Category: Album Review

Bon Jovi – ‘The Extras LP’ (2017 – from The Albums Box Set) – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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Bon Jovi released a box set that contained every vinyl up to that point. It was called The Album Box Set and it was released on February 10, 2017. Now it was released on both vinyl and CD which I chose the Vinyl collection as I love to have their albums on vinyl. The set carries all studio albums from the debut Bon Jovi album all the way up to ‘This House is Not For Sale’. But that isn’t all, it has both Jon Bon Jovi solo albums as well as an “Extra” LP with a bunch of their international B-Sides which is a nice treat. But that is it. There no extra posters, stickers, booklets or anything. Each album though is remastered on 180g LP and the 16 albums are spread over 24 LPs. At the time this was released, 7 of the albums had never been released on vinyl and then you have the “Extra” LP which is the first time this had ever been released. So, for the vinyl collector in me this was the easiest way to get everything.

We are here to talk the ‘Extras’ LP which was rare tracks and international B-Sides and a couple songs from the ‘Cross Road’ compilation as that compilation is not in here (but I do have that on vinyl as well). We get 10 tracks and we will go through all 10 just for you!

“Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night” is from ‘Cross Roads’ and was released as a single in various countries on February 13, 1995, but not the U.S. It went to #7 in the U.K. and of course never charted in the U.S. The song, according to Wikipedia is about optimism in the face of adversity. The song’s first verse introduces the characters Jim who struggles to find employment and is forced to sleep in his car, and Billie-Jean who was abused by her foster father and has turned to prostitution at the age of sixteen (remarking that the street-life ain’t much better but at least I’m getting paid), mourning the loss of her childhood. It has a country flair to it with its acoustic feel and an accompanying organ. It is catchy for sure and a great tune as who doesn’t struggle through the week hoping for Saturday Night.

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Ratt – ‘Rarities’ (2024) – Album Review

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Ratt aren’t making any new albums it seems, so how does a label make money off their catalog? One way is it to keep reissuing the albums. Another is to release greatest hits compilations and a third is to release a collection or rarities and unreleased versions of the band’s catalogs. And that is what we have here. Heck, the label has been doing other two constantly so this a nice change of pace. But, they definitely went cheap. No liner notes and a cheap cardboard digipack. Plus there are only 9 tracks.

Here is the promotional line they sent out that various sites have posted. Not too much in it either…

From the ’80s metal vault comes this collection of vintage demos and live recordings of one of the scenes biggest hitmakers, Ratt. Features the earliest known recording of the band’s signature hit, “Round & Round”, complete with alternate lyrics and melody, as well as vintage performances of classics like “Body Talk”, “Wanted Man” and more.

The thing is I think this was already released back in 2007 with a different album cover, but same track listing and same label. I can’t find it on Discogs which leads me to believe it was a digital only release. Interesting though.

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Retro Rock Reviews: Ep. 2 – Frank Zappa’s ‘Hot Rats’

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Welcome to a new series I have on YouTube called Retro Rock Reviews. Each week, we are going to pick an album and do a quick review. They won’t be long shows, something quick and fun to get you through your day. For Episode 2, we are tackling the ever interesting Frank Zappa and his album ‘Hot Rats’. Released on October 10, 1969, it was an album and artist I was always afraid to tackle because he is…let’s say…different. It is outside my comfort zone. But I tackled it and here is my review. Enjoy!

So go check it out as it is live now on August 15, 2024 at Noon.…because why not!! Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Bon Jovi – ‘This House Is Not For Sale: Live From The London Palladium (2016)’ – Album Review (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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We are now on the band’s third live album. They had a great idea with this one. At a very exclusive listening party for their current album, ‘This House is Not For Sale’, the band played every song from the new album, basically, in the same order as the album. They played 15 tracks which is the number of tracks on the Deluxe Edition, however, there are 21 tracks available if you count Japanese and International releases as well as the Target and WalMart ones too. A lot of songs if you have to have them all, I don’t have them all…someday maybe.

The show was at the London Palladium and was recorded on October 10, 2016 and released on December 16, 2016. The full band was there including Jon Bon Jovi, Tico Torres, David Bryan, Phil X, Hugh McDonald and even John Shanks and Everett Bradley who are both official members now and even pictured on the album jacket for the new album, ‘Forever’. The band was in fine form, Jon’s vocals were perfection and the show went off without a hitch…I think.

Jon comes out and welcomes everyone and says his name is Bruce Forsyth. If you don’t know,   he is an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Now his joke makes sense. Oh, and it is Sir Bruce Forsyth. When David (I think it was David), tells him it isn’t Sunday Night and he isn’t Bruce Forsyth, Jon says who he really is, the crowd screams and the band goes in to “This House is Not For Sale”. I am always wanting live versions of songs and the fact you get all of them live is really cool.

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Kiss – ‘Kiss Alive! 1975-2000’ (2006) – Box Set Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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On November 21, 2006, Kiss and their label released the first collection of all the Alive! albums in the band’s catalog. It was called Kiss Alive! 1975-2000. I really great idea to get them all in one set. And what makes this special is that it is the first release of what was supposed to be Kiss Alive IV, Alive! The Millennium Concert from 2000. Their label got swallowed up and it was shelved. As you now know, ‘Symphony’ was released as Alive IV.

The Box Set had four CDs, one for each show, ‘Alive!’, ‘Alive II’, ‘Alive III’ and Alive! The Milllennium Concert’. There are also a couple of bonus tracks included in the set. The set came in a multi-layered cardboard fold out box and there was a cool feature. Each CD was housed in a the normal plastic shell, but behind each disc, was a live shot from each of the respective shows. The set also included a 72-page booklet.

DISC 1:

‘ALIVE!’ (1975)

‘Alive!’ was recorded over four stops on the Dressed to Kill Tour.  You had May 16 at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, naturally; June 21 at Cleveland Music Hall in Cleveland, Ohio; July 20 at RKO Orpheum Theater in Davenport, Iowa; and July 23 at Wildwoods Convention Center in Wildwood, New Jersey.  With four shows recorded, they could piece together a perfect live album…well…maybe not!

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Retro Rock Reviews: Ep. 1 – George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass’

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Welcome to a new series I have on YouTube called Retro Rock Reviews. Each week, we are going to pick an album and do a quick review. They won’t be long shows, something quick and fun to get you through your day. For the first episode, I am going to do a review of George Harrison’s debut solo album ‘All Things Must Pass’. I reviewed it years ago for the site and thought it would be fun to do that one as my first episode for the new series. I hope you enjoy it…oh yeah…since the original series on YouTube is called ‘The Collection’…these reviews will only be albums in my collection…makes sense!

So go check it out as it is live now on August 8, 2024 at Noon.…because why not!! Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.

Bon Jovi – ‘This House is Not For Sale’ (2016) – Album Re-Review – (The Bon Jovi Collection Series)

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If you noticed the header at the top it says “re-review”. I had reviewed this album when it was originally released back in 2016. My views on this album have changed quite a bit since that review so I thought I would do another one. My first take on the album was a 2.1 out of 5.0 Stars, so it was pretty bad. Is that still the case…we will see. Let’s get started.

Bon Jovi was now on their 14th studio album. This time around they were now on their new label Island Records after having a bitter divorce with their former label of 32 years, Mercury label. Funny thing is that both labels are owned by Universal Music Group, so technically still the same label…in my opinion at least. Their new album, ‘This House is Not For Sale’, was released on November 4, 2016 and sold 129,000 copies in the first week making it #1 for that week.

This was the first album with their two new official band members. Phil X is the new guitarist replacing Richie Sambora officially. And long standing bass player since 1994, Hugh McDonald, was finally promoted to official member. The band was back to being a 5 piece with Tico Torres, David Bryan and of course Jon Bon Jovi being the remaining members. John Shanks is still producer and does a lot of the rhythm guitar on the album. He brings nothing new to the table so not sure why they still use him. (He becomes an official member many years later).

The cover of the album was a photo by Jerry Uelsmann and is of a house that is deeply rooted in to the ground. Jon Bon Jovi saw this black & white photo a few years earlier and was really inspired by it. So much so that it became the artwork for the album and the inspiration for the title song.

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Kiss – ‘The Best of Kiss: Volume 3 – The Millennium Collection’ – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series)

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Kiss is notorious for releasing Greatest Hits compilations and it is both the band and the label responsible for that travesty. Don’t get me wrong, they have a ton of great songs so a few greatest hits compilations are probably necessary. However, this is not one of them even though this one is a little different. On either October 10, 2006 or November 21, 2006, depending on who you believe (Wikipedia shows both dates), the label allowed a third volume in the 20th Century Masters’ Millennium Collection. They released ‘The Best of Kiss: Volume 3 – The Millennium Collection’ and what makes it a little different is that it is only compilation from Kiss that focuses only on their material from the 1990’s. It gets a point for that.

But like Volumes 1 & 2, it is only 12 songs and all are previously released so nothing new here. No remixes, single edits, just album cuts which is easier and cheaper. The look is exactly like the other comps in this set so at least they are consistent. However, the 90’s weren’t the best time for Kiss, they had 3 studio albums and a couple live albums. Not much to work with I’m afraid.

The compilation kicks off with “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II” which is a cover of the Argent song written by Russ Ballard with heavy lyric changes by Paul, Gene and Bob. The song is the first good rock anthem Kiss has done in years and the first in 10 years to have a co-lead vocals with both Gene and Paul. This was from the Bill & Ted Bogus Journey movie and soundtrack as well as from ‘Revenge’. You can get in a multitude of places.

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The Collection: Ep. 26 – Hysterical about Def Leppard’s ‘Hysteria’

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Welcome to a surprise episode of The Collection. Being today is August 3rd, I thought what a great time to talk the Def Leppard album ‘Hysteria’. Why? Because ‘Hysteria’ was released on August 3rd way back in 1987. The band’s biggest album to date and one of the biggest albums of all time. If you are fan of the album, stick around and check out all that I have related to Hsyteria!

So go check it out as it is live now on August 3, 2024 at Noon…because why not!! Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.