching up as I keep hitting repeat on the album myself.

The album opens with “Eraser” and has Ed Sheeran doing a little rapping which comes as no surprise since he has done it before and he is a huge hip hop fan.  The song talks about his struggles with fame which he doesn’t expect you to feel sorry for him.  I could imagine how hard fame really can be and understand the way he feels.  It would be hard to have success so fast and all sense of privacy being stripped away.  The song is great start to the album.

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My Sunday Song – “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Kim Wilde

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My Sunday Song #29 is the song “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Kim Wilde.  It is hard to believe my wife has only one more week after this one.  How time flies.  Now I have to actually think of songs again!  I will now turn it over to my wife to explain the special meaning behind this song and maybe why the Kim Wilde version over the Supremes (which drops the “g” on Hanging)???…Enjoy!

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” is a 1966 song written and composed by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland. It was a Billboard Hot 100 hit in late 1966 for the American Motown group The Supremes. Over the years, various artists have covered this song; however, my absolute favorite is Kim Wilde’s version. Wilde released “You Keep Me Hanging On” on her album Another Step in 1986. This song became the biggest hit of Wilde’s career.

In researching this song for My Sunday Song, I discovered that Reba McEntire covered the song in 1995 for her twenty second studio album, Starting Over. I am a HUGE Reba fan and while I am sure I have or had this CD, I do not recall her covering this song. Perhaps I heard it and loved Wilde’s version so much more that I just blocked it out. I will try to locate Reba’s version of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”. I’m curious now!

Traveling back to 1986 when Wilde released “You Keep Me Hanging On”. I was in high school going into my senior year and music was EVERYTHING! Music was my way of making sense of everything going on around me and this song was no exception. I would sing this song “loud and proud” and “over and over”. Now, I read the lyrics and this song could be applicable to so many things. Maybe you want to be set free from a relationship, which is likely the first thing many people would think about when listening to this song, but what about being set free from addictions, bad habits, anxiety, depression, self-destructive behaviors, sin, or anything that is keeping you from living the life you deserve. You try to break free from these things only to go back to them.

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Friday New Releases – March 3rd

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I can’t believe it is March already.  Damn, time flies.  Another Friday of great new releases.  Finally, Ed Sheeran is gracing us with his presence and a new release.  My oldest daughter could not be more excited.  I hope there is something on the list for you.  My most anticipated are highlighted in Blue.

  • 170x170bb-4  Ed Sheeran – Divide – (Asylum Records):  Yes, after a long wait we now have new Ed Sheeran music.  The kids is super talented and one of the few pop solo artist I will go out an get without hearing anything.  I looking forward to exploring this one for a long while and if the new song, “Shape of You” is any indication of what is to come, this will be great.

  • 170x170bb-72  Tokio Hotel – Dream Machine – (Believe Digital):  I am not sure when or why I stumbled across this German band, but I am glad I did.  What I like about them is how their style changes a little with each album.  They never keep it stale and boring.  It is always interesting.

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Stephen Pearcy – ‘Smash’ – Album Review

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If you are expecting Stephen Pearcy’s ‘Smash’ to sound like Ratt, You’re In Trouble.  This Collage of songs is definitely not Ratt and the first two songs, “I Know I’m Crazy” & “Ten Miles Wide”, proves that it is his own album.

Stephen’s screaming of MuthaFucka at the beginning of “Dead Roses” is the Detonator that is set off on this explosion of rock.  They Lay It Down on the blues sounding “Shut Down Baby”.  I’m Insane for the rockers “Passion Infinity” & “I Can’t Take It” as they would fit nicely on any Ratt album.

It’s a Shame, Shame, Shame, but a few songs don’t hold up.  It feels like he pulled “Summer’s End” Out of the Cellar as it is a stale ballad.  The song “Jamie” completely rips off the chorus on the Ratt song “Can’t Wait On Love” and it Drives Me Crazy.  Lastly, the childish sounding “Lollipop” had me screaming Enough is Enough!

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“My First Time” with Pat Benatar’s ‘Wide Awake in Dreamland’

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Pat Benatar had been around for almost 10 years by the time I got around to buying my first Pay Benatar album.  I had seen her videos and heard a lot of songs on the radio, but I had never bought an album.  That changed in 1988 with the release of one song…”All Fired Up”.

That was the song that did it for me.  I heard that song and finally decided to go out and buy the CD.  The album ‘Wide Awake in Dreamland” was My First Time with Pat Benatar.

Pat Benatar has one of the finest voices ever in Rock music, but for some reason I always hesitated buying her stuff.  There is no one out there with her octave range or her talent. This album showed me that she was untouchable when it came to vocals.  It was this album that caused me to go back and get her entire collection over the next few years.

I was out at the record store a month back and came across this album and had to have it on vinyl.  The cool thing about the album I found was that it was a “Promotional Only” album and not supposed to be available for resale.

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My Sunday Song – “Amazed” by Lonestar

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My Sunday Song #28 is “Amazed” by the band Lonestar.  I can attest to my wife loving this song as it is one of the most played in my library.  Here she is to tell you why she loves this song…

“Amazed” is a song written by Marv Green, Aimee Mayo, and Chris Lindsey. The first version of the song was recorded by the American country music group Lonestar, whose version was released in March 1999 as the second single from their 1999 album Lonely Grill. If you’re looking for a good love song, this is one you’ll want to put on your all time favorites list.

“Amazed” is one of those love songs that you can truly “feel” when you sing or listen to the words. This feeling is especially heightened when you have someone you are madly in love with. It could be a new love or one that’s been around for years. I first heard this song when I started dating my husband which is why “Amazed” is very special in my heart. To this day, 16+ years later, I still get goose bumps when I hear this song and he still amazes me with pretty much everything he does.

I hope you will take a moment to listen to this song if you have not heard it before. You won’t be disappointed in Lonestar.

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Friday New Releases – February 24th

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There is a lot of Rock albums out today and I am super excited and hope I can get through them all.  Frontiers Records normally does 4 albums every month but today they bring us 5 albums that could keep me very busy.  I have highlighted in Blue the ones I am most excited about.  I am sure there is something this week for everyone.

  • cover170x170-11  King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana – (Flightless Records):  King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are back after only one year and now they are top on my list.  I had never heard of them until I did a music challenge where I pick an album to listen to based solely on the band name, the album name or the album cover and I picked them.  Read about it here.  I found that album to be stellar and now they will be the first thing I listen to on this day out of all the new releases.  They are a very unique band and probably an acquired taste and the song “Rattlesnake” makes me a little worried about this release, but I will still listen.

  • 170x170bb-33  Mike Tramp – Maybe Tomorrow – (Target Records):  Mike Tramp keeps pumping out the solo music and he brings us a new one to enjoy.  The former lead singer of 80’s rock band, White Lion, has carved path in his solo work that is nothing like his former band and that is okay. He never disappoints.

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Bruce Fairbairn – Producer Extraordinaire #3

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In my producer extraordinaire series, this is the 3rd producer who helped create some of my favorite albums.  The first post in the series was for Robert John “Mutt” Lange and then second post was for Brendan O’Brien.  Both legendary producers.

Bruce Fairbairn didn’t have as long as career as the first two guys due to his untimely death back in 1999.  However, during his brief time, he crafted some of the most memorable albums of the 80’s & 90’s and the albums sold well over 65 million copies if you just count the platinum and gold albums.

It all started in back in Canada in the late 70’s when he started out producing for a band called Prism.  Prism had moderate success in Canada, but not much internationally.  In 1980, Bruce started production on the debut album for another Canadian band called Loverboy.  Loverboy opened the doors for Bruce with the bands international appeal. He produced 4 albums with Loverboy in the 80’s.  They were as follows:

  • Loverboy – (2x Platinum)
  • Get Lucky – (4x Platinum)
  • Keep It Up – (2x Platinum)
  • Wildside – (Gold)

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