Friday New Releases – October 8th

Another great Friday of new releases this week.  I’m telling you this is shaping up to be a great month.  I have another item this week on order that will hopefully be there when I get home from work.  We have lot of Rock this week which is always good, but so much so that there is no way I will get to it all…ever!  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  Let me know what I missed and what you might be interested in hearing.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful music weekend.  I know I will!!

  • michaelsweettencd  Michael Sweet – Ten – (Frontiers Records):  Lead singer of Stryper is here with his 10th solo release…10 is hard to believe, but it is true. I just did a Michael Sweet album ranking and can’t wait to see where this falls on the list.  I am hoping for some hard and heavy stuff.  Check out the song below and go gran this one.

  • 71yVfmGk8RL._AC_UL115_.jpg  Eclipse – Paradigm – (Frontiers Records):  I love this band.  This Swedish rock band is now on their 8th album and it is pure melodic rock, glam rock, hair metal bliss.  They seem to be getting better with age kind of like a fine wine.  Give them a try.

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Kiss – ‘Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

We are on the final Bootleg in the series.  Okay, at the least the final for now. This is the last of what I have currently in my Kiss collection.  I will get more and when I do, I will come back and add to the collection so fear not, it isn’t really over…just slowed down immensely.

This release is on CD and is called ‘Hotter Than Hell’ and is labeled as a Radio Broadcast from 1976.  No other information on the insert or anywhere to really give you any more tidbits. So, I had to dig and the internet is a wonderful thing.

The setlist is not from 1976.  The setlist is from the Rock & Roll Over Tour in 1977 and they are in Detroit so this in Cabo Hall as Paul mentions Detroit and it being the last night. Well, in 1977, they played 3 shows at Cabo so this is the January 29, 1977 show and the setlist matches exactly…almost as the 3 encore songs are missing.

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Now that isn’t the only error on the disc.  There is another glaring one.  Take a look at the line-up on the back cover.  The line-up is right, but when did Peter and Ace change instruments.  This has Peter on guitar and Ace on drums…awesome!!!

There are no more pictures of the insert because the back cover and the insert are the same picture so nothing new to show.  For that, it is time to get to the music and the sound.

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The sound of the show is actually pretty great.  It is a radio broadcast, so you know it is going to be decent.  It is the band live and untouched so there are issues but it is how you would have heard it if you were there and for that it is fantastic.

There are three things wrong with the disc.  One, the opening track Detroit Rock City does not start at the beginning of the song.  The song is already in full gear when the disc starts as if someone forgot to hit the record button when they were supposed to hit it.  The second thing is that when the track # changes, there is a pause between each track which disrupts the flow of the show.  And the final thing is the album is missing the three encore songs that were played at the show so it is not a full set.  It is missing “Shout It Out Loud”, “Beth” and “Black Diamond”.

What did they get right?  Well, look at that set list.  It is pretty fantastic.  I am digging “Take Me”, “Ladies Room”,  “Makin’ Love”, “I Want You” and “Do You Love Me”.  The rest are normal songs on almost every set list so it is these songs that I enjoy the most.  Another thing is Paul’s vocals and his banter is awesome. He is so much better at this point in the band. He has found his comfort zone and he shows why he is one of the greatest frontman of any band.

What else is great?  Well, the solos.  All of them.  Peter’s is great, Ace’s is even better! Ace’s solo at the end of “Cold Gin” was one of the best I have heard from him.  Back when he could play.  I don’t think there was anything shooting from the guitar.  It was his fingers moving 100mph and it sounded like nothing I had heard on any of the other bootlegs.  He just played his ass off and he was stunning!! (or was it Peter, haha).

Peter’s drum solo comes at the end of “God of Thunder” and Peter drives it home with some tremendous kick drumming and beating the hell out of the Toms, snare and cymbals.  He was on the prowl that night and the Cat Man was feasting on those drums.  It was a great way to go in to “Rock & Roll All Nite” and end the show.  This was Kiss in their prime and it shows.  You can’t go wrong with this one at all!!

Yes, there are some problems with it, but the good outweigh the bad on this one and for that it gets a 4.0 out 5.0 Stars.  Hell, the Ace solo alone is worth it.  This is another one that will get played quite often.  It is a great set list and the sound is pretty great as well.  Definitely worth grabbing if you see this one out.

Check out the rest of the series if you have time!!  Thanks for stopping by!!

  1. Kiss – ‘Accept No Imitations’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ASYLUM TOUR)
  2. Kiss – Look Wot You Dun to Me (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (CRAZY NIGHTS TOUR)
  3. Kiss – The Summer of Satan: The Devils Ride Out! (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DESTROYER TOUR)
  4. Kiss – Return to Capital Center (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DYNASTY TOUR)
  5. Kiss – With Fire & Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (HOTTER THAN HELL TOUR)
  6. Kiss – Northhampton PA March 19th, 1975 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (DRESSED TO KILL TOUR)
  7. Kiss – The Hottest Show On Earth (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE HOTTEST SHOW ON EARTH TOUR 2010)
  8. Kiss – All the Way to the Ball Room (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (Australian Tour 1995)
  9. Kiss – Kiss of Thunder (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (The Rising Sun Tour 2006)
  10. Kiss – Agora Ballroom 1974: The Cleveland Broadcast plus Bonus Cuts (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (THE KISS TOUR)
  11. Kiss – Hotter Than Hell: Radio Broadcast 1976 (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (ROCK & ROLL OVER TOUR)

David Coverdale – ‘Northwinds’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

After ‘Whitesnake’, David went in a recorded his follow-up solo release, ‘Northwinds’.  This was around March / April of 1977; however, the album wouldn’t be released until a year later in March of 1978. I am not sure why the long delay in release, but the bad news for the release was by the time it did come out, Coverdale was done as a solo artist.  He had already pieced a band together that would go on to become WHITESNAKE!  I will save that for the next release which came out in June of 1978 just 3 months later.

The album did a little better than the debut and sound wise is more of the same. Okay, maybe the production is a little better and the sound starts to get some of the Whitesnake sounds, but not entirely.  David is still finding himself with this record which doesn’t mean its bad, it is far from that.  It is an interesting look at early David, pre-Whitesnake, and a glimpse into his musical tastes.

I have this on vinyl and it is part of a 2LP set including both David’s early solo albums, ‘Whitesnake’ and ‘Northwinds’.  It is a sweet set released in 1988 at the height of the band Whitesnake and they were trying to capitalize on Coverdale’s popularity.  I like having this set as these two albums really should be played together to get the full impact of his early songs and to see a young Coverdale growing into a fantastic songwriter.

 

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Tuesday’s Memes – The Cure

Who doesn’t like Robert Smith and The Cure?  Let me see those hands…keep them up, I’m still counting.  I can’t count that high, okay put them down, let’s move on.  Today we are going to celebrate all things The Cure in this collection of memes.  I have been all around the internet gathering memes for the band.  And it took all of like 10 minutes as there are so many.  I hope you enjoy them!

Friday, I’m In Love…

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Tom Keifer – ‘Rise’ – Album Review

Tom Keifer brings us his second solo album and pretty much let’s you know that he means business.  Now known as the Keifer Band, the album has that band feel.  They are tight and solid and they blow your freaking ears off.  This album is loud, it is raucous, it is dirty, it is gritty, it is out and out nasty at times and all in a good way.  The band is Tony Higbee (lead guitar), Billy Mercer (bass), Jarred Pope (drums), Kory Myers (keyboards) and Kendra Chantelle and his wife Savannah Keifer (backing vocals).

The thing I noticed most about this release is the guitar sound.  Tony Higbee is a beast and tears it up song after song.  His guitar has that dirty blues rock guitar sound that hits you in the gut in a way that knocks your breathe away and is satisfying all at the same time.  That gut wrenching, distorted sound is the masterpiece of this release next to Keifer’s songwriting and vocals which is why we are in the first place.

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Tom Keifer puts to rest any thoughts of a Cinderella reunion because after you hear this you realize you could care less to go back and revisit after such an outstanding release.  You get two opening tracks that are heavy and badass with “Touching the Devine” and “The Death In Me” and then he slows it down with the well-written “Waiting on the Demons” before getting slapped in the face again with “Hype” and Higbee’s killer guitar sound.

The coolest and best song for me on this album is “Untitled” as it has this eerie guitar opening riff that turns in to a nasty blues riff and Keifer comes in with a deeper vocal before hitting that signature high pitch vocal we all know and love.  Tom slows it down again with the epic sounding “Rise” which is exactly what he has done.  He has had vocal issues, legal issues and health issues and like the phoenix, Tom has risen to give us one of the best albums he has ever done.

“All Amped Up” is exactly as it sounds.  A return to the heavy and the good times.  And then we get to the only two songs I wasn’t overly thrilled with “Breaking Down” and “Taste for the Pain” as they both were a little dull and felt like filler.  But don’t be disheartened as “Life Was Here” brings the energy back and Tom delivers another great track.  The album closes with the acoustic track “You Believe in Me” which is only a guitar and Tom’s vocals.  It is quite beautiful and a nice way to go out.

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I have loved this album and has been on almost non-stop since its release. Tom Keifer brings his roots and influences full force with one of the best Hard Rock Blues album I have heard in a long time.  Like a fine wine, Tom keeps getting better with age and shows no signs of slowing down.  The production and songwriting were top-notch and that guitar sound was the most killer part of the whole package.  For all of those things, I give it a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars with a Track Score of 82% (9 out of 11) since there were only 2 out of 11 songs I didn’t care for.  An incredible release that will certainly make my Top Rock Albums of 2019 list at the end of the year.

My Sunday Song – “Difference Maker” by Needtobreathe

For My Sunday Song # 164, we are talking about “Difference Maker” by Needtobreathe.  The song was the debut single off their album ‘Rivers in the Wasteland’ from 2014.  The song reached #16 on the Christian charts and might be one of the most powerful song they have ever written lyrically.

The song is best described by Bear Rinehart himself.  I found this on the Newreleasetoday.com website. It is an article written by Kevin Davis when he interviewed Bear about the song.  Bear states the following…

This song is my story of trying to understand my role in God’s plan. We were on tour with a secular artist, Taylor Swift, playing to 20,000 and even 50,000 people per night. We felt like we were doing what we were supposed to be doing. Despite our efforts, I didn’t feel like we were having the impact we are called to have.

I think God was asking us at this time, “What are you doing this for? Are you doing it for Me?” And, I think that’s where this song was birthed. That confusion is almost a good thing. The bridge says “I am on the fence about nearly everything I’ve seen.” I meant that in how the whole band was going through a “we surrender to God” kind of way.

We don’t need to be concerned about what happens after we’ve given up this gift we have to God. That was really powerful for us. We had ambition and let that take too much of a priority in things that led us down a road that wasn’t good. I think that in trying to re-prioritize, God wants us to sacrifice those things, those idols in our lives. Some idols for us were wondering what the outcome was going to be, that we had the upper hand or maybe we were the best band out there, or we thought we were the most clever at it.

I feel like the beginning of the song is us asking ourselves are we really difference makers. How valuable are we, really? Towards the end of the song it comes around that God makes us a part of what He does, which is so crazy. It starts with us realizing that we don’t get to make the rules. We don’t control it, and we don’t get to say what the timing is. It’s not because of our talents. He doesn’t need that. He needs our willing hearts.

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Friday New Releases – October 4th

Welcome to October and the first Friday of new releases for the month.  And what a month this will be. I already have something on order for every Friday of the month so it will be my favorite day of the week.  Who are we kidding, it already is my favorite day.  Now even more so.  There are only 2 releases I really care about this week and they are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what has your interest peaked this week or if I missed anything.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!

  • 81Ygt6wO5yL._SX522_  The Darkness – Easter is Cancelled – (Canary Dwarf LTD):  The Darkness returns with their sixth studio album and if you love that whole retro glam rock feel, then this will be right up your alley.  No one does Glam today like these guys do.  From the ear-piercing falsettos to the screeching guitars, it is all a blast and this should be no different.  Check them out.

  • 9145LZlryQL._SX522_.jpg  Whitesnake – Slip of the Tongue (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) – (Rhino Records):  Whitesnake brings us yet another box set celebrating one of their big albums.  This is the 3rd and the 30th Anniversary Edition of ‘Slip of the Tongue’.  The other two were ‘Slide it In’ and ‘1987’ and the were fantastic.  Full of live songs, rare songs and remixes and remasters and everything you could want and this one is no different.  This is on order but it will NOT be home when I get there as for some reason Amazon isn’t giving me release day delivery.  I’m a little pissed, but I guess I will get over it.  Check out David’s unboxing video below…

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Scott Stapp – Concert Review (Charlotte, NC. October 1st, 2019)

This was a show I was really eager to see.  I became I real fan with Scott Stapp’s 2nd solo album ‘Proof of Life’ and when he released his third solo album ‘The Space Between the Shadows’ and announced a tour, I was all over it.  I got on line and bought 2 tickets and we were able to get 2nd Row.  And to top it off, the show was at the McGlohon Theater in Charlotte which is a really small venue and it was an old church.  A great spot for a show.

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The show started at 7:30 and we ended up getting there around 7:00 which was early….at least I thought it was.  There weren’t too many people there, so I thought I had the time wrong.  I mean it was sparse.  When the opening act Sunflower Dead came on, the crowd was pretty thin.  I give the band some credit as the crowd just sat there like a bump on a log and these guys were up there giving it their all.  Sunflower Dead is a Metal band from California who  used to wear make-up and costumes but now have a more normal look, you could say.

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They were pretty great.  Heck, my wife enjoyed it and that is saying something.  The lead singer, Michael Del Pizzo, was a beast on stage.  We were so close and when he would come to the end of the stage, he would look right at you and give you this look.  I swear I thought he was going to jump down and kick my ass (I’ll admit, he would have won).  And the coolest thing, he played the accordion.  Yes, that is right.  They are an Accordion metal band.  Hell to the Yeah!!!

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David Hasselhoff – ‘Open Your Eyes’ – Album Review

When I head David Hasselhoff (or The Hoff) was putting out a new album of cover songs, I told myself that I have to listen to this for the train wreck that it is going to be.  I mean The Hoff has never been popular in the States for his vocal talent and yet, I was intrigued.

David has put together an eclectic list of covers and the most interesting part is the line-up of musicians he was able to get to assist with these covers.  Let’s look at the cover songs and those individuals who helped out.

Track List:

  1. Open Your Eyes (Feat. James Williamson of The Stooges) – Lords of the New Church Cover
  2. Head On (Feat. Elliot Easton of The Cars) – The Jesus & Mary Chain Cover
  3. I Melt With You (Feat. Steve Stevens) – Modern English Cover
  4. Lips Like Sugar (Feat. A Flock of Seagulls) – Echo & The Bunnymen Cover
  5. Heroes (Feat. Composer Tyler Bates) – David Bowie Cover
  6. Here I Go Again (Feat. Tracii Guns) – Whitesnake Cover
  7. Jump in My Car (Feat. Todd Rundgren) – Ted Murley Gang Cover
  8. Rhinestone Cowboy (Feat. Charlie Daniels) – Glen Campbell Cover
  9. If You Could Read My Mind (Feat. Ava Cherry) – Gordon Lightfoot Cover
  10. Sugar Sugar (Feat. Steve Cropper) – The Archies Cover
  11. Mit 66 Jahren (Feat. Patrick Moraz of Yes and the Moody Blues) – Udo Jurgens Cover
  12. Sweet Caroline (Feat. Ministry’s Al Jourgensen) – Neil Diamond Cover
  13. That’s Life – Frank Sinatra Cover

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September Purchases – Vinyl & CDs

I realized I have been making a lot of purchases and yet not everything makes its way on to the site.  I figured I would do a wrap up each month of all my purchasing I have made even if they made it on the site during the month or even might make it on to the site down the road.

This month I ended up at a pop up sale by Noble Records at Cafe Moka over in the Waverly shopping complex in Charlotte, NC.  He does these every couple months and when I get to go, I always score some great releases.  However, there probably won’t be any more pop ups for a while as Noble Records is finally opening a brick & mortar store in October and I couldn’t be happier.  Another place to go hangout and search for records whenever I want.  This trip was no different.  Major scores.

First up is The Goo Goo Dolls classic album, ‘Dizzy Up the Girl’.  It is hard to find albums from around this time and I found this one and more…

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And if that wasn’t cool enough, I found a 2LP Yellow Vinyl limited edition of Third Eye Blind’s album ‘Third Eye Blind’.  It would have fit in nicely with my Turntables & Vinyl Post on Colored Vinyl a few weeks back.

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