Author: 2loud2oldmusic

Kiss – ‘The Rock ‘N Roots of Kiss’ (2025) – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

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Kiss is one of those bands that there are hundreds upon hundreds of bootlegs. Each year brings us a new batch and 2025 is no different. I was out shopping for Record Store Day Black Friday and discovered three bootlegs at Repo Records. I didn’t have two of them, so I bought the two I didn’t already own. First up is ‘The Rock ‘N Roots of Kiss’. It is obviously, unofficial, and was released by a company called Rockin’ Bear Records. There are only 9 songs on here and they are simply a collection of songs from Radio Broadcasts in 1974 and 1975. Side A is all 1975 and Side B is from 1975.

Some bootlegs come with a lot of extra inserts, stickers and really cool pieces. This is not one of those releases. This is as bare bones as you can get. It does have a nice thick cover, but the vinyl is in a small clear plastic sleeve, no liner notes or anything to tell us what show these songs are from, but I think I figure it out some of it as we go through the album. It shouldn’t be hard as there weren’t a ton of radio broadcasts released, that I am aware. The only cool thing in here is the vinyl is a clear translucent color which is very nice. The artwork gives me AI vibes as someone got lazy and had the computer draw the cover. Still looks kinda cool though.

SIDE A:

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The Collection: Ep. 88 – December 2025 Wrap-Up

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December is about done and we are now inching towards the New Year. But before the New Year hits, it is time for the monthly wrap-up so lets see what 2 Loud 2 Old Music added to the collection this month. This is the December 2025 Wrap-Up and we have a bunch of vinyl and a whole lot of CDs to get through. This month I hit Noble Records as well as ordered from Discogs and Amazon and don’t forget Christmas Presents. So much to go through including a handful of new Rock Candy CDs in the collection, one music related Kiss item and a few Box Sets plus a selection of items I received for Christmas and Birthday. Lots of great new and old stuff to go through and show for this month so I hope you enjoy the show!!

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

And here is all of it in case you can’t watch the video…

My Sunday Song – “Celebrity Skin” by Hole

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For My Sunday Song #465, we are talking a song from a band I never got into, however, I loved this song. That song is “Celebrity Skin” and the band is Hole. Fronted by Courtney Love, Hole was an alt rock/grunge band from the 90’s. The album, titled ‘Celebrity Skin’, was released on September 8, 1998 and the title track was released as a single on the same day. Back in a time where you didn’t have 5 singles out before the album even came out…the good old days. The song only went to #85 in the Hot 100, but went all the to #1 on the Alternative Rock Chart even going to Platinum status selling over 1 million copies.

The song was written by Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson and Smashing Pumpkins own Billy Corgan. The song was inspired by the year the band took off so Courtney could pursue her Hollywood acting career. It highlights the struggle of maintaining an image in the public eye. It talks about how superficial and hollow that image really is. One minute you are the talk of the town and the next you are yesterday’s news. It even takes a line from Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poem, “A Superscription” which is “Oh, look at my face / My name is might-have-been”. Heck even the name of the song “Celebrity Skin” is taken from a porno magazine that shows pictures of naked celebrities.

Musically, that opening riff is killer and was contributed by Billy Corgan…and it sounds like something he’d play. The song itself is a slight change of direction for Hole as it is a lot more polished and even a little poppier, but the subject matter still reflects a darkness they are used to exploring. The crunchy guitars from Eric, the thumping bass from Melissa Auf der Maur and heavy drum beat from uncredited Deen Castronovo (Journey) really drive the song forward. Courtney’s vocals are great as she has a little grit to her voice giving it a needed edge for the darker tones, but the chorus she is silky smooth and giving a light & fluffy sound to accentuate the ridiculousness of the celebrity image. A short song as it is under 3 minutes, but it is powerful and effective and a nice kick in the teeth. With the big hooky chorus, I was all in. Still never got in to the band though.

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Ratt – ‘Invasion of Your Privacy E.P.” (2025) – Limited Edition Picture Disc (RSD – Black Friday)

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On June 13, 1985, Ratt released their second full length album called ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’.  After the success of their debut ‘Out of the Cellar’, Ratt wasted no time in repeating that formula and delivering another solid album. The band continued the Ratt sound with Stephen Pearcy’s raspy vocals over those overtly sexualized lyrics along with the dual guitar combo of Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini.  That combination was lethal and the band was now on top of the world.  The rhythm section kept things in line and were standouts on their own with Bobby Blotzer on drums and Juan Croucier on bass. The Glam Metal scene that they now led was on full force to dominate the airwaves for years to come.

To celebrate 40 years of the album, the band released a Limited Edition Picture Disc for Black Friday Record Store Day in 2025. Well, it is a picture disc, but it is also a Shaped Disc and not your typical round and round disc which makes it a little cooler. It is not the entire album of ‘Invasion of Your Privacy” but instead a 3 song E.P.

I like the Shaped Discs and have handful in my collection and when I saw this, I knew my Ratt collection was not complete until I had it. I didn’t get up in the middle of the night to go stand in line as the temperature was below freezing here in Charlotte and it was not worth it to me. I waited until a few hours after opening and went to Repo Records where I normally go for Record Store Day. I didn’t expect to find this one, but there was one still hidden in the stacks that was waiting to be saved by me. I adopted the little Ratt and brought it home where it will be well loved. It was meant to be.

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Jeff Scott Soto – ‘The Queen Sessions’ (2004) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Some things Jeff has done that is so extremely rare, it is near impossible to find a copy. This is one of those for me. I would count this one as an official release as Jeff released this independently and sold them exclusively during his 2004 Tour for ‘Lost in Translation’. That is my belief anyway. Discogs has this listed as a 2003 release date. I’m not sure the 2003 date is correct as there are songs on here from the Queen Convention that was held in 2003 and not released on CD or DVD until 2004. I would be surprised if they were included prior to their release. With that being said, Jeff did do at least two shows in Eloyes, France as Nicolas Muller organized those two shows and supplied the pictures to this album as I don’t have it.

There are 9 songs on here and as you can guess from the title, they are all Queen songs Jeff has done over the years. You get live songs and studio versions. What you don’t get are anything that is exclusive to this disc. All these songs have been released previously so the only thing cool about it is that it is like a tribute album of Jeff to Queen. It is nice having all the songs in one place. And as a collector, it would still be cool to have.

“Let Me Entertain You” is the opening track and off the Talisman album from 1998 called ‘Truth’. It was Jeff’s idea at the time to cover a Queen song. He thought this song would be great to kick off a live show so why not record their own version. Well, they ended up letting it kick off the album. And let me tell you, it kicks off the album with a massive bang. They stay true to the Queen vibe, but it is all Talisman with Marcel’s thumping bass leading the charge. Soto does his best Freddie Mercury and kills it. A fun song to start it all off.

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The Collection: Ep. 87 – The Best Finds in Music for 2025

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This week on The Collection, we are going to go through the favorites things I found during 2025. We will discuss my Top 10 Favorite New Albums, my Favorite Box Sets, my Favorite CD Finds and my Favorite Vinyl finds. We will also talk about two of my things that happened to me, music related that is. My favorite thing that happened my daughter getting engaged. Join me as we walk through some really cool finds…at least I think they are cool. Let’s get to it!

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

My Sunday Song – “Do What You Will” by Big Wreck

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For My Sunday Song #464, we are going to talk about the killer track “Do What You Will” by Canadian/American rock band, Big Wreck. Thanks to my buddy Deke for introducing me to this band and sending me a couple of CDs which included the album this song is from, ‘Albatross’. The album came out on March 6, 2012 in Canada, but the U.S. didn’t see it until almost a year later on February 19, 2013. This song isn’t a single, but probably one of the best deep cuts on this album (and there are many).

The song was written by lead singer Ian Thornley. I’m not sure what the lyrics mean exactly, but there is a freedom to them. An exhilarating sensation throughout. When it says “Let ’em out / Let ’em out of the cage”, it feels like it is saying let go of your inhibitions and go full throttle in life. You might crash and burn, but you will feel alive. Then I wonder if it is about a bad relationship that has ended. Instead of fretting on it, let it go and move on with your life. Leave the person behind and let them deal with it the way they want to deal. They can deal with your ashes left behind as you’ve moved on and it isn’t your concern anymore.

What is with that laugh at the beginning of the song. It is quick and throws you for a loop until that blistering riff comes in. It has a crunch and a bite to it. It is mean, vicious yet exciting and thrilling at the same time. It feels a little like grunge, but not depressing in the least. When that first verse comes in, the bass lets loose with a killer groove. Vocally, Ian is a throwback to someone like Chris Cornell as his deeper tone and delicious scream get to the heart of the song. The harmonies are amazing and at times I feel a strong Beatles influence in the song. I like how it rocks out and then there is a slower break which builds in intensity before exploding with a huge Ian scream, more of that sweet riffing and they are back in your face delivering the goods.

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Billy Idol – “77” (2025) – Limited Edition Picture Disc (RSD Black Friday)

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In 2025, we were graced with a new album by Billy Idol called ‘Dream Into It’. It was his first full length studio album since 2014’s ‘Kings And Queens of the Underground’. One of the singles from the album was for a song called “77” and depending on how you listen to the album, you will get a different version of the song. If you listen to it on CD and Vinyl you get one version, if you listen to it digitally or stream it, you get another. The difference is simple, the CD and vinyl is strictly Billy on vocals and the digital is a duet with Avril Lavigne.

With that being said, the Avril version was not available on a physical release. That was until Black Friday Record Store Day on November 28, 2025. For RSD, Billy released a 12″ Single Limited Edition Picture Disc that contains the Avril Lavigne duet on Side A…and the regular version on Side B. I didn’t actually get up and wait in line this year. Nope. It was way too cold as it was below freezing that very cold Friday morning. Instead, I waited a few hours then when and to my astonishment, there were still several copies of the single. I obviously grabbed one who know if I’ll ever wait in line again now.

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Whitesnake – ‘Forevermore (Revisited, Remixed, Remastered)’ (2025) – Box Set (The David Coverdale Series)

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‘Forevermore’ was originally released on March 9, 2011 and in modern Whitesnake times, a 3 year gap is like a week as the gap between ‘Good to Be Bad’ and the previous studio album was 11 years. David Coverdale and Doug Aldrich wrote the entire album together as David likes to sit with his guitarist and come up with the songs just as he did with Vandenberg and Sykes.  The two tried to capture an album that was rooted in the early Snake albums with that blues rock feel and soak it in the modern rock of today.  Of course, the sprinkled a little of the late 80’s in some songs to not alienate anyone. 

The line-up to the band has some changes to it. Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach are still unchanged from the line-up of the last album.  However, we have had turnover in the rhythm section as we now have Michael Devin on Bass and Brian Tichy on drums.  A pretty lethal duo.  One thing I noticed is that Timothy Drury has been relegated down to a Special Guest for this album when he was a band member on the last…Interesting.  A one cool special guest on this is Jasper Coverdale, David’s son, who supplies some backing vocals….David must be proud!

Here we are a mere 14 years later and we get a Super Deluxe Edition box set called ‘Forevermore (Revisited, Remixed, Remastered)’. The album came out on September 26, 2025 and brings a 4 CD set and 1 Blu-ray to celebrate another Whitesnake release. You get the usual suspects on a David Coverdale box set including a brand new remix of the album, a remastered version of the album, a disc of alternate and unreleased tracks as well as the prized ‘Evolutions’ disc which we will talk about soon enough. You also get a Blu-Ray with lots of videos, a 60-page book, a replica tour book and a poster. Lots and lots of goodies so let’s dive right in to the set.

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The Collection: Ep. 86 – Jorn ’50 Years on Earth: The Anniversary Box Set’ (2018)

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Norwegian rocker, Jorn Lande, turned 50 back in 2018 and to celebrate that fact, Frontiers Records released a collection of 9 of his studio albums and three bonus discs.  That is 12 disc in all for a very reasonable price of about $60 ($5 per CD). I will take that deal any day! ’50 Years on Earth: The Anniversary Box Set’ is what we will show off this week. We will talk a little about each studio album and the 3 bonus discs. If you like David Coverdale, Jorn’s vocals will remind you of him and you won’t be disappointed in what you hear. Good melodic hard rock and metal. Lets get to it!

So go check it out as it is live right now on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.