Category: Album Review

Scorpions – ‘Best of Scorpions’ (1979) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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With their 1979 album, ‘Lovedrive’, Scorpions were starting to see international success. In the States, the album went to #55 and was certified Gold. In the UK, two of the singles charted. The band was enjoying their new success and the label was ready to capitalize on that success. On November 17, 1979, the band released their first compilation called ‘Best of Scorpions’. The album reached #180 on the Top 200 album chart and didn’t garner I think the fever the band and label were hoping.

The songs from the compilation come from four of their first five albums. There were no songs chosen from their debut album, ‘Lonesome Crow’. All the songs were from ‘Fly to the Rainbow’, ‘In Trance’, ‘Virgin Killer’ and ‘Taken By Force’. There were also no songs from the newest album ‘Lovedrive’. All the songs were from the Uli Jon Roth era of the band. I’ve read some of the songs were new mixes, but not all and the ones that were sounded pretty much the same. I am sure they cleaned them up so they would all sound consistent here on the album. Let’s jump right in…

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Humanimal – ‘Humanimal’ (2002) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Back in 2001, Talisman guitarist, Pontus Norgren, was working on a side project with Z-Records label boss, Mark Alger. Mark envisioned a Talisman type project that would be very different from the normal Talisman material. It was thought to be a concept album with multiple lead singers including Jeff Scott Soto doing a few tunes as that was all he agreed to do. Pontus recruited Talisman bassist, Marcel Jacob, but the drummer was Thomas Broman who was not from Talisman.

Jeff signed on to do a few songs and said he was not a member of this band and was doing is at as a favor for his friends. Man, that sounds familiar (Takara and most of his early projects). And like normal, the multiple singer aspect didn’t work out and then Jeff agreed to do the whole album. This was basically a Talisman album with three of the four members, but it wasn’t that either. The biggest difference is the sound. This was a guitar driven album and much heavier than normal Talisman. In Talisman, you have Marcel’s bass front and center and the main focus, here, this is Pontus’ project so the guitar is the main focus. There are moments that feel and sound like Talisman, so any Talisman fan will love this album. But it is different.

The Humanimal name was chosen to mark the connection to Talisman, but at the same time to say that this is different, new and exciting. The album saw a release on January 2002, but it would end up being their last album together as this name. There were some shady dealings going on with the label and Marcel and Pontus ended up in a bitter dispute on royalties with Z-Records which led to bitter arguments between the two friends and as a result, the two parted ways. It was so bad, Pontus was now out of Talisman as well. Soto was planning on signing with Z-Records, but the royalty issue is rumored to have stopped him from signing with them as well. He would soon sign with Frontiers Records (which we will discuss on the next review). What started out as promising turned in to a total disaster…such is life in the Music Business!

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Scorpions – ‘Lovedrive’ (1979) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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We are now on the band’s sixth studio album and the first one with new guitarist Mathias Jabs. Mathias replaced Uli Jon Roth who was unhappy with the direction of the band and left to form his own band called Electric Sun. With Mathias on board, we now have what is considered the “classic” line-up because it was the line-up that had the most success. That line-up was Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell. But Mathias wasn’t the only lead guitarist on this album.

After leaving UFO, Michael Schenker returned to Scorpions to help work on the ‘Lovedrive’ album. Originally thought to only be on about 3 songs, Michael is on most of the album as he contributed backing vocals as well as lead guitar work on 5 songs. But he was not planning on touring with the band at least not until the band parted ways with Mathias Jabs. He joined in February 1979 at the beginning of the tour. However, it didn’t last long as by April, Michael left the Tour while they were in France. After what was said to be very intense negotiations, Mathias Jabs rejoined the band. Talk about drama!!

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You Picked It! – The Smiths – ‘The Queen is Dead’ (1986) – Album Review

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Alright…You Picked It! And this one I thought was going to be a blowout as The Smiths opened up with the first 5 votes. It ended up really close, but The Smiths never relinquished the lead. Therefore the winner was The Smiths – ‘The Queen is Dead’ which is one I have actually never heard from beginning to end as as it is not a genre I particularly like. Here are the results.

  1. The Smiths – ‘The Queen is Dead’ – 7 votes
  2. Ghost – ‘Meliora’ – 5 votes
  3. The Doors – ‘Morrison Hotel’ – 5 votes
  4. Pistol Annies – ‘Interstate Gospel’ – 2 votes
  5. Hollywood Undead – ‘Hotel Kalifornia’ – Sadly, 0 votes

Thanks to all for participating. The October choices will be up on Saturday!

THE SMITHS – ‘THE QUEEN IS DEAD’ (1986):

Disclaimer: Who would’ve thought that after I wrote this review, the Queen would actually pass away. I mean no disrespect posting this today as it has been planned and written for over a week prior to her death. I find the monarch rather fascinating as we don’t have one here in the States despite some orange colored freak who would like to be King. Enough of that, let’s just talk music.

The Smiths have been touted as one of the most important bands to come out of the 80’s British independent music scene. The album ‘The Queen is Dead’ is routinely placed in the Top 10 (and sometimes #1) as one of the best albums of the 80’s. So, no pressure in reviewing this at all.

When I first listened to the album, I played it in my car on my drive to work. This drive turned in to one of the worst drives I have had in to the office in years. The drive started out dark and gloomy with a lot of fog and then turned a 32 minute drive in to an hour due to a wreck on the highway. Waze took me off the interstate and on to back roads that quickly filled up because of the accident. I’m not saying it was the music that caused this, but I’m also not saying it didn’t. Normally, when I am in traffic like this, the music help soothes me over, but instead it made me somber, melancholic and out right depressed.

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Rock Star: Music From the Motion Picture – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Who would have thought that in 1991 while doing backing vocals for Stryper’s album ‘Against the Law’, that would lead to Jeff Scott Soto doing the singing vocals for a movie in 2001 called ‘Rock Star’ starring Mark Wahlberg That is what happened. The producer on the Stryper album was Tom Werman and Tom brought Jeff in for a ton of albums he worked on after Stryper’s album and when ‘Rock Star’ came up, he had Jeff come in and audition.

He originally auditioned for the singing voice of Mark Wahlberg’s character, but the producers of the movie thought his voice was too good actually. They wanted a less seasoned voice, but one that could rip in those 80’s styles so they brought in Miljenko ‘Mike’ Matijevic another Tom vocal favorite. Mike is the lead singer of the band Steelheart and man does he have some pipes as well. Jeff actually did backing vocals on Steelheart’s debut album as well.

The movie ‘Rock Star’ was inspired by what went on with Judas Priest after Rob Halford left the band. They brought in a Judas Priest Tribute band singer by the name of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. Mark Wahlberg’s character, Chris Cole, is a massive Steel Dragon fan and was in a tribute band called ‘Blood Pollution’. When the lead singer of Steel Dragon, Bobby Beers, quit (sung by Jeff Scott Soto), Chris Cole was hired (sung by Ike Matijevic) and then the movie chronicles the ups and downs of Chris Cole’s life as a result of this move.

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Scorpions – ‘Tokyo Tapes’ (1978) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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After 5 albums and the band in peak shape, it was time for a live album. While touring Japan in 1978, they recorded the two shows at Nakano Sun Plaza on April 24th and 27th. From those shows they pieced together a sensational double live album. Not only was it the band’s first live album, it was also the last album they would do with their label, RCA Records. If that wasn’t enough, it is also the last album to feature Uli Jon Roth as he left the band after the Japanese tour and prior to the release of this album. The band would audition close to 140 guitarists until they finally found the right fit in Matthias Jabs, but more on him with the next review in the series. This one is all about the live album.

The album would be released in Japan in August 1978 and around 6 months later, get released in Europe and then the U.S. The album finally saw Scorpions receive some success as they charted in 4 different countries reaching #10 in Germany and they went Gold in France. In an era of great live albums, there is no reason this shouldn’t be up there with some of the best as this takes some already great songs and turns them up a notch. I listened to this album in the car and on the turntable and once with headphones and let me tell you this is a headphone listen for the best experience. Trust me, you pick up so much more.

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Talisman – ‘Truth’ (1998) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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By 1998, Jeff Scott Soto and Marcel Jacob thought it was time to bring Talisman back together and record a new album. Jamie Borger was brought back, of course, on drums and a new guitarist was found in Pontus Norgren (The Poodles, Hammerfall). The only problem is that Jeff was so busy with The Boogie Knights, they had to record in the States. Jeff had a home studio so he and Marcel spent about 10 days writing new material which then band then recorded in Jeff’s home studio. The drums, however, were not as they needed a better set-up so they were recorded elsewhere.

They found a couple record labels to release the album, Point Music in Europe and Pony Canyon in Japan. However, neither label wanted to promote the material so no touring was actually done which is nuts. The album was released on December 27, 1998 and that date alone should tell you how much the labels gave a crap about that album because who in their right mind releases an album 2 days after Christmas.

The band’s sound on this album was a nod to earlier Talisman where they tried to capture a little of the sound from the first two albums. They also ended up recording 3 cover songs on the album and actually opened the album with a cover song. I’ve heard Jeff describe this album as their ‘Diver Down’ album (which also had a lot of covers).

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Scorpions – ‘Taken By Force’ (1977) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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The band’s fifth album has both a first and a last point of interest. It was the band’s first album with new drummer, Herman Rarebell, and the band’s last with guitarist Uli Jon Roth. A little good and bad news rolled in to one. Herman replaced prior drummer Rudy Lenners and is the drummer that is most known with the band as he was there through their most successful years. Uli left the band because he didn’t like the direction the band was going in which was a more commercial rock sound plus he didn’t even sing a song on this album where he had at least 2 vocals on previous ones. Uli held on until the end of the tour for the album and then left to start his own band Electric Sun. That more commercial rock sound has proven to be quite successful for the band. The full band line-up was Klaus Meine, Uli Jon Roth, Rudolf Schenker, Francis Buchholz and Herman Rarebell. A very lethal combination.

The album was recorded from June to October of 1977 and was released on December 4, 1977 just in time for Christmas. I am not sure how successful this particular album was or what chart positions it hit (if any), but I do know that Apple Music considers this to be one of their most essential albums to have in your collection.

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Takara – ‘Blind in Paradise’ (1998) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Takara had 2 albums in the can with Jeff never really being an official member. He was always doing the vocals to help promote the band and hopefully giving them a chance to find a new singer. The third album was written and the music was laid down back in December 1996. The tapes were sent to Jeff and it took almost a year for Jeff to finish the vocals as he was so busy with The Boogie Knights. You might ask yourself, why did the band wait for Jeff. Well according to Neil Grusky, there was no one as good as Jeff. And that might be true, but was it worth it? Probably not as the band never really took off and never found success with or without Jeff. Without a full commitment from Jeff and the band not finding another singer, they were really destined for nothing.

Three years after the release of their second album, ‘Taste of Heaven’, the new album ‘Blind in Paradise’ was finally released. The band consisted of Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Neal Grusky on guitar, Carl Demarco on bass, Eric Rango on keyboards and Robert Duda on drums. The band continued their AOR sound and being 1998, it is a very dated sound for even that time as this album reeks of the 80’s. I’m not saying that is a bad thing…it just isn’t really a good thing.

My copy is a cool one I think as I have the Japanese version. It comes with the prized OBI strip and even a postcard to join their MVP Supporting Club. The booklet is half in English and half in Japanese which better than getting two separate books. It also has two bonus tracks and that is really why we want the Japanese Edition is those bonus tracks. If you look at the song titles, you see a lot of numbers or letters replacing words. Soto is huge fan of Prince and Prince did that a lot so Soto thought if it was good enough for Prince, it is good enough for him. Now, enough about this version, let us get to the music.

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Scorpions – ‘Virgin Killer’ (1976) – Album Review (The Scorpions Collection Series)

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Another year, another Scorpions album. The band recorded their fourth album during 1976 and it was released on October 9, 1976. The album saw the band continue down the hard rock road and refining their sound more and more closer to what they became most famous for, but this album didn’t see them push much further in sales. The album did better outside of Germany seeing some success in Japan, but the U.S. still hadn’t jumped on board yet. In Japan, the album landed at #32 and sold over 100,000 copies but success elsewhere was coming, but not with this album.

With the last album, ‘In Trance’, the album cover saw a little controversy. ‘Virgin Killer’ looked at ‘In Trance’ and said “Hold my Beer”. The original album cover for this album was of a nude prepubescent girl with a broken glass effect over her private parts. This did not sit well with a lot of the buying public as some considered it child pornography. The album cover was not designed by the band as they generally had no say in the album artwork, that was handled by the label and this picture was handled by Steffan Böhle who was product manager for RCA Records. Some countries wouldn’t sell the album unless it was sealed in black plastic so the cover wasn’t visible. As a result, an alternate cover that featured the band members was issued and is the cover I have. I had the opportunity about 6 months ago to buy the original cover album at a record show, but they wanted $150 for it and I didn’t want to spend that much…maybe someday.

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