The week before Thanksgiving and the last big week of new releases. There will be more releases over the next three weeks, but not as big as this one (in numbers, not necessarily quality). There are a handful I will give a spin and they will be highlighted in Blue as usual. Let me know what interests you or what I might have missed. Now next Friday there are new releases, but it is also Record Store Day Black Friday, so hopefully some I can grab…until then.
Coldplay – Everyday Life – (Parlophone Records / Warner Music): I will admit, I hold hopes out that they will release something as good as ‘Parachute’ again. So, this will get a spin to see what they bring to the table this time. My hopes aren’t too high.
Beck – Hyperspace – (Fonograf Records / Capitol): Okay, it’s Beck…why would he not get a spin? His quirkiness is always welcome even if not always appreciated.
Welcome back to Part 3 of the 6 Part series. We have already talked about the Box Set and its packaging in Part 1 and we covered Disc 1 in Part 2 which covered the years 1966-1975. That set gave us 12 Unreleased tracks. This one has a lot, but not quite as many. For Disc Two, we get 8 previously unreleased tracks out of the 20 tracks on the disc. And it is those 8 tracks we will spend most of our time here today on. The rest will get covered when I actually do a Kiss series later down the road.
I am sure now you are wondering the what is the track listing for this disc if there are 20 songs and I am going to show you in pictorial form with this picture of the back of the CD case with Paul’s Starchild face covering the whole rear of cover.
The first four tracks on this are taking from the Alive! album which was released in 1975 and since they are previously released will skip over them and get to the three previously unreleased tracks that come up next.
First we get the song “Doncha Hesitate” which was written by Paul Stanley. The song was recorded as a demo and one of the few times the whole band would get together to record a demo. However, there are different stories on when it was recorded. Gene says it was recorded for ‘Dressed to Kill’ when they were trying to come up with more songs. Paul says it was written after ‘Alive!’ and before ‘Destroyer’ which are both after ‘Dressed to Kill’…so not sure who is write on this one. The song is great for a demo as it is very raw and rough around the edges, but it falls flat as an overall song which is probably why it was never used. I do like it though and always great to have unreleased tracks that were not used in any other song.
Next we get the demo of a song called “Mad Dog”. “Mad Dog” was recorded as a demo for the ‘Destroyer’ album along with numerous other songs that Gene had (some of which went on his solo album – not this one). As they were picking through songs, Bob Ezrin would pick pieces of the demos and they would end of making a new song. The riff from this song will sound familiar as it would become the riff in the song “Flaming Youth” on ‘Destroyer’. The song kinda sucks, but it has a great solo included and I love the song “Flaming You” so I actually dug this one a bit for that connection.
“God of Thunder” is a demo and the song was originally written and sung by Paul Stanley. This to me is one of the gems on this Disc because it is so cool to here how Paul envisioned the song. You can see why Bob Ezrin had Paul give it to Gene to sing because the theme, the sonics and the lyrics all scream Gene’s demon character. Paul’s version is a faster tempo and less eerie as the final version, but it is fun and a rocking song.
We go through some songs from ‘Destroyer’ before we get to the next demo which is “Bad, Bad Lovin”. When you hear this one start up, you know it is the demo for the song that would become “Calling Dr. Love”. The verses are pure “Dr. Love”, but the chorus of “Bad, Bad Lovin” is so bad and doesn’t even fit with the feel and vibe of the verses. Re-working it become “Calling Dr. Love” was definitely the way to go. And cool that they put “Calling Dr. Love” as the next song on the album.
“Mr. Speed” is the demo of the song from ‘Rock & Roll Over’. It is not my favorite song to begin with and this does nothing to make up for that. This version has Bob Kulick on guitar and not Ace, but it is a demo so no big deal.
We are going to skip the next batch of songs as they have all been released on albums and we will go to the next unreleased track which is a Soundcheck recording of “I Want You”. It was recorded in August 1977 at the soundcheck at the Los Angeles forum. Being a soundcheck, it is loose and a freaking blast!. I love this song to begin with so any cool version I can get is fine by me. Another favorite of mine on this disc.
The next demo is of the Kiss Klassic “Love Gun”. Paul demoed this in New York with drummer Steve Korff of the band The Planets. Paul played the bass and guitar for the demo. That machine gun drum fill is the heart & soul of the song and was only replicated by Peter Criss as Paul came up with it. The demo was pretty complete and sounds really close to the final version so not much was tweaked on this one.
The last track is the Gene Simmons demo of a song called “Love is Blind”. It is one that was never recorded and it is Gene on all the instruments. And if you listen closely, you can here the click track in the background. It doesn’t sound anything like Kiss, but maybe would have fit on his solo album as it was so diverse. Gene felt it had more of an Eagles feel to it and I can hear that it in the overall sound. A really cool track to me.
And that is all the unreleased tracks. Another great disc and almost as good as the first one, but not quite. The 8 unreleased tracks are fantastic to have in the collection and I think this disc will get almost as much spin time as the first one. Overall, I will score this one a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars. These first two discs were the majority of the Unreleased tracks from the set. There are only about 10 more over the next three discs so I am going to have to review those slightly different otherwise they will be short reviews. Until then. Enjoy!
Check it out and let me know what you think. If you want to go back and read Part 1, click on the link below:
A couple months after releasing ‘Lovehunter’ in October 1979, the band was back in the studio by December to start recording the follow-up, ‘Ready an’ Willing’. The band finished up recording in February under the hand of returning producer Martin Birch who has handled all the Snake albums up to this point.
By the time they were back in the studio, drummer Duck Dowle was out and former David Coverdale and Jon Lord bandmate, Ian Paice, was in the band. That now made 1/2 of the band as former Deep Purple members. And if I am not mistaken, the press played that up which didn’t quite sit well with a couple of the band members.
The album cover for this one was a much more toned-down cover after the controversy the band received for the naked woman straddling a snake (side note: one of my favorites). This was a simple black & white drawing of the band with the Whitesnake logo. Nothing fancy and quite bland. Now, that wasn’t the only controversy the band had. Their lyrics were blasted as well for their whole “cock rock” style and womanizing. And I am not sure this album would not help them in that matter. Oh well.
The inner album sleeve gave us the songs from each side along with the lyrics. It also included who had each solo on the songs which I love that fact. There was no winding snake from one side to the other, instead we get pictures of the band with Coverdale, Lord and Murray on the front and Marsden, Moody and Paice on the back.
The album was the first one to see any real success for the band. They reached #6 in the UK and actually finally charted in the US at #90 thanks in part to the first single which we will discuss shortly. The band was finally starting to break outside the UK which is what they wanted, but it would still be a few more years before they became one of the top acts in the world.
SIDE ONE:
The band’s first single and first hit outside the UK was the song “Fool For Your Loving”. Yes, Whitesnake fans that came on board in the late 80’s know this song from the album ‘Slip of the Tongue’. However, this was the original and first release of the song which went to #13 in the UK and #53 in the US. The song was written by Marsden (who had the riffs and the verses), Moody (who wrote the bridge) and Coverdale (who did the lyrics). The funny thing about the song is that it was originally written for BB King, however, they soon realized the song was too good to pass up…and they were right.
This version of the song is more bluesy and has a nice groove and not as rocking as the hair metal version, but that is okay. You have Bernie belting out a great solo that is so different than Vai’s version. Since I grew up with the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ version, this version feels like a demo to me and I am actually turn to which one I like more. This fits the sound of the band at this point in their career and the other fits that version of the band. Tough choice…I will let you decide.
The next track is “Sweet Talker” which was only released in the US as a single, but didn’t really do anything. This is another song with rather suggestive lyrics and would not stop the controversy on their womanizing lyrics. As a teenager, this would have been great. it is a fun rocking track and it has Jon Lord delivering something he does best…massive keyboard solos. And I don’t want to leave out the great slide guitar work of Micky Moody, always love his slide guitar. This to me is a classic sounding Whitesnake song and one of my favorites on the album…one of many.
The title track, “Ready an’ Willing”, has such a driving groove to it. The blues feel in David’s vocals and lyrics and the sonics of the song, make it a memorable song and why it was released as the 2nd single. Moody handled the solo which was short and perfect for the song. Although the single didn’t do that well, it is still a beast of a track on the album.
Then we get to “Carry the Load” and I have to say I am not real thrilled with this one. Too generic and falls very flat for me. This song feels more like one of David’s solo songs and could have been on ‘Northwinds’. It feels out of place here.
Another favorite on the album is the song ‘Blindman’ which is a re-work of the song from David’s first solo album called ‘Whitesnake’. In what could be David’s best performance to date as he brings so much more emotion and pain in his delivery, this song is the gem in a album full of them. It has a slow groove and is another blues track which has the band at its best. Bernie’s understated solo was what the song needed. It fit perfectly with the vibe. The song was great on the solo album, but taken to another level here.
SIDE TWO:
First up on Side Two is “Ain’t’ Gonna Cry No More” has David singing along to the acoustic guitar before Jon Lord comes in with some soft sounding keyboards in what is starting out as a beautiful ballad. That is until Ian Paice brings it up a notch with his drums and it turns in to pure rock & roll beast with the help of Micky Moody on the solo. The album is quickly becoming my favorite of the Whitesnake albums so far with songs like this.
“Love Man” is a more traditional blues song with a foot stomping beat and some gritty slide guitar. It was what I know and love as blues. Lyrically, it is pure and utter cheese and David delivers it as such, however, I kinda like it. It grabs you and pulls you in whether you want to or not.
“Black and Blue” feels like you are at a honky tonk with the whole live, bar-band feel to it including some piano playing by Jon Lord. Adding the cheering bar crowd to the mix made it feel right at home in the bar. It is a fun, good time track.
And the album ends with “She’s a Woman”, which opens with Lord on the keyboards and then gets turned up a notch when the drums and guitar riffs kick in. Now the highlight is that Jon Lord turns in the best solo of the album. He goes to town and takes you on a magical keyboard journey. Although not the best song on the album, it highlights Lord and that is good enough for me.
Track Listing:
Fool For Your Loving – Keeper
Sweet Talker – Keeper
Ready an’ Willing – Keeper
Carry Your Load – Delete
Blindman – Keeper
Ain’t Gonna Cry No More – Keeper
Love Man – Keeper
Black and Blue – Keeper
She’s a Woman – Keeper
The track is a wonderful 8 out of 9 tracks are keepers or 89%. The songs are the strongest yet of the Whitesnake albums so far. There are some Essential Whitesnake songs on here, more so than the others and this album gets better with every listen. The album was missing some dual guitar solos with Marsden and Moody which I think adds to the songs. The album was also lacking a Bernie Marsden lead vocal song…okay, it really isn’t missing that I guess. Overall, this is a killer album and I will rate it a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. As much as I love it, there are some I like better but this is near the top.
Up next…Whitesnake – ‘Live…in the Heart of the City’.
Airbourne released their 5th album, ‘Boneshaker’, on October 25, 2019 and they delivered an album that is a fist to the face, elbow to the gut, knee to the balls rock & roll album in the vein of AC/DC that will have you cranking the volume as high as it will go so you can hear every distorted guitar note, head-pounding drum beat, wall vibrating bass notes and Joel O’Keefe’s Bon Scott/Brian Johnson style vocals and lyrics that scream Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll and also give you the longest run-on sentence I could possibly come up with while writing this review for you, my favorite people in the blogging world.
There is no need going through every song, one by one, because Airbourne only know how to deliver one style of song and that style is loud and guitar heavy rock & roll. As the sticker on the front of the album states…
…and they are not lying. This next line might sound bad, but it is true and is actually what I love about the band. If you’ve heard one ‘Airbourne’ album you have heard them all. They are unapologetically bringing heavy-ass Aussie rock to the world and that is actually what I love about them.
The songs titles, well, they are exactly what you would expect. Mentioning Rock & Roll, drinking, sex, hell and every other cliche in the book. It is awesome!!
For My Sunday Song #170, we are choosing the song “Brother” by Needtobreathe as the final song in the 10 song Needtobreathe series. This song is the one with Gavin DeGraw as guest vocalist and not the version on the album “Rivers in the Wasteland”. Although I liked that version, I think having the duet added a lot to the song since it felt more like it matched the meaning of the song. The song only reached #98 on the Billboard charts, but the Christian charts had it reaching #1.
The song came about due to the issues between two brothers. Those brothers were Bear and Bo Rinehart. Their friendly competition turned in to more of a blame game as times got difficult for the band as they struggled during the work on the album ‘Rivers in the Wasteland’. They finally worked things out once they actually talked to each other confessed their own personal faults. Once that was done, they realized how important it was to have a brother working with you and beside you rather than compete with you. They turned that in to a beautiful song.
The song has a church feel and some choir-like backing vocals to help add to that effect. Having Bear and Gavin do it as a duet it gave the song that back & forth that it needed to give it the effect of two brothers going at it and making amends to each other. It gave the song more dimension and heart. Their voices worked so well together and their tones blended nicely and gave the song the emotion it needed.
As were are starting to get closer the Holidays, the new releases become fewer and fewer. There might be one more big week, sadly this is not one of them. I barely have enough to fill the 6 panels of pictures above. My choices are limited so I apologize, but maybe there is something for you. We have Country, R&B, Emo, Classic Rock, 50’s Rock and Pop…that’s it…one for each. My choices are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear or if there is something I missed that you want to mention. Thanks for stopping by and have a Great Weekend!!
Lady Antebellum – Ocean – (Big Machine): I diss Country a lot, but there a few artists/groups I like and this is one of them. They are band my wife and I enjoy together and I love when we have someone we both like. They have been around awhile and usually they deliver and I expect nothing less this time. It is usually a softer side of Country, but man these guys/gals can sing.
Prince – 1999 (Super Deluxe Edition) – (Warner Records): Prince’s estate is emptying the vaults at an alarmingly fast rate and now 1999 is getting the Super Deluxe Edition. The album was unbelievable the way it was, but having all this bonus material is going to be a blast going through. I could spend a lot of time with this one.
In Part 1 we talked about the packaging and all that was included in The Box Set. Now, we are going to talk about the music. There are 5 discs included in this set and they are broken up in to certain eras/timeframes of the band. They cover from the very beginning all the way up to 1999. The set was released in 2001 so nothing from after Psycho Cirus.
First up is Disc One that covers the era from 1966 to 1975. Wait…Kiss didn’t start until 1973, how do we have stuff from 1966? Well, you will have to wait and see. The disc has 21 songs and of those, 12 are previously unreleased. And it is those 12 songs that are the prize on this release. Here is the entire track listing for this disc.
The first two songs up are demos that were done in 1973 at Electric Lady Studios with the great Eddie Kramer on the boards. You know Eddie from his work with Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix…at least you should. The two songs were “Strutter” and “Deuce”, two of the bands most iconic songs. These versions had never been released prior to this set. I think I am going to go out on a limb and mention that these versions might be better than the actual recordings on the debut album of which, Eddie was not a part. These songs had so much more meat to them. They had more edge and captured more of the band’s essence.
“Strutter” is actually from an early Gene Simmons song called “Stanley the Parrot”. They took the chord pattern off that song and turned it in to a song that Paul feels has a “strutting” feel to it and thus the name. “Deuce” was another song that was sort of a Frankenstein pieced together from a couple of other songs except these weren’t old Kiss songs. The band loosely based it off the song “Bitch” by the Rolling Stones and the beginning of the song came from The Raspberries song “Go All the Way”.
This one completely caught me off guard. Soren Andersen, famous for being the guitarist for the great Glenn Hughes as well as Electric Guitars and Mike Tramp, released a new solo album without me even knowing. How does that happen. It doesn’t matter as I found it and I am a better person for it. After the brilliance of his 2011 release ‘Constant Replay’, this time around he goes full on instrumental.
From the opening track, “City of Angels”, you know you are in for something special. At times there is a whole Satriani vibe to the songs because they are songs. They are full of melodies and typical song structure you can almost sing along with the guitars which is what I want in an instrumental. There is no showboating for the sake of showboating. He isn’t going, “hey, look what I can do!!”. He is giving you his heart and emotions in his songs.
At times he goes all metal with songs such as “The Kid” that come at you like a fist to the face. He is a rocker at heart with songs like “Agent Wells” that even throw in some funky bass lines. There are even a couple songs I would consider ballads with the song “Satori” and “Bird Feeder” which are both a little reminiscent of Satriani from his early 90’s work. “Skybar” opens with a little electronica elements and some wicked ass bass guitar. The album is full of interesting elements and Soren isn’t a one-trick pony. He gives you a little of everything. The album ends with one of the most interesting tracks, “Bipolar”, which gives you two elements of his style and sound and blends them together.
I can’t believe I have done 1,000 Posts. I never thought I would be able to keep up with the site let alone get this far. It all started on April 17th, 2016 with my very first post which was “Road Rage” Playlist!
And now, 1,304 days later here I am at my 1,000th post. Crazy!!
Since we are looking back, let’s take a look at the Top 5 Posts viewed and the Bottom 5 posts viewed. It is always curious to me which ones do well and which ones don’t. Sometimes I feel like I wrote a great post that was so witty and insightful, yet hardly any one sees it and then others I think I sucked at it and should have never posted and ends up getting a butt load of hits. There is no rhyme or reason for any of it I am sure.
Here are the Top 5 Posts viewed:
5. Top Rock Songs of 2018 – 4,103 views: This one only did well thanks to the one and only Michael Sweet of Stryper. I picked the Stryper song “Take it to the Cross” as the #7 song of the year and he tweeted about it and mentioned it on Facebook (and so did Stryper). As a result, this post took off!! Thanks Michael!!
4. Maroon 5 – The Albums Ranked Worst to First – 4,393 views: And this one did well thanks to Maroon 5 playing the Super Bowl half time show. That week before and after were huge on views.
3. The Original vs. The Cover – “The Sound of Silence” – 5,110 views: This is one I never realized would have done so well. Thanks to a first page result when you Google this song, I get a bunch of reviews everyday. I hope that continues.
In May 1979, the band went back in to the studio to record the follow-up to ‘Trouble’. In a few short weeks they were done and on October 1st, 1979, the band released “Lovehunter’ to the masses. The album was recorded by Martin Birch who did ‘Trouble and they recorded at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire in the Rolling Stones Mobile and it was later mixed at Central Recorders Studio and Sauna in London. Sauna??? That is freaking weird. Anyway, the album did modestly and reached #29 in the UK Chart. Not a smashing success, but it did chart.
The album was rather controversial. Not for the music, no that wasn’t it. It was that cover. And oh what a cover!! It was a picture of a beautiful lady straddling a huge snake. Oh, and she is naked!! If only the U.S. had this album back in the day…why couldn’t my brothers have owned this one because at 10 years old, I would have really loved this cover. The artist was Chris Achilleos who was known for fantasy artwork and I believe he was very distraught over the controversy as it was the last album cover he did until 2003 when he did the album cover for Glenn Hughes’ album ‘Once and Future King Part 1’.
This album would end up being Duck Dowle’s last album as the drummer for Whitesnake as he was replaced shortly after the release by former Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice which would bring the total of ex-Deep Purple members to three.
Coldplay – Everyday Life – (Parlophone Records / Warner Music): I will admit, I hold hopes out that they will release something as good as ‘Parachute’ again. So, this will get a spin to see what they bring to the table this time. My hopes aren’t too high.
Beck – Hyperspace – (Fonograf Records / Capitol): Okay, it’s Beck…why would he not get a spin? His quirkiness is always welcome even if not always appreciated.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 