Month: February 2018

John 5 & the Creatures – ‘It’s Alive’ – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic6 Comments

John 5 & the Creatures bring us a new album to start the year off and this time we get their first live album.  ‘It’s Alive’ was recorded live off the Season of the Witch Tour in 2017 at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, Pennsylvania in April 2017.  The band consists of John 5 on lead guitar, Ian Ross on bass and Logan Miles Nix on drums.  The amount of music that comes out of these there guys for this album is incredible.

In listening to an interview with John 5 on Talking Metal with Emily Strigl, I learned that album was recorded rather spontaneously.  They arrived at the theater the day of the show and someone from the theater asked them if they wanted to record the show as they had a recording booth upstairs.  The band joyfully said yes.  And a little less than a year later, we have a live album released.

John 5 also stated in the interview that there are no overdubs or any re-recordings.  What you hear is what you get.  And what you hear is a live album that is near perfection which is also a little of the drawback.  The album at times doesn’t sound live as the musicianship is absolutely incredible.  There are probably errors, but they are not noticeable (at least to my untrained ears).

Continue reading “John 5 & the Creatures – ‘It’s Alive’ – Album Review” →

My Sunday Song – “Black Coffee in Bed” by Squeeze

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

For My Sunday Song #78, I am going with one of my favorite Squeeze songs “Black Coffee in Bed”.  The song didn’t do that great in the U.S. (#103 on Billboard) and for some reason the band never really broke it big here either,  but I always loved their songs and this one in particular.

“Black Coffee in Bed” was released in 1982 and was from their fifth album .Sweets from a Stranger’.  The song really wasn’t a big hit.  It only reached #52 in the UK and only #23 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.  It never broke the Top 100 on the Billboard Pop chart.  However, there was something about the song that I liked whether it was a little bit of Glenn Tilbrook’s vocals or the lyrics or the slow pacing of the music and the jazzy little feel to the song.  It all worked.

The funny thing is that Glenn really didn’t like the song.  According to Glenn from his interview with songfacts.com:

“It’s far too ponderous. It could never be a fast song, but it certainly had the opportunity to be slightly perkier. My vocal is mannered and not very good at all, and I can’t stand to listen to it now. It was influenced by what Paul Carrack had brought to the table but without Paul’s voice it didn’t sound right. We recorded a great demo with Gus Dudgeon but we really f–ked it up for the record, which was entirely down to me. This is one of the few Squeeze songs I’d happily re-record because I think I could do a better version.”

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Black Coffee in Bed” by Squeeze” →

Friday New Releases – February 9th

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic24 Comments

Happy Friday!!…or is it?  Well of course it is, it’s new release Friday.  There is not a whole lot I am pyched to listen to this week.  Some I might give a spin, but only one will get listened to today for sure and it is highlighted in Blue.  Otherwise, not much else that is exciting me.  Let me know what floats your boat.  Thanks.

  • 41VSwhV-ZFL  Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending – (Domino Recording Co.);  The Scottish indie rock band is back with their fifth album.  I have been a fan since the beginning which is strange for me as I usually don’t like the whole indie rock vibe, but Franz gave me a nice retro rock feel with a lot of distortion.  I don’t know what this one has to offer yet, but I will give it a listen.

  • 61CbMAk5zzL._AC_US320_QL65_  Toto – Greatest Hits: 40 Trips Around the Sun – (Sony Music)

  • 51O8TIeBEuL._SS500  Sister Hazel – Water – (Croakin’ Poet Records)

  • 51xgRMToKcL._AC_US320_QL65_  Voodoo Circle – Raised on Rock – (AFM Records)

  • 51cKSEatsBL._SS500  Dashboard Confessional – Crooked Shadows – (Fueled by Ramen)

  • 61l+GoCpryL._SS500  MGMT – Little Dark Age – (Columbia Records

  • 5130EnGGISL._SS500  Elevation Collective – Evidence – (Elevation Worship Records)

  • 61By-XPHFoL._SS500  Social Club Misfits – Into the Night – (Capitol CMG Label)

The Poodles – ‘Prisma’ – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic7 Comments

Not a huge cover albums fan, I was very apprehensive on this release.  I do like cover songs, you know, maybe throwing one on an album, but not a whole album.  Cover albums can be very hit or miss. The band either interrupts the songs in to their own sound or they copy it exactly adding nothing special and that is always my fear.

The Poodles decided to do a covers album for their 7th studio album and all though I am a huge fan of the band, this worried me greatly.  But being a fan, a did give it a spin.  The good news is the band took an approach of picking songs from artist that are not in their specific genre of glam metal and they definitely achieved that goal.  The album title ‘Prisma’, I can only assume was picked to signify the songs would be looked at from different angles or viewpoints and they would add their own color to them.  And was that achieved?  Well, let’s discuss that and find out.

The opening track of the album sounds like pure, classic Poodle.  The song is “Crazy Horses” by the Osmond Brothers from 1972.  Yes, I said that right…the Osmond Brothers.  Now that is definitely going outside your genre.  The song is cranked up much heavier and would fit perfectly on any Poodles’ album.  What helps is that I am not real familiar with this song so I have no preconceived notions of what this song should sound like.  Their first choice is making me think this might be a great covers album.

Continue reading “The Poodles – ‘Prisma’ – Album Review” →

Anderson East – ‘Encore’ – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic7 Comments

Anderson East’s ‘Encore’ is the follow-up to his label debut album ‘Delilah’.  With ‘Encore’, Anderson is finding himself and bringing us such a powerful vocal performance.  His voice was so soulful with that grittiness and emotion that it reminded me of Joe Cocker.  For that reason alone, I really dug this album.

He had some help with this album with songs written by Chris Stapleton (“King for a Day”) and Ed Sheeran (“All On My Mind”) both personal favorites.  He also reworked songs by Ted Hawkins (“Sorry Your Sick”) and Willie Nelson (“Somebody Pick Up My Pieces”).

71YZhoAWiVL._SL1200_

One of my favorites from the album is the upbeat song “Girlfriend” which feels like he is in church testifying his love to the congregation using horns and synthesizer (organ sounds) to give it that churchy feel.

Continue reading “Anderson East – ‘Encore’ – Album Review” →

My Sunday Song – “I Believe” by Joe Satriani

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic10 Comments

For My Sunday Song #77, I am going with one of my favorite songs by Joe Satriani called “I Believe”.  The song is off one of his best albums called ‘Flying in a Blue Dream’ from 1989.  Joe is known for his guitar playing and making it sing.  Well for this song, Joe is actually singing.  One of the very few songs he has ever done that on which was the first reason I was drawn to this song. It was nice to hear him sing.

The song is a ballad and a much slower pace than you are used to getting from him.  I was enthralled by the dark tone to the song and even the dark lyrics.  The lyrics discussed how hard life is, but it is inspiring to as it was still filled with so much hope.  I will let Joe tell it better from an interview he did with Songfacts.com…

“It was a difficult period in my life, where my father was in the process of passing away, and I was struggling with finishing up the Flying in a Blue Dream record. I was actually writing other songs that were instrumental pieces for the album. I’d be taking breaks during those periods, and I’d pick up the acoustic guitar and would start playing music.

There was a big painting in our apartment that a friend of my wife’s had done. She had worked my wife’s face into this figure, and I used to look at that quite a bit when I would take breaks from working on the album. So I wrote a song really about how difficult life is, but how ultimately, you have hope and you can change things for the better. It was really about writing that song and looking at that picture.”

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “I Believe” by Joe Satriani” →

Friday New Releases – February 2nd

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic36 Comments

Welcome to February’s First Friday of new releases.  There is a little Metal, Rock, Pop, Country and even Frank Zappa (he is his own category).  Hopefully something will float your boat.  There is only one I am really interested in and I might check out some others, but too early to say.  My choice is highlighted in Blue as always.

  • 61AHx4Gb31L._AC_US436_QL65_  Justin Timberlake – Man of the Woods – (RCA Records):  Is it no surprise that Justin is back with a new album as he is performing as the headline act for the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday.  The first single is a little different and took some getting used to, but I think I am digging it a little now.  I am interested to see what he has to offer.  I will admit I am a fan of his music so this one is a no brainer for me.

Continue reading “Friday New Releases – February 2nd” →