Author: 2loud2oldmusic

Friday New Releases – December 6th

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Welcome to the first Friday of December.  Christmas is just around the corner and here are a few ideas to either get yourself for Christmas or get someone else.  There is only one I am interested (highlighted in Blue), so I can concentrate on my year end list some more.  I hope there is something for you.

  • 91a-DFg1nCL._AC_UL115_.jpg  The Who – WHO – (Polydor / Universal): After a mere 13 years, the Who is back with a new album.  I have to say, I am intrigued to hear what they have to offer even if it is only Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey which it has been for years, I know.  We will see…or hear…

These are probably the big releases in the pop world…

  • 91STG6vyDcL._SX522_  Camila Cabello – Romance – (Simco / Epic / Sony)

  • 71OErDzXqxL._SX522_  Liam Payne – LP1 – (Capitol Records):  Debut from the former One Direction Star

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Kiss – The Box Set (Disc Four 1983-1989) – Album Review (Part 5 of 6)

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Welcome back to Part 5 of the 6 Part series. We have already talked about the Box Set and its packaging in Part 1 and we have covered Disc 1 and Disc 2 in the set.  For those, we got about 20 unreleased tracks between those two.  Quite impressive.  For Disc Three, we only get 3 unreleased tracks and now for Disc Four we only get 2 unreleased tracks.  As a result, I will also talk about the other songs on here to make it a fair representation.

Disc Four is a fun one for me.  It covers the Unmasked years of the 80’s.  Not the album, Unmasked, the non-makeup years unmasked.  The 80’s is where I got back in to the band.  My first show was the Lick It Up tour plus I saw the Asylum Tour and the Crazy Nights Tour as well.  It was all Kiss all the time (well, when it wasn’t Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue and Whitesnake).  I think this era of Kiss is so overlooked and unfairly so as I love it!!  Here’s what you get…

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Now here is where Kiss messed up the box set.  Yes, I get they had to put Ace’s picture on a disc like they did the other original members, but Ace isn’t on any of these songs…not a one.  They should have put Eric Carr on this disc and Ace on the next one. Yes, it would have been out of order, but at least it would fit the timeline.

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Whitesnake – ‘Live…in the Heart of the City” – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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Towards the end of 1980, Whitesnake released their first live album called ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’.  It was released on November 3rd, 1980 and was originally released as a double LP with 2 different shows. The first being from June 1980 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and the second show as from November 23rd, 1978  at the same place.  This review, however, is only on the LP version that I have which is only a single LP version with only the 1980 Hammersmith show and missing one song the original had (“Ready an’ Willing”).

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The tour recorded for this one is the ‘Ready ‘n’ Willing’ Tour that features new drummer, former Deep Purple master Ian Paice.  And it caught the band at a time when they were starting to finally come into their own.  The track list of the single LP is as follows:

  1. Come on
  2. Sweet Talker
  3. Walking in the Shadow of the Blues
  4. Love Hunter
  5. AIn’t No Love in the Heart of the City
  6. Fool For Your Loving
  7. Take Me With You

It is short at only 7 songs, but one is 11 minutes long and 2 are over 6 minutes each and all a blast.

SIDE ONE:

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Side one opens with the screamer “Come On” from the ‘Snakebite’ E.P. and what a fantastic way to open the show. A high energy romp that gets everyone on their feet and in to the groove of what is to come.  The band is on fire and David sounds in top form. The band glides effortlessly in to “Sweet Talker” from ‘Ready an’ Willing’ with loads of Micky Moody’s slide guitar and let me tell you the guitars on here are killer.  The tempo of the song is ramped up to 10 and the fly through this one at warp speed.  And don’t forget the Jon Lord keyboard solo in this one that goes right in to Micky’s guitar solo…hell yeah baby!  Keep it coming!

The band goes in to two straight ‘Lovehunter’ songs starting with the blues song “Walking in the Shadow of the Blues”.  Bernie Marsden takes over the lead on the guitar work in this one accompanied by the great Lord on keyboards.  Ian supplying just the right amount of drum fills and as he Neil Murray on bass lay down that all essential groove.  But it is the song “Love Hunter” that is the showcase on this side.  At 11 minutes, including a Micky Moody showcase of his slide guitar work, the live version takes the song in to so many different directions and is what I love about live shows.  David singing here is great as well as he isn’t trying to over sing it and he has seem to found his comfort zone.

SIDE TWO:

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“Aint’ No Love in the Heart of the City” opens up Side Two and gives us the name to the album.  It is a bluesy track that keeps a slow groove and let me tell you that the guitar work Moody does is sensational.  The crowd takes over with Murray’s bass thumping away in the background along with Paice keeping time.

And then we get David’s favorite concert saying “Here’s a Song for You” as he does it a lot.  They go in to the classic “Fool For Your Loving” from ‘Ready an’ Willing’.  The song is a little punchier then the album version, it actually reminds me a little more of what was to come with the song in the late 80’s and I am okay with that.  It is a rocking good song.

The last song is the only song from the album ‘Trouble’, “Take Me With You”.  The band is amped up on something as they speed this one up to an exhausting tempo that would leave a lesser band spent.  They feed off the energy and everyone gets a moment to shine with Jon Lord’s blistering keyboard solo, Bernie’s raging guitar solo, a little of Murray’s bass, and Moody blasting through some riffs.  David and company brought all home on this one.

And that is the album.  It is a great live set that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Short and sweet and captures some great moments.  The band was really cooking at this time and they boiled over some fine work with this release.  The first of many live albums to come with Whitesnake and this one started it off right. I will give it a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars mainly for not giving me the whole show.  This one is a must grab if you find it out in the wild.  Don’t let it slip past you.

Up next…Whitesnake – ‘Come An’ Get It’.

The David Coverdale Series:

  1. Deep Purple – Burn
  2. Deep Purple – Stormbringer
  3. Deep Purple – Come Taste the Band
  4. Deep Purple – Made in Europe
  5. David Coverdale – Whitesnake
  6. Deep Purple – Last Concert in Japan
  7. David Coverdale – Northwinds
  8. David Coverdale’s Whitesnake – Snakebite
  9. Whitesnake – Trouble
  10. Whitesnake – Lovehunter
  11. Whitesnake – Ready an’ Willing
  12. Whitesnake – Live…in the Heart of the City
  13. Whitesnake – Come An’ Get it
  14. Deep Purple – Live in London
  15. Whitesnake – Saints & Sinners
  16. Whitesnake – Slide It In
  17. Whitesnake – “Give Me More Time” 12″ Single (Bonus Review)
  18. Whitesnake – ‘The Best of Whitesnake (Bonus Review – 1982 release)
  19. Whitesnake – Whitesnake (1987)
  20. Whitesnake – “Is This Love” 12″ Promo (Bonus Review)
  21. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue
  22. David Coverdale – “The Last Note of Freedom” – Single Review
  23. Coverdale/Page – Coverdale/Page
  24. Coverdale/Page – “Take Me For A Little While 12” Single (Bonus Review)
  25. David Coverdale & Whitesnake – Restless Heart
  26. Whitesnake – Starkers in Tokyo
  27. David Coverdale – Into the Night
  28. Whitesnake – Live…In the Still of the Night (DVD)
  29. Whitesnake – Live…In the Shadow of the Blues
  30. Whitesnake – Good To Be Bad
  31. Whitesnake – Forevermore
  32. Whitesnake – Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock
  33. Whitesnake – The Purple Album
  34. Whitesnake – The Purple Tour (Live)
  35. Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood
  36. Whitesnake – The Rock Album
  37. Whitesnake – The Albums Ranked Worst to First
  38. David Coverdale – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Other David Coverdale Albums reviewed – (Box Sets and Bootlegs):

  1. Whitesnake – 1987 (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  2. Whitesnake – Slide It In (35th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  3. Whitesnake – Unzipped – Box Set
  4. Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Edition) – Box Set
  5. Whitesnake (Snake) – Still of the Night Live in Battle Creek, Mich. July 26, 1987 (Bootleg)

Matt Nathanson – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

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As you know if you follow this site at all, I am a Matt Nathanson fan.  I think he is a fantastic songwriter/singer and an all around marvelous person. I have seen him live only three times and each time he keeps getting better.  His live shows are something you have to see as his banter with the crowd is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!  He is witty, funny and damn, the man can sing.  Matt is also a lyrical painter. He pays so much attention to the lyrical phrasing that it paints such a vivid picture or touches you in ways that only music can do.

Matt Nathanson, the studio musician, is broken down in two categories for me.  The 90’s Matt is is an indie rocker that is still trying to find his voice both lyrically and vocally.  But the shades of what is to come is in dimly shining in there.  Then there is the Matt of 2000’s that has seen his songwriting and singing grow by leaps and bound.  He has a confidence that shows in his music and definitely shows when he is on stage.   There are those that find his early stuff more raw and pure and it is that, but as you will see with the list, I find his 2000’s self to be the better half.

So, you now have my overall reasoning behind my picks and with that, we need to dive in and rank Matt Nathanson’s albums from The Worst to the one I think is First!  And sorry I don’t have all his albums in the Header photo as the site I use only offers 8 frames otherwise I would have had all 10 included.

THE WORST – PLEASE (1993):

Now here is the good news, there really isn’t a bad choice among all the albums, this is all about preference.  I have this as the Worst mainly because it is an album with a rough production and Matt’s vocals aren’t quite what they become.  And yes I do know that these are mostly demos thus the explaining the quality.  The cool thing about it is that the songs were all written while he was in high school or during his freshman year at Pitzer College in California.  There are hints of the Matt I grew to love, but it is the one album I go to the least.

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My Sunday Song – “Heavy” by Collective Soul

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For My Sunday Song #171, we are going to discuss the song “Heavy” off the band’s 1999 album ‘Dosage’. The song was the second single and the band’s last #1 song on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks as well as the last to make the Billboard Hot 100 where it only reached #73.

The song was the last song written for the record and actually was written after the record was complete.  The band liked it so much they made sure to get it on the album before it went out to production.  Ed Roland wrote the song and was inspired by all the crap that went on with their former manager.  The weight of everything was riding heavy on Ed’s shoulders and as a result we got this great song.  An interesting to note, the song title of “Heavy” it is no where in the song.  The weight of the lyrics and the heavy guitar sound are where the title comes from as the word summed up the vibe.

The song opens with a heavy guitar riff and is at such a break neck speed it is over before you know it at under 3 minutes in length.  The guitar solo by Ross Childress actually includes six types of wah effects according to songfacts.com.  It includes two standard pedals, three Auto Wah pedals, and a digital Wah via Pro Tools.  It brings a really cool sound to the solo like none they had ever done before.  The whole album saw the band exploring different sounds and this was one of their most creative for me.

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Friday New Releases – November 29th

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Welcome to the final Friday of New Releases for November (and only 2 left for the year as the releases become very limited in late December).  This week, well…there isn’t much. And there is nothing I am interested in getting or hearing which is great since I need to get working on my Year End Lists!!  I feel I need to listen to the Joe Pesci one or he’ll put a hit out on me, but I can’t bring myself to do it.  I guess I am living dangerously.  Let me know if anything interests you or if I missed anything.  Have a great weekend.

  • 81C9oFZncIL._SX522_  Pink Floyd – The Later Years: 1987-2019 – (Sony Music) – Digital version Only (everything else December 13th)
  • 61vqx6qu2UL._SX522_  Joe Pesci – Pesci…Still Singing – (BMG Rights Mgmt)
  • 61D-mDIXjIL._SL1200_  Marillion – With Friends from the Orchestra – (EarMusic) – Digital version only (everything else December 13th)
  • B1-mQW098yS._SX522_  Prong – Age of Defiance E.P. – (Steamhammer)
  • 91XuP-t0J1L._SX522_.jpg  Blue October – Live from Manchester – (Up/Down-Brando Records) – why is the guy out front look like Negan?
  • 81wPt8guYgL._SX522_.jpg  The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin: Live at Red Rocks (feat. The Colorado Symphony & Andre de Ridder) – (Warner Records)

November Purchases – Vinyl

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First off, November does not have the amount of Purchases as October had as October was an anomaly…which I actually bought the album “Anomaly” by Ace Frehley last month so it was a double anomaly, if that is possible.  November was a more normal month of purchases.  And I am thankful for that. I am thankful for a lot of things.  Oh, and by the way…Happy Thanksgiving!!

I started off the month going back to Noble Records over in Matthews, NC.  They have been open for two months and I have been twice.  I think a regular monthly stop is what I should do and is what I am going to do.  As usual with Noble (even on his Pop-Up stores), I always walk away with some fantastic stuff and this trip was no different. This time, I only walked away with 3 Vinyl and they are great stuff.  They are all 80’s releases and actual 80’s vinyl, not re-issues.  And there are NO TURKEYS in this bunch. (Sorry bad Thanksgiving joke!!!)

First up is the debut album from the band Twisted Sister.  The album is ‘Under the Blade’ and it is the Italian release of the album by Secret Records.  It is also the original mix of the album and not the re-mixed version Atlantic Records released which I didn’t realize when I bought so thank’s to Scott at HMO for that information.

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The 2nd LP was the debut from the band Skid Row simply called Skid Row.  You know this one. It has “Piece of Me”, “I Remember You”, “18 and Life” as well as “Youth Gone Wild”.  It is a beast of a debut and it isn’t a first pressing, but it is the Columbia House Record Club version.  Remember that, for just $.01 you get like a bajillion albums if you buy 500 within two years…something like that.  It is mint shape and still has the plastic wrapper on it.

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The last one from Noble is Europe’s ‘Final Countdown’ album.  I am so sick of the song “Final Countdown”, that I had put off buying this one for years.  Well, Noble had one in one of the best shapes I have seen and at a decent price.  Also, still in the plastic wrapping.  So, I finally bit the bullet and added to the collection.  I am up to 5 vinyl releases for Europe and still a few more to go.

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Next up is one I finally grabbed from my WishList on Amazon.  I keep a list of albums I am looking to obtain and if the price ever gets right, I grab it.  This one I grabbed because it is a new release and it fell below my $15 threshold.  It actually wound up being only $14 for a 2LP set.  It is not my favorite Billy Idol album which is why I was waiting to grab it at the right price. It is his latest Re-Mix album Re-Vitalized.  I needed it to help complete my Billy Idol collection.  Still need a few more though before I am done.

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And then next up was a Record Show at the Fillmore here in Charlotte…at least I thought it was a record show.  It turns out it was market for mostly vintage clothing and jewelry.  Dang it!  I saw it advertised by Hardy Boy Records and Comics who have a shop over in Mint Hill so I thought it was going to be this huge record show. Wrong.  However, I wasn’t disappointed as I picked up a ton of stuff from the Hardy Boy’s booth as he never disappoints. If you are in or around Charlotte check out the shop at11237 Lawyers Rd in Mint Hill, NC.

Let’s start with the some Motley Crue.  I found The Dirt still sealed for $16.  I have avoided buying it because it is usually over $20 and I don’t like the new songs that much, but I figured for that price why not.  I also found a 12″ Picture Disc of Helter Skelter with the poster…Really cool…

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Next up is a classic Punk record I have been wanting for a while and finally found one in good shape at a good price.  It is The Clash’s ‘London Calling’.

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Then a couple really interesting pieces.  First up is an album I already have called ‘Love at First Sting” by the Scorpions…I don’t have it with this cover though!!  And for $6…sold!

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Next is one that is a round album cover with a blue vinyl which is really strange because yellow and black would have made more sense for an album color since the album is Stryper’s ‘Yellow and Black Attack’.

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And lastly is an album I have rarely seen it and it is usually north of $75.  This one was $15 all because someone named Lori wrote her name on the album cover.  Thanks Lori for saving me at least $60.  It is Kiss – ‘Smashes, Thrashes & Hits’.

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And that is it!  Sorry, no CD purchases this month.  Maybe next month!

Since I don’t post on Saturday, generally and tomorrow is a New Release Friday, I am doing my Purchase Summary today.  Which means, if I grab anything tomorrow for Record Store Day Black Friday, it will be in the December Summary.  I hope that is okay to have purchases from the wrong month included.  Don’t sue me, I am giving you a disclaimer with plenty of advance notice.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

Kiss – The Box Set (Disc Three 1976-1982) – Album Review (Part 4 of 6)

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Welcome back to Part 4 of the 6 Part series. We have already talked about the Box Set and its packaging in Part 1 and we have covered Disc 1 and Disc 2 in the set.  For those, we got about 20 unreleased tracks between those two.  Quite impressive.  For Disc Three, we only get 3 unreleased tracks.  Rather a big let down after the first two.  As a result, I will also talk about the other songs on here to make it a fair representation.

Disc Three covers the years 1976-1982, which were some very rough years for the band. Coming off the fantastic Alive II album, the band released 4 solo albums, Dynasty, Unmasked, The Elder and Creatures of the Night.  Creatures being the only album that was truly fantastic…one of their absolute best.  The others were not so great.  The solo albums were a mixed bag, Dynasty was too Disco, Unmasked was too Pop and I don’t know what the hell The Elder was (I like it better as I am older).  Kiss lost a lot of fans during this era and probably for good reason.

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Disc Three contains 19 songs covering all the album I mentioned above and then some.  Like the albums from this time, the songs for me are a mixed bag as well.  It starts off with “Detroit Rock City” and omits the opening intro which is a version I don’t have so I will gladly take it.  The next song is “King of the Night Time World” off the Alive II album.  This is the only live song off that album which to be honest, I am a little surprised.  Instead, we get two of the studio tracks from that album which more than makes up for it as the songs are “Larger Than Life” and “Rocket Ride”, with “Rocket Ride” being one of my favorite Ace Frehley tracks.  It rocks out quite nicely.

Continue reading “Kiss – The Box Set (Disc Three 1976-1982) – Album Review (Part 4 of 6)” →

The Original vs. The Cover – “Alone”

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For this edition of The Original vs. The Cover, we are going to discuss the song “Alone” by the band i-Ten.  What?  You never heard of them.  Honestly, neither had I, but you know their songs as bands from the 80’s covered a ton of their songs including bands like Honeymoon Suite, REO Speedwagon, Juice Newton and most notable they had success with songs such as “Like a Virgin”, “So Emotional”, “True Colors” and “Eternal Flame.  They weren’t really a band, it was a writing duo of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly who made up the band i-Ten.  It was that success that Heart decided to cover their song “Alone”.

The song’s theme is simple.  It is about a person who is in love with another and they are struggling to get them alone to tell them how they feel.  It is possible it is an unrequited love, but he/she won’t know until they tell them how much they want them.  We’ve all been there before.

i-TEN

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I will admit, I never have heard this version before I decided to do this post.  The song didn’t do very well for the band as their song and was put aside and basically forgotten. The song is a pure 80’s.  It is a little dated in its sound today, but you can hear how good of a song it really is.  It is surprising it didn’t do anything for them, but then again, they were not a well-known act and getting on the radio was difficult (or even MTV). Continue reading “The Original vs. The Cover – “Alone”” →

My Sunday Song – “Shine” by Collective Soul

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For My Sunday Song #171, we are now going to spend the next 10 weeks talking about songs from another favorite band of mine, Collective Soul.  And why not kick it off with the song that jump started the band to stardom…”Shine”.  The song was the debut single of the band and their debut album ‘Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid’.  The song came out in 1993 and was such a big hit for them as it went #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as winning a Billboard Award for Top Rock Track in 1994.

The song also caused problems for the band that were unexpected.  First was the fact the song mentioned the word Heaven in the song and the chorus does come across as very church-like and almost sounding like a prayer.  This caused people to think the band was a so called “Christian” band and let me tell you they are not.  They are a genuine article rock band who happened to sing a song with heaven in the title. As Ed Roland likes to point out, Led Zeppelin had “heaven” in one of their songs and no one called them a Christian band.  It did pigeoned-holed the band a little to be lumped in to Christian music.

The second problem was due to the song sounding like a Grunge song with its distorted guitar sounds and dark feel of the song.  This was slab dab in the middle of that era and I can see why people thought they were a Grunge band as I even labeled them as that when I heard it.  But when you really listen to the band, it is not all dark, sad, depressing music like Grunge (you know its true – Grunge is pretty damn depressing, not fun at all music).  It is a solid rock album.

Continue reading “My Sunday Song – “Shine” by Collective Soul” →