Author: 2loud2oldmusic

Friday New Releases – July 21st

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Happy Friday.  I am in a very busy season at work and I need some new music to listen to so I can make it through this time.  Sadly, not a whole lot I am interested in this week.  I hope there is something for you.  Mine are highlighted in Blue…

  • 170x170bb-68  Mr. Big – Defying Gravity – (Frontiers Records Srl):  Can’t wait to play this one.  Mr. Big has been back in a “big” way since 2010.  Now they do take 3-4 years between records, but it is better than the 9 years prior to that.  Either way, it is just great to get new music from this very talented band of musicians.  When ever you can have Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheenan, Pat Torpey and Eric Martin together, you have to be excited.  The opening bass line of this song is unbelievable and has definitely got me excited about this one.

  •  61b+59Pq0CL._AC_US218_  Europe – The Final Countdown 30th Anniversary Show: Live at the Roundhouse – (Hell & Back Recordings):  Say it isn’t so…30 years…REALLY!!  Damn!  I am getting old.  If you don’t know, Europe has been doing their thing for all this time and I am happy to see a live album to celebrate The Final Countdown.  This will definitely get a few spins.  I didn’t see a video for this so might as well show “The Final Countdown”.

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Turntables & Vinyl #9 – The 70’s Teen Idols

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Every decade has their teen idols and the 70’s were definitely not lacking in that area. My big box of vinyl had a surprise included that I never expected.  It had my wife’s records for when she was a very, very young thing (she is still young and will always be younger than me).  She loved her teen idols and most especially one in particular.

First up is Leif Garrett.  She has his second album, ‘Feel the Need’.  This was his highest charting album at #34 on the Billboard charts and spawned the Top 10 hit, “I Was Made for Dancin'”. His music career didn’t hang on to long thanks to a slight little problem with drugs.  During the 70’s, he was probably more well known for his TV & Movie career than his sining.  He appeared in movies such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band and even in the Outsiders.

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – ‘Murder of the Universe’ – Album Review

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are on ambitious trek to release 5 albums in one year. ‘Murder of the Universe’ is the second one so far.  Their first, which I reviewed, was “Flying Microtonal Banana” and I found it to be a sensational record.  Go check out the review.  I also review their album “Nonagon Infinity” which was another great album.

This, their tenth album, is a concept album and the concept is so far out there, that I can’t eloquently explain it.  I will have to let someone else’s words do the work for me.  I do know the album is broken out into three separate chapters.  The first two chapters are narrated by Leah Senior and she has an almost godlike personae.  The final chapter is narrated by a Free Text to Speech at NaturalReaders.com.  It sounds like the typed the story into the website and it did the narration.  Very interesting.

Outside of that I can’t describe this album’s story.  I will leave it to Wikipedia to do that for me…

The first (chapter), The Tale of the Altered Beast explores themes of temptation, and tells a tale of a human who stumbles upon a mystical human/beast hybrid, dubbed the Altered Beast. The story starts from the perspective of the human being pursued, who slowly takes interest in the idea of being altered – as it is considered taboo in their society. The perspective then changes to the Altered Beast’s itself, who is filled with murderous intent to kill. The human encountered by the beast slowly gives into temptation into becoming altered once the beast confronts them, as they crave power. Accepting of their fate, the beast and human merge, creating a newly altered beast, who now craves even more for flesh. However, the beast suffers greatly from absorbing another conscience – it loses track of its identity and eventually dies of insanity, decaying into the earth.

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My Sunday Song – “Headphones” by Matt Nathanson

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For My Sunday Song #48, I am going with my favorite Matt Nathanson song called “Headphones”.  The song features singer LOLO and is off Matt’s album ‘Show Me Your Fangs’ released in 2014.  It is one of his best albums, so check it out.

The song “Headphones” for me is about putting on my headphones, listening to music and escaping.  When you listen to music, it can take all your cares in the world and throw them out the window. With music, you can feel invincible (as the song states).  The song is everything I feel about music and how important it is in my life.  Heck, I even started a blog where all I talk about is music.  I have only known this song for 3 years now, but it is the soundtrack to my feelings on music.

The song is actually about a girl who moves to the big city to have a fresh start.  Where everyone around her is concerned with trivial things, she is out there being who she is.  Her escape is music and she is happy just sitting around listening to music and not getting caught up in the madness.  Matt is great at telling stories and he knocks another one out of the park with this one.  Matt is one of the best songwriters out there and I can’t get enough of his music.  If you want to hear what Matt Nathanson says about the song, go to USAToday.com and check this article out.

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Friday New Releases – July 14th

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It’s Friday!! And dang it has been hot!  What is not hot is the lack of releases today.  There are only 2 new ones I care about and 1 greatest hits package, other than that I don’t really see much I want to hear.  The ones I want are highlighted in Blue.

  • 61Iht-lpO7L._AC_US218_  12 Stones – Picture Perfect – (Cleopatra Records):  After being absent for the last 5 years, 12 Stones bring us their 5th studio album.  12 Stones is a Christian Rock, Post-Grunge/Alternative band that started around 2000.  Only two original members remain, but the new single “Picture Perfect” sounds promising.  Give it a listen and then check them out.

  • 81m20d6qF+L._AC_UL115_  Lifehouse – Greatest Hits:  One of my favorite bands to come along since 2000 and can basically do no wrong in my book…or at least haven’t yet.  If you aren’t familiar with them than there is no better way to learn about them than a greatest hits package.  All the hits are there.  They are a pop/rock band and I am sure you have heard one of their songs before.  If you like, the albums will be better as you can dive into their deep cuts which is where they really shine.  I didn’t know which video to pick so I ended up with this great duet with Natasha Bedingfield

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Lionel Richie – “Dancing On The Ceiling” – The 45 Single

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Still yet more in the big box of vinyl.  This time the 45 single I found was actually one of my wife’s old 45’s. The single was for Lionel Richie’s song “Dancing On The Single”.  The single was released in 1986 and was the title track for his third studio album.

I never thought I would do a post on this song as it is not one of my favorite Lionel Richie songs.  Though it is a fun, energetic, dance song; it is a really terrible song at the same time.  I am not alone in that thinking as Blender Magazine listed it as the 20th Worst Song ever out of 50.

However, the world disagreed with me and Blender as the song was a Top 10 hit in almost ever country it was released.  The U.S. saw it go all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The B-Side of the single was “Love Will Find A Way”.  However, as most of my singles from this box don’t follow suit with having the correct B-Side, this one is no different.  This copy of the 45 is a Promotional Copy and Not For Sale.  The flip side is actually “Dancing On The Ceiling” again.  If I couldn’t get enough of the song on the A-Side, I can flip it to the B-Side and hear it again.  Sure, let’s do that.

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Imagine Dragons – ‘Evolve’ – Album Review

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After taking 2016 off as a little break, Imagine Dragons is back on the scene with their 3rd studio album, ‘Evolve’.  After the overwhelming success of their debut, ‘Night Visions’, the 2nd album, ‘Smoke + Mirror’s, was not as successful and didn’t have as big of hits.  It was still a successful album, so hard to call it a sophomore slump.  Now on their third album, there is a little pressure to come out swinging.

‘Evolve’ is a true evolution of their sound, but they do deliver some outstanding pop rock music.  The music is actually a little bordering on arena rock, but since the guitars aren’t the main focus or real drums I guess it is a more of an electronica version of arena rock. I hear more electronic keyboards and drum machines than actual guitars or drums.

The first half of this album is why I call it arena rock.  It is full of slick productions and pounding beats that give it that arena rock feel.  It is one of the best opening 5 songs of any pop rock album out this year.  The second half is a little all over the place and no real direction.

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My Sunday Song – “Life by The Drop” by Stevie Ray Vaughn

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My Sunday Song #47 is “Life By The Drop” performed by Stevie Ray Vaughn from his album ‘The Sky is Falling’.  The album came out in 1991, a year after Stevie’s death.  It was his final studio album.

I had always thought the song was about drinking, but I was wrong.  The song is about two old friends reunited after years apart.  One of the friends has gone on to make something of themselves while the other has not.  The song is basically saying to live life to the fullest and go after your dreams.  You don’t want to end up old and having tons of regrets.  When I discovered this was the meaning of the song years later, it made sense and I connected on another level with the song.

The song was written by an old friend of Stevie’s name Doyle Bramhall with the help of Barbara Logan.  Doyle wrote the song about Stevie and how his friend went off and succeeded in life, but he didn’t reach the same level of greatness.  He was proud of Stevie, but apparently had a lot of regret on his own success or lack thereof.  From what I have read about Doyle, he did finally release his own album in 1994 which was 3 years after his friend had passed away.  Doyle later died in 2011.

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Friday New Releases – July 7th

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Happy Friday!  For those of us in the States, we celebrated our Independence Day on July 4th and now it is time to celebrate Friday New Releases.  Go grab a new album and let me know what you get.  This Friday, there are not a ton of releases and only a couple I want to check out…they are highlighted in Blue. I hope you find something you like.

  • 170x170bb-69  Riverdogs – California – (Frontiers Records Srl):  Def Leppard’s own Vivian Campbell and the other Riverdogs bring us their first new album in 6 years.  They are blues based, hard rock band and they never disappoint.  This will be the one I run to first and give it a listen.

  • 170x170bb  All 41 – World’s Best Hope – (Frontiers Records Srl): Frontiers Records is a great record company and they are known for bringing great artist together for a special project and this is no exception.  The band has Terry Brock from Giant & Strangeways on lead vocals: Robert Berry from Three & Alliance on bass and lead vocals; Gary Pihl from Boston, Sammy Hagar & also Alliance on guitar; and lastly, Matt Starr from Ace Frehley’s band and Mr. Big on drums.  I will give it a listen.

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Bob & Doug McKenzie – Great White North – Album Spotlight

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Bob & Doug McKenzie are a pair of Canadian Brothers who do nothing but drink, say Eh! and Hoser! constantly and are the epitome of every Canadian Stereotype.  The comedy duo is played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.  They were able to take these two dumbass characters and turn them into comedy gold.

Both Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas went on to great success, but might always be remembered for these characters.  Rick Moranis is known for his comedic acting in such great films as Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  Dave Thomas had a long life on SCTV and mostly stayed in television.  Recently has has a recurring role in Blacklist.

The album was included in a box of vinyl I received from my brother-in-law.  I was curious as to why the hell he had this album and then I saw the little sticker on the front that said “featuring Geddy Lee” and then I knew.  My brother-in-law is a HUGE Rush fan so now it made sense.

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