Month: April 2020

Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

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A month ago, local record shop Hardy Boys Records bought a Kiss collection and offered up for sale. Everything was going to drop on that next Saturday at 10am. I got up, showered, dressed and headed out the door and arrive about 9:50 and luckily only one person was in line ahead of me.  Great conversations were had about our love for Kiss. I picked up 6 different Kiss pieces that were not in my collection one was this Bootleg called The Tickler.

‘The Tickler’ is an independent released bootleg of the bands concert from the Scandinavium which is in Gothenburg, Sweden.  The show was on the Lick It up Tour and dates to November 18, 1983.  It isn’t the full show as that show had 17 songs.  This one is only 8 songs and 2 solos including Gene Simmon’s bass solo and Vinnie Vincent’s guitar solo.

The bootleg is limited to 500 copies (no, it’s not numbered).  It has the green cover as there is one with a red cover floating around as well.  The packaging is very limited.  you get the horrible black & white photos on the front and back of the album jackets is blank.  The labels on the vinyl are pretty basic black with an A & B on each side and the name of the label, Roxy Records.  No special inserts or any bonus items.  Plain and simple.  My guess this came out in the 80’s.  Now the copy I bought was sealed, but to me that is a complete and utter waste.  I want to hear it, so I opened it and played it…SUE ME!!! Continue reading “Kiss – The Tickler (Bootleg Series) – Album Review” →

Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo – Single Review (The David Coverdale Series – Bonus Edition)

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We interrupt the regularly scheduled order of albums as I found another bonus LP out during my crate digging. I am little out of order because I can rarely find stuff in chronological order of my reviews.  This Promo single is for “Is This Love” off the 1987 album simply called ‘Whitesnake’ to some and ‘1987’ to others.  Me, I just call it awesome!  The good news about interrupting the series is I get to spend more time absorbing the next album on the list.

There is really nothing special other than it being a Promotional copy.  Minimal artwork and what you see on the cover above is all you get.  The funny thing is that everyone on the cover, with the exception of Coverdale, did not play on the song. It was actually John Sykes (who co-wrote the song with David), Neil Murray, Ansley Dunbar and Don Airey.  They were all fired right after production was finished.  The cover has Adrian Vandenberg, Vivian Campbell (damn he looked young), Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge, a pretty stellar line-up too.

The back is solid white.  No inserts or any special packaging. A plain and simple promo that says “Not For Sale”…oops, I bought it so somebody broke the rules. Was it me for buying it or Hardy Boy Records for selling it??  I don’t think either of us will get in to trouble, thankfully.

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Side A had the LP version of “Is This Love” and the late 80’s were known for their ballads and Whitesnake had one of the best with this track.  “Is This Love” which just missed landing at #1 and stalled at #2.  David sounded so sexy and sultry and the music was soft yet maintaining a slight edge to it.  The song was actually written for Tina Turner, but thankfully, David wisely held on to it and recorded it.  In an album that was almost baked to perfection, this was the icing on the cake.

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Side 2 is the “Edit Version” which means it’s a little shorter since this isn’t a dance remix which would then be like 15 minutes long or something ridiculous like that.  This version cuts out the longer synth intro, the solo is a little shorter and the end run out is not as long and drawn out.  It compacts the essence of the song into a shorter and could be a better package.

As far as ballads go, this one is top-notch and easily a 5.0 out of 5.0 Stars.  It checks off all the buckets, slow at times, power at others, emotive singing and love in the title.  What else could you possibly need?  That’s right…Nothing!

Up next…David Coverdale – ‘Into the Light’

The David Coverdale Series:

  1. Deep Purple – Burn
  2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
  3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
  4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
  5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
  6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
  7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
  8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
  9. Whitesnake – Trouble
  10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
  11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
  12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
  13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
  14. Deep Purple – Live in London
  15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
  16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
  17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
  18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
  19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
  20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
  21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
  22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
  23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
  24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
  25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
  26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
  27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
  28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
  29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
  30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
  31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
  32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
  33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
  34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
  35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
  36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
  37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
  38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

  1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
  4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)

Lit – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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The band Lit actually started way back in 1988.  The were first known as a band called Razzle, then they dissolved and back Stain.  They released a demo and signed with a record label in 1995, but there was a problem.  The name Stain was already claimed, so they changed their name to Lit. Their debut album was released in 1997 and the rest is history.

The members from the classic Lit era (the late 90’s to early 2000’s) was A. Jay Popoff, Jeremy Popoff, Kevin Baldes and Allen Shellenberger.  The would make their first 4 Lit albums together before the line-up changed slightly in later years.  The members weren’t the only thing to change as did their sound.  They went from this Southern California Pop Punk type sound to more of a Pop Rock beachy feel all the way to Country on their last album.  Quite a journey.

I have followed them ever since their 2nd album ‘A Place in the Sun’ all the way until today, but I haven’t enjoyed the entire journey.  There have been hits and misses as with most bands.  If they continue with the Country sound though, I am pretty much done with them.  But until we see what happens, let’s go through their catalog and rank the albums from Worst to First.

And away we go….

THE WORST – ‘THESE ARE THE DAYS” (2017):

Continue reading “Lit – The Albums Ranked Worst to First” →

My Sunday Song – “Runaway” by Bon Jovi

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For My Sunday Song #191, we are going to discuss the first of ten songs from Bon Jovi.  We will start it off with the first single and first song off their debut album called “Runaway”.  It was officially released in February 1984 and hit #39 on the Billboard charts. It was the first of many hits to come from this New Jersey band.

The song was written by Jon Bon Jovi and George Karak and was first recorded by Jon back in his Power Station Demo time period around 1981.  Then in 1982, he recorded it again as Jon Bon Jovi and The All Star Review.  This band included Hugh McDonald on bass…hmm…where have we heard that name before?  Oh yeah, he became the bass player for Bon Jovi in 1994 after original bass player Alec John Such left the band.  The band also had Tim Pierce on guitar, Frankie LaRocka on drums (cool name) and Roy Bittan on keyboard.  However, Mick Seeley actually wrote the keyboard intro for the song. I know Aldo Nova played a little on the album, but not sure exactly if he was on this song or not (BTW, I’m an Aldo fan so that any connection is cool to me).

If you haven’t figured it out, none of the original Bon Jovi band members are actually on this song.  And this is the version you hear on the album and the radio.  The band would be pieced together after the song started to become a hit on New Jersey radio and Jon needed a band.  And the rest is history at that point.

640full-bon-jovi-cover Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Runaway” by Bon Jovi” →

Friday New Releases – April 10th

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Happy Friday.  We made it through another week and in today’s world, that is saying something.  As your reward, we have a batch of new releases for you.  And let me tell you, I need this pick me up.  There are a few I am interested in hearing and they are highlighted in Blue as normal.  Let me know what you see that you want to hear or maybe I missed something so let me know.  I hope there is something for you.  Have a great weekend!!!

  • 71HREvVvBmL._SX522_  Joe Satriani – Shapeshifting – (Sony Music);  I love Satriani.  The first guitarist I dug that released his own solo albums. Well, maybe it was Vai and Satriani.  Joe has been pumping out music almost annually and I couldn’t be happier.  I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us this time around.

  • 61Ccbs8LyvL  The Strokes – The New Abnormal – (RCA):  The Strokes are back.  How long has it been? It has been 7 years since their last release.  I am not a huge fan, but I am interested to see what they bring to the table in 2020.  I like garage rock and they were kings for a short time, will they regain the reign…we will see.

Continue reading “Friday New Releases – April 10th” →

Gene Simmons – ‘The Vault’ – Album Review (Part 15 of 15 – The Final Verdict)

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We are finally to The End of the Road.  No, not the End of the Road Tour, but the end of our journey of Gene Simmons – The Vault!  We are on Part 15 of our 15 Part series.  We have spent numerous hours listening, reading, researching and writing up these posts and I have to say, it is the most fun I have had on this site maybe ever.  I wanted to deliver a very detailed breakdown of The Vault so maybe you would see whether or not it is worth buying.  For me, it was a no brainer, even though it took me two years to do it.  The price was finally right.

Let’s mention a little on the production of this album.  The production and mix were stellar.  They all had the same volume level and even the worst quality recording still sounded great.  They put a lot of time and effort in that and they hit it out of the park.

And I don’t want to forget to mention the people on this album.  I won’t go through all of them as you should read each review, but you get Ace Frehley, Bruce Kulick, Eric Carr, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer, Bob Kulick and even Paul Stanley.  And then there is Bob Dylan, Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen, but that is only a small portion…you get members of Black & Blue, of Silent Rage and even someone from Steel Panther. You get some songwriters, producers that helped write some songs and even Katey Sagal from Married With Children does some background vocals.  It is so cool to see all the different people involved.  That was one of my favorite parts.

IMG_1624 Continue reading “Gene Simmons – ‘The Vault’ – Album Review (Part 15 of 15 – The Final Verdict)” →

Whitesnake – ‘Starkers in Tokyo’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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In support of Whitesnake’s ‘Restless Heart’ Tour, the band played a couple of acoustic shows.  Well, not the band really, but only David Coverdale and Adrian Vandenberg.  Their performance at the EMI Studios in Japan was recorded and ended up on this release which was recorded on July 5th, 1997 and released on September 9th of that year.  A pretty quick turnaround, but honestly, not sure there was that much to fix as it is splendid.

The setting was a very intimate one with the 2 Snake members and a small studio of fans.  It was David on vocals and Adrian on an acoustic, both sitting on chairs like they were sitting in your living room.  The songs were of course, Whitesnake classics…but more from the later years at the time. And surprisingly a Deep Purple song which David had normally been against playing (Oh how that has changed over the years).

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The songs on this album you’ve heard a thousand times, but you haven’t heard them like this.  They are stripped down “to the bone” and are played in away that is new and refreshing. The opening track “Sailing Ships” feels so sad and Adrian’s playing is simply beautiful.  And can we talk about David’s vocals?  Well of course we can, it’s my site.  David sounds better than he ever has. Not just on this song, but the whole album.  Proving at the time, he was one of the best voices in rock. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Starkers in Tokyo’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

Generation X – ‘Generation X’ Deluxe Edition – Album Review (The Billy Idol Series)

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There is nothing like waiting over 40 years to release a deluxe edition of your debut album.  That is exactly what is happened with Generation X whose 1978 self-titled debut album finally received a deluxe edition in 2019.  And was it worth the wait?  That is what we are here to discover.

For those that don’t know and haven’t read the entire Billy Idol series.  Generation X is Billy’s band prior to him going solo in the 80’s.  The band wasn’t just Billy’s, but it also included Tony James, Bob “Derwood” Andrews and Mark Laff.  Generation X was a punk band out of the UK that tended to lean a little towards the Pop/Punk side of things rather than full on punk and they caught a lot of slack for that.  But who cares as here we are 40+ years later celebrating this release.

The Deluxe Edition is a 3 LP set consisting of a remaster of the debut album, an LP of Non-Album singles and B-Sides and a third LP of outtakes and remixes.  The reason to buy if for the 2 extra LPs…at least it was for me as I already had the original LP on vinyl.

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Generation X:

The first LP is a remastered version of the debut album.  The sound is sensational, crips and clear.  However, I prefer the original in all it’s former glory as that was the way it was intended to be heard.  I won’t go through a song-by-song breakdown as I have already done that before on the very first post of the Billy Idol Series.  You can read that here – Generation X – ‘Generation X’.

What you get for the set is a complete replica of that original disk…

And then a nice update on the inner sleeve and LP itself.  It is all very nice quality and high-end material. Very sturdy…

A-Sides and B-Sides:

The second LP is the cool one for me.  This has the a couple of Non-Album singles and all the B-Sides from the album.  I believe you could have gotten all these singles before (or most of them anyway), but I didn’t have them on vinyl so it was a no-brainer for me.  Since I actually have the U.S. version of the debut, I already had a few of these songs, but not all.

“Your Generation” was available on the U.S. version of the debut, but not the UK.  It was released prior to an album and I think displayed fully what the band was about.  It was uptempo, full of wild abandonment, aggression and a total blast.  Their punk roots were on full display and it summed them up nicely.

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The B-Side of the song was “Day by Day” which is on the album.  The album version was a little repetitive at times for me, but still packed full of attitude.  The one thing going for this song is Derwood’s guitar work which seems to be something I focus on more and more with this band.  A bright star that never fully shined.  This mix didn’t leave me feeling like it was too repetitive.  It was a richer and fuller sound.  I really like this version.

“Wild Youth” is another non-album track for the UK release.  It was also released prior to the album. It too made the U.S. version and should have been on both versions as it is awesome.  It is a shining example of punk attitude and youth rising up to be heard.

“Wild Dub” is the B-Side and was also on the U.S. release.  It is a complete remix of “Wild Youth” in the same vein you would get from Billy later with his Vital Idol releases.  It is full on dub and honestly, kind of annoying. I prefer the original song above.

“No No No” is the B-Side to “Ready Steady Go”.  Not on either releases of the album.  Derwood’s guitar riffs kick off the song.  It is 2 minutes full of speed and youth angst.  The cool thing is it ends with a little Elvis shout out and I am sure Billy had the snear going.

Next up is “Trying for Kicks” which was an outtake from 1977.  It actually ended up as a B-Side on the “Friday’s Angel” single from the “Valley of the Dolls’ album. Since I didn’t have this song, this was what I was after.  It is really early Generation X.  For an outtake, it is pretty awesome.  It is in the same vein as all their early stuff so nothing new to add other than it is a great addition to the collection.

The final track on this LP is “This Heat” which is another 1977 outtake and B-Side on “Friday’s Angel”.  A little slower tempo song and Billy sounds so young.  I see why it wasn’t an album track as it does have the same vibe or energy as those other tracks, but still a good song.  A very decent B-Side.

Outtakes and Rough Mixes:

The final LP consists mostly of remixes by both Phil Wainman who produced some songs, but not the album and Alan Winstanley who was the engineer on the album.  I am not a huge fan of remixes especially since most of these don’t stray too far from the originals. You get a some different arrangements, some added bits and difference in song lengths, but overall nothing better than the originals…in my opinion anyway.

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For me, this disk was great for 3 tracks.  The first is “Gimme Some Truth” which was an outtake and released on the U.S. version of the album. A punk cover of the John Lennon song.  It was a strange choice to be the song to kick off that album.  It captures the band’s essence so it works for Generation X.  A good choice of a cover.  They make it their own.

Another song is “Rock on Dub” which is an outtake and not on any album.  It is a rocking song that seems to be unbridled and out of control.  The dub style is obvious as it is in the title.  Another example of a great song, but not quite right for the album.  This is my favorite on this disk as I didn’t have this one either and plus it’s a lot of fun.

The last song on here I wanted was the Single version of “Promises Promises”.  The original is over 5 minutes.  This was streamlined down to 3:42, over 1 1/2 minutes chopped off.  Here’s what I said on the original version…“Promises, Promises” is more of a 70’s glam rock song than punk. At over 5 minutes it is not your typical length.  The song was inspired by Mott the Hoople both musically and lyrically.  I liked Derwood’s guitar work on this one as well.  It is a nice change of pace from the rest of the album.  The album had some really great moments on it and this was one of them.  I still stand by that.  This version just packs all the greatness into a smaller more manageable package.  I like this shorter version a little more.

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Overall, if you don’t have the original album on vinyl, then skip getting that and go after this box set.  It isn’t over-priced and all the little extras will add to the experience.  It captures the essence of the band and you will get a good education in to the roots of Billy Idol.  And that was the joy for me.  Like I said earlier, I could do without the remixes.  If the 2nd LP would have added the 3 songs from the 3rd LP and made the set two disks, I would give it a higher score.  For now, it is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars.  The original album got a 3.5 score, but having this overall great package, it gets a higher score.

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Now, if you want to check out the full reviews and the entire Billy Idol Series, click on any and all of the links below…

  1. Generation X – ‘Generation X’
  2. Generation X – ‘Valley of the Dolls’
  3. Gen X – ‘Kiss Me Deadly’
  4. Generation X – ‘The BBC Transcription Disc Series No. 126 1978’
  5. Billy Idol – Don’t Stop E.P.
  6. Billy Idol – Billy Idol
  7. Billy Idol – Rebel Yell
  8. Billy Idol – Whiplash Smile
  9. Billy Idol – To Be A Lover – Single Review
  10. Billy Idol – Vital Idol
  11. Billy Idol – Charmed Life
  12. Billy Idol – Cyberpunk
  13. Billy Idol – “Speed” (song from the Speed Soundtrack)
  14. Generation X – K.M.D. Sweet Revenge
  15. Billy Idol – VH1 Storytellers (Live)
  16. Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground
  17. Billy Idol – Happy Holidays
  18. Billy Idol – The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
  19. Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground
  20. Billy Idol – BFI Live (#RSD 2019)
  21. Billy Idol – Revitalized
  22. Generation X – Your Generation (7″ Record Store Day Release)
  23. Generation X – Generation X Deluxe Edition
  24. Billy Idol – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First

My Sunday Song – “Shout at the Devil” by Motley Crue

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For My Sunday Song #190, we are ending the 10 song Motley Crue set with the band’s most controversial song “Shout at the Devil” of the album of the same name.  The song and album came out in 1983 and let me tell you, it upset a lot of people.  Not us kids at the time, but the parents.  The controversy only helped the band and the song.  The song didn’t do great on the radio, but the album went onto hit #17 on the Billboard album chart and sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. alone.

The song and album were originally going to be “Shout With The Devil”, but Tom Zutaut who signed the band to Elektra was not having it.  He was having a hard time selling the idea to the label.  The fear of satanism and the uproar it could cause was not going to fly.  However, during a drug filled evening, something freaky happened to Tom and Nikki when a knife and fork rose from the table and they stuck in the ceiling.  I am sure it was the drugs talking and probably Tommy throwing up there, but whatever. They decided that it was not Shout With the Devil, but Shout At the Devil instead as they feared that shouting with the devil was going to get Nikki killed.

The album opens with the a spoken track called “In the Beginning” that was so freaking evil sounding that it was the perfect segue in to the song.  The song is so heavy and bombastic that it oozes evil.  Vince sings at such high notes that only the Devil’s Dogs can hear them.  Mick Mars on guitar is nothing short of evil personified and rips through the strings like the devil’s pitchfork rips through your heart.  As I kid, I was never concerned with it being a satanic song, I thought it was cool and guess what, I didn’t turn out evil and kill a lot of people…some maybe, but not a lot!!!

41mUBSgE2fL Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Shout at the Devil” by Motley Crue” →

Friday New Releases – April 3rd

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April is here!  And as I write this, who knows how crazy it has become.  I am sure we are still at home, I am sure the kids still aren’t back to school and the world is probably closed down…for the most part.  But, there is still new music coming out and hopefully that hasn’t completely stopped otherwise this whole post will be for naught.  What I am interested in are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what you are digging and what I might have missed.  Stay safe and I hope you have a great weekend.

  • 91zVuVV8yvL._SX522_  Ratt – Atlantic Years 1984-1990 – (Hne): I don’t really need this set as I do have all 5 albums on vinyl.  I am really interested in the bonus material.  If you haven’t gotten into Ratt, then this set is them in their prime and worth grabbing at a decent price.  If you want to know how I rank their albums….check it out HERE!!!  Now here is a little Round and Round for you.

  • 719DQGNyV4L._SS500_  Billy Raffoul – A Few More Hours a YYZ E.P. – (Interscope Records): I came across Billy Raffoul at the Needtobreathe concert.  He was the opening act.  I got to meet him, a horribly bad selfie with him and I bought his debut vinyl E.P. which he was kind enough to sign. So, naturally, I am going to be listening to this one.  Hoping for a little something different, but either way, he is awesome.

Continue reading “Friday New Releases – April 3rd” →