Month: March 2021

You Pick It! – Which Album to Review in April?

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You, my reader, are going to pick an album for me to review each month.  It is really simple…first, I will give you 5 albums to choose from and second, you will tell me which one of those you would like to see reviewed on the site.  See…simple!

There are a few simple rules I have put in to place in my selections.  They are…

  • One has to be a new release (within the last month)
  • One has to be one I have never heard before (new releases don’t count for this one)
  • One has to be from a genre I don’t normally listen to at all or very often
  • And the last two are choices from my collection that I haven’t reviewed before

What are the 5 albums you ask?  Funny you should ask because I have those right here…

  New Release – Rob Zombie – ‘The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy’

  Never Heard Before – King Crimson – ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’

  Not My Normal Genre – David Lanz – ‘Cristofori’s Dream’

  From My Collection – AC/DC – ‘For Those About to Rock’

  From My Collection – The Cult – ‘Electric’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in April, I will post a review of the album that gets the most votes. You have one week to decide and from there I will start listening to the album and do a review.

Thanks for participating!!

Friday New Releases – March 19, 2021

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Another week has gone by and now we are to our favorite day of the week. At least its mine and if you are here looking at what new music came out today, it is probably yours as well. It is always great to see what is new and what you can’t wait to drop a needle on to hear…please don’t drop a needle in your arm…that would suck!! My albums I can’t wait to list are on Blue and when I see albums, I really mean album, singular. I shouldn’t have added that “s” because there is only one I want to hear. Hopefully though, you have a bunch. Let me know what is tickling your fancy and let everyone know if there is something I missed that is out. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

  • 91qon5cb2xL._SX522_  Paul Stanley’s Soul Station – Now And Then – (Universal Music): I am a Massive Kiss fan, so to see Paul Stanley branch out on his own is always a welcome site. This time around he is going old school R&B/Motown style with his band Soul Station. I can’t wait to see what he has in store. This might not be my normal cup of tea, but I will give it a shot as he has earned that much respect from me.

And here are the rest…some really big names starting with Mr. Bieber…

  • A1cXvozizOL._SX522_  Justin Bieber – Justice – (Def Jam Records)
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Kiss – The Second Coming Documentary (1998) – Movie Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Only 2 months after Kiss released their reunion album, ‘Psycho Circus’, the band released another video. This one consisted of 2 VHS Tapes called ‘The Second Coming’. This isn’t a concert video, but instead what we get is a documentary that documents the band’s reunion with Ace and Peter and the subsequent Alive/Worldwide Tour from 96-97. The video was released on November 24, 1998 and the sales were really great as it went Platinum.

It starts off sounding like a VH1 Behind the Music TV show as they quickly go through the band’s make-up history and the first departure of Peter and Ace. This part takes only about 15 minutes and when I say it is high level, that is an understatement. This is an extremely short version of Cliffs Notes Kisstory. The good news is that leaves the remaining 2 hours left to discuss when Peter and Ace start getting back in the good graces of Gene and Paul starting with the Kiss Conventions and going through the end of the Alive/Worldwide Tour a few short years later.

Before we get in to some of the detail of the video, let’s first talk about a future Kiss connection with this video. The Director and Producer of the video is future Kiss’ own Tommy Thayer. That is right, before he became the Spaceman in Kiss, he was brought on board as basically a historian for the band.

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Queen – ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ (1974) – Album Review (The Studio Album Series)

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The band set out on tour after ‘Queen II’ and that is when disaster struck. Brian May was diagnosed with Hepatitis and the band had to cancel the rest of the tour. With no more tour, they started to rehearse and prep for the next album. Luckily May got better and joined his lads when they went in to Trident Studio in July of 1974 to start recording the album. However, May got sick again. This time with a stomach ulcer and he missed some of the recording process. Thankfully for us all, he recovered and came back and finished his part of the album. The album was finally finished in October of that year and released a short time later on November 8, 1974. I guess back then you could get an album out a month after you finished it. Nowadays, you need a minimum of 3 months or more before the album will come out.

The band finally saw some major success both in the UK and around the World. In the UK, the album went platinum and sold over 300,000 copies going to #2 on the charts. In the US, the album went Gold and sold over 500,000 copies going all the way to #12. They released two singles off the album (although they could’ve released more in my book) and saw one go to #2 in the UK and the other to #11. Queen was starting to find its groove. With this album, I think that is true. They stepped away from the more progressive rock sounds and the fantasy themes from the first two album and honestly, I am glad they did. This saw them branch out more and turn out a more complete rock album. Of course, they still experimented with their sound and tried new things, they just weren’t as far out in left field as before. As you can see below, no line-up changes as it is still Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon as it should be.

I am sorry to say I get a little verbose with the first three songs. I did a My Sunday Song on each of those and I liked what I wrote so I used a lot of those post. I promise to not ramble on for the songs after that otherwise we will be here for hours reading and me writing. Enough ranting, let us get to the songs…

Continue reading “Queen – ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ (1974) – Album Review (The Studio Album Series)” →

The Cult – “Love Removal Machine” – 12″ Single

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Continuing the saga of all the 12″ Singles I picked up at the big Metalocalypse sell at Noble Records, we are now on a 4 week run of singles from The Cult. First up was from the band’s 1985 album ‘Love’ with “She Sells Sanctuary” and then we took a look at the lead track and third single form the band’s 1987 album ‘Electric’ with the song “Wild Flower”. The 12″ this time around is also off ‘Electric’ and was the first single off the album. The song was “Love Removal Machine” written by both Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy. My copy was still sealed, but since it wasn’t expensive and music should be listened to, it is no longer sealed and it sounds fantastic now that it finally gets to breathe and be heard. I could feel it sigh with relief when I broke the seal. I swear I heard it say softly…”finally”.

The 12″ comes with three tracks. The LP Version of the song as well as an extended version. The third track is “Wolf Child’s Blues” which was not on the album so that is the gem piece for this 12″ Maxi Single. All songs were produced by Rick Rubin and “Wolf Child’s Blues” was actually recorded live in the studio on New Years Eve 1986.

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You Picked It! – Joni Mitchell – “Blue” – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! And this one was probably the closest one yet. It wasn’t until Uncle Meat Cast his vote that we had a winner as I was sitting with a three way tie at first . The one you picked was Joni Mitchell’s album “Blue” which I had never heard before. The votes were as follows:

  1. Joni Mitchell – ‘Blue’ – 6 votes
  2. Ozzy Ozbourne – “Bark at the Moon’ – 5 votes
  3. Phil Collins – “Face Value’ – 5 votes
  4. Outkast – ‘Stankonia’ – 4 votes
  5. Durbin – ‘The Beast Awakens’ – 4 Votes

Thanks to all for participating. The April choices will be up on Saturday!

Joni Mitchell – ‘Blue’ (1971):

You people are not making my life easy by picking some of the most famous albums of all time for me to review. It puts so much pressure on me for two reasons. One, if it is one of the greatest albums of all time, will I like it and if not, look like a fool for no. Two, with it being one of the greatest albums of all time, will my write-up do it any justice. Can it live up to those standards. I know it is my fault because I have been putting them on the list and I do enjoy stretching outside the box to do the best I can on these reviews. But it is exhausting at the same time. Enough complaining, on to the review.

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My Sunday Song – “Do Not Disturb” by Halestorm

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For My Sunday Song #239, we are going to talk about the song “Do Not Disturb” by Halestorm. The song is off their current album which is 2018’s ‘Vicious’. The album went to #8 on the Billboard Charts and this song was the 2nd single. It was written by everyone in the band, Lzzy hale, Josh Smith, Joe Hottinger and Arejay Hale.

The song is based on a true story and if you are sheepish about sex, then you might want to stop reading now. There was a night when the band was overseas, Lzzy met another woman and a guy and turned that meeting into a threesome. She figured the band was heading out the next day for another country so why not have a little fun as she would never see them again. The song is extremely suggestive in the lyrics without being dirty or vulgar. Before this song I always wondered what was going on behind a closed hotel door with the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the handle, well, now I know.

Musically, this is really a cool track. The way the guitar riffs, the drum fills and bass line play against each other is great. I like the pacing of the lyrics delivered by Lzzy. There is a really tight groove and the song is a little playful in tone to go along with those tasty lyrics. The song has a sexual tension to it as well and that guitar solo slides in nicely towards the end that seems to be the beginning of the climax of the song. One of the coolest sounding songs the band has ever done.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Do Not Disturb” by Halestorm” →

Friday New Releases – March 12, 2021

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Happy Friday!! And you made it another week, good for you. We have a ton of new releases for you this week. In fact, Frontiers Records thought you need some new albums so they are releasing a whopping total of at least 9 albums that I have listed. I have complained about them in the past as I don’t understand how they can release so many albums on the same day. No ones wallet can handle that. It doesn’t seem fair to me or the artists because people will have to choose which one they want to buy as there artists are some what the same type of genre. Now, I guess I am kidding myself because most people stream and not buy, but still the point has been made. No more rambling on and on. I only have one I’m interested in hearing this week and it is marked in Blue. There a couple my kids might be interested in so they are up after my choice and then there are at least 23 more to choose from so hopefully you will find something. Let me know what you want to hear and what I may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

  • 91TFUgrEX9L._SS500_  Rob Zombie – The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy – (Nuclear Blast): Rob Zombie is back and John 5 is still in tow on guitar. I will admit, I like Rob, but I am a huge fan of John 5 so that is the main reason I want to hear this is so I can see what new insane stuff Mr. 5 pulls out of his hat. Crank It MutherF###er!!

The ones my kids might be streaming…

  • B1Ga7oYpJ-S._SX522_  Nick Jonas – Spaceman – (Island Records / UMG): One third of the famous boy/brother band the Jonas Brothers, Nick is back with a new solo album. After a successful turn with his brothers, he is ready to go back out on his own. I am sure this will be played in my house a little so not much I am going to be able to do about it (maybe I could shut off their internet access…that’s an idea!!)
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Kiss – “Psycho Circus” (1998) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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After the very successful Reunion Tour from 1996-1997, it was time for the original band members to put other their first album in 20 years with the Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter. The last one they did together was 1979’s ‘Dynasty’. Let me tell you, I was super excited to get a new album with only the original 4 guys. I couldn’t wait. I would get to hear Ace rip solos and cool riffs on every song and Peter would bang those drums until the cows came home. Man, I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Now imagine my surprise when it wasn’t even close to the build up.

Yes, it was a new album that did feature all four original members. Their pictures are on the front, they each sing song, but it was far from only being the original four guys. Ace appears on only 2 of the 10 songs and Peter sings on 2 and only plays drums on 1. Nothing seems to have changed as ‘Dynasty’ was also an album Ace and Peter slightly appeared on as well. Gene and Paul still rule the roost and do things the way they want to do them. Ace does appear on the Japanese only track so on that release he is on 3 of the 11 tracks. The only song that features all four members is the Ace sung song “Into the Void” which we will discuss later. To be fair, the reason behind Ace and Peter not getting to play much as they were trying to renegotiate their contracts with Kiss and I don’t think that sit real well with Gene and Paul.

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Judas Priest – ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’ (1976) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)

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Judas Priest recorded their second album in only 2 weeks in November and December of 1975. That is not much time at all, but the record label, Gull, was pretty freaking cheap and the boys were only living on one meal a day. Heck, some of the guys had to work a side job to make ends meet. Doesn’t sound like a good record deal in my book, but what do I know. It was recorded at the Rockfield Studios in Wales and finally saw its release on March 23, 1976.

The album had positive reviews, but that did not translate in to sales as the timing in the UK wasn’t the best. There was a genre that was popping up and becoming real popular. It was called punk rock. As a result, the band only released one single and the album only went to #48 on the UK Charts. What is really great about this album though, is this is really the birth of the Judas Priest sound. This is what I was expecting on ‘Rocka Rolla’, but I didn’t get. This was the real beginning of Priest.

The band was basically the same line-up with Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill. They did have a new drummer as John Hinch left the band and they replaced him with Alan Moore. This was be the only album that Moore would play on because he wasn’t overly thrilled with the money situation and would soon leave the band. They seemed to have trouble keeping a drummer as I have counted around 9 different drummers over the years. Crazy!

Continue reading “Judas Priest – ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’ (1976) – Album Review (The Complete Albums Collection Series)” →