Category: Album Review

Passion – Passion – Album Review

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Passion’s debut album brings another great melodic rock album from the label Frontiers Records. The self-titled album came out back on January 24th, 2020 so I am a little late to the party.  Better late than never I always say…okay, not really.  I am sure you have some questions, so let’s get to those.

Question #1: Who are they?

Answer #1: The band is a four piece with the following members…

Lion Ravarez – Vocals
Chance Vanderlain – Guitar
Weston James – Bass
Bobby Laker – Drums

Lion Ravarez is actually Daniel Rossall, former singer of the band Night by Night.  His love for the 80’s music inspired the band and created something special.

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Question #2:  Why is this one worth listening to over all the label’s other releases or any other releases period?

Answer #2:  Simple…it takes you back to the 80’s hard rock you grew up loving (well, grew up with if you are my age).

Question #3: What do they sound like?

Answer #3:  Think Dokken, Slaughter and Danger Danger all rolled in to one.  A voice that can mirror Ted Poley (“Trespass on Love”), Don Dokken (“Lost in the Dark”) and even go all Mark Slaughter on you (“She Bites Hard”).  It is the best of everything you love about the 80’s from rockers to ballads what more could you want.

 

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Question #4:  What are the best songs on the album?

Answer #4: It would be too easy to say everyone of them, so I will give you some that really standout.  I have mentioned a few above in Question #3…

  • “Too Bad for Baby” sounds like Damn Yankees (and I think I read somewhere Rossall contributed to Revolution Saints with Jack Blades…if so…coincident…I think not)
  • “Back” has this confidence and strut to it and a vibe that fits almost any 80’s band
  • “We Do What We Want” – the Danger Danger vibe is strong with this one as did I mention that Lion sounds a lot like Ted…oh yeah,  I did, so it must be true!!

I hope that answered all your questions.  The album is a blast from the past and brings back the fun in rock that is surely missing nowadays.  I needed that lift right now with something that reminded me of old times, but still grounded enough that it sounded fresh to me.  Passion is a total blast.  They are a little of a parody of the genre and that is okay because I know they are for real.  I will give it a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars.

Oh, sorry, you have one more question…

Question #5:  Should I Buy this album?

Answer #5:  Hell YES!!!!

Def Leppard – ‘London to Vegas’ – Album Review

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There will not be a Def Leppard release that I won’t buy and I won’t review and now Def Leppard have released not one, but TWO Live releases at one time.  You can buy them individually and get either the ‘Hysteria at The O2’ album or the ‘Hits Vegas’ Release or you can do as I did and buy the Deluxe set called “London to Vegas” which has them both in 2 CD format for each album and a Blu-Ray Disc for each show (you can also get DVD).

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And before we get in to the shows, I have to discuss the packaging so you will get lots of pictures so you can see what you are going to get if you haven’t already bought it.  The set comes in a nice thick box that is the size of about a 10″ album.  It is really durable and graphics are great.  The front is the header image at the top and the back is the picture above.  It tells you everything you are going to get and you get a lot. Continue reading “Def Leppard – ‘London to Vegas’ – Album Review” →

Kiss – ‘Wicked Lester and Progeny Demo Sessions’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review (The Kiss Review Series )

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Welcome to the beginning of a new series on 2Loud2OldMusic.com.  We are finally tackling the entire Kiss catalog.  As you know, if you follow this site, Kiss is one of my favorite bands and I am amassing quite a vinyl collection.  I have done posts on Kiss over the years (a lot), but I haven’t tackled their main albums and in detail.  I figured, it was finally time to do so.  And what better way to kick it off then with the band right before Kiss was formed…Wicked Lester.  This review is a double review of sorts as this vinyl is a Bootleg and so it is part of my Bootleg Series with Kiss and it will also be the kickoff to the new series as this is where Kiss really began.

I haven’t done a full count, but I am guessing we will wind up with over 50 albums in this review as I will tackle as many Kiss albums as I can including Studio, Live, Greatest Hits, and anything else in my collection.  I will even venture off in to solo albums by the band members or other side projects they have.  It is going to be everything Kiss related.  I have a feeling this will take more than a year to complete, but I think I am up for the task. I hope you are too.  At the bottom of every post, there will be links to all the Kiss Reviews we have done in the past if you want to venture over and check them out.  I hope you enjoy…

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Babe Ruth – ‘First Base’ – Album Review

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Let’s go back to the year 1972.  I was just shy of 4 years old and didn’t know anything about music at this point.  Obviously, I don’t remember this release.  I do know that 46 years later, I would discover this album in a collection I picked up.  And I also know this was one of the coolest albums in that entire collection.  I thought it would be fun to go deep in my collection and talk about one of my favorites and this is definitely out of the ordinary from my usual reviews.

Babe Ruth is a blues rock band that leans very progressive and they hail from England.  Formed in 1970 with Alan Shacklock, Janita “Jennie” Haan and Dave Hewitt.  The band would later add Dick Powell and Dave Punshon and we would then have the band we hear on this album simply titled ‘First Base’.  Lots of baseball theme with the band name, album title and even the weird cover of spacemen playing baseball.

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SIDE ONE:

The album kicks off with the most rocking song of the bunch called “Wells Fargo”.  It is the story of the old western stagecoach and has a whole cowboy theme to it.  Jennie Haan’s vocals are totally brilliant with a hard rocking edge with the hints of Janis Joplin.  Alan’s guitar riff was fuzzy and cool and when you bump that up against Brent Carter’s saxophone you are in for a treat.  The whole blues rock feel is what I’ve been digging a lot of lately and this helps satisfy that thirst and then thrown in a damn fine guitar solo and life is good.  There is also a cool groove throughout the song by the fantastic rhythm section of Dave on bass and Dick on drums.  This is how you kick off your debut album folks. Continue reading “Babe Ruth – ‘First Base’ – Album Review” →

Whitesnake – ‘Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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We are now in the year 2011 with Whitesnake and with that being said, let’s release a live album from 1990.  Sure, why not. David seems to be out of ideas as this is the third live album in 5 years and in another 2 years, he will release 2 more.  I have to admit, I am starting to get live album burnout.  But since this is a 1990 Live album and I haven’t reviewed a live album from this line-up, it makes the cut.

The show is from Donington Park on August 8th, 1990 at the Monsters of Rock Festival.  It is the final show in the ‘Liqour and Poker Tour’ in support of the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ album.  This show was also released on the ‘Slip of the Tongue’ 30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition box set.  The CD is not the full show as it leaves out the solos, but the DVD has the full show on it.  So, I would recommend getting that deluxe edition because you get this show plus a whole lot more.

The band is headlining the festival, for the second time I believe.  The line-up of the band is pretty impressive…

  • David Coverdale
  • Steve Vai
  • Adrian Vandenberg
  • Rudy Sarzo
  • Tommy Aldridge

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The show is a full set even for a festival. They play 17 songs and this being 1990, there are no early Deep Purple songs as David refused to play them back then.  And if you want early Whitesnake, you only get “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City’ from the Snakebite EP (and is probably my favorite song of this show) and that is all.  The songs are from the 3 big albums in the 80’s – Slide it In, 1987 and Slip of the Tongue. Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Live at Donington 1990: Monsters of Rock’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

Kiss – ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

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In my quest for collecting Kiss Bootlegs for eery tour they have done, I found another fantastic addition to the collection.  My local record shop, Hardy Boy Records, has been a goldmine of late for Bootlegs. I have now bought four over the last few months and all for tours I didn’t have (or a collection of Wicked Lester demos – that is another story that will be told later).

The last 2 I bought were actually the same store, so I guess that statement was entirely true.  The difference was one was the North American Tour setlist (which will come in the next week or two) and this one is the European leg of that tour with an ever so slightly different setlist.

Before we get to the show and the music, let’s discuss the cover of the album.  This album is listed as “For Promotional Use Only” and is a really cheap production.  The album jacket is plain white cover with this paper picture of the band that wraps around the back. It is glued down and not going anywhere.  But the strange thing is the people on the cover.  Now, I get it this the Animalize Tour so you would expect Mark St. John to be on the cover, but there is a problem.  This is not one of the 3 shows that Mark actually played on.  This has Bruce Kulick playing before he was an official member which would come about two months later.

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The show is from October 26, 1984 at the Johanneshov Isstadion in Stockholm, Sweden on the first leg of the tour.  The recording if an audience recording actually sounds quite excellent.  Not much crowd noise and everyone sounds pretty clear with minor instances where the sound was off a little.  This was released a year later in 1985 by a group called Poverty Records at least that’s what it says on the album itself. Continue reading “Kiss – ‘They Only Come Out At Night’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review” →

Friday New Releases – May 22nd

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Finally!!  Yes, there are some albums I am actually excited about this week.  It has been awhile for me since the last week that anything I was anxiously awaiting. This week, I have two that will definitely get a spin first thing in the morning while I am sitting at home in my office like I have for the last two months…I can’t wait to sit in traffic and drive to work.  I never thought I would say that!!!  Anyhoo, my choices are highlighted in Blue. Let me know what you are interested in hearing and what I may have missed.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

  • 81DFJWo7xSL._AC_UL115_  Dennis DeYoung – 26 East, Vol. 1 – (Frontiers Records):  I couldn’t tell you the last time a Dennis DeYoung record got any press, but this one is making the rounds.  I have heard nothing but positive comments on this one so far, so it has really piqued my interest.  I have heard there is a strong Styx element and why wouldn’t there be as he was a huge part of that sound.  We will see.

  • 81iqT1T2gSL._AC_UL115_  One Desire – Midnight Empire – (Frontiers Records):  Okay, this one might the first one getting a spin this morning.  These two songs I have heard so far are a couple of the best I’ve heard this year. If you like some solid guitar driven, heavy melodic rock with a guy that can sing his heart out, this is the one for you to hear.  I think this is going to be the one to beat this year.

Continue reading “Friday New Releases – May 22nd” →

Kiss – ‘Barbarize’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic120 Comments

In my quest for collecting Kiss Bootlegs for every tour they have done, I found another fantastic addition to the collection.  My local record shop, Hardy Boy Records, has been a goldmine of late for Bootlegs. I have now bought four over the last few months and all for tours I didn’t have (or a collection of Wicked Lester demos – that is another story that will be told later).

The last 2 I bought were actually at the same tour, so I guess that statement wasn’t entirely true.  The difference was one was the European Tour setlist (which will come in the next week or two) and this one is the North American leg of that tour with an ever so slightly different setlist.

Before we get in to where the show was and the music, lets first discus the cover as it is  pretty cool and what drew me to this one in the first place.  The cover is the same artwork as the Judas Priest album ‘Hero Hero’.  Thanks to Mike Ladano for pointing that out to me when I sent him a picture of the album and sure enough, he was right.

Continue reading “Kiss – ‘Barbarize’ (Bootleg Series) – Album Review” →

Whitesnake – ‘Forevermore’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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After only three short years after Whitesnake’s ‘Good to Be Bad’, David and company bring us their next studio album, ‘Forevermore’.  The album was released on March 9, 2011 and in modern Whitesnake times, 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.  And did they succeed?  I will let you know soon enough so slow that roll!

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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! Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Forevermore’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →

Whitesnake – ‘Good To Be Bad’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)

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It had been 11 years since the last full Whitesnake studio album (okay, it was really a Coverdale solo album, but it had Whitesnake in the name) and 2 years since any new music with the four new tracks on ‘Live…In The Shadow of the Blues’.  Whitesnake was finally ready to bring us a full album’s worth of new material.  David Coverdale and his new guitar flavor of the day, Doug Aldrich, worked diligently to bring us an album of new Whitesnake material that would hopefully remind us of old and take us in to the future.

The line-up of the band is now…

  • David Coverdale – Vocals
  • Doug Aldrich – Lead Guitar
  • Reb Beach – Guitar
  • Timothy Drury – Keyboards
  • Uriah Duffy – Bass
  • Chris Frazier – Drums

The biggest difference between this album and the last live album is Tommy Aldridge is no longer in the band.  I love his drumming and I have to admit when I found out, I was a little disappointed, but Chris does well on his own and doesn’t disappoint.

IMG_1986 Continue reading “Whitesnake – ‘Good To Be Bad’ – Album Review (The David Coverdale Series)” →