Author: 2loud2oldmusic

The Alarm – “Presence of Love” – 7″ Single

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic11 Comments

At the latest record show here in Charlotte, I found a handful of great 7″ Singles as there is always this one guy that has an amazing collection of them to sell. I always find a handful of pristine and cool ones to grab and this one is no different. This time I found one by a band I really enjoy called The Alarm. The song was “Presence of Love” off their 1987 album ‘Eye of the Hurricane’. It was the third and final single and just missed cracking the Top 40.

The song “Presence of Love” was written by Eddie McDonald and Mike Peters. The song seems to be about how when you are really in love, no matter how hard things are you can overcome anything. Now, is that love, the love of a woman or the love of God? He mentions all the levels of heaven so part of me feels there is a religious connotation to it all. What do you think?

My copy is awesome even it is the plain old U.S. version. First, I love the I.R.S. labels on the single itself. I find them to be really cool. Second, the B-Side is “My Land Your Land” which is a previously unreleased track recorded during the Hurricane Sessions.

A-SIDE:

The single “Presence of Love” is a ballad as every album back then had to have a ballad. Musically, it sounds a lot like The Police and their song “Every Breath You Take” or at least it has a lot of the elements of that song. Mike Peters is on vocals and his voice is so distinct. When he really gets in some of the lines, his voice sounds so smooth and angelic and then the rest of the verses, he has a nice grit to it. A great combination of styles to have.

B-SIDE:

The B-Side is “My Land Your Land” was written by Nigel Twist and David Sharp of The Alarm and David is actually on vocals. Honestly, I didn’t know anyone else sang other than Mike Peters so this was really interesting to hear. David’s vocals are respectable but don’t have that character of Mike but not many do. The song being written by the drummer and lead guitarist, you do get some great drumming as that is the driving force of the song. There is some great guitar picking throughout but no huge single guitar moment. The song is mid-tempo and plods along not real exciting and I see why it wasn’t on the album, but it actually makes for a spectacular B-Side as this is what I like to get as the B.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the walk through the single “Presence of Love”. I still have a handful more of singles I haven’t been through so more to come. Have a great day and see you real soon.

Friday New Releases – June 24, 2022

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic36 Comments

With over 60 albums released today, you would think I would find something I had to buy. However, you’d be wrong. There are things I will eventually give a listen, but nothing I am running out to buy. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything good. There are a ton. And I am sure, as a result, you would find something in this batch of stellar releases. Let me know what you want to hear or what I may have missed. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

  • 81RjYMOky6L._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Black Stone Cherry – Live From the Royal Albert Hall… Y’all – (Mascot Label Group)
  • 71hIuy3yYZL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Coheed & Cambria – Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind – (Roadrunner Records / Elektra Records)
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – June 24, 2022” →

Extreme – ‘Hollywood Rock 1992’ – Album Review (Bootleg Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic18 Comments

At the most recent record show here in Charlotte, I found a couple bootleg CDs that I snagged up for a real cheap $5 each. Gotta love that. The first one I grabbed was from the band Extreme. The bootleg was called ‘Hollywood Rock 1992’ which was recorded from the rock festival Hollywood Rock down in Rio de Janeiro Brazil on January 26, 1992. The CD says it was a Freddie Mercury Tribute, but the band only played one Queen cover so not much of a tribute.

What I love about Bootlegs are the errors. Yes, they have errors. The reason why is the people that make bootlegs don’t give a crap about editing and making things perfect and accurate. They only care about getting out product. The first major error is where it was made. The album was made in Italy…however, the back cover says it was made in Itary. I have been looking at a globe for about 10 hours now and I can’t find Itary anywhere on it. Then it is the song titles…”Pornograffitti” is spelled as “Pornographiti” and what should be a Nuno acoustic guitar solo actually says that he sold his acoustic guitar.

What makes it even better is that they spelled everything correctly on the actual CD, but they used the wrong words at times. One error on the CD is on “Suzi” they called it “Suzi (Wants Her All Day Want?)” and it should be (Wants Her All Day What?). Then for “Decadence Dance” there is a drum solo and they list it as Pat but Pat plays bass. Paul is on drums.

Continue reading “Extreme – ‘Hollywood Rock 1992’ – Album Review (Bootleg Series)” →

Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Made in Germany (Live)’ (1995) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic83 Comments

Axel Rudi Pell has had four solo albums so a live album was long over due. As a result, during two shows on February 4th & 5th of 1995, they were recorded so a live album could be released. They were recorded in Markthalle, Hamburg and Zeche, Bochum. There were three songs from the Markthalle show and five from Zeche. The band was of course Axel Rudi Pell on guitar, Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Jorg Michael on drums, Volker Krawczak on bass and Julie Greaux on keyboards. It was the same band that recorded the previous album ‘Between the Walls’ for which they were now touring for that album, and it is a great, solid band.

1994 was an extremely busy year for Jeff Scott Soto and by the looks of it, 1995 was not going to be any different as we have 3 releases for this year and this being the first. For this album, Jeff felt the biggest fault was it was too short and he would’ve liked to have included a few more of the older tracks. With that being said, if that is the only fault, then we are in for a real treat. The show captures how much Jeff enjoyed working with Axel and it shows in his performance and everyone’s performance for that matter. The album came out around May 22, 1995 and is a great time capsule of a great period of Axel Rudi Pell.

The show kicks off with some riffing by Axel and then they go straight in to “Talk of The Guns” off their most recent album ‘Between the Walls’. Here is the song is sped up even faster and a lot heavier. It seems faster than speed metal here. The drums are pounding and relentless and Pell’s solo is pure Axel. Jeff does a great job keeping up with that pace and not losing his breath, but it was close.

Continue reading “Axel Rudi Pell – ‘Made in Germany (Live)’ (1995) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)” →

Night Ranger – “When You Close Your Eyes” – 7″ Single

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic17 Comments

For Night Ranger, how do you follow-up your biggest hit, “Sister Christian”. Well, you release another ballad and they did it this time with “When You Close Your Eyes” the third single off their 1983 album ‘Midnight Madness’. It was released on July 14, 1984 as a single and it didn’t do as well as “Sister Christian” as it only went to #14 on the Billboard Charts. Only..right! Most bands would kill for that. It did help continue to catapult the album to well over 1 million copes giving them their first and maybe only Platinum album.

The song was written by Jack Blades with the help of Alan Fitzgerald and Brad Gillis. The song came about from Jack noodling around on the piano and he sang the chorus and thought it was great. He had Alan and Brad help but he couldn’t finish it with all the distractions while recording the album. He flew home and sat around the pool and then was inspired by his ex-girlfriend and wondering if she ever still thought about him. That inspiration turned in to a big hit for the band.

My copy is a U.S. Pressing with the B-Side as “Why Does Love Have to Change” which is also off ‘Midnight Madness’. My copy is the Gloversville pressing as it has this little flower symbol in the runout. Plus it only has the Midnight Madness album cover on the back where later pressing have that plus Dawn Patrol. It is pretty good shape and plays great.

Continue reading “Night Ranger – “When You Close Your Eyes” – 7″ Single” →

Cheap Trick – ‘Are You Ready? Live 12/31/1979’ (2019) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

Cheap Trick has hopped on the Record Store Bandwagon with 3 previous releases for each Volume of The Epic Archives and now for the 2019 Record Store Day they dug in to the archives and are finally releasing their New Year’s Eve concert from the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles from 1979 in full. Some songs were released on the Expanded Edition of the ‘Dream Police’ album, but never the full show. This is the first time it has been released on vinyl, the first time the full show has been released giving is new mixes from the original master tracks. The only issue is the first reel of the master tapes could not be found, so the first four songs aren’t as clean and crisp as the rest of the album. They had to source those songs from a high resolution tape of the official radio broadcast. You can tell the difference in the listen, but honestly, it has zero impact on the listening pleasure.

RSD has it listed as an exclusive release, but only exclusive in the fact it is the only way to get the vinyl. The show has been released on CD and digitally so the vinyl release isn’t truly exclusive. The package is a 2 LP set in a beautiful gatefold. After getting the Epic Archive albums in multiple colors, here we get the standard black vinyl. I have read a lot of reviews and/or comments that they feel the sound sucks, but it is a personal taste. If you like a live album that sounds live, then this will be great. I wasn’t bothered by any of the sound quality and that won’t be mentioned at all as it was a non-issue for me. I was listening to the music and what we got and we got a lot. Let’s walk through it.

Continue reading “Cheap Trick – ‘Are You Ready? Live 12/31/1979’ (2019) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)” →

My Sunday Song – “Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man” by Aerosmith

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic6 Comments

For My Sunday Song #304, we are talking about “Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man” by Aerosmith off their highly successful 1989 album ‘Pump’. The song was written by Steven Tyler and Brad Whitford who does not generally get a lot of writing credits which is a shame. The song was not a single, but it is a personal favorite on the album and I am sure helped it sell over 7 million copies.

The song seems to be about the abuse modern civilization is doing to each other and to Mother Earth. It is like we are all under the spell of a voodoo medicine man as we masturbate with a noose, believe all the corruption and the lies of our politicians. There is an anger in the lyrics and an anger in Steven’s vocals as he sings.

“Hoodoo” is a musical interlude (with Tyler rambling on softly about something) and opens with a khean performed by Randy Raine-Reusch who has handled all the weird instruments used on this album. It is very tribal sounding. A Khean is a mouth organ whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown. You learned something new today if you didn’t already know.

After this little interlude, “Voodoo Medicine Man” kicks in and seems to be going for dramatic and epic like “Janie’s Got a Gun” and I think they succeed. Kramers drum barrage is awesome, Hamilton’s bass groove is killer and Tyler’s vocal deliver of the chorus all just gels and totally kicks some ass. Brad gets lead guitar duty and doesn’t let you forget how talented he really is. A full out rocker.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man” by Aerosmith” →

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

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic38 Comments

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! Now, if you want to cast more than one vote, comment on the Twitter and Facebook post and you could get up to 3 votes on your favorite pick.

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 – Crobot – ‘Feel This’

  Never Heard Before – Sly & the Family Stone – ‘There’s A Riot Goin’ On’

  Not My Normal Genre – Johnny Cash – ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around’

  From My Collection – Janis Joplin – ‘Pearl’

  From My Collection – AC/DC – ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap’

Let me know which one you would like to see and sometime in July, 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 – June 17, 2022

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic31 Comments

We are in the middle of the month and still a ton of releases. This week we have around 50 releases for your viewing pleasure today. I actually have a bunch I want to hear (before I buy) and one that is already on order and will be here today. Those are first up and marked in Blue. Let me know what you are digging this week and what we may have missed as that does happen. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a great weekend.

  • 81Yj5OhV38L._AC_UL640_FMwebp_QL65_  Lit – Tastes Like Gold – (Round Hill Records): It has been 5 years since their last album and it was more tinged towards country than the pop punk they usually do. This time they are going back to their original sound…thank goodness. Here’s hoping for a return to form.
  • 81M+f+CiYnL._AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65_  Iconic – Second Skin – (Frontiers Records): Another Frontiers Supergroup which is actually getting kind of ridiculous…but is one is featuring Nathan James (Inglorious), Michael Sweet (Stryper), Joel Hoesktra (Whitesnake), Marco Mendoza (ex-Journey, Whitesnake), Tommy Aldridge (Whitesnake). It was co-produced by Michael Sweet and Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Revolution Saints). Hard to argue with a line-up like that. And the fact Michael Sweet isn’t even singing is a huge surprise. Nathan is a beast on vocals so this should be good.
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – June 17, 2022” →

The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & John – Interview with Jason Bieler!!

Published on by 2loud2oldmusicLeave a comment

Episode 112 – Jason Bieler (Saigon Kick, Super TransAtlantic, The Baron Von Bielski Orchestra)

We are so excited to talk with JASON BIELER of Saigon Kick fame to discuss his newest project The Baron Von Bielski Orchestra, new tune “Sic Riff”, upcoming Soto/Bieler shows and his past as well.   Known as one of the funniest and nicest guys in rock, Bieler is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, guitarist, comedian and even owner of a Record Label.  His brand of rock runs the gamut from progressive to mainstream.  His collaborations with artists such as Bumblefoot and Jeff Scott Soto are highly praised.  This is a chat that we are looking forward to big time!  “What You Say”?  Take the pain to far and distant places, and if you ask of Jason, he’ll tell you all the stories of life!

Do not miss this one — we will try and ask your viewer questions live!

Friday June 17, 7:00 PM E.S.T.  on YouTube, Facebook and also Facebook!