Month: May 2025

The Distortion Den Presents: Best Rock Debut Albums

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For this episode, Deke invited me to join him as we decided to focus on a Top 10 ranking of what some of our favourite albums would be. I had a couple of surprises with his picks which was really cool according to Deke (a couple weren’t really rock) whereas Deke feels no one will be surprised by his picks. The only rule was that they had to be albums in our collections. Who knows maybe down the road we’ll do another episode. (as there are many fantastic debut records still out there)

Thanks for watching…and make sure to Subscribe to Distortion Den while you are it! Always great content!!

W.E.T. – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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As we now know as we have review five studio albums, W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the current band are Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse); Jamie Borger (Talisman) and Andreas Passmark (Work of Art & Royal Hunt). All in some shape, form or fashion have been a small part of one of the three founding bands.

What started as a possible one-off project with Frontiers Records, the first album came out in 2009 and 16 years later we are now through 5 albums and one live album and a ton of great music. There is not a bad album in the bunch as ALL 5 scored a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars or better. Not many bands can do that in my book. So, which ones are better than the others, let’s take a look.

THE WORST (NOT REALLY) – ‘APEX’ (2025)

I can’t really say this is a bad album at all because it isn’t.  If I had any complaint it is the same as I usually give for any Eclipse album. And that is that the songs can be repetitive, the stylings are all similar with little variety, however, the songs are so catchy and hook-laden that you don’t mind in the end.  As I said earlier, this is the sweet spot for Jeff’s vocals and my favorite style for him to sing.  Erik Martensson’s fine song writing is on full display. How he can write so many great songs is beyond me with this and Eclipse.  The guitar playing, the keyboards, the bass and the drums are in perfect harmony on these releases and they don’t know how to make a bad album.  My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars.  This is a brand new album so it could be a grower, but it is here because it doesn’t really offer anything new from the first four.

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Jeff Scott Soto – All The Albums Ranked Worst to First (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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It took me 20 months to get through Jeff Scott Soto’s catalog and have been through 89 reviews of items in my collection. That is an insane amount of albums, singles and collector’s pieces to have in a collection, let alone one artist. Jeff started way back in 1984 with Yngwie Malmsteen and has been on over 50 studio albums, numerous live albums, compilations and tribute albums, soundtracks and anything else you can think of and it was a personal goal of mine to visit every single one. I don’t think you will find any website with a more extensive collection of Jeff Scott Soto Reviews then right here at 2 Loud 2 Old Music.

Not every album he has done is good..not at all, but most of them for me are at least a 3 out of 5 or better. And the ones that aren’t, have at least a few songs to add to an already impressive playlist. Along this journey, I have had the pleasure of meeting Jeff twice after his shows and he has been so kind each time and signed numerous album covers for me. However, I was never able to get the interview I had hoped for, but I am not giving up hope as one day it will happen. Until then, let’s go through every studio album where Jeff is the main singer and rank them from the worst album to the best album and everything in between.

There are 53 studio albums that I have where Jeff is the featured singer and we touch them all. I hope you enjoy the walk though the albums and maybe find something you would like to hear. If you discovered at least one album as a result of this series, then my work is done. If not, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???”…kidding. Sorry, lost my head there. Enough of this chitchat, let’s get to the list.

Updated May 2025

First, the ones that scored 2 or less out of 5 Stars

THE WORST: Bakteria- ‘Defecate! Suffocate! Mutilate! Masturbate!’ (1992/2009)

Musically, it is pretty freaking heavy. Uptempo, speed metal vibes at time and as the sticker says, a mixture of Metal/Sludge/Crust/Punk. All I know is it sucks. Jeff sings in almost a growl, that is deep and completely unrecognizable as it is borderline guttural vocals at times. I listened to this in the car on the drive home from work one day and I thought to myself, “If I have a wreck and die, the police and my family are going to wonder what the hell I was in to with that crap playing in my car.” I was actually a little embarrassed to be listening to it. I am a little embarrassed to actually own this and have it in the collection, but my Soto Collection isn’t complete without it sadly. My Overall Score is a 0.0 out of 5.0 Stars! And that is being nice. It is the WORST ALBUM I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!!

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The Collection: Ep. 56 – Noble Records Exclusives (Part 1 of 2)

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This week, we have Part 1 of 2 Noble Records Exclusives shows. Noble Records is my local record store and they do monthly exclusives of private press album releases from lost gems of the past. The exclusive part is the colored vinyl that is exclusive to his store. We have psych rock, funk, hard rock, southern rock and some really obscure stuff at times. Check it out as there is some really cool stuff such as Orang-Utan, Poobah, Farm, Randy Holden and so much more.

Check out Dillon’s YouTube channel for some really cool vinyl content! https://www.youtube.com/@noblerecords

So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, May 12, 2025 at 7pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

My Sunday Song – “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness

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For My Sunday Song #432, we are going for pure fun and a love for 80’s rock with “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by the band The Darkness. The song was the third single off this 2003 debut album ‘Permission to Land’. The song went to #1 in their home country of the UK, but in the states it didn’t fair as well. It did go to #23 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and #9 on the Alternative Chart and it did go Platinum with over 1 million copies sold. The song for me brought back the fun that songs can have and the good feelings they can bring.

The song was written by the band including Justing Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain and Ed Graham. At one Justin had stated that the bands during this time were afraid to write a song about Love…so he did. It is somewhat comical feel to the song due to Justin’s vocals, but it does have a powerful message. It simply states that love can be life changing and have a significant impact on you as a person. It can change your life, upend your world and move you in ways you have never have been before. It is the utter belief in love that matters.

What I love about the song, and the video, is its playfulness in both its music and vocals. Justin’s falsetto’s are sick. No one sings like this anymore and honestly, no one really can but Justin. His range is crazy…such a talent. The music is guitar heavy with killer riffs and a blistering solo. The bass thumps away driving the song as well as those heart pounding drums. A throwback to the 80’s in style and sound and we are all the better for it. It is pure fun like 80’s music used to be. It doesn’t take itself to seriously, but these guys are seriously great musicians and singers. A mind blowing introduction for me to this band.

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Friday New Releases – May 9, 2025

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Welcome back to Friday New Releases and we got another handful for you this week. There are a couple I’m interested in and they are the new Kaleo album (his last two were fantastic) and the 40th Anniversary Edition of the INXS album Listen Like Thieves. Outside of that I’m good and still catching up on the things I’ve bought over the last few weeks. What do you want to hear this week or what did we miss? Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

  • Kaleo – Mixed Emotions – (Atlantic Records)
  • INXS – Listen Like Thieves (40th Anniversary Edition) – (Atlantic Records)
  • Maren Morris – Dreamsicle – (Columbia Records / Sony Music)
  • Behemoth – The Shit Ov God – (Nuclear Blast)
  • Sleep Token – Even in Arcadia – (RCA Records)
  • Candlemass – Black Star E.P. – (Napalm Records)
  • Arcade Fire – Pink Elephant – (Arcade Fire Music)
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – May 9, 2025” →

W.E.T. – ‘Apex’ (2025) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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As we now know as we are on their now fifth studio album, W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the band are Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse); Jamie Borger (Talisman) and Andreas Passmark (Work of Art & Royal Hunt). All in some shape, form or fashion have been a small part of one of the three founding bands.

The album was released on March 28, 2025 a good 5 years after their last release and way too long between albums. I am sure getting these guys schedules to all coincide at the same time is not an easy task, but they managed it thankfully. A band I thought was going to be a one-off project now has 5 albums and a live album spanning over 16 years since the release of the debut back in 2009. If you love solid, melodic hard rock, this will not disappoint. And as usual, Erik Martensson is handling the productions so you know the sound is going to be amazing and it is.

The album opens strong with “Believer” and it is worth every minute we’ve waited since the last release. Jeff sounds amazing and I have to admit this is his wheelhouse and my favorite style of singing for me. The guitar solo on here is blistering fast and just rips right through the song. The drums are pounding and all is immense and powerful. The sound is more Eclipse than Talisman or Work of Art, but I’m good with that. Erik does most of the writing so that Eclipse influence is going to flow through.

Continue reading “W.E.T. – ‘Apex’ (2025) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)” →

The Collection: Ep. 55 – April 2025 Wrap-Up

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As we end another month, it is time to go back and see what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection. This is April 2025 and we have lots of vinyl, CDs and even some 8-Tracks. So much to go through including a new Rock Candy collection, new items for the Kiss collection and a couple Box Set collections. Lots of great new albums and old ones to go through and show for this month so I hope you enjoy the show!!

So go check it out as it will be live tonight right now, May 5, 2025 at 7pm. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

And here it all is if you can’t watch…but please watch!!

My Sunday Song – “Dad Vibes” by Limp Bizkit

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For My Sunday Song #431, we are talking about the notoriously loved and hated band Limp Bizkit and their 2021 song “Dad Vibes”. The song is the first single from their album ‘Still Sucks’ which was released on October 31, 2021. The album was announced back in 2012 and with delay after delay with being dropped from the label, member changes, partying problems and the such, it became their ‘Chinese Democracy’. In July 2021, the band debuted “Dad Vibes” as the final song of the 2021 Lalapalooza set and 3 months later, the album dropped.

The song was written by Fred Durst, Sam Rivers, John Otto and Wes Borland and it is classic Limp Bizkit. Full of self-deprecating humor, the song is basically a parody of the band. We are 24 years past their debut in 1997 and now these guys are so much older and dads now. They are still wearing the pants that sag (even more so now that they older). Now, they aren’t just a band, they are a franchise and they are still cool whether you can live with them or not, they don’t care as they still have the swagger they always have had. They don’t give two fucks whether you like them or not and they are going to do their own thing. Heck, their tours are still drawing large crowds.

Musically, it has a killer beat, some drum loops that drive the song forward. Wes Borland’s riffs are killer and are as heavy as ever. Fred Durst spits out the lyrics in his same old cocky-ass style and you want to punch him in the face…and that my friends is the charm of this band. A great song to crank while driving down the road as I have my own dad vibes (I’m even older than these guys, but my pants don’t sag). What people miss from these guys that it is all in jest and fun…they are serious about their music, but they have fun with it too.

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Friday New Releases – May 2, 2025

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Happy Friday…compared to last week, this week is pretty mild. I have too much to get through to worry about anything this week, personally. Hopefully there is something for you. Let me know what you want to hear or what we may have missed. And as always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend.

  • Eric Church – Evangeline vs. The Machine – (EMI Records / BigEC Records)
  • Pink Floyd – Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII – (Legacy Recordings)
  • Suzanne Vega – Flying With Angels – (Cooking Vinyl Records)
  • Josh Groban – Gems – (Reprise Records)
  • Pet Shop Boys – Dreamland: The Greatest Hits Live – (Parlophone Records / x2 Recordings)
  • The Flower Kings – Love – (InsideOutMusic)
  • Cat Stevens – Saturnight (Cat Stevens Live in Tokyo) – (Universal Music / Cat-O-Log Records / UMG)
  • Maddie And Tae – Love & Light – (Mercury Nashville / UMG Recordings)
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – May 2, 2025” →