Month: January 2023

Jeff Scott Soto – ‘Beautiful Mess’ (2009) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Jeff Scott Soto’s last solo albums was back in 2005 called ‘Lost in the Translation’. A lot had happened to Jeff after that album including Soul Sirkus and his brief stint with Journey as well as the final Talisman album. To say he had been busy would be an understatement. When it was time to sit down and do another solo album, Jeff wanted to shake things up a little sort of like he did with his band Redlist, only not as extreme as that. He had been loving the music of Swedish musician Paulo Mendonca and wanted to work with him on the album. Paulo ended up producing the as well as co-writing 11 of the 14 songs. Heck, Jeff only co-wrote 7 of the 14 songs which means a lot of these songs were written by other people for him to sing. To be honest, that scared me as Jeff has always written all or almost all of the songs on his albums in the past. Plus, Jeff’s normal band of Howie Simon, Alex Papa and Gary Schutt didn’t get to play on the album as it was Jeff and Paulo mostly which is disappointing.

The album was completed and released on February 20, 2009 with Frontiers although they wasn’t originally the expectation since Jeff felt the songs didn’t fit his normal sound. Soto’s sound for this album wasn’t as heavy as ‘Lost in the Translation’ and sort of went the other direction. It was a little bit groovy, a little bit funky, a little bit of soul and even a little bit of pop with maybe a dab of hard rock and a dash of blues. It is really all over the place. Is that good or bad, I guess we will see. The album was titled ‘Beautiful Mess’ and became known as ‘BM’. Wow! That is a disgusting nickname for the album. I don’t usually enjoy my BM’s so do I want to listen to an album nicknamed BM?

The album does kick off with a rock song. “21st Century” is a guitar driven track, however, Jeff’s vocals are more funky and there are modern electronic elements as well. The chorus though is as catchy as you’d expect as he knows how to have a little hook to make you sing along. It definitely sets the pace and lets you know that this isn’t going to be the typical Soto release. It is a little left of center and yet it works and is a great start to the album with its high energy and all around fun sound.

“Cry Me A River” slows the tempo down and brings us more of a funk-infused pop song with some heavy soul influences. The bass line is pretty cool, that funked-up guitar riff is interesting and though Jeff doesn’t go full on singing for the verses, that bridge and chorus are full of that Soto sound. This confirms you aren’t getting what you expect and so far I’m okay with that change.

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My Sunday Song – “Cochise” by Audioslave

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For My Sunday Song #332, we are going to discuss the song “Cochise” by Audioslave which includes lead singer Chris Cornell and the reason we are here. The song was the band’s first single off their debut album from 2002. The band consists of Chris Cornell and the musical styles of the band Rage Against the Machine including Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk. Since Rage broke up, they band stayed together and brought in Chris to form a new band. The song went to #2 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart and #2 in the UK on their Rock & Metal Chart where it sold over 200,000 copies.

The song titles is “Cochise” and what the heck is a “Cochise”? Well, I’ll tell you. Cochise was an Apache Indian Chief and he was a badass. He was brutal, yet fearless and resolute. He didn’t let anything stop him and was full of rate and fury which is what Tom felt the music was that way and thus the name of the single. However, “Cochise” doesn’t appear anywhere in the song and is not about him in any way.

The song is about people that waste their life away doing nothing. They need to look in the mirror, wake up and get moving with their life. Chris had mentioned that the song was inspired by himself looking in the mirror and thinking that same thing. I look at it like Chris is out there rocking the world, having so many great adventures while that guy in the mirror is doing drugs, drinking or whatever else to destroy his life. It is like there are two people and if he doesn’t wake up and get both lives in order, the end won’t end well. And we know how that sadly ended.

The song has this tribal drum beat feel, while Tom is doing crazy things on his guitar and Tim on his bass. After about 50 seconds of this growing intensity, that wicked Morello riff comes crashing in. And what a riff it is. Chris sounds great, attacking the lyrics with that same intensity. Plus that scream towards the end is perfection. Tom’s playing throughout is worth the price of admission alone. A great, heavy ass track that let us know Audioslave was for real!!

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Friday New Releases – January 6, 2023

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Happy New Year and welcome to the first Friday New Release post of 2023. I hope this will be a great year for new music, but it is starting out with a whimper and I hope it goes out like a lion. We only have a handful of releases for you this week. Don’t worry, the next few weeks will have a lot more and some I am excited about. This week, nothing for me, but hopefully there is something for you to listen to as we kick off the year. Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed this week. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend

  • 91WpPAyS6ML._AC_UY218_  Iggy Pop – Every Loser – (Gold Tooth Records / Atlantic Records)
  • 7122ay-Gb4L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Olivia Newton-John – Greatest Hits Vol. 2/Deluxe Edition – (Primary Wave Music)
  • 91cVTAPIztL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Anti-Flag – Lies They Tell Our Children – (Spinefarm Records / Universal)
  • 61Z67N8WrHL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  L.A. Edwards – Out of the Heart of Darkness – (Bitchin’ Music Group)
  • 71TNgM+GFdL._AC_UL640_FMwebp_QL65_  JVRA – Veracity – (J Vera Records)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=3H2i1rec0zA
  • 91yRtZrORxL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Kidd Keratic – To Be Loved E.P. – (Kidd Keratic)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zz9JOP-InPs
  • 81mVBYUQm4L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Gabriella Aplin – Phosphorescent – (Never Fade Records)
  • 81lCGdGMe6L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Doom Flower – Limestone Ritual – (Record Label & Doom Flower)
  • 818H5KYLIcL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Ouija Macc & Golden Bsp – Hideous – (Chapter 17 Records)
  • 815UPypFsCL._AC_UL640_FMwebp_QL65_  RuPaul – Black Butta – (RuCo Inc.)
  • download-27  Javis Mays – New Beginnings E.P. – (JaMays Music)

Judas Priest – The Best & Worst Song from Every Album

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A few weeks back I was on the live stream ‘Grab A Stack of Rock’ with Mike Landano and Harrison, The Mad Metal Man and we went through the giant 50th Anniversary Judas Priest box set. During the show, as we discussed each album, we picked are least favorite and our favorite song off each album. I thought that was a great idea and I thought I’d turn it in to a post as a recap. So, here are my picks for the Best and Worst song on every Judas Priest studio album and there are 18 Albums!! Now, let’s preface this with the fact that these are my choices and not necessarily yours as we can have different opinions. If you watched the show you will see that sometimes my worst song was their favorite so you never know what people like and we all like different things or this would be a very dull world. I hope you enjoy!!

Rocka Rolla (1974)

BEST SONG – “CHEATER”: Written by Halford and Downing. The song has a blues hard rock sound and opens with a great riff and slams it home from there. I love the swagger to the song, the cowbell and the harmonica all screamed classic rock and right up my alley.

WORST SONG – “CAVIAR AND METHS”: An instrumental track written by Atkins, Downing and Hill and at only 2 minutes it didn’t really have time to develop in to much of anything. It is too short, too repetitive and didn’t do anything for me, almost a waste of time and space as it doesn’t make sense with the album.

Sad Wings of Destiny (1976)

BEST SONG – “VICTIM OF CHANGES”: An epic almost 8 minute track written by Halford, Downing, Tipton and Al Atkins. The song opens slowly and breaks into a cool double guitar riff. It seems to be a very complex song with lots of rhythm changes and heck even the moods and vibes change throughout. The song is so full of layers and textures that it keeps you engrossed which is needed for such a long track. The thing that clinches the song is Halford’s falsettos and that dramatic, climactic scream at the end. It is legendary!!

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Bear Says Goodbye – August 12, 2008 to January 3, 2023

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For those regular visitors of the site, you might be familiar with Bear. He is my trusty sidekick who has sat by my desk most days I am writing for the blog and kept me company. We had to say goodbye to him on Tuesday and it was the hardest thing to do. He was 14 years old and been a member of the family for almost all of that time. He will be missed everyday as we will miss that face that lights up a room every time he would walk in to it. He has been a great guard dog protecting my girls, a great greeter who was always so happy when you came home whether you were gone for 5 minutes or 5 days, and an overall great friend who was always there when you needed him and never asked for anything in return…well except maybe some doggie treats and to throw out the cats with the garbage.

We love you a lot and will miss you dearly. Goodbye old friend…Here’s a look back…

We got Bear for my daughter when she turned two…they were best buds…she will be turning 16 soon.

He was a big boy already when we got him…he was 6 months old at the time…

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Scorpions – ‘Live Bites’ (1995) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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The Scorpions camp felt it was time for another live album. This would be the band’s third to date and was released April 3, 1995. Now, the disc is not one show as that would be the smart thing to do and this instead is the easy way out. They took shows from several concerts from 1988 to 1994. The cities were Leningrad (Russia), San Francisco (US), Mexico City (Mexico), Berlin (Germany) and Munich (Germany). The album has the normal crew of Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Mathais Jabs, Herman Rarebell and current bass player, Ralph Rieckermann. However, most of the bass playing is long time member Francis Buchholz. The best thing about the album is that they did include 3 studio tracks which is the real reason to buy. No definitive time on the recordings, but I believe they range for 1988-1995, just no where I can prove that out.

As far as live albums go, it does sound fantastic. The guitar sound is actually killer, almost to amazing which makes me wonder if any touch up was done. And Klaus’ vocals are spot on, the drum sound is hard and heavy. There is no denying these boys can play live. They kick off with “Tease Me Please Me” and it would be a good song to start with as it totally rocks out and gets you on your feet. Then we get a real treat with the ‘Lovedrive’ track “Is There Anybody There”. I love the reggae vibe to the song. I really unexpected choice for the live show, but very welcomed. Really cool. Back to the heavy rock guitar sound with “Rhythm of Love” and they nail it here before going in to the only song that is a found on another live album and that is the fantastic “In Trance” and this is a classic track. Man is it good.

The first misstep for me is “No Pain No Gain” as I’m not a fan of this song, but they do make it sound a little better than the studio track here. It fits better in the live setting than album setting, but not by much. Then from ‘Blackout’ we get “When the Smoke is Going Down” and another surprise track for me. I didn’t like this song as the ending to that album, but mixed here in the middle of the show and listening to Klaus sound incredible on this one, I dig it here. Next up is “Living for Tomorrow” and this song had been released previously on the 1992 compilation called ‘Still Loving You’. On here, two slow songs in a row really can start to drag the show down. Klaus speaks to the crowd in Russian as it was recorded in Leningrad.

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Redlist – ‘Ignorance’ (2007) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Back in 2001, Jeff Scott Soto was ready for a change. He had been touring with the group The Boogie Knights and he was ready to break out on his own again. He wanted to do something totally different. And what started out as a solo project for him became a band called Redlist. Redlist is actually another name for the endangered species list and they liked it so they used. Who are they? That would be Jeff, Dave Fraser (who played with Gary Richrath) and Neil Goldberg (Annihilator). They also Eric Malone (aka Big E, rapper).

Rapper? Did I just say rapper? Yes, I did. The Redlist project was not the typical Melodic rock that Jeff was used to. The time was 2001 and what was big was Industrial Rock. Think Linkin Park and you have the right idea. This is totally unexpected and out of left field which is exactly what Jeff was wanting. However, the project was shelved due to lack of interest from record executives. One thing lead to another and Jeff got busy again, he ended up doing a couple solo albums, Soul SirkUS and then Journey. Around 2007, they decided to dust off the cobwebs and release it.

They didn’t release it the normal way with a physical product. No, they did not. Instead they released it digitally through iTunes. And yes, I bought a digital product because it was the only way I could get it. Now, Jeff, if you ever find yourself reading these reviews, we would love to have a CD release of this product. Yes, I could burn it to a CD and print out the covers and put together my own CD version, but I want something official. Enough about that, let us get to the music and get ready as it isn’t what you’d expect from Jeff. Especially when Jeff does his own rapping.

The album kicks off strong with the heavy, industrial rocker, “Migraine”. It sees Jeff rap through the verses and he is very aggressive, angry and intense. The chorus is catchy and just as aggressive. The guitar sounds is gritty and pretty killer on this one. One of the better songs on the album.

Next ups is “World Today” which keeps the Linkin Park vibes going, but this song isn’t as aggressive. This is pure LP ripoff. Jeff spits out the lyrics in a rapid fire pace. The chorus is more melodic with some good harmonies. The electronic sounds are a little abrasive at times as to me they aren’t as crisp and clear as they should be. Blame production value on that one. But still a pretty good song, if you like this sort of thing.

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My Sunday Song – “Burden in My Hand” by Soundgarden

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Happy New Year and let us kick it off with a new 10 song set of My Sunday Songs. And with #331, we are kicking off with the first of 10 songs that will feature Chris Cornell, First up is the Soundgarden song “Burden in My Hand” off their 1996 album ‘Down on the Upside’. It was written by Chris and was released as the second single September 18, 1996. It did really well spending five weeks at #1 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Chart.

The song is rather dark as it is about a guy that loses it and kills his wife. He admits it in the song. He is out in the desert where he buried her and his trying to deal with the grief and the guilt and coming to grips with what has happened. The lines “It’s just a burden in my hand / It’s just an anchor on my heart” reflects the guilt he is feeling. Kim Thayil of the band has called the song a modern “Hey Joe”. I can see that. Now, the song doesn’t say what happens to him or if he ever deals with his grief, but he is sitting there drowning his sorrows with alcohol and hopefully he drinks himself to death for what he has done

I love how the song starts out with Chris’ vocal going directly in to the first verse. The guitar comes in and it plays the song in C tuning (I read that on wiki as otherwise I’d have no idea). That opening verse with just the guitar, his voice and then the bass is perfect. The drums not coming in to until the bridge really adds a punch to the bridge. Then the full band is in for the second verse. I love the dark tone coming from the music as it matches the darkness and gloom of the situation. Chris vocals aren’t judgmental to the character, it is almost indifferent to what he has done, yet you feel a little empathy through his vocals. It is really interesting approach and it works.

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