For the Record Store Day drop on June 18, 2002, Halestorm released an RSD Exclusive Cut-Shaped Picture Disc for their song “Back from the Dead”. The shape was pretty cool as it is a tombstone which definitely fits the title of the song. Only 2,800 were made and distributed and I was able to get one. The shaped disc is one of the attracting things about this release, but it is also the cover of The Who’s “Long Live Rock” which isn’t on any Halestorm album and at this point in time the only physical release of the song.
The vinyl is not a 45 RPM but is played at the standard 33 so don’t hit 45 like I did and listen to it super fast as if the Chipmunks were singing. Yes, I know it says 33 at the bottom of the vinyl, I didn’t read it and assumed it was a typical 45. But it was a fun way to hear the song.
It is August, Summer is creeping to an end, but the heat is getting hotter…speaking of H.E.A.T. The only album I’m interested in is the new H.E.A.T. album. There are a bunch other releases so let me know what you want to hear first this week and if we missed anything. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.
H.E.A.T. – Force Majeure – (earMusic / Edel Music & Entertainment): I really liked their last singer, Erik Gronwell, but he left and is now in Skid Row. Great a new singer…but wait. The new singer is their original singer Kenny Leckremoand he is pretty awesome as well. Finally a band changes a singer, I am not unhappy about it. Can’t wait to spin this one!!
And all the rest…
Neil Young and Promises of the Real – Noise and Flowers (live) – (The Other Show Productions / Reprise Records)
After the dismal 2017 release ‘These are the Days’, I had pretty much given up on the band. Heck, on my Album Ranks for Lit…it was the Worst!! That album went too far to the country slant which a lot of rock bands have tried and few, if any have succeeded. Just ask Bon Jovi how well it went. That was not what I wanted to hear. I don’t know if the band heard my complaints or not, but with their new album ‘Tastes Like Gold’, they are back to the Southern California Rock sound despite the fact they are now in Nashville. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t be happier to have that sound back. They sat down with a whole host of writers which I don’t always like, but they were able to pull together a consistent album that was sonically Lit. I’ll take that.
This album for me was my favorite Summer album this year. Musically and lyrically, the album feels light, breezy, sunny and puts me in a great mood with each and every listen. The album painted a picture of driving down the road with the top down and the radio cranking. The beach on one side and glorious palm trees swaying back and forth on the other. The smell of the ocean in the air tickling your senses and putting a smile on your face. Sit back, drink your margaritas (stop driving at this point) and enjoy the fun in the sun.
From the opening party anthem of “Yeah Yeah Yeah” you know you are in for a good time as it is old school Lit all the way. Next is “Mouth Shut” which sees No Doubt drummer Adrian Young join in on the fun. Adrian helped fill in on drums on tour back in 2009 after the death of their longtime drummer Allen Shellenberger. The song is more party fun talking about how you always tend to say the wrong thing. The chorus is catchy as hell and will have you singing along right out of the gate. “Do It Again” has a powerful chorus that feels dramatic and gives a more modern vibe mixed with the old Lit.
“Kicked off the Plane” is an autobiographical song about them getting kicked off a plane for being…well..for being lit!! And no, it wasn’t because they refused to wear a mask!! It reminds me a little of “My Own Worst Enemy” and I mean that in a good way as it shares the same energy. Then we get the tender ballad “Ok With That” and one of my favorite tracks on the album. It is heartfelt and somber but so beautiful at the same time. He seems to be resound to the fact if it is the end of the world, he’s okay with it. It is nice to see the softer side of Lit. The first half ends with “The Life That I Got” featuring American Authors. This is a pure pop song and when they hit the chorus I swear it is “Midnight Memories” by One Direction. I’m torn if I’m okay with that.
The back half kicks off with “Get Out of My Song” and it keeps the party going with a massive drum beat and goes in to that easily sing-song chorus that makes it feel familiar as it is so catchy. Then the title track, “Tastes Like Gold”, has slowed down verses then goes to the bombastic chorus layered with keyboards and goes back and forth making a little predictable. Then with “Here’s to Another” we get an over the top pop song with a ton more keyboards and more of those sunny vibes we’ve been enjoying but overall a rather generic track.
“Hold That Thought” is more of an acoustic track reminiscent of the previous album, ‘These are the Days’, so they haven’t totally abandoned that sound. It is almost a ballad with that pop and country influence mixed together. You have to remember, I didn’t like that previous album so not a favorite song of mine for this one. They quickly redeem themselves with the explosive “Out of It”. This modern pop-rocker sees a more serious side of the band as the song feels more dramatic and impactful. Not a party song, but I’ll take a more modern serious sounding Lit too! The band goes out with a bang with help on vocals from the super-talented Butch Walker as they cover The Cars song “Let’s Go” and they nail it. On keys is Jason Freese who help capture that Cars “magic”. It is pure nostalgia sounding and even has the handclaps. It is a spot-on rendition that is pure excitement and joy. It makes you miss The Cars and love Lit at the same time. Great way to go out.
It is nice to see Lit redeem themselves after their last catastrophe. It is a reminder of how fun they can be and how exciting their sound is when they go old school. The first half of the album is stronger then the back half, but that Cars cover is the best. This for me was my Summer album as I mentioned at the beginning. A total blast and a great reminder of everything I loved about Lit. It is all right here. Go sit by the pool and crank this baby!! My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars.
After the last album, ‘Black Moon Pyramid’, Axel Rudi Pell wanted to do a tour, but Jeff Scott Soto’s schedule wouldn’t allow it. He was fully committed to his other project Boogie Knights which was a 70’s funk, R&B tribute style band. The commitment was due to a very steady paycheck. As a result, Axel took a short break and then started working on his next album which became ‘Magic’. Jeff was still on board for vocals as he didn’t want to let his friend down. While performing 3-4 nights a week with Boogie Knights, Jeff would work on the vocals for the this album. It became utterly exhausting for him as his voice had no rest.
The keyboardist for Axel’s band was Julie Greaux up to this point, but she left the band mostly because she became Jeff’s ex-girlfriend. As a result, a friend of Axel’s was brought in named Christian Wolf to help out. Christian was still in the band Rage, but was able to do this album as well. The rest of the band, Jorg Michael and Volker Krawczak were still in tact. Axel wanted to a heavier album than the previous and I think he succeeded. The album ‘Magic’ was released on May 21, 1997. Again, Axel was wanting to tour, but Jeff wasn’t feeling it. Boogie Knights was too important at this time and when it got down to it, this wasn’t his favorite type of music to sing anyway. In fact, Jeff didn’t co-write any of the songs on this one. It was all Axel. After much discussion, he parted with Axel and moved on. He and Axel are still good friends today and nice to see there were no hard feelings between the two gentleman.
During the last Record Show I went to in May 2022 here is Charlotte, as usual, I found a handful of singles. First up to discuss is the 7″ Single for the David Lee Roth song “Just Like Paradise” off his 1988 album ‘Skyscraper’. The song was written by David and Brett Tuggle (keyboardist for his band) while produced by Mr. Steve Vai along with Dave. The single was released on December 30, 1987 and was the first single from the album. Dave’s success continued as it went to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped the album go Platinum.
Tuggle came up with the song after the ‘Eat ‘Em & Smile Tour’. He composed on the keyboard and he roughed out the drums. Vai added the guitar parts and then Tuggle took it to Dave who composed the lyrics before the band’s next rehearsal. The song is basically about the excitement and joy of young romance.
A-SIDE:
The song is pure fun. It is upbeat and has this whole Beach Boy surfer vibe to it. It is light and airy and David sings it only the way Dave knows how. Vai’s solo wasn’t overly involved. It was simple and kept to the song still having that fun, sunny vibe. If you are looking for a good time song, this would fit the bill.
B-SIDE:
The bottom line is with the heavy double kick drum from Gregg Bissonette, a great bass line and bass solo from Billy Sheehan and we also get a slick solo from Vai. It is solid rocker with a great rhythm section which might be the highlight. It does get a little deflated with the keyboard sound and would probably be better without it but I still like it. David does his sort of speak/sing vocals with a deeper tone this time around, however, it is still classic Dave. Easily could’ve fit on the debut album.
And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed it. Still a handful more to go. See you next time and thanks for stopping by.
Welcome to the start of the Scorpions Collection Series. We will be going through my entire Scorpions collection and only what is in my collection. I wont’ be covering anything that I don’t own on this series as I have all the studio albums. I even have some bonus stuff like promos, singles and whatever else I have found. We will start at the beginning and work all the way up to ‘Rock Believer’ which was released only a few months back. I hope you enjoy!
In 1965, Scorpions was born. Rudolf Schenker is the founding member and at the time he even handled the lead vocals. Scorpions have changed their style over the years, but back in 1965, they were more in to Beat Music. Thankfully for us that all changed by the time their first album came out in 1972. Other members at the time were Wolfgang Dziony on drums, Achim Kirchhoff on bass and Karl-Heinz Vollmer on lead guitar. Rudolf handled the rhythm guitar. Out of this original group, the only 2 to make it to the debut album were Rudolf and Wolfgang.
In 1968, they hired a new bass player after Achim had left and he was replaced with Lothar Heimberg. It wasn’t until 1969 when lead singer Klaus Meine showed up along with Rudolf’s little brother Michael Schenker on lead guitar. At the time of his joining the band Michael was only 14 years old. And when the debut album came out he was the ripe old age of 16 years old. Insane!! So now the line-up was complete.
Things started looking better when they entered and won a contest in which allowed them to record two songs with the CCA label to be used as a single, however, they were never released. The band did re-record those songs when they went in to record their debut ‘Lonesome Crow’ back in October 1971. The album was recorded in about 6 to 7 days. The album would be released in February 9, 1972 in West Germany and strangely as the soundtrack to an anti-drug movie called ‘Das Kalte Paradies’. The U.S. released would come in May 1973 over a year later.
For My Sunday Song #310 and the final in the 10 Song Aerosmith set, we will discuss my all time favorite track, “Sweet Emotion”. The song is another off ‘Toys in the Attic’ and was the first single off the album. It kicks off side two of the album and actually went all the way to #36 just cracking the Billboard Top 40 song chart.
The song is supposedly about Joe Perry’s ex-wife and the riff she caused in the band. I guess she was the Yoko of the band as they did eventually part ways briefly with Joe Perry (he came back after his marriage ended). Steven blasts her for “Talking about things that nobody cares/ wearing things that nobody wears”. And how she was on the side of the stage just shaking her ass for Joe and he was soon eating form her hand. No, no tensions there! The song also is about the infighting in the band as not only were the wives getting in the way, but so were the drugs and egos.
Another Tom Hamilton and Steven Tyler penned track which explains that killer bass opening to the song. Damn Tom is on fire with this one. That bass line is so hauntingly cool and then throw in Perry on the Talk Box and you have a memorable, killer opening. And that vibraslap you hear in the opening, actually broke on their third take from what I’ve read. Tyler’s vocals are pristine and no one can deliver a lyric like him. Perry’s guitar playing is on fire just like the pants in the lyrics. Kramer lays down a great rat-tat-tat right before Perry’s solo and his fills throughout are over the top as he is playing on the twos and fours rather than than ones and threes of the beats which totally blew producer Jack Douglas away. The band shows a more sophisticated side to their writing and they deliver one of my all time favorite Aerosmith tracks. It is a freaking masterpiece.
We are moving through the year quite fast I believe as it is already the end of July. And it was a hot one, both temperature and purchases. Now, I do have a handful of vinyl, but as prices skyrocket, I am focusing on the albums that mean something to me or from bands that mean something to me so the purchases have slowed. CDs are cheaper and a lot easier to obtain so I seem to be buying way more of those these days. With minor exceptions, I have been laser focused on what I’m buying. Let’s go through the vinyl first. First up is the new album from Shinedown called ‘Planet Zero’. I have all their albums on vinyl as I am a big fan so why not get the new one…
Then it I picked up a couple holy grail type albums. First was one from Kiss that had only been issued for their very limited exclusive Kissteria box set. I didn’t think I’d every own one. Thanksfully, they re-issued it on vinyl and I snagged a copy. Not their best compilation, but one that was lacking in my vinyl collection so couldn’t be happier…My list of missing vinyl is now smaller.
July is over!! Tell me it isn’t so. That means Summer is getting close to an end. Thankfully a vacation is coming soon, but until then let’s talk business. Today is Friday which means we have a whole new batch of new releases for you. This week there are over 40 to choose from and some heavy hitters this week. For me, there is only one album that I remotely care about this week and when you see it, you will know why. It is the first on the list and I am a huge fan!! Let me know what you want to hear this week or what we may have missed as it does happen. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!
Matt Nathanson – Boston Accent – (Acrobat Records): I love Matt Nathanson, no not in that way, in a musical way. His music moves me, his lyrics are painted pictures and the stories he tells are so relatable. He’s completely and utterly brilliant. I have this one on order although the vinyl won’t be here for months, my CD and the digital download will be here today. I’m ready to spend a lot of time with this one.
And then there is the rest…including the great Beyonce!!!
Beyonce – Renaissance – (Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records)
Sometime during 1996, Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob were completely thrown for a loop when a best of album was released in Japan for their band Talisman. No one told them. The album was called “Besterious” and consisted of all songs that were previously released from the band. In response to this, Jeff and Marcel, along with Empire Records, decided they were going to release their own band approved version of a greatest hits compilation. It was called “Best of…” and it was chock full of hits plus a ton of previously unreleased tracks that any diehard fan would want to buy. I should know, I bought it!!
Two of the biggest treats were the first two tracks. These were both demos yet they had Goran Edman on vocals instead of Jeff Scott Soto. Goran was the singer for John Norum’s band and joined Talisman prior to Jeff. Goran left to join Yngwie’s band. The first of the demos is “Day By Day” and musically is no different than what ended up on the debut. It is a very Bon Jovi style song. Goran’s vocals are higher than Jeff’s but I’m not sure they have the power Jeff’s have. Regardless, it is still a stellar version of the song.
The second Goran demo is “Lightning Strike” seems a little more raw than the final Soto version, but all the elements are there. The chorus has some great harmonies and layers of vocals. Jeff sings it in this same style as Goran. I’m not sure which one I like better with this one. The rawness of this one adds a little to it.
H.E.A.T. – Force Majeure – (earMusic / Edel Music & Entertainment): I really liked their last singer, Erik Gronwell, but he left and is now in Skid Row. Great a new singer…but wait. The new singer is their original singer Kenny Leckremo and he is pretty awesome as well. Finally a band changes a singer, I am not unhappy about it. Can’t wait to spin this one!!
Neil Young and Promises of the Real – Noise and Flowers (live) – (The Other Show Productions / Reprise Records)
Matt Nathanson – Boston Accent – (Acrobat Records): I love Matt Nathanson, no not in that way, in a musical way. His music moves me, his lyrics are painted pictures and the stories he tells are so relatable. He’s completely and utterly brilliant. I have this one on order although the vinyl won’t be here for months, my CD and the digital download will be here today. I’m ready to spend a lot of time with this one.
Beyonce – Renaissance – (Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 